Heard before dinner (Xavier is reading a story):
“When mommy was little, it was Orléane who dressed her. Now, mommy has grown-up, and she dresses all by herself.”

Huh…?

This blog has been pretty quiet over the last month or two. Twitter has been easier to update (and Twitter updates Facebook, so it does double-duty). However, I’m not letting the blog go, because it’s my best journal/scrapbook archive (and favourite medium), so here is some catching up on kids and parents:

Xavier

In November, Xavier, 3, went to see his first movie at the theater. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, in 3D! Which kid wouldn’t LOVE to see food raining from the sky?

Since September, Xavier has also been attending games and sports sessions for pre-schoolers at the gym. It must be loads of fun, because he seems to have a “what happens at the gym, stays at the gym” attitude about it, and pretends not to recall what games they played over there when he comes back…

Orléane

The last few months, Orly, 21-mos, is chatting and chatting. And chatting. She picked up language like it was her life’s purpose, and she’s talking and talking all through her days.

Halloween

At the months’ hinge, Halloween was celebrated. Fairies and skeletons came out to play.

(I was the Wicked Witch of the East from Oz, if you’re wondering…)

Wicked Witch of the East

Émilie

And at the end of November, my appendix acted up and had to be removed. This type of surgery is a common one, it went ok, and I’m getting better all the time.

A few more days of rest and I should be back at work, with a few additional medical anecdotes in my repertoire. Hey, wanna know what happens when a vein receiving I.V. solution bursts? Or when the nurses insist on getting you to stand up too fast after surgery?

Seriously, though, the medical people who took care of me have all been GREAT. Especially the night staff. Thumbs up to them.

Letters from the North Pole

The kids made drawings for Santa, to which I added notes for them. Xavier says he’s been nice because he shared his horse with the other kids at daycare, and Orly says she wants peanut butter toast as a gift.

…and we got letters back! The magic of mail.

That’s it!

December holds promise of many small joys, and we hope you’ll have a great time with the upcoming holiday season. Be well!

Overheard in the car:

X – “…and then psshkit! all shmooshed. And at the hospital, then all better, eh? Doe’nt hurt. Then all wahhhh! poukatttktktkt! and ploush and aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh then [inintelligible]”
O – “Yes.”
X – “…and then eaten by the big shark. *munch munch*”
F – Laughs. “With the laser on his head, Xav?”
X – “Yup. The big shark.”

Tonight I rode my scooter down the street to the ice cream place.

I tasted mom’s treat…

It was a revelation!

I’m told it’s milk, and chocolate, and shake. All my favourite things combined. Genius!

I love this creamshake drink!

• We had a boy in diapers, now we have a big boy in underwear (and the occasional Pull-Up).
• We had a babbling baby, now we have a chatty girl spouting 3 word sentences.
• We had a boy who could use ride-on’s, now we have a lil’ guy who can pedal 3 street lengths.
• We had a toddler who was happy to drop toys into a container, now we have a gal who understands concepts like “two” and “same”, who can follow instructions to go pick up an object and place somewhere in another room, and who can, at 5 in the morning, answer consecutive questions “You’re having a good sleep?” — “No.” — “Huh… You HAD a good sleep?” — “Yes.” — … and make her mother groan.

Notes: That conversation is a genuine anecdote! hehe… Seriously, I wanted to note, for posterity, that Orly started learning language with verbs, mostly — which I found interesting, because I think Xavier had started out mostly with nouns. It IS very representative of their personnality, though: Orléane is headstrong, playful and full of energy (not to say restless) to Xavier’s focused intellect. He’s 3, so we can’t say he’s “calm”, but I think it’s an underlying trait of his. He’ll be a mathlete before long…