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