It's out!

Ok - it didn't work. He's supposed to be holding up a sign that says "I'm going to be a big brother." But he wouldn't hold it up. Not that it's a surprise to anyone anyway! Mike has certainly made sure of that!

I finally told my editor that I'm pregnant, which is why I can finally bring it up here - I think there may still be a few people from Burlington who check here now and again.

She took it a lot better than I was expecting - she's stressed, but happy for us. She told me she wasn't going to tell anyone else, but, true to her reporter nature, within minutes of me stepping out of the office, she had told the other reporter, and the managing editor. LOL! Fine by me! I certainly wasn't looking forward to telling any other managers, so I'm glad she took care of it.

One of the ad reps said she knew, because I'm starting to show. And now, the morning sickness has set in (isn't it supposed to END about now?!) so I think I told at the right time! I think the morning sickness is just from being sick. There's a cold going around here, and it's one of those long drawn out kind of colds. It just won't completely die, and it's thrown everything out of whack. John got it too. It gave him an ear infection, or at least brought back the ear infection he had before. Yup, he's on his second round of antibiotics already! It's horrible. feel like such a terible mother, because I didn't take him to the doc right away. I thought it was just the cold, but he just wasn't coming right. But he wasn't screaming or anything, like the last time. Just kind of droopy, but still smiling and playing through the day. The doc said it was very red and enflamed.

Well, he's feeling better now! He's a big ball of energy! I had to go to the grocery store after work. I got a cart, and put him in, but he'd have none of that!! He was not only going to walk, he was going to help push the cart! He grabbed the basket underneath, and helped me push the cart through the entire store, waving and smiling to everyone we passed! It was pretty funny - until he became entranced by the candy corn. I had to pull him away several times; he had a tantrum. I had to leave without cheese. It was very sad. I hate tantrums, and he's really got the technique down pat. He lays right down on the grounds and kicks and screams! Yup, sweet, mild John, kicking and screaming on the grocery store floor, because mom won't let him run his fingers through the candy corn. It's quite a sight, but no-one stares or anything - it gets mostly sympathetic "been-there-done-that" kind of looks from passers-by. I guess I should start reading up on tantrums, now that he's getting to that age. I read once that I'm just supposed to walk away and ignore him. But if I had done that, he would have gone right back to the candy corn. Besides, he seems a little young for that.

Anyway, I had better get some dinner into the poor guy. Now that Mike's on extended shifts, John eats earlier than we do - he's usually asleep before Mike even gets home.

On the strike front - yes, there's STILL a strike front - the contract remains unsigned. The two local reps refuse to sign it. Mike has banked his full 200 hours already, but he can't pull anything out. Isn't that crazy? I wish they'd just get it over with and sign, so the healing process can begin! The guys are still so furious, and it doesn't help that they extended the scabs' contracts! They actually hired a bunch of them as legitimate techs. The scabs are in the union now. How sick is that?

John and other stuff

John out for lunch with Grandma and Grandpa W, when they visited on Friday. This reminds me freakishly of Mike - he built creamer towers for years after I met him. Thankfully, he's outgrown it. John, on the other hand, probably has a few creamer tower years left in him. (Apparently, he made it five high at its peak.)

John's doing great! He had a fun day with Mike's parents on Friday, and they're planning to take him again when they come back through.

I took him in for a follow-up at the Doc last week - the ear infection is completely gone. Doc, as usual, seemed a little offended that I took him to a clinic, but it was a deadline day - I couldn't get time off that day, and what good does an after-hours on-call doc do for an infection? All he would have told me to do is exactly what I did - take him to a clinic right away. I guess I should make a point of using the on-call service at some point. It probably costs them a lot to be a part of it, and they need billable things to justify it.

Other than that, life is chugging along. John is happy, as always. I wish I had more time to spend with him. We never do anything anymore. The mornings are spent in a rush to get out the door. At night, he just wants to go to bed as soon as possible. On weekends, I'm usually working. He's usually with me, but it's not the same. Mike never sees him. John is always asleep when Mike gets home during the week - overtime shifts have started, and won't be slowing down anytime soon. The new division he was just trained for has a backlog of 800 jobs, and he's not even put there every day. He's still putting people back in service, and servicing people who've been waiting for months for a tech, or who had a scab service them, who made their situation even worse.

Most of the scabs are gone. The first wave to be let go didn't go without a fight. There were reports of vans with loosened wheels - even loose wheels on the private vehicles of regular workers. That seems to have ended, now that they're gone. The last of the scabs will be leaving at the end of the month.

On the political front, Mike and I are being pushed out of our board positions. I don't know why I'm so bothered by it. I've wanted to resign for some time, but Mike has begged me to stay on until the term ends, so I don't cause any disruptions. The end would have been in January, so it's not like I was robbed of oh so much time by being turfed this early. We both had planned to leave in January, and reassess what contribution we wanted to make, whether to join the federal board where we live, go provincial, or take a hiatus from politics entirely. I want to leave entirely - this just isn't a good time to be involved in anything like that. I want to run as far away from federal as I can until the next leadership review/convention. Provincial? I don't know. I like John Tory, but I've had enough of politics for a while.

What's happening is, Mike and I used to belong to our local board. It was a small board, with nice people, and it was part of a larger association, filled with more nice people. It was PC back then. It was a small party, filled with nice people.

Then, two things happened. First, the merger with the Alliance, then, the riding redistribution, which knocked us into the neighbouring riding. We knew both boards, but we enjoyed the company of this one and we were asked to stay, so we did.

It wasn't completely the same, and over the years, the people have changed. It just isn't fun anymore. We have this one guy who's been trying to get Mike out since January. He had wanted to be CFO, and pulled out this obscure, never-followed rule about how an out-of-riding person can't hold executive office. The board chose to ignore the rule for the time being, and elected Mike anyway, which I can imagine really frosted this guy off. I was acclaimed - no-one else wanted to be secretary, from in or out of the riding.

Anyway, the issue kept getting put on the back burner, until just last week or so. This guy wants the riding to be able to take credit cards. He has been very frustrated that it hasn't moved as fast as he'd like - but it's a large financial committment, and he can't expect the board to just rush into it. There has to be meetings, with reports, and debates, and votes. It isn't Mike's fault, but he's been taking it out on Mike, because Mike has been verbal against the idea. He just thinks $40 a month is too much money, and from the way the campaign team was talking (this guy is campaign manager), they only wanted it for one fundraiser.

It finally came to a head, because we had a special executive meeting to approve a cheaper version of credit card abilities - only $5 a month, instead of $40 - we approved it, but after the meeting had officially closed, a discussion began, started by this guy, about how we needed an AGM right away, because he wanted a team in place for the next election, blah, blah, blah. Our out-of-riding status was of course brought up, yet again. So, the regional guy, who was there for some strange reason, decided to crack down on our residency, and now we're out. Well, we can still be board members, but we can't vote. What's the point in that? We can be observers? Ooooooo...thanks.

Anyway, I was kind of relieved to be out - I've wanted out for months. But I want the credit card system we approved to be stopped, because it's a three year term, and a major financial committment for the board to take on. I just don't think it's fair for such a major decision to be imposed by an out-going member, so I asked the decision to be deferred to the next regular board meeting, and from the look of things, that's going to happen. This guy has another way to process crdit cards anyway - there was never a rush for this system. He's just a really impatient, impulsive person.

Well, this guy has the gaul to start e-mailing me! He waffled on about how this had nothing to do with us personally, how it had nothing to do with him at all - it was strictly a party constitution issue, and he hopes we stay involved. HOGWASH!!! He's been gunning for this for months, and everyone knows it. How is it that it happened just days after he insisted that HQ crack down on it? Coincidence? I don't think so.

If he'd just be honest, and admit that he wanted us out, and created a fuss so we would be thrown out, then I'd be fine. But no, he keeps insisting that I don't know what I'm talking about and that he had nothing to do with it. And then he starts telling Mike something entirely different!!! Apparently, this has been planned for months - that there were meetings with select board members to discuss it, and right before the board meeting, he had a "pre-meeting" with who, I don't know. I'm assuming the candidate and possibly even the regional rep, where it was decided that if we voted against the credit cards, he'd raise a fuss, and if we voted for it, they'd keep quiet, until Mike set it up at the bank, and THEN he'd kick up a fuss. However, he felt it was unfair to ignore the rules, just because we were going along with something he wanted, so he brought it up right away anyway. Wow - so principled. Who knows if that's true - he was still mad at us even after we voted yes, because we voted yes to a system he didn't want, and it was too late to use for a particular fundraiser he had planned.

I just wish he'd admit to me - not just Mike - that this was his plan all along, and it had everything to do with him, and not just a coincidence that HQ cracked down at the exact moment that he wanted it to.

AAARGH!!!!!!

In the grand scheme of things, it's so small. He's a horrible, vile troll of a man, who I've never liked or trusted, so I shouldn't be so offended he did this; this is what he does.

I shouldn't care. It isn't my business anymore - they've found someone willing to take Mike's job, and he seems OK, and someone will take my job, Mike will concentrate on Hamilton Centre until the AGM, and life will go on. I was going to retire in January anyway. It's just the way it happened, and all the lies and passing of blame that really has me furious. Argg!

Taking a stroll on the soccer pitch! was assigned to weekend photos last weekend - I usually bring John, because he likes to see all the neat new things. He happily sat and watched a good 20 minutes of soccer. After a while, he got kind of ansy, though. so I let him down from the stroller and he walked away! 

John at the antique tractor show last weekend. They had an antique sawmill set up, which Joh thought was pretty cool - couldn't take his eyes off it.


Hoo boy! Where to start - it's been a while.

Well, let's start where we left off. Car is still acting up - that "misfire" the transmission guy has been getting steadily worse. We're really hoping it's something simple, like spark plugs, or those little wires that always seem to burn out that attach to the spark plugs. We'll get it looked at soon.

We made it to Vicki's wedding! It was a day later than planned, but we did make it, and it was great! It was a beautiful day, and John had lots of fun! At that point, he wasn't walking by himself, but he walked holding someone's hand the whole time. He loved the park - he picked petals off the flowers and wandered around the fountain. He had a blast at the reception too - well, until the bee that is. He was soooo excited. The music was pounding, people were dancing, and now and then, someone would come along and sweep him off his feet to spin around the dance floor with all the big people. After a while, he slipped into overstimulation mode. His eyes and mouth were permenantly open as wide as possible. We've never seen him that happy and excited.

Then, the fun came to a crashing end - he stepped on a bee. He screamed and screamed, and Mike's first reaction was to get him to a hospital ASAP, because his dad is allergic to bee stings. We probably would have gone, if we hadn't realized that we'd actually need money to go, and well, had none.

It worked out OK, though. After a few minutes of sitting on the kitchen counter, surrounded by a sea of concerned faces, he stopped crying. Hs foot swelled a little but he was walking on it 15 minutes later, as though nothing had happened. It still managed to take the wind out of his sails, though. After that, he just wanted to cuddle up. We felt so bad for him, because he was having such a good time, but it made bedtime a lot easier!

He was a relatively good traveller. A few episodes of screaming, but all in all, a pleasant trip, and it was good to see some family again.

We got back on Monday night, and it was right back to normal life the next day. None of us had recovered, including John. He crashed when we got home, and slept in the next day. I had to wake him up, which I hate to do. He was groggy for days. I think all that excitement was a little harder on him than we thought, because now he's sick.

He has his first ear infection. We noticed he just wasn't right a couple of days ago. Acting a little off. That night, he woke up screaming his head off. I brought him to bed with us, and he kind of settled down, but tossed and turned all night. The next day he was kind of off and groggy. And sure enough, again that night, he woke up screaming his head off. It was much, much worse, though. usually, it just takes a cuddle, maybe a few minutes of nursing, and he drifts back off. But that night he was completely inconsolable. Wouldn't let us touch him. Didn't want a toy. Didn't want a drink of water. Pushed everything away and screamed even louder with everything we offered. Eventually, we pulled out the Tylenol, out of desaration. 20 minutes later, he finally settled down and let me rock him back to sleep. Mike, who was clearly much more awake than me through the ordeal, thought it was an ear infection, because he was rubbing one of his ears. I figured it was just from being tired. But sure enough, the next morning he walked around holding that ear, so it was pretty obvious that's what was wrong. We kept him doped up on Tylenol until we could get him into the doctor. Had to wait FOUR HOURS at the after hours clinic, because I couldn't get into our family doctor on such short notice. But, sure enough, he has an ear infection. He's been on antibiotics since Wednesday night, with instructions to take him to emergency if he gets worse, and th family doc if he's not significantly better after two days. It's ard to tell if he's getting better. His babysitter thinks he's still crabby. She says he gets frustrated really easily, and is having trouble settling down for his nap. He even cries when I leave him there, which he's never done. I feel terrible. It's hard to tell if he's getting better. He's kind of out of it, but my editor said that's how babies react to antibiotics in the beginning. It's powerful stuff to them, because they've never had it before. We have a tentative appointment set for tomorrow, in case he's still in distress. he was smiling and playing peek-a-boo tonight, so I'm hoping the dose he had at bedtime will do some good overnight, so I can cancel it.

Other than that, things are great - he's walking!!! Like, actually walking. It's like he just woke upon Saturday and said "I'm going to start walking today." It's lots of fun. For the first couple of days, he spent a lot of time going from Mike, to me, back to Mike, then back to me, and so on, and so on, back and forth. He'd have his arms stretched out, and he'd give us a big bear hug every time he reached one of us. That was less than a week ago, and now he's a pro. He wanders around freely, even without anything nearby to catch him. He can turn corners. It's like he's been walking for months. A mom at the clinic asked how old he was when he started to walk. Her jaw dropped when I told her he'd just started that week. He had lots of lead-up, though, so that's not really fair. He's been cruising since he was 8 months old, and he's been taking a step or two at a time for a while now. It still seems very sudden, though. He still crawls a lot - he's still just a part-time walker, but every day, he walks more and more. I guess I had better get him to start wearing shoes again!

Disaster update...

Things are starting to look up!!!

I just got back from the transmision place. The car is already fixed - it was just a sensor. An "output speed sensor," he called it. Just a half hour wait, and $100, and it's as good as new! Phew! It was fixed by the owner himself. He said we got off really lucky this time - Dynasty's are notorious for transmission issues. I said we know.

He told us to take it in for a tune-up sometime- we've got some sort of a little misfire in the front end, but otherwise he said it's a smooth-running car. Probably just a spark plug or something. Not surprised. We haven't had to change one the whole time we've owned the car, so they're probably due to start going. I guess we'll take care of that once things settle down.

Rotto Rooter guy will be here within an hour to fix the sewer. Another one of those maintenance things that need to be done every year, but was put off until it was too late.

So things are starting to look up! I'm getting nervous - it could be the calm before the real storm.

In case anyone's wondering, yes, I am off work today. Our babysitter took holidays today and tomorrow. We were just going to take Friday off, but once things started to melt down, and someone needed to be available to ferry cars and hire plumbers, and get it all done before we leave for the wedding, we decided I'd take an extra day and save the trouble of finding a babysitter on top of everything else.

Our sewer backed up. When is this going to end!!!

On a positive note, it probably drowned some of the fleas down there.

just a quick note...

It was bound to happen. Our reliable car is no longer.

Our transmission is shot. Yup. Transmission - you know, that really expensive thing.

We're taking it to a specialist's shop tomorrow. We can get three gears, but can't go faster than 50 for now- sure it will get worse with time if not addresed. Hopefully we won't need an all-new one! We're kind of hoping it's one of those "oh, you just needed your system flushed. There's no charge" kind of things.

Our favourites of the 14 cats we babysat. They're gone now, but we rmember them every day, as we pick fleas from our ankles.

It's a shame, really, about the fleas. Mike had actually taken over laundry duty until then. Now, he won't go to the basement for any reason, because he always comes back with about 10 fleas. I might have one or two. I guess he tastes better.

John did the funniest thing this morning! We shared a plate of scrambled eggs for breakfast, and when I brought them out, he started huffing and puffing. I couldn't figure out what he was doing, until I went to give him some, and blew on them to cool them down. He was blowing on his eggs, because he'd seen me do it so many times! Isn't that cute?

The long lost birthday photos!

His only happy moment of the day - playing with his new barn from G&G W. It's still a favourite - at first he liked to send things down the silo. Now, he's obsessed with the buttons. Each one makes a different sound. His favourite is the workbench, which makes a hammer sound - some days he'll dance to the beat it makes.

I found them in my e-mail, of all places. I sent them to Mike from work,who sent them to my e-mail for safe keeping. Who could've guessed that one? The rest are down below - I posted lots. I know you've probably all been waiting for new pictures. Today's you're lucky day! Note the complete lack of any smile. Not a fun hour for the birthday boy. I guess we'll have to keep it a little lower key next year.

feeling a little---overwhelmed 

What is it? 

What will happen if I eat it? 

What the heck? 

Why are they doing this to me? 

Really...why? 

yumm... 

notice the relative lack of cherries on top - he ate those 

yummm

There you have it - and I found some others along with these, so I'll post them up over the next couple of days.

Thank you for everyone's help with our little financial crisis! It makes a huge difference. My parents and Mike's grandma have helped with the bills, ans Mike's parents will be covering our hotel in Ohio, so we have fewer things to worry about. Here it is on Saturday, and all the utilities are still running. Not a single creditor has phoned - normally it's one after another on Saturday mornings. It's nice. No-one has been completely paid, but the extra cash allowed us a little more room to negotiate, so most were willing to work out payment plans that worked for both of us. It's amazing how far behind you can get with a strike. It was four months of paying nothing but groceries and the mortgage. Nothing else could get paid. Well, once a month the student loans had to get paid, which is why the mortgage bounced a few times. But really, food and shelter, and everything else was forced to wait. We always intended to pay them, obviously, but when they all swooped in for the kill at the same time, it got very overwhelming! So thanks again to everyone!

John is doing well. He's teething badly, but is still in good spirits most of the time. He's having a lot of trouble sleeping at night - the pain always seems to affect him much more at night. His babysitter says every now an then, he clutches his mouth and screams, but for the most part is still a happy guy in the day. I think it's two coming at once - the eye teeth on top. His top gums on both sides look really swollen.

Daycare is still going well. He's only had one day where he didn't want to go. Liz reached out for him, and normally he reaches back and they go off to play, but on Thursday, he clutched to me. It worked out OK - I just stayed for a few minutes to get him settled in. When I left, he was smiling and playing. Liz thinks he's great, and is happy to have him - she says all the time how well he fits with the group she's already got. He likes all of the activities, and joins right in. He loves circle time! She said he climbs onto her lap and claps along to the songs they sing. Sometimes he sings at home - I think he's probably singing the songs he's learned. He's always been a bit fan of music! He really likes her daughter - her name's Megan too - I think she's 11. John aparently latches on to her all the time. Likes her to carry him around, and she's happy to oblige. She changes his diaper and feeds him - they're good pals. The 5-year-old boy really likes him too. Every morning when I get there, he yells "John's here! John's here!" and runs around the room. So it's going really well - much better than I expected. I guess it's just a matter of finding a good match.

He's been doing a few new things. He points now! I don't know if someone taught him to do it, or if it's one of those things that just appears when it's ready to appear, but he points at EVERYTHING!! When I carry him, 90 per cent of te time his finger is straight out in front of us. It's fun - sometimes he points to specific things, like a tree. So we go to the tree and talk about the tree, while he pokes the tree. There are some things we can't do that for - like ceiling fans. He just keeps pointing, and looking at me as though I should fly up there to give him a better look.

He's getting really chatty now, and it's getting easier to figure out what he wants, with all his new signals and pointing, even though words haven't come yet. "Da" is very obviously Dad, not just a random noise anymore. As part of our bedtime routine, John has a bath, followed by a little playtime with dad, so near the end of his bath some days, John says "da" over and over again. And when we're in our bedroom, if he's going to Mike's side of the bed, he'll say "da" on his way there. He still only uses "mama" as a distress call, but I guess that's ok. At least he knows who I am.

Work is going ok. We'll finally be back to full staff again on Monday at the paper - everyone's been taking holiday time. Mike's happy to be back and is looking forward to overtime shifts being added in the next few days. The pay is slow in coming. It turned out that his first pay was even lower than we expected - it was only 2 days anri.p. d the signing bonus, so it was very small. But the light is still on at the end of the tunnel, so things should be back to normal by the end of summer. He has a licence now, too, which is a huge weight off our minds.

What else? We're looking forward to Vicki's wedding next weekend! It'll be a fun trip. It'll be nice to see everyone and spend some time with John. It feels like I never see hime now, and when we are home, I have so many chores to do, I never get to spend much time with him. This working mom thing kind of stinks. I don't think this is what the women's movement had in mind - we have to work AND do all the household stuff, while strangers raise our kids. It's kind of a bum deal.

Anyway, I had better get John some lunch!

This is John out with me at the Westfield Ice cream festival - it was my weekend to take pictures, so he tagged along with me. It's one of those living museum places. He had fun! He saw a horse for the first time, and kept waving to it - or maybe he was waving to the driver, who tipped his hat to John every time he passed.

John's nearing the end of his first week in daycare. I feel kind of obsolete - he LOVES it! I mean he REALLY LOVES it! Liz is awesome. We took him to meet her the day before he started, so they'd have a chance to get to know each other. It took a little while for him to let her touch him - he peeked at her for a while, playing peek-a-boo by poking around my back, with big, big belly laughs each time. But eventually - after half an hour, he went to her and let her carry him.

Now, the second he sees her, he grins from ear to ear. He's so happy - he giggles at her when I go pick him up, and he smiles and lunges for her in the morning. It's great - one less thing to worry about in life. He still crawls to me when I walk in at the end of the day, so I'm sure I'm still #1, but it's nice to know he's with someone he really likes. He loves the other kids, too. She says he watches them all day, and tries to do what they do. Today, he decided he was going to use the chalk board, so they gave him a piece of chalk and he drew! I wish I could have seen that. She gives us a little write-up every day, stating what he ate, when he slept, and what he did. We really appreciate that - it's nice to feel like a part of what's going on.

Beyond that, everything else is pretty cruddy. I just cleared my first business publication. What a nightmare. I was supposed to get the pages to work on over the weekend - I didn't. I can do it without, it just takes a lot longer. But I had to make do, because it was a short week, and the paper was short-staffed, so I had no choice but to do it over the weekend. I spend my whole long weekend working, and still wasn't able to get it all done - it was a last minute scramble to get it out, with my editor glaring at me, and everyone in Burlington passing the blame for why the dummies weren't to me in time. It was very frustrating.

Money is, in a word, disasterous. Whatever could be going wrong, is going terribly, terribly wrong. I think it's on everyone's file that Mike is back, and they all want to be the first paid, so they're playing hardball. But they just don't understand that it's going to take a while. What reserves we had are exhausted. My pay is spoken for - mortgage and daycare, and that's it. The rest needs to come from Mike, but his first pay isn't even a full pay, for starters. We were counting on a full pay, in addition to the signing bonus, which he's now told may or may not be on the first cheque. We were also planning to gut his vacation and banked overtime hours, but he can't. Turns out, the union still hasn't signed the contract, and weren't scheduled to until the day after the cut-off to request vacation and overtime. Convenient.

As well, this partial pay is his only pay before the wedding, so it has to stretch like you wouldn't believe. We not only have all the wedding and travel expenses, we have the gas company, who's sent a letter stating the gas will be shut of on Tuesday, unless they're paid in full - he won't even be paid by then. The electricity won't be far behind - they've been sending threatening letters for months. The water, I believe, is already a lien on the house. The credit card companies,who've been pretty patient, have all threatened to take our cards away - not that they're any use to us now anyway. One just called, threatening that they'll lock my debit card, unless we send them some money. Our water heater rental company has just sent us to collections. One credit card is being revoked on Tuesday - again, before he's even paid. Don't these people listen? Our mortgage company keeps stealing money right out of our account - luckily, there's never a bean in there, so it keeps getting bounced back to us - minus a few service charges.

Peachy. How long until we can look back and laugh at this one?

Sorry for ranting - it's just so frustrating. These people phone, and we're so close to getting out of the hole. They just need to hang in there with us for a few more weeks and it'll get sorted out, but they don't care - they won't listen. They won't accept arrangements, nothing - we have to pay in full (before we're even paid) or else. Even if they were willing to wait until he got paid, there's not anywhere near enough in Mike's pay to cover it all. Not even close. It's just so horrible.

Oh well, at least John is happy!

Gotta go and finish making dinner...

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.

The longest week of my life...

Mike and John, going for a spin around the block

John getting used to the baby rickshaw

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but it has been a litle nutty around here, with me starting work. Here's our schedule, in a nutshell:

Mike and I get up at 6ish. Mike showers, while I make breakfast/lunch/arrange the day's clothes.
Around 6:30, I wake up John, nurse him, try to get him to eat, even though al he wants is to go back to bed.
7 a.m., I strap John into his rickshaw - see photos above, and the two of them head off to the picket line for the morning.
For the next hour, i get ready for work myself.
I work from 9-5, then commute home. I usually come in the door around 5:30-6, at which point, I shudder at the mess left on the floor. Usually newspapers and Cheerios scattered as far as the eye can see. I make my way to John, with things crunching underfoot every step of the way.
I nurse John.
I make dinner.
I feed the brood.
I put John to bed.
I grunt on my way past Mike, on my way to bed myself.
Wake up, repeat.

It has been tough. Though, this morning I think we hit on a new patter that everyone is hapier with. Mike still gets up early and heads to the picket line, but John hangs back with me. We have a more leisurely morning, he has a chance to eat his breakfast, have a cuddle, play a bit, all those usual mornngthings. Then, I drop him off at the picket line on my way through downtown to work. We decided we're going to do it that way for the rest of the time - it gave John and I more time together and made for a more relaxed morning. John seemed much happier for it and we were both much happier too.

John seems to be dealing relatively OK. Mike says he's fine while I'm gone - he cries for a few minutes after I leave in the mornings, but then he's perfectly fine until I get home, when he becomes all blue and clingy. All he's wanted to do in the evenings is curl up in my lap and suck his thumb. I know it's normal, but this just isn't the way it should be. Mike keeps insisting he's happy during the day, but he seems to be under some definite stress when I see him.

Other than that, the job is great. I have an office, with a window. No air conditioning, so it's stinking hot, but it's an office all the same. I came in at the peak of the production cycle so I just kind of got thrown in there. I managed to write seven stories up in the first couple days - they all got used and one made front page. The Business Times magazine is going to be interesting. Not sure if they're setting me up to fail or what. It's a significantly bigger job than it was made out to be in the interview. They gave me examples of other similar publications they want me to copy. However, I have a fraction of their budget. They have big staffs of writers and freelancers. I just have me and I have another paper to think about. I hope I can deliver, but it's looking like it'll be a big challenge. Lots of late nights. Lots of sleepless nights.


What else. Our daycare lady bailed on us. She can't take John until August. We've been too tired to think about it, so we're not sure what we're going to do. CHances are, the strike will still be on until August, so it might be OK. But i know Mike has been counting the days until he can picket without John. I hear he's a hit at the line, though. The managers love it - one of them gave him a little toy.

John got a little sunburn today. Very mild - just a rosy glow, really. We'll have to be more carefull from now on, obviously. He wasonly unprotected in the sun for about 15 minutes, but it was at noon. I've been putting cream on it, so hopefully it'll heal really fast.

We have 11 cats.

Actually, I think I'm going to leave that one for later this weekend - it's getting late and it has been a long, long week.

One smart cookie

Playing in the grass, while Mary hunts bugs in the background.

John is starting to figure things out and it's just getting plain scary.

He knows about doorknobs. He can't open a closed door yet, but he knows to twist the round metal thing to get out. It's just a matter of time until he's got a good enough grip. Considering our entire babyproofing strategy is based on closed doors, this could prove disasterous.

He knows about wall sockets. He knows the black things goes into the holes, though obviously he has no idea why. And luckily, he lacks the dexterity to actually do it. But until we covered all the low, exposed plugs with heavy objects, it was his favourite game to try to plug stuff in.

Less sinister, but no less impressive, is the drain plug. If he's not ready to leave the bath before I pull the plug out, he'll zoom over and put the plag back over the drain. He usually gets it off by a bit, or upside down, so the water still drains, but he knows exactly what it's for and how it works.

Speaking of bathtime, he's figured out how to become dead weight, so it's harder for me to lift him out when he's not ready. If he sees me reaching, he'll sit down really fast, and I swear he feels like 60 pounds. He thinks it's hillarious. He laughs and laughs and laughs.

Another fun new game is to hide at the bottom of the stairs, if we acidentally leave the door open. He makes little peeps until I go find him. When he sees me coming, he lets out a little squeal, and boots it up the stairs, howling with laughter the whole way. I think the game is to see how far up he can get before I catch him. I have to admit, I find that one kind of fun, too - I just wish it weren't so dangerous. He's a pro with stairs now, but it only takes one slip for a very long fall.

He's figured out how to get off the couch and bed as well. It took a fat lip or two until he perfected that one - now we don't need to worry about him at all. He slithers backwards towards the edge, slowly lowering his legs down to the floor, while clutching the surface he's lowering from. He can do it so fast it scares me sometimes, but he's really good at it.

He's getting good at waving! He loves to wave to himself in the mirror, and he'll wave bye to Mike. Still a little wierd around strangers sometimes. They'll wave to him, and he'll kind of sneer back. Though, for some strangers he'll smile and jiggle. He's very particular about who he'll associate with.

He's stood by himself a few more times! It makes him nervous, I think - he seems to realize it now and he looks a little freaked out whenever he does it.

I guess I'm going to miss his first steps. Carmen will probably see them. That's his babysitter - Carmen. We gave her the official OK yesterday. She's only $600 a month, compared with $1250 for the centre, so we're pretty happy about that. She sounded pretty excited that we plan to pay her weekly, so it's a win-win. She's a grandma, and he took to her right away, so I think it'll work out OK.

She starts July 11. Mike will be taking John until then. He says he's not looking forward to it, but I think some small part of him is excited. It makes me a little nervous when he says he plans to "demomify" John - as in break him of the habit of wanting a cuddle from mewhen he's sad or tired or...anything. He's just jealous I'm the cuddler of choice. I'm sure he won't do anything to be mean to John, like let him cry for long periods or anything horrible like that.

Sorry, no picture of the "beard" yet! I'm working on it. If you squint, it looks almost beard-like now. Kind of.

11 months and counting...

This is from a few weeks ago - he's way overdressed for today's weather. We got John a big bucket of Duplo at the Re-Use Centre. He won't build things with it yet, but he loves to tear apart things we make.

John's seventh tooth has vanished - that's a first. It looks like the gums have swollen up enough to swallow it right back up! We've had a few sleepless nights here lately because of the teething.

John had a Doc appointment yesterday - it was just to get a booster. He's going to take his weight and measurements next month for his one year visit. One year already - can you believe it? He asked if he had started cruising, which he's been doing for months, and gave me a big thumbs up when I told him about standing unassisted. He's still only done it the once, but it counts.

The Doc is referring me to an endocrinologist or something to get my whole insulin issue fixed. He's going to do a bunch of tests next month and send them to someone who knows what they mean. Though, the most recent study I read said that just the diet and excercise is more effective at getting things levelled out than the pills. The pills also have lots of side effects, including depression and mood swings, which I can do without, thank you. Must get that diet back up and running. I did notice a big difference in how I felt - I just wish it didn't require so much discipline. That's something I just don't have.

The hunt for daycare continues. The lady I met was alright. She'll do in a pinch, I suppose. She's cheap and close to the paper. She owned a lot of sharp glass ornaments which will have to go. John seemed to like her. After a few minutes, he climbed right up onto her lap and played with her necklace, happy as a clam. She made him giggle with her funny sounds. John would probably do better in a home with other little kids to watch, but when she has them, she takes babies and toddlers to the Early Year's Centre to play almost every day, so he'd see kids there. Maybe not the best plan in this heat, or when it gets really cold, but a good idea on paper for sure. I'm waiting to hear back from the other centre, and one other home provider in the town. If we can't get there, I guess we'll take her. It's only for six months, and he did take to her right away so it might work out. The only thing that really worried me was that he started sucking his thumb while we were there. Not a big deal - it just means he's either hungry/thirsty, distressed or tired. I'm pretty sure he was just thirsty - he wasn't tugging my shirt like he usually does, but when I gave him something to drink later, he stopped. But she kept taking his hand out of his mouth and shaking it! He gave her this look, like "what's your problem, lady?" I don't have a problem with him sucking his thumb - to me it's a signal that he needs something, whether it be a drink or a cuddle. I'd rather he suck for a minute until I fugure out what he needs than have him scream his head off. Do you think it's a big deal that she did that?

On a happier topic, John's first birthday is fast approaching! We're trying to find a place that rents video cameras so we can record the event. It's a Friday, so I'll have to work, but maybe we'll have a little party in the backyard on Saturday. I have a baby-friendly birthday cake recipe, so he can even smear a piece of cake on his face! It'll be fun! Anyone willing and able to come is invited. Hopefully we'll have a video to circulate for everyone else.

The strike continues. Mike is very, very burned. He got some SPF 60 and some after-sun lotion to help. His forehead almost looked like it was about to blister up, but it was looking better this morning. He's growing a bit of a shaggy beard as well. It started as just laziness, but now he thinks it makes him look rugged and mean, to scare the scabs. He was thinking of just letting his face blister to add to the "scary" factor. I definitely think it would freak out some new recruit to have a big scruffy guy, covered in oozing blisters, screaming at him through the windshield. However, no dramatic effect is worth dying of cancer, so he's making an effort to save his poor lobster-red skin.

P.S. I stopped by to see my new boss after I interviewed the daycare lady. I have my own office! It'll be kind of isolating, but very cool at the same time. I've never had an office before.

I'm in!!!

Cool hair, dude

It's official - I got the new job!!! I'm FINALLY a reporter again! Yay!!! (And an editor again - just to keep life interesting.) Holy moly! I'm so happy and sad, all at the same time. I just wish I had seen this coming sooner, so I'd have more time to find more convenient care for John. We have an interview with a home daycare lady, but I already don't like her. But, she's licenced, she's just blocks away from the paper, and he'd be the only kid she'd have through the day, so at least he'd get plenty of attention. What kind of attention, I don't know. Ugh. Oh, that and she can't take him until July 11. Mike figures he'll easily be on strike unti then, so he'll stay at home and do the full-time parent thing until then. But the strike could end before that, and end with only a few days notice, so it could backfire pretty severely.

Ugh.

I better call the other daycare. The one I really didn't like, the one who let a poor toddler cry alone on her cot, but at least is on the way. It's only for six months, right? What kind of deep damage can be done in six months? Then, he's off to the French Utopia, where everyone is nice and there's constant squeals of glee in the background and they build little french neurons. That and the price is subsidized to make it the cheapest place in town. It's walking distance to our house, to boot. The only way they could make it better is to accept babies. Ugh.

Well, we'll work it out. These things have a way of falling into place.

A promotion, eh - I guess we should delay our campaign to get John a sibling for a little while. Ha ha. Not that it has been particularly successful, anyway. We're pretty sure the next one will require some medical intervention, but we're just not ready to ask for help at this point.

John has a seventh tooth! One more until this set is complete!

Anyway, I had better get on the phone and drum up something for daycare. I start in a week and a half, whether we have something in place or not! Holy cow! This is the first time I've been grateful for this wretched strike - at least John can stay home with Mike, if I don't find something closer in time.

Ugh.

A late update

Wee!!!

Sorry everyone! It has been pretty hectic here and I haven't had much time to get online lately. I have an unfinished post in my draft folder which I've been trying to finish for a week now. I'll get it up, but for the sake of getting everyone up to speed, I'll post the highlights of the week, with nifty titles, so you can just scroll to whatever interests you.

The stand
John stood all by himself for the first time yesterday!!! It was a little surreal to watch. We don't think he realized he was doing it. We were lying on the bed; he was playing on the floor. He pulled himself up onto my bedside table, picked up his moniter with one hand, then started tinkering with both hands. I think he was so obsorbed in his tinkering, it didn't even register that he wasn't holding onto anything. He didn't even wobble. After a minute or so, he put the moniter down and crawled off to something new. It's almost like he's been working on it in secret all this time, and he did it in front of us by accident without realizing. He's only kind of done it once since - he was standing on the couch, threw both hands in the air and let out a little squeal of glee as he fell onto Mike.

The weather
Ugh. It's hot, hot, hot!!! We're in the middle of our first heat wave - 34 with the humidex (that's like windchill, only it measures how hot it feels with the humidity, instead of how cold with the wind.) John hasn't worn more than a diaper in days, unless we go somewhere. Even then, we have to hose him down now and then to cool him off. His favourite game these days is to sit buck naked under the shade tree, with a big bucket of cold water in front of him; he splashes and squeals, then dumps the water all over himself. It's great fun. We have an air conditioner running in his room all the time and he sleeps practically naked. I give him several cool baths a day and plenty to drink. Despite it all, he still got a little heat rash the other day. So frustrating - I guess heat tolerance is inherited too.

The strike
It's still going on. Mike has a terrible sunburn - he's finally started using John's SPF 50 Baby Block. Without it, I'm sure he's just hours away from blistering. There's a rumour that the company is working on a new contract. It'll be pretty much the same deal, but with an offer to promote all the temps to permenant part-time. There's a good chance it would be accepted, according to Mike.

The job
Very few people know this, but I applied for an editor's position recently. I didn't get it, but it left a reporter's position free, which I will more than likely be getting - I just found out today. It's not finalized, but that's the intention. It's a small weekly in the rural community where I used to work - this paper used to be our competition, but my company bought them out and shut our paper down, transferring me to the ad department. So, this is kind of like going home. However, my company never makes things easy. Instead of being just a reporter, I'm also being made editor of a monthly business publication - it's a 20 page tabloid, targeted at managers and business owners. I'll get paid a small bonus to put it together every month and I'll have a small freelance budget to use as needed. It's a lot more responsibility for a little more money, but the logic is to give me some more editor practice. This publication is pre-existing, but it has never had an editor before. They've just thrown in whatever business stories happened to already be written for the regular papers and gotten the ad and production departments to slap it together. I guess they want me to make it into something people would actually want to read. I'm pretty excited about it - I have a bunch of ideas already - I welcome suggestions from all you managers out there - Mom, Dad, Bruce. The only concern in John. His daycare is actually clear on the other side of the city! We're next on the waiting list for one that would be along the way to this town, so i'll give them a call and see what our chances are - they were pretty sure another spot would open up in time the last time I spoke to them. I'll call about home care in the town itself. That would be nice to have him close by like that. We just need a short term solution - in six months he's being transferred to the french daycare, which is only a few blocks from our house. It's just so stupid - I spent so long finding one I was happy with, and now we need a sudden change. Ugh. I'll hear about the job for sure in a day or two - the managing editor is trying to arrange it as a transfer, but she may be forced to post it, so she can't tell me for sure that I'm in. Keep your fingers crossed - for the job and the daycare!