Monday, April 25, 2011

Hippity Hop

Easter came for two little girls this year. While Katie (obviously) didn't participate in the egg hunt this year - she loved watching Maddie (her favourite past-time anyways) and I had visions for next year's Easter already. Maddie got her "little Rapunzel" she so desperately pined for this past month. Katie got a new ball for the backyard and some Crayola baby markers to call her own.

The Easter Bunny even set a tea party to create more ambiance! What a clever bunny!

 My childhood dollhouse has a little balcony on one side - from which "little Rapunzel" hung her hair all morning.

Matching dresses and white cardis - I love Easter. Also - say hi to a random Seamus pic - we took several "family" pictures before I thought about including the poor little scruff.

Hope your weekend was just as enjoyable!

xxoo.S

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Ten Months

Dear Katie,

You were a milestone machine this month my bug-a-lug - crawling, pulling up, cruising, first words. You knocked them out one after another. No wonder you couldn't sleep - too much going on in that little brain of yours.
 
We also survived your first fever this month. Oh my little one, you were so sick and it was so sad and my heart just broke for you. I did my best to make you better as quickly as possible - stomach flus are nasty I'm afraid - but you were miserable for almost an entire week.

Even through all of this, you smiled, giggled and belly laughed more this month than ever before. You love the tickle-tickle game, itsy bitsy spider and this little piggy. You love your books - we're now up to 4 books before bedtime - you grab for the next one before I'm done reading.

You're (learning to) liking the swing and being outdoors more and more. Our new habit is to go for walks with you in the Bjorn facing out, instead of in the stroller. This gives Mumma more exercise and I think you like being up high.

I can't wait for Spring to get here so you can see just how fun our backyard can be. There's water and sand and toys and slides and swings - so much to play with. And I know Maddie can't wait to have a little cohort to share it all with.


We love you my little sweetheart - from the top of your fuzzy little head to the tips of your nom-nom-nom toes. I can't believe it's been 10 months. Oh how time is flying...

Love,
Mommy

Monday, April 18, 2011

Ma-ma

Katie spent yesterday and today pretty sick - fever of 104 type of sick. Not fun. No sleep. No keeping fluids down (until I started administering them by the 1/2 tsp via medicine dropper - never tried it before, will swear by this method forever, as it really worked at keeping her hydrated)....

Anyhoo - it meant she was Misery Incorporated. Wanted to be held. Then too hot to be held. Wanted to sleep. Too miserable to sleep. You know how it goes - and as Maddie would say, "She's just a baby Mommy, she doesn't know anything" --> I guess that would also go for the whole, doesn't even know why she's feeling so shitty, but she just wants Mama to make it all go away.

Apparently wants that to happen so bad, that she dug real deep and said "MA-MA" while I was cuddling her at one point today.

WOOT! Katie is on a roll, people! If this were hockey she'd be doing a double hat-trick or some other bullshit sports analogy...

xxoo.S

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Milestone Mania

I've been feeling the crunch of guilt when I think of the future conversation I am destined to have with Katie that will go something like this, "Mom, why did you write five bloody paragraphs every time Maddie achieved a 'first' when she was a baby, and you didn't even write about it in my baby book when I did?"

Uh.. yeah. I'm tired of apologizing for not writing and saying it's been a tough week because that started getting old about four weeks ago. I don't like people who make excuses so I won't. Let's just leave it at: I just plain suck at keeping up with anything these days. You don't even want to see the state of my laundry. Trust me.

Instead, let's talk about some Katie milestones, shall we? Because she is like a little wonder baby these days. I already mentioned in a previous post about her first word (and subsequent more "official" first word that she repeats all the time now - tickle tickle - which she said on April 8th). Then, that same weekend (on Sun, Apr 10th), she started pulling up (mainly on Daddy) to a standing position. And the look of pride/happiness/"look at what I just did!" look on her face is super-awesome-fantastic!

The very next day (Mon, Apr 11th) she started officially cruising - and by cruising, I mean slowly shuffling her feet while making the slowest of slow process around our ottoman. She is by no means cruising around all helter skelter. Oh no, it's slow. And she complains and whines the entire time, reaching for my fingers so she can "walk" instead. But hey, a milestone is a milestone, right? Moving right along...

As the week went on, she started to do more and more of the whole crawling backwards thing when she was on her belly, which then turned into the backwards scoot into sitting position (Tues, Apr 12th). Which is when I started thinking, hmm, she may just crawl (because just before Maddie figured out the whole forward crawl thing, she figured out how to back herself up into a sitting position).

And then.... and theeeeennnnnnnnnnn..... Wed, April 13th - forward motion! Not technically a crawl (yet), but she definitely was army crawling/dragging herself forward if you put something super intriguing (like my blackberry) just out of reach in front of her. Progress! "She'll be crawling by the end of April!" I would brag to everyone I spoke to.

And then came Friday, April 15th. She was getting up on all fours so easily all day and doing that adorable rock-rock-rocking motion they do (you know what I'm talking about). So sometime after lunch, Katie decided she wanted to get at Maddie's Barbie (much to Maddie's dismay). I quickly grabbed the camera, straight-armed Maddie aside and commandeered her Barbie to use as bait. (Which means Katie's first crawl video has Maddie protesting the entire operation quite loudly in the background while I wrestle her into the background with my left arm - classy, all-the-way-classy).

So there you go future-Katie - your wonder-week of milestones has been documented! Guilt?? Go away now please...

xxoo.S

PS - I'd love to say we spent the weekend helping Katie perfect her newfound skill, except both kids have been sick with some nasty cold/flu/cough-type virus. And yes, by "kids" I'm including The Hubs.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

3.5

Dear Madds,

You are three and a half. Or, as you would say, thee-an-a-HALF! Extra emphasis on the half, of course.

Oh my, you are such a little girl now. The baby chub is gone - long gone in fact. You're all bones now. Bony knees and elbows that dig into me when you crawl into bed in the wee hours of the morning. (Yes, that's your new trick and to be honest - I haven't the heart to kick you out - yet).

But while you're looking more and more like a little girl, there are still so many reminders of toddlerhood, as if it's trying as hard as I'd like it to, to keep it's hold over you. The toddler pot-belly you get after a big meal. The stumble-y toddler klutziness that comes when you're over-tired. The toddler pronunciation of so many words still.

And yet.. you've started calling me "ridiculous" (where'd you get that from, huh?). You want to use a knife to cut up your own meat. You can (but don't always) drink out of a "big girl" cup.

You count. You reason. You deduce. Hell, you find loopholes in the "rules" we give you.

You negotiate (very well, I might add). You dress yourself ("Does this match?" you're constantly asking). You compliment and share and act so considerately of other little friends that my heart just wants to burst with pride.

You stand with your hands on your hips in defiance if you're pissed at me about something. You tell me "I'm angry at you momma!" You test my limits and watch me try to rein in my frustration and temper and I can see when you're just pressing my buttons for the sake of it, because your eyes squint up in mischief while doing so.

You can exasperate me with your dawdling. And yet, so many times, you are dawdling because you're seeing things, noticing things that I never would have looked at. "Lookit that bird over there momma - why won't he fly over here and sit on my hand?" That was our first red robin of spring you saw the other day - and I probably would have missed it in my rush to the car, had it not been for you.

You colour oh so well these days - and take great pleasure in deciding just what colour to choose for the princess' dress. And you draw - you can draw FACES! And people (well, 4 lines for arms and legs coming directly out of the head - but it's effing awesome is what it is). And you so badly want to be able to write your name - so we practice - M-M-M-M-M-M-M - you try to write M's all day long.

You are such a picky eater that it makes my head explode - and yet, I think (knock-on-wood-knock-on-wood) that we are coming back around on this curve as you are more willing to try "one bite" or "just a taste" of things more and more instead of point blank refusing. Often you end at just that one bite, but the victory in just getting you to taste more foods is, in itself, sweet enough for now.

You sing. You dance. You're constantly performing and joking and laughing and trying to make us laugh. You insist everyone around you is "a clown!" - knowing perfectly well that it is, in fact, you that is the clown.

We started a new family tradition this year - to celebrate half-birthdays. No fancy party. Just a family affair.

For this half-birthday we went out, just you and Mommy, to see a Max & Ruby live show in Oshawa and then out to a restaurant for dinner. It was your first theatre experience and you loved it. Getting up in the aisles to dance or jump and clap - you couldn't hold the excitement of just watching your favourite characters up on stage - you had to move to express it. And then, at the restaurant, I introduced you to my childhood favourite - the Shirley Temple. You declared it DEEEEEELISHUS and only for fancy girls (like us) on fancy days (like your half-birthday).

I had such a fabulous time with you and I'm pretty sure you had a great time too. I hope it was a half-birthday to remember, although I know you probably won't. But I will. For both of us.


Love you my little boo.

Love,
Mommy

Friday, April 8, 2011

Well, she hit that milestone

We (myself and the girls) spent the past week away visiting family in Kingston. As Maddie would say, "We visit lots of people's houses!" - yes, it was a busy visit, as it so often is, but luckily the kids didn't get totally wrang-y - as so often happens when we're sleeping at different houses, off schedule and such.

And... while we were away - although Katie didn't start the massive milestone of crawling, she did pop out her first "word"! (Yes, she's been saying da-da-da and ba-ba-ba and the rare ma-ma-ma - but really? I don't know if these really count).

This was clear. It was definitive. It was... "NO!" (in the face of being licked to death by my mom's overly zealous dog) - accompanied by a head shake and push away.

Well, we knew she was going to have some strong opinions, of course her first word is no.

(So was mine.)

I haven't heard a "NO" since (maybe that means she's been happy?) - but then I shared the "tickle tickle" game with her (a made-up game I play with Madds - tickling up her leg to a different body part each time, while you say, "tickle tickle tickle...... belly! [or whatever place you end up]" - yes, that does sound weird trying to explain it). Anyhoodle - she thought the game was bloody hilarious and belly-laughed her way through it. And now? Randomly, out of nowhere, she'll just start saying "tickle tickle". Yes, it's very mumbly and she sticks her tongue out whilst doing it (damn, I gotta get video of it because it's really the cutest thing ever) - but it's clear and she gets a massive grin if you say back to her, "tickle tickle!".

Yes, she's a flipping genius.


Of course she is. Was there any doubt?



xxoo.S