Wow, how time flies. A month ago now was Teresa's birthday and I never got around to putting up pictures of the event. We had a small gathering with family during the week and a birthday party with a few school friends on the weekend with Sarah coming in for a visit.
While the gatherings were small, Teresa thoroughly enjoyed her party and Sarah's visit. Teresa got from us some art lessons at the WAG which she has begun, a bottle rocket launcher from auntie (which is currently under repair!) and she received a crayon maker with her great-grandparent's money.
It is hard to believe, but today Margaret has officially turned one. No longer an infant, now a toddler (though that realistically started sooner) she has been enriching our lives with her cuddles and craziness for a year now. In honour of her first birthday we hosted a small gathering for her yesterday, with her Godmother, auntie and grandma Friesen in attendance, and we lavished her with food and gifts. Cara spent the last month or so knitting her a blanket, so she received that. Soon she will be out of her sleeping sack and sleeping with her blankie I suspect.
In the long time that has passed since we last posted (yes I know I said I would be better, but there was a summer, an ongoing renovation, and three wonderful kids that occupy almost every moment of our lives until we crash) but the milestones keep coming down. Margaret got her first tooth about 3 weeks ago. She started walking around the same time too... Now she chases her sisters quicker than ever seemingly enjoying terrorizing them (not that they don't get their comeuppance).
Here are some pictures from her party Saturday.
Auntie Paula & her Goddaughter. Uncle Andy looks amused by the shenanigans.
The cake. Outside...
... and in
Margaret seems confused / concerned with the cake...
Cake? Why would you torture me with this?
Mmmmm.... Ice cream!!!
Did I mention I like ice cream?
Oh yeah, that's a happy not-baby-aymore
Her sisters thoroughly enjoyed the food too.
Mmmmmm....
One happy kid. She ate most of her cake, all of her ice cream (& some of mine) along with a full dinner. This kid has a career path in competitive eating.
Is that a $600 camera grandma? Don't worry, you can trust me with it.
And a one year retrospective... Yes, it is a little long but I made it for the party to run on the TV.
The highlight of Cara's birthday was watching the girls deliver the gifts with gusto and then see them tell Cara about that they bought... After that, feel free to watch further.
As for the ballet? It was hilarious to watch, but ended in tragedy... If you listen closely, Teresa is upset as she did not learn how to do a pirouette of a jette...
On February 18th Frances turned two, and it was awesome. She celebrated with family and some friends, although we did not invite any little kids due to our lack of a basement and limited space upstairs. Frances loves Elmo, and watches him almost every day on Sesame Street, so I rented a pan and made her an edible Elmo head, every girl's dream really. One thing I did not realize was how red Elmo was, and the repercussions of the amount of red food gel I used will only be known years from now. Every one who sampled this red creation left with pink teeth. Except those (me) who were smart enough to eat his eyeball.
Frances opening gifts with Grandpa
Yay! A Sesame Street book! With Elmo! Yes, she checked.
Frances checking out the events of the day with Grandpa.
Once she figured out all those bags contained stuff for her she really got into it.
Ever since Teresa turned four we have been celebrating various people's birthdays. She usually makes a cake out of lego, we sing and the birthday person gets to blow out the candle. Simple enough, but the other day she decided to throw a party for her teddy, and she did it up right.
Here are all Teddy's friends, waiting for the party to start
Teresa at four is a wonder to experience. She is kind, hilarious, bossy, infuriating and imaginative. Teresa at four can melt my heart one second and anger me the next. She is so special, so precious that every time I try to describe her my words are inadequate, so I will simply say this. Teresa at four is a blessing, our great joy.
Teresa is now four, and it boggles the mind to think she has been around for four years. It seems so much longer/shorter than that. This year Teresa requested a princess tea party, and that is what she got. I loved seeing her school friends all dressed up and running like maniacs in the park. Teresa and the girls had a good time, and so did I. Ken, well, you'll see....
Climbing in a princess dress takes a certain finesse....
4 years (minus one week) ago, Teresa came to us and as such we have to plan her birthday. This year she asked for a Princess Tea Party, so we will be having one with some of her preschool friends (and aunties) on Saturday, then the grandparents along with other family on Monday. I thought you might be amused by her invitation.
I find it hard to believe that I have a four year old...
For those unaware, my wife is a true April Fool. As you are all obviously aware she is a fantastic mother, working hard for our sweeties. I was looking through the pictures for evidence of the great things she does, I realized that our pictures are 96% candid shots of the girls, 1% Rowdy, 2.8% pictures of other people, 0.18% pictures of me and the girls and 0.02% pictures of Cara. Fortunately we take about 1.3 trillion pictures a year, so that translates to a few shots to use :)
So here you go, Happy Birthday Cara. I should mention that if you want to follow her daily travails, you can go to her blog "Waiting to Perspire"
Toute la famille
Posing with #2 (order of birth, not amount of love :)
Posing with #1
At Princesses on Ice, which I seem to recall being a big hit with both of them
Have a great day. I have to go buy and wrap some stuff now.
And couldn't be happier about it. Miss Frances, you have taken this family by storm, and we have all fallen for your goofy grin and contagious giggle. We have seen you develop from a bleary eyed infant to the determined toddler you are today. And yes, you are a toddler, although I would love to keep referring to you as my baby, the fact is, you are not. You are walking around the whole house at this point, you have begun to verbally express your wants and needs and, thank goodness, are sometimes feeding yourself. You have reached the point in your life where you are no longer, but will always be, my baby.
This year has also been a year of adventure for you. You have been to Ottawa twice, to Minneapolis, the zoo, many museums. You have touched a baby crocodile and a boa constrictor, and maybe some other strange animals, I know you are often up to no good when my back is turned. Each time we take you some place new, you want to get out there and experience it with your sister and any other big kids that happen to be around. I think that is why you were so determined to first roll over, then crawl, pull yourself up, climb stairs, climb any stationary object really, and finally walk. You accomplished all these tasks with practice and determination, and with very little concern for your own safety. You get so very frustrated when things don't go your way, but this seems to motivate you. You keep failing until you succeed, and you do not rest until things go your way.
One of the things I love most about you is that every day you go for the gusto, nothing is halfway with you, nothing a compromise. I hope a part of this trait stays with you, I pray that you continue to begin each day with that infectious grin, knowing that each day holds a new adventure, a new skill to hone. I pray that each day you go for the gusto, slowing down just enough to let your parents keep up with you.
This is a slideshow of Frances' first year. The song is "I Could be Nothing" by The Great Lake Swimmers.
In response to Cara's rhetorical question if anything was cuter than a (implied) picture of a child eating cake, the answer is course: YES! A VIDEO OF A CHILD EATING CAKE!
In honour of Teresa turning three, I took some pictures this morning while Frances was napping. I took approximately 50 pictures, but most of them were a blur of toddler movement, here are some of the best/funniest.
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