January 8, 2009 by Barbara.

With apologies for the irreverance.

You know how for Jesus’ birthday, people give each other presents? Well for Sulienne’s birthday this year, I would like a snow blower with a handy-dandy freestanding garage for it or a snow removal service. If you weren’t sure what to buy me for Suliennemas, now you know.

Have a look at the pic below if you’re lonely for snow or wondering how to fit 45 minutes of exercise into your day (according to the Internet, that’s 250 calories burned for me already).

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January 7, 2009 by Barbara.

I gave Reid a banana to eat on the way to school this morning. I take advantage of advice that says brushing before breakfast is better for your teeth (see this article on when to brush your teeth if you don’t believe me) and let her eat in the car. Ken pays more attention to the risks to the car and Reid’s clothes than I do (but while he is away … ;+) Anyway, as I was saying, Reid was eating a banana and gave be the last inch or so. I thanked her, as nice people should, and said that I’d been hoping that she would give me a piece. Reid smiled and then said, “Once I didn’t eat the nipple but Daddy did. Daddy likes nipples. [giggle]” And I could resist replying, “Umm. Yeah.” I was thinking that this would be one of those discussions that would make you laugh now and make Reid cringe when she is old enough to get the double meaning. I might have thought also that Ken would squirm a bit when I told it but, as I said, he is in Colorado Springs.

Reid moved onto her next favourite fruit - grapes. “I eat squishy grapes. Any grapes, even rotten grapes, I’ll eat.” I said that I didn’t realize that she ate squishy grapes and Reid insisted that she did eat them. She said, in fact, that at her old daycare the teachers said, “Reid, don’t eat the squishy grapes!” She laughed when she told me this. Reid asked whether she ate grapes as a baby and I said that she did but that I had cut them in half so that she wouldn’t choke. She asked if I gave her squishy ones and I said, “no”. When pressed for the reason, I explained that I was more picky about what went in her tummy back then. I had thought that she would have taken on the pickiness herself but apparently I was wrong.

(Note: We - Reid and I, maybe also Ken - call the bitter part right at the end of the banana a “nipple”. It has never seemed like a questionable label until today)

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January 6, 2009 by Barbara.

Heard in our car this morning:
Reid: Mama, do you want to know what Daddy and I have that you don’t?
Me: Sure, what?
Reid: Our last name is longer. We’re taller. We can run faster. We’re stronner. We can ride our bikes faster.
Me: What can I do that you and Daddy can’t do?
Reid: Noffing.
Me: Thanks, Reid.
Reid: If you want to be like me and Daddy, you have to have my last name.

Looks like I want be getting taller, stronger or faster anytime soon.

Have a great day, however long your last name is.

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January 5, 2009 by Barbara.

Reid and went I met Melissa for breakfast Sunday morning. The day began in a bit of a panic when I realized that when Reid awoke that it was 8:10, instead of 7:10, and we were already late. I’d been reading in bed, enjoying being the only one awake when - bam! - I looked at the clock when I heard Reid. My “Oh my!” woke Ken and so he supervised Reid’s fastest-ever dressing while I called Melissa (thank goodness for cell phones) and pulled myself together. We were out the door within 13 minutes of my feet hitting the floor.

After a breakfast of waffles, or at least I chose a Belgian waffle and Reid mooched from it before eating her sandwich, we headed for the Farm, aka the Canada Agriculture Museum.   The last time we were there, a couple of the buildings were open but there were no activities. Yesterday they had an activity scheduled every hour or so and we arrived just in time for the calf grooming. Reid has never touched a calf before and so I was impressed when she went into the stall with the “farmer” and brushed the calf’s fur without hesitation. Having been that bold, she proceeded to pet each of the other calves in the barn. I wonder if she’ll try again on our next visit. We walked by each of the cows and I named them as I passed. This is a favourite activity of Reid’s and then we went to the “maternity ward” and saw a 2 day old calf and a mama cow who should be having her calf before the week is out. The mama cow didn’t look as eager for the big day as I remember being the week before Reid was born. On the way to see Goody the bull - Reid’s favourite animal on the farm - Reid climbed some snow piles and slid down them. I guess I need to find a tobagganing hill and a sled for us. We said “hello” to the horses, sheep, pigs, goats, rabbits and Goody, or course and then headed for the car.

Reid has been impressed that I knew how to get from our house to a restaurant that we’d never been to before and even more impressed that I was able to get to the Farm without having to go home first. She told me that it was very cool. “Cool” is high praise, indeed, from Reid. As we drove along, Reid began chanting, “My mama is cool. My mama is cool.” I knew that I must savour the moment for when Reid is a teenager and I am anything but “cool” or it’s 10-year-from-now equivalent.

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