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care bears

Look what I dug out of some boxes in the back of the garage. You see, the Little Dude has this little purple Care Bear, Share Bear I believe it is, that a friend of mine gave to him when he was born, back in Montreal. Recently he pulled it out of the back of a cupboard and has become quiet enamoured of it. So yesterday we were talking about what to get for The Baby for his birthday, and L.D. suggested a Care Bear. So we went online to see what other Care Bears there were, and I could not find anywhere where you can buy them new. Apparently they have a TV show, so I'm astounded that there is not accompanying merchandise. But what I did notice was that people were selling vintage Care Bears. "Hm," I thought to myself "I know I've got a few of those kicking around in the back of the garage." So after everyone was tucked in bed I did a little digging and found six of these little plush lovelies just dying to be played with again. That is, after they all had a good wash and spent the night drying by the fire.  Friend Bear and Tender Heart Bear

You may wonder why I had so many Care Bears as a kid. Well, half of these are my brother's, and half are mine. And therefore I decided to call him up and ask him if it was ok to let the boys play with his old toys. (I wanted to avoid the great Space Lego debacle of 1999. Don't ask.) Lotsa Heart Elephant and Swift Heart Rabbit

So I get him on the phone and say, "Hey, remember your old Care Bears?" and he's all like "oh, TenderHeart, Swift Heart Rabbit and Baby Tugs?" And I was all like "Wow, I'm so impressed you know all their names, I can barely remember the names of my own, and he says "you mean, Friend Bear, Baby Hugs and Lotsa Heart Elephant?" And I was all like "DUDE, your long term memory is RIDICULOUS!" Baby Tugs and Baby Hugs

As a side note, if you are his girlfriend and you are reading this, he has no reason EVER to forget your birthday or anniversary. If he can remember the names of his toys from the 80's, he should be able to remember when you started dating. Just sayin'.   So here I am (on the far right) at some point in the mid 80's officiating at the wedding of two of my favourite Teddy Bears. Please note that I am reading the actual form for marriage out of the back of the old Psalter Hymnal. If I was going to do it, I was going to do it right. Also, see how early I was a proponent of women in church office? Some things never change. Anyhow, my point is that there are all the Care Bears (or most of them) in the audience in the living room wedding chapel. And how sweet are my mom and sister, patiently humoring me as they sit through the whole thing no doubt. 

Anyhow, early in the morning today, when it was just me and the Baby up, we went downstairs and after taking these pictures put away all but two of them. I'll save the other four for various rainy days when the Little Dude is in need of a surprise. No need to flood the market as it were.     It also appears that the Baby has made his choice. I think he might get Baby Tugs as a re-gift from his Uncle Lemur Boy at his first birthday.

I waited until after breakfast to give Friend Bear and TenderHeart to L.D. And he was absolutely delighted with them. Along with his little purple bear, they are obviously a family as far as he's concerned.  He sat them all down together, re-united at last.

Then they got sat upon chairs...

...tucked into beds...

...and perched onto ladders. 

And just generally loved up. Though the clear winner by the end of the day is Tenderheart Bear. L.D. has declared that the Baby may have Friend Bear (a clear sign of disfavour) though as I tucked him into bed tonight I noticed that all Care Bears were present and accounted for. Its so funny and nice to see him playing with something that I played with once. Kind of lovely. And I have to say they must have been pretty well made because they washed up like a dream and are as soft and cuddly as ever. 

Special thanks to Uncle Lemur Boy, my little brother, for being so generous with his toys. He always was a good sharer. And it warms my heart to see another little boy loving that little brown bear. 

new toof

The baby has finally cut tooth number eight. Now he has four on the top and four on the bottom and its all symmetrical. Well almost symmetrical. He just cut it of course, so its barely visible. But I realized that what this means is that he will loose this cute off-centerdness that he's had for the last little while, where he makes this one particular face in which he juts his jaw over to the left side and since he has three teeth on the bottom, it makes him look particularly and endearingly lopsided in the dental department. So, so cute. But today I realized that I'm not going to see that off centered little grimace for much longer, so I'd better get a picture of it today. 

Ahem. What I have to show you, is definitely NOT a picture of his off-centered teeth.  It was almost as though he knew what I was trying to take a picture of and he pretty much avoided me, buttoned up his lips and did his best not to smile the whole time I followed him around with the camera. 

Or he'd smile a bit, but not enough to expose his teeth.

Or he'd put his hands in front of his mouth.

This is the closest I got to getting a good picture of his open mouth and therefore, seeing his teeth. Don't worry, he was fine. He just wanted to grab my camera, and I wouldn't let him. And therefore the disappointed cry of woe. I'm telling you, this baby has the saddest cry in the world. And as a side note, I think every parent should take pictures of their kid's 'cry face' as well as all the happy faces and smiles that are documented every day. Its funny how even this sad face of his makes me go "awwww, he's so cute". 

His brother came over to comfort him, in his time of distress, and I thought "what a sweet moment, I've got to get a picture." But it was literally a moment, and this is all I got. Fastest hug in the west. And then his little brother gets tossed aside, as if to say, "ok, you're fine, moving on!"

The Little Dude was much occupied with his own interests, namely all thing Thomas the Tank Engine related. I'd made the mistake of showing him this picture that I found on Pintrest, of some kid's lovely T. the T.E. collection arranged by colour, and sorely regretted it as he wanted to see the image over and over again and wanted to know the names of all of the trains and wanted to make plans to buy all of them. Finally I dug up this old cutlery drawer organizer so he could make up his own display shelf of Thomas Trains.   He calls it his 'lovely display' as in "come and see my lovely display of engines! Which one do you want to buy?" And then we play a modified version of store in which he tells you which one you are allowed to buy and which ones you are not (most of them) then sometimes pretends to give you money for it. We haven't quite grasped the concepts behind consumerism yet. 

Anyhow, back to the Baby and his teeth.   My final strategy was to put sunglasses on him because sunglasses always make him bus a huge grin. However, he always rips them off right away, (smiling all the while) so Hubs had to hold his hands in order to get a picture that was not a blur. And we almost got the lopsided grin. Maybe we'll have to try again tomorrow. 

This would have been very cute had it not been so blurry.

Aw, there it is! Kisses for Daddy. So sweet. 

nipper

We have a new favourite book around here.

It's one that I picked up on a whim while at the library. The comics/ graphic arts section is right next to the quilting/ knitting/ handwork section, and this huge red shiny book kind of jumped out at me. And my favourite thing about libraries is that you can take anything you want. You are not spending money so you never have to justify your choices. You never have to say "am I really going to read this?" or "should I wait for the paperback?" nope. If it looks interesting, my motto is, just go ahead and take it home. 
Plus, this monster of a book was put out by Drawn and Quarterly, and I've enjoyed their work in the past. I must admit, I'd never heard of Doug Wright before. But I am now a huge fan. Its funny to see his work for the first time and yet have this feeling of recognition because it has obviously laid the groundwork for so much of what came after it. Before Calvin and Hobbs, before Bart Simpson, before Stewie, there was a little round headed mischief maker named Nipper. And boy, does that kid get into some trouble.
The Little Dude loves the cartoons. Just loves them. He's sit pouring over the book for, well, at least 15 or 20 minutes at a time (that's a long time for a three year old) and the first few days we had it, it kept him happy and occupied for the entire hour of his quiet time. He also loves to have them 'read' to him, and his most common request these days is "tell me a Nipper story". He loves the trouble that Nipper gets into, and he loves how angry or shocked the mom and dad get. Its very funny. And I must say, I like them too.
Of course, I especially relate to the mom, and I can just feel her panic in the one above here, as she frantically dries her hands and races to see what damage Nipper is doing to the living room with his hockey stick. This made both L.D. and I laugh in particular, because he does this too, but with a big yellow yard stick which he loves to run and get when he can't reach a toy under the couch.  (sorry about the picture quality by the way, the book's format is too big for my scanner, so I took these with my camera on a fairly grey day with an impatient little boy at my elbow who was eager to flip the pages. Which explains the blurring)    I also love how Dough Wright was such a good, honest observer of the parent child relationship. He's not afraid to show the parents being angry with their children's behavior, instead of just being bemused. Trust me, it is very annoying to try and keep a boisterous little boy at the table, and it sucks to have to throw away perfectly good food when no one will eat it. 

And the dynamic between little brother and big brother here is so perfectly rendered. 

There are also a lot of great period details in these strips. For example, Hubs wants to make one of these nice little table/highchairs. 

And note the Cowichan sweater on Dad. Probably knit by Mom from a Mary Maxim pattern. 

I love all the textures and details on the clothing. Doug Wright only did a coloured strip for Christmas, the rest were mostly red white and black.  This is one of my favourites, because it is not so much a joke with a punchline as it is a meditation on the differing priorities of childhood. 

This is another favourite of the Little Dude's of course, since it features all those nice trucks and digger toys. And we're having this exact problem right now, where L.D. spends all his time playing with the Baby's new toys. 

I can relate to this. 

And this one made us laugh and laugh at Valentine's Day. Though I go out of my way to stress what a 'mistake' Nipper made in cutting up his Mama's curtains and how no one should ever, ever do this in real life. ahem.

There are a few strips that I skip when I'm reading to him. There are a lot of little kids beating on other little kids, stuff like that. They were written in the fifties after all. And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there are probably fewer cartoons written nowadays about the inherent humour to be found in beating your kid with a belt. Also, there are a lot of strips that feature b.b. guns quite prominently (which I don't plan in buying for my kid too soon) and also, the generally questionable practices of dressing up as an Indian. Though of course, this strip kills me. The contrast of the look on the mom's face in the first panel and the last panel. Perfect.  Doug Wright did not only draw the Nipper strip, but also did a lot of commercial illustration and magazine covers. 

I absolutely adore all the hats in this picture. 

 I'm so pleased that it jumped off the shelf at me, and that I've spent hours pouring over something this enjoyable with my kid. It sure beats the crap out of Franklin. Anyhow, if you want to know more about Doug Wright, (he's a Montrealer dontcha know) you should get this book.

If we ever return it to the library that is. Maybe you should just buy your own copy.

still sick

Sigh. Are we ever going to get better? I sometimes feel like I'll be attending the Little Dude's High School graduation, and as he walks across the stage to receive his diploma and awards I'll say proudly to the person next to me "That's my son there, the one with the barking cough."

So he had a gastro and high fever for two days last week, and as soon as that was done he segued nicely into a terrible cold that, no big surprise here, developed into a lovely case of croup. And he's had that since Friday night. On a weekend of course. When we cannot get to a doctor unless we go to emergency or the special open-all-the-time walk in clinic. Which we finally did yesterday morning because the night before had been so bad. But naturally, when we finally got to see the doctor, L.D's cough was almost non-existant and he was quiet but chipper. So the doctor said, "well, it seems to be on its way out, and there's no need to treat it."

But then 3:00 am rolls around again and he's coughing and hacking and sounding so grim and awful. And today, the cough is less barky, which is good, but on the other hand it is CONSTANT, which I can't help feeling is bad. And even though its Monday we cannot get in to see a doctor again because is frickin' Family Day, which is a stupid Ontario holiday. I'm sorry, a lovely holiday for most people I'm sure, unless you have a sick kid in which case IT SUCKS. And I'm not going to go and sit in the emergency ward for 2 hours only to get told again that his symptoms are not worth medicating and getting sent home empty handed only to have wasted the day in discomfort. 

So as you can hear, I am a little bit frustrated. 

Being a parent is a great job, until anyone gets sick and then it is just the worst. 

That being said, here are some pictures of my sick kids: Yep, that is one sick kid. Running and having fun. I swear, they are like the car that makes that weird sound until you take it to the mechanic and then it runs perfectly. 

Also, here's the sick baby: These shots were taken during after bath-time hijinks with Daddy time last night. Lots of hilarity and fun. Which is to say that our lives don't constantly suck now that we are sick. Its just bad most of the time, but then there are these occasional fun pockets, which thank goodness for that, or what would be the point?

some stuff you might like

ok, so I'm tired and my back hurts and my little boys are still sick and I have a bit of sewing to get done tonight so I'm just going to leave you with a few links.

This awesome blog I've started reading called Miss Moss. It makes me want to spend an unreasonable amount of time poking around the old posts and learning about new things on the internet. This post alone will be worth it. 

One of those things is the illustrator Sophie Blackall, who makes these beautiful watercolour paintings that are illustrations of the missed connection posts on craigslist. If that doesn't make any sense to you, watch this little video about her work, and it will all become clear. Also, she draws/paints people on the subway. I've always wanted to do this, but I can't draw. But seeing her do it makes me feel very, very happy for some reason. 

Also, for those of you who like to see something that could just be schmaltzy taken to a new level, there's this site called Moment Junkie where people send in their outstanding and unusual wedding photos. Not your typical bride and groom shots. More like this instead. So great. Pages and pages of them. Prepare to waste a bit of time. 

right, gotta go sew. And then sleep. Hopefully. 

unpleasantness and a shop update

ergh, what a day. The Baby is almost better, but of course, today the Little Dude came down with what the baby had, and there was one memorable moment where I'm sitting in the bathroom with both of them on separate potties, and both of them crying that their tummies hurt. Yep, diarrhea all around. Poor little guys. And poor you that you had to read that, but hey, it's a mommy blog, you had to expect to read about poop sometime. 

Anyhow, my mom came over with medicine and books about trains and totally saved my bacon as I dealt with a feverish and sad little boy who did not want to nap, but ended up napping finally and was much the better for it.

So, I'm tired, and need to go to bed because odds are that we are not going to have a 'silent night' and I want to be well rested for when I'm woken up. 

Also, I spent a little time updating my etsy shop this evening, and (due to popular demand) will be adding more Star Wars bibs as the week goes on.

happy valentine's day

This is how we celebrated the day of Love.  With chocolate of course!

The Baby of course, knew nothing of what was going on today, nor did he care. He's still a little on the cranky side from being sick. The Little Dude however was definitely into it. He was happy with at the thought of cupcakes, and very happy at the thought of little m&m's. He was his usual not-very-helpful, helpful self as we baked. He put cupcake liners into the tins, and then threw them all out again. He sifted icing sugar very slowly. And then he held the hand mixer for me when we made the icing. Then he leaned on the edge of the counter and almost fell off the chair he was standing on, knocking down the cookbook I was using in the process. Didn't hurt himself, but had a bit of a scare and needed hugging. And then while I was cleaning up after the fallen cookbook and scattered paper liners etc. He climbed back up on the chair and started the beaters up again, but they were at an angle and he splattered icing everywhere. As he was doing this I was telling him, very urgently to stop. When I stopped him and asked rhetorically and with a bit of frustration what he was doing, he truthfully told me "I was ignoring." 

sigh. So basically he would not do anything I asked him to, but insisted on doing anything that I asked him not to. That's pretty much the definition of three-and-a-half, right?

We finally managed to get those cupcakes in the oven and there was a batter bowl left to lick out. Which is really his strong suit. Yeah, that is a picture of ALL TEN of his chocolate batter covered fingers in his mouth at the same time. First he rubs them vigorously around in the bowl and then he rubs like a crazy little crack addict in his mouth. Seriously, he rubs his gums. There is chocolate everywhere by the time he's done. 

I had big plans for later in the day to make a card for Daddy using this technique I saw on lilla a design where you let your kids use their fingers to stamp a heart. Very cute. (This one would have worked well too) But he absolutely refused to do it. Why? Because I wanted him to probably, but the reason he gave me was that he "didn't want to get his hands dirty". Hunh. Please see above photo and feel free to roll your eyes. Lord knows I did.  And in further surprising and contradictory developments, he did NOT want the cupcake with the m&m's on them when it finally rolled around to the end of lunch time when he was allowed to eat them. He chose a plain iced one instead. Though I suppose it was smarter, because the plain ones had more icing. 

GranGran joined us for lunch and forever cemented her place in his heart by bringing him not one, but TWO 'face trains' as he calls the Thomas and Friends toy trains. Cupcakes and trains, this kid could not have been happier. 

He almost had to unhinge his jaw to fit it, but he managed. 

And it was all worth it, especially when Hubs came home and was presented with a cupcake and a handmade card (we finally agreed on a stamping method that would not dirty his hands, using old thread spools to stamp a heart). Hubs was so pleased and surprised that it was worth all the mess, clean-up and mess again. 

Happy Valentines day to all of you. Here's to the beautiful mess that it is. 

sewing break

Hey everyone, sorry I won't have time for my usual too wordy, too many photographs of the same thing post today. I've got a lot of sewing/making to do these days. I've had a lot of contacts lately, where people have randomly been e-mailing me, or phoning me, or convo-ing me to ask me to make things. Which is awesome, really, as making things is, you know, kind of my thing.
Anyhow, I'm working towards a big shop update on etsy, and have been sewing my butt off in between bouts of dealing with my not-very-happy but only slightly sick baby, and his not-very-forgiving-of-baby-interference older brother. Suffice it to say that my normally emotionally resiliant baby is disolving into tears every time his big brother shouts, "no! NO! DON'T let him TOUCH my TRAINS!". Normally it doesn't phase him in the least, but he's probably got a bit of a headache and is not so into being shouted at. Suffice it to say, its all taking longer than usual. But it'll get done. Tomorrow the Baby will probably be feeling better than today, and possibly the Little Dude will be feeling full of the milk of human kindness, or at the very least, willing to share his less favourite train.

Oh, and in random news, there was a coyote in the valley awhile ago.     I took this not very good photo of him, and wanted to share it with you even though I forgot about it on the day that it happened. But I was reminded of it today because we've been seeing a lot of red-tailed hawks in the valley too. Its predator season I guess. We saw the hawk swoop down and catch something, and then he sat in a tree on the other side of the valley and ate it for, like, the whole morning. 

erm, on that note, Happy Valentines Day! 

the sweetest thing

Our Baby has a new move. A new skill. A new heart melting little maneuver that never fails to make me glow with happiness. 

The Baby has learned how to give hugs.  Neither of my boys are big cuddlers. They don't dislike contact, but it is usually, brief. They have stuff to do. Toys to gnaw on. Dead flies to poke at. Trains and cars and tractors to 'brmmm' around at a feverish pace. Book to de-shelve. Laundry to throw out of hampers. Drawers to empty. Castles to build. And then knock down. The list goes on. And nowhere on that list seems to be 'linger around on Mommy's lap for cuddles.' More like 'scale Mommy like a small mountain'. Not until they have the attention span for story time, and then they'll sit on my lap all day, as long as I keep the books coming. Also, now that the Little Dude is old enough to stall at bedtime, he is not above requesting "one more hug!" and specifying that it be "a sittin' up hug". Very sneaky. 

But the Baby is not so cuddly. He enjoys nursing of course, but is often an active and quick eater, who likes to get a good fist pump going on with his free hand when he's enjoying his milk. So the fact that he has learned how to cuddle/hug is so, so lovely. Here's how it works. He'll be in your arms, all freshly sleepered after a bath at the end of a long and busy day, and if you say "Where's my hug" in the right sort of sing-song-y voice, he lays he sweet little head down on your shoulder and lets himself be hugged by you.  Now that I think about it, this was also the way that the Little Dude learned to hug when he was a baby. That sort of lean in, allowing himself to be hugged thing. And I remember that when he got older, we'd have to specify that we wanted 'a hug with arms', if we wanted to be hugged back. That's not necessary any more of course. Now that he's a big three-and-three-quarters year old, he barrels up to you with a full on, boa constrictor around the neck both arms squeezer hug that I love so much. 

But this sweet soft little gesture from Our Baby... it is so, so lovely. There is not a single time that he does it that I don't just treasure the feeling.

Hubs took these pictures for me before the weekend. Today the image would be somewhat different as our sweet Baby is a little under the weather. He's working a virus through I think, and there has been some unfortunate raspberry puke, and lots of crying and general unhappiness. The poor little guy. And there have been less hugs. But just before I put him to bed tonight, he sighed and laid his weary little slightly feverish head on my shoulder and just let himself be hugged and hugged, till his breathing became the measured sound of sleeping, wherein hopefully his body will find the healing it needs to be back to his happy rambunctious self soon. 

highs and lows

Today's parenting low point: Grimly persisting with brushing my three-and-a-half year old's teeth while he cried at the top of his lungs. (he wasn't crying about the toothbrushing, he was crying because I wanted him to sit inside on the steps while I did it, as opposed to standing in the cold garage/boot room) Surprisingly, it was actually easier to brush said teeth whilst he cried, than brushing his teeth normally is. His mouth was open the whole time, (he was wailing, after all) and his focus on the crying/injustice being done to him, made it seem as though he hardly noticed my dental ministrations. 

Today's parenting high point: Watching from around the corner while the Little Dude played a spirited game of peek-a-boo over the edge of the play pen with The Baby, as they mirrored each other crouching down and popping up over opposite sides of the play pen, one in, one out, L.D. happily shouting "peek-a-boo!" while The Baby squealed with laughter each and every time. It is so lovely to see them playing together, and not just along side each other. I'm telling you, this Baby loves to laugh, and especially loves to laugh with another person. Sometimes he'll crawl over to you, pull himself up your leg, and start to chortle, just to hear you laugh back to him it seems. And it always works, who can resist a laughing baby. 

And so it is. 

ps: the above photo is of a scene that L.D. created with some play dough and the little tiny contraband animals he's not allowed to play with when the Baby is around. Total choking hazard, so I put them away. But of course, L.D. found them. I swear, he has radar sometimes. 

*also note, that I eventually stopped brushing L.D's teeth, we talked about the bad situation, and had hugs and wiped away all the tears. So its all good. Someday he can talk about it with his therapist. For $75 bucks and hour I don't want him sitting there with nothing to say when they ask him "tell me about your muzza."