This morning I was reminded that a crisis can happen in a mere nanosecond.
I went out on the front porch to bring Lauren's bike closer to the front door and to fetch her helmet. With Claire in one arm I grabbed the bike with the other and swung it around and placed it near the stairs so I could easily carry it down when we were ready to go off to daycare.
In the next moment I walked back inside and noticed that Claire had a grimace on her face and lots of drool around her mouth. None of these two conditions is unusual and she wasn't crying so thought nothing of it. The next moment I'm down on my knees rummaging through my bag to look for my keys when I notice a wet flower petal on the floor beside me.
My brain does a quick calculation: grimace + drool + wet petal on the floor = baby swiped one of the flowers from the hanging basket next to the bike and put it in her mouth.
Zut alors!!!
I pried open Claire's mouth as best I could to see if there was anything else in there, then ran over to the sink to wash out whatever residue might be leftover. It seems as though she just got it in her mouth and rolled it over a few times before her tongue pushed it out. Thank goodness. The petal has the same texture as grape skin so she could have very easily choked had her tongue pushed it back rather than forward. Crisis averted, but still too close.
My heart pounds at the thought of how fast it all happened. Claire's hands are like octopus tentacles right now - they're in all directions all the time so I need to be EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA aware of what's within grabbing range.
It's been an hour and a half since the incident and she seems fine, snoozing peacefully as she usually does at this time. Phew!!
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Clothes pegs
This is silly, but it seems I bought some inferior clothes pegs.
I bought them last year and noticed then that they would fall apart easily, but I didn't have time to get a new bunch.
I don't ever spend time thinking about clothes pegs until this weekend when I was catching up on several loads of laundy and putting the wet clothes out on the line. I think about half of the 50 that were in the the package have come apart, so I don't have enough pegs to put up a full load.
Zut alors.
Actually, I did at one point think about pegs because I remember I specifically bought the wood variety thinking they were more durable than plastic. I grew up without a dryer in the house so I've hung up my fair share of clothing on a line and the wood never failed. Maybe I bought a bum batch? Who knows.
Anyway, I'll go with plastic when I go out for a new pack and I'll see how long those last.
I bought them last year and noticed then that they would fall apart easily, but I didn't have time to get a new bunch.
I don't ever spend time thinking about clothes pegs until this weekend when I was catching up on several loads of laundy and putting the wet clothes out on the line. I think about half of the 50 that were in the the package have come apart, so I don't have enough pegs to put up a full load.
Zut alors.
Actually, I did at one point think about pegs because I remember I specifically bought the wood variety thinking they were more durable than plastic. I grew up without a dryer in the house so I've hung up my fair share of clothing on a line and the wood never failed. Maybe I bought a bum batch? Who knows.
Anyway, I'll go with plastic when I go out for a new pack and I'll see how long those last.
Simple pleasure # 13 - rain
Thunder, lightening and a downpour in the middle of the night during a very hot and dry summer.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Classroom politics
It was a smooth drop off this morning with smiles and even singing.
There were still a few tears and lots of pouting last week, but today was great. Lets hope it sets the precedence going forward. We got to the school early so she could spend a bit of time in the pre-school class which is where the kindergarten kids hang out until they go up to their own classroom at 9am. This way she can spend time with her old teachers and friends.
I did a little more probing last week to try get more info on the unhappiness and found out that "boring" wasn't quite the right word. "Inadequate" would better describe what she was feeling. Turns out there are some "rules" that the kids are expected to know, such as "stay on the sidewalk during neighbourhood walks" and "stay with your partner." I've seen these rules written on a poster on the classroom door and it's all basic safety stuff that Lauren has learned at some point, just not as "rules". I think she got anxious about having to know what they all are and thought she had to give a presentation or something. I told her that she isn't expected to know all the rules right away and that she'd learn them all in due time.
The partner rule was a little more tricky because she was partners with girl-1. She knows girl-1 from two years ago when they were in the pre-school room together, but girl-1 is a year older and was never a close friend. She doesn't dislike girl-1, but girl-1 tends to make Lauren feel inferior and said some things that hurt Lauren's feelings. She told Lauren that she "wasn't as smart as her dad" and that she was a "scaredy cat". I'm not sure about the dad comment, but Lauren did admit to me that she was scared of some things. For instance during the Mad Science demonstration, Lauren had to spend quiet time on her own in another part of the classroom because the flames were freaking her out. She also got freaked out about feeding the birds during a trip to the Botanical Gardens.
Girl-1 is also always playing with another older girl-2 that Lauren wants to spend time with, but would rather play without girl-1 being around.
I know the mother of girl-1 who is a lovely lady, and my first instinct was to ask her to ask her daughter to be nicer. But, I don't think this is the way to go. Lauren needs to speak up for herself and learn to cope. Of course I'll step in if she starts to feel harassed but I don't think it's remotely like that now. 4 & 5 year olds can say some hurtful things, but a lot of it is out of context and doesn't make a lot of sense. Often times the one saying the words quickly forgets what they were talking about.
It's makes me a bit nervous that classroom and playground politics are taking shape already. These kids are so little! What's going to happen at 11 & 12 years when words can get really nasty and feeling an emotions are reaching the peak.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Bounce!
Claire made me laugh out loud yesterday.
We were sitting on the living room couch together and I propped her up so her legs were under her and her belly was against the back cushion. This helps her practice putting some weight on her legs, and if she lifts herself high enough she can peek out the window to the street to do some people watching.
Once she was in position she pumped her legs a few times to bounce herself on the cushion, then looked at me with a big gummy grin. Too cute! Then she turned around again and bounced herself on the cushion then looked at me again with a big gummy smile. This time I laughed. Then she turned around AGAIN and bounced herself on the cushion then looked at me again with a big gummy smile.
Now it was downright hilarious. She caught on pretty quick that I was finding her bouncing funny so she kept up the same routine for several minutes. Bounce, turn, smile, bounce, turn, smile, bounce, turn, smile, bounce, turn, smile....
What made it so funny was turning her head to look at me after each bounce to see my reaction. She always smiles when I get close to pick her up or when we're tumbling around in play, but this was such a deliberate cause and effect interaction.
Maybe she'll be a comedian when she grows up. Who knows, but for now I'm looking forward to more laughs.
We were sitting on the living room couch together and I propped her up so her legs were under her and her belly was against the back cushion. This helps her practice putting some weight on her legs, and if she lifts herself high enough she can peek out the window to the street to do some people watching.
Once she was in position she pumped her legs a few times to bounce herself on the cushion, then looked at me with a big gummy grin. Too cute! Then she turned around again and bounced herself on the cushion then looked at me again with a big gummy smile. This time I laughed. Then she turned around AGAIN and bounced herself on the cushion then looked at me again with a big gummy smile.
Now it was downright hilarious. She caught on pretty quick that I was finding her bouncing funny so she kept up the same routine for several minutes. Bounce, turn, smile, bounce, turn, smile, bounce, turn, smile, bounce, turn, smile....
What made it so funny was turning her head to look at me after each bounce to see my reaction. She always smiles when I get close to pick her up or when we're tumbling around in play, but this was such a deliberate cause and effect interaction.
Maybe she'll be a comedian when she grows up. Who knows, but for now I'm looking forward to more laughs.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Rough morning
It was a rough morning for Lauren.
She started crying at breakfast and continued for the full hour it took to finish getting ready for the day and while I dropped her off at daycare.
She tried her best to explain her sadness - the gist of it being that she misses the preschool classroom and finds the kindergarten class "boring". She also misses being home with me and Claire. Poor baby. I shed a few tears too when she told me that last bit.
She has had so many changes in her life lately that I understand the breakdown. Not only is there a new person in the family (which is a huge change at home), but she went from being full time at daycare to part time for 3 months when all 4 of us were home, to full time again now, to graduating to a new classroom where the expectations from the kids are more. She still sees her old teachers and friends in the playground, and is even reunited with friends who graduated last year, but this didn't help her feel better this morning.
It was really tempting to let her stay home with me today, but I know this won't help her to deal with tough situations in the long run. This was a tough lesson for both of us.
Today was scheduled to be a fun day for the kids with a trip to the splash pad and picnic. I'm hoping to hear that it was indeed a fun day.
She started crying at breakfast and continued for the full hour it took to finish getting ready for the day and while I dropped her off at daycare.
She tried her best to explain her sadness - the gist of it being that she misses the preschool classroom and finds the kindergarten class "boring". She also misses being home with me and Claire. Poor baby. I shed a few tears too when she told me that last bit.
She has had so many changes in her life lately that I understand the breakdown. Not only is there a new person in the family (which is a huge change at home), but she went from being full time at daycare to part time for 3 months when all 4 of us were home, to full time again now, to graduating to a new classroom where the expectations from the kids are more. She still sees her old teachers and friends in the playground, and is even reunited with friends who graduated last year, but this didn't help her feel better this morning.
It was really tempting to let her stay home with me today, but I know this won't help her to deal with tough situations in the long run. This was a tough lesson for both of us.
Today was scheduled to be a fun day for the kids with a trip to the splash pad and picnic. I'm hoping to hear that it was indeed a fun day.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Upgrade 10.6.3
I'll be upgrading the OS of this computer soon. Right now it's running OS X 10.4.11 which is 6 years old. Which is ancient.
C and I don't usually get around to upgrading the computer until things stop working. All we really use it for these days is web surfing, email, word processing and image making. C mentioned months ago that he couldn't get itunes on his ipod, and I haven't been able to download anything onto my Kobo. The latest thing that we can't access anymore becuase of the outdated system is Skype. So yeah, time to upgrade.
I called apple to find out what we can still get from this computer. Turns out that 2 MB of ram and Snow Leopard will give us about a year or so of use before we'll need to seriously consider a new computer. I thought I was the last person on earth to be upgrading by many years, but the tech guy I spoke to had done the exact same upgrade just last year. We're not that far behind after all.
So, $29 for the OS plus $50 for the RAM plus $130 for the backup drive. Some money, but still less than a brand new computer, so we're all set to go. Fingers crossed that the upgrade goes smoothly!
C and I don't usually get around to upgrading the computer until things stop working. All we really use it for these days is web surfing, email, word processing and image making. C mentioned months ago that he couldn't get itunes on his ipod, and I haven't been able to download anything onto my Kobo. The latest thing that we can't access anymore becuase of the outdated system is Skype. So yeah, time to upgrade.
I called apple to find out what we can still get from this computer. Turns out that 2 MB of ram and Snow Leopard will give us about a year or so of use before we'll need to seriously consider a new computer. I thought I was the last person on earth to be upgrading by many years, but the tech guy I spoke to had done the exact same upgrade just last year. We're not that far behind after all.
So, $29 for the OS plus $50 for the RAM plus $130 for the backup drive. Some money, but still less than a brand new computer, so we're all set to go. Fingers crossed that the upgrade goes smoothly!
Home alone
Claire and I are at home alone all day today for the third time ever.
Seems strange seeing as she's been around for nearly 5 months, but there have been a lot of routine changes in that time.
When I started my leave at the end of January C was already on a contract working from his home office. When my mom came to help with baby's arrival, there were 3 of us home all day. That help turned into a 3 week stay. When Claire arrived my mom went home but there were still 3 of us at home. When Lauren went down to part time day care in April, there were 4 of us here - and 3 of us trying our best to stay out of C's way while he tried to work.
Last Tuesday Lauren started back at day care full time, and C started working on site again as of yesterday.
So here we are, Claire and I home alone.
Seems strange seeing as she's been around for nearly 5 months, but there have been a lot of routine changes in that time.
When I started my leave at the end of January C was already on a contract working from his home office. When my mom came to help with baby's arrival, there were 3 of us home all day. That help turned into a 3 week stay. When Claire arrived my mom went home but there were still 3 of us at home. When Lauren went down to part time day care in April, there were 4 of us here - and 3 of us trying our best to stay out of C's way while he tried to work.
Last Tuesday Lauren started back at day care full time, and C started working on site again as of yesterday.
So here we are, Claire and I home alone.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Half baked
It is suddenly more difficult to bake...
...Or cook, or tidy up, or do anything around the house. That must mean that Claire is changing. She doesn't sleep for hours at a time on end the way she used to, but instead takes shorter naps and is awake for more hours of the day. This is good because she sleeps more at night which is better for all of us. Unfortunately her best sleep is in my arms because when I put her down she wakes up.
Strapping her in the Sugli is a good short term solution, but now that she's on the brink of 20lbs, I'm on the brink of breaking my back if I carry her around for too long at a time.
I used to stick her in the Bumbo chair up on the counter so she could watch me bake, but now that she has a tad more mobility she reaches out to grab whatever is nearby. Last week she managed to reach the terra cotta kitchen utensil holder and tip it over sending the utensils all over the place. And if she's not grabbing at things, she'll arch backwards to try pop herself from the chair. So not safe.
Today I was determined to try out a new muffin recipe so I plopped her in her ExerSaucer and got down on the floor with her to prep some of the ingredients. This worked for a while but there's only so long you can watch someone grate carrots before you'd want to cry. So she eventually started to cry and I put the muffin making on pause to feed her. There were lots of feeding pauses actually. I just pulled the muffins out of the oven now so I'd say it took about 3 hours from start to finish. Was it worth it? I'm not sure yet. I'll see once the muffins have cooled down and I try them out.
...Or cook, or tidy up, or do anything around the house. That must mean that Claire is changing. She doesn't sleep for hours at a time on end the way she used to, but instead takes shorter naps and is awake for more hours of the day. This is good because she sleeps more at night which is better for all of us. Unfortunately her best sleep is in my arms because when I put her down she wakes up.
Strapping her in the Sugli is a good short term solution, but now that she's on the brink of 20lbs, I'm on the brink of breaking my back if I carry her around for too long at a time.
I used to stick her in the Bumbo chair up on the counter so she could watch me bake, but now that she has a tad more mobility she reaches out to grab whatever is nearby. Last week she managed to reach the terra cotta kitchen utensil holder and tip it over sending the utensils all over the place. And if she's not grabbing at things, she'll arch backwards to try pop herself from the chair. So not safe.
Today I was determined to try out a new muffin recipe so I plopped her in her ExerSaucer and got down on the floor with her to prep some of the ingredients. This worked for a while but there's only so long you can watch someone grate carrots before you'd want to cry. So she eventually started to cry and I put the muffin making on pause to feed her. There were lots of feeding pauses actually. I just pulled the muffins out of the oven now so I'd say it took about 3 hours from start to finish. Was it worth it? I'm not sure yet. I'll see once the muffins have cooled down and I try them out.
Water
My mother has turned me on to flavoured water.
She gave me some sprigs of lavender and mint from her garden to put into a jug with water. It's so refreshing and smells lovely whenever I take a sip. Before the lavender I tried pear slices and ginger and next I'll try mint and lemon.
This has inspired me to grow some edibles in my own garden. I kind of left the garden to go to seed this year because I simply don't have the time. Or rather I can't put the baby down for any significant amount of time to pull the weeds. Next spring should be easier so it will be a project to look forward to.
Lavender is one of those plants that I forget about until I get a whiff of it and remember again just how lovely it smells. MMMMmmmmm....
She gave me some sprigs of lavender and mint from her garden to put into a jug with water. It's so refreshing and smells lovely whenever I take a sip. Before the lavender I tried pear slices and ginger and next I'll try mint and lemon.
This has inspired me to grow some edibles in my own garden. I kind of left the garden to go to seed this year because I simply don't have the time. Or rather I can't put the baby down for any significant amount of time to pull the weeds. Next spring should be easier so it will be a project to look forward to.
Lavender is one of those plants that I forget about until I get a whiff of it and remember again just how lovely it smells. MMMMmmmmm....
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Party!!
Three birthday parties in 3 consecutive weekends and another coming up in two weeks plus the family get together for me & C next weekend. That's a lot of birthday cake!!
C & I spent a good several moments trying to remember what we did for our birthdays last year. We managed to come up with dinner at Marcello's, which I think is right.
I can remember the details of Lauren's last 4 birthday celebrations, but it's getting more difficult to remember my own. All I ever want these days is a good meal and birthday cake to make it a good day. Anything else is bonus.
The birthday giddy rush I get now is for the girls, and planning parties a week apart for the two of them will be something I'll look forward to every year.
Monday, July 2, 2012
The graduate
Lauren graduated from the daycare preschool room last Thursday and will be starting in the kindergarten room tomorrow. She's one of 5 older kids moving to the new room this week and the remaining kids will graduate later in the summer.
There was a little ceremony at circle time that another mother and I attended where the kids received diplomas and learned what it means to graduate. They had no idea what the rolled paper diplomas were but it was very cute just the same. The graduates got their photo taken by the teacher and all the kids in the class got a bouncy ball and a ring. Circle time was followed by snack which included fruit, cake and popsicles as a special treat.
So little and reaching significant milestones already. I'll blink and Lauren will be graduating from University!
There was a little ceremony at circle time that another mother and I attended where the kids received diplomas and learned what it means to graduate. They had no idea what the rolled paper diplomas were but it was very cute just the same. The graduates got their photo taken by the teacher and all the kids in the class got a bouncy ball and a ring. Circle time was followed by snack which included fruit, cake and popsicles as a special treat.
So little and reaching significant milestones already. I'll blink and Lauren will be graduating from University!
Go to bed already
Go to bed Caroline.
It's 11:15pm and I'm sitting at the computer surfing around and writing this blog when I really should be in bed. The alarm is set for 7am so I can get the baby up and get a head start on getting Lauren ready for daycare.
I can't help it though. Sometimes this hour to myself late at night is worth the risk. There's always a good chance that one of the girls will wake at 2 or 3 or 5 am and disrupt my precious slumber, but I'll take the chance knowing full well I may feel like a zombie tomorrow.
Oh well, as a very good friend of mine once said, "I'll sleep when I'm dead."
It's 11:15pm and I'm sitting at the computer surfing around and writing this blog when I really should be in bed. The alarm is set for 7am so I can get the baby up and get a head start on getting Lauren ready for daycare.
I can't help it though. Sometimes this hour to myself late at night is worth the risk. There's always a good chance that one of the girls will wake at 2 or 3 or 5 am and disrupt my precious slumber, but I'll take the chance knowing full well I may feel like a zombie tomorrow.
Oh well, as a very good friend of mine once said, "I'll sleep when I'm dead."
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