After Nate came home from daycare I suggested that he and Graham make a fort out of a rather large box that contained some goodies that were shipped my way today. About fifteen seconds later I looked back at the box and Graham had cut a door in one side for Nate. Then Graham decided to put the box on his head, because he does that, puts things on his head (and mine, and Nate’s) and was instantly a Daddy Bot-bot. He chased Nate around the house with that box on his head for a good fifteen minutes. Later on we coloured the box and put robot stickers all over it. The boy loves his robots!

I love this picture because you can see that both of my boys are having such a great time together. In fact, it’s hard to tell which one of them is having more fun.

Today I had lunch at one of the most meaterrific restaurants I’ve ever had the pleasure of dining at (and I’ve dined at a few), the Stockyards. My company was lovely, too. Gayla and I met up for lunch and then we splurged on an espresso-based coffee beverage followed by shopping at a couple of thrift stores, where I found three pairs of pants and another toy drill for our growing boy and budding handyman. I came home feeling happy to be caught up with my friend and my bag loaded with some very cool heirloom tomato and pepper seeds.

Do you believe this snowman? You couldn’t make a snowman do this if you tried. There is nothing holding this snowman together…we built it on the weekend and Nate tried to push it over, but Graham prevented that from happening. Instead, as he began to melt, “Frosty” just leaned further and further over until he became Bowmanville’s Limbo Champion. Every morning we’ve looked out back to see if he’s fallen over yet, but he keeps leaning further and further toward the ground. Showoff.

A few days ago we brought Nate’s tricycle into the house in hopes he might figure out how to ride it in the basement. (Incidentally, I just remembered that there was always a little red tricycle in my Gramma and Grampa Holtby’s basement. All of us kids must have ridden it at one point or another…) Today Graham brought the trike upstairs for Nate, hardwood floors be damned. His legs were just a tiny bit too short to reach the pedals, still, but when Graham took a closer look, he found that he could move the seat forward. He tipped the tricycle on its end and got to work moving the seat. Nate, of course, took charge of the whole operation, and even seemed to know how to use his wrench to remove the necessary hardware.

He still hasn’t figured out how to ride the tricycle properly, preferring to straddle it while tippy-toe-ing his way around the main floor of our house, but at least he’s figured out how to steer it around the corners. It won’t be long before we are following him up the sidewalk on summertime evening walks as he pedals along.

Last week Graham and I got serious about making a list of things that need to be done around the house. Since then, he’s been working away diligently at getting things on the list finished up. Today he moved the cable outlet from its original spot above the baseboard in the living room to the wall directly behind the television, which is mounted on the wall. I told you he was handsome and handy.

Nate has been enjoying all of this “handiness” going on around the house. In addition to helping Graham with the tools, he also has started to pick up the vacuum during the clean up phase of these projects, which, of course, makes mommy happy too. What should really be here in today’s photo is a picture of Graham, sweat rolling down his temple, completing another project, all in an effort to make our house nicer, more organized, to make me happy. Except, this was the only picture I managed to take today. Thank you for everything you’re doing around the house, Graham.

Today we parted with some baby things that have now gone on to be part of another family’s life.

I know it’s silly…I mean, they are just things but these things featured prominently in our lives for many of the early months of Nate’s life. It’s amazing to me how I’ve attached sentimental value to Nate’s baby swing, his bouncy seat, my maternity clothes. Don’t get me wrong, we are totally happy that some people we care about will be able to put these things to use. We’re glad to have them out of the house, because we no longer have a need for them or the space to store them, nor do we want to hang onto them indefinitely. Those early months of Nate’s life were so tiring, so bewildering, so filled with angst and sleep deprivation and self doubt, and yet as soon as these things had left the house I burst into tears. As I closed the door behind our lovely cousins who took these things to use with their own dear baby, I closed the door on those early chapters of Nate’s life, too. There will be no more baby days in our house, and although I am able to look back on them with fondness now, and although there is a great deal of relief in my heart that we will not have to tackle the overwhelmingness of parenting a newborn again (oh the diapers, the bottles, the soothers, the wondering, always wondering if we’re doing it “right”), there is, of course, a bit of sadness there as well.

After our friends left the house, and Graham had hugged me, Nate wandered over and Graham asked him to give me a hug. Nate pointed to my face, put his little fingers right up on my cheek where my tears were falling and with concern, said, “Cry.” I told him it’s okay, that I was only crying for a minute, because he’s growing up so fast and because I love him so much. Graham grabbed the camera, told Nate to give mommy a hug, and took our picture in that moment, which I will forever treasure because it marked the moment in which we crossed a threshold in Nate’s little life, from babyhood into the place in time where he is now. We are on the other side of some doorway.

(On another note, I began Project 366 with the idea that I wanted to become a better photographer, but as I’ve made my way through nearly fifty days of this daily posting of photographs, I’ve discovered that my reasons for continuing with the project have much more to do with documenting the things that are important to me and my family than just slapping up a picture I have managed to capture on any particular day. That’s why today I decided to post a photograph that Graham took, because this blog is about all three of us and our family life, and the fact that it wasn’t my finger that pressed the button on the camera shouldn’t deter me from showing the event in our day that was most meaningful. So, from now on, the photographs posted for Project 366 will most likely have been taken by me, but some of them might also be taken by Graham, which I’ll mention in the post.)

This truck has been put away since Christmas time, and today we swapped it for another toy, which is now tucked out of reach. Nate played with this all evening long, and had a hard time letting go of it at bedtime. He is such an intense little boy at times, so fixated on things. This determination and concentration will serve him well as an adult, I’m sure. I think he’ll be the kind of person who doesn’t give up on something until he’s figured it all out. His little brain is constantly working things out, and I can’t wait until he can tell us about all of the things he is learning how to do.

I was excited to find my friend Gayla Trail‘s new book on the shelf at Chapter’s this morning, and I picked up a copy to add to my gardening library. The book is just beautiful, as all of Gayla’s books are. There are sections on growing herbs in general, on choosing specific plants for your unique garden environment and one section of recipes, including refreshing drinks and cocktails made with herbs and edible flowers. I’m looking forward to that first real warm day in spring when I can sit out back with a glass of Mint Limeade and read more of it.

I actually owe a lot of my enthusiasm for growing food to Gayla, who has inspired me every season since we met back in 2004. Through her I’ve met a number of other lovely and friendly ladies who also share a passion for growing food and flowers. Thanks, Gayla.

Nate loves Rudy something fierce. This morning he kept hugging Rudy on the living room floor, but to Nate, this kind of a hug involves full body contact. Rudy did not approve of this earnest expression of physical affection and the end result is what you see here.

Rudy 1, Nate 0.