Embarrassed Shrug...

Yes, it's been almost three months since we posted anything...but we're beyond being embarrassed about it. It's tough to keep up with stuff with two working parents and a busy 3-year-old. However, we are kind of sad that we've neglected to capture some of the hilarious and ee-diculous things coming out of Amanda's mouth these days. Some of her current favourites:

• "This is ee-diculous!!"
  
• "Well"...this usually said in response to what she obviously thinks is a dumb question, as in Me: So who was at daycare today? Amanda: Well (turning up hands and making an exasperated face) Anika and Ysa, like always.
  
• "Last Off" - as in: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, DON'T SAY 11 BECAUSE WE'RE ONLY COUNTING TO 10!!!, LAST OFF!!"
  
• "Or something", used as a modifier to just about anything (Jeff: Why do you think the fish are swimming like that? Amanda: Maybe they're cold or something)
  

One fun development in the past few weeks is that we've started music classes. I say "we" because I, too, go to music class every Tuesday evening...apparently the many years of music instruction weren't quite enough for me. We decided to go with the Music for Young Children program, and so far it's going great. I must admit that despite having tons of music around the house constantly, I was pretty dubious about how much music a 3-year-old could learn. But after only about half a dozen classes, Amanda can find 3 notes on the piano with no problem at all (D, F, and C), instantly calls out "piano" or "forte" for different volumes of music, and is learning the difference between quarter notes and half notes (we call them "hops" and "turtles"). The way everything is taught is really quite amazing. The most important thing is that she's really enjoying it and looks forward to class every week. We have to do a few minutes of "practice" each day, but often this is just cutting pictures out of magazines (like things that start with C, or people whispering) or singing songs. And since we started classes, Amanda has been singing even more than usual - she's always done a lot of singing, but now pretty much everything turns into a song. She sometimes uses tunes she knows, like Twinkle Twinkle or Rockabye Baby, and other times she makes up songs on her own. She's very good at getting words to fit into the rhythm, and sometimes they even rhyme! It's pretty amazing to us to watch how her language and music skills are developing.

Hmm, what else is new...Amanda is also starting swimming lessons in a few weeks, after spending quite awhile on the waiting list. What's up with the rec centres that they offer a million classes during the middle of weekdays, but hardly any during evenings or weekends (except for, like, 12:30 pm on Saturday - just what I wanted, to waste my entire Saturday with a swimming lesson in the middle of the day)? For those 5 weeks things will be crazy, as we have swimming on Mondays and Wednesdays and music class on Tuesdays, but it's worth it to keep weekends more or less free. It's also a good thing, since our weekends seem to be filling up faster than we can keep track these days. I always expect December to be hectic, but this year that's extended right back to mid-September. It's taking a lot more coordination to keep things organized these days! I must say, my Mom Agenda is helping considerably - I love it!!

As for us, we're just barely keeping heads above water, as usual. I'm not sure how other people do the two-working-parents thing, but I'd say we are perpetually in a state of chaos and three steps behind everything that needs doing. One of these days I'll turn into one of those organized moms who always has nutritious meals and snacks planned and a well-stocked fridge, has an immaculate house, and is universally adored at work...OK, probably not. (Anyone who knows me even a little would have been snickering from at least the immaculate house part.) How people do it with 2 or more kids is beyond me!! We can't even manage the one well-behaved kid we have. Oh well, we keep plugging along as always.

Photos...lots!! Although we've slowed down considerably in our photo-taking in recent months. Here are a couple of recent favourites: