Mid-May

For heaven's sake! Mid-May already. Where does the time go?

We have been having a grand time in the McBryder household. Sammy has been providing us with much entertainment: she is such a sunny child. April and May were filled with days at the co-op interspersed with family outings.

Here is Sammy painting at pre-school.

Sammy and two of her cousins at Tristan's 1st birthday party. They are getting so big!

Sammy has been talking up a storm. Her pronunciation is coming along - but it has been hilarious in the meantime! Jump is 'gump'; Grandpa Jack is 'grampa yak'; her p's are pronounced b's and her tr's were pronounced 'f': which made us all snicker when she became interested in dumptrucks!

We have our first recognizable piece of artwork!

The binkie has been gone for a couple of months now, and the toddler bed is the place to be - usually. I find myself being impressed with how well Sammy stays in her bed - reading books, chattering to herself and her dolls, and then a few days will pop up where she doesn't want to stay in bed at all. The days fluctuate - which I suppose could be the definition of toddler-hood.

We have weathered a few crabby, sicko, rebellious days lately, which is forcing us to re-group and figure out how we are going to work with this new stage. Luckily, David and I are usually on the same page when it comes to disciplining.

Wearing her 'My Dad Rocks!' t-shirt and 'gumping' on the mattress at pre-school.

In other news, May first we shaved our cat RC. She is (was) a long-haired cat that *hates* getting brushed. She will not tolerate it! So, she gets these dred-ful (pun intended) mats in her fur. Say hello to our new lion-cat:

Homer is still good ole Homer.

My husband pulled out all the stops for Mother's day - I am going to Breitenbush in a week for a four day weekend. Now, Breitenbush is a fantastic hot springs resort that serves organic vegetarian food, and has massages and yoga. My card said, 'no husband, no kids, no worries'. Heavenly. How am I ever going to come close to that at Father's day? Sadly, I will be leaving that night travelling for 6 days for work. So I guess his card will read 'no wife'. Not quite the same, eh?

Cute story: one of those days where Sammy wasn't staying in be for nap-time, I had had it. I told her that even if she wasn't going to sleep she needed to stay upstairs and stay quiet for awhile. Scratch that - *I* needed her to stay upstairs and stay quiet. I was downstairs and eating some nachos at the dining room table while reading. Sammy came halfway down the stairs and sat above the gate and wanted to talk: "Watcha doing?" "I'm reading Sam. Go back upstairs and have some quiet time." pause. "Mama - I think your eating." I paused, trying to chew my mouthful silently. "What makes you say that Sammy?" "I can see you in the picture!" At the bottom of the stairs is a picture and sure enough, I went over and saw the dining room table reflected in the glass. I busted up laughing - she had caught me red-handed!

And that about wraps up this post - sorry for the delay everyone!