Tricia, David, and the Little Ones

Ah, C'est l'halloween

2011-11-14T20:11:00.001-06:00

This year Sophia decided that she wanted a store bought costume...a princess costume. So, I agreed to it, and we found a fabulous Mermaid Princess costume at Winners for far less than I could have made it for. It had a hoop skirt, sea shell and starfish themed gauzy overlay, with a mermaid scale bodice adorned with pearls and silver.

And to go with the princess....we had a dragon

Our pumpkins...

Yes, that is Perry the Platypus (Agent P!) from Phineas and Ferb, beside the pumpkin carved by Sophia.

Trick or Treating.
This went really well this year and even included a break at a colleague's of Davids for hot chocolate and sit down. And it was a terrific night weather wise, which is always a bonus, because it isn't completely unusual for it to have snowed by Halloween! It was cool but clear, perfect for little goblins, dragons and princesses.

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Sparks

2011-11-14T20:00:00.001-06:00

Upon turning five, we told Sophia she could join Sparks, which is the youngest branch of Girl Guides. She decided that she would, and well the rest is history. Sophia has started her Guiding career and seems to love it so far. The best thing is that there are five girls from her school who are part of the group and that includes one of her bestest friends, Rebecca.

There are 28 girls in her group and three leaders. Seeing that I was going to be taking her every week, I decided that I could offer another pair of helping hands each week. Well, I had two choices...parent helper or official leader. I decided to take the plunge and renew my involvement in Guiding and have become a Sparks leader (once all my paper work is in!). It feels great to be going back to something that was such an important part of my growing up. I love Guiding and all that it has to offer. Hopefully, Sophia will love it as much as I did/do.

So far the unit has done program work and one volunteer activity where we teamed up with the Food Bank here in Regina and helped with their campaign. Sophia and another Spark, and I, went door to door in a little area gathering food donations. She and her pal, Kira, had a great time, and I think they got a feeling for what it means to help others.

We've also sold Mint Chocolate cookies (yummy!!). Sophia was so pumped to be selling cookies that she took her case door to door in the neighbour hood. In about half an hour her case was sold. She went on to sell to more cases to family and friends, and unsuspecting University students and faculty.

this is a photo from the video David used to help sell the cookies at the university. Her cuteness won over many a person.

Enrollment took place just last week. This is the ceremony that marks the first year girls' official membership in the unit. Each girl receives a Trefoil pin, a year 1 pin and a "Being a Spark" keeper (aka badge). The girls got to choose the theme for the event. Can you imagine what a group of 28 five and six years old wanted? "Pink Purple Sparkle Princess" party. Yup. Each girl made a crown, and little paper dolls of herself. On the night, each girl waited patiently in line and walked through the castle that one of the leaders had made. The castle led the girls to the waiting leaders (all four of us --I had just been enrolled as a leader right before the girls--colour me surprised!) who gave them their certificate, pins and keeper. Then we had cake. I had made a pink strawberry lemonade cake which was iced with purple icing and decorated with a cut out fondant princess (in pink and purple!) and covered with sprinkles and silver balls. It was a hit. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture....

that's me doing my first official Guider role...giving out the keepers to each girl.

waiting for cake

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Fall Leaves

2011-11-14T19:36:00.001-06:00

Bring great joy....

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To Drive Grandma G nuts

2011-11-14T19:32:00.001-06:00

Jacob got his hair cut. To hide his crazy cowlick the hairdresser spiked his hair in to a fauxhawk. Jacob loved it. His paternal grandmother did not. It's kind of cute and does the hiding thing really well.

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No need for naps, eh?

2011-11-14T19:16:00.001-06:00

Just as Sophia was giving up her afternoon nap, Jacob decided that he needed to give his up too. Sigh. There's just no reasoning with a three year old some times. Especially after that three year old has made up his mind. Most of the time, I would say 80% of the time, he makes it through the day just fine. He just goes to bed earlier. But occasionally he crashes. And he usually does this as we are running errands in the afternoon while Sophia is at school. And when he crashes, well...

the best way to shop at Costco? Luckily I had blankets in the car. I was able to create a little bed in the cart. J slept for almost my entire shopping trip in Costco. The only challenge? Figuring out how to pile things around him so that they wouldn't fall on top of him. I only got a few disapproving looks.

this took place just the other day. J passed out in the car and instead of hauling him out of his snowsuit and upstairs, I just pulled off his boots and popped him on the floor with his blanket and Sophia's pillow. Thankfully sister had been playing "sleepover" before heading off to school. Isn't he peaceful??

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He's three now!

2011-11-14T19:09:00.001-06:00

Hard to believe that three years can go so very fast, but here we are. Jacob turned three at the end of September and we had a small gathering of friends and family to help celebrate the moment. It was, of course, a Cars themed party, and fun was had by all.

examining a new book with race track following Lightening McQueen & Mater

LEGO! And look who is at the table helping....Daddy and Jeff (daddy to Owen and Chase --who is in Jeff's arms.)

Mommy trying (without success) to figure out a new transformers toy. Totally flummoxed me.

The amazing Lightening McQueen cake made by dear friend and Jacob's Godmother, Marie-Eve. I ran out of time this year and she gratefully offered to do it. It was great.

Jacob pointing out the piece that he wants...

and now enjoying said piece.

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A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

2011-11-14T19:01:00.001-06:00

We love it when the grandparents from either side of the family come to visit. There's lots of playing...reading...hard manual labour...

here's grandpa helping with the front garden work. Shlepping rocks...

almost done... now Jacob is "helping".

I believe grandma helped to supervise the making of apple sauce using apples from our very own trees!

And a little bit of play....while i was doing my treasurer stuff at the Sunset United Church Used clothing Sale, the rest of the family went to Lumsden to play.

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Picture Day...

2011-11-14T18:54:00.001-06:00

Is the best day to lose a tooth...

It's true. The morning of picture day, Sophia's perpetually loose tooth finally came out. Okay, it needed a little bit of help, but it had been really floppy and it was bugging her to no end, so out it came.

reallllly wiggly

and gone!

Sophia decided that she wanted to keep her first loose tooth so wrote a little note to the tooth fairy, and then placed the tooth and note on her table. She did not want the tooth fairy reaching under pillow in the night, so it had to be somewhere else. Oh well. In the morning, Sophia found two dollars in quarters and a nice note from the fairy telling her how exciting it was to lose a tooth and that she could keep this one.

About a week later, her second bottom tooth fell out. So now she has a nice gap with a great big ridged adult tooth coming in. Her two top middle teeth are wiggling just a little bit, so we are just waiting for another fairy visit.

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Queen City Marathon

2011-11-14T18:48:00.001-06:00

One of the things we did not know when we bought our new house is that the QCM runs *right* infront of our house. Really, we can't get out of our driveway for fear of hitting runners. I can't schedule pulpit supply that day...it's like getting snowed in. Now last year we just sat and watched the runners from the window, as the weather was less than perfect. But not this year. It was HOT and sunny, so we decided to make the best of it and cheer the runners on. The marathon goes on for a loooooooong time, which tests the patience of even the best behaved kids. But Sophia and Jacob were game to sit outside for a while doodling on the sidewalk and cheering on the runners. Jacob found it thrilling to give the athletes high fives as they went past. And they were game too. We had a great time cheering, and meeting some of our other neighbours. We probably will do it again next year.

watching the runners...

waiting, ever so patiently waiting...

SUCCESS!!!

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Off to school X 3

2011-11-14T18:42:00.001-06:00

Well, I am going to have to go back to school at some point so that I can fit in with my family. David, SOphia and Jacob all started school at the end of August/beginning of September, leaving me to be the one to get new bags, pack snacks and keep track of schedules. Actually, it's not that bad. But it is hard to believe that I am now the mother of school aged children --two of them.

Sophia started kindergarten at the end of August. Yup, the school year here starts before the labour day long weekend! Although, I think that is about to change. Anyway, she was super excited about starting, with a little bit of apprehension about knowing people, but mostly excited. She is in the afternoon French immersion program at Ecole W.S. Hawrylak. That offered us two new challenges...no more afternoon naps and classtime with a lot more French in it.
I think the no afternoon nap has been more of a challenge than the French aspect. She seems to be a star at picking up the language, and is even beginning to recognize and read French words. Which is great because she started kindergarten reading at about a grade one level, so I am super glad that she is starting to get it. So is her teacher. One of the main goals of french kindergarten is to have 90% of the students recognizing the alphabet, numbers and sounds in French, so any reading ability is a bonus.

Walking to school on the first day...it rained. Somehow that is fitting.

dans la salle maternelle. C'est la salle 101. Travail al la cloche.

everyone ready for school!!

So, needless to say, Sophia is settling in quite well. I believe that she is learning lots, although if you ask her what she has done that day her stock answer is "I don't know". I am always looking for new ways to ask the question! She is making friends and having fun. Ask her what the best part of the day was and she will answer: "Everything school!"

Jacob also started school this year. He is attending the same preschool Sophia went to last year. This is a total blessing as the teachers there are amazing and very supportive of Jacob. He loves it too! He's going two days a week, but probably would go everyday if he could! The teachers really encouraged me to put him in after a conversation I had with them where I voiced my apprehension about his language and size. Well, they were all for having him and it was a good choice. His language is getting better (the speech language pathologist we have seen told us he is only three months behind where he should be --so no worries) and he gets the chance to socialize with kids his own age. Only once did one other student voice a concern about "the baby" being in the class. Now they see him as part of the group and in fact, some of the bigger girls fight over who is going to help him out each day. It's really, really cute. And a relief to me.

a Jacob sized backpack. It can't hold a library book but he sure is proud if it.

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Warning....Blogging overload

2011-11-13T20:08:00.003-06:00

Yes, I am very aware that I have two and a half months of blogging to catch up on. September and October just kind of got away from me and so now I am catching up.

So, settle yourself in for a whirlwind of updates!!

cottage cuteness

2011-08-23T21:03:00.001-06:00

Just some randomness to share...

LEGO!!!! LEGO!!! David loves spending time doing the lego thang with the kids.

My little potato picking helper. He was quite happy with the haul, however, he could only barely handle lifting the strainer. "Mama. carry."

So, this is what happens when Jacob doesn't have a nap...he passes out on the beach after a swim. I take all the cuddles I get.

A hike and a little campfire. Sophia was thrilled.

Rock climbing...

We had a visitor come and stay for two nights. Bob Thompson is a dear family friend of the Gerhards. Bob's arrival brought much visiting and play. The kids did not play shy, not at all. Bob seems to have a magic with the kids, as he was able to play with them and still have an adult conversation. It was so nice to spend some time with him and to watch the kids with him.

Jacob decided that sitting with Mamma wasn't enough, he wanted Bob. So he sat with Bob and I could see his body relax. About ten minutes later Jacob feel asleep. Talk about trust.
-

I believe, Sophia is explaining about crayfish....can't really tell.

Smores!!! What more could a little girl ask for?

Stories with Grandpa....Arthur gets very animated.

identifying Indian pipe flowers. Maybe a botanist like her grandma.

Swinging and pure joy!

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Sailing, Sailing, Sailing the "Ocean" blue

2011-08-22T15:39:00.001-06:00

One of the must do's at the cottage is to make a voyage on Shadowfax. Now it is always an adventure, as usually what happens is that we make the 45 minute drive out to Northern Harbour where the sailboat is moored, get out of the dock, motor out into open water, and then the wind dies. Never fails. This time was a little different...we got out into the open, and the wind stayed. We got to sail. It wasn't the have your heart drop out of your chest, brace yourself on anything stable, the boat is tipping at an outrageous angle and the water is coming up over the edge kind of wind....okay, that's me doing the description, if David was in charge of this post he would have described it as perfect, and fun, and awesome. There is the difference between someone who did not grow up on the boat and someone who did. Anyway, seems to be that Jacob has definitely inherited the love of the boat and Sophia likes to stay inside. It was fun anyway...

This is Sophia trying really hard to hang her feet over the edge so that she could dangle her feet in the water. For once her legs weren't long enough.

Success!! It was precarious to say the least.

Ummm...no fear?

Below...colouring...it was hot.

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Cottaging 2011

2011-08-22T11:50:00.001-06:00

Well, we love the cottage...and for a change, the weather has been fabulous. It has been sunny and warm for weeks, so we have been making the most of it.

Turns out that my children are fish...Sophia has been swimming so well and has developed incredible confidence in being in the water. She goes straight in while we adults take our time easing into the water, trying to get our bodies adjusted to the temperature (which is warmer than usual!). Jacob doesn't seem to notice the temperature difference either and easily walks into the water but it takes some time, and his floating boat to convince him to stay. He does get to the chin chattering, blue lip stage a whole lot faster than anyone else, at which point he needs to come out and spend some time wrapped in a blanket (which on no nap days leads to a quick nap --which I will not argue with...I love cuddling with him).

We have done many things so far, mostly hanging out at the beach, hiking, reading, being outside and trips into town, but we have also had company and lazy days.

Jacob hasn't mastered this game....here he is trying to throw the ball over to me. It was quite comical at the time.

Digging...his favorite beach past time.

Everyone having a blast....

Sophia and her water wings, Jacob and his boat (so, okay, it's for infants, but in reality he hasn't even broken the weight restriction, but heck it keeps him happy and floating.

grandpa proudly displaying his sticker badges, happily placed there by Jacob.

Boat? Me. Come. Too?? Boat. Ride? Yeah. (all said at almost an inaudible octave). someone around here loves the boat!!!

Sophia swimming at Timber beach...

Jacob not swimming at Timber, but trying valiantly to cover his feet in sand.

Getting Jacob into the water at Timber by throwing him around a bit. Note: only do this is you are close together and your three year old weights 20 pounds.

The salty pirates Gerhard ....arghhhhhh.

Warming up and wearing Mommy's hat for protection.

A contemplative Sophia...thinking about swimming or maybe thinking about the swimming she had just done, or maybe about the stick in her hand...who knows what happens in the minds of five year olds.

A family canoe ride...no tipping involved.

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Pre-Cottage events August 2011

2011-08-16T18:57:00.004-06:00

Well, it is time for our annual vacay at the cottage. We headed out at the end of July and spent a couple of days in Winnipeg doing pre-cottage family events and attending the wedding of a good friend. We got in some great time with the other children in the family, enjoying some cuddles with brand new baby Rachel, and catching up with Adam, Kristine and Matthew. Being in town allowed us some outings, such as heading to the nature playground at Assiniboine Park. Matthew and Adam joined Sophia, Jacob, Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy and Mommy. A good time was had by all. That evening we heading out to Treherne for Allison and Ryan's wedding. After some delays on Sunday morning, we (the four of us and Grandma & Grandpa) headed out for the cottage.

Action shots....insert "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

Adam and Matthew

Cousin Matthew....he is the observer of the kids....he wasn't too thrilled with Auntie Tricia trying to get him to both look at the camera and smile. He was still trying to figure out who the heck I was. "Auntie" for the most part has been Luanne (Kristine's sister), so another Auntie was just darned confusing.

Hellooooooooooo everybody!

Cooling the feet in the water play area....Sophia loved the feeling of the water splooshing over her feet.

Dragging Gma to the slide for the thousandth time. To heck with everything else, Jacob just wanted the slides

Cousins!!! Very cute, and getting along famously.

crazy mouse questions

2011-07-25T08:31:00.005-06:00

Just a brief language update: Jacob is really coming along well with his words and phrases, although he is still stumped on some sounds. Sophia is still "Fia" and "s" still degenerates int "sh" for "Fia School Buh-sh" But he's got words for pretty much everything now.

His politeness is improving, at least in words. He still steals toys from his sister, but when she gives him something he says "Thank you much fia" and when sophia sneezes, he says "Bless you Fia." In fact, he says "Thank you much" more often than he says "Thank you". I think his sister has something to do with that - she is very proper in some circumstances. Also, he'll say "sorry fia" in appropriate situations.

We were in the gym of the church playing games while Mommy was preaching, and he was very excited to play soccer. his repeated comment was: "Socca game! Kick-a ball!" I think that counts as a 5 word sentence.

Oh, and he's always concerned with being included. and with ears like a hawk that can be a pain. We're in a store, looking at clothes, and Tricia says, quietly, to me "This might fit him". Instantly he looks at us, points to himself and says "me?" except that words cannot really describe the particular pitch and range of expression that his questions can have. Imagine an animal that can morph from a cat to a mouse and you have an idea of what he sounds like. The "M" part of "me?" starts on a pretty high note, but then he sweeps up into the ultrasound, like "MEEE????" and every time he has a question, he does this crazy emphasized raising... when he wants his sticker book: STICKAAA?? BOOK???? ... when he wants to be included: "MEEE??? TOOO????" ... and when he wants to make sure that he will be in attendance "MEEE??? COME???? TOO????"

I'll try to record some of these questions because the words just don't do it justice.

UPDATE:

We just this minute discovered our son is brilliant:

"Hey Jacob, do you remember the name of the doctor we saw last week?"

"yah" (which is his stock response so we're like yeah right whatever"

"What's his name"

"Dock-ta Bruce!"

Wait, what? We only mentioned his name in passing once or twice, and Dr Bruce only introduced himself to us once, although he did talk directly to jacob. This kid remembers everything, We're doomed.

UPDATE UPDATE: We made a big deal of him saying doctor bruce, so we did a new test:

"What's your uncle's name?"

"Dock-ta Bruce!"

Well I guess we're OK for a little while...

How many people fit in an assessment room?

2011-07-24T23:15:00.003-06:00

Well, we found out...one doctor, three students, two parents, and one small boy. We continue our rounds with the medical system as we search out the possible cause or causes of Jacob's petite (but happy) size.

So far we have stumped an endocrinologist, who did test Jacob for Celiac and had us repeat the test three months later. So, in April we took our little guy and his itty bitty veins back to be poked. Now, I typically let David do this job because I just have a hard time watching my little guy in pain, but I had to suck it up and take him this time. He's a trooper, our boy. Brave as can be. Well, that lead to waiting, hopeful and anxious waiting, and planning. We could handle Celiac --We'd become a wheat free family and work on being prepared for the wheat eating world around us. This was going to be the perfect explanation. You see the use of past tense there, right? While we were in Vancouver for Uncle Todd and Auntie Dea's wedding, our paediatrician called to let us know that Jacob was indeed not celiac. Well shoot. That was going to be our easy answer. Even our doctor was a little disappointed. So check that off the list.

After that we discovered that Jacob is somewhat sensitive to mosquito bites. Okay, more crazy allergic, but you get the point. He gets a bite, say on the forehead. That said forehead swells to Cro-Magnon levels and with the help of gravity over night causes his entire eye lid to swell up along with a little more of the forehead and cheek. This swelling lands us an ER visit where the attending doctor (who we had met the last time we went in April for his throat infection--forgot to mention that!) almost admits us overnight to administer antibiotics...thankfully she calls our ped who tells her that this is a common reaction to the first bites of the season. Whew. No overnight stay for us. However, this reaction takes place with pretty much every bite...the arch of one foot was a lovely size for a couple of days, and Jacob did do a good facial impression of Brian Mulroney morphing into Jay Leno for a few days...throw in some pink eye and the poor kid looks like he's done ten rounds with a boxer.

May was quiet, but June pretty quiet....except when I tried Jacob on peanut butter. Just a taste...he didn't like the texture at all. Spat that nasty stuff out right away. But about an hour later one of his eyes and the membranes around the eye started to swell up. Uh oh. Then about another 45 minutes later he threw up all his food. Note to self...NO MORE PEANUTS.

On to July...busy month for us. We got a call from the Wascana Rehabilitation Center's Children's program stating that we had been referred to the Feeding Team for Assesment....oh, really? That was news to us. Anyway, they wanted to book us for an assessment on Aug 2. Well that sucks...we were supposed to be at the cottage, I had some conversation with the person, telling her our problem, but stating that we would take the appointment for fear of not getting one until much later. About an hour later we got a call with a cancellation time slot for the next day...yup we took it. Jacob met with a dietician, occupational therapist and a speech language pathologist. We chatted about Jacob, then they watched me as i tried valiantly to get him to eat some stuff there (I had to take a variety of things he could and couldn't eat). They watched him through a mirror to see what was going on. Then they played with him and stuck stuff in his mouth to take a look at oral function and such. So far the diagonsis there is that Jacob has some oral motor delay issues (the SLP blew bubbles with him to see how his oral muscles were working), that he has a small mouth which will affect his ability to make certain sounds, and chewing. The OT is encouraging us to work on his swallowing...that somehow he and his mouth aren't making the connection between chewing and then moving the food on for swallowing and that causes some of his choking. Both the OT and SLP noticed that he is hesitant when things come towards his mouth, and that can be the beginning of a gag reflex. So, likely he will need to see the OT again to work on his chewing and swallowing. We are waiting for his full assessment in September with the other Wascana Rehab team we are meeting with ---this is a whole body assessment.

Jacob was tested again for Cystic Fibrosis --working to rule things out. The first test, well, he didn't sweat enough so we had to do it again a week later. This time they got the littlest amount of sweat, so we're hoping they will get enough to test.

And we finally saw a paediatric gastrointerologist (yikes, spelling!) and we didn't have to drive to S'toon either. Dr. Bruce comes down every so often to the General Hospital here in Regina, so we got to benefit from that. We met with the Dr and his three students. Jacob remarkably was not too shy. Went and sat right with Dr. Bruce across the room from David and myself, showed him his Mater stuffy, and basically did what the Doctor asked. He was amazing. Dr. Bruce checked him out and asked a lot questions of us. Manual palpation did not turn up anything. But he did request a couple of tests. First a full blood work up --mainly checking on how things are look and looking at white blood cells and netrophils. He has also asked that Jacob have an upper GI examination --the kind where you have to swallow barium. What he is checking for there is esophageal strictures --some kids have esophaguses that narrow at certain points which causes trouble when swallowing chunkier pieces of food. a Stricture could cause Jacob's preference for very small pieces, and a more liquid diet. So this test will determine if that is an issue, and if it is, a method of expanding that narrow point will be decided on. The final test is a stool elastase test, which seems to boggle the minds of every lab tech we have come across. It is not a common test, but it is an important one. So now Jacob's frozen poop is on its way to Calgary to be tested for markers for Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome. THis is the second most common pancreatic enzyme disfunction disease after CF. It is a recessive genetic disorder that has many and varying symptoms, some of which are small stature, bowel issues and appetite issues. Now he is just being tested for this, we don't have anything more than "it's a possibility" but it is something to go on. I didn't link it here because it IS just a possibility at the moment, so I don't want any one worrying, I do enough of that for everyone!

So right now we are back to waiting. But we are hopeful after the GI appointment, and will be happier once we see the Geneticist (whenever that happens). Jacob is a brave little guy just goes about these appointments happily and without being phased at all. This little guy has seen a lot of the hospital and has met some amazing medical health professionals. We are thankful for their time and their dedication.

That's where we are. We will keep you posted as we know things. We ask that you send us your positive thoughts and prayers. Thanks,

Graduation

2011-06-30T21:19:00.001-06:00

Well, it is official now...we have a kindergartener! On June 20th, Sophia graduated from Preschool with much pomp and circumstance. Her class sang three songs, wore and threw felt mortar boards, and got little diplomas and gifts. There was a very nice slideshow of pictures from over the year...if that won't tear a mama up, I don't know what will. It was amazing to watch the progression in the kids from the beginning of the year to the end. It was also awesome to watch how well the kids got along and how important those friendships are to them. Not all of the classmates will be together in Kindergarten, but the memories are there and so are the phone numbers for play dates....

I am going to get David to edit down one of the videos of the kids singing...it's over four minutes long and takes up a lot of space. But here's one of the kids throwing their hats...

YouTube Video

Glad they used soft hats...

Getting her diploma

Sophia and her best friend Freyja. Up that's Sophia's graduation picture in the background. I will pst those soon.

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Just for Fun

2011-06-30T21:07:00.001-06:00

Sophia and Dora...Sophie was the Etoile de Semaine again before the end of school, and did the requisite picture with the Dora doll to share with her classmates

Dressed up in her Fancy Nancy dress...dress up is a favorite past time around here.

The bottles were empty, and rinsed out...really, and truly....the kids just loved playing with them. We do love our kids.....

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Preschool try out

2011-06-30T21:03:00.001-06:00

For the last year, Jacob has accompanied me and Sophia to preschool, three times a week. As the year went on, he showed more and more interest in the classroom and the teachers, spending time with the kids and the Madames. He seemed to really like it, after all they had little dinosaurs he could play with!

So, David and I decided that it was time for Jacob to start thinking about going to school in the fall. He is registered to start in September, right before his third birthday. Thankfully, he is comfortable in the class and with the teachers, as they always talk to him when he comes with Sophia. He has also been on a couple of field trips with them.

Part if his being a new student, Jacob was invited to a preschool open house. Jake and spent an hour together there, just being in the class. He spent time playing with the cars, the dinosaurs, the listening center, the computer, and then he found the water table. Well this was a great new thing. Thankfully, Madame M managed to convince Jacob to wear a waterproof smock to keep dry. Here's the only problem, the smock and the table are made for regularly sized three year olds. Jacob meet tall table...good luck.

I can just get over the edge....

Okay, so the smock is more like a dress on Jacob, and the arms are rolled up to the seams, but it's on.

Standing on tippy toes. For comparison, there is another new student standing at the table...no tippy toes. All I can say, is I am proud of Jacob for not being halted or scared by things that are bigger than he is....He just sees the challenge and takes it on. I am hoping he does the same when he ventures off to school next year. I just pray that my heart is ready for it when he does. I get weepy thinking about it....

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Science Time

2011-06-30T20:45:00.001-06:00

While David was away at Conference Annual meeting for the United Church here in Sask, Diane came and stayed with me so I wouldn't have to wrangle the kids on my own for four days. One of the things we did to pass the time was head over to the Sask Science Center for some educational fun.

Learning about probability...if you grab one sock out of the dryer, what is the probability that you will grab the matching one on the next reach in. Also, learning a little bit about the baffling phenomenon of the disappearing sock.

The owl, who has taken the place of the ferrets. Not eaten the ferrets, they have a new home elsewhere in the center. it's true...I saw them. Really, I did.

in the container is the top part of a denture. The idea here is to predict if it will land teeth up or teeth down when you push the button to launch it. I think Sophia was mostly baffled by the idea of fake teeth.

There is a little area about road rules and environmental care etc...and part of that is to build your own little wearable car so that you can "drive" around and check things out. Jacob decided that the car parts were for stacking not driving. This stack is essentially taller than he is, but he persists. It did fall over, eventually, but he just started again.

YouTube Video

Sophia loves the science shows... and often is eager to participate but doesn't get chosen. This time she got picked. She and several bigger boys got to step on an air pump to launch a rocket in to the air. I can't entirely remember what the show was about, but she loved participating. She's a superstar.

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popsicle joy

2011-06-30T20:11:00.001-06:00

So, when he does decide to eat, Jacob has interesting methods for getting the food in his mouth...

YouTube Video

This is from Mother's Day. We had a lovely dinner together, and finished up with Raspberry popsicles. It wasn't quite warm enough to be outside with out something warmer on, but we still ate outside.

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Clean yer plate

2011-06-30T20:00:00.001-06:00

Some of you know about our constant battles with getting Jacob to eat. He doesn't seem to understand the connection between eating and growing. It is regular battle to get him to eat, even when he should be starving...like in the morning, after not eating for 12 hours. Anyway, this empty plate was a cause for great celebration! It is very rare thing to find something that Jacob will eat all of, leaving the plate completely empty. Not something that a lot of kids have to worry about, but for us is a minor victory.

Here's to more empty plates.

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Guess who's going to kindergarten???

2011-06-21T22:22:00.001-06:00

It's a little surreal to think about, but my little girl is heading to kindergarten in the fall. She is all registered up for afternoon french immersion. We've had a couple of orientation meetings, including a one hour kindergarten class just to get used to the class room and one of the teachers. That hour class was capped off with a 15 minute bus ride (which Jacob still talks about --I had to be on the bus with Sophia and Jacob just isn't old enough to stay at home by himself yet!) so that the kids could learn the bus ride rules. Sophia won't be riding to school as we are too close and will walk each day. The only issue we have is weaning our little girl off her afternoon naps, as school starts at 12:45, which is smack dab in the middle of normal nap time. Oh well, we will work it out. Needless to say this marks a big moment in our little girl's life!

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Sunny yellow flowers

2011-06-21T22:11:00.001-06:00

Who can resist a field of sunny yellow dandelions?

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Just a little mosquito bite

2011-06-21T22:09:00.001-06:00

Really big reaction....

Yup, super sensitive response to a mosquito bite on his forehead. This swelling started in his forehead (imagine the forehead of a cro-magnon man) and with the help of gravity over night the swelling migrated into his eye. This is better then when he first woke up...he couldn't even open his eye first thing. Nevertheless, the swelling meant that we had a quick trip to the ER to make sure nothing else was going on. The ER doctor that saw us was one that had tended to us before, and remembered us. She was moments away from admitting us for eye infection. Thankfully she called Jacob's pediatrician, who said not to as it was an over reaction of the immune system to the bite. Whew. I was not looking forward to keeping him there.

Now he gets covered in bug spray every time he goes out. Poor guy.

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Bless you....

2011-06-21T21:58:00.001-06:00

This is what happens when you let Jacob use your iPhone for entertainment.

YouTube Video

I really got to wash my phone more often....

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Language

2011-06-18T12:47:00.003-06:00

Jacob's language is finally taking off, and in a big way. We kind of knew this would happen - it is apparently a fairly typical pattern. He's a boy, and a second child, and both of those things contribute to later language development. Most folks we talked to with some experience in this area (grandparents, other parents etc) said that when he starts to talk he'll REALLY talk, and that is what is happening.

He had been stuck on two-word sentences for a while, but now he is firmly in the multiple word domain. It was a couple of weeks ago when we first started to realize that his language was exploding.

Jacob and I were hanging out in his room getting ready for bed and he was playing with his cars (he is always playing with cars, by the way. Whenever we see a display or an ad or a new branded toy relating to the upcoming "Cars 2" movie, he dives into a rant about cars. Mostly unintelligible, but "CARSH" is always heard multiple times). Anyway, we were playing with his cars, and he picks up a fire truck, shows it to me, and says:

"Engine! Fire truck! one more..." (picks up an identical fire truck) "same, see? see? Same!"

so thats like three-and-a-half 2-word sentences in a row, but he's putting them together in larger constructs. You might say it's a paragraph of two word sentences.

He's really big on matching things up these days too. "Same", "match", "pair" are coming out at regular intervals, and he is really concerned with knowing that you know that he knows. so "See? see?" is happening a lot too,

Just the other day, he came out with this gem:

"mama eye" (pointing to Tricia's eye), "me eye" (pointing to his own eye), "body eye" (meaning "everybody eye", meaning "everyone has eyes!").

This should be significant to anyone familiar with my own language development, because apparently "everybody have noses" was the first three-word sentence I uttered as a child.

And just today, he said what amounts to a true three-word sentence: "I ripping, mommy!" used to show how he was disassembling a hot dog bun. I think this may be a bit generous to call it a three word sentence, since its really just "I ripping" with a "mommy" tagged on (which has the same effect as the above-mentioned "see? see?" but he is getting there).

The main point is that his vocabulary is indeed exploding every day. He points to things and we name them, and the he has the name in his vocabulary. He's like a sponge, and its amazing to see how he can start to make himself understood. From time to time he will have a large important concept he needs to get across and he'll try but eventually he loses to frustration and just blurts out a complete sentence full of nonsense gibberish, which is hilarious.

On and one more thing. He's got almost all of the letter sounds, but he's still working on "s" and has been for some time. Sophia is still "Fee-a", but he hasn't been able to completely avoid using "s", and there was a significant chunk of time where he would substitute "sh" for "s". Anything he pluralizes is still occasionally subject to this replacement, so "Cars", which he is still crazy excited about, becomes "Carsh" as you saw above. Other words that get this treatment include BUhSH (for bus), TREESH, etc etc.

And so, as you might expect, we call him mooch.

Stickers

2011-05-27T22:02:00.001-06:00

A favorite past time in this house... hence the stickers all over the house.

And seemingly all over Jacob...

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A visit with the Murton-Bell Family

2011-05-27T21:57:00.001-06:00

I was surprised to find Tracy and family sitting in the congregation at Brora on Easter morning. Thankfully, they had a free day, and came to spend the morning with us. The kids got along just like they saw each other the day before, even though it had been months. We decided to take a stroll down to the flood waters to check out the water and do a little water hopping.

The three oldest kids walking along together.

Jacob decided that Greg, the tallest of the group, was the perfect companion for the walk down to the water. It was cute to watch, especially seeing that he completely bypassed mommy and daddy to walk with Greg.

This is the road behind our house. The kids couldn't spend too much time in the water, for there was a strong current where it crossed the road. It was moving really fast, and we couldn't see where the edges of the road were. And this wasn't the highest it got. I was the only adult with boots on, so I got to get in the water with the kiddos. They had a great time, especially watching the minnows trying to get across the road.

This the playground that we usually can walk to, but the path was blocked with the water, so we had to wade over. We played for a while and then the Murton Bells had to make their way back to S'toon.

Sophia can't wait for another opportunity to visit with Joshua and Annabel again.

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Easter 2011

2011-05-27T21:39:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful Easter morning. The kids woke up early, and readied themselves for the hunting of eggs. I had to work two services Easter morning, so everything happened early. Sophia and Jacob quickly found the baskets Nana had made for them, and went looking for Easter Bunny goodies.

All ready to go...

Looking....and finding

More goodies. Sophia was great at helping Jacob find his share of eggs. Usually it meant that she would find the stash and then bring him his "fair share". He didn't really care as long as he had something to put in his basket. The more exciting thing was the packages waiting for them which included new pajamas and some new book sets. Sophia got the entire set of Junie B. Jones novels and Jacob got the "How Do Dinosaurs..." set.

Breakfast was the colored eggs we had made the day before, and then I headed off to Brora and Grand Coulee for preaching. The rest of the group went to church as well. We had a nice dinner with the Markewich family to end our great holiday.

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A visit with Grandma and Grandpa

2011-05-27T21:26:00.001-06:00

Yup, this happened a while ago. There is snow on the ground, but it is melting...Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit and we truly enjoyed having them here.

Trying out his new Newt Suit...it is going to keep this puddle hopper dry. Really and truly dry. He did his best to try out its limits.

The only way to transport a be-booted toddler.

Walking with Grandpa

Jacob's favorite mode of transportation. Although, his legs are not long enough to reach the peddles.

Swinging, swinging, swinging...

A happy moment with Grandma.

Splashing.... who could pass up such a wonderful puddle!?!

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Dancing Queen

2011-05-27T21:17:00.001-06:00

This spring, Sophia spent some time in ballet class... she learnt some basics, kind of followed along, and had a great time just dancing with other little girls. I am not sure that she is completely cut out for structured dance at this point, I know that she has movement in her. She loves nothing better than to have a dance performance, to move to the music, to just dance. I believe she had a great time with class and maybe soon we will have another foray into the world of dance routines.

Stretching before dancing.

Gotta get that back nice and limber

And plie

Second position

Picture perfect.

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Tiny bubbles

2011-05-27T21:06:00.001-06:00

We got a bubble machine a couple of weeks ago. Thanks Costco!! I was getting tired of Jacob trying to blow bubbles by putting the bubble wand right in his mouth. And the mess, oh, yeah, those bottles are not nearly as spill proof as they say. Anyway, the kids have been having such a great time. As you can tell...

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Photos and Reception

2011-04-18T22:17:00.004-06:00

After the service, the families and bridal party headed out to Queen Elizabeth park to have some photos done. The bride and groom (plus entourage) went via a SUV limo ...it was a sight to behold. After pictures, the family headed back to the reception hall to set up the cake and start the party. The kids had a fabulous time, with everyone being absolutely wonderful with the kids. Complete strangers were happy to talk to Sophia and Jacob, play balloons with them and generally just allowed them to have fun. After a wonderful dinner, dessert and some speeches, I took the kids home for bed, leaving them with my dear friend Jacquie (who ended up driving out here for about a half an hour of babysitting sleeping children, then my aunt and cousin came home! Thank you Jacquie!) David and I stayed for dancing and cleaning up. It was a great party.

Waiting for the pictures iat the park. They loved the water fountain.

In the limo, practicing for when she is a CEO of some big company

Future bar keep?

Todd and Dea had THE most patient DJ in the world. He wasn't bothered by her forays onto the stage, let her dance around his equipment, and even allowed her to press the on and off button for the music.

The Wedding Cake

2011-04-18T22:10:00.002-06:00

It took four and a half days, 10 boxes of cake mix, two dozen eggs, 18 cups of buttercream, and 3.5 buckets of fondant. It was an adventure. I may or may not do another one. I have to thank my mother for watching the kids while I soldiered on with the batter, icing and flowers.

Before

after....turned out not too bad, eh? Todd and Dea liked it.

The Wedding Event of the Year -the prep, the primping and the service

2011-04-18T21:16:00.004-06:00

No, it's not William and Kate....nope, it was Todd and Dea. After much planning and thinking and more planning, the two of them finally got married. And it was a lovely day. The rain only sprinkled in the morning and the sun came out for the service and the pictures. It was a wee nippy in the wind, but otherwise it was a beautiful Vancouver day. My family got the pleasure of helping out in many ways....I officiated the wedding (thanks guys!) and made the wedding cake, Sophia was flower girl, Jacob was ring bearer, and David was reception MC. It was so wonderful to be part of a such a special day for two very awesome people. Who, btw, are honeymooning in Hawaii.

Jacob looking dashing in his tux, although here he looks a little like he is trying out for a mariachi band. Cute none the less shaking the ministers maracas.

Doing the finishing touches. Sophia, mommy and nanna all went to get their hair done in the morning. When asked, Sophia proudly said that she wanted curls in her hair. Looks pretty cute, no?

All ready!

Does this boutonnière make my head look small?

The groom and the ring bearer (or "burier" as Sophia put it) just before the service.

The big moment!

A little tenuous at first, but once he got down the aisle, he tried to make a dash back up it he had so much fun!

Bird's eye view of the service.

The newly married groom snuggling with his niece.

Married!

A special moment with the niece and nephew.

What an awesome day!

Fairy tale room

2011-03-22T22:12:00.001-06:00

One of the things Sophia really wanted for her room in the new house (besides a red room) was fairies on the walls. She was never really happy with the plain squares of pink and polka dots.

While shopping yesterday, I just happened across a program for my die cutter with Tinkerbell and friends. I got some chocolate brown sticky vinyl to cut. Here is the result...

She loves it!!!

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While Sophia swims...

2011-03-22T22:05:00.001-06:00

Jacob runs amok at the pool! He loves to run up to the edge of the pool to watch all the other kids swimming. Then he turns to me and smiles his devious smile and takes off. One day, I am sure he is going to end up in the pool. I guess all of this makes up for the fact that he can't swim right now. We will be signing up for classes in July.

This is what amok looks like!

Sitting on the vent....a cool place to be (literally, it's sweltering on the deck).

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Joy in the Water

2011-03-22T21:59:00.001-06:00

Still more pictures of my fish...err...my daughter. At least she is super happy...

Yup, she loves it!!! And her instructor is great...she just keeps getting more and more comfortable in the water, and her skills are increasing in leaps and bounds. So proud of her.

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Growing up...

2011-03-16T21:10:00.001-06:00

Well, now that Jacob finally surpassed the 20 lbs mark, we decided that it is time for a big kid bed. Thank goodness for Costco...takes all the thinking out of buying a mattress...you just go in and get it.

This is him "sleeping".

Yeah, he looks a little small in it, but he seems to like it. It's on the floor right now until the bed frame arrives. That way he can get used to it. We did make the minor mistake of setting it all up just before nap time....needless to say, not a lot of sleeping happened then. But that was the only issue we had. Jacob sleeps happily and comfortably in his new big bed.

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Preparations for Flower Girl stardom

2011-03-16T21:06:00.001-06:00

It's just less than a month now until Uncle Todd and Auntie Dea's wedding and Sophia is super duper excited. Super duper excited! We finally got all the stuff together for the outfit, and she had to try it on and model it. Thankfully, Nana (who was here visiting) took the stuff home so that the ivory dress would stay that way. But we did snap a few pictures...

We haven't decided on the flower colour yet, although the red one is not for the wedding...not part of the colour scheme.

Jacob wanted in on the action too....

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Firefighters and tattle-telling Four Year olds.

2011-03-16T21:02:00.001-06:00

The preschool had their annual trip to the local fire hall. Sophia was so excited, and they had been doing a whole bunch of fire education. We were there for an hour, and got tours of the ladder trucks and a regular engine. They went over stop, drop and roll. We we first got there, they sounded the alarm that the firefighters hear in the station, so that we knew when they had to go, if there was an emergency. Thankfully, there wasn't.

Showing how they knew to crawl under the smoke

Ready for action.

Then the two firefighters got talking about smoke detectors in our houses, and if they had ever heard them before. Well, leave it to my wonderful, vivacious, gregarious, and completely extroverted daughter to come out with the following statement: "Sometimes it goes off when my mommy is cooking. She makes the food smoke." Thanks kiddo. As I left the station at the end of the time, one of the men looked at me and asked: "So is Daddy cooking tonight?" Me:" Nope, I am." Fire guy: "Well, we'll see you later." Har de har har. Yikes.

Later on, they were telling the kids that if they are trapped in the house during a fire, and see firefighters they are to yell as loud as they can so they can be found. In comes Sophia with some more tidbits from Gerhard family life: "Sometimes my Mommy and Daddy yell at me and make me cry." Really??? She just said that??? OMG, I was sure that Child and Family Services was going to pay our house a visit. I have got to teach Sophia to keep her mouth shut.

Anyway, she had a great time, and learned lots.

Hey, he sounds like Darth Vader!!!

Yup, that's my kid.

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swimming like a salamander

2011-03-16T20:48:00.001-06:00

We've had another round of swimming lessons this fall. Both Jacob and Sophia started in late January. Unfortunately, one week after he started, Jacob broke his leg, so he had to withdraw, but Sophia continued on. She loves swimming and is doing a fabulous job of learning all that she needs to know.

Being tree seeds before growing and being chopped down...an exercise for learning to jump into the water.

Jacob watching forlornly from the sidelines. He really, really wanted to swim.

Happiness is a soggy four year old.

Front float!

She's doing well. This is her second time in Salamander. Not unusual to repeat as it takes a little while to get some of the skills down. Each time she gets better. She might need to do it once more, but she is doing super well. She happily jumps in, blows bubbles, floats, and putting her head completely under the water. She loves it. Maybe she'll be a water polo star....

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Reading

2011-03-04T20:57:00.001-06:00

Well, we always knew that Sophia was a genius. This just prove our point...

Our little four and a half year old can read... yup, all by her self. Well, okay, with a little help, but this is still impressive.

You have to listen really closely. Turn up the volume.

YouTube Video

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Freedom

2011-03-04T20:44:00.001-06:00

Jacob's cast came off on Monday, Feb 28th, 2011. Finally. What a long month for all of us. I don't think any of us was really sad to bid farewell to that blue fiberglass peg leg. Well, I don't think Jacob was sad about it, but removing it did hinder getting attention a little. He had nothing to point at anymore. He was really good about showing people his cast.

David and I were a little concerned about what might be waiting for us under the cast....thankfully it was a scaly, dried, wrinkly, slightly smelling leg, not much smaller than it was before the cast.

He has a pretty distinct limp still, after a week. It doesn't help that he was jumping from the bottom stair and landed wrong...which sent us to the clinic this morning to make sure that he didn't re-break or break anything else. Thankfully, that x-ray didn't show anything but a healing fracture. Whew. He forgets from time to time that his knee is bendy, and will sit down with his leg straight out from him, or walk with the leg fully extended. But then he remembers, and bends that knee. I think the toughest part is the stiff ankle. He still walks with his foot turned out and drags the foot a bit. That joint is very stiff after a month of not using it.

So, all in all, he hated the saw they used to remove the cast. He hated the
x-rays he had done right after the cast came off, but he is thrilled to be moving easier. He's a tough little trooper, my Jacob is. Makes this whole thing a lot easier.

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L' Etoile De Semaine

2011-02-24T21:04:00.001-06:00

At Sophia's preschool, every child has the opportunity to be the "Etoile de Semaine" (translation: the Star of the Week). Each Etoile gets to be first in line, to help the teachers out, and to bring a show and tell item to share. They also get to create a "my family" page with a picture of said family, and "favorite things" sheet to share with their classmates.

But the most exciting thing is that being an Etoile means bringing home a Dora the Explorer or Deigo backpack. Sophia, true to form, brought home the Dora bag. In it were a couple of books, a DVD, a Dora doll and a photo album. In the album were pictures of some of the other kids with the Dora doll. It was a photo journal of Dora's travels. Sophia loved having the bag. It's a great way to make each kid special.

Here's Sophia's contribution to the Dora photo album...

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Winter Vacation 2011

2011-02-24T21:00:00.003-06:00

The usual MO around here is to flee to somewhere warm sometime during January and February. They are darn cold months around here and the warmth of tropical sun and sandy beaches are a nice alternative to frozen eyelashes and possible skin freezing. But not us. Nope, we headed East. Well, okay we went to Winnipeg and to the cottage at Lake of the Woods. Definitely not tropical sun, and the sandy beach was covered by two feet of snow. We did have a good time though.

We spent two nights, one on each leg of the trip, in the new family home in Winnipeg. David's parents sold their house of 38 years and are moving into a home which they will share with Adam, Kristine and Matthew. They will have their own living space in the house, but for the moment, they have it all to themselves. That is until construction for their part of the house starts. But that is another blog.

Then we made the trek to the cottage. The whole family spent two and a half days together. It was great. It even warmed up enough to play outside. The kids had a great time. Sophia tobogganed, skating, played and rolled around in the snow. Jacob even got into the action. He got to accompany cousin Matthew in his nifty Chariot which has go-go gadget skis. I wrapped his cast in a plastic bag and lots of packing tape, and the little guy got to spend time walking in the snow. He quite loved it, even if he had no traction.

The adults got the chance to be together, enjoying good food and card games. And we got to enjoy being a family together, watching the kids play and be kids. It was fun.

Matthew and Jacob hanging out together in the Chariot. About two minutes later, Jacob passed out and spent the entire ride sleeping. Silly boy.

Out cold. No, I didn't mean "out in the cold". The poor kid is fast asleep.

The snow is REALLY deep. Really, really deep.

Trying to get unstuck. Until there were paths of packed snow, getting around was tricky,

Some indoor robot building. David spent a little time working on his Makerbot Thing-O-Matic

See "go-go gadget" skis. And a people harness for toddlers who want to get around in winter style.

Peg leg waling with Grandpa

Skating in the boat house (because it is protected from the wind and shifting ice, it is the smoothest place to skate)

A daddy and Sophia moment.

Snowshoe queen! I hadn't snowshoed since I was in Girl Guides. I loved it, and now I want my own pair.

Why Yes, Jacob was having a great time. Can't you tell?

Heading out over Blueberry Island.

Kids and entourage. Out on the middle of the lake.

Family time!

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A date with Daddy

2011-02-08T21:04:00.001-06:00

David has had a crazy schedule in the last little while, and hasn't had a whole heck of a lot of time with the kids. So on Saturday, I suggested that he take them to the Science center to check out the new Mazes display they have right now. So he packed them up and headed out just after nap time.

They had all these big blocks for building with. In essence, the kids were to build their own mazes, however Sophia decided to build a house.

YouTube Video

Jacob spent a long time at the marble maze table, just dropping the marbles in the maze and watching them go.

YouTube Video

And they did wander one of the mazes there. In different places there were musical instruments that the kids could bang so that others knew they weren't alone. I think they had fun...

YouTube Video

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Snow Fort

2011-02-08T20:51:00.001-06:00

Well, it warmed up to +1 late last week. It felt like summer around here. It was warm enough that the snow started to melt and turn icky dirty brown. Gotta love it. Anyway, not wanting to get peoples' hopes up, the next day was cool again (-10) and snowy. Had to replace all the snow that melted, don't you know. Anyway, Sophia had been wanting to go out for a couple of days, but with Jacob in the cast we had to wait until Daddy was home.

Oh the joy when she was finally able to go out. The snow that was falling was a little wetter than usual, so the two of them decided to build a snow fort and throw snowballs at each other. I am not sure who had more fun.

The snow fort had chairs in it, of course. So this is a picture of them sitting in their chairs. That is what they were for. Sitting.

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Daddy's Girl

2011-02-08T20:45:00.001-06:00

Every once and while you catch the perfect moment between parent and child...

(what would we do if we didn't have technology to bring families together? I am a little embarrassed to say that this moment was created by the iPhone and some home movies. At least they were home movies and not Angry Birds. It's been known to happen.)

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Go, go action Cast

2011-02-08T20:43:00.001-06:00

Nothing really ever seems to phase Jacob for very long, unless it's food. But that's another story. We seem to be past the crazy making pain and achy of the broken leg...how do we know? Well, you tell us:

YouTube Video

Jacob has mastered the regular, every day walk. Added to that is the step and swing (the length difference between the cast leg and regular leg allows for some free movement of the non-casted appendage). He can also roll around, bang the wall, bear walk, and our favorite...somersault. Check these out:

Somersault king...

Bear walking.

Standing up from sitting, without any help. Doesn't Haley just look so impressed by all the action?

Action man...

Yup, seriously on the road to healing.

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Snow play

2011-02-02T20:59:00.002-06:00

So, we've had quite a lot of snow fall out here on the prairies. Almost record breaking amounts but not yet. Just wait though, it's only February.

On a relatively warm day (read: -10 and above), David and the kids went out for some play. I joined them for a change, and we had lots of fun. One of Sophia's goals was to build a snowman. Unfortunately, the snow here is not wet enough to compact in to snowman shaped balls. So we had to make do...

It has the requisite parts, just not the proper shape. She was happy enough.

There is enough snow in the playhouse that the kids could climb out the side window without climbing. Actually, they channeled their inner otter and slid out the window. Yup, the snow actually comes up to Sophia's head ---mind you some of that came from shoveling the deck.

It's that deep!!!

The snow is so deep at Jake can't really walk in it, so he spends a lot of time lying down. Why it has to be face first, I really don't know.

Really very happy about being a human depth measure. Can you see the joy???

My snow angels. Jacob was NOT impressed with sitting still. (these pictures, btw, we taken pre-cast. He can't go play in the snow now.)

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Following in Mama's Footsteps

2011-02-01T21:03:00.001-06:00

um, yikes....

I might be a little worried about how I am preaching....she seems to have my mannerisms down pat.

Sigh.

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Is it too late for Christmas???

2011-02-01T21:01:00.001-06:00

We got bogged down this year, and our annual Christmas posts got forgotten, so now I get to do a little back tracking and finally blog our two celebrations.

CHRISTMAS 1
This is with Nana and Papa, early in December. It was nice to have them here, and everyone had a great time. We celebrated, gifted, ate, did tea, went to church, visited, and hung out. We enjoyed ourselves immensely.

To get ready, we made gingerbread cookies. We all had a great time, and really the kids didn't eat too many of the candies. Several were tasted before they got on the cookies, but we kept track of those.

For some reason, we are missing other pictures of the festivities. I will have to bug Nana for some of her "film!" pictures and scan them in. Nana and Papa did get the joy of attending Sophia's preschool concert.

CHRISTMAS 2
The Gerhard clan made their way out "west" from Winnipeg. Grandma and Grandpa came just before Christmas and did Christmas Eve with us, and then Adam, Kristine and Matthew joined us on Boxing day...then we did Christmas morning all over again!

Grandma, Grandpa, and all of us, went out for the Christmas Eve buffet at the Hotel Saskatchewan-- we weren't doing Christmas the next day as we were waiting for the rest of the family, so we decided to do something special. It was quite nice and the kids made a new friend.

I ROCK! I totally got wife points this year for the big Lego score for David. And I hid it well enough by disguising the recognizable brick sound with loose cutlery in the box. He didn't even suspect at thing.

Matthew got Lego too.

Yup, those would be the littlest ones tobogganing with Uncle Adam.

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Recasted

2011-02-01T20:43:00.001-06:00

Well, Jacob and I made the big trip back to the hospital for the new cast. It was nice to go without having to wait in ER. Although, we were early, and still had to wait almost an hour past our appointment. Thank goodness for the iPad.

The doctor showed me the x-rays again, and let me know that it wasn't a serious break, nor completely uncommon in kids this age. Actually, David did some research and found out that this kind of break is called a "toddler fracture" as many kids break their tibia by walking wrong. Doesn't take much.

So as you can see his new cast goes up to mid-thigh. We were a little surprised at this, but the Doctor did this to reduce the amount of twisting on the broken bone as possible. It irritates the heck out of Jacob as now he can't bend his knee. He had just mastered crawling and climbing with the other cast. Boo. Now he REALLY can't get around. We had several choices in colour, including glow-in-the-dark (which I figured was just asking for bedtime troubles). The blue is nice and still fun.

The cast tech was great, and did a really nice job. The cast is fiberglass, so it is very light. Just today, Jacob was beginning to crawl with it (mind you it kind of drags uselessly behind him) and he did take some solo steps with it. Now that he has figured out that he can walk on it, he will often call for me and then raise his hands saying "walk, walk".

It's going to be a long four weeks, and we worry a bit about the atrophy of his leg muscles under the cast, but I would rather have something easily remedied than a little guy with a sore leg. The pain seems to be abating, he was up only once last night, so we gave him some Advil, and he spent the whole night in his own bed. So we are getting there, slowly.

As you can see, he is doing the best he can, given the circumstances.

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Sticks and stones will break your bones....

2011-01-29T21:21:00.002-06:00

And so will wrestling with your sister. Yup, Jacob broke his leg today. He managed to fracture his tibia, near the base, after a rustle with Sophia. It was a freak accident, really, although sophia was very concerned as "Jacob is the only brother I have.". After a breath holding, red in the face, "I am really hurt" cry and subsequent sobs, David and I spent some time trying to figure out what got hurt. Nothing was swelling, nothing looked bruised. When we tried to get Jacob to walk, he resolutely refused to put any weight on either leg. This refusal signaled another ER trip for me and J. Sigh. I wonder how much money we would have to donate to get a room named after us, or even a reservation. This was the second trip for me this week, I took Sophia earlier this week with a high fever.

Anyway, after waiting, we were seen by an emergency nurse and then the ER doctor (both were super great with Jacob) and then sent down to X-ray Jake cried through the whole thing, mostly because they had to manipulate his leg in order to get the right shots. What an awful feeling to watch your child in pain and be able to do nothing about it. After the x ray we headed back to our room in the ER and waited for the outcome. That is when we were told about the break. The doctor reassured me that one of the good things about being this young with a break is that they heal fast and cleanly. Yahoo.

Jake got a half cast, plaster just on the back of the leg which is then held in place with a couple of tensors. We go on Monday to get a fitted spiral cast, which will encompass his entire shin area. I am really hoping that it will be light enough for him to walk with. Otherwise we are going to hear a lot of crying to be carried. He is already frustrated with not being able to walk. Not sure yet, how long he will have the cast for.

All in all, he is in pretty good spirits. Even tried to move a little while at the family dance at church. He is a trooper. Love him lots.

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First time on Ice

2011-01-22T20:36:00.001-06:00

We live in the land of ice and snow for about 8 months of the year (or at least it feels that way). So far this year we have had about 190 cm of snow, according to the newspaper we have had 120.5 cm of snow since October, beating the last record of 113.4 in 1973-74. So we've had 47.25 inches of snow. That's a lot of snow. And to go along with the snow we've had crazy cold temperatures...it was -33 without the wind chill the other morning. So what can you do, when the temperature finally "warms" up to -15? Well a favorite past time is ice skating. The City of Regina is thoughtful enough to take several school play yards and make outdoor skating rinks. We thought it was time to start teaching Sophia to skate so that we had one more activity to do with her this winter.

We did not sign up for any lessons, either they were way too expensive or way too hard to get into. So we opted to do it ourselves, or David took on the challenge. I stay home with Jacob as he is no where coordinated enough to skate, and it is impossible to find skates for tiny little feet like his! We purchased a pair of bob-skates for Sophia....think of bobsleds with the dual runners on the bottom. Well these are training skates that have dual blades and just strap onto her winter boots. Way more comfortable as a first try and less expensive. This new adventure did mean that David and I had to buy skates. For some crazy reason, indoor skating rinks figure you have your own and don't rent them, so we need to have them if we plan to skate in warmer locations. That was fun. Being a West Coast girl, I have always rented skates, so was befuddled at the need to buy. Do you know how many choices there are out there.

Anyway you want to see pictures, right...

YouTube Video

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Lego Bliss

2011-01-21T19:16:00.001-06:00

I don't know if you know.... but David is a Lego addict. He and his brother spent hours sifting through thousands of lego pieces, looking for the right brick for such and such a space craft etc. Heck, Diane even got involved, helping with the sifting and loving every minute of it.

Now, since Sophia was young, he has tried to get Lego going in our house. And it really hasn't been until this year that she has shown any interest. Mostly, I think it is because Jacob seems to love the stuff. Granted he does spend a lot of time breaking things apart, but he will spend loads of time building towers and such with his Duplo pieces. He particularly likes to dump the whole basket on the carpet and then sit in the middle pulling and pushing the pieces to and away from him. It makes a nice noise.

The kids have also spent a lot of time playing with the little Lego blocks and figures that came in our Lego Advent Calendar. They often cast their eyes longingly at the Motorized AT-ATMotorized AT-AT (it looks like this but is motorized --yes folks, it walks)I got David for Christmas. Many good wife points for that and it is totally not a kid friendly Lego kit. Currently it is sitting in a place of honor on the piano although I have heard rumors of it moving to David's work office. Show off.

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Photo issues

2011-01-21T18:56:00.002-06:00

Don't worry....the photos are pixelated. I am working through options to fix the program on the iPad so that the photos will be better in their thumbnail forms. They will be better soon.

Er, Snow.

2011-01-19T22:19:00.001-06:00

Okay, so this is for the Vancouver people who got four to five inches of snow (which for the West Coast is a lot, I will give you that), and for the Toronto people who had +15 weather at the end of December...bah.

That was two weeks ago...the snow is now over the bottom of the umbrella.

We can not use the swings because of the snow...see that in the corner. In the middle of the yard is David's quinzee, which used to stand alone but now is a snow fortress. The kids can't play in the yard --we'd lose Jacob for sure in the snow and Sophia might be able to just keep her head above the surface. And it is only January. Silly prairie weather.

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Strong like bull

2011-01-19T22:09:00.001-06:00

Jacob was helping out with the groceries....

The look of triumph...those diaper packages, thems is heavy.

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mmmmm, muffins

2011-01-19T22:05:00.001-06:00

One of the things we are supposed to be doing with Jacob is making sure that he eats enough. So in an effort to increase his calorie intake I made chocolate chocolate chip muffins (yes muffins, not cupcakes...we're not starting the debate here). I also made blueberry muffins, too, I am a good mom, really.

This is how I eat the muffins, mom. It keeps my fingers clean.

Not to be outdone by her little brother, Sophia decided to sport her own choco-face. Not quite as extreme.

Blueberry isn't as messy, we can use our hands.

Just 'cuz....who can resist this little beauty.

Sunglasses

2011-01-19T21:57:00.001-06:00

We are in the midst of winter...duh. Anyway, the kids are trying to get beyond that.

Channelling a bit of his inner Elton John.

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Randomness

2011-01-19T21:55:00.001-06:00

We just scored a new flash on our camera, and I have been playing. Here's some of the photos that I have taken.

Preschool Christmas concert

2011-01-19T21:47:00.001-06:00

It is an annual tradition that is rooting itself in our family Christmas celebrations...the school Christmas concert. This year, Sophia's preschool presented parents, grandparents, friends...whoever could make the gathering and cram themselves into the little room they had....with two songs (Feliz Navidad, Les Cloches de Noel) and a poem about snow. Then the best thing possible happened --Santa came and visited, bringing laughter and candy canes.

My Sophia, the drama queen, was placed in the back row because she is so tall. As you can see in this picture, she had managed to work herself to the front.

Sophia was more than happy to have pictures with Santa, although she told David that she it wasn't really santa because she could see his dark hair under the beard. David saved the moment: "Santa is so busy that he needs all kinds of helpers." Nailed it.

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Christmas preparation

2011-01-19T21:26:00.001-06:00

Putting up the tree has never been more fun, or cute...

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Winnipeg 2010, November

2011-01-19T21:22:00.001-06:00

It's not everyday that a nephew turns one. In fact, it's only one day. We wanted to help celebrate, so we decided to head out to the 'Peg to see everyone. Unfortunately, David has this job that he actually has to go to, and I live the life of a stay at home mom (life of leisure, some would say...I scoff). So, I got to go early with my kiddies. The only complication was that I did not, DID NOT want to drive to Winnipeg by myself, with two kids in the winter. So my fabulous father in law agreed to fly out in the morning, and then, bless his soul, drove us out to Winnipeg (all in the same day)! David joined us a few days later, via Westjet.

We had a great time. We visited, ate, saw, laughed, partied, had fun, and enjoyed ourselves. Unfortunately, our trip also included a quick trip to the Children's emergency room with Jacob...darned asthma.

Little nephew, and his parentals. Happy first

Bundled up and heading off to the hospital ...see the exhaustion in both? Yeah, David had just arrived from Regina, and these attacks never happen at 2:00 pm. Oh no, just at bedtime.

Jacob was in the ER for six hours. He slept on and off during the time there. He does look rather tiny, hey?

Uncle and nephew.

The birthday cakes I made for the party!

Hanging out with Winnipeg friends.

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Sophia too

2011-01-10T22:17:00.001-06:00

Never one to shy away from the camera, our Sophia. Here are some pictures to share.

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Random Jacobness

2011-01-10T21:20:00.001-06:00

Just a collection of our awesome little man. He keeps amazing us with his feats of daring, lack of fear (unless it concerns a small yappy mini pinscher named Chloe ---her barking, jumping, excitement makes him cry whenever we go to our friends. He does get used to her, but it happens every time we go over, you'd think he would come to expect it.) and his ever growing vocabulary. He has finally mastered mama/mom and dada much to our joy and despair. Let's just say they happen to be his favorite words besides NO and a yup. Sigh.

This is what you get when you say: "smile, Jacob!"

This is his "show us scared" gesture.

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Preschool pictures 2010-2011

2011-01-10T21:12:00.001-06:00

Yup, year two for the Sophia girl. Can't believe how big she is getting. She absolutely LOVES school and is totally sucking up the French. Everything is an adventure. She is learning to write, getting an introduction to phonetics, learning to read and spell (oh, that does make things interesting for David and i who used to spell so she wouldn't understand!). And she is making friends. I can only hope that she continues to have such energy for the rest of her school career.

Here are this years school pictures. She came up with her own poses, as the photographer was happy to tell me. Oh yeah, she's not going to be a lot of fun in her teens.

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Belated Halloween pictures

2011-01-10T20:20:00.001-06:00

Here are those extra pictures I promised. Yeah, yeah, yeah...It's January. Blah blah blah. It's fine. Heck, the family got Jack O' Lantern chocolates in their stockings! They were Lindt and a good price. Chocolate is chocolate.

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Another Jacob Update

2011-01-08T19:37:00.002-06:00

Yes, we haven't posted in a while, but the month of December has been a little crazy with family in and out and Christmases to celebrate, along with places to be, and preschool concerts, birthday parties and playdates to attend. Anyway, in a few days I will sit down a do a whole bunch of post dated posting with pictures, of course!

But I wanted to get this post out so everyone knows what is going on with the Jacob boy.

This past Tuesday, Jan 4th 2011 (yikes!) the Gerhard family made the trek to Saskatoon for the appointment with the paediatric endocrinologist. The doctor's name....Dr. Best....had to be a good omen right? Before we headed to our appointment we got a long awaited visit with Tracy, Joshua and Annabel. It was a great time, during which Jacob refused to nap, and all the kids played well together. Tracy watched Sophia while the rest of three of us headed off to meet Dr. Best. Many, many, many thanks goes to Tracy and the kids.

There was no wait to see Dr. Best, which is unusual. He was super nice and Jacob was not in the least bit fussy or scared by the man. Actually, he very happily went trotting (which is exactly what he does, trot...not walk) after the doctor in order to get measured and then off to the room. Don't ask what his height was, I didn't catch it. The doctor also measured David and myself as well, to compare etc.

The doctor checked Jacob over thoroughly. Weighed him (8.54 Kg (18.83 lbs)) --not a lot of change in the last little while. He also plotted all his measurements since birth and drew them on the standard weight/height/age chart. Essentially what he showed us was that Jacob grew really well during the first six months of life and then started to slow down and fall off the chart. As Jake's weight gain slowed down and almost stalls, so does his height. Usually this is an indication of nutrition problems. Well, okay, he is a difficult kid to get to eat. He refuses and eats small portions and is really slow when he finally decides to eat. We've always been concerned about it, but never considered him "malnourished". Most endocrine problems show up as small stature, heavy weight. Short and wide, so to speak. And this is not our problem. Our two year old kid is still wearing 12-18 months and they fall off him. Oy.

So, Dr. Best is thinking that it might be a combination of things. He did say that there is a common growth pattern that shows up in some children that has them growing really well for the first six months, then slows down between 1 and 6 years, at which point they start to catch up. It also could be a version of growth patterns in our families. The Doctor spent a lot of time looking at Jacob's hands and feet. I think he was evaluating bone stuff. He measured our heads and J's head too. He's got a small head which is also a concern. Well, that small head is pretty smart.

Anyway, he did mention that J looks and acts very healthy. One of the things we are to do is to try to get as much food into him as we can. Fatty and calorie dense foods. Replace his water with milk or juice. Butter, full fat milk, high fat cheese, etc. I am trying not to feel like a bad parent, really I am. I know it's not my fault. There might be something more going on. We will wait to see the geneticist as well. The other thing he did was send us out to get x-rays of Jake's wrists and hands, and a blood test.

The x-ray is to look at bone age and see if the bone age does or does not match with Jacob's actual age. If there is a discrepancy then there is something else going on. The blood test was to rule out things...like Celiac and other stuff (not really too sure). Jacob did really well for the x-ray and not so great for the blood test ...he sat still but cried like the dickens (thankfully, David took him in!). He came out and pulled up his sleeve so I could see where he got poked. Way too cute.

So now we wait and see. We wonder if there isn't a metabolism issue or something keeping Jacob from getting everything he needs out his food. Who knows.

Dr. best will call us when he has something to say. I have heard that he is really good at following up.

So there we are...working on trying to grow this kid big. Thank you for all your love, support and care. It means the world to us.

Jacob's update

2010-11-18T22:17:00.001-06:00

As some of you know, we've had on going concerns with Jacob's size. He is still solidly in the -10th % for both height and weight. He's 19 pounds and 32 inches. He's tiny. That makes the pediatrician concerned, especially because he has run out of ideas that he can diagnose from blood tests and outward appearances.

So we have been referred to a pediatric endocrinologist and a geneticist. Essentially they are ruling out things. We have to go to Saskatoon for both appointments, the first one is in January (the endocrinologist). It is a 12 month wait to see the geneticist.

anyway, despite being small, Jacob is definitely hitting milestones. And he is trouble, oh yeah, he's trouble. He climbs, runs, prances, dances, sings, plays...
He is beginning to get some words, and he is in gymnastics. He LOVES it.

So, we wait now for appointments in the new year, and once we know more, we will post.

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Halloween cuteness

2010-11-18T22:02:00.001-06:00

Last year, I decided that I would make my frusta foray into sewing by making Sophia's Halloween costume --she was a very sweet witch. Anyway, this year continued the tradition. Except it got more complicated.

My good friend Heather, who sews all the time and has mad skills, was making a Mickey Mouse costume. Well, Sophia heard this and decided she wanted to be Minnie Mouse. Now, she doesn't really know who Minnie and Mickey are, as she doesn't really watch them on TV. What she knows is that Heather has a pattern, she likes the looks of it, and she wants to be Minnie Mouse. Thankfully her decision doesn't change for several weeks, and so I begin the process of sewing the costume.

I have to admit, it turned out pretty darned cute...

This is Sophia and Owen together. Unfortunately, I don't have a better picture on my iPad. I will get one up soon.

Here's Jacob and Chase. Jacob is wearing Sophia's monkey costume, and it fit him perfectly!

They were soooooo cute that when they walked past the school library all the grade 6 girls came running to the door, and were oohing and aching over them. A better picture is coming.

Halloween night itself was quite fun. We only went out for an hour, but that was more than enough. Owen and Heather joined us, as it was only right that Minnie and Mickey went out together. Jacob joined us. Sophia would run ahead, Owen would try to keep up and Jacob, well, he dragged behind. He's got little legs, don't you know. Well, heaven help me if I tried to get him to go a little faster or if I tried to pick him up, he would yell "no, no, nooooo, no, no". Yup, my two year old started throwing his first temper tantrum. It got worse if I tried to transfer his candy from the small bucket he had to the bag I was carrying. By the end of the time, he would only willingly go to Heather, after all, she didn't try to steal his candy. So she says.

Sophia and Owen were not without their own quirks. Sophia was so eager to do Halloween this year that she practically ran from door to door. Owen, was eager but not quite as fast. Well, Sophia would get to the door, and before even knocking she was yelling "trick or treat". Owen was quite concerned about the improperness of this and would tell her: "You have to wait for the door, Sophie. Wait for the door." This happened at every single house. You'd thick that they would get bored with this routine....not them. In the end, we had a good time. The weather wasn't terrible and the kids were in a good mood.

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Jacob's birthday

2010-11-04T19:09:00.001-06:00

So, at the end of September, Jacob hit the milestone age of two. And to mark the occasion, we had a gathering of friends and family for supper, cake and presents. We had a great time, and Jacob was in good spirits. He enjoyed the attention and playing with the big kids. He also was very interested in opening his presents. Unfortunately, he had to beat off, er, share that task with the older kiddos, especially his big sister. They were really just trying to help because he is so little. I think a good time was had by all.

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101010=42

2010-10-10T10:10:00.000-06:00

on the 10th of october, 2010, at 10:10 in the morning, my daughter weighs 42 pounds and is 42 inches tall.

and 101010 = 42 in binary.

My daughter is at the center of a global alignment the likes of which we have never seen

Don't feed the animals

2010-10-09T22:45:00.002-06:00

Visiting the zoo is one of our family favorite activities. We pretty much go every time we are in Winnipeg. It is a great zoo, large with both indoor and outdoor exhibits.

The meerkats

The lions

The peacocks

The wild Gerhards

We also took a mini train ride. We thought Jacob would love this as he adores trains. However, the sound of the steam scared the pants off the boy. He cried inconsolably until the train actually got moving. Then he really enjoyed it. So did Sophia and cousin Matthew.

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Yummmmmm, cake

2010-10-09T22:15:00.001-06:00

Or actually, icing. The best part...

Shadowfax day

2010-10-09T22:12:00.002-06:00

One of the requirements of any cottage stay is a sail on Shadowfax. This is the Gerhard family sailboat. Last year Jacob was a little small to be on the boat, so he and I missed out on the tradition. But this year we all braved the waters together. Actually, what usually happens to us is that the wind looks great just before we set sail and then once we get out to the open water, it dies down to nothing. True to form, the wind died right down. We kind of moved but i think the algae in the water was moving faster. We still managed to have a lovely lunch and cruise. I think the kids had a great time. Only Haley seemed not so taken with the whole thing.

Garden help

2010-10-09T21:57:00.001-06:00

Jacob loves helping. Jacob loves dirt. It only makes sense that Jacob should help Grandma harvest some potatoes from the cottage garden. He actually did really good and would have spent hours out there doing digging and pulling. It was far too cute.

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mmm..corn on the cob

2010-08-20T20:17:00.000-06:00

seems to be a favorite with both of the kids from an early age.

Sophia at just over a year indulging on a fresh, local cob.

Now Jacob (just a little older) at just about 2 years old, munching away.

Sorry about the red eye...

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May cottage visit

2010-08-20T20:03:00.000-06:00

Way back, in the midst of having the house on the market and showing it like crazy, David and I headed out to Manitoba. David was doing music at a church function for a weekend so I headed out to Winnipeg to spend time with the grandparents. From Winnipeg the kids, grandparents, and I loaded up the van and headed to the cottage. David joined us later.

We had a great time, and the weather mostly cooperative. The water was less than warm...to us adults it was darned cold. But that didn't stop Sophia from going in.

Clean teeth

2010-08-20T20:01:00.000-06:00

We understand that good dental hygiene is important for everyone, especially those little baby teeth. But have you ever tried to brush the teeth of an uncooperative one year old? It is a little like trying to coral a angry octopus.

Do not let the smile in the upper picture fool you. Jacob was less than cooperative. Practice isn't making it easier.

Words!

2010-08-16T14:34:00.004-06:00

Jacob has been understanding words for some time now - we can tell him to go and get something, or eat his dinner, or stop pestering the dog, and he will generally comply. except of course when he doesn't want to. He also is getting to know his body parts, and is able to point to his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, head, teeth, arms, fingers, toes, etc and do so on other people as well. None of this has been accompanied by any vocalization on his part until now. It seems that here, at the cottage, he is starting to be able to form words.

The first of these words is "BOAT", or, as he says it, " bo' ". Jacob loves boats and points to them whenever he sees them. More and more, when he points at a boat, he says boat. Then he makes boat noises like "Brrrrrumm".

He's also consistently picked up "buh-bye" and "hello" although he is so soft spoken and little that these words can also be mistaken for baby babble if you're not listening closely. but it is consistent and always accompanied by a hand wave. He says "uh-oh" when there's a problem, and that can be especially helpful when he is eating and drops something on the floor. He says "uh-oh" and we know to look before Haley snuffles in and eats whatever Jacob dropped. He says "tah dah" when he is proud of something he has done, like eat all his food or stack some blocks, and he can say yep and uh-uh.

More recently, he can say "CAR", sounding like "ca' ", whenever he sees one. Strangely, boats and cars make the same noise, that "Brrrrrumm" of which he is so fond.

He like birds ("buh"), bugs (also "buh") turtles ("tutuh") and fish ("shhh"). Some of these are context specific - you wouldn't know "shh" was fish unless you were there with him looking at the same fish he was looking at. Also, "shh" means "be quiet" if he is holding his finger to his lips.

When he sees words, he will sometimes say "blah blah blah"

He knows that ducks go "quack quack" (or more like "kag kag")

and choo choo trains go choo choo

and airplaines and spaceships go "neeerow!"

Even with all of this (and more I can't remember), most of the time he communicates with gestures and grunts. Specifically, he nods and shakes his head, and uses his hands to say "follow me" or "come on" when he's wandering around the house or outdoors. It's too cute. There he is, smallest kid in the world, wandering away and he looks back at you and gestures like "come on, let's go!" You just have to see it.

Just chill'n with grandma

2010-08-13T19:04:00.000-06:00

Jacob tends to be a watcher, observing all that is going on around him. Often he likes to do this with one of his favorite people. We caught him doing such a watch...

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Frogging

2010-08-13T19:00:00.001-06:00

Every child needs a chance to chase frogs, right? And why not offer them such an opportunity, without the stinky, muddy swamp? Well it seems that the cottage is teeming with itty bitty frogs. We have spent some time at the cottage chasing these frogs, catching them, poking them (nicely and gentley, of course) and generally learning about them. I think that ihave had the most fun catching them and holding them for my wide eyed children to look at up close.

Unfortunately, Jacob was not able to partake in the frog holding. His little hands were far too ready to squish the little amphibians. On the other hand, Haley has become quite fond of hunting the frogs. Although none of us are quite sure what she will do with one once she catches it. Thankfully, that has not become an issue yet...she's not so great with the tracking that chasing a frog requires. But she is having fun.

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Crabapples...yum

2010-08-12T20:51:00.000-06:00

So, the crazy moving stage of our lives has come to an end, almost. We are finally in the new house and we are very, very happy. One of the perks of the new house is the big, usable backyard which has two grand crabapple trees. These are big crabapples. If you have eve eaten a crabapple out of hand you would know that they are less than sweet. They are gosh darn tart. Well, these ones seem okay...

Jacob is a big fan. They are crisp, tender and, seemingly good to eat. Turns out that the past owners of the house had a deal with some neighbors, where they pull up in their pickup on the other Side of the fence and pick apples for canning. We were more than happy to continue this agreement, especially if we get to enjoy the final product! It was a nice way to meet some of our new neighbors.

Little Girl, Big Drama

2010-08-12T20:36:00.000-06:00

If you spend any time with Sophia you quickly come to understand how very fitting the title of the entry fits her personality. It fits to perfectly that when I saw it on a t-shirt, I had to buy it. The day that I took these she was wearing said shirt. Check out these photos....

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Tiny bubbles

2010-08-12T20:27:00.000-06:00

One favorite summer pastime in our house is bubble blowing. The only challenge is that bubbles means liquid in tippy containers, which inevitably means bubble fluid, well, everywhere. Especially Jacob who gets it into his head to pour the fluid all over the deck, just to see it drip through the slats on the deck. Anyway, Sophia has a great time blowing the bubbles and chasing them around the yard.

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Scooby Dooby Doo

2010-08-11T21:04:00.000-06:00

Sophia's good friend, William, turned four and to celebrate, he had a Scooby Doo themed party. Everyone came dressed up as a character. Originally, Sophia really wanted to be Daphne, of course. But once she found out that Velma got to wear glasses and was really smart she changed her mind.

The kids at the party helped to solve a mystery. A ghost showed up and swiped the birthday gifts. The kids got clues which they followed to each new activity and eventually they found the ghost and discovered his true identity. They had a ball. Sophia was totally engaged in the mystery and in being Velma. At one point she turned to the adults and said: "I'm the smart one!", all the while tapping her temple. Little goof. She had a blast and still talks of being smart Velma.

Reading a clue

The birthday boy as Fred

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Random Jacob pictures

2010-08-11T20:48:00.001-06:00

He just keeps growing... He keeps getting attitude... And he is gosh darn cute. Jacob may be little, very little for his age, but sure as heck he ca get into things. He doesn't walk, he runs everywhere. Every day is an adventure with this little guy, he has a great sense of humor and is a real goof. We think we might just have our hands full with him. Add Sophia to the mix and we are in trouble. Big trouble.

Can ya tell....

2010-08-11T20:34:00.001-06:00

Sophia got a new hair cut and a new dress. Nothing like shiny new things to bring out the inner diva in our little four year old. My girl doesn't have a flair for the dramatic. Nope, not this girl.

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Asthma update

2010-08-11T20:30:00.002-06:00

Jacob and I ended up staying two nights in the hospital. Yahoo for us. The nurses were great and took good care of J. The only challenge was trying to convince a very active two year old that really he had to stay in the little tiny room while his sister was free to leave when she wanted. Sigh. Thankfully the ward has a child life worker who checks in with the families offering breaks to weary parents and bringing toys and books to kids in isolation. That made a difference, once Jacob had something to do. But he still figured out how to open the door and try to sneak down the hall. Of course, he had to give me a sly smile while doing it. Little stinker.

Anyway, the outcome of the stay was that we are now the proud owners of an aerochamber and a brand spanking new prescription for a maintenance inhaler and a rescue inhaler. Jake has to take two puffs twice a day to maintain a healthy airway. Thankfully he takes the puffs with the chamber quite well, way better than having a nebulizer. He hated that thing. During the time in the hospital, Jacob's oxygen levels never dropped down below 95% but he did get additional nebulizer time to help even out the rattles in his chest. The doctor (who was fabulous) also got us to give him three more days of baby prednisone once we got home.

Although the hospital stay wasn't a particular highlight of our month, I am very glad that we went. Who knows how bad the asthma would have gotten. Now he is happy, snot free and breathing easy. One other bonus was that I found out that he indeed could sleep through the night (including the requisite middle of the night vital checks). Now if he could only do that at home...

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Asthma

2010-07-16T16:43:00.001-06:00

I suppose it was inevitable. Jacob has asthma. As I write this, we are sitting in the hospital room, having a nice family day out. All is well and Jacob is fine, but before we leave the hospital tomorrow, we will have a set of puffers, and Jacob will probably take these puffers every day for the rest of his life. But given my asthma and our family history, were not that surprised.

It started a couple days ago, when Jacob started to show signs of a cold. Runny nose and not sleeping very well, but we wasn't that bad so we thought for a little while that it could have been a tooth working it's way out. But later his runny nose mucus started to show green, and he was looking like it was a real cold. Last nit, he started breathing heavy and coughing and wheezing, and so we decided to take him in.

This had happened before - a couple weeks ago, the same symptoms, runny nose then shortness of breath - and we took him to the clinic. The doctor there gave him antibiotics and sent him home. They seemed to do the trick, but we kind of thought that there was more to it than that.

This time, it was late and so the clinics were closed. Tricia took Jacob to emergency, and the doctor listened to his chest and gave him a chest xray. He was on a nebulizer with epinephrine and and they gave him liquid oral prednisone. This was all in the ER. He was then admitted and put into isolation on the pediatric unit (isolation because he has a cough and there are lots of little little babies here). He had a nebulizer with epinephrine again and had a reasonable night, given a three hour late bedtime.

All through this time he has been a happy active kid. Although his breathing was very labored and he had very rough breath sounds, his pulse-ox has never been below 97 and he hasn't shown signs of not getting enough oxygen - no blue lips or anything.

This morning, the doctor came in and listened to jacob's chest again and told us that with this kind of symptom at this time of year, its most likely asthma. Having a cold can exacerbate the symptoms too, which is probably what happened to trigger the attack. This afternoon, a nurse and doctor came in and gave us the spiel about asthma, how to use puffers with aerochambers, the difference between treatment and rescue inhalers, the usual. We are in isolation because of Jacob's cough, so he's pretty stir crazy, but overall things are ok. Doctor will be in to check later tonight, and he'll probably get another dose of drugs to keep him going.

We are looking forward to going home tomorrow.

Sibling love

2010-07-12T16:21:00.001-06:00

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Pretty cute, don't you think?

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Canada Day

2010-07-05T21:45:00.001-06:00

We decided that this year we would actually do something for Canada Day. A good friend of mine told me about the Garden Party hosted by the Lieutenant Governor at Government House. There was lemonade, cotton candy, popcorn, the RCMP, Suzanne (a dog who was a gift to the RCMP from the Queen), bubbles, parachute games, and a band. We managed to miss all the speeches, but given the blistering heat outside, I am not sure that it was a bad thing. The kids had a great time running around and just being with all those people.

Butterfly face

2010-07-05T21:35:00.001-06:00

At the end of June our errands found us at Old Navy. Somehow we timed our shopping with the grand reopening of the store --they had redecorated and rebranded, so they needed to celebrate. Well, among other things they were doing face painting. Sophia was all into that...

She's got the posing down to an art. Anyway, for the next week, Sophia kept asking to go back to Old Navy so she could get her face painted again. It took a bit of convincing that the face painting wasn't an everyday occurrence. She sure did look cute!

Tea for two

2010-07-05T21:28:00.001-06:00

Nana and Papa gave Sophia a cute little tea set for her birthday. She's spent a lot of time having tea and serving lattes (yes, lattes) to everyone and anyone. Not to be forgotten, Jacob has gotten in on the action and joined Sophia at her tea table.

She's 4!

2010-07-05T21:13:00.000-06:00

Well, Sophia celebrated her fourth birthday last week! It's hard to believe that four whole years have gone by so very, very fast. We had a wonderful time.

Sophia and a few of her friends (Owen, William, Claire and Dylan) joined her for a party at Amazing Adventures, which is a gymnastics place. The kids had an hour on the floor to do circuits, jump on the trampolines and play in the foam pit all with a coach. After expending all their
energy, we had cake and juice, and gift opening. Everyone had a great time. Sophia had chosen a "Under the Water" theme...so her cake was Ariel from the Little Mermaid, and all the goodie bags had a water/fish theme. She had a great time!

This is Jacob on the trampoline for the first time! I have a feeling that he's going to LOVE gymnastics in the fall.

This is always the most fun...the foam pit. Sophia is being thrown around, and if you look closely you can just make out Jacob's feet....he's hanging over the edge into the pit.

To make the time even more special, Nana and Papa were here from Maple Ridge (yup, they only moved three weeks ago!). We've been enjoying being with them.

Turning four also meant the not so fun experience of getting her immunizations. While there, she got weighed and measured...
WEIGHT: 42 pounds
HEIGHT: 42 inches.

Nice and easy to remember. Although I was dumbfounded when they told me she was 42 pounds! I was still thinking she was 30 pounds. Oops.

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