A Good Neighbour...

...can be hard to come by these days. But thanks to a thoughtful young man, this little pooch has her best buddy back with her.

And this little trouble maker is back home safe and sound.

Yonas and I had just come back from the gym and while I was unloading our bags out of the car, a neighbour from a few doors down called out to me asking if I had 2 dogs. Apparently he had seen Abby running down the street and so called her over. He kept her in his backyard until I returned. He had even gone back to our yard to try and bring Cassy to his house too for fear that she would run off too but she wouldn't come with him. So he sat by his window to watch and make sure she didn't get out too. This is the same young man that helped Craig shovel out his truck this winter after the snow plowers buried it. It is so nice to see such thoughtfulness, especially in a big city where people have a tendency to keep to themselves. Tomorrow I am off to buy a thank you card and a Timmy's gift card.

23 Months!!!

Well my dear boy, today you are 23 months old. Only one more month of being 1 and then we officially state your age in years instead of months. You are growing into a sweet, funny, charming, persistent, talkative, busy, loving young boy. No surprise your favourite thing is still hockey. Dancing isn't as popular with you as it once was. And now you are also getting into baseball. You enjoy looking at books more than you have in the past. And you still refuse to watch tv for longer than 10 seconds. While that is a good thing, some days mommy really yearns for some lazy afternoons of cuddling on the couch watching a disney movie with you. In time I guess.
With the nicer weather now, you want to spend ALL day outside. You wake up in the morning, put your boots on and are at the back door begging to go out. Throughout the day you are in the backyard playing as much as possible. At the end of the day when it is time for your bath and snack, you put up a pretty good fight when it's time to go inside. I have to say I am pretty happy that you would rather be playing outside than glued to the tv inside :)
You talk, and talk, and talk. We go for walks and for the whole hour you are babbling non-stop. Sometimes I can understand what you are saying and sometimes I can't. You can now recall events and tell me about them.
You are funny. You like to act silly and make us laugh. You also like to tease...especially the dogs. You like to "tell" jokes and then laugh at yourself. I love that you have a sense of humour.
And while you can be very persistent and really test my patience some days, you are a sweet loving boy and I think I am the luckiest mommy in the world to have you.

Our First "Conversation"

Yoyo's vocabulary is increasing in leaps and bounds. He pretty much repeats any word that I say and I couldn't even try to count how many words he uses on a regular basis. Most words he says sound very close to the actual word except for "careful" (tay tee) and "timeout" (pom pam). Even the caregiver at the gym's childcare commented to me yesterday how amazed she is at the amount of words he uses and how easy he is to understand. And yes I realize I am doing a little mommy bragging :)
This brings us to yesterday's "conversation". We had just gotten home from the gym and Yoyo was sitting at the island having his bedtime snack while I was preparing my supper.

M: Did you have fun playing at the gym today?

Y: "Dim?" (gym)

M: Yeah, did you play there?

Y: "Teeta?"

M: Yes, you got to see auntie Teresa didn't you? (my friend that I work out with)

Y: "Wauw?" (wall) "Hahd?" (head) "Owie?"

M: Did you hit your head on the wall and get an owie? (apparently he was running and fell and scraped his head on the wall)

Y: "Beebee" (baby)

M: Was there a baby there?

Y: "Beebee tying (crying)"

M: Oh, was the baby crying? (there really was a baby crying when I went in to pick him up)

Y: "whaa whaa" (his version of a baby's cry)

And then he went on to babble other stories that I couldn't understand. But, seriously, we had an actual conversation where he wasn't just repeating things back to me.

Random Ramblings

We've been having a couple of lazy days lately. Winter has decided to show her unwelcome face again. It has been snowing off and on for days now and I am sick and tired of it. I want my spring back.

We are now done with the whole teething thing. Yoyo's last 2 chompers popped through the other day. And while I'm happy to be done with the runny nose, cranky attitude, and no appetite, it's just another sign that my baby's no longer a baby.

Yoyo and I went shopping this morning and as usual we received many comments, all positive about how cute he is. Then this one lady approaches us and starts talking about his cute chubby cheeks and starts pinching them. Ugh! So I try to turn the stroller around and get on our way but she moved in front of us, continually touching his face and hair. Then she asks him if he's a momma's boy and I say he sure is, which she then replies "oh you can't be a momma's boy because you don't have the same colour of skin". Say WHAT??? So I said "actually he is 100% a momma's boy and no skin colour will ever change that" and I walked away. What I wanted to say was "you're a @#$%-ing ignorant #$%& and should learn to shut your mouth!".

This was "only" the 2nd negative comment we've gotten....the 1st one was way worse. But it sure makes me dread facing these situations when Yonas is old enough to understand what is said when these remarks are made.

Oh and speaking of remarks, we were standing in line at the grocery store yesterday and the lady in front of me asked me if I permed his hair. I had to laugh. Seriously?

I Was Foolishly Mistaken

When I lived in S'toon, I worked out at the gym on a regular basis so when I moved here I was on the lookout for a new gym. I had no luck...either the monthly fees were too much, they didn't have childcare, or the childcare fees were insane. Then I heard about a new gym that was opening and the monthly fees were awesome and the childcare fees were even better! Finally last week it opened. After 2 months of not working out I was excited to get back in the game. The other night while walking the dogs my pants felt snug on my butt (been wanting to firm that flat, flabby thing) and the front felt loose. I was thinking to myself "wow, after only a couple days of working out and I'm already feeling the results...wicked!". It wasn't until I got home and changed when I realized that I was foolishly mistaken...I had been wearing my sweatpants backwards. Sighhh.

They're In Love :)

Really, truly in love. And tonight Lil' Yoyo is sad that "Eeyah" is not here. We bid them farewell this morning after taking them swimming. It was an awesome visit and it is now my mission to convince them to move out here...or at least close enough so we can get together more often. Bet seriously, the kids couldn't get enough of each other. Yonas has found the love of his life. The amount of hand holding and kissing that was going on was shocking...moments where Rhonda and I looked at each other with the expression of "we're in trouble when they get older!". And while Yonas loves to play with other kids, he doesn't interact with them the way he does with "Eeyah". Odd...but in a good way.

This is when Rhonda had gone out to do a little shopping while the kids were napping. When they woke up I was trying to feed them lunch which proved to be difficult cuz I couldn't get them to unlock their lips. And when I'd push Eden's highchair farther away Yonas would just reach over and pull her back in for some more loving.

Oh and here they are playing the "party" game which was a huge hit and consisted of the mommies singing "we're having a party" while bouncing up and down. Parties were asked for frequently once this super lame game was invented. Craig thought it was somewhat annoying...and it really is.

Just playing around before bedtime. I wasn't the best at taking pictures so hopefully Rhonda will share more on her blog.

Watch this. They are walking around holding hands and then Yoyo takes her into the corner for a little "action"...which lasted until Minnesota scored against the Oilers and Yoyo started booing. He loves his little lady but apparently not enough to ignore hockey...it's a man thing.

All I can say is that I hope these two share this bond for life, even if they don't get married (but we all know that's what the mommies are hoping for).

Is This Appropriate?

The kids are having a blast! They are so in love with each other. We had a super fun playdate with some of our other ethio peeps this morning. If I get permission from the mommies, I will post a pic later.

We are having a really good visit...will share more later in a few days!

Not Much Going On!

I don't really have much to say but thought I better do a quick post cuz next week will be busy with Rhonda and Eden here. I am super excited to see them and to watch the little kiddos stir up trouble together! Oh, and the evenings of chatting and wine drinking will be nice too :)
The weather here has been super nice. Yonas would stay outside all day if I let him. In fact, he plays in the backyard by himself (well, with the dogs) when I'm trying to get things done in the kitchen. It's nice cuz it's all fenced in and the patio doors and big livingroom window face the backyard so I can see him the whole time.
The sleeping through the night thing is kinda of hit and miss. We had three successful nights in a row and now it's more sporadic. Oh well, slow progress is better than no progress.
Oh, and he's starting to talk in 2-word sentences which is really cute so instead of "na-night" it's "na-night so and so (Abby or Cassy or whoever) or another one I hear everyday is "boot on" or "boot ott (off)" (the kid wears his boots ALL day).
And today daylight saving begins so we turn our clocks ahead an hour...so weird for me coming from Saskatchewan where our time doesn't change.

FINALLY!!!!!!

He slept through the night. At over 22 months old. Well, little dude, it's about time!

Baby's Got Moves!

I am frequently requested by the little dude to come upstairs to "dints" (dance). And it really is too bad that I have to hold the camera cuz while the boy's got moves, mama does too. No actually, not at all...well maybe after 1/2 a bottle of wine ;)

Oh, and sorry for all the moving around, it kinda gives you a headache.

Spring is springing!

The last couple of days have been really nice...so nice that Yoyo and I can play in the backyard without hats and mittens and me being completely miserable cuz I am a big suck when it comes to being cold. I can hardly wait until winter is over...I hate winter. Plain and simple. I could lay in the hot sun all day, every day. And hopefully in a couple of months I will be doing just that while Yoyo brings me cold drinks and fans my face when needed ;)
Just a few pics from today.

Last night I peeked in on Yoyo before I went to bed and this is how I found him. Kinda looks like he was out on a bender....hmmmm.

This morning we met up with our buddies Dom, Taye, Tye and their mommies for a little swimming playdate. The boys are so cute together. I am so happy that Yoyo has 2 little ethio buddies to grow up with and also to have Dom for a surrogate big bro! I can just imagine the trouble that they will stir up in a few years!

Yonas is still going to bed like a little champ but he's still not sleeping through the night and has decided that he wants to be the early bird that gets the worm. I'm trying to convince him that the worms aren't even out at 6AM but it is appearing as though our days of staying in bed until 9 or sometimes even 10 are gone.