Carabeth Coping

So, a new post

2012-01-23T00:29:00.000-08:00

I haven't been here in a long, long while. But perhaps it's time to start up again. But maybe not too much tonight, it's very late, I have a cold, but if Burke's feeling well tomorrow he has a skiing lesson, and Amelia and I will do some skiing too. Plus, I would like to do some schoolwork with them, and plan meals. So, for now that's how I'm coping.

some thoughts on socialization

2010-04-27T23:40:00.000-07:00

I am homeschooling my daughter. I don't get too many questions about it, once in a while someone will say that they wish they could. Everyone so far has been enthusiastic and supportive. (Of course Amelia is almost always with me, so that may mitigate some people, but that's fine.) Once in a while someone with ask about the socialization thing though. This , to me, is such a no-brainer. I know that Amelia is not getting that 6 hours, 5 days a week with the same people experience, but I'm not sure that that is the best, certainly not the only model of socialization. We live in a place with 16 children, ranging in age from 12 to a newborn. On nice weekends or after school, now that the days are longer, there are at least some children to play with. In the summer it's one 2-month long play date. We have other friends that we visit a lot and we go to his school regularly for some after school play, Amelia is enrolled in 2 or three extra-curricular activities. She meets lots of children.

Something that struck me that she may get out of this different model of socialization is the ability to make all sorts of friends, with all sorts of different people. I think that often in a larger classroom situation that it can be easy for children to fall into groups of friends with similar likes and dislikes, similar favourite games, etc. Amelia has the opportunity to learn how to make friends with children that she otherwise might not. For example, there is a boy in our friend's class who is also in one of the out of school classes with Amelia. I know from my adult conversations that this child is 'the problem child' in his class, and that his classmates look upon him this way. There are many of his behaviours that I don't like, and that I have a hard time being around. But Amelia takes them in stride, and considers him a friend. I think that if she were in this class, it would be hard for her to have this same friendship. Partly because she would be exposed his behaviour for longer, but also because she would probably be with a group of girls who like to read and play princess, and none of them would want to be around this boy either. She even knows that it's hard for him and he gets in trouble in their class together, but this doesn't impact her opinion of him. I can't say that one way or another is better, I just think that it's neat that Amelia is free to be friends with someone she might not otherwise.

I think even with less extreme examples of difference, it's great that Amelia gets to learn how to be friends with all sorts of different people; she can play hockey with some of the boys, or farm with the older kids, or just run around with the little boys. With our close friends L and A, she knows what sort of play they do well together, even though, again, in a straight school setting, she might not be friends with L.

To me, that type of socialization is important in the "real world", yes, there are people that we are naturally going to be friends with and want to hang out with, but the real skill is to be able to be comfortable being friends with people who are very different from ourselves. To be able to understand how to be able to work with and have fun with people that might not be our 'type'. I hope that this kind of socialization continues for my children no matter what path we go.

Why I love living in a rainforest, (and chores)

2010-04-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

I love moss! This kind is especially nice, it's very dense and soft and green.

Here is the chore chart we made a few weeks ago. We went to a store called Urban Source and found a sheet with about 100 sticky-backed square magnets on it. I have left room on the magnets so we could draw in little representations of each chore, but we haven't done that part yet. There are no rewards for chores beyond the thrill of getting a magnet under your name, but so far that is often enough of an incentive. Burke likes to do chores, even without the chart (that's the stage he's at right now, Amelia went through that too). Amelia would rather be curled up on the couch with a book, but she wants to have the same if not more that Burke, so that pushes her sometimes. I'm not very vigilant about getting them to do chores, so it's a good reminder for me too. I also find it somehow externalizes the chore process for me. I don't have to nag, they even come and ask sometimes. We now also have some 'fancy' (the shiny wrappers from Easter chocolates) magnets for non-standard chores. Amelia likes to earn those!

expectations

2009-11-11T00:17:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about how to modify my ecpectations lately. I've been getting frustrated and angry with the children very easily lately, and I've been trying to see how I could change something in myself so that I could not be so reactive, could respond in a lighter, more productive way than I have been. I had heard that anger is a reaction to unmet expectations; that is, I may somehow expect that Burke will happily eat his dinner, and so when he doesn't, (frequently the case), my expectations are not met and I get angry. I actually frequently use the word 'expect' with the children, rather than the less meaningful 'need'. "I expect you to put your toys away" rather than "I need you to put your toys away" or "You need to put your toys away". 'Expect' seems to demand more results than 'I would like you to...'.

One night last week I was half-watching some comedian, and I thought about humour, and laughter, (and how some parenting advice is to deal with your children with humour), and I realized that in a way humour is about unmet expectations too. A good punchline, or a funny situation is usually because it was unexpected. The comedian is telling a story, and you get to the end and schwoop, they throw in something that you would never have thought of. Situations in every day life can also be like that; (the only examples I can think of are fart situations...) (ok, really I can't think of anything else right now, but watch when you laugh, it's often at the unexpected).

So, now, the big experiment, meditation, work is; can I use the one to help me lighten up in my parenting. I don't think I want to be the parent always clowning around with and cajoling my children, but lately I know I could lighten up my expectation. Still have them, but realize that somehow it's sometimes ok, (or maybe even funny) if they don't get met. I don't know how this all will work yet, I'm still mulling it over.

(oh, and the picture has nothing to do with the post, I just like pictueres in blog posts. This is a new craft I've allowed myself to start.)

Princesses and princes and pirates

2009-02-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

It was birthday party time this weekend, and we had a prtty fun time, even if ai couldn't move for the rest of the night. Wow, it was more exhausting than I thought. We had8 children, so we had it in our comlex's common room. It was nice to have a clean, simple space, but the room is really echo-y, so it was really loud in there, especially because we were having a dance party! But the royal siblings had fun, the guests seemed to enjoy themselves, and we had help cleaning up! All good!

Those goofy kids

2009-01-04T22:36:00.000-08:00

They're not asleep, just goofing around. Burke loves to be close to Amelia and doing what sha does, and Amelia sometimes allows it, especially if she thinks that I'll think its cute and I'll take a picture. Sometimes she even tells me to come and take a picture. What am I supposed to do? So I take the picture...

funny boy

2008-11-25T07:44:00.000-08:00

Playing in the rain,

2008-11-11T23:22:00.000-08:00

with spray bottles.

hallowe'en

2008-11-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

Here they are, the princes and the helicopter, the royal helicopter of course!

the Princess and the helicopter

2008-10-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

I can't beleive it's been almost a month since my last post! Well, here I am, living with a princess and a helicopter. Amelia has been into Princesses for awhile, and I have been doing my best to avoid the commercial di$ney ones. She has seen them of course, in the neighborhood and on her night-time diapers, but otherwise it's been her imagination and a star wand and nice bits of fabric. Until the latest library trip, where our librarian helped us pick a few very nice books. My favourite is a version of beauty and the beast by Jan Brett, so the pictures are rich and beautiful with the best dresses. We also got a retelling of princess furball, (otherwise known as thousand-furs) this is also one of the grimms fairy tales, and is sort of a cinderella story, but this princess is a bit more active in her destiny.

Amelia has been 'being' a princess more often since the new books, and she takes it quite seriously. It affects her behaviour sometimes, she does things right away and even sometimes without asking, and is very kind to her brother when she's a princess. Not a diva princess, but a very kind and respectful princess. (this is part of how I would describe what cinderella's mother told cinderella to be before she died, it's the only way I can justify cinderella letting her family walk all over her). All to say, I'm liking the princess she is becoming. (it's not all the time, not even half the time, she still is a 4.5 year old). Burke even knows to call her pin-sess.

And Burke is into busses, trains and helicopters. Any time he runs anywhere (pretty much any time we're outside, and sometimes inside too) he holds his hand up either over his head, or more usually at his shoulder, with his index finger up, and that's a helicopter. He also loves to talk about them; helicopter on seabus, bus on toot-toot (train), teeter-totter-bus-toot-toot-weeoo-weeoo(firetruck)-seabus-helicopter.

So, we have a helicopter and a princess.

Better day for the aquarium

2008-09-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

We went back to the aquarium today and it was perfect (except the parking rates are still the high summer rates), but we were able to go down below to see the baby beluga from downstairs for the first time. (She is sure looking plump!) All summer, there have been 45 minute waitsto godown, and sure enough, today there was no line up, and when we were there, there was only one other visitor to see her. I love it so much better when it's not crowded, I am not compelled to hold their hands every single minute.

We also spent a fair bit of time today watching the sea horses, I don't know if we just haven't watched them enough before or if they were feeling frisky today, but there was quite a lot of hanging on to each others tails. some of the ones hanging on were less than half the size, but then some weren't, and the ones we thought we babies weren't only hanging on to one particular big one. I guess it's time for a trip to the library...

Grouse Mountain

2008-09-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

There are lots of these wooden sculptures up on Grouse mountain, Mia wants me to say that it's very nice on the mountain.

homeschooling

2008-09-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

Amelia and I (along with Burke) have started homeschooling. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings we do school. Basically we do some craft (wool felting, drawing, painting), then we pack a little snack and go outside to the park, play, eat then come back home for some other activity, then have a story then have lunch. In some ways, this is not too much different than what a regular day might look like except for the large fact of my undivided attention. She is quite enjoying it, and I think that is the underlying reason.

I had a very distracted and unorganized (even for me) summer, so I am quite glad that fall is here. Not only is it my favourite time of year in general, but I find it so much easier to have somewhat of a schedule. Now the house and the kitchen get tidied and cleaned more regularly. Before bedtime, we have a routine of cleaning up the living room and vacuuming, so now I know during the day that no matter how messy it looks right now, by the end of the night it will be something resembling clean.

mini-me

2008-08-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

I know I'm going to have to stop this behaviour, Amelia parents Burke sometimes. For example, this morning she moved the mouse out of his reach and then she proceeded to tel him why she had done this. It was a very good mirror for me, as she said things like 'look at me' (pause) 'look at me' then 'I put the mouse away, look at me, I put the mouse away because it's not for playing with'. it's funny and cute, but I'm going to have to stop it somehow. (It is nice to have the backup though!)

aquarium

2008-08-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

We went to the aquarium today. I knew better, but we did it anyway, it was raining so I thought 'how bad can it be?' No, really a bad idea, if we just wait for 2 more weeks, it'll be so-o-o much better, the crowds and the kids'll be gone home or in school and the field trips will not have started yet and we'll have the place to ourselves.

We really haven't had a long summer at all, but I am glad it's almost done, I love the fall, can get into a better routine in the fall, and can cook and bake again!

from a recent trip

2008-08-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

trying again

2008-08-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging, because it was very hard to get on the computer by myself, that seems to have changed, so I'm going to try again.

So, yesterday, we went to the fair. The kids loved it, they loved the rides, and Burke was in there like a dirty shirt. luckily there were some rides for his size. We also ran into some friends with similar aged children and I think that really helped the event from being overwhelming somehow. Next year I think we'll skip the dog show and go straight for the rides and funhouses, because by the time we got to those, Lance and I were just about done.

dark knight

2008-08-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

the boy likes to dress up...

photopost

2008-05-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a lot to say, this was yesterday, when it was hot enough that they played in the sprinkler (andthen had a snack, seen here), whereas today we were in pants, longsleeves and fleecies. But we did havefun outside yesterday. (plus, it has become very tricky to get a non-goofy picture of that girl...)

A month since the last post!!

2008-05-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

We're still here, tring to survive this chilly, chilly spring we've been having. This week the plants that should have already been up finally showed their faces, I hope that means no more snow.

So, we're human, eh?

2008-03-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

This picture is what I came downstairs to one morning. Once in a while, Amelia and Burke will go downstairs together before I really wake up, and she'll look after Burke; she asks him little questions and he does his little "mm" in response. "Do you want to go downstairs?" "Mm." "Hold my hand Burke." "Are you hungry?" "Mm?" "Do you want some yogurt?" "Mm." clink of spoons. silence. "Burke put yogurt on his face."

I don't know, but that line of dots across his forehead doesn't look self-inflicted...

Today, as we were driving home, after a lull in the conversation, Amelia tried to start up a conversation. "So... ..., so, we're human, eh?" I tried to hold my laugh and said yes, she said, so Burke and I are children humans. Yep. (at least I think so.)

watch out for the hungry tiger!!!

2008-03-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

Burke woke up from a nap the other day, can you tell which side he was lying on? I was surprised at how very frizzy his hair became. Amelia was feeding him bits of pineapple (until he took over for the last few pieces). He'll eat a greater variety from her. The only time he'll put meat in his mouth is if she feeds it to him. He hadn't shown interest in pineapple before, but with her feeding him, he couldn't get enough. I don't make her feed him often though, don't want to spoil the magic...

how cute is this?

2008-02-28T23:01:00.000-08:00

When Burke wakes up at night and comes to find me, he closes the bedroom door behind him first. Even though really he's mostly asleep.

embroidery

2008-02-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

I've been having fun doing some embroidery, now I just have to figure out what to do with it...

happy birthdays

2008-02-23T13:29:00.000-08:00

We celebrated both Amelia's and Burke's birthdays today with an ocean party (Lots of blue and green balloons to represent the ocean), and a beluga cake. One of Amelia's two guests couldn't come today, so she came for a little party on monday (mia's actual day) and we had sea star cupcakes. between feb 12, (burke), feb 18 (mia) and feb 22 (me) I think we're through with birthdays and all that for now!! I know I am. It was lots of fun, and I did get to do everything I wanted, both for myself and for the kids but whew, time to go back to no schedule or projects for a bit.

try again for grandpa's card

2008-02-02T20:23:00.000-08:00

Serious Snow (for Vancouver!)

2008-01-30T13:35:00.000-08:00

You can't see it in the top picture, but we piled up snow at the base of the slides, so that when they came flying down the slide (rain pants go fast!), there was more slide, and no uncomfortable drop at the bottom. Burke and Amelia both had a blast. The day before, Daddy and Mia made a beautiful snow gnome, Sadly gone now, the driveway had to be plowed. For the record, daddy gave Burke his haircut, though my first attempts weren't any better... And Amanda, Burke is wearing the big birdie-monkey hat in the middle pic. (they'll always be birdie-monkey hats to me!)

Happy (birthday) Grandpa!

2008-01-12T15:48:00.000-08:00

(a car and a monkey puzzle tree)

drawings

2007-12-14T21:14:00.000-08:00

As I promised, here are just two of the many, many, many drawings Amelia is churning out. Many of her drawings are less detailed (practice, trying things out), but when I sort through them, I have to keep about half.
Other than the cat in the centre, I don't know what else is in the top drawing. The bottom drawing is a family of cows. (the noses are drwn with oe line starting at the top leading into the middle of a sideways figure eight) On the far left is the table, that squiggle above the first cow is the stairs , that coloured in circle is our dining room light (she even included the clips, those little loops on the rim. Off to the right is our living room, with our couches and the christmas tree.

long time, no see

2007-12-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

Here is the little boy, he enjoys dressing up.

And the too cool duo

And how cute is this? they walked hand-in-hand for about 6 blocks.

I wiil try to start updating again on a regular basis, sometimes it'll be only pics like today, 'cause I've got a rascally toddler in my lap.

"lizard hat"

2007-04-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

Mia's wearing her gnome hat and Burke is wearing her lizard hat. (wizard) Both of these were made by a good friend.

reading

2007-04-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

These two have been so sweet together the past few days, even more than usual. this is how they were for about 10 minutes straight while I was cleaning in the kitchen. yesterday and today there have been long stretches of time were they are quietly playing side-by-side, easily sharing toys. Mostly Amelia does the sharing, but Burke does understand too. I have seen him watch her playing with something, then go back to his toy, but go get her toy when she gets up to do something else. Of course it's not always like that, they often tries to grab from each other, and yesterday while they were playing together on the couch, Mia leaned over and bit Burke's finger, hard. I don't know why, but I think she was just happy to be with him and his fingers looked so plump and juicy...

In other news, I attended a birth last week. In the fall, I took a doula training course, and attended my first birth in January. Now this was my second one. A doula is a labour support person, and extra coach for the mother, but also a support for the father (or partner etc.). A doula doesn't do any medical work, but is experienced in birht and can reassure the mother and help support her birth plan and help make sure that she is satisfied with her birth experience. I was more relaxed with my second client than my first, the first time, I had a hard time not thinking all about me and what I was doing and evaluating myself. In most new jobs, the first little while I would ask for feedback from the people I was working with to make sure I was doing things right. But that doesn't work in a birth experience. The last thing the labouring mother needs is to worry about reassuring her doula. But this time was better, I felt more at home with offering advise, helping the mother cope with the contractions and communicating with the father. I have got potentially another birth in June, and that mother is planning a home birth, which I am looking orward to. I think that many people planning births with midwifes tend not to get doulas because they feel that they are already getting that extra 'woman support'. In order to become a certified doula, I need to have attended 3 births. It looks like I will have met that requirement sooner than I had expected (I haven't started putting my name out there yet).

sharing

2007-04-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

And here's a sequence of Burke passing blocks to Mia. I wish you could hear the little "here you are" noises he was making each time too.

Crafting

2007-04-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

I made these little messenger bags a while ago for two birthday boys. I was quite pleased with the way they turned out, and I want to make more. First I have to do the dishes. And the laundry. And clean the bathroom. But once that is finally done, I will. they're nice because they're small enough that I can easily use all kinds of bits of fabric for the stripes and sides. I appliqued the stripes on these, and I won't do that again, especially not denim on denim...and I have to use something better than ribbon for the straps.

I put this whole post up because I noticed that you put me on your blog, Amanda, and I thought that I'd better do a little more posting than I have been! Thank you for the motivation.

in the garden

2007-04-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

One of the things I imagined when we moved here was the children playing in the backyard while I cook or clean. I can see into the backyard from the kitchen as well. this week, they've done that a few times, and I'm so happy about it that I spend half the time sneaking around with the camera rather than doing the chores. They love it, often they're sitting side-by-side. Burke has got little scratches all over his face from crawling through the salal (the greenery in the front left of the bottom picture, it's everywhere). That won't last long, he has just started taking a few steps.

Enerthing

2007-03-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

"Enerthing" and "enerbody" are Mia's words for nothing and nobody.

So, I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in such a long time. I really have no meaningful computer time left, unless I get all cranky about it...During the day, whichever children are about climb on me if I sit down, (and Mia doesn't nap, so there are always children around) and at night, if I can do more than veg in front of the tv, the computer is usually already in use.

Burke is not walking yet, he is doing much more free-standing. And he's very close to speaking. He says Mama, and sometimes he specifically means me when he says it, he's been able to shake his head "no" for quite some time, usually just for fun when we say "no", but he does use it when he doesn't want any more food, or has his mouth full still. We haven't really been sighning with him, occasionally Mia and I will do "more" and I've just noticed that he may be doing his own version of that now. We'll see.

And Mia is just growing up and trying more things all the time. She's totally potty trained now, and hardly need us at all. She's even taken to sitting on the toilet without the child's seat sometimes.

Really the best is the way those two interact and make each other laugh. Today, Mia was whacking a beach ball with a mini hockey stick and Burke was sitting in my lap laughing that classic baby belly laugh.

original

2007-03-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

beluga

2007-02-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

This is another of Amelia's picture editing experiments. We do have to watch out, Picasa is easy to use, which means she can easily click-and-drag pictures out of order and into other folders (I'm guessing the last, I don't know how else she would have done it...). Maybe we'll have to give her her own computer to mess up, or make sure that everything is backed-up (teach her how to back-up and that could be one of her chores...) or, just maybe, wean her off computers, at least until she can read the warning messages!

Burke is not walking yet, that will be soon enough and once he starts I think there'll be no stopping him. I'm glad it'll be spring and we'll just go outside as much as possible. He imitates actions much more than I ever remember Mia doing at this point, I don't know if that's because I just don't remember or if he has an interesting older sister to imitate. Today, he tried to feed me when Mia and I were doing some serious cooking (Chocolate pie, chocolate mousse, soup and two loaves of bread, the first one burnt in the oven, all in under 30 minutes. Sure, they looked like building blocks, but oh, the taste!)

Grandma!

2007-02-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

We had a nice time at the Aquarium with Grandma, who is visiting until Sunday.

Cupcakes

2007-02-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

We made some cupcakes for Mia to have her candles in.

Happpy 3rd Birthday, little girl!

2007-02-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

Happy First, little boy!

2007-02-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

potty trained

2007-02-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

(Does it count if she just sits on the pot for a long, long, long time until something happens? sometimes more than once in the same sitting?) (She won't get off sometimes.) (I am counting it, because she only uses the toilet now.) Yay! One down, one to go.

Firsts

2007-02-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Amelia had her first full potty-trained day today. No accidents. We started training a week ago Tuesday, when we went out and bought a 12-pack of underwear and just put them on during the day and changed them as we needed to. The first 5 days, we had one 'success' per day, then two and three, yesterday was three for five. Also two days ago she asked to go one or two of the times. Today she asked for some of the times, I suggested twice and then, to my surprise, the last two times she just toddled off and did it all herself. This last situation might be hard to do, I'm not sure how to make the toilet accessible to her and not for Burke. Today he had a cold and fever and so I was holding him all day and left the gate open to Mia's potty. We'll figure something out, the hard part's pretty much done now I'd say. She started dressing herself out of the blue one day about three weeks ago, so that was part of the timing. It's much easier to pull pants up over panties than a diaper.

Also, Burke and Mia had their first fight. And not in a "this baby's in my way" way either. Usually they play well together, they don't often need each other's toys, and if Burke's trying to grab something of Mia's, I;ll intervene and tell him that it's Mia's turn and that he can have a turn when she's done, then give him something else or take him away, depending on the situation. Usually Mia ends up giving it to him 30 seconds after. I actually rarely have to do this anymore. Anyway, the other night in the tub, I went into our bedroom for a moment. All of a sudden, Mia was yelling "I want it, I want it, I WANT IT!" and Burke was doing his particular p*%$$ed off cry/yell (he's mostly good humoured, but he does have a bit of a quick temper). I came back in to see that Amelia had the toy that Burke had just been playing with in one hand trying to hold it away from him and he was holding on hard to, and scrabbling at, her other arm. It was red where he'd been squeezing. It was really very funny.

Here's the picture

2007-01-31T15:38:00.000-08:00

Mia and Mommy

2007-01-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

On the beach, picture as edited by Mia. This is one of her favourite things to do now. She used to look at the pictures and then she figured out how to play with them all by herself.

"For Grandpa, but grandma can share it too"

2007-01-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

Mia didn't say that these were anything in particular, so I guess I'll call them toddler abstract. The only things she did say were that the series of dots in the bottom form were blocks all lined up and that the dots in the donut in the top form were decorations.

Wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley...

2007-01-21T17:34:00.000-08:00

Well, Amelia anyway. They spent a happy 15-20 minutes like this a few nights ago

Here comes trouble

2007-01-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

happy ho-ho

2006-12-25T16:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas tree

2006-12-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

Pajama morning

2006-12-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

Hello

2006-12-08T14:36:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry for the lack of regular posting, it's just that, well, um, yeah. Sometimes during my day, I compose wonderful little stories to post, but by the time I get to the computer (which doesn't happen every day if Amelia doesn't nap. she doesn't nap all the time anymore, rather calls out to me, waking up Burke and getting my blood simmering) they're gone. So, here is Amelia asleep one night. She's been insisting on going to sleep in her crib for about 2 weeks now. She also has her afternoon quiet time in here. She is too long for it now, so I worry about her little scrunched up body and I move her to her big bed when I go to sleep.
And here is a slightly washed out picture of Burke doing his favourite activity; standing. He stands up anywhere he can, even the bathroom scale, 2 inches off the floor. Sometimes he just has his hands on the floor and his legs straight and tries to push his body up. He's always been about his legs, always pushing with them, even in the womb.

Snow!

2006-11-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

View from the front door
View of the backyard.

yeah, right

2006-11-17T23:15:00.000-08:00

Would you believe sick and sick & teething? We made it through the day, with the help of a great many tissues. Now it's Daddy's turn. For the next two days, I will be gone all day. I'm taking a doula training course! (A doula is a birth coach to help women (and their partners) through the whole labour and birth process).

Turbidity, another word for muddy

2006-11-17T08:39:00.000-08:00

Pineapple express-a tropical rain and wind storm. Very high water turbitity-boil water advisory. baby with a cold-plugged nose-wake up at 4:30.Same baby teething-top right tooth and the canines (again, and for real hopefully). Toddler with a cold-awake and ready for the day at 5:30. Spit-up (I thought we were over that). Diapers.

And all the coffee shops are closed-see water turbidity:

Wish me well.

Posted before 9 am.

May I vent a little?

2006-11-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

Why do people think that it's cute or funny to ask little girls with big brown eyes if they can take them home, or if their mom would notice if they took her little brother away with them? And then they have the audacity to expect that little girl to give them a polite goodbye or even a hug? I wish I could think of a good snide comment to make in these situations, but these people are frequently people that we see on a semi-occasional basis and on whose goodwill in their job we rely on. Argh.

Sleeping girl and apple pie

2006-11-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

This is where Mia fell asleep today. She's not been napping lately, and if she does fall asleep during the day she's awake longer at night, but I'm loathe to wake her up, she just sings and talks to herself at night, so it's not as if it makes any more work for us. The past few days have been dark and rainy, Vancouver & November rain, so I think that may make her a bit more sleepy ( don't we all get sleepy on those days?)
The above was a creation to imitate the below. Lance had this pie a few weeks ago and loved it so much he took a picture. I made sort of an egg-y crust, I found the recipe I want to try next time, but it calls for yeast and I couldn't find mine. I used gala apples (it's what we had) and I don't think they're very good for baking, they stayed crunchy. Still tasty , but not nice and mushy like theirs. But the topping, oh Yum! I toasted hazelnuts, cashews and almonds in the oven, took what skin off the hazelnuts I could and then added pumpkin seeds. I cooked some water, sugar and cornstarch together to make the glaze and mixed the nuts in. I love the way mine looks, I like the colour much better than theirs, and the toasted nuts are so yummy. Overall, a very good dessert, and it will only be better next time with the improvements to crust and apple variety.

Burke

2006-11-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

On October 25, Burke finally got his first tooth! ( His bottom left, same as Amelia's first) A few days later the bottom right broke through. Our own little Jack-o-Lantern.

Burke has been able to get up onto his knees and rock back and forth for quite some time now, and can get into the sitting position easily, but only in the past few days has he done any crawling, and that was only one 'crawl' at a time. This morning he managed5 or 6 in a row. He's very unsteady, but definately moving forward. I was reminded, watching him, that even crawling is a balancing act.

Perhaps in response to this new phase in his life, I had a wierd incident last night. I would say dream, but I was very much awake.

I woke up, looking for Burke. (We co-sleep and his bed is right between me and the wall.) I was throwing off his blankets, looking all around me, even looking on the floor to see if he had managed to get down there. I was really starting to get worried and woke up Lance to get his help.

All the while there was a poor confused baby right at my lap (who just wanted to nurse, please!) I thought that was Amelia.

I don't know what Lance must've been thinking as he pointed out that Burke was RIGHT THERE. But, I wondered, where was Amelia? Safe in her own bed. It was about then that my real brain kicked in and I settled down.

the end

the little caterpillar

2006-10-31T20:26:00.000-08:00

A few pics from the hallowe'en party

2006-10-29T21:34:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love her liitle hand on his face?
I had thought to call her a butterfly and Burke a caterpillar (I'll get a picture of him on Tuesday), but she looks more like a fairy. It's shiny, it has wings, that's plenty.

more beach shots

2006-10-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

(and don't worry, in the shot below, I was just out of the picture, not that far away!)

Sorry I haven't posted lately, it's just the way it's been around here lately. Amelia's quiet times are shorter because she doesn't usually fall asleep anymore, and Burke's been waking up more often, so I don't get much time. All these wonderful and sweet little things happen and I think "Oh, that would be a perfect little story for the blog", but now I can't remember them.

I have made a little costume for Amelia and will be making one for Burke, so look for those soon...

at the beach

2006-10-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Now if only she could change his diapers...

2006-10-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

matching!

2006-10-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

We recieved a new, larger ducky sweater. An early Christmas present, thank you C! The little one still fits Mia, but I don't really have a sweater for Burke, so I've been putting him in this. And these are the hats we got from Amanda in the spring. It's the only hat that I have a chance of keeping on Burke's head, he rips everything else off.

As the four of us were heading out in the car today, Mia started asking about something, it sounded like "bed", but no she said. "bear?", "not bear, bed" ,"bird?" "no". Then she said "not a bed, not a bird, not a bear" (a la green eggs and ham). It was so funny we started laughing in the front of the car, me a bit louder apparently because then she said "are you freaking out, mama?" (I'm laughing just remembering) (after she's had a meltdown, she'll sometimes ask me 'what'd I do?' as in what just happened, and two or three times I've responded by saying 'you just freaked out a little bit')

more aquarium shots

2006-09-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Stellar sea lion and pacific white-sided dolphins.

Belugas!

2006-09-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

(Amanda, if you guys ever come up here, we would love to take you here!)

We've gone to the Aquarium three times in the past three weeks now that the tourist season has somewhat slowed and the children aare back in school.And this, in the underwater beluga visiting area, is our favourite spot. We usually have our mid-morning snack there.

Two years ago today

2006-09-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Amelia took this picture,

2006-09-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

She also set up the animals with their food, plates and spoons. She also wants to type something.

v nxn,nroooxnc nxz ccxzncsanx m lfm sf smmfksmffmkdlflkf ekffk fk lfk;f;eff'fl'f'fff]wf
f
'f
'f;f;f;f;f
;
f;
f;f;

ps.
I was upstairs and Mia told me she needed the camera, so I came and was going to take the picture of her animals for her, but she insisted on doing it herself. Very soon she'll be doing her own blogging I guess....

And so it begins...

2006-09-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

"Why Momma, why?"

"Because you're two-and-a-half."

"Why?"

"Because you've got lots of questions."

"Why?"

"Becau-u-u-use there's lots of things that you want to learn about and understand."

"Why momma?"

"Because you're a curious little girl."

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

"Oh."

This last answer was Lance's idea, and it worked the one time I tried it, so I'm going to use it sparingly so it doesn't lose potency. She just started this why on top of why yesterday.

what can i say?

2006-09-02T23:41:00.000-07:00

playing around

2006-08-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

in our backyard

2006-08-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

(literally less than 10 feet from our back door) (I made the dress from an old corderouy shirt)

Carousel

2006-08-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

We went on a merry-go-round this week. I thought Amelia might not have wanted to go on, she was very serious when she first saw it, but when I asked her if she wanted to go on it, she solemnly nodded her head. Our friend caught this picture before we started moving and Mia was talking about something. For the rest of the ride she was very quiet and serious. however, she did want to go on it again, and was just as serious for the second ride. I guess some things are just too fun and exciting to even emote. The little frien we were there with was the same way, and he's usually a bit more animated than Mia.

Mia style

2006-08-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

This is how you sleep in your new bed. (she's had it for a week now, and takes her naps in her own room and goes to bed there, but wakes up at about 4 am and finishes her night back in our room.)
And this is how to eat salad, Amelia style. ( we'd had a dissapointing eggplant dinner-too bitter to eat, even though I did everything you're supposed to, so Mia only had about one bite, then ate almost all the salad using the tongs. Whatever works!) (And that look on Burke's face is him rubbing his gums together, still working on a tooth) ( and you can see a bit of my haircut, I took the scissors and cut off the bottom half of my hair)

dancing queen

2006-08-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

We were in the basement (hard to tell from the background decor, I know), and I was sewing, Burke was rolling and Amelia was rocking! She was showing me the different dances that belonged to the different pre-recorded mixes on the electric piano thingy. She was actually matching them quite well too.

Another cute Mia story; the other night, both children asleep, Mia upstairs and Burke on the couch, we heard a loud bang from the bedroom. Lance went up to see and she whispered to him "I'm asleep". And that was that.

Also, Burke's canine has been covered up again, so now he is again toothless, and there are no areas where it looks like teeth are imminent. We'll wait for the next full moon...

the end of the party

2006-07-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

A friend, who is a photographer, took these at the end of a birthday party.

In other news, Burke is eating solids. When he started lunging for my spoon and smacking his lips I took it as a sign. I knew he was ready, teeth and interest in food, but I can't believe how quickly it's gone!

Another little thing, Amelia has about a 90% accuracy rate in telling whether Burke is awake or asleep. This though we're in a different room and he usually makes no noise when he wakes up. It can be very handy to just ask her instead of going to check...

no shots of the teeth yet...

2006-07-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

But here is our vampire boy. No rice cereal for him, it's sraight to the steaks! Now his top right molar is showing and the right canine will probably have broken through by tomorrow.

first tooth!

2006-07-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

Burkes' first tooth is poking through now, but it's his left top canine!?!? Are we raising a little vampire?

Cirque du So-So

2006-07-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

more cirque tricks...

2006-07-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

my little attachment

2006-07-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

Varekai!

2006-07-06T22:49:00.000-07:00

We got to go see Cirque du Soleil tonight. My sister babysat and I managed to tear myself away from my children to go see the show. It is beyond words! I had seen some performances on tv and was curious to see whether it might not be better on tv because of the focus of the camera. No, it was absolutely incredible in person. Not only do you see the amazing performance but you also get to see the concentration on the spotters faces, the smiles on their faces when they finish, their arms or legs quivering as they held their weight, the little adjustments as they prepared to do a move. So worth it. Even worth being away from my almost 5 month old for 4 whole hours. I hope that if the circus comes to town again in a few years that we'll be able to take the children.

look what I found in my garden!

2006-07-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

getting ready for bathtime

2006-06-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry posts have been light lately, Burke had been needing me to sleep with him for his naps, then as that was passing we finally got new carpets and flooring in our place! The turquoise/teal is (almost) gone and in it's place a lovely silvery chocolate brown. They are finishing the dining room tomorrow, and I will post a picture soon. Luckily our weeks of cold, rainy weather have paused, and it is hot and sunny so that we can have all the doors and windows open to de-fume the place.

Burke just loves baths. He goes in there with Amelia and flops and squirms his little body around (I just support his head), and if he manages to push himself with his foot he does his version of a laugh. It doesn't matter what his mood before, as soon as he's naked and realizes that he's going into the tub, he's happy.

Adaptive Behaviour

2006-06-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was trying to nurse a fussy Burke (he's teething) and Amila was happily playing. Suddenly she was quite upset; there was a mosquito buzzing around her and it stayed with her when she came over beside me. She was truly crying and upset. I ended up having her lie on my side while I was nursing Burke on the other side. I realized that from an evolutionary standpoint, it would make sense for children to cry for help if a bug comes close; mosquitos could carry malaria or other diseases that could kill a child before they grew up to reproduce. I'm not sure if this is the case, (it sounds plausible to me), but either way, it helped me understand a behaviour that otherwise seemed silly.

The artist at work

2006-06-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

Her art form is drama, the pen and paper are props. She asked me to take her picture, so I took a few, then went to put the camera away and she said "how 'bout dis one mommy, how 'bout dis one?" That's the look she was holding on the bottom left. The bottom right is the only candid shot , taken as we were laughing about all the tomfoolery.

rolling over

2006-06-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

He can roll onto his belly now. He lays on his arm, and today he actually wiggled that free too. He's not crazy about being on his belly, so tummy-time is short-lived. He leads the roll with his mouth; that is he is sort of searching for a nipple when he rolls. Whatever works!

Maybe its a guy thing,

2006-05-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

I don't remember Amelia's hands ever getting in the way whan I changed her diapers...

they woke up before 5:30 this morning...

2006-05-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

siblings

2006-05-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

Lights up the room

2006-05-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

We finally caught that smile on camera. Burke likes being right in the bath better than the little tub. It makes him harder to wash, but if we get laughs like this then it's worth it!

children can be handy to have around

2006-05-12T23:21:00.000-07:00

Mia, Burke and I were at the library the other day, and I went to the bathroom. There I was, Burke strapped to me, Mia waiting to flush the toilet after me and I found out there was no toilet paper. What to do, there was no-one else in the bathroom, then I realized that Amelia could probably help. Why not try, there was nothing to lose, so I opened the stall and she went to the next stall after only a little prompting and came back with one square of TP. And I only had to ask her once to go and get me some more. Problem solved, yay for the set of helpful, if distractable, set of extra hands!

"Int you"

2006-05-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

Mia's been saying thank you complely unprompted and unexpectedly when I get something for her. It's not something I've trained her to say to me, we do get her to say it to other people. She's not too obvious about it either, it's just the way anyone would say it, as a matter of course. Now I'll do almost anything to hear that little off-hand "Int you, mommie."

Pink! and Green!

2006-05-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

I had a little shower for a dear friend who is expecting her second baby anytime in the next few weeks. I made these little bags and painted blocks with each guests initials. I felt very Martha to have this all done. I am very excited for her baby, and really can hardly wait.

I was thinking last night as I watched my two sleeping babies. I had worried while I was pregnant with Burke how my heart could stretch to hold him too. I knew it would and that i was being silly, but there it was. Of courseeverything was alright as soon as I held him. But last night it occured to me that while I have less one-on-one time with him, the time that I do have with him is not (as it was with Mia) coloured with the novelty and adjustments of being a mom too. I'm not going through an identity change at the same time this time. It also helps that he is such a calm, accepting little guy...

Mia: "Trust me," Burke: "Help me."

2006-04-27T23:30:00.000-07:00

reading

2006-04-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Mia asked if she could read to Burke.

Birdie-monkey hats

2006-04-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

Thank you Amanda!

These hats and the basket, along with lots of stickers

afbfb dbbbbbb snsss zzzzzzz s b zzzzzzzzz xsas (Amelia's bit while I went to look after Burke)

and an alpaca activity book arrived in the mail today. It's hard to see in this picture, but the hat looks like this.(scroll down a little) Her two little pony tails will fit perfectly...

2006-04-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

This is Burke with the sling that I just made for him. It is not a hard piece of sewing. it it just a lenth of fabric 6 metres long, and about 1/2 metre wide. I love this fabric, it is a twill. I bought 3 metres of it, cut it in 1/2 lengthwise and sewed them together and voila. The fabric is courtesy of their great-grandmother- thank you!. And when we are done with it as a sling I'll be able to peice it to use as the back to his quilt that I will hopefully have started...

Also, this is Burke after I fed him, and I have to say, I love watching as he starts to wake up when he's hungry and starts searching around for the nipple. The little hmph, hmph noises and trying to get anything, his hand or blanket, into his mouth.

And a note on the pic of Mia with the book on her face. Of necessity, I have started letting her read on her own at naptime. I thought she would get up, but she doesn't, so now this is our new naptime routine and she falls asleep by herself after about 30-45 of quiet time. And at night, she is still awake when I leave the room and she stays in bed. So nice, I really got frustrated with waiting until those little eyes closed, but she wasn't ready until now for me to leave her awake. We had tried the cry-it-out once or twice, but she outlasted us.

naptime

2006-04-10T15:12:00.000-07:00