Picking apples at the CNE Farm

Week 205 motherhood with 3 year 11 month old and 20 month old. 

August 15 to 22, 2024:

• The child was able to be convinced to use the ladder potty or the toilet seat to go to the washroom this week!  Yay!!  Great progress!!  Now we don’t have to use the steel bowl and dump out her pee each time. ^_^
• I can sleep for longer now, about 6 to 7 of uninterrupted sleep without waking up automatically after 2 to 4 hours.  I guess my body is now used to sleeping normally again and not waking up intermittedly to feed.  It’s been more than a week of not nursing the 20 month old now.  So bittersweet and I actually can’t believe how much I miss it. 😦  I realize I never had a “last” session with her to savor it either.
• DH and I had a date night and once again it was so nice to have silence and eat in peace and just think whatever we wanted to say at the moment and talk together.  So glad we have grandma at home so we are able to do these date nights!
• Richmond Hill EarlyON had a special event where they invited a magician to do some tricks for the kids.  It didn’t start until an hour after everyone arrived.  I think they should have put out more hands-on toys for the kids to play with.  It was the first time in a while that the 20 month old came out to EarlyON.  She ate saltine crackers at the snack table because the older one wouldn’t let her eat the Goldfish crackers.
• The magician was entertaining, even for adults, and the 3 year old sat with grandma for the entire duration of the 40-minute show.  The 20-month-old sat for about 5 minutes before she wanted to walk around and play.  Of course being that young, she doesn’t understand “magic” and isn’t one to sit around quietly either.  Both kids are so different.  I love seeing them grow up.
• When we got home later, the older one was so tired from waking up early that she fell asleep by herself on the couch.  This shows growth because she was able to fall asleep by herself on the couch like a regular tired adult would.
• The older one finally wanted to sit with the younger one in the shopping cart!!  And I was there to witness it.  Finally.  We don’t have to push two carts anymore lol.
• We met up with my friend and her boyfriend for lunch in the Yonge and Finch area.  Because the guy was so calm, the 3 year old was actually very okay with sitting beside him (on DH’s lap of course).  This was nice to see because otherwise she might be squirming and more timid than usual.  After lunch, the kids played at a nearby playground.  The older one always wants to go to parks and playgrounds.
• On the Monday, DH took the day off so we could go to our annual family fun day — CNE!  For the first time, we focused on kid stuff like going to the farm, spending time in Kids World, playgrounds, etc.  Of course, I still had my food kicks at the Food Building but it was drastically different this trip because the kids take more time at their interests.  It also made a difference because the 3 year old is potty trained now and we needed to accompany her to the washroom frequently.  I’m so proud of her and that we have a toileted child soon!
• Both kids did the AgVenture activity at the CNE where they were “farmers for a day” and planted a seat, harvested a vegetable, egg, milk from a cow, etc.  It was a very hands-on activity but because the kids are still small, we had to direct them and tell them exactly what to do.  We saw a cow being mechanically milked.  Saw a mother pig with twelve piglets that were only 11 days old.  I liked that the Farm had hand washing stations that were low enough for the 3 year old to reach.
• That’s another small point that the 3 year old is now tall enough to reach most sinks so I don’t have to hold her up to wash her hands anymore.  Yay!  Small things matter.
• During the whole time we had our food feast at the Food Building, the little one fell asleep in the stroller.  It was so nice because we only had to cater to one child while eating.  It’s nice now too that the 3 year old is able to sit and eat by herself.  She doesn’t always want to sit in our laps anymore.  She’s growing up. 😭
• We went to the fire station where after spinning a wheel to win a prize, the 3 year old chose a green pencil.  There were other prizes like a lunch bag and stickers too.
• The 3 year old actually wanted to go on the rides in the kiddy midway!  So DH bought a few tickets and went with her.  They went on the dizzy dog, dizzy dragon, and the carousel.  They were in line for a small roller coaster too but she backed out once she was at the front of the line-up (like what she did for 90% of the rides at Wonderland when we went last year lol).  She enjoyed the rides.  The 20 month old was able to go on the carousel too.
• They spent a lot of time at the “Little Explorers” gazebo where they set up a grocery shopping section for kids complete with little shopping carts and plastic food to play with.  I liked that the staff were there to help them “check out” their items at the cashier and play along with them.  There was sidewalk chalk to draw with too.  There was a play rocket too (first time seeing this).
• The 20 month old LOVED the grocery shopping and was clearing the shelves to put the items into her shopping cart and then placing them on to the cashier to be checked out.  She wasn’t shy at all and “played” with the CNE staff.
• The kids didn’t really want to leave but it was already 8:30 p.m. and it was getting cold and the sun was setting.  Can’t wait to see what next year’s CNE outing brings.
• During Creative Chefs summer camp this week, the child made a fruit waffle (chose bananas and blueberries herself and opted out of the strawberries — probably because we had too many strawberries last week from a Flashfood purchase lol), yogurt parfait, and a strawberry jam and cream cheese sandwich.  When we were making the waffle, the child cut up the blueberries and because there were a few that were crushed and small, I told her she could “um” them (eat them).  She ate a few.  This was a win because it was the first time that she ate during an EarlyON session since the “hunger strike” that began in Seamless Transitions.  She had been refusing to eat with other kids in a classroom setting, so this was progress.  I put the rest of the fruit waffle in our Tupperware container where she ate the whole thing for dinner that evening.
• When we made the yogurt parfaits, I was anticipating her to want to take it home again but she actually ate the yogurt parfait there!  She asked me to feed her and I did because honestly there’s not many days/years left where she’s going to want me to feed her and I don’t mind it and I just wanted her to eat.  And she did!  She loved her yogurt parfait which had bananas (that she cut up herself entirely that day) and granola and dried berries.  So happy.  She later in the session went for a second helping of it too and finished it all.  Yay!
• The sandwich though, she didn’t want to eat there and brought it home to eat that night.  She ate it separately like a toast haha.  She did lick and eat the cream cheese that was on the knife at EarlyON though.
• I hope she continues to want to eat at EarlyON because school is literally coming in less than 2 weeks now and she needs to eat with other kids at school.
• So proud of her because all this week at EarlyON and when we were out in public, she told us when she had to go to the potty and successfully kept her diaper/pullups dry!  Towards the end of the week, grandma convinced her to wear pull-ups and they were dry too.  It was so much easier to have her pull up her own pull-ups and pants when we were out instead of strapping on the diaper back for her.  It’s the end of the diaper era for her! ^_^  Freedom for me and the adults in the house!!
• I love that she is so comfortable at that Richmond Hill EarlyON site now because we’ve been going there four days a week for about 6 weeks-ish.  She knows what to expect from each session, where the washroom is, where the books are, where our belongings and shoes are kept, where to throw out to trash, etc.  It was me the wanting-to-explore parent two years ago who wanted to take her everywhere and to different EarlyON places to explore that I now recognize the importance of routine and reliability too.
• We also once again played the bingo game together at the end of one of the sessions.  The 3 year old knew exactly what to expect and how to play.  She even stood up from our spot to peer at the other kids’ boards to see if they got the food item that the facilitator called out too.  Despite not getting anything on our board until like the 5th turn, it didn’t matter because she eventually knew she was going to get something.  Such a great game for young kids!  It’s so easy for them to understand the concept of it.
• We bought a new light jacket for the 3 year old and she’s been wearing it happily.  This is one of those rare brand new clothing items lol (everything else we have been buying from Facebook marketplace or is a hand-me-down).
• She’s been playing with her younger sister more and more these days and more affectionate too.  By that, I mean kissing her on the cheek, holding her hand, giggling with her, wanting to hug her.
• This week we had our roof replaced.  It was thankfully just one day of hammering and nailing.  We explained to the kids what was happening and luckily the hammering wasn’t as loud and obnoxious as it could have been.  The 3 year old has such a good memory.  She said that we first did our basement, then the fencing recently, and now the roofing is number three.
• She recently loves the colour green and her favourite number has been two for about a month now.  She likes being the second one to shower in the house.  Usually I shower first and then the 20 month old gets bathed before she does, so she should be number three.  However, in order to be number two, I designated myself to be number “zero”, then the secondborn is number one, just so the 3 year old can be number two in line.  Too funny.  She knows that DH is usually the last to shower so he is number five.  Good number sense.  All she needs to learn when she goes to school is the English for it.
• During EarlyON too, she’s agreed to wear a smock now and actually asks for it.  She knows it will protect her clothes.  She chooses the yellow one.
• When I’m at EarlyON with the older one, the younger one will usually take a nap at home when under the care of grandma.  There’s the off time that she doesn’t nap but because she gets up so early, she should be tired enough to take a nap.
• The 20 month old likes to say “um” (alliteration for the sound of eating) often.  When I’m reading books to them and they see a sun, they (I don’t remember where they got it from), they like to “um” (eat) the sun and usually compete to see who can eat it.  Now when the little one sees the moon or a star, she says “um” too.
• The 20 month old likes to say “jei jei” randomly when she’s with her sister at which point the 3 year old will say, “oi mm hai jei jei” (I’m not older sister).  This will go on for a few seconds and it’s constant.
• The 20 month old will sleep around 11 p.m., wake up around 3 or 5 a.m., and then 8 a.m.  DH will feed her a banana and milk when she wakes up around dawn and then she sleeps again until 8 a.m.  The 3 year old usually sleeps until 9:30 a.m.
• The kids loved eating the blueberries and especially sweet grapes this week.  The older child made a remarkable, saying that her sister’s poops were blackish in colour from all the blueberries because she doesn’t chew them and just swallows them whereas for hers, she chews her food so her poop is brown-coloured.  So insightful!
• The 20 month old has been eating bananas like she’s breathing air.  She can eat two or so in a day.  This is also why she has been pooping daily twice or three times even.  Good bowel movements!
• The 3 year old always likes to take a knife and cut it in half.  She will give the one with the stem to her sister.
• Oh, and when we were driving down to the CNE grounds (about 45 minutes), at the 35-minute mark, the 3 year old said she wanted to pee.  I told her there were about 10 minutes left and for her to hold it.  Grandma said she could pee in her diaper if she wanted to, but I told her, “No!  See if she can hold it.  We will get there soon.”  Luckily, once we arrived to the parking lot (15 minutes later actually), there was a porta-potty right next to our parking spot and the child was able to do her business there.  She held her pee for 15 minutes more!  What a big girl!