Sure! I'll have plenty of time!

Hello out there to anyone that might still have faith that this blog will be updated.

Fionn has been so busy becoming a toddler that most of his time is spent:

-playing with trains, talking about trains, asking to play with trains
-asking if we can go outside
-asking if he can get out of his stroller
-pointing out tower cranes (accompanied by a "Woooooowwww")
-playing with trains

Consequently, most of my time is spent accomodating said requests. Fionn is not an especially demanding child - he can play by himself quite happily for minutes at a time (as long as there are trains). However, when you resign yourself to the fact that lovely folk at your daycare get to spend more time with your little dude than you do (how jealous am I?), you want to catch all the action you can.

I haven't had a chance to post some of Fionn's great adventures over the last few months, but here's a quick recap as a prelude to what I am going to attempt to document over the next week.

Fionn has settled in really well at his new (and last) daycare at Queen's Park. After getting to know the staff and the enviroment where my child spends most of his time, I can say with all honesty that there is no where else I would have him. It it the most loving, playful, happy place I can imagine for him. The staff clearly love what they do, and the place is small enough that I don't feel he's lost in corporate childcare. I've come to adore his little classmates and look forward to chatting with his "teachers" when I pick him up. He is well loved there, that's for sure.

Soon, perhaps even as I write, Fionn is practicing to move up to the toddler classroom. It's a big step. For his graduation from Infants I bought him a Boon Potty. Right now he just thinks it's a stepstool though. I defer to his new toddler teachers, who will be teaching him potty training eventually, and await their advice and instruction on the matter. No need to rush anything.

Recently he's been to the beach in Goderich, which he throughly enjoyed as he got to go swimming with Daddy AND Jinky in the lake. His Canadian cousins gave him their Thomas the Tank Engine stuff and a box full of train tracks and accessories while he was there too. I thought Fionn's head was going to explode, but instead he balled his fists at his side, the shoulders went up to his ears, and then he grinned till he shook with excitement.

I have no idea where he got the idea to do that, but it was the most hilarious/lovely thing I've ever seen him do. He's a pretty happy kid anyway, so I wasn't sure how he could express being any happier till then. Fabulous.

Promise to get up some pictures within the next three days to go with this post. I DO ramble on.

Reflective Fionn and Shopoholic Mommy

Well Folks, it has been a while. Things have changed. Fionn's not a baby anymore (he sleeps in a toddler bed, fyi) and the economy is shite.

This is not good news for a shopoholic. And the fact that Fionn doesn't need baby gadgets marks a shift as well. Now I am entering toddlerhood and toddler goods.

Oh wow. Nows the time to stop spoiling my son silly before he really catches on. But it is SO hard. Fisher Price is redoing our childhood playsets in 50th anniversary editions (ok, I am NOT 50, but I played with that version), ride on toys take on a whole new meaning, and the amount of different trucks, trains and backyard toys is mindboggling.

How much do you buy for an 18 month old? How much do they really need? Let's ask the expert.

Fionn: "Well to be honest, less is not always more mommy. I'd rather have unlimited things to throw over the gate and pull out of my toy baskets."

Mommy: "Interesting perspective Fionny. Thank you. However it's not good to encourage excessive consumer consumption these days. It's just not right."

Fionn: "I'm just saying. Trucks and trains are very engaging playthings,"

Mommy: "Ok. back to the point though. Fionn, you only really play with like, 5 different toys per day. Would you really miss the rest?

Fionn: "Banana? Sky. (points upward) Sky. (Giggle, giggle). Looooooove U."

All right. Fionn clearly has switched channels. Let me summarize his last comments:

Not everything has to be new. daycare toys aren't...they are enjoyed just as much. Before you spend three times as much, check out Once Upon A Child http://www.ouac.com/ or a similar shop locally. The stuff has to be in good condition (trust me I know) so it's just fine when they sell it to you. Trust me, for the amount of time it's going to be interesting to your child, the price is right.

These days you can't afford to be wasteful, no matter how much money you have. Your kids enjoy it just as much. And Fionn would like me to remind you that buying gently used goods shows how much you love the earth: reduce your consumer consumption by buying second-hand, reuse someone else loved toy, and recycle your own old toys for cash or exchange at OUAC.

Fionn at the farm

While Fionn is exceptionally familiar with the concept of farm from such things as his 50th anniversary edition of the Fisher Price Farm with accessories (including cow with pivot head and fence), his copy of "Moo, Baa, La La La", and other literature, here is one of his visits to Riverdale Farm as chronicled by his favourite Dutchman, Freek.

Fionn was digging things, despite the lack of two of his favourite animals, pigs and monkeys. It was a pretty freaking decent spring day in Toronto, that's for sure. We saw horses, chicks, baby lambs and cows. We were accompanied by the lovely Sophia, and her parents Tara and Rodrigo (sp!), and the delightful Freek and Lisa.We had a wonderful day. Enjoy our favourite photos!

Ireland ping pong, part 3: February 2009

You know, when part of your family lives somewhere else, it is destined to be the #1 vacation destination. I personally am completely content with this arrangement. Fionn, if he could remember this years from now, would likely pronounce it "really awesome craic".

I found a really awesome deal online, and it was a special birthday for Margaret- in other words, how could we not go? And with accommodations like Rory's parents house (shown above), we were staying in the lap of luxury. Fionn got to see his cousins, despite an outbreak of some weird-arse flu at Nixon flat, and hang with Granny and Granda to his heart's content (and theirs, naturally).

Luca and Fionn went to the zoo, with parental accompaniment, and had a ball. The Belfast Zoo, I should note, is a large spiralling, continually rising hill. You know when you get to the top. Or rather, your hamstrings and glutes know.

Lucky lad Fionn also got to go on a sub-holiday to Westport in County Mayo. He was joined by his good friend Matthew, and his parents Gerrard and Dee. There was a pool in the hotel just made for people of Fionn's height (see photo below) and even though he was just started to walk here and there in Granny's sitting room, in the pool he could walk much easier while holding onto the walls.

Fionn also visited local Croagh Patrick - the legendary mountain where, after a forty day fast and building a church on top, Saint Patrick threw a silver bell down the side of the mountain knocking the she-demon Corra from the sky, thereby banishing all snakes from Ireland. Somebody clearly need Saint Patrick to be awesome (likely God) and awesome he was. I wanted to climb the thing, but I tell you it is not the kind of mountain you bring the kid up in the backpack. Oh no.

It was a whirlwind trip, but one that was most enjoyed by all. I mean how can you beat the excitement of Lurgan. It'd be a challenge. Add in the Blaney clan, and you can't resist. C'mon Christmas! Or July. Auntie Claire comes then. Oh the anticipation.

um, oops. Priorities...

Yeah so I haven't blogged for six months. What's it to you?

Anyway, I have made a new pledge to be better to my self: treat myself better, become healthier, and do things that make me happy and grow as a person. Writing, (thank you Ruth), is one of those things that I think really falls under all of those categories. It's just good for the soul.

Anyway, this blog is not about Mommy. So without much ado, enjoy the next few scatterbrained, non-cronological entries. What age is he? What continent is he on? You'll have fun guessing.

Thanks for coming back. Here's to goals, priorities, and flipping fantastic little boys, like the dude.