SnortyBurrito

Poop Emergency

2010-09-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

There is a law that exists in the world of Trish. This law states that whenever one of the kids has a huge poop (and I'm not talking about any poop, just the ones that are out of the world!) I am out in public (always in a mall or store) and I am alone! So the very first time that it happened with Bulldozer I was out downtown at a mall. Some crazy guy showed up and decided to sit down at the table right next to me and start up a conversation on our medical system. Oh no. About twenty minutes into the conversation Bulldozer (when he was just a little guy) starts to cry and I try to give the guy who won't shut up the subtle hint that it's time to do just that. No such luck. He continues to talk even though I am now ignoring him and I pick up Bulldozer to soothe his wails. Without looking (oh have I learned my lesson since then) I hold him up to my chest only to realize that's he's completely covered in poop and look at that, so am I! I put him back down in the stroller (much to his protests) and throw a sweater on top of my poop covered shirt which of course doesn't cover the stench of the bowel movement that's claimed the whole front of my precious yellow shirt. Finally I get to a washroom and change Bulldozer because of course I have a change of clothes for him... For the next 1/2 hour I walk around the mall covered in poop trying to find a place that sells an inexpensive shirt. Hubbby shows up just before I complete my task and do you know what he does? He howls. Yes, in the middle of the mall he laughs at me like there's no tomorrow.
This time it's not Bulldozer that gives me a present. I'm walking through Toys "R" Us with the boys and I smell a very distinctive odour coming from the Wee Little One. After ten minutes of fighting with Bulldozer to go to the washroom and leave all the toys behind, I am surprised to realize that my previously clogged up baby has suddenly unclogged himself! So to make a long story sort of short the clean-up process included an entire roll of paper towel (thanks again Toys "R" Us!), a box of wipes and a very strong Trish that insisted on rinsing out the brand new outfit because it was just too cute to waste. Upon meeting my Hubby later, he shared his feelings that saving the outfit (never mind washing it out in the sink) was dispicable and disgusting! Maybe a little bit of that Dutch is shining through in me!

P.S. I washed the outfit and behold, it's as good as new! Take that Hubby!

Check-In

2010-08-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Last day before Hubby goes back to work. Seems fitting that I'm only going to write a few sentences just to say that I've checked in and then go spend some time with the family. That and do some research on what to do about sibling rivalry. Have a good day!

Chores Of The Past

2010-08-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

In my grandmother's day women would have a specific day that they completed a certain task. Wednesdays were wash days, Thursdays ironing and Fridays were spent baking... so on and so forth. I love to hear the stories of my grandmother watching the old soap operas while she ironed the week's clothing. Oh, how so much has changed! Now most Moms work and housework is limited to the weekday nights and week-ends, along with family time, etc... I think even finding a woman who regularly irons her family's clothes is becoming scarce and quite honestly, I don't blame them! So with all that talk about housework I am going to spend the rest of my day sweeping, washing dishes, tidying and doing laundry. The laundry just never ends! We went camping last week-end so we have a huge accumulation of dirty sleeping bags and muddy pants. I'm going to salute the women of the past and make my grandmother proud! Wish me luck.

Biting And Two's

2010-08-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

Just the other day Hubby and I were looking up information on the net about disciplining toddlers. Having tried the time-outs and the counting to three's, we felt like we were all out of ideas. One article mentioned a serial biter (a toddler of course) who bit when he was sad, happy and excited! Imagine? I love you... ouch! I laughed (even though biting is far from funny) because Bulldozer is not a biter and parents of a non-biter may find these stories funny... well until their kid bites.

So today while out Bulldozer decided to take a chomp out of his little brother's arm. For what reason? I'm not quite sure. Standing humiliated in the dollar store I had to discipline my two year old in front of all those staring eyes. It's during times like these that I am unsure of what to do and how to act. Where's the line between being too strict or too liberal? How to let your little one know that what he or she did is unacceptable but not to allow them to doubt your love for them? These are the questions.

Missing Monkey Part Two

2010-08-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

So when Bulldozer first spotted Bananas (my name for him, probably not the owner's real name for him!) he pointed at him and made a monkey sound. I then asked if the monkey was wet... to which he responded, "no clean"! Good lesson.

Missing Monkey?

2010-08-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I awoke to a monkey on my balcony. As I sleepily walked into the kitchen I could see it just strewn across the balcony and sopping wet from the night's downpour. Now what you may ask, was a little monkey doing sitting on my patio? I too asked that question. However putting all questions aside I placed his soaked body in the sun to dry off and explained to Bulldozer that no, this monkey did not belong to us. Finally about mid-afternoon after a long suntanning period, Mr. Monkey's real identity became known to me. Hubby asked the family downstairs if perhaps this little guy had somehow managed to climb his way up on our balcony. Sure enough Bananas was a certain six year old's favorite companion and had landed up here after he swung him around and around. So we returned said monkey to his owner and told the little dude that if he ever lost anything up here again that he could always come and ask for it back!

A Day Out

2010-08-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

You know what's nice sometimes? Just getting away... My very wonderful husband took BOTH kids so I could go out today with a friend for lunch. While he was taking the kids to the pool I was sitting on a terrace drinking a bottle of white wine! While he was at the mall (with both kids) I was sitting at a dessert restaurant pigging out on strawberry/peach crumble and then going to garage sales! Good times. I, Trish, am very thankful for a very wonderful husband!

Five Reasons

2010-08-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

Stuff I love about our new neighbourhood:

1. Upon meeting a local (living here for ten years) walking his dogs, I chatted about having moved here from our previous neighbourhood. He knew this place and when I described our new hood' as having "more character" (commenting on the type of housing)... he said, drum roll, "Ya you could say that"! Hmmm... what's that supposed to mean?

2. Our downstairs neighbours leave their car doors unlocked and the windows down too! Where else in Montreal can you do that without having to move into the boonies? Oh wait, even here you're not supposed to leave the car doors unlocked! News flash... people steal cars.

3. On the day that we moved in a friend came bounding into the house declaring, "I just saw a man in pantyhose walking down the street!" Interesting.

4. The best part of living in this area is trying to convince taxi drivers that you don't live on the two cities (sorry excuse me, I mean boroughs) that border the three streets that are your hometown! Yes the pointless map boundaries that declare three lone streets neither one city nor the next.

5. And my number five reason for loving our new place: because it's the friendliest, most down-to-earth, best neighbourhood ever!

Two Hats In One Week

2010-08-09T17:32:00.001-07:00

Bulldozer lost his Habs hat and he was so crushed, his "Bubba" got it for him and he loved it so much! Now today while we were out the Wee Little One decided to launch his own hat out of the stroller while we weren't looking! I suppose he imagined a life without having to wear a hat (have I mentioned that he hates hats?), that must be a dream world for most babies! However to his disadvantage we found the "lost" hat on our trek home and he looked so dejected. Poor Boo. I looked at him and asked what he had done with his hat and his face lit up with this evil grin! I then showed him the hat and he looked a tad bit confused! He must consider himself one unlucky dude!

New Beginnings

2010-08-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

Our new landlord is great, I can't believe that he actually gets work done! The bigger things that need to get done, for example the laundry room, are being completed at such a fast pace. I could never have asked our previous landlord for anything, never mind the smaller cosmetic-like details. Today we had our landlord over for supper after he worked all day on our home and we mentioned some small things. He's decided that he's putting in a new toilet paper holder/hand towel holder, can you believe it? I know it may sound stupid to others but it's those little details that make a house a home. We're also getting another latch on our door to make it baby safe which is a relief because Bulldozer's able to unlock and open the door himself. Cheers to a wonderful landlord!

Up And Running

2010-08-07T06:50:00.001-07:00

I'm baaaccckkk... I have to admit there were a few days of absolute laziness in which we actually had our Internet hooked up but I kept forgetting to charge the laptop. What an excuse! Now hopefully I'll make it a point of logging on each day to update my blog, to log into Facebook and to check my e-mail accounts. Who am I kidding? The computer is one of my only ways to contact the outside world, there's no way I'll drop off the side of the world again! Now I must join my husband for a sit on our new balcony, I will write later.

And This Shall Be The Last...

2010-07-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting on my couch surrounded by boxes and disassembled furniture penning my last words before moving. So it's time to say good-bye to this place and I have to say I don't feel like I really have any ties to it. So this is the start to our new life and hopefully a very long time at our new home.

My wish is that the move goes smoothly, without damaged furniture! My biggest concern though is that both kids adjust well to a strange place and feel like they're actually at home. Wish us luck.

Signing off,

Trish

Long Day

2010-07-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

So very tired. We spent the day at the new apartment trying to clean up the place before we move in on Sunday. I worked on washing the walls because they're covered with renovation dust. The Hubby washed our floors down on hands and knees so we could let the Wee Little One crawl around. We managed to clean the kitchen cupboards and unpack a few boxes as well. Of course there was even more stuff that could have been done but we only had a limited amount of time. After we left the new place we went out for supper and then rushed back to put the kids to bed. Guess what we did after that? Yes, we packed. We packed and packed and packed. It's now about 11pm and we've gotten almost everything done! Tomorrow we're going to work on taking apart furniture, taking down the curtains and doing all that last minute stuff. Here's hoping that we get through the week-end with no injuries to either people or objects! Now it's off to sleep so I can rest my aching back.

Off To Devil's Hill We Go

2010-07-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

We are now the proud owners of a set of keys to our new apartment! I am very happy. There's still a little work to be done but our landlord will be able to do it after we move in. So now it just comes down to packing and taking furniture apart which is never fun! Hubby spent a lot of time while I was gone yesterday packing and getting stuff ready, I don't know what I'd do without him!

When I went to the new place yesterday I felt so at home. There were some neighbours on their front balcony sitting around a table and having an evening glass of wine. They looked so welcoming! Then I saw a couple walking down the street with their very new walking baby, just having a little stroll. Everything seemed so perfect.

Powering Through

2010-07-27T18:06:00.001-07:00

Potty training is going fantastic! Bulldozer is powering through the process and I'm so proud of him! He yells "Peepee Poohpooh" when he's ready, we both run to the bathroom, he climbs up onto his stool and then sits on the potty seat that attaches to the toilet. The only slight problem is that he likes to watch his pee or poop come out which leads to a few messes! We've had a good number of days without a single accident. Next step (but probably not too soon) would be to get him going out of the house without a diaper. That part I am not too excited about!

Side note: Sometimes I don't realize how much Bulldozer can actually say! We had just woken up from our morning nap and he started naming all the "Cars" characters. He knows how to say "Lightening", "Boost", "DJ", "Sheriff" and "Doc". Then he pointed to my nose and said "nose". So I continued to ask him the names of the different body parts and he knows how to say mouth, nose, eyes, ears, belly, cheeks, legs, feet, arms and hands! And his new saying of the day was "(Bulldozer) help Daddy" because he was helping Daddy clean up some spilt milk. So cute.

Now Is Now

2010-07-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

Bulldozer's new word of the day... "NOW".

One has no idea what impact this makes on the life of parents when their child has learned the significance of the word "now". Imagine this, "That sippy cup of juice isn't for right now, it's for your trip out with Daddy." Wait for it... "No, now!". Or "(Bulldozer), are you hungry? We're going to have supper soon." Then he responds, "NOW!" EVERYTHING is now. Supper, playtime, snack time and apparently we can't get him his potty rewards fast enough because he's always running after us and exclaiming NOW! About the only time that something isn't "now" is when it's later (which he hasn't quite learned to say yet) and that's usually bedtime!

The second word(s) that he's learned are a lot less demanding and a lot more cute! Yesterday I was playing on our bed with Bulldozer. From the other room the Wee Little One started crying and Bulldozer's ears perked up, his little finger raised as if to say "I heard something..." and he climbed down from the bed. He held up one finger and said, "Wait One". Wait one minute! He holds up one finger to make his point and then the little legs start pumping and off he goes to check on his little brother. So adorable. I could see "Wait One" being used for not so caring purposes but for the meantime his expression is just shy of the cutest thing I have ever heard! I love this stage when they just speak what's on their mind without the filter that we are bred to have.

Hot Baby #2

2010-07-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

So I have been proved wrong. The Wee Little One's general well-being went from sorta bad to worse. His fever went up and then down and then up again. He went from happy to not so much so! Hubby and I spent a lot of time up with the Boo trying to comfort him last night and not a whole lot of time sleeping. I am tired today. Hubby is feeling worse because he stayed up even longer than I did. When your kids sleep so well you forget what sleepless nights actually feel like. So the Wee Little One's pediatrician wants to see him tomorrow just to make sure that every thing's okay. Wish us luck!

A Real Dutch Boy

2010-07-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

I am really proud to announce that Bulldozer is a huge fan of sauerkraut! I believe this is his Dutch heritage shining through!

Hot Baby

2010-07-25T08:41:00.001-07:00

We have a health help line in Quebec that has nurses on the other end to answer your health care questions. Usually I call if I have a question about baby care, etc... and I find that they're really laid back and confident that everything is okay. I guess they're trained to be like that so you don't freak out.

The Wee Little One woke up from his nap today with a fever of 38.7 Celsius. I knew he was hot because when I picked him up I could feel his burning skin on my own. He's in a great mood though and he hasn't been fussing all day. He's not tugging on his ears and he's not congested. He is however going through the teething process but so is every other baby in the world! I called the health line to get a second opinion on my decision to just let him be and see what happens.

I told the nurse that I thought he had a fever from teething and she told me that they now know that babies don't get a fever from teething, since when? I feel out of date from the information I knew when I had my first son, a whole twenty-eight months ago! Then she asked me a whole bunch of questions, basically to see if there was anything else wrong. Then she told me that babies don't just have a fever for no reason at all (Really? That's sarcasm!) so it had to be something and maybe it was his ears. I don't know, it doesn't seem like he's pulling on his ears. Seriously, he's in a great mood! She told me to give him Tempra anyway so I did. I'm supposed to keep an eye out on his condition.

Now that I've written this he's getting more fussy as we speak and watch, I'll have to eat my words later on! Here's hoping that the fever will just disappear and that will be the end of that.

House News

2010-07-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

The process has started. Today Hubby and my Father moved eighty plus boxes to our new apartment to lighten the load next week-end. Apparently there's still a lot of work to be done in our new place, a few unanticipated problems came up during the renovations! While fixing the laundry room our landlord realized that he had to repair the pipes, which also happened to run into our kitchen of course. So what may have already been a big job turned into a much bigger one. Hubby told me that the bathroom turned out really nice though, dark wood baseboards and trim to match. He even painted the bottom portion of the wall (under the wooden trim) a very light blue to match the decor of our bathroom. Isn't that nice? The sink, bathtub and toilet weren't reconnected but I think they were the next thing on the list to be done. There's still painting to be done as well. I know he's been working really hard at getting everything done before we move in there and I appreciate the hard work! What a HUGE difference between him and our current landlord!

Update on our current apartment situation. Our landlord has decided to rent to the roomates which boggles my mind because he thought we were loud! I know not all roomates are roudy but I wish him luck if they are! I'm also not intending to move the mouse poison myself before we move because I don't feel it's my job to do it. I don't want the poison to come into contact with anything we own so I don't want to have to touch it. I wonder if our landlord is intending to remove the poison traps before the new tenants find out about the friendly visitors! I don't see when he's going to have time to do it considering they're moving in the same day as we are moving out. This should be interesting.

Sitting Up

2010-07-23T19:32:00.001-07:00

The Wee Little One is growing up so quickly! His new milestone is that he can go from a lying down on his belly position to sitting up all by himself! You should see the look on his face! I can't help but clap every time he sits up and he just beams up at me, knowing that he's doing something that makes Mommy happy. His dimples show and I wish that I could freeze this moment in time and remember it forever. I love him so much!

Poop In Abundance

2010-07-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today the kiddies went to Grandma's so I could rest my back/neck again. I spent the whole morning doing exactly that, resting and doing pretty much nothing. Then in the afternoon I took a really nice nature walk at the Angrignon Park trails. It was the first time that I had gone but they are beautiful! There's a pond and weeping willow trees, all very scenic. Walking on pavement really aggravates my neck but taking a stroll on the grass felt much better. It was a very relaxing and peaceful outing.

While enjoying my day the both of my children decided to produce a lot of presents for their Grandma! Since the Wee Little One has been put on laxatives for constipation, he's now having no problem pooping at all! In fact he's been pooping left, right and center. Poor Amma. And Bulldozer refused to put his big boy underwear so he produced some stinky presents too. I can tell you one thing, Amma's garbage went out that night!

What Is It About Toddlers And Not Listening?

2010-07-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

So the title says it all. Our oldest does not listen to a word we say, or so it seems some days. We can threaten taking away his most precious toys or send him to the time-out corner but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Some days (okay lets be honest, all days) I am frustrated beyond belief. Our conversation goes something like this... "(Bulldozer), can you please pick up that toy you threw? We do not throw toys." Then he makes the face that lets me know that he is not listening to a word I say! Blank stare and unmoving facial expression. "(Bulldozer), get off of your brother! We do not sit on him." I then become on the receiving end of some really evil looks, including the sullen stare that says, "I don't have to listen to you." Every once in awhile he listens to my instructions or commands without argument. At those times I wonder what I've done right at that moment and try to replicate it so I can achieve success next time. It never works... I know that he isn't the first toddler to disobey his parents but really, is it this hard for everyone to get their little one to listen?

Food Sacrifices

2010-07-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

Less than two weeks to go before we move, I am so excited! I'm not excited about the actual moving/unpacking process but I am really happy about the new apartment itself and starting over in a non-rodent infested house! (Although on the topic of rodents, I haven't actually seen one in awhile... fingers crossed for the new tenants.) Hubby spent the day packing up some of the pantry food that we don't need for the next two weeks and it was pretty gross! We have some little black bugs that have gotten into some of our food, I mean on top of our ant infestation! They're these tiny black, hard-shelled beetle-like bugs that apparently are very fond of flour. We threw out about 4KG of whole wheat bread flour because the bugs were more numerous than the actual grains of flour, barf! During our stay here, which has been just over a year, we've probably had to throw out about $150 worth of food from ants and now these mysterious black bugs. Please no bugs in our new home. Please.

I spent the afternoon scrubbing the fabric of our stroller until it looked ALMOST new. Not quite brand new but a whole lot better than it was before. It's absolutely amazing what "Magic" soap can do! Sometime I will tell you the Carbolic Soap Company Story but I'll save it for another day!

To The Doctors We Will Go

2010-07-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

So we've finally decided that we're going to the Wee Little One's Doctor to follow-up on his constipation issues. It's been about two and a half months since we've started solid foods and ever since then he's been completely blocked up! We've tried everything, from prunes, to bottles of water to laxatives that are safe for babies. Which brings me to my next point... this morning Hubby called the Doctor's office to try to get an appointment for today. The secretary grilled him left, right and center. I know it's her job but it was very rude. While he was explaining what was wrong she cut him off and said, "is that all yet?" Then she kept suggesting all of the things that we have already tried. It's frustrating because we've been aware of the situation for awhile (and we've been through it, albeit less severe, with our first child) and it's not like we haven't taken all the necessary measures! No bananas... check. Water... check. Prunes... check. On top of that she gave us heck for asking the Pharmacist about laxatives, we were supposed to call the Doctor's office first! With so much clogging up of the system it seemed reasonable to consult a qualified medical professional that has studied medicine! Anyway I'm happy because we finally are going to get everything checked out and make sure he's okay. Wish us luck!