…do the tourist thing. we ventured amongst hoards of people to view the Olympic cauldron (you can smell it some blocks away). we had watched parts of the opening ceremony online and little A didn’t believe it was really real so it was cool for him to check out (i hope he doesn’t believe everything he might see on tv now). it was pretty fun being in the crowds of people too - lots of happy and nutty folk about.
with Uncle & Auntie;
cable line running over Robson Square - would be so fun if i weren’t so pregnant and if i didn’t have an aversion to line ups;
spectators to some pretty great free shows;
i love this shot that Little A took yesterday. it was entirely his idea. He’s going to have a point and shoot to document his own version and experience of our birth when that time comes;
i love this shot of his too, taken early on at 18weeks - i must be cutting my nails or something but i love his perspective;
before the curtain’s drawn;
drawing the curtain;
construction on our street;
inspired play. long enough for me to post about it;
A number of people have commented or asked me about the bigger age gap that will be between my children and while both were unplanned, happy accidents (well after some mild shock this time round) i really can’t fathom it having happened any sooner. Little A and i have had a good long and connected time together. It seems that space is naturally occurring in time for another to come along. Aside from some rather lethargic afternoons on my part and some impatient crabby hormonal moods along with some just plain “off” days, i’d say we’re doing mostly well at fulfilling each one’s needs and keeping rhythms going. i really wouldn’t have had the energy for this a year or more ago. i am relieved as the little monkey gets into some good play and projects. Now if i can just focus my nesting/cleaning around my own messes and leave his alone we’ll be dandy.
i love this miniature pop up made from post it notes and scotch tape;
this one both bugs me (because it’s over his bed and i keep catching it with the blankets) and cracks me up. it says, “ask Arlo and he will let you out of the trap”;
this 1 child percussion band set up is pretty funny too. He put on his ear muffs and played along to the rhythm of my vacuuming.
there’s some kind of a show being set upstairs at the moment. i can hear a lot of things being moved here and there. i’m just going to dart past and enjoy myself a nice long bath.
A story - Arlo’s Happy Heart by Arlo
“Once upon a time there was a boy and he had never got a Valentine heart before. One morning, thinking he would never get a Valentine card, he went outside and he saw a happy heart sun in the sky so he got a ladder from inside the house and he ran right outside. He climbed higher and higher and when he got to the heart sun he lifted it down down down until he got to the grass. When he got down to the grass he hurried inside. That night the heart sun melted and the Valentine decorations were taken down in the night. When the boy woke up he looked in the jar that he had put the heart in and the heart was gone so he looked outside and saw no heart sun so he looked again carefully into the jar and still no heart reappeared so he went into the kitchen to see if the heart was eating his breakfast. It wasn’t. The boy looked in all the rooms in the house and he couldn’t find the heart sun anywhere. He asked all of his friends if they had seen any heart sun and none of them had seen it so that night the boy stayed awake. In the morning time he realized that Valentine’s was over and so next time of year he knew the heart sun would come back. The End.”
He’s so awesome. I can only guess that part of this story was inspired by the recent event of losing his brand new guinea pig friend in the park. We went out several times searching for him, asking people in the neighborhood if they’d seen a guinea pig… a new hamster arrived in lieu. Thanks grandpa.
We spent all of Saturday outside. Morning at the park - Little A was fresh & awake, climbing, running, jumping, hanging, spinning… if only my energy could match his. Afternoon at the beach - i knit some and laid back soaking up some warming sunshine while he dug and raked. it really feels like Spring.
There have been so many playful days lately. i love seeing the imagination and games unfold. So often the little one comes to me saying “i don’t know what to do” and if i just give him time to be in those moments of unknowing or boredom he ends up coming up with these brilliantly creative ideas and he’s off playing for hours. i love it. it makes me feel even more sure about our lifestyle and decisions to limit or eliminate television from our days ( i admit that during my 3 o’clock crash time i have given into the tv about once a week). i’m inspired by Kim John Payne. i was lucky to attend his lecture a couple weeks ago on Simplicity Parenting. i thought the lecture would save me having to read his book but now i want to devour it more than ever.
At the beach and in proper attire (especially those mitts!) he could play for hours. Grandma P collected stones (even found a crystal) and i knit (i’m so addicted);
The teepee is getting some great use these past weeks. i hear him chatting away in there with his stuffed friends and there’s almost always some mess to tidy away at the end of the day.
The request for play dates is near daily and you have no idea how this thrills me. Seriously, i waited years for this time to come. He does well one on one or in small groups. We had such a fantastic afternoon with these guys the other day. i couldn’t help giggling along. i was so curious to watch them play together;
School can be challenging. There are rhythms that flow and then there are not. Little A told me, ” School could be really good if there were only 5 kids”. i get it. 14 kids during some of the transitions can be loud, overwhelming and sometimes disturbing. Outside is quite a different experience. There is a new water pump at the Waldorf school this year which gets used by most of the kids every single day. Between that and the “cupcake shop” (sand box) it’s becoming increasingly difficult to end the day with his school buds.
We’re establishing a fine balance of active outdoor element play with the more quiet and thoughtful indoor play. While Willie was meant to be a special puppet brought to life by me only, the little one is smitten and so very curious to have a turn and so i let him sometimes. Grandma P is an attentive audience;
i’m trying to love this little guy up in our last few months before newbie arrives. i’m also happy to see him grow a little more independent leaving me with my own time and space. Things are pretty great right now.
so i’m quite certain that i am finished making my matryoshka dolls. They have been a load of fun to make and it’s been successful beyond what i anticipated but with the cost of wool from my local suppliers having more than doubled since i began stuffing, i am having a hard time charging what they’re currently worth. i have about 20 gals remaining, some of whom are in the shop (sale until Feb 15th).
what’s next? i’m entertaining the idea of a pdf pattern some time in the future but don’t hold me to it as life is busy and ideas plenty. i have yet to finish the Waldorf style doll that i started a couple weeks ago at Miriam’s workshop (mine is the bald, armless one in the right photo);
the little one would like me to work on more puppets…?
i’m planning ahead for holidays. Valentine’s is pretty much covered;
Easter is in the works and i’m going to try and stockpile for all those May babies that i know. i’ve got a number of bunting flags in the cutting stack and will set to work on those next. my ideas are far more plentiful than my production at this point but i’m getting to it here and there.
