The Visitors

Our children had some very special visitors this last week. Their cousins, two boys ages 5 and 8, flew in from China on December 20th. The cousins had never seen snow before. Now I think they have had their fill.

They have been skating, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and sledding multiple times. Then 45 cm of snow descended on Montreal, and they made snowmen and went sledding again.

Our toddler had a few firsts of her own. First sledding experience, and first time skating... although I wouldn't call it skating!

Here are a few photos of her firsts:

First pair of rental skates

Skating with mama

Sledding with her aunt

Taking a post sledding break

notable quotes

The bag girl

I have decided to jot down some of the adorable things that our toddler, now almost three, has been saying.  Most are directed to her little sister:

I will be right back, wait here

Don't do that, I will be very mad

You can't have my toy, you will choke

Don't pull my hair, I will not have any

And to her parents:

Wake up Papa, it is time to go to work

Sing her a song, Mama

I am a horse, neigh, neigh

Mama, you are a cow!

10 months: in photos

Our littlest one turned 10 months old just a few days ago...She can now

Feed herself 

Clap on demand

Walk with the help of a baby walker

Brush all 7 of her teeth

Wave goodbye on demand

Think on her own!

Holding Hands: a photo moment

Every once in a while, my toddler's behaviour vis-a-vis her little sister pleasantly surprises me. The spontaneous declarations of affection ("I love you") and the little kisses are now more frequent than the slaps and kicks.

On the rare occasion that her sister is crying, she attempts to cheer her up by singing to her. Her really loud rendition of Twinkle Twinkle does not always work, but the effort is heart warming.

Just the other day, we were driving home from pre-school, and her baby sister started to cry. She reached over, said "hold my hand", and the baby instantly stopped crying. I looked back at a red light a few minutes later, and saw the sweetest hand-holding!

Sick week!

Eating raspberries the fun way, prior to getting sick

Actually, that should read two sick weeks. Over the course of the last 12 or so days, we all got sick.
Here is the timeline:

-First our toddler came down with her first cold in November. Nothing out of the ordinary.
-Next our baby caught our toddler's cold.
-Then I came down with the same virus.
-Nothing worrisome until mid week last week, our toddler developed a 48 hour fever. 2 visits to the pediatrician confirmed the diagnosis of a virus.
- I was thinking how lucky we had been that our baby, at 9 1/2 months, still had not developed a fever or a serious illness...and then last Sunday morning, she started vomiting. By Tuesday she had improved, but still slept a lot, and her appetite has just now returned to pre-sickness levels.
-Next, my husband developed a cold. Both he and I felt nauseous, but thankfully produced no vomitus.
-And just when I thought we were on our way to normal health, our toddler started vomiting Thursday morning of this week. Starting at 3AM, and for every hour for a total of 6 episodes. And as quickly as she got sick, she improved...

Were these all pre-school bugs? Perhaps the cold virus... but what would explain our baby developing a gastrointestinal virus before her big sister? Had I unwittingly brought it home from the hospital, and simply didn't get sick myself?... In all probability, we will never know... but one thing is for certain, there is nothing like appreciating the mundane after 2 weeks of sickness!

New Shared Room: Tour

The girls' shared room is finally ready...We had some difficulty deciding on our toddler's twin-sized bed. Our toddler moves a lot in her sleep, so an upholstered bed was one of the criteria. Additionally, I had been looking for a single bed that could easily transform into a double bed, eventually allowing our girls to sleep side-by-side, but also freeing up floor space during the day. In the end, I settled on an upholstered bed with an optional trundle by Monte, the same company that made our glider.

For the time being, the shared room is hypothetical. The baby still sleeps in our room. Our toddler currently wakes up on average once per night, whereas our baby girl will wake up two to three times per night. By placing them in the same room, we would be courting disaster. I have no doubt that they will wake each other up, thereby further reducing the amount of sleep their parents enjoy!

Toddler bed returns to crib

Toy storage

Glider with photo of baby above

Can't decide which bed she would rather jump on!

I was afraid she might hit her head against the dresser, but she sticks to the other side 

Monthly baby photos next to sound system

And the most important part...Hello Kitty!

9 months old

Chasing the camera

Oh how time flies!
Baby #2
Turned 9 months old on November 11
Weighs almost 10kg
Wears 12-18 month clothing
Has 6 teeth, with two more on the way
Babbles regularly, mostly Mamama
Claps her hands when you sing a song
Waves goodbye if she sees you head for the door
Can stand for a few seconds at a time
Loves her big sister, and puts up with a lot of abuse (mostly slaps and the occasional kick)
Wakes up laughing
Even though it's 5AM, and she does not understand what daylight savings time is!

Five Little Monkeys

Monkey # 2 playing upright

Monkey # 1 enjoying cupcakes

The other day, my two daughters and I were playing in a neighbourhood playroom, when my toddler suddenly grew up and went to work:

She kissed her little sister and declared: "Bye, I am going to work," and headed for the door.

Are you a teacher or a doctor? I asked (as she has a few family members in each of those professions and is vaguely familiar with them).

"A doctor," she declared.
"And what will you be doing?", I queried.

She promptly shook her right index finger and said "no more monkeys jumping on the bed."

I wonder what she thinks a teacher does!

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor,
And the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed

Four little monkeys jumping on the bed 
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor 
And the doctor said,
No more monkeys jumping on the bed

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor 
And the doctor said,
No more monkeys jumping on the bed

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor
And the doctor said,
No more monkeys jumping on the bed

One little monkey jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor 
And the doctor said,
Put those monkeys right to bed

Halloween part III

Our toddler celebrated her third Halloween this week, and, thus far, her most memorable.

Getting into the spirit with a Ghost shirt (formerly her sister's)

Checking out a Hello Kitty pumpkin at the local market

Trying on her Hello Kitty outfit

The festivities begun with a party at preschool:

With her classmate

Our baby hanging out in her sister's class

Later on, we headed to the south shore of Montreal, where our toddler trick-or-treated with her six-year old friend.

With her friend (a musketeer) prior to heading out

In a winterized version of her costume

She didn't quite grasp the concept of going door-to-door, and spent much time standing at the doorstep after receiving her candy, peering into people's homes.

She was rather proud if her candy stash, and overall seemed to enjoy the experience. Just today, she asked me if she could return to her friend's house and "do Halloween" again. How to explain to a toddler with little concept of time that Halloween only comes around a once a year?

Her Halloween Stash

Eating her first treat

Magical Moment: cold

Sharing a laugh

Since starting preschool in early September, our toddler has had three colds. Certainly not as many as I had expected. She recently had back-to-back colds, something that had occasionally occurred prior to starting school.

This week, she had developed a slight cough from the post-nasal drip. I reminded her how to cover her mouth with her arm when she coughed.

Her little sister has also had a few colds recently. In fact, for the last 8 months, she has had as many colds as our toddler. She too developed a slight cough this week. Just the other day, as I was cleaning up after lunch, our baby coughed while sitting in her high chair. My toddler ran up to her little sister, proffered an arm, and said "cough in my hand".

It is certainly reassuring to know that our toddler listens and learns!

Hello Kitty has taken over our home

Hello Kitty

I blame myself. I thought the shirt was cute. Approximately 6 months ago, as I was browsing the kids' clothing section of a large department store, I came across a very affordable Hello Kitty shirt in my toddler's size. Later on that day, when I showed her the shirt, she did not seem overly impressed, but did not seem to mind wearing it. At the time, getting her dressed to go out anywhere was a struggle, so I hoped that the Hello Kitty shirt might make getting ready more enjoyable.

Shortly after the initial purchase, my toddler's language skills started improving exponentially. And then she started asking for Hello Kitty clothing. "No, I don't want this. I want to wear my Hello Kitty shirt" she would say everyday. I tried explaining to her that we only had one such shirt, and that it was in the washing machine. She somehow won the battle, and now she owns two short-sleeved shirts, three long-sleeved tops, three dresses, a dozen pairs of underwear, two hats, a pair of gloves, a school bag and a lunch bag, all with the Hello Kitty prominently displayed.

I must say that getting ready to go out is much simpler now. And going to school is enjoyable, as she happily brings along her Hello Kitty school bag and lunch bag. The downside is that everything has to be Hello Kitty. We recently ordered a twin-sized bed for our toddler. I told her that soon she would have to give up her toddler bed, and that she would be getting a "big girl bed". She didn't seem in the least upset, agreed that her little sister should inherit her crib, but did mention that she wanted a "Hello Kitty bed". Would she refuse to sleep in her new bed, I wondered? Then my husband came up with the brilliant idea of buying some Hello Kitty sheets for her new bed. Perhaps we will no longer have to sit with her for an hour before she goes to sleep as she will soon have a tacky but adorable feline to keep her company...

Crawling expert

Apple picking: a photo journey

This last Thursday was our toddler's first field trip at school. Her entire pre-school went apple-picking, and the parents were invited along. She was very excited about the trip. Later on that evening when her papa asked about her day, she excitedly described it in great detail:

I go on a school bus

Mommy come with me

I pick 5 apples

I see a baa baa

I ride a pink trike


And here are the photos to prove it:

In the school bus prior to departure

On the tractor ride to the orchard

Apple-picking!

Filling her bag

Eating an apple she picked off a tree

2 baa baas

A sow and her piglets

Riding a pink trike

Little Movers

Playing in the Tumble Room

Our toddler was very active as a baby, and remains equally as active now. She crawled by 6 1/2 months, and walked before she was 11 months old. We were certain our second would be much slower to move, partially because she is so rotund.

However, this week, she proved us wrong. No sooner had she learned to crawl, than she started pulling herself fully upright:

Upright!

She is so focused on getting herself upright, that the only time she sits still is at mealtime. Diaper changes have become nearly impossible. So much so that I recently purchased pull-up type diapers for infants called "Slip-ons" for "Little Movers".

Even though we have to be close by, as her balance is not yet perfect, we would not have it any other way. Our two "little movers" keep us on our toes, and very active. I am even considering not renewing my gym membership!

Waking Up

In matching owl pyjamas

Our toddler spent the first two years of her life preventing her mother and father from sleeping. And now she seems to have transferred her intentions onto her sister. Anytime she notices her little sister nodding off, whether in the car or at home, she tries to wake her up. Sometimes she makes screeching sounds, and other times she commands her sister "wake up".  "What are you doing?" I sometimes ask her. "I waking up my sister", she points out the obvious.

I have tried explaining to her that when she was a baby, she too needed to nap often, and that I wouldn't let anyone wake her up. When that didn't work, I promised her that as soon as her sister was asleep, I would put her down in her crib, and give her (my toddler) my full attention. Neither did this phase her. I tried turning on her iPad, and opening up her favourite App...to no avail, as she quickly lost interest.

The other day, the baby was so exhausted that she fell asleep, despite her sister's loud protests. I was then able to put her down, and as promised, give my toddler my full attention. I tried to explain that in the future, we could play together more often without the baby if she let me put her to sleep. The next day proved that she had not learned her lesson.

I suppose the one good thing that might come of this is that the baby will become a heavy sleeper...

Almost crawling...

She Said

Trying on baby's hats

As I was contemplating the topic of this week's blog, I realized that the highlight of this last month has been our toddler's speech development. She regularly uses full sentences, and has said a few really surprising things recently:

"You go mama, I watch baby." She said, as she put a protective arm around her sister. I am not sure where she was expecting me to go...

"Are you Okay?" She asked her sister right after hitting her with a toy. She does this so often, I suspect she is hitting her sister simply so she can ask her if she is alright ...

"Go back over there" she says when we leave home for Grandma's house. She also says it when we leave Grandma's for home...

And just yesterday, she said "go away sun, I don't like you", as we were driving with the sun in her eyes.

And the sweetest thing of all, "I love you" she says regularly to her little sister. We are still waiting for the day she spontaneously says this to her mama and papa.

Out for a walk in autumn gear.