where one door closes...

i meant to get to this last friday but i was asleep before 9, a true sign that i am pregnant (and perhaps getting a little old). then there was saturday, but it was snowing and there was fun to be had so that didn't work either. monday i went to a concert with catriona, and last night was nicole's 30th birthday dinner...yummm! all this to say, excuse me for the delay.

what i would have said last friday is that it was cohen's last day with his nanny and dante, the little boy he shared the nanny with. don't worry we didn't quit because things were bad (although they were a little, but more in a minute), we quit because we didn't need it anymore. you see, marko has to take some vacation time before the end of the year and silvja (aka baka, or my mother in law) will be here on december 23rd, so with grandma still taking two days a week and marko taking on the role of stay at home dad, we seem to have it covered. no doubt baka's days will happily be spent tending to cohen's every need and spoiling him like any baka is prone to do. she is here until the end of february and then i am on maternity. maternity, wow! it is coming up so quick. i can't wait to get back to spending my days with cohen and the little monkey to be.

it was a tough day, knowing it would be the last. sure there had been some issues, often being sent home in a dirty diaper that had been left on way too long causing the occasional rash, and the insistent on snacks at 4:30 even after i stated i didn't want it (he never would eat a proper dinner after), but cohen loved amy and always had big smiles when saw her in the morning. plus, there is dante the seemingly perfect friend for cohen. we don't have a playmate replacement at our house, over here cohen just has us. still, now he has unlimited cuddles and one on one attention, late breakfasts with dad and soon to be long walks with baka, and that ain't bad either.

we have decided that it would be nice to keep in touch, so every second wednesday we plan on meeting up at the open gym at the mt. pleasant community centre. we went last week for the first time, it was great fun, if not extremely chaotic. the boys seems to really like it.

here are some pictures of dante and cohen both at dante's home and at the community centre. it was quite the challenge to get one with the two of them together!




that is amy on your left in this picture, she hates having her photo taken so i don't have any better!


in other news, i have been very crafty lately. there has been much sewing and decoration creating and soap making. hopefully i will get to an update here with what i have been doing and some pictures (but not too many as much of what i am doing is for gifts, gifts for some of you!) soon.

in the meantime i am looking for suggestions. what are a few of your favourite children's books? i know there are many of you that read this from time to time and never comment, so now is your chance, let your voice be heard!

t is for tomato ripe in my hand

this evening cohen and i were chatting with each other in the kitchen as i emptied the dishwasher when out of the corner of my eye i saw him perch on his toes and reach for something. i quickly turned, prepared to pull yet another do not put in mouth object out of his hand or his mouth or both, but to my surprise he was standing with a tomato in his hand. i have a few in a bowl right at his reach level on the windowsill ripening. i was curious what he would do with it so i let him be. i didn't have to wait long for the answer as in one fell swoop he charged towards his mouth with the fleshy red skin and chomped off an enormous bite, juice running down his chin onto his pajamas and covering the floor. well i'll be. so he doesn't like them when i cut them up and place them in front of him at dinner, but in his hand all at once making a mess they are great? so i sat and i watched as he devoured the whole thing, puddles littering the floor, seeds scattered from one end to the other. deciding he was finished he got up to leave only to learn a hard lesson about slippery when wet. not one to be knocked down he kept standing up only to slip back down. don't worry he wasn't getting hurt, instead he looked like he was doing some sort of comedy routine and as a result i couldn't stop laughing. eventually he was back into the bath, for the second time tonight,and i mopped the floor. i had been meaning to get to it anyway, i guess he was just giving me incentive.

with glowing hearts

this afternoon i found myself sympathizing with the sentiments put forth on lori's blog. most days it is hard not to think about what it would be like to have a house and a yard, a place to put a little pool shaped like a crab for cohen, or a patio set for us and our friends, a bbq and some grass. it isn't something that will ever happen for us, at least not to own, not here in vancouver. even renting the main floor of a house is starting to become out of our league. so in my head when i think about these things i think about a small town, and when i dream about a small town i dream about something many have told me doesn't exist. those who hail from small places are quick to remind those of us who idealize such a thing, that it isn't all it's cracked up to be. what about all the city things we would miss, they ask, things we take for granted now? mostly i pass their arguments off as rubbish, sure i would miss the big libraries, the aquaruim and ample parks, but wouldn't the quiet life be worth it? then i have a perfect weekend like this one and i remember what it means to live in a city, how great it can be. i contemplate all i would lose if i left, and suddenly city life doesn't seem so bad.


we had planned to partake in some free jazz at the park on sunday to celebrate canada day, but when we saw the weather forecast we thought it best to head to david lam park for the jazz on saturday instead, better safe than sorry. it was a glorious day, warm and sunny with just enough of a breeze to make it comfortable. we walked along the water to the park, stopping at cooper's park for some oceanfront swinging and then pushed on through to the bandstand. there were hundreds of people relaxing on the grass, children swaying to the beat, vendors selling donuts and hot dogs and other fair foods that filled the air with sweetness. we found our spot and sat listening to the drums and guitars, cohen laughing and dancing, waving hello to those who passed us on their travels. afterwards we took our time walking home, stopping in shops and on a sidewalk for some coffee before finally landing back at our place just in time for some dinner.


we expected rain on sunday and so had not planned for anything. much to our surprise when we all woke for the first time at 10 am (!) we saw that the sun was shining and the sky was an inviting shade of blue, so as we waited for our croissants to bake we contemplated what to do with our day. in the end we decided to fall back on our original weekend plan and headed out for some more canada day jazz in the park, this time at granville island. thinking ahead i brought cohen's bathing suit and a towel so that he could frolic in the water park for a bit. surprisingly, considering how hot it was outside, the water there was quite cold, cold enough to deter marko and i, but cohen is not easily scared when it comes to water and so we persevered. he thought it was so fantastic and frequently let out squeals of delight. afterwards we dried off and headed towards the smell of bbq. two perfectly cooked burgers, people watching and a cohen nap later, we headed towards the market for some fruit. as we got closer it became apparent that to enter the market together was to ask for trouble, it was just too busy, so as marko and cohen sat outside listening to a busker, i ventured in for a large stash of local strawberries, cherries and raspberries, and then got out as quick as i could! once again we walked home along the water and stopped for some more swinging, this time on the other side of the bay. we got home just in time to all crawl into bed and have a late afternoon nap together. what a great day!


today we thought we would stay close to home and relax, but after lounging away the morning the weather seemed just too nice to miss out on so we headed out to the coffee shop for a couple of cups to go and off to the park we went. we shoveled sand and slid down slides, swang on swings and rocked on wobbly dolphins, made some new friends, and then we headed back home. we were lazy and ordered pizza for dinner, and then in celebration of canada, we made a strawberry/raspberry shortcake with whipcream on top for dessert.


i go back to work tomorrow, but marko is staying home one more day to be with the pooper as grandma is in prince george visiting jonah. i wish i could stay home too, but knowing those two they will have plenty of fun without mom getting in the way, and sometimes that is important too.