BIG BOY BED

Peanut is due to arrive in 8 weeks! I have already begun "nesting." All the newborn and 0-3 month clothes are washed and tucked into drawers...it was possible to get them into drawers because we have finaly moved Ryder's dresser/change table into the nursery and got him his own "big boy" furniture, including a brand new car bed!!

By the time I got home from Quebec, Marty had moved all of Ryder's "baby furniture" (dresser, crib, rocking chair) across the hall, into what used to be his office, and had put together Ryder's brand new bed.  He surprised both Ryder and I Friday night with the bed and brand new sheets and duvet. And that's how Ryder ended up in his Big Boy bed for the first time.  He sure was excited, running and bouncing all of his bed.  He could slide off the bed all by himself, but he couldn't quite get up on top of it by himself.  I was nervous about his actually staying in his bed all night, but...he did!!! Ryder's always been good at going to bed at night, so I was glad to see this new bed hadn't affected that, however, nap time was going to be more challenging.  Saturdays and Sundays, we put him down for an afternoon nap, the rest of the week he sleeps in a pack and play at his Day Home for his naps.  Saturday, Marty tried to put his down for his nap, but because Auntie Nic was visiting, Ryder was too excited to sleep. He kept talking about Auntie, Auntie, Auntie. Finally, Marty gave up and we sent Nic upstairs to read him a story.  I waited downstairs, for Nic to come back to have lunch with me....after what felt like forever, I went up there to see what the heck was going on....both Nic and Ryder were fast asleep on the new car bed, curled up together!!! I hadn't been expecting that or I would have taken a pic!! Adorable!! They slept like that for 2 hours!  A successful nap in his brand new bed! Eventually, we brought up a small stool so that Ryder could climb onto his bed by himself, which he loved to do! On and off, on and off!

Saturday night, Ryder slept good in his bed again, but he still wakes up early!!! Now I just crawl into bed with him and try to get him to go back to sleep at least until the clock has a 6 at the beginning of it.  He's usually too excited to tell me all about the "big bumps" he goes over in his car bed all night. Sunday, he fully nap striked.  I put him in his bed, he was sooo tired after a morning trip to the zoo, but he just couldn't settle down.  I left him climbing out of his bed. He banged on the door a few times but eventually, all was quiet.  After I thought he'd had plenty of time to fall asleep, I opened his door out of curiosity, I wanted to know if he'd gone to sleep in his bed, or just curled up on the floor....turned out neither! He was playing trucks!!!!! We tried again an hour later, but he just didn't want to have a nap, I guess....All week, bedtime was mostly successful.  Only a couple of nights, did he get out after I'd kissed him Goodnight. He banged on the door and hollered (broke my heart, but I rode it out, making myself give him 5 minutes before going to the rescue.) Everytime, he crawled back into bed and was asleep by the time I went back up! Yay!!! Only once did he fall out...well, I am assuming he fell out. I heard a big "thud" one "wahhhh" and then the next thing I knew, Ryder was standing in our room clutching his blankie, looking confused. I took him back to his bed (4:30am) and crawled in with him for the rest of the night...well unitl 6am anyway, then it was time to start our day!!

Marty put Ryder down for his nap yesterday (Saturday) and he was asleep before the story was done.  Here's hoping nap time goes as smoothly for me today. :)

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and watch your babies sleep if you get the chance!

TUBBY TIME WITH TRUCKS

 

 Here's my "Big Boy" in the tub!

He 's a big boy with only one month left of "suckie" time. We have decided we need to get "rid" of his suckies before lil Peanut arrives.  Suckies are for babies, not big boys, right?  For now, though, we are getting used to the Big Boy bed.....I gotta get some pics of him sleeping, then I'll write about our Big Boy Bed adventure. :)

A WEEK IN QUEBEC

5 days ago, I boarded a plane with 60 7th and 8th graders, and 19 other adults.  We were heading for Quebec City, Quebec, for 5 days of French Canadian Culture and history.  We chose February to travel as that would allow us the opportunity to check out the World Famous Carnaval de Quebec.  The Carnaval is a huge outdoor Winter Celebration, basically, a "Screw you" to winter, a "Bring it on, Mother Nature, we will celebrate and party and dance no matter how cold you make it, kind of celebration.

 Bonhomme Carnaval, the mascot of the Carnaval!

 Quebec is a great place to embrace winter and French Pastry.

 We were blessed with warmer weather than we had anticipated, making our outdoor adventures even more fun!!

 We traveled with Jumpstreet Tours, an amazing tour company that handled everything for us. The guides were enthusiastic, engaging, flexible and so passionate about their hometown and culture that they were infectious!!

We spent an evening at a Sugar Shack where we played wooded spoons, danced, ate, sang, made our own maple butter, ate "la tire" right off the snow and even did some dog sledding!

Thursday was Valentine's Day.  We ate a traditional breakfast at a Huron Village. We learned about Canadian Native culture and then headed to the Museum of Civilization. The kids insisted on decorating Peanut with the museum entrance stickers.  Peanut got a lot of love on this trip!

 We drove out to the country that afternoon and did some snow shoeing on a trail that led us to an ice kitchen where we were served fruit and chocolate, the perfect Valentine's Day treat.
 I was one day shy of 31 weeks pregnant but that didn't stop me from hiking up to that chocolate. 

 

Some of the chaperons and I, enjoying the adventure!

If I couldn't be home with my boys for Valentine's Day, I am glad I got to spend it outside, in the beautiful winter weather with this group of kids!!

The Day Home sent me this picture, assuring me that Ryder was thinkin' about me on Valentine's Day. Here he is making me a special card, which I got tonight when I arrived home, along with some flowers, he and Marty picked up.  I love my boys!!   I had made chocolate covered strawberries and Valentine's cards for all the kids at the Day Home before I left for Quebec, so Ryder knew I was thinkin' about him too! :)

I am glad to be home. This was the first time I have ever been away from Ryder overnight. I spent 4 nights away from him and I missed his chubby little cheeks!!  We had a fantastic time in Quebec. The students were respectful, fun and I was proud to be with them, however, nothing beats the feeling of coming home!!

Vive l'hiver!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and choose to embrace winter!!!

CHEESE!

My little ham!! He has gotten so he sees me with my camera and just says, "cheese!"

 

APPOINTMENT DAY

Yesterday was appointment day.  It was Wednesday but I took the day off work for some appointments.  Really I only needed half the day, but since our Day Home was closed, I took the whole day, so Ryder and I could hang together as he had no where else to go.

Our first appointment was at 9:20am. It was a regular monthly appointment at the Maternity Clinic to check on lil Peanut.  I always have to wait there, for what seems like a long time before actually getting to see a Doc, so it was nice to have someone to entertain to help pass the time. I can say that after the fact because Ryder was sooo good. No tantrums, no bored trouble making, just happy, fun, Ryder!
Ofcorse we brought trucks.  We lost "Po Po" (the police car) the minute I opened the door to get Ryder out of the back seat.   Po Po must have been on the floor because as soon as the door opened I heard the sound of a small metal car hitting the ice.  I caught a glimpse of it just before it disappeared under the truck.  Under the truck, on a patch of ice, way to far for me and my big belly to reach. Luckily, we had a few other trucks with us, so we could leave Po Po until after the appointment.  Once inside, I was impressed to learn I had a room I could report to right away.  Ryder and I sat in that little examining room, for at least 15 minutes before a doctor showed up, which may not seem like a big deal, but 15 minutes in an exam room with a toddler can feel like eternity...today though, it wasn't too bad. We played trucks on the exam table. We parked trucks under the paper covering the table and we snuck peeks out the door to see if anyone was coming. :)

I learned from the Doc, once she finally arrived that my because my varicose veins are traveling up my legs to my unmentionables, I would need thigh high compression socks. My knee highs are not doing the job anymore.  She gave me a perscription, then sent me to the tiny pharmacy in the foyer of the clinic.  It was here in this tiny pharmacy that I realized I should have worn full coverage undies!!
Thankfully, the Pharmacist, locked up his shop for 1the ten minutes it took him to measure my legs so that he could order me the socks with the appropriate compression.  The closed doors prevented the general public from seeing my big bare white ass, however, it did not shield the Pharmacist himself, nor my son from the view! The Pharmacist's measuring tape and his fingers actually touched my bare butt cheek! Awkward!!!!!!!!!!  I was glad Ryder was there. His presence provided distraction that allowed both the Pharmacist and I something else to focus on rather than my big, veiny ass!!!

We did manage to retrieve Po Po before we left the clinic, but I did have to move the truck in order to get it. :)  WE hit up Starbucks on the way home as a reward for Ryder's awesome behaviour and because I needed a small java jolt!

After Ryder's afternoon nap, we took Scout to the Vet for her yearly check up.  The Vet's was a great place for Ryder! He got to pet puppies, he even learned to ask: "pet him?" before actually petting the strange dogs.  He got to listen to Scout's heart beat with a stethoscope and he got to sing and yell to himself through his reflection in the window!  Adorable!!

I told Ryder, Scout was feeling nervous and scared. He didn't hesitate, he just leaned right over to give her a giant hug..empathy? I think so!!!

Tomorrow is Friday. Ryder will spend the day with Marty.  Thanks to a lot of team work between Marty and I, some great friends, Marty's flexible job, and me being technically done work at 3pm, we have almost made it through this crazy week of no Day Home (the day home provider is in Disneyland!)

I will be glad when things go back to normal next week...oh wait, they won't! I am off to Quebec for the week with the gr.7s and 8's!!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and wear full coverage undies to the Doc, even if you are not PLANNING on taking your pants off!!!

SUNNY SUNDAY!

Today, we woke up to sunshine..well, not really. We woke up before the sunshine, but at 8:30am when Ryder and I took Scout for a short walk (Ryder loves to hold the leash and hates it when I hold his hand on icy patches) the sun was just beginning to really warm up our fresh Alberta air! I knew we had to take advantage of this beautiful, sunshiny day, so I began plotting.  I figured if we took Scout for a pretty long walk, not so long that I would end up having to carry Ryder home, but long enough to tucker him out, he'd have a morning nap (something he only has when he is really tired or grumpy) leaving the afternoon (normally nap time) wide open for a trip to the zoo!  

For once, my plan worked perfectly..except I did end up having to carry Ryder through the snow part of the way back home.  He went down for his nap at 10am and slept until 12:30pm. Perfect! We fed him lunch, loaded him and the stroller (we pushed it all over the zoo without Ryder in it) into the truck and headed for the zoo.  I just couldn't bring myself to pack winter coats. The sun made it feel like a spring day, so instead, I layered Ryder up with lined track pants, an undershirt, long sleeves, a hoodie, a wind breaker, tuque and mitts.  I wanted so badly for him to run and run at the zoo, so instead of making him wear his winter boots (I knew there would be very little snow on the paths at the zoo) I put shoes on his chubby little feet.  Run and run he did! He felt free and light with no heavy winter layers, however, what I hadn't anticipated were the multiple face plants into puddles!  Turns out feet that have only been running in boots for the past few months are not used to how fast they can get going with only shoes to weigh them down. After the first face plant, his pants, fleece liner and all were soaked.  I can't believe with all the crap I packed (we pushed the bag around in the stroller) I hadn't packed an extra pair of pants.  Ryder wasn't the only kid falling into puddles, we witnessed several others.  Turns out kids were face planting into puddles all over the zoo!!

The good news though, is that, Ryder didn't even notice how wet he was.   He was tooo excited to be running through the zoo, looking for "More animals! More animals!!"

 The hippos are my favorite! All the way home, Ryder wanted to sing, "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." I think he liked them too!!

 No riding in the stroller, but a ride on Dad's shoulders? Sure!! Mom pushed the empty stroller! 

Checking out the zebras!

 The real Elephants were fun to watch, but this "buddah belly elephant" was my kindred spirit!

After the zoo, we stopped at the grocery store, so we could pick up some chips to make nachos to eat while watching the Super Bowl with our neighbours.  We knew Ryder was exhausted after all the running around at the zoo, which meant that we also knew a meltdown/tantrum was a possibility, but our craving for nachos outweighed our fear of public tantruming.  

I can positively say, now, after enjoying those nachos that the face down flop on the floor in the produce section was worth every salty, cheesy bite! (only a few carts had to detour around the screaming child.) :)

The day ended with a friendly visit and appetizers over half a football game (we left just after half time to put Ryder to bed) with a happy Ryder on his best behaviour.  He is now peacefully sleeping in his bed, hopefully dreaming about hippos and monkeys!  

I am heading to my own bed, with dreams of me not looking like a hippo forever!! Good night!

 29 weeks

NO TRAINS

For Christmas Santa brought Ryder a train table. Santa was pretty excited about it.  It's not that Ryder had talked about trains a lot, or that he even had ever seen the TV show, Thomas The Train, it's just that Santa kinda wanted one.

Ryder loved playing at his friend's train tables and he had a couple of "Thomas trains" he carried around occasionally.  So Santa figured this table would be a big hit!!  Santa set the table and track up so that when Ryder came down the stairs he would see it and it would be ready to play with.  It was hard to tell who was more excited about it once Ryder finally saw it, Santa or Ryder!  The excitement and fascination lasted a couple of hours, before Ryder started asking for his trucks (which Santa's wife had put away downstairs to make room for all of the trains.)  By the end of the first week of having the Train Table fill our living room, there were more trucks on it than trains.  Pretty soon, frustration hit because Ryder had no where to drive his trucks with all that track and train on the table. He started driving his trucks on the stairs, on the window sills, on the island in the kitchen, on the couches...but always his play ended in frustration with his trucks falling off the surface he was using as a road.  

I couldn't see a connection at the time, but his temper tantrum frequency went way up and after this weekend, I am convinced that it was because of his trains...can I blame Thomas? Is that fair? LOL

You see, the other day, we took down the track, not just a piece of two of it (we had already tried that, but there still was not enough room for tucks.) We put all the track and the trains in the drawers of the train table and all of Ryder's trucks back upstairs and....that perma smile of his, the cute one that emphasizes his adorable chubby cheeks? It returned!!!  That little cutie who is happy to play all by himself for up to 20 minutes at a time? He returned!  Seriously, I have been able to do the dishes after supper and even make supper almost interrupted for the last two nights, thanks to the trucks!!!! :)  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE trucks????? :)

  He has pulled out a few of the train pieces to drive his trucks on, but for the most part, all trains are gone, only trucks and busses and vans cover our Train Table now.

I do love trucks now as they have given me 20 minute stretches of freedom back. Infact, I just made myself a cup of coffee and wrote half of this Blog while Ryder played by himself with his trucks, but I do love sleep more and that is something this pregnant uncomfortable Mamma is lacking!!  How can I be so much more uncomfortable this time around? Ugh!! I love lil Peanut and I cannot wait to meet the little cutie pie in three months, but I am ready to see my toes again!!!!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and if your kid loves trucks, let him love trucks! :)