what a nice boy

I just had to share this lovely story about Noah.

Noah and a little girl in his nursery school class were having some trouble getting on their winter gear (um, more like refusing to put it on and running around instead). The little girl's Mom thought it would be a good idea to have them race to their lockers to get their stuff. I thought so too. Noah won the race, and the little girl had a bit of a meltdown (as would a lot of 4-year-olds who always win races at home). After I quieted Noah's celebratory yells and told him that his friend was sad because she hadn't won, Noah heard the girl's Mom explain that she couldn't always win. Noah piped in that he and his sister took turns being the first one in the bath tub. The kids had another race, and Noah very sweetly let the little girl win. I was so proud of him.

chore charts

Awhile back we started a chore chart for Noah, mostly as an incentive to get himself dressed for school. He had three chores to do each day, and he got to add a check mark and a happy face to his Larry Boy chore chart when he completed each one. It worked well for a little while, but after a couple of weeks we all lost interest.

Last night at supper, Noah decided he needed a check mark for taking his dishes to the kitchen. The chart had been lost, so he decided to make his own. After he finished that, he went on to create one for each member of the family. Here are our chores according to Noah:

Noah:
1. Get dressed.
2. Tidy the toys.
3. Take dishes to the kitchen

Me:
1. Feed Molly.
2. Clean the toilet.
3. Clean my room.
4. Play with Noah.

Marc:
1. Wash the dishes.
2. Help Noah tidy up the toys.
3. Play with Noah.

Molly:
1. Play with Noah.

and now some new photos

Here are some of the shots Marc has taken with my granddad's old camera. The colours are better on the actual photographs.

christmas shopping

So, I've done a little shopping. Not so much that I won't have to rush around like a mad woman mid-December. It's tradition.

I'm having a hard time shopping for Molly. There are so many things I see that Noah would really love, that suit his quirky personality, but everything I see for kids Molly's age seems generic and bland. Part of it is of course that Molly won't really care what's under the tree. She would be content with an old shoe if she hadn't played with it before. At the moment, I think the fondest wish of her heart is to allowed to chew the video cassette cases until they crumble away to nothing. Can you tell she's teething?

I'm feeling freed up to prepare and celebrate Christmas these days because we finally have daycare in place for both the kids. Noah will be going home with his friend Brayden after Nursery school, and Molly just got a spot in a lovely home daycare. The DCP does Yoga with the kids and felt board stories and music circle. I'm very excited about it. That's more than I ever do with my two! She will also cloth diaper, so that's a huge savings as well. Of course I'm still sad about going back to work, but I'm so relieved to have the kids in good hands. I've known Kate (Brayden's Mom) since Noah was tiny, and the new daycare lady is actually the mother of one of Marc's ex-girlfriends. As weird as it sounds, the fact that she is not a complete stranger makes things easier. (I may have to forgive the ex girlfriend for writing that letter suggesting Marc not marry me though. I suppose it's a grudge I can do without. It has been 10 years after all.)

late halloween story

It's one of those stories that prove your kids actually are listening when you try to teach them something.

The Sunday after Halloween, Marc's parents came over for supper. Grandpa was teasing Noah about eating all of his Halloween candy. Noah howled "no, grandpa! I don't want you to get sick." It was kind of nice that Noah was more concerned about Grandpa's health than he was about losing his candy.

and so it begins . . .

Before 10 o'clock this morning, Molly already had a cut by her eye and a fat lip from two separate falls. She is crazy adventurous. I love all this great new stuff she is doing, but boy, the daily heart attacks are taking their toll on me!

updates

So, I've been neglecting my blog lately. A crawling baby brings a new level of busy-ness to the life of a Mom. Our living room/dining room is pretty much baby-proofed, but there are always one or two problem areas that attract our little Molly-o, flies to honey, moths to the flame, etc. etc.

I don't have anything specific to blog about, but here are some updates:

Molly: the crawling, redheaded, almost walking dynamo. She is a delight and wants to be in on any action to be had, whether it is Noah playing trains or wrestling with Dad. She is no shrinking violet. When she sees something interesting, she lets out an excited yell and goes for it! She is balancing a little on her own. I am (stupidly) encouraging her to walk early so I don't miss at when I go back to work in January.


Noah: our wacky 4 year old space boy. Noah is enjoying nursery school most days, and is learning to read. He's not quite at the sounding out stage yet, but he will attempt it with much prompting. A quotation, "Mom, how do you spell Larry Boy and Junior save the day?" Couldn't we start with dog and cat? He has an amazing memory. When I can't remember part of a poem or nursery rhyme (this happens a lot!) he tells me which book we can find it in. And often, it is a book we haven't read in months. At supper last night he also remembered that he promised to try tofu. Unfortunately, Molly was not having tofu last night. Maybe he'll go for it tonight.

me: very sad about going back to work. Very excited about the upcoming Christmas season. thinking hard about new baby soon. no, no. First, implement stay at home money-making scheme, then think about baby Ben (he already has a name tee hee).

Marc: has taken up photography with my Granddad's old camera. He is taking some really amazing shots of the kids and other things.