Yoga

Charlie joined me for some prenatal yoga this morning . . .

Getting centered


Belly breathing


Downward facing Charlie


Child's pose


He didn't hang around for shavasana!

Dino Week

This week, Charlie's preschool class is talking about dinosaurs, so he is in heaven! Today, the kids were asked what happened to the dinosaurs, and their teachers wrote down their answers. One of Charlie's buddies said they went to jail because they were so mean. Here's what Charlie had to say on the subject:

"I think they died before paleontologists came because volcanoes came. And the meat eaters ate dinos and chased away the paleontologists."

Logic? Not so much. But you gotta love the paleontologists being chased away by dinosaurs.

Plus One

The big news around camp these days is the extra heartbeat emanating from my decidedly rounder abdomen. "Charlie's baby" is about 16 weeks along, and I'm feeling pretty much back to normal. Much of the last 8-10 weeks has involved me going to bed at 8:30 and maintaining marginally acceptable grooming standards. Thankfully, my energy level is back to its former state, meaning that Evan is no longer solely responsible for maintaining our household and I might actually pass my classes this semester.

Charlie is very excited about the baby, which he refers to as "his" - which makes me sound like the hired surrogate. Here're a few gems from the past few weeks:

"Mommy is still sleeping. She is tired from growing my baby."

[After asking how the baby gets out]: "That will not break you?"

"Can the baby sleep with me in my big boy bed?"

"I will hold the baby on the potty so she will not fall in the water."

"We better put away these toys [before the baby comes] because they are too pokey."

The baby, whose sex will remain a mystery until February, is always "she" - we'll see if Charlie has any future as an oracle. He came with us on our first trip to the midwife last weekend. He wasn't particularly interested in hearing the baby's heartbeat (too abstract, perhaps?) but very curious about my urine dipstick, which Nancy kindly explained to him.

Just a video and a few photos to fill in the gaps from the last month:



Having a cherry tomato snack with daddy




Lounging in bed (where else?) with mama


Stories with a chokehold


Playing in the creek

Miscellaneous

Today at the park:

C: I am thirsty. I should have a beer.
E: Oh, really? What kind of beer?
C: Cinnamon!
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Charlie's new favorite game: I sit on the floor with my legs loosely crossed. Charlie crawls in my lap, and wraps himself up in a blanket. Then I say, "Evan, I think our baby is ready to hatch!" Then Charlie jumps out of his "shell" and we have to say, "There's our baby!" We played this game for about 45 minutes after dinner the other night. Second in line is the stinky feet game, which mostly involves him rubbing his stinky feet on us and laughing maniacally.
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Charlie loves the phrases "of course" and "in fact:"

E: Charlie will you please go put these trucks back in your room?
C: Of course!

A: Charlie would you like some more muffin?
C: Yes, I would, in fact.
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Hugs and kisses are in short supply these days. Chances are good that if you ask for a hug, he'll tell you he's all out: "No more hugs today, mama. But you can have a kiss."

Little Gamer

Evan has gotten back into playing war strategy games that involve table-top miniatures. Sort of like GI Joe for grown-ups. Not surprisingly, Charlie is really curious about the miniatures and loves to look at them. He loves to say, "When I get bigger, I will go and play guys with my daddy." Today Evan made Charlie his own game case for this dinosaurs, and then they played meat eaters v. plant eaters . . . which mostly involved Charlie using the dice knock the dinosaurs. But Evan was in deep smit, and they had a blast.

Dino Trail

The Museum of Life + Science just opened their new new dinosaur trail. They've got about a dozen life-size dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous, plus a fossil dig site. They had preview day today, and although the fossil site wasn't ready yet, Charlie and Gabriel had a great time checking out the dinos. When finished the 1/2-mile loop, Charlie's first words were: "Can we go again?"

Charlie sits on Parasaurolophus


The boys check out the Troodon


Charlie is so excited about the baby Maiasaura!


Banana break


Rock lounging with daddy

Montreal

Evan had a work conference in Montreal which happened to coincide with our anniversary. We decided that this would be a lovely adults-only trip, so Charlie went to spend the week with Omi & Opu in Atlanta. He was so cute when they came to pick him up . . . at first he was concerned that he was going to have to walk to their house by himself! When it was time for them to get on the road, he gave us hugs and kisses, waved to us from the driveway, and hopped in the car. I'm so thankful that he's so excited to go and hang out with the grandparents. It would be really stressful to have to shove him into the car screaming and crying.

Montreal was fantastic. Evan was only tied up in the morning, so we usually took off just before lunch and spent the afternoon ambling around. And after so many weeks of hot weather at home, the 70-degree weather was a welcome change.

The view from our hotel room - Cathedrale Marie-Reine du Monde


Inside Notre Dame - it was pouring rain that day, so we didn't get any exterior shots. The basilica is in the old part of Montreal, which is impossibly quaint. Lots of narrow cobblestone streets and lovely old buildings.


Adorable, but blurry, Emperor penguins at the Biodome


Marche Jean Talon: We could have spent all day there. The central part of the market has fruits, veggies and flowers, and the outer perimeter is made up of halal butchers, artisinal cheese shops, ice cream shops, bakeries, etc. We got some delicious bread at Premiere Moisson, and then wandered around the market for a while. We ended up at a shop that had over 40 types of sausage, and a grill set up so you could get sausage sandwiches. Delicious!


Our last day, we walked up to the summit of Parc Mont-Royal, which has a lovely overlook of the city.


This was my first trip to Canada (I don't think Niagra Falls counts), and here are my initial impressions:

1. The smoking - blech :( Not sure if this is just a city thing, but I was amazed by how many people were wandering around with cigarettes.
2. It is worth going to Montreal just for the food: poutine = french fries covered in brown gravy and cheese curds. Yum. Evan also enjoyed the classic smoked meat sandwich. One thing we didn't get around to was trying the various contenders in the Montreal bagel wars.
3. Montreal has a pretty significant underground area downtown, so people don't have to venture out into the elements in the winter. It gives me the shivers just thinking about winters so brutal that they necessitate underground respite. So as often as I've threatened to move to Canada in the last 8 years, I don't think I could actually do it. I'm too much of a wuss.
4. Canadians seem much less affected by the obesity epedimic. Perhaps this relates back to #1? But then where does the poutine fit in?