Halloween Haunt 2014

Being a full-time working Mommy this year left less time for creative costuming. This coincided well with Tavish's costume desire to be Luke Skywalker and a darling butterfly costume loaner from a co-worker!

MOMENT: Trickle Treating

Boy was it a rainy night this year! Tavish and a crew of his classroom buddies had a pre-party at a friend's place on the street. Then some donned rain gear while others opted for the full drippy costumes. The battery died in my camera but it was quite a site to see these kids keen to collect candy despite the cold rain pelting down on them! Drip, drip, BOO!

Trick or Treat on the Rainy Street!

Beauty Butterfly

First Candy Collection

A Rainy Blur of Excitement

Wet Bug Handing Out Candy

Luke Skywalker

The Force is Fierce with this One

MOMENT: Return of the Switch Witch

That awesome witch was up to her considerate antics again. Tavish sorted his candy the night before and left much for the Switch Witch to give to her naughty cat. In return, she left Tavish and Keva both with some new treats...

Pumpkin Time

Fall isn't complete without some pumpkin carving cheer!

Cute Little Carvers...

...Create Creepy Jack-o-Lanterns!

MOMENTS: Design, Dig, Carve, Light, Enjoy!

Mommy drew the designs, kids dug, Daddy carved - a family effort. The 2014 instalment of Halloween masterpieces were aglow...

Lil' Reader

We've been reading to Keva since she was born, it's fun to see her picking up a book and enjoy some reading on her own...

MOMENT: Boynton Books

Books by Sandra Boynton are always a good read for this age. Keva knows Pookie, a little pig, in these books. It's fun to look back on this and recognize just how far she's come since then!

Hippo, Lilly, Sheep

Keva has bedtime companions: Hippo (an organic cotton toy given to Tavish as a gift when he was a baby), Sheep (a fluffy stuffy Grandma brought back from her trip to Ireland), and Lilly (a Mommy-named doll that was purchased to 'play' with).

MOMENTS: Sleep Pals

Whenever Keva is put down to sleep, asking for her pals is part of the process. She's not reliant on them in that she's very understanding when they're unavailable (you know, when they're in a temporarily unknown location), but does enjoy giving them a snuggle before slumber.

The crew in the crib at bedtime

Bedtime routines have always been consistent in our family. Stories and then songs. For both kids, I established a bedtime playlist on songs I'd sing before laying them down. Although they were different, they were both consistent enough then when I start singing the first song of either playlist, it usually just leads without thought into the next one. For both kids, they just stopped needing or wanting the songs one night, so here's my record of what was for a brief period, a normal part of bedtime.

Tavish's Bedtime Playlist:
- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
- You are my Sunshine
- I'm the Painter of the Sky (a song from my UWP show)
- Believe the Sun Will Shine (also from my UWP show)
- You are my Sunshine
- Lullaby (a Dixie Chicks song that always played at my prenatal yoga class)

Keva's Bedtime Playlist:
- Baa Baa Black Sheep (brought in by Tom's playlist at bedtime)
- Row, Row, Row Your Boat (also requested from Tom's list)
- Sitting in my Highchair (song learned at Library storytime we attended in Ottawa)
- It's so Nice to Have a Cuddle (also from the Library storytime)
- I Love You (Bushel and a Peck)

Surgery

Keva is a trooper. It was a (really) early morning start. Daddy was out of town all week so Lucy, the nanny, came over to start the day with Tavish. It all went smoothly, but that felt like the longest 20 minutes of my life and the following hour was pretty rough as Keva came out of anaesthetic. In the end, it was all worth it to hear her say the words I asked her to from the carrier on my back on a busy street. Our baby could hear better already!

MOMENT: Montage of Waiting

Trying to figure this procedure out...

Robed and ready...

Recovering with an after-school visit at Auntie Colleen's

Turns out, my camera will make these movies with music and everything, without me asking. This blog just got a lot fancier and likely better too! Enjoy the not-made-by-me video of this big event...

Hear Say

18 months: Keva was put on the waiting list for speech pathology. Several months later, when we were offered an appointment, it was suggested that we get her hearing tested after I explained that she made up her own signs and that most words she said sounded the same: "buppy".

April 25: audiologist removed a great deal of wax from both of her ears and conducted a hearing test where the results indicated hearing loss. It was potentially the end of an ear infection and we were to address that and come back when it was cleared. Later that day, our doctor said to return in two weeks with hopes it cleared up. No antibiotics necessary.

April 29: speech pathologist informs me that she has "mild to moderate hearing loss". I have my "Bruce Willis" moment (from the Sixth Sense) where I all of a sudden recognize it. She has been compensating and so have we...she read lips, we repeated ourselves. Speech Pathologist recommends we address her hearing as soon as possible.

May 9: back to the doctor then audiologist secretly hoping that it's all just been an ear infection that's passed. Nope. Still mild-moderate hearing loss. ENT willing to fit Keva in that morning! (Our appointment from our expedited referral was for the end of July). He suggests surgery to put tubes in her ears and has a cancellation less than one week later...

May 15: Keva has surgery - it's 9 days before Keva turns 2. It was tough for Keva and also for her Mommy (Daddy was out of town). Immediately after leaving the hospital, Keva was noticeably hearing better.

5 weeks later: the words start. The speech pathologist said it usually takes 6 weeks for language to start developing after the surgery. From her high chair, she pulls on her bib. I ask "would you like that off?". She smiles and says "offfff". She follows this up with the sign for 'play'. I confirm "you'd like to play?". Keva looks at me and says "pah-lay" with her sign. Let the talking begin!

MOMENT: Signs Say it All

This video was taken May 4, 2014, before her surgery. It's impressive how well she learned to communicate given she wasn't hearing clearly...

MOMENT: Jumping to New Heights

On the bright side, Keva's gross motor development has taken off now that she's walking. Here is footage of her wandering around and 'jumping' in the waiting room to meet the ENT on May 9th...

Easter 2014

Easter brought us to Ottawa where we stayed with friends (who were out of town, but offered their fully equipped home to us), played with Grandpa Mike, did some fine decorating and searched out some treats. All in all, an excellent weekend!

MOMENT: Treats

Exciting to make

Exciting to find

The Easter Bunny didn't let the kids down. There was all sorts of hippie-like treats and toys to be had. Such a responsible (and fun) bunny. The kids hopped right to it!