Civilization: 1 km

This is what one amusing sign said in Ottawa. It was ironically placed near the Parliament building but of course it was just a a sign for the Museum of Civilization.

Anton and I met in Ottawa and we remember it fondly. We thought with a week off it would be a good place to take Owen. We broke the journey into two parts, first day travelling as far far as Anton's parents house for a short visit, and the second day on to Ottawa. On the first leg of the journey we stopped in Belleville to have lunch. We sipped a Happy Hour Daiquiri, and Owen tested the lemons from our water glasses:

We thought that by splitting the journey we would hear less whining from the backseat. Sadly, that wasn't the case. Half-way from Anton's parent's house Owen began his never ending tirade of "Get out Mommy!", "Too tight, Daddy", " Open the door" , "Get out, Get out!". So in Perth, we gave in and stopped for lunch where we got Owen his first Kid's Meal - complete with markers which he used to decorate napkins and the table at Harveys. On the way out of town his ex-ray eyes saw a Ice Cream shop and he began singing "Ice cream, Ice cream yum-yum-yum." We were not fooled by his cuteness. Later in the trip he reenacted this trick with " I love Bagels, yum yum yum".

In Ottawa, we went straight to the Museum of Nature, which for those of you who have never been, is an amazing looking building. Basically it looks like a huge castle. So much so, that after Owen has dirtied his diaper, he announces to us that he had "pooped in a castle". Owen was in his element counting caribou, pointing out baby Bison, roaring at Dinosaurs and flapping his wings in the bird area.


The following day we kept the museum theme ( obviously, I am going for the "Best Mom" award) and headed to the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau which has an amazing Children's Museum. So great, that we were there all day. Owen who loves to entertain took up the opportunity to dance on stage:


At the museum he banged on drums, drove a boat, an airplane, coloured a beautiful picture, drove a motorcycle and a car, operated a cash register, and served a dish of ice cream to another child in the Kid's Cafe. All in days work for Owen! After the museum we went for coffee with two old friends, and this is what they saw of Owen:

kids say the darndest things

I have a horrible memory. My husband tells me that all the time. And it isn't that I have selective memory as some women do - I simply do not have enough room for all the stuff going on in my brain - so some things have to go! Sadly, it often seems to be the little things in life. Stuff that people say...

Owen says and does cute things all the time. Sure every mom says that. But mine really does. LOL. Whenever I hear another mom tell a story of what her kid does or says that is funny - I say you need to write that down. Will you remember that quirky thing they did 10 years from now? A girl I work with for example has a three year old who is currently obsessed with his "pee-pee". She told me today that if she helps him put on his "knickers" - as she pulls them up - he will say "no mommy, it has to point down not up!" Apparently, most of the time he prefers to go commando- and since he usually dresses himself in the morning she has had to warn the daycare that he likes to hang free.

That is the type of story you need to write down for posterity.

So here are a few cuties from Owen. I have likely managed to forget many of the others. But I have a blackberry now and I intend to use it when Owen does something cute when I am away from a computer...

Thomas the Tank Engine

A few weekends ago a friend and I took the kids to the Halton Railway Museum. Owen loves choo-choo trains. He used to obsess over Thomas, but now he seems more interested in real ones and toy ones than the ones on television. For those of you who have not had to endure hours of Thomas & Friends this might not be funny to you - but for those intimately acquainted with James, Percy, Duck and Thomas...


To the unacquainted this looks like a giant garage for Trains.
For Owen - this is "Tidmouth Shed! Tidmouth Shed, Thomas Sleeping!"
In the TV show, Thomas and his fellow train friends, go back to the engine shed - called Tidmouth - to close their train eyes.





This man who was kind enough to loan Owen his hat, is actually named Kevin (I zoomed in on his name tag to find this out). But to Owen his name "Mommy, sih Topham Hat ovuh der"...

Sir Topham Hatt is the Chairman on the Railway in the TV series Thomas & Friends. Shockingly in the much older books he is called the "Fat Controller"




Potty Humour

Finally one more story. As we are trying to get Owen potty trained (so far only 3 successful "pees") - we seem to spend a lot of time talking about "peeing" "pooping", the parts required, the potty, the toilet....We even have a lovely British book called "Who's In the Loo?" which describes a Rhino in the loo who had a "Hot Curry" and Penguins taking a "Piddle."

The other night before bedtime, Owen was doing his usual running around, jumping on beds and all out sleepy time nutty-ness when he tooted. I made the mistake of saying "what was that?" and he said "I faaarted". I laughed - second mistake - since after I laughed he of course repeated the fact that he farted two more times. My husband will likely kill me for writing this, but the story doesn't get saved for posterity without it... Apparently when Anton tooted a few days ago, Owen said "Daddy pooping", and Anton corrected him and said that he farted not pooped. Likely he also explained that pooping gets done in the toilet. So now when Owen farts he makes sure you know it. If only, he would let us know when he had to "pee" or "poop".

A Few of Owen's Favourite Things

The park by our house. He actually believe that it is his swing, and his slide.







Any animals, but he loves Elephants. He has seen them twice this year at the Toronto Zoo and African Lion Safari. He also likes to sing "Elephant, Elephant" and run around the living room swinging his arm.





Owen loves going out on the town! He likes watching all the people, and dogs at the Market. He also loves the fact that Mommy always buys him fruit. "berries peas... "





Playing with kids his age, especially if the toy is big enough for all of them.






Reading. Owen will drag three or four books to you and say "read it". Current favs: Duck in the Truck , Bad Dog Marley, Who's in the Loo, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible No Good Very Bad Day (known as "Bad Day) and The Gruffalo.




He has one more favourite - and that is anything that has wheels, can fly or goes "choo-choo". But since we just when to the Railway Museum - I will save that for a post all on its own.