Halloween: better than Christmas
Genuine excitement today as Mallory and I bounded home from daycare to gird for Halloween. Oh the candy. But first, there was so much to do. The candles, the candy,…
Parenting
Late fall at the farm
Can actually be pretty boring especially when it’s cold and wet outside. Ah well. We will be going outside soon. I swear. Maybe I should make more coffee.
Mallory made her first picket sign today
Amid a flurry of preparations for a dinner guest today, Mallory told Irene she wanted to make a sign. I missed some of the conversation but it evolved into a…
Mallory dresses herself
Does she ever. Our household seems to be evolving toward a routine where I make Mallory her breakfast then take her upstairs to shepherd her through getting ready for school/daycare…
This post is a vehicle for cute kid pictures
Mallory and I went out in search of haircuts this afternoon. Offered an hour wait for the annointed barbershop, we walked back down the road to the stylists place -…
Little Victor Update | Repetitive cacophony
A few years ago there was an episode of Family Guy called “Stewie Loves Lois”, where Stewie — the family baby who has spent most of his life trying to…
Sleepover
Mallory's friend C. Is over for my daughter's first sleepover. Earlier we were worried that Mallory wouldn't have the courage to sleep with a non-parent. She has only ever slept…
Why work?
Actual conversation between my 7 year daughter and I yesterday. Daughter: When are we going to Montreal? Me: Well, I’m not going. You and your brother and Mommy are going…
Little Victor Update | Like a fish
We finally took Victor swimming in the Rouge River. There’s a public beach in Quebec right at the place where the Rouge runs into the Ottawa River, so technically Victor…
It’s a mighty expensive swimming lesson
But it is working. Mallory was swimming with her head underwater today. Also doing bobs without a noodle. And swimming across the pool by herself. And swimming on her back…
And back to school she goes, we think
Tomorrow Mallory will likely head back to school. She's past the contagious period and has been sleeping well, unmedicated for two nights now. No oatmeal bath or lotion either. She…
Wrecking This Place Down: How Do We Protect Our Children In An Age of Environmental Crisis?
Sandra Steingraber is a mother, a biologist, a cancer-survivor, and the author of several books on the dangers we are facing from the environmental toxins that surround us. Her most…
You’d never know it to look at her face
...but I think Mallory is either getting off easy or dealing well with the chicken pox. Last night did not see the three hour wail fest, and I expect this…
And now I brace myself
If last night is any indication, we're about 40 minutes off from the start of screaming. Mallory went down like a ton of bricks, half an hour ago, dosed withe…
Chicken pox. Who’s happy now?
I have to confess when Irene and I first discovered Mallory had chicken pox yesterday morning, we were kind of happy. Like when you put a tick beside something relatively…
Being Zen about the pool part 2
Total breeze of an evening. Home in time to put together leftovers for dinner. Dinner done in time for a bath, and then out for a beer with a friend.…
Little Victor Update | Speed demon
Victor has been walking since April. Every day he gets more confident in his stride, and the motions get less jerky. Unfortunately the confidence is leading him to move at…
Enormously stressful day
Both at work, and at home. I don't really even want to write about it. Another evening way too focussed on the task at hand when Mallory needed attention more.…
Victor takes his first walk
At the tender age of seventeen months, my son has started to walk. He has taken short steps before, about a month ago he taught himself how to appear to…