New card designs . . .

These are not exactly all recent, but I'm quite behind in my blogging so I'm going to try to do some catch-ups! Here are some new cards I've worked on in the past month or two:

David talks!!!

I've been (unnecessarily) worried about David not talking yet. Peter said some words at 12 months, but David hadn't said anything I could understand until just recently!!!

Yes! He's talking . . . a little bit!

On Friday when he was playing with his friend he said "MINE" clearly a number of times. He also asked for "JUICE" the other day a few times. And the word today is "SHOES". He keeps taking off his shoes and saying "SHOES" all the time. It's fairly cute. Pretty soon we won't be able to stop him and I'll wonder why I was so anxious to have him talk. Peter talks a lot more lately too, esp. with the soother no longer dangling from between his lips.

Is this the end of quiet in my house?????

Finally - "THE" sweater

I've been trying to get a good picture of Peter in his new sweater from my mom for a couple weeks now.

IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

He's an energetic and stubborn - err, "spirited" is the word they're using today - almost three year old who won't sit still. This is as good as it gets I'm afraid! It's a fantastic sweater that is so soft and not itchy - I think that's why he likes wearing it so much.

Here is the back. Please excuse the cocker spaniel's head.

And the front . . .

(Mom, the sleeves are folded at his wrist slightly b/c it's a wee bit big but it *could* possibly fit him next winter too).


Check out more goodies my mom knits at the Nova Knitter!!!

Bye Bye Binky

Well, I have no pictures of Pete lately but I do have some *fairly* big news. Last week when Paul was away I jumped on an opportunity that arose. Peter was flipping through the flyers from the newspaper and found the Toys R Us papers. He found a toy he wanted and started asking if we could go buy it. I thought for a moment and then said "sure honey".

"We'll go and buy the new toy if you give up your soothers (pacifiers) and throw them all in the garbage."

"Sure mommy."

"You might say that now but it's likely that tonight at bedtime you may really want them back, " I explained. "But you're a big boy and I think it's time for you to throw them away. The toy would be your reward in exchange for the soothers."

"OK, mommy, let's get in the van and go".

I quickly called Paul's cell phone and told him my plan. He gave me the thumbs up and warned me not to cave in and give them back to him, no matter how much crying ensued. My friend Karla (who went through a similar scenario with her son Liam) suggested she come over and pick up all the soothers so there wouldn't be any left over to "tempt" me with should I need them in the middle of the night.

So we bought the toy. Things went smoothly. He didn't even ask for a soother until bedtime on Thursday. He said he was a little "sad and wanted to feel something nice and soft in his mouth at bedtime". I asked if cuddles and hugs from mommy would make it better and it seemed to work! He woke up around 6:00 a.m. and whimpered a bit, I assume he was reaching for it and then realized it wasn't there. Friday was pretty good and we got the same sort of reaction at bedtime. I was thrilled and had no idea this whole thing would be quite this easy.

He did cry Saturday and Sunday mornings when he woke up. I hugged him and held him and told him I thought he was such a brave, big boy and how much I loved him. It seemed to help. Once I was able to distract him he was okay. I was surprised he didn't wake up in the middle of the night but I think the key is he must have been waking around 6:00 and put it in his mouth and gone back to sleep. Now he is just waking up at 6:00!!!! Ughh.

Obviously I won't complain. I assume within a few more days this will all be behind us. Paul was impressed I did this while he was away, and to be honest, I was too. I dreaded this so much. The doctor had told me "it's not a big deal for kids to have them until they're three". Well, he's three in March so I figured I'd better get moving!!! Peter's soothers were security for him, just like David has his blankie, Peter loved having his soother in reach, even when he didn't want it in his mouth. I'm sure he'll find a replacement soon :-).

Recent David pictures!

Both boys are getting teeth and I gave them a bit of ice cream as a treat. David had fun with his cone . . . but someone else was eyeing it from afar.

And suddenly eyeing it from a little closer!

Paul was unimpressed that I took the time to get the camera to get "my shot" before punishing the dog!!!
David models a new sweater my mom knit for him. Not new - it was a gift when he was born - but did not fit him until now. It's adorable in real life and looks super cute with a pair of jeans!


David and his friend Joey playing together last week. I babysat Joey for the day and the boys had a great time together. He just turned one last week and is one HAPPY and very pleasant little boy!!
David snatches his soother - but Joey won't be taken advantage of and grabs it right back!

David thought he could push Peter's potty into his room, to climb up on his dresser. He didn't realize the bucket was out of the botton so when he stood up on it, he actually just ended up getting "in" the potty :-)!

Winterlude dude

After spending several weeks in Houston, TX, Paul decided it was time to head out and experience some real winter weather in Ottawa. And what better time to do that than during Winterlude, one of the world's largest winter festivals. We bundled up ourselves and the boys and headed out. It wasn't too bad, after a week or two of below -20 it was only -8 or so when we headed downtown. We had a lot of fun and no one even froze to death ;-).

Here is Paul, Peter and David (on Paul's back, you can't see him) standing in front of the Chateau Laurier hotel.


Here they are walking up the street, that is Parliament Hill in the background.

We walked past the National Arts Centre . . .

. . . and more downtown scenery . . .

and we finally got a glimpse of the Rideau Canal, the world's largest skating rink!! Almost 10 kilometres!

You can see all the people skating on the canal . . . we didn't skate this weekend, we thought the boys might be too cold. We're hoping to go down one day this week or next weekend to take Peter skating.

We went to Confederation Park to see some of the world-famous ice sculptures. Artists come from around the world to compete and showcase their talents. They are absolutely amazing in real life!!

We got lucky and got some artists still working on their sculpture. Pete was pretty enthralled with all the saws and chisels they were using to do the carving . . . made his day!