As yet unnamed!

Happy Halloween!

Lion and Ladybug had a lovely time today. I have lots to tell but am seriously so exhausted tonight that I have to go to bed now. Charlie woke up pretty early (5am) and I got up with him (for a change). I have other photos but will share them tomorrow or early next week when I have more time to do a proper blog entry :)

Look Charlie!

They are so cute together :) Nana J sent the kids some Halloween cards, one each of course. Charlie's arrived while he was napping, so when he woke up, Noemie was really excited to show him not only his but hers as well. She was showing him how they opened up and the insides were pop up cards. He was pointing and touching and at one point Charlie got a bit rough so Noemie said "No Charlie" and took his card away from him...and made him cry. She quickly gave his card back to him but it was too late, he went into meltdown and needed hugs to be consoled. He is such a wimp at times and cries far more than Noemie ever did. She was definitely a tougher baby than he has been so far! 

The builders have made so much progress. The shower fixtures and pipes are all in place and a lot of the plasterboard has gone up ready for tiling. It's a tad dusty upstairs but the worst of it should be over tomorrow so our cleaner can clean everything in time for a nice clean weekend! Hopefully I will have some progress shots to share by then too :)

OK.... hopefully a better week!

Fingers crossed but no puke in more than 24 hours has to be a good sign right? I can still smell it though no one else seems to be able to. I'd guess it's permanently in my nose. The kids got to go to Gambado today, first time in 10 days or so and Noemie is thrilled. She spent the entire week (even in between puking) asking to go to Gambado. She got dressed and ready to go out. Totally stylish get up, no? I chose the trousers and jacket. She opted for her wellies rather than sneakers, then insisted on her little Cath Kidston backpack and then Charlie's "It's fun to be 1" birthday hat. Nana J will be pleased to see the hat she specially mail ordered for Charlie is being put to good use. Noemie actually went out like this as she refused to take any of it off. 

The builders have started work on our bathroom this morning and so far I've seen the old bathtub wood surround (remember it was built back in the 80s) and the sink leave. Lots of banging going on to get the tiles off. I forgot to take a before photo but think I have one in my files somewhere so will do an after photo to compare. I am sure it's going to look fantastic! As for me, I'm waiting on some candle scents to arrive today so in the meantime I think I will go defrost the freezer which is looking more like a snowcone than a kitchen machine.

Spoke too soon...

Either that or Charlie has a pathetic gag reflex. In any case, I am not sure how much more smell of puke I can handle at this point. At least it was mostly on his sleeping bag, none on his bed, some on his Daddy and the rest in the bathtub where I washed everything off. Ugh, our house smells. I've sprayed disinfectant everywhere which has helped a bit but scented spray can sometimes make it worse. I might have to light one of my scented candles I made this week as that is more subtle than spray. I feel awful that he is not feeling well but once he pukes he is generally happy and fine. Me on the other hand, I'm left wondering if I will ever get used to this.  

On a more pleasant note, Noemie was playing with Charlie this morning before breakfast in the playroom. I asked her to give him a hug so this is her version of a hug. So cute. I originally grabbed the camera so I could take a photo of them just getting along (afterall it might be short lived and the photos will help me back to a happy place one day). We had a quiet day of baking and playing and tomorrow will have to be more of the same I think. Hope the weather is better tomorrow so we can at least be out in the garden.

Things are looking better

Though they aren't both perfectly better, things are MUCH nicer than they have been. Charlie only threw up once and most likely overnight. Noemie just has a slightly "off" tummy but otherwise is just fine. Hopefully they will be back to normal by tomorrow. They were both in such good moods this entire week despite being unwell. Can't say I would've been as pleasant had it been me. The washing machine/dryer is still working overtime to catch up on laundry in general. Will be nice to go back to normal next week. Fingers crossed. 

I know these photos aren't very good quality as the light in the kitchen sucks. But they are so sweet so I had to share them. Noemie adores Charlie at the moment and plays with him so much. She calls his name out hundreds of times a day (think broken record) and if anything he is a bit aloof toward her. Today she was holding his hand (nanny was behind the wall holding his other hand of course) and they were walking together. Problem is she walks a tad faster than him so it was more like her taking him for a drag. I was out in the afternoon and the nanny told me when I got back that while she was preparing their dinner, the kids were in the playroom together and just having fun. Noemie has a ton of playfood and she and Charlie were having fun with that. Seriously so much nicer than the screaming last month. I am sure we'll go back to the screaming again at some point but for now, we're enjoying the two getting along.

Sicky Kids

This photo was taken today and it's hard to believe both kids are not feeling great. Or should I say they are happy and carrying on in between bouts of puking and runny tummies. Noemie has (knock on wood) stopped throwing up but has started with the tummy today. Hopefully the bug has run it's course with her once her tummy goes back to normal. Charlie started with the pukes this morning. Noemie was up at 5am, hungry as she lost her dinner last night. Kirk was up with her a few times and then I got up, took up some plain biscuits and that sorted her out. Right when I was about to fall asleep again, Charlie stirred. So I went to him, he was in a great mood, had some milk and nearly went back to sleep. I was nearly asleep too... then he coughed and it didn't sound good. I went to check on him and my day started with cleaning up his bed, him and then the kitchen floor. Then his clothes again. He was fine after that but then had another incident after his nap this afternoon. That was awful but luckily I wasn't on my own for that. And then again before he went to bed. Kirk's on night duty with Charlie tonight as I don't think I can handle cleaning up any more puke for today. 4 days of it has been plenty. My phobia is fading though I can't seem to get the smell of vomit out of my nose. It's awful. I have lunch plans tomorrow and unless both kids are still sick, I am going out for a bit! I don't feel badly leaving the nanny with 1 sick child but not if they are both struggling.

Poor little girl

This is an older photo of Noemie taken on Charlie's birthday and I think she looks so pretty so I had to share. I haven't taken any new photos this week as it's been a bit rough around here. Sunday night Charlie woke up at 2:30am and refused to go back to sleep until nearly 6:30am. Then, Noemie woke up in the middle of the night on Monday, throwing up all over the place :( Luckily Kirk heard her and went to check on her and he then spent a while cleaning her up and making her bed (several times) and settling her back to sleep. I was doing laundry at 3am and trying very hard not to gag the smell was SO bad, even breathing through the mouth wasn't working. I am so glad he was home and not on a business trip as this was really bad. Noemie got sick one more time after breakfast yesterday but was in a great mood, ate well at lunch and dinner and slept well last night. Was fine all day today too until dinner time tonight when she got sick again. And then now she's totally fine. Not sure what it is, probably a bug as it's that time of the year but I hope she feels better soon. I spent quality time scrubbing the carpet in her room, kicking myself that we didn't just get wood floors throughout the house. We weren't exactly thinking about having kids when we bought this house though and carpet sounded cozier for a bedroom. 

Charlie has been fine thank goodness though he is still teething pretty badly and is unhappy about that. Between him waking up with teething pain and Noemie being sick, Kirk and I are both seriously lacking sleep. I suppose we shouldn't complain as the kids are such good sleepers the majority of the time! It will be great to have everyone feeling well again soon though! 

In crafty news, I finished the lace scarf I was knitting and it's now drying while blocking. I'm making progress on a quilt and am planning some Christmas crafts to help out a friend with a Christmas fair. A lady in my quilt group's son goes to a special needs boarding school and one of the classmates died from Leukemia recently. So all the proceeds from this year's fair will go to childhood leukemia research. I am going to make candles (you should see the massive box of supplies that arrived today!), Christmas cards and a few other odds and ends. So exciting! I have 3 weeks to get it done and to give it to my friend. Off now to either knit more on a sock or quilt some more.

Weekend round up

We took the kids to the Natural History Museum yesterday and ever since then, Noemie keeps asking to see "big dinosaurs". Neither of the kids were even remotely scared of anything we saw which was nice. I would've hated to deal with a meltdown. It was pretty crowded there and the only hassle was having to take elevators as we had Charlie in his stroller and most of the access is by stairs. We'll go back again when he is walking and we can park the stroller temporarily in the coat check area. I think they had fun as they could touch things and push buttons and make things happen. Will have to think of more places like this to take the kids considering how much we have right on our doorstep!

 
Charlie had his first chocolate biscuit EVER today! Noemie gave it to him and he gladly accepted. It was a tad messy (slight understatement) but he had so much fun with it and looked so happy. He has three teeth now so he can eat more things and in fact seems to be more interested in finger foods than his usual meals. He still gags easily though which isn't much fun. He is now able to stand without holding onto things, though not for long. At one point today we were all in the kitchen and he stood up for about 5 seconds and had no clue that he was doing something new. We all clapped and cheered him on and he looked so proud. If I remember correctly, Noemie started with the standing unaided and then was taking her first steps very shortly thereafter. I'll have to stick around the house more often so I don't miss his first steps. Will charge up the camera battery and follow him around with it so I can get photos! 

Kids are both fast asleep and it's just about 9pm. I am going to go knit on the sofa for a while before bed. I am off to a quick dentists visit tomorrow as a temporary filling fell out on Friday and then going to my Monday quilt group as it's in Kensington and right near my dentist. Will take some knitting but also hope to do a bit of quilting!

Charlie busted!

I didn't take these photos but I found them on the camera when I went to download other stuff. I'm guessing our nanny took photos when they were playing in the living room last week. Charlie caught red handed, digging into a box of Noemie's raisins. Love his curly blond hair and amazing blue eyes. It amusing to me as I'm so dark haired/brown eyed and have a son who is the exact opposite yet has my features. I'm guessing at this point that his eyes will remain blue. He's been a bit of a fusspot this week as he's teething and now when he bites your finger it actually hurts. No more cute gummy smiles. He's also adjusting to whole milk...let's just say I'm glad to have nannies as I'd hate to be the one changing THOSE diapers. He's enjoying walking while you hold both his hands. His little feet do the proper steps but he's not even close to having the right balance to walk on his own. He said his first word earlier this week too. Bye bye. He waves and says "bye bye" though it's not always in context. Sometimes he'll be sitting in his highchair and will randomly wave and say it. It's cute and I remember bye bye being one of Noemie's first words as well.

This photo was taken last weekend when Kirk was making bread and Noemie was playing with the cupcake stash storage tupperware. She took everything out and was making a huge mess and when I scolded her, she pointed and said "Charlie do it". Charlie didn't mind, he was just happy that his sister was letting him sit that close to her and was letting him touch things. They play a lot better together now and it's quite sweet to watch. She gives him hugs and pats him on the head and if he cries she'll check on him. Much better than the past few weeks of screeching from her. She says a lot more as well so it's been fun chatting with her. She's going through a very "Mommy" phase at the moment so I've been staying home a lot more this week. It's been nice to have some downtime and just relax as well as seeing the kids more. Next week I have the option of things to do just about every single day but will need to balance my time properly. Noemie starts part-time nursery in January which will be weird. She got an official acceptance letter and everything. 

  I finished knitting one little sock for Noemie and need to start and finish the matching pair. She loves her sock so much that she wears the single one around the house a lot. I've also just turned the heel on another sock and am nearly done with a lacy scarf I started last month. Have several pairs of socks to knit up as gifts and then will knit something for myself. At least most of these projects go pretty fast! Time to knit a tiny bit before I go to sleep :)

Zzzzz and Zoooom

I guess she passed out while whining in the hallway shortly after we put her to bed. I didn't want to use our better camera as the flash and noise would wake her up so I made do with the iPhone. Poor little thing must've been so tired. Kirk put her back in bed and she barely stirred. Hopefully she gets some good sleep tonight or else she'll have to do a little nap tomorrow. Can't be good that she's not getting enough sleep sometimes. We did have a busy day as her and I went out a few times on our own to run errands and just hang out. Nice for a change to spend time with her without Charlie around.

Speaking of Charlie, here's a little video clip of him doing his weird crawl. He goes super fast, much faster than doing the normal crawl on his knees. He's able to let go when he's standing up now but not for long. He's also cruising pretty well. Wonder how long until he starts walking? His favorite "word" at the moment is "Mi". He says it over and over and we're trying to work out if he's trying to say Mimi, Milk or Me. In any case it was super cute on Friday, less cute on Saturday and downright irritating today. I hope he finds another word or sound pretty soon. (the video takes a moment to load. I also found I needed to push the little arrow on the bottom left of the video screen rather than the big play button at the top left?!?)