Winter Is Coming

Brr ... it's cold out there.
Fall is officially - and weather-wise - here. Can winter be that far behind?

Re-learning the Alphabet

In the Pooh Adore.Ables Pooh Blocks book, complete with three wooden blocks, Winnie the Pooh asks readers, in this case my son, if he can count his blocks A, B, C just like Pooh does.

Well, no he can’t.

Because some genius in the manufacturing of the book put the blocks in the wrong order.

So when Pooh asks my son if he can stack his blocks in A, B, C, we can only stack the blocks in A, C, B. And when Piglet asks us to stack our blocks One, Two, Three, we can only stack them One, Three, Two. That is the same with shapes and the picture blocks.

Reading this book is frustrating now. Imagine what it will be like when my son is trying to figure out his A, B, Cs or One, Two, Threes.

Way to go Random House.

Trouble With Disposables

So much for 12 hours of leakage protection.

For my son, Pampers 12-hour disposable diapers keep him and his outfits dry only some of the time and then only a few hours.

This is my second foray into the world of disposable diapers buying and I haven’t had that much luck.

My first attempt was with Wal-Mart’s brand. I returned them after having to change my son twice in the night and leaving him wet the rest of the time.

I told the customer service person at Wal-Mart that you obviously get what you pay for when you buy disposables.

Unfortunately, Pampers hasn’t been that great either. While my sister-in-law swears by them and said she has only changed my niece’s sheets about 15 times, I haven’t been so lucky.

Sometimes my son can go all night in one diaper, other times he is soaked - diaper, clothing, sheets and me - in a couple of hours.

Thinking perhaps I was not putting the diapers on correctly, I had my cousin-in-law give me the disposable diaper rules: 1) Point my son’s (and these were the words of a nurse in Ottawa) “junk” down and 2) pull out the outer layer for further wetness protection.

Both are done.

I know my friend, JA, is having the same diaper issues with her son and she, too, hasn’t found a diaper that will protect her little guy during the night.

Perhaps diapers are geared toward girls or were not designed for the heavy wetter.

Suggestions anyone?

Deals, Deals, Everywhere Deals

Where has Once Upon A Child been all my child’s life?

I discovered this store for the first time when my mom, son and I went shopping for clothing for me last week. We went to Once Upon A Child first because my now-mobile son requires baby gates.

I didn’t find baby gates but I found a basement full of beautiful clothes with fabulous prices.

I purchased a couple of onsies, a beautiful pair of lined overalls, a pair of Robbeez and my best deal - an OshKosh snowsuit for $20. I will now be doing most of my shopping here.

PS- The Newmarket location had some beautiful Halloween costumes.

Fabulous News

Excellent news - our son is healthy.

Effective immediately, our little guy comes off his heart drugs. His recent holter (a device that monitors his heart rate for a 24-hour period) showed thousands of beats and only one irregular one.

A special thanks to Dr. Joel Kirsh and the entire Sick Kids team for saving our son’s life and making him the healthy almost one-year-old that he is.

They’re Back ...

With the warm weather returning, the lowly mosquito has made a comeback.

This new batch of creatures are small, but mighty.

These blood-sucking beasts have bit me more times this fall than they have all summer.

PS-The above cartoon is by one of my favourite artists, Gary Larson (http://www.thefarside.com/)

Fashion Misfit No More?

I may not have to shop at Thyme Maternity after all.

Last week, my son, my mom and I spent a day shopping. I purchased my first real bra, and found some great deals for my son at my new favourite children’s store - Once Upon a Child.

I then spent the remainder of the day looking for jeans and tops for my work wardrobe that currently has neither in it.

By about 3 p.m. I was frustrated.

I finally went into Reitmans’s to try something, anything on.

The problem is I do actually like clothing but what seems to work on the mannequin and the store’s posters, doesn’t seem to work on me. I look at it and think, ‘I can’t pull off this look; I don’t know how.’

I guess I think people will look at me and think ‘She’s trying too hard.’

So with that in mind, I took my mom, my son and I left the mall and drove to the Real Canadian Superstore where I had hoped to be as successful as I was at No Frill where I found pants - that fit - for $5 each. Unfortunately, I found nothing.

Since we were within walking distance to some of the big box stores, we decided to stop in at Mexx. I had been in the mall version of the same store and wasn’t expecting much.

But then, the mall version didn’t have Sara.

Big box Mexx may be my new favourite store.

Sara was friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and she took my fashion issues in stride. She found me items on sale, matched them and told me what would work - and what wouldn’t - with each piece.

I found jeans and three tops at Mexx and left feeling that I not only got a good deal, but that I may not be a fashion misfit any longer.

Sing A Song Or Two

I like singing to my son but unfortunately he usually only hears a line or two and a lot out-of-tune humming as I can’t remember the lyrics.
I found a great website for people like me. Check it out: http://bussongs.com

Welcome Fall

Fall did indeed come overnight.

Yesterday we were in the lake. This morning it is grey and the road is covered with fallen leaves. The vegetables, particularly the cucumbers and green onions, look sad and tired, and everything except the root vegetables are crying out to be picked.

I guess it’s time to put away the shorts and tank tops and pull out the pants and sweaters.

Gag Me With A Spoon

I bought my son Heinz multigrain with mango, pineapple and pear baby cereal. I usually buy Nestle as that is the brand my grocery store carries.

I will be going back to Nestle after this cereal is finished.

There are many descriptive words that would describe the colour and consistency of Heinz’s cereal. Appealing and appetizing would not work. Disgusting, gagging and revolting do.

Too Sensitive

I just finished reading The Two Little Girls In Blue by Mary Higgins Clark.

Since having our son, I realize I shouldn’t be reading these types of books. I can’t get the images that Clark created out of my mind. I keep replaying how it must have felt to get a call from the police saying something had happened and arriving home to discover my children gone.

While I have always been sensitive to the ills of the world, it seems I have less ability to handle it now that my own beautiful boy is here.

My husband and I watched the second Zorro movie the other night. I watched it pre-baby, but I must say I had a new perspective during this viewing. It made me physically sick when the bad guys discovered the baby alone, and what could have happened to the little guy if the mother lost the fight.

Perhaps it’s time for me to take a break from books and movies that involve children getting injured.

And it’s certainly time for me to enjoy my own little one. Good night.

Take That Labour Day

I haven’t been in school for more than a decade but Labour Day weekend still seems like summer’s last hurrah.

I still get that feeling that summer disappears the moment night closes over on Labour Day, and when I wake up that Tuesday morning fall will have arrived.

To shake off the notion that summer is over, my husband, son and I floated out on the lake on our air mattress, soaked in the sun’s still-strong rays and enjoyed a lengthy swim.

Labour Day is here and gone, but the Day family is still enjoying summer.

Shoe Shopping Time?

I hate shoes.

There. I said it.

I find shoe shopping a different kind of stress. There is a lot of pressure in shoe shopping. After trying on dozens of pairs, each of which fit differently, I end up buying the ones I think are the most comfortable. The pressure comes when you bring them home, wear them outside once and realize they aren’t as comfortable as they were when you were in the store.

In addition, I am picky when it comes to shoes.

I don’t like anything with a heel; I don’t like chunky shoes; I don’t like draw-attention-to-myself shoes; I don’t like bright-coloured shoes.

I do like shoes that are versatile. In my late teens and early 20s, my Docs were my versatile shoes. I wore them with dresses, I wore them with jeans, I wore them with work clothing.

As I no longer in my teens, Docs cannot be a versatile shoe, however, I still hope to one day own shoes that are not only nice to look at, are comfortable, reasonably priced and have the ability to be worn with both jeans and semi-dressy clothing.

Of course the last time I went shoe shopping with friend MM, I spent the afternoon throwing up.

Coincidence? I don’t think so

Shopping Heartaches

I understand clothing is important. I appreciate the fact that a nice-dressed person may have an advantage.

But that doesn’t stop the fact I hate clothes shopping. And I hate it because when I go, I am frustrated, angry, broke, disappointed and left wondering who clothing manufacturers make clothing for.

Because it isn’t me. And it likely isn’t you either.

I will admit it is getting a little easier to purchase clothing, particularly pants, for me.

In the past, my Mom and Dad would bring a tape measure to ensure the pants would have the required 34-inch inseam. And often, being tall meant being fat, and properly fitting clothing was next to impossible to find.

I still struggle to find pants that are long enough and it’s a rare day when I can find pants that are long enough and are on sale.

I usually have to pay extra, perhaps for the length.

Top shopping is a little easier as I have a petit top half, however, as noted in this blog, I don’t have a chest, so many of the shirts are less than flattering as I have nothing to fill it with. And as I don’t want the world to see what I don’t have, many tops cannot be purchased.

I was really worried about finding clothes that fit when I was pregnant.
And then I discovered Thyme Maternity.

After leaving that store, I understood why most women like shopping.
It was fun. Things fit; were reasonably priced; and there was no shortage of items I wanted to take home. In addition, the sales staff was fun, helpful and knowledgeable.

I told them I was coming back for all my regular-clothing needs. I can simply roll down the belly or eat more chocolate.

Show of Respect

Our neighbours R&BJ are members of a hunt camp that is approaching 100 years old.

BJ was telling us there is a picture hanging on the wall of the bunker of some of the original members on the train on the way to the hunt camp. The members were dressed in suits and fedoras.

I like the fact that people used to dress up to go away; to visit neighbours; to attend the theatre; and otherwise make an appearance.

While I like the fact that I don’t have to be so formal when visiting a friend’s house (see Diana visiting Anne’s house in Anne of Green Gables), the idea of dressing up to attend the theatre or to visit someone special is nice. It shows respect. Perhaps it's time to bring back dressing up.

Going With The Flow

For the first time in 10 months our son is sick - OK, outside of the heart thing.

Our son has an ear infection, which has caused a cold complete with sneezing and a cough that has deepened and created a raspy voice.

Despite my best intentions to keep our son drug-free, he is heart medication, amoxicillin, Tempra and vitamin D.

It goes to show you when you have kids, you have to go with the flow.