Shanna's prize

Shanna will receive this high quality postcard as reward for her matched answer.

The Ivan funnies vol.2

Twice the fun!

Let me introduce you to source of joy #2, otherwise known as Myka. Myka now comes over Mon-Fri mornings while her parents jobs overlap. This little girl is amazing. She is a walking and talking miracle, a hands-on example of the Life giver's power and grace. She was due to be born about the same time as Ivan, but couldn't wait to check out the world, so she came a couple of months early. At just 1 1/2 lbs, her parents say she was the size of a barbie doll, but you can't tell now! She had her 1 year birthday a little while back and is so much fun. Check out her mom's blog. Click on "Jenni" under cool friends.



It's fun to see other babies about the same age as Ivan because it helps you know his and their personalities better. You realize that not all babies do xyz the same way as Ivan. Myka seems more adventurous and Ivan more pensive. Ivan seems more voracious with his food and Myka more dainty. Although they are different, they are already learning the fine art of imitation. I'm thankful for this since they pretty much follow each other around making it easier for me to be with them both. Of course neither of them can walk unassisted yet, I'm sure that will add new dimensions to watching them and more child proofing to the house.




Myka has adapted very well to us since about the second minute of day one together and Ivan's face lights up with joy when he wakes up to see that our friend is here again to play (or maybe he doesn't want to let a girl see his wake-up tears ;) Saba is both excited and exhausted by these new developments, as you can tell from this picture. She now has twice the amount of sniffing, playing and cleaning to do (although to Saba's dissapointment, Myka is much cleaner and doesn't spill her food, intentionally or by accident).

The Ivan funnies

Age 11 1/2 months. Duties: feed the dog. Ivan takes this job very seriously. He is most concerned about quality as well as quantity. He assures that Saba gets a diversity of foods by sneaking her bits off his tray, all of what he doesn't like and portions of what he enjoys. Due to this kind attention, Saba no longer eats her food from her bowl. So when Ivan sees food in it, he takes pieces out and throws them on the floor. This alerts the dog to the fact that the baby has now identified with the food, making it desirable. She's almost to the point of only eating what he throws. The bonus of this is that Ivan already picked up a chore and does it with excellence and delight.







This next photo also demonstrates owner/canine teamwork, but in a much more negative light. This is Saba and Ivan's rendition of WWF. Saba has Smacky in a head crunch while Ivan body slams her from the back. Ivan's legs are to the right of the picture, the rest of his body is all over Smacky, which Saba's head blocks from view. Sorry to all the cat lovers out there. If it makes you feel any better, no animals were hurt during these shots.

I have no idea what they were looking at, but something was going on outside and all the highly sensitive beings in the home were alerted to it, leaving Brian and I clueless, but laughing.

Contest result?

This isn't working out as clear cut as I thought it would. I'm obviously new at this mommy business. I thought Ivan's first word would be easy to figure out, that I could record it and post it for all to hear. I still think that a first word requires that he understands what it means as opposed to making syllables. This is where the confusion all begins...

Ivan is saying "hi" (which would make Shanna the winner, but I think she heard him saying it, so that would be cheating!) However, I'm not sure if he is saying it to greet people or if he thinks it's a cool sound. He doesn't neccessarily say it when he first sees someone, but will be playing and all of a sudden says "hi".

Brian also noticed that he says "ba" a lot, which he has been doing for a while, but Brian thinks Ivan is trying to say "Saba" our dog. He often looks at her and says "ba". This would show that he undertands the meaning and Andrea would be the closest winner. Or does he have to say the full word? Several people suggested that he would say "doggie" or "dog" and ours is his favorite!

Ivan doesn't call for Smaky as Kim guessed, but I think this is his tactic so that he can "sneak" up on her (as much as a clumsy, lumbering baby can sneak) and tackle her. We have caught him on many an occasion crawling over her, laying on top of her and rough housing with her. Poor Smaky!

He also says "ma" for food, or so it seems. Which Brian thinks is appropriate since I was the first food source. Nana suggested "more" as a first word, maybe that's what "ma" means?

As for communicating non-verbally, he waves bye-bye (sometimes), which Jenni guessed. Other non-verbals, he raises up his arms for "up" (gms), gazes or grunts at his drink for "water" (pappa Terry) and shakes his head "no" (auntie lin).

Others were WAY off. Brian suggested "pizza", which Ivan does love, auntie Jen was hoping for "auntie" as a first word. Keep trying and web caming sis! And more creativity came from grandpa Ray who suggested "squirrel", the insider joke is that saying this word sends Saba into a frenzie as she tries to scare squirrels out of our yard and trees.

Thanks to everyone for guessing! I'll post a recording when something intelligeable makes it's way onto our camera!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving (to all you canucks!)

I'm trying to piece together some kind of online festivities for this Canadian celebration. People ask me why Canadian thanksgiving is in Oct. as opposed to Nov. in the US. My guess is that the harvest is earlier up North, plus it gives you time to work off some pounds gained before Christmas??? Anyone else with a guess?



Anyways, I found some entertainment, here's Ivan giving you guys (as opposed to y'all) a drum roll. Here are some Canadian friends and family (Amy, Ivan, Crystal and my cousin Andrea who happened to be in Texas a couple of weeks ago and dropped by- We love that BTW, so drop in!!) Lastly, there are wild turkeys around here, but I'm not about to run out and find one to shoot (a picture, of course), so you'll have to make due with this smiling duck.

I guess the point is also to be thankful. I am ever so thankful for this life, for our Lover, for my husband (who just vaccuumed- what a stud, thanks ;) and for Ivan, of course. For the joy of being with him and watching him grow and sharing it with others- even if it's just electronically.

Soooooooooooo, to all you canadians, we love you, miss you and celebrate knowing you! Happy Turkey (I mean duck) Day!

Different worlds

We are shaped by so many things: family, friends, experiences, beliefs, culture, climate and even language. Much of this molding becomes so indelibly etched in our making that it affects who we are, how we see the world, how we act and think. I realized after my last post that Ivan will have a totally different field of learning than me, because of many factors, one of which is growing up in Texas instead of in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Ivan will not know...
-that while the unexplainably enticing frost on the pipe looks tasty, it's not and it's dangerous
-what northern lights or sun dogs are
-how to walk on ice
-the sound of skates cutting ice
-the proper usage of "eh?"
-what a perogie or poutine are
-the ease of free medical services
-bilingual cereal boxes
-what a bunny hug is
-how to make a good snow man and snow ball
-what a "face wash" is
-what a toque, long underwear or ski-do suit are
-how to drive in a snow blizzard
-colored money, including twonies and loonies
-how to play spoons and that bagpipes can make cool music
-that tea is hot, that a tobogan is a sled and the letter "z" is called zed

Ivan will know...
-that stickers are not put in albums, they grow in the grass and prick your feet
-how to open pecans at age 3 without any special device
-not to swim in unknown lakes or walk in tall grasses, due to snakes
-that peppers are not just colors (green, red, yellow), but are their own food group. The smaller the deadlier.
-that fried foods are a food group and everything can be fried (heard of fried pickles?)
-that you don't go to the park June-Aug without burning your butt and hands, even the sand is hot
-what a swamp cooler is
-the sound of crickets and other mysterious criters in trees that I have yet to identify
-mexican foods: flautas, queso, fajitas, enchiladas, burritos...
-what a wet back is (not a nice term BTW)
-how okra grows (tastes great fried)
-how to use mesquite wood on a grill
-not to play with ants
-that air (ie. air conditioning) is a necessity
-tejano music and that arcordians can make cool music
-that tea is iced cold, that a tobogan is a hat (I can barely even type that, it's so against my thinking) and the letter "z" is called zee

I could go on and on... (and maybe I will in another post), but it just struck me how different our growing ups may be. On one of our first drives back to Canada, we entered North Dakota and suddenly everything started to feel "right", but I couldn't place what had changed until Brian said that the light was different. That was it! Somehow the placement of the sun in the sky at that time of day, during that time of year was programed into my brain as being the way things SHOULD be. Add to that smells, temperature, sights, sounds, accents... It's amazing all the things we learn just by living in a place.

Can you imagine what it is like for Ivan who is learning EVERYTHING? He stops at every sound trying to figure out the source. He touches everything to know it's feel, it's texture, it's dimension and properties. He tastes everything. And the joy! He laughs from the time he wakes up to when he goes to sleep as he discovers all things new. (Apparently newness is hillarious). It has become a game of ours to do something new for the instant reward of Ivan's laugh. I can stick something on my head- he laughs. Make a face- he laughs. Walk different, talk different, go somewhere new or unexpected- beautiful laughter. Instead of thinking things have to be the way I've always known it, I wish we could keep our delight in newness, our ability to think outside the box and explore new realms. This may be our greatest challenge as we 'grow up"- to accept, to love, to learn and to live like a child, constantly taking delight in the richness of life, trusting, exploring and discovering new depths to life and relationships.

Our little Texan

Out to the farm

Last weekend we celebrated Shanna's birthday by going out to a friend's place overnight (Shanna's my little sister with BigBrothers/BigSisters, she's in green and our friend's in purple). We slept in a tent (in the lush backyard, on grass, 25 steps from a flush toilet) and cooked over a fire (in the bbq pit).
We enjoyed the animals: goats, Joey and Angie's maimed deer, chickens and dogs. To add to our excitement, we were also visited by frogs, baby rabbits and hundreds of monarch butterflies.

We went swimming in their pool (we were really roughing it) and watched them make cement, ok, Shanna helped a little, then left her hand print (so did Ivan).



But once again, Ivan instigated the most poignant moment of our stay. He was having a hard time sleeping in the tent, so Shanna and I took him for a walk down a path. I had forgotten the mysterious beauty of a country night. The air was crisp, the sounds naturely, the darkness intense. Then we came to the end of the path and looked up into the most beautiful expanse of star speckled sky. It brought me back to my teen years when I would go out at night on our acreage and gaze at the stars, blanketed in darkness, feeling oh so small and insignificant, yet precious all at the same time as I imagined how vast the world is, how huge God is, how tiny I am, how vulnerable, how protected. It makes you want to sing. It makes you want to dance. It makes you want to never, ever forget it.