A lesson in nature

We have a lot of books with pictures of animals. But living in the city, it's rare that you ever get to see most of those creatures up close. For the little guy they must seem somewhat surreal.

At the cottage he had some wonderful encounters with nature. I truly believe that he's been enriched by them. Here are just a few examples:

There were hundreds of Sun Fish swimming near the dock. So many, that you could easily catch them in a fishing net. So we did just that. Daddy would catch them in the net, and put them into a bowl full of water for M baby to watch. Then we'd let him release them back into the water. We also let him take turns holding the net, trying to catch the fish. The only problem was that his joy of fishing did not quite parallel his love for throwing things into the water. I can't tell you how many times I had to lean over the dock to rescue our poor net.

Speaking of leaning over the dock to rescue the net...that reminds me of another wildlife encounter - one which the little guy enjoyed much more than me. As I was trying to grab the net from the water, a very large water snake swam right by my hand. I screamed and jumped to saftey. But Daddy and baby boy went racing down the dock in hot pursuit. They thought that snake was the coolest thing ever. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.....

There was a pond beside the cottage, with a continuous water flow. An oasis for frogs. Really big ones and really little ones. Baby boy was fascinated by them, especially when they were gently prodded causing them to jump in the air. Daddy caught a frog and brought it on to the deck for him to get a closer look. We had to enforce a "look not touch" rule after the way we saw him treat a poor spider and caterpillar the day before. He doesn't know his own strength.

One of the loveliest nature sitings we had were of loons swimming and calling to each other on the still water. The little guy was simply amazed when the loons would disappear under the water. "Loons! Swim!" he would yell.

On our long walks along the country road we also saw bunny rabbits and horses! And in our cottage we saw a mouse (or at least I did). The little guy kept on talking about a mouse so I think he might have seen it too.

A week at the cottage taught him more about nature than any book could ever do!

My vacation

Last week we rented a cottage on a beautiful lake. As you can see, the little guy had a great time...


goofing around on the deck with daddy;


dressing up in daddy's way-too-big bathing shorts;



going for long drives;



playing the guitar; and,




just lounging around in his pjs and crocs!

More pictures to follow on the next post. Bye for now!

The good, the bad and the ugly!

He stuck his fingers to the back of his throat and gagged today as we wheeling around the market. Instead of being horrified by the experience (as I was) he thought it was funny. So he did it again and again, leaving little piles of puke on his stroller tray and giggling with delight at his new trick. Luckily daddy was there to clean him up, because I was ready to drop him off at the nearest orphanage...

Of course my reaction to his gag routine only added fuel to the fire. All afternoon he kept on shoving his fingers into his mouth, knowing he'd get a rise out of me.

The things they don't tell you about in those prenatal classes....

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Yesterday we accidentally left the sliding glass door open without pulling the screen across. Three flies soon decided to make themselves at home in our living room. Normally we try to free any bugs we find in the house (except for spiders, which we let live peacefully in our plants to take care of other less desirable bugs). But these flies just wouldn't leave on their own accord. They kept buzzing around our faces driving us absolutely nuts. So I rolled up a magazine and went on a fly hunt. The little buggers were just too quick for me, so I handed the magazine over to hubby.

Baby boy watched in wide-eyed amazement as hubby nailed them one by one. What kind of new sport was this? he must have wondered. When the third fly fell to the floor, he yelled "Fly!" pointing over to its tiny, lifeless form on the floor. "Fall! Die?!" There was a mix of shock, fear and excitement in his voice. We were stunned. Where did he learn the word die? Did it slip out while we cursing about their incessant buzzing? Talk about feeling like cold blooded murderers! And to make it even worse he now keeps mimicking us by swatting his hand against the wall, shouting "Fly! Done!"

On another bug-related note....a really creepy bug got in the house a couple of weeks ago. Baby boy was the one to discover it. He screamed, and started to cry. I can't say I blame him -- it really was a rather horrible sort of bug. For the next minute or so, hubby and I argued over who was going to take care of the "bug situation." The argument elevated the little guy's fear even higher. He must have figured that if mommy and daddy were scared, then he should be REALLY scared.

To show him that it actually wasn't a big deal, I went over to catch the bug with a kleenex. But I couldn't find it -- it was as though it vanished into thin air! Baby boy built up just enough confidence to walk over to my side to help investigate. Just as I was telling him that everything was fine, that the bug was harmless, no need to be scared -- out it crawled from its hiding spot. The little guy took off screaming and crawled to safety on the couch. For several minutes, he flat out refused to touch the floor even though he knew the bug was gone.

He's as bad as me with snakes!

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"M" baby doesn't call me mom. Up until a few weeks ago he called me "baby." After I repeatedly told him that I wasn't a baby, he decided to give me a new name. I'm now "Wee-bee". If you ask him where mom is he'll say "Wee-bee?" When he greets me at the door he smiles and yells "Wee-bee!" I think it has a nice ring to it.

Some of his other made up words are:
"Ott" for milk
He calls the television "shadow"
If he wants a snack he yells "ice!"
and, of course, "tee-tee" is the word he uses when referring to his special blankets.

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I'll never forget how hubby's old cat used to limp around the house for attention. She was such a faker -- often switching legs. Baby boy has also learned how to feign injury. The other day he hollered "ouch! knee!" even though his knee wasn't even remotely involved in his fall. No matter how minor the crash, he announces it loudly in hopes of getting hugs, kisses and sympathy. "Fall!" he says. "Ouch!" Of course I'm always happy to help, even if I know he's exaggerating :)

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One of the most useful words a kid can learn is "help." Now that the little guy has added it to his vocabulary he calls on us for all sorts of jobs. Like peeling bananas, doing his "heavy toy" lifting etc... In his cute little voice he says "Help?"

This, of course, works both ways. I often ask him to help me clean up toys, or to throw things in the garbage for me. When he helps me I always heap on the praise. Afterwards he always goes around bragging about what a good boy he is. "I help clean," he says. Or "Good boy!"

My baby isn't a baby anymore...

For the last several months baby boy has wavered between being a baby and a toddler. Then, quite suddenly, he stopped being a baby.

He had two successful pees on his potty.

His hair began to grow, covering up the last of his baby baldness.

He developed a new set of dimples (now he's got four of them!)

Full sentences abound!

He's started saying "sorry" when he misbehaves.

When I tell him "no" he now asks "why?"

He can now sit at the table a draw pictures by himself for more than five minutes at a time. He used to draw in fleeting scribbles on his way across the room....

Although he hasn't mastered riding a tricycle, he's figured out the mechanics of it. He's trying out the pedals, and it's only a matter of time before he's off and racing.

Heck he even bit the bottom off of an ice-cream cone yesterday. If that isn't initiation into toddlerhood I don't know what is. The very fact that we trusted him enough to hold an ice-cream cone -- unassisted -- indicates how much he's matured. While he's always been allowed "bites" of our ice-cream, we've never trusted him enough to pilot the cone by himself, knowing this could be a messy proposition. But yesterday, there he was sitting independently in an adirondack chair...just like a big boy. So we gave him my half-eaten cone and watched him take careful bites around the edge until temptation got the better of him and he just had to turn that cone over and take a bite from the bottom.

As much as I look forward to him becoming a little boy, I can't help but mourn the loss of my baby. Part of me was hoping that he would stay a baby forever.

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A promise is a promise. A couple of Sundays ago, we asked the little guy if he would like to go on a bus ride. We thought this would be a good activity since he's completely obsessed with buses these days...

However, our day didn't go according to plan. Between running errands, and his afternoon nap the day just seemed to disappear. All of sudden, it was time to leave for a friend's house for dinner and we hadn't gone for our bus ride. As I was loading him into the car, he looked at me with his big blue eyes and asked, "Bus?" For several blocks he repeated himself over and over again.

Hubby and I felt heartbroken. We had told him we were going for a bus ride and hadn't delivered on our promise! So we decided to make good on our word. Hubby dropped us off at the bus stop, and arranged to pick us up at the end of the bus route.

We accidentally got on the milk run route. This, of course, didn't bother the little guy. At first he was a little freaked by the whole bus scene. All the strangers getting on and off. Once he got used to it, he got really excited and started enjoying himself. So much, in fact, that he hasn't stopped talking about bus. Every day he says "Ride the bus? Ride the bus?"

Although I'm glad we kept our promise that day, I think we've created a monster. We took him on a second bus ride with a twist. We transferred on to the train. If the bus was exciting, the train was mind-blowing! We still hear a lot of requests for bus rides, but even more for train rides.

When he's a teenager complaining about having to take the bus, I'll have to recount this story....

Hugs and "pishes"

He's an everyday mimic. Especially when it comes to daddy. One day after carefully observing daddy put on his deoderant, he opened up the bathroom cupboard, pulled out a bottle of peppermint foot lotion, and pretended to slather it on to his own armpits :)

Often when daddy is cooking something on the stove, he lifts up the pan and gives the sizzling contents a little shake. The little guy has taken to "pretend frying" in his own toy pan. He throws in his veggies (and sometimes a farm animal or two), adds some pretend sauce and then gives the pan a little shake in the air. When he's finished, he rests the pan on the table,waves his hands over top of his yummy creation and says "hot."

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He's become quite the conversationalist with his close friend and companion "Brock the bear." Brock, for those of you who haven't met him yet, is a rather large and plush Teddy bear with a big red bow around his neck. Last week, daddy overheard him talking to Brock. The conversation went something like this:

"Hi Bear!"

After a slight pause, he picked him up and said "Hugs and pishes?" Bear was, predictably, very agreeable to the idea.

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Baby boy is the biggest dilly-dallier on the face of the Earth. Pretty much everything distracts him. A tree, a flower, a pine cone, a puddle, a rock, an airplane in the sky etc... Walking even the shortest of distances feels like a marathon to me. I've tried every trick in the book to try hurrying him along.

Walking ahead saying "bye-bye" doesn't work. He knows we would never actually leave without him.

Chasing him just causes him to run around in circles and giggle, leaving us no further ahead.

Enticing him with the "next great thing" works intermittently at best. I'm forever shouting back at him "Look up there -- there's a squirrel!" or "Come see the pretty flower over here." But he's on to me....

The one thing that does work is the "stone toss game". I throw a stone down the path, and he chases it. Then he throws it. Then I throw it, and so on and so forth. So far it's the best trick I've got!

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I've always been a big fan of the musical, Annie. We recently bought the movie because I just had to watch it again for the 4 billionth time. So, of course, I've been running around the house singing "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow, you're only a day away!"

Baby boy has his own rendition. He sings "The water, the water, I love you, the water."

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Sleeping in on the weekend is something I try to do. Unfortunately I am up against strong resistance in the form of a 20-month-old. Turning on the television might buy me five extra minutes of sleep but not much more. After that, baby boy tries out various strategies to try to get me up and moving.

Last weekend he opened the bathroom door, grabbed my glasses off the counter, and handed them to me. I thought this was pretty smart thinking on his part. He knows that I won't step foot out of the room until I have my glasses on. This was just his way of helping speed up the process.

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Although I am very pleased that Barnyard Dance has finally fallen to the bottom of the book pile, his new favourites are becoming old very quickly.

On the Farm is now among his top 3 literary picks. It's one of those book where you have to turn the wheel to find the horse food, the basket of apples, etc... Hubby and I have read it so many times now that we've taken to making up creative, new versions of the story. We try to outdo each other with our silliness. The other day I overheard hubby reading the book and just about died laughing. Here is what he said:

"Turn the wheel to find the delicious, green, steaming pile of pig slop." And then, in the voice of a horse, "Mmmm...this is wayyyyy better than so-called 'horse food' they're always trying to feed us around here."

Coming in at number 2 on his reading list is Baby Hugs. This is one of those touch and feel interactive books that toddlers like so much. This particular book has scratch and sniff flowers in it. He loves shoving his nose right up to the page and taking a big whiff.

But by far his top book choice of the moment is Goodnight Moon. We were given no less than five copies of this book as baby gifts. Lucky for him there is a copy in virtually every room! When he wants us to read it he starts repeating "moon, moon" over and over again until we cave in. When we get to the part about the quiet old lady whispering hush, we pause and let him say the "hush" part. It's very cute.

The things I don't want to forget

Summer has been such a busy time that I've barely spent any time writing on my blog. It's a shame, really, because I'm probably not recording all of the things I told myself I should never forget. A lot of the day to day things really do get forgotten. Even in the course of the day I'll find myself wondering, "what did the little guy say this morning that was so funny?" So here is a list of them, lest I forget.

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The other day, baby boy had a brilliant idea! He wanted to bring the hose into the house to water the plants. Although he couldn't quite verbalize his idea, he got his message across by pointing from the plants to the patio door and then back to the plants again, saying "Plants! Hose! Watoo!"

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When you give him a choice between two options, he ponders his response very carefully. With a look of deep concentration he give it a moment's thought and lets out a loud "ummmmmm...."

The conversation goes something like this:
Me: "Would you like cream cheese or jam on your toast?"
Baby boy: "Ummmm...."
Me: (holding up the jam in one hand and the cream cheese in the other)
Baby boy: "Ummmmm.....Cheese-cheese!"

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Our glass railing has a prism effect in the late afternoon, creating the most wonderful rainbows across the hallway floor and wall. "M Baby" is fascinated with "ran-bows" and takes great joy in placing his feet and arms through the colourful rays. One of his t-shirts has a rainbow on it and he requests it every single day. Heaven help us if the shirt is in the dirty laundry pile!

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He's slowly but surely getting the hang of his potty (although he hasn't actually produced a drop inside of it). Every morning he likes to go sit on the potty and read his Humane Society calendar, commenting on all of the pictures of cats that remind him of cats that he knows. Sometimes he gets off the potty and whizzes on the floor.

In the last couple of days, he's started demanding toilet paper, with which he attempts to wipe his own butt. He also insists that we remove all of his clothes before he sits down, even socks and his rainbow shirt!. "Off! Off! Off!" he yells, tugging at his clothing.

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All insects - especially flying insects - are of great interest these days. We have a GIANT dead dragon fly in perfect condition on our patio table. The little guy refers to him affectionately as "fly fly." Today "fly fly" was missing to his chagrin and he called for an all-out investigation to find his whereabouts.

The removal of the bees and honeycomb graphics that used to hang on our wall above the dining room table still raise questions. They've been gone for months! Amazingly he still remembers where they used to hang, and points at the wall and says "bee?" For some strange reason he also likes to point at his nose and our noses and say "bee." Do our noses look like honeycombs? Is he reading a book at daycare about a bee that lands on someone's nose? I'd really like to know what he is trying to tell us. I guess this will just be one of life's great mysteries.


More to follow tomorrow....