Spring has sprung… sort of

Well, it’s mid-April, and in typical Canadian fashion, the flowers are peeking up, April showers have been a sprinkling and we are facing the prospect of 10 cms of snow overnight. What the ….? Ahh, Canada at its best. It’s gotten so desperate that we chose to escape the horror of an Ottawa spring by traveling to … Winnipeg. You can smell the desperation in that move.

The temperatures have been reasonably mild, however, so there is hope. Kiyomi’s favourite word these days is “outside”, pronounced by skipping the “t” and stretching out the “i” to obliterate the “de”, so it’s more of an “ousiiiii”. She gets her point across though, and we have been spending a lot more time in the if not great, at least reasonable, outdoors. As the pictures attest to, there is a wee bit of desperation in our outdoor escapades – you’ll note a general absence of any other living souls in the vicinity of the camera. Ah well, she’s got Winnipegers for parents. That’ll learn ya, kid, toughen ya up.

A big hit in the great wide world has been Kiyomi’s footwear. Specifically her froggy rubber boots with great big eyes that stare up at you (thanks to Nana for that find). Not only do they amuse Kiyomi to no now end, people seem to notice her boots before anything else about her. Of course, given that it’s -10, it’s not so surprising all you can see peeking out of the layers of clothes, hats, mites, are the eyes from her bright green rubber boots (it’s April gosh darn it, we’re getting out).

There have been a lot of new indoor games as well. Some attempts at crafts (does anyone know how to get finger paint off cats?) and new uses for household items. The cat bed has become a ‘boat’ which frequently gets pushed up and down the hall (yes, my back is feeling it, thanks for asking). You’d also be surprised how long a toddler is prepared to chase rubber balls or bubbles around a room (thanks to Colette for these latest additions to the toy box). Oh yes, and it would seem Dora has taken root in her toddler mind. I thought we’d escaped it, but it would seem that Nemo has nothing on the Spanish speaking wunderkind. Kiyomi actually talks to Dora while she’s watching the show and screeches “THAAAATTT!!” when something interests her. Kudos to the Dora creators though, it’s actually a show that has toddlers interacting with the tv. Don’t know how they managed that, but it’s impressive to watch. Now, if they could only get the subliminal messages going to teach them how to use the potty and clean up their toys, we’d be golden.

Speaking of potties (yes, it’s an awkward segue), Kiyomi has started to take a bit of an interest in the whole bathroom routine. Oh, not to the point that she’ll sit on the potty, but she has developed a fascination with watching someone else. You’ve never experienced shy-bladder syndrome until you have a 20 month old yelling “THAAAAT!” as she intently watches you do your business.

We are also now in the countdown for back to work for mommy, so the project du jour has been child care. We’ve visited a few daycares – the coolest of which by the way was the one that had a Where the Wild Things Are 3D mural. I head back the middle of June, so there are still a couple months left. It would seem, however, that finding a daycare is an exercise in compromise. You start with a clear idea of what you’d like regarding location, programming, hours, etc. and you quickly compromise it all because you really just want to make sure that you do indeed have a spot with a care provider that is somewhat competent. Although, I have to confess that for most of the daycares we’ve looked at, Kiyomi will be eating better than she ever eats at home for lunch! Apparently, instant noodles is not a staple at most daycare menus. Go figure?!

Keeping alive one of the traditions of our pkd (pre-kid days), we took advantage of the 4 day Easter weekend to get out of town. The destination this year – Winnipeg, which lived up to its reputation of Winterpeg with a low of -19 on the night we arrived. You know, it might be where we grew up, but I gotta ask, what’s up with that type of weather. We were escaping warmer weather in Ottawa!

I will say that it was sunny the entire time we were there, so at least some of Winnipeg’s stereotypes are pleasant. Kiyomi got to meet a whole whack of new people, including family and friends. She was a real trooper throughout, despite our doing our very best to completely exhaust and overwhelm her. Somehow, she managed to even survive a day without a nap. We thought we were in for it that evening, but thanks to the magic of toddler chemestry, she happily followed around her two newest buddies, Ava and Tessa, without so much as a temper tantrum. Later in the evening, she had her own personal entertainer in Spencer who worked his butt off putting on a fabulous show for her, complete with dancing and silly faces. Let me tell you, Kiyomi was smitten.

After all that, she was pretty exhausted the next day when we met my cousins for brunch, but as luck would have it, Kiyomi’s two favourite toys were present – older kids and a dog – which kept her happy as a clam. A big thanks to Liam, Sophie and Julia for that.

Of course, we are now dealing with the biggest peril of traveling for Kiyomi. It isn’t jet lag, it isn’t a different environment. It’s the fact that when we get home, she expects us to sit in her room with her until she falls asleep, like we do when traveling. This in itself may not be that bad, but for the fact that she fights off sleep to keep an eye on you to make sure your butt is in that chair. It’s particularly much when you walk in the room - after she’s been wailing to wake the dead for the last 10 minutes – and she stops crying instantly and points to the chair with a little grunt that clearly says “that’s better, now sit!” Didn’t I read somewhere that you’re not supposed to let the toddler control the situation? Well, it’s far too late for that around here! Don't let that innocent little face fool you, she rules with a ruthless dictatorship around here.

As for Kiyomi developments, they are pretty much still on course, she’s growing – sprouted two inches in the last three months – and learning all sorts of new tricks. I was pretty shocked when she spontaneoulsy started riding a tricyle at play group the other day. No idea where she learned that. I guess it’s a harbinger of things to come as she increasingly stakes out her independence and learns things independently of Kohji or I. As with everything else, there’s a sadly sweet feeling watching her change before our eyes and become her own little person.

The parting shot for tonight is proof that it's all worth it. Good night from Ottawa.