A Carly Christmas Show

Family Photoshoot

A few samples of some pictures from a family photoshoot we did a month or so ago.

A Beautiful Fall Day

First Skating Lesson

Learning to fall and help from Daddy! This was Carly's first time on skates...

After Skating Lessons

Carly loved her skating gear soo much, that she wouldn't take it off when we left the rink, instead we had to be carried to the car with skates, snow pants and helmet on a nice sunny warm fall day!

Funny Carly'isms

I just have to share a couple of funny little Carly things of late:

1. The other day Carly and I were shopping for Jamie's Birthday present. We were going to a store she had never been to, in a plaza she had never been to. When I got her out of the car she said "Are we going to the beer store for Daddy's present?" Now, there was no beer store in sight, but the mire fact that she connected a present for Daddy with Beer just made me howl.
2. Today Carly and Jamie were leaving the house so that he could drop her off at Carol's (Carly's dayhome), where Carly first made Jamie double check that her swimsuit was in the swim bag, and then ordered him to the car and said that she would lock-up the house. Truly a sign that she is her Mother's daughter, as she tried to boss Jamie around much like I try!
3. Hip, Hip, Parade - This is the term that Carly uses when referring to parades. I personally quite like it, as it really shows that she thinks a parade is quite an exciting thing.
4. We haven't really gone too in depth yet on explaining to her that there is going to be another baby in the house, but a few people have mentioned it to her. And so, when she does decide to talk about it, she has a baby sister in her belly and I have a baby brother in my belly!

Stay tuned for more, and a video of her first skating lessons.

Tiny Dancer

Elmo Face Painting

Looking Sassy!

Running wild at the water park

Fun at the park

Getty up cowboy - Yeehaa is what Carly is saying here.





















Heading down to the river for a picnic.

Has inherited her Mom's love of the camera!

Trip to Saskatchewan

We love jumpy castles...

We love rides

Tuckered Out

A busy day for our little thumb sucker...

Day Camp

Yes, once again Carly proved to us that she is ready and raring for her independence. You wouldn't know it from how demanding she is of our time at home, but she apparently she loves opportunities to head out on her own. Today, we sent her to a half day camp, where she was in a group of three to five year olds from 9 am to noon. I was in my glory getting her little backpack all loaded up for her camp, but also sad once again at the thought of my little girl growing up. Anyways, Jamie dropped her off, and just like her swimming lessons she barely looked back. Even when the 3 hours were up and Jamie realized that they had forgotten her jacket and they had to go back to get it, she was bummed that she couldn't walk from the car in the parking lot into the building to pick-up the jacket by herself!

She is registered for another day on the 28 and then for two days when we get back from Saskatchewan.

Carly's Room

A few pictures of Carly's room. I love how the colors turned out!

Slide Happy

We love the slide! Can you believe how old she is looking?

For the Fun of the Ride

Carly loves her rides. Here she is with buddies Olivia and Sarah in the boat.
Olivia and Carly flying the plane!
That is an unsure wave where I am sure she did not want to let go to wave at me, but did relax enough to laugh a bit with the little pirate beside her!

Daddy and Carly on the slide. I think we went down this at least 5 times even though the line-up kept getting longer and longer...

Water Style

Here is our styling little Carly all prepped to squirt Mommy while she does some gardening!

Face Painting

Carly actually sat still long enough to get this butterfly painted on her face. She was pretty excited about it!

Soccer

Carly and her buddies (Olivia, Ava, Maaike) and coach Daddy!

Snow in April and moving to a big girl bed.

Yes, for those out east, you read it correct - snow in April. I know Toronto has had a kicker of a winter and I have no right to complain, but come-on getting the biggest snow-fall of 2008 in April is just ubsurd! Jamie went skiing on Friday in waist deep powder, Carly and I spent the weekend bundling up every time we went out, and kicking off "clunkers" from our car so our wheels could turn. Carly our little outdoor's girl, of course tried to convince me it was a "beautiful day" and that despite what the weather report was telling me (-18 with windchill) that tobogganing would be a great idea. We did go, and that kid is a trooper as it was cold, and the only thing that got her off the hill was a mention of hot chocolate.

We also went skating (indoors though), and we finally turned a corner there. She loves it, and I am going to have to now get her a real pair of skates since the bob-skates just no longer cut it.

We finally almost finished painting Carly's new room, just now waiting on the window coverings to give her the darkness she is used to, but hope that the room will be all ready by the end of this week. Although she likes the idea of the "big girl bed: I think moving rooms is a bit confusing for her, and the size of the bed (double) is also a bit intimidating. So, to get a start on things, we took one of the rails off of her crib so she can climb in and out of it on her own. She loves the fact that we can now read her books in bed, but I think clearly doesn't really get that she would be allowed to get out on her own. She had a nap in it yesterday, and I fully expected to see her come down the stairs when she woke up, but instead she sat in bed and called for me to come and get her. Last night too we were fully expecting to hear a thud in the middle of the night when she fell-out, but nothing, and when I called at 7:45 this morning, she still wasn't up. I think we are just going to have to take down the crib, and take everything that is hers out of the room, and turn it temporarily into something else so that she can make the switch.

Will post some pictures soon...

Love that Face!

OK, this is long, long overdue, but things have been crazy around here, and I am finally finding (read: making) the time to post here. This picture was from a recent trip Carly and I took to the Park.

As for an update on our Missy Moo, here it goes. She is still at her dayhome with "Ca Ca" and has a ball there with her friends. One of her little buddies Lachlen, appartently starts his re-cap of his day to his Mom with "This one fun time at Ca Ca's with Carly....".

She had a few bumpy days early in 08, but has turned a corner, and has even become a bit of a favorite around the dayhome. Recently, after receiving some special treats for good behaviour, she now looks at the other kids when they are mis-behaving like "what are you doing, don't you know that all you have to do to get treats is be good?"

As for at home, she is pretty good most of the time, but certainly do like to try and play Mommy and Daddy off of each other. At bedtime we normally insist on Mommy, but lately as a stalling tactic we ask for Daddy so that she can get "one more book". And when things don't go her way, we like to cry out for the parent not there. Luckily we are still in a crib so we aren't yet dealing with the getting in and out of bed, but when the move does happen I have no doubts on what we are in for.

As always, she attempts to run our lives. When I pick her up from the dayhome or are doing something with her on the weekends, I constantly hear "where are we going next, Mom". Which brings me to another point, I am now no longer Mommy; that has already been shortened to Mom. In my opinion that is too soon, as it is just another sign that my "baby" is growing up.

In terms of the activities that lead to the question of "where are we going next" we spend quite a bit of time at the pool, at the libary, re-arranging the mattresses in our house for fun and games, are registered for Gymnastics which starts again next week, and are on a Soccer team which is set to start in May with coaching of her team provided by her Dad!

This winter we also have taken Carly skiing as much as we could. Would have liked to have taken her more, but with all of her activities and Daddy working on the weekends, we just couldn't get out any more than we did. She did love it though, and her favorite part by far was the trip on the "ride" (chairlift) up to the top of the "mountain" (aka Canada Olympic Park).

I am working on my time management and energy levels so that I can become better at updating this blog on a more frequent basis, so check back again soon for some more pictures.