My Son is Back!

My 8 year old is back!

Or do you think he looks older with short hair?

Elmo Obsession

When the T.V. is occupied, the DVD player is the back-up plan. Claire must have her Elmo fix! Look at the intensity of the facial expression.

And the 'please don't interrupt me'.

As you were Madame...

Saturday at the Zoo

An unpleasant experience at the african pavillion. Keep your eye on her head.

Enjoying a more calm experience at the barrier reef pavillion.

Another Haircut for Claire

I trimmed Claire's bangs for a second time. For $20 savings, I must say it's totally worth it. Now she can watch her favourite show (Elmo) without having her hair in her eyes!

Volunteer Work

I organized a volunteer day at the Daily Bread Food bank for a group of my co-workers. I brought Isaac along with me and I was so glad I did. He had such a great time and really enjoyed helping out. Here he is emptying the donation box at the warehouse.

We're sure glad he came because the boxes were really deep. He literally had to climb in them.

A close up at the sorting table.

A photo of all the boxes we ended up packing and sorting. We ended up packing 2073 lbs in total!!!

The Daily Bread was so impressed by our group and especially with Isaac! Our group leader took him for tour of the warehouse and let him take charge of scanning the boxes too. I plan to do this annually with him.

A Pooh Potty

We went out potty searching today. I really wanted to get her an elmo potty but couldn't find one and didn't want to wait so we ended up getting her a Winnie the "Poo" potty. How appropriate! We got going quickly and were suprised at how much she liked this new experience....(at least until she actually had to poo which she cries but is really happy afterwards!). Anyway, here are some photos of her using the potty for the first time.

Reading a book ofcourse.

Having nonchalant conversation with Mommy to lighten the mood.

A veteran, holding the grips on the side of the potty for assistance.

She's growing up too fast!

Breakfast and Play

We decided to take the kids to McDonald's for breakfast as a treat. Afterwards they had fun in the playground. Here they are, Isaac looking a bit exhausted after taking Claire up and down the climber! Thank goodness for big brother's!

A well-deserved stop at the video games for Isaac with Claire close to his side as usual.

She'll do anything her big brother does. I love it!

It`s Potty Time!

Claire pooped on the toilet tonight! I kind of stood her over the toilet and she was off to the races. Obviously I don`t have any photos for this posting but we`ll be picking up a little toilet seat over the weekend so that we can start trying this a little bit more.

Happy New Year!

Every year this get's harder and harder to stay awake!! Wow, we are getting old!

A photo rewind from last year at this time. Mommy and Claire at 4 months old.

If you recall, Claire's New Years resoultion was to give up her soother...which she ended up doing for good 2 months later!

Anyway, this year rather than watching any of the New Year's countdown shows, Claire insisted we watch Elmo's Christmas countdown AGAIN. I think we have seen this more times than I can count now. Somehow she turned into a couch potato over the holidays.

This year her New Years resolution is pretty obvious...watch as much Elmo as possible.

She went to bed at 8 and Anthony and I almost made it to midnight...we tried but fell asleep just before. Isaac on the other hand partied it up till 3am!

Shopping cart

Yes, Claire just got a whole bunch of toys for Christmas, but when I saw this shopping cart, I couldn't resist. She looked so cute pushing it around the house.

Oh-uh, clean up in aisle 5 please.
And she's off to get the deals.

Shopping with her baby ofcourse.

This is fun!

Family Xmas's

It was a busy Christmas. So busy in fact, that we failed to get many pictures. Here are the few we did get. First we saw Anthony's family.

Here are Claire, Adam and I. Right after this photo, Claire took a swipe at Adam. She wasn't too happy seeing her Mommy holding another baby.

Ryan enjoying the excavator we (or should I say Anthony) got him for Christmas. Zio stole all the credit for this one.

A group shot minus Isaac.

And then we spent some time with my family at my sister's new house. Here are some photos of the kids opening their gifts.

Isaac and Claire.

Mya and Thaina.

Ben stopped and posed.

Claire getting her chair ready for dinner.

Then she decided she would rather be at the head of the table.

Claire, Jessica and I.

There was lots to eat and we enjoyed ourselves!

Christmas Morning

Santa got Claire a sling bookcase full of new books. She ran to it right away and started grabbing the books and asking us to read to her.

I can`t believe how much she loves books. It`s great!

And to go nicely with her books, we got her a comfy chair for her to sit and read her books. You can see the joy on her face.

She felt like such a queen in her very own throne. Isaac is her servant.

She also got a great table & chair set from grandma & grandpa, uncle Marc, aunt Joanne, Ryan & Adam. She loved it!

Isaac helped her tuck in her chair.

And grabbed a seat across from her.

She also got the Little People Farm set from her cousin Thaiana, aunt Natalie and uncle Antonio. She loves farm animals and can make almost all the sounds.

She had lots of fun putting the animals in the barn.

Isaac getting ready to open his stocking.

Checking out all the goodies. His favourite thing was probably the itunes gift cards. Now he can download all the songs he likes!

For his gifts we did a Star Wars theme - animated series and movie, puzzles, games, everything! And Santa got him a lego set. He was very happy.

Daddy liked the christmas ornament Claire got him. We`ll put it on the tree next year.

All in all, a good Christmas. After spending the morning opening gifts, it can be a little upsetting when there`s no more presents left to open.

And you also build up a hunger. Claire trying to eat the goodies in Isaac`s stocking.

Some pictures in front of the tree.

And remember last year.

They sure do grow up fast. I love my babies.

Again, remember last year.

We`re looking forward to 2010!