bit of craft

Ribbon blanket and favorite book for a friend's new baby.

planes, trains and automophobias

A current favorite toy- this little helicopter. He has taken quite a liking to planes and helicopters and trains and such lately, something that has taken us a little by surprise since we don't read books or watch movies with such themes, and only have a few simple wooden toys to inspire this type of play. But he would happily spend the day watching the trains at the railroad station, and runs to the window at the sound of a plane, determined to spot it. I am a little afraid of raising an auto obsessed little boy, though I see it happening to the boys around me- I know it can happen to the best of us. So far though, he is still pretty well rounded in his play. Tonight he ran around the house first as a "fast plane," then as a bird, a dragonfly, a horse, and a bunny. Covering all the bases, really. So I'll keep my fingers crossed that this keeps up, but of course I'll love him just the same whether he chooses his waldorf doll or his wooden train to snuggle up in bed with him.

blue

I shouldn't have promised to post a photo a day just before two very busy in-town days. Here's three of our latest painting adventure. I tried one of the ideas from "Young at Art" by Susan Striker-to gather up a tableful of objects of one colour, dress your child in the colour etc and then spend time with just that colour. It didn't take too much time to set up, but combined with clean up it certainly added up to more time than he spent with the paints.Even so, masterpieces were created both on the paper and in the sink while he helped to clean the brushes.

awakening

Spring is here. We can run about in the forest (dodging some snow piles still,)
visit the ants who are slowly awaking, (which means the bears will be here soon to tear apart the nests and eat the larvae, so we are making a little more noise on our walks and encouraging the neighbour's dog to join us,)
and nibble snacks under the trees. We are feeling happy to be outside and nearly free from the nasty bugs that had us spending way too much time doing this these past few days...
Remember that bug I said I thought we'd beat? Nope. It hit hard and turned us into the most miserable cranky mama/baby pair around. That is why I didn't write. When you can't say something nice....
But we are feeling nice again, and I will be back more often. A photo a day might be about my speed. Hurrah for spring!

we heart mangoes

I've been helping a friend with her organic food box business every second week and I seem to be ending up with a lot of produce. This can only be a good thing, what with being pregnant and having a hungry toddler to feed, but sometimes I find myself flipping through recipe books trying to figure out how to use the glut of broccoli or spinach or oranges. This week it was a case of ripe mangoes, very cheap. Getting rid of them is not likely to be a problem as Ari can eat one in a sitting all on his own (right down to the pit scraped clean in his teeth and left on the kitchen floor for mama to step on,), and is rather protective of these green-red jewels, but I managed to smuggle a few away from him to make up a batch of mango lassi. Nothing bioregional about this little drink, but boy did we enjoy the treat!Every last drop. I managed to stow away a glass for Papa in the fridge without mango boy noticing. I would post a recipe but I faked it- it went something like this: chop up a few really ripe mangoes, put them in a blender with some whole yogurt, cold water and a few drops of rose water. Blend it up and share with the ones you love.

love bugs

A weekend with babe and mama at home fighting a cold bug and papa away. Lots of drawing and making stuff and snuggling under quilts. Those bugs didn't have a chance- we are feeling better already. This is Ari's first time fighting an infection all on his own, as he has just weaned. It is bittersweet- my sweet little boy is growing up and that chapter of our lives together has passed- with it's tough tough start leading into a long healthy relationship. We will both miss it, but with the pregnancy, it became clear that the time had come and we were able to do it in a way that was gradual and pretty easy to accept. And it is clear that he is healthy and happy and can fight bugs all on his own do so many big-boy things: walk up the stairs on his own, pull his own pants up after using the potty, count ("one, free, seven, nine, ten firteen! firteen!") sing lots of songs, make "funny guys" with playdough, and help mama and papa with lots of important tasks. Our sweet baby is growing up.

baking day

After reading this lovely post at bluebirdbaby, I tackled my own daily rhythm once again, with the intention of structuring the week to have recognizable days for Ari to take part in, such as baking day or painting day or friend-play day. I will keep our existing rhythms, which are pretty strong; we always eat breakfast together before Perry heads off to work, Ari always has free play time in the morning while I do food prep for the day, we go out for a walk every day before lunch. But I love the idea of having an activity that grounds each day and makes it a little different from the next. As well, our week are currently structured so that we have two days out of the house (one day for playing with friends, and one day that Ari goes to my mom's while I work,) and three days home, so it makes sense to have those home days have a purpose and a title that he can understand. Of course, with a toddler's attention span, these activities will be pretty small and short, but they will all be things he enjoys and which we would do anyway.

So, we will give this a try- baking day, friend day, painting/art day, Baba (my mom) day, and wash day. I am most excited with trying out wash day- an idea that never occured to me before reading that post at bluebirdbaby! But it makes so much sense- he loves it when we hand him the child-sized broom, or ask him to wipe up a spill. I just have to gather enough of my own patience to get through mopping the floor with a toddler's "help!"

Ari really thrives with the daily rhythms, often reminding us of things we are forgetting- singing the "going outside" song for us if we are getting ready without singing it, holding out his hands for the meal blessing if it looks like we might start eating without it.

So this week on "baking day" we tried making bagels. I'd always wanted to make them, and came across a simple recipe in "The Well Fed Baby" that seemed like something we could do together.
Ari loved the whole process, the stirring, the kneading, covering up the dough for a "nap" (rising,) shaping (his were a little more like pancakes...) and watching mama drop the dough into the bubbling water. He mostly wanted to eat the seeds, but once the bagels were cooking he was pretty excited to watch them through the oven window, and was happy to try them when they emerged.
...with lots of butter of course. And then again at dinner, because that is what we served up: bagel sandwiches with lots of fixin's.
And here's the recipe for anyone else who might want to give it a go. They turned out chewy and delicious, much better than I expected for our first baking day project.

Chef Rachel's Bagels

4 tsp active dry yeast
41/4 to 4 1/2 cups flour ( I used a mixture of unbleached and barley)
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup sugar + 1tbs
1tbs salt

In a large mixing bowl combine yeast and 3/4 cups of the flour.
Combine water, 1/4 cup sugar and salt. Add to yeast mixture and mix with beaters for 3o seconds on low and then 3 minutes on high.
Stir in remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Knead until smooth, 5-8 minutes. Cover with clean cloth and let nap for 20 minutes.
Fill a large pot with water and 1tbs sugar and bring to a boil. Preheat oven to 375F.
Take a small handful of dough and form it into a ball. Make a hole in the middle and smooth. Place 4-5 bagels into the simmering water at a time, stirring gently to prevent them sticking on the bottom. Let cook about 7 minutes, turning once. Remove from water with slotted spoon and dip carefully into toppings if you choose (seeds, finely chopped onions etc.) Place on cookie sheet and cook for 30-35 min until golden brown. Yum!

And thank you so much for all the sweet comments on the last post. We are pretty excited about a new babe joining our family and it is exciting to share the news!

spring news

Well, we are back from our spring break, and getting back into the groove. We had a lovely Easter it is so much fun with Ari now understanding things so much more. He thought the egg hunts were terrific and scribbled away with much focus on many a boiled egg.

Perry and I had a good time hiding eggs and putting together a little basket for him (with "treats" like dried fruit and seeds -it seemed silly to give a baby chocolate when he would be thrilled with a chunk of dried mango!) and that little bunny I knit awhile back, and some new playdough colours.
Even Sammy got in on the festivities. We had a wonderful time on our little trip down to the coast too. Ari such fun to travel with- everything is exciting, the plane, the buses, the seagulls. We visited some friends and stayed in a little guesthouse on the harbour and took long daily walks into the city. He loved throwing rocks in the ocean and running on the grass (no snow!) and riding on the bus on a seat by himself proclaiming "big boy!" to anyone who would listen. And he wore the gnome backpack his mama made him for the trip eveywhere we went, which made her happy.

Since Ari experienced riding on a ferry this wooden ferryboat that my parents got him for Christmas is suddenly getting a lot of play- every character on the house needs to go for a ride!

And.... the most exciting spring news, and the reason for my tiredness and lack of blogging of late?

Yippee! We are expecting a new little one in early October! We just had a doctor's appointment and heard that teeny pumping heart and now it feels real enough to share it with the world. I was feeling pretty crummy there for awhile, much sicker than I got with Ari, and was sleeping all.the.time. But I am feeling so much better now, and though I can happily nap beside my toddler in the afternoons, I don't feel like I'm going to die if I don't. And it really is sinking in now that there is a new little human that will be joining our family soon. I feel all giddy when I think of that baby-head smell, and the teeny diapers and all the little things I want to make before it arrives. I think these next 6 months will fly.

Blog Break

I've had a hard time getting here lately between Internet troubles, tiredness and general lack of inspiration. I will return soon after a little break, (which will not include a trip to Mexico, but will include a little journey down to the coast where the grass is green and the flowers are starting to bloom...) hopefully refreshed and with renewed energy for photo taking and crafting and rambling about our days. Until then friends, happy spring to you all!

another one

This weekly photo collection seems to be about all I can manage in the blogging department these days. We are still busy over here, stomping in the snow (still lots of it,) painting pictures for papa's birthday and snacking away. And seriously considering an invite to visit Perry's parents in Mexico before our wee one hits the "full fare" age. Not that we can afford any fare at all, but it is fun to dream!