Random Life Updates
- I decided to give up alcohol for the month of April. I have no real reason for giving up alcohol, it’s not like we drink a lot (we have a glass of wine with dinner a few times a week). Needless to say, giving up alcohol with a screaming puppy was not a good idea! I totally had a glass of red wine last night after Little MPB went to bed. Maybe I’ll try again in a month or two after the dog learns not to scream and my nerves aren’t shot from said screaming.
- I hate to say this for fear of jinxing it – Little MPB has been healthy ever since he recovered from pneumonia back in January. Does this string of healthy weeks mean we’ve survived the first winter of daycare germs?
- Speaking of pneumonia, we saw Little MPB’s pediatrician again for a check-up. She really doesn’t think the most recent x-rays mean Little MPB has asthma. According to her, first he’s too young to diagnose asthma, especially in the absence of breathing problems. X-rays simply aren’t a reliable diagnostic tool for asthma. Secondly, I guess the second set of x-rays were really bad x-rays because his positioning is so poor – I guess there’s a reason the toddler x-ray torture device is best to use. Otherwise she was very happy with his development and told us to come back in a year, unless something comes up between now and then.
- We just found out Little MPB’s favourite teacher is leaving his daycare and I am so disappointed. She’s the one who leads their potty training efforts, so I’m selfishly very disappointment. But I’m also disappointing for Little MPB as he absolutely adores her. Literally every single morning the very first thing he does is run and give her hugs. I’m so sad for my little boy.
- Doodle MPB went for her first 4 hour long one-on-one training session yesterday. We aren’t expecting an instant miracle, but I am desperately hoping that we will start to see some changes in her obsessive barking. She’s now at the point where if we aren’t in her sight-line while she’s in her x-pen, she doesn’t bark obsessively. Which means as long as we don’t go into our kitchen or use our front door, we have some peace and quite. But, unfortunately we do need to use our kitchen at least a couple times a day. She is also learning to play with a toy in her mouth which seems like a brilliant toddler-dog strategy.
- I’m on the road with work again today – I’ll drive nearly 500km (300miles) round-trip today. Lately I tend to do this at least once per week, if not twice per week. It makes for a lot of time driving. I’ve never been a fan of driving, but I expect today to be extra hard for me as my emotions and anxiety and off the charts due to the events of this last weekend. I drive a smaller Subaru hatchback and I drive a lot of rural roads to get to my client’s offices. But I know all too well that life goes on and I must go to work tomorrow, even if I’d much rather never drive a rural road again.
It’s amazing how much more I worry about driving now thanks to my fear of leaving Little MPB without his mom – I know what that’s like and I just don’t ever want my own child to have to grow up without a parent. Lately I’ve been wanting to get a larger vehicle so that I’m higher up when I’m on the road, While a larger vehicle will be a lot less fuel efficient, it will be a lot safer from a size perspective (i.e. bigger cars tend to stand up a bit better then little cars when it comes to collisions). But now it’s become a much bigger deal in my mind so I’ve become desperate to trade in my car for something bigger. Maybe a Rav4,a Subaru Forester, or a Chevy Equinox. Most likely a few year old one to make this more affordable. Anyone have any thoughts on mid-sizes SUV’s?
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I like Nissan Rouge. decently good in fuel efficiency and also, they just recently upgraded the entire body of Nissan (2 years ago I believe). so even if you trade in, you are getting a newer version of the car. Cars don’t change their models (major upgrades) every 7-8 years(Approx), so there is no risk of being out marketed.
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I love my equinox. It isn’t too big, and is great on gas still. It is perfect for us!!!
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I stopped drinking alcohol shortly before Christmas. No reason, I just didn’t have the urge. I did have one drink when I went out with a friend recently and honestly it was meh and I felt like I wasted $8 on it. I do love a nice drink around the firepit in the summer though so we’ll see how I continue in summer.
I have a GMC Terrain and I love it. Super similar to an Equinox, but I liked the boxy shape better than the rounded shape of the Equinox. I’ve had my SUV for 4 years now and I absolutely love it, I’m planning on keeping it until its either no longer driveable or maybe one of my kids will want to buy it in a few years when they have their license 😛
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I’m a bigger SUV fan myself, but some good smaller SUVs that we have test drove are the Rav4 (I really liked it), Toyota Venza (which is more of a cross-over), Nissan Rogue, Mazda CX3 (which i loved but for car seat space it wasn’t optimal without dealing with a kid kicking the back of the passenger seat). We tried the Subaru Forester but I felt it was a bit small in the interior for a car seat and dog. I really loved the Subaru Outback though. Try checking out some crossover vehicles as well as some of them are bigger and sit higher up than a standard car but tend to be a little bit longer in length which means more space for hauling kid stuff as well as puppy MPB who will soon be a BIG puppy MPB!
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Giving up alcohol with a new puppy and toddler is quite a goal! I told myself “no drinking unless it’s the weekend” but often fail come mid week when the late afternoon tantrums hit.
Also we have a 4 runner and LOVE it.
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I drive a Subaru Crosstrek, which I love, but it’s more of a crossover. My husband recently got an Outback and I love it! It sits up higher than the Crosstrek and is more roomy, and I think it’s one of the top-rated safest vehicles out there.
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I lOVE my Subaru. Id love to get the Subaru Forester because I love my current Subaru so much. The outback won’t fit in our garage well as our garage is long and narrow and we the extra few inches in with will make it increasingly hard to park, so the Forster is the one i want. Oh and the Crosstrek is exactly the same as my Impreza, it just sits slightly higher. I’ve definitely done my Subaru homework because I love my current one so much!! 🙂
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So glad that Little MPB is healthy and that Doodle MPB is making some baby/puppy steps in stopping the excessive barking! Sounds like good news all around! No advice on the SUV, I’m afraid, although we do love our Subaru Outback — we went with the Outback instead of the Forester because there was more room in the back for our 60lb dog (who now has to share the back with baby gear whenever we all travel as a family, so we are particularly glad of the extra space).
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remember that bigger doesn’t necessarily mean safer when it comes to cars – more susceptible to rollovers.
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We have a Honda CR-V that we like, but my parents have a Subaru Forester and love it. I’ve ridden in the Subaru several times and it is quite nice. Here’s hoping that Little MPB has gotten to the end of the daycare germs for a bit and stays healthy! Sorry to hear his favorite teacher is leaving. It’s hard when the ones the kids/parents really like go. Glad to hear that Doodle MPB is possibly making a bit of progress! Fingers crossed that the training gets the screaming under control.
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We have a Volvo XC60 and it is awesome – mid sized suv style.
Even though you hate driving and being away at least it’s a day away from dog screaming lol
Poor Little MPB. I feel sad for him. But they will have someone there who will sleep into the place of favourite for him I’m sure. Fingers crossed x
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I have a RAV4 and absolutely love it! We’ve found Toyotas to be really fuel efficient and crazy reliable. Plus with the AWD it handles beautifully in snow. Our second car is a Mazda CX-7 and it pales in comparison. We’re going to replace it with another RAV or a Highlander.
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