Harvesting Kale

the time I spilt beer on my macbook.

2012-02-29T11:58:00.001-05:00

So…hmmm…well this is embarrassing…… you see, I haven’t been blogging because, well, I spilt a beer on my macbook. It’s currently with a genius and taking longer than expected…. Oh, and of course I've thought of about 8000000 things I want to blog about. So I've been writing the idea's down and when I'm back to blogging - it's going to be good :)

the melting snowman

2012-02-22T21:39:00.000-05:00

Surprise, surprise - we are battling another cold in our house! Stuffy noses, sneezing, aches & pains - all the typical symptoms of a lovely winter cold. Thankfully, Kale seems to have avoided catching it, but I am sure it's only a matter of time. On average, Kale seems to be the third or fourth kid to catch something in his class and this week I've already noticed a couple of absences. Dun-dun-dun.....

Since our weekend snow adventure, Kale has been really keen to check out his snowman in the backyard every day. I mean, can you blame him? It really is a work of art:

The weather has been mild again, so our snowman has been getting a little smaller every day. I'm pretty sure that Kale does not understand that snow melts (maybe he does??), so I've been dreading the day that the snowman becomes a snow-puddle. I was convinced it was going to cause a "I'm-confused! I-don't-get-it! I'm-going-to-freak-out" type tantrum. So today when we got home and he rushed to push a chair up against the backdoor so he could peek out the window and I heard "UH OH!" I prepared for the worst. I came over to the window and he looked at me "go? snowman? go?" and I took a deep breath and told him the snowman melted - he was all gone.....and nothing. Kale said "snowman melt - bye bye." And that was the end of that.

Just when you think you know them.....

montessori monday: working with lids.

2012-02-20T22:26:00.001-05:00

After last week's 'Montessori Monday Gone Wild,' I was hoping to come back with a bang for this weeks link up with Living Montessori Now and do something extra special. But then I woke up this morning thinking it was Sunday, only to find out it's actually Monday and, even better, it's a holiday! So I opted to keep it simple and enjoy the free time and decided to set up a tray of containers and lids for Kale to work with.

Activity: containers & lids (small muscle activity, practical life)

Age: 21 months

Materials: tray, various containers with lids

Presentation:

Part 1: Recognition of identity.

I normally go in the room ahead of Kale and set up the activity. That gives me time to snap a picture for the title shot of the blog post and to think the activity through. When Kale comes up in the room he is always super excited to see a new activity set up (normally we don't set anything up for him - we let him choose what he'd like to work on from the shelves). Evidence of his excitement:

Part 2: Recognition of Contrasts

I had set out two glass containers, one stainless steel container, and a candle tin. Kale zeroed in on the candle right away and was pretty much convinced that it was lip chap. He tried for about ten minutes to scrape some wax out to put on his lips, before giving up and moving on to the other containers. He took all the lids off and then worked on putting each one back on. Despite my efforts to use different sized containers, a couple of the lids were interchangeable and so it probably wasn't as challenging as it could have been for him.

Part 3: Discrimination between similar objects.

Working with new materials is great because it gives us a chance to try new words. Since Kale was drawn to the candle, we worked on saying "candle" and "lemon." I tried asking him to show me the glass container vs. the tin container, but by this point he realized that the containers could hold water and so working with lids quickly turned into working with water......

snow day

2012-02-19T14:25:00.001-05:00

I think if you asked most people around here they would say that this winter has been amazing for us Southern Ontarians. It's been really, really mild with only few small snowfalls. However, I have to admit that even though the warm temperatures and clear roads have been nice, I was really looking forward to playing in the snow with Kale this winter - something we haven't really been able to do. So yesterday morning when we woke to a blanket of the white stuff, I knew we had to take advantage of it before it melted away.


FYI - this is not a full length window. Rather, this is my son standing on the windowsill (don't worry, there is a couch to catch him right under the window).

I tried to convince my neighbour we should tie the sled to her chocolate lab. She didn't agree.

Kale isn't actually a giant - the snowman is just small.

Oh right, this is why we had kids.

And for a little extra cuteness, I offer you this:

We're still climbing...keep voting, please!

true love.

2012-02-14T21:13:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

(If you see a picture of this kid with pants on in the next, i don't know, THREE YEARS? - it'll be a miracle)

Today Kale celebrated Valentine's Day at school with his friends, making cookies, singing and dancing, and sharing the love. Once again, toddler's show us how it should really be done. Forget the flowers, chocolates, and dinner dates - take your pants off, eat a sugar cookie and DANCE!

I made little s'more treats for Kale's classmates (thank goodness for pinterest and the fact that there are only six kids in his class) and so tonight after dinner, I popped one in the oven to share with Kale. I think he liked it.....

This evening we took a couple of treats down to one of our neighbours who have four year old twins that absolutely adore Kale. Kale fell in love with a giant toy truck of theirs that flashes, makes noise, and has movable parts. The little boy was super sweet in telling Kale he could take it home to play with (thank baby jesus for that one because I was getting a bit worried about how to separate Kale and the truck without an epic meltdown). Once we got home, Kale refused to let the truck out of his sight, even making me hold it on his lap while he went to the bathroom. And since we're of the "choose your battles" mindset around here, this is currently going on upstairs:

TRUE LOVE.

montessori monday gone wild

2012-02-12T22:09:00.000-05:00

One day a few weeks ago I was feeling kind of blue and sulking through my dinner. I was overworked, stressed out and feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. In an attempt to cheer me up, Kris commented that he'd read one of my Montessori Monday posts and it looked really good. Then he said, "if I didn't know you, I'd totally think you have it together."

I paused. Our eyes met. The corners of his mouth started to twitch. And we both burst out laughing.

Because, wow, I so do NOT have it together.

But if you've looked at some of my Montessori Monday posts, I can see how it's possible to think that. Not only might you think I have it together, but you might also think that my kid is incredibly focused, calm and patient. I mean, that's how it looks in the pictures, right?

And so I bring you...Montessori Monday Gone Wild.

Kale had been working with these bees and pods all week. He was so pleased with himself as he worked hard to pick up each wooden bee with the tongs and carefully place it in a pod. Sometimes he focused extra hard and matched the colours, which got me really excited because I was beginning to wonder if he was colour blind.

I was really looking forward to sharing this activity for the link-up and had this whole post in mind about how you can find Montessori materials around the house, in a craft store, at a toy store (like the bees from Plan Toys) or from a specialty store.

I prepared everything, took the first shot and then brought Kale in to get to work. At first, he was soooo excited to see the bees, pods and tongs:

But then he lost his little toddler mind and with one sweep of his arm, every bee and pod was flying across the room. This was accompanied by stomping feet and screaming. A true toddler freak out.

For whatever reason, I'm always still a little shocked when Kale flips out and before I could recover, he was doing this:

And so I took his picture (wonderful disciplinary, I know).

But like any good Montessori kid, he realized things were in disarray and dutifully started to clean up. He lined up all the pods, but despite all encouragement, he decided to move on to something else. In the meantime, someone else decided to give it a try:

This, of course, caused Kale to lose his mind again. How dare Bubbie work with his materials???

After snapping this one last shot, I quickly had to break up a fight between a toddler on the tear and a cat that thinks he's Maria's next protege.

And that my friends, is how Montessori Monday went this week at our house.

We're almost in the top 50! More votes = less toddler tantrums...I swear! Help us out!

21 months.

2012-02-09T21:33:00.003-05:00

This week Kale turned 21 months, which makes him officially "almost two."

What Kale loves:

The potty book. Kale is really into the book 'Potty' by Leslie Patricelli. When I ask if he wants to read a book, he runs to grab it, brings it to me and asks "knee? knee?" Then he sits on my knee and we read 'Potty' 6000 times. When the baby in the book pees on the toilet, Kale cheers like crazy and then asks "more? more?" How am I supposed to say no to that?
Pingu. Kale pronounces it "Kan-goo" and it's the first television show he's expressed any interest in. He'll sit and watch it for a solid ten minutes which is the longest he'll sit still for anything. It's pretty much the only way I can brush my teeth/do my makeup/dry my hair/eat breakfast in the morning (and yes, that all happens in 10 minutes).
Hack Hacks. This is what Kale calls back packs. It's also what he says when he wants a piggy back ride or, even better, when he wants to give you a piggy back ride. This involves awkwardly walking around with his head stuck between your legs. Yes, it's as weird as you're thinking it is.
Karl. Kris's brothers name is actually Kyle, but we call him Karl (long story...that I'm not actually sure I know). Anyway, it's going to blow Kale's mind one day when he finds out Karl is Kyle. Kale LOVES Karl and spends a good part of every day looking for him.

What Kale hates:

Leaving school. Earlier this month Kale had a couple rough days at school, but we can chalk that up to both his regular teachers being off sick and a new kid starting the program. Once things returned to normal and the new kid adjusted, Kale was back to LOVING school. This is awesome - except he doesn't want to leave. It easily takes us 30 minutes to get out the door, which leaves me zero time to eat my lunch before rushing back to work (late).
Clothes. Since we started toilet training, the only time Kale wears clothes at home is at night when he's sleeping. Convincing him to wear even a shirt is pretty much next to impossible. Good thing it's been a warm winter around here.

Things to celebrate/milestones/big events:

Toilet training. We started two weeks ago with no expectations and are really surprised at how well he's doing. Today he had no accidents at school and just one at home! We know we still have a long way to go, but we're pretty happy with how well he's doing so far.

Kay-ah. This is how Kale pronounces his name and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever. However, now everything is "Kay-ah's." This means the dreaded "mine" is just around the corner.

According to Kale:

Kale is starting to put two words together more and more and repeats almost everything we say (including "gee-shush" when I curse jesus...oops). His two word sentences usually have something to do with him asking for more food - "mo' snack? mo' cracker? mo' juice?" He also loves to rhyme off the names of the kids in his class tell the cat to get away from his peanut butter and toast ("Bub bub! No! Down! Kay-ah toast!").

My favourite pictures from the past month:

What to give Kale a special 21 month birthday present? Give us a vote! We're almost in the top 50!

Montessori Monday: Transferring with Tongs

2012-02-06T09:43:00.000-05:00

This is my fourth week linking up with Living Montessori Now and quite possibly the longest I've ever stuck with a regular feature on this blog! If you're also linking up, please leave your blog address in the comments so I can make sure I check your Montessori and Montessori-inspired activities out!

Activity: transferring with tongs (fine motor activity)

Age: 20 months (for two more days!)

Materials: four coloured bowls, small stainless steel tongs, large silicone tongs, tray, cotton balls

Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to teach children to move small objects using tongs. This helps them to develop their fine motor skills. Also teaches concentration, coordination and control.

I had a hard time finding tongs that were small and flexible enough for Kale's small hands. Someone gave me the suggestion of checking out bar set tongs, but most were too difficult to squeeze and the edges seemed really sharp. After searching for awhile, I finally found a pair that were really flexible and smooth. I also tried larger tongs made of silicone that are more narrow that your average set of salad tongs. Of course, you can purchase tongs from many Montessori sites, but they tend to be on the expensive side.

I've seen this activity with ice cube trays and with boxes that have different compartments so that objects can be sorted, as well as transferred. However, Kale doesn't have much interest in sorting yet and so I picked up these small coloured bowls that he could use and then ended up being perfect.

Presentation:

Part 1: Recognition of identity.

Kale was eager to check everything out and spent time looking at each of the bowls and touching the different tongs. Once he had an opportunity to check out all the materials I'd laid out, I added a few cotton balls and he immediately started transferring them from one bowl to another with his hands.

Part 2: Recognition of contrasts

I showed him how he could use the tongs and he was really into it! The level of concentration on his face was awesome to see. We asked him to try the small tongs and the big tongs, and to put the cotton balls in the red bowl, etc. Mostly he was so deep into the activity that catching his attention to ask him a question was difficult!

Part 3: Discrimination between similar objects

We tried to get Kale to name the colours of the bowls and to say "tongs," but like I said, he was so deep into the activity that it was hard to get his attention to ask. We don't push it - we let him take the lead and enjoy himself and sit back and watch.

I can see this being a great activity that can be adapted as his motor and verbal skills improve. It will also be great to use this transferring technique with sorting activities once he starts showing more of an interest.

Have you tried transferring with tongs? Any suggestions for how I can adapt this activity to work on different skills?

Looking for other great Montessori & Montessori-inspired activities?

Go check out the Montessori Monday link up!

Mind giving us a vote? Click above and then click on the owl on the left!

Thanks so much!

mama? mama! ic-ture?

2012-02-05T12:18:00.001-05:00

For MONTHS its been pretty much impossible for me to snap a picture of Kale. As soon as I pull my camera out, he sprints toward me, pulls the camera from my face, and demands to look at the view screen while simultaneously jamming away at every.single.button on my speedlight. This all happens in about 3.2 seconds and, at best, I end up with a close up of his left eye and three fingers as he dashes toward me.

We let him use our old point and shoot, but we were running through batteries way too fast. I then bought him a plastic toy camera, which he uses, but insists on being about 1mm from your face (or the cats face) with it to take a shot. It wouldn't be a problem, but when you click the button, a little clown pops out the front and punches you in the nose.

Anyway, yesterday Kale suddenly got the idea that I should take his picture. I was thrilled because I literally have three pictures of him looking at the camera from the last 6 months (the rest are all of him doing something that's distracting him or sleeping). So when he asked "mama? mama? ic-ture?" - I happily obliged.

Of course, Kale still has the most beautiful smile in the world......

On a side note, we do dress him - we're just in the midst of attempting toilet training, so be happy he's wearing anything at all.

Kale also requested I take pictures of the following (a few of his favourite things):

Bubbie the cat.

Kale cleaning his vacuum.

Pingu crackers.

Coffee. He doesn't drink it - but loves to help make it.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote for my blog this week!!! Don't be afraid to, um, you know - do it again.

a vote, please?

2012-02-01T21:35:00.002-05:00

I took my blog off Top Baby Blogs awhile back because I didn't think it brought me any new readers and I hated asking for votes.

When I mentioned this on here, I was surprised to find out that quite a few people did in fact come to my blog from there!

I've been waiting until they reset the numbers to rejoin and they did that today, so, yeah, umm......can you vote for me?

Click the button above and then the owl on the left (the instructions are just in case you haven't already been asked to do this 8000 times today by other blogs).

well, hello strangers.

2012-01-31T21:01:00.000-05:00

I haven't been blogging much lately because I just can't seem to find the time to do more than the Weekly Check-in and Montessori Monday posts. January was a really hectic month for me and I'm hoping February brings more peace, balance and opportunities to reflect on this life that seems to be whipping by (hey, there is an extra day this month - that has to count for something, right?). Anyway, a couple of you requested "more Kale" in recent comments, so - here you are!

We started toilet training on the weekend. I'm a bit panicked about the issue since Kale MUST be toilet trained to start his new school in September. I know - September is far away - I know, I know! But I'm a planner (and a panicker) and so I can't help but worry about this faaaaar in advance. Anyway, we decided to give it a shot this weekend and see how it went. Kris and I were both totally shocked at the end of the weekend when Kale had only had one accident. He hasn't had any accidents at home this week (school is a different story) and he's running to the toilet on his own when he has to go. This also means that we have a naked toddler running around our house all the time. I know that we still have a long road ahead of ourselves, but I think we got a great start.

Kale is obsessed with Pingu. Kale has shown little to no interest in television up to this point. The only time he ever watches is when he eats his breakfast in the morning and I'm trying to get ready for work. I normally put on Dinosaur Train, but I could put on the Chinese news station and he wouldn't care. Then along came Pingu. Now it's "mo can-gu, mo can-gu" whenever we turn the tv on. Not familiar with Pingu? It's a stop-motion claymation series about a family of penguins. There are no words. It's thrilling - watch for yourself: Pingu video.

Kale is dealing with some separation anxiety. At school last week he cried the entire morning, two days in a row. Thankfully the third day he seemed back to his normal self, but drop offs have been tough. He is so excited to go to school, but as soon as we get there he starts to panic and clings on to me. I literally have to peel a screaming, red-faced toddler off me and pass him to his teacher to get out of there. Thankfully he's only crying for 2 or 3 minutes and then calms down and enjoys the rest of his day. Still, it's really, really hard and I miss my happy boy that would point to the door and tell me to "go!" when I dropped him off.

The truth is, Kale is the coolest person that I know and every day he gets more and more awesome. Kris and I are continually astounded at how lucky we are to have this little man-baby live with us. Even if he is naked all the time.

Montessori Monday: Texture Boards

2012-01-30T10:51:00.000-05:00

I'm so glad that I started linking up with Montessori Monday hosted at Living Montessori Now. Every week there are so many amazing idea's that parents are sharing and I've found a lot of great new blogs to follow. If I'm not following you, please, please leave your url and I'll definitely add you to my blog reader!

Activity: texture boards (sensorial exercise)

Age: 20 months

Materials: I made these boards myself using some wood boards I found at the craft store. I glued on pieces of felt, sandpaper, bumpy paper and foam sheets. You can purchase texture boards (or 'tablets') if you prefer, but these were a super easy DIY.

Purpose: The purpose of the Montessori Sensorial curriculum is to teach the child how to explore the world around him, in order to better appreciate it. Activities are designed to isolate one sense at a time, to refine it, so that the child can discern the slightest differences. Touch activities teach the child to identify, match, and grade textures, using only his sensitized fingers.

Since Kale is still pretty young and his focus for things that don't "do" something is minimal, I kept this exercise simple and let him lead the way. Since he's really into taking things out and putting them away, I let him explore the box of boards without much of a presentation. He was immediately curious about the different textures, but as suspected, the boards didn't capture his attention for too long!

We spent some time showing him how to rub his fingers across each board very lightly (too heavy and he'd numb the nerves in his fingers and not be able to feel the different textures). As we did each one, we practiced saying "rough," "smooth," and "soft."

Once he got a grasp on the new words, we were able to ask him questions so he could point out the correct board. We started with, "which one is smooth?" but then found we could keep his attention longer if we asked things like "which one is soft like Bubbie's (the cat) face?" "Which one feels rough like papa's beard?"

I plan to make duplicates of these boards so we can working on matching exercises in the future and at that point we can try adding a blindfold so we can isolate his touch sense.

weekly check-in

2012-01-29T21:32:00.003-05:00

I totally fell off the wagon this week! I'm really having trouble keeping on top of work, school (did I mention I'm taking a class on Monday nights? In Toronto? DOWNTOWN Toronto? Which involves me driving through rush hour after working a full day?!), the house and managing to still spend quality time with Kris and Kale. My new assistant starts tomorrow (sounds fancy, but totally is not) and so I'm anticipating another couple of crazy weeks until we figure out what we're doing (I'm anticipating our time to go something like this: me: "Umm, excuse me, uhhh, yes, please, do you mind, uh? doing something for me?" Her: "uh, yeah, that's what you pay me for, right?" me: "umm, well, techincally, yes, but uhh, oh nevermind, I can do it! You relax!"). Anyway, here's the weekly run down:

#janphotoaday

I totally failed this week, which only increases my utter awe for those who manage to do 365(+1) projects. I can't even last a month! I only managed to take two photo's for the challenge this week:


"guilty pleasure" Bacon Avocado Tomato Havarti Sandwich from With the Grain. Seriously the best sandwich I've ever eaten (and I've eaten a lot of sandwiches). The guilty part? $15 for lunch.

"inside your fridge" produce, beer, juice - essentials.

'Tis a lesson you should heed, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

That's right - despite my January failure, I'm still going to try this:

Who's in???

2012 Declutter Calendar

This weeks tasks were all about declutter storage shelves, which for us, means the basement. However, Kris has told me that the basement is off limits for me. He's been working on decluttering that space since we moved in back in May. Besides, after decluttering the linen closet last week, I got hooked on closets and ended up doing mine, Kris's & Kale's. I don't have photo's of those to share, but did promise to post one of the linen closet once I finished (which I'm sure you've all been losing sleep over in anticipation):

I really should have taken a before shot, because this closet was a hot mess. I managed to get three bins of random medications and toiletries into one big bin and used the two smaller ones for my hair dryer and flat iron and the other for shampoo's and whatnot. I purchased the new laundry bins which fit just about perfectly in the closet (we actually had to remove the trim around the bottom).

Sometimes I just open this closet and stare at it. It brings me peace.

Menu Planning

So I swear we ate this week, I'm just not totally sure what.... We only ended up cooking three meals off the menu plan, ordering in one night, making a quick pasta another and I have no idea what happened the other two nights.

Chicken w/ Balsamic Bruschetta Vegetables

Natural Noshing has quickly become one of my favourite food blogs in the past few weeks. Like the other recipes I've tried from here, this one was simple, quick and full of flavour.

Portobello and Black Bean Enchiladas w/ Roasted Poblano Sauce

I was about 10 minutes into this recipe before I realized that it was not a weeknight meal. During the week we have about 45 minutes from prep to plate to make dinner before people (ok, me and Kale) start snapping and getting cranky from hunger. To be fair, it does suggest making the sauce in advance, but I have a tendency not to read the full instructions before I dive in. In the end, I was totally glad I did make this because it was delicious AND there was enough for me to have for lunch the next day (HUGE bonus for me). I used a cubanelle pepper instead of poblano and feta instead of queso fresco and it was absolutely perfect.

Sweet Potato Chicken Curry

Again, I should have read the instructions before taking this one. It required 1.5 hours of simmering and so we ended up eating a quick pasta and finished this up to have for dinner the next night. As far as curries go, this was not a favourite. I like a bit of spice and this one didn't deliver. However, it was packed full of good stuff that Kale loves - peas, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, chicken and carrots - and he gobbled it up.

What's on the menu this week:

Orange Chicken
Baked Potato Grilled Cheese
Bacon Lettuce Avocado & Turkey Sandwich w/ Spicy Chipotle Mayo
Chicken Fajitas

Montessori Monday: Threading Beads

2012-01-23T14:12:00.002-05:00

I really enjoyed participating in last week's Montessori Monday hosted by Living Montessori Now. I found some really great Montessori and Montessori-inspired activities to try with Kale in the future and also gained a few new followers (hello! welcome!).

Last week Kale came down with a really terrible flu. We kept him home from school most of the week and took it easy. We did have several instances where he thought he was feeling better and started running around and playing and then we learned the hard way that he was still pretty sick (read: he threw up all over us. Twice.). So for this weeks activity, I was looking for something that would keep him calm and focused.

Activity: threading beads

Age: 20 months

Materials: pipe cleaners, wooden beads, bowl, tray

Purpose: development of fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, development of patience and concentration

I've seen a few beading kits for 3+ (like this one and this one), which I think will be great down the road when Kale is more into sorting and can handle the string. To avoid frustration, I thought you would be able to better handle putting beads on a pipe cleaner and it worked great!

Kale really focused hard on getting each bead on and was thrilled when he was able to slip the pipe cleaner into the bead. I love to watching his reaction and seeing how proud he is of himself.

As he gets older, we can paint the beads and try sorting them on different pipe cleaners and use them for counting exercises. We'll also try string as his fine motor skills improve.

Does anyone have any other good idea's for working with beads and threading for this age group? I'd love to hear some suggestions!

Check out other great idea's by clicking on the button below:

weekly check-in

2012-01-22T21:31:00.005-05:00

I really didn't do much blogging this week because Kale has been sick with a pretty bad flu. Every time I think he's showing signs of getting better, he tells us he's not. How does a 20 month old tell you he isn't feeling better? By throwing up avocado all over you.

#janphotoaday

I found this challenge really easy to keep on top of when I was on vacation at the start of the month, but now I'm finding it harder and harder to remember to do. I cheated a couple times this week by taking two photo's in one day and using a picture I took with my DSLR.

(Top: morning; Middle L-R: water; something you bought; sweet; Bottom L-R: someone you love; reflection; shoes)

2012 Declutter Calendar

Again, this was much easier to stay on top of when I was on vacation! Most of the tasks this week were around cleaning out bathroom drawers and getting rid of old products (skin care, meds, etc.). We don't have much storage space in our bathroom and so we keep most of our bathroom stuff in our linen closet. With no time during the week to get things done, I decided to tackle the entire closet on Saturday.

The problem with decluttering is that I'm the type of person that likes to start from scratch. I scour pinterest for great idea's on how to organize and then I want to throw everything we own in the trash and buy everything new. Unfortunately our budget doesn't agree with this method and so often I've got to work with what I've got. In this case, it's our array of mismatched towels and linens and random half-packs of every cold medication under the sun.

Things are looking much better, but there are a few little things that I'd like to get to make the closet that much more organized and clutter free. I'll post a picture later this week to share the results!

Menu Planning

Every now and then I make a menu plan and everything on it turns out amazing and this was that kind of week!

Review of what we cooked last week (with photos!):

Easy Quinoa Vegetable Stir Fry
I was super skeptical about this one since it seems to lack vegetables. I added an extra zucchini that we had hanging out in the fridge and I suppose you could add anything you like, but we just went with what was listed and the zucchini. I also didn't add nuts because, well, I hate nuts in hot food. It's weird. Anyway - it was really easy to make and it was bursting with flavour. I thought that maybe it wouldn't be enough as a meal, but Kris and I were both pretty satisfied (Kale is on a hunger strike due to the flu this week).

Ole' Chicken Skillet
I forgot to take a picture of this one, which is too bad because it looked and tasted amazing! This recipe is definitely getting added to our favourite one dish meals! Again, I was skeptical because this really looked like winter comfort food and then it suggested adding avocado, cilantro, sour cream and tomatillo salsa. It just seemed an odd combo. But guess what? It totally worked!!! My mouth is watering just thinking of this one....

Roasted Chicken Wraps with Black Bean Salsa & Guacamole
I was really excited for this one because I love Annie's Eats blog! However, it was probably at this point that I realized I was likely killing Kris with the cilantro and avocado (he's not as much of a fan as I am - but really, who is?). Unfortunately, I think this meal suffered from a lack of super fresh ingredients. It was good, but likely would have been better if the cilantro was fresher and the guacamole was spicier (we left out the jalapeno for Kale who continued his hunger strike and didn't end up eating anyway).

Cilantro & Lime Fish Tacos

Closet Cooking is another one of my favourite food blogs and so I was looking forward to this one too! Like many of the other recipes from this site, this one did not disappoint. Kris told me that this was the best fish taco he's ever had (to be fair, I think this is the third fish taco he's tried). The cilantro lime crema was the perfect touch and totally worth the extra few steps.

What's on the menu this week:

I'm attempting to give Kris a break from the cilantro/lime/avocado combos this week...unfortunately I think I might have overdone with the chicken recipes....

Chicken w/ bruschetta vegetables

Orange chicken

Baked potato grilled cheese

Sweet potato chicken curry

Portabello and black bean enchiladas

Montessori Monday: Water Pouring

2012-01-16T09:44:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was looking online for a sandpaper letters tutorial and stumbled across Living Montessori Now. This blog, written by a certified Montessorian, is FULL of Montessori inspired activities and hosts an amazing Montessori Monday link-up. I've been wanting to share on this blog more of the Montessori activities we work on at home and so I've decided to link up as often as I can.

First of all, I have to say that I am by no means a Montessori expert. Kale started attending Montessori school in September at 16 months and we have been so pleased with the program and how well Kale has responded. For us, we found the Montessori method to be a natural fit with our attachment parenting style and so while we may not have been intentionally practicing Montessori since birth per se, we find a lot of the theory behind Montessori and AP to overlap.

Before Kale started Montessori, I did a lot of reading (specifically 'Montessori Method' by Maria Montessori and 'Montessori from the Start' by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen) before coming to the conclusion that it was the right fit for us. Since he started at Montessori, we've had the opportunity to observe him work at school, attend some parent-information nights, and I've continued reading (both books and blogs) to learn along with Kale. Now, on to our activity!

Activity: Water pouring.

Materials: wooden tray, two ceramic pouring cups, two tin pouring cups with handles, sponge, two glass bowls.

Purpose: to develop the muscles involved in pouring; to teach the child to pour from pitcher to cup in a neat fashion; to teach self-reliance.

For those of you new to Montessori, the three part lesson was developed by Maria Montessori as a way to help the child to better understand the materials and to allow you to see how well the child is grasping and absorbing what you are showing him (from 'Teaching Montessori in the Home' by Elizabeth G. Hainstock).

Part 1: Recognition of identity

Make the association between the object being shown and its name. "This is....." Repeat until you feel that the child understands the association.

Part 2: Recognition of contrasts

To assure that the child understands, say "show me the....."

Part 3: Discrimination between similar objects

See if the child remembers the name himself. Point to the various objects, saying "what is this?" He should be able to say the name correctly. If not, help him. Repeat until he is able to do it.

Kale absolutely loved this activity! It's amazing to watch his focus and concentration when working on pouring the water. He's 20 months, so his attention span is short, but he worked on this for at least an hour and wanted to do it again 30 minutes after we finished. It did get messy at times, but I gave him a towel and encouraged him to clean up his spills which he was happy to do.

The best part of it all? Watching him work on an activity that he gets so much joy and satisfaction from. It instills a sense of pride and accomplishment in him. It encourages him to be independent. It literally makes my heart swell watching him.

weekly check-in

2012-01-15T18:49:00.004-05:00

This week was crazy.

I returned to work after three weeks of vacation to over one hundred emails.
The student that is interning with me until June started on Tuesday and I didn't have a work plan ready for her.
I spent all day Wednesday interviewing potential assistants for my job.
I toured a new school for Kale to start in September.
I started two courses for a certificate program I'm taking (one requiring me to drive downtown Toronto during rush hour).
I blogged almost every day for the home tour series.
I had a migraine on Friday morning that had be hugging the toilet at 2am and struggling through the rest of the day in a gravol induced coma.

The good parts?

I hired an assistant for work.
I think I found a school for Kale (more on this in a future blog post).
Kris, Kale and I had a visit from our friends Steve & Emily that included Nana coming over to watch Kale while the adults went out for dinner.

Here's the rest of my weekly check-in:

#janphotoaday

If you're on Instagram and you'd like to follow me, search "Randalin."


(TM: routine; MR: childhood; MM: where you sleep; ML: close up; BR: in your bag; BM: something you're reading; BR: happiness)

2012 Declutter Calendar:

If you're interested in the 2012 Declutter Calendar, you can find it at My Simpler Life. I got off easy this week because most of the days were about cleaning your nightstand (don't have one), under the bed (our bed is on the floor), and cleaning a shelf in the bedroom (did it last week!). Our main task was to clean out our junk drawer and then organize it. I was torn about this one because even though our junk drawer is a total disaster, sometimes we take it out and put it on the floor and let Kale explore it while we're trying to cook. It's one of our main distraction tools in the kitchen! In the end, I stuck with the calendar and tackled the job yesterday morning while Kris was at the gym. I didn't take a before picture because it was down right embarrassing, but I did take an after shot because I'm pretty proud:

I had all of the stuff that needed to be re-assigned a space or thrown out on the counter and decided to let Kale have one last kick at the can. I pulled up a kitchen chair and he went to town looking through it all. While he was amused, I decided to clean out the fridge. It's one of Kris's weekend chores and since he'd let me sleep in for a bit in the morning, I thought I'd get the fridge done while he was at the gym. I was working away and Kale was quite content making a mess of the mess. I was having a moment of "wow, look at me. Clean junk drawer, happy kid, doing Kris's chores. I'm pretty amazing. I CAN DO IT ALL."

And then I heard a "swoosh" sound and look over just in time to see Kale dump an entire box of cereal on the counter and proceed to cut it up with his wooden toy knife.

Menu Planning

Since I forgot to take into account that I would be at school one evening and ended up throwing some chicken nuggets in the oven another night when I was still recovering from my migraine, we didn't get through all the meals on last weeks menu plan.

Review of what we cooked last week (with photos!):

Garlic Bacon Artichoke Pizza

We've made some pretty amazing homemade pizza around here and I have to say that this one disappointed. It didn't pack much flavour and if it wasn't for the bacon, it would have been a total fail. Verdict: did the trick, but wouldn't bother making it again.

Honey Glazed Chicken Sandwich

This was great because it was really, really fast. There was no marinading involved, which is good for me since I always get home at 5pm and realize something should have been marinading since 2pm. Verdict: good for a quick dinner.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

We rarely ever eat pasta with cream based sauces, but I'm glad we made an exception for this one. The recipe was really straightforward and it made enough for us to have seconds and lunches for the next day. The chicken was a tad too spicy for Kale, but he devoured the pasta. Verdict: definitely on our make again list - but not for awhile. It's pretty heavy on the dairy (good if you're trying to pack the calcium into your little one, bad if you have a lactose sensitivity and don't want to gain 8 pounds in one sitting).

Shredded Beef Taco

This one was an easy sell for me. Cilantro, lime and avocado - pretty much all of my favourite things to eat. This was soooo easy and perfect for a Sunday (because who doesn't love to smell roast beef cooking all day long on a Sunday??). We served our tacos with tomatillo, sour cream, avocado, lettuce, mozzarella, cilantro and lime and they were amazing. The only bad thing was that we were left with a massive pile of beef. Verdict: nom, nom, nom. We'll make this again, but with half the beef.

What's on the menu this week:

Quinoa stirfry

Chicken skillet

Roasted chicken wraps w/ black bean salsa & guacamole

Cilantro and lime fish tacos

home tour: where we relax

2012-01-12T20:56:00.000-05:00

It's day four of the home tour and today's theme is "where you & your family relax." If you missed the earlier posts you can look back here:

day 01: where we eat

day 02: where we sleep

day 03: where we work & play

We just moved to this house in May, shortly after our parental leave ended and Kris and I both were back to working full-time. We literally had no time to put into making this house our "home" in terms of design. After a few months here I wasn't convinced that this was the perfect place for us and I had no motivation to put any work into the house. Kale's bedroom was pretty much the only space we put any real effort into and it was the room we tended to spend our time relaxing in as a family.

A month ago our living room was very different. We had a dark brown couch, large dark wood bookcases, heavy curtains and a tiny tv. I began to detest the dark space so much that I didn't even want to sit in the room.

After a couple days off work, I decided I couldn't stand it any longer. Kris and I scrounged up our pennies, dropped Kale off at his grandparents, and hit up Ikea. To be totally honest, I thought that by this point in my life I would have moved on from buying furniture at Ikea, but that's just not reality. Besides, I really did look at quite a few other furniture stores and didn't see anything I liked.

We got rid of EVERYTHING from our old living room and started from scratch. The room looks a little sparse right now, but starting with the basics has inspired me to add some personal touches and consider staying in this house a little bit longer...

There is another place that we relax.....the bathroom.

The only place I get to use the bathroom without an audience is at work, so clearly it's not me relaxing here. Kris, however, logs some serious iPhone time here.

I LOVE a hot bath, a glass of wine and a good book. I try to get in there once every couple weeks for a good soak and to warm my bones.

Tomorrow: favourite parts of your home!

home tour: where we work & play

2012-01-11T21:01:00.001-05:00

It's day three of the home tour series being hosted by Our Journey! I have to be honest - I'm pretty impressed with myself that I've been able to stick with this. I'm normally lucky to get one post a week in and here I am posting every day. If you missed Monday's post - "where we eat" - you can check it out HERE and Tuesday's post - "where we sleep" is HERE.

In our house there are four floors - an unfinished basement, the main floor with the kitchen, living area and dining room, the second floor with two rooms and the bathroom, and then a large open space in the attic. It took us a long time to figure out what to do with the second floor and attic and we've moved the rooms around a lot. We've just recently merged our office and bedroom to free up space to put in a playroom for Kale. It is sooooooo nice to have the majority of his stuff in one area that is organized and made just for him. I'm planning to do a more thorough tour of this space in the future with some explanation of the thought I put into designing it - so consider this a sneak peek!

Remember yesterday's 'where we sleep' post when I showed Kale's amazing bedroom and our totally blah bedroom? Yeah, ditto with our work spaces. Kale has a great, new, well designed work space, and our work space is, well, it's this:

Kris and I used to have separate work spaces, but we gave one up to Kale. Now we have a desk in our bedroom. Hrmph. The good part is that the desk fits in a nook that has a window that spans the space, giving us an amazing view of the neighborhood from the fourth floor. From his space, Kale only has a view of the neighbourhood from the third floor. HAH! We still retain the upper hand......(right?!).

Tomorrow's theme: where we relax!

home tour: where we sleep

2012-01-10T20:55:00.001-05:00

Today is the second day of the home tour and the theme is 'where you & your family sleep.' If you missed day one - where you and your family eat - click here! You can also ~~creep~~ take a peek at other people's home tours by visiting Our Journey and you can link up there too and show your own home!

Now here's the thing about sleeping in our house - we don't do it well. We have not slept through the night in 20 months (more for me when I consider how often I was up to pee during my last months of pregnancy). Kale wakes up several times a night to change position, have a drink of water or to snuggle closer to Kris. Each time he wakes, it's for maybe 1 minute - but it's enough to wake me up and keep me up because I have a really hard time falling back to sleep. So - I sleep alone. I know - sad face, right? NO WAY! Ok, maybe a little sad because I really, really, really miss the family bed - but I'm happy that Kris and Kale sleep so well together and then I'm getting a decent sleep. I do sleep with Kale from 5am to 7am when Kris leaves for work, but when I try to sleep with him all night, Kale ends up waking more and I turn into the mama-onster. When Kris tries to sleep with me, I get annoyed at his snoring and Kale wakes more often and can be harder to resettle. Our bedroom is also on a different floor than Kale's and so part of me likes knowing that Kris is there with the little guy, keeping him safe.

Was that a ridiculously long intro? Yes, but 'where we sleep' is a little more complicated in our family than "we sleep here, he sleeps there." Do our sleeping arrangements sound crazy to some people? Sure. Is it what works for us? Yes - which is all that matters.

I won't do a full tour of Kale's room since I've done it on the blog before and you can find it here: Kale's Room. His room is still my favourite room in the whole house and tends to be the space where we spend the most time focused on just being a family. We're not distracted by food or television or laptops. It's just a space for us to be together and I love it.

The only thing in Kale's room that has changed since I did the tour of his room is that he got new pirate bedding for christmas from my parents. Kale things his new blanket is pretty awesome and he felt the need to roll around on it while I took this picture. Kale has had a floor bed since he was 15 months and moved out of our bed. It's worked really, really well for us - but that's a future post!

Our bedroom is quite possibly the best and worst room of the house. Best because it's the largest, has incredible natural light and beautiful floors. Since we live in an old house, there are a lot of small rooms and not a lot of open space. Our bedroom is in the attic and takes up the entire floor. It was really hard to take any pictures that really show the room since there are slanted ceilings and it was impossible for me to get a good angle. To spice it up a bit, Kale decided to strip half his clothes off and smile like a maniac.

Our bedroom is also the worst room in the house because it's so BLAH. We have done absolutely NOTHING with it, but considering I only go up there to sleep (alone), there isn't much point. We've focused on the other rooms in the house and I'm thinking it's time to put some effort into this room soon.

Tomorrow's theme: where you and your family work and play!

home tour: where we eat.

2012-01-09T23:12:00.001-05:00

It's the first day of the home tour hosted by Tara at Our Journey! The theme for today is "where you eat" and if you haven't heard, Kale eats A LOT. Thus, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen and dining room at our house. Without further ado...

Our tiny dining table actually expands at both ends to accommodate more, but life with a toddler requires that you maximize as much open space as possible for running laps, chasing the cat and spinning until you're dizzy. Besides, Kris is really the only person who eats at this table.....

....because this is where Kale eats and where Kale demands that I eat. I don't mind, he's a pretty awesome dinner date. As long as you think rubbing cheese in your hair, eating things off the floor and dumping your water onto your plate are things that

Our kitchen is the most outdated room in the house. I totally balked at this kitchen the second time we looked at the house (I was still mesmerized by the rest of the house the first time), but by then I was in love and so I've just come to terms with the fact that I have a pretty old and ugly kitchen. It's kind of unfortunate considering I spend HOURS of my day in this room, but there is great sunlight and the backdoor that leads to our backyard and deck, which is nice.

Besides, all the real kitchen magic happens here. Kale can cook a killer scrambled egg with a side of pizza and carrot.

Want to show where you eat? Find out more about the home tour and link up with other blogs at Our Journey!

Tomorrow's theme: Where you and your family sleep

weekly check-in.

2012-01-08T21:56:00.000-05:00

Despite making no official new year's resolutions, I seem to have committed to a number of things in the blogosphere. And since I have a terrible track record for saying I'll do something on this blog and then completely forgetting, I'm not going to say this is going to be a regular check in. But for the purpose of this specific post - here's a weekly check-in.

#janphotoaday

Fat Mum Slim started a photo a day challenge on Instagram. I think everyone I follow on there is participating and it's a lot of fun to check out the hashtag everyday to see what people from around the world are posting. There is a list of subjects/topics/inspirations to follow and they can all be found here. Here are my photos from this week:

(TL: you, TR: breakfast, ML: something you adore, MM: letterbox, MR: something you wore, BL: makes you smile, BM: favourite, BR: your sky)

2012 Declutter Calendar

If you're on pinterest you've probably seen the 2012 Declutter Calendar. Hosted by My Simpler Life, the calendar gives a short decluttering task for every day of the year. I know a few other bloggers - Adventures of an Infertile Mommy & Adventures of Wee Mason Man - that are following and we're trying to keep each on track by doing regular check-ins. This weeks task were:

1. Think about who you want to be this year
2. Set up a donation station
3. Declutter the top of your cabinets and dust
4. Declutter the top shelf of one of your cabinets
5. Go through your spices to discard expired and old ones
6. Put all your cans together on a shelf
7. Go through your freezer to let go of old, freezer burned food

I'm happy to say that I managed to get all of these tasks done! I'd usually do it after I put Kale to bed or when I was finished the dishes from dinner and most only took 10 minutes (the spice sorting was a much bigger job!). I really love the donation station idea because it's cleared up so much clutter from the entryway and the top of our dresser. I'm actually looking forward to following this calendar and hope that I can stick with it.

Menu Planning

I've actually been menu planning for a long time, but thought that I would start sharing my weekly menu on the blog. I'm always looking for new ideas and new food blogs to follow, so please leave your suggestions! Next week I'm hoping to link up with Lisa at lovealcubo. Her menu's are about 100x better than mine, so you should check her out!

On the menu this week:

Garlic Bacon Artichoke Pizza - Food o' del Mundo
Honey Glazed Chicken Sandwich - Season with Spice
Cajun Chicken Pasta - To Food with Love
Shredded Beef Tacos - Cooking Classy
Quinoa Vegetable Stir Fry - Savvy Vegetarian
Ole' Chicken Skillet - Natural Noshing

I'm going to do my best to take some photo's to share next week, along with a little review of each meal.

home tour.

2012-01-05T21:11:00.001-05:00

When Tara over at Our Journey put a call out on twitter to see if there were any other bloggers interested in doing a home tour I was all over it. It's creepy, I know, but we all do it - peer in people's windows (from the sidewalk!!) during an evening walk, scroll through the online realty ads, glue ourselves to HGTV home makeover shows. Ok - maybe we don't ALL do it, but I am definitely guilty of it. So I was definitely interested in doing a little "I'll show you yours if you show me mine" (your HOUSE!).

Regardless of where you live - a house, a condo, your parents basement - I want to see it! So next week Tara will be hosting the home tour. You just need to post some pictures on your blog of your lovely homes and then link up over at Our Journey. Tara has put together a little schedule for the week so we know which rooms to share on which day:

Monday: Where you & your family eat {kitchen,nook,dining room ect.}

Tuesday: Where you & your family sleep {bedrooms}
Wednesday: Where you & your family work & play {office/playroom ect}
Thursday: Where you & your family relax {living room, study ect}
Friday: Favorite parts of your house that make it YOUR home {in photos}

I hope everyone will consider participating! I can't wait to see your homes!

a love of laundry.

2012-01-02T21:02:00.001-05:00

When Kale loves something, he LOVES it. Remember the toothbrush and lip balm? Or his summer obsession with the great outdoors? If it's an object he loves, he needs to have it with him at all times. If it's a task or activity, he wants to do it from sun up to sun down. For the most part, we've been able to deal with his 'passions' with patience and understanding. I mean, live what you love, right? We could learn a lesson or two from this kid and the way he loves with his entire being.

But then came a new love. A love of laundry. LAUNDRY.

Kale wants to do the laundry, or "laun-lee" has he calls it, EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY.

Examples:

When we went to my parents at Christmas, we got stuck hanging out in the laundry room for the better part of one evening while Kale lost his mind over their front loader.

On the weekend we dropped Kale off at Kris's parents so we could do some shopping and Kale forced his Nana to do laundry the entire time. When we came to pick him up, he insisted we do more with laundry with him before we could go.

I've been home on holidays for the past couple of weeks and I have never done so much laundry in my life. Normally we do all our laundry on the weekend, but Kale has been demanding that we do at least two loads a day.

Kale has two books that feature laundry. One is a book about a girl that climbs a tree. In one picture, she is climbing her dresser and in the corner, there is a laundry basket. Kale brings me that book at least once a day and when we get to that page, he freaks out: "laun-lee! laun-lee! laun-lee!"


See the laundry basket on the left? Yes, that's what causes my child to lose his mind.

The other book is one of those "250 words" books that have various pictures with the words underneath. One of the pages features items from a laundry room. Kale pulls that book out and frantically flips the pages until he finds the wash machine and then it's all: "laun-lee! laun-lee! laun-lee!"

Here's some video proof for you:

And in case you have nothing better to do than watch my kid freak out over the idea of doing laundry and then sorting it all into baskets, I offer you more video footage**

**clearly I will never have a career in filming.

2011.

2011-12-31T19:57:00.002-05:00

*** try to ignore the spelling errors :/

obligatory christmas post.

2011-12-29T21:57:00.000-05:00

This is an obligatory christmas post. I can either (a) post a bunch of pictures of Kale having fun so we can look back on the holiday and remember the good times; or (b) post a bunch of text so we can look back on the holiday and remember how exhausting and overwhelming it was.

Let's pick 'a.'

December 23rd, Christmas with Kris's family:


"Look! Behind me! It's Christmas!"

"You guys take a look at that card - I'm going to get started on opening this for you."

December 25th (morning), Christmas at home:

December 25th-27th, Christmas at my parents:


"Oh Nana E, I don't need help - I've been practicing this for DAYS."

For a great post on what traveling over the holidays with a toddler is like, you should visit my friend Bianca's blog. She's much more polite than I am.

the meaning of christmas for kale.

2011-12-24T19:36:00.002-05:00

I'll admit, I'm a bit of a scrooge. We don't have any christmas decorations, don't read stories about santa and only made one half-hearted attempt at baking christmas cookies. I do, however, sing jingle bells about 40 times a day for Kale and always stop to let him check out christmas trees that we come across.

In Kale's classroom they have a small christmas tree that the kids decorated. Every day when I arrived to pick him up, one of the kids would usher me over to the tree to show me the lights and tiny ornaments. It wouldn't take long before they were all crowded around 'ohh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' and showing me their favourite parts.

We had planned to get a tree, but without any snow it just didn't feel right. I have memories as a kid walking through knee-deep snow with my family to find the perfect tree. It almost felt like I was ruining a tradition if I were to walk into a green field without any snow to pull Kale along in a sleigh.

And so I drew a pine tree on Kale's blackboard easel and announced "it's christmas!" and that was that.

Earlier this week Kale and I went into my office so that I could pick something up. My office mate asked Kale if he was excited for christmas and he started to look around in a panic, searching for something. His eyes landed on a plant I had sitting at my desk and he pointed with great excitement and shouted "christmas!"

And that's when I realized that Kale thinks christmas is a tree.

Parenting WIN.

Kale smiling his very best smile in front of the in-laws tree.

let the vacation begin.

2011-12-21T10:01:00.001-05:00

I think that a lot of parents dread dropping their kids off at childcare. The meltdowns. The tears. The peeling your child off your leg. I feel for those parents - I really, really do. It's not like I've never had to leave Kale in tears, only to burst into tears myself the second I got in the car. Luckily, we've moved past that and Kale LOVES his school and so dropping him off in the morning is one of my favourite parts of the day.

Yesterday I tweeted with joy after dropping Kale off at school - "LET THE VACATION BEGIN!!" Woot woot - three whole hours of ME TIME!! I was ecstatic. I could clean my car out, do the laundry (don't tell Kale I did it without him), clean out my sock drawer - whatever. I could lay on my ass and read all about the Kardashian's if I wanted to (and I did). And when @WeeMasonMom from omgababy.com replied to my tweet and told me she loved me because I was the only one she knew with the balls to say they're excited their kids are in school while they're at home, I was all like "yeah, I got balls." And then I thought, "mom fail?" Possibly. Whatever - LET THE VACATION BEGIN!

Ok, so back to my love of dropping Kale off at school. Let me describe a typical drop off and then tell me it's not awesome.

I get Kale in the car around 8am. The second he is strapped in he demands that I take his hat and boots off. No problem - it's unseasonably warm and who wants to deal with a toddler freakout that early anyway. Once in the driver's seat, I gauge Kale's satisfaction in the seat. If he's cool watching things out the window, I turn up the CBC and get my Matt Galloway fix. If Kale turns on the crank, it's Sharon, Lois & Bram. At red lights we wave to each other through our mirrors and Kale tells me stories.

Once we get to school, Kale starts shouting "COOL! COOL! ISLA! ISLA!" (translation: school! school! Isla! Isla! - his friend). I carry him in to the school even though the school owner told me we should let him walk. Ehh - we all know what I think of her. Once inside, Kale rushes to get his boots, hat and coat off and puts them away in his little bin. He then tries to convince me to take my coat off and I decline. He gives up on me, takes my hand and runs on the spot in excitement. We walk into the gym and say hello to his teacher and the other students that are there. He shyly curls up to my leg and takes it all in.....

Then one of three things happens:

1) He turns and gives me a kiss and says "buh-bye" and takes his teachers hand and walks her over to the toys.

2) He jumps on a riding toy and takes off, yelling "buh-bye" over his shoulder.

Or, like he did this morning:

3) Gives me a kiss, walks me to the door, says "door! out! buh-bye" and pushes me out.

And how can I not be happy with that? He loves it there soooo much and is just so thrilled to be there, with his friends and his teacher and all the stuff he loves doing.

And that's why I can tweet "LET THE VACATION BEGIN" with absolutely no guilt.

And I can't write two posts in a row with no pictures, so:

our childcare journey

2011-12-16T22:13:00.002-05:00

This past week has been pretty stressful. In fact, the whole month has been kind of crazy, but in the past seven days we've hit some serious lows. A lot of it has to do with work, but a bigger part is related to childcare. I've contemplated not blogging about this since I've already spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to come to terms with the issue this week, but ultimately it's part of our childcare journey that started here and then went here and finally ended here. I also know that a few of our friends were thinking of sending their kids to Kale's school because we go on and on about how great it is all the time and this post is probably the easiest way to spread the word about what has happened.

Last Friday morning when I was nursing Kale at 5am, I reached over and checked my email on my phone. There was an email from the owner of Kale's school, which is not unusual since she often sends little updates and whatnot. But this email? This email was different. This email explained (in a very indirect and nonchalant way) that she didn't budget well and in order to continue, prices needed to be adjusted - effective January 1st.

At this point I'm already freaking out because Kris and I already struggle to pay for Kale's school. We are literally just making ends meet around here and the thought of having to pay an extra $10 was causing me to panic.

But then I scrolled down and saw the increase. And then I assumed I was just dreaming. And so I excited my email account and logged in and re-read the email and the number was still the same.

$170.

A month.

Oh no - this is not the total. This is the increase. The total was now $820. For a half-day program.

Effective January 1st.

As soon as the initial shock wore off and I could breath again, I started to cry. I knew there was NO WAY we could afford this increase and the thought of having to pull Kale from his class was devastating. He absolutely loves the program, his teachers and his friends. He's been thriving at this school and we were even considering putting him in full day in September.

And then there was the whole issue of there being nowhere else to send him. Childcare spaces in our town are seriously scarce and I didn't want to go back to a nanny since I know how much he loves being with other kids. Oh, and the other Montessori school in town is full. Of course.

If I didn't have to get to work that morning, I would have gone straight to the owners class and lost my mind. Instead I had to pull myself together and focus on an important meeting and just try to get through the day.

I wasn't sure how other parents were feeling, but worried that Kris and I were the only one's that couldn't afford the increase. I took a chance and emailed the other parents and was reassured at least that they were all just as upset and worried about how they would pay. We decided to set up a meeting with the owner to get some more answers and to see if she was open to any solutions.

There's no point in hashing out the details, but basically the owner took zero responsibility for the financial position she's put herself in. She's known for months that the school is running at a deficit, but didn't think at any point that she should warn us. She didn't once say sorry. She didn't admit that she messed up. At one point she even suggested that she could understand if we left because we weren't "committed" to Montessori.

As parents, we asked questions. We offered solutions to consider. We talked it out and tried to find a solution that worked for all of us. But at the end of the meeting, we still didn't know what we were going to do.

If you think we were seething mad and upset and irate, you're totally right. But here's the kicker. A couple days later I sent her an email asking if there was something Kris and I could buy for the classroom for Christmas, rather than buying individual gifts for the teachers and Kale's classmates. As much as we were upset with the owner, we have been so pleased with the Kale's teacher and the program they run that we still wanted to say thank you. We gave her a modest price range and asked her to give us some suggestions about things needed in the classroom.

She responded by saying that our offer was much too generous to accept, but if we wanted to give a donation she would take it.

............................... I can't make that up. Read between the lines.

And then? Then she wrote us an email saying that she could offer the program for three hours without lunch, for only an increase of $60. This was her solution. A quick calculation told me that she was asking us to may MORE hourly for a three hour program that didn't include lunch, than the current four hour program that includes lunch - and this was based on the price with the $170 increase (I know, you're probably lost by now, and honestly, it's so freaking insane that it only BARELY makes sense - in that it makes no sense at all).

Among the parents, we figured out a solution that works for everyone. We spread our original deposit out over the next six months and pay $70 extra a month to keep the program exactly as it is. She did tell us this was an option, but we've emailed her to tell her this was our decision and have not heard anything back. I can only assume that everything is fine and that's she just annoyed that we're smarter than her (it clearly does not take much).

All of the parents, including us, just want to make it to the end of the school year. Next year none of us will be returning, which is sad because Kale really does love his teachers so much and I was hoping he could stay there for years and years. The good news is that all of us are hoping to get into the other Montessori school and so they'll still be able to see their friends.

Next year will be a new challenge, since the other Montessori school is expensive since it only offers a full day program for Kale's age group. I'd love to say we'll deal with it when the time comes, but they start taking applications in January.....

I had NO IDEA that childcare was going to be such a challenge.

19 months.

2011-12-11T20:47:00.001-05:00

19 months is much too close to 2 years for my liking.

What Kale loves:

Chasing the cat. Kale has always gotten a a little thrill out of chasing the cat around, but this month it's become, errr, mean? Kris and I got a quick lesson in just how much Kale is picking up from us these days when we noticed him starting to yell "go!" and "get" at the cat every time he was somewhere Kale decided he shouldn't be (uh, everywhere). Kris and I have tried to be extra nice with the cat in an effort to counteract, but Kale seems to get a great deal of satisfaction from showing the cat who is in charge. And honestly, after the 19 months of scratches that Kale has had to endure, I say fair game.
Dancing & music. Kale loves to listen to music, whether it be a video on YouTube, a CD in the car, or mama belting out a christmas tune. He has some pretty impressive dance moves and often runs to grab his toy instruments so we can get a good jam session going when he hears me sing.
School. Kale absolutely loves his school, his teachers and all his little friends. He can barely sit still long enough for me to help him get his boots and coat off before he's running in to the gym. When I drop him off I tell him I have to go to work and he turns to give me a kiss and then runs off. Half the time when I come to pick him up, he pretends he doesn't notice me in hopes that I'll leave him there for another hour or two.
Cooking and laundry. Kale loves to help us cook and we try to let him do anything that's safe. In the morning he gets me the frying pan, opens the fridge and pulls out the eggs and milk and then asks for a bowl so we can scramble up an egg. When it comes to laundry, I just have to say the word and he's running with pure and utter glee toward the baskets.

What Kale hates:

Being sick. I can't believe that I thought last month's cold was bad. After coming down with the worst flu of my life, we did everything to keep Kale away in hopes that he'd escape my germs. No such luck. As soon as I started feeling human again, Kale came down with a terrible flu. He had a fever for four days, a terrible cough and a constant runny nose. It was so sad to see the little guy feel so terrible.
Boots. Even though Kale can walk really well in his winter boots, he hates wearing them. The second he gets buckled into his car seat he takes his hat off (he's always done this) and then demands "'oots! off!" If I don't take them off, he manages to wiggle out of them on his own.

Things to celebrate/milestones/big events:

Since I was sick for two weeks and Kale for another week, we honestly didn't leave the house all that much unless we had to. Even though it was a weak month for exciting stuff, hanging out at home and getting lots of cuddles is just as awesome. There was, however, one small parenting milestone - Kris and I had our first parent-teacher interview! It was really nice to have an opportunity to chat with the teachers and find out how Kale is doing and what's he's been working on. We normally don't have too much time to talk about these kinds of things during pick up and drop off, so it was a real treat for us.

According to Kale:

Kale pretty much babbles non-stop now, so imagine our surprise when one of his teachers told us that he doesn't talk much. I think he is just so busy watching everyone else and trying to keep up with the older kids, that he keeps quiet and saves all his stories for when he gets home. He's got a pretty long list of words and has started to string two words together here and there, but for the most part they still come across as demands ("cook!" "juice!" "fork!" "off!").

My favourite pictures from this past month:

the wish list.

2011-12-07T21:33:00.001-05:00

For some people, christmas is about celebrating the birth of JC. For others, it's about drinking copious amounts of rum and avoiding the creepy uncle in the buffet line. Regardless of what or how you celebrate, I've come to learn that christmas is about one thing and one thing only for grandparents - spoiling the grandchild. Both sets of grandparents have been asking for idea's for gifts for Kale and while I've been able to offer a few idea's, it's easier to give the 'absolutely not' list:

Nothing that requires batteries or makes noise
No clothing that says anything along the lines of "mommy's little monster" or "daddy's little helper" or "I'm a super aggressive boy that only loves trucks, dinosaur's and tools."
No plastic.
Nothing that requires us to lease a storage space or build an additional shed in our backyard to store it.

Basically, I'm scrooge.

Following the giving philosophy of "something to play with, something to learn from, and something to wear" I did manage to put together a little wish list for a certain little guy. And when I say "wish list," I mean wish list, because there is no way I'd ever pay $76 for a pair of toddler pj's from Nordstrom.

Kale is so into helping me cook and playing with the pots and pans that I think he'd love his own little kitchen. // He's also freakishly weird about cleaning, and so a few of his own supplies might help the dust situation around here. // The only things Kale has ever wanted to bring to bed to snuggle with are my boobs, a toothbrush and his night light. I'm hoping a soft little friend might be a good alternative. // He's all about sorting and stacking these days and Plan Toys make great quality wooden toys. // His school has this barn and the teachers had to remove it because it was all the kids ever wanted to play with. If that means I can pee without an audience, I'll take 3. // What kid doesn't want a train set? Better yet, a train set at home that doesn't require you to trample your way through 40 kids twice your size at the local book store.

I'm pretty excited about being able to read Kale books with actual content, opposed to flipping through board books with pictures of furry farm animals and household items. I want to read Kale books that teach him more than what noise a train makes or what a panda bears ear feels like. // All the items on the right are Montessori materials. Kale has been working with a few of these things at school and I'd like him to have the option to do it at home too.

What's cuter than a baby in adidas sneakers? // Oh wait, a baby a leg warmers. Baby legs are a great extra layer for the winter and will come in handy when it's time to (eeek!) toilet train. // What's cuter than a toddler in adidas AND baby legs? A toddler in striped pj's. For real. // We had a pair of Padraig wool slippers last year and loved them. People complimented them all the time and if I had a dollar for every time an adult said "I wish they made those for adults" (they do.) I'd be retired. // Why is it so hard to find plain hoodies? WHY? I find so many sweaters this season are the knit variety. I don't have the time or patience to properly wash 'the knit variety.' And the cotton sweatshirts are all covered in trucks and baseballs and my choices appear to be navy, forest green or gray. Because that's all boys like, right? // Fleece. A car seat's best friend.

date day.

2011-12-03T21:23:00.001-05:00

Even though Kale is feeling better he still seems extra clingy and after a very long work week, I knew that staying home today was not going to cut it. We needed to get OUT and with all the sickness going on around here, a mama and Kale date was long overdue.

I decided to take a risk and take Kale out for breakfast. By myself. Eeek! We have long since abandoned eating out since Kale cannot sit still long enough for anyone to enjoy themselves. One time in the summer we woke up super early and took Kale out for breakfast - but Kris and I were both there and the restaurant was practically empty. So I'm not sure why I thought taking him to a busy cafe on a Saturday morning by myself was a good idea, but I did.

Kale did surprisingly well at breakfast. He loved checking everyone out and drinking as much apple juice as possible (knowing full well that it will be months before he gets to do that again). He even gagged on a piece of toast and threw up juice all over himself and I barely bat an eye (I actually thought at this moment - "look how far I've come," because a year ago this would been enough to make me pack up and head home).

Kale sucking back the juice on our date for two.

After breakfast we decided to go over to the mall. I know, not very exciting, but our Chapter's just redid the kids section and it's pretty much Kale's favourite place to hang out these days.

We also visited the water fountain, checked out all the christmas displays and listened to a brass quartet play some christmas songs. I took a note from Andrea & Bresho at Silence & Noise and hit up the photobooth. Kale didn't really get what was happening, nor was he impressed when our photo's popped out, but he did enjoy jamming all the buttons in the booth. Different strokes for different folks.

2 outta 4 ain't bad!

We came home and had lunch and Kris came home from work shortly after. I still hadn't had my fill of one-on-one time and so turned a blind eye to all the things that needed to be done around the house and snuggled up to this:

dancing machine.

2011-11-29T21:43:00.001-05:00

First off, thanks to everyone who sent Kale and I well wishes while we were sick last week. I literally spent the entire week on the couch and only went back to work yesterday. I'm still far from 100%, but am getting a bit better every day. Kale managed to fight off my bug last week, but has been running a fever for the last two days and has a pretty terrible cough.

But rather than whine about how awful we're feeling at our house, I thought I'd blog about this little dancing machine:

When Kale was about four months old, I signed us up for every baby and me class I could find - swimming, salsa, signing, etc. Salsa and signing were flat out fails, and swimming was fun for the half hour we were in the pool, but terrible for the hour after that it took us to get dressed after (I still have nightmares about the locker room full of screaming, wet, cold babies and stressed out parents).

The only class that Kale showed any real love for was music. During that class he smiled and cooed - completely uncharacteristic behaviours for my generally high-needs baby. It was during this class that Kale really started to develop his dancing skills and love for music.

As he's gotten older, Kale has become better at telling us about his musical preferences. He often takes me by the hand and drags me to the laptop and uses some kind of sign to tell me what song he wants to hear on YouTube. And then he breaks out the moves. Which, of course, is awesome.

Here's a sample of the songs that really get Kale's booty shaking (and the signs he uses to tell us):

1,2,3,4, Feist (the Sesame Street version). Meg over at Two Steps Forward told me about how her little guy Ollie is obsessed with this song and so I decided to check it out for Kale. When Kale wants to hear this song, he points his index finger and shakes it four times (just like she does when she's pointing to the monsters). He also says "'iest? 'iest?" Thank goodness everyone in this house likes Feist because we hear this one A LOT.

Roar Like a Lion, Patty Shukla. I don't even know how we stumbled upon Patty Shukla, but it's pretty safe to say that Kale is a big fan of her work. When he wants to hear this song (which is approximately 18 times a day), he puts his hands up by his mouth and "squeaks like a mouse" (see video) and says "eek, eek, eek!"

Wheels on the Bus, Sharon, Lois & Bram. So he'll pretty much take any version of this song, but I have to admit that I can really only tolerate Sharon, Lois & Bram. Kale loves to do all the actions that go with this song - but doesn't necessarily like to wait to go through the whole song with one action before moving on to the next. Thus, the wheels on the bus go round and round, open and close, wah-wah-wah and up and down, all at the same time. Kale asks for this song by moving his hands round and round and raising his eyebrows.

Mahna Mahna, the Muppets. My co-worker just about dropped over dead when I told her I didn't know this song. Feeling as though I was depriving my child of a musical gift, I immediately YouTube'd it - and then immediately regretted it. Because this song gets stuck in my head for HOURS, at least once a week. Kale, of course, loves it.

I Can't Help Myself, the Four Tops. My dad used to sing this all the time when I was growing up, but with a whole different set of lyrics. Or at least I remember the lyrics differently (I always sing "sugar pie honey bunch, you're a disco dancer," until Kris kindly pointed out that disco was invented about 10 years AFTER this song...hmmmm). When I sing this, or play the video, Kale goes absolutely nuts. Who would have guessed he'd be such a motown fan?

So this is just a taste of the great music we get to listen to around here. What's playing at your house?

sick mama/sick toddler.

2011-11-23T11:30:00.000-05:00

Since Kale started childcare in September, I feel like he's been almost constantly sick. There's just a rotating cold in the tiny classroom that seems to make runny noses and fevers a bi-weekly thing. Kale has had his share of congestion and coughs which made me believe that having a sick toddler was the worst thing ever.

But then I got sick. And then Kale got sick. And then I realized that being a sick mama with a sick toddler is actually the worst thing ever.

Oh, the lessons we learn as new parents.

I've been stuck on the couch for three days now with no signs that I'm getting better. When one symptom fades, another replaces it. Kale seems to be fighting it better than me, but even when he's feeling under the weather, he still has lots of energy and wants me to do everything with him.

It's been a rough week.

distract & destroy: adventures with rice sorting.

2011-11-15T22:04:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the only way to get something cleaned up around here is to let Kale make a second mess somewhere else. A little "distract and destroy" if you will (and yes, I'm totally referencing Tobias Bluth).

This weekend I wanted to tackle the mountain of dishes that had accumulated in my kitchen sink and so I got the brilliant idea to set Kale up with a couple bowls of rice and a scoop to keep him distracted.

For about four minutes, he was totally content to scoop the rice from one bowl to another as I scrubbed away at the pots and pans. I thought to myself "toddler's are so easy to entertain!"

At about the four minute and one second mark, things started to get a little out of control...

And at four minutes and 15 seconds, distraction became destruction...

It's a good thing he likes to clean.

We're down to the wire! Only two more days to vote!

Please click below and vote for us (we're around 100 votes).

how to dress a toddler for the winter

2011-11-13T21:44:00.000-05:00

Last winter we didn't have to worry too much about dressing Kale for the outdoors. Since he wasn't mobile, the only time he was really outdoors is when he was sitting in something (a sleigh or a stroller) and we could pile the blankets on.

Wait - who am I kidding? We hibernate in the winter. The only time Kale was outside was for the five seconds it took to get from the house to the (warmed up) car.

But this winter? This winter we're going to be outside. Kale LOVES the outdoors and may or may not be related to Wim Hof. When it comes to dressing for the outdoors, I have a motto - the more layers the better. Big, puffy, LAYERS. Except that doesn't really work for Kale. There's all these things to think about. Here's what I determined I needed for Kale:

a jacket that would be safe to wear in the car seat
a snowsuit that he could wear for playing outside that was easy to get on and off (Kale is reaching the age where he wants to dress himself - I wasn't about to battle with a two piece every day)
boots that are easy to get on and off (see above)

And guess what? I think we found it all! And for WAY less than I was expecting (how often does that happen when it comes to shopping for kids?). Here's what we ended up with:

Patagonia puff-ball reversible jacket. Wind resistant, water repellent and compressible. Kale can wear this in the car seat (we put him in the seat without the jacket and buckled him in, took him out without loosening the straps and then put him in with the jacket and didn't have to adjust the straps). This jacket is warm enough for him to wear to and from the car and is perfect for the fall and spring. We got it in a size 2T, so it should fit next fall too. Oh, and it's reversible. Which means I only have to wash it half as much....

Mountain Equipment Co-op toaster 2 bunting suit. I actually considered buying this last year, but wasn't sure if we'd need it (we didn't). But I knew it was a hot seller and so Kris and I picked it up a couple weeks (glad I did since it's now sold out online!). It's a one piece that is super easy to get Kale in and out of. We bought it in size 18m, but it fits large and so should fit him all winter. Even though it's big, he can still move around pretty comfortably.

The last thing for us to pick up was the boots. We went to a kids shoe store and they measured Kale (he's a size 5) and they recommended that we get a size 7 to last him for two potential growth spurts he could have this winter. We tried a few pair on and he was walking really well in them despite their larger size. However, they were really, really expensive! I was not willing to drop $80 on boots for Kale, but they only had two pair left in his size (and it hasn't even snowed yet!). Luckily, we found them 50% off at another store! This NEVER happens to me, so I was pretty excited.

Sorel Children's Snow Commander. They have one velcro strap across the front and the tongue comes forward so you can make sure the foot is actually all the way in the boot.

All that is left are boots and mittens. I don't plan on spending much on these since he'll likely loose them two minutes after I buy them. I'm also unwilling to buy mittens until I figure out how to actually make him wear them.....

There's only a few days left! Please give us a vote :)

an artist in the making.

2011-11-10T21:07:00.000-05:00

Last week Kale's school had an open house so family could come check out what the kids have been working on. While most of the kids buzzed from one activity to another, Kale was interested in showing us two things: (1) a water activity that involved transferring water from one cup to another (and inadvertently involved a major mess), and (2) drawing on the chalkboard (also slightly messy).

I attempted to pretend that I'm laid back mom that doesn't worry about major messes by recreating the water activity at home, but after a small flood all over the hardwood in the living room I decided to focus on the chalk.

We have a chalkboard in our kitchen that we use to make to-do lists and then we picked up a chalkboard easel at Ikea last weekend. Kale is super in love with both.

Want to support a well-fed artist? Vote for us!

18 months.

2011-11-07T21:27:00.000-05:00

Simultaneously the shortest and longest year and a half of my life (in all the best ways).

What Kale loves:

Running. Every night, starting around 6pm, Kale starts to run. He literally runs circles around us. As in, I sit on the floor and he runs in a circle around me. Non-stop. Sometimes he runs from one end of his room to the other, sometimes he runs from the bathroom to the office to his bedroom. And repeat. It's like he's getting rid of all the energy he has left over at the end of the day before collapsing into bed. Tonight as I sat on the floor and my 18 month old ran circles around me I thought back to the newborn days when he'd spend his evenings crying and resisting all my efforts to soothe him. Now he runs. Both have a dizzying effect on me.
Drawing. He's just become interested in drawing this past week or so, but he loves it. He particularly likes drawing on chalkboards and despite the dust of the chalk that ends up all over my pants, I love watching the concentration he uses to make his scribbles.
Cooking. Kale has taken a real interest in my cooking lately and loves to help out. I'll let him stir things on the stove (with my supervision, of course) and flip an egg and he thinks that's pretty awesome. When I'm making dinner he'll pull out the pots and pans and takes a big spoon to sample all his creations. When he's hungry he takes me by the hand, walks me to the stove and says "cook!"
School & school friends. Kale absolutely loves school and the friends he's made there. There are only 6 kids in his class and so the kids all seem to have really bonded with one another. I love to arrive early and peek through the window of his classroom to watch him and the other kids playing. It really is amazing to see how they all interact.

What Kale hates:

Being sick. Kale's immune system has taken a huge hit this month as he adjusts to an environment filled with the illnesses of other toddlers at school. He's had two pretty bad colds over the past month and they've taken a toll on everyone in this house. As much as I'd like to think that his immune system will get stronger as the result of being exposed to different things, something tells me this is just the start of a long winter of runny noses and a never-ending cough.

Things to celebrate/milestones/big events:

Mike & Alaina's Wedding. Kale is turning into quite the little wedding crasher. This was the fifth wedding he's been to. Crazy, right? He actually managed to stay awake long enough to finish dinner and hear some speeches (and karaoke!), but failed to hit the dance floor. This wedding was particularly eventful for Kale since he got to meet Judah of Two Skinny, One Fat fame IRL.

First pony ride. Kale took the first step to becoming a certified cowboy by doing a couple loops on a pony at Springdale Farm. I wasn't sure how he'd react, but he loved it so much that we had to fork over the ridiculous fee for him to do it twice.

Halloween. Kale was the cutest chicken of all time for Halloween and had so much fun visiting the neighbours and collecting candy (~~for his parents~~).

According to Kale.

It didn't really hit us how much Kale is talking these days until we started making a list of all his words last night. He's saying about 35 words and while not all of them may be intelligible to a stranger, he says them consistently and in the correct context (ex. he says "guck" for "truck" and "laulee" for "laundry"). This month he learned the dreaded "no," but after a week of constant "no, no, no, no" he seems to have gotten over it using it so often. Thankfully he hasn't figured out "mine" which is my second most dreaded word.

His favourite words? "Uh oh!" "cook" "hot" and "mama."

My favourite pictures from this past month:

I just posted a bunch of my favourites the other day, so I'll refer you here.

Want to help celebrate 18 months of Kale? Give us a vote:

You have to scroll down the page to find us - we're in the 30ish votes range.

2011-11-05T12:38:00.001-04:00

And because I wish I knew more local mama bloggers (at least more Canadian mama bloggers!), I signed up for this and am hoping you'll give us a vote! It's for a 'Top 25 Canadian Mom Blogs.' You actually have to click the button and then scroll down to find us and then vote. Because why make it easy, right?

between colds we have fun.

2011-11-05T11:16:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago all the kids in Kale's class came down with a cold. We kept him home for a few days and he seemed to bounce back pretty quickly. Then he became super congested, but seemed to be happy and healthy otherwise. The congestion slowly got worse and worse and I decided to take him in the doctors to make sure that it wasn't anything serious (or contagious).

This was the first time he's gone to the doctor's for anything other than a check up and hopefully (but very unlikely) the last. The doctor sent us for a chest x-ray, which was an experience I'd rather forget. Poor Kale had to sit in a contraption from the 1920's and had to scream his little head off (seriously - I managed to calm him down with a few killer renditions of "'dem bones," but the technician told us it was easier to get a picture when he was taking deep breaths from the crying). The doctor didn't seem worried so we packed him up and sent him back to school for the rest of the week.

On Thursday one of his teacher's mentioned that he was having a lot of dry diapers and he wasn't eating or drinking much. By Thursday night all the congestion started to flow out his nose and he began to develop a cough. Yesterday his poor nose was dripping constantly, he was coughing, still not eating and drinking much and was all around miserable. At one point I was sitting on the couch and he walked over, curled up in my lap and fell asleep. This has NEVER happened before! Kale is pretty specific about how he likes to be put to sleep and dozing off in mama's lap is not it.

Today he seems to be feeling better. The nose is running less. The cough is not as constant. He isn't battling a fever. Last night we actually got some sleep (it's been a long, rough week for sleep since we've had to prop him up in our arms so he can breath and he's been snoring like a trucker in our ears)!

While Kale has been sick, blogging hasn't been happening. But between the two colds, we've been having fun. Here's what Kale has been up to:

Taking naps with Papa. Kale's little arm slung around his papa's neck KILLS ME.


Playing in the leaves. I feel like this has been the shortest fall season ever. Many of the trees around here are already bare and I can feel winter in the air.


Jumping on the bed. Kale has been working very hard on jumping lately. I often see him off on his own, attempting to catch some air when I peek in on him at school.

Getting totally embarrassed by mom's dance moves at Bluegrass Brunch.

Pumpkin carving! Considering how much Kale hates getting his hands dirty, I was really surprised at how much he enjoyed cleaning out the pumpkin!

happy halloween.

2011-10-31T21:08:00.000-04:00

Kale's smile

2011-10-29T15:28:00.000-04:00

I'm happy to report that in the last month Kale's on demand smile has gone from this:

To this:

Phew.

my kid loves to eat.

2011-10-25T21:26:00.000-04:00

Kale has always been an adventurous eater - he'll eat anything we put in front of him. We eat a lot of spicy food around here (think Mexican and Indian) and Kale doesn't bat an eye at any of it. He just eats it. And eats. And eats and eats and eats.

However, we didn't realize just how good of an eater he is until he started Montessori in September.

You see, the last thing we do before we leave in the morning is eat breakfast (normally at 7:45am). Kale usually eats an egg, fruit, half an avocado and some cheese. Then on the way to school (8am-8:15am) he eats a snack. This is normally used to distract him while trying to get him buckled into the car seat. Once at school, he has a mid-morning snack (around 10am) and then eats a full lunch before I pick him up at noon. So to recap, between 7:45am and 12pm Kale eats a big breakfast, two snacks and a big lunch.

For the first few weeks after Kale started school I would pick him up and the teachers would comment on how well he ate at lunch. After awhile I actually got a bit annoyed. Every single day the teachers would tell me "Kale ate really well at lunch today!" I started to think it was just something they said. A kind of offhand comment that would please the parent.

Then one day he had a substitute teacher and when I picked Kale up she spent a good ten minutes telling me how impressed she was with how much Kale ate at lunch.

After about a month, the teachers started posting a quick written recap of the kids day. All the kids names are listed on a piece of paper and then there is a column to write comments about diaper changes, snack, lunch and then overall comments.

Every day I look at the snack and lunch column and see "ate well" or "didn't eat too much" beside the other kids names. Every single day it says "ate very well" beside Kale's name. In general comments it usually says something like "Kale LOVED lunch today."

One day a couple weeks ago the school called me to let me know that Kale was running a fever. When I arrived to pick him up, his teacher told me that despite having a fever of 102, she had no idea that he wasn't feeling well because he was acting completely normal. But when it was time for lunch, he didn't eat much. She said she knew right away that something was wrong and took his temperature.

Yesterday I picked Kale up and before I went in his class I peeked through the window. There was Kale, sitting at a table by himself eating. All the other kids had finished and were off playing. One of his teachers was sweeping around him while Kale continued to eat, oblivious to those around him. I waited five minutes and then came in. Kale looked over at me, smiled - and then continued to eat.

If it wasn't for the fact that he spends hours in the evening running laps around the house, I'm sure this kid would be 100lbs. by now.

good words/bad words

2011-10-21T10:26:00.000-04:00

It seems like every day or two Kale attempts a new word. Most of them are still pretty unintelligible for people that don't spend a lot of time with him, but there have been two very clear words that he's recently added to his vocabulary. One makes my heart melt and the other makes my heart drop. Shall we start with the good?

"mo?" aka "more?"

Depending on how much he wants "mo" of something, "mo" sometimes does come out as "mor" (starts the r sound, but doesn't really finish it). It always comes out as a question and it's almost always related to food. Example: he finishes his plate at dinner, picks it up, puts his head to one side and asks "mo?" *heart melts*

This is by far my favourite word that he's learned. Even more than "mama" (probably because I hear "mama? mama? MAMA?? MAMAMAMAMA????!!!! at least four thousand times a day). But the best? THE BEST? When he's nursing and I unlatch him (he would stay there all day otherwise) and I say "all done, Kale" and he looks up at me with those giant blue eyes and says "mo?"

And how are you supposed to say no to this face?

no.

Kris and I are so, so careful with this word because it's not one we wanted to him pick up early on. We explain things. We say "I can't let you do that because...." We say "Kale, that's probably a bad idea because...." And when we glance over and see he's about to yank the cats tail and have 0.5 seconds, we shout "Kale!" instead of "no!"

Then he started school. Then he turned 17 months and started to get a mind of his own.
And that's when he started saying "no."

The first time he said it, I just about fell over. When I ask him if he wants to do something (i.e. brush his teeth), he looks at me, puts his hands behind his back, leans over at the waist toward me and says "noooo" and then stomps away.

Sometimes we really have to struggle not to giggle at him. Because sometimes, when everyone is in a good mood and patience is abound, "noooo" and his little attitude are actually really cute. But sometimes? Sometimes it makes me clench my jaw and draw my breath. I have to stop myself from saying "what did you just say to me?" (because, really, he'll just repeat "noooo").

But honestly, 17 months and just learning "no?" I think that we did pretty good at getting this far.

brothers from (very) different mothers.

2011-10-18T21:25:00.000-04:00

After witnessing me give birth to Kale, our cat Bubbie has never treated me the same. I'm convinced that he's misinterpreted the whole experience and believes that he saw me at my weakest (when it was actually my strongest). As a result, he's lost all respect for me and treats me as an inferior species. This means I'm vulnerable to random attacks by a furry tyrant. Sometimes they come in the middle of the night when I'm walking to the washroom. Other times they're in the middle of the day when I'm lounging peacefully on the couch. They're always unprovoked. Example: yesterday I was walking down the hallway when Bubbie jumped from midway down the stairs and flew over the banister in an attempt to take me down. It was easily a five foot drop. He didn't care. He has no fear of humans.

Or so it appears.

Because if there is one person that makes Bub Bub nervous, it's the other mini tyrant that lives here. Kale LOVES that cat. As soon as Kale rolls out of bed he yells "Bub bub?" and goes full speed into the hallway to find him. Same thing when we come home. Whether we're gone 2 days or 2 minutes, Bub Bub is the first thing Kale thinks about when he opens that door.

Unfortunately, the feeling is not mutual. Eighty percent of the time, Bub Bub wants nothing to do with Kale. He gets nervous when he sees Kale heading for him and runs. If he's not fast enough, he's not afraid to give Kale a swat or two to tell him what's up. However, the other twenty percent of the time Bub Bub appears to show signs of kindness and patience with Kale. He does this by freezing in one spot and allowing Kale to maul him with hugs and kisses. Trust me, it's more love than anyone else around here gets from that cat....

And now I share with you a dozen photo's to demonstrate the evolution of their love.....


2 months. After Kale was born, Bub Bub went into hiding. This may be the first time that the two were actually in the same room. Seriously.

4 months. Kale makes contact for the first time.

7 months. A passed out Kale is decidedly less frightening. Bub Bub snuggles in for a nap. (THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS!)

9 months. Kale cannot decide on a best friend: the toothbrush or Bub Bub?

12 months. Kale discovers the way into Bub Bub's heart is through food. Particularly yogurt.

12 months. Now that Kale provides Bub Bub with yogurt, Bub Bub allows him to hug him for 4-5 seconds per day.

14 months. Yogurt still does the trick.

Does this picture really require a caption? I highly recommend enlarging it to get a better look at the love on Kale's face.

Yesterday. 17 months. Nap buddies.

And so I'll take the random attacks and a deteriorating relationship with my cat if it means these two get to be friends. It's clear that Bub Bub only has so much room in his heart and tolerance for humans. The things we give up for our kids.

guest blogging

2011-10-14T21:11:00.000-04:00

I am all kinds of late on posting this, but today I am guest blogging over at Adventures of an Infertile Nanny about babywearing! You should come and say hello and check out Molly's blog!

17 months.

2011-10-07T10:32:00.000-04:00

What Kale loves.

School. Kale absolutely loves his montessori school. In the morning I ask him if he wants to go to school and he smiles so big and nods his head really fast. Then he runs to get his shoes and jacket and stands by the door. When we get to school, he runs inside and only sometimes am I lucky enough to get a hug and a kiss before he tells me "buh-bye!" I love to arrive a few minutes early to pick him up and watch him through the little window in the classroom door. He's usually playing with the toy barn and animals, curled up reading, or helping the teachers clean up after lunch. He absolutely adores the two teachers and always has a big hug for them when we arrive and before we leave. We could not be happier with the school and are so, so happy that he's enjoying it.
Helping. I'm pretty lucky to have such an amazing little helper. Kale absolutely loves being involved in whatever I'm doing and giving me a hand with all the little things. At mealtimes, he will help get his chair ready, carry his dishes to the kitchen, empty leftovers into the trash, wipe down his highchair tray and the floor around it, and wash and dry his hands. At bedtime, he helps by putting his clothes in the laundry, picking out his pj's (we've had some great bedtime outfits this past week), getting a clean diaper, getting his nightlight ready and turning out the lights. Whenever I want Kale to do something, I just ask him "Kale, will you help mama...." and he happily obliges. Yes, I'm soaking it up because, yes, I realize it's not going to last.

Slides. Kale loves to watch his toys go down the slide at the park, particularly his trucks. He carries them up and then pushes them down and then bursts into a fit of giggles. Last weekend we ended up buying a second hand toddler slide to put in the basement so we wouldn't have to break up his love affair with the slide as the weather gets cooler.
Running hot laps. This is what we call it when Kale starts running laps through the living room, dining room and kitchen. He will run 5 or 6 laps without stopping - just burning off toddler energy. Of course, he loves it more when we run hot laps with him and chase him!
Being naked. Normally by the end of the day, Kale edges closer and closer to meltdown territory. After a busy morning at school, he doesn't nap nearly long enough before starting a busy afternoon with his Nana. Then Kris and I come home, try to get dinner on the table, play with Kale, and clean the house and so by 7pm Kale is starting to fall apart. Nothing cheers him up faster than taking all his clothes off and letting him run around naked. And yes, he literally just runs around. Naked. And he loves it.

Bike rides. A few times this month Kale was waiting at the door with his helmet when Kris got home. Kris barely had time to get out of his work clothes before jumping on his bike with Kale and taking a ride. We ended up hiding his helmet so he doesn't think about it as often. Not that we don't like taking him for rides, but when it's raining and hovering near the freezing mark and you just want to eat dinner - going for a bike ride doesn't exactly make it to the top of list of things you feel like doing.

What Kale hates.

Honestly, there really isn't much to put here this month. Kale is a pretty typical toddler - he hates things when he doesn't feel like doing them, but can love the same thing when he's in the right mood. We try and be patient and wait for him to finish doing what he's focused on before getting him to do something else (like getting dressed). And yes, it still hates being constrained and going for long car rides, but we've long since accepted this.

Things to celebrate/milestones/big events:

Learning to smile for the camera

Visiting the pumpkin patch

Going with mama and papa to his THIRD election

Adjusting to school
A zillion new teeth (I honestly don't know how many are in there anymore. He doesn't let me get a good look, but I know for sure that there are 8 on the bottom and 6 on the top).

According to Kale.

About a week ago I didn't think that I would have anything to add here. Kale hadn't introduced any new words to his vocabulary, but was still really, really good at communicating by pointing or showing us what he wanted. He's also understands so, so much. It always just blows me away at how smart he is. Then this past week he had a small word explosion and started staying the following:

Water. Sounds more like "waw-ler." In fact, it's unlikely that anyone that doesn't spend much time with him would understand, but he says it with intent and so we hear it.
More. Sounds like "moa(r)" (quiet on the 'r').
Hat and hot. They sound very similar, but he says each with intent and in the right context.
Laundry. Sounds like "lau-ee." This is the result of us repeatedly asking him "can you help put this in the laundry?" after we take each piece of clothing off him.
Banana. Sounds like "nana." He was saying nana last month (to refer to his actual nana), but now also says it when pointing at a banana. This means he eats a lot of bananas because I don't know if he actually wants one or is just practicing his new word!

Some of my favourite pictures from the past month:

this week I cooked.

2011-10-01T22:09:00.000-04:00

Since Kale was born there are a few things we've given up (i.e. our sanity), a few things we've had to let go (i.e. furniture with sharp corners), and a few things that have been ripped away from us by a tiny tyrant (i.e. a hot shower that lasts more than 3 minutes without someone peeking around the curtain and demanding "up!up!up!"). And then there's the things I swore I wouldn't give up on that have slowly been slipping from my grasp - i.e. cooking.

I really do enjoy cooking, but it's become increasingly difficult to put a meal together. Kris and I both usually get home from work around 5pm. Kris then disappears into the bathroom for an hour while I attempt to nurse Kale/start dinner/process my day/get my work clothes off and catch up on my twitter feed. I like to think that Kris is in the bathroom plotting out a way to turn the shower into a time machine that will make us millionaire's and allow us to revisit Kale as a sweet baby when he becomes a hormonal teenager and can't stand us. In reality, I know he's catching up on his twitter feed too.

So in the past couple of months I found myself cooking less and microwaving/heating/bbqing more. Our grocery bill was growing, but I justified the extra cost because dinner was easier. We were eating a lot of brown rice/meat/steamed veggie combo's. Healthy, but BORING. Oh, so boring.

After a few weeks of this, I couldn't take it anymore. I went back to menu planning and our weekly grocery bill went way down. And so - in my usual style of giving a long (and probably unnecessary) introduction to the whole purpose of this post....

This week I cooked.

Sunday: Chicken with tomato herb pan sauce, roasted cauliflower and brown rice.

Monday: portobello, broccoli and red pepper melts with potato wedges

Tuesday: locally sourced and homemade snacks (work event)

Wednesday: steak fajitas with homemade guacamole and tortilla chips

Thursday: peppercorn crusted pork tenderloin, broccoli & cheddar stuffed potato and carrots

nom. nom. nom.

smile.

2011-09-25T20:41:00.000-04:00

Today was pretty much the perfect fall day. The sun was out, the breeze was just right and we had no plans. We decided to go visit a farm on the edge of town, breath in the fresh air, buy a fresh pie (or two!) and enjoy some family time.

Now it's been pretty much impossible to catch a good picture of Kale for the last - ohhh - 5 or 6 months. Pretty much since Kale started to walk. Ninety-nine per cent of the pictures I take of Kale are of him running from the camera or running directly at the camera. When I do catch a shot, it's when he's totally not expecting it and so he always has this stunned expression on his face. So I've been pretty desperately waiting for the day I can say "Kale, smile!" and he'll flash be a toothy grin.

So I should have been totally ecstatic when Kale decided to do just that today. I mean, the setting was amazing - piles and piles of pumpkins, a clear sky with plenty of shade and the cutest little man as my subject.

Except, as it turns out, Kale has inherited more from his dad than overactive sweat glands and an ability to eat an endless amount of chicken nuggets. That's right - he's inherited 'the Chandler.'

Not familiar with this episode of Friends? The one where Chandler and Monica are getting their engagement photo's, but every time the photographer tries to take a picture, Chandler makes this weird, fake, terribly awkward smile? Despite all attempts to rid him of this weird reaction to the camera, Monica ends up using Joey as a stand-in.

And this is what happens to Kris when I try to take a picture of him. Right before I take a shot, he makes the weirdest face and then I say "why are you making that face?!" and he says "I'm smiling!" and I yell "act natural!!!" and he yells back "I AM!"

And yes, this is a really long story, but it's totally necessary. Because today when I asked Kale to stand by the pumpkin and "smile" he did this:

Awesome, right?

he makes me stop.

2011-09-19T22:01:00.000-04:00

Lately Kale has me stopping dead in my tracks. I'll be walking toward my baby or watching him through the little window in the door at his school and then - I freeze. Because it seems like every time I look at him, he looks just a little bit older. He's a little bit faster. A little bit funnier.

When Kale was a baby and people told me to hold onto every moment because it all goes by so fast - I actually wanted to choke them (I promise I'm not a violent person). Because at that point, time couldn't move fast enough. Because having a high-needs baby isn't easy. And as much as I loved squishy, newborn Kale, I love chubby, toddler Kale in a whole new way. A way that makes my heart explode. A way that makes me wish time would slow down. A way that makes me stop dead in my tracks.

Friday Date Day: The Last One!

2011-09-16T20:36:00.000-04:00

I had Friday's off this summer and so Kale and I would have a weekly Date Day. I was inspired by my friend Andrea over at Silence and Noise who often takes her little guy, Bresho, on dates. It's so nice to spend a few hours doing something special and catching some one on one time and the fact that it's during "work hours" makes it feel as though the time together is stolen somehow.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago it was the last Friday of the summer and so what better way to spend it than with Andrea and Bresho?! We had never met in real life, but I wasn't even nervous or anything. I just knew we were going to hit it off. What I wasn't prepared for was just how much MORE cute these two are in the flesh (I know, it doesn't even seem possible)!

The boys got along so well - despite some initial shyness on Bresho's part and some initial craziness on Kale's part (he just stomped right into their house and started mauling Bresho's toys). Andrea was awesome. She made amazing taco's, chattered away in her amazing Colombian accent and even more amazing - whined about the heat just as much as I did (we were literally melting on our short trip to the park).

Now, what you should really do at this point is go check out the photo's from our day together on Andrea's blog because they're so much better than mine. Also, I had to chase Kale around the playground like a mad woman, sweating and cursing the heat and barely took any pictures. So - go here.

We had such a great day! And guess what? We're going to visit them again this Sunday! I'm so excited.

Also, I negotiated Friday's off work for the rest of the year. Let the date day's continue!!!

Kale's room.

2011-09-12T21:50:00.000-04:00

Kale's nursery was such a special space in our old house, despite the fact that it was rarely used. It was the where Kris and I spent so much time during my pregnancy preparing for and dreaming about our baby and parenthood. You can check out the nursery here.

When we moved in May we gave Kale the smallest room and didn't spend too much time making things look nice since he was still bedsharing with Kris and I. We sort of just shoved things where they fit and half-heartedly hung a few pictures. When we transitioned Kale to a floor bed, we decided to switch things up and moved his room to our (much bigger) room and we moved up to the loft. With more space we could make his room a bit more functional and now we hang out in there all the time. In fact, since we moved to this house, it's really the only space that we've spent time on.

Even though his new room has pretty much the same stuff as his old nursery, I thought I'd do another tour and share Kale's little nook.

Look! My First Canadian Bodies! Kale's current favourite book. Every night I ask him, 'do you want to read about the bodies?' and he runs to get it. He's also a huge fan of the trucks book, 'bubble trouble,' and 'Moo Moo Where Are You?' I love that he can reach these books and picks out his favourite stories every night for us to read.

We have french and german numbers framed above his bookcase and the spanish alphabet above his change table. Since his room is boring beige, it's these little things that give the room some pops of colour. The orange lamp is pretty much useless in terms of providing light, but it does give some colour. The laundry basket is from 3sprouts and is the cutest laundry basket ever. Right? Kale thinks putting his dirty clothes in the laundry is pretty awesome. How do I make sure he keeps thinking this until he's 18??

As much as I would love to be a crafty, DIY kind of girl, I just don't have the time (or, let's be honest, the skills). But I did make this (no sew) book sling when I was pregnant. Watch out, pinterest. The little rocking chair was a gift from my parents and Kale loves to get naked and sit in that chair. I'm not sure what the deal is with being naked, but every time his clothes come off he heads for that chair.

The airplane mobile was about the only thing in the world that would get Kale to stop crying when he was a baby. It used to hang above his crib, but now it's above his rocker. He still loves to watch the plains bobble. And this is Kale's floor bed. The big pillow and duvet are for Kris and I when we sleep in there with Kale. Kale will NOT sleep with a blanket on him - not even the sweet baby blankets I knit for him while pregnant and the gorgeous quilts that Kris and I used to sleep with when we were babies.

Kale's room is the happiest place in our house. We still keep most of his toys in the living room, so his room is mostly reserved for reading books, snuggling and chasing him around between diaper changes. It's pretty much my favourite place ever.

16 months.

2011-09-09T21:45:00.000-04:00

What Kale loves:

Cleaning. Ok, I'll be honest, I have NO idea where Kale picked up a love of cleaning. Kris and I are good at 'tidying' - not so much at cleaning. We tend to let things go for most of the week and then try to cram in some 'deep cleaning' on the weekend. Kale, however, loves to clean ALL.THE.TIME. The other day he pulled a box of rice krispies out of the cupboard and they spilled on the floor. I looked over, thought "ugh, I'll get that in a few minutes." Kale walked over to the stairs where he'd dropped his hand broom HOURS ago, brought it back over to his mess and promptly started to clean up the mess. He also cleans off his high chair tray when he's done eating, washes his hands every chance he gets and loves putting his books and toys away. Yeah, it's weird, but trust me - I am NOT complaining. We basically have a live in maid.
Trucks. Or as Kale calls them, Gucks. According to Kale, the following things fall under the category of 'gucks' - actual trucks, cars, tractors, lawnmowers, mopeds - you know, things with motors. When Kale sees a big truck, he points, yells GUCK about four thousand times and watches it until it's out of sight. He has about 43 toy trucks (more like 6) that he loves to push around the house and say "guck, guck, guck, vrooooooom, guck, guck, guck."
Books. Hallelujah. Up until this month Kale didn't show a whole lot of interest in books and it sort of broke my heart. This month, though, he started bringing us books and then curling up in our laps for stories. He's still a super fan of the "Canadian Bodies" book. He also has a book about trucks, and lots of books about cats and dogs. Next up? Tolstoy.
Being chased/hiding. This kid will run laps all day through the kitchen, living room and hallway as long as someone chases him. He thinks it's hilarious and often ends up falling over and being caught because he can't control the giggles. He'll often try to hide behind the couch or in a corner and then yell "BAH!" Sometimes he takes the lazy man's approach to hiding and covers his eyes with his hands and then yells "BAH!" On super lazy days, he looks at the floor and then looks up and yells "BAH!" Obviously I jump every single time.
Mimicking. Kale has become quite the mimick. He loves to do exactly what we're doing and wants us to do what he's doing. If I wipe his nose, he has to wipe my nose. If I laugh, he fake laughs. One day he saw Kris shake someones hand and ever since, Kale insists on shaking people's hands when it's time to say goodbye.

What Kale hates:

Being contained. Nothing new here. Kale still hates being indoors and taking him to a store or the mall is normally a disaster. While he's good in the stroller for Kris's mom and Kris, he still refuses to use it for me. Thankfully he's reacquainted himself with the Beco (although that is only for short periods of time since he is getting HEA-VY!).

Things to Celebrate/Milestones/Big Events:

Dennis's wedding. Our friend Dennis got married to his lady love, Lauren, a few weeks ago. Thank goodness the ceremony was outdoors. Kale used that time to tear out as much grass as possible and squeal loudly during their vows.
Started school. Eeek! He slipped this milestone in on his last day as a 15 month old. Read all about his first day here.
Night weaning. This is a HUGE milestone for our family and we couldn't be happier with how things went. After nursing Kale every two hours all night long for the past 15 months, this is kind of a big deal. Read about our journey here and here.
Floor bed. When we night weaned, we also transitioned Kale to a floor bed, putting an end to the family bed. However, Kris still spends most of the night with Kale and I'm in there with him for a few hours in the morning, so maybe we just moved the family bed to Kale's floor?!
Friday Date Day with Silence & Noise. Last Friday was my last Friday off (although I'm trying to negotiate extending this, but that's yet to be determined) and so it was also our last Friday Date Day. If you remember, they were inspired by my friend Andrea over at Silence & Noise. So what better way to spend our last FDD than with Andrea & Bresho?! It was so awesome to meet her in real life and the boys are so adorable together. Since Andrea is a much better blogger than I am, she's already posted pictures, so please go visit and say hello!

According to Kale:

Moo. Kale has mastered the noise of the cow. We are so proud.
Mama. Ok, so this was Kale's first word, but as soon as he learned a second word ("Bub Bub" - the cat) he forgot all about 'mama.' In the past few months he's said it the odd time, but it's been rare and probably 50% of the time he was actually saying something else and I just convinced myself it was 'mama.' This month? It's 'mama' ALL.THE.TIME. And guess what? I love it every.single.time I hear it.
Nana. He looks for Nana every morning and says "nana" in the softest, sweetest voice. He loves to pull out his picture book and find the picture of nana. Way too cute.

Some of my favourite pictures from the past month:

Kale's first day of school.

2011-09-06T21:15:00.000-04:00

There have been a few milestones in Kale's life that have been pretty emotional for me. Rocking him to sleep on his first birthday, watching him take his first steps and hearing him say 'mama' for the first time are all things that made my heart melt and the tears flow. But today? Today was his first day of school.

As far as transitioning to childcare, I've been about as spoiled as spoiled can be. After 8 months of maternity leave, I went back to work and Kris stayed home with Kale for another 4 months. After that we had a nanny and Kris's mom come to our home to take care of Kale. Even though Kale never warmed to the nanny completely and there were some challenges in the beginning, it was pretty nice to never have to drop him off somewhere. If I didn't have time to get Kale ready in the morning, his nana or the nanny could take over while I did my make up and rushed out the door. Since I work so close to home I could come everyday for lunch and nurse him (which also allowed me to give up pumping fairly early). I always knew where he was and what he was doing and was lucky enough to get text messages and pictures sent to me throughout the day.

All of that changed today.

Now, don't get me wrong - I was super excited for Kale to start school. He's going to a cute little Montessori school where the class size is small, the teaching approach is very much in tune with our parenting style, the food is nutritious and the teachers are warm and friendly. I was so excited for him to start that I actually convinced myself that it wouldn't be hard for me. Maybe there would be some tears from Kale. But definitely not from me.

Of course, Kale developed a serious case of the sniffles yesterday and so he didn't have the best sleep last night. I tried to make up for it by giving him a nice, big breakfast.

I was pretty impressed that not only did I manage to get us both ready on time, but also had a few extra minutes to snap these pictures.

When we arrived at the school, Kale walked into the classroom holding my hand. I was so nervous for him, but was doing my best to hide it so he wouldn't pick up on my vibes. When we got inside there was one other student sitting at a little table drawing on a chalkboard. Kale promptly let go of my hand and walked over to her, picked up some chalk and got to business. The teachers gave me a reassuring smile and so I leaned over, kissed Kale on the forehead, told him to have a good day and said goodbye.

Kale, without looking away from the chalkboard, gave a me a half-hearted wave and said "buh-bye."

And that was that.

By the time I got to the car, my eyes were full of tears and I could barely hold it together long enough to call Kris to let him know how it went. I can't believe how hard it was to see my little baby so grown up!

All morning I kept my cell phone close in case there was a call from the school and the minutes seemed to drag by. Luckily I was so busy at work that I didn't have too much time to wonder what he was doing and worry about him being ok. At noon I hopped in my car and went to pick him up.

When I walked in the classroom he was cleaning the tables (the kid loves to clean). I stood and watched him for a few minutes and then said "hi, Kale" and he looked up at me, his eyes lighting up and a smile spread across his face. "Mama!" We stood for a few seconds, just looking at one another. He came over and gave me a huge hug. I loved that moment.

And then he went back over to the table and continued to clean.

The teachers told me he did great. He got a bit cranky around his normal morning nap time and passed out for 10 minutes on the teachers knee while she read him a story. And he ate a lot. Sounds like a typical morning for Kale.

I thought for sure he would fall asleep on the drive home, but he was still wound up from his big morning adventure. Kris's mom came over and they headed out to the park and I went back to work. About an hour later, Kris's mom snapped this:

And that, that was Kale's first day of school.

our night weaning journey: how we did it.

2011-09-03T13:10:00.000-04:00

Read part 1 of our night-weaning journey here --> a short history of Kale's sleep habits.

Once we decided we were ready for a change, we settled on trying Dr. Jay Gordon's method, with a few tweaks:

1) Ending the family bed. We have seriously loved bedsharing with Kale and so making the decision to end the family bed was a tough one. Even though Dr. Gordon's method is designed for co-sleeping families, I just knew it wasn't going to work for us. With Kale's night nursing increasing, I knew that he would pitch a total fit if I denied him the "ba-boo" in the middle of the night and it was just going to be too hard for both of us. Since we always knew we'd move Kale from the family bed to a floor bed, we decided the timing was right. We put a double mattress in Kale's room so it still gave him lots of room to move around, wasn't too different from what he was used to and, most importantly, was big enough for one of us to sleep with him.

2) Three nights. Three nights. Four nights. Dr. Gordon's Method is laid out to happen over 10 nights, but didn't want to push Kale if he wasn't ready (which Dr. Gordon totally supports). So we decided to try what he prescribes for the first three nights over a longer period. Once he seemed to adjust, we'd move on to the next three nights, etc.

How we did it:

The first week or so, Kris continued to walk Kale to sleep. If he woke before 11pm, I would go in and nurse him. From 11pm - 5am, if Kale woke up Kris would go in (and often stayed in until 5am) to comfort him. The first few nights, Kale was not impressed. Kris would do whatever he needed to to comfort Kale and get him back to sleep. Yes, there was crying, but like Dr. Gordon says - it was because he was angry, not scared. He wasn't alone and Kris was there to comfort him. He was just mad. And no, I don't enjoy hearing my baby cry because he's mad, but it's a heck of a lot different than him being alone and scared.

After two nights Kale stopped crying when Kris went in. I was so amazed at how quickly he adjusted and it was my sign that he was totally ready for this. Gradually we made the non-nursing period longer my moving the time I wouldn't go in after earlier and earlier. After about a week I wasn't going in after he originally went down (around 8-8:30pm) and wouldn't go in until 5am. At that point I'd nurse him and he'd normally go back to sleep for another two hours.

During the second week we decided it was time to get him to fall asleep without being walked or nursed. We made a new night time routine - pj's, nurse, stories, sleep - and really stuck to it. When it was time to sleep, I would lay down with him and sing until he fell asleep. The first night he cried for about 20 minutes, but I was there to hold him and comfort him. I never picked him up and every time he'd try to get up and leave, I'd lay him back down. The second night he cried for 10 minutes. The next night for 5. Then he stopped crying altogether and would just cuddle up beside me and would fall asleep within minutes.

Was I totally shocked? TOTALLY. I was so blown away by how quickly he adjusted to the changes and we were both so, so, so happy with the new night time routine. Kris continued to go in and lay down with him when he woke during the night and I continued to nurse him around 5am when he woke up. This means that I was sleeping from about 10pm-5am for the first time in 15+ months (the + is because I stopped sleeping through the night when I was pregnant!). When Kale woke at night Kris would just pull him in closer or pat his back and he'd fall back to sleep within a minute. There were even a few nights where Kale slept until 3am without waking. Amazing.

But here's the kicker -

Even though Kale is now night weaned, most nights he still wakes up just as often as when he was night nursing. So all those people who think that babies only wake at night because we're "rewarding" them by allowing them to nurse, can forget it.

Despite his night wakings, are things infinitely better? YES. Obviously things are way better for me since I get to sleep from the time I go to bed until 5am, but they are better for Kris too. Kris is a champion sleeper, so having to wake for a minute or two to settle Kale back to sleep is no problem for him. He barely wakes and can fall back to sleep no problem (which was always very, very hard for me). Also, there are nights that Kale sleeps for long periods of time, which we hope start happening more often.

Eventually we'll start working on getting Kale to fall asleep without us laying with him, but for now we're happy to have completed our night-weaning journey and feel as though we're still catching up on sleep from the last 15 months.

wordless(ish) wednesday.

2011-08-31T21:48:00.000-04:00

At the park near our house is a basketball court and when it rains, the court turns into a giant puddle. After being cooped up inside during a storm, Kale pretty much loses his mind running through and splashing around in that puddle. Even though it makes his shoes smell something terrible and he always ends up freezing, I can't help but let him run wild.

Post-splash smiles.

our night weaning journey: a short history of Kale's sleep habits.

2011-08-29T11:34:00.000-04:00

To put it lightly, Kale has never been "a good sleeper." I'm not sure how people define "a good sleeper" (particularly in terms of babies), but I'm pretty sure it's not Kale. Personally, I don't expect much from babies in the sleep department and it's a good thing, because Kale sure wasn't keen on giving us much. Pretty much since he was born Kale woke every two hours, all night long. It wasn't always to nurse either, he just seemed to wake and thought it was our job to get him back to sleep (which, actually, I do believe it is our job). Kris and I split the night time parenting and so it was manageable. We bedshared from day one and so nursing Kale back to sleep was easy. If nursing didn't work, Kris would walk with him or bounce with him on the exercise ball until he fell back to sleep (usually within five minutes).

The hardest part was always getting Kale down for the night or for naps. Nursing to sleep was always the first option, but it didn't always work. Kale was a super efficient nurser (four minutes, one side - MAX!) and so if he wasn't super sleepy, he would nurse quickly and then look around, ready to party. For the first 5 months, Kris would put Kale in the sling and walk him to sleep if nursing didn't work. It was a special time of the day for Kris and Kale to spend together and it gave me a few moments alone for some mama time.

Kris & Kale preparing for their nightly walk.

Then came the snow and so walking was out. That's when the bouncing started. We bounced with Kale on the exercise ball for every nap and every night. As Kale grew, it became tough for me to bounce him and I started to resent it. So we started a new routine of rocking. It took awhile for Kale to adjust, but eventually he did and rocking to sleep became the new bouncing.

Rocking Kale to sleep on his first birthday.

Did I ever get frustrated at having to walk/bounce/rock Kale to sleep? Sometimes. For the most part, I enjoyed those moments of watching his eyelids get heavy as he slipped into slumber. But there were also times I was tired and annoyed that he wouldn't just go to sleep. Was I ever willing to let him cry-it-out? No. It just wasn't an option for us and so it didn't cross my mind. That being said, there were times (especially when I was on maternity leave and Kris was out of town working) that I had to put Kale down while he was crying and refusing sleep and walk away for a few minutes to regroup.

Napping was also a challenge. The only way Kale would nap for longer than 45 minutes is if he was held. And then at some point, he wouldn't nap at all unless he was held. So we held him. That's right - for the first year or so of Kale's life, we held him for his naps.

There were days and nights that were really, really hard. I don't want to come off like waking every two hours and bouncing my baby to sleep every night was easy because I know how hard it is to hear someone else say that when you're at your breaking point. So if you're at your breaking point and you're reading this, please know that some nights were very, very, VERY hard. I'm so grateful that I have a supportive partner that has always been willing to share every aspect of parenting 50/50 (well, except nursing). Also, I had 8 months maternity leave and I took advantage of Kale's nap time to catch up on sleep. Then Kris took four months off and was able to do more of the night time parenting so I could get a good nights sleep in before work. I know that not everyone is so lucky to have this kind of situation and I fully acknowledge that we may have chosen to parent differently at night if our situation was different.

Anyway, back to the history....as the weather became nice, we went back to the walking routine, but I started to sense that Kris was beginning to resent it. Kale no longer wanted to be worn and wasn't a big fan of the stroller either and well, we couldn't exactly let him walk himself to sleep. At the same time, bedsharing was becoming difficult. Around a year old, Kale became a nursing fanatic and wanted to do it all night long. At first I thought it was teething, but after a few nights of no sleep, I was starting to fall apart. I really do not deal well without sleep. While in the past, Kris was able to parent Kale back to sleep, Kale was now screaming as soon Kris picked him up.

Something had to change.

I had been reading about Dr. Jay Gordon's night weaning method for months. Pretty much any time I felt like I was at the brink of exhaustion, I would read it and wonder if the time was right. But then Kale would go back to sleeping better and I'd start feeling human again and I'd put night weaning at the back of my mind.

But at 15 months, with the new all-night-nursing sessions, I knew it was time to try something.

Stay tuned for more of our night weaning journey....

mac n' cheese.

2011-08-22T21:32:00.000-04:00

Once, when Kale was about 7 months old, he spit out a piece of papaya and made a funny face. That's about the extent of any pickiness or fussiness he's shown towards food.

While Kale has proven to be an adventurous eater, he absolutely has his favourites. A sucker for protein, Kale loves chicken the most, but will also happily tear into a piece of steak and chomp away on a turkey breast. A lover of healthy fats, he indulges in peanut butter and avocados in the morning and enjoys sharing salmon sandwiches with his Nana and Bub Bub the cat. Cheese, yogurt, broccoli and a spinach quiche are enough to make this kids day. But the favourite - the absolute, hands-down, best food according to Kale - is mac n' cheese.

"Place more HERE."

pockets.

2011-08-17T21:50:00.000-04:00

Lately Kale has been really interested in putting things in his pockets and we're never quite sure what kind of treasures we're going to find in there at the end of the day. On the weekend Kale was helping Kris and Uncle Karl install a ceiling fan and I kept catching him putting washers and other random things in his pockets.

And then at the end of the day we emptied them out to find all of this:

Oh, sorry? You don't let your kids keep screws in their pockets? Hmph.

Friday Date Day: Round 5.

2011-08-14T19:59:00.000-04:00

This weeks Friday Date Day started early. Like, 5:30am early.

My whole plan for the morning was to keep Kale as active and distracted as possible in an attempt to skip his morning nap. He starts montessori school in a few weeks and they don't do morning naps, so I'd really like to prepare him for that. Part of me thinks that he'll be so engaged and interested in what's happening at school that he won't even think about closing his eyes for a second. And then part of me is worried that he's going to be tired and cranky, which will make the transition just a little bit harder. However, it's pretty much impossible to convince Kale to push back his morning nap, never mind skip it entirely, when he wakes up at 5:30am.

We started the day with breakfast and were dressed and at the park before 7:30am. Kale kept looking around for a dog, saying "woof? woof?" and shrugging his little shoulders. Apparently it was too early even for the dogs and so Kale settled for chasing the birds that were trying to dig up their breakfast.

I did my best to keep outside and awake, but it wasn't too long before he was asking to "up? up?" and taking breaks by sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. We barely made it home before he passed out by 9am. Two hours later, he woke up in the BEST mood. We had his favourite for lunch - mac and cheese.

We headed to the Ontario Early Year's Centre. Kale LOVES it there. There are lots of new toys to check out and other kids to play with (or in Kale's case, stare at) and - it's free!

After that I had to drag Kale around a bit to do some errands. It is so much easier now that he doesn't meltdown in the car seat.

Once we were done we went over to Kris's parents so Kale could visit with their dog and the dog they are dog sitting. I thought he would fall asleep on the way home, but he stayed awake so he could convince me that we needed to visit the park again.

Since I'd been awake since 5:30am and Kale didn't nap in the afternoon, I was pretty exhausted and so by the time Kris got home I was ready for a nice cold beer and a few minutes to relax.

This week I'm linking up with A Good Life blog. Go check out Amy and Parker and all the other mama's that linked up for their iPhone recaps :)