Commercials and my boy

We've been watching Treehouse almost exclusively since Kiernan was born. We have been spoiled by the lack of commercials.

Suddenly, he wants more. He wants to watch shows he hasn't seen before and we've been letting him watch a lot of the Retro stuff - Inspector Gadget, Smurfs, Loony Toons. He likes it and we're happier with these options than a lot of the other stuff on (ie Sponge Bob).

But now we have commercials. And I am amazed at a couple of things

1) How quickly he went from "I don't like commercials!" to "I want one of those!" "Can I have that thing?"
and
2) How very gender specific his choices are. He ONLY asks for the "boy" toys. I don't think we have a lot of gender specific toys at our house, most of the stuff is pretty neutral, blocks, musical instruments, shape sorters, etc We do have quite a bit of kitchen stuff, and also workshop stuff. I hadn't really noticed until lately how much Kiernan mostly prefers the workshop stuff (but I HAVE noticed how much Juliette ALREADY enjoys the kitchen stuff) but every ad on tv that's about cars and superheroes and I don't even know what else, but obviously for boys gets a "Can I have one of those?" and all of the swimming puppies and barbies get a blank look.

I don't really care either way. He can like what he likes and he can ask for all he wants but he'll get a few choice things for Christmas and his birthday, but it's all struck me as really interesting.

The end ;)

Climbing

As a rock climber reaches the peak after a particularly well executed climb, or as he feels the wind whipping by as he repels back down the rock face feeling the thrill of speed, he probably doesn't remember his first foray into the world of thrill seeking...

But I bet his mother does. She probably watched his little face full of joy and excitement, triumph and thrill as he went up and down his first real climb.

And she was probably glad, that for now, watching him climb up and slide quickly down the stairs 50 times a day was as risky as it was going to get. At least as long as she kept her eyes on him as HE eyed the far riskier climbs all around him with great anticipation.

Ow!

Juliette has several favourite words. They include hi, maaeee (it was mommy at one point - she's gotten lazy), no and OW!

Most of the time, she uses OW incorrectly, or at least, very liberally.

We'll be driving along and we hit a pothole and I hear "OW!! OWW!"" from the backseat.

The stroller goes over a curb "OW!!"

Not really OW Juliette....

That being said she does use it correctly and very cutely a lot of the time. She bumps herself on something (no matter how lightly) and she clutches her injury and proclaims "ow! ow! ow!" the whole way over to me before leaning in for a kiss in the afflicted spot.

Or on her big head, or on her toe or on her hand....


"ow! ow! ow!"

The things that distract me from blogging here...

Kids in the Capital - not only is it going very well, we've got a new look and we moved to our own domain!

Kids in the Capital spun off this month too - Kids in Cowtown is the equivalent but in Calgary. If you know any parents in Calgary who could benefit - please pass along the link!

Losing it in Ottawa - the first eight week session is done and I kicked ass ;)

My Uppercase Living business has launched and is going well. If you want to sign up for my newsletter, I'm going to be sending out updates for promotions, sales and special events. I'm going to be doing a draw for everyone who signs up for the newsletter by Nov 30 for a this Fa la la la la Christmas vintage embossed metal board kit.

I'm also going to do a draw for this build a snowman activity set from everyone who holds a party between now and November 30. Plus you'll get a Christmas decal sampler. Let me know if you're interested!

I'm also getting ready to go to She's Connected and Blissdom this month.

Oh, and these guys too I guess ;)

Maybe I found a solution to keep them all safe!

My babies couldn't be more different. Passive, cuddly, sweet vs boisterous, independent and assertive.

She is significantly smaller than her brothers, but she never lets that stop her from believing she is the boss. And she is willing to do what it takes to ensure herself as alpha dog of the pack. She bites, she pinches, she pushes, she hits, she shoves.... and her two much larger brothers? They fall to the ground in tears, the picture of pitiful.

She will be my biggest challenge, this girl. She is also my comeuppance.

Thankfully she doles out the hugs and the kisses in good measure too - her brothers love and adore her.


But sometimes I think we might just want to keep seats like this inside for all the time. Much safer.

I think I'm failing Kindergarden

I didn't know there was so much work involved in this Kindergarden/school thing - for the parents!

Every day Kiernan's bag comes home - with work for me. And... I wasn't really doing it all.

And then the teacher called me out with a note! Ok, it was a note to everyone reminding them what they need to do - I must not be the only one who was emptying all that those papers out of his folder every night? I wasn't the only one who didn't remember to label EVERY. SINGLE. clothing item before he went to school?

Sigh - totally dropped the ball on Terry Fox run (really? he's 4. It's the first month - I have to fundraise for him? :P) and we lost (and found) one coat so far. I need to remember to return library books, and to pack a healthy lunch every day (unless I bought him a hot lunch, then I need to remember NOT to pack him a lunch that day). They have pizza mondays - I got them for him sometimes, but not all of the time. Then the guilt sets in when he tells me everyone but him had pizza because they ran out. sigh. Really? EVERYONE in the class is having pizza EVERY week?!

There's the added stress that my written French isn't great and I ought to write the notes in French. I think I'm saying less than I would have to avoid figuring out how to say it. That's a FAIL for effort Lara!

It'll get easier right? By the time I have 3 in school, this will be old hat?? Ugh! Was starting school hard for you? Thank goodness Kiernan is transitioning well! :)