The jetlag is not over yet. The kids have been out of sync and it has been sleep-deprivation hell. Magnus asks us to go live in Toronto whenever he feels sad. However, I am so, so happy because:
1. The kids are not sick
2. We have a housekeeper
3. It's sunny and warm every day
4. Magnus is pooping like clockwork
5. Magnus' school has accepted him for the last four weeks of the semester. He starts in 2 days!!!
Maya has hit the ground crawling. The very first night, when she was keeping me up all night, I passed the time by turning on the iPad and moving it all over the room. She patiently crawled to each location. She sits at the table with us for all our meals now. She loves eating what we eat. I watched her pick up a grain of rice with her chubby little fingers and put it in her mouth. We're finding more and more bits of food around the house that she hasn't quite chewed up: rice, small pieces of lettuce, toast, fish, cucumber, etc. But I'm happy to report that she is quite the foodie and will tackle anything I put in front of her. On the down side, I've had to fish a few things out of her mouth that don't belong there: a paper label, a sticker. Maya is also enjoying ALL of Magnus' toys. When we left in July, she could barely do anything. Now, I can leave her next to a train track and she can destroy it in 5 minutes. She picks up puzzle pieces and tears apart whatever she can. Here she is with one of her favourite toys:
Magnus is also enjoying his old toys and his old haunts. I took him to his school and signed him up for afternoon French classes twice a week. He was very happy to go, and sent me off with a hug when I dropped him off at his first class. When I came to pick him up, I asked him: Gina: Magnus, did you like French class? Magnus: Yeah! But they have no french fries, Mommy!
This, coincidentally, happened on his birthday. We also introduced him to PSY on his birthday. Now he wants to watch the video all the time. Sigh:
Another bright spot - I have my camera back. Here are some sunny, happy shots I took in the past few days.
A secret birthday present. He had a party in Florida and we agreed not to mention his real birthday. But his Daddy couldn't resist some treats. He also made sure Magnus got some french fries the very next morning!
Our last two weeks in Canada went by extremely quickly. Just before Kendrick arrived in Toronto we had a very nice time with Maggie's very cute neice and nephew.
Magnus and Marcus set about making tea and snacks for all the guests in the house. They also had a little argument about a ball in the backyard. Uncle Jeff, a reluctant referee, knocked on the door and asked for backup. Backup was not necessary, however, as they quickly got distracted by other things.
Sofia and Maya sat around a lot. They were very cute at it. Sofia made me realize two things about my daughter: 1) Maya does not like to go to strangers at all 2) Maya has a deep voice!
The day Kendrick arrived I drove Magnus to go pick him up. Magnus was really excited about seeing his Daddy - doubly so because we were also going to the airport. Unfortunately, he fell asleep on the way there and slept all the way through the arrival and the drive back to my parents' house. When he finally woke up, as we unloaded him from the car, he asked his Daddy sleepily where his car was (couldn't bring it on the plane, Magnus), and then he asked to be taken to the airport. Poor thing!
A few days later we headed out to Niagara-On-The-Lake for a three family cottage outing. The babies did not interact much, but the boys, all approaching three, tore up the house together. Two new games were introduced/invented: a modified duck-duck-goose, and roly-poly. But most of the time, they just wanted to run and yell. (Guess how they modified duck-duck-goose)
Some flirting happened too:
After the kids all went to bed, the parents had a bit of fun playing Taboo. It was nice to kick back for once!
We did a stopover in Burlington on the way back to Toronto and were treated to Elena's fabulous cabbage rolls and homemade apple pie. Yum!!! Thank you Elena!!!!
