the crazy week before we left for Christmas

A crazy week full of getting organised to drive to Edmonton. Yikes.  We didn't do all that much this week, so there isn't much to report.  Sarah fell off her little perch today and onto her farm. Apparently it hurt. She was trying to get up onto the plastic tote with her megabloks in it without bothering to take the stuffed animals off...I wonder if the lesson was learned or whether it will take a few more falls?

Sarah figured out that she can put plastic cups on her hands - I call her Edward scissorcups... 

   

Sarah and her Daddy and Manni the bear who is really a favourite right now. Thanks Johnnie and Mary for such a lovely gift!

Sarah and her big morning hair. She's oohing and ahhing about the airplanes flying above our house. She's mad about them. 

Mommy's birthday week

Sarah's new thing is she likes to climb up on little perches, like the box with her mega blocks in it, and play. She hasn't fallen off yet - I'm sure it's only a matter of time. She also likes to crawl into little places and hang out. I have a feeling that the tent we got her for Christmas is going to be a big hit.

     

She discovered this week that pot lids make great music and she's been having a great time wandering around the kitchen while I'm making supper banging away on them.  Fine with me - whatever it takes to keep her from latching on to my legs which makes it impossible to cook.

I had a great birthday. It was a beautifully sunny and relatively warm day (-9). We unwrapped some presents before we got out of bed (Sarah was a big help with the tissue paper), and then we went down to the market at the Forks for a bit of a brunch. Sarah had a great time wandering around looking at everything in all the shop windows. In the afternoon I went for a run while Dale made my cake and Sarah had a nap.  We had Pad Thai for dinner and I was supposed to go and get a DVD...but I was too tired from the run so we just watched some TV and went to bed.  A quiet birthday, but fun.

  

On Sunday it was another nice day, so we took Sarah tobogganing at the lake near our house. She's definitely a thrill seeker (with a Dad who parachutes and a mom who loves to bungy jump I guess it's not too surprising) - she loves being spun around in the toboggan.  Dale took her down the little hill to the lake and out onto the ice.  There was a hockey ring set up nearby, so we thought we were ok...and then Dale put his foot through the ice and that was the end of that.

   

December

It was still cold this week. Now I know what -40 c with windchill feels like. Yuck. Needless to say, Sarah and I spent the week indoors. 

Sarah's been doing a lot of riding around on her puppy car in the kitchen and loving it.  She can make it go backwards by herself, but she's still struggling to get it to go forward - it takes a lot of concentration, as you can see from the picture. 

Sarah and I did some self portraits with the Santa Claus hat as well. 

 

She's also working on her Canadian Idol songs - hairbrushes make great microphones, don't they?

 

I worked at Chippawa on Saturday, so Dale got to be #1 for the day. Sarah refused her milk at afternoon snack, and dinner. Apparently she only wanted milk from me. They both came to visit me after dinner and she went home a happy kid. That's the first time I haven't been there for the night time routine. She was confused, but she did just fine.

Today (Sunday), we went to the Conservatory at Assiniboine Park. It's such a great tropical place to get out of the cold. Sarah did some very loud oohs and aahs at the Christmas tree lights, and the tropical plants. She loves to touch everything and she's getting much better at being gentle when asked. So far she hasn't tried to take a whole leaf home. :o)

Fort Whyte

It  has continued to be quite cold this week. Cold enough that I had to stop running because I can't take Sarah outside for 45 minutes in the stroller. So, needless to say it was a long week. Sarah's working hard on 4 molars (one's starting to pop through) so there was a lot of whining and crying going on, which makes the days longer. Dale didn't end up doing his check ride on Monday because the aircraft broke, so he's supposed to do it this Wednesday. Hopefully it will happen.

This week Sarah started to use the sign for 'more' a lot - mostly whenever you dangle her upside down. It's hilarious.

 

Dale bundled Sarah up on Saturday when I went to get my haircut and they went for a short walk around the block.  He got his first taste of trying to dress her in her snow suit. It's not a lot of fun for anyone.  Dale and Sarah had a bit of a lesson in finances this weekend as well. She thought the pink pig was something that sat on a shelf in her room...oh no - it's so much more. It's a piggy bank!

 

We went to Fort Whyte this Sunday to have our picture taken with Father Christmas outside by the winter bird feeding station. We saw a horse drawn cart and the sod house was open as well - and very warm inside because they had the wood stove going. It was a beautiful sunny day - and cold, definitely cold. :o) Sarah isn't very happy with her neck sock, especially when it's pulled up over her nose.  It's funny how her perspective changes. Last week she hated the snow suit and this week, she realises that the snowsuit keeps her nice and warm and she hates the neck sock.  She was very happy to have the mitts on because she got some snow down her glove on Saturday and she sure shrieked at that.