Park, Belated Birthday Dinner, & Baby Group

Nev, Cam & I went for a long walk one grey Sunday and we got to see DUCKS! Here's the best shot. Nevlin has seen ducks in his books & heard mommy quacking like them, but to see them live was something exciting.

We happened upon a swing set & I couldn't resist having a swing & taking Nev on his first ride up in the air. He was quite indifferent about the whole experience. 

Cam & I spent a dinner out at a restaurant I've always wanted to dine at, right along the waterfront downtown.

We have lovely food including these scallops. The bed of salt they sat on was quite a bit wasteful, but I suppose that's what you pay for when you are fine dining.

I've been a part of a mother's group & there are about 9 of us who regularly attend. We were at one mom's place and lined up all the kids according to their age. Nevlin is in the blue pants & is the 4th youngest, but the oldest guy. The youngest one is also a boy & the rest are all ladies. The difference in age between 4 of them (the 3rd kid in the lineup from the bottom to the 4th from the top) is only 5 days. All 4 of them were born at the same hospital too.

Check out Nev's pink sports socks! Everyone was paying it forward to the left in this shot...hands to yourselves kids.

Goodbye to Dziadziu

I have some sad news, my grandfather (Dziadziu, in Polish) passed away just over a week ago. He was 90 years old and had a couple of strokes about 2 weeks ago. He was in and out of the hospital for about a week and basically never really woke up from being sedated while they tried to figure out how much he lost from the strokes.

He was able to meet and play with one of his two great-grandchildren just a few weeks ago. That was during a visit by my brother and his wife and son. He skyped with the other one, Nevlin, the week before he entered into the hospital.

My Dziadziu was an amazing man who survived Poland during World War II, moved with his wife and my mother to the US, and worked hard his whole life. He exuded a "fix it" mentality, especially with mechanical items like lawn mowers and cars before they had computers. He taught me many things about life, love, work, and attitude.

I had a dream with him this past weekend, where I watched him slowly close his normally bright blue eyes. Dziadziu had lost the sparkle you always saw and I think that was part of my way to recognize he has gone to a better place. I wasn't able to travel for his funeral, so I will say a proper goodbye when I'm back home.

I'll miss you Dziadziu.

Blocks & Cups

There are a few things that we play with pretty much each day: cups & blocks. I think both Nev and I really love the process of stacking and knocking down. The sounds are really catastrophic and can occasionally shock the little man, but he's getting used to it. Here's a stack standing...

...and not.

Nev's grandfather, great grandfather, great grandmother, and grandmother all helped to make him a set of wooden blocks. Not only are they 100% American pine, but they also are wood burned by hand specifically for Nevlin. They contain current events, locations, the entire alphabet and numbers 1-26, as well as animals, flowers, holidays, and shapes. Here's a close up of just a few blocks.

Although Nevlin can't really build as of yet (the blocks don't quite fit in his hands), he is mesmerized by the towers that mom & dad construct. I think perhaps he will get into demolition sometime soon in the future. Until then, we give him a little help. The following sequence clearly illustrates how awesome the blocks are as toys.

One is down, and now eyeing up the second one.

That's funny, there is still some left!