Okay, I have put up so many Elspeth updates that I felt it was time for a Katrine update. What’s new with her? Well, she has her first skating competition on the same weekend as the Toronto Santa Claus Parade so I am hoping that they are not at the same time because it would be horrible if my tree didn’t go up then (just to me that is). She is doing a new style of basic moves competition but it is a sort of pre-cursor to her getting a solo. It is also her first competition as a StarSkater, which just means that she has moved up a level. She is excited because she is going to get to wear more make-up and glitter. Another big skating change is that Katrine will be skating twice more a week until at least Christmas. The plan is to have her continue after the break if she can still focus at school, get all of her work done and doesn’t whine too much at getting up at 6:15 to be on the ice for 7. Before you ask, yes this is something that she desperately wants to do so we are giving it a try. The place where she will be skating is where she went to camp this summer. It is pretty hard core but she loved camp and is pumped about going back.
Enough about skating. I thought that you would get a kick out of seeing her newest creation. She has taken over the book room (the room with the fireplace) and turned it into a school for Elspeth and her doll Jessie/Jessy. I must say that Jessy seems to get in a lot less trouble than Elspeth given how often I hear their names called. I guess that is why two year olds don’t go to school yet.
There is a cafeteria where they can buy lunch.Here is Jessy at recess. It seems at this school you can read, walk a dog or watch TV at recess. Interesting mix.Jessy certainly keeps her desk neat for one so young.Jessy even has an agenda with a section for each month and a pocket at the back for notes from home. Apparently one of the topics they are currently studying is the water cycle.
Usually I use this blog to give you all updates about how the kids are doing with the occasional news about the rest of us. Here is the traditional portion of the update: Katrine’s mini solo for the competition in two weeks is looking pretty good…if she could just figure out what to do with her hands on her one foot spin it would be looking great. Elspeth has 51 words and is now able to walk down the stairs unaided. Glenn still enjoys football and is going to see Penn and Teller tomorrow. I am already counting down the days until I can put my Christmas decorations up. Okay, now that is done and I won’t feel guilty about the rest of the post.
Help! Elspeth is doing great growing, gaining weight and there in lies the problem. She has grown enough that the size 12 to 18 month pants are too short. Let her wear 18 to 24 month ones then. What’s the problem? She isn’t fat enough. As you can see in the photos, our wee one has put on weight since we killed off the parasite. She might even be in the 2.8th percentile now. I mean, that is up from like the 0.5th percentile so we are happy. At the same time, she is in the 2.8th percentile meaning that she is a stick. A cute, huggable stick who now has a bit of pudge on her frame but for the purpose of buying clothes – a stick.
This morning: nope, too wide. Nope, too wide. Nope, too wide. Hey! A friend of mine suggested using a diaper pin the take in the material. Let’s give it a try. So taking a pair of leggings in goes the pin until the equivalent of one whole leg has been gathered at the back…oh well, on they go and off we went to the mall. Now I should explain that there are alot of dresses hanging in little miss’ closet and she is still super cranky in a dress (unless being bribed with presents and candy ala birthday time). They get in her way on ride on toys. Let in the wind in the stroller. They mean she has to wear her super cute fleece suit in the morning. None of these are big selling points for dresses and I am not feeling up to re-altering all of the pants that were originally altered for Katrine so off we went shopping.
One store had toddler pants with adjustable waists. The ones available for this season were selling for $45.00 a pair. Yep, that is more than most of my pants cost and these are pants that will be grown out of quickly. That goodness I managed to find two pairs on the clearance rake at $15.oo each. They may not be this season’s style but she’s two. Seriously though, Elspeth is going to need to start liking dresses or I am going to have to do a lot more shopping (ugh). Maybe we can just fatten her up on all of the Halloween candy so that her clothes fit. Sigh.
We had a wonderful afternoon enjoying the sunshine and company of one branch of our China family. Once again, birthday wishes to the two wonderful girls for whom the day was arranged. Enjoy the photos.
Yes, our hosts have their own mini zip line. All of the kids laughed and screamed themselves silly.Wow! Leaves!A pair of Sweeties!
It has been a busy two days for us. Yesterday I sprung Katrine from school in the afternoon (surprising conduct for me I know) so that we could go to watch the Skate Canada International competition in Mississauga. We got to see the ladies and pairs short programs. Katrine loved the ladies dressed.  She particularly liked watching Elizaveta Tuktamisheva, the 14 year old Russian skater. She couldn’t believe that this awesome skater is just 7 years older than her. During intermission we were walking to get snacks and saw a pair from the Chinese team warming up. Katrine thought that was pretty cool. A pair from where she was born skating where she lived and she got to see them. I have to say that the pairs were awesome. Wow! I am so glad that Katrine is so ticklish and likely won’t ever be a pairs skater because man do those girls fly. Pretty and spectacular when it is not my kid. The only thing that disappointed Katrine was that she didn’t get to see Patrick Chan skate. She has a bit of hero worship going on there. Watching Katrine’s reaction to the ladies was really fun for me because it reassured me that all of the time we spend at the rink is what she wants. I mean look at the photo and you will see it.
Oh ya, she also woke up and got dressed before 6:30 because she was "just too excited."
This afternoon we decided to try something new and headed out to the Community Safety Village. The safety village is an awesome place for a school field trip because there are a lot of opportunities for them to learn safety rules, like the kids apply safety rules while driving battery powered jeeps around kid sized rodes. That said, I was not sure what to expect with it being a community event. Was kind of hoping that they would walk away having met a police officer, played in the village and got one piece of candy. It was so much better. There was a wagon ride which was the first time Elspeth has ever seen horses up close. Then there was a craft area, Dora cartoons, all of the decorations and a Haunted House…and that was just inside. Outside there were the various community helper mascots (which scared Elspeth but delighted Katrine), the parks, a maze, bouncy castles, fire truck AND trick or treating at each of the little village houses. It was awesome as it gave Elspeth a chance to experience trick or treating in day light before we try it on Monday night. She parroted “tick” at the first house and then her eyes bugged out when she was given candy. After that she was sold. “Tick, tick, tick” I hope that she has as much fun at tomorrow’s party and Monday night but if not, at least she had today.
After we got home we did the whole pumpkin thing. Katrine was an awesome big sister. She assumed the role that my brother held – pumpkin gut handler- reaching right in to the pumpkin and tearing the guts out with her hands. She even convinced neat freak Elspeth (seriously, she complains if there is a mark on her hand still) to touch a small bit of the inners. What an awesome big sis. So proud of her.
"Seriously, you want me to touch the inside of that thing?""Maybe you are not crazy. This isn't too bad.""Ya know, if one spoon is good; then two will be awesome!"Look at her grabbing the guts. I hated that as a kid. So proud of her for not being girly like me."Now we have to play with the guts."
Well, as you all expected we have already had Elspeth in skates. Check out the photos below. She was thrilled to be on the ice just like her big sister. Not really going anywhere yet but standing and making ice angels.
Oh ya, she has also gained weight! 20 pounds!!!!! As well as another 2 cm. Yippee! If only her feet would grow we could get her single blade skates.
I'm ready! Hurry up mom!Her feet are blurry from sliding them across the ice.
Where to begin? Okay, had a fabulous mini reunion with some of one branch of our China family in chinatown. Chinese food, great company, chatty girls. What more could you ask for aside from the rest of the family. It is always amazing to watch how the girls are when they are together. This time, they were so enthusiatic at a Bubble Tea store that the lady invited them to come behind the counter and watch. They are a really cute group so I can understand being taken in by them. She also showed them how she gets the juice from sugar cane. We were really blessed; with both of our adoption journeys we travelled with wonderful people who are a great support system for each other.
Then Elspeth got sick for a while. Nothing bad but sick enough that it was made crystal clear how new we are to parenting her. For instance, she is a puker. Who knew that minor puking could go hand in hand with a stuffed nose? She also wakes up early, really early. When I am sick, I do the complete opposite, I sleep. Katrine wants to eat popsicles no matter what she is sick with. Elspeth – just wants to play with her food. What comforts sick Elspeth? Being carried – EVERYWHERE! Have you ever tried to go to the bathroom with a child on your lap? Not fun. (Yes, feel free to laugh her. It really is absurd but after an hour of inconsolable child ones gotta do what ones gotta do).
On the Katrine front things are going well. She continues to love being over programmed, and we keep hoping that she will realise it is too much and ask to quit something. No luck so far. She is going to compete in her first StarSkate competition in November. She’s competed before so whats the big deal you ask. Well, this time around it is harder because instead of doing moves in isolation she needs to do them in a sequence. Sort of like a mini program without music. Katrine is loving skating right now and even tried to negotiate with us to go skating and trick or treating on the same night until we convinced her that we could not stop time or make her be in two places at once. She is a bit bothered that she is the youngest skater in her group and we are hoping that by going to the competition she will meet other skaters her age and feel more confident.
Elspeth is now up to 37 words but don’t try to make her use them. She prefers to use them when the mood suits her. There have been some stretches of crying as we work on getting her to consistently communicate using the words and signs that she already has. That said, she really is making remarkable progress and we are quite proud of how far she has come developmentally.
Talking of how far she has come brings me to a favourite childhood activity for the fall – playing in the leaves. When the leaves in our neighbourhood first began to change colour, she would have nothing to do with them. Cried if we put them on the tray of her stroller or set her down to walk through them. Over the last week she has begun to hold them and tear them into bits or stamp on them with her feet laughing as they crunch. Today she took it a step further. After watching Katrine rake the leaves into a pile and jump on them she picked up the plastic rake, raked and then did then same. Sigh, progress. Maybe we can get her to roll in them next.
My last piece of news is that yes, I have done seasonal nails again. They are certainly not professional but they make me happy so enjoy my collection of jack-o-lanterns.
"Look, I can still use chopsticks.""Had to get the doll into the leaves too.""You mean, I can throw them into the air too!""Five little pumpkins sitting on the gate,..."
Today our Elspeth turned two. It didn’t go quite as planned (but, it wouldn’t be a birthday if it went exactly as planned) but it was a great day. Most of the day, Elspeth spent outside either splashing in puddles, touching leaves (we are making some progress on getting dirty hands), cutting plastic fruit and creating Mrs Potatoe Heads. It was really fun. I was really glad that mom and dad brought the purple wellies back from Scotland with them. Elspeth has already gotten tons of use out of them.
After skating it was home for a family dinner with Glenn’s mom, more presents and more cake (this time just a frozen McCains cake). In the midst of it all, Elspeth had to talk on the phone to various people sharing birthday wishes. I think that was as much of a gift to her as the actual gifts. That girl loves to talk on the phone. She doesn’t make any sense but she is totally commited to the non-sense that she is saying; to the point that she even pauses to wait for a response. Once again when she unwrapped the clothes she tried to wrap them back up or discard them quickly to the side. “I may not have done this birthday thing before but I am smart enough to know that there has to be toys in some of these packages so to heck with these dull clothes.” I think that her favourite gifts tonight were the doll stroller and chinese Cabbage Patch Kid. She had Katrine pushing her own doll stroller and ‘baby’ right along side her around the living room in circles. Then Karen and Peter stopped by so it was back to the cake and gifts.
Now she is asleep. I wonder if she will wake up tomorrow morning and want to push the stroller to the bus stop when we walk Katrine. My wish for Elspeth is that the coming year bring her stability and security after all of the changes she experienced while one. Happy Birthday sweetie!
Not much to this post but it should put a smile on your face. Elspeth showed off a new skill today. It was long pant weather in the morning but was forecasted to be short weather by lunch so when dressing her I grabbed a pair of shorts and left them downstairs for her to change into. Well, the picture shows it all.
They were also on backwards. Makes a mother proud.
Later she tried to put her legs in the sleeve of a shirt. Happy Tuesday!
Today we had the pleasure of celebrating our second Thanksgiving, this time with Glenn’s side of the family. Of course that meant more turkey and all of the fixings with the exception of pumpkin pie. Tonight’s dessert instead were the most adorable cupcakes which left our house smelling of cake (this might require me to either go and buy more flour so that I can make Heather-friendly cake or go and buy Heather-friendly cupcakes, it smells that good). As you can see in the photo below they really are the cutest little panda bears. All thanks to the creative genius of the other Heather (yes, 2 Heathers, 1 family). Everyone else loved them…birthday girl, hmm. Let’s say they faired better than Saturday’s pie. This time she ate the nose and arms and legs after which she stared at it somewhat suspiciously. Sigh, I wonder what her reaction will be to the McCains cake she’ll get on Thursday for her actual birthday? Perhaps, Glenn and Katrine will end up eating most of that cake too.
Elspeth has figured out presents though. This time when they were put infront of her she dove right in to tearing off the paper. It was funny, when she got to the package holding clothes she tore off the corner and then shook her head. As if to say, if it ain’t toys I don’t want to waste my time opening it. This weekend she got some lovely things. She’ll play with them and I will enjoy a wee bit of rest because I will not be dreaming up tons of things for her to do.
Gotta get to the leg first!
How is she doing is a question that we frequently get. I think that this will sum it up. Today she got upset when Katrine tried to look at her new birthday toys and covered them with her little arms saying “mine” (well, that was what she was aiming for). She also saw Katrine hugging Glenn and got quite insistent that he come and give her a hug to.  Aaah, sibling jealousy. It can only mean that she is getting more attached to us. We welcome you.
Here are just some photos for you to enjoy. I had to put up the ones with the do-dads in her hair as this is the first weekend that Elspeth has allowed them to stay in her hair for longer than a few seconds. Also celebrating the fact that she actually has some hair in which clips can be put.
The clips stayed in for about 30 minutes as she chopped fruit with Grandpa.Only about 5 minutes this time but hey, a photo with a smile is still worth posting.So you can get your Katrine fix too.
