Water, water everywhere

mmm...chicken
Marlo and Wing came by and brought over some food. Swiss Chalet. So maybe the smell of food put him out like a light. He's smelling it through Marlo's belly button. Talk about smell-o-vision. Dreams of gravy, baked potato, white meat, dark meat.
Wait a minute, those are my dreams. I'm starving and my eyes are burning.

Willy and the other little guy came by. Oh ya, it was Edwin. Ha ha.

He was pretty good when our guests came over. Not his usual self. No kicking or crying or screaming. Just sleeping. Only changed his diaper once while they were here. And it was only a pee diaper with a little bit of a streaky. We didn't get the mango chutney curry kind until after they left. What a good little host. People were impressed. We were impressed.

We talked about this and that, dragonboating plans for this year and next. All the while the sound of running water in the background. No we didn't buy a water pump and fountain. I downloaded some sounds off the Net. Waterfalls, thunderstorms, running water, anything that was water. It sounded like the Rainforest Cafe. I did download a track called the Amazon Rainforest. Plus we had hazelnut vanilla coffee (freshly ground beans, of course) and cake, ice cream and for the lactose intolerant - raspberry sherbet. No tax.

The sounds of water flowing from a faucet are soothing to the new born. It's comforting and it reminds him of being in Tresa's tummy. The bubbling also could sound like passing gas. Things sound different in a liquid medium, you know. The things you learn when you have a kid that's crying in your ear. From what I've read, the running water sounds like the blood flow in Tresa's body. If you've got an inconsolable baby, try it. My cousin's hubby Dave gave us this tip. I didn't know why it worked but thankful it did. I found out later on in the books I was reading the reason. So to save on our waterbill I got the tracks and made a few CD's.

Only thing is. It kind of makes you want to go to the washroom all the time.
#1 sometimes #2.

Ready for another Road Trip

Happy 2nd Birthday to Emerson!
When your parents save up enough money, they'll get you a new car seat.

It was the Victoria Day weekend. More cousins came by than there were ferrel cats roaming our streets. Which by the way is public enemy number 1 through 87.

Even the cousin from out east came for a visit. From the city that Motivates Canada (ie. Oshawa) Liam came for a visit. This Liam is 4 years old but probably weighs the same as Teen's Liam.


Smile em if you got em. Not sure if she's got teeth yet but Eve loves to smile.





When we weren't looking Emerson gave Kieran one of her dolls. They're almost the same size. Can you see how happy Kieran is? Oh wait that's the doll.


How's your pud? She was covered in coco-latte. But Ninie scrubbed it off.


Quiet time


I think he's happier when he's just got a diaper on. He's now into size 1. After 7 or 8 packs of newborn size swaddlers. That's 300+ diapers in 4 weeks and 2 days. That's averaging just over 10 a day. In the beginning it was about 5 diapers, then he went into overdrive and maxed out at 15 or 16 in one day. We're not sure because one day seems to always spill over into the next and we lost count.


Jaedin was so happy he was boogie-ing just like Carleton in the Fresh Prince. But you should have seen him boogie when he accidentally bonked his head against the front door's doorknob. Clunk! WAAAH!


That's because fireworks were happening when it got dark. Then it got real interesting when the sparklers made their way down close to their hands!
The ROOF, the ROOF, the ROOF is on FIRE!

Mason's playground

Yep, it's the Mandarin Chinese Buffet.
Happy Birthday To ME! Are those headlights I see coming my way?

We got to the Mandarin with about 15 minutes before the lunch buffet was about to end. We tried to leave earlier. But we the we had to feed him, then change him, then feed him again, and then feed him again.
But we got several plates each of food all at once so we wouldn't miss all the food. We didn't think they would cut us off. Eventually they ran out of the roast beef and bbq stuff. So they shutdown for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours to replenish their wares.

As soon as we got there we had an army of family members to take Kieran off our hands and keep him occupied and content. This way we could hit the buffet table as often as we want, or until he woke up.

Hey he's got no neck!
Well he's got a neck and we're trying to keep it clean so that it doesn't get cheesy like mine did.

Look girlz in da hood. This Scarborough. You know Sina-gang territory. We trained the other nieces and nephews and believe it or not the old folks (Tito's and Tita's) to use the Purell or they don't get to hold him.

Hey what do you know, my back doesn't hurt lifting this one. What a relief. I'm so happy.
This is Liam's Lola. She's got arms like AHH-Nold from carrying Liam, soon she'll be needing a forklift to carry him. Teens the one that uploads multiple, MULTIPLE photos of her kid, because in one picture he's looking straight and the other he's looking away, and this one he's drooling and his hand moved 2 inches to the left, etc... You get a prize, (in taglish - a prr-rice) if you can spot all the differences between the photos.


Mine were never this tiny & so LIGHT! I can actually carry this one without any mechanical aid.


Wonder how I can get this over the border. I'll claim it as a gift. Let me take that sack of rice out of my back pocket, I'll hide him in there.


Look, more white meat. But this one is a little darker, it's wrapped up like turon or lumpia.


Then Cathy broke out the candy for all the little people. To calm them down.

This is what happens. They get this demented look. If you wait a little while they'll get the shakes. It didn't matter that all the candy was finished, because then they started chewing on the plastic.

And this is one their creators. See where they get that demented look?


Here they are, the family with everything. Sing it - "WE ARE PAM-A-LEE".

Mason's wondering when the buffet is open again.

Where's the manual?

RTFM
This kid came along with no instructions. Kieran is almost 4 weeks old now and we've only just begun. We've been reading books about babies. So we would stop guessing about why he's doing this or that. Or is this normal? Being better informed about what to expect from this baby. Well we're still guessing, but it's more educated guessing.

Right now it's about pooping, peeing and feeding. Oh and the crying. Crying to us is a sign that something is wrong. Which means, we're not doing something right. We go through our checklist.

Wet diaper
Dirty diaper
Hungry
Gas
Needs a hug

And still the crying continues.
What have we done wrong? What have we missed? Is there something else on the checklist?

They're all smiles now, cause it's not their kid. Just wait.
It's different when it's someone else's, cause you can leave the area where the screaming is about to cause permanent damage to your ears.
Actually the crying isn't so bad, but that may change once he gets older and his lungs start to get more air. When he's really going at it, it sort of like the sound of cats fighting with ducks.

Who woke me up? You'll pay for this.
It's sometimes disheartening listening to him go for broke. No one likes to hear their kid wailing. All you can do is go through your checklist and try to comfort him or her. But we've been reading books to try and figure out what is making him cry and how to get him to stop. Usually sleeping works. For me anyways. Cause I sleep like a log. But when that elbow digs into your side, don't complain, just get up do your duty and change the diaper.
Anyways, once we find out what he's crying about, I'll retire...cause that's what all new parents want to know.

The Amazing Waste

I gotta tell you that getting documents for your kid is not easy. It's a good thing my brother advised me to keep my P.Eng status. Otherwise, getting a guarantor signing and re-signing documents would be a pain. You need one signed for passports, for birth certificates. This and that. And the really painful thing is when you go to the gov't offices they don't tell you that you can pick up the forms here for this or for that. You find out as you stand in lines. Actually you find out in the queue to get a number to line up for a person to process your stuff. This is the truth. I kid you not.

So LISTEN carefully boys and girls, this is what you gotta do if you want to put your baby's birth certificate application and passport application in a forward gear.

Step 1. Go to a civic center near you and fill out the statement of birth and pay your 27.00. This registers your kid with the city. I went to the one at 399 West Mall over near Burnhamthorpe and hwy 427. They have a farmers market there on weekends starting in June.
Step 2. They'll tell you to wait 10 days for your baby to get registered. You can call a number to verify that your kid is in the system. Otherwise, if you come in to get the travel document, and they haven't processed your baby yet, they'll send you home. Sorry for wasting your time coming to gov't office, but hey that's what we do...waste your time and lots of it.
Step 3. Get the letter then pick up a Birth Certificate form either at that gov't office or you can fill one out online. Where online? Heck man. I dunno. It's long URL with a lot of dots.
here it is: http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/mcbs/english/births&marriages.htm
click on birth certificates.
Step 4. Go to this location below, if you want to get it done faster and save postage. You know why waste 50 cents when you can use up $30.00 worth of gas driving around and another $10.00 in parking.

900 Bay St. Or you can mail it to them or even fax it.
But you have to pay 25.00 for the birth certificate and you should also get the long form one which is an additional 35.00. And they don't take CASH! VISA/MC only. And normally it's not that busy. You'll probably wait about 1 hr to get everything done. From waiting in line to get your number to paying and leaving with a big headache.


But not on the day I go. There was an OCAP (Ontario Coalition for something and Poverty) demonstration going on and I wasn't allowed to enter the building.


They were demonstrating for housing for all, in several languages, including slurring.


Can you see the other line of cops in the back. Then at the entrance to the building there were a few O.P.P. (ya you know me) guys there.

And this was the backup squad. Once they run you down with the cars, the horses will crap on you.

I realized after that I could've gone the back door way from Grosvenor street right across from the Women's College Emergency Entrance.

That we'd gone in from just a few weeks before when we brought Kieran into the world. It's tough to see the entrance, but it's there. See everything in this world goes round and round.

Now if you aren't travelling in the next 6 months. Then you can stop here. Cause they told me that the Registration for the baby takes 2 months to complete, then the birth certificate takes 6-8 weeks after that has been completed. So that's at least 4 months. And that doesn't include delivery time. They state that in BOLD PRINT or Italics.

If you are intending on travelling you'll have to do the following:
Step 5. Get a passport photo for your baby. Believe me, this is a lot tougher than it sounds. The kid can't smile, and ours doesn't even have teeth.

Step 6. Get the CHILD passport application and get it filled out. Pick one up at any post office. The Guarantor cannot be the applicant. Just remember that. And sign your name everywhere. Or learn to forge each other's signatures. It makes life easier.

Step 7. You'll need proof that you need this temporary passport (which says is valid for 3 years.) You'll need an itinerary with your baby's name on it. Or something. I went to the passport office and told me I needed Kieran's plane ticket. Then I realized he's FREE. DOH!

Step 8. Go to the passport office when it's not that busy. HAHAHA...that's a joke. I made a funny. Line up to get a number to line up for a passport officer or whatever they're called.

And that should be it.

It's like the Amazing Race. After 6 or 7 visits to 4 different gov't offices. Filling out 10 forms and shelling out over 150.00. You'll still have to wait for the documents, which hopefully don't get lost in the mail or lost in the process.

FORE!

Well one of our own is getting married in less than a month. He's the guy in the middle with the pink shirt and white belt that matches the white shoes. He's a cross between Herb Tarlek and Fez and he typically likes being surrounded by guys. And I'm not sure why the three of us on the right are leaning like that. Must be Duane's animal magnetism, or the lasting effects of Mt. Pinatubo volcanic explosion.
Actually now that he's getting married, we know he's not bak-la. Meaning he's straight. We were never quite sure. Cause if I'd had my digital camera way back when we were young, he used to come over to my parents' house wearing a white shirt, cut-off jeans, grey wool sweatsocks and construction boots. Can anyone spell Y-M-C-A. Going to the Y-M-C-A!

I don't know how he does it but he's always got some wacko guy behind him. Must be the cologne - au de beer.

Here he is doing his famous runway walk. Remember Right Said Fred? "I'm too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts..."

Can you guess where FEZ's right hand is? Here's a hint. Duane isn't smiling for the camera.
And see those special glasses on Hong's head? They help him find his golf ball in the trees and/or water. He wears his glasses on his head cause he hits his ball so far into the trees and/or water that he can't find them.

If you look where his butt is pointing. That's his boss.
Just call him Ben Dover - he's always looking for balls in someones bag.

Out Q-ing Around

He's now two weeks old and still going through swaddlers newborns like it grew on trees. Hopefully the grapevines in our backyard grow fast, because the leaves on those things are huge and maybe we can use them as diapers or soak them to use as wipes. Just like 'me Tarzan, you Jane, him little people. Him make poo poo.'


I'm beginning to use the hug-a-bub that I bought to use as a baby carrier. He seems to like it on me. He fusses at first, but once he feeds, burps, poops and you start moving around a bit he's much better

Once he's in it and sleeping it's really handy. Seems a little constrictive to me, but hey, he's been inside a belly for almost 41 weeks. An hour or so in this is nothing. And it keeps him warm. Because I can feel the warmth from his body, or he's just drooling on my chest. He sleeps with his mouth open, so you never know.


See once he's in this state, you can put him in the baby carrier and get stuff done. There's a bit of pressure to take advantage of the quiet time while you can, because it's not always like this. It's usually fussiness. It's really just a matter of process of elimination (pee, poo, gas, tired, cold, need to be held or hungry) then passing off to mommy to feed.

It's been a tiring 2 weeks. One thing I would do next time around it take more than 1 week off. You really need at least 3 weeks to get things under a little control. We had a lot of visitors which was great but tiring. Like my cousin here and her kid who happens to be my godson.

Not sure what she's doing but it looks like she's doing some Voo Doo magic to try and get her son to walk without getting a goose egg on his head. Or more than likely she's trying to help the Toronto Blue Jays win another World Series. Get a load of that sweatshirt.


There's been a lot to do. It's been really difficult to get out of the house. We've come to realize that if you decide to go somewhere, it may not happen that day. Even if you decide in the morning. So thanks to all our visitors who came by and brought us nourishment. You know I used to cook like this.

This is a stuffed rack of lamb that I had made while I was taking my french cuisine course. You normally get 4 of these at a fancy schmancy restaurant. Tresa and I had a rack each. Yummy. Now we order General Tao's chicken or pretend Delissio is take out pizza, just like all those commercials.
So more often than not, I go out and do the errand and then head back home. Whether it's a diaper run, or government papers to get filled out and signed, then queued up and submitted and then paid for, then wait 10 business days and go back to fill out something else and queue up and pay for that, then go to another government office to get THAT filled out, stand in another queue, to pay for. Wow man, the government should really go talk to the people at Wal-Mart. "Cuz, if Wal-Mart don't got it, then you don't need it." Besides it's a one stop shop. Or go to Amazon. ONE-CLICK shopping. Where as, the government, does it in some other way that would drive all other businesses into the ground.