Big Girl!

Do you know that jingle "I'm a big kid now!" from some diaper commercial? That is what Luke has been singing to Grace lately.

The other day Grace had her first chocolate chip cookie, ate pizza in the "big girl" chair with her brothers, did a little walking, put on a bow on her doll, read some of her CHIRP magazine and played a little D.S.

Snow

Finally it looks like we'll be having some accumulating snow. The weather has been so dry that I've been able to ride everyday to work. It was really dry this morning, but the flakes started to swirl around at about 2:00 p.m. Liam took these pictures as I walked the boys home from school.

Vitamin D?

Does Grace need to go to Florida soon? Dan caught her trying to get some Vitamin D. Hopefully she'll be able to wear her new sunsuit and her new swimsuit in Naples in a few short weeks.

Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Birthday! Happy Family Day!

We spent Liam's 9th Birthday/Valentine's Day/Family Day weekend at the cottage. Tim, Anna, Peter and Emma came up to enjoy the snow and we even convinced Aunt Kathy to come up on Sunday for Liam's requested turkey dinner complete with warm chocolate cakes and key lime pie. (Note: we got the PC ready-carve turkey with gravy - highly recommended!) I really can't believe that my baby is NINE years old! He is looking so grown up these days. Liam has a Webkinz party planned for his school friends at the end of the month.

There was nothing nicer than the children being able to play in the snow and then to drive home to a snow-free city. This has been the best winter ever! Hardly any snow and when we do get some - it melts soon after...

Grace's Party!

We had a little family party for Grace today. Well, little turns big when you have lots of family! Grace wasn't too overwhelmed by all the people and enjoyed her balloons and white cake.

Grace wore the dress I knit her. The colour matches her eyes beautifully! Too bad it is already small on her. I guess I'm learning my lesson - that it takes a long time to finish a knitting project when you have 3 kids so always make things a size bigger! I started this in August...

Grace is not quite walking yet. She is standing alone for about 10 seconds or so but those feet are glued to the floor. She happily walks if you hold her hand but not quite ready for going solo.

Grace's First Birthday!

This evening we had a small chocolate cake to celebrate Grace's real birthday. She was in bed by 7:30 and I went off to my hockey game. Her birthday party is on Saturday.

I can't believe she is one year old already. What a wonderful year we've had! But where did the time go? Part of me wishes to do it all over again (minus the 14 week recovery pain and a year of sleepless nights) but I also love it as she gets older too...In fact, I've been saying this all along with the boys and I still haven't reached an age I dislike or like less than the previous.

Hanging on the bathroom wall we have a photo of each boy in the bath after eating their first birthday cakes - so here's the one of Grace!

Have I mentioned that Grace is a super fast stair climber? She is really quick on her feet! She also has two new teeth on the top - they are just in so you can't really see them next to the two big ones but they have been affecting her sleep again...

One year ago!

One year ago on this date we were getting ready to welcome this little pensive one into the world.
Here's Beth on January 31st, 2009 and here's Grace today at lunch enjoying her veggies with rice and mac and cheese.

Winter Cycling

With the mild weather I have been able to cycle commute on far more days than last year. I rode everyday until the last two weeks of school before Christmas - that's when the wintry weather hit. This picture is from one of the two days I rode after that. We had a big thaw mid-January and so I've ridden every day for the last two weeks. It's hard to believe the difference, especially when I look at the pictures of our almost impassable street from last year at this time.

New Years 2003 vs. New Years 2009

As I was writing the last post some pictures popped up on my screen from New Years at the cottage when Luke was a baby. He would be 8 months then, so a few months younger than Grace is now. He is huge! He was about 26 pounds! I remember making those party hats with Liam. He used to and still does, love making crafty things like that. Check out the rosy cheeks from staying out in the cold a little too long last week.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe a decade has past since our Y2K party at our apartment on Yonge Street. Lots of changes have happened: two houses, three kids, two sister-in-laws, a niece and two nephews, my parents moving to Edmonton and a new teaching career are among the highlights.

For New Years, we spent four quiet days up north where there was lots of snow. Grace mastered climbing the stairs and kept saying "No, no, no" to the fireplace! She is also blowing people kisses which is really cute. Grace is saying so many words these days along with cruising along the furniture and trying to open cupboards. I should write her words down before I forget. Some of them are: baby, book, milk, nose, head, hat, clap, Miam (Liam), Mama, Dadda, up, nap, night-night and NO! And her favourite sentence is "No night-night!" Yes, we are still working on that. She did not enjoy sleeping in the Pack and Play at the cottage. In fact, I am pretty sure she cried each and every time, including for naps. Well, I guess we were bound to have one child who is a difficult sleeper. I keep saying one of the reasons we have 3 kids is because Luke was such an angel baby (Liam was sweet too but Luke really was an angel).

Luke is a different kind of angel now and he sure is funny even when he doesn't realize it. On our long journey home from the cottage (snowstorm) Dan pointed out some wild turkeys at the side of the road. Luke exclaimed "Oh, those are the turkeys that survived Thanksgiving!"

Happy New Year and all the best for 2010!