More to love

Morgen is growing more independent every day. And at the same time, she's becoming more attached to a certain toy that, until recently, we've called her 'transitional object'. The thing is, "Leona the Lion," called "Kitty" or "lllllllllullllluhluh" by Morgen isn't so transitional these days. Once only important at bedtime and naptime, Leona is now more of an ubiquitous buddy. I suppose it's better than Morgen's former fixation on my fuzzy pink pyjamas. For one thing, Leona is far more fetching. But the lion is getting a bit...grimey. Even a surreptitious wash this past weekend couldn't remove the stains and other signs of a toddler's love. Anyone out there (besides my brother) still have their comfort toy or blankie hidden away somewhere?

Science Centre!

Saturday was a banner day for Morgen. We went to the grocery store, where Morgen learned all about bagging up the groceries. We came home, where she helped us take everything out again. Grandma and Grandpa showed up just around snack time, and then after a nap, we all squished into the car for a trip to the Science Centre.

What to say about the KidsPark at the Science Centre? Morgen loved it, for a start. There are frogs, building blocks, ramps for balls to roll down, a house that is "under construction" where the kids can fill in the insulation and tiles using foam blocks, and then, just when Morgen thought she'd seen it all, she found the pretend grocery store - bigger than our living room, and stocked with empty cans, boxes, bottles, plastic fruits and veggies, and checkouts with tills that ding and belts that beep.

We spent a long time at this improved, child-friendly 'grocery store' before taking Morgen home. She was so sleepy in the car that she could hardly keep her eyes open. After a few tired requests for her "Kitty" (her sleep buddy, a fuzzy pink lion), she allowed herself to fall asleep.

And when she woke up, it was Hallowe'en. Can a day get any better?

Busy bug goes boo

Last Hallowe'en, Morgen was a pumpkin, and enjoyed a little whirl around the front yard before happily going to bed. Gavin and I enjoyed treating the hundreds of children in costumes who paraded by our front door. This year, Morgen joined the parade. High Park has never seen a busier bug.

Grandma and Grandpa Lovett warm up the cameras as our bug hits the pavement. Note the very stylish candy bag from MN Grandma in action...

I love Hallowe'en - it makes Toronto feel like a small town. The neighbours chat and say hello, strangers tell you where they live and how old their kids are, and those same kids are allowed to run and play in the streets. Not to mention the bit about taking candy from strangers. What could be better? Except for taking candy from...er, collected by...the baby, that is. That's pretty fun too. Aside from my big baby lady bug, favourite costumes from last night included a teenaged baker, a pre-teen midnight fairy, and a little tiger cub who had just learned to walk.

The bug in her natural habitat.

Sleepy, sitting bug (rarely seen).

Yesterday was full of excitement - more pictures and stories to come. Happy Hallowe'en everyone!

Throwing her weight around

When Morgen is bored with her toys (more normal than not, these days), she runs over to the nearest parent, makes a pretend scream that sounds like a quiet "Aaaaaah!", and pushes the person until they give in and "fall over." She then rolls off us, pulls at our shirt, and says "Up! Up!" We used to get kisses from Morgen when we fell over, but now she simply demands to do it again. If you want her to really giggle, you have to pretend to almost fall over, but then correct yourself at the last minute...Is this the sort of story that you have to be there for? Sorry. Sometimes I wonder if she's terrorizing the kids at daycare with this game. Hopefully her teachers will let me know if she starts randomly screaming and pushing her friends around...

Pumpkin Love

You might have noticed that we're posting a bit less than usual these days. We're finding ourselves a bit overwhelmed by nothing in particular, and one specific thing which will be the subject of a future post.

This week we arrived back from the holiday to a house empty of groceries, with a few hours in which to finish a grant application, prepare a celebratory dinner for some newly married friends, complete various scholarly/student activities, and convince the cat that we haven't abandoned him despite all appearances. It doesn't sound like a long list of duties, when I see the list typed out so simply, but circumstances conspired against me - I locked my keys in the car the morning of the party, loosing precious grant-writing and food-preparation time...a doctor's appointment spiralled into a three-hour odyssey for no good reason (and no bad reason either)...I fell asleep over a six-chapter reading assignment instead of reading it - and before I knew it the week was over, I was describing the week as "stupid, stupid, stupid week" and I still hadn't posted to say: Happy Thanksgiving. Turkzilla is dead. Long live Turkzilla.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend away with the Lovetts and two of our adopted cousins from the Heffernan-Gugel family.

One of these pumpkins is priceless. Can you guess which one?

And, if filling a bucket with toys is fun, moving pumpkins from one barrel to another is even better. If you look closely, you can see the extreme satisfaction on Morgen's face...

But nothing compares to having company in the bath. Note: this picture has been modified to preserve a certain gentleman's modesty.