Tyger Update

Took Ty to the Dr today for his 2-year check-up. He is now 30 lbs, which apparently is a bit above average. This made me laugh since he eats practically nothing, but whatever he does eat, seems to stick, so it's all good. He's about average for height too.

His speech is not progressing as well as we had hoped, so I've got him on the wait list for a speech assessment and hearing test as well. Kripes! Will my stress never end? By this age, he should have about 100-500 words, and be using 2 word combinations (Ty up! Mommy juice!). He does have a lot of single words, but only uses a few in combination (Oh no! and Thank you.). So, being the overly-cautious mother that I am, I'm getting things checked out early.

Other than that, he's a happy, healthy 2 year old, so I am content with that. Now, if I can just stop him from being such a bloody troublemaker, then it would be grand!

Have a happy, sunshine-y day wherever you are today.

PS. Our friends Patrick and Christy had their baby yesterday morning (about 8 weeks early) by emergency c-section. Clara Grace is now chilling out in the Neo-Natal ICU. Congrats on your early addition to the family!

The Big 0-2!

Oh Ty-ger! You are 2 years old today! In one short year you have gone from my little baby to a little boy.

Your smile lights up my day, and your frequent spontaneous hugs make my heart melt.

I love how you call me "Money" instead of Mommy (especially since a friend suggested that you are just combining Mommy and Honey).

I love how you will stop what you are doing to come over and lay your head on my chest and give a contented little sigh.

You are also trouble X 10! You are like a battery that never runs out of juice. Your ceaseless energy is to be admired. I wish I had even 1/10th of it!

You are fearless and a bit reckless. I have seen you vault off of furniture and stairs like you have super-powers, and you land with a laugh. You now climb and slide and run all over the creative playground at your brother's school, when last year you couldn't lift your legs high enough to climb the steps.

You keep growing, but I am not sure how, since you seem to exist on Cheerios and love. Occasionally you throw me a bone by eating something like honey-garlic sausages with gusto, only to pass them by the next time they cross your plate. Picky, whatever it is, it's working.

This year you were diagnosed with not only an egg allergy, but a peanut one as well. I am sure that your determination in all things will serve you well throughout the years in dealing with these allergies.

Your new obsession is with trains, and you spend 90% of your day with your Thomas and Friends toys. You love your brothers and extended family fiercely and without thought.

You are not as wordy as your eldest brother, but you are coming along. Some of your daily voabulary consists of: Money (Mommy), Daddy, Keggie (Keegan), Brother (Phoenix), Guh-pa (Grandpa), Oma, Opa, up, down, go, sit, back, front, head, knees, toes, belly, bee-bo (belly button) Bear, Tutter, Ojo, Teelow (Treelo),Ty, moon, sty (star) cowd (cloud), Tommy, Julie, Bla-Bla (Ela), Dando (Fernando), Pah (Paul), Patrick, Kisstie (Christy), Darra, Heidi...(all of the important name words, obviously), this is__________, stinky, oh no!, no, NO!, bunny, Shabadee (name of his bunny) and more every day. My favourite is in the mornings, when you say, "Money! Herr-row!" (Mommy! Hello!)

Hello, to you to sweetheart. I wish you the happiest of birthdays. You are a daily joy and I love you forever.

Much love and kisses as you start your third year.

XOXOXOXOXO

Money

Proud Mom Moment...

Just dropping by with a proud mom moment:

Phoenix was recently tested for his reading level, and he has gone up 3 levels in one month! Now he is at the provincial standard, and still has a month and a half to go. Teachers are optimistic that he will be ahead of the game by the end of the school year. I am so proud! Also, he got perfect scores on his last 6 spelling tests. Go Phoenix!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! To my Mom, to me, to my mother-in-law and to all of the wonderful moms out there! You're doing a great job! The most important one on earth.

The Big 0-5!

Keegan! You are 5 years old today! The changes you have been through this year have been amazing.

Your speech has improved a thousand fold, and through much hard work, you have accomplished so many things.

You can now dress yourself, brush your own teeth and put the toothpaste on the brush. You can button buttons, and zip zippers. You can put on your own shoes. You can correctly identify numbers up to 15, and all upper case letters and most lower case ones. You have tackled the once insurmountable task of learning prepositions and using them properly. You use he and she properly in a sentence. You can sequence events, and re-tell a story. These are all things that seemed impossible a year ago, and now you are an expert.

Last year, you wouldn't look anyone in the eye, or let another child in your personal space. Now you are the most popular kid in your class, with 4 best friends and a girlfriend to boot!

You are loving, outgoing and affectionate, and extremely loyal to all you call friends. You love to dance, and sing all day long. You are my sweet, sweet dolly and I can't say enough to describe how proud I am of the person you are and the big boy you are becoming. I love you from the bottom of my heart.

Happy Birthday Keegan! Lots of love and happiness as you enter your 6th year.

XO

Mommy

Oh, My Lord! So It Begins...

A note I received from Keegan's teacher this morning:

"Keegan is in love! He spent the morning with Alyssa. They played together, had snack together and were kissing. We did put a stop to the heavy kissing though. They were adorable together."

WTF?

2 days away from being 5 and already snogging with the girls. So, all of the women I've told said, "Oh dear!" or something to that effect. All the men have said, "Alright! Way to go!" and other testosterone-driven comments. Hmpf. Typical.

I gave a petit lecture on kissing, saying that kissing was for family, and if you really like a friend you should hug them instead. He said, "But Mommy, I really like kissing Alyssa May!" Jeez. I was innocent enough to think that I need not give this talk to the boys until the 'tween years. Kids grow up too darned fast!

No Pain, No Ink

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I did NOT chicken out.

Therefore, I now have a rather larger than originally anticipated tattoo. But it is awesome. Yes, it hurt, but not as bad as the first one did.

You know, I got my first tattoo on my pelvis, 12 years ago. It is quite small, maybe 1 1/2 inches square. It was the most excrutiatingly painful event of my life, and that's saying something, considering I have had gall bladder attacks (and removal), kidney infection, and three children. I walked out of there, although extremely happy with my tattoo, thinking, "NEVER AGAIN!"

12 years later, I overcame the pain memory, crawled to the happy place in my brain, and left thinking, "Hmm. Where should I get my next one?"

Mark is laughing at me because I haven't told the kids about it yet. I told Mark that I didn't want Phoenix going to school and telling everyone that his mom got a tattoo. All of the "good" moms will be looking for my "tramp stamp".

But I know there are a few school moms out there that have tattoos. I'm not the only one, I've seen at least 2. And I know of at least 3 more that want to GET tattoos, so...maybe I'll flash it after all. I guess I'll just wait and see.

Best of all was spending the whole day with Kris, one of my very bestest friends. Haven't seen her since the Duran Duran concert, and that was over 2 years ago. Shame on us. It was a great, great day, and I didn't get home until 1:30 am.

********************************************************************************

So, now that I have posted a picture, let the lecture e-mails from the relatives (you know who you are) begin!

Allergy Alert!

I took Keegs to the allergist today. Turns out he has quite the allergy to peanuts, so he has to now have an epipen at home and at school, just in case. He also tested as mildly allergic to tree nuts (almonds, walnuts etc.) and corn. Guess that's why he won't eat anything with nuts, refuses to eat corn, and after the first try, won't eat popcorn either. They give him a bad tummy ache.

I have to take him back in two weeks to test for regular allergens (pet, dust, pollens, etc.). Damn! Sensitive kiddies over here.

My nephew Jake did a face plant on the asphalt at school yesterday playing soccer, and cut open his forehead, scraped his nose, put his teeth through his lip, and broke a tooth. OUCH! But, as my brother Mike commented, "It's all good. Chicks dig guys with scars."

That's pretty much the 411 around here. Not much else to report...except...maybe...thinking...of...getting a new tattoo....?