Drawing 101

OK, so I've never claimed to be an artistic person. Actually, to be honest - I hated art class at school because, well, I just had no aptitude for it. So I checked out some Art Smart books from the library that purport to show you how to draw dinosaurs, pets, wild animals and vehicles. So we both drew the animals, one shape at a time. First I'd draw the shape, then Alex would do the same, then I'd draw the next shape/part followed by Alex. Here is the result from Alex and my efforts (Alex's efforts have the name of the animal under it) you can see when she started to get tired:

A photo from a long time ago...

Alex went to a party a while ago now - and we've been sent some photos from it. Teresa took a great one:

101 Damatians...

Not quite 101 (try 9) and not Dalmatians (actually Rhodesian Ridgebacks) but as Alex's favorite book was "101 Dalmatians" (now surpassed by, *sigh* Barbie's "Riding Champion" - I really don't think she's mine) I thought the title appropriate.

Friends of ours own and show Rhodesian Ridgebacks and decided to start breeding them too (check out their website here). Well, the very first litter arrived on 27th December and we were lucky enough to get invited to come and check them out. Alex loved holding them and we discovered just how wriggly puppies can be! Thanks to Paul, Teresa and Emily for having us over there and taking photos! Here is Alex (and mummy) holding their two favorite puppies.

Brain Deficit

Um, how sleep deprived must one be to totally forget that one needs to renew one's drivers licence...? Luckily I found out by myself instead of being shown by a police officer or sheriff - or after an accident! On a positive note, after some bureaucratic wrangling, I am the proud owner of a new licence until 2011...no longer a temporary alien one!

Dunkin' Donuts

A few weeks ago now (actually the Friday before the tummy bug hit), Alex, Sebastien and I met up with friends at a new Dunkin' Donuts in Champaign. Alex had a coupon for a free donut and I had one for cheaper coffee and bagels - so smiles all around! Donita, who seems to always carry her camera with her, took some wonderful shots: here's one of Anna and Alex doing "ring-a-rosies". Note that Alex insisted on wearing her "beautiful gown",meant for spring, even though snow was falling outside.

How Alex sees winter

It snowed again last night, so out come the snow boots...to tramp through as much snow as possible. "Winter's here again, mummy" comments Alex as I heft her into the carseat,the better to avoid muddy water pooling from her boots onto where she'll be sitting. "Wait mummy, wait" she cries from the back seat - "You forgot to shave the car!" "I beg your pardon?" I ask, not quite sure what I heard. "You forgot to shave the car!" she repeats, pointing at the lacy ice patterns on the lower portion of her window.

An "aha! moment". We use a scraper and brush to clear the windows after snow/ice - because we don't have a garage to park the car in. And the shape is very much like daddy's razer...so a two-year-old's logic leads to - shave the car!

Take a good look,Sebastien...

This is what's commonly referred to as sleep. And whilst your daddy and I were once picky about letting you sleep in your carseat/our bed/the couch, now we'd just be happy with a little shut-eye action ANYWHERE for longer than an hour. Please?

Growing up - FAST!

Well, tomorrow Sebastien is 4 months old. Hard for me to believe because he's still sleeping...like a baby (NOT all through the night like his sister was - for those of you without kids).

He's been "standing" for almost 2 months now - with us supporting his torso - I guess it's because he's nosy and gets to see more like that. He hates to sit, especially in his carseat, and always arches his back to try to stand instead. Here's a rare photo of him on the couch between 2 cushions. Yes, still "no" hair...

I dressed myself

When we did venture forth to a Friday playgroup, Alex dressed herself - thanks to daddy. The only things she couldn't get were the buttons at the back of this dress she insists on wearing though it rarely gets above zero celsius at the moment. She's also wearing a onesie underneath that daddy helped wih the snaps on. She would have worn her red sparkle shoes, but they've been put away until spring - but she still asked! Oh, and she's wearing big girl underwear. Venturing out without a nappy/diaper is more angst for her mum than for her!

A Double Whammy

And then, just when Alex and I were recovering from our tummy bugs (of the 10 mom/tot groups at playgroup, about 8 eventually had the bug over the course of that week), Sebastien decided not to sleep - even moreso than usual. I mean, this kid just does not like to sleep. Unless, of course, he's being held. But this was bordering on the ridiculous - not sleeping unless vertically held (see exhibit A) and inconsolable crying for 3 hours at night (usually starting after 7 or 8pm). Now I kind of figured it wasn't the bug - no projectile vomiting for a start - so maybe it was colic? Though at 3.5 months he was a little old to be starting that. In desperation (and sleep deprived) I sent out a "help" email to the moms group I'm a member of (I looove this group) and within 15 minutes had offers of swings to borrow and colic information - and a couple of adoption offers :). Well, it turned out (after taking him to a doctor on Monday 2 days later) that he has a double ear infection. Poor Sebastien. In my defense (and I feel I need to defend myself) he didn't have any classic signs of an ear infection. So 10 days of antibiotics to take, and halfway through he's already back to his usual self.




Alex woke up in the night and wanted to have Koala swaddled - and to walk with Daddy and Sebastien.

Solidarity...

Our apartment isn't very big so the downstairs neighbors must hate us!

Too Tired

Our house has been hit by illness recently which has resulted in the dearth of postings recently (thanks Jen for noticing ;)).

Let's see, we've suffered from tummy bugs (Alex is scared of her burps now in case it's "the bug coming out of my mouth") and perhaps Alex was more affected than I thought - three days later whilst waiting for me to finish feeding Sebastien so we could go to Playgroup - always a much anticipated outing - she fell asleep in Mummy's "Animal chair". We'd even done all the hard work like doing her hair. So after an hour asleep, we had missed Playgroup and were very unhappy with the world.

Playgroup

Today's playgroup was great - ten mums and associated kids! Alex had a great time playing with Brayden, Anna and Emaline in the other room which is why you don't see her in these photos of Evan, Sebastien and Olivia (taken by either Jen or Tina - thanks!).

Comfy as old shoes

These shoes - the stories they could tell! My parents bought them for me on a trip they took to the UK, about 15 years ago, with two of my siblings (leaving me and one of my sisters at home with the grandparents) and I LOVE them. But unfortunately my feet have managed to grow about a size over the course of two pregnancies...so they no longer fit. So, after two resolings (is that even a word?) and numerous miles they will be relegated to the great shoe store in the sky...

HOOTOWLS

Tonight the Moms group I'm a member off started a new evening playgroup. Called Husbands Out Of Town Or Working Late (HOOTOWLS) we met at Jupiters for pizza and conversation. Wild times with upwards of 10 moms and over 15 kids. The older kids shared a booth to eat dinner at - here is Alex with Evie and Anna.

How do they know?

OK, so after another "unfortunate" night's lack of sleep I had a wonderful sanity break at Donita and Sarah's house this morning. Back with Alex and Sebastien to (hopefully) nap the afternoon away...frustration ensues...no napping and much eating...then, at the peak of my "why won't you sleep?" questioning, I get a belly laugh from Sebastien. His very first. And it really surprised him such that he resisted doing it again.

Life is good.

But mummy, I just want to be held...

...meanwhile, my back is killing me! Sebastien seems to need to be held to sleep at the moment - which requires the use of one hand to type. It's starting to drive me crazy as I can't do much else...and Brett left only 9 hours ago so it's just me...and the kids for another 111 hours - gulp!