All Done

Maklin - being the polite little boy that he is - has taken to putting his fork and sippy cup onto his plate, picking up the plate, and gently passing it to me when he says 'all done'.  [I'm sure he'd put them in the dishwasher himself if he wasn't strapped in.]

Perhaps not the best example -- he really did eat a decent amount of veggies and LOVES
broccoli.  He's just very serious about cleaning up!

Inside time

The gloomy rainy weather is lending itself to considerably more inside play than I was planning for.  We're still having fun though!

Each and every morning begins with, "Plea-doh peez!!"

This afternoon we started with arts & crafts ...

... followed by a rousing game of Bean Bag Toss.  :)

20:23

Today, my little man is exactly 20 months old.  He's not a baby ... he's a toddler; a kid.  A few days ago I had the unfortunate experience of having to give him the heimlich.  I was momentarily paralyzed: not because he was chocking, but because I suddenly realized I didn't know if I should be laying him over my arm and giving him sharp whacks between the shoulder blades (baby) or doing the heimlich (kid).  Quickly decided heimlich as he was in a good position; thankfully it only took one thrust -- all is well!  The experience  solidified for me beyond a doubt that he is now a kid, and no longer a wee babe.

Now he's sleeping peacefully (I'm sure growing!) - and I can pretend for the briefest moment that he's still a baby.

Today Baby K2 is exactly 23 weeks. Last night for the first time I felt extensive activity!  I've been feeling baby movement for well over a month now, but just little flits.  Last night, almost an hour straight of acrobatics - fun and yet still weird/bizarre.  Another life doing its thing in there ...

h20

Maklin has been working on mastering the art of pouring water from the watering can into a bucket (then bucket water back into watering can, and repeat).

Good times. 

waiting for an oil change

at a dealership is NOT boring.

Dadda

Any given day you will find Maklin suddenly start wandering around the house chanting: "daaaaaa-daa .... daaaaa-daa ...."

When Justin finally comes home: (in a super-excited high-pitched squeal) "DADDA!!"

It was great to be able to celebrate Father's Day and honour him for the loving and devoted Dad that he is.  Maklin coloured a card for him, and got him a new shaving brush (Maklin kind of took over his old one ... and uses it as a hair brush in the bath):

At Lulu's, Maklin painted a picture for us as a combined Mother's Day / Father's Day gift:

"When I was a kid I drew like Michelangelo.  It took me years to learn to draw like a kid." - Picasso

mini muffins

Awesome birthday; spent the day playing with Maklin.

Including Mama & Maklin muffins (super healthy carrot/zucchini/apple muffins)!

And clean-up.




















Yum.

Red Deer

After our first camping trip, we decided we were ready to venture a bit further from home.

This time, we went to the Lions' Campground in Red Deer: short drive time; nice campground; connected to great biking trails.  Rumour has it the weather in Edmonton was beautiful this weekend.  It rained in Red Deer.  Still ... we made the best of it.






We had every intention of making an early day of it.  We don't set an alarm clock though - we just wake up when Mak says it's time to wake up (generally in the 6:30-7:15 range).  Friday morning -- 8:30.  So we all slept in.  No early start, but we weren't going to complain about the sleep-in either!  We were still at our campsite by lunch time ... after set-up, lunch, and nap - we took advantage of the afternoon sunshine to walk downtown.

Justin's cousins recently opened Cool Beans - a coffee shop in downtown Red Deer housed out of a double-decker bus.  Justin hasn't seen them in ~10 years, so of course we showed up unannounced, and had a lovely visit.  Cool shop -- if you're in Red Deer -- this is a must-stop!  :)

The wind/rain came up Friday evening, and Justin and I put our campsite on lock-down.  It may have been unfriendly outside, but we were toasty warm with our heated mattress (bonus: a full body heating pad for my sciatic nerve issues!!)






Saturday we were determined to make the best of things, despite the gloomy drizzly weather.  After breakfast we made our way to the Farmer's Market -- trial and error on the bike paths.











Lovely farmer's market!  We wandered around for an hour or so, sipping chai and people watching.  I even got a new floppy sun hat (to save for another day).  Just as we started heading back, the rain came; at least it wasn't too cold!!  Mak was all cozy in the Chariot at least!

Turns out we could entertain Maklin fairly easily by letting him 'drive' the truck:

 Sunday - a morning bike ride before heading home.  We had a destination in mind, but were side-tracked along the way.  First by a whole gaggle of baby "geese! geeze!!!  Geese!!!"

Then by a wicked playground.  It was huge with a cushy recycled tire ground covering and lots of different activities.  We played just as much as Mak did!

The spinning chair was the best.  It was off centre and you got dizzy SO fast.  Mak thought it was hilarious and kept going back ... each time we took him off he just kept falling down dizzy in a fit of giggles.  SO funny.

Bvrrrrooommm

You may have noticed the pink chair in the Camping post.  We're ok/encourage Maklin to play anything - regardless of gender norms etc.  But there's no denying his automatic interest in trucks.

If Bvrrrooommm is a word ... it was Mak's first.  If it's a word, it was also part of his first 2-word sentence ("Bvrrrooommm Dadda").

Different pitches accompany different types of 'trucks' (i.e. trucks, cars, construction equipment, tractors, etc).

As an aside, it does not however, refer to airplanes.  Airplanes, according to Maklin, make the same sound as fish (puckered fishy lips and all).