A Couple of Firsts

1) Declan and I baking together for the first time.

2) Declan running full speed along the blacktop behind what will be his school in two years. Ran about 50 meters full out. He was so proud of himself (but no more than Mommy and Daddy were of him).

Hugs and Discoveries

Declan was at Kelly's today. As per normal routine Daddy picked him up. While Daddy was talking to Kelly Declan walked past, opened the door and walked outside to wait for Daddy on the front porch. Kelly responded to Daddy's look of surprise with "oh ya, he can open the door himself." Good Daddy that he is he made Declan walk back inside and say "bye" to the other kids and say "thank you" to Kelly.

When I got home from work and was standing at the front door fumbling for my key I could hear Declan inside yelling "MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!" I love my welcome home.

Once inside I asked Declan for a hug. He ran at me with his arms open and when he hugged me he squeezed as tight as he could. It was awesome.

And finally watching Declan in the bath tonight he had me in stiches. First he excitedly dumped a cup of water over his head. He didn't realize what he was doing and wore a brief look of panick. Next he leaned over and was sticking his tongue out to touch the water. And lastly he had discovered his nipple. Specifically the right one and was repeatedly pouring a cup of water over it. 

Kids. Ha ha ha.

Love Hurts

When I left for my late shift yesterday at 5pm Declan took it hard. There were a lot of tears. My heart broke. Looking back at him standing with his Daddy the whole time mouth wide open and tears down both cheeks. 

Man that was rough. Daddy says he didn't cry too long though he still talked about me for a while.

So it was great to be with my kid all day today. 

With only 3 hours sleep it was still easy to be up for Declan. He was super cheery and we got in some park time in the morning. I gave him freedom and he ran around on his own. He played with some other kids sand toys, used another's sidewalk chalk and repeatedly tried to get the basketball from two older kids who kept denying him. After all the kids left he was all over the play structure and wanted to go down the slide. Still holding one of my hands until, third time down, he didn't wait, he just went. 

And just like that. He doesn't need my help on the slide anymore. He's a big kid.

Back to Normal

Monday. Just a normal Monday. Daddy back to work and Mommy too so Declan was off to Kelly's. He was thrilled. Ran all the way from our parked car the Kelly's front door. Immediately found her ceiling fan remote control, didn't miss a beat. He had a great day with the girls.

This evening he was full of beans and running all around. Showed us he's got jumping finally down as both feet now leave the floor when he jumps. Growing up.

We Were Both Sad For My Return to Work

Five day vacation over as I had to head to work for 1-10pm. Had a nice morning with Declan but then I had to go. He cried. I cried on the inside. I've sure loved being with my little man from sun up to sun down this past week. So need to win the lottery.

Nicely Daddy sent me a video of Declan saying "Hi Mommy" for me to watch on my dinner break. 

Looks like Declan could be participating in his first formal athletic venture. He's pre-registered for a Toddler gymnastics program this fall. A simple program designed to build agility, balance, coordination and speed. I hope he loves it.

Over the Shoulder

We have a little green stool. It sits just outside the bathroom and it is for Declan so he can reach the bathroom sink.

He picks it up, puts it down in front of the counter and steps up to either brush his teeth or wash his hands. He can reach the taps and knows which is the cold. When washing his hands I help him with the soap pimp and then watch as he runs his little hands together and then proceeds to rinse them off. All the while Monkey is laying on the counter beside the sink. When he is done and his hands are dried he picks monkey up, throws him over his right shoulder then bends down to pick up his stool. If Monkey slips at all he sets the stool down and adjusts monkey before continuing to pick up the stool and move it back outside the door. He looks like such a little man I can't help but giggle.

This afternoon he was taking some garbage to the kitchen waste basket and needed two hands so Monkey was once again over his right shoulder. He seemed to struggle a bit with the garbage container and it was then that he looked into the garbage and yelled "Monkey. You in the garbage Monkey!" He pulled Monkey out of the trash and said "You ok Monkey?" We were laughing so hard it was minutes before we thought to check Monkey to make sure he wasn't dirty. 

Monkey is fine. 

Cottage Living

On Monday Declan helped Daddy pack for the cottage. Though he had never been to a cottage before we'd really talked it up so the boy was excited. He even let Daddy put a hat on him because you "have to wear one at the cottage".

We left Milton about 2:30pm which means he'd gone without a nap since waking at 7am. He fell asleep about 3pm and only slept 30 minutes in the car. It was a four hour drive which had us arrive about 6:45pm. Declan spent the last 50 minutes of the car ride throwing his monkey rattle at my head. We were both laughing the entire time. How a kid who can barely throw properly could manage to hit me square on the forehead or nose, when I wasn't even looking directly at him is shocking. So much fun and we arrived with a happy little man.

Declan ran right to "Grandma!!" soon as he saw her. He was also pleased to see a "baby" which is actually his cousin Holden who is four months older than Declan. They got along quite well.

Up past his bedtime on the first night we got him down for bed pretty easily in anticipation of a fun first full cottage day on Tuesday.

The cottage was perfect. A nice big sand area for Declan to spend time scooping sand into the wheels and getting all over himself.

Then there was the shallow sandy beach so perfect for Toddler wading.

Tuesday was a full day and trying to sit Declan down for a dinner too close to his bedtime just didn't work out. We ended up putting him to bed with a full bottle but no real dinner. This resulted in a hungry boy Wednesday morning. When we got him out of bed he said "go upstairs. Put food in da mouth." I always knew he'd tell me if he ever got real hungry.

On Thursday Declan had the longest, busiest cottage day. In and out of the water, running around, jumping with the frogs, went for his very first boat ride with daddy, yelling at a squirrel to leave our BBQ hot dog buns alone, sat on a big swing with Grandma and his cousin Alex and demolished sandcastles Mommy built. Whew! No surprise, he slept really well.

On his final morning he woke me up by staring at my face at 7am. He then got in some more sand and water time along with some fort time with Alex. He also put away nearly three while pancakes Grandpa made from scratch. It's no wonder he cried for the cottage when we got home. I bet he though the cottage was heaven.