What a difference a year makes

Comparing some pictures from June of last year, you can really see the degrees to which Michaela's changed and grown.

Ugh... What time is it?

Michaela woke up especially early (5:45am) on Saturday, which if you think about it, is 2:45am in Vancouver. We explained to her that it's still night time and that she should go back to bed, which to her credit, she did. However, the damage was done, Jonathan couldn't fall back asleep. Michaela ended up staying in bed until 6:15am.

Anyway, concerning the post, Cara bought Michaela a "revolving plug in fish light thingy" which Michaela appropriately calls the "fish movie". She's enthralled. She likes to point to individual fish and call out a combination of the following:

"Oh, it's Nemo!!!"
"He's swimming just like Michaela."
"There's an angry fish!"
"Uh oh. He wants to bite me."

"There's Nemo's daddy!"

P.S. She's pictured here wearing her princess costume. We're trying to get a picture of her curtsy-ing. With any luck, it will be up shortly.

Quality time with the Gerbils

As a new bedtime routine, Michaela gets a few moments of (supervised) time with the gerbils. Here she is being tickled by one of them (we're not sure which one yet).

Michaela's Friday Night!

We've tried to keep Friday nights special by making them especially for Michaela. This means that she gets to spend the evening watching whatever she wants and gets to have as much popcorn as will fit within her small frame. Previous nights have included watching "Gummy Bears" episodes and even old episodes of "The Muppet Show" (we have them all). Tonight's selection was a collection of Donald Duck cartoons. Michaela thought he was really funny.

Ah! Nature

Michaela has this delightfully annoying ability of turning a 5 minute walk home from the bus stop, into a 30 minute stroll, in which she picks and blows every dandelion, finds every single bug, examines every ant hill, picks up every stick, and yet somehow can't seem to notice any one of the many piles of dog poo before stepping in them. Thankfully, that is the ONLY thing I am looking for, so I've gotten pretty good at warning her in time! Michaela has redefined the term "doddling". Ah, but I love to see her enjoying nature, and the wonders that it holds.

On a completely different topic......where are those gerbil name suggestions!? So far only Josh and Mom have come up with any. Josh came up with the names "Peek" and "Boo", which we thought were very cute. And Mom's very witty suggestions were, well, to quote her, "You could call them Geraldine and Wilhelmina. Well, that's a mouthful for a 2-year-old, so you could shorten it to Gerry and Billy, or how about Ger and Bill." Very cute as well. So, if you don't feel creative enough to compete against these suggestions, then at least put your vote in for which you like better. Thanks. Let's not keep those poor gerbils in nameless limbo much longer!

Rewards!!!!

And what dentist's visit is complete without the promise of rewards for good behavior. Michaela was treated to a delicious lunch of pea soup and an extra large milk, and then a ride on the mechanical cow. Quite a full day for my little one. She had a very long nap when we got home. I was so proud of her behavior all day, well except when I caught her coloring with crayons in a reading book in the dentist's waiting room......oh well, no one's perfect.

What Beautiful Teeth!

Here's Michaela at the dentist's. The dentist we found for her is absolutely wonderful. He was funny and exciting, and made the whole process fun and adventurous. Michaela still hasn't stopped talking about him. She has no cavities, but her thumb sucking is starting to distort her palate, so we're supposed to start gently encouraging her to suck her thumb less. She goes back in a few weeks to have sealants put on a few of her molars because, like her Mommy, she has very deep grooves on her teeth, and that will help cavities form in the future. Her dentist is so great, I'm sure it will go smoothly.

The Wheels on the Bus

Michaela loves riding the bus, it's hard to get her to sit still. Her favorite part is ringing the bell to get off.

The Ant Hunter

Michaela will use ANY opportunity to hunt for bugs, whether we're walking to the park, waiting for a bus or whatever. This picture was taken at a bus stop on our way to Michaela's very first dentist appointment. She's using the stick to dig through the dirt, hoping to stir up some bugs. She may love bugs, but she's fastidiously clean, (probably gets that from her Dad!).

For a Rainy Day

Auntie Isabel sent us this rain coat for Michaela. It's so perfect for her, and she loves it. Here she is admiring herself in the mirror.

Home Sweet Home

So this is how our Gerbils live. Not quite the lap of luxury, but pretty darn close. The cages are connected by a tube and there are openings which can be used for add-ons in the future. It's pretty cool.

Gerbil Pictures

Cara put together the Gerbil habitat and Michaela helped introduce them to their new home. Here are some pictures of the housewarming party.

P.S. The blog for the gerbils will be up shortly. Be sure to check in often.
http://funwithplaguecarriers.blogspot.com/

New Family Members

Well, we're the proud owners of new pets. We now have (no less than) two Gerbils, sisters in fact . For those of you who don't know what a Gerbil is, I found the image of one below.


I won't scare you with the exact cost of it all. Suffice to say that after getting the habitats, wood chips, food, snacks, the running wheel and traps (in case they escape), you still have to shell out more money for the actual rodents.

Anyway, we were trying to think of appropriate names for them and we were wondering if you had any input. So far, some suggestions have included the names of famous sisters (throughout history) or perhaps Disney princesses.

Please note: If we decide to go with your suggestion, we'll share with you any disease that the Gerbils pass on to us. Tempting, isn't it?

Concordia class of 2026?

We had some t-shirts made for the lab. Michaela is shown here modelling the shirt I designed.

For Franceen

This reminded me of "Dandelion Bouquets".

More fun at the park

Forget Paleontologist...

A while ago we posted on our feisty fledgling fossil finder. However, upon further consideration and examination, it's seems that Michaela's more of an entomologist (…an indomitable immature insect identifier, if you will).

She's constantly crouching down on the ground looking for bugs and trying to coax them onto her hand. That is when she’s not apologizing for stepping on them (“Sorry I step on you!”), only to go ahead and do it anyway.

Here she is pictured attempting to hone her ant searching skills and bug calling techniques:

"A study of motion"

Trying different settings on the camera. This one didn't turn out too badly.

Self Portrait

Whenever we pass by this sign, Michaela points out that the man is daddy. I don't know, I just can't see the resemblance...

...besides, it lacks definition.

Summer's Here!

Cause of the fire

Okay,

The fire marshall (i.e. me) has determined the cause of the fire. Turns out, if one were to turn on the burner under a pot of soup but accidentally turn on the burner that happens to be under the plastic kettle instead...

that's bad...

anyway, everything turned out fine. Tea anyone?


Cara here: I guess Jon decided my punishment would be to further embarrass me by posting these pictures. I guess I should tell you all what happened. Michaela and I had just returned from the gym, I gave her lunch, and was about to put her down for a nap, when I decided to put a pot of water on the stove to boil. I guess I turned on the wrong burner, but didn't notice. 2 minutes later I was in Michaela's room, reading her a story when the fire alarm went off. I rushed into the kitchen to find the kettle and half the stove on fire. I quickly searched for the fire extinguisher, but when I couldn't find it (I blame Jon's obsessive tidying and organizing), I ran into the hallway where there was a large one. I blasted the flames away, (although to be honest, for a second when the flames flared up again, I got a little nervous). But all in all it was put out safely, unfortunately there was a thick black smoke in almost all of the apartment. As much as it killed me to do this I decided that the smartest thing to do would be to call the fire department, just to be on the safe side. Well.....Even though I insisted it was no big deal, and the fire was out, two minutes later, half a dozen fire trucks come screeching down the street sirens blaring! Another half dozen firefighters came barging into our apartment with full gear on wielding life saving axes and oxygen tanks. "Embarrassing" does not even begin to describe it. They poked around a few minutes then declared everything safe. Here's the kicker.....when they left, they once again (I assume just for the fun of it), left with sirens blaring as if to declare to the world that here live an absent minded, careless housewife. Oh well, Michaela had fun.

Disaster Averted!

Cara started the fire! (Hum this to the tune of Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire").

Jon here:

Okay. I've calmed down a bit...

First, I freaked out by the idea that Cara and Michaela might have been engulfed in flames. Then, reason took over and I began asking myself...
"Okay, how much is this going to cost to fix?".

Now, I'm thinking, "How on earth will I ever be able to replace the salt & pepper shakers that Mom & Dad gave us, you know the wooden ones, that added fuel to the flames?"

Another Cat Picture

I know what you're all thinking, another picture of Michaela and Newt. Well this one was too cute to resist. The thing that makes me so amazed is the fact that Newt keeps coming back for more. Michaela isn't all that gentle with the cats. She seems to think they are her own personal dolls. The other day I caught her carrying Newt upsidedown, with his back feet (the ones with claws) up in her face. Luckly Newt didn't "accidentally" scratch her, but Michaela was asking for it! For anyone who doesn't know our cats well, Newt was always the nervous, skittish type, where as Nosy was friendly and outgoing, and would put up with anything. Things have changed. Newt puts up with anything, but if Michaela goes near Nosy she gets growled at, swipped and sometimes bitten. In Nosy's defence, it's justified because Michaela is way too rough with her, and she's getting old. But it makes me happy to see Newt and Michaela so close!

Mother's Day

Jon and Michaela bought me a wonderful BBQ for Mother's day. Here they are putting it together. Michaela loves to help out when there's anything to be done. We've been BBQing almost non-stop since. Jon did the first one, but I insisted he show me how, so now I'm doing the BBQing. It was a little scary at first, I have to admit, with the gas and the flames, but I think I'm doing pretty well now. Thanks Jonathan and Michaela for a great Mother's Day!

Tuckered Out!

Well it was a crazy, fun, busy week, and we finally left to go home. Michaela was thrilled to be riding the train, but quickly tired and dozed off. She slept the last hour and was so happy to finally see Daddy again. We both missed him so much.

Isn't That Cold!!!

Well the answer is yes! Very cold! But Michaela was determined to go in the lake, at first she just paddled in water that was ancle deep, but kept going further and further. That's when I decided to join her. It was very hot in the sun and the water was so refreshing.

Just a Cute Picture of Michaela in a Dinosaur Outfit

Wack-An-Alligator

On Tuesday Mom and I babysat Elizabeth. We took the girls to the Playtrium, which is a gigantic indoor junglegym and play place. They had a ton of fun. Michaela loved this game. Alligators come out and you have to wack them before they bites. She was very good at it.

Two Cuties!

Michaela had lots of time this visit to play with Elizabeth. They had lots of fun.

Yes, We Missed Daddy Too!

Chillin' By The Lake

Michaela and I just spent a week relaxing and recharging our batteries in Kingston. Michaela loved playing by the water, throwing anything she could find into the lake.

Going Way Back.....

Sorry for the lateness of these pics. Things have been so busy. Here are a few special photos from Suzanne and Lucas' 10 year anniversary party. I love the picture of Michaela and Lucas. Michaela adores Lucas, and spent the whole night trying to play with him and get his attention.

Random Adorable Picture

This was taken during a get together at Rick & Donna's last Easter. Michaela is pictured here enjoying a fruit salad while everyone chatted around her.

Missing my girls

Cara and Michaela are in Kingston visiting family for the next few days and things on this end are really lonely.

:(

Michaela & Daddy - 08

Michaela & Daddy - 07