These are the times I will remember...

Part of the reason I keep this blog up is because I want to have some sort of record of Charlie's childhood. Today was a wonderful, completely average, amazing day, so I am going to list the memories we created.

1. I took Charlie to see Matt at work, and to meet my class at school. Everywhere he went, he was greeted by screeching girls whom only dogs could hear. At one point, I caught myself rolling my eyes and thinking 'This must be what going out in public with Justin Beiber is like.' He is an attention magnet and he loves it. I am curious to see if that tendency continues as he grows up - if he likes it, not the screaming girls (I think they'll end once he is 4 or 5).

2. Charlie wanted to be Cookie Monster all. day. long. He only grudgingly took off his costume's hat (googly eyes) when I told him he didn't want to get his hat all sticky with lunch. He was sweaty underneath but apparently his dedication to the character overwhelmed his personal comfort.

3. I made him Halloween breakfast (banana ghost and pumpkin toasts), lunch (Jack-O-Lantern plate) and dinner (Mini ghost pasta and star shaped cucumber). I hope he reads that when he's older and know how much someone has to love someone else to theme three meals for them.

4. Charlie was scared by the scarier costumes tonight, and kept taking my hand and saying 'OK, enough candy, home now.' When a Scream mask came to the door, he opened the door and said, 'Trick-or-NOPE!' and tried to close the door in the poor kid's face. Well played, Cookie Monster. Well played.

5. We practiced ALL WEEK that when you go up to a door you say 'Trick-or-treat' and when you leave you say 'Thank you and happy Halloween!'. Charlie got all of it right, except he kept forgetting to say the 'happy Halloween' part - instead, he'd say, 'Trick-or-treat! Thank you! Happy birthday!'.

Happy Halloween, everyone.

Charlie as a pumpkin for his daycare party. The 'hat' didn't last long.

Nom nom nom. COOKIES!

Echo...echo...echo...

Today was our bi-annual checkup at Sick Kids. We arrived at 7:30am, and Charlie had his echo at 8. He was SO good for it - never thought I'd say this, but thank God for Toopy and Binoo. We made jokes about a 'warm liquid goo phase' (they nuke the ultrasound goo!) and it was generally an OK time. Our tech was awesome and quick (key part there: quick) and we were out by 8:40am or so.
Then we waited...and waited...and waited! Our appointment for clinic was supposed to be at 9am, but both our nurse practitioners were away, and Dr. D was on rounds...we saw a doctor, finally, at 11:30am. In the meantime, we visited our buddy Sophie, saw Louise our dietitian, and played with the iPad (thank you, Apple) and a new Cars toy (Finn McMissile). Again, Charlie was a rock star.
The news is: his heart basically stayed the same. One measurement was better, one was slightly worse - but because he grew and his heart didn't get proportionately bigger, it was 'better' all around. Unfortunately  the hope for today didn't come true - he is not coming off the Warfarin, since there is still the risk of getting a blood clot and he's not a particularly 'bruisey' child (not overly active for a 2 year old). They also shocked us by telling us Charlie doesn't need another echo for a YEAR! Bad news: Warfarin for another YEAR. Good news: we are down to yearly echos. We'll take it!

We also went to Panera for lunch and Charlie ate a whole kid's size macaroni and cheese. Geez, that is good stuff (ok, Charlie ate a kid's size mac and cheese minus one Mummy-sized-bite. Sue me.). ;) Traffic sucked on the way home. What else is new?

Happy Thanksgiving, Canadian friends. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for, year after year. 

Charlie and Mummy, echo-ing and rocking out to Toopy and Binoo.

New Page

So, I deleted my Facebook - I could almost hear the collective gasp from the Inter-world. I try to be self-aware enough to know when something is becoming a problem, and Facebook was definitely a problem. So, I gave it up. It's going to be difficult to organize things now - I had a Christmas baking exchange on there, as well as pretty much my entire triathlon material, and I also belong to the Children's Cardiomyopathy Foundation, to which belongs friends I will miss. But, even considering that, it's worth it: Facebook is developing a 'face profile database', in which any photographs you put on Facebook are scanned and added to a huge database of faces, which Science is quickly realizing are as individual to us as fingerprints. Minority Report, anyone? Anyways, between that and the fact there were WAY too many people I 'couldn't' delete (read: would get pissed off should I delete them), and the fact I was spending wayyyy too much time on it, Facebook had to go. Good news for those of you not on Facebook, because I'll update the blog more often. Theoretically.

The Coles Notes of our life over the past few months: the summer was great, as Matt was home and Charlie and I were glad for that. We went to Winnipeg to visit Charlie's godparents, and Charlie did well on his first plane flight (although thank God for Toopy & Binoo, without whom it may not have been so pleasant). We did a few weekends away at friend's cottages, and got things done around the house. Matt built a fence, then a gate, then a deck skirt. We had a screen door installed. It was all very suburban and lovely.

In September, I headed back to work part-time (.7, which is 3.5 days a week). I am teaching grade 4/5 half-time (fantastic) and Instrumental Music (ha!). Although technically qualified for Music, I haven't done it in a long time and am selling myself to the kids as 'organized but talentless' so they expect less. So far, it's great - I was lucky to find an amazing little school in which I fit in well.

Charlie continues to grow and flourish - he is talking in almost-sentences now, and is quite able to tell us what he wants, when and why. He has recently started doing 'chores', for which he gets 'monies'. He can make $3.50 a week! Half his money will go in his RESP, but the other half he is saving his money for a 'new car'. THAT trip to Wal-Mart will be hilarious!

He's gotten to be quite the little actor, too. Case in point. He also picks up everything we say, which then gets repeated at the strangest times. Like this little ditty from last night.

My goal for the new updates is weekly, on my half-days-off. See you in a week!