Back to School, and What We've Been Up To

The past two weeks have been crazy! We found out my brother was having neurosurgery; my mom came and stayed with us while my brother was in the hospital; I got called back to work; the kids started daycare 5 days a week; and I had my first week back to work. Whew! Add on top of that both kids getting a nasty cold within a week of starting daycare (and subsequently passing it on to Mommy and Daddy), and voila: Welcome to my crazy life! (Oh, and Kevin is cutting at least two more teeth, too.)

So, that's why I haven't blogged since August 12. Yep, the blogging will be much less frequent now that I'm a working mother of two.

Kevin seems to be adjusting well to daycare. Sometimes he cries for a minute or two when we drop him off, but they say he's fine right after. He's still getting used to the other kids in his room, and he's pretty tired at the end of the day, but we've been getting good reports so far. Unfortunately, the first week he developed some tummy trouble, and this week he had a bad cold, so he hasn't been himself. But we know that the first year at daycare is always like this--the sudden exposure to all these new germs . . . ick. Andrea is also sick, but her lungs seem to be handling it well so far (knock on wood!). But she does seem to be enjoying her time at daycare, so that's good.

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I've recorded some fun photos and videos over the last few weeks. The kids are too cute sometimes. I just have to share!

Kevin, in a stereotypical man pose, watching his favourite TV show

Andrea, the Opera Singer (She put this outfit together herself!)

Brigitte and Andrea: Our Little Angels (Looks can be deceiving?)

Andrea and Kevin: Maybe she's warming up to him?

They had an unusually good day together. Andrea wanted to feed him his whole breakfast; then she shared her maracas with him, and played right next to him; and later, she let him play with the Talking Dora House that Brigitte recently handed down to her.

Andrea was also making Kevin laugh a lot in the bathtub. (By the way, she always wants to bath with him now.) She was taking a toy banana, putting it in her mouth, and then spitting it out. He thought this was hilarious!

Kevin was also in a silly mood. He discovered that he could drink the tub water out of our rinsing cup (EW!). But when I'd tell him not to drink the water, he'd drink more, and just laugh at me. What a little stinker! :))

Maurice Family Reunion, 2008

Every five years, since 1978, the Maurice family has held a large family reunion at a Windsor park, in August. It is a reunion of the descendants of Clement Maurice and Malvina Thanasse (my great-grandparents). Considering at least 10 of their children lived to have children of their own, there are a lot of people at this reunion! Here's a picture of the big family tree, with all the descendants on it; underneath is a close-up of our little branch.

Flashback to 1983: I was five years old. I'm the last kid in the front row, with the pink shorts and the red ribbon. I actually won first place in a running race that year!

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It's interesting to reflect on how much my life/family has changed within the last five years, since the last reunion. Rod and I got married; we had Andrea; and we also had Kevin. Sadly, my grandpa passed away suddenly when Andrea was a baby. He was very much involved in the planning and celebrating of the family reunion, so it felt kind of odd with him not being there this year. But I'm sure he was smiling down on all of us!

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Andrea is old enough that she was able to participate in some of the games/activities they had for the kids. However, since she just turned three a few weeks ago, the other kids had a big advantage over her in the competitions. Thank goodness she is still at an age where winning isn't a big deal, it's just getting to participate and have fun that counts! In fact, after her running race was done, she cried because she wanted to run more races!

Keep your toes behind the line!

Go, Andrea, Go!

Andrea also participated in the ball toss.

Then, she did the treasure hunt for coins, in the sand. Everyone was laughing because she was digging like a little gopher, and flinging sand everywhere! We had to help her spot coins, because she was having so much fun digging!

After the treasure hunt, Andrea was ready for a break, and some refreshments.

Kevin was too small to participate in the activities, but he got a lot of attention from our family. He was happily passed from person to person. He also enjoyed watching the trees and leaves swaying in the wind, at the park. Mostly, he just sat and relaxed, enjoying the outdoors.

There was a great play area in the park, so Andrea also spent a lot of time on the swings. After playing on the swings, we had hot dogs, corn, and watermelon to eat. For dessert, the kids got chocolate-coated ice creams. Andrea is SUCH an ice cream lover. Of course, she got it all over herself . . . it was running in streams down her dress! But the look of satisfaction on her face was priceless. Mmm . . .


All that fresh air and excitement wore the kids right out. When we pulled into our driveway, I turned around to check on them, and this is what I saw: sleepy babies!

We had a lovely afternoon at the park with our extended family. I hope they will have another reunion five years from now. Imagine--Andrea will be 8, and Kevin will be 6 years old! :))

[I hope to post more pictures at a later date. The people who ran the reunion took group shots and other photos that I'd like to add. However, they ran into technical difficulties, so the photos aren't available yet.]

Kevin's Appointment with the Eye Doctor

We went back to see Dr. I. again this morning. Kevin was pretty mad when I had to hold him still, so the doctor could shine the light in his eyes, to examine them. I was holding Kevin in my lap, and the doctor was sitting close-up on a chair, facing us. When Kevin got really upset, he started to squirm, and gave the doctor a quick kick in the groin! Dr. I. was more surprised than hurt, so he just laughed it off. :))

Dr. I.'s conclusions are that Kevin's vision in the left eye is probably fine, and the eye is more of a cosmetic issue. He said we won't really be able to test Kevin's vision until he's old enough to tell us what he can and cannot see. Also, Kevin's eye turns outward, and usually one eye that turns outward a bit doesn't affect the person's vision. However, the eye that turns outward may become more pronounced as he gets older. There is a slim chance it could get better, but the doctor says in most kids, it gets worse as they get older. So, basically, it's mostly a cosmetic issue. He also said that the only way to straighten the eye is through surgery. Eye glasses, or a an eye patch, don't work in this case.

Dr. I. said that there are no eye doctors in Windsor right now who operate on small children. We'd have to take Kevin to London, or Toronto. I asked if we could wait a few years, and watch Kevin, to see if anything changes. Dr. I. said yes, that's a good idea. So, we're going to visit Dr. I. every six months or so for a check-up, and keep track of any changes in Kevin's eyes/vision.

I imagine if his eye gets worse, I'd probably want to get the operation in a few years, before he starts school. It may just be a cosmetic issue, but you know how mean other kids can be sometimes. I know if I'd had something like that, and there was a chance to get it fixed, I'd want to get a surgery done while I was little, and when I would barely even remember it.

So, that's it for now. We wait and see. (Pun intended?)

Two Visits to Aunt Donna's

Here's how it happened: Rod had two tickets to the Tigers game, for Saturday. I said, "Why don't you take Greg, and I'll visit with Donna and the kids?" When we called Greg, he said, "I have tickets for Sunday's game, how about Rod comes with me, too?" Voila: back-to-back visits to Aunt Donna's.


Here are some great pictures Aunt Donna took with her camera:

Kevin playing with Caitlin

Andrea admiring Aunt Donna and Uncle Greg's flowers

She kept "petting" the petals and saying, "They're so soft!"

Kevin's 12-month Appointment: Deja-vu?

Kevin and I finally made it to the family doctor for his 12-month check-up and immunizations, on Thursday. We weighed Kevin, and he is 22 pounds. He took the immunization fairly well: just one little yelp as the vaccine went in, and a few whimpers after.

I didn't find out what Kevin's length is, because I distracted the doctor by bringing up two other important issues about Kevin's development. The first, of course, is that he's not crawling, pulling himself up, or walking yet. I reminded her that Andrea was a late walker, too, but at least she was crawling at about 11 months. She checked out Kevin's joints and feet, and said everything looked good, except his ankles seem a bit "loose." (Kevin's foot flexibility is freaky. He puts them in the most awkward positions.) She tried to get him to stand (which he does sometimes, with help), but he wouldn't cooperate. She said, "No, I don't like this, You're getting lazy!" (Ah, there's the deja-vu: she said the same thing about Andrea when she was a baby!) So, the doctor is going to send us to see a pediatrician, Dr. G., to see what he has to say about Kevin. We haven't seen Dr. G. before; the doctor I saw for Andrea sold his practice and moved away. Anyway, I hope to hear from their office soon. I don't want to let it go on and on, like we did with Andrea, and push it until the last minute in terms of walking by 18 months, so as to be able to move up to the next room in daycare, etc. . . . and all that craziness we went through back then.

The second item of concern is Kevin's left eye. I've mentioned it here, before. He was supposed to see an eye specialist after his 6-month appointment. Guess what I found out? They DID book him an appointment back then, but they never told me! Argh. So, they called the eye doctor from the family doctor's, and he agreed to see us right away. Literally. So, we left Dr. H.'s and went straight to Dr. I.'s (no pun intended!). Anyway, the whole time we were at Dr. I.'s, Kevin's eye stayed normal. The doctor kept asking me to describe what happens, because Kevin wasn't doing it. I said, "I swear--he's making me look like a liar!" Dr. I. just laughed, and said for me to take some pictures of Kevin when his eye is "wandering." Well, it's almost impossible, because the doctor said the pictures must be close-ups, and looking straight into the camera. Plus, Kevin's eye usually goes from wandering to normal within a second or two. He also gave me some eye drops to put in Kevin's eye for three days. The drops dilate his pupils (his eyes look spooky!), so Dr. I can do a more thorough exam on Tuesday morning.

We have noticed that it happens more when he's tired (the doctor mentioned this), and that his eye tends to wander outward and up. Aunt Donna helped us get some good pictures with her camera this weekend.

Parker's Birthday Party

[This event actually took place on August 2nd: I've gotten behind in the blogging! We had a rough week: Kevin, then Mommy, then Andrea, fell victim to a nasty virus that simply had to run its course. Anyway, back to the party story!]

Last Saturday, Andrea, Kevin, Daddy and I went to Parker's house celebrate his first birthday with everyone. (We only got to stay for a few hours, because Mommy and Daddy had evening plans.) It was really interesting, because there were lots of babies close to Kevin's age there. All of them were in the 11 to 13 month age-range.

Kevin was really shy at first, and didn't say too much, until I plopped him down next to the other babies, with some toys. Then he started to get excited, waving his arms and kicking his feet, banging on the toys, and gabbing away.

Parker, the Birthday Boy (I think he's a bit excited!)

Kevin and Parker sharing the music toy

Kevin playing with Ada and Parker

Kevin, Alia, Parker, and Ada

Kevin and Jackson

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It was so funny watching these little people interact. They babbled, cooed, and squealed, and seemed to completely understand each other's language! If one got upset, the others would get concerned. We had to help them with sharing, because they all seemed to want to play with the same toy at the same time, but it worked out. Parker even went up to Kevin and patted him, and gave him a hug! Parker isn't shy at all. :))

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Meanwhile, Daddy and Andrea were out in Mike and Michelle's pool. Andrea started to jump in the deep end, off the diving board, all by herself! She had water-wings on, and Daddy was swimming within arm's reach. She is very brave!

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Footnote: Some Extra Thoughts

It was hard for me to see the developmental differences between Kevin and the other babies his age. He was the only one that wasn't even crawling; and all of the other 12-month-olds were walking. It wasn't that I was embarrassed; I just felt so bad for him, because he'd end up getting left behind. The other babies would wander around the room socializing, or go congregate around a different toy, across the room, and he'd get left out. I kept helping him make his way to where the other kids were. I could clearly see the social differences, too; Kevin mostly talked to himself, while the others would wander up to one another, play, embrace, "chat," etc.

Well, we are going to see a pediatrician soon (see next post), and I hope daycare will help him expand his social skills a lot. (He starts daycare 5 days a week on August 18.)

Party Aftermath :))

I took the above picture on Monday afternoon--the day after the kids' double-birthday party. It looked like a toy bomb was dropped on our house! Naturally, Andrea and Kevin loved it. They only got upset when I took too long to unwrap and assemble a certain toy--and when I tried to clean everything up! Mommy literally spent all day Monday unwrapping, assembling, and sorting gifts. We have extremely generous family and friends! :))

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With the gifts of money we received from Grandpa Vic and Great-Grandma Maurice, I purchased each of the kids another toy I knew they'd really like. Andrea now has an art easel that's whiteboard on one side, and chalkboard on the other. She was SO excited when I put it together. I managed to throw together some art supplies form around the house, and she was ready to play!

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Kevin got a talking Diego doll. "Go Diego Go" is his favourite TV show. The Diego doll has a soft body, and talks about his animal adventures when you squeeze his tummy. Kevin is already responding to Diego's commands, like, "Let's call to the baby chinchilla! Say, 'Wah, Wah!'" Kevin surprised us by repeating, "Wa-wa!"