The potty training is going surprisingly well (Famous last words). Sasha has not had an accident today, although I have her going to the potty every 30 minutes (as per J's instructions). Amazing what a bit of bribery can achieve. So for each potty she can either have a sticker, a lollipop of have one of her finger nails polished with either sparkly purple or strawberry nail polish. So far today she has opted for one nail being polished, a few stickers and a lollipop. The only problem is that I painted her middle finger on her right hand so when we were on the way to the hairdresser this afternoon, she kept flicking everyone we met along the way. My neigbours find it hilarious that Sash is giving them the bird.

I dont get it. D will without a blink of an eye give me a kidney or even half a liver, but God forbid that I use his razor to shave my armpits.

Believe it or not, in the last 6 months, D has only been on his own with Dylan a couple of times, and only for a few hours at that. Last Sunday was the first time he had the opportunity to watch the 2 kids at night and on Monday he was in charge of the kids until well over 6pm. We were in a town an hour away from TO so we spent the two days at a hotel. I had to give a seminar on Monday and so on Sunday I was taken out for dinner. We fed the kids before I left for my dinner appointment so D only had to feed himself during his dinner. Even then, the look of absolute relief on his face when I walked in the hotel room made me think that he definitely now has an idea of what I go through when he is at work. The next day my day started early and I finished meeting with students after 6pm so I was curious what the Unit had been up to all day. I arrived back at the hotel and was rather impressed with how D had handled the kids, considering he has only fed Dylan his solids once in his lifetime (I must add that D is a fabulous dad and is more often than not the one who wakes up for night feedings (the benefits of insomnia)...it is just the feeding of solid food that he has not had a chance to practice). Sash ran to me and told me all about her day..the museum being closed, the big girl slide she tried, the ice cream sundae with Smarties Daddy bought...she obviously had fun. D looked absolutely knackered. He was honest and told me that he would not have been able to survive without the hotel staff. They were so impressed that he was taking over babysitting that they helped him feed Dylan, helped Sash coulour during meal times, and even watched the kids while he went to the gents. I am thinking that they would never do this for me. His first question. How do you go potty with the kids? My answer. I dont.

I took Dylan for his 6 month check-up and shots. I opted to pay for his Hepatitis B shots and not wait for them to be provided free..which will be when Dylan is 13 I think. Pretty sure it is covered by D's insurance anyway. Dr F wants me to incorporate beef, lamb and chicken into his diet. I am thinking of whizzing poached chicken with baby spinach. Hopefully Dylan will find that agreeable.

I have 8 papers to review by 4 March. Busy, busy, busy.

Dylan Jedi is 6 months old

As I always say, the days are endless but the weeks fly by so fast. So very fast. Soon my little man will be crawling, walking, talking/talking back. So very fast

Crafty presents

Sasha and a couple of her buddies made their Daddies Valentines pressies. Sasha was really excited to present her present to her Daddy, although I am quite certain that it was the chocolates we wrapped along with the present that she was more excited to see. Along with the presents, Daddy received cards "signed" by the kids. I usually paint Sasha's hand and get her to stamp her "signature" on her cards. I figure it will be interesting to look at these cards 20 years from now and see how small their hands were once upon a time. For Dylan, I just traced an outline of his itty-bitty hand onto his card to Daddy.







Even Dylan seemed excited about the chocs.

J is back..

J is back and not a moment too soon. She is tanned as hell, although rather unimpressed with her first cruise. It was windy and Miami was rather cold. But she is glad to have experienced the Bahamas while we were all back here enjoying our snow.

With Sash back in her capable hands I am able to run all my errands, buy some gifts for a couple of newborns, mail them off and do some shopping for myself. I have been meaning to get a pair of jeans. Comfortable, cheap and cheerful jeans. When absolutely necessary I have been squeezing myself in the Sevens I bought just before, or probably during, my pregnancy with Dylan. I remember being very confused as the alteration seamstress was complaining about the fit as I was trying on my just altered jeans and my thinking she did a crap job. I was thinking "measure twice cut once dufus". A pregnancy test answered that question. I apologised to her telepathically. I still need to lose 10 pounds to fit into my Sevens comfortably so I figured I might as well put an end to the suffering and just head to Gap. One can only be seen in yoga pants so many times. With coupon for 20% off in hand, I left Dylan with D and went a-shoppin. Found a decent pair that still needs to be washed (as not pre-shrunk) before being sent to same alteration lady (hope she doesnt remember me). Now to look for a pair of black trousers....

During Dylan's nap I whizzed up some baby food. A weeks supply of avocado cubes, apple cubes, banana/blueberry cubes and sweet potato cubes. I find that he prefers his food with a touch of apple sauce (must be my sweet tooth) so extra apple cubes for him. He hates broccoli but loves avocado, again with a touch of apple sweetness. I cannot wait for Summer when I can try to add some peach and other summer fruits into his diet.

Day 7 and counting

One week to go. Of course thats when the sun will come out. It has been a rather warm, but rainy day so we are running riot at home. We have been finding ways to entertain ourselves though. Sasha is playing princess with Dylan. He is not too keen but as he cant escape her he is for today, Princess Dylan. We have had better days though.

Built a snowman on Sunday. That killed an hour.



Last Monday we thought to check out the AGO, finally. On the way there we stopped for some Sushi and Tempura. Good thing we did because the AGO is closed on Mondays. Lesson learned. Check opening times and never assume anything. It was fairly warm, as in -2 I think, so we walked off our lunch by walking to the ROM. Sasha was thrilled because she was able to visit her beloved Triceratops and Princess puppets. Yesterday, after her gymnastics, I told Sasha she could have a couple of friends over for crafts. So all 6 of us worked together to make 3 picture frames for the Daddies as Valentines presents. I took pic of the kids making their presents to be placed in the frames.









Now to teach her how to keep a secret...

Day 3

Have loads to do today. Doing the week's laundry and also the bedding. I dont see the need to have multiple sets of bedding as I dont see the point of spending good money on "spare" sheets when you can utilise that amount on a really, really good set of bedding for yourself (you do spend a huge portion of your life in bed and triple digit threadcounts can be addictive). Quite easy to and just wash, dry and remake bed. After all, it only takes a couple of hours to wash the bedding. I do of course have an extra set for the guest futon but for all intents and purposes, we have been using and reusing the same bedding for years. The same goes for Sasha's bed. Am doing this while Dylan is napping and Sasha is playing in the basement. A bit of vacuuming and when Dylan wakes up we are off to the shops to shop for tomorrows brunch. Having D's colleague over with their 2 year old daughter. Must find vegetarian sausages as am not sure of their dietary restrictions. Then usual lunch routine, play/read/play/change diaper, dinner, etc. Time flies.

Day 2

Sasha having breakfast with Dora

We were planning to check out the newly refurbished Art Gallery of Ontario but unfortunately D had to be downtown this afternoon. I could have gone without him but I figured it would be nice to check out the fresh new gallery together. Maybe next week. I took the kids to the ROM instead. I needed to renew our membership anyway. We go to the ROM at least 3 times a year so the membership makes sense. We also have the type that allows us to take in 2 guests which helps when out of town friends visit. Sometimes when you are on a budget a $40 museum entrance fee is hard to justify.

At the ROM, we of course had to take in the dinosaur exhibits first. While balancing..



Without fail Sash is always amazed at how large Dini really is...or was.



Then we have to do some excavating...



After lunch, we spend some time in the children's area playing dress up. Usually this is when the nannies take their charges to the museum so playmates aplenty..



I must say everytime I am at the ROM I wonder why we dont go there more often. It is only 5 subway stops away and a short walk on the best shopping strip in TO..so while I push my stroller I can gawk at the Chanel, Prada, and Tiffany window displays.
The beauty of it is that with 2 kids in tow it is impossible to shop so look is all I can do. I always tell myself that I should take Sash there more often. But I dont. But I must. After all, I have technically paid for 3 visits in advance.

Day 1 and counting

In view of both little terrors being home, D decided to work at the library instead of driving to work. Taking inspiration from Milla, I also dragged the two terrors to the library. We really havent been taking full advantage of the nearby library facilities. We have 2 equally well stocked libraries a few blocks south and north of us, and we have the library cards, but have we been going? No. I suppose we tend to just buy books for Sash (and now Dylan) as we do tend to read them over and over (and over and over) again. But hey, it was an outing right. So we spent an hour in the childrens section reading a bunch of princess and ballerina related books. While Sash looked out for more books to read (she didnt really get the concept apparently as she later asked where we had to pay for the books) I tried to read a bunch of easy "teach your child Math" books. I have decided that instead of forcing her to learn how to add/subtract or read by age 4, I will, by my little ole self, try and build a solid foundation of enjoyment in learning (much easier). Will leave the actual teaching to the experts, the teachers in her kindergarten. But I do want her to sort of absorb certain mathematical concepts and to understand that letters are not just letters but there is a connection phonetically. I know they do this in certain pre-schools (90% of her friends go to pre-school, and she really only has 10 friends) and we had toyed with the idea of sending her to pre-school on her days off from daycare, but we finally decided against it. Although pre-school is only 2 hours a day, and she would only be going twice a week, that would leave her no time for her gymnastics and ballet in the fall. To see the joy in her eyes and the sense of achievement as she swings off balance bars and does somersaults (it was twicky Mummy but Bella helped me but I bonked my head but I'm OK) is, to me, much more of a life experience than reading by the age of four. Of course I will probably regret my decision when she is voted class clown/dunce in kindergarten, but hell, if our experiment doesnt work we can always try again with Dylan. If we fail with the heir, we have the spare.

I wonder where J is? Probably sunning herself on some deck...sigh.

A few months ago J mentioned that her 40th birthday is in February and her family intended on sending her on a Caribbean cruise for 10 days as a birthday present. That meant that she would not be working for approximately 2 weeks. I was happy for her and put our conversation out of my mind. I am an excellent denialist. So although it wasnt a surprise, D and I had an Oh Shit moment when we were reminded that Sash would not be going to daycare tomorrow or the next week even. She will be home all day every day until the 18th. D is lying down with a sudden migraine and I have just poured myself a huge ass glass of wine. What on earth are we going to do? Lets see..the newly opened Art Gallery of Ontario, the ROM, a couple of playdates...I can do this...I can do this.

Randomness

If I could, I would Americano-me intravenously all day. Am that knackered. Last night, after putting Sash to bed at 9pm, D and I fell asleep in her bed. Usually I tend to do this (sometimes even before she does) but last night D didnt have that much work to do so he read Sash a couple of Princess themed books (her new passion). I discovered then that he has renamed all the Prince Charmings Prince Doug. I laughed so hard I nearly fell of the bed. No bloody wonder she has been calling the princes Doug. I figured it was a adoring daughter trait, not one imposed by Daddy. So around 11pm I woke up and instead of crawling over to my own bed as I tend to do, I decided to see what D was up to in the basement. I found him eating a bowl of Fruit Loops while checking email and watching CSI: NY. I joined him with a glass of wine and we stayed up chatting until 2am. Just as we were about to doze off Dylan woke up for what we thought was his usual feed. Unfortunately he didnt want his milk. He just wanted to cuddle and doze off with his mobile on. He did this on the hour every hour until 6am. He finally took a bottle at 6 and slept until 9am. The thing is for the past few days I have been trying to get him off his 3am feeding by giving him water instead of milk, as per the pediatrician's suggestion. By taking out the 3am feeding, we can then proceed to take out his midnight feeding and that will enable him to sleep from 8pm to about 6am. He had been doing well until last night. Although technically he did go without milk last night. So, which is the lesser of 2 evils? Midnight and 3am feedings, or waking up every hour but no feedings. Hmmm....must call the pediatrician. Will give it a few days though..so far Dylan has been doing well with routine (soooo unlike Sasha)...will keep on trying with the water. Some neighbours suggest that we Ferberize him but luckily for me my ped is in total agreement that the Cry-it-out method is not an option. I know that it has worked wonders for many others but I am more inclined to agree with the Australian and Harvard research re co-relation with nervousness and stress disorders. I am seriously relieved to hear that my pediatrician concurs as I thinsk I would have just caved in and tried it out but for his insistence that we dont even think about it. I dont think I could listen to him scream all night, even if it does only take a few nights.

Yesterday evening I decided to channel my inner-Martha and make homemade babyfood. Baked a couple of sweet potatoes, took out the blender, bunged a couple of bananas and a punnet of blueberries to make banana/blueberry mash for breakfast, and sweet potato mash for lunch and dinner. Froze the mixtures in 3 ice-cube trays and voila, a weeks worth of microwavable meals for the boy. It took more time to wash the ice cube trays than to whip up the food. I wondered why I never made such cubes for Sash and then I realised that when she was a baby we were living in suburban NY and we went grocery shopping once every couple of weeks so we didnt bother much with fresh produce as it would just go bad. Here I can just pop round the corner to get organic produce. Also organic baby food is so easily accessible that it would be silly to not take advantage of its availability. Funny how while I am much more relaxed with raising Dylan with it being the second time around, I am able to be more fussy with certain aspects like his food. Do I feel bad that he is eating organic while Sash ate god knows what? Yes I do. But then she hardly ate anyway so I dont feel that bad.

This morning while I was feeding Dylan Sash came up to us and asked me if Dylan vomited. I told her no, its just that he is such a messy eater that it just looks like he vomited all over himself, the high chair and me.

Finally...what do you do if your son insists on taking a poo during each meal. Do you interrupt his meal to change his diaper or just continue feeding him as he grunts away?

The local kitchen ware shop is having a sale. I went in there to get a pepper grinder and left with this espresso maker. Too good a deal to pass up. And we are loving it. Loving it I tell you. We used to wake up and look forward to seeing the kiddies. Now it is to say good morning to the new member of the family. It is just so easy to use. Just press a button and the beans are grinded and espresso and water mixed. I like milk in my Americano so I have to take the extra step of frothing my milk. I have no idea how I have lived this long without one of these to greet me every morning. Alas Starbucks, you are history.