too...tired...

I heard a little cry from Amelia towards the end of her nap-time, but then nothing else for about 15 minutes, so I guessed she had gone back to sleep. She had, but she made it this far first. This is how I found her, sound asleep, I was able to take two flash pictures before she woke up. She had needed her diaper changed, so that's what woke her in the first place. As I was changing her, she was complaining that her knee was hurting. I guess so!! 

There she is!!!

 

can you spot the little girl???

 

ninneready

Ninneready means Dinner ready, and Amelia says this when she's hungry, but also lately when she's stalling her nap. Today was the first meal-time for some of the animals and so they needed their "bib-on" then it was "ninneready". 

peety (pretty)

I had a perfect Rockwellian or Dickensian moment last night. I put up the tree after Amelia went to bed and was just putting the last ornaments on as she woke up. She started down the stairs backwards, complaining a bit, but then she saw the tree. I had turned most of the lights off so I could experience the tree. And Amelia has seen a couple of Christmas trees out and about and has really liked them. So, she completely stopped crying, said her version of "Christmas tree" and came down the rest of the stairs.She said "peety" for the first time without my saying it first. She was so happy, her eyes were shiny and she had such a beautiful soft smile as she carefully examined the decorations. It was really almost too perfect, like a made-for-tv-movie. (this picture is from this morning)

Snow!!

Need I say more? 

Is dinner ready?

She got her own bib out, put a bowl on her tray (I took it back to put food in it) and the next thing I hear is her squawking, and hear she is. She only just discovered that she can climb onto a chair, and tonight discovered that she can get to the table from there. I think she may have been going to attempt to get into her chair but got distracted. Watch out world!!

ps. To anyone worried, this is not something we let Amelia do, or will encourage. I didn't know she could do it. Now I do!

Who do you sleep with?

Amelia's slept every night in her room now since we started. She wakes up once or twice, and I either spend the second half of the night with her, or manage to get back to my own bed. I'm so pleased and proud of her, although she hasn't seemed to really have noticed much, except when she wakes in the night and I'm not right there, but even that's been not bad at all. These are the guests she invited into her bed tonight, and she had me kiss them all too, how could I refuse? When she slept beside me, she never slept with a stuffie or doll, and didn't really seem too attached to them either. During the move, this Shirley Temple doll re-surfaced, (that our grandma had given to me and Molli as children), and Amelia fell in love. In my ideal plan in my mind, Amelia's first doll would be the Waldorf doll that Molli is making that we were planning to give to her for her second birthday, in time for the new baby in the house. We have put a rush on that doll, it will be more cuddly than this stiff plastic one. Amelia has tried a few times to go to sleep resting on Shirley's belly, but it's just not made for that!

Amelia is very sweet with Shirley, she doesn't do everything with us, but when she's around she'll join us for storytime, get kisses if she falls, walk up the stairs (which is tricky if you already are using your hands to get up the stairs), watch bathtime (from a safe distance) and, of course, go to sleep with us. Sometimes, some of the stuffies will join us in our activities too if they happen to be around (like tonight).

It's interesting for me to watch this play naturally unfold, I don't remember playing with animals or dolls much as a child, I wasn't a tomboy and we did play with Barbies but I never was much into dolls like this that I remember, granted my memory is not that good... But the play that Amelia engages in with these has unfolded quite by itself. The first time she found the doll, I showed her how to hold her gently, and once she dropped her down the stairs and Lance told Amelia that's not how we play with dolls and gave Shirley a hug for the fall, and that's all the guidance Amelia has needed. When the child is ready the doll shall appear???

A first pony tail

Amelia has a hat with tassles on it, and she calls my pony tail or bun a tassle too and so i put one in her hair for the first time. She loved it!

Another first; tonight I put her to sleep in her own room for the first night-time sleep. (waa for me, she may be ready for her own room but am I??) She's had about 6 naps in there so far. I didn't think I'd start transitioning her for another week or so, but the way the night-time routine went it just happened. I have her on foam on the floor and just went to check on her, she's now on the floor on the other side of the little room(she's rolling into the bi-fold closet doors as I . We'll see how this progresses 

just woke up

This is Amelia just after her nap at the top of the stairs. (please note the lovely colour of our carpet, they've said we'll get new carpets in the spring) 

all gone

and this is her with Baa the goat on the empty empty living room floor in the old place.
No pictures of the new place yet, next week I hope to be able to settle in and just putter around in the new place.

Does anyone know of any alternatives to the ugly and expensive vinyl liners for cupboards and drawers? Does martha make anything half decent? All we've seen so far is shiny silver, busy blue delft flowers, dirty-looking faux stone and textured white. No nice soft martha colours. Yet. 

All hands on deck...

or, No time to play.

It's amazing to watch learning in action. Amelia had been watching me as I was dismantling the bed, but she was also climbing in and out of the bed frame, so I was a litttle surprised at how fully she understood what the process was.

As for our move, we are basically all out (just a few odds and ends, you know how much fun those are!) and the cleaning left to do. 

boo

November 1:
I'm lying on the floor as I type this, slightly on one side off the belly(so i'm going to minnimise computer time today) (baby's already kicking). The moving is going amazingly well! we've had lots of help from friends and now most of the stuff is gone. Lance has a busy week ahead, so it looks as if we might actually move the beds tonight!!!

My friend made the cape, she made 2 for her little guy, this one and a bat one with a little hood with ears. We went to a few houses with them. They looked so cute, two little caped crusaders helping themselves to candy. Luckily for all involved, it stopped raining last night, it was coming down in buckets erarlier in the day, and the seven day forecast calls for rain, rain, rain. Vancouver in November. ok, must go, see you all in a few days!

she stuck raisins in her ear!

 

Fruit cakes

I love having fruit cakes at Christmas, but haven't been able to make them every year. They're a big investment in dried fruit. I use all unsulphered and unsweetened fruit (except I do use dried cranberries which are sweetened I believe, oh, and candied ginger, yum!): dates, 2 types of raisins, apricots, ginger, cranberries, and figs are the fruits that made it in this year. then I wrap them and let them soak in apricot brandy until they're mellow! I'm so happy I could make them this year. 

Toot toot

Amelia loves to balance on anything, and says "toot-toot" as she does. These are the blocks that grandpa made for her. She balances on curbs, low wooden rails, concrete dividers, peices of wood, (she holds a hand when she does). 

Updates

There is some news that I haven' written about yet, and it's overdue: I'm pregnant, 22 weeks pregnant (about 4.5 months). I'm due February 24. For the record, Amelia will be 2 on Feb. 18, and I'll be 35 on Feb. 22. Busy month! I am showing now, for the people who know me, people who don't know me think that's just my shape. It is a subtle difference I guess. I notice that I've started to pooch my belly out a bit more than I would usually, and do that pregnant thing of resting my hands or arms on my belly, I think in an unconscious effort to show that that's a pregnant belly, not just a belly belly. I have been feeling movement for a few weeks now, and am over the low-level nausea that I had during the summer (yay!).

On a related subject, a one bedroom suite will no longer fit our needs. We've been accepted into a co-op and will be moving at the end of this month. The place we are moving into is a 3-floor townhouse, 2 bedrooms. Upstairs are the 2 rooms, (smallish but that's fine) and the bathroom. On the main floor is the kitchen, (with actual counterspace and cupboards and drawers) (I've been in basements with galley kitchens too long)the kichen has a hole in the wall, (I know there's a name for that, pass-through?) into the dining area. form the dining area there's one step down into the living room. there's a little covered patio off the living room, perfect for our table and BBQ, and beyon that a littl garden/yard. The yard has no grass, just west-coast rainforesty bushes surrounding a little play area. Very nice. and in the basement there is a good-sized storage area/laundry room and another large, finished all-purpose room. so there's the tour, I'm very excited. This with be the first time in about 12 years that I have lived above ground, so to speak.

On a side note, Ive turned on an anti-spamming feature on my comments. It just askes you to type the word that is pictured. I haven't been getting much spam, but still...

Baby milestone!

We have not been doing much about potty training, but we do have a little potty that Amelia will sometimes sit down (fully clothed) while one of us is in there. At bath-time, she will also sit down before we pop her in the tub. Tonight she sat for a few minutes and when she got up, I saw that she had peed! hurrah! So, we made a suitable fuss and maybe she'll want to try again. I did notice a little look pass over her face as she was sitting, it could have been "Hmmm, what's this feeling?"

Vancouver girl, Vancouver day

rainy day

We got Amelia her first pair of rain boots this weekend. So today, I let her see how they work!

Don't worry, Mommy

patpat

I don't know how apparent it is in this picture, but I was freaking out. Not so much at this moment, because Amelia was in mama-bear's reach, but when she started moving around. This is from last weekend. We went to visit a good friend and experience island life for a few days. He took us to see the lake that's close to his property, and the dock, well, it floats but wobbles. It kind of made me dizzy to stand on it and look around, so I sat down right away. And then I started getting nervous for Amelia. I know she was never in any more danger than getting a little wet, both our friend and Lance (and me) would've been able to grab herhad the need arose, but even more, there was always someone within inches watching her every move. So I don't know why I was so nervous other than maybe low blood sugar and mama instincts run rampant.

We had a really lovely time on the island, went for nice walks, played on the beach, ate good food and had a good visit. both Lance and I took a day or so to re-adjust to city life.

Break's over!

Time for work

Usually when Amelia wakes up from her nap, she comes and finds me for a little cuddle. She also usually cries a bit as she makes her way. Not today, I heard the littlest noise, probably the mouse clicking, and came into see this.

Actual progress!

quilt

This is the double-sided quilt I had intended to finish before Amelia was born, need I say more? Of course, it's still not done, but there's lots of time before Christmas right? The darker side is brushed cotton aqnd the lighter side is regular quilting cotton. When I bought the fabrics, I tried to be as gender-neutral as possible, but the light side looks very pink to me. ( an aside, as I type, Amelia is sitting on my hip resting her head on my shoulder.She just woke up.) The bottom left picture shows the light red for the borders, to tie the two sides together. And one more yogurt picture to fill in the collage. The finished quilt will be almost five feet square. (It'll be five feet long and just under five wide)(and there are 72 squares, 6 inches , 8rows x9 columns. no prime numbers Amanda! If I ever get better at quilting I'd love to incorporate mathematical patterns into quilts. Someday...

When Mommy's sick and baby's whiney...

got yogurt?

Amelia's getting the cold that I've got, I think. Otherwise why was she awake from 1-5 am this morning, and nothing was really working for her? Watching tv worked for a while, and letting her have free reign of the house while I rapidly depleted our supply of tissues. This picture is from yesterday evening while I was trying to put a dinner together. It worked, she was happy for a while.

remember this?

one year ago

Look at those cheeks! And, compared to this, she has lots of hair now...

Amelia has had a rough few days, starting saturday night when she fell flat on her face and scraped it up and got a bloody nose! Then on monday, she had a short nap so tiredness contributed to four more falls. Knees, elbows, hands, face and even her ear have all been scratched and bruised. she went to bed early that night, with no bath. (Just get me to bed mom!!) then yesterday morningshe fell again, the only injury was her hand, but that had a chunk of skin missing, so Lance and I, (yes, it took both of us) put a bandaid on it. Good thing too, it is covered in dirt from her gardening adventures. I dodn't know if she had a growth spurt and that affected her balance, or if she's a bit overconfident (all the places she fell she's had no problem with for months). Hopefully there'll be a break now.

edit: I mean a break in the injuries, not a break break!!

in case you wondered about all the shrieking...

ee-ee-eek

This is what greeted Lance this morning as he went to take his morning shower. Because she was on the curtain, she could, and did, move around. And in those few minutes while Lance and I poked our noses in and out of the bathroom door, she disappeared! Spider on the loose. we spent some time trying to see where she had gone, without actually going into the bathroom ourselves, then I gave up and went back to making breakfast. Lance was prepared at this point to forgo his morning shower (he'd had one last night). I was calmly cooking breakfast, Amelia playing in the kitchen with me, and assuming Lance was getting dressed, when I turn around and there he is with a huge spider in a glass by my face. I ran shreiking outside, (forgetting my determination not to pass on my weaknesses to Amelia) (although she didn't respond to my yells, maybe she thought we were playing?). I calmed down enough to take the the spider from him to deposit outside. Amelia was very interested in the "buzz-buzz" (her word for all insects, spiders, and bug-looking fluff).

Lance went off to finally take his shower, Amelia and I started breakfast. Next thing, there's Lance in his towel; there was another huge spider in the shower! Lance still had soap in his hair, he had just jumped out when he spotted it. How it avoided the first routing of the bathroom is a mystery.

So here we were, already in a weakened state, Lance with soap dripping into his eyes, with an even hairier spider to deal with. It was clinging on to the bottom of the shower curtain as Lance moved the curtain, or so I thought, so I shrieked prompting Lance to yell and we both ran away. This time I went in, gingerly moving the curtain and saw that it was not on the outer curtain as I had thought, but on the inner one, but it could still escape from that position! After a couple of tries, I managed to shake it loose into the tub and whip the curtain away from its' long hairy reach. So now it was just a matter of trapping him in a glass, but I couldn't do it. I tried, and even got a wider mouth jar, but could not get my arm close enough. Lance had recovered enough now to come back and trap it in the jar, and then I took him outside, showing a very interested Amelia again on my way.

Ah the joys of living in a basement suite, especially when there's a change in the weather (it's nice and cool today). Poor Lance though, that is really too much for one morning.

wanna kiss??

Amelia's getting her eye-teeth in, you know, the vampire ones...
(This is actually her slurping down frozen blackberries, but she really is getting those teeth. Left side first as usual)

so goofy

These were as we were headed to some friends for a BBQ. She was being so funny, I just kept snapping. The bottom right is her kissing her owie on her knee.