Today's Walk

I've lined up a penpal for Chloe, and we had to walk to the mailbox this morning to mail the letter we wrote earlier this week. The mailbox is about 30 seconds from the park, so we stopped there after. The best part of the walk, though, was all the "look at this" we did between our house and the mailbox.

It rained for about 30 minutes this morning, so the first stop was the puddle on the road right next to our car for some jumping. Then we found a snail on the sidewalk, and I showed Chloe how it pulls its eyes in if we put a twig too close. I also asked if she remembered the name for the shape a snail's shell makes (she did!). Then we stopped and looked a huge devil's club plant growing by the sidewalk, and I explained that its a dangerous plant. Then we looked at a holly bush, and underneath discovered shamrocks (with the heart shaped leaves, as opposed to the clovers with circular leaves on our lawn). Then we looked at some rose bushes, and talked about how Grandma Rose is named after that flower.

By this time we were at the mailbox, and Chloe could reach to open it! Hooray!

At the park we helped Kara learn how to blow bubbles (we brought them along from home), jumped in some more puddles, went on the swings (where Chloe practiced pumping) and had lots of fun.

Happy Birthday Chloe!!!

Our little girl is 4!!! Wow!

Today was a great day for Chloe. Ruby came over to play at 9:30 and we did crafts - we made paper ring caterpillars and muffin cup butterflies. We played outside, sang silly songs and were just generally goofy. Aayla came over around 11, and all four girls (yes! 4!) played really nice until Kara's naptime at 11:30. Ruby went home at 12, and Chloe went with Aayla to her house for a cupcake tea party! Aayla's mom is a hair dresser, so she gave Chloe a pretty hairdo. They dressed up in princess dresses and did other girly things. It was a really nice treat for Chloe, and a great break for me.

I picked Chloe up from Aayla's house at 4:30 and we went to swim lessons. Of course Chloe told everyone that it was her birthday today, and that she was 4. When we were done getting changed after swim lessons, one of the pool supervisors was waiting at the front desk with balloons for Chloe. She was super excited! Then we came home, had dinner, ate cake and Chloe opened her present (a Dora toy and some new pants). Then Chloe watched an episode of Madeline, followed by me reading her two and a half books, and then about 10 minutes of goofing off with Dad.

All in all a wonderful, busy and happy day :D

(Look at those slightly sunburned cheeks!)

(Here you can see the remnants of Chloe's hairdo. We did go swimming...)

(And this is the cake I made right before swimming, and decorated in about 10 minutes between getting home and eating dinner.)

Just wanted to say things are going. We went to Abbotsford today - Emma (Paul & Greta's new baby) was baptized this morning, then we went to Mark's parents' for lunch, then dropped the girls off with my mom and went to the movie theatre to see "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World". OMG that movie was AWESOME!!!!

That's all, really :)

Swim lessons

Chloe and Kara are both enrolled in twice a week swim lessons for August. Every Tuesday and Thursday we show up at the pool just before 5, get changed and head to the pool deck. Chloe joins her teacher and two other almost-4 year olds. I take Kara to her class of 7 infants and toddlers from 6 months to almost 3 years. Don't worry, its parent participation. We have 25 minutes in the pool, and then its a crazy mad dash to line up for a change room.

We've had 5 lessons so far, and Kara is doing great. She knows to close her mouth and hold her breath when I put her underwater, and really likes being tugged around in the water. I can't really watch what Chloe is doing because I'm with Kara, but on Tuesday Chloe said "Look what I can do Mommy!" and proceeded to put her entire face under water! In just 5 short lessons I have seen Chloe's confidence in her swimming ability increase, she has become much more comfortable in water, and I've seen the increased confidence spill over into other areas too. For example, I took the girls to the park this morning, and Chloe was able to climb up the chain ladder with absolutely no help and no crying. Three weeks ago it was a struggle to get her to climb it with help.

I am SO proud of both of my girls. They amaze me, and I thank God for them often. Being a mom really is so rewarding.

Sleeping, sorta

Kara hasn't been a good sleeper since around 3 months after she was born. Waking up lots, wanting to nurse all the time, needed to be rocked or have her back rubbed to fall asleep. The past week and a bit has seen an improvement. Kara is now able to fall asleep by herself! We put both Chloe and Kara to bed at 8pm. I rub Kara's back for 2 or 3 minutes to let her know that its bed time, then say "Good night Kara" and leave their room. Only once in the last 2 weeks have I had to go back in and help her fall asleep. She is also staying asleep until around 1 am (as opposed to 10pm), and if I go in and give her a soother, she often falls back asleep until around 3am, when she wants to nurse. After this still isn't going well, with her often waking again around 5, and 6, before getting up for good around 7. So I'm not getting a lot more sleep, but its still progress, and it makes me happy :D

Birthday Bear

Chloe's birthday is coming up on August 24. Her friend Ruby's birthday was on July 30. As a gift for both of them, I took them to Build-A-Bear workshop on Thursday. They had a great time. Chloe got a pretty purple bear, and Ruby got a horse. (Though Ruby was talking the whole time we were driving there about how she really wanted a unicorn!) Chloe named her bear "Canolee" (say it like canola, but replace the a with an e), a name she came up with all by herself! They also got to choose an outfit for their friend, and a pair of shoes.

While the staff were helping us make the bear and horse, we mentioned that the trip was for the girls' birthdays, and all of a sudden they had "I'm the Birthday Bear" stickers, and they got a birthday song sung to them! Very cool, and unexpected.

Here's some pictures of our trip :)