Photo a Day May: Your personality – 31.

I mixed up yesterday’s and today’s challenge but alas, here we are. Today’s challenge is your personality. So, for all intents and purposes, mine.

I whipped up a little photo grid and pulled together some photos from the last couple of months that accurately depict a large part of who I am. The rest, you can make your own conclusions for all I care. ;)

Lover. I try to just love. Feel it. Give it. Spread it. Share it. Its hard sometimes but we all could use a bit more of it. That and hugs!
Mother. Self explanatory… ish. This one has huge amazing…. implications? Right word? I am a mom. i am mom. Mom I am. Is it all I am? No. Is it a ginormous part of who I am? Absofrigginlutely. Aaand I love it.  I really ought to expand on what that means for me, ’cause its kind of a big deal. Quite the journey.
Friend. Love em. Miss em. Need em. Cherish em.
Pet owner and lover. Well again. Speaks for itself. We love our dog, and the love between Cade and Lily makes me melt every single day. This pooch has taught us a whole heck of a lot.
Mentor. Leader.Student. Teacher. These all sort of group together for me. I want my life to constantly intellectually challenge me. I want to always be learning about myself, the world, people around me, my family, my partner. Sometimes I want to turn the brain off, yes, and sometimes I do. But generally…
Foodie – in the sense that I just love it. Everything about it. I love trying new things and experimenting.
Advocate. For human rights, ethics, birth rights, children, self-love, women’s health. Gosh I just opened up a can of worms.
We’ll just close it for now…
With regards to health though – this is huge. Personality or not, its related to the food thing and the desire and need to be healthy and treat our bodies kindly by fuelling them with health in so many different forms.
Arts and crafts. I love creativity and I think its a huge passageway into a very special part of our soul. We need to feed and nurture it in whatever way works for us.  Its different for you and I. It is also connected to spirituality and the idea of being grounded and centred. These are huge aspects of me and something I strive towards daily. Whether its a personality thing or not is debatable. To me it feels more internalized than that. But it works and I can run with it.

What would your personality look like in a photo grid?

Photo a Day May: A number – 29.

I tried to be a human 7, a human 4, and a human 1.  Cade and I tried to be a human 1 together. But it was not as perfect of a capture as this. This is what I wanted. This is a photo of a number. And oh so much more.

Photo a Day May: The weather today – 28.

Gloomy, rainy and windy.
Instead of hitting the pavement as planned this afternoon, we did not brave the rain and hit up some friends’ houses instead. 
It was so so very nice to wake up on this freeee Monday morning, have a leisurely coffee with my son, and watch him and Lily play together.  We had such a lovely day together, we really did. Full of smiles and moods that were good.

Photo a Day May: The weather today – 28.

Gloomy, rainy and windy.
Instead of hitting the pavement as planned this afternoon, we did not brave the rain and hit up some friends’ houses instead. 
It was so so very nice to wake up on this freeee Monday morning, have a leisurely coffee with my son, and watch him and Lily play together.  We had such a lovely day together, we really did. Full of smiles and moods that were good.

Photo a Day May: Unusual – 25.

Unusual.
Its a good word in this house.  Or it can be anyway.
This photo may be a little unusual looking but whats going on in it really isn’t. We are basking in the end of the day excitement and need to be free and run around. That happens daily so really its not that unusual. Our faces however may appear unusual but they are full of awesome love weekend vibes. And the green pants may be a tad unusual but mostly they are comfy and so fun. So theres that.

Photo a Day May: Pink – 22.

It was a rainy and gloomy day of wind today and unfortunately, lacked a lot of pink.  I had my eyes peeled too.

Right before we all wound down for the evening, pink entered our lives in the best form – play.  Play between a boy and his dog.

Lily dug out her pink flamingo toy, and as soon as Cade got wind, he was game for anything. He got a hold of her toy and copied how she wrestles her toys with her mouth.  Perfect and adorable.  And clearly this was what my photo capture of the day was supposed to be.

Photo a Day May: Mum – 13.

So naturally the subject of today’s challenge would be mum, or mom as some of us say.  Gosh, what a loaded one really.  Again we have got a tie for today’s photo. I could not only pick one because, well… you will see.

My mom gave me life, breath, and love.  She gave me these things, among so many others but those captivate it all pretty well, and I gave the same to another being.  And he gave these things to me, too. Its such a full and crazy intense cycle of life that it constantly blows me away.  Its pretty normal. But pretty darn fascinating. 

So as you can see, I surely cannot just show a photo of my mom.  And not only that, but she is so much more than just a photo.  She started this whole mom thing for me.  And her mom started it for her and so on. Like I said it blows my mind; its so out of this world and so incredibly beautiful. 

I was supposed to see my mom today, but things did not work out.  I had planned to capture a picturesque photo of my mom with my son and I, but alas, here we are.

Because I am a little bit proud, I have also added a photo of Cade’s first daycare craft, made for me.  It is the loveliest gift ever and I am excited to see what it grows into, which should be a sunflower.  The poem that goes along with it brought me to tears.  It sums the previous choppy fragmented paragraphs I just wrote up very nicely.  xo.

Photo a Day May: Something that makes you happy – 12.

The love and bonding that has transpired between these two melts my heart every day.  It is beautiful and meaningful and I am not sure I have ever seen Lily love and fear someone, at the same time, so much.  And I know for CERTAIN that Cade’s first really deep belly laughs were a result of him watching his puppy’s antics.  They are pretty humorous I will give her that.  Cade’s room has become her favourite place to chill and taker her bones and treats to.  When Lily hears Cade waking up in the morning or after a nap, she goes a little loopy.  She gets REALLY excited, and I know that personifying dogs isn’t good and its not excitement its cooped up energy… in this situation, I have to disagree.  She wants to see him so bad.  Then she remembers that he is not always gentle and sometimes actually way too rough, and she watches her back. Then she remembers how much he loves to chase her and play with her and she eggs him on. Then he finds her brush and tries to brush her and she’s gone again. Its neverending.  Their relationship is both extremes.  He finds her hilarious and loves watching her roll around and rub her face and body all over.  But then at the end of the day when we get home and she is going wild (this time it is energy) he cannot handle how overwhelming she can be and he gets super ticked, swats her off of him, and usually has a meltdown. But then during supper time he finds it hilarious how quickly skilled she is at grabbing his food he drops (on purpose) so he is once again amused.  And we cannot forget the time he tried to pick her up. It was so spontaneous and awesome. This is true love, right here. I am glad he will grow up with a dog. He is already learning empathy and everyday he is learning how to treat and work with animals. The same goes for the poochie – she is learning how to live in harmony with a child who is so unpredictable (but she learns fast what his moves are) but mostly, a child who loves the shit out of her. Its pretty darn special.

Day of the Dad.

I always knew Kyle would be an amazing father.  I had no doubt in my mind that he would nurture, care for, and love any new little being that entered our lives.  This became extremely apparent when we got Lily, and even moreso, of course, when our little man Cade was born.  Not only that, but his support to me as we were navigating the mostly beautiful but sometimes treacherous waters of parenthood – amazing and indescribable.  It’s just one teeny small gesture, but on this very day of the father, we made Kyle a lovely spinach & feta quiche, as well as a BBQ supper of steak, baked potato, broccoli and mushrooms and onions.  But the best thing?  This t-shirt that C and I crafted together, with Cade’s footprints, and an additional written piece stating “I let my son walk all over me!”

I don’t want to say Kyle is a very involved parent, he wouldn’t want me to say that either.  He doesn’t see it like that.  He sees it as he is being a parent, a father.  There’s no other way to describe it other than that.  There’s no sliding scale for him in terms of how involved he is.  Just like there isn’t for me, he would never say “she is a very involved mother” and so I’d rather not refer to him as that either.  He is an amazing dad and that is that.  He knows exactly how to soothe Cade (though sometimes, let’s face it, the boy needs some mama cuddles!) and he knows exactly what to do to make Cade smile and laugh.  I’m willing to bet Cade smiles and laughs more for his daddy than he does his mommy.  Little stinker.  I think Cade just bores of me, seeing me day after day, hour after hour, “Yawn, what a good nap… now just to wait for someone to come get me, OH, oh, you again.  Sigh.”

Cade, Lily and myself are all very extremely lucky beings to have Kyle in our lives.  Lily loves the walks and runs, Cade loves the cuddles, the dancing, and the love, and I love the support, the love, and yes, the cuddles.  I could go on and on, and luckily I’m in a good mood, because ya know what, things aren’t always hunky dory, things get crazy all up in here, and this mommy gets frustrated and upset with that amazing daddy that I just talked up.  It’s not always sunshine, and I might be a little worried if it was.  But as far as I’m concerned, the main thing is, we’ve got a solid foundation, a really strong base for our family.  I can’t wait for this little guy to grow up with such a strong, positive and nurturing daddy.  Happy Father’s Day Kyle, you are the bestest, the most amazing, and the silliest daddy ever.  Plus, you’re a great partner to have by MY side.  And you’re hot.  xoxo.  We love you daddy-o.

PS: Happy Father’s Day to all the awesome and loving dads in MY life – family-wise and friends-wise.  You are wicked.  I hope you got a little bit of special treatment today.  Love to you all!

Love, Cade.

This post is inspired by a great little piece I read which is a letter to a parent from a baby. It is also inspired by the fact that as of Sunday night, Cade has miraculously and magically been sleeping in his crib, tear-free, might I add.

Dear mom + dad:

I just wanted to shoot you a little note thanking you for finally letting me sleep in my crib.  I guess I should start by saying thank you for the cuddles and snuggles the past 4.5 months, and for helping me learn to sleep and feel safe when I sleep.  It was so nice to be so warm and cuddled up with you in your bed, on the couch, or wherever.  But with that being said, thank you for letting me have my own space.   FINALLY.

I just have a few questions: how come it took you so long to finally let me sleep by myself?  Were you sad to be without me?  How come you always had to cuddle me to sleep, every single night, and every single nap?  Did you think I couldn’t fall asleep on my own like an independent big boy?

While I of course loved hanging out with you guys in your bed, snuggling and hugging while we slept, I cannot tell you how nice it feels to be free, at least.  To have my own huge bad all to myself.  There are no words to describe it, really.  Well, maybe glorious. That one comes to mind.

It’s so nice and warm in my own room, too.  My bed is so big, and now I finally have room to stretch out.  Just what I’ve been waiting for.  And there is no loud snoring noises coming from a bearded man on my right, or constant moving around from some grouchy sleep-deprived woman on my left.  Just my own bed, my Sleep Sheep playing the sounds of rain, my sleep sack, and my small Lamby.

I have been waiting for this day, to sleep on my own and to feel like a big boy.  I’m so excited that I can actually get some good solid sleep and be entirely comfortable, without you guys waking me up all the time.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love you mom and dad, more than I can begin to describe, but like I said before, it’s just all the snoring and moving around that gets me.  There were some mornings where I woke up just feeling absolutely exhausted because you kept me up all night. I’m hoping that now that I’m sleeping in my own bed (again, like the big boy that I am) that that won’t happen and I will feel so well rested and be even more ready to take on the big world that is out there waiting for me.

Mama, dad, I love you so much.  Please don’t forget to give me lots of cuddles.  I know I said I’m a big boy and I’m all independent and what not now, but I still need you more than ever.

Warm hugs & drooly kisses,

XoXo

Cade