Hunger strike

Today marked day 4 of little c's hunger strike. He's definitely got a virus as his sleep and eating patterns, which are normally spectacular, are out of whack. His "teacher" told big c that he ate only applesauce today and fell asleep on the floor. You know he's sick when he falls asleep on the floor, eh? 

I'm not too concerned. I had a boss always say that a child will not starve themselves and so I haven't tried to force him to eat. Big c has a different philosophy all together. He tries every tactic you can think of to try and entice little c to eat. We've also thrown out far too much food because he pulls everything out of the fridge, freezer and cupboard in his attempts at getting little c to end the strike. Most of it ends up on the floor after little c pulls it out of his mouth. I sit back and watch from the other side of the picket line, knowing this too shall pass. There's no negotiating with an almost 1 year old.

So, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Tonight we celebrated Christmas with our best friends. Chicken pot pie and chocolate cake were on the menu. And a whole lot of laughter, crying (by the kids, mostly little c), and a surprisingly good group photo (surprising because the kids usually don't cooperate). We only have one more month together as B&S are off to Australia for 7 months. But it's better than being away for a year, like they were last year. I guess that's how it is when you're in the witness protection program.

Alright, I hope you have a glorious weekend. If you're in Southwestern Ontario, stay off the 401 east of London. If you're in Salt Lake, feel free to drop in for some imaginary Christmas cookies and non-existent mulled cider. 

 
 Reading a book with Aunt T.

 
Goofy Aunt S. Little c is going to miss her. (But not as much as Mommy & Daddy will)

 
Merry Christmas from the Widmer-Ross-Hancock Family! 

 

Sick Day: Take Two

Well, since little c woke up again with a fever/bad hair, we've decided to finally take him in to see Dr. Rachel. It's probably just a virus but since he's grabbing his ear, we thought we'd have her check for an ear infection.

I get to hang out with the little bear all day today. He fell asleep watching Sesame Street this morning and has been asleep in his crib ever since, coming up on 3.5 hours. I've been trying to maximize my time by doing laundry, putting things away, making lists, finishing a Christmas project, and stressing over his birthday party plans again. Afternoon plans include a trip to the drycleaners, the doctors, the grocery store and the bank. Good times. I feel like a stay-at-home mom! I even broke out my mom jeans for the occasion!

We hope you have a great day. Enjoy some photos of the sick bear wearing his jeggings (google it). They were a rush purchase at H&M. I had no idea they were jeggings until I tried to get them on his ridiculously fat legs. Had to butter up his thighs to get them up all the way.

 
 
Giving me his best "I'm so sick I'm about to die" look. Takes after his dad on this one.

Bad hair day

Little c stayed home from "school" today. Daddy says it's because he has a fever of 101. Mommy says it's because he woke up with REALLY bad hair and she couldn't fix it and couldn't send him out in public with it.

He is now helping me blog, fzdxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Good job Cohen.

The exciting news is that he actually cuddled up with me for 13 minutes this afternoon and watched Ellen with me. Best. Day. Ever! I've been waiting for him to cuddle with me for almost 12 months.

And that's it for now. The crustless quiche is done and a salad needs to be made before big c gets home from work.

 

Living inside a pressure cooker

Okay, life isn't that stressful right now, but I am feeling a lot of pressure. Pressure you ask? Yes, pressure to have a fabulous first birthday party for little c. As a former event planner and lover of themed parties, I feel as if I need to kick things up a notch and throw little c the best dang party that anyone has ever attended. And for the record, no one is putting the pressure on me except for me.

I have started losing sleep over it. Really and truly. I tell myself that if I was a really good Mom, I'd have had the theme already picked out and planned for 6 months ago. Party hats would already be made, a Happy Birthday Cohen bunting would have been sewn, invitations already received, first birthday shirt made, my sister finalizing the cake plans, and the dessert buffet all set to go. But here we are 3 weeks away from the big event and I've got nothing. Nothing at all. No theme to start the wheels in motion. Not even a poem for the invite.

Can I tell you how hard it is to plan a first birthday party at the same time as trying to pull Christmas together? It's not easy. I'm sure some of you reading this know from experience.

I do have hope that I will come to my senses and realize that the first birthday is about celebrating that little life that you hoped for for so long. It will be great even if there is a cake purchased from Costco and little c shows up wearing nothing but a diaper and a paper hat purchased from the dollar store because we will be with family and friends and we will be rejoicing the mere existence of Cohen Gray Hancock.

And so while I feel like I'll be in the pressure cooker for a little while longer, I think I'm going to pop the lid open, take a deep breath and enjoy these photos of my little almost-one-year-old in a few of his cool hats.
 
 

The life of a working mom

Busy. Busy. Busy. Too busy to sit down at the end of the night and bore you with the minutae of my life.

So in the meantime, please click on this link to see an amazing Christmas card video. Brilliant.

Enjoy! Will post soon! Must tell you about all of little c's toofs.

http://melancholysmile.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-video-2010.html

Bed head

 
 
This is how little c looked when he woke up yesterday a.m. I didn't try to fix it or anything for the photo. If only my hair looked so cool.

Dear Cohen

Wow little buddy! What a big month you've had. Daddy just said to me that it seems like you are learning something new every single day. I think he's right.

I don't even know where to begin.

I think the biggest change is you're crawling now. Well, you crawled for a week or 2 but now you like to cruise around the house holding onto furniture, walls, door jams, garbage cans, toilet (which you like to flush) and Mommy & Daddy. Anything is fair game, as long as it will help you get from point A to point B without crawling. Sure, you'll crawl when you absolutely have to, but only as a last resort. Your teachers at school said you won't stay still or sit and play with anything--you must be on the move at all times. That's the Pat I remember going crazy in my belly one year ago.

You also like to clap. I think because it causes Mommy & Daddy to go berserk when you do, so you keep doing it to get our reaction. Cause and effect buddy, good job for being perceptive.

One of my favourite things you do is shake your head no. You keep going and going and I can't believe you don't make yourself sick. Up until yesterday, you could only shake your head from side to side. Today is another story. This morning you nodded for the first time and showed off again tonight.

Another first is waving. That's a new thing in the last day or two. Toni at your school said she's been working with you on this and it's really paying off. You're a waving fool! Now you can wave at Lucy, and Nathaniel, William and all the other kids in your class.

You like to repeat lots of words, but you've really nailed the siren noise that I make when we play cars. I need to capture it on video as I think it's pretty cute.

You still like to wake up at o dark thirty and I'm hopeful that you'll shake that nasty habit soon. Mama needs her beauty sleep.

You still amaze us with your voracious appetite. You're currently off hummus and cheese but you love broccoli, green beans, bread, any kind of fruit, turkey meatloaf, eggs, waffles, yogurt, and baked yams. You pulled the salmon out of your mouth--guess we'll have to keep trying with that one. I bet your teacher has never seen a baby show up with meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli for lunch before. Leave it to Cohen.

This morning you brushed my hair for the first time. I've only shown you a couple times how to brush your hair and mine and you decided today would be the day for grooming. I think I need to show you how to scratch my back now.

You're becoming quite the dancer, little man. Every day when we get home from school, you hang out in your crib and hang onto the rails and dance your rump off while your best friends get tossed around the room to songs by the Barenaked Ladies, the B-52s or Keane. Oh how you laugh when I spin you around the room or do the two step with you. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I hope you didn't inherit my dancing genes. Life will not be easy for you if you did.

You're enjoying your books more and more. While you've always enjoyed sitting on our laps and looking at the pictures and turning the page for us when we ask you too, you're becoming more of an active participant now. You love to kiss the Mommy Fish in your "Hooray for fish" book and you look for Little Fish and touch him now on almost all of the pages. I still cannot get you to sit through "Goodnight Moon" but I'm not going to lose sleep over that.

And you are now in your big boy car seat since we couldn't stuff you into your baby carrier anymore. You do not like being placed in the seat too much but once you get settled, I think you're pretty comfortable.

Oh Cohen, you are an absolute joy and life would be so dull without you. I never imagined that you'd make so many leaps and bounds over the last few weeks and I can't even begin to imagine what you'll be doing one month from now when you're 1!

Keep up the strong work my love.

Love,

Your biggest fan, Mommy

xoxo

Actually sitting still for once.
All bundled up for our Thanksgiving Day walk.
Oh how you love hanging out with Eric. He's a lot of fun. Oh, and technically, last week was your second Thanksgiving, just so you know. We can't forget about Canadian Thanksgiving in October.
I couldn't resist taking a shot of your cute butt.
An ordinary day in the life of a fashionable young chap.

 

A lovely image to start your day

I am the mother of an 11 month old today. TODAY! I cannot believe he'll be 1 year old in 30 days. And I still don't have a birthday party theme picked out yet. Worlds. Worst. Mother.

The 11 month "Dear Cohen" is coming. I hate to admit this but The Biggest Loser trumped the blog tonight. Hurtful, I know. But it's coming soon. As is little c's "school" photo and some other fun things.

In the meantime, here's a little something to imagine which will more than likely ruin your day, as opposed to being something lovely to start your day as I suggest in today's title.

Now that little c likes to cruise around the entire house walking from one piece of furniture to another and using big c and me in the gaps, he's pretty unstoppable. It's great. If I could freeze this moment and live in it for a long time, I absolutely would. Anyway, being used by little c as a means to an end usually works out okay, except in the mornings when I'm making his breakfast for him and wearing my pajama bottoms that are a little bit too big. Little c will grab hold of my pants while I'm scrambling him an egg, or cutting his waffle, or stirring his oatmeal, and he will pull my pants down so they're almost around my ankles. I usually can't stop what I'm doing, and so there I stand for the entire neighbourhood on Bryan Avenue to see, mooning anyone who might walk by while I flip an egg. Fortunately he's oblivious, or he might just lose his appetite.

Did you just throw up in your mouth a little?

Happy Wednesday!

The big one of 2010

You know how your parents and grandparents love to talk about the weather, all the time? And you know how they're always talking about the big storm of '68, '77, and '89? Well, we're bracing ourselves and battening down the hatches for the big one of '10. Metereologists are saying that it's officially categorized as a blizzard, first one in decades I think. Schools and businesses closed down today at 2:00 (my office and little c's "school" joined the ranks) and are predicting that they'll be closed tomorrow too. We just cancelled a 325 person event scheduled for tomorrow morning too.

I love a good storm. Must be the Canuck in me. I wonder if little c will inherit that trait? Will it run thick through his veins as it does through mine? Time will tell I suppose. We'll see if he crawls himself over to the window tonight to watch the flakes fall. I will tell him that it's an option and see if he takes me up on it. Then we'll know.

Hancock Manor is preparing for the storm by charging cell phones and laptop, locating flashlights, candles and matches, making sure there's enough hot chocolate mix and Baileys, and pulling all the blankets out of storage "just in case." And of course, I have all of little c's hats ready to go.

Is it weird that I hope the storm lives up to all the hype that's going on today all across the valley? I guess I just want an excuse to stay indoors and play with little c all night and all day tomorrow.

Wherever you may be right now (geographically and/or emotionally), I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and you know that you are loved indeed.

A lunchbag stuffed to the brim

Do you remember me telling you about sending little c to "school" with almost a complete Thanksgiving meal back in October, and how his "teacher" said that was the first time she'd seen one of the babies show up with pie for dessert? Well, a couple of weekends ago I made pancakes for all of us on Saturday morning and had some left over, so I sent little c to "school" with one on Monday morning. Again, Phyllis said that that was a first.

I started to think, "Am I feeding little c the wrong things? Should he not be eating a lot of what I'm giving him? What are the things he should be eating that I'm not feeding him?" So I turned to one of the resources I have, apart from my friends and family, "Super Baby Food," by Ruth Yaron.

So here's what the book recommends on a daily basis:

1. 4-5 servings of vegetables and fruit (each serving is 3-4 tbsps). Ummmm, little c definitely has 4-5 servings of v & f and has WAY more than 3-4 tbsps at a time.

2. 4 servings of super porridge cereals (each serving is 1/4 - 1/2 cup cooked). Well, he has cereal every morning for breakfast, except when I feed him waffles or pancakes, he has cereal added into his vegetables or fruit, and he has at least 1 slice of bread per day. Add in the puffs and he's at 4 servings easily.

3. 2-3 servings of legumes, nuts or seeds (serving size varies). Okay, I fail here. I don't give him any, except when I give him lentils. Ummm, doesn't this author know about nut allergies and we aren't supposed to give babies nuts until they're like 1 or 2?

4. 1 serving of dairy per day. Little c eats yogurt every day now that he won't eat cheese or cottage cheese anymore so I think we're good.

5. One egg yolk every other day, 3-4 egg yolks per week. Little c eats about 4 per week and eats the whole egg. I didn't realize that egg whites were a major allergan. Oops! I I guess he's not allergic to them.

6. Nutritional enhancers (1/2 - 1 tsp of brewer's yeast and a pinch of kelp and 1/2 - 1 tsp of desicated liver). I'm not a hippie living on a commune in Montana. I will not add this to little c's food, even if you pay me. It's too far outside my comfort zone. Desicated liver? What in the world?

Also included in the book is a summary schedule for introduction of foods during baby's first year. Nowhere is hummus, pancakes, or pumpkin pie, but tahini, an ingredient in hummus, was listed for 8 month olds, as are garbanzo beans in month 9, so I'm thinking hummus is good. And you know what? I see no reason why pumpkin pie and pancakes are so strange.

All in all I think little c is getting his nutritional needs met. He eats until he shakes his head no or til he starts pulling it out of his mouth or letting it fall out onto his placemat. He eats a lot more than his nemesis, N, who weighs a couple pounds more than little c. I really do think he's got a high metabolism because he should weigh about 25 lbs based on how much he eats.

So, the long and drawn out point is this: I think little c is doing fine and I think I'm doing a fine job of giving him what he needs. I'm not going to worry about his teacher's comments anymore and will continue sending him to "school" with whatever I fancy. Maybe I'll send him with sushi tomorrow just to see what she says!

Regardless of what he eats, the kid is so freaking cute, as evidenced below. Enjoy and bon appetit!

Weekend update

As I'm writing this, gigantic snowflakes are slowly falling from the heavens and I'm enjoying a steaming mug of hot chocolate. All is peaceful and bright. The babe is snoring softly in his footie pajamas and the husband is doing dishes. It's a good night.

Busy-ness at work coupled with a little nerd baby that likes to wake up between 4:00 and 5:00 every day has caused for some tired evenings. So tired that the last thing I want to do is blog because I can't keep my eyes open past 8:00 p.m. I've been falling into bed at 9:00 most nights. It makes trying to finish reading my book impossible as I can usually only keep my eyes open long enough to read 2 pages each night. At this rate, I should be finished it by 2012. I'm currently reading "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. "Funny, irreverent, scandalous" says the Daily News. You'd think a book fitting that description could keep someone awake long enough to maybe read 3 pages. But no. Wow, I remember 1 year ago when I could read a book in a couple of days. One day that will happen again Kristyn, one day.

So little c has been saying a few words lately. Well, you probably wouldn't understand them but we sure do. He repeats "bread", "cheese", "bear", "blah blah" (the name of one of his best friends) and now "douche". No joke on the last one. I came home from a 50th birthday party today and big c was beaming. Sorry Mom. I know you're probably shaking your head in disappointment right now. But it was bound to happen that one of little c's first words would be douche.

Crawling, clapping and saying the word "douche" all in a little over a week. This kid is brilliant!

Big news around Hancock Manor this weekend is the planned installation of baby gates tomorrow. Big day! We also need to pick up some plug covers as little c is oh so curious about electrical sockets now. And while we're at it, we might as well get one of those thing-a-ma-jiggers that you put on cupboards to keep children and small animals from opening the doors and drinking bottles of bleach that are dangerously within reach under the sink. We're in full on Cohen-proofing mode around here and I couldn't be happier. I've been waiting for this moment for so long and I'm honestly enjoying it.

Next up on my to-do list is to figure out 2 different first birthday party themes for little c's cross-border birthday fling that's only 5 weeks away. Any fun ideas out there? While you ponder that, here are some photos of the little monkey from a couple of weekends ago when I went nutso and shot over 500 photos of him and haven't picked up the camera since.

    
 
 

 

 

Rip VanWinkle, where are you?

Ugh. I'm so tired. Little C insists on waking up sometime between 4:00 and 5:00 now and crying. A lot. I've been trying to go to bed earlier to account for the early wake-up call but I

Another first

Well, it's official. As of yesterday, the boy can now clap! We were sitting at dinner and he decided to bang his hands together with food in them as he likes to kill it before he eats it. He then must have put two and two together because he shoved the food in his mouth and started clapping. It was met with shouts of joy and much clapping by Mommy and Daddy. He was overjoyed, as were we, and decided to clap all night. He even clapped when I put him to bed.

I wasn't sure if he'd remember but sure enough, he clapped for me when I went in to say hi this morning. And he clapped at breakfast. And as Daddy carried him out to the car for "school."

At the rate he's going now, he'll be waving by next Monday and solving Pythagorean theorem on Thanksgiving Day.

 
"Don't turn around Cohen!!" 

 

Introducing

Little C's (current) best friends:
From left to right: Blah Blah, Toni, and Hank.

Little C is oh so fond of these three characters. He lights up when we mention Blah Blah's name and then when he sees her, he goes nuts and buries his face anywhere in her body. Toni and Hank aren't as close to Little C yet but they do have some very suckable legs and ears, according to Little C. And Hank has that pocket on his tummy that we like to put things in for Little C to find.

The three of them would like to wish you a very happy Sunday.

Dear Cohen

Well my love, you are now 10 months and change. Hard to believe that you'll be 1 year old next month. I'm sad and happy all at the same time and of course, I'm crying as I type this. I'm sad because the time is flying by so quickly and before I know it you'll be off to one of the two universities I'll allow you to attend. But then I'm so happy because every single day you make me laugh even more than the day before.

What a great month we've had my boy. Me getting off domperidone really made a big difference in your disposition.

You're still the man when it comes to eating. You'll eat anything, except those peas. I've tried sneaking them into your carrot/hummus concoction but you know they're in there and will have absolutely nothing to do with them, thank you very much. This morning for breakfast you ate a flax waffle, a whole scrambled egg, and applesauce. That was shortly after you downed 6 oz. of formula in less than 5 minutes. Good thing you have that high metabolism of yours. You really do prefer to feed yourself these days, although you let us spoon in the runny stuff. Your little pincers are doing a great job of getting pancakes, toast, avocado, cheese, edamame, lint balls, and a whole host of other food and non-food stuff in your mouth. And you open your mouth so big and wide as you wait for food to arrive. It's very entertaining to watch.

You're still a pretty good sleeper, although this time change has really messed you up. You now like to wake up at 5:00 a.m. and start your day with a little cruise around your crib, followed by some sit-ups and push-ups (you really do want to impress those ladies in your class), and then a full on conversation with yourself before you turn on your music thing attached to the side of your crib and play with its buttons. I'm not sure what I need to do to get you to wake up later. Maybe just ride this wave. Or maybe take you in to get your flu booster shot. That usually wipes you out for 12 hours. Most school days you only nap once for Phyllis, but on the weekends, you easily sleep for about 4 hours total during the day. I can't wait until you're a little older and we can cuddle up in bed together and you won't try and get away from me like you do now.

 You love giving high fives. And you still refuse to humour me and clap. I've even bribed you with hummus and you still won't do it. Oh well, it will come in time. It's not like clapping is a survival skill. Or is it?

If I'd written this post yesterday, I would have reminded you that you still weren't crawling. But today is a big day in your life as you crawled for the very first time. And I was there to witness it. And of course I cried. And of course I took a video of you crawling tonight. And of course I can't figure out how to upload the video from the flip. But you crawled and it was so exciting for both of us. Here's how it went down: I was putting your food in the fridge at "school" and Phyllis put you down on the floor by the exersaucer. You immediately spotted a slice of a peach lying under the highchair where Lucy was enjoying her peaches. You got up on all fours, rocked for a little while, and then sort of dragged yourself over to the peach, grunting with each move. It wasn't an army crawl, nor was it a proper crawl, but something in between. Sort of reminded me of a dog scooting. Phyllis tried to get the peach out of your hand so you wouldn't eat it, but she was too late. Oh well, we'll consider it your reward for a job well done. And tonight you crawled around, getting better and better each time. Daddy and I think you'll be really good by the end of the weekend. Guess we'd better get those baby gates now, right? I thought that since you were so brilliant, I'd like to see what you'd do with stairs. You walked from one side of the stair to the other side for a few minutes and was just so very pleased with yourself. You did try to get your leg up on the step but your big thigh got in the way. Hey, I know how it feels.

In addition to Barbara, Mama, and Dada, you now say nana for banana. And you sure do get excited when you see one on the counter. You scream "nana nana nana" in this squeaky voice. I need to get it on video so I never forget it. My heart melts every single time. Maybe we should dress Nana Sydorko up in a banana costume at Christmas. Then she'd feel good that you called her Nana and you'd feel good because it would be a giant banana, and who doesn't love a giant banana? Daddy's afraid that you might try to eat Nana so maybe we should rethink that plan.

Your current best friends are Teddy and Blah Blah. You get so excited when they peek around the corner at you. But I think you get more excited when I chase you around the house while Daddy carries you close to his chest. You cling so tight and scream with delight the entire time.

Well my love, you are the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't wait to see what month 11 has in store for us. Hopefully no trips to the ER. And hopefully a lot more mobility and independence.

Yay for Cohey Bear!

Love,

Your biggest fan, Mommy xoxo
"I said no more photos!"
Discovering your shadow for the first time.
How you love to swing.
 
I asked you to make a funny face and this is what you delivered. Classic!
 
Don't tell Daddy that I let you play with a stick.
Hanging with Charley Bean, your next door neighbour/girlfriend/big sister/cousin/future best buddy/partner in crime.
Hey Cohen, how many mpgs does your ride get?

 

Sick again

I think this is the sickest I've ever been. Went to bed with the flu on Sunday and still have it today. Will spend all day in bed again with hopes that I'll wake up feeling well enough to blog tomorrow. Until then, a cute photo of the Bear from this past weekend. (1 of over 500 photos I took of him)

When in doubt, check the diaper

Last week little c came home with some new soother bling, as evidenced below.
The very next day he came home and the letters were gone. Just the ribbon remained. Which lead me to check his diaper immediately to see if any of the letters had shown up in there.

Fortunately for all of us, it turns out they fell off the ribbon at "school" and none of the kids ate them. But I did have a small chuckle thinking about a parent changing their baby's diaper the next day and finding the name "Cohen" in there. What the?!? Before you get upset with me for thinking that way, you should know it was a small chuckle as I considered the choking hazard that the beads present.

I think they might want to reconsider attaching small beads to a baby's soother next time.

Back to the petri dish

We decided to keep little c home from "school" yesterday in order to make a full recovery. Big c took the a.m. shift so I could go to work and I took the afternoon shift. Little c was a lot of fun yesterday and enjoyed a walk to the Red Moose with Daddy and a trip to Costco with Mommy.

But back he went to daycare, a.k.a. the petri dish, this morning and had a wonderful day. He even had a girl slip him her phone number when I was picking him up. True story! I should probably tell you that it's one of the daycare workers who, and I quote "has a special place in her heart for Cohen" and would love to babysit him anytime we need someone.

Tonight he wolfed down a baked yam, half a can of mandarin oranges and half a piece of buttered bread. I think the boy's appetite has returned! Fingers crossed that he didn't bring home a different strain of the stomach bug that seems to be floating around the petri dish and that all that food stays down tonight.

Happy Halloween

Wowsers, what a weekend! It contained a little bit of everything, from a ridiculously fun Halloween party on Friday night to little c's first bout with the Ross Plague (or a stomach virus as you might know it as).

First, the highs. Little c participated in his first Halloween Parade at "school" on Friday afternoon. I anxiously waited in the courtyard with all of the other parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and their neighbours. Yes, everyone brought all of the people they knew to this parade and there was Kristyn representing the Hancock good name. No one talked to me. I talked to no one. It was sad. But I didn't let little c see my loo-hoo-hoo-hoo-ser tears. Then my friend K showed up (she has 2 boys at the same "school" and I think she's mighty cool) and I chatted with her for a bit, until little c flipped his little egg-lid and declared it was time to go home for a nap. Next year, I'm bringing EVERYBODY I know to the parade. They're going to have to move it to the "school" parking lot because there won't be room for any of the other parents and their posses. So while the parade was sort of a downer for me because I didn't know anybody, it was a high just to see little c in his costume. I even had a random parent ask if she could take a photo of him. He's already a celebrity!

Then came the annual Halloween Party of all parties that we always go to. My friend M came over and hung with Cohey Bear and then she showed me a Scrabble app for my phone which I'm now addicted to. Thanks a lot Missie!! Back to the crazy party. Our friends went to great lengths to take it over the top this year, including taking down their chandelier and replacing it with a disco ball. I'm no dancer (I've been told I look like a chicken when I dance) but I danced my heart out with my besties that night. There's just something about Lady Gaga music that makes me want to move. Big C and I did not take home Best Costume this year, but the good news is no one did. The costume contest and the karaoke were both no-shows this year and that was definitely okay with me. It puts too much pressure on me. I say good riddance to both, especially the karaoke. I can only crawl on my knees while singing "Like a virgin" so many times.

Saturday little c was in another ROCKIN' mood. He spent most of the day laughing and being adorable. That should have tipped me off because he's always in a really good mood before he gets sick. More on that in a sec. He didn't wake up until almost 8:00 a.m. which is completely unheard of at Hancock Manor. We played for a couple of hours and then he crashed for a 3.5 hour nap. Got dressed, had lunch and walked over to our neighbourhood coffee shop before the rain started. Handed out candy to the trick or treaters, yadda yadda yadda, and big c and I were in bed by 9:30.

And now the lows. In bed, sleeping my little brains out when little c called for some attention around midnight. He was burning up and somebody needed to take his temperature the hard way. Poor kid. I always hate taking his temperature that way. Am I the only mother that still does that? I'm sure everyone else has those new-fangled thermometers that do body scans. Anyway, all of the thermometers we have are in Celsius and I had to run into the living room to check the interweb to see what 39.0 degrees was in Fahrenheit. It's 102.2 in case you're wondering. After cursing the fact that all of our thermometers are from Canada (and no, they do not have buttons on them to convert them to F), we gave little c something to bring the fever down. Needless to say he was up most of the night, sort of delirious. Big c slept in his room on the floor to be near him in case little c needed him. Not me. I was in bed. With earplugs. Yes, that's how I roll. I did my time at 5:30 and gave him a bottle and rocked him back to sleep, which took about half an hour, but it did the trick because he didn't wake up until 9. Poor kid wouldn't eat or drink A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G today, leading me to call the doctor on call. She told me to try and get some pedialyte in him anyway possible. She even said giving him flat ginger ale would be okay. But little c wanted none of it. So today was spent passing little c off between the 2 of us and trying to stay sane. He threw up a couple of times and had the runs a few times but seemed to perk up around 6:00 for a brief time. And just so you know, I did run out and buy an American thermometer.

And we had to postpone our family photos yet again. We don't have a date for them but hopefully soon. Hey, if you're smart, you won't plan your family photos for the end of October.

So no trick or treating for little c this year. I was going to drive him around to our friends' house tonight but he was too sick. Oh, that and the fact that I couldn't do up the straps on his carseat due to his costume.

So there you have our weekend round-up. Some good times and some not so good times all rolled up into one. If I had to rate the weekend on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 7. That party on Friday really brought the ranking up.

Enjoy the photo montage! And welcome to November.

 
Reading his first-ever Halloween card that Nana & Papa Sydorko sent. The special boy got another card the next day from Grandma & Grandpa Hancock.
Our little Humpty Dumpty.
H.D. and Mama Phyllis. Someone should have told Phyllis to get dressed that day.
Here's the cake we took to the party. This is before I frosted it with the buttercream icing I made for the first and last time. That stuff sucks. Anyway, we had to take food that corresponded with our costume. Any guesses who we were?
That's right. Ellen DeGeneres & Portia.
This photo sums up the night.
Another shot of the cake the next morning.
Hanging at the Red Moose.
Have a great Monday!

Sick, take four, or maybe five

Well, I've officially lost track of the number of times I've had a stomach bug since going back to work in May and putting little c in daycare. I think this is my fifth bout. I used to have a stomach of steel, I mean, who else do you know can eat tacos from a taco stand in TIJUANA and not throw up?

I could give you all the gross details but who really cares, right? Point is, I'm sick today and staying home from work to rest up. Little c is at school, despite the fact that he's got croup again. Hey, don't judge me. I needed a day to sleep and with him around, that's impossible.

The good news is the photo shoot is rescheduled for next Saturday and that gives me more time to obsess over our outfits. Good grief, it's only photos. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with finding the perfect outfits for all of us. But I am. It's what I do best. Obsess, not choose good clothes. In between throwing up, sleeping, and checking my work e-mail today I'll probably try some more outfit combinations for little c. Thank you to those of you who left comments and e-mailed me your choice. I think outfit 2-A is a winner, with some minor tweaking.

I only picked up my camera once this weekend and took about 4 photos. Enjoy.

 
The little beaver getting down on a paper towel roll. Looks kinda like he's playing a cardboard flute without holes. Good finger technique little beav.
If you said I had an obsession with putting hats on little c, you'd be right. I can't stop myself from plunking something on his head. The next five shots captured him removing the cute hat.

A wee bit neurotic

Well, we're having the Hancock Family Fotos done on Saturday and of course I've started losing sleep over what to wear and where to take the photos.

We won a photography package at a silent auction this summer and decided to cash in on the gift certificate just in time for Christmas cards. (No, we will not be dressing as elves this year but wigs might make an appearance) The whippersnapper that's taking our photos has a great eye. I've blog stalked her on many occasions and decided that I wanted her to be the official photographer of the Hancocks this year. We're looking forward to it, although we're not sure how little c will hold up, given we're starting the shoot at 5:00, a somewhat witching hour for him as of late. But maybe the promise of some hummus and pumpkin pie will get him to hang on long enough to get a few good shots. I'm excited to actually be in front of the camera for once and have a photo with little c taken. There aren't too many of those floating around and it will be nice to have one.

So tonight, upon returning from our walk, I raided little c's closet and drawers and pulled some outfits together. No sense in buying anything new when he's got a good collection already. So here are some outfits I'm thinking of--any feedback is welcomed and encouraged. I'm thinking of ditching the tie in Outfit 2 as it covers up the pattern on the vest. And the hats aren't a done deal either--I'll probably bring a few and make the photographer crazy as I swap the hat in every shot. Neurotic, right?

Outfit 1-A
Outfit 2-A
Outfit 2-B
Outfit 3-A
Outfit 3-B
Outfit 4-A
Outfit 4-B
And now a photo of a naked Cohey Bear since it's been so long since I've posted one.