Sept. 27/03 Today was John's first haircut. I had my hair cut first while John fussed around the salon wanting to rearrange Michelle's magazines. Then it was John's turn. He got very upset when she was trying to cut his bangs, and pulled a typical "John" move. He puked! Michelle felt very bad and kept handing me towels for him. This is the same thing that happens everytime he cries hard! Anyhow, he was sleepy after his puke and ended up falling asleep. Michelle cut his hair while he was sleeping on my stomach. She cut one side and then I moved him and she cut the other side. I played with his hair so that he wouldn't notice what she was doing to him! I can't believe how long it was on top! She cut like 2" off the top of it. Hopefully, it will be easier to wash and style now!

Yesterday I bought John his snowsuit for this winter. It's very cute..blue and white and I bought him a matching hat and mitts...also some boots. The weather has been rain, rain and more rain! Makes it hard to enjoy the fall leaves!

John and Lhea went out to Pizza Hut this week. John loves her curly hair, but can't resist a little pull. Of course, this makes Lhea cry. It's a love/hate relationship already.

September 14/03 John's napping and daddy is waiting to have a shower. It's been an incredibly busy week. I don't have one second to myself, it seems. John's had a good week, however, has cut two more teeth (bottoms)..one is through, the other nearly through. He has a runny nose, a red bum and had problems sleeping at the beginning of the week. I was very tired at work. I have a cold too, which doesn't help things much.

Mom says John can climb stairs now and he likes to go down the slide at the toy library. He enjoyed his Mother Goose this week and wasn't such a bully! My biggest problem with him lately is getting any pants to fit him properly. He's so skinny that they just seem to fall off his waist all the time. The overalls are great, however, many are too long and he's always tripping over them. He's making some great attempts at walking now. He's taken about 5 or 6 steps before he falls on his butt.

His stroller lost a wheel last night. Good thing I was only in the driveway when it happened. We have to try to get a part from Peg Perego. He still loves to go for his walk in the morning. I still have a crappo stroller I bought for Edmonton, and his little car that Grandma and Grandpa Kennedy bought him. He loves the car, but I have to really watch him because he leans over the side to watch the sidewalk and one day he's gonna land on his head!

I swear he's going to be a soccer player. He does this sort of running scoot and then kicks the ball. His favourite toy is the ball. He'll pick it out of any toy box first.

Sept. 6/03 The first week of work is over! It's been a long week, but things went pretty smoothly. John has been a pretty good boy about mommy leaving him to go to work. Dad has been wonderful at pitching in and Grandma's help is very appreciated as well. On Thursday, when I came home, John was sleepin on daddy's chest. Apparently, he slept there for an hour (dad had to go pee - real bad).

Grandma took John to Mother Goose. He was a bit of a bully and wanted to treat the very young baby like he treats our Callie cat. He had a bit of a fit when he wasn't allowed to do so.

He's taken a few steps on his own now. He's still VERY shakey though. He continues to be obsessed with "itties" (kitties). I bought him a little mechanical one that meows and purrs and slurps a bottle. He beats it up!

He loves his nursery rhyme songs. His favorites on that DVD are "Twinkle Twinkle" , "If you're happy and you know it" (he claps his hands) and Old MacDonald.

It's tricky juggling work and home, but I'm sure we'll make out o.k. It was nice to have a REAL paycheck for a change

Aug. 29/03 Well, my maternity leave is nearly come to an end. I've got my classroom in shape, but feel rather overwhelmed when I think about teaching and mommying. I know lots of people do it, but I just want to be able to spend that quality time with John. I was busy today cooking a few things ahead to put in the freezer..lasagna, chili, muffins for John. I know my mom and Derek will be great help, but I can't help to think that I'll be thinking about my little man. It will be nice to have some real cash again though.

It's cool and rainy the last few days..definite fall flavour in the air. I'm trying to get John used to wearing shoes and socks so that when he has to wear them for warmth, he won't be taking them off every two seconds. He still is very fond of "itties". He says it with an Arnold Swartzennager voice though..it's hilarious. I bought him a "Baby Genius" DVD.."nursery rhymes". He loves it ...lots of music and there's kids on it. I think his favorite song right now is "Old MacDonald".

He's such a character...with that blond hair and wild hairdo..he could pass for Dennis the Menace easily. His top teeth have come down and he has a killer smile now. He wants to bite however.

Aug. 23/03 John had an excellent pediatric cardiologist app't in Winnipeg. We don't have to go back for a whole year now! The doctor has no present concerns and they will continue to monitor him to ensure his lungs are getting the blood they need. He was very difficult to manage this time though. He didn't just sleep on the bus and he's so wiggly it's hard to keep him entertained.

He hated the hotel room..too many "no's" from mom and grandma. He didn't sleep well in his playpen. I only got 8 hours of sleep in the two nights combined. I'm tired now! He eats an amazing array of finger foods now...he tried scrambled eggs, chicken bits, pancakes, tacos, refried beans, rice, oh and muffins which he scarfs down!

His newest word is "itty" meaning "kitty". Everytime I sing Old MacDonald and I say he had a kitty, John says "itty". He has a little stuffed kitty Huguette bought him that he likes to beat up. He goes paddy-cake now and really enjoys that song.

Aug. 11/03 It's been hot again the last few days. I tried taking John to the beach by myself.. not an easy feat when you have a big satchel with all the junk, combined with a stroller that doesn't push well in the sand and a big old beach blanket. The sand was burning hot to the touch of my foot. Thank heavens some teachers I work with were there and JJ came and helped me tote my junk. John enjoyed playing in the water this time because it was much warmer than the last time we tried. He does make strange something terrible though. I asked Heather (a friend/co-worker) to mind John while I loaded the car. Well..he started howling like crazy. She said it was a good thing I returned or ppl would have called C.A.S. on her!

I've been going into work the last couple of afternoons to unpack my stuff in my classroom. Apparently, after I leave, John crawls around the house looking for me saying "Mamama". He definately knows what mom means now. Luckily, Grandma is very clever and distracts him. Today, she took him outside to play in a pail of water. He enjoyed filling up containers and flinging water at both grandma and grandpa. I'm hoping that these little sessions will help to get John ready for when I get back to work. Of course, he's terribly clingy when I do get home. I don't know how I'm going to get dinner ready!

I'm working hard to get the bedtime routine down pat. I've read a book called "The no-cry sleep solution" since crying it out wasn't working! It suggests that the routine is very very important. So..my new routine is....bath, pj's, bottle and Baby Einstein movie..go to our big bed and read books (3), sing songs on the bed...rock in the chair..sleepytime. I hope this works! Naps are another question. Today he only took one nap at grandma's house in the morning for over 2 hours. She moved his crib downstairs so that it would be a little more dark. The room where she had him is very very bright. He hates the black curtain she made, however, so I'm going to have to glue on some polka-dots or something.

He's eating lots of different textures now. You have to watch him very carefully, because he will of course put stuff in his mouth that shouldn't be there and then hold it in his cheeks. Tonight, it was a piece of plastic (don't know where he found it!). I had to dig it out.

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