26 December 2010

More fun with gum

Day two of Christmas festivities and the “gum bucket” is proving to be one of Drew’s favourite things. This morning, as I was sitting down to pay some bills (a horrible task at this time of year), Drew managed to grab the bucket of gum off of my desk. He remained occupied for all of five minutes until he impressively managed to pop the lid off the bucket, showering the room with 60 piece of chokable sugary goodness. Hubby and I pounced on him as he attempted to put the gum in his mouth, eyes bulging in excitement. I love it when days start off like this…

After washing and tidying away all the loot we acquired yesterday, we went off to enjoy our second family dinner with my in-laws. Once again, we were spoiled rotten. Andrew received a classic Radio Flyer wooden/metal sled that can transition into a wagon in the summer…complete with personalized license plate. I can’t wait to put Andrew in it for his first ride! Thankfully, Drew was a bit better tonight with opening gifts – no freak outs and he even managed to tear a corner of wrapping paper himself.

With a roast in my belly, not to mention a dozen or so candies and sweets, I am looking forward to starting a new exercise and detox regime tomorrow. It was a fantastic Christmas, if not a bit hedonistic, but I’m looking forward to relaxing now and giving both my stomach and liver a much-needed break.

25 December 2010

Merry Christmas 2010

There is nothing like a child to rekindle the joy and excitement of Christmas.

This morning hubby and I woke up, had our traditional Mimosas, brewed some coffee and got set to “play up” Santa’s big visit. Even though Drew has no real concept of Christmas, we figured we would indoctrinate him early by going through all the habitual motions that we remember from our own childhood. Last night we made a rather large fuss over leaving milk and cookies by the fireplace while Andrew looked at us as though we were off our rockers. This morning we made a big show of the fact that Santa had enjoyed his little snack – Santa even left a small dribble of milk and a few cookie crumbs to add further punch to our story. I know it seems a bit excessive for a 1-year old but we want to sow the seed as early as possible.

Sadly, Andrew derived little joy from opening presents due the fact that he suddenly adopted a large fear of wrapping paper. Instead, hubby and I had to open gifts for him while he cowered behind us. Thankfully, we went a little lean of presents this year, knowing full-well that he wouldn’t really “get it.” Despite the cool things that Santa left for him, he had more fun running around the house shaking a bucket of gum that his mother got in her stocking. It went something like this…

Reading chair – meh.
Penguin punching bag – meh
Thomas the Train reading book – meh
Thomas DVD and Zoo DVD – meh and meh
Bucket of gum – OH MY GOD, BEST THING EVER!

Truth be told, gift opening was a bit of a gong show. It was much more difficult than last year, when we could simply strap Drew into a bouncy chair and not have to chase him around the house, trying to pry the gum bucket from his hands as well as a pair of metal BBQ tongs that he managed to snag from the kitchen. Exhausting as it was, we wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Feeling a bit worse for wear (Mimosas don’t help at 7 AM), we put Drew down for a blissful three-hour nap and managed to have some downtime in front of the TV during the afternoon. Our evening was spent at my parents’ house for the big turkey dinner. Rinse and repeat the same gift opening scenario as the morning. Hubby held down a bucking, howling child as I tore through the gifts with reckless abandon. It was truly magical.

Replete with turkey, sugar and holiday cheer, our little family of three is ready for bed! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

24 December 2010

OMG SANTA!!!!

It’s Christmas Eve and I find myself taking a trip down memory lane, as is prone to happen after too many glasses of spiked eggnog.

As a young girl, December 24th was always a pivotal day in my yearly calendar. Much to my poor parents’ chagrin, I was one of those children that got themselves so worked up over Santa that I would (a) almost wet myself (b) bounce off the walls and (c) exhaust the entire house with my excitement. I can still recall those days with absolute clarity – the butterflies flapping incessantly in my tummy, the sugar-high from too many cookies, and a sleepless night spent listening for any little noise indicating Santa’s arrival. I would lay trembling and unblinking in my bed, eyes trained on my bedroom door and heart beating a mile per minute. Meanwhile, my poor parents were creeping around the house knowing full well that I was listening to their every move and fervently hoping that that I would heed their warnings, “If you try to peek at Santa, he’ll go back up the chimney and take all your presents with him.”

Of course, my family never really helped in curtailing my excitement. On the way back from Christmas Eve mass, my father would always turn on the radio so that we could hear the NORAD Santa-tracking report. In all my childhood innocence, I took those reports very seriously. I would have believed anything Mom and Dad told me, but add on NORAD and there was no debate.

Other things I took very seriously – selecting cookies for Santa. I never questioned why my parents would always steer me in the direction of double chocolate chip. I’m sure they would have preferred wine to a warm glass of soured milk but, like all parents, they did all they could to protect my naivety .

Before heading to bed (note I did not mention anything about sleeping), Christmas Eve often culminated in a dubious re-enactment of “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” which my brother and I painstakingly acted out with a Fisher Price doll house and an assortment of little Leggo people. God bless my parents for sitting through the entire production with a straight face.

As I look at my own son I cannot even begin to fathom what sort of little surprises or holidays traditions he will concoct for our family. At only fourteen months, I am starting to see little glimmers of recognition and excitement. He marvels at the tree and loves to touch all the decorations we have strewn about the house. If there is anything more exciting than being a child at Christmas, it’s watching your own child get to experience everything. I may not lose sleep over Santa anymore, instead I’ll lie awake in anticipation of watching my little boy’s face as he tears through the presents and gets to spend time with all his family.

These are the golden moments, the ones that make us understand why we decided to travel down this crazy road called parenthood. It’s joy, plain and simple.

23 December 2010

It's ALIVE!!!!!


Worst. Blogger. Ever. I try to post, honestly I do.

I have lost count of the number of times I have tried to sit down to bang out a stellar update, only to walk away in utter frustration. I want to write and yet I seem incapable of even completing a single thought. In short, I’ve been too damn frazzled to blog these days.

The transition from stay-at-home to career Mom has been nothing short of exhausting. With the new job came an increased workload and a considerable deal of stress. I looked in the mirror this week and could deny the effects no longer, my hair is going grey! I’m not sure that I would ever recommend starting a new career direction directly upon return from maternity leave; it was a shock to the system. Only now, two months later, I am finally starting to feel as though I am swimming more than sinking. Tomorrow marks my first day of Christmas vacation, a blissful 11-day hiatus from craziness, and I am eagerly counting down the minutes;

Work fun aside, life has been good. Drew is such a happy little fellow. He is still sleeping like a champ and, horrific inherited temper aside, he’s a very loving and funny little boy. He started walking/ running in November and hasn’t looked back since. While the sudden change in mobility did bring about a certain degree of unwariness (for huuby and I), and a good deal of bumps and bruises (for Andrew), we enjoy chasing Drew around the house. We are entering that stage where family outings become a little more interesting and hands-on.; the world is a much friendlier place when you’re upright! Everywhere we go, Drew wants to happily stumble around like a little drunkard, basking in glow of appreciation and pride in his newfound talent. The only problem – he NEVER sits...NEVER.

That’s all I’ve got for now folks. Rather than attempting to recap the past two months, I’ll simply leave you with a few gratuitous “Mommy pride” photos. I regret that I did not do a big post-mortem on Halloween but I fear that I am still recovering from all the work we put into the house this year – truly the talk of the neighbourhood. Christmas, while slightly less obscene, also renders a good deal of decorating around the house. Here’s hoping Andrew grows into a holiday lover!




Family photo shoot, 2 days shy of Drew's 1st B-Day

My little man at his 1st Birthday party

Puzzled Dragon on Halloween - he went to 5 houses

Animated talking heads in the window

Busted! Came home to Mimi feeding him chocolate.

Meeting Santa for the 1st time - he was awesome.