2 for the Show

It feels like a circus show around here sometimes now with our little family of 4 - 5 if you count Jake which Little E definitely would.

I am finally feeling like writing again after a very long slump. Getting settled in a new place, having a baby, looking for a house to buy - all very time consuming things; emotionally and physically.
Anyway, I feel like my experiences as of late are worth documenting and since we're being entertained and challenged to no end, I thought I would get some of them down.

Little E has a new brother! J-bird we'll call him, but his resemblance to a bird is fleeting. He is a gassy, sturdy, serious little boy with a gentle aura albeit a strong set of lungs when said gas won't properly exit his body.

We are settling in to the new dynamic after 6 weeks of a bit of a struggle. Little E is very sweet towards him, tickling his toes, pinching his cheeks and mimicking my coos, "oh little guy", "hello Mr." in her squeaky little voice. I had a hard time with the drastic change to our relationship when he first arrived. "No mommy, just daddy"! I got the cold shoulder for quite a while along with some waking in the night again. But things are starting to come back around, and luckily the potty training was not affected.

Two things that I haven't forgotten Little E saying since J-bird's arrival:

Little E had a great time acquainting herself with J-bird on his first day on the outside. But as it wound down and bedtime drew near, Little E, positioned on the couch with Daddy C and J-bird reached out her foot and pushed her baby brother saying "I don't want that baby any more".

Daddy C had gone to get her room ready for bedtime after setting Little E up with a bedtime snack. Suddenly she realized he was not in the room and called out "where are you Daddy? You're not with that baby are you"?

All in all we have been pretty lucky with the change and thankfully Little E is pretty independent so her play can take place during my running around. The adventure begins again.

Three for tea

We have been spending the past few Fridays with Great Grandma having tea parties.
Little E likes to play with all of the treasures around Great Grandma's house, like her hats and purses and pretty pillows.

Then once we've had a sufficient tour we sit down for tea. And I mean a proper tea with saucers, pretty cups, tea and cakes. Little E has learned (by watching intently before diving in) to hold her small sized tea cup with one hand by the handle and sip…photos to follow.

Once we have had a civilized quantity we dress for the garden and view all of the magical little wonders around the back yard.
The first time we went, Little E really let me have it when it was time to leave. By the third time I think she realized this would be a regular occurrence and she was just so tired she welcomed her car seat. What a pleasure to have Grandparents (great and regular) around for occasions like this.

Sweetness

It's been such a long time since I've written, I don't know if anyone even reads this anymore!

Anyway, I have a few great little tidbits I will share over the next couple of days regardless.

There has been an explosion in Little E's communication lately - baffling me every day.
The other day we were taking Jake for a walk. Little E likes to hold the leash and walk while I push the empty stroller. It can be a little hairy juggling all of the moving parts (especially near roads) but it's pretty cute to watch.
When we're walking I tell Little E what a good job she's doing walking the dog. The other day after I had praised her efforts, she said "good job mommy, good job strollie (stroller)".

Today at lunch Little E offered me a sip of her water. I said "that's nice honey, thank you". Then when she ran out I added some of the water from my cup to hers, she said "that's nice mommy".

Wow - little sponges is right.

Snow Bunny

I have been a really lazy blogger lately, yeesh.
It's not that we haven't been busy doing fun blogworthy stuff - we have! Perhaps it's the change of scenery, or maybe it's the movies after dinner. Anyway, here is something pretty cute and definitely worth posting.

Little E had a snow day with her Daddy and Granny. In fact, her whole weekend sounded pretty action packed. Mine was too! I was in Vancouver with GG and Auntie Soph, it was an amazing break from my usual routine and a fun visit to the city. I'm going to have to figure out how to do that more often ;)

A moment of pride for me was hearing that stringing together 3 and 4 words into a sentence is unusual for a 2 year old (usually just at the 2 word sentence by that age) and Little E is a little chatting wonder. 12 languages here we come, or at least perhaps French Immersion.

The weekend

Well the weather was too crazy to head to Vancouver this weekend. It was disappointing not to see Little E's friends and of course Auntie Soph, but better safe than sorry as they say.

We had a great day today - although another wake up call that we're no longer city dwelling. We had planned to go swimming today, only to find out that the pool didn't open to the public until 1:00! Where are we?? Instead we spent the morning at the market, snacking on home baked goodies and listening to a band called Celtic Cargo Cult and watching Little E clap and shake her little booty.

This afternoon we drove around scoping potential neighbourhoods for a home.
When we got home Little E had just woken up and was hanging out with Granny - man is she cute - Little E I mean. Besides her dancing and singing and obsession with certain events, some of the words I love to hear from her are:
Vack-e-tume - vacuum
Mussis - muffins
Tee too - thank you

Our Routine

We're feeling so much more settled now.
We have a routine and we're starting to get to know our way around now - things are feeling more familiar. One of the ways I can tell I'm becoming an Islander again is the reluctance I now feel to leave the Island.

Little E is making some new friends here too. We have a music class every Monday (that a girlfriend of mine just happened to sign up for with her kids) and a play gym class every Wednesday. I will take some photos of the play gym tomorrow - it's amazing!!! The first time we went, I could barley get Little E's coat and shoes off before she was running into the middle of the gym to dive (literally) into a soft container of balls.
I start prenatal yoga tomorrow night and choir next Thursday - hopefully I can keep my food down during all of that deep breathing.

There have been some impressive new developments in Little E's activities. Tonight she made a salad - I mean while Granny was on the phone and I was out she tore up the lettuce and put it in the bowl making sure she tore off all the brown bits and put them aside! Brilliant!

She has become aware of the need for privacy during her bowel movements. She makes her way to the broom closet and proceeds to poo in solitude.

She dwells on and recites major events - I fell on the stairs while holding Little E and now she reminds me to be "careful mommy - ankle" on our way down, Granny broke her planter pot and Little E will not let it go! "Boom - pot broken", and finally the other day she was up on the counter while I was cooking and decided to taste the pretty hot pepper sitting on the pretty red dish. Hmm she points at the offending location and says "spicy"

Today Daddy C bought Little E a remote control car her own size. He is now the most popular person in the house.

These photos are entitled blueberry face and princess plays hockey:

Strong start

We've been touring the Strong Start programs at the various elementary schools trying to get a feel for the schools and the neighbourhoods. They all vary in their attendees and play supplies / programs and judging from Little E's reaction the Comox school Brooklyn is her favourite so far.

Little E is behaving differently towards the other kids and I realize that it's because they are all new and unknown. She still asks for her friends in Vancouver and I suppose I underestimated the depth of her relationships. After reflecting on a drive to Nanaimo and back (dropping off Daddy C to head over to the mainland to work on the house) I realized that she would be feeling the same as me right now.
I miss my friends and sister, I'm nostalgic for the city and my home and everything here is new again. Except that it's old because I grew up here. Anyway, we're just getting settled I suppose - this is life.