Friday, December 28, 2012

Final Electrics

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Over Christmas and the New Year we had a big push to get projects done around the house. The big goal was to complete the kitchen project. There were several items that have been on the to do list for a while. I have been avoiding this last electrical task because I knew it would be time consuming. Well it had to get done. The task was to reduce this set of switches from a 5 gang to a 4 gang. The complicated part is that there are 8 circuits entering the box, two of the switches are three way switches, and nothing had been grounded when they were first installed. The old metal junction box also had to be ripped out and replaced with a new plastic box. The entire project took about 5 hours, including patching the wall. I was glad to check that one off the list



Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Rowan's First Christmas

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Rowan was up bright and early on Christmas morning, and was pretty happy with himself. It was snowing outside and he was wearing his cosy pajamas that aunty Kyra had bought for him.
The living room was full of presents, and yes, most of them had Rowan's name on them.
 
First he tried out his new rocking horse from Grandma and Grandpa

 

Amongst many other great presents, Rowan got a brand new swing. We might need to wait until the weather warms up before we can use this.
The quad bike was pretty exciting. He had to wait for daddy to do some quick assembly, but then he was off for a quick spin around the house.



There were a few Star Wars themed presents from uncle Steve and aunty Caitlin. Here, Rowan is learning his Star Wars ABCs. B is for Boba Fett.
Also on the Star Wars theme, here's his tauntaun hobby horse, or hobby tauntaun I suppose.
Rowan has been a lucky boy on his first Christmas. After all the excitement, he took a long nap to build up his energy to cause some more havoc in the evening.

Friday, December 21, 2012

I Hate You, Santa!

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Rowan and I were at the mall today when we happened to walk past the "Photos with Santa" area.  There was Father Christmas just sitting in his big old chair looking bored with not a single child waiting for a photo.  I walked Rowan around the enclosure in his buggy so he could see the decorations and such.  I had absolutely no intention at first of getting the wee man's picture taken with Santa.  But as we watched Santa just sitting there I figured it may be the only chance we ever get to just walk up and not have to wait in a crazy line.  I also thought it would be a good photo for the record book - we may end up making it a tradition to get the annual photo with Santa so may as well start now, right?  I can only hope that the Santa photo turns out this well every year. 


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Advent Update

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Sorry it has taken me so long to update on the Advent presents.  I don't know how any of you have been able to sleep at night not knowing what was in all those little parcels!  I'll spare you the excuses for the delay and get right to it, so that you might be able to finally rest your weary eyes tonight.

Dec 10: Elf bib!  As you can see, Rowan was pretty excited about it.
 Dec 11: Elf shirt for Sophie.  She was decidedly LESS excited about her gift.
 Dec 12: Snow spray.  Of course I had to try this one out right away.
 Dec 13: Hello Kitty mini puzzle.  Because although I am a wee granny with my puzzles, I have a strange obsession with Hello Kitty.
 Dec 14: Pirouline wafers.  These were really tasty.  So tasty, in fact, that I think Rodney ate all but one or two of them.  Indian giver.  ;)
 Dec 15: Fuzzy cell phone pouch.  Because you don't want your cell phone getting cold.

 Dec 16: Christmas themed Rubik's cube.  Haven't had the nerve to jumble it up yet for fear I'll never get it sorted again!
 Dec 17: Chocolates.  Don't worry, I made sure I polished these off before Rodney had a chance!
Dec 18: Cozy socks with traction on the sole because I am clumsy these days.
Dec 19: Wind up penguin

Dec 20: Cinnamon Spice candle. 
 Candle is lit, fire is burning, wee sherry is poured.  'Tis the season, indeed. :)

Friday, December 14, 2012

Baby Scientist

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Since Rowan is so advanced, I thought I'd start the college hunt early and took him over to my alma mater to start the application process.  No, just kidding.  We went over to Yale so that Rowan could participate in another study at the Infant Cognition Lab.  They are always looking for volunteers to participate in studies about infant development and we didn't have any other plans.

I took the wee man last month and he seemed to have fun.  First they showed Rowan two toys and had him "choose" which one he liked better.  Then they did a puppet show where one of the puppets liked the same toy as he picked and the other puppet liked a different toy. At the end, he had to choose which puppet he liked.  Their research has shown that babies tend to choose the puppet that liked the same toy they do.  It's funny how this preference for those who are similar to us starts so early in life.  Of course, when it came time for Rowan to choose the puppet he preferred, I had already forgotten which one was the one that liked his toy so I don't know if he picked the "right" one or not!

This month the study was about overcoming obstacles.  Again, another puppet show.  This time the puppets were trying to get a toy out of a box.  One puppet opened the box and got the toy.  The other puppet couldn't get the toy because there was big pile of heavy books on top of the box.  I guess the theory is that kids would choose the puppet that was successful (i.e. got the toy).  This time I made sure I remembered which puppet was which and at the end Rowan actually picked the one who couldn't get the toy.  I figured this was because, while he does value success, he was sympathetic to the plight of the puppet struggling with the books and he was rooting for the underdog.  Such a sensitive little boy.  ;)

Anyway, the best part is that they give you little gifts for volunteering your time.  Last month, we got a t-shirt and this time we got a bib.  Oh, and certificates.  The first of many certificates for great accomplishments, I'm sure.

Let me just crunch some numbers here...
This is how much college will cost by the time Rowan is old enough.  Better start saving your pocket money, Rowan.
I went to Yale.  I'm wicked smaht.
A photo of the certificate itself, as trying to take one with Rowan holding it (and not eating it) was about as easy as catching water in a sieve.



Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Asleep on the Job

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Rowan has been working so hard in his office that he just couldn't keep his eyes open any more.  Nothing worse than getting caught sleeping on the job.  How embarrassing!

Monday, December 10, 2012

All by Myself

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Rowan likes to spend time crawling around the carpet, opening and closing all the drawers he can find. That's why all our drawers have cloth diapers hanging out of them - to prevent pinched fingers. Well, for a few seconds it was suspiciously quiet - no shuffling around and no drawers sliding. I looked over, and the wee man was standing there, quite pleased that he'd managed to stand up all by himself. He stood there just looking around for a little while before toppling over. Baby gates and more furniture safety measures will be needed.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Twinkle Twinkle

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 The house is all sorts of twinkly now with all our decorations.  It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!  

The Advent Excitement Continues

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I know you've all been waiting with bated breath to see an update on my advent calendar.  Well, I'm about to make your wishes come true.  Prepare to be amazed...

Dec 5: Jigsaw puzzle (because I'm an old lady like that)

Dec 6: Chip clips (bit of an Indian giver on this one, as he's been wanting them for ages)

Dec 7: Pet buddy blanket (this one was for Sophie I assume)

Dec 8: Tic-tacs (are you trying to tell me something, dear?)

Dec 9: Hello Kitty pens... sparkly!

This is shaping up to be the best Christmas ever!!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Swimming (and Life) Lessons

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We are coming to the end of Rowan's swim lessons, with only one more class to go.  On the one hand I'm sad to see it finish.  On the other, my Wednesday mornings will be a lot less stressful.  I'm not sure why but I can't seem to pull it together on swimming days. 

It's kind of a logistical nightmare to bring an infant to a swimming pool.  Getting in the pool is not so bad but afterwards?  When we're both soaking wet and there's no place to set a baby down?  It's pretty awkward. I thought I had it all planned out in my mind how I was going to go about getting a wet baby into a dry diaper and dry clothes.  I actually went to visit the pool the day before our first class because I had never been there and wanted to scope out the locker rooms and see where things were, etc.  I'm pretty sure the lady at the desk thought I was nuts bringing my baby in for a test run around the locker room but whatever.

For class I decided I would bring his compact travel buggy so that once I had him into his dry clothes I could set him in the buggy while I got myself changed.  I also decided that we'd both wear our swimsuits to the pool to save some time.  On the day of our first class, all went according to plan and although it took about 30 minutes in the locker room after class, we both managed to get the chlorine rinsed off us and get home in some dry clothing.  Needless to say, I was quite pleased and felt I deserved a parent of the year award.

The next morning I realized I had left both our jackets behind in one of the lockers so I had to go back to the pool and explain I was just there to pick up my things left behind.  D'oh.  Pretty sure at this point the lady at the desk is starting to wonder about me.

The next week I thought "right, I need to make sure I take everything out of the locker to avoid the embarrassment of going back AGAIN."  Well, I was busy worrying about that when I realized I hadn't brought a dry shirt for the wee man.  Luckily I had his jacket so he just wore that with no shirt underneath.  I guess a raincoat doesn't feel so good on your bare chest?
When my child cries I take photos instead of consoling him because I'm a good parent like that.
By week three, I thought I had mastered the locker room shenanigans.  I had packed our bag the night before so as not to leave behind any important items.  Ha! When we got out of the pool I realized I didn't have any dry nappies in the bag.  Gah!  Mothering rule #1: always have dry nappies with you.  Everywhere.  At all times.  Like, always.  Parent of the year award revoked.

Ok, week four.  Again, I packed the bag the night before.  Now, I know what you're thinking.  Surely, I mean SURELY she has got it down by now.  What else is there she could possible forget?  And the answer would be: Mummy's knickers and bra.  You see, the bag I had so carefully packed the night before with all our stuff - dry clothes for Rowan, PLENTY of dry nappies, towels, etc. had said knickers/bra in it.  On the morning of swim class, I lifted the bag and the handle broke, spilling our stuff all over the floor.  I was in a hurry so I grabbed all the stuff (or so I thought) and put it in a different bag but didn't realize my undees never made it to the new bag.  Nothing like going commando to the grocery store after swim class! 

On week five, it was getting to be beyond a joke and I was telling one of the other Mums in the class about how I always seem to forget something but that I was determined this week was going to be our week.  We had a good class, got rinsed and changed and I was leaving the locker room thinking, "Wow, we did it!"  I saw the other Mum on the way out and I was all, "Yay, I think this is the first week I didn't forget something!"  I'm sure she thinks I'm a nutjob but she was politely pretending to be impressed (probably calling Child Protective Services on her way to her car).  When we got home I went to throw our stuff in the wash when I realized... no towels.  SO, back to the pool we went.

Last week I had meant to take some photos at the pool for the blog but... you guessed it, forgot to bring the camera.

This week, though.  This may be the crowning glory of my parenting accomplishments so far.  I do believe that (fingers crossed) I brought all the required clothing/accessories/bum supplies to the pool and left with all of our stuff in tow.  (Or at least I have not yet discovered what I have left behind... I think I'll just bask in this glory a while before I go to put the wash in)  And I took some photos!  Parent of the year!!
These pesky lockers, always stealing our stuff!
Oh, and Rowan is doing well with the swimming.  He is very comfortable in the water which is the whole point of the classes at this age.  He does little doggy paddle movements with his arms and kicks his legs and loves splashing around.  Best student in the class.  ;)