Happy 4th Birthday, Ella (Party time!)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Superheros!

Picture Update

My pictures aren't uploading. Curse you, blogger. Will try again later.

Past Due for an Update

Okay, we are the worst bloggers in the world. It's been way too long. I'm back at work and the girls are well. Adele jumped into school/daycare enthusiastically. She has never cried at drop off. In fact, she's more likely to cry when I pick her up. Yet again, she is the antithesis of her big sister. To be fair, Ella is quite happy at school too. She's in kindergarten at Montessori and having a blast. She was teary for most of September but now is bummed when I come to get her as her fun is over for the day. Adele started walking the other week. She still only takes a few steps at a time. She has really weak ankles (like Ella did) so it may be a little longer until she's on the move all of the time. She has a great vocabulary like Ella does/did. She repeats everything and we seem to understand each other well. She has started putting 2 words together. She LOVES to eat and rarely rejects any food. She's stands up for what she likes and wants and is giving Ella a run for her money. Life is wonderful when she has her bootsie (blankie) at her side. Ella is doing well. We FINALLY received a diagnosis for her. She has Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. She likely has had this since 4 months of age so. Everything makes sense for the first time. It's like a migraine (with light sensitivity and dizziness) only she isn't in any pain and she vomits. Nothing we can do but treat it with Tylenol (like you would a regular migraine) and avoid troublesome foods (dairy, chocolate). She has started seeing a chiropractor now too. The specialist was so wonderful. For almost 4 years we've been on this mysterious health roller coaster. What a relief to have a concerns treated seriously. She can hopefully outgrow these episodes and we can hopefully extend them far enough apart so that it's not too disruptive. She may end up having regular head migraines as a teen/adult, however. In spite of it all, she never complains and is super resilient. She is a master puker and we rarely have any accidents because she understands the feelings now. Her naturopath has helped tremendously and we're not allowing the episodes to terrify us anymore. She broke her nose this summer and barely cried. The nose, thankfully, seems to have mended nicely. Darren's dad passed away in September. For all of you who know the dramatic and awful background, you can only imagine how well everything went down. Needless to say, we're glad it's over and the poison can stop hurting us. To say that the summer and the past few months have been stressful would be an understatement. We're so excited for Christmas. I'm hoping that I can avoid a full-on strike at work. Hope you are all well. I'll post some pictures now!

Petting Zoo and Pants on My Head

We went to a petting zoo with some friends last Friday. Lots of animals to see and feed. Here are some other pictures of the girls, namely Adele being her smiley self and the girls enjoying a giggle while wearing pants on their heads (they found it hilarious!). Adele is quite the silly girl now desperately longs to be a big girl like Ella. She loves saying "wow" and "Ella".

Happy Mother's Day

We had a nice day yesterday. We went to Oma and Papa's house for lunch. The weather was beautiful and the girls had a wonderful time with their cousins. Adele has started to crawl (albeit like an inch worm) and is now able to sit up by herself from lying down. She loves to eat regular food (quinoa, spelt puffs, broccoli, peas, toast with jam, etc). We're so thankful for some nice weather. Ella loves to play in her sandbox. Adele wants to do everything that Ella does and is constantly trying to play (and take toys from) her older sister. They play nicely together and it's so sweet to see them interact. What more could a mother ask for? Below has the first picture with all six grandkids together. Also included is another picture of baby Leah (my niece and soon-to-be goddaughter).

FLORIDA

Here are some pics (highlights) from our trip! We had a blast! Ella was sick on the way down and both girls visited the clinic while we were there, but the trip was a success overall! We had so much fun with Oma and Papa and made wonderful memories. Bonita Springs was beautiful and so was Sanibel Island. Thanks go to "Papa Wayne" (Auntie Lisa's daddy) for allowing us to stay at his house. Our days were spent laughing, lounging, swimming, and shopping.

Becoming Big Girls

The girls are continuing to grow into "little people" - it's all happening way too fast. We have a picture of Ella's "keep out of my room" sign that she made for us. She has also seemed to love the potty this week and went to school wearing underwear today. Fingers crossed, the once very reluctant girl will be potty trained soon (like all good moms, I got tired of waiting and coaxing her, so she was forced to try one day and we haven't looked back). Ella is like Mommy, she needs a push here and there once in a while. Adele is a mover and continues to be our "zen baby". Unfortunately, both girls were sick for most of February. Ella has had some weird sick patterns lately involving dark circles under the eyes, pale complexion, dizziness, light sensitivity and vomiting. We will be requesting a referral for a GI at Sick Kids. We suspect stomach migraines. She is healthy otherwise and rebounds quickly but the weird mystery that can be Ella's health is back (we thought the diet answered all of problems). Quite scary and sad. Poor Adele has had a cold for weeks and an eye infection that won't go away.
Ella has a new haircut as you can see that involves bangs. She is no longer a baby. She's started using a regular cup too. Adele enjoys solids. She wants to crawl but hasn't figured it out yet. She refuses to sit for too long as she'd rather be rolling around.
Adele loves Ella most of all is seems as she finds her big sister hilarious and wants to be close to her at all times. Ella continues to dote on her little sister and is so caring with her. So sweet to watch the sisters in action.

New Year, New Experiences

Can you believe that Adele will be 6 months old this weekend? We started solids last week and she likes them. She took to the food and spoon as if it were the most natural thing. We started with sweet potatoes and now on with pears. She now has two teeth and is trying to sit and pull her legs underneath her while on her tummy. She wants to crawl but hasn't figured out how to get to where she needs to go, other than scooting her tummy around.

Ella loves to play outside. Who needs toys when our backyard has two of her favourite things: rocks and branches (sticks).

Christmas Morn

The girls received some lovely gifts this year. Ella really enjoyed the whole experience and Adele seemed quite content to participate too. They enjoyed their matching dolls. Ella likes all of these presents but seems most amused to play with our drink coasters most of the time instead. She uses her imagination to concoct different ideas with them. Who knew that we could have saved so much money this holiday if he had just bought coasters!!! :)

Christmas Eve

As per tradition, Oma and Papa spent Christmas Eve with us. It was a nice evening with some great food and even greater company!