Halloween Lady bug

What a difference a year makes.

Most notably I had to bribe Ceilidh to wear her Lady Bug halloween costume. Last year she was supper happy to just sit and grab the pumpkins near by, this year it took a cookie to keep her in her outfit long enough to take some pictures. But of course she made a cute bug. Hear are a few pictures. Notice the cookie in all of them.

Cookie Please, big words for 18 months

Trying on shoes at Winners, this is the same coat that her BFF has.

I looked at when the last posting was and it has definitely been awhile. Ceilidh has been up to all sorts of things in that time. Her latest was this morning when she asked for not only a cookie she finally said please. Progress. She is really picking up words left right and centre. She is more then willing to try to repeat what you say, but the true progress comes when she can remember and relate the words to objects. Please is a hard one because it is not something concrete. It's not like you can point to a "please" we are still working on Thank-you/merci/gracias. I think the merci will be easier TH and G's tend to be hard for toddlers.

Apple picking with Babba

So here is the low down on what we have been up to. The biggest change is we moved houses. We used to live outside of Ottawa and now we live in Ottawa, the burbs of course. This meant that Miss C had to leave her beloved child minder and start afresh. But we found someone just as wonderful and Miss C found her self a BFF. Miss B (said BFF) is close to Ceilidh's age, they are a few months apart and they are similar height and build and similar personalities. They will often babble to each other and then break out laughing. They have also been mistaken for sisters even twins because of their blue eyes and fair hair. And I just found out that they have a similar coat after I almost mistakenly took Miss B's coat home thinking it was Ceilidh's luckily in the end I noticed the mittens which Ceilidh doesn't have attached to her coat. In addition to Miss B Ceilidh also discovered my Serta sleep sheep and has adopted it as her other best friend. It is called Babba of course. She generally leaves it at home but on long car trips or trips to the doctor Babba is allowed to come along for the ride.

Picking Tomatoes

Eating tomatoes

Ceilidh is now just over 18 months. She still loves anything meat based but we still have to fight with her for veggies. I miss the garden from the old house. She would love picking and eating tomatoes straight from the vine. And she still loves cucumbers, especially if it is with Taziki. Her favourite activities include going to the park, where she loves the slide and making sand pies. She still loves to play in the puddles so the rain that comes with the fall doesn't dampen her spirits as long as she gets to go outside and jump in some puddles. She also enjoys playing with playdough and will say the word and point to where we usually keep it. She always seems to remember where things are kept. To my relief she is finally understanding the concept of cleaning up after we play. She still remains shy around adults she doesn't know but very sociable with kids.
She is keen to always try to do things herself, like put on her shoes, get on her tricycle, feed her self and often gets upset when you try to help her with these things. She will often push our hands away from the tricycle when we are trying to navigate her, she can't peddle but she loves to sit in it and be pushed as long as you don't place your hands on the handle bar.

We start them young with Timmies

At her park playing with the sand

Halloween is coming so of course this means more cute pictures. Looking back at last year's pumpkin pictures they will be hard to beat. 

Making Pies with Mom and Dad

Enjoying the Summer

Beach fun with water

Friends at the beach

It has been a hot summer thus far but Ceilidh is taking it all in stride. Her favourite activities revolve around getting wet and playing in the sand, usually combined together. She loves the beach for that and I love it too as it keeps her entertained. While at the beach she usually runs to the edge of the water picks up some water in her bucket runs back to the beach part, sits down and then proceeds to dump the water on herself. Over and over again she repeats this task. And when at home she loves taking water from her pool dumping it into her sandbox and then playing in the wet sand. 




She finally is using her pool after her love affair with the recycling box. She still  loves the recycling box and as soon as I fill it up with water she is quick to sit in it but at least now she will do that with the pool as well. More room in the pool but tell that to a one year old.

She is currently fascinated with her tummy.

She is practicing washing her belly.

 Too bad it hasn't rained enough this summer as her other favourite activity is to jump in puddles. She has these yellow rubber boots that she always tries to put on but we haven't let her wear outside as they were too big but finally she got the chance yesterday. Not only has she finally grown a bit more to fit into these boots more comfortably it also rained yesterday afternoon. Well it was more like torrential down pour but the result was some beautiful puddles to play in. I put my rubber boots on as well to join in the fun.

We can't get over how much more she comprehends each passing week. And while she doesn't say too many words just babbles none stop she knows what we mean. Her new word is ball, which she is always on the hunt for.  If you ask her where her ball is she goes searching for it. And she is always trying to play catch with the cat. Trouble (the cat) is not as impressed with Ceilidh and her new word ball. But she does always put up with Ceilidh and her petting. Ceilidh is getting much better as petting her she practices with her pound puppy stuff animal.
Here is how she kept busy the last two months.

Eating ice cream

Sharing Ice cream.

Father's day Ceilidh and her dad

Showing of her running skills and rubber boots

Puddle fun.

Reunited

The three weeks of not having Matt around are now over. And thankfully it came at a good time as Ceilidh was feeling under the weather on Sunday. It started with not eating her breakfast and it was one of her favourites French toast and continued with two morning naps (one in my arms, the other one cuddled with Matt) and then she even went down for an afternoon nap. You can always tell when babies are not feeling well when all they want to do is cuddle and sleep. By the last nap she was much better and hopefully it was just a short lived off day.

Needless to say it has been great having my partner in crime back. Things are always much easier with two pairs of hands. And while Ceilidh was wondering who this man was picking her up from her crib on Saturday morning by later that morning they were best buds again.

Chores continued around the house. Of course gardening.

Ceilidh helping take out the trash

She is trying to help dress her self by putting on her boots, in sunny weather of course.

Window washing. Using her new chair as leverage.

I thought she would have fun with water and toys

These pictures are of our last week together. By this point I was too tired to take many pictures. But it was not all just work she did manage to get some play time in. I especially liked  her water fun. I was too tired to clean out and blow up her pool from last year so I filled up the recycling  bin with water and toys so she could have a water table.  At one point she just got in and sat down in the water, in her clothes with her diaper on. 

She thought she would have better fun getting right in there.

Of course Daddy bought her a present when he returned. And she spent the next two days getting in and out of her car.
Reunited at last!

Ceilidh's new wheels.

Reunited!

Week 2 without Daddy

Finish putting the annuals in Daddy.

Ceilidh is ever so helpful around the house. With her Dad not around she tries to do her best to lend a hand. Especially if that hand is in dirt or sand or wood chips. And even though she has gardening tools of her own she often prefers to garden without tools.

I even weeded the front flower bed and Trouble didn't help.

Play date at Case's.

More importantly played in Case's sand box.

 We got together with our old maternity buddies and had a play date. 10 kids 9 moms it was good times. Plus someone else's toys are always better then the ones at home. 

I also played in the wood chip pile. Not as fun as sand but still good.

Then went to Montreal to go play in the sand there.

She really can't get enough of the sand.
Even when we were in Montreal all she wanted to do was go to each nearby park and play in the sand. And when visiting Cedric since there was no sandbox she settled for the pool. Sand, dirt, water and one year old's best friends. 

Visiting with Cedric and Em who were down from SK

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Letters to Dad

Dear Daddy I have had to learn to dress my self after Mommy got sick.

Ceilidh has had to deal with me alone for a whole week. After I got the flu, pink eye and the toilet sprung a leak it was a rough start. Thankfully she has been a trooper and did not come down with any of the ailments that her mother suffered. We survived week one with out Matt and only two more weeks to go. We both miss him but thankfully do get to talk to him on occasion via Skype.
This is Ceilidh's week in pictures, her perspective.

The toilet leaked so I started getting the sand bags ready.

Daddy I took care of the lawn for you.

I did take a break after cutting the lawn.

But then I was back at work tending to the flower beds

I even took care of the flower pots out front

Don't worry Daddy even though I was busy I took Mommy out for breakfast on Mommy's Day.

Ceilidh's dad is away on business

For the next three weeks it is just Ceilidh and me. Today is day 4 of 20 days of us two. I will try to post a picture every day Matt is gone but I will try to post them every few days. It is a way for Matt to be with us. Here are the first few pictures, no picture on day two as I came down with a fever. Murphy's law Matt is away and I get sick.

Day 1 Look Daddy I am eating all my breakfast, yes I use a spoon to eat my hash-browns.

Still Day 1. Yummy salmon who knew Boston pizza had healthy choices

Are rocks good to eat?

Big belly button

The other day my friend's daughter asked me why Ceilidh has a big belly button. This little girl is herself four years old and was watching while I changed Ceilidh. It was the first time and probably not the last time that a little person asked about Ceilidh's scar. I am glad that this little girl thought it was at least a belly button albeit a large one. I explained to her that Ceilidh was sick when she was a baby and had to have surgery to fix her belly. I always wonder how Ceilidh herself will handle these questions as she gets older.
According to her surgeon most scars are up and down, while hers is like a purse string. This gives it more of an appearance like a belly button but only if you don't know any better and don't stare. Speaking of her surgeon we had our year after follow up appointment. It went really well. He thinks that she is growing well and is optimistic that her muscles will eventually cover her organs. Right now her tummy still puckers out but the hope is that it will all settle down. We will go back again next year.  I will try to take a picture of her belly and post it later.

A year has come and gone

The few times we have her hair down

She is trying to show you her teeth and her Easter dress

Here we are Easter 2012, and Ceilidh is now a year and a week. We have come a long way from last year when Easter was later in April and we were bringing her home after 23 days in the hospital. Well she is now walking and started at 11 months 3 weeks, which is exactly the time her dad walked (I had just finished reading his baby book so the date stuck in my mind). First day I noticed was at library group she walked from me to another mom. She does a lot of first at library group, how I will miss all those fun times. After that day Matt and I played the game where we tried to get Ceilidh to walk from me to him and from him to me. But we need not have bothered. Her true motivation is other kids. My last strollercize get together we had a potluck and there were more kids then usual. And there were a few older ones, by that I mean 3, and she was doing her best to keep up with them which meant walking. Everyday she gets more and more comfortable in her walking. I guess we are officially in trouble.

She had her own birthday cake and I also made one for everyone else

We bought her a lawn mower that blows bubbles,  fun times

On other fronts her teeth count is now at 4. The two top and the two bottom are all in. Just waiting for two others that I can see in the gums to drop. We finally confirmed that she knows I am Mamma and Matt is Dadda. After her first two hours at day care last week, when I went to go pick her up she saw me and was saying Mamma. Glad that is confirmed. With Matt it was the fact that she would point at his picture and say Dadda. We think she is figuring out the sign for milk, and all done but not a hundred percent sure yet.
Her birthday celebration was really low key. We had a birthday supper the night before with her favourite meal, which included cheese, noodles with meat sauce, and banana bread birthday cake. For her actual birthday we took her to the Experimental farm where she met all the farm animals, including a little lamb born that day. Hard to believe Ceilidh was once that small too. Her Nanna visited that weekend and spoiled her silly. This Easter her Grandpa and came down for a visit and they had a blast together. She had no chocolate but had some home made doughnuts, which I think are a millions times better then any chocolate eggs.

At the experimental farm with her bee hat at the bee exhibit

Home after some play time outside

I will try to keep updating this blog, but I think it may now be every month or two.