Daycare and Sitters and Road Trips ... OH MY!!!

It has been another busy week here and luckily our little monkey is on the mend from her bronchitis ... not 100%, but close!
The week started off with some disappointing news (for me!). Although I had secured daycare (in November) for the future and was SUPPOSED to meet with "Bonnie" after the holidays, she contacted me, talked my ear off for a half an hour, and ended the conversation by telling me the one year olds she has aren't walking yet and she's feeling overwhelmed and doesn't know why she told me she could take Cadence on, yadda, yadda ... WHAT???? Are you kidding me??? Cadence is walking, she is starting to talk, she's bloody brilliant I tell you! Oh, I was so mad ... but in hindsight, I must believe everything happens for a reason and so ... the search was on again! Luckily I found someone who sounds great the next day and we will all meet her tomorrow ... keep your fingers crossed ... I will NOT relinquish my girl to just anyone!
Sean and I also left Cadence with ... a babysitter!!! Yes, we actually planned to attend a function together and leave our girl with a more than capable teenager. It was tense at first ... Cadence cried every two minutes before we left and wailed upon our departure! I was sure Maddison would phone, as instructed, within 20-30 minutes if Cadence hadn't calmed down. But after an hour ... no such call! By the time I was allowed by the others to call home, Maddison assured me they were laughing and playing and having a great time ... WHEW!!!! Maddison ... you rock ... thank you so much ... you have NO idea how relieved we are to know that Cadence can manage without us!
And on Saturday morning, I whisked Cadence away for an overnighter to visit her Godmother. She travelled well and behaved as well as only a toddler can ... I am sure Jody will be tidying cupboards and ziplock bags for days! But on a very positive note, she was totally sociable and well adjusted the whole time! Of course, the fact that we shared a bed made sleeping great ... except for tonight ... but I expected that!
Well, that's really about all ... here are a few random pics from the week.
Have I mentioned I HATE my camera ... HATE, HATE, HATE my camera!!! I miss just about every smile and cute expression going ... in fact, I typically get the side or back of Cadence's head. Sean says he'll look into a new one for me for my birthday ... any suggestions would be welcomed!

Bronchitis = Setbacks ...

Cadence hadn't been feeling well at the end of last week and my gut instinct told me to call our family doctor ... but, I didn't listen. After a horrible Friday night (up just about every half hour), Sean took her to a local clinic, where she was quickly diagnosed with bronchitis and prescribed antibiotics. She has been SICK!

I don't know whether some of her 'behaviour' Saturday evening was her illness, or simply the 'toddler' emerging! She has dropped items of food for Winston on occasion ... quite a few actually, but on this particular night ... when the whole family was over for a nice dinner, she was literally FLINGING her meatballs and ravioli as far as she could, then standing up in her highchair and attempting to stand on the tray! My goodness!!!! Needless to say, she (and I) ate very little. Sleeping has been BRUTAL ... and I can't blame her! Besides the incessant cough she is also horribly stuffed up ... the wee thing can't breathe ... period! Now, I've neglected to tell you my latest attempts at getting her to 'learn to sleep on her own' ... well, it WAS working for a few days ... but last night ... nothing worked! She wanted OUT of that prison: the crib! I knew I had to stand my ground and not give in ... if I did, ALL would be lost. Let me tell you, I am losing at this game I call, Survivor China! I have tried to outwit, outlast and outplay her, but I fear she will be victorious. I cringe when I tell you ... I ... let her cry ... a lot! Most of the time I was in the room with her ... in my 'new bed', but after about 45 minutes, I left the room and gave her some 'space' ... okay, gave myself some space! Within another 20 minutes of the screaming, I went back in and she immediately laid down, I laid down and we slept ... for a while! I feel terrible knowing she is under the weather and all, but I just don't know what to try next. I fear we are in for another night, like the last one ... the game is on!

Check out my new bed ...

Any guesses???

Fourteen Months

My baby turned 14 months old today ... how time flies!  She is running ... literally ALL over the place and having a ball!  We are currently in 3 organized activities ... Mom and Tot Swimming 2, Busy Bees and Sneaker Snappers.  I was hoping these would keep Miss 'I don't Need No Sleep' so busy that she would pass out from exhaustion at the end of the days ... NOPE!!!!  No such luck!

I could spend my time lamenting on the sleeping, or lack thereof I should say, but instead let's celebrate ALL the amazing things my little girl can do!!!!  She understands EVERYTHING I say ... without a doubt.  She makes the elephant noise (not an easy one to do my friends) and will do it each time she sees a picture in a book or on the tv ... does the same thing with a dog!  She has a Learning Leaps video game and by god, when the narrator says, "press a button" she does it right on cue!  She will sit with books and turn the pages and point to the words mumbling as if she is reading.  She has also built up quite an eclectic vocabulary ... now I must admit that she has her own way of saying some of these words, but here's the list nonetheless:  momma, dada, stop, up, down, cheers, ball, juice, hi, yeah, baba, backpack, Diego, house ... I think that about covers it!  She is a clever little soul I tell you!  We are quickly learning that we need to be more careful of our own actions as she imitates our behaviours ... for example ... the word 'stop' is accompanied by her putting her hand out and directing it at poor Winston.  Yes, we have had to get a little firm with him and now his sister thinks she can too!  Oh, boy do they pick up things quick!  She is using her fork with a fair bit of independence and trying to manage a spoon ... it will come in time ... until then, I don't think we'll be eating out for a while!

Oh, I could probably go on and on and on ... but I really would like to catch and hour or two of sleep this evening so .... I'll leave you with this and call it a night!  Sweet dreams y'all ... have one for me ... I won't have time!

First Sleigh Ride

It was such a beautiful day ... winter day ... that I decided it was time to bundle the girl up and take her for a ride on the sled.
The sleigh ride she LOVED ... the bundling up ... NOT SO MUCH!!! I tell you, getting her dressed is a work out and then some! Maybe we could get a video going and start a new exercise craze???? No ... not really worth the aggravation! Enjoy a few photos ... I was under the impression I captured some great video footage of Cadence squealing and giggling but I guess I missed pressing the record button! Does this mean I have to repeat this WHOLE procedure??!! Oh ... of course I will ... her pure joy was soooooo worth it!

Look Who Turns Two Today!!!

Happy Birthday cousin Olivia!
Love, Cadence
Auntie Deb
Uncle Sean
& Winston too!
Have a great day sweetheart!

Cadence's New Playroom

Finish the basement??? No way! Not when you have this playroom ...

Stressful with a Capital S, But Success Nonetheless!

Today was the day ... the day I've been avoiding for weeks ... the bloodwork!  It was as bad as I expected, maybe even worse, but that's probably my own fault I'm afraid.  We set out at about 10 am to check and make sure the lab could handle a toddler and to make sure I applied the Emla patches properly ... then we were off to waste about an hour and a half while they did their magic. When we returned to the clinic Cadence was fast asleep but NOT for long.  Unfortunately the poor infant in the next cubicle woke her up and tipped her off as to what was about to occur.  The nurses attempted ... a number of times ... to hit a vein but with no success ... all while my sweet little girl screamed incessantly ... who could blame her.  From there we were sent to the lab at the hospital ... where I contemplated going in the first place.  By the time we got there, Cadence was 'spent' ... she had been through one trauma, missed her nap and was starving!  I managed to grab her some yogurt, cheese and a tea biscuit to tie her over ... poor little soul.  These nurses seemed much more prepared to handle Cadence, although it certainly was not a walk in the park!  They stuck her in the first arm and were unsuccessful, gave us some cuddling and consoling time and then went for the other arm ... success!  Thank God!  Given the amount they needed and the slow flow caused by her being so worked up, I was afraid we would have to go back a second time.  So ... that's done ... hopefully ... and ... hopefully everything's going to come back normal.  Photos to be included in the next post ...

Rapper or Rock Star ... you decide!

Well I tried to upload both videos but ... there was an error ... imagine that! I'll try again in a separate post.

Rocker or Rapper? (continued...)

Yes! It worked!!! Of course Cadence did not do as much 'singing' once I pulled the camera out ... gonna need 24 hour video surveillance to capture the precious moments as I see them! Hope you enjoy this anyway ...

No More Fear!

Who needs expensive ride on toys when you've got one of these .....?

At first Cadence feared the vacuum, but now it has become one of her favourite toys! Wonder how she'll feel in a few years when she gets to use it as it's intended?! Mommy, on the other hand, is still afraid of the beast herself, but fears the messy carpets more! Luckily I can now get a little done around the house when she's awake ... isn't life exciting?!

Guess Who's Going on a Diet????

Yep ... poor guy ... last vet appointment showed a weight gain (again). He is being weaned off of timbits (cold turkey is more like it!) and his dog bone consumption is being limited. As if it wasn't enough to turn his world upside down with a child .....
We are going to have some difficult weeks ahead of us!

Oh, and for the record ... I'm giving it another go to ......... (big sigh!).