Adequately Thankful?

It was another weekend filled with things to be thankful for: family, food, fall colours and friends. The 'extra' day of our weekend was a 'go-go-go' pace for us and, as usual, I loved every hustling and bustling minute of it.

MOMENTS: Pumpkins, Pint, Paddle and Pizza

After a sleepover at Grandpa Mike's and a great Thanksgiving feast there yesterday, we set out on our day's adventures. First, I have to write a disclaimer: I have a thing with fall colours. A serious one. I will literally gasp when I see trees and shrubs that bare red and/or orange leaves. Sure, I like the yellow and green leaves too - but they fulfill more of a supporting role in the show that is autumn. So, I take photos. Lots of photos. Photos with colourful leaves especially:



Our stop at a 'pumpkin patch' on our way home this morning started the fall-themed photo taking. It was actually a pretty disappointing 'patch' as all of the pumpkins had been picked. Fortunately, there was a truck load of pumpkins (literally) and our son is too young to mind if he sits among pumpkins already picked or not. So, the fall colour splendour of today began:



Then we stopped for lunch at a brilliant little pub in Carp called the "Cheshire Cat". We shared a great meal with Grandpa and were pleased to see so many other families spending their holiday Monday over a shared pint. It's such a quaint place to be thankful for good company and good food:



Post afternoon nap, we headed out on the Rideau River at Mooney's Bay - just a few minutes from our place. Tavish was elated. I'd read him "One-Dog Canoe" before his nap to warm him up. He spotted the paddles and lifejackets at the door immediately when we came downstairs. "Booa, booa, booa". Yes, Tavish was ready to hit the water. He donned his lifejacket like a pro, was itching to get into the boat as soon as he got near the water, then finally got to enjoy the ride:





All of this adventuring must have worked up an appetite in our little fella because he ate almost 1/2 of an entire homemade pizza! Whoa. I guess he was very thankful for the feast:



Thank you fall colours for the beautiful backdrop. Thank you to our camera-that-can for capturing some of these moments of motherhood. Thank you Tavish and Tom for being you and for sharing these moments with me.

Thank you also to the little girl in this cartoon ...



... I couldn't have said it better myself. Although one day a year isn't adequate - Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Mu-na-mah-na-ma-na

What's the matter? You don't speak Tavish? Allow me to translate for you: Tavish would like to play with the Potato heads. Two of them actually. Oh, and an entire bucket full of 'parts', several of which don't actually fit. BUT hand-me-down beggars cannot be choosers and he's thrilled about every bit and piece of it.



MOMENT: Eye spy with many eyes - glasses, earrings, high 5s and hats (oh my)!

When we received the potato heads from a thoughtful friend, we figured it was a bit too early for Tavish to really enjoy it. So, I tossed all of the random bits into a bucket and onto a top shelf - then promptly forgot about it. We were somewhere else when we noted his fascination with another potato head. Oops. Ours has been spilled about our floor and enjoyed daily since. He loves those things. The single pair of blue glasses have been worn (read: tried on) by ... well, anyone who will indulge him (including Chomper). In my opinion, he looks charming in them - you can see for yourself in the first (short) video below. There are also a few items that are less clear about what they are, namely the green circles that I dubbed 'earrings' one day. This could be foreshadowing for the future of Tavish's earlobes - he loves holding them up to his ears. (big smile) The best might be all of the arms that are about. I once took one and held it out saying: high 5! (blank stare) Fine. So, I enthusiastically high 5ed the hand. (laugh) Now, every single time he is about to put an arm into the bucket, it gets an excited high 5. You'll see evidence of this below. You're welcome, I shortened several minutes of potato head footage into two shorter clips. Finally, he's long had a thing with hats (hand tap on the top of his head), we never step out of the door without one. There have to be half a dozen in there and each has had a turn, or two ... or a hundred, atop Tavish's (and Mommy's) head. When we clean up all of the pieces - and they get cleaned up often (then dumped out again shortly after), there is hat donning, high 5ing, earring holding and glass wearing all en route to the bucket. The whole thing is an entertaining spectacle, if not a little time consuming as well (sigh). I think we've created a Mu-na-mah-na-ma-na monster!

Hairstyling and Humidifying

The other day brought about a moment of reflection and change in our family's sound-full sleeping. We said goodbye to a dear and reliable aid and hello to a new one. This all started with you, Dr. Harvey Karp ... although, I'm not confident that we followed your suggestions in the purest form.



MOMENT: Ode to Sleeping Soundly

Every good story must start from the beginning. Since having Tavish, our sleep sucess started with Dr. Harvey Karp's "Happiest Baby on the Block" advice for helping a newborn sleep. Lest we forget that sleep means everything to new parents - remember that for the duration of this tale, please. His system worked for us. We followed the "S"s: swaddle (Tavish had no arms for the first several months of his life), side (he loved it so much, he slept better if he was propped on his side), shhhh (* the starting point of this entry) and swaying. Tom was an expert at all of this. Especially, he was a determined, dedicated and highly effective shusher. Dr. Karp suggested trying to do it as loud as the baby was crying. To be fair, Tavish is a loud crier and one fateful evening after a fair bit of crying (Tavish's mostly) that had been accompanied by a dehydrating amount of shushing from Tom, I heard this ... "noise". Tom discovered my hairdryer and turned it on. It was an instant success - Tavish was mesmerized. Soon, we couldn't live without it. It was our sleep assurance. Don't judge, apparently even eco parents will waste energy for the promise of sleep. So, there was my hairdryer from 1988 in full-time demand. It had seen so little action since the perm of 1990, but it didn't let us down. Well, eventually it did. I won't go into a tale of questionable sounds and harmless sparks, but it eventually was put into the cupboard to be used only in the case of a 'sleep emergency'. A few weeks ago, I found it and nostalgically decided to let it go to its final resting place. From my teenage hair and my early days as a new mother, thank you, "Hot Stuf" (not a typo, it's missing an 'f'). You contributed to my good teenage hair and my mothering patience in those early days. You will always be remembered fondly.



It was oft suggested to us to try static from the radio (yeah, like you can get any of that in Toronto) or some other method of electronic 'shushing'. We tried, we really did. Tom even downloaded a 'hairdryer' sound bite. Didn't work. We needed that hairdryer! However, it wasn't fool-proof at first. Turning it off sometimes meant that Tavish's eyes shot open - ack! So, my industrious hubby put the hairdryer on an extension cord. Ah-hah. We could then sneak into the room, duck with the dryer (haha, if he did wake - he wouldn't know who the culprit was!), crawl out of the room, then turn it off. Voila! That worked, mostly. When we moved to Ottawa we discovered that there was static on the radio so gave it a shot. We could also turn it down slowly without jolting Tavish awake. This system used significantly less power - perfect. Well, almost perfect. We live on a busy street near a traffic light and on more than one occasion, the static shushing was taken over by very LOUD music blaring through the speakers. We were frozen with fear then ran in to see our baby sleeping through it. Huh. Then the music disappeared. It took us a few times to realize that the snippet of heavy metal, country or rap was brought to us by people waiting at the stop light using their ipods on a 'station' of static. Hmmm, there must be something else ...

Enter: humidifier. This was winter so the air really was dry anyway. We found that our stairs and floors upstairs creak loudly and unavoidably. Our wee social one always awoke and was concerned about what he was missing. Sigh, wonder where he gets that? The humidifier served a double purpose: humidying and 'shushing'. Winter turned to spring, the water wasn't filled anymore - we just relied on the humidifier fan. It was perfect and has been embraced into our night and nap time routine. We can walk confidently up the stairs, Tavish sleeps well and it will be very simple to add some water as winter is quickly approaching again. Below is our new humidifier. Yes, the other one bit the dust. More waste. Ugh. But it's so hard to resist sound-full sleeping.



Thank you electricity. Thank you Tom's resourcefulness on finding alternative 'shushing' solutions. Thank you Tavish for sleeping so well. Now you can all sleep well knowing that we are getting the rest we need and that our home will be well-hydrated this winter and all with a side of 'shushing' ambiance. Now that truly is perfect - we really do have the happiest baby AND parents on the block!

You Spin me Right Round, Baby

That's right, Tavish is an all-star spinner. He has some pretty impressive balance at the end of it too.

MOMENTS: Dizzying Clarity?

We see Tavish spinning often these days. Always the same direction. Always in our living room or dining room. He sometimes takes a moment to de-dizzy before walking (like in the prompted video below), but most of the time he enjoys taking on the challenge of walking immediately after. This is highly entertaining to watch - he bumps into things and laughs hysterically. Maybe we all should spin around every now and then to get a little more enjoyment out of a short walk in an every day place? Or maybe he just sees the world more clearly this way? Either way, the 80s song "You Spin me Round" inevitably gets stuck in my head: "You spin me right round baby, right round ... all I know is that to me, you look like you're having fun ...". Here's to many more happy spins, Tavish ...

Liberty or Loss?

I'm a nursing mother. Correction, I was a nursing mother. How does Tavish feel about that? Well, I'm sure there are moments for him like the illustration below, but it was largely his decision so I think he's mostly just fine with it. The real question is how do I feel about this? Well, I feel free, unsure and ... astutly aware of the passage of time.


MOMENT: It just ... happened

I has been one week today since our last feeding together. It sounds like an opening line at a support group or something - I'm not that torn up about it, but I do recognize that it's a milestone. Since I created a blog to have a place to record these moments, I'm writing about it. I decided to let Tavish direct the pace of weaning since there really are so many perks to nursing (his health, my health, the cost, the convenience - to name a few) and we have the fortune of being together full-time. So, for at least 2 or 3 months, he's been down to nursing only 1 or 2 times in a 24 hour period. We tried to introduce whole cow's milk a few months ago which was met with flat-out rejection. We tried whole goat's milk later which was accepted with hesitance and caution. It was quite the scene the first time he requested "milk" (sign language) at the table with his Dad. It went something like this: pause, "milk" (done slowly and intentionally), watch his Daddy reach for the sippy cup, pause, look down at his hand, "milk", have the sippy cup offered to him, slowly take a sip, stop suddenly, eyes bulge then 'bleck' - repeat. Over the last month though, goat milk has garnered a fan in Tavish. When he requests milk during the daytime, it will be asked of either Tom or I; we were down to just once in a 24 hour period. Last Thursday, he woke up at 5am and the 'usual' happened: I stagger in to retrieve him from his crib, bring him to our bed, nurse him, tap Tom, Tavish sits and puts his arms up, Tom returns him to bed, we all sleep. Friday, he woke up at 730 and when I entered his room, he requested food. Um, okay - let's go with that. All day, "milk" from the fridge did the trick. Same thing happened Saturday morning. I considered us weaned. Then Sunday morning happened, at 530. Tom went in. Crying escalated "Mama? "milk, milk, milk" with vehement pointing to our room. There was no sleeping for anyone until 700am. We entered his room, Tavish requested food. Not milk. Not Mommy. Ah, it all of a sudden dawned on us - milk in the night is a habit ... more of a routine that encourages him falling back asleep. So, we decided to stick with the state of weaning he'd started. It's over. Although, he did ask for milk during the day on Tuesday after his nap, I said "okay, let's go get some milk from the fridge" - he quietly demonstrated his displeasure with that suggestion and asked to be picked up. Once he was on my lap, he asked "milk" and pointed at me. I replied gently "no, Sweetie - milk is downstairs in the fridge". He wimpered a little, then snuggled into me "would you like to read a story?" - fist nodding (yes) and we did. That was that. All before he turned a year and a half. I mostly think it's liberating for both of us. Ultimately, the only real 'loss' is to our wallets ... the Mama Mart was always open, always available, always set at the right temperature and always free!

MOMENT: We're okay Mommy

Only a few hours after the above entry, Sir Tavish requested some milk. So, with a full sippycup we headed for the couch. I find that in the afternoon, he drinks a lot of it and it's nice to snuggle up together. That's exactly what we did. While he drank away sitting on my lap, he slowly reclined to a cradle position. He was relaxed, I was content - it was a nice snuggle. When he was finished he sat up, looked at me, smiled then leaned in for a big, looong hug. He patted by back and rubbed my arm. When he pulled out of the embrace, he gave me a kiss on the cheek. Aw, did he opt to read this blog while I was out of the room or something? What an intuitive little fella. These truly are the moments of motherhood that are to be remembered and cherished.

Bookshelf

Tavish has long enjoyed books. Right from the beginning, we would lay next to him and read to him, holding to books up so he could see the pictures. Dr. Suess books used to elicit excited leg kicking. He enjoys quiet time amid a stack of books to flip through. Board books have been requested in his crib for months now. Recently though, board books have been taking a back seat to the full-sized paper books. He's incredibly gentle (no casualties to report at this time) and we think he has excellent taste ...



MOMENT: Paddling Pleasure

Yay! He likes it! We know that paddling in our little red canoe is enjoyable for the whole family after several successful paddles this summer with Tavish. Now I can be reminded of this more often as this great book is one of his current top picks for books: One-Dog Canoe. This warms my heart on these cool fall days (where the heck did summer go so quickly anyway?!?). The illustrations are wonderful. Tavish can point out all of the details starting with the obvious: boa (boat), wuuuugh (dog), wa-wa-wa (water - with sign language accompaniment) but also the sound effect for fish (picture a guppy face), woohoo (loon) and can point out the beaver, wolf (awwwo), moose, frog, turtle and the paddle. I remember reading this to Tavish in the car last spring on our way to take him for his first ever paddle ... he loathed the lifejacket then, now - he scrambles right into in and waits eagerly to be put in the boat. It's now a family passion ... again, yay - he likes it!



MOMENT: Love is in the Air

I purchased this collection of stories back in Toronto when I was pregnant. At a Shopper's Drug Mart, no less. I believe that there may have been some nesting going on at the time. Needless to say, the stories have been brought out from time to time, but now - the book is saught out by Tavish. There are five sweet stories in there and he enjoys hearing all of them in one sitting. Many of them have animals which elicits sound effects as well as other images that he loves "bah bah bah" (ball). Yup, more warm Mommy heart over here. How can you not become a giant mush-ball? My baby wants to snuggle and listen to stories about how much I love him. The secret bonus for me is that I get to share lots of kisses on his head while I read it. Ah, I'm in love.

The Apple of our Eye

Today was a Bedford family day of fun at Mountain Orchard. There were apples to be picked, hay to be jumped into, a corn maze to be explored and a tractor ride to be experienced. Good stuff.






MOMENT: The Fruit of our Labour Day

For Tavish, it was the tractor that stole the show today. From the moment he got out of the car (after he got over his excitement over seeing Grandpa Mike), he was fascinated by the tractor that was there to pull a wagon full of eager apple pickers to the orchard. He stood next to the huge wheels in awe. It was big. "Vroom Vroom". He would become relentless in his requests for food, until the tractor started up. Didn't matter if it was nearby or a few rows of apple trees away - instant distraction. Although it was the tractor that undoubtedly made memories for Tavish, it was the apple eating ... er, um ... I mean 'picking' that created a sticky sweet memory in our minds. Literally. After a small snack (the tractor was nowhere in sight, so his original mission was back 'on'), we brought Tavish over to the apple trees. We helped him pick an apple. Sitting down immediately (we've been working on sit-while-you-eat thing), he bit into the apple. Cool - I picked it from that tree and now I'm eating it. Nothing could come between he and his apple ... well, other than the occasional tractor sighting. He had juice everywhere and was very content - the world just flowed along past him. Other children were eagerly filling bags, wanting to pick more and more. Tavish just sat there, eating. When that apple was done, we took him to another row - mmm, MacIntosh apples. First pick: sit and chew. Two apples down. Um, how much fiber is too much fiber anyway? When there was barely a core left of the second apple (although, he does share often with Mommy and Daddy mercifully), we were off to pick some more. If our back was turned for even a moment, an apple made its way into his mouth. Let's hope the saying is true that an apple (or two+) a day keeps the doctors away because with the pile of apples on our kitchen counter, we're going to have one healthy baby!