It's been ages since I wrote. I often think of things that I would like to write about, but the creative flair is gone by the time I hack my way through the day. The finisher of course is that by the time I put Oliver to sleep (Eli always picks Daddy, Ollie usually picks me, but occasionally picks Daddy) I just don't feel inspired. I feel inspired in the middle of the day, but don't have the ability to get my thoughts out then because of all the interruptions. Sigh.
Today the boys and I went swimming at Walter Baker Sports Complex. Amazing. The boys were terrified at first because it was so huge. (There is a large regular size pool, a medium sized shallow-end depth pool and a splash pad/wading pool AND a hot tub. I was so proud of how the boys persevered and stuck with it. The clung on to me for dear life at first, but slowly released the death grip and had a good time. I'm excited to see what they do next time. I think that they will whoop with joy. Eli was especially timid this time. I'd like to see him being his goofy self next time.
The boys had a great week overall. At playgroup Oliver was extremely independent and even allowed me to leave the room with his brother while he happily stayed behind to help the facilitator.  And then at clean up time, when they used to cling to me in fear because everything changes all at once and people are going all over the place, toys are getting put away, Oliver actually walked AWAY from me towards the facilitator. A far cry from where we started out a year and a half ago.
Eli did much better at daycare this week. On Thursday he only cried briefly when I left and happily played with the other kids the whole time. On Tuesday, Oliver excused himself from lunch and told the babysitter, "I sleep now." lol It's nice to have a good week after awhile!

On second thought, maybe not..

So, I was feeling neighbourly today and while I was having the rare opportunity to play outside in the snow with Ruby, I decided to 'pop' over to their house and say hello (I could hear them shoveling). I had a great chat with her and soon her husband came over. The discussion turned to the tractor that wouldn't start and how they'd need to get it started soon because the horses were running out of hay. Of course, I volunteered Mike's services. I'm great for that.
So, long story short, Mike went over to help out and as a distraction for Eli (who most definitely did not want his Dadoo to go anywhere) I suggested we bake some cookies. He was more than happy with this arrangement. Before we got very far, Oliver woke up, so I went upstairs to get him. He wanted a cuddle from Daddy, but at the mention of cookies, he came rip around the corner with all the speed of Lightning McQueen. We started with the dry ingredients. We were making a gluten free batch of chocolate chip cookies. Eli was getting a head start on the chocolate chips. The sun was shining brightly on the snow, the dog was curled up by the fire and I thought, "Gosh darn it, I'm just a regular Holly Housewife!" I even went as far as to think, "Maybe I'll whip up a batch of regular cookies for the neighbours. And that is about the time it all fell apart.
Eli's coughing got worse and worse until finally he managed to puke because he was coughing so hard. Chocolate chip puke all over the counter. More on the chair as I cleaned up the first pile, more on the floor as I cleaned up that pile and more still on the floor twice more before he finally managed to pull himself together. At first he was very distraught, but soon settled into the habit of indicating where the mess was that I should clean up. Oliver watched it all go down from atop his chair and Ruby trotted over to see if she could score a snack. It was a precisely this moment, I thought strongly against bringing the neighbours some cookies...
So the rest of the day continued, Mike plowed the driveway with our friends four wheeler and plow. The boys watched off and on from the window. Mike managed to help the neighbour get his tractor going (I knew Mikey could do it! "Give it to Mikey, he'll fix anything!") Then bedtime came 'round.

I knew in my heart that it had gone too easily the first time. A half hour later Oliver was calling for me and we began that whole 'song and dance' about 'a dwink'...'a dwink!!!' It's hard to deny your sick toddler a sip of water, so I indulged him...several times! I was just about to completely lose it when he asked for one more drink. In my head I thought, okay, this is the LAST one. He had a sip and told me he was done. I put the cup back, tucked him back in, got situated and he said, "Puppy...need dwink!" Hillarious. Even to me in my hot tempered state. I indulged. Then I drew a cold, hard line in the sand and 15 minutes later he was asleep. It could be a long night.

Cold enough to freeze your Winnebago

Mike and I had 'date night' last night. We sat on the couch and watched Big Bang Theory and NCIS: Los Angeles online. Oh wait, that was the night before...
Last night I went to bed with Ollie at 7:15 and was up with him every hour or so. "Mommy? Mommy? A dwink! A dwink!" He was sleeping beside me in the big bed because he had a fever and was whimpering in his sleep. He was not feeling good at all. A little later on, he appeared to be having a bad dream. I whispered to him, "It's okay, Mommy's here." over and over while I stroked his hair. He fell back into a deeper sleep at the sound of my voice. How incredible to have the ability to impart that much peace into the life of my little boy.
Mike was supposed to work today, but the part he was to work on didn't come in, so he is home and that is fantastic. What's not fantastic is that our plow truck is not working and we've got lots of snow in the driveway. He decided to go borrow a friend's four-wheeler and plow. They live about 40 minutes away. A long way if you live anywhere but Canada! He asked Eli if he wanted to go on a road trip. Eli jumped off the couch and headed for the door. : ) The boy loves a good road trip.
Oliver looks up at me and says, "Mommy? Stay home? Stay home, Mommy?" Yes, my little home body, we are staying home. Eli is the one who doesn't like the babysitters, but he loves a good outing with family. Ollie tolerates the babysitter, but prefers to stay home no matter what.

When we got up this morning it was 8 degrees in our house. Yowsers. That is BRISK!
(The photo is not a recent one, but it's a winter pic of our house and it's too cold for me to get a recent one!)

I'm reading through a book called, "The Emotional Life of a Toddler." It's a great read. It's reminding me of reading papers for Outdoor Rec assignments, but interesting to see what a Ph. D. mind thinks about the way toddlers emotions work. Of particular note is this passage, "Temperamental differences play an important role in the toddler's ability to adjust to separations. A two-hour separation may represent a mild stress for one toddler but a major source of anxiety for a more sensitive less adaptable toddler. Similarly, children differ in their ability to be comforted by somebody they do not know well. Individual differences in response to separations are vast, and parents need to learn their toddlers personal style in order to anticipate when a separation will be overly taxing."
I have long contended that my darling Eli was unique in his make-up and that his stress at being separated was real and intense. It was wonderful to see this suspicion confirmed by someone who has done a lot of research in the field. What frustrates me though is that this is the first book I've read that reported this type of finding. The infant books told me he was fine and that it was harder on me then it was on him. Why then are they now telling that it is different depending on the child and that some children are more seriously affected by separation than others? The book, "Emotional Life of a Toddler" goes on to say that it is possible to cause long-term anxiety if the parent is not attentive to the toddlers individual needs. It doesn't say not to ever leave them, it just suggests ways to help prepare the child for the separation and ways to reassure the child that you will be coming back.

Anywho, as I type the boys both have fevers and terrible coughs, so it doesn't look like they will be separated from me anytime soon!

Lots of people have suggested I start a blog. So I did. I plan on writing about pretty much whatever I feel like. I also plan on not always having the chance to edit it. Hence, 'Allison's Notebook.' You don't stress out over editing in a notebook. I also plan on using it like facebook and just plopping 'status update' type entries onto it. I don't like how facebook eats my statuses and doesn't let me look back through them, not in any remotely convenient way anyways.