You Know You Should Call It a Day When...

... you discover you've cooked an entire batch of cookies on broil.

I wondered why the tops were looking so singed.

The Day That Grandma Left

Today was a sad day. Nate and Jake had a few hours of play with Grandma before she was leaving on a jet plane (hum along with me folks). Jake kindly took the 5am to 8am shift so that Nate could have the 8 to 10am shift. I gave mom a parting gift -- the wicked "sore throat precursor to a horrible head cold" germs which nicely kicked in this am in time for her day of travel. (I also got David this afternoon... whoo hoo!)

Anyway, it was a grey and rainy morning which turned into a grey and rainy day. We've definitely had enough of those for the past two weeks. Having exhausted all my usual rainy day tricks, and dealing with a deflated preschooler who just lost his grandma to the bluer skies of Ontario, David suggested a movie.

"Brilliant!" I thought.

Nate and I hit a local theatre to catch WALL-E, a movie I'd already seen with David and thus deemed as suitable. As we walked into the Cineplex, I was surprised to see all the booster seats, stacked in pyramids outside the doors. Interesting. Exactly how many toddlers were they expecting?

Since it was a matinee and we were slightly ahead of schedule, we got primo seat choices. I sat, then pulled down the seat next to me for Nate. He climbed on, sat down, I let go and he promptly jack-knifed in half with his knees around his ears.

"AHHHH! Moooooooom!!"

So I went back out and got one of those booster seats. I guess 35 lbs of 3.5 year old isn't enough to hold the seat in the down position.

Then, the seats next to us filled with a mom and four boys. I wanted to ask her if they were all her boys and then extend my pity if they were, but the previews started. And out came her bucket-o-popcorn. Now, I like people to enjoy their popcorn, but when I can hear the smacking over the volume of the previews, I get a little annoyed. There must be some of my dad in me; I hate it when I can hear people eat. And don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about the boys smacking... it was her.

Anyway, Nate, who has never been to the movies, was somewhat confused by the concept of previews. He kept asking me why the tv show was over so soon.

Finally WALL-E started and all was going swimmingly because, well, really, there's no dialogue to follow. But, the rocket ship landed and that scared Nate because he couldn't understand that WALL-E almost got hurt but didn't. Then Eva's quick on the draw arm scared him because on Treehouse, Knowledge Network, and the shows he watches on tv there are no guns, or things blowing up.

And every 2 seconds Nate kept asking me about the plot: what had happened, what was happening, what would happen. None of this was sotto voice.

But finally the big ship in the sky sequence happened. That was the end of it. He was scared of pretty much everything that happened on the ship as WALL-E chased Eva, Eva chased WALL-E, and they all chased the plants.

He took up my offer to sit on my lap. I asked it he wanted to go or stay to the end and he chose to stay, so it's really not my fault when he was REALLY scared/upset when WALL-E almost died holding up the plant machine.

Let's just say that Nate's not ready for the movie world. In our defense, David and I saw WALL-E when it first came out and we thought it would be fine for Nate. There is no fighting, there are no wars, no killing, no death.

And at the end of it all, Grandma was still gone.

At least I wasn't the mom next to me. She had to make 3 bathroom trips with the boys. And she missed the end of the movie. The last 5 minutes. It made me feel sorry enough for her that I almost forgave her for the popcorn smacking. Almost.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow. Anybody got any ideas out there?

Awww....

Nate: Grandma Val, are you going to stay here always?

Mom goes home tomorrow. Big sigh. We'll miss her, but especially the kids.

A Post In Which I Do Nothing But Digress All Over the Place

This morning Jake woke us all up at 4:30 am, per usual. David shushed him back to sleep until 5:15 am at which point he wanted his bottle (yes, we have to break him of that habit). Mom, who's visiting, gave him the bottle and at 6:00am took Jake to the living room. Since I was spending this time wedged between David and Nate who joined us in our bed at 5:00 am, I was getting little sleep. (This has been my problem for the last 11 months of Jake's life. I am not getting a lot of sleep past 4:30 am.)

Anyway, since noticing at somewhere around 5:37 am that both Nate and David adopt the same sleeping position when they're both in the same bed (it's some sort of weird telepathy) I knew that I wasn't going to get any sleep. But something in me rebelled against getting out of bed before 6:00 am. And as I lay there, I heard Jake serenading mom with Nate's harmonica.

Now Nate was given his harmonica by David's parents, and it's quite a nice one. He lost the first one to the dancing mice (his story, and really, wtf???), so they nicely replaced it. Nate, as he did yesterday, will get on the phone and play the harmonica with his Pepere. Nate plays some notes (he's getting to be quite skilled) and David's dad plays some back.

As a side note, Nate loves to get on the phone and talk to people. He'll often ask us if he can call one set of grandparents or the other to chat. For up to 30 minutes. And he becomes quite incensed if we try to talk to him or participate... "Don't interrupt me dad/mom, I'm having a conversation!" Since neither David nor I are telephone talkers, I'm not sure where he picked up this trait, but I'm sure some teenage girlfriend will love him for it if it sticks around.

Which reminds me about Nate's new fascination. You'll be talking to him and all of a sudden he'll ask, "Mom/Dad/Grandma, do you want to have a conversation?" And we say, "Why, yes Nate. What would you like to have a conversation about?" And he replies, "Candy." That's because in the summer, he and his Great Uncle Len had a conversation about candy and so now he remembers that having a conversation is a grownup thing to do and apparently grownups have conversations about candy.

Which also reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask you which is, do your kids also have super-sharp memories? Nate can remember with incredible detail and precision, events that happened to him once maybe a year or a year and a half ago back at the tender age of 2 or 2.5 years old. It's really quite remarkable, especially since it's in direct proportion to how our parents are losing their memory which they insist is still as sharp as Nate's, but really, it's kind of scary how they don't remember stuff really well at all anymore. (They've now probably all left their computers in a huff and are in total denial, but one day David and I decided we're going to start video taping their lives and then we can play the tapes back to them when we need to.)

Anyway, back to my original thread, since Jake loves whatever Nate loves, Jake was glued to Nate's side for yesterday's phone concertina. And as soon as Nate had abandoned the harmonica, Jake picked it up and in a matter of minutes figured out how to play it. Now this kid is 11 months old, and he can already play it better than most kids. He hits a variety of notes and can do the inhale and exhale too.

So I decided it was time to get up.

Cause I think I need some coffee.

Since more sleep doesn't seem to be anywhere on the horizon.

Nate Made a Funny

Nate is sitting at my computer pressing the letter "e" repeatedly.

Me: Nate, what are you doing?

Nate: Writing an e-mail.

Ba-doom-ching!

Giving Good Phone

Registration day for the North Vancouver Rec Centre programs is proof of how much I love my son.

I hate registration day... thank God it only comes 4 times a year. North Vancouver, while offering a plethora of services, programs, and activities for young and old alike at a variety of rec centres around the city, has got to have the most antiquated registration system possible.

Registration begins promptly at 7am. By 7:01am, the entire system is flooded.

Why is it so frustrating, you ask?

You can register online, if you are one of the lucky 10 people who get to use their system simultaneously. However, beware the "dump and crash" that happens just as you are about to electronically checkout.

You can register in person. This means getting out of the house, clothed, by 6:45am in order to drive to your nearest rec centre and stand in a really long line. With a bunch of other mothers who haven't brushed their teeth or hair either. In the rain. Because it always rains on registration day.

Or, you can register by phone. (My personal favourite.) After spending 45 minutes redialing the number, you get put into the queue, assured that you should not hang up as "it is faster than redialing. A service representative will be with you in another 20 blinking minutes shortly."

I love the disclaimer in the book, urging you to wait and register at a later date since most classes don't fill up right away. Nice try. What it should say is, "If you don't want to your kid to be in a) a class he'll enjoy, b) a time slot other than Monday morning at 7:30am c) a rec centre within walking/driving distance of your house, call us another time. Sucka!"

Sigh. I hate registration day.

But Nate's signed up for his classes. And we got most of our first choices. I think he'll be thrilled with basket weaving, tae chi for seniors, and flower arranging. Don't you?

A Pictoral Essay, aka, Pictures to Satisfy the Relatives

Last summer, we took Nate to Playland at the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition). It's a fairgrounds which has a kiddie section just for people Nate's size. The kid has a memory like an elephant because up to a eight months later, he was still asking to go back to that "special park" and he could list all the rides he went on.

So on Friday, we picked David up early from work and hit the amusement park.

Last year, Nate barely made the height requirement to go on any of the rides. This year he wasn't quite tall enough to make the 42" requirement for the more "advanced" kiddie rides. However, that didn't stop him from going on every single ride he could, some of them twice. He chose the roller coaster and the Scrambler as his repeat rides (the most "daring" of the mix) and I think he would have ridden them again and again if Jake hadn't started to melt down by 7pm.

Here is our afternoon in pictures. You'll note that Nate, who was not feeling well most of the afternoon, looks not a little sweaty with dark under-eye circles. And it took a while for him to crack a smile. But by the end of the trip, he was grinning ear to ear, ill health all but forgotten.

The same boat he road last year... my own little Humphrey Bogart.

Nate's first "casino" type game. He actually caught two balls on his own...

and won a prize. I kept trying to get David to win me a giant stuffed animal, but he declined.

If it's a car and involves driving, Nate's into it.

This was a scary "adventure" for Nate... the Raiders of the Lost Ark structure.

"Scary, schmary. I could do it. If I wanted to."

Learning the fine art of killing time while waiting in line.

By far Nate's favourite ride in the park.

Last year, you couldn't see Nate's head as it was in line with the bar.

Jake wants in.

"Hey, how do you get through this thing?!"

"Okay, I see, one arm at a time."

"C'mon, dad, Nate. Seriously, let me in!"

"Okay, maybe under..."

My friend Flicka.

Every guy needs his own helicopter.

My boy's got wings.

And he's got a scooter... just like daddy's. Okay, not really like daddy's but close enough.

Pop a wheelie. (Do people still say that or am I dating myself here?)

The first ride on the coaster...

The only ride I went on, the bumblebees, and it was tame enough for me. And one of the only rides that didn't ban pregnant women.

Another prize game... note the sign, "Kids Prize Every Time". They weren't kidding.

Nate concentrating hard on "shooting his fish in a barrel".

Probably not the father-son fishing trip David has envisioned in their future.

The last ride of the evening... a great way to end a summer's day.

Separation Anxiety

This morning Jacob had his first two and a half hour stint at daycare. He is doing gradual entry Wednesday through Friday of this week which involves increasing amounts of time at the daycare so that next week, when he goes all day, he should be fairly well adjusted.

When I had the intake meeting with the Daycare's director, she talked at length (or so it seemed) about the "goodbyes" and how important it was to say goodbye quickly and ignore the screaming and crying. She said that I could sit in the parking lot and call the center in 15 minutes and I would likely hear how happy Jake was.

This I knew from sending Nate to daycare. I knew to expect the clinging, the tears, the "mommy-if-you-loved-me-you-wouldn't-leave-me-here-alone-to-fend-for-myself" baleful eyes.

So today, at 9:00am, I came prepared. I knew I was to stay 20 minutes with Jake and then leave. Ignoring his pleas. Ripping his arms from around my legs as I walked to the exit.

Yeah.

Jacob took one look at the room, all the toys and the other infants and it was, "Sayonara, mom." He didn't look at me once the entire 20 minutes. I don't think he could have cared less when I left.

Or came back.

When I came to collect him, I was at least expecting an enthusiastic sprint-crawl towards me, the greeting I get at home.

Ten minutes later, after I pried Jake's hands from the walker toy he was using in order to escape from me, I managed to get him out of there.

Somehow I don't think daycare is going to be a problem for him.

At Least It Kept Them Amused

I wondered why the two boys were playing so well in the backyard.

Nate was the dumper and Jake was the dumpee.

And the result?

A Quick Thank You

Dear Vancouver/Lower Mainland Drivers:

I'd like to take a few moments to reflect on our time together on the roads today.

To the powder blue Toyota Tercel who slowed and came to a dead stop on the highway entrance ramp, I understand what you are going through. Driving can be a scary thing at times, especially working out the merging system for a two lane highway. If you completely stop, it gives you a lot more time to look for that long break in the flow of traffic which you (and now four others behind you) will need to find.

To the black BMW X5, following me on the upper levels highway that extends through North Vancouver, I'd like to thank you for your thorough exhaust work. I'm sure that by keeping your radiator grill two inches from my exhaust pipe while we were driving 100km/h, you managed to thoroughly suck out the toxic fumes I was emitting. It's a shame that yellow SmartCar doing 65 km/h in the passing lane forced me to hit the brakes, sending you swerving into the right lane, right in front of that 18 wheeler. Going downhill. On a steep grade. I'm sure he was just honking his horn to say, "Great maneuver! You should be on the Indy circuit."

To the red Ford 150 pickup truck sitting with us for a minute or two at the lights near the doctor's office in Burnaby, I watched with awe as you decided to pull forward from a dead stop, to complete a left turn on the red light. I agree. Why waste an open space when there is one? I'm pretty sure that the lights are just a guideline anyway.

To the 40 year old male pedestrian in downtown Vancouver at the corner of Georgia and Thurlow. I'm very sorry that the changing traffic light forced me to stay put, with one foot of my car poking into the pedestrian crosswalk. I understand that you only had six feet with which to clear my vehicle and still be within the bounds of the crosswalk. You were perfectly right to repeatedly bang on my car hood with the flat of your hand and scream obscenities at my windshield. I'm sure Jake was crying because his toy fell on the floor.

To the city bus pulled over to the side of the road collecting passengers, I am happy, as your decal says, to yield and to "Give You the Brake." It is ridiculous of me to assume that you will signal and pull out before I reach your bumper, not when I am side by side with your bus. After all, I am smaller than you; I can easily swerve into the other lane or even oncoming traffic in order to clear the way.

To the silver Nissan Pathfinder on the Lion's Gate Bridge, I value the way you can multitask! Fiddling with your iPod while punching a message into your Blackberry can be troublesome to some, but not for you. Keeping your eyes on the road is overrated anyway. It's a pretty straight shot and having you brake hard at the last second keeps us all on our toes!

Yes Vancouver, it was quite a day wasn't it? On the radio the man from the insurance company was saying that all drivers rate themselves as "above average" or "in the top 10%". Maybe not those other jokers out there, but you and me? We know the real score. So keep up the great work folks!

Over and out,
Mandy

Now I Can Breathe Easy

About two months ago, I noticed a raised, itchy spot over my left eyebrow. Naturally, I feared the worst and it seemed timely that a group of moms at the toddler drop off were all talking about tanning, skin spots, etc. So I asked, "Hey, what do you think about this? I'm really worried."

The three submitted me to scrutiny and one promptly diagnosed me with, "Yep. That looks like skin cancer. You better get in to the doctor and get it checked out."

While I was planning on calling the doctor, her comment prompted me to call as soon as I was in the car.

My doctor has been away on her own mat leave and so when I went in, her locum was the one seeing me. Now my doctor is a young mom who specializes in family practice and obstetrics. And I like this. She's enthusiastic, cheerful, and incredibly well informed on pregnancy, babies and young children. She always puts my mine at ease about everyting. It's a great fit. So, although I like her locums, I miss my doctor. Especially when something is worrying me.

Explaining my concerns to the locum, she prefaced her comments with, "I'm not an expert in skin conditions, but..." and then what I heard was a version of, "If it's not skin cancer, it's the stage before it. Most people who get it are older, but it's not unheard of in your 30s."

At this point my heart stops beating.

Aren't I too young? Okay, I burned some in the past, and I tanned when, yes, I know I shouldn't have. Generally, though, I've stayed ghost white over the past five years thanks to 45 SPF and worrying about my kids.

I was referred to the top skin clinic in Vancouver, and it only took until today, um that's SEVEN WEEKS LATER to get an appointment.

During those seven weeks, my fear dissipated somewhat as no one can stay in a high state of anxiety for that long. And wouldn't you know that the spot went back to looking like a large freckle.

So what did I learn today? The history of skin cancer in two minutes. Basically, 99.99% of spots like I have never become skin cancer. They are caused by the sun, but studies have shown that they rarely become something to worry about. Also, most moles never become skin cancer and just cutting them out doesn't prevent someone from developing cancer. It just makes her holey. I also learned that most American sites have a significant fear factor attached to them due to legal and financial reasons. Hmmm... interesting.

I know I visited enough skin cancer sites to realize I was going to diagnose myself with a brain tumour and leprosy if I wasn't careful. I stopped looking on the internet, but the worry was at the back of my brain for the last two months.

Today, I feel much more reassured. And glad I fall on the side of the statistic that favours most of us.

Photo Contest and a Prize

Today as the boys were shelling peas, I was busy grabbing a few shots.

This photo needs a caption.



Write your suggestions into the comment box (one entry per person). Contest closes Friday, August 8th at 7pm PST.

The prize? A tablet (100 grams) of Dove chocolate. You can choose Dark, Milk, or Dusk (milk/dark combo). And since you know how much I love chocolate, this is a pretty hard gift for me to part with. (But the postage cost is right!)

If I Believed in Reincarnation

I'd say that Jake was a dog in a former life.

Here's my proof:

1. Obsession with eating dog food out of Chilco's bowl. (Solution? Starve Chilco by keeping his food permanently out of reach.)

2. New favourite location? Hanging out under Nate's chair waiting for scraps to fall down. (He and Chilco battle it out for the prime spots.)

3. New favourite pastime? Opening the garbage lid and eating food out of the garbage. (Chilco, unable for years to manage the swinging top, stands next to Jacob waiting for handouts.)

4. New play toy? While we were at the tennis club, I caught Jake chewing on a stick. All he needed was someone to throw it and yell, "Fetch!"

I'd attach photos of all of this but I don't want child services to come and take Jake away. Or me.