All By Myself!

Today Michaela dressed herself all on her own for the first time, including choosing the clothes and putting them on, even her socks and underwear. I was very proud of her.

Michaela's Oliver Twist Impression

Actually, she's trying very hard to hold still as I try to take a photo without the flash. If she or I move even slightly, the picture will be blurry. Still my brother Josh insists that the flash is to be avoided like the plague. I'm still uncertain..... Michaela moves so much that almost all of my pictures are blurry.

Sheer Supper Silliness

Michaela fell into a fit of silliness recently during supper. First came the maniacial laughter then followed by the burping contest and then...

...well, why should I spoil it for you.

Here's the video:

Remember When Series, #3, #4, #5

Michaela's Birth Day July 25, 2003
Michaela's First Birthday, July 25, 2004
Michaela's 2nd Birthday, July 25, 2005

.......Still to come.......

Watch for upcoming pictures of Michaela's Birthday BBQ with her local family, taking place on her actual Birthday, and pictures of her Birthday party with her Kingston family, taking place in a week or two......

.....Lucky girl or what!

I know....Some may say she's spoiled, but I say, after what we went through to get this little ray of Sunshine, there's nothing we wouldn't do for her! She is the JOY of our lives, and the creator of all our smiles!

Michaela's Birthday Party

Today Michaela and 12 of her closest friends gathered at FundoMundo to celebrate her birthday. All in all, it was a great time. From the details provided below, you'll see that the party focused around three main themes. Enjoy!

Utter Pandemonium

Picture this:

("Lord of the Flies" + Nerf + Cute Dresses) x [Energy (to the power of four)] = Michaela's Birthday.

Video Highlight:

Gifts

Michaela received an array of thoughtful and fun gifts. She was very appreciative and thankful.

Video Highlight:

Birthday Cake

And finally, we were served a beautiful delicious cake which everyone enjoyed. The only challenge was keeping anxious fingers off of it long enough to take a picture.

Video Highlight:

"Two-Can" Picture #2

This one is for Josh. We took a second picture through the opened glass door of the enclosure. I think it's really nice.

Now with Video!!! (In Technicolor)

Okay,

Let's see if this works. We've just posted a couple of movies of Michaela. We not 100% sure whether she's expressing herself or simply being morbid...

Enjoy!

Cute Quotes #2

This is Roebee the Toucan. He’s a permanent resident at our local pet store. He’s the first animal you see when you walk in the doors. Now, we go to visit the pet store almost every week. It’s like going to the zoo, and every single time we go, there is a repeat of this exact conversation:

Mommy: Look Michaela, look at the toucan.

Michaela: Oh cool!…..Where’s the other can?

Cute Quotes #1

Today while I was making Michaela her supper, she turned to me and said, "It's quiet....a little too quiet." I thought that was really cute. Don't know where she heard it, but I laughed.

Sweet Retirement

Our "old" digital camera has just gone into retirement. "Cammy" plans on getting some reading done (pictured here with Luther's Ninety-five Theses), spending more time with her 128mb SD card, take up chess and possibly travel.

For our part, Cara and I are going to miss replacing spent batteries that were completely charged only five minutes before. We're also going to pine for the minutes (which felt like days) that Cammy would spend "processing", unable to take another picture. Her grainy video will still warm our hearts (or at least our blood) and bring tears (of frustration) to our eyes. We're not sure how were going to cope with not having to download media to the computer every few minutes because she ran out of storage space...

Fond farewell.

From interest to fascination to obsession

Michaela has really gotten into a BBC documentary series narrated by Richard Attenborough called "Life in the Undergrowth". It's all about insect behavior using close up videos that have only been recently made possible by new camera technology.

Michaela's familiarity with "the circle of life" is taken a turn towards the morbid. She'll often say the following while playing with her plastic bug collection:

"He's going to eat him, gulp, yum!"

or

Michaela: "Oh no, he's going to sting me!"
Mommy or Daddy (saying for the hundredth time): "Don't worry, he won't sting you."
Michaela: "No? Well, he might still try."

or

"When the wasp egg hatches, the larva consumes the spider and then pupates; the next spring the adult emerges to complete the life cycle."

Please note: She didn't actually use those exact words for the last one, but pretty close.

Pet Store Pics

Josh has commented that he hopes to set Michaela up with her first fish tank. She seems to have picked out one that she likes. What do you think Josh, is a Lionfish a good choice for a beginner? After all, the venomous fin spines are rarely fatal...

P.S. Michaela would refer to it as a "Lion King"-fish.

Beep!

#2 in the "Remember When" series. Oct. 2004

Happy Birthday Canada!

We went with Marthe to the Pointe Claire fireworks on Saturday. It was a very late night for Michaela, but she had a lot of fun. It was so cute, the way she oohed and aahed over each one. Saying thing like, "It's wonderful", and "It's amazing".

Nine Long....I Mean "Wonderful" Years

On Thursday we went out to dinner to celebrate our Ninth Wedding anniversary. Jonathan's mother, Marthe, his Uncle John and Aunt Shelley and our cousin Sara came along as well as Auntie Donna, Uncle Rick and Suzanne and Lucas. I only met John and Shelley back in February because they only just moved here from B.C. And it was our first time meeting our cousin Sara. The Neufeld, Lajoie, Vanns and Santos hit it off splendidly. We all had a fabulous time.

And on a separate note, Michaela's most favorite person in the world seems to be her Uncle Lucas. She talks about him all the time, and follows him around whenever she can. I can't tell you how long it's been since she has fallen asleep on someone. I think I can tell you his secret though...The other day Michaela was balancing in my knees, and said, "look at me...I flying. Like Uncle Lucas." You see, Lucas always picks Michaela up and flies her around the room like an airplane. She loves it.