warming

Ry is back in school and working. We loved our January break from routine, but it is good for us to be following a schedule again. As always, we'll have to hash out how to integrate our time so we all have enough time with one another. It's just one of the aspects to living life in the fast-lane.

Owen has been pushing his bedtime a little later, and now he usually seems ready to go down at 8 rather than 7. He still has his rest time twice a day, but sleeps less and less. I think his drive to be awake more is directly connected to his growing imagination and his ability to properly play with his toys. He understands so much more how things operate, and he can be fascinated and busy with something for a long time now. It's really neat to watch. He gets very intense when he plays because he's so intentional about what he's doing. It's almost as though his ability to have fun has increased.

We played outside today. It's my month to make sure the sidewalks are shoveled and clear, so I moved snow around while Owen and Ry wandered around the cleared sidewalks. Owen loves loves it outside! New places to explore and wander. He's going to be hard to contain this summer, I can tell! I'm dreaming of taking daily trips to the park, where he'll walk all over and play (maybe) on some of the play-structures. But until then, when the days aren't soo cold, we'll wander the cleared sidewalks.

I've been having fun with my cookbook, Nourishing Traditions. I made a fermented fruit chutney, in addition to some other delicious meals from this book. I am really inspired to cook and eat "cleaner". By that I mean to cut back on processed items and make most things, especially getting back to more traditional methods of food preparation.

One of Owen's favorite things to do lately is lounge on the couch. He loves sitting on the, well, it's a futon really, with some toys but preferably books, and he'll be occupied and happy there for so long. A couple days ago I turned away from him for a minute, then when I came back to him, he was laying down, with his little ankles crossed and his head on a pillow. It was so funny. He's already a great lounger! But then he frantically squiggles and squirms to move to the other side of the couch. So lounging only happens for a brief moment. This particular "lay-down" was done on his own, and it lasted just long enough for me to catch in on film (can I even say that anymore? catch it on pixels?).


Here are a couple of videos we've taken over the past while.

This is a video of Owen lounging.



Owen and his little housemate, Esme, don't usually interact too much. But this is the most interaction they're ever had together. Usually Owen doesn't really know what to think of her, and hasn't really ever touched her (which I am happy about - I doubt he'd be very gentle!). He has given her some toys before, though.



I love the game Rummikub! Owen enjoyed "playing" the game, too.



This is a video we took today, of our time outside. When outside, Owen has a very hard time listening to directional instructions. In the house, he's great, but put him outside and it's as though he gets over-stimulated and he just wants to do what he wants to do!