Tommy invades the Summer Kingdom

The weather has certainly turned around here in Ottawa. Two weeks ago we were wading through several feet of snow, and today our front lawn is completely snow-free and it was twenty degrees Celsius. Tommy decided to take advantage of the weather by storming the neighbourhood park.

Here you can see Tommy surveying his new swing set, making sure that it's solid and stable and can be trusted to bear the weight of his minions (once he recruits them).


Next, Tommy makes sure that the sand in his new kingdom is up to snuff. Can't have substandard sand! That would be shameful!


Here's Tommy getting a ride from his mom, after performing an extra-thorough check on sand quality... by eating some of it. Actually, rather a lot. Apparently he wanted to be really, really sure that the sand was good.


Finally, his hard work complete, Tommy decides to allow us to place him in a swing and push him. As you can clearly see, the experience was horrible for him. He certainly didn't enjoy it in any way. The delighted shrieking and hysterical laughter were purely to make us feel better.

(For some added fun... Take a close look at the last picture. Notice the halo behind Tommy's head? It may look like lens flare from the glare off his head, but I assure you, that's a halo.)

Fun in the sun

With a stronger sun and warmer temperature, the kids at playcare have been outside having fun.

Tommy, helpful as always, has decided to try to do some shovelling. Perhaps a smaller shover would help.


Driving is also fun. He can't wait to get behind the wheel of a larger vehicle...


Note the wonderful yellow rain boots sticking out from under his wind pants. Oh the joys of being a kid. When did you last get such joy at putting on your yellow rain boots?

Tommy has a hat

Andrea picked out a hat for Tommy the other day, and every time he notices it he immediately gets intensely excited and demands to be allowed to put it on his head.

Seriously. I'm not joking. He gets really, really excited and yanks the hat away from whoever's holding it and puts it on his head. He only takes it off long enough to jam it on someone else's head and laugh at them, then he grabs it back and puts it on again.

Normally I try to write something funny to go with these pictures, but this time, I thought: "What's funnier than a 16-month-old boy going this nuts over a hat?" And then I answered myself: "Nothing. Except possibly if the hat had fruit on it." (The hat doesn't have fruit on it.)