Open Up

Yesterday was one of those perfect days. Ben was home, the sun was shining and we had no agenda. Levi started his day with water painting. His wonderful (former-kindergarten teacher) baby-sitter always brings over the best activities. In this photo he's explaining to me the fine art of water painting. He then demonstrated how the water is also good for drinking. 

I love this view first thing in the morning (other than the dirty window. I swear the dirt's on the outside). We can wave to neighbours on their way to work or watch the garbage truck come up and down the street.

On our way to the library we stopped by our favourite coffee shop. I love this place for a variety of reasons. Other than great coffee the owner is extremely personable and welcomes everyone to his shop. This includes people with mental illnesses. One of our new friend's is bi-polar and one of the loveliest older men I've met. He talks a million miles a minute and puts everything on the table. He introduces himself with, "Hi, I'm J. and I'm bi-polar." I can tell that some people are a little uncomfortable with the volume and openness of which he shares his life but sometimes we need to be pushed outside our comfort zone, to learn to relate to people who are different than us. Levi watches him talk with awe.

Growing up I had great examples of my parents loving individual's with mental illness. My dad had a friend he would frequently take to Dairy Queen for a blizzard. My dad even let him bring his cat once. The cat peed all over our family van and we never got rid of the smell. It was a constant reminder to open our lives to others, even when it doesn't always go as planned.

I enjoy finding books for Levi at the library. I almost checked out some kids books for myself. I like that I don't have to worry about questionable content (For the most part. There are some very weird kids books out there).

This is one of the only days in my first trimester that I've gotten fully dressed from clothes to make-up. It felt good but it probably wont happen every day.

My parents came down for the afternoon to wait for the Eric Clapton concert in the evening. We went to the park. As you can see the kids swings are not only fun for wee ones.

 It felt like a serious role reversal: Ben and I staying home with the baby on a Friday night while mom and dad go out to a rockin' concert. Oh how things have changed.