For family and friends.
I spent Thanksgiving weekend with my sister Genevieve and her two youngins in Morinville (just north of Edmonton). It was the perfect opportunity to rest and relax. I have been running my schedule way too solid for the past few weeks without much opportunity for a proper night’s rest. As a result, I suffered a mild cold earlier in the week, but fortunately, I was able to thwart its major effects with several vitamins and a night of chill time.
This weekend was the first time I met my baby niece Anichka (a-nish-kah). She is such a little doll, with her baby blues and her blonde hair. She is so unbelievably well-behaved; one of the quietest babies I’ve ever chilled out with. I think my sister deserves it after such a rough time with her first baby Hadeon (hay-dee-on). He was a colicky baby and nothing she did, consoled the little guy for the first several months. Now, at 3 1/2 years old, he can at least communicate his discomfort. His discomfort this weekend came with a solid bump on the head.
On Saturday, my sister and I took the children to this crazy, four-story, jungle gym that looked much like a network of hamster tunnels with kids crawling through its intricate routes. This place is a kid’s paradise with ball rooms, rope bridges, swinging, padded obstacles, climbing ladders, all kinds of kids’ fun. After several tens of laps up three flights of stairs, the poor little guy ripped down the purple slide for the last time as he whacked his head pretty hard on the bottom of the slide. My sister was following behind and heard the hard thump, only to discover a goose egg the size of a chicken egg, with some bloodied skin. We soothed it with a soft ice cream-topped slushy, but it wasn’t quite enough to cure it. For the rest of the weekend, he would say “Oh, my poor head”. Poor little guy indeed. I have no doubt it will hurt for a few more days.
Sunday, I took my nephew for a walk in the snow to let him run around for a bit, while quenching his thirst with freshly fallen snow. He has a ton of energy, so it is best to let him expel it constructively throughout the day, otherwise, it is expelled destructively. It is interesting watching a little boy as I’ve grown up primarily around little girls (two sisters and primarily female cousins). I definitely see a difference between the two genders, with boys being much more aggressive and risky. He is such a little cutie, with some of the funniest thoughts and expressions. I managed to snap off a few photos of my sister’s babies, so I’ll post those soon.
