Easter Fun

We had an fun-filled Easter weekend with Edward's parents, sisters and my parents.  The weather actually cooperated, and the kids got outside to play - finally!!

But first, scary baby:

Raaaawwrrr!!

Just kidding!

Of course, he isn't nearly so scary now that he's decided that sleeping is cool.  He's extremely busy these days, and although he hasn't quite decided if he would prefer to walk or crawl, he is a baby on the move.  I think his increased activity level, coupled with his own personal milestones, helped him turn the corner on the sleep front.  I'm getting jittery typing this for fear or jinxing our good run; but I wanted to document the improvement.  Now, this child has NO teeth (yet he's been "teething" for months) and we have another cold in the house, this one with a fever, so I know we have a few rough stretches ahead.  And, I should caveat all this by saying that he is not sleeping through the night.  He still nurses at 11ish, but his middle of the night feed is a miss more nights than not, so he seems to be phasing it out.  He eats again between 5 and 6.  Nevertheless, having a couple hours a night of consecutive sleep a night feels divine!

But, on to our Easter weekend:

Grampy and Malcolm reading

Keith on the (egg) hunt

Colin and Evelyn marvel at the Easter Bunny's incredible hiding skills.  We are still two eggs short, so either the Bunny can't count, or he outdid himself hiding them.

Yes, although Keith and Colin do look like the reluctant egg hunters, they had a blast.  They are less enthused with the glacial pace of our treat dispersal, but 3 x 3.5 year olds hopped up on chocolate or suffering sugar withdrawal is only amusing for about a nanosecond.  That being said, they do offer some pretty compelling arguments ("I have to eat a chocolate egg for breakfast or else I will be sick"), and we're certainly not anti-candy around here... just, in moderation.

There are a few more excellent photos from this weekend floating about, so I'll try to tack on a few!

Baptism

Hello all!

Edward and I are extending a warm welcome to our family and friends (that's you too, blog followers!) to join us in celebrating Malcolm's baptism:

Where:  St. Barnabas, 70 James Street at Kent

When:  Sunday, May 11th (Mother's Day) at 10:30am

Brunch to follow at the Bay Street Bistro, 160 Bay Street.

Granted, this photo is a little dated... but it is one of my favourites.  Possibly because Malcolm is sleeping?!

WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Snapshot

I doubt I'm alone when I admit that for the past few weeks, we've been in suspended animation.  Anxious for Spring to arrive, sick of winter, snow, frigid temperatures and putting on 4 x mitts, hats, snowpants, neckwarmers, boots and coats anytime we want a change of scenery.  The kids (and I) have a bad case of cabin fever, coupled with months of coughs and runny noses.  It's been a bit of a long haul.

However, for some reason, today feels like a shift forward.  Maybe because the snow is finally starting to recede, or because the birds are singing - albeit tentatively - and the sun is shining.  Maybe because the kids actually walked to preschool this morning.  Or maybe (in fact, most likely) because Malcolm slept better last night.  No matter, it feels good.

A few pictures from the past few days....   

Hello!

Aunt Benny came back from New Orleans with some pseudo pet alligators.  The kids named them Sloopy (Colin), Lucy (Keith) and Dori (Evelyn).  They love watching them grow!  Best pets ever....

Puzzle in progress by our puzzle pro, Keith

Yes, it is April and my winter decorations are still up.  Then again, it still looks like winter outside, too. So I'm on par with Mother Nature.

Ode To A Cookie

It Happened....

We've been dealing with yet another major cold in our household, and once again, this one held Malcolm pretty tightly in its grip.  He still has a chesty cough and crusty nose, but luckily, he didn't develop a fever and his appetite was unaffected.   His sleeping gets rough when he's feeling under the weather, which is a challenge even when everyone is feeling well.

However, for the past few daytime naps, I noticed that he needed less of my intervention.  Our usual routine is for me to put him in his crib where he plays happily until he cries, then I come in and rock him to the point where he is almost asleep before I put him down again and he drifts off.  I started to observe that when he called me in to rock him, he had his soother in his mouth.  Then, yesterday, he didn't call me at all.  He made a few unhappy noises, but nothing panicky.  I snuck in a few minutes later, and there he was, fast asleep, all on his own.

I think I heard the angels singing.

To be fair, he has been doing this at night for a few weeks (until interrupted by a cold), but this is a harder sleeping situation.  He is less tired, the room isn't dark and there's usually quite a bit of noise in the house.

This morning, I tried to repeat the performance and.... he drifted off on his own.  We'll see what the next few days hold!

Overheard At Bedtime

The other night, bedtime was accompanied by a lot of overtired howling and screaming from two Ducklings in particular, which prompted the following exchange:

Me:  Keith, thank you so much for being calm and cooperative at bedtime.  It makes my life so much easier.
Keith:  (muffled voice from under his quilt)  You're welcome, Mummy.  It makes my life easier, too.

--------

Another bedtime, this one much less contentious:

Edward:  Night night, Colin.  Don't let the bedbugs bite!
Colin:  !!!!!!!!!

A conversation about the use of expressions ensued, and Colin was suitably placated.

Colin:  Okay, night night, Daddy.   Don't eat bugs!

The Best Toys....

Actually, I have to say that Malcolm's favourite toys are his siblings.  He gets extremely put out when they disappear from his view, and loves nothing more than to be included in their play. The other day, they took away a plastic bottle he was playing with - they made a craft with Myriam using food colouring, oil and sparkles in a bottle that is Lava Lamp-esque.  He loves their full-sized ones, but as quickly as the bottle was taken Malcolm's hand, the little one made just for him appeared and a crisis was averted.  It was Colin to the rescue!  He might not fawn over his little brother, but he is attentive and caring.  Even though he pretends he isn't.

Malcolm's second favourite toy is, yes, the diaper box.  When Colin isn't playing "Boxasaurus" wandering around with it on his head, that is.  As an aside, we have officially entered the Cretaceous!  Dinosaurs are a HUGE deal around here, and I've had to brush up on my sauropods and pteranodons.  I was a big dino fan when I was a kid, and it is fun to relive the excitement.