"Oww" and art!

My little boy drew his very first picture today!!! It's a lot of wavy scribbles but I can't help thinking it's beautiful. I'm a mother, c'mon!

He also said "Oww" for the first time today when he tripped over. It was ssssoooo sad and cute and resulted in him getting lots of kisses.

Counting to 8 and I Like You!

Osrid Olov has a natural love of books-which is incredible to me as I have never "sat him down" to read to him. We simply give him his own books to play with and look at, and he frequently says the word "book" and brings them to me-he will come and sit in my lap while I read a few of the pages (they are mostly one word or one sentence per page, mind you he is only 14 months old) to him. Usually he gets bored after a couple of pages are read and starts flipping through the pages and playing with the book...or sometimes he will walk away, which is fine with me as I know he will develop his own interests at his own page. It is such a delight though, that today he brought a number counting book to me, and sat with me for eight out of ten pages. It's a new record. He was as usual trying to mimic the sounds I was making as I spoke, was pointing out items on the pages. He managed to copy one of the words I read him: "tiger", after I explained there were 3 tigers on the page.

I also heard the lovely words again today "I like you"-directed to me, as he watched me from his Daddy's lap. How very sweet and funny and cute.

He has been doing so well with walking-it is as if he instinctively knows how to be safe, and will stay near by us even when he doesn't want to hold hands. He can now walk about 1/4 of a mile before he gets tired and needs to be picked up! Isn't that amazing(especially considering his parents can't walk too much further before needing to stop. Ha ha)! I am so proud of what my little one is learning. I am so blessed to have this little guy as my son, do I mention that enough? Xx

Walking, foods, sharks...the usual ;)

O.O. is learning a lot lately (but then, what else is new?)-he has been really into taking walks outside now that he has the confidence to do so and is learning about safety outside (not to touch garbage ect, holding hands near busy streets, looking both ways before crossing ect.) I love how happy it makes him. We try and buy our groceries in increments just to give us an excuse to get out most days, a nice little walk to the store, around the neighbourhood and back.

I've also been cooking new foods-I aim to try something new every few days or so, I think it keeps things interesting and helps me cultivate my culinary skills. Plus, Ozzie LOVES the kitchen. Today I made a red lentil mash.

Today we watched a very interesting documentary about the real life story behind Jaws, and how the movie has influenced our cultures' attitudes towards the ocean. It is very sad, as prior to the movie people had little to no fear about swimming in the ocean, and shark hunting only happened as a rarity-now it is done as a commonality and people take pride in killing them, humans have become what they fear of sharks. I had never really given this much thought but it makes me very sad for them!

Walking Outside!

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012 ---
So many things have happened over the past year, it's just incredible. Starting with Osrid Olov learning how to say his first words, sit up on his own and roll himself over, and thankfully relatching (after the horrible hospital experience); Paul's heart attack, making the lifestyle changeover to 100% veganism, getting our own place, Ozzie standing up and then taking his first steps and now walking! What a year; and we can only hope it will get better from here. Who knows what this next year will bring.

Our family has been walking outside a lot lately, and having a wonderful time! It really isn't the weather for it, seeing as it's just gone winter-misty and cold as hell outside-but if you bundle up you can sure have a lot of fun anyway!

Lille O.O. is such a fast learner! With his first pair of hard-soled shoes, he is finally feeling brave enough to walk outside. He is doing so well! He has walked all around the store with us, and walked briefly outside a couple of times. Today he walked all the way from our front door to the end of the drive. He didn't even want to hold hands until he was almost at the end as he was feeling so independent! What amazing progress; and I look so forward to watching as he learns to walk farther and faster. It just goes to show that when you take the pressure off of children and just enjoy learning with them, side by side, there is no limit to what they can do.