Friday, July 31, 2015

SBL #1, 3, 8 and 9

Okay, time for another Summer Bucket List Update!  

I've been putting off crossing a few of these items off, because I haven't taken as many photos as I would have liked too.  Even though it's not even August, I feel like the summer is flying by and I should be crossing off more items though!  So, with not quite as many photos as I would have liked...

We've been doing a pretty good job of getting around to different parks this summer. I like variety, so I don't mind driving out of our area to check out someplace new. There are SO many parks in the city. Some are beautiful with trees and gardens and great play equipment and others... meh. I discovered that a small local pool that I went to as a teen has been totally revamped into a much nicer pool and completely amazing splash pad. I also discovered that another fairly nearby park was redone at some point over the past year and has amazing new equipment and even some "natural playground" elements. We also found a couple of playgrounds that have skate parks (The Bean's new obsession). Of course, we've continued to make visits to the park with the giant mud pit and our favourite nature preserve in the middle of the city and gone back to some favourites that we don't get to quite as often (Hello castle playground!  I'm talking about you!!).

 








 



We have also been to the zoo several times this summer. I usually bring the camera, but two kids at the zoo can be a bit of a handful, so it's rarely taken out of my bag. That is to say, there are very few zoo photos. The kids love the splash pad at the zoo and the "Kids Zoo" area which has a big slide and a sandbox alongside some small animal exhibits. (Sprout loves the bunnies.) Last time we went we paid a visit to the pandas as well as checked out the butterfly house for what may have been the first time. There were a lot of people, which wasn't ideal, but on a less busy day it'd be pretty amazing.  I tell the kids if they're cooperative that they can ride the merry-go-round when we're leaving. This (mostly) keeps them on their best behaviour. We still need to make it to the city farm as we haven't been since the spring, but there is still plenty of time for that... right?!  












It has been SO hot this past week.  It was also the first week that they had locally grown peaches for sale at the grocery store. I bought a basket full and we used some of them to make smoothie popsicles. Sprout got brain freeze on her first bite, but that didn't stop her from polishing off the rest of her pop!   








Regrettably I took NO photos, but we had a very nice get together with some other bloggers last Saturday. The kids alternated eating snacks and climbing all over the massive wooden castle climber while we chatted. It was nice to finally meet some of the moms and moms-to-be in person and spend time with others who we've met before.  Looking forward to more blogger meet ups before the summer is over!   

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After completing this post, I realized I have taken a lot more photos that I thought!  Ha!

--- UPDATED: The Two Moms to Be Summer Bucket List for 2015
1. Check out new parks and go back to old favourites.
2. Swim in Lake Ontario. 
3. Visit animals at the zoo.
4. Spend time in nature. Look for new "nature spots" in the city.
5. Donate books to the book bank.
6. Smell flowers at botanical gardens.
7. Go to the Toronto Islands.
8. Make popsicles.
9. Meet up with local bloggers.
10. Paint rocks that we find at the beach.
11. Go to a fair.  
12. Take a moms-only trip. 
13. Eat things that we have grown and/or picked ourselves.

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Update on #13: We grew beans!  They are delicious!

Friday, July 17, 2015

SBL #5, 6, 7 and 13

So, we're chipping away at the Summer Bucket List.  I feel pretty comfortable crossing off #5, 6, 7 and 13 this week, but I'm sure there will be more of #5, maybe a visit to a different garden for #6, the kids are already asking to go back for more of #7, and some beans on the front lawn that we're letting get just a little bit bigger before picking (#13).  (I could cross off #1 and #3 as well, but there will definitely be more of both before the summer's over, so I'm leaving them for now.)

Tuesday was rainy and we didn't have any set plans, so I decided it'd be a good day to check out the botanical gardens.  I've been wanting to go to this city-operated greenhouse for years now, so I was glad to finally take the opportunity.  It was very pretty, but not terribly interesting for the kids, despite my best efforts to get them smelling, touching and looking at the plants.  





After about 45 minutes at the garden we headed over to the Book Bank.  The kids lasted longer here.  We donated a few baby books that have been getting neglected on our shelves and then I read them about 983,457 Curious George stories. They came home with two Georges that we don't have, plus a cute picture book that I picked out.  



On Wednesday we met up with one of my old co-workers and her nephew who was visiting from Trinidad to pick strawberries. It was WAY colder than I had anticipated, so the kids ended up wearing a bunch of clothes that I had in a donation bag in the trunk. (That is to say, please don't judge! The adorable outfits I had picked out for the occasion are hiding under the over-sized and otherwise bizarre clothes.) The kids LOVED picking the berries; even The Bean, who couldn't be convinced to even lick a berry and had a great time at the play area afterwards. The berries, by the way, might be the best I have ever tasted. Sprout devoured about as many as she picked. We made most of them into really, super-sweet jam. (I'm going to have to cut back on the sugar if we go back for raspberries.)



 





On Thursday, we met up with a birth group friend (from when The Bean was born) and her two kiddos for a day at the amusement park on the Toronto Islands. It was the perfect weather and the kids had a blast! My only regret was buying tickets rather than a wristband so that they could have gone on more rides. Live and learn. I have a feeling we might be back again before the end of the summer, so I'll get a do-over.





All in all, a great week!  It's good we got it all in when we did because The Bean was down with a yucky virus today. Hopefully he's feeling better soon so we can continue the summer fun.

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UPDATED: The Two Moms to Be Summer Bucket List for 2015
1. Check out new parks and go back to old favourites.
2. Swim in Lake Ontario. 
3. Visit animals at the zoo.
4. Spend time in nature. Look for new "nature spots" in the city.
5. Donate books to the book bank.
6. Smell flowers at botanical gardens.
7. Go to the Toronto Islands.
8. Make popsicles.
9. Meet up with local bloggers.
10. Paint rocks that we find at the beach.
11. Go to a fair.  
12. Take a moms-only trip. 
13. Eat things that we have grown and/or picked ourselves.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Four and a Half

Sorry to those of you who got the "draft" update.  Stupid Blogger.  Not only ate my post, but posted a draft.  *Grumble*  Please pretend you didn't see that and enjoy this rewritten version.

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...and now we are the parents of a four and a half year old!


The Bean at four and a half is a kid with big ideas and strong opinions who does not like to be told what to do.  He is active and playful and articulate and loving.  Being his parent is a joy and a challenge.  

There is no doubt that language continues to be an area of strength for The Bean.  He is incredibly articulate and has quite a sophisticated vocabulary.  He loves playing with new words.  He also loves making up words, telling us what they mean, and using them in conversation.  

Recently he has started reading, which is just amazing. He's got a good number of sight words (Dolch) and can figure out most CVC words which means that beginning readers are the perfect level for him right now.  Surprisingly, he also seems to be reading some longer/more obscure words. I'm not sure if he's actually reading or just figuring out what things say given the context.  The word "office" comes to mind (a Microsoft Office ad on the computer).  I can't think of others, but it happens fairly frequently.  


Of course, he continues to love books.  He'll happily sit and listen to someone read for as long as they're willing to read to him.  He's also quite content to sit and browse through books on his own.  Journey and Quest have are wordless picture books that have become fast favourites.  He also loves the eeBoo storytelling cards that we picked up for him and Sprout.  Jen is really good at "playing" these with him.



He is very social. He will strike up a conversation with just about anyone. He always has something he wants to share or discuss. He can be a little shy around people he doesn't know, but it doesn't usually take him long to warm up. He's started to take a real interest in his friends and often asks about them and wants us to make plans to get together, whereas before we initiated most of the meet-ups. He seems to gravitate towards older children and girls. It's particularly infatuated with a former student of mine who we've become family friends with. If you ask him who he loves, he always names her first. I should mention that she's nearly three times his age, lives in Chicago and he last saw her in April. *Sigh* I have a feeling this will be the first in a long line of crushes.  

In addition to liking girls, he has been saying fairly consistently for the past six months or so that he wants to be a girl. We're not really sure what to make of it. When we ask him why, he says that "girls are cool" and that he doesn't like being the only one who is different in our family.  We assure him that plenty of boys are cool too, and that we are all different from each other and what makes him different makes him special to us, but that we love him no matter what. He's worn "girl clothes" out a few times and has been pretty instant about growing his hair long like Rapunzel's.  (He wants to be able to stand on the balcony and let it down so our guests can climb up it.) We're trying to be respectful of his wishes and provide guidance. 

He loves pretend play and dressing up. His knight costume is a favourite, especially the sword. Captain America also gets a lot of wear. The biggest pretend play games are "babies" and "school" ...and sometimes "babies go to school." This type of imaginative play definitely wins out over any toys. There really aren't many toys he's very interested in.  Magnatiles got a good bit of attention for a while, but he even seems to be taking a break from those recently. If couch cushions count as toys, those might be his favourite.   



He's incredibly active. His climbing is just crazy. The way he manipulates his body is amazing to watch and he really seems fearless with regards to heights. He also loves to spin, jump, slide, run, splash and ride his bike and scooter. He's becoming much more confident in the water and will submerge his head (briefly) again. He can handle his two-wheeler (with training wheels) quite well. We've been spending lots of time at parks, splash pads and pools. He's been asking to go back to gymnastics, so I'm hoping to get him into a program again this fall.  






He loves music. Recently I've been blown away by his ability to remember both tunes and lyrics to new songs. He's been singing a lot and requests particular CDs to sing along and dance to. His current favourite is his "Welcome to Kindergarten" CD.  

He is SO pumped to be going to school in the fall.  I think he's going to love it. He's completely ready socially and I think the academics will be great for him too.  He's very curious about a number of things -language and geography standing out among them. His fine motor skills are low, pencil grip and penmanship in particular. He can write his name and draw stick people and other basic things, but doesn't seem to have much of an interest in art (though we've noticed he likes to paint objects rather than paper) and has to be encouraged to do any type of writing.  He does enjoy mazes and some kindergarten activity books.  



We're going to have to work on establishing a morning routine. While he loves being out, getting him out the door can be a challenge. He doesn't like having to get dressed or brush his teeth. He also just likes to lounge around and play. He'll get ready quickly when motivated by a fun activity or people he wants to see, but I imagine once the novelty of going to school wears off that we're going to have a bit of a challenge.  




I also anticipate that he's going to miss Sprout. They've become quite close. They get along well about 90% of the time.  The other 10% Sprout doesn't do what The Bean is telling her to and he gets upset. It is the sweetest thing to watch him "look out" for her, though we've noticed that he seems to feel responsible for her and seems to have some anxiety about that in certain situations, so we've been trying to reassure him that Mama and Mommy (or another adult we trust when we're not around) will take care of Sprout and that he doesn't have to worry.  

We've been trying to work on difficult behaviour.  Being bossy. Getting upset when things don't go his way. Being defiant. Blaming others. He's halfway to giving up naps, and he's definitely more difficult the afternoons when he hasn't slept. We also notice a difference when his stomach is bothering him. Difficult behaviours are best managed with lots of one-on-one attention and very calm and patient responses. It's hard sometimes though. Except for the rare occasion we've cut out all TV, movies, tablet and phone. It was becoming a battle every time it was time to turn the device off and just not worthwhile.   

He's still having tummy troubles.  Going completely off dairy has certainly helped and he is doing much better when we're giving him his daily fibre supplement (which we've been bad about since summer began)  I still feel like there's something more going on.  I think we may have him go through full allergy testing. At this point I just want to know what's going on and solve the problems once and for all.  

Despite the  digestive issues, he has been growing.  That said, he is still a peanut.  He's about 40.5in and 33 or 34lbs. He's moving into some 4T clothes, but mostly for length. He can still wear 18m shorts! Made-to-fit pants are a lifesaver. If given a choice, he would wear PJs all day, everyday.  "Zips" (fleece one piece jammies) are his favourite. Even in the 100 degree humidity we've been having. Aside from PJs he goes for cozy sweat pants and superhero t-shirts.   

He's picky about food but will try new things. He eats a lot of cereal and bread.  Nuts are also a favourite. He's so-so with fruits and veggies, meaning that he sticks to the ones he likes. We always swore we wouldn't make a separate meal for the kids, but: Famous Last Words. Otherwise we'd be eating a lot of chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese.

The past (four years and) six months have definitely been busy. There's been a lot of change in our lives and a lot to navigate with those changes. The Bean is a more sensitive kid than I sometimes realize and he definitely wears his heart on his sleeve. As always he's teaching me how to be a better Mama. How to listen and watch and have patience and be gentle but also how to live in the moment and not take things too seriously and smile more and love openly. This kid. My heart.