The Video

Our triumphant and fairly excited little walker..

It's FINALLY Happened!

Well, after much coaxing, cheering, teasing and general silliness to get Noelle to walk. Today was the day! Wow.... and so the real toddler begins and there goes any free time that I might have enjoyed during her waking hours. poo. I guess I'm not all THAT excited about the walkiness afterall.. hmph. Okay, self-pity aside, we're all still fairly giggly with the knowledge that our little fledgeling has - fledged.

In other news...

Mother's Day was rough. Very little sleep the night before mixed with too many handfuls of salty snack foods made for a day of dry mouth and half-wakedness (is that a word??). Anyway - I did get some pretty cute cards from everyone and a lovely-tears-to-my-eyes card from Ernie. awwww.

Also today we bought our first tent trailer - a 1997 Jayco 10'. It's the usual kind - tent trailer-y with a fridge (itty-bitty), furnace (also itty), sink (even itty-er), king bed & double bed, an indoor/outdoor stove and 2 tables (that can be moved outside)! I think it comes with an add-a-room screen room (which I've heard tell are a pain in the butt to set up), a portapotty, a couple of organizer things, and some odds & sods that the previous owners thought that we might need. All in all, a good and satisfying buy for us. And just in our budget, too! What more could a campin' family want?!

Oh, and on another note (as things always happen in threes..). I was looking out the kitchen window this morning just in time to notice a funny coloured bird flitting around the trees. With binoculars in hand (we always keep a tiny pair in the kitchen for my bird watching escapades) I focused in on the little fella. He was a Western Tanager - a little yellow sparrow-like bird with a red face. Cute! And so tropical looking for such a cold climate! It was a great start to such a great day!

And speaking of which - I'd better go have a look at our NEW trailer that's being parked in our garage as I type this! Ooo, exciting stuff!

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...

The Chuckle of the Day..

It's been the usual emotional roller coaster of toddler hell today. But I think I'm adapting to it okay...Chocolate, is the drug of choice. I am looking forward to taking Kyra to her first swim lessons, starting tomorrow - so that'll probably be the highlight of the weekend I'm thinking.. Wish us luck! Oh, and Noelle is now saying 'hi' and waving. Really endearing, we must say!

Whilst driving to Costco today, and taking the slow & un-scenic route during stop-and-go rush hour traffic (what was I thinking??!), Kyra was gazing comatose-like out the window making the odd comment on planes, buildings, construction equipment and the like - when she all of a sudden, shrieked, "Oo, Momma! Look at the little kitty!! How cuuuuuuuuute!". I followed her gaze to a little patch of brown grass and had to stare really hard until I saw it. Then I probably laughed for an hour afterwards.. This is what she saw ---------

----I then had to explain that it's a Ground Squirrel, not a kitty. In her own stubborn-headed way, she twisted my explaination to something she could wrap her head around, "Right, Mum, it's just like a little cat but smaller."

:-)

Sunday...

I can't believe another week has come and gone. And it's certainly been a tougher one on record for me. Noelle has another tooth making its way to the surface (I didn't really want to EVER sleep again...really..) and I've taken Kyra to the Children's Hospital twice with what one would think was a bladder infection (no conclusive results..?? really aggravating..). So, amid screams and cries, we got through the week and we've all lived to see another! On the happy family front - we made a nice trip to the zoo to check out their new 'frog' exhibit; we made a pretty good sized snow 'fort' after a whirlwind storm; Kyra tried her first 'bubble tea' from the local Chinese market (she only gagged a bit on the tapioca/sago balls); we're going to our first birthday party of the year this evening.. Not a bad way to finish the week.