Friday, October 21, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Puck's Farm
This weekend Jen's parents came to visit. Although I know they'd be happy just to hang out at the apartment all day playing with The Bean in the living room, we thought it'd be nice to do a special outing with them.
We'd been talking about going to a farm and found Puck's Farm recommended in an email list we're on. We went today to check it out.
We took a couple of wrong turns, so it took a while to get there. The Bean hadn't had a good nap that morning and he wouldn't sleep in the car so I was concerned at how well he'd hold up, but once we arrived he was busy looking around and really wasn't too fussy.
We were greeted by this handsome fellow:
The first thing we did when we got there was walk through the stables. There were quite a few animals -sheep, goats, pigs, cows, horses, a baby donkey (so cute!), a llama, bunnies, ducks, etc. The Bean seemed to enjoy looking at all the animals. Well, all except the horse, which kinda' freaked him out.
Next we went on a wagon ride. The Bean had fun chewing on the hay we were sitting on.
After the wagon ride we got a bite to eat. There was a booth with fries and burgers and whatnot. The Bean played on the grass while we waited for our order. Then we went into a little cabin-y thing to eat. It was freezing so it was nice to be inside and have a chance to warm up a bit.
When we arrived, we were told that the pumpkin patch had been picked clear, so we didn't even bother going over to it. There were a few big boxes of pumpkins for sale though. We thought it made a good photo op.
There were some scary-looking fair rides and a "haunted farm" to go through, but it was starting to drizzle a bit and we were all about ready to head home, so we decided to save those things for a future visit.
All in all it was a nice way to spend a fall Sunday.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Getting Ready for Halloween
With just over two weeks to go, I feel like it's an okay time to start thinking about Halloween. I often feel like holidays are prepared for WAY too far in advance and that the wait feels like forever. Now that Thanksgiving is over and the weather is cooling it does feel like it's time to start thinking about Halloween though.
Jen bought a little pumpkin and some gourds at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago. We've had them out on the ottoman and The Bean loves grabbing them, shaking them, and rolling them around. When he's napping we can arrange them nicely and they make a pretty fall decoration.
We've broken out his "mummy loves me" shirt and put some Halloween-y books on The Bean's spice rack bookshelves. A couple of the books are ones I picked up from Scholastic last year, one was a hand-me-down and then there are a two new ones that Grandma and Grandpa brought up as a little gift this weekend. I think it's funny that you're supposed to put a photo of your baby's face in two of them (we haven't).
I was heart-set on making The Bean a garden gnome costume, but my my cousin loaned us a Piglet costume and we tried it on The Bean the other week and it actually fit. Not only that, it was adorable. Now I think we might just go with the Piglet costume. I guess we'll see how much free time I have between now and Halloween to pull together the garden gnome thing. He won't be trick-or-treating this year, so he doesn't even really need a costume, but they're kind of too cute to pass up. Maybe we'll take him over to my Nana's or my aunts just to show him off. And of course I'll probably have to take at least a zillion photos.
What have you been doing to prepare for Halloween. Do you have costumes (for your kids and/or yourself) yet? What are you going to be?
Friday, October 14, 2011
{this moment} Fall Tree
A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special,
extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If
you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the
comments for all to find and see.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Nine Months Old!
Today The Bean is nine months old!
-I feel like The Bean's growth has slowed down a little bit, but just the other week Jen noticed that he's taller than his best friend who's always been bigger than him, so who knows! We'll be taking him in for his nine month well-check soon, so I'll post updated weight and length and whatnot then.
-As predicted, his second tooth popped up shortly after his first one. We now believe that he'll soon be getting a third tooth on the bottom right. His teeth are a little crooked and mighty sharp! He's broken the skin on my finger and Jen's boob. The words, "No biting!" are often heard when Jen is nursing and Sophie the giraffe is kept nearby for him to chop on between suckling. (Note from Jen: Any advice for preventing the biting is encouraged!)
-Starting two days ago The Bean began drinking both water and formula from a bottle. This is a serious breakthrough and does a lot to ease my stress about sending him to daycare in a few months. I hope he continues to take bottles.
-He continues to be an excellent eater. He has preferences, but we can usually blend things together and get him to eat stuff he may not eat if it weren't mixed. New foods include kamut, banana, cheeses, olives, pumpkin, yogurt, oats, raisins, cranberries and probably others that I'm forgetting. He's eating more finger foods and uses his little teeth to bite into things, chewing them up with his gums.
-He's exclusively in 6-12 month clothes now. Some things are still huge on him, but we've come to discover that such is baby sizing. (Not unlike women's sizing.)
-We were having some difficulty with night-waking for a while. Many nights The Bean was getting up and nursing about three times. It was getting pretty rough on Jen especially, but then, just this past week he slept 11+ hours two nights in a row. We're hoping this trend continues. Most nights he goes down around 6pm and stays in bed until about 7am.
-Crawling is still The Bean's main mode of transportation, but he is also getting really good at pulling himself up on things and has started taking just a few steps along an object or from one object to another.
-His favourite toys these days are ones that light up and/or make noise. He has a hand-me-down tractor with animals that he loves (especially the horse) and his v-tech car toy from his cousins is another favourite.
-He loves the sheepskin rug in his nursery. After bath time in the evening we let him crawl around in his room and if it's not out already, he'll pull it out from under his crib and roll around on it. He'll actually throw himself forward onto it, lie there for a second, and then roll back and forth. He LOVES it when we wrap it all the way around him and will giggle. It is adorable.
-Jen and The Bean continue to go to swim class once a week. He loves the water and has been praised by the swim teacher for his ability to "swim" underwater.
-He continues to do really well around people. I was surprised this past weekend when we went to my brother's place for Thanksgiving. There were a ton of new people around and he smiled and was quite happy to let them hold him.
-He is getting more and more expressive and interactive. He gives the biggest smile when we go to get him up from his naps. He crawls over to me as quick as he can and throws himself at us when he wants a cuddle or when we're "wrestling." He is also quite vocal when he wants to be and is making a variety of sounds.
We are so lucky that The Bean has such a happy baby. He brings joy to our days!
-I feel like The Bean's growth has slowed down a little bit, but just the other week Jen noticed that he's taller than his best friend who's always been bigger than him, so who knows! We'll be taking him in for his nine month well-check soon, so I'll post updated weight and length and whatnot then.
-As predicted, his second tooth popped up shortly after his first one. We now believe that he'll soon be getting a third tooth on the bottom right. His teeth are a little crooked and mighty sharp! He's broken the skin on my finger and Jen's boob. The words, "No biting!" are often heard when Jen is nursing and Sophie the giraffe is kept nearby for him to chop on between suckling. (Note from Jen: Any advice for preventing the biting is encouraged!)
-Starting two days ago The Bean began drinking both water and formula from a bottle. This is a serious breakthrough and does a lot to ease my stress about sending him to daycare in a few months. I hope he continues to take bottles.
-He continues to be an excellent eater. He has preferences, but we can usually blend things together and get him to eat stuff he may not eat if it weren't mixed. New foods include kamut, banana, cheeses, olives, pumpkin, yogurt, oats, raisins, cranberries and probably others that I'm forgetting. He's eating more finger foods and uses his little teeth to bite into things, chewing them up with his gums.
-He's exclusively in 6-12 month clothes now. Some things are still huge on him, but we've come to discover that such is baby sizing. (Not unlike women's sizing.)
-We were having some difficulty with night-waking for a while. Many nights The Bean was getting up and nursing about three times. It was getting pretty rough on Jen especially, but then, just this past week he slept 11+ hours two nights in a row. We're hoping this trend continues. Most nights he goes down around 6pm and stays in bed until about 7am.
-Crawling is still The Bean's main mode of transportation, but he is also getting really good at pulling himself up on things and has started taking just a few steps along an object or from one object to another.
-His favourite toys these days are ones that light up and/or make noise. He has a hand-me-down tractor with animals that he loves (especially the horse) and his v-tech car toy from his cousins is another favourite.
-He loves the sheepskin rug in his nursery. After bath time in the evening we let him crawl around in his room and if it's not out already, he'll pull it out from under his crib and roll around on it. He'll actually throw himself forward onto it, lie there for a second, and then roll back and forth. He LOVES it when we wrap it all the way around him and will giggle. It is adorable.
-Jen and The Bean continue to go to swim class once a week. He loves the water and has been praised by the swim teacher for his ability to "swim" underwater.
-He continues to do really well around people. I was surprised this past weekend when we went to my brother's place for Thanksgiving. There were a ton of new people around and he smiled and was quite happy to let them hold him.
-He is getting more and more expressive and interactive. He gives the biggest smile when we go to get him up from his naps. He crawls over to me as quick as he can and throws himself at us when he wants a cuddle or when we're "wrestling." He is also quite vocal when he wants to be and is making a variety of sounds.
We are so lucky that The Bean has such a happy baby. He brings joy to our days!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Thanksgiving Weekend
Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. Because of the holiday, I had a half day on Friday and have today off. The break came right at a time when I have been feeling like I really need it. My students this year have been really good so far, but as I've mentioned before, it's still been a somewhat hard transition. It has been so nice to have some time to rest and the weather has been absolutely gorgeous all weekend with temperatures in the 20s (high 70s/ low 80s).
Friday afternoon a co-worker/friend came over with her toddler daughter for a little visit. We've been wanting to get together since The Bean was born but haven't been able to coordinate things until now. It was a nice visit. We spent a little bit of time inside and then took the kids to the park across from us to play. Our friend's daughter is a year older that The Bean and it's amazing to see the difference that year makes. I love the stage he's in now, but it also made me anticipate how much fun it will be when he is able to walk around and tell us what he is thinking.
On Saturday I woke up early and FINALLY made some pumpkin bread. There are no pictures because we started eating it right away! After The Bean's nap we drove out to my mom's for an early dinner with her, my sister and her husband. Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday food-wise and the meal was delicious. The turkey was done PERFECTLY. The Bean enjoyed sharing off my plate. The highlight of the visit was being there when my mom found out that my sister and her husband are expecting. (My sister made the announcement when we were all sharing what we are thankful for.)
Yesterday we went over to my brother and his girlfriend's new apartment. They were hosting another dinner for both families. We didn't stay for dinner because we had to get The Bean home to bed, but we had a nice time chatting with people and eating appetizers. They put on quite the spread!
Today we are laying low. We caught up on laundry this morning and I'll do some school work later. Hopefully we'll get out for a walk along the trail nearby. Maybe we'll see if my Nana if she wants to join us. We plan on trying to relax and enjoy the extra day together. Sometimes it's nice not to have much of a plan.
Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.
Friday afternoon a co-worker/friend came over with her toddler daughter for a little visit. We've been wanting to get together since The Bean was born but haven't been able to coordinate things until now. It was a nice visit. We spent a little bit of time inside and then took the kids to the park across from us to play. Our friend's daughter is a year older that The Bean and it's amazing to see the difference that year makes. I love the stage he's in now, but it also made me anticipate how much fun it will be when he is able to walk around and tell us what he is thinking.
On Saturday I woke up early and FINALLY made some pumpkin bread. There are no pictures because we started eating it right away! After The Bean's nap we drove out to my mom's for an early dinner with her, my sister and her husband. Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday food-wise and the meal was delicious. The turkey was done PERFECTLY. The Bean enjoyed sharing off my plate. The highlight of the visit was being there when my mom found out that my sister and her husband are expecting. (My sister made the announcement when we were all sharing what we are thankful for.)
Yesterday we went over to my brother and his girlfriend's new apartment. They were hosting another dinner for both families. We didn't stay for dinner because we had to get The Bean home to bed, but we had a nice time chatting with people and eating appetizers. They put on quite the spread!
Today we are laying low. We caught up on laundry this morning and I'll do some school work later. Hopefully we'll get out for a walk along the trail nearby. Maybe we'll see if my Nana if she wants to join us. We plan on trying to relax and enjoy the extra day together. Sometimes it's nice not to have much of a plan.
Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.
Friday, October 7, 2011
{this moment} Praying Mantis
A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special,
extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If
you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the
comments for all to find and see.
Inspired by SouleMama.
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Of course, music was important before we met, I have fond memories of dancing around the sunroom of my childhood home with my dad to Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al." Toronto had an all-Beatles radio station in the 80s that was on at our neighbour's house every time we went over. I still can sing along to almost any Beatles song I hear.
When The Bean was days old we played him Death Cab For Cutie while he slept. Now that he's older we've been looking into finding music for him that we also enjoy listening to. I know a ton of kids who love The Wiggles, but I don't know how much "Big Red Car" -or whatever it's called- we could take.
At the beginning of the summer we read a bunch of reviews and ended up ordering a handful of CDs meant specifically for The Bean, but also for us, 'cuz you know, we've got to listen to them too.
Mind of My Own by Frances England has been a favourite. I'll fully admit that I've found myself turning up the radio in the car when playing it, even when The Bean is home with Jen. The lyrics are lively and positive and are on topics which are revelant to children. Her voice is lovely and the musical accompaniment is fantastic.
Elizabeth Mitchell's, You Are My Sunshine is another album we picked up at the beginning of the summer. It's got a calm folk vibe and makes for nice quiet music. I believe some of the songs are original, while others are traditional folk songs.
The Nields' Rock All Day, Rock All Night is a CD set Jen really wanted to get. She's been a fan of The Nields since before I met her. They used to play in Pittsburgh often and she would go see them play live. A few years ago we went to The Clearwater Folk Festival and they were playing on the family stage. We went over and watched their set. It was fun! In the years between then and now we've often joked to each other about "The Enemy Called Pants" (one of the songs they had played)... now that we have an eight month old, we know what they were singing about! "Organic Farm" is our most recent favourite off this album. The Nields have a distinctive sound, so I'd suggest listening to a song or two before committing to this album, just in case they aren't your thing.
Jack Johnson's Sing-a-longs and Lullabies for the film Curious George is an album I've had for a while. A parent of a student gave me a copy a few years ago because we do a unit on recycling and it has a song on it called "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". We bought another copy for us. We're Jack Johnson fans, so this album has been great to have.
Recently we've been thinking about adding a few additional selections to our collection. Maybe another Frances England CD. I've also heard good things about They Might Be Giants. Then there are the traditional folksters like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie (although I don't know that I could handle a song like "Swimmy Swim Swim" any better than I could handle "Big Red Car".) Any suggestions from other parents out there? What do your kids like listening to? How about recommendations for kid-friendly adult music? Feist's 1,2,3,4? Tegan and Sara's Alligator?