Galpin.ca

This past weekend was very busy with multiple outings everyday. On Saturday, I took the kids to the aquarium with a few friends. Leah enjoyed seeing all the fish, dolphins, whales and even a huge sea turtle as well as hanging out with her buddies. She looks so grown up with her backpack on though she did remind me a few times of her age while we were out (happy to crazy upset in 1.2 seconds over seemingly trivial matters). We did well all things considered and Daddy got a lot of work done while we were out.

Then it was off to a BBQ at Grandma and Granddad’s. On Sunday, we got a few errands done as a family before church. After church we hung out a home for a little bit before we were off to another BBQ that including catching part of our dinner. We loaded everyone up and went to the beach before dinner and caught quite a few crabs. A lot of the crabs were thrown back because they were too small but we had enough big ones for dinner.

There was so much to see at the beach including people jumping off the pier, boats driving by, crabs moving about in the traps and kids playing. Joel slept through it all in the stroller.

We were given some baby toys and clothes for Joel and found this toy to be great as it is very easy to hold onto. He enjoys holding on with both hands and shoving it into his mouth.

His hands also fascinate him. Joel is so smiley and has a great laugh. We think he is pretty cute as well.

It was a rainy morning today so I met up with a friend and her kids at the rec centre. Leah had blast playing with the wide variety of toys. Here she is on a large foam block telling me she can’t open her eyes for the picture because she is sleeping on her bed. Leah also had fun playing hockey.

Leah is growing up in so many ways and it seems to take me by surprise a lot. We were in the elevator at church and I asked her to push the button and she turns to me and says, “that is a “m”. There are two “m’s”. M is for mommy.” I do not remember teaching her that so it must have been Morgan.

Her conversations with her friends are quite adorable (except when there is yelling or crying involved) and now involve questions and negotiating, Here is a sample:

Let’s go play on the slide.
What if we go play in the sand?
Okay. Follow me.
Where is the sand?
Over there.
Okay.
And then we will play on the slide.

Leah has started to enjoy walking. I still take the double stroller in case she changes her mind when we walk to our friend’s house as it is a good distance for little legs. When we walk through one of the parks, she would take about five steps before intentionally falling down because that is what she saw one of her friends do.

She looks so grown up with braids in her hair. I love it. It is nice to see her whole face as well.

Joel chilling with his cool hat while Leah helps me with the laundry. I’m sure these cloths won’t blow away though I may have to buy some more clothespins.

Joel spends time in his stroller staring at random toys while Leah explores the landscape.

I am loving being a mother of two. Leah and Joel are at such fun stages right now and I am savouring this time alone with them at home, though we are rarely at home or alone which makes life a lot of fun these days. Not that we aren’t without challenges but the joys far surpass them in every way.

Leah is so inquisitive and I love seeing and exploring the world afresh through the eyes of a three year old. Joel is so smiley and even gives us a chuckle every now and then. I love hearing him ‘talk’ to us and am in total denial that he is almost three months old.

Leah loves to hang out with Joel. She is usually really good with him or just plays on her own most of the time. When she gets bored then I need to step in as she gets right in his face or is a little too rough. I think she uses Joel to get attention as she knows I won’t ignore her when she is crossing boundaries with him. I try to have some activities for her to do in the back of my mind that she hasn’t done in awhile and then she is back to playing by herself contentedly. She loves to colour on the windows with special window markers, cut up newspaper flyers, play with her babies, push her shopping cart around filling it with random items and playing dress up with her magnetic dolls.

I love to watch Leah try to get Joel to smile. She knows exactly what to do and mimics us which is entertaining. Leah loves him a lot and will protect him and stand up for him if she thinks someone might hurt him or is being too loud. Leah likes to pretend to be baby Leah. Here she is hanging out with Joel while pretending to be a baby. I shake a toy in front of them and she smiles her great, big, cheesy smile.

Joel is a big drooler. I’m not a big fan of bibs but it beats changing his shirt four times a day.

I had some extra time getting ready for church this morning and decided to actually put some time into how I looked this morning. A successful clothes shopping trip and running so I can fit back into my regular clothes was a big motivator. Joel and Leah already had had their morning baths and had breakfast and were entertaining themselves which helped as well. Leah saw me curl my hair and wanted some curls too. She sat and held her head very patiently as I handled the curling iron.

She looked so much more mature with curls and I loved how it turned out. Usually she doesn’t want me to put clips or anything else in her hair so most days her hair looks a little out of sorts and she has to keep putting it out of her face. Last week she got asked by one the asian guys at our local veggie store if that was her hairstyle. I wasn’t sure how to respond as his hair looked very similar to hers.

Leah likes to pick out her own clothes and definitely has a unique sense of style (if you can call her style a style). On Sundays I like to pick out her clothes for her or limit her choices to a couple of dresses. Though I don’t dress up much for Sunday, I like Leah in a dress when we go to church and if she lets me do her hair nicely, it is a bonus.

I love dressing my little boy as well. We have been blessed through gifts and hand me downs so I have only bought a few things for him. I have all his and Leah’s clothes organized by size in her bedroom and with summer coming, they both have almost completely new wardrobes. I had fun looking through their new (and new to us) clothes and putting some of the sweaters and warmer stuff away.

Here Joel is, sleeping away through most of our shenanigans this morning on his changing area in the bathroom. What a cutie.

We have been busy lately, enjoying the nice weather and visiting with friends while trying to keep up with yard work, laundry, errands and cleaning. We are usually out and about everyday hanging out with somebody doing something fun. It’s a lot harder taking pictures with two as oppose to one. I want to be intentional about still taking lots of pictures to mark this special period in our lives.

A few things I want to remember:
-Joel learned how to sleep for large chunks of time in the first week of June. He is regularly sleeping anywhere from 5-8 hours straight. Leah gradually increased the time she slept at night where Joel went from every 3 hours to every 5+ seemingly overnight. He is eating every 3 hours during the day.
-Leah has started asking tons of questions trying to figure out how everything works. She hasn’t got to the continually “whys” yet but I’m sure it is coming.
-Leah is excited about watching the hockey games but it rarely holds her attention for more than a minute. She saw a couple hockey players fall down and thought they were playing ring around the rosie and they all fall down.