it's friday already

This week just zoomed by.  This morning was spent at our friends house Jessica and Z Monster for are weekly "moms play-date and lunch" - we had such a great time.  C Monster always is so excited to see all his friends.

Lets back up a bit and recap this weeks highlights....

Tuesday

C Monster and I headed out to the AGO for a field trip.  Grandma gave me a membership and I figured I need to make sure we use it.  One of my friends informed us that the AGO have a great space for kids to play and be creative - Off the Wall.  C Monster loved it and in his words said "more" as we left; this is definitely a new permanent destination for us.  We will try to make it once a month same as the Science Center.

Off the Wall is free, no need for a membership or a ticket you can just walk right in. It's open on Tuesday's from 10am to 1pm and on Weekends from 10am to 4pm.  I don't know how busy they get on the weekends but it was not too bad on Tuesday - really seemed like just the right amount of kids for the space.

C Monster spent his time drawing with chalk and markers, building towers from blocks and my favorite playing with a giant staking toy made out of a medal rod and everyday items like: shoes, plates, funnels to name a few.  I would post a good picture of him but every-time I went to take a shot he ran off to the next thing - I guess he was having fun.

Wednesday

Play dates all around...  C Monster's favorite activity is playing with his friends - I try to arrange play dates for him as much as I can.  I love play-dates because they teach him all sorts of things.

1. Help teach him to share
2. How to interact with others
3. Develops social skills in general
4. New and difrent stimulation (when playdate is at someone else's house)

I am sure there are all sorts of other reasons but these are the ones that come to mind first.  Also I find this is a little slice of sanity for mothers - after spending day-in day-out interacting with a toddler it's nice to have an adult (other then your husband) to talk to that relates with you.  Other moms and nanny's are like your co-workers (the good co-workers that become friends too).

So in the morning we had a play-date at our house with Lisa and A Monster and in the afternoon we travel the ever so far trek to Jessica's and Z Monster for a afternoon of fun. (they are our neighbors)

Thursday

Off to Sports Ball in the AM - C Monster is amazing me with his listening skills and just his patiance in waiting his turn.  When we got to class the babies class that is before ours was wrapping up; I told C Monster he had to sit and watch until that class was over and he did.  I was so proud; some of the other toddlers where running around like crazy distracting the class but my guy was sitting and enjoining some snack with a few friends.

In the afternoon we had a gardening play-date planned but the weather said otherwise so I came up with cookies instead.  I made the dough while C Monster was sleeping and then placed it in the fridge; once our little friend F Monster arrived with Debra we rolled out the dough and cut out the cookies.  C Monster preferred eating the dough then cutting it but he had fun and that is all that matters.

"Healthy" Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 limes, zest only
2 tbsp. yucca syrup
1 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1  cups panela
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tbsp oat bran
2 tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp groud flax seeds
2 tbsp pulverrised kale or swiss chard, chopped up extra fine in food processor

Directions:
1. Cream the butter and the panela together. Add the egg and mix well. Mix in the zest and yucca syrup. Add remaining ingredients, mixing until well combined. Chill dough for at least 2 hours, I like to chill overnight.

 2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies 1/2 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

 3. Bake for 7-8 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are lightly toasted on the edges. Makes around 60 cookies.

Friday

And it brings us back to Friday...

Looking Forward To

Going to Aunt Tara's house tomorrow.

Weekend Fun

Last weekend started with an early trip and play date with Sebastian. We had been meaning for a while to get together all 6 of us (Kim, Baz, Sebastian, Geoff, Christophe and me). Before heading over we made a "quick" stop at Fresh From the Farm. I say quick because nothing is quick with a baby. If you are ever near Fresh From the Farm drop in a pick up a jar of home made ketchup, I promise this will be the best ketchup you ever taste and it comes in a glass jar (no BPA).

Once we got to Sebastian's we hung out a bit while he warmed up to us, toddlers then to need a bit of adjustment time. After Christophe and Sebastian practiced "sharing" toys.

I find it so adorable to see Sebastian's reaction when I am nursing Christophe he is all interested and intrigued. He fully understands that Christophe is drinking milk and will even ask if he can have some. My answer is that this is Christophe's milk and he gets his from his mommy. That does not deter him from wanting to observe and ask again as soon as Christophe is done. He is so adorable, I just love toddlers.

After lunch we when on our way since our friends were getting ready for a weekend trip and we had errands to run. Our first stop was Earth Child. My boy is not small therefore elastics then to cut into him; and as much as sleepers and yoga pants look cute on him; sometimes I want something else to put on him. Most brands of clothing the elastic is just too tight; however we discovered that pants from Earth Child have a very stretchy elastic so they work great with him. We ended up getting 5 pairs of pants/shorts.

After that we did a quick stop at Once Upon a Child to pick up a crib wedge for his crib. Our doctor suggested putting him on an incline when he sleeps to help minimize spit up. We had been getting a lot more spit up then is typical.

Once back home the rest of the weekend was spent getting ready for our trip to Moncton and the week.

Samarah and Christophe

Check out this pic of our little devil at Samarah's house. Papa is still a bit behind on blogging one day we will post our pics from this play date.