Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday after nap we went to a pumpkin patch at a nearby church. We went to the same one last year. It isn't the whole farm experience, but it's very nearby, the people are great and the pumpkins are reasonably priced. And the kids love it. It's enough for them. They each picked out some pumpkins and this weekend we'll do some carving.

One of my favourites

This is one of my favourite moments from the summer. Karen and I took the girls to Santa's Village and they all had their first ever roller coaster ride. It was so much fun. Their faces say it all.

First day of school

Kate has started going to a new school this year after nearly three years at our little co-op that we helped to create and build. It is bittersweet to leave that co-op and the amazing community there. Fortunately, although she won't be going there, we're still in the community through food swap, wine nights (well, I'm in for that part, not Kate) and play dates. And a few kids from our little co-op are going to our new school too. The new school is also a co-op, All Austin Co-operative Nursery School, and after two visiting days this week, we already love it.

Here she is on her first day. She was so excited, she started asking a full hour before we had to leave if we could go.

I blinked

...and she's four.

45 months

I realize it's not very balanced to do a monthly (as if they are! ha!) update on Owen and neglect to update on sweet Kate. There are always changes for her too, and maybe they don't seem as momentous as learning to walk, but they are equally fascinating for us to watch.

I don't know if I can pinpoint things that happened this past month, but there a lots of things since I last wrote about what's happening with her. If you'll forgive, I'm going to resort to bullet points.

- Her favourite movie/pretend playing is Cars. She pretends to be a race car or she drives her toy cars around or she draws them. Or I am a car, or the dog, or her brother. She played Cars all day today from morning until bedtime. By the end of the day, I'm pretty worn out by Cars.
- In the last two months she is suddenly willing to try new foods. I'm so proud of her. If she tries it and doesn't like it (which is rare), she doesn't have to eat it. Right now, I just want her to be trying things. She has recently tried (usually not for the first time): cucumber, broccoli, zucchini, hot dog, herbed chicken, spinach pie, celery, chard, tomatoes. Clearly there is a veggie trend happening. She has liked all of them.
- She is writing her name (not a recent development. She's been doing it for almost a year) and her friend's names. She asks how to spell things and we figure them out phonetically.
- She is a great sister and plays with Owen. He is in the hitting stage, but she's getting better at dealing with that instead of just screaming.
- She is really excited about our vegetable garden. She may become a tomato eater by the end of the summer.
- She's excited about starting preschool in the fall even though she doesn't really know what it means. I'm less enthusiastic, mostly because I am having trouble letting go and facing the change.
- She can nearly ride a pedal bike without training wheels!

And, as she always has been, she is sweet and funny and affectionate and I love her more than I can believe. She drives me crazy every day but I wouldn't change her at all.

First haircuts

Today both kids got haircuts. Their first official ones. Owen had had a small trim around the ears and back, but it didn't really count. Kate had never had one. Yep, 3.5 years old, never had it cut. She wasn't goign to get one today either, since she declared she wouldn't get one until she was 4. But when she found out her little brother was getting one, she declared that she was getting one too.

Before:


During:



After:

Cal-i-for-ni-eh

We went to California about two weeks ago. G is there most of the spring (mid-March until mid-June) for work. He's staying in Venice Beach one block from the most beautiful sand beach. We were there for five days and went to the beach every day. As evidenced by the photos:

New sweater

11 months and Six years

Yesterday, Owen turned 11 months old. I totally missed his ten month since it was right before Christmas and all the ensuing craziness. In two months, there have been massive changes, of course. He's high speed crawling, cruising the furniture, making a huge mess, eating most food. He started saying 'uh oh', signing 'all done', having stronger opinions and generally charming the pants off of everyone.

Today is the six year anniversary of my mum's death. She would have rocked grandma-hood. She met Emily, but not her four subsequent grandchildren. She would have loved them all to pieces. Recently, Kate has been asking me to tell me more about my mum. It's great to tell her stories and it makes me happy that Kate will know her through those stories.

Her third and fourth grandchildren:

The latest iteration

This weekend we set up Kate's bunk beds. They can be stand alone or stacked, and since we got them, one has been up in the attic. But next weekend we have some friends coming to visit and my sister and her kids will be coming later in the spring, so it was time to get them set up. Kate has been sleeping on the top since we did it, and she loves it. I'm less than excited about climbing up and down multiple times, but it's not bad. Wait until I have to change the sheets up there, and I might be singing a different tune.

We also removed the table that acted as a change table. I don't know why it took so long to take it out, since it hasn't been used in a long time. It opened things up a lot and let us move things around a bit. The next step is to move Owen in there with his crib, which will necessitate rearranging the furniture again. We have some sleep training to do before that can happen though.

The start of the Christmas photos

Almost as good as the screaming/laughing one of two years ago.

The kids

Photos from California

Some photos of our California trip (from Oma)

Hallowe'en

Duet

(Please forgive the early morning bright sun and the finger smudged camera lens)

Pumpkin patch

On Monday we went to a little pumpkin patch at a local church. A lot of churches around here use pumpkin patches as fundraisers for their youth groups. Who knew? I still remember when I was 17 and moved to a city after growing up in a little rural town and having no idea at all where people got their pumpkins. Where do you get a pumpkin if there isn't a farm near by. Where I grew up, grocery stores did not sell pumpkins. I'd never seen a pumpkin in a grocery store, ever. And now, we go to a church fundraiser to get them. Weird.

Anyway, we got some pumpkins. (Sorry about the crappy picture quality. Turns out there were finger prints all over the camera lens. I can't imagine why.)

Three years

My baby girl is three years old today. I know all parents say it - but it's amazing how quickly it goes. Three years of this amazing person sharing our lives. It still, after three years, amazes me that we made her. That she once didn't exist. Because she certainly exists now.

She is in the 'I can do it myself' stage. She can talk for days (which she did during our drive to Canada last month). She can write her own name and likes to figure out rhyming words. She loves her brother although she's starting to realize that he will soon be interested in her things and she isn't quite as sure about that. She is funny and smart and caring and stubborn and emotional. Toddlerhood must be very hard. She wants so much to do things herself but she is still so little and needs cuddles and she just can't control the huge emotions she feels.

It's an honour to be her parent. She teaches me things and shows me the world through her amazing eyes.