Happy Halloween!

Mika had a bit more of a clue about Halloween this year. She knew that she was going to put on a costume and get candy from her neighbors anyway. Candy is a fairly new thing to her and is held in the highest regard, even though the kid can only make it about halfway through any piece, whether its a lollypop ("it's not a sucker, its a lollypop!") or mini chocolate bar.
We went to Lucas and Jackson's halloween party last weekend - they had a really kewl bug lady come out with her critters. There were cat and bat cakes to decorate, spider and pumpkin crafts, and probably other things that I have already forgotten. Mika and Declan both had a blast. The kids playroom in the basement is massive - I don't think Declan has ever had that much space to crawl around in. The boys have their own bouncy castle and there's nothing Mika loves more than that thing - er, except having a whole pile of 'friends' to jump with. She's still all about every kid and kind-faced adult being her 'friend'.
I decorated paper bags full of treats for the kids, but Mika managed not to notice them all day and I wasn't about to bring a bag of sugar to her attention. Snooze and lose. I gave it to her after supper when the lure of trick or treating was stronger than the lure of the treat bags. We designed our jack o'lanterns this morning before naptime and carved when Mika got up. Except that she decided not to participate in the pumpkin fun because "it's too ooey gooey". She ran back and forth between the kitchen carving centre (newspaper on the floor) and the living room exclaiming each time she saw me "Look how dirty your hands are! Ahhhhhh!" Declan was TOO into the pumpkin carving fun and had to be confined to his exersaucer and just watch. After supper, Mika and I went out trick or treating for almost an hour. A lot of that time was spent checking out the decked out neighborhood and chatting. Mika's the chatty nosey type of neighbor - looking around people's houses and asking them questions ("What's the puppy's name? Is it a boy? What's the baby's name? Is your art for everyone? (because she claimed ownership of the pictures on our bathroom wall and I unsuccessfully tried to explain that the stuff on the walls belongs to everyone - its for everyone to enjoy - she didn't get it and now apparently asks people about their art)). She loved when it happened that other kids were at the same door at the same time that she was.
Mika yelled trick or treat at the top of her lungs at each house - said thank you and happy halloween to everyone - minded herself when offered a giant bowl of candy and told to take only one or two - even told one of the neighbors that she only needed one, not two thanks - was overwhelmed when presented with a box of 'giant' (regular size) bars and told to pick one - i eventually had to tell the guy to just pick one for her - her favorite thing was getting to pick out a pop from this big wooden sarcophagus - she chose grape - when told she could have only one item tonight, she picked the grape pop - and shared it equally with Daddy and me - we caved and let her have some chips too - she didn't like the chips anyway and didn't eat them - she settled for two skittles - two individual skittles, not packs - oh yeah, she was a purple dragon with yellow dorsal spines - her cheeks were painted red because your cheeks get red hot when you breathe fire, you know - she's small enough that we could fit size 2 one-piece PJ's over top of her leggings, fleece pants, ls tshirt, and fleece jacket.

Declan was dressed up as winnie the pooh today because he would have broiled in his turtle suit. He was only dressed up for Mika's amusement anyway - he stayed home tonight. He wore the turtle suit to his cousins' halloween party last weekend.

Mika delighted in giving away candy at the door. She greeted each kid with "hi friend, want some candy?" as she dropped treats into the bag, she said "here you go, two for you, etc." very cute. tired. sleep now.

Enough Already!!!

Declan is pulling himself to a stand on anything and everything that he sees. He's also screaming unless you hold onto his hands and let him wander around the house. Declan is LOVING getting into all the things that were previously beyond his reach. I can see where we will have to take babyproofing much more seriously than we did with Mika.

Mika taught him to say 'mama' and 'bubble' (as in "lets have a bubblebath, Declan")
I had been trying for over a month to get him to say 'mama' - Mika? Just has to look at him and say "say 'mama' Decky" and out comes this very goat-like mah-mah sound from the boy. She blows raspberries at him, he does it right back. It's all about Mika for this guy.

Mika was kind enough to stay a wee little helpless baby until she was at least a year old. This guy is Trouble!

Found some maple teething biscuits at the organic mart yesterday - it is the only reason i have the few seconds to post this. The boy stops for food.

mikashouts

"NO DECLAN!!!"

"But I wanna go to ballet school..."

"can i watch dora please? please mama?"

"BUTIWANNAWATCHDORA" - (spoken in this terrifying growl that makes me believe and want to call a priest)

"i LIKE lasagna, mama. I don't like beans."

"Where's my coffee?"

"NO DECKY!!"

"When I grow up, I'm going to dance on the STAGE!"

"NO DECLAN! NANA'S AT HOME - SHE'S NOT COMING OVER!" - because nanananana is one of the few things Declan says a lot.

"NO DECLAN, DADDY'S AT WORK! AND HE'S MY DADDY, NOT YOUR DADA!" - because dadadadada is one of the other things that Declan says a lot.

"Does this go in the recycle bag?"

(looks to her left in the grocery store and sees a man selecting crackers) "I don't like the man mommy. he's not my friend."

later on...

(looks to the right in the grocery store and sees a teenage girl picking out a toothbrush) "i like the girl mommy. she's my friend. we're friends. she's a big girl. i like big girls. big girls are my friends" - and on and on and on it went.

"i got a treatbag mama!" after returning home from picking up supper with daddy - she wore her dragon suit with cowboy boots and scored early halloween goodness.

"canIcanIcanIcanIcanI??" - ugh.

Mika dresses herself now. She'd diaper herself too if we'd let her. She feeds the cats, puts away dishes, and uses the potty quite a bit. Not enough that she can be diaper free yet. Mika knows to put her dirty clothes and towels in her hamper and puts her own clean laundry away. She'd fold it too if I let her. She knows to get her shoes and coat off when she comes in and put them away - though she slacks on this a lot. We're taking advantage of her willingness to help while we can.

Happy Birthday to Me!

The kids had new books and candy waiting for me this morning - what more could a girl ask for? Er, other than a "day off" and only having to look after one youngling because the other is at daycare. Today's exciting celebrations include returning library books and picking up some groceries. We're out of milk. Oh, and grabbing our new AIO printer/scanner thing. I've never really owned a printer - the ones I like are beyond what I can afford. Anyway, I've been wanting to scan a few photos and am too lazy to go to the office, so grabbed one of those "On sale for $80 with an $80 rebate" deals. I'm sure the print quality is horrid - heard it doesn't even print true black, but we really wanted it for the scanner. Free is free is free.

Thanks to all for the bday greetings!

Snuggler

Declan is 100% more of a cuddly snuggly kid than his sister is or ever was. Our preferred feeding method is still lying in bed. I'm lazy, he's heavy - 'nuff said.
Declan snuggles in as close as he can for feeds and always puts his feet up on my legs. It's like the world is not right until he gets his feet up. He still sleeps almost underneath me. Doesn't matter where I move to in the bed, he finds me even in his sleep. It's at once adorable and frustrating. When he wakes and Daddy and I are still zonked, Declan crawls back and forth between us yelling in our faces and pulling our hair until one of us caves and gets up with him.
He's getting seriously mobile now. And strong. Very strong. And very mobile. And very much into everything and making trouble. I'm sure I've said all this before...I need a nap.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a lovely thanksgiving dinner tonight with Baba and Grandpa Ted - and Uncle Lucas was even able to make it! Luckily there were some noodles and watermelon at the buffet or Mika would have went hungry. She will not eat any part of a traditional thanksgiving dinner - nor any of the Ukrainian dishes served. After finishing the jar of baby food that we brought for him, Declan chowed down on Mika's untouched mashed potatoes and gravy and made a good go of snatching a perogy from Lucas' plate.
The best thing is that my Mom can wrangle Mika really well which makes life much easier for Daddy and me.

Happy 8 Month Birthday, Declan!

My boy, my boy - he is amazing. He's crawling a bit now but finds other ways of being mobile, such as scooting along on his bum. He's a dickens for sure. This guy knows just how to push his sister's buttons and does so on a regular basis. It's hilarious to watch because Declan easily overpowers his big sister. He regularly grabs on to her rocking chair and its Fight On! They can pull back and forth endlessly. From close range, Declan can lunge and take down Mika. It's awesome.

Declan and I have had a bit of a cold the last few days. His night sleeps are filled with hour-two hour long wakeful periods as a result. I am a zombie - someone please feed me a brain.

Going Public

I had to pick up a few groceries last night. Mika wanted to run the length of the mall instead of shop, so Daddy went with her. After awhile, Mika came running up to me in the checkout line yelling "I pooped! I pooped!". I was told that she asked Daddy to take her to the bathroom - and he did. To the mens room in the westmount mall food fair. Gah!! Daddy said that he held her up the whole time. Oh, the fun I miss out on. The girl amused the other bathroom patrons by saying "I'm pooping" about 5 million times as she went.

Oi.