Monday, October 31, 2011

My day as a giraffe

8 am: Still feeling sleepy on drive to school

8:30 am: Perking up for daycare party

5 pm: Milk break before hitting the road

6 pm: Trick or treating with neighbours

6:01 pm: Best buds

6:30: Loot inventory - chips, suckers and organic gummies and raisins. Not bad for only going to 3 houses! I love our neighbours!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Quotes of the week

Life essentials

I'm not quite sure where this one came from, but Caleb no longer uses the word no. Instead he opts for 'no way', in a drawn out sing-songy voice. No waaaay. All the time. Want to read a book? No waaay! Want to put on your slippers? No waaay! Ready for your bath? No waaay! Do you like your supper? No waaay!

The other new words he is experimenting? 'I need'. This really came out yesterday when he repeatedly said 'I need a pretzel.' Not I want, or I'd like...I NEED. First words this morning - ' I NEED a pretzel' We even sang a song about pretzels for about half an hour at 8 am. Thankfully the bag of pretzels is now gone, but I think in the future, Alan and I need to be a bit more sneaky with our snacks!

Sharing with mom

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Sick days

After months of living in a healthy household, Caleb has been struck down with a virus.

Fever.
Non stop runny nose.
Not sleeping well.
Not eating much.

The usual symptoms of a baby in need of some TLC, which Alan and I are more than happy to provide. The trouble is it is Wednesday and we both need to work! Deadlines are approaching and I'm sitting on the floor building lego castles instead of writing grant applications while Alan is working a day and night shift. Phewph...

Yesterday was what I would consider a fun sick day. Cousin Malcolm came over for a visit yesterday and Alan had a practice scheduled at the house, so both boys got to hear and join in on the jam. Today, is a bit more of a struggle, but we'll make it work. Thankfully I've found a coworker at work to watch Cale while I give a presentation at DAL this afternoon, and I'm hoping for a long nap so I can get a few hours of work in. It will probably be a late night for me, but this is the life of a working mom. You need to roll with the punches, put your child's needs first and enjoy this 'bonus' day together. Try to sneak in some productive time when you can but remember that everything that needs to get done will get done.

Future band mates?

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Friendship

The circle is complete! (especially with Caleb's beach breeze blow over!)

Last weekend I had some much needed time with my two best friends. The three of us together is quite rare these days, so I was loving every minute of it. The sunshine, the beach and girl talk was just what I needed...and Caleb, of course, who is always up for some quality time with the girls! It seems amazing to me that it was just over 10 years ago that the girls and I returned home after our European and African adventure. Those memories are crystal clear in my mind and something I think about often. One of my biggest hopes for Cale is to find the kinds of lifelong friendships that I've been so lucky to have in my life. Thanks gals. Can't wait to see where we are in another 10 years.

In the ocean with Amy on Oct 15? Yes, please!

New winter hat handmade by Lydia. Amazing!

Playing in the leaves with mom.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Cake budha

Caleb's watermelon

Over the past two weeks, Caleb has developed a new favourite word - MINE. He has started saying this to let everyone know that he owns everything he comes into contact with - socks - 'mine', fork - 'mine', couch - 'mine', car - 'mine'. Once in awhile he'll mix things up by saying 'Caleb's', but one way or another he is staking his claim. Apparently this is a normal, age appropriate behaviour. I usually respond by saying, 'This banana is mommy's, but I will share it with you.' I'm finding this stage more amusing than unsettling right now, especially since he still likes to share and he usually forgets what he has laid claim to as soon as it is out of his hand.

Fort- mine.

I finally figured out a mystery that has been boggling me for a couple of months. Caleb speaks very clearly, so when he started saying 'cake budha', I was not sure what he was trying to say. He would pull out the 'cake budha' once in awhile, but it didn't seem to make any sense until one day last week when we he was growing impatient in the backseat while I was driving. To distract him, I handed him a jar of coins and told him to shake them. He immediately started singing 'cake budha...cake budha' and it hit me - cake was shake and budha was booty. Oh yes, he has been saying 'shake your booty' all this time! Where did he learn this? I don't know. But I'm 99.9 percent sure that he's been shaking his booty all this time.

Cousin caterpillars. All photos were taken by Greggy during his Thanksgiving visit.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Giving thanks

Dancing to the Saturday afternoon bluegrass jam at Bearly's

This year I'm very thankful for my wonderful family. Even though we are on our own here in Halifax, I feel like we have an amazing amount of support. Cale has been lucky to have so much time with his grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles. I love hearing him randomly say things like - 'What's Tommy doing?'... 'Hug Angela'... 'Grampie bike' (for every motorcycle)...or 'call Greggy Linda' when we are getting ready for one of our many skype calls. Knowing how much he loves his family makes me very happy.

I'm thankful for our many close friends. We feel much more connected to Halifax since we've moved closer to town and I love being able to have friends over for dinner or to have Lydia randomly stop by for tea. Time with friends is good for the soul.

I'm incredibly grateful for my wonderful son (I still get a kick out of saying I have a son). Watching him grow from a baby into an active and inquisitive toddler is the pride and joy of my life. Most days I am amazed by all that he knows, but I love the moments when he tries to pick up a picture of a hammer out of a book, or sits on a tiny lego wagon expecting it to be able to hold him, and I remember that he still has so much still to learn.

I'm also very thankful for Alan and how he is always there for me, even in the wee hours of the night. I'm also so happy that Alan is doing what he loves with his life, and I thought my niece Ava said it best when we were watching Alan play this weekend and she said, 'Caleb is so lucky that his dad is a rockstar.' I couldn't agree more. and on top of that, he comes up with great family fun adventures, like today when we walked to the bus stop and rode 3 stops for Caleb's first ever bus ride.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Musical interlude

Cale playing with his new toy at Grammie and Grampie's

It has been a busy week for our family. Alan is on tour in the UK with David. I had a conference in Saint John, so that put Caleb in Fredericton to spend time with Grammie and Grampie Jeffries while we were away. Caleb had a great time. He was very happy to find his 'wallpaper piano' again, a hilarious toy that he discovered last time he was home. He immediately pulled up his booster seat so he could start playing (enjoy the video below). The highlight of my conference was having a Delta hotel room all to myself - what a sleep I had!

Back at home, the two of us have had a very low key weekend. The pouring rain kept us inside so I had to pull out all the arts, crafts, toys and games I could think of. We built lego houses and wagons, painted egg carton caterpillars, made playdough animals, played in a blanket fort, had spontaneous dance parties and topped off this afternoon with a 3 hour nap. Now it is time to clean up, have a bath and say 'good night sun'.