Toby Cub card

Here's the next card in the CHA challenge over at The Greeting Farm. I can't believe I'm keeping up with things so far! Now I just need to remember to upload it to the contest site tomorrow morning!

Charlotte card

Here's my next card for The Greeting Farm challenge:






















I used a background I had already made up for my stash. I think it's quite pretty. Looking forward to the next one! Except I'm out of glue, so I had better get my butt to the store tomorrow for more.

Mer Ian card

Here's the card I whipped together for The Greeting Farm challenge. I was planning on just throwing something together, just so I could get the next stamp, but I'm actually quite pleased with the result. I used my oldest paper (!) because I immediately thought of this background when I saw the image. I'm most pleased with the shell I glued on the bottom corner. I think it finishes the card off nicely.

Now, on to the next challenge!

The first time I saw you

The first time I saw you I thought you were the most beautiful baby in the world. I was surprised by the darkness of your hair. I wanted to hold you but I only got to touch your face with one finger of my hand that was strapped down to the operating table. You were whisked away very quickly. Later, when I finally got to hold you, I was so nervous to nurse you, but you knew exactly what to do on your own. I didn't feel that big rush of love that I was expecting to feel. I always heard about other mothers that instantly fell in love with their newborns. Love did not come easily and quickly for me. I wanted you and I wanted to protect you, but I didn't have this pain in my heart or desire to never let you go. That came in time. I marvelled at your strength and awareness. I knew you were smart the first time I looked in your eyes.

-----------------------------------------

The first time I saw you I felt bad because I thought you wouldn't be the cute one. I was very wrong. I was in awe at your size and the size of your cry. I had to fight for you to be with me, and I'm glad I won. We proved them wrong. I felt like I already knew you and I loved you immediately. Like your sister, you knew want you wanted and how to do it.

The songs we sing

I have very little time to post right now, but I wanted to get this down before I forgot.

Being winter, getting out the door with two kids is always a bit chaotic. I sing songs while layering up to keep everyone cheerful. My boot-putting-on-song is "These Boots are Made for Walking", obviously. Now Amelia sings a variation of this tune with her own lyrics. She comes by it honestly since changing lyrics is a favourite pastime in this family, passed down from my Dad to me, and now on to a third generation. Anyway, the best version of this song was sung a couple of days ago in the car. It went like this:

"These cars are made for driving, and that's just what they'll do,
And one of these days these cars are gonna drive all over you."

Kendrick and I both burst out laughing.

As with all kids now a days, "The Wheels on the Bus" is a popular and often-requested tune in our house. Of course, we never stuck with the "original" lyrics of this song either. One of my favourite verses came from Amelia when she was pushing three years old. It was a great closer to the song:

"The lion on the bus goes roar, roar, roar,
Roar, roar, roar.
The lion on the bus goes roar, roar, roar,
And eats all the people."

My kid is awesome!

Heidi's language skills (@ 17 months)

Heidi can now correctly sign:

thank you
please
mommy
daddy
drink
food
more
milk
yes
no
all done/gone/finished

These are all the signs Amelia did too, but she understood a lot more. I was much better at signing to her all the time. Now I'm just too busy to teach Heidi... poor second born. At least she's exposed to more spoken language than Amelia was. I actually felt weird talking to Amelia all the time when she was a baby since I knew she didn't understand me most of the time anyway.

Her speech has really taken off lately too. She says: bottle, ball, bounce, baby, no, uh oh, ding, cheese, and shoe (okay so cheese sounds like "chhh" and shoe sounds like "shhh", but it works!). Oh, and she wolf whistles.

Quirks

Heidi loves to:

- grab some books, climb into bed, pull up the covers and "read"
- give "schnoodles" (cheek to cheek hugs)
- take baths
- talk to and touch animals
- drink from straws
- give me raspberries on my stomach

Amelia loves to:

- get her little sister water and snacks
- play in forts
- pretend to be a mommy
- make cards
- play Mahjong (with the cheat button) on my computer

Heidi hates:

- soap bubbles
- swiss cheese
- Loblaws, but is okay with most other stores (!?)

Amelia hates:

- having her hair brushed
- wearing pants
- someone singing while she's chewing