It's hard work caring for a baby

Baby Brad is an easy baby but he still needs lots of care and attention. Good thing he has such loving parents.

My love is my love is my love, and that makes me happy

Our 2nd Christmas as a couple, we celebrated the holidays by driving down the West Coast to northern California. San Francisco was our destination and it was there we opened our presents. George & Lorraine had sent us a warm and welcomed tea cosy. I put it on my head. M snapped a shot. It lives on in our photo album and RW spotted it during her visit.

We had a fit of gigles when about 6 months later we walked past a woman wearing a dress of the same fabric.

After all these years, a new tea cosy was in order - especially since I fell in love with one at the One of a Kind Show. It is lovely and we now leave it out on the counter. I wouldn't laugh at any woman wearing it as a dress. In fact, I would probably ask her where she got it (the fabric is by Kaffe Fasset for those who follow such things).

Being an honourable soul - and a little goofy too - my love felt it was his turn to honour the tradition.

This will be deleted if he becomes famous. I promise.

This won't be.

Me & my girl

From last week:
I have a lovely partner. He doesn't get jealous when I text him to say that I am treating our daughter and me to a lingering lunch (yes, there was a huge mound of whipped cream involved in lunch) in a sunny cafe, while he hotfoots it around the city at his fast-paced job. Perhaps it helps that he is looking forward to taking off 2 days each week to "be the glue" while I hotfoot it around the globe doing my thing.

Not a care in the world

And that's how it should be at 3.

Pulling out all the entertainment stops

From last Tuesday:

One of January's pleasures is playdates that appreciate all the year-end gifts. And then, the other mum lingers for some fresh-baked scones and afternoon tea. And so, you suggest all making pizza for supper. Thus, the other dad swings by their house to grab some wine on the way over from work.

Suddenly, you have 8 people supping, sipping and chatting in the kitchen.

Why not really celebrate and make a chocolate pizza, too?!

Yum!!!!

Art Group - take 2

The colour red and farms were featured. The children numbered 4. Average age was about 3 years and 3 months. Fun was had. Art was made. And Carrie remains amazing.

Painstakingly created by Carrie.

Cuddle up and read about farms.

A little pin the tail on the donkey

In between days indeed

In between days

M is off skiing with the kids while I tidy and tweak the house after Auntie R's departure yesternight. But now I am settling down to paid work for 3 1/2 hours before hopping up to ensure a warm and nutrious dinner is on the table when they get home.

Art group gets going

Our babysitter Carrie is a crafty creature. In the best of senses, of course. She made the most exquisite cards depicting farm landscapes from layers of delicately cut paper. They were for Sophie -who is THREE. (I might have to steal one but don't tell Carrie).

She and I have dreamt up an art group for three year olds; just for Sophie and her pals. It's at our house for the next 5 Wednesdays. Seb would dearly love to be a co-teacher but it is from 2-3 so it has wrapped by the time he gets in from school. But if it goes well, we are thinking of an older child version too.





Here's the first session "plan":


AN ART GROUP FOR 3 YEAR OLDS
A wonderful opportunity to create an art group for young children has fallen into our lap. Our babysitter, Carrie Matheson, has been involved in the visual arts for decades. That expertise, combined with a long affiliation with one of Toronto’s Waldorf schools and a love of children, makes her a terrific arts educator, and she has offered to put together a 6 week session for Sophie and her friends. It would be her first effort but sounds like it could be really fun (and knowing her, very hands on and messy!).

Here are the proposed details:
Who? 3 year olds; please feel free to invite a friend. We are hoping for 5 or 6 children
What? A 6 week session exploring the plastic arts. Each week will have a different colour and theme, structured in a regular way. For example:
Week 1 – colour yellow & theme food
10 mins – looking at the colour yellow –what do we know has the colour yellow?, finding yellow items in Sophie’s house, arranging shades of yellow across the colour spectrum
5 mins – looking at images of food in (famous) art – compare it with the real thing!
15 -20 mins – main activity: making a 2d or 3d fruit salad out of felt
10 mins – looking at a picture book that one of the children was asked to bring in. Read it and look at the pictures. Why do you like this illustrator? Can you tell the story without the words? How does/he she use colour? Can you find the colour yellow or images of food?
5 mins – surface session: looking and feeling a particular texture; today it’s sticky (molasses, sugar, oranges, glue)
Clean up and play time!

It might have been a bit ambitious, so Carrie toned it down a notch. M had the day off so he helped out. It was only Sophie, Maeve and Rowan this week since one mum forgot and another will hopefully join next time. But it seems like it was a real hit.

Gifts, glorious gifts

Blogging about gifts strikes me as unseemly. But we receive so many and it is a way to publicly thank people and reflect on how fortunate we are.

As most of you know, M&I have long celebrated the New Year as our annual feast and special day. That's becoming a bit more challenging now when 1- our kids don't naturally wake up early for any reason, 2 - we host a party for dozens of friends and neighbours in the afternoon, and 3 - we are the recipients of dozens of presents from generous friends and family around the world.

Here - for the record - is the latest bounty - for which we are most grateful and for which we have every intention of sending individual thank you cards...


Sophie in her Christmas present pjs trying on her new ski mitts.


Seb the global explorer


Seb in his new Christmas pjs opening Carrie's thoughtful gift of slides and a specimen case for his scientific endeavours. Remind me to post about the mouldy orange in his sock drawer!


When you have 3 kids - who swim, play the violin, go to school, etc - you have to stay organised. So here, Auntie Sarah shares one of her tips - label everything!


A new favourite from the Brighton cousins


Sophie plays with Sophie the ballet dancer with blonde bunchies. Who could resist that? Auntie Sarah was spot on again.


Sebastian organises the presents - one of his favourite parts of festive days.

Both of them checking out Hyperdash the ever so exciting game that Auntie Roberta sprung for.


This gift deserves video. Perhaps I will try again. It roars, it hoots, it twitters, it grunts. It is magnificent. Well-found, Auntie Dorothy.



Another shot of the New Year's pjs. Can I say "LOLA!!!!!" again?



And Seb with his.

The Quietest Day of the Year

On Sunday I was working away - last minute as always - on a contract, and I realised that it was awfully quiet around here. The phone hadn't rung; there were no incoming e-mails; no knocks on the door.

I think everyone must have been doing what we were doing - holing up. Enjoying each other's company; enjoying our holiday loot; writing thank you cards; feasting on leftovers (green bean and olive quiche anyone or roasted tomato and blue cheese soup or lemon-raspberry cheesecake? or all of the above times two!).

Now, I don't want to leave you with the impression that our house was quiet. Far from it. The children were given a fun but volume-enhancing game called "hyperdash"; they both donned Habs shirts and chanted "Go Habs Go" on and off through the afternoon; and in a bid to get them back on school-day schedules (after they woke at 9.15 this morning....), we let Sophie go without a nap and paid the whingeing, whiney price.

But, honestly, what a lovely way to end the holiday period.


New pjs from Auntie Dorothy and Uncle Peter - and they are LOLA!!!


In their new to them Habs shirts.


Even Dad got in on Hyperdash.

Things that connect

K'nex - a modern toy of little bits of plastic that connect (get it?). You can follow instructions to create models or go it alone. Our fella tends to do the former, though he is starting to have the confidence to tinker. We have a delux model that comes with a small motor that can whiz the lawn mower "blade" around or spin a ferris wheel. Cool. I really get into it too.

He loves it for 3 or 4 days and then leaves it for 3 or 4 weeks.

Spunky princesses unite!

Librarians are awesome and children's librarians are amongst the best of the best. I often want to hug them. They tend to handle with aplomb strungout parents and wailing kids, sticky fingers and mislaid library cards, strange queries, endless decoration of the section (they must have librarian-teacher decor meetings). And in their quiet moments, they search their collections for housebound granparents.

Here is a delightful list for younger readers about spunky princesses. It was created by a friend of my mum's who works for Westmount Library.

1) Author : Waddell, Martin.
> Title: The tough princess / written by Martin Waddell ; illustrated by Patrick Benson.
> Imprint: London : Walker, 1986.
> Description : [26] p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.

> 2) Author : Gilman, Phoebe, 1940-2002.
> Title: The balloon tree / written and illustrated by Phoebe Gilman.
> Imprint: Richmond Hill, Ont. : North Winds Press, 1984.
> Description : [32] p. : col. ill.
>
> Topical subject : Princesses--Fiction.

> 3) Author : Minters, Frances.
> Title: Sleepless Beauty / by Frances Minters ; illustrated by G. Brian Karas.
> Imprint: New York : Viking, 1996.
> Description : 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill.
> Summary : In this updated, rhyming retelling of the traditional fairy tale, Beauty outwits the wicked witch and arranges for her own happy ending.
>
> Topical subject : Fairy tales--Adaptations. ; Stories in rhyme.
> Other authors : Karas, G. Brian. ill.
>
> 4) Author : Gilman, Phoebe, 1940-2002.
> Title: The gypsy princess / Phoebe Gilman.
> Imprint: Richmond Hill, Ont. : North Winds Press, 1995.
> Description : 29 p. : col. ill.
>
> 5) Author : Funke, Cornelia Caroline.
> Title: The princess knight / by Cornelia Funke ; illustrations by Kerstin Meyer ; translated by Anthea Bell.
> Edition statement: 1st American ed.
> Imprint: New York : Chicken House, 2004, c2003.
> Description : [32] p. : chiefly col. ill. ; 29 cm.
>
> Topical subject : Sex role--Fiction. ; Fairy tales. ; Princesses--Fiction. ; Knights and knighthood--Fiction.
> Other authors : Meyer, Kerstin, 1966-

> 6) Author : Gay, Marie-Louise, 1952-
> Title: Stella, princess of the sky / by Marie-Louise Gay.
> Imprint: Toronto : Groundwood Books, 2004.
> Description : [32] p. : col. ill.
>
> Topical subject : Night--Fiction. ; Brothers and sisters--Fiction.

> 7) Title: The paper bag princess / story, Robert N. Munsch ; illustrations, Michael Martchenko.
> Imprint: Toronto : Annick Press, c1980.
> Description : [27] p. : col. ill. ; 21 cm.

> 8) Author : Funke, Cornelia Caroline.
> Title: Princess Pigsty / by Cornelia Funke ; illustrated by Kerstin Meyer ; translated by Chantal Wright.
> Imprint: New York : Chicken House/Scholastic, c 2007.
> Description : 1v. (unpaged) col. ill.
> Summary : Tired of being a princess, the youngest of three sisters throws her crown out the window and finds happiness working in the royal kitchen and pigsty.
>
> Topical subject : Princesses--Fiction. ; Self-actualization (Psychology)--Fiction.
> Other authors : Meyer, Kerstin, 1966- ill.

> 9) Author : Funke, Cornelia Caroline.
> Title: A princess, a pirate, and one wild brother / Cornelia Funke ; illustrated by Kerstin Meyer.
> Imprint: New York : Chicken House, 2008.
> Description : 83 p. : ill. ; 29 cm.
> Contents : The princess knight -- Pirate girl -- The wildest brother.
>
> Topical subject : Princesses--Fiction. ; Knights and knighthood--Fiction. ; Imagination--Fiction. ; Pirates--Fiction. ; Brothers and sisters--Fiction. ; Courage--Fiction. ; Humorous stories. ; Sex role--Fiction. ; Fairy tales.
> Other authors : Meyer, Kerstin, 1966- ill.


Next up will be chapter books with these feisty heroines.