The Slide Into Spring...I hope

Well, here we sit. Housebound. Staring at the snow outside and wondering if spring really did come or if it was all just a dream... The weather people say that this winter weather is supposed to go away by next weekend - but I'll believe it when I see it!

Not much new around here. Planning on a birthday party for Kyra and trying to recover from the horrible sinus cold that has rocked our house and our Kleenex stock (severely depleted now).

Here're a few pics from this month of note. The first 2 I took while hanging out in the hallway. The second 2 are from our budding Photographer, Kyra. I can only be thankful of digital cameras and the ability to DELETE... We are seriously thinking about getting her her own camera next month, I think she'd love it!

'Eye see you!'

Unhappiness? Ha! Laundry baskets are F-U-N!

Hmm... There seems to be something missing here..
We call this one 'Smoosh'. Kinda cool.

A Whole Year Already??

Wow. What can we say? It feels like only yesterday that I was having painful contractions in the yard, in the van, in the elevator and in the delivery room.. Ah, memories...

Noelle was ceremoniously presented with her birthday cupcake and promptly snuffed the wick with her fingers - poof! like that! The shock is the resulting cry and kind of a symbolic way to enter her second year of life on earth (see pic at right). Last night she screamed through the wee hours - fever of 100F and nose running like a faucet. Ugh. Today I noticed 2 molars bulging their way through her bottom gums too, just to really add some variety to the pain into her little head. Poor thing. And to add insult to injury, tomorrow morning I'm taking her for her 12 month immunizations..

It's not easy being small..

Toddler?? You must mean "DAWDLER"!!

I suppose that somewhere between the 'toddler' and the 'school-age' kid comes the 'dawdler' period. The unmistakeable signs are all here -- such as taking 10 minutes to put on shoes; 2 hours to finish off a bowl of cereal (left out on the table for 'nibbling') and tonight's shining example...

Mission: Have a bath, Go to Sleep
Steps to get there: Bathing, Drying, Pyjama donning, Peeing, Story reading, Sleeping.
Estimated total time of Steps after bathing: 15 minutes

Actual Steps: Bathing; draining of tub; standing in tub while draining; rinsing body parts while tub draining; washing toes while 1 cm of water remains in tub; putting away tub toys in empty tub; drying hair in tub before getting out; getting out; being carried by Dad in fancy towel to show how 'cute' she is; unraveled from towel and running around hallway naked; running around living room naked on the pretense of 'looking' for her sleeping buddy (a stuffed elephant); naked child & elephant return to bedroom; going to pee; air-drying privates; deciding on which pyjamas to wear; arguing about which pyjamas to wear; asking 'mom' about which pyjamas to wear (I was putting the baby to bed at this point); pretending to put on pyjamas on while writhing on floor; writhing under Dad's hands in his attempt to put her pj's on; writhing under Dad's AND Mom's hands to get dressed; pyjamas on and deciding what book to read; wanting a cup of milk; drinking the milk; wanting another story from Dad; wanting a story from Mom; Mom reads a story; having belly rubbed/back rubbed/feet rubbed/head rubbed/faced tickled before settling into sleep; asking for a drink of water (getting a 'no' for an answer); sleeping (phew!).
Actual accrued time to sleeping from the draining of tub: 45 minutes
Observations: Amount of frustration directly proportional to level of Dawdle. Amount of silliness directly proportional to level of Dawdle also. Tonight was VERY silly.
Conclusions: Drink more wine...