Nothing Christmasy

I've been enjoying the first of my 3 weeks (well-deserved and earned!) vacation!  First trip to Grandma's house with the kids over the weekend.  Bunked in with Jillian, who unfortunately was getting a cold, so I know I got sneezed on at night.  Good thing I have Kleenex with lotion stocked everywhere in the house and 2 in the car!  Call me paranoid, but nothing drives me bonkers more than having a runny nose, and nothing to catch it with!  (oh no, I just punned!)

Today, I bussed downtown, hung out at Chapters, got a massage, then hung out again at Chapters, before bussing back to pick up the family.  Heaven!  Did I mention that I was alone?  And that I was on the Express bus, which is full of serious (and quiet) commuters who are still waking up and heading to work, eagerly awaiting their caffeine fix?  Then tired at the end of the day(the caffeine crash probably helps also), so they're quiet again?

Today I picked up Susan from the daycare and she was giving a bottle to a baby (the baby is a year old, and I saw the baby slap away the bottle when she didn't want anymore).
Ahem...anyway, Susan was being very careful holding the bottle, and kept on stroking the baby's hair and cheek.  Then Susan looked at me with a look of utter contentment, telling me. "Maman, c'est mon bébé (Mommy, it's my baby)".  She would have made a great big sister!  It's funny, she's such a bundle of energy all by herself, but with a baby, she'll calm right down and be super-gentle and sensitive!

I picked up a couple of Kumon workbooks for Jillian, and was excited about giving her the Addition one because during the drive to Grandma's, we did mental math (9+2, 11+3, etc).  I picked up the Telling Time as well, since she's been nagging us incessantly to tell her what time it is!  So when we got home, I told her that I had a surprise for her.  She went to my bag and fished the books out, then examined the Addition one.  After a few minutes of looking at the pages, she turned to me and asked,
Jillian-"Where's the take-away?"
Me-"You mean subtraction, Jillian?"
J-"Yeah!"
M-"It's at the store, but I can get it for you later.  You can practice adding with this book."
J-"Oh."

I am depriving my child of the thrills of subtraction-the HORROR!

Then she continues to scrutinize the Addition book, looks at a page near the end, and declares, "But I don't know how to do this one!"  (It's the 17+8 kind, where she'll have to carry a number).  I reassured her that I would help her, and that we would do the easy ones first at the beginning.  She didn't look convinced.

Lest you think I forgot I have a 2nd child, I picked up the Tracing book.  I think that's all she'll have the patience for at first!  Plus, Susan loves copying whatever Jillian does, so why not?

Is it really a week away from Christmas?  I have to find the presents that I've hid before I can wrap them.  Last year was a bit of a fiasco, as I have the nasty habit of hiding things where I won't forget, and promptly having NO clue as to where I put them!  Finding them in March wasn't as fun as you might think....

Jillian-ism

I was out with Jillian yesterday and we went to the same mall where we saw Santa.  As we walked past, I pointed out Santa to her.  Her reply?

"I saw him already!"

Same thing when I was trying to get her to write to Santa about what she wanted for Christmas... "I told him already!"

She doesn't like doing the same thing twice...

Sad Susan

Jillian made cookies today and brought 2 home to share with Susan.  Susan was so excited at getting a cookie for dessert!  That is, until Jillian picked a cookie for Susan.  One of them looked like a Christmas tree, and nicely decorated (for a 5 year old).  The other one looked like it *wanted* to be a tree and not as pretty.

You guessed right, Susan's cookie wasn't as pretty.  She sobbed, wanting to have the 'good' cookie.  Jillian didn't notice and kept on munching away on the cookie. Then when we asked Susan if she wanted to put the cookie down and go play, she cried, "No"  *sniff*.

I've never seen a kid looking so sad eating a cookie.  I also had to hold in my laughter!  Should have taken a picture!

Getting ready for Christmas

December 1st was the beginning of the Christmas season for us-I just can't bring myself to decorate before then.

Yesterday, we went to visit Santa and enjoyed the decorations at the mall.  We got there early in the morning, so the kids were in a prime spot when Santa came down the escalator ringing his Christmas bells.  Susan insisted on wearing a tiara with her dress, and both kids were fine sitting down with Santa.  Not too much conversation, but at least they weren't screaming in his ear like a few other kids I saw!

Then we headed to look for a decoration for the Christmas tree.  Both girls get their own ornament each year, and when they grow up, they'll be able to decorate their trees with the ornaments they've grown up with.

Today, we put up the tree, played some Christmas music, and the kids decorated.  The upper end of the tree is a bit sparse, but it's cute.

Jillian decided on her own to write a letter to Santa.  I told her to write down what she wanted, and her response?  "I told him already!"  She had me there...

The girls are sharing an advent calendar.  It was fine today because we had forgotten yesterday about giving it out.  But tomorrow is Jillian's turn, and Susan will have to wait until the 4th...this could get interesting!  I'll let Michael deal with it-ha ha!

I have 2 girly-girls

The other day, I was at home with the girls.

Susan decided that I *had* to put my earrings on-I had them on my nightstand because it hurts my head to sleep with them on.  She handed them to me and waited until I had put them both in.  Then she was happy.

Then I was brushing Jillian's hair for school.  I put it in pigtails, and she got really upset!  She kept repeating, "I don't like it!" and was trying to pull them out.  So I took them out and she put on a headband with a big flower glued to it.  Then she went to the mirror and decided that she was happy.  (she never does this when I get her ready for daycare!).

That day when Jillian got home, she asked me for earrings.  Oy!

Pre-K and Reading

Jillian loves the days when she waves goodbye to Susan and me, and goes with Michael to school together.

Susan, on the other hand....
On Tuesday, we all left the house at the same time, and as we were heading in different directions, Susan started wailing.  I hit the brakes (wasn't going that fast) and was concerned that she was hurt.  Turns out she wanted to "go with Daddy and Jillian."  I guess that makes me liver, right?  Susan was not her normally bubbly self...she was quiet all the way to the sitter, and plodded up the steps.  She then hugged the babies when she got in, but was pretty bummed!  I didn't have the heart to tell her that she's got a year and a half to go!

Jillian gets to take library books out once a week and has reading for homework.  She loves reading as much as I do-phew!  She reads and re-reads the book* until she can read it all by herself-hooray!  I asked her if she wanted to write out the words in the story too, and she was happy to do it...for a little bit!

And now Susan wants to get in on the action too, just like big sister.  When Jillian was done, Susan wanted to read every word out loud, and I was happy to oblige.  Jillian settled down with Michael to read some books that he had picked up just for her.

This was awesome perfect, and it was exactly what I had imagined when I thought of becoming a parent.

*The book goes something like:
The cat is on the hat.
The cat is on my lap.

Jillian's First Day of School!

It was awesome!  I think I wasn't emotional because Michael brought her himself, and he's nearby teaching another class, so really, easy peasy!

Last weekend, we went shopping for a backpack.  When we got to the store, she immediately asked for a purple backpack.  She was so proud of herself once she saw what it looked like on her.  Michael asked her why she picked purple, and she replied that it would be just like Dora's backpack!  What a kid!

We went on Monday to meet her classmates and she was so excited to go there!

She was playing in the sandbox and accidentally threw sand in her own face-ouch!  The kindergarten teacher helped me clean it up as she saw how panicky I was getting.  Jillian calmed right down-awesome!

Today, she was waiting and ready at the door for 15 minutes-we had to tell her to take her boots off!  Then both girls said good-bye to each other, which is a rare thing, and it's not usually all day like that either!  Susan was quiet and pensive in the car, which is not usually her trait, and as soon as she saw me tonight, she declared that Jillian and Daddy were home.  It was cute that they missed each other.

Jillian had a huge smile on her face, and did her homework with excitement-reading a book!  I read, then she read, then we looked at the spelling of the words, then she wrote out a few sentences in the book.  (the last 2 things were me being hyper-excited, but I made sure not to pressure her, and kept it fun.)  It was so cool to hear her read to me!  Kudos goes to Michael for reading to the kids every night before bed.

The next class isn't until next week, but I'm happy that she's had such a great start!

Baking with Susan

I made some cupcakes for Michael's class for tomorrow, and Susan was very interested once she saw the cake mix box!  I decided to let her help me crack a few eggs.  First she helped me, then I let her do one herself.  I could feel Michael cringing at the thought of splattered egg across the kitchen but Susan was pretty good with hitting the egg against the edge of the bowl.  And only 2 small pieces of egg shell that I had to pick out!

Then she wanted to eat cupcakes right away-and the batter was still runny!  I got her shooed out of the kitchen, and returned with Jillian in time to see the first batch of frosted cupcakes.  Of course they wanted to eat cake right away, but we told them that they had to eat dinner first.

Jillian clued in first, shouting, "I want dinner please!"  We laughed and they had the tiniest serving of dinner before they were hollering for cake.  Turns out they weren't interested in my baking...it was the frosting and sprinkles!  Gah!

How old are you?

Jillian likes to announce that she's five years old now.  The other day in the car, she asked me how old I was.  I replied "32", then she burst out laughing.

sigh.

Away for too long.

And I do apologize. A lot has happened over the last year.

Our move this past summer went smoother than I thought.  Luckily, a lot of stuff was packed because we were prepping the house for sale, but I was still astounded that we had a living room composed entirely of boxes!  Thank goodness my brothers, mom and her husband were there to help!  On the quest to free our living room, we got rid of over 20 boxes of stuff.  Funny thing is, if you asked me to name things I gave away, I would really have to think about it.  Oh hang on, first thing that comes to mind is some extra measuring cups.

I really do like the new place.  It's closer to town, and our driveway is a smaller, more shovel-able too!   The girls are sharing a room, and although I was apprehensive about it at first, they actually settle down to bed pretty quickly.

 Jillian is getting ready to start kindergarten in a couple of weeks. She's excited about starting school and meeting new friends. Her speech is coming along nicely, and we'll even speak together in French once in a while. She tried skiing this past winter, and although it was a bit of a rough start, she's looking forward to hitting the slopes next year! I'm looking forward to doing it as a family activity. I must admit I was a bit jealous sitting on the sidelines!

Susan is a little bundle of energy. Anything Jillian does, Susan's right behind her. And the kid laughs at everything.  Eating breakfast, running in circles, singing songs.  And if she does cry, it's rarely for more than 5 minutes.  Susan liked skiing as well, although she didn't like walking back to the chalet afterwards!

Together, the girls play and communicate well, which I enjoy watching.  They love their Disney princesses, and will dress up at any opportunity.  We took them to Disney on Ice and they went bonkers over it!

Michael started work at the school where he started kindergarten!  I think it's cute how he's come full circle.

I'm still studying French full time, and I'm proud of my progress, although with my naturally impatient nature, I wish I knew it all immediately!  I do love being able to have conversations in French now and not fumbling the way I used to over grammar and vocabulary.  Naturally, I still make mistakes, and I think I confused the poor girl at the gym I go to, due to mixing up some verb tenses.  But it is appreciated that I do try to speak French to Francophones.  Just please don't ask me to speak any Mandarin...I've forgotten what little I've learned!

Okay, that's us in a nutshell.  Have a good weekend!

First Hockey Game

For the girls, that is. We took them to the Ottawa 67s game today, and both girls enjoyed themselves for different reasons.

Jillian had a lot of fun watching the game, cheering on the players, chanting along with the crowd. Michael was in heaven!

Susan had the attention span of a gnat! She managed to stay still for the anthem and the first 5 minutes of play, then I ended up walking around with Susan for 1/2 of the first period, and most of the second! We left after the second period, while the going was good, and the kids were still happy. Jillian ended up chanting the 67s song all the way home!