Robot resurrection

 Maren is not afraid of much lately.  She is not afraid of snakes, other reptiles, monsters (including really gruesome ones in a book Jeff has), strangers,  or many other things that toddlers  are sometimes afraid of.  But there are a few things she has been terrified by. The first was static on the TV.  The second is men in the locker room who don't look at her or interact with her ( Jeff was taking her to swimming lessons). And the third is our robot vacuum.

 A couple of years ago my brother got us a Neato brand  refurbished robot vacuum.  In our old house we mainly used it to vacuum the basement, which basically we would never have done otherwise. In our new house we have a tried to  incorporate regular cleaning of the main floor, but we have had some hiccups.  First  it got stuck very near where it started,  so instead of being finished and back at its base when we got home, it  had just barely started. So we set it to go while we were home, and Maren pretty well freaked out.

 So we decided we would never do that again, I blocked off the area where it got stuck, and set it to go when we were going to be away for many hours and it would have plenty of time to finish the job. But it got stuck in a different place, and when Jeff and Maren  got home  it was stuck and making a horrible sound and Maren  freaked out again.

 Then all of a sudden it just died. We did all of the things that were suggested in the manual, we called customer service and did everything they suggested, and it simply would not turn on. We figured that it was toast,  and that Maren had lucked out  because she would never have to see it again.

 Then today, out of the blue, it turned on again.  We have no explanation, but are happy that it seems to have resurrected itself. We decided to run it while Maren  is sleeping,  so we can discover where it gets stuck  and prevent future freak out sessions. So far so good.

Happy Fathers Day

Yesterday day we celebrated with a bike ride and a picnic, then after nap time we went to our favourite ice cream shop and Maren had her first ever ice cream cone.

Thank you Jeff, for being the incredible dad, husband, and person that you are ❤️

I tried to post this last night but had some technical troubles, so I have an incredible quote from Maren from this morning. She was pushing buttons on my stair chair, and Jeff said "Maren, you can't operate the stair chair." So Maren ran over to her rocking horse and said "Mommy operate the stair chair. Maren operate the rocking horse." It was simultaneously surprising and hilarious to hear her learn the word operate so quickly and so well :-)

Summertime

We have been very much enjoying our summer time so far. The weather has been great, and there are no mosquitoes yet, so being outside is wonderful. We have been taking bike rides, walks/trike rides, scooter rides, and spending lots of time at the playgrounds and in the backyard.

My mom came to visit at the very end of May into the beginning of June, and Maren absolutely loved having her here. Yesterday she said her longest sentence ever: "Grandma push you on the swings at the turtle park." Grandma did indeed spend an amazingly long time pushing Maren on the swings at a couple of different parks, including one that has a turtle statue to play on. We all very much appreciated the visit.

Maren has not quite mastered I/me/my. Which is to say, she never says them unless we tell her to. There was one day last week when we thought she might be starting to get it, but it hasn't really sunk in. It is one of those adorable things that toddlers do – so every time she talks about herself she says you/your.

Yesterday she made up a new word: "yesternight." When you hear it, of course it makes sense – why say yesterday when you're talking about last night? I totally love hearing her say new things, and think things through, coming to a conclusion that makes sense even if it isn't quite right :-)

And of course here is a video from last week. I made popsicles by blending up a banana with some cocoa and a little bit of milk. Maren is a big fan.

Dancing Fool

Maren is super into music and dancing these days. This past week there was an arts festival in our neighborhood that involved multiple different opportunities for seeing live music outdoors. Maren absolutely loved it. On Monday she got to ride in a bike trailer behind Jeff for the first time as we went the six or eight blocks to the park where music was happening that day. She refused to take off her bike helmet, and just kept dancing in her toddler way helmet and all.

Another video from the same day:

On Saturday we spent some time in the morning at a street fair that was just a few blocks up from our house, and Maren saw bagpipes and drums for the first time. She was totally enthralled. Later in the afternoon we went to a kids stage, and she heard fiddle music for the first time. She basically did not stop dancing for their entire set :-)

Still unpacking

We have now been living in our new house for a month. We continue to be more and more settled, but it still seems like every extra minute is spent unpacking. There are just a few boxes left to unpack, but all our pictures are still packed up, and deciding where to put things on the walls is going to be a huge job.

The weather has been nice, and we have been enjoying our new neighbourhood. We have been out for "walks," which include me taking my trike or my mobility scooter, and we have been to three different playgrounds in walking distance so far. We are loving living here, even if we haven't really gotten to relax yet since moving.

The bad news is that our old house hasn't sold yet. But it will eventually. It is a little bit stressful, but I am sure things will come together.

Maren continues to do well. She must be having a growth spurt, because she is sleeping a ton. At night she sleeps 12-13 hours straight, and naps for about an hour to an hour and a half. Although toddler life can be hard, she is in many ways about as easy as they come. And it is hilarious hearing her talk and even make jokes these days. For example today she said "Hickory dickory... Daddy! Hickory dickory... Mommy!," etc. We love life with our little kiddo :)