Another Fun and Lazy Day at Home

Tomorrow Hazel will be one month old. We're slowly trying to get back to normal, which, for Lennon and me, means playing together all morning long. Today we painted, drank hot chocolate with tons of whipped cream that we spooned off of the top then re-squirted, read some stories while I fed the baby, trimmed our bangs, giggled in the shower.

Our typical day has no dates or appointments, so just as long as we have lunch/nap and bedtime on schedule, we get to take our sweet time in everything we do.

Zoo

Lennon and I love the zoo. Not just because we love to watch the animals, but also because at the zoo Lennon can RUN. She goes from exhibit to exhibit, stopping just long enough for me to catch up with her and do a little bit of viewing myself. We have annual passes for the second year in a row so we go pretty often. It's the place I head to when we just need to get outside for a day.

Yesterday was Hazel's first visit. Lennon and I packed up our bento boxes and found her zoo key, then the three of us headed to the city.

We met my parents there.

And Auntie L with "Baby Cousin".

And Uncle D, who is the fastest red wagon driver ever.

It was a beautiful day in the city: sunny, but cool enough for a sweater (and no wind!). As always, we saw some animals, got some exercise, and had tons of fun.

My Girls

Ian and I make beautiful children.




(please remember that these photos are for viewing purposes only. thanks!)

Hazel Winter

Hazel is here! Lennon's baby sister was born on Friday afternoon. After she was born we were surprised to find out that she has Down Syndrome. She and I had to stay in the hospital until Monday afternoon so the doctors could run a number of tests on her. There is still quite a bit of testing to be done, but so far she seems to be very healthy. She is a champion nurser, which is often a concern for DS babies. She is so beautiful and so sweet. We are all very much in love already, especially Lennon who wants to smother her baby with kisses 24 hours a day.

Now that we're home I'm planning on getting Lennon back into our daily routine (obviously with a few changes). Before this long hospital stay the two of us had only spent one night apart, so right now we need to have some quality time together.

I'll be sure to let everyone know when we're up to having visitors and playdates again, but for now we're going to be keeping everything lowkey. To those who already knew about little Hazel: thank you for being so discreet over the weekend so Ian and I could have a few days to wrap our minds around all of this.

It's December

Today is the first of December, which means it's time for Lennon's advent calendar! This year I was able to find some tiny boxes so most of the gifts are wrapped nicely instead of being crumpled messes squeezed into the cubby holes.

Go Fly a Kite!

Ian and I bought Lennon 2 new kites for her birthday. Today she and I went to the beach to fly one. The wind was perfectly steady and she was able to fly the kite all by herself!

Toys!

I spent some time today and yesterday trying to make space for all of Lennon's (awesome!) birthday gifts. In doing so I realize that this kid has WAY too many toys and there are a few that are just plain junk. I always thought that there was no such thing as having too many books. I was wrong. It turns out there are as many crap children's books as there are crap toys. It's becoming too difficult for her to keep her play areas neat and she seems to be getting overwhelmed with having too many things around. Therefore: out with the (tons of) old and in with the (fewer, but better quality) new!

In the past I have been accused of being a control freak because I don't like Lennon to have certain types of toys. Mainly toys with bright lights and lots of sounds. I must admit that when she has gotten toys like this as gifts I let her play with them until the batteries run out, then tell her they are broken. I guess I have let people assume that I do this because the toys are "annoying". If this were the case would I seek out and give her drums, harmonicas, xylophones, etc? No. The reason is because I want her to play with things that will inspire her to be creative, use her imagination, and that she can play with alone or with friends (once we work on sharing a bit more). Instead of poking a button and waiting to see what her toy will do next, she gets to prepare us a pretend meal, sell us some books from her store, take care of her babies, cut out little bits of paper and glue them to a bigger piece of paper (her favorite activity!), hear classic, stories and then flip through the book and retell the story in her own words. She fixes everything with her tool kit and heals owies with her doctor kit. For Christmas we gave her three different sized playsilks and I cannot even begin to list the many things Lemon has imagined them to be.

I have also been called a control freak because I prefer that she doesn't get a constant stream of gifts. It's difficult for her to really appreciate when people give her gifts on special occasions when there's really no break from the receiving throughout the year. Fortunately, sometimes when she plays with a toy (or looks at a book, or puts on an article of clothing) she will ask me who gave it to her, and when I tell her she thinks about it for awhile and tells me how nice it was for the person to give it to her. She also has started to really appreciate things that were handmade just for her.

So, YES!, call me a control freak! But, know that I make these limits because I love my daughter. (I found this article about children being overwhelmed by toys.)