Bitter sweet

As Lauren cries and howls over the colossal injustice of my insisting that she cannot wear her favourite  sweater tomorrow, for the third day in a row, because the cuffs are grubby and needs to be washed, Claire does her best to comfort her big sister: She pats Lauren's back, gives hugs and offers a fluffy blanket to dry her face.

These girls will reach a high pitched earsplitting screech when they're at odds, but watching them console each other is absolutely sweet.

I lub you

Claire said her first 3 word sentence yesterday!

C had Claire in his arms in a squeezy hug when she said it: "I lub you". It was so sweet and un-prompted, and so clear.

After the excitement of the milestone moment, I asked Claire if she loved me too, to which she answered, "Too".

The not so funny giggles

I love it when my girls laugh. The sound brings joy to my heart. At 2 am, however... not so much.

At around half past midnight this morning Lauren woke up crying that her underwear was wet. Great. I quickly checked out the scene and concluded they were dry, but her sheets were damp. It was warm in the room so I suspect she just got really sweaty.

Claire was up at this point so I hauled both girls back to my room. Co-sleeping is the quickest way to get us all back to sleep. Usually.

C woke long enough to ask what was going on, and of course Lauren fell asleep again in seconds. Claire spent the next hour flip flopping around and I was wide awake with my nose centimetres from the wall. Sometimes 4 in a bed is too close for comfort.

Thinking she'd settle down if we snuggled together, I brought Claire back to the girls' room and tucked us both in to Lauren's bed, throwing a towel over the damp spots. By this time new clean sheets didn't really matter.

I lay as still as possible so Claire would get the hint and close her eyes. Fat chance. Instead she flopped around some more, perhaps in an attempt to get comfortable, but eventually gave it up to rummage through the dozen or so stuffed toys that Lauren has piled in her bed. No wonder she got so hot!

Moments later Claire started to giggle. Giggle! I opened my eyes just a sliver so she wouldn't notice that I was really awake, and saw that she was clutching Lauren's purple Monstaz, or Fuzzball as she calls it. This is a newish toy that she received from a friend for her birthday and currently holds the top spot of her favourite toys. According to Lauren's strict instructions, Claire is not allowed to touch Fuzzball for fear that she will chew it and make it all "yucky and wet". Fair enough.

So there we were, 2 in the morning, 4 hours from when the alarm was set to go off to start a brand new day. C and Lauren were in my bed enjoying sweet dreams, I was faking sleep in Lauren's sweaty bed and Claire was pleased as punch to finally be holding in her hands her sister's prized Fuzzball. Not such a funny situation for me, but to Claire, absolutely!

What am I?

A few months ago out of the blue Lauren asked, "What am I?"

"What do you mean?" I replied, as I wasn't sure what sort of answer she was expecting. Tall, short, hot, cold, Peter Pan, Cinderella, bunny rabbit, puppy dog. The answer could be anything depending on the circumstance or whatever game is being played.

"Well, Rachel* is Jewish, Max* is Ethiopian. What am I?"

"Oooh... right." I thought out  loud. I knew this question would come along one day and have yet to come up with a simple answer.

"Well, you were born in Canada like me and Daddy, so you're mostly Canadian. But... (then I took a deep breath) Grandma Mary is from Africa, Grandpa Philip was from England, Grandma Bernadette is from Haiti and Grandpa Fred was from Haiti and France, so you're from all over the world!"

I didn't even bother mentioning that Grandma Mary's mother was from Angola and her family was originally from Portugal. And Grandma Mary's paternal grandfather who was from England sailed to Bermuda and married a Bermudian and they both settled in Sierra Leone. And that Grandpa Philip had a wee bit o' Irish in him too.

What I got in return was a blank stare, followed by, "Oh." And then she went off to do something else somewhere else.

I'm not sure she processed anything at all of what I said. She's still working on sorting out that we live in Toronto, which is a city in Ontario, which is a province in Canada. Never mind having any concept of where in the world Haiti or England is.

I will never come up with a simple answer, but what I can do with Lauren is spend time looking at family photographs and maps and reading about all the different countries that our family tree has branched out to. Hopefully she will someday realize that what she is, is pretty lucky to have such a rich and diverse family history.



*Real people, but not their real names!

Now we are friends

I like being out and about with Lauren. She often has interesting encounters with the people we meet.

Last week we walked into the neighbourhood dollar store and were greeted by the woman behind the counter.

"Hello!" She said.

"Hello!" Lauren and I replied.

I was already off down the aisle looking for what I needed, but Lauren, who was trailing behind, got a follow up question.

"How are you?"

"I'm good... and you?" Lauren asked in return.

"I'm good, thank you."

A few moments later I had what I needed so we made our way back to the counter to pay for it. In that short time Lauren must have determined that the woman was friendly and receptive because she held up her cupped hands.

"Ooohh, what do you have there?" The woman asked.

"A snail I found!" There's a particular spot along our route home from school where snails like to gather on a rainy day. On this day Lauren picked one up to bring home.

"Wow, that's a nice one! I think I have a little bag that you can carry it in."

She then took Lauren's snail and put it in a tiny baggy. A grin from ear to ear grew on Lauren's face .

"What's your name?" Asked the woman.

"Lauren."

"I am Suraiya." She held out her hand for Lauren to shake. "Now we are friends."

Baby girl walking

Claire is walking!

She has been taking two and three steps at a time only every once in a while, for a few weeks now, but this weekend she was stepping further along and much more frequently.

The steps are slow and steady, but she's definitely gaining momentum.  

Miseria per dentem crepitus -or- misery caused by tooth explosion -or- teething sucks

Poor Claire. For the past week or so she has been experiencing what I call miseria per dentem crepitus,  or misery caused by tooth explosion. Yes, teething has been so bad I thought the experience deserved Latin recognition.

She handled the front teeth pretty well, but now the molars are pushing up (top and bottom) and there have been tears. Lots of them. And clinginess and not much sleep. The worst night so far was Friday. After hours of her flopping around restlessly in my bed I handed her over to C at 3am so I could get some sleep. What he was doing still awake, who knows, but apparently she stayed up and fussed with him for another two and a half hours before crashing finally. C caught up on his sleep after that.

We're trying a few different relief methods to ease the pain, but they only work for so long. Wait it out seems to be the only thing left to do. Hopefully the worst is over and the wait won't be much longer.

Let the rivalry begin

I knew Lauren would have feelings of jealousy with a new sibling around, but it never occurred to me that Claire would feel jealous too, at least not for a few more years that is.

I noticed it first last weekend when I was playing with the girls in their bedroom. I was bouncing Lauren on my legs when Claire noticed and stopped what she was doing. She came to me and swung her leg around my waist and over Lauren's head, then wiggled her way between us and wrapped her arms around my neck.

Today while Claire was in her high chair eating dinner, Lauren came to me for hugs which prompted Claire to screamed in anger. Lauren walked away for a minute or so, came back for another hug and Claire screamed again.

Again after dinner Lauren got up on my lap while I was holding Claire. More screaming from Claire.

With development comes awareness, and Claire is becoming very aware that her Mummy has the nerve to spend precious time with the other kid in the house.

I'm not sure what to do about this except to let this phase run it's course. My dread, however, is that this phase will last for years.

Putty in his hands

Lauren is begging for hairy putty. How much do I use and how does it work???

This is the text I received one morning earlier this week. I was already sitting at my desk at work as I usually am by the time C gets the girls ready for school and daycare, so he was really on his own for this one.

Hair styling is not his forte, but I give C an A+ for giving it his best effort every day. He shaves his own hair to the scalp every week like clockwork, which then requires zero maintenance, so he really has no frame of reference for how to deal with Lauren's wild locks.

For the most part he does a good job. It's no easy feat even for me. I condition Lauren's hair with a thick all natural product, but it doesn't always work to tame the frizz. And with the temperature rising and rain in the forecast this Spring, there's a whole lot of frizz going on. Last weekend I bought hair putty hoping it would help. So far so good, but it leaves the hair thick and stiff after a few days of use.

We'll see how it goes in the next little while before deciding if we need to try a different product.

Girls in tutus

Happiness is a group of young girls prancing around in tutus and leotards playing ballet freeze tag.

This was the scene during the last 5 minutes of Lauren's ballet class last Saturday morning.

When class was dismissed she ran to me with flushed cheeks and a huge grin on her face. Needless to say she's really enjoying herself.

Step by step

Claire is taking baby steps.

Three steps is the most we've seen so far, then she'll squat down on her bum and power crawl to wherever she needs to go. She had us fooled into thinking she would be into a full sprint by now, considering she's been free standing for months.

Oh well, no rush. The crawl and cruise method seems to suit her just fine, and she's efficient at it. Also, who needs to walk when there's always someone bigger around to scoop her up. Claire does seem to like to be on her feet though. When she's really happy and excited she'll stand up and clap her hands and screech in delight. When music is playing she'll stand and bob up and down and clap her hands and screech in delight.

She's a happy kid, just not in a hurry to walk anywhere.

More Torono FUN

Time again to set the alarm for early morning dance registration at the local community centre this coming Saturday.

Tiny Tot Jazz back in the Fall was a great success and Lauren is ready for another class. She skipped the winter session because I figured getting into the swing of me going back to work and picking up from daycare would be enough of a juggle during the week. On cold winter weekdays we all just want to get home, and the weekends commitment free.

Spring is near and it's time to dance! This time around Lauren has requested ballet. Now that she's 5 she'll be with the 5-7 year group which will likely mean a class that's a little more focused. The Tiny Tot group was fun, but the 3 and some of the younger 4 year olds in the class tended to run amok.

Getting a spot in the class may be tough. Ballet is already a popular class and there are very few classes to choose from. The best available for us is Saturday morning at 10:15am which I'm sure is prime time for every other family as well.

Ah well, the best I can do is be in the ready with mouse and phone in hand.  Wish me luck!

Countdown to 1

I just noticed the date on the calendar and realized that Claire is eleven months old today, yay!

Where the time has gone, I have no idea. A neighbour with 3 kids once mentioned that time goes by even faster the more kids you have. Knowing that, C and I are pretty sure we're good with just the 2 we have. We've hit our speed limit!

I've been meaning to write down the things that Claire is interested in - scratch that - FASCINATED with these days. Here goes:

- The remote control for the TV. Always the one we use, not the remote that we don't use that we took the batteries out of for her to play with.

- My cell phone. Always the one that I use, not the one that I don't use that I took the batteries out of for her to play with.

- Car and house keys

- The refrigerator when it's open. She will come to it in a heartbeat like a cat to a freshly opened can of tuna. She has climbed inside twice already. For real.

- The dishwasher when it's open. She will come to it, grab the utensils, and toss them onto the ground.

- Lauren's toys, especially at the moment when Lauren is playing with them.

- The Mother's Day ornament that Lauren gave me last year. It's made from a CD disc with play jewels that dangle and hangs from one of the kitchen cabinets. Claire will reach for it and grab hold of the jewels each and every time she's within reach.

This evening Lauren caught Claire reaching under the lid of the toilet, I guess in an attempt to feel the water? Hopefully reaching for toilet water won't become one of her fascinations!

 

Oh Christmas tree

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, your branches green delight us.  

But I'm sure you're glad that we finally packed it in on Friday and called it a season. Time to make your way over to your next duty as compost and mulch.

I was feeling all jolly jolly at the beginning of December and put the tree up a week earlier than  usual - that being two weeks before Christmas. We always get a real tree so the tradition has been to wait until just a week before so it doesn't get so dried out and droopy by the time New Year rolls around. Anyway, the holiday spirit hit me hard this year so up it went. 

It crossed my mind only briefly that Claire would be all over it, but then pushed the thought aside because I remembered that Lauren really didn't bother with the tree much when she was 10 months. Turns out I made a bad assumption. For a full three weeks I was pulling Claire away from the tree non stop and hanging the ornaments higher and higher out of reach. One day Claire managed to get a good grip on a branch and just about tipped the tree over until I caught it mid fall. Yikes!

The city tree pick-up was Saturday so I was all too ready to get it outside by the curb. On the up side, it's kind of nice and refreshing to feel like you're done with the holidays and ready to move on with the new year. Not having to sweep up pine needles every hour is nice too!

Rub a dub dub

My bathtub is littered with little plastic ocean animals. And it makes me smile.

There's a shark and killer whale and sea turtle, beluga whale, dolphin and an otter.  Oh, and a deep sea diver too. And three little rubber piggies for added fun.

I tiptoed around them during my shower last night rather than put them away.  I want them to be ready for their next bath time ocean adventure.

Wonders never cease

It's a wonder to me how a four year old child can sleep soundly while her baby sister screams and cries at the top of her lungs in the middle of the night from a crib five feet away.

It's a wonder how sleep training that worked so well and so quickly at first, somehow slowly deteriorated leaving us back at square one.

It's a wonder how a 20lb baby can shove an adult 10 times her weight across a queen size bed thus leaving herself three-quarters of the space to sprawl while her parents huddle together on the remaining quarter.

And the biggest wonder is how this routine repeats night after night and everyone involved is alert and functional the next day. Sort of...

Veggie lover

I love that I can offer Claire string beans and carrots for a late afternoon snack and she gobbles them up like a kid eating candy.

I hope her love for veggies lasts a long time.

Onwards and upwards and bumps and bruises

Claire is on the move and pulling herself up with whatever she can get a hold of.

It started with a butt shuffle several weeks ago. I would put her down on the floor in one place, turn around, and moments later find her a few feet away. I caught her in action a few times and saw her stretch out one leg, wiggle her butt and inch herself forward in an upright position.

The butt shuffle evolved into the military crawl where she would bend forward at the waist, sprawl her legs backwards then proceed to pull herself forwards. This was sometimes frustrating because she couldn't get anywhere very fast and would often just flail around on the spot like a fish out of water.

Perseverance paid off though as she soon figured how to get one knee and then the other underneath her body to give herself some lift. Soon after she was scooting along in a full crawl. Once reaching her destination like a chair or my leg, she would hoist herself up to her feet.

Last week during bedtime story while C read to Lauren,  Claire pulled herself up holding the bedside table. Then let go. Freestanding. The three of us watched for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 seconds. It was amazing. She held the table again and we all applauded and cheered. Claire screeched in delight and pride.

Could Claire be walking any day now? Who knows. Maybe she'll just keep on crawling and cruising until the time is right which could be in another 2 or 3 or 5 months from now. We'll just have to keep watching.

In the meantime the gains haven't been without a little pain. Dr. B assured me yesterday at Claire's 9 month check up that baby heads are very hard and "designed" to withstand a few bumps. Phew, because it seems to happen on a daily basis, and between her forehead and knees, she's got a collection.

Independent four

I was chatting with the daycare teacher this morning and was told that Lauren is very good at dressing herself, and that she's usually the first to get herself ready to go outdoors to play, and she has good manners (asking to be excused after lunch) and is overall very independent. Then said that  Lauren must be like this at home too.

My jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

"No." Was my first response. "But I'm really glad to hear that she's doing so well here!"

C and I have been finding this year to be particularly challenging. We've seen all the symptoms of the "f***ing fours" and can't wait for this marvelous time to pass. There has been a whole lot of whining, crying, screaming, selfishness, sassiness, moodiness, impatience, you name it.

The fours came as a bit of a shock after such a pleasant year with three. But it's not just us that are experiencing sour behaviour. A few weeks ago I was talking with some other parents from daycare and a mom described her child's sass. Then another parent chimed in about "the terrible twos, tiresome threes and f***ing fours". "Oh yeah!!" We all said in unison nodding our heads knowingly.

I won't go into detail about all the annoying experiences we've had this year, but I will mention that getting ready to leave the house in the morning is not my favourite part of the day. However Lauren manages to get herself dressed at daycare seems to go by the wayside at home.

Ah well. C and I take it in turn to blow a fuse on any given day, but we need to remind ourselves that blowing up is not an appropriate response, and we keep telling ourselves to be patient. It's hard. Really really hard some days.

The chat with Lauren's teacher was definitely encouraging and something to keep in mind next time we feel like we're going to blow. "Independent four" is what I'll tell myself. After all, there have been a lot of fun and funny and sweet moments this year too.

Octobaby

In the last four years I've forgotten how challenging, frustrating and downright hilarious it is to get a coat and footwear onto a fidgety 8 month old baby.

If humans had to put clothing onto wriggly octopus babies with all 8 tentacles going every which way, I'm sure the experience would be the same.

It must look like Claire and I are entangled in a game of twister each morning. Me with one of Claire's arms tucked under mine as I try to guide the other into a coat sleeve. One of her legs flailing around as the other tries to hoist her body upwards and away.

I miss summer already when all I had to do was strap her into the Snugli and away we went. No coat, no shoes, no hat, no gloves, no nonsense.