Sunshine Coast

We spent the weekend on the Sunshine Coast and it was as wonderful as always.
Other than today, the day of our departure, the weather did not hold up to the destination name. It was stormy and wet and very romantic.

It's fun having an American in our friend group because it means we get to celebrate another thanksgiving. We had a fabulous turkey dinner last night complete with 3 desserts. Little E got to meet another little baby called Naomi - 7 months old. Little E was thrilled! She walked around Naomi pushing out a funny little laugh that I haven't heard before and sat down to stroke her hair. Despite delaying her bedtime she was not thrilled to leave.

Jane treated me to a wreath making workshop and I made a beautiful wreath that I'm pretty sure will sell the house.
The only downside of the weekend was sleeping in the same room as Little E on Friday night. She woke up at 3:00am and would not go back to sleep. We were reminded of the very important lesson that we cannot sleep in the same room as her, she thinks it's playtime (or boob time). Saturday night we slept upstairs and got a glorious sleep in until 7:30am. Amen!

Here is one super lazy photo of the weekends affairs (taken upon our return no less)...

Thankful

After the past few days, I was so thankful for the girls attitude today!
Monday is always so hard, getting back in to the swing of being "sisters" for the week, Little E and Parker fight like crazy. But come Wednesday, they are the best of friends.
Today they brought each other their water, broke pieces of fruit bar in half and shared it, gave back toys that the other had first, it was a little piece of heaven with two angels in my living room.

I took some photos of them cuddled up with Jake today...

Also, I just want to make a plug for some English books we've been loving lately.
Each, Peach, Pear, Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Bathwater's Hot by Shirley Hughes
Both have delightful illustrations and great stories (we have a couple of other books by these authors and you can't go wrong!)

The Day in Photos

It was going to be a complainy kind of post tonight, but after looking at the photos from today I had to revamp my attitude. Really the only struggle was on our walk, with the girls strapped into the stroller. So although I had to endure some shrieking, I didn't really have to monitor too closely since they were harnessed side by side...

It was an indoor day for us since the weather was cold and wet. The girls pulled out all of the music supplies and I put on some Sharon, Lois and Bram. We danced the hokey pokey, shook our shakers and bashed the rest. It was getting close to nap time so it also involved a lot of floor time.

It's Official

We're moving to the Comox Valley!
The boss has been informed, the boxes have been collected, the packing...well that's going to be the scary part. Island life here we come!

Other than that news, today was pretty uneventful. Little E had a nice visit with her Auntie Soph while Daddy C and I ran around doing errands. And while waiting for her dinner Little E managed to push herself back off the table while strapped into her chair onto the floor. We heard a crash from the kitchen and set off running. Luckily it seemed she was more shocked than hurt and after a few tears asked to lie down in her bed for a minute for comfort - she's so cute.

Here are some Googled Valley shots...yup, it's paradise - maybe we'll see you there?

A Day at the Park

I'm having a bad mom feeling evening.
I couldn't face cooking tonight so I asked Daddy C to pick something up on his way home. Like the good husband he is, he got exactly what I mentioned I'd been wanting - pizza and chicken pot pie. Unfortunately they were not the healthiest things I could have fed my daughter. Little E really just scraped the cheese and sausage off the pizza and hardly managed to chew, and the pot pie was mostly pastry with goopy chunks of grisly chicken. Hmm we resorted to porridge.

On a lighter note we had a great park day yesterday before the rain hit.
Here are some photos illustrating our afternoon, from the stroller ride to the goodbye hug.

Doppa

Little E is obsessed with Daddy C's favourite new toy.
It's a remote control helicopter with fancy flashing lights and manoeuvrable double wing blades.

He bought it last weekend and while flying it shortly afterwards along with Little E operating "Evie's Button" managed to crash and break some of the delicate parts. It was out of commission for a few days, much to Little E's disappointment. We had to explain that no we couldn't fly the chopper because it's broken. "Doppa doppa, boke" she would chant, after the "up up doppa" request was gently turned down.

On a side note Little E's already short morning and evening nursing sessions have been changing, and I'm sure it's because I'm starting to run dry. The other night Little E was switching back and forth looking for a trickle and all of a sudden looked up at me, pointed at my nipple and said "booby boke".
Her comprehension never ceases to amaze me.

Here's one of my favourite old photos of Little E and Jake

Remembrance

It has been a long few days of feeling rough and rather creatively uninspired.
So, hence the long silence. The word is appropriate for today being Remembrance Day, although it was hard to exercise the moment of silence required by the traditional ceremony with a toddler burning around. I managed to have some reflective moments.

We turned on some of the television coverage in Ottawa and as I explained to Little E some of the activity and uniformed dress I found myself rather teary. I'm not sure if that's because I'm now a hormonal mother (my mom endearingly cries over some commercials) or because my grandfather fought in World War One. Yes, the first one! I missed knowing him well since he died at the ripe old age of 98 and I was the fresh young age of 12. But, the stories my mom tells of his life leave me curious and yearning for more.

Grandparents are so important.

On a lighter note the date today 11/11/11 was auspicious for many people: wedding plans, caesarean section plans and triplets turning 11. A fun article here.

Doggy Bed

What is the infatuation with Jake's bed?
Whenever I lock the poor doggy away in his "safe zone" free from Little E's harassment, she heads straight for his bed and jumps, squealing all over it. She lured Parker into her gleeful game today too.

Aside from this cuteness the day was a little rough. I guess this is the payback that everyone jokes about parents getting when their kids have babies of their own. Little E treats Parker like my sisters and I treated each other when we were little. Putting her hand or foot on Parkers side of the stroller evoking horror movie worthy screams from poor miss P. I think I've said before that I feel like a referee, but sometimes by the end of the end of the day I am so drained and sad that I've just been mad and disciplining my daughter all day. Have you heard the word counterwill?

Aquarium

What a fabulous morning!
We took Little E to the Aquarium in Stanley Park this morning and she loved it! So did we mind you. We arrived in time for the doors to open at 9:30 and it's a good thing we did. We caught the beluga show the dolphin show and had prime viewing access to all of the creatures.

I love the amazon section where you can walk through a little piece of jungle to the sound of bird cries and streaks of colour zooming past your head. I found the Scarlett Ibis the most striking (photo follows). Little E loved all of the fish and the jelly fish, the whales were impressive of course. It makes me feel good to know that the Aquarium is not for profit and all of the money spent within it's doors goes to research and conservation.

But I must admit one of the biggest rewards for me was getting Little E back into her car seat without a struggle. She was almost happy to be strapped in after such a stimulating event!

A fort

This is a really novice fort (or should I say lazy) but the girls loved it!
Perhaps because it was the first time we attempted such a variation on the living room landscape.
Anyway, a little imagination and a blanket and two chairs go a long way when you get caught in the rain.