Happy Easter...chocolate hangover

Easter was strangely early this year and too cold to put into words. I mean, we still have 3 feet of snow in our yard. What's up with that? At least it was sunny...trying to be positive.

Blake and Faith had a hoot finding eggs in our basement. Blake was particularly proud when he learned how to shake the eggs open to find candy. Yes, he does love smarties. And, I think he would have eaten them all day if allowed (read more on this for his sister).

Due to the cold weather, we couldn't kick the kids outside this year during our easter dinner/pig out, so they spent the time getting their faces painted into bunnies and dogs, and then sneaking off with mountains of chocolate. Between Cordelia, Faith, and possibly Ava, they ate almost all the easter candy in one afternoon. This included the dishes of chocolates and jelly beans I had set out in the kitchen for the 15 other people at our house. Being the observant adults we are, we didn't actually notice this until it was all gone. Perhaps related to the multiple bottles of wine we drank.

Anyway, Faith and Cordelia reaped the rewards of their candy binge with very sore tummies. We got out the pepto and the Tums for Faith. And, she informed me in a woeful voice, "Mummy, please go and empty my cash register. It has lots of chocolate in it." She just couldn't take the thought of another bit of chocolate. Later on, when I put her to bed, she said, "Mommy, please don't buy as much candy next year."

Of course, what was the first thing she wanted to eat the next morning? An errant bit of easter bunny. Oh, how quickly they forget.

Blake's 14th month

To Blake:


Well, life is gotten more interesting the older you get. You're not a baby anymore and have moved into toddlerhood with both feet. And those feet carry you anywhere you can get to. Not only have you become an avid walker, but you have also become an avid climber. You can climb the back of the couch, onto your play table, onto the ottoman by using any small box left lying around, onto the top of your stand-up piano!!, into the bathtub, into ....you get the idea. Basically you're a walking trip to the emergency room, waiting to happen.

You are learning new things now at an amazing rate. You can paint and draw with crayons (and you only eat the paint sometimes), and you have even done a little cooking. Today you helped stir the pumpkin bread mixture, and it miraculously didn't end up on the floor.


You're also picking up language so quickly that I can't keep up. We had your "one year" infant development assessment on March 7th. This involved lots of questions about language that I couldn't answer. Does he say Ca, Ta? How many words does he know? Can he say uh-oh? Does he nod yes? I felt like I was the one being examined! So, after I assured her that you didn't do these things, I decided to test you out at home.

And, what do you know, you can say Ca and Ta. And you do say uh-oh...actually you say it all the time now...usually just before you drop your cup on the floor! And you can nod Yes to pretty much any question. Sometimes you even nods yes just to see what it feels like to get that slightly dizzy feeling from moving your head too fast. And, this weekend you said "Kitty"!

You turned from slightly behind to boy genius in a couple of days. It's amazing what happens when your mother is actually paying attention.


One major event for you this month was, hopefully, the biggest snowfall you'll see in your lifetime. Actually, we've had the largest snowfall in one winter in 86 years. And, we had about 16 inches of snow on March 8th. The next day, you and Faith got to experience the huge snowbanks around our house, and you proved that yes, you can walk in your snowsuit.

What you like best, however, is eating snow. Daddy taught you this. Now, when I sit you down in the snow, you bend over at the waist like a piece of paper and lick the snow. I have to be vigilant about where you sit.

Food is still one of your favourite pastimes, and you eat pretty much anything. Of course, a few oatmeal chocolate cookies provides not only a yummy treat, but an opportunity to make a big mess. Bonus! You've also learned that if you put cheese in your mouth, then squeeze it out into your hand, that it gives a new and interesting texture that you can then smear on the floor. Yippee.

I still wish I had a quarter of your energy, even if it means going to be at 7:00 each night. I get tired just watching / chasing you. But the best times are when you're wiggling around in my arms and giving me wet sloppy kisses on the cheek. It's gross and endearing at the same time, plus slightly dangerous as you like to bite now. But, I'll brave the threat of your eight, sharp little teeth for a kiss any day.

Love,
Mom

Use this word in a sentence

Faith always brings home her various school assignments at the end of each week. Normally, this involves a series of writing sheets related to her "word wall words". At the beginning of March break she brought home a worksheet of sentences. In each sentence, she needed to use one of her word wall words. As I was reading through them, I got my laugh of the day (word wall words in bold):

"I can talk to my friend."
"I would like a sister."
"I have a brother."
"I can give a gift to my friend."
"My Gramma is old."

Blake's 13th month

To Blake:

I still haven't figured out everything I'm going to write for this post since the past month has been crazy, but I decided to at least upload the pictures.

Two cousins

End of an era

Two weekends ago, Faith lost her fourth tooth. We forgot to put it under her pillow for a few nights and before we got around to it, she asked the question.

"Mom, is the Tooth Fairy real?"

Great. And George was nowhere in sight to field this one. In classic avoidance mode, I said:

"What do you think?"

"Come on Mom. Just teeelll me."

"OK. No the Tooth Fairy is not real."

"So do you put the money under my pillow?"

"Yes."

She didn't seem too devastated by this revelation.

"Mom, can I get paper money for my next tooth?"

So, that was last week. Tonight, we were driving home from Sparks, when she pipes up from the back seat, "Mom, is the Easter Bunny real?"

This time, she had to wait to get home so George could be the one to destroy her childhood illusions instead of me. Then, of course, the next question out of her mouth, "Is Santa real?"

Great...in one week we've lost the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus. We are eagerly awaiting the time when Blake is old enough to believe in them so we can get a little magic back. And Faith is more than happy to play along. But she did ask whether she could say thanks to us at Christmas instead of Santa. She may not have Santa anymore, but she does have manners.

Happy Valentine's Day

So far, we've spent Valentine's evening in bed...all four of us. George and Faith are both sick, and Blake was just happy to crawl on top of everyone until he went to sleep in his room.

So, enjoy your Valentine's Day. I can only hope it was as romantic as ours.