Caitlin's made the connection between the remote controller and the TV

Caitlin LOVES remotes, phones, anything with buttons. She works so hard to get them only to have one of us take them away. And she lets us know that her majesty is displeased.

Last night, however, I was getting her ready for bed in the master bedroom, as usual, and let her play with the remote while I was getting her dressed. During her frenzy of crazed button pushing she managed to turn the TV on, which completely piqued her interest. Then she changed the channels and turned up the volume to deafening, at which point I shut the TV off, set the remote to a non-existant appliance, and let her have at it again. She wasn't nearly as amused though because every time she fiddled with the remote a bit she'd quickly arch around on her back to see if she'd had any success with the TV. Clever kiddo!

More JK pics!

Today is Ben's first full day on his own. He was a little hesitant this morning, but his teacher came over and then he was more comfortable going in to join the other kids on the playground.

There were tears today (mine), but I saved them until we had dropped Ben off and were walking away. I might have been fine if Grandpa hadn't started first. :)

I managed to snap a few pictures this morning. It's hard to get pics of Ben posing or facing the camera because, a) he doesn't really like having his picture taken, and b) he had enough to deal with without me pestering him for photos too.

Ben's first day of junior kindergarten (JK)

Ben started JK today. My big boy. It was a half day (afternoon) and parents were welcome to stay, so we did. Fortunately Nic's on holidays so he was able to come too.

Here are some photos from today.












Ben's first full day will be this Friday. He had a good day today and was really cute at the end of class when their teacher played a couple of songs. He was dancing up a storm!

School snack/lunch practice

With Ben starting junior kindergarten next week (who can believe it? where did the time go??) I've started packing his morning snack and lunch in his school lunch bag and putting it into his backpack so he can practice at home. It's allowed him to become familiar with getting his food from his bag, opening the containers, and packing things back up. It's going well. And it seems to be building his confidence too. One less hurdle for him to jump when he starts school.

And the bonus - he is genuinely excited to see what's packed and eats it instead of complaining that he wanted something else!

Another Caitlin update!

I think we'll see the two upper lateral incisors soon which will bring her tooth count to eight. Teething isn't very hard on her at all, so let's hope it stays this way.

She's still rolling around everywhere desperately trying to crawl and she gets so mad when she's trying to go somewhere but her body doesn't cooperate.

Ben has to keep an eye on his toys because she beelines for his Hot Wheels. He's pretty good at giving her something else to play with when he catches her with a toy of his that either isn't safe for her or that he doesn't want to share.

Caitlin has a wonderful appetite. She'll eat pretty much anything. And she's not fussy about textured foods either, so often I'll make a small batch of alphabet pasta or rice and mix it with pureed meat and veg and she gobbles it up. She also likes to self feed and is so funny when you dump some puffed wheat on her tray. She snatches it right up. She also likes blueberries, banana, and gnawing on big chunks of soft pear.

Caitlin continues to sleep well. We never hear from her through the night. Once in a while I'll find she's awake when I peek in on her before I go to bed myself. And she's so sweet. I'll be greeted by two little eyes and a big smile in the dark. I can't help myself picking her up and giving her a big snuggle during which she'll gently play with my hair and stroke my face. I love that time with her.

Everyone who meets her just adores her. She truely is a sweet little girl.

So sweet

Yesterday Ben fell asleep on the couch in the afternoon. This is only the second time he's fallen asleep in the afternoon since he's stopped napping. He was startled awake at some point and was quite upset because he'd wanted to keep napping. I cuddled him on my lap in my arms and he went back to sleep. I can't remember the last time Ben slept in my arms. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Grandpa and Nanny are back for another visit!

And the kids are wearing them out! Ben monopolizes most of Grandpa's time and they're really enjoying playing together. Caitlin is busy rolling around and getting into everything. She's such an inquisitive girl! She really enjoys stories with Nanny and Nanny's animal imitations. Always big smiles and laughs.

Grandpa and Nanny will be here for about another 1.5 weeks. We'll be really sad to see them go.