When Nana & Bumpa Visit.

I heard the floors creak this morning at 5:00am as my parents got ready to leave to drive all the way back to the East Coast and I felt sad to see them go.  They must be exhausted after spending a week in our house, because boy, did they keep this place running like a smooth ship.

Mom has been busy making meals, cleaning up, doing endless loads of laundry, ironing, running after Gabriel, cuddling Magdalene, baking several loaves of bread and about four dozen cookies, reorganizing cupboards, the garage, the hall closet.

In the meantime, I just kept an endless list of handy-man tasks for Dad (much to his delight) which he just kept knocking off one at a time: stairwell gates (that will withstand a battering ram), raising the crib, fixing the dilapidated piano bench, raising a couple of ceiling lights, mounting coat hooks, etc. 

Our place has never looked better and I am pretty sure that it will never look this good again!  Gabriel loved spending time with his grandparents--helping Bumpa out around the house with the drill and washing dishes and baking with Nana.  And I loved having them around too. 

Thanks for taking care of us.  And sorry if we wore you out! :)

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Bowling with the Nana & Bumpa.

Ok, so it's been pretty cold here in Toronto, and with a newborn, it's just been hard getting outside to play.  While my parents were here this past week, we decided to try some new activities that were still "out" of the house but inside and so we took Gabriel out bowling at an old Bowlerama on Dundas Street West.

This place reminded me of a bigger version of an old bowling alley we used to frequent with the family on Friday nights as kids.  It has that same feeling that comes from a big windowless room, the echo of clattering pins and rolling balls.  The same smell of old carpet and greasy food.  Jordan and I went back as adults at Christmas one year and ran into old friends from high school.  I guess it had the same nostalgic feeling for them too.

The upstairs was filled with tons of seniors playing for the senior league but the basement was empty and we had it all to ourselves.  One of Gabriel's favorite things was putting on those old brown bowling shoes.  He thought they were pretty neat and ran around in his extra big shoes (they didn't really fit) being a total show off.

Ok, so bowling with a toddler is a little bit nuts.  Toddlers don't really get the concept of a ball you can't throw.  We tried teaching him to roll between his legs.  But he kept seeing Bumpa throw that ball with such speed and style that he wanted to do it too.  Needless to say there are likely a few extra dents in that floor. :S  And I am pretty sure that Gabriel rolled at least half of the balls or more.  We are chalking this one up to 'exposure' to something new.

Watching his bowl slowly, slowly roll down the aisle.

 

The clerk came over with a neat contraption for toddlers to try out.  That was a novelty for awhile.

One of Magdalene's first outings.  Ha.

It was fun to get out and try something new with Gabriel after spending nearly every day for two weeks at home.  I actually got to throw a couple of balls, but mostly sat back with Magdalene and watched, redirected and laughed. But it's something that I can see us doing as a family on winter Friday nights when the kids get older, just like we did when I was a kid.

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Sibling Love.

There is nothing quite like newborn cuddles.  And Gabriel has figured this out too.  You can tell already that he is completely enamored by Magdalene--wanting to help take care of her and hold her.  As he barrels past her bassinet, he skids to a halt, leans in, says 'hi' with a soft voice and a wave. He gently pats her or rests his head softly on her tummy before speeding off helter-skelter in any direction.

And Abe, well, he's just an old hat at this.  He didn't bat an eye when Magdalene came through the door.  At this point, there isn't a jealous moment over her.  Of course, maybe he's already spotted those delicate fingers and knows she won't give him any trouble. 

Of course, there are moments of chaos and angst as we juggle between the littles and there is fierce love that need to be tamed or redirected, but amongst this are beautiful moments of tenderness, like the one above when Magdalene lay on the rug and Gabriel, of his own accord, cuddled up beside her, resting his head on hers and put his protective brotherly arm around her.

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The Real 'Babymoon'

We have just had a beautiful week together as a family of four with husband home, many delicious cuddles and romps through the snow.  We are so thankful for this precious time off together and visiting parents who makes it possible for us to immerse ourselves in our children this week and over the coming weeks by taking care of us. 

For now, we are at that blissful two week newborn stage where Magdalene sleeps and sleeps.  Her eyes pop open for an hour at most, wide and unfocused staring at lights and trying to see faces.  She is still curled into a little ball, feet pressed together at the palms and her only sounds are that heart-wrenching newborn cry, baby grunts and little sighs of contentment. She's got the most delicate touch, relaxed arms and fingers posed like a dancer near her face.  I guess we sort of feel like maybe this is our 'babymoon' as we each spend time getting to know our Magdalene--her smiles, her frowns, her little personality coming through. 

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Baby it's Cold Outside.

While Magdalene and I cuddle inside and snooze the days away, the boys have made it outside. Yes, even in this, yet another, Polar Vortex in Toronto, -32 Celsius with the wind chill.  But hey, we live in Canada.  You can't just not go outside!  It just means you have to get really, really bundled up and get out there when it's sunny. 

You know you're Canadian when.... you tape your son's mittens at the cuffs to keep them on his wrists and his pant cuffs around the tops of his boots.  With hockey tape.  (Papa tip #1 - He's giving me all this nerdy Engineering information about the "superior adhesive properties" of hockey tape and how it sticks to itself and not to clothing so it's the best thing out there for keeping toddler mittens on).  No more lost mittens or mitten wars in this house!!  Parents, take note.  He's also wearing a coat under his snowsuit.  And a hat and scarf of course.  Maybe two pairs of socks? Abe, our sled dog is completely blissed out--this is his kind of weather and this time he's actually allowed to pull something other than our backs out of line.  And Jordan, well, he's just having the time of his life with these two--pulling a little sled around with Gabriel in the back and playing hockey in the backyard.  I'm having fun watching them.  Feeling pretty lucky to have such a husband, and dad for our kids.

Magdalene and I.  We are sleeping.  And eating.  And sleeping. :)

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Eyes Wide Open.

Oh, hi there Beautiful!  Nice to see you with your eyes open.  Welcome home, take a look around.  This is your new little world.  I'm pretty sure you didn't see it yesterday. 

I make no apologies.  I am infatuated with this new little creature.  :) 

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Coming home.

Everyone loves being in their own space, in their own home.  And we are no different.  So the surprisingly delightful thing for me about having a second baby was our first day together in the hospital.  I am not a fan of hospitals, I prefer to be in my own space with my family.  My husband was at home with our son and I missed him, but it also meant that we had a very quiet, long day together just the two of us.  Since everything went well, the nurses, for the most part, let us be and we had almost no visitors for our short stay.  We ate and slept and spent languid hours staring into each others' eyes, or me at her peaceful little face.  And I memorized each of her little fingers and toes and stamped the smell of her skin into my mama memory.  We were all wrapped up in our little cocooned hospital room away from the rest of the world.  There probably won't be many days like that in our future, where it is just the two of us sitting quietly with sunlight shining in the window, so we sort of reveled in it.       

And then it was time to come home and join the rest of the family who soaked up her softness and newborn scent and laughed at her 'old man grimace.'  Gabriel cannot get enough of his baby sister; he wants to hold and kiss her endlessly.  It's like everything stops when she comes in the room and he is caught up in her world.  I think we are all feeling that way, caught up in the beauty and the dearness of this new life.    

I just cannot get over that 'old man grimace' face you make Magdalene, it makes me laugh out loud every time!

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Meet Baby Girl :)

Magdalene 

Grace

Meet the newest love of our lives--Magdalene Grace, born on her great-grandfather, Grandpa Davey's birthday.  Baby girl, we are all infatuated.  Welcome to this big bright wonderful world.  There are so many arms to hold you.  And you have the best big brother in the whole world looking out for you, don't forget that.

A Little Date with my Littlest Guy.

In some ways, I am glad baby has chosen not to arrive yet, because it meant that yesterday I got to spend another morning with Gabriel all to ourselves and go on a little 'date.'  And so we were able to knock another item off our Pre-Baby Bucket List. (Other 'Bucket List' items can be found here, here and here).  Gabriel was pretty excited about going on a 'date.'

I remember as a kid going on little 'dates' with my parents at various times.  Those were always special--whether it was to Tim Horton's for a doughnut or McDonald's for a cheeseburger, having one-to-one time with one of our parents was kind of neat.  I'm glad my parents did that and it's something that we plan to continue with our kids as they get older--get a little dressed up and make it a 'date.'  Even the simplest of excursions can be made to feel special, can't it?

Bloor West Village is a family favorite hot spot of Toronto's little villages--fresh flowers, bakeries, coffee, butchers, boutiques.  It's a great place to wander around for a couple of hours.  So, on the recommendation of a friend, we popped into the Bread & Roses Bakery Cafe on Bloor St. West for a little mama-son date.  There were some really great delicacies to choose from and Gabriel picked out a little gingerbread man for himself.  And of course we got some hot chocolate and sat outside in the now-warmining-up Toronto air.  We clinked our hot chocolates to 'us' and our date before heading across the street to Chapters to play with the trains.

 Not sure who the "baby" one was for.  Me?  Or my little boy? 

Our time with Gabriel is precious.  I am so glad that I decided to take off the extra time to spend with him in lieu of going back to work straight away.  And in all honesty that was just how it had to work out this time with our move and another baby on the way, so I feel like we sort of lucked out.  It won't be long before he is in kindergarten some day and we'll be looking back wondering where it all went, I'm sure!

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The Art of Patience.

Like most everyone else out there, patience is not something that I am good at.  I may come across as smooth, graceful and even-tempered in the face of change, of temperamental eruptions, and of failure.  But like all of us, sometimes there are things that drive me stark-raving mad.  And certain situations--like moving or Christmas, or awaiting a life-changing event can cause a tremendous amount of excitement and anxiety.  Anyone who really knows me, knows this to be true. 

Part of the wonderful thing about having a second child is that there is a certain pattern, a familiarity.  Not everything is new and sometimes that takes some of the anxiety out of it.  I'd say that waiting for Baby Girl to arrive has been, up until point, relatively easy.  I expected would take some time and have tried not to worry or speed up the process.  I've been relishing my mama-time with Gabriel, my time with my husband and the patterns of our lives--knowing them all to change. 

But waiting is difficult.  Patience is a practice.  And lately, how easily my mind lingers in the evenings, filled with excitement and anticipation.  And nervousness.   I try to slow my brain, picture boats and ocean waves and fields of flowers or whatever works to lull the brain to sleep.  And yet, my thoughts pace the insides of my brain like a ricocheting ping-pong ball in the darkness of our room.

How to be still and acquire the Art of Patience?  How to quiet the brain?  That is my task today.  To pick up anew the rhythms of patience.  And remember that for me, part of the Art of Patience is distraction, in filling my days with adventures, while quieting my evenings.   In recognizing the journey and being content in the now.

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