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Leah and her friends are growing up so fast. Though the developmental progress they make they days isn’t always as obvious as their first year, it is impressive none the less. Along with their increased independence, comes new activities we can do together.

I let the girls have fun ‘stirring’ some cookie dough as I added the ingredients before letting the mixer finish off the job. Their stirring was more like forcefully pounding their spoons up and down in the bowl. They also enjoyed trying some of the butter and sugar mixture that accidentally made its way on to the table out of the bowl.

Even though the temperature outside has dropped considerably, we still like to go and enjoy the park.

We generally do not stay out for long but it is a lovely break from the indoors.

A few mornings a week I have three nineteen month olds hanging out with me which makes for a fun, busy day. I waited and put off having three at a time for quite a few months as I was worried about how it would go. It is a lot easier than I thought as all the kids are great.

The one challenging point is getting them all down the stairs when we go outside. It is a little more difficult for them as well when they are dressed from head to toe for the cold weather as well. I have worked out a system and it seems to be working well. We generally hang out in the backyard on my busy days and are eagerly awaiting getting our own, small playground.

Since they don’t generally all finish lunch at the same time and I like to keep them all together, we have started a new routine. While they are waiting for their friends to finish up, they can look through books. It is something every daycare I worked in did to keep the fast eaters occupied with a quiet activity before rest time. The only difference is I keep the kiddies strapped in while they browse as they are still pretty young. It has worked out well so far on my busy days. She had a friend on either side of her when I took this picture.

Though they are growing older, I think apple sauce will still be a favourite for a long time to come.

Yum Yum!

As we are gearing up for Christmas this year, my mind wandered to last year with Leah and how much she has changed. If you want to take a trip down our family’s memory lane, last year’s blog post can be found here.

We went to my grandparent’s tree farm again but instead of looking for a small tree that wouldn’t overtake our apartment, we were on the search for the biggest tree that would fit without touching our ceiling. Leah was able to trudge around the farm for awhile until she got a little irritated with the mud, uneven ground, rain and wind. She certainly loved being in Daddy’s arms.

I love their matching outfits though it definitely wasn’t planned. I don’t think that far ahead unless our sole purpose of the outing is trying to get a nice family picture. I apparently didn’t receive the memo but don’t you think you need some red since it is Christmas and all.

After the several, tiresome treks around the farm to find the perfect tree, we headed over to Krause’s for some corn chowder and hot chocolate to warm up and spend some time with friends.

Once we got home, Morgan and I took the tree off of the roof rack on the car to bring it into the house while Leah slept in her car seat. Once the tree made it into the kitchen, Leah woke up in time for the excitement of trying to get a massive tree into the living room and standing straight and tall.

Leah was terrified of the tree when it was laying down. I had to hold her while trying to help Morgan move the tree around the house. Once we got the tree in the stand, she was okay with it. Now she seems to enjoy the tree just enough (she looks and touches gently but doesn’t try pull the decorations off).

It really feels like Christmas now. Usually I don’t do anything beside a bit of shopping before December 1st but this year it felt great to get it done. We are having Morgan’s family’s big Christmas get together next week here so now we are ready. Hopefully I can make a wreath sometime this week then we will be all set for Christmas except for a few gifts and cards.

Last weekend there was a delightful, Christmas festival in White Rock that I decided to take Leah to. Morgan was at home working on some of his projects while we checked everything out. There were many artisans selling their wares while choirs and musical groups filled the air with the sounds of Christmas. Many people were dressed up like it was an authentic Victorian Christmas which really added to the ambiance.

Leah and I hung out in the kid’s zone for a bit though Leah was pretty shy and stayed by my side. We had some fun playing together with the large exercise balls before doing making an adorable reindeer headband.

Leah had her face painted as well and got a red nose to match her headband. After the craft time, we went outside to hold our electric candle and be part of a processional with Mary and Joseph along with a donkey and miniature horse.

It was a great first year for the festival and I am definitely looking forward to going next year with the family as they have something for everyone. What a great, new tradition.

That was the best caption I can think of. Share what you would name this photo.

With Christmas coming up soon, I thought it was a great time to make some keepsakes for years to come with Leah. She, however, had a different plan.

After making some great, gooey finger paint, I put both of the girls into their high chairs to contain the mess and put some paint on their trays. Leah refused to touch it. She even whined when she got a little bit on her hand, motioning me to wipe it off for her.

Gabby fully understood the concept and went so far to even try a bite. Not sure how flour and water mixed together tastes but she didn’t try a second time.

In my years of teaching daycare and preschool, I never shied away from getting messy with the kids and always assumed my children would enjoy creating with messy materials too. Apparently not. I gave her some time but still she just watched. I did get a little masterpiece from her by encouraging her to use a paintbrush I had on hand.

I won’t whine and complain too much though as having a child who wants to stay nice and clean has its benefits too. I’m sure she will find a great balance as she grows.

Leah has been copying what she hears a lot more in the past few weeks and put two words together in a ‘sentence’ for the first time this week. As Morgan was leaving the house for work I told Leah to say,”Bye Daddy” and she did. She has also said hi daddy. She does love Morgan a lot and is always very excited to see him.

We have also been slowly working on toilet training which is going well. Leah seems to understand what to do when I put her on her potty. Depending on our schedule for the day, I try to sit her on the potty once every couple hours while I read to her. I have never read so many books to her in my life. I figured this would keep her sitting and occupied but didn’t realize I will probably have every kid’s book in the house memorized by the end of this week.

That’s all the big news in our household this week. Hope you all are having a good week too.

My sister lent me her pasta maker to try out. Though I was excited to make my own pasta, the turnout was a little disappointing. At least it was edible. I was ready to return it until I got a few pointers from a baker and I will try again when I have the time and energy.

Though you can’t tell from this smile at all, Leah has had one tough week. As all parents know, when your child has a tough week, your week is tough too. She steadily rotated between not eating and drinking to having a fever to sleeping a lot though the crying and crankiness stayed pretty constant. She wanted to be held and cuddled whenever she was awake which made me even more grateful Morgan took the week off. Her soothers were a constant companion until Friday when she actually played on her own for a bit while I was in the kitchen. I am so glad to see her personality shine once again as well as her smile.

I have been busy trying to rid our bathroom of the interesting colour combinations while finding some new ones. After much scraping, this is what I discovered on our cabinets. A lovely, shiny gold and yellow.

Now everything is white and waiting to be reassembled. Hopefully it will be all put together soon.

Though I firmly believe that Christmas decor should not be put up before December 1st, preparation can begin anytime. Here is one of the many cards I have been working on.

Morgan also took me to a Pizza, Pizza, Pizza making class this week. We weren’t sure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised. We learned about some new vegetables, how to roast them, made some pizza, ate some pizza and got some great new recipes. Overall it was a fun experience with a great instructor that gave me some tips for bread and pasta making. One of the recipes she passed on was for pitas and taziki. I tried it out yesterday night and we had an amazing dinner with Greek chicken, taziki, roasted tomatoes, roasted peppers, roasted garlic, roasted shallots and fresh pitas.

Morgan has been busy in our attic space preparing for our new roof and insulation. He has been cutting, drilling and installing plywood and giprock.

After a week of being spoiled with Morgan around all the time, I’m sure this week will not be quite so productive in terms of tangible goods. A part of me is looking forward to being back into routine with Leah with more pitter pattering of little feet running around the house. We haven’t been to the park in days or tried new fun things as we only had one friend visit this week. I would love to have Morgan around all the time but our retirement fund does not agree with my feelings.

After a day with Leah and her buddies, my work can’t always be seen but the rewards are pretty sweet. All of the evidence of the faces wiped, the grabbed toys returned, the toys cleaned up, the diapers changed, the hugs and comfort given, the books read and the lunch prepared has all but disappeared. However, the memories are made, new experiences have been explored and there are two little happy girls at the end of the day. Well, they are happy most of the time which makes me happy most of the time too.

Leah officially turned eighteen months old today on this rainy November day. She always seems to be learning new things and as well as finding new hobbies.

Her latest ‘hobby’ requires only her booster seat attached to the kitchen chair along with an adult’s assistance can keep her occupied for a very long time. Leah loves to do up the buckles and struggle to attach the tray before asking the nearest adult to take it all apart again. (By asking I mean various finger pointing gestures as well as blended vowel and consonant sounds that go higher in pitch the more excited she becomes.) She has also learned how to climb into her chair on her own but can’t get down on her own.

Leah loves to be independent as well. She puts on her boots herself anytime she see thems in her vicinity and will let you know her annoyance if you prevent her from having them. She loves waving to Morgan as he heads off to work, though she is sad to see him go, and then waving at him while looking he is getting his bike and as he rides down the street. She has figured out which window to run to and to climb onto the reading bench for the best view.

In the past few weeks she has vocalized a few more words clearly without prompting. She can say daddy, mommy, flower, ball, dog, Gabby, yes and no on her own. Leah has been copying us a lot more in the past week or so saying words like grandma, uncle, Trevor and water. Though she isn’t always clear when she copies us, I love to hear her attempting to vocalize words. She may not be able to say a lot, but her comphrension is amazing.

Leah also loves to help and be part of the action. She likes to help put the cut up potatoes into the pot, pull her wagon, wipe the floor and even was helping putting clean dishes away this morning.

As we look back on the last eighteen months, it is amazing to see how much Leah has learned and grown and we look ahead to what the next eighteen months and the many months beyond with joy.

…where every leaf…

…is a…

…flower.

-Albert Camus

As the seasons change outside, we are changing inside as well. Things may not appear any differently except for a few orange and green gourds in a bowl on the mantle but we have been changing things up. With the rain, we are now spending more time inside and have expanded our daily activities.

When the first morning of solid rain arrived that looked unrelenting, I thought I would have a long day ahead of me with two toddlers. In a slight panic, I searched on the internet for indoor activities for eighteen month olds in order to pass the time. Google didn’t disappoint with some great, easy activities.

I pulled out my plastic bowling pin set as per one parent’s suggestion. Though they never totally grasped the concept of rolling the bowl to knock down the pins, we had a lot of fun. Leah would put up the pins and as soon as one fell, she would knock over the rest with her hands in almost frustration before breaking out into laughter as the pins collapsed. The balls were thrown, tossed and even rolled once or twice while pins were put into place, knocked down and even thrown a few times as well.

Later in the week, we tried out some playdough. After finding a suitable recipe that we had most of the ingredients for, we got down to business. Leah enjoyed stirring the flour and salt together while Gabby enjoyed playing with the flour that escaped.

After adding some oil and boiling water, it was playtime. The sensation of touching playdough was very novel and exciting. Gabby was enthusiastically squishing and molding the dough right away while Leah hesitantly watched. After a few minutes, Leah showed a little more excitement but was still a little more reserved.

I am sure many, many hours will be spent at this table molding, shaping and squishing playdough creations in the years to come. Though their attention didn’t last long, I loved watching them explore something new while I enjoyed a bit of sculpting myself.