Hallowe'en

We let Henry decide what to dress as for Hallowe'en, and then go about putting together a homemade costume. This has been great fun, and his firefighter costume last year was a big success! This year Henry decided to be Bob the Builder, and so we gathered up his toy tools, toolbelt and most builder like clothes and found our only purchase needed to be a hardhat. I searched high and low for a hardhat throughout October, and finally found one at A Buck or Two! So for only $2.00 our little builder was all set!

We Trick or Treated on the island again this year, but changed our strategy a little. In the past we have done our rounds on Wards Island. They go all out for Hallowe'en, decorating their houses and wearing costumes to give out candy. Unfortunately boat loads of kids come over from the city and so Wards Island is overrun with kiddies!! Algonquin Island, on the other hand, is far enough from the ferry docks that the city kids don't know it's there. Our neighbours on Algonquin were thrilled to see Henry, and gave him the royal treatment! They told him how great he looked, and gave him oodles of candy! Our friend Dawn went so far as to give Henry all of the Smarties in her bowl, since Smarties are his very favourite!!

We had a wonderful time, and the ten houses he visited before he tuckered out yeilded more than enough Hallowe'en candy to see him through until Christmas.

Six Months on the Island

I can't believe it has been six months since I last posted! Well, it was a great six months!!

Andy, Henry and I had a wonderful summer on the island. The weather was perfect, and for the first time in several years we didn't have much on the go! It was one of those summers where time passes slowly and the lazy days run one into another.

This season Andy and I started a date night tradition. We did not miss one single event at QCYC this year, where as last year we didn't attend more than one because we stayed home with Henry after bedtime. Starting in May we hired a wonderful island teenager named Zoe to sit with Henry after he went to bed most Saturday nights. We would dress up and go out dancing most of those nights. The club is known for its great events, and as I said, we didn't miss one! It's really wonderful to rekindle our romance after two years home with Henry!

Another step in Henry's independence was putting him in a home daycare two days a week. There is a phenomenal woman on the island named Yolanda who has been doing daycare for almost 30 years in that community. She has six kids a day, all aged one to five. She takes them on daily excursions, including the beach, the park, and even Centreville Amusement Park!!

We knew it was time to get Henry into daycare when I would take him to the park and he wouldn't want to play if there were other kids there! There was certainly an adjustment period getting used to being without Momma every minute of every day, but once he was used to the routine Henry grew leaps and bounds. He has three best friends at daycare, and looks forward to going. The freedom this has allowed me has been incredible! Henry goes there Monday and Wednesday. Andy and I enjoy date day on Monday (usually sleeping in, followed by lunch and a matinee!), and I have a day all to myself on Wednesday! What more could a mother ask for?!

I think this time apart is partially responsible for the wonderful relationship Henry and I have enjoyed lately. We had our own share of island excursions, enjoying Centreville, the beach, the farm, and countless hours at the park. Toronto Island is such an ideallic place to grow up!

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of pictures from this summer, as our camera met an untimely death when it took a swim! I have finally replaced it, but much of the past few months went undocumented.

Henry is growing up so fast! He seems so much older than his years. He has an incredible imagination. Hours are spent playing cars, restaurant, pretending to be dogs, cats, lions... he is such a joy to watch! And he is so smart!! I met a speech pathologist this summer who was visiting for the weekend at QCYC and rafted off of our boat. She told me that Henry was speaking at a four to five year old level. His vocabulary and sentence structure is great, and he asks the most incredible questions! What a kid. I'm a proud Momma, can you tell?

We've settled back into Pier 4 now for the winter. As wonderful as the island is in the fair weather, I wouldn't enjoy the inconvenience of it in the dead of winter. I was ready for the move, and am really enjoying the freedom of running to the store and back without always running for a boat. The ferries are great, but I wouldn't call them convenient!!

I'm back into my seasonal nesting phase, cooking stews and roasts and baking cakes. I've started Christmas shopping, and am really looking forward to celebrating the season at home on the boat with my little family.

Wishing peace, health and happiness to you and yours.