{this moment} swinging

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - 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.

Wordless Wednesday: Gymnastics

The Bean takes the directions "hop like a bunny" quite literally. :)

Sprout is Five Months Old!

Today Sprout is five months old!

-I know I'm likely jinxing us, but she is one of the most easy going babies I have ever met.  She is usually all smiles when she wakes up and just continues on like that throughout the day.  She gladly tags along on all the running around we do --grocery shopping, daycare pick up and drop offs, swimming lessons, visits with friends.  Whatever.  As I know I've mentioned before, really only fusses when she's tired, hungry or gassy.

-She has started combining naps here and there, but generally still naps three times a day.  I've determined that most nights she is still basically cluster feeding through the evenings and wakes about three times overnight to eat.  I'm tired, but it doesn't really warrant complaining about.

-She is getting increasingly distracted nursing in public, or even at home when The Bean is running around.  Her best nursing is side-lying in Mama and Mommy's bed when she gets up from her naps.  I'd say her typical nursing session is about 10-15 minutes long.  She's started playing with my shirt/bra/hair/hands or just patting my chest when she nurses now.  It's pretty sweet.  I love her dimpled little knuckles.

-She's been chomping on everything --toys, teething rings, blankets, her hands, our hands.  About a gazillion people have asked if she's teething, but I really don't think she is.  The Bean chomped on everything at this age too but was eight or nine months old before he popped his first tooth.  (For the record, I really hope she is not teething.)

-As you may be able to tell from her photo, Sprout has discovered her feet.  It happened just this past week, but she's already a pro and getting them into her mouth.  (See above re. other items she puts into her mouth.)  

-She has the back to tummy roll down-pat and seems to be enjoying looking around with her head lifted high.  She cannot roll back over though, which sometimes seems to be a source of frustration.  I feel like she's trying to crawl.  She'll straighten her legs out, lifting her bum into the air or she'll wiggle her legs furiously like she's trying to get forward.  She hasn't figured out the hands part of it yet though.  I don't mind her still being limited in her mobility.

-She loves people and is all smiles when she gets attention.  She seems to enjoy being sung to and read stories.  She'll now grab at books when we're reading to her.

-She's had a few tastes of real food now.  Avocado seems to be the favourite out of avocado  banana and mango.  I picked up a butternut squash the other week so we'll probably try her on that next.  We're in no rush to have her be eating solids, but she was showing some interest, so why not?

-This month Jen gave me an early birthday present of a woven wrap.  I am loving it.  I think Sprout is loving it too.

-Her clothes and disposable diaper sizes have stayed pretty consistent over the past month.  3-6 in tops, 6-12 in most pants, and size 3 in 'sposies.  I feel like she's stretching out a little.  I'm happy she seems to be thriving, but I don't want her to get big too fast!  (My last baby!!)

{this moment} wishing

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - 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.

Vetting Children's Books

I think anyone who has been reading this blog for a little while knows that I love to read.  I also love to read to our children.  I started my children's book collection well before we were even trying to conceive.  While I had the "excuse" of being able to use the books I purchased in my teaching, it was a personal collection, and not a class collection I was creating.  The collection now numbers well into the hundreds and contains favourites, both old and new.  Admittedly, it also contains some duds.

The Bean loves to be read to.  Jen (who was home on maternity leave during his first year) was amazing at making reading to him a priority from his earliest days.  Our bedtime routine includes three stories before songs and being tucked in.  Now that he's getting older, we're moving away from the board books that we pretty much stuck to his first few years, and starting to reading some longer stories.  Books we haven't looked at for a while are making their way off the shelf and into the basked beside the rocking chair.

Just the other day Jen pulled Robert Munsch's We Share Everything out.  Robert Munsch is a much loved children's writer.  He's American, but began writing after moving to Canada and though widely known in Canada, doesn't seem to be recognized across the border.  I grew up on his early books, which is likely why  We Share Everything, one of his newer books, is in our collection.

On the surface it is a funny story about two friends going into kindergarten who have to learn to share.  However, reading it a couple dozen times over the last week has also made me realize there are things I really don't like about it.  The two main characters are mean to each other.  Bullies even.  I don't want The Bean to grow up thinking that treating someone the way these characters treat each other is acceptable.  They threaten.  They yell.  They knock down block towers.  When they finally begin sharing, they share their clothes.  After swapping outfits Jeremiah comments, "My mom never gets me pink shoes" and "No other boy in kindergarten has a pink shirt."  Perhaps worse is when the teacher makes a big deal over Jeremiah's pink clothes.  The Bean doesn't seem to think pink is a "girl's colour", and I agree.  Messages like the ones in this book only bring the issue of society's ideas of what is acceptable for girls vs. boys to the forefront.  I know there might be a day when The Bean wants to throw his pink marker in the garbage, but I would like to delay it as long as possible.  If I can avoid him hearing this kind of messaging, I will.

So now I have to try to go hide this book.  Good thing we've got others to distract him with.

What are your kids' favourite books?  What do you do when you have issues with the subtext in the books you have?  

Wordless Wednesday: Digger

{this moment} laughter

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - 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.

This and That

There is much to say, but I haven't been able to find the time to say it.  I have a huge list of drafted blog posts (most just a sentence or two long) waiting to be completed, but realistically they'll probably just sit there until they become so outdated that I delete them, so you get this... a quick jumble of some of the  things that have been going on here the past few weeks.  (I only have until Sprout wakes up.)

• My mood had improved quite a bit over the past several weeks, but last weekend we went to a local fair and I ran into some (actually many) students that I used to teach.  One was a girl that I had in my class last year.  I was wearing Sprout and introducing her to the girl and her family and the girl asked me if I had left the school to have Sprout.  I responded that I had left the school and had Sprout, but not left because I was having her.  Honestly, I didn't give her question a whole lot of thought at the time, but as we were leaving and after we got home I kept thinking about the implications of her question.  I realized that I don't know what sort of an explanation the kids got when they realized I wasn't at the school this year.  I never did get to explain to them about my leaving.  I fully realize that the reasons are much more significant to me than they are to the kids, but for over an entire year the heaviness of not being able to/having explained has sat with me.  It makes me very, very sad to think about. 

• On a related note, I have sent out a few more job applications but haven't heard anything back at this point.  I'm anxious about what we will do if I do not find a teaching job for the fall.   (Likely start subbing once my maternity leave is over.)  I am quite sure that my anxiety surrounding this plays into how I've been feeling lately.  

• In lighter news, it seems like the good weather might finally be here to stay.  We enjoyed fiddleheads last week --such a spring treat!  We've been going straight to the park after picking up The Bean and often playing there until dinnertime.  This week there was even an unexpected (for us) ice cream party to celebrate Shavout.  (We are not Jewish, but our neighbourhood has a lot of Hasidic Jewish people living in it.) The Bean ate devoured his first ice cream cone.  It was all over his nose/mouth/chin.  So cute.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me or else you'd surely be subjected to at least a hundred photos of his messy ice cream face.

• This weekend is Victoria Day weekend in Canada so Monday is a holiday.  Jen took today off so right now we are packing for a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The Bean is SO excited.  (Okay, so some of us are just blogging about packing, but as soon as I'm done I'm going to throw some clothes into the suitcase.)  

• I have new books!  Two of them!  I have no idea when I will read them, but I am excited about the prospect of reading them nonetheless.  Maybe The Bean will happily entertain himself on the six hour drive to Grandma and Grandpa's so I can read?  

There is much more I could write about, but I really should get going.  I'll try to check in again soon.

{this moment} playtime

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - 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.

Wordless Wednesday: Sunshine Babies