Around Here (UPDATED)
I am STILL under the weather. I can't seem to get a good night's rest and I am sure that is the main contributor to this darn cold. Needless to say, I have been too tired to write. I can't think that well in the evenings if I am running on empty. This morning I am running on about a quarter of a tank, so I thought I would just give you a few little updates of what is going on in our house.
Calder is busy doing gymnastics, skating, and pre-school. Gymnastics is at Can-Am. I'm not sure if you remember our experience last winter at a different club. . . . Anyways, this is ENTIRELY different. I am very critical of how kids are organized, kept safe, and kept busy during physical activities. It is the Physical Education teacher coming out in me. The coach and helper at Can-Am are amazing. They know exactly how to work with 4 and 5 year olds. They have created routines for the kids, and give them appropriate instruction before and during the activity. I ALWAYS feel like Calder is safe. Their winter session sign up is Nov. 14, if you live around Saskatoon, I not only recommend it for the quality of programing, but also because gymnastics teaches so much body control - every kid involved in sport should do gymnastics. (My sister can speak more to the benefits of it. She is the expert.)
Skating just started on Tuesday. Compared to last year Calder has already made some serious gains. He spent the whole 45 minutes on the ice by himself (minus the 5 minutes at the start of class when I got him going). Calder could barely stand up at the start. He was moving forward, but only because his legs kept getting farther and farther apart! He would eventually fall, but would automatically pop back up. By the end of class Calder was keeping his legs together and stringing a few tiny steps together. He worked super hard. I only had to intervene once during the lesson (FYI parents were allowed to stay on the ice with their children if they wanted - I didn't because of Boone, but it worked out fantastic because Calder did quite well on his own). The instructor had told the kids to skate to a certain spot on the ice. Calder fell close to the start and rather than stand up, he decided to crawl the entire way! Genius, in that he arrived first, not so genius that he didn't even have his blades on the ice! I went out and asked him if he was taking lessons to learn how to crawl on ice. Calder giggled and got to his feet! I am confident that in a couple more lessons he will not be crawling, because it will be way faster to be on his feet.
Calder loves school - Especially when he gets to car pool there with his buddy Emery and her mom! This week they did the letter "D". Calder isn't learning anything new with that, but he is learning new things. After the first day of school, Calder asked me, "Mom, how old was that man who died?" Not knowing who the heck he was talking about I inquired a few times before Calder told me, "You know, Geebus." Calder is going to a Lutheran pre-school, so I assume he was talking about Jesus! Last week Calder told me about how long it took God to make the earth and then proceeded to list dozens of things that God made. This week when Calder randomly asked me how the sun was made and I responded, "I'm not sure buddy," not wanting to get in some sort of big bang theory explanation. Calder quickly chirped, "I know how it was made. God made it." I commended him on his knowledge. He was pretty pumped to know something I didn't ;-)
Boone is really starting to army crawl around. He even took off down our hall last week. We are now shutting the baby gate when he isn't under direct supervision! On Wednesday while practicing up on all 4s Boone started lifting one hand. Calder crawled at 7.5 months and Boone may just come in ahead of him! Or he may just decide he is content dragging himself - who knows! Boone has started eating like a champ. We started him on solids a couple of weeks ago and now most of the time he chows down breakfast, lunch, and supper. He has eaten sweet potato, carrots, avocado, pear, apple, banana, and peach all mixed with chickpeas (for iron). Next on the menu will be squash, peas, egg yolks, and some other types of protein. Boone is early to bed and an early riser - almost always before 6 - we are working on it! Although most sources I read say there isn't much you can do about it. Boone naps 2 - 3 times a day just depending on the start time to the day and the length of his naps. He always sleeps through the night (unless of course he is plugged up with snot like he was last weekend!). Boone continues to be easy to haul around and travels like a dream. L.U.C.K.Y.
I have been busy in the kitchen. I have made a number of pots of apple sauce and pear sauce as well as spaghetti sauce. All of those jars have been canned and put in the store room. I have a pile of tomatoes left to can. They will most likely be turned into spaghetti sauce as well, although I might can a few jars of puree that I can turn into tomato soup in the winter. I feel like my main job is cleaning and tidying up these days. Man, a lot of mess gets made when you are at home all day. I have also being doing a lot of dishes. We use a lot and our dishwasher isn't doing a great job. It may be time to look into a new one. . . We shall see!
This weekend we are hoping to get some nice weather so that we can get out into our garden. This means I will be busy dealing with beets next week! Borsch, anyone?
Happy Friday!
UPDATE: I completely forgot to add that on Wednesday night some Girl Guides were by our house and sold us two boxes of cookies. There are 20 cookies in a package. In 24 hours Hugh ate 2, Calder ate 3 and I ate 15. NOT JOKING. And to top it all off it is just after lunch on Friday and I have already ate 2 from the second pack. This is not looking good. Did I mention it is my birthday on Sunday and we will be having cake? . . . Right, Hugh? Looks like I might new pants for a gift! Ha!
Calder is busy doing gymnastics, skating, and pre-school. Gymnastics is at Can-Am. I'm not sure if you remember our experience last winter at a different club. . . . Anyways, this is ENTIRELY different. I am very critical of how kids are organized, kept safe, and kept busy during physical activities. It is the Physical Education teacher coming out in me. The coach and helper at Can-Am are amazing. They know exactly how to work with 4 and 5 year olds. They have created routines for the kids, and give them appropriate instruction before and during the activity. I ALWAYS feel like Calder is safe. Their winter session sign up is Nov. 14, if you live around Saskatoon, I not only recommend it for the quality of programing, but also because gymnastics teaches so much body control - every kid involved in sport should do gymnastics. (My sister can speak more to the benefits of it. She is the expert.)
Skating just started on Tuesday. Compared to last year Calder has already made some serious gains. He spent the whole 45 minutes on the ice by himself (minus the 5 minutes at the start of class when I got him going). Calder could barely stand up at the start. He was moving forward, but only because his legs kept getting farther and farther apart! He would eventually fall, but would automatically pop back up. By the end of class Calder was keeping his legs together and stringing a few tiny steps together. He worked super hard. I only had to intervene once during the lesson (FYI parents were allowed to stay on the ice with their children if they wanted - I didn't because of Boone, but it worked out fantastic because Calder did quite well on his own). The instructor had told the kids to skate to a certain spot on the ice. Calder fell close to the start and rather than stand up, he decided to crawl the entire way! Genius, in that he arrived first, not so genius that he didn't even have his blades on the ice! I went out and asked him if he was taking lessons to learn how to crawl on ice. Calder giggled and got to his feet! I am confident that in a couple more lessons he will not be crawling, because it will be way faster to be on his feet.
Calder loves school - Especially when he gets to car pool there with his buddy Emery and her mom! This week they did the letter "D". Calder isn't learning anything new with that, but he is learning new things. After the first day of school, Calder asked me, "Mom, how old was that man who died?" Not knowing who the heck he was talking about I inquired a few times before Calder told me, "You know, Geebus." Calder is going to a Lutheran pre-school, so I assume he was talking about Jesus! Last week Calder told me about how long it took God to make the earth and then proceeded to list dozens of things that God made. This week when Calder randomly asked me how the sun was made and I responded, "I'm not sure buddy," not wanting to get in some sort of big bang theory explanation. Calder quickly chirped, "I know how it was made. God made it." I commended him on his knowledge. He was pretty pumped to know something I didn't ;-)
Boone is really starting to army crawl around. He even took off down our hall last week. We are now shutting the baby gate when he isn't under direct supervision! On Wednesday while practicing up on all 4s Boone started lifting one hand. Calder crawled at 7.5 months and Boone may just come in ahead of him! Or he may just decide he is content dragging himself - who knows! Boone has started eating like a champ. We started him on solids a couple of weeks ago and now most of the time he chows down breakfast, lunch, and supper. He has eaten sweet potato, carrots, avocado, pear, apple, banana, and peach all mixed with chickpeas (for iron). Next on the menu will be squash, peas, egg yolks, and some other types of protein. Boone is early to bed and an early riser - almost always before 6 - we are working on it! Although most sources I read say there isn't much you can do about it. Boone naps 2 - 3 times a day just depending on the start time to the day and the length of his naps. He always sleeps through the night (unless of course he is plugged up with snot like he was last weekend!). Boone continues to be easy to haul around and travels like a dream. L.U.C.K.Y.
I have been busy in the kitchen. I have made a number of pots of apple sauce and pear sauce as well as spaghetti sauce. All of those jars have been canned and put in the store room. I have a pile of tomatoes left to can. They will most likely be turned into spaghetti sauce as well, although I might can a few jars of puree that I can turn into tomato soup in the winter. I feel like my main job is cleaning and tidying up these days. Man, a lot of mess gets made when you are at home all day. I have also being doing a lot of dishes. We use a lot and our dishwasher isn't doing a great job. It may be time to look into a new one. . . We shall see!
This weekend we are hoping to get some nice weather so that we can get out into our garden. This means I will be busy dealing with beets next week! Borsch, anyone?
Happy Friday!
UPDATE: I completely forgot to add that on Wednesday night some Girl Guides were by our house and sold us two boxes of cookies. There are 20 cookies in a package. In 24 hours Hugh ate 2, Calder ate 3 and I ate 15. NOT JOKING. And to top it all off it is just after lunch on Friday and I have already ate 2 from the second pack. This is not looking good. Did I mention it is my birthday on Sunday and we will be having cake? . . . Right, Hugh? Looks like I might new pants for a gift! Ha!
This has no relevance to your post.. I just wanted to let you know that I am pregnant with our rainbow baby. Oliver died almost 2 years ago (end of December). He would have been 4 in November. This little guy will be born in March. Our daughter is so excited - and we are too (along with many other emotions). Also, we tested at 13 wks - and we found out at 16 wks that he does not have Tay-Sachs Disease. That's a pretty important little tidbit!
ReplyDeleteOur daughter is selling Girl Guide cookies this year for the first time - I didn't realize how popular they are until I started mentioning it to family and friends. WOW!
I hope you start feeling better soon.
Karen,
ReplyDeleteI read this comment on Friday. I was sitting in our office while Calder played beside me. I first started crying when I read that it has been almost 2 years since Oliver died. I can't believe it has been that long. I guess it makes sense - it is almost 3 years since Tripp died and I can't believe that either. I then really swelled up when I read you are expecting. I am so excited for you. By the time I got to your most important tidbit I had tears streaming down my face.
Calder asked me what was wrong and for once I got to tell him that these tears were happy ones. I told him your story and that you were going to have your very own "Boone". Calder smiled and thought that was pretty cool.
I can't tell you how thrilled I am for you. I would love to hear updates on how you are doing and I will anxiously be awaiting news of the arrival of your healthy bundle in March (great month, by the way!). jmf322(at)gmail.com