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:

Tricksy (aka: Parenting WIN)

Warren and I have been struggling with Rhys at meal times lately. I think it's a terrible two's thing. Food jags, constant snacking and lack of attention span to sit at a table at meal time have caused many toddler-parent battles. So a couple days ago I did what any modern parent would do.

I searched the internet for help. My research gave me a couple things to try.

I've tried offering more variety and having more 'designated' snack times. This seems to be working. Warren was a genius the other night when Rhys refused to even taste the pork cutlet we cut up on his plate. Warren began to recite Dr. Suess' 'Green Eggs and Ham', and sure enough got Rhys to taste it. Then Rhys proclaimed he liked it and would eat with a fox, and in a box, in the rain and on a train. SCORE!

Today, for breakfast, I made Rhys a breakfast bagel with egg, ham and cheese. This is something he will eat when we're out, but not at home. So I wrapped it in tin foil to make it look 'bought'. And he voila! Parenting Win #2.

World's Greatest Dad

Day #6 Wave Pool!

This was Rhys' 5th time to the Southland Leisure Centre. He is getting so comfortable in the water. They went down the biggest waterside in the 'kids' area, and he was jumping off the little steps into the water, and jumping into the waves when they came. I was so proud. I think his favourite part is still the hot tub though. Gotta love that!

Tomorrow: Rhys has Sportball with Warren in the morning, and I have a 'playdate' with two new little munchkins :)

Day #5 - Calgary Tower

Then, because I refuse to breastfeed at Denny's, Kyle gets a bottle from his Papa:

And some video from the Tower... Rhys has no fear! (Unlike his Papa...)

Day #3

Have your heard of the 'Spaceport' at the Calgary Airport? Apparently, it is also known as 'Heaven' for 2.5 year old boys. These are the pics my wicked-awesome husband was sending to me all morning yesterday:

And Easter Dinner #1 turned out really well. I made a very special effort to NOT get stressed about cleaning the house and preparing the meal. I did really well, too. Proof was when dinner was served 45 minutes late because the scalloped potatoes and ham needed different heating/cooking temperatures, so the timing of it all was trickier than we had planned...and I didn't freak out! Thankfully my cousin and brother brought over lots of stuffed mushroom caps and baked brie to to hold us over until dinner.

Here is a great 'Three Generations' photo for our history book (if we had one...):

Today: Eater Egg Hunt in the morning, and a Greek Feast at Grandpa & Grandma Pamela's house!

Happy Easter everyone.

And The Day Went To Shit.

Today was a total roller coaster of successes and failures. Here is a bit of a recap...

1) I rocked this morning.... Had a playdate planned way up north (Rocky Ridge) and was actually out of the house (with both kids!) by 8:40am, and arrived only 15 minutes late at 9:15am. Rhys was well behaved, and Kyle even had a wee bit of a snooze. Success!

2) My attempts to keep Rhys awake in the car were futile (Rhys look! A Choo Choo!) and he fell asleep, meaning the odds of a nap were slim. I thought my luck had turned when he willingly got into his crib. That lasted about ten minutes. He then called out for 'mommy and daddy' for the next hour, and was in a trouble making mood for the rest of the afternoon. Fail!

3) Nana and Grandan show up to lend a quick hand. ( load the dish washer, distract Rhys while I nursed, etc) Success!

4) Rhys needed a diaper change and fought me on it. Turns out his bum was flaming red and sore. So he had an early bath to sooth his poor bum. After the bath he really didn't wanna diaper on, so I figured some air could do him good, and let him be naked in his giraffe towel. Then I had an idea - I'll try him in his big boy underwear! So he put them on and looked SO cute. Then Kyle fell asleep in the baby bjorn and Rhys and I played and I made him dinner and he ate TONS. MAJOR SUCCESS!

4) Then Kyle woke up and needed to nurse. While I was nursing, Rhys was laying on the floor quietly watching TV. Suddenly he leaped to his feet, with the fear of God in his eyes. There were dribbles coming from between his legs. 'Rhysie! Quick! To the the Potty! You're peeing!' So with a baby on my breast I grabbed my toddler and ran to the bathroom. More dribbles were coming now. 'Rhys! Sit in on the Potty! SIT'! He refused and looked terrified. This was out of character because he pees on the potty all the time, 'Rhys - you don't even have to take off your underwear.... Just SIT!!!!' then I noticed the dribbles were brown. Then there were blobs of brown. He was shaking his head and whimpering. I realized I needed to keep my cool, or risk scarring him for life. 'Rhysie. It's okay. You're pooping. If you sit on the potty you can have a big sticker!' He still refused. So I pulled Kyle off my breast ( yes, I was still nursing during this!) and put him in his crib. He of course started wailing, but I had to leave him. I ran back to Rhys who was still 'hovering' over the potty. I pulled off his under wear, which was filled with chunky-yet-runny diareah like poo. Once they were off he sat down, but the damage was done. There I was. Holding a diarrhea filled under wear in one hand, and wiping down my toddlers legs with the other. I was gagging at the smell, but tried to hide it from Rhys. All I could think to say was 'good boy Rhys! Now you get a big sticker!. He smiled. So left his disgusting undies in the sink (the bath hadn't been drained yet)' and left the potty and toilet full of soiled TP, Finished cleaning him up and gave him his bowl of stickers while I sat on on the floor and nursed Kyle in the hallway. I then texted Warren asking when he'd be home. FAIL.

Warren came home from a crummy work day, and was greeted by a screaming, inconsolable gassy infant, a toddler who was not in bed, a bathroom full of poo, and a wife who was on the verge crying and throwing in the shat-filled towel.

I love you, hon.

A Conversation With Warren

This afternoon (5 days overdue)...

Amanda: This has been the longest pregnancy EVER.

Warren: I know what you mean. It feels like you've been pregnant for two years.

Amanda: I guess that makes me like an elephant...gestating for two years.

Warren: Elephants gestate for three years. So, you're more like a Rhino.

Amanda: I'm going to pretend you didn't say that.

Warren: Well, I could have said Hippo, but I didn't. Because I'm sensitive.

Warren Story

It was a typical morning at our house...we were in the kitchen eating breakfast. Warren and I were talking about something or other, when Rhys started asking for some apple juice. Warren, continuing to chat with me, got up and grabbed the juice from the fridge. Clearly no longer paying attention to what he was doing, he grabbed a small blue bowl from the cupboard and started to pour the apple juice into it. I started laughing, and he looked down to see what he had done. He hung his head with embarrassment, chuckled, and then walked over to the other cupboard and grabbed a cup.

Rhys: No! Want bowl! Want boooowl!

Warren: No, Rhys. Daddy is getting you a cup.

Rhys: Bowl! Want bowl!

Amanda: Rhys...we drink juice out of cups, not bowls. Daddy is getting you a cup.

Rhys: No, no, no...want boooooowl!

Amanda: (exasperated that her ‘reasoning’ and ‘logic’ wasn’t working) Now Rhys, cups were designed for –

Warren: (cuts Amanda off) Oh – let him drink his juice out of a bowl. He’s like Steve Jobs. He’s thinking outside of the box.

Ooookay then.

He's Still Got It.

(My apologies for the slow down in blogging...our Internet wasn't working for a day or two...which was paaaaaainful).

A Conversation With Warren

Warren had just arrived back to the condo, after an evening stroll to the grocery store.

Warren: Soooo...on my way to the store, a group of girls driving by hollered at me. (A hint of pride in his voice).

Amanda: Really? Like...a Cat Call?

Warren: Yup. (An undertone of cockiness in his voice).

Amanda: Okay... so what did they say?

Warren: "I bet you have a tiny dink".

Amanda: (nearly spits out her water, and starts choking on it through her laughter). Uh...huh. (snort) And (cough, choke) you're PROUD (snort, snort, cough) of this? (tears are flowing now).

Warren: Hey. I'm forty, I live with a toddler, and I'm walking to Von's to pick up baby shampoo and juice boxes. I'll take what I can get.

The Walk Home...

...on Daddy's shoulders.

"Motherly"

Yesterday Warren had his first official 'Daddy Day' with Rhys. Today was the first day of our new 'work day' routine, where Warren takes Rhys to daycare and picks him up. He picked him up around 3:15pm, and since I don't get home until 5:30pm, he had even more alone time with Rhys today. We had this conversation tonight after dinner at his brother's house...

Amanda: I've noticed a change in you, already.

Warren: What do you mean?

Amanda: Like tonight, when we were leaving, you knew where Rhys' shoes were when I asked.

Warren: Yah, because I was the one who took them off.

Amanda: And, you buckled Rhys into his carseat without asking me to help or check that it was tight enough.

Warren: Um Hmmm.

Amanda: And after bath time, you didn't dissappear into the office to check Facebook, instead you hung around to help straighten up his room and see if I wanted you to read him his bedtime story...It's like you've suddenly...become...

Warren: More Motherly?

Amanda: Yes! More Motherly. It's awesome.

(Editor's note: I do not want to imply, in any way, that Warren never used to help or do things with Rhys on his own. That couldn't be further from the truth. But I think us 'Mothers' have a certain way we hover and do things and want things done that is very different from how fathers function. So it stood out very strongly to me when Warren started functioning that way.)

Alcohol & Good Intentions

Yesterday turned into a lovely evening...blue skies and a light breeze. Perfect for a quick after dinner jaunt with the jogging stroller. BUT, while having some dinner out on the deck, Warren pulled out some champagne that has been in the fridge since Rhys was first born. So we ended up hanging in the backyard and had a late night fire instead. A much more appropriate way to spend an anniversary, don't you think? Exercise is so overrated.

Nothing says 'romance' like some gorgeous power lines against a blue sky:

Our delightful spawn joined us for the celebrations:

We polished off the 'Ice Wine Truffles' that were leftover from my "Girl's Banff Getaway" last week:

Rhys was enjoying being sprayed by the sprinkler mist as I watered some plants, and ended up with a pretty funky hairstyle:

After Rhys was quietly sleeping...

Party Planning

Last night my mom came over to see her sweet little grandson, and offered to stay past his bedtime so Warren & I could go have dinner and use up a gift certificate Warren got for his birthday (Lounge Burger - yum!). One of the things we chatted about over dinner was Rhys' upcoming 1st birthday party.

Amanda: I really want to do a Hawaii'n theme, like a Luau.

Warren: Okay.

Amanda: We'll need tropical music of some sort, and some Tiki type decor for the backyard.

Warren: I know! How about we serve ginger ale in little dixie cups in case anyone gets sea sick, and we can play whale sounds while your mom dry-heaves in the corner?

Smart Ass.

Step AWAY from my food.

I've started working on Rhys' 1st Year Video, and am LOVING it. I think I love it because a) it's bringing back a gazillion memories and b) editing reminds me of my past life, and c) it gives me something else to do besides housework when Rhys is in bed.

I found this gem while scrolling though. The video itself isn't what made me laugh, but instead the conversation going on behind the camera.

If you want the full screen version, click HERE.

Easter Photo Booth

I'll do a proper Easter post full of photos after all the festivities are complete, so for now...

Photo Booth, April 4th, 2010: Heading out the door to Grandpa & Grandma's house for a Greek Easter Feast.

Standard Def

Last night Warren & I were watching Survivor, and this was a snippit of our conversation...

Warren: Wow, Jerry sure hasn't aged well. (For anyone not watching, Jerry is a woman, who was on one of the first season's of Survivor).

Amanda: What? You don't think so? I think she looks pretty good. She has some deep smile lines around her mouth, but that's it.

Warren: (Throws hands up in the air) BLECH!

Amanda: How can you say that? What if I get deep lines like that?

Warren: Well, then you won't go on a High Definition TV show.

Amanda: But what about this, right now (gestures a pointed finger to herself, then Warren). Us here, face to face. That's high definition.

Warren: Not really. I can't see very well.

Sheesh.

Conversation Exasperation

Warren will sometimes do his own laundry, and when he does it is out of pure desperation. I've been sick for a week, so...he was desperate. He got 2/3 through the process. He washed & dried. He folded. But at the all important 'put clothes away' stage, he abandoned ship. Here is a word for word recount of a conversation (argument?) we had this evening...

Amanda: (Trying not to sound like a nag by giving an ample timeline) Hon, can you please put your laundry away before going to the gym tonight?

Warren: Ummmm.....no.

Amanda: I think YES is the correct answer to my question (she then picks up the laundry basket which houses his clean, folded laundry and plunks it on the bed beside him, where he's lounging).

Warren: What's in it for me if I do it?

Amanda: If you DON'T do it, I will dump out all your clean clothes onto the floor and mix them back in with the dirty laundry.

Warren: If you do that, I will just leave it there for weeks and weeks and drive you crazy.

Amanda: Okay, then I will throw your clothes in the garbage.

Warren: The garbage is full.

Amanda: OKAY, then I will dump out the garbage onto your side of the bed, and THEN I will throw your laundry in the garbage.

Warren: Then I'll sleep downstairs and you will have to sleep next to garbage.

Do you people SEE what I have to live with over here?!

Aloha & Mahalo

Goodbye & Thank-you, Maui!

(Editor's Note: You may have looked at this picture and thought to yourself..."Geez, Warren looks kind of odd in this pic". Well, that's because I altered the photo. This was taken on our last day. We were tired. Pair that with some poor lighting, and Warren had some dark circles under his eyes. He hates photos of himself at the best of times, so I attempted to 'fix' the photo by removing his dark circles. I showed him the result, without telling him I had altered it, and asked him 'Do you see anything weird about this picture?". His reply?

Warren: I look like a Chinese Joan Rivers! You gave me a really bad face lift!

I *nearly* peed my pants. )

The Forgotten One

When I'm stressed by packing for a big trip, someone always tries to console me by saying 'Don't worry, as long you have your passport, everything else you forget you can buy at your destination'. I used to believe that to be true, until I left CEDRIC at home. Oh, poor little Cedric. You'll be the first item I pack on our next trip, I promise.

Day 11 of our trip was a slightly more ambitious day. Before coming to Maui, Warren & I chose one thing that was really important to us to get the chance to do on this holiday. My 'thing' was that I wanted the opportunity to lay by the pool and suntan & relax (read: sans baby). I'm easy to please, I guess. Warren's 'thing' was that he really wanted to get up before dawn and drive up a volcano to watch the sunrise from ABOVE the clouds (hmm...slightly more difficult to please...). Obviously, this was something I would have loved to do too, but after much discussion we both decided it wouldn't be fair to Rhys to wake him at 4am, pack him into the car, drive up a windy, dangerous road to watch the sun rise from the freezing peak of a volcano. Not what we considered a child friendly activity.

So Thursday morning, Warren, Rob & Tiff woke up really early and headed off to the volcano, while I stayed at the condo with Rhys. Rhys slept in a little that morning (6:15am! Yes, in Maui, that was sleeping in...), and went back for a nap at 7am. That gave me the chance to blog a bit, and to enjoy our gorgeous view and the ocean breeze (which I miss very much):

As the morning hours ticked away I was beginning to feel sorry for myself. The gang was off having an adventure, and I was stuck at the condo. So I strapped Rhys into the Baby Hawk carrier and we went for a walk to find some Kona Coffee. Rhys got lots of 'Ohhs' and 'Ahhs' from passers by, which always warms my heart:

By the time we arrived back at the condo, Warren was home. The trip was totally worth it, he said, but he was glad we didn't bring Rhys. He said there was a family with a baby up on the volcano, and they were totally stressed out and had the baby wrapped and bundled in quilts from their hotel. Warren said it was cooooold up there. He also said the twisty road would have made me sick. But these photos tell me one thing is for sure...we will be taking Rhys back to Maui some day, so that he can watch the mighty sun rise up, while standing above the clouds:

After the gang had a quick nap, we jumped back into the van and headed south, to the sunny shores of Wailea. It was gorgeous there. We took lots of video, but the only photo we took in Wailea was Resolution Pic #11:

That night, we all cooked steaks on the ocean front BBQs, watched Survivor Heroes Vs Villains, and ate some All American Pie (half apple, half cherry!).

Our last full day in Maui was ambitious and full and lovely.