Breaking News!!!!!!

Guess who's walking? He's still on wobbly street but is improving everyday. This whole walking business just started on Monday night and he's made incredible progress in just 48 hours. He wants to walk everywhere and he wants us to follow him everywhere - and cheer of course.

This first video is short. I apologize for the clothes - long johns and a turtleneck onsie but Jim is responsible. In the second, longer video, I insisted he wear pants.

I'll take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year. I love the way 2008 has ended and am keeping my fingers crossed that there will be more good things for us in 2009 because to be perfectly honest, 2008 pretty much kicked my ass. Bennett will be spending the evening with grandma and grandpa. I just hope they don't get him too drunk tonight - there's nothing worse than a hungover 2 year old.

Christmas

On Christmas Eve Jim and I went to a movie. Bennett stayed behind and helped Grandma and Grandpa entertain. For some reason when we returned Bennett was wearing nothing but his pants. However, I learned a long time ago never to ask a question unless you're sure you want to hear the answer.

Bennett with cousin Ryan - a fellow Toronto Maple Leafs fan. Poor guy...

Bennet with cousin Sherry. They met for the first time on Christmas Eve and apparently Bennett fell in love.

Bennett with cousins Ashley and Mackenzie. He doesn't seem quite as impressed with the princess dress as Mackenzie was. However, he's always happy to see these two ladies!

Bennett trying out his new canoe paddle. A great gift from cousins Lucy and Henry. He looks like a natural doesn't he?

Mackenzie couldn't take Bennett's shirtless cuteness anymore and just threw him on the ground and then proceeded to smother him with hugs and kisses. He's such a ladies man....

The winter wonderland we woke up to on Christmas morning.

Opening presents from Santa at Grandma and Grandpa's

Telling Uncle Austin a big story about something.

Feeding Grandpa asparagus on Christmas Day. He was very good about making sure that Grandpa and Daddy finished their vegetables.

By Boxing Day, my little man was running out of steam.

Finally a picture with the elusive Auntie Bonnie - and what a wonderful one it turned out to be!!!!

Bringing Daddy and cousin Amber for a walk. You'll notice that Mummu isn't too far away from either of her boys.

Checking out his new Smart Cycle

As you can see it was a busy Christmas but a wonderful Christmas. As always the best part was being with family. And the food - food is always important....

What I Saw In My Neighbourhood This Morning!

After all the cold and all the snow we are now under a Freezing Rain and Heavy Rainfall Warning. It's supposed to be 10 degrees C today (approx. 50 F) and we are supposed to get up to 50 mm (2 inches) of rain. This is apparently due to a weather system over Minnesota (thanks Kiera!). I also know Dawn in Michigan is under a flood watch now too.

If you remember in one of my earlier posts, I mentioned how Canadians sometimes do crazy things. Well, look what I saw in my neighbourhood this morning! Typical Canadian behaviour when the weather warms up - Winter coat, boots and shorts! I couldn't stop laughing when I saw this. Now my only problem will be convincing Jim that he can't wear shorts too!

Christmas Eve

In case you forgot, it’s Christmas Eve. And once again we are in the midst of a snowstorm. Although I’m not sure I should say that after yesterday. While at the grocery store the cashier and I were making small talk about the weather. I mentioned that I was doing my groceries ahead of time in anticipation of the coming snowstorm. She then asked the following question, “Well, is it a storm or are we just getting snow.” I must admit that one stumped me. I have no idea what the difference is. In my view, getting 30 cm (12 inches) of snow qualifies as a storm.

Enough about the weather, let’s get back to Christmas. Like most families we have some traditions that we follow every year. My French-Canadian heritage means Tourtiere (meat pie) at Christmas. Fortunately for me my mother just happens to make the best. Unfortunately for me, she has no idea how she makes it – she just does. On the other hand I’m also half native and one tradition we have is enjoying a steaming bowl of rabbit soup on Christmas Eve. Fortunately for me, a family friend delivered a couple of wild rabbits just in time. Unfortunately for me, I’ll have to wait a couple days more days for my soup. It should surprise no one that a couple of my favourite traditions revolve around food.

There is also room for new traditions and a few years ago Jim and I started one of our own. We go to see a movie every Christmas Eve. Two years ago we missed our date as I had just gotten out of the hospital with a 9 day old baby. However, we made it last year and we made it this year despite the “storm”. We went to go see Yes Man with Jim Carrey. It was pretty good and the popcorn was wonderful.

Bennett stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and helped to entertain some of my cousins. After the movie we all had a great visit, opened presents and ate some food. Now we’re home and Jim just put a very tired 2 year old to bed. We’ll probably open a couple gifts and then crawl in on either side of him.

A pretty good way to spend a Christmas Eve I think.

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Crafts

I will be the first to admit that I’m not crafty. I pretty much have to as my mother or Jim will be quick to point it out. I’ve never been artistic, I never really enjoyed colouring and I still haven’t managed to master the stick figure.

However, when my friend Kara invited me and Bennett over for a Christmas craft, I couldn’t refuse. I did take the time to warn her about my pathetic craft skills and she kindly agreed to start mine for me. Now this could have been out of kindness or more likely the fact that she’s a bit of a control freak and was worried about the end result if I was left on my own. We emailed back and forth for a few weeks about this project which I affectionately referred to as “The Glitter Craft”. This was entirely my own invention and revealed my raven-like tendency to be entranced by shiny objects. Although Kara was reluctant to give in to the glitter, my persistence finally paid off and she too began to refer to “The Glitter Craft.”

All of this craft talk brought back memories of my last crafting experience which took place approximately 17 years ago. At the time I was in university and overwhelmed with essays, exams, etc. My mother thought crafting would be a good way to relieve my stress. I should mention that I come from an artistic family many of whom can quilt, cross stitch, paint, sing, write poetry, carve, etc. I, however, have inherited none of these talents. Despite my wariness, I agreed to my mother’s suggestion and we proceeded to make Christmas centrepieces for candles. I worked hard on my project as it was a welcome respite from spending hours squinting at a microfiche looking at local immigration records from the late 1800s. I was quite pleased with my centrepiece and my mother had nothing but compliments. Later in the day my aunt came over and my mother proceeded to show her what I had made. My aunt looked at it with admiring eyes and then looked down at me and asked “It’s lovely…what grade were you in when you made it?” Oh, how I was crushed! I refused to put it out and to this day I have no idea where it ended up. Hopefully the pine cones were returned to nature where they should have stayed.

So, as much as I looked forward to today’s craft session with Kara, I must admit I was a bit nervous as well. As it turns out, I had little to worry about. The craft was very straightforward and left little room for me to screw up. Being the wonderful host she is, Kara provided and let me use as much glitter as I wanted. However, I couldn’t help but notice the worried looks she threw my way as I added more and more glitter.

I’m more than pleased with the end result and would proudly show it to my aunt. Has this changed my outlook on crafting? I would have to say no. I agree to craft on special occasions but other than that, I’m afraid that Bennett will have to rely on others for artistic projects. The scars run deep my friends.....

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy Birthday to my grandma who is one of my favourite napping partners! I hope you had a nice day and will share your cake with me this weekend.

Happy Birthday Bennett!!

I can't believe it has been 2 years already. Everyone always says it goes too fast and it's true. My baby is becoming a little boy. A wonderful little boy who has worked hard and accomplished so much this year. We love you and are so proud of you Bennett!

The video is about 8 minutes long. It's hard to condense one year into less than that! Making and watching the video has helped me step back and see just how much progress Bennett has made.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Party Day

Tomorrow is Bennett's 2nd birthday but we had a party today. It was a smallish gathering of just family. I think he had a wonderful time and he was absolutely spoiled with presents! We went with a Go Diego Go! theme. The cake was delicious but Bennett was totally unimpressed so I didn't even get a good cake all over the face shot.

Thank you so much to everyone who came today. I'm so grateful every day that we have such a wonderful family. We missed you Auntie Bonnie but thank you for the amazing tub toys and calling to sing Happy Birthday. Another special thank you for our good friend Kasia for the Diego doll!

The video is not the greatest but is still kind of cute. We've been trying to teach Bennett how to blow as part of speech therapy but obviously we haven't mastered that yet. It was a good thing Daddy and cousin Mackenzie were there to help.

I've created a montage celebrating Bennett's second year. I plan to post that tomorrow on his actual birthday - come back and check it out!

Extremes

So, let’s just get something straight. I’m pretty much your typical Canadian. I’m polite, hold doors open, apologize way too often and use the word (yes it’s a word) “eh” more often than I would care to admit. Another typical Canadian trait I have is my obsession with the weather – I love to talk about it and I love to complain about it. It’s rare to find a Canadian that is completely satisfied with the weather on any given day. It’s often too hot, too cold, too much snow, not enough snow, etc. We live in a country of extremes – and it can sometimes cause you to do things that other people (non-Canadians) might think are crazy. Things like wearing shorts in a snowstorm or shoveling in a t-shirt.

However, this post isn’t really about the weather. Well maybe a bit. Since my last “Snow Day” post we have had two more major snowstorms. It hasn’t escaped my attention that winter hasn’t even started yet. That alone is surprising as these days it seems that most things escape my attention. It leaves me shaking in my Sorel snow boots to think of what might happen when winter really starts. But once again in typical Canadian fashion, I’m getting thrown off topic by my distraction with the weather.

This morning I was getting Bennett ready to go to daycare. I layered him in thermal underwear, lined wind pants and a fleece sweater. Next, were boots, coat, hat and mitts. I didn’t bother with snow pants as he has a pair at daycare already. By the time I was done I was sweating and cursing winter under my breath. I was so hot that I was seriously considering stripping and throwing myself into the snow pile in my front yard to make naked snow angels. The only things preventing this from happening is that we were already running late and my father was standing there waiting for me.

As I started to layer on my own clothing I was thinking of how it could be worse. I started thinking of a couple years from now, getting Bennett ready to go out in the snow and how just as I snap the last button into place, he’ll look up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and say, “Mommy, I have to pee.”

Ahhh…winter.

Snow Day

So I would’ve posted this earlier but for some reason my Internet service has been either spotty or non-existent. Someone is supposed to look into this on Thursday.

On Monday we had a pretty big snowstorm. The news reported 13 cm which is about 5 inches for my American friends. However, the consensus seems to be that we had more than that. Bennett was supposed to go to daycare for the morning where he had an appointment with his occupational therapist. I called early to cancel both when I woke up and looked out the window and saw my new van buried in the snow and my neighbour’s truck parked sideways in the road. School buses were cancelled – this is a big deal – we rarely get snow days around here as we are accustomed to having a lot of snow.

Bennett and I spent the whole day in the house with no TV and no Internet. This is what we did:
• We watched our neighbour try to shovel his truck out – this was unsuccessful so he had to call a tow truck.
• We entertained grandpa who was brave enough to drive down the street and have a morning visit.
• We played with a rubber ball that lights up when it bounces – this was a great game that we played several times throughout the day.
• I gave in at around 2pm and called Jim at work to ask him how to use the DVD player so I could put in a Diego video.
• I argued with Bennett about the location of his afternoon nap. I insisted on his crib and he insisted on our bed with me in it. He eventually won but I put up a good fight.
• Bennett and I danced. I’m sure our moves would only win strange looks on the dance floor rather than prizes. But at least we’re in synch as we both have issues with our right leg.

At no time during the day did we do any therapy. As I was going to bed I was feeling incredibly guilty about this – wasting a whole day doing essentially nothing. And then I remembered something that my physiotherapist said to me about a year ago when I confessed that I hadn’t done any of my exercises for 2 days. She said to me, “sometimes, life is the best physiotherapy”. So, on second thought we did do therapy. It’s called Life.

Below is a video to the song Bennett and I danced to. Have a listen and maybe do some of your own dancing.

Funky Town

Yeah…that’s where I’ve been. I’m in a funk and I can’t seem to leave. I don’t know if it’s my continuing grief over losing Bowser, this gray, gloomy, snowy weather, other work type and legal related issues or a combination of everything. It also feels like I may be coming down with something.

Anyway, speaking of Bowser, I just wanted to thank everyone who expressed their sympathies either on this blog or via email or phone. It has been a rough week. I keep looking for him everywhere. Only recently have I been able to walk into the house without bursting into tears when he’s not here to greet me with his smiling face and wagging tail. I would particularly like to thank Jim’s parents and my parents who stepped up and helped care for Bennett so I could have time to clean, sort through Bowser’s stuff and most importantly, grieve. I would also like to thank Auntie Bonnie who called and sent some beautiful flowers – they definitely helped to lift my spirit. I also want to thank Kara who has been a great email support over the last couple of weeks and who valiantly tried to cheer me up this weekend during a play date by simultaneously juggling an open cup of milk and Bennett’s soother.

Since I’ve been feeling so down, I thought I would try some retail therapy. However, a new pair of shoes or clothes just didn’t seem to cut it. So, Jim and I went out to buy a new vehicle. By the end of the week I should be behind the wheel of my brand new Honda Odyssey. You know what they say, “Go big or go home.”

Our sleeping arrangements have changed a bit – I have now joined Jim and Bennett in bed. Bennett starts the evening in his crib but will usually wake himself up coughing at around 1am. At this point he comes into bed with us where he stays until morning. Oh well…I suppose I might miss this when he’s a teenager.

Bennett continues to make progress with his cruising and now spends about half of his time on his feet rather than crawling. Yesterday, he took 5 steps on his own for our physiotherapist. Needless to say I was very proud. Unfortunately as his mobility seems to increase, so does his attitude. My sweet, easygoing boy is developing quite a stubborn streak. He is very sure about what he wants and what he doesn’t want. The only problem is that I don’t always know what that is.

So, that’s all I’ve got for you. I do have a lot to say about a few different subjects but haven’t gotten around to actually writing it out yet. I promise to get back on track soon – or at least I promise to try.

The picture above is of Biscotasi Lake in Northern Ontario. It is taken from a helicopter trip I went on for work a couple years ago.

Mr. December?

Well, I don't think that I would get as many sales but the fact that he is ACTUALLY putting dishes in the dishwasher makes him pretty attractive!

Mr. November

Now, wouldn't you buy this Fireman calendar?

Good Bye Sweet Friend

If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness. Marjorie Garber

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day
But when we are certain of sorrow in store
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear. Rudyard Kipling

Unlike some people who have experienced the loss of an animal, I did not believe, not even for a moment that I would never get another. I did know full well that there were just too many animals out there in need of homes for me to take what I have always regarded as the self-indulgent road of saying the heartbreak of the loss of an animal was too much ever to want to go through with it again. To me, such an admission brought up the far more powerful admission that all the wonderful times you had with your animal weren’t worth the unhappiness at the end. Cleveland Armory

I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives and I am quite satisfied that it is out of compassion for the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time? Sir Walter Scott

Bowser: April 1, 1997 – November 18, 2008

In memory of Bowser who died peacefully tonight in the arms of his mommy and daddy. He is survived by his parents, grandparents and little brother Bennett as well as many loving aunts. He was a special friend to Katie Jones a beautiful Shepard/collie mix and predeceased by his best friend, Mac an incredible German Shepard.

Bowser lived a full, wonderful life filled with love, fun and long walks. He was well known for his wagging tail, smiling face and incredibly soft golden fur. Some of his favourite pastimes were swimming (sometimes a ditch would do), chasing footballs and playing with sticks. He enjoyed belly rubs and long naps in the sun and would snore quite loudly which never bothered his mommy. Bowser’s favourite treats were Timbits and cheese slices for which he would do pretty much anything. Although known as an incredibly loving dog, he never got over his intense dislike of squirrels, chipmunks and that annoying mailman.

As a young puppy he liked to run through the house holding on to the end of a roll of toilet paper, bring grandma her boots and sneak into her sewing room to steal balls of yarn. He brought mommy to obedience school where he excelled – too bad mommy didn’t. He was also well known for his ability to make people smile, laugh and mend broken hearts.

Bowser will always be remembered with love and someday this never ending stream of tears that come with the memories will be replaced again with smiles and laughter. You were a wonderful dog and an even better friend. Thank you for sharing your life with us. How lucky we have been. Until we meet again my sweet furry friend – I promise to bring lots of fresh Timbits and a brand new squeaky football.

You're Still Awesome Dude!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. It has been a rough week and I've been so tired that I've been falling asleep on my new bed (the living room couch) by 9 almost every night. But I thought I would stay up late and post a quick little video from last night. Bennett actually took a couple steps on his own! He's making some great progress but I'm reluctant to get my hopes up. However, I am sure proud of my little guy!

Being a man on the move doesn't come without risk. You can see in the picture below that Bennett's full lips are just a little fuller tonight. A little split lip - the first of many I'm sure.

You're Awesome Dude!

Bennett has been practicing cruising from one surface to another. He's made a lot of progress just this weekend. He can balance a bit on his own and walk with one of us while holding one hand. I think independent walking is still far away but this gives me hope that it is possible and will happen one day.

Well done Bennett!

Bowser Update: Bowser has been doing better. The vet is hoping that he is still suffering from an allergic reaction and the subsequent medication he had to be on to clear up the infection. He's on Benadryl and wearing a Buster collar for a week. We check in with the vet again on Tuesday. Thank you so much to everyone who commented, called or emailed for your kind words, support and understanding that Bowser is an important part of our family.

Happy Birthday Barbara!!

Well it only seems fitting that if everyone else gets a birthday wish on the blog, Mommy should get one too. So happy Birthday to the Bestest Mommy in the whole world. I can't think of too many others who would give up their spot in bed for a not so comfy couch just to ensure Bennett would have a good sleep before therapies. Here is hoping you had a wonderful day and the offer for a weekend stay at the Homewood Suites is still open.

Happy Birthday Mommy,

Love Jim, Bennett, and Bowser

PS Sorry to all regular blog readers I know this post is not on par with regular Barbara posts

A Story of Alcohol, Luck, Love and a Girl Named Cheryl

As the title above indicates, this post is going to be about alcohol, luck, love and a girl named Cheryl. Intrigued? I can assure that this story will come together in a way you probably don’t expect. Stay with me if you can.

A few years ago I worked with a girl named Cheryl. She was/is a wonderful woman with a big heart and a great sense of humour. Over the years we shared a lot of good laughs and not just haha laughs but the big, crying, lose your breath, can’t even talk kind of laughs. Some of those laughs came at very dark times in my life. Although she had no idea, I was dealing with the horrible pain that is infertility and I doubt that she ever knew that the girl standing at the photocopier was slowly wasting away from a broken heart. For those laughs alone, I will always be grateful. But I’ve been thinking about other stuff today and it has brought to mind some of the quirky, existential conversations Cheryl and I had when we were supposed to be working.

One day we were talking about the nature of luck and how some people seem to have a lot of it and others seem to have none. We were both lamenting how we both fell into the latter category. However, as usual Cheryl turned it around and gave me another perspective about luck. This was her theory: perhaps her and I were really lucky, just in ways we might not know about. For example, maybe the roof was supposed to fall on top of us that day but it didn’t. That would have to be considered luck she said and maybe these kinds of things happened all the time and in fact we were really lucky but just didn’t know it. It made a lot more sense at the time when she explained it and believe it or not this is not the part of the story that involves alcohol. In any case, I think Cheryl was really stretching with her theory but it did make me think and brought a smile to my face.

Cheryl was a girl with some theories but she also had some questions. One of the most interesting and funny ones involved alcohol. Now let me start by stating that Cheryl is a girl who can hold her liquor like few others and is known to enjoy a few beers every once in awhile. I have warned Jim on many of these occasions to not even try to keep up to Cheryl and like most men he had to learn the hard way. One morning after a particularly fun night Cheryl came up with an interesting question. This is how she explained it (I’m paraphrasing):

“You know, I just don’t understand. I’m a good person. I work hard, I’m kind to others, I’m kind to animals, I pay my bills. I don’t really have any bad habits but every once in a while I like to have fun and have a few drinks. What I don’t understand is why something that makes me feel so good can make me feel so bad the next day.”

Good question Cheryl and one that leads to the next part of the story. It has become apparent over the last few days that we may be getting closer to having to make the decision that every pet owner dreads. The decision that rips your heart out and leaves you sobbing in the shower. Bowser is not doing so well and it’s breaking my heart. Jim and I got him a month after we moved in together. He’s been with us through everything and I have cried many tears into his soft, silky, golden fur.

So, this leads to another question – a variation of Cheryl’s question about alcohol. Why does love, something that feels so good also have to break your heart? Why does love have to come at such a high price? Why can’t we just love and feel good and never have to say good-bye? I didn’t have an answer to Cheryl’s question that day and I’m sure she wouldn’t have an answer for mine today. But I do know that she would understand.

I just may indulge in a glass of Bailey’s tonight, a drink that Cheryl and I shared on a few occasions. I don’t expect it to help much but it might taste pretty good. I’ll be thinking about how lucky I’ve been to have had Bowser to love. And I’ll also be trying to figure out how I might have to say good-bye.

Happy Halloween!

It has been a pretty quiet night. We've had about 30 kids come to the house and Bennett made it out to two. He's been pretty sick with a cold the last couple of days and he doesn't really eat candy so he doesn't care. What he does care about is when the kids leave. He gets very annoyed that kids come to the door and don't stay to play. Jim and I on the other hand had a very good time decorating. Our pumpkins look great but the pictures don't do them justice so I decided not to post them.

He makes a very cute little pumpkin doesn't he?

The Ringer

We're almost finished our current block of occupational therapy. We've continued to work on getting him to use his right hand and have spent a lot of time encouraging bilateral hand use. It's coming - slowly but we are making progress. The activity we're doing below is one that Bennett really seems to enjoy - unlike the shape sorter! He's holding a wooden spoon in is right hand and putting the rings on with his left.

Go Bennett Go! The video is 50 seconds but well worth it - or at least I think so...

New Sleeping Arrangements

So it seems we have new sleeping arrangements around here and I've ended up on the couch. Jim and Bennett are sharing a bed...

Bennett is in there with his head partly under the pillow - both boys happily snoring away.

Above, you can see Mr. Innocent sitting beside my new bed - our living room couch.

I'm glad at least one of us is happy.....and well rested.......

Party Guy

Bennett has a busy social calendar - much busier than mine. However, that really isn't saying much considering my life. This past weekend, he attended a birthday party on Saturday and then had a play date with Kasia on Sunday. He had great time at both. I remembered my camera on Saturday but forgot to bring it on Sunday.

The picture above is Bennett and Daddy. In the bottom right hand corner, you can see the side of Sam's face - everytime I tried to take a picture he turned his head so it's difficult to see how extremely handsome he is. He was not the birthday boy but is the son of my good friend Tiffany.

In the video below you can enjoy an exciting game of hot potato. Unfortunately, it is cut off at the best time - another victim of my pathetic camera skills.

Apple Pie!

Finally - I have my apple pie! I baked it yesterday and it's delicious. I must confess though that I cheated. I had no idea until Monday that Pillsbury made refridgerated pie crusts - they don't tell you stuff like that on the Food Network. So I purchased the pie crust but I made my own filling.

Busy Guy

I’m tired – especially by the end of the day. Jim is greeted at the door on a regular basis with my enthusiastic and slightly desperate cry of, “Thank God you’re home!” The main source of my exhaustion these days is my precious but precocious little boy. He’s not walking yet but he crawls fast and is pulling up everywhere. He has figured out every door, drawer and cupboard in the house. It seems nothing escapes his attention. Examples of his latest antics include:

Bennett loves to empty drawers and sometimes if I'm lucky he’ll even refill them. He also likes to take stuff from one place and then put it somewhere else. Like the day he took everything from the bottom drawer of the change table and put it all in the laundry hamper.

He also likes to go into the fridge or a drawer and pull out one item to amuse himself. One day he found a can of mushroom soup and proceeded to roll it around the house for about 15 minutes. I know there’s a lot that can done with a can of mushroom soup but this particular game never occurred to me. I guess it shows my complete lack of imagination!

Throwing stuff down the stairs has also turned into a fun game. He seems to enjoy the excited reaction this gets from mommy each and every time.

I believe that Bowser and Bennett have begun to conspire behind my back as well. Bowser has been wearing Bennett’s socks to prevent him from licking his paws. Bennett thinks it’s great fun to pull them off and Bowser seems to agree! I think Bowser might be starting to believe that this Bennett guy is not so bad after all.

Bennett has also started closing the door behind him when he goes into a room – something I didn’t think he would start until his teens. The other day he went into the bathroom and closed the door. When I opened the door I found him sitting on the floor happily licking the toilet plunger! That certainly provides new meaning to the term “potty mouth”!

Disclaimer: This post is in NO WAY a complaint! It is a celebration of a little boy doing exactly what a little boy his age should be doing – driving his mother crazy! However, that doesn’t include the plunger incident – that’s just gross!!!

Did You Know...

That Go Diego Go is on TV at 1am? Well it is..and how do I know you ask? Because I'm up - we're all up...again. Bennett wants to play, Bowser wants to pee and Jim and I just want to sleep. I'm not enjoying this new schedule. Do you think maybe Bennett and Bowser are plotting against us?

Do you think I should use this time to make my apple pie?

Cruisin'

Mummu has requested some good news....here you go. Some Friday night cruisin' before bath time. Please ignore Bennett's pants that are too long and my annoying voice...

At Least the Day's Half Done....

What a 12 hours it has been.

Warning - this is a bit of a continuation of yesterday's whine.

We were pretty tired last night - it's been a rough week with all the peeing going on around here. We had just fallen asleep when we heard Bowser peeing again at 12:30am. So we got up - Jim cleaned the pee and I mopped the floor. We got back to bed at 1am. At 1:15am Bennett woke up and decided that it was time to start the day. He continued his efforts to convince us that it was a good idea to be awake until 6am when he and Jim finally fell asleep in the chair. Meanwhile, I was looking at apple pie recipes online and Bowser peed (sp?) a couple more times outside - not in the house thankfully.

We slept until 9:30 then anxiously rushed to see the orthotic guy at the hospital about Bennett's brace. It was a strange and infuriating appointment as this arrogant guy who may have been having a bad day proceeded to yell at and belittle us and our physiotherapist. We haven't been treated that badly by a "medical professional" in a long time. It left both of us in shock as we weren't sure how to respond. I don't even want to go into what was said because it's all so riduculous but I'll summarize by saying that he insisted his brace was fine. So, we're back to square one but hopefully the shoe modification will work.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to the rest of the day. However, I remain determined to make that damn apple pie.......

Overwhelmed

I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately so please let me indulge in some whine. Feel free not to read.

Bennett
A) Starting Daycare – Exciting but scary. Will he like it? Will it be good for him? Will he be sick with colds all the time?
B) The Brace – Apparently it’s the widest brace ever made. We have an appt tomorrow to hopefully fix it. In the meantime we have a useless $1200 piece of plastic.
C) Walker – Brand new with a seat, back rest and harness. The rubber stoppers are stiff and he can’t propel it very well on his own. Because his left side is stronger he tends to drift so we’ve added 6 pounds of weights to try to correct it. So, this 22 month old kid with CP is trying to drag a 10 pound piece of aluminum with him as he learns to walk. He’s still smiling – I’m not.
D) Therapies – Right now we have all 3 therapies happening. That’s a lot of appointments and lots of homework. Of course, I still feel like I’m not doing enough.

Me
A) 2nd anniversary of the accident – This is now my life. I am done healing. I won’t get any better. Last year, I still had hope that things would improve. Now I’m coping with the fact that they won’t.
B) Legal crap – Can’t say much about this. Just appointments, paperwork, assessments, etc….

C) Teeth – I haven’t been to a dentist in about 3 years. I’ve always been meticulous about my dental health. I appreciate all the money my parents spent fixing my teeth. However, first I was pregnant, then the accident, then more surgeries, then cerebral palsy. I’ve been so busy worrying about losing Bennett, my life and my leg that the prospect of losing a couple teeth hasn’t seemed that important. But I know I have at least one cavity and a wisdom tooth that needs to come out. I also dread hearing the lecture about how I need to brush more, floss more, go to the dentist more…
D) CT Scan – My orthopedic surgeon has requested a CT scan of my ankle which apparently isn’t looking so great. I’m too terrified to book it. Every time I pick up the phone I put it down and walk away.
E) Frazzled – I’ve always taken pride in my organization skills. However, lately I’ve been double booking appointments. I’ve purchased a day planner for 2009 – hopefully that will help. My current wall calendar is such a mess that I can barely distinguish the dates anymore.

House
A) Hot tub – our hot tub hasn’t been working and it’s taking FOREVER to get it fixed. What – you have a HOT TUB? Yes - and it provides me with wonderful relief, however I haven’t been able to use it in months.
B) Mouse in the house – Nothing against mice but I don’t like them living in my house.
C) Unfinished projects – So many little things in the house need to be done and neither one of us seem able to find the time. In the grand scheme of things, the odd piece of missing trim is small potatoes but it still bugs my borderline OCD personality.

Bowser
A) Paws – Bowser has been licking his paws so much they’re raw. At first I thought it was just anxiety and everything that has happened in the last couple years had caught up to him. I put off taking him to the vet because I was afraid it could be something terrible and felt I couldn’t take anymore. I took him in last week. The vet suspects it is an allergic reaction that has snowballed and has prescribed medication. Hopefully this works because if it doesn’t it could be an immune disorder which is quite serious. I feel so GUILTY and ashamed that I let my sweet dog suffer just because of my own selfish fears.
B) Pee - Bowser is doing better but the medication makes him pee a lot and by a lot, I mean every hour. As you can imagine this is a problem at night. So, I’ve been cleaning up messes every day.

So, those are just some of the highlights of what’s been going on in my life lately. And worst of all (not really, but I’m just trying to lighten the mood) I have been dying for a homemade apple pie. I have the ingredients and the pie plate has been sitting on my counter for days waiting for me, but I can’t seem to find the time. Maybe tomorrow……………..

Happy Birthday Auntie Bonnie!

Happy Birthday to you - I hope you had a wonderful day! I'm sorry that I'm a day late, but we were camping. I think we need to get together again soon for a new picture - I barely recognize that little guy in your arms - I think I was only 10 days old!

Just for you, I had mommy add a couple pictures from our Thanksgiving camping excursion!