Thursday, September 22, 2016

Growing boys



Hammock time
I was away overnight this week and Odin woke up as soon as I got home at 9pm. I couldn't wait to see him, so I rushed to his crib, scooped him into my arms and realized HE IS HUGE! It seemed like he had grown inches and gained 5 pounds overnight. I know I've said this before, but I was completely struck by how he is no longer a little baby, but has now grown into a legitimate boy. I got choked up for a second as I hugged him harder and realized the days of us having a baby are in the past. We are now in a different stage. We now have two boys, and big ones at that. I must add that Odin sleeps really well these days. He wakes up maybe one night a week, which is so much better than where Caleb was at his age. After 6.5 years, I'm finally sleeping again!


Then Caleb heard me come upstairs, and asked for me to come into his room for a cuddle. He told me about his day at school and showed me how loose his bottom tooth was. He's losing teeth left and right these days! It felt so good to spend a bit of time with each of my boys before they fell asleep. I was only gone for 36 hours, but I sure missed them.


His two front teeth FINALLY came out - one while eating an apple slice and the other while eating a piece of cake. It's safe to say they were ready, considering the new ones are almost grown in!




As Caleb is getting older we are asking him to take on some more responsibility by helping with various chores. I thought I good one would be to get him to stack the new rolls of toilet paper in the bathroom. When I walked in to find this hours later, I realized that I should have explained the task a bit more clearly!!
We had a great couple of days in Fredericton for the Harvest Jazz and Blues festival. I got to see two nights of music (a great David Myles/Classified show, and a Hot Toddy show). For Hot Toddy, I went out with one of my best friends in the world, Adele, who has been living with her husband and two boys in Australia for the past several years. My incredible parents agreed to watch all 4 of our little boys (with the help of Aly and Ava) while we enjoyed a night of catching up. It was wonderful, and all the kids got along great.

Building international friendships
The kids got to visit the new Fredericton water park, and it was a huge success!!
Odin being charmed by Grampie's infamous dancing chicken. He pulls this out every few years to completely fascinate a new grandchild!


One of the many benefits of dating a sweet musician - backstage access!

We also brought Sunny to Fredericton so we could load her up with more items from our parents' basements - furniture, toys, wine making supplies and after all these years - all my pez. As I said to some, "you know you're an adult when you finally move your 600+ pez collection out of your parents basement and into your own home." Well, it's happened folks. They are officially unpacked and on display in Annapolis Royal. Come check them out!


My pez, in all their glory!

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Two!

My baby is all grown up. Well, not quite yet, thankfully, but he is now TWO years old. His Sept 1 birthday fell on an action packed week. I took the week off to spend some time with the kids before Caleb started a new school year. We did our annual 'Mom and Kid' camping trip, spent a day hiking and canoeing in Keji, had friends visit and hosted a big housewarming/birthday party in our new backyard. Unfortunately, we also spent a day in Sussex with Alan's family for the funeral of his grandmother Jeffries. It was a sad occasion, but it was a very nice celebration of her life and it always feels so good to have the whole Jeffries family together. Here's how our last week of summer went down:
1. Mom and Kids Camping Trip


I made 'Happy Camper' t-shirts for the kids this year. They were a big hit!


4 moms and 6 kids joined in on the fun at Blomindon Park this year.


Cale and Kai about to get dirty on the beach!


3. Housewarming/Odin's second birthday party


We wanted to invite all of our new friends and people we've met who have welcomed us into our new community. We opened up our home and backyard and over 60 people arrived to celebrate. I was especially excited that our newly relocated family from Sudan attended the party. The 6 kids (ages 4-19) were a bit shy at first, but it didn't take long before they were into the snacks, playing badminton with balloons and pushing Odin around on his tractor. It's hard to express how amazing it felt to be able to host so many wonderful people in our own home.



It's a party!


People couldn't believe the number of kids in attendance. Here are a handful of them - not bad for our little 'retirement community'!
And of course there was some music - which delighted Odin as he started a one-man dance party!


"Go faster!!"

3. Back to School/ Caleb's New Smile
Caleb lost his front tooth and he's now left with a winning smile!! (It's ok if you think it's a tiny bit frightening!). One tooth fell out, and the other migrated into the middle - a perfectly appropriate smile for entering into grade one.


Yes, my son *slightly* resembles Sloth from the Goonies!
We had a big final day of vacation before I headed back to work and Caleb started back to class. We followed hours of outdoor play with preparations for our big day ahead. We laid out clothes, ripped the tags off his new school sneakers, cleaned out his bookbag, packed a lunch for the first time in months, and headed in for an early bedtime. Tuesday morning we were up and ready to roll. I snapped the obligatory 'first day of grade 1' photo, then drove Caleb to school to start his new year off on the right foot, only to realize (AFTER I was in the building) that school doesn't start until Thursday. Parenting fail on my end - but two bonus summer vacation days for Caleb! Who would have thought that school didn't start until Thursday?!? I'll know to check next year. Haha.


First day of Grade One photo (Take One!!)
4. Video time!!


Odin is a super adorable little boy. He talks non-stop, although 90% of what he says is about trucks. He can make great short little sentences, like this morning when I was packing him up for daycare and he declared "Odie No Wendy's, Odie Beach!!". I wish, little fella, I wish. He loves to joke and make people laugh. He is strong, brave, physical, gentle and loving all at the same time. Here he is singing some of his original tunes and showing off his signature dance moves. Sorry the aspect ratio on the video is a bit off - he does actually have a very nicely shaped head!