Leo, Marc and I spent the day yesterday at Chateau Montebello celebrating Alain and Josee's wedding. We had a wonderful day and enjoyed seeing old friends and making new ones. Of course, we had the ultimate icebreaker - Leo. He was such a charmer all day and well into the night. Everyone loved him and he loved every ounce of attention he received. We ended up spending the night at the Chateau and even though we didn't get to sleep in as late as we'd hoped, the quality time alone with Leo was a real treat.
When we got back to Montreal we were greeted by a very happy Clara B who had been having a great time with Papa T and her Aunt Rachel. So, Clara's first sleepover appears to have been a complete success! By all reports (from both Clara and Papa T) everything went smoothly and no one looked especially sleep deprived when we arrived at Rufus this afternoon.

Clara is really in touch with her feelings. She doesn't hesitate to tell us when she's feeling mad, frustrated, angry, happy, excited, shy, or scared. I've always thought that was pretty cool in itself but the other day at lunch she was able attribute emotion to music - it was wild!

We were listening to the.... ahem... 80s 90s Nooner over lunch last week and a song came on that was really upbeat and Clara said "I think that this is happy song". I agreed. The next song that came on was Must've been Love by Roxette and Clara looked up and said "I think this is a sad song". Once again I quickly agreed making a mental note that my child is a genius and I've gotta remember to tell Marc about this when he comes home. Then Beds are Burning by Midnight Oil started and Clara looked at me with a furrowed brow and said "This is a mad song Mama, it's MAD!". This time I bust out laughing nodding my head in agreement but couldn't quite get the words out. She was totally right, the beginning of that song does sound really, really mad!!!

At 5:28 am Clara opened her eyes and made this annoucement... "Papa says we have a new Pope, so I can watch cartoons!"

This is bizzare on so many levels.
1. Marc is out of town
2. Clara usually sleeps until 7:30am
3. The new Pope was selected weeks ago

What's going on with Leo these days you ask? Well, just today I caught him mauling our baby doll; first he sucked its face then he moved on to its toes! What does this mean for my son's future?!?

Leo also spent some time this morning playing with his own shadow. He was sitting in the hallway while I was doing laundry and scooted himself over to face the wall. Then he lunged at, screeched at, and generally gave his shadow a hard time until one of his aggressive moves backfired and he ended up head butting the wall. A few kisses later he was back at it.

Then this evening I found him chewing the crib... He likes hanging out in there but I'm worried because it is proving to be a great practice space for pulling himself up. He hasn't succeeded yet, but he's trying really hard - he can pull himself to a kneeling position and I know how quickly his determination will get him onto his feet!

Everyone touch Natasha!


Family self portrait :)

Clara commenting on Papa...
"You are a Superman"

Clara commenting on Leo...
"You are so silly Leo"

Clara commenting on Clara...
"I'm a princess, I can do anything"

Clara commenting on Mommy...
"Do you have your keys Mama? You forgot them yesterday"

Looks like I'm gonna have to wait a while before I live that down!

One could say today was a bad day but I'll just call it one of those days. I should have know that things were not going to run smoothly this morning when I overslept by 45 minutes. Clara had risen way too early so Marc settled her with a DVD and some cereal. We fully expected her to come and wake us when the DVD ended (which is what she normally does) but little did we know that "Franklin" loops automatically at the end of the DVD!!!! Needless to say, Clara just sat and watched it again... Meanwhile I had turned off the alarm clock in my sleep and was completely unaware that two hours had passed when Marc woke me up with a stern "Mommy, what are you doing?" at 8:20am.

We made it to the Carrefour only 20 minutes late with Marc's help. It was our last session at the Carrefour and we had lots of fun... Clara made a T-shirt that is so cool, she even signed her name at the bottom (three sideways Cs)



The real fun started when we got home... No KEYS! I knew the second I opened the backpack that my house keys were inside in my other bag. So, we took this as an opportunity to get to know our neighbors better. We went to the bakery! We hung out with Phil, had some lunch which included Clara's first taste of chocolate milk, and I made phone calls. Marc was out for lunch at first and when I finally reached him it was obvious that it would be very difficult for him to get away to let us into the house. I decided to try to kill the afternoon by dropping in on some friends. Jayne and Max were not home so we headed to Trina and Anissa's instead. Luckily (for us) Anissa would not fall asleep for her nap so they were both awake when I knocked on the door. Later, we were joined by Natasha and Mariella and had lots of fun.

So, at 6:30pm I made it home - 9+ hours after I'd left! Thank goodness I packed enough diapers this morning. Papa T and Cathy arrived about 2 minutes after we got home and hung out with Clara, Leo and I for the evening while Papa went and played Soccer.

Whew, what a looong day it's been. Good Night!

This weekend Leo and Marc perfected their own very special form of father - son communication. Whenever they make eye contact one or the other starts shaking their head vigorously as if they were saying "no". The other then replies with an equally enthusiastic head shake. What exactly they are saying to one another is a mystery but I'm pretty sure it is a term or endearment.

Oh and say goodbye to that toothless grin. Leo's first tooth is just cutting through his gums. Of course you really have to look for it. But I know its there because when he smiles at you just so you can see the tiniest bit of enamel peeking out of the wettest grin in town!

Clara had her first professional hair cut today. She did great - we had no idea she could sit still for such a long time!



And here is a pic of Marc training for his first soccer match EVER this Tuesday.

Yesterday Clara was all about cats, she spent a good portion of the day wearing cat ears, crawling on all fours and pretending to eat cat food from a bowl. So, it should come as no surprise that while at a party sponsered by the city last evening Kitty Clara asked to have her face painted like a cat... a blue cat specifically.



Today was no longer about cats, we have moved onto dogs. Ruffy (II) was front and center this morning and it was imperative that we build him a carrying case!



On our trip to the grocery stores this afternoon Clara insisted on bringing Pitou along with us. Pitou is a deflated, filthy orange balloon on a string. So, Pitou came with us and tripped, slowed down, and otherwise got in the way of many of our fellow city dwellers and shoppers - what could I do??

Margo, Chris and Laura came over for dinner this evening and got to see some of Clara and Leo's antics first hand. Clara the princess was ravishing as always (all the way to Rockaberry) and Leo's rrrrrolling Rs also made an impression.

Me: What do you want to eat for lunch today Clara?
Clara: Peanut butter sandwich with pickles inside and on the plate.
Me: OK, peanut butter and pickle sandwich on a plate.
Clara: No, pickles inside and on the plate!
Me: Alright, I've got it. You want extra pickles on the side right?
Clara: Yup, I want lots.

So Much to say and so little time to say it in!

Papa T graduated last night from McGill. Leo attended and, other than a few "happy noises" he was hardly noticeable. He did try to sleep through parts of the ceremony but it is hard to get quality shut eye when people randomly start singing and clapping! Although, it must be said, Leo really dug the singing. He just watched all the people singing in a sort of a trance. Ok, maybe that was the fatigue setting in, but he really seemed to enjoy it! Clara stayed home with Meaghan and from the sounds of it they had a pretty great time too (something about matching cowboy hats??)


Dad and Cathy


Leo and Papa checking out the flowers.

Auntie Patricia slept over last night so she was able to come to the Carrefour this morning. Since it was so HOT we ended the morning at Parc Laurier where all the kids spent the remainder of their energy - both Clara and Leo passed out on the way home.

Patricia, Clara and Chloe waithing for "the walking man"


Clara and a few of her friends (she's wearing the dress)

Unfortunately, a by-product of Leo's late night was a weird sleep day, basically he's dead tired but can't relax enough to fall asleep. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow.

I scored some real leather ballet slippers for Clara at the Twins and Triplets bazaar yesterday. I'm so pleased with myself. Clara loves them and danced to the Nutcracker Suite with me as soon as she put them on. She quickly proclaimed that she was Clara (obviously) and Leo was the Nutcracker!

So, here they are...

Clara the leaping ballerina.

AND


The Nutcracker himself.

Of course I also had to capture Clara's precise first position too. We'll have to consult with Auntie Laura for more ballet positions.

Leo has a cold - again. Clara is healthy despite keeping a bowl close at hand in case her tutus have to "puke in a bowl" as she so sweetly puts it. The gastro certainly made an impact on her pretend play!

We got a few errands accomplished today but more importantly we played at the park for several hours. Ruby and her mom taught Clara how to play Hide and Seek which was lots of fun even after we'd used up every possible hiding place Parc Drolet affords!

While we were there Clara had an encounter with a little Chinese girl who spoke no English or French that I could discern. They were talking to each other a mile a minute but both were obviously distressed and frustrated by the others lack of understanding. Finally Clara looked at me and said, "I don't understand what she says - Chloe understands me!" It was so funny and completely out of the blue especially since it has been over two weeks since she has even seen Chloe!

If I wasn't sure before, there is no doubting it now - Clara understands, encodes and remembers everything she sees on TV. I've known this in principle for a long time but this evening over dinner, Clara gave me a complete rundown of the Caillou episode she watched while I was cooking. I mean, she didn't just give me a broad plot review, she knew details. Luckily, I stopped watching Oprah and those slasher films during the day months ago (just bit of humor here, I can't give up my slasher movies!). I'll have to work on Marc to give up the Simpsons once and for all, Clara likes that show too much. I can only imagine what she's learning from good 'ole Bart.

Our Day In Pictures

Clara and Leo are ready to head out to he Carrefour. Notice the bike lock? I remembered to undo it this morning before trying to leave!


Big sister Clara fed Leo his whole lunch today...and she only gagged him twice.


Yes, Leo enjoyed his carrots thank you very much.


Look closely, you can see Clara cracking herself up while trying to wipe Leo's face off. I was laughing pretty hard too.


Of course, all face washing ends in cloth sucking - WHY??