Napping fights

Meredith is very independent and strong willed. I know that these are good qualities to have (one day), but I don’t enjoy fighting her about things. Yesterday, the fight was about taking a nap.

Meredith and I went and spent the day at my parents. My sister and her kids were there, so were my grandparents. We had a good time, but when it came to taking a nap, Meredith would have nothing to do with it.

Meredith usually takes a 2-3 hour nap every day. Yesterday, she slept in so I knew that going down at the regular time was wishful thinking. So, I tried putting her down an hour later than usual.  

Now, you would think that I could just put Meredith in her crib and leave her there and cry it out. If only that were the case!! If Meredith is not tired, she climbs out of her crib, opens the door and will come find me downstairs.

So, yesterday, I spent 2 hours putting Meredith back in the crib. In that time I spanked her a whole bunch of times, changed 3 diapers and tried everything I could. Nothing deters her.

Finally, when my nephew got up from his nap, I gave up and decided that today was not a nap day.

So, a day that I wanted to use visiting my family was used fighting.

Points for the day:

600 points for fighting Meredith for 2 hours

500 points for not losing it on Meredith or my family

300 points for still being able to finish my laundry and get my nails done

Total points: 1400 – no, the large points does not make me want these events to happen on a regular basis.

Ps: we stayed for dinner and left soon after. Meredith fell asleep in the car and slept for 13 hours.

Busker fun!

This weekend, my husband and some of our friends took our kids downtown to the busker festival. We drove downtown (because most parking downtown is free on weekends) and walked to Sparks Street. We then were able to go from site to site and see some cool street performers (Buskers).  

Taking a toddler anywhere can be a gamble because you never know how they will react to things. Being that it was 6pm when we left, there was a greater chance that things could go wrong as the evening went on due to being tired. So, with all that said, Meredith did not do to badly.

The first show we saw was a single act that skateboarded and juggled fire! It was cool. Meredith was not a huge fan because she is afraid of announcer voices. Anytime we are at the mall and she hears an announcement, she gets scared. So, going to a show where the guy uses a microphone was not the greatest idea. She likes knowing where noise comes from and with this sort of thing; it’s hard to grasp at a young age.

The second act we saw was awesome!! They were a group a five that put on a fire show! This was great. Not only did I like it, but Meredith loved it! They did not use microphones. They had music going and would do their act to the music. It worked out much better. Meredith was mesmerised.

We tried watching a third act, but I made the mistake of sitting her on my lap near the performer’s bikes. She kept saying: mine, mine, mine!! She was very insistent and was not happy when I pulled her away letting her know it was not hers and she could not touch it. At that point it was late and, since she was not impressed, started to cry. Because of the hour, and in consideration to the performers and the audience, we left.

I was sad to leave because the Busker Festival is my favourite event of the year. If I had it my way, I would stay for all the shows. But, sometimes you can’t do what you want as a parent. So, we will try again next year and see how she does. But, I think when she gets to be 5 and up, she will really love it.

http://www.sparksstreetmall.com/Schedule_from_Buskerfest_2011_brochure.pdf

Points for the day:

400 points for not losing her in the crowd

300 points for keeping her entertained between acts

200 points for leaving at the right time

Total points: 900!!

My “subtle” daughter

I have not written a blog post in a while because our every day is much of the same without much change. So, today I thought I would write about Meredith and some of the things she does that make me laugh and make her unique.

            The title of the blog is: my “subtle” daughter. “subtle” is in quotations because when I say subtle, I really mean obvious.

            Meredith is much like her father in the fact that she loves going out. She is not a homebody. She loves adventures. When she wants to go somewhere, she will make sure I know she wants to go. First, she will bring me my shoes and say: shoe!!! Then, a few minutes later she will bring me her shoes and says: shoes!! She will then proceed to climb in my lap and stay there until I put her shoes on. Finally, when shoes are in place, she will run to the front door and try to open in while saying: go, go, go!!!! This process makes me laugh on a daily basis. It’s just too cute.

            Another thing that Meredith loves to do is go swimming. We have a pool in our apartment building and take her on a regular basis. In the past few weeks, she has figured out that her bathing suit and swim diaper are essential elements to the pool experience. Because I keep an immaculate house (please know then when I say immaculate, I really mean the opposite), Meredith’s swim suit is usually within her reach. So, when she wants to go swimming, she will find her bathing suit and run into the room saying: poo! poo! (pool). She will then proceed to try and put her bathing suit on herself (always over her cloths).

            So, even though things are the same on a regular basis, at least I have a toddler who is hysterical and cute when she communicates what she wants.

Points for the day:

500 points for translating toddler talk and actions (something I never thought possible before I had kids)

Day trip to Toronto

Yes! You did read the title right. Greg, Meredith and I went to Toronto for the day. Greg’s sister was visiting us for a few days and she needed to get to Toronto. Since we wanted to see Greg’s brother and father, we decided to all go. We could not stay overnight because Greg had to work the next day. We left at 8:30 in the morning (not any earlier because we slept in). We got to our destination at 1:30ish. Before leaving, we were worried that taking Meredith would be a complete disaster because the day was going to so different from her normal routine. We were ready for some ridiculousness, but we were praying that Meredith would sleep a bit in the car and in the afternoon. Well, Meredith shocked us! There was no ridiculousness what so ever!!! She fell asleep in the car on the ride up for about an hour. The rest of the time she danced and chatted! It was so cute! We got to TO and found Greg’s dad and decided to walk around. On our walk, we went to the St Laurence market, got some ice cream and hung out on the water! It was fun. Meredith did really well in the stroller and was able to fall asleep (even with all the noise of a very busy downtown TO).  We got to the harbour and enjoyed a nice rest. We met up with Greg’s brother and had dinner. We went to a sports bar, so between the TV and an uncle’s antics, Meredith was well entertained. We did not have to chase her all over the restaurant (a first for us).  We then had a very long walk back to our car and were on our way. On the way home, we made a few stops and Meredith did very well. She did not fall asleep right away, she fell asleep at 10:30, but she was very good in the car. She did not wake up on the transfer back to the crib. All in all, it was a great success!!!

Points for the day:

200 points for keeping Meredith entertained in the car

-200 points for not bringing enough diapers and having to get some on the way home (I brought 4, she never uses more than 3 in a day, but she had a few more dirty diapers then expected!)

-100 points for missing the French judge on So you think you can dance Canada (this would be more lost points, but I was changing Meredith’s diaper at the time, so I gained a few points there)

400 points for walking around with Meredith downtown TO

300 points for not getting burnt or overheated on such a hot day

Total points: 600 points

Cooling down on a hot summer day

I am nor resourceful and not creative. So, when I think of activities that are somewhat creative and resourceful, I am extremely proud of myself. This week, I had one of those days. Ottawa is hot in the summer. It was also one of those days where I did not want to mover, let alone go out of the house or do anything that required work. Meredith is very energetic. So, I had to think of an activity that would Channel her energy in an appropriate way (as opposed to letting her climb the furniture). I had recently bought some plastic boxes for Meredith’s toys. So, I thought that I would empty the bucket of the toys and put water in it and bring the party to our balcony. It was perfect! Meredith spent an hour sitting in the water, playing with the water, running around, and emptying the bucket. It was hysterical! She was wet head to toe. Most importantly, she amused herself for an hour. Cost: $1.25 (for the bucket) and water! I even took her out on the balcony in the afternoon. I was so happy about the day. Actually, I was mad that I had not thought about the idea sooner!

Points for the day:

300 points for using the same item (a bucket) for two different uses

200 points for cooling off my daughter and myself without making a mess in the house or leaving it.

200 points for being resourceful and a bit creative!

Total Points: 700 points

Cottage week

For the past 7 days, I have been at a family cottage with my husband and daughter. I would like to say that in that time I accumulated LOTS of points. For the first 4 days, my husband and I hosted friends of ours with their son. So we were 6 people. Then for the last 3 days, it was just the three of us. Before going, I was afraid of how the kids would get along. They are 7 months apart and at this age, it’s hard to know how it’s going to go. I am happy to say that the kids loved each other. Well, Meredith had lots of love for her friend. I am not sure of the other way around, but he put up with her. They balanced each other well. I think we only had one occurrence when both kids had a meltdown together. I think that’s pretty impressive. Usually, when one was crying, the other comforted with hugs and kisses or was out of the way.

The only down part of the whole weekend was Meredith’s sleep habit. For some reason, she decided that it would be a good idea to wake up at 5 or 5:30 in the morning and be up for the day. Because we had guests and did not want to wake everybody up, we had to try to keep her quiet for a few hours. We took her to our bed for the first 40 minutes where she lay with us and then took her downstairs. Meredith soon figured out that she could open doors. So, in her excitement to play and love for her friend, she would run into him room and wake him up. I would stop her, but the whole exchange would end with her in a time out.

Meredith also discovered that she can climb out of her pack and play. So, in the morning, she would get out of her crib and come find us. She would also do this at night when putting her down for bed. She quickly learned that we were serious about bed time. She would get out of her crib, and climb down the stairs to where we were. When she saw us, she would run the other way. You could tell that she knew she was doing wrong.

Days were filled with fun times at the beach, watching the kids dance while listening to music,  lots and lots of food, games with friends and lots of relaxation. The kids were entertaining and the weather was perfect. All in all it was a fantastic time.

Points for the week:

300 points for packing for the cottage while Meredith “helped” (taking things out of a bag after I had put them in, sitting in our suitcase unwilling to move)

500 points for keeping her safe at the beach and not letting her get hurt (it helped that she was afraid of the water and would not go in further then water at her ankles)

200 points for taking Meredith on a kayak adventure (these points should rely belong to Greg because he was the one paddling while Meredith and I sat in the front and enjoyed the view)

600 points for getting up with Meredith at ungodly hours

-200 points for keeping her quiet with Disney movies

400 points for putting her to bed and making sure she stayed in

300 points for making Meredith my helper with setting the table (I would give her a plate and she would place it on the table)

500 points for cleaning the cottage and packing up with Meredith’s “help”. She loves the broom and feels it her responsibility to use it every time it makes an appearance. I was hoping that her fear of vacuums would extend to the vacuum at the cottage, but sadly this was not the case and she felt the need to “help” with that as well.

I am sure there are other points I accumulated, but I can’t remember them right now.

Total points for the week: 2600!!!! 

I think we should spend more time at the cottage!!!

Crazy days

I am the worst blogger out there. I know that it would be best to have a new post every day or every other day. Unfortunately, as much as I like to write, I am either too busy to sit down and do it or nothing interesting happens at all. This past weekend was one of those weekends that you go from one event to another. My sister, husband and their 2 children were up for a visit so the weekend was full of family time. We had a goodbye party, 2 family lunches and dinner, a bachelor party and bachelorette to attend (and a few other things). In amongst all the activity, I would like to say that Meredith got all her regular naps and went to bed on time expect for Sunday were she only slept for an hour. I would take all the credit, but if it were not for my husband and mother, Meredith would have either never slept or I would have had to stay home all weekend.

Weekend Points:

100 points for booking every minute of the weekend

100 points for not dropping dead from all the activity

300 points for putting Meredith down for naps and bed times

200 points for taking the time to spend with family and friends and making it all work

Total points: 700

Missed Opportunity

As I have written before, I have a tremendously supportive husband. So, you would think that in return, I would be a supportive wife. Well, most times I am, but last night I was not. For the past year, my husband has been going to school to be a journalist. He has worked hard and got the highest GPA in his class and graduated with honors. Last night was his graduation. Instead of attending, I worked. Just to be clear, Greg totally supported the idea of me working. We both agreed that sitting in an auditorium for three hours and being bored would be worst then going and making some money for three hours.  Still, I still feel like I let him down.

Points for the day:

-100 points for missing my husband’s graduation

-400 points for not being able to clone myself to be in two places at once

Total points: -500 (ouch!!)

Dragon Boats!

I have lived in Ottawa for almost 20 years. Over the years, there are lots of things that I did not know went on or things that I never went to check out. Since having a child, I am always looking for interesting things to bring my daughter to. She likes to explore and I seeing new things. Yesterday, my husband and I took Meredith to the International Dragon boat festival. It was awesome! They had kid shows going on all day, live music, and boat races!! Meredith got to touch a snake and see a crocodile!! I could not take pictures because I needed to make sure she would not give these animals hugs! She is the type to do such things! The weather was perfect, the atmosphere was fun, and best of all, it was time spent just the 3 of us!

Points for the day:

100 points for covering my daughter in sunscreen and keeping her from getting a burn

200 points for letting her touch animals I am afraid of

300 points for letting her out of her stroller to run around and not losing her!

Total points: 600 points!

Same old, same old

My goal for this blog was to write something every day or every other day. What I did not count on was the fact that interesting things don’t happen every day. Yes, I have a toddler, and she is cure every day, and everyday there are small adventures. But all in all, it’s the same. For a few weeks now, my husband has been taking the car to work. Before this, I would take Meredith to a play group every morning of the week. Now that I can’t drive there and the buss there would be too complicated, I am left to fend for myself. So, I use two bus tickets a day. I get a transfer and it gives me an hour and a half to go where I want and come back without spending more tickets. I usually take Meredith to a mall with a Chapters store. There, they have a kids zone. She plays with the other kids and I can get a chance to meet new people as well.

Points for the day:

100 points for keeping Meredith safe on the bus ride (some bus riders ride the breaks pretty hard)

100 points for using Chapters as a place for my child to play without spending any money!

200 points for only using 2 bus tickets a day and saving money while also keeping my sanity

Total points: 400

Dad Points

I have the most supportive and amazing husband ever! He is also an amazing father.  Greg and I have been married for four years. In that time, he has worked hard to support me and now Meredith as well. This means that while I stay home with Meredith full time, Greg is away during the day.  He loves Meredith so much and it kills him to be away at work. Although he enjoys being the provider, he does feel like he misses out many special moments. As many parents know, kids seem to prefer the parent they spend the day with. So, when Greg gets home, Meredith is still very attached to me. Greg and I believe that although this is normal, it’s also important for Meredith to form a close bond with him and have some one on one time. This is why we institute daddy/daughter dates. Once a month (or so), Greg uses a Saturday morning and takes Meredith on a special adventure. He usually takes her to museums and has just as much fun as she does. Today, Greg toke Meredith to the Museum of Science and Technology.  The museum has real trains to check out, a crazy kitchen, a kids play zone and many buttons to push. It’s no wonder Meredith had so much fun!

Points for the day:

One bazillion points: to Greg for all he does for me and Meredith

100 points: for staying home and missing out on all the fun and giving them a special time together

books, books, and more books!

I am not sure I can take credit for this, but since I am the mom, I think I will. Every morning and after every nap, Meredith wants her books in the crib to read. We have tried to pick her up and all she does is points to her books. So, I gladly give them to her. She can read her 8 books for up to 45 minutes! This is perfect for me because I get that extra time in the morning to relax in bed and that extra time in the afternoon as well. I have no clue how we got her to do this. I think it helps that she loves reading to begin with. The first thing she does when she gets home is go for her books. But, this also has a drawback. She is so attached to her books that she needs us to read her 8 books before bed and she sometimes will not let go of a book and take it with her in the car, in the stroller and so on. Thankfully I am pro reading and this is not really a problem.

Points:

Unlimited: having a child hooked on books!!!!!!!

                  Who knows what her love of reading will do for her!

Tourists in our own city

One of the things I love most about Ottawa in the summer is that every weekend we can find something to do.  Meredith loves exploring, and so do I. So, what better then to be tourists in our own city? This weekend it was Open Doors Ottawa. This is when people can go and look at embassies, museums, houses est. that are not normally open to the general public. The best part of it: It’s free!!!!!!

Meredith LOVES buses!! Every time she sees a bus, she yells: ABUS! She gets so exited. So, I thought the best place to take her would be to the OC Transpo Industrial Garage. We got to see old buses and new ones. We got to go up the stairs of a double decker bus. We also took the garage tour that included a bus wash! It was lots of fun. Meredith loved it!

Point for the day:

50 points for taking her to the industrial garage

50 points for keeping her safe from the owl mascot that she was afraid of

100 points: 20 points for every bus we went on and checked out

50 points for coming home and putting her down for a nap before a total breakdown (I had originally wanted to take her to see the O-train but thought it might take too long since she had been up since 6:30)

Point total: 250

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/heritage/doorsopen/

Day at home

I love being a stay at home mother. I love spending time with my daughter. When she takes her naps or is sleeping, I miss her. Saying this, there are some days that are more challenging than others. Friday was one of those days. My husband got a call to work for a friend. Since the work place was not on a bus route, he had to take the car.

I thought that we could have home adventures. Our apartment has a pool and an outdoor park. Friday comes and, not only is it raining, but the pool is also closed. So, here I am at home with nothing to do.

Not only is it raining, but Meredith was not very happy. She must be teething and growing at the same time. So, we watched more TV then I usually let her and read lots of books. We looked out our window to see what we could see and walked up and down the halls.

Since she is growing, this makes her more tired. For the first time in months,                                  she took 2 naps!! So, even though she was cranky and it rained all day, it all worked out. 

All this to say is that there are many mothers out there who are based from home most days and I am spoiled to have one child and able to use a car on a regular basis.

Point break down:

-50 points for letting her watch more TV then other days

50 points for making play dough for the first time

50 points for figuring out she was tired and putting her down for her naps

200 points: 2 points for each time I read a book to her (we don’t have 100 books, but I read some books 4-5 times)..... ps. this is not exact math J

Point total: 300 points!

Growing up

One of the things I hate most is putting away cloths that Meredith has outgrown. When I put away her 0-3 months cloths, my heart almost broke. Today was another milestone. I put away her 12 months cloths and her winter 18 month cloths. My baby is getting so big and growing up way to fast.  I have a hard time letting go. But, these moments help me to hold on to each and every precious moment I have with her and to enjoy our time together. Soon enough, she will off to school all day and wanting to spend all her time away from home instead of insisting I take part in every event in her life.

Daily points:

200 points: spending 1 ½ hours sorting cloths and putting her room back together

50 points: leaving play group early due to a tantrum and giving her some mom time

Day total: 250 points

sick.......again

I don’t know what it is about kids, but mine gets sick all the time. I feel like every few weeks, Meredith has a fever, or throws up or something to that nature. Today, she threw up twice. She had no other symptoms, so my only guess is that she reacted to something she had to eat last night.

Points for the day

-50 points for not knowing why she was sick

200 points for taking care of her all day

100 points for cleaning up floors and the bed after her episodes.

Point total: 250

In other news: today was a glorious day! Since Meredith was feeling better in the afternoon, we spent much of it outside!

work time

Even though I am a stay at home mom, every now and then I work. I have my teaching degree and I use it every so often to supply teach or do some other casual work.  Today was one of those days where I went to supply teach. I really enjoy this arrangement. I get to spend a majority of my days at home, but every now and then I get do something else then being a mother. Teaching is something I love to do. So, even though I miss Meredith like crazy, I enjoy teaching every now and then.

Point break down:

200 points for giving Meredith a daddy/daughter day

100 points for making some money for the family

50 points for note being to jealous of my husband Greg for spending time with Meredith

50 points for getting to experience what Greg does every day he goes to work

Total points: 400 points

Sleep Training

Last week, I took my daughter Meredith for her 18^th month check up. There, the doctor told me that I should stop giving Meredith milk in a bottle, but only in a sippy cup and only give her water in a bottle.

So, last night was our first night and I have to say it went better than I thought it would. The night started with her screaming and getting out of her crib, but that was my fault because I put her to bed when she was not tired. Then, she woke up at 1am and did not take the water and only screamed for an hour and a half. She then woke up around 7am.

Points for the day:

 -100 for not sleep training her earlier

200 points for sticking with it and not giving in while she was screaming

Total points: 100

Shots!

Today I took Meredith for her 18 month check up and her shots. It’s one of those days that no mother really looks forward to because kids don’t like shots. Meredith took the shots like a champ and only cried for 2 seconds after the shots. This is probably because she has spent so much energy throwing tantrums on the waiting room and the doctor’s office. Oh well, at least we got it done.

Point break down:

100 points for holding Meredith in her tantrums

200 points for not crying myself or breaking down

-50  points being a month late for her shots

60 points for not waking her up from car seat to crib

Point total: 310

On good news, we don’t have to take her back until she is 2. In bad news, tomorrow we will be taking her milk bottles away and giving it to her in sippy cups. The only upside is that I may acquire many mom points for my patience during this time.

Spring!

Today, we had our first real spring activity! The weather was perfect, so we had a family picnic. We went to a park near the water and enjoyed eating while Meredith watched the birds. It was the perfect way to start spring!

Point Break down:

20 points for putting the picnic together

30 points for not witnessing Meredith hurt the wild life or go into the water

In other daily points: 160 points: 20 points for every laundry load washed, dried, folded and put away.

Day total: 210!!

Wow, I should do household chores more often and accumulate more points

How the points work

Growing up, my friends and I would sometimes randomly assign points to random things. For instance, one winter we all went skating and points were allotted for falling, bumping into people and other such things. These points were randomly given and had no value and there was no prize for the person who received the most points.

One day I had a long day with my 18 month old daughter, Meredith, and I decided that this point system could be used in motherhood.  I started to think that I should randomly assign myself points for how “well” I mother.

Meredith had a hard day today. She has been sick and not sleeping well which makes her grumpy all day. She started the day by screaming and not being happy with anything including food. Without going into all the specifics of my day, let’s just say that the rest of the day was much of the same.

Point break down:

20 points for not going crazy,

40 points for cleaning her car seat clean from vomit

I might have to subtract 5 points for letting her sit in her own vomit for 10 minutes

Day total:  55 points.

So, even though it was a long hard day, I came out all right with points

If you read this blog, please do not give me points of take some away. Please feel free to share your day and randomly assign yourself points. Points can be assigned for anything and you have complete control as to how many points you give yourself or take away. 

Please follow me as I raise my daughter at home and experience all the joys and trials of motherhood.