Monday, August 22, 2011

18 months, 42 months and a summer update

Flower Girl!
It feels very surreal to say that I have a 3.5 year old and a 1.5 year old...guess I better get used to that feeling. Micaela is just at the 18 month mark (now 19 really) and is definitely growing into her, ahem, "personality". Avery is almost 3.5 and coming up on 13 at any moment now. That being said, one minute she seems incredibly grown up and then the next minute she reverts to random, inexplicable crying. That ends at some point, doesn't it? Although according to Greg, I still do that. But I digress.. :)

We have had quite a good summer so far. Highlights have included my step-sister Shelly's wedding, which was Avery first starring role as a flower girl. I wasn't completely sure how she would react, especially in a room with 400 people and all of them staring at her. But she did so well, she looked super-cute in her dress, she posed for pictures, and she partied her litle heart out. She actually cried when I told her at 11:30pm that she couldn't go back and dance more because we were leaving. Then she fell asleep about 3mins after getting into the car.

Party Girl!
Micaela is incredibly full of beans these days and talking up a storm. Our favourite words of hers are: "I hab it?", "I watch PeeVee?", "PEEEEEEEZZZZ!" and "Aveeeery. Aaaaaavery. Averyyyyyyy!" She is a little climber, loves walking all over, enjoys the swings, is a decent eater (as long as we aren't trying to slip any fruits in unannouced, especially those that aren't on the tolerated list which includes apples, bananas, cherries and watermelon - sometimes), and she LOVES to dance. The rhythm is in that kid!

It is also becoming clear that the two girls have two very different personalities and physical capabilities. Avery can be very focused and has the ability to concentrate on one thing for an extended period of time (so much so that she doesn't hear her parents trying desperately to get her attention!), and she often flips back and forth between wanting to be independent, and then wanting us to really baby her. Mikes is definitely more independent in general, quite saucy and a little tease, she is physically much more capable than Avery at this age (with none of Avery's trademark clumsiness), but she is still very hesitant around strangers. And oh yeah, she adores her daddy! Seems like we each got one kid :)

Trying to keep the kids under control during the ceremony...

Both girls are quite caring, particularly towards their special toys, and even once in a while towards each other. Avery has a new favourite stuffed animal every few days, while Micaela has recently fallen in love with "Timmie" from the Treehouse show "Timmie Time". She and I took Timmie on a little walk around the block in the doll stroller the other day, and she wouldn't stop fussing over him - she kept stopping to make sure he was sitting up ok. So freakin' cute! And both girls seem to really like their cousin Jacob - it is clear that he is going to be a little in love with his big cousin Avery, but I suspect he and Micaela will get up to plenty of no-good with each other as they grow up.

Canada Day 2011
The rest of the summer has gone by so quickly - Avery started soccer this year - so far I'm not making any plans to attend the Women's World Cup in 15 years to cheer her on - but she seemed to enjoy it...most of the time. She has become a little fish this summer, which was great as we finally started to make some good use of the pool. Mikes is less interested in swimming, but I suspect next year will be a totally different story. We
has a great trip to Toronto in July - went to Riverdale Farm, the Zoo, had a fun picnic with Grampa Kelly and Nana, and had a very nice visit with Great Grammie Beryl and the great uncles. Not too much more planned for the rest of the summer - but just trying to make the most of it while it is still here!