3 needles

Is it Elvis? Is it Shrek?

Nope, it's the bravest girl in the neighbourhood.

We went for Sophia's second round of immunization shots today. We decided to wait until after she was 2 because of all the disconcerting reports there are circulating about vaccinations these days. We settled on 2 years as the time to vaccinate be cause of how things changed in Japan after they stopped immunizing children before they were 2. We've prolonged nursing Sophia WAY longer than I ever thought I would nurse as an added booster to her system while we were waiting on vaccines. We chose to just do 3 vaccines, The Dip Tet combo, the MMR, and the Menningococcal C.

I was surprised it wasn't too bad this time. The first round of shots (last time) were HORRIBLE to watch for me. Wade needed to take Ella out of the room the first time and Soph and I were there by ourselves and I had to hold her down and she screamed and cried and made sounds like she was being tortured. I think she and I were both just so surprised at how big the needles were and how they had to jab way into her legs...ugh! Afterwards she recovered in her typically elastic way, but I was shaken for days - in fact I got nervous when we walked in there today.

Even though it is harder when your kid knows whats going on the first time (as opposed to just giving them when they are tiny babes), I actually found it helped a lot this time that Sophia knew what was coming. We talked about what would happen and we made a plan to also go to the library, and to have - Sophia's favourites - presents! (It's amazing the effect Curious George band-aids and a doctor's kit from the dollar store can have) Wade held her this time, and even though she cried and shied away she was total trooper, she even drew the doctor a picture of the doctor and her together. She is now playing in her crib, giving Baby Audrey shots with her plastic needle.

She also has told each and every person she has met today - "I Got 3 NEEDLES TODAY!" and it's amazing how much respect even the toughest grownup still has for needles. Everyone has responded with an appropriate amount of awe and commendation for her bravery.

As for nursing Sophia, I am pretty done. All the medical information that is being released now all (World Health Organization) recommends nursing your kids for minimum 2 years. The world average is 4.2 years...the average, so you know there are some 6 year olds nursing somewhere! Still I do not run into very many Mums in Canada who nurse until their kids are two.

I have grown a bit weary of being a nursing pioneer in a culture where nursing late ( or what is perceived as 'late') is not the norm. I do not regret my decision at all and will try and nurse Eleanor as long as I can. I have been happy to help expose people to the idea that the longer you nurse your kids the better, but I think I am nearing the end of my nursing grace with Sophia.

Sophia is so tall (above the 95th percentile - about the size of an average 4 year old at 2 1/2) and so verbal as well that it is a little disconcerting for many people (at least I think it is) that she still nurses. The main thing is that something just shifted inside of me about 2 weeks ago - so in a few days we are going to go shopping for a special big girl cup for drinking instead and say goodbye to nursing. I am a bit sad because I LOVED nursing her. Paraphrasing Anne Lamott twice in two posts, nursing is truly the purest form of communication I have ever known. Yet it's time - so I'd love your prayer for her (and me) as she transitions in the next week - and for no negative reactions to the vaccines too.

P.S. I'm giving the sermon at church this coming Sunday, so prayers for that would be cool too - and Happy Canada Day for Sunday too!

joie de vivre

Before I had Eleanor, I felt that God spoke to me that he was giving me a baby called "Joy". I knew it was about a season God wanted to bring, and a choice he wanted me to make, to actively choose joy. That is one of the reasons one of Eleanor's names is "Joie". (Also after her grandmother Joyce, the legend of Joy Dawson, and my cousin's amazing wine company.)

I guess it really shouldn't be such a surprise that she is a ridiculously smiley baby. She is so, so happy almost all the time. (And when she's not, she NOT and it's amazing too.) To paraphrase Anne Lamott, when she sees you first thing in the morning her face has an expression of joy that is so ebullient that it is almost as if she were saying: "Somebody told me you were DEAD!"

She seriously looks like this a vast majority of the hours in the day:

the hello party

Today when I was bathing Sophia, the water was so warm and I was washing her back. She said, "This is a really, really great bath."

We had a party tonight to say goodbye to our friends Jon and Beth who are moving to Ontario. When I explained to Sophia why we were having it she said she didn't want them to move. "But I love them", she said. Then she said she would like to have a 'Hello Party', not a 'Goodbye' one. So we had a Hello Party, where we pretended her bear and dolly and bunny had all just moved here. We had popcorn and they all wore paper hats or skirts we made out of lunch bags. It feels all too rare for me to stop and play instead of worrying about getting stuff done, and I'm glad I did, it was a lovely time.

Sophia already knows about distance from friends at her young age. When she was in the bath Sophia said she would really like to see Ari and Noah, our friend's little boys. I said, "They live far away, in a place called Winkler." She said, "I like Winkler. That is my favourite neighbourhood." Didn't know she knew that word either.

I say so many goodbyes in my life, it occurred to me today that heaven will just be a Hello Party. There will no more goodbyes. Hallelujah.

make way for ducklings

For some time now I have been thinking I would like to do a book recommendation section on this blog when we find great children's books to read with Sophia. I hope to eventually have a sidebar with our faves, but for now I just had to post about the book Sophia and I have been enjoying so much this past week.

I remember hearing about the book "Make Way For Ducklings", but don't remember reading it as a child. I grabbed it from the library for Sophia without looking inside and I was so delighted when we sat down to read it. It was published in 1941 and won the caldecott medal that year. It is the story of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard looking for a place to hatch their eggs and their adventures in the Boston Public Gardens. We have read it multiple times and Sophia has learned the word "beckoned" and can hold her hands up just like Micheal the policeman helping the ducks cross the street.

I loved seeing the beautiful old illustrations and remembered so affectionately the rainy day Wade, Ralph, Angela and I spent in Boston on our "Sweeter" Tour in 2003. I had a whole train of thought about the lovely old swan boats in the pictures, and mentally bemoaned the fact that they were probably no longer the same. I loved how they were side-less, terribly unsafe and not modern at all.

Then yesterday I looked at Jessi's blog and guess what was there! Yes! A photo of her and Mike in the Boston Public Gardens in front of a SWAN BOAT! and they are gloriously unchanged!!!! I was so happy- check it out:



Not only that, today we watched the new "Charlotte's Web" movie, and guess which book Fern is reading to her pig Wilbur in the barnyard? Yes, "Make Way For Ducklings." The last neat fact I discovered was when I did the image search for the book cover I found pictures of a statue in the Boston Public Gardens that is a tribute from the book. There is a corner of my mind that wants to think I saw it when we were there, but I'm just not sure. Anyway, now I've come to love the book I'd like to see it again. Ralph, Ange, did we see it? Jessi did you see it?

Anywhoo, Team Pallister recommends "Make Way For Ducklings" for all!

another conversation

Last night we were walking on the Drive, me pushing Eleanor in the buggy and Sophia walking along, straggling a little behind me. It was a sunny evening and Sophia was singing one of her made-up songs. I believe it was a variation on the "Twinkle Twinkle" tune again, but using only one word, perhaps "Butterfly".

Sophia: "Butterfly, butterfly, butterfly, butterfly"

A sunburned, grizzled, bleary-eyed (and obviously high) man sits leaning up against a storefront and watches Sophia sing her song. His comment is unexpected but affectionate:

Man: "You're a bum!"

S: "No I'm not!"

M: "You're a bum!"

S: "No I'm not!"

I am laughingly but carefully guiding Sophia by the hand past this engaging soul. Sophia doesn't really need my help though.

M: "You're a bum!"

S: "No I'm not!"

M: "You're a bum!"

S: "No I'm A KID!"

Soph pauses, bends slightly at the waist and points at her back side.

S: "THIS IS MY BUM!!! THIS IS MY BUM!!!"

Deciding this is not the time for the 'politeness to your elders' lesson, but rather the 'engage your local street folk with charm and humour' lesson, I say:

"You tell him Soph, you tell him."

drivefest!

Today was not only Father's Day, but also one of our favourite days of the year in our neighbourhood - Drivefest! It was originally started 3 years ago as (and is still primarily) a protest against the BC provincial government's plan to try and stick a huge freeway running right through our neighbourhood. (Boo! Hiss!) What better way to express a desire for less cars than to have a "car-free festival". They close the streets and the soul and heart of our amazing 'hood comes out to play!



We had soooo much fun! We all loved the crazy bikes....






And the DIY face painting station....



And meeting up with our friends The Stovells to eat yummy gourmet burgers...



The great thing is that they doing TWO days of drivefest this year, so if you want to come visit us on July 22nd it happens all over again! You know you miss the Drive, don't you?

happy father's day

Happy Father's Day, Wade. I love you.

Happy Father's Day, Dad. So much of who I am is because of you. I love you.

All photographs Copyright 2007 Sandra Vander Schaaf Photography. Not to be used without permission.

i'm so glad

I'm so glad that I don't have a reality show filming in my house. I was just trying to scoop leftover rice out of the serving bowl into a plastic storage container and it was spilling everywhere. I was too tired to try and control it so I just let it spill over the counter, and I thought, "If anyone was watching this, they would think I was so stupid. It's this kind of thing that got Jessica Simpson mocked so badly."

I'm so glad I have a little girl who has a cool imagination. We spent a half an hour today pretending I was a kid and she was my Grandma. Grandma is 4, drives a blue school bus, and when she was my age, she was going to grow up to be a cat. She sang me a lullaby called "Mary had a Little Monster". Here she is pretending to be in church:



I'm so glad beautiful art exists. Through my friend Mary's blog I was introduced to this thoughtful, talented woman today. I think Jessi, Em and Jamie will especially love her work.

sophia writes a post

Go to school Eleanor, go to lapins, go to Franklins and to Mankins and Plantins and Lamptins and Laplap and Humplums and funktings anf foh tons and tpnkons and pumpuns and pumpons.

Daddy writes some letters for Eleanor. And Eleanor goes to school when she's bigger, goes to school when (starts singing) when she gets bigger, big, big bigger, goes to school, goes to school, do to do to (and is now singing too quietly to determine words to the tune of "twinkle twinkle". i can make out the words 'teacher', 'little sister', 'make cards' and 'Matthew Payne')

P.S. this is the dress our dear friends Wayne and Karyn in N.Carolina sent Eleanor, with a sweater from our honorary Nana Carlene in Australia

cleaning up

My amazing Mum, Helen, and me at the Butchart Gardens on Mother's Day this year

My parents have a cleaning lady. They are not wealthy people, but decided at a certain point in the last few years that in light of my Mum's heavy schedule and health struggles it was an investment in sanity. My Dad is very happy to make that investment, but he likes to make digs every two weeks when they have to "Clean up for the cleaning lady." I must admit the first time I saw this ritual, I too joined him in his good-natured ribbing. You see, my Mum's house is cleaner than my house EVER is, even right before her cleaning lady comes. To be honest, I think the Lady should leave my Mum a tip.

Today though, I realized I was definitely her daughter. You see, I have friend who is coming to help me clean my house tomorrow. I reached a point last week where I realized the floor was not getting swept. Ever. The dust was not going away. I can keep up with dishes and laundry (barely) but that's about it and I need help. So I sent out an email to several friends and had 2 reply saying they would be willing to let me hire them as my cleaning babes. They have agreed to ridiculously reasonable rates (plus soap in trade)and the first is coming to clean tomorrow while we are at church. And I thought..."Boy, I sure need to tidy up." Because if I am paying her per hour, I want her to spend her time actually cleaning, not just moving all my stuff around. Which is...EXACTLY WHAT MY MUM SAYS when we tease her about cleaning up for her cleaning lady.

I also thought I should actually try and put a new bag in my vacuum. I haven't really used it much since we moved because I have all hardwood in this house, and it really has never been very good on bare floors. The last time I wanted it, I realized it had no bag in it, and I thought I didn't have any vacuum bags, so I tried to rig it with a paper bag and some duct tape. It didn't really work, so I left it, and then I found vacuum bags, and then it's taken me two months of walking past the vacuum bags and looking at them before finally breaking down today and putting one in. I dusted the thing out, and managed to get the duct tape and paper bag off and then realized: There. was. something. in. the. bag.

Apparently, before this paper bag began it's glorious vacuum bag career, it was a bag from a coffee shop, with perhaps a muffin in it. Because inside the bag were two mini packs of sugar and 4 (FOUR!) little containers of butter. At that moment I proved I am not my fastidious mother because a) not only would my mother never rig her vacuum with a paper bag, and b) if for some reason she did, she would actually have the sense to check the bag to see if it was empty, and c) in a decidly-un-Helen-y move, I opened the butter to see if I could still use it. Yeah. I couldn't.

I did however, vacuum the rug in the sun room after I had changed the bag. It was terrible, and looked so much better when I was done. Yes, I know the cleaner is coming tomorrow. I know.

some bunny is sleeping now

I just went into to Sophia's room to check on her. She fell asleep in the buggy on the way home and so I carried her upstairs first and put her on her bed. I still needed to retrieve Eleanor and all the bags too, so I left her there. Earlier today we were playing with her bunny ears and they were left on one of the pillows. She must have repositioned herself, because this is what she looks like now:

this week

It has been hot the last three days. In our bright little house (read: greenhouse made of glass) it is very hot. All the windows are open in the hopes of cooling the house, even though it's 9:00pm. And the most glorious thing just happened. There was a waft of rain. That smell that you only smell in Vancouver in the summertime. The smell of the heat rising out of the pavement as the rain hits. It makes me ache to be in Hawaii with my sister where it smells like this every time it rains. I think it is a real storm, how fabulous. Wade isn't here so I can leave the windows open a little longer than he would prefer.

How odd that I think about posting all week and it has taken a whole week to sit down to post - take photos one day, upload them another, type finally now. I just take a few minutes when I can. And this week my few minutes were also taken up with making a blog for Rachel's fiance (whoo hoo! fiance!) Tim. It's been really fun!

So here are some thoughts for the week:

Pancake


Last week I shared some of the Mum moments I was less than thrilled about. This week I had a moment when I felt like a super Mum. I was making pancakes and had a flash of something my brother and sisters and I used to do. We loved making teddy bear pancakes with chocolate chip features. Sophia was thrilled! I knew I had really scored when I went to take a photo of the pancake for this blog (thank you Audrey and Jamie for admitting you take photos of things and events just for your blogs too) and a little Soph hand snuck in for a lick just as the camera flashed. Perfect.

Raspberries



Soph is still biting Eleanor this week. (BTW, Wade calls Eleanor "Nori" - yes, like the Japanese word for seaweed. It suits.) Sigh. Today we took away TV and shows, but I think when you're 2 1/2, consequences don't connect yet. A really lovely thing is that Soph IS getting generally less rough with Ella as Eleanor responds to her more. This week Soph made Ella laugh so hard by doing raspberries at her (aka zirbts). Eleanor has a smile that looks like her face might not stretch back again afterwards. Awesome.

Ella stands


Eleanor is ridiculously strong for a 3 1/2 month old baby. She stands and stands for ages. She is absolutely HILARIOUS. When she smiles she SMILES so hard. If you are talking to someone and they are holding her and she starts smiling, you can't keep talking, you have to smile back. When she cries, she CRIES - when it's a mad cry it is like no baby I've ever heard, she is so strident and intense. She "talks" to you now, it is squeally cries and yelps - screams and shrills so loud at times it literally hurts your ears. It sounds like a pterodactyl or baby Chewbacca. And then to the other extreme she is very contented most of the time and will at times just randomly fall asleep places, which Soph never did as a babe. She has done so on the couch beside me as I have been typing this entry.



Makes me think she will be a firecracker, persistent, tenacious, ridiculous and electric and entertaining and infuriating and so, so funny and a perfect foil and compliment for Sophia. If I'm even half right I'll be thrilled.