Soccer monsters

It's soccer season time for Austin and Alex.

Alex is registered for the same tots soccer that Austin played last year and the year before. All the kids are 2 and 3 years old and parents participate each week. Alex is amongst the youngest there and, to be honest, she doesn't really have the attention span for soccer. But, regardless, she loves it.

Every Monday, she is SO excited to put her uniform on and head out to the soccer field. And for the first 15 minutes or so, she kicks her ball around and follows the coach's instructions. After that, she just wants to do her own thing. But the whole point is to have fun, and she's having a blast. Austin is now playing kinder-soccer with 4 and 5 year olds. He has a practice for 45 minutes every Tuesday night and plays an actual soccer game every Wednesday night. (Well, it's called micro-soccer -- they play 5 on 5 with tiny popup nets on a small part of the field, but still...) I have to admit, it's pretty funny watching a bunch of 4 and 5 years old 'play' soccer!

He's having a blast this year, and is doing quite well. He hasn't scored any goals yet, but he kicks and passes the ball down the field and even played goalie one game. He stopped all but one shot!
With two kids in soccer this year, and Ryan and I both still playing softball in different leagues on different nights, it sure makes for a busy sports summer!

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When a kid is being too quiet, it's not usually a good sign

Every morning, when I dry my hair, the kids usually come with me. They like it when I 'dry' their hair as well. But this morning, Alex didn't want her hair dried, so she went off to play in the living room while Austin and I dried our hair in the bathroom.

Five minutes later we were finished and I noticed it was awfully quiet in the house. So, Austin ran off to find Alex and all of a sudden he yells down the hall to me: "mommy Alex isn't wearing any pants and she has a pen".

Oh oh.

I found her sitting in her pink princess chair with her hands covering her eyes. As I got closer, she gave me a coy look and quietly said "peekaboo mommy". I look at her. Austin's right, she's not wearing any pants because she was wearing a dress, so her legs were completely exposed. In her right hand is a ballpoint pen and on both her legs is a rather interesting design. A design which runs from her toes to her diaper -- on both legs.

It took everything I had to not laugh out loud and instead tell her that pens are for drawing on paper not legs. I then carried her off to the bathroom, sat her on the counter and spent the next 10 minutes scrubbing her legs, as gently as I could. But not before snapping a picture with my phone.

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An update on the kids

It's been awhile since I've written about just the kids, so I thought I'd post a quick update.

Alexandra

Well, we all know that Alex is now 2, and I think it's suffice to say that she has the attitude and the temper of a 2-year-old. She's very strong-willed and I don't remember the terrible twos being quite so difficult with Austin. Then again, my memory may have just faded in the two years since we were last there.

But she's also very sweet and loves helping out. She's always pulling her chair up to the counter to help me with dinner, putting dishes away from the dishwasher, working with me in the garden and even attempting to fold laundry (this last one usually just results in me having to redo it, but it's the thought that counts).

She also wants to be self-sufficient --trying to get undressed and dressed by herself, and even putting on her own shoes. The cutest part of that is, as she's putting the first shoe on, she'll always look up at me (or Ryan) and ask: "right feet?".

Her language abilities have finally come along and she's now talking in two and three word sentences. And along with finally having the ability to speak more than a handful of words has come the ability to sing. She loves singing and is constantly singing the songs we learn at the Early Years' Centre or ones that Austin teaches her. In fact, there have been mornings that she wakes up and, instead of crying out for me to come and get her, she just starts singing. Her favourite song is Roly Poly because it gets loud, Loud, LOUD!

At her 2-year checkup, she weighed in at 26lbs and 34 inches tall -- still tall and skinny for her age. It's amazing that she's still so light, considering her favourite activity is to eat -- there are some days that she can out-eat Austin!

Just this week, I've restarted potty training her. I'm not rushing her, but since I know she knows how and just doesn't want to do it anymore, I figured it was time to try it again. We'll see how it goes.

She's still in a crib -- mainly because unlike when Austin was her age, we're not in need of the crib again -- but we'll probably make the transition to a bed in the next few months.

Austin

There's not as much to write about Austin.

His preschool finishes this week, which will be sad because he loves it there. But he starts JK in September and he's pretty excited about it. He's definitely ready to start school. We've been doing a lot of learning at home -- the alphabet, numbers, writing, etc. but there's only so much I can teach him. He's even interested in learning to read so we've been teaching him a few basics.

Like Alex, he too loves helping out. Last week, he helped me plant all the vegetables and flowers in the gardens -- digging holes, placing plants and watering. (Oh yeah, and watering me with the hose too! Good thing it's 30C out!)

At his last doctor's appointment, he weighed in at 40 lbs and 41 inches tall. This means that he's heavy enough and old enough now to be transferred out of the car seat and into a booster seat -- but so far we haven't done that. We figure he's safer and has no knowledge that he's allowed to be moved to a less restrictive seat (and he's still not too big for the one he's in) so we're just going to keep things as is for now.

Finally, in the when-did-he-get-old-enough-for-that-category, we bought Austin a big boy bike with training wheels. We thought he might have a bit of trouble with it at first, but so far he's doing great. With Alex on the bike seat of Ryan's bike, the four of us have been already out on a few bike rides this spring.

This summer is going to be a busy one for Austin. He's registered for soccer again and this year, he'll be on the field two nights a week. One night will be a game and the other night will be a practice. He's also going to all-day camp for one week in July and I'm thinking of signing both of them up for swimming lessons in July as well. And Alex is registered for the same toddler soccer program that Austin was in the last two years.

Busy summer coming up, that's for sure. I got a little behind in posting pictures, so there are two new slideshows on the right-hand side.

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Birthday parties and vacations

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted -- I'm not quite sure where the time has gone. Here's a update on what we've been up to since Alex's birthday.

April was birthday party month for us -- well for the kids anyway. Aside from Alex and Isla's joint birthday party on the 10th, Austin went to a friend's bowling party on the 17th and then we all went to a friend's son's 1st birthday party that afternoon/evening. (Needless to say, Austin was exhausted by the time we got home). The following weekend, we had yet another kids' birthday party to go to -- our neighbour's daughter turned 2 and it was an afternoon, backyard bbq affair.

So, with parties every weekend, there was little time for anything else this past month. Luckily, we're now all on vacation, thanks to Ryan taking the first two weeks of May off work.

The vacation started out with the kids going to their grandma and granddad's house on Thurs. April 29 for the night as I flew to San Fransisco to visit Ali, Billy and Theodore for four days.

I arrived late Thursday night and on Friday, while Billy was at work, Ali, Theodore and I just 'hung out'. We went for a walk, we had lunch at a cute little Mexican restaurant and we did some shopping (at Target of course!).

On Saturday, we all drove into San Fran (they live about 45 minutes outside of the city) and spent the next 8 hours doing the tourist thing. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, drove down the Crookest Street in the World, had lunch just off Fisherman's Wharf, saw the sea lions on Pier 39, had tea at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park and touched the Pacific Ocean before heading home. A busy day, but a really fun one. And we were all amazed at how well Theodore did -- considering he was not quite 8 months old, he handled the tourist thing like a pro.

On Sunday, we opted for a slightly slower pace. We hit the market in the morning and then a favourite brunch spot in Palo Alto. After brunch (which was really lunch by the time we ate it), we wandered around Stanford University before heading back home. On Monday, Billy was back at work so Ali and I took Theodore to his first mom and baby swimming lesson. Then, after lunch, we went to a kids zoo in San Jose to wander around for a while.
I flew home on Tuesday, getting home around 10 p.m. It was a really great visit, and for me, a much-needed break from the kids. But after 4 days, I really missed my family.

While I was gone, Ryan picked the kids up from grandma and granddad's and drove to London for 3 days for a visit with nana and gramps and grandpa. I've been told it was a lot of fun -- and included a trip with grandpa to the barn, where both kids got to ride a horse, jump in a haystack and pet kittens. From the pictures, it looks like they both loved riding the horse around the barn.

On the Monday, Ryan, the kids, auntie Jamie and grandpa also took a trip the beach (Port Stanley, I believe) where it was warm enough to play in the sand and the water -- although I've been told the water was rather cold! Apparently, you don't need to go to California in early May for beach weather, you can find it right here. Now we're all home and Ryan is on vacation until May 17. For the most part, we're just getting some projects done around the house and hanging out with the kids. On Thursday, Ryan and I are dropping the kids back off at grandma and granddad's so we can escape for a few days. We're heading over to Niagara Falls where we'll spend two days. We're planning to tour wine country, maybe visit the casino and head over the U.S. to do some shopping.

That's about all the news from us for now.

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Happy 2nd birthday Alex!

So, this past Saturday, our baby girl turned 2! I guess that makes her not such a baby anymore.

The day was fairly low-key -- just a trip to the park with daddy while mommy ran last-minute party errands. Like her first birthday, Alex's party was at Mega Fun 4 Kids and was a joint party with Isla Emerson, who turns 2 just 8 days after her. Since at age 2, both girls consider their friends to be the kids of our friends -- and since we have many of the same friends -- we decided it would be easiest for everyone (including us) to do a double party.

In all, there were 12 kids and a lot of parents and everyone had a great time. Both Austin and Alex (and many of the other kids) loved playing in the ball pit. There was pizza for dinner and two cakes for dessert (one for each kid, of course).

For Alex, I made an Elmo cake -- her favourite character next to Mickey. She loved it (which makes the hours of work it took to make it worthwhile)!

At 7:30, the party wrapped up and we all headed home. But before bed, Alex had fun opening all her presents. Thanks everyone!

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An update of what we've been up to

It's been a busy month for us, hence the lack of a general update lately. So here's a quick overview of what's been going on since Austin's birthday:

• Ryan worked long hours in March as the project he's on (a transit hub) is winding down. Another month or so, and he should be done there. Where next? Who knows.
• I have also had a steady stream of freelance work. Right before Christmas, I picked up a new client who now has me doing regular work on retainer. Some weeks keep me busier than others and so far it's going well.
• On a Saturday in March, we went to Guelph to visit Ryan's sister for the annual College Royale. Once again, we all had a great time and the kids loved seeing and petting the farm animals, visiting the greenhouse and checking out the reptiles and touch tanks in the sciences buildings. Thankfully, Alex fell asleep for about 45 minutes in the stroller which meant we were in no rush to head home that afternoon. So, we stayed until after dinner.


• We spent the Easter long weekend at home just getting stuff down in the yard and simply enjoying the nice weather. It was a nice break from the craziness and long hours of the previous few weeks.

Today, Austin started preschool again -- after a month off. Once again, it's two mornings a week. We're skipping swimming lessons this session and instead, both kids are signed up for gymnastics once a week. Alex is really only signed up because there is a parent and tot class for 2 and 3 year olds at the same time as Austin's class. So, I figured since I have to drag her to the centre every week anyway, she might as well be registered so that her and I have something to do to pass the time.

Alex was doing well with the potty training, but about three weeks ago, she emphatically decided she no longer wanted to sit on the potty. I have no idea why, but at the moment, I'm not pushing it. After all, she's not quite 2 yet.

I think that's it from us for now. Here are some other new pictures:

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What happens when Austin tries to give Alex a horsey ride

I was downloading the camera this afternoon and I found this video. I thought it was so funny that I had to share.

Expect more photos and/or videos in the coming days as I sort through everything I just downloaded.

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Let's Go Raptors!

On Sunday, we took both kids to the Raptors vs the 76ers game. For Austin, it was his second game (well, technically his third because we were crazy enough to take him in the Snugli when he was just five weeks old) and for Alex it was her first game.

Alex and mommy weren't originally supposed to go. Daddy and Austin had tickets to go with our friend Rob and his daughter Lilo -- but at the last minute, Rob called to say that Lilo had the stomach flu. By the time this all happened, Ryan and Austin had already left for the game --which started at noon.

At 11:20, Ryan called me (where I was down the street at the store with Alex) and asked if we wanted to come instead. We chatted about it and figured what the heck -- even though we thought she was too young, and is a blubbering mess if she misses her nap, we knew we'd have two cars downtown so I could just leave and take her home when needed. It was a better than letting the tickets go to waste.

So, Alex and I raced home, grabbed our stuff and booted it downtown -- getting there just a few minutes into the game. Austin was already decked out in his new Raptors gear and looking like he was a having fun.

Both kids had a great time -- standing for most of the first half, cheering for the Raptors (RaRa as Alex says), clapping, dancing and stuffing their faces with popcorn. Alex would get excited every time she saw the Raptor mascot.

And Austin would get excited when he saw the 'dancing girls'. Here's him before the game:

It was during halftime that things started to fall apart for Alex -- she hadn't slept well the night before and was now asking to go for a nap. Instead of packing her up and taking her home, Ryan snuggled her on his lap. And this is what happened:

She stayed asleep for about 45 minutes; not enough for her, but enough to put her back in a good mood -- at least until we got home. But when she was asleep, she was out cold -- can you imagine being able to sleep at a basketball game! It's not exactly a quiet spot.

It was a lot of fun. Austin hasn't stopped talking about the game all day. It's just too bad the Raptors lost.

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Happy 4th Birthday Austin!

Austin turned 4 last week!

As it was a Wednesday, his birthday was fairly low key. We went for a playdate at a nearby indoor playground during the day and had a small celebration that evening -- just the four of us -- with cake and presents, of course.

His party was on Sunday (Feb. 28) and for the first time, we decided to do a kids-only party. Invited were four 3 and 4 year olds (his friends Lilo, Izzy, Aaliyah and Tyler) for two hours in the afternoon. Their parents dropped them off at 2 p.m. and they were all ours until 4 p.m.

I'll admit, although we believed we were well-prepared to keep them entertained, we were a little nervous, when, seven minutes into the party, two of the kids and Austin were fighting over the balloons while running around screaming, one kid was staring at the three of them like they were crazy and the fourth was just sitting in the corner, playing with toys and minding her own business.

But after some quick-thinking intervention with a round of freeze dance and then teaching the kids how to limbo, things went much more smoothly after that.

As I said, we had many activities planned to keep them entertained and on course -- including a craft, which was a hit. I've never seen six kids (Alex included) run to sit at a table so fast when I yelled somthing other than cake time! We gave them all markers, crayons, stickers and blank party hats to decorate. They had a blast.
After that, we played a few more games, opened presents, fed them cake (check out my fun ice cream cone cupcakes -- they were cool to look at, fun for the kids to eat and cut down on the mess kids tend to make when eating cake) just in time to send them home to their parents.

In all, it was a fun time. And Austin had a blast.

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Finally, some snow!

After almost two months of virtually no snow -- we finally got some snow this week. Twice actually, with about 5 to 10 centimetres on Tuesday and another 10 to 15 last night. And I think we're going to be getting a little more on the weekend.

It's not a ton of snow, but it's enough for the kids to go out and play in. That's been the problem these last two months -- it's been cold and snow-free. And as a stay-at-home mom, that can drive you insane. For commuters (like Ryan) it's been a great winter, but for me, I can't just toss the kids outside to play because without snow, there's nothing but frozen ground to stamp around on. And that loses its appeal quickly.

So we've spent the last two months doing a lot of indoor play -- at home, at playgroups, at indoor playgrounds. Getting outside has meant walking across the street to the grocery store or the library.

But when it snowed earlier this week, Austin was practically begging to go play from the moment he got out of bed. And so we did (well not as soon as he got out of bed). We tramped around in the snow, and the kids took turns on the sled.

Maybe this weekend, we'll even get to build a snowman.

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At least she knows what to do with them

As I mentioned in my last post, Alex is potty training herself -- quite successfully, actually -- which we're all very pleased about.

So yesterday, I happened to be at the mall with a friend and I stopped off at Walmart to buy her some big girl underwear. First off, let me tell you that it's a challenge finding panties in size 2 -- and even then, when I pulled some out of the package to have a look (because they were all snap-shut packages instead of sealed plastic packages), many still looked like they'd be way too big on her. But I finally found a couple of packages that looked like they'd fit -- and when I turned back around, she had taken two pairs out of the package I had given her to hold and had done this:

Well, at least she knows what to do with them!

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January update

It's been a fairly quiet month around here -- a lot of that owing to the fact that mommy sprained her ankle on Jan. 9 and spent almost 2 weeks on crutches. It definitely wasn't my finest hour -- slipping on a patch of ice, rolling over on my bad ankle and landing flat on my butt. Luckily, it wasn't broken, but being unable to walk still wasn't any fun.

So, the kids and I moved into my parents house in Brampton for 4 days so that they could look after the kids and I could stay off my feet. And even when we moved back, my mom still came by a couple of times to help me out.

Now I'm crutch-free, but still have to be careful when walking around -- and I can't be on my feet for long periods of time. Sigh.

The kids are both registered in a bunch of programming this winter. Austin is back in preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings; on Monday mornings all three of us go to a jump and play program (which is basically a whole lot of outdoor toys piled into a gym so the kids can run around for an hour -- a perfect indoor activity during the winter); and both kids are once again taking swimming lessons -- this time on Saturday mornings (Alex is still doing the parent-tot program).

On Jan. 24, we took the kids to see Playhouse Disney Live at the Rogers Centre and they both had a blast. Austin was totally into the show and Alex, although a little unsure at first, wouldn't sit down for the entire second half because she was too busy dancing! And when it was over, she was completely devastated because Mickey Mouse had left. She just couldn't understand why he would leave her!

The big news with the kids, is that Alex has started potty training herself! Seriously, I had no idea that kids did that! She first used the potty months ago, and ever since then would sporadically ask to sit on it -- although it was really just a fun game to her and she'd rarely do anything when she was there. Then, about three weeks ago, she suddenly started asking to go to the potty -- and she'd go! And then two weeks ago, she started asking to go all the time (figures, because I was on crutches and had a hard time taking her).

Now she uses it several times daily and I think she might actually be ready for big girl underwear! Or, at the very least, pullups, because although I'm getting very good at putting a diaper back on her while she's standing up, it's a pain. I hadn't expected this, and I certainly wasn't planning for it -- I was thinking of maybe training her this summer -- but it would be incredible if she could be out of diapers by the time she's 2!

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December fun and Christmas craziness

A few things I forgot to mention in my last post about December events:

- On Dec. 15, Austin had a 'graduation'/concert at his preschool. It's a graduation, because it's only a 9-week program, except he's signed up to go back in January, so he wasn't really graduating. But the concert was cute. Here's what happens when you ask a bunch of 3 year olds to sing for their parents (at least Austin was singing!)


- On Dec. 17, Austin, Alex, my mom and I saw the Olympic torch run almost right by our house as it headed towards downtown. It was pretty cool to see.

On to the holidays:


This is the first year where we did not travel outside the GTA, yet the holidays were any less busy than normal. Christmas saw Ryan's two sisters, dad and partner come for dinner -- the very first time we've cooked Christmas dinner at our house. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. And honestly, even though it was a lot of work -- it makes me want to always stay home for Christmas.


Ryan's sisters actually arrived early, one arriving on the 22nd and the other on the 24th so they were both with us during the present frenzy of Christmas morning. Once again this year, Austin was the last person out of bed, just after 8 a.m. Even Ryan's sisters were up before him! Both kids were super excited about Christmas morning, although Alex was far more intersted in unwrapping the paper from all the presents than she was in what was under the paper.

And the frenzy started all over again when Grandpa arrived at noon to spoil them with presents. After Christmas dinner, everyone stayed the night and into the next afternoon.

After half a day's downtime, we headed to Brampton on the 27th for Christmas with my family, where yet another present frenzy insued. We stayed all day -- from before lunch until after dinner. Not 48 hours later, on Dec. 29, we were back at my family's house for another gathering, this time with my cousins, aunt and uncle from the U.S. In total, there were 21 people at my parents house. It was fun, especially since there were two new babies since the last time we got together, and some of them had yet to meet Austin and Alex. With Christmas now done (well, we'll be doing it one more time in late January with Ryan's mom), we had one day of downtime before New Year's Eve. This year, we took the kids to the Zoo with some friends and their daughter for their annual New Year's Eve party. Only a small part of the zoo is open -- three pavillions and any animals between those pavillions have their cages lit up -- but we all had a lot of fun. There was also a stage in the main entrance with performances and, a countdown to midnight at 9 p.m. The kids loved being at the zoo (even though it was raining lightly the whole time were were there -- which I guess is better than freezing cold or snow), and had a lot of fun dancing at the main entrance and counting down to 'midnight'. And 9 p.m., was perfect, because they were both pretty exhausted when we got home! Once home, our friends also put their daughter to bed at our house, and the four of us sat up drinking wine and playing cards until midnight. Low key, yet a lot of fun.

And here we are in January, back to the old routine. There are more pictures in the slideshow, at right. Happy New Year everyone!

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Merry Christmas to all

Here are a few photos from this past month. (Click on the family photo to see the rest. My computer died right after I uploaded these last week, so at least I have them, but I can't really do much else with them right now):

It's been busy lately. On Sat. Dec. 5, we took the kids down to Nathan Phillips Square to see the lights and watch the fireworks. We all had a great time and Austin loved pretending to skate on the ice -- well until one of the rink marshalls told him and Ryan they had to get off because they weren't wearing skates!

We wandered around, checked out The Bay Christmas windows and had dinner at the Eaton Centre before heading back to Nathan Phillips Square for the fireworks. Both kids loved them -- and it was the first time either of them have ever seen fireworks.

Sunday, December 13 was the PCL kids Christmas party. We went on a horse-drawn wagon ride, drank hot chocolate, did crafts and, of course, visited with Santa. Austin happily sat on Santa's knee and told him that he wanted 'presents' for Christmas. Nothing specific, just presents. Alex on the other hand, was excited to see Santa when we were standing in line but wanted nothing to do with him once it was our turn. She wouldn't even sit on his knee and scream because she clung to me for dear life and wouldn't go anywhere near him. So the closest Santa picture we got this year was of Austin, Alex and me with Santa. And even then she wasn't very happy about it.

The next weekend, on Saturday, December 19, we hosted a family Christmas party. It was a large dinner party, with many of our friends and their kids. It was a good time, and although a little crazy at times, a lot of fun. The kids all exchanged gifts and ran around well past their bedtimes and the adults hung out, ate lots of food and made good use of the bar.

And now it's just about Christmas. For the first time, we will not be travelling anywhere this year. Ryan's dad and sisters will be spending Christmas Day and Boxing Day with us (which means, we will be cooking our first Christmas dinner). Then, we'll be heading out to Brampton on the 27th to do Christmas with my family and back to Brampton on the 29th for another gathering when my cousins, aunt and uncle are in town from the U.S. Ryan's mom, who's on vacation this Christmas, will be doing Christmas with us sometime in January.

That's about all for now, Merry Christmas to all.

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We've got to shake our sillies out

Alex loves to dance. When the mood strikes her, she starts doing the happy feet dance while shaking her arms and laughing. It's really cute to watch.

But her favourite song right now is 'Shake your Sillies Out'. At every sportability class this fall (which was one of Austin's activities but since it was a caregiver and child program, Alex participated as well), the first thing we'd all do was shake our sillies out. Since we don't have it on CD, it gets sung a lot lately around here. Here's Austin taking on lead vocals while they both crash around the living room:

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Dear Santa,

Yesterday, Austin and I wrote a letter to Santa. He dictated and I wrote it for him -- although he signed his name at the bottom. And of course, he had to decorate it with stickers before mailing it to Santa -- because, according to Austin, everything has to have stickers on it!We talked about what he wanted to say to Santa beforehand, and then I had to prompt him with the first sentence, because when we sat down to write, he told me he didn't know what to say. Everything else, was his idea -- including what he wants for Christmas.

For the record, the glitter glue is something he mentioned to me before, so I'm impressed he remembered, and yesterday he asked for markers as well -- but not for him. He said to me "I want markers, but I already have some, I want more so Alex has some". (Which is all sweet of him, except the subtext is that he's saying he wants Alex to have her own so she stops taking his!)

Before we took his letter to the post office, Alex drew a picture for Santa.

Then I put them in separate envelopes and we took them to the post office. Hopefully, they'll both get replies from Santa soon.

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Why, why, why?

Alex has very few words to her vocabulary. Learning to speak is just coming slower to her than for the average child. But I'm positive that that has a lot to do with the fact that Austin speaks for her. It's a pretty common occurance around here for Alex to walk into a room and say 'ah ah' and Austin to follow behind her and say 'I think Alex is trying to say she wants ____'. At this point, she'll nod or say yeah to whatever Austin said and that's that.

Her use of words are coming faster now and she probably has about 20 or so to her vocabulary -- the main ones being mama, daddy, nana (as in Ryan's mom), mil (as in milk), ba (as in ball and bus), mine, yeah, hi, bye and baba (as in blanket, bottle, baby, brother, raspberries and any word she doesn't have a word for making this one a tough one).

She's picking up a new word every few days right now. And it's her newest word that floored me. And when I picked myself up off the floor, I was ready to send her out the door just so I wouldn't have to hear her say it again.

No she didn't drop the f-bomb or something like that.

She said 'why'.

And then she stared at me and waited for an answer.

Austin was a little over 3 when he became a why monster. It started with 'how come?' but quickly moved into 'why?' To this day, he often asks 'why' 5 or 6 times (or more) a minute. Every answer you give is followed by why until you have no more answers left and you grumble 'just because' in frustration. Most of the time, it's just plain annoying although there are some times that he asks very thought-out questions, like the time we had a whole coversation about why there were no people when the dinosaurs were living.

But the other day, I said 'lunch time guys' and Austin got up and ran to the kitchen but Alex looked up at me and said 'why?'.

Now thankfully, right now, although she waits for an answer, she takes anything at face value. So all I have to say is 'because we're hungry' and that's enough for her to get up and walk into the kitchen (I could probably just say because booga booga and she'd also accept that as an answer).

But seriously, she has the ability to speak just 20 words. Why, why, why, why, why does one of them have to be why?

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Happy Halloween!

Alex's favourite doll right now is Mickey Mouse, so it was rather convenient that we already had a Mickey Mouse costume that Austin wore last year! She loved wearing the costume, and in fact, even now, two days later -- she wants to keep putting it back on!

This year, Austin decided he wanted to be a fireman.

The kids had a great time trick or treating. At first, Alex wasn't really sure what to make of the whole thing, and after a few houses, she didn't want to walk anymore. But when Ryan tried to bring her home, she'd have nothing of it!

So, Ryan pulled her around in the wagon the rest of the evening, but apparently, now that she understood that every house gave her candy, she wanted to get out at every door and hold out her basket!

So, of course, now we have way too much candy in our house! Especially since we didn't get that many kids this year -- so there's also a lot of leftover candy!

And, since I'm posting Halloween pictures here; the weekend before, Ryan and I went to a Halloween party dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Cat in the Hat:

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A update on life in general

It's been awhile since I updated on life in general so here's a few quick highlights:

Alexandra

Alex is now 18 months old and at her checkup yesterday, she weighed in at 22lbs, 15 oz. She's a lightweight alright. In fact, in the last three months, she only gained 14 oz, something the doctor is not concerned about but wants us to keep an eye on because it's below normal weight gain. I wish I could tell you how tall she is (because she very tall for her age -- at at her 15-month appointment, she measured in the 95th percentile for height) but she refused to allow the doctor to measure her no matter how many different ways we tried. Maybe later in the week, I'll try to get her to stand against a door just so I can get an approximate height.

She still has very few words to her vocabulary but she understands absolutely everything you say to her. And because of this, she uses non-verbal ways to communicate because she can't say the words. (For example, if she wants her soother, she points to her mouth.) The words she does know are cute, because it is often the same word for various items. For example, mama means me; meme (which sounds a lot like mama) means Mickey (her favourite doll), mama means more milk. So you have to listen carefully and figure out the context of what she's trying to tell you. Her newest word, this week, is mine. And it's pretty clear and is usually yelled when Austin is trying to take something from her!

Along the lines of her vocabulary; she's facsinated with everything around her. So if a plane goes by overhead she's pointing and yelling at it. And if we drive by a bus, she's yelling 'BA' from the back seat.

She's taking swimming lessons this fall -- a parent/tot program -- and she loves being in the water. She'll jump in, put her face in, do front floats (assisted of course) and splashes around with all the toys. But even though it's a 30 minute class, after 20 minutes, she's ready to get out.

Because Austin's in preschool two mornings a week, I get some alone time with her -- which we've really been enjoying. Sometimes we use it to do the groceries or other errands, whereas othertimes we drop in at a toddler playgroup where she has a blast. It's a different dynamic when she's just playing with other kids and her big brother's not around and it's neat to watch.

Austin

As I mentioned above, Austin is in preschool two mornings a week now. It's a program that's run through the city and it's at a nearby community centre. It's only for two hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and he loves it. It's a nine-week program and I've signed him up for the fall and winter so he'll be going to preschool until March (at which point I hope to sign him up again for a session) with just a three-week break in December.

They do crafts, songs, stories, playtime and every week they learn about something. Last week he came home and told me he learned all about good and bad foods. And they even took a field trip to a nearby grocery store last week to buy a pumpkin for the class.

He is also taking swimming lessons again this fall and once again loves it. And on Wednesday morning, we go to a sports class where for 45 minutes he runs around a gym and learns basic skills for various sports.

On another note, even though we keep very busy, Austin has given up napping. It happened around the end of the summer -- he would go into his bed every afternoon and he just wouldn't fall asleep. So now, I make him go into his room for 'rest time' every afternoon, but he only lies there for about 20 minutes or so before he's calling me to come back. At this point, I try to convince him to read books or play quietly with toys for a little while longer. Sometimes it works, and somtimes I get suckered in to letting him sit and watch a movie until Alex wakes up.

Mom and dad

We're keeping pretty busy as well -- aside from how busy the kids keep us.

My business is going well and I've been getting a steady stream of work. Right now, I actually don't have any projects on the go, but that's the nature of the business -- it's always feast or famine. But I'm trying to use this down time well and get a lot of other things done, because once more work comes in, I'll complain that I don't have time to do anything!

Aside from that, I also completed my first 10km race earlier this month -- which many of you know about. It was something I set my mind to many many months ago and have been training for ever since. I finished it in 75 minutes with the kids and Ryan at the finish line (and catching me around the 5K mark) to cheer me on. Austin even ran the last few metres with me to cross the finish line. It was fun, and I'm glad I did it. I'm even crazy enough to think about doing it again next year.

I don't think there's much to report on Ryan. He's still keeping very busy at work. He's still out in Mississauga building the Mississauga Transit hub and will likely be out there through to the spring.

That's about all from us for now.

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