Bowling! (91/365)

New Dress (90/365)

Takin' a Ride! (89/365)

Bedtime Books (88/365)

Dear Sweet Lord... (87/365)

I'm more miserable today than yesterday. I stayed home.

Petite stayed home again too. But unfortunately she refused to nap. I HAD to lie down, so I put her in her bedroom to play. She happily did so.

And about 30 or 40 mins later, I was startled awake by a shout...

"Mommy, help! I'm upside down!"

I run to her room, where I'm greeted by this:

What you see is the contents of her dirty laundry basket, her toys, her three-drawer dresser and her bookcase scattered all over her floor. And she is hanging on the back of her bed, jumping and imitating a monkey.

I sat down and cried. After which I texted Hubby this photo.

He came home from work to relieve me and I gratefully crawled back in bed.

I beg that the pox/plague be done soon please.

I'm Trapped! (86/365)

I'm fighting a flu with aches and chills and the like. And Petite is snotty nosed, spluttering hither and yon. We both stayed home today. (I'll be honest, I wish I could have taken her to daycare; I would have gotten much more rest if that had been the case.)

Anyway, after a long-delayed nap this afternoon, she emerged to play again a little more. I was in the kitchen, and next thing I heard, she's yelling, "Mommy, I'm trapped!"

I poked my head out to see her frantically waving her arms.

On the left side, note Shadow (one of the cats) on the corner of the TV console, completely ignoring her antics.

And yes, we spent the day in our jammies. And LOVED it. :)

Helping (85/365)

And a very good little helper she is too, when it comes to making the bed!

Mind you, it takes us longer... but that isn't the point, right?

Books (84/365)

This morning, Petite was quiet as a church mouse. I knew she was in her bedroom. Hubby went to investigate.

He found her on the floor of her bedroom, pulling each of her books out in turn and flipping through them, "reading" the stories one at a time. She so loves her books!

Caring, Thoughtful Girl (83/365)

For the past few days, I've been fighting off a cold/flu that won't quit. This evening at home, I was sitting on this chair, checking my e-mail on my laptop in the kitchen and Petite came up to me. She said something about playing with her, and I said, "In a minute honey. Mommy's not feeling well right now." "Mommy getting sick?" she asked. "Yes, just a little cold," I replied.

Next thing I know, she goes to the living room, and brings back this pillow. She stuffed it behind my back and said, "Mommy sleep time. You can get better."

Seriously?! How many two and a half year olds do you know who are thoughtful like that? This is just one example of Petite's caring nature. My God. How did we ever get so lucky?

Dinos at Home (82/365)

Petite was so enthralled with the dinosaurs, Hubby went out this morning and got these for her to play with.

A Night at the Museum (81/365)

One of my childhood classmates/neighbours/friends, the talented Ms. Helen Gregory, launched her art exhibit, Unrequited Death, at the Canadian Museum of Science and Nature in Ottawa today. I was honoured to receive an invitation to the opening and planned for Petite and I to attend. Although I knew that we wouldn't stay long, given Petite's lack of patience for all things adult (and knowing the museum would be closed during the exhibition), I was eager to attend.

Helen was always so very gifted with her art. I admired her work even as a child and I knew she would do something great with it. Voilà, the proof.

I found her work absolutely stunning and so very romantically beautiful. I'd read on Facebook all summer about "The Squid" and how it was giving her grief. We all rejoiced when she announced that it was finally complete! I was happy to be able to see it firsthand.

Of course, Petite just wanted to play.



Another of our childhood classmates, Fiona, was there, and her friend in turn is married to a gentleman who works at the Museum. He sets up exhibits. Seeing how restless Petite was, his wife leaned down and whispered to Petite, "Do you like dinosaurs?" Petite nodded eagerly. "Then let's see if we can go find some dinosaurs!"

Mind you, the Museum was closed to the public, but of course, there was no trouble getting the key. After saying our goodbyes, Petite and I were ushered down to the first floor where the door was unlocked and we were given a private tour of the dinosaur area. She had never seen them before, so she was a bit intimidated by their size... and the belief that they were real. When we showed her that it was okay, they weren't real and they wouldn't bite her, she relaxed somewhat.

Here, she was taken by the "baby" dinosaur on the right, near its mother.



"Oooh" she repeated, over and over in awe.


Her most wonderful moment? "Mommy, I touched dino poop!" accompanied by a giggle!



What a wonderful opportunity! I plan to take her back to see the rest of the Museum when the opportunity arises. And congratulations to Helen on a marvelous exhibition!

*Apologies for the tardiness; my family was visiting and things were rather busy. I took these photos during their visit here, however, I'm only finding time to upload them now... a week late.

New Refrigerator (80/365)

Well, the good news is, I found a fridge. Our last fridge was second-hand and it lasted about 7 years or so. This one, I spent considerably less on. It'll do... as long as it's functional, it already has one up on the old fridge!

We spent the better part of the day finding this one, making a few phone calls, seeing it, organizing delivery, cleaning out the old one, relocating food to the basement freezer or little bar fridge, moving the old fridge out (taking off the doors as required by law), bringing in this one, cleaning it out, doing some carpentry work to accommodate it, changing the door to open on the left side and then moving necessary food back into it.

After all that was done, we were all too tuckered out to prepare a meal... though I had been looking forward to Mom's roast. Wow, she cooks a mean roast beef. Yummy! But it was too much. She cooked the roast (it was thawed!) but we ended up ordering pizza. Not the same, but it'll do in a pinch.

At some point during the insanity of the day, we look into the living room, and there's Petite, being good and quiet and amusing herself while the four of us adults were terribly busy. My God. But how could she have been any more angelic? Seriously. She deserved a treat. Daddy took her and Auntie B out for ice cream and brought some back for me and Mom.




*Apologies for the tardiness; my family was visiting and things were rather busy. I took these photos during their visit here, however, I'm only finding time to upload them now... a week late.

Sleepy Girl (79/365)

I was busy with a few things at home, namely trying to find a new refrigerator FAST because ours decided to give up the ghost. Things were thawing and I had to get a move on.

Obviously I didn't put Petite to bed in a timely fashion. So she decided to put herself to bed on the living room floor instead. She dragged out pillows and blankets and made herself comfortable while she waited patiently for me. Bless her sleepy little soul.

*Apologies for the tardiness; my family was visiting and things were rather busy. I took these photos during their visit here, however, I'm only finding time to upload them now... a week late.

Bubbles! (78/365)

Out on our front drive, blowing bubbles with Auntie B. And loving it!

Later that night, at dinner, Mom, Aunt B and I were enjoying a cup of tea. Petite got up from the table and went to the kitchen. I asked, "Where are you going?" She replied, "To get a cup. Tea." Upon returning with her cup and a book, she plopped herself down in the chair, set her book down and took out a cookie to have with her tea. Too funny! Oh my girl, you have the sweetest demeanour ever!

*Apologies for the tardiness; my family was visiting and things were rather busy. I took these photos during their visit here, however, I'm only finding time to upload them now... a week late.

Bike! (77/365)

We bought Petite her first bike! Hubby put it together and we set it up for her to find when she woke up this morning. It's a glider style; no pedals, so kids can learn to run and balance on them first. When that's done, she'll be ready for a 'real' bike. We'll see how this works out.

Ready to ride! Go get 'em baby girl!

*Apologies for the tardiness; my family was visiting and things were rather busy. I took these photos during their visit here, however, I'm only finding time to upload them now... a week late.

Sandwich (76/365)

Petite was horsing around with my mom and my aunt. She decided to drag their pillows off the beds and come play "sandwich" in the kitchen, on the floor...

We played along. And then I gave Mom and my aunt new pillowcases.

*Apologies for the tardiness; my family was visiting and things were rather busy. I took these photos during their visit here, however, I'm only finding time to upload them now... a week late.

New 'Baby' (75/365)

My desktop died a few weeks ago. It was a quick death; we tried to reboot it to reconnect the network after moving a few things around and it decided that it wasn't healthy enough to boot up. Luckily the hard drive was safe and sound so hubby immediately started uploading photos to an online storage spot just in case. (Gotta love Cloud Computing.)

Anyway, after a bit of searching, I bought this new laptop. Honestly, my desktop was at my desk in the basement. I spent many nights there before Petite arrived, gaming with my friends (both RL and IG). Now that Petite is the focus of my life, I rarely get to log in anymore, and that's okay. But now and then when I have time, I like to log in. Yet with the desktop in the basement, I never got downstairs for any length of time. (We own a bungalow with a finished basement.)

In any case, now that I have a good laptop upstairs, I can hopefully log in now and then. The laptop ought to be able to run my game (EQII) without too much trouble. I'm crossing my fingers!

Yee Haw! (74/365)

Upon spying my hat from Australia displayed in my global knick-knacks shelving unit, she decided she wanted to try on the hat. She did so, and with loud a "Yee Haw!" she went out to the living room to find her horsey to complete the look.

Cute huh?

Snuggly Girl (73/365)

Early morning, on our way to the caregiver's house, she wanted all the blankets on her. No clue why, but I obliged her.

As she grows older, she is becoming more cuddly, but she's still not content to snuggle and cuddle for any length of time. So when she does get like this, I grab every moment to indulge and enjoy it to the fullest.

Fussiness (72/365)

The time change on Saturday night hasn't been felt until tonight... when Petite really didn't want to go to bed at all. She tossed and turned. She resorted to the tried and true tricks: need to pee, scared, thirsty, read a book, where's my flashlight, all those and more.

It was about 9:45 by the time she finally settled down. I foresee a tough morning tomorrow. Wish me luck.

In this photo, you can see some of the numerous toys and things she insists she surround herself with before going to bed. I think there are items in that bed from every single special person in her life. She cherishes them all.

P.S. I apologize for the colour; it was semi dark in her room and this was taken with my iPhone.

Cinderella (71/365)

Hubby was home tonight and the three of us sat and watched the original 1950 version of Cinderella.

By the time "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" came on, Petite was bouncing along in time with the music, astride the arm of the sofa.

When she saw Cinderella and the Prince kiss at the end of the film, she declared, "Awwww, that's sooo nice."

Weather Forecast (70/365)

This... now THIS makes me a happy girl.

It'll make my mom and aunt happy too; they arrive on Wednesday morning. They just got 30 cms of snow dumped on them this past week and coming from that to temps in the mid-teens will be a lovely change of pace for them!

Just seeing this on the news at supper hour made me gasp and gave me goosebumps. Bring on SUMMER!!!

Artwork (69/365)

I got a call today from Petite's caregiver; she was running a temp of 100.5 and was generally out of sorts. I made arrangements at the office to leave early to pick her up. At home, she was generally snuggly and tired, but she did want to make something for me. She started in with the Play-doh.

She came to me pronouncing "'prise" (aka "surprise") and handed me this. I held it gently, flat in my palm and dutifully ooohed and ahhed over it. I went to touch it and she covered it with her hand, saying "No Mommy, no touch. Not til Halloween." And then she took it back.

Funny girl.

It looks a bit like a hydrangea to me. I love those flowers, don't you?

Now if I could get her temp to break, that would be smashing.

The Dentist (68/365)

Petite did a great job for her first trip to the dentist today. She had her teeth cleaned and the dentist pronounced "No cavities!"

He also pronounced, "You look so much like your mother!" She immediately replied, "No I'm not." It made me giggle.

When she was done, she got a new toothbrush, a little tube of kids toothpaste, a little colouring book and she got to pick a toy from the treasure chest. She chose a rainbow bracelet and put it on. I also told her that for being such a good girl, we could go buy a new book (she loves her books). She looked up at me, turned to the receptionist and then back to me, and somewhat perplexed, she asked, "It's my birthday?" I told her no, but for being such a good girl on her first trip to the dentist, we were all very proud of her and she deserved a little treat.

Warmer Weather (67/365)

Showing off her new splash suit while playing with one of her daycare friends. (Petite is two and a half, while A, her friend, is about 15 months in this photo.)

We hit a record high of 12 degrees here today; I love the sound of snow and ice cracking as it melts! Bring on spring!

Budding Artist (66/365)

She was practising her colours and decided to make me a picture.

La Luna (65/365)

On a cold winter's evening, the clear sky is broken only by the beautiful round moon high above the tree tops.

It was gorgeous. Both Petite and I stopped to admire it for a moment. And then we scampered indoors; for March 5, it's bitter cold with a wind chill in the -20s today! Brrr!

On a personal note, today is my father's 71st birthday; Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!

Silly Girl (64/365)

She decided her doll skirt can function as a hat.

And pronounced herself a "silly girl" for using it that way.

Whatever floats her boat!

Open House at the Stables (63/365)

Petite and I, along with our friends K & K, went to visit the stables today. I work for the national police force (the RCMP) and the Mounties always open up the stables a couple of times a year for the public to visit. It's free, but they do collect for the food bank. We got the e-mail a few weeks ago, so I immediately planned to take Petite this year. We had fun for a few hours this morning.

Sorry the pic is a bit blurry; there was a huge smudge on the lens!

Bathtime (62/365)

Migraine (61/365)

I spent the day vacillating between tears and squinting.

Not fun.