Friday's List of Ten IV

Ten songs I like to run to:

10. All Along the Watchtower, Jimi Hendrix

9. Before He Cheats, Carrie Underwood

8. Somebody Told Me, The Killers

7. Hung Up, Madonna

6. Joker and the Thief, Wolfmother

5. Numb/Encore, Jay-Z & Linkin Park

4. American Psycho, Treble Charger

3. Thrash Unreal, Against Me

2. Big Casino, Jimmy Eat World

1. What You Waiting For? Gwen Stefani

Why I Am So Tired?

(Edited to say I had originally titled this post "Why Am I So Tired?" and then realized that I know why I'm tired, so changed it to "Why I Am So Tired". I forgot to remove the question mark, but I think I'm going to leave it. It's a much better indication of my current state of mind.)
For the past few nights, Jake has only been waking up to eat once. In theory, that means that I go to sleep, wake up once to feed him, and go back to sleep until Steve's alarm goes off Owen sees a Wake-Up 7. (What, you're not familiar with the Wake-Up 7? Owen has a digital clock in his room, and he knows that he has to stay in bed until he sees the Wake-Up 7. If he wakes up before then, he's supposed to "snuggle Yellow Bear and go back to sleep", which he actually does. I've been in Jake's room, and heard Owen stir, call out "Yellow Bear? Yellow Bear?" and then settle when he finds his friend in the covers. He knows that the Wake-Up 7 is the one to the left of the ":", as opposed to the Not-A-Wake-Up 7, which shows up every ten minutes. It's a good system, and has been working for us for several months now. )

I'm not staying asleep though. I wake up several times a night, not just sort-of awake, but fully was-that-the-baby-I'd-better-wake-up-more-and-listen-in-case-it-was awake. I haven't had any trouble falling back to sleep, but I'm finding my rest is way more disturbed then it was when Jake was eating 3 (or more, hello growth spurts!) times through the night. I'm waking up far more often, it seems, NOT hearing the baby, then I did when I heard him.

I am lucky. When Jake does wake up, he fusses, I feed, and he goes right back to sleep. The whole thing takes 15 minutes at the absolute maximum, and that's usually because I've started dozing in the rocking chair, and haven't even noticed he's done eating until he's fallen off. (He hasn't pooped at night since he was about 2 months old, and that's when I quit nighttime diaper changes, which made things easier too.) He's been a much better sleeper than Owen, falling asleep on his own in the crib (no endless bouncing on the yoga ball, etc. like we did with Owen) and I know I'm lucky. I have girlfriends whose babies wake up fussy, and then STAY awake. For hours. So I really have nothing to complain about.

I remember this transition when Owen was figuring out sleeping through the night. Eventually, my body will figure out that yes, we are going to regularly stay asleep for more than 3 hours at a stretch. But until then, I guess this will be my Mombie phase with Jake. Of course, compared to that, this is pretty easy. It's Mombie Lite. (Now please excuse me while I run to my dining room and bang the heck out of my table with my fist.)

Try a Tri, 2007

Here is the note I wrote in Facebook back when I did my Try-a-Tri, at the end of the summer of 2007. (Owen was 14 months old, and I was just about to get pregnant with Jake). Can't wait to try it again this summer, with all 3 of my boys to cheer me on!

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So, as you can see from my pics, the Try-a-Tri was this past weekend. My first ever Triathlon, and even though it was just the baby one, I am still just as proud of myself for doing it as if it had been the Ironman. :)

We couldn't have asked for a better day, the weather was sunny, not too humid, and hot enough to be comfy coming out of the lake after the swim. The total distances were to swim 375 metres, bike 10 km, and then run 2.5 km. I was feeling a little nervous - I knew I would finish, but didn't know how my knee would hold up, since it had been giving me some trouble the past few weeks. I hardly did any training at all the last two weeks leading up, opting instead to rest my knee.

The day of, Valerie came to pick me up (after a brief mishap where she nearly lost her bike on the expressway!) and we headed out to the Conservation area. We found the transition area easily and racked our bikes, then went to sign in and gather our freebies. It was a little overwhelming to see everything there, and I was nervous, but pumped. We got our numbers, our hot-pink bathing caps, our timing chips, and then we got marked. The write your number on your arm, and your age on the back of your calf. I guess the logic is that if you're competitive, you can identify people in your age group to pass them? We were joking with some other girls that rather than having to walk around with our age written on us, they should write how many kids we have, and how old they are!

We laid out all our gear on our towels next to our bikes, shoes and socks neatly lined up for easy put-onability (that is too a word!), and did a brief warm-up run. Before we knew it, Val's entourage had arrived, and she got to give her little girl Sadie a quick hug before the race. We grabbed our goggles and headed down to the lake, keeping an eye out for my family on the way down. We started the swim in several waves, and our wave was heading out at 6 minutes after 1. I slithered into my wetsuit, and tucked my hair up into my cap. Just as we were wading into the water, I saw them: Steve, Owen and my parents had arrived to cheer me on! Yay!

Standing at the start was an incredible feeling - with all the other women in our category, all laughing and joking about how we all just hoped to finish vertically! Then, the start! The swim was crazy. Legs, arms, thrashing and splashing, I have never felt so crowded since the mosh pit at EdgeFest a long number of years ago! I was glad I was wearing my wetsuit - the little bit of added buoyancy gave me the extra confidence to stay calm and "just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming swimming..." The turns around the buoys were especially crowded, and I swear I didn't even swim around the first one, just rode the crush of bodies around it.

As we headed back to shore, I got my first boost of confidence: passing some lighter-coloured bathing caps that were parts of the groups that had left before us. We got to shore, and as I was wading out of the water, I ripped down the zipper on my wetsuit, and had it down around my waist before I even got out of the lake. Swim cap and goggles came off next - my mom didn't even catch me with the camera at this point, because she was looking for wetsuits! Luckily, Val's group caught a few shots (not that they're flattering or anything, but still, glad to have the memory captured, thanks Ian or Ian's parents!)

Of course, when they tell you the distances, they don't mention the HUGE hill you have to run up from the lake back to the transition area. Barefoot. With jelly post-swim legs! But of course, we all did it, and then it was time for the first transition. I ripped off my wetsuit, leaving it in a spent, rubbery pile where it fell, grabbed my sunglasses and helmet, pulled on socks and shoes, clipped on my number, and grabbed my bike. Ran my bike over to the road, crossed the "On Bike" line, and hopped on. The bike was probably the least-strenuous part of the race, because of the opportunity to catch your breath on the downhill portions, even while you're still pedalling like mad. And while I was passed a few times, I passed my share of people too, which felt good. My mountain bike was obviously not the conveyance of choice, but actually, I was fairly happy with how I did. My only preference would have been for a different style of handlebars - it's way too hard to try and stay bent over to maintain a low profile with your hands spread out across mountain bike handlebars.

I got to get in a few sips of water on the bike too, which really helped. Before you knew it, you hit the turnaround, and headed back, and before you knew it again, everyone was skidding on the brakes, to avoid everyone else stopping at the "Bike Off" line. I didn't see it, but my dad saw a few people get assessed a penalty and made to go back across the line because they rode over it. Glad that wasn't me, although I did have to lock up my tires to avoid running into the guy in front of me, who was doing the same thing to avoid the guy in front of him!

The transition from bike to run was easy - rack the bike, throw down my helmet, and grab my ballcap (I can't stand to run with sun on my face!) That run was the longest 2.5 km I've ever run. I'm not ashamed to say that I walked on a few of the uphills, but since I was doing them at a fast walk (and passed other walkers, thanks to my long legs!) I don't think it hurt me too much. A little more disheartening was the little boy, about 7 or 8 years old, who was running along with his dad. Or I should say, running ahead of his dad, then back to his dad to encourage him along, then ahead again, then back again... this little guy did the whole run portion with his dad! The run was where I was really glad to have my cheering section along - they helped me pick it up. At one point, I heard Steve's voice from way far away - I could feel the energy flowing back into my legs from that! And as it turned out, I had a little bit left to sprint at the end. Turns out it was a good thing - I ended up finishing in the top 20 for my age group, and no, I wasn't 20th! I was 19th, I beat the girl who ended up 20th by just 2 seconds!

I could not be happier with my finish. I was hoping to come in around the hour mark, and felt I'd be SOOO happy with that. I did it in 56 minutes, which was awesome. Overall, I was 186 out of 348 participants! My best segment was actually the swimming. For that portion of the race, I was 139 out of 348, which is fantastic. You can see my results at (omitted).

Valerie did a great job too, finishing in just over an hour, 1:01! She also had her best performance in the swim, which really is an accomplishment, since that seems to be the hardest part for a lot of people. And she did the run without stopping to walk! So we're both feeling like Super Mamas these days. Especially considering that not only do we both have 14 month old babies, but it's not like we were doing anything like this before we had the babies either. I could not have done it without Valerie, knowing that she was out there training too, doing those hated bricks, having good days, and the "days of doubt". Not to mention all the advice she had from friends who had raced before! Thanks Val! :)

So, my first Triathlon attempt was a rousing success. I would definitely do it again, and maybe even eventually attempt the "Sprint Triathlon", which is a little longer, but still not quite full length. Who knows when that will be, but I really enjoyed myself, and can't wait to do it again. I'd like my next challenge to be the Oktoberfest 10 K, but we'll see how my knee is feeling over the next few weeks before I make a decision. In the meantime, I'm feeling very happy with what we've accomplished, and can't wait for Owen to be old enough to be cheering along with all the other little ones I saw yelling their little hearts out for Mommy or Daddy!

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postscript: I was too busy throwing up (thanks Jake!) to do the Oktoberfest 10K that year, and no where near 10K after Jake had been born this past year. Oktoberfest 10K in 2009!

Love you too, kid.

For Christmas, I was the happy recipient of Mario Kart for my Wii. (Steve wanted to get me a Wii Fit, but for some reason, he refuses to do any Christmas shopping until he's done school and on holidays. This year, that left him with at least one weekend in which to shop. I did lots better than the year school got out on the 23rd - that year, I got a stocking filled with Stag Shop goodies. Fun, but you know, not really what I want to share with others when the topic of "what I got for Christmas" comes up! Anyway, birthday is in March and Wii Fit will be my gift.)

Happily, Owen enjoys watching Mario Kart racing. It's a lot more fun than Treehouse! Unfortunately for Owen, daddy is a much better racer than mommy, so when he watches me he gets a little frustrated. Tonight he was feeling extra cuddly, and was snuggled up next to me while I played. I was the Princess (he likes to select our characters. I'm always the Princess. Steve is usually the Koopa Troopa. Make of that what you will.) He is so funny, cheering me on. "Look out for the caterpillars, Mommy!" he yells. "Hang on, little bananas!" he says as I trail some "weapons" behind my player. "Oh Mommy, you missed the treat box." "Mommy, I wish you wouldn't fall in the lava."

I was playing a series of races I haven't done much of, and wasn't doing well at all. With every bad move, he'd sigh, snuggle closer and tell me "I love you, Mommy." I was feeling pretty good about myself, even if I was playing horribly. Pretty good, that is, until the end of the game, when I ended up coming in fourth, and not being awarded any of the "Piston cups", as he calls them.

"Well, I didn't win, but I think fourth place is still pretty good, what do you think?" I asked him. He looks up at me with his cherubic little face, and says: "Maybe Daddy should race now."

Friday's List of Ten III

Ten things I have fixed with the superglue I paid $0.88 for just before Christmas:

10. Christmas ornament (big surprise!)

9. Peter Sam's funnel (One of Owen's engines).

8. The dial on the Crock Pot.

7. The nobbly-thing on the teapot lid that keeps the lid from falling off the pot when you pour tea. (Broke when the teapot leapt, kamikaze-style, from the cupboard one afternoon during that week of really cold weather. I think it had had all the boiling water it could take. I caught the pot, but the lid landed on the tiles.) (Also, does this nobby thing have a name?)

6. The barrel car. (Another one of Owen's train accessories).

5. Mater's tow cables. (Owen's hotwheels-sized Mater is diecast, but the tow rigging is plastic. After having it pop off several times, glue to the rescue!)

4. The lid (down) on Jake's piano. (Seriously, this toy needs a handle! The lid is just pegged on, and Owen lifts it off every time he goes to move it.)

3. A birthday card. (This wasn't "fix" so much as "make", but my gluestick was dried up!)

2. Wooden picture frame (that had cracked from the dryness of our old house).

1. Owen's @#$%! plastic train track. (Okay, I haven't done this yet, but as soon as I get a scrap piece of plywood, I will be. Who buys a two-year old a snap-together plastic engine rollercoaster that unsnaps if you look at it wrong?? I'm gluing the whole thing together, and then to the piece of wood.)

Because superglue is all about peace of mind. :) (Heh, at first I typed "of ming". Funny, because you know, Ming.)

Ow, ow, OW!

It's the good kind of sore, but owie! Getting back in shape is never fun. I totally thought I'd be up for the Refridge-Eighter in February, but I'm just not getting back up to 8K in time. I'm sitting solidly at 4, and you know what? I'm okay with that.

I'm really only getting in one good run a week. Tuesdays Jake and I are doing Mommy and Me aerobics, Wednesdays is StrollerFit (where we run, but not exclusively) and Thursdays is when I'm at the track. Saturdays I'm trying to get in an outdoor run, but with both boys having colds, a mommy who gets up a million times a night is a mommy who opts for the nap instead of the run. (Even though I KNOW I'll feel groggy after the nap, and awesome after the run. But I'm all about living in the present. And the here-and-now is that a nap will feel better than getting on my shoes.)

And in the evenings, if there hasn't been a run or a fitness class in my day, I'm getting my 90's on with Billy Blanks and Tae-Bo. (Did you know that TAE-BO also stands for Total Awareness and Excellent Body Obedience? Just one of the many inspiring things I've learned from Billy while paying attention to his patter. I have to say, out of all the workout videos I've ever had, I love Billy the best. He makes mistakes, which I LOVE, since it makes him human. And I've never felt so cheered on in something. And I love his relationship with daughter Shellie. They have so much fun. Seriously, Tae-Bo - for a workout that DOESN'T make you feel inadequate!)

So, that's the fitness schedule for the next little bit. As weather picks up, so will running. And I'm VERY excited to be able to get my bike out this year, since by then, Jake will be big enough for the trailer. Can't wait to see how Owen and Jake do together in the bike trailer for rides. (Mental note: must get helmet for Jake.) Valerie and I are talking about training for a Triathlon again. (Did I post that here or on Facebook? We did a Try-a-Tri when Owen and Sadie were 14 months old: 375m swim, 10K bike, 2.5K run. It was awesome! I was top 20 for my age group.) I am determined to get back into my nice work clothes again, so even though it hurts, right now, I'm am relishing the reminder from muscles that have gotten little use over the past few months.

Happy Inauguration Day!

Today, just after noon, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. Historic? Well, yes, I guess if you're the first-of-anything kind of president, you're assured a place in the history books by default. Personally, I'm hoping he makes it for more than that. Happy day? I sincerely hope so. He has four years in which to try and live up to the promise of this day. Am I pleased that he is the new U.S. president? Yes. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised when our neighbours to the south voted in their first African-American president. But to tell the truth, I would have been happy with any Democratic president, after George W. Democrats seeming to be about as "left" as those south of the 49th get, and I'm a little more left than centre myself.

But talk about a weight on your shoulders! I sincerely hope that President Obama has a great routine for relieving stress, because whoa! Commentators everywhere are pinning the hopes of the free world on this poor guy! Let him worry about solving some of the messes in his own country, and then let him shoulder Atlas' burden, okay? There has been some talk in the local media (I haven't heard any U.S. media on the topic of Obama at all, so I don't know) about whether Obama will get a little more leeway than some presidents in his performance in the first little bit, since so many people have such high hopes for him. Um, I'm pretty sure that when a guy has so many hopes pinned on him that you can't tell what colour suit he's wearing, it's not most people's nature to cut him slack. Quite the opposite, in my opinion. But I don't think I've ever followed a political messiah before, so YMMV.

When the clock struck noon, the commentator I was listening to (via radio, Jake and I were in the Jeep. I can only assume that Owen was raptly watching this "defining moment of a generation", as one put it, at daycare) quietly mentioned the fact that although he had not yet taken the oath of office, Barack Obama was now officially the President. I liked that. In Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon, there is a line that "God, the law, and the sun make a king, not the coronation", and I liked thinking that the sun makes a President - for better or worse, the American people made their choice, and now it's in greater hands. Personally, I think it was a very good choice, but that we won't know for four years how historic a choice it was. I'm wishing President Obama well, (and praying that he makes it safely through his four years!)

Now, if only we knew who was going to be in charge up here to welcome him on his first official foreign visit! Who knows who's going to be dealing with the messes in this country? I can only guarantee this: it won't be someone half as charismatic!

We're on the move! (Nearly)

Backflips, Tick-Tock Clock, Scooting and the Crowd Dive: these are currently Jake's patented moves. At six months old, my clever little lad has all ready mastered rudimentary geometry and knows that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Therefore, if something interesting (or potentially interesting, read: remotely involving Owen) is going on behind him, rather than tediously turning his head in a circle, Jake will throw himself backwards to look at upside down. Awkward when he's in your arms, mildly alarming when he's in the Bumbo, and hilarious when he's sitting up on his own. We're convinced it's only a matter of time before he executes a true backflip.

Tick-Tock Clock has been happening for some time. Put Jake down on his back, with his head at 12 o'clock, and it will definitely not still be 12 o'clock when you come back. Although he's a geometry genius, he has no awareness of the 24 hour clock, so I'm unable to keep track of his rotations. But I'm sure he's zoomed right through noon/midnight a few times.

Scooting is a little more self-explanatory. Put Jake down on his front, and he'll try his hardest to get up on all fours. He'll do a little Superman - arms and legs all in the air, looks a little like he's swimming. He'll get his bum up, but without arm support (picture yoga's Downward Dog, but on his face, instead of his hands). He'll also push way, way up on his arms, grinning at all and sundry (yoga Cobra). The various combinations of these moves serve to push him backwards. Owen moved backwards right before he finally figured out how to go frontwards, so we're pretty sure that's Jake's next step too. Only time will tell if he'll pick up Owen's trick of crawling on all fours on the carpet, and two hands, one knee, and one foot (for improved traction!) on the ceramic and hardwood.

Finally, the Crowd Dive. Jake loves to sit on the couch, and Owen loves to have him sit next to him. They're quite cute. But demonstrating again that whole shortest-distance-between-two-points understanding, Jake will often see something of interest on the floor, or on the ottoman, or on the other couch, and dive for it. Like a performer diving off the stage trusts his loyal fans to catch him and bear him up, he blindly trusts that either his dad or I am close enough to grab him. (He's also tried this from our laps - you have to be quick with this kid!) Geometry he's got. Physics and the laws of gravity we're working on.

On a completely unrelated note: for anyone out there who may have left their health-friendly stainless-steel waterbottle out in their Jeep during this recent spate of cold weather, causing it to freeze solid, and popping the concave bottom out into a convex, no-longer-capable-of-holding-the-bottle-in-an-upright position, you will be relieved to know that yes, it will go back to normal if you just thaw it out, and bash on the bottom a bit with a hammer. Just in case you were wondering.

Friday's List of Ten II

Ten things I miss:

10. Buffy. I miss this show. I have DVDs, but it's not the same thing. I already know they got the mustard out.

9. Shamrock shakes. Lion, lamb, who cares as long as March gets here soon so I can get me some minty-flavoured goodness!

8. My short, strawberry blonde hair. I enjoyed this look, but I could never pull it off today (not thin enough for the short do.) Also, way too much maintenance to handle these days.

7. Scrabble at the Bomber. Those were the days: endless free time, 50 and bar lime, sun on the patio, and me, using the excuse "Who's the English major here? Me or you?" to cheat and win.

6. Our dog, Paw. He was so good with kids, I would have loved to see him with the boys. And it was so nice to have a big Rottie to cuddle by the fire when the weather was cold! (This is as maudlin as I'm going to get - I'm a sappy enough mess these days without actually getting into deceased family/friends that I miss. Let's just skip no. 5 and let it stand for all of them, without my having to get into it.)

4. My teenage metabolism. Oh, to be able to eat whatever I wanted, and not work out, and still look good. I only have to urge to tell teenagers that "these are the best years of your life!" when I see them in the food court.

3. Our first home. I do NOT miss the leaking roof and foundation, but we did a lot of work there to fix it up. There were a lot of good times there, and I'm sad it got torn down, and no one is enjoying it anymore.

2. Bathroom privacy. Steve and I are not an "open door" couple. (Just one of the ways we keep the romance alive after 11 years, I guess.) But that doesn't cut it for Owen. Even if I do lock the door, can it really be considered privacy if there's a toddler screaming and banging to be let in?

1. And on the note of my boys, the number one thing I miss is waking myself up. I don't miss sleep, I'm not that sleep deprived. But it is a rare occasion when I wake up on my own, instead of being woken up. If it's not Jake, it's Owen. If it's not Owen, it's Steve's alarm. I miss waking up feeling rested, instead of feeling a surge of adrenalin. Nothing says "fight or flight" like a yell in the night, even after all this time.

I love my mittens!

It is very cold today. Freeze your @$$ off cold! So cold that I made Owen wear his snowpants to the babysitters, even though I know they won't be going out to play today. (We usually just bring them along, as I don't usually go in for that early-morning wrestling if I don't have to. All together now: "No want to wear my snowpants, Mommy! No THANK YOU!")

And poor Jake was bundled in his snowsuit, which is too short, but thankfully has feet flaps that allow him to still wear it, with his feet and ankles sticking out. (Which I then wrap in warm, fleecy booties and a blanky. We should all be so comfy!) Cold, cold, cold. And of course, I too bundled up, with warm coat, warm hat, warm and toasty (but a pain to lace up!) boots (which I wear, because there is absolutely no chance of me slipping in a parking lot while carrying the boy/s. Seriously, my boots are made by Caterpillar. Hey, if it's good enough for landfill equipment, it's good enough for me!) and finally, my snuggy mittens.

Originally, these mittens were a stocking stuffer for Steve a few Christmases back, but he never really got into wearing them, so I've reclaimed them. They're the style where they're kind of like gloves with the fingers cut off, and then mitten flaps that cover the tips of your fingers. If you need to, you throw the flaps back and you have the ability to do all the necessary things you do with fingers, but your hands stay warm! I have perfected the "mitt flick" that enables me to not only free my fingers from the flap (say THAT 10 times fast!) but also catch the flap on the handy velcro catch that keeps the flap out of my way.

I can buckle the kids into the car without taking off my mittens. I can push the buttons on the drive thru bank machine without taking off my mittens. I can pay-at-the-pump without taking off my mittens. I can pay for my Timmy's medium-coffee-with-milk with dimes and nickels without taking off my mittens. I can pretty much do anything without taking off my mittens!

....Unless that thing requires the use of my thumb. Then I have to take off the mittens, because alas, there is no thumb flap. While I still can use my thumb, my dexterity is limited. I'm amazed at how many things I do clumsily because I essentially have no "feeling" in my thumb while it's covered by the mitten. It's enough to make a girl thankful that she has opposable thumbs at all. :) My mittens: keeping my hands warm, AND making me stop and appreciate my higher-order functions! Love 'em!

The Food on the Bus Goes...

Since there is only so much Treehouse one can watch (In The Night Garden? Honestly? I enjoyed this show much more when it was called Teletubbies! NOT!) we have taken to watching Teletoon Retro when Owen has earned some TV time before bed. Shows like Fraggle Rock, the Smurfs, and Alvin and the Chipmunks have great nostalgia value for mom and dad, and Owen likes them too.

The downside is that this channel, unlike Treehouse, runs commercials. Most of the commercials seem geared towards adults (not adult-content commercials, I know that's where you all went! I just mean they're not advertising sugary breakfast cereal or toys by Mattel). The most popular type of commercial is for World Vision/Christian Children's Fund/Plan. I forget which organization it is, but I'm sure you're familiar with the format. Sad, soulful music plays, while a photo montage of malnourished, sickly children dressed in rags tug at your heartstrings with their big eyes.

Now, I'm by no means disparaging the work that these groups do. Obviously there is a need for third world support, and these organizations need to find a way to get people to open their hearts and their wallets. That's not what this post is about. This post is about Owen's reaction to those commercials.

Once he figured out that his show really does come back on after the commercial break, (THAT was a lesson a long time coming - he would FREAK OUT at every commerical break!) Owen by and large would usually ignore them, taking the opportunity to go get a toy, play, or read a story. But the other day, something must have caught his attention, because I hear the telltale music start up, and then Owen pipes up with "Mommy, what's wrong with those children? Why those children sad?" (Any grammatical errors are his, not mine. Also: first time I've ever heard him use the word "children". He usually says "kids".)

What do you say? Luckily, I had a bit of an opening, thanks to the Christmas Stuff-a-Bus drive for the Food Bank, so I kept it simple. "Those children don't have enough food to eat," I told him, "So they are sad. Remember at Christmas, what did we do to help people who might not have enough food?" "We put food on the bus!" he says. Then: "And I get a COOKIE!" Well, yes. I'd forgotten about the cookie part. "That's right buddy," I tell him, "And that's because when we have lots of something, like food, and there are people that might not have enough, we need to..." "We SHARE with them, Mommy!" he says. Then he points at the TV. "We put some food on the bus tomorrow for those children?" he asks. Bless his heart. (The Chipmunks started butchering warbling some 80's hit at that point, and our chat ended there. I'm choosing to believe that my son is a budding philanthropist, and wasn't just angling for an ever-elusive cookie.)

Steve and I have talked about sponsoring a child through some program. A friend of ours runs a charity event to benefit a village in Malawi, Africa that he spent some time in, and the photos he has are heartwarming. In addition to his charity work, he sponsors a child as well. We always give to his event, but maybe it's time to do more. We'll definitely be thinking about this more in the future, and I'll be doing some research to see which group ensures the greatest dollar amount of your donation actually gets to a child/village. (I hate those horror stories of 90% of every dollar going to "administrative costs"....) We talk often about how blessed we are to have our two healthy boys, and to be able to provide them with everything they need, and not have to worry about money. In the meantime, the next time we're at the grocery store, we'll be picking up something extra for Owen to put in the local Food Bank donation bin.

Friday's List of Ten

Ten reasons why I love it when Steve falls asleep in Owen's room:

10. He's in there because he's the one who put Owen to bed.

9. If Owen wakes up, he doesn't call for Mommy, because Daddy is right there.

8. Bed all to myself!

7. Any snoring is happening on the other side of the house, instead of right beside me.

6. If Jake has a really restless night, I can bring him into our comfy bed, instead of the not-as-comfy spare bed.

5. The resemblance between Steve and Owen is even greater when they're alseep side by side. Too cute!

4. He falls asleep at Owen's bedtime, and I get to be in charge of the remote for the rest of the night.

3. I don't have to worry about Owen getting cold/kicking off his covers.

2. If he's sleeping, he's not getting the Christmas chocolate out of the freezer and eating it in front of me.

And the number 1 reason:

1. NO SNORING IN MY BED! (this is definitely worth two spots).

Wait a minute...

Of course with the new year comes New Year's Resolutions. I resolved to be more regular with my running - to that end, Jake and I now have a regular date at the indoor track on Thursdays (we run outdoors on Tuesdays, but indoors I have a chance to do sprints without worrying about falling, and stairs as well). We brought the Jeep in for some maintenance, and while they worked on it, Jake and I took the bus downtown.

(Quick aside: well done to Grand River Transit! Buses are so much nicer than they were back when I was a regular rider! They're all wheelchair accessible, so I just wheeled Jake right on in the stroller, and then parked him in one of the wheelchair sections where the seats fold away. I wasn't sure which stop I wanted, since I was just headed downtown and walking the rest of the way (that way I could get the iExpress immediately, without having to wait for a more direct bus). The driver was very helpful, and I would actually consider taking the bus again. I think Owen would like it too!)

Anyway, we went to the track and did our thing. Jake was his usual adorable self, and was much admired by everyone he aimed his gummy grin at. When we were headed out, a lady stopped to chat with Jake. (It happens all the time - he's such a flirt!) She told me it was so great that I took the time to involve my baby in my workout, and that he obviously loved it. Then she mentioned seeing a program the other day, all about celebrity moms. She went on to say what a shame it is how they make it look so easy to get back into shape right away after having a baby, and to not let all that pressure get to me. I smiled, and then we were on our way.

As I was walking back to the bus stop, I started to think, and I was like, wait a minute! I know she probably meant it kindly, but come on! Obviously, if I shouldn't let the pressure to look like a celebrity mom get to me, I am failing miserably in my goal to look like a celebu-mom! I mean, I know I don't look like a celebrity mom, even 6 months after having Jake. But other people should not be commenting on this, no matter how round about a manner they use to do so. So then I was laughing to myself as I pushed Jake along, causing other people to look at me and no doubt think that it was also good that I was not letting the pressure to appear sane in public get to me.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, something I just noticed while folding laundry this evening: my ratio of t-shirts-I-have-paid-for to t-shirts-I-have-gotten-for-free is way out of whack! Um, I'm not a klepto. But I do have a couple of Mother/Daughter Walk for Heart and Stroke shirts, four shirts from races I've run in, at least three from the Children's Groundwater Festival (I used to be on the board), plus odd shirts from work (Waste Management! The Toilet Replacement Program!) and various gyms (GoodLife, and 360 Fitness - which reminds me, I have to still get in touch with my friend about the pass I won in his charity auction.) Obviously, I need to go shopping. I need to stock up on shirts that allow me to express myself in the uniquly individual manner possible only when wearing a shirt with a clever slogan that one hundred other people are also sporting. Hee.

Why my bathrooms are stocked with Cheerios

So, Owen is 2 and a half now. All the little girls I know from my first mat leave have all been potty trained for months now. (They all seemed to get it right around their second birthday). While Owen has had some potty successes (he's both peed and pooped on the toilet) he is still showing no real interest at all in the process. That kid will walk around with his soaked diaper hanging to his knees, and if asked whether he needs a "change a bum", will tell me "no thank you Mommy". (We're big on the "No, thank you" around here. Sometimes he'll be having a fit about not wanting to do something, and screaming on the floor, but will still be polite: "No, no THANK YOU Mommy!")

After some unsuccessful attempts on the potty, he began to not even want to sit on the toilet. (Even on his Thomas the Tank Engine potty seat!) It was a battle I didn't want to fight, figuring that if he's THAT not into it, I wasn't going to push it! He did go through a phase where he'd ask to sit on the potty at bedtime, AFTER he'd been put to bed - But the time has come to start moving in that direction again, and rather than relying on him telling me, I've started taking him at regular intervals. On the advice of a friend (hi Kristyn!) I've started offering him the chance to pee standing up. We toss a few Cheerios in the bowl, he gets up on his stool so he's over the bowl, and, well, you can picture the rest. I'm hoping the Cheerios will encourage his aim as he progresses. Now instead of asking him to go to the potty (No THANK YOU Mommy!) we tell him it's time to go shoot some Cheerios.

There is a process to what we do:

1. Go into bathroom

2. Owen pushes his stool over to the toilet, and lifts the lid/seat while Mommy prepares the targets.

3. Owen climbs up on the stool, pulls down his pants (mommy helps) and takes aim (mommy sometimes helps here too)

4. Cheerios are sunk!

5. Climb off stool, flush ("Bye bye Cheerios! Bye bye pee")

6. PUT THE SEAT AND THE LID DOWN

7. Push stool over to sink and wash hands (while singing the alphabet song, to ensure we wash them enough).

8. Owen gets a few "gummy bears" (fruit snacks) as a reward.

I'm hoping the reward part will eventually encourage him to start asking to go on his own. We give him 3 treats for a pee, 5 for a poop, and he even gets 1 just for "trying", even if nothing happens. It went well over the weekend, and on Monday, he stayed dry until naptime. Then my timing was off, so the evening didn't work out as well. I'm hoping when he's home Friday/Sat/Sun/Mon we'll be able to get into a rhythm so that Patty will be able to pick up where we leave off on Tuesday when he's at her house. But in the meantime, there are Tupperware containers of Cheerios in the bathroom, and I'm proud to say that my son has put the seat down every time so far. :)

Christmas Craziness!

We've been having a whirlwind of Christmas activity. I think it's nearly over - it started at the beginning of December with going to see the Christmas train, and Steve's grandma's Christmas party at her retirement home (the boys are SO LUCKY to have three great-grandparents in their lives!) and moved on to our friends Christmas dinner, my work kids party, my family Christmas the weekend before, Christmas Eve with Steve's mom, Christmas day with her family, the following weekend with Steve's dad and stepmom, and finally New Year's with Auntie Kris, Uncle Ryan and new Baby Gracie (yes! I finally got to meet my beautiful little niece!)

Jake is just happy to be around people, and if there's something he can stick in his mouth (paper, a new toy, someone's fingers) he's in heaven. Owen has been fantastic, in spite of the month of gifts. He's so excited about whatever he gets, we have to talk him into opening further gifts. Which is nice - apparently, Steve's stepsister was telling me her oldest girl, who is three, opens a gift, says "OH! It's just PERFECT! Thank you!" then throws it aside and asks "What's next?" Ah ha, Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, I see you peeking 'round the tree!!

My gift to Steve was the new Canon Rebel, to ensure we don't miss any more adorable pics of our boys waiting on our old camera. It's gotten lots of use, and I'll have to upload the most recent pics of Christmas. In the meanwhile, here's the photo I used on our Christmas cards:

A few more pics of my two boys, since I DO still have readers! (Kristyn and Summer, you two have such faith in me! Big hugs to you both!)>

These next two are funny. Owen got hold of the old camera one day and shot some photos while I was in the bathroom. Obviously these subjects are near and dear to his heart:

That's a diaper wipes box, for those of you not in the know.

And this is out TV. Thomas the Tank Engine on our TV, to be precise; see the tracks? There are about 8 pictures in all, all variations on these themes. Funny!