Marie's Web Log

Tonight is bonfire night, and even as I sit at the computer typing this, I can hear the pops and crackles and loud bangs of fireworks being set off by people in the neighbourhood. I am surprised by the number and quality of fireworks that people set off in their backyards. It must be expensive, and - you'd think - dangerous.

Ian, Amelia and I walked down the road to a bonfire night celebration being held in the sports field of a local college. They had a few fairground rides and some food and alcohol for sale, and loud music. At 6:15 they lit a huge bonfire in a fenced off area at the far end of the field, and at 7:45 there was a spectacular fireworks display - as good or better than the ones I've seen in Ottawa on Canada Day. Luckily Amelia is not frightened by loud noises, but she did get very tired and fell asleep quite quickly once we got her in bed. When this happens, it usually means she has a disturbed night later, so we'll see.

In case you don't know, bonfire night marks the anniversary of the plot to blow up the British parliament in 1605. I used to wonder why such a thing would be celebrated, but apparently when the citizens of the time discovered that the plot had been foiled and the King was saved, they lit bonfires in celebration. And the fireworks supposedly commemorate the explosives the plotters were planning to use. My theory is that this is a relatively modern event grafted on to the ancient tradition of having festivals to mark the end of autumn and beginning of winter.

Halloween was a non-event. There wasn't even anything in the news the next day about any trouble or anyone being arrested for mischief. No-one came round to our house, though I did see a couple of dressed up kids go by on the other street. If we had lived here longer and known some other families, I might have taken Amelia out, but we hadn't so I didn't.

Amelia is enjoying going to day care three days a week. She did a couple of half days last week, and then stayed for nap time. Yesterday when I took her in in the morning, she clapped her hands and then looked at me and said "bye bye." She seems to like being with the other children - 5 or 6 little boys, depending on the day. They're all around 2 years old, except for one who is a little younger.

We are trying a slightly different method of dealing with her sleep schedule, which seems to be working, so we're keeping our fingers crossed. Julie the health visitor came to see us on Wednesday. She is very nice and gave us some good information. In the next few weeks a nurse will come out to give Amelia a two-year check up - weigh her and measure her, etc. Julie also told us the nurse can work with us to develop a sleep program for Amelia, and Julie herself will help us improve Amelia's eating if we need it. Which is a lot more help than we ever got from the Canadian medical system. Amelia's pediatrician in Mississauga was lovely, but we only got lucky in finding her, and in most things we felt pretty much on our own.

I think this is probably long enough. The weather here is still quite mild - weirdly mild for November. Amelia will be two years old next Friday. More soon...