The art of dinner conversation

Lauren has been keen about joining in on dinner conversation lately. Now she'll ask to participate which I take as a sign that she's maturing. In the not so distant past she would just whine or hum loudly to get our attention.

Yesterday C and I were discussing something when Lauren piped up "Mommy, talk to me!"

"OK", I said, "what do you want to talk about?"

"Let's talk about ice cream!"

This was amusing to me because she had started a conversation about ice cream the night before. I suppose ice cream talk never gets old. After we went around the table stating our favourite flavours it was time for another topic.

"Now lets talk about pizza!" She said. She very politely asked C and I what kind we liked then told us her preference. "My favourite is chocolate and chicken and meatball."

I doubt she would ever actually eat chocolate pizza with chicken and meat ball, but you never know with this kid, and it did make for interesting dinner conversation!

I wonder what we'll be talking about tonight.

And more on apples

Apples seem to be a recurring theme these days. Must be the change in season. This weekend Lauren and I spent some time in the burbs visiting family then ventured further out into the country on a spontaneous apple picking outing.

I've never been apple picking before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Armed with a map of the local area farms, my sister picked one at random and off we went.

To our surprise, Chudleigh's turned out to be quite the hot spot for outdoor family entertainment. There were giant slides and a straw maze; face painting and a farm animal petting/observation area; a giant sand pit and tire swings. And apples too of course! Lots of them!

After some mandatory play time we hitched a ride on the tractor wagon that took us deep into the orchard. The trees weren't as big as I expected, but just the right size for kids and adults alike to reach into the branches and pluck the perfect fruit.

Lauren's older cousins were thrilled to help her with the picking and Lauren was thrilled to be gallivanting in the country with her cousins.

All in all it was a nice break from the bustle of the city and a great way to kick off the harvest season.

It’s not the cyclist, it’s the attitude

Recently while cycling home from work I approached a red light at an intersection behind another cyclist. As is usually the case, the stream of cars on our left weren't leaving much room between them and the curb. When this happens I usually fall back and wait for traffic to move again rather than risk being squashed into the curb, but the cyclist ahead managed to squeeze his way forward.

At the corner a large vehicle starting to make a right turn then stopped short of hitting the cyclist ahead of me. I was close enough to the vehicle to hear the driver mumble something. “%#%@ cyclists!” I don’t know what he said exactly, but I doubt it was a compliment.

I hear a lot of grumbling regarding cyclists. They take up room on the road, they plow through stop signs and red lights at intersections. They dangerously weave in and out of traffic and are a menace towards pedestrians on sidewalks. I’ve witnessed all of these instances and will agree that some cyclists are a hazard.

I have also witnessed hazardous behaviour on the part of drivers and pedestrians. Just this morning a pedestrian failed to look both ways before stepping from the sidewalk onto the street a few feet from my path. Had there not been time for me to stop it would have been a nasty collision.

A few minutes later I saw a driver make a left turn onto a street nearly knocking down a dad and his 2 kids on a crosswalk. The pedestrian signal clearly indicated that it was that family's right of way.

Unfortunately too many people have a very careless attitude on the road whether they be cyclist, driver or pedestrian. It's an individual issue. Put that careless cyclist behind the wheel of a car and I'm sure you'll see reckless driving behaviour. Or watch that reckless driver walk down the street for a block and they will likely try crossing the street when or where they shouldn't be.

We all need to smarten up and pay attention. There's room for everyone on the road and with a little more care we should all be able to get to where we're going safely.

A is for apple

If I ever figure out Lauren's eating habits, I'm sure it will be a very long time from now.

Every evening after dinner or for a snack on the weekends I offer a selection of fruit. She always says no to apple, but I keep offering anyway.  

Yesterday on our way home from daycare she went snooping through my tote bag and found an apple then asked if she could eat it. I was shocked, so of course I said yes even though we were going to have dinner soon. She ate 3/4 of the apple before dinner, paused to eat dinner (pasta), then polished off an apple fruit cup for dessert.

I guess she just had a craving?!

Simple pleasure #2

Pulling weeds from the garden under a light rain on a quiet Monday morning.

Simple pleasure #1

Spending 30 uninterrupted minutes putting away the dishes and tidying the kitchen while Lauren plays puzzles with Grandma.

Home grown bagels

I love that Lauren enjoys helping me in the garden. It's not a big area by any means, but it's ours and there's enough space to dig and play and get messy or just sit and hang out.

She's curious now about the names of the different flowers and tools and has done a good job of remembering most things.

This evening she wanted to help with watering. After we filled the watering can together she said, "Mummy, I want to water the bagel."

"The bagel?! We don't have bagels out here." I replied. Strange request but imagination runs wild at this age so anything's possible.

"I want to water the bagel." She insisted. Then I saw that she was headed straight for the potted herbs.

"Ooooohh, the basil. You mean baay-sil?"

"Yes." She said. "The basil."