Decoding Michaela's Birthmark: Part 2 - Egyptian Edition

An alternate interpretation has arisen concerning Michaela's birthmark.

It turns out that the figures that appear on Michaela's leg correspond to actual Egyptian hieroglyphics.

These symbols can actually be translated into the following message:

"Fare northwards, great view".

These findings are absolutely amazing. It is fascinating to see that even the ancient Egyptians were privy to the knowledge regarding the beauty of the North:

The aurora borealis, the great ice caps, La Ronde, Celine Dion.

Absolutely breath-taking.

Michaela: The Insect Whisperer

Here are some shots of Michaela with various bugs from last week. To give credit where credit is due, she found the caterpillar in the first picture, grampa Ron found the stick-insect from the second and daddy found the millipede from the third. Nevertheless, each time, Michaela was more than happy to have the opportunity to touch and hold them.

Oh, and we were so proud of how gentle she was. (If only she could treat the cats as gently...)

Michaela's Height Over Time

A special part of any person's childhood is a growth chart. When Michaela was born while we lived in a one bedroom apartment, we realized that chances were, we wouldn't be there too long. Sure enough, we've moved twice since. Nevertheless, we got a piece of wood, stained it, varnished it and put it up. We've used it as a measuring post for Michaela with her own inscription on it.


Now that she's had her third birthday, the "notches" are starting to add up...

Decoding Michaela's Birthmark

For quite a while now, I've been trying to understand what the birthmark on Michaela's right leg refers to...

Placed on it's side, the symbols become clear. Obviously, the birthmarks refer to three key symbols. The first is a T-Rex's mouth. The second is a geographical map of Africa during the Cretaceous period while the last symbol is the same during the Pliocene.

Obviously, what Michaela's birthmark is trying to say is that while it was previously thought that Tyrannosaurus Rex went extinct 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period, it turns out that they continued to rule most of Africa (and India) until well into the Pliocene (2.4 million years ago).

This finding will revolutionize the field of paleontology. It's not terribly often that one as young as three years old has such a profound impact on any field. With this is mind, I can only wait to see what Michaela does once she's entered academia (if she so chooses, of course...).

Lastly, if anybody has an alternative explanation I look forward to receiving it but I find it hard to believe that anyone will be able to come up with a better explanation.

Michaela's Art: Sounds Reproduced as Drawings

Michaela like most children her age, likes to draw. Today, she prepared three masterpieces. When I asked her what they were pictures of, she explained each one as a sound or song. I thought that it was adorable/unique. Below is each drawing along with the corresponding words that it apparently represents:

This one is from a Robert Munsch book, which Michaela sang to me:
"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
as long as I'm living
my baby you'll be."

Here is a link to an MP3 of the story (read by Robert Munsch).


This one is:
"No! Don't touch that!"
(I wonder where she heard that...)

Finally, this last one in the happy birthday song, which Michaela sang softly into my ear.

Michaela's BBQ Birthday Party

On her actual birthday, we held a BBQ at our place for family members to celebrate Michaela turning three years old.

We had a wonderful time, unfortunately we didn't realize that we'd run out of propane. Rick actually went and got our tank filled for us, thus saving the day!

Boy, was Michaela wired! She knew that everyone was there with presents. Even something as simple as catching a picture of her was quite a challenge.
It was quite the party, Michaela's great-grandmother Margaret, grandfather Bruce, uncle John, aunt Shelley as well as uncle Rick, auntie Donna and cousin Matthew were all there.

Video Highlight:

Jon's Birthday Gift

Cara got me a really amazing birthday gift, an underwater case for our new camera.

You can expect an entry very soon with some of the highlights. In the meantime, here's a picture that I took of Cara.

Unfortunately, we decided to return it. After using it a couple of times some sand got into the hinge and it would no longer close as completely as it used to. The last thing we wanted is for it to leak and ruin our brand new camera. Oh well, we did get a bunch of cool pictures though as you'll be able to see for yourself.

And, We're Back!!!

Okay, we've come home after having been in Kingston a week. We came back to two cats (who greeted us with relatively few hairballs) and thankfully, the same number of gerbils that we had before we left.

On another note, Michaela was spoiled rotten and we can look forward to spending the next few months de-programming her (essentially repairing the damage that Gramma and Grampa caused). Which, to be completely honest, we wouldn't have it any other way. Already Michaela has had a rude awakening. Once back home, her demands for juice were met with a stolid look. Even after asking politely, she made do with water. Moreover, she's had to cope with going to the bathroom alone, after having had Gramma as an escort for the past week.

We're working on a myriad of blog entries, including: Michaela's "2nd" birthday party, her "3rd" birthday party, Jon's birthday gift, highlights of our time in Kingston among several others. Please stay tuned.

P.S. This photo came from Gramma and Grampa's camera of our arrival in Kingston, unfortunately nobody was there to photograph our return to Montreal. :(

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.