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Sleep training? Yeah... we tried. We're trying it. We are trying to get Alana (8 1/2 months) to drop the night feed(s) and get to sleep on her own if and when she wakes up in the night. The first night of said training she cried for two hours, no exaggeration. It was horrible, for everyone; her sheets were soaked with tears and snot and I felt just plain mean. But then the second night she cried for just 10 minutes around 10:00, and that was it! Magical, yes... but since Hendrik was up in the night, I still didn't get that elusive uninterrupted sleep. (It's been 3+ months.) And last night she cried for 30 minutes at 4:30 - and Hendrik slept. SO! Fingers crossed that BOTH of them sleep their little hearts out tonight ... and the same goes for me.

Skating: It was the first class for me (third for the boys), and Hendrik indeed made a little bit of progress - he shuffled. Apparently he just lay there on the ice in the first class, and did a lot of the hunched bunched crab-elbow thing - albeit standing alone! - this time around. So yes, progress is slowly being made (we think). There was zero progress in Toilet Training 101 - he peed and pooped his pants at Milestones afterwards, and seemed completely unperturbed (un-pooterbed) by pants full of mess; we left extras in the skating bag in the car, so we had no other choice. Bleh... After two days of full-time diapers (wait, make that three days) and confusion and frustration for les parents, we had a stellar day today - dry pants, no accidents! We big time talked it up last night, and talked about perks and the possibility of a party, and there was one. Gangnam Style and dancing followed by cupcakes (this recipe) and ice cream and a candle - we made a big deal and I'm really hoping it'll pay off.

getting ready...

...for this!

at Milestone's after for a Sunday brunch-lunch

On holiday Monday we drove out to Nepean to visit Valleyview Animal Farm, and nope, there were no huge crowds or lines - just lots to do and see and play with - it was great! We'll definitely go back for more fun; there were several different play areas, structures galore, trucks, tractors, baby animals, train rides and sheep shearing... sha-bow! It was good times.

tractors, swings, animals...

forts, tunnels, bridges...

and a construction site = kid heaven

We had our family opener Chelsea Pub dinner on Tuesday evening, and Hendrik did this:

"I'm a bird! I'm in the tree! I'm in my nest!" he said, in his high-pitched I'm-something-else voice. It was cute, but then he didn't want to get out of the tree, you know, since he was a bird. And then, when faced with the decision of stay in the funny house (he started calling it the bunny house - ?) or get ice cream, he chose to STAY IN THE HOUSE! And since both of us wanted ice cream and thought it irresponsible to leave him, we had to cajole and coax him TO the ice cream shop. Seriously. I mean, I get it, just a little bit... this is a pretty cool little house.

he LOVED it in this house... loved. the glee! it was adorable...

Up next: bath, beauties, and playing together... love it all!