Slip Sliding Away

Until recently, if we are at a playground and there are seagulls or squirrels to be found - Tavish is following them. However, the simple slide has garnered smiles and several squeals of delight as of late as well. Fun.



MOMENT: Wee! Heehee! (repeat)

Move aside, Tavish has discovered the slide! He climbs up to the top of any and every slide without reservation. Even the twirly swirly ones designed for "big kids". If he can get up to the top (with or without help) he'll go down to the bottom - a smile while sliding, a laugh at the landing and some "more" signing when walking back. Ahh, the joys of the slide. When I join him, I can feel all kinds of unimportant stuff slip sliding away. Wee! Heehee!

All Fun and Games

No really, it is. We're a funny, funny family and we like to play games. We're pretty sure we've always had this much fun, but Tavish seems to really, really enjoy the games lately ...

MOMENT: Funny, Funny Daddy

This is not the first time we've witnessed hysteria around here, but it is the first time it's been caught on camera. I challenge you to remain straight-faced through this video. Consider yourself warned, what's going on here is highly contageous ... in a funny sort of way. haha.

Say What?

He's talking! Well, okay ... not 'talking-talking' but he's well on his way to clear and accurate communication with, um ... er, well - animals. Lots and lots of animals ...

MOMENT: Talking is for the birds

Tavish often gives a blank stare (or, the stink-eye) to new people. I guess he has a 'shy' streak? Nah, doubt it as this 'shyness' is pretty quickly put aside when I ask: "Tavish, what does a cow say?". He does sometimes hold steady on the blank stare though when he's simply not up for connecting nor impressing. Most of the time though, he is up for it and is keen with the long "mooooooooooooooo" followed by a huge smile. For some reason, he is extra pleased with himself when he immitates a cow. From here it moves onto chickens, ducks, snakes, owls, dogs and more - depending on how interested the stranger is and how many animals Mommy can remember. To be fair, his repertoire of animal sounds has become quite extensive. As a result, this 'show and tell' conversation could be quite a lengthy presentation that perhaps isn't for everyone so I try to exercise discretion. If you're reading this though, then it probably is for you so I'm throwing discretion to the wind. So, although the video below is missing some sound effects, you get to witness some of Tavish's animal talk without the risk of being delivered the stink-eye! Enjoy.

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 ...