Are we there yet?: Keeping busy

I've been sitting on this post for a few weeks now, and before 2015 gets any older and 2014 becomes a distant memory I wanted to record some of the highlights of the last few months, and also upload some of the photos we've taken since I last blogged.

I'll back us all the way up to July, when Charlotte had her fourth birthday. She attended a half-day "Monsters"-themed preschool day camp in our neighbourhood the week of her birthday and it coincided with the last day of the camp. So I decided to take advantage of this and avoid throwing a birthday party by bringing Cookie Monster cupcakes for the kids at the end of the morning. Charlotte's a shy kid anyway, so I figured she wouldn't care. It's the last year I'm going to be able to get away with that: she's now attended enough friends' birthday parties to know what they're all about... In the afternoon we made popcorn and watched "How to Train Your Dragon" while George napped - a good activity for what turned out to be a rainy afternoon. The four of us headed to K-Days - Edmonton's annual fair - in the late afternoon and spent the rest of the day there. Charlotte had a blast on the rides, although next year will be even better since at 41.5 inches she just missed the height requirement for a number of rides. She also enjoyed the junky food, seeing Dora the Explorer live, and getting a balloon creation from the balloon man.

The summer was generally filled with a lot of time at the nearby parks - we're spoiled to have three within two blocks of us (including a splash park) - and daily walks and bike rides. We bought Charlotte a bike in the spring as an early birthday present and she got a lot of use out of it. She had training wheels on it this summer - it was too large a bike for her to attempt it without them, but we'll give it a go this coming spring. Charlotte also took her first set of swimming lessons in the summer at a nearby outdoor pool. I loved taking outdoor lessons as a kid, but worried about whether the weather would cooperate. Fortunately the two weeks of lessons turned out to coincide with a beautiful stretch of hot weather, and Charlotte enjoyed herself. I wouldn't say that she made any significant strides in her swimming abilities, but for a first set of lessons it was a positive experience.

Charlotte being the big sister.

Canada Day at the Leg.

George was mesmerized by a floating leaf for a good ten minutes.

"Hold my hand, George!"

Daddy's girl.

George in heaven.

Laughs with Papa.

George took his first steps at the end of June - I was relieved because I had been afraid I would miss them when I was away at a conference in Portugal in early July. He remained quite tentative for another month or so, but by August was starting to walk more confidently. James' Mom came out to help with the kids while I was in Portugal, and both Charlotte and George did great with her. We had all been a bit apprehensive about how it would go with George, because he was/is very attached to me and since Granny isn't local he doesn't see her that regularly. Fortunately we had been with James' parents in Toronto only six weeks earlier, and as soon as she arrived in July George was comfortable with her. He coped really well, although was apparently more excited than usual to see James arrive home from work at the end of each day! No one doubted that Charlotte would be anything but thrilled to have special time with Granny - in fact, I wondered if she'd be more sad that Granny was leaving than pleased with my return. Charlotte and Granny made many memories, including daily walks to a nearby coffee shop for coffee and ice-cream. But Charlotte was also very excited at my return, and for about a week I got lots of hugs and kisses and "I missed you when you were in Portugal, Mommy!" It was lovely - though it didn't take too long to get back to being taken-for-granted.

September saw Charlotte return to preschool. This year she attends three days/week instead of two, and switched from a morning to an afternoon class to coincide with George's nap. It also allows the three of us to head out in the mornings together on a variety of adventures. Our regular destinations include the library, the parks, a play group at our neighbourhood community hall, and a biking/cross-country skiing group that I attend weekly (with childcare for the kids). Although I had intended to return to work this past fall, I was only offered one course to teach in each of the fall and winter semesters, and I decided it wasn't worth it for the juggling act it would have required. I had to psych myself up for another full-time year at home, but with everything we've got lined up, as well as visits with friends, I'm finding the year is flying by.