Spotlight on the Kids

Aidas


Nature: 
easy-going, friendly, (and extremely socially adept, which makes him everyone's best friend), forgiving, imaginative, sensitive, inquisitive about details in the outdoor environment

Indoor Play:
- pretend play using toys to represent different objects, such as swords, wands, etc.
- pretend play based on a "good guy" "bad guy" scenario, rescue missions, or other emergencies

Outdoor Play:
- digging
- finds objects to carry around (sticks, stones, garbage)
- drawing with chalk

Common Utterances:
"Samarai, hah!", "Go go Power Rangers!", "That's not true!" (meaning "That's not fair!") "RPM!"

Favourite Toys:
Magneatos, play food, tools, collection of random objects


Favourite CD:
Beatles, Noah CD


Favourite Foods:
peanut butter and jam sandwiches, apple, noodles, manicotti, spaghetti


Favourite Animal:
peacock


Favourite Book:
"The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" by Dr. Suess





B.

Nature:
extremely energetic, agile, social, determined, strong, "outside the box" thinker

Indoor Play:
- manipulation of toys and other objects, exploring all possible uses
- jumping, climbing, exploring different ways to move his body

Outdoor Play:
- jumping from rocks, curbs
- digging in the dirt with sticks
- climbing trees

Common Utterances:
"Come on, let's go!" "I'm a scary DINOSAUR!"


Favourite Toys:
Magneatos, play food, dinosaur figures


Favourite CD:
Noah CD

Favourite Foods:
cheese sandwiches, banana, noodles, lasagna, manicotti


Favourite Animal:
Hippo

Favourite Book:
"Animals, Aminmals" by Eric Carle

Noah

Nature:
often serious, imaginative, musical, intense, strong-willed, interested in traditional academics

Indoor Play:
- pretends to drive a bus, subway, streetcar, boat
- pretends he is a singer on stage, likes to put on a show

Outdoor Play:
- pretend restaurant
- pretend bus, subway and streetcar to Ontario Place, Centre Island, or Ex

Common Utterances:
constantly humming, singing

Favourite Toys:
play food, musical instruments

Favourite CD:
Circle of Life, Corner Grocery Store

Favourite Foods:
cheeseburgers, fish sticks, cheese sandwiches, Nutrios, manicotti

Favourite Animal:
zebra

Favourite Book:
"One to Ten...and back again" by SMARTink

Leila


Nature:
squirmy and often has trouble getting comfortable, soft, sweet, sleepy, likes bath time and diaper changing time

Common Utterances:
"Waah"

Favourite Foods:
mommy milk

Restarting the Daycare, after Baby

It's official: at 1 month old, Leila is the youngest baby ever at the daycare. She is handling all the excitement the wild boys stir up wisely, by using the baby stress response of falling asleep. Really though, she must have developed quite the immunity to all this noise in utero, which stood her in good stead.

My adjustment back into daycare life, postpartum, has been extremely smooth, thanks to a few factors. First and foremost, I have lots of energy. In fact, I feel so much better than I did during the last couple of months of pregnancy not only because I'm not carrying around as much weight all the time, but also because I am sleeping better. (Yes, luckily, Leila has been quite a good sleeper so far. I thank my lucky stars!) Also, my husband is on paternity leave for one more month, which means he's around to help out with the baby, and with Noah, as I ease back into this role. Lastly, I only have 2 out of the 3 kids back full time. Oscar, who is 16-months-old, (and thus requires much more help and attention than the 3-year-old boys) is not returning full-time until September. He will still be attending the daycare now and then, on a drop-in basis, over the next few months. Thank goodness - we are missing the little guy!

The baby carrier you see me sporting, above, has been instrumental to the functioning of the daycare. When Leila is fussy and wants to be with mommy, I strap her to my chest and she nods off to sleep, while I get things done. It helps that she still weighs so little!

When we want or need to spend our outside time closer to home, we often play in front of one of the buildings nearby. Last week, we brought all our outdoor toys with us. Noah was interested in being shown how to write the alphabet in chalk. He's really getting the hang of it! Aidas and B. were more interested in attempting to climb this tree. I realized we had outstayed our welcome when Aidas used his piece of chalk to draw a line on the window you see in the photo above. Unfortunately, behind that window is the superintendent's office. She opened the blinds and did not look pleased, understandably. I mentioned this aloud and Aidas quickly packed up and started moving on, saying we should scram. I thought that sounded like the prudent thing to do (at least for the day).

So, we moved to the big green space behind the building. The kids are now free to run around on the grass, since dog poop is no longer a major issue. (This is the situation every year: the kids have to stay off the grass in the fall and winter because it is heavily littered with dog poop. Sad. But during most of the spring and summer, the grass is clean and green.) The boys investigated a giant hole in one of the trees. After that, Aidas wanted to investigate every tree on the lawn. Leila slept through all the excitement.

I'm not even sure what they are trying to accomplish in the photo above. Maybe trying to move the tree? Aidas is still clutching his piece of chalk though, since he was also decorating the trees with his art work; much better than windows. (Have I ever mentioned how this child cracks me up, numerous times throughout the day? He is hilarious! Sometimes frightening - they all are - but usually hilarious!)

I finally managed to get a picture taken of me and the kids together; a rare thing! I just love these photos below! 

Of course, we are missing a member of our posse - Oscar. We got to see him this week though, when we met him for a play date at the playground. Oh. My. Goodness. He was the most adorable thing. This level of cuteness is just unbearable! I wanted to hug him every moment. Get a load of this.

Notice the Adidas gear. Not only does he look the part, but he actually is very athletic.

The big boys were happy to see him. They were asking him if he could talk yet, and which words he knew. I only heard "no", but his mother says he can also say "kitten" and "gold" (Daddy's gold chain).

The kids have recently been wanting to help more with meal preparation. One day, they helped to make their own cheese sandwiches. Another day at lunch, I had decided to try serving them salad, since they have, on previous occasions, shared and enjoyed the salads I have had for lunch. When Noah heard we were having salad, he demanded to assist in its preparation, and the others followed suit. What a success! They really enjoyed, and ate a lot of their salads! I am happy to have at least temporarily found another way to get them to consume more veggies. I wonder if it's just the novelty that inspired them to scarf it down, or if they truly find it delicious. Time will tell.

High Park Cherry Blossoms (Sakura)

Noah, Leila, Dan and I went to view the cherry blossoms in High Park this week. It is a beautiful, magical white wonderland that is only in bloom for one week during the Spring (occurring anywhere from the middle of April to the middle of May, depending on the weather of the previous winter). For this reason, the Japanese view them as a metaphor for life: beautiful, yet transient.  

The existence of the trees in High Park are a result of gifts from the Japanese government over the years. They are an extremely popular attraction, and  draw great crowds during the week they are in bloom. Therefore, you would be better off taking the subway to High Park station, rather than enduring the frustration of having to find a parking spot.

They are in bloom right now, so it would be wise to hurry over for a visit before you miss this beautiful phenomenon!

Little Leila Jane

On March 30th (her due date), at 10:27am, a wonderful, sweet little girl named Leila entered the world, and joined our family. She weighed 7.13 pounds, and measured 20 inches long. Her big brothers, Noah and Jacob, were excited to meet her, as was her big sister Emily.

My mother and father (her Oma and Opa) came to visit her right away. Her other grandparents, Nanny and Grand-Dad, would have loved to meet her right away, but live in Kelowna. They are excited to meet her in May, when they come to visit.

Her Aunt Krista, Uncle Scott, and cousins Kacey and Mackenzie were also excited to welcome her. We all adore her.

At this young age, her sweet soul already shines through. She seems to see everything around her, even though we know this is not yet possible. She is working hard on newborn tasks, like eating, sleeping and growing. No doubt she is trying to get as strong as possible before the daycare starts up again in May (though Oscar will be attending only sporadically, until September, when he returns full force). I am prepared to slow things down when the daycare starts. Flexibility is going to be key. I know that on any given day, things may be delayed for baby cuddles, the boys' naps may or may not happen (Noah has already quit naps altogether), and meals may be slightly delayed. It will be a learning experience for all of us in the daycare, but one that will force us to become more patient, understanding, and empathetic to everyone's needs.

In order to reserve my strength, I will also have to be more flexible with the updates I provide on this blog. There may be longer periods where I cannot write (it's very hard to type while holding a baby in one arm!), or when I simply provide some pictures, and few words. Of course, when I am able to write, and have energy to provide more details, I will. I know my readers will understand the need to prioritize, and any parent can understand the importance of enjoying every precious moment with a child!

Welcome, little Leila. You have been born into a large and wonderful extended "family" of blood relatives and close friends. This includes the daycare family (both children and their parents) who are eager to meet her. There will be no shortage of love!

Oh, and if you're curious as to how Noah is taking all this, I would say "better than I expected". He is still a little ambivalent to her, but we can't really blame him, as she is not very 'interactive' yet. Thus far, Noah has gotten far more attention than usual, not to mention numerous gifts. This has, so far, worked out in his favour. The progression as they both develop should be interesting to experience!

Easter Eggs

The other morning we decorated Easter eggs. Well, Noah decorated the Easter Eggs while Oscar did other Easter-themed activities.

First, Noah and I dyed some eggs. Last year I used hard-boiled eggs. This year I blew out the inside of the eggs to make them hollow, so that we could do it far in advance of Easter. (I figured I'd better do this activity with Noah now, before the baby comes, just to be on the safe side!) Oscar coloured a large yellow paper Easter egg with marker. Then I helped him paint another paper egg, but he really wasn't into it. Luckily he painted long enough to make a nice decoration for the apartment!

Noah was very gentle with the eggs and didn't break any. Here he is submerging the eggs to get the colour to take, but it takes so long when you're 3 and a half! He became more interested in dyeing his hands. We initially added lemon juice to the water, but switched to vinegar to bring out the colours faster. I would recommend adding vinegar if you are doing this activity with the very young! 

While the eggs sat in their dye, he switched to painting the eggs with a small paint brush. With other eggs, he stuck small Easter stickers on. I'm pretty impressed with his fine motor abilities, since he can get these stickers off their backing without any assistance!

Meanwhile, Oscar was having a great time exploring the plastic eggs and egg carton we use for our "grocery store" pretend play. I think this was his favourite of the activities I set him up with. He took them apart, put them together, arranged them in the carton, and rolled them around his high chair tray. (By the way, he did not want to be free from the high chair, roaming around and playing with toys in the living room. He wanted to be a part of the action at the table! He sat for a long time with this activity. I'm telling you, this kid has great focus!)

Lastly, Noah used his markers to decorate some of the uncoloured eggs. Later, he used marker on the dyed eggs as well. Aren't they beautiful? He apparently wants to give these eggs to family members. He keeps mentioning which ones are for his Oma. He says, "Oma's going to say 'What?!?! You did these all by yourself?'" He's very proud.

Because I had gotten out the plastic eggs that we use for our grocery shopping pretend play, Noah was reminded of this activity and demanded to play it that afternoon. So, we got out the whole bag of pretend groceries, the play money, and set the cash register up. 

I was surprised when I told Oscar and Noah to 'say cheese', and Noah leaned in for a hug! So cute! Oscar has now left the daycare, like his friends Aidas and B., while we wait for the arrival of Noah's little sister. Noah will see his buddies again in May, when I start the daycare back up. I know everyone will have changed so much by then. Keep well, little monkeys!