Hibernation

Its been a while since i last blogged. Excuses abound, renovation, work, baby, are key words which take up vast amounts of time. Other moments amount to just wanting to rest, or doing some type of leisurely task. This last weekend though, gave us a white cold offering which has provided the gift of time. It started Saturday night. Forecast called for snow to arrive Sunday, which, on the Island, means that we will get a shot of wet snow that quickly turns to rain except in higher elevated areas. We do get a few cold snaps but they seem to come in January or February. Saturday evening we saw the usual wet snow begin to fall, nothing of substance. Sunday morning, Sam and I went for a walk in the early morning. No snow, just rain and wind, but the temperature was definitely dropping. Sunday morning around 8 A.M., which signals the beginning of Football festivities with the ESPN pregame primetime show hosted by Chris Bermann (aka Fred Flinstone), rain turned to fat snow flakes. I thought, "sweet - could be a whole day of football watching". This would mean not going to Church, which i don't mind because of the crazy evening taking Sam to the emergency (see previous post for details) and the temptation watching action on the gridiron poses. I mentioned to Heath that the snow was beginning to fall and that the roads might be getting a little dicy around the church viscinity. Heather mentioned the notion that i was saying this in order to skip Church to watch football. I denied this - feeling a tinge of guilt for my selfish leanings. Heath suggested to phone the Church to see what the roads were like. I phoned and Pastor Gary answered. I asked him about the roads. He said they seemed fine. But he then added that if we decided not to come to Church, make sure to what some type of religious programming to make up for our absence. He said, only to watch football after a good fill of televangelism. I told him that we'll make it. I thought after to let him know that i could pull out a great amount of theology from a good football tilt. Especially in the area of patience and suffering because of my leanings to follow the Seahawks. Gary would understand because he follows the Chiefs.
The drive to Church was winter madness. Everyone was driving 30 and the wipers could not keep the snow off the windshield. Reminders of past journeys up mountain passes to go skiing resounded. Memory of a time driving up mid-week to go skiing when my brother (Mike) had to put on his ski goggles and have the window rolled down to get a better look at the road. Actually there was no view of the road going down the Trans-Canada towards Banff. The only guide were the red lights on the back of a Semi-truck which we followed. It worked out fine till we realized the trucker had pulled off the highway onto an other road - which led us off the highway. We had to throw out a quick heartfelt prayer before making a partially blind turn back onto the highway,- leading us on towards a day of powder bliss.
The drive back from church was just as crazy. Everyone driving slow - which suited me fine. When reaching closer to home, we noticed that trees had fallen from the weight of the snow. I tried to keep the car away from heavily tree'd areas. When driving through tree-lined streets, it felt like a game of Russian roulette. We made it out fine - and we have had a relaxing time at home. I have not been able to work this week because the roofs are all snow-covered. There is not too much we can do except relax. It feels like an early Christmas vacation. Heath and I been able to hang out a lot with Sammy, we've watched some movies, and i started a good book,- a biography on John Belushi. So its been nice to holed up for a bit. Its Thursday now and things are starting to thaw out. Probably by Monday things will be back to normal. There is a bit of seasonal confusion because it feels like a bit of spring feel because of the melting snow and warmer temperatures. For the last few days the outside streets have had winter Winnipeg look,- so to see it all melt feels like were in April (is Christas over?). But we are in late, late November and a busy December is upon us. Make me realize that even with hectic pace we probably all experience,- it is still nice to reflect on the silence of falling snow on a late November night.

Snow day!

We are officially in winter's snowy grip... it's a snow day! It started snowing yesterday morning, but we decided to head out for church anyways. While we were there, it really started coming down, and we had a pretty tense drive home. We bundled Sam up in the evening and took him out for his first snow experience. Steve gave him some snow advice from years living on the praries, like "Son, never eat yellow snow," and "Don't forget to dot the 'i' if you are writing in the snow." Teaching him bad habits already. We woke up this morning and everything was covered in snow! With Steve working on roofs, it was pretty clear he wasn't going to be working today, or probably for a few days. So, we got all suited up and went out for a walk on the deserted streets. I wore my winter boots that I don't think have been worn since Winnipeg days, and we put Sam in about 5 layers of clothes. He seemed sort of confused by the snow, and sat very quietly in the stoller while we walked for about an hour... sort of a record for him. We had a great walk, then a nice cozy rest of the day indoors. We were talking about how much fun it is because it is such a novelty. I remember living in Winnipeg, and even Calgary too, and after a month or two of snow it's hard to feel particularly enthused about it. But we are enjoying it right now. If it last for much more than a week, I think most people will be feeling a little grumpy about it.

On another note, we had our first journey to the emergency room with Sam this past weekend. We were putting together an ottoman in the living room, and Sam popped something in his mouth too quick for us to see what it was. Steve tried to grab it out, but Sam was too quick. He swallowed it right away, started choking and sputtering, and was very upset. We knew he was breathing fine, but were concerned with what it was he had swallowed...specifically if it was a screw or something else from the ottoman. So, we took him to emerg, and they were amazing there. They got us in right away, and took x-rays of his throat, chest and abdomen. Nothing showed up on the x-ray, which meant whatever it was he swallowed wasn't metal. That was a relief. So, they sent us home. And last night, we discovered what it was he had eaten. Steve was changing his dipaer, and lo and behold there was a pear stem, about the same width of a pencil and about an inch long. No wonder he was so upset! Anyways, he is totally fine, and we got that out of the way. It was nerve wracking to say the least.

Other than swallowing everything, which he loves to do, Sam is changing and doing new things everyday. He has perfected crawling. He started crawling pretty early at 5 months, but it was a funky little worm crawl which looked a little like break dancing. Like father, like son. Now he is doing a traditional crawl, and is moving about 5 times faster than before. Which means he can reach things 5 times faster, and is 5 times faster in ripping books off of shelves, grabbing cats tails, and pulling on all manner of cords. He is also a total pro at standing up, and is cruising around the furniture. He hasn't taken any steps away from furniture yet, but we are OK with waiting for that milestone. He hasn't started saying "mama" or "dada" yet, but does say dadadadada, and mamamamama. He has also started shaking his head no. Ummmmm... that's fun. He likes to do that especially when I am trying to feed him. We think he is going to be a little stubborn, and can't figure out where he gets that from...

Velma and the Superman Bear

Ok, so I am a little late in posting this, but I wanted to post a picture of what Sam was dressed up as for Halloween. He had two costumes, and indoor one and an outdoor one. The indoor one was Superman, the outdoor one was a bear. Both were very cute. Thanks to a wig and some glasses from Megan's tickle trunk, I was Velma, from Scooby Doo. I even own the green VW van, just like the Mystery Machine. For some reason my costume makes me look about 30 pounds heavier than I am. Seriously, I don't know why. And I have worked hard to get rid of this baby weight, so I am not even sure I want to post the picture here, but I guess I will anyways.
Sam is really giving us a run for our money lately... he is a very busy boy (an understatement.) He is always on the move, and loves to throw, pull, grab and chew on everything. Add to that the fact that he has learned how to stand up, and our babyproofing has to go to a whole new level now. Yikes. As well, he loves to chew on everything with his seven big chompers, which Steve recently discovered when Sam bit his hand and actually drew blood. Ah yes, we are in for a busy few years!

Last week Steve's mom came to visit us... who am I kidding, she came to visit Sam! No, we had a great visit with her, and it was nice that she and Sam got to spend so much time together, especially since Grandma and Grandpa Follis live in Calgary and don't get to see the little rascal very often. It was also great for me, as I booked two massage appointments, a manicure and a pedicure during the week. You need to take advantage of free, live-in babysitting when you can.

Our reno is almost complete, but I have come to believe that a reno is like a black hole... once you start it, it is never actually finished. There is always something that needs to be done. For us, though, it really is not finished. Our carpet is only half installed, and been that way for three weeks... that's what you get when you go to Home Depoo (not a spelling error). Steve is actually helping Calvin and Ceri with their bathroom reno tonight and tomorrow. Ah, another one falls into the black hole.