Losing my Babysitter ~ July 29th

Charles finally started his first job at the newest location of A&W in Port Kells... 8 minutes away. He was looking sharp in his uniform, and we were all feeling pretty excited for him. Way to go!

Of course, we couldn't resist dropping by a few days into their training, (24 new employees were hired at once...) Someone had to sample their initial cooking attempts. :)

You can't go wrong with a rootbeer float.

Moving up to a booster seat.

The front staff sent Charles out to serve us.

Charles is not too embarrassed to admit he knows us.

Tasty turnovers. We've found our new hang-out spot...

Girlie Girls ~July 26th

Auntie Darlene made our evening by joining us for dinner... actually she brought that too! :) She also arrived with a variety of nail polishes, and asked if Nora would like her nails done. (Unlike me, Darlene and her sisters grew up perfecting hair and nails!) Not being skilled in these areas, I let them have their fun. Nora, of course, was thrilled.

No issues sitting still here...

Such tiny nails, I would obliterate them!

Is there any doubt that Nora embraces all things girlish?
 Where does that come from?!

The two fashionistas.

Another surprise, a pink scrunchie. Nora's all ready for gymnastics now.

By the next day, I had quickly removed all traces of the pink nails. With Nora's typical morning meltdown, it just added to the diva effect. Nora will have to depend on Auntie Darlene for her glamour treatments. :)

A Sudden Trip ~ July 18th-20th

No one likes to get those late night phone calls, and this was one of those times. Scott heard that his Mom had suffered a small heart attack while in Penticton, and was hospitalized. We are glad to say at this point in  September, that she has a clean bill of health. Scott was soon organized to travel up there to help out his family. Seeing as they were free, Charles and Lewis went along to see their Nana, too. 

A mountain pit-stop

While not exactly a vacation, the boys did get to do a few fun things. :)

A first for everyone... para-sailing.

Scott dares to take pictures over the water.

Just hangin' out..

View from the boat.

Brotherly bonding.

Couldn't ask for a more perfect day.

Okanagan Lake

Floating on air...

Coming in for a landing.

Advice for after the fact...

Summer Lewis, with freckles and long hair. :)

A must-do activity for Penticton...

Charles and Papa.

Cool Charlene and Charles.

Thankful for family together and restored.

Auntie Charlene is pretty awesome.

An amazing couple, we love you both.

Cute Cousins ~ July 17th & 19th

With Ann in town for three weeks with her family, we took every opportunity to spend together. Lewis and Thomas are naturally entertaining and nurturing, which is a bonus for us sisters. Here are too many cute photos from Ann sent my way, along with a few of ours.

Lewis gives instruction on how to make water balloons.

A rare night home on a weekday for Scott benefited us with a much tastier meal.

What can I say? The best Dad ever...

Nora, Aiden and Isabelle enjoying sweet treats. (Abby was away...)

 Could they have much more fun? :)

A progression from Ann... you can imagine the conversation!

Should I bite the bottom? Sure!

Hmm... why is it leaking out now?

I think we should switch now, I like pink better...

Rosie wants some, too!

Auntie Ann, one of Nora's favourite people.

Uncle Scott gets in on the hugs, too.

We popped by Grandma and Grandpa's house the day before Ann left for the journey home. Nora liked her new look...

 I think we'll avoid blue eye-shadow in the future!

Thomas and his mini-self, Aiden, in more ways than one. Sweet boys...

Didn't take much prompting to get these two to hold hands.

Hard to tell who enjoys each other more!

I feel another trip to Winnipeg will have to happen next year, this is too precious.

 Getting ready for bed.

Thomas: future librarian?

Who knew Richard Scarry was so intriguing?

Missing you already, Ann! You're never far away from my thoughts.
Love you all ~Susan :)

Nora Update ~ July 14th

I realize you get to see Nora growing right in front of you all the time, but I don't always take the time to share about her progress. At 32 months, we're can now say that we've had Nora for over 2/3 of her life with us. Mind you, it's still that first 1/3 that you really wonder what went on, but that'll always be a big mystery. We feel like we know our girl pretty well, although that doesn't mean we can explain her often irrational behaviours. She is definitely NOT a morning person. Yes, she'll wake up singing, which is quite lovely, but within minutes of not getting her demands met about what to wear, what to do first (read a book, change or not etc...) she will quickly resort to yelling, screaming, crying, lying on the floor... you get the idea. Not all the time, but just finishing breakfast in under an hour is a major accomplishment. Milk is still a challenge to encourage her to drink, although she'll ask for it when we're driving in the van... getting angry that we don't have a fridge in there with milk. Makes no sense...

Typical post-breakfast scenario... cleaning up smeared prunes is not exactly delightful.

Once we survive breakfast, things generally improve with Nora at my constant side. Either trying to help with laundry or tidying up my room, she just loves to be around Mommy. We had been concerned about her slow start with speech, but we're happy to report that she has caught up to the normal range for her age. The speech therapist that we saw every few months is happy with her progress and so we closed her file. Using up to 6 word phrases at times, we generally know what she is trying to tell us. Especially as she repeats herself continually until you acknowledge her. So yes, sometimes we wish we were still using baby sign language! :)

Left too long,
 she'll be practicing trampoline.

Nora's still in the crib,
 so we can contain her.

Daddy remains Nora's favourite person to attempt to control, often throwing books at him to read to her. With correction, she's learning about asking nicely, saying "please", but still is prone to anger if it's not on her timetable. The concept of waiting is still a challenge. However, it is nice to see her interest in books... 

Her other new passion is watching "Elmo". We only own one DVD of favourite songs from Sesame Street, so we are all memorizing them as it's on frequently. I anticipate our upcoming vacation to be a daily routine of hearing that as we travel in the van. Yikes!

This summer we have started toilet training, which is going quite well... just a bit more laundry to do. She's into the concept, can communicate with us about her needs and so I'm pretty sure we'll be good to go for Preschool in September. (2.5 hours, twice weekly.) That is something we're both looking forward to! It's hard to imagine life without this little feisty bundle of energy and inquisitiveness... we feel blessed. :)