Christmas presents

Gearing up for Christmas:  Some wrapped gifts arrived - one for D. and one for M.  I placed them under the tree as an experiment to see how long they would last.  The outcome:  about 6 seconds from D. seeing them.  He latched on and asked if he could open them immediately.  I told him we had to wait until Christmas.  His response:  "I can't wait that long."  Conclusive evidence in the experiment:  Patience of a 3-year old confirmed at 6 seconds.

Update:  He has now grabbed the present and announced he is going to "hold it until Christmas Day."  It is December 13.

Blink Dancing

D. announced "his eyes wanted to dance" while we were driving around last weekend.  I told him that was a good idea and asked him if I could watch.  He started blinking and rolling his eyeballs around.  He said it was blink dancing.

Crawling at 6 1/2 months

M. started crawling at 6 1/2 months.  Pretty good!  Except now he's a lot more work to track.

Rainbows

D. told me he had a rainbow in his belly button tonight.  Then POP! he fiddled around with his bellybutton and threw out the rainbow, then carried on watching TV as if nothing had happened - munching his hot-dogs with ketchup.  A nice moment, until he turned and kinda crawled up my right side using a ketchup-soaked hand to lean on me.  Finger prints of ketchup on my clean pants and shirt.  It all balances out.

Update:  While sitting on the potty (stalling for time before going to bed) he decides he wants his rainbow back from me so he can give it to Mummy.  Holds out his hand "Give me the rainbow daddy."  So I gave him the rainbow back (with a flourish of hand waving) and he turned and gave it to Mummy.

Wow, that was a wild ride

Where did the time go?  It is all just a blur, but here are a few highlights as far as I can remember:

Birth.  Went smoothly, except for the cord being wrapped around Mark's neck (again).  He would not have made it naturally.  It took forceps to get him out through a C-section....plus a suction device that left him with a red mark on his head that he still has today.
Sleeping.  We got him onto a schedule fairly early - keeping him awake during day as much as possible so he'd sleep more at night.  It worked.
New Daycare.  June rolled around and Damian landed in a new big boy daycare for ages 3-5.  He was supposed to be   accompanied each day for the first week.  Except on day #2 he tells Mummy:  Bye now!  He kicked her out so he could play with his new friends.  And that was it, no more transition pains - he just fit right in playing with the 5 year old kids.  He would be exhausted most days because he'd been trying to keep up with them while playing chasing games.
New Bugs.  We all got sick in May and June.  Then it hit Mark, hard.  V. took him to three different doctors over a week to have him double- and triple-checked.  Finally a doctor referred him to a paediatrician who in turn told her to go to emergency right away.  I got the call as I was about to step on a plane for a business trip....quickly ripping up the boarding pass and getting a cab directly to Children's Hospital.  After 12 hours we were released (after be partially segregated because they thought he had something very serious, having X-rays (in a cruel newborn rack contraption, blood tests and urine tests).  For the next week we had to catch urine samples mid-air before any further contamination - made for interesting times sitting around with sterile cups in hand waiting for the little guy to take a pee.
New Routine.  We borrowed a second crib and now put Damian in the crib when he's wired.  Quality chill-out time.  He likes it.  It seems to allow him to cool off and he feels safe there.  He hasn't climbed out yet, even though he could easily hop over the barrier.
King Size Bed.  Damian plunged into our room every night.  We finally gave in and picked up a massive bed. He's still joining us but at least we don't get kicked all morning.
Soothers.  We could not get away with giving them to Mark and not Damian.  Se we reverted to soothers with Damian on condition he can only have them in his room.  Each day after daycare he pops up to his room for a 5 minute soother session before anything else is done.
Typical Day:
- Valeria does night shift from midnight to 7am (normally up 2-3 times....sometimes more)
- I do late night feed then 7am feed and get rolling with Damian (milk, TV, more milk for Mark, drag him out if cranky and try to store him somewhere.....for abut 5 minutes per spot)
- finally get coffee and bagel
- V. up just as I sit and looks at me like I haven't done a thing al morning!
- I dress Damian, V. prepares his lunch for daycare
- I drive D. to daycare, V. handles M. all day long.
- I pick up D (before 4:30pm if possible)
- All home, if he's had a good/friendly day then he gets "spiky ice cream" (ice bream with nuts in chocolate)
- M. to bed at 7:05pm (practically every night - this little guy likes a schedule)
- V. prepares dinner
- Try to limit TV for D. (it is waaay tougher than I imagined)
- Maybe a walk to the park or bike ride around the block (found chestnuts tonight and played soccer with big kids - much happiness!)
- dinner, TV, brush teeth
- chaos (lots of that - insert that between every line above)
- stories, songs, chill-out (if tired)
- D. bounces downstairs 1-2 times per night to see what Mummy and Daddy are doing
- finally asleep
- crash, surf net and watch for signs of real estate meltdown, veg out
- V. goes to bed
- I do graveyard shifts until midnight waiting for M. to wake and get hungry.
- repeat.....for 4 months non-stop (so far)

I guess that explains the lack of blog posts.

Favourite quotes:
- After coming home from daycare and asking if he had been friendly (he only gets ice cream if he is friendly): "I don't remember things that don't get me ice cream."  Smart kid.
- Gravel:  Too gravelly.
- Sand box:  A bit too sandy.
- Carousell:  Too spinily.
- "Can you freeze my TV Mummy while I go for a quick paint."  He then proceeds to go to kitchen and start painting on his easel.  Then returned for more TV.

Favourite TV shows:
- started with "In the Night Garden" (Iggle Piggle, is favourite Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka (Daddy's favourite) and their friends.
- moved to Waylulus (strange flying creatures with big eyes and big heads).  Loves the trumpet show.  He also like to do yoga at the start and end of each show with these little Waybulus.
- Little Bear
- Franklin
- Bob the Builder (non-stop....I had to get the UK version 'cause the American accent version was driving me nuts)
- Mighty Machines (the lot - construction sites, demolition, gravel pits, more construction, more demolition, fir station, rail tracks, clearing snow, garbage trucks, more construction, more demolition, boats) x 100
- Caiou x 100
- Beauty and the Beast - Disney classic movie from early 1990s.  He really likes it for some reason.
- Madagascar (or as he calls it, "I like to move it, move it")

Getting Close to Launch

V. had severe contractions last night from midnight til about 3am.  At one point we were up and packed the bags to go to the hospital - shaved, washed and getting ready to go with camera and everything else needed.  We thougght we'd wait for one more contraction which was delayed so we waited some more....then fell asleep.  A panic we didn't need, but such is life in the home stretch.  At least the bags are now packed and we have Mimi and Papi to help if needed (althoug at 3am last night I think they were hiding instead of getting up....wisely).

What time is it? "Clock 30!"

A new expression that ranks just as good as Eleventeen (which he still says....we enjoy it so much we don't correct him).

"In the crib, Daddy!"

D. kicked me all night, then dragged V. out of bed while turning to me to say "stay in bed Daddy, 2 minutes, otherwise you go in the crib!"


This little guy likes to have Mummy to himself in the morning.

Since we threaten to put him into the crib to settle him down before going to bed, I guess it is a threat he respects....

More Catch-Up

Still playing some catch-up due to severe case of nesting by V. for baby 2.0. I've never been so ready for anything. For example we already have:
- tiny newborn baby diapers
- formula (a few brands just in case)
- second change table set-up (fully equipped with stuff and diaper Genie etc.)
- stroller with skateboard for D.
- room ready, bed
- soothers

So, now that everything appears under control, time to catch-up on what D. has been saying:
- when driving in with a view of snow-covered mountains: "Daddy needs to clear the snow from the mountains."
- "Two more minutes" for every request
- constant Diego demands
- Playing doctor and giving Mummy and Daddy a check-up with his mini doctor's kit (temperature, heart rate (bum-bump, bum-bump), knee hammer for reaction, checking ears - al the things the doctor does when checking for a cold)
- During checking Daddy's ears: "Daddy has squirrels in his head."

In other events:
- sleeping cozy in his new Big Boy bed - nice large quilt to keep him warm

Catching Up After The Move

It's been a long time since last post. We moved Jan. 22 and have been settling in ever since (including all getting sick and V. getting bronchitis twice!).

Recent updates:

1. My favourite new number: nine, ten, twelve, thirteen, ELEVENTEEN!

2. D. is starting to enjoy daycare again. Today: V. getting kicked out by him as she dropped him off with him saying "I already said bye bye".....three times.

3. D. now loves underwear even though he forgets to go potty. So we have to put his underwear over his diaper.....when he goes to daycare and also when he goes to bed. This week he wanted to hold underwear after I changed him at night - he wouldn't let them go! It helps that they have a picture of an excavator on the front.

The rest has been a blur. Some ups and downs as a result of an exhausting move, but the new place feels great and has lots of room for us to relax and chill. Just in time for #2.

Morning Wake Up Serenade

Today's wake-up call was as follows:

1.  Yelling from his bed until he could come in our bed.
2.  Kicking (and scratching) once in our bed to wake us up.  Pretending to be asleep of course while he was doing it.  We kicked him out.
3.  Musical box music (retrieved from his bedroom).  I'm regretting showing him how to wind up that thing.
4.  Xylophone tapping beside the bed - lots of that.
5.  The winner:  Blowing one of his whistles - loud.  Followed by playing drums on the foot of the bedframe with the whistle.  Why did we get him a whistle set for Christmas?

A one-man band in the morning.  Or one-man wrecking machine of sleep....

Belly button update

He tells us he keeps the moon in his belly button to keep it warm.  He "keeps it nice and warm in there" as he lifts up his t-shirt to show.