Big plans

In a move sure to send shockwaves down the spine of the Ottawa social scene, Tom and I are electing to stay in this New Year's Eve.

I'm going to cook a nice dinner, though.

New template

Got tired of the dots.

Home (not so) Sweet Home

We're back from our travels. After a week immersed in the warm weather and buzz of the Bay Area, I'm finding Ottawa pretty bleak. The snow on the ground is old, so it's all dirty and hardened into crusty piles. We had freezing rain last night and our car looks like something you'd pull out of the back of your freezer. Good thing I don't have to go out today. All the travel and toddler wrangling has made me pretty tired. Henry was quite a handful on the flight back, refusing to sit in his own chair for more than three minutes at a time. After all, why would you want to sit in a dumb car seat when you can climb over Mommy and Daddy like they're your own personal jungle gym for hours and hours? Between that, lugging our stuff through the airport and the fact that I threw out my back the day before while running through the hills of Belmont, the plane trip ended up being quite taxing on my body.

Oh well--it was worth the effort. Our stay in California was a lot of fun. It's a great feeling to get on a plane wearing a big coat and gloves and land a few hours later in a place where you don't even need a sweater (although the weather wasn't perfect--we had a lot of rain and clouds). Henry loved being able to play outside without suiting up in 15 layers of snow gear, and he clearly enjoyed spending time with his grandparents and Uncle Jon. Tom and I enjoyed traipsing around the peninsula in search of good food and wine. Some highlights:

• A splurge-tastic dinner at Berkeley's famous Chez Panisse (the cafe, not the dining room)
• Delicious sushi lunch (twice) in San Mateo
• Shopping for wine at a small store in San Mateo where the owner first ignored us (we were the only people in the place), then suddenly came over and started raving like a total kook about his product line, the difficulties of wine retailing, and his experiences in Napa. We couldn't resist buying the cabernet sauvignon he recommended.
  
• Eating lots and lots of Point Reyes blue cheese
• Beer. Oh,the yummy beer (more on this topic later)

We also did the usual Christmas-type activities, including taking Henry to meet Santa at the local mall. That did not go over so well with Henry, who refused to sit in Santa's lap. So Tom got some quality time with the big guy in the suit.

Merry Christmas!

We're off to Grandma Peggy and Grandpa Mike's in California tomorrow, so I probably won't be blogging for awhile. Have a great holiday, everyone!

Bob The Briber

The patching regime is falling apart. Henry is tearing off patch after patch. We've resorted to using TV as a reward/ bribe for wearing the eye patch. If Henry has it on, he can watch the "Bob The Builder" DVD we bought him recently. When he tears it off, the TV goes off. I'm not sure he's far enough along developmentally to understand the relationship, but we have to do something.

Neither Tom or I are really happy about encouraging him to watch TV like this. But, priorities--the eye therapy and making it work is more important than our reservations about TV watching for little kids.

Henry now wanders around the house saying "Bob. Bob. Bob. Bob." Mildly disturbing. I can't say I really like the show myself. But who am I? Maybe Thomas the Tank Engine is better. I bet I'll be finding out soon.

Eye update and weather ramblings

We returned to the eye doctor yesterday for a checkup. He saw some improvement in Henry's amblyopic eye, so he wants us to patch for another month and see where that gets us before he prescribes glasses. The patching is still going pretty well, although we do have the occasional day (like today) where Henry keeps pulling it off. I think we're on patch #5 today. But most days it's no trouble at all. Most mornings he points to his eye and says "patch!" soon after he wakes up, as if to remind us to put it on.

Today we've been hit with a massive snowstorm. I think there's about 20 cm of snow on the ground, which is, um, LOTS of inches (never could do those metric-to-Imperial conversions). The city hasn't shut down, but things are definitely moving at a much slower pace, and the roads look dicey. But it doesn't matter to us because our five winters in Richmond trained me to run to the grocery store whenever snow is forecast, so we're well stocked with provisions. It's a day to lay low and start packing for our Christmas trip to California. . .

More drama

Just as we were adjusting to the eye patch routine (which is going surprisingly well), Henry had an accident that required a trip to the emergency room. He took a header off the living room chair and smacked his forehead on the coffee table. Basically the skin on his forehead split open. leaving a gash about an inch or so long. I saw the whole thing happen and it was very scary. The good news is that he didn't need stitches. The doctor was able to glue the wound back together and finish it off with some steri strips. Henry was acting normal within an hour and doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects. The wound is healing nicely. However, I must admit that between the patch and the wound, Henry's looking kinda roughed up these days. What do you think?

Eye update

We took Henry to the ophthalmologist yesterday. Originally we were told that it would be a very long time (i.e. April) before we would get in to see a pediatric ophthalmologist, but it turns out that was only true for the other guy. Good thing we asked around about other options. Anyway, Dr. Bonn confirmed what we pretty much already knew: Henry has strabismus and has also developed significant amblyopia in his left eye. The doctor prescribed a course of treatment that first involves a couple weeks of patching Henry's right eye for about 6 hours a day to force the left one to do the work of seeing again. This is supposed to help strengthen his vision and correct the amblyopia. We go back in about three weeks to see if there's been any improvement. Depending on how things are going, the next step would be to get him glasses. The glasses are supposed to prevent him from crossing his eyes by helping him focus. If his eyes don't straighten out with glasses, the next step is surgery to adjust the muscles that control the movement of his eyeball. If we're going that route, the surgery would be done by next summer.

So, that's where we're at. Now, about that eye patch. Eye patching and toddlers? Not a classic combination. I mean, right now Henry's prone to throwing a fit when we try to do something so banal as put his pants on in the morning. So you can imagine that he was not too psyched about wearing an eye patch. Our first attempt to put it on was a total failure. Tom held Henry's arms while I struggled to affix the patch while holding his head still (they work like a bandage). I got the thing on, but Henry immediately tore it off. We tried again, with the same result. Tom and I started wondering how in the hell we could make this treatment plan work. But after some Internet research on getting toddlers to go along with the patch, we tried again. First, Tom and I put eye patches on ourselves ("See, Mommy and Daddy wear patches--it must be totally cool!"). Then we put socks over Henry's hands, complete with masking tape around the wrists so he couldn't tear them off. Then we put the patch back on. Presto! He can't tear the patch off. And luckily he's into wearing mitts right now, so he didn't even mind the sock gloves too much. Our goal was to have him wear the patch for an hour. He ended up wearing it until bath time--the full 6-hour time period. I guess once he gets used to having it on, it doesn't bother him. We even took the gloves off after a few hours.

So we're off to a good start with it. We even took Henry out to the store today wearing his patch. Luckily he's way too young to be self-conscious about it. But for Tom and me it was a little tough to see the double-takes. We're used to people staring at Henry because he's so cute! Anyway, there are worse things, and as long as we can keep Henry wearing the damn thing, we're game. I just hope it does enough that we can avoid adding glasses (how we'll get him to wear those without completely trashing them, I do not know) and surgery to the mix.

Noticed, finally

The Cuban Embassy is about five blocks south of our house. I never noticed it before. That's probably because the building is little more than a lifeless edifice of concrete surrounded by an iron fence. It's so hideously non-descript that I assumed it was an electrical substation or something. But today I read the tiny sign by the door and there it was, in three languages, "Embassy of the Republic of Cuba." Huh. Go figure. I'll post an alert if I ever see Fidel strolling along the canal.

Snow, Part 2

Snow!

Huge dump of it overnight, and it just keeps coming down. Winter is officially here.

Happy Thanksgiving, Part 2

Wow--I'm really sad to be missing out on American Thanksgiving (as it's called up here)! The funny thing is, for the first few years I was down in the States, I didn't get it at all. I didn't understand what a big deal it was and why people flew all over the country to celebrate with family. I didn't understand why my students at Wisconsin thought I'd be okay with them missing an entire week of class for a one-day holiday. Sheesh--throw a turkey in the oven and be done with it, I thought. But then I started getting into it and finally realized it truly is the Best Holiday Ever. It's inclusive (i.e. not religious), it doesn't involve anything but eating, and it's for grownups. Sure, Canada has a Thanksgiving, but it pales in comparison. It doesn't have the buzz. It's not the kickoff to the whole holiday season because it happens so early in the fall. It has nothing to do with "Peak" (for my friends in retail). After being immersed in that, it feels strange to be preparing for just another weekday tomorrow, knowing that my American friends are looking forward to the day more properly called the Annual Festival of Unbridled Gluttony.

So if I'm feeling sentimental, I'm sure it feels even stranger for Tom, since he's actually American and stuff and this is the first time in his life he won't be celebrating. Since he's missing out on his national holiday and even has to teach tomorrow, I'm going to roast a whole chicken for dinner and whip up some garlic mashed potatoes so we can get in the spirit a bit. It won't be on par with any of the great meals we shared with the UR folks over the previous five years, but hopefully it will be better than the frozen pizza we're having tonight (Tom teaches late on Wednesday evenings, so I do Henry's dinner-bath-bed gauntlet alone, leaving me with no energy for cooking).

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving if you're celebrating. I'm jealous!

Community activism

Today the three of us attended a meeting hosted by our community association about future development in our neighbourhood "village" (their term). We heard some people speak about the vision and looked at architectual renderings of what could be, and generally came away feeling that it sounded good, but that it's a long, long way from fruition. The primary issue is what's going to happen with Main Street, the major artery that runs through the neighbourhood. Right now the street's kind of a mixed bag: a few convenience stores, a health food market, a vegetarian buffet restaurant, a few offices, one new age book store, and a lot of vacant storefronts and underutilized space. The area seems like it could be on the cusp of becoming a really great urban neighbourhood, since the location is prime in relation to the city's major amenities, and the other cool areas are now very expensive. All the signs look promising to us. But we learned that there are also some significant barriers that could drive things the other way.

The major problem is that traffic is fairly heavy and fast moving on Main Street, which is four lanes, and apparently City Hall sees the area primarily as a traffic corridor. That perception is changing, but there's still a lot of work to do in terms of making the strip more hospitable to foot traffic by slowing down and thinning out vehicle traffic. A related issue is that for more businesses to be viable, they'd probably have to pull in customers from outside the immediate area, and street parking is limited. So the plan seems to be, fight to keep Main Street's commercial zoning whenever possible, increase population density in an intelligent way, improve green space, draw in businesses, and do something about the speeding cars. Not the kind of stuff that happens overnight. But that's the Big Idea.

On the other hand, I think there's a broad consensus in the 'hood that our quality of life would improve exponentially if someone would just open up a damn coffee shop. I tell you, if I wasn't a survivor of many years working in such establishments (and therefore all too aware of what it takes to run one, not the least of which is the 6 a.m. start time every day), I'd be tempted to open one myself. I think the neighbours would throw flowers at my feet every time I left the house if I did that, so strong is the expressed desire for a local java hut.

What I would really like to do to make the neighbourhood more vibrant is open a wine and beer store like the one we had down the street from our house in Richmond. But that kind of business is illegal here in Soviet Canuckistan, so, never mind. I'll just keep going to community association meetings instead and throwing in my 2 cents here and there. At the very least, it's good to know that there are so many people around who care enough to actually hold meetings like this one and try to make the area better.

Rain, rain, rain

Yesterday we had our first bona-fide snowfall. There was enough accumulation to shut down the schools in Richmond, but around here, it was no big deal at all. Today we're back to pouring rain. I must say, the weather this fall has been consistently crappy. Nice days have been few and far between since the beginning of October. I was prepared mentally for a long, cold winter, but I wasn't expecting fall to be so gray, wet and miserable. It's more like Vancouver than what I imagined Ottawa would be like. My coffee consumption has crept up to four cups a day as I struggle against the urge to curl up in bed and hibernate until spring. I miss the bright, crisp fall days we enjoyed in Virginia, where autumn is by far the nicest season. I think things will be better once winter is fully underway. It will be freezing cold, but I'm looking forward to playing in the snow with Henry.

In other news, I lined up two days a week of daycare with a woman who lives a block over. Tom and I have done a pretty good job juggling primary responsibility for watching Henry, but we decided we needed more time to get things done. Now Tom will be able to spend more time on campus, and I gain the time I need to really concentrate on my job search and do more freelance work. My friend Chris has been feeding me a steady stream of work from his new employer, amazon.com, so I'm making some money. Most of what I'm doing is anonymous product descriptions, but here's an article I did on MP3 players, if you're curious.

And maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to get some housework done every once in awhile. But no promises. . .

Henry at 18 months

The kid's officially a year and a half old now. Language skill improvement continues to be the most striking aspect of his development at this stage. It seems like he adds new words every day. Some good ones include "tak-ta" (tractor), "tuk" (truck), "beeeer" (bear), "tschoo" (shoe), "jeee" (jeans) and, finally, "Da-da." And if you prompt him with a "Henry, can you say (whatever)," most of the time he'll give it a try. If the word is over two syllables, he'll make it easier for himself by turning all sounds after the first one into a kind of tongue-rolling "blahlala" sound. So "banana" is "balalalala" and "balloon comes out as "baloloololo." Very funny stuff.

He's also becoming really affectionate, both with us and his stuffed animals. Big hugs and even kisses.

Unfortunately, there's also some bad news that we've been dealing with over the last few weeks. Henry's developed strabismus in his left eye. I noticed soon after we moved here that it looked like his eye was crossing in at times, but it was subtle. I couldn't tell if it was the way his eye was moving or if it just looked that way because his left eye is set in a bit deeper than the right one (apparently it's not uncommon for young kids to look cross-eyed until the bridge of their nose develops). Tom never noticed it until I pointed it out, and our pediatrician in Richmond never said anything about it, either. But last month we took a few pictures of him where it was very obvious, so we knew it was time to get it checked out. Since then we've taken him to an optometrist for an initial exam and are waiting (and waiting and waiting) for an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist for a definitive diagnosis and course of treatment. Apparently there are only two of these specialists in the entire Ottawa metro region, so the waiting list for appointments is agonizingly long. In the meantime, our copious Internet research taught us that the problem usually develops either because of farsightedness (eyes cross in while trying to focus) or a problem with the muscles controlling the eyeball. The optometrist thinks it's the latter in Henry's case, as he is not farsighted. She said the ophthalmologist would have to confirm the diagnosis and decide the best treatment, but her guess was that Henry will need surgery to correct the problem (if strabismus isn't treated correctly in childhood, the brain will eventually start ignoring what it sees with the bad eye, and the result is a loss of depth perception).

The good news is that there's a very high success rate in treating this problem in really young kids like Henry. The bad news is. . . surgery. Ugh. It's not something we like to contemplate, but I guess we'll deal with that when the time comes. Other possible treatments include patching his good eye to force him to use the weaker one, and/ or glasses, but the optometrist wasn't sure if those will be effective for Henry's condition. Obviously, we will do whatever we have to do to help Henry preserve his vision.

It's been stressful for Tom and I to have all this on our minds, but it's not impacting Henry at all. His sight is perfectly fine (although the optometrist says he's definitely favouring his right eye), and he's the same happy, busy little boy he's been all along. I'll keep everyone updated as we learn more, but it could be awhile (like, months) before we get to see the ophthalmologist and get the definite diagnosis. In the meantime, I'll keep up with my regular posts and try not to let too long go by between entries.

Hello winter!

No accumulation on the ground, but the snowflakes are flying today.

Axeman

The instructor brought her acoustic guitar to music class today. Henry was into it immediately. None of the other kids paid much attention to it, but he marched right over and started strumming the strings while the teacher was trying to play. When class ended he made a beeline for the guitar again, so we stayed behind for a few minutes and he played it some more.

I found Henry's enthusiasm especially amusing because, as many of you know, my brother Dave is a vintage guitar fanatic. He bought his first serious guitar at age 13 with savings from his paper route and has been collecting them ever since. One of our favourite family pictures shows him at about age 2 with an acoustic guitar across his lap, playing away while I sing. Henry really reminded me of that picture today. Maybe there's a guitar fanatic gene somewhere in our family line.

Evne though I can't play, thanks to Dave and my guitar-obsessed friends Jon and Mark, I actually know a fair bit about guitars. It's this random body of knowledge I carry around with me. Anyway, when the time comes, I'll be able to advise Henry on what he should buy. Maybe Dave will sell him something out of his personal collection.

Happy Halloween!

Henry's a frog this year. He loves his costume. When I put him up to the mirror he giggles and makes his sign for frog (sticking his tongue in and out, like he's doing here) over and over. We went to our first Halloween party this morning at my new friend Meg-from-ultimate's house, which is about five blocks from us. There were nine kids, all around the 18 month mark, so there wasn't a lot of social interaction between them. But man, did they ever look cute together in their costumes.

We have another party tomorrow evening at the neighbours'. Another big toddler fest. Should be fun, although I was a little freaked out when the hostess stopped by on Friday evening to ask me what I was planning to bring for the potluck. I was thinking, "Lady, I don't even know what I'm having for dinner tonight " while I mumbled something about chicken. . . maybe. I used to love cooking something special for these kinds of parties. But that was before I had a kid who tends to wake up well before 6 a.m. and usually naps for exactly half and hour, and half an hour only, once a day. So when it comes to potluck, these days I'm wondering if I could get away with one of those roasted chickens you buy at the supermarket. They're good, right?

Right?

If Henry could type

. . . he would compose something like this.

The doors in the house go open and shut

A handyman's been at the house for the past few days, tackling the long list of little repairs and upgrades we've compiled since moving in. Owning an old house means you've always got stuff like this to do, but because it's so rinky-dink it is very difficult to find anyone willing to show up, do the job and take your money. We enticed our current guy with the prospect of a kitchen remod down the road. So far, so good. In typical handyman fashion, he went MIA for a few days last week, but he left his tools here, so we figured he'd come back eventually. He did, and now things are rolling right along. A French door was hung in the previously open doorway leading down to the basement in our back room, and the not-exactly-condusive-to-privacy bi-fold door on the first floor bathroom was replaced with a proper door. Right now he's replacing the front door. Previous owners put down tile right inside the door (why, I don't know), but the tile was so high that it interfered with the door. It wasn't a minor problem--you had to really shove the door hard to open and shut it, and the lack of clearance meant the weather stripping was destroyed. I don't know why it wasn't fixed before. Anyway, all the dragging damaged the bottom of the old door badly, and fixing it was going to be a relatively big job. Since the door was pretty damn ugly anyway (faux frosted glass with faux lead accents), we figured we might as well get a new one. He's putting in new tile, too.

So, three new doors in one day, and the results are good. The front door looks a lot better. It has a window with clear glass, so we get a bit more light in the hallway now. Tomorrow (or maybe some other day--we'll see) he's coming back to put in new tile and install a dryer vent in the basement. Right now we just stick the vening tube out the window when we're using the dryer. The colder it gets, the less attractive this option becomes. Also, if you forget to stick the tube out the window, the fire alarm goes off.

Ah, the joys of this old house. . .

More Henry developments

• He now understands the concept, "put it away." As you may imagine, this is a very useful development from our perspective. What's more, he really enjoys putting things away. I have no idea where he gets this from, as "put it away" is something Tom and I both struggle with (I will admit that I'm worse at it than Tom). Maybe there's a recessive neatness gene running through the bloodline. . .

• Henry's also developed a sense of wariness, or maybe fear. I think this is a good thing, since he totally lacked any reasonable sense of self-preservation up until last week or so. Now he seems to understand when danger is present. For example, one of the bigger boys in the playgroup is a *tad* aggressive (as in, he once put Henry in a headlock), and whenever Henry sees him approaching he'll back away and head for another part of the room. Since the brat's clueless grandmother never notices his reign of terror, or chooses not to intervene, staying the heck out of his way is probably the smartest thing to do. The kid's huge--no way Henry could take him.
  

All the leaves are brooowwwn. . .

Today was the first sunny day we've had in two weeks. It was great to get a break from the permadrizzle, but sun no longer equals warmth, that's for sure. In Virginia, autumn is a long season of slow transition. Here, not so much. Two weeks ago it was so beautiful and warm that Henry and I wore shorts and t-shirts when we headed out to spend the afternoon playing in the park. Today I put on my winter coat and scarf for a 20-minute walk across the canal to the Glebe. Henry doesn't leave the house without this fleece hat to keep him warm (handmade by one of the playground moms--very cute).

Yep--the leaves have just started turning but it's clear that winter is well on its way. There was frost on the ground this morning. The stores are full of winter gear, and to be honest, the stuff frightens me. The message of those ginormous parkas and puffy snow pants is unambiguous: We're in for it, and we're in for it soon. Also, we'll be shelling out a small fortune over the next few weeks outfitting ourselves for the Ottawa winter.

The other sign that winter is almost here: About 80% of the water has been drained from the canal and city workers (yes, such a thing exists here!) are busy installing rubber-matted stairs at regular intervals along the edge. In other words, they're getting it ready for skating season. Deathly cold or not, I'm really looking forward to my first trip down the ice!

Henry at 17 months

• Language skills are developing at a rapid pace and he tries new words almost every day. His cutest new word is "ham," which he pronounces "ahmmm," kind of like a French person. This word didn't come out of nowhere--we've been reading "Green Eggs and Ham" quite a bit lately, and one day last week he pointed at the book and said "ham" very clearly. He also picked up the word "goat" from Dr. Seuss.
• He's becoming even more militant about his wardrobe. We've all but given up trying to get him dressed in clothes that don't have a truck, train, animal, or some other cool design on the front, because he will throw a squirming, kicking hissy fit when we try. The only way we could get him into bed the other night was to put a truck t-shirt over his pyjamas. But if he likes what we've picked out, he'll happily stick his arms up to help us dress him. Luckily we've aquired a decent number of acceptable wardrobe pieces over the last few weeks, thanks to Henry's grandmas.
• We sing "The Wheels on the Bus" about a dozen times a day. He loves doing all the actions that go along with the song, especially the wipers going swish-swish-swish, the people going up and down, and of course, the wheels going round and round. In fact, he's adopted the arm rolling motion as his sign for bus and does it whenever he sees a bus. It's also his cue that he wants us to sing the song. All this action is hilarious. Unfortunately, still photos don't do it justice or I'd post a few examples.
• Sleep issues seem to have ironed themselves out. We had several heavenly weeks of him sleeping straight through from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., but he has a cough and runny nose right now so some disturbances are occurring again. So far, it's been a couple days of 11:30 p.m. wakings, which is totally manageable. Hopefully his cough won't get any worse and we'll be back to our undisturbed evenings and long sleeps.
• Henry has all his teeth now except the back molars. Some days he really enjoys brushing. Other days he won't let the toothbrush get near his mouth. He has a sign/ sound combination for tooth brushing.

Here he is doing the sign for "more." The sign he learned is different from ASL.

Monday Night Lights

Last night my scheduled ultimate game was played at Frank Clair Stadium at Lansdowne Park, home of the local CFL team. It was kind of fun to play under the lights in a proper stadium (no crowd in the stands, of course). Unfortunately, my team got shredded by a bunch of high schoolers, so the fun was limited. The high schoolers are the Canadian Junior champs or something, so they are legitimately good, but still.

Man, my team is not good. The most frustrating thing is that we don't have a single guy on the roster who can throw the long bomb, which severely cramps my co-ed playing style (oh, how I miss you, Ale House). The league here is huge, but the talent pool is shallow, or maybe spread too thin to raise the overall level of play. Plus, the league uses a ladder system to schedule games, meaning your future opponents are determined by results against past opponents. The ladder updates every two weeks, so theoretically, your games should always be pretty evenly matched. But it doesn't seem to be working. Since the ladder kicked in all our games have been lopsided wins or losses. Not a lot of fun no matter which end of the score you're on. Oh well--only a few more games to muddle through until winter shuts us down.

On the bright side, my team went out for beers after the game, and I enjoyed hanging out with them. Five players have kids under 18 months, so there was plenty of baby talk at one end of the table. The other people seemed to be sharing drinking stories. Hmmm. . . The divide in interests was pretty sharp. Anyway, one guy works in the same field I do and gave me some good info on the job market, another is a financial planner who's going to hook us up with a tax advisor so we don't make some expensive mistake due to our border-hopping lifestyle. And one of the drinkers told me about a big wine tasting extravaganza happening in a few weeks that sounds like fun. These are the kinds of connections I was hoping ot make when I signed up to play, so I'll be mellow about the distinct lack of on-field connections that occur during our games.

Carpenter Moe at work

This is a "during" pic of the living room remodel to give you an idea of what was involved. My dad removed the stove pipe and patched this hole with drywall. It's completely undetectable now. But he says we should think twice about pounding nails into that spot on the wall.

The Reveal

Ta-da! Here's the new look in the living room. It was a big painting job because the room is quite large. I'm glad I had help. I'm very happy with the colour. It's warm, vibrant and looks great with our dark wood furniture and the chocolate brown chair. Tom and Dad also managed to hook up the 5.1-channel surround sound system I bought the day before I left Circuit City, so we can now call this the home theater room. Our current sofa looks nice in the room but it's not too comfortable for watching TV, so we hope to get a bigger one (maybe a sectional) soon. The front of the room (not shown) is empty right now. Maybe a dining room suite? For the windows, I'm going to get wood blinds that match the floor. So there's still stuff to do. Anyway, the improvement so far has me feeling good about the house and energized for the next round.

Next week I'll pick a colour for the hall and get to work on that.

Visiting Rideau Hall

I took this pic on Tuesday at the grounds of Rideau Hall, the official residence of Canada's Governor General. Since the weather has been so poor, this is pretty much the only tourist thing we've done during my parents' visit.

Henry's sweater was hand-knit by Grandma Eileen.

A scene from music class

The Great Clearing Away of Crap

My parents have been here for a week now. Since the weather turned from warm and glorious to damp and dreary the very day they arrived, we've spent most of their visit here at home. Man, those two can do them some home improvement. It's a marvel to watch. The stove is gone (and actually sold for cash money). The living room is painted (pics to follow). And everywhere else, what has happened can best be described as The Great Clearing Away of Crap. The garden is cleaned out and ready for winter. The small dryer that was taking up space in a storage area has been removed and hauled away, and shelves put up in its place. The basement is cleaned up, our tools and work bench organized (gasp!), and a bunch of junk the previous owners left behind is gone. Henry has new storage bins for his toys. All in all, the place is looking much better.

As I was typing this I got a call from someone who wants to buy the hulking kitchen island I put up for sale online about 2 hours ago. So now we'll be able to move our table into the kitchen and turn the back room into a play area free of pointy corners level with Henry's head. Sweet.

All this and we've enjoyed their company, of course. I think they've enjoyed spending time with Henry. Not too sure about that, though--I'll have to ask Grandma.

Rant: Ihatea

Henry, Grandma, Grandpa and I headed out to Ikea today to buy an inexpensive rug for our back room. It wasn't a great trip for several reasons: First, we weren't going to Target to look for the rug. That would have solved all our problems. Second, I always feel like I'm going to be mowed down by a herd of speedwalking cheapskates with carts while I make my way along the snaking, single isle in the huge store. Third, Henry was not in the mood for shopping, so it took all three of us to keep him from tearing the place apart.

But mostly, I'm continually frustrated with the stuff I buy there. For example, while we were shopping Henry had fun playing on this hedgehog floor cushion/ chair thingy. Basically it's an oversize plushy pillow cover with an inflatable insert rather than foam stuffing. It was only $20 and cute, so I decided to buy it. Now, here's where the aggravation comes from: when I got it home and opened the bag, I discovered that the inflatable insert wasn't included in the package. I suppose you have to buy this separately. I don't recall seeing the inserts anywhere in the store, and nothing on the bag told me it wasn't included. And stuff like that (plus the fact that their semi-disposable furniture has a lifespan of months) is why I hate I-freakin'-kea.

I got burned the same way buying bathroom shelving last month. I got it home and discovered that it didn't come with mounting hardware. Now, what good is a shelf that doesn't come with mounting hardware? What good is an inflatable cusion you can't inflate? No good at all, my friends. No good at all. I mean, I understand having to buy accessories separately, but if the box is missing a component that means the product won't work without it, I expect to see screaming red type telling me what I need. But not Ikea--they wait for you to figure that out for yourself. And this is a company with a brand built on the idea of offering great design at a reasonable price. Well, there's more to design that what a thing looks like. You have to make it possible for people to use your products without multiple trips to the store for components.

Yes, I found a rug, and it's a nice addition to the room--makes it more comfortable to play on the floor with Henry. But the boycott is on: No more Ikea!

Guest blogger: My mom

Thanksgiving in Ottawa with Susan Tom and Henry. What a treat for Grandma and Grandpa Redding. We had a delicious turkey dinner on Sunday evening. We have explored our capital city a bit but by choice are spending most of our time at home. This evening Susan is busy doing the prep work for the painting of the living room. We will really get into it tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to going to "play group" at the community centre tomorrow and Music Group on Thurs. Henry has chanaged so much since we last saw him. He loves to be outside, running down the sidewalk looking for dogs, cats, and especially trucks and busses going by. A very busy little boy. Yesterday he spent quite a bit of time out in the back garden helping me doing the fall trimming, putting cuttings into the bag,'raking' leaves. Today I found him a little rake just his size so he won't have to struggle with the large one. Henry is sleeping well, goes to bed by 7 and is up early with Daddy and Grandma. He likes to get Grandpa out of bed by`jumping on him. It has become the morning routine and Grandpa doesn't mind one bit.
Weather is very 'fall like' this week so we are thinking of taking a drive into Quebec (across the Ottawa River) to`check out the fall colours - and maybe find some Big Trucks for Henry to see.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving weekend up here in Canada. The holiday is not quite the big deal it is down in the States, but we cooked a turkey dinner that we'll be eating in about an hour. Grandma Eileen and Grandpa Moe are here for a 10-day visit, so lots of stuff is happening around the house. Today my dad removed the wood-burning stove from the living room and patched the wall while mom did some gardening with Henry's help (he likes putting puled weeds in the garbage bag). Stay tuned for before and after photos.

The weather, which had been absolutely gorgeous--sunny, warm and dry--all week, has taken a turn for the chilly. It's definitely fall here now.

Into the groove

Henry is really getting into his Thursday morning music class. He starts out shy and clingy, but after a few minutes he's up and grooving. He's added some new moves to his dancing repetoire that are difficult to describe and hilarious to watch. His favourite song right now is probably "The Wheels on the Bus," but anything that incorporates movement is a big hit.

The whole class is basically toddlers being funny and adorable while their parents sing songs. It's a great way to spend an hour.

In other exciting news, Henry has been going to bed before 7 p.m., sleeping through until 6 a.m. (which is a little early for us, but we're not complaining), and is napping right now on our bed. Actually, he just woke up, so I have to run!

The taxman cometh

Property tax assessments were mailed out yesterday. Turns out we live in a "trendy" neighbourhood and will be taxed like the yuppie scum we are. According to the government, our house is worth almost $40,000 more than we paid for it two months ago! That's some impressive appreciation.

I've already printed out the form we have to submit to appeal the assessment. I look forward to fighting city hall. If we lose, well, I guess I'll take the assessment to the bank and see if we can use all that instant equity to pay for my dream kitchen renovation.

Bedtime story

kidd-iTunes

Yesterday I finally caught up with 2003 and downloaded my first album from iTunes: Rocket Ship Beach by Dan Zanes. It's a "hip" kiddie album designed to entertain Henry without driving me insane in the process. So far, so good. Not as catchy as Raffi (it's true--I actually like Raffi quite a bit), but not as grating as "No!" by They Might Be Giants. One spin of that disc means I'll have "Robot Parade" stuck in my head for a solid five days. So it must be played sparingly.

Next I'll download some stuff for myself, maybe. It's been so long since I bought new music I don't even know what I like anymore. I think it's time to lay off the 80's metal, though, so I'm open to suggestions.

Colour scheming

Since I'm home so much, I spend a lot of time coming up with grand schemes to fix up our little house. Most of my fantasies involve gutting the kitchen and knocking down some walls, but we can't get started on that quite yet. So that leaves painting. My dynamic work crew, a.k.a. Grandma Eileen and Grandpa Moe, arrive next week, so it's time to finalize the colour choices so we can paint while they're in town. I've been taping paint samples to the wall for weeks, and I've almost figured out what I want to do.

Living room:



This is a long, narrow room that doesn't get much natural light, so I can't go too deep with the paint colour--the place will look like a cave. My original idea was a spicy orange/ pumpkin-like colour, but all the samples I found ended up being too dark on the walls. So now I'm trying to choose between a much ligher, almost yellow orange (Ralph Lauren's "Chesapeake Sunset") and Plan B, a mid-tone, mossy green. I'm leaning heavily toward the orange because I want to add warmth and energy to the room. But some shade of green is always in play with me.

We have to remove the stupid wood stove and repair the wall before we paint. That should be fun.

Downstairs hallway:



We're going with an intense, cream-of-tomato-soup red. There's actually not much wall space involved, so I figure a splash of bold colour here will jazz up the first floor considerably without being overwhelming.

Upstairs hall: Cornmeal yellow, just like our old foyer. I loved that colour.

There are a couple other rooms to paint, but I don't think I'll get to them within the next few months. I'll post "after" pictures once the work is done.

Fashionista

While my fashion statements have been reduced to plain t-shirts and track pants, Henry is now expressing strong preferences when it comes to his wardrobe choices:

Henry's Hot List
1. Dump truck t-shirt: Yes, he's a little boy. And for little boys, it just doesn't get any better than dump trucks. A dump truck t-shirt? Gold. Pure gold.
2. KISS/ Gene Simmons t-shirt: Courtesy of Uncle Dave, this shirt shows Henry's street cred. I love the look I get from old ladies when they see that my angelic child is wearing a shirt depicting a man in full face makeup spitting up fake blood. Also, the shiny iron-on wipes up quick and easy after meals. So it's on my hot list, too.
3. Bucky Badger t-shirt: A distant third to the other ones, but Henry still likes to show his Badger pride.

When he's wearing a t-shirt he likes, Henry will complain vigorously and squirm away if we try to cover it up with a sweater or coat. I guess we better get him some cool sweatshirts for fall.

Photo: Henry rocks the KISS shirt with Jon and Joanne last week.

It lives!

Thanks to Tom, the Replay is up and running. Plus, we now have a wireless network set up in our home. Bonus!

"Ode to Joy" is looping through my brain. . .

Will I get my ReplayTV?

Embracing his inner geek, Tom has taken it upon himself to try hacking the ReplayTV. So far it's involved much Internet research, the purchase of a wireless router and video game adapter, a software download, and probably some other stuff I'm not aware of/ interested in. But, I'm praying it works--I really need to start recording back episodes of Trailer Park Boys.

The new routine

I'm getting deeper into the whole "stay at home mom" gig. Henry and I now go to playgroup at the local community center on Monday and Wednesday mornings. It's just like it sounds: 15-20 kids, newborns to 4-year-olds, let loose in a big room with lots of toys. Coffee for the parents and nannies. Not a lot of grownup socializing goes on, though, because having that many kids in the room means that things can get out of hand in a hurry if you're not paying attention. Still, it's fun. We also joined a Kindermusik class that's a lot more structured and involves a distressingly high level of participation from mom. I'm not sure what Henry will learn about music listening to my tuneless bleating, but he enjoyed playing with the percussion toys. So I'll go along with it.

I'm meeting lots of parents doing this stuff. One surprise is the number of dads I see out with their kids on weekdays. Men can take parental leave time in Canada, and it seems a good number of them are doing so. Another difference is the number of moms I've met who work part time. In Richmond, I found that working or staying at home was pretty much either/or. Up here, it seems possible to work out a more flexible arrangement. Not sure where that leaves me, but it is good to hear that alternatives exist.

Look who's (almost) talking

Over the past two weeks Henry's language comprehension skills have truly blossomed and it seems like he's crossed an important threshold. It's been remarkable to witness. He still doesn't say much beyond the simple words he's been using for the last couple months, but he clearly understands a lot of what we say to him and responds appropriately. For example, if you say "Henry, what sound does a sheep make?", he'll go "baaaa." He can point to different body parts (nose, toes, ears, eyes, etc.), and now he can even locate familiar objects in a picture when you ask him to point to them. He especially likes finding the birds scattered throughout "Peter Rabbit."

In other news, he's been sleeping a lot better and eating pretty well, too. He favours garlicy, pungent food like pesto, hummous and guacamole. Today I gave him a bite of my blue cheese, figuring he'd spit it out, but he ate it up and kept signing "more!" Ended up eating quite a bit of it. Funny kid. Naps still require a drive in the car or long walk in the stroller, which doesn't leave me much off time during the day. As long as he sleeps most of the night, I can deal.

Another new hobby: trying on dad and mom's shoes.

I want my ReplayTV!

One thing I've learned from first moving from Canada to the U.S., then back again after nine years, is that it's the little things you miss. Stupid things like Coffee Crisp bars when I'm in the U.S., and Red Vines up here. Most of it, you develop new tastes and habits and move on. I'm doing okay without the Red Vines. Yes, I miss Target, but I really needed to wean myself off big-box shopping, anyway. But there's one little thing you can't get in Canada that's quickly becoming a huge, gaping hole in our lives: ReplayTV!!!!!

Sadly, our ReplayTV doesn't work up here. For some completely inexplicable reason, ReplayTV "is not supported" in Canada. Or Mexico. What that means is the box can't download channel information from the cable company, so the sleek silver unit is nothing more than dust-collecting trash once it hits the Great White North. We knew this before we decided to move. We just didn't know how much we'd miss it. We were in deep, total denial. Oh man, watching TV is so lame without a DVR. I missed my favourite show tonight (Arrested Development) because I had to go out and couldn't just press a button to record it. You have to turn to the lame TV Guide channel to find out what's on, and you can't skip ahead to see what will be on later. And you can't pause or rewind the show, so if you're interested in what you're watching, you have to sit there and watch it WHILE IT'S ON. This is communism, straight up. We might as well cancel our cable, because we get so frustrated watching TV without the aid of the Best Invention Ever that it's hardly worth it to tune in.

I've done some research, and apparently you can "hack" the ReplayTV and get it to download content from a nearby U.S. city or something. Oh yeah--I'm all over that. Even the consumer electronics/ computer nerds in the forums we consulted say it's hard to do, so I doubt I could get it to work.

Oh well. I guess I'll have to go back to remembering when my shows are actually on if I want to see them. I guess that means I'll be reading a lot this winter.

The XM Satellite Radio works fine, though. So not all is lost.

Overheard at the corner store

Man: "I'm from the embassy. The Iranian Embassy"

Woman (unimpressed): "Yes, I know."

Man: I need a kilo and a half of Persian cookies and a kilo and a half of pastries. Quickly, please. It's for the embassy."

So there you have it--the government of Iran shops at our local convenience store. Don't tell Rummy.

Rainy day weekend with old friends

The weather turned crappy on Friday, so we've been stuck inside and feeling cooped up. Henry really likes to go outside, and usually it takes a walk in the stroller to get him to fall asleep for his nap, so the days have been a bit on the long side.

So we were very hapy to get invited for dinner yesterday afternoon at my friends Louise and Keith's house out in Nepean. Louise and I played ultimate together in Toronto way back in the mid-90s. They've lived in Ottawa for about five years, and it's great to have someone familiar to reconnect with as we settle in. They have three kids now, ages 5, 4 and 2, so dinner was quite a scene. The grownups were at even strength against the kids, so we were able to have some adult conversation in the midst of the din. Henry loved playing with all the toys, especially the many trucks, cars and busses Louise's boys have in their collection. Henry's becoming quite the little boy in that respect--fascinated with vehicles. Anytime he sees a school bus go by he points and squeals with delight. . .

We're just about to head out for brunch with Jon and Joanne from Vancouver. Jon and I have been good friends since high school. He hasn't met Henry yet. Hopefully he'll sit still for a bit while we eat and chat. It's overcast today but the rain finally stopped, so we'l probably do some exploring after we eat.

Shopping at the ByWard Market

Even by my Virginia-calibrated standards, it was very warm here today (but not "hot & humid". "Hot & humid", my Canadian friends, is when you leave your air-conditioned building at 5 p.m. and feel like you're being punched in the gut by the air you're trying to breathe. That's summer in Virginia). But still a great day to get out and take in the town. This morning Henry and I went shopping at the ByWard Market. I love this area. It's an open-air market and collection of specialty shops just east of Parliament and the American Embassy, and it's definitely one of Ottawa's best features. Farm-fresh seasonal produce, cheese shops, a great Italian market. . . mmmm. So far, our best discovery at ByWard has been Ontario wild blueberries. These berries are much smaller than the kind you get at the grocery store, and much more flavourful. They're perfect for making pie. So far, Tom and I have collaborated on two blueberry pies (he makes amazing pastry, and I do the filling). I think I'll have to propose at least one more before the season ends (we use the recipe from Regan Daley's In the Sweet Kitchen). The local raspberries look amazing, too. Maybe that will be the next pie.

I also dropped a relatively large sum of money (by supermarket standards) on some Tuscan olive oil (strictly for dipping and salads, not cooking). Delicious. Oh, and two kinds of stinky cheese from Quebec. So I've been pigging out on treats all day. One day very soon I will adjust my two-income spending habits to our new, one-income reality, but today was not that day.

Henry, on the other hand, refused to eat anything but grapes today. Until dinner, when he gobbled up the fresh ravioli I bought at the Italian market. The kid's fussy, but at least he has good taste.

The photo above is the aftermath of Henry's attempt to enjoy some of that blueberry pie last week.

Takin' care of business

We finally managed to get our car registered in Ontario. This may not seem like a newsworthy event, but we learned the hard way that there are lot of irritating bureaucratic hoops to jump through when you import a car to Canada (boring details here). We're very happy to have this headache behind us. Long story short: three government agencies, several repairs/ upgrades, one failed Ontario Air Care test, mucho paperwork, many hundreds of dollars, but finally, no more Virginia plates. Phew.

After all that, let's hope our car is good for a few more years' worth of driving.

Also, we got our Ontario driver's licences today. No hassles, but $75 a pop. What a FUN way to drop $150. I totally feel like a rock star.

Henry at 16 months

Here's what Henry is up to these days:

• He's getting really good at using baby sign language. He's been doing signs for things, especially animals (dog, duck, cat, frog, etc.) for a couple months, but now he's learning signs for more abstract concepts ("more," "all done") and actions (eat, drink).
• He finally has some hair. It's still very thin, but it's there. I call the colour "ginger." If you say something to him like "I like your hair, Henry", he will stroke his head proudly.
  
• His favourite hobbies include chasing ducks (he makes the hand sign for duck and quacks as he runs after them), dragging rakes and brooms down the sidewalk, and emptying drawers, especially the kitchen drawers. This has complicated our efforts to get everything put away.
• Any progress we'd made in getting him to sleep better collapsed after the move. He's been a bad sleeper from Day One, but in Richmond we had reached the point where he'd sleep 6 hours straight most nights, and some nights even longer. No more. Ugh. None of the techniques we read about make a difference. The kid just does not like to sleep or nap.
• He doesn't use many spoken words yet, and he calls both me and Tom "Mu-ma." We're working on that one. . .
• We've been exploring all the great playgrounds and parks in Ottawa. I took this picture today at Mooney's Bay, which is beside the Rideau River--about a seven minute drive from our house.
  

The House

Given what we've seen of the neighbours (young people with kids) and the amenities around here, I'd say we definitely made a good choice with our house purchase. The house itself is going to take some time to settle into. It's smaller than our Richmond house (which I miss quite a bit!), so it's been a challenge to arrange our furniture. So far we've painted our room and Henry's room, put new carpet in the office, replaced the dishwasher (the ancient one that conveyed with the house blew up and spewed water everywhere a couple weeks ago), and had some electrical work done so that we could have a full-size washer and dryer in the basement. For those of you keeping count, we've now purchased three dryers in the last 18 months (the first one perished in the Tropical Storm Gaston flood, the repalcement stayed in Richmond, and now we have a new one).

Next on the list is getting a closet organizer for our bedroom (since we can't fit a dresser in the room) and painting the downstairs (still thinking about colours). Once I get a job we're going to spring for a kitchen renovation, too. But that will be it for the major stuff (I hope).

The 'Hood

Our neighbourhood is full of families with young kids around Henry's age, and everyone is incredibly friendly. The weather has been beautiful almost every day since we arrived, so we're spending a lot of time outdoors, going for walks in the neighbourhood and hanging out at the park. Henry is a terrific social lubricant when it comes to meeting people. If someone is walking their dog, Henry will make a beeline for them. If their kid is playing with a toy he finds interesting, he'll go grab it (that one is a bit awkward). Or, people will just come over to us and introduce themselves. At any rate, it's been a warm welcome.

Here's a picture of Henry, Tom and his brother Jon on the Rideau Canal, which is two blocks from our house. On Sunday mornings the street that runs alongside it, Colonel By Drive, is shut down to cars. It's a great place to go for a stroll.

A week of firsts

The University of Ottawa fall term began on Thursday. Tom taught his first class, so his new job has finally started.

I played my first Ottawa ultimate game yesterday. Ottawa's fall league is smaller than its massive summer league (billed as "the largest ultimate league in the world"), but it's still huge compared to Richmond: four divisions, multiple tiers, large rosters. I got on a team called the Blade Runners by posting a message on the league discussion board. The team has a lot of "mature" players with kids, which makes me happy. My primary motivation for playing is social, not competitive, so I'm glad I ended up on a team with people I'm more likely to share things in common with than a bunch of college kids. I carpooled to the game with a woman who lives a few blocks away from us. Turns out she has a 17-month-old daughter (Henry is 16 months) and had lots of great info about daycare in Ottawa. Getting daycare organized is my next big project, so it was very helpful to talk to her.

As a result of the game, I'm sore today. I go running a couple times a week, but I've never truly gotten back in shape since having Henry. All the sprinting involved in an ultimate game is hard on me these days. . .

Like Altamont, but without the Hells Angels and random violence

I found out last week that the Rolling Stones still give free concerts, if inadvertently. See, our house in Ottawa is just across the Rideau Canal from Lansdowne Park, which is the old-school, open-air football stadium that hosts the local CFL team and, it turns out, all the crappy bands that play the Ottawa summer expo. We'd been hearing the muddy sound of second-rate live acts all weekend, so I figured we'd be able to hear the Stones a bit from our back yard when they played their much-hyped concert. Well. Henry was in bed and I was enjoying a beautiful evening on our deck when I heard a dull roar and the opening notes of "Start Me Up" ringing clearly through the air. I'm not a diehard Stones fan or anything, but I like their old stuff well enough so figured I'd get closer and listen to a few songs.

I headed down to Echo Drive, which is a residential street running alongside the Canal. As soon as I turned the corner I saw HUNDREDS of people hanging out on the street (it's blocked off to all but local traffic, so there are never cars on it), taking in the show like they had paid for tickets to the stadium. Not only could we hear the Stones pretty much perfectly, but the hi-def Jumbotron inside the stadium was positioned so that we has a clear view of the show, too. I guess the locals know that you can see inside the stadium from Echo, because they came prepared for an evening of Free Rock. It was quite a scene--there were lawnchairs, snacks, families with kids, burnouts, grandparents, dudes drinking beer, yuppies drinking wine from glasses, a couple cops not caring about any of it, and white people busting arythmic white moves everywhere. The strangest thing to me was that the crowd actually applauded after each number, like we were part of the paying audience inside. The funniest thing was when a guy near me shouted, "Dude! You're missing 'Sympathy for the Devil,' Muthaf**kaaa!" into his cell phone. I was like, "dude, basically so are you." But, really, we weren't. I saw the Stones in 1989 at BC Place, and I think my view of the stage and the sound were better this time (man, those were some crappy seats). They didn't play "Gimmie Shelter," which I always like to hear, but hey--who am I to complain? It was still a fun, unique experience, and a good introduction to the laid-back vibe here in Ottawa.

Please note that I resisted using the phrase, "you can't always get what you want" after my "Gimmie Shelter" comment.