Here's something else she doesn't really need us for these days either:
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
A Week of Lessons
You know what's really funny? Watching a two-and-a-half year old try to walk after spending 15 minutes or so spinning herself silly on a tire swing.
You know what's a really bad idea? Letting a two-and-a-half year old spend 15 minutes on a tire swing.
Think: vomit. Lots of vomit. On the sand, through the nose, in the shoes. Oh yeah. Hindsight is 20/20 alright.
You know what's a really bad idea? Letting a two-and-a-half year old spend 15 minutes on a tire swing.
Think: vomit. Lots of vomit. On the sand, through the nose, in the shoes. Oh yeah. Hindsight is 20/20 alright.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Lesson Learned.
I made my daughter walk about 2km today. Maybe I was a bit overzealous. It started out innocently enough, with a one block trip to the mailbox and the intention of heading to the park to burn a couple of hours before dinner. Then an over-ambitious mom decided to check out our new dance studio first and maybe buy a pair of scrubs.
In fairness, I did give her the choice of walking or taking her tricycle.
In fairness, she is two-and-a-half with absolutely no sense of time and distance.
At any rate, it could have gone much worse. She did a pretty great job of walking there, and was saved by the rain when we ducked into a gazebo for a snack just as her enthusiasm was starting to wane.
Funny though, once we made it to the studio she started doing weird things like demanding more snacks and lying down on the floor. Can't imagine what she was trying to tell me. Then of course the snack that she picked out sucked and she flatly refused to cross the threshold of the scrubs store. Weird.
Then I did what any self-preserving parent would do and aborted mission, only to suffer the slings and arrows of a child who didn't-really-want-to-actually-leave-and-now-REALLY-wants-to-go-shopping-and-oh-hell-I'm-so-exhausted-I'm-not-sure-who-you-are...and walked home. Alllllll the way home. With a couple of stops to address the following issues:
"I don't WANT to leave!"
"I don't WANT you to be disappointed!"
"I want ANOTHER snack!"
"I LOVE you mama!"
"Can we go to the park now?"
with the following replies:
"Coulda fooled me."
"And yet.."
"Not likely."
"Yeah, well, there's that."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"
In fairness, I did give her the choice of walking or taking her tricycle.
In fairness, she is two-and-a-half with absolutely no sense of time and distance.
At any rate, it could have gone much worse. She did a pretty great job of walking there, and was saved by the rain when we ducked into a gazebo for a snack just as her enthusiasm was starting to wane.
Funny though, once we made it to the studio she started doing weird things like demanding more snacks and lying down on the floor. Can't imagine what she was trying to tell me. Then of course the snack that she picked out sucked and she flatly refused to cross the threshold of the scrubs store. Weird.
Then I did what any self-preserving parent would do and aborted mission, only to suffer the slings and arrows of a child who didn't-really-want-to-actually-leave-and-now-REALLY-wants-to-go-shopping-and-oh-hell-I'm-so-exhausted-I'm-not-sure-who-you-are...and walked home. Alllllll the way home. With a couple of stops to address the following issues:
"I don't WANT to leave!"
"I don't WANT you to be disappointed!"
"I want ANOTHER snack!"
"I LOVE you mama!"
"Can we go to the park now?"
with the following replies:
"Coulda fooled me."
"And yet.."
"Not likely."
"Yeah, well, there's that."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Isms
In the opinion of the esteemed Ferris Bueller, "isms" are not good. Now Ferris and I almost always see eye to eye, but here's one spot where we differ.
"Cow-isms" is the title of my new regular feature on this blog. Thanks Nik, for the recommendation that I create a forum to showcase the brilliance that my daughter regularly shares with the world. And thank you to Amy, who submitted her vote to hear the more dubious, yet equally entertaining, brilliance that my husband has to offer. On occasion, I also produce the odd flash of je ne sais quoi, so I'll throw that in here as well.
In this inaugural post of its kind, I submit for your consideration my husband's unique take on the world:
"Cow-isms" is the title of my new regular feature on this blog. Thanks Nik, for the recommendation that I create a forum to showcase the brilliance that my daughter regularly shares with the world. And thank you to Amy, who submitted her vote to hear the more dubious, yet equally entertaining, brilliance that my husband has to offer. On occasion, I also produce the odd flash of je ne sais quoi, so I'll throw that in here as well.
In this inaugural post of its kind, I submit for your consideration my husband's unique take on the world:
M: Why do you think his condition progressed so quickly?
J: Well, I think he's a little bit homeless.
M: ??
As well as my daughter's timeless wisdom:
M: What do you think my job is?
E: Well, to watch me take a bath, and to pick me up sometimes, and all kinds of stuff like that.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Just call me Mav...
The plan was to drive J to the hospital this morning to see a patient, then the girls would run some errands at Canadian Tire, Old Navy and the grocery store and swing by to pick him up on the way home for lunch. Sounded okay, and things were ticking along as scheduled...until mom decided to go rogue. Now that doesn't happen very often, so while what you're about to read may not seem like fodder for the next big action movie of the summer...well, it sure does to me.
Program GPS for Canadian Tire - check! T minus 11 minutes...
E: Mom, I want a snack.
Mom makes visual contact with McDonalds, thus activating salivary glands.
M: Babe, you just had two snacks, I think you're good until lunch.
Mom averts eyes from the arches only to be hit with a Tim Hortons. Stomach grumbles.
E: I want another snack.
Mom spies play structure looming stealthily behind Tim Hortons.
(cue Top Gun soundtrack) Goose, it's time to buzz a tower.
M: Change of plans, babe. What do you say we get a snack at Tim Hortons and go to the park and play?
E: Oh-KAY! Let's DO IT!!!
Now that's just the beginning of the excitement. Sure, there was sand and slides and chocolate donuts, but imagine my surprise when I spotted an old steam engine on the other side of the road. And, a lighthouse? Wait a second...is that a rocket ship??! This would require some investigation. Turns out we were across the street from the Museum of Science and Technology! So we strolled over, opting out of the whole go-in-and-pay-admission scenario and just toured around. We went to the top of the Cape North lighthouse, at which point it occurred to me that getting down might be a predicament. We shot water bottle rockets into the sky alongside the Convair Atlas rocket, and rehydrated in the shade alongside a CN 6200 steam locomotive. Upon later research it turns out that there's also an Observatory, not to mention all sorts of wonderful things that can be found inside the museum itself. We will have to go back. But for today, with a little free time and a couple of open minds, we managed to take a boring old Saturday morning and turn it into an adventure.
Program GPS for Canadian Tire - check! T minus 11 minutes...
E: Mom, I want a snack.
Mom makes visual contact with McDonalds, thus activating salivary glands.
M: Babe, you just had two snacks, I think you're good until lunch.
Mom averts eyes from the arches only to be hit with a Tim Hortons. Stomach grumbles.
E: I want another snack.
Mom spies play structure looming stealthily behind Tim Hortons.
(cue Top Gun soundtrack) Goose, it's time to buzz a tower.
M: Change of plans, babe. What do you say we get a snack at Tim Hortons and go to the park and play?
E: Oh-KAY! Let's DO IT!!!
Now that's just the beginning of the excitement. Sure, there was sand and slides and chocolate donuts, but imagine my surprise when I spotted an old steam engine on the other side of the road. And, a lighthouse? Wait a second...is that a rocket ship??! This would require some investigation. Turns out we were across the street from the Museum of Science and Technology! So we strolled over, opting out of the whole go-in-and-pay-admission scenario and just toured around. We went to the top of the Cape North lighthouse, at which point it occurred to me that getting down might be a predicament. We shot water bottle rockets into the sky alongside the Convair Atlas rocket, and rehydrated in the shade alongside a CN 6200 steam locomotive. Upon later research it turns out that there's also an Observatory, not to mention all sorts of wonderful things that can be found inside the museum itself. We will have to go back. But for today, with a little free time and a couple of open minds, we managed to take a boring old Saturday morning and turn it into an adventure.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Smile. It's Friday.
Our neighbours have sunflowers in their backyard that soar over the six foot privacy fence and keep us company as we dine al fresco.
This morning at the park the sky was an incredible, mesmerizing shade of blue, with one tiny, unassuming cloud drifting through its expanse.
When I forgot to bring a towel to the pool the other day, E found her own way to dry off by circumnavigating the pool, lying down on her belly and stretching out her arms and legs every few steps to make "water angels".
We had fruit salad for lunch today because, why not? It was full of "'ectarines", the few blueberries that didn't end up in my sous-chef's belly before they could make it to the bowl, grapes, pears, kiwis, apricots, and some "abo-cado" on the side. Dee-lish.
On the way home from a playdate yesterday, I hadn't realized that I was having animated conversations with the drivers around me until I heard "Chill out mama. It's okay. I'm telling you to chill out because you're not chillin' out" from the backseat.
Our mailman introduced himself to us yesterday. His name is Jim. He called me by name and said he's been on this route for four years and likes to meet the new people he delivers to. Now that's just nice.
My daughter can breakdance. I witnessed it myself yesterday. She's really good.
It's payday.
My daughter, after never once having any trouble staying in her toddler bed since it's introduction, fell out twice last night after I moved her bed to the other side of the room. Now maybe that shouldn't make me smile, but it does.
I'm starting a dance class in September. It's been about 18 years, so I'm a little rusty, but I can't remember the last time I was this giddy with anticipation about something.
In one week E will be reunited with her camper and the grandparents who own it, and just a few days after that we will be reunited with my brother and his extraordinarily wonderful trio of girls.
And if I haven't gotten you yet, you don't stand a chance against E's new joke:
Q: What's brown and sticky?
......
A: A stick!
This morning at the park the sky was an incredible, mesmerizing shade of blue, with one tiny, unassuming cloud drifting through its expanse.
When I forgot to bring a towel to the pool the other day, E found her own way to dry off by circumnavigating the pool, lying down on her belly and stretching out her arms and legs every few steps to make "water angels".
We had fruit salad for lunch today because, why not? It was full of "'ectarines", the few blueberries that didn't end up in my sous-chef's belly before they could make it to the bowl, grapes, pears, kiwis, apricots, and some "abo-cado" on the side. Dee-lish.
On the way home from a playdate yesterday, I hadn't realized that I was having animated conversations with the drivers around me until I heard "Chill out mama. It's okay. I'm telling you to chill out because you're not chillin' out" from the backseat.
Our mailman introduced himself to us yesterday. His name is Jim. He called me by name and said he's been on this route for four years and likes to meet the new people he delivers to. Now that's just nice.
My daughter can breakdance. I witnessed it myself yesterday. She's really good.
It's payday.
My daughter, after never once having any trouble staying in her toddler bed since it's introduction, fell out twice last night after I moved her bed to the other side of the room. Now maybe that shouldn't make me smile, but it does.
I'm starting a dance class in September. It's been about 18 years, so I'm a little rusty, but I can't remember the last time I was this giddy with anticipation about something.
In one week E will be reunited with her camper and the grandparents who own it, and just a few days after that we will be reunited with my brother and his extraordinarily wonderful trio of girls.
And if I haven't gotten you yet, you don't stand a chance against E's new joke:
Q: What's brown and sticky?
......
A: A stick!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
This one's for Gramma Leslie
Another visit to the Museum of Civilization last week gave us the opportunity to discover more new and distant lands that we didn't know existed within the walls of the vast Children's Museum. We've taken a bus ride through Pakistan, sewn wedding quilts in India and ground corn into flour in Nigeria. We've made lovely music in China and even got our origami on in Japan. On this latest trip we made flowers at a flower market and popped over to France for a little gourmet cooking, but the big surprise was a trip down the Nile. We found pyramids, a camel and we even studied hieroglyphs. Maybe Gramma Leslie will consider taking along a pint-sized companion on her next trip to Egypt!
Colour Me Happy
E is learning all about colours these days. Specifically, mixing colours. She loves to paint, and imagine her surprise to discover that if you have two colours, you can combine them to make a WHOLE NEW COLOUR! I believe it all started with pink, as things generally do around here. She wanted pink paint. Of course she did. So I pulled out the red and the white paint, and she was quick to inform me that no, not red paint and not white paint, she wanted pink paint. "Ah, but watch this!" I reply conspiratorially. "You take a little red, you take a little white and..."
"It's PINK!!!"
That's right kid. Your mom's a magician.
We followed that up with a little yellow-and-blue-makes-green, some red-and-blue-makes-purple, a dash of yellow-and-red-makes-orange, and for our grand finale - green and black makes dark green. Perfect for making "ogre hands":
"It's PINK!!!"
That's right kid. Your mom's a magician.
We followed that up with a little yellow-and-blue-makes-green, some red-and-blue-makes-purple, a dash of yellow-and-red-makes-orange, and for our grand finale - green and black makes dark green. Perfect for making "ogre hands":
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Parlez-vous français?
La fille has been showing lots of interest in the French language these days. Her favourite book right now is this one:
She wants me to read it constantly, although she refers to it as "the french book that I don't like". Go figure.
Also, she likes to make up words that sound french and ask me what they mean. Then she has little conversations in "french" to her stuffed animals sometimes, which is pretty adorable. She knows a few colours, a few shapes, and that "tout chaud" means "nice and hot"...to paraphrase. And every night we wish each other a Bonne nuit! Je t'aime! And that's just nice.
It's fun to actively teach your kids stuff and watch them effortlessly and enthusiastically add new facts and skills to their ever-growing repertoire of braininess. In fact, just the other day we discussed the whole seasonal cycle of leaves turning colours and falling off of trees. When I pointed out one tree with leaves and one without, her response was "That is a-MA-zing!!!" without a hint of sarcasm. I felt like a genius.
But you know what's even more fun? The greatest part of all this learning is witnessing what happens when they filter through all of those tidbits to decide what they think is cool and find their own interests. It's really quite mind-blowing, and maybe that's kinda lame in a yep-I'm-a-parent-and-everything-my-kid-does-is-amazing kind of way, but I'm too busy having my mind blown over here to care about being lame.
She wants me to read it constantly, although she refers to it as "the french book that I don't like". Go figure.
Also, she likes to make up words that sound french and ask me what they mean. Then she has little conversations in "french" to her stuffed animals sometimes, which is pretty adorable. She knows a few colours, a few shapes, and that "tout chaud" means "nice and hot"...to paraphrase. And every night we wish each other a Bonne nuit! Je t'aime! And that's just nice.
It's fun to actively teach your kids stuff and watch them effortlessly and enthusiastically add new facts and skills to their ever-growing repertoire of braininess. In fact, just the other day we discussed the whole seasonal cycle of leaves turning colours and falling off of trees. When I pointed out one tree with leaves and one without, her response was "That is a-MA-zing!!!" without a hint of sarcasm. I felt like a genius.
But you know what's even more fun? The greatest part of all this learning is witnessing what happens when they filter through all of those tidbits to decide what they think is cool and find their own interests. It's really quite mind-blowing, and maybe that's kinda lame in a yep-I'm-a-parent-and-everything-my-kid-does-is-amazing kind of way, but I'm too busy having my mind blown over here to care about being lame.
Princess for a Day
One of the many, many things on my list of things to do with my girl this summer was High Tea at Chateau Laurier. My girl is definitely at least part princess, and has a deep appreciation for all things pretty, sparkly and luxurious. She also loves spiders and dirt, but there's a time and place for everything, right?
When I first asked her if she wanted to go to tea with mama at a Real Castle, she was intrigued, but I sensed her hesitation. "Babies don't drink tea, right mama?" she inquired doubtfully. Then, when I explained the concept of British "tea", adding that this particular castle substitutes hot chocolate for the underage crowd, the furrowed eyebrows shot up well past her hairline and she was sold. Casually toss the word "cupcake" into the conversation and you had better have this excursion planned for the VERY near future because you will have an EXTREMELY impatient princess on your hands.
We had the distinct pleasure of entertaining friends Rob and Shaggy from London last week and, knowing Shaggy to be an enthusiast of all things decadent and girly, I suggested we make it a Tea Party for three. It was a wild success. From the moment we emerged from the Dungeon (parking garage) into the Castle proper, E immediately shouted "I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!!" And it only gets better from the dungeon. Giant bouquets of flowers, gilded walls, marble floors...it was more opulence than she had ever experienced. Once we found the tea room, the staff made sure to treat her in the manner to which a lady of her standing is accustomed, and she gobbled it right up. She was a fabulous dining companion, even if she did wrangle some of Shaggy's treats away from her.
I have a feeling that tea parties around our house are going to become a bit more elaborate in the future. I'm not sure watered-down juice and wooden strawberries will cut it anymore.
When I first asked her if she wanted to go to tea with mama at a Real Castle, she was intrigued, but I sensed her hesitation. "Babies don't drink tea, right mama?" she inquired doubtfully. Then, when I explained the concept of British "tea", adding that this particular castle substitutes hot chocolate for the underage crowd, the furrowed eyebrows shot up well past her hairline and she was sold. Casually toss the word "cupcake" into the conversation and you had better have this excursion planned for the VERY near future because you will have an EXTREMELY impatient princess on your hands.
We had the distinct pleasure of entertaining friends Rob and Shaggy from London last week and, knowing Shaggy to be an enthusiast of all things decadent and girly, I suggested we make it a Tea Party for three. It was a wild success. From the moment we emerged from the Dungeon (parking garage) into the Castle proper, E immediately shouted "I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!!" And it only gets better from the dungeon. Giant bouquets of flowers, gilded walls, marble floors...it was more opulence than she had ever experienced. Once we found the tea room, the staff made sure to treat her in the manner to which a lady of her standing is accustomed, and she gobbled it right up. She was a fabulous dining companion, even if she did wrangle some of Shaggy's treats away from her.
I have a feeling that tea parties around our house are going to become a bit more elaborate in the future. I'm not sure watered-down juice and wooden strawberries will cut it anymore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)