Back to Real Life- Part 1

It’s been an action-packed summer! In late May, Will and I returned to work. For me, work has been more varied, social and enjoyable than I expected, but also busier. My manager had forgotten when I was going back, so I had a few weeks of relative calm as I scheduled families and we looked at how to reorganize our staff for the upcoming school year. Then, I gradually started to take on more things-- over the past month or so there have been days where I’m in meetings all day- a huge contrast from the mental space and quiet of mat leave! One of the things that has made the transition back the smoothest is seeing some nice impacts of treatment for the little ones my team is working with.

Will’s life has also been much more hectic since the start of the summer. He has been taking both kids to and from daycare everyday, usually in the bike trailer. He has also been making high quality breakfasts and lunches for us , with loads of fruits and vegetables (the Flanagan-patented “salad and cycling” lifestyle guide is forthcoming :) ). A few weeks ago, Ben told one of our friends that his “daddy makes maps- and he never gets bored”. With the start of the new academic year and the return of students, his job is getting more social and varied.

It took Clara a few tough months to accept that daycare is a nice place to be. The transition was really tough for her- she was sick almost constantly (4 fevers in that time, if I remember right) and I remember not being able to sort out whether quite significant changes in her behaviour were because of the distress of going to daycare, symptoms of illness, or both. Poor little Maisy! She gradually accepted her teachers as part of her small and mighty crew of safe people and now enjoys being with them. The centre is amazing, with lots of outings, really good food, and loads of toys. Her teachers are enthusiastic and skilled and it’s really nice to be confident that she’s being well looked after.

It feels like Clara has tripled in size since her first birthday in May (which was Dutch-themed and allowed us to share the joys of Stroopwafels and Edam with our friends). She was saying “up” and “uh-oh” for a little while, but then returned to her quieter self, using gestures all day long: pointing, nodding, signing “more”, trying to show what she wants (e.g., swinging her body if she wants us to swing her, bringing us books that she wants us to read). In August she started walking confidently-- she can nearly dance now! She continues to be a very good and confident climber and she loves to climb up onto big chairs and sit there triumphantly. She continues to sleep very well at night, which is wonderful for all of us.

Ben recently transitioned to the “four-year-old” classroom, and he seems to be really enjoying it. When I asked why he likes his current class he said “because all the trains have faces- in the  three-year-old classroom only one of the trains had a face!”, but I think that there might be more to it than that. There are only 11 kids with 2 great teachers and they go to a big wooded park and other outdoor spaces multiple times a day when the weather is good. He is in a class with his friend Iris now, as well as his best friend from his previous class. This summer, Ben started to enjoy riding around on his balance bike. He is very good at stopping at the road, but a bit cheeky about stopping at corners, often going around our large city block to home way ahead of us. He has started to play with Lego and continues to love trains. The highlight of he and Will’s days lately is often playing Minecraft (a game on the ipad that Will describes as being like computerized Lego). They are growing crops, building houses, and seeing lots of new things. When Will talks about doing things, Ben sometimes asks now whether it will be “in Minecraft” or in “real life”.

Below are some photos of highlights from the early: A concert with Rafi (ring ring ring Bananaphone!), some nice summer hikes, paying "mommy horse", "daddy horse" and "Benny horse" on various beaches, and our first attempt at site camping-- sunny beaches, nice evening campfires for Will and I, but also tiring as we tried to keep up with a very active 3-year-old and a baby whose just learning to walk. I'll post pictures from later in the summer- including pictures of visitors and visits- soon!