Thursday, February 24, 2011

He shoots, he scores

After a day playing street hockey, the kid is obsessed. Maybe the Oilers will be decent by the time he can follow the league - that gives them 10 years to get it together.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Thursday, February 17, 2011

1,2,4!

How many eyes do you have? How many feet?

The answer may surprise you, at least if you ask the wee man. In recent days he has taken to counting everything. Feet and eyes are the usual suspects, but various animals, bits of food and raindrops also are noted and counted. The only place this really breaks down is if the item being counted is present in anything other than a pair. Counting, it seems, follows an irreversible logic. If there is one, then there must be two, and if we're going to keep on going then the next integer is 4 followed by 6 which is quickly succeeded by 9.

Those are the wee mans numbers - 1, 2, 4 ,6, 9. They've also become our lottery numbers, but we don't think they'll land us lost in Hawai'i.

But how good is your counting? Let's put it to the test. Just click on the cool litlle button on the upper left (or the one below) and see how much you can donate to a great cause. This year, mummum, dadda and the little guy are all hopping aboard bicycles to Ride for Heart! Of course the wee man wont be pedalling himself, but now Dadda has the toddler on top of  his extra holiday weight haul along the course.




See you at the finish line!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Why?

The toddler spanish inquisition has begun. Why IS the sky blue? Go ask your dad is only going to last for so long. Is he too young to google it?
Sigh, Mommy tired. But amused all the same.

Sent from my iPhone

Friday, February 11, 2011

We're torn

At the moment one of the wee man's favourites books is the ABC of Monsters. Now being one of his favourite books is a big deal. He loves books. And he has a ton of them. Everyday we're reading something new off the bookshelf (usually not before bed since the routine has somehow switched to a Thomas video before bed, but that's a whole other post). He reads all the time at daycare and he carries at least a couple of books around in his pack (yes, since our trip he likes to drag his new monkey backpack everywhere). So to love one above the others says something about its quality, or alternatively his tastes.

This is where I'm torn. The ABC of Monsters is from my childhood. It belongsed to my sister, although how she acquired it, I have no idea. Originally published in 1976, Kate must of gotten hers in the early 1980s. As we grew up it got buried in the basement amongst the other kids books. On a visit home last year I discovered it, dusted it off and brought it back for the little man.

Written by Deborah Niland, it's the very cute tail of a little girl who goes to a monster party and sees them "annoying apes", "bothering bees", "cuddling cats" . . . "and zig-zagging all the way home". The illustrations are both hilarious and engaging and it won the Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award 1977. The little man has his own actions and sound effects for every letter of the alphabet, especially the predictable "kissing kings", but also the "gobbling grannies" and "ogling ogres".

This is where I'm torn. The book is great and the little man loves it. He loves it too much. It's more than 30 years old and it's not holding up very well to his love. While all the pages are currently attached, they cannot remain so for much longer. So do I save it and only share it in small doses, hopefully prolonging it's life or do I keep at this rip-roaring pace? Less pleasure for longer or more for shorter? What about any potential sibilings, shouldn't they get to share in this treasure?

I think there are a couple used copies floating around the internet, but they seem a bit pricy for which they will surely suffer the same fate.

Some part of me still thinks he's too young to learn the cruelties of this harsh world.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Just desserts

So here I was basking in our recent trip down south to the beaches of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Well I think LeBron might have something to say about Karma.

The little man's teething has kicked back in. This time it's the two-year molars. And now he's a toddler who can communicate, oh and tantrum too. With mom coming home late, cooking dinner from scratch may not have been the best idea. Juggling boiling pots, chopping ingredients while trying to manage a little man who was not about to be reasoned with, distracted, loved, bribed, or bought. A certain theme song springs to mind with a little narration: "your mission should you choose  . . ."  

At least he ate all the dinner when it was finally served. Doesn't change the fact that I'm missing the all-inclusive food cooked and cleaned up by somebody else.  I need to invest in some earplugs.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Just trying to stay in the moment . . .




Jealous yet?

Back from the Break

Last week we found ourselves free of the depths of the Canadian winter, lying on a white sand beach, splashing in azure waters, shaded by magnificient palm trees. There was fresh cerveza steps away and a gorgeous kiddie pool complete with water-spewing snakes and crocodiles.  We were on vacation. A nice big family vacation.

I'll be sure to post some pics here just in case you weren't jealous yet. Oh and the little guy was good as gold on the flights.