Birds of a Feather...

Well here you have it....the newest addition to our family! A beautiful cockatiel for Harrison that we named Chirp!

I had promised Harrison that if he was good for one whole month I would get him a budgie for Valentine's Day. (whoever said bribes are bad was obviously not a parent!) He was not just good...he's been amazing and made me so proud. However I was still making him hold out until Valentine's Day to prove himself. That was until my dad got wind of the promise, and my mom had to go out of town on the weekend to a funeral~suddenly it went from a budgie (a cheap $30 bird!) for Valentine's Day to a cockatiel (not a cheap $30 bird!) right now!!!

We went to Petland (our 1st mistake!) and checked them all out. We narrowed it down to the 3 friendliest ones, by a simple test done by my dad ~ he stuck his hand in each of the 3 cages and pulled out the bird that hopped onto his hand first. We lined up all 3 birds in front of Harrison and had him choose. I guess physical attraction does play a role even when you're only 3 yrs old, as he quickly weeded out the 2 less attractive birds and immediately went for the one with the most beautiful coloring. (also the loudest of the 3!) Personally, I liked the quiet less colorful one! However he is gorgeous~all grey, with white stripes on the edge of his wings, a yellow face with bright orange cheeks and yellow and grey head feathers.

We brought him home and named him Chirp, as that's what he first did in the store, and it suits him and seemed appropriate for a bird. Harrison had the names Flower and Chocolate picked out, which are fine too, however just to be sure I offered a couple of other names and he changed his mind to Chirp quite willingly! He is a very friendly and tame bird, for the most part. As you can see from the pictures he lets Harrison handle him. Harrison is mastering the skill of bird trainer and teaching him the commands "step up" to get him on his hand, and "step down" to get him back in the cage or onto his perch. He is also amazingly calm and gentle when handling him, which is just what Harrison needs to practice, so it was a very good choice. Plus it makes him feel good to have some responsability and be able to look after something, since he'd love a baby brother or sister, but for now Chirp is going to have to fill that role!

We are having a lot of fun getting to know the bird and his personality. He likes attention and being held a lot. He doesn't like going in his cage and spends the whole day sitting out on top of it, or on Harrison's shoulder while he watches TV, or on his perch that we bought for him which we move from room to room with us! For those of you that join me on MSN I now have what I call the birdcam set up for viewing while we chat!!! It should not surprise me that Harrison would be drawn to the one with the most personality~ afterall, birds of a feather stick together!!!

Potty Training Blues

Every parent faces challenges with their young...which I am now convinced is why some species actually eat their young! It's all starting to make sense to me now! I try to convince myself that my challenges are no better nor worse than anyone else's...but some days are harder than others! Take for instance this whole potty training issue...a battle I imagined having been won long before now! I always said I didn't mind diapers...and I still don't, however I do have a limit as to the number of consecutive years one should have to change them per child!!! I am fast exceeding mine!

When he was 1 I thought sometime while he was 2 he'd be out of diapers...that was just an unrealistic dream! Then as I watched him turn 2 I figured by his 3rd birthday for sure we would have this mastered....still a nice dream! Now we are approaching 4 and still no sign of him using the potty. However, I set a goal of no more than 4 ~ at 4 he HAS to be trained....doesn't he?! I guess there is no official age limit according to the rest of the world, however I have one and have arbitrarily picked 4. Ok it's not that arbitrary at this point, more a process of elimination! (nice segway there hey?!) If he's not potty trained at 4 he's moving out, or I am!

He will use it at bath time just before getting into the tub, but that is the only time so far. He still refuses at each diaper change when offered and won't tell me when he has to go. They say they will start feeling uncomfortable at some point and ask you to change them. Really? At what age does that happen, cuz I'm still waiting!!!

I have tried everything to intice him to use the potty on his own. I have sat with him and read stories and offered candy. I upped the ante and took him shopping to pick out a huge poster board of his choosing (red) and hung it up on the bathroom door with a title that reads Harrison's Big Boy Potty Chart (although he can't read so I guess that doesn't help any does it!?) and told him he gets to put up a sticker every time he uses the potty. He continued to show little interest and is strangely attached to his diapers, which is weird for a couple of reasons: 1) being that it's a strange thing to be attached to: 2) he's never formed an attachment to any security object ever, including a bottle (which he never would take!) his thumb, a soother, a blankie or a stuffed toy, so why diapers?! I resorted to the full out bribe and dragged him to the dollar store to pick a basket full of toys that he loves, and now gets to pick a toy, but only when he comes to me to tell me he has to go. He has only put up 3 stickers and all the toys remain in the basket untouched!!!

I realized I had a real problem the other day, when he had clearly pooped but refused to admit it, and my mom told him to go and get a new diaper ~ meaning of course go and fetch a new diaper and take it to your mom, who will then change you. Well he went into his room and didn't come out, so I went in looking for him, and what do you suppose I found?! Harrison laying on the floor, with his diaper off, poop everywhere, all the wipes pulled out of the tub and him attempting to change his own diaper!!!! You could imagine my frustration as I sat there looking at him thinking....you can change your own diaper but you can't use the potty?!

PS I am reserving the comments section for this one for any advice any of you may have to help me along! I have tried everything and nothing seems to be working...so whatever tidbits you have to offer I'm willing to try! If you don't have any good old-fashioned advice, then simply moral support will do!!!

Bus Breakdown!

Well, I experienced my first ever disaster of sorts last week, when my bus broke down while still half loaded! It's every bus driver's worst nightmare...driving a bus full of children and watching your gauges go nuts and your bus lose all power, knowing you've tried everything you can think of to stop it before it's too late, but unfortunately to no avail!

So there I was, driving to my next stop, when I realized I had no signal lights and I was losing power at a very rapid rate, so I took it around one last corner and pulled over in a safe location to investigate. My battery gauge which reads volts was way down in the red and the whole bus was sputtering and coughing barely clinging to life, so I reached for my life-line out on the road ~ my 2-way radio which links me to dispatch ~ only to discover it too was dead! Could this really be happening to me?! I closed my eyes momentarily, took a deep breath, opened my eyes and decided that yes, this really could be happening to me!!! Since the power seemed to be declining at a steady pace, I had to think quickly and started to prioritize what needed to be done, so I pressed the gas peddle down to give it a little extra juice and switched off all of my lights, which thankfully gave me just enough of a boost to get my radio working again!!! Hooray...suddenly I had hope where I had none before! So I got on my radio and sent out an SOS!

After dispatch assessed the situation and came to the same conclusion as I already had...the bus was dying, and fast, she called for another driver to come and pick up the kids that were left on my bus, and informed me that I would have to limp it in across town to the garage, during rush hour, at dusk with no lights or signals! Well, that just made my day! Now I was really cranky!

So there we sat on the side of the road, in a downed bus, while the kids all went wild (as kids seem to do when buses break down!) and Harrison bawled his eyes out after one little grade 3 girl told him we had run out of gas! Just thinking the bus had broken down didn't seem to upset him, as that offered some hope of still being bailed out, however, I guess the idea that we had no gas offered NO HOPE, so he lost it! Finally the other driver showed up and drove off with my kids, and left me to my own devices to get my bus in to maintenance. I slowly made my way across town, with no lights or radio to call for help, and using those ridiculous hand signals you are supposed to use (but never do!) for riding your bike! I finally gave up and did a quick evaluation, and figured since I am bigger than all the cars out there, if I just nudged my way over, eventually they'd get out of my way and let me in!!! And I was right!

I just barely made it in before dark, and managed to find a spare bus to get me by until they could fix the alternator in mine, and finally made it home with a very hungry little Harrison at 7pm! What a day that was! Those are the kind of days you hope are few and far between, and when they do happen you pray it isn't -40 and blizzarding!!!! However this story has a happy ending, as I now have my bus back and it seems to be working fine....for this week!!! Keep your fingers crossed for me though!

Let Your Imagination Soar

Harrison continues to impress me with his ever expanding vocabulary, and his use of the english language in general. He used to use one new word a day, then gradually added more words by linking old ones he had mastered with the new ones, then progressed to simple sentences, and still his comprehension far exceeds his vocabulary (which continues to challenge us with tantrums {his tantrums~not mine!} out of frustration!) but his spoken inventory of words continues to grow by what appears to be leaps and bounds now.

As his vocabulary increases, so changes the way he plays. The most dramatic change has been in his imaginative play, which months ago was non-existent. But now blossoms everyday as he gains the ability to create new thoughts and ideas, and brings them to life in his little make-believe world, where his only limit is his imagination. If he can dream it~he can play it! What a fabulous age! It is fascinating to watch and even more to fun to listen to!

He has recently created an imaginary friend whom he has affectionately named Jayden. (not sure if that is how he would spell it, but for argument sake let's just say it is!) The interesting thing about this, is that Harrison has trouble pronouncing his own name, and to the trained ear you can make out Harrison (vaguely!) however to the rookie in the grocery store, it comes out sounding like Jayden! So much so that when asked by strangers what his name is, he now answers "Ha-y-son....NOT Jayden!" leaving strangers confused all over town! So I wonder if him naming his alter-ego Jayden has a much deeper meaning?! Hhmmmmm. Maybe my child is a genius after all! (I do already have the t-shirt that says My Kid Is A Genius!) Look out Freude....here comes Hurricane!!!

He also enjoys story telling, and fills his tales with lots of action and tells them quite descriptively. (he's hardly my kid at all!) I will do my best to re-create his last story, however words on a computer screen don't do it justice. You really had to be here to see his expressions and his actions to get the full effect, however I must admit it's still pretty darn cute!!! Here it goes:

"Once upon time. Stormy wind (hands swirling). Thunder crashing (hands clapping). Rain sprinkling, sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle (hands overhead like rain drops coming down). Orangutan, me and Ginger (the dog) walking in forest. Scarey forest. Friendly ghost making chicken noodle soup. Hungry ghost. Me, orangutan and Ginger smell chicken (sniffs the air). Follow chicken smell and end up at this house. The end."

How adorable is that?! I had to fight back the tears as I clung to every word he said, like some number one best seller, or an oscar winning movie performance! The kid's got talent! He's aptly named...watch out Harrison Ford, it's Hurricane Harrison~Rising Star!!!! Or perhaps it's just that motherly love that blinds you into thinking your child is the most special soul, with the most amazing spirit and definately the brightest star in the sky! I guess there's room for me to let my imagination soar too!!!!

Turkey and Eggnog Anyone?!

I decided to kick off my new blog with an entry about who else...Harrison! What kind of mother would I be if I didn't? He is now 3 1/2 yrs old and full of life, spirit and spunk! He is talking more everyday, which is finally giving me a glimpse into what has been going on in his head these last couple of years. I am convinced the wheels have been turning, and he was always this hilarious, only without the vocabulary to share it with us, it was only funny to him!!! However, he now has us all in stitches as the comments come out as they run through his head....and let me tell you, it's pretty funny!!!

He was overheard talking on his cell phone (an old one my dad ran over with the car...unfortunate for the phone, lucky for Harrison! Don't all email me about how ridiculous it would be for a 3 yr old to have his own working cell phone, let me assure you it's not hooked up!) and after a lengthy conversation with his girlfriend in Australia (he really does have one down-under...my girlfriend's daughter Alberta) he said, "OK...bye, I'll email you later!" That is when I realized just how much time I must spend on the computer emailing friends!

Then the most hilarious one I've heard so far was earlier this week, when he asked for pop for breakfast, to which I responded with a resounding NO, but offered him Eggnog as a consolation option. He looked disgusted and said, "Me not like Eggnog" in a very firm tone. I asked him if he thought it would make him sick, and he furrowed his eyebrows at me and said, "Not sick. Too much Eggnog and me get run over by reindeer!" I quickly realized he was refering to the song, "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" as they make reference to her drinking too much Eggnog!!! I burst out laughing and thought, how smart is that to make that connection?! It is so much fun watching his sense of perception take shape as he tries to make sense of the world around him, and begins to connect the dots!!!

One last tale to convince you his mind is always working (if you are not already convinced!). On Jan 1st we had a big turkey dinner, and while eating the "bird" he asked if it was a "real turkey" and waved his hand around in a circular motion, indicating what appeared to be the path of a turkey running in circles. We tread carefully, not wanting to completely freak him out, but not wanting to hide anything either only to traumatize him later, and simply answered "yes", allowing him to fill in the blanks. I had hoped that would be the end of the discussion. I could see he was sorting this all out in his head, he looked us in the eye and asked, "How you cooked it?" Uh-oh...I could tell I was in trouble and in over my head now, and dreaded what would come next! "It's dead?" he prodded. "Yup" was all I could muster and just kept shovelling heaping spoonfulls into my mouth, saying "mmmm....isn't it good?" To which he asked, "I want to see turkey's head". Yup....definately in over MY head!!!! Not knowing what to say, I asked him, "to see it or to eat it?" He replied, "To eat it!" Which to most people would sound disgusting, but to me it sounded like relief!!! Relief knowing that he was in no way turned off eating a dead animal that clearly had once been alive and appeared to have no head!!!! I am happy to report that he continues to enjoy turkey and has not been scarred for life...although I cannot say the same for me!!!!

I have spent the last 2 yrs waiting for him to connect the dots, and will spend the next 30 yrs wishing I had wished for something simpler!!!