Crash

Last night around 11:00, Julie and I were still downstairs when we heard a thunderous crash from upstairs. Jorja had fallen out of bed. I hurried upstairs as soon as I heard it, and saw her walking out of her room, holding her head and doing the 'silent scream.' I brought her into our bedroom to assess the damage, and then the screaming started. Much to my surprise, no one else woke up. I couldn't see any scrapes or feel any bumps, so after she was calmed down, I put her back to bed. This morning, she had a bit of a scrape and a bruise on her knee which 'made her leg stiff and hard to walk'. That is, whenever she thought about it. It didn't seem too stiff when she pedalled around the block this afternoon, but it was again at bath time.

Today turned out to be quite a nice day. I spent some time this afternoon in the backyard trying to tame the thistle patch beside the house. There's about a four foot wide section between the backside of the house and the fence that had had landscape fabric and crushed rock laid on it, but now the thistles are starting to grow. And it's in an area that you never really see, so when I looked the other day, it was like whoa! I've got to get a handle on that. So hopefully it is under control for now...until all the seeds grow.

Even though it has been fairly nice here, I have officially given up on getting back into the pool. I started draining it this afternoon. It will probably take a couple of days - I've got a hose strung out to the street so that I don't flood the neighbours out. It's kind of depressing because we never did get back into it after the algae incident got cleared up. I guess we'll see what next year brings.

Jorja is pretty excited to start Kindergarten tomorrow. We got the final thing she needed ready today. They are supposed to bring one of Mom or Dad's old T-shirts to wear for painting. So I found one today, and she and Julie wrote her name across the front in big block letters. She was pretty thrilled by the whole thing. When she was going to bed tonight, she gave me a big hug and said, "Thanks for the shirt. You're the best Dad." Almost made me a little teary. Later.

Busy

It's been a slow week for the blog it seems. Maybe that's because we've had quite a busy time the past few days. Last Tuesday we had some friends over, Wednesday and Thursday we were invited out to friends' places. On Wednesday we also got to reconnect with a friend I hadn't seen in quite a while. They have a little girl a month younger than CeCe, so the two of them really hit it off. It started out with a bit of a stare-down, followed by laying down on the floor together where one would start to cry and then the other would wail. It was kind of funny. Thursday we were at some friends who have an in ground swimming pool in their backyard (heated and no algae). The girls had a blast in there - Jorja is such fish.

Today we had CeCe dedicated at church. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing, but both sets of Grandparents said they could make it, so it was good. CeCe didn't even cry, and the girls managed to stand relatively still at the front of the church.

So yeah, it's been busy. Now we have one more week before school starts. I still can't believe it.

The other day I was changing Ginny's bum (don't ask about the toilet training) and when I was done I asked her to go put the diaper in the garbage. She replied, "I'm kind of busy now." Excuse me? You're two. You're not that busy, now put the diaper in the garbage. "My hands are full." I couldn't believe it. What is she going to be like when she is a teenager?

We were in Sobey's a couple of days ago, and as we were walking to the car, Jorja noticed an employee outside. "Hey Dad, there's a Sobey's girl there. You see, in the cape." I might have called it an apron, but it's probably more fun to be a super hero. Later.

Up too early

Why is it that not all three kids can have a good night's sleep on the same day? Well, I guess technically the night was all right, CeCe just decided that she was ready to be awake at 6:00am. So here I sit, eyes half glued shut with her in the exer-saucer beside me. I tried getting her back to sleep, but it wasn't happening. So I decided to cut my losses and just bring her downstairs before she woke up her sisters. If they were both up already, it would make for a very miserable day.

Jorja finished swimming lessons yesterday and she passed her 'sea turtle' level. Next stop, 'salamander'. She did so awesome, we're really proud of her.

Last year, Jorja got a karaoke machine for her birthday. Lately, it has been getting a workout by both her and Ginny. Ginny has been enjoying it this past week while Jorja was at swimming lessons - pretty much an hour of uninterrupted solo time. She has a CD with 30 kids songs on it ranging from 'The wheels on the bus' to 'Down by the bay' to 'The itsy bitsy spider.' On Thursday Julie took Jorja to swimming lessons, and Ginny asked to sing. So I got her all set up and then I had to feed CeCe. I fed CeCe her bottle and came back upstairs to find her laying in the window, relaxing and singing. It was pretty cute. Later.

37 and 364/365

Tomorrow is my birthday. Not a significant one, I'm turning 38. That's not old yet in Jorja's books. That happens at 40. When I turn 40, all my hair will fall out and I will be totally bald. Or if I was a girl, all my hair would be white. At least I've got a couple of good years left. Perhaps I should grow it out while I have the chance, relive my youth, long locks flowing out from under the hockey helmet....ahh, those were the days.

The other day we were running some errands, and I had to stop to get gas. The girls were famished (or so they said) so I picked them up a bag of mini Ritz sandwiches and a bottle of lemonade. They were in heaven. They've got some work to do drinking out of a bottle yet. I took a peak down the neck at one point, and there were a lot of cracker crumbs in there. At one point, the crackers had just been finished, and Ginny was having a drink. Jorja noticed a rather large crumb on Ginny's cheek and picked it off and proceeded to eat it herself. Sheesh. Kind of reminded me of monkeys at the zoo.

I think the pool is back in business. If it would stop raining that is. I shocked it with chlorine again last night, and today it is all clear. It still smells like there is a lot of chlorine in there, but that will be gone soon if the sun comes out. I guess I'll have to keep on top of things now.

Green

We went to church this morning, then for lunch, and were going to come home and have a dip in the pool. It was smokin' hot here today. We got CeCe laid down for a nap, had the girls changed into their swimsuits, sunscreened up, Julie and I changed and ready, bald spot sunscreened, baby monitor plugged in outside - we were ready. Then I pulled back the cover to the pool. It had been over a week since we were in it, and I hadn't really looked at it. Bad pool boy. Our nice little pool was now a green, algae filled swamp. Gross. No pool today. That sucked. So I threw a whole pile of chlorine into it, and started filtering the green stuff out. It is going to take a few days I think. So we did the next best thing, probably just as much fun for the girls - turned on the sprinkler. They had a blast. Julie was relaxing reading a book and they were filling a Frisbee with water, carrying it to her, and keeping her feet cool. "It's like you're getting a pedicure," I heard at one time. Then they decided to wash their soccer balls, beach balls, etc...all the plastic balls they have in the back yard (5 or 6 I think). Jorja said to me, "We're just washing our balls Dad. It's important to wash your balls every once in a while." Yes it is Jorja, yes it is.

CeCe was six months old yesterday - hard to believe. She goes for her shots tomorrow morning, so that should be fun. She is such a good baby - happy, laughs lots, doesn't make strange yet, puts up with a lot of 'attention' from her sisters. The last week or so, she has really started to eat solids well. Some days she barely has a spoonful in and her mouth is open wanting more. She's getting close to being able to sit by herself, but not quite there yet. A couple more months and I'll be back to work. Scary. Later.

Aliens

Well, ever since the other night, Jorja has been fine. She went to swimming lessons the past two days and did great, so issues. I'm not sure, do kids get migraines? Why is it that not everyone can sleep good at the same time. The past two nights, CeCe has been up lots and fitful when she is in her crib. On the other hand, Jorja and Ginny have slept great, even a bit past 7:00 in the morning. I'm ready for a nap though.

Yesterday I was taking Jorja to swimming lessons and we drove by the pool on the way to the parking lot. Jorja said "There's the pool." I said no it's not. She said, "What do you think it is? A planet full of aliens or what?" I have no idea where that came from. I can't believe how much fun she is having taking swimming lessons. She's usually fairly shy and reserved in groups like that, but she is jumping around and talking lots and volunteering to go first all the time. I actually had to tell her to tone down her excitement when it wasn't her turn because she seemed to be getting a little over zealous. The teacher even had to tell her to stop doing something once. After our chat, she did great yesterday, still excited, but contained. I'm pretty proud of her. Later.

Catching up

It's been a few days since I posted anything (other than the video of Ginny). I was going to last night, but I didn't have the energy after the drive home and watching the finale of the Bachelorette (I know, but it's over now - I had to see it through). In case you watch or want my opinion, I think she picked the wrong guy.
Let me start by showing you CeCe in the pool:


.













That was Friday afternoon, before we went away for the weekend. We ended up going to Julie's parents' place for the weekend, but didn't leave until Saturday morning. Julie's brother and his wife were there as well, so it was good to see them too. Before we left on Friday, Julie's Dad called and asked if she could find him a couple of kittens for the shop. Julie looked on kijiji, and was only able to get one little charcoal grey male. She went and picked him up after the girls were in bed. We had him set up in the downstairs bathroom and put the baby gate on the door. He was still in there when I fed CeCe at 5:00 am, but by the time the girls were up, he had figured out how to scale the gate. So the girls get up at 7:00, and head downstairs. Now in hindsight, maybe I should have warned them, but it was just a kitten. They get to the kitchen and that is how far the cat had made it as well. He was under the table when they spot him. (Keep in mind, he is only 9 weeks old and tiny.) They started screaming like little girls (okay, bad analogy). 'AHHHH! There's a kitty! AHHHH!' I come down, and the two of them are both in tears and cowering in the corner pointing at this ferocious beast. I couldn't believe it. I'm not sure what has gotten into the two of them lately, but they both seem to have developed this fear of animals. The sitter they went to every day before CeCe was born had a big dog and two cats, and there was never any issue. I don't know.

We left Saturday morning right after CeCe finished her bottle, and drove the whole 3 and a half hours in one stretch. It was pretty good. We had a good visit, the girls had a blast with their aunt and uncle. This time CeCe suffered from holiday lockdown. I'm not sure why, it's not like her diet changes (we bring our own water for the formula). Anyway, she finally broke through on the drive home, but it must have been fairly close to the city because she slept most of the way and never got crusty when she woke up.

This morning Jorja started swimming lessons for the first time. She did awesome and had a blast. So she goes every morning now for the next two weeks. This afternoon we went to Superstore and bought school supplies while we were there. School supplies! That sounds so strange. It's still hard to believe she'll be in school in less than a month.

We ate our first two cucumbers from our garden today. We were pretty impressed. Despite our almost complete neglect, things are doing pretty good. I finally got out there with a hoe last week and knocked down some of the weeds and grass. I was attempting to get cages around the tomatoes when the neighbor across the fence started talking to me. He's an older guy, probably 70ish, and his garden seems to be his pride and joy. It takes up half his backyard and is spotless. He says to me that we 'have good soil - it's very fertile.' At this point, the only thing you can really see on our side of the fence is a sea of weeds. Where is that mole we had last year so that I can crawl into one of his holes. I agree with him, as he continues to hoe at weeds that are coming through the fence onto his side. So later on that day I went back when he wasn't there and attacked the weeds. It actually looks pretty good right now. Later.

In the pool

The weather looked a little sketchy this morning - rain, thunder, lightning. Things cleared up by lunch time though, and then it got hot. Out to the pool. I'm getting better, but I think I would still like it better with a heater. The girls would last longer too. I guess we'll see what next summer brings. We had this inflatable turtle for a baby from Jorja that I found and dug out for CeCe today. She loved it. It is basically a big ring with two little leg holes for her to kick around. It also has a sun shade built in which is nice. The battery on the camera is dead, so I'll put a picture of her up another day. In the meantime, it's back to packing and sampling the new Great Western Pilsner Light. They launched a new beer while I'm off - how could they? Oh well, what can you do? Have a good long weekend. Later.

Swimming

Today we decided to test out the pool. We bought a 12 foot above ground pool at a garage sale earlier this year. It's supposed to be 4 feet deep, but the water is maybe two and a half. It wasn't a super hot day here, but it wasn't bad. The water, however, was cccccccccold (70F). Well, I thought so anyway. Jorja and Julie didn't seem to think it was too bad. Jorja is just like a fish though - she just jumped right in and was splashing around like crazy. She was fearless, kind of like Ginny on land. Ginny was a little more tentative, she didn't like to be let go of, even though her feet could touch the ground and she has a life jacket on. I held CeCe for a while and when she got too cold, I took her out. By that time Ginny's lips were starting to turn blue, so I took her out too. Hopefully with a little more heat, the temperature will rise a few more degrees. Or maybe we'll have to get something better next year with a heater.

We were driving home from church yesterday, and the girls were talking about Sunday school. Ginny then piped up, "I love God and Jesus, they're just lovely." It was pretty cute.

Yesterday afternoon the girls were playing outside. Julie and I had stepped in for a bit, and I went to check on them. We have a gazebo set up on our patio with a three person swing in it. I look out and Ginny is in the gazebo by herself. I'm not sure where Jorja was at the moment. Anyway, I'm watching Ginny and I'm thinking to myself, 'She's not really going to do what I think she's going to do is she? She is. Holy cow, I've got to stop her!' Here she had taken one of their little plastic deck chairs, placed in on the bench seat of the swing, and was attempting to crawl up there and sit in her new captain's chair. Did I mention this is all taking place on concrete? It will be amazing if her baby teeth come out naturally.

Anyhow, time for bed. Later.