New update
Dad's doing ok. He's been up on the ward for almost a week and he's been walking a bit almost every day. He's had a bit of an infection, which we're concerned about, but if the doctors manage to get that fixed, he'll be able to go home in another week or so. I've been driving out almost everyday - that's 325km round trip. I know every pothole and dead animal on the highway now. Ben's been a very good sport about the whole thing and has slept in the car and entertained his Poppy and kept up his spirits. Today we are at home because I'm pooped and there's a ton of stuff to get done around here. Ben is also kinda out of sorts today, I think he's cutting a new tooth. We are also weaning because he's just losing interest in the boobs and since he's bitten me three times now, I'm starting to think that it's not so bad. At the same time, my heart breaks a little each time he refuses to breastfeed, sigh.....sniff, sniff.

Update
After seven hours of surgery, my Dad is in ICU and recovering. It's still too early to predict anything, but the surgical team said that it went pretty well. We are very lucky, the aortic aneurysm could have burst at anytime and would have meant almost certain death. I can't thank the radiologist who caught the problem while reviewing the x-rays, and the surgical team at the CHU in Sherbrooke for moving so quickly. He's awake this morning, but just in and out. It's going to be a long recovery. Thank you to everyone for your positive mental vibes :-)

I love taking my son out and about. Yesterday, we went down to Old Montreal to pick up Steve from work, and then downtown to a bookstore. Because we weren't going on a long expedition, Steve carried him around. Ben starts rocking excitedly when you walk with him outside. He loves looking at the people, and the buildings, and just everything. He likes it when Steve carries him even more because he has a higher perspective. So, he rocks, he smiles and he laughs, but what I really get a kick out of is all the attention he receives. He seems to know just who will make a big fuss over him. He loves women, but he'll also single out the men who will make funny faces and stick out their tongues. I guess that it's hard to turn down a face as cute as this:

Sometimes he chooses the most unlikely people, biker guys, rigid businessmen, or teenage boys. He almost always gets a positive response for his troubles. I know that at some point I am going to have to teach Ben about strangers, but it breaks my heart to think that one day he's going to have to know that there are bad people and dangers in this world. Every parent in the world must feel this way.

Happy Easter!

from Ozzy the Easter Bunny

Congrats!
A big WOOHOO to Lisa and her incredible proposing fiancé!

The day of no naps
Ben decided not to have naps today, and I've discovered how much I need his naps to get anything done. He wasn't in a bad mood, just not tired, at all, no matter what I did or fed him. I did finally give up and let him play on his mat while I got a few chores done. I also made a marvelous banana bread with pecans that filled the house with the most glorious smell! Ben conked out after supper and some nursing around 7:00, and I fully expect him to stay that way until 6:30am.
Ben's bottom teeth are coming in, you can just see them peaking through the gums. So far, he hasn't bitten me while he's nursing, let's keep our fingers crossed! The weekend was great, except for the snow on Sunday. We did a lot around the house, got Ben's new car seat, had a short visit to a park (Ben's first), and had dinner with our friends Dan and Libby who we haven't seen for a bit.

The car seat was a bit of a pain. Last weekend our friends with a slightly younger son mentioned they had to change car seats, and sure enough, when we returned home and I looked at the manual, I realised that we were overdue for a larger seat. Oops! So, I get on the internet and start researching convertible car seats (ones that are rear-facing until 1 year and then forward-facing until 40lbs), because you can't get help at the big toy store or department stores. I narrow it down to two seats. One is made in the UK and REALLY expensive, the other is made in the states and reasonably priced and just as safe. There is a third choice which seems to be widely available and used by many friends, but I was more interested in the second seat. I went looking for the second seat and couldn't find it anywhere. After phoning the company's head office in Ohio, I learn that they don't import it to Canada. Ah! So that leaves me with the third choice, which seems to be the only game in town. We couldn't afford the UK seat, and I couldn't find anyone that even sold it in Montreal. I found a decent, smaller store where the saleslady really knew a lot about car seats and was exceedingly helpful. We paid about twenty dollars more for the seat, but I prefer to keep a smaller store in business where you can get service over that cold mega toy store.