Hippie to the Core

DISCLAIMER: This post is in no means meant to be insulting to hippies. It is meant to be comical. Besides, I like you people. I've even been called a hippie a few times myself.

On Sunday I took Miss A to our local Folk Festival. Once upon a time long, long ago when I was about eighteen I sat on a blanket at the Folk Festival and thought 'One day, when I have a child, I want to bring them here.' Little did I know I would give birth to a hippie. She loves to be shoe less, naked and play in the dirt. And so my dream was finally fulfilled. Unfortunately, it was 36 degrees outside that day. I loaded us up with sunscreen and packed my bag with drinks for us and we went on our merry way.

It was $20 for admission which I felt was rather steep considering that we would only be staying for around 3 hours. I let it go knowing what a good time she would have. We headed directly to the kids tent where a very nice lady was singing and playing her guitar. Miss A wanted out of the stroller and immediately proceeded to take off her sandals. She then went right up on stage. Before I grabbed her I quickly got the nod that that was okay. So she stood up there and danced. And when the song was over everyone clapped and her face lit up as though she thought they were applauding her. She also clapped for herself.






There was another group that played and several of the kids went up on stage and danced. The only problem was that they also had scheduled dancers and when they were on stage I had to keep A off. She didn't like this one bit. Obviously, SHE was the best dancer and should not be keep off the stage. There was also an enormous sand pile that she could go and play in when she wasn't permitted to be on stage.







Over all we had a lot of fun. I can imagine how much more she would enjoy it next year and hopefully we could make it more worthwhile by staying a bit longer.

First Haircut

Because I'm a hairstylist I admit to being a bit crazy about A's hair. I mean, I was thrilled when I saw her for the very first time and she had a head full of dark hair. I was in denial when it began falling out and ever since then I've pretty much been waiting for it to grow. But it's a slow process. I have watched it grow a bit and get really curly, which I love. I have watched the back get longer and longer and her hairstyle look more and more like a mullet. I have been waiting for the opportunity to give her a real haircut, but there seemed to be nothing to cut.

Lately the long part in the back had started to become annoying. It was getting in the way of zippers and tying her bib up. I decided it was time. Time for the first haircut. Before her bath I buckled her into her booster, sat her in front of 'Elmo's World' and got to work. She was totally oblivious to my spraying water on her head, combing and cutting. So much better than I thought she'd be. I think all toddlers should have their hair cut while watching 'Elmo's World'.

I basically cut off all the long straggly hairs that weren't uniform with the rest. And I cut off about an inch of the long stuff in the back. The end result was a cute little afro pixie cut. This morning when she woke up it had straightened out a lot and I thought she looked a bit boyish and I was having regrets. But after spraying it with some water again and looking at her all day I really like it. I'm hoping now that it is even it will grow even better and more quickly. But I really have my doubts that I'll have to cut it again any time soon. Perhaps before she graduates from highschool...

She Strikes Again

Kristen aka The Shoe Addict beat everyone to the punch this week identifying 'Youngblood'.



I admit this surprised me a bit because I fully intended one of the two guys that reads this blog (or at least drop by on Fridays to play the game) to win. You know, cause it's about hockey. And guys like hockey. But girls. We like cute boys. And in the 80's Rob Lowe was pretty much as cute as they came. And then there's Patrick Swayze. Although I must admit as long as Patrick is not dancing, I find Rob much more attractive.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

The Big Fugr beat everyone last week when it seemed I had stumped most of you. I was surprised by that, actually. Hey man, post something already!!



Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!




“Don't take any shit from them Canucks. To them, you're just another wetback, crossing the border to play their game.”

YouTubesday

A song which is appropriate for the weather here. I thought this was an interesting combination of songs...

Still a Baby, Yet Also a Girl

My girl she is a growin' up. She is in this weird phase right now between baby/toddler and little girl.

We are still breastfeeding a tiny bit. And given her age and how smart she is I am amazed that she's never asked for it or tried lifting up my shirt or anything like that. What she does do however is tell me when “It's all gone.” She'll stop nursing and lift her hands up almost into a shrug and exclaim “It's all gone.” and then we switch sides. She'll do the same on the other side. The first time she did it I thought she was playing but she's deadly serious. I think it's the funniest and cutest thing.

We have been gradually working on the potty training thing. She doesn't ask to go but if I ask her if she has to go she'll enthusiastically run to the potty. And regardless of whether or not she actually goes she flushes the toilet, waves and says “Bye, bye poo!”

When we are changing her diaper now she'll ask “Is it a poo?” and if it's not she'll say “Just pee.” She is totally mimicking me because I think I have always said that while changing her diaper since she was born.

It's so funny what they learn and what they are paying attention to. It makes me a little nervous actually. I never know what she's going to say next!

My Yard Sucks, but it can still be fun

Our yard is a mess. We cut down some trees weeks ago and don't have a truck to get rid of them. My garden is only growing weeds this year because I didn't bother planting vegetables until the trees were cut down and it could get some decent sun. Our shed is ugly and we want to replace it but it's all we got so for now, it stays.




I've been avoiding the back yard as much as possible. I've been focusing on my front flowerbed and the flowerbed along the side of the house. They are pretty and make me feel happy.





Unfortunately the back yard could be avoided no longer since the play structure was built. The kid, she wants to play. And it's been so ridiculously hot here that I set A's pool up (on the garden of weeds) and filled it up. My girl, she loves the water. On Sunday I set up my lounger with the funky 70's flower pattern and sat in my ugly (but has potential) yard reading and watching my daughter splash in the pool or play on the slide.





I have to say, it wasn't so bad. I dream of having a gorgeous backyard. A backyard oasis if you will. And it will happen, one day. We're working on it.

Weekend Project

Peter and my brother built a play structure on Saturday. It was a sweltering hot day which was unfortunate since it was a planned activity. Consequently Peter had a terrible cold and was hacking up horrible globs of phlegm. (Sorry for the graphic description) So really, kudos to him for going out there and doing anything at all.

The pictures tell the story best.











In my opinion, despite the hassle it was to build, Miss A's enjoyment of it even thus far has already made it all worthwhile.

Win, Win, Win!

This is a pretty messed up movie. But one I don't think I'll ever forget.

The Big Fugr hasn't won for a while and if a silly game like this can cheer anyone up I hope it does him.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Bon did it again last week! She knows her 80's movies that's for sure!




Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!



“My parents wanted to move me into high school out of the sixth grade, but we decided to chuck the idea because I'd have trouble making friends, blah, blah, blah. Now blah, blah, blah is all I ever do. I use my grand IQ to decide what color lip gloss to wear in the morning and how to hit three keggers before curfew..."

YouTubesday

This song holds a special place in my heart. And in case you're not familiar with the Pixies the fact that they just hold their mouths open instead of actually singing the words is their idea of a joke.

She Speaks!

We have moved on to sentences around here. Most of them start with “I want” and end in a variety of ways. For instance:

“I want DOWN!”
“I want Up!”
“I want juice!”
“I want bottle!” (b pronounced like a p)
“I want food.” (pronounced a bit like fuud)

But some other cute things she's been saying are “Again?” after every game we play or song we sing. And then I say “Again?” and she says “Okay!” The “Yee Haw!” thing I mentioned yesterday, she says this whenever she sees a horse or rides piggy back or now, when she's on the bike. She also says “What happened?” when she drops something on the floor or when 'something happens'. She also randomly says “Oh, Hi Mommy!” as though she just noticed I was there.



She also knows opposites really well. Down came first. Then we spent some time on the teeter totter saying “Up, Down, Up, Down” and she learned Up as well. I also give Elmo credit for that one. She learned Hot pretty quickly. Not she always says “Hot” when I give her a warm meal or when we get into the car. I'm not sure when and how she picked up Cold but she knows that one too. When I give her yogurt popsicles she'll say “Cold”. She also says it when we walk into the shade or when the wind picks up. The most comical one lately is “Push”. It is always said with an exclamation point at the end. She will say this whenever she's trying to get doors open, the fridge open or when dressing or undressing her babies. Lately she has started to say Pull as well. But “PUSH!” is still my favorite. I send my midwife a message the other day saying that perhaps Miss A would go into the midwifery profession as I often heard her say “Push! PUSH! All done.”

I also measured her height yesterday. She is measuring 34 ½ inches tall. After consulting the growth charts I see that she is indeed in the highest percentiles. It's weird Peter feels slightly saddened by this since he found being tall to be uncomfortable when growing up. I myself always wished I'd been taller. For her sake I just hope it serves her well in some way in whatever activities she chooses. I guess the career of jockey will likely be out of the question for her.



She continues to have no fear on the playground. She climbs almost anything without a moments hesitation. The other day we had to prevent her from following a ten year old boy who slid down a pole. She was convinced she could do the same. I hope she always has that attitude in life. “If he can do it, so can I!” For right now it's a little difficult to explain why that's not always the case.

The temper is as bad as ever although the tantrums seemed to have eased. Or I'm getting used to them or better at avoiding them. I referred to myself as a storm watcher the other day in regards to her and her anger being like the weather. I use that analogy a lot actually because I also have this theory that I treat her tantrums the way you treat a very bad storm. Take cover and wait for it to blow over. There is no stopping that kind of storm. And it's futile to get in it's way. It's probably something she just has to do every now and then to relieve the frustration that builds up inside of her. Whatever. It seems to work for us.

Summer Fun

It must be summer, I'm getting really slack with blogging.

We recently made a great purchase. It's called a WeeRide. Great name which can be interpreted one of two ways.

One - The child is 'Wee' and gets to go for a ride.
Two - The ride is fun and the child goes “WEE!”

Miss A prefers to say “Yee Haw!” instead of “Wee!” but whatever. Last night was only the second ride we've gone on and the first was just her and I. Last night we went on a family ride. It was so much fun.




I have been missing bike riding and knew that we couldn't afford a fancy pants chariot type thingy so I thought we were out of luck. But when we went to my niece's grad in another province I saw a guy and his kid using this WeeRide thing. When we got home I called a cycling store to ask about it and they directed me to Canadian Tire. So off I went and for what I thought was a very modest and reasonable amount we can now go riding as a family.

Now all we need is more time together to actually go riding!

Yeah Bon!

Bon does it again!!

We just bought this movie at Walmart today.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Last week Kristen won for the first time! Maybe she'll make a repeat performance today.



Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!



"When I was 19, I did a guy in Laos with a rifle shot at a thousand yards in high wind. Maybe eight or even ten guys in the world could have made that shot. It's the only thing I was ever good at... Well, see you tomorrow."

YouTubesday

I have no idea how this show ever made it on television. But I'm certainly glad that it did.

These are two of the most attractive people in the world.

Poor Horse

I know this is a beaten, dead, rotting horse BUT...

Yesterday I took a meal to a family from our church who just had a baby. It's something I have enjoyed doing since meals were brought to me after I had A. Before that I was oblivious to what an act of kindness that was. Anyway. When I brought the meal in the mom was bright eyed and looked happy. The father was sitting on the couch holding baby who was all wide eyed and wiggly. The big brother looked on quietly. I was pretty sure just by being with them for a short while that they were doing okay. And that made me happy.

Then as I drove away I started feeling sad. Whenever I see anyone with a new baby it usually brings back all the emotion from when I first had Baby A. And if they seem to be doing well, although I'm glad, I always start to feel guilty about how messed up I was.

A friend lent me the book 'Down Came the Rain' by Brooke Shields. It has been really good to read it. I see so many similarities in the way we felt after having our babies. Mind you I couldn't afford to hire baby nurses or someone to come in and clean my house once a week and I think that would have helped me out significantly. Mostly what I have found as I've been reading the book is that I have accepted the fact that I had postpartum depression. I accepted it a long time ago but I don't think I really realized the severity until I started reading that book. I have also accepted that it was an affliction that I suffered with and that it had NOTHING to do with my ability as a mother and that I wasn't a bad person. Those things are difficult to forgive yourself for.

I do feel some comfort though. When I think about a future baby (who is not yet on the way) I remind myself how much wiser I am this time around. Although there is no guarantee that I'll have postpartum again if I do I will recognize it and get help instead of trying to tough it out while everyone around me suffers. I still worry about it. I hated feeling that way. What if nothing helps? I'm terrified to feel that way again. I'm also afraid of drugs. But I'd be willing to try them if they provided relief.

Anyway, I wonder if these emotions will always arise in me whenever I am around new mothers? I hope that they fade once I have another child and put these times behind me. Not that I'm wishing my life away or anything. I'm just tired of feeling this way.

What's New?

I realize that I haven't given many updates about Miss A lately. Other than to reiterate what a handful she is. Let me tell you some of the cute and fabulous things she is doing these days.

In the morning after we have our snack and cuddle I ask her if she wants to go get the kitty. She excitedly climbs off the bed and stands at the basement door so we can go down and let him out of his room. (In case any of you are wondering why our cat sleeps in a room in the basement it is for the good of everyone. This way he does not disturb anyone's sleep and he gets to keep living.) Anyway, we go downstairs and she says “Kitty! Kitty!” and when we let him out she follows him up the stairs again, chatting in her own language.

At the end of an episode of 'The Big Comfy Couch' they say “And the Cow jumps over the Moon!” and she always says “MOON!” at that part. And then they have a logo for the production company which is called 'Radical Sheep' and there is a “Baaa!” noise to accompany it. A always does the “Baaa!” as well. It took me a while to figure out what she was doing. Then I felt guilty that she knows the show so well that she can do that. Then I forgave myself because it's a good show and she loves it.

She loves shoes. She can put almost all of her shoes on herself and she almost always puts them on the right feet without any help. She often puts on several different pairs in a row, as though she's trying to choose the right pair to go with her outfit. If I tell her certain ones to wear she usually knows which ones I'm talking about. She also enjoys wearing other peoples shoes. Especially flip flops. She doesn't have any of her own and I never had to show her how they fit between your toes, she just figured it out. She walks around in my flip flops and they look like snow shoes. She is surprisingly graceful in them too. When we walk in a shoe store she exclaims “SHOES!” almost before we're through the door.

She also likes hats. I have about three hats that sit on a shelf near the front door. She often gets them down and brings them to me. She'll wear one and hands one to me to wear. Then we switch. This game can go on for some time.

At bed time we rock in a chair in her room. She likes to have several stuffed animals on her lap at once. Then after a while she'll say “Bye” to each of them and toss them on the floor.

Family Reunion/Barbecue/Awfulness

So we had this family thing yesterday. And it was whack, yo. A cousin of mine was in town and another cousin hosted a BBQ so all family in the area (most of us are in the area) could see him. Never mind the fact that I'm not really close to this cousin or any of my cousins for that matter. But you know, whatever.

Whenever we have to go anywhere that we've never been before I always give myself a pep talk. Actually Peter and I give each other a pep talk. It goes something like this...

“Okay. The next two hours are pretty much going to suck. We'll take turns constantly following Monkey A around trying to keep her from:

a) Breaking anything
b) Climbing everything
c)Hurting herself (badly)

We can do this! Go Team!”

And I can honestly say we rarely worry for nothing. And today was no exception. Some of the highlights of the afternoon/evening:

-Trying to keep A from getting hit by some sort of golf ball sling shot type contraption that was part of a game akin to 'Horseshoes'.

-Trying to keep A from climbing in to the pond as though it was a pool.

-Trying to keep A from escaping out of the yard when the fence was left open.

-Worrying about A falling down a few cement stairs that she was fascinated with climbing repeatedly.

-Trying to get A to eat when there were SO many cooler things she could be doing mom, sheesh.

I think you get the idea. The worst part is that everyone tries to convince me that she is just an average normal (almost) 2 year old. Come on people! What kind of a moron do you think I am? I wasn't born yesterday. I've been around 2 year olds plenty. I happen to know for a fact that my kid is way more psycho than most. She does things that most kids don't even think of. She is constantly finding new ways to get into trouble. And... she. never. stops. So quit trying to tell me it's her age, she's fine, don't worry about it... I don't see YOU running around after her. That's my job.

I don't mean to complain. I love my A. I do. She's sweet, her personality is out of this world and she is going to grow up to be the most incredible woman. But man, does she tire a person out. We always leave that sort of function feeling totally drained and usually a bit depressed. We often vow to never agree to attend something like that again with Miss A in tow. But we never seem to stick to the rules we make up for ourselves.

Good Job!

It's time for a celebration! We had a first time winner of Say WHAT? this week. Kristen from Diary of a Shoe Addict!



Way to go Kristen!

I loved the movie 'Loverboy'. It has pizza and a young Dempsey. How could you go wrong? Unfortunately I could not find any YouTube videos from it. So I'm posting a video Patrick Dempsey on Ellen. He laughs a lot during the interview. It's endearing.

Say WHAT?

It's Friday again and that means it's time for Say WHAT? The AMAZING 80's quote trivia game. In case you haven't played before, here is the down low – At the bottom of this post you will find a quote from an 80's movie. If you choose to play you must, without using the internet as a resource, guess which 80's movie the quote has been taken from. But here is where the rules have changed. If by Sunday we still don't have a winner anyone may go ahead and Google away. The first person to give the correct movie wins! Fun, huh? Leave your guesses in the comments section and if you are the first to correctly identify the quote, you win! I announce the winner on Sunday and that winner receives acknowledgment, linkage and if they have a profile picture I post that also. I recap the winner every Friday and include all of the aforementioned information. And hey, even if you don't know the answer just give me a shout out. I like to know who's stopped by!

Bon is still winning 90% of the time so good luck to the rest of you.



Time for today's quote. Don't forget to come back on Sunday (or maybe Monday if I'm lazy) to see if you are a winner. Have fun and good luck!




"Your stud days are over, pretty boy!"

YouTubesday

The older sister of the graduate is marrying this guy in December. Yeah, I know. He is ridiculously great. But so is she and thus,they are both very lucky people.

Happy Trails

Happy 4th of July to all my American friends out there.

We traveled safely to and from my niece's graduation. A six hour drive each way. How did Miss A do? Peter put it best I think when he said “I give her an E for Effort.” Translation: She did as well she was able to. Not bad really. She slept just one hour on the trip there. We stopped for lunch and a jaunt in a playground. She was not overly impressed to get back in the car. I was prepared with snacks, toys, puzzles. We sang to her. We survived. These are photos taken on the way there right when we were getting out of the car for lunch. As you can see she was thrilled at the idea of exiting the vehicle.






Her vocabulary has recently started to explode. She started saying so many new things during our trip and time away. An actual sentence which was motivated by the trip was “I want DOWN!”. Impressive but sadly not a request we were able to grant. She had only started saying “I want...” a few days before we left. I found that frustrating because she couldn't finish the sentence, it was just “I want!” accompanied by reaching and grunting. Then the guessing game begins.

My sister and her family were happy to see us and I think A won them over with her exuberant personality and big beautiful smiles. So much so that even when she threw her colossal temper tantrums as she is prone to do, they understood. Peter and I both managed to have a pretty great time visiting, watching Mission Impossible II and playing Karaoke Revolution with my niece and nephew. We had some delicious food and great conversation.

Miss A slept awesome 2 out of the 3 nights. The second night was particularly awful. Getting up at 3 and staying up until basically 10:30 in the am. Don't ask me how that day was not a total write off for me. I think the months of sleepless nights when she was first born have trained me to simply brush off the occasional one.

The drive home was similar to the drive there. Our sense of direction was off though and we went the wrong way and back tracked twice! A slept longer and we had a really good time at the playground we discovered. This one was right beside a public swimming pool and she often would hold on to the fence and gaze lovingly at the water. She is so much like me.

It was so nice to be home and have an extra day to just settle in and hang out. Overall it was a miraculously good time.

Here is me and the graduate.