I need a vacation…

There I said it.  I need a vacation from my kid’s vacation.  We had the opportunity to give notice to our pre-school in the Spring if we wanted any time off in the Summer.  Hubby and I thought it would be great to keep the kid home on two separate weeks.  Of course life happened and the first week didn’t turn out as expected.  First off it rained every single day the kid was home.  That’s right 10 days of rain in a row.  We were able to sneak in some outdoor time here and there but it was limited.  Secondly it was humid as all you know what.  The kid is a hotbody, not like the hashtag with the half naked woman on social media, she gets overheated easily and hates to be hot.  Needless to say this mama had to punt and make the best of the cards that were dealt to her.  All in all the kid didn’t complain, obviously, but here’s to hoping that the rain stays away later in the summer when she has her second week of vacation.

We were able to do some fun day trips including on to the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm, the local carnival, Whittamore’s Farm, our favourite Danforth Pizza House and of course the Big Apple.  No my American friends I didn’t make it to Times Square but rather literally a big apple (see photos at end of post).

Bottom line the important thing for her was to be able to get out and explore.  Whether that was at a new park we hadn’t visited ye, going to a carnival for the first, second and third time, feeding the animals at the zoo with her friends or building houses for the Paw Patrol pups while it poured outside.  Thanks for a great week Miss K.  Looking forward to many more adventures with you!

The sheep lining up to be fed at the Oshawas Zoo and Fun Farm. Waiting in line with her friend A to board the strawberry ride at the carnival.Making pizza at our favourite spot, Danforth Pizza House. First time in the corn jumpy castle at Whittamore’s Farm.Swinging for days, she literally could sit there for hours. The Big Apple, this is as close as I’ll get for a while.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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It has been a hectic couple of weeks…

It has been a hectic couple of weeks at our house.  Last time I wrote Holy Week and Easter were approaching.  We were fortunate enough to have my parents and brother and his family visiting for Easter.  It was wonderful to all be together and have the cousins be able to hang out and do all of the things that a an almost three year old and four year old would do when they are together.  There were so many great snapshots of their trip including Miss K’s first ever Easter egg hunt!  Melissa did a phenomenal job organizing everything and of course it went off without a hitch expect for the baskets that I forgot to bring.  Fitting that the kids ran around in shopping bags to fill up!

The week continued with yiayia and pappou staying on which meant early morning snuggles and of course a morning koulouraki for the kid.  Yes I know it isn’t the breakfast of champions but hey when they visit they get to spoil her and I’m okay with that.  I swear regardless if my family is here for three days or two weeks the time flies by.  We were lucky to have yiayia and pappou here for Miss K’s third birthday.  Yes you read that right, my baby is three.  Well now she tells me that, “I’m a big girl now, but don’t worry mama, I’ll always be your baby.”  Yes you will be.  We are so lucky to have a healthy, smart, funny little girl full of personality and yes sometimes attitude.  She definitely speaks her mind and lets you know who is in charge.  There are days that this drains me to the core, I won’t lie, but on the other days it makes me so proud.  I want her to be feisty and fiery.  I want her to challenge and always question in order to learn.  I want her to have compassion and the courage to speak her mind.

My wishes for her as she enters her third year are: first and foremost health, because without our health we are nothing.  Secondly I hope that she can see the love that her father (along with so many family members and friends) have for her and bring that with her in everything she does.  Remember that she’s good enough when the other little girl doesn’t want to play with her.  Remember that she can climb the rock wall when it looks so scary through her little eyes.  Remember that she can sound out that word in the book, as she tells me, “I want to read it mommy.” And thirdly, I want her to grow.  Obviously that is a given you’ll say, she’s three of course she’ll grow.  But I mean more than in height and weight.  I mean into the little lady that she is becoming.  I mean into the compassionate child who wanted us to help the birdie stuck in the neighbours vent on the side of the house; who wanted us to go back when we saw the ambulance wheeling out a lady from her house, to make sure she was okay.  This is what is important in life.  You can have all the money in the world but if you don’t have your health, you aren’t surrounded by love and you don’t have compassion, what is the point of living?

Happy Birthday Little Lady.  I love you to the moon and back. And yes, you will ALWAYS be my baby!

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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The Dentist

Well there comes a time in every person’s life where they need to go to the dentist.  For some it is an amazing experience and for others it is traumatic.  For some they love it and others hate it.  I was trying to be aware of all of this when booking the kid’s first appointment to the dentist.  Now some people take their child as a one year old to get them used to the idea, others I’ve heard wait until all the teeth are in, including molars, and then go.  My personal dentist said to wait until she’s three to bring her in.  So seeing as we’re almost at that milestone I decided to make an appointment for her.  I didn’t go to the dentist that hubby and I use, I made a decision to take her to a dental office that specializes in kids.  It was truly quite the experience.  We walked in and the waiting room was buzzing with chatter.  Kids and parents were everywhere.  As I observed my child was definitely the youngest in the room.  She did great while waiting and even tried to sneak into the back once or twice before she was called.

As we were called and entered the back each room was decorated with a kid’s theme and we walked in and she took her seat on the big chair.  She was asked what her favourite show was and before I knew it she was laid back watching Paw Patrol while we were answering some basic questions.  The dental hygienist was amazing.  Patient and had a kind voice which not only put my child but myself at ease.  When she finished she passed it off to her ‘friend’ the dentist to double check her work.  The dentist was great again making sure everyone was comfortable with everything she was doing.  The hygienist came back right as we finished with a balloon and a token for a prize, since the kid had no cavities.  The dentist came back with a few stickers since she had done such a great job she deserved something extra she said.  All in all it was great.

I would say a few tips if you haven’t been yet:
1) Read as many books as you can about going to the dentist.
2) Watch as many cartoons, kid’s shows, YouTube videos, whatever your child is into that shows them going to the dentist. We watched Peppa Pig, Caillou, even the Paw Patrol go to the dentist.
3) “Practice” in advance with them.  We have a doctor’s kit that includes dental instruments and so we gave her an idea of what it would be like.
Find a dentist that you like or you think will be good with kids.  This is trial and error.  I love my dentist but did not feel that they’d be the best fit for my child, so I went elsewhere.
4) If you’re not brushing your child’s teeth start now.  They are never too young to start.  Also one thing I was told is if you’re not flossing start now as well.  We haven’t been diligent in that department.  Not for lack of trying but you attempt to corral a toddler and hold them down while holding a tiny piece of string between their teeth.  One tip we were told is use the dental floss picks.  Lay them down and make it a game.  Certainly has been a game changer for us.

Here is the little Miss, holding on to Rainbow Bear, while her teeth are being counted.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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Baby

Well it was just another fabulous Friday.  I had decided to forget about how my week didn’t go as planned and get excited about the hectic weekend ahead that would be filled with family and friends.  So I as I mentally got prepared for bath time a feeling of panic went over my body.  Baby, Baby was missing, worse I remembered where Baby was.  Baby was in school.  I grabbed my phone and called the school, the teacher told me they closed in 15 minutes.  I told her I was on my way.  I grabbed the kid, threw some shoes and a coat on the both of us and out we went.  She kept asking where we were going and I said an adventure.

How did I let this happen?  I never send toys to school but Friday morning had been exceptionally hard and Baby came to drop off.  Then Baby came inside to see the school.  Then it was decided Baby could stay for a show and tell. I kept playing pick up in my head.  I walked in and they had just come in from outside.  The ECE warned me that my kid had of course found the biggest puddle in the play area (thank you Peppa Pig and your muddy puddles).  So here she is, still having her snow pants, coat, boots on and is just a mess.  Literally it looks like she rolled around in the puddle, which I can neither confirm or deny happened.  Regardless all I could do was laugh.  We washed her hands, and I grabbed her shoes and off we went.  Upon further investigation at home the snow pants, gloves and coat did the trick, she was completely dry inside.  So we went upon our normal routine.

Back at school I had one teacher helping me find the Baby, we looked everywhere, two rooms, closets, baskets, everywhere.  Another teacher who was leaving walked in and offered to help, grateful for another set of eyes, we continued.  We asked the kid what she did that day, where she remembered baby last.  The investigation provided nothing.  As I was beginning to explain to the kid that Baby was gone and we’d have to go home without her, the second teacher who came in to help yells, “Is this her?”  You hear the kid shout out, “Baby!” I ran over and hugged her.  Thanking her I asked where did she find the doll?  She said she was right here, by the sink.  The kid then pipes in, “we gave Baby a bath mommy.”  Upon further investigation of Baby it made complete sense, Baby had flecks of green paint in her blonde hair, as well as yellow paint on her blue eyes.  The kid obviously wanted to do a complete makeover on her.  Needless to say we left the school so happy and giving Baby extra hugs.

My kid never was one for attachment items.  She threw the pacifier away at 4 months.  She never had a favourite blanket or stuffed animal.  About 8 months ago she started not liking taking baths, which is completely normal at this age, so we had switched to showers.  Daddy being the great guy that he is found a doll that could go in water and even had a bathtub that came with it.  Six months of trying and finally two weeks ago the kid requested a bath, with the doll.  Since then the doll comes with us every bath.  I gave up our quick few minute showers to 15 minute baths full of toys and bubbles, and sometimes that isn’t enough time in the water.  I don’t want to say to soon that my water baby is back, but we’re getting there. Needless to say that I’m happy my baby, who certainly is no longer a baby, has her Baby back.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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Ooey, Ooey, Ooey Allergies

Well whenever I heard the Wiggles song, Ooey, Ooey, Ooey Allergies or saw the posts in the mommy groups about children with allergies I felt so bad.  Your job as a parent is to want to protect your little one.  Well we had a normal weekend, the weather was fabulous so we spent a lot of time outside.  Me going on the second week of being sick, must say, enjoyed the fresh air and the kid loved it.  We played outside and definitely made the most of the last weekend of the summer.  Saying all that Monday morning threw me for a complete loop when the kid woke up with a swollen eye, face and blotches on her face.  I did what any parent would do if this happened for the first time and took her to the walk in clinic.  After quite the wait we saw the doctor who said it was an allergic reaction to something she either ate or touched.  Well shes’ almost 2 1/2 that should be easy to find out, I said to him facetiously.  So he gave us two prescriptions and we went on our merry way. I wasn’t feeling his diagnosis so I made an appointment with our primary care doctor for later that afternoon.  We went to see him and he diagnosed the same thing but said that at her age he wouldn’t recommend any prescription course of treatment.  He suggested some Claritin (seriously I had some at home, why didn’t I think of that) and said that it could take 5-7 days to get out of her system. Fingers crossed this was a one time thing because quite honestly it scared me a bit, especially when she went to bed find and woke up like she did.

Allergies are scary, especially when you don’t know what the trigger factor is.  Let’s stop complaining about not being able to bring peanut butter to the classroom, or eggs, or whatever the policy is at your school.  Let’s remember that our job is to keep all these little people safe.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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Pre-School when the heck did this happen?

So it is official, I have a pre-schooler.  Seriously, when the heck did this happen?  Wasn’t it just yesterday that they let us take her out of the hospital and go home with her?  Weren’t we just getting up at all hours of the night feeding and changing diapers?  Well I guess it hasn’t bee as recent as my memory would like it to be.  My little one started pre-school, in case you missed it the last couple of times I wrote it.  I know it is going to be an amazing experience for her, and for me, as I embark on being able to figure out what I want to do next with my life.  She comes home and tells me stories of Miss so and so helping her outside and Miss so and so rubbing her back during nap time.  Seriously, my kid hasn’t napped at home for a year and you got her to nap?!? I say alleluia!! The hard part of all of this isn’t letting her go, well that is a little, but preparing for all of the new adventures she will have without me.  All of the first that may now not happen with me present.  She is growing up into a little lady with a mission to take on the world!

With the 15th Anniversary of September 11th being a few days ago, I think about all of the things that we will have to explain to her.  Some in the distant past and some in the not so distant past.  I think about what she may face down the road as a female.  I think about how early bullying comes into play today.  I think about how I was called a minority back in the day for being Greek and still remember how offended I was by that.  I think about how much harder work it will be to make sure she has the same Greek values and traditions that I grew up with being one generation removed from the immigration.  As I’m told often sometimes I need to just stop thinking!!  My baby is no longer a baby, but she’ll always be my baby.  So with that I leave you my friends.

 

img_1145The kid’s first day of school outfit.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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One of our summer favourites

The summer roundup wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t write about one of our summer favourites, the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm. We had a friend tell us about how much fun they had last year at this local zoo so we decided to check it out early in the season.  We had a feeling it would be a go-to for us so we bought a season pass, which pays for itself after two visits (they opened in April and are open until Thanksgiving).

This zoo is small enough where I’m not afraid to let the little lady explore on her own, obviously still within the view of my watchful eyes.  We have been at various parts of the days and and it has never been crazy busy.  When you arrive you have the option of purchasing a bucket of popcorn, as amazing of a snack as this sounds, it actually is to feed the animals.  You can easily spend a morning at the zoo.  There are a lot of animals to feed and even baby chicks to hold.  There are some picnic tables and a snack bar if you get hungry while you’re there.  If you’re in the Durham Region definitely add the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm to your list to visit.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow

If you’re like me your car CD changer may be taken over with kid’s music.  BINGO, Old McDonald, and a new found favourite for us, Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow. With all the singing of the zoo when daddy had an impromptu day off we decided to make the drive and visit the Peterborough Zoo.  We’ve had friends who have gone to the zoo and said it was great.  I mean for a zoo that has free admission and free parking, really what more could you ask for?  We knew that there was also a train onsite and little miss wanted to be sure we got on that train, so that was our first stop.  We went to the zoo on a gorgeous Sunday when I was expecting it to be super packed and I didn’t find it overwhelming.  It is set up where the parking lot could be full but you don’t feel as though people are stepping on your toes to see the animals. The only line we encountered was waiting for the train, which was to be expected.  Tickets for the train are $2 and children two and under are free.

The train ride is about 8-10 minutes and it takes you around one area of the zoo.  The ‘conductor’ tells you about how the zoo came to be and how some of the animals got to the zoo.  There is also a beautiful view of the lake.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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Language

So I’m very fortunate that my daughter is growing up in a bilingual environment. My husband and I are both first generation Greeks. We try to speak in the Greek language as much as we can but also are aware of the fact that we live in an English speaking country. At the beginning I was only speaking Greek to her but when I realized that perhaps she was behind her ‘friends’ with certain words I kicked it into gear with the English. Regardless of this I’m amazed at what sponges these kids are. Every morning when I go in to get the kid I say to her Καλημέρα αγάπη μου (Good morning my love). Sometimes she laughs at me, sometimes she says hi mama, sometimes she just asks for daddy, it depends on her mood. Regardless that is my go-to greeting. This morning as we were sitting there she looks up at me and says τι κάνεις μαμά (how are you mom/what are you doing mom). I replied that I was καλά (or good). If you are fortunate enough to speak a second language or a third language speak to your children in it. If you have the opportunity to send them to learn another language do it! Now is the time for these kids to pick up on the little nuances of the particular language. My goal was to have my child speak Greek as well as I do, if not better and without the accent of an Αμερικανακή, I’m proud to say we’re well on our way!

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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Summer has arrived

I am going to bite the bullet and say that summer has arrived!  We’ve been having some awesome weather lately which has me outside and away from my computer.  I debated about bringing the tablet near the water table but after my phone went swimming in the toilet I didn’t want to lose the tablet!

Since my last post we finished up our art program and little Miss had her final performance.  There is a video of it somewhere for her to look back at years from now but I have to say I’m amazed at what this instructor was able to do with toddlers.  Now don’t get me wrong, they did what they wanted to do, but for the most part, it was what was in the script.  They took care of their farm and the animals just as if they were rock stars!  Oh wait they were rock stars with their guitars and tutus!  Here is a snapshot of the girls and their instructor harvesting the vegetables that they planted for themselves and their animals.

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We’ve also gone back to our sportball class.  If you know me personally, you know that I played basketball pretty much my entire life, so naturally I thought this class would be a great fit.  I’m learning that my child certainly has a mind of her own.  This past week she had no interest in the kicking drill that we were supposed to be doing but rather was rocking out to the music that the coaches were playing in the background.  Don’t worry I didn’t push her to do the drill but rather stood there twirling her around while foam balls were flying around us.  We must remember that is what life is about, the little moments.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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