mommapalooza

my report card

This lovely creation is the my craft project from Little Learners last Thursday. Madeline was more interested in reading books in the book nook than cutting her mom some slack and doing the project for most of craft-time, but it went well enough. My plan to make the little drums was to cover the sides of a coffee can or large yogurt container with construction paper (with parental help), decorate the sides with crayons, stickers, and the like, and then top it off with waxed paper held on with an elastic band. Turns out that it's harder to cover the sides of a yogurt container because they slope, and glue isn't the best adhesive for doing it (I think that double-sided tape would have been ideal). But the toddlers (and even Madeline) enjoyed decorating their drums, and happily beat away on them for songs afterward. Madeline kept hers in the truck for the day so that she could perform for her dad and I when we picked Chris up from work.

Storytime also went okay, though I still wish that I'd been able to find the hardcover version of Hand Hand Fingers Thumb (HHFT). I hope that I made the story more interesting by asking Madeline and her classmates to show me their fingers and thumbs, and drum enthusiastically on their knees for the "dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum" parts. Madeline started storytime off by getting all possesive of HHFT when I pulled out the book to read (fair, I suppose, considering that it was her book, and she used to cuddle it in her crib), so there was a bit of a delay in getting started.

I'm still hoping for a B-minus :)

make your own kind of music

Madeline's latest playlist:

1. If I Had $1,000,000 - Barenaked Ladies
2. The Littlest Birds - Be Good Tanyas
3. Faraway Cookies - Sandra Boynton
4. Don't Make Me Sing Along - Al Simmons
5. Mahna Mahna - Cake
6. The Last Saskatchewan Pirate - Captain Tractor
7. Chicken Soup with Rice - Carole King
8. Tickle Cove Pond - Great Big Sea
9. I've Got to Be Clean - Guster
10. (The Banana Boat Song) Day-O - Harry Belafonte
11. The Unicorn - The Irish Rovers
12. Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
13. Upside Down - Jack Johnson
14. He Mele No Lilo - Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus & Mark Keali'l Ho'omalu
15. Be Like a Duck - Sandra Boynton
16. When I'm Up I Can't Get Down - Oysterband
17. Bicycle Race - Queen
18. The Rainbow Connection - Sarah McLachlan
19. The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Nylons
20. At the Zoo - Simon & Garfunkel
21. The Hockey Song - Stompin' Tom Connors
22. Fishin' Blues - Taj Mahal

A few months ago, I signed Madeline and myself up for a mix CD swap with some of the other parents in one of the online communities I'm a member of (btw, thank you, Alexandra!). So far, I've received three CDs and sent off my batch, and we're a now a pretty groovin' household :)

The structure of the swap is fairly straightforward: two people sign up to send out a mix CD to all other participants for six months (this means everyone makes eleven CDs and sends out eleven CDs when it's their month). Our theme was family-friendly music, but it wasn't restricted to songs recorded specifically for children. I had a day or so of stress when it was my month for the swap and discovered that I had to burn elevens discs yet iTunes really wanted to limit me to seven, but I eventually figured out how to work around that.  I filled my discs with the music in the list above - songs from Canadian recording artists, performers whom we've seen at the Edmonton Folk Fest, and then, a few songs that were just fun or favourites of Madeline's. In return, we have dozens of great songs to listen to that neither of us had heard before, and there are still eight more discs to come ...

Everyone with a kid should do this, really :)

Thursday in Three Acts

Act I

It's 7:53 am. Time to pile into the truck to take Chris to work. Madeline is happily playing with her Little People Farm and not particularly interested in getting a move on. Chris tries to win her co-operation, "Dad gets to be the Bad Guy," he says, moving to scoop her up, "Time to go!" Madeline moves away from his arms as quickly as she can, squealing. Back to playing with the wee plastic cow, pig, and rooster. My turn to try. "Madeline, I think that your animals would love to go for a car-ride with you!" I say, thinking that I'd hit upon a win-win situation for my two favourite people. Alas, no bite either.

Two different tactics, same result. A remote-controlled toddler would come in handy on some mornings.

Act II

Dinnertime. Madeline is intent on mastering the art of the spaghetti slurp. Sometimes she does it wonderfully. Sometimes she gets mixed up and instead of sucking in, she blows out. Stray noodles go flying all over the table.

Act III

The gingerbread house sits on the dining table, and Madeline pulls me over. "Ginger-house, please" she says. I did promise a bite of gingerbread if she ate most of her dinner. I ask her what part she'd like, and she picks one of the tree-shaped cookies that she and Chris decorated this past weekend. I start the task of removing all of the jellybeans and hard candies from the tree before passing it to her. Madeline's little hand reaches out and grabs a red jellybean. "Have this?" she asks, and I shake my head. "But I big boy!" she insists, "I big boy!" I want to laugh my head off, but I just give her a hug. And eat the jellybean myself.

thumble fumble

So, I accepted an invitation to develop tomorrow's main craft for Madeline's class at Early Achievers.  Her teacher gave me a really helpful tip when she suggested basing the project around one of Madeline's favourite books, and it seemed to me to be a great way to build a theme. Driving home from class two weeks ago, it occured to me that Madeline loves the funky monkey drummers in Hand Hand Fingers Thumb, and hey, it would be rather nifty to make little drums in class. I'm all good with the drum construction part of the plan, but I also have to read Hand Hand Fingers Thumb in class tomorrow. We just have the very small board book version here at home, which I thought was sized a little too small for sharing with five or six toddlers. I checked the Children's Library here in St. John's, and their normal-sized hardcover version is still checked out. I checked the situation at Chapters and Coles, and they don't have the book in stock. I even looked into ordering the book online, but there wouldn't have been enough time to have it delivered. I called Granny Bates, and they haven't carried it for awhile.

Argh! I think I'm left with asking the class to seriously crowd around me during storytime tomorrow. 

tuesday snapshot

Last night, Madeline refused to go to bed unless the overhead light in her bedroom was left on. Same thing for her nap this afternoon. She told us that the dark was scary. "Scary" only entered her frame of reference a few days ago and I can't figure out why!

Today I realized that Madeline's come really far in the Mother Goose program. When we started it, she had no idea what was expected of her, and I doubt she really cared. It was more fun to run around the room with the other toddlers and preschoolers. But lately, she's been singing and clapping along, and waiting patiently for Sleeping Bunny time, which is her favourite.

Unrelated but cool: I read about the new international symbol for breastfeeding on Blogging Baby today. It's think it's perfect!

Who me? Change?

Before Madeline came along, I don't think that I really liked children. Talking to a child was a painful ordeal for me. I never knew what to say. Should I ask how school is going? If he/she's read any good books lately? I kept remembering how weird it was when I was a little kid and adult acquaintances tried to strike up conversations with me, so I had a policy of merely say "hello", or just smiling while keeping my mouth shut.  Little kids chattered away in their little voices in the crowded movie theatre, distracting my attention away from The Lost World. Why did I go to a matinee, anyway? I still remember going out for lunch with a friend in 1995 and watching in horror as her little brother and sister played tag in the middle of Pizza Hut ...

And now ... Well, I'm crazy about preschool toys and picture books. Proud that I can understand English spoken with a toddler accent. I'm glad that Chris and I take Madeline to the occasional restaurant so that she can figure out the social rules of that type of environment. I think that after Madeline was born, the resident who stitched me up sneaked in a Patience & Understanding Expansion Pack while no one was looking, because I suddenly find myself empathizing with small children left and right. Ten years ago, I never wanted to have a child of my own, and now I secretly hope that a small flock of these wonderful little people lands on my doorstep one of these days.

Before Madeline came along, I was a chicken. One year of being bullied at school really did a number on me, and even ten years later, I still had no faith in my social skills. I moved to Calgary without any friends in the city, and the only ones I made were people that I worked with. I never drove anywhere by myself, lest I get lost or into an accident and have to have an intelligent conversation with a *gasp* stranger/bully-in-waiting. I'm not sure if it was Parenthood-with-a-capital-P that motivated me to get out in the world, or else just Fear-with-a-capital-F that I'd otherwise turn into a hermit with raging PPD, but something changed inside my head when Madeline was three weeks old that made the thought of spending fifty weeks of mat leave without speaking to another adult outside of my husband unbearable. It was sooo hard, at first, to get out. So many scary things to confront. I had to learn how to drive myself places on insane Calgary roads, requiring straightforward routes, and no uncertainty about what lane I needed to be in to make my turns. Second, I needed to be comfortable with the thought of Madeline screaming her little newborn head off from the SnugRide in the backseat while I ignored her and paid attention to the road. And I need to be confident that I could stay calm in the midst of a public newborn meltdown, and be impervious to the Judgment-with-a-capital-J of others while doing so. Twice a week we went to a StrollerFit class.  It truly was an ordeal at first. I struggled with unfolding the stroller. Held my breath every time Madeline would squawk. But you know what? Madeline gave me my courage back. I'll drive on roads that I've been on before if they take us someplace fun for Madeline. I still worry about having to talk to people I don't know, but if they're holding hands with another toddler, I just might be the one to say "hi" first.

There. Two ways in which becoming a parent has changed me.

Fabulous Friday links to read and love:

• The Sanctimommy over at Mom 101. I love this post. I love this reality check.
• I've already mentioned my fondness for picture books in this post, so it just makes sense admit that I've been indulging in A Readable Feast for the last couple of weeks.
• I have to plug Preschool Rock as fellow St. John's resident/mom/writer Stephanie Olsen used some of my recent ranty post in her article The Makings of a Preschool Parent. Isn't that a great name for a website, btw? I must admit that I've been reading some of the other posted articles to prepare me for life with Madeline a year from now :)
• semi-healthy muffin recipes at Ask Moxie.  And my own semi-healthy muffins recipe (just because), posted at Going Domestic. (note: link to muffin recipe has been corrected)

local interest

A random assortment of St. John's links for today ...

There is a new-ish upscale-ish baby boutique on Topsail Road, and they have a website: coo chi coo.

I found a pretty awesome website that keeps a calendar of kid-friendly activities in the St. John's area: On the Go Kids. I am really loving the calendar feature, even if two of the events listed for every Sunday are predictable skating at Mile One and swimming at the Aquarena.

The terrific playgroup at the CUPW building that I blogged about awhile back has an actual website: Family and Child Care Connections.

Not necessarily St. John's related: Madeline went to bed at eight last night, and didn't stir until 6:47 this morning! Whee!

blast from the past

I realized this weekend that it was three years ago, minus a few days, that Chris and I learned that we were going to be parents. Madeline wasn't unexpected, but we were surprised nonetheless. I hadn't started this blog yet. I was relieved to have a legitimate reason for only having enough energy to collapse on the sofa after work, and to beg off our Saturday afternoon curling lessons (because everyone knows that running down a sheet of ice with a broom is a brilliant first trimester fitness activity, right?).

Madeline was a secret that only the two of us shared for roughly three months, which doesn't seem like a very long time now, but at the time is seemed to go on forever. We were positive that our secret would be discovered over Christmas when I suddenly drank cranberry juice instead of wine with my dinner at my in-law's home, and there was a tense moment at my parents' house when my grandmother patted my tummy and asked me when we were going to have kids. For the entire duration of Christmas dinner, I was convinced that my little grandma had developed superpowers!

Madeline was also a secret from us, in a way. We didn't know if she was a she or he. Didn't know if she had the correct number of limbs. All that we had to go on was the sound of her little heartbeat amplified through the doppler. I used to refer to her as "The Olive" or "The Grapefruit" in reference to her approximate in-utero size.

Three years have passed, and looking back, I think it's really amazing how easy it was to care about someone whom we hadn't yet met.

Riddle of the Day

It's like a lame joke: How do you night-wean a two year-old toddler?

Why, very gently.

Madeline and I have made good progress with the weaning project. The night-time nursing sessions have been gone for over a month now, and I'm feeling so much better. And we're both sleeping better, which is also a good thing.

I did this on my own, and thus prepared myself to face hours of inconsolable wails. A few days before Night 0, I told Madeline that very soon I wasn't going to have any milk for her at nighttime, but that she and I still could cuddle. On Night 0, before tucking her into bed, I told her that if she woke at night, I wasn't going to have any milk for her; night-time was for sleeping, but that if she was hungry she could have some Cheerios, or if she was thirsty, she could have a drink of water.

Sure enough, Madeline did wake up shortly after midnight. She howled in my arms for about six minutes, but then asked for water and Cheerios. I tucked her back into her crib, and I didn't hear from her again until morning. I was shocked. I guess that sometimes it *is* possible to reason with a toddler!

The second night was similar, except she was angry for a much shorter amount of time. These days, Madeline usually wakes up once and calls for me, but it's a quick bed-side visit. Most of the time she merely asks for her cup of water to be refilled or a cuddle, and then she rolls over, taps her Ocean Wonders Aquarium on, and re-assumes her sleeping position. Two nights ago, she actually slept from 8:30pm - 7:15am without requiring my attention at all. Amazing!

Friday Links: The Carseat Version

• I stumbled upon Kids in Safe Seats, which is a volunteer organization promoting the safe use of carseats in the province of Newfoundland. Their information about the importance of staying rear-facing longer isn't up-to-date, but they do hold free seat checking clinics (and the schedule is on the website). The neat thing about this organization is that they've been keeping stats on correct and incorrect installations since the fall of 2000. Thus far, only a little over 6% of parents are using their carseats correctly when brought for inspection. I'm stunned.
• One of the other parents on the parenting forum I'm a member of posted a link to Top 10 Cars for Kids in Car Seats, and it's a really good article! To date, I've installed Madeline's Marathon in an elderly Ford Tempo, a Toyota Camry, a Toyota Tercel, a Chevy TrailBlazer, Mazda Proteges of both the sedan and hatchback varieties, a Nissan Altima, a Mazda 6 sedan, a large Lincoln something-or-other, a Chevy Malibu Maxx, and now, a Ford Escape. Let me tell you, bumpy seats, oddly angled seat-backs, and protruding headrests are the bane of my existence. I agree with the article naming the Malibu Maxx to their Top Ten - the rear seatback reclined so I could get a better fit with Madeline's carseat, and the entire rear bank of seats could be adjusted back so that there was plenty of room. My next fave would be my Tempo back in Calgary. It's too old to have anything other than a plain-jane backseat.
• Car Seat Safety with Winter Coats is another timely article about how to check that your child's warm winter gear doesn't compromise the performance of their carseats. Everyone knows that thick coats are a no-no, right? Even if you live in Alberta and it's 48 degrees below zero with the windchill factor it's a no-no :) Jokes about my traditional winter home aside, please read this article and make sure your little person will be safe in a crash. Keep the thick and puffy coats in the car in case you need them, but they don't belong in a carseat.

a real mess

I haven't learned my lesson. Was it a short eight months about that I posted the first law of toddler stain dynamics?  Oh, how true it is.

Let me submit Exhibit A: Madeline's white-with-pink-dots-and-stripes organic cotton Hanna Andersson kimono tee, which I got from eBay (Hanna is majorly expensive to order from Canada). It's my favourite shirt in her fall wardrobe.

About a month ago, she wore it to Mother Goose, where it was sullied with a few rude splotches of black paint during craft time (there is a lovely matching painting hanging in her bedroom). I Zouted and Oxycleaned the heck out of the stain, but it's still there, albeit a light blue version of its former self.

Today, she wore this shirt with her Little Learners class, where I was so thrilled that she was interested in colouring that I didn't bother insisting that she wear a smock. Thus, the smears of red and yellow Crayola Slick Stix across the front. After naptime, I must try to rally the Shmoo to come with me to buy some Dawn and Tide with Bleach as the Crayola stain removal page suggests ...