Back in the saddle again...

It was an awful week for exercise, truly awful, I did none. Nothing, zilch, nada, whatever you call it, the amount of exercising added up to a big fat pile of zero. So, today is new leaf day again and I will be exercising after lunch. I know that I am entirely to blame, however, I don't mind shifting a small amount of that on to my husband. He has been grumpy the past week, and then I feel guilty asking for time to go and run. I should just do it anyways, but hey. So, now that Sebastian is at the dayhome, I will get the groceries unpacked and put away, have a snack, feed the baby and then go and exercise. I am craving it. I miss it. I need it!!

Bits and pieces

We had a pretty nice weekend. Of course it snowed again. This is becoming the norm for these parts. I am so tired of it. I really want to move to the Caribbean. Anyone know how I can go about that? I'm serious. I just need to figure it out and then we're outta here!!

So, anyhow, with all the snow, because it's relatively nice otherwise, we built a snowman. Not once, but twice. It was fun. Sebastian was fascinated with the part where the snowman got a carrot for a nose.

We also experimented with slime. Basically it's a mixture of cornstarch and water. The recipe I found involved boiling it. This was slightly different than the slime I remember as a child. I think the slime I played with was just cold water and cornstarch. I will maybe try that another day. But, the slime we made was fun. We coloured it blue. Sebastian and I both played with it. He was not entirely sure what to make of it at first but we had fun with it. Then, he was done, and rubbed his face, and he got it all over. Oh well, it was an adventure to say the least.

Sebastian also got to hang out with his uncles on Saturday who took him to a play place.

I also went through two boxes of baby clothes to sort out the sizes and then reorganized the kids clothing in the dresser to make room for more things for Sullivan. I also took a few pictures of items that I just might try and sell. Like cloth diapers. We love them, and I'm so glad we decided to give it a try. Totally worthwhile. However, Sullivan is such a big baby, that he has outgrown the small size. Who knew we'd have a preemie the first time, and then a chubby baby the second time. They couldn't be more opposite on sizes. But anyhow, haven't tried this online selling stuff, so we'll see how it goes!!

Hurtful actions...

So, yesterday, we went to a play place and met up with a friend. I lost part of my appreciation for these types of places though. To start with, there were a lot of older kids there. I'm guessing some of these kids were more like 7 or 8, then the maximum age 6 that is apparently supposed to be there.

Well, Sebastian was having a fun time. He got up the courage to climb high into the structure there, and was having a blast. I figured out that he had pooped in his diaper and was encouraging him to come down so I could change him and then he could go back to playing. Well, about a minute later, I was waving at him, and one of the employees comes up to me and says, "is that your little boy with the glasses and blonde hair?" and I say yes, and she says, "someone told me he pooped his pants" and I told her that I knew that, and I was getting him to come down so I could change him. Keep in mind he's three, and maybe he should be all potty trained by now, but he's not. So, he was in a diaper, and there were no messes or anything. Well, I continue to encourage him to come down, but he's just having a blast in this tunnel and as I go to the other end of it, I see these older kids, and as he's coming out of the tunnel, they are holding their noses and making "ew" sounds and stuff like that. I thought it was rather mean and hurtful, and I'm glad that Sebastian didn't really get that they were making fun of him.

Now, I realize that he will get made fun of multiple times in his life and I do expect that, but he's only three and I sort of thought that this type of playplace wouldn't get into that type of thing. I thought that is part of the reason the age maximum is 6. I fully expect hitting and fighting over toys, but not mean hurtful actions that my child is too young to even comprehend.

So, he did come down, and I changed his diaper and he happily went back to playing again. However, a few moments later, one of the older boys comes up to me and says "is that your son, cause he pooped his pants again... I could smell it from the top". Sebastian wasn't even playing near him. And, for the record, he wasn't poopy or anything. I didn't know what to say. Here was some kid dictating to me about how to be a parent and didn't even have his facts straight.

Needless to say, the whole situation just left a sour taste in my mouth. I think this boy and a couple of his friends were too old to be there in the first place and because of that, brought in a whole set of actions and experiences that I didn't think my son would be subject to until he was in school.

I did have a nice visit and I know Sebastian had a lot of fun. But, where are the parents of the older kids and do they not see anything wrong with their kids making fun of a three year old (and keep in mind, he only just turned three that day). I know I just need to get over this, and really, I will, it just saddened me that a fun play place for little kids was suddenly not quite so fun at times.

Oops...

Okay, I waited until after midnight to post that letter to Sebastian, yet it still came up as being on the Monday, what gives!! Anyhow, just so you know Sebastian, I didn't mix up the dates, and I know your birthday is on the 24th. So there!!

Happy Birthday Super Trooper!!

Dear Sebastian,

Wow, I can't believe that today you are 3 years old. It might not seem like a lot of years, but you are a true miracle. I remember the day you were born so well. We went to the ultrasound that morning, and of course, got the very scary news that you were super sick with fetal hydrops and if we wanted any chance at all of you making it, we needed to deliver you straight away. I was so scared for you that I didn't even have a chance to get nervous about the surgery I would undergo in order to get you out!!

We arrived at the hospital and you were born within a couple of hours at 1300hrs. You did not come out screaming the way parents typically expect. You needed to be intubated immediately. You were very tiny, weighing only 830grams (1lb 13oz). In case you are wondering just how small that is, it is less than 2 blocks of butter. And, by comparison, your brother was born weighing 8lbs 13oz. You were very sick. Almost instantly, they had you on all sorts of medications to control your blood pressure, your enlarged heart etc. That first weekend, you just kept getting sicker. They had to move you to the oscillating ventilator (seriously, that machine looked like it came straight from the 1950s!!). Next up they had to add nitric oxide, apparently a super expensive machine to operate. There was not much left they could do, and thankfully, you started to improve. Of course at one week old, you had a cold blue when your bowel perforated. That was another scary day. Luckily though, after the bowel perf, you started getting a lot better. And, 72 days after you were born, we finally got to take you home. Of course, two weeks later you were back in the hospital for ROP laser surgery on your eyes and to fix the hernia from the incision from the surgery for the bowel perf. And it was so scary again knowing you'd be intubated again. Luckily, you came through that good as well.

It has been such a treat to watch you grow and learn over the last three years. It took you a bit longer to do some things, but at three years old, you have caught up to wear you should be developmentally. We have enjoyed all the moments along the way. The first time you rolled over, stood up, crawled, walked and talked. I love reading stories with you now as you finish all the sentences in the books. You are so much fun to play with too!! Building trains, playing play-doh, reading books, drawing sidewalk chalk, playing in your playhouse, cuddling on the couch, getting hugs, making up stories, doing puzzles. You are fun to hang out with. I love your imagination. Every day you become more creative and interesting.

Thanks for being our little miracle. We never realized just how much of a miracle you were until this past year when we were questioned by so many doctors about you. Many of the doctors tried very delicately to ask about whether or not you made it. One even came right out and said "he didn't make it, did he?". So we know now, that you truly are a miracle. How you overcame all the hurdles that were in your path, I will never know, but I do know you had a lot of people on your side, hoping and praying for you.

Happy Birthday Super Trooper, and I look forward to what this next year has to offer. You are an incredible little boy, and I'm so proud of how far you have come. I am excited for what the future brings you!!

Love, Mom

They Might Be Giants

A very long time ago (like about 20 years ago, how scary is that!!), I was introduced to music by They Might Be Giants, in the form of the their album, Flood. I loved it instantly. They were quirky and fun and so different than almost any other music out there. I fell in love. I listened to it on a cassette tape. About ten years later, I upgraded to the cd. I loved every single song on the cd. My favourites were Istanbul and Particle Man, but seriously, I loved them all.

Recently, I was reintroduced to They Might Be Giants all over again. This time however, from my son's new favourite show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They sing the opening song and the Hot Dog song at the end of every episode. I should have known that such a great group would someday meld with Disney. Turns out they have a few kids offerings. I downloaded the 123s by They Might Be Giants and instantly fell in love all over again. The best song by far is Seven Days of the Week (I never go to work). Click on it to see the video, it's great. It is just hilarious and it makes Sebastian laugh now too. He is already learning the best songs (his other favourites are Paper Planes and Shut Up and Drive).

Watch them play

On the weekend, we watched a documentary all about how children these days just don't play like we did as kids, and the possible ramifications of that. It was quite interesting and it really made me think about just how paranoid we are as parents these days.

So today, I had a playdate (because that's what our children do now) and we went to the local rec centre and watched our kids play. We interacted with them too, don't get me wrong, but mostly, it's nice to see the kids playing without the need for an adult to intervene in their every move.

At one point, there was music playing from a cd player in the corner. And, it was a perfect example of kids being kids, they were dancing around and having fun. Soon, other kids would join and at one point about 15 kids were dancing and playing, including Sebastian. It was so fantastic to see him joining in what the other kids were doing and just loving it.

Childhood is such a precious time in our lives. Playing is special. It's something you can't just seem to do as an adult. I think we stand to learn a lot from kids and playtime.