Isaac turned 5!! He used to say he was going to be able to do all these big kid things when he was 5 like it was this magical age…”when I’m 5, I’ll be as tall as daddy” or ” I’ll be able to run as fast as a car when I’m 5″… And it’s hard to believe he’s 5 already. (Though he’s not as tall as daddy or as fast as a car yet).
This was Isaac’s first pandemic birthday, since we squeaked his party in last year right before the lockdown. He had big ideas for his party but was amazingly impressed with the simple park treasure hunt that constituted his party this year. The kids searched for balloons in the park where they collected ninja masks and swords, and finally came to a treasure box filled with loop bags and gems and coins.
We also had cake celebrations with grandparents, and a very loud announcement of uncle Greg’s arrival in his decorated truck. Isaac was super stoked with his gifts and is at a fun age where he’s into lots of crafty activities like Lego, melting beads, spiral drawings, paint by numbers, moulding clay, and growing crystals. He would have also loved uncle Greg’s idea of a pet for his birthday – but thanks to Charlene’s insistence that he check with us before buying Isaac a hamster, we escaped that responsibility for another year.
Gymnastics is the highlight of our lives right now! All the kids love it and participate so well. They even wear their masks without complaint. Isaac is finally fulfilling his dream to learn how to do a cartwheel, and his coach praises his skill every week. We wish we could put him in parkour (little ninjas) but we have run into another tricky family of five scenario, where we need a parent with each of Cadence and Asher so Isaac has to settle for the lesson offered at the same time or we run out of supervision!
Same three-kids-two-parents issue with swimming lessons. Luckily though, we were able to sign Isaac up for swimming lessons in the evening this spring, since he’s still a bit more confident than his skill level…so at least he’ll get ready for the cottage this summer. The others can wear lifejackets! (Cadence already pulled out her lifejacket recently to wear while playing in the back yard…. Safety first!)
We’ve reached the one year mark of this pandemic now. As the vaccine possibilities are dangled in front of us, there’s hope for a return to normal soon, but it will never feel soon enough! The upside is that spring came early this year, and we’ve had unusually nice weather for March. This time last year, we were newly sequestered to our houses and yards with freezing weather that made staying outside for long difficult with little kids. Now we spend most evenings biking to the park! Asher has really got the hang of his coaster bike and zooms along. Cadence is still deciding on her preferred method of transportation, between coaster bike/scooter/tricycle. It is sometimes hard to get everyone to leave the park at bedtime though….
We did a family excursion one day, where we took a city bus to the LRT train for a ride! The kids loved it! Cadence sometimes sings herself to sleep with the Wheels of the Bus song. She and Asher love to sing, and can also count to 10.
The terrible twos have hit us double time and we are at a loss on how to manage it. Cadence frequently tantrums so hard that she throws up, which has instigated yet another covid test. Asher is our angel until he gets upset about something and refuses to tell us what is wrong and just screams. Isaac often gets frustrated with all the crying, understandably, and joins right in. Our after daycare routine consists of 75% scream crying/whining no matter how we play it.
Our most chaotic evening so far: dinners ready when kids get home, but Isaac cuts his mouth on a chicken wing bone and starts bleeding. (Took a minute to figure out what had happened since he wouldn’t stop screaming to tell us). He refuses help other than to sit and cry on Lindy’s lap. Cadence seems jealous of the attention on Isaac and starts complaining about a mystery injury and wants to sit and cry on Lindy’s lap too. Asher waddles off happily as though nothing is happening (at least there’s one like that!) But he’s quiet for too long so Lindy goes to find out what he’s doing, leaving the other two screaming in the kitchen. Finds Asher in the livingroom with both his pants and diaper down around his ankles with poop in the diaper! Where has he been and what is covered in poop?!? Lindy cleans him up. Goes back to the kitchen to help with the others. Jon gives them a treat to cheer everyone up (yogurt covered raisins). Cadence proceeds to choke on the raisins and starts to vomit ALL over Lindy and herself. Multiple times. Isaac gets upset that Lindy isn’t paying attention to him, starts crying again. Asher starts to gag on the smell of vomit, so Lindy yells for everyone to leave the kitchen while they get cleaned up. Isaac gets upset that he’s being told to go away. Lindy and Cadence strip down in the kitchen, leaving Jon to clean up the pile of puky clothes, and Lindy rounds up the kids to go have a shower. That is dinner hour in our house these days!!!
It’s a relief to get to start eating outside again though, which made it possible to have a distanced meal with Barb and Dave for Dave’s birthday! Thank goodness for spring!!!
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