And a A Little More...

We spent a lot of time playing on the floor in the flat in Florence. Jane got Rowan these cute trucks for his baptism and they were a huge hit. I cursed them when we had to lug his stuff around, but they were a God send otherwise. A watermelon is also a great toy when everything else seems to be boring.

Rowan made friends with the Artist who painted the piece we bought in front of the Uffizi. We paid 110 Euro (a little pricy?) for it and still have to get it framed, but it is very good and it will be a nice reminder of the time we spent in Italy.

Around Florence

Here are some random shots of our time in Florence.

Florence is Where We Are At

It took us over 14 hours to get here. Our flight to Heathrow was torture. Rowan slept a total of 3 hours which meant that he missed his entire night's sleep and was in the ripest of moods by the time we boarded the plane for Germany. Luckily for us, he slept on the flight to Munich, then again on the flight to Florence but, 6 hours is not enough for a little man. He has adjusted quite well under the circumstances. We actually kind of like it that he gets up after a nap at dinner time and comes out with us to see what is happening in the city at night. I am not sure how long it will take before he is back to his normal routine, but regardless, he is really an easy baby to lug around.

Florence is a beautiful city. It is really hot though. I am constantly dripping of sweat and Rowan is drinking more than he does in a week each day. John seems to be just fine. It must be those lebanese genes or something. Surely a man with that much body hair must feel the scorching heat? It isn' fair! Anyway, we have all avoided sun burns even though we spend the biggest part of the day walking outside. We haven't really done all that much but we are enjoying ourselves and it is really nice to have John entirely to ourselves. He left his blackberry at home despite his project manager's insistence that he be available at least a couple of times per week while we are here. He is completely disconnected for the first time in well over a year and it is just lovely.

Here my favourite picture of us so far. We are near the Uffizi, along the river heading back to our apartment (which by the way is AMAZING).

Today Marks the Beginning of Another New Beginning

I took a pregnancy test a few days ago hoping that we might have gotten lucky without trying for baby #2. I was disappointed by the negative results and started to feel the pressure because we are one month away from sending Rowan to day care and the plan was to be pregnant before I went back to work. I was a little surprised at the results because I was having head aches and couldn't explain the hunger I was waking up with any other way. And so, after being a few days late, I decided to use the second test just in case. This time, 2 faint little lines showed up. Neither of us could believe it and so we immediately ran out to get another test and yep, 2 little lines again.

Unlike the last time, we are planning on keeping this little one a secret until someone asks because I am getting bigger or until about the 3 month mark. I think I want to spare everyone the long 9 month wait. Seriously, won't everyone be so excited when they find out that B3T2 is due around March 24th, 2010? Oh, they might be a little miffed that we kept the surprise to ourselves but I am pretty sure they will get over it.

Rowan is going to be the best big brother ever.

August 8th: So the news is out. Who was I kinding? I can't keep this stuff a secret. It's just too exciting. Everyone is really happy about the news of course.

oh and....

Have I mentioned that I think it is a little freakish how everyone we know is having boys these days? Honestly, we could be part of a medical study I think because it is NOT normal. Something is going on.

A New Friend

It just occurred to me that I forgot to mention that our friends Nat and Dave had their baby boy Cooper on July 1st! After 40 hours of possession (see my September blog entry re. R's birth), the 6lbs 9.5oz munchkin made it into this crazy world. Cooper is in for a very fun ride with parents who will be living abroad for 4 months of the year for the next few years and who will likely have him strapped to the back of their bikes before too long. Seriously.

We are so excited to watch Cooper grow.

What A Mess

Yesterday before Ana, Chris and Emily left we went to a local restaurant called Kristy's. We've been meaning to check it out since we spotted it on our walk into Westboro a while ago. Anyway, it's a funny looking place and I knew it would be full of old church ladies and I was right. I think it is a place my grandfather would have liked a lot. The food was pretty good but I am not sure we will be going back any time soon because although it is supposed to be a "family restaurant", the old people didn't appreciate the beauty that is Rowan very much. He let out a few screams that reverberated and he made a huge mess (and I mean HUGE) of the floor with his cheese and toast. This didn't impress the other diners much. I heard them snickering. I considered standing up and yelling "If you don't like it, turn down your damn hearing aids you bunch of old cranky snots. Can't you see he is having fun and enjoying his breakfast?". But I of course, held my tongue. I am pretty sure we would have been escorted out of the place if I had lost my temper. Anyway, we offered to clean up the mess but the waitress wouldn't hear of it. She was impressed that we even offered.

Mess or no mess, he is the cutest thing going and I am glad that he has no idea what goes on around him. This world is full of dinks.

Soon to Be Four

We had our first over night guests this weekend. Ana, Chris, Emily (and Deuce still hidden away in that belly) arrived Saturday just in time for meat sauce and spaghetti (for the 3rd day in a row). Emily enjoyed it as much as Rowan did and after the babes were tucked away in bed, the adults had steak, brussel sprouts ("you'd like them this way") and an asian noodle conction. I ate too much but still attempted to eat my ice cream sundae. John had to take it away from me before I threw up though. I don't know what my problem is, I am like a dog who can't stop eating a bag of dog food it has ripped open! It's disturbing. Anyway, the food and company were great and we were very sad that the family couldn't stay longer. But, the next time we see them there will either be a new baby already here (because she/he decided to make his/her appearance while we were across the ocean) or the baby will be arriving and we'll be driving like maniacs down the 401 to be there to watch over Emily and keep her occupied. Either way, soon there will be 4 of them to love and miss and *that* is going to be just wonderful.

My Little and Big Arabs (Eh-Rabs)

Last night at bed time it occurred to me that all of John's friends have "mixed race" babies (and those who don't have babies yet will eventually fit in to this category as well). I guess *this* is a sign of what the future holds. Maybe a time when "race" isn't even in the dictionary anymore? It is after all, a made up concept. Genetically, race does not exist. But, I have to tell you, mixed-babies sure are cute and I wouldn't give up my little (or my big) Arab for the world.

I am not surprised that I married a person from a different culture than my own (do I even really have a culture? I am a mix of many things. Is that what defines Canadian cultures?). I have always been attracted to dark, strange men. But, I have to admit that I am slightly surprised that I chose a person who is Lebanese. Why? Well, my first experience with a Lebanese happened in 3rd year University and it was far from positive. I was the Residence Assistant (RA) in the Maritime Residence and I had this Lebanese master student living in my house. He described to me how his family had left Lebanon during the war. I had never met a person of my own age (or close to it) who had lived through a war and I thought he might be interesting even though I could never quite figure out the pronunciation of his name. I would now pronounce his name without issue, but at that time I was still quite "white" and had had very little exposure to different cultures. Ironically, it was the year that I had to deal with many cultural issues in my house (including having to ask an Asian woman to stop cooking the foul smelling food she was concocting in her room because everyone was complaining and it was after all "illegal" to have appliances in a dorm room). Anyway, this master student attached himself to me. He would call me at bazaar times of the day, he would come to my room and cry, he would insist we watch french foreign films together in my room (I kept the door open) and then he bought me a very expensive poster which, really was the last straw. I was thoroughly disturbed and I think he sensed it because all of my awkwardness lead to a tearful conversation about how he was accused of sexual harassment in his lab. EEEK. He gave me the serious creeps and, being the person responsible for the house, I really couldn't do much about my discomfort. I was really happy when he stopped calling me and I moved the heck off campus. I associated this negative experience with Arabic men. It didn't last long because I of course, recognized what that meant about me and being narrow minded (or racist) was not something that I aspired to be. Instead, I learned to avoid weak, weepy, clingy men who have mental health issues. It opened up the dating pool A LOT as you can imagine.

Skip ahead 14 years and here we are. I married a man who is the complete opposite of weak and clingy (although weepy at times). He also knows how to tie a wicked head scarf in seconds. Check him out!

Random Shots Around the New Hood

Rowan really enjoys his new home and all the space that it has to offer. Maybe it is the new skills he has acquired or maybe it is just the house, but he loves to chase us on his hands and knees and will try to find us in different rooms. In fact, tonight, he didn't want out of the bath and came flying around the corner out of his room and directly into the bathroom where I was still soaking. He wanted back in with mommy. Perhaps he wanted to shoot a few more hoops (thanks to Aunt Jen he has a bath basket ball net and he showed us tonight how he can put the balls in and let them drop)? He is unreal and never ceases to amaze us.

Anyway, here are a few random shots around the hood (well, the house really. It has been raining since we moved here for the most part). We have only been here 2 weeks but we have already forgotten Findlay Creek (but not Puff of course).

Pffff....Spaghetti

Last night John fed Rowan his first meal of homemade meat spaghetti and he LOVED it. How do we know? Well, he screeched a lot and got very upset when the first bowl of it was gone. He had seconds. I guess mommy isn't a bad cook. While we adored watching him slurp and gobble up the noodles (which were cut but still a little long), it was his newest trick that had us laughing ourselves silly. John blew on the noodles to cool them down and out of no where, we heard a little "Pfffffff" and that was immediately followed by a huge smile and fierce hand clapping. He was so proud of himself to have successfully executed his very first blow. We were pretty proud too.

Here are a few photos of Rowan enjoying left-overs today.

The Kiddie Pool

We are so lucky to have not one, but two outdoor wading/swimming pools within walking distance to our new place. We took Rowan for a dip and while he was interested in the other kids (who were a lot older than he was), he really liked a red ball and boat best.

Our Trip To BR

We were in BR the first week of June (see John's entry) and I neglected to post the pictures we took of Rowan with Grammy and Poppa. As you can see, not only did we get a lot of playing in, I got a lot of relaxing in too. Ah, gotta love home.

We hope to make it back to BR before the summer is out so that we can take Rowan to the beach and visit with the family again. We aren't sure whether or not that will happen at this point since we will be heading to Europe in 2 weeks, then we have to be in TO for the birth of Baby Derksen, and that brings us to the end of August when I go back to work (*sigh*). We have to get the mutts back somehow though and so it might just work out. We'll see. I would sure like to see Poppa and Rowan in the pool again too...

We've Moved

Somehow we pulled it off. It wasn't easy. There were many many hurdles to be overcome including the driveway that wasn't cured, the rain, the permit and safety requirements, and the mobile child who requires every ounce of our attention when he is awake. But we did it. We have been living in our new house in our new neighbourhood for a week now and we love it. We've been welcomed by our neighbours, some of which have been living here for 45 years. It is very different than our old community which really, wasn't very community like at all. We've found the parks, the swimming pools, the YMCA, the grocery stores and all of the coffee shops within walking distance. We are still buried in boxes, but, that really isn't a big deal because we have the rest of our lives here to unpack.

I feel a little bit like Annie when she moved in to Daddy Warbucks mansion... "I think I'm gonna like it here!"