What the Sherwins have been up to in 2013

I still suck at updating the blog although I am doing an update sooner than the last one I did so that’s something. One day I hope to update the blog once a month, not once every few months. I’m sure only 1 person reads the blog anyway, and she probably gets all the important updates from her mom/my mother-in-law. But I’m sure she doesn’t get all the tiny details and so I will try to include as many of those as I can. Without further ado, here is our 2013 update thusfar…


January:

In January Chris celebrated his 32nd birthday. The girls decorated a shirt from him at daycare with their hand prints (so cute!), we got him a 49ers hat, and had dinner at Boston Pizza. On January 12 Aurora and I went on a mommy-daughter date to the movies. Aurora doesn’t go to the movies often so it’s a real treat for her and she is very well behaved. She loves getting popcorn! This time we went to see Rise of the Guardians and she did get bored about 60 minutes in and started walking around and playing with the seats. There were only 2 other people there so I think it was necessary to stop her. After about 10 minutes of playing around she sat back down and finished watching the movie. We also got a lot of snow in January and went tobogganing down the little hill behind my sister’s house. Aurora loves the snow, and loves tobogganing! Sophie, on the other hand, hates the white stuff. She doesn’t even want people playing in the snow near her. She doesn’t like touching it or walking in it or really even looking at it lol

Big news for January – Sophie got teeth!!!! 4 of them (well, technically 3 since the first came on December 29). She got her top central incisors first and then her bottom central incisors. It’s so crazy how much teeth can change a child’s smile.

February:

For Valentine’s Day Aurora and I made heart shaped crayons that she gave to her friends at daycare. It’s really cool to do; break apart a bunch of crayons (or if you’re like us you already have a bunch that are broken), put them in silicone muffin tins (ours were heart shaped and I got it at Dollarama), and bake. The wax melts, the colours mix, and then the wax cools and hardens to make a multicolour crayon. We also went out to Boston Pizza for heart-shaped pizza. And yes, I realize we went to BP 2 months in a row but honestly, it is a very easy restaurant to take young kids to. And we have a stamp card to get a free kid’s meal with every adult meal so it saves us money too. Also in February we celebrated Family Day. Gotta love long weekends! We started the day off with some painting which always involves Sophie trying to eat the paint and then getting upset and crying when I won’t let her. After that we went to PAMA (Peel Art Gallery, Museum, and Archives) for some Family Day Festivities. Aurora and I made a paper canoe, we checked out some paintings, the girls played with some blocks, checked out the old jail, and playing with the Zoosemobile. Think Dr. Suess meets Stomp! Aurora had a blast banging away on the drums. And of course we played in the snow some more. Now that I was onto Sophie’s dislike of snow, she would stay home with Chris and Aurora and I would go outside and play. We made snow angels, snow castles, and slid down the hill behind our apartment on our bums. I tried to get us a sled but they were all sold out. Next Winter I’ll get one in November!

Big news for February – Aurora got a ‘big girl’ bed! Thanks to Kijiji I got the Ikea Mammut toddler bed I had been eyeing but didn’t want to spend the money on. We transitioned her from her crib to a bed Family Day long weekend. She had been sleeping in a bed at day care for a while, and had been asking to sleep in our bed or on the couch, so we figured it was time. It hasn’t been a smooth transition but she’s doing better. We started with a sticker chart as her reward and when she filled a row with stickers (7) she’d get a treat. It worked for about 3 weeks and then she didn’t care anymore so I had to think of a new reward. She now gets 4 Cadbury mini eggs when she wakes up if she doesn’t cry at bed time, doesn’t play, and sleeps in her room by herself all night. If she has a perfect week she gets a big reward on Saturday. Hopefully the novelty of this doesn’t wear off.

March:

On March 2nd we celebrated my nephew Zachary’s 6th birthday with a bowling party. Initially Aurora was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds and just wanted to be held but about an hour into the 2 hour party she was dancing around and bowling. Sophie just wanted to be held the whole time, but not by me! She wanted anyone but me. It was pretty funny; she’d cry if someone tried to hand her back to me. On March 3rd I volunteered at Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation’s Dance to Conquer Cancer. It was a super fun event with lots of dancing, great food and drink, and Richard Simmons!!! On March 9th Sophie participated in a follow up study at UofT in their Infant Language and Development Lab. Both my kids have become quite the guinea pigs. We also did some fun activities and science ‘experiments’ in March. We made a rainbow volcano which basically was baking soda and vinegar coloured with food colouring. Both Aurora and I thought it was pretty fun to watch the baking soda bubble when she’d drop coloured vinegar on it (and equally as fun when she started putting the baking soda into the vinegar). We made moon sand (8 cups flour, 1 cup baby oil). Moon sand is so cool! It’s sculptable, crumbly, ‘sand’. You can build with it like wet sand but it also is very soft and crumbly like dry sand. Aurora and Zachary had a blast playing with it. Sophie didn’t want to touch it. We also decorated Easter eggs and tried using cookie cutters and stamps while painting.

Big news for March – I got a job!!!! My current job is a contract position covering a maternity leave and ends April 12. I’ve been panicking and super stressed about finding another job. I had applied to numerous positions, had a few interviews, and finally got a job as a Clinical Data Coordinator at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in clinical trials in the Division of Medical and Oncology Hematology’s. I start April 15.



                     

                                 

                       

   

                                 

                                 

                       

                                 

Merry Christmas!!!

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas! The girls slept until 8am which was a very nice gift, and had tons of fun with the presents (or in Sophie's case, the bows). Aurora was very excited to open her gifts and has already played with them all.  Her big gifts were plush Toopy & Binoo and Patchy Patchy dolls, a Littlest Pet Shop house with pets, and a train set.  Sophie's big gift was an activity cube.  Chris got a new winter jacket and I got a beautiful photo of the girls framed. 

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! All the best in 2013!



Merry Christmas!

 








Santa Photo 2012



Christmas morning family photo





 






The girls before ripping into the presents.



Think Sophie likes it?





Aurora patiently waiting to open more gifts.



Playing with Sophie's activity cube.

I'm horrible at blogging!!!

Wow, am I ever behind. I would blame it on being back at work however that only happened at the end of October and I haven’t updated August, September, or October. So my excuse is lack of time. Updates take a lot of time, and that’s just something I didn’t (and still don’t) have. But I am going to make an effort now on my lunch break to do an update. Sorry there’s no photos, I don’t have any at work, but I’ll try to put some up this weekend.


August – in August we went to Safari Niagara (pretty much a small zoo) but what was cool was that Aurora and I got to feed a giraffe!!! They have a bus that goes around the zoo so it’s convenient for Chris since there’s not too much walking for him to do, but we also can get off at certain stops and see the animals.

We also went to Canada’s Wonderland in August before my niece and nephews went back to school. We all had a blast! Aurora absolutely LOVED the rides, I loved being able to go on the rides (couldn’t last year because I was pregnant with Sophie) and Sophie loved people watching and being held by some aunts and an uncle. We got there early, stayed late, ate bad food, it was great! Aurora talked about it for weeks afterwards. I can’t wait to go next year when Sophie can go on more rides.

August also saw the girls share a room for the first time. We did sleep training with Sophie and it went surprisingly well. She seemed to catch on right away. She did great the first week, hardly making a peep, but then had weeks of trouble after that. She got a cold so I figured that was part of the problem, then maybe she was teething, and finally we figured out she’s afraid of the dark, poor thing! So we’ve put a nightlight on in her corner and shes’ doing much, much better. Them sharing a room isn’t ideal cuz if 1 wakes they usually wake the other, but it’s working and it’s what we have to do right now.


September – In September we went to an airshow since Aurora loves airplanes!!! We had fun, although she wasn’t impressed with how loud they were, and after a while got bored. Still, it was a nice family outing and I think we’d do it again. She also went to Chudleigh’s apple farm which is a tradition of ours. We went on wagon rides, went through hay mazes, picked (and ate) apples, went to the petting zoo, went down slides, and my favourite, ate roasted corn on the cob! There was such a difference between what Aurora could do last year and this year. I can’t wait for next year for Sophie to join in on the fun (she slept a lot).


October – October was my last month of mat leave  I did not want it to end, and I was stressed about a job as I still hadn’t found one. Luckily there was an opening, albeit temporary, at The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation which is where I worked before my mat leave (again, temporarily) and after an interview I was offered the position. Phew! My first day of work was the first day my mat leave was over so the timing was perfect.

During October we tried to get in as many playdates as we could and went to indoor playgrounds fairly often. Aurora went to her first movie at the movie theatre with Chris; they saw Puss in Boots and surprisingly Aurora sat through the whole thing! She had a great time and often talks about it and says she wants to go see another one. Lucky for her she and Chris are going to see Monsters Inc. in 3D next week!

We went trick or treating with my sister, Danna, and nephew, Zachary, around their neighbourhood. Aurora dressed up like a dog and had so much fun. She thought it was great following Zach from house to house getting candy, and was in awe everytime another piece of candy was dropped into her bucket. She even said trick or treat and thank you to some people (she’s shy, remember?). Sophie came with us, I carried her, and she loved the people watching. She’s so curious. Sophie was dressed as the cutest pig there ever was. The weather cooperated with us luckily, it was mild but no rain like was forecast (and like we had all week). Aurora’s already saying that next year she wants to paint her face.

A big accomplishment in October was Chris finishing his MS rehab program!!!! It was grueling, involved appointments 4 days a week, and was about 2-3 months long, but had made a very big difference. Now if only he’d do his physio exercises at home!!!


November – I’m putting my return to the workforce under November as my first day back was October 29 and I don’t feel those 3 measly days merit posting under an entire month. The return to work has been difficult. The first day of day care the girls were fine. But the second day Aurora bawled; I guess she was onto us. She didn’t want me to leave her, she wanted to go home with me. It broke my heart and I cried in the car as I drove away. That week she cried 2 or 3 of the days at drop off (it’s such a distance memory now that it’s blurry). Sophie was just fine that week. However, the next week Sophie cried every day. And some days, just for good measure, Aurora would cry too. Seriously? I couldn’t catch a break. It took 3 or 4 weeks before the tears completely stopped however still Aurora sometimes cries in the morning at home when we’re getting ready or in the car on the way there, but is all smiles and walks right in the door when we arrive. Overall they’re doing well at day care, eating well, napping well, and getting along with the other kids. Aurora is still quite shy so doesn’t say much when she’s there, which is funny cuz she just won’t shut up at home! They do lots of crafts which I love, and our day care provider really takes good care of them.

Our big update for November is that Sophie turned 1 year old!!! It’s so cliché, but children really do grow up too fast. The past year has flown by, and I can’t believe my baby isn’t a baby anymore. She still doesn’t have any teeth, or much hair, but a few days before her birthday decided walking would finally be her preferred mode of transportation over crawling. She rarely crawls now, and is even trying to ‘run’ to get away from, or catch, Aurora.

Her party was a huge success! We had a Yo Gabba Gabba theme, complete with character cupcakes thanks to my sisters, a ‘put the eye on Muno’ game, and decorations. She destroyed her birthday cupcake, and was more interested in her birthday cards than gifts.


December – I’ll do a December update now since my next one will focus on Christmas. December has seen us all suffer from the stomach flu. It spread through our household like wildfire and try as I might, I was the last in our family to get it. Of course the day of my work’s holiday party, which I had been looking forward to for weeks (and years actually since I haven’t been to a work holiday party since 2009) was the morning I started throwing up. However, we are all now better and crossing our fingers we’re done with sickness!

We’ve received some funding from the MS Society and will be getting our first house cleaning next weekend. I’m soooo looking forward to that cuz washing the floors and bathroom and keeping up with the dishes is just not something Chris and I are able to do.


And now for updates on the girls. Sophie had her 1 year check on November 26 and weighs ~18lbs 5oz (I have the exact weight at home) and is 29.5” tall. She’s taller and weighs less than Aurora did at this age. As I said, she has no teeth, little hair, but is walking and sleeping like a champ. She’s still breastfed but gets a bottle of some breastmilk, some homo milk, once a day at day care. She eats pretty much anything given to her. She’s become more cuddly since I’ve started work, I guess it’s cuz she misses me (awww). She says “dada”, “mama”, “Aurora”, “hi”, and I swear just yesterday she said “banana”. She’s a climber and very mischievous. Aurora has quite a bit of hair now in comparison to even 6 months ago, although not enough for a proper ponytail. She has almost all her teeth, just waiting for 2 more 2nd year molars to come in. She’s been struggling with sleep lately. We’re giving her a lot of diaper free time to get used to using the potty but haven’t officially starting potty training. She still loves to sing and dance and right now her favourite song is “Jingle Bells”. She’s still a great mommy to her baby dolls, and a wonderful big sister to Sophie.

July = water and visitors

As the title says, July involved either water or visitors. Water-wise, we went swimming a lot, went to MarineLand, went to a cottage, and went to the beach with Chris' sister and family (see next sentence). Visitor-wise, a friend from Newfoundland (Ashley) was in Toronto for the JLo concert and paid us a visit, and Chris' younger sister, Amy, and her family were in Toronto for a wedding and so we got together with them twice.

Aurora looooooves swimming. She recently discovered swimming in the bathtub and ever since then she always wants to go swimming. Luckily my sister's townhouse complex has a wading pool and so we've gone over there quite a bit. Both girls enjoy being in the water, and it's a great way to cool off as I'm always in there too (either sitting on the edge with my feet in with Sophie, or walking around within arm's reach of Aurora). Our apartment building has a pool, but it's an actual pool so I dunno how I would tackle it with both kids. I always say I'll take Aurora down on the weekend and Sophie can stay upstairs with Chris, but I never do. Honestly, I'm not sure how she'd feel about a pool in which she can't touch the bottom.

Another water-related activity was our day trip to MarineLand. The girls and I went with Danna and Zachary on August 10. We went last year but Aurora was too small to go on the majority of the rides, and I was pregnant and so couldn't go on the majority of the rides. Guess that worked out well :) This year Aurora was able to go on quite a few rides, and I was more than happy to accompany her and Zachary on them while Danna hung out with Sophie and took photos. For the most part Aurora really enjoyed the rides, and there was even one in particular she wanted to go on over and over and over. However, she is not a fan of rides that spin, and clung to me and kept saying, "no, no, no". Poor thing :( But rides aren't the only thing at MarineLand. Aurora loved seeing the belugas and orca, watching the sea lion and dolphin show, feeding the fish, and petting the deer (which I was thoroughly impressed by seeing as she only likes animals from afar but is scared of them up close). She kept asking for "more aminals" to which we had to keep reminding her that it's not a zoo and that's all they have. When asked what her favourite part of the day was, she answered, "feeding the fishies".

The weekend of July 27-29 we went to my brother-in-law, Rod's, cottage. Aurora had never seen a cottage before, let alone been to one, so we tried explaining to her that it's like the beach with the sand and the water and boats, but also has a house and some animals, but not like at the zoo. I'm sure she was pretty confused but was excited to go as it meant she got to see Zachary and Aunt Danna. She had a blast! And Sophie seemed to really enjoy herself too! And the rest and relaxation and escape from everyday life is always nice for Chris and me. We swam in the lake multiple times a day (even Sophie 'swam' in an inflatable tube/seat thing), played in the sand (Sophie ate it), made s'mores, went for boat rides which Aurora thought were so cool, ate bbq which I love, read trashy magazines (well, I did), napped (3 of the 4 of us napped, the 2 year old excluded), Chris went fishing but didn't catch anything, and we just all round enjoyed the great outdoors.

We enjoyed 2 visits in July, Ashley, a friend from Newfoundland, came to Toronto to see the JLo and Enrique concert and so we spent a morning and early afternoon with her. Ashley was the very first visitor Aurora had after she was born; she visited us in the hospital the day Aurora was born! I couldn't believe it had been 2 years since we had seen eachother, but when we got together you wouldn't have known it. In true Aurora fashion it took her a while to warm up to Ashley, but soon she was sitting on Ashley's lap, holding her hand, and smiling and talking with her. Sophie was completely happy being held by Ashley, and didn't fuss at all. Ashley is just one of those people you love. I was so sad to see her leave, but hopefully it's not another 2 years before we see eachother again.

Our other visit was from the Masuzumis (Chris' younger sister, Amy, her husband, Todd, and their children, Lucy and Cole). They were in Toronto for a wedding, and we made a point of getting together with them. We hadn't seen them in nearly 2 years! We met them for sushi one night and it was just so weird to see our niece and nephew grown up (we've seen photos and videos but it's different in person). Lucy is outgoing, funny, sweet, and smart. Cole is shy with the cutest little voice. I just wanted to squeeze him! It was also the first time they've met Sophie. Actually, it was the first time any of Chris' family has met Sophie. Sophie was very content being held by her Auntie Amy and cousins and only started to fuss when she was hungry which of course coincided with my dinner arriving. The next day we met them at the beach (Kew Beach) and had a really fun day. Aurora,Cole, and Lucy enjoyed both the sand and water while Sophie enjoyed eating the sand (I swear I feed her!).  Afterwards we went to Licks for some ice cream, and then had to say goodbye. Aurora seemed to really bond with Lucy, and Sophie adored her Auntie Amy, so hopefully it's not too long before we see them again.

In kidlets news, July saw Sophie say "Dada" and a few weeks later "Mama" for the first time and Aurora got her top right eye tooth, bringing the count to 13.

I know, I know, I’m behind

I have said to Chris a number of times, “I should update the blog” and then I don’t. I blame it on the fact that I update from the laptop where all the photos are kept and I’m mainly on my iPad. Oh, and that I’m busy watching the girls cuz that’s what I’m supposed to be doing while on mat leave right?

May 2012:

We went to African Lion Safari on May 4. Aurora loved the animals!!! She and Chris were egging the monkeys on, both of them saying “come here monkey, come here” to try and get them onto our car. I was hella nervous they would climb on (the car infront of us had 3 monkeys on it and 1 peed) but luckily we got out of there unscathed. We’re pretty sure that Aurora’s favourite animal is the elephant so it was no surprise that she talked about the elephant show for weeks afterwards. Even still she’ll talk about an elephant painting because that’s what 1 did. I’m pretty sure she thinks all elephants paint. The trip would have been made better by some warmer weather, no tantrums from Aurora, and Sophie’s silence in the car but what can you do?

For Mother’s Day I got a new pair of running shoes which I desperately needed. I got the ones I wanted too, how did Chris know? Of that’s right, I went shopping for them :) We went out to dinner which was a disaster with a baby and toddler and no reservation but in hindsight I appreciated the efforts Chris made.  And spending time with my little family is always nice.
















On May 23 Sophie participated in her first (and second) research study for the University of Toronto, Mississauga campus, in the Infant and Child Studies Centre. Aurora has participated in quite a few of these studies as well. She even got a certificate deeming her a Juniour Scientist as well as a toy.

May 31st marked mine and Aurora’s birthdays. We went out for lunch, ordered dinner in, and Aurora and I both got to open a present. I got an awesome, totally over-the-top, new camera (you’ll see a difference in the quality of my photos from this date forward) along with a carrying case for it from Chris and the girls, and Aurora opened Sophie’s gift which was a Zooble. We left the rest of her gifts for her party, which was on June 2. And this is a perfect segue into June.

June 2012:

June 2 was Aurora’s 2nd birthday party. Our theme this year was Elmo, as she’s absolutely obsessed with him (or was. She seems to have moved onto Toopy and Binoo, or as she calls them “Toopys and Binoo”). We had an Elmo balloon, Elmo banner, Elmo crackers, Elmo plates/napkins/tablecloth, Elmo fruit and veggie bowls, and the best of all, Elmo cupcakes. We played a few Elmo’s World inspired games for the kids, had pizza, ate our cupcakes (Aurora did awesome blowing her candle out!), and Aurora opened her presents. As always she was spoiled; money, doll house, clothes, Leap Pad, Zoobles, and a bike (from Mommy and Daddy). She had a great time, as did her cousins who couldn’t stop talking about the party. Happy 2nd birthday Aurora, you’re such a big girl and loved very, very much!

June 10 was our 6 year wedding anniversary. Keeping with the traditional gifts (candy or iron for 6 years), I made Chris a candy bouquet and he got me a giant personalized cookie. What a sweet anniversary!!! My brother and sister-in-law, Randy and Alex, watched the girls and we went to a movie (Snow White and the Huntsman – very good!) and dinner.  It was nice to spend the time alone as we don’t get to do it often.














On June 11th the girls and I went with my sister, Danna, and nephew, Zachary, to the Toronto Zoo. Aurora absolutely loved it!!! She is very interested in animals lately. Again, her favourite was the “ephelant” but she also talks about the polar bears a lot (maybe because 1 is named Aurora???). She recounted all the animals she saw that night to Chris before bed, and even still asks me what we saw. Sophie did amazing and was probably the best behaved out of all the kids. It was a long day but well worth it to see how excited the kids were. And I was pretty darn excited to see the polar bear cub, the white lions (although I couldn’t differentiate them from the regular ones), and the penguins!

On June 16th Aurora and I had a Mommy-Daughter date and went to the Flower City Parade (aka Brampton Parade). Aurora thoroughly enjoyed all the flowers on the floats, as well as all the bands. She waved at everyone that passed. At the end she asked for more music. We finished the date with some ice cream – yum!

For Father’s Day I made a DAD photo collage for Chris, and took a photo of Aurora holding a “D”, Sophie holding a “D” and both of them holding an “A” and then assembled it in a frame. It’s now proudly on display on his desk at work. The girls also got him a Toronto Blue Jays hat. We ordered dinner in that night.

Sophie continues on solids and has only turned her nose up at mashed potatoes. How is it that both my kids don’t care for potatoes??? She gets upset if we’re eating at the table and she’s not, so I’m back to eating my food cold once I’m doing feeding her (really enjoy that Aurora can feed herself now).  She’s in the 90th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight, as of her 6 month check on June 4. She can move backwards and in a circle and can get up on her hands and knees, but hasn’t figured out forward motion yet. She can get from her tummy to sitting and uses that as a mode of transportation.

Aurora’s vocabulary astonishes us on a daily basis (just the other day I said to Chris “I didn’t know she knew that word” – it was ticklish). The terrible 2s started even before she turned 2 and I deal with tantrums pretty much on a regular basis. They’re worse if she doesn’t nap, and she’s never been a good napper, so some days are pretty tough, but then she does something cute or sweet and I forget about it. She’s between the 90th and 95th percentile for her height and 75th percentile for her weight as of her 2 year check up on June 4. Yup, we have some tall girls on our hands!