Fairs and Flashlights

So yesterday was the big Hudson Street Fair that Zoe and Jasmine have been anticipating pretty much since last year's event! It was about 105 degrees but the heat didn't slow them down! The pony rides were first (of course). After two rides each they knew the ponies by name were reveling in the glory of being seasoned horse riders!

Following the ponies they were treated to some snazzy face painting...

Zoe got her eyes all dazzled up, meanwhile Jasmine wanted to go with a tiger face, or as she put it "the scaawey one". They both loved it - I was pretty impressed too!


After a quick hot dog with Nana and Grampie and Auntie Sandra, they met up with some of their friends, Sofia, Jade and Maya then we were off to see their soon to be ballet teacher. They loved the ballet studio and got all signed up for lessons. After some ice cream at Bob's we were headed back down the street to the air bounce where they loved jumping around in the chaos of it all. Finally Mommy and Daddy had had enough of the heat and the noise, and the girls were getting over tired and over stimulated so off we went to walk home, love love love that we could walk!!

We got home and minutes later the whole family was sound asleep on the couches! After our nap we had a swimming party next door then Sofia and Jade came back for some my little pony time, all four snuggled up on the couch!

This morning I got out our camping box from storage and gave the girls their sleeping bags and new flashlights, I haven't seen them since. Last I checked they were in the closet in Zoe's room I over heard Zoe saying "OK now you open your mouth... OK, that's good. Now check my mouth ahhh..." nothing like the entertainment of a flashlight!! Oh...Jasmine just came in and showed me her back pack full fo stuffed animals and books and said "We're all packed and ready to go Mommy, bye!" I told her to have a nice journey, she ran downstairs and said "Zoe, let's go on our journey" Zoe's reply: "yes, exactly. Now.. where is the journey?" !!!

Uncle Rob's pool!

In one of the last weekends of July, Grahame, Erin, the girls and I all headed down to Sharon & Rob's for a long weekend.  The weather was set to be perfect, as it has been most of this summer, and we were all looking forward to some time lounging by the pool.  The girls arrived and immediately wanted to get in the pool.  They especially loved their "baby pool" ie: the hottub.  I loved splashing aound with the girls - and was so impressed with how well they were both swimming!  They occasionally threw on their floatees, but I was amazed that both would jump into the big pool straddling a noodle...no floatee!  Zoe's confidence is increasing every day.  Jazzie, our little daredevil, just loves copying her sister!  She also decided that she wanted to jump off the diving board, with me cathing her, and did so with no hesitation.  She came very close to imitating her Dad and running the length of the diving board before jumping into my arms.  She came close - but decided in the end to jump in from the edge!

At one point on Friday night, the girls sugar kicked in big time!  They began running from the hottub over to the table where we were all sitting watching them, and back again.  Each time yelling something out before heading back to the pool.  It was quite hilarious. 

Somewhere, somehow, Zoe has began using the line "WHAT THE??" and was using it much of the weekend.  Thankfully nothing follows the sentence - so it`s all good.

Auntie Sharon decided to give the girls chocolate moments before heading to bed on Saturday night.  Brilliant.  Shocking that the girls suddenly had energy and no desire to sleep.  Mom and Dad decided that she who caused the problem should manage it and went down to their bed.  Sharon had both girls in her room watching TV until the sugar high had subsidded.

A great time had by all - wonderful dinners outside and swimming under the stars.  :)

A Proud Moment for Zoe

I received this email from a proud Mommy:

Just wanted to let you all know that Zoe swam on her own for the first time today!!!

After a whole weekend in Rob's pool with Auntie Sharon and Auntie Sandra it was bound to happen, but I was still so excited!!!
In her lesson this morning her teacher just gave her that extra push by letting go of her hands and off she went, swam about 5 feet then did it over and over again jumping from the stairs and swimming to her teacher....!!! She swims with her face in the water and still needs to master coming up for a second breath, but she did awesome, I'm so proud!!

I'm so happy I decided to skip out of work for 45 minutes to witness it!!

yay!!
Followed moments later by a very proud Daddy:

Soooo...back to swimming lessons today for Zoe and she swam all on her own!!!!! I guess the 40 odd hours in Rob's pool really helped!!

THANK YOU!!

Hooray for Auntie Sandra starting this, Thank you!!

It still blows my mind that they are no longer babies, that they are both out of diapers and walking and talking and full of character and charm and wit driven by their very own big personalities! I never knew how much my parents loved me until now - Zoe told me once that she loves me until her heart is in little itty bitty pieces, which doesn't even begin to describe it, but it's a start!

I am "working" right now, but will start posting some of my favorite memories soon and will keep you up to speed with their ongoing adorable, though sometimes mischievous behavior, like when Jasmine poured coffee all over my car seat yesterday, or when a few weeks ago Jasmine came to me cuddling something that I couldn't quite make out and said "look mommy, isn't it cute?" I looked closer and sure enough she was holding a frozen raw chicken breast?! Of course, yes... who doesn't cuddle raw chicken?! Never a dull moment with them around I tell ya!

Duh....Winning!

One of my personal favourites! On a sleepover weekend at Nana and Grampies, and during the hype of Charlie Sheen mania, I couldn't help but play a little joke on my brother. I taught them both to say "duh...WINNING" - which they would pronounce to their Dad when he returned and asked them how they were. I can say that I had WAY more fun hearing them repeat it over and over throughout the weekend. And they delighted every time i laughed. And to this day - they throw it out at just the right moment! So friggin cute!!

Zoe bear

Zoe's birth was more anticipated than Prince William himself! She came into the world without much fuss - from the perspective of someone who wasn't there during the 24 hours of labour! I remember being down the weekend before her birth - hoping that she would make an appearance before i headed back to Toronto. As it turns out, she decided against being born on St Jean Baptiste, the infamous Quebecois national holiday, and chose to wait a day and came into the world on Monday, June 25, 2007. She was small and delicate - her Nana's words. Her parents said she took to a sleep and eating routine pretty quickly - but I think that first month or so was an adjustment to the new parents. They both looked a little haggard with the sudden sleep deprivation, but we were all impressed with how quickly they became a family. Erin is a natural born Mother - so patient and loving. And Grahame was a confident and proud Daddy out of the gate - he fell in love with little Zoe - as we all did. How lucky to be born absolutely adored by a legion of people...and she had done nothing to impress us yet (as she would in later years). Nana and Grampie, Grandma and Grampa, Auntie Sharon, Brenda, Sandra and Laurie - all lined up to gaze in wonder at her beautiful little face! She didn't cry very much - unless there was a good reason to. In her first few months, we all scrambled to get a chance to snuggle her. When you would give Zoe her bottle, she would pull on your ear as she drank. As she came into her toddler years, she had an immediate love of books. Helped by the fact that Grandma worked at the Library, and that her Mom would read to her all the time, she was insatiable when it came to reading and story telling. She was the happiest of little girls - always laughing and smiling. She rarely played shy - and was happy to be passed around from person to person. What was quickly evident was that Zoe was smarter than your average 6 month old. And as she got older, what really stood out was her ability to remember anything at anytime. How many 1 1/2 year olds upon seeing their Aunt would follow up a hug with "Where's Fred?". We also quickly learned that she would pick up on thing you say and repeat them. One of my personal favorites - her consistent use of the phrase "OH...MY...God" or "I don't care". She was a snuggle bunny from the start - and she especially loved to snuggle wiggle with her Mom. At her first birthday party, she despised her balloons. She loved her clothes from a young age - would always be excited about getting clothes as a gift. and she soon loved dressing herself. As per her Mom, she insisted on dressing herself in her Halloween costume and red rubber boots for a trip to the grocery store. Her love of books and stories combined with her incredible memory made for some interesting story times. She began to know the stories so well, she would recite along with you - and react to things that were about to happen on the next page. For one book, her Grandpa had used a scary voice that she didn't like, so when she came to the page on which he used the voice, she would flip the page over yelling NO NO NO. She became infamous at a young age - just over a year and a half. She made her first YOUTUBE video with a message out to her Auntie Sandra and Sharon. In it, she said "I wuv you" with some coaxing from her Dad, and then did a ripping version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. At the age of 2 and a bit, she loved playing chase with her Dad. They would rip around their basement in St Lazare. Whenever she fell, her Dad would tell her "walk it off, walk it off". Since she loved repeating things, she would also say that when she fell. However, with her little lisp, it came out sounding more like "f*** off, f*** off". She was a great big sister from the start - absolutely loving Jasmine and treating her like she was her own little baby. Her tendency to copy things you say created a pretty hilarious moment. Through her actions as a youngster, Jazzie earned the nickname "trouble" from her parents. One morning Zoe spotted Jasmine crawling out of her crib and into her parents room, and she yelled out "hey trouble - get back here". She had her first official haircut on September 25, 2009. She woke up the next morning and announced "I got my brains cut!" and then immediately corrected herself and said "I got my haircut cut". Zoe has almost always had a need to understand what people are doing and saying around her. this often led to interrupting people mid conversation. Her parents taught her to say excuse me - and so you would, and still do, often hear her say "Excuse me Auntie Sandra/Nana/Mommy, what are you telling stories about?". She loved, and still loves, anything and everything Princess! She and I would spend many a Sunday morning watching Beauty and the Beast - and she could soon recite many of the songs and certainly knew that story off by heart! She loves dressing up, loves ready and loves having people make up stories that involve her and her sister. It would take some imagination every time I put her to bed - I just knew i had to have my "a" story game on. When she was 2'ish - I hugged her and said "I missed you so much". For the next year, overtime she hugged me, she would repeat those words. Let's not forget that every Dorcas member had a different word to describe just how much they loved her - and she knew them all. Grampie loves her BIG BIG, Sharon loves her HUGE...and i'm sorry i can't remember the rest. ask Zoe. She has always been all sweetness. Once when i was leaving, she made a sad face. I said "but you are goig to Grandma's house". She immediately got excited and said "and i get to see Auntie Laure - and i miss her" and without skipping a beat, grabbed my arm and said "i'll miss you too". Adorable! The nighttime rituals of these adorable ones left their parents a little harried at times. Erin would come up to check on her crying little ones and announce that she was going back downstairs and would not come up again - so to go sleep. Once night, Zoe lay in bed listening to Jasmine cry. Evidentally, she had had enough and cried out "Mommy is not coming up here anymore. Go to sleep". On another occasion, Zoe was crying for her Mom, which started Jasmine crying as well. This didn't impress Zoe who yelled out "NO Jasmine - it's MY turn to cry!!". In April of 2010, she took on the task of helping her Mother teach Jasmine new words. She would encourage her throughout "Jasmine - say Apple. Very good!"  Zoe is above all sweet and kind.  She is thoughtful, very articulate, extremely intelligent and lovable!  I just love her to bits!

What did you say?

Who can forget Zoe, when she was getting into the groove of speaking around 2 1/2, would often ask you to repeat your question to her with a high pitched "what did you say?".  So cute.

She can spell?

The girls and I were playing in the basement just before we left for the Yacht Club.  My Mom came down holding their bathing suits.  I said quietly "we should bring those in case they want to go in the p-o-o-l".  My Mom responded she didn`t think it was open.  Just as I was standing up, Zoe yelled out "But I want to go to the P-O-L".  I was so schocked I stopped dead in my tracks and said "what did you just say?".  She repeated her spelling.  Now how brilliant is that??

A walk with Jazzie

Jasmine and I were making our way from the pool down to the beach.  "Fandra...I want to go pool".  I told her we couldn`t go to the pool, but that we would have so much fun on the beach.  She hung her head and said "oooooookkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay".  In these moments - she completely reminds me of Eyore - she is so sadly resigned.  I said "thank you so much for listening Jasmine - thank you".  She stopped and turned back towards the pool.  I had to re-explain the above, to which she once again uttered "oooooooooooooooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy".  And off we went.  :)

Hudson Yacht Club July 2011

While Grahame and Erin were helping some friends move, Auntie Sharon and I, along with Nana and Grampie, took the girls and had a wonderful weekend at the Yacht Club.  The girls were on the cusp of starting their swimming lessons and were excited to show us what their Mom had already taught them!  We spent a lot of time down at the beach while the girls played under the watchful eye of Grampie.  I helped Zoe collect sea shells for her tidepool...which we had just learned about that morning on Max&Ruby.  When the time came, we gathered our stuff and moved up to the pool.  The girls enjoyed splashing around in the baby pool, but eventually Zoe had a hanckering to hit the big pool, amd sp we headed in.  I walked her around the shallow end - and then held her hands while she kicked.  Nana had the smart idea to get the girls new floaties that Auntie Laurie had bought them.  Once they had these on - their confidence level soared!  Zoe was able to swim on her own and proudly declared "look - I don`t even NEED swimming lessons".  Jasmine, the daredevil of the family, put on her floaties and flung herself into the water splashing and showing off.  Jasmine happily dunks her entire head underwater - while Zoe is more cautious.  I challenged both girls to a race across their pool - which they won! Erin joined us and helped manage the chaos that a few kids in a pool can create.  The girls and I moved to the ladder where Jasmine had been happily throwing herself from into the water.  Zoe bucked up the courage and followed suit - though with far less abandon.  She was still so proud to be jumping in the water!  The bell rang at 1 to indicate adult swim time.  We crawled out of the water, dried off and headed down to the canteen for lunch.  Happy days!

And so it begins....

Zoe and Jasmine.  The two cutest little girls on the planet.  And fuuuuunnny!  Despite having tracked some of my niece's funny moments from the time they could crawl, I have been doing it on paper.  Ugh.  I know.  Welcome to the turn of a new century Sandra.  And so I start fresh with a blog dedicated to ensuring that all of those adorable things they do and say are preserved forever.  The entries will be in no particular order as I wade through old notebooks and fresh memories.  I will try to indicate either their age at the time or an aproximate date.  I hope that one day they will get a kick out of reading the antics that kept their family in stitches....