A day of firsts

I just want to jot these down, before I forget.

• Bertram peed in the potty today!  I'd been trying to have his sit, which he didn't like.  So I put him on the step stool, and he peed on the second try.  (Then on the floor, I guess he wasn't done).  I was so excited.  He hasn't done it again, but it's a start!  (Yay!)
• Today was the first time we played in the backyard.  Up until now, it's been the dogs' toilet.  But I've been more diligent about mowing, weeding, and picking up the poop.  So we played back there all together.  At one point Fiona grabbed Charlie bear and ran around the yard with him.  We all chased her, and Bertie thought it was hilarious.
• While playing in the yard, we had the bubbles out.  Bertie blew some.  He'd never done that before.
• Later in the day, all the kids were in the bath tub at Grandma's house.  Bertie bit Michael.  He's never bitten anyone (other than me) before.  But to be fair, Michael did put his finger in Bertram's mouth.

Random things from high school

• Unlike many, I didn't have a bad high school experience.  I was, by no means, popular.  But I wasn't unpopular either.  I got along with most everyone.
• I was the only white person in my group of friends.  They were all Asian (Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese).  We were fairly nerdy and good (no drinking, drugs and we were all good students).  
• I loved art and science.  I still do.  There weren't a ton of art classes available, but I took all the ones I could.  
• The only AP class I took was English.  I didn't pass the test.
• In spite of that, I was a good student and got all As and Bs.
• I played badminton every year.  I love(d) playing badminton, but was terrible at it.  I was usually one of two white people on the team.  It didn't matter, it was fun.
• I had the same math teacher freshman and sophomore year, Mr Hoover.  He was the best math teacher that I've ever had.  My senior year of school he committed suicide.  He always seemed like a happy guy.  I felt sad that I never told him what a great teacher he was.
• I wish I had tried harder and paid more attention in Spanish.  (Also, Spanish was the only language my school offered.  Isn't that odd?)  I always got good grades, but I only learned to the tests, and once the test was done, I forgot everything I'd learned.
• We didn't have lockers, which was awful.
• Sometimes I think about the kids who got tattoos during senior year (mostly tramp stamps and tribal arm bands).  I wonder if they still like their tattoos.
• I got into almost all the colleges I applied to, but went to the local school instead.  I often regret not going away to school.  But I think there was to much change already.  My parents split and my sisters and mom moved away.  Aaron was only going to be in town until October, when he left on his mission.  And a lot of my friends went away to school too.  I needed something to stay the same.  But I think maybe I should have stretched myself more.  2001 was a terrible year.
• I wish home EC still existed.

Random Musings

• I would love to have two washers and dryers.  Even though I don't really have need for them.
• I have been binge-watching Law and Order SVU.  It gives me bad dream sometimes.  
• Last week I did all new recipes.  This week I've made all convenience food: spaghetti, tacos, breakfast sandwiches and Mandarin Orange Chik'en and sticky rice.
• I've been working on an easy quilt for Bertie's birthday.  Thomas the Train print on the front and yellow flannel on the back.  I'm just machine stitching around each box.  It's looking cute, and again, is super easy.
• I like working on sewing projects, but it makes my neck hurt.
• On Saturday I'm getting my hair done.  I wonder what colour it will be.
• Bertie took two baths today.  Mostly, because he was grumpy, and baths help.
• My house often looks like it was hit by a tornado.
• Since Bertie is sick we've been watching a lot of cartoons (or gargoons as he says).  I wish we could watch something other than train cartoons.  Ugh.
• I don't think Aaron and I have been in sync lately.  It happens.  :-/
• I had a piece of pie tonight.  I still need to eat less sugar.

Laid off.

I knew it was coming.  Not sure how, but sometimes you can just tell.  My tasks were getting lighter, some different cross-training had been going on.

I'm always the first one in.  6:30 is an early start.  I saw Shauna's (my supervisor) car, and I knew.  She said nothing personal, we loved having you, we wish there were a way to keep you, etc.  I got my final cheque, a small box with my stuff, and by 6:45 I was back in my car and headed home.

It isn't a terrible thing.  I only worked 8 hours a week, so it wasn't a lot of money.  We can tighten our belts.  But I liked my job.  I'd been there 6.5 years.  It was my break from baby, and time in the adult world.

I looked at unemployment, and it's just not worth it.  It would get something like $40 a week, and I need to apply to 10+ jobs (ones that I wouldn't want or wouldn't be a good fit), not to mention all the other hoops you need to jump through.

And so, I feel sad.  I had a milkshake.  For the first time in 33 days.  I went on a long walk.  It didn't help.  So I mostly took today to wallow.  Tomorrow is another day.

The January

I made some big changes for January.  Not resolutions, per say, but changes for a month, with re-evaluation at the end.

No soda
After 2 or 3 days the caffeine headaches went away.  After 4 or 5 days the cravings went away.  Occasionally, when things were stressful, I wanted a fresh, icy Diet Coke.  But I didn't cave.  Today is February 1st.  I didn't run right out and get one, or have one at all.  I think it will be a rare treat.  I like not needing the caffeine.  I may get a caffeine-free one, but that will probably be it.  We'll see.  I'm not dedicated to sticking to "no soda" anymore.

No sugar
This was way harder.  WAY harder.  I knew I had a sweet tooth, but I'm pretty sure I have a straight out sugar addiction.  The craving, and jonesing didn't stop until day 20!  I put myself to the test around day 25, and made a batch of cookies for Aaron to take to a meeting.  I didn't eat any, and more amazingly, I didn't have any of the dough (which may be my favourite thing).  I didn't lick my finger when I accidentally touched the beater.
Now, here we are, February 1st.  I was thinking I'd have one sweet treat a week.  But I'm a bit dubious.  If I really am an addict (which seems like a good possibility), then introducing sugar again is like playing with fire.  So, for now, I'm going to keep things the same.  But I am going to have a little piece of cake on Bertie's birthday.  Maybe sugar will just be for special occasions...  Time will tell.

No Meat
I sort of failed this.  I'm going back to vegetarian, but I had some shrimp.  So I think I'll be mainly veg, and flex to pesce when the spirit moves me.

Yoga
I did yoga everyday in January.  I LOVED it.  I'm not fit, and I'm not super flexible.  But there is something about doing yoga regularly that really makes you appreciate and love your body.  I'm so grateful for the things I can do, I'm not going to fixate on what I can't.  Plus, you see improvements in strength and flexibility so quickly.  I'm going to mix it up for February.  2 days of cardio, 2 days of strength and 2 days of yoga.  And Sunday... well, I'm not sure yet, a rest day?  More yoga?  The real challenge will be when my mom comes to visit.  Mom, make sure I exercise!

An average day

This is what an average day looks like:

7ish - Bertie wakes up.  I let him hang out for a few minutes, unless he's screaming.
7:15ish - We get up, if he's wet through I change him, otherwise I wait a few minutes, because he's grumpy when he wakes up.  (I wonder where he gets that from...?)  I get his milk and we sit in the recliner and watch the news for a few minutes.  He likes the traffic report, and the weather.  And the commercials.  Then we usually will read a few books before demanding "gargoons" (cartoons).
8ish - I turn Thomas the Train on Netflix.  He half watches, and half plays with his toys.  I do my yoga (or whatever exercise).
8:45ish - We sit at the table and eat breakfast.
9:15ish - I put away the dishes and clean the house a little.  Bertram will usually colour or play with chalk for a bit, then play with his trains or cars more.  After a while he usually says "sit here" (the recliner) "mommy read book".
10ish - We head out and do whatever we're going to do for the day, usually errands: groceries, etc.  Sometimes we go to the mall and walk around (especially if the weather is bad).
Noon: We are back home.  Sometimes he has lunch before nap, sometimes not.  Typically he'll have a small snack, and more milk.  We sit in the recliner and read a few more books.  I sing him his nap time song:

It's time for a nap, it's time for a nap.

You will feel so much better after a nap.

After a nap, after a nap

We will have more fun after a nap.

Sometimes the last line changes, if we have something specific planned.  (We will go see grandma, after a nap).

He will sleep 1.5-3 hours.  I clean up, do dinner prep, laundry, sit around, and enjoy the quiet.

2:15ish - Bertie wakes up.  We have a little more milk, or water.  Read a few books. Then maybe a snack, or he'll just play.

4ish - He will usually request that we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house (two doors down).  Which means he wants to go play, and for me to leave him there.  He often will stay there until Aaron gets home at 5:30.  So I clean up again, and get dinner ready.

5:30 - Aaron comes home, we have dinner.

6:00 - Sometimes baby gets a bath, depending on how gross he got at dinner.

6:20ish - We walk the dogs.  Bertie usually goes back to grandma and grandpa's, but sometimes he comes too.

7:15ish - We start getting ready for bed.  Jammies, milk, more books, brush teeth, have fluoride (or vitamins).  We sing a few songs, then say prayers.  Then we go around a say good night to each of the animals (Juli, Zelda, Fiona and Priya), then good night to mommy and daddy.  Then we sing the bedtime song as we go to bed.

7:40ish - (to the tune of "let's go out to the lobby")

Let's all go to bed

Let's all go to bed

Let's all go to bed, 

and get ourselves some rest.

Now it's time for bed, 

Now it's time for bed, 

Now it's time for bed, 

time to go to sleep.

We tuck him in with his favourite bears (Charlie and Blue), and pull up his two blankets (only because it's winter, not because it has to be two).  He'll usually say "tuck in. night-night".  

A fun day

For Christmas Bertie got a 10-visit pass to Billy Beez.  We went for the first time today.  We got there a few minutes after it opened.  He was so excited, and was pulling me to go in, while we were waiting in line.  We got our wrist bands, and went to put the diaper bag in a locker.  Then away we went.  Up and down the ramp, in and out of a million tunnels, over the cargo nets, and down various slides.  I'm short enough, that I could follow him all around without having to duck.  But I'm guessing I'll be sore tomorrow.  The slides were really fast, he went down most of them on my lap.  We played from 10-11:30 then had a snack, then played more.

Around 12:30 he said wanted lunch, so we left (we had re-entry in case we wanted to go back).  This was the first day I ditched the stroller, and tried out his baby leash.  It was not a success.  He tried to wander away, and then just laid on the floor and asked to me carried.  He's getting heavy! (Almost 25 lbs).  He said he wanted cheese for lunch.  I thought we'd go to Hot Dog on a Stick.  They have cheese on a stick, and veggie hot dogs.  But when we got to the food court, it was gone.  (I just looked at the mall's website, and it moved, really close to where we were.  D'oh!)  We walked back, and went to the bakery, and got cheese bread.

He was about done after lunch.  We headed home.  I put him down, and he fell asleep really fast.  I did some dinner prep, and mostly watched SVU.

When he got up, we watched Thomas the Train (I hate that show).  And played for a bit, before going to visit grandpa, while I finished dinner.  After we all ate, we all played together in the living room. It was a pretty nice day.