Return of the DPoD - April 30th

Big C has learned a lot of new vocabulary in the last few days. Thus, DPoD will likely feature some Big C'isms over the next weeks and maybe months. Several of you are aware that he has totally caught on to the food thing and has mastered 'more', 'all done', 'cup', bye' and 'banana' (ironic since that was his first solid food and he outright rejected it). Well here's the newone for the day - hello!!!

Our fabulous train trip

Who wants to drive up the 401 crammed into a car with two kids? Not me, that is for sure!! I figured out a way to get a great deal on train tickets and we headed to London. I didn't get too many pictures taken since my hands were pretty full, but here are a couple.

When asked what his favourite part of the trip was, Monkey answered that it was peeing on the train. Yep, that's right folks. His favourite part of the train was the neat little bathroom. We were in there once an hour at least.

He loved watching the other cars go by, looking at the signals, seeing the GO train (since he and Grandpa watched a movie about the design and construction of the GO train), level crossings, hearing the train whistle and doing all of that while wearing his brand new conductor hat.

We caught the 6 am train out of Ottawa here we are watching it arrive at the station in Barrhaven. You can see in the last photo how tired Monkey was after the weekend-he had a blast.

DPoD April 26th

BADGER DAY!!!!

(while playing with train whistles!!)

DPoD April 25th

All aboard!!!!

Since this week has a transportation theme, the box train from the basement has been brought up for the boys to play with. It's been enormously popular, including Monkey chugging Big C around the house in one of the freight cars. Get ready Monkey, the weekend is going to blow you away!!

DPoD April 24th

Today Monkey had a landmark morning. He requested that we take the O-Train and the bus. So since Big C was up on time we boarded the bus and were on our way. We talked with our neighbour Laura on the way there and enjoyed the glorious sunshine. Then we got on the O-Train and took it to Bayview. At Bayview station 2 men got on the train and Monkey was nearly beside himself when I told them who they were....ticket collectors!!!

Both gentlemen asked to see Monkey's ticket (which I was letting him hold since he had asked so politely earlier) and he was just ecstatic. I'm sure that it made their day as well. He talked about it the whole way home, clutching the ticket all the way (he still is now). We'll surely keep an eye out for them the next time we're on the train!

DPoD April 23rd

I forgot to include this one earlier and then forgot to bring the camera with me when we went looking for ducks to feed. Thus, here's a cute one of Big C!!

DPoD April 22nd

When a boy's gotta go - a boy's gotta go.

When Monkey has had to go pee it has always been made clear to him that the outdoors and any form of nature is totally Ok. He has been very good about this and is in no way shy. So today when he was outside and suddenly announced that he had to go, there was no sense in making him trod his way through the house and risk an accident. He very quietly and patiently went over to the edge of the garden, did his business and proudly proclaimed what he'd done. How adorable.

Way to go little guy!

DPoD April 21st

Hurrah for warm weather!

The boys are certainly enjoying the time outdoors. The forecast only calls for more of the same - woo hoo!

As you can tell, Big C is enjoying the play structure outdoors and has the same affection for the slide that his older brother once had. He has learned to turn himself around backwards, but I'm not sure whether this slows him down at all or makes him even faster. Either way he giggles all the way.

Surely this will lead to a summer of fun in the yard and more photo memories to come. Stay tuned!

Eating dairy free

When Big C was much younger he had a problem digesting dairy. Since his only source of nutrition was breast milk, that meant that I had to remove the dairy from my diet. I have spoken with many women who have come up against the same thing, so I am starting to compile a list of resources that I found very helpful.

I didn't think that I could survive without dairy since it, and things that involve dairy make up most of my diet. It is really do-able once you figure out the large number of things that you CAN eat.

My dairy free experience was because of the impact the dairy in my diet was having on the baby that I was nursing. So the information is in that context. People with a dairy allergy may also find this information useful.

I got a lot of great tips from http://www.kjsl.net/~beanmom/nomilk.html. It gave me great tips about eating kosher foods and the fact that I could eat junior mints.

Big C was not sensitive to soy products in my diet so I switched to soy for a lot of cooking. My mom discovered the the Tofutti products like sour cream and cream cheese are great for baking. We were able to make cheese cake as well as sour cream pie crusts using these and had fantastic results.

My sister discovered that you can search for recipes at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/find/advanced based on the food you are trying to avoid. At the bottom of the page there is an option to exclude diary (and other allergens) in the search.

My favorite recipe for brownies is http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/1728. For health reasons we excluded the oil from this recipe and replaced it with a container of pureed pruned (the ones meant for babies). We do this with many foods as a fat substitute and find that it works very well.

Sadly we were never able to find a cheese product that was anywhere near as good as the real thing. I did find lots of soy "ice cream" products that were very enjoyable as well as very reasonable in terms of calories.

I was thrilled to discover that Haagen Daas sorbets are dairy free.

DPoD April 20th

A sure sign of spring (and lots of gardening for SJ and the boys).

woo hoo!!

DPoD April 19

CHeeeeeeeeeeeese!

What a beautiful day. We started things off at the park, but daddy forgot the camera. We'll have to get some photos of that next time (read tomorrow).

Yay spring!!

special bonus DPoD

Monkey had this to tell to mommy.

I love you THIS much

(when he's older he'll only be able to reach higher!)

DPoD April 18th

This may seem like a rather normal piece of carpet. It is not.

This, according to Monkey, is a HUG spot.

I was made aware of this before I went to work yesterday and was told that I had to give him a hug.

I held back the tears long enough to hug him and say thank you.

You make me smile little guy.

DPoD APril 17th

Brotherly love, my favourite so far.

DPoD April 16

The daycare provider assured me that Big C now uses a spoon and bowl expertly. You be the judge.

(seriously though, he's doing a fabulous job and gets better and better every day)

DPoD April 15th

Yesterday grandma and Monkey went out shopping for his 'big boy bike'. They found a gorgeous blue bike that Monkey simply loves. A set of training wheels and an appropriate bell were found. It turns out that Malcolm would rather have a horn, so, creative child that he is he took one look at the bell and said "we'll pretend that it's a horn". I don't think that he's taken his helmet off today other than being in the shower. He gave the bike a test drive in the garage - grinning fully from ear to ear the entire time. If you thought he was fast on the tricycle, then look out world!!

3rd of a century (almost) deep thoughts

Waking up this morning it dawned on me (sorry for the pun) that I have been alive for nearly a third of a century. Putting things into a larger perspective that's a decent amount of time. The cold war has ended, along with apartheid, the global make-up of countries has changed dramatically, major ecological events have started in motion including the extinction of a vast array of species and the impending threat of global warming. All of the big stuff in the world has little effect most days on little old (but still very young at heart) me. I've seen the passing of a few of those two generations before, and the birth of two in the next generation. Looking back I can see the wonder that my parents had a third of a century before. Long before the age of the computer and the internet. Long before cell phones and I-Pods and I-phones (when will the cell-pod come out?). Long before the rampant commercialism of the current age when everyone needs to buying something to feel like they're in 'the now'. And what I feel matters is the how. Waking up every morning for the rest of my life feeling 'what difference can I make today?'; 'who's life will be positively changed by the time I rest my head on my pillow?'; 'How many times can I hug my kids before they get dressed in the morning?'; 'In what ways can I show my wife how much I really love her?'. The bigger questions for me are where will I be in another 1/3 of a century, and where will my kids be? What will they write at this age and how will they write it? I know that I'll still be asking myself those 4 questions and striving to make better answers. I'll write again when I get there.

DPoD April 14th

Monkey had his first day of soccer today. He went without the head-to-toe Liverpool gear, and without shorts as many of the other kids were simply in shirts, jeans and shoes. We'll certainly save the proper kit for the outdoors.

He and E-man had a great time. They ran the warm-up laps hand-in-hand and then made sure that they were in the same circles when it came time for the drills. They both were right up at the front of front of line and eadh took their turns scoring goals. When it came to running Monkey might be better known as 'the Flash'. They definitely enjoyed themselves and they'll be back at again next Saturday.

Big C on the other hand had a different plan. He spent the first half of the time investigating the cupboards in the food room (what else would he do nowadays??) and then was ready for a well deserved nap. His time will come.

DPoD April 13th

Ok. It's time to upgrade the security around here. I'm sure that you've seen the pictures of Big C heading for the countertop and being very, very proud of himself. Well that needed to come to an end. Bring in the 'wonderlock'.

This device allows a cupboard to only be opened up a few inches (on in this case about an inch) so that little feet can't use their rock-climbing skills to climb up. There are now 3 wonderlocks in the kitchen and one is ready for the kids bathroom.

Add to this the fact that yesterday Big C decided that he just HAD to be in the kitchen cupboards. Since the tot loks won't work with the new kitchen, we had gone with the links to hold the cupboards closed. Fat chance with this bright, little, motivated kid. The bottom cupboards have had any 'easy-to-make-a-mess' items removed and one cupboard (the one in the picture) has been filled with toys to act as postitive reinforcement. We'll keep everyone updated as to how this
is going.

DPoD April 12th

Normally in the WB household Friday night is pizza, special pasta and chocolate brownie night. This week Friday came early, so I had the chance to take a picture of the 2 cutest chefs in the whole wide world - complete with their aprons. You 2 really make me smile!!

DPoD April 11th

When mommy gets home she normally gets a lot of attention from the boys. When they're not glued to the window watching for the afternoon bus, they almost attack her when she comes in the front door. Big C runs right over, it's the cutest thing, and Monkey is always sure to give her a running hug. Today this was followed by some personal time on the couch for Monkey featuring the mommy n Monkey rendition of row,row, row your boat. Here's the photos to accompany it:

DPoD April 10th

I'm a dancin' machine, dancing machine...dance, dance,dance.

(please note the shirt, the engineer hat and the glasses).

Anyone for a little twirl of the bird dance???

And just where is Walter Ostenek these days??

I heart Usedottawa.com

I have been looking for an eliptical trainer for a little while now. Concerned about the potential risk of wanting one, buying one, then hanging my clothing on it while it sits neglected in the basement, I was looking for a used one.

Tonight, I went on the site just as this http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/2895822&category=fitness-equipment was posted. I was the first of many callers who jumped on this awesome deal. First come, first served and the race was on. I GOT ME A FANCY NEW ELIPTICAL MACHINE!!! Yay!!

At least I know that in 6 months, if I am not using it, I can get my money back.

DPoD April 9th - The Pasta Experience

Big C had some pasta this evening. I think he ate more than was distributed around the kitchen. You be the judge.

DPoD April 8th

Monkey really does see the world through rose-coloured glasses (even on his chair made from pillows).

Yummy Turkey Dinner!!! Drooling...

I can't wait!! Tonight I get turkey dinner with all of the fixings. Yummy!! I have been looking forward to this all week!! Since I like the dark meat I am convincing Monkey that he liked the white meat-so far it is working!!

DPoD April 7th

I had to add one more shot from Good Friday. I received an e-mail from Grandma Carol and was reminded that before the other 3 WB's arrived Monkey was up a tree with cousin Ross. How fitting...a monkey up in a tree!!!

Good Friday 2007

We are experiencing some technical difficulties. We hope to have this sorter out soon and get the video up - the WB's

This is the start of the Good Friday post. There were many photos taken and I am looking forward to having everyone send those to me so that I can load some here. For now, here is the most talked about video of the day. A little peice we call-Phil Falling.

DPoD Good Friday Part II

What would Good Friday be without some Easter present hunting? Big C was in fine form (where is that present...I saw it somewhere around here?) and Monkey had a great time hunting with mommy. Aunt Heather gave Big C some support and Monkey had a wonderful time finding treats, trucks, Spencer and more. The time at the creek was priceless. Some water was diverted, but there were no soakers this year nor did either of the boys end up in the creek. The family photo was taken, with all of the chairs filled - one of them by Big C at the last moment - and with a little fall from Uncle Phil (see the video if it gets up and running).
A great time was had by all and we all look forward to warmer weather and a sunnier day next year. Oh what fun will be had with the boys another year older.