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That's how many pictures I took at the park today. I think you'll see why. Happy Hallowe'en, everyone!




I think she's still mad at me for not getting up with her at 4:30 this morning...

4:30 is not the new 7

Sarah didn't get the memo and has been waking progressively earlier all week with today's 4:30 rising prompting a "Nuh-Uh, No Way!" response from Mommy. This was followed by 2 hours of screaming until I agreed it was a respectable time to get up. Got out of bed, trudged around for my slippers and....silence. She's sleeping again and here I am trying not to think about the fact that daylight savings ends tonight and 3:30 really will be the new 4:30!
Teething, you suggest? Possibly, but I have been giving her that benefit of the doubt for the last 4 months and she still has but one lonely little tooth in there and I am beginning to think she is destined to stay that way.
One thing she is growing though is a little bit of hair. Just enough to make a fine mess (and a mohawk!) at mealtime. And no, that is not her Halloween costume. She may be tired but she is going to be one cute little trick or treater tonight!

Eavesdropping

Unlike his sister, Liam prefers to wake up slowly and peacefully in the morning. I often hear him chattering to himself up in his room but this morning I stood outside his door to listen for a moment. Here's what I heard....

"I got a elbow heeeeeere! And I got a elbow here! I got TWOOOOOOOO!"

Pleasantly surprised and very proud. What a way to start the day.

In Sickness, And In Health

That sums up our week here. We'll likely never know for sure if it was food poisoning or stomach flu, but sometime late Tuesday afternoon we started to fall like flies: Me, then Sarah, then Matt, then Dave. Liam was (and still is - touch wood!) fine. But with casualties all over the bathroom floors, Liam had an educational experience. With a sense of wonder in his voice that only a 2 year old can manage, he wandered the ruins while offering as-it-happens commentary:

"Sarah sick on...Uncle Dave!"

"Mommy sick in the potty!"

"Mommy better now?"

"Liam sick too. Long time ago. In traveller. (His playpen) Barbeque sauce. All better now." (That basically sums up this blog entry from September!)

Anyways, we're on the mend. It would appear I over-promised and am bound to under-deliver on the exciting blog week. But I leave you today with a picture of the world's most patient two year old, who waited quietly until 1pm to get out of bed on Wednesday as the grown-ups (or grow-pups, as he says) tried to pull themselves together. Gotta love this kid.

"We've Got to Get Out There and Skate Hard"

I do love a good hockey cliche. And since Liam loves all things hockey (drumroll......) we got him his first pair of skates this weekend!
In true Hockey Mom form I cheered him on from the sidelines and took a whole lot of pictures of exactly the same thing (ie. Matt carrying Liam around the rink.) But here are a few highlights of our little hockey star's first shift!
Lacing up:

Almost ready:
One more layer:

And he's off!:





This isn't nearly as bad as it looks!:


Looks like Liam and Daddy got benched:


Since the name of the game was just to have fun, there was an awful lot of silly stuff going on...

The Kids are Napping....

...okay, they're not, but I told them to. I'm uploading about a thousand pictures so this could be a good blog week! For now.....

This boy....

For a scrapbooker/obsessive documenter such as myself, I am horrified at how quickly my babies change when I have no time to record it. Of course I remember Liam's first year but do I remember exactly when he spoke his first word? No. When he started to wave 'bye bye'? Nope. When he stopped calling himself 'Miami'? Again, no. Does it matter? In the big picture, I guess it doesn't. But it makes me a little sad, and that's why I've been trying to take a little snapshot of Sarah's monthly milestones. Which doesn't do Liam much good. (If he is ever jealous I only have to point out that the 'baby's first year' photos are about 300:1 in his favor! First-born sydrome....) But even though Liam has passed all those really early milestones he is still an ever-changing and surprising little guy. So here you go: Liam at 2 yrs, 3 months......

* his vocabulary has exploded and he speaks in full sentences (at least most of the time).
* his favorite word is "poop" and I can tell by the twinkle in his eye when he's going to say it before it comes out of his mouth.
* still sleeps in a crib because he seems happy there and because I deeply value uninterrupted sleep.
* still sleeps with a soother for the above reasons.
* has an affinity for cute, 20-something blondes as evidenced by his flirting with waitresses and the playschool teacher he adores and hugs at the end of every class. She's not even a good teacher. And yes, it makes me a little jealous.
* totes a stepstool all over the kitchen so he can watch what's going on up on the counters. Moves the stepstool every time I move to the sink, counter, stove......you'd be surprised how much moving takes place to make noodles but he doesn't want to miss a thing!
* can now play quietly with Lego for 10 minutes or so while I put Sarah to bed. This may not be a big deal to Liam but it is a huge deal for me!
* has inherited my sweet tooth:
* loves to "skate". I promise I will get some video of that on here soon.
* does not want anyone to know when he's hurt. If he falls and I ask if he's okay he'll shout "NO!", smack a wall and run behind a chair to be alone. I wish he wasn't quite so 'brave' yet.
* loves to take showers and will inevitably shout "Naked Boy!" at some point during the process.
* is (finally) emerging from his "no no no" phase. At least most of the time.
* is a free spirit at playschool, but gets super shy at music class and curls up on the floor with his head in my lap. Surely he's not embarrassed by my singing?!
And the little anecdote that prompted me to write all this down.....
* During Matt's most recent work trip we spent a night over at my Mom and Dad's house. I let Liam sleep in the 'big bed' with me for the first time because the room we were sharing was really cold. (Ok, I woke him up to snuggle. Whatever.) In the middle of the night he started chatting to me about how he was rude to the ladies at the grocery store the day before and how he shouldn't say 'no no no'. Random, I know. Not wanting to encourage conversation at such an hour I kept my responses limited to "mmm hmm's" and after a few quiet moments I was convinced he had gone back to sleep. Then a sleepy little voice said "I miss Daddy." It was the sweetest thing I've ever heard, especially from a 2 year old just learning about emotions. I said "I miss Daddy, too" hugged him a little tighter and promised myself that I wouldn't let that sweet moment blend into all the others.
On the downside, I'm sure that sweet little sentiment is going to have me sobbing with mommy guilt at the boarding gate when Matt and I go on a little trip of our own in the near future. It's just what I do.
One more picture that is still making me laugh a few days later......Liam and I had a special outing just the two of us on Tuesday. We rode Skytrain and took the Seabus over to Lonsdale Quay, just for fun. We got some gummy bears while we were there (see sweet tooth note above!). Apparently he saved one in his pocket and fished it out in the car. When we were almost home he squealed and said "Mommy, look!".........


(If nothing looks unusual to you, click on the picture and look above his ear).

Unleashing Her Inner Princess

She was a perfect little ballerina until this pose went horribly wrong!

When's The Last Time...

....you heard any of the following statements? For me, all in the last week or so:

1) "Let's go decoratin'!"

2) "Sarah's eyes beautiful!"

3) {While pulling empty hangers out of the closet} "This one's cute!"

4) "Hey Moj-eeee! Hey Home-eeee!"

5) "Give me a kiss goodnight, then you can say 'Apple Toot.'"

6) "I like orange juice. Love it. It's my favorite."

7) "Oh Liam. {Sigh.} Drive me crazy."

All but one of these are straight from Liam's mouth. Can you guess which one is not?
A random picture I've been sitting on for a few days but haven't been able to connect to anything. So here it is....


Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good weekend!

Ghosts, Goblins and....Gluten?

Yep, that's the Big Spooky 3 for us this Halloween. Liam had his wheat challenge today and we were so optimistic that it would eliminate the gluten factor, but alas: he is still allergic. He's a trooper though, and was such a cooperative little guy at the hospital. He's getting used to the process and even chirped up "blood pressure!" when the nurse walked in to check his vitals for about the 30th time.
Looks like it's more gluten-free baking for us this Christmas. Yum.......

Pickin' Punkins

You may have a sense of deja vu when you see the following pictures, but rest assured I am not throwing a repeat at you. Last year at the Pumpkin Farm we were three, and this year we brought a new set of chubby fingers to pull on all those cute barnyard animals!

On second thought, maybe she wasn't quite ready for the bunnies....


Liam most definitely was....


Fortunately, Sarah did have a change of heart!

Last year we were so distracted by all the animals we didn't even make it out to the pumpkin patch and we weren't going to make that mistake twice! Here we are a sampling of the ways we entertained ourselves as we waited for the hayride to head out into the field.

1) We got a bite to eat:
2) We made new friends:


3) We did The Monster Mash:


Thank goodness the hayride arrived when it did. All aboard!


Those bumpy rides have a way of making our crew a little sleepy....

Liam headed out in search of the perfect pumpkin, and he would not be rushed in this pursuit.


He took such care in the selection process that we didn't even get a photo of The Chosen One because we were too busy hauling kids, all their gear and their pile of pumpkins back to the tractor!
And if you were thinking those bunnies and piglets were cute....check out what else was in the barn!