Summer is here post

The fact is... the busier and more complicated our lives become, the less likely we are to be able to set aside time to update the blog. And naturally the things that are going on and keeping us from writing are probably more worthy of entries. We have both girls enrolled in swimming classes at the same time on the same night of the week -which is fun for everyone. Unfortunately, Greg expelled me from the swimming area because I was distracting Lucy from her lesson (by my mere presence). Greg keeps the girls busy with play dates and museum trips, and I do the same on the weekends (usually with grandparent visits). We recently bought a little blow-up pool which is greatly appreciated. Combine that with watermelon and corn on the cob, and suddenly it's summer.

The works of Robert Munsch
Rebecca is extremely interested in the works of Robert Munsch these days. In her first year, we bought her The Paper Bag Princess (essential reading for all young girls - in my opinion), but she also has copies of Murmel, Murmel, Murmel, Angela's Airplane, We Share Everything (ha ha ha), Millicent and the Wind, Alligator Baby and most recently - Smelly Socks. Alligator Baby was a book my Mom gave to Rebecca when Lucy arrived and was very appropriate. It is likely her favourite, but I have also read Smelly Socks so many times lately, that I believe I might have the text memorized. Lucy has Ribbon Rescue, which I have read to her every night since I bought it. Anyhow, Rebecca acquired Smelly Socks for herself and Ribbon Rescue for Lucy by twisting my rubber arm during a recent trip to the local bookstore. The objective was for me to buy one specific book, but naturally I emerged with a total of four (2 for the girls, 2 for me). At any rate, Rebecca engaged me in a lively debate about whether Alligator Baby was fiction or non-fiction. She was adamant that it was nonfiction, and I tried to reason with her that she was mistaken. When you reach the point of trying to reason with the 4 year old, I think something has already gone terribly wrong. At any rate, the bottom line is that I am very happy that they take so much pleasure in books.
http://robertmunsch.com/

The accursed ice cream truck
There's an ice cream truck that patrols our neighbourhood. I don't mean a cart with outrageously priced multicoloured nasty popsicles, I mean a legitimate truck with music and enormous soft ice cream cones for next to nothing (but cash only ladies and gentlemen). There are only a few songs in its repertoire - one is Fur Elise, and it can also say "hello". These songs aren't blasting, but they can be heard from miles away. If you are bbqing in your backyard with your children, everyone hears it the moment it approaches the neighbourhood - a veritable siren song that engenders a kind of Pavlovian dog response in Rebecca and Lucy. I have partaken of the ice cream once - and I admit it was delicious. The girls have partaken more than once. I'll even admit that on one desperate occasion, I packed the girls into the car and drove down the street to catch the truck in my jewelled flip flops and a WonderWoman t-shirt that was never intended to grace society. That was the time (although not the last time), it stopped literally across the street from our house while I was trying to put Lucy to bed, and then I couldn't get scrounge up my change fast enough. There were tears and sotte voce curses, but ice cream was had in the end.

Potty training
We have embarked on Lucy's potty training journey. Hooray. Sigh. At the very beginning, potty training always feels like a giant pain, since in many ways, diapering was so much easier. I am hopeful that her attitude will allow for a quicker training time than Rebecca. Lucy is also lucky enough to benefit from the enthusiastic support of Rebecca who takes her job of cheering Lucy on very seriously. Lucy has had two successful pees on the potty so far, but is still missing her timing on most occasions. She is very good at communicating what has happened - after the fact, but tends to refer to everything as being "poopy". Rebecca and I made Lucy a very nice poster - on which we wrote Lucy's name, drew a big picture of Dora and a big picture of Miss Spider. Much as Rebecca did at that age, Lucy places all her stickers on those things she likes best - so Dora's whole face is covered in stickers, and Miss Spider's eyes are also highly decorated.

Rebecca's manual dexterity
Rebecca's drawing skills seem to have taken another leap forward. Her representations of people are suddenly far more recognizable, with very distinct features. Lucy adores colouring and drawing, but Rebecca is constantly reprimanding her for scribbling, which I gather was a big J-K no-no. I have to keep explaining that it's o.k. for Lucy to scribble since she is still little and learning.

Summer is here

Updates!

Rebecca finished her first year at school.  We're now settling into the summer routine.  She's quite excited about next year, her teacher is Madame Anne, and she has a class mascot, Patapouf, a teddy bear.

I'm sure she'll miss Miss Leslie, though.

We've got info from a few playmates, and just renewed our annual Museum of Nature membership, so we'll head down their fairly regularly.  Swimming classes for both girls start on Wednesday.