Anya's first time at the pool

Last weekend Karl and I went away to Rend Lake, IL with John and Pat Donjon and Larry and Vicky Mowrey for a DC leaders retreat. We had a great time eating together, drinking wine, talking and laughing (mostly at Larry). We had left Ewan at home, Jamee came over to hang out with him for the afternoon and then Samantha spent the night with him and he had a lot of fun of course. Anya came with us and she did really well, she was happy being  held by Pat most of the time. We also took her swimming for the first time, there is a lovely pool up there and as soon as we arrived we got changed and headed down there. Anya has a really cute swimsuit that her Grandma sent over from England so we got her ready and slowly carried her into the water. She loves having a bath so I figured she would like it but it was so cold it really took her breath away and she wasn't at all sure about it. I had to wet her with my hands first to get her used to the idea and then started dipping her body in a little at a time. We brought the baby float which is supposed to be from 3 months up but it didn't support her enough and she looked lost in it, all you could see was her head!

 So her first time at the pool went ok, she kind of enjoyed it but she's not keen on the cold water, I think she'll be like her Dad and brother. I always laugh at Karl because when we go to the pool I jump straight in; I think its easier to do it all at once, temporary pain is better then prolonged pain. But he tortures himself by inching in a toe at a time with a pained look on his face, I suppose it's fun cos I get to splash him, it just makes no sense to me doing it that way. Anyway I think the kids are taking after him so we'll have to see what I can do!

The way to a man's heart....

Our conversation over dinner this evening:

Ewan: What can I have now? (This is the recurrent question the second he finishes his last bite of food)

Me: Wait until we have all finished (Our predictable answer, repeated multiple times throughout every meal)

Ewan: Mummy, be happy

Me: I am happy sweetie, I just have a bit of a sore tummy. Are you happy?

Ewan: Yes

Me: Why are you happy?

Ewan: Because I'm going to have something

Me: Well, what is it that makes you happy

Ewan: mmmm, food I think

(Uncontrollable laughter from me and Karl)

Me: What else makes you happy

Ewan: Bananas, that's all I got (rather impatiently). What can I have now?

Me: Well, are there any people that make you happy?

Ewan: No

Me: Are there any places that make you happy?

Ewan: No

Me: (getting desperate) Does Daddy make you happy?

Ewan: Yes

Me: (relieved, and hoping that I will make the list) Who else makes you happy?

Ewan: Maybe Elliott

What can I say.

Boys will be boys

So I'm discovering that it's an interesting learning experience to parent a boy. Ewan doesn't have any guns or other weapon toys (ok, maybe one foam sword he got as a gift) but he still wants to play rough. Now I'm pretty sure that part of the blame lies with the likes of John and David who teach him to wrestle, tackle and do elbow drops!

But I also see an inbuilt desire for mischief and adventure The other day we were walking in the park when Ewan picked up a stick because he always needs to have a stick in his hand when outdoors. Well he yells at me "mummy I'm going to power you'' then looks at his stick ''turn the power on'' presses a 'button' on the stick and charges me shouting ''I'm powering yoooou''. Interesting.

Then today he was trying to catch a fly in our house. Now he has seen me 'squish' bugs before, which is how I refer to it, and of course I am killing them but I haven't actually used that word. Well as he's chasing the fly he shouts "fly, come here I want to kill you", I was quite taken aback and couldn't help laughing.

I guess there's just no way of getting around this innate wildness, it's quite fun really but I'm certainly glad that Karl is here to foster and shape it. 

Belly!

I have been wanting to post these pictures that my very talented friend Jodi Hertz took (go here to see more of her work) during my pregnancy with Anya. My family and friends back in England didn't get to see me pregnant so I thought these would be fun for them.

These shots were taken six days before Anya was born and as you can see my belly got very large, although not quite as large as it did with Ewan if you can believe it! It was a beautiful spring day and we had fun playing around on the back deck. I was 38 weeks pregnant and thinking that I still had a wait ahead of me and then she surprised us by coming early, and very fast. But that's another story!

Let's get started

So here it is....the long awaited first blog entry! At least long awaited by Jodi, who got me into this.

We were hanging out one night and I was telling her that her blog as well as Rachel's had inspired me and I would like to create a collection of memories, but perhaps in a book since I don't have the online time to keep up with a blog. Well, next thing I know she is pressuring me for a name and she has designed me my own blog!

In case you were wondering the KLEA (as in clear) stands for Karl, Louise, Ewan and Anya (wow, I bet you didn't guess that!)

So anyway, I will put every effort into maintaining this space with the everyday happenings of the Scott household and all other sorts of fun. So watch this space.......

I'm sure there will be many funny sayings that the kids come out with, here's one to get us started:

Last Sunday was a special day because our dear friend Jodi was baptized, Ewan stayed in the meeting to watch along with Elliott and then we had a little celebration over lunch at the Mowrey's. Well that night I was getting Ewan ready for bed, he was standing at the sink with no clothes on getting his face washed when he started splashing water on his head and arms and belly and legs, giving me a running commentary of all the body parts. I asked him what he was doing and he said "I'm getting baptized". He then continued to wet his knees and feet and said "There, I'm all baptized". I was laughing so hard.