Sunday, April 29, 2012

LaLaSoupy

This coming week should be fairly busy and that will be the norm for a couple of months.  Jorja has piano lessons on Monday, Ginny starts soccer on Tuesday and Jorja has skating on Wednesday.  Fun, fun, fun.  Hopefully the 10 degree and rain forecast for Tuesday changes - could be a chilly start to soccer.  Jorja's second skating lesson last week was better than her first.  She got grouped in with a slower group and had more fun and more gentle falls. 
We were doing some shopping yesterday and ended up spending some time in the mall.  Julie managed to get the two older girls in for a haircut (which they loved!), so CeCe and I had to hang out for a bit.  We spent most of the time doing this:


It's amazing how long that can be entertaining (I didn't even have a loonie to put into it) and the tantrum that can ensue when it's over.  After the haircuts, we walked though SportCheck.  Jorja quickly informed me that this was boring.  I told her that it was boring for me when she was getting her hair cut and that we have to take turns doing what other people want.  (It was actually Julie who wanted to go through SportCheck, so I'm not sure why I got blamed.)  Anyway, she stopped, looked up at me, and said, "Dad, we're girls!  You'll have to get used to it!"  Alright then.  I just didn't realize I'd have to get used to it this soon.

Ginny has a couple of LaLaLoopsy dolls.  I'm not sure when or where this brand came from, but the girls seemed to know about it instantly.  CeCe calls them LaLaSoupy dolls.  The other day in the aftermath of bathtime, Ginny was getting her PJs on, Jorja was getting her hair brushed and CeCe was disciplining LaLaSoupy.  Yes that's right.  She took her over to her 'corner' and sat her down there.  "You go to the corner LaLaSoupy!  Sit!"  She left the doll there for a few minutes and then went back over and picked it up.  "You say sorry?"  Then she carried the doll across the room and said, "Sorry Ginny.  Sorry Ginny.  Sorry Ginny."  (You can tell who CeCe usually has to say sorry to.)  I guess even at two years of age, s#*t rolls downhill.  Later.


Sunday, April 22, 2012

Cleaning with Ginny

I'm getting really tired of writing about being sick, but that seems to be all there is to our life lately.  This time it's the adults though.  Last weekend I came down with some nasty flu - aches, fever, sore throat.  I was pretty much over it by Tuesday, but then it hit Julie.  She came home from work Wednesday, and today is the first day she feels like herself again.  Crazy.

Friday morning when Jorja was at school, CeCe, Ginny and I were hanging out and playing.  Ginny wanted to play something else, so I suggested that we clean up some of the toys that were on the floor first.  It sounded like a good idea at the time and everyone agreed.  However, after about two Little Pet Shops were in the bin, Ginny was off to the bathroom.  As she was closing the door, she said, "You guys can keep cleaning up while I'm in here."  Thanks.  So we did.  Well, I did anyway.  CeCe will put stuff away if you give something to her and tell her to put it away.  It's just quicker to help out.  Ginny came out of the bathroom when she was done her business and was apparently pleased with my progress.  "It looks good out here guys," she said.  Again, thanks Ginny.

I kind of missed the boat on soccer registration this year, so when I realized this, Jorja's age group was full.  She was devastated (more with the idea of not playing than with actually not playing I presume).  So we looked around for another activity to put her in and found some spring skating lessons.  Her first time was last Wednesday and she actually did not too bad.  She didn't have to use a 'walker' anyway.  I have to tell you though, I don't think I would have been walking the next day if I had taken the same spills she had.  But she only cried once (when she fell on her nose) and was smiling at the end, so all is well.  Her knees look like she took quite the beating though.  I guess we'll see how tender they are this week.

Today was a beautiful day out, and we got the trampoline set up.  The girls had fun and even CeCe got into it.  The only hard part is getting the older two to tame down the jumping when CeCe is up there.  Ginny did end up with a bloody nose at one point, but she survived.  We even took the bikes out for a little spin.  I'm so looking forward to summer - I hope we have some decent weather.  Later.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Two years

Two years ago today, I started this blog.  Crazy how time flies.  CeCe was only a couple of months old.  Ginny was still in diapers.  Jorja wasn't in school.  Now CeCe just started sleeping in a toddler bed (no more crib!).  Ginny is getting excited for preschool on the fall.  Jorja is in Grade 1 and loving it. 

Quite a while back, I came across this site called blog2print, where you just put in your blog address, and it generates a book out of your blog.  I thought it would be a nice way to remember things, so I printed one up at the end of each of the last two years.  Jorja has stumbled across the first one, and likes to read it.  It seems strange hearing a six year old asking to read 'From Beer to Babies.'  Oh well, it may seem strange to hear Ginny asking me what kind of beer I tested today, but that's just the way it goes around here.  Anyway, Jorja likes reading my 'memory book.'  Well, most of the time that is.  Keep in mind she was 4 when I started writing.  She came across a story where she had a bit of a temper tantrum/meltdown.  As she was reading it, you could hear the expression in her voice change as she got deeper into the story and realized it wasn't a very flattering picture being painted of her.  Up until this point, pretty much everything she had read had been funny.  When she was done, she asked me why I wrote that, and I said I didn't really remember, just that that is what happened on that day.  "You shouldn't have written that," she said.  Yup, she wasn't very impressed with me after that.  Oh well, I wonder what she'll say if she ever gets around to reading this.

CeCe is saying so much now, and repeating everything we say.  Some of her pronunciations are really cute though, and I managed to capture this.  My favourite is how she says See-ooo-bee for sleeping beauty.

Later.  

Monday, April 9, 2012

Global warming, bugs, Easter and ink

I'm not sure what is going on with us this spring, but I am getting sick of all the sickness.  I'm going to go ahead and blame it on global warming.  The winter was too warm to kill any off any nasty bugs and we just happened to catch them all.

It started last Tuesday night at 2:30am.  CeCe threw up.  And then she did it again.  And again.  After the third time, I was holding her in the rocking chair trying to put her back to sleep when Ginny walked in and said her stomach hurt.  I told her she was okay and she should go back to bed.  Then she puked on the side of the rocking chair and all over the floor.  JULIE!!  On the upside, that was one barf that didn't require an entire bedding change.  We got through the rest of the night with only a couple more hiccups.  I stayed home with the two youngest and Jorja went to school and Julie went to work.  By noon, everyone was home.  I think at that point, Jorja was just exhausted.  She didn't sleep much through all the drama.  Long story short, everyone napped.  That's a pretty good sign they aren't feeling well.

Thursday was better, so we packed up and headed to Julie's parents' place for the Easter weekend.  Friday was my turn.  Nothing ever actually happened, I just felt super nauseous all day long.  Saturday Jorja woke up and said she was tired and actually went back to sleep.  That should have been a fairly strong signal she wasn't feeling well.  When she did get up, she had a fever and said she had a headache.  I gave her some Advil, and she then puked those back up into my hands.  Julie was also suffering from round 2 of this nasty bug, so we packed up and went home.  Happy Easter.

Easter Sunday Julie was still under the weather, but Jorja was pretty much better.  Today was good, so hopefully we are all on the mend.  Again.

Sunday morning we had some Easter eggs hid for the girls.  I got up with Jorja and Ginny (at 6:30) and told them they could look at their baskets but to leave the eggs until CeCe was up.  Well, the two little monsters may not have moved the eggs, but they knew where pretty much everyone was when CeCe got up.  Oh well, CeCe beat them to eating the candy faster.  One plastic egg opened up and spilled its contents onto the floor and CeCe had three Eggies and a Skittle in her mouth before the other two even moved.  Yeah, she's my daughter.

Today was pretty cold out, but we went outside for a bit.  Ginny went over to the evergreen and took a needle off.  She said to me, "When it's warmer out, we use these to play real tattoos that hurt."  Alright then.  Move over Miami Ink.  This is Backyard Ink.  Later.  

Monday, April 2, 2012

Spring?

Just over a week ago, Julie's parents were up for a couple of days.  They went to go home last Saturday when they discovered that their truck had been broken into.  Nothing was taken, but the driver's window was smashed.  Great.  We managed to find someone who cold fix it that day, so they were still able to head home (several hours late and several hundred dollars lighter). 

In the cleaning out some glass to get it to the shop process, I cut my finger.  I didn't think much of it, but it didn't seem to get better.  It was my right index finger, and it was getting worse.  Monday evening, I managed to get a small shard of glass out.  I thought this was the end of my trouble.  Wrong.  By Wednesday night I couldn't take it anymore, so I went to a walk-in clinic to get it looked at.  The doctor froze the end of my finger (I don't recommend this) and then cut it open a bit more to look for more glass.  As he was digging around unsuccessfully, he commented that usually you could hear it when the tweezers hit something.  He wasn't hearing anything.  Needless to say, he didn't find anything.  He put a big bandage on it and sent me on my way.  I was really hoping this was the end of my troubles.  My finger was really sore, and it was getting more and more difficult to play Words With Friends on my iPhone.  I didn't even attempt Angry Birds.  I just don't have the same feeling in my middle finger.  Anyway, it continued to hurt and fester until Sunday morning, when I thought it was going to explode.  And it almost did.  I huge pocket of pus (just the image you wanted eh?) and the glass came out.  It's still tender, but I think I am finally on the road to recovery.  Here's hoping.

The weather here has been kind of hot and cold.  One day it's spring, the next it seems winter is still hanging on.  Here's the girls scaling the last of a mountain one day when I picked them up from daycare:

It just so happened that it was big enough for them both to wipe out and have to change their clothes when they got home.

Saturday was a nice day here, so we spent most of the afternoon in the backyard.  The girls were playing and I was doing a bit of cleaning up and then I decided to take a few shots with my hockey stick.  I can't seem to interest the older two into playing with me, but I may have a hope with CeCe.  I took one shot, and she had this look of awe on her face and then she giggled in delight.  It was like she just saw Wayne Gretzky score the Stanley Cup-winning goal. 
It's nice to still be able to impress your kids once in a while. 

I got all the bikes out and filled the tires so we are now ready to go.  We had a little test spin on Saturday, but that was it.  Ginny wiped out, scraped her hand a bit and then was done.  Jorja made it around the block, but it was kind of painful to watch.  Last year I raised her training wheels a bit so that they don't touch the ground.  She spent the whole time leaning to one side or the other, sometimes so far that her big wheel would lift off the ground and she would spin out.  Could be a fun summer.  Later.