Grandie and Poppie are in the country!

What a great visit! After a bit of practice when Grandad and Grandma visited a month ago, Alex was more than prepared to trek across the road each morning for breakfast...after all, their apartment had TELEVISION! That and the lure of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal was enough. And now for a few photos...

Here's Grandie with Alex and Sebastien on the couch (I'm sure they're as glad as I am that they had their own place...)




Also part of the lure was that Poppie was happy enough for Alex to use his computer - something that she's been dying to do for a long time with her daddy's. She's actually pretty good at it and loved listening to her cd's on his computer - watching that cool little graphic that moves/lights up in time to the music. In fact, Poppie couldn't turn on his computer the whole visit without a little face instantly appearing at his side...


Quite possibly Alex's favorite part of the day was deciding where to have lunch - most usually at "Panera" (or as Poppie mimicked "Panerwa" to Alex's disgust - "no Poppie, it's Panewra!"). Actually, Mummy quite likes it too. This photo is of Grandie, Poppie, Alex, Sebastien and Daddy having lunch. Grandie and Poppie's favorite was the Broccoli & Cheddar soup in a sourdough bowl.


Over the two weeks that they were here, we did most of what we would normally do - except for the playgroups that we normally attend. But we also added in a few other things, like checking out various bookshops and electronics shops. Here Grandie and Alex are doing puzzles together at Pages for all Ages in Savoy, whilst Poppie, Sebastien and I cruise the book aisles.



We also made time to visit Curtis Orchard - though that was very disappointing. It was definitely post-season as the outdoor play equipment was either removed or damaged (the seesaw only had one seat) and the cafe was closed. On a positive note, Alex took Poppie by the hand to show him where the goats were - and Poppie delighted Alex by showing her how to "talk to the goats" - and I'm refraining from making any jokes about that!

Babysitting and all that

Every Tuesday evening, Brett, Alex and Sebastien (I have meetings three in four Tuesdays) have Emily join them for some playtime. Here are some photos of them: reading in bed! Very comfortable.

Update on the Paci

Sebastien really didn't take willingly to the paci - grudgedly accepting it only if he was really in pain and nothing else was forthcoming - so I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find that he really doesn't take it at all now. I probably could go out and buy a lot of different types to see if he'd take one, but I really couldn't be bothered (maybe I'll change my tune at 3am one morning when he just can't be calmed...). The more perturbing trend is his starting to refuse the bottle. A more recent occurance, Brett and I are wondering if he will wander down the same path as Alex and refuse bottles unless desperate. We had thought that we wouldn't face that issue as (opposite of Alex) we introduced him to a bottle before a month old and have been giving him at least a bottle a day (thanks daddy for those early a.m. feedings!) whilst with Alex we'd waited until 3 mths to do that. We're waiting to see how the coming week goes...

Been a bit slack...

Wow, the month is almost gone and I see that the last time I posted was the 4th...all I can say is that it's been quite a month! I've just sat down to catch up on my posts having seen my mum and dad off at the airport this afternoon. So bear with me as I post to my heart's content this evening...I'll try to make them bite sized posts but there will be many photos!

To Paci, or not to Paci...

That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer...sorry old Bard. I've just been pondering the question lately. As a NON-paci provider (sorry Grandma) to Alex, I figured that the same would be the case for Sebastien. Well, to date Sebastien has proven a "gassier" baby than Alex, with some spit-up moments after horrendous amounts of time spent burping him. This meant that not a lot of sleep was happening - for him or his Mummy!

A friend mentioned using a pacifier to help, and in sleep deprieved desperation I threw my preconceptions out the window and broke out the only pacifier in the house (one to administer medecine that we had been given before Alex arrived) and he used it, grudgingly, that very same night. "Eureka!" I thought. But it turns out that more often than not, he declines the pacifier when offered it. I'm not about to go out and buy different pacifiers to find one he may prefer - his sleep pattern is settling down and when he is truly gassy and miserable (as am I) he accepts the pacifier then - say every 2-3 evenings.

Anyway, just wanted to put it down in writing that I'd broken down and offered Sebastien a pacifier - just for Grandma to read!

Here's something I prepared earlier...

Ahh, Grandie and Poppie sent a wonderful box of goodies all the way from Australia - and included was an Alex-sized apron. So as Alex is now in the "very helpful" stage (when she isn't perfecting her "I'm a terrible-two-toddler" tantrum) I decided we needed to start cooking together on a more regular basis. I'm trying to find toddler friendly recipes that she can help me with.

Here are a few photos of our latest cooking adventure - Alex's favorite "cupcakes" cornbread.

First of all, we stand on our special step that lets us get into all sorts of things in the kitchen (and yes, that is our very sharp knife knifeblock on the bench). Then we smile at the camera, show off what we are making and say "cheese".










Then we very carefully pour our ingredients into our bowl, mix it somewhat erratically and make sure Mummy puts the correct amount into each muffin paper.







Finally we hide as we start a long-putoff tantrum instead of smiling for the camera with our finished product.

All in a day's work, really!

Shrek 3...Shriek!

No photo with this post - today we decided to take in a free movie (Shrek 3) at Savoy Theater before heading over to Parkland's Dodds Fields to watch Daddy play his final game of soccer for the season. Well, we were a little late and so arrived after the movie had started. No sooner had we sat down, than the action on the big screen (for those who've seen the movie, when Shrek and Princess Fiona get all dressed up for an event and the costume's they're in spring apart) proved too much for Alex and she started crying - a lot - and asking to leave.

So we ended up sitting on the carpeted floor just outside the theater with Alex on my lap, Daddy next to us and Sebastien...still asleep. Much discussion ensued about what exactly made her cry ("I'm scared mummy" and "What was Hector doing?" - she confused Shrek with a storybook character she had previously read about) and whether she wanted to go back in - "No". It seems that with a lack of tv etc, she can't discern the difference between real and pretend. That not having seen cartoons or their equivalent before, she fears that what she's seeing is actually happening to people (and that they're suffering). We're not sure whether this is a good thing or not...and I really wanted to see the movie! Instead we hung out at a park - much less threatening!

Orange and Blue Scrimmage

So I guess I'm pretty good at answering quizes. Brett has won once (Panera Bread $10 gift card - which he kindly allowed me to use :)). For the second time this year I won a radio station prize (the first time was a pool party - not the swimming kind - at a local bar) with the prize being 4 tickets to the Orange and Blue Basketball Scrimmage at Assembly Hall. So Brett and I took Alex and Sebastien to see his first Illini sport. Alex loves to wear her Illini headband. Here are the three of them - btw Sebastien slept through the entire game.

She was pretty good and lasted the whole hour and a half (with the help of some snacks).

Although you weren't meant to take in food and drink, the security guard let me - I mean, the concessions stands weren't selling yoghurt, apple slices and cheerios for young kids so we weren't about to buy from there! The tattoo on her cheek was from a week before when Brett took her to watch a women's soccer match. The "Illinois Fever" tattoo was not allowed to be washed all week. We're not sure what sport we'll see next, maybe wrestling or gymnastics.

Trick or Treat!!

So friends had a Halloween party (part of the Econ/baby crowd) which we went to. Trick or treat hours were 6-8pm tonight so the party started at 5pm. Everyone bar me dressed up (don't ask - it was a horrible, horrible afternoon - I went as a mummy) and it was so cool! Lisa and Jason had gone all out on the decorations and food plus "potion" beverage which were great. Here are more photos - Daddy as a werewolf (long black nails and fangs plus overcoat), Sebastien as an imp and Alex as a bumblebee - yes, we got her back into that costume! Though she really wanted to wear last year's lion costume (too small) or the rabbit again.








Then everyone headed out to the neighborhood at around 7pm to trick or treat. It was quite the crowd from our party - here's Alex getting candy whilst Tigrin, Zaruhi, Arthur and Monica look on. Alex pretty soon got the idea of what trick or treating involved tonight - and immediately ran off (literally) to the next house, and the next house, and the next house...and refused to return to the party because there were still houses to visit! A pretty good neighborhood for trick or treating as most of the "loot" was chocolate.



One of the trick or treaters - Max - in his Elvis impersonation. His mummy is very talented and spent the week making his, his daddy's and her costumes. Very cute!










After Trick or Treating, we headed back to the party for some Pinata Fun - pull a string and see if it opens the pinata. Alex wasn't successful, but she did manage to get even more candy...enough to last until Easter!
















We headed for home at 8pm. Given Alex hadn't had a nap, had had an energetic playgroup that morning (see post about the leaves) and had really withheld badly that afternoon (to the point where I rang her doctor for advice), she was in quite a good mood - blame it on the sugar fix! And she hadn't even touched her "loot".

She didn't want to head home though and wanted to go and trick or treat some more. When we got home, she went to bed whilst her daddy and I sorted the "loot" into "daddy's pile" and "Alex's pile" - pretty much gum and lollypops for daddy and the rest for Alex. She is sharing her "candy" with her daddy for dessert at the moment. The bag on the left is the one she decorated with stickers and gluing on pictures at playgroup the previous week.

Truly Fall Weather and it's Halloween!

OK - Blogger is not spacing how I want it to and I'm deleting photos each time I try to edit it. So I'm leaving it however it turns out.

We had an excellent playgroup at Jen, Anna and Olivia's house with pretty much all first-born girls there (sorry Nicholas!). At the end, Jen got out the rake and raked a pile of leaves together for some traditional "jump in and throw them around" autumn fun. The girls (and moms) had a ball! Here are some photos of them: L-R Kaelyn, (mom) Mary, Kylie, Alex and Sarah.





L-R Alex, Sarah (back) and Anna enjoy a stomp in the leaves.








The girls check out the pumpkins (remember our visit to the pumpkin patch?) L-R Kaelyn, Kylie and Alex.

Check out those scary pumpkins! L-R Sarah, Kaelyn, Anna, Alex and Kylie.




Needless to say, Alex didn't want to go home...as usual!