Emerson had her 1 yr check up today! All is well with our little princess :) She weighs 18 lbs 9 oz and is 28" long. She's in the tenth percentile for weight, height and head circumference. She's been in the 10 th percentile for the majority of her life, so Dr. Radisic said there's no worries with her size! He mentioned something about genetics and her small size?! Hmmmm ... her Mom is short(er), both her Grandma's are short, and she has a couple of Aunties on the short side too!! Yep, I'd say genetics are playing a role!! He also said not to worry if she doesn't crawl, and that she is a strong little girl! She does not care for Doctors visits though!!! She was crying and reaching for me as if to say, "Save me Mom!!" Not that he was doing anything that even remotely came close to hurting her! I asked Dr. Radisic about Emerson drinking homo milk. We started her on homo milk once a day when she turned 11 months and now she's having milk at lunch and supper. She loves it and accepted it readily, but we were wondering if maybe it wasn't filling enough. A few times she's woke up an hour or two after going to bed and has seemed very hungry! She hasn't done that for awhile now, and the Dr. said she shouldn't be getting the majority of her calories from milk anyways, so not to worry about it! Good, because she didn't like formula!!
Blake's has been really stuffed up the past few days, so Dr. Radisic checked him over and everything is fine, it's just a plain old cold. He also weighed and measured Blake and he is now 37 lbs and 38" (but I thought he was slouching, so maybe he's an inch or two taller!). I was really hoping he was 40 lbs!! I want him out of his car seat! He's stuffed like a sardine into that thing. We'll have to see if there's any more adjusting we can do to the seat. He seems way to big for it ...
On Friday we went to Stony Plain for Cal's brother Gerry's 30th birthday party! It was lots of fun and we're glad we got to help Gerry celebrate the big 3-O!! Blake had fun partying with all the other mini party goers!!! Emerson stayed at my parents house and caught a few hours sleep!
Saturday we all slept in ... which was very nice after a later bedtime on Friday evening!! We had our usual swimming class Saturday morning. It's so much fun all going together to the YMCA!!! We're going to continue with the Saturday morning lessons for another session. Saturday afternoon we took Emerson for her 1st hair cut. Her bangs were hanging in her eyes, so we figured it was time! She sat on my knee and did pretty good! Just a couple of tears were shed! She looks pretty darn cute with her short bangs ;) And the certificate she got from Beaners was very cute too!!
Sunday was Superbowl Sunday! The kids and Cal dressed in their jerseys for some cute pictures ;) We were disappointed by the outcome of the game, but the three of them sure looked great in their jerseys!! lol!
Cal has began his 4 10's and now has every Monday off. So Blake and I went to preschool Monday morning, while Em and Dad stayed home! We have 1 more preschool class left.
Tuesday morning I took the kids to the dayhome for the first time. I stayed with them and we all stayed for lunch! Emerson did awesome and Blake did okay too. He was just starting to open up when it was time to go!! Hopefully he'll open up a bit next week when I take him for a couple of hours. I'm going to drop him off for a playdate, while I take Emerson for her 1 year immunizations. Then the following Tuesday (23rd I believe) I am going to take both the kids there for the majority of the day. I'll take them after Em's morning nap. We'll see how their afternoon nap goes :S That is one of my biggest concerns. I'm sure they will both adjustment well though!
Tomorrow is Cal's 31st birthday! We are going for dinner with our good friends, the Parenteau's and will be having birthday cake later in the evening! I am also picking my sister up from the bus late tomorrow night.
Friday morning we're all heading to the RV Show to check out the latest and greatest in the RV'ing world!! We always enjoy picking out our "next" trailer and seeing what neat gadgets are out there!
Saturday is Emerson's 1st birthday party. We are having a small party at our house, with a ladybug theme. This cake should be quite a bit easier to decorate, as compared to Blake's last 2 cakes!! We're really looking forward to celebrating our little girls 1st year :)
We'll let you know how the party goes! Have a great rest of the week and weekend everyone!!
xoxo Tracy
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Great Week!
We've had a great week thus far ;) Monday Blake and I went to preschool in the morning, while Emerson stayed home with Cal. When the kids woke up from their afternoon naps we left for Stony Plain. We had an appointment with our financial advisor and then took supper over to Colby, Jenna and Grandma Bev! The boys had a blast playing with Cal and it was nice to see and visit Bev! And I got to spend lots of time with Jenna! She gave me the biggest cuddle, which was so, so sweet!!! I love cuddles :) Monday was Blake's 1st day outside of the house since beginning potty training. And he did AWESOME!!! No accidents and he used the big potty at the YMCA and Colby's potty! We were very happy! He continues to great with the potty. He takes awhile to do #2 and has had a few #2 accidents, but yesterday was totally accident free!! I'm not sure when his last pee accident was and it's been almost 2 days with out the other accident! We're so proud of him :) He's done amazing!! He was obviously ready!
Wednesday afternoon Christa and Berlyn came over for a visit! It was nice to visit and see Berlyn! She's growing fast ... I think she will be tall like her Mommy! Wednesday evening my Mom came over to babysit the kids, while Cal and I went to the Oilers vs. Flyers game. We had a nice night out! Thanks for babysitting Mom!!
Thursday morning my Mom, the kids and I went to Kingsway Mall. Blake LOVES Handy Manny, who is a Disney character, so I thought we'd see if the Disney store had any Handy Manny stuff. And they did! Blake also likes to watch Mickey's Clubhouse (it's on before Handy Manny!), so he LOVED the Disney store and seeing Tigger, Mickey, Donald, Minnie, etc!! He hasn't seen any of the Disney movies, but got a lot of the books as gifts (Toy Story, Cars, Winnie the Pooh!), so he knows all the characters!! We'll have to visit the Disney store again in the near future! I think Blake could have spent a few more hours there ;) I can only imagine how much fun Blake would have in Disney Land or Disney World!! We will definately be taking him there one day!!
Thursday evening I visited 2 dayhomes and this morning the kids and I visited 1 more! 1 of the dayhomes from last night was NOT good!! The other was GREAT!! And the dayhome this morning was good, but not as good as Nancy's from last night! I actually talked to Nancy before I talked to Karen (the lady who quit on us!), but went to Karen's 1st and thought it was so good I didn't even bother going to Nancy's! But, as I said in my last post, things happen for a reason and this is definitely an example of that! I think Nancy's is even more suitable for us, so there you go!! I'm taking the kids there on Tuesday morning for lunch, so if all goes well we will be signing up! The oddest part about Nancy's dayhome is that Blake's friend Vanessa (from the 1st Karen's dayhome, back before we had Emerson) goes there!!! I couldn't believe it when I found out!? How ironic! Blake and Vanessa were little buddies, so hopefully they'll remember each other!! And it is comforting to know that Vanessa's family likes Nancy, because they loved Karen and Karen was so good, so to me that must mean that Nancy is just as good! They've been going to Nancy since Karen closed her dayhome back in December of '08. Now we're just hoping that this all works out, because I'm back to work in 3 weeks and really don't need to be looking any more!!!
Tonight we have gymnastics. We're debating whether or not to enroll in another session. I'll have to get a better feel for whether or not Blake wants to continue! Most classes he really enjoys and he gets to burn a lot of energy! But he will be going to a dayhome 3 days a week and swimming lessons will continue on Saturday mornings and I don't want him to be too "over programmed!!" Although, the kids will be home on Mondays with Cal and Fridays with me, so maybe that's enough down time??
We'd also like to wish Cal's brother Gerry a very happy 30th birthday!!! It's the big 3-0 today! Boy that's old Gerry ... lol!! I'm 29 and holding forever ;)
Have a great weekend everyone! I know we will!! We're looking forward to the Super Bowl on Sunday afternoon!! GO COLTS!!!! Cal, Blake and Em will all be sporting their jerseys ;) We're very excited about Blake's new jersey from Grandma D!!!
xoxo Tracy
Wednesday afternoon Christa and Berlyn came over for a visit! It was nice to visit and see Berlyn! She's growing fast ... I think she will be tall like her Mommy! Wednesday evening my Mom came over to babysit the kids, while Cal and I went to the Oilers vs. Flyers game. We had a nice night out! Thanks for babysitting Mom!!
Thursday morning my Mom, the kids and I went to Kingsway Mall. Blake LOVES Handy Manny, who is a Disney character, so I thought we'd see if the Disney store had any Handy Manny stuff. And they did! Blake also likes to watch Mickey's Clubhouse (it's on before Handy Manny!), so he LOVED the Disney store and seeing Tigger, Mickey, Donald, Minnie, etc!! He hasn't seen any of the Disney movies, but got a lot of the books as gifts (Toy Story, Cars, Winnie the Pooh!), so he knows all the characters!! We'll have to visit the Disney store again in the near future! I think Blake could have spent a few more hours there ;) I can only imagine how much fun Blake would have in Disney Land or Disney World!! We will definately be taking him there one day!!
Thursday evening I visited 2 dayhomes and this morning the kids and I visited 1 more! 1 of the dayhomes from last night was NOT good!! The other was GREAT!! And the dayhome this morning was good, but not as good as Nancy's from last night! I actually talked to Nancy before I talked to Karen (the lady who quit on us!), but went to Karen's 1st and thought it was so good I didn't even bother going to Nancy's! But, as I said in my last post, things happen for a reason and this is definitely an example of that! I think Nancy's is even more suitable for us, so there you go!! I'm taking the kids there on Tuesday morning for lunch, so if all goes well we will be signing up! The oddest part about Nancy's dayhome is that Blake's friend Vanessa (from the 1st Karen's dayhome, back before we had Emerson) goes there!!! I couldn't believe it when I found out!? How ironic! Blake and Vanessa were little buddies, so hopefully they'll remember each other!! And it is comforting to know that Vanessa's family likes Nancy, because they loved Karen and Karen was so good, so to me that must mean that Nancy is just as good! They've been going to Nancy since Karen closed her dayhome back in December of '08. Now we're just hoping that this all works out, because I'm back to work in 3 weeks and really don't need to be looking any more!!!
Tonight we have gymnastics. We're debating whether or not to enroll in another session. I'll have to get a better feel for whether or not Blake wants to continue! Most classes he really enjoys and he gets to burn a lot of energy! But he will be going to a dayhome 3 days a week and swimming lessons will continue on Saturday mornings and I don't want him to be too "over programmed!!" Although, the kids will be home on Mondays with Cal and Fridays with me, so maybe that's enough down time??
We'd also like to wish Cal's brother Gerry a very happy 30th birthday!!! It's the big 3-0 today! Boy that's old Gerry ... lol!! I'm 29 and holding forever ;)
Have a great weekend everyone! I know we will!! We're looking forward to the Super Bowl on Sunday afternoon!! GO COLTS!!!! Cal, Blake and Em will all be sporting their jerseys ;) We're very excited about Blake's new jersey from Grandma D!!!
xoxo Tracy
Sunday, January 31, 2010
What a weekend!
Potty party day 2 went really, really well!! Blake is doing an awesome job of going potty (both #1 and #2!). We try to take him quite often and he even told us a few times that he had to go! Just one small (like a drop!) accident today! Good job Blake!! Dad and I are sooooo... proud of you buddy:) Grandma and Grandpa D came over for dinner tonight to celebrate Blake's success. We all gave Blake a few small gifts and I baked a cake for him!
Emerson had a big first this weekend too!! She is now doing what I call the "inchworm!!!" She pulls herself along the floor!! I took the kids to the chiropractor on Friday and the Dr. was telling me that she has read research that kids who do not crawl are often less coordinated later in life. She said it's not a big deal if kids don't crawl, but that there are exercises you can do to at least develop that reflex (doesn't necessarily mean they will crawl, but it will ensure they develop the relax associated with crawling!). So I did the exercises with Em on Friday and on Saturday morning! They're seriously like 30 seconds of stretching basically. Not sure if that's what got her going or not?! I actually think it was more her Dad spending a lot of time with her enticing her with his wedding ring!!! She's so funny, I guess you can say in a lot of ways she's very laid back and waits for things to come to her ;) And today is the second time that Emerson didn't nurse at supper time. She's still nursing really well in the morning, so we'll see what happens now! I'm happy that she can self wean, instead of me forcing her!
So now for a bit of a downer ... our awesome day home is no longer :( Karen called me this evening and she will not be able to take the kids. She had a 13 month old start last week and has decided that she does not want more then 1 child under the age of 2 at one time in her day home. It's really too bad, but I do understand. She called earlier in the evening and didn't leave a message, which I found odd and then called again and left a message for me to call her back. So I did ... she felt very bad, but just wanted to be honest and she said she could take 2 kids under the age of 2, but wouldn't feel she could spend an appropriate amount of time with the little ones, never mind the older ones. I'm glad she was honest and she is right, there are day homes out there who take on the maximum number of children and they probably don't give each of the children an adequate amount of attention ... but still ... it sucks to have to start the day home search again. We are glad she made this decision now and not 1 week before I went back to work! Or even worse ... 1 week into my return to work. So that was a sad way to end this awesome weekend, but I believe things turn out the way they're supposed to, so I guess it wasn't meant to be. I'll keep you posted as the search continues :)
All in all it's been an awesome weekend! We are so proud of our little ones and can't believe how fast they're growing up! Have a fantastic week everyone!
xoxo The Cameron's
Emerson had a big first this weekend too!! She is now doing what I call the "inchworm!!!" She pulls herself along the floor!! I took the kids to the chiropractor on Friday and the Dr. was telling me that she has read research that kids who do not crawl are often less coordinated later in life. She said it's not a big deal if kids don't crawl, but that there are exercises you can do to at least develop that reflex (doesn't necessarily mean they will crawl, but it will ensure they develop the relax associated with crawling!). So I did the exercises with Em on Friday and on Saturday morning! They're seriously like 30 seconds of stretching basically. Not sure if that's what got her going or not?! I actually think it was more her Dad spending a lot of time with her enticing her with his wedding ring!!! She's so funny, I guess you can say in a lot of ways she's very laid back and waits for things to come to her ;) And today is the second time that Emerson didn't nurse at supper time. She's still nursing really well in the morning, so we'll see what happens now! I'm happy that she can self wean, instead of me forcing her!
So now for a bit of a downer ... our awesome day home is no longer :( Karen called me this evening and she will not be able to take the kids. She had a 13 month old start last week and has decided that she does not want more then 1 child under the age of 2 at one time in her day home. It's really too bad, but I do understand. She called earlier in the evening and didn't leave a message, which I found odd and then called again and left a message for me to call her back. So I did ... she felt very bad, but just wanted to be honest and she said she could take 2 kids under the age of 2, but wouldn't feel she could spend an appropriate amount of time with the little ones, never mind the older ones. I'm glad she was honest and she is right, there are day homes out there who take on the maximum number of children and they probably don't give each of the children an adequate amount of attention ... but still ... it sucks to have to start the day home search again. We are glad she made this decision now and not 1 week before I went back to work! Or even worse ... 1 week into my return to work. So that was a sad way to end this awesome weekend, but I believe things turn out the way they're supposed to, so I guess it wasn't meant to be. I'll keep you posted as the search continues :)
All in all it's been an awesome weekend! We are so proud of our little ones and can't believe how fast they're growing up! Have a fantastic week everyone!
xoxo The Cameron's
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Potty Party: Day 1
Today is the first official day of Blake's potty training!! We are calling it a "Potty Party!" This morning I was met with resistance ... he did not want to put on any big boy underwear! So we let him roam around with just a t-shirt on. Sam has big boy underwear too, so we put Sam's on and Blake showed Sam how to go potty. Sam got 1 Smartie when he went pee and 2 smarties when he went poo, which of course Sam couldn't eat, so Blake took care of them for him ;) After about a half an hour of "training" Sam, Blake picked up on it and Sam was going potty continuously (pee+poo=3 smarties!!), so we decided Sam was trained pretty well and it was time for Blake to try! After an accident on the couch, we decided that was it, he had to wear underwear! So we wrangled them on him and now he loves wearing his big boy undies!!! He's had about 5 pee accidents in his underwear and 1 poo. And has gone to the potty successfully many, many times (even 2 poo's)! He's even told us a few times that he had to go. He gets to put a sticker on him Elmo potty chart when he goes potty and he's had a lot of chocolate milk and apple juice today, which he normally doesn't get! But whatever works!!!! I'd say the 1st day of potty training is a total success :)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
High Chair Gymnastics!
That's our Emerson! She likes to stand up in her high chair now! So the belts are on!! We haven't had to put the tray or her seat belt on, but with these newest antics we are! She also gets on her knees and leans over the side ... not too safe!! We've noticed a huge difference in her movement the past 2 weeks. She loves standing at the front picture window and has started slowly walking from the middle to the side. Funny thing though, I think she can only walk to the left!!? She gets to the far left side and never comes back! lol!! We watch out the front window every day for Cal to come home! Blake usually plays with cars on the front window ledge and Em watches out the window and laughs and does her little walk!! She loves standing there and she gets SO excited when she sees Cal. It is very sweet! She starts yelling, "Da, da!" and, "Hi Da!" I'm sure it makes Cal's day :)
I don't know how Blake can get much funnier, but he seems to come up with something new everyday that cracks us up!! He has an excellent grasp on common slang and phrases, such as, "I think that will do!" or every time someone says, "Hey!" he says, "Hay is for horses!!" lol!! And his memory ... my goodness, I don't know how he memorizes everything in his life, but I swear he has a better memory then me!! No kidding!! Cal also has an amazing memory and memorizes everything, so we think Blake takes after Cal in that regard! He brings things up from long ago that make me think for a minute before I realize, yep that's right!! We don't even question him most of the time, we just take his word to be true! He insisted that we were missing the "Mom" from Emerson's Little People dollhouse. Neither Cal nor I had any idea what she looked like, but we searched the house and still couldn't find her! So the next day when we were at Toys R Us, we checked the doll house there and then came home and searched again! We realized we hadn't looked in the very bottom basement, so Blake went down there and sure enough there she was!! We had no doubt Blake was right and there was a "Mom" missing!!!! A few nights ago he wanted me to lay in bed with him and read a book while he read his own book. I asked him to read his book to me first and then I would read my book to him. He read his book almost word for word. Afterwards I told Cal and we were trying to figure out the last time either of us read that book to him and we think it was at least 7 months ago! Hopefully this memory of his helps him in school!! I know it served Cal well!
We had a lot of fun at Preschool on Monday. Miss Rhonda brought in a bunny rabbit from home and a 7 day old baby!! She fosters animals and children and had promised the week before to bring in a rabbit! The baby was more of a surprise, as they had been waiting quite a while for a baby boy! They hope to adopt Jacob eventually. Apparently the process is a very long one. Blake loved the bunny and spent lots of time petting it and staring at it!! We also stayed a few minutes after class to get some extra pets!!! I know when Blake gets older he's going to want to bring home every animal known to man kind! He loves animals, but I think having a cat is a good deterrent to getting any other animals ... can't get a bird, can't get fish, I don't think Jazz would get a long with a rabbit, etc, etc!! Cat and dog is good for this house! Unless we ever move to an acreage, then that's a different story!!!
Tomorrow we are going to a class called Sing, Sign, Laugh and Learn at the Woodcroft library. It is a registered program at most Edmonton public libraries, but this session is drop-in this time around!
Friday Blake and I have gymnastics and Saturday potty training boot camp begins!!! I honestly don't know if Blake is ready, but we will give it a try and see what happens! If we're not successful this weekend, we'll wait and try again in a few months. We've been talking about it all week and on Tuesday we went and bought Elmo seats for the toilets! We do have two floor potties, but Blake apparently likes these seats better ... We have rewards and cool big boy underwear all ready!!! Fingers crossed it happens the first go around ... I'll let you know Sunday night!
Enjoy the remainder of your week and the upcoming weekend everyone :)
Love The Cameron's
I don't know how Blake can get much funnier, but he seems to come up with something new everyday that cracks us up!! He has an excellent grasp on common slang and phrases, such as, "I think that will do!" or every time someone says, "Hey!" he says, "Hay is for horses!!" lol!! And his memory ... my goodness, I don't know how he memorizes everything in his life, but I swear he has a better memory then me!! No kidding!! Cal also has an amazing memory and memorizes everything, so we think Blake takes after Cal in that regard! He brings things up from long ago that make me think for a minute before I realize, yep that's right!! We don't even question him most of the time, we just take his word to be true! He insisted that we were missing the "Mom" from Emerson's Little People dollhouse. Neither Cal nor I had any idea what she looked like, but we searched the house and still couldn't find her! So the next day when we were at Toys R Us, we checked the doll house there and then came home and searched again! We realized we hadn't looked in the very bottom basement, so Blake went down there and sure enough there she was!! We had no doubt Blake was right and there was a "Mom" missing!!!! A few nights ago he wanted me to lay in bed with him and read a book while he read his own book. I asked him to read his book to me first and then I would read my book to him. He read his book almost word for word. Afterwards I told Cal and we were trying to figure out the last time either of us read that book to him and we think it was at least 7 months ago! Hopefully this memory of his helps him in school!! I know it served Cal well!
We had a lot of fun at Preschool on Monday. Miss Rhonda brought in a bunny rabbit from home and a 7 day old baby!! She fosters animals and children and had promised the week before to bring in a rabbit! The baby was more of a surprise, as they had been waiting quite a while for a baby boy! They hope to adopt Jacob eventually. Apparently the process is a very long one. Blake loved the bunny and spent lots of time petting it and staring at it!! We also stayed a few minutes after class to get some extra pets!!! I know when Blake gets older he's going to want to bring home every animal known to man kind! He loves animals, but I think having a cat is a good deterrent to getting any other animals ... can't get a bird, can't get fish, I don't think Jazz would get a long with a rabbit, etc, etc!! Cat and dog is good for this house! Unless we ever move to an acreage, then that's a different story!!!
Tomorrow we are going to a class called Sing, Sign, Laugh and Learn at the Woodcroft library. It is a registered program at most Edmonton public libraries, but this session is drop-in this time around!
Friday Blake and I have gymnastics and Saturday potty training boot camp begins!!! I honestly don't know if Blake is ready, but we will give it a try and see what happens! If we're not successful this weekend, we'll wait and try again in a few months. We've been talking about it all week and on Tuesday we went and bought Elmo seats for the toilets! We do have two floor potties, but Blake apparently likes these seats better ... We have rewards and cool big boy underwear all ready!!! Fingers crossed it happens the first go around ... I'll let you know Sunday night!
Enjoy the remainder of your week and the upcoming weekend everyone :)
Love The Cameron's
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Starting to Bum Scootch!
Emerson is becoming a bum scootcher ... sort of! Right now she's mostly bum rotating!! lol! She can do a 360 and moves forward a bit. She does move on her stomach, mostly backwards, but a small distance forwards. I'm not sure she'll ever be a crawler though ... time will tell ;) She can also stand on her own for a short period of time! Last week I'd let go of her and she'd stand very well for 30 seconds or so. The look on her face was priceless! She looked shocked and a bit scared!! I'm looking forward to having her weighed and measured at her 1 year pediatrician appointment. She feels like she's getting heavier, but as for length, I don't think she's grown very much in that way!! She's still wearing 6-9 month clothes and the 6-12 month clothes are too big!
We've had a great week and weekend! My parents came to Blake's gymnastics class on Friday and afterwards the four of us went out for dinner. Blake really enjoyed that! He ate lots of Grandpa's pizza, but I'm pretty sure Grandpa didn't mind ;) Saturday evening I hosted a Tupperware party. It was lots of fun and I can't wait to get all my Tupperware!! My pantry is going to be soooo organized!!! It was fun having a few friends over and Blake enjoyed "partying" too! This afternoon the kids and I visited Karen's day home. It was a great visit! I think they will do fine there. Blake had fun playing in the awesome play room, but I was most surprised by Emerson. She sat on the floor and played and even let Karen and her two girls play with her and hold her! I was very happy!! I thought for sure she'd whimper as soon as she left my arms ... she's a bit (okay, maybe a lot) of a Mom suck ;) But she did fantastic and only needed Mom near the end of 1 hour of playing, when she was getting hungry and tired. So our deposit is down on the day home, our spots will be held until March 1st and I'll be taking the kids back for a few more visits before I return to work! After our day home visit, we headed to Stony Plain for supper at my Mom and Dad's house. It was yummy as usual, and the kids had fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa and bathing together!
Cal is off work tomorrow, but helping a friend drywall, while the kids and I go to preschool. We're painting tomorrow, a craft that I'm sure Blake is going to LOVE!! Hopefully we'll visit the play gym before class.
Have a great week everyone ... stay warm during this, let's hope last, cold snap!
xoxo Tracy
We've had a great week and weekend! My parents came to Blake's gymnastics class on Friday and afterwards the four of us went out for dinner. Blake really enjoyed that! He ate lots of Grandpa's pizza, but I'm pretty sure Grandpa didn't mind ;) Saturday evening I hosted a Tupperware party. It was lots of fun and I can't wait to get all my Tupperware!! My pantry is going to be soooo organized!!! It was fun having a few friends over and Blake enjoyed "partying" too! This afternoon the kids and I visited Karen's day home. It was a great visit! I think they will do fine there. Blake had fun playing in the awesome play room, but I was most surprised by Emerson. She sat on the floor and played and even let Karen and her two girls play with her and hold her! I was very happy!! I thought for sure she'd whimper as soon as she left my arms ... she's a bit (okay, maybe a lot) of a Mom suck ;) But she did fantastic and only needed Mom near the end of 1 hour of playing, when she was getting hungry and tired. So our deposit is down on the day home, our spots will be held until March 1st and I'll be taking the kids back for a few more visits before I return to work! After our day home visit, we headed to Stony Plain for supper at my Mom and Dad's house. It was yummy as usual, and the kids had fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa and bathing together!
Cal is off work tomorrow, but helping a friend drywall, while the kids and I go to preschool. We're painting tomorrow, a craft that I'm sure Blake is going to LOVE!! Hopefully we'll visit the play gym before class.
Have a great week everyone ... stay warm during this, let's hope last, cold snap!
xoxo Tracy
Monday, January 18, 2010
Gorgeous weather!!
I think we are being spoiled with this spring-like weather!! But we certainly won't complain, it has been so nice to be able to get outside for walks and play time.
We've had a great week! Here's some of the highlights:
Last Wednesday was a very fun-filled day!! Wednesday morning we met some friends at Kidz Quarterz in Sherwood Park. It was a blast!! We will definitely visit Kidz Quarterz again! Blake had tons of fun running around, playing and observing!! He's a bit of people watcher, kind of like Mom ;) We enjoyed lunch there and then headed off to do some errands and see the Olympic Torch! I knew the kids would fall asleep in the car, so I drove as slow as I legally/safely could and took my time making my way to St. Albert. I am so happy we saw the torch relay - it really could be a once in a lifetime opportunity! Blake got quite excited about it and was very happy with the little flag he got! Afterwards I realized I had locked my keys in the car :( So I called AMA (thank goodness for AMA!) and we walked through a pet store, while waiting for the tow truck to arrive. As it turns out, this caused quite the excitement in Blake!! He had fun seeing the birds, fish and puppies in the pet store AND he got to see a real tow truck and a real tow truck driver up close!! lol!! Lots of excitement in one day!!
Friday evening Blake had his 2nd gymnastics class. And he loved it just as much as the 1st class!! He had fun running around and burning energy!! I enjoy spending this 1 on 1 time with Blake :)
Saturday we had fun at swimming lessons and decided to venture out for dinner Saturday evening. We used to go out for dinner quite often, but since Emerson's arrival that has slowed down quite a bit!! Of course, it's some work to pack up baby food, etc to go out for dinner with 2 kids! But we had fun and were glad we went! Emerson ate 1/4 of Blake's grilled cheese sandwich along with the food I brought from home for her!!
Sunday morning Candace, Tina, Nicholas and Presley came over for a visit. It was great to see them and see Blake and Nicholas playing together so well! They get a long so good!! Sunday afternoon I had a wonderful massage. It was so nice ... Afterwards I visited a dayhome near our house. I was very impressed and would love the kids to go there when I go back to work in March. Her name is Karen and she opened her dayhome in April 2009. She was a financial planner, but decided not to go back to work when her youngest daughter turned 1. It looks like she runs a very organized, clean, healthy and fun dayhome! She follows a preschool program with the preschool aged children and has many other age appropriate activities for all the children. All of her kids are part time, so she never has a full dayhome at any one time. She was quite nervous when I first arrived, but so was I!! She only has 1 spot available right now, but is expecting another spot to become available in February. I am crossing my fingers and toes and saying a little prayer that 2 spots will be available soon!! It would be such a relief to be done that search! If 2 spots are available, I will take the kids there to meet her and her girls once and leave them there a few times before going back to work.
My sister and Mom stopped by for a quick visit this morning and then we were off to preschool. We had fun at the playgym before class and at preschool! Emerson sure loves the songs!! She's a bit of an attention seeker, clapping her hands and "singing"!!!
At lunch today I gave Emerson a straw cup full of warm milk. I was very pleased with her reaction to it - she took numerous sips and didn't scrunch up her face and throw her head back like she sometimes does when she doesn't like something!! So I'm really hoping she will like milk and we won't have to stress too much about weaning her. So far, I am continuing to nurse Emerson before her breakfast and supper. She's not interested in giving it up yet, so I will continue to nurse her until ... I'm not sure when?! It wasn't very hard to wean Blake, I think he was actually ready. Although he didn't take a bottle the first day, he took it easily enough after a few attempts. But then he was 1 and according to "the books" you're supposed to take the bottle away around 1. So it was a short time that Blake had the bottle, which is why we're trying to avoid that step with Em! Hopefully it works!! Now since I'm not weaning Em completely, it looks like Cal and I won't be getting away alone before I return to work. Which is okay, I'm not feeling the urge to get away quite yet anyways. I think maybe because we were just in Vegas! Another exciting happening in Em's life right now is that we finally don't need to give her lactulose!!! Phew! I thought this day would never come! And I'm knocking on wood that she doesn't get "backed up" again ... it's been approximately 1 week now without lactulose and all is good!
Blake's new word these days is "okay!" It's quite a welcome change from "no!!" Although, we do often hear, "No I don't want to!" When we ask him to do something that is usually his initial response, followed by "okay" in a sweet, agreeable voice :) He's definitely growing and maturing into more of a little boy each day. Since he's been feeling better after having croup, we've noticed he seems to have a lot more energy! He's spent a few more minutes in time out then the previous months ... but at least it seems to work. We have to "hold" him there at times, but for the most part he stays put! His imagination continues to grow! Tonight he claimed there were dinosaurs in Mom and Dad's bedroom. Thankfully they were friendly dinosaurs, but this led him to want to play in our room on our bed! So after supper I went up to our room with him where we preceded to lay on our bed and cover ourselves up with a blanket, which created a fort, and then Blake brought out a set of his play keys and my reading light! Not sure why he had the keys?! Anyways, we spend close to an hour there listening for dinosaurs and talking. We talked about Cal's upcoming birthday, Em's upcoming birthday, his upcoming birthday, him and Em going to a day home and Mom going back to work, camping this summer, preschool, swimming lessons, gymnastics, Heidi and Jazz ... I LOVED it!!! It was so sweet to have such "mature" conversations with him!! He watched me and listened to me so intently!! And he had a lot to say about all of the above topics too!! I occasionally asked him what he wanted to do now - if he wanted to go downstairs and play or go see what Dad was doing and he would reply, "I want to talk with Mom!" :) Then Cal came to see us and had to crawl into our fort and talk!!
We're planning a quiet day around home tomorrow, but will hopefully make it outside for a sleigh ride/walk around the neighbourhood! With Blake walking it takes us almost 1 hour to go a short distance ... which is perfectly fine! He enjoys stomping around in the snow and investigating!!
Have a great week everyone!
Tracy
We've had a great week! Here's some of the highlights:
Last Wednesday was a very fun-filled day!! Wednesday morning we met some friends at Kidz Quarterz in Sherwood Park. It was a blast!! We will definitely visit Kidz Quarterz again! Blake had tons of fun running around, playing and observing!! He's a bit of people watcher, kind of like Mom ;) We enjoyed lunch there and then headed off to do some errands and see the Olympic Torch! I knew the kids would fall asleep in the car, so I drove as slow as I legally/safely could and took my time making my way to St. Albert. I am so happy we saw the torch relay - it really could be a once in a lifetime opportunity! Blake got quite excited about it and was very happy with the little flag he got! Afterwards I realized I had locked my keys in the car :( So I called AMA (thank goodness for AMA!) and we walked through a pet store, while waiting for the tow truck to arrive. As it turns out, this caused quite the excitement in Blake!! He had fun seeing the birds, fish and puppies in the pet store AND he got to see a real tow truck and a real tow truck driver up close!! lol!! Lots of excitement in one day!!
Friday evening Blake had his 2nd gymnastics class. And he loved it just as much as the 1st class!! He had fun running around and burning energy!! I enjoy spending this 1 on 1 time with Blake :)
Saturday we had fun at swimming lessons and decided to venture out for dinner Saturday evening. We used to go out for dinner quite often, but since Emerson's arrival that has slowed down quite a bit!! Of course, it's some work to pack up baby food, etc to go out for dinner with 2 kids! But we had fun and were glad we went! Emerson ate 1/4 of Blake's grilled cheese sandwich along with the food I brought from home for her!!
Sunday morning Candace, Tina, Nicholas and Presley came over for a visit. It was great to see them and see Blake and Nicholas playing together so well! They get a long so good!! Sunday afternoon I had a wonderful massage. It was so nice ... Afterwards I visited a dayhome near our house. I was very impressed and would love the kids to go there when I go back to work in March. Her name is Karen and she opened her dayhome in April 2009. She was a financial planner, but decided not to go back to work when her youngest daughter turned 1. It looks like she runs a very organized, clean, healthy and fun dayhome! She follows a preschool program with the preschool aged children and has many other age appropriate activities for all the children. All of her kids are part time, so she never has a full dayhome at any one time. She was quite nervous when I first arrived, but so was I!! She only has 1 spot available right now, but is expecting another spot to become available in February. I am crossing my fingers and toes and saying a little prayer that 2 spots will be available soon!! It would be such a relief to be done that search! If 2 spots are available, I will take the kids there to meet her and her girls once and leave them there a few times before going back to work.
My sister and Mom stopped by for a quick visit this morning and then we were off to preschool. We had fun at the playgym before class and at preschool! Emerson sure loves the songs!! She's a bit of an attention seeker, clapping her hands and "singing"!!!
At lunch today I gave Emerson a straw cup full of warm milk. I was very pleased with her reaction to it - she took numerous sips and didn't scrunch up her face and throw her head back like she sometimes does when she doesn't like something!! So I'm really hoping she will like milk and we won't have to stress too much about weaning her. So far, I am continuing to nurse Emerson before her breakfast and supper. She's not interested in giving it up yet, so I will continue to nurse her until ... I'm not sure when?! It wasn't very hard to wean Blake, I think he was actually ready. Although he didn't take a bottle the first day, he took it easily enough after a few attempts. But then he was 1 and according to "the books" you're supposed to take the bottle away around 1. So it was a short time that Blake had the bottle, which is why we're trying to avoid that step with Em! Hopefully it works!! Now since I'm not weaning Em completely, it looks like Cal and I won't be getting away alone before I return to work. Which is okay, I'm not feeling the urge to get away quite yet anyways. I think maybe because we were just in Vegas! Another exciting happening in Em's life right now is that we finally don't need to give her lactulose!!! Phew! I thought this day would never come! And I'm knocking on wood that she doesn't get "backed up" again ... it's been approximately 1 week now without lactulose and all is good!
Blake's new word these days is "okay!" It's quite a welcome change from "no!!" Although, we do often hear, "No I don't want to!" When we ask him to do something that is usually his initial response, followed by "okay" in a sweet, agreeable voice :) He's definitely growing and maturing into more of a little boy each day. Since he's been feeling better after having croup, we've noticed he seems to have a lot more energy! He's spent a few more minutes in time out then the previous months ... but at least it seems to work. We have to "hold" him there at times, but for the most part he stays put! His imagination continues to grow! Tonight he claimed there were dinosaurs in Mom and Dad's bedroom. Thankfully they were friendly dinosaurs, but this led him to want to play in our room on our bed! So after supper I went up to our room with him where we preceded to lay on our bed and cover ourselves up with a blanket, which created a fort, and then Blake brought out a set of his play keys and my reading light! Not sure why he had the keys?! Anyways, we spend close to an hour there listening for dinosaurs and talking. We talked about Cal's upcoming birthday, Em's upcoming birthday, his upcoming birthday, him and Em going to a day home and Mom going back to work, camping this summer, preschool, swimming lessons, gymnastics, Heidi and Jazz ... I LOVED it!!! It was so sweet to have such "mature" conversations with him!! He watched me and listened to me so intently!! And he had a lot to say about all of the above topics too!! I occasionally asked him what he wanted to do now - if he wanted to go downstairs and play or go see what Dad was doing and he would reply, "I want to talk with Mom!" :) Then Cal came to see us and had to crawl into our fort and talk!!
We're planning a quiet day around home tomorrow, but will hopefully make it outside for a sleigh ride/walk around the neighbourhood! With Blake walking it takes us almost 1 hour to go a short distance ... which is perfectly fine! He enjoys stomping around in the snow and investigating!!
Have a great week everyone!
Tracy
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