Monday, May 28, 2007

My Baby Wearer

Lately Kale has been asking to wear his baby doll in a carrier. We fashioned a warp out of his winter scarf and off the two of them go to play trains or torment the ferrets.

I never manage to get 'baby' secure enough that he doesn't need to be adjusted periodically.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Lynn Valley Hiking

We went out for a little hike today. Starting at the suspension bridge and heading up to the lake. It was a fun meandering low key hike and we all had a good time. Kale doesn't get the difference between hiking and walking but since he was catching a ride 98% of the time it wasn't that essential.

Enthusiastic snacking in the middle of the hike.


Contemplating the ducks.

Enthusiastic snacking post hike.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

age

Kale apparently is understanding a bit about age. Whenever he sees older women he says Grandma and gives them a really big smile. (Well actually he is just as likely to say Grandpa as Grandma but they are always considered Grand).

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

K A L E

In the past week or so Kale has learned his name. He started by saying Kale when we prompted him but I knew he had it when he would see himself in the mirror and say Kale. He loves to sit on my lap and point at me and say Mommy, then he points at himself and says Kale, points at me, points at himself...the game goes on and on. This feels like a major milestone to me.

He also is trying to figure out gender. Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl pointing happens as well.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Victoria Day Trip to the Zoo

We hit the Greater Vancouver Zoo this morning. It was an odd experience for us Adults who had been to a zoo before. It felt like there were Zebras roaming in the middle of cow pastures rather than zoo environments. Kale and Alex were intrigued by the Animals (monkeys in particular) though the tractors and trains were bigger hits for my boy.


Here is Kim teaching Kale and Alex the sign for Zebra. Kale must have been paying attention because he has been telling us about the zebras at the zoo all afternoon.


Kale and Alex chilling out while we waited for our bus tour of the bear and bison wilderness at the zoo.

Kale Climbing.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Tractor Swing

Today while we were at the park Kale put his tractor up into the toddler swing and then started pushing it back and forth. Quite the little nurturer.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Mother's Day


After a hair cut (for the first time in 2 years), a brunchy lunch in a sunshiny courtyard I wanted nothing more than to cook all afternoon. After a quick trip to my Indian Market I was ready to start cooking. A new Dal recipe, Mung Bean Pakoras, Pappadums, three types of chutney (coconut, tamarind and green), Rice and a Ground Lamb dish that was just mouthwatering.

Kale and Keva were at the park when I ran to the store. As I drove by the park on my way home Kale apparently saw our car go by and recognized it. He began to chant Mommy Car Mommy Car and insisted that it was time to come home. I didn't get a whole lot of on my own cooking time but the food still turned out and I enjoyed myself.

Thank you Keva and Kale for my beautiful earrings and fun times today.

Monday, May 07, 2007

cute

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Gender...hmmm

Having a baby (now toddler) had made me really wonder about gender roles. We have dolls, trucks, puzzles, kitchen sets, stuffed animals and they were all in equal balance at the beginning. Now we have cars and trucks and trucks and cars. It seems to me that the boys we know are all a little more car and truck focused than the girls (who actually cuddle the dolls rather than tossing them on the ground).

We had people over this afternoon and I was amused to notice these pictures taken at the same time.



Three boys being held up to see the big tractor working in the yard behind ours.



One girl swinging happily.

Popsicles

One of the mums brought Popsicles for the little ones. Kale hadn't had one since last summer but he was intrigued. Sam looks a little perplexed by the cold juice.



Tigerente

Our next door neighbours are moving across the country next week. They had a garage sale this morning so we headed over. We were checking to see if they were selling their basketball hoop. It lives in the lane behind our house and we were going to miss it. We scored the hoop, and a deep freeze (yipppeee) and then saw a Tigerente (tiger duck in English). I haven't ever seen a Tigerente outside of Germany so I was completely floored. For those of you who don't know the tiger duck is a pull toy in the illustrations of children's author Janosch. When I lived in Germany the Tigerente was sort of the hello kitty of Germany. I wore a Tigerente necklace an had friends with Tigerente cars. Apparently our neighbours brother lived/s in Germany and made this when her girls were little. I couldn't resist....