Hafsa is growing steadily and getting into more and more trouble by the day! This may sound like a complaint, but as trying as it can sometimes be, I'm kind of enjoying her craziness. She's fast as anything now with her crawling and it only takes a minute of looking the ot
her way and she's into something. We went out to rake leaves yesterday and I turned my back to put Maymuna's jacket on and when I turned around Hafsa was rooting through the bottom drawer of the art & crafts cabinet...We headed out to the backyard after that to do some yardwork. I know that Ozayr would have done it this weekend anyway, but it tires the kids out, it's good to be outside, and it gives them something to focus on - for an hour or two I am not their main source of entertainment (after the fifth or sixth hour at home with them I am just about out of tricks). I thought that Hafsa would dive into the leaves, but it was not so. I did find out that our Over-The-Shoulder-Baby-Holder sling works just fine with my coat on and Hafsa in her fleece snowsuit. I relish the thought of how many calories I burned yesterday raking the entire backyard with a 18 pound baby strapped to my front. The neighbours must think we are mad.
Today we went out again to put all those leaves into garbage bags. Just an aside, I was happy when we arrived
here last fall to find out that the City of St. Louis Park does not require you to put your leaves and garden waste into separate paper recycling bags. They will pick it up in regular black garbage bags, no problem. How convenient, I thought. Of course I was pregnant this time last year and did no garden work whatsoever (see pic of Dan doing the gardening last year.) This year I realized that the Canadians are definitely doing it the better way (okay! okay! no heckling!!) for the simple reason that PAPER BAGS STAND UP AND STAY OPEN ON THEIR OWN. i.e. You do not need a three-year old to hold your garbage bag open for you.
Yardwork with a three-year old is a Zen sort of experience. My mother once told me about a yoga retreat that she went on where each attendee was asked to complete a particular task - pick up leaves by hand, or move a pile of bricks from one location to another. Then once the task was complete they were told that they should reverse it: take the bricks back where they were, put the leaves back on the lawn. Well, I had the opportunity to work on my own personal ocean of tranquility bagging the leaves today. More than once I had to kind of sit back, smile and say to myself, well, if only one leaf gets in that bag at least I am one more leaf closer to finishing the yard. 
Eventually I figured out a new system whereby I gave Maymuna a paper grocery bag which she would fill along side of me while I worked on filling the garbage bags. This went over great and she was so quiet and working so hard.... Quiet? and busy? Trouble must be afoot!!! Yes indeed, Maymuna was filling this paper bag over and over again and dumping it out in various locations across the (previously raked) backyard. But I think you'll agree that she is so cute in her new fall digs that it was hard to be mad at her. We reached a compromise that she could transport as many leaves as she liked, from pile to pile only... :)Our neighbours have a portable firepit in their backyard and we went over in the evening for Maymuna's first-ever "campfire". We brought our
own marshmallows and we had fun toasting them. This was more an idealogical exercise because Maymuna doesn't actually like marshmallows. If you give her one she'll lick it for a while and then give it back to you. Which is gross, trust me. But anyway, we went and we did it anyway and she gave all her marshmallows away to me or the boys who live there. She was pretty quiet, mostly just gazed at the fire, and occasionally she'd check her marshmallow. Almost every time she would then look at me, and with huge eyes and a giant grin she'd say "MOMMY IT'S GETTING TOASTY!!!" I think that's all she said all evening... :)
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