We LOVE Summer

Supervising the sprinkler.

We have been enjoying these summer days. I am privileged to have the summer free so that I can spend more time with these lovely ladies.

Some highlights of the summer have been F's birthday, R and my museum visits, family trips out of town (Craig's Lake and Presqu'ile), dancing at the JazzFest at an outdoor show, and flying around the bike paths through our beautiful park De La Visitation on our bicycles!

Summer has brought a whole new set of discoveries to F. She loved running through the sprinkler in our friend K's backyard. She understands that it's an outdoor shower and that's how she talks about it.

We have done a lot of swimming so far. The local outdoor pool, Craig's Lake, and the city beach at Parc Jean-Drapeau have been our hang-outs.

Hot days call for sprinklers with minimal dress.

R and I spend one day a week together while F hangs with her buddies a daycare. We start those days at the clinic where I do physiotherapy to rehab my knee after surgery. R loves all the equipment there and tries a lot of it out. Sadly for R but happily for me, my recovery is coming along quickly, so my physiotherapist will probably dump me soon. We spend the rest of those days going to museums.

K and R.

On F's second birthday, we made sure to measure her height since we heard from a forgotten source that a person's adult height is double their height on their second birthday. If that is correct, then, F will be just shy of 6' when she's grown up!

We had a small birthday party with F's Godfather C, his wife K and their two boys in our backyard. 

Enjoy the pictures!

xoxo, S!

F and P. Photo by Uncle A.

R with Aunt J. Photo by Uncle A.

F explains her perspective to Gramps.

F and Gramps

R and T. Buddies. Trying to be zombies.

F meets her Birthday Baby! F has been little mommy ever since.

Birthday Bike!

F supervises the cutting of her cake. Photo by Little R.

Daycare Bday celebration for F!

Celebrating F's bday in the backyard. Photo by Little R.

Exciting Day! F's bday and school's out for R.
Here R has just finished showing us her art work from the year.

This is O working on R's hair at Coupe Bizzarre

Hair Dresser O is AMAZING!

Finishing the do!

F didn't go to Coupe Bizzarre for this cut. I'm pretty proud of my work with my fancy layering scissors.

F at daycare with educator J and friend S

F and S! Daycare Buddies.

F at the playground.

The rails we travel on through the underground.

It's Been Way Too Long!

I've missed blogging about Sweet Pea and Sugar Lump. There's so much to share, I may not be able to catch you up on all the great moments. But I would love to try.

They have both grown and matured by leaps and bounds. They make us laugh and make us wonder. We find these girls so fascinating.

This past year for the girls has gotten more complex socially. R has been through a lot with girls at school, sometimes friends, sometimes enemies (we call them frenemies). But, most of those relationships are now settling and solidifying into good friendships. Little F has learned "Mine!" at daycare and rules like "no pushing! Alessandro!". And, again for F and her toddler friends, many moments are full of compassion and caring. For example, there is a lot of concern over the youngest of their group and each seems to take turns in making sure she's not left behind when they're setting off for the gym or the playground.

These girls sure love each other and are pretty great together.

The videos include 1) R at her violin recital with P accompanying and 2) F playing her violin--still too big--and insisting that P play the piano for her.

With much joy,
enjoy!
S

1. R teaching F how to pose.

2. F tries on her own.

3. F needs R's help getting her foot up for that pose.

4. New composition, worked first try.

A Beautiful Day! Hang out in the church yard after service.

Cropped from the post-recital group photo

Fashion lesson 1. Beaded necklaces with ready head lamp are a must.

Looking good!

Good company and good food!

Laughing at a good joke.

School's Out! Summer's On!

We are really enjoying our Summer. Our days consist of morning walks to Parc de la Visitation to watch ducks and geese, home for lunch and F's nap, then a late-afternoon trip to the local outdoor pool. Life is good!
We wanted to share a few moments that marked the end of the school year for both girls. R played Minuet 2 by Bach at her violin recital and we have a short video of that with her dad accompanying her on the piano. F finished her volunteer teaching gig with Roots of Empathy (http://www.rootsofempathy.org/). The video was taken at her last class when they presented us with gifts they'd crafted for F and sang her "Happy Birthday" in anticipation of her first birthday.

F's birthday party was a little gathering to mark the day. Gran, Gramps and her babysitter had dinner with us to celebrate.

F with her babysitter C

C took this picture of F learning about life in the park

F deconstructs her  first birthday cake

F is fully entertained by R who's just outside the frame

Our sweet little ladies!

Walking and Talking...

Our Sleeping Athlete

I'll start with F's walking. There were definitely two phases to her learning to walk.
The first was her being physically able. She showed us on her 11th-month-day (almost a month ago now!) that she could walk alone. She took three steps by herself with the whole family crowded around--only she did not realize her ability and for two weeks after that she insisted on always having a hand to support her while she led the way. We were constantly trying to encourage her, knowing she could do it. I tried to tap into her subconscious by whispering to her as she was falling asleep, "F, you can walk! You can do it!". I was expectant that she'd realize her physical ability when she'd wake. But, in the end, it took a while longer before she consciously knew she could walk. On the day of her great realization, she walked back and forth between Mom and Dad with joy! Currently, her new skill gets lots of practice.We can see she gets a little frustrated with the falls onto her bum. But, already her walking has improved so much! And, she still cackles with joy as she crosses a room on her two feet!

F has mastered saying "Hi". This was really fun for us because there was no denying that this was her new word. She speaks a lot of fun baby babble everyday but she was using "Hi" every time someone walked into the room. So, we knew she understood. The story gets funnier with F saying "Hi" to strangers on the metro. She is so social when we go out. She has tried (with lots of success) to engage practically every stranger we sit beside on public transit into playing peek-a-boo or just smiling or laughing with her. But, our poor little anglophone! After mastering "Hi", she was ready to put it into practice with people on the metro. In our city, people expect to hear French first and her efforts weren't as well rewarded with big smiles as they are at home. F still usually relies on her smile to converse in public.


Enjoy the videos!

F likes to eat acrobatically, with one foot on the table!

Early Spring Belated

In April, I went back to work to teach the last 3.5 weeks of term. Now that I'm beyond the exams and numerous end-of-term meetings, I can spend some time on blog updates!
This Early Spring post is special because it documents several of F's first experiences like sitting on grass or in sand and just being outside without a jacket (which is now old news to her since it is now late Spring and the weather is like mid-Summer). Her reactions with anything new are always exciting to us and give us a good laugh.


The video shows F's reaction to sitting in grass.

Enjoy!

R's first run at our local park without snow

Twigs! A new plaything!

The joy of no snow!

R and F work together exploring sand

Here is F trying to pick up the shadows!

F loves the playground!

The Many Faces of F!

Flooding in our nearby Parc de la Visitation