Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Thank you, Mama
Calum has learned to say "Thank you" and he uses it a lot. There is something very cute about hearing him say it.
We've had a quiet week so far. Calum continues to be a bit off though - he doesn't want to go to sleep and Don and I have had to resort to a few late night drives to get him to drift off. Last night he didn't want to go to sleep and then woke up with the sun - much too early. He finally fell back to sleep, sometime after 6:30 and slept till 8:30. Lucky for us, the daycare is across the street. He was very happy though, he had all of the kids shooting webs and jumping. Don and I are getting a cold again so the lack of sleep is making for some very long days.
Tonight, we are off to run errands and do some shopping. I'm going to try to keep him as busy as possible to tire him out.
Oh, one funny Mother's Day story. Calum and I went to buy some flowers for Grandma Bain. He was very happy about it. He picked them out, carried them around the store and was very careful the whole time. When we got home he told me that they were his flowers and he wanted to keep them. I convinced him to take them for a ride to Grandma and Grandpa's and once he saw Buddy he was over the flowers and ready to give them away.
Hope you are all having a good week.
We've had a quiet week so far. Calum continues to be a bit off though - he doesn't want to go to sleep and Don and I have had to resort to a few late night drives to get him to drift off. Last night he didn't want to go to sleep and then woke up with the sun - much too early. He finally fell back to sleep, sometime after 6:30 and slept till 8:30. Lucky for us, the daycare is across the street. He was very happy though, he had all of the kids shooting webs and jumping. Don and I are getting a cold again so the lack of sleep is making for some very long days.
Tonight, we are off to run errands and do some shopping. I'm going to try to keep him as busy as possible to tire him out.
Oh, one funny Mother's Day story. Calum and I went to buy some flowers for Grandma Bain. He was very happy about it. He picked them out, carried them around the store and was very careful the whole time. When we got home he told me that they were his flowers and he wanted to keep them. I convinced him to take them for a ride to Grandma and Grandpa's and once he saw Buddy he was over the flowers and ready to give them away.
Hope you are all having a good week.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Save the spiders
I hate to admit it but I used to be as likely to squish a spider or a bug if it crossed my path as I was to let it free. Now, thanks to Calum's fascination with bugs I just can't do it. Today, thanks to Calum, the big spider I found crawling along the floor is now happily spinning a web in the yard. He finds insects very interesting. As you can see from our photos, he has a bug net and also a bug container. We brought it to daycare one morning and spent about 15 minutes looking for bugs outside. We managed to find a few ants but none of the other kids were really impressed. Calum likes ladybugs and spiders but will happily play with anything he can find.
We brought Calum's library books to the Old DC one morning. They are chapter books, meant for bigger kids but he loves them. They were, of course, about Spiderman and Batman. I had to read them and realized I had to make them appropriate for other kids. How do you explain villains and bad guys to toddlers? Calum just calls them meanies and cheers for the hero. I had no idea what some of these kids had been exposed to so I had to make up the story - Spidey caught a lot of meanies and they all had to apologize for not minding their manners. Luckily, most of the kids politely listened for a few minutes then went off to do other things.
We spent the day at doctors appointments. Another rescheduled hearing test, only to find he has another ear infection so it was off to the clinic. The doctor checked him over and said his sinuses are backed up, causing fluid build up in his ears, and so on. I was worried after he woke up last night and wouldn't settle. We have some nasal spray and antibiotics and it will be another round of appointments in a few weeks to make sure the infection is gone and we can go in for a proper hearing test. We haven't managed one yet.
More news when we have it.
We brought Calum's library books to the Old DC one morning. They are chapter books, meant for bigger kids but he loves them. They were, of course, about Spiderman and Batman. I had to read them and realized I had to make them appropriate for other kids. How do you explain villains and bad guys to toddlers? Calum just calls them meanies and cheers for the hero. I had no idea what some of these kids had been exposed to so I had to make up the story - Spidey caught a lot of meanies and they all had to apologize for not minding their manners. Luckily, most of the kids politely listened for a few minutes then went off to do other things.
We spent the day at doctors appointments. Another rescheduled hearing test, only to find he has another ear infection so it was off to the clinic. The doctor checked him over and said his sinuses are backed up, causing fluid build up in his ears, and so on. I was worried after he woke up last night and wouldn't settle. We have some nasal spray and antibiotics and it will be another round of appointments in a few weeks to make sure the infection is gone and we can go in for a proper hearing test. We haven't managed one yet.
More news when we have it.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
A busy weekend
Calum loves the outdoors. It's becoming a real challenge to get him in from outside. He's smart too, he knows how to trick me. When we come home from the Old DC, he walks up the walk then stops to show me something. It's usually a rock or a bug. When I stop to look at it, he starts motoring for the back yard. He's fast too. When we get back from running errands and get out of the car, he runs for his car (a battery operated quad - Thank you to Pam and Mickey) and insists on looking for sticks or bugs. Sometimes, I can get away with him just playing on the back deck but we always have to play a game where we draw bugs from his insect book then pretend the bugs are trying to catch us. Our neighbors must think we are nuts.
Dakota and I took Calum to the driving range for the first time this past weekend. He was fascinated with the concept but wanted to start throwing the golf balls onto the range rather than hitting them. He was pretty upset when we finished our buckets. Guess we actually better find a club his size though because it was pretty funny to see him try to use ours.
Desiree got a job. She'll be working at the Whitespot up the street from our house. Dakota still isn't on the work schedule for this week but I suspect with the nicer weather she'll be filling in for other people pretty soon. We've got some new pictures to post soon.
Hope you are all cheering for the Canucks tonight. Even the toddlers at the daycare are talking about it.
Dakota and I took Calum to the driving range for the first time this past weekend. He was fascinated with the concept but wanted to start throwing the golf balls onto the range rather than hitting them. He was pretty upset when we finished our buckets. Guess we actually better find a club his size though because it was pretty funny to see him try to use ours.
Desiree got a job. She'll be working at the Whitespot up the street from our house. Dakota still isn't on the work schedule for this week but I suspect with the nicer weather she'll be filling in for other people pretty soon. We've got some new pictures to post soon.
Hope you are all cheering for the Canucks tonight. Even the toddlers at the daycare are talking about it.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Morning meltdown
I made the mistake of agreeing to play Calum's favorite XBox game this morning, Star Wars Lego II. He loves the game, and I have to admit it's a lot of fun. However, when it was time to get ready for daycare he had a meltdown. He wanted to keep playing "Luke!" Then I tried to get him changed and he insisted he wanted to wear his very dirty Luke shirt. I had to frantically search for his other Luke shirt and convince him I'd wash his favorite before I could get him changed. Luckily, the mood didn't last long. As soon as I told him it was raining and we'd need his spidey boots and umbrella he was ready to go. Now, getting him into the daycare and away from the puddles was another matter.....toddlers really remind me of teenagers. Calum's certainly no meek little boy. He knows what he wants and he has me wrapped around his little finger.
Monday, April 16, 2007
More from the Old DC
I generally spend at least 30 minutes a day at the Old DC. Calum, and all his friends, like me to read them stories in the morning. They are each allowed to pick out a book for me to read, which is fine when there are 3 kids but some days there are 7 or 8. They all try to get me to read 2 or more books too. I don't really mind though, it's a great way to start the day and to meet all of the other kids.
They do some funny things though. One girl likes to do somersaults (she's not even 2 yet!), 2 boys like hockey and you have to make a big deal over their hockey jerseys, 1 little guy is quiet but likes to attach himself (limpet fashion) to your leg, 1 likes to jump (as does Calum) and they all spontaneously break out into the "Wheels on the Bus" song. Calum really likes a few of them and they greet each other as soon as they are in sight. He also likes the babies. At the end of the day, when there are just a few kids left, they usually have the infants and toddlers together as they do the end of day chores. Calum loves to show me the babies. He smiles and laughs as though to say "Aren't they strange".
Don, Calum and Dakota will be back soon. Don found another great Craigslist buy. A new zoom lens! Expect more pictures next week. Desiree is out at a Modest Mouse concert (no, that's not a kids concert) and I was finishing some work. Going to go enjoy the last few minutes of quiet before they all get back.
Hope you are all having a good start to your week.
They do some funny things though. One girl likes to do somersaults (she's not even 2 yet!), 2 boys like hockey and you have to make a big deal over their hockey jerseys, 1 little guy is quiet but likes to attach himself (limpet fashion) to your leg, 1 likes to jump (as does Calum) and they all spontaneously break out into the "Wheels on the Bus" song. Calum really likes a few of them and they greet each other as soon as they are in sight. He also likes the babies. At the end of the day, when there are just a few kids left, they usually have the infants and toddlers together as they do the end of day chores. Calum loves to show me the babies. He smiles and laughs as though to say "Aren't they strange".
Don, Calum and Dakota will be back soon. Don found another great Craigslist buy. A new zoom lens! Expect more pictures next week. Desiree is out at a Modest Mouse concert (no, that's not a kids concert) and I was finishing some work. Going to go enjoy the last few minutes of quiet before they all get back.
Hope you are all having a good start to your week.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Where do the days go?
Things have been busy. We've got some easter pictures to post but I haven't managed to download them yet. I'll post them next week. Calum has been doing great. He's really starting to talk and is a real character now. He certainly knows what he wants. Today, he was having fun imagining that he was fishing on a boat. The boat was his little tykes climber and his fishing rod was the broom. We've never been fishing with him so it was pretty neat to see that he is a natural.
After a bit too much attention from us all, he went off to our room today and closed the door. I, of course, opened it and told him he could play in the room but had to keep the door open. He said "OK. Bye". I tried to ask him what he was doing but he just kept saying "Bye." I left him alone for a few minutes then went to check on him. He was eating chocolate, lying on the floor and suddenly started saying "Luke!" Guess he was imagining he was part of the jedi order or something.
He's got quite a sense of humor too. Today he kept trying to get a reaction from me. He put on his shoes and told me he was going to the Old DC. I made a big deal out of it, begging him not to leave his poor mom, but he actually started heading for the door. Guess he was missing all of his friends today. Then he realized he'd get some attention if he had a cough. A few times he put on this pathetic little *cough* for Dakota and I. He may be getting a sore throat but I can tell you that cough was a fake. Funny boy.
Good news for Dakota. She spent her after-school hours doing some training last week at the new Smart Foods store. She's been wanting a job for awhile and is very happy she's now old enough to do things other than babysitting and paper routes. She's trained as a cashier and is currently on call.
Don, Desiree and I are busy too. I am finishing up most of my major projects and thought I might have some rare quiet time for awhile. However, it looks like there will be some wrap up work for the next quarter and more work for my Band. Also good news for me because it looks like I may be making a trip or two up to Merritt over the next few months.
If you haven't looked yet, go to Grandpa Bains blog http://www.radioado.blogspot.com/ to see new pictures of Coy. He's growing so fast.
After a bit too much attention from us all, he went off to our room today and closed the door. I, of course, opened it and told him he could play in the room but had to keep the door open. He said "OK. Bye". I tried to ask him what he was doing but he just kept saying "Bye." I left him alone for a few minutes then went to check on him. He was eating chocolate, lying on the floor and suddenly started saying "Luke!" Guess he was imagining he was part of the jedi order or something.
He's got quite a sense of humor too. Today he kept trying to get a reaction from me. He put on his shoes and told me he was going to the Old DC. I made a big deal out of it, begging him not to leave his poor mom, but he actually started heading for the door. Guess he was missing all of his friends today. Then he realized he'd get some attention if he had a cough. A few times he put on this pathetic little *cough* for Dakota and I. He may be getting a sore throat but I can tell you that cough was a fake. Funny boy.
Good news for Dakota. She spent her after-school hours doing some training last week at the new Smart Foods store. She's been wanting a job for awhile and is very happy she's now old enough to do things other than babysitting and paper routes. She's trained as a cashier and is currently on call.
Don, Desiree and I are busy too. I am finishing up most of my major projects and thought I might have some rare quiet time for awhile. However, it looks like there will be some wrap up work for the next quarter and more work for my Band. Also good news for me because it looks like I may be making a trip or two up to Merritt over the next few months.
If you haven't looked yet, go to Grandpa Bains blog http://www.radioado.blogspot.com/ to see new pictures of Coy. He's growing so fast.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Saturday, March 31, 2007
You want what?
After a nice drive today we stopped at Dairy Queen for treats on the way home. Calum saw the freezer with all of the nice cakes and decided he wanted a cake, not a small treat. I guess he remembered his birthday cake and wanted more. Lucky for him, we all like them so on our way out we picked one up. Don't laugh, it's to celebrate the fact that it didn't rain today!
I've almost made it through the work crunch, just another week of year-end things to do and some reports and updates to finish. Once things are back on track blog posts will be a bit more regular.
Also, hope you all have heard the news by now. Don's Band, Lheidli T’enneh, voted no on their treaty ratification. Watch the news in the next few days as everyone has an opinion on what this means for the treaty process.
I've almost made it through the work crunch, just another week of year-end things to do and some reports and updates to finish. Once things are back on track blog posts will be a bit more regular.
Also, hope you all have heard the news by now. Don's Band, Lheidli T’enneh, voted no on their treaty ratification. Watch the news in the next few days as everyone has an opinion on what this means for the treaty process.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Better now
Calum's ear infection is gone and he was back at daycare. I saw them all out playing today and noticed Calum teaching Julia how to throw stuff. He seemed very enthusiastic about it and Julia joined right in. They were both waving their arms at each other and jumping up and down. I hope that they didn't hit any of the other kids.
Don got Calum the complete Spiderman DVD set (the old 1967 cartoons). He loves it but keeps wanting to change the DVDs. At least now we won't have to worry about getting up early enough to catch it on tv. Got to go pick him up from "the Old DC (daycare)". We call it the Old DC so he will look at it as a special club - only the lucky kids get to play there. He was very excited about going to the Old DC this morning so I hope he had a good day.
Don got Calum the complete Spiderman DVD set (the old 1967 cartoons). He loves it but keeps wanting to change the DVDs. At least now we won't have to worry about getting up early enough to catch it on tv. Got to go pick him up from "the Old DC (daycare)". We call it the Old DC so he will look at it as a special club - only the lucky kids get to play there. He was very excited about going to the Old DC this morning so I hope he had a good day.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Murphy's Law
Don and I had a very busy Friday, juggling our schedules so that we could take Calum for a hearing test on Friday afternoon. We picked him up from daycare and were getting ready to go out for his appointment when I noticed his ear was draining fluid again. An ear infection! He had been very restless the night before and Don and I got very little sleep as we had to get up and watch cartoons with him. We thought it was a cold but we were wrong.
Luckily, since we were both home anyway we took him to the doctor and got in to see her in record time. I think we were in and out the door in 15 minutes. He's on medication for 10 days and it seems to be helping. He was up at 4:30 today, and I couldn't get him back to sleep till 7:00. It's thrown our whole day off but he seems happier now. All of the kids are off for the week - spring break. Desiree and Dakota are helping with Calum as the last two weeks are busy for both Don and I. Let's hope the rest of the week is a bit better.
Luckily, since we were both home anyway we took him to the doctor and got in to see her in record time. I think we were in and out the door in 15 minutes. He's on medication for 10 days and it seems to be helping. He was up at 4:30 today, and I couldn't get him back to sleep till 7:00. It's thrown our whole day off but he seems happier now. All of the kids are off for the week - spring break. Desiree and Dakota are helping with Calum as the last two weeks are busy for both Don and I. Let's hope the rest of the week is a bit better.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Spiderman Gifts
On Monday, Larry and Tabitha dropped by with loads of gifts from the family. Calum was very excited when he saw them pull up in front of the house and he was doing a little dance when he saw them getting stuff out of the car. He noticed his Spiderman chair right away. He got lots of neat stuff and immediately set to work playing with it all. Thanks to Nanny and Papa, Bonnie, Clint, Jen, Nicola and of course Larry and Tabitha. I'll post some more pictures later.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Calum's 2nd Birthday
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Calum
I can't believe you're 2!
We had a nice party yesterday at Grandma and Grandpa Bain's house. Coy, Grant and Jen were in town for the weekend so we all had a good visit and enjoyed the Spidey cake (combined for both Des and Calum). Uncle Grant helped Spidey climb the walls, Coy and Calum were measured on the wall, Buddy and Cedar were chased around the house and we all had pizza and cake. Calum wanted to blow out his candles twice so we all had to sing and cheer again. We let him open his presents yesterday (lots of Spiderman stuff) and had a tough time getting him settled down for bed.
I can't believe you're 2!
We had a nice party yesterday at Grandma and Grandpa Bain's house. Coy, Grant and Jen were in town for the weekend so we all had a good visit and enjoyed the Spidey cake (combined for both Des and Calum). Uncle Grant helped Spidey climb the walls, Coy and Calum were measured on the wall, Buddy and Cedar were chased around the house and we all had pizza and cake. Calum wanted to blow out his candles twice so we all had to sing and cheer again. We let him open his presents yesterday (lots of Spiderman stuff) and had a tough time getting him settled down for bed.
Nan called early this morning and wished him a happy birthday then he was off and playing again. We went out for breakfast but Calum wanted to ride the escalators at the mall and visit the animals at the pet store instead. He was busy trying to blow up some balloons and playing with the boxes from his presents this afternoon and we finally got him down for a nap.
I'm sure Calum would agree that it was a very good birthday.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Update
I'm sure many of you have heard about Dakota's snowboarding accident. She went on a school trip to Whistler on Saturday and had a bad fall near the end of the day. We were all very worried about her as she was transported to Children's Hospital where they ran tests and monitored her for awhile. She was kept immobilized till they were sure there was no damage to her back or spine. We are very happy to report she was released from the hospital on Monday night and though she has some stiffness and pain, she'll be fine. She's back at school now and seems to be doing great. She'll have a follow up visit in a few weeks.
Grandpa Bain has suggested she take up a less adventurous past time - something like shopping. I'm trying to think of some way to convince her that helmets and safety gear are really the in thing this year - all of the radtabulous (her word) kids are wearing them.
Grandpa Bain has suggested she take up a less adventurous past time - something like shopping. I'm trying to think of some way to convince her that helmets and safety gear are really the in thing this year - all of the radtabulous (her word) kids are wearing them.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Bye Mom
Lately Calum has been great when I drop him off at daycare in the mornings. If his good friend (formerly his fighting buddy) Kiernan is there, he runs in and they start playing right away. If he's not there, Calum will help me fill out the intake form then ease into an activity. As soon as he gets involved in it, he will turn to me and say "Bye mom". I can be in the middle of a conversation with the staff but Calum will keep telling me "Bye" till I go.
Sniff, sniff. I'm so happy my baby is growing up. Really. Can't wait for the eye rolling "Mom, don't embarrass me" phase that I am sure is just around the corner.
Can you believe there is snow outside again? When I showed Calum the snow this morning, he looked out the window and said in a very accusing-type of tone "Snow!" then proceeded to tell me where the snow ought not to be - on the cars, on the lawn, on the sidewalk. Nasty snow. Mostly I think he wants to wear his new Spiderman shoes and doesn't like it when it snows because I make him wear his boots.
Sniff, sniff. I'm so happy my baby is growing up. Really. Can't wait for the eye rolling "Mom, don't embarrass me" phase that I am sure is just around the corner.
Can you believe there is snow outside again? When I showed Calum the snow this morning, he looked out the window and said in a very accusing-type of tone "Snow!" then proceeded to tell me where the snow ought not to be - on the cars, on the lawn, on the sidewalk. Nasty snow. Mostly I think he wants to wear his new Spiderman shoes and doesn't like it when it snows because I make him wear his boots.
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