Our Deep Thinker :)

Blake is 2 1/2 years old today!! Hard to believe! He is such an amazing little boy. Keeps us (and his sister at times!) very busy, but he is a very good kid and such a joy :) He is constantly thinking and pondering things. It's pretty amazing at times what he asks/tells us! For example, we were eating lunch yesterday after preschool and he said, "Tristan not at preschool?" So I told him that no, Tristan was not at preschool because he is not feeling well. And Blake said, "Tristan feel better next time?" So I said, yes hopefully Tristan will feel better soon! And Blake said, "Tristan be at preschool next week!"

At supper tonight he asked me if Owen made another pumpkin. I was a bit confused and had to think about it for a moment, before I realized what he was talking about. Last week at preschool the kids made pumpkins out of construction paper for their craft. We took our pumpkins home with us, but Owen forgot his pumpkin! So yesterday at preschool Cindy asked the teacher if she still had it. The teacher went to look for it and came back with the pumpkin! Apparently Blake saw this all and at supper time was thinking about it and wondering why Owen made another pumpkin!! So I just explained that Owen had forgot his pumpkin at preschool last week and Blake said, "Oh." And he continued on eating supper!!

At bath time we often play with foam letters and numbers. Lately Blake has been interested in the numbers. He shows me a number and I try to correlate it to something, such as the two - I tell him that is a two and Blake is two. And he often says, "Who else?" So I tell him Colby is turning two soon. Etc, etc, it goes on with all the numbers and people in our lives!! Last night he was holding up numbers and telling me, "Em turn 1 soon and Jenna turn 1 soon," etc, etc and then he said, "Thomas is 1," and then he'd hold up a different number and say, "Henry is 3," etc, etc, with all the Thomas trains!!! It was so cute! He was so excited to have made the connection between his favorite choo-choo's, people in his life and his numbers!!!

These are just a few examples of how he thinks!!! He does seem like a very serious boy to us! But I think it is partly due to the fact that he is always thinking, contemplating, pondering, etc!! I was telling my Mom last night that sometimes I just wish he'd let loose!!! Like yesterday at preschool they were playing a parachute game and some of the other kids were jumping up and down and screaming and looking like they were having a hoot, while Blake was holding onto the parachute with a very serious look on his face, shaking it up and down - just like he was told to do! I told my Mom that sometimes I think he's too serious for a 2 1/2 yr old!!! But, he does have his fun, crazy times too! They're just usually at home!! And usually they involve dancing to "his music!"

We're hoping to get Blake and Emerson their H1N1 vaccinations this afternoon after their naps. I hope the line ups will be a bit more reasonable then last week. Have a great day everyone :)

Luv Tracy

Happy Halloween!!

We hope you all had a spooktacular Halloween!!! We had great fun celebrating Halloween. We went to a Halloween/Baby Shower party on Friday at our friends Elizabeth and Jack's house. It was our 3rd annual New Mom's Group Halloween Party! It was also a baby shower for our friend Jodi and her new baby boy Cole. Cole is Jared's little brother! Our New Mom's Group is growing quickly with what we call the "2nd generation!!!" lol! It's great that Emerson will have lots of little friends too. I felt a bit bad for her, not having her own New Mom's group! We're very lucky to have such a great group. A few of our friends have moved away, but there are still a good group of us who get together regularly. It's pretty cool to see the kids all growing up together! Saturday morning we carved pumpkins. Blake knows his shapes now, so he chose what shapes the pumpkins eyes and nose were! He was pretty hesitant when it came to digging out the pumpkin "guts", but got right in there after awhile!! Saturday afternoon my parents came over and we took some pictures of the kids outside. They looked so adorable!! Blake in his dinosaur costume and Emerson in her lady bug costume!! We had supper, put Emerson to bed and then Cal, Blake and I headed out trick-or-treating! My parents stayed home with Emerson and handed out candy, which was very nice of them! At the end of the night, we figure we had approximately 75 kids. Cal, Blake and I had fun visiting around the neighbourhood!! Blake got pretty tuckered out though, so we came home, had a treat and some hot chocolate and he was out like a light the minute his head hit his pillow!!

Today we went to Stony Plain to celebrate our niece Jenna Ann Cameron's Baptism. We had fun visiting with everyone and I even got to snuggle with Jenna for awhile :) She was such a good girl during the church service and Baptism and looked gorgeous in her baptismal gown, which was worn by her Mom and 2 Aunt's when they were babies!! Afterwards we went to my parents house for a visit and dinner. My Mom made a very yummy turkey dinner!! It felt like Thanksgiving all over again! The kids had a bath there and were sleeping by the time we hit the highway. No naps = very tired kids!!! I'm hoping they don't get up too early tomorrow morning ...

Cal has tomorrow off, but we don't have plans. I will call the health unit tomorrow to see if we can get our flu shots. Hopefully they'll be available again very soon. Blake woke up with a runny nose this morning and Emerson is sounding a bit stuffed up too, but they don't have fevers. We'll keep a close eye on them - I'm a bit paranoid right now. Blake was sick to his stomach on Friday night, but hasn't been since. I think it was because of all the treats he ate at the Halloween party. He has quite the sweet tooth! We don't keep too many sweets in the house and he rarely has juice, so I think his tummy might have been a bit upset!

Emerson's 2nd tooth is through! Just barely, but you can feel the sharp little edges!! Teething has definitely been harder on Em then it was on Blake. Once his first tooth was through, the rest just seemed to keep coming with no work at all! Emerson seems to teethe and teethe and teethe and be uncomfortable, etc!! Poor girl. I always say it's such a shame what these poor babies go through - so much pain to get these teeth and then they turn around and loose them all in a few years!! How fair is that?!

We have preschool on Wednesday and Wednesday night I'm meeting an old co-worker for dinner. Thursday I am meeting Lesley at Cal's cousin Amanda's concert at the Winnspear. She plays violin in the University of Alberta's Symphony Orchestra (I believe that's what they're called!!)! I went to one concert last year and was absolutely amazed at the talent of these young people! Blake and Cal started swimming lessons again on Friday, so they have swimming Friday evening. Cal said Blake was amazing on Friday!! He was front floating and back floating and kicking like you wouldn't believe! I'm glad he's enjoying himself!! Our little fish :) We're going to start Emerson in swimming lessons in the New Year. Cal started taking Blake when he was around 1 year, and Emerson will be 1 in February!

My sister's wedding is fast approaching! Yikes!! So much to do before then!! Our list is growing longer and longer ... Oh well - we'll get it all done :) 29 days to go!!

Have a great week everyone :) I'm not going to use the "S" word, but I think we're very lucky to not have any yet!!!! So enjoy it while it lasts!

xoxo
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson