ZOE

Grrrowly Grrrl

(NOTE: this post is from Sept 27th! )

It's Wednesday so both kids are home all day today. Could be daunting, contemplating a day where I have to entertain them both for the entire day; so I started, at breakfast, by banishing the TV for the remainder of the day. So far so good. The house is calm, the kids are playing. I seem to have a few moments to myself to write.

Although we all love the new house there are times when all the moving and new school and what have you gets to the kids. Most recently, Liam has decided that with all the new stuff we are buying for the house he isn't getting his fair share. He has been resorting to tirades about how we never get him anything; Christmas is too far away, his life is so terrrible, he hasn't ANY toys and he NEEDS King Jayko RIGHT NOW!! Sigh.

Zoe on the other hand seems to be going through another developmental bout of tantrums over whatever annoying thing is most convenient; food lately. I commented to one mom the other day that she has recently gone from a well rounded and positive relationship with food to a diet consisting primarily of chicken, cheese and chocolate. This week it has been further reduced to sausage rolls and, um, orange juice. ...This too shall pass.

The point of all this is that she is back into her completely out of control temper tantrums which are really hard on my hearing - my ears were ringing for an hour after yesterday afternoon's tirade. But somehow, even in her anger Zoe can manage to make me smile - sometimes.

Zoe's sense of order permeates even her worst moods it seems. Yesterday at lunch, after a whirlwind session of pickups from preschool to kindergarten, we were all pretty hungry yet both kids insisted on foods that had to be cooked - space shape chicken and sausage roll - so they had to wait. Zoe was really mad; stomping around the kitchen shouting how she wanted her sausage roll NOW! (and refusing offers of cheese, crackers, apple etc). But her stomping was hindered by discarded shoes from our entrance as well as Liam's abandoned jacket and backpack. So, with exaggerated actions punctuated by growls and shouting she kicked all the shoes out the door and slammed it. Then she picked up Liam's Jacket and backpack and marched them over to his hook where she hung them up growling the whole time.

Later in the day she came across my hoodie which I must have taken off in her room. She brought it to me stating "Mom, I found this on my pajama drawer. Mom it doesn't belong in my pajama drawer, you should put it away."
As I was busy doing something else I didn't put it away, I just draped it over a chair. Later she found it again and brought it to me admonishing my lax behaviour with a "Mom, you should hang this up on a mommy hook."
Touche little one!

Bounty

I am thankful for many things this Thanksgiving weekend, 2006:

I am thankful for my beautiful children and all the facets of their personalities that make them unique - make them who they are.

I am thankful for my wonderful husband and the chance we have taken to rediscover one another and renew our friendship, our love and trust, and our faith in our future together.

I am thankful for our wonderful new home which is everything we could hope for and more.

I am thankful for my true friends; those who stand by me when things are rough and those who are far away but always close to my heart.

Happy Turkey Day!!!

10 More Reasons I'm Not Blogging These Days...

1) The computer is sitting on a box in the hallway.

2) I'm not quite finished calculating the Feng Shui of the new house.

3) We don't have curtains yet and I prefer to blog in the nude.

4) I've spent the last week mowing the lawn.

5) The laundry machines are due tomorrow and I just found the computer under the mountain of copper, PEX, ABS, drywall dust & dirty clothes.

6) We've found Jesus Christ Superstar!! Thank-You Rotel & B&W!

7) The Silverfish were winning for a while there but we've beaten them back.

8) BTS insanity.

9) Paint fumes.

10) The computer is still on a box in the hallway.

The Ghost of Home Owners Past

Time for a new post - whether I'm ready to write on or not.

Life is very busy with two houses and two sets of reno's on the go. In the middle of all the prep at the new house the ghost of Heik still haunts us in the old place: The suite bathroom turned up some concerns in our buyers house inspection - and then the little girl downstairs stuck her hand through the tiled wall in the tub! Yes, Heik, running out of aquaboard (the blue/green drywall for bathrooms), and too cheap to spend $15 (or whatever 1997 costs would have been) on another board, chose to fill in the back wall of the tub with random pieces of regular drywall!! Steve removed nearly 25 square feet of mush, tiles and mould early this week. Thankfully the damage was minimal beyond that and the blue board everywhere else was fine. We now have a tiled wall setting with grout (properly backed with aquaboard) and it should be ready when our tenants return from Disneyland on Saturday.

Unfortunately all this business takes us away from getting our NEW house ready for us to move in.
Ah yes, the new place; another endless round of renos in our future, but we're excited about it. And the difference with the new house and all the various layers of 'mistakes' is that as far as we know they are due to home owner amateur renos rather than the so-called professional work of the previous owners of our current (? it is SO confusing talking about two 'homes') house. That is the reason behind all the scorn for the renovations in this (arrgghhh!!) house - they were done by a self-proclaimed professional contractor and house builder!! Not that his business has been listed in the phone book for years. One of those fly-by-night contractors who goes belly-up and reopens as someone new, we suppose. Still, we'll miss having the ghost of Heik to blame for all the crazy reno's in the new house - and there are some doozies!! I may even start a whole new blog just to cover the reno's on the new house!

Come to think of it, we may just blame Heik afterall.

Holy Hopping Markets Batman!

There was a large gathering of Superheroes in our backyard a week ago. Maybe that has something to do with the insanity of our lives lately. Or maybe not.

Normally the annual Liam backyard awesome weather kidfest birthday bash is the culmination of weeks of stress and preparation. Not so this year. Just to mix things up a bit we thought we'd buy another house and put ours on the market.

I first drove past our new house just over a month ago. Since the first mls-email to Steve there has been this sense of building momentum that pretty much nothing could stop. And so, it isn't much surprise to us that less than 24 hours after listing our house we had an accepted full-price offer. C-R-A-Z-Y! One week later and the subjects are off, the SOLD sign is up and we should have the keys to our new house by tomorrow!
Phew! That was fast!

Now begins the fun stuff!! We're moving from an old 1912 house to a newer... 1915 house!!
Ah yes, so begins the next round of renovations!

I Spy With My Little Eye Something That is... RED!

There are only three colours on a logging road; grey, green, and if it's a nice day, blue.
Given this environment, a game of 'Eye Spy' can quickly get boring - kinda like 'eye spy' with Dory in Sydney Harbour - until Liam spies something 'red' that is.

Let me backtrack for you.

A beautiful Canada Day retreat after an insane week of our latest home reno's (which were inturn launched by Steve's inaugural injury - the words 'CHAUD' and 'HO' burnt into the palm of his hand. A whole other story!)... where was I?
Oh yes.
There we were on the logging roads behind Cowichan lake and I'm my usual white-knuckling self while Steve drives the narrow, windy, loosely-gravelled, barely-engineered roads at the 'posted' speed limit (if you can call spray paint on a piece of plywood nailed to a tree a 'posted' sign). We were both tired from a week of 1am or later bedtimes and still feeling the stress of days to come, so it isn't any wonder that we ended up having a bit of a 'discussion' about whether or not the speed of the car was appropriate to the road conditions - specifically the curves. After Steve asserting that he was driving safely and me asserting that he could be taking the curves a bit, ahem, ALOT slower, we lapsed into an awkward silence.

That's when Steve got it into his head that a game of Eye Spy was just the thing to break the tension. The kids love playing Eye Spy so they got right into it. And I tried to tell myself I was overreacting and to just chill, and got into the game as well. I spied something 'dark grey' - the shadows on the road - and that even had Steve stumped for a few guesses. Pretty good eh? Well, there wasn't much to choose from - as I said: grey, blue & green.

And then Liam spied something red. This was the moment we learned that playing Eye Spy on a logging road is NOT a good idea. What could be red? Steve was particularly baffled and took a split second to peer around inside the car, rather than keep his eyes glued to the road. That, of course, was the exact moment the road decided to do one of those things only logging roads can get away with: namely, narrowing dramatically while sliding into a blind curve at the bottom of a hill that ended in a thickly gravelled sharp turn onto a one-way bridge over a chasm. Did I mention that up until this moment we had completely forgotton our Jeep Cherokee has Four Wheel Drive? - Particularly useful on dry gravelly logging roads with unexpected sharp turns; Not particularly helpful when unengaged on those same gravelly logging roads.
Is this taking a while to tell?
Try being in a two-wheel drive Jeep sliding slowly (he wasn't really driving that fast) out of control on loose gravel at the bottom of a hill, unable to make the sharp turn and heading for a really big log at the side of the road. Now that takes forever!!

Fast forward to the next scene: We have managed to back the jeep up to a bit of a pull out (we crashed at a blind curve remember, and our tail end was sticking into the bit of road where the next vehicle would be coming from - not to mention that any vehicles coming over the bridge would be blocked by us and then they would be in a blind curve for that direction... bad situation). The left front fender was mashed into the wheel and making a horrendous noise. Both of us were freaking out trying to find something lying around that would work to pry the fender away from the tire. (Note to Self: Pack crow bar and duct tape on next camping trip.) Meanwhile the kids were in the car wondering what had just happened - and why were their parents dancing around outside the car...?

Along comes the next vehicle; a beat-up V-dub van (of course! we are on a west coast logging road afterall). But strangely Steve recognizes the van, and I belatedly recognize the driver. One of Steve's co-workers. The thing is Steve only has three co-workers, and this particular one works only a few weeks a year. What are the chances? To top it all off Alistair is the one co-worker who takes the piss out of anyone who does anything he feels is particularly stupid. Like say, driving a jeep on a logging road in TWO WHEEL mode, instead of 4wd. And playing Eye-Spy with your kids on a logging road while taking curves a bit faster than you probably should. So what happens on the logging road has pretty much no chance of staying on the logging road. At least he had duct tape and some longish metal things that could pry at steel fenders slightly better than rotten bits of wood.

Long story short: We made it to the campground (avoiding sharp right hand turns as best we could) having shed the last vestiges of stress from the previous week. Somewhere in that long slow slide into the log it became clear that just enjoying the weekend was far more important than stressing about chores at home or how long it takes to drive from A-to-B. It turned out to be the best family camping event we've ever had. But no more Eye Spy!

New Beginnings

Look! A new mommy butterfly!!
Originally uploaded by Sheriagogo.

It was time to head inside after a Father's Day morning of yard clean-up and get ready to go out for lunch; I was finishing up some under-the-deck sweeping, Steve had already bounded inside to change, and Liam was just heading up the stairs when Zoe started to shout "NO LIAM! Don't go up the stairs! There's SOMETHING on the stairs!!! It's a BUTTERFLY! It's a new MOMMY butterfly!!!"

It took a moment for her words to sink in. I had no idea what she was talking about so I finished up and went to investigate. Liam was frozen half-way up the stairs and Zoe was standing at the bottom, pointing and shouting. And there was a new butterfly just hanging there off the bottom step, drying it's boldly coloured new wings.

I called out to Steve to bring the camera and then peered under the step to look for the chrysalis. I had just swept behind the steps so I knew the butterfly hadn't been there only a few minutes before. Sure enough, there was the coccoon, stuck up under the step.

New beginnings. A good omen for the various things we have on the go these days.

Little Giant

Liam was in his first play last night.

He was cast as the Giant in a re-worked version of Jack and the Beanstalk - mostly because he is really good at stomping and glowering and he has a big voice. Of course all the most prominant personality traits of a five year old tend to fade away under the blinding lights of the stage - or in this case, rows of parents in a community hall. But it was cute.

Most of the kids stood shell-shocked and expressionless while Joan, their teacher, read an animated narration that included physical prompts and verbal cues. Apparently the lack of expression was, in most cases, due to intense listening for these cues; for suddenly a mini actor would momentarily spring to life and say their lines; some with more expression than others. Liam kept up the glowering, but it is pretty hard to stomp barefoot on a linoleum coated cement floor - nothing to reverberate. And his much reduced big voice wasn't too bad in comparison to some, not as good projection as others. Only one little girl burst into tears - but then the golden harp always was prone to emotional outbursts. All in all an big success!

So Liam has had his first taste of the Horak trade; I wonder where he will take it from here?

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Liam has developed this odd little habit lately.
As soon as Steve or I start the shower he jumps out of bed (or runs upstairs) and ducks under the outer shower curtain, tucking himself under the tub (the newly exposed cast-iron footed tub) for the duration of the shower. And as soon as the water is shut off he shoots out of the bathroom faster than a speeding bullet. When questioned about his strange behaviour he blushed and said he just liked the sound of the water and how warm the tub was. No super-hero behaviour here despite the fact that in most cases the speeding bullet is in Bat Man or Spider Man Pj's.

SuperHeroes are big around here these days - mostly Batman. The recent influx of the odd bits of Grandpa Horak's legendary comic collection have helped to cement an already budding interest in the world of superheroes. Budding - because various marketing items like Spiderman backpacks, Batman Pj's and the stuff his Gang introduces him to have created a familiarity; Cemented - because suddenly we have a source of deeper information on these brightly clad super-heroes; AND his Dad knows tonnes of stuff about them, having grown up with the Complete Horak Comic Book Collection as his main source of reading material. Liam needs to be able to soak up INFORMATION if he is going to develop an interest in any given topic. He just loves to KNOW stuff.

Liam is a surprising little boy. He's one of those kids who tries out the full emotional and behavioural spectrum at home, drives us nuts, and then goes out into the world; a model of little boy behaviour. One of his teachers called him "laid back" the other day. Laid Back!!?? Our Liam? Wow, I wish I knew that kid!
Actually, I have caught glimpses of him:
When his buddy Zach has a meltdown at the end of Preschool because he doesn't want to go yet, Liam is the cool kid, saying "Hey Zach, It's ok. I'll see you tomorrow". I keep expecting him to say "chill man" he's so cool about it. And then there are the instances when I'm watching our neighbours daughter (soon to be 4 and a handful!!) and I have to referee an interaction with Zoe that has resulted in screeching; Recently, after I had reprimanded Isabella for grabbing a toy out of Zoe's hand instead of asking, Liam chimed in all been-there-done-that, "yeah, Isabella, my mom says the same thing when I do that. It's just not worth it. You should just ask her for it, nicely." Who is this kid??

Out in the world, Liam is the kid who walks his own path, confident in who he is and not giving in to peer pressure when the Gang isn't doing what he wants to do - or doing something he doesn't think they should. He thrives on knowing his boundaries; he seeks out the rules of any new situation and then settles in to watch. He'll follow when he wants to, lead when the spirit moves him, and he does his own thing if nothing else inspires him; a far cry from the sensitive little toddler who cried at every imagined slight, breaking down at every stumbling block life threw him. We still see that little boy around here - and that's a good thing. As long as he feels safe to explore his emotions at home we know we're doing something right. Preschool has been good for him, and despite our early reservations, we think he'll do fine in public school. Besides, he has his sister to help him learn about bullies.

Liam is a little boy of Hearty Laughs, Deep Sensitivity, Black Moods and Goofy Humour. He loves to wrestle with his dad, fight with his sister, and negotiate 'deals' with me all the time. He is a good big brother and always helpful when a sitter is over (so they tell us). And, oddly enough, he seems to have good taste. He always likes to look good, and he really loves getting his photo taken - especially at SEARS. But recently I have been sending him to get dressed on his own - as in picking out his own clothes. At first I found myself cringing as I heard him coming down the stairs, expecting a mismatch like only his father is capable of, but so far he is always coordinated and spiffy - and a looker to boot. I'm not sure if this is due to some innate sense of style or just his observant nature picking up on my past co-ordination efforts. Probably the latter.

He'll be FIVE in a month. He's growing up, our little boy - right before our eyes!
Not quite as fast as a speeding bullet, but fast enough.

Movin' On

All Right! Enough! You can stop calling me 'Cabbage Tit' - it's getting old.

I have a new hard drive now. Very exciting! Makes doing stuff with my computer less, well, fraught with fear and danger. We shall see if that translates into more blogging. Or just more time wasted in general.

But seriously, the cabbage is old news. Get over it.

When All Is Said And Done...

Just call me 'Cabbage Tit.'
No, seriously, I have spent the last 48 hours or so with cabbage leaves stuffed inside one or another of my GAP built-in shelf bra tank tops. For those of you nursing moms who hear tell of this strange barbaric 'cure' for a plugged duct, let me tell you now: IT WORKS!!! Finally, sweet relief! Oh, I've had plugged ducts before, but as any la leche league inductee can tell you "just nurse through it and all will be well." Trouble is, Zoe weaned over a week before the duct in question went and got itself plugged. And the LAST thing you want to do when you've just weaned is express milk in ANY form. So what to do? Cabbage leaves! They are even the right shape for the job. Maybe that's how someone came up with the idea....

Anyways, I guess it is news that Zoe is now weaned. We always figured it would be easier with her than Liam and it was. Only two nights of insisting that she get her nummies before she started reminding me "No Nummies, right mom?." She may be only two but there are times when she channels 22.

The other night I got up because she was fussing and I thought maybe she needed to go pee. The issue turned out to be water and after that was satisfied she handed me her cup and said "you can go now" as she cuddled up to her pillow. I sat there on the edge of the bed dumbfounded; "I can go now?" I asked her incredulously. Eyes still closed, she nodded "yes." And so, at 2am, I was dismissed by my 2 year old.

With no nummies to see her to sleep at night, Zoe spent her first week trying to figure out how to settle down into sleeping; there were stories either with Liam and Daddy or just with Mommy (while Liam and Daddy read about space) to help with the transition and then the lights went out. But for Zoe this wasn't quite enough so she would promptly start talking out loud about whatever came to mind while her poor tired brother across the room tried to sleep. If she would just whisper! That was my goal: "Zoe, it's lights out time. It's dark now, now we whisper. No Talking! Liam has to go to sleep."

The night after I was summarily dismissed from my bedside duties, Zoe again woke up in the night and needed to pee; for that matter so did I, so I met her in the bathroom. She wasn't actually cranky, just a bit sleepy. I was talking to her - softly, but I was talking. And then she pipes up in a high pitched whisper: "Mommy you should whisper, it's dark."
Touche my little one!

Top Ten Reasons I'm Not Blogging Much These Days

10) Still recovering from my recent alien abduction.

9) I'm busy balancing my Qi.

8) So many beer, so little time.

7) Three Words: En Ech Ell

6) I'm exploring other ways of talking to myself.

5) The Scorpian T-shirt, Strawberry Shortcake Outfit, Batman PJ's and 'Cat' PJ's MUST be cleaned... EVERY DAY!

4) The Playmobil Vikings have staged a siege - water and food are in short supply.

3) My ears are still ringing - there's no room for other thoughts.

2) I can't stop thinking about boats.

1) Um, ah...ah...what's the word? ... oh, yah.. "Writers Block"

From the Mouths of Babes

LIFE LESSON:

Liam and his little friend Isabella have a tendency to do what older siblings often do to younger ones: gang up and exclude them. Zoe and Isabella may play together just fine, but when Liam is there the dynamic completely changes. This is new to Zoe since in most other play-date circumstances Liam and his friends either include her in the play or she isn't interested in joining all on her own.

Yesterday was no exception to the Liam and Isabella exclusion games. So, being a responsible parent I thought Liam and I should have a little chat. I know that this is just something Zoe is going to have to deal with but still, I felt I should talk to Liam:

"Liam" says I, the only child who never understood sibling dynamics, "You really should include Zoe when you play. How would you feel if say, Zach decided that you couldn't play with the rest of the gang? Wouldn't you feel sad? Wouldn't you just feel like sitting down and crying if your friends were being mean to you?"

"No," he says, "When Zach does that I just get mad and go find something else to do."

"Oh. hmmmnn. Well.... aaahh, good point. I guess you figure Zoe should just get mad and go find something else to do?"

"Yep"

"Well you should still be nice to your sister" I replied lamely.

HOW WELL THEY KNOW YOU:

Though I am weaning Zoe she still manages to negotiate brief nummies in the morning and at bedtime (they are getting MUCH shorter though - 1 or 2 minutes max).

This morning Steve leaned over the nursing unit to ask me if I wanted him to start some coffee for me.

Zoe nodded "Yes" before I even had a chance to answer.

Fun But No Photo

We finally did it! A night away from the kids!

Our whirlwind trip to Bruce & Rebecca's wedding in Calgary was fabulous! We travelled light; only carry-ons - a luxury in and of itself. We got to dress up, stay out 'til 2am and sleep in 'til 11am in our deluxe jacuzzi-suite hotel room! Heaven! I even stepped out to have my hair done before the wedding. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, we once again failed to come away from the evening with a 'nice' photo of the two of us. Bridget stole my camera and went trigger happy so I figured there was a good chance of at least ONE picture turning out. Alas, it was not to be; she failed to notice the dangling strap in front of the lens and so most of the good poses were ruined; the rest were blurry. I guess even a Nikon D70 requires deft handling to produce good photos. Not that I could have done any better. I really need to figure out EVERYTHING my camera can do because the standard "auto" mode SUCKS in poor lighting conditions!

The wedding itself was unique. Since Rebecca is an actress and Bruce a playwrite it seemed only fitting for them to exchange vows onstage at the Loosemoose Theatre: Doors at 7, Show at 8. The theme was Joseph Campbell (Heros, Myths and all that - apparently he wrote about marraige too) so the first half of the show was filled with deep and moving symbolism framed by representative speaches for each of the Circles of Friendship, Mentors and Family. Add to that an hour or more of raunchy variety show which ended sometime after 11pm, followed by drinks, nibblies and a really good old time hillbilly band, and you have a recipe for completely exhausting, confusing and pissing off your 91 year old grandmother (poor Bessie, she's a good sport but I think it was a bit much for both her and Uncle Ralf). Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the occassion but I can honestly say that there were more than a few numb bums in the house by the end of the evening!

Congratulations to The Happy Couple!
(Let's just hope they find time to take care of the legalities in Toronto in the next couple of weeks. Actors!)

Meanwhile our brave and true friend Heidi took over as guardian of our children for 30 hours or so. I think she is still recovering from battling The Demons From Hell (her words) summoned by Zoe at about 4am when our little Diva realized there really were no nummies coming anytime soon. What a trooper Auntie Heidi is - I only hope she doesn't resign her 'Auntie' status after the whole experience!

Honey, Where Should We Put The Water Buffalo?

This morning I purchased a flock of ducks. Liam insisted.
Then Zoe wanted a Llama, so I got one of those too. I have a passion for trees so of course I couldn't pass up a bunch of seedlings; not when they were only $10. Steve wanted something weird so I suggested he get a water buffalo - they look pretty strange to North American eyes don't you think?
Half and hour later and we were all happy with our wedding gift purchases for Uncle Bruce and soon-to-be Aunt Rebecca.

I have seen the commercial for Heifer International of course (you know, the one with the girl, and the goat in a shopping cart...), but I have never been to the website before. Not until today that is. Having travelled in Mexico, Northern Vietnam and throughout the rural parts of Thailand, I have seen (and visited with) the kinds of families who might benefit from the efforts of such an organization, therefore I really appreciated Bruce and Rebecca's choice for a gift registry. Besides, I don't think I have had so much fun shopping for a wedding present before! No stress and no tax!

There is just one thing that puzzles me; I just can't figure out what a couple of nomadic actors are going to do with all that Livestock! ;)

Egg Day

Happy Egg Day!

Our morning began with the screech of dawn - literally. These last few days Zoe begins her day - and therefore all of us get to share in the treat - by sitting up and screaming "NUMS" in my ear; when I refuse - partly due to the abrupt awakening and partly due to the fact that I'd really like her to be weaned - the screeches really get into gear. And then Liam chimes in with a full on whiny "I'm hungry! I want Breastfix (a leftover from his 'nums' days)." Poor Steve, all achy and sore from fence building, gets to wake up to his delightful family...

Sigh. At least it is Egg Day so there was the prospect of chocolate eggs hidden somewhere downstairs. That's enough to cheer up even Liam! Once reminded of the potential we couldn't contain his enthusiasm; he and Zoe scampered downstairs, egg baskets in hand, and about 20 seconds later he was back at the foot of the bed, vibrating with excitment and describing in intimate detail the new additions to the egg-and-tulip centre-piece we set up yesterday afternoon (playmobil people and new bath toys that won't scratch the tub - the Easter Bunny is very practical!). Such visual acuity and memory skills! You wouldn't know he had them most of the time! Easter seems to be a bigger hit than even Christmas morning. Yesterday saw him looking forward to today, reminiscing about the last two Easter egg hunts. Yet on Christmas eve he was moping about because after 'tomorrow' he'd have to wait a whole year until NEXT Christmas.... Only Liam could find a way to complain on Christmas Eve.

Of course, given all that chocolate, the next set of parental challenges for the day has been limiting intake. Distraction and dissappearing acts are the best methods but even so the kids are adept at arguing their respective cases. Well, Liam is adept at arguing his case; and when that doesn't work he resorts to whining and crying. I think we have now reached an understanding - and all the chocolate is out of reach. Zoe's methods differ slightly. As I began this post, she found her Easter basket and began to unwrap a chocolate egg for me . . . and then one for her, and then one for me . . . HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! Her chocolate is now also safely out of reach.

The strangest outcome of this day so far is the fact that Liam is begging to have a bath so he can play with his new knight bath toys!

BatBoy And The Purple Princess... Or Blame It All On Daylight Savings

I've been in a haze all week, suffering from writers block and a general lassitude. I have no real explanation for it so I've decided to blame it all on Daylight Savings. Why don't we stay on Daylight Saving all year long? Why do we subject ourselves to voluntary bi-yearly time-disorientation? Doesn't make sense to me. But it certainly does mess with my internal clock.

Even all the cute things the kids have been doing have had to filter through a haze this last week. Posts start to form in my head and then dissapate before I can latch onto them and write them down. I've lost count of how many times I've gone to 'create a new post' and then drifted away in confusion; not sure if I even had an idea to write down in the first place.

As I stepped out of the shower this morning I had my first sense that the haze might be lifting; I actually wanted to get downstairs and write something. I could hear the kids somewhere outside of the bathroom; their voices raised and growly, yet no sounds of conflict. Strange. What could they be doing? As I tip-toed out of the (fabulous) bathroom, I peeked around the corner and spied two tow-heads side by side half way down the stairs. It was Batboy and the Purple Princess and they were saving the world from the evil plots of the super villians. Two days of the 1960's Batman Movie video has certainly changed the play landscape of our house (last week they were jousting - Knights Tale).
As much as I want to continue writing, the kids and I are due to take the Bat'Copter to Home Depot in a little while to buy some much needed items for the raising of our new back fence. That's what Steve has been doing all the while the world has unknowingly been in danger and subsequently saved by our two fearless super-hero children.

Later... MUCH later...

Somewhere enroute Batboy and the Purple Princess were replaced by their evil twins, Screech-Maiden and Sir Whine-a-lot. There I was, stranded with a list of much needed tools (Home Depot) and food items (Thrifty's) (plus the extra bits phoned in to me - Zellers) and no back-up in sight. By the time I pulled into the driveway I was and hour and half over-due, starving, and ready to explode. Three Thrifties chocolate chip cookies and half a beer later I passed out on the sofa from sheer exhaustion and nausea.

Waking from my apparently much-needed nap I had an epiphany; it seems thaty part of my haze for the past week has been due to lack of sleep and, more importantly, the fact that Zoe has had a head cold (thus the lack of sleep - you see? It's all making sense now). The thing about Zoe is that she can be the most charming and adorable little girl when all is well, but if she is pissed off, then everyone around her must be miserable too. And Nothing pisses Zoe off more than a runny nose (since she was weeks old - I'm not kidding)! This last week has seen the addition of the 'snotty nose dance' - very similar to the renowned 'pee-pee dance' of children everywhere - where a very pissed off Zoe dances, shrieks and runs to the nearest tissue source for a quick wipe as often as every five minutes. As long as we are at home and the hallway kleenex box is at hand, all is well. But as soon as you take her away from her comfort zone (and hallway strewn with single use tissues) her 'snotty nose dance' transforms into the high-pitched non-stop shriek-that-could-numb-a-banshee. Very fun in public places - NOT.

The by-product of all this Zoe-induced insanity is that Liam, feeling left out, and also not appreciating the deafening noise his sister is capable of producing (not to mention the walloping he is the most likely recipient of when she is so generally pissed off with life), ups his whine-and-cry output to match his sisters volume -no easy task, but the wallopings do tend to help his cause in this case. The only bright side in this wierd sibling behaviour dynamic that I can see is that Liam is in the process of learning how to deal with bullies before he even sets foot in a public school.

Maybe the mental haze hasn't been all about daylight savings afterall. All I know is that it's been a long week and Zoe's nose is still runny. I'm looking forward to more adventures on the stairs with Batboy and the Purple Princess - if we manage to survive the exploits of Screech-Maiden and Sir Whine-A-lot.

P.S. the fence is coming along nicely...

Conversation on Hillside Avenue...

... after chasing Zoe and scooping her up as she was heading for the road...

No Zoe! You stay away from the cars, they're dangerous!!

I want to catch them!

You want to wha..? No NO! Zoe. They are going too fast, you can't catch them!

Yes I can. I can stop them.

No! You can't stop them Zoe. They're too big.

Yes I can. I'm Big!

Yes, you are big, but even Mommy can't stop the cars. Not mommy or Daddy or Nana or Panda can stop the cars.

Not Liam?

No not even Liam. They are too big and too fast and they'll squish you flat! You stay away from the cars Zoe. Please. Honey, you scare mommy when you run towards the cars like that.

She's thinking it over...

The Light Switch

"The light, the light switch! It's scary!!"
Zoe chanted as she pranced about the Baby/Kids section of the Gap last Monday morning, stopping in front of the salesladies to let them in on the joke.

They, of course, couldn't really make out the words that were so clear to me, her mother.
Not surprisingly, my translation did little to clear up the confusion. From the looks on their faces, it may have even made it a bit worse. What light switch? And why is it scary?

Indicating Liam, cowering nearby in a rack of sale jeans, I set out to explain the situation:

A few weeks before Christmas, while the kids and I were out Christmas shopping at Mayfair Mall, we found ourselves in the GAP bathroom taking care of business. For those of you who don't know this bathroom; it is HUGE with a sink and change table along one wall and as far away from the door as possible is the single toilet. That's where I was when Zoe turned off the light.
Liam immediately went into a state of shear panic while Zoe exclaimed "it's dark" with a certain amount of wonder in her voice. I of course, was otherwise occupied, so I tried to talk Liam down and get him to feel for the light switch - I mean if Zoe could turn the light off he should be able to turn it back on! But alas, getting Liam to do something while in that state is like..., well, you just can't. Eventually I was free to turn the light back on and do my best to calm my sensitive little boy down.

I thought nothing of this event even though the next time we visited the bathroon there was some tension. But this time around the tension started in the car as we pulled into the parking lot.

"No mommy, I don't want to go to the Gap. I'm scared!"

"Scared of what?"

"The light switch! I don't want to go! I'm too scared!"

(The light switch? ... oh yeah, THAT light switch) "Well, we all went pee before we left so we shouldn't need to go to the bathroom this time. You'll be fine"

NO, I'm scared, I don't want to go!!"

Sometime during this conversation Zoe started up with her chant. As we walked into the store she kept it up, cheerfully exclaiming to one and all that the light switch was scary; chasing Liam with her arms raised, wiggling fingers and 'woooo-ing' just to add to the effect. The 'effect' being; making her older brother fears seem even larger than life and sending him cowering under clothes racks, nearly in tears.

I completed my telling and the salesladies chuckled as understanding of the situation dawned. And then the questions: "how old is she?" & "Isn't she younger than him?" came simultaneously!
"Just past two and yes she is younger than him. But she's a little devil and she knows how to push his buttons!"

Somewhere in the telling Liam decided that maybe he was overreacting just a bit and the rest of the visit saw the two of them chasing each other around the store, pretending to be afraid, calling out "the light switch! it's scary!!"

Cookie Anyone?

Tears, tantrums and terrible behaviour. Not the kids - me.

I never learn. I always think that maybe this time I can do it. This time it will go smoothly and everyone will be happy. But it's just not meant to be.

Put me in a kitchen by myself and I'll cook up a meal, a batch of cookies, a cake, whatever; whistling all the while. In the end it will taste good and the kitchen will be spotless. Add other people to the mix and I'll start to stress out; add my kids and I'll have a complete mental breakdown. This afternoon was no different.

The thing is, Steve is just so good at cooking with the kids. He's pretty good at involving the kids in pretty much anything actually. I keep thinking that this time I'll just calm down, fix Steve's easy going style firmly in my head and all will be well. And then Zoe starts grabbing eggs and running away at the same time that Liam starts up, seconds after the first ingredient is added to the mixer, with a whining "Mom can I lick the thing NOW?" They fight over who gets to scoop the flour and they fight over who gets to put in the sugar and they fight over who gets to stand on the blue stool and they fight over who gets to stand on the white stool. Then Zoe, feet clad in new summer sandals she dug out of her room, falls off her stool, taking the skin off my bare foot as she crashes to the floor; thus the tears - mine and hers. The second time this happens, the shoes are forcefully banished to the front entrance in a cloud of blue air and Liam opts for watching TV, claiming Zoe is "too loud" and probably thinking his poor mom is losing it. I'm not so sure she isn't.

We have cookies now. They taste good. The kitchen is a disaster. The kids are watching the Backyardigans. I'm thinking a beer is in order - even though I don't usually drink alone.

Hmmmm, come to think of it, maybe next time I should start the baking process off with a beer - or a martini.

Skidmark - or the Tale of the Little Boy Who Couldn't

The little-boy-who-couldn't (or wouldn't) has taken a big step forward this week - he brought home his first reading book from school!! From the minute he made it public that he could write his name he has been eagerly (for Liam) absorbing all he can about writing and letters, and word sounds. Not at a lightening pace, but showing actual interest. I guess it has paid off because he has now his own preschool/junior kindergarten reading log and plastic zip bag for books. We are so very proud of him!

Don't get me wrong, we know that Liam is a bright little boy capable of doing anything he sets his mind to. It's his own stubborn nature and desire to hide his true abilities that makes him 'the little boy that couldn't' - he insists he 'can't' whatever!

Case in point:
A few weeks back Liam let it slip that he wipes his own bum at preschool.
This was news to me. And from the look on his face - busted! - it was something he wasn't planning on telling me anytime soon. For months we have been encouraging him do this thankless task on his own. We would ask him 'what do you do at preschool?' and he would always insist that they helped him. Considering that they do accept two and a half year olds and that potty training isn't a requirement, I accepted this at face value. Apparently I should have questioned the teachers. Anyways, the cat was out of the bag and from that moment on I insisted he do his own wiping at home. Unfortunately I did relent and agree to "check his work".

The first few times he was spotless. Not only had he been doing this for a while, he was good at it too! When I think on it, never a skidmark did I find... hmmmnnn. I probably should have 'checked his work' once or twice and declared him fit and able to take it on his own from there, because suddenly it was like he had forgotten how to do it. He always insisted he had wiped first, and yes, there was always toilet paper in the bowl...

Then one day - a bad teething day for Zoe (that darn LAST MOLAR still hasn't broke through) - he announced, as usual, "Mom, I have to poo. Don't forget to come and check my work!" But I was stuck on the sofa with grrowly girl hitched up and wasn't likely to be moving soon. I thought at first that 'checking his work' would be an opportunity to end the nursing session (she's 26 months fergoshsakes!!). But then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had been duped - for weeks. He wasn't really wiping - not after the first few impeccable 'spot checks.' No, he was just putting a piece of toilet paper in the toilet and taking advantage of my general distractions and distaste for the job at hand. So when the inevitable "Mom, come check my work" rang out. I sat comfortably on the sofa, smiled down at Zoe and said, "No. I don't think so. I think you can do it just fine. You're on your own from now on."

That first time didn't go over well ("But I'm not five yet, I'm not in kindergarten yet" - the timeline we had originally given him). But I did finally get a confession that he had been 'faking it' and he's pretty much happy to do it all by himself nowadays. He still announces "Mom, I have to poo" but there hasn't been a skidmark yet!

Saturday Morning Scene

Liam sitting quietly at the kitchen table - Lego Moon Mission space toys arrayed in front of him.
His generally quiet personal dialogue centers on landing instructions, avoiding meteorites, blasting off, and other snippets of space terminology.

Steve and Zoe practicing kitchen soccer. Back and forth in short spurts the little soccer ball travels willy nilly across the kitchen floor.

Me, sipping coffee at the 'peninsula'

Zoe's 'kicking' is starting to be interupted by some odd dance movements.
"Zoe do you have to pee?" her father asks her.
"No, I not have to pee. I - have - to -play.... SOCCER!!"

Steve glances at Liam, catches my eye - "they have totally different interests"

But, hearing the cry of "SOCCER", Liam abandons his space mission and charges in, changing the energy of the teaching session into a free-for-all soccer challenge.

Over the course of the next few minutes the game changes rules about half a dozen times. Zoe keeps coming to tell me proudly that she is the goalie on the soccer team (to which I respond, "well you better get back there and protect your goal" ). There is a pee break (she did have to pee after all), followed by more rambunctious play, and now there is a Time Out for Liam to get out of his too long pj bottoms so he won't slip anymore.

Everyone has cleared the stage.

I'm ready for another cup of coffee.

Saturday Morning Meandering

Only four days left until we can post more photos on Flickr! and finally get that book made up. Uploading all those reno photos used up my entire bandwidth allotment for the month.
In the meantime, the impact of the renovation has finally wound down to resemble daily life. The office is an office again - an amazing studio space actually. And there is finally storage inside the house! What a difference that makes. You should try it!

The list of things to do, although long, consists of the sort of things one might put on a list anytime, anywhere; hanging photos, sorting through small piles of clutter, fixing this or that, . . . killing a rat . . . Of course this means there is no glaringly obvious priority, a situation which tends to breed procrastination. But we are steadfast in our commitment to getting this mental clutter dealt with - as long as we can agree what to do next. I have a feeling that once Steve and Zoe wake up Liam will claim that 'fixing Polly' - his wooden pirate parrot from Gigi, who had the misfortune of being sat on last night - will eclipse all other household considerations.

I claim coffee time for Mommy and Daddy takes priority over all other chores.
I can hear the little princess now (thump, thump thump)...
Let the Chaos begin!

Morning Moment

Suddenly Liam was crawling into bed with Zoe and I this morning.

"Mom, I came to have a snuggle with you" - he says. I could hear Stephen puttering around with the breakfast details downstairs. It was nice to sleep in for a bit.

"Yikes!! Liam your feet are like popsicles!" I exclaim as he tucks his frigid feet into the warmth of my legs under the covers. "You know how you always want popsicles these day? You should just suck on your toes!"
He giggles at the image of his popsicle feet.
"Mom, you're as warm as the sun" he says, still with a giggle in his voice as he hugs me tight.
Zoe pipes up "I'm the moon!"
We turn to look at her. "You're the moon?" I ask.
"No" she responds, thinking for a moment, "I'm a butterfly."

Popsicles, Sunshine and Butterflies... could be spring is just around the corner!

The Adventures of Baby Cat and Monkey Boy - Moon Mission

There is a big TV box in our living room. One side has been cut so that it falls open - rather like a hatch. A red string on a popsicle stick has been fed through a hole so you can sit in the box and close the hatch. Once inside, like magic, you can travel anywhere you want in our cardboard spaceship.

The kids go to the moon alot these days - or Mars. On the weekend they travelled the whole solar system.

Today was all about the blast off. The latest addition to the spaceship is Liam's old booster seat. The seat is on its back because that is how the astronauts sit for take off in the Saturn V. Have I mentioned that Liam knows more about the Apollo moon missions than all the info contained in the latest IMAX film on the same topic? At one point I just had to get the video camera out because Liam picked Zoe up and stuffed her into the tiny space left over behind the seat. He picked her up. Strong kid that one. And nobody stuffs Zoe anywhere she doesn't want to be. She usually wants to go with Liam in the spaceship though. But it was really the following explanation that inspired me, I only wish I had got it on tape;

"Don't worry Zo - I know it's a little cramped but it won't be for long.
It will be really loud for a while and then there will be a HUGE explosion, but then it will be quiet.
Really quiet.
And then you can get out and move around..."

Yeah, he's got the moon mission stuff down.
The spaceship is also part of Liam's new method of dealing with his temper and frustration - a sort of self imposed time-out; "I'M GOING INTO THE SPACE SHIP AND I'LL NEVER SEE/PLAY WITH YOU/ AGAIN!!!!"
Zoe thinks this is just grand. Now whenever Liam gets mad she tells him; "Liam, you gotta go in your space ship!"
That tends to go over much better than when she says "Liam, you need a Time Out"- something she says when she is mad at him. It will invariably reduce him to tears, even though everytime I patiently explain to Liam that Zoe can't actually give him a time out, that's my job.

The spaceship has survived two recycling days so far. I'm not sure how long I want to have a huge cardboard box sitting in the living room but as long as it is shuttling Baby Cat and Monkey Boy from here to the moon I'm guessing we're stuck with it.

Success II

It worked!!

This evening, in the L&M ladies room Zoe happily used her new purple potty seat exclaiming "My purple potty seat here?? I not fall in the hole!!"

Success!

A new 'purple' potty seat appears to be the solution to Zoe's Potty Procrastination ("no, I don't have to pee," "It's not a purple potty mommy," "It's a yucky potty"). I found one like the 'green' one we have upstairs on the Nice New Big Potty, but with 'purple' handles. It has been a big hit in the downstairs potty for the past two days and today it made its' inaugural trip to a potty in a completely different house - Success! Now we just have to give it a go on a real live Public Potty. Wish us luck!

Please, just don't anybody mention to Zoe that it's really more of a periwinkle blue (to be honest it does look slightly purple in real life).

Snapshot

It's Saturday morning.
Steve has been researching online for recording electronics but now he's playing guitar.
Liam has been making suggestions like "On Wednesday I think we should fly to Calgary and visit Nana and Panda - maybe we will, maybe we won't, you never know..." and "I invented a new day - it's Daddy and Liam day..." Zoe is flip-flopping from happy girl to grrrowly girrl at will but at the moment the two of them (or three?) are combining thier efforts to destroy parts of the living room.

Uh Oh - Liam's mastermind attempt to make a bridge (with the lid to the coffee table) failed due to mommy intervention and he has stomped upstairs in a huff - Zoe, following, is carrying a plastic apple saying "Liam, I made an apple for you! I made a apple, I made a apple. Liam - a pineapple, a pineapple."
He may have returned to sulk downstairs but he's finding it difficult to present the appropriate image with Zoe dogging his heals, apple in hand. Needless to say Zoe isn't making headway with her apple gift.

Liam is back to the drawbridge building scenario, slightly modified to suit parental requirements - no walking on it.
And now it's a top and lower bunk at the same time as being a drawbridge for their secret castle...
Oh dear, now it's getting complicated because Liam's vision doesn't coincide with parental ideas of 'safe play.'
With Steve's help they have settled on a 'safe' version of the drawbridge idea and there are giggles and laughter eminating from the living room once again.

I better go now. Just in the time it has taken to read this over there has been another intervention and sulking session. But the Ship (wait a minute - wasn't it a castle??) is sailing once again, Cap'n Liam is shouting orders and First Mate Zoe is working the rigging...

Clutter and the New Desk

Clutter and the New Desk
Originally uploaded by Sheriagogo.

This is - well, was - the state of the Office as of yesterday. I've had an hour or so today to sort, and let me tell you, the Canadian Diabetes people will have a LOT OF CRAP to pick up next week. Hope it does them some good. It feels great to get rid of it all. Maybe one day soon Steve will get his office space back and life can procede in the forward direction once again.

We have also been uploading even more photos of the reno onto my Flickr! site. Have a look if you like - the best way is through the bathroom renovation batch. The plan is to have a Qoop book printed of the whole batch - one of the cool things about Flickr!

Next job; print off photos for Great Grama Bessie. Steve told her if we didn't get her a bunch by next week she could disinherit us.

Door Jam

It's been forever since I posted even though I am writing and working on posts most days. It's not writers block - more like writers clutter. My head is so full of stuff to write I can't seem to get it all out or finish a piece.

Like right now I'm writing about all the clutter in our house. Exciting eh? Well, I need to write it. No-one needs to read it. Anyways, the halls are jam packed with stuff to consign or donate, and the bathroom door - conveniently located in front of the office closet for the past few months - was in the way of my tackling the last storage area for purging. So we thought we'd do the novel thing and hang it! It has been painted for over a week now... or maybe just 4 days. It feels like longer. Anyways, last night we got ourselves a bathroom door. This means there is hope for me having a hot shower in the mornings since with the door missing Steve has been averaging about 30 minute showers to 'warm up enough to withstand the draft.' That's 10 minutes longer than his normal - about a whole shower for me - and the entire contents of our hot water tank.

After, um, well, I've lost count of the weeks - a really long time anyways - we now have a bathroom door. We can almost have guests over again! Amazing. Still, there is much to be done before that is a reality. The clutter remember? Maybe we'll get it all dealt with this weekend... or not. As long as no one comes down with another cold or flu we'll have a fighting chance (Zoe was down for all of last week with a head cold and fevers - can you say 'cranky and clingy?'). And the odds will be even greater if Zoe finishes up getting those last two molars that finally made an appearance yesterday - four months of teething hell finally over!!

So that's life in the land of clutter and head colds.
Maybe I'll finish up one of those other bits later today... or maybe I'll clean out the closet.

I Got To Pee On A Tree!!!

They say 'this too shall pass.'
They say 'it's just a phase.'
And in the greater scheme of things a 2 week, 1 month, 3 month, or 6 month 'phase' of difficult, annoying, or just plain exasperating behaviour is barely any time at all. But when you are living it, in the middle of it, with no end in sight - tomorrow? Next week? 6 months? - it's not much fun.

Zoe still won't pee anywhere but the nice new big potty upstairs where she's sure she won't fall in. The brand new training toilet seat was a big hit until it was out of the wrapper and on an actual toilet. Then it too became 'yucky.' So much for that idea. For the most part I have resorted to a DORA backpack with a change of clothes in the car at all times, trying to get her to pee before we go anywhere, and planning only really short excursions.

I have had some creative successes, unfortunately most of them aren't repeatable. For example, I managed to reverse psychology her into using an aging green toilet at our local beer making facility. She's never seen a green toilet before, so it may have given her hope that somewhere out there is the 'purple potty' she tells me she will use if we find it. And me telling her she couldn't use the green one was just too much - she HAD to give it a try. Although I think it started to dawn on her that she had been duped in the middle of the pee.

Today was another resounding away-from-home-peeing success story. The four of us spent a little lunch hour playtime at the beach and of course Zoe decided she had to pee just as we were trying to drag the kids back to the car so Steve could get back to work on time. There was the public washroom. I knew that would be a monumental waste of time, but there were some big oak trees nearby... Knowing that Zoe at times idolizes her brother, and knowing that whenever he has peed on a tree she has wanted to too, I knew I had the perfect opportunity to make the rest of our errands possible (if we had to go home after taking Steve back to work there really wasn't much hope of getting anything else done, and a Zoe who has to pee is a really unpleasant companion). So, recalling the method friend M used with daughter O, I proceeded to assist Zoe in peeing on - or at least beside - a big old oak tree. As she finished her business she beamed up at me; "I got to pee on a tree!!!"

I don't think the mall security will be too happy if we try that on a potted fiscus though.

Bathtime Physics Lesson

Liam explores the concept of 'Density';

"The water is heavier than my penis.
That's why it floats."

A New Year

It's what, the third week of January, and we are finally finishing up the hall painting! It feels so good to be at the end of the renovation tasks. After the hall, there is just the office to set in order. Probably another month of work, but hopefully not as disruptive to the rest of the house.

It's nice to be firmly into the New Year as well. I could have done without 2005 for the most part. But it is a New Year, and we have a new bathroom, a freshly painted hall with newly refinished floors. New sleeping arrangements - the kids have their own beds so we get ours to ourselves for at least and hour evey night, sometimes longer (and sometimes we all end up in the kids room - whatever). We also have a new TV and new ideas for future renovations. Most importantly we have new commitments to each other and children and our hopes and goals and dreams. Less clutter all round! Life is good.

Terrible Twos

It's official, the Terrible Twos have arrived at our house.

Zoe put in some practice this past summer, working on her temper tantrums, shrieking, hitting, and general obstinance. Then she gave it a rest for the Fall and turned into the perfect good-natured little angel who followed me around being both agreeable and helpful. Although, I must admit, she did develop a rather stubborn view of what she considered acceptable clothing - 'hot' pink or purple usually. Then, about a week before her second birthday she started up with the tantrums and shrieking and, well... let's just say I've had a bad case of dejas vue ever since.

Theories about the terrible twos abound, but it seems to be a combination of cognitive development leaping ahead of language skills, learning the power of 'NO,' and starting to assert independance. When I think back on it, the end of Zoe's last (summer) bout of tantrums was followed closely by her vocabularly and communication skills taking a large leap. Despite having a four and a half year old, this stage is a new one to me. I don't recall Liam really entering a distinct phase that I recognized as 'the terrible two's'. This is probably mainly due to the fact that Liam has never really seen any advantage in asserting his independance - I mean why do something for yourself if the alternative is to be waited on hand and foot? And as for communication, he has always had a pretty big vocabulary for his age. Language acquisition is the one area in life that has never daunted him. The bigger the words the better! As a toddler he tended to spend his time absorbing new words rather than practice doing other things. Not that this made him an easy going two year old. In fact from day one he always seemed to have higher needs than other kids and his frustrations with life have always stemmed from both impatience and a desire to do things right the first time - bad combination. No, there really wasn't any discernable change in behaviour towards 'the terrible twos' with Liam.

Enter Zoe. A whole new whirlwind - ahem, world. Her tantrums are classic on-the-floor kicking legs, thumping hands. She hits, she pushes, and her shrieks could literally curdle blood. She's stubborn about just about everything when she gets in one of her moods. Thankfully this means that reverse psychology works pretty well if you are trying to get her to do or eat something. So well, in fact, it's hard to keep from giggling as she suddenly vehemently demands that she gets to do the thing she was only moments ago fighting NOT to do. But the funniest and most anmoying part about the Terrible Twos in our house are the coversations between Zoe and Liam that tend to go something like this;

You are a Yucky Boy, Liam!

No, I'm not

Yes, You are a Yucky Boy. A Stupid Boy Liam!!

No I'm NOT. You are a Yucky Girl Zoe!

No, I'm a princess! You are a yucky boy!

Mom!! Zoe's calling me a Yucky Boy! And I'm NOT, I'm a Viking!

You're NOT a Viking, You're a yucky Boy! I'm not a Viking I'm a Princess!

I didn't call you a Viking. I'm a Viking! Stop it Zoe. Mom! Zoe hurt my feelings!!

You are a yucky boy!

Mom!!!

You get the idea. This happens about five to ten times a day these days. Sigh. And where did she learn the word 'Stupid' from anyways?... Oh yah, 'Bushy the Chimp.' That's another Blog entry.

Another aspect of the Terrible Twos that I deal with regularly is the issue of clothing. Before Christmas Zoe was a pants-and-shirt girl (she wouldn't wear tights so dresses weren't much of an option) as long as the pants were pink or had some kind of pretty detail and as long as the shirt had some feature she likes - a fairy, a heart, something. Getting her dressed was always a bit of a negotiation but it could be done. After Christmas she decided that she will only wear one of her purple dresses. She has three - one she got at the end of summer and two Nana got for her - and only one of those has long sleeves. At least she will wear tights now. But, she just recently decided she needed more colours than just purple - but not any of the winter dresses she has. They are Yucky! Now her daily wardrobe consists of a turtle neck (my compromise) under one of her sundresses so she can look the part of the 'beautiful princess.' Sigh. She certainly acts the part.

The last (so far) and probably most frustrating aspect of the terrible twos is her recent aversion to public potties. I discovered this last week while out for lunch and book shopping with the kids. All public toilets were suddenly labelled YUCKY (not that I blame her) and she started screaming bloody murder and stiffening into a board if I tried to hold her over a toilet despite the fact that she obviously needed to pee and kept telling me so. She insisted that she wanted a 'purple potty' and there was no way she was going to use any of the non-purple nearby options. This meant that she peed herself in Chapters - good thing she was in rubber boots! The trouble with this is that she seems to consider ALL toilets not actually IN our house as YUCKY. Sigh.
I'm hoping it's really an aversion the the big hole of a regular toilet so I'm going to pick up another seat cover and see if that helps.

That about covers it. I wonder what's next?