grandparents.

we just spend a wonderful 5 days with my parents (or rapa and rama as owen calls them). They stayed in our living room so we could spend as much time together as possible. Owen got along with them splendidly and couldn't get enough of the tractor, animal, and reading time. I can see that the next couple of days will be difficult as he has grown accustomed to constant attention.

Here are some pictures in the days before Rama and Rapa's arrival:





Here are some pictures from our time together. We took a lot of walks down Grand and Summit, and we visited the zoo and conservatory.











and finally:

glorious day

we had a gloriously warm day today. temperatures reached 17 C and our windows are still open. It's wonderful what fresh air and warm sun will do to ones mental, emotional and physical state. Owen and I went to the park today. Much of the playset was inaccessible due to the incredible amount of water around the slides and steps. He had so much fun any way. He slipped on some ice and fell in the water, but he reacted well and did not even want to go home after it happened. We had a lot of fun.

owen has mastered the potty, at least as far as pee is concerned. he tells us every time he needs to go, even if it's at some place that isn't home. we still put diapers on him to go out, but usually they are dry the whole time. we're so happy about this new development! and owen is, too. he applauds us and encourages ry and i when we pee in the potty, too.

This is Owen enjoying his bath.


Owen set this up: after I remade his bed, he set all his teddies to go night-night with him.

shome!

we've all been fighting a little lingering cold that doesn't want to shake itself entirely out of our bodies. it's nothing major but it's slow nose drip and throat tickle are annoying. Perhaps it is merely coincidental, but since Owen has caught this little bug he's become more of a bug himself. His stubbornness has gotten stronger and his desires with it. So, if he wants chips then you better believe he will make that request known. He gets this look in his eye that I am sure he's mimicking from a time when I was determinedly telling him to not throw his food on the floor. But he looks at you, eyes kindof slanted, and says, '..i...want...chips!!!' The fact that there aren't any chips in the house doesn't matter whatsoever; no, he doesn't care about that little fact. But at any rate, these little episodes ('sodes as i like to say) usually pass after his fall-straight-onto-the-floor-while-yelling fit, followed by some quiet time in his room. He usually emerges feeling calm and happy and, gratefully, the chips forgotten.

obviously our little owen is becoming more aware of the possibilities one uncovers when one exerts his will. as parents, we are trying to allow the space he needs to be determined, forceful and then upset. he certainly balances out his tantrums with his still-intact sweet disposition (despite all i've said). He's becoming quite the little talker, as well as a caring boy. If one of us coughs, his immediate question, 'you okay?' never fails to make us smile. His laugh and smile, as contagious as ever, emerge easily. He loves wishing us 'big days' when we leave for work, and his uncontrollable excitement when we arrive home is marvelous and is like no other homecoming. one of his forms of play has been to pretend to go to work. he has a couple bags that he puts over his shoulders, he gives kisses and hugs then says bye and have a big day, then he's off 'to work'. Sometimes this involves putting on shoes, mitten and his tuque (all of which he has to do himself), but he's never gone long. His work days are short. He gives hugs and kisses all over again as he happily announces that he's home (shome!).

life is busy and full; we're content while tired.

it's called 'winter song' and i love it.

and the walls have colour!

Well it has been awhile (again) since my last post. Ry is in school again and working. I am working as well. We both work on Tuesday, so Owen gets to hang out with Daryl (aka dee) for about 5 hours during out overlap time of work. He really enjoys that time as he thinks daryl (and sandy) are the coolest.

we discovered an 'open gym' 6 blocks from us. owen is in love with it, and it's nice for ry and daryl, too, because there are basketballs to play with. It's open on Tuesday and Thursday. There is a family open gym on Sunday that we have yet to visit. It has been a good discovery as the winter is now beginning to feel long.

owen is in the process of being potty trained. He is now at the point where he completely gets the whole peeing in the potty thing, and he is very excited about it every time it happens. He doesn't like to wear diapers. Usually when we go out places now, when it is not for a very long time, he won't go pee until we're back home. He doesn't love going to the potty when he's having fun, though. I think that is a problem for a lot kids - the potty isn't quite as exciting as his cars. But he's getting it and hardly has accidents anymore. At first, as incentive to use the potty, we would give him a balloon every time he would pee. Now he doesn't need the incentive so much so we've cut that part out (unless he asks for it). There is a picture below of him with balloons and that is the story behind the amount of balloons.








And here (finally!) are some pictures of our apartment. I got a couple rooms painted, making me feel better about posting these. I was not going to post pictures until we had a mattress for our futon, but I decided that it doesn't matter. The frame is big and unattractive, but you get the idea. We've made a couple places to sit on it with pillows, and it serves as a functional clothes-drying rack.

bathroom:







Our dining room (wallpapered when we moved in) [with our clothes drying on the rack], and our living room & front hall:

play the 'tar

as owen calls it, he played the 'tar tonight. first he tuned. then he sang, oh boy did he sing (warning: 2nd video is immediately loud).

so this is christmas . . . a late report.

though i know it shouldn't matter, i cannot put up photos of our new place until i have it in better order & done-ness. I will post pictures of our new abode soon.

That being said, there certainly is a lot that has happened since i last posted.

We visited Rachael, Andy, Tegan and Leyna at their new Mississauga residence. It was so lovely to converse, drink nog&rum, watch our children not only play, but get along really well. It absolutely was sad to only have one night's stay with them.






We then continued by train to the next Christmas celebration: Christmas at Tibben Farms. This was really relaxing and enjoyable; it was super to reconnect with relatives and old friends. Owen loves Grandma and Grandpa (though he cannot say their names: they are both called renon which is his word for what he cannot pronounce). Owen grew comfortable fast though he played with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Glen and Aunt Heidi best when we were not around. But this gave Ry and I great opportunity for some time to ourselves. We had a great time with my family. It certainly is painful having families spread far apart.
The game Owen played with my mom: the white dots are pins and the red thing a chair - potentially prick-full, but he's a careful boy.
And the awesome barn: build by my dad.






We journeyed back to Minneapolis only to move, the next day, to St Paul. We have our apartment close to Ry's school. We've been enjoying setting up home & rediscovering things we owned that have been packed up for a couple years.

The day after we moved friends from Winnipeg drove into town to hang out for New Years. It was super fun to have people stay with us, to host so soon at our new place. We had a blast celebrating together and ringing in the new year with song, champagne (spiked with creme de cassis!), and the ol' year-old christmas tree burning -- all down by the lake.


That weekend we had our Christmas celebration with Ry's family. It was really great to be with them again, and to see Lillian and Owen play. They are obsessed and in love with each other! They kept one another amused, and in turn we were entertained. We spent a relaxing and enjoyable day together; there was no set plan for the day, we just soaked in each others' company.

(you can see i did well documenting our Christmas with photos at the beginning . . . and sadly not at the end.)