Top 'o' the Monday to you! How was the weekend? We had a simply wonderful time camping with Auntie K, Uncle L, Auntie J, and Uncle M. There was much laughter, family time and too many delicious treats. The weekend went by too fast for my liking! The LP were delighted to be camping with some of their aunties and uncles and certainly kept all of them busy. I am also very happy to report that LP2 is FINALLY cutting those teeth that we could see in his gums. He now has two little teeth slowly coming up! I don't know why I am saying "FINALLY" when (a) it is just yet another sign that my baby is not staying a baby for very long; and (b) in comparison, LP1 didn't get her first tooth until after her first birthday, so he is actually ahead of her. So yay to teeth and boo to my little guy charging his way towards becoming a big kid. At the rate he's going, he'll be walking in no time.
I know this will shock the pants right off of you, but I didn't have a definitive plan for today. Don't judge me! While I love our camping trips, they are also exhausting. I mean, sleeping on what is essentially a cushion on a board in our trailer DOES make for an excellent sleep at night, particularly when you've been up late around the campfire and the LP didn't get the memo that even though they were up waaaay past their bedtimes, they are supposed to sleep in. Once we get return from one of our weekends away, I always feel compelled to unpack everything immediately and get started on laundry. Today was dedicated to getting all the laundry done and trying to summon the energy to do something with the kids.
Fortunately, Auntie K sent me a message, asking if we would like to go for a walk. As her day was quite busy, we arranged to go after dinner. I met her at the Dieppe Veteran's Park, along the beachstrip in Hamilton. This is a different part of the trail that the LP and I went for a walk along a few weeks back. The LP were happy to see Auntie K again and we set off at a brisk pace. Once again, I forgot the camera, so I have no thrilling shots to entertain you with. Give your imagination a workout and just imagine a different stretch of the paved trail, with Lake Ontario on one side and houses of all shapes, sizes and repair on the other.
As we walked along the trail, LP1 amused us with stories about the things she was seeing. At one point, she was showing us the baby owl in her hands (an owl only she could see). We named the baby owl Hoots and eventually it flew away. Hoots went into the water for a swim. In a strange and unusual coincidence, Hoots also does not like to wear a life jacket in the water and instead prefers floaties on his wings. Surely this cannot be at all related to LP1's complete refusal to wear a life jacket whenever she is asked to at her swimming lessons. I bet if we asked we would also find out that Hoots does not like to hold onto those pool noodles, either.
LP2 was happy to look around, make contented baby noises and, later on, lean forward in the stroller to pull LP1's hair and to kick the back of her seat. Although I did not grow up with brothers and am not an expert, I am starting to think that brother behaviour is innate. We haven't shown him how to do any of these things but somehow, he knows. Perhaps it is revenge for all the times she attempts to pick him up and carry him around the house, or pushes on him while he is crawling or, my personal favourite, tries to sit on him. I don't think it will be too long before he is bigger and stronger than her...but I do hope that they will just get along well and look out for each other. Hope being the key word.
As we walked along, Auntie K and I looked at the houses and admired some of them. There was definitely variety along the path. We also dodged the usual assortment of runners, cyclists, dog-walkers, rollerbladers and two people on what appeared to be roller skis, complete with poles. Eventually we ended up near a park. Eagle Eyes in the front of the stroller spotted it immediately and politely insisted she be let out to play. We turned the LP loose on the playground. It was a really nice playground, complete with large plastic palm trees, slides, a spring-loaded see-saw and other fun things (oh, if only I had remembered the camera...keep using your imagination). Once the three little holy terrors playing there with their weary Nana had left, the LP briefly had the run of it to themselves. We let them play for awhile and then determined it was time to turn around and head back. Naturally there was a meltdown of ear-piercing proportions but we did manage to get both kids in the stroller and turn around.
The walk back seemed to take much longer than the walk there. LP2 decided he had had enough of the stroller so midway through I had to take him out to be carried while Auntie K pushed the stroller and kept LP1 amused. As usual, she did an excellent job. By the time we returned to our cars, we had walked nearly 5 kilometers. Not bad for an after-dinner stroll!
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