I Don’t Even Know Where to Start…

I have all the same excuses reasons you read about all the time for not having blogged in a while. My last post (aside from the Crème de laCrème reminder…which you still have time before the December 15^th deadline to submit, BTW) was September 24^th…So much has happened since then…I’ve had plenty to say but never enough time to sit down & coherently articulate what is on my mind. When I would have time to write, I just couldn’t organize my thoughts enough or decide on which of the many topics on my mind I wanted to focus on…& time continued to pass & many things continued to happen…& the more time that passed, the harder it was to compose a post…Life has felt so busy…I know by the disarray of my home that spare time has been minimal. Yet as I sit here, I am at a loss as to what has kept me too busy to blog…well, that’s not completely true…I know what has kept me from blogging but none of it is interesting enough to blog about! Instead of trying to play catch up, I will start fresh right now with a clean slate.

The biggest news lately was our big vacation! Elena & I went to the Dominican Republic for a week!! We stayed at the Grand Bahia Principe LaRomana…& this trip was 100% better than last year!!!

I feel so very lucky that Elena is such a great traveler! Our flight was at 5:40am which meant getting Elena out of bed at 4am…thankfully (& surprisingly) she went to bed extra early the night before without fuss! She has been obsessed with the dark since the time change & was so excited at the promise that we would be going on the plane in the dark! She did amazingly on the plane, hardly fussing at all & even taking a 40 minute nap! I had a whole bag of tricks to keep her busy plus we had seat back TVs that all kept her entertained during the 4.5 hour flight.

That's a Walmart toy flyer she studied for a good 45 minutes!!

 

Aside from a couple hiccups (no air conditioning in our room the 1^st night & Elena falling of the slide & getting a fat lip on the 2^nd day) our vacation was absolute perfection!! I don’t have a single complaint about the entire trip…Spending 7 days with Elena was an absolute treat! Don’t get me wrong, Elena had her moments, she is 2.5 after all, but when all you have to do all day is swim, play on the beach & eat, this leaves little time for her to tantrum.

Speaking of swimming…Elena swims on her own now!!! That’s right, at 2.5 she swims! What’s funny is she doesn’t quite realize that she can swim. She jumps in & swims to me then wants me to help her swim back to the side!! I have some great video but Blogger won't let me upload it :(

I was also very happy that she’s gotten over her aversion to sand & we were able to play on the beach this year!! She & I are very good hole diggers! She even played in the ocean!! Of course she did this on the day I didn’t have my camera with us!! I still caught some great beach fun!

 

Lastly, I have to rave about one of the single best purchases I have ever made! Last spring, I found the “On the Edge Marketing” Folding Wagon online. It is an awesome alternative to a stroller! Now that Elena likes to walk as often as ride, this has been fantastic!! There’s plenty of space for diaper bags, lunch bags & depending on ages/sizes, can fit 2-4 children comfortably! It folds flat & takes up less space than our collapsible stroller!! It meets airline standards to be checked at the gate same as a stroller…& was a dream to have in the airport!! Being able to load all our bags plus Elena into it while navigating the terminal, security & customs was awesome!! It also made life at the resort so much easier! We would load it up every morning with our swim bags, beach toys, snacks…& it made getting a dawdling toddler from point A to point B so much easier!! There is only 1 drawback…no brakes, so you have to be mindful where you stop. Also be prepared to be stopped by other parents & grandparents everywhere you go!! We get stopped at least 2-3 times to be asked where we got it, how much it cost & a dozen other questions! I don’t mind raving about it though!! Oh, & in case you were wondering, I have no affiliation with “On the Edge Marketing” or any seller or dealer for the wagon in any way…it’s just an awesome product I had to rave about!!

 

I’ll leave you with a few of our favourite moments…

 

It's that time again...

Don't forget to submit yours...



Daddy Questions

I need your advice…I’m asking for your opinion…on a few things…all related to “The Daddy Question”

I have started telling Elena the story of her…I’m interested in your thoughts…here’s what I tell her:

“I always wanted to be a mommy…I waited & waited & waited…until I couldn’t wait anymore. I thought & thought & I looked & looked & picked the very best donor. Then, I went to a special Doctor & he put the donor sperm into Mommy’s tummy & it combined with Mommy’s egg…& it grew & grew & got bigger & bigger…& became YOU!! I always wanted to be your mommy. I love you so very much & you make me so very proud”…then we kiss & cuddle.

The funniest is that she gets so excited when we get to the part about the doctor & she squeals, “Doctor! Doctor!” She also loves the part about getting bigger & becoming her.

What do you think? Can I phrase any of it any better? Am I missing any important info? Am I giving too much info?

Elena is still calling my Mom “Daddy” instead of Gramma. We never refer to her as daddy but my Mom does answer to it. Initially, it felt as though Elena was just confusing sounds. For example, she says doctor “gah-go”…but it has become apparent that she knows the difference between “daddy” & “gramma”. At gymnastics, when a father is there, she will point at them & say, “Daddy!” (I don’t mean she thinks this is her daddy, she is just pointing out he is a daddy) When I encourage Elena to say “Gramma”, she just looks at me slyly…I have even just made it a non-issue, thinking she’ll just switch to Gramma…part of me feels as though this is the name she has chosen for my Mom & it doesn’t seem to bother my Mom…so why not just let Elena call her Daddy?

My concern is, now that Elena is attending preschool, interacting more & more with other children & families, will she be ridiculed for calling my Mom Daddy? It can be complicated to explain to new people all the time that Elena means Gramma when she says “daddy”…when the three of us are out together & Elena is calling “Da-dee!!!” & my Mom responds we get some odd looks for sure. So what are the potential issues with Elena calling my Mom daddy? Do you think I should worry less about what others think & just let Elena call my Mom what she wants? What about when she gets to kindergarten & older?

Elena has become very aware of men lately; she points them out all the time & says, “Maaaan.” She will also identify them as daddies. So she seems aware what a daddy is. Am I harming her psychologically by allowing her to label my Mom “Daddy”? Daddy feels & sounds so much like a term of endearment when Elena says it in reference to my Mom. Am I harming her psychologically by forcing her to call my Mom “Gramma”?

What do you think? What advice do you have for me? Because I am turning this all over in my head constantly & would really love to hear some new perspectives.

Two & a Half?!!?

Yup, that’s right! Today is Elena’s Half Birthday!! Sounds about time for an update, no?

Yesterday was a big day…Elena started preschool!! She’ll be going 2 mornings a week & I know this will be so very good for her. It killed me not to be there, to not be the one to drop her off…I’d always imagined taking the morning off work to drop her off on her 1^st day of school…but my Mom had been taking her to the drop in program her teacher ran all summer…so Elena was comfortable & familiar going…if I had gone, Elena likely would have made a fuss…but my Mom did me proud & took LOTS of pictures!!

When I got home from work, I asked her what her favourite part of school was & she said, “Buwee” Huh? & she said it again with earnest enthusiasm…but I had no idea what she meant…so she said it louder…because isn’t that what we all naturally do if someone doesn’t understand us? I still have no idea what Buwee is but I’m glad she enjoyed it so much whatever it was!

It is obvious that language is still a challenge for us…and the major source of frustration for both Elena & I. Her receptive language is remarkable…mine, not so much, lol! At least of her language…I understand so little of what she’s trying to say…& now she’s speaking in 2 & 3 “word” sentences, so it’s getting even harder to understand…some of the time I know intuitively what she is trying to say & that feels good. It’s also amazing when she says something clearly & I stop dead & say, “Did you just hear that?!!?”

The other challenge is that so many of her “words” sound exactly alike…like buwee, bwue, bwoon, & other variations…she could be saying blue, balloon, bubble…but when I correctly identify what she’s saying, boy do we celebrate!!!

Tomorrow we see another Speech Pathologist to be reassessed to make sure we still qualify to attend the program available for Elena…I’m anxious to hear her thoughts. The program sounds amazing. There are 6 Parent only Sessions plus 4 Individual Video-Practice Sessions.

She is a very tall little girl! It's hard to get her to stand still long enough to get an exact measurement but she's about 38 inches tall. She's solid too at 36 pounds...

She eats very well with minimal complaint...pizza is definitely her favourite! Every night we don't have pizza, she says "No buppy, Momma"...buppy means pizza, by the way...she's not big on breakfast but will usually have fruit & yogurt when encouraged...she also loves V8 Fruit Smoothies. She also has enjoyed her fair share of popsicles this summer & has become an expert pudding pop maker! She is so proud to share them, knowing she'd made them herself.

Physically she is very active...she has come so far this summer with her balance bike & has mastered coasting. The park is one of her favourite places & she has no fear on any of the structures. She loves to jump & will jump on or over just about anything!! We couldn't get back to gymnastics soon enough!! Which starts back up this Saturday.

And swimming! This little kid is a fish!! She loves being in the pool & she doesn't even use her water wings any more!! She's tall enough that the water in the kid's pool comes to her chin & in the deeper pool, she's fine with a noodle.

She is so precious playing with her dolls. She is so sweet, cuddling them, kissing them, swaddling them & when she puts them to sleep, we all have to "shhh". She also loves to play with her mega blocks & her Little People sets. She loves to read & be read to...she loves stickers & finger painting.

All in all, our life is good. We’ve had an amazing summer together…so many awesome memories. We have so much to look forward to this fall & winter too!

Happy Half Birthday, my precious little girl!!

Her Cheese Face

1st Day of Preschool at her own cubby -
again with the cheese face!!

Government Red Tape

I received a letter from our Canadian equivalent to the IRS. The purpose was to verify my claim of a child as a dependant & that I have sole custody. Fair enough, audits happen all the time & this isn’t exactly an audit so I’m lucky, right?

Just a small problem…here is the documentation requested to prove my claim:

·         Schedule 5, Amounts for Spouse or Common Law Partner

·         Documents to confirm I have custody such as a court order or written agreement which must be signed by both parents…

·         In the absence of that they will accept a signed statement from the other parent detailing the custody agreement

·         OR a signed statement from an authority who is aware of the custody arrangement…Doctor, religious leader or recognized community official, etc…

 

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that the Canadian Government wouldn’t even consider that I had my child on my own. I felt like pointing them towards my 2010 Tax Return in which I claimed all my medical expenses that weren’t covered by insurance for my IUIs.

It all worked out in the end. I called their info line, explained my situation & was advised to write a letter to them explaining it all plus provide a letter from a third party who could verify my statement. One of my bosses was amendable to writing a letter since he was aware of my situation...but that was an awkward request. He was gracious about it…though the first draft of his letter needed some work:

Dear Feds,

Elena got no baby daddy.

Sincerely,

Tara’s Boss

When I first received the letter, I imagined having to hire a lawyer & spend all kinds of money getting legal documents drawn up…I received another letter on Friday. They accepted my claim & closed the file. Phew! I am grateful as the tax benefits we receive do make a difference.

Hide & Seek

I just have to write this down so I don't forget!!

 

Last night after dinner, Elena & I were playing & being silly & my Mom was telling me about their day. They had met 2 little girls (6 & 3 years old) at the park & they all played - (sidenote: Elena is really taking an interest in playing with other kids, preschool couldn't start soon enough!!) - all of a sudden, Elena runs over to the wall & stands with her nose against it calling for me...she then started "counting" - (Elena doesn't say numbers yet but will "count" by saying, "Meh, meh, meh..." imitating my intonation when I count, so funny) - I didn't understand what she was doing but my Mom clarified that the girls at the park had played Hide & Seek!!

 

Then Elena has me stand against the wall & count...but she is so excited by this new game, instead of hiding, she stands beside me squealing, laughing & jumping up & down...it was hilarious & precious!!

 

Elena then has me count again & this time my Mom shows her how to hide...well the squeals of delight coming from her hiding place were hard to miss but I played dumb & kept looking for her...oh the excitement as I got closer to her!!! It was So. Much. Fun!!!!!

 

Goddamn! I love this kid so much!!! Sharing the newness & wonder of Hide & Seek with her...I can't express how amazing that feels.

What We've Been Up To...

I have been in a funk the last couple of months…totally first world problems, but sucks just the same…thankfully, life with Elena has not been one of those problems…life with Elena has been pretty awesome…we have been having a pretty great summer & have kept very busy…

FaeryFest

 

Tall Ships

Highland Games

Canada’s Wonderland

Elena was in charge of the map

 

Canal Days

Eating a Potato Tornado! Have you heard of these?
Delicious!!

 

& LOTS of Swimming

 

What’s up next? Pirate Festival, another Highland Games, another Teddy Bear Picnic, African Lion Safari, at least 2 RibFests, Telling Tales…then on to Fall Fair Season!!!