Sunday, 31 March 2013

Easter 2013

I've recently discovered that the blog site has gone back to its original format for loading pics so enjoy...
So, we are about to celebrate our second Easter together. We started off the weekend with the annuual GM Easter Egg Hunt on Friday. There were tons of kids and chocolate eggs and the weather was glorious. It's always held at a park and the little guys go inside the fenced-in area to find eggs. That area is also where the playground equipment is located so, needless to say, we did a lot less looking and a lot more playing. This was fine by me - the less chocolate/junk the better! But we had a great time and Keely was there so it was double the fun.


 


EASTER MORNING started here at 7:00 with lots of excitement - baskets and presents and eggs to hunt for. We had a delicious breakfast of omelettes, bacon and french toast, got cleaned up (he had to have a bath to try out his new foam letters that stick to the wall in the tub, his new bubblebath and his new red, strawberry, roll-on soap) and headed off to church where our boy went up on the stage with the other little ones to sing Jesus Loves Me. Then it was home for a lunch on the front deck while blowing and popping bubbles, and then a nap before it's time to head out to my grandmother's for a big family meal. So far, a great day with so much to be thankful for.

 






 




Monday, 11 March 2013

March Break

Well, March break has come and gone. Brady turned 17 on March 5th. I can't believe I am the mother of a 17 year-old. We are very proud of him. He is an amazing son and an equally amazing big brother.
We went on a little trip during the break to Saint John for a couple of nights. We went with two other couples, one of which are the parents of Keely (Keekee). The two little ones had a great time together. While the dads and the big boys went snowboarding/skiing at Poley, Kim and I stayed behind with the littles and took them to the play place at Parkway Mall. They spent two and a half hours working very hard there. Then we "drove" them around the mall for a bit in the little cars you can rent. They LOVED it. We figured the $2 it cost to do that was really cheap entertainment. We had lunch and then spent the afternoon swimming in the pool. When the big guys got back we all had pizza together. Then the big boys headed off to a movie while the littles went to bed.
We had an early breakfast since someone was up at 5:30 the next day. When things opened we spent some time shopping and then you-know-who was down for a really long nap. We all had an early supper at Montanas and then took in a Sea Dogs game. It was great. Sherman carried him into Harbour Station and he just took in everything and everybody. His head was on a swivel, looking all around, ponting to the rafters in the ceiling even. He likes "kockey" and he sat quite still for a little boy who normally doesn't sit quite still. He had treats and cheered when the crowd cheered. He was pretty tired that night, though, and managed to sleep in til 7:00 the next day.
We came home Saturday after a bit more shopping. The boat was choppy and I had to lay down but it didn't seem to bother him any. He and Keely spent a good amount of time putting princess stickers (they were using them as band-aids) on make-believe booboos they found on each other, the stuffed puppy, Kim, Sherman and me.
All in all it was a nice little trip with good friends and lots of laughs and memories. We hadn't tried him in a hotel since October when he was so traumatized by it. We had just decided we wouldn't until we thought he could better handle it. He had a really fun time this time but he always had to be carried inside our room by one of us, and then once we were in we could put him down again.  He absolutely LOVED the eh-ur (elevator) and pushing either the 2 or G each time. We rode it just for the heck of it he loved it so much. He knew our room was 225 and would run straight for it every time we got back on our floor. He got some new clothes and an Elmo book that has buttons to push and some new crayons for the bathtub (he also really loves these).
He's saying a lot more words now, some more clearly than others. He's putting two words together more and more. His gross-motor is improving a lot, his fine motor seems bang-on now for his age. He's learned many letters and some numbers but is still not at all getting colors. His cognitive skills seem very age-appropriate.
He's a bright, funny, very affectionate and loving little boy.