Counting down the days...

Chance is getting very excited for Halloween. He decided to wear his Halloween shirt because Karin was wearing hers (which used to belong to him when he was a baby).

9 month roundup

Yep, it's corny but true: babies grow up fast. Taking these monthly update photos has been getting trickier and trickier. You'll note that the latest photo shows the chair covered in drool. This is because our Darling Girl refused to sit still, instead she preferred to climb the back of the rocking chair like a chimpanzee and leaving a slug's trail behind her. Slime bucket.

Other new developments: Karin can stand now. Not only can she pull herself up to standing position using furniture, legs, Chance, etc. but she can freely bring herself up to standing in the middle of the room. And she can pick things up while doing it. A favorite is the diaper wipes box.

Also, she has moved on to finger food. She still has some favorite mushy foods that I am allowed to spoon feed her (butternut squash, oatmeal, etc.) but she LOVES to eat bread, cheese, tomatoes, finely diced chicken and fish, hamburger, pasta, etc. Also we have begun the weaning process. Karin now enjoys a sippy cup of whole milk just like Chance does during meal times and morning snack time. We'll likely be getting rid of the afternoon nursing in the near future and then she will be ready to start daycare in December.

Super trip to Canmore

Great family photo, I'm so glad I remembered my camera!!

Chance enjoying the skateboard action with his little buddies.


Canmore Nordic Centre. Simply amazing sunny day, perfect!


Practicing his photography skills with his "new" camera. Chance inherited my first digital (2 megapixel) camera this year. I paid $600 for it back in 2002. I dropped it somewhere along the line and now it needs masking tape for the battery case to stay shut. But it is simple and small and produces high quality photos.

Chilly girl, runny nosed and rosy cheeked.

We escaped the city last weekend for a mountain getaway. We piled into the car first thing (OK, maybe not FIRST thing in the morning...more like 9ish) and drove out to Canmore. We realized that we forgot Chance's jacket at home when we passed Cochrane, about 1/2 way there. Luckily, we have friends who have three boys. They also have a condo out in Canmore and they were there that weekend and so we were able to borrow a jacket from them. Cam borrowed a jacket too. It was chilly.

We spent the rest of the morning walking around on the paths at the Canmore Nordic Centre and also got to see cross country skiiers using their newly laid snow circuit. Apparently it is the earliest they've ever had it out there. We saw biatheletes shooting, Chance enjoyed that. We stopped to have a snack....but I left it in the car. Chance had to settle for a box of orange juice. We had an amazing pasta lunch at a restaurant called Luna Blue, and Chance and Karin were so well behaved. Karin just sat in the high chair and ate bananas and oatmeal and Chance coloured with the provided pencil crayons until his pizza arrived.

After lunch did some shopping. Cam bought a hat and we got some larger winter boots for Chance. He said this was his favorite part of the day.

Then met up with our friends to watch the local boys practice their moves at the skate board park. There had to have been about 20 boys of various ages ranging from 4 to 20 doing daredevil stunts on bikes, skate boards and scooters. Most were wearing helmets. One kid, who was not wearing a helmet, but was wearing skin tight acid wash white jeans with the bum pulled down to mid-thigh could pull off some pretty amazing moves. Cam and I got the giggles because we couldn't imagine walking in those jeans let alone doing skateboard flips. We were there for nearly an hour and a half and the only words I heard out of Chance's mouth were "Cool!!" and "Whoa." and "How does he do that???".

Take that, Evil Bacteria!!

Chance's ear infection is almost cleared up & the doctor says no more meds!! Yay for no more antibiotics! It's been a month of 2x and 3x a day doses of syrupy, runny, thick, bitter, super-sweet and gritty meds for Chance and he has been a real prince about taking the stuff. So glad that his ears are better!

Another gorgeous day here in Calgary. Took Chance and Karin out for a run in the late afternoon and poor Chance fell asleep in the stroller. Karin snuggled in with him a few times but stayed awake the whole way.

Ear infection 2, Chance 0

The zippy antibiotics weren't zippy enough. On to Biaxin. Just hope c. difficile is not in order for poor Chance's gut. It is gritty and tastes like someone smashed up antacid tablets and put into a warm milk shake. Chance prefers the plunger (syringe) with this one instead of the medicine spoon. LOTS of yogurt going to be eaten last couple of days.

I asked to look in Chance's ear with the funnel thingy. Our doctor obliged. Chance's ear looked more like the picture on the right than the one on the left, yet he is no longer complaining of sore ears (although fights like a caged cat when I produce a Q-tip). Poor guy.

From Wikipedia: "Clarithromycin may cause false positives on urine drug screens for cocaine." So I don't need to send Chance to boot camp rehab if he fails a drug test. Haha.

Busy fall days

We have been doing quite a few projects lately in this house. We started building a pinata for Chance's birthday party. It is the first time I ever built a pinata and the last time I did paper mache I think I was eight years old. It turned out OK, but I have to figure out how to hang the thing without the string ripping a hole in the paper mache. Scarlet has been enjoying the ladder immensely.

"Remember to clean up when you're done!"

We got some gardening done also. A friend didn't want so many lilies in her yard, so I dug them up and hauled them home in the wagon. Karin ate no less than 2 leaves and a handful of dirt during this process.

"But Mom, it's organic!"

Chance and I had a crafty afternoon during Karin's nap after we scoured the neighbourhood for fall leaves. We made birthday invitations with his leafy creations.

Proud soon-to-be-four-year-old.

People say we look alike...

Making good use of those 6 teeth...

Karin loves to eat:

bread cubes

grated cheese

baby cookies

chunks of carrot

chunks of banana

diced tomato

chopped up grapes

"Mom, you've been holding out on me!!"

Only a mother could love this present!

This is the hideous gourd that Chance chose just for me while he and Cam were at the farmer's market. I was speechless.

Ear Infection 1, Chance 0

Well, last week's pesky ear infection was not phased by amoxicillin. Chance woke up last night complaining of a sore ear...actually, sore hands at first, and then he clarified it was his ear that was hurting. At 1:30 in the morning, after his hollering woke up Karin, I admit I was skeptical whether he was telling the truth or just making an excuse for waking up in the night (ie. having lost his blanket and panicking and then saying his ear hurt so that Mom didn't get mad about the screaming baby next door). No fever. I have been impatient with him for the last few days because he hasn't been listening to me when I'm talking. He does it with Cam too. The doctor at the walk in clinic said his ear was quite plugged and eardrums are quite red....reason for (some of his) selective hearing. We were given a prescription for something "zippier" than amoxicillin. I have dubbed him "Pluggy" and have been doing a lot of arm waving to get his attention.

We brought Karin too and had her ears checked for good measure. She has been waking up in the night basically since July when we were on vacation and last few nights has been up to 3 times in a night, wanting to be nursed. And lately she is putting up a royal fuss when done nursing and is placed back in her crib. When the doctor announced her ears were just fine, I looked at her and said "You, Miss, are cut off." The doctor laughed. Karin laughed. I didn't.