Little Miss #1 is 4 years old!

Good morning 4 year old!

Micaela modelling Avery's birthday presents

Avery turned 4 two weeks ago...how is that possible? It also seems impossible that I was 32 when she was born - was I ever that young and how did I think I was ready to be a mother then? Still so immature in so many ways. But I digress...she's 4 years old. Crazy!!!

So who is Avery at the tender age of 4? She is still in that in-between world of baby behaviour contrasted with occasional teenager attitude. Was it My Little Pony that taught her that, or Barbie?Anyway, she is a very perceptive and observant, remembering things that we never expect she would. She can be quite loving and concerned about others, but also completely oblivious at times to how her actions impact others. She is starting to be interested in Mikes and in "helping" her, but oftentimes Micaela isn't too interested in being helped or in listening to what Avery has instructed her to do. You can imagine my delight when Avery finds that frustrating. I have tried to pass along the life lesson, but I don't think Avery has quite internalized it yet :) Avery can be quite bossy, always trying to organize the other kids. I can't imagine where she gets that from...honestly, I am pretty sure neither Greg or I were like that as kids, but then again, we are both first-borns. Hmmmm....I'll put that on the list to ponder later. Avery still loves clothes, jewelry and makeup, but she does voluntarily where pants sometimes now, rather than summer dresses all winter long like last year. She still doesn't listen particularly well at home and now it seems like it is more because she doesn't agree with what we are asking her to do, rather than before when it was more about not actually hearing or paying attention. However, all that to say that she is pretty responsible and listens well when we are out of the house, and that is really far important! She also still loves to meet new kids and makes friends right away. When Greg took her to Cosmic Adventures, apparently it too about 7.5 seconds before she was calling after a little boy, saying "Boyfriend? Boyfriend, wait for me..." Oh boy, what are we in for??? :)

Avery's birthday weekend was absolutely jam-packed. My mother came to stay for the weekend, which the girls loved. After Micaela's soccer class and Avery dance class on Sat am, we headed off to the RCMP Musical Ride Open House at the stables at the bottom of St. Laurent Blvd. It was great - lots for the kids to do and see, very accessible horses and Mounties, and it was totally free with a food bank donation requested. I would highly recommend it the next time they have an event - for anyone, but especially those with little kids.

Greg set up the tent in our loft again over the weekend - the girls had a great time with that and I am sure at least Avery would have slept in there for the night except there was a blackout right at bed time while my mom was babysitting (we were out for Brent's 40th birthday dinner), and after that there was no way anyone was going in the tent that night. However, during the day Avery did take the time to make a special sign - NO CATS ALLOWED!!! :)

After a nice breakfast on Sunday morning, my mom, Avery and I headed out to the spa for her first real pedicure. Needless to say, the kid loved it. That just might have been the beginning of a lifelong addiction - at least mine didn't start until I was 25. I guess I had better save my pennies until she is old enough to get a part-time job. After that Nana and Grampa Kelly arrived to hang out with the girls while we got ready for the joint Avery/Micaela birthday party at the gymnastics centre. That was our attempt to make up for Micaela's cancelled party when she was sick, but of course it was the Avery show most of the day. Thankfully Micaela is too young to notice, or actually care. I'm not sure that that sort of thing will ever bother her though...

The gymnastics party was really fun - with the kids from daycare, the Fergusons, Jaida Lawson and cousin Jacob. All of the rugrats really seemed to enjoy going crazy in the gym, and the crowning glory was the rainbow My Little Pony cake, courtesy of Chelsea Ferguson. Thanks again to Chelsea and all the Fergusons - we all thought it was fantastic. So now that we had the great Sleeping Beauty cake from Dana last year, and this year's rainbow concoction, how will that be matched for next year? Sigh...I'll put that on my list of things to worry about later.

To top the whole weekend off, because that clearly wasn't enough, Greg took Monday off and had a special day with Avery. They went to Cosmic Adventures and then to a movie, just the two of them. I think they both really appreciated the time together. Of course, Avery wanted a repeat on Thursday, but even Greg has limits!

So after that crazy weekend, going back to work seem relaxing...thank goodness it isn't always crazy like that! Till next year...

February 2012 Resolution

Guess what? Tomorrow is Feb 1st...it just occurred to me today that if I was going to keep up with the monthly introductions of my 2012 resolutions, I had better come up with one quickly. So I thought about the options, as all of these are going to have to happen at some point this year - resolve to get back to a good face-cleaning regime at night before bed; get back on weight watchers; or work on the exercise part of my life. However, I'm really not committed to accomplishing any of those things yet. So tonight, when it was clear that our family dinner plans had gone awry, I decided to resort to my favourite guilty pleasure meal *Dirty little secret alert*: Takeout Wendy's after the kids have gone to bed.

So this is one of my worst habits - getting a hamburger/fries combo, with Diet Coke, and eating it after 8:30pm. Seriously - what sounds smart about that??? And I do this approximately once a week. Sigh...I am totally ashamed, but I rarely regret it after. If only I got a stomachache or something, it would be much easier to convince myself not to do it.

Anyhoo, the point to all of this is that my February resolution will be to stop getting Wendy's takeout late at night, and definitely not eating it once a week. I'm not saying that I won't ever eat Wendy's again, but it will be very rarely and only when it is the "only" option. Like on a car trip to Toronto and we all need a little breather (and a meal). So wish me luck - this is a bad habit I have tried to break before and I always pick up the habit again.

And for an update on the morning coffee making and less Starbucks buying: these January resolutions are going awesomely! I haven't missed a day yet - even day one when I thought I was going to break the Starbucks buying part, but then I never managed to buy an afternoon coffee. I had a really bad headache that night - but at least I didn't fail on my first day! :)

The 2-year old monkey!

Happy birthday morning, 2-year old!

Christmas elf

Micaela is 2!!! This is a little after the fact but within a week of the actual date - that is pretty much a miracle. Mikes at 2 is just more of the same...super-cute and crazy stubborn. Thank goodness she is cute! She is a study in contradictions - at times very shy and scared of loud noises, and at other times she is chatty, super-outgoing and loves adventure. Her first time tobaggoning she couldn't get enough. She is fiercely independent, determined to do things her own way, but also a sucky little Daddy's girl when it is convenient. And of course Greg eats that up! :)

Sisters

Micaela is pretty steady physically, and is a pretty good talker. She started a little soccer class on the weekends and she really loves to run around the gym - though she is less than interested in the ball. She loves reading, colouring, and watching TV - and she is always interested in what her big sister is up to. Micaela absolutely hates to be left at home when Avery gets to go out and do something. I suspect her naps are going to go by the wayside sooner rather than later. She is doing really well with the potty training - really good during the day at Linda's and at home, though going out is still a little dodgy because Mikes is a little afraid of public bathrooms. They are noisy you know! :) As if there was an internal timer set, Mikes also started having an opinion about her clothes this week. Nothing that was picked out for her was good enough, and she even second-guessed what she picked out. Super fun - love that little personality quirk!

Chocolate birthday cake!

So thankfully she was actually in good health on her actual birthday - this past weekend when we were supposed to have her birthday party? Not so much. A combo stomach bug and head cold did her in. I think we will probably just do a joint party for the two of them when it is Avery's birthday - now it's going to have to be something a little more interesting...I am thinking party at the gymnastics centre. And I guess we had better get used to birthday plans being derailed by colds/flus/gastro bugs. With two winter birthdays, it is very unlikely that we will manage to have them both healthy for their birthdays in a given year. Sigh...it was a very trying weekend. Anyway, hopefully this is the worst for the season and we'll be on to more exciting adventures.

Remembering Dilly

On January 19th, we made the decision to put down our cat Dilly. Even though I wasn't very close to either cat, it was extremely sad nonetheless watching her die, and knowing that it was in large part due to a decision we had made. She had developed significant kidney disease, and we decided to put her down without pursuing too many diagnostic tests and/or treatments. She was 13, going on 14 years old, and we felt that because she had already had a fairly long life, and was basically no longer acting like herself - as in, she had become too lethargic to even run away from the kids...she let them pet her!!! - and knowing that regardless of how many interventions we tried and how much money we spent, she wasn't likely to live more than 6-12 months longer anyway, that now was a better time than later. I still wonder if we made the right choice, and if it was more for her or more for us - in the sense of convenience and being willing to fit any treatments for her into our already busy lives...

The euthanasia was a very surreal experience - I do wish you could know they understand and also give their blessing, but really, I just want to feel better about the decision we made.

Greg, of course, had a much longer history with the cats. They were found as tiny kittens in a garbage can and were brought to the Animal Hospital where his ex-girlfriend worked as a vet tech. After a few days, Greg and Mel made the decision to adopt them and they have been with Greg ever since. I can imagine that there were both super-cute little kittens and Dilly being the smaller, more timid of the two, was adorable I am sure. That being said, Greg's favorite memory of Dilly is from when, as a kitten, she was being a bit too curious and ended up surprising herself by falling and/or jumping from the second floor hallway, through the railing, down into the living room. Probably used up the second and third of her nine lives that day!

So...the aftermath? Dobyn (her sister) seems a little lost right now. I suspect she will come around and will probably just interact more with us, but it must really be strange for her. The kids have taken it all quite well - probably in part because Dilly never interacted with them very much due to her skittishness. Also, Mikes is really too young to understand any of it, and Avery has decided that Dilly is in the ground after having "dived", and has a toy to play with there and a book to read. So she won't be bored... :)

Anyway, this is not an experience I relish going through again, but I suspect we will be back to the vet clinic soon enough with Greg's dog Trus. He is going on 13 now, and is going blind and crazy. He has been living with Greg's parents since I went back to work a year ago, and we can all see the fairly progressive decline he has been going through. That decision is not going to be an easy one for any of us...

Picture Avery drew for Dilly

And Dobyn - I am sure she is going to live to be 20, just to drive us bonkers.

We all love and miss you Dilly :)