That's right. First day of daycare - hotdogs for lunch. Second day of daycare - nachos.
Seth is getting seriously jealous of Maddie's new diet.
Me - I'm coping. I re-read these posts, and I realize I'm coming off like a pious health nut.
And if you really knew me, you'd know that's really not me. In fact, I've been known to argue the validity of pie for breakfast.
But for some reason, I've been extra vigilant in trying to avoid all those "junk foods" that kids often get fed, because they're convenient. Hot dogs, kraft dinner, nachos... Preservative-laden, nitrate-ridden, processed foods.
I mean, every once in a while, it's fine. But not everyday... Anyone with me on this?
In all other aspects, this provider is fantabulous. Maddie is loving it there (she barely glances back when I drop her off - and this is only day 3!), there's lots of other kiddies around and they have a structure to their day, which I really like to see.
So I guess I have to give a little, right?
xxoo.S
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
What's going on here?
Yep - it's a new blog layout. Because clearly I'm not busy enough, I needed to add "completely redesign blog template" to my list of to-dos. Riiiiight. So it's rough. And in need of a colour massage. And a few other hacks that I'm not finding so easily right yet. But for now - here's our slightly more interesting bloggie-space.
Anywho - back to basics: My mom and stepdad came up to visit this weekend - that's why you haven't heard from us (me). It was a busy weekend starting as of Friday early afternoon. Besides general familial visiting, they were also up to make good on a Christmas gift. Which was to build a workbench in my garage.
I cannot tell you how exciting this is for me. I've been wanting to create some organization to our plethora of tools and random bits for over a year. Bags and baskets and bins and boxes of these things have been moved from corner to corner in our basement, and then finally up to the garage, where they lay on the floor, waiting for someone to come use them. Except we can't, because we don't know where anything is, or frankly, what we even have (which is why we have like, 5, levels - because we just keep buying more).
Sooooo - now I have my workbench. And my shelves. And my pegboard. Oh joy. Oh fun. Now I just need some actual time to spend out there, uninterrupted, to organize it all.
In other news - Maddie started at the new daycare today. From all accounts, she coped really well. Was a little shy, hung back a bit at first, but quickly came around and was right in there playing. Slept for 2 hours in the afternoon, and ate, ummm, hot.dogs. for lunch. Yep. Hot dogs. Not to sound all snobbery, but I've been avoiding feeding her hotdogs since she started eating solids. And now, she gets them for her very first lunch.
As Seth said - it's not like she's not going to eat hot dogs another thousand times. What's the big deal.
Indeed. I guess there isn't one. Except I died a little bit inside when I found that out. Hot dogs are just so. Gross. There. I said it.
On the upside, we get a written synopsis of Maddie's day now. At the end of each day. It includes how many diapers (wet vs full), her mood, what she drank (how many oz) and ate (mmmmm - hotdog!), how long she slept and general activities of the day. All in all - it's a fairly complete summary of her entire day. Pretty cool really.
In fact, as I read through her first daily synopsis, I realized, Yup. We totally made the right decision. And this daycare? Totally worth the $$$.
xxoo.S
Anywho - back to basics: My mom and stepdad came up to visit this weekend - that's why you haven't heard from us (me). It was a busy weekend starting as of Friday early afternoon. Besides general familial visiting, they were also up to make good on a Christmas gift. Which was to build a workbench in my garage.
I cannot tell you how exciting this is for me. I've been wanting to create some organization to our plethora of tools and random bits for over a year. Bags and baskets and bins and boxes of these things have been moved from corner to corner in our basement, and then finally up to the garage, where they lay on the floor, waiting for someone to come use them. Except we can't, because we don't know where anything is, or frankly, what we even have (which is why we have like, 5, levels - because we just keep buying more).
Sooooo - now I have my workbench. And my shelves. And my pegboard. Oh joy. Oh fun. Now I just need some actual time to spend out there, uninterrupted, to organize it all.
In other news - Maddie started at the new daycare today. From all accounts, she coped really well. Was a little shy, hung back a bit at first, but quickly came around and was right in there playing. Slept for 2 hours in the afternoon, and ate, ummm, hot.dogs. for lunch. Yep. Hot dogs. Not to sound all snobbery, but I've been avoiding feeding her hotdogs since she started eating solids. And now, she gets them for her very first lunch.
As Seth said - it's not like she's not going to eat hot dogs another thousand times. What's the big deal.
Indeed. I guess there isn't one. Except I died a little bit inside when I found that out. Hot dogs are just so. Gross. There. I said it.
On the upside, we get a written synopsis of Maddie's day now. At the end of each day. It includes how many diapers (wet vs full), her mood, what she drank (how many oz) and ate (mmmmm - hotdog!), how long she slept and general activities of the day. All in all - it's a fairly complete summary of her entire day. Pretty cool really.
In fact, as I read through her first daily synopsis, I realized, Yup. We totally made the right decision. And this daycare? Totally worth the $$$.
xxoo.S
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Bang-tastic! Or bang-butchery...
I have followed in the age-old rite of passage for all moms. Butchering their child's hair in an effort to "trim her bangs".
Something I always promised myself I would never do.
*sigh*
I guess Maddie can just add that to the list of disappointments when she's 14 and telling me all the reasons I am a terrible, horrible, mother.
On the positive side of things - she now looks like an extra in the Lil Rascals with her toothless grin and scraggly hair. Undeniably cute!
xxoo.S
Something I always promised myself I would never do.
*sigh*
I guess Maddie can just add that to the list of disappointments when she's 14 and telling me all the reasons I am a terrible, horrible, mother.
On the positive side of things - she now looks like an extra in the Lil Rascals with her toothless grin and scraggly hair. Undeniably cute!
xxoo.S
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Driving me slightly crazy
Maddie's obsession with the cat dishes continues. It's now all about the water dish. She goes over to stir* the water with her spoons from her tea set. She takes the cups from her tea set over and scoops out water and drinks** it. She takes her wooden food over to the water dish and washes*** them.
I'm so tired of mopping up water, it's annoying. Not to mention the grossness of thinking about her ingesting the kitty water... gross. And again, annoying. Full stop.
xxoo.S
*By "stir" I mean splash water everywhere with the spoon.
** And by "drink" I mean scoops the water out with the cup and pours it down herself, on the floor, everywhere it can possibly reach.
***And by "wash" I mean dunk them in the water, and then proceed to suck the water off them and throw the wet dripping pieces around. Do it again. And again. Andagainandagainandagain.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Daycare drama
It's been a whirlwind week, both Seth and I being busy with insane work schedules (as always it seems - what happened to my supposed 20-30hr work week?). Add to that the stress of ending daycare with our current provider, and gearing up to starting with a new provider (Alexise, our current provider, is going on maternity leave) next week.
Good thing I know that I was neurotic and crazy before ever becoming a mom - so really, nothings changed for me...
Except, now we're not.
So here's the story...
We had been interviewing frantically starting in December, trying to line up a new daycare provider before Alexise went on mat leave. We found a provider that seemed okay, and she was the same price as what we were currently paying for 4 days. So, bonus, right?
Except I never really felt all that comfortable with this new provider. Why was she so much cheaper than all the other daycares we had called? And why didn't her children, that were home with her, integrate with the other kids in the daycare (they stayed upstairs all day apparently)? And why didn't she have any paint or pictures on her walls? (yes, I realize I'm a weirdo - but it made the "home" seem really sterile. Like "just-moved-in" sterile).
But her hours worked, and like I said - there wasn't anything "technically" wrong with her. So we sent her an email and said we were signing on, and that we'd like to start Jan 26th.
And then Christmas came and went. And January started flying by. And the closer we got to the 26th, the more I started to stress about this new daycare. Until I finally just started combing through any new ads that had been posted, and calling those daycares.
Then, Thursday of this past week, I interviewed a lady. Who. Was. Fantastic. She teaches sign language (meaning, she'll continue our efforts - awesome!). She has 4 other little ones in her care, a bunch of pre-school and after-school kids. Her home is set up like a "daycare". And she was just warm. Nice and friendly. Business-like, but clearly loved kids. And asked to hold Maddie (do you know how often providers DON'T do this when you're interviewing? Seems so odd to me)...
And of course, she's FAR more expensive than what we're currently (or were planning on) paying. Of course she is.
And of course she needed an answer from us by Friday, because she had someone else lined up for the spot, but because we could start right away, she'd be willing to go with us.
So on Friday, during the busiest of all days this work week, I also had to sort this out in my (our) mind. Which did we go with? Was I being unreasonable and weird with my "instinct" choice? But did we really want to make our decision on daycare based on $$$?
In the end, we went with the fantastic provider. Maddie starts on Feb 2nd. I emailed the other provider and apologized profusely about cancelling at such short notice (don't feel that bad for her - she still had her ad posted, which was another weirdo thing to me).
And now she's back with Alexise for one more week. Haha. I expect everyone thinks I am a neurotic crazy mom.
Good thing I know that I was neurotic and crazy before ever becoming a mom - so really, nothings changed for me...
xxoo.S
Thursday, January 22, 2009
She did it again...
...last night. Slept-through. I woke up refreshed, and happy, and well... Not. Tired.
But I wonder why? Why are some nights now sleep-through nights, and some are still wake up nights?
As it gets later in the evening and my early-morning-serious-work-stuff-meeting looms, I find myself dreading the night (if there's a wake up) and fantasizing about it being another sleep-through night...
Inconsistency. Thy name is Madeleine...
xxoo.S
But I wonder why? Why are some nights now sleep-through nights, and some are still wake up nights?
As it gets later in the evening and my early-morning-serious-work-stuff-meeting looms, I find myself dreading the night (if there's a wake up) and fantasizing about it being another sleep-through night...
Inconsistency. Thy name is Madeleine...
xxoo.S
TV obsessed zombie?
When Maddie was a baby I was obsessed with her NOT watching any tv at all. I had read reports, studies, all sorts of things about how TV causes autism, TV causes aggressive behaviour, and how TV makes lazy kids (because they're being passively entertained, instead of going out there and "playing")...
I caught a lot of flak (or just "discreet" eyerolls) from my friends and family, especially whenever I actually tried to explain why I was against her watching TV at such a young age. I mean, seriously? She was a B.A.B.Y. It always struck me as strange that I even had to justify why I didn't want to put my 6 month old in front of the tv...
In the end, I ate my words and have started to introduce some TV into Maddie's day. Again (no judgement!) I REALLY don't believe in using TV as a babysitter. I don't believe that TV is the same as actually "playing". And I don't let her watch more than an hour of TV a day - meaning the TV isn't on as "background noise". My "background noise" is music (again, no judgement - I swear!).
But that hour? Her "shows"? Ohmygod she's obsessed. Like, completely and utterly obsessed with Loonette the clown on the Big Comfy Couch. And slightly less obsessed with anything Elmo on Play With Me Sesame. And turns into a scary-quiet-zombie for In the Night Garden.
What do you think Moms? How do you deal with the zombie-like-attraction that toddlers seem to have to the TV?
It's almost disturbing how zombie-like she gets for certain shows. And while I'm all for the educational value of some shows (or just getting 25 mins of peace so that I can make dinner) ... but I don't want her to turn into a couch potato and miss out on actual "live play" learning experiences. So for now, we will continue to limit her exposure. But that's just me - what do you guys think?
xxoo.S
PS - here's a pic of my little zombie watching tv from a "safe" distance in her chair!
I caught a lot of flak (or just "discreet" eyerolls) from my friends and family, especially whenever I actually tried to explain why I was against her watching TV at such a young age. I mean, seriously? She was a B.A.B.Y. It always struck me as strange that I even had to justify why I didn't want to put my 6 month old in front of the tv...
In the end, I ate my words and have started to introduce some TV into Maddie's day. Again (no judgement!) I REALLY don't believe in using TV as a babysitter. I don't believe that TV is the same as actually "playing". And I don't let her watch more than an hour of TV a day - meaning the TV isn't on as "background noise". My "background noise" is music (again, no judgement - I swear!).
But that hour? Her "shows"? Ohmygod she's obsessed. Like, completely and utterly obsessed with Loonette the clown on the Big Comfy Couch. And slightly less obsessed with anything Elmo on Play With Me Sesame. And turns into a scary-quiet-zombie for In the Night Garden.
What do you think Moms? How do you deal with the zombie-like-attraction that toddlers seem to have to the TV?
It's almost disturbing how zombie-like she gets for certain shows. And while I'm all for the educational value of some shows (or just getting 25 mins of peace so that I can make dinner) ... but I don't want her to turn into a couch potato and miss out on actual "live play" learning experiences. So for now, we will continue to limit her exposure. But that's just me - what do you guys think?
xxoo.S
PS - here's a pic of my little zombie watching tv from a "safe" distance in her chair!
Monday, January 19, 2009
5 day streak ... ended.
Well, it was a good run. It was enjoyable. I, personally, LOVED it.
But the "sleep through the night" streak has ended. And she went out with a bang - woke up last night (this morning?) at 5am quite upset. I tried to shush her through it, but in the end, it was a bottle that we needed.
Oh Maddie.....
xxoo.S
But the "sleep through the night" streak has ended. And she went out with a bang - woke up last night (this morning?) at 5am quite upset. I tried to shush her through it, but in the end, it was a bottle that we needed.
Oh Maddie.....
xxoo.S
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Happy birthday to meeeeeee
Birthday pluses:
- I got to sleep in until 9:30 - ah deliciousness! Oh - and that's on top of a 4-th consecutive sleep-thru-the-night night for Maddie. Woo-double-hoo
- Got my annual Swarvoski ornament and a pair of slippers. Oh and some scratch cards - that I even won a couple of bucks on!
- About to go have a luxurious bubble bath and then head out for a mani/pedi (my bday treat to myself).
- Maddie is in devil-child-state today. Currently napping (FAR earlier than she usually goes down - like 2 hrs earlier than she should be sleeping) because the calamity of being awake was JUST. TOO. MUCH. And we have a kids bday party scheduled for later today - goodlordhelpusall...
- xxoo.S
Friday, January 16, 2009
The end of a long week
It's been a long week here at the Vallier household. Work-wise both Seth and I have been run off our feet - arriving home late, or completely missing the bedtime routine (I didn't get home from work until 10:30pm last night). Needless to say, we're both glad it's Friday...
And while I hate to jinx it (because we all know me even mentioning it will make this behaviour cease - but I can't resist bragging a bit)... Maddie has been sleeping through the night this week. 3 days in a row in fact. It's an incredible feeling, going to sleep and not expecting to be woken up. I didn't even realize how stressful it is going to sleep, expecting that you were going to be woken up in just a few hours. I didn't realize how stressful it was until I realized how much more relaxed I was going to bed the last couple of nights.
And yes - that means that I've gotten used to the privilege of sleeping through the night ridiculously quickly - I'm sure it means that tonight she will awaken at least 5 times and I will quietly lose my mind again...
Have a wonderful weekend peeps. I've got a date night planned with the hubby for Saturday which will involve a pampered dinner (completely with copious amounts of wine I can only hope), and maybe a movie, maybe stopping in to visit at a friend's birthday party...
In the meantime I will leave you with a cute-bum-pic... gotta love Levi's - they always make a girl's bum look good...
xxoo.S
And while I hate to jinx it (because we all know me even mentioning it will make this behaviour cease - but I can't resist bragging a bit)... Maddie has been sleeping through the night this week. 3 days in a row in fact. It's an incredible feeling, going to sleep and not expecting to be woken up. I didn't even realize how stressful it is going to sleep, expecting that you were going to be woken up in just a few hours. I didn't realize how stressful it was until I realized how much more relaxed I was going to bed the last couple of nights.
And yes - that means that I've gotten used to the privilege of sleeping through the night ridiculously quickly - I'm sure it means that tonight she will awaken at least 5 times and I will quietly lose my mind again...
Have a wonderful weekend peeps. I've got a date night planned with the hubby for Saturday which will involve a pampered dinner (completely with copious amounts of wine I can only hope), and maybe a movie, maybe stopping in to visit at a friend's birthday party...
In the meantime I will leave you with a cute-bum-pic... gotta love Levi's - they always make a girl's bum look good...
xxoo.S
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
A ladies weekend
This past weekend I had my very good, very old (old in friendship, not in age!) friend, Stefanie, up for a visit.
With Seth away for the weekend doing his infernal football fantasy draft weekend thingamabob, I decided what any self-respecting wifey would do. I organized a little weekend of my own. Including good girlfriends, good food (CAKE!) and good wine.
And it's always nice to have extra hands on deck to help out with the little monster. She's busybusybusy these days. I'm sure most 15 mos-olds are like this, but it literally feels like she spins circles around me and it's all I can do to keep up.
It was also L's birthday (which accounts for the CAKE! mention above) ... I hope she had a good time. I guess anything is okay when you've gotten kicked out of your house on your birthday weekend (her hubby was the host of the football weekend).
So that's that. We gossipped. And chatted. And laughed. And ate and ate and ate. You know, the things girls over the age of 30 do very very well...
This weekend is my bday - going out for dinner w/ the hubs while the little monster gets babysat by her Auntie L. I'm already picking out my dinner (and the accompanying drinks) in my head. Work has been nightmare-crazy for both Seth and I think week, so there will be a fair number of drinkies imbibed I expect.
I'll update you on our shinanigans on Sunday. In the meantime - watch Maddie eat cucumber and sign "please"...
xxoo.S
With Seth away for the weekend doing his infernal football fantasy draft weekend thingamabob, I decided what any self-respecting wifey would do. I organized a little weekend of my own. Including good girlfriends, good food (CAKE!) and good wine.
And it's always nice to have extra hands on deck to help out with the little monster. She's busybusybusy these days. I'm sure most 15 mos-olds are like this, but it literally feels like she spins circles around me and it's all I can do to keep up.
It was also L's birthday (which accounts for the CAKE! mention above) ... I hope she had a good time. I guess anything is okay when you've gotten kicked out of your house on your birthday weekend (her hubby was the host of the football weekend).
So that's that. We gossipped. And chatted. And laughed. And ate and ate and ate. You know, the things girls over the age of 30 do very very well...
This weekend is my bday - going out for dinner w/ the hubs while the little monster gets babysat by her Auntie L. I'm already picking out my dinner (and the accompanying drinks) in my head. Work has been nightmare-crazy for both Seth and I think week, so there will be a fair number of drinkies imbibed I expect.
I'll update you on our shinanigans on Sunday. In the meantime - watch Maddie eat cucumber and sign "please"...
xxoo.S
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Holiday pics
Our little Christmas Elf - on Christmas Eve night
Feeding her new dolly
Playing with her new kitchen that Santa brought her
All dressed up on on our way for a Christmas visit to Grandpa & Grandma Burke's
Maddie getting a New Year's Eve hug
Guess who the DD was. And who wasn't...
Spending a morning playing at Little Feet indoor playground during Daddy's holidays
Maddie's new playroom!Lots more pics uploaded to our Flickr account - but I realized after I uploaded, that we didn't really take any pics of our trip in Kingston. Good thing the Grandma's have cameras...
xxoo.S
xxoo.S
Friday, January 2, 2009
"Moo"
Our miss muffet has started to say more words. If only we could actually figure out what those words meant.
- She definitely says "juice" (juuush) - and if she wants it really badly she actually says it more clearly.
- She says "orange" (ainch) while we're peeling the orange segments for her after dinner.
- "HI!!!" is a new favourite, accompanied by drastic hand waving. Oh, and "HI!!!" also means bye. Whatever...
- We've been getting a lot of "yes" (YESHHH) to everything. Hey, better than no, right?
- "Daddy" used to be "dada", but is now just DA! As in, DA! What're you doing? DA! Give me some juuuush!
- "Mommy" is getting better - a bit more "mama" than just "mem" nowadays.
- And her new favourite word as of yesterday is "MOO". What is "MOO"? We're not really sure. Thought it could be "more", and that it could mean the character Lunette, on her new favourite show, Big Comfy Couch. But honestly, I think she said "MOO" to me tonight. I may still be carrying extra weight kid, but I'm not a cow. Jeesh...
Christmas bonanza and a sick new years
Wow - time for an update post. Hold on to your hats, I think it's gonna be a long one...
After a delish dinner on Christmas Eve (Seth bbq'd up some steaks that had been marinating over 24 hrs in the fridge), and a few glasses of wine, we put the munchkin to bed and played Santa. So much fun setting up the stockings, setting up her kitchen, getting everything to look just "so". Seth had surmised that we should hold off on setting up the kitchen, as it would be too distracting for her when opening the rest of the presents, I disagreed. Guess who was right, the next morning?
We had decided a while ago to spend Christmas morning at home, something we'll be doing every year, as I want Maddie to experience Santa and all that's involved in her own house each year. After opening presents, eating breakfast, opening more presents, playing with her toys, etc etc etc, we finally got on the road to Kingston. I think it was around noon when we left, and she fell right asleep.
Traffic was not so bad, and we arrived at my Aunt Reta's in Harrowsmith within 2.5 hrs, with a delayed stop at Timmies on the way. Maddie had woken up at that point, and was g.r.u.m.p.y., but seeing the doggies (da!) at Aunt Reta's, she perked right up. We ate an early dinner there, and opened presents with Grandma and Grandpa Thompson. Then we drove into Amherstview to spend the night. Maddie slept extremely well for the first time in a playpen - it was refreshing that we now know she'll sleep in one - yayyy!
Boxing Day morning we opened more presents with Grandma & Grandpa Thompson, then got dressed and did the whole thing over again (including the turkey dinner) at Grandma and Grandpa Vallier's. Grandma Vallier had a cold and I think Maddie and I caught it, because the next day was a lazy one, and included a (much-needed) long nap for Maddie.
Sunday we visited Grandma and Grandpa Burke, where Maddie (being sick and perhaps a bit overtired from all the excitement of the past few days) was a little grumpy at first. She warmed up eventually and ate yummy salad and tortiere for lunch, and then tortured their poor cat for a while. That night we put Maddie down to sleep and Seth and I snuck out to catch a movie. Unfortunately for Grandma & Grandpa Vallier, the munchkin didn't go to sleep easily. Fortunately for us, the movie was a long one (Curious Case of Benjamin Button - great! loved it! go see it!)... so that meant by the time we got home she was (finally) asleep.
Monday morning we packed up early and headed home. It was a long drive, and by the time we got home everyone was exhausted. We tried to unpack what we could. And keep Maddie happy for as long as we could, but she ended up going down for a late afternoon nap, which meant she was up a little later than usual. But that was okay because we had Greg & Liz visiting as they had just gotten home from their trip to Florida.
We had dinner and some drinks and chatted until late in the evening. The next day, Seth and Maddie spent lots of time together while I worked. More of the same on Wednesday - Seth even took her grocery shopping!! I guess there's a first for everything.
Wed night was New Years Eve and we headed to a friend's house for a potluck (Top-Chef-Style) competition and some new years cheer. I was still sick, so after trying to choke down a few drinks, I gave up and put on my DD hat.
Yesterday was another lazy day, with Seth hungover for most of it. I managed to take the Christmas decorations down though, and set up the front room as an "official" playroom now. I must take some pics and post them for you - I'm so glad to finally have a use for this useless room. At least until we finish the rec room and her toys get relegated to the basement... hmmm - don't see that happening in the near(ish) future.
So that's it - there's your update on what the Vallier's have been up to. It's 1:30 and Maddie is down for her nap after a busy morning at Little Feet (indoor play gym) with Mommy & Daddy. Daddy is napping too, and I'm supposed to be working....
xxoo.S
After a delish dinner on Christmas Eve (Seth bbq'd up some steaks that had been marinating over 24 hrs in the fridge), and a few glasses of wine, we put the munchkin to bed and played Santa. So much fun setting up the stockings, setting up her kitchen, getting everything to look just "so". Seth had surmised that we should hold off on setting up the kitchen, as it would be too distracting for her when opening the rest of the presents, I disagreed. Guess who was right, the next morning?
We had decided a while ago to spend Christmas morning at home, something we'll be doing every year, as I want Maddie to experience Santa and all that's involved in her own house each year. After opening presents, eating breakfast, opening more presents, playing with her toys, etc etc etc, we finally got on the road to Kingston. I think it was around noon when we left, and she fell right asleep.
Traffic was not so bad, and we arrived at my Aunt Reta's in Harrowsmith within 2.5 hrs, with a delayed stop at Timmies on the way. Maddie had woken up at that point, and was g.r.u.m.p.y., but seeing the doggies (da!) at Aunt Reta's, she perked right up. We ate an early dinner there, and opened presents with Grandma and Grandpa Thompson. Then we drove into Amherstview to spend the night. Maddie slept extremely well for the first time in a playpen - it was refreshing that we now know she'll sleep in one - yayyy!
Boxing Day morning we opened more presents with Grandma & Grandpa Thompson, then got dressed and did the whole thing over again (including the turkey dinner) at Grandma and Grandpa Vallier's. Grandma Vallier had a cold and I think Maddie and I caught it, because the next day was a lazy one, and included a (much-needed) long nap for Maddie.
Sunday we visited Grandma and Grandpa Burke, where Maddie (being sick and perhaps a bit overtired from all the excitement of the past few days) was a little grumpy at first. She warmed up eventually and ate yummy salad and tortiere for lunch, and then tortured their poor cat for a while. That night we put Maddie down to sleep and Seth and I snuck out to catch a movie. Unfortunately for Grandma & Grandpa Vallier, the munchkin didn't go to sleep easily. Fortunately for us, the movie was a long one (Curious Case of Benjamin Button - great! loved it! go see it!)... so that meant by the time we got home she was (finally) asleep.
Monday morning we packed up early and headed home. It was a long drive, and by the time we got home everyone was exhausted. We tried to unpack what we could. And keep Maddie happy for as long as we could, but she ended up going down for a late afternoon nap, which meant she was up a little later than usual. But that was okay because we had Greg & Liz visiting as they had just gotten home from their trip to Florida.
We had dinner and some drinks and chatted until late in the evening. The next day, Seth and Maddie spent lots of time together while I worked. More of the same on Wednesday - Seth even took her grocery shopping!! I guess there's a first for everything.
Wed night was New Years Eve and we headed to a friend's house for a potluck (Top-Chef-Style) competition and some new years cheer. I was still sick, so after trying to choke down a few drinks, I gave up and put on my DD hat.
Yesterday was another lazy day, with Seth hungover for most of it. I managed to take the Christmas decorations down though, and set up the front room as an "official" playroom now. I must take some pics and post them for you - I'm so glad to finally have a use for this useless room. At least until we finish the rec room and her toys get relegated to the basement... hmmm - don't see that happening in the near(ish) future.
So that's it - there's your update on what the Vallier's have been up to. It's 1:30 and Maddie is down for her nap after a busy morning at Little Feet (indoor play gym) with Mommy & Daddy. Daddy is napping too, and I'm supposed to be working....
xxoo.S
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Happy holidays
Looking at my last post, I realized I didn't want to leave you all without a Merry Christmas wish...Hope you all have a wonderful holiday. That Santa is very good to you and yours. That you eat well, you drink (very!) well, and you have lots and lots of merry moments.
Love,
The Valliers
Sleep much?
Our little non-sleeping-loveable-little-miss (oh-god-why-can't-you-just-figure-out-how-to-sleep-thru??!?!?) has taken to waking up at 6am these days.
Consistently.
Luckily she wakes up in a good mood and is happy enough to play with her stuffies and music box in her crib for a bit (read: 30 minutes), while I continue to doze.
But I'm not "sleeping". I'm dozing. Big difference. Especially in energy levels as the day (week) goes on.
I'm thinking she's getting older, maybe we need to move her bedtime a bit later? Instead of the 7-7:30-ish time that she is currently going to bed, maybe we need to move it to 8pm?
I don't know. I'm sure I could research the "appropriate time for a 14 month old to go to bed" - but I thought I'd just ask the experienced moms out there. What do you think? Is this an anomoly because she's a) teething, b) soaking thru her dipe, or c) an non-sleeping demon that has been put on this earth to slowly torture me through sleep-deprivation techniques?
And really - should I just move her bedtime and hope for the best?
xxoo.S
Consistently.
Luckily she wakes up in a good mood and is happy enough to play with her stuffies and music box in her crib for a bit (read: 30 minutes), while I continue to doze.
But I'm not "sleeping". I'm dozing. Big difference. Especially in energy levels as the day (week) goes on.
I'm thinking she's getting older, maybe we need to move her bedtime a bit later? Instead of the 7-7:30-ish time that she is currently going to bed, maybe we need to move it to 8pm?
I don't know. I'm sure I could research the "appropriate time for a 14 month old to go to bed" - but I thought I'd just ask the experienced moms out there. What do you think? Is this an anomoly because she's a) teething, b) soaking thru her dipe, or c) an non-sleeping demon that has been put on this earth to slowly torture me through sleep-deprivation techniques?
And really - should I just move her bedtime and hope for the best?
xxoo.S
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Her first "official" haircut
This morning, after doing some Christmas errands, we took Maddie to get her first haircut. I say first, because while I have trimmed her bangs a few times, there was no way I was going to attempt cutting the back of her hair.
An adorable children's haircutting place opened up near us - Melonhead - and after sticking my head in the other day to check it out, I couldn't resist booking an appointment for Miss Maddie.
It is honestly the coolest hair salon ever! Instead of barber chairs, they have little planes, trains and cars for the little ones to sit in. They bring a bunch of toys for your child to play with while they're doing their thing, and there are a bunch of tv's tuned to Treehouse throughout the shop.
We were greeted by name, Maddie got to pick her "chair" and after being given some My Little Ponies to play with, the shawl was whisked on and the hairstylist started cutting. And she was fast! I'm guessing it's a trick of the trade, try to get it over as quickly as possible before the kid starts squirming.
After shopping for the past hour and a half, and because it was 11:30 (so just before lunchtime), I expected Maddie to give a bit of a hard time. Nope - of course she didn't. She was totally awesome, to the point that a few of the other stylists came over to comment on just how amazing she was acting.
And because it was her first haircut, she got a certificate, a picture and they collected some hair for us. And of course our little "ham" smiled very nicely for the picture! (Who's the rockstar in the glasses? heh.)
xxoo.S
An adorable children's haircutting place opened up near us - Melonhead - and after sticking my head in the other day to check it out, I couldn't resist booking an appointment for Miss Maddie.
It is honestly the coolest hair salon ever! Instead of barber chairs, they have little planes, trains and cars for the little ones to sit in. They bring a bunch of toys for your child to play with while they're doing their thing, and there are a bunch of tv's tuned to Treehouse throughout the shop.
We were greeted by name, Maddie got to pick her "chair" and after being given some My Little Ponies to play with, the shawl was whisked on and the hairstylist started cutting. And she was fast! I'm guessing it's a trick of the trade, try to get it over as quickly as possible before the kid starts squirming.
After shopping for the past hour and a half, and because it was 11:30 (so just before lunchtime), I expected Maddie to give a bit of a hard time. Nope - of course she didn't. She was totally awesome, to the point that a few of the other stylists came over to comment on just how amazing she was acting.And because it was her first haircut, she got a certificate, a picture and they collected some hair for us. And of course our little "ham" smiled very nicely for the picture! (Who's the rockstar in the glasses? heh.)
xxoo.S
Friday, December 19, 2008
Personal Santa Message!
I know Maddie won't "get" it this year - but how cute is this??? Check out Maddie's personalized message straight from the big man himself, courtesy of our friends at Sympatico MSN...
How cool is that!?
xxoo.S
How cool is that!?
xxoo.S
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A day in the life (Or: eating from the floor like a dog…)
I wake up hearing Maddie sing-song-ing to herself in her crib. It’s not even 7am yet. I need a shower, I need to brush my teeth, I need to get dressed. All before she decides she’s not happy in her crib anymore and wants out NOWNOWNOWNOW.
I do all these things in under 10 mins, while Daddy helps keep Maddie happy and gets her dressed (and yes, she looks like her Daddy got her dressed – whatever, it’s just daycare, its not a fashion show).
He does the hand-off, while I’m putting on makeup and trying to make my hair not look like it hasn’t just been wet down in the shower and left to die.
Maddie plays in the bathroom cupboards, obsessed with my pick, hairbands, and lipgloss.
I grab extra diapers, my fancy work boots and a sweater for her. We head downstairs for breakfast.
I start to get some breakfast together, while she gets milk in a sippy cup that she proceeds to throw a) at the tv, b) over the baby gate into the dining room, and c) into the green bin under the sink (she’s OBSESSED with the green bin!!!).
I wrestle her into her highchair. I give her the cut up banana and her milk while I get the toast ready. As I’m buttering the toast, with my back to her, I hear a) the sippy cup get tossed to the ground, and b) slap, slap, slap as a bunch of banana falls to the ground.
I give her some toast, and try to swallow some down myself while I make her lunch. I’m mashing avocado, scooping cottage cheese and cutting up pear while she yells screams yells at me.
She’s now eaten maybe 2 pieces of banana, and 1/8 of a piece of toast. I try some yogurt. She grabs at the container, jamming her fist into the yogurt and spreads it across her face. I force feed the rest into her while she screams at me. Then I wipe her face, her hands, her forehead, part of her hair and the tray down.
I let her down from the chair, she immediately picks up a piece of toast and throws it at me. Then mashes a fallen banana piece into the floor with her foot.
I gather up the banana pieces and throw them into the green bin. I pick up the toast and (without realizing what I’m doing), eat it.
Yes. I eat toast that has been thrown on the floor. Twice.
And not only that – even as I realize I’ve just eaten off my floor like a dog, I pick up another (non-mashed piece of banana) from the seat of her chair and eat that too.
She plays with the phone, calling god-knows-where, while I finish packing her lunch. I run this, my computer bag, her diaper bag and my purse out to the car. I get my jacket and boots on. I chase her around the living room, trying to get her jacket on.
I manage to wrestle her jacket on, find a spare binkie and get her into the car seat. I return to the house to find my keys and blackberry. And we’re off. I drop her at daycare and head to work.
I realize I left my tea and my lunch on the counter in the kitchen.
Oh well – at least I ate half a slice of floor-toast.
Yum.
xxoo.S
PS - don't feel too badly for me. There were fancy croissants in the kitchen at work when I got into the office. So I'm good...
I do all these things in under 10 mins, while Daddy helps keep Maddie happy and gets her dressed (and yes, she looks like her Daddy got her dressed – whatever, it’s just daycare, its not a fashion show).
He does the hand-off, while I’m putting on makeup and trying to make my hair not look like it hasn’t just been wet down in the shower and left to die.
Maddie plays in the bathroom cupboards, obsessed with my pick, hairbands, and lipgloss.
I grab extra diapers, my fancy work boots and a sweater for her. We head downstairs for breakfast.
I start to get some breakfast together, while she gets milk in a sippy cup that she proceeds to throw a) at the tv, b) over the baby gate into the dining room, and c) into the green bin under the sink (she’s OBSESSED with the green bin!!!).
I wrestle her into her highchair. I give her the cut up banana and her milk while I get the toast ready. As I’m buttering the toast, with my back to her, I hear a) the sippy cup get tossed to the ground, and b) slap, slap, slap as a bunch of banana falls to the ground.
I give her some toast, and try to swallow some down myself while I make her lunch. I’m mashing avocado, scooping cottage cheese and cutting up pear while she yells screams yells at me.
She’s now eaten maybe 2 pieces of banana, and 1/8 of a piece of toast. I try some yogurt. She grabs at the container, jamming her fist into the yogurt and spreads it across her face. I force feed the rest into her while she screams at me. Then I wipe her face, her hands, her forehead, part of her hair and the tray down.
I let her down from the chair, she immediately picks up a piece of toast and throws it at me. Then mashes a fallen banana piece into the floor with her foot.
I gather up the banana pieces and throw them into the green bin. I pick up the toast and (without realizing what I’m doing), eat it.
Yes. I eat toast that has been thrown on the floor. Twice.
And not only that – even as I realize I’ve just eaten off my floor like a dog, I pick up another (non-mashed piece of banana) from the seat of her chair and eat that too.
She plays with the phone, calling god-knows-where, while I finish packing her lunch. I run this, my computer bag, her diaper bag and my purse out to the car. I get my jacket and boots on. I chase her around the living room, trying to get her jacket on.
I manage to wrestle her jacket on, find a spare binkie and get her into the car seat. I return to the house to find my keys and blackberry. And we’re off. I drop her at daycare and head to work.
I realize I left my tea and my lunch on the counter in the kitchen.
Oh well – at least I ate half a slice of floor-toast.
Yum.
xxoo.S
PS - don't feel too badly for me. There were fancy croissants in the kitchen at work when I got into the office. So I'm good...
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