Happy Father's Day

Seth played in a baseball tournament all weekend long, so it was a bit of a girls weekend for us. But that just meant, by the time he got home tonight, Daddy was the superstar superhero man-of-the-hour.

I love to watch her, as she's adoring him. The Maddie-Daddy relationship is like this tight little secret club I don't have the password to. And that's okay - because at the end of the day, sometimes a girl just needs her Daddy...

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads in our lives:

xxoo.S

Life, lately - in pics

Eating ice cream at the Brooklin Fair

Fishing for a prize at one of the games at the Fair

Maddie & Daddy at the Fair

Playing in her pool with Lilo & Isla

Maddie loves corn

Enjoying a popsicle on a warm summer day

Having fun with Grandma

And lastly - my garden!

Life, lately

• Work has been busy. 12 hour days busy. Not complaining as I ♥ my job, but yeah - makes for blogging and emailing and general other-life-having a little difficult.
• Last weekend my mom came up to visit - and we did a whole lot of nothing. Meaning we didn't run around shopping and errand-running as we usually do when she's around. Instead we stuck close to home (granted, we did a bit of garage-saleing, but otherwise, nada) - I gardened, Maddie played, and Mom supervised.
• Because of the above, my garden is now going gang-busters. Thanks Carly, I took your "assvice"... and my peppers and tomatoes love you for it. Although just by reading the little tag things that come with the plant-cell-packs (I know, genius right - who wouldn't thunk to actually read the directions?) I learned that beans and peas actually don't need a whole lot of room. Neither does leaf lettuce or onions.
• I've made a new resolution, to try and make a new recipe once a week. Last week I made Spaghetti Carbonara with Prosciutto. It was yummy, but a little rich for me - I'd go less eggs, lighter cream and add a bit of garlic. But otherwise, a success. And now that I've actually blogged about it, I need to figure out a recipe for this week, dammit...
• And for those of you that just read this blog for the Maddie info - here's the update: she's awesome. And chatty. And wanting to do things herself now, all the time. "Maddie do!" So she does. And life carries on - at a far.slower.pace.

xxoo.S

I had a baby, not a lobotomy

This would make a great t-shirt, non?

Having been back in the "working world" for over six months now.  I've had occassion to actually use this line about 3 times.  

As in, I said the words, "I had a baby, not a lobotomy" to a colleague/work associate/mentor.  

That's me.  Making friends everywhere I go...

In all seriousness, I've been meaning to actually blog about the annoying comments that one starts to get in the workplace from the moment of announcing pregnancy.  But that's a whole in-depth post that I've started numerous times and trashed without publishing, because I everytime I write it my blood pressure rises slightly and I think my snark comes off a little less flippant and more full-on-snarling-snarkity-snarkness.  Let's just say - I have a LOT to say on the subject of balancing a career and being a mom, and the reaction you get (daily!) in the workplace, and blah blah blah whingy-cakes.

xxoo.S

An open letter...

...to manufacturing companies, food distributors, um, just about any company out there.

Why the over-packaging?  Why the overuse of non-recyclable plastic?  

Our household made the transition to using cloth shopping bags 100% of the time after my trip to Ireland last year.  They had gone to charging for plastic bags at all major grocery stores several years back, and so everyone used reuseable bags for their shopping.  It had just become the norm.  It was fantastic to see, and made me realize that it's just a mindset, and not really all that inconvenient if you had no choice.  And then Canadian grocery stores got smart, and now it's turning into the norm here too.

But if we can move to this "extreme" level, why can't we set guidelines on food packaging?  Here's a perfect example - mushrooms.  You can buy loose into a brown paper bag (sometimes, depends on the store).  Or you can buy pre-packaged in a plastic container with plastic wrap (far more widely available than the loose, package-yourself option).  

I get the convenience factor.  I'm not saying pre-packaged produce is wrong.  But why can't they just use the cardboardy containers instead of non-recyclable plastic?  Still wrapped in plastic wrap, but just a different base.  One that is actually easily recyclable.

Same goes for berries - the biggest offender.  I can't buy fruit (and we eat A LOT of fruit - especially berries - in our house) without feeling guilty everytime.  Because as I buy them, I know the containers are going into my garbage bin, not the blue box.  

As I wrote this, the thought occured to me that perhaps it's not the issue with the plastic, but with the actual recycle program here in Whitby.  So I called them to see what the actual "rules" were - what numbers were allowed/disallowed.

The answer?  "We don't sort based on the number, it's based on demand of what will be purchased.  So we accept based on what it is.  For example, if it's a plastic shampoo bottle and has a twist off cap, that would be accepted.  It doesn't matter what number it is."

My response?  "So you're saying the people buying the plastic don't care if it's a 1 or a 2 or a 7, just that it was a bottle with a twist off cap?  Because that doesn't make any sense"

Her response?  "I can only tell you how it works m'am."

Just for sport, I thought I'd take a look at the City of Toronto's recycle program (because as I've complained about before - they also accept diapers in their compost bins, which Whitby doesn't - so perhaps they're just more advanced?)... well, turns out they don't accept the "clamshell" plastic containers either.

Soooooo... after that diversion, I'm back to my original question. Why use that type of plastic, that seems to be widely unaccepted?

With green + frugal being so "in" these days, I'd say you could capture a lot of market share as a company just by changing your packaging model.

Just some food for thought... (oooooh - punny!)

xxoo.S

Starting a new tradition?

Do you ever get that feeling?  When you are making plans and think, huh, I wonder if this will become a family tradition?

Or maybe I just think too much...

So this weekend is the annual Brooklin Spring Fair.  Last year at this time, Maddie and I flew to Ireland for a week with BFF.  And while that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and more than well-enjoyed, we were a little bittersweet about missing our first spring fair experience.

But this year we're doing it up in style.  Friends have been invited.  Plans have been made.  A bbq is in the cards.  Enjoying the midway and whatever the heck else we can do up there, then come back here and watch the kids run themselves around into unconsciousness, and then the adults get to have a little fun.  And by fun, I mean cocktails and a fire (or Rockband - you never know).

Woo to the hoo.

I've lots more to tell you guys about (like window painting tips and how to move a lawn spike for your clothesline) ... but I also have a shedload of work to finish up today - so hopefully I have energy to post over the weekend.  Until then... tra-la!

xxoo.S

This should come with instructions

We bought and installed a clotheline last Sunday.  It's one of those 4 sided, opens up like an umbrella, clothelines.  Quite unlike the long straight, on a pulley, clotheslines that I had at every house I ever lived in.

Let me tell you - the long straight ones?  Much easier to use.  MUCH.

However, because we live in a town where all the telephone lines and such are underground (and therefore no telephone poles to be found anywhere), there really isn't much to attach this pulley-style clotheline to.

And so we went with the umbrella style.  And bought a spike for the ground that eliminated the need of pouring concrete (yay!).  This also means we can take the clothesline out of our yard if we don't want it there (i.e. winter... um, this is the only reason I can think of... perhaps some people find it too unsightly so therefore remove it whenever they're not using it - that's just - wow, too time-consuming for me).

Because hubby still wasn't all that in love with the idea of a clothesline (even though it folded up and will save us all sorts of money and make our sheets smell sooooo nice!) - so we put it in the back corner of the yard behind the tree.  So really, it's there, but not "in your face there" like I would have had it by placing it right beside the patio.

Today was the first day I put clothes out.  And I realized a few things...

1) Putting your clothesline behind a tree - in the back corner of the yard, where grass barely grows because it's so shady?  Maybe not the best spot for it.  In the sense of sun and drying time...

2) Hanging sheets on a umbrella style?  Not the same as hanging on the long-straight-style clotheslines.  So it took a while, but I figured out you have to fold the sheet in half over the line - instead of just hanging it like I always did as a kid.

3) Are you supposed to hang on the inside lines first, and work your way out?  Makes sense I suppose - to allow you to hang more than one load to the line.  But sheets are too big for this - which means I have to time and organize what laundry I do first?  Oy...

Anyways - we'll see.  I don't know how quickly the sheets will dry where they are.  And if they'll be all non-wrinkled since they're not exactly billowing in the wind (because that was another big reason that I wanted a clothesline - I remember it negating the need to iron much of anything)... and I hate ironing sheets...

xxoo.S

Maddie bits

• Trucks are "crucks" and cars are "car-car".  Why the repeat?  No idea.  But apparently our daycare provider has seen this in multiple kids in the past, and that it's common.  I wasn't even interested in why she said "car-car" before, but now that I know unrelated kids that have never met have all done this?  Now I wonder why.  What developmentally makes them repeat it?  Little weirdos...
• Smarties (MARTY!) are like crack.  She hates all other treats and cake and chocolate of any sort.  But Smarties?  Hot damn...
• "Helping" is the new "make a mess".  Except she does it with such earnest and pleasure, you can't really get mad about it.  So she "helps" me put away laundry or sweep, and then I clean up after she goes to bed.
• She is newly obsessed (OBSESSED!!!!) with puppies.  And goggies.  Just canine creatures in general.  She lives with two cats, who she now really couldn't care less about.  But I always know if a dog is somewhere within her line of vision because she starts shouting "RUFF RUFF!  RUFF RUFF!".  The kid has eagle-eye vision when it comes to pointing out a dog.  This is only making my quest to get a puppy easier and easier...
• Manners are really coming along - we pretty much have her saying "thank you" after anything she says "please" for.  Which, cool, right?  That's better than most adults...
• Does it amaze anyone else with kids (maybe this is a little girl thing) how maternal they are?  Maddie takes care of her IgglePiggle like a little Mommy.  She feeds him in the highchair, wipes his face, takes him for stroller rides and puts him to bed before she goes up for her bath. I know she's playing by mimicking what she knows, but it's just funny.

xxoo.S

Random babysitters

Okay, here's the situation... We live in a town where we don't really know many people. Actually, in all honesty, aside from Couple BFF (who also moved up to the boondocks around the same time we did), my circle of friends consists of the women I met at Babyville last year.

I know most teenage babysitters are found via referrals from friends. You know, the elusive roster of casual sitters that you can rely on for weekend afternoons (or evenings!). Who took the "babysitting class" (do they even do this anymore??). Who's the niece of a neighbour's friend's sister, but can be totally trusted.

Yeah, I don't even really have access to these kids... So my next best bet, I've realized, is probably getting the list from the school, from which we oh-so-conveniently live across the road. It may not be a personal referral, but at least it feels a bit more trustworthy than that post on Kijiji, you know?

So here's my question. When I do get that list, and start calling. What's the Modus operandi? What do I say? Do? 

Is it normal to do an initial "interview" of sorts? A "getting to know one-another" session with Maddie present, see how it goes?  Then maybe do a short afternoon out, see how things go?

I'm quite aware of how paranoid and um, crazy, I sound... but I didn't do a whole lot of babysitting as a kid. And everyone I know already knew their babysitter, or uses family members... 

xxoo.S

PS - how 'bout that AWESOME weekend weather?  Pretty lame, huh?  Hi Canada.  This is Sara.  I'd like it to be summer now please.  You don't have to stay cold all the way through June to convince me that you are the great white monster that can unleash hell on earth in the form of arctic gale winds.  I believe you, really, I do...

Philistine

Does anyone out there still "print" their photos?  I have no less than 3 full photo albums of printed pics documenting the first six months of Maddie's life.  And then I stopped printing.  Because, really?  The mortgage payment was more important...

Kidding (sort of)...

I was one of those late-adopters of the digital camera.  And I still kind of like the idea of actually, you know, caring about what you are taking a picture of.  Instead of having 5 TRILLION pictures of every single angle of my baby girl in her Bumbo seat for the very first time.

But yeah, digital cameras are convenient. And maybe by taking ONE HUNDRED BILLION TRILLION pictures, I may get one or two that are actually passable...

So we have a Flickr account.  Which I think I may have mentioned a few thousand times.  Actually, we have a "pro" Flickr account.  Not because I take good pictures, but I'm OCD about organizing the photos into folders by month and other random categories - and you can do this unlimitedly with a Pro account, so there you go.

But now that we have this Flickr account, and I have the pics backed up on my desktop and onto CD (again, organized by month - because yes! Organizing and backing up is SOOOOO important - who wants to sleep when they can be up until 1am archiving!!)... but really?  Then printing and putting into a photo album?

Kind of like writing in a baby book once every few months - when you're already documenting the day-by-day minutia of your child's life on a blog.

Which I also did.  For the first six months...

So yeah - I guess I'm just wondering if I'm the only philistine out here that perhaps is not creating a hard copy, pictorial documentary of my family.  Or do you all print your pics faithfully?

Dammit - this is going to be like the juice question.  Thinking you'll all say, "Nah, don't worry about it..." when in actual fact you'll all be like, "Yes of COURSE I print and document my pictures - I also scrapbook and give out family portraits during the holidays.  You mean you DON'T do that?  What are you, some type of Philistine?!?!?!"

Awesome.  Bring it on...

xxoo.S

Our garden

How to build a vegetable garden?

Take some cedar posts (pish-shaw to the actual "garden ties", these are far more expensive and pretty, right?), some black earth (hello Rona - $2 per 50L bag - damn good price!), some sheep manure (ewwwww - haha), and some peat moss.  Hammer, nail.  Mix and mulch.

Then hit up the local nursery for some seedlings.  We got green, red and yellow peppers.  Peas (and still need to build the "climber" for them). Jalepeno peppers. Cucumbers. Zucchini. Four types of lettuce. Green and yellow beans. Tomatoes tomatoes tomatoes...

We didn't follow the spacing rules on all the little info spikes that came with the plants. Instead, planted about 8 plants per row. Spacing looks okay to me - we'll see how they fare I guess.

My next plan is to stock up on canning jars, as I know we're going to have more tomatoes than we know what to do with.  So aside from salsa and tomato butter (a chili-type sauce), I'm planning on canning a bunch of tomatoes to use for sauces and such throughout the year.

I am so green.  Next project is a clothesline.

xxoo.S

The weekend - in pics

In line, at Ontario Place, Maddie met her newest crush.  A ginormous beaver.

It wasn't planned, so possibly the most serendipitous happening thus far of 2009.  Our visit at Ontario Place coincided with a Meet & Greet with Loonette the Clown, of Big Comfy Couch.  Maddie's ALL-TIME fave show.

Playing in the only real play structure she was big enough for.  Oh well she was happy, clearly.

Waterpark.  It was cold.  The rest of us were still in our clothes.  Poor kids... the shit we put them through...

On Sunday ~ Maddie helping me plant the garden. This became my new desktop pic immediately.  Honestly?  How adorable is she?

Plenty more pics of our weekend on our Flickr page...

xxoo.S

What a weekend

Wow - I have so many pics to upload, but I'm not going to wait until I actually get around to it, so here goes...

Saturday morning saw me skipping Pilates to head down to the GO station for 8:30am. That itself was an amazing feat, considering Maddie decided to sleep until almost 8am that morning. We met up with another couple and their daughter, who's Maddie's age, and headed into the city to, "Experience...Ontario Place!".

Overall the trip was a success. The weather wasn't quite what we expected - a bit chillier than we would have liked, and the waterpark was cooooooooold. And the girls were both about 6 inches shy of almost any fun ride/playstructure/activity to participate, but we found a few things for them to do and we actually did manhandle them into their suits and tried to get them to enjoy the water after the sun showed it's face for a bit.

Highlights of the day? Loonette the Clown just happened to be making a showing there (if Maddie could say OMG, I think she would have all.day.long after getting to meet + hug her idol!), so yeah, that was about as serendipitous as it gets.  

And the bear and beaver dudes that were randomly walking around the park?  BIG hit with Maddie. Big. HUGE hit. If she could stuff either of them into her pocket and leave, she would have. Instantly.

Not great highlights? None of the food stalls had any milk, or juice, or any style of healthy snack. And smart mommy that I am, I only packed a few snack options and completely forgot her sippy cup.  Yeah, that made things a bit difficult.  

And the fact that there were so many cool rides and things that she probably would have had a blast on, but couldn't get on because she was too tiny. Brought back memories of a tonne of times growing up, that I had to stretch and tippy-toe my way onto rides. Poor thing - she'll be dealing with that for ages.

So bottom line - Ontario Place?  Far cooler than I remembered.  But really, only good for those 2+ I think.  The under 2's were a bit bored...

So that was Saturday for us - love being a tourist in your own city - must do it more often.

Saturday night our BFF couple came over with their baby boy, C. He slept his way through the visit, and we enjoyed a few drinkies under the stars. Got Maddie fed and put to bed, and then we all had dinner (a lovely, leisurely, relaxed, with no toddler present, dinner) and played some games. Fun. Almost how life used to be... ;)

Today was a gorgeous weather day - sunny and warm and lovely. Perfect day to plant a veggie garden.  So that's what we did.  We should now have plenty of vegetables throughout the summer - unless I'm absolutely useless and forget to water the damn thing. Which, let's face it, is entirely possible.

A few trips to the park. Some bbq'd ribs for dinner. That's a pretty fantastic Sunday in my opinion.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekends just as much.  Pics to come soon...

xxoo.S

Summertime

♫  ...and the living is easy...  ♪

I have been a great employee today.  I may work from home, and I may have stared longingly out the window at the beautiful sunshine and gentle breeze, but I did.not.crack.  I busted my ass today, and could easily work through the weekend.

However - this weekend is going to be GORG from what I hear.  Nary a cloud in the sky. In essence, the weather that we all wished for last weekend.  So I will be putting work aside, into a tight little corner of my brain, not to be dwelled upon, so I can fully relax and enjoy the weekend as much as possible.

We have a date with another couple and their 19-month-old daughter for Ontario Place tomorrow. I'm a little sad that I'll miss the awesome Mom 2 Mom sale happening in Ajax.  And I'll be missing Pilates.  And the other garage sales happening all over my 'hood.

But that's okay. It's just the start of the season, and there's plenty more sales where those came from. (PS - why WHY did I sign up for a 9:30 Sat a.m. Pilates class at the start of garage-sale-season?? Silly me.)

And dudes - Ontario Place? From the looks of their website? Is going to totally rock. I haven't been there since I was a kid - and all I remembered was the bumper-boats.  Now there's a huge waterpark and apparently all sorts of things catered to the young-uns. 

Sunday will hopefully be the day we (finally!) plant our veggie garden.  We'll see...

Have a wonderful weekend! 

xxoo.S

Who knew juice was so controversial?

Since I don't think we can really control (all that well) what happens at daycare and I think it's better to institute as the "norm" for her at home (and also, really? am I going to force her to deal with Maddie's righteous indignition when she sees the other kiddies drinking juice and she's getting water? um, not fair) - we've cut out the juice.  

Cold turkey.

Not giving in.

So it's water or milk. Milk or water. Take your pick. We'll even put in some ice cubes. But yeah - no juice for you!

She's okay with it. So far.

Meaning - we've been doing it for 2 days, during the week, and she's only whined a bit.

Oh the weekend is going to be nasty...

Thanks to all for the comments and advice - 'twas appreciated - even those judging me for still giving my daughter a bottle before bed... um, yeah...

xxoo.S

Retrobike

Okay - so I got this link from someone?  The Scoop, I think.  And holy shit, do I want this bike (so much so that I'm whoring out the side bar of my blog for it - so CLICK dammit, cliiiiiiiiiickkkkkk!).

Actually, I've been looking at buying a bike recently.  And because I'm so cool and retro and very, trés vogue I've been perusing my retro-options.  Because mountain bikes, eh.  Not all that exciting to me.  I'm not biking any mountain in the near future.

And I also have a larger-than-average bum. Not an "athletic-I'm-going-to-scale-this-crazy-mountain" bum. Which means - give me a big, cruising, bike seat please. In fact, I would totally take a banana seat if I could find one...

So with my lovely thoughts of an old fashioned bicycle with a basket on the front, cruising around my boondocks, and Maddie strapped precariously behind me, I started scouting, and searching, and googling.  

And then I found one of those seats that strap just behind the handlebars and thought, that's just super cool and interactive and tra-la-la, I'm an eco-mom who rules.

Again I digress... so I'm searching for a fancy ol' bicycle and found a very cool program founded by Kona (who are bike-gurus or something).  It's called the AfricaBike - and for every 2 they sell, they will donate a bike to home health care workers in Africa (who use the bikes to deliver ARV drugs to HIV/AIDS patients in a variety of African countries).  Anyways - this isn't a public service message - but it was a standard, classic-styled bike.  Not the prettiest, but it worked for me.

However, when all is said and done, I'm a bit of a procrastinator (I think I've talked about this before?), so I haven't ordered the bike.

And now I've fallen in love with another. I'm so fickle... 

Oh well, at least it's inspired me to start looking again.

xxoo.S

Juice monster

I think this would be top in the list of "if I could go back and do it differently". (The nice thing is that list is short, so far, which must mean we're doing something right...)

At a young age, Maddie started getting juice offered. As I was the paranoid-obsessed breast-feeding mom (I was so afraid I'd lose my supply or she wouldn't get the right nutrients, I would breastfeed after every "meal" of solids she got), I hated the thought of her drinking anything else for the first 6 months. Then six months hit, we started on solids and the Grandmas kept bugging me that juice would be fine as well. And so we did start on the juice pretty early. As in - she was drinking and asking for more - well before her 1st birthday.

And now? She refuses to drink anything but juice, all day long. Sometimes I can get her to drink some milk (read: an ounce or two) with her meal, but if you offer her milk any other time (unless it's bedtime bottle), she'll throw it right back at you. And forget water - it's like an insult.

Instead, we get the whine, and the (fake) cry, and the eventual angry scream for more JUIIIIIICE!

And most times? We give in. Because you know, we're apparently lazy like that.

But after our last doctor's appointment, where I was asked her general intake of milk and I had to reply - about 10 ounces. Well I vowed to make some changes. And that was about 2 weeks ago, so best I start to do it, right?

I've determined that I can (sometimes) get her to drink water out of a different style sippy - the Rubbermaid juice boxes - more like a straw cup than a sippy. Whatever - if it works then I figure it's fine.

But what do you do when she's whining for juice and nothing else will work? I don't know. Aside from retrospectively wishing I just offered her water as a drink alternative (especially as she eats so much fruit, we don't have to use juice as a vitamin component to her diet), I can't really think of a good idea.

Do we just go cold turkey, limit her to one sippy of juice per day and offer water or milk the rest of the time? Listen to the screams and be the evil juice-withholding parents of her worst nightmares?

Or do we just say 'eff it. Fix it with the next kid and let her become a juice monster who's teeth rot out and etc etc etc...

Should be said - we always water down her juice by at least 50%, and she's never had yeast or diarrhea issues from the juice. These are really just my concerns, based on nothing. Guilt? Reading too many child-rearing advice columns that happened to talk about juice intake recently? Who knows.

Would love some advice though. Even if the advice is "shut up and don't worry about it"...

xxoo.S

Spring cleaning

Sidenote: I have this sneaking suspicion that I've already used this as a post title before, and while it shouldn't, it's irking me to the core. But it's the end of a very long, long-weekend, and I don't have the energy to search my archives. So if my suspicion is correct, then, I'm sorry. I am clearly not as original as I fancy myself to be....

I just spent two hours this afternoon unpacking summer clothes and packing up winter clothes. Does anyone do this anymore, or have I been brainwashed by my mother and am participating in some ancient practice that is almost as de-vogue as monitoring your white-wearing to after Victoria Day and before Labour Day?

Interesting tidbits:

• I own twice the number of winter clothes as I do summer clothes. Yay to Canada.
• I own a HELLOFALOT of tweed dress pants. Was there a special on tweed a few years ago, back when I actually fit into said dress pants?
• While my winter clothing may outnumber my summer attire, my shoe collection is quite the opposite. And damn, I think in my haze of child-rearing last year, I forgot the number one important thing about summer - which is, summer sandals. Lovely, strappy, summer sandals.
• I packed 6 more tops into my "maternity clothes" bin. I think that means I have given up on myself just a little bit less? Perhaps I haven't actually lost any more weight, but I refuse to hide behind the tent shirts anymore...
• Two (TWO!) garbage bags filled with Goodwill donations. Dudes... I do NOT understand how I manage to give away (what feels like) half my wardrobe every six months and still not have enough closet space. And bye-bye Senor Frogs belly-baring halter top. I may not have given up on myself, but I have accepted the fact that it would not be acceptable to wear you again. 

So yes, I am now fully prepared for summer. And dying to wear my flippy summer skirts with my strappy summer sandals. And swing my garishly bright small summer purses, and la-la-la I'm a Coppertone commercial...

I really will post about our weekend soon. I'm sure you're all dying to hear about my gardening, golf and garage exploits. G-G-G-great!

xxoo.S

Croup

I think we've been infected...

The term croup does not refer to a single illness, but rather a group of conditions involving inflammation of the upper airway that leads to a cough that sounds like a bark, particularly when a child is crying. (KidsHealth.org)

Boo.

xxoo.S

Back to old routines

Maddie's reluctance to attend daycare has vanished. This morning there was no fighting, no screaming, no "Noooooooooooooo" as I put on her jacket.

This morning made me feel a lot less guilty. Thankgod. And I found out when I dropped her off, that they were planning on going to the zoo. Which, cool. I think Maddie will enjoy it. It's a gorgeous day, and to be honest, I'm a little jealous...

The weekend weather forecast looks to be shitty. What a shocker. Long weekend = shitty weather. Thanks Mother Nature. Love you too...

Regardless - we have a list of to-do's to get done. The in-laws will be up visiting, so we should be able to be pretty productive. And if we actually get around to planting our veggie garden I'll take pics and let you know how beauuuuuuutiful it looks.

Have a great weekend - enjoy

Preferential treatment

Maddie loves her Daddy.

This is awesome, and I love watching the close, loving relationship they are developing.

But it makes me a little sad how she now refuses (REFUSES) to let me do or help or take part in half the things that he does.

Daddy does bathtime, Daddy does storytime, Daddy does playtime. Daddy does pretty much any and all fun things that Mommy used to do. 

I know (because I am an obsessive Googler) that this is just a stage, and that it happens all the time. One parent gets preferential treatment over the other. A few months ago, nothing Daddy did was right and it was Mommy she cried for. And now it's his turn.

And that's cool, right?

It is. I swear - I'm happy with it. But without sounding like a child myself, I do feel a teeny-tiny, little itsy bit of jealousy (just a smidge, I swear!).

Maybe because it was 18 months of her crying for me. That Mommy was always the best one to chase away the tears. I got used to it. I was the one that slept with the monitor on my side of the bed. I was the one that jumped up to her cries. Iwas the one the learned to cook with a baby on my hip. I was the one who became a pro laundrer with a toddler wrapped around my ankles.

She did everything with me and I did everything with her - and as slow and difficult that made things, I figured it out.

And now (again - disclaimer - I don't want to sound like a child, but I do want to be honest) it feels a bit, I don't know... rejecting... when she could give a care if I was in the room or not.

I still do the wake ups and the daycare pick ups and the etc etc etc. But the minute Daddy walks through the door, the sun rises, or sets. Or whatever that analogy is...

Wow, I really do sound a bit like a petulant child. Huh... 

I guess you figure it out as you go along, and I could be all big and act like I don't care - but the truth is. It hurts. A little bit.

But do I envy and admire the little Daddy's Girl my Miss Button is becoming? 

And do I chuckle a little to myself every day as I see just how wrapped around her pudgy little finger she can make her Daddy?

Abso-flippin'-lutely.

xxoo.S

Simon's adventure

Kind of a wacky story, but since our cats are part of our family, I figure they deserve some real estate on the blog too...

Our one cat (the one that is fat and loveable and as big as a racoon) loves going outside. Except he's an indoor cat. Not declawed or anything, but has been living indoors for 10 years, and I highly doubt any of his survival skills have lasted from when he was a garbage-eating street cat (before he was a year old and we adopted him). In a nutshell, while we let him roam the backyard fairly freely, we keep the gate closed and make sure he's inside when we go to bed.

Except he likes to sneak out. Behind you. When you open the front door and are distracted by a screaming toddler that wants to be 'SIDE!!!!!! with Daddy. (I think I posted about her obsession with outside just a few days ago.)

So last night, around 11:30pm, I was packing up and getting ready to go to bed. When I realized I hadn't seen Simon in forever. Like, can't remember when I saw him last. 

I searched the house.  No cat.

I searched the backyard. No cat.

I went upstairs and woke up the Hubby, because, seriously? I'm not sure I want to be wandering the streets in my pjs at midnight without anyone knowing where I am, regardless of how safe our little boondock village is. (And honestly, no damn way is he getting away with sleeping through this while I am up to all hours, right?)

So now we're both walking up and down our street. In our pj's. Softly calling for Simon (because you don't exactly want to be shouting at midnight, right?).

Finally, I hear a muffled meow.

I track it down to our neighbour's backyard. And after a bit of flashlight scoping (where I'm sure the neighbour is going to come out and see what the hell is going on), we determine that Simon is not in fact, in any of the bushes in or around the garage that the meow'ing is coming from. In fact, the cat is in the garage (which is in the backyard - boondock house-design that I'm not a fan of personally).

So great. Our cat is in our neighbour's closed garage. And it's now 12:30am.

"F-him. He's the one that got himself into the mess", offers Hubby.

And at the risk of being judged here, by any animal lovers, yeah, I kind of agreed. Although our fault for not noticing our cat was outside, he's a bit of a dumbass to find himself locked in a neighbour's garage. And no way in hell am I knocking on anyone's door at that time of night. Especially since this is the neighbour with the nice lady and weirdo husband. (Doesn't everyone have a weirdo neighbour?). 

It was a can of worms I wasn't willing to open.

And I see the lady walking her children to school every morning. So I figure yeah, I'll just get him in the morning and teach him a lesson with having to stay in a cold garage overnight.

So that's what we did.  And the next morning, when I went outside to wait for the lady, around the same time that I run into her every OTHER day of the week, I see her car gone. She left early - in her car. Not a good sign.

Fast-forward 3 hours later. It's 10am. Still no sign of her. So I risk the weirdo husband and go and knock on the door. No answer.

At this point, I can conservatively estimate that Simon has been outside for 14 hours. And as annoyed as I am, even I can't start to worry, a bit...

So I do what any other respectful neighbour would do. I look around the garage to see if there's anyway to break in and get my cat.

Wow. That sentence sounds awful. But yeah, I guess that's what I did...

Anti-climatic ending? The side door to the garage was unlocked. Something I didn't even think to try last night.

I went in to the garage, found Simon sleeping on the lawnmower under a tarp (what? why? how is that comfortable??) and dragged his ass out of there.

He's dusty and hungry. But he's home.

Stupid cat.

xxoo.S

Twitter

I just don't get it. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm (sigh) too old. Maybe I'm just not witty enough and I'm not ready to admit it.

I get Facebook. I "got" it the moment I logged on. I got how addictive and time-sucking it could be, especially at the beginning. Looking up those old primary school friends and trolling through their kids' pictures. I even added "apps", took surveys, and sent gifts. And then the novelty wore off - and I removed most of my apps (bye Sex and the City "quote of the day"!) and gave up on trying to beat anyone in a game of scrabble.

But I'm still on Facebook daily - just to check in. Review friends' statuses, check out new pics. Um, that's about it. That's all I really do. But then again, that's what I liked it for in the first place.

Twitter - well, it's like a slutty Facebook. You can follow anyone - you don't need permission. And anyone can follow you. And people apparently have conversations. Umm, yeah, maybe I'm not connected to the right "people", but I don't see conversations happening. All I see are random comments about nothing and links to videos and other articles, that to be honest? I don't have time to be reading. 

I don't get hash tags (#), I don't get re-tweeting (RT), and I don't get why the hell I should give a shit about Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk).

I dunno. At the risk of sounding 90, "I don't get what all the fuss is about." Maybe I don't know the "interesting" strangers that I should be following. Maybe I don't give a shit.

Yup - that's probably it.

So I've removed my "twitter update" from this blog. If you read this, you probably know me. And if you probably know me, then we're probably friends on Facebook. And if you don't, or we aren't. Well that's okay - you're not missing much. My status updates aren't that interesting. I promise...

xxoo.S

Gardening hell with a little shopping thrown in

I like owning a house. It's fun to sleep on a different floor from where I eat. And it's awesome to have an outside space to call my own. Other than a 6 foot by 2 foot balcony hovering somewhere at smog level.

But oh, how much harder this gardening is. Because when I lived in my little smog-level apt, I could throw a few begonias in a box, sprinkle some dirt and call it a day. They lived (sort of) throughout the summer, and the 5 minutes a day that I sat on that crowded little balcony, I enjoyed them.

Now that we have Miss 'SIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE (did that convey the essence of the whine in her voice when she wants to go outside?) we're outside all the time. And that's cool. Because that was one of the selling points Hubby used in his sales speech to get me up to the boondocks. Cue sales speak:

"You're always saying we never go outside and just enjoy ourselves. Now we'll be able to go outside every.single.day if you want to!"

And I did. I do. I like living outside in the warmer months, it's what I've always done and I get a little stir crazy if I'm stuck inside when the weather is gorgeous outside.

Except when you own a house, being outside and enjoying it means you have to make it look pretty. Otherwise you're just outside with constant reminders everywhere you look about how lazy you are, and damn, how nice is that neighbour's lawn?

And so, these past 5 days, while I was on holidays and Maddie was home and my mom was down visiting, that's what I did. I gardened. And I planted flowers. And I dug up flowers. And planted rhubarb. And mulched. And weeded. And and and...

My side garden with the new perennials is still looking pretty sad and forlorn. But the front and back gardens (which really? are just weird bushes that I don't know the names of and some wood chip - how can so little be so much work?) are looking pretty bloody fantastic. 

Oh, and the tip to mulching? Stamp it down after you put it down. So it sticks. Because otherwise it blows all over the neighbour's yard and you look like a jackass trying to clean it up. Just saying...

In other news, Mom and I bought out the Please Mum store during our shopping excursion. And then bought out Old Navy. And then went to Once Upon a Child to buy more - because you know, she needed more.

Hilariously, Maddie's name for my Mom is "Bucky". Where she got this from, I have no idea. But it makes me chuckle a little bit each time she says it. Because it's said in this loud (I-know-no-volume-control) child's voice that screeches the end into a question - like BUCK-YYYYYY????Fairly hilarious, must get it on video before that fades.

I love when family (or friends) visit and become amazed at how much Maddie has progressed since they last saw her. Even if it was only a week ago. 

Of course I'm like, I KNOW right, she's a flipping genius! But it is pretty amazing how much stuff they learn in such a short period of time. Like sentences. Last week she was just saying Mommy's car-car. Now she says, "all done", "no milk, Maddie juuuuuuiiiiceee - yesh yesh, please Maddie juice", and "snuggle-buggle". 

Okay, I realize the last one doesn't qualify as a sentence, but this is pretty much the cutest thing she says. We've been giving her snuggle-buggles at at bedtime for months and she now says it when she wants a cuddle. You could die from the cuteness of it all. DIE I tell you.

And lastly, she reads along with her books now. "Moo Baa La la la" to be specific. She makes all the sounds the animals make. Another must for that video machine that I let gather dust far too much. You'll see this and your heart will melt.

Um - okay, a gardening/weekend update post has morphed into proud-mommy-dearest-hell. And we're through here...

xxoo.S

Vacay over

Don't you hate that melancholy feeling that you get when vacation is over? I took the last 3 days of the week off and spent it with my mom and Miss Maddie, and while it was relaxing, invigorating, productive and all that fun-stuff, like any vacay, it was far too short. 

Only 3 days I know. That's what makes it kinda funny to me. That I could get so sad about such a short vacay being over.

And doing the drop off to daycare was a bit heartbreaking. Not that she made a fuss, but Maddie was definitely feeling a little melancholy about returning to the routine as well. 

I don't feel guilty, I know she'll have a fun day. But I know exactly how she was feeling. We were both feeling it. We'd rather be home, with each other, right now...

Aaaaannnnndddddd...... back to work...

xxoo.S

PS - update post from the week off to come soon, just needed to get that out of my system first.

Maddie stats - revised

**After reading the comments, I had to go back to the little paper that the nurse gave me with Miss Button's stats, as I was starting to question it myself.  Turns out I did put the wrong stats in, she isn't 28 inches, she's 30.5 inches long.  Whew, feel a bit better now.  Entered 71.5cm in the conversion chart instead of 77.5cm.

==========================================

Maddie had a doctor's appointment today.  You know, the one where she was getting her 15 month shots (at 19 months)?

That was fun - explaining why we were so "tardy" to the doctor (her words, not mine).

Anyways - the fun stuff was checking all the "yes's" on the 18 month developmental checklist - because you know, my daughter, she's a GENIUS!!! 

• Does she follow simple instructions?  I'm like, hell yes!  She'll even follow mildly difficult instructions, send random emails from my blackberry, crank call relatives long distance and erase PVR'd programs.  GENIUS I tell you.
  
• Can she run?  I actually asked for clarification on this one - like, does it count if she falls a lot, but tries to run?  Because that's my girl - she may not have a lot of coordination, but she's a TRIER.
  
• Can she speak 5 words or more (words may not be easily understood).  Dude?!?  She can speak HUNDREDS of not-easily-understood words.  We were calling it gibberish, but if you will call it vocabulary - well, that's cool too...
  
• Does she give affection to people, pets or objects?  Does herself, in the mirror, count?  Because I don't think I've met a person who loves themselves more.  Narcissus, Madeleine.  You say po-tay-toe, I say po-tah-toe...

In all seriousness, she passed it all, she got weighed (on the BIG GIRL SCALE - I was like, dude, you won't be so excited about stepping on a scale in 20 years, but for now, yay!), and she got measured.  She's 23 pounds and 28+ inches.  25% percentile.  My tiny little Miss Button...

xxoo.S

World's Worst Parents

A bit dramatic, but I'm still mortified about this...

And because who DOESN'T want to memorialize mortifying parenting moments, let's just post it here, shall we?

Tuesday afternoon - I'm still at work, at the office, downtown Toronto.  It's 5:27pm.  There is no way I am leaving for at least another hour.  So I call the hubby to let him know I won't be home in time for dinner - go ahead and eat without me.

Because he's doing the pick up, right?

"Ummm - I'm at Martin Grove (that's Etobicoke hood for you non-GTA-ers - REALLY far away from where we live).  Where are you?" he asks.

My answer was a whole lot of @$%#&* because I realized in that split second that it took him to utter those words, we were both really, really, REALLY far away from our daughter, in daycare, in Brooklin.

So yeah, we screwed up.  He thought I was doing the pickup.  I thought he was.  Maddie's sitting at daycare (in my guilty imagination), lonely and wondering where her deadbeat parents are.

It's now 5:33pm.  We're already 3 minutes late.

"You need to FIGURE THIS OUT." and I hang up.  Because you know, I'm calm, cool and collected like that.

As I'm calling the daycare to out myself as possibly the worst parent on the planet...and throw myself at their feet to beg their forgiveness...Hubby calls me back.  

"BFF is going to do the pick up.  Maddie can fit in their infant car seat for the ride home."

Side note: this actually wasn't as illegal it sounds - she's REALLY tiny, and they have one of those massive infant seats that is made for Swedish people (haha - that's my own private joke, as Ikea makes some oversized furniture and I always think it must be because Swedes are larger... and not so funny as I type it out...).

So I call the daycare and let them know the plans.  And still beg their forgiveness.  In case they want to judge me.  Or think badly of me.  Or just wonder what kind of airhead parents we are, anyways, that we forget our kid at daycare.

Maddie was home and happy and all was safe and sound within 15 minutes.

Thanks BFF!  And um, sorry Maddie.  We won't forget you again...

xxoo.S

T-minus 8 hours...

...until I am officially on vacay.  Which is making these past two days a complete nightmare for work (cramming 5 days into 2 is tough, regardless).  And I know that while I'm off, I will still be working.  But isn't it delicious to know you don't have to.  You don't have to be answering emails.  You don't have to be checking things off your "list".

I'm not doing anything exciting - some errands, getting Maddie's shots, gardening.  You know - vacation-y stuff that you do when you don't actually go anywhere.

My mom is coming to visit and I hope we get lucky with weather, so we can spend as much time outside as possible.  Have a good week my bloggy peeps!

xxoo.S

Maddie milestone

This weekend Maddie and I were on our own, as Seth was off to a friend's cottage for opening of Pickerel season. Which meant... girls weekend! Woo hoo!  

We kicked it off Saturday morning by going to the mall. Because who better to shop for a bathing suit with, than your 19-month-old daughter? I think I tried on, like, 10,000 suits. And finally found one that would a) not ride up my bum crack constantly and b) fight Maddie's advances to publicly flash me again.  

After buying the dreaded bathing suit (ps, Sears?  I haven't shopped you in a while, and now I remember why...) we headed into the actual mall to pick up some CDs for Mommy and a frozen yogurt for Maddie. All was going well - Maddie was SUPER AWESOME the whole time. I love how well-behaved she is when shopping, and part of me believes the whole reason she is so awesome at the mall is because of all the times I took her out when she was only a millisecond old, as I was going stir-crazy in the house, and decided she needed to learn what the outdoors (and by outdoors, I mean inside the mall) looked like.

However, this weekend, I learned, by teaching her a love of the shops, I've created a monster.

Picture this - it's 11:30 and we need to head home to do the lunch thing, so she can do the nap thing, so I can do the housework thing. We stroll back to Sears, where I had parked initially. Take the elevator down to the bottom floor, and get out right next to the garden section. Decor for your garden, to be specific.

All of a sudden Maddie is twisting and reaching and squirming and repeating, "Pwetty, pwetty, pwetty, PWETTTTTYYYYYYY!!!!!!"

I look in the direction of all her kerfuffle, and see the ugliest ornamental crane/bird/creature made out of hammered tin. Um.....kay.

"You like the birdie, Maddie?" I ask, trying to stifle my urge to be like, DUDE, this is the ugliest godawful thing in the entire world and whatthehelliswrongwithyourtaste???

"YESH! Yesh. Pwetty. Tweet-tweet."

Right. So over we stroll. To the ugly bird-creature. Which I then see, costs $45. FORTY FIVE DOLLARS. Seriously? Um......kay. Time to do some redirection...

"Well that is an interesting looking bird, Maddie. And look at this - pretty butterfly, with all the crystals, and legitimate-prettiness..."

That worked. It got her mind off the bird. And she admired the butterfly (one of those cast-iron dealios that sit on a stick and bounce in your garden). It was pretty. It had crystals. She touched those a bit.

And then I decided it was time to leave.

"NOOOOOOOOOO. Pwetty! Maddie's pwetty. Maddie's. Maddie's. Mineminemineminemine PWWEEEETTTTTYYYYYYYYY!"

Redirection turns into a monster.  

I pick up the butterfly. It's only $12. Game. Check. Match.

And that is how Maddie hit her "Manipulate Mommy into buying me something at the store" milestone this weekend.

xxoo.S  

Waiting for the delivery

Check out my first Etsy purchase!  

They are crayon figurines.  In adorable kitty shapes!  I first saw them posted on babygadget, and my train of thought went something like this...

Maddie loves kitties...

Maddie loves crayons...

Maddie would love these!

So I linked through to KittyBabyLove's Etsy Shop and purchased a set of my own.  I'm quite excited about them.  

We had bought those Crayola ones that are specifically for toddlers - for the "palm grasp".  Except they still have a tip on them, and so when she just smashes the crayon around, she barely makes a mark.  These seem to apply the same concept, but since it's ALL crayon, it will make much more of a mark (let's just hope they're washable).

They should be here soon.  I'll let you know how they work...

xxoo.S

So over it

Teething.  I'm done.  It's kicked my ass since she was 3 months old.  

For the past 15 months, it's been a pile of bibs, drool, cold washcloths, teethers, hard plastic nig-nobs, frozen pieces of fruit, random pieces of metal (like my keys), small electronic devices (like my phone), teething tabs, baby tylenol and diaper rashes.

And the temper.  Oh the temper.

She has no tolerance for pain, clearly.  Or these are the sharpest, hardest, most painful teeth any human has ever had to endure.

On the days (weeks) that she's hardcore teething, we deal with a kid who's whiny. Who doesn't sleep. Who hates every and all food set in front of her. Who can't imagine the injustice of not having her binky in her mouth. AT. ALL. TIMES. 

And I have I mentioned the temper?

Hubby is going away for a fishing weekend, and with work being what it is right now, and this teething stage... they'll both be lucky if I don't run away and join the circus by Sunday...

xxoo.S

The daily face we see at mealtime...

Finding a family doctor - part 1

I titled this post with a Part 1, because I expect this will be a multi-step, frustrating-as-all-hell, process for our family.

Way back when, before we moved to the boonies, both hubby and I had family doctors that we both liked, in the city.  Like minutes from our doorstep.  

Lots of people had asked me if I was changing doctors/hospitals etc, when I moved.  Since I only had one month to go pregnancy-wise, I figured, nah, I'll just keep the same doctor for the time-being.  And that worked.  It worked for delivery (loved Mt Sinai).  And it worked for after-care (in my transition up the boondocks, it was a very nice excuse to get into the "city" when I had to take Maddie in for her well-baby checkups).

And then I went back to work.  And uh, a doctor all the way in downtown Toronto became a little less-than-convenient.  Hence, Maddie turning 19-months and still needing her 15-month shots...

Now, to be perfectly honest, I did find a new family doctor up here.  At the medical centre that is around the corner from our house.  I found her a long time ago actually, just a few months after Maddie was born.

And I hate her.

Sorry, I mean...

I HATE her.

H.A.T.E.

My first appointment with her was more of an "interview" of sorts.  Her interviewing us, I was told.  To determine if she wanted us to become part of her patient roster.  To get this interview, we had to wait over a month for an appointment to open up.  And then, on the day of the appointment, wait another hour in the waiting room.

For a five-minute interview.

We went over our history, she not-so-much listened, as she nodded her head in anticipation of everything I said, in a way that I felt, was saying, Lady, get ON with it.  And so I did.  I spoke as fast and as concisely as humanly possible.

I mean, it's only my NEWBORN CHILD, right?  Why shouldn't I just gloss over random things like my ALLERGY HISTORY and other inconsequential stuff?

So that was experience #1.  

Experience #2 was about 4 weeks later.  Maddie had woken up to nurse in the middle of the night and I noticed her eye was completely crusted closed.  Gross, right?  

So I called the doctor for an appointment.  Nothing available for WEEKS.  But luckily they host an after-hours clinic for patients only, from 5-8pm every night.  Okay, that's cool.  I'm home with her, we can totally make it into the office right for 5.  And she's a baby right?  They won't make me wait?

We waited for an hour.

They gave us a prescription for some drops and that was that.  Not a terrible experience (except, you know, the whole waiting for an HOUR bit).  In fact the doctor we saw was nice, personable and concerned.  Of course, she wasn't OUR doctor - and after I asked, told me, no, we couldn't switch to her practice.  Apparently inter-office stealing of patients isn't viewed as acceptable practice behaviour...

By then, I had decided I'd still take Maddie to our downtown doctor for her shots and checkups, and just use this doctor's office for "walk-in" type appointments - only when absolutely necessary.

I know some friends who are in the healthcare field have exploding heads at the above sentence - let me just say.  I don't care.  Yes, I was double-dipping with 2 doctors, and I don't care.  I think it's important you feel comfortable with your doctor.  Just because they're hard to find, doesn't mean we still shouldn't be choosy, does it?

Anyways, long story short, we went  to the walk-in part of the clinic a few other times.  Waited for freaking ever, each time.  And then came experience #6.

This was when Maddie had her first ear infection.  We had actually managed to get an appointment in the afternoon that day at last minute, which was suprising and delighting all in itself.  And so we arrived, and waited.  And waited.  And an hour later, were finally beckoned.

To wait in the room for another 20 minutes. Awesome.

Finally, our Doctor comes in.  She asks me what's wrong.  I start to explain the symptoms, what we noticed first, how it's escalated..... and......

She walks out of the room.

I'm literally in mid-sentence.

So we sit.  And we wait.  And 10 (or 2, but felt like 10) minutes pass.

And she arrives back all nonchalant.

I don't effing think so...

Me: "Um, that's a little rude, don't you think?"

Dr: "What?"

Me: "Leaving the room while I'm in mid-sentence, telling you my daughter's symptoms."

Dr: "Oh, I had to go get this (the ear thermometer)."

Me: "That's fine.  But you don't leave in mid-sentence."

Dr: "But I was coming right back?"

Me: "Again, I get that you weren't disappearing forever. Off the face of the earth." My voice is escalating at this point, and anyone who knows me, knows that so far, I've kept it so much more together than I normally would. And internally, I'm shaking with rage. At this rude doctor I've tried to like. Tried to deal with. And will. Not. Anymore. 

Me again: "But whether you were coming right back or not, you shouldn't leave while someone is speaking.  I mean, I'm sorry, but that's just plain rude."

Dr: "Yeah yeah yeah, she has a fever and has been coughing.  You had already said that."

Me (voice in serious escalation mode): "NO.  I had NOT said she had been COUGHING.  I was SAYING that she was starting to pull at her throat, so maybe...."

Dr (cutting me off again): "Yeah yeah, so she has infection, probably just a cold."

Me: "Right.  Fine.  Just take her temperature then."

Dr: "Now you're the one being rude."

Me: HEAD EXPLOSION.

So that's that.  I have vowed never to set foot in that office again.  Hence our day-trip downtown next week to our old Doctor for Maddie's 15-month shots.  And why I'm conducting another search.  

Fun and games.

xxoo.S

Hello growth spurt

I'm still kind of flabbergasted at how quickly these little monkeys can grow.  Do they do it in their sleep?  How can we not notice until one day they are 2 inches taller?  Lackadaisical parenting perhaps?

Anyways - Maddie has been eating us out of house and home lately.  I mean, we literally, could not fill this child up.  We would just finally stop offering food when her belly would get so big and hard that you couldn't imagine another bite fitting in there.

And this morning?  She no longer fits half her pants.  Great news for my friend, who has a 1-year-old that we frequently lend out Maddie's clothes too.  She's got a big bin with her name on it now.  

But the weirdo thing?  The 18-24 month stuff is still super large.  Is there a secret in between size that I don't know about?  Or should do I just roll up the bottoms of the larger pants and deal with it?  Whatever, not a big deal...

The extra fun part that we're dealing with now is the LACK of appetite that Miss Thing. As in, she WILL NOT EAT. (Disclaimer: unless it's cherry tomatoes or strawberries - perhaps it's just all things red?)

All I can think to myself, is cool.  I was totally looking forward to the picky eating stage.  Awesome.

RAGING SARCASM...

xxoo.S

Maddie swims

xxoo.S

Our weekend in a nutshell

We watched the Wrestler. 

I gardened (a LOT). 

Seth cleaned (the ENTIRE house).

Maddie played in the backyard, in the house, at the park.

I got my ass kicked by pilates (again).

Two out of four meals were bbq'd.

Seth did swimming lessons with Maddie this week (as I still haven't found a non-cleavage/flasher bathing suit).

Maddie can now say, "bike", "ruff ruff" (what a dog says), "sky", and "ready" (as in, "ready, set, go!" on the slide).

Seth golfed, I didn't.

I napped on Sunday, Seth didn't.

Must be going through another growth spurt because Maddie couldn't eat enough or drink enough milk. Maybe she will get some wear out of all the 18-24 month summer clothes I bought her.

And my work week started with a round of golf.  Nice!

xxoo.S

Maddie's catepillar

Maddie's catepillar she made earlier this week at daycare.  

It's now residing on Daddy's desk at work.

xxoo.S

18 things

I'd been planning to post a commemorative note to Maddie for her 18 month birthday (? is it called a birthday when it's not a full year?). And um, here we are, 13 days late. Anywho, my post is a nod to the recently popular meme called 25 things. Except this is 18 things. About Maddie. Specifically Maddie at 18 months...

1. You are binkie-obsessed. I am going to be That Mom who needs to write into Ask Moxie to find out how to break her 8-year-old daughter of her binkie habit.
2. "NO!" is getting old. Quickly. I'm pretty sure the terrible twos are going to be terrifying if this is the lead up.
3. Not to say that you're not adorably cute and developing the best sense of humour. Because you are - and your belly laugh is AWESOME.  
4. I also like that you think I'm the funniest person in the whole world. Because I am, you know.
5. Your hair is just long enough for pigtails now. And you are friggin' CUTE in pigtails.
6. Your favourite food is cherry tomatoes. Followed by a close second of blackberries, broccolli and salmon.
7. You're still super tiny. Like 12-18 month clothes - not even close to growing out of those. 
8. I love that you are as obsessed with shoes as I am. I foresee a lot of fun shopping trips in our future.
9. My favourite time of the day is when you first wake up - you've always been such a morning person - even as a teeny tiny baby. Who did you get this from?
10. The kitty is old. Please stop sitting on him. He's not a chair.
11. You are starting to string together sentences. Possibly one of the cutest things when I pick you up from daycare is when you say "Mommy car-car" when I'm strapping you into your seat. Dude - you're smart!
12. I love the crafts you bring home from daycare. This week, you brought home an egg-carton catepillar. It now lives on Daddy's desk at work.
13. You're still obsessed with Loonette the Clown on Big Comfy Couch. I guess it's not Barney, so I can't really complain.
14. You love daycare. You love Annette ('Nette!) and all the kids and I love that you don't cry when I drop you off.
15. You love the park, but hate the sand. You think it's "dirty". I think that's hilarious, because you actually got this princess attitude from your Daddy, not me. 
16. We started swimming lessons last week, and you love the water. And the other kids. You are friendly and fearless and my heart swells with pride at how well you behave. But if you flash my boob to the public again, I'll dunk you.
17. Thank you for starting to sleep through the night again. Because, that? Was getting old quickly. And your Daddy and I are old. And in need of sleep. Lots of it, please.
18. Life with an 18-month old is awesome. Seriously. We are loving this stage and you are (relatively) cooperative, and understand a tonne and can say a lot, and just learning-absorbing-communicating at a level that makes me wonder why we couldn't have gotten here a lot sooner. Because this stage? Is fun. And cool. And we love you and we love life and everything rocks right now. And having said that, I know I've jinxed everything...

xxoo.S