Just Monkeying Around

I need to get new brakes on our van! Every time Amanda even catches a glimpse of something brightly coloured she yells "PLAYGROUND"! I immediately slow down because I get startled and anything that can take me away from housework is always a welcome distraction.

Today we spent some time in a suburb of Vancouver called Cloverdale. We found this tot lot just behind a private school. It was obviously made for for kids a little older than 2 because there were no stairs to go up to the slides. This does not stop any 2 year olds of course and their likely excuse is that they can't read.

We also had a meal at Wendy's today and as we drove past she pointed and said "WENDY'S"! This made me feel like we go there waaay to much. At least you can substitute oranges for fries and milk for pop. Much better than most other fast food places.

We're continuing to enjoy our summer reviews of splash parks and playgrounds. Maybe when the weather is warmer we'll head to a different splashpark. Stay tuned!

The Devil Lives in Our Toilet

I'm convinced that the Devil lives in our toilet. Every time I try and get Amanda to use it she is temporarily posessed and likes to roll around on the pee covered floor as if she is an artistically frustrated break dancer. I've never had so much pee in our house. We don't even have a dog! I often think about the experiment that our biology 11 students do and try and grow different bacteria from samples around the school.

A few months ago Amanda was really interested in the potty and wanted to sit on it and even was able to pee. The problem we're having now is that we try and get her on the potty before she uses her "pull-ups" (which are incidentally more expensive than gold and must be traded on the commodity market). She always says that her diaper is OK even though they are often pee soaked. We will put her on the potty after she fills her diaper and she pees again.

Yesterday I had the bright idea of just putting her in underwear. I explained to her that she needed to tell me if she wanted to pee so we could go and use the potty. So now we have pee on our kitchen floor, pee in her booster seat, pee on our bathroom floor, pee in her hamper, pee on the dining room carpet, and pee all over my hands and clothes. She doesn't even find it uncomfortable or even concerend that I run around like a crazy person when she starts to do it.

Safe to say. Today is a laundry day.

Playground Fun (Part 1 of 1,312,452)

Today we spent about an hour at a local playground. I can't believe that I would reach a point in my life where I would be rating the level of quality of a particular kiddie park. This one would rate about a 6/10 for size, 7/10 for level of fun, and 8/10 for parent seating. I'm not sure if Amanda really cares about my scientific analysis of kiddie parks but we're having fun testing my theories.

She's really into ladders even though she still gives me a mild heart attack when she climbs. I'm always trying to play the "tough guy Dad" and try to look like I trust my super baby's abilities. Like I'm trying to say... " hey soccer Moms! Check out my genetically superior 2 year old climber!". Yes, it's pretty much me, Amanda, other kids, and soccer Moms at the playgrounds during the week. It's time to get more Dads out there!

Until our next adventure ...

Summer with Dad!

Being a teacher gives me the chance to hang out more with Amanda. We're able to go on bike rides, go to splash parks (which is her current favourite activity), go to the aquarium, and just generally goof off.

The only downside of being off this summer is that I've been professor of potty training. It seems like a constant daily hourly battle.

More "Adventures of Dad & Amanda" to come soon!

Rocky Point Fun

We met up with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mike, and Auntie Cristina at Rocky Point on Saturday for a picnic dinner. Rocky Point has finished their new spray park, and it was a big hit! Amanda had a great time. The weather was perfect - not too hot, but warm enough that she didn't get cold in the freezing water. I anticipate we'll be spending quite a bit of time at this park over the next few summers!

I just love the expressions on her face in these photos...and her skin is turning a beautiful caramel colour. She's just like her Dad - it doesn't matter how much SPF 50 we put on her, she still gets darker every time she goes out.

After the spray park, we had a great dinner (thanks Mom!). Amanda ate 3 huge pieces of watermelon, and would have eaten more if we hadn't cut her off in fear of the diaper deluge that would await us today.

In other news, we are finally tacking potty training a bit more diligently. Amanda is in pull-ups and seems to be doing pretty well. We're thinking that we will use the pull-ups only for a few days, then move straight into underwear and see how that goes. She's definitely ready (in fact, she was probably ready a couple of months ago) but we're not sure if we are!!!