So, now that the news of impending baby #3 is common knowledge, you can imagine what I did with my March break. I obviously wasn’t blogging, although I made several attempts. I WAS:
- Playing with my kid
- Reading stories to my kid
- Convincing myself to eat food
- Sleeping whenever possible
- Trying to find more ways to get sleep
- Wishing my kid would still take naps so I could sleep…
- You get the idea.
It was the last week of my first trimester, so I was about as tired as I ever, ever am. But I did manage to enjoy some quality time with E. We got to have leisurely morning snuggles, go swimming at the Y, visit family, and read lots and lots of stories.
He’s a fun, funny little dude, my firstborn son. He has been going through a phase where he loves tents (i.e. getting on the bed and putting a blanket over our heads), so right now, the best way to get him to brush his teeth is to make a tooth-brushing tent. It’s worth the awkwardness, since he will obediently submit to a thorough teeth-brushing if he’s in the tooth-brushing tent.
He also is obsessed with technology, especially “screen time”. He’ll be three years old in June – so it’s inappropriate for him to be addicted to screen time already. Right? Still, he kind of is. He is always wanting to watch something (and we don’t even have TV channels – just videos, Elmo, Thomas, Disney, etc.) or play on Daddy’s iPad. If we let him do exactly as he wanted, he would spend hours a day in front of a screen. Shudder. (Of course I would get a lot more done, but feel like a far worse parent.)
He also can produce a killer roar. He’ll scare ya. (Although he didn’t succeed in scaring the garden ants with it.)
The other exciting thing about March break: spring sprang. In fact, summer practically sprang – it was crazy. Temperatures went straight up through the teens, right into the 20s. At my parents’ house in the woods, the mosquitoes were already numerous. The spring peepers were already in fine form. It boggles the mind a little bit – I mean, it was technically still winter, and normally at this point we’re happy just to have a nice thaw.
E got to go on epic hikes with Daddy, down to the river near our house, and was apparently quite the impressive trouper with unexpected endurance.
We like the intrepid look of his hoodie, vest, hat, and shades.
The bigger the stick, the better.
Throwing rocks in the river was discovered to be pretty much the best thing ever.
We also walked on the trail near Grammie and Papa’s house, all the way to the boardwalk. We saw some really cool things in the pond.
On the last Sunday of the break, on our trip to the sugar bush, of all places, it felt like summer. The maple sap had long since stopped flowing, but we did still get to taste some real, wood-fired syrup. Plus: there was a train.
There was also some gardening. E was extremely helpful.
He wanted to “nip with clipping cloppers” in the garden (we’ve been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss to him – you’ll find that quote in the Happy Birthday to You story), but the clipping cloppers are sharp.
May I just reiterate: we NEVER get growth like this in mid-March.
Snowdrops: Yay!
And pussywillows are my favourite. They’re just so cute – like real kitty paws.
Even more thrilling than the gardening, I have to admit, was the discovery that E yearns to do dishes with his Auntie Em! I dearly hope this love of his shall abide.
He also likes to tidy up and put things in bins (according to toy type – doesn’t like to mix them up), so I think this bodes well. He comes by it honestly: apparently his Daddy was the only five-year-old his mom knew of who organized his own sock drawer.
***
Aw, that’s a nice apron pic from Sean :). I have video footage too; will provide, I promise.
Dishes! Gardening! Baking! Child labour at its finest.
Thanks for being the instigation and the inspiration, Auntie Em!
M loved swimming with you guys! She recognized E at swimming this week! Hope first week of of second trimester has you feeling much more energy! (Like waving a magic wand??? lol)
I hope E remembered M too! He reported that swimming was fun this week.
Oh, this does remind me of my little boy! he loved washing dishes and would do so for long periods at a time, whether they were dirty or not! He loved to organize and classify things,and help with the laundry and putting away groceries – though you should not pin too high hopes about that continuing into something like tidiness as a teenager. He also found ways to organize his socks. And when he was three and a half and we were in England, a major activity was throwing rocks into becks, rivers, etc. And tents!! Both my kids loved tents, and we had many months of having my little orange tent erected in the living room (winter) or backyard. This is like a trip down memory lane… what lovely memories it will all be for all of you! Hope that new baby has let up about being sleep-making now.