Zzzzzzzz

I've been up since 4am with that boy. Something's gotta give.

Bummer

My dad got laid off today. No warning, just a "there's the door buddy". I feel so bad for him, he's always been an exemplary and conscientious employee and at 57 he's too young to retire yet. Just when you get comfortable life kicks you in the ass. At least my dad is an optimist and I know he'll land on his feet. Doesn't make it suck any less.

OT

A week of computer problems has left me with a pile of cases chin high so I'm working some overtime to try and get things running smoothly again. Well, working is a relative term - I'm obviously not working *right now* :) but it's a strange feeling to be alone in my little hole when my office mates have left for the day. I won't, however, stay so late I miss the polls for today's federal election. I have to do my civic duty even though no one running in my riding represents my beliefs.

The saga of the sleepless wonder continues. Last night Jonah woke up at 1:15 (it was his second wakening of the night) but he wasn't crying - instead he was making a toneless aah...aah noise. I hoped (against hope) that he'd simply fall back asleep if I left him be. 1:20 C elbows me and asks me if I realize the baby is awake. 1:25 I give up and go into his room. I try rubbing his back quietly in the dark but he thinks it's time to party. I nurse him. I rock him. I walk with him. I put him down and rub his back. He wails. I rock and walk more. Put him down, more wailing. I nurse him more. He wakes up and wails as soon as I put him down. By 2 Im nauseous from exhaustion and J is still wide awake. I give him a sippy cup, put him in his crib and stand over him rubbing his back until he drifts off at 2:15. I tip toe out of his room and instantly he's wide awake and wailing again. Then C went in to rock and walk and rock and walk. It was after 2:30 before we were all asleep again. Yet this morning at 6:45 Jonah was wide awake and in a wonderful mood. I'm beginning to think he's not a baby but a covert experiment in sleep deprivation. What he really needs is a "lovey" to comfort him when he wakes at night but he hasn't liked anything I've tried yet. He hates blankies, he won't take a bottle or pacifier, he's disinterested in stuffed animals (even the gorgeous buttery soft purple bear that I was tempted to keep for myself). I'm tempted to give him one of my nursing bras but that might be hard to explain to the inlaws ;)

All right, enough belly aching and back to the grind!

Broken windows

About a year ago we noticed Katie's right eye turning in slightly, particularly if she was looking at something up close or if she was tired. It slowly, but steadily, worsened until we booked an appointment for her to coincide with her third birthday. The day we went for her appointment she was particularly difficult and the doctor had some trouble getting a good idea of the problem. At that time he figured she was far-sighted and the eye turned in when she tried to focus, he recommended watchful waiting and probably glasses in a year. We accepted that and life went on, but the problem became more and more pronounced. Finally C booked her a follow-up (less than 3 months after the initial appointment) because we were getting worried (in nearly every picture we've taken of her this past month her eye is noticeably turned). This time Katie was a delight, extremely cooperative and not fidgity at all. This time the doctor got a good read on her eyes. He says she's still far-sighted but more than that there's a problem with the muscle - strabismus (which is what we were worried about in the first place). So now we have to see a specialist who'll determine whether she needs glasses, patching or surgery.

I know this is a very common condition, and I know the odds of Katie needing surgery are quite low, and I know that even if she did need the surgery it's performed thousands of times every year with a remarkable success rate. None of that makes me feel much better. I can't help but worry. This is my precious little princess and the idea of someone hurting her kills me.

So begins the wait for a specialist...

The sorting hat says.....

I'm from Ravenclaw!

Hogwart's Sorting Hat Quiz

made by The Genki Gang

I'm not surprised. I've always thought, reading the books, that Ravenclaw would be where I'd want to go.

100 top grossing movies

Seen everywhere. Read mine. Movie's I've seen are bolded. Sad how many I own but haven't watched.

Good day

What a glorious day it was today, warm not hot, gentle breeze, sunshine, a perfect day for playing with the babes and getting nothing of mention accomplished :)

We moved Jonah's crib into the room he'll share with Katie last night, and their first night together went remarkably well. He woke up 3 times overnight but amazingly enough put himself back to sleep 2 of them. Katie slept through all of it. Even better, Jonah slept through Katie rolling around all night and getting up this morning (she was up just before 7, he slept until nearly 8!!). Here's hoping they continue that way!

Jonah has been showing interest in self feeding with a spoon, and some control, so I let him feed himself some yogurt this morning. I'm not sure how much actually got into his mouth.



As always, click for larger image.

Pissy

Man am I cranky today! I'm sure it's 75% exhaustion (baby was up twice last night for nearly 2 hours in total) and perhaps 15% frustration at some of the morons in my workplace but that other 10% - who knows where it's come from. I just want to crawl under my desk with a bag of doritos and growl at passersby.

Is that so wrong?

Hmmm... I think I just threatened to stab a doctor with my pen (in absentia of course since the doctor in question is several provinces away). Perhaps I need to medicate myself with sugar and carb ladened goodness?

Can't stop laughing

Thanks to Dawn for making me laugh so hard I cried.

Steve, Don't Eat It!

So. Damn. Tired.

I love my boy dearly but when is he going to become a better sleeper? He's slept longer than 5 hours only twice in 12 months, and I'm close to the breaking point. I'm headachy, my thought processes are fuzzy, my house is beyond a disaster area, I haven't picked up a book for pleasure reading or a crafty thing in months. I've read The No Cry Sleep Solution, I've followed all of the tips, he's definitely going to sleep more easily but still not staying asleep, and not settling himself when he wakes up in the night. I guess perhaps he's just going to be one of those people for whom sleep is always an issue, and for the most part he's fine during the day, active, happy, healthy, eats well, naps once in the afternoon for 2 hours. Perhaps weaning would help? I'm a believer in extended breastfeeding but honestly, after 4 straight years of TTC, pregnancy or breastfeeding I'm ready to have my body back to myself. Plus familial support for bfing has evaporated now that Jonah is 1. I don't know, I'm too tired to know what the answer is.

Warning Label

THIS WAY UP á

Valerie has fragile contents which may break!

Username:

From Go-Quiz.com

Work Ethic

What does work ethic mean to my generation? I have a decent job with the federal government in Canada, I have good job security, I'm adequately paid and I have lots of benefits. However, my job is unionized which means it's darned hard to get fired (not that I'm trying). My job is in a call center (although I'm not a phone operator, I'm a paper pusher), and the vast majority of people who work the phones are young (20-30 range) and have only a high school education. In Canada, to be making nearly $40,000 (which is what the phone people make) at 20, right out of highschool is unbelievable. Yet most of these people have no clue how lucky they are. They are chronically late and chronically absent. They come to the office dressed in tank tops and short skirts. They wander around to other people's desks chatting and complaining. There's an attitude of carelessness. They make glaringly obvious errors (that often fall to me to fix) because they take no pride in their work. And there is nothing anyone can do about it because it's nearly impossible to get fired!

I sit in my little office in the morning at 20 to 9, in my sensible business casual wear, with my endless casepile beside me, and I think about what a blessing a job like that would have been when I was young and struggling. And wondering when work ethic and pride in what you do became so unfashionable.

Ronald Reagan

I should preface this by saying I'm not an American, and if I was an American I likely wouldn't be a Republican. That being said I feel a certain sadness at Reagan's passing. Ronald Reagan came to power just as I was becoming aware of politics. It was an amazing time to learn about the electoral system, with Reagan in the White House and Trudeau on Parliament Hill, they were both larger than life, charming, excellent speakers. I was captivated.

I guess I feel like Reagan's passing is one more sign that the world I knew as a child has moved on.

Week's Eats

My favourite meme :)

Monday - Chinese take out
Tuesday - chicken and asparagus with Caesar salad
Wednesday - kraft dinner
Thursday - meatloaf
Friday - McD's for me, leftovers for C and the babes
Saturday - steak and souvlaki (what can I say, we were craving different things)
Sunday - home made cheesy beefaroni

This week we fell off the healthy eating bandwagon in a very big way, heavy on the crap, light on veggies and actually fairly embarrassing. Perhaps hanging it out for everyone to see will persuade me to put some forethought into next week's meals instead of trolling through my mostly bare cupboards at the last moment?

Passwords?

I suppose it's because I'm a new blogger - and next to no one even knows I exist - that I don't understand, but what's with the recent proliferation of password protected blogs? This is a serious question, not a rant. Used to be you could wander around cyberspace clicking on blogrolling links and "meeting" interesting new people. No more. A lot of blogs I used to lurk in are password protected now - upwards of 25% anyway (maybe closer to 50%). These are people who had interesting, thought provoking entries but who are now lost to me.

So tell me - why password? Is it something you're considering for your own blog? Enquiring minds want to know.

Jonah average

Well my little button is, stats wise, as average as he can be. I just brought him home from his 1 year well baby visit and he's 29.5 inches tall (50th percentile) and 23 pounds on the dot (50th percentile). He got one needle today which he didn't even appear to notice (I held him and read a book with him and he didn't even look at the doctor!). Now of course he's crashed from the effort of it all and I'm enjoying a quiet moment. I took the whole day off to be with him, in case he had a reaction to the shot or anything, and it's so nice to just be the two of us again.

A few pics of Jonah's birthday

As always, click for a larger image...


What the heck is that?

This is fun...

Mmmmmm cake!

Surrounded by gifts


Jonah with his balloons in his new birthday jammies.

Happy first birthday baby

A whole year has gone by in the blink of an eye and my last baby is a baby no more. Happy birthday sweetheart.