Our baby Siobhan is proving every day that she is not much of a baby any more. She is 14 months old... or, as I like to say, 1, and she is really starting to catch on to some pretty cool things.
She says “this” when she sees something she wants, she knows that she brushes her teeth before bed and will go stand on the stool in the bathroom waiting for her tooth brush. She says “up” and “up-a-daisy” (which I love). She also brings me my shoes if she wants to go outside.
It’s all pretty amazing to me that she is actually communicating with us.
The other day, after her nap, we were sitting playing with these plastic blocks she has that have different objects in them (they are called Peek-A-Blocks) and she picked up one with a cookie inside.
She pointed at it and said “this” then pointed at her mouth. I realized she was asking for a cookie, so I took her down to the kitchen and put her in her seat. I pointed at the cookie and asked “this?” and she did her sign language motion for more.
When I pulled the bag of cookies out of the cupboard and showed her the picture of the cookie on the bag and I said “this?” again, she got the biggest smile on her face. She knew that she had told me what she wanted and I had understood.
Despite the fact that it was almost dinner time, I gave her a cookie to show her that we had communicated with one another.
She grinned from ear to ear as I handed her that cookie and then she said “que” which means thank-you.
So, you’ve heard of Blissdom, right? I totally want to go to Blissdom and, as of yet, I do not have a ticket. So, in an attempt to acquire this coveted ticket, I am writing this post about pure bliss as my entry to the Go Girlfriend Blissdom Contest.
You see, this Canada Day long weekend, my family and I travelled to Chatsworth, Ontario to visit my Brother-in-law and his family. They have 50 acres up there.
Chatsworth is just outside of Owen Sound, and if you blink, you might miss it... just like I almost miss their driveway every time we visit because it’s in the middle of no man’s land.
Here is the thing about Chatsworth, my kids count down the days until we go! They weren’t counting down to the end of school; they were counting down to our trip to Uncle Allan and Aunty Michelle’s.
We would also be going to their cottage which is slightly north of no man’s land near the Georgian Bluffs, on Georgian Bay.
Why would they want to go to no man’s land? Well, I like to go because it’s beautiful, and it’s peaceful; they like to go because it’s kid heaven up there.
All the cool toys come in little, medium and big sizes, so no-one gets left out.
There were bikes
and boats
and tractors? Yup, tractors of all sizes.
There is a certain freedom in the simplicity of life up there, a peacefulness in the air, something calming about the breeze, the way the clothes sway as they dry on the line.
That feeling of peace settles in your heart as you breathe that fresh country air.
You learn to kick back and enjoy, you learn to shed a little bit of your stress, and you start to lose your inhibitions.
Don’t worry, you won’t offend the neighbours.
The best way to end a day of getting back to basics and playing by the water is a bon fire and s’mores. Melty marshmallows also induce feelings of peace. Okay, I made that last bit up, but you can’t have s’mores and not mention them... they are so yummy, and they make me AND the kids happy. See? Peace.
As with all good things, the weekend came to an end, and now the kids will be counting down to our winter trip up to Chatsworth where they get to toboggan, go snowmobiling, and make snow forts. Oh and hot chocolate is in abundance (with melty marshmallows).
I told you, kid heaven... which means parental bliss.
Every family, no matter how large or small, needs a calendar to keep track of their schedule. Whether it’s a day timer, an old-school wall calendar, or an app on your smart phone; without the calendar we would be lost.
This is true tenfold for blended families.
It’s not easy to remember who is supposed to be where and at what time when time is split between two homes. Sure, each house probably has a calendar to keep everyone organized, but it’s really easy to miss an event that was put on a calendar in another house.
That’s why I was so happy when Tom’s ex-wife set up a Google calendar. With the Google calendar we can all access the same calendar and be sure we know what’s happening when and where.
You can access it from your phone, you can have text alerts sent to yourself, and it can sync with both Microsoft Outlook and iCal, so it works for both of our households.
The best part? It’s free.
Although I can’t get 365 days of cat pictures, I do enjoy how easy it makes keeping a blended family on track.
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