when things turn green again

i have new pictures and some new video which means it is time for a new post, now if only i had some clever words to accompany them.

last saturday night i went up to seymour with nicole for some full moon snowshoeing. unfortunately there was no moon due to the loitering of ominous looking clouds but there was snow and we were given shoes (well they sort of look like shoes?). the guide would stop us along the trail and share moon folklore and then at one point we were each (16 in all) given a recipe card with a moon fact to read aloud, a flashlight passed hand to hand in replacement of the actual moon. my fact was something about ants and how even though they are busy and hard working they take the day off during a full moon. nicole's was about surgery and increased blood flow in relation to the fullness of the moon, how some surgeons won't perform due to an increased chance of complications. i won't say the facts were fascinating, because they weren't (although nicole's was at least interesting), but i will say that being out in the forest in the pitch black with all of the snow and the glow that came from behind the clouds, well that was something. plus, snowshoeing was kind of fun and afterwards we were all rosy cheeked and glowing as we sipped our perfectly sweetened hot chocolate and spoke of returning for more of the same, sooner rather than later.

yesterday we went to the aquarium again with my friend farha and her son javier. upon my recommendation they had purchased a season's pass as well and so we thought we would join them for a little fish fun. this time i brought the stroller and cohen was able to see more from it then he ever had before. he is also a little older and more engaged in his environment which made for a great outing. his jaw actually dropped slightly while watching the tropical tank. he was computing just how expensive it would be to have a tank like that at home and then he went all serious, no doubt trying to figure out the best way to convince me to buy him one. we decided to walk a little after we left as both boys were sleeping in their strollers. cohen and i ended up walking the whole way home in the end as it wasn't so bad out and we both liked walking along the water. when we got home he had dinner and then slept like a baby. an added bonus for me!

speaking of dinner, here is another video (what can i say he keeps doing all of these great things!) of him feeding himself for the first time last night. as you can see, we couldn't have switched to the plastic bib at a better time.



for those that are wondering he was eating zucchini, pear and red lentil mash. mmmmm mash

think about direction, wonder why you haven't before

this week was filled with learning, for example i learned that i quite like to brush my teeth in the shower. i am not sure if this is related to multi-tasking or just the minty feeling whilst being doused in warm water, but it has become my new favourite thing. it isn't so easy with an electric toothbrush though. i also learned that i like dark chocolate coated butter cookies, well actually i mostly just like to peel the chocolate off and throw the cookie away, which i think means i just like dark chocolate which i guess isn't all that new. then there was the biggest revelation of all, i now like classical music. i swear i never thought there would be a day i would say it. it always stressed me out, the loud and then the quiet and then the even louder, it made my blood pressure rocket. i was always vaguely aware that i should appreciate it but i never could, despite having a husband who quite digs the stuff. however, this week i have been playing it for cohen to help with the sleeping and in response my body has chosen to now find it appealing. perhaps it is the fact that it works and cohen slept great all week because of it, so now i have to show some sort of respect or maybe it is just because i am getting old.

the learning didn't stop with me though, cohen learned much including that he likes rice puffs, or at the very least likes playing with them and trying to get them into his belly. his mouth to floor/lap ratio greatly improved as the week progressed. he also learned that diving face first into the bath results in all kinds of unpleasantness, not the least of which is an inability to breath (don't worry i was right there holding him the whole time, it wasn't scary at all really, just alarming for him i think). then there was cohen's big revelation, which is the next one we were waiting for (no not teeth, not yet anyway...but maybe soon?) which is standing. pulling up to stand with the assistance of some inanimate object to be exact.

the standing is making bedtime interesting. no matter how tired he is he insists on standing and jumping on the bed, sometimes crying with fatigue through it all. i lie him back down and he immediately stands back up. what to do? videotape it of course. here he is particularly tired and whiny, note how he moans through the tough bits (just like his mom when she is out for a jog).



*the sweater in the pictures was made by my very talented aunt helen. i know she reads this so i just wanted her to see how great it is on him!