Wordless Wednesday #9 - Spring Blossoms

 

 

My best buddy

I used to hear mothers - particularly stay-at-home moms - say that their really young kids were their best friends. I always thought it was kind of sad - like, 'Don’t you have friends your own age?’ Or ‘You need to get out more if your baby/toddler is your best friend’. I never said anything of course, but I always thought it was an exaggeration or just a symptom of motherhood. A baby who can't talk or a toddler who talks nonsense couldn't possible be your best friend.

Then Logan came along. I’ve always been close with Noah and I feel like we have a really special bond, but it’s different with Logan. I think maybe it has something to do with being in the delivery room when he was born, seeing him draw his first breath, getting to hold him when he was just minutes old. I’ve also been fortunate enough to spend a lot more time with Logan than I ever did with Noah. While Amanda was taking courses and working, my mum and I watched Logan. I take partial credit for raising him, and I’m pretty damned pleased with the way he’s turning out.

The thing is…I’ve become one of those moms, except I’m not a mother yet, I’m an aunt. But Logan is my best buddy. When we had him here every day, it was one of the best times of my life. Getting to shape and mold him, see his personality develop, teach him things, and see so much of myself in him…it was amazing. Life changing. 

I’ve always seen a lot of myself in Noah, but again, it’s different with Logan. I feel like I get Logan. He’s so ridiculously smart, and so funny and unique. He blows my mind every minute I’m with him with the things he says and does. I’ve never met a kid like him, and I’ve been working with kids most of my life (first as a baby-sitter, then as a kindergarten teacher, then preschool teacher, and finally a nanny).

I’ve always said he’s like an adult trapped in a child’s body. Sometimes the way he looks at me makes my heart stop - he has the brightest, most intelligent eyes, and he looks at me like he can see into my soul. He’s always been that way. When he was a newborn, I’d be holding him and he’d stare at me like he could read my mind. He still does it. It's both unsettling and incredible. He’s very intense, but he’s also carefree and uninhibited. He’ll go from concentrating on something 100% to dancing around the house, singing, and laughing like a maniac.

And I talk to him like he’s an adult. I’ve never baby-talked to him and I don’t dumb things down. And he understands. It’s unreal. What really gets me is that he loves the same things I do - like, the weird little things that nobody ever understood. I’ve always been a closet geek (that’s actually something I’m going to talk about more later), and I’ve hidden that side of myself except with a select few people (except online, but again, I’ll talk about that another day). But Logan…I can tell he’s inherited my geek genes and I love it.

So when I let him choose whatever movie he wants and not just the Disney movies I’ve set aside for him and Noah, he picks things like Harry Potter and Phantom of the Opera. Did I mention he’s three years old? Seriously. And he WATCHES them. He’s absorbed in them like his life depends on it. And he’s not just zoning out, he keeps a running commentary and asks questions. Now you see why I say my mind is blown every second I’m with him. This tiny little person is a kindred spirit and I get him and he gets me. Yesterday I had him all day and he watched two Harry Potter movies and an episode and a half of Doctor Who. I kid you not. And this is all in between ‘normal’ kid things like kicking a ball around, playing with trucks, having a nap, helping me make dinner (ok, that might not be a normal kid thing, but he’s obsessed with helping). 

And he gives the best spontaneous hugs that melt my heart. We’ll be playing and all of sudden he just throws himself at me and wraps his arms around me and holds on tight. It makes me want to cry because it’s such pure love.

For all these reasons and a million tiny and huge other things, I’m not embarrassed to admit that a three-year-old is my best buddy. I hope it’s always this way and that eventually we can geek out together over things and that he’ll always get me and I’ll always get him. Everyone needs that in their lives. 

 

Wordless Wednesday #8: Back Alley

 

A Mother's Day Tribute

Today I wanted to pay tribute to the two women who made me who I am today: my mum and my Grama. 

I'm going to be honest: growing up, I was a total Daddy's girl. I was his little buddy and I spent a lot more time with him than I did with my mum. When I was eight and my dad got sick, things started to change. He was away a lot in the hospital, and I had to become strong and brave and good for my mum. I tried not to make things more difficult for her because I knew how stressful it was for her working full-time, dealing with my dad's business, and taking care of me and my brother. When I was ten, my dad died, and then it was just me and my mum (my brother was 20 at the time and he sort of came and went). Slowly, my mum and I grew closer. At first it was out of necessity - we had to stick together during those dark days, but then I realized she was more than just a mother. She was a friend. By the time I hit my mid-teens, she was my best friend. We did things together, went places together, and I wasn't embarrassed to be seen with her the way a lot of my friends were with their mothers. 

My mum has gone above and beyond for my brother and me. She is the epitome of the selfless mother.

My mum is the strongest person I know. She's also the kindest, most thoughtful person I know. She's been there for me no matter what and has always supported me, encouraged me, and shown unconditional love. She's funny and smart and beautiful, and I don't know what I'd do without her.

My Grama was another of my best friends. She and I were kindred spirits. She was always interested in what I was doing, and I loved hearing about her life. I asked her a million questions and she never got tired of answering them. She was always involved in something - she learned how to use a computer when she was 88, and learned how to paint when she was in her 90s. She did knitting and tatting, loved crossword puzzles and sudoku, and loved to read. She also participated in all the activities at her nursing home. She was a lifelong learner and loved to figure out how things worked. She was fascinated with my cell phone and computer, and was always asking questions (guess I come by that curiosity naturally!). When I was 17 and emailed her from France, she couldn't get over the fact that I could send her a message from halfway across the world. She was my biggest fan, and like my mum, always showed support and encouragement. When she died, a little part of me died with her, and I don't think anything will ever fill the hole she left in my heart. Not a day goes by that I don't miss her, but I know she lived a long, happy life, and I know she'd be proud of what I'm doing with my own life.   

  

Both my mum and Grama are the type of people that everyone loves instantly. They have this inner light that shines through and people are attracted to that. They both make friends everywhere they go, and make people feel good about themselves. I hope someday to be that type of person. I hope people will see me as good and kind with an inner beauty that radiates like the sun, and I'll tell them I got that from my mum and my Grama. I hope to be as good a mother to my own children as my Grama was to my mum and as my mum is to me. If I can manage that, my kids will be pretty damn lucky.

   

The two women who made me the person I am today

 

Saturday Smiles #5

This weather + this scenery = lots of smiles:

Last Sunday, we had our first barbecue of the year. We went down to one of the parks by the bay and set up there. The kids played, we ate, and then we took more of Amanda's maternity pics (I shared a sneak peek last week and will be dedicating a post to more of the pictures soon).

Series 3 of Doctor Who is waiting for me at the library! Woohoo! I get to pick it up later today and I'll be starting it tonight.

I discovered a new favourite song. I like boy bands and I'm not embarrassed to admit it (although admittedly I'd never heard of Eleven Past One until this week). This seems like it'll be one of those summer soundtrack songs, you know? Plus it kind of reminds me of "Chasing the Sun" by The Wanted, which I love.

I redid the header of my blog and I'm really happy with it. I'd been wanting to redo it for awhile but I wasn't sure what to do, then inspiration struck this week. I realized afterward that I should have waited a few weeks until my niece is born because then I'll have to redo it to add in a picture of her. Duh! Oh well. What do you think?

Speaking of my niece, my sister-in-law found out this week that she's going to be induced at 39 weeks, which is just 3 more weeks! My niece will be joining us a week sooner than expected, which is exciting. What's not so exciting is that my sister-in-law keeps changing her mind about the name (she picked out the name over three years ago when she was pregnant with Logan, then changed her mind twice this week, including the middle name which was supposed to be Marie and now I think she's changed her mind...she's also changed her mind about me being in the delivery room because her sister is causing drama, so it's been a bit stressful/upsetting/disappointing/hurtful in that respect, but I'm kind of used to that unfortunately). Anyway, Saturday Smiles is supposed to be happy stuff!

The sign-ups for my blog tour went out! I'm really excited and I hope a lot of people will want to participate. Sales have been really slow for WAITING FOR THE STORM, so I'm hoping this will help. 

 

 What made you smile this week? What was the highlight of your week?

Wordless Wednesday #7: Spring

Saturday Smiles #4

 
This is the first time in over three months that I can genuinely say I had a good week. A really good week. After 13 weeks with a back injury and other various health issues, I finally got out and had some fun this week. I'm able to move around better and I was hardly in pain all week, which feels like an absolute miracle to me. It's surreal...I've been walking around waiting for the pain to come, while at the same time praying it never returns. I've been so used to hurting whenever I do the least little thing that it's strange...but wonderful!

On Tuesday, a couple of my mum's friends (who I've known my whole life, so they're my friends too) asked us to go out for lunch. We went to Lonestar, which is pretty much like a Texas grill. I'd been to the one an hour away when I was in college, and when they suggested we go there Tuesday I was kind of meh about it, but it ended up being great. I had a chicken quesadilla (my first time ever) and fries and it was SO GOOD and the price was great. Afterwards, we stopped to do a little bit of shopping, which was also fun since I haven't been able to do much shopping other than for groceries. 

On Wednesday I had to go have some tests done on my heart, which wasn't exactly fun, but then afterward Amanda (my sister-in-law) took us back to her place and we got to visit with my brother (Jamie) and play with Logan (my three-year-old nephew). Logan got his very first bike and he's so excited about it. He can't figure out how to peddle so he just propels himself along yelling "I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" It's SO cute.

Look at this little face! Couldn't you just eat him up?

He has a tiny wheelbarrow to be like Daddy...Jamie is doing a bunch of landscaping and gardening at their house, and Logan has to do everything Jamie does. The puppy is Moe - he's the cutest damn thing, but they're not keeping him...their dogs had puppies and Moe's the last one to be sold. I want him!

More smiles: spring has finally arrived! The weather this week has been gorgeous, and everything is starting to bloom. The grass is really green and flowers are popping up everywhere. That's definitely helped with my outlook on life. Also, we've been able to have the windows and balcony doors open all day and night, which is wonderful. I've been cooped up in the apartment for three months and it's so nice to finally get fresh air in here...and to be able to go OUT in the fresh air!

Buds on the trees!

After we played with Logan and chatted with Jamie, we went to Amanda's latest doctor's appointment. She was 35 weeks pregnant on Thursday so she'll be going every week from now on. I got to go in with her and see the baby on a sonogram. The doctor predicts she's about six pounds already and Amanda just wants her to come out because she's afraid she'll end up being a 9 or 10 pounder, haha.

Last night, Amanda messaged me just before six and asked if we'd eaten yet and if we wanted to go out for ice cream. We don't normally eat until seven but that didn't stop me...that's one of the great things about being an adult: you can decide if you want dessert before dinner! Plus it's been a LONG time since I did anything spontaneous. She and the boys picked up Mum and me and we went to Reid's Dairy (a locally owned dairy with the best ice cream ever). We sat inside to eat and then went out to the playground and farm. The animals aren't out yet but we saw some fish (which Logan pronounces 'bitch'...I just about died...'Mimi, I wanna go see the bitch...where the bitch Mimi?') and some Canadian geese. 

Since the playground there is a death trap (it's like 8 feet high), we finally left and went for a drive. We ended up down by the bay and went to take some of Amanda's maternity pictures. We were taking pictures and 4 ducks came over and were swimming really close. We've all been to that park a million times and the ducks rarely come that close. Then a swan came over and was swimming a couple feet away and they never come close. It was so amazing! The swans usually stay way out in the bay, so it felt like all these birds were coming over just for us. 

This is just a sneak peek of Amanda's maternity pics...I'll post more later!

And finally almost three hours later when the sun started to set, we figured we should head home. All in all, it was an amazing week with lots to smile about, and I hope it's the beginning of a wonderful spring and summer! 

 

 What made you smile this week? How's the weather where you are?