E, M, J & A au K'nada

In the car this morning, on our way to the Chinese lesson:

Me: « Ms M, look at this plane landing! Just above us! » (we leave close by the Airport).

Ms M : « Yes, it’s a Baby plane. He is coming back home to see his Daddy and Mommy! »

Me : « Hum, you think so? »

Ms M : « Of course! They’re even here waiting for him. He’s so happy to see them again ». (And then I see 2 bigger planes on the tarmac).

Wherever we go, whatever we do, Ms M sees Daddies, Mommies and Babies everywhere. Sometimes she adds brothers and sisters but all the times everything goes by 3 minimum. If she sees a lonely animal or a boat, there’s a good reason, his parents are gone or he’s lost but in every case they’ll see each other again. Once we even had the poop family in the potty… Odd Trinity.

We’re leaving tonight for Toronto. On the schedule: friends, zoo, birthday party, sun, pool, yummy food…

Come back later for the pics. Have a great weekend!

My little baby is all grown up.

As I was a “stay at home” mum since we moved to Ottawa, I was a bit worried about how Ms M would behave when it would be time for her to go back to some activities without me again, and if the habits she had when she went to daycare would be lost. I sbooked her for 2 hours a week at a playgroup without parents during April and May, and the first session had been quite terrible. Two weeks ago, we brought her to her first swimming lesson at the public pool, and during half an hour, she just cried, refused to get in the water and stayed stucked to her Daddy. I thought that starting school wasn’t going to be particularly easy. But today, I am more optimistic, and I’m even quite proud of my daughter as I realize how much she can listen and adapt to situations.

During the following week, before the second swimming lesson, we talked with Ms M, explaining her how the next lesson would be with her teacher and new friends, and the fact that daddy would just stay nearby on the side without coming in the water with her, but still watching at her. Saturday, Alex brought her to the lesson, and everything went flawlessly, and she even got a hot dog and fries while mum had a hard time at the gym! Yesterday, she was starting again the 2 hours playgroup (after an almost 2 months break) and again everything went well as I had prepared her during the previous week. It took her a bit longer than usual to say goodbye and the kisses were longer too, but she was delighted when I came back to pick her up with her bagel with butter and cheddar cheese… Today, as Alex is away for work, but I still wanted to go to the gym, I left her at the daycare there and again nothing to say: I think she finally understood that even if it’s not papy, mamy or the babysitter who are staying with her, Mommy and Daddy will always come back!

So we’ve decided to start talking about school on a regular basis. Every time we drive or walk in front of her school, we talk about it, and we read books about school too. The program is well organized for the kids as it will be gradual: on the 20^th of August, I will meet her Teacher with Ms M for one hour. Then, on the 23^rd, Ms M will go back to school but just with a small group. Then, on the 24^th, the entire classroom will meet for the first time. After that, there will be a week-end to recover, and the regular schedule will really start on the following Monday.

I know it will be hard, but mostly for me.

Ok, I am pissed! Really. I don’t know what to do anymore and I hate it.

Here is the long story short: Back in December, after the move to Ottawa, I thought I had a very bad sciatica on my left side. It was getting worst months after months, numbness and burning sensations spreading to my leg and arm. The family doctor would not really do anything, running some blood works and that’s about it. In the meantime I was becoming more bothered by a strange feeling I had two bodies. One day I had such a bad migraine (also on that left side) that I went to the emergency, freaking out, thinking I had a tumour. They did a CT scan, did not find anything, thank you. But the doctor (finally someone listening to me, God bless her) said she would give me an appointment with a neurologist to check what was going on with my left side.

I went last week. Doctor was great, saying he’s not sure what I have (????) but doesn’t think it’s Mutiple Sclerosis but « just to make sure » I need to go for an MRI. OK. After a week, no news from them, I called and here is the answer: « Didn’t the doctor tell you it could take a year? » A YEAR, are you kidding me???? She said if I’m available to go one day at 3 am to fill a spot that might take less but it will be long anyway.

Glad I am not dying. At least not yet.

[francais]J’aime beaucoup cette peinture de Ms M, je ne résiste donc pas

In the past months I have discovered a whole virtual word I didn’t know about before. Most of the blogs I visit are related to International Adoption, especially China (obviously).
Some people write daily (sometime twice), some like me, a few times a month. Some post only pictures, some write novels each time. Some have fancy bright designs, some are very neutral and plain blogs. But in all these differences we have one thing in common: the love for our children, we are either waiting for him/her/them or we have him/her/them at home. We all live the experience in a very different way but for the most part we go through the same feelings at one point or another: the excitement, the hope, the doubt, the despair, the loneliness, the anger, the denial, the calm down, the serenity, the impatience and the pure joy.

That’s why I love reading blogs about adoption experiences. I know we are not alone on this slow boat, and I know (almost) every story finished well and how the wait is worth it.

If in the mean time, I can connect with great people who are open, friendly, enthusiast and interesting, it is even better. I did contact one of these moms I felt a connection with, to ask for her insight about a situation, and she was so nice and helpful, I am glad I contacted her. I hope we’ll have a chance to meet one day.

Sometime I am very grateful for the technology (note to my geeky husband ).

As I was reading Philippe’s post on his Wii, and I was getting bored waiting for the new iMac to be released, I made an impulse purchase of a Nintendo’s Wii.

This is my first « TV pluggable » game ever, so I guess it’s never too late to srat!

I’m not going to provide a review of the Wii, as there’s enough of this on the net already, but instead I’ll tell you what I like or dislike with it.

• I like the wireless « Wiimote » (the Wii remote control and joystick) concept. It detects any motion (left / right, forward /backward, various rotations) you apply to it, which allows a much more natural playing experience than usual joysticks: instead of sitting still and moving a few fingers while starring at a screen, we push the table in the family room and we move in front of the TV area, giving us a much better experience with moves close to reality when playing at games such as tennis, bowling or golf. This concept also attracts more people: Ms M already understood the game withoug much explanations, and Juliette who never plays video games enjoys a few games too.

Therefore, with the revolutionary Wiimotes and the fact that the Wii costs half the price of other currently competitive video games (Playstation and Xbox), this is an ideal choice for the entire family.

• Another benefit of the Wii is the internet access from the TV via the wireless network.
• I also like the dairy which tracks the time spent on each game (no cheating in saying that you only spent a few minutes playing )
• The only drawback I found was that the web browser is not free ($5), and of course you quickly want to buy it as well as an additional Wiimote for not playing alone, and of course new games… but with the original price of the Wii, I think I should have guessed that

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Here we are: I have 5 kids spending all their time outside this week and today my washing machine broke down…I called Sears to check when would be the first slot for services and the guy answered it would be $70 for the trip and diagnostic only and ah btw they can come only by Tuesday. Great! I hope my hubby can do something on it tonight otherwise it’s a disaster.

Update: Alex was able to clean the pump! Phewwww one less Sears visit to schedule. Thanks my darling!