Julia and Emily's World

Today Julia went back to daycare. Her fever is gone. She is still coughing and her nose is pretty runny. Something is going around the room. There is only one toddler that is completely healthy. Everyone else is sick with something. That's daycare in the winter!

Today Julia stayed home from daycare. She woke up with a slight fever. I think it is just the cold that she has. As a precausionary measure we had her stay home with Grandma. She was in a good mood tonight and she ate well at dinner. We'll see how she is tomorrow. That would have been quite the mixture of viruses had Nathan's party happened on Saturday with all the kids carrying some kind of illness. Good call Deb.

Today Ron and Julianne came for dinner. It was good to see them. It's been quite a while since they last saw Julia. Julia warmed up to Julianne very quickly. She didn't totally warm up to Ron but she was ok with him. She gave Julianne a big hug good-bye. She gave Ron a big hand shake good-bye. Yesterday we were suppose to go to cousin Andrew's birthday party. Unfortunately it was cancelled because Nathan was ill. I used the time to put together Julia's new big girls bed. She will soon be moving to the bigger room...the "Purple Room". Julia hasn't been sleeping well lately. She has been getting up frequently throughout the night. We are all very tired. Last night was the first night she slept through in about a week. Hopefully there will be more of that tonight. Julia's had a lingering cold for about a week now so that may be contributing to her restless nights.

It's been a while since my last entry so I'll try to summarize this past week. Monday - The painters came to paint the rest of the house and install the crown moulding. This included Julia's new PURPLE room, as she requested. Once she saw the room she said, "This is PINK". Oh well. The house looks good though. Wednesday - I woke up with a sore back...again. I went to work but I had to make Julia walk. Of course she falls on the way into school, bawls and then I had to pick her up anyways! So much for my back. Thursday - My back was killing me in the morning so I stayed home from work to rest. It help a lot. Julia went to Grandma's for the day. Saturday - Mommy and I went to IKEA to look for Julia's bedroom furnature. We got the bed but they were out of the matching dresser and storage unit. Typical IKEA situation. Julia stayed with Grandma while we were out. Sunday - Julia went to church in the morning with Grandma and Papere. She enjoyed...

This weekend we ate out 2 out of 3 nights. On Friday Grandma and Papere treated everyone to Kelsey's. Julia got pasta like usual. She had a bit of a freak out there because she didn't have her own plate. She wouldn't eat until Mommy put the pasta in a container we had a snack in. That was a close one. On Sunday we went to Boston Pizza for dinner. Julia had fun because she got a balloon doggie from the clown. We remembered to bring her bowl this time. Earlier, Julia went to church and then went to lunch with Grandma, Papere and Auntie Weezie at Wendy's. Tomorrow the painters are coming to paint the rest of the house and install crown moulding. We will be painting the spare room purple. This will be Julia's room very soon. She picked out the colour. Mommy wanted to pink. Julia insisted on purple. Purple it is.

So what did we do besides the regular chores? Let's see...played play-dough, watched Finding Nemo, put the "babies" to sleep (several times a day), pulled the wagon, threw balls...etc. Lots of playtime at home this weekend. It was nice for a change. We rented War of the Worlds...6 out of 10. Stephen Harper visited Julia's daycare this week to hold a press conference. Topic was daycare of course. Press Release Photos

Julia is back to school. It's like she never missed a beat. On Monday she was so happy to get there. Today, not as much. She had a bit of a meltdown before we left. She was fine after napping in the car. Today Jacquie and Roland left for Toronto. They will be in T.O. for the rest of their vacation. We were happy to have them stay with us. Julia! Pull up your pants!

This afternoon we went to Mama's house for dinner. All the cousins were there. The food was great. Mommy even had something to eat. Julia filled up on rice.

Last night we rang in the New Year at Dan and Bernice's house with all our friends. It was a great time. It's good to see everyone. We don't get to do that enough. Julia is still a bit too young to last until midnight so she stayed at Grandma's for the night. It was Julia's first overnight stay away from home. Next year she should be able to stay up to see New Years. This afternoon we are going to Mama's house (Julia's great-grandmother) for New Years celebrations.

Today we took Jacquie and Roland to Niagara Falls. Julia stayed with Grandma and Papere. Sheryl and I went to the casino (no luck) while Jacquie and Roland took in the sights. Afterwards we all went to Grandma and Papere's for dinner.

On Christmas we went to Uncle Gary and Autie Jackie's for dinner. The food was great and Julia had fun will all the cousins. Family gatherings are getting quite noisy. There were lots of presents for all the kids. They ripped through them all in about 15 minutes flat!

Today we went to Grandma and Papere's house for Christmas Eve dinner. We were there with Jacquie and Roland and Aunt Weezie was there too. There was a ton of food and still 3/4 of a ton when we left. I was stuffed. Julia had fun opening all of her presents. She got a new "Baby" from Grandma which looks like the original baby but a lot bigger. We are hoping that she gets attached to this one because original baby's head got crushed at daycare...it's on it's last legs. On Friday Julia and the rest of the kids at school went to the auditorium to watch Beauty and the Beast. Julia and the little ones didn't last too long. This was Julia's last day for the year so she wore her pink dress. Surprisingly it was still clean when I picked her up. Tomorrow we are off to Uncle Gary and Auntie Jackie's house for Christmas dinner...oh and of course church in the morning.

Today Julia went to the ear specialist to check out her tubes. He said they were perfect. We go back for another check up in 3 months. Julia was very good about letting him look into her ears. Before the appointment I warned her that the doctor will look into her ears. She seemed prepared and didn't cry. Julia is spending the rest of the day at Grandma's house. Tomorrow the entire daycare will be going to the movies. Luckily it is on site in the auditorium. They are watching a Christmas movie, not sure which one. I don't think that the little ones will be able to sit through the whole thing. Jacquie and Roland are in Peterborough until Saturday visiting friends.

On Saturday night we picked up cousin Jacquie and her finance Roland from the airport. They had a 24 hour journey from their home in New Zealand. Julia met them this morning. She was a bit nervous at first but they are all now best of friends. I think we may even have a picture with just Julia and Roland before their visit with us is over. Jacquie and Roland will be staying with us during the Christmas/New Years week. This week they will be in Peterborough visiting old friends. The picture of Roland is blurry but you can still see that he is enjoying reading the various books we have lying around here.

On Saturday, Julia and I took advantage of the snow we got this week. We took Julia's new toboggan ("Julia's Blue Car" as she likes to call it) out for a spin. It was tiring for me. That thing doesn't slide too good in deep snow.

On Friday, Julia had another encounter with Santa. This time Santa was at school. All the kids had a chance to sit with Santa and tell him how good they have been and what they want for Christmas. Grandma, Papere and Mommy made the journey to school to see their little darling face her fears and sit with Santa. Well, it didn't go as planned. Julia was still scared of Santa even when she went up to him with Mommy. She cried, snatched her candy cane and held on tight to Mommy. She knows Santa is good but I guess she realizes something that we adults seem to overlook...Santa is kind of strange. Bright red suit, big white beard, big "HO, HO, HO"'s, he hangs out with elves. Oh well. Maybe next year. After the party we went to Jack Astor's for dinner with Grandma and Papere. Julia and Ashley wait for Santa. Grandma and Mommy wait for Santa with Julia. In comes Santa! Then the fear sets in. Got the candy!

Today Julia and I went to Grandma's for dinner. Mommy had to go to a work party...again, which left me with Julia. Having dinner at Grandma's is a big help for me. Julia ate lots of fish and mac & cheese. Julia was in bed before Mommy came home but didn't ask for her once. How about that. Friday is Julia's Christmas party at school. Santa will be visiting. Hopefully this goes better than the visit to the mall Santa. Maybe Julia will be a little braver seeing her friends with Santa. Mommy, Grandma and Papere will be coming too so I hope the snow storm will be over by then.

Today we went to Kitchener to visit Auntie Linda. Linda just bought a new condo so we went to check it out. It is really nice and large. Auntie Linda has lots of toys there to play with so Julia had a good time. She made a mess of the place by the time we left. Auntie Linda took us to a local sports bar for dinner. The food was great and the atmosphere was to Julia's liking...LOUD! It was football night so lots of cheering going on. Yesterday Julia got her flu shot (the first of two shots). She handled it pretty well. A tiny bit of crying. Later we put up the Christmas tree while Julia napped. In the evening we went to the Leaf game so Julia went to Grandma's. The Leafs are sucking. I'm not sure what's going on but Julia was up all night last night. She has a molar coming in so maybe it was bothering her. Or maybe the flu shot was bothering her. I'm hoping it's better tonight. Tomorrow I have the day off. I'm going to try to do some Christmas...

Today I had the day off. I was going to take Julia to school but with the overnight snow storm I decided to take her to Grandma's instead. Luckily Grandma had an opening in her schedule and was able to take her. This saved me a lot of driving. So with this free day, Louis came over for a visit and help with a few jobs around the house (fixed the fireplace, put snow tires on). Julia had fun at Grandma's and had a nap mid-day with Papere. Yesterday, Julia and I met up with Grandma and Papere for dinner at Crabby Joe's. Mommy had a work function to go to so we were on our own. I had hockey so Grandma came over and gave Julia a bath before Mommy came home. Tomorrow Julia gets a flu shot.

Today was Show and Share Day. Julia brought her quacking duck. She loves that toy (not as much as "baby" though). However, when I went to pick her up it was abandoned on the floor...oh well. Grandma and Papere came over for dinner. Julia was really happy to see them. It's been 3 days since she saw them last. Julia and I will be meeting them for dinner tomorrow evening. Mommy has to go to a party and I have hockey later so they have volunteered to babysit. Julia and I have had some battles this week. She is getting more and more defiant. Terrible-Twos maybe? On Monday she refused to put her mittens on when I picked her up. She was screaming! It wasn't that cold out so it didn't really matter but I couldn't back down at that point (TIP: Pick your battles carefully). I struggled with her for 10 minutes before I called in reinforcements. Mia (Julia's teacher) came over to help. I held Julia on my lap in a bear hug and Mia shoved the mittens on....