Remember this?

I posted this pic a little while ago....  Here it is after some scrapbooking magic!

Just a little note for the memory vault....

Ryan knows right from left now and a couple of days ago I was explaining to her that she uses her right hand like Daddy and that I use my left hand.  Ever since then she has been reversing them.  She was doing this a lot during story time tonight and finally I said, "Ryan you know your right from your left! why do you keep doing that?'.  Almost in tears she said, 'No this is my left!' (it was quite obviously her right)...  Finally it occured to me - she was trying to be like me!  I said, 'Do you want this to be your left so you can be like Mama?'  To which she replied, 'umm hmmm'.  I let the issue drop (for now).

I hope that I am always worthy of this degree of modeling!  



Let me get this straight. I knock at the door, say 'trick or treat' and they give me candy? Whaaaatt?

This is Ryan's 4th Halloween but the first trick-or-treating.  Last year she refused to put on a costume so we didn't go.  At 4:30 Ryan told me that she didn't want to go trick-or-treating.  I was crushed.  I wanted to go trick or treating!  Anyway, we had some supper, got dressed up and she decided to humor me and start pounding the pave.  Of course, she didn't really do a lot of walking, Daddy pulled her in the wagon. 

We went to 5 or 6 houses and she thought it was the bomb.  Just knock and get candy?  I can do that!  When her little pumpkin was full we headed home.  She was nice enough to share her loot.  I think I have a tummy ache!  The favourite candy of the day are Rockets.  She'd pop a couple into her mouth and say, 'Look Mama, they're juicy!' (eyes half closed savouring the treat).

Nana and Big Nanny got her the Curious George costume last year and she would not let it touch her.  This year, she's been wearing it since September. Thanks Nana and Big Nanny!

Getting ready to hit the road....

She's got it down pat now!  She likes one of us to knock on the door though...

Happy Halloween!  Happy birthday big brother!!

Who's toes are those?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not really a girly-girl.

I don't curl my hair, wear make-up or jewelry and I definitely don't wear nail polish.  I didn't really think that Ryan was a girly-girl either, with the exception of her pink obsession.  However, society has been doing its job (much to my dismay - not that I think that there is anything wrong with being a girly-girl, I just don't want her to fall into a gender role trap out of some sense of obligation) and she is already acutely aware that the things that girls and boys do are different. 

For the last couple of weeks she has been asking for poshish (polish) and has been talking about it to anyone who'll listen.  I get updates when I pick her up from daycare.  "Mama's going to get me some pink poshish for my toes!'  So, finally we made it to the store. 

                                                

She also got some head bands - blue like Caillou's Mom and is pretty tickled with her transformation.  Who and I to rain on her parade!  Well actually I did rain on it a little this morning when she wanted ME to put on some poshish.  To that the answer was an unwavering NO!

Good cop, bad cop.

The line has been drawn in the sand.  It has become clear to Ryan that Jason and I have distinct roles within our family unit.  He is the good cop.  I am the bad cop.  I'm not sure how I feel about that....

***

Scene 1:  Last Wednesday night (August 11th, 2010). 8:30pm, right before before bed. Sitting in the family room.

Ryan:   Mama, I wan't orange juice (which is actually apple juice in juice box form)
Mama: Sorry Ryan, no more orange juice tonight. You can have some tomorrow night.
             Lip is quivering, BAM!  Full fledged crying.  Like a flash little miss Ryan is up the stairs
Ryan:   Daddy!!! (Sob, sob, sob) I asked Mama for orange juice and she said the 'no'!
Daddy:  Did it upset you when Mama said no?
Ryan:   Yes - I was upset! I want Mama say the 'yes'. Hmpf.
            
No more juice boxes were had that night.....

***

Scene 2:  The following Thursday night. I'm walking around the yard, Jason is getting ready to head out.

Ryan:   Daddy, I want to play in the turkle pool.
Daddy: You’ll have to ask Mama Ryan, Daddy has to leave.
Ryan:   (Sounding increasingly agitated) I don’t want to ask Mama.
Daddy: How come?
Ryan:   Because I don’t want to be upset! I want Mama to say the ‘yes’ but Mama says the ‘no’!
Daddy: (Trying to fight back a laugh) Let’s go together and ask Mama, we’ll see what she says.
Daddy: OK, tell Mama what you wanted to ask her.
Ryan:   No , I want you to do it!

We played in the turkle pool.  It was fun.  See, Mama can be fun too!

I'm on a roll!

Here's another lay out of our PEI vacation.  It really was so fun to see Ryan exploring the beach and the water.  I can't wait to go back!

Free as a Bird

Here's a lay out of our trip to PEI.  Ryan LOVED the beach and the water and the sand.  Can you tell?

Party time!

Ryan had her 3rd birthday party yesterday and fun was had by all (I think).  Little Miss was well behaved as were all the other girls in attendance.  I was really happy with this because I decided that t-shirt painting would be a great idea and then realized that when Ryan paints, she likes to put 5lbs of paint on one sheet of paper!  Hee hee!  They all did really well though and I was happy with the activity.

At one point during her party, Ryan was just taking it all in.  She looked at me and said, 'Mama - I have a lot of friends!'. 

Ryan loved that there were decorations for her party.  Her aunt Tracy came to take her to the park so we could get ready - when they got back she was looking for the rest!

I got the idea for these banners from a blog I frequent - thought they were so pretty I just had to try them myself!

The t-shirt painting area.  I covered my fabric seat covers with towels!

Hard at work! Ryan and her little friends did an amazing job!  I hope they all enjoy showing off their haute couture :o)

Drying off on the line.

The finished product.  The 2nd image is the back of the shirt.  I had them all pre-stamped with their initials so they would know whose was whose.

These 3 girls have been to all of each others parties since birth - of course they're only 3.  But still that's 9 parties!

It was a great day with great friends!  Thanks for coming everyone :o)

Art Show à la Ryan

Friday afternoon was the Completion Ceremony and Art Show at Ryan's daycare.  They did a wonderful job and the wall and fences were covered in the kids artwork. There were refreshments and beautiful artwork and a little completion ceremony to recognize their progress throughout the year.  6 of Ryan's masterpieces were on display.  She is quite the budding artist.  I have to say it is great fun to spend time at the daycare to see how all the little munchkins interact with each other.

Ryan recieves her certificate and gives Carla five.

The masterpieces.  I've been in touch with the Louvre. They're just rearranging their wall space.

How the stars of the World Cup began....

Thursday night was Ryan's very first Soccer practise. We decided to enroll her despite the overwhelming evidence that not much soccer playing would go on. The night progressed as follows;

NO - I don't want to change out of my filthy pajama shirt.

NO - I don't want to put on anything resembling soocer attire, including sneakers.

NO - I don't want to go, I want to play on the road.

Then we got to the field which is conveniently located next to the community park and I heard the following;

NO - I don't want to play soccer, I want to go to the park.

NO - I don't want to use the soccer balls provided, I want the one that little girl is using.

NO, NO, NO, NO!

We spent about 10 minutes at soccer and 45 minutes at the park.  I'll aim for 15 soccer minutes next week.  I think she shows promise :o)

I am also hopping that the word 'yes' is in my future.

First babsitter - check!

So I had a baby shower to go to today and it has been in the works for a while.  It just so happened that Jason had to go out of town and the usual suspects that I would call on were all MIA as well.  So I asked a little girl down the street if she thought she was up to it and she was happy to oblige.  Knowing her mom and her aunt were certainly a big indicator as to how great a girl she'd be.  Since it was her first time babysitting and Ryan's first time being babysat and they had never met before I asked her to come over last night just so Ryan could meet her and she could get through that shy phase. 
Ryan was a little shy but was also really enamoured with her pink big girl bike.  She liked her enough that she wanted her to have pudding to.  If that's not camaraderie I don't know what is!  In the wise and often repeated words of Dora the Explorer, 'Its a match!' 

And our little babysitter, she is such a mature little girl.  I went though some stuff with her and I asked her if she had any questions for me.  Right away she asked if Ryan had any allergies.  I knew then that she would be able to exercise good judgement and little Ryan would be safe in her hands.  I left this afternoon with them both sitting at the kitchen table painting.  Ryan didn't even give me a second glance!   I have to admit though, I was the first one to leave the shower (baby steps)....

I had been contemplating getting my first real teenage babysitter for awhile but the situation never called for one before.  I was a little worried because Ryan had been whining incessantly for her Daddy.  I really wanted this to be a positive experience for both of the girls.  I am so happy that I took the plunge finally.  Most people probably do it a lot sooner but, oh well, better late than never.

Out of the mouth of babes...

We hadn't been home from our girls week-end in Bathurst for more than 1 hour when Ryan decided to lose her lunch. I must add that this is the 1st time that Ryan has suffered from this and up until that point in the day I had been worried that the only thing that she'd eaten that day were 2 chocolate timbits.... She continued with a mad bout of vomiting and diarrhea until the wee hours of the morning. Fever and sleep were at her all the next day and the following day we kept her home for good measure.

Today I took her to daycare confident that she was well enough to face the daily bump and grind. The fact that the only thing she would wear were her pajamas and that it took at least an extra half hour to get out the door should have been a sign of things to come...

When we got there the director informed me that one of her bff's, Nicholas, was 'a right old crank' while Ryan was gone. Shortly before 3 I got a call from the daycare asking me to pick her up because she lost her lunch again and was very upset that she'd gotten some on her jammies. When I arrived at daycare her little friend Jacob, who is not yet 3 himself, was leaning over the fence yelling at me, 'You no take my friend Ryan!'

Kids - what a hoot! I guess I don't need to worry about her making friends right now...

She is her own person.

I can't say that enough. I remember as a child that my mom was all about ribbons and bows.... and I was not. I grew up into a very straight edged (wardrobe) kinda girl; perhaps a rebellion from all of the frilly frou frou that was my lot as a child. But sometimes, since Ryan has graced us with her presence, I feel a little bit of my mom creeping in and I see a little of myself in Ryan.

We decided to have a girls week-end, Ryan and I, and went to Bathurst to visit my mom (Nana) and my Nanny (big Nanny). Motivated by my friend Pam, I brought home all the supplies to make a pretty little pillowcase dress for Ryan. I thought the timing was perfect because I could call on the sewing expertise of the generations. Well we finished the little masterpiece late at night and I presented it to Ryan the next morning. She promptly told me to hang it in the closet. I had a feeling this would be the result but I still wanted to try. I have to say I admire her tenacity. The whole week-end that dress was not going to touch her.

However, since the weather was so beautiful we decided to spend some time at the beach. This was more her scene. The flatfish were biting off the point and there was no lack of fisherman looking for their share. Ryan was among them.

So I guess I am learning from Ryan everyday that it is OK to have dreams and desires for your child. But she has a mind of her own and a voice to let her desires be known! Who am I to quash that?

She does the sweetest things.

So little Ryan started reading. More like she has a very good memory and with the help of the pictures she can give a pretty good accounting of the story that needs to be told. However, she like to read with us while we're reading our own stories. As soon as she notices that we're watching she turns away or walks to a corner to continue. The little girl who could walk around the mall in the buff and not be the least bit shy seems to consider reading to be a very private affair. Last night she was reading Dora and Daddy was reading Diego. I have always loved to read and hoped that she would share that love as well. I'm so happy that she does!

Hello Donna?

We went to St. Stephen in March to see my nephew Nathan compete in the provincial hockey tournament for his age group. Unfortunatley they didn't win (its all for fun though isn't it guys?) but Ryan did seal her relationship with her Auntie Donna. We don't get to see the Thibodeau-White's as often as we would like so Ryan really hadn't had the opportunity to bond with Donna. However, she was stuck to her like white on rice this day and would not leave her side. It was pretty cute and it gave my back a little break (Donna got to do a lot of carrying - thanks Donna!)... When we got home Jason overheard Ryan talking on her phone. She said, 'Hello Donna? It was nice to meet you today. I'm making dishes and playing with my friend Daddy!'
Don't kids say the darndest things?