Silly Lillian

After months of ignoring her as much as possible, Morgen, I'm happy to report, has begun to see the fun of having a little sister. Today she got just close enough for Lilly's grab and goober maneuver to succeed. Morgen, giggling, said "Silly Lillian!" and then, realizing how much fun it was to say that, proceeded to offer her finger and hand up again.

So, it was fun today, because despite her ferocious size, the baby is still all gums. Wait until she really tries to chew on Morgen, and can crawl after her little big sister in a more determined way. We'll see how silly Lillian is then, won't we?

Rain bug

I discovered to my horror, after nearly six years of marriage, that despite owning and loving the movie Singing in the Rain, Gavin doesn't enjoy actual walks in warm summer rain. Really? Really.

He doesn't like dancing in thunderstorms, doesn't like that transition from being thoroughly soaked to being wrapped in warm towels and sipping hot chocolate or tea. He must not have had a fun umbrella like this to dance around with when he was little. I'm sure that if he had, his opinion would be entirely different. The only thing Morgen didn't enjoy about being out in the rain last weekend was having to come back in so Mommy could feed Lillian.

Scenes from the life

...of a very happy, slightly chunky and definitely advanced three-month old.

Kickin' it Old[e] School

We decided to visit Historic Fort York today - one of the forts that was nearly destroyed during the war of 1812 (although, confusingly, the fort wasn't actually blown up until 1813). I know there are some Americans reading this who are wondering who was involved in the war...Gavin tells me the subject gets lost in between the American Revolution and the Civil War. If you don't remember the war of 1812...it's probably the shame blocking the subject from your memory (not that I'm biased). But enough about America, this is Canada Day! And while next year we'll probably do cake and balloons on the nation's birthday, today we dug into her history. Sort of.

Actually, we marched ourselves down to the old lake shore (now several city blocks north of the actual lake) in order to watch the morning muster and flag raising. I thought this would be an appropriately Canadian thing to do. When we arrived, we learned that this holiday is also the first day of the new "guard" at the fort.

How does that sound, as a summer job for high school and university students? Woollen uniforms, blazing sun, living history. After running out of their barracks and lining up to the tune of fifes and drums, these guards were inspected by their superior officers, turned about, and marched down the road. They raised the flag (the union jack) while the anthem (God Save the Queen) warbled in a key that must have been hard for the fifes to play in. The British Brigadeers was sprightly and sweet in comparison. The ceremony complete, the brits performed a very interesting maneuver that allowed them to about face without ever about facing (if you know what I mean), and proceeded to march around in the sun for the rest of our visit there. Poor lowly guardsmen and women! You can catch them at the fort every hour on the half hour, marching around and looking historic. But if you wait until next Canada Day, you can see it all for free, PLUS there will be the drama of the new guards. Did they all shine their muskets? Do they know how to walk in close formation with twenty of their newest friends?

Happy Canada Day - I hope that Canada is as happy as a 143-year old can be. I'm glad that we went to Fort York today, but next year I'm buying fireworks and sparklers.

Cookies for Captains

Morgen's weekend: More excitement than she could nap through. This weekend, Morgen's favourite phrase "More cookies, Grandma!" was transformed into "Make cookies Grandma!"She played with her oldest friend, laughed with her Grandparents, and went to a party on a farm where there was a homemade playground including trains, a tire climbing structure, and this boat. She saw apple trees up close for the first time, and scored some new toys at the local outlet mall and farmer's market. It was a good weekend to be a toddler.

Lillian's weekend: Milk from anyone and anything. A family escape to Wellesley on Thursday meant that I would have to leave the baby with her Daddy in order to attend a wedding on Friday night in Toronto. Did she notice? Not at all. Several expressed bottles later, I was able to drive away relatively happy and without the baby attached to me. Made it to the weddingthree minutes late, thanks to traffic, but at least I made it. And Lillian will now try to latch onto almost anything that passes within reach of her little lips...sure, it's a normal stage, but I think it was a bit encouraged by her Friday night experience.