First (professional) haircut

Jason may be 3.5 years old, but last week he went for his first haircut. Last summer I buzzed his hair with the clippers, but it has not been cut since the fall & I finally took him to see if there was enough hair to "style". The back of his hair especially was starting to look a little mullet-like.

I felt so bad for him, he was terrified. He was trying very hard to be brave, but the tears came & it took a little pep talk to get him settled. The stylist Kate cheered him up with candy to distract him, so he spent time trying to chew a Tootsie Roll & forgot about what he was scared about. He soon realized there was nothing to be afraid of. She tried to style his hair in a mohawk & a little messy, but he informed her "me no like that". No big surprise there!

Very disappointed that this picture did not turn out clearer.
I still need to figure out the settings on my camera.

Fun with Family

Last Sunday we went to Christa & Brent's for a pot luck to pre-celebrate Family Day. The kids (and adults) had fun playing in the snow & Sydney LOVED riding on the snowmobile. She thinks it would be great if we had one too. However, since we live in town & rarely have enough snow I think she is going to be very disappointed if she really had her hopes set. Jason finally gave in & relaxed & realized that it is fun to ride on the toboggan.

Here are a few shots from the day.

It doesn't take a big hill to have fun.

Brent was the day's chauffeur

He finally goes down with a smile on his face!

Go Aunt Debbie!

Jaxon putting the moves on Sydney

Hayleigh is growing her hair for Locks for Cancer & is almost there. Some lucky person will benefit from her beautiful hair.
(Hayleigh hope you weren't too traumatized by Jason's commando step over you when you were lying on the floor)

Poke & prod the whole way

All smiles at the beginning of the hike

This morning we went for a walk on the Bruce Trail. Given the options this was Jason's choice, but honest to goodness after about 20 minutes it was a constant "when will we be back at the car?" Sydney was running ahead with Brad because she wanted to be the leader & find each of the markings, but Jason kept finding excuses to stop. We had to make snow angels, pick up leaves, pick up sticks & any other distraction that he could find to justify stopping. Each of these would have been fine if they were not coupled with the whining about getting back to the car. I finally told him that the only way to get back to the car was to keep putting one foot in front of the other...he got that, but he figured it would be much faster if I carried him. Fat chance!

I just caught up on Carrie's blog & her comment about Mallory's phrase "Oh my gosh!" reminded me of the note I made of some of Jason's sayings. However it seems to me that we seem to have already left Jason's phase of "Oh my goodness!" and "Holy Smokes!". Both phrases were made all the more funny since he said them in his deep voice.

Sydney likes snowball fights when she throws at you,
but don't you dare bump it back at her!

Brad's version of the Olympic torch

Follow the leader

Reasons to love Sydney

After a night like last night where Sydney woke me up at 11:45pm saying "she has been trying for hours to go to sleep & can't" and then proceed to be up for the next 3 HOURS! it is important for me to remember some wonderful things I do love about her.

When she came in our room I told her that she had been asleep, but must have woken up & now was having difficulty getting back to sleep. I don't think she believed me, but regardless both of us were up until 2:30 am (that was the last time I looked at the clock). I tried telling her to count, to say the alphabet, think of things that made her happy and try to relax. None of that worked, then I tried sleeping with her because she was so upset. I even tried rocking with her in the rocking chair, but of course she is not our cuddly child so after 15 minutes she had enough of that. I put on soft music for her to listen to, I read her a couple stories, tried sleeping on the couch. Eventually I gave up & told her that she would need to figure out how to get back to sleep & at some point it happened. Once she was starting to kick me in her sleep, I decided she was good & I could go.

So, when I had a day where I felt groggy due to interrupted speech it is good to remember some of the funny things she does...

• her constant search for approval or validation of what she is saying. This was a quality that was quickly observed by her aunt & uncle when she stayed with them the other week. Robb said that he wishes he had started a checklist at the beginning of the week to mark down how many times he heard her say, "Wriiight, Uncle Wrobb?"
• her incredible attention to detail which often translates to cleverness & ability to throw your tactics right back at you. Example- before Christmas we were grocery shopping when Jason was at school. Sydney wanted to sit in the cart but (1) we were almost done and (2) she is too big to easily get into the carts at No Frills. When I said no, she said "Mommy I can sit in the cart or ride on the end. Those are your choices, what are you going to choose?" I was so floored at how she completely mimicked my tone & wording that I almost laughed. Then I told her that there was a choice that trumps all in this situation & that is "Mommy's choice- you can walk"

There are many things to love about her...but these are two that jump to mind.