Look Who's Talking Now

My children have been amazing me with their language skills. Approximately every five minutes in their awake hours they drop linguistic bombs that both surprise and delight me.

Carter is talking nonstop now. He speaks a lovely Carterese most of the time, but lately it has been peppered with real words. Spoken clearly and in context.

He loves "P" words: papa, purple, paper, puppy and the ever effective, poop. I inadvertently taught him "poop" while changing his diaper. He spent the rest of the afternoon crawling around announcing "poop!" quite happily.

He was getting fussy in the pharmacy the other day so I was distracting him by pointing around and asking him what various things were. I was using an overly-cheerful-keep-the-baby-interested voice. "What's thaaaaat?" I crooned. Using the exact same tone and inflection, he replied, "I don't knoooow!"

At the till he realized that there was a nifty echo in that part of the store. After a couple test shrieks to perfect his pitch, he really let one whopper go, stopping abruptly to hear the resulting echo of his voice. Then his face lit up in an enormous grin, he laughed hysterically and did it again. The cashier leaned over to him and asked kindly, "What's the matter with you, pumpkin?" To which Carter replied, "I don't knooow!"

After a moment or two of silence, he decided to liven things up again by yelling, "DADDY!" at the top of his voice. He usually says 'dada'.

On the way to the parking lot he amused himself by yelling "No!" to all the passerby he came across. He's never said 'no' before.

All in all, it was quite an eventful trip to the pharmacy I'd say.

He's been saying 'thank you' for quite a while now. Whenever you hand him something, he replies with a cheerful thank you.

Other words used frequently: cookie, cracker, mama, nana, papa, truck, Bailey, Kelli, Cailin, Ry (my fault), go, dog, cow and more every day.

Cailin amazes me with her insight and inquisitiveness.

Last night she asked me where the sun goes at night. I told her it goes to sleep.

Cailin: Does the sun have a blanket?

Me: Yes, it uses a big cloud as a blanket.

Cailin: Does the sun get mad when his mommy makes him go to sleep when he's not tired?

Me (spying a Lesson Moment): No, the sun knows he has to go to bed like a good boy to get big and strong, just like you.

Cailin: I don't want to get big and strong! I want to stay little! I don't want to go to bed ever!

This morning I was carrying Carter while fending Bailey off my leg and walking behind Cailin. The stuffed Angry Bird in her arms chose that unfortunate moment to fly the coop, and she stopped and bent over to retrieve it. Lacking brake lights, I bumped into her, effectively kicking her in the bum and knocking her over at the same time. She stood up, brushed the hair off her face and told me, "Cut it out mom!" and went about her business. I was positive she would be more disgruntled about her mother kicking her down, but it was water off a duck's back. Then I closed Bailey's head in the cupboard about thirty seconds later. She wasn't quite as forgiving.

Cailin has also fully embraced the power of 'why'. Whenever I tell her to do something (or not to do something) she doesn't like, the "why?" gets rolled out for my amusement. She listens to my assessment and points out the loop holes. I was under the impression that she's too young to pick up on any inconsistencies, but she's proven me wrong a few times.

Cailin says stuff that is hilarious to me all the time:

While making Playdoh food: Your waffle will be done in a minute mom, don't panic. You need to stop your whining in my ears. (I blame Nana for this particular phrasing).

While playing down the hall: I need you to come here and see this mom, it will only take a minute okay? Don't give me trouble for playing in Kelli's bunk!

Cailin has also been completely potty trained, day AND night, for a while now. She will get up and use the potty in the night if she needs to, using a bubble bath bottle to flick the light switch on. Sometimes she feels the need to tell me if she did a number one or a number two (or heaven forbid, both) and that can never wait until morning for some reason. But hey, I'm okay with that.

Sub-zero Trick-or-Treating & Other Such Fun

 Happy Halloween!  It was decidedly cold and snowy here this year.  We've been really spoiled with the fantastic weather the last few years, so it was about due for a cold and snowy Halloween.  As our usual, we headed over to the Sorgens' for pizza and let the girls go wild.  We wrestled them into snowsuits, painted their faces and put costumes on over top.  There was much mind-changing, costume swapping and face paint fixing.  Cailin was supposed to be a skeleton (skelegon as she calls it), but changed her mind to be a fairy.  Olivia tossed her pretty pegasus costume and pink painted face to wear the skeleton suit and get her face painted white and black (and scary!).  It took some doing, but we got the girls dressed warmly with newly chosen costumes on.

At a fantastic and balmy -15'C we bundled up and headed out for some trick-or-treat action.  As a real treat, we had Kelli with us this year.  Cailin and Carter go absolutely nuts over her (so do I) and we had a great night.  Since it was so cold, we only made it around part of the cul-de-sac, but that was more than enough to get an almost full bag of candy each.  To make sure our own house stayed relatively trick-free while we were gone, I put out a large bowl of Tootsie Roll mix.  Surprisingly, when we came home, the bowl was empty.  I'm actually surprised the bowl didn't go too.

Kelli as Frankie Stein

Sub-zero Tinkerbell (with white scary face paint)

Halloween Parade at preschool

Carter didn't dress up this year, but sported a snazzy orange jack o'lantern shirt instead for both the preschool parade and Halloween.  He didn't say much when I put him in his snowsuit and wheeled him around in the jogging stroller either.  He will enjoy trick-or-treating next year though.  I can't wait to see him running around after his sister and her friends.

The day before Halloween, I made Oreo bat cupcakes for Cailin's preschool Halloween party.  I was under the impression that there would be time to dole out treats and to eat them during the party, but it was more of a 'put the treats in the bags over there, take pictures and then take your kid home' kind of a deal.  Next year I won't spend a lot of time on making an intricate treat since my (time-consuming-slaved-over) cupcakes were tossed unceremoniously into sandwich bags and smushed into the students' brown paper treat bags on a table in the lobby.  The whole ordeal was confused and crowded with parents and siblings that had no idea what was going on.  Cailin refused to dress up, but then changed her mind and participated in the parade when I walked with her.  I got some cute pictures and she got some delicious treats.  Win win!

When we got home from that hairy and stressful Halloween charade, it was time to start our own Halloween fun.  Ryan had picked up pumpkins for the kids and it was time to carve them.  I cut the tops off and put the pumpkins down on the floor for the kids to look at.  Cailin took one look at the pumpkin "guts" and recoiled back - "That's scary!" she exclaimed.  Carter crawled right up to his pumpkin, tossed the top off and dug right in with his spoon.  He also tried a lick of the innards here and there.  So did Bailey.

Cailin took about 30 seconds to be completely grossed out, then grabbed her spoon and joined in.  They had a lot of fun.  Carter took a bite of the rind and decided that it wasn't so edible.  Bailey did too.  She liked it much more than he did.

Cailin took the bowl of innards and made a salad out of it.  Once Carter and Bailey had politely tried her pumpkin salad, I carved faces into their pumpkins and lit them up.  Cailin loved them, but Carter was less than impressed with the finished product.  He much preferred to scoop.  Then it was bath time.  

Quiet winter day cookie building

Kelli was supposed to go back to Nana's the next day, but there was no way we were giving her back.  We had a quiet and relaxing day at home.  No more Halloween stuff, no preschool parties/parades, no more costumes, no more rushing or needing to be anywhere, no more candy.  Oh, wait, yes candy (let's not get carried away now!).  I packed away all the Halloween decor while Cailin wasn't looking.  Kelli did her school work and I made the girls sugar cookie dough to decorate.

Making a mutant snowman cookie

There was much giggling and enjoyment had while making cookies.  We had fun watching them bake too since the marshmallows puff up to impossible sizes when they get hot enough.  The kids have so much fun playing together.  Kelli is wonderful with them, and they love her to pieces.

Teaching Carter to scoot around on his back

We watched Halloween flavored (er, themed) movies, and laughed ourselves silly at "Night of the Living Carrots" - a short with the Aliens vs. Monsters crew and starring zombie carrots (it's much funnier than it sounds).  I let Cailin skip her Thursday class of preschool to recover from all the excitement of the week.  Honestly, I was so tired that the thought of driving her there and having to unclamp her arms from their death grip around my leg sounded like far too much exertion.  I might have to simply enroll her in the gym part for next semester, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I've noticed recently that I haven't had the 'big' camera out in quite a while and have been taking all my pictures with my phone.  While it boasts a decent enough lens, I wanted to switch it up a bit.  I've been taking pics right, left and center for the last week or so with the Nikon.  It feels great to be back behind the lens and I got some fabulous pictures of the kids for upcoming Christmas-themed stuff.  They had a good time too, crawling around and making faces for me to capture.

While I was crawling around after them, I started to get a pain in my side.  This weird pain went from 'slightly annoying' to 'I may possibly be dying' in about three minutes.  It lasted for about ten minutes and then was suddenly gone, leaving only a slight ache in its wake.  It was the weirdest thing.  I stopped by the doctor on the following Monday and they told me I described passing a kidney stone.

Yep.  Kidney stone.  And after checking my urine (ew, too much information I know!) it was discovered I had a kidney infection.  So I got to go on antibiotics too, just days after the kids finished their respective rounds.  We've been sick in one way or another since September.  If that's not a good enough reason to pull your reluctant kid out of preschool....  Germs.  Ugh.

So that's my sob story of the week.  The actual infection didn't really cause me grief, but the pills to get me all better cause nasty headaches.

Frosted leaves with sunrise

 This morning I looked out the window to catch a glimpse of the sun peeking out from the clouds to shine on the frosted leaves of the tree in our backyard.  It was gorgeous, and I had to run out to get a picture of it.  The pictures I took simply don't do the scene justice.  Cailin and Kelli are at Nana's and Carter was sleeping so I stood in the yard and enjoyed the sunrise by myself.  Absolutely breathtaking.

Hats, Sickies and Dragonfly Dreams

Cailin has had a cold now for over a month. It got worse, and she developed a bad cough. I phoned and luckily got both kids in to see the doc right away. Cailin has a throat/lung infection and Carter has a bad throat infection. Thank goodness his ears were okay. Poor Carter doesn't say much when he's sick, and he's been super snuggly.

They are both on antibiotics, and a different kind for each. Cailin is still quite sick, but Carter seems to be on the mend. She missed a week of preschool and I hope she can go next week.

I woke up feeling quite sick myself yesterday morning. I hope we can all get better soon now.

The weather is turning. It's been too cold to go for runs outside so I've been using the indoor walking track. Proud to say I've been jogging my 5 kms without stopping or walking. At times it's very slow jogging, but I'm getting faster in general.

I took Cailin with me the last time, and we had a riot running around, having races and drinking out of the fountain. Then we went to the indoor playground (and we were the only ones there!) and shot a few hoops in the toddler basketball area in the court. We had a really fun afternoon.

My hat business has really taken off in the last while. I'm working on a couple huge orders and there's still more coming everyday. I'm finding it very exciting to work with customers and on new items.

I also have big news! A local gift shop in Beaverlodge is now selling my hats. It's called Dragonfly Dreams, and they now proudly carry items by Sock Monkey Hats & More. I am so excited to see my hats on display there! They want me to bring in new items as soon as possible too. Coming soon - Beaver hats! I'm going to need more brown yarn....

In other news, Bailey has an ear infection again. Poor dog. As soon as I got the drops out, she ran for the hills. She also seems to be on the mend.

Ryan and Cailin cleaned up the yard and put all the toys away for winter. That's always such a sad part of the year. But we are excited for Halloween, and Cailin is beyond excited for Christmas. She keeps telling us Santa is going to bring her a red train and a big toy for Buddy.

Pictures: I'm writing this on my phone, so the pictures all go to the bottom and I'm not sure there's a way to change that.

Anyhoo, one is me with my haircut. One is the panda bear hat I made for a customer, I think it's the cutest hat I've ever made. One is Cailin "showering" in the bathroom sink.

Then the one where the kids were chasing a spider around in the tub. They were both totally enthralled by it and there was lots of giggling. At one point Cailin had enough. "I squishet with the shampoo and stuffed it down the drain, mommy." She's going to be a hunter someday I think.

Birthdays and Thanksgivings

On Saturday we went to two birthday parties and had Thanksgiving dinner with some cool relatives - cousins of my dad's, but we grew up calling them uncle and auntie.

Carter slept through most of the first party, but as it was just across the street it was pretty easy to go grab him when when he woke up. He played around the other kids and had a good time. Cailin had a blast with the balloons of course. She gets along with Hayden (the birthday boy) really well and they had fun, especially playing with his new toys.

I made the cake and cupcakes for this party and didn't get a picture of the finished product for some reason. I will have to get one emailed to me. The cake was a hilly scene with blacktop and a fire engine on top. The cupcakes were made in ice cream cones and looked just like chocolate soft serve. Cherry cake with chocolate icing makes a great kids' cake, and I'll be using that tasty combo again in the future.

So after a delicious hot dog and some messy cake, I herded the kids home and got them cleaned up for party number two. We were fashionably late getting there, but Cailin didn't waste any time, chasing her cousin's Yorkie Willow around in the backyard and making friends with the other kids immediately. I can't believe what a difference going to preschool has made. She is no longer shy around other kids.

We had a wonderful time. Cailin and her cousin Alex (short for Alexandra, the birthday girl) got to know each other a bit and started playing. They are both three now. I can't believe how fast they are growing up!

We had a quick jaunt to the park after turkey dinner (which was fabulous) and the girls had a blast. Alex loves the swings and Cailin loves the slide. When we got back, Carter was being a pooper, trying to play on the stairs. He had a good time too, and snuggled with uncle Randy and auntie Bonny.

Eventually both kids tired out and fell asleep, an unprecedented event in our (short succinct) travels. So we got in a nice long visit while they snoozed. We all had so much fun, can't wait to visit and have another play date soon.

On Sunday we got a big bag of potatoes and headed out to the farm to see Nana and Papa.

Ryan and Papa winterized our trailer (booooo!) and Nana burned leaves and yard waste while Cailin cruised around in the police car and Carter crawled all over the yard.

Papa made deep fried pickles, potatoes and turkey for dinner. Deep fried pickles are delicious! I had no idea how good they are, or how extremely addicting. The potatoes turned out like restaurant style potatoes and were also delicious. Deep fried turkey is also very tasty so we had a great meal.

Cailin slept through dinner, then got up and wreaked havoc on the household until what I assume was a very late hour. She talked Papa into letting her stay over.

Carter chatted to us all the way home and took forever to fall asleep too. He had a fun time too.

Another Thanksgiving weekend is drawing to a close. I'm so thankful for my husband, our children, our health and wealth, and our families, near and far, blood-related or not. We love all of you.

Gym Photos and Stuff

I absolutely love this picture of Carter from his first birthday party.  He ate a TON of cake.  GG kept sneaking over and removing great big hunks of it from his tray when he wasn't looking.  Just so he didn't get a bellyache.  He also had recently had a haircut.  I can't believe he'll be fourteen months tomorrow.  He's getting to be such a big boy!

Last Tuesday I woke up and decided it was time to cut my hair.  I'd been thinking about it for a few weeks and it was time to do it.  I always grow it out to about this length (middle of my back) and end up getting it all cut off.  Why? Well, it grows super fast so I don't worry about it too much.  It took three years to grow it from a pixie cut to the middle of my back.  Also, it was way too heavy and giving me headaches all the time from being pulled back into a bun or ponytail.  Not conducive to being in the pool and working out.  I called my hairdresser and she had one spot left, so off I went.  I donated my pony tail to the Cancer Society.

It gave me a start to see my hair all chopped off like that!  I picked up that pony tail and it was really heavy.  I'm so happy to think that maybe a little girl will be wearing a wig made of it.  I got a reverse bob kind of cut - much like Kelli's.  I'm loving it, though my natural curl really has a mind of it's own in the back.  Well, like they say - 'party in the back'.  Although I'm sure they're referring to mullets.  Hmm.  At any rate, I will post a picture of my new 'do when I get one I like.  I also booked the kids appointments for this week.  Cailin was, and continues to be really put out by my new hair.  She was horrified initially, and keeps asking me when I'm going to wear my old hair again.  I told her a little girl who is very sick and doesn't have any hair is wearing it.  She figures that's nice, but she should give it back soon.

This morning we had to run out of the house quick to get their haircuts.  Cailin got her bangs and hair trimmed up all nice, and Carter got his hair trimmed all over (looks just like the above photo).  They were both so good.  Cailin got up in the chair and sat by herself for her haircut.  So did Carter!  I was surprised when my hairdresser said to put him up there by himself, but he enjoyed it.  Don't worry, I hung onto him for safety!  He said it tickled around his ears, but he doesn't mind the clippers or haircut in the least.  Cailin demanded a sucker and we were on our way.  Not too bad, considering she was up well past midnight last night (they are both fighting a head cold at the moment.  Carter prefers to sleep through his cold, Cailin likes to be awake through hers).

The gymnastics club hires a photographer to come around and take pictures of the kids in action.  I was so excited to see Cailin's pictures, and I wasn't disappointed.  For the slightly inflated price of $93, I got a picture CD of her enjoying two separate sessions.  Naturally, one was the day her father dressed her and she had rubbed a great mass of toothpaste in her hair as 'hair gel'.  Heh.  The other session she dressed herself.

This kid is a prodigy on the trampoline.  She is light years ahead of the other kids in her class, and jumps so high it's borderline scary for her poor mother who's not supposed to be watching (but perhaps sneaks in and hides behind a pole to watch anyway).

The uneven bars are also a favorite.  She jumps to grab the bar and swings her little heart out, then lets go and lands it every time.

I am so proud of my gorgeous girl.  She barely let out a whimper when I dropped her off in class today.    She's really enjoying preschool in the classroom, and of course she's always loved the gymnastics part.

While she's at school, I take Carter and head over to the multiplex part of the building.  We go to the walking track with our fancy new jogging stroller, have lunch and go to the indoor playground.  He is tolerant of the walking track, and had a snooze today.  Lunch is always fun with him, he talks and laughs and smiles at people.  Sometimes we play on the basketball court if there's toddler play time.  He loves to crawl in the big open space!

Today I managed to jog the entire 5km on the walking track.  Some of it was really slow jogging, but it was jogging nonetheless!  I love my iPhone with all the running/health/calorie counting apps I have on it.  What a great tool in this weight loss effort.  I can chart my progress and see how fast/slow I was going during my run.  I did 101km in September!

Things are getting super busy with my home business.  I decided to let my website expire, and won't be renewing it.  It's a shame to lose the ability for my customers to pay by credit card, but I found the website too hard to keep updated.  It required constant care and attention to keep current and I simply don't want to spare the time I could be using to make the items (or dinner, or play with the kids etc.) on maintaining it.  So far it's been a huge relief to be 'rid of it' and I'm not missing it at all.

I'm now making diaper cakes, and have added rag quilts to my items that I'm selling.  Also going to be doing a ton of mittens this year, I can tell.  And earwarmers!  I'm extremely happy being able to work out of my home, and this year I'm making it manageable with the kids' schedule.  I will only be taking so many orders before Christmas and that will help a lot.

Speaking of Christmas.  Cailin and I decorated the house for Halloween yesterday.  She is super excited to go trick-or-treating this year.  Hopefully Carter is walking by then, he'll have a great time too!

Fall-ing in Love with Autumn

We had the most beautiful summer. Hot and unending summer days as far as you could remember and look forward to.

Carter's first birthday was a blast. He loved digging into his puppy cake and ate more than he perhaps should have.

We spent a lot of time at the farm camping in our new trailer. We saw most of the grandparents and had wonderful visits and conversations. Memories were built and much fun was had. Cousins ran wild through the grass and much playing ensued.

Then one day the leaves started turning glorious colors and the wind famous to this area came whistling back. While summer has continued to hold on tight, officially it is now fall time.

Which means school.

Cailin started preschool this year. She does a gymnastics/classroom hybrid that is very exciting. She had a bad time being left the first few weeks, but now we're down to 30 seconds of crying before she scampers off to play in the classroom. The gym part she really excels at. I snuck in to watch her a few times and she's light years ahead of the other kids. I am so proud of her! The little arts and crafts projects she brings home are so cute. Our fridge door is completely covered.

Carter is also doing really well. He graduated from Physio at his last session. He is crawling, scooting, cruising and right on schedule for his age. He says so many words, including thank you, welcome, what's that, dada, mom-mom, papa and nana.

We almost have the thyroid thing figured out. My last test revealed a slightly low-normal reading. The doctor prescribed another step up in meds and I need to get tested after 3 months (one month to go now). I'm having a feeling it's slightly too high now but it's better than being too low.

I have been keeping up with my walking, and have done a few 15km walks in the last 6 weeks. I have been jogging a bit here and there too, and feeling pretty good. I'm down 20.5 lbs now. It's pretty slow going but I'm excited to see the results.

I love fall. I'm waking up excited every day to get outside in the crisp air and see the gorgeous colors. We go for walks, play at the park and hit the trails. It's my favorite and most magical time of the year.

Tomorrow I'm going to break out the Halloween decorations and put them up with Cailin. Can't wait til she seems the gigantic purple cobweb we have in storage!

Beautiful Weather

 Summer is here!  As you can tell by Elmo getting out on his motorcycle.  Actually, that is a diaper cake I made and sold last month.  I really like making diaper cakes, and I believe I will be expanding my business with them when I get things organized for this fall.  Right now I'm working on getting my health in order, and getting Cailin into a routine.  This isn't leaving much time for sitting around crocheting, especially when the weather has been so beautiful!

Another order that went out recently.  I'm really liking how the blue one turned out - it's made of 100% cotton yarn.

So lots of exciting things have been happening.  We sold our old holiday trailer and bought a brand new one with enough room and accommodations for our family.  Here is a pic of the inside of the old trailer:

Sadly, there was no room for a playpen and both the table and couch needed to be folded down and made into beds every night.  Conversely, they had to be folded back up during the day in order to be used.  I was a little sad to see it go, but our new trailer is amazing.  I don't have any pics of it yet, but I will put some up soon.

We've used the new trailer quite a bit this year.  Our maiden voyage to a nearby-ish campground went really well, and we surprised GG and Papa Ray with a visit on our way back.  It's been at the farm since and we have our very own spot to stay when we come to visit.  We were planning a few big trips this summer in our fantastic new trailer, but we had to cancel our first trip to Jasper due to a nasty cold that rampaged through our house.  The second trip would be a lot more driving, and we decided to postpone a huge road trip like that until maybe next year.  We're going to do some maintenance and work on the house instead.  Hopefully we get down to the Calgary area later this summer though.

Cailin's birthday was at Mom and Dad's this year.  She had a bunch of her friends and cousins over to celebrate the day.  I got pictures, but they are on Mom's camera so I'll have to get them later.  She got some really neat stuff: a whole bunch of new books, crafts, a few toys, lip glosses (she LOVES lip gloss), an electric Spiderman quad and a trampoline.  She has been loving the trampoline.  I thought she would be on it a lot more due to the way she hogged the trampolines at gymnastics.  I can tell when she's been on it a lot when she passes right out at bedtime.

Oh bedtime.  The hell that was.  And still is.  She's been having a bad time going to bed since she was sick with ear infections in January.  It's taken about three weeks of carefully forced bedtime regime to get her into a semi-routine.  Every time we make some progress, then something comes up - like her birthday - and throws it out of whack again.  I know it's summer, and really hard to keep a schedule when there is so much going on all the time.  We tried a lot of different things to make bedtime more enjoyable and easier for all involved.  All of May we struggled with bedtime around 8pm.  It just wasn't working.  9pm seemed to be too late, and with her no longer sleeping in, she wasn't getting enough sleep.  She does not nap (no way, no how) and does not embrace 'quiet time' in the slightest.  This kid goes from the moment she gets up until she is forced into bed by her cruel mother.  So I did the unthinkable.  One night she was getting past the sleepy stage into the wound-up stage and I put her to bed at 7pm.  She was out in 20 minutes.  Eureka! Had I solved the bedtime mystery?  Had I found the magical routine to make my once amazing-sleeper back into a good sleeper?  The jury is still out.

Cailin is now in bed at 7pm sharp every night.  Some nights are ridiculous.  We read our books, sing our songs and she screams herself to sleep or calls me to her room approximately 311 times.  Some nights I don't even finish the books and she's out cold.  Some nights she simply tells me to leave, and leave the door open a little bit and she talks herself to sleep.  Sometimes it's silent, sometimes there's a lot of tears.  Other nights I have to sit with her until she falls asleep.  She is worried about shadows, and doesn't like to fall asleep with her night light on.  However, if she wakes up and it's dark, then it's a nightmare to get her back to sleep.  On average, she wakes twice a night and needs me to put her back to bed.  Some nights she is up five or six times, crying.  Sometimes I need to stay with her while she falls back asleep.  Five or six times.

Last night she went to bed nicely and slept all night for the first time in a long while.  Of course she was standing at the foot of our bed noisily mouth breathing at 7:45 this morning.  There is nothing more disconcerting thinking Darth Vader has taken up residence in your room while you were peacefully sleeping.  At least she let us sleep in.  She's been getting up around 6am for days.

Tonight is another story again.  It started out promising, but there were a lot of tears later.  Now I realize that she snuck downstairs, collected a soccer ball, helped herself out to the deck with Ry and is now playing ball in the backyard.  Sigh.  Also?  I just have to say something about those stupid kids' shows. I fully believe she wouldn't even know how to be scared of monsters, the dark or shadows without the express help of Caillou and Curious George.  Curse you, Curious George!

Potty training is happening!  One week accident free and in real underwear!  Night time training is just around the corner.

Carter is getting more teeth and is fighting off this cold the rest of us came down with.  He's been a little on the grouchy side and wants to be held all the time.  He's not crawling yet, but wants to get mobile so badly.  He's completely frustrated with his legs not listening to him.  He assumes the scooting position, but has yet to figure out that his one leg is holding up production.  We are eagerly awaiting his follow up with the pediatrician on the 16th.  I really want to know what they found on his x-rays and blood work.  We made one visit to the physio therapist.  He did pretty well, and she gave us some exercises to work on in the meantime.  They seem to be helping him strengthen his legs.  He does not qualify for a helmet, and his head is rounding out very nicely.  He also has been having some trouble sleeping.  Maybe because the sun shines on that side of the house at night.  Maybe because he ends up on his belly and doesn't care for it after a while.  Who knows.

Otherwise, Carter is still exceptionally giggly and happy.  He's really taking to solid foods and is turning his nose up at pureed baby foods.  He wants the real stuff.  I'm guessing I will have a cupboard full of baby food to donate soon.

I'm still working on my thyroid stuff.  As it stands, I'm going to get blood work done on Monday and make another appointment for the week after.  I think that's enough time to see if my current dosage of thyroid medicine is working.  I feel a bit better, but I'm sure it's still too low.

Recently I came across an App for my iPhone that counts calories and helps track weight, exercise, water intake etc. and started charting my calories everyday.  What a wake up call!  I had no idea I was consuming that many calories in a day.  Although I wasn't eating a lot of food every day, the foods that I was eating were laden with calories!  Add that to my lagging thyroid, and no wonder I gained 20lbs in a month.

It's absolutely astounding what I've been discovering and learning about health, thyroid and nutrition in the last while.  I came across an excerpt of a book on the dangers of too much wheat, and decided to go on a wheat free diet as well as count calories.  This would be the fourth day nearly wheat-free.  I feel fantastic.  Add that to the 5km walk I did yesterday, and the 7km walk I did today, I'm feeling really positive about this new lifestyle.  I haven't felt this good in quite a while, and I've lost 6.5lbs!

The kids enjoy the walks too.  They go in the double jogging stroller and off we go on the trails around the city.  Cailin yells when it's time for me to 'go faster'.  She's a slave driver.  We have to spend some time at a park too, of course.  Cailin won't sit in the stroller for long without the promise of sliding 302 times as a reward later.  In fact, we discovered a water park within walking distance of our house today.

I'm looking forward to our walk tomorrow.  Better do it early in the morning since it's going to be another hot day.

We're also going to start work on our house tomorrow!  Super exciting.  We're getting a new vanity/paint/light fixtures/tile/shower door put in the downstairs bathroom, a deck out the front door complete with railing and a gate, two new screen doors and new eavestroughing.  Next year I will be doing flower pots/flower beds off the front deck.  I also will be very busy painting the entire upstairs - ceiling and walls included.  Nothing too wild - everything is going bright white.  Then I will accessorize with nice bright colors.

One of these days I'm going to paint Carter's room, but still don't have an idea for the scheme yet.  I spent some time in there with him today.  He in his toy bins, gleefully ripping things apart and driving cars across the floor; me adjusting the crib mattress to the lowest setting.  It struck me that this will be the last time I adjust anything on this crib.  The time of the crib is almost over.  Big boy beds, potty training and walking are all coming our way next.  I can't believe he will be 1 next month.