Happy Birthday

I can't believe that she's already TWO years old! She's still got the laid back personality that she was born with... with the odd, in-control tantrum thrown in now and then just to see what will happen. She still sleeps well, loves her soother, loves to cuddle, and loves her stinky old giraffe. She's learning more words every day, absolutely loves going outside to play and painting, tolerates her sister's rough-housing and her brother's many cuddles, uses the potty some of the time, likes to sit at the table to eat, and loves stories.

Her birthday was a pretty laid back event. Grandma and Grandpa came to our house for supper and cake, we opened gifts, and played for awhile. Nothing too crazy...everyone was pretty tired and ready for bed at the usual time, but opening presents sure was lots of fun. She loves the Love n' Touch from her Auntie, although she will not leave it's sleeper on, and she held it the entire time she opened the rest of her presents!

making a list

She's been making her very own Christmas lists for Santa, and Grandmas & Grandpas. I'm so impressed with how nicely she's printing, even though we haven't taught her a thing ;-) She needs us to spell the words she wants to print, but she does all the printing on her own. Of course, each item requires its own page, which drives her brother more than a little nuts! (He's copied her individual pages down onto one paper for her). I'm sure nobody would be suprised that the dominant theme on her wishlist is "princess" :-) or that she adds something new to it every day.

rough week

It's been a rough week. At the beginning of last week we took the girls back to the urologist, and we had some ups and downs. So far, M isn't showing any signs of reflux, but she did have to undergo an uncomfortable procedure. L had the great pleasure of another VCUG, but she was a trooper. She was very brave. The good news from this test is that one of her ureters is fixed, and it's the ureter that's attached to the healthy/working part of her kidney. The extra ureter, though, did not get repaired. The urologist doesn't think it would work to try again, so now she's off of antibiotics, and if she gets another infection...we'll be talking about a much bigger surgery (potentially removing part of her kidney). Our urologist really wants to have everything resolved before she goes on Mat leave in March, so things could happen very suddenly. L got a fever over the weekend, so we're waiting for results to see if she already has a bladder infection, but she also has Strepthroat.

And, G had a rough week in school last week... a couple of very big meltdowns, and he got pretty aggressive. I'm so amazed that this is the first time it's happened, but it's hard to not have easy answers when people at school don't know what to do. Really, we just try to make sure that we're reducing the number of triggers, watch his emotional state so we can intervene before things get too big, and then help him ride it out when it's too late. And... we try to stay calm and in control, which can be hard. It really breaks my heart to see him struggling, I just want to protect him and give him lots of chances to be successful.

It was nice to have an extra day off yesterday, to just hang out together, have some fun, cuddle, relax, play games and just enjoy each other!

she knows what she wants....and she knows how to get it

This one was a little out of sorts yesterday, after the time change. She was more than ready for her nap, and even climbed into her change table for a little rest... but she decided that she was not interested in sleeping in her crib. Somehow, I don't think her dad was all that disappointed in having a little nap with her and her dirty old giraffe ;-)

trick or treat

We had a GREAT halloween this year! It was SO warm out, the kids were actually hot when we got home and took off their costumes. It's pretty rare for them to be overdressed by this time of year! Everyone chose their own costumes this year. M's lion costume was perfect, since she really likes to "roar"! L wore her new "ball gown," and G chose a Batman costume last weekend (without a mask). We went trick or treating around our neighborhood, and found that a lot of our neighbors were waiting for our kids to show up :-) We didn't need to go far at all for their pumpkins to be filled! G learned a pumpkin song at "pumpkin day" at his school today, and he sang the whole thing at a few of the houses that we stopped at. M got thirsty half way through our trek, so she rode in the wagon and drank a PowerAde that one of our neighbors gave her...and got it all over herself. Once we were done in our neighborhood, we got in the van to visit a special friend, and then went home to bed. After a big day at school, and an exciting evening of trick or treating, and the promise of two episodes of Sonic on Saturday morning, everyone was asleep by 8:25! (and up before 7 on Saturday, ready for cartoons, and ready to dig into those pumpkins... ugh... too much sugar is not good for these kids' moods...).

Pumpkin carving

Carving pumpkins has become a favourite fall tradition for our family, and this year we added a new twist to the tradition... roasting the pumpkin seeds. It was G's idea, after he carved a pumpkin with Nita and they talked about the seeds being something you can eat. So, he took charge of sorting the seeds from the pumpkin guts, which is actually a pretty big deal for him. In the past, he wouldn't even touch the insides of a pumpkin, and this year he was so excited about roasting the seeds that he picked seeds out of the goop for almost an hour! I was so proud of him, and so excited to see him to be able to get over some tactile sensitivies to do this job!

Each of the kids had picked their own pumpkins a few weeks ago when we went to our friends' farm, for pumpkin picking and a bonfire. G and L both chose really big pumpkins, and they chose a little one for M. G and L both drew their own faces on their pumpkins, and I carved M's for her. They were thrilled with the end result, especially when we put some flashing lights inside.