It has been a fantastic break for our family. Lots of
quality time was spent together. We tried to keep it to just one exciting event
per day. We wanted to avoid excitement overload, but on a few occasions, we did
not succeed.
Day 1 Social Time
On our first day of holidays, we had some good friends come
over to play and eat. We had planned on having my aunt and uncle over for
dinner, but they cancelled last minute. This left us with a bunch of delicious
food that needed to be eaten. Luckily, the M family (who are known to stop by
on the occasional Saturday), came by this Saturday as well. The kids played
together, the adults played together, then we all sat down and ate that
delicious food. (Chili, homemade buns, devilled eggs and ceasar salad with a
fresh fruit tart for dessert...Mmmmmm)
Day 2 Movie Date
Tootie and I went to see the movie “Mr. Peabody and
Sherman”. A cute little film about the adventures of a time traveling dog and
his human son. We both enjoyed stuffing our faces with delicious theatre popcorn
and sour candies. The movie was good too.
Day 3 Besties Day
Lucky Tootie got to have her bestest bud from school over
to play. Miss K. and Tootie had the time of their lives, playing princess,
doing some crafts, playing in the snow and snuggling on the couch to watch a
movie. I made the girlies some rainbow fruit kebabs and heart shaped PB
sandwiches. I also made them a rainbow jello cake which was met with great
enthusiasm. It was so wonderful to eavesdrop on their play and hear them
giggling happily together.
Lucky Mr. Doo got to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s for the
day. Seeing as how they are two of his most favourite people in the universe, I
think it is safe to say that both minis had an amazing day.
Day 4 Splish splash
On Day 4, I took the minis to a nearby town for some fun,
accompanied by a friend and colleague and her son. First off, we went to the
pool and spent an hour splashing around. Tootie and Mr. Doo both went off the
slide by themselves and had the time of their lives throwing balls, pushing
boats and chasing each other.
Afterwards, we went to McDonalds. This particular one has
a playplace. The kids all ate their whole (!) meals and then played in those tubes
and tunnels for the better part of an hour. Everyone came back to our house for
more playing and a great time was had by all!
Day 5 Brrrr!
This day was a chilly day. But we decided to brave the
frigid air and go sliding at a local park. Unfortunately, we soon discovered
that at the top of the hill, there was a bone-piercing, bitter wind. We slid down
once and then took refuge at the bottom of the hill and played on the play structure.
For the most part, the rest of the day
was spent playing warm, indoor activities like PlayDoh and watching movies.
On a less exciting note, we spent the afternoon at the
doctor’s office getting checkups for all three of us. Turns out that we are all
very healthy indeed – yay us!
Day 6 Mamashunga and Mr. Doo Day
Lucky Tootie went to Grandma and Grandpa’s today, which
means that Mr. Doo and I got to have a Mommy-Son day. We started off the day
with breakfast at Tim Horton’s, one of Mr. Doo’s favourite places. He dutifully
sat at our table and people watched while he ate his half of the bagel. When we
were finished, we shared a green St Patrick’s Day sprinkle doughnut.
Next, we went to Wal*Mart and Mr. Doo got to pick out
some new pairs of big boy underwear. He also chose a soccer ball as his potty
trained reward.
We spent the day playing peacefully. No fighting over
toys, space or words was heavenly. He played in the bathtub for an hour. He
also spent a good chunk of time playing in Tootie’s dollhouse. We played quite
a bit with the soccer ball throughout the day, built towers, shot cannons and “helped”
mommy clean.
Day 7 Big City Fun
We ventured into the city to visit with an old friend.
(Old as in from way back, not in age!) She is a friend from home and we spent
many summers together up at “the lake” (aka the most peaceful place on earth).
I feel very lucky that she and her family have decided to settle so close to
us. Even though we still only get to see each other a few times a year, I value
our time together. We always have a great time and great conversations.
First off, we visited their awesome new house. It has
been professionally decorated in a modern style, and I was very impressed with
how they still managed to incorporate comfort and life with two small children
into their modern decor. The children all played together nicely, we ate a
delicious lunch, and then we headed out to what is fast becoming our annual
museum visit. This year, we chose the Museum of Aviation. Or as Mr. Doo calls
it, “the airfort”. The minis climbed in some of the airplanes, played games,
rode toy planes, did some crafts and generally had a great time. It was
adorable to see Mr. Doo’s wide-eyed gaze dart about nonstop, accompanied by a
huge smile and intermittent giggles. His little feet wouldn’t stop. You can bet
he slept in the van on the way home after that!
Day 8 Relaxation
A day filled with a whole lotta nothing. This one ranks
pretty high on my favourites.
Day 9 Saint Paddy’s Day Fun Run
My friend SG is a physical fitness machine! She invited
me to the local Saint Patrick’s Fun Run, (which would have been much more fun
had it not been so cold). The thermometer told me that it was -14C, but the
wind on my exposed skin told me that it was more like minus a gazillion. I tried
my best and worked my hardest to keep up to SG, and let me tell you I am paying
the price today. My muscles are so sore! Note to self, work my way up to a race
pace gradually, rather than making my first run in five months a 5km sprint. We
did well though, we were the third females to finish, with a time of just over 28
minutes.
The bestest part of the whole break? Mr. Doo spent the
whole time in big boy underwear. No daytime diapers for this little man
anymore! It has been a loooong, slow process. But finally, the decision was
made. By him. Let me give you a little background info on Mr. Doo. He is an easy-going
child. He is obedient for the most part, and happily so. But he still makes his
own decisions. He knows when he has the power, and he takes his time, choosing
to conform when he is good and ready. Take nursing. I breastfed my children on demand.
Mr. Doo was a big fan of eating and chose to eat often. Especially at night. I
would get up with him five or six times a night. Every night. For eight months.
For eight months, I would stumble into his room at all hours of the night;
rock, nurse, repeat. He had but to snap his tiny fingers and he was served an
instant meal. He was livin’ the dream. It was a special time for us together and I
won’t say I didn’t enjoy it. But I do like to sleep. Who doesn’t? At the time,
I marveled at how much my little baby could eat. With such an appetite, he must
be growing by leaps and bounds. I was so proud. But exhausted. Then one night,
I just couldn’t do it. I needed to stay in bed. Just fifteen minutes. I
resolved that I would wait it out fifteen minutes and see if he would go back
to sleep. Five minutes in, Mr. Doo was back to sleep. He didn’t wake up again
that night. Or the next night. In fact, he has slept the night through since
then. He was calling the shots until he chose otherwise, clearly a sign of things to come. And now? Now he runs
around in the cutest little boxerbriefs and proudly tells all who will listen
that he is a big boy.
