kimberly August 14th, 2010
Happy birthday, Adam! You are five years old today and this will be the last year you can demonstrate your age with the fingers and thumb of just one hand. Next year, you’re going to need to borrow a digit from your other hand. You’re getting old!
Adam, I look at you and see a determined, generous, creative little boy who never fails to entertain me with stories, songs and plays. Over this past year you have certainly developed a flair for the dramatic and I love being an ever-present member of the audience. Though your sense of humour occasionally leaves me scratching my head, your patience in explaining the jokes that I miss more than makes up for it. I am so proud of the ways in which you have embraced your status as Big Brother, striving to both watch out for and watch over Leah (you seem to have developed the parental eyes in the back of your head rather early in life). Each day brings with it a new reason to feel blessed to be your mum.
Tags: adam, Adam's birthday
kimberly July 27th, 2010
Despite my best efforts, life continues to be more than a little insane and so I am taking great pleasure in the simplicity that is garter stitch.
There’s something very appealing about the mindlessness (save for counting rows) of knitting the Moderne Baby Blanket (for my best friend’s due-in-less-than-two-months baby) when everything else is feeling so crazy. Nothing like knitting to stay sane.
Tags: moderne baby blanket
kimberly July 23rd, 2010
It’s been one of those weeks best summed up by bullet points.
The Good:
- We met again with the dietitian at SickKids on Tuesday and Leah has gained 170 grams since her last appointment and she’s grown one-point-something centimetres taller! Tough love apparently yields results (including less food being spit out — there’s nothing quite like reaching into your purse to discover a sticky mass of chewed up cheddar and raisins).
- Tuesday was also Todd’s birthday. Adam meandered into our bedroom first thing in the morning to wish Todd and happy birthday and then exclaimed “Wow! You really look 32 now!” Out of the mouths of babes.
- Some days all the world’s problems can be solved with toasted english muffins spread with Earth Balance and sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon. At least in Adam’s eyes.
- For the first time, Leah’s weekly speech class actually seemed useful with strategies to implement at home. The facilitators feel that Leah actually has issues (beyond just a lack of cooperation which has made itself glaringly apparent during the sessions) with making the correct mouth movements so we’ll likely be receiving further therapy after this round of classes concludes.
- Adam and Leah have mostly been playing nicely together and often team up against me (I’m mostly thrilled for the sibling togetherness even if it does result in them ganging up on me). Leah will often bring a pile of books over to Adam and he very sweetly reads each one until her interest wanes.
The Bad:
- Tough love is hard. On everyone. Leah is frustrated that she can no longer eat and drink whenever she chooses and screams to let us know just how frustrated she is. Adam yells at Leah to stop screaming because it makes his “ears ring like Jingle Bells.” I wish for a pair of industrial-strength earplugs.
- Todd and I have both been swamped with work which makes our generally peaceful days way less peaceful as we attempt to juggle email, snack requests, meetings, time-outs, client demands and bedtimes without completely losing whatever sanity we’d been tenuously gripping on to. (Also bad: ending a sentence with a preposition but I’m too brain-dead to figure out a way to reword it.)
The Ugly:
- Nobody is sleeping well. Adam has taken to waking up — full of energy — between 1 and 4 a.m. and then stays awake for hours. Of course this means he’s cranky by mid-afternoon. Todd is startled awake every time Leah wakes up (which used to be around 5:30 a.m. but now she’s been waking up around midnight and it takes a while to get her back to sleep). I’ve fallen into a horrible cycle in which I wake up early, nap with Leah during the day and then am too wired to fall asleep until nearly midnight. Ugh. We’re all operating on a less than optimal amount of sleep and fuses are pretty short. I’ve had a headache for days.
- Leah is teething as her two-year-old molars attempt to break through her tough little gums. Need I say more? To keep things easy, she and I are now following the same Advil dosing schedule: pediatric drops for her and extra-strength liqui-gels for me.
The only thing keeping me going right now is the knowledge that Todd will be home in about five hours, at which point I plan to turn over the kids to his care while I hide out in the office with my knitting and a (large) glass of wine.
Tags: sickkids, speech class, teething
kimberly July 13th, 2010
We’re only two weeks into summer holidays and already I’m so in love with the relative laziness that I can’t even fathom returning to our usual somewhat-crazed schedule in September. There is something so peaceful about not having to rush off to school, clubs and meetings that I am doing my best to make the most of this respite.
Toronto got hit with such a horrendous heat wave (at some points it felt like 42°C+ outside) that we were forced to spend a lot more time indoors than I had planned. Even in the shade, it was just too humid and sticky and gross to venture far from the air conditioned bliss of home. It doesn’t help that Adam hates the sun and heat so even early mornings were just too hot to go outside. (Leah doesn’t seem to have much of an opinion yet — she just likes getting to wear her sunhat.)
Thankfully, Adam and Leah have managed to become contented (albeit occasionally reluctant) playmates, with Adam orchestrating elaborate dramas in which Leah is alternately an enthusiastic participant or a very vocal protester. Either way, hilarity ensues. At least for me.
Last week their game involved captaining their own laundry basket ships.
Leah’s boat was abandoned when Adam insisted on having the boats separated because the captains were not getting along. (They kept grabbing toys out of each other’s basket and the screaming was reaching unbearable levels.) Finally Leah gave up and went to plot a new way to harass Adam, who promptly fell asleep.
When the humidity finally broke, I had two kids who were sorely suffering from cabin fever and were grateful for any and all opportunities to play outside. Our backyard is small and overrun with weeds (the only plant that thrives on our watch — Todd and I have black thumbs) but is the perfect space for soccer games and running and tumbling.
I wish the summer could last forever. At least for now. I recognize that in a few weeks I could be climbing the walls willing September to hurry up. But until then, I’m enjoying the slower pace and (mostly) happy kids.
Tags: adam, leah, playing, summer
kimberly May 22nd, 2010
It’s hard to believe, but today marks one year since Leah joined our family. (Has it really only been a year since we were in Korea? It seems like so much longer ago.)
Leah has changed so much in this past year, but she is still mischievous (we don’t call her Sneaky Pants for nothing!) and continues to have Todd wrapped around her little finger.
Adam is away visiting extended family in Montreal, so the special day was celebrated just amongst Todd, Leah and me. After the week we’ve had, it was nice to do something fun. The Korean Food and Beverage Exhibition took place this weekend, so we headed down to the convention centre to check it out.
The venue wasn’t as big as we had anticipated, but there were several demonstrations and a decent number of booths with wares to sample.
Leah enjoyed the Korean drumming even though it was insanely loud (usually she covers her ears when confronted with any noise above normal speaking volume). She also happily scarfed down tofu salad and two dumplings from PHFood.
And, oh my goodness, they had vegan dumplings that were to die for — it’s always a thrill to find vegan food in places I’m not expecting!
There were also beverage and noodle vendors, including this booth with the niftiest noodle contraption (art installation?).
Finally it was time to head home. Leah was completely tuckered out. So were we, to be honest.
Happy Leah Day, sweetheart! We love you bunches and couldn’t imagine life without you.
Tags: family day, korean food, leah
