i am back! although probably not really. there are many kinks that need to be worked out of my working mom machinery, most notably my ability to stay awake past ohhhh...say eight o'clock (and for those of you astute enough to now check when i published, you are right it is late right now so good for me!). in truth the only reason i am up so late tonight is because grandma had cohen last night which meant i got a good nights sleep. every other night last week, and i expect the rest of this one (since i have to be at work at 6:45 everyday this week. seriously), i have been slumbering well before most of the cool kids. i will figure it out soon and then i can go back to blogging and facebooking like everyone else.
it was exactly one year ago today that cohen was due. the complaining hadn't yet begun, it took a few days overdue before my wingeing mechanism kicked into high gear. still, to celebrate what may have been cohen's first birthday i thought i would entertain you with some picnic pictures that were taken at cates park on the weekend. we bbq'ed and basked in the glory of our wonderful weather, summer is here at last (just not today, today it is raining...sigh).
in case that cuteness wasn't enough i have other big news that comes with it's own unique brand of cute. yesterday my sister in law laisha celebrated her birthday, which in itself deserves a round of applause, but the big news of the day was the arrival of our families newest edition, laisha and aaron's son and cohen's only boy cousin, jonah alexander rosnau deans who was born at home in the wee hours of the morning. what a wonderful birthday gift indeed! as luck would have it i just now received an email with a photo of him, i hope it is ok to share, it is just too great not to. marko and i will now commence our argument about which parent he resembles more. congratulations everyone, i can't wait to meet him in a few weeks!
so many things to write about. i am going to attempt to do one big summary, we'll see how it goes.
a few months ago i made reservations to rent a car one weekend every month throughout the summer. in april we went camping, but last weekend was our may weekend and we chose to not make plans but just to go out and do whatever we fancied. the weather ended up being underwhelming so some of the things we thought we would do, like a hike, didn't happen, but we managed to fill the long weekend with fun anyway.
cohen went to his second first birthday party this time in mission (about an hour drive). the birthday girl was beth who is the daughter of a woman i met online that had a due date close to mine. we had never met in person, despite being so close, so it was nice to finally meet. when we got there i overheard another mom telling a lady that she always worries that her daughter is going to be too aggressive with the other kids. as most of you know, cohen is the same and so my interest was piqued. after talking with her for a bit it became clear that we had to get the kids together and sure enough, they wrestled with each other most of the afternoon (she is the one in the picture). i think cohen was in heaven and he had that look of love in his eye.
on monday, our last day with the car the weather was pretty miserable so we stayed in and ate freshly baked croissants and drank coffee, that is until mid afternoon when the sky cleared up and the road beckoned us. we didn't know where we were going, but in the end our road led us to white rock for a long walk on the beach including standing close to the tracks as the train passed. we thought cohen would really dig the action, but it turns out he was more interested in my water bottle. maybe next time.
then last week cohen went and did some trial runs with his nanny to see how he would do. as expected, he did amazing and hardly cared at all that he was away from me, although the nanny, amy, did say that he kept looking at the door. i am glad she said that because it can be a little heartbreaking having such an independent baby, especially when i am being a needy mom! i know it is going to be a smooth transition for cohen (and hopefully for me) plus, the two boys seem to get along well (although the other boy dante did kick up a fuss every now and again when cohen played with his toys!).
i did end up getting my haircut. i know that many of you have already seen the cut on facebook, and if you haven't then why aren't you on there yet? actually i know why, and it was why i resisted for so long despite the polite prodding by friends. i have no idea why it is so compelling, drawing me back, sucking my time, but there it is. i am sure it is the real reason i haven't updated my blog in so long. so shameful. what was i talking about, oh yes! the haircut. i did end up finding a picture and going in with it and she actually did a pretty good job of getting it right. i also got it highlighted which isn't so obvious here so you may have to trust me on that.
the other big, no let's call it "the biggest" news of the day is that cohen is walking now! he has actually been walking for almost two weeks (first one step followed by a crash, then three, then six...), but i just haven't gotten around to documenting it yet. this is good for you as his skills have greatly improved making for a more entertaining video. in this one take note of the preaching motion with one finger pointed in the air and the serious tone of shouting. this kid has something very important to say, i just wish i could understand it!
so tomorrow is the big day. i am undecided about how i feel. right now i am ok with it though. i will have to report back and let you know how it went. i also want to tell you about this little get together i had today, but for now i am going to end this one here. wish me luck.
let me start by saying thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. your words meant a lot to me and were nice to come home and find. i appreciate that it isn't always easy to find the words for a thing like that, thank you for them.
our weekend was great. it wasn't perfect camping but it is april, so it comes with the territory. it only rained as we slept and the tent didn't leak, so i think that means it was a success. we sat in front of the fire under a canopy of trees and ate smokies roasted on the flame and two bite brownies (opting for the simple non-gourmet meal to make our last minute prep effortless), cohen safely nestled in our arms fast asleep. as we slept closely together in the tent he would alternate between us, nuzzling into that space between our arm and torso, his head lying heavy for the warmth. in the morning it was wet but the showers had stopped so we packed up as the sun came out from the clouds.
our afternoon was spent at home napping together. when we awoke, sometime after 6, the sun was shining and the sky a brilliant shade of blue, so we decided to take the car out one last time, and off to the beach we went. despite living in vancouver, so close to so many beaches, we don't get to one very often. cohen loved being at the waters edge and standing in the sand, and i loved feeling the warmth of the late afternoon sun on my face.
our day ended with fresh pasta from granville island and some birthday cake, this year we chose a decadent chocolate cake from the granville island bakery, it wasn't a mistake.
i feel a little hazy tonight. i am not sure if it is just post camping fatigue or the start of a cold, but i will hope for the former and crawl into bed now with a book. tomorrow we will talk about parks and baths and other fun things.
this used to be one thing, but now it is something else. i have no idea what it will be tomorrow. i am hopefully pessimistic and live on the westcoast of bc with two little humans and one larger one. with a little luck that doesn't sum up who i am.
