Prisoner....of love.

Jem: here Mama (hands me his snuggly), you can snuggle my snuggly if you like.
Me: Jem, thank you! Do you know what my favourite snuggly is?
Jem: What?
Me: It's you! My little Jem is my favourite thing to snuggle.
Jem: I'm not your snuggly, I'm your prisoner.

Babes in the wood

The gun issue.

I always had a vague concern that if I ever had a boy, he would love guns, and then what would I do about that? I knew I was never going to be that mom who gave her kids fake guns for toys. Oh, and also my kids were not going to watch TV, and we all know where that went…down the Disney drain!

But one morning there was sweet little Jem sitting at the breakfast table making a gun out of a piece of toast, then out of Lego, my tripod, out of ANYTHING. Since that day, he’s had a weapon in each hand as soon as he toddles out of his room in the morning. Violet has watched exactly the same programs and read the same books as Jem, and has never had even a remote interest in weapons (unless it’s a means to irritate him).

So, I was worried. I stressed about how to break this fascination. I cringed when the mothers in the park would raise their eyebrows when my little boy held up a stick and says “see my rifle?! I’m gonna shoot things!”. Just like I used to do.

One day I asked him "what comes out of guns?"and he said "shooting juice!". We talked about it and talked about it- guns hurt and kill people, and I don’t like them. It changed nothing. I have decided to stop worrying about it, since oddly enough it has nothing to do with killing and hurting. I'm not actually sure what he thinks he's doing when he shoots something.

There’s nothing I can do except lay the rules about where he can point his weapons, and decline to play guns with him when he asks. It’s a bit sad, because my stance makes him try to endear guns to me, “See Mama, this is a nice gun! I’m a nice bad guy! I’m not going to shoot you in the face!” So sweet.

I'm saying "I" a lot because this doesn't bother Jesse whatsoever. Jesse makes him Lego guns.

When he’s older his Uncle Max can teach him about hunting and responsible weapon ownership, but for now I’m just going to let him play.

Peace out.

Late breaking news.

Last night, about 20 minutes after I had put Jem to bed...

Jem: MAMA! Mama! I need you!.....MAAAMAAAA!
Me (running into his room): Yes Jem, I'm here!
Jem: ...I like popcorn.

Jemmies & Violets

I feel like I've been posting a lot about Jem lately. He's at a stage were pretty much everything that comes out of his mouth is cute. He's been trying to convince me that we should plant some "Jemmies", since he discovered that Violet has flowers growing in the garden named after her. I asked him what Jemmies looked like, and he said "yummy white flowers, and yellow too". Speaking of yummy (vegetarians, avert your eyes!), what's a boy to do when his fork is sticky and his hands are covered in sauce? EAT WITH HIS FACE. Violet continues to evade answers about school and draws pretty much non-stop. We're trying to keep her motivated to keep practicing her reading, but if she decides she's not going to do it, she's not doing it.
Violet is always planning her next birthday party. Every time we walk by the cake section of the grocery store, she says "oh! I want that one with the clowns...oh, no, I want the one with the princesses....no! the pink roses one...Mom, can I have the one with the little ice cream cones on it again?". Now that her party is actually in sight (only two months away!) she's been training me on some dialogue that will come off as witty banter between us during her birthday party. I've forgotten exactly how it goes (because one has to tune out some of the birthday talk around here to stay sane), but she gets to say "nope-ity, nope-ity, nooooo!" at the end. I'm sure it will be funny, and I'll make sure to learn my lines for the important day.
Here she is trying on a dress from Libby for Max & Angies's wedding this summer, where she will be the most enthusiastic flower girl anyone has ever seen. She looks so grown up!As soon as I rustle up the video of her performing for Jesse's high school's talent show, I will post it. She was amazing. She sang into a microphone in front of 800 people, danced, and blew the crowd a kiss when she was finished. A true performer.

On becoming a snuggly

We left Jem's snuggly in Toronto, and only realized this calamity when we came home. His snuggly was one of my old maternity t-shirts, stretched out and worn, that he holds it to his face as he falls asleep.
Tonight I offered him another one of my t-shirts instead. I was nervous. Would he accept this substitute? He thought about it, held it for a while, smelled it thoughtfully, and said:
You gave me a t-shirt into my arms, and I feeled it, and I smelled it, and now it's a snuggly!
And he went to sleep.
. . . . . . . .
72 hours of sugar and sunshine (or, Easter weekend, as some might call it):
Violet ensures an even distribution of treats the Easter Bunny hid in the garden.

The booty in the basket.Cupcakes by Teta Peach, enjoyed by all.Jem eats the top off of everything first (even toast).and then bring on the crazy (I mean Violet, not my family in the background).

Deep Dark Jem

I've been terrifying the kids with the story that starts "In the deep, dark, forest...". They scream, laugh, tell me to stop, and then beg me to tell it again. It's good fun. We turned the camera on Jem and asked him for his version.




Transcript:
In the deep dark forest, there was deep, dark, house.
There was deep, dark, basement.
There was darkmantles*....everywhere.
There was spiders, crawling on the bones.
There was....a hair cutting place**.
There was a crow cutting haircuts!

*from the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual that he loves to read.
**Jem gets pretty worried even walking past a hair salon.

One of each

Jem crawled in to our bed one morning a few days ago. He was lying there for a while, then turned to me and said "Mama, I like you...you're....different".
Violet's job is to feed the cat, and she does it with enthusiasm. She'll often give Ruby her scoop, but then skip away, leaving the entire container of food on the floor. I was in the kitchen for this teachable moment:
Me: Violet, put the food away
Violet: OK! I'll do it!
Me: It's that when it's in the middle of the kitchen...
Violet (interrupting): LAME!

I'm bragging here

Look like anyone you know? Yes, this is me as a princess.

Violet is an artist - and I mean a 'crumple-the-paper-in-despair-then-throw-your-marker-when-things- aren't-working-out-with-the-mermaid's hair-and-declare-you-don't-love-anyone-anymore, "even you, Mama!" kind of artist'. I'm so proud. She's always drawing. She doesn't just make a birthday card for someone, she makes 6 birthday cards.
Some highlights from February:

She dreams of summer flowers in our garden.
Our family walking hand in hand. She likes to write the name of the subject about their heads. Her penmanship is so neat for 4 years old. That's an exclamation mark after Jem's name.
A girl goes for a stroll with her cat. Jem is not at all interested in drawing. He prefers to use crayons as drumsticks or weapons - his media is Lego, and is equally amazing in his own way, but that's a post for another day...

Well, this explains a lot.

Tucking Jem in bed last night....

Me: Goodnight Jem!
Jem: Mama, I have little robots in my ears.
Me: Oh, neat. What do they do?
Jem: They tell me not to fight.
Me: That sounds like a good thing.
Jem: But, they're broken....

Helmet head

Know what the problem with having sporty friends is? They make you feel lazy. Especially if you are lazy. I had lunch with a friend a couple of weeks ago. She has kids the same age as Violet and Jem, and she was discussing the skiing lessons, skating and snowshoeing that they were up to. It made me realize that we haven't introduced the kids to any winter sports. Oh sure, we randomly push them into snow banks now and then, but most of their outdoor time is spent running from the front door to the car.
No longer.
We have a magnificent park in the backyard with a skating rink.
So let's do it! Skates all around! Helmets on! Sticks on the ice!Violet was enthusiastic about skating (even though her skates were not pink!). Skating is a bit of a cruel sport for those with little padding around the bones, but she's a trouper.
Jem liked the hockey stick part the best, and never actually wanted to put his skates on. He spent most of the time trying to climb up the slide the wrong way. Good thing he loves to wear helmets.

So it was fun, and then we came in for hot chocolate.
We did it!
The question is, will we do it again?

...and warm wollen nittens

Me: Jem, what do you put on your hands when we go outside?
Jem: Nitts.
Me: Nitts, or do you mean mitts?
Jem: Nitts!
Me: What are mitts then?
Jem: Umm...they're sorta like nitts.

Cheesus

While driving by a church with a statue of Mary on the lawn....

Violet: Hey! That's a church!
Me: How did you know that?
Violet: There's a box with Jesus on it on the lawn.
Jem: Where's the box of cheese?!

Christmas photos

We started the party off in Toronto making cookies with Nana. Jem just ate the sprinkles in a thoughtful way.Christmas dinner at our place - lots of lovely people in silly hats.
Christmas morning. I didn't take a picture of the tree with the presents under it....the number of gifts was embarrassing.Jem's initiation to Lego. I foresee these two spending many an hour in this manner.
Quiet Christmas morning fun. Violet started reading over the holidays!
The Torontonians came all the way to us, even after we left our colds behind when we were there. My Mom helped us with the burden of the Boxing Day crossword.Alexandra made the most amazing costumes for the kids. Here is Sir Jem, Knight of the Snack Table.Even Uncle Tim was here! He has a great laid back approach to spending time with the kids. Jesse had to revive him with some 'medicine'.Happy New Year!

For the love of cake

While driving to the grocery store this weekend.

Violet: What's Canada?
Me: It's the country where we live.
Violet: But were IS it?
Me: It's land, like the ground, all the way from here to where Nina and Rhea live.
Violet: Oh..but then what's Canada Day?
Me: It's the day we celebrate when Canada became a country. Like a birthday.
Violet: But we didn't have cake!
Me: People don't usually have cake for Canada Day.
Violet: but...couldn't we throw some cake at the flag or something?

Vacation

Last Saturday I came home after two weeks spent traveling and visiting in B.C. I traveled alone - what a luxury! Yes, I have an amazing husband...and an amazing Oma, Grandpa and Aunt Lolo, who stepped in to make my absence easier. It's not like I really do anything around here anyway.

I met my niece Hanna for the first time, all of eight weeks old, and fell totally in love. It only took about 5 seconds to capture all these different expressions in the montage below. I don't think I've met a wigglier baby, but she's also pretty relaxed. Nina is an amazing mother, and doesn't let just having had a baby stop her from doing a craft show, making us amazing meals, and driving us around Gabriola and Nanaimo. It was good to spend time with her and remind ourselves how similar we are.Rhea and Winter made the trip to Gabriola Island to spend some time with us. Winter is the coolest little girl. We had many baby dance parties. How I wish we all lived closer together! Being an Aunt is the best.
No matter how much fun I was having, two little shadows were always missing from my day. There was nothing quite like seeing these faces waiting for me when I got off the train.

Jem. Sweet, so snuggly, and argumentative.
"Hey Jem, this weekend you and Violet and Nana are going make cookies and have a tea party!"
"No, we're not. I'm going to make bananas and Violet and Nana are going to pick flowers."
Violet. So bright, and always drawing, dancing and making up songs. I called everyday while I was away, and she'd run to the phone and yell "HELLO?! MAMAAAA!" The day before I came home she said "Mama, you're going be so happy when you see all the drawings I done for you. Not even happy, you're going to be thrilled!" And I was.
The Captain of My Heart, Mr. Jesse Bee Handsome. Happily taking care of our children while I go on holiday is one of the nicest things he's ever done for me. A new face, kitten Ruby. Elsa went missing just before Thanksgiving and we're hoping she found a deserving family with a house full of warm radiators. Ruby is a most excellent kitten, although Jem is still doubtful of her. He's suspicious of her purr, and will occasionally suggest we take her back to the Hume Society and get another cat.

Good to be home.

Typical.

Dinner Time

I've missed some significant events that I've been meaning to blog about.
Thanksgiving. Jem's first real bed (which we're setting up in the picture below), and the arrival of Hanna, another beautiful niece to add to my collection of beautiful nieces.
In time, I hope to catch up and post some photos. My work has been busy. Good for me, bad for blogging.
Till then, it's the funny tidbits that will have to do.

"Jem, come sit at the table, it's dinner time."
"no."
Jem, dinner time, please come sit with us."
"...is it lobster?"

Little Jems

Jem, while drawing yesterday:
"Mama, you want me to draw a black horse?"
"Sure Jemmy, that sounds nice"
He looks at the crayon in his hand and the scribbles on the page for a while....
"Mama, can you say no?"
- - -

Jem, while hugging Violet
"See Mama, I'm not hitting Violet!"

Hey! Look Here! A Long Post!

I finally weaned Jem a few months before his second birthday. What finally made me want to really stop for real this time was that during an ultrasound (due to - surprise! - some pain I'd been having in a breast) the technician asked me how long I had been nursing. I answered. She exclaimed "Well now, you have been nursing for two years! That is why your breast is sore!"....which turned out to be true, thankfully. That, and I also became that mother who's kid runs up to her at a dinner party, tries to lift up her shirt and says "I want boobies!" and points to the side that he wants. True story.

I was worried that Jem, my baby, my little buttercup treasure of sweetness and sensitivity, would take it hard. But he didn't. He's replaced it with one of my t-shirts clutched in his soft little hands and pressed to his face at naps and bedtime. Not just any t-shirt - it must be one that I have worn recently. Last night I tried to give him a freshly laundered one, and he sent it back like an overcooked steak. At one point he was actually holding on to three shirts at a time, but thankfully he's down to one again. The only part that kinda weirds me out is that he'll just come up to me and say "that's a nice t-shirt, Mama" or "I like your t-shirt, Mama", like he expects me to take it off and hand it to him immediately. That would be a good one for a dinner party.

Last weekend was his big 2 birthday party. I've been trying to get him to tell people he's two now, but he is confident that he's still 1, and there is just no way to argue with him about that. The stubborn is strong in this one.

He was very serious about opening his presents.

At Jem's request, I had made a "bulldodozezer chocolate cake"

He blew out his candles all by himself, although Violet was at ready should he require her superior candle blowing skills. Actually, she showed remarkable restraint*.

Rejecting his fork, he ate his piece of cake with the shovel of the bulldozer.

That was pretty funny.In other news:

Violet was getting a little jealous of Jem's birthday cards and wishes.

"That card says Jem is the sweetest boy in the world?"
"Yes, it does"
"But am I the sweetest girl in the world?"
"Yes, of course you are!"
"What about I'm the sweetest girl in the UNIVERSE?".

* The best idea I've ever had was to give her a little instant camera to take pictures during his party. It really kept her happy. Much to my delight, she is developing an interest in photography.This was her first full week of school and taking the bus. She loves it.
She gets her backpack ready early and eagerly walks to her stop.This was her only moment of hesitation before getting on that big bus all by herself for the first time. She twirled a fall leaf in her fingers for a few seconds,
and then she was headed up those steps.

I thought I would be sad about Violet going to school, but I'm not really. I'm so happy for her that she likes it. She was ready for some new challenges. Anyway, this ushers in an exciting new era of quiet afternoons. Jem still sleeps for a couple of hours, Violet is at school, and I have time to update the blog!
Win, win, win.