Fuzzy Love

Boo at the Zoo

So yesterday, Liam, Mark, and I went to Boo at the Zoo, an annual Halloween Party at the Denver Zoo. The place was, well, a zoo. It was so packed, in fact, that we really didn't see many animals - real ones, I mean. As for costumes, lions and bees were very popular for some reason, as was Spiderman. Lots of Power Rangers too. And every color of Disney princess for the girls. We only saw two other bears, which pleased me, even though they both were in Liam's exact costume. Liam was very excited by all the, um, excitement, and took off running every time we put him down. Funny how people move quickly to let a toddler pass, but they aren't so quick to move for the parent chasing said toddler. Liam did some climbing as well, whenever the opportunity presented itself.

So, when people go to the zoo, they take a little wagon with them. It's almost universal and the zoo even rents out wagons if you want one. So there were wagons everywhere. Liam, less than thrilled with the stroller we had brought for him, tried to get into almost every wagon he saw. Sometimes he didn't even wait for them to stop moving: he'd grab onto the back and try to get a leg up and over before I grabbed him or he fell. One woman pulling a wagon wasn't paying attention, so he gently removed the handle from her hand so that he could pull it himself (thank you whoever you are). Overall though it was a good time and Liam had a blast.

Yesterday afternoon we went to our second Halloween event of the day: Trick or Treat Street at one of the local rec centers. For only a one dollar fee, we got to take part in this:

What it turned out to be was a gym full of tables run by various vendors giving out candy (along with coupons, ads, fridge magnets, and that sort of thing). Let me be clear here; we were not allowed to move freely about the gym, but were stuck in a snaking line, herded slowly by each table for about an hour until we finally reached the exit door at the end. We did end up with a pumpkin-bag full of candy at the end, but it was not worth it. Mark and I had to keep passing Liam back and forth (remember, if we put him down, he bolts), as our arms got more and more tired, and Liam got more and more frustrated with his foiled escape attempts. We actually were going to meet friends there, but with the whole herding thing, that proved impossible. Just as well, because Emma (the butterfly), got about five feet into the gym and started screaming and wouldn't stop. Her poor parents had to fight the flow and get her out of there. Oh well. Live and learn. Here's a picture near the beginning, when we were still optimistic:

Tiffany (mother of Emma), put it well (I'm paraphrasing): "You know, we come to these events thinking they are going to be fun calm family time, but they always turn out to be crazy." So true.

Day in the Life

Friday was the beginning of the Halloween weekend, and we have been busy. So I have to tell you about yesterday. It's kind of a long, sad story, so I will break it up with pictures of Thursday night's pumpkin picking and carving like this one:

So, Mark's work had a Halloween pot-luck and cubicle trick-or-treat party on Friday at lunch. Of course we were going to go, but Friday is close to laundry day, and that morning I realized I really didn't have anything decent to wear (meaning: a clean pair of jeans). So I had to do a load of laundry, which is normally no big deal. Well, we have two little rugs that are bright red, and they just happened to be sitting (wet) in the washer from earlier in the week. Those rugs are so red that anything washed in the load after them turns pink. We usually run a load of blacks afterwards, to be safe, but yesterday I didn't have any blacks, so I ran the washer empty. Well, empty but with lots of soap, just to be sure I wouldn't get pink jeans. Turns out that the washer won't run empty. I'm not sure why, but about half-way through the cycle, the whole thing just stopped and wouldn't go no matter where on the cycle I put it. Did I mention we have a front-loading washer? The little window in front was solid soap bubbles, but I figured that I had to stick something (anything) in there so that the washer would work again. That meant opening the door, but I'd be quick. With Liam right by my side, I opened the door, with a towel ready to shove in.

Let's break for a picture, shall we? The sad part is coming up.

Well, the second I opened the washer door, soap bubbles came pouring out. Huge, almost cartoonish amounts of bubbles went in every direction, literally piling up to Liam's knees. This scared him and he started to cry. I, meanwhile, was frantically trying to stem the tide with my towel, which I had forced almost into the washer, but one corner got stuck in the door so I couldn't shut it properly and the bubbles just kept on coming. Finally, of course, I figured it out and got the door shut, but Liam and I were both soaked (me from the waist down as I was sitting on the floor), Liam was still crying, and I was pretty frazzled. It took a while to sop it all up too.

Picture time (note that Liam is coloring his pumpkin with markers):

Anyway, the party was fun and there was lots of good food. I didn't really take any pictures of it, as Liam kept us on the run. That's pretty much the way it is with Liam: when you put him down, he runs off in any old direction. At one point durning the party (I only looked away for a second, I swear), he actually made his way out of the party room and into the lobby, where I found him, just in time, in the elevator. Can you imagine how freaked out I would have been if those doors had closed? Although the only button he can reach in there is the emergency stop button, so he wouldn't have gotten far.

Finished pumpkins (can you tell we used templates?):

And here's the other sad part. So last night, knowing how busy the weekend would be, we went to Costco. And we actually got distracted for a while at all the gifty stuff, instead of being good and going right to what we came for. As a result, before we knew it, it was beyond dinner time and Liam was hungry. The poor kid ended up with his entire dinner being Costco free samples. I know, call protective services, I don't blame you. It actually wasn't so bad: he had spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese (a Liam staple), a whole strawberry GoGert, and a whole wheat cracker and some milk (we brought the milk).

Today's been much better, but I'll tell you about that tomorrow. Happy Halloween!

Finally...

New pictures! After all, Halloween is right around the corner, and Liam has events to go to. Today, our play group got together to show off costumes, eat cookies, and take pictures. Well, at least part of the group did: Tiffany got the flu and Kari had to work. Anyway, here are the three kids that made it.

That's Lauren the duck, Liam the bear, and Drew the ballerina. And that picture was difficult to take, let me tell you. Liam was actually the most patient, possibly because he was chewing on that football (the teeth issues continue).

I had a hard time keeping the hood on him, but that costume isn't really meant for indoor use; it is very thick. Poor Liam was pretty sweaty by the time I took him out of it. And Drew was wearing a lot of toile for someone so young. Every time she tried to stand up she was pretty much overwhelmed by it.

Lauren was the cutest duck; she even knows how to say "quack, quack," which adds to the whole duck package.

So, back to the subject of the flu (did you realize I was on that subject?). Mark, Liam, and I were lucky enough to get our shots the day before the shortages were reported in the news. If you did not get the shot, however, do not despair! Simply call the Victoria Clipper, who will ship you up to Canada for $115 a person, flu shot included.

So Tired

For some reason, Liam has not been napping well this week. I'm lucky if he gets an hour, or an hour and a half each day (when the usual is three hours). That makes for a cranky Liam and a very tired me. We've been very busy each morning, so maybe he's getting over-stimulated? Or it's those damn teeth? Who knows! But the more tired he gets, the earlier he wakes up in the morning (some weird baby-only reaction to sleepiness). Today he was up before 6:30.

The other thing he's doing is pushing a kitchen chair over to the counter and investigating all the stuff that is inevitably up there. I know, there is photographic evidence on this very site that I have endorsed this behavior in the past, but two things that happened yesterday changed my mind. First of all, I found a refrigerator magnet in the tea pot. Not too bad, but not great either. Later, I was cooking dinner and had to run the tap for a minute, but the sink was blocked up. I ran the disposal; nothing happened. Almost immediately I started to panic: who knew what sort of valuable item Liam could have stuffed down there? I called Mark in to fix it (like I'm going to stick my hand down there) and, well, he's still mocking me. Liam had simply put the plug in.

I still don't have a picture for you, but I promise to take more soon. My photography class (part one) ended last night, so I'm back to the digital camera. By the way, the class went very well and I learned a lot. Not the least of which is that I should probably be focusing on portraits. Luckily, photography class (part two) is portraiture.

No!

First of all, I had to post tonight because I fear I won't be able to type tomorrow. Today I had meeting number two with the personal trainer (la dee da), which was also the last meeting with him, because from now on he expects to be paid. Anyway, he took me through a tough workout and assured me that I will be very sore tomorrow. I believe him. It's been a very long time since I lifted any weights (besides Liam, of course). It was fun though, and it felt really good, especially since we ventured into parts of the gym that I've never been in before. So I now have a program to keep doing, complete with reps and rest periods and weight goals and so on.

In the meantime, Liam has been a total terrible twos kind of boy lately. I think this is mostly due to poor naps, and I think the poor naps are due to teething. Damn teeth. Some woman at the park told me that the eye teeth are the worst ones, and that's what he's getting. The point is that he's cranky, and that new phrase he's got ("No, no, no, no, no, no, no," in case you missed it) gets used about every five minutes. Then, just when I think I'm going to loose it, he cuddles on my lap and gives me kisses. Gotta love him.

I still don't have any new pictures, since I've been using film and I haven't scanned any of those. So here, for your pleasure, is a Liam flashback from last Halloween.

I'm sorry, but an old picture is better than no picture at all, isn't it?

So Long Junk in the Trunk

Hopefully. I met with a personal trainer on Friday, so I'm all worked up about getting in shape again. Wait, I can just hear it: la dee da, aren't you all fancy with a personal trainer. Don't get too excited; I got two free sessions with the membership and that's all I get. But thank goodness. If this guy hadn't given me a plan I know I would have bypassed all those funky machines (and in that group I include such craziness as the elliptical trainer) and gone straight to the treadmill. Each. And. Every. Time. I know because I've done it before. Well, I'll also go to a yoga/step/fitball class, as long as I can stand in the back. Whatever; I am excited about my new plan. I'd explain it to you, but it's complicated and long and I'm not sure I fully get it yet.

On the other hand, I was not so excited about the measurements he took before we got started. What a shocker, to see where my body fat percentage is (I'm not telling you, so don't ask) and the size of my waist - have I mentioned before that I no longer have one? Anyway, doesn't matter. My trainer guy tells me I will be in bikini shape by February. Of course I won't be wearing one then, except perhaps in my bedroom, just because I can.

I have no new pictures today because I've been using the film camera so I'll have pictures for my photography class. After so long using a digital camera, it's honestly been a bit of a shock to pay to see my pictures. Especially when they're so crappy. I'm trying new things and only one or two pictures turn out properly on an entire roll (seriously). Let me tell you, there is no one like a toddler to make you appreciate auto-focus.

Speaking of Liam, he has a new phrase, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no," which is usually accompanied by a violent shaking of the head. It's new, so I still think it's cute, but I'm told that won't last. He can also point out his eye, nose, ear, and sometimes mouth. The other day at Tumble Tots he actually poked another little guy almost in the eye (no harm done), so I explained to the other little guy's mother about Liam's new thing. Very seriously, she replied, "Well, that's rather dangerous, isn't it?" I didn't know how to take that, but when her son hit Liam later on I felt better (no harm done).

Trouble

This, my friends, is trouble:

And, from the look on his face, he knows it. That duster thingy gave Liam a few more feet of reach and he knew it.

This won't be much of a post today; I'm off to bed. Today ess you see kay sucked (work with me here, I'm tired). I had plans today - big plans. Liam and I were packed up in the car ready to do errands and go to gymboree and all that, but turns out I had left one of the car doors open a bit yesterday. Just enough to keep the light on all night. Just enough to burn out the car's battery. We were stuck without transportation until Mark came home to do the cabley boosty thing.

It wasn't the most exciting day (but check out the teddy bear slippers).

Yoga and the Oreo Cookie Incident

I went to a yoga class last night at the gym. I really loved the class and I'm only a wee bit sore around my waist today (I know, I don't really have a waist right now. But I hope to someday). Surprisingly, Mark also enjoyed having me out of the house. He and Liam so rarely get alone time that he doesn't get to practice solo parenting. Anyway, I learned three things last night while at yoga:

1. A bottle of water at the gym costs $1.35.
2. The longer a man's hair, the better he is at yoga (note: hair must be gray).
3. Always bend over in your top before leaving the house (yoga and cleavage don't mix).

That last one is vitally important. It is impossible to move calmly to one's breathing if one is concerned about falling out of one's top (and I had on built-in-bra tank top - hardly risqué). Next Monday I will know better.

Anyway, here's a funny link: embarrassing things that new parents have done, although some of them are darn right alarming. In the spirit, here's my worst story.

One evening, when Liam was about six weeks old, he would not stop crying. Eventually we called the doctor. I admit, back then I did not handle the crying very well. I felt horrible, like Liam must be in terrible pain or something, and here I was not able to fix it (bad mom). By the time we called the doctor I was crying as well. Please remember that also I wasn't getting enough sleep. The poor on-call guy went through everything he could think of, but none of his ideas seemed to work so he sent us to the emergency room. Once there, the nurses whisked us back to a room and the doctor came right in. She couldn't find anything wrong either. Finally the doctor asked if I was breast feeding. Yes. Did I eat anything strange that day? Well, actually, I had eaten a lot of Oreos. A row. And a half.

It turns out that some babies don't like chocolate in their breast milk. It's not the caffeine, like you'd think, but some other chemical. (And honestly, I normally don't eat that many Oreos, but it had been a hard day and I didn't get a chance to really make a meal for myself and the Oreos were right there...) We now call that "The Oreo Cookie Incident."

Canadian Thanksgiving Part 2

Oh, we ate well last night. As I mentioned, we dug out the china, got dressed up, and had a huge and wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. As I post this, however, all that hand-wash-only china is still sitting on the kitchen counter waiting to be washed. Oh well. My procrastination almost caused a distaster, though. One of Liam's favorite things to do is to push things around (the larger the better) and climb on top of them (the higher the better). This morning he pushed a kitchen chair over to the counter and was thoroghly investigating our dirty dishes. I am really starting to realize that a quiet toddler is a toddler up to no good.

Anyway, since we were all dressed up and Allison and Eric were here, we asked them to take our picture.

Liam is smiling so cooperatively because Allison stuck her hands up by her head (like ears) and was hopping around like a bunny, just to entertain him. We took a picture of them as well, but they got no hopping (making for a much more composed picture).

Remember how Liam's favorite thing is to climb? Well, please notice that, even when there is little around on which to climb, Liam makes due.

And finally, the obligatory table shot.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Canadian Thanksgiving Part 1

As, of course, everyone knows, this is Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. The sad part about it is that our families are all getting together today and tomorrow to visit and eat. The good part about it is that we still get to eat. We even get visitors: Allison (the only Canadian we know for miles) and her husband Eric are coming for dinner today; of course we don't get a holiday tomorrow like all the in-Canada Canadians. We do have a traditional dinner planned, complete with turkey (mmmmmmm...turkey). We're going to dress up and use the wedding china. We even had Liam do a little hand turkey.

You know, when Liam was little, we thought about teaching him baby sign language (which is just really a toddler version of American Sign Language). I thought it would be handy if he knew some basics like milk, all done, more, and that sort of thing, and some of our friends have had success with it. It's said that you can begin with a child as young as six months old, although it may take a month or two of repeating signs over and over for the little one to realize what you're up to. Then, all of a sudden, you can communicate with your baby, reducing the need for frustrating temper tantrums (from both of you).

Well, Liam and I never did get around to attending the class. And I can't say really I missed it until recently, when we have had a large number of tantrums around here. And, like I said, friends are mostly having success. So last week I decided to teach Liam the signs for milk and all done. I didn't expect much success, but after only a few days he's signing all done whenever he wants out of his booster seat (sometimes very shortly after getting into it). I see it as the toddler version of "please may I be excused." I guess there is a big difference between teaching a six- and a sixteen-month-old language. After all, I expect Liam to be talking up a storm shortly. By the way, both Liam and Mark think that the sign for milk is hilarious (if you want to see it for yourself, check out this online ASL dictionary).

Yesterday Liam was standing on his toy box looking out the window. When I asked him to sit down, he sat on the window ledge. So I took some pictures.