Geneva Park

Last week our Belgian family (Anya, Wolf and Joachim) came to Canada for a visit. We are so happy to have them here and to spend some quality time with them. We have especially enjoyed being with Joachim. It is a great chance for the two cousins to get acquainted. The last time they met they were only a few months old!



Jerry, Truman and I just go back from Geneva Park where we had a mini vacation this past weekend. For those of you who have not heard of Geneva Park, it is on lake Couchiching, and if lake Couchiching sounds familiar it may because you have visited Casino Rama (or maybe Orillia). We were kindly invited by Wanda, David, and Baba and we had a wonderful time.

Joachim and Truman had a lot of fun together....splashing in the rain, destroying sandcastles at the beach, playing at the Shire, and playing the piano. There were only a few altercations between the two, the most serious one involving a truck. Truman loves to ask about Joachim but pronounces his name Yo-Ke-Keem. Too cute. By the end of the weekend, Truman knew every one's name and after we left, Truman has been asking about Anya, Wolf and Yo-Ke-Keem non-stop!

Meal times were probably the most difficult for both sets of parents. Joachim was more interested in watching other people, and Truman would rather be an actor then eat. I can't say the same for myself as I probably ate too much over the last few days. The desserts were too good!

There were a lot of activities at Geneva Park, but we seemed to have stuck to the basics....long walks in the mornings, playing at the beach mid-morning, playing at the park in the afternoon, and then doing some sort of activity after dinner. It was a perfect amount of time for us to be away.

Anya, Wolf and Joachim come home tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully we will spend some more time with them before they leave to Alaska on Friday. Luckily, they will be returning to Toronto in August and will be staying with us (in our new home).

Happy Birthday Canada!

What a wonderful day we had celebrating Canada's birthday (OK, really we had a great day with friends and family and there was little acknowledgement of our nation's birthday), however, it was lovely nonetheless. We started our day with a visit to Grandma and David's house. Truman had a great time playing in the garden and he especially enjoyed kicking a ball around with David. We noticed that Truman had a bee stuck to the inside of his shirt. He wasn't crying so we didn't think he got stung, except Truman kept touching his bum and saying "my penis Mommy". So, I took another look and saw that he had a nice red spot on his bottom, but he didn't even shed one tear! Now we have to work on the anatomical parts.

Following our afternoon naps, which includes everyone in the household, not just Truman, we headed to Oakville to have a BBQ with the Sullivan's and Thornton's. The kid's had a great time on the Sullivan's new swing set (Scott we are very impressed that you put it together)...Truman especially enjoyed the slide, and for the first time in his life he liked being pushed on the swing!

On Sunday afternoon we went to St. Catherine's for Troy's Christening and Jerry and I became godparents, which is such an honour for us. We love all the Sullivan children and are very happy that we will be a part of their lives.

Later Sunday afternoon we had both sets of grandparent's over for a BBQ. While we were getting ready, Truman was counting cans in our refrigerator and he counted to 10! Jerry and I could not believe it! We are so proud of our little one! This continues to be such an enjoyable stage for me...I can't wait what he'll do next!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! I hope my dear husband enjoyed his special day although it did not include a game of golf either on the course or on the television. Maybe next year? This morning we went for bagels at Tim Horton's since it had been some time that we have been able to go as a family. A little later we headed to my parent's house so that I could spend some time with my father. We were soon joined by our newest arrival Avery and his parents.

Here's a pic of most of us...poor Truman did not want to sit still for this picture. He was too interested in trying to water the plants (or carpet on most attempts) and was attempting his escape from my arms.

Little Avery had a great time sleeping and eating....I was even lucky today to see him alert and with his eyes open. I loved holding him and I even tried to burp him. I feel as though have forgotten so much already about caring for a newborn....Tina and Pat are doing great and seem to have figured Avery out already. What naturals! Yesterday we started the day with breakfast at Lana, Mario and Masha's house. Masha is such a beautiful little girl, and I am so sad that I had forgotten my camera and wasn't able to take a picture of Truman and Masha playing together. Masha seemed very interested in Truman and watched him eat his bagel and cream cheese. She is going to love day care and Truman promises to show her around once she gets there.

Early Saturday afternoon we then went to the Starkman's for an outdoor BBQ and play date. Although all three of the kids liked playing with the water table at the beginning, Truman soon found the lawn mower, Jake loved walking Morrie, and Macayla was just happy to have the water all to herself! It was adorable watching the three of them eating lunch together on the picnic table....how much any of them ate, we'll never know...but Morrie did manage to get his share.

Avery's Arrival

My beautiful little nephew was born today, June 11th at 12:17am. Avery Michael Carter O'Brien weighed in at 6lbs 13oz. Mom and Dad are both doing well and are extremely happy. Tina, looked fantastic and had so much energy for such little sleep. I could not wait to see him, so I headed over this morning, but I will have to wait until tomorrow to hold him. We're hoping Avery will be discharged from the NICU Friday morning so the new family can begin their life together.

Tonight, Truman and I decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and have our dinner outside. I scared off a few caterpillars as Truman suddenly has a fear of them. One unfortunate fellow was crawling on his pants and mommy quickly had to exterminate the little critter.

I was feeding Truman a blueberry for dessert and by accident he bit my finger (which hurt quite a bit). He took my hand and kissed my finger, patted my head and said "OK, better?"...then hugged me....I guess it was his way of saying sorry??

Truman, Jerry and I spent last weekend at Wanda and David's house (as our home is currently on the market and we were having an open house. Anyone interested?). Wanda loved her grandson being around, and Truman rules now even his grandmother's house!

Wonderful Weekend

What a great weekend Jerry, Truman, Morrie and I spent together. On Saturday morning Truman slept in until 7:05am (aren't we lucky?), we then headed down to St. Lawrence Market to have breakfast and buy some goodies. Saturday afternoon we continued with our house hunt (we'll see if we're successful this week). Later we headed to the Thornton's to kick start the impending summer BBQ season.

The children had a fabulous time running around, climbing up and down the stairs (and up and down again - surprising no one fell off) and playing with one another. There were a few disputes with the ownership of some toys - but they quickly worked it out. Christine I think is ready to babysit and loved giving Troy lots of attention. Christine did tell me as we were leaving that she is ready to have another brother or sister...she already makes an excellent big sister to Dash.

Sunday we took Truman to his last gymnastics class where we recapped everything we learned over the previous eight weeks. We're still working on the head-stand, and maybe next semester Truman will be able to do it!! After class we went to our favourite breakfast place Steve's restaurant with the Starkman's and Perlin's. Truman and Jake have been going since they were about a week old. We're positive Steve makes the best grilled cheese sandwich in the city!

Later that afternoon, Nanny and Oopa came over for dinner - Truman was very excited to see them. We had a lovely BBQ and ate our dinner on the deck. We're looking forward to more meals outside.....I just hope that this weather keeps up.

I also wanted to congratulate my husband on getting a hole in one during his annual golf trip! My very own Tiger Topolski!!

Parent Teacher Meeting

Our boy is becoming quite demanding...look at his face in this picture. He was asking me to "open it" and he meant business!

On Saturday night Misty babysat for us while Jerry and I went to a wedding. Truman had spilled a little milk on the floor, he told Misty "clean up" and went into the bathroom to get some tissue, he came back to the living room, wiped up the milk, and then threw the tissue into the garbage. Like father like son!

Yesterday Jerry and I had our second parent-teacher meeting at Truman's day care. The first since he has moved to the Toddler Room. I was curious about his development and his relationships with the other kids. From what we were told he is very concerned about the other children and loves to give all of them hugs. His gross motor skills are advanced for his age (although I am surprised about this, and never noticed...bad mommy). His verbal skills are expanding every day and overall he is eager to learn. He loves circle time and and also enjoys using scissors (interesting). He likes to sing himself to sleep at nap time, and if a song comes on that he knows he will sing along. He also entertains his friends at lunch time by singing to them. Too cute! I guess we will have to continue with our music classes!

I was also curious if Truman was eating meat at day care. I always assumed he was since none of the teachers brought it to my attention. I have been a little concerned especially since the time I was feeding him chicken noodle soup and he took the chicken out of his mouth and declared "no chicken". I am relieved to hear that yesterday he ate two servings of sausage and today he ate five chicken nuggets. Hmmm....I wonder if it's my cooking?

Below is a picture of Truman's new favourite thing to do around the house. He loves to take the pillows off the couch and asks me to lay down so that we can play "sleeping". Too bad the game lasts only a minute at the most, especially on those days when I wasn't able to grab a second cup of coffee.

Where does the time go?

It's May and spring has finally sprung. We put away all the winter coats, hats, and mitts. We have started to spend more time outdoors. Truman and I have enjoyed being pulled by daddy around the neighbourhood in his red wagon. It is quite a site, but Truman won't sit in the wagon unless I am there with him, and I have to indulge him, especially after he'll say "Momma, sit down".

Truman has started to say more and more two word sentences, and the occasional three word sentence. He also enjoys singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" as well as a few other popular children's songs. I am so proud of him.

Truman is enjoying being in the Toddler Room at day care, especially now that his two friends, Brendon and Jake from the Infant Room have joined him. When I pick Truman up from school he has me sit down and read a few books to him and his friends. It has been the routine for the last week and today when I came through the door two of the kids had their books ready! Isn't that a pip?

Hola!

Early Friday morning, Truman, Jerry and I packed up the car and headed to the airport. We arrived just after 4am for our 6:20am flight to Holguin, Cuba. Our plan was for Jerry to drop Truman and I off at the terminal, Jerry would then pack the car and then meet us in line. When Jerry packed the car, to get all our items to fit, he had to take the wheels off our stroller. We get to the terminal, Jerry takes the stroller out of the car. Then, one of the wheels falls out and at that same moment before Jerry has a chance to retrieve it, the wheel is run over and destroyed. Busted!

Panic struck - how were we to go on this vacation without a stroller? We doubted we could buy a stroller in Cuba, so we started calling our friends with kids. Lucky for us Jeff and Bronna came through and Jerry raced to their house to pick it up. A big thanks to the Silver's for lending us their stroller. Truman got to wheel around in a pink stroller all week! Jerry drove so fast, we still had time to have breakfast before we boarded! I was just hoping that the rest of the trip would go better than it started.

The boys were great on the flight and on the hour long bus ride to the resort. I was surprised how well they did. We unpacked and got our selves settled into our new home for the next seven days. We got ourselves into a nice routine. We would go down to the beach in the morning after breakfast. Have a nice lunch at the restaurant on the beach. Then Truman and Jake would have their afternoon nap (which became my sun worshiping time). After siesta the boys would play in the pool. By that time, I was ready for my afternoon coffee (the lattes were delish). We'd get ready for dinner and then spend the evening on the porch while the boys slept.

At the beach, Truman and Jake loved destroying the sandcastles that we would create, in fact we couldn't make them fast enough. Jake was so brave - as he would run into the ocean or pool without any fear. Our little Truman was a little more cautious and by the end of the week he was a little more comfortable with both the pool and the ocean.



Unfortunately early Tuesday morning Truman vomited and had a slight fever. By the end of the day his fever increased and we decided to take him to the doctor, who recommended that Truman be put on antibiotics. He bounced back fairly quickly and was in good spirits. Later in the week, Jerry too came down with something and was fighting his cold for the rest of the vacation.

Other than all of the problems we encountered on our trip we had a great time travelling with the Strakman's and enjoyed our time in Cuba. The resort was child-friendly and the staff was very friendly. I think we would all recommend this resort to any family.

19 Months!

Truman yesterday insisted on wearing a clip in his hair (like mommy does). He had a little fit each time I tried to take it away from him and I tried explaining to him that only girl's wear hair clips. Luckily I managed to distract him before we went out, but I did capture a picture of it.

Today we went to our first gymnastics class - which basically entails children running around and playing on all sorts of equipment. I was beat by the end of the class and just about ready for a nap. Truman seemed to enjoy it, especially music time, where they sang three versions of the itsy bitsy spider (which is Truman's favourite song these days). Jerry actually has been singing it to Truman over the phone. Below, is a picture of him doing the actions to the song.

Only 3 more days until Jerry comes home.....it can't come soon enough!

Truman's New Seat

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Truman refuses to have anything to do with his highchair. I think it has a lot to do with the fact at day care, he sits at a little table with his friends. At home, he doesn't understand why he can't sit at the dinner table with me. The high chair has not been used for days. This evening I propped Truman up on a pillow so that he could actually reach his food.

Truman's new favourite place to sit is on the little garbage can in the bathroom. He likes to squeeze between the sink and the toilet and just sit. He never sits for very long, but does it whenever he has the chance.

You may have noticed in many of the recent pictures on the blog that Truman often has his soother in his mouth. Too often for me, but it is like he can't function without it. Funny enough, he never has it at day care not even to nap! So, once Jerry returns (because honestly, I don't have the strength to do it right now) we are reducing the usage time of Truman's soother. I am sure there is going to be a lot of complaining in our future.

Happy Easter!

Truman and I headed to my parent's house yesterday so that we could spend the rest of the weekend with Nanny and Oopa. Truman was so excited to see Morrie and I think Morrie too was excited to see us.

Earlier today Alexis and Alison came over for a little play date. Both Truman and Alexis did a great job of sharing their food and toys. I didn't hear "mine" too many times.

Here is a picture of Truman working diligently on the computer this morning before he started his Easter Egg Hunt.

Tina, Pat and Misty joined us at my parent's this afternoon for a feast. I think that I am still full from the meal. Truman had fun playing with both his aunts, and his uncle Pat. He had Oopa and Nanny take him up and down the stairs a few times, which I think tired them out!

Truman has seemed to have lost his appetite a little this weekend and has been napping quite a bit. He had two naps this weekend that were over 3 hours in length. Very unusual for our usually active fellow. Hopefully nothing is bothering him and he's only going through a growth spurt. Not that I should be complaining....it has been giving me a lot of time to myself.

Only 1o more days until Jerry is home!

Mine!!

Truman learned a new word this week...."mine". Now, everything is "mine". I guess the positive thing here is that he hasn't said "NO" in awhile. I'm sure that he picked up this word from another child at day care. Why couldn't he have picked up a nicer word???

Truman now likes to sit at the dinner table and wants nothing to do with his high chair. This game never lasts long because my little one refuses to sit still, then Mommy loses patience, he gets popped in his high chair, insert tantrum, wait for the calm, and finish dinner.

Life has been hectic over the past week and I am looking forward to the fact that tomorrow is a holiday. It will also be great to have the extra day together. I'm hoping that Truman will sleep in, at least until 7am....please!

Day 2

So far we have survived day one and two without daddy. I have managed to so far stay on top of things. I have been able to drop off Truman at day care earlier than usual (which then means I am on time for work). I have tried to stay organized, preparing for the day ahead. Hopefully this trend will continue. I have to be honest, I was extremely tired tonight after a stressful day at work, then running around when we got home. Only 13 more days until Jerry comes home.....and 15 more days until we leave for Cuba!

Tina and Misty came over last night, which helped me out a lot, not to mention that it is always nice to have company. I have had so many offers from friends and family - offering me babysitting services or for me to drop Truman off if I need a little break. I am so lucky. Even Baba made dinner for Truman for a few evenings to help me out - how truly wonderful! Thank you so much Wanda for dropping the food off!

Auf Wiedersehen Dada

Jerry left tonight for Germany for 2 1/2 weeks. It will be awfully lonely and quiet at home and Truman and I will miss him terribly. I promised Jerry that I would be more diligent in updating the blog - so I am going to try to do so at least every other day. A tall order, since I have been neglecting my duties as of late. Here's a picture of Truman sitting in Jerry's suitcase - he liked helping his father pack (because he loves putting things away, my neat son).

Truman has started to enjoy singing songs - his top three favs, in no particular order are 1) Baa Baa Black Sheep, 2) Old McDonald, and 3) Itsy Bitsy Spider. He will request a particular song and have me sing it over, and over again. Why do children not tire of the repetition?

Jerry and I have also been trying to be strict with "please" and "thank you". Truman generally has it down, but sometime will mix "thank you" with "please". Although his "please" sounds more like "mease"...I'll take it! I am happy as long as he'll have good manners.

Here's a picture of Truman in his big boy chair, well really we just took off the tray to see if he would prefer sitting up at the table. I have been struggling lately in trying to get Truman into his highchair. After a messy dinner, we decided to put the tray back on the chair until Jerry and Morrie return. How do families with toddlers survive without a dog???

18 Months!

Today our little Truman passed two milestones - he turned 18 months and he graduated to the toddler room at school. We are so proud of our little Tdot. He has had a somewhat difficult transition to the toddler room over the past few weeks, but we'll see how Monday goes. Truman will miss his friends Brendon (Baba), Jake (Jake-Jake) and Logan (Lolo), who have formed a little clique (Lolo was only recently allowed to join). I am going to miss all the teachers in Infant Room 1.

Truman's favourite word lately is "NO"....he replies "NO" if I ask him if he wants breakfast, if he wants to get dressed for school, he will even say "NO" if I ask him if he wants to play with his toys! The only thing that he won't say no to is a second cookie. Luckily Truman is learning to be a polite young man and will say both "please" and "thank you". We'll see how long that lasts.

Update

OK, so it has been a long time since I last updated the website. It feels like forever, and I have been so exhausted at night that I can't fathom writing even one line. So, what have we been up to? Well, earlier this month Truman had his surgery to put tubes in his ears. It was a long day for all of us, but I am happy to report that things seem like they have improved, especially in terms of Truman's behaviour, he has definitely been less cranky. We have a follow-up appointment in a few weeks to test his hearing again, and hopefully now he can hear at a more normal level. When we returned home from the hospital the poor thing was so hungry he ate from about 3pm until he went to bed non-stop. The nurse warned me not to feed him too much, but I couldn't deny him, and he ended up being just fine.

Truman, Jerry, Grandpa David and I went to the Auto Show on Sunday. I can't tell you how much Truman enjoyed going into the backseat and trunks of all the cars and trucks. He is going to love cars just as much as his father, or so Jerry hopes. David became even more smitten by Truman at the auto show as Truman said David's name for the first time. All other misdeeds to date have been forgotten. I had the biggest scare of my life however. I had to change Truman in the women's bathroom, and when we were finished, I put Truman down and before I knew it he was running out of the washroom screaming with joy at the top of his lungs. Thank goodness Jerry was there, I have never moved faster in my entire life.

On Tuesday night, Oopa babysat Truman and the entire time Truman sat at the front door whining and calling "Momma". He was so upset that we left, in fact the only thing that calmed Truman down was to sit and sulk in his crib. He didn't even want to watch cartoons, which is one of his favourite past-times these days. I am hoping that this is just a quick stage that he is going through.

Peanut Butter Face

Truman just loves to pose when I bring out the camera. He loves having his picture taken and as you can see, our little one is fairly photogenic! I just had to take these peanut butter pics the other morning.

His personality is in full bloom these days. He loves to talk (although I really think he just likes the sound of his voice). I have noticed a few "shy" episodes when he encounters new people/situations. He has also started hiding on us. One morning this week when we were getting ready I was trying to find Truman so that I could put on his jacket. I looked in his room and couldn't see him, and then heard a giggle coming from the closet. Too cute! He hates when mommy is not in the room and you can hear Tdot scream down the street if I dare to leave the house without him!

We are still having challenges trying to get Truman to eat meat. This afternoon I fed him some soup which had chicken pieces in it. He freaked out, and I had to fish the chicken out with my fingers so that he would stop crying. Although, the previous night, he did eat spicy ground beef that we used for tacos! He is particular I guess.

Truman continues to be neat, today I foud him putting away all his books before we went to our music class. He likes to put "back" all his toys when he is finished with them. He dislikes having snow on his boots and insists on wiping it off. I often find him in the kitchen at day care helping his teachers clean, and they tell me as well, that he enjoys putting the books and toys "back". My little helper.