Happy Halloween

Paging Dr. Topolski, Dr. Topolski you are needed in the OR stat! This year we decided to take Truman trick-or-treating with his girlfriend Grace. Truman was dressed as "Dr. Topolski" the surgeon, or vet...we really hadn't decided. Morrie was a lion (like every year) and Grace was a chicken. If Truman was a vet he'd have his fair share of animals to operate on! We managed to go to a total of three houses in the span of an hour, but met a few other parents in the neighbourhood who had children our age.

Truman had fun running on the street and had no desire to be carried. He wasn't sure what to make of all the strangers we met in weird costumes. I wore a mask with feathers which I think freaked him out a little. I even tried Morrie's costume on Truman at some point in the evening.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

14 Months

Yesterday Truman turned 14 months! Seriously, time is passing us by so quickly, especially since I returned to work. I can't believe I have been back now for almost a month and I think as a family we are in a nice routine. It breaks my heart to think of what little time we have together and I eagerly wait for the weekend to arrive. Truman is loving day care these days and runs to his room every morning. Makes things much easier on me!

In the evenings when we are together, Truman tries to make as much mess as possible. He loves to throw toys all over the place and delights in the noises he can make. He never tires of putting things in a box only to dump everything back on the floor again. Every cupboard contains a new surprise, something special to discover. He loves to hide in crevices and play peek-a-boo. He is my little monkey and has trouble sitting still, even for a moment!


The most surprising thing to me is the Truman has become a picky eater, well a picky eater at home. His teachers tell me constantly what a good eater he is, but come dinner time he would rather throw his food on the floor and play with it than eat it. Maybe he is testing his boundaries with me? Or, maybe he isn't that hungry? Hmmmm....I need to investigate further.

Truman is getting another molar, is it possible? I think he has gotten at least one or two new teeth every week for the past few weeks. You wouldn't know it from his moods or behaviour....thank goodness!

Single Motherhood

This week my dear husband is away on business and I am a single mom. Surprisingly, so far so good! Not that this is the first time I have been home alone...but the first time I have been home alone for this long with a toddler! Morning number one was a little tough trying to get ready while Truman pulled everything out of every drawer in the house. Morning number two I got a little more organized and ensured that Truman was kept busy while I finished getting ready. We will see what tomorrow will bring.

Our evenings have been quite busy...Tuesday night we went to the Annual General Meeting at our daycare. Truman had a great time at the potluck dinner. He went up to all of his teachers and demanded hugs and ate food of their plates. He also loved running around the room with a chicken finger in each hand. Tonight, my parents came over for dinner and we then took Truman and Morrie for a nice walk. Tomorrow night aunt Misty will be staying with us until Saturday. Thank goodness for aunt Misty!


Here are some pictures of Truman after his bath this evening.

A Belated Thanksgiving Feast

Tonight we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family....I know it is a few weeks late, but my parents were both away and this was the first weekend that we could all get together as a family. And what a feast we had! Truman (and Jerry) especially loved the pumpkin cheesecake Tina baked. Mom - I noticed the extra cake you kept feeding my little one!!

While at my parents, Truman had a whole new place to discover as a moving toddler. He loved playing the organ, opening all the cupboards, walking up and down the stairs, and pushing the garbage can all over the house. What a busy time for all. Of course, Truman enjoyed entertaining everyone at dinner. Morrie feasted on whipped potatoes and anything else that ended up on the floor from Truman's tray!

Girl?

Over the last few weeks Truman has been identified as a girl...I have been getting more and more comments like "she really likes that" and "oh look at her go!". Comments like these are understandable when a child is a few weeks or even a few months, when it can be hard to tell, or if the child is wearing gender-neutral colours. My child is always dressed like a boy. Well, except for the time I dressed him in a pink button down Polo shirt, and maybe then I could understand. But I attribute it to be a lack of taste since pink is the new blue for men. Anyways, my belief is, if you are unsure, keep the gender terms out of it. How hard is it to say "Oh! Your baby really seems to enjoy music", or "How old is your baby?". Besides, Truman looks like a BOY!!! Always has! OK, maybe the kid needs a hair cut, but he still looks like a boy...

So, what have we been up to? This weekend we took Truman to his first music class. He enjoyed running around the room, trying to open the door and maybe sat down (read: held down) log enough t0 enjoy some of the songs. He was too busy trying to cozy up to the instructor and play with all the kids.

We were bad parents on Sunday and skipped swimming lessons and decided to take a nice long walk instead. I miss walking everyday with Truman, I do try to get out often, but not as much as when I was home.

Last weekend Truman was able to identify an apple and name it! We were such proud parents! His new favourite thing to do is imitate Morrie and eat food particles off the floor and high chair. Nice! Although he is also into hugging Morrie as part of our morning ritual.

Truman's Oopa (my father) came home from Europe today and brought such beautiful gifts for him. Thank you everyone! The gifts were beautiful and he loves them already! Truman was a little distant from his Oopa at first, but by the end of the evening he had Oopa playing "row row row your boat" with him, which seems to be these days his favourite song. He will take us by the hands and say something that sounds like "row" and start rocking back and forth. Adorable!

Turkey Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank goodness the weekend of gorging is almost over. Truman tried pumpkin pie for the first time this evening and loved it!

Friday night we had a wonderful dinner with Grandma, Grandpa and Baba. Truman decided it would be great fun to touch everything in site in Grandma's neighbourhood. Truman was running up and down the street while we were waiting for Jerry and Grandpa to get home.

Saturday we met up with Pam, Ashu and Ana-Sophia for brunch at our favourite place, the Pickle Barrel! Truman was well behaved until the end of the meal when he was bored of sitting in his high chair any longer! Ana-Sophia was an angel and slept through brunch.

Today we started swimming lessons again and Truman had fun splashing around with his daddy. He had no trouble putting his face in the water and almost put his head under without any fear! This afternoon we took the kids to the park to let them run around. I am not sure who was more excited, Morrie or Truman. Truman now starts "barking" when he sees another dog...it's so adorable!

Truman is getting a few more molars, two which are peeking through which will bring him up to twelve teeth. Although, all his molars are on one side. He doesn't seem to be bothered by them, except that he is enjoying biting on everything, including me. Something we have to remedy sooner rather than later.

Blame it on Heroes

Blame it on Heroes! I apologize for not updating the blog sooner, but my nights have been occupied by trying to catch up with the series. Finally, I am up to date and ready to blog again.

So, let's see, where do I begin? I started back at work on Monday, and honestly after two days I feel as though I never left! Truman is adjusting better to day care (although he still gets rather upset when we drop him off in the morning). At least he no longer screams when I pick him up in the afternoon. Our nights are spent playing and hugging non-stop. My little one has definitely become more clingy since he has started day care. It is still so hard to leave him, but we are both adjusting to the changes.

On Saturday, we went to Tim Horotn's for our weekly bagels and then ventured to a garage sale in the neighbourhood. In the afternoon, we went house hunting and then we headed to Oakville to meet Troy. Congratulations Scott and Myriah! We were so excited to meet the newest addition of the Sullivan clan. Troy is a beautiful baby and did not make a peep the entire evening. Mom and Dad are both doing well and look great.

On Sunday, Truman and Jerry came downtown with me while I ran for the cure with Tina and Misty. Truman enjoyed cheering on all the runners. Later, we met up with Ryan, Rebecca, and Jake and decided to take advantage of the nice weather and went out for dinner on the patio at one of our favourite restaurants. The boys, as always were angels and had a lot of fun sharing their dinner.

Play Date

Last weekend we went over to the Starkman's for a little play date. For those of you who have not seen the Starkman play room - honestly it is like going to Gymboree and the kids have a blast! Truman and Jake had fun "parallel playing" (Jerry's new favourite term)...although in these shots it looks as though Jake is trying to show Truman something!

Today we finally figured out why Truman has been a little grumpy over the last week. All this time I thought it was a combination of teething and day care. Last night Truman had a low grade fever and continued to have it until this morning. We then realized that the cause of all this discomfort is most likely from the MMR immunization. Needless to say, I did not bring him to day care this morning and we will be spending the day together. Good excuse for me!

Congratulations to Lori and Andrew with the birth of their first son Gavin on Friday September 14th. We can't wait to meet him!

School Days

Truman started day care last week, which was incredibly difficult for me. It was strange not having him with me and terribly lonely. I constantly worried if he was alright and to be honest I didn't even leave him in school for long. On the second day, they asked me to leave and supposedly he fell asleep right away and when I came back to get him he was just fine. This week he has figured things out a little more and starts to panic as I put him in his highchair (he knows I am going to leave him). Truman has had a much harder time the last few days, and I am doing much better. Poor thing is also fighting a cold and has yet another tooth coming in. We'll see how the next few days go. I hope he starts enjoying day care. Now....what to do with all this free time?

Labour Day Weekend

The last long weekend of the summer has passed us, how very depressing. I love summer and will miss the warm weather, al fresco dining and water parks (my love for water parks only developed this year because of my little Truman). So, how did we spend the weekend?

Saturday morning I took Truman to Tim Horton's ("TH") for our weekend bagels. We were not joined by Emily, Grace and Mark, nor were we joined by Jerry. But nonetheless Truman had a great time smearing cream cheese in every crevice possible. Late Friday morning we attended Jake's first birthday party. HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY JAKE!!! Truman had fun in the ultimate play room and devoured his special cupcake. Truman would sincerely like to apologize for also eating some of Jake's cupcake as well. Unfortunately, I did not manage to get a picture of the birthday boy, how very sad. We then headed to the Sullivan's where we were joined by the Thornton's, CK (who was visiting from Cincinnati) and Kevin (whom I have not seen in over a year). I think we (the families who have children) may have tipped the scales in helping CK decide not to have children. As you can imagine it was a busy house with many little children running and screaming about!

Sunday afternoon once Jerry returned from golf we headed downtown to the Eaton Center so that Truman could work on a much needed factum. He managed to get it done quickly so that Jerry and I did not have to spend too much time at the Eaton Center! Later that evening we took Truman out for dinner on a patio and then to Mel Lastman Square to do some dancing and running around. Truman fell asleep so quickly after a hard day of work!

This morning we went to the zoo with Nanny, Oopa, Aunt T, Uncle Pat and Aunt Misty. Truman loved walking around and checking out the animals. Mostly he loved the water park and had a great time, despite falling within the first few seconds. We then headed to Nanny and Oopa's for a BBQ - delish!

Later this afternoon we had a yummy dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandpa and Truman had such a great time playing with the hose, we had to strip Truman down because he was soaking wet. Truman did not seem to mind and wanted to continue to play in the water. Our little fish. He looked especially classy wearing just a diaper and a towel at dinner!

A Year in Review

A year ago today, my precious little boy was born into this world. During labour, he put up a good fight to stay in his safe, warm home, but in the end, mom won and he was finally in my arms. Truman is as strong willed now as he was that day! In that sense he has not changed at all. Even though I was exhausted and in a lot of pain, I was never happier.

When we were finally allowed to bring Truman home our lives were full of "firsts" and we had a lot of learning to do. We were learning how to breastfeed, how to change diapers, how to bathe a squirmy newborn and most of all we were learning all about our son. Truman was also learning all about us. I can remember our first night home like it was yesterday. Jerry and I decided to go out for a little bit with Truman, despite my instincts telling me to take it easy and just be at home. I was just in a hospital bed for four days and was dying to be on the move. For those who know me, I don't like to stay still for too long! I paid for this little adventure of ours, but looking back, it was worth it (sorry honey, it probably didn't help you in the end). Our first night of trying to sleep did not go so well. Jerry and I were up every half hour or so, trying to console our young son. The next night we discovered co-sleeping! Finally both Truman and I were able to get some sleep, but my poor husband, the worrier that he is could not get any sleep despite being in the basement. Any sound he heard he came running up the stairs to see if his family was alright.



Our little man was a hungry, hungry hippo. He could eat, and eat some more and never seemed to be full. Especially at night when I felt as though I was feeding him for hours, and then he would still manage to finish an entire bottle of formula. Still to this day, my little boy can eat any other one year old under the table. He loves food, but then again, who in the Topolski-Braun household doesn't?

My first TSN turning point came at the six week mark, when my doctor told me I was as good as gold and could return to my normal life. I think the first thing I did was hop in the car and just drive. I was so excited to take the stroller out by myself. I was on a new high which lasted many, many months. My energy levels increased and I felt like a new woman. My parents no longer had to come every day to help me (although I am totally indebted to them and I don't know what I would have done without them those first few weeks). Truman and I started attending classes, going for long walks, and having a lot of nice quiet time. Did you believe that? Quiet time? Hardly! My little Tdot has been very active since the beginning and loved to be in my arms or the Baby Bjorn. I don't know what Jerry and I would have done without the baby carrier. Until about three months Truman was sometimes a little difficult and was a fussy baby. At about 4pm every afternoon, or so it seems in retrospect he cried until he started his cluster feeds at 7pm, unless of course I popped him into the carrier or swing. Both which seemed to soothe him. Was he colicky? I go back and forth on this every day. How can one be sure?

Our second and final TSN turning point came just after we returned from Orlando, so that was at around three months. My little one turned into the happiest fellow. He smiled at everyone and flirted with anyone who looked in his direction. Truman is the same way today, when we are out and about I can't tell you how many people stop me and exclaim what a happy baby I have. Now, I don't want to mislead my readers, he can also be a very cranky baby. But truly I think that I am lucky!

At four months, to our surprise, Truman started teething. It was Baba who predicted this correctly. Baba has called a lot of milestones, and eventually I learned to trust her instincts! Not only did one tooth come to the surface, about two days later we had another one! Then, his teeth kept coming in, one after the other until he had his full set. He just recently had one of him molars come in.

We continued to enjoy our classes over the winter months. We went to Salsa Babies (our favourite), Baby Mother Goose, Yoga (which was a complete bust), baby massage, Making the Connection (another bust), gymboree (another favourite), swimming, and I am sure there may be more that I am forgetting. Although, the most important past time activity for me was walking with my friend Emily and her daughter Grace. This is when I was able to talk to someone about my parenting issues, as Grace is two months younger than Truman. Or, when Truman was getting a little frantic, it was a great way to get out of the house for awhile. As Emily and I increased our walks, my addiction to Starbucks also increased around the same time. Coincidence? I think not! We always liked to have a destination to go to, and it usually ended up being Starbucks. The amount of money I have spent....anyways.....

Just before six months we started Truman on solids and he of course loved it. I have learned from this experience to trust my instincts and not go always go with recommendations. I had noticed that Truman seemed hungrier just leading up to this point and he was always watching us eat. He ended up losing weight between his five and six month appointment. I have learned now to listen to my gut.

Our little man has also be an avid traveller over the last year. We took him to Florida, New York (a couple of times), Dominican Republic, and just recently Boston. The family had planned to travel to Europe this past summer, but hopefully soon we will be able to visit our families. Both great-grandmothers are anxiously waiting to meet him!

Truman has many likes that we have discovered over the last year. He likes the water and can't get enough of it whether the water is in a fountain, waterfall, faucet, pool, or tub. He goes crazy and wants to get his hands wet. That is, until someone else is in his pool and then he is not a happy camper. He also loves food, which I think I mentioned earlier. His favourite foods being cheese, yogurt and Tim Horton bagels.

As time went on, Truman learned to roll, sit up on his own, finally learned to crawl and then just recently started walking. He always liked to stand and for the past few months really enjoyed me walking him around. A part of me now misses those days where he depended on me more. I seem never to be satisfied! Truman has always been a verbal kid and started babbling early on. He must take after his father who also enjoys talking! Everyday I enjoy hearing what new word he may utter.

So, here begins the next chapter of our life. On Tuesday Truman will start day care and I will be heading back to work in about a month. Life is about to change once more. There was a time when I could not even think about leaving my son, but as the months have gone by, I am slowly letting go. Just a little.

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet boy who has changed my life in so many ways, and has helped me grow. Although we won't be spending our days together, you will always be in my heart and in my soul. I love you.

Truman's First Birthday

Today we celebrated Truman's first birthday and had a "jungle" of a time! What a day, full of both excitement and emotion. Unfortunately, the weather did not hold up for us and we spent most (read: all) our time inside but a good time was had by all! Truman wanted to thank everyone for all the gifts and for spoiling him.

Truman seemed to enjoy his party and loved all the attention he was receiving! Grandma spent a lot of the day walking him around, and around, and around some more. Thanks Wanda for all of your help! Truman was very interested in his cake and took the toy monkey off right away and wanted to have a taste! He seemed to enjoy his cake as he dove right in, face first. The sugar effects lasted well into the evening, and he was not interested in napping at all. I don't think I have EVER seen my little one so excited before! Nor has he ever had so much energy!

I want to send out a special thanks to both Tina and Misty for all the time and energy they spent on helping Truman's day be so special. THANK YOU!! As well, an extra special thanks to Tina for making a spectacular cake! WOW!!! Truman feels so special that he had one of his very own!

Truman is definitely turning into a little boy and I am noticing it more and more every day. Today he said "light" for the first time, even though it sounds more like "li". Or, I could also be a crazy mommy and am making nothing into something!

On Friday we took Truman for his 12 month check up and he is 21 1/2 pounds and 72 cm, which means he has shrunk 2cm from his last visit, and went from the 90th percentile to the 10th in a few months. Hmmmm.....I'm assuming that a mistake was made somewhere! Jerry was so excited to turn around the car seat that he locked himself in the car while doing it.

Peek-A-Boo

Truman's new favourite game to play is peek-a-boo! He thinks hiding is quite fun, but doesn't want me to be out of his sight for too long.

Truman has been extra cuddly over the last few days. I think all the fussing is because he is getting another molar. Poor thing! Let me tell you it's not so easy being with a little toddler when he's teething! He doesn't seem happy unless he's in my arms!

Morrie has not been himself since he returned from the hospital last night. He had surgery on his tongue and we are hoping that it is only calcification and not anything more serious. I think he is still in a lot of pain. He too has been extra cuddly and wants a lot of attention. Tonight, he decided to sleep in Truman's room under his crib (which is a first). Misery likes company?

A Trip to Boston, Walking, and a New Molar!

Saturday morning we began our Boston adventure. We did however go to Tim Horton's with Emily, Mark and Grace before driving to Buffalo. Truman really wanted to have one last date with Grace before he left for a few days! The drive to the Buffalo airport was long and painful...at one point we thought we were going to miss our flight. Luckily there was little traffic at the border and we had a little less than an hour at the airport. We flew to Boston on a tiny propeller plane (Dash 8 aircraft). Truman was great on the flight and he insisted that we read him book after book after book!

We arrived in Boston fairly painlessly and because of my mommy craziness, I refused to take a taxi to the hotel (because there were no car seats) and insisted that we take a subway. I can't tell you how many stairs we had to climb while carrying our luggage and Truman in his stroller. I thought Jerry was going to kill me! But, at least we got a great workout in!

On Sunday morning, Truman decided he was ready to walk! He would just let go of my hands and walk! It was such a proud mommy moment for me! Now, he wants to walk everywhere! After practising walking we began our day of sight seeing. We decided that the best way to see Boston was to walk the city and explore. We headed to Harvard first to show Truman where he will be going to university, specifically Harvard Law School (but really Truman, no pressure!). What an amazing campus! Although I think Western was as close to an "American" type campus as it gets...it was NOTHING like Harvard. WOW!

We then headed to Quincey Market/Faneuil Hall to check things out. I was a little disappointed in the lack of chachkas and the more mainstream type stores....does there have to be a GAP everywhere? We then decided to walk back to our hotel, but to take a long, walk to tour the city. We walked part of the Freedom Trail, Boston Commons, and then down Newbury street.

Monday we took Truman on his first train ride to Salem! I have never seen Jerry so excited to visit a place! We went on a witch tour and went into about a dozen cheesy shops. We visited the cemetery and the oldest candy store in America! Unfortunately, we missed our "spell castings" tour, Truman was really looking forward to learning some spells to teach his friends at day care. I tried to get a picture of a witch, but I could not catch one on film.

I noticed on Saturday morning that Truman had something white poking out of his gums near the back of his mouth. I touched the area and felt something quite sharp. OMG! Truman was getting a molar! It didn't seem to bother him too much, but on Tuesday night he woke up at 4am and would not stop screaming. I tried to console him as much as possible, and we gave him some Tylenol and then he finally fell asleep (on me, and I think I drooled on his head!). Poor thing! I am so happy that his pain only lasted one night! For both our sakes.

After a nice swim on Wednesday morning, we wanted to see some more of Boston, and do some more touristy type things. We first headed to the Boston aquarium. We saw three types of penguins, seals, sharks, turtles and many, many fish! Truman had a great time looking into the tanks and trying to touch the fish. He also enjoyed walking everywhere and would fight Jerry and I when we would try to put him back in his stroller. Our little one is definitely exerting his independence!

We then headed to Fenway Park to take a look at the baseball stadium. There was a game on when we got there, but because we had the stroller, we didn't attempt to go in to watch. It was too bad, but when Truman goes to Harvard we'll have many chances to catch a game!

Wednesday night we met up with Erin for dinner as she has been working in Boston for the last 6 months. It was a great meal, and Truman was a complete gentleman, despite all the food he had on his face and hands!