Busy Days

Ahem. Is this thing on?

The latest batch of non-blogging has been brought on by some serious parenting. Terrible twos are in full swing. It's not that things are ALL terrible, but the frustrating moments are taking a lot of energy.

It's really all about the little things. Katie taking her shoes off right before we get out of the car. Taking her socks off right before we're getting our shoes on the leave the house. Running away when I want to get Katie for anything (getting ready to go, for example...sense a theme? How am I still going out anywhere?). Pee/pooping on the floor during naps (the naps that don't happen, which is about every other day now).

There are good things...sentences are getting ever more complex (though the chatter is also non-stop now...I sometimes go crazy and feel like I can't ever get a word in edgewise...Karma some might say, from my own childhood). Pretending is out of this world...it takes so much energy to use our imagination as much as Katie does!

Sam can move around a bit while sitting on her bum. She also can get up on one knee, especially when she has something to lean on with her hands, like my knee or Katie's bed rail. She loves standing up and can stand for what seems like forever without needing support.

Sam still only has the two teeth, but two more are on their way soon I think...the top gum appears to be swollen and we've had intermittent hot, red cheeks lately. She's gabbing a lot too and we're trying to encourage some word recognition, but not really anticipating any real "words" yet.

I'm posting pictures, but am really going to try and keep the commentary on them brief...otherwise blogging gets long and tedious.

But...I will tell you (from JUST a few minutes ago) than when having "Mom Time" (it's the new Nap Time don't you know?), creating a fort by draping a sheet over the chairs in the living room, doesn't just provide FUN and keep a little one busy, it also provides a quiet hidden place which is perfect for quietly pooping in ones pants and peeing on the floor. Yep. This is the way of things these days. I'll try not to disappear for so long this time, but no promises.

On to photos:
Papa coming with us to practice swimming in the middle of the week. We have been taking swimming lessons (parent and tot) Saturday mornings since the end of September. Katie likes the water but for some reason really dislikes lessons. A weekday visit is our attempt to gain extra comfort (though if it stems from the group thing, it may not help much as there are few kids in the pool mid week).
Katie waking up from a nap where I had left the closet door unlocked. Katie found her old sandals that are too small and had crawled back into bed with them on.
Sam playing with our friend Steph's Baby W's toy. She loves it.
Katie carrying a "tree" on a walk with Steph and Baby W. The weather was super nice that day.
Katie helping feed Sam...we've gone to more cut up finger foods for Sam...she was getting upset at mealtimes and we think it was that she was getting tired of eating mush.
Sam out for coffee with us and Mrs F. Having so many frustrating/mad moments with Katie has made me want to try harder to create lovely moments...which sometimes backfires...moments like baking together. Here are ginger snap cookies:These cookies were perfect for the first snow of the season. The snow is now all gone as we've had a very weird fall for weather. I scurried out soon after to buy her some boots since the old ones didn't fit. Happily her snowsuit from last year still fits. I also tried baking bread (kneading out the frustration...!).The recipe in my Purity cookbook made 4 loaves of whole wheat! (forgot to rotate pic...too late now!)This is the photo from when Katie said "What are you doing Sam!" and I found Sam with her hands in a bowl of her cereal. Sam turned right around and opened the door in Katie's play kitchen. All dressed up for JoAnne's girls 3rd B-day Party this past Saturday. Princess themed. With a princess cake.And cupcakes for the kids. Sam successfully managed peas on her own (mostly). Ben wasn't there because he had Cross Country provincials out of town that day. The goody bags had crowns, a ball for Sam,Wands for both girls and princess pencils and a notepad. She was thrilled!That's it...see you later.

What She Said

When Katie says "Sam, what are you doing!?" when the girls are sitting at the table and you're in the kitchen...it pays to listen. Sam had grabbed the bowl of cereal and had her hand deep in the bowl and it was *this* far from falling on the ground.

Yesterday was our first snowfall of the year and Katie was quite excited. She said several times: "It's going to be Christmas today!" Sadly (and also kind of thankfully) it's not for a while yet. Sam doesn't get it (the snow) but seems to like the cold wind on her face.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend...we've got two dinners to attend. I have pictures to show and hopefully will get around to sharing them this weekend.

Small update...

Just a small update about the potty training...Things are going MUCH better than they did on Friday. We're only had a small handful of accidents since then...maybe 3? And many successful pees/poops. We are reminding Katie quite a bit to go but she is also showing big girl initiative and going by herself or telling us she needs to go.

I'm sure it's not over yet, but I'm beyond pleased at our progress and thought you should know! =)

No-Diaper-Landia

As I mentioned yesterday, we are trying a visit (perhaps a permanent stay?) in the Land of No-Diapers. (For Katie of course, Sam has a while yet).

This was NOT my idea...brought on by Katie's repeated removal of diaper and pj's at night and peeing on the floor. And her frequent desire to be naked and use the potty in the day time. Of course, the plan is to keep diapers on during nap and sleep time (though that seems counter to Katie's plan, doesn't it?).

For a while now, we've casually gone on the potty and peed or not and it's been fine and fun and exciting. It has also sometimes become a stalling activity...before nap "Katie, time for nap" "Mom, I'm pooping" (when she clearly isn't but is just reading and hanging out on the potty). I'm not sure where this becomes more learning what we do vs. power struggle.

Anyway...long story short...I washed Katie's floor 5 times yesterday and we went through I don't know how many changes of clothes this morning(at least 3 times in an hour). The washing machine is asking for a time-out. I love her but I am pulling my hair out and getting frustrated. Consulting with friends, books and the internet. Thank goodness we don't have carpet anywhere.

I think we are going to keep trying this weekend, to stay in No-Diaper-Landia, with the thinking being that we've come so far and endured so much...if we can just hold out a bit longer...but we'll see.

As with all things parenting, I'm not above changing plans and going with the flow...per se. We'll keep you posted.

PS...Sam is fine today, her skin looks perfectly back to normal and she's happy as a clam. Except when she was crying while I held her and tried to wipe someone's pee off the floor at the same time. Not Sam's idea of a good time...but neither was not being held. Tough times for Samarama.

Eventful Eight!

Sam is eight months old today! And we had a very eventful day.

The day began as normal with a playground playdate with JoAnne and the girls after which we went home and had lunch. Katie and I ate scrambled egg and cheese sandwiches and Sam had day number 2 of bananas. Both girls went down for naps...Sam slept very well, Katie...not so much, perhaps we'll tell that story tomorrow.

After a 2 hour nap, Sam woke up happy, but after a bit of playtime when I went to change her diaper, I noticed a bumpy rash, around the edge of where her diaper is (her upper thigh area). Thought maybe her onesie was chaffing her, so I took it off. Went to play more and I noticed she was starting to scratch it. Called Capital Health Link (love love love them!) and the nurse suggested I keep an eye on the rash and if anything changed to take her to see someone.

Now, it was around 3pm and I'm looking at Sam, thinking about what to do and should I see someone and do I have time to get in to see anyone. Then I notice she's rubbing/scratching her ears and they appear red and swollen (have you seen Hitch?)...so I jump and make a decision. Call peadiatrition, they're closed, call our family Dr and she's not in but there are others who could possibly see us. I grab the girls as fast as I can (including a change of clothes and potty stuff for Katie because it's TODAY that we've,of course, decided to move into No-Diaper-Landia, except for when sleeping) (see tomorrow's story) and we head into the van.

We get seen by a Dr very quickly (so grateful!) and he says everything's fine, it's *just* hives...some kind of allergic reaction, that by this time has her whole torso and most of her body, covered in red swollen bumps. It's not anaphalactic (sp?) and in no way a threat to her life. Phew. Just uncomfortable and itchy. He gave us a prescription for a baby antihistamine (liquid) for her to take. In the car ride home and to pick up dad (and fill the Rx) Sam fell asleep and already her skin looked better. The only new thing I can think of is the bananas...we'll stay away from them for a bit.

So, we are fine and Sam was in a great mood the rest of the day.

(Here's Sam happily eating squash for dinner...2 hours later and you can see her ear's still a bit swollen)
(but she's still in a happy mood!)Sam...Eight months already! You're growing fast. The most exciting step you've taken recently is that I saw you pull up onto your knee while holding onto the railing on Katie's bed. I won't let you sit there alone anymore...I can see that you're getting thouhts of mobility in that beautiful blondish head of yours.

I brought up the old leapfrog music table today...if we stand you up you can hold yourself unsupported and I think if I let you keep trying you'll pull yourself up soon...we'll see. You're very vocal and sometimes it's hard to have a conversation around you...we'll just have to include you more won't we! You've got a great 2 toothed smile...everyone loves your smile. I've given you some Cheerios recently, as I think you're ready for more texture...I really just have to get over my fear of you choking. You seem to like them but not too much. The trick is going to be keeping Katie from getting them while you slowing examine them and struggle to put them in your mouth...right now they mostly sit in your hand while you lick them. You'll learn to eat faster soon I'm sure. =)

I'm glad you're feeling better and look forward to the coming months...we had record heat again yesterday (34.5C) but there's a frost warning in a few days. How quickly things can change! =)

Feeling Fall-ish

Hello! This morning was SO CHILLY it really felt like fall. On TV it said it was 4C this morning, calling for a high of about 20. I don't mind though...the chill feels nice and refreshing. (please don't remind me I said this come January, ok?!) The high for tomorrow though, is a whopping 29C! Very warm for fall.

Things around here are lovely these days. We had a super busy week last week, but managed! The girls are good...we're all better from our cold. They are definitely getting along lately, the girls.
Katie can get a laugh out of Sam any time and it's so neat to start to see them feed off each other and have fun together (as much as one can expect at this point).

Other great news is that Katie had been expressing MUCH less "terrible two-ness" lately. I know things are "phasic" (is that a word?) and up and down all the time, but it feels good to be spending more time in a fun place with her behaviour as opposed to the discipline place. A lot less whining too which is awesome.
And in potty news, things are moving along. We're still in a "don't pressure her" place, simply providing opportunities when we can, but she's peed in the potty several times this week, mostly before naps or bedtime. She has also been showing a lot of interest in not wearing a diaper (or clothes much either!) and this has led to her going to the bathroom herself and peeing by herself showing she knows when to go. (yay!) On the downside, as this is a fun learning experience for her, we're had to deal with quite a few messes, usually from not sitting all the way on the potty. There have been a couple of bedroom incidents too though, coming from the joy she gets from taking off her clothes and diapers by herself. Yikes. The funniest involved me carrying Sam to bed after nursing her one night (Katie had just gone to bed a bit before) and quietly yelling (yes you can do this) to Ben "Poop on the floor, there's poop on the floor!!". Ben was superdad and took care of things pronto and soon both girls were sleeping perfectly. Ah, the joys of parenting!

Last week we had a couple of lovely playdates with JoAnne and the girls. Getting the park time in before it gets too cold! (the current spell of warm weather is particularly inspiring!)
Sam likes books! (for chewing, not reading)
I finished (mostly) knitting a sweater for Sam. Still have to fix the loose ends, but the knitting's done! I think it'll fit nicely this winter.
Here's the photo of us at the Terry Fox run last week. The girls being goofy...Katie has this thing where we wrap her up in a blanket, especially covering up her head, and she calls herself a queen. I helped Sam join in this time and they both thought it was pretty funny.We had our last vegetable box for the year last week, and in it, this neat Cauliflower. I believe it's called Romanescu. The fractal pattern is so cool! I went to a wedding shower for a family friend on the weekend and Ben was flying solo...he did well with the girls though and even managed to get Katie to fall asleep on the couch while he was reading to her. (She didn't nap for me in the morning).This picture is from this morning...we had a pretty good morning, just playing around the house. Sam's wearing one of my old favorite brown sweaters of Katie's...I just can't believe that she's wearing these clothes already! She's getting so big so fast. I feel like we just boxed them up! Last week she also wore my favorite pair of old Katie pants, the brown ones with the pink/orange/etc flowers all over them. So very hippy and very cute. Today Katie wanted to "Stay in PJ's all day"...which I thought about, but then vetoed and managed to get her into some clothes without much fuss. There will be PJ days, but not today. We went to strollercize after and had a great run! I managed to run all the way up the hill atop Hawerlack Park without stopping to walk once! It's the first time since Sam that I've managed that...I haven't been this happy and proud of myself about running in a long time!

Katie is in SUCH a "pretend" place that's amazing to experience. Yesterday evening, she spent a big chunk of time bringing Ben and I food. Including "Dad, would you like regular or decaf pizza?". She's such a sponge and it's amazing to hear these beautiful and complex phrases come out of her mouth.

Sam's eating well...enjoying black beans. We start fruit later this week and I'm excited about it. Fruit is so yum. =) She sits up well (I know I mention this all the time, don't I?) but it's funny, she sometimes falls forward on her face, trying to reach something...I don't remember Katie doing this ever, only falling sideways or back. Maybe Sam will be a reacher = crawler sooner than we expect.

Sleeping has been well if you don't count the fact that somehow their inner alarm clock is set to 5:30 AM. (It IS annoying! Katie says "It's dark!")

Things are good and now we're all caught up with photos. And (sigh) just in time, I think I hear Sam. =)

Legislature Grounds

Hmm, somehow, I'm still about a week behind blogging these days. Here are pictures from our "two days of fun in a row" at the Legislature Grounds. Hopefully you'll be able to see why we had to go twice!
The girls eating lunch...Took Sam's clothes off so she wouldn't get carrot stains on her outfit. The umbrella in the background was for shade. It was so nice and warm!
Stephanie and Baby W joined us...such fun to hang out together! Just the past week we went for a wonderful walk in the river valley all together...must get out and enjoy these nice days while they're still here! The weather's been great lately but the way it cools off overnight and the short days tell us that fall is on the way!
I held Sam and dipped her feet...the water is perfect for kids to walk around in.
Sam in her big hat.
Baby W with a smile!
At home that night, Katie was playing with her doll, the one I knit her for her first birthday. She carries her with arms wrapped around her neck, hanging upside down. Funny to see.Sam playing with the big fun cube.With Sam sitting up so well, both girls can sit in the cart at Costco...how I've longed for this day! It's so much easier than having Sam in the Baby Bjorn and trying to pick up something big (uh, anything at Costco!) ...although we do sometimes wait and go to Costco with Ben, so there's two of us anyway. I think the girls like being in the cart together...though there's are noticeable issues with sharing whatever it is they're playing with. (coupons or a toy etc) Sam's sunglasses were Katie's...too cute! We got so many "aw, cute" looks on our way into the store.Day 2 at the Leg. Grounds. Took a picture by the big fountain. Katie's wearing the cute dress I knit her in the spring...she's refused to wear it so many times I'd almost given up trying...but she was willing this time...and it looked great!Sam on the blanket. (a better picnic blanket, since I knew the shady ground would be damp...the advantages of day 2!)Katie walking in the water with her bucket (again, a day 2 advantage...I hadn't thought to bring it the first day but the next day I knew Katie'd like having it).This time JoAnne and her adorable girls joined us...it's funny, Katie has the exact same swimsuit as the girls, though we wore a different one that day. Great minds think alike! The girls had fun playing with Baby Sam and running round everywhere. Katie was having some fun with the umbrella and as soon as she picked it up JoAnne's girls wanted to be in on the fun too...instant buddies!Katie and I had some fun with the laptop camera the other day, Since then she keeps asking to do "colours", like this:She laughed hysterically when we did this...I had a tough time keeping her quiet while Sam was napping.

And we can swim with the fishes too!Otherwise...things are pretty good. Enjoying strollercize and the weather. Had a good Terry Fox Run this morning...if you're looking for a good cause to donate too, this is a good one! On the down side, Katie has the sniffles that came up overnight and Ben and I are starting to feel it too...I'm hoping we can fight it off quickly. Cancelled a dinner with friends who were coming over tonight because we didn't want to spread the germs (I love kids, but they are to germy and drippy when they're sick!). Dissapointing, but I think it was the right thing to do.

More catching up and pictures coming soon...hopefully I can muster up the energy to blog midweek! See you soon!