forgot to mention...

Liz has a dog - a golden retriever who loves little kids! Apparently, he likes to play in the yard with them. I think John's going to like it there.

Sorry...still looking for those pictures, and have to download the new ones as well - the ongoing residual problems from our computer's meltdown.

I think John's period of slow weight gain is over. He feels sooo heavy these days, and he's suddenly outgrown a lot of his clothes! He doesn't even remotely fit a single 12-month-old outfit anymore, even though they all fit him just last week!

Also, we have a mystery. I've been waiting until our picture system is back up and running, but it's turning into a slow process. We got a box last week, which wasn't marked with the sender. Inside was a set of Bunnikins dishes, and several sets of clothes. One set was a cute little shirt and tie outfit,with a vest and matching dress shorts - perfect for Vicki's wedding! It's sooo cute!

It's fantastic! And at a great time - we had found one little collared shirt for John at the Goodwill, thinking it would work for the wedding. It fit fine two weeks ago, but now with this latest growth spurt, it's skin tight! It had to go straight to the box for Baby 2, without ever being worn.

The problem is, we have no idea who to thank. There was no card and no return address. We think it must be someone from T Bay, because the courier sticker had that listed as the intake depot.

Does anyone out there know who sent it? If it's someone who checks the blog, speak up!

yet another new sitter...

Hopefully, this one will stick.

Unfortunately, we've had to forget about Carmen - she's still in Italy, and with Mike starting work, we needed someone quarunteed to be there and ready to take John first thing Tuesday morning.

We've found Liz. We haven't MET Liz, but she sounds nice. We're taking John to meet her on Monday and unless she decorates her home with whips and chains, she's the one.

She has her ECE. She has two tweens of her own, and already has a five and three year old, with another five and another three year old starting in September - John will round out her collection. Come September, the two older ones will be in school, leaving John at home with Liz and two three-year-olds, which thought would be really good for him - he can watch the big kids and maybe pick up a few things. Good things, hopefully.

She's the same price as Carmen and is still close to my work, so we're pretty happy to have found her. She lost four of her kids in one shot, when the family moved to Oakville, which is why she was looking - she took out an ad in my paper.

Mike is back at work and is scheduled for full-time so far - 12-hour shifts don't start until mid-August. The full schedule hasn't been made yet, so he still has time to book the wedding off, but it was a busy, confusing day, with lots of guys mad that they were called in, only to be sent home because the company forgot to rechedule their shifts, so he didn't get a chance to ask his manager, who was being swarmed by angry techs at the time.

The one piece of good news - he's home dispatched! He's one of very few guys who are, because the scabs have a good chunk of the vans.

Another bit of good news - by business publication is small! I was told at least 20 pages, with big big holes - it's a small 16, with lots of hold - that means it didn't sell. Wohoo!

Just a quick note...

The strike is over. 70 per cent yes, with 75 per cent of guys coming out to vote.

Mike has mixed feelings. He missed his job and is eager to get back and do a great job. But he's furious about the contract they were offered.

The company has 5 days to make initial contact, and 14 days to get everyone back. The scabs will be around until September, which will make for a very hostile working environment for a while, I'm sure.

I think we'll have to find someone super-quick for John - Mike could be back by Monday morning, and Carmen is in Italy for another week!

HE WALKED!!!!

We'll get back to birthday pics in a bit - I just think this is really cute. It's actually an old photo - those big leaves back there are pumpkin plants, and they've started to take over the lawn now.

Okay, maybe I'm getting a little over-excited. It was only two steps. Two very shaky little steps from one object to another, but it was walking gosh darnit! He's been standing by himself more and more often lately, and a couple of times, he'd taken a little shuffle with one foot, in a lunge to get to the next prop. This was actually two teetering little steps, one foot in front of another! I'm so excited I got to see his first steps afterall! Mike was in the room too, but unfortunately wasn't looking at the time. We tried to get him to repeat, and he did try, but it was more a step-lunge than a step-step.

Work is chugging along. Mike could be back to work sooner than we expected. Or not.

There's a strike vote underway. A tentative deal was struck, and the union advised the guys to vote yes. However, they did the whole thing very stupidly, which left a lot of guys feeling too angry at the union to accept it - including Mike. They put on a media blackout, which meant the guys wouldn't see the contract until minutes before the actual vote. Everyone was so happy they may be going back to work - the union said it was a good deal and everyone should be grateful for it. Then they saw the deal. It's not good.

So, things broke down a little. People started yelling, things were getting thrown, walls punched. And then, they went to the ballot box. I wonder how they voted. By the next day, a lot of them were regretting it, though. If the union had only shown it a day earlier, let them cool down a little before the voting, it would probably pass.

We're thinking it's still going to pass - the union wants it and they count the ballots in secret. I think you know where I'm going with that. The company seems sure it'll be a yes - Mike's pager has been re-activated. We'd prefer a yes - it comes with a $1,000 signing bonus, which we need more desparately than words can describe. We have bills out the wazoo and a trip just around the corner. It's not pretty.

One thing Mike is concerned about is a transfer clause. There is none in the contract. However, there was a letter sent out by the company stating that because they own Mike's company now, they have full transfer rights - in that they take internal applications before external, which will make it easier for him to move around in the company. True, it's not in the contract, but I'm not sure it has to be. I think it's more a company policy thing. Who knows.

John had his one-year check-up the other day. He' not growing terribly fast. He's only gained a few ounces since last time. The doc wasn't too concerned - said he's probably using that stored energy to go up, rather that out. He did get several inches taller- he's in the 97th percentile for height, and his head circumference is off the charts, which I'm assuming is a good sign. Only the 50th percentile for weight, though. Doc West said not to read too much into it, though. We'll check again in three months, and if he starts dropping off, he'll call in a pediatrician to assess him. Otherwise,it's just a phase where energy is going to other things.

The shots didn't go well. He was up all night screaming, and is screaming still. I guess it's to be expected - he's fighting offmeasles, mumps, chicken pox and meningitis, all at the same time. Hope it passes soon, though. He doesn't have a fever - he's just really crabby.

No hesitation here! Shortly after this, he discovered the cherries - and ate them all one by one! According to Mike, he had chocolate poop for days. Mike's doing great as a stay-at-home parent, by the way. He wants to do it again for the next one. He's changing dirty diapers, feeding, playing. I come home to them playing "boat" with tupperware bobbing in bins of water, or "fort" with sheets draped between chairs. The have Duplo days and reading days. They have lots of fun. They've definitely become closer for it - John used to only cuddle with me, which really hurt Mike's feelings. Now he'll cuddle up to either of us.  

Ah ha! Success! It's only taken an hour, but I have finally been able to post a photo - without Windows! Take that, Bill Gates! (Explorer melted on our computer - we have no icons. It's fun.) Anyway, this is John, looking very stressed at his birthday cake. He had already burned himself once trying to pick up the flame. I think he was trying to prevent a repeat. I would fix the tones and things, but I think it might take another hour and I really need to get to bed! I'll keep posting pictures bit by bit, so you can see him more frequently, I promise! 

Happy birthday to John!

Sorry - more camera problems. Mike says we need a new cord to run from teh computer to the camera. We have a full camera to download - I'll post his birthday pics ASAP.

We celebrated John's birthday today - he was too tired and cranky last night. Thank you to everything everyone sent! Lots of clothes, which is great - we're running low on the size he's growing into. It sems to be a size that's a little harder to find at the used stores, too.

My parents sent new shoes as well - much appreciated. We haven't bothered with shoes this summer, but eventually the cold will come back. The hat works great! He can't take it off and it looks so cute!

His regular babysitters got him some things, too. They got him a toy phone - he thinks it's great - he talks to it just like he talks to the real phones!

Anyway, I had better get going. We have cake to clean off the walls and dinner is still in the works, so it's going to be a long evening. I just wanted to check in and say hi, so you know we're still around and that we got everything safe and sound.

John is here with me - dancing away to Randy Bachman's new CBC show. He's so cute - every time music comes on, he jiggles. It has to be a good song - he's a big fan of rock 'n roll. We had Neil Young playing this morning and John was getting right into it - (Rockin in the free world.)

Anyway - stay tuned for lots of pictures, as soon as we get this camera/computer thing worked out!

Oh - congrats to Vicki and Billy! We're saving up to go to Ohio next month - for their wedding! Yay!

update

Sorry for no picture today. My camera isn't downloading for some reason. I'll have to get Mike to fix it when he wakes up.

Things are chugging along here. John isn't taking too well to the whole work thing. He screams when I leave. He sulks when I come home. He's happy as a clam on the weekends, though. Mike insists he's happy while I'm gone, and just takes it out on me when I get home.

Mike seems to be enjoying his time with John. Sometimes he's a little frustrated, but often, I get stories of all the fun things they did. They play the stair game - the one where John lurks at the bottom of the stairs until you come to get him, at which point, he bolts up the stairs, squealing with laughter the whole way. They play with the garden hose outside. They read Dr Seuss. Mike uses a funny voice that makes him laugh for the T in Dr Seuss' ABC's (ten tired turtles in a tuttle tuttle tree.)

John has developed a real attitude problem. Is this a normal phase? The terrible twos a little early, I guess. He has these little mini tantrums, if he doesn't get to do whatever he wants to do. I pull him away from the electrical socket, he screams and thrashes. I pull him back from a ledge, he screams and thrashes. It's all for his own good, but he just doesn't take well to it anymore. Obviously, we don't limit his regular play, even though it gets a little messy because of it.

John isn't big on toys anymore. Everyday objects are his new playthings. He's in this new "put in" phase, so we've started finding things stashed in crazy places. In John's world, keys belong in Tupperware containers, building blocks are stored in the potato bag and anything and everything should go in the cat's water dish - except water of course, which he always dumps to make way for an assortment of found objects. I've found half-eaten mum mums in my briefcase, toys in my shoes. It's great fun. Eventually, we will harness that energy for good, and teach him how to put all of his toys away. Yesterday was so funny - Mike has a thriving vegetable garden this year, but he wanted to plant more spinach and lettuce so he got one of those plastic trough-like planter boxes. He was mixing soil in the backyard - a bit of compost, a bit of sand, that sort of thing. Then he started to put in peat moss, taking big handfulls from the bag into a bucket. Well, John got right in there and started to help. He thrust his hand into the bag, and started moving little baby handfulls of peat over to the bucket. He looked so proud to be helping Daddy!

The cats. We only have five right now - hopefully we'll be done with them today. Anyone want a kitten? PLEASE take a kitten! We have this crazy kook in our neighbourhood who takes care of the strays. He has 22 cats. Well, someone in his apartments building called the SPCA on him. They posted a notice on his door that they were coming to inspect his place. He was in a panic. He bumped into us a short time later, with a carrier of two little kittens. He blurted out this story of how the SPCA was coming and they were going to kill all his cats and would we please watch some of them while the whole thing blew over. We looked at the kittens, and agreed. He was so excited, he said he'd be right back with them. we're like - aren't you just going to leave your kittens? He looked at us like WE were the crazy ones. Well, we got those two kittens - and nine of their friends, too. The rest were stashed in sheds and basements, or set free for the afternoon, so it would look like he only had two. He came back bit by bit to take them home, but we have one in our basement, which has found a way into the foundation wall and it's not coming out for anyone. It has been there for a week now. So every day, Cat Man comes to visit for a few HOURS. He's left a good chunk of his cat collection in our basement, to help coax out the renegade. So far, it isn't working. We're going to have him here every day for the rest of time. As I said - anyone want a kitten????? PLEASE!!!! They're taking over!! It's a good thing we've done this, though. His sister - who Mike says is very sane - came to help move the catsand all thri stuff over. She took Mike asidea nd thanked him - apparently, the last time the SPCA took all his cats while he was living in Toronto, he was so devastated, he nearly committed suicide.

On the work front, my job is awesome!!! This is so where I was meant to be. I'm surprised I was able to tolerate ad writing for so long - it was such a soul-destroying experience. Here we have bursting water mains, break and enters, crack-heads. With luck, another dead body will be found. I'm in heaven!!!

There's some big news on the strike front. A new mediator has been assigned and he's convinced both sides to resume talks, starting on July 5. Everyone's feeling optimistic about it. Hopefully, they will go back to work in August, when our babysitter can take John. Otherwise, we're going to have to scramble for some temporary solution. We've got him registered for the french one, come February. At least some things look like they'll go smoothly.

Mike took last week of from the strike - it was way, way too hot for John to be outside. Hopefully this week will be better.

I had to work Canada Day - taking photos for the paper. I'm allowed - even encouraged - to take John to community type events, so all three of us went. One event was a community picnic, so we packed a picnic and ate by the stream between photo sessions. I had a good time. That night, we went to our own city's fireworks. It was kind of a dissapointment. We've never been to them before, and probably won't go back again. They set the barge so far from shore that the fireworks looked tiny, even though we were at the closest possible spot to them and they blasted this really, really annoying Disney mixed tape through the whole thing. John was tired and bored and kept turning around on my lap to cuddle in for a nap. I think we'll find a different set for next near - the suburbs do a much better job of these things.