28
June
2007
Last night Mike and I went to see Kellylee Evans at the Yardbird during Jazzfest. I have to say this was an AMAZING performance! Kellylee is an incredible singer, her voice is beautiful and she exudes joy and life both during her performances and in person. I highly recommend listening to her. She even had us dancing at one point!
Kellylee was nominated for a 2007 Juno for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Someone else you might also be interested in is one of the members of her quintet. Guitar/trumpet/piano player Kevin Ramessar. Another awesome musician, originally from Alberta I might add. He opened for her and played intermission. I have never enjoyed watching someone play the guitar as much as I enjoyed him. It was mostly acoustical stuff and I was entranced by his music and his style. His performance of Kairos, was the best of the evening.
The night ended with the best cover of Imagine that I have ever heard. This was an AWESOME birthday present. Thanks honey! And thanks Lims for braving bedtime with the boys and giving us a late night out!
Here’s some websites to check out Kellylee and Kevin Ramessar.
Posted: Edmonton, My Stuff
25
June
2007
Not quite yet, but it’s fun to see how the boys respond to changing things around a bit.
The boys have been climbing over the gate that blocks off the upstairs. So we opened them up today and put some locks on the doors that are up there. They had so much fun going up and down. They even took their vacuum (their popper) up and cleaned their room! I have to say it’s soooo nice not to have to climb over that gate every time I want to go upstairs! My living room even feels a little bit bigger.
Tonight we put Drew to bed first, he goes down better when Bran’s still up than Bran does when Drew’s still up. But Brandon didn’t want to be downstairs without Drew so he kept trying to go up the stairs (and now he can with no gate), so I had to find activities to keep him busy until Drew fell asleep. Finally Drew was asleep and Bran just couldn’t wait any longer, so I started asking him some questions to make sure he really wanted to go to sleep and not just bother Drew. “Are you ready to go to sleep?”, he nods. “Are you ready to close your eyes and lay down?”, at which point Bran responds by closing his eyes and climbing the stairs with his eyes closed tight shut. It was so funny! We kept waiting for him to open his eyes but he never did until he reached the top! He had a little trouble at one point, but did pretty well getting up.
We have a new policy at the house that they can only have their soothers for nap and bedtime. They leave their soothers behind when they come downstairs and have been doing really well with it. Bran really has a hard time settling down to sleep and he was tossing and turning again tonight, but he eventually got to the point where I thought he was ready to fally asleep. At which point he looks at me, hands me his soother and says, “thank you, no bed” and tries to get out of bed and go back downstairs!
In general the boys are doing well with their increasing freedom and it’s interesting to watch how they react to the changes. It’s also nice to be reminded that I may get some of my house back again soon and that it really hasn’t been that long of a time living in our little “gated community” as it’s been called.
Posted: Drew & Bran
24
June
2007
Proud of myself that is…
The boys have been particularly difficult this week and I’ve been extra tired, so we’ve been having our “moments” of insanity. So on Friday I drew up all of my reserved energy (not sure from where) and took the boys on an LRT ride to the Library. We rode the LRT all the way to the end, so they could watch us go over the river and see where “daddy works” (the buildings somewhere on that hill over there…). Then we rode back to the library. The boys did really well in the library, there were only a few rough moments, like when Bran tried to take all of the DVDs off the shelf and Drew tried to run out of the library.
After we managed to get through the book check out, we went next door to Second Cup for a smoothie. They boys did so great; this is where I was really proud of them. They each sat in a chair and I put a table between them with some fishy crackers on it, and they had a snack and took turns sharing the smoothie. I was getting quite the credit from those around us who were so amazed at how good they were. Our only bad moment was when Drew decided he wanted to throw the straw wrapper away. I told him he had to wait until it was time to leave. So in Drew fashion, he got down off the chair, waved and said goodbye to Bran and I, and proceeded to walk out of Second Cup to find a garbage can.
After our smoothie, we went down to look at the fountain at Churchill Square. The boys thought it was really neat and I let them touch it for a little bit. Then we got back on the LRT and went home. Whew, what a morning. But I’m so thankful that although it was so much work, we did it, and we survived. 
Posted: Drew & Bran, My Stuff
22
June
2007
I just wanted to say thanks to Mike and our friends (and neighbors) Jon and Connie Lim for giving me an awesome birthday this week! Jon and Connie made me a terrific dinner Tuesday night. Then we played a new game the boys got me, “Hey That’s My Fish!” until the boys fell asleep. Then we went next door and I got to play Guitar Hero for the first time. I have to say it’s VERY addicting and I didn’t do too bad for a first-timer. Hopefully their housemate, Andrew (it’s his game) will be around a while so I can get a chance to play some more. It’s definitely a great “spent the entire day with two, 2-year olds” stress reliever!
Next week, Mike and I will go to the Yardbird during Jazzfest. Oh, if only my friend Maggie could be here for that!
Thanks friends for a great birthday!
PS: Is 33 old? Because I didn’t feel old at 30, 31, or 32, but when my baby sister reminded me that she’s turning 25, I felt REALLY old! It didn’t bother me when she was turning 24, but I felt keenly aware that she’s just now entering her mid-20′s and I’m moving quickly into my mid-30′s! I think I might be entering an age crisis. 
Posted: Friends, My Stuff
5
June
2007
The boys turned 2, two weeks ago. I was hoping to put up a post that day…but…well, honestly, I’m just tired. By the end of the day it’s all I can do to clean up the kitchen and the yard and help Mike put them to bed. Lately I’ve been veging out in front of the computer watching TV shows like Veronica Mars, House, Heroes, and Criminal Minds. But now the season is over, so I read all my friends Facebook pages instead. Several of my friends with twins say 3 is the magic age, which in some ways is depressing since the boys just turned 2, but at the same time I don’t want to rush them through because this is also a really exciting time for all of us. The boys are learning so much, their language is developing, they are testing their limits (both those imposed by us and their own physical limitations), they’re super curious, and it’s so fun to watch these things developing. I only wish I had more patience and that they could figure out how to listen. I feel like a broken record some days, “Come here please”, “I said, come here “, “Come here now!” “1…2…at three it’s a time out…”, “Do not pull things off of the counter”, “Are you listening to me?”,. “No climbing up the drawers”, “No biting!”, “Are you allowed to throw your toys?”, “Stop screaming, are you allowed to scream?”, “Use your inside voice please” …on and on and on all day long. So, yes I’m exhausted, mentally and physically. But there are also lots of good things that happen in our day and the boys are really adorable, so I thought I’d give a rundown of what we’ve been up to lately, and what’s happened in the past year. Even in my exhaustion, I feel super blessed to have these two little guys in my life. It’s so amazing to me that two years ago this time, they were still in the hospital and we were fighting to bring them home. That in those two short years they have learned to roll over, crawl, walk, run, talk, climb, do somersaults, make music, color and fingerpaint, hit a ball with a bat, kick a ball, swing on big kids swings, count to 10, help make daddy’s coffee, pretend…and so much more!
Highlights from the past year
Bran was in the ER twice, once for losing the tip of his fingernail when Drew closed a door on it (thankfullly it’s healed nicely) and with a bout of pneumonia.
The boys went camping for the first time. We went to Banff with Jeffery and Holly.
They had their 7, 8, 9 ,10, 11, 12, 13, and 14th plane rides.
Went to Washington DC, SanFrancisco, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Ontario.
Spent a week with their Nana and Papa Bowling and Grandma Scott while we had a vacation.
What they’re doing now
The boys like to turn their food into things. Bread, cheese, and fruit, become cars, boats, diggers, trains, and firetrucks. Today Drew’s bread was a digger and then he put some rice on it so it would be “digging” something.
They help me make Mike’s coffee in the morning. You’ll have to ask him how it is. And yes, we’ve had our share of messes in the process.
If the boys burp, they are learning to say “excuse me.” But whenever they do have a burp they’ll start making fake burps so they can keep saying “excuse me.”
They love to say our neighbor, Connie’s, name. They call everyone Connie and every time they see someone next door, they point and say “Connie.”
We just built the boys a swing set. It has been so nice for them. It has 2 swings and a sliding board with a climbing wall. I’ve been building up my arm muscles pushing. The boys love to swing, but when I push I always have to sing either The Wheels on the Bus song, or a version I made up that has the same tune. I think the neighbors are probably getting tired of hearing it. Lately they’ve been sliding down the slide into their little pool. It has been ridiculously hot here. But, really I’m not complaining.
Andrew
Drew really likes to help feed the dog in the morning and at suppertime.
Drew likes to say the word, “careful.” Often as he’s going up or down stairs he will say “carefull” or if he has had a wobbly moment climbing, sliding, or whatever, he’ll say “whoa, carefull.”
His favorite thing right now is trains. I will often find him in the playroom, in the dark, playing with his trains. He also likes to store them in the refridgerator of his kitchen. No idea why. He has a Thomas the Train birthday card that he keeps around and sometimes if he’s sad he’ll carry the card around with him.
Andrew often skirts the line of misbehaving and you can see him plotting out how far he’s willing to go. He’s definitely the tester.
Drew says “Upa Me” when we wants me to pick him up.
The other day Drew came to me whining with a bulging pant leg in his overalls. I pulled out one car, then another, then another, until I had 8 cars! Five minutes later he came back again with 10!
Brandon
Brandon really likes to help me put away groceries. He says “helping” over and over as we’re putting things away. He also does this with emptying the dishwasher.
Brandon loves cars. He especially loves his toy cars from the movie Cars. He has Luigi, Lightning McQueen, and The Sherrif. His favorite is Luigi or Weedgie, as he calls him. Sometimes Weedgie has to go away for awhile. I’m not sure what it is about Luigie that makes Bran like him so much but whenever we watch the movie, he’s always asking where Weedgie is, or pointing Weedgie out. And he always carries Weedgie around the house with him. We have a special place we put him at night because he’s not allowed to take him to bed.
The other day Lisa took the boys to the playground and they picked some lilacs. On the way, there was a little girl crying in one of the yards they passed. Bran wanted to go and take her the flowers. He kept saying, “crying”, “lilac,” or something to that effect.
Bran runs right across the line of misbehavior and often finds himself in time out. It doesn’t help that he becomes obsorbed in whatever he’s doing and can’t hear you to obey. Sometimes I have to get right in his face for him to pay attention.
Bran is always wanting me to “pay cars” with him. He’s constantly coming up to me, holding out his hand and saying “walk” which means walk with me to my toys and play. He only wants to play cars. Playing cars consists of getting all of their cars out and their road and doing something with them. I’m realizing I’m not so creative in this kind of play. How many things can a car do? We get gas, have the car washed, drive up and down the road…the firetruck puts out fires, the cement truck fixes the road. It’s all real life stuff. When Mike plays cars, they build ramps and other fun stuff that I never think of. When Drew plays cars, he lines them all up like a train and then moves cars in and out until he gets them the right way. But usually Bran steals one or two from the middle and fighting ensues…
Bedtime
Bedtime is still a challenge, but naptimes have been mostly a breeze. Often Andrew will ask to go up for his nap before I’m even thinking about it. He usually goes up 20 minutes or so before Brandon because Bran doesn’t seem to need as much sleep. They both usually go down well. Bedtime is more difficult. We’ve gotten to the point where we do our bedtime routine, then we close the door and let them go. At first it was okay, they stayed up too late, but eventually it got shorter so that they were asleep between 8:30-9:30 (we put them down around 8:00). But lately they’ve really been tearing the room up. Already all their clothes are in baskets in our room. But now they’ve taken to pulling out drawers and jumping in them until the bottoms fall out. Once we went up and Brandon had staples from the bottom of the drawer. They climb both dressers (yes they are bolted) and have gotten things off of the top that we didn’t think they could get to. Tonight they ripped some of the wallpaper border off of the wall. I’m pretty certain they don’t get this from me. But they are learning to go to sleep on their own and there is less fighting at bedtime (as in us fighting with them). I guess we’ll just keep trying until we find what works best. I really do wish they were still in their cribs though. Tonight Bran managed to throw Drew’s soother out of their room (there’s a gate across the door), down the stairs and into the living room, the other times he got them half way down the stairs or into our room. If only there was a soother throwing competition we could sign him up for…
So now begins the Terrible Two’s?…gulp.
Posted: Drew & Bran
5
June
2007
The oddest thing happened today. I was asking the boys if they wanted pizza for lunch and lo and behold…a piece of pizza crust fell from the sky! Noah was excited, Connie and I were a little bewildered until we saw the gull flying overhead trying to figure out how to get it back. Then we were pretty grossed out! I haven’t been able to stop chuckling about it all day though.
Posted: Edmonton, Miscellaneous
