My baby boy refuses to remain a baby! Can someone do something about this?? This morning while Clara and Marc were playing pat-a-cake Leo watched intently and kinda bobbed along with the beat of the rhyme and then...he started clapping along! What? Who taught him that? He was so thrilled with himself, he smiled and clapped and drooled (yup, teething again). We were totally impressed with the clapping, then our little guy upped the anti and started imitating the "pricking" action too!

Bedtime has been getting better and better, but tonight was probably the best we've experienced so far. Clara was bouncing around, obviously overtired and getting crazier by the second. Leo was ready for bed so I suggested Clara get Leo's books so I could read to him before nursing him down for the night. She was happy to oblige and asked if she could sit with us too. Of course, I welcomed her to snuggle up beside Leo on my lap. I read Wibbly Pig and Mr Brown Can Moo. They both sat quiet and still focused on the books, it was peaceful and so, so wonderful. Marc sat with us as well and it was all I could do to keep my focus on the books, otherwise I knew tears would start to swell.

Sitting there, with both my kids I felt like I'd won something. I've got exactly what I've always wanted, and even though it can be hard (oh so hard!) there is nothing better or more rewarding than sitting on the edge of a bed moo-ing, and cock-a-doodle-do-ing to my babies who are loving every second of it!

Sappy Entry ahead!
Today I had a moment with Clara. We made lunch together (egg salad sandwiches on whole wheat bread) and then sat at the table and chatted. I found myself listening to her and swelling with love and pride. She's such an individual; she's so smart, funny, loving, and empathetic. I just sat there in wonder and enjoyed the company of this beautiful soul that I helped to create!

After we had finished eating I gave Clara a cloth to wipe off her face. While wiping her face she went off on a tangent about how when she was a baby I washed her face and how when I was a baby, she washed my face. It was so weird, she said it so matter-of-factly. I felt tears spring to my eyes and for the first time ever I considered the possibility of reincarnation - how weird would that be?!?

And, in the category of things I want to remember about my kids at this age...
-Clara calls sneezes "bless yous"

-Her favorite joke is:
C- Knock knock
Me- Who's there?
C- Banana
Me- Banana who?
C- Banana blah blah
We laugh, she goes on...

C- Knock knock
Me- Who's there?
C- Orange
Me- Orange who?
C- Orange you glad I didn't say banana?
We laugh, she goes on...

C- Knock knock
Me- Who's there?
C- Popsicle
Me- Popsicle who?
C- Popsicle blah blah (while making a monkey face)
We laugh, it usually ends there unless she decides to do it again with every other piece of fruit!

-Leo makes brum brum noises while pushing around cars and buses. I love that his favorite (and our only) car is a pink one!

-Clara and Leo play together now, it is so cool to see them interact and laugh with each other. Some favorite games are; The on where Clara encourages Leo to chase her up and down the hallway. The one where they each have a rattle and shake them together, then they swap rattles and shake them some more. The oe where Leo cruises around the "petit table" trying to eat Clara's cereal while she tries to guard it and watch her cartoon at the same time (ok, I think only Leo considers this one a game). and finally, the one where Clara "rides" Leo while he giggles and squeals in delight!

Now Leo waves, smiles, and says "bah bah" with no provocation at any sign of a person arriving or leaving. So cute!

Despite struggling with a cold, Leo hit another milestone yesterday. He started waving! I've noticed lately that he's been practicing the "wave" finger movement though rarely with his hand up for people to see. Yesterday as we were leaving the park and saying "bye bye" to Chloe and Zachary his arm was up and he was waving a bit.

The definitive moment was last night at bedtime. I took Leo to see Marc and Clara for goodnight kisses. After our goodnights, I took Leo down the hall towards the bedroom and he just started waving. I was so excited I went back (to the bathroom where Marc and Clara were brushing teeth) and instructed Clara and Marc to say "night-night" again. Sure enough he started waving at them with a huge proud grin across his face! What a ham.

This morning he waved wildly at Marc when he left for the gym and I predict a repeat when he heads out to the office in a few minutes.

When Clara woke up, quite agitated at 2am this morning Papa offered her water. "No water!" was her firm response. She continued to whine so Papa tried again,"what do you want Clara?" "I want, I want, I want... a hot dog." With that she closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.

Clara went to her first dentist appointment today and as her plastic ring says "Look Mom, No Cavities!" Of course with Clara's pronunciation it is "Look Mom, No Cabanies!"

I didn't really know what to expect of Clara in the dentist's chair, she'd been well prepared for what would happen but I just wasn't sure if she was going to go for it. When we arrived she was quite hesitant so in order to quell her nerves I offered to go first. I had my teeth cleaned while Clara danced around, ate snacks, and peered over the hygenist's shoulder. By the end of my cleaning she was asking when it would be her turn. The hygenist, who was very kind and gentle (with me as well) prepared her instruments for a cleaning but confided that she usually doesn't get to do much of a cleaning with 3 year olds. Well, this 3 year old not only sat still, listened and practiced brushing her teeth she also has a complete cleaning and flossing! Other than a few moments of furrowed brow Clara practically had a smile on during the whole ordeal! I swear, this kid is not scared of anything - oh, except flies and sometimes fluff.

So we headed back to Karen's to collect Leo (read Karen's blog to see how that went) with beautiful white smiles and two new toothbrushes.

Clara was able blow off a little artistic steam so to speak this afternoon, this is the result...

Summer vacation is over. We finished our family time with one final hurrah, a visit to the Granby Zoo. The day was not perfect but I think it worked to our advantage in the end, it was grey when we arrived and drizzly for most of the afternoon, but we ignored the wet and just enjoyed the refreshing temperature. The cool thing about Granby Zoo is that it offers a bit of everything; we started out at the wave pool, then spent some time at the amusement park and finished up the day checking out some favorite animals. In fact, it was the perfect culmination of our water and animal themed vacation! As always, Clara impressed both Marc and I with her fearlessness in the wave pool and determination on the bumper cars (she was way too young for them but she was tall enough so they let her on!)
After the Zoo we went to our vacation retreat in Bromont (Papa T and Cathy's house) and relaxed for the evening. The next day Clara and Marc fit in a swim and we spent some time outside enjoying the sunny weather before heading back home. Clara and I both lamented Papa's return to work on Monday but we are slowly getting back into the swing of things.