The Weekend Of Parties

So yesterday the family came to celebrate Eamon's Birfday with noodles.

Today we went to Noah's party at a play-centre (Noah happened to be borned on the exact same day as Eamon).  Fun times!

Tomorrow is the big party for the baby-boy.  I hope he's up for it and doesn't get too cranky.

I'll tell you what is cranky: my stomach.  It's been churning the past few days.  I hope it goes away soon

One Year Ago Right Now...

...Sharon was pushing.

Within an hour one year ago, our lives changed forever.

And since then our lives have never been the same (that's not a bad thing).

While he brings us frustrations, it ultimately means nothing because the happiness he brings is incomparable.

I love you my baby-boy, my mini-me.  Happy Birthday!

He'll do whatever he wants to do

Happy Birthday Early Birthday Eamon...

...I bought you a, ummm...speaker for the TV.  Because, you know, you deserve it and all.  It's not for Daddy at all.  Nope.  Not at all.

Speaking of my boy, he apparently did pretty good at Day 2 at Daycare today.  I find it hilarious that he slept on the outdoor swing.  First of all, he doesn't really like swings.  Second of all, he fell asleep at 9:00am, which he never does.  I swear, he's doing this on purpose, like "I'm really not liking this.  I'm going to sleep and when I wake up I'll wake up from this bad dream."

But he did eat there (of course), so that's good

*  *  *

Went for a run today for the first time in a long time.  I say this every year, and I'll say it again:  I'm dead in May for the 10km race

*  *  *

Tomorrow is my last full day with Eamon as he goes back to daycare part-time on Friday, and full-time on Monday.  I think I'll take him swimming.  Whatever the case, I'm gonna enjoy it.  I've absolutely loved this time I've had with him; I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.

So if he gets a sibling, I hope I get to do it again.  Whether or not I'm the biological parent of that sibling, well...that's not in my control...lol

Dude...You Still Have A Week Left

Why are you a horse?  Why such a long face?

Snap out of it and enjoy these moments.

I have found that that is one of the problems with me:  I look too much to the future and not enjoy the present too much.  And gawd knows I look way too much into the past.

Gotta find that balance...

And His First Day...

...resulted in him taking a nap in the Joanne the caregiver's arms?  He doesn't fall asleep in ours, and it wasn't even his bedtime.  And when she tried to wake him up, he wouldn't.  As a result, he didn't even eat lunch (he was only going to be there half a day).

This amuses me because the way I figure Eamon's thinking is this:  "I don't know who the eff these people are.  And where the eff is my Dad?  Okay, maybe I'll just sleep and when I wake up this bad dream will be over.  And if they try to wake me up, I'll just continue sleeping."

I got there just when he woke up.

But Joanne said that he had a pretty good day (I'm not sure if she says that to everyone).  We'll see what happens again on Wednesday when I take him back

The Gutom Laru

It was a nice day today.  Like I said, life is good.

Went swimming this morning with the boy, which is always fun.

Then we dropped him off at my in-laws and we watched The Hunger Games.  It was a good movie, but I think because I read the book first it skewed/almost ruined the watching of the movie.

Then we picked up the boy and went for a nice bike ride.  Unfortunately, Eamon is teething and has been cranky lately.  But he still gives me open-mouth kisses and cracks me up...so yeah, I don't mink the crankiness all that much.

Tomorrow he starts daycare part-time to get used to it, and next week he goes full-time.  And I go back to work.

Seriously...where the hell is the time going?  Sigh

Super-Laki

So the fam and some family friends (Wayne, Crystal, Andrew, Reeva and their 4 month old baby Lariah) came over today.  Good times, especially with all the babies in the house (and Xavier, my ever-increasingly-getting-older nephew and who will be the ringleader in the future, no doubt).

Lots of preparation for the dinner:  potatoes, salad, cheated and bought rice from Mr. Greek, and the Souvlaki and Shrimp Sticks.  Turned out okay!  It was just a lot of work.  Which is always the case for the "parties" we have at our house.

I swear, next year I'm just going to order pizza...lol

*  *  *

I guess I'm going to go through my patented "holy crap I'm a year older" routine shortly.  Crazy to think that this time last year my life was completely different.  It's now a whole lot busier, but a whole lot better too with my mini-me.

I am grateful for the life I have thus far.  I better stop getting wistful.  Still a whole lot more life to live

I Knew I Jinxed It

So it was a pretty busy day today:

-swimming with the boy at the Y in the morning.  He had fun

-went to the Early Years Centre and attended the "Babies On The Move" class.  He had fun

-went to parents house where he ate lunch, slept, ate his snack and played.  He had fun

-went home, went to Trannifer's house to meet cute little Juliette.  He also met Rozzymaboo.  Who licked him on the face continually.  He might not have had that much fun

-went home, showered him, then went grocery shopping.  I am preparing food (i.e. marinating meats) for a family get together tomorrow.  So it's for my birthday, but I'm the one doing all the preparation for food?  Figures

Sometime today, I told someone (I think it was at the EYC or to Kiran at Trannifer's place) that Eamon is a good sleeper and that we got really lucky after sleep training that he sleeps through the night.

And of course...we just spent 1.5 hours trying to calm him down from his frantic crying.  Jinxed.

Best guess is that he is teething again.  Another guess, which I hope is not the case, is that he had a bad dream (like for example Roz "attacking" [really her just kissing] him).  I hate it when I have bad dreams...I can only imagine for him

*  *  *

So I got word today from Kats that I might not have to go to downtown in May for that hearing I was supposed to go to.  Crazy.  Just goes to further prove...I hate people

Now This Is The Parental Leave I'm Talkin' About

The weather was beautiful, and the boy and I went for a bike ride.  He normally hates the sunglasses and the helmet, but today...he didn't fuss.

Went to the park, where he usually hates the swing.  He didn't fuss.

Tried the "sandpit" for the first time.  He didn't fuss.

It was a good day.  I guess these are those days that people, particularly older parents, say that you never get back.

If there is one day during my parental leave I'll never forget, it's today

*  *  *

I just learned a new word today that somewhat describes me:  teetotaler.

Nice

Sign Of Spring

It was the first day of spring yesterday, and there is no more of a sign that the seasons are changing than when...I change over from my snow tires to the summer rims.

This winter had been a crazy one; I do not recall the last time that it was this mild.  Sucks for people who bought snowblowers (for this year, anyway).  Also sucks for my friend Row, who purchased a "clear your driveway from snow" package from a snow-clearing company, and who I think only came once.

I always fear, though, when I change my tires.  Like, what if it snows one more time?  Although with the way the weather has been the past week (>20C), it would be hard to think that

9 Hours What

I slept 9 hours last night.  Crayyyyyyyy.

Went to the gym this morning followed by a work visit.

Dawned on me that I'll be returning to work in two weeks.  I feel quite...disheartned?  I better stop looking to that moment and enjoy these moments I have right now

Movin' On Up, Tool Division

Now if only I can improve my actual motor skills with the improvement in my tools:

I almost humped that frickin' layyyyyzer

I guess I really don't have any excuse now for not completing that crown molding...crap

Productive D-yay

Love it when:  the day is nice (weatherwise); nothing planned; had a lot accomplished.

To wit:  

-cleaned and organized (parts) of garage

-degreased stovetop grills (hard to do indoors)

-took down Christmas lights

-bought mitre saw stand

-went for a nice bike ride

Wish all days were like this.  Work is such a distant memory right now

Pot Belly? More Like Cauldron Belly

Dammit.  I think all this lack of exercising/laziness is starting to catch up to me.  I don't like, in fact, I hate what I see when I look in the mirror.

The belly is coming back with a vengeance.  No surprise, really, considering all the junk I've been eating the past few months.

I gotta find my motivation again to, you know, not be fat

*  *  *

Just went to Rye's 30th Birfday Surprise Party.  Two Saturday's in a row going out?  Cray.

I also watched a bunch of people get really drunk.  Yet another moment where I wonder how different my life would've been if I got into that when I was younger

Years I've Been Waiting And Have Been Patient And...

...the persistence paid off.

(Please note, the following story is quite lame).

I've been wanting to get a cordless drill holster for a few years now.  I always thought that it would be quite convenient, because whenever I'm using the drill I have to put it down, pick it back up, put it down, lather, rinse repeat.

The regular price of a drill holster is, in all respects, not that unaffordable (think: $15).  I mean, I spend more money on other useless things (never mind the fact that I prolly won't be using the drill so much as there are no projects in the near future that I would have to use it as much).

So I patiently waited for it to go on sale (it's the principle of the thing here, whatever that principle is).  And waited.  And waited.

Today I went to Crappy Tire to get a filter for the humidifier, and was just generally browsing the store.  I then saw it:  a drill holster.  On clearance.  For $5.69!  (it's been said before here how unnecessarily excited I get when I find a good deal on my conspicuous consumerism).

So I went to pay for the item and it didn't scan the correct price (it scanned at the regular $18.99).  They called an employee to go check the price, but there was no way that I was going to let this deal get through my hands.  Quite embarrassingly, I went to go get the price myself.  And I won.  Yeah!  Take that Canadian Tire!  (smh)

Anywho, I can't wait to use it...you know...eventually.  But when I do, oh how sweet it will be

*  *  *

As I am a person that altogether loves "deals" way too much and equally beating people in a lineup so I'm not at the back of the lineup, this latest conquest in my consumer habits made me happy:  as aforementioned, we bought bicycles (which, surprisingly, we have been using quite frequently) on clearance.  Luckily we bought it on a cold day.  Why?

Well, the hot day was the following day, and I swear, looking at the stock of the Canadian Tire bicycle racks showed that it would've been sold out if we waited, and we would've prolly had to buy more expensive bikes.

So again:  events that made me weirdly ecstatic for the win!  I really feel like someone should throw me a ticker tape parade here

Musing From My Retired Father (March 16 Version)

So my Dad is one of those Filipino Retirees that goes to Square One everyday.  Upon the release of the iPad 3: "there was hardly any line up outside the Apple Store.  There was more line-up at Tim Horton's."  And he took joy in this, for some reason

*  *  *

It's called No Frills.  And yet, you need a quarter for the shopping cart.  I didn't have on this morning.  It's hard enough to go grocery shopping with a baby.  Harder to carry him around.  So I said "eff it" and took him to my parent's house and let him sleep there while I did errands.

I also saved about $55 by having Ray check out my car and reset the computer.  So with this logic...I can buy my mitre saw table for half-price now!

Swimming Was A Splash

A good splash.  We went swimming this morning at the YMCA, and it was good because the changerooms were big and spacious.  Of course a lot of people there said Eamon was "really cute" which always makes me happy.

Also ran into Paresh and Hina there, who were going to do a pool inspection, which I found amusing for some reason.

Then we went home and Eamon slept for three hours, which is just ridic.  But it gave me time to do some stuffs around the house, which mainly consisted of watching The Walking Dead.  I'm so hooked on this show, I'll be sad when I'm fully caught up (because I'll have to wait for new episodes on the TV).

I seriously am feeling like a stereotypical housewife, what with watching my "soaps" and what not.  And of course...I'm loving it

(yes Buh, I can see myself as a stay-at-home Dad as well.  Although, I do like making, you know, money and all)

Just As I Suspected...

...this parental leave thing is going by fast.  I should really stop looking at a watch/calendar and just enjoy the time I have with the ever-increasing adventurous child I have of mine.

He has discovered our shutters and opening and closing them.  For some reason I see us replacing them soon...lol

*  *  *

Had an "argh" moment this morning:  went to the gym.

Forgot my shorts.

Fastest visit ever, that consisted of just taking a steam and sitting in the hot tub

*  *  *

Last osteopath appointment until mid-May.  He did a good job on us, but when he went on trying to sell us supplements...yeah

*  *  *

Hopefully the PlayBook drama will be over soon.  Argay went online and got us a new one, and we ordered the optional keyboard.  It's like we're gonna have a second laptop!

Now there will be no more fighting/fussing over this Mac, which, by the way, I fear might conk out on us one of these days (3 plus years going strong, this has got to be the best computer I have ever had)

Teefy Pains

My poor baby boy is having the teething pains.  But he's taking it like a champ (with the exception of the crying and grumpiness).  He's growing so fast.  I know I'm always saying that, but seriously...it's amazing seeing him grow up.  I love him more and more everyday, and I'm really, really glad that I'm able to stay home with him even if only for a month.

I finally encapsulated what being a stay-at-home Dad is like compared to "regular work":  it is not that that stressful, but it's tiring.  Whereas regular work can be both.  As you can imagine, I'd rather be a stay-at-home Dad (I say that now...).

Gonna have some of the old high school band members I occasionally see come over tomorrow with their babies during the day.  I guess this is my first Mommy's Group Playdate?  Last minute and I'll be cooking, but I think I'm up for the challenge.  I just have to sleep...

Look At Me Biking

Well that was fun...we went for a bike ride with the new bikes and the baby trailer to Walmart.

Eamon enjoyed the ride.  I think.  Because he really didn't enjoy the helmet, as he kept trying to take it off.

Hopefully we get to take him biking more often than not and he gets used to the helmet.

The weather is so nice we might go for a bike ride after dinner too...talk about overdoing it

Schwinning

So while these babies look good as art in the dining room:

Schwinni

Hopefully it's nice enough today that we're actually going to be able to use it

*  *  *

Playa-hating.

Well only because staying out late with the high school friends at Playa Cabana + eating junkfood past midnight + putting your clock forward one hour thus "losing an hour of sleep" + having to wake up early because of the kiddo = rough morning.

But...good times last night!

The food may have been a little underwhelming, but the company was nice.  It's good to go out once in a while and be social or something like that

*  *  *

Been watching "The Walking Dead"...enjoying the zombiefest quite thoroughly.  I'm on the last episode of season one; now I have to find season two somewhere

*  *  *

Always an internal struggle; trying to break the trend.  Give up but don't lose hope.  Nothing I can do is everything I can do.  Drama

For The (Sch)Win(n)!

Weird how that turned out.

Brought the boy to my parents house today so he could visit with them.  I took advantage of this and went for groceries.  I went to Canadian Tire to look for a mitre saw stand.

Then I saw a CCM bike on sale for 50% off.

Told Sharon, then she said she wanted one too.

She got home, I told her to go to CT.  She didn't want to because she was tired, but then relented.

We went to CT.  Looked at the CCM bikes.  Didn't like them.  Saw another bike that I did like that was on clearance, but Sharon didn't like it.  So we asked the younger employee who looked like he knew what he was talking about.  He suggested the Schwinn's that were on clearance as well (that was the same price as the CCM bikes).

Somehow, we ended up purchasing the two bikes (as Sharon said she wanted exactly the same bike).

And now it is being assembled and I will pick it up tomorrow, and hopefully we will be able to ride it (with the bike trailer for Eamon) on Sunday.

All because I wanted to look for a mitre saw stand?

But whatever...yay bikes!  I feel like a kid again, all excited when I got a bike.  Speaking of which, I still have that bike...time to sell that bad boy

Hard Headed

Oh man, at least I really hope he is.

Why does he keep hitting his head when I turn my head for a few seconds?  So far he has been averaging one hard hit to the head everyday this week (after joking about it with Trannifer earlier this week).

Fret not, it's not leaving any marks or bruises (well, that's a lie...there is one on top of his right eyebrow) and he hasn't been landing directly on his head to the point of concussion-like or brain damage symptoms.  I still feel bad though.  It's almost as if I'm a negligent, stereotypical "Dad" (I'm not.  At least, I don't think I am).

In the end, I think he's doing it on purpose because like someone he is constantly looking for attention.  Ha.

Good thing he's easily distracted after I scoop him up and kiss it better.

(Please don't call child services on me)

I wonder sometimes if we had a girl if she would be this, ummm...rough and tumble and clumsy.  Most likely not.  Thank goodness I have a boy then?

*  *  *

Dropped the boy off at my in-laws this morning so I could play some bball.  After 1.5 hours of playing with guys 12 years younger than me (and of course getting beat)...my legs are jello right now.  Love it.  I miss ball

*  *  *

Went to Gil's and Marie's place for a quick visit after Sharon came home from work.  So funny when Eamon starts to cry, Antonio starts to cry.  And Xavier is getting to be quite a little boy (as opposed to a baby).  I look forward to seeing these boys grow up together.  It's going to be nuts!

My Baby Was Sat

So I took Eamon this morning to the YMCA with me to use their babysitting services.  First time he's ever been in a situation like that (being left not knowing anyone).

It was hard at first to leave him (for the baby or the Daddy?  I think both).  Eventually, I left him for 40 minutes.  When I came back, the caregiver said that he was "on and off" and that she couldn't leave his side.  He also had that pissed off look directed towards me when he saw me...lol

I might try it again next week.  Where I predict he'll prolly have a complete meltdown

*  *  *

Time is going by fast.  Really fast.  Yikes

*  *  *

I really love my boy's "I did it!" smile whenever he accomplishes something (ex. pulls himself up).  It really makes my day

I Might Be Enjoying This Too Much

So with Day 2 down, I'm still loving being at home with my baby boy.  We went to Dixie Mall this morning just because.  I felt like how I think those stay-at-home parents feel like, not working and depending on my spouse to provide (monetarily) for the family.  I bought myself some snacks, being mindful of how much I spent (Toonie Tuesday and Bulk Barn for the win).  I even went shopping for myself, buying a cheap pair of jogging pants.  Hey, if I'm going to go, I better go all the way.  Time to get fat(ter)!

I do foresee it being a bit tricky basing the schedule around his sleeping times.  He's eating quite while but his napping has a little bit more left to be desired.

It's not all gravy, of course.  Because he napped horribly today, cooking dinner was tough as he was crying the entire time.  The only time I got him to simmer down was when I fed him baby mum-mums and blueberries.  I'm hoping that he doesn't end up obese because I didn't want him to cry.

Tomorrow we're going to try something new again; depending on how he feels (based on his little runny nose at the end of this evening), we might try to go to the YMCA in the morning.  We'll see.

In the meantime, I just spent 1.5 hrs cleaning the bathrooms.  Apparently I'm domesticated.  Screw "real work"!

Mother Goosing

So we went to the early years drop in centre today for "Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes".  It was fun enough, but something about that teacher rubbed me the wrong way.

Perhaps it was because she was dispensing advice to newborn mothers that didn't make the most sense to me.  I mean, really, every child is different; you can't say that one answer you give will be the answer for that particular child.

Well whatever the case, I have to try not to hate so much or be so judgmental.  But still...

And Now It Begins

When I wake up tomorrow, I'm going to be doing something I have never done before:  be a full-time caregiver as opposed to a full-time working stiff.

We'll see how it goes with my newly challenging-boundaries-of-what-he-can-do son.

In the meantime, I better stop being lazy and apply for this EI thing already

*  *  *

Good luck at work tomorrow Bubs!  And thanks for the one month

Fixin'

So my in-laws had a list of things to get done in their house.  It took the better part of the day.

I am happy though that one of my ideas involving supporting their range hood worked pretty well.

I'm tired, but that's okay.  I plan on going to bed early today.

I also planned on eating well today.  Too bad I ate a cheeseburger with fries for dinner at Kelsey's.  I just hope I don't wake up at 4:30am again needing to use the bathroom

You Wanted Proof? Here's Your Crappy Proof

So if I wanted any indication that I should never do again what I did yesterday (eat too much, drink espresso, eat too much, etc.), it came at 4:30am.

On the toilet.

In pain.

Yikes.

But good ol' tons of water flushed out the pain (for now).

I think I'm going to have to stick to salad or something today.  Or at least a 1/4 of a cup of the grease and fat I may have had yesterday (which would still be too much)

*  *  *

Gonna attempt to fix the in-laws range hood today.  I wonder how this is going to turn out

In Which Guys Don't Want To Go Home To Reality

So we had our annual workmate Guys Night Out Raptors game today.  It was fun, as per usual.  Highlights:

-drinking beer with the Raptors Dance Pak.  Let me rephrase that: the other guys drank.  And got free beers and sandwiches

-ate a pulled pork sandwich and a roast beef sandwich which were both very, very good

-the Craptors game...right...well it was entertaining but they lost to the Grizz

-afterwards, we went to Bitondo's for some really greasy, very bad for your health ponzo's.  It was at this point we all realized we were not as young as we used to be and couldn't pound back the calories like we once did

-so of course, not wanting to go home, we ended up at a bakery and had espresso's and desserts.  Of course.  I don't even drink coffee, but what the heck, I may as well

All-in-all, a fun night with lots of laughs.  Of course I'll be up in a few hours, but still, I don't do this all the time

*  *  *

4.5 weeks!

I'm hoping it's going to be fun Daddy/Son time.  According to Sharon he's walking/gliding now.  wtf?  Dang, I missed that milestone already.  I think I have a smart kid that is putting together the pieces now.

Of course that also means he's bound to be hardheaded too.  Okay, these might be a very long 4.5 weeks ahead...lol

I Saw Saw, I Bought Saw

And the search is over!  I bought a saw that was both a good deal and (supposedly) good quality.  I mean, if even my Dad said it was good, then wow.

When I went to look at mitre saws at Sears yesterday, I was looking for another one (of course).  Saw a 10" Craftsman Sliding Mitre Saw with Single Bevel on clearance (like, from $400 to $135).  I wasn't sure if it was a good one, so I did what I normally do:  google the heck out of it.  And I found out that it wasn't that bad.  And the price was right on.

So all day I was worried someone would buy it.  I went home and then realized that Sharon was going out with her friends.  So it was me and the boy in my small car.  After he ate.  Little babies eating does not bode well for patience (future tip for those that don't know).

The saw was still there when we got there (whew), I bought it, and thought it might fit in the car.  Nope.  Of course not.

So improvisation!  I went to my parents house, picked up the van, left the boy, picked up the saw, left it there, picked up the boy, rushed home because his bedtime was looming.

Got home, showered him, put him down.

And now I can sort of breathe.  Now all that's left is wondering when I'm actually going to use it.

I will have to make it a point though to sell my first, trusty mitre saw.  She did good.

I don't have an end to this tale, so I'll just leave it with...yee-uh!  Saw!

Hoping it's not a Crapsman

*  *  *

Because I have only one more day before I'm on EI, I decided to buy more eyeglasses as well.  Don't ask me how that makes sense, but it did.

And of course, since I'm such a "deal monger", I was able to procure the spectacles at a fantastic deal.  3 purrs for $83!  Clearly Contacts and google for the win!

(Conspicuous Consumer Alert)

*  *  *

Great band discovery:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRVd0Ywr-lI