Rhys' 5th Birthday

Rhys' 5th birthday was on a Monday this year. It was a heartbreaking Monday. Mid-day there was a devastating announcement made by The Calgary Police Department regarding the disappearance of a 5 year old boy named Nathan O'Brian. His disappearance was now a homicide investigation. I saw the news unexpectedly while checking Facebook for birthday greetings for Rhys. I was so overcome with emotion, that my manager tried to send me home. I couldn't contain the sorrow I felt for this little boy's parents.

We had plans to celebrate Rhys' brithday with family at the Chinook Mall Bowladrome, and thank-goodness we did. With heavy hearts and bloodshot eyes, we all got to be together, laughing with, and spoiling, our 5 year old little man, all too aware that a family just like ours, had had this precious luxury ripped from them forever.

 

We celebrated a second time the following Saturday, this time with friends as well, at our place. Ioften dwell on the amount of time and money spent to celebrate birthdays, especially when the celebrations turn into week long events, with hundreds of dollars spent on gifts, activities, food, drinks, and decorations.

 

This year, I didn't care at all. I wanted to spoil my son rotten, make him laugh and feel special, and snuggle him tight at night in his bed as he rambled on about anything and everything. I bought decorations I knew would only be used once, and I baked him a special cake even though I loathe baking.

 

None of us are guaranteed another birthday. And my heart still breaks daily for Nathan's parents, whose Facebook page looks just mine, only now it's full of awkward words of condolences posted on a wall.

A Comparison: Park Swing

Rhys, probably 10 or 11 motnhs old:

Kyle, around 7 months old:

Bonus Ridiculous-ness: Rhys, 3 years old:

Unexpected Morning (+ 2 Comparisons)

This morning started like any other... Being ripped from slumber by Kyle's cries, then laying in bed, half awaking, listening to Warren prep a bottle for a fussy, grunty, impatient baby. Eventually dragging my butt to the kitchen for the all-too-important cup of java, then mustering the energy to make something that resembles a breakfast, all while catering to Rhys' non-stop morning demands.

But then the morning took a pleasant turn. Warren didn't have appointments until 1pm, so we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and go to North Glenmore Park and pull the kids in their sleds  (or 'slides' as Rhys calls them).

Getting kids ready to go outside in the winter is a colossal pain in the arse. It's a good thing they are adorable.

Cute Baby In Snowpants

As soon as we were all packed into the car, Kyle fell asleep. So, we decided to get gas and a couple Starbucks Lattes (Holiday Peppermint Mocha!). You know, so Kyle could sleep longer. It's all for the children.

Rhys wanted to pull Kyle at first. Melts my heart when he plays the Big Brother role so well:

"Mom, the sun is in my eyes!"

Handsome man, with his handsome sons.

Rhys wanted to pull again.

Comparison #1: A Baby In A Sleigh

Rhys, 5 or 6 months, in his precious Marino Wool Snowsuit and matchy-match hat and mitts, sitting in a shiny new sled. Even the blanket tucked around him is red, to match:

Kyle, 9.5 months, in a faded sled that was left outside too many times. Nothing matches, and the blanket tucked around him *may* have doubled as spit-rag in the past:

Comparison #2: Mom In The Picture

Bonus Cutie:

Remembrance Day 2012

Ever since Warren and I started the tradition of attending the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Military Museum about four years ago, it has become something I really look forward to. And, as I discovered this year, something I feel very guilty about missing. We went back and forth on the decision. First it looked like Warren would need to be showing clients earlier in the morning, so we wouldn't attend. Then it turned out his appointments wouldn't start until 1pm - plenty of time! But then, the forecast was predicting -16 degrees in the early hours, so we made the choice not to go this year, especially with Kyle still so young. And I felt SO guilty. Warren thought I was being ridiculous (he thinks I have 'guilt' issues). But all I could think was 'People left their families to fight wars...we shouldn't mind standing in the cold for an hour'. It's also like when you're invited to a function, maybe a birthday party, and you decide not to go, and you tell yourself 'oh, lots of people are going, no one will really notice if I'm not there, so it's not a big deal'. But there is significance in numbers. It matters. Anyway... So no pictures of Kyle and Rhys freezing their butts off this year.

Instead, Rhys and I spent the morning visiting at a friends' house, then we all headed to Nana and GranDan's to celebrate his 82nd birthday. And of course, I had left the camera at home.

So, here is a completely unrelated, slightly old, picture of my two loves...sitting in a laundry basket.

And I am thankful. And I remember.

A Comparison - The Ball Cap, Vest and Green Sleeved Shirt

Rhys, Approximately 6 months old :

Kyle, Approximatley 7 months old:



LOVE the deadpan expression on Rhys, and the smile on Kyle. CLASSIC.

(I wrote that line so you all wouldn't feel like you have to comment, because that is what you would have written, or some variation anyways).

:)

A Letter To Rhys: 3 Years, 3 months

Dear Rhys,

I wonder to myself, daily, "do all three-year-olds have THIS much personality?". You are hilarious. You have very animated facial expressions. You have a sweet Mickey Mouse voice. Your imagination and vocabulary continue to explode.

You chatter NON STOP from the second you wake up ("hi mommy, what you dream about? What we doing today?"), to the seconds before you fall asleep. Even when we play dinosaurs or cars, all you want to do is have the toys TALK to each other. Complete strangers (like the hairdresser at Beaners) will comment on how chatty you are. You make up words (instead of high/low, you say upper/downer), and you double up on your plurals ("Mommy, looks at those trees-ez-ez").

Lately you love building forts/tents/houses out of chairs and blankets, playing chase, playing hide and seek, and helping your Dad shovel the driveway. You have gotten really good at riding your bike (no pedals) and your balance keeps improving. You love the idea that I miss you when you are not around ("Mommy, you miss me at play school? You so sad? You cry, and cry and cry?").

Some things about you that I will want to reference when Kyle is 3:

- You started wearing underwear instead of diapers a couple months before your 3rd birthday.

- You started to drop your nap around your birthday, and dropped it completely a couple months ago.

- Your bedtime these days is around 7p and 7:30. If you do happen to have a rare nap, it is impossible to get you to sleep before 9:45p.

- Your bedtime routine has many steps and phases, because overtime your stalling skills have forced us to try and jam all the things you want into a 'bedtime routine'. So, starting around 5p, your routine is dinner, play, treat, bath, one-on-one play in your room with mommy or daddy (with a timer), a cartoon (20 mins) with a bowl of cheerios, potty, brush teeth, story, drink of water, snuggle, 'good parts/bad parts' talk about the day, song, lights out. PHEW. I get tired just reading that.

I love you, Rhys-y-pie. Night, night.

Mommy

Death By Candy Cane. (Caution: Graphic Imagery)

Yesterday was a great Sunday. My mom came over, we took the boys to the playground, Rhys rode his bike in his snowpants (only in Canada!), Warren went for a bike ride around the reservoir with his dad, I ran some errands with Rhys and he loved all the Christmas decorations in the stores. And to top it all off, I had a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

But one thing happened that freaked me out.

Rhys was eating a 'hard rock' candy that his Nana gave him on Halloween, as seen here with my hand in the picture for size reference:

Rhys was walking towards the couch then suddenly took a giant leap in the air and dove head first into the couch for fun. But he was holding the hard rock candy. And it jabbed (with apparently great force) into his forehead. Rhys started to cry. I ran immediately to console him and look at his 'boo boo', with expectations of seeing nothing wrong and telling him he was fine. But in those couple seconds, a goose egg the size of a small plum had grown on his forehead. It was horrifying! I could not believe that silly candy had caused it.

Behold:

And truly, this photo doesn't even do it justice. It was BIG.

Thankfully, after some ice, and time, the swelling went down and now there is only a bruise and small cut.

Poor Rhys-y-pie.

A Comparison: The Italian Cashmere Sweater Outfit

Rhys, Approximately 8 months, Easter:

Kyle, Approximately 8 months, Thanksgiving:


(same outfit, different hat, Rhys beautifully posed taken with an SLR with an adoring audience of grandparents etc, Kyle looking off camera taken with a point-and-shoot while photographer tries to multitask and put on her pumps, all other family members likely using a hotel washroom).

Life Finds A Way.

 We had big plans to go tobogganing as a family this morning, but it turns out, bundling up all four of us required more effort than our lazy butts wanted to expend. So, Warren and Rhys got some one-on-one time.

Gotta love a hubby who sends back photos during an outing!

Rhys making a "Snow Crocodile"

In other news, Kyle ate an entire Cod Fillet for lunch. Umm... Need a Costco Membership much?

Here is a video of him being a turkey, from the other day. We had put up a small barricade so that he couldn't reach the TV or cable box, but as Jeff Goldblum's character Dr. Ian Malcolm on Jurassic Park said, "Life finds a way".

Facebook Is Killing My Blog.

I'm finding that the ease and instant gratification of Facebook is causing this poor blog to suffer. Greatly. It's very frustrating.

When I have a funny thought, or story, or child milestone, or picture, or WHATEVER that I want to document I am taking the lazy road. It is just too easy to load a picture or video to Facebook. Or when I have a thought that would make a good blog entry, it is much easier to condense it into a two sentence status. And Facebook also offers the very coveted instant emotional boost of comments and likes. Seriously. It's a drug.

But I worry. Although Facebook has these great qualities, it is no replacement for a Blog. This is my online journal. It's easy to go back in time to relive it all. Facebook is brutal for that. And what happens when no one uses Facebook anymore? It scares me. I will look back on the holes in my blog and refer to them as 'The Facebook Years'.

So, November will be yet another 'Blog Everyday' month to kick-start some proper memory keeping.

To start off, a couple Rhys stories (sorry, Kyle).

This year Rhys went as a white and purple Unicorn for Halloween. We were walking up the steps to trick or treat, and a woman swings open the door to great us on our ascent. She flashes Rhys a big smile as he approaches and beams "Awww...a Magical Winter Princess!"

Then today, after losing my patience with Rhys several times as I was packing him and Kyle into the car to go to playschool...

Rhys: You mean.

Me: Why?

Rhys: You grumpy, and so, so mad.

Oy.

Now tonight I want to send a thank-you card to our neighbour who gave Rhys a pumpkin from her very own pumpkin patch.

Magic

These boys are magic.

Holding Hands

Zoo With Easton

Attempting to include Kyle, so he's not 'The Forgotten Child'