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.

happy birthday to you little atticus

wow! i can't believe this day is here. has it really been a year? i remember that night one year ago. i didn't know marita well, but i had heard through others that her water had broke, that she hadn't gone into labour but was doing everything to get there. marko and i were in the middle of a move from the sixth floor down to third at the time, all of our stuff was out, but the old apartment still needed cleaning, and so my mom was over late helping marko clean the apartment as i, quite pregnant myself, slept in our new apartment three floors down. it was late when marko came in and woke me up, he looked concerned and i sat up. there are ambulances here, he said. my mom was upstairs with her neck craned out the window trying to see something, anything so that we wouldn't worry. i wanted to go up and make sure, but i didn't know them well enough and even if i did now wasn't the time. my mom didn't see anything and eventually the ambulances left and they seemed to be empty, a good sign, but we still didn't know. so that night we all went to sleep filled with worry, and in the morning i woke early, much too early to be phoning laisha to see if she had news (sorry). she didn't, but she took pity on my worrisome soul and got some for me. everything went well, it was a boy and he was born here at home after all. relief and then joy settled in. it was a couple of weeks before i finally met atticus george, but soon he became a regular part of mine, and cohen's life. he was so tiny that first time, so fragile in my hands. it made me nervous to think that soon i would have a small human of my own, would i know better how to hold him when he is mine?

little did i know that time would make both of us an expert at all kinds of things, sleeping and eating and walking and laughing and of course crying. for atticus i suspect that today is just another, one of many in a line. he might wonder what all the fuss is about, although he will hopefully like the amazing cake his mom is making, but in the end i think today will mean the most to marita. it's huge, a day full of nostalgia for what has come and hope for that yet to be. i hope the reflection is peaceful and bright, although i suspect there will be some kleenex moments as well. in honour of you, my friend, i will spend my day celebrating being a mother in the way that you have done all year long, and cohen and i will raise a glass and toast both atticus and his wonderful mom who persevered through much to bring him here to be with all of us. if you are reading this then go here and wish them a happy birthday! what a glorious day indeed.

pearly white and quite alright

here it is, as promised one more photo of the little man, this time with teeth! so what do you think? does it make him look older, feistier, more able to eat a sirloin?

this one is for marko. he says that i only ever post pictures of cohen smiling and laughing which is how he is most of the time, but of course not all the time. so here he is soggy eyed and whiny, looking to be rescued from the perils of nap time.

speaking of nap time, it was only twenty minutes later when i came in to check on him and found him hanging out.


so that is a little of what we have been up to, that and finally repotting the plants and doing some serious spring cleaning. there have also been walks in the sun and family get togethers, but we will save those for another time.