Colour in our lives

It's a beautiful sunny morning and Brendan is busy colouring at the kitchen table. We found some super "silky" crayons at Hot Toads recently and Brendan has been using them almost non stop since they were opened. I have no idea how they are made- most likely a petroleum product but they go on the paper so smoothly and the colours are wonderful. I'm hoping to pick up some beeswax crayons in Montreal next week to give them a go too.
We've been doing a few crafts to take to Montreal with us for Granny and Grandad and the cousins. Brendan now tells me what he is "drawing" such as birds, the "sun coming up", trees, daddy and "daddy going work red jeep fly helicopter".
We've also taken the winter things off the season table and tree and I'm starting to think about spring. I don't really want to jump the gun- I think we had a couple of snow storms later than this last year. Our indoor tulips are doing better than expected and the crab apple branches are opening up, although the timing isn't very good as we'll likely miss the best of the blossoms when we are away next week. The seedlings are doing well and our neighbour will be looking after them while we're away.
We haven't noted Brendan's favourites for a while. Bears seem to be a theme.
-Books read almost every day include Old Bear, Bear's New Friend and We're going on a Bear Hunt (with the story on CD)- He likes to watch me act it out along with the CD but doesn't usually join in, which is odd as he loves acting out other scenes and pretending to be things.
-His stuffed bear ever since his friend Grace stayed the night with her teddy bear.
-Hiding the schleich brown bear in the pile of clean laundry.
-Pocoyo and fruit salad by the wiggles on you tube.
-Playing in the sandbox on the deck (a mixture of flour, rice, wheatgerm and lentils)
-Playing with water in a bucket.
-Covering pages with colour until it turns black.
-Naming the colours of the bunting flags, crayons, his toys, anything.
-Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream! (We mix fruit with frozen yogurt)
- Any type of pasta with sauce.
-We've made a smoothie nearly every day this week.
-"Make cookies" is a regular request.
-Playing "smackdown" with daddy.
-He loves to interact with Tadhg- he shows him things, puts blankets on him, makes him smile, takes his boots off, strokes his head and ocassionally sits on him.

And there's so much more... I love this age. He's a very cheerful little soul who chats away to people and loves to be outside. Our occasional altercations are usually about hitting, pushing and shouting "no!" and "Go away!" but he is starting to understand I think. He's actually getting pretty good at sharing and taking turns but there's a long way to go yet :)

And Tadhg's favourites?
-Bouncing on your lap to various horsey tunes and rhymes.
-Having his nappy changed.
-Daddy carrying him 'just so' in his arms, facing out.
-Eating milk and smiling at his mummy while he eats.

That belly button thing he does

I haven't listed Brendan's favourites for a while now so here goes...
His favourite book is Ruby and the Noisy Hippo, or just "Ruby Hippo". He reads it aloud himself using mimes and actions, such as the monster running home crying and knocking on the wall for a "bang, bang, bang" noise, as well as words like when the Hippo shouts "It's me, Hippo!".
Other books read on most days include My Dad is Great, Each, Peach, Pear, Plum and Lost and Found about a friendship between a boy and a penguin "gangan".
His favourite songs are Howdi Do and Bling, Blang, both by Woody Guthrie which we sing as we read the books Uncle Phil gave him. He also like Lollipop or "nuddy, bup" by Mika thanks to Nicky playing it umpteen times in the UK:)
What else? His favourite friends are Mya, "Eminy" and "Toria". When we get in the car he wants to go to playgroup which sounds like "gay goop" or play on the slide or "Ki".
I almost forgot, more a habit than a favourite thing, Brendan constantly plays with his belly button.
Favourite foods? Bread jumps to mind but he still pretty much eats anything, except he may be going off fruit a bit- he prefers to peel his own tangerine and then throw or squash the pieces instead of eating them.
Lastly, his favourite person is definitely his daddy! He talks about him nonstop, saying daddy is at "wok", in the car, in a "pane, sky" or "highcot, sky" and exclaiming "daddy home" when he comes in the door.

The month of March.

What else have we been up to? A few girls and I have started a book group and have had two meetings so far. We all live within a few streets of each other so it's really just a chance to get together and have a few glasses of wine and chat. I can recommend The Kite Runner if anyone is looking for a good read.

We've had a few days/nights out. Went to the St. Patrick's Day "Stew and Brew" celebrations in the Fredericton Market building for some green beer and fairly bland stew. Good fun was had by all though. Brendan had on a pair of proper shoes for the first time and refused to walk even an inch. It was as though they were made of cement. He has since taken a few steps in a different pair so we should be alright for Cuba.
This photo was taken by a fairly well known Fredericton blogger and included in his blog. This is us with Shane, Amy and Andre at the Stew and Brew.
The Multicultural Association of Fredericton put on an event also at the market. Some international food offerings and lots of entertainment. There was an excellent teenage band of fiddlers and some entertaining Irish dancers. Still looks silly to me.
Everything, I mean everything, closes on Good Friday here so we called up some friends for an impromptu afternoon tea party. Steve and I kicked everyone's butts at scrabble (it was a definite fluke).
Went for dinner for a friend's birthday. Shane made a yummy lamb curry. Brendan and their wee one Andre played till they dropped. Shane and Amy are two of the few people we've met here who like to eat interesting food and try new things as much as we do. We've had them round for haggis, neeps and tatties this month too.
Steve and I managed to get out on a date. Ryan and Jen babysat to get in a bit of practice before their baby arrives in a few months. Brendan was still up when we got in at 10.30 though. Sleeping is not one of his favourite things at the moment.
What else? Cancelled our TV subscription because we don't watch it because it is mostly rubbish. Siobhan has made a couple of different baby carrying devices. If they weren't so fiddly and time consuming I might try to sell some. Our typical day at the moment includes watching the squirrels eat from our bird feeder, feeding the fish, going for a walk to the park or to Amy's, "doing the duck" with Boogie Beebies (his only telly watching), reading numerous books, eating a lot of food, throwing a lot of food on the floor and going into town a couple of times a week to the library or to meet up with someone.

Brendan's favourites at the moment include learning parts of the body and doing "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" and other actions to the "Sticky kids" music. Toys of the month are blocks and fridge magnets. He likes to try to stick them on the wall and then laugh like crazy when they don't stick and fall on the floor. Favourite books include Babies on the Move and various flap books. He likes nose rubbing, eating cheese and grapes, climbing on the futon with a good book and coming into mummy and daddy's bed at 5 or 4 or 3 in the morning. Arrghhhh.
No, we love it really!

Still breastfeeding about 5 times in 24 hours but hoping to cut that back a bit when we get back from Cuba. We want to be able to ask Granny and Grandad to babysit for a while so that they can have fun without us around and Steve and I can have a day doing something. Not sure what yet.

busy busy buses

We had a very busy week and went into town three times on the bus. Brendan absolutely loves the bus and gets very excited pointing out all the cars and buses on the road and shouting caaa, caaa, ba, ba. We went to the library three times for different reasons and have met some stay at home mums who are not going back to work like all the other friends we've made so far. So we have a playgroup lined up with them.
Brendan is walking well already and is very stable. We can't believe how quickly he has taken to it. His first attempt was 7 steps taken 5 days ago and already he walks all the way around the room and can stop and start and turn and stamp his foot. He dances whenever he hears a beat and finds it hysterical!
He is currently playing his favourite joke on me. He puts his head down on something and pretends he is going to sleep and then sits up and laughs loudly at me as if to say, "ha ha, only joking, I'm wide awake and loving your attention".

Favourite things at the moment? Playing follow the leader around the house. Hasn't got the hang of being the leader yet- if we try he just turns around towards us and laughs. Steve and I are a little bored of Snappy Little Splashers. I think we read it at least ten times today. Other favourite is Tails. Also bananas, grapes (as ever) apples, buses, cars and bigger kids.

Steve has started his distance learning University course. So far, so good. He booked flights today for us to go to Edmonton in a few weeks.

Busy week

We've had a busy week. Steve's birthday, three Christmas parties, Mya's baptism, two playgroups, a school concert, ice skating, dinner with Steve's colleagues and a French test for Siobhan. We've also managed a little bit of shopping and Brendan and I made some Christmas cards that involved making a big mess with paper and paint. Brendan and I enjoyed squeezing oranges, drinking the juice and getting very sticky from head to toe. This was quickly followed by a fun bath playing with giant ice cubes with toys frozen inside them as they melted in the hot water.

Brendan's favourite things at the moment include the books That's not my dragon and Dear Zoo, going "quack, quack" when we talk about ducks, playing with light switches, standing up in the bath, crawling through tunnels and emptying drawers and cupboards.

I'm writing this because I just want to have a record of some of the things we get up to and I haven't been very good at writing in the diary recently.