This blog entry will be in French. You have been warned.
Alice a été très bien dans la première année. Elle est l'autobus scolaire, passant toute la journée à l'école, et faire de nouveaux amis après le transfert d'un grade à une classe un / deux split.
Elle se débrouille très bien avec sa lecture et extrêmement impressionnant en mathématiques. J'aime regarder son faire ses devoirs, demander de l'aide, puis se rendre compte qu'elle n'est nécessaire que rassurer - ne pas aider.
Alice semble aussi avoir beaucoup d'amis. Elle a eu un incident mineur avec quelqu'un de sa classe lui voler son déjeuner, mais nous espérons que cela changera bientôt. Son problème est qu'elle laisse sa nourriture sans surveillance et ce garçon petit tire pleinement parti de lui. En dehors de cela, elle semble avoir beaucoup d'amis. Elle rentre à la maison heureux et excité de partager sa journée. Je suis très fière de ma petite fille.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Almost A Year!
So, Jane's birthday is only a few days away! She is going to be a year old! It's amazing when look back at Alice's first year and compare it to Jane's first year. There are so many similarities and differences that it is mind boggling. They both have the same 'look'. That look being that they look identical to me as a child. It's almost as if I have literally cloned them - but I will save that for a different blog entry.I'm surprised that I don't really have a plan for her birthday party. I know what I am going to do in terms of presents and I know I am making her cupcakes instead of a cake, but I really don't have anything planned as for time, theme, or anything like that. She's obviously going to have two different parties. One with Mike and his family and one with myself and my family. Mike and I are going to try to get some pictures of the four of us together for Jane's sake - it's only fair she have a chance to celebrate with the two of us and her sister all together, if only for a half hour.
Her birthday is falling on a Saturday this year. Normally Saturdays mean I have her automatically. Mike usually films weddings on Saturdays. This is actually going to be the first Saturday he has had off in months, so I have told him that he can have her birthday party on her birthday and that I will do the Sunday.
Shopping for her birthday presents was a lot of fun. I knew exactly what I wanted to get her. It's this bilingual learning table by Leapfrog. I was also going to pick up this Furreal friends dog toy. Jane is obsessed with dogs. Her first word was dog - though she says "dada" or "dowee". She loves playing with Alice's "Go-Go the Walking Dog" toy - she will crawl up to it, bite/kiss its nose, and pat it on the head. So I decided I would get her Furreal Friends "Cookie" a dog that responds to touch and sound and plays with a chew toy but it much softer than Go-Go. It's a toy both Alice and Jane can share as well, so Alice doesn't feel left out.
I had known that I was going to be buying these things for Jane for a few weeks now. I saw some commercials for Cookie and I knew about the bilingual learning table from previous trips to ToysRUs. It seemed almost like a sign when I saw the sale flyer this week and saw that both items were on sale. Cookie was on normal 20% off sale but the table was on a two day 50% off sale that was only available Saturday and Sunday. We almost didn't get the table, thanks to the sale.
Because the table was on the two day sale, the store only had so many they could sell during each day of the sale. By the time I had made it to ToysRUs with the girls, the tables for Saturday had been sold out. I asked a sales lady if there were any left and she said there weren't. I knew it really meant that there were just none left for Saturday. I was fine with that and was going to plan on showing up first thing Sunday morning to get it...luckily I had Alice with me. As we were walking away she said "I guess Jane's not getting a birthday present, right mama?" (Oh, the way kids think) The sales lady heard this and told us to wait a minute. She went to the back and brought out the 'girl' colour one for us (I'm not going to get started on how much boy and girl coloured toys get me going in this entry, so I'm just gonna keep moving on with the story.) I thanked the sales lady profusely and we went home with the table and Cookie in tow. Very excited.
I still have to buy some wrapping paper, vegetable oil, a disposable camera (lost my camera and gave Mike the DSLR), and pick out some birthday clothes, but I have a few more days to grab everything. It's bittersweet to see my girlies growing up so fast. I love every stage of their development. Alice is making leaps and bounds in school - I plan on that being my next entry. Hopefully fit that in before the birthday.
I really don't know how to sign off from this blog post. It's not like my YouTube where I cna blow a kiss and be done with it. Hmmm.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
formspring.me
Let's try this again. I have an inbox full of 'favourite position' questions. Please ask me a real question! http://formspring.me/Emmalene
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Different Personalities
Everyone knows that each baby is different, but it is amazing to see just what differences they have when it comes to siblings. Children are obviously the product of a male and a female - each with their own distinct personality - so it is amazing to me when I watch Jane and Alice and see the similarities and differences they both posses.
Both are very much their mothers' daughter. Their personality. The sparkle of mischief in their eye. The way they command the attention of a room. Both are happy and personable and rather astute. I see a lot of Mike in the girls, too. Just in different areas. Alice has his ability to remain quiet and take in a situation before approaching it. Jane, on the other hand, decides to BE the situation. Yet she is so observant and clever in a way that I can only attribute to Mike.
So while overall they are very alike, there are small differences that I have picked up on. Alice, as a baby, was much more physically advanced than Jane is at the same comparable age. Alice was sitting, rolling, and crawling way before many other children reached the milestone. Jane has needed physiotherapy to learn to push herself up into a sitting position. It took her until just after 10 months to do so.
Alice learned to crawl without doing the whole push-up thing. She just one day decided to crawl. Jane is now trying to crawl and is a very mobile baby, but she drags one leg behind her. (It is her weak leg. Physio is really working wonders, though)
Jane seems to grasp concepts much better than Alice did at the same comparable age. It took forever for Alice to even touch a sippy cup. Jane doesn't use one on her own, but knows how to get the liquid out when it is held up to her mouth. Alice took forever to learn cause and effect with toys - Jane takes mere seconds to figure things out. That's not to say Alice wasn't intelligent or anything, but I can see that Alice learns very much like I do. Lots of misunderstandings if we try to do it someone else's way, but we get it pretty fast if we figure out our own way to do things. Jane's learning curve seems to be like Mike's. You show her something and she gets it.
Another difference that has made itself apparent in recent weeks is meal time. Alice has never lived to get dirty. She likes her hands and face and body clean. She is really my clone - my parents say I was the neatest baby they'd ever met. Alice rarely wanted to feed herself and wouldn't dream of playing with her food - unless it was ice cream. She would make a huge mess with that - but that's ice cream.
Jane insists on trying to feed herself. She wants her spoon. She wants her puree on the table so she can grab the pile of mush in her hand and shove it into her face. I have to take off her clothes in order to feed her in order to save her clothing. She loves to play with the textures and often rubs food on myself or anyone else within arms reach. If you don't give her some food to make a mess with to distract her, you will not be getting any food into her mouth.
Right now I am looking at the bottom of Jane's exersaucer. There are saltine cracker bits all over it. It looks like someone just threw a crumpled bag of crackers into it - and I clean this thing daily! Alice's toys are still in pristine condition from her infanthood...well they were until we gave them to Jane.
These are just a few things I have noticed so far. I can't wait to see what other differences there will be as they grow up together.
Both are very much their mothers' daughter. Their personality. The sparkle of mischief in their eye. The way they command the attention of a room. Both are happy and personable and rather astute. I see a lot of Mike in the girls, too. Just in different areas. Alice has his ability to remain quiet and take in a situation before approaching it. Jane, on the other hand, decides to BE the situation. Yet she is so observant and clever in a way that I can only attribute to Mike.
So while overall they are very alike, there are small differences that I have picked up on. Alice, as a baby, was much more physically advanced than Jane is at the same comparable age. Alice was sitting, rolling, and crawling way before many other children reached the milestone. Jane has needed physiotherapy to learn to push herself up into a sitting position. It took her until just after 10 months to do so.
Alice learned to crawl without doing the whole push-up thing. She just one day decided to crawl. Jane is now trying to crawl and is a very mobile baby, but she drags one leg behind her. (It is her weak leg. Physio is really working wonders, though)
Jane seems to grasp concepts much better than Alice did at the same comparable age. It took forever for Alice to even touch a sippy cup. Jane doesn't use one on her own, but knows how to get the liquid out when it is held up to her mouth. Alice took forever to learn cause and effect with toys - Jane takes mere seconds to figure things out. That's not to say Alice wasn't intelligent or anything, but I can see that Alice learns very much like I do. Lots of misunderstandings if we try to do it someone else's way, but we get it pretty fast if we figure out our own way to do things. Jane's learning curve seems to be like Mike's. You show her something and she gets it.
Another difference that has made itself apparent in recent weeks is meal time. Alice has never lived to get dirty. She likes her hands and face and body clean. She is really my clone - my parents say I was the neatest baby they'd ever met. Alice rarely wanted to feed herself and wouldn't dream of playing with her food - unless it was ice cream. She would make a huge mess with that - but that's ice cream.
Jane insists on trying to feed herself. She wants her spoon. She wants her puree on the table so she can grab the pile of mush in her hand and shove it into her face. I have to take off her clothes in order to feed her in order to save her clothing. She loves to play with the textures and often rubs food on myself or anyone else within arms reach. If you don't give her some food to make a mess with to distract her, you will not be getting any food into her mouth.
Right now I am looking at the bottom of Jane's exersaucer. There are saltine cracker bits all over it. It looks like someone just threw a crumpled bag of crackers into it - and I clean this thing daily! Alice's toys are still in pristine condition from her infanthood...well they were until we gave them to Jane.
These are just a few things I have noticed so far. I can't wait to see what other differences there will be as they grow up together.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Helper Alice and a Restless Jane
I would literally be going insane these days if not for Alice. (Though some days she drives me insane, too). She still loves to help get Jane ready for the day and feed her and watch her and play with her.
There have been very few times where I have absolutely needed her help and she doesn't want to, which makes it take twice as long to get anything done because she will start to help then she will stop and I have to go back to remind her that she is helping me so we can get ready and do things.
Jane, who is now 9 1/2 months, is getting to be more and more restless every day. She doesn't like being put down unless it is into a sitting position on the floor. She holds herself up really well, but has the occasional tumble as she tries to figure out movement. She will get into a position where it looks like she is trying to crawl but the put her face on the ground and cry until someone picks her up.
She is also, so far, unable to push herself into a sitting position from a laying down position. I let her cry it out on her stomach for a little bit, but she gets upset to the point of vomiting - which makes her even more reluctant to try to crawl.
She has managed to do minute scooches on her bum on the hardwood floors, but it takes her a while and she sometimes gets her legs stuck to the floor and face plants. I wish there was a way to make her figure out how to do things that I know she has the muscle tone to do.
She is a very happy baby, though. Only crying when something is bothering her or when she is hungry or tired. Not a whole lot scares her and she is starting to cuddle me (I love it!) and show affection towards her sister as well.
The jolly jumper is an absolute Godsend. I had to get the a-frame jumper because she jumps so hard that the clamp on the other would come right off the doorway. She will jump happily for upwards of fifteen minutes - but has recently started to cry if people leave the room.
It wouldn't be so tiring with Jane and Alice if I had a tv. I don't let Alice watch tons and I don't use it as a babysitter, but sometimes the bright colours distract Jane long enough for me to shower. Or they keep Alice occupied while I give Jane a bath. Or we all sit together and watch tv and movies. Really, anything that makes it so my whole day is not catering to their every whim while my needs (and a few wants) fall to the wayside.
Overall everything is still good though. I may be tired (and sometimes smelly) and the girls might want to play when all I really want to do is curl up in bed and sleep, but I'm happy and I can't really complain. I have two gorgeous, happy little girls who love me and I love them. I had a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs. And while sometimes I eat more peanut butter than I'd like, it's so the girls can have nice, full tummies when they need it.
But I would still love a nap.
There have been very few times where I have absolutely needed her help and she doesn't want to, which makes it take twice as long to get anything done because she will start to help then she will stop and I have to go back to remind her that she is helping me so we can get ready and do things.
Jane, who is now 9 1/2 months, is getting to be more and more restless every day. She doesn't like being put down unless it is into a sitting position on the floor. She holds herself up really well, but has the occasional tumble as she tries to figure out movement. She will get into a position where it looks like she is trying to crawl but the put her face on the ground and cry until someone picks her up.
She is also, so far, unable to push herself into a sitting position from a laying down position. I let her cry it out on her stomach for a little bit, but she gets upset to the point of vomiting - which makes her even more reluctant to try to crawl.
She has managed to do minute scooches on her bum on the hardwood floors, but it takes her a while and she sometimes gets her legs stuck to the floor and face plants. I wish there was a way to make her figure out how to do things that I know she has the muscle tone to do.
She is a very happy baby, though. Only crying when something is bothering her or when she is hungry or tired. Not a whole lot scares her and she is starting to cuddle me (I love it!) and show affection towards her sister as well.
The jolly jumper is an absolute Godsend. I had to get the a-frame jumper because she jumps so hard that the clamp on the other would come right off the doorway. She will jump happily for upwards of fifteen minutes - but has recently started to cry if people leave the room.
It wouldn't be so tiring with Jane and Alice if I had a tv. I don't let Alice watch tons and I don't use it as a babysitter, but sometimes the bright colours distract Jane long enough for me to shower. Or they keep Alice occupied while I give Jane a bath. Or we all sit together and watch tv and movies. Really, anything that makes it so my whole day is not catering to their every whim while my needs (and a few wants) fall to the wayside.
Overall everything is still good though. I may be tired (and sometimes smelly) and the girls might want to play when all I really want to do is curl up in bed and sleep, but I'm happy and I can't really complain. I have two gorgeous, happy little girls who love me and I love them. I had a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs. And while sometimes I eat more peanut butter than I'd like, it's so the girls can have nice, full tummies when they need it.
But I would still love a nap.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
What a Frustrating Seven Minutes!
Today started off wonderfully. The girls and I went shopping with my mom. When we got back I took the girls swimming for hours. We didn't come in until it was time for Jane to nap. Alice said she was tired too so I suggested we all have a nap. I told Alice to wake me up when she got up. Instead I woke up to a living room full of toys that she was claiming to be too tired to clean up and burst into tears when I told her she had to put her toys away.
And while she did put them away, she did not do so before I stepped on a train causing me to step on several other painful, pointy toys and scared Jane when I yelled out a mild expletive in reaction to the searing pain in both feet.
I left the living room and went to the kitchen to grab dinner (leftovers from last night) and she had decided to leave a full glass of lemonade perched precariously on the edge of the fridge shelf - it fell over as the door opened and spilled right into dinner. No biggie, until the cup kept rolling and fell on my foot - luckily it didn't break, though I think it might not have hurt so much had it broken and the force was transferred all over the place rather than directly onto the knuckle of my big toe. Then, after making sure I was ok (after yet another expletive...this time it was less mild) Alice started to cry because that was apparently the last glass of lemonade.
I sighed and I threw out dinner. I then picked up the glass, checked it for cracks or anything. I didn't see any so I decided to put it on the counter to be washed. It decided to go postal and break into 20 little pieces (ok, medium sized pieces) and this is the ONLY time out of the 4 other times I've broken one of those glasses where it didn't break into two or three neat little pieces.
After cleaning that up I was pretty ticked. The final straw when Alice asked where her lasagna was. I sighed and came to the bedroom to hit a pillow.
I think I'm all good now.
And while she did put them away, she did not do so before I stepped on a train causing me to step on several other painful, pointy toys and scared Jane when I yelled out a mild expletive in reaction to the searing pain in both feet.
I left the living room and went to the kitchen to grab dinner (leftovers from last night) and she had decided to leave a full glass of lemonade perched precariously on the edge of the fridge shelf - it fell over as the door opened and spilled right into dinner. No biggie, until the cup kept rolling and fell on my foot - luckily it didn't break, though I think it might not have hurt so much had it broken and the force was transferred all over the place rather than directly onto the knuckle of my big toe. Then, after making sure I was ok (after yet another expletive...this time it was less mild) Alice started to cry because that was apparently the last glass of lemonade.
I sighed and I threw out dinner. I then picked up the glass, checked it for cracks or anything. I didn't see any so I decided to put it on the counter to be washed. It decided to go postal and break into 20 little pieces (ok, medium sized pieces) and this is the ONLY time out of the 4 other times I've broken one of those glasses where it didn't break into two or three neat little pieces.
After cleaning that up I was pretty ticked. The final straw when Alice asked where her lasagna was. I sighed and came to the bedroom to hit a pillow.
I think I'm all good now.
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