My little boddler

What's been going on. I have been neglecting the blog lately not feeling like updating my own but continuing to see what is going on in everyone elses lives. Not a ton going on lately, life is pretty good though.

I learned a new word last night while reading a book. New to me anyway BODDLER. You can probably use your awesome mother brain to figure that one out. I googled it and here is a definition of it.
Boddler is the name we gave to our children when they were no longer really babies but were not quite toddlers either - i.e. when they had started moving about so getting into scrapes but not actually walking and toddling about. The advantage of the word is that if it is spoken forcibly it does come out as a good swear word.

Oh! you little boddler!

Yes I will admit Sadie isn't really a baby anymore, but I don't think she is a real toddler yet.
So I say Sadie is at the boddler stage. She is typical and loves to empty cupboards drawers and create messes (each day trying to make more & get bigger and better) She LOVES to follow me around and copy what I do. I do think it is pretty cute all the little things she picks up on. She continues to pick and choose words from her boddler language. Only a mother can translate chheee and mmmo and know she is saying cheese and more. I think she is chincy with her words and tries to use "body language" and when that doesn't work its just screaming and grunting which again only a mother can translate. She attempts colouring on paper and herself (she always seems to find pens to colour on her clothes with ahhh) She is always reaching and whining for things that are off boddler limits. She is a decent workout partner. I knew I got those 2lb weights for a reason they are perfect for her. She totally mimics my moves. When I try to do push ups she bends down & gets right in my face and either grunts or laughs at me. She is the perfect little side kick for now.

Being naked is a major highlight everyday. It is like the ultimate freedom, she thinks she can run away from me even faster.

I love that chores aren't really chores. The beauty of this is she is actually cleaning too! Chores are like games to her she sees the vacuum and starts running- "chase me, chase me" Laundry is another favorite of hers & mine too. I am waiting for the day I dread laundry, but so far I really like it, I do it every Monday and I'm done. Maybe with more kids it will change.

She loves to get as close as possible to all the animals at the zoo, pretty funny and a little gross.

Here she is learning 2 things: patience and hot. While she watches and waits for the cookies to bake.

Chocolate I love she loves it, I rarely go a day without chocolate in some form. mmm chocolate pudding.

And here is what I made from the month of January. Each month just a quick collage I can print off in a picture. I did family ones from last year surprisingly its mostly lot of pictures of Sadie.

Little side note I dropped Ryan off today and then went grocery shopping, I was there like 1 minute before it opened & the crazy thing is I was not alone people were standing outside the door waiting to get in. I was back home before 9:00 and was already done grocery shopping and Sadie down for a nap. Weird?! but nice. ahhh gonna be a good one.

Alright January now that January is half over, I think I avoided the rush of the new years resolution. I've seen these floating around the blog world, so here is my take on it.


1. What did you do in 2008 that you've never done before?
I got paid (Maternity Leave) to stay home with my kid. Moved on from the "student" life.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make more for next year? I'm always a little leery to actually put them down in writing (at least for all to see). I'm sure I made some last year & probably some of the same again this year. It's always good to try to be better.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yep, there was quite a few & if they didn't they are probably preggo now.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Closer to Ryan was his Grandma

5. What places have you visited?
A trip to Utah, Mexico, Kimberly. I guess I'm not visiting Calgary anymore, so I've been back to visit E-town.


6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Probably complain less about my child who doesn't sleep. Work on developing a cure to get all babies to sleep through the night. I'd probably be cashing in on my millions right now if that was the case.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched in your memory and why?
The cheesy saying "we remember moments not days" comes to mind. I barely remember birthdays. I remember a few great moments of 08: laying on the beach by myself, selling and buying our house, the Saturdays I got to sleep in, leaving Edmonton, and finding out we were moving to New York for a few months.

8. What was your biggest achievement this year?
Achievements have taken on a whole new meaning as I am officially a stay at home mom. In other words so far no medal or trophies for the last stinky diaper I changed in record time, or that fabulous meal I made that one time. If achievements are joint (when your married I think they are) Ryan finishing law school was a great one.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not so much.. nothing that lasted more than a couple days

10. What was the best thing you bought?
Biggest and Best was our house.

11. Where did most of your money go?
Mostly to "stuff" to fill the house, which is fun but costly. And food, fun, bills just the stuff I'll be buying for the next 50 years.

12. What song will always remind you of 2008?
I swear since I got married I haven't really been that into music. I mostly found cool stuff from others. I listened to Mamma Mia way to much, and Yael Niem - I thought it was the song that made Sadie happy & dance.

13. What do you wish you would have done more of?
pumping iron ha ha. Ok I just want to be able to unscrew the lids Ryan puts on so freaking tight.


14. What do you wish you would have done less of?
I wished I had to drive less. I like to go places by driving and traffic and parking can be such a drag. Less facebook.



15. What was your favorite TV program?
Before Sadie and cable I really didn't have any. Now I am a little embarrassed at all the shows I watch. Office, Criminal minds, 90210, and dang it, I even tune into these reality shows, SYTYCD (just learned that abbrev.), AI

16. What was the best book you read this year?
Maybe another thing I wish I did more of this year. Kite Runner was good, & I am a fan of most of Jodi Picoult (was that this year) Twilight was good, but I still haven't even read them all.

17. What was your favorite film of the year?
hmm this is tough. Even the last one I went to, Seven Pounds I fell asleep in. but I still liked it. Don't tell Ryan I don't think he noticed (it drives him crazy that I can't stay awake in movies)

18. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 28, yep that's what I did. Ok and went out for dinner and yada yada

19. What political issue stirred you the most?
I voted...

20. Who was the best new person you met?
I'm glad I've met some great new friends since moving here. I'm not one to name names but I am especially glad my friend Allaina is just down the street from me.


What?? a weekend??
Yeah I'm like 99% of the world & I look forward to the weekend usually doesn't matter what it entails. A weekend of sitting at home with the fam, or packing in fun outings with Sadie, or going out, dates. I'm game for a weekend after Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs Fri. (I'd take it sooner if it was possible). Well this weekend was non existent for us. WE were totally thinking that we were gonna have a fun weekend together. But sometime between my brief conversation with Ryan on Friday at 4:45 "yep just checking in at the office, & then I'll be home by 6:00" and 4:55 it completely changed. He managed to get home by 8:30. Then he was up and leaving WAY to early on Saturday & got home WAY too late that night. We went to church and he had to go back again. So much for any sort of a weekend. ughhh

Of course he would have like to be with us, but was sort of "stuck". I felt bad for him and bad for me.
I sent him these emails (yes I know cheesy). You did weird things when your home all weekend by yourself.
It is sick how many emails he gets. So even though he said they were cruel I know they were the best he gets.

subject: A GOOD email
Dad,
I was just checking to see if you were home yet. hmmm just checking... still waiting. wanna play peek-a-boo? Oh dad just come home I will even give you a kiss! mmmuuh
a big slobbering one the only one I know.
do you miss me? I miss you
love you dadda -Sadie

subject: URGENT
Come home! How can you say no to the cutest girl ever!
We love you

the LOOK

All parents are supposed to develop a 'look,' the one that you instantly shoot at your kid that can single them out in a crowd of a million. As soon as you hear them, see them, or sense them doing something they shouldn't. Your parent instincts kick in and you know just what you need to do. I haven't developed my 'look' yet. Yikes! Don't get me wrong she gets into things that she shouldn't and the words "no no Sadie" frequently come out of my mouth. But, so far I have neglected the 'look.' Until now, after Sadie's recent looks have been coming out she has prompted me to develop my own ' mom look.' This little girl cannot just throw these looks out & expect to get her way (although I think she could still work Ryan over pretty easy).

I sound like a really meany mom now. Really I know she can still get away with some stuff, I just can't let her know it, right?

Who is the crazy now? I don't know if I mentioned before the kind of sleeper Sadie is... (sense the sarcasm please) Basically it turns out she doesn't need a lot of it. She gets up wicked early. I don't mind getting up early but seriously its winter and NOTHING is happening that can't wait a few more hours. We usually wake up to cold, dark, dreary nothingness outside.

The other day crazy me got up with her lazed around (mostly me) ate breakfast, cleaned it up, got her dressed, and I showered & then we headed out to see the sun rise. PATHETIC, really! I guess I'm trying to make the most of it, sort of.

I should have some pretty productive days since they start so early. Unfortunately some days I spend too much of it wondering if and when she will go for a nap...

We loved the Holidays

We are all back and getting into our old routine (I hope). After being away I realized a few things.
No matter what time Sadie goes to bed she will ALWAYS be the first one up. I guess some kids can just get by on less sleep.
Many others will sadly attest that she is hands down the loudest screamer/crier ( I think my dad said decibels per kilo she wins hands down). Any challengers??
It is a good thing that we think she is also the cutest little girl ever!!
Really, I will probably forget all the rough times and just remember this adorable girl. I think that is the only way my mom had six kids.

Being the only grand kid in Ryan's family has some serious perks. SPOILED!

It is true that toys keep getting fancier, bigger, better, more expensive, but at the end of they day Sadie is thrilled to play with a box. (Ryan too!)

Christmas pyjama photos are a must... but why does it seem that the timing is always such that my child is the one crying. Thank you Alli, Sadie is not alone, but definitely more expressive.

She will fight/scream to stand her ground even if she is the smallest kid. Her biggest challenger is probably James. Fortunately they do get along quite well at times and she has learned a thing or two from him. James will give her hugs but she has learned not to always trust him. He came up to her said "sooorry" and then proceeded to take her toy.

Watching movie trailers with Grandpa or anyone NEVER gets old.

When its -30 the best time spent outside... is in the hot tub.

Rhonda made me the cutest apron and a matching one for Sadie. I love it! So here goes one of my new goals for the year is I want to learn to love to cook .... or at least do it better.

Lastly, it really is best to have Ryan around for the holidays we missed him when we played and he worked.
I loved our holidays, but have never been so ready to be back home.

Day to Day

Some days I'd rather not say what I did with my day. Only because sometimes they just seem like a blur & not much gets done. But, really everyday is new and exciting for Sadie, and she is happy with some of the simplest things. So at the end of the day it is her simple joys that give me satisfaction and make me smile too.

Today is one of a kind and will only happen once - so make it great!

So here is a bit of what she has been up to.

Building Towers

The fundamentals are the building blocks of fun.

Dress Up ...

Finding the perfect accessory.

The more you dress up the more fun you will have.

Talking on the Phone

Childhood is not preparation for life. It is life.

Getting Some zzzz's
She is getting too old for this, but I like that she will go in it watch t.v and I can get some things done (usually have a shower). Besides she has decided to start getting up way too early so she needs more naps in the day.

Drawing

A pen and paper are all you need to create a whole new world.
Learning to draw and colour... only on paper. Ryan is sure she is going to add some artwork to our wall while I am not looking.

Thinking she is way too independent
Refusing to wear a bib & use her tray.

So clearly things are happening around here. We are loving this time of year and are counting down the days till Christmas, to be with family and friends. Really hoping that it gets a lot warmer very soon. We can't hardly wait for Ryan to have a break from work.

It's beginning to look a lot...

like Christmas. I was not anticipating being in the picture, but not really shocked when Sadie pulled this little fit. I suppose I'm not the only one with a child like this. I think I like this even more than the typical Santa picture I envisioned.

We went to Ryan's family work party it was fun times at Shakers.
It really is looking more and more like Christmas we just got a TON of snow it's awesome. We might even venture out to play in it today.
And I know Christmas is coming when EVEN Ryan asks to go Christmas shopping... Yikes he might regret that as soon as he drives into the mall parking lot.

oh what fun

Happy Birthday to Ryan! As per usual I did not disappoint with the birthday celebrations. We honestly did next to nothing really out of the ordinary. Ryan does not care, and every year I don't do much. Then the morning of I think, am I a bad wife? But, nope he didn't mind at all. It was on Sunday so we were all together all day, probably the best gift for him after his crazy work schedule. It was fun to spend time on the weekend together. We even had the best babysitters -grandparents so it was great all around for everyone.


We did go out to his Christmas Party which turned out to be a good time. Him and the other articling students were in charge of the video this year. He was a little anxious to see if people would like it. It was seriously a hit, you never know if all these "hot shot" lawyers have a sense of humor. They were cracking up, & even an outsider like me laughed out loud more than once (not just at Ryan's acting) .

Today December 1st was a super nice day so Sadie & I went to the zoo. We had more fun then I thought we would. I was really just thinking we needed an outing for the day before I went a little stir crazy. Then we ended up staying there way longer than I anticipated. It was so nice out and she was just loving it.

She is way more into it now and I let her out and walk around to check stuff and animals out.

she sat and looked at the fish forever, she loves pointing at everything.

Sadie building an igloo

Seriously take note, she is in her spring coat, no winter gear, and i have no coat at all. And for real we were not cold.


ok I take it back I put her toque on, mostly so I looked like a REALLY good mom.