Nothing new around here.

Marty has been up to his usual tricks ...





He's a great napper, everywhere except in his own bed. It's been a long time since he's been napped regularly. I suspect the problem started after the move here from Prince Rupert. The summer was filled with change and adjustments, new faces and new places. We've been letting his resistance to naps slide for a while, but have come to the place where he needs to comply. Paul did very well last weekend with persuading him to go to sleep on his own in his bed. For a while he's been fighting us at bedtime and insists to snuggle with us on the couch. Then he falls asleep. We no likey that. Paul also got him to sleep for naps in his bed over the weekend. I was very impressed. And relieved. This poor boy is just so overtired. On Monday I managed to get him to go to sleep, amidst several interruptions from Max. Marty did finally sleep but Max woke him up less than an hour later. Up until then, he had played so well on his own while I was in Marty's room. The tactic we're going with is laying him down over and over after every time he stands up. For Paul, it doesn't take long at all. For me, a different story I guess he knows I'm a softie. He aslo has a thing for my tummy. He just loves to touch it. I've always allowed him the comfort when we have our morning snuggles or if he's grouchy during the day. But YESTERDAY when I was trying to get him down, he started reaching to pull up my shirt to touch my soft white underbelly (like a crocodile ... have you ever heard that?). I felt like an angry mama crocodile when he refused to sleep for me. So frustrating. I had clearly lost the battle but I just didn't want to let him win! I gave in. There's always tomorrow.

Tomorrow Max is going to meet the dentist. He's been complaining off and on that he has an owie spot, and always points to the same area of his teeth when I ask him more about it. I called today and almost got in right away at 3:30. Just before I was going to pack up the boys, I got a call from the office saying that the receptionist was looking at the wrong week so there was no opening for today. I rescheduled for tomorrow at 4:00, which will be great as Paul can get home in time to stay with Marty. Since we've been talking about going to the dentist today, Max now claims that his owie is all gone. I'm not so sure. It'll be good for him to have his first visit anyway. He thought it was pretty cool that it was the SAME dentist I went to when I was a little girl. He also laughed at the Dr.'s name. After that the plan is to come home and get Paul and Marty, go somewhere cheap for an early dinner and go swimming. I don't think we've ever all been swimming together.




We have new renters! Again. (The last one left after only 3 months, saying that her "circumstances have changed". I met our new tenant through Kathy when I was working at House of James. We're thrilled to have her here and it looks like it will be a good arrangement. She has two kids, a girl and a boy almost exactly the same age as my boys. We've already concluded that we won't be sharing many meals together as a result of our varying food allergies and preferences. There aren't many options for us to share something. When they came up for a visit we snacked on cucumber slices. That worked for everyone. :)

I had a good laugh at Heidi's recent confession about her fear of telephones. I was surprised to read her story and how many others totally agreed with her. Well, I stopped laughing when I discovered an odd thing about my very own self today. I have a fear. I'm daunted, intimidated, greatly overwhelmed. You're all wondering ... What could it be? The library. More specifically, the children's department at the library. I just have no clue where to start. Maybe I need a tutorial on how to find library books. All of them all standy-uppy, can't see the covers ... I did pick one book that was set out on the table. Looking at this one, I see the author has several more so maybe I'll put in a request for some of those. I watched another mom and her kids for clues. Looks like they just went all willy-nilly picking out books and tossed them on the pile. What do you do at the library? I went there today in search of a recipe book my sister has recently purchased and recommended to me. Found that one, no problem. Max was also hoping to bring home a Daniel Cook DVD. I know, I know, I really can't stand the kid either. Rather precocious little squirt, he is. But it's been many months since we've seen any episodes so I think we can handle borrowing one for a few weeks. It wasn't in our library so we'll get a call when it arrives. Ooo, goody.

How many of you got in on Carmen's geography lesson? I loved it, very informative. Tune in here next time for a little biology lesson, with permission from and inspired by my brother and his family.

In closing ...

Max, oh Max. I had a bit of a tummy ache today (now that's yesterday). He told me that it was probably because I "ate all that asparagus". (Like, 3 days ago!)

And ... I've changed my display name. So if you wonder who "rachel joy" is, commenting on your blogs ... it's me. Still me. I guess my profile picture would tell you that.