Pink work boots.

This picture really makes me smile. I love that I have a girly-girl who told me, "Mama, I want everything pink for my birthday." But I also love that my girly-girl adores seeing a tractor when we're out and about and loves the part in Richard Scarry's What do People Do All Day?  when they fix the bumpy road (lots and lots of big trucks, diggers and rollers).

Peter took this photo when he took Sonja to Slegg lumber to price out some wood to build a fence. I actually think she looks more excited in this photo then she did at any other time that day. 

Well, they do make pink work boots and hard hats now...

Cupcake.

This is our new kitty, Cupcake. She's a sweetie; very affectionate, very soft and a welcome addition to the family. 

And this is Cupcake not believing me when I tell her that she can come downstairs because we will protect her from Jett. ...she also fails to realize that one or two well-aimed swipes at Jett's nose will buy her all the dog-free personal space she'll ever need.

And this is sweet little affectionate Cupcake being descended upon by two excited and smitten girls. 

Cupcake wanted very badly to be petted and loved, but the sheer force of Sonja and Haven's love was a little too much for such a small and dainty kitty. She handled it so well, but I can't say I blame her for staying close to her favourite hiding spot.

Best of luck, Cupcake. Just remember you are so, so loved. 

Sloshing.

I was the youngest in my family (three older brothers), so I know all about hand-me-downs. Love 'em or hate 'em, they are a fact of life. Luckily for me, there were some things I simply wasn't required to wear, since I was a girl and my mom thankfully realized that I may not want to wear all my brothers' clothes, but I definitely received hand-me-downs from a lot of my mom's friends' older daughters. 

I've kept pretty much everything Sonja has ever worn and Haven is wearing all of it. I've bought her new things for sure, but 99% of what she wears belonged to Sonja. And I find it interesting that at Haven's age hand-me-downs are freakin' awesome because she knows they used to be Sonja's and she's pumped about wearing things that belonged to her much-idolized big sister. 

I'll never forget the look of sheer pride on Haven's face when her feet were big enough to wear Sonja's first pair of winter boots. She practically strutted through our dog walk that day in the park. And she is always so pleased when Sonja remarks that an outfit Haven is wearing belonged to her "when I was a baby." 

So when I pulled out Sonja's too-small rain boots yesterday and put them on Haven's feet, Haven was busting. I could see that they were a tad big (as they were when Sonja first wore them), but I also saw that there was no way I was going to get them off Haven's feet without tears. No choice; it was time to test them out for real.

I had a big plan to walk some of the trails at the park, but I couldn't get Haven way from this group of puddles. I can't say that I blame her. Her pants were drenched above the boot line from so much sloshing, but she didn't care; she just kept walking back and forth, again and again.

And when she eventually slipped and fell and was covered in muddy water, it was definitely a sad end to an otherwise joyous occasion. But you know, once I got her home, dried her off and emptied the two inches of water out of her "new" boots, I could see in her face that even falling in the mud couldn't take away from the freedom she felt out there sloshing in the puddles. 


More of a big kid every day.

Destroy the pyramid.

I adore Sonja's preschool teacher. Her name is Tara and she's just very chill and down-to-earth and I love that she talks the same way to the kids as she does to the parents; she doesn't condescend or dumb down, she speaks the same way to everyone.


Sometimes when I drop Sonja off for school, we've already had a long morning filled with tantrums and tears (and it's not just Sonja and I'm not talking about Haven). Tara is good at picking up on this, but never pries. She always makes a point of telling me if Sonja's been uncharacteristically withdrawn or even if she was especially bubbly that day and I've always appreciated knowing that even when Sonja and I aren't getting along, she still has great days at school and never has behavioural issues. It tells me that she's just a normal kid who pushes her boundaries with her parents. 


Yesterday Tara took a minute to talk with me and I got the feeling that she sensed I needed something to buoy my spirits. She was right; Sonja and I had another rough morning and to say I was disheartened would have been putting it mildly. I told her a little of what had happened and Tara asked me the date of Sonja's birthday. I told her that it's in February and she just nodded her head and smiled. She then told me that in her ten years of nannying before she became a preschool teacher, she had always noticed that kids' periods of unpleasant behaviour seemed to happen almost cyclically; roughly every six months, or near a birthday and a half-birthday. She happened upon an article in a magazine that theorized that when kids are approaching a development spurt, they go through a period of disintegration. Some people refer to it as regression, but in this case disintegration is better suited.

Imagine a pyramid of building blocks that symbolizes your child's development; physical, mental and reasoning skills, for example. Your child is reaching a point in their development where they are ready to add another block to the pyramid. You would think they would simply add the block on top, but instead they must completely destroy the pyramid and re-build it and then place that block on top. In this way they re-learn and remember all the skills they needed to reach this new milestone in their development.

Tara has held onto this theory throughout all her years working with children because she says it reminds her that when a child's behaviour deteriorates, it's a signal to be on the lookout for a spurt in that child's development. It allows her to take a breath and re-focus on patience. Brilliant. She says she has no idea if this idea holds any water but it has helped her many times to handle tough situations and hold onto some perspective.

I also have no idea if this theory is realistic, but it was definitely what I needed to hear and it's given me something to think about and expand on in my mind; it's reminded me that Sonja is constantly learning and evolving and it makes sense that at some point she needs to process everything. And it makes so much sense to me that her behaviour will suffer at any time where she is processing and developing; rebuilding her pyramid in order to add to it.


Totally hit the jackpot on preschool teachers. Big time.

As much as it kills me.

I can't do anything for my kids. I mean, I can help them with things and guide them, but when it comes down to it I can't step in and do things in their place. They need to experience the world on their own terms as much as possible and I'm beginning to realize more and more that my job is to let them do it. On their own and for themselves. As much as it kills me sometimes. 


I hope that forcing myself to learn this now will make things easier when they're older, but I highly doubt it. Wishful thinking at its wishingest and I'm positive of that.


I don't think of myself as a control freak, but I suspect that I have those tendencies and I just don't want to admit it. Maybe if I just accept it, I can work step by step to move past it..? Hello, my name is Sara and I'm a control freak...


And the deeper I get into this, the more I see that I just want my kids to like me and want me around when they're older. So whatever you do Sara, don't crowd them and suffocate them and micromanage them and breathe down their necks. And don't nag. Oooo... too late on that last one for sure. Shit.

Ten minutes of snow.

Wow! Look at all this snow! Look, Mama; I'm walking in the snow!

Geez, why does this snow make it so hard to walk anywhere??

Sonja is running in this? Well, if she's going to run...

...then I'd better try too!

Oof. That's like, hard. This stuff is slippy. And I'm wearing a snow suit.

Alright, kicking Jett's ball; this is more my speed.

Darn it... I can't pick it up with these mittens on.

No, ball! Wrong direction!

Alright. Now I'll kick it. You ready, Jett?

Did you see that kick? I'm awesome!

Ok, let's go up to the park. Onward!

Wait up!

Mama, can you please wipe the snow off my boots? No, I'm serious.

Sonja, you have snow in your boots too? Is your snow as cold as mine?
Because mine is super cold...

Wait, I might be slipping. Yes, I'm definitely slipping...

Nope, I'm OK. Phew. That was close. Alright Mama, we're freezing. Time to go home.

Our big excursion on Thursday. We were in the park a total of ten minutes before the girls wanted to go home. Jett was deeply disappointed.