they grow up so fast

After a well-behaved hearty lunch of pasta, soup and yogurt, Lily and I recited the Lord's Prayer together. Impressed with her overall effort, I hugged her and said, "Wow, what a good girl!"

Responds she, "But I'm not a good girl."

"Why not?"

"Cuz the Lord's Prayer said lead us not into temptation."

Um. Okay. First of all, stop growing up so quickly! Also, I should probably quit while I'm ahead; as a parent I can't possibly make things any better. * Drops mic and walks off stage *

Seriously though, what two-year-old should be bothered with such heady thoughts? Go colour on some walls or something. It did lead to a good discussion, only a few years ahead of my anticipated schedule.

But just to remind me of her age, she still says kid stuff, like "My breffixt is too soggy!" and "Broccoli starts wif bra!" And her first poopy pants incident yesterday left me unamused. Guess I'll keep at it a bit, then.

Oh, and last week at the grocery store. She's singing "Jesus loves me" as I peruse the aisles. The she gets to the chorus and gets stuck in a loop: "Yes Jesus loves me, YES JESUS LOVES ME, YES JESUS LOVES ME..." And it just keeps going, louder and louder. Last thing I want to do I discourage her; abandoning her and hiding behind the mid-aisle toilet paper tower is looking mighty inviting. (I promise I didn't.)

Another month, another lame post

What's new with y'all?

A few weeks ago, we went with some friends to Mont Tremblant for some ski hill goodness. Kids were left behind and good times were had. We hadn't been since 2009, and we were hoping for a better experience than the slushy conditions we had then. We weren't disappointed... as long as you bundled up. Temps were mostly between -20 and -10, not including wind chill. Not warm by any standard I'm familiar with, but I for one was pretty comfily dressed.

 

  

  

We left Lily with friends of ours. I authorized the nice lady to administer Lily's very first haircut! She no longer has the craziest static hair on earth. It's down to a little bit crazy... with bangs.

Two weeks ago I sent the girls off to BC for a holiday (for them or me?). This was in retribution for Carrie gallivanting off to Switzerland and leaving me with Lily for a week. It was a nice time for all.

What else? Oh right.

Siblings

We're not expecting twins... anymore. We were, but that's been downgraded to singlets. Well, singlet. Sad for sure, but a relief, in a way. Anyway, he or she is due in October, so we best get on the adult train and buy a house and a nicer car. It's about time we incurred a few hundred thou in debt, right?

Happenings

An eighth of a century ago, a wonderful young lady got married to some dude. Around the same time, I married a wonderful young lady. Happy 12.5! (That's totally a thing, okay?)

Carrie left us a couple of weeks ago... for Switzerland. She had a training course in Bern, so I got to be Dad for a whole week. It made me better appreciate when Carrie's here and I can hand Lily over for the evening. Carrie came back with plenty of chocolate, so she was quickly forgiven.

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It's been a fairly cold winter, with quite a bit of snow sneaking up on us lately. I splurged and bought a $5 sled for Lily, but we've used it very rarely, since it's not too fun to head outside when it's -20 and windy outside.

We went skating on the canal once and, as usual, we picked a pretty cold day to do so. (There weren't any warm days to choose from, so there's that.) I pushed Lily in the stroller, and that worked very well, after she was appropriately bundled up.

I even went snowboarding this past weekend, something I rarely get around to. I think I went once last year, and maybe not at all the year before. We'll be going next weekend to Mont Tremblant ski resort with some friends. Kid-free! So if you want to entertain a two-year-old for two days/nights, get in line and let us know. (Sorry, but you have to live near Ottawa.)

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We went to an 80s-themed birthday party a couple weeks ago. It was probably the first dress-up party I've ever attended (or dressed up for anyway), since I used to be too cool for such frivolities. We dug out the Walkman and shopped for neon, uncool denim and fancy hairdos (hairdon'ts?). Even Lily showed up with a velvet tracksuit, sneakers and a side ponytail. Our hosts threw a totally rad party!

Stoked for the party.

We gave my wig a haircut; literally mangled it.

Way cool hosts.

The gals.

The guys.

Their youngest son fascinates Lily, but she's not entirely sure about him. (I think the boy wants to marry Carrie but he sees me as an obstacle/threat.) My first boys-related heart-to-heart with my daughter:

Lily: And I saw Nayfan.
Papa: Do you like Nathan?
Lily: Not really.
Papa: Why not?
Lily: Well, he talks to me.

Well. I'm going to have to talk with that lad. And methinks she's gonna grow up to be a wonderfully choosy young lady.

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We'd bought a KitchenAid mixer from Costco five years ago, and recently it decided to act up. I opened it up and found a stripped gear (and lots of shavings). Some Youtubing and Googling later, found the right part to order. New gear $7, shipping $9. Costco members might think returning it is easier, but since we're not members (we just use our member friends) it's not convenient; besides, repairs can feel so rewarding!

Speaking of repairs... the other day, our car that won't die sounded and felt like it was about to die. It was running very rough, and pretty much stalled if I slowed to a halt. Got my handy little code reader out, which rewarded me with a "cylinder misfire" error. I needed an oil change anyway so I called the garage to see if they could take my car the next day. Fortunately for me, nobody answered. The next day I grabbed some tools and limped the jalopy to the parts store for some DIY fun. I bought some spark plugs at $4 apiece and replaced a couple in the parking lot while Lily ransacked the store. The friendly guys at Napa even lent me a magnet off the shelf when my spark plug played hard-to-get. And wouldn't you know it, that fixed the problem! Yay for cheap maintenance.

The car did decide to rear-end another vehicle last week. I was driving along, minding my own business, when the person in front of me decided to brake hard. My non-ABS wheels locked up too soon and... THUD! I waited for the driver to pull over, but that didn't happen. Followed a ways, still nothing, so whatever. Turns out my license plate was just as tough as his hitch, so no damage. Still, who doesn't stop when run into, unless you have something to hide? Weird.

I've been teaching Lily how to drive, which may have been a misstep on my part. Come within half a mile of a red light and she'll yell "DAD YOU HAVE TO STAWWWWWWP!" Sigh. In our next vehicle, she'll be at least twice as far away from my ear, so that should mitigate the hearing damage--if it's not too late.

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While shopping for 80s junk, we happened to acquire a princess dress for Lily. She likes nothing better than to be a princess, whether with just a blanket over the shoulders or with a bonafide tattered second-hand dress!

Merry Christmas Eve

It's been a while since I blogged. It's also been a while since we spent Christmas at home. Seven years, to be exact; that was just after moving to Ottawa.

Not much has changed since then, and yet everything has.

We still rent the same condo at the same rate; we drive the same lousy car; I probably wear the same shirts and socks; I'm just as dangerously close to going bald.

On the other hand, having our dear little daughter has changed our world. She causes me to leave the house several times more per year. I cook more meals in a week than I had in total before Ottawa. And I have someone to go geocaching with!

Lily is maybe 23 pounds at 28 months. We have friends whose 6-month-old is 20 lbs already. Maybe Lily should eat what he's eating. It's not that she doesn't eat, but perhaps her metabolism was inherited from her dad. At any rate, while she hardly snacks, she's rarely discouraged from asking. Like the other day: "Dad, I need a little candy in my little mouf." Um, okay. So I first gave her what she didn't know she needed (a lesson in politeness), and then she got a candy.

She may not eat a ton, but she's certainly not fussy. Most of what she doesn't get down is because it's too stringy or hard to chew. She eats anything we eat. Like peanut butter or chocolate sandwiches at lunch with me. Or pomegranate seeds with her mom at dinner. A two-year-old should not know the term "pomegranate seeds".

Like all kids, she has a pretty good overhearing ability, but there is the occasional short-circuit. We had the ubiquitous Christmas ham for dinner this week, and she asked "Is this Abraham?" No, my dear sweet child, it's just regular ham. Very cute though.

She's a very energetic and happy little girl. She loves ballet, books, mermaids, praying and going to the store. I've learned that the latter will make life interesting once in a while. Like when we were doing groceries last week and she hollered "DAD, IS THAT A LADY?" This while pointing at the Asian dude within earshot who very much needed a haircut but I hadn't wanted to be the one to point it out to him. Dust bunnies flew as I hustled our cart to safer quarters two aisles over.

While we rarely use it, she's taken to the Lord's Prayer lately. She picked it up very quickly, and soon she could do most of it herself, proclaiming afterward, "I did the God's prayer!"

We're not actively toilet-training her, but it's been quite a few months since I changed a stinky diaper. She prefers the real toilet (obviously with a kiddy seat on top, or her skinny butt would disappear and end up in the ocean). But she doesn't mind the little kid potty either, even though "dere's nuffin' to flush, dere's no handle!"

Our happy kid does display a bit of attitude once in a while, but not even close to the "terrible twos" one hears about. She did say "Dad, kiss my bum" but then I realized it's because she'd fallen and needed a parent's magical ability to heal all things with a smooch.

And now for the photo dump you've been waiting for.

Out driving one day and she puked a little, so a scarf made a nice temporary shirt.

Helping with laundry. Safety first!

Classy lady

Gingerbread house. I mean, pile of candy!

This playground sure is dead this time of year. Still fun though.

In the doghouse. With 101 dalmatians.

Last night we let Lily open one present, y'know, to hone her skills for the main event. She wasn't very good at ripping though wrapping paper; she probably didn't get enough practice on her 2nd birthday.

And tonight she got the rest of the presents, tearing through the wrapping paper with surprising confidence and ease. Another life skill learned. This playhouse is by far her favourite gift; may it provide years of enjoyment! (Or at least days.)

Merry Christmas!