The Invention of Lying Down Games

A couple of weeks ago I had a really rough bout of the stomach flu.  For just over 24 hours, all I could do was sleep, toss my cookies, or writhe around in bed with horrible stomach pains and moan.  I am not exaggerating.  And it took me the better part of a week once that part was over to really feel 100% back to my old self.

In that time, I had to get through a few (mercifully short-lived) times when I was alone with my kids and feeling ill or exhausted.  Enter the invention of lying. down. games.

Through my delirious haze, I somehow managed to convince my kids that it would be really fun to pretend Mommy was a sleeping dragon under the blanket on the couch, and they had to tiptoe around the dragon's cave.  If they were too noisy, the dragon would wake up and make them run laps from the living room to the kitchen.  (In previous, more energetic iterations of the this game, the Mommydragon would tickle them as punishment for their noisiness, but this time the Mommydragon didn't even have the strength for that.) 

Shockingly, they ate it up.  Lilah is still asking to play this game, and my inner Mommydragon is only too happy to oblige.  I'm sure it won't be much longer before she figures out how little effort it requires on my part.  But hey, as long as they're safe and having fun, it passes as parenting, right?

Have you invented any good lying down games I can add to my repertoire for the next time I find myself solo parenting through illness?

Through the Rails

 

Free Wheelin'

 

 

 

 

 

 Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.

~ Albert Einstein

 

Saying Goodbye

Last week, we had to say goodbye to some very dear friends who are moving back to Australia.  For two years, they have been just across the courtyard from us and now they will be across the world, on a whole other continent.  To say that we are sad about the void they are leaving behind doesn't even begin to cover it. 

We did, however, manage to cram in some pretty amazing moments on their last night here.   The plan was a picnic dinner in the park, but the real highlights came spontaneously.

Running and climbing and wrestling,

streaking through the spray park in the buff (okay, that one was just the three-year-olds),

hugs and kisses all around,

And of course, lots and lots of smiles.

Goodbye, sweet friends.  You will be dearly missed. You taught each of us so much in the last two years, not least of which was to expand Lilah's definition of family.  She will grow up knowing that families don't necessarily have to consist of one mommy, one daddy, and their kid(s), but beyond that, and even more importantly, she now knows that friends, good friends, are the family you get to choose for yourself.

We are going to miss the moments we shared, but know that, even though you are far away for now, there will be many more of these moments to come.

Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.

~~Omar Khayyam

 

All of a Sudden...

All of a sudden, she has these long. lean limbs.  And when she stretches out in the bath, her length covers most of it.

All of a sudden, she has lost most of her baby fat.


All of a sudden, she uses sophisticated language, peppering her sentences with words like "actually," "because," and "almost."


All of a sudden, she can talk about what happened yesterday or what is going to happen tomorrow.


All of a sudden, she wants to dress herself, brush her own teeth, and make her own breakfast.


All of a sudden, she is a skilled negotiator.  Bargaining is her tool, and a combination of cuteness and manipulation is her currency.


All of a sudden, I'm supposed to refer to her as a "preschooler" rather than a toddler.


All of a sudden, she gets out of bed in the morning and opens her door on her own, padding down the hallway to startle me from my deep sleep.  Gone are the toddler's cries to be retrieved from her bed.


All of a sudden, she asks me questions to which I don't know the answers.

All of a sudden, she is gentle and motherly towards babies and toddlers.


All of a sudden, she is all girl.

Spying on a fairy princess

All of a sudden, I'm going to have another baby and she won't be the tiny one anymore.

Wednesday of Few Words: How to Host a Tea Party

One of Lilah's favourite games these days is "house." She's not at a very sophisticated stage of this game, however, so mainly it involves dragging a whole bunch of toys and boxes into some tiny corner of our tiny condo and using them to create an even tinier space which is then considered her house.   (On this particular day it was the front hall - the two square inches of tiled floor where we dump our shoes and coats upon coming home.  Not the most attractive backdrop for photo ops, but we take what we can get.)  The  space she builds around herself is often much too small to contain both a toddler and an adult.  But if she invites you in, she can always move the walls to accommodate.  And once you're in, you're really, really in.

In her house, she is in her element.  She is the gracious hostess with the mostest. She will make you any drink or dessert your little heart desires, and will even hold your straw for you while you drink.

Her specialties include coffee, tea, cupcakes, and cookies.  (Okay, so she doesn't always make them from scratch, and the ones pictured below were from a box.  But please don't hold that against her.)

Such are her hosting skills that she doesn't judge if you dip your cookies in your tea or coffee.  In fact, it's encouraged.  And every bite of cookie must be accompanied by a corresponding "cheers."  Is that the way to eat cookies, or what?

Oh, and by the way?  The best way to cheers with cookies is when they're already in your mouth.

Wednesday of Few Words: Perspective

Apparently one side of this slide was really scary.

Like roller coaster calibre scary.

And the other side was the equivalent of a walk in the park.

Or maybe tea with the queen.





I guess it's true what they say, it's all about perspective.

Wordful Wednesday: The Joy of Discovery

Last weekend, during a rare moment of spontaneity brought on by a brief spell of nice weather in Vancouver, I was overcome with the urge to have a beachside picnic dinner, so we packed up our picnic blanket and some sandwiches and headed in search of beach.  In doing so, we made a new discovery - there is a great little park not too far from us that has a small stretch of beach, though it is admittedly mostly pebbles and very little sand.  But its best feature by far is that it isn't crowded like many of the bigger beaches here.  There may or may not be a few slightly unsavoury characters hanging around, but it's worth it for its proximity to our house, wide open space, fantastic playground, and view of the two elements that make Vancouver so special: the water and the mountains.

 Before the Hubs and I had Lilah, this park would barely have been a blip on our radar.  But now that we are the parents of a toddler, the park has made it onto our much revered List of Things to Do When We Don't Know What Else to Do.  You know, that list you always carry around in the back of your head in case you find yourself kicking around with a restless child on your hands and no set plans. 

Making a new discovery, while it might have been interesting or even exciting, was never quite this full of joy before we had a child.  The pure awe that radiates from a toddler when presented with something novel is absolutely contagious, and I find myself getting caught up in it.  These days, we are all about discovery, and this visit to the park was full to the brim with new ones.

Lilah discovered how great sandwiches can be when eaten at a picnic dinner by the beach:



 The Hubs and I discovered that a (clean, unused - I swear!) sand shovel can be used in a pinch (ie. when you have offered your toddler apple sauce and then realized you forgot to pack a spoon):

Lilah discovered a new climbing apparatus:

I discovered how tall my big girl is getting when she was able to play peekaboo with me through the doorway above the slide:

Lilah discovered the perfect slide for her size and comfort level (she has been known to be bit timid when it comes to slides):

We discovered what static can do to baby fine wisps of hair:

I discovered that getting Daddy to give her a little tickle before I snap a photo results in exponentially more smiles caught on camera:

Yes, folks, we are loving this new discovery, and we've already been back to see what else this wonderful park has in store!

What have you discovered lately?