we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun

what a great weekend we had. i know, i know, the weekend was a few days ago now, but still, it was a good one. i would have posted earlier but i have been obsessed with finishing a baby quilt for marita's son avner, who was born this past weekend. as it turns out, tonight when i came home to finish the binding my machine died. after some poking and prodding it became clear that my poor little overworked machine is going to need to go see a doctor. i know i could hand bind it, but i just don't have it in me tonight, sleepy and sore i think i will put it off for another day. there is nothing worse than being really into a craft project and then having the rug pulled out from under you though, serves me right for having never taken it in for servicing in the 10 years i have had it.

wait, i was talking about the weekend, wasn't i?

there was so much sun it was easy to forget that it was february. for once the weather co-operated on a weekend that we had a rental car and so we did much frolicking, including a trip to one of our favourite places for some fish and chips on the wharf and basking in the glow of the boats. we also tackled ambleside with it's seawall, and beach, luring cohen with the pleasure of throwing rock after rock into the ocean while he howled with laughter. each day found us home at dinner, tired and rosy from the fresh air but deeply satisfied in a way that only time well spent can give. there was lasagne and homemade chocolate cheesecake and both nights cohen went to bed easy (the toddler bed seems to be hit and miss with the keeping him in it factor, but more on that another time).

silvija goes home a week this friday so it was nice to finally be able to take her out for an adventure with us without snow or rain or the freezing cold. not that i am complaining, i mean at least we don't live here. not that there would be anything wrong with that.

and then there were three

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!

better days are here again

today was a long day filled with many outdoor adventures. we walked over to commercial, stopping at several parks along the way, and went swimming at the community centre. the sun shone down on us and our short sleeves the entire way.


those moms out there reading this may feel a little nervous to see the sun shining down on cohen without a hat on, and i agree. months ago, when he wasn't quite so strong willed, cohen would allow me to fancy up his head with all sorts of toques and knit caps, but then one day he had a fit, tore it off, and hat shopping has never been the same. i have tried and tried again with no success. i had even resolved that i would get one that fastened and he would have to wear it! something about liking or lumping. every hat i found though had a velcro strap for safety and velcro is no match for the great hat escaper, so eventually i gave up. i knew that it couldn't last forever though, unless he grew a full shaggy head of hair by late spring, a hat was going to be necessary, so i was always on the look.

the search ended today.


this one has a toggle on the string. a toggle is tricky business. i made him wear it around the store to make sure he couldn't get it off. he cried and wiggled and snorted, but he did NOT escape and so i bought it at once and then explained to him what "lump it" meant.

i figure by august he should be used to the idea of the monstrosity on his head, but until then i will just have to persevere.

i see trees of green, red roses too

i should start by saying that after i wrote last nights blog entry i decided to stay up a little later and wander around the internet catching up with some other blogs i normally read including sweet|salty. i know many of you also read her and if you don't, well the link will explain what i am talking about. like so many other times in my life i was brought back to the present and reminded about the importance of perspective. my sleeping and complaining, although real to me, seemed slightly foolish in the end.



with perspectives in mind let's talk about a new one that cohen and i have been getting lately, namely our brief encounters with outside living. marita had been on the waiting list for a plot in the community garden just a few blocks from our house for over a year, but luckily for us her name came up a few weeks ago and a plot was given. unfortunately this also coincided with her northern bc poetry tour and so i jumped at the chance to help her (and us in the process) out by volunteering to do some clean up on the plot while she was away.



i knew it would be a challenge having cohen down there, what with all the dirt and sticks to chew on, so i made a trip to the salvation army and found a pack and play in pretty decent shape for next to nothing. once i gave it a bath in the tub and aired it out, it was ready for some action, and so yesterday afternoon down to the garden we went. i did some weeding and soil turning, and cohen did some people watching and sun soaking. for a moment we may have actually allowed ourselves to believe that we had a backyard. it was magnificent.



so great in fact that today we went back for some more, this time with a few purchased plants in tow. i look forward to spending time at the garden with marita and the boys, watching the garden grow and in the end hopefully enjoying the fruits of our labour!

i'm gonna wash those blues away

generally i update the blog at night after cohen has gone to sleep. it is the time of the day that is solely mine to do with it what i will. often it involves loading and unloading the dishwasher, taking down the garbage or recycling, folding laundry...well you get the picture, but in addition to all that there are long baths, and magazine reading, and of course, blog writing. however, about a week ago i decided that it was time to do some cleaning around here, not just the put the laundry in the bucket kind of cleaning but CLEANING cleaning. like many people i imagine, i have these fits every now and again where i need some sort of order to my world. i think in this case it is a direct result of me going back to work soon and longing for a house where everything has a place, so that everything will be in it's place and i won't have to spend any of my precious cohen time cleaning. i know that is foolish and about as likely as me managing to cook a meal for us everynight when i am back at work, but can't a girl long for something?

so this bout of cleaning started with repotting the plants and moving them around and progressed from there to a state where everything was pulled off shelves and furniture was rearranged and then rearranged again (sweat pouring off my temple as cohen stared at me with confusion). in the cleaning process i managed to create a mess the likes of which this apartment has never seen (and incidentally the furniture went back to it's original position after all).

eventually after much rummaging and eliminating, a trip to ikea for storage boxes with lids and some dusting, i have come to a place where the living room is now not only completely organized but 100% baby proof as well (ok so i still have to tether the shelves, but everything else is out of reach, so almost 100%). so that is my excuse for not coming here and updating, that and the wonderful weather we have been having which has seen me outside more than in during the day.

tomorrow i tackle the bedroom closet, wish me luck.

it was a walk in the park.

today smelled like camping. does anyone else out there do this? associate a smell with something more tangible. i do it all the time. it isn't the smell of a bonfire, it is the way halloween smells, and chistmas...well don't even get me started on all the smells that bring me there. i can't really describe the way camping smells, but if you have been, it is that smell in the morning when the ground is still damp from the night and it is early (in fact camping smell is very close to paper route smell, only older i suppose), it is the smell of newness, of nature. it is fitting that i smelled it today, the day which for me officially marked the beginning of spring. oh sure it was nice yesterday too, but today it was warm, take off you jacket and sit with the sun on your face warm. no false alarms, no thinking it is warm and then being frozen out at the park. no, today was perfect, and so to celebrate cohen and i ended up spending most of it outdoors. the morning was coffee with my friend sharon and her daughters imogen and genevieve followed by a trip to the park and then in the afternoon, after our midday siesta, we were back to a different park for swings and hanging out with atticus and marita. i may have spoke too soon, but perhaps for now the rainy days are behind us (knock on wood).

here are some pictures from our day, you will notice that cohen refused to look at the camera, he also has a bit of a rash from teething on his face, i think the two might be related. vanity, a babies best friend. that is okay though as atticus was cute enough for them both.

and now back to our regularly scheduled program

alas we woke to rain again today. it was to be expected i suppose, yesterday simply a treat for all our good behaviour these last three weeks. truth be told i don't even mind the rain, and in fact when pressed as to what i missed the most when i lived in toronto the answer would have invariably been the rain and the ocean. when i was just a me, the rain meant staying in bed with a cup of tea reading a book or watching a movie, the sound of the drops hitting the pain lulling me into a peaceful moment. since cohen doesn't yet drink tea or read (we're working on it!), and can only contain himself for three minutes of peaceful moments at a time, the rain means restriction (yes i have a rain cover for the stroller and i really should be more motivated to step out into it, maybe i will, but it is the lazy rainy day me that resists).

still, the rain seems to make him a little more sleepy, a little more willing to lie his little head down (and stick his butt in the air, feet firmly tucked underneath) for a nap. yesterday he wouldn't. nap that is. thirty minutes in the morning, thirty-seven in the afternoon and then bedtime came like a hurricane, so much twisting and screaming. he eventually did settle, only to wake one hour later and then after that one more hour. thankfully he settled easily each time, a pat on the head and a whispered i love you seemed to be enough. sometime around six this morning he woke again and seeing the rain i decided to pull him into bed with us. we didn't wake up again until nine. this wouldn't happen on a sunny day. after breakfast we went down to the coffee shop in the bottom of our building and sat right by the window watching all the people hurrying by, umbrellas in hand. all the smiling and clapping and grey tired him out, and he is morning napping right now. as for me? i have had so much sleep i feel slightly giddy (and hopefully a little crafty). so there may not be sun today, but things are still pretty bright around here.