Learning to say goodbye with furniture

My five-year-old boy cried for 45 minutes tonight after he learned that our wonderful nanny, who has been with us for two years, will be moving on.

First, I told him that it's okay to be sad and that I will be sad too.

"Mommy!" Benjamin wailed. "She can't go! I love her! She has to stay with us forever! I am too sad!"

"We could visit her in her new home, and we could meet her husband her and her son," I offered. "They're coming over from the Phillippines to live here with her. She is so excited. Her whole family will be here, and they want to have their own home."

"I don't want to visit her new house!" he cried inconsolably, throwing himself onto the sofa and doing that crying-so-hard-that-he-is-gasping-for-air thing.

"You know, Benjamin, maybe you could help her arrange her furniture," I suggested. "You know, you could tell her where her furniture would look nice in her new place."

"Really?" he asked, slowly wiping the tears from his cheeks and looking up at me. "You mean like where her sofa could go? And her 'Thinking Chair' [taken from Blue's Clues, Benjamin uses the phrase 'Thinking Chair' to describe any armchair], too?" he continued, suddenly sitting upright and breathing more normally.

"Yes! Yes!" I quickly answered, sensing that the prospect of interior decoration may be my son's silver lining to this dark cloud. "And her coffee table, her TV, and her lights...all of it! I'm sure she would like your suggestions."

"That will be fun," he chirped. Then as he got up to find our nanny to ask if she'd like his help, I heard him talking to himself as he walked away, "...the side table has to go in the corner, and the piano should go on the side, and then the sofa should go by the wall with the window...!"

Sometimes, nothing can lift the spirits like home decoration!

A garden party in Shanghai

That's what this girl's dress, by Red Fish Kids Clothing reminds me of. Of course, I've never been to Shanghai and I've actually never been to a garden party either, but if I were invited to an event that combined the feel of the city and of a garden party, this is what I would imagine it would look like...in dress form.

I LOVE this dress. I think this is may be my little girl's Christmas dress this year.

Check out Red Fish Kids Clothing to see their other unique and beautiful fashions for girl, boy, and newborn. And it's all made right here in Vancouver by a local designer. Gotta love it!

Welcome Mitterand & Früder

I love the names my kids come up with for their imaginary friends. Yesterday, we welcomed Mitterand to our family, my two-year-old's newest imaginary friend, who takes many forms including rabbit, which she is today.

My son's first imaginary friend's name is Früder.

What are the names of your kids' imaginary names?

Why the fixation on nipples?

The other day, my 2-1/2 year old daughter pulled her aunt's shirt down and exclaimed, "Your nipples are clean!"

???!!!

Shocking discovery and admission

I was at a baby shower this weekend and was stunned to find out how many of the women there did not enjoy their pregnancies. In fact, half of the moms there didn't love, like or even feel ambivalent about being pregnant -- they hated it.

And I have to come clean: I didn't enjoy being pregnant either of the two times I was knocked up either. Is that bad to say? I am the editor/publisher of a baby and toddler magazine and I never enjoyed being preggers.

Did/do you enjoy being pregnant?

Doodley doodle doo

This is one of the best drawing books I've found for preschoolers. By Nikalas Catlow, Do You Doodle? is a great way to exercise your child's imagination while fostering his or her passion for drawing. With more than 200 doodles for your little artist to complete.

Some examples of incomplete doodles:
Caption: "Look out!"
Incomplete doodle: Three people looking up towards the sky.

Caption: "What's in my soup?"
Incomplete doodle: A boy peering into his large bowl of soup.

You can find it online at Chapters or Amazon. I found my copy at Kidsbooks in Vancouver.

My floppy tummy

The other day my son came up to me and tickled me around my mid-section. He immediately exclaimed, "Mommy! How come your stomach moves so fast?!"

"What do you mean by 'fast'?" I asked, puzzled.

"I mean, when I tickle your tummy, it moves really fast and jiggles back and forth," he explained, now giggling and calling his sister over to witness the spectacle.

Ah, my floppy tummy -- my bittersweet souvenir from having two kids!

I will remember August 3, 2007 forever

Because it is the day my 2-1/2 year-old daughter told me -- consisently and throughout the day -- she had to pee before she actually peed in her underwear!

We've been toilet training her for two months now, and until August 3, she hadn't shown any interest in foretelling me about her need to pee. And this morning, when I retrieved her from her bed, I discovered her diaper was DRY!

So, forgive my overuse of exclamation marks here in this post, but I am so excited!

I want to throw a party! I want to scream from a mountain top! My daughter is finally toilet trained!