I's the b'y that catches the fish...

The Caplin rolled in this morning.

Caplin are small fish, and every spring, they come to the shore to spawn. This means that thousands of fish are washing up on shore. So, if you're so inclined (and many are), you grab your bucket, your net and some rubber boots and head out to the shore. I was told awhile ago that "when you hear the caplin are rolling, drop everything- you get in your car and drive to the shore."

I read on twitter that the Caplin that they were rolling this morning, I did just that. Paul went off to work and I loaded the girls in the car and drove off to Middle Cove. 

It was really cool. There were so many fish right there on shore. There were hundred of birds as well, diving down for the fish, which was pretty amazing to watch. I've heard that there can be whales, too, but we didn't see any. 

 But, G took a bit of a dive into the waves and soaked herself from head to toe. When we got to the car, I pulled off her rubber boot and poured out the water. So, we went home. 

But we came back later with Paul. 

It was pretty crowded. More people, but many of the fish had gone away or been caught. 

We did manage to catch a few.

 G was really into it.

Then she asked the fish gods to bless her (or something). 

We took them home.

Dredged them in flour.

Fried them up.

And polished them off! 

G was very, very fond of them.

Secrets with 2 year olds

G: Daddy, close your eyes!
(he closes his eyes)
Mommy, close your eyes!
(I close my eyes)
Me: Now what?
Paul (peaks): She has her eyes closed too. G, why are we closing our eyes?
G: Because we have to have a secret!
Paul: Okay! (we all close our eyes)
G: Daddy, open your eyes. Mommy, open your eyes.
Me: Okay...
G: We all have a secret now!
(pause...pause...)
And I WIN!

Wordless Wednesday - Video Edition!

So... this happened

I need to write this down somewhere, so I can share how confused it made me.

G and I were at the library and I left her reading to herself in the kids area while I wandered a bit away looking for some books for myself (she was within maybe five feet of me). I heard her say "No! That's mine!" and so I came back and there is a little boy, about a head taller then her STANDING on the book she's reading - which is currently on her lap. He gets off, but he keeps trying to stomp on her foot. G is upset (obviously) and saying "No! Go away!" and (her favourite new phrase) "Don't look at me!"
  The boy says "Oops! Sorry!" as he continues to try to step on her. So I intervene. I say "No, no, let's not step on her foot." "Oops! Sorry!"
So he grabs her toy (that was in her hand) away, and, of course, G screams "NO!" in her angry-toddler-that's-mine voice. "Oops! Sorry!"

Enter his mother.
She's kind. She pulls her son away, but then, we have the following conversation:

Her: How old is she?
Me: Almost three.
Her: Oh, when's her birthday?
Me: She'll be three in August.
Her: Wow, she's a couple months older then him! He's tall for his age.
Me: Yeah.
(The little boy tries again to take away G's toy)
Her: Sorry! He thinks that she's littler then him, so he can beat her up.
(to her son) She's older then you, so you can't take things from her.
Me: uhm...
Her: He doesn't know she's older then him. What size does she wear? 2?
Me: Yeah, mostly.
Her: She's older then you, sweetie, don't pick on her!
(They leave)

So... it would be okay for him to pick on her if she was younger then him? I do not understand. I guess she was just surprised that G is almost 3 since she's so small. But seriously! The reason not to take a kid's toy or step on them is because you don't step on another kid regardless of their age.

Wordless Wednesday

Why I Like Waking up at 4am -- a Post by Paul

I know I'm not supposed to, but I really like walking around my apartment with my baby at 4am, pacing and singing her to sleep.

Of course, I don't like having my sleep interrupted.  I don't like to hear my baby crying, and I don't like it when M wakes up in the middle of the night--not exactly.  And I don't like it when my singing and pacing doesn't work.  But usually it does.  And when it does, it makes me feel like a good father, which is a really great feeling.  When M is crying, and I pick her up and she stops, I love that feeling.  And when I rock her and sing to her, and put her back to sleep, and she stays asleep, I'm a happy man.

I really like getting up with her while Jan stays in bed.  Mothers have a built-in mechanism for bonding with their children.  Especially while she is breastfeeding, Jan has a virtually foolproof way of calming M.  But we're trying to convince M to sleep through the night again and a big part of that is breaking the expectation of milk at 4am. Like her big sister, M was an amazing sleeper for her first 6 months or so.  But just around the 6 month mark--just before in M's case, just after in G's--she started to wake up in the middle of the night.  With G we just assumed it was a fluke and Jan fed her, until before we noticed it had become a habit for G to eat 3 or 4 times a night.  With M we're determined not to make that mistake.  She's not hungry.  She just wants comfort.  But M won't calm down in Jan's arms unless Jan feeds her--not in the middle of the night anyway, not when she wants milk.  But she'll calm down in my arms.  So for fifteen minutes, or half an hour, I hold my baby all alone, in a quiet apartment.  Everyone else is sleeping and it's just her and me.  And I rock her and sing to her, and she nuzzles in and falls back asleep, because my voice is as soothing as mother's milk.


So yes, I like getting up with my baby and walking around the apartment with her at 4am, singing her to sleep.


Just as long as it doesn't last for too long.

This Week is Picture Two

 The view from my window...

Sun:

Fog:

Vegetarian, sort of

So, we've decided to go vegetarian for the foreseeable future. Well, not entirely vegetarian, we'll probably still eat fish and seafood. This isn't a huge leap, since we've been eating many meat-free meals in the past, but it's a leap, nonetheless.

Our reasons are threefold:
- I have issues with how factory farming works. I went to a Farm Exhibition last year and was pretty saddened by how they kept the chickens - and that was what they felt free to SHOW me! I read recently that every dollar we spend on factory-farmed meat is a vote for that meat, so I want to reduce my consumption of something I don't agree with.
-Grocery store meat is expensive and not that great for what you pay for. Grain-fed free range meat actually tastes better. So if we stop eating meat all the time, we'll be able to afford the expensive, more delicious stuff on occasion.
-Eating vegetables=more healthy. We have been trying to live by Michael Pollan's 7-word mantra "Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants." , and so going vegetarian for awhile will help us make healthy food choices. One of my favourite meats is bacon and I know that's terrible for me, so it's probably good for me not to eat that for awhile.

We're not going to worry about forcing our choices on anyone else, so we'll still eat meat at friends houses if they offer, or possibly if we go out to eat.


There was a small hitch in our plan, however. When we made this choice, we said we'd start when we'd eaten all the meat in our house. Somehow, we had a chicken, bacon, meatballs, a whole ham and sausages in our fridge/freezer. So, we've had some very meaty meals leading up to this.  But now we have purged our fridge, so it's meat-free from here on out.

Our mantra, on our fridge. 

Name that Houseplant

When we first moved here, my family sent us a potted plant. It was big and gorgeous, but it had no instructions or list of what plants were in it. We have since repotted all five of them into separate pots. 

We have our guesses as to what they are, but we're a little unsure. So, if you are plant-minded, or just like to google obsessively, here is your chance to guess what plants they are. We'd like to know so that we know how to take care of them and if they are at all poisonous to small people 

Our best guess for this one is Begonia. It's kinda redish, greenish and has produced no flowers.

This is likely a peace lily. It has now flowered twice, but the leaves keep going yellow, so we're not sure what we're doing wrong.

We have no idea what this is. Kinda looks like the top of a pineapple.

This is Ivy, pretty much for sure.

Bamboo Palm? Some other kind of palm? Is this going to get big?

Okay, so this is definitely a Gerber Daisy. It's not part of the guessing, it's just cute.

This is also not part of the guessing, it's just awesome. We planted some orange and lemon seeds and they all sprouted! They get bigger and bigger every day and it's so cool to watch.

Not sure what this one is. It's kinda papery. 

Wordless Wednesday