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Some things we have been up to in the past week…

…hanging out and the occasional snack picnic at the park

…since we hang out at the playground so much I decided to have some fun with the camera. Can you see what it says?

…gave a special Father’s Day card to an awesome daddy.

…shaking a water, oil and food colouring mixture to see it separate again.

…visiting the animals at Grandma’s work. Leah wavered between excitement and apprehension.

…eating burgers at Father’s Day lunch. Leah would take a big bite, getting her hands dirty in the process and then wipe then with a napkin, repeating the process over and over again.

…dragging her half inflated pool inside the kitchen so she can take a nap in it while I wasn’t watching her for five minutes. We are trying to phase out nap time as Leah is staying up later and later at night.

…punching down the bread while kneading the dough.

On Saturday Auntie Andrea came by for a nice visit. Once Leah woke up from her nap, we headed off to Redwood Park. It seemed like such a shame to drive on such a beautiful day but the park is so beautiful it is worth it. It feels like you are so far removed from city life.

We walked the trails taking breaks to watch beautiful brides and their entourages taking pictures, to smell a great Scout barbecue, to eat some snack, to pick some buttercups and to give kisses.

There is also a great playground area that Leah and Auntie Andrea had fun on as well.

I’m so glad Leah has such great aunts and uncles that live near us. She loves to be around all of them as do I.

Leah loves to watch almost anything that is moving with bugs being no exception. An ant or wood bug can keep her amused (until it starts charging her which leads to desperate cries for help) for quite awhile until it disappears between the cracks in the sidewalk or into the grass.

Leah definitely has strong opinions on her footwear and hats. She also has an opinion about her clothes I pick for her on any given morning but she doesn’t get any choice there. She has a love/hate relationship with her boots, thinks her shoes are okay and adores her sandals. Here she is rocking her rebel look with her snazzy wheels. At Grandma Fran’s house she had a blast trying on lots of fancy hats while twirling her pretty dress.

I can assure you I didn’t raise her this way. Growing up I picked the first clean thing out of my closet and wore it. Running shoes went with almost every outfit. I think Leah might be a little more choosy than I was growing up. At least I will have someone to help me dress stylish when I’m old.

Checking out the buttercups. Leah has learned she can pick the dandelions and buttercups from the park but my garden is off limits to little hands (and feet too).

I have very few pictures of Leah and I even though I take tons of pictures of her and her friends on a regular basis. I need to start to take pictures of Leah with everyone she loves to spend time with and not just her friends. When Leah looks back on all the pictures of her, I want her to see the love her grandparents and parents have for her and the fun memories. Here is the classic self portrait.

Leah loves puddle jumping when she gets the chance. We walked further along the path by the duck ponds then we normally go and found two large puddles. Leah and her friends had a blast jumping and running between the puddles. When we walked a friend home yesterday and the puddles had evaporated Leah was so sad that they were gone.

Once the rain stopped this morning, I suited up the kiddies and we set out to jump in the puddles. Everyone had a blast and I enjoyed watching the action and their delight.

She looks so much older with a ponytail bobbing as she walks. I’m sure this new hairstyle won’t be commonplace until her hair grows a bit more but it is a nice change every once in awhile.

I’ve started taking our sand toys to the park so the kids have more to do besides the playground equipment. Even though the bark mulch isn’t ideal for our sand molds, the kids still love to do then and don’t see any difference. Whether I use the bus, car or turtle mold, it still looks just like a small pile of mulch but they love it.

Leah insisted on wearing her winter jacket even though it wasn’t that cold. These days I let her make some choices herself, even if I don’t think they are the wisest of decisions. With matters of defiance and the like though, I don’t back down and she has to deal with the consequences.

I take the kids down to the park a lot and we have been watching a group of ducklings grow. It is amazing how fast they start to look all grown up. This past week I noticed a new group of brave ducklings that we will get to watch grow. They are so cute.

Our garden is coming along nicely. For a week I was anxiously awaiting some signs of life from the potatoes and onions I had planted and once the rain started, they popped up and grew so fast. The first pic is my onions growing.

I found two random bushes in my father in laws car that is currently living on our yard. I didn’t need anymore bushes as our yard is so overgrown to begin with so I left them be until they started showing pretty flowers. I still wasn’t sure what they were until the tiny blueberries started to form. Then I was delighted and planted them in my garden for our eating enjoyment in mid August.

Potatoes and Tomatoes.

Some flowers.

I like to do a variety of art projects with the kiddies to keep me and them from getting bored. I do need to keep it really simple as they are still learning the basics of painting and gluing. As they develop more mastery in these areas, we can move on to actually creating something recognizable. To liven things up a bit, we used colourful tissue paper to glue onto our papers instead of regular paper. Exciting, I know.

Here is my karate girl or a shepherd from the church Christmas production. Your choice. I had some left over fabric and had a little fun with Leah.

Painting and making a necklace out of salt dough beads.

My mom bought a present for Leah and her friends to play with while in Vancouver.

Any guesses?

How about now?

I think I was more excited than Leah was. They actually work properly and now Leah won’t have to attempt to use my marble one (that she dropped on her toe the other day). The kiddies haven’t figured out how to press hard enough while rolling to flatten their dough much but all in time and they have fun just rolling it.

Their attention span is growing, which I think is just lovely, so we can stay at the table longer than five minutes. Playdough seems to be the great, old standby that kids of all ages enjoy and when it gets old, we get to create some more.

You’ve been two for almost a month now and I would have to disagree with the “terrible twos”. The tantrums and defiance started way before your second birthday and still continue on though not as often. You have learned how sharing works (asking and waiting for an affirmative answer before taking a toy) and very recently you learned about turn-taking (if someone says no, then saying ‘turn please’ and giving up a toy after a minute when someone asks for a turn). These concepts have gone a long way in helping you control your emotions while expressing what you want.

All your life you have been pretty much on target for meeting all the big milestones such as crawling, walking and talking. You have always had friends ahead and behind and have stayed in the middle though I think you are excelling with your fine motor skills. You are talking a lot now and sometimes repeat a word over and over again till Daddy or I repeat it back to you so you know we understood. You speak in 2-3 word sentences and love to identify your surroundings.

We put you to bed around 8:15-8:30 and you wake up around 7:30. Between 12-12:30 you go down for a 2-2.5 hour nap everyday. You love oatmeal with mashed banana for breakfast, a bun (or some leftovers) with plain yogurt topped with cinnamon for lunch and generally you enjoy whatever we are having for dinner minus the vegetables. For snacks you love cheese, apple sauce and cheerios. You have been loving peas lately which is a welcome addition to your diet.

You seem to enjoy every part of your day whether we are going to the park, playing inside, working on art projects, helping me prepare dinner or shopping. You love hanging out with your friends and with almost anyone who will give you attention. In new surroundings or with new people you take a little while to feel comfortable but once you feel safe you are friendly, smiling and ready to go.

For breakfast and lunch you now sit at your special table and only use your booster seat at dinner (otherwise you wouldn’t be able to reach the table). You are drinking from a real cup now and using proper utensils.

You have grown so much in this past year and we love you so much. You are a delightful, happy daughter and we are so glad you are part of our lives.

On the May long weekend, we met up with some friends to see a parade in Cloverdale. Their little boy loves parades, especially when marching bands are involved so we thought Leah might like the parade experience too. We ended up sitting with some friends we happened to see while trying to find a spot. Leah moved from her spot only to get lollipops (though she didn’t know what they were and still doesn’t). Otherwise, she sat still for an hour and a half enthralled by all the floats and action. The lady next to Leah was super nice and loved watching the kids interact. By the end of the parade, Leah was cuddling up to her leg. I think Leah didn’t realize I was behind her and not beside her.

There were so many vehicles including some that didn’t seem that spectacular but now that I have a child I realized they were for the enjoyment of the children. Really, who else would cheer, wave and jump excitedly for a garbage truck?

We thought of Grandma Fran when this group went by.

There was quite a variety of floats and groups in the parade.

Before Leah, I didn’t go to many community events but now I am hooked. There are so many festivals and events that are fun for kids and adults alike and a lot of them are inexpensive or free. I think we may just join the parade circuit as spectators.