January 2009

Our big news for January was a trip to Newfoundland. We decided to do it before Libby turned two so we wouldn't have to buy her a ticket. It was great to visit family back in Ian's home town. Libby really loved the visiting and so did Sarah. Libby met many aunts, uncles and cousins over the course of our time there. Some she had met last year and others, like her Auntie Penny she met for the first time. Sarah met everyone for the first time (except her Nana and Dadda who came down in the fall to meet her.) On our last morning there, Libby was walking around "Nana and Dadda's house" saying "me need cousins to chase".
We knew she had really met a lot of new aunts and uncles when Ian's father had her up on his lap. He was tickling her and telling her to "Say Uncle". The conversation went something like this:
Dadda: Say Uncle
Libby: Tim
Dadda: Say Uncle
Libby Tim
Needless to say, Uncle Tim lives next door to Nana and Dadda and that was the uncle she saw most often during our visit.
Turns out both girls are very good travelers. They were very good on the plane rides despite missing naps etc. In fact during our final landing back in Boston after a long day of travel, we were trying to keep Libby in her seat by telling her to get ready for the landing. We told her we were soon going to feel a big bump. Sure enough we landed with a big bump and the pilot put on the brakes. Then Libby started demanding "agin, agin, agin" with a huge smile on her face. Try to explain to a two year old that you can only land a plane once! 8-)




While in Newfoundland, we were able to drive out to Gander to visit Ian's sister and her family for a weekend. It was great to get all the cousins together! After about an hour exploring Allan and Josh's playroom, Libby came out to us with a toy in hand and exclaimed "This is a VERY special day!"
Not sure where she got this from, but every time she sees an egg carton she says: "precious eggs". We find it quite amusing.

Libby LOVED playing on the piano at Aunt Naomi and Uncle Rick's house. She continues to pretend to play the piano on the edge of the table at meal times. She also loved to listen to Naomi play. "Antie Omie play song".

December 2008

On New Year's Eve, we took Libby sledding for the first time in the back yard. She liked it.

Sarah really likes her dinosaur toy that Santa brought for her. I think part of what she likes is that she can see the world in an upright position instead of lying on her back all the time. She is generally a very happy kid. I am thankful for that. We started her on cereal shortly after Christmas in the hope that it might fill her up enough to become a better sleeper at night. The jury is still out on that one though.
The day after Christmas, we went to my parents house to celebrate again with my brother and his family. Every time Libby opened a present she would exclaim, "A big box!!!" and then she would walk away. It didn't even matter if there was anything inside the big box. The box was exciting all on it's own.

I was reading Libby one of the books she got for Christmas. In the book there was a picture of a possum hanging upsidedown from a branch. I knew that she might recognize this since she has another book with a similar picture, so I pointed to the possum and asked her what that was. She studied the picture carefully, and finally announced "It's a decoration!!" Which, of course, makes perfect sense considering we have been hanging things in trees for several weeks now, but I still thought it was a pretty funny response. She caught me off guard. I think one of my favorite parts about every day is spending time with my kids and seeing how they think. It's a good lesson for me to have a chance to look at the world from a child's perspective again.

Santa was very good to us this year. Mimi, Bebop and Auntie Kris were here with us to celebrate. Sarah successfully stayed in a sitting position on her own. And, Libby cracked up a bunch of us during Christmas mass. In the middle of the mass, she hiked her dress up to her shoulders, said "Pooh need milk." and proceeded to breast feed pooh from her belly button.




We decorated the tree one Sunday during our extended power outage. Libby helped. She kept telling us "Christmas trees are special". After we finished decorating, she continued to find things to hang in the tree. By the time we took the tree down there was an assortment of various toys and stuffed animals living in the tree along with the decorations....like the frog she has in the picture below.

I think Sarah's favorite toy is her jumper. She loves it!
We brought the girls to meet Santa Claus at the town hall. Libby was very excited to get a candy cane from him. Even after Christmas has come and gone if anyone asked her what Santa brought for her, she answers "a candy cane!" We all got a kick out of Sarah trying to eat the bell on his hat while he was talking to Libby.