Open Letter to the IOC

Dear Olympic Committee,

I do love the Olympics (IE. Men's gymnastics), but I am proposing a children's-oriented Olympics. I present to you the following events:

0-12 months:
-Spitting up - 2 categories of 'Consistent aim', and 'Volume'.
As in, always my left shoulder so I have run out of nice shirts to wear. Only *today* did it occur to me to wear my ratty shirts. Keep in mind Susan is 3 months now.

-Burps after a feeding - 2 categories of 'Number of burps' and 'Decibels'.
My little one likes to sound like a teenager after chugging a can of Coke.

-Farts - 2 categories of 'Smell' and 'Decibels'

-Diapers- 2 categories of 'Stink' and 'Decibels'. Have I mentioned that my little one does not do anything quietly except sleep?

Toddler:
-Whining. I'm talking Jim Carrey in 'Dumb and Dumber' making "the most annoying sound in the world" quality

-Feeding. This can include longest time spent eating a teeny-tiny amount of food. Also, you could include the most amount of food in mouth before gagging.


Then there are the tandem events with parents, like:
-Making it to an appointment on time
-Grocery shopping with 2 kids
-Feeding 2 hungry kids at the same time
-Getting a potty under a child as she's about to pee on the floor
-Cleaning up after a toddler - This is more of an endurance event, as it lasts from 7am to 7pm.

You may not know this, but some parents I know have been continuously training day in and day out. They're quite dedicated.

Anyway, I hope to hear back from you soon with your ideas.

Sincerely,
Idania

Dirty Thirty

Another decade is here...yikes! I have to admit that I was down in the dumps at the prospect of leaving my 20's behind. Goodbye youth!

But Michael did make me stop and think about my achievements: finishing University, traveling, marriage to a great guy, and 2 wonderful little girls. Plus, we're the proud owners of 1.5 waterfront acres(and all the responsibilites that come with it-HA!). Not to mention that I can cook without making anyone ill-that was a big step for me.

On my actual birthday, it was my mom, Michael and the girls, then I had lunch with my friends the next day.

We got our patio set and a BBQ last week. We've been putting together the BBQ since Friday. Today is Monday. If you're not a fan of putting together IKEA furniture, then I don't recommend putting BBQ's together. We would have put it together sooner, but either:
Jillian needs our attention, or
Susan needs our attention.

This has been way easier than putting together our PAX wardrobes (also from IKEA), but more time-consuming. I'm just happy that I'm not lifting 100 pound boards and I can just order Michael around instead.

Susan's spending more and more time on her tummy, and is learning how to turn herself in a circle. It's like watching a wiggly, drooling clock, with her speed somewhere between the second hand and minute hand. She was able to get to the 3 o'clock position in 5 minutes. It would have been even cuter had she not left a trail of spit-up!

Anyway, just waiting for Susan to demand her last feeding of the day, and then I can go to bed myself!

Earth Day

I guess my only Earth-Day story happened at the supermarket today. Loblaws and it's other stores have chosen to not give out free plastic bags anymore, and will be charging customers 5 cents per bag now. Personally, I think that this is a great thing. A small way to feel good. Plus, I already have several reusable bags, plus a box that I always manage to leave behind at home. This is definitely a good incentive. I will miss my primary source for bags for the diaper pail though!

However, I feel sorry for all those poor employees that will be berated for implementing the change.

People, these low-end of the totem employees did not come up with this idea. If you really don't like it, give Galen Weston a shout (he's the head honcho around those parts). Heck, if you want to feel better, yell at the manager of the store. That's what he gets paid to deal with, not the lady getting minimum wage to support her family.

I did smile when I said "No thank you" when I was offered to buy a bag. I guess my only beef is that I didn't feel like they were really telling customers in advance. I only found out by accident. But I will keep that thought to myself.

Other that that, I wasn't very earthy. I drove into town and drank water out of a plastic bottle. I was trying to find a water fountain to refill it at the mall to feel half the guilt but couldn't find one. I bought 2 bags of disposable diapers. And I'm pretty sure I ate out of a styrofoam container at lunch. Guess I have a long way to go...

Three Months

Susan's reached the 3 month mark today. I suppose that doesn't really make her a 'new'-born anymore, but more in the simpler 'baby' category. She has changed a lot. She's able to recognize Michael, Jillian and myself (with an adorable smile when she does realize that we're there!), and really getting into her baby talk. She'll pinch me really hard too, but at least I know it's not malicious, just pretty painful! Her nails are getting stronger, and I've got a nice set of scratches just below my collarbones-hopefully non-permanent.

The hardest thing about last month was getting her to drink for the bottle, but I'm glad that Michael was able to pull it off.

The best thing (so far) is having her sleep through the night! It's definitely in the 6-8 hour range, and makes for a better-rested Mommy. Ahhh...

Jillian's grown even more accepting and is used to having her around. She even loves to help me out:



She's trying to give Susan her bottle, having watched me closely. She's also given me Susan's diapers when it's time to change her. I guess Jillian realizes that Susan is here to stay!

Olivia

I met my newest niece at Pam's house. (Maybe I should call her Banana Pam-see my last post). She was born earlier this month, but we only got to see her yesterday because either Michael was sick, or I was sick. No need to share that kind of love!!!

Anyway, it's only been 2 months since Susan was born, but she's changed so much, it was great to hold a smaller version. There's just something about looking at a baby asleep, with hands around the face, all wobbly and curled up, and the way that they relax against you...ahhh.

Oh, I still get that with Susan, but she's getting more physical too. My lap has been a jumping off point lately, and she doesn't just lay there unless she's totally asleep. Even then, she likes to fart on me. Constantly. But that's another story.

Another thing I enjoyed is that our first girls are 9 months apart. Huge in baby terms, but when they get older, it won't mean much. It'll be great for them to have cousins to play with.

Bananarama

For the first time in 20 years, I ate a banana and...enjoyed it!

Let me go back here...

Up until I was about 8 years old, I LOVED bananas, couldn't get enough of them.
Then one day at my Granny's house, I was eating a sliced banana in a bowl with milk and sugar. I ate it, then declared, "I don't want to eat any more bananas." Overnight, I couldn't even be in the same room as a banana because it smelled so bad, and would gag if I had a bite.

Over the years, I would have people proclaim:
"You don't like bananas? Here, eat this, you can hardly taste the banana." (Yeah, right. What food do you not like? Do you want me to make you eat it? Didn't think so.)

"You don't like bananas? But it has as much iron as a piece of steak!" (Thanks, you've just reinforced my argument. I'd much rather eat a steak than a banana!)

Or I'd just get the sneaky people who'd try to slip it in a dish and act all innocent when I noticed the awful scent wafting into my delicate nostrils. Bleaugh!

Then a few years ago, it didn't smell as bad as it used to. Then I had a sip of Michael's smoothie with banana in it...it was okay, but I couldn't manage to drink a whole glass myself.

Then yesterday, Pam (my sister-in-law) gave me fruit salad. It smelled good. It tasted even better. What the heck was that sweet tasting fruit? A banana???

YUMMY!

I decided not to say anything until I had eaten the whole bowl. What if halfway through, I changed my mind? Nope, still delicious.

So I like bananas. We're taking things slowly, and letting the relationship bloom. After all, it's been over 20 years, and there's no need to rush things. Maybe one day the unconditional love will return...

I got a kick out of this...

I got this in the mail the other day with my Quebec child assistance payment. When I saw the picture, my first thought was, "How did they know?" Do they send out other combinations to other couples? Asian/White? Black/Asian?

Then I figured out that I wasn't *that* special!

But seriously, I haven't seen that many interracial couples in mainstream advertising. But I could also apply that to gay, goth, little people and any other couple combination. I did enjoy receiving it.

And yes, I did do my taxes. Advertising works!

First of All

I was an Auntie once again on Friday morning. Welcome Olivia! I can't wait to meet you!

Thursday was a great day also. When Jillian's sitter was putting her down for her nap, she turned to the dog and said, "Tutu do-do" (French for "Tutu, sleep"). I have been concerned about her lack of speaking, but I was happy that she put those words together in the right context!

Now I just need to start listening to her in French as well as English!

Susan's really getting the hang of holding her head up, smiling and 'talking' to me, and I swear I could feel some definition in her leg muscles!

Today Jillian and I (well, it was mostly me) were playing with my old Barbies from the 80's. I finally gave Ken some dignity back after 20 years by dressing him in his clothes, and even his shoes. The shoes didn't match, but I could have sworn that he smiled at me once he was decent again. I still had most of the original clothes that the Barbies came with, and even several pairs of shoes. I got rid of the headless Barbie (Maybe I was changing one of them agressively?), and dressed everyone else. I still had all the outfits that my Granny had knitted for me, which brought back some great memories.

A few things I noticed:
-the Barbies came from the Philippeans, China, Taiwan and Mexico
-I had forgotten how skin-tight all the clothes were, and how it wasn't easy to dress her upper body with her arms that weren't bendable
-The hair! Arg! I didn't even attempt to brush it, for fear I'd scalp the ladies.

I still had fun going back in time, and it's great to be able to share it with Jillian too.