Snowsuit Baby

Nate Loving The Lights

Emily Thrilled By The Parade

Classy Northside Santa Claus Parade

I love this picture solely for the Red Lantern sign in the background. Some highlights of the evening included:

• Freezing to death. Funny how cold -10 feels at the beginning of winter.
• The guy from Kent Building Supplies trying to make money by selling glow in the dark things as he walked in the parade. I am pretty sure that is against Santa's code of ethics.
  
• The gaps between the floats that were so long, you couldn't even see a float on the street at times.
• Adrienne and Heather getting new bibles from the churchies.
• Adrienne deciding to go for looks over warmth with her attire-heehee!!
• Emily sticking her toes in the hummus (on purpose the 2nd time) and Heather licking it off. Santa makes us all do strange things at times.
• Ditching Nathaniel off to Jody so I could get a tour of Heather's new house and then promptly forgetting about him in Jody's arms for at least half an hour. Maybe it really is time for me to have an evening to myself!!
  

Broken Back From Carrying A Small Mountain

This story took place a couple of weeks ago but I am reminded of it on a daily basis.

My little bundle of joy now weighs in at a hefty 17 pounds and lugging the chubster around all day is no small feat. I am okay on flat surfaces but going up and down the stairs makes me feel like a granny. Since Iain already has a bad back, I make him carry Nate up the stairs as much as possible...no sense in ruining the two of us. Plus I am reminded on a daily basis how much that lard ball has destroyed my body as it is i.e. stretch marks and National Geographic nipples.

Anyway, before I get carried off on a nipple rant, my back is sore for the first time in my life and it was never more apparent than a few weeks ago. Erinn and I ditched our infants for the night and went out for dinner and a movie. We seriously contemplated just parking at the Regent Mall and sleeping for 5 blissfully uninterrupted hours in my car but we thought we should at least eat.

At the end of the movie, Erinn scuttled down to the front of the movie theatre to retrieve her never opened $8 bottle of water she dropped and watched roll the length of the theatre as soon as she sat down while I started to stand up and get my jacket on. About a third of the way up, it felt like a donkey kicked me in the small of my back causing me to thump unceremoniously back in my seat. My back totally seized and I could not for the life of me stand up.

After a few frantic hisses at Erinn who was looking at me rather strangely as to why I seemed so interested in the credits to a Marky Mark movie, I told her I could not stand up which caused both of us to giggle hysterically. All I could picture was me strapped onto a stretcher and carried out of the mall which would be absolutely mortifying. After a few unhelpful proddings from Erinn, I managed to stagger out of the theatre and make it home safely but my back has been sore ever since.

Now I know how that little wooden man in the Robaxin commercials feels when the needle is jammed in him.

Fire Starter

This morning I woke up to a house that was 12 degrees-a tad too chilly for a 3 month old. I am known around this house as the "Furnace Nazi" due to the price of oil being insane so we try to use the fireplace as much as possible.

I rather pride myself on my ability to get a fire started quickly but it is hard to do without proper newspaper. All we had were some coloured flyers which suck and didn't work. As I was rooting around the house for some flammable material, I saw two used breast pads on top of the washing machine. I grabbed those and an arm's length of paper towel and had a nice little blaze going in no time.

I might just have to call the breast pad company and inform them of their products many uses.

Chewy

Loving The Exersaucer...And So Does Mommy!!

The Crocodile Hunter

Nate and Karson

Anna Nalick

Hmm, I also love this song and it is great for getting stuck in your head. There is a cheesy Grey's Anatomy montage that goes along with it, but there are some great McDreamy moments in it so if you have 4 minutes to waste, enjoy.

What is hotter, sad McDreamy or smiley McDreamy?

Ingrid Michaelson

Anybody else love this song off of the Old Navy commercial as much as I do?

I sing it for about 3 hours after I see the ad and until yesterday, I only really knew one line so it drove Iain insane. I have a nasty habit of singing one line over and over again, without even realizing it plus my voice isn't exactly melodic so it can turn into a bone of contention in the Aitken household.

As much as my repetition can be annoying, it doesn't even compare to the time Iain and I got into "an argument" and I sang back my angst in my opera voice. Hee hee!!

"If you are chilly, here take my sweater"
I.M.

Big Boy Crib

Now, I am sure that more than a few people are going to think we are mental but we don't care, so save me the comments. Nathaniel was busting out of his bassinet so we knew it was time for the crib. Problem was, Iain and I weren't ready for him to make the move across the hall. It is so convenient having him in our room for feeding and checking on him plus we have a furnace so in order to keep his room warm enough,we would have to heat the whole house all night long. We have a baseboard heater in the bathroom off of our bedroom so it keeps our room a comfortable temperature. So the decision was made-crib into our room for the winter.

As we discovered when we lugged the crib upstairs before he was born, the crib does not fit through his bedroom door assembled, so Iain had to take it apart then reassemble it for the 3rd time and he has only slept in it twice. Yes, I think that is funny.

And as the famous Theresa Seamans once said, "He is your baby and you can do what ever you want" so he three of us plan on snuggling up for a long cozy winter.

Hanging Out With Some Of His Favourite People

Newest Trick

Nathaniel's newest trick-sucking his thumb. How very exciting (insert sarcasm here)!!! Well, exciting for us because it is hilarious watching him suck on his wee thumb that is about a whopping 1cm long and deriving so much satisfaction from it. May not be so hilarious when he is in grade 4 and getting beat up for still sucking his thumb, but until then, suck away!

World's Most Disgusting Baby

It is official - Nathaniel easily won the annual "How Far Can You Shit Up Your Back" contest. Iain and I are so proud. The judges ruled the streak on the back of his head was the clincher. This is when I consider the idea of bathing him in the toilet.

Doaktown

Adventures on The Miramichi

We packed up and headed "upriver" to the village of Doaktown for a night of yapping, eating tons of excellent food and enjoying a few glasses of wine. It has been awhile since we had a girly getaway and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I even stayed up until an astonishing 1:30 in the morning-it must have been at least a year since I have stayed up that late.

We were laughing at how much we have all grown up and here were a few indicators:

• we actually brought food with us-I remember one time Sarah D, Suzanne and I went camping in St. Andrews and all we brought to eat was a giant Tootsie Roll.
• we didn't wake up hung over.
• no one decided to have a "truthful and honest" drunken conversation with someone that ended in tears.
  
• there were 2 babies with us and 4 more left at home.
• my parents didn't warn me to be responsible or I wouldn't be allowed to use the camp again.
• sleeping all afternoon to "recover" from 2 glasses of wine.
• and, not sleeping well if you are not in your own bed, which makes us sound like old grammies.
  

I really enjoyed myself and thanks for a wonderful time, ladies!!

Sleepy Boy...Finally

This baby has not stopped moaning and groaning all day. I had him on his belly, doing a little tummy time,then I flipped him on his back to let him stare at the ceiling for a while (he actually likes that). He kept complaining, generally driving me nuts so I put him back on his stomach for a minute to change things up and he fell asleep instantly. It happened so quick, I actually had to check to see if he was still breathing. I know you aren't supposed to let a baby sleep on his stomach but he is not crying and is sleeping for the first time since 8AM so I think I will take my chances.

Holding Up My Head AND Drooling...So Talented

Stay Away From My Milk!

The Joys Of An Old Cold House

Heads Down, Thumbs up...7 Up!!

Ha ha! I just got an email from Kristi and she said, "Remember how teachers used to get the whole class to put their heads down on their desks to settle things down?" We don't do that anymore and it seems hilarious in retrospect. Maybe I should say that I don't do that and I have never seen anyone do it since I became a teacher. Even better, Kristi also remembered how sometimes if you were especially bad, you had to put your head down on your desk while the rest of the class resumed what they were doing. These memories made me laugh.

Speaking of heads down on desks, one of my favourite games to play as a kid in school was 7 Up. I remember getting quite spastic inside with excitement when we were allowed to play and the funny part is, kids still love that game. I taught grade 8 last year and I used to let them play it all of the time during homeroom at the end of the day and they loved it. It is even quite fun watching as a teacher and I get to say the magic words, "Heads down, thumbs up...7 up!" Oh the power!!!

I love watching the kids choose whose thumb they will touch and nothing has changed since we were little:

• there is the kid who always pinches or pulls back some one's thumb
  
• the nerdy boys who are so pleased with themselves after they touch the pretty girls thumbs
• the kid who stretches as far as he can to tap someone so they can't see his shoes
• having your thumb touched so lightly that you are not sure if it was a real touch or accidental, which leads to the dilemma of whether to stand up or not.
• the kid who has a strategy and touches the person who is least likely to ever guess it was them-like the most popular boy choosing the quietest, shyest girl who would die of mortification if she ever had to say that boy's name out loud
• and of course there is the kid who always peeks-that certainly never changes

It's important to remember that maybe times haven't really changed all that much after all.

Hmmm...it just occurred to me that the game is not named after pop, it has to do with the fact that after the thumbs are all touched, 7 people stand up. I am so stupid-I remember as a kid sitting there, trying to figure out why it was named after a soft drink.

Stench

Is there anything more disgusting than a Diaper Champ full of rotten, shitty diapers after a couple of days? Diapers don't smell then all of the sudden you walk into a room and the stink is overwhelming. I think I have gone through more garbage bags in the last three months than I have in the last two years. When is the earliest you can start toilet training? Maybe I will go for a world record of training my kid at 4 months.

I was reading the other day how in Third World countries, babies don't wear diapers. Mothers anticipate when the baby needs to let loose and take them to a spot to go. Apparently you can also prompt them by using sounds like "pss-pss" and by making grunting noises.

Andrea saw this all first hand when she was in China if you think I am insane.

Mabel's Labels

I was on the Daily Gleaner website and saw this link to a company called Mabel's Labels. I went on and checked it out and thought it was kind of cool and very useful for moms and teachers. Basically, this company has figured out how to make super sticky labels for everything from kids shoes and clothes (I think we are past the stage where we "forget" clothes at other peoples houses) to teaching supplies to garbage cans that can survive the washing machine, the microwave, the dishwasher and the elements.

My sister-in-law is always complaining about the hundreds of dollars of clothes she loses at my nephew's daycare and I know what a bunch of light handed children I work with, so I thought it was quite useful. Plus you get to design your own labels, which is always fun.

Picture Perfect

On Friday, Nathaniel and I headed to the Superstore to meet up with my sister-in-law Alana and my nephew Karson along with my cousin Erinn and her son Henry to attempt to get some pictures of our offspring. Now that was an experience. You should have seen how pleased the the people at the Superstore were to see a 2 1/2 year old, an eight month and a two month old descend upon them. Heehee!

Anyway, the event went surprisingly well. We took pictures of Karson and Nathaniel together and separately for our families for Christmas, and they turned out quite well-see below. And that comet like apparition in the pictures is just a reflection of my flash, not some cheesy special effect.

We also got some Halloween pictures of the three together. I borrowed Suzanne's zebra suit, thinking it might not make him cry like his lion one did. Every time I put the head up, he screeched, so in the pics, he looks like he is wearing a zebra rug. I am sure he will thank me for that later.

Other than that, today is my Mom and Dad's anniversary so we had them over for brunch-Happy Anniversary!!

And congratulations to Brent Rowney for helping win the Caledonia Cup-they thrashed the competition and from the sound of his voice when he called this morning to see if we wanted to go out for breakfast, he had a good time celebrating. Hope you found some grease somewhere!!

Me Taking A Picture Of A Picture