The weather forecast for Comox doesn’t look great so I took the opportunity today to take Cole out exploring after he was done his half day of playschool.
The twins were born almost 3 months premature and although Kaylee came through unscathed, Cole has been confirmed of having Cerebral Palsy. The effects are most noticeable in his motor skills.I call him Mr. Wobbles. He is also very antsy and always moving because of the constant tiny spasms in his muscles. Shopping with Cole is an experience. I learned that shops selling sharp objects and small things made of glass are not where you want to take Mr. Wobbles. I worked up quite a sweat running interference and damage control in the I-HOS Gallery, a beautiful shop that features art of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest Coast. I managed to buy some bannock mix and a movie for the twins from the Raven Tales series before Cole disassembled a t-shirt display.
The Comox Marina was a good place to go to see the sailboats and hundreds of jellyfish floating near the wharf. I had intended to buy fresh prawns from a local vendor but no luck there, he was out fishing. The halibut guy had halibut for sale but the smallest fish was about 12 pounds – way too much for the three of us. So I headed over to Portuguese Joe’s, a fish shack on the highway a few minutes down the road. Sadly though, the prawns there come from Vietnam and Thailand. Say it aint so, Joe.
Cole was tired so we headed back home and walked to the playschool to pick up Kaylee. I offered him a piggyback ride to the school and in typical little kid fashion, he hung on for dear life with his arms around my neck while ignoring my pleas to ease up on my windpipe. I’m slowly starting to recognize the language of four year olds but had trouble understanding his constant repeating of “froo!” which sometimes sounded like “dooo” or “booo”. I thought he was complaining of a booboo he got courtesy of a sliver from the wharf. He was holding up one finger which he stuck right in front of my face. “Your owie Cole?” I asked him. “Noooo…frdoooo!” he said, and as my vision slowly focused on the point of his index finger I saw it. Poo. He got a sudden dismount and a speech about the importance of washing one’s hands after one goes to the bathroom.
Suppertime: goat cheese ravioli and made-in-house herb chicken sausage from Brambles Market, with a side of sauteed baby bok choy. A little ambitious perhaps but the shallot and garlic cream sauce flavoured with Brambles’ double smoked bacon would win them over, I was sure of it. I was wrong. Well, at first anyways.
“I don’t yike it!” wailed Kaylee. “I don’t yike it!” wailed Cole. It was time to play the Dora card. I told them of the wonders of finding cheese treasures in the ravioli and how Dora the Explorer would surely find them on her next adventure. And it worked. If it’s good enough for Dora, it was good enough for Kaylee and Cole. They ate every bite.The meal ended with Cole, as usual, being the ultimate charmer. “I’m happy, Auntie,” he proclaimed.
So am I, Mr. Wobbles. So am I.
