Breakfast casserole

I'm sure this must be tasty, after all it has cheese and bacon as main ingredients, but really, they could have put up a more appetizing looking photo, no?








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First child syndrome or not

(I swear, I'm going to try and post more often...)







You know how people say they were so cautious with their first child and so careful and conscientious? Ya, well, us, not so much at times...
Kieran had an allergic reaction to peanuts when he was about 5 months old. I'd eaten some peanuts and then held him and he developed a skin irritation in the form of my hand prints on him that went away after a couple of days. So we have had him tested for peanut allergies twice now without any conclusive diagnosis. We carry an Epipen and Benadryl and he does not eat peanut butter or any other peanut products. We're not paranoid about it, definitely not, as we eat peanut butter regularly around him but we're careful.
Well, this evening we went to a Christmas party where there were lots of yummy goodies laid out within his reach, including peanut butter cookies. We were watching him, but of course he did eventually end up grabbing a peanut butter cookie and taking a bite before I noticed. He's still alive and breathing so I guess all is okay. But the consequences could have been life-threatening.
Thinking back on the situation now, should have I asked that the cookies be moved off the table? When I did see that he had the cookie in his mouth, should I have made him spit it out?

Anyhow, let's hope this means he actually isn't allergic to them. But I will absolutely err on the side of caution now as I'm now just a wee bit paranoid as to what his reaction might be to another exposure. Allergies tend to increase in severity with multiple exposures.

So, how good are your instincts in the heat of a bad situation? Do you panic? Are you calm and collected? Do you take charge and take proper control of things?
I don't ever feel like I have very good judgement when things go wrong. I tend to mull things over in my head no matter how mundane they may be so imagine how much time and thought are put into the big things!
Another day, another insecurity...

For Maya...

who was wondering what to do with Kieran when she was babysitting him and she had to go to the bathroom.
Well, I left him alone downstairs this morning and this is what he got up to.

Wash hands!


He'd pulled the stool up to the sink and had turned the water on full blast. Luckily he didn't stick his hands in the steaming hot water. No damage done!

Let's see if he's an angel or a devil for her tomorrow.


He thought he was Elmo

Murphy's Law

I was in the basement earlier today throwing in a load of laundry when I thought to myself I'm pretty lucky, 2 years old and Kieran hasn't done anything worthy of being posted to Shit my Kids Ruined. Then I came upstairs and opened the kitchen door...




It could have been a lot worse, I know. Only a bit of flour dumped on the floor.

(Sorry about the quality of the photo, he was saying "cheese". I didn't want to take another and make him prouder of his feat, hmph!)

The summer of chasing Kieran

Well, it's fall now, Kieran is days away from turning 2 and he's going to be a big brother come March!!!

This summer was fun but tiring. Kieran has certainly changed quite a bit in the last few months. We took part in 2 summer programs and along with playdates and outings to the park, we kept pretty busy. Kieran's favourite word became "dehors" (outside!). We were lucky enough to have a very nice summer, I don't recall us having to stay indoors on many days because of rain, phewf! But bringing Kieran to the park had its challenges too. It was quite a workout for me, chasing after my little guy. Parks that weren't fenced in were especially challenging.
But in the last few weeks, he's gotten much better at not running off in every direction. We've even walked quite some distances without him being confined to the stroller and he's been pretty good at holding my hand. We've moved on from him having to wear the dreaded harness.
His communications skills, both speaking and understanding have progressed at a very rapid pace too. He's repeating everything, strings 2 to 3 words together and can count to 5 or 6 by himself. Okay, so he doesn't have it quite right yet...he usually starts at 2 then it's 3, 4, 6 and then 5! It's very cute to see him point at objects and try to count them.
The understanding part is the nicest progress he's made. He will, most of the time, listen when we stay stop or stay here or "donne la main" (give me your hand) and he's not constantly running up the block or into the street when we play in front of the house.
Diaper changes on the other hand have gotten more difficult. He's started to pee on the toilet or in the potty but once he's done his business he still wants to go back and sit there and struggles and screams when it's time to put his diaper back on. There's no reasoning with a 2 year old that you just peed so you don't have to be on the potty anymore! So I stand back from the changing table and try and avoid getting kicked in the belly. Eventually the trantrum passes but I wish it were a little easier, it only gets us both upset.
Aah, the terrible twos have begun!

I think we might be getting a lock for the fridge. He can open the door by himself now. So far he's only gone for his milk but I can see the day when I come back and he's chomping down on a whole block of cheese or something!
That's another thing he doesn't quite get yet, taking small bites. We have to cut everything pretty small or he'll stuff his mouth full to the point of not being able to chew he's got so much in there. So much for table manners.
He does say "pardon" (excuse me) after he burps but also can burp on purpose. Lovely.
He's not too bad about saying thank you and please, probably gets it 25 to 50% of the time. And we get bless you when we sneeze.

We`re trying our best to speak to him in both languages, but sometimes it`s so much easier to revert to English. Oh my brain power needs some help...
Some things he knows better in English, others in French. Same goes for me, I guess!

Well, that`s enough of an update for now.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

Salad as a meal

I can't wait for the day when Kieran will eat raw vegetables consistently, especially in salad form. In summer we hardly ever cook. It's just way too hot in our kitchen. I know, I hear so many of you say, "so get air-conditioning already!" No thanks, not for me. Even when it's stinking hot I much prefer having the windows open and relying on a cross-breeze and the ceiling fans. I really don't like being closed off from the outdoors, we have enough of that when the cold comes. I like being able to hear what's going on outside, who's playing on the street and hearing Tim come home before he can sneak up on me! But I digress.

So in summer we do a lot of barbecuing and lots of salad eating. I grew up always having a salad with our evening meal and love throwing together a plate full of veggies and then some as a meal. Whatever is on hand can sometimes make it in our salads, fruits, nuts, seeds. Protein will be cheese, cut up cold cuts, hard boiled eggs. And there's gotta be a crunch factor. Hence the nuts or seeds or croutons. I feel sorry for people who don't like veggies. Veggies are so yummy! And I love that Tim shares in my appreciation of them and my meal salads.
So I still have to come up with an alternative for Kieran's supper when we eat salads but luckily we usually have some kind of leftovers I can throw together for him to eat.





I know my food presentations leave a lot to be desired but here's an example of one of our salads - romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, apple, extra-old cheddar cheese and kohlrabi, walnuts, grapes, tomatoes, radishes, Lebanese cucumbers and roast beef.
It also helps with the yummy factor when you slather it all in salad dressing. Forget the calories!

Yet another cliché

Yes, time does fly!
Though, you know, sometimes it stands still.
When you're having a tough day and the rugrat hasn't napped long enough and now you have to entertain him for another hour (oh god, please let it only be an hour!) before Daddy gets home. And you're trying to throw something together for supper.

There are also those days where you're at the park with friends and he's having a blast and then it's time to go, gotta get home for a nap. And you stretch it a little longer, a little longer. He'll fall asleep in the stroller, sure he will. He'll sleep until we get home and then I'll pick him up and carry him up to his room and he will sleep longer because he's so worn out. Sure he will.
Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't.

But that's one of the great things about this gig. So unpredictable. You give it all you've got and that smile and giggle make it sooooooooo worthwhile. And the hugs, he gives the best of hugs. Even some lucky strangers sometimes get hugs.

Ya, I'm digging this motherhood thing.


(This post really wasn't going in this direction at all when I started typing but here it is...sounds like an overdue Mother's Day post, the one I started and never got back to and deleted.)


One, two, three, four
Mary at the cottage door

My cute kid

I love it when I'm on the bus or somewhere with Kieran and I see his face light up at someone. I always make a point to look and see who he's smiling at. It's surprising how diverse the people who react to him are, it could be a grandmother or a middle-aged mom which you would expect but I've also had teenage boys tell me how cute he is. (Creepy maybe?)

Anyhow, it's a good feeling to know my little guy made someone's day brighter :)

It never fails

Nope, it never fails. I got to bed early last night, well, okay, maybe not early but slightlyearlier than usual and here I am awake (but certainly not bright eyed and bushy tailed) way too early for any given day let alone a Saturday. I even contemplated going to Fairmount Avenue to get some bagels for breakfast but I don't think I'm quite awake enough to actually get out of the house at this hour.
Why am I awake????
I'm blaming Tim at this point! He must have been having a restless night and that has messed up my precious slumber too. But I will only be able to confirm this later, once he's up and I can ask him how he slept.
It might have to do with the fact that I feel emotionally charged but I can't pinpoint anything specific in my own life that's bugging me right now. You know, it's just everything and nothing...
So what will the weekend have in store for this humble abode? The weather looks beautiful for today and crap for tomorrow so...carpe diem?

Come and get me!

This is Kieran waking up from his nap.




Yes, it is only audio, I recorded on my cell phone from the baby monitor.

Weekend's over already

Nothing particularly exciting to report today. Apparently I can't reminisce without people questioning why I was thinking about stuff that happened years ago. Okay so I went into quite some detail in the last post but I could have said a lot more. Don't we all tell stories about stuff that happened to us long ago? Or is it only old people that do that kind of thing? I guess I'm old then!
Really, I don't know how my post about Lavalife first came about, it was certainly a train of thought, stream of consciousness thing but I don't remember where it started.

Tomorrow if I write, I promise it will be about the day's events. Kieran has his 18 month check up with Dr.Non-Personality. After the last visit I seriously contemplated finding a new paediatrician but figured I would give him another chance. He's not that bad (but he's also not that good.) I think if Kieran had any serious health issues I'd find a new doctor but Dr.R is close by, has convenient hours and has Kieran's history on file.
I take comfort in the fact that we get the vaccines (yes, we vaccinate) at the CLSC and the nurse there is great and fills in for the lack of attention we get from the doctor.

Reminiscing

I think most people know that Tim and I met through Lavalife, the online dating service. Yes, it actually worked for us!
I must say, I had a few "interesting" dates before we met up. But all in all, it was a fun experience (although 7 years passed might have blurred my memory...)

The first guy from Lavalife that I went out with I took to calling Allergy-Boy (not to his face mind you!) He carried his epipen on a holster on his belt. He was allergic to garlic among many other things. Garlic! And he was crossed-eyed. And in denial about it. He told me he got a little bit lazy-eyed when he was really tired. I guess he must have been reeeeeeeeally tired when I went out with him! He also told me the story of how his eyeball had popped out at birth and this is why he got cross-eyed. Great thing to share on a first date. We went to see The Italian Job and then he suggested we go for sushi. He never even offered to pay for me. Not that I would have accepted but it would have been nice of him to offer. Sushi does not come cheap and he knew I was on my own, making a crappy wage and paying a mortgage. He was not particularly physically active and was more of a nerd than a geek. And I actually went out on a second date with him! This time we went out for brunch and the resto did not take credit cards and I had no cash so he ended up paying for me and saying I could get the next one...ya, that never happened! Oh, and on the first date, he answered his cell phone while we were walking to the restaurant. And it was his mom.
He was also a few years younger than me and didn't drive.
Wow, now that I think back....anyhow, we both got "too busy" to see each other again and eventually, the emails stopped being exchanged. I guess I gave him that second chance because through the emails, he really was a nice and interesting guy.

Guy number 2 was also younger, a part-time student and did not drive. I think I scared this guy away by my physical prowess, if I can put it that way. (I was biking at least an hour a day then, weather-permitting.) We went for a bike ride and I must have pooped him out. He never responded to any of my emails after that date. His loss!

Number 3 was definitely gay but in the closet and had OCD. And I didn't notice in his profile that he was a smoker. Also younger, a student and didn't drive and lived in the West Island with his sister. We ended up on the same metro car on the way to the date although he didn't see me (I gathered it was him as he sorta looked like the guy in the profile picture.) I walked up St-Laurent Blvd on the opposite side of the street, watching him the whole time before meeting him at Café Santropol. But we ended up having to go somewhere else because there was no room there. After we went for a walk on the mountain and got caught in the rain. A few more emails but no other dates.

Number 4 was Country-boy (I believe self-proclaimed.) He was from Nova Scotia and was a student at Concordia. Younger, but he could drive! But he had a cat. (I'm allergic.) In person he turned out to be really quiet and reserved, not a good match for me! He came to play softball with me, the team I was playing with then always needed extra players so I figured it would be a fun thing to do. Well, he might have been quiet with me but he really did not take well to our team captain (a woman) telling him where to place himself on the field according to who was at bat. A few not-so-mild expletives were used on his part. I think I was the one who didn't reply to any emails after that meeting!

And then at the end of July, I browsed for the umpteenth time through all the profiles that seemed to match what I was looking for and sent a bunch of "smiles" (I was too cheap to buy credits so couldn't send them a message, a smile just let the person know you were interested in them) to a few guys whose profiles I'd seen before but hadn't been in contact with. I was away for the weekend (it was the annual friends camping trip at La Minerve) and when I got back, I'd gotten a message from guy number 5. Who turned out to be Tim. I'm not sure we gave him a nickname. We, being Katja and I. We would email each other several times a day back then and she was my sounding board, my go-to girl, my sistah! Possibly we called him Toolman. At least we didn't call him Tool-boy because yes, Tim is younger than me (but only by 2 years.)
So lots of emails and a few phone calls later, Tim and I met in person more than 3 weeks after first contact and the rest as they say, is history.

No need to go into the details about Gatineau-boy who was not from Lavalife. Let's just say, Tim had some short-lived competition which I don't think he aprreciated very much. But Olaf put me on the right path at the last Expos game we ever attended.
Hey Tim, I think you still owe him a beer for that one ;)

Alls well that ends well.
Everything happens for a reason. (You just might not know that reason at the time...)
What other cliché can I come up with?!

Okay, I'll end this now before someone hits me (even if it is only virtually.)

Bullied by a two year old

Lately I've been having to be more watchful of Kieran when he gets close to other kids as he's not too good with the gentleness factor yet. He means no harm, but he tends to shove kids out of the way as he stumbles by them or he'll grab a toy that another child is playing with.

Well yesterday Kieran was the at the receiving end of the abuse! We were among the first to arrive at the playgroup and this little girl slapped, scratched and pulled his hair, repeatedly. And it was all unprovoked. We thinks she has anger management issues! Poor Kieran put up with it with only a little stunned look on his face. But then the grabbing of the hair and not letting go was just a little too much....he was in tears and needed consoling for that.
Luckily she made up for it later and shared some of her Rice Krispies. I'm surprised he even went near her at that point!

What could have been but never was or ever shall be

Kieran and I have been going to a playgroup in NDG since the beginning of February. It's basically a big free for all, lots of toys and play structures laid out in a church basement. Lots of fun but somewhat chaotic for the uninitiated. Oh, and the snacks, wow, what a spread they put out!

Anyhow, a few weeks ago, I heard someone call out my name to look up and see my ex-brother-in-law there with his two kids. I recognized his daughter from the previous times we'd been there but since she'd been with her mom, (who I've never met) I had no idea who she was.
It's just weird to see these two children who could have been my niece and nephew. Yet with the way things turned out I have no connection to them whatsoever. It kind of leaves me with a bit of a sense of emptiness.
I saw them all again today and briefly chatted with Marc (the ex-bro-in-law) as he dropped his family off. He made no introductions to his girlfriend. I wonder if later on when she got home whether she asked him who I was. I felt somewhat uncomfortable being around her, knowing who she is and a bit about her family without her knowing who I am. But not enough to approach her and introduce myself or anything. That would have been even more uncomfortable!
Ah the ghosts never seem like they will ever stop haunting me.

2 months later...

So much to write about, no focus to do so...
Neither Kieran nor I have really been completely healthy in the last two months. Congestion and runny noses and 2 weeks ago, the dreaded gastro befell our household. It could be worse, but I just can't wait for the day when I am not constantly reaching for the Kleenex box. At least we can't complain about the weather we've been having (until tomorrow when the rain showers are predicted to begin!)

Kieran is quickly growing into a little toddler, he is almost 18 months old now. He's a lot of fun (not that he hasn't been all along) but it's really neat to see his development at this stage and see him understand and respond to what we are saying to him. Yes, we still get blank stares or are completely ignored sometimes, but he will actually listen to some requests (pick this up, close the door.) Wow, they actually do eventually evolve into somewhat independent creatures at some point...there is hope yet!!!

So do we really want to go through all of this again?! Yes we do plan on having another, sooner rather than later but as cute as newborns are (see Hailey, Kieran's new cousin )DO WE REALLY WANT TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS AGAIN?!!! No, I don't need any convincing (much!) Maybe a little support. And lots of sleep!

The week in review

Kieran is doing better although he is still not quite his usual self. He had a good weekend, spending the day on Sunday with his cousin Vanessa. He seems to be getting a bit possessive of his toys now. Depending on what she was playing with, he seemed to be giving her a "look" as if to say "hey, that's mine!" But he's not at the stage yet where he'll do anything about it.

He woke up crying sometime around one that night but Tim was able to quickly get him back to sleep. He was all tangled up in his covers and was congested too. He then slept until almost 9 that morning. We had a visit from Granddaddy and Grand-Maman for lunch but Kieran had no appetite, except for Granddaddy's cinnamon roll!
This was also a 2 nap day, yay!

On Tuesdays we go to Tumbling Tots just around the alleyway from our house at the Greene Avenue Community Centre.

Kieran's only symptom that day was a runny nose.
Later that evening though I heard him coughing while I was getting ready for bed and when I checked in on him, he'd thrown up. Poor little guy didn't even wake up and cry, he just lay in it. Ick!

On Monday and Wednesday evenings, I go to aquaform class and since Tim was planning to work late on Wednesday, we had asked his mom to come babysit Kieran. After lunch, Kieran got a little cranky so we went for a walk and he cried on & off the whole time we were out. And when we got home and he was out of the stroller, it was full blown wailing for a good 45 minutes. I didn't want my mother-in-law to have to deal with a cranky gassy kid so I called her and told her not to bother coming over as I would skip swimming to stay with Mr Cranky-pants. After his crying spell, he fell asleep in my arms for a little while until the phone rang and I got up to answer it. He managed
to eat a good supper but then when I was getting him ready for bed, he threw up all over the changing table. Good thing I don't mind doing laundry!
By then I could see the white of his bottom left incisor coming through.

Today and yesterday have been good days. We went to our first Mother Goose session of the year yesterday morning. Lots of new faces around. Kieran fell asleep on the way home then slept for over 2 more hours in his crib. No complaints here!
He's still a little cranky and cuddly and isn't playing as much as usual but Daddy was home early this evening to give him lots of attention.
Let's see what the (cold, frigid) weekend has in store for us...

Sicky update

Kieran is doing better today, thanks for your concern. He's still got a bit of a fever but has a little more energy and slept through the night.
But he's still recovering from whatever it was...


I'll just lie here and play

Happy boy



Not so happy

What's up today

We started the day off a little earlier than planned this morning...
I woke up at 4 am to the sounds of Kieran whining but fell back asleep for about a half hour until he really started crying. Tim was a little quicker to get to him (I might have purposefully let him!) and found him in the corner of his crib burning up. His temp was not too high, 38.9 C but the little one was definitely suffering. So after a diaper change, I tried giving him some Tempra but he wouldn't let me anywhere near him with the eye dropper. After some coaxing, I finally got some into his mouth and, of course, he threw up. Wow, over 9 hours after eating and (gory details), he hadn't digested supper very much. And I wasn't witness to it, but apparently he let out a HUGE rumbling fart! Anyhow I let Daddy go back to bed and rocked Kieran and myself back to sleep, waking up enough to get us both back to bed.
Come 6:30, we weren't awakened by Tim's alarm clock, but by Kieran crying again. I rocked him back to sleep and he slept well past 9 o'clock, I think. I didn't hear make any noises when I got up but when I checked on him after my shower, he was just laying there in bed, eyes open, not making a sound, not moving. Poor little guy. His temp was now up to 39.3. He did manage some breakfast and milk and played for a little while between cuddles.
Then he just got restless, didn't want to be held, didn't want to be put down. He was circling the couches, putting his head down, getting up then settled down trying to get comfortable and just lost it and cried the biggest tears, eventually falling asleep in my arms. So upstairs we went for a diaper change and I rocked him back to sleep before putting him down in his crib. After a little tossing and turning, I thought he was out cold but as I looked back before closing the door, again he was lying there with his eyes open but not moving or making a sound. He did start babbling for a few minutes by the time I got downstairs and put the monitor on but it sounds like he's settled down for now.
Upset stomach? Teeth? Ear infection? Only time will tell.
Thankfully, he doesn't seem to be suffering too badly. Or maybe he takes after his mom and is not a complainer!