night vision (or lack thereof)

I'm blind as a bat. Without my glasses or contacts I really can't see a thing, but I can see shapes enough to make my way around the house enough at night, so when I have to get up (frequently with a four-month-old in the house) I just lead myself somewhat blindly. This had never been a problem, until last night.

Truth be told, I don't like to put my glasses on in the night for two main reasons:

1. It makes me wake up too much; having groggy vision lets me fall back to sleep more quickly when the time comes.
2. I don't like to know the time at night, and don't have to worry about it when I can't see the clock! I always want to pretend that I still have several hours more to sleep, not that the alarm is due to go off in 14 minutes.

However, last night I probably should have put my glasses on. 

Why? Well, in the morning I handed Lady A to Cal so he could change her, telling him that her pyjamas seemed to be a little wet. I continued to get ready, and moments later he came to me saying "ummm, maybe this is why she is wet?" and showed me her diaper...that I had put on inside out in the middle of the night. 

Not backwards, inside out. Absorbent material facing out. Brilliant. 

Please feel free to send the Mother of the Year award to my home address. You'll find me here in the middle of the night, wearing my glasses. 

are you my mummy?

Over the summer we've had several weddings to attend, and each one has been so much fun in its own way. We started the wedding season in June with an event filled with friends from our university years. In July, Madelyn and I were in a wedding for very close friends of ours, and the guest list was filled with amazing friends from my high school era. September brought us my brother-in-laws wedding where we very much enjoyed spending time with Cal's family, and a great party. Then yesterday we had more nuptials where we celebrated the wedding of more great friends, and had a fantastic time with the group of friends Cal grew up with, and I have adopted as a close friends over the years.

Sadly, we are going to miss the final wedding of the year as one of my beautiful friends is getting married out of town and with the new munchkin its a little tougher to make the trip. Its been a busy year of weddings, but they have each been so much fun, and have provided a wonderful excuse to catch up with friends who we'd always like to see more often than life allows.

In yesterday's wedding, I was a bridesmaid, and the lovely Lady M took on her second flower girl gig of the season. It was a 2pm service, which is normally a time when she is visiting dreamland, but instead had a quick nap in the car on the way to the venue, and was carried in to the ceremony location over Cal's shoulder as she slowly woke up. By the time I arrived with the other bridesmaids, Lady M was awake and playing with the ring bearer, waiting for the magic to happen. As soon as she saw me, she came straight to me and we told each other how pretty we both looked, then she went to check out the beautiful wedding gown my friend was wearing.

Fast forward a little: we had all made our walk down the aisle, and Lady M had since gone off to find her Daddy in the crowd of guests. Then she walked back up to me at the front, looked up at me with a hint of confusion in her eye and said "are you my mummy? ... you don't look like my mummy!" Trying to contain my laughter, I quietly said, "because mummy doesn't wear a gown and all this makeup on a regular basis!", and she seemed content with my response and once again accepted me as her mum.

Content that I was, in fact, her mother, we made it through the rest of the ceremony, and she stood still for a few pictures and played in the surrounding gardens before the lack of nap kicked in, at which point Cal took the yawning little lady home while I happily continued on with my bridesmaid duties well into the night.

So, its been a great summer of weddings, and I'm actually a little sad to see it all draw to a close. What will I do with my weekends now without bachelorette parties, showers and weddings to attend?! I'm sure I'll find something; it just likely won't require a gorgeous gown and beautiful makeup, so hopefully my daughter will recognize me.

the big apple

A few weeks ago, as summer was drawing to a close, we took a little family road trip. My dad's parents live in Ottawa, and we wanted to take the girls for a visit and introduce little Lady A to her great-grandparents. Its about a four or five hour trip, but with little ones along for the ride, we knew there would be an inevitable stop or two. And no trip along the 401 Eastbound route would be complete without a stop at one of Ontario's finest, um, lovliest, no, most intriguing, ok, tastiest stops: The Big Apple.

Whenever we go to this place, literally a giant apple structure that you can peek inside, accompanied by a wonderful bakery with everything apple or fruity that you could want, and a rather lame petting zoo, I'm instantly taken back to a road trip I made many years ago when my cousins were visiting from Victoria, BC. Though a family of four kids, just the twin boys, 4 months my junior, came back from Ottawa with my parents and I for a visit, traveling in my dad's old black Eagle Vision (shiny and new at the time).

At the tender age of fifteen-ish, my darling cousins decided to make my ride less than cozy by throwing themselves as hard as they could in the direction of every turn. Car turns left, boys throw their entire body weight across the back of the car to the left. Car turns right...well, you get the picture. Did I mention that I was in between them though? That's right...a cousin sandwich with every turn of the 5 hour drive. Delightful.

It was one of those moments that made me thankful I only had ONE brother, but enjoyed the time with my two cousins anyway; more so once we were out of the car. My break from the squishing game came when we all stopped at The Big Apple and my cousins and I happily explored the attraction. So now every time I travel east, I think of that fateful journey with my darling cousins when the giant fruit becomes visible along the horizon of the 401.

So, back to this past summer and Lady M's first experience with the landmark in question. While the "petting zoo" (outfitted with two whole llamas who didn't look up from their hay lunch) left a little something to be desired, Lady M happily devoured her apple crumble and momentarily delighted in her foray inside the apple, until she said "Daddy, can we go now?"!

But, the visit must have made a small impression on her two-year-old self, because when I picked her up from her first day back to preschool her teacher said "Did you guys take a trip to New York this summer?" Confused, I said "no...", and of course she told me: "Madelyn has been telling us all about her trip to the Big Apple!"

So, I guess she enjoyed it! She should just be thankful that nobody was squishing her in the backseat for the rest of the journey to Ottawa and back.

break it down

So it seems that every stage of toddlerhood is just a little funnier than the last. Currently, Lady M is in a stage where she likes to break down words for us, just like we do for her when she's trying to add yet another word to her vocabulary. She is a sponge right now, and I'm amazed by the things that come out of her mouth each day. She's blunt and eloquent all at the same time, and makes me laugh constantly.

On my birthday last week, she came running into my room and started my day by proclaiming: "MUMMY!! Its your birthday!! I got you a cup....". Interesting, because the day before she told me that she was getting me a ring, so I wasn't too sure what I would be opening. But, sure enough, as I unwrapped the birthday present that she and Cal had lovingly put together, I found an adorable mother/daughter 'cup' (read: giant mug) that she had chosen for me. Being a lover of a huge cup of tea, I was, and still am, thrilled.

Like I said, she is also breaking words down for us, and sentences too. We have to repeat after her, and then build our sentence by the end. Apparently she is a fan of phonics. However, she will also take a small word and give it extra syllables just for the purpose of being able to break the word down for us.

For instance, this morning while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she decided to break down the word Tootles for me (a character on the show, for those who don't see it as often as I do). To get me to properly say the word she told me to say "too" (too), say "tuh" (tuh), say "ulls" (ulls). "Now put it together mummy!" Right, too-tuh-ulls. So, with a couple added syllables, I was able to say Tootles with no problem...what a great teacher I have!

I sometimes wonder what she's going to be like when she gets to Junior Kindergarten next year. Will she be as advanced as I think she will? Or am I just a typical mum who thinks her child is brilliant and is promptly applying for her Mensa membership card? Either way, I think she's progressing just perfectly, and that's all I can ask for.

On the newborn front, Lady A is four and a half months old and rolling all over the place. I'm fairly certain its only going to be a matter of time before she is crawling around the house on her tiny little 13-pound frame exploring everything she can. She is so full of smiles and cuddles, and I love every one.

Lady M is completely smitten with her, and speaks to her just like we do, calling her 'sweetie' and the like. She is an almost-three-year-old mother hen, and its so sweet to see their relationship. Of course Lady M is rewarded with smiles every time she chats with her little sister, so what more could she ask for? Well, I'm sure she'll be happy when she can start to enhance her sister's vocabulary along with Cal's and mine.

Well, I'm off to see what new words I will learn today thanks to my adorable toddler teacher.

the little apprentice

Lady M is often stuck to her daddy like glue. She is his faithful little helper around the house, quick to grab a hammer or screwdriver when needed; the first to grab a new lightbulb or battery as necessary; and even happy to take a step or two up the ladder to be just a little closer to whatever her daddy is doing. Its really quite sweet, and I know Cal doesn't mind having his little helper at his knee all the time. She's at a fun stage where she simply wants to take part in everything we do, ask a million questions and then try to do things on her own.

Her new favourite past-time is going to the office with Cal - to her it is a world filled with people who are kind and welcoming to her, a space with endless road cases to explore, and more importantly, her very own desk to sit at while she creates her colouring masterpieces.

I think I find this especially sweet because I can distinctly remember visiting my dad's office as a child and feeling so special anytime I had the chance to go there. At the time, my dad had an old-fashioned sort of desk with a little pull-out secretary's table, where I happily drew pictures and coloured. I recall making myself right at home, pulling my chair up to the little surface and colouring my heart out, much like Lady M does now.

I also enjoyed floating from office to office visiting his secretary and various colleagues. In fact, I can distinctly remember popping into one woman's office one day and listening to Patio Lanterns by a singer she told me was named Kim Mitchell. I was extremely confused as to why "Kim" sounded like a man, thus learning the concept of unisex names. In any case, 25 or so years later, I can still recall the happiness I felt when I went to work with my dad, so I love seeing the excitement in Lady M's eyes when she receives the same opportunity.

In every sense of the word, Lady M has become Cal's little apprentice, wanting to learn about everything he does, and more importantly, take part. I'm sure as soon as her hands are big enough she'll be picking up the guitar just like him too.

30 things...

In exactly one month I'll be thirty years old, much to the joy of all my friends well into their thirties who I have been teasing mercilessly for being so much older than me for years now (you know who you are!). Hitting this milestone birthday really doesn't bother me very much; in fact, having watched Sex & the City all through my 20's I'm supposed to know that the 30's are the best years, right? Well, works for me!! And I plan to feel the same way about my 40's, 50's, and every other decade I hit.

So I decided that as a little gift to myself, I would write down a list of 30 things that I'd like to achieve. As I work through the list, I'll have to decide whether its 30 things I want to do this year...or before I'm 40, or whether its more of a bucket list for the longer term, but we'll see!

I think everyone knows that a goal is more likely to be achieved if you write it down (Harvard Study anyone?), and I know its even better if you tell other people that you want to do it...so here we go. I will share with each one of you the thirty things I want to do, and you can hold me to it!

And onto the list...

1. Become a creative entrepreneur as an exciting side project (details to follow...)
2. Buy a boat or seadoo (or both!)
3. Complete the CN Tower stair climb
4. Complete my Master of Education degree
5. Complete Zumba Fitness instructor training
6. Donate blood (hopefully on a regular occasion, but let's go for once to start)
7. Explore more of Canada
8. Find and buy our dream home
9. Gain more teaching experience
10. Go on a European bike tour
11. Go parasailing
12. Go white water rafting
13. Grow my own vegetables and herbs (This is a real challenge for me; see my Green Thumb post.)
14. Have an impeccably organized home
15. Involve Lady M & Lady A in a fabulous and worthy volunteer opportunity
16. Learn Adobe Illustrator
17. Live abroad again
18. Plan a Muffy reunion somewhere tropical and fabulous
19. Reach my post-pregnancy goal weight
20. Read a minimum of four books for pleasure this year (yes, that's a lofty goal with two munchkins in the house and lots of school reading at any given time!!)
21. Share more stories on my blog so my girls will have a great memoir of their childhood
22. Start teaching a regular Zumba class
23. Take an art course (drawing, painting, sculpting...or something like that)
24. Take my family to Sweden, England and other areas of Europe
25. Take piano lessons again
26. Travel to Africa
27. Visit each country where my dad has lived, as well as India where his whole family was born
28. Visit every continent
29. Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity on a build
30. Write a children's story

So, there's the list. As it turns out, some are definitely longer term goals, some short term. I've noted the ones that I plan to complete by the end of this year in pink; nine in total. I'll be sure to keep you up to date as I finish each one, and feel free to help keep me accountable for anything on the list! 

a taste of fall in the summer...

Looking for something new to make? A little taste of fall flavours in the summer perhaps? My faithful baking assistant and I made a yummy recipe this past weekend, so I thought I would share it here. I had been thinking about making some oatmeal chocolate chip muffins and decided to go on a little recipe hunt. Thank goodness for the internet and the plethora of recipes you can come across at the touch of a couple buttons, because after a brief search, I found a recipe for pumpkin oat muffins with chocolate chips - fantastic!!

Lady M was quite excited to get into the kitchen to give me a hand, and promptly pulled her stool up to the sink so she could wash her hands when I asked if she wanted to bake with me. Moving over to the counter, we pulled out the bowls and some measuring cups. Helping scoop the ingredients is her favourite thing to do, and she was eager to place each ingredient into the bowl herself, and did a terrific job.

But, like any kid, her busy little fingers couldn't quite resist the bowl. I turned to grab one ingredient from the cupboard, and when I turned back around, I noticed her mouth curling, and her eyes looked slightly watery. I realized instantly what she had done...scooped her little finger in the bowl and popped some delicious baking powder in her mouth! Mmmmm. I was laughing, of course, and after the taste was out of her mouth, she was laughing too. She got it together to help finish the recipe, lined the muffin pan with her little bunny muffin wrappers and turned the light on in the oven so she could watch them rise. And even better, when we took them out of the oven, they were delicious!

So, if you're interested in a yummy new recipe to try, you can click here to get the recipe. They were a great, filling breakfast, but make a nice hearty snack too. I know we'll be making them again. Enjoy!!