Gettin' Out There

This weekend the four of us trekked over to our nearby large urban park to engage in some outdoorsy winter activities. I harbour a sense of guilt that maybe we don't do this often enough so we were Very Determined to make it happen - even though it meant that D wouldn't have her afternoon nap (which actually turned into a good thing when she was out like a light before 8pm!) (but which didn't seem like a good thing when she cried exhausted tears all the way home from the park).

Just before we made it out the door we had a moment of "oh-THIS-is-why-we-don't-do-this-more-often." I was trying to get A into his snowsuit as he wailed and LePapa was trying to get D into her snowsuit while she insisted on quizzing us on the Disney princess book she absolutely had to read right then. We were further discouraged when we tried to take a shortcut to the park (our neighbour was sure there was a hole in that fence!) that turned into a detour.

And then we got there and it was so lovely to see all these people skating on the frozen pond in the afternoon sunlight. And D was oh so delighted to skate for the first time ever (unlike one my best friend's nieces who were likely skating before they turned one) and to sled bravely down an enormous hill. LePapa went down in the sled with her and it really flew because the snow was slick and icy. As soon as they got to the bottom, she said, "That was fun! ENCADRE!" (That's a long-standing family joke based on one of D's little friends mis-pronouncing "encore"). She wanted to go down the other side of the hill which was an even longer run.

"Skating" like this is hard on the parent's lower back.

Baby A was sleeping on me in the baby carrier so I watched and waved and took pictures. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way, anti-skating gal that I am. To make LePapa laugh I said, "Lemme tell ya, it'll be a cold day in hell before I join you on the rink!" (He gets a kick out of anglo expressions.) D said, "I don't know what you're saying!" I did not rephrase the sentiment for her comprehension-level as I'm working hard not to pass on my fear of skating to her.

We brought herbal tea in a thermos - mmmm. Came in handy when D announced that she was "extremely cold" and accompanied her announcement with exaggerating shivering that looked alarmingly realistic.

Educational, Conversational

I was sitting on the rocking chair with a certain baby boy (who happens to be 7 months old today!) and I asked D to climb up onto the futon to turn on the living room light. She added some extra acrobatics to her climbing and successfully reached the light switch.

"You did it! Thanks," said I.

"I became a hero!" exclaimed D.

"A hero? What's a hero?"

"It's...ummmm... when you're really smart. Like Puss."

(No doubt my faithful readers will know that she was referring to Puss-in-Boots, the character from Shrek who now has his own full-length movie and is the star of two books that we own and read regularly.)

On the topic of definitions, D then decided to quiz me: "Do you know what teenager means?"

"What does it mean?" I asked in return.

"It means if you're half grown up and half children."

Later on in the evening, D climbed onto the futon to turn on the light again. This time she announced, "I'm an artist like Uncle D!"

Hmmm, I thought, okay. Perhaps she thinks that hero and artist are synonyms. That would certainly make sense in relation to her adoration of her artist uncle.

"What does artist mean?" I asked.

"When you paint really good," she replied - at which point I figured out that she was looking at some of her artwork hanging close to the light switch.