Monday, October 24, 2011

Oh Dolly!

Sam has a dolly that she loves to pieces. A few weeks ago, Dolly disappeared. We looked everywhere for her. We cleaned up like crazy looking for her but still no luck. I was resigned to the fact that we were just not going to have a doll.

Coincidentally or not, our sleeping issues were getting worse. Sam escaping from her room in the middle of the night trying to get food etc. We kept the gate closed at the top of the stairs so no worry about her going to far, but she was really getting into things. We borrowed the pressure gate from Gram and Grandpa's house to keep her in the bedroom at night. That worked, until she learned to pile up her blankets and use them to climb out (smart girl, figured it out within an hour). So we started a version of sleep training, where you close the door and hold it shut for a short period of time, to make the point that we need her to stay in the room. This definitely worked and we saw huge improvement in sleep from both girls within a few nights. I thought we were golden.

And then...I was reading in the living room after bedtime and found that Sam had climbed the gate again and was in the bathroom (not the good "learning to pee" kind of in the bathroom, but the bad "getting into things" kind). I go to her and tell her NO and she's not to be in there and she starts getting upset and yelling something I can't make out. I finally figured out she was saying "don't close the door!"...which of course, means that the door thing is working in that she does connect it with the negative behaviour, but also means that I have to follow through and do the door thing (which I had forgotten about). I put her in her room and closed the door and she was pretty upset. A short 2 minutes later I go in and she's got a blanket over her head and is crying...I gently tuck her in and she looks at me, and her voice, all wobbly from crying, says "maybe tomorrow, you can go shopping and buy me another dolly?". Aw...poor thing, still missing her dolly. I was kind of emotional at how upset she was and even as I headed to bed took another peek at places where the doll might be...like behind our bed...places we've already looked. No luck.

So, after a little research and a few phone calls, we went to a store and bought a new dolly. Not exactly the same, but close enough I think. And of course, when Katie asked why she wasn't getting a new dolly, I didn't have a good answer, so I broke down and bought 2 dolls.

Sam's is the one with green hair and Katie chose the one with pink hair. When I told the girls to hug the dolls for the picture, they lifted them up high like that. Katie did it first and Sam followed, though clearly not sure why she had to do it.

What's great about these dolls is that they are so soft and the colours are so bright and beautiful. And we know from experience that the dolls wash well.

So far, the girls have been playing with the dolls quite a bit. I think it's a good age for dolls as they are playing with them in a very imaginative way.

We had a great weekend. Before buying the dolls on Friday we went and got our flu shots. We went for dinner with Gram and Grandpa at Famoso for pizza. We had a relaxing Saturday morning and then went to a birthday for friend M who is now 3.

Sunday we tidied up a bit and met friends C and little G and their parernts for a walk in the river valley. It was nice, but cool enough that my fingers got a bit chilly by the end. Still nice enough to get out and enjoy the warm sunshine though. After the walk we had them over to our house for dinner. The ham and scalloped potatoes were yummy and the salad that they brought was so good, not to mention the amazing wine they also brought. (they can come again any time!) It was such a cozy, fun and easy little dinner...a fantastic end to a wonderful weekend!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

More Gobble Gobble

Katie made a turkey today all on her own. Well...the only thing I did was cut out the feet. But I made her draw them first. She came up with the idea all on her own from concept to execution. She plans on giving it to her teacher and so wrote her name on the back of the paper that she eventually glued the turkey onto.

Today it smells like fall in our house. A friend recommended a new cookbook...Feeding The Whole Family. The focus is on whole foods and also getting kids (families) to eat healthier whole foods. I got the book out from the library to try it out. It's a very interesting read...sadly no photos, but a wealth of information and some very good looking recipes. Today I made Pumpkin Pecan Muffins. Yum...molasses, cardamom and pumpkin and a bunch of other fall flavors. They look fantastic though with dinner soon, I haven't tasted them yet (that took a great deal of restraint). While I don't think we do too badly with feeding whole, unprocessed foods to the girls, I do Iike the idea of improving and learning more options to increase variety in our meals. A food adventure!

This has been a busy weekend (and really these days, aren't they all?). Helped out Papa and Gram most of Saturday morning with their yard renovations...dirt and sod and what a transformation. The girls helped, especially with raking leaves on the front lawn...raking and jumping too of course! This tired the girls out and Sam fell asleep in the car which led to a 2 hour nap in her bed, which she never ever does.

We were hoping this would be good for her to catch up on sleep since lately things have not been so great in that department. Have I mentioned that Sam has been waking up in the middle of the night and getting food? Bananas, marshmallows and other things in the baking cupboard. Thankfully we hear her usually before she really gets eating, We've put a pressure gate on the girls door and that's helping. Though Sam quickly figured out how to pile up blankets and use them to climb up and over. Both girls did sleep well last night after their busy day and they went down SO fast tonight that I'm hoping we're getting back on track.

PS...I tried the muffins...they are excellent! Look and taste great and very satisfying. I wanted a second since it was so yummy but I also didn't since it was filling enough. A winner!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Look, I have two shoelaces!

Last week sometime the girls had taken the laces out of my shoes to play with (should I admit that I actually helped them?) and by the end of that afternoon, the laces had disappeared. I found one a day later but the second was unfindable. I cooked our thanksgiving turkey wearing one shoe without any laces. (these are my indoor "I must be getting old now that I have to wear orthotics all the time" shoes.).

Finally this morning while steph, W and new baby girl N (2.5 weeks old now and already 8 pounds 10 ounces!) were over I found the missing lace...tied up in a million knots to the steering wheel of the Bobby Car. Of course, why didn't I think of that? (do you hear my sarcasm?)

Before school this morning the girls made a bunch of castles/towers/buildings using their plastic cups and plates and cutlery. Why buy building blocks? (excuse the poor quality photo...it was early this morning)

And this afternoon, right before lunch (which was served late because they were having so much fun I didn't want to interrupt them) they used the same plastic bowls to go skating/roller skating. Not on the hardwood, don't worry!

Goodness, life is fun isn't it?

Monday, October 10, 2011

Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and we sure had a lovely one. We decided this year to host it...my babies are now girls and that makes it easier (theoretically) to find the time and energy to cook a turkey. And, since we are not the most experienced with the gigantic meal planning, we asked everyone to help out and bring a dish. Both sets of grandparents, GG Mary and GG Lill, Auntie Andrea and Uncle Sheldon, and G auntie Gail. 13 all included. We took care of the turkey and potatoes, though admittedly had help with the turkey from my mom who came by in the morning to remind me how to make the stuffing etc.

In the afternoon, before company came, Ben and Katie went out to find some decorations...for some reason, she had been very interested (obsessed?) with getting a centerpiece for our table. They came back with some plastic fall leaf arrangements perfect for the table. Later, Ben said how much fun it was to go shopping with just her and how thrilled and proud she was to choose the decorations.

While they were gone, I helped Sam work on decorating the place cards. This is a job I remember doing often as a kid. I started trying to get the girls working on them the day before but they weren't interested. As it was, I wrote the names on and Sam coloured the letters, just about obscuring some of the names. I brought out some fall themed stickers that we had too, thinking Sam would love to stick them on (she does really like stickers) but she didn't seem interested. So, I may have stuck all the stickers on myself, in a haphazard manner that made it look like the girls had done it. I don't think anyone noticed. :)

The girls had a good time...Sam ate a ton of cabbage rolls and turkey (she has been a picky eater lately so i was glad to hear she ate something) and Katie ate lots as well.

Dinner was delightful. Food and company were perfect and I really felt so thankful for all that we have. Health, food, home, love, friends and family...doesn't get much better than that.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Best Bathtime EVER (and other stories)

Late last week, when we had all had a longish day, Ben became SuperDad and came up with a new game.

While the girls we in the bath he started telling them NOT to wash themselves in a fake angry voice. "Don't you grab that soap...Please don't wash those toes...no definitely not the other foot...". It sounds silly I'm sure, but the girls were beside themselves with laughter. And seriously, I've never seen them wash themselves so thoroughly.

It was nice to all be laughing and enjoying the big joke. Happy family tie for sure.

We had a nice weekend too...I met my friend Megan for a spin class (which as it turns out was full so we just did a workout instead). At the same time, our husbands took the kids to the indoor playground. Win-win I think! And again, good family time.

The photos below are from end of summer and September. I don't know how yet to get the text in between the photos.

Ben with the girls sitting on a little waterfall at the Leg grounds.
Katie and Sam on Katie's first day of preschool this year. Katie insisted on wearing the hello kitty dress which is WAY too short to be acceptable for school so I worked hard to convince her to wear a skirt underneath. I think I even hiked up the skirt I was wearing to show how short hers was and see if she thought I should go out with a skirt that short. Weird but it worked. :)
The girls taking the LRT to church one Sunday morning. They Loved it.
The girls and our friends C and baby G at our new favorite playground which is the biggest I've ever seen and has a great spray park. The girls are sitting in a manmade rock cave...nice and cool. We didn't really discover this park until the end up summer, but we were there more than once a week, especially in the warm early September weather we had. Lovely.