Solenne is back in the blogosphere!
Sorry for taking so long to get to this posting. We have had a very eventful and somewhat stressful month:
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Mommy got an injury that made walking nearly impossible, but the chiropractor has healed her nicely
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Solenne got pink eye.
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Solenne got a horrible stomach flu virus which she shared with Mommy and Daddy, making for one of the worst sick days of our lives (poor little Solo was our nurse!)
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Cousin Kate was in a terrible accident (but is on the mend very nicely. Thank God!)
On the more positive front, Solenne celebrated her 15 month birthday. She has started to do some very cute new things:
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She likes to jump up and down
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She likes to “conduct” certain songs
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She likes to point to herself
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She has discovered how to stick her finger up her nose
She is also chattering away a lot, saying “Hello” to complete strangers and asking the names of everyone on the subway or the bus.
Here are some new words we heard this month:
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See you
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What’s Up?
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Who’s there?
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Who is that?
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Ear
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Lindsay (her daycare provider)
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Jo-Ann (weird, since we rarely call Mommy by her name)
And at last, here are some photos. The first batch is from Grandpa’s birthday/St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
And here are shots from Easter weekend.
Sound Adventures – Winter Session
Yesterday, Solenne finished the Winter session of her Sound Adventures class with teacher Sophia. Since this class was on a Saturday morning, Daddy was able to come along as well!
In this class, the kids celebrated Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras.
Here are some pictures from the last class.
Aiden, Solenne, Morgan and Isaac. Isaac is a possible new romantic interest.
Big Kid Addison, Solenne, Bridget and Grace play with scarves.
Here are Isaac, Solo and Grace checking out Sophia’s windchimes.
Fourteen months old
Last week, Solenne celebrated her latest age milestone. In the last month, she has grown three new molars, has started using a spoon and loves to spin in circles until she gets dizzy.
Solenne loves to eat and one of her favourites is baked beans. As you can see above, she is a messy eater…
She has also started to use a lot of random words. Here are some we heard in the last month:
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I know
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Not that
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Don’t
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No Way
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Tickly
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My sister (??)
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Kids
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Go away
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No more
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A key
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Nobody
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Sit
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I go bye bye
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I mommy (when holding her doll)
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Michael (a friend from daycare)
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Lindsay (daycare provider)
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who’s that
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Bus
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Row, row, row
And yesterday, we heard the first utterance of “Solenne!”
Family Day Fun
For our first Family Day, we went on a little trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Grimsby.
Solenne dressed in her cute little pink ensemble.
Mixmaster Solo was in the house.
She spent some time strutting and signalling.
Solenne enjoyed hanging out.
It was a Family Day to remember!
Baby Bash
On Sunday, we went to visit Adric and William, Solenne’s special first friends. She met them almost a year ago.
Here’s Adric. What a big boy!
And here’s William with two drinks.
Here are the three munchkins hanging out.
Solenne was a very good girl on the subway.
13 months old
Sorry I have been quiet for so long. Mommy and Daddy are adjusting to our new lifestyle of work, daycare and business trips.
I love daycare! I have some great new friends: Emma, Michael, Katie and Baby Kate (who is also one). It is so much fun that I get quite tired.
Now that I am a big girl, there are things that I like to do:
1. I like to help out with the housework. This pleases Mommy.
2. I LOVE to sort laundry. And I like to scold it too.
3. My favourite new word is “Hello.” I say it a LOT.
4. I like spin in circles, jump up and down and squint my eyes for fun.
I am ONE!
On the 29th of December, Solenne celebrated her first birthday.
Mommy and Daddy threw her a party with family and friends.
Solenne saw her first candle on her Dora the Explorer cake.
Solenne ate her first cupcake, and it was yummy.
Solenne opened her presents which included a rocking horse, a Winnie the Pooh scooter, a soft caterpillar toy, a wooden wagon and a baby doll.
Solenne was happy to see cousin Daniel again.
Here are some little birthday facts about Solenne:
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She now weighs 25 pounds, 8.5 ounces. She is just over 30 inches tall.
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Her favourite new word is “giggle.” She is also saying “yes,” “okay,” “see” and something that sounds like “what’s this?”
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She loves gyros. It seems appropriate since we live in Greektown.
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She just started daycare and is having lots of fun with all her new friends.
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Solenne has learned to dance and loves to lead Mommy and Daddy in singing sessions.
Christmas, Part Four
On Christmas day, we went to see Grandma and Grandpa in Grimsby for some great food and fun times.
Solenne got a pink stroller which she used to push around a teddy.
She got a cellphone too.
Solenne helped Grandma open presents and rode around on Daddy’s shoulders.
Christmas, Part Three
On Christmas morning, we woke up and taught Solenne how to get presents out of her stocking. Her stocking was full of finger puppets, books and funny little toys.
Solenne presented her Daddy with a framed picture.
Christmas, Part Two
On Christmas Eve, we celebrate Wigilia with our Polish family. This year, everyone came to our house for a feast of 12+ dishes. We had such fun!
Solenne learned about a new tradition: sharing the Oplatek. Dzia-Dzia showed her what to do.
Solenne got to hang out with (left to right) Trisha and Holly, Basia, Darek & Jasmine (who has electric blue hair right now).
The big kids sat around and showed off all their new techno-goodies. Katie can be seen third from the right.
Dzia-Dzia posed for some artistic shots.
Christmas, Part One
Two weeks ago, we had an early Christmas celebration with our Irish cousins.
Solenne got a new baby doll.
Solenne was thrilled to get a new UglyDoll named “Bop and Beep” from Cousin Joey and Cousin Colin. She already has two: Jeero and Moxy.
Here is Solenne showing Aunt Kathy how UglyDolls work.
Solenne met JoJo the dog and was VERY excited.
Solenne also hung out with Cousin Kate.
Eleven months old!
Solenne is entering the last month of her first year. She reached her latest milestone on November 29th.
She is running around the house, and has recently acquired the following skills:
1. After months of shaking her head and saying “no-no-no-no,” she can now NOD her head;
2. She can tune the radio to a channel of her choice. Sometimes she picks good stations!
3. She has started trying to say “kitten” and “duck.”
4. She has stopped drinking formula from a syringe. She now drinks milk from a sippy cup. Solenne is no longer breastfeeding, which makes Mommy sort of sad.
Retail Therapy
Last week, Solenne and Mommy went to stay with Grandma and Grandpa.
Solenne strutted around in her diaper.
She kept her tongue out a lot of the time.
She woke for an early breakfast.
Solenne wore a lovely mushroom and hedgehog outfit for cross-border shopping.
She practiced carrying one of Grandma’s many purses.
Solenne went for a quick run down the path. She looked very silly!
And then she headed back home to Toronto!
Mr. Bear says Goodbye
Today, with great sadness, Solenne finished her last “Mr. Bear Says Hello” class. We learned lots of new songs that have become part of our daily life.
As per usual, Solenne does her own thing while everyone else sits nicely with their caregiver.
Here’s the baby pileup: Jaelynn (in purple), Florence (in white) and Aiden (in orange), with Graham (in brown) lurking in the background.
And here is Solenne with Teacher Erika and her baby Florence.
Hallowe’en in Huntsville
Last week, we went to Deerhurst Resort for a little holiday.
Solenne discovered that king-size beds are the ultimate in comfort.
Solenne got to breathe some Muskoka air and sit in a Muskoka chair.
On the 31st, Solenne went trick or treating at Muskoka Heritage Place. It was a little bit scary! She prepared for the evening at one of our favourite family-friendly restaurants, East Side Marios.
Solenne was supposed to be dressed up as “Glenn Ghoul” but ended up just being a little skeleton with her ghoulfriends Ghost and Monster.
I’m a little baby ten months old!
Last Monday (the 29th), Solenne celebrated her ten month birthday. She started walking about a week before her birthday and has discovered a great passion for hand-clapping.
Here are some of Solenne’s current hat fashions…
Here’s Solenne with Grandma, reading about the latest must-have shoes.
Kindermusik Feathers
Last Wednesday, Solenne completed her Feathers class. It was a great program – lots of musical instruments, bird songs and fun all around!
Here’s Solenne keeping a tambourine away from Gaelen.
Here are Solenne and Morgan. Baby Ben is in the background.
Solenne always enjoys a good book. She is surrounded by babies: (left to right) Theo, Nathan, Harper and Gaelen.
Here is Solenne with her teacher Sophia.
This is Solenne’s favourite drum!
A Musical Afternoon
Today, Uncle Chris and Uncle John came over to visit Solenne. As a special treat, they brought along their girlfriends!
John and Chris played some lovely music while Solenne accompanied on the bongos and ukelele.
Here’s Uncle Chris and Aunt Julie.
Solenne always like to try on a new hat.
Here’s Uncle John and Aunt Imee.
Grandpa visits Solenne
Yesterday, Grandpa came over to hang out with Solenne for the day. They had a lot of fun!
Solenne showed Grandpa how she drinks formula and eats broccoli.
Grandpa taught Solenne how to share toys and how to pour from one cup into another.
They went to the park and played on the swings.
Solenne showed Grandpa her latest library book.
Thanksgiving, Part Two
Last Sunday, we travelled to Milton for our Irish Thanksgiving.
Solenne spent some time getting to know Cousin Paul.
Solenne played some piano with Daddy…
And went for a walk in the forest. Solenne played with her first red maple leaf.
Daddy took some sweet black and white photos of Solenne.
Solenne also had a great time playing with her new toy: Fuzzy Wuzzy, the rocking bear.
Thanksgiving, Part One
Last Saturday, we travelled to Flesherton for our Polish Thanksgiving.
Solenne spent some quality time with Cousin Holly.
She played peekaboo with Trisha.
Solenne demonstrated her wacky pointer finger…
And showed everyone where she would prefer to sit on the ride home!
9 months old!
Solenne is growing up so quickly – she can stand unsupported for up to 30 seconds, she points at everything and says “Mommy,” “Daddy” and “Baby!”
She is now proud owner of seven teeth (four on top and three below).
To celebrate her birthday, Solenne got a new guitar from Daddy (more on that later) and Mommy bought Solenne some snazzy maracas.
Solenne gave herself an attractive bruise while doing a nude backflip into some furniture.
Grandma and Grandpa
On Sunday, Solenne spent some time catching up with Grandma and Grandpa.
She played the piano for them, showed off her fangs and demonstrated her disturbing ability to climb the stairs.
Pink Hawaii
Daddy recently bought Solenne a pink ukelele since she loves his guitar so much. Now they can play music together.
Reading with Solenne
Like her parents, Solenne is a passionate reader. She has read over 100 books so far and enjoys books in three languages (English, French and Polish).
Here she is engrossed in one of her latest library finds.
The one that got away…
Solenne can crawl very quickly now and will race away at any opportunity. Here she is escaping from a diaper change.
Weaning Solenne
Solenne has not embraced the weaning process very well. She has rejected three types of formula, three types of bottles and four types of sippy cups. We have tried every trick in the book and finally got some advice from our pediatrician and a lactation consultant.
We now have a way to get formula into Solenne: with a medical syringe!
8 months old!
Solenne is now 21 pounds, 12.5 ounces. She is almost 30 inches long and is working on her fourth tooth.
She has finally started taking two regular daytime naps!
The last month has been a lot of fun, building on her crawling speed and endurance.
She can stand up and check out all sorts of things.
Recently, she had some fun with Dzia Dzia.
The next day, she hung out with Grandpa while Grandma made another mind-blowing roast beef dinner.
Babes in the Burbs
When Daddy was a boy, one of his closest friends was Phil. Phil is all grown up now with kids of his own.
Solenne got to meet them recently – Andrea (6) and Daniel (3). So cute!
Another week in Grimsby
Solenne and Mommy spent a week in Grimsby, recovering from a cold and hiding out from a heatwave.
Solenne practiced a toothy grin.
She waved a lot.
She showed off her lovely thighs.
She smiled for Grandpa.
She met Katherine.
She saw Great-Uncle David again.
And she played at her activity table.
Seven Months!
Last week, Solenne hit the seven month mark. She can now crawl with ease and can wave hello/goodbye.
She was very lucky to hang out with Great-Uncle David on her special day.
And as a super-special treat, Solenne finally met some girls. Up to now, all of her friends have been boys!
Left to Right: Sharon, Mary, Carmel (holding Solenne), Laura and Priscilla
Rocking Baby
Solenne enjoys hanging out in the studio with Daddy.
Solenne loves the kalimba…
And playing the bongos!
Lost and Found
This week, we got a chance to reconnect with our little friend Carter – we all lost touch in March. Carter is now 7 months old.
Solenne had a little chat with him.
William danced around.
Adric had a nice little nap.
Here are the four babies, reunited again. From left to right: Carter, Adric, Solenne and William.
Downtime with Daddy
Daddy loves to listen to AM stations on his Grundig field radio - here’s Solenne helping him out.
Little Troublemaker
Solenne has recently discovered how to pull herself up. She likes to freak out Mommy!
Fun with Adric
Today Solenne hung out with her pal Adric. As per usual, she was a bit aggressive at times.
Jennifer (Adric’s Mommy) challenged us to some pinball. We played Attack from Mars and Monster Bash. Only 15 more pinball machines to try out!
Solenne and Adric hung out with the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Canada Day
Today Solenne celebrated her first Canada Day.
We love Canada because if Mommy and Daddy had not both immigrated here, Solenne would not even exist!
