January

"YOU'LL NEVER TAME ME!! Or at least not my hair."

Another month, another post. That's how it goes when life is thoroughly unexciting (yet enjoyable).

A few weeks ago we paid for our first babysitter(s) ever! Not that we're hesitant or anything; we just don't tend to go places at night to which we can't drag her along. At least it's not hard to find a willing sitter for our tyke, what with those bottomless brown eyes. But it's sure great that we've never had to fork out for one until now.

We went with some friends for an evening out, sharing the sitter they had acquired. Great deal for us, maybe not for the sitters; Lily rarely winds down before 9pm, and she stayed up extra late that night. That's right, we get our money's worth!



The event that warranted a babysitter? The National Figure Skating Championships, featuring Canada's best and brightest figure skaters (pairs and mens' singles) flitting across the ice for our amusement. But can I remember any of their names? Of course not. Except Jackie Chan; being in a league of his own, he of course stole the show (and the top spot in the mens'). Oh wait, maybe that was Patrick Chan. Whatever. All that matters is that the wives got their figure-skatey night out and will one day have to accompany the men to something cool like a bull fight.


Here's Jackie Chan cutting up the ice. Or Patrick. Whatever.

What else? Lily turns 18 months next week. She stepped on the scale last week... and nothing happened. You see, she likes to make her way onto it, but the digital scale doesn't turn on when you're only 20 lbs. That's right, it actually registers a full 20.0 lbs... fully clothed, that is. Perhaps it's nearly time to hunt for a forward-facing car seat.


"Look Dad, no gut!"


BLAUGGHH... "Haha just kidding... couldn't hold it in any longer!"

She eats well though, and drinks close to a litre of milk a day. She'll eat whatever we're eating for supper, but to make things simple we tend to plunk down peas or corn or kidney beans in front of her so she can feed herself without making a huge mess. This kid is amazing with veggies, be it the aforementioned or broccoli or spinach. We truly are impressed (and blessed) that she loves her veggies so much. And we've never really had to fight about food (and yes, it's still our way or the highway). We, um, take full responsibility for her easy-going nature. (If only.)

I got her a passport in January. Since we're fortunate to have passport offices close to home, most of the work involved getting her photo taken and handing in the application in person. For my efforts, I got the passport in the mail a mere five days later! Talk about quick.

I enjoyed another eyeball infection/ulcer for a couple of weeks. Felt like a rusty nail was being poked and rubbed against my eye. Unsurprisingly, it's difficult to sleep or work or be (comfortably) awake while it runs its course. But it's nicely healed up now, so life is happily unexciting again. Ooh, except I went snowboarding on Saturday... first time in almost two years! And, bonus, didn't even break a hip.


Lily stands out at church in a sea of grey.

But back to Lily! What am I doing, talking about anything else?? She's getting wiser by the day, often surprising us with her know-how. For example, we discovered she knows the concept of jumping ("DUP"), except she can't actually leave the ground yet, despite pushing off with much enthusiasm.

The other day I jotted down a list of some words she actually says (or tries to say), and I came up with more than 120! Well, partial words mostly. Trailing consonants (or syllables) are considered largely unnecessary, but fortunately we understand her well enough. Some words:

  ACAGO (avocado)
  PAH (pants)
  LOO (shoe)
  LYAW-LYUH (water, obviously)
  FOE (phone)
  FOE (throat... not to be confused with phone)
  BAH (bath)
  I TEE TOO (i love you (huh?))
  BEH-BUH (belly button)
  BUPPA (button)
  NO (nose... or snow)

Strangely, the harder ones are often pronounced better:

  AHMPIT (armpit)
  EH-BO (elbow)
  EYE BOW (eyebrow)

(Yes, I choose what to teach her, and these are vitally important. Like algebra-in-the-grocery-store important.)

So she has a ways to go. At least she can communicate.

As she learns what various body parts are called, she also decides their best use:

• toes: for pointing at and saying "toe" every single time she notices them (or whatever's covering them)
• feet: for undressing constantly... probably so she can admire her toes
• nose: for pointing out everybody's during supper, and insisting on touching them with a grimy finger
• mouth: for kissing Dad after he lets her lick a sugary stir spoon when making coffee
• cheek: mom's anyway--for touching and saying "BRRR!!" when mom walks home from work in -20 weather
• hair: for smearing food into during supper; and ridding of any hair elastics or clips (no hair cut yet; we'll probably give in soon).

Pensive.


Nope, not pensive. Just daydreaming (she does that a lot).


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!