Ponies and pretty girls

Last weekend, Sophie went to a friends' birthday party, where she got to ride ponies. She was a bit nervous at first, but overcame her fear. She was brave and made new pony friends. Happy day :)

 This pony is Louise. Sophie wanted to ride her first - she was smaller. Turns out she was also quick and a bit feisty. Sophie wanted a go on the bigger pony the next time around.

This pony is Cuddles. Sophie fell in love with cuddles. She even wanted to feed her carrots and apples after the ride (but, she ended up needing some extra help and encouragement for that!)

 Annkia enjoyed the day too!

Blogging again!

Good morning. I am back.
For me, we are coming up to the new year. This year, January first just didn't really do it for me. It was just another day. Time has split itself for me, into before and after 30 April 2010. It's a sad reason to have your whole sense of life and time rearranged so absolutely, and really, I don't mean for my first blog back to be a complete downer. So I'll try to pick it up soon! But just so you can orient yourself to my life, this is where I am - at the end of the year when my sister died. In May, it will be a new year for my family, in a way. Year 2. So in a way, I take a deep breath, and I hope for better. I try to be better. I decide to breathe and grow, and to write, more.

This morning my 2 beautiful daughters are fast asleep at 7:30, and so is my dear husband. It's Friday - it's a daddy day. Very soon, they will be having a bleary-eyed breakfast together, and I will be rushing off to work. Equally as bleary-eyed.
Annika is nearly 8 months old. Though it's so hard to believe that, or even to see it. Adjusted age, she is 6 and 1/2 months old, and that is how I think of her. She sleeps 5 hours at the most before waking to need a feed. Is this right? This can't be right! Somenight she needs to learn to sleep longer than that, surely? The articles I've read say... oh wait, right, she doesn't read those. She does her own thing.
There's so much more to say.... and I will try to say it.

I want to write about my kids - their language! All the wonderful things they say! All the ways they learn. If you know me at all, you know I am passionate about language, and about education, so I want to tell you stories about how that happens in my home. I'm so curious about how it happens everywhere.
I want to write about food. About what I cook, and learn. I cook gluten free dinners, and I do it nearly every night, and most nights, I really enjoy it. I am also (to quote my beloved sister Brittany) a foodie at heart.
I want to write about the things I enjoy reading, watching, and listening to...to explore those things that still bring me joy, as my own person. Do you ever feel like you lose yourself, being a mom? I have been getting a little lost lately! Here's to exploring just where I might be found. Oh yes, and there's also that - the spiritual journey. I might want to write about the ups and downs of that. We'll see.

And now I've just about finished my cuppa - down to the very last little bit of cold tea left in the bottom. Which means it's time to rush about and get to work now. :)

Conversations with Sophie

Lately talking to Sophie is more and more like talking to a 3-year-old. Conversations and monologues can be... confusing, imaginative, thought-provoking, and hilarious! I'm not sure if I'm ready for this yet, but here we go! She is my delight.

Tonight...
Sophie - Dad, will you marry me?
Dan - Sophie I can't marry you, I'm already married to Mama.
S - Oh, but you love me.
D - Yes, I love you very much, but I'm not going to marry you. I'm just married to Mama.
S - (*sigh*) I guess I'll marry Mama then.
Alicia - Sophie, people don't marry their Mummies & Daddies. Mummy is just your Mummy and I love you, and Daddy is just your daddy and he loves you.
S - Oh, ok. (Thinks about this) Daddy is married to Mama...
D - Yes..
S -... and Jeremy is married to Bec...
D - That's right!
S -... but Sophie and Ryan are not married yet!!

Sometimes, Dan and I just have to try so hard not to laugh!
and I wonder if maybe she's been watching too much Cinderella, a little too early?!

There have been a lot of golden moments lately... oh, here's a great one!
After picking Sophie up from daycare one day,
A- Sophie, your teacher said you went to the toilet 3 times today! You're becoming such a big girl and I'm so proud of you! You must be proud of you too.
S - Yes! (Thinks awhile?) Mama, did you go to the toilet at school today too? I'm so PROUD of you Mama! Good job!

Or here was the conversatoin/ story we got after dinner tonight, as bedtime was fast approaching...

A - Sophie, it's time to start getting ready for bed. Do you want to drink your milk now, or go to the toilet first?
S - No, Mama. Tonight, I'm gonna put to you to bed. You get in your bed and I tell you a story, ok? Then I give you a kiss and I close the door and I go talk to to Daddy on the couch, ok? Then I go to bed later, when I'm reee (really) tired.

And to that I just think, yeah, fat chance kid, keep dreaming! But of course, I don't say it like that!

I'll try to think of some more gems for you. These are busy, crazy, beautiful days.
Hugs from all of us,
Alicia, Danny & Sophie

The Dummy Story, and a scary accident

Just to keep you out-of-suspense, Sophie is ok. She is happy and well and has a very exciting story to tell about going to the doctor. She always likes those! Here is evidence - a photo of her last night - looking totally herself, except for that slightly beak-like look to her top lip. Hopefully that's just temporary, with the swelling. I think it'll go away!

Thursday morning, Sophie stacked it. She took a fall, and it didn't look like a terribly bad one at first. She fell off a chair she was sitting on, while trying to climb off and while feeling a bit overtired. She lost her balance and fell flat on her face- onto a concrete floor! The dummy in her mouth at the time (it was just moments from naptime) probably protected her front teeth a bit, but also helped to split her top gum in a long bloody slice. Suddenly there was blood everywhere, and terrifying screaming. At first she refused to drink any water or suck on ice blocks or put anything helpful in her mouth at all. We were pretty scared. But after taking her to her doctor, we finally relaxed a little and started to realise that she was actually ok. Her mouth's healing very quickly, there's no head injury or even bruising, even the one slightly wobbly tooth looks like it will right itself. She didn't get much of a nap that day, what with rushing off to the doctor, but she did get to eat mostly frozen yoghurt bars (“ice cream!”) - for lunch and dinner yesterday, so she was a pretty happy little girl. I am so so thankful that it’s not as bad as it could have been. :)

Also, it looks like we're going to come out of this little adventure dummy - free. We've been thinking about how to make that transition for awhile, and now the answer has just arrived, with no room for argument. Sophie couldn't have a dummy at all on the day of her fall - as it could have disturbed the gash in her mouth and made her bleed more, and also could mess with that delicate tooth. It really stressed her out for awhile not to have it while she was scared, and when she was trying to fall asleep - the only times she really uses it. So that was hard. Getting her to sleep without iton that first night took...longer than I want to calculate! But she finally did fall asleep, and she's slept soundly all through the night. Nap times since have been a bit hit-and-miss… it’s like she has to learn how to fall asleep all over again. But over all she’s getting enough sleep, and we’re all really happy at the success she’s having letting go of a security she’s had for over 2 years now.

We made a bit of a big deal out of saying goodbye to the dummies;  here's how we did it  - We took her to Target and let her pick out a present - a "big girl" present. She chose a big cuddly Elmo, and an Elmo-in-a-Submarine wind-up bath toy. (Cheap,but a BIG hit! Best 7 dollars ever spent!). Then we went home, rounded up all the dummies we could find in the house, and she threw them away in the bin herself, saying “bye-bye” to them. She understood that it was because the doctor said she can't have them and because she's a big girl now and doesn't need them. She was all for the idea, and loved the whole trading them for new toys, which we got to open after the bin ceremony.

Still, actually following through on the change, and not falling back on the reliable dummy in those two-year-old meltdown-moments – that’s a bit hard…for her and me too. Last night I found a surviving dummy in my handbag – the one that got away! I hung onto it…just in case! We were out in the city with friends, and it was a fun and happy night, but got long and late for her at the end. By about 9:00 she was over-tired and was absolutely over it. Just chucked a wobbly, as the Aussies so cleverly say! It was all I could do not to reach into my bag, resurrect the dummy, and calm her instantly.

Ahh…the temptation! The only thing that kept me from it was thinking about her poor little mouth, and how easily the wound could re-open (it’ already done it a few short times in the past few days, for no particular reason) and how much worse things would get if she started bleeding and feeling pain again.

So that's what it took for us to stop "using" - a traumatic injury. I’d better get rid of that one surviving dummy in my bag, before Sophie fully heals and we can backslide! Here's to moving on...to growing up...to healing and learning and getting over it!