Ronan Rocks

Ronan has been waiting for Christmas. Now it has come and gone. Yesterday we took the Christmas tree down and Ronan wanted to know where the beautiful decorations have gone. Rob and I have been waiting to catch our breath. 2007 has been a roller coaster ride. We started 2007 off by having to buy a new car after I crashed our old car. You know since I am writing this that I am okay!

Rob was away more times then I can count and we decided that instead of renovating our lovely semi we would instead buy a new house. Our long term gain ( I hope) has turned into our short term pain. For now.

On the positive side … It has strengthen our relationship and has taught me that Rob, Ronan and I are survivors. What ever 2007 threw at us we were able to dodge it, if ever so slightly. Our new house requires more renovations then Santa’s list would allow. From 2 pronged plugs to storm windows and a kitchen that needed rescuing. From expanded bathrooms and knocking down walls we took it all on while packing up another house. Our old house. We all still miss it, our new house still isn’t home yet. Our memories aren’t etched here yet. 2008 will bring many changes and I hope a better connection in our new home which believe we are proud of. Rob and I have put our heart and soul into this new home. 2008 will bring more landscaping, a partly finished basement and if Rob’s dreams come true a big flat screen TV.

What has Ronan been up to?

Well amazing us. He sings Christmas Carols. He knows so many, often ones we have forgotten. He continues to develop and strengthen close relationships with his family and was even in his first Christmas pageant this year. He was the peace frog. He stood beside Mary and the baby Jesus so we figure he has status.

We played in the snow lots and Ronan did his first tobogganing and loved it. He also was on skates this season for the first time.

Ronan amazed me over the holidays. For one he is so kind. He was more interested in giving to others their own presents then getting his own. Although on Christmas Day he did throw aside clothes he received in favour of searching for more toys in his huge Thomas stocking. His manners are wonderful. He asked me to call our friend Aunt Shivvy to thank her for the gift he got. I am so proud of him and his character.

Unfortunately 2007’s year end also brought the death of my father Don Oitment. He died suddenly on Christmas Eve of a heart attack at age 66.

It saddens me that we weren’t able to get our relationship back on track before he died but I was lucky in that I did speak to him recently and he knew my heart was in the right place. Love your parents, cherish them and realize that their faults are human and they deserve our patience and understanding. Sometimes you have to say now what you want to put off because you may not get the chance you think is around the corner. I did help to give him a beautiful send off which I am very proud of.

In 2008, I am planning on learning to judge less, focus on today as best as I can and not sweat the small stuff (a big learning curve for me). I am not perfect, far from it, decisions concerning my family are still the hardest for me but I am learning as I go on. Each experience I have had this year has taught me something. The people in my life have taught me a lot as well. I have faith that god will show me the way as I go on.

Happy New Year.

Love Leigh and Rob (and Ronan too)

Ronan turned three on November 9th but we celebrated just after halloween.

How can I express how I feel about three? There are no easy words. Your child just keeps getting older and you feel that nothing can describe the shock you feel on how fast they change and how proud you are that they are morphing into a super child. A child that continually surprises you with their new words, their ability to understand and question our weird world and to empathize with those in his life. I love him so much for who he was and who he is today. He really blows my mind.

What can I say about two turning three. Here are a few of my impressions of the year….

• Ronan went from no words to hundreds of words in what seemed an instant.
• Ronan went from a crib to a big boy bed and jumps out of it every morning with a thump, runs into our room and holds my face in a cuddle every morning.
• I learned that two is tempers and three is my way or the highway
• I learned patience is required in mornings when we fight over what to wear and when to leave. I learned not to fight but instead fool him into submission.
• I learned more about Ronan’s love for me. It is the best kind I have ever experienced in my life.
• I love his expressions “Actually mom”, “It is indeed”, “Jigpuzzles”, “That’s Borging” (for boring).
• I have learned I can never have enough time with him but still need time away from him to be a good mom.
• I learned that kraft dinner and other kid staples while not organtic save you from hours of cooking … when you are told “I don’t like that Mom”
• I learned that no matter how much sleep you get you are still tired being a parent … how do they do two?
• Most of all I learned that I love every stage and every age.

Well Life is pretty hectic and funny these days. Ronan continues to amaze me. He is now 2.5 years old and fascinating me with his flurry of questions and his new connections to our world.

He listens to everything we say and mimics us. Scary and funny all at the same time. I enjoy our little chats and try to understand what makes him tic. He is on the sticker therapy program. Don’t piss Momma off and you will be rewarded with morning and bedtime stickers. This sometimes works.

Occasionally he gets timeouts except that it is rather challenging form of discipline when he personally requests them for himself. What do you say to that?

He sleeps with about 40 trains in his bed, a huge red thomas the engine book and has a huge crush on my close friend Siobhan. Apparently he has a thing for older women.

Ronan is learning how to ride a tricycle. I wanted to buy him a cool one with a built-in handle… but Rob insisted that he wasn’t buying into the commercialism and insisted in rigging up a old hockey stick to guide the trike. His grandmother broke it within a week and now we all have bad backs. Speaking of my husband…. he is now in India during monsoon season. Rob asked Ronan if he knew where daddy was going…. Ronan said Australia. Nope… but good try. We are an international family!

We give Ronan nightly baths because he gets filthy to the point where it would be embarrassing. The other day I was cleaning his ears with a cuetip and he said… “Dats a dog bone”. He often informs us of his observations. He loves to point out what cars are friends and family members drive. Auntie Chris drives an Acura… “Dat’s Aunties” when he sees a similar car with the acura symbol. Adam, our daycare providers husband drives a BMW…when he sees one of those on the street he says “Dat’s Adams”.

A car buff at 2.5 years old? Maybe.

Rob and I our trying to teach him about his heritage. I want him to love where his roots are from. His grandmother (Ya Ya) is Greek so I am trying to tell him about that. So the other day I told him … guess what Ronan you are a quarter Greek. Then I told him how Greek everyone else was. It went like this:

“Ronan how Greek are you?”

“Quarter Geek”

Ronan how Greek is your Dad?

“Half Geek”

Ronan How Greek is your Ya Ya?

“Full Geek”………

Click here to watch Ronan’s video….

Crazy, cute, still loves to cuddle. Yup. That’s my boy…. gotta love him and I do.

This year we set out to try and explain what Christmas is all about to Ronan.

We talked about Santa first, we even went to see him a few times.

Ronan really was not to sure what to make of the big red man with the scarey beard. The first time he saw this magical man was at Rob’s work Christmas party (for children). At first he seemed to be okay, we waited in line and when we got to the front of the line he even looked excited until I tried to get him to get in a sleigh with Santa to say “cheese”. That was it. All hell broke lose. He cried and tried to run away. I held strong and got the photo. Basically the photo is of me and santa with Ronan standing beside me with terror and tears in his eyes.

The second time was the next day at the second children’s christmas party. This time he knew who the big red man was and even let me take his picture with him (as pictured above)….. alone! Big step. I was so proud. Now granted, he isn’t smiling but still this is a brave little boy and that was his first bold move towards embracing independence and acceptance for the unknown.

Next on my list was for Ronan to learn about what Christmas is all about. Celebrating the birth of Jesus. Ronan loves looking at all the cards we receive over the holidays and one had a picture of the baby Jesus. Ronan often would look at this card and say “baby”. We explained to him that this was Baby Jesus. He translated that to mean “Baby Gi Gi”.

Another new baby entered our lives at the end of this year…. Rob’s sister had a baby boy named Mitchell William Daw. Ronan has nick named him “Baby Billy”. He met his little cousin for the very first time today. We didn’t get pictures with him today because I was too afraid Ronan would sneeze or cough on little Billy. Photos of these two cute cousins will come soon. I know they will be fast friends.

Christmas Day was wonderful. I think it was more exciting for us then Ronan! Santa brought a stocking full of goodies… including the coveted Cho-Cho- train which Ronan is over the moon for these days. He got lots of presents and loved opening them. What I will remember the most was those first few moments of early christmas morning wonder when I watched as Ronan discovered his christmas stocking and I heard his first gasp of surprise and delight when he saw the new thomas train. Just the scene alone of the early morning with the lights on the tree shining and us all cosy in our pj’s and Ronan running towards the tree and watching through his eyes as he sees the tree filled with presents and balloons surrounding them (another favourite of Ronan’s). It was so much fun. I love being a parent so much. Ronan would not wear the very cute tie he got for his birthday this year. All through the holidays I tried. The day after Christmas he decided that he had the perfect outfit for it.

2006 can be described in so many ways … here are a few.

The year of “no - no- no”. The year of the “cho-cho” and blowing kisses. The year of “Mommy help”. The year of “baaa-loons”. The year of Dad-Da’s car (especially now since I crashed mine own…. but that’s another story!). The year of Bananas. The year of “Mommy Up” with lots of hugs and kisses. The year of wonder… how do they grow so fast? The year of love and new birth. A baby cousin. The year of learning patience, humour, understanding and hope. A year to remember.

On November 11 Ronan had five of his very fun friends over for a jammin session. The fact that it was at 10 am and that there were cupcakes served didn’t make it any the less cooler. Ronan … or Row-Row to his friends rocked the house down accompanied by his party friends and of course The Wiggles. That’s cool right?

All of the party goers were invited to bring their favourite musical instrument and Ronan was no exception. Dad-Da had bought him electronic drums to bring to his party (because of course he could’nt be upstaged right…?) I mean this was his party. We taught Ronan how to answer what his age was… “How old are you Ronan” … “TWWWWOOOE” . It worked out quite well because two is his favourite number and really the answer to any math related question (he’s a chip off the old block).

Ronan rocked with the rythmns and really seemed to enjoy his party. All and all having five toddlers in our house on a rainy Saturday morning wasn’t nearly as bad as Rob thought it would be. Thank god because I did have him agreed to it under jetlag sedation. For more pictures visit ronanrocks.myphotoalbum.com

On November 9th Ronan turned 2. What can I tell you about one year that turns into two….

Well Ronan has ten different ways of saying Momma. All with different meaning and inflections. Rob said that Ronan’s expression and use of language is very similar to the Chinese Mandarin language (which Rob is learning).

He went from eating spicy sardines at a Portuguese Restaurant to resisting foods based off the order in which they are served or arranged on the plate.

His cheeks still feel baby soft. His heart grows and my love for him expands. He is still little baby and a big boy all at once. It is exciting and overwhelming all at once. We survived daycare dilemma’s and learned about separation together.

He grows in leaps and bounds and learns something new everyday. He blows my mind. He went from dancing in secret to venturing into the spot light but only at one minutes command and nothing more.

He smells sweet and has dirty fingernails. He loves trucks and sitting on my lap for a story but often wiggles away except at bedtime. We have gone many places, met many new friends, learned about being gentle and even have stopped screaming in the library. He makes me proud. He is my rock. He is Ronan and he is now 2.

What I have learned - top 5:
1. A soother is as addicting as crack.
2. “Terrible twos” start and end at just before two
3. One year olds love to scream at the top of their lungs in public places for fun
4. Choosing and sending your child to daycare is harder then child birth
5. You will cook 3 different meals at one sitting and they will all land on the floor.

I was busy. What can I say. Christmas was fun. Ronan didn’t know what was going on but he enjoyed it all the same. We had my parents over on Christmas Eve for a kick ass seafood dinner that Rob slaved over for hours. Followed by drinks that tasted like more! It was fun although Ronan was cranky from his early christmas gift, new teeth coming in. But he didn’t just get teeth, he got a really cool airplane that plays

“What a wonderful world.

” I figured it was quite fitting considering his daddy is a world traveller.

On Christmas Day we enjoyed a morning of opening gifts, just Rob, Ronan and me. It was cozy and we listened to old forties christmas tunes that made me feel like I was starring in an idealic Christmas movie.

We even did stockings, Ronan got a stocking filled with soothers and baby mum, mums (crackers). He thought that was quite cool. It was lovely really. Very hollywood indeed.Later that day we went to my sister-in-laws for an excellent christmas dinner. We were home early that night and it was blissful. We weren’t tired and it even snowed that night so it felt even more “cheesey magical”.

Santa brought Daddy his christmas gift late, well, the grinchy one did. While Rob was playing hockey just after the lovely holiday season a mean ole hockey oponent decided that it would be fun to bash Rob into the boards cause of course this is the NHL not a work recreational league. That night after playing out the game Rob realized something wasn’t quite right and a trip to the doctor the next day confirmed that he had 2 broken ribs. That of course didn’t stop Rob from trying to leave on a cross continent work tour… no, he packed the next day and was ready to depart until that is… he lifted his suitcase. Then, as they say in the business…. it was “Game Over”. He postponed it until a week later and decided on one continent only. The China one. It was to be a 10 day gig.

One night I came home from work to discover that my lovely boy was in his high-chair with no Nanny Annie in sight (Grandma). I called all around the house but received no reply. Worried, I looked around for some clue and found a note. It said “Had to leave, to beat the bad weather coming, Ronan has been fed and he was a good boy today”. See you tomorrow. Anne.

Well, I was aghast, how could this be. I just couldn’t believe that she would do this. I was looking for the phone when suddenly I heard running up the stairs … “SURPRISE”. Seems my lovely husband thought it would be funny to play a joke on me.

So how was your holiday season? It seems April Fools has already come to our house.

Love, Leigh, Ronan and the guy that now sleeps in the basement.

On Saturday, November 12 under sunny skies we had a birthday bash for Ronan in our backyard. I am happy to say our big event went off without a hitch. It was so cute, we had so much fun. Entertainment included a big puppet show at “Stage One Theatre”.

The production “Pooh and the Dragon” was adapted from the novelette”Pooh and the Dragon”

.

I made Ronan’s cake from a recipe in “What’s Cooking in Havre Boucher”.The kids all had fun playing with various stations that we set up although my cousin Kris suggested that I put away the finger paints saying.. “you don’t want to go there Leigh”.

After the second run of the production we had the cake ceremony. Ronan had two cakes presented to him.

Ronan had two pieces of cake. At first my mother tried to feed it to him with a spoon until my aunt heckled her and said “LET EM DO IT HIMSELF”. So with that said he went right at it. It was so funny. Every second that passed with with a glorious MMMMMMMMM was exaggerated to the excited crowd watching him.

Unfortunately this induldgence lead to quite a number of spit ups through the rest of the day and evening… Ohh the price we pay for the good stuff in life.

On July 23 under sunny skies Ronan Lawrence Mitchell was baptized at the lake! Well, not exactly at the lake but pretty darn close. Certainly his father would have loved him to be dunked in Thunder Beach but St. Florence Chapel had to suffice. Thunder Beach is home to the Mitchell Family Cottage and is also the area in which my Grandmother grew up so needless to say it is special place to both Rob and I and our families.

Father Hamel officiated the blessed event and put us at ease in knowing that Ronan was not going to end up in the plot of The Exorcist before or after the holy water was thrown his way.

Ronan’s God Parents Kristine (Leigh’s Cousin) and Giancarlo (Rob and Leigh’s close friend) were both wonderful and helpful and we thank them for agreeing to be an important part of Ronan’s life.

The ceremony was lovely and many attendees enjoyed a dunk in the lake afterwards (we were lucky they didn’t dunk us in the lake after spending hours stuck on Highway 400!).

Ronan received many lovely gifts and dad illustrated how he is still our greatest gift…

Later that day Rob held his own party - The Sinners Bash. Many cheers were given to Ronan over the evening!Ronan has since shown us many little miracles… he is crawling at rapid rates, stands tall for us and even went for a ride in Noah’s boat.

It is amazing how quickly they change and develop and how fast time flies.

Rob is currently off saving his soul in New Zealand and Austrailia. Gone until close to the end of the month… then we are blessed with his presence until 2006… yippee!

Bless you all, Love Leigh, Rob and Ronan xxoo

Ohh sure you look at this pretty page and think… “She’s certainly got a lot of time on her hands”. Well in between trips to the spa and art gallery I also take a little time for design. Just joking…I blogged it. Click of a button and poof I got a web site for you.

Ronan continues to be a world traveller these days, we just got back from a week in Montreal. Rob had business to attend to there and we tagged along. Actually, it was quite nice as it gave me the opportunity to have a change of scenery and Rob and I even had a night out after securing a babysitter through our hotel. We went to a french restaurant off the beaten track on a cool little side street in an area called Mont Plateau. We brought with us a nice bottle of wine which we got in Tuscany while on our honeymoon. As it happens, we celebrated five years of marriage together. June 23, 2000 .

Ronan continues to grow at crazy rapid rates. Off the charts this kid is.

I also had the thrill of hearing the words mom-mom-mom-mom. The fact that he calls these precious words out to our mail man doesn’t matter… He’s super smart and even better he loves me!

We have been putting in a fair bit of time in the water these days to stay cool as our Summer so far has been hot, hot, hot. So we hang at the Thunder Beach (where the Mitchell Cottage is) and at the Mitchell/Daw Pools. Ronan has fun splashing around and we discourage him when he tries to bite/eat the water in the pool. Goof.

These days biting is pure entertainment. First he started with his toes, now he is on to the area rug in our living room.

Rob is in on a business trip to China and Japan, when he calls he makes a point of speaking to Ronan. It is so cute because Ronan’s eyes light up and he lets out a big belly laugh. You just know he recongizes the voice, but, in the end he just wants to eat the telephone. What can I say, the boy has a good appetite. He will soon be battling his father for first dibs to warm up food in the microwave at 2 am.

Stay cool.

Love Leigh