I'm working hard at parenting these days.
Yesterday dude went for a vaccination, Hep, his third and last.
He is cognizant now about the perceived evils of the doctor's office.
He is a reluctant patient
and that goes directly back to the terror of the cardiologist in April.
We drove up, he saw the building and announced that he liked this doctor.
12 minutes later he hated the nurse.
There was no winning.
He begged her not to do it.
He begged me to beg her not to do it.
It hurt.  He screamed.
Though quick the sobbing continued for the entire 15 minutes we had to sit.
That can't catch your breath kind of sobbing.
I told him he was such a brave boy.
His response?
I not brave.  I cried and screamed and begged mama.  I not brave.
Poor sweet baby.
He then slept for 12 hours...7 to 7.

Tonight?
Straight home.
To paradise.
In our own backyard.

A bit of this

A bit of that

A whole lot of this

We topped it off with a walk that ended very badly...
a fall
a head full of road mud
a forced and very uncooperative shower
a whole lot of screaming that was perhaps 45 minutes long
but felt like an eternity.

Sleeping.
Well before 8.

I find myself counting my blessings.
He is such a blessing.
So is sleeping soundly before 8.

The mid autumn moon...

Hosted by the marvellous Tim and Mary...
Ben loved (almost) all of it.
Except the dragon/lion/anyone with a costume
even though he assures me that Halloween is all the rage this year.
Oh, and the mosquitos...in late September...eating him alive.
Apparently he only remembers the parachute
and the springrolls
all 6 of them
and the 3 we brought home.

Good fun!

A Challenge...

Parenting that is.
It's a challenge.

Is it a bit harder now because it is september
and the beginning of the school year brings with it
a return to old long forgotten routines?
Like getting up early?
Removing pj's before 11am
and wearing something other than a swimsuit?
Leaving the house in the dark of early morning?
Going to the sitter when you would rather stay home with mama?

Or is it the dude's age?
I call it the age of WHY.
I hear that word no less than a kazillion times per day.
Often beginning the exact question over and over again
probably in hopes of tripping me up
and catching me giving a different answer.
And dude asks the same questions of other adults
just to check my knowledge against theirs.

And the questions.
They are getting hard.
The dude is smarter than I am.
And I'm afraid.
Like: Why are dinosaurs dead and gone forever mama?
Followed by: The radio man said junk is falling from the sky tomorrow.  Are we going to be dead and gone forever after that?
And:  Why are some people in the world evil mama?  And others are nice?
And doozies like: Who's tummy did I grow in mama?  What does she look like?

Yeah. 

A challenge.

Any good answers out there for the doozie?
'cause I can gooogle the rest.

Blustery sunshine,

lakeside cuddles,

wind,

woods,

and the family, 

together, 

in one province.

Cousin fun planned by the awesome auntie Janice,

spiderman tattoos,

and lots and lots of snot.

Now?

Recovering.

From the extreme fun of it all.

Slam from the left...didn't see that one coming

Conversation during the morning commute...
which was waaaaaay too long due to construction on every road to everywhere.

Mama, I think spiderman and venom can take off their masks because sometimes they want to change back into a humam, right?

That's right dude, sometimes in the movie spiderman might be peter parker and sometimes he is spiderman.

What about that white girl that's a mutant with telephon-ic powers? (that would be girl in the lab wearing a white coat who has some sort of denial issues about her ability to control others with her brain...in case you didn't know)

Well, she can't really take off a costume to get rid of her power.  She always looks human and always has her telekinetic power.

Oh.  mama, my imaginary daddy has stretch powers like the animal mechanicals.  But no brain power.

So, we leave this conversation with our ability to use our imagination intact.  And a growing sense perhaps of pretend and real.  Right?  Maybe?


During the afternoon commute.  Which was blissfully short.

mama, I want to meet spiderman.

well dude, spiderman is imaginary.  You can't meet imaginary movie characters.

last year that rabbit at the mall was in a costume.  he was imaginary.  i didn't like him but now I'm not afraid of costumes.

okay, next time we see someone in a rabbit costume you can meet the rabbit.

mama, I guess Santa Claus is imaginary and you buy all the toys?

ummm, ahhh, stutter, gasp, swear under my breath, lie to my child...repeat....

Crap.  Crappity crap crap.


And in honour of the past...

Têt Trung Thu

A quiet evening at home
some ordered in asian food
a bit of outdoor fun searching for the moon
and then we had to improvise...

The wardrobe was carefully selected...
Superman intended to fly over the moon to Vietnam to save his friends from the Legion of Doom.

Specifically Wonder Woman.
From Brainiac.

By all accounts
(his account anyway, here he is relating the events of the evening)

Wonder Woman is safe
and Brainiac is in the basement
tied up with the magic lasso.

This makes Superman ecstatic.

So, how was your Tet?

Mama Day

And what a lovely one it was...
Started with snuggling
Ended with snuggling
And a whole lot happened in the middle.

Today was the little guy's first day of gymnastics at the big boy gym.
He pranced in there like he owned the place.
Waved bye.
Joined in the warm up like he had been attending for years and never looked back.
Mama watched from the upper windows.
Next time I'll be taking a tea and a good book!

He has 6 little girls in his group,
everyone is 3.
For some of the circuits there is one coach
(i.e., hopping in hoops, walking on low beam, crossing bridge on your stomach, swinging with the coach's help from the rings)
And for some there are two or even three if big equipment is involved
(raised tumbling trampoline/high beam work/uneven bars)
All seemed really really appropriate and there was hardly ever any waiting.

Then we rushed home.
Then we rushed out to a local crafter's festival...
fun, food filled (mostly crap like cotton candy)
but I don't think we will go back next year.
Simply not enough to interest me.

Headed home.
Lovely deckside dinner.
Playtime in the front yard,
the back yard,
the pumpkin patch,
picked a few apples and ate them right there under the tree,
picked a few more and fed the horses,
played in the front,
played in the vege garden,
etc...

Dude was spinning like he had eaten way too much cotton candy...
which he had.

So we went to a local (like 3 minutes away) playpark.
September free time 2 days per week in the climbing structures and giant bouncer
as well as 3 evenings of free swimming come with our October lessons.

We were ALONE.
As in a bounce house for 20 kids ALL TO HIMSELF!
Loved it.

Sleeping very very soundly right now.

And I never took my camera out.

So pick a favourite for me...for the walls...

Transitions

Apparently they are hard.

For mama who really doesn't want to wake up at 6 am.

For Ben who isn't fond of waking up in general.

The summer was full of 11 and 12 hour nights for the wee man.

8:30 to 8:30.

Now?

Not so much.

The napless one,

power napping in the car.

Then not asleep until 9 or 10,

worrying about being away from mama.

Up at half past 6.

Yikes.

So Tuesday he was up way too early

(in his opinion),

very unhappy,

begging for just 5 more cuddles.

It was ugly.

Really ugly.

Today the alarm was set for 15 minutes earlier.

15 minutes for 5 more cuddles.

The morning was better,

the power nap was avoided on the ride home

(the napless drive brought to you by a tootsie pop)

but he was oh so very tired tonight.

Throwing an uncharacteristic "demon-like" fit.

Thankfully short.

But snoring at 8:25.

5 more snuggles in tomorrow's wake up plan.

Another tootsie pop waiting in the car.

And then comes Friday.

Transitons.

They are hard.

Things will even out again soon...

 And happy boy will be back.

photos brought to you by leslielightfootphotography.com

just a few of my favourite shots...
now to choose which ones will grace my walls?
opinions?