Last Post of 2007

Nick has done 2 posts on his blog since I did my last one. That means I'm clearly overdue for an update.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Thanks to Nick's last-minute shift-change we were able to spend Christmas in Cambridge which was great. It was great to be able to see so many family members and friends over the few days we were there.

We celebrated Nick's birthday with my family. The only problem was that I had forgotten to bring part of Nick's birthday present with me. I won't hear the end of that one for a long, long time.

Christmas day was great. Darcy was really thrilled with the gifts she got. The best thing seemed to be the electric train that I picked up at Dollarama. She loves that thing! I really can't believe it. We saved her big present in Windsor so she got another surprise when we got home and saw her easel sitting under the tree.

We came home on Boxing Day and my Mom and Dad came with us for a couple of days. We did another turkey dinner, just for fun.

Wesley is continuing to do great. He's starting to recognize his toys and he's even able to interact with them a little bit. He's picking things up now (and putting them directly in his mouth) and he's batting at toys on the floor. It's pretty cute to watch. He's also quite a flirt and always seems to have a ready smile and giggle for the ladies.

There's not much on the go here for New Year's Eve. Nick works until 11:59, so the kids and I will be spending a quiet evening at home. I don't think I'll keep them up until midnight. I'm not a big fan of New Year's Eve anyway. I haven't decided yet if I'll stay up to watch the old ball drop or if I'll just go to bed myself.

I hope you've all had a great 2007 and I wish you all the best for 2008!

Our Big Guy

Wesley is four months old already. I really can't believe it. The other day at the grocery store we ran into one of my favourite nurses from the hospital. You know you were in the hospital too long if you have several favourite nurses and if they remember you four months after your release. She was really excited to see Wesley's progress and to see what a little chubbo he's turning into.

I had him at the doctor this morning for his four month check up and shots. He weighs 13 pounds and is 25 inches long. They hope a baby will double his birth weight by six months, but he has clearly left that in the dust already. Good job. The doctor was pleased with him all around, but Wesley wasn't pleased with the doctor after the shots.

Now we've got to finish getting ready for our trip to Cambridge. The laundry is mostly done, now it's just a matter of getting it all packed up and ready to go. I hope we don't forget anyone's presents.

Christmas Thoughts

Well, Nick's shift change was approved so we will be in Cambridge for Christmas after all. We're diappointed to not be joining his family in Switzerland this Christmas but there were just too many factors against us for that one. I'm just really glad we'll be with my family instead of on our own in Windsor.

I've got all my baking done, I think. Darcy and I had decided to put a collection of our baking together to give to our next door neighbour who Darcy loves. He's really the best neighbour you could ask for, especially when you consider that we have to share the driveway. He gives us fresh flowers from his garden all summer long and constantly gives our kids presents. He doesn't celebrate Christmas so I wasn't quite sure what to do so I thought some cookies would be a good thing. We bought a nice box to wrap the cookies up in but we haven't given them to him yet. Then the other night we were heading outside and he was in his driveway. Darcy saw him and called out, "We're going to give you some cookies!" I told her that was meant to be a surprise. He just laughed and assured us that he would be very surprised.

I think we've finished all our shopping now. I got the final stuff for stockings this morning. How did people ever do stockings before Dollarama? I struggled this year because Darcy only had 4 things on her "Santa list". An art table (she saw a specific one at Costco and oddly enough we had already decided to get it for her before she saw it), dress-up clothes, trucks and trains. I don't want her to think she's always going to get everything on her list, because I don't imagine her list will always only include 4 things. So I wasn't sure if I should get everything or not. I did. The truck and train were each bought at Dollarama so it's not like I broke the bank on them. It's a tough call. We're trying to teach her that Christmas is about giving, not just getting (giving to the Salvation Army kettles, can drives and that sort of thing) so it's a fine balance. I'm a little concerned that she's already looking for items to put on next year's list!

A Little Christmas Fun

Here's a little gift from our family to you. I hope it works. Whenever Darcy watches it she keeps saying, "Look at Wesley go!"

Weekend

We've got some new pictures up on our Flickr site. Enjoy!

We had a pretty fun weekend. There was a Christmas party at the church that we took the kids to and they loved it. We were a little surprised when Santa appeared and Darcy started to cry. We thought she'd love it. I think her guilty conscience is still bothering her! After he called her name to give her a present she warmed up to him pretty quickly.

We were set to go to church yesterday but it got cancelled with all the snow as did the community caroling our band was supposed to be playing at in the afternoon. So we had a snow day at home. Darcy and I took the opportunity to make gingerbread boys and girls. It was Darcy's job to decorate the cookies with mini M & M's before I baked the cookies. I used the wrong cookie cutters, using the smaller ones instead of the big ones. This meant that the mini M & M's she used as eyes took up the whole heads, giving the cookies a really alien-like look. They're pretty funny. They taste good.

I've now got ginger snaps, shortbread-Smartie balls and gingerbread men in the freezer. I hope to get chocolate chip cookies made today. I'm not sure what else I'm going to make.

Our Christmas plans could be changing at the last minute, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. A woman offered to switch shifts with Nick which would give him Christmas off, allowing us to go to Cambridge for Christmas instead of staying home by ourselves. It all has to be confirmed today by a supervisor and there are a couple of things that could prevent it from happening. Like I said, I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Nick will call when he wakes up to find out what the verdict is.

Naughty or Nice

Nick worked from 10 last night until 7:00 this morning so he's sleeping all day today. When he does that we usually try to clear out of the house to keep things quiet for him. I had a few last-minute Christmas errands to run so I decided we'd go to the mall this morning.

So when Darcy was eating her breakfast I told her what our plans for the morning would be: a quick trip to the library and then the mall. Usually the mall is one of her favourite places to go but today she screamed "Nooo!" I was shocked. I asked her why she didn't want to go to the mall and she said, "Because Santa is there and I don't want him to ask if I've been bad or good."

Is there something on your conscience, Darcy?

A Promise is a Promise

I want this recorded for the family records.

Yesterday I was holding Wesley on my lap as we were sitting on the couch. He looked at Darcy playing on the floor and he started laughing. She laughed back and he laughed again. They went back and forth like that for a few minutes. It was so sweet.

It seemed to inspire Darcy. She got up off the floor and gave him a big hug. Then she said, "Wesley, we are never going to tease each other and we're never going to fight."

See, now it's in writing. Do you think I can get her to consent to sign something like that?

The Meaning is Lost

Still no sick kids here. Is it possible we've missed it? I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch. Anyone know the incubation period of the flu?

We let Darcy stay up the other night to watch "The Grinch" (the cartoon not the whacky Jim Carrey version). It's been one of my favourites since I was a kid. We asked her questions throughout to see if she was getting the storyline or not and she really seemed to be understanding what the story was all about.

Then a commercial came on during the movie for a video game for kids her age that has a bike for the kid to ride on to play the game. She took one look and said, "Do you want to buy that bike for me? I don't have an inside bike."

Maybe she didn't quite get it after all.

Update

So far, the kids still aren't sick. I hope it stays that way.

I called the city this morning and talked to the woman responsible for the community programs. I asked her if there was a policy in place about sick children and there doesn't seem to be one. I explained Saturday's situation to her and she was pretty shocked that things would happen that way. She said it had never come up before, probably because most parents wouldn't send a sick child back into the class, most parents' instincts would be to get the sick child home. "Oh, you just threw up? Why don't you go and run around some more?" That's not really how most people think.

She said she would talk to the supervisors at all the centres to make sure all the teachers are informed that sick children should not be participating in their programs. She also let me know that there is a supervisor on duty at all times and if I have any concerns in the future that I should talk to the supervisor at the centre. I didn't realize that, so I'm glad to know I have that option in the future. The mom in question really isn't an approachable person and she just wouldn't get why I'm concerned. I know her response would be for me to take Darcy out of the program instead of her taking her kid home.

So I feel much better after that conversation and will handle things differently next time.

You Can't Win

The day care at our church has a fundraiser every year before Christmas where they stay open late on a couple of Friday nights and watch kids and give them supper all for $7.50 per kid for three hours. This gives parents a night to go out and get some shopping done. Well, we usually just go out for dinner, but you can do whatever you want with your cheap babysitting night.

Last night was one of those nights. Darcy has gone the last couple of years and she's really loved it. They have great crafts and activities lined up and she looks at it like a Christmas party. She doesn't even realize that she's at a day care. We had her all signed up and ready to go until we got a phone call yesterday while we were eating lunch. It was the assistant supervisor from the day care letting me know that there is a terrible flu going through the day care right now. Lots of kids have gotten it bad. Most of the kids who were signed up were kids who are already at the day care every day so they've already been exposed to the virus. They wanted to warn me because Darcy isn't there normally so she hasn't been exposed. Of course we decided to keep Darcy home instead of risking her getting sick. She was really disappointed, but she survived.

This morning was her weekly gynmastics class. I took her there and then halfway through the class one of the teachers came out with another kid whose shirt was all wet. The teacher told her mother that she had thrown up on herself during class. The mom took her into the bathroom where she threw up again and then the mother sent her back into gymnastics. She later said the kid had been sick before she came. Then why was she there? This mother is not one of our favourite parents in this class and her decision to bring her sick daughter this morning isn't helping her case any.

After class, while I was putting Darcy's coat on her, the sick kid came over and put her face in Wesley's car seat before I could keep her away from it. At least the mother snatched her out of there, but I don't know if the damage was done or not.

So I'm prepared for two sick kids. I bought some preventative stuff for Darcy but I don't know if it will work or not. I'm really praying that it does! Today was Nick's first day back to work. I don't want to start my time on my own with the flu in the house. We should have just sent her to the party!