Where did October go?

Time is REALLY flying past in Draya land. Three weekends ago she stayed home with Daddy while Mommy went to Banff and two weekends ago she went to see Robert Munsch at Mommy's theater with I & G. This past weekend was a little quieter, J came to visit and so did I & G. She has also spent quality time with G'ma & G'pa & Nana and other friends and family over the past weeks and we have been visiting TL in the hospital as often as possible.
Draya has recently been enjoying colouring, finger painting, ballerina dancing, riding her bike to the park, playing with her babies and putting her puzzles together. She has discovered some new favourite videos too including Blues Clues, Richard Scary, classic Pixar shorts (she loves the snowman in Knick Knack) and the movie Cars (we have watched that one a lot!)
For Halloween Draya dressed up a a cowgirl for a party on Saturday and as Little Red Riding Hood at daycare. On Halloween night she went for sushi with Mommy and then went to Halloween Hoopla for an hour where Daddy was juggling .
Other highlights in Draya's fall have included raking leaves with Daddy, baking cookies with Mommy and getting her flu shot. She is chewing her fingers lots too because her back molars are coming in and she hates baths (again).
Mommy recently downloaded the camera - finally. Some photo retrospectives are coming soon, I promise! Before the end of November... hopefully...

A Noisy/Quiet New Year

Last night there were 5 children and 8 adults in the house. The kids watched Treehouse and destroyed the living room while the parents ate pizza and played games in the kitchen. There were orange bits and cheerios everywhere. It was great!! Everyone was gone by 9pm. We cleaned until 9:30. Draya fell asleep on mommy in the living room at about 10pm. Mommy played suduko and daddy watched videos on the computer. Draya awoke at 11:30 with teething pain so we drugged her with Tylenol and all sat groggily on the couch until midnight. We were in bed at 12:10.
Today we had brunch at g'ma and g'pa's and saw cousin B who was in town from Regina.
Happy 2007 to all Draya friends, family & fans everywhere!

Teething, Coughing & Toothpaste

Draya is getting her top molars. She has been teething for quite a while now as they slowly force their way through her gums. Last night as she was throwing her head back and screaming in pain I got a good look at the little culprits. Need less to say we gave her Motrin.
The OTHER reason she was up for two hours in the middle of the night last night is the cough she currently has. She has a bit if a chesty-rattle so we know there’s some phlegm there and the cough comes and goes. It’s been getting worse though, interrupting her sleep and shortening her naptime. We are watching her closely for other symptoms (fever) but so far none have appeared.
This morning she was in a surprisingly good mood. I let her sleep a little later so she wasn’t hungry for ‘real’ food after her milk. She insisted on taking our toothpaste tube with her to the car but lost interest once she was buckled in. She can’t twist the top off yet (thankfully). If she could I wouldn’t have let her take it.
She IS getting very good at following simple requests. “Go put your shoes on”, “find mommy’s necklace”, “come into the kitchen”, etc…
We have to be VERY careful near stairs these days though because she want to walk down them like a big girl instead of turning around and going down on her tummy. She knows that she’s not to take a step down until she is holding some ones hand and she tries to use the handrail but she’s just to short! I still know that one of these days she’s going to try on her own again and take a spill.
Speaking of lumps and bumps, Draya has a bit of a bruise next to her left eye these days from where the cuddle rocker at daycare ‘attacked’ her. Her face is at the same height as its arm and she rocked it into herself while heading or a toy. It was totally and accident. It can’t have hurt her very badly though as she wouldn’t let her teacher put a cold compress on it, she just wanted to go and play again.
Yes, my little bundle of energy is always on the go. Last Friday she walked for 3 long blocks on Whyte Ave while holding my hand. The only reason I had to pick her up was that she tried to go into a restaurant. When got to the coffee shop where we were meeting our friends she still wanted to roam… no rest for the Draya… or the mommy & daddy.
Coming soon… photos from our trip to the highland games last weekend… as soon as I find time to download the camera.

Finally - The first tooth!

Well, little baby, it's finally here. Your first little tooth is poking through your bottom gum. It's hard to see but I can feel it with my finger. That's one more first for the memory book.
It sure took a while! Every time you got cranky, drooly, rosie cheeked or snuffly over the past 4 months we've said "oh, she's probably teething now" and then nothing would show up. It kind of felt like we were crying wolf.
I know it's normal, some kids don't get teeth till they're one, and you are technically two months behind but still, I'm glad to see it. I don't know if I'll be all that glad to feel it when you eat though! Chewing, you'll probably add that to your twisting and tugging repertoire. I'll figure out how to discourage it when it happens, you've usually very good.
So, welcome to Draya's mouth little tooth. I'm sure a whole bunch of your friends will be joining you soon. But even though I wasn't worried I'm still happy to see you. You kind of makes the recent sleepless nights worth while.
And so this new phase begins... Hurrah for baby Tylenol!