Where the heck have I been??

There is so much to catch up on that I hardly know where to begin. Here is the Top 10 of our Summer this year!

1) Sophie is now in big girl underwear and potty training. It kind of just 'happened'. I hadn't really wanted to push it, but she seemed ready and we went for it. She has taken to it really well. I was surprised with how few accidents she's had. Often she goes to the potty on her own accord and pees. Every time she goes she gets a few minutes of TV so that has been a really exciting motivation for her. Now I need to ix-nay that, and not quite sure how!! Anyway, we're still not seeing any #2's, but hopefully this will come in time.

2) Clara is eating like a little maniac!! She LOVES IT! Not sure how many of you remember that Soph was totally not into food, so it's such a pleasure to have an eater. She grunts if I don't feed her fast enough. She has eaten all sorts of things, and the only thing she isn't crazy about so far is creamed corn. I actually look forward to feeding her. Crazy but true!

3) We've moved towards Clara putting herself to sleep from awake (not grammatically correct, but hey). It was so MUCH EASIER than it was with Sophie. Clara had started waking more and more and more and I was absolutely WIPED OUT. In addition Sophie doesn't always sleep so well, and the combo was slowly sucking the life out of me. I made the decision and it was honestly, not even an event. She already had much better habits than Soph had, and it has made all the difference in the world. She learned quickly and with hardly any tears--she fussed a bit but that has been it. AMAZING change in my life. That was just this week, so there may be more blips in the road.

4) We are temporarily 'daddy-less' Brett is doing a fantastic play out of town right now. It's a great part and really exciting for him. That has left us without our papa. It has been a downright struggle for me, I'm not going to lie, but we're doing it. And I'm almost getting the hang of it. We've had LOTS of support and help from family and friends, and that has made a really big difference. He's gone for 2 months in total--but for two weeks of it we'll be with him there. We have two more weeks to go solo, and then we're reunited (Reunited and it feels so good....sing Olivia with me!!). There have been moments of absolute insanity (me covered in baby poo while Clara flips all over the floor as I'm changing her only to look up and notice that Sophie has covered her whole body with marker while I was busy, all on hardly any sleep.....I sometimes feel like I'm in an I love Lucy episode!). Other moments have been really good and manageable and I think 'who needs a daddy?...okay, well, that's going too far!!'.

5) Clara is cute. Really really cute. Especially now that she's sleeping (haha....but with a grain of truth to it!!). She is such an easy little human that adds such love and light to our world. Unless she needs something she just hangs out and toots along with whatever we're doing. Incredible person. I love her to bits.

6) Soph starts school next week. I can't believe it. When was this a good idea????? She will be going to nursery school 3 mornings a week. We've been talking about school all the time, buying our lunchbox and backpack (that's another story for another day), going to library to take out books about school, driving past her school, watching Blue goes to school ad nauseum, practicing saying bye to mama. I think at the end of the day it's going to be harder for me than for her. Sniff sniff. I keep thinking maybe we should change our mind--I'm getting cold feet!

7) I love our house!! I have loved getting to know our house this summer. It makes me so happy and it feels so right to be here. There are lots of jobs and reno's in our future, but I also love where it is right now. I love our neighbours and the kids in the hood. It's fantastic. PS--have made wonderful friends with a family behind us with a little boy Sophie's age. They are fantastic and I think we are going to have many great times ahead.

8) Clara is rolling and rocking! She rolls everywhere (she fell off our bed a few weeks ago...bad mommy....I don't know who cried more). She is so different from Soph who rolled once to do it and then virtually never again. Clara is a wiggler and a roller. I think she'll be booting around in no time.

9) Sophie now has an EXTREME fear of the Wiggles. I have no idea why, because she was obsessed with them until last week. I'm not kidding--until THE DAY that I spent a ridiculous sum (too embarrassed to even write it) on two Wiggles tickets for her birthday present (they are coming to our town!). Literally since that day she cries and says NO every time they are mentioned. I suppose I may be trying to scalp tickets to toddlers the night of the show. Hopefully it will blow over by then. Too funny---these kids are always one step ahead.

10) I got no number 10. My brain has just shut off and the catch up blogging is catching up with me. I need to go have a cup of tea and spend some time with Brett and the girls on his day off :)

Next post will be a quick and dirty of our summer trips!!!

xoxo ta ta for now!