Dizzy

I suffer from motion sickness, which means that for both my parents and hubby, I'm not a joy to sit with in planes, trains, or automobiles. Thankfully the boy doesn't seem to have this problem, for which I'm so grateful. It means that we can go on car trips and not worry about him feeling ill. Related to my motion sickness, I also get dizzy really easily, something else which doesn't seem to bother the boy. In fact he, like many other toddlers, seems to enjoy that 'spin-y' feeling. Today, I caught him running loops around a tree in our backyard just for fun!

Now, when we play chase, he has decided that he likes to run around in circles, and he gets upset if I don't follow him. He also really enjoys superman swings (when you hold onto his hands and run around in a tight circle and he gets to 'fly' as his legs lift off the ground). The poor kid only gets two or three spins before I have to stop. He's always been a problem solver and negotiator, so now he tries to convince me that I need unwind and go the other way so that I won't feel sick. But I'm onto him, I know he's just trying to get a few more spins out of me. I think that he's going to have to learn to live with the disappointment, because in the long run, that's a lot easier to deal with than having me throw up on him!

I can see clearly now

I took the boy for his first eye exam today. He was so excited about going and getting to do all the different tests. There were no indications that he had any problems, but I needed to go for my exam, and so I figured that it was a good time to introduce it to the boy!

The boy had a blast, and really enjoyed getting to look at the different shapes, and figure our what numbers he could see. He loved being allowed to look at the pictures of my eyes, but he was disappointed that he didn't get to use all the machines that I had to use. Eventually he'll understand that getting a puff of air in his eye is not such a thrilling experience! Thankfully his eyes are just fine and we don't have anything to worry about. 

I love that he's so open to new experiences and trying everything, and now, of course, I'll be hearing about nothing but our visit to the eye doctor (Optometrist is a bit too tricky for him to get his mouth around) for the next week! Hopefully he'll still be so thrilled when we have to go back next year, although with his memory, he'll be telling the doctor what he did last time!

Chase!

I don't workout as much as I should. I used to swim twice a week, but lately I've been finding it hard to make the time for it. I'll do my planks as I watch TV at night, but that's really about it. Then I realized that I have the best workout at home - the boy! If I run around and play with him, instead of just sitting and watching him, I'll be set! His new favourite game outside is 'chase'. Basically it's tag, except since there's only the two of us, he calls it chase, as that's what we do, chase each other around. So if the next time you're at the park you see a slightly out of breath mummy being chased around by a small boy, you'll know I'm getting in my workout for the day!

Farmer Boy

The boy has been lucky to have 2 vegetable gardens this year. One at our house, and one at his grandparents house (they live a few minutes away). This means that we've been treated to more cherry tomatoes than you can shake a stick at, cucumbers coming out the wazoo, beans, beefsteak tomatoes, onions, herbs, potatoes and peppers.  It's fantastic, because not only do we get fresh veggies but the boy has also gotten to see the whole cycle of things growing. He helped to plant everything in both gardens, and he's been 'responsible' for reminding us to check on everything and see if anything needs picking.

We don't have a large yard, it's a very typical suburban backyard, except for the fact that about 20 years ago a previous owner planted a giant tree in the middle of the yard. Which means that we have a shady yard. Great for playing in, not so great for vegetables. So we took part of our side yard that gets sun and used that for our veggies. It's only about 10 feet long and 2 or 3 feet deep. But it's big enough for a cucumber plant, 6 tomato plants, some onions, peppers and herbs. I would encourage anyone who's thinking of trying to grow something to give it a serious go next year. You don't need a lot of space to get started, and it doesn't cost a lot. In fact it's saved us money off  my grocery bill as I have veggies at home. The only downside? The constant reminders to go and check to see if anything needs picking, even if we just harvested things an hour ago!

Don't ask me, I'm just a girl.

All the controversy yesterday surrounding the horrible JC Penny Shirt (I'm too pretty to do homework), made me very glad that I have a boy. I did like the HuffPosts spin on other shirts that should be made - my favourite was "How Many Calories Does Reading Burn?" I feel for my sister-in-laws having to raise my nieces in this kind of culture.  All I have to worry about with the boy are some of the raised eyes that I get when the boy is out shopping with his friend Reece (a fantastic Bamboletta doll), or if he's putting on lip balm in public and calling it his lipstick.

I know that there are horrible things that our boys face and they have to live up to expectations of manliness that include judging tears and emotions as girly. They also certainly doesn't include my boy's love of wearing eye shadow, or his desire to call long shirts 'dresses' (his newest one is a white football jersey that he says is his wedding dress). But I feel that this version of what a boy (or man) should be is changing faster than the desire to force girls into the mould of pretty things who don't need think for themselves.  And I think that's a shame. I hope that by the time the boy is old enough to start having kids of his own, this will all be a moot point, and something we look back on as an aberration, and kids just get to be kids, no matter what. Which means that we all need to keep these conversations going, and keep reminding places like JC Penny that shirts like this are unacceptable, and we need to remind our sons and daughters of that too.

I'll leave the last thoughts to Malibu Stacy from one of my favourite Simpsons quotes....