There's No I In Parent

The Halloween Gang
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

On Saturday we went over to Elliot's friend's place for some Halloween fun. Spiderman was more interested in the new toys to play with that he lasted only 1/2 hour trick or treating before he wanted to return. He didn't even eat any candy. Imagine that!

One of the things on my long list of "what I would like to accomplish as a parent" is to help Elliot have good body image. I feel that in North America we start very young with trying to make our children (especially girls, but boys too) feel ashamed of their bodies. I don't like that and would like to do better by my son. Often, it is the subtle things we say or a simple 'bad' response that can speak volumes. As a parent you wonder, do I respond to that comment? How do I respond? etc. Kids definitely make you think about what you say and make you think really really quickly.

This weekend Elliot says to me. "Mom, I love my penis" Me: "I'm glad, it's good to love your body"
Elliot: "Why?" (Should have know that was the next question...) Me: "Because you have your body all your life and you need to take good care of it." Elliot: "OK"

I hope I passed.

School Photo
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

We got Elliot's school photo order form last week. There is something so traditional and more "real" about a school photo. Hard to believe our little boy is busy enjoying school!

Elliot recently received a couple of letters in the mail from his cousins in Calgary. He dictated a response that his dad wrote out for him and they have sent it off. If you ever wondered what goes through the mind of a three and a half year old...here it is:

"Dear Liam and Katrina,

Next time you visit, you can play with me, or have a piece of chocolate cake, or go shopping with me to get some chips.

Liam, my favorite part about school is playing with animals, playing at the park and going to bed. I made some new friends: Matthew and Christopher.

Katrina, my favorite part of Halloween is being Spiderman. The next time you visit us, you can play Halloween with us.

The next time you visit us, you can bring a crane with a wrecking ball on it.

The next time you visit us, you can bring your monster truck and your car. I would like the monster truck.

The next time you visit us, you can see our tree turning a different colour, Red. The next time you visit us, you can make a snowman, make an airplane. The snowman will go in the airplane. He will close the door and sit in the seats and blast off to Ottawa.

The next time you visit us, we can go in the car. You can sit in your car seat. I will sit in my car seat and mommy and daddy will drive us to camping.

You can go to the dinosaur museum with us, and see the birds with us.

Good-bye. I will miss you. Talk to you later.

Love, Elliot"

Going to School
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

It has been just over two weeks since Elliot started school. I am happy to report that it is going really well. Mom and Dad are happy too! Derek is getting himself back into software development after 3 years as a stay at home dad. When we started on that adventure we had no idea how long it would be. So much has changed in that time and it is hard to believe that it is now over. Derek is my hero, he did an amazing job of sticking with it despite not being a 'kid' person.

We are really pleased with Elliot's school and are looking forward to a year of growth for all of us. It is a major transition but a positive one. We have been doing well with biking him to school (our thighs are growing as we speak) and are looking forward to keeping that up into November (I am thinking positive here).




With first frost arriving tonight, we wrapped up the gardening for the year. We are still working on consuming the last tomatoes and really enjoyed our harvests. We learned a lot and will likely expand next year. I am already thinking how I will miss walking to my yard to get what I need for dinner. This picture is Elliot and the "companion" radish that was helping out one of our tomato plants. Amazing how huge they can get when you don't pick them.




After going on a little shopping trip, Spiderman arrived at our house yesterday. Elliot chose his Halloween costume and proceeded to ham it up, showing off his muscles and running 'super hero speed'. It was hilarious. The outfit did not get removed until this morning!

Nice Boa
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

It is hard to believe that summer is over and we are settling into a new routine. Derek and Elliot had some fun in the last days of summer which included checking out some reptiles at the park, including a Boa.

Elliot has not officially started school. He is at the Ottawa Montessori School. It is about 4 km from our house and a nice refreshing bike ride! We have been getting ourselves into a new routine and whipping our sorry butts in to cycling shape! It is amazing how quickly we all adjust.

Elliot had a rough day his second day, but has been a real star the rest of the time. Today marks day 7. He already has a best bud, Matthew, and the two of them are making big plans for time spent outside of school too! I was so happy the other day when I went to pick him up and he proudly stated "Mom, I like school!". YEAH!!!

Spiderman
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

Before he was born, one of our friends had a dream that Elliot was Spiderman. Well, it came true the other day. Here he is decked out in glasses, shirt and shoes. Look out world, he is busy saving the day!

For his birthday this year Elliot received a bike from Grandma. This is a little video of him riding it. He has gotten way better even since this video. It is fun for us to be able to go for a bike ride now.



If you have not seen a Skuut before - they are a two wheel bike with no pedals. The idea is that a child learns balance first and then you can graduate to a two wheeler without needing training wheels. Plus it is a lot of fun!

Frog
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

A couple of weeks ago we ventured out and tried on camping for size. We went to Charleston Lake. It was easily the best weekend of the summer weather wise. We could not have planned it better.

Elliot loved it. He was so excited when we arrived that he talked (and I am not exaggerating) NON-STOP for about 3 hours. We slept in our tent, ate around the fire, went on a hike and relaxed at the beach.

There were a crazy amount of bugs and I managed to have a small brush with poison ivy that is finally resolving itself.

The Gours
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

We had a nice trip (despite the bugs) up to Sudbury for my cousin's wedding this past weekend. My whole family and I do mean my WHOLE family was there. Derek got the chance to meet some cousins that he has never met before and we got to celebrate adding a new one to the crew. We now have 47 on that side of the family including spouses and children. Pretty impressive considering only two of the siblings had children!



My camera died early on so I will have some more photos later when I get pictures from the family.

Will he give it back?
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

Elliot has had a HUGE fear of dogs for the last year. He had no particular reason, but would politely steer clear of any dogs coming towards him and say VERY LOUDLY "No thank you, I don't want that dog to kiss me!".

My Aunt got a new dog a few weeks ago and this was no exception. The first time we met him, Elliot would not even stand on the floor at the same time as the dog.

He seems to have conquered that fear today. We went for a visit and a stroll through the Arboretum. Elliot held the leash the ENTIRE 2 hour walk and was running and playing with Sandy. They looked adorable together. It would seem that my Aunt now has a dog walker!

Happy visitor
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

We just got back from a quick trip to Toronto. Derek and I had a chance to catch a concert and Elliot stayed with Derek's Dad. It was so nice to not have to wake up with a child the next morning!

Neith was so pleased to spend time with Elliot and have him sleep over. He is up for doing it again - Good news for all of us! We had a nice time exploring the harbour, going on a boat ride and of course riding the street cars. Exploring with Neith is like having your own personal paparazzi so I will have some more photos that he took posted later!

Mummy
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

We have recently acquired some camping supplies in an effort to facilitate exploration of Ontario and Quebec. Our trial run will be at my Aunt's farm this month for my cousin's wedding.

Elliot is super charged up about being able to camp and LOVES his new sleeping bag. He had to try it out right away and slept in it the night we bought it. Too Cute.

Rocket Ships
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

Elliot has been picking up the pen more lately and his art is coming along. Here he was drawing rocket ships and UFOs - all with their own personal signage to the right. The signs say "The rocket ship has zat zoon zoom!"

This is a collection of faces, some happy, some sad some neutral. Enjoy!

We are working on transforming ourselves into a gardening family. This year is the second "attempt" but really the first in many ways. Last year was small and we did little to learn and/or tend to our garden.

This year we got serious. We read books, ordered heirloom plants and even tried to start sprouting some seeds in doors. We are learning a lot and if our gardening books are right we should be reasonably good in about 10 years time!



In all of this we have been trying to include Elliot to help him learn about life cycles and caring for plants etc. He has been great in helping water the "big" garden - sometimes a little too closely. We even got him to grow his own seeds in his own planter (in picture above). That has ended in disaster. The sunflower got eaten by a squirrel and he dug up his radish plants with his little girlfriend. At least he put them into the composter! Maybe he will be more ready next year.

Cave Man Art
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

Elliot likes to paint but mostly big blobs that have a wonderful description but really don't look like a shark eating a boat. He has not been too interested in drawing and so I was surprised today when he made this fine drawing on the sidewalk today. There could be hope for his talents yet!

Derek and I like to make purposeful choices and would really like to expose and teach some of our values to Elliot. I already see some of our attitudes and choices showing up in how Elliot processes his thoughts. My favorite example so far was when he was riding his bike and at the end said he was going to park it at the "bike share" (we don't own a car but are part of a car share). Here's hoping it sticks!

The Three Muskateers
Originally uploaded by Derek And Angela.

This week we have had Elliot's cousins over for a visit. We have been learning all about the joys and challenges of having four children under the age of 5. Elliot has had some adjustment to having to share his things and his parents.

Exploring all of the museums and parks in Ottawa has kept us all on the go. Liam wakes up every morning and asks "What museum are we going to today?"

We will be sad to see them go tomorrow, but happy we do not have to feed that many mouths!!

Elliot and I just came back from our weekly trip to the farmers market. We are getting really well known there. I am always amazed at how easily Elliot wins people over. He is so friendly and full of smiles that people are just naturally drawn to it. Today he was walking along singing Alouette at the top of his lungs. He managed to get a few people singing along and even one dancing with him. That is my little character.



We got to go to Proulx Farm's last weekend and had a great time learning about how maple syrup is made and enjoying a pancake breakfast, horse drawn wagon rides, saying hello to animals and frolicking in the mud. It was great.



I am always finding Elliot's things hidden all over the house and thought I had to capture the construction fleet in my pantry when I came across it. Life is never dull with a child around.

Elliot has a very active mind. He literally wakes up with questions on his tongue. His greetings have included things like "Good Morning Mom, do babies talk?" and "I love you, what does affection mean?". This morning he was laughing hysterically seconds before waking up and then woke up saying "I was laughing in my sleep!". He wants to know how everything works and why. This has been the case for a while but has gotten more intense of late and much more tiring. Especially since he can ask more detailed questions and simple answers will not always suffice!

To keep that mind satisfied we have included him in our new gardening adventures and he will be growing his own plants. He has been keeping a keen eye on his Sunflowers and was quite excited to see some growth today.

There is nothing that makes you feel more like a parent then having to clean up puke and diarrhea. The beauty of exchanging a carefree, uneventful life for EVERYTHING that comes with parenting is one of the many gifts! This is one of those moments when you realize you really love that little soul and that you care for them willingly regardless of what their body tries to throw your way.

Now if I could just get the smell out of my nose....