We're Smurfing to a new Home!

Glamour Shots of this Old Place All Cleaned Up

That's my biggest excuse for taking so long in between posts. Trust me, I feel horrible about it, because so many things have happened.

Let's take yesterday for example. We had ice cream sandwiches for dessert. As Erik and I were relaxing in the living room Leif comes running in, yelling, "Mom! Dad! Emergency! Someone pooped on the bathroom light switch! Quick come see!" Faster than you can lower your eyebrows and say, "Eriiikk . . . . " Laika fessed up. "It's not poop! It was my sticky DQ fingers. It was all my thault!"

Anyway. In September we saw an open house in our beloved building, but this home has 3 levels, 3 outdoor spaces (solarium, balcony and patio) and 650 additional square feet. This is our dream come true. But we didn't want to act too quickly, so we took our time and considered other options for a few weeks. Well, long story short - we made an offer and got our house all spiffed up (thanks so much to Auntie K and my mom for all of their hard work! - oh and dad too!) we rented a storage unit and cleared out an obscene amount of toys along with three van loads of miscellaneous junk. All the work did pay off, and our place sold on Saturday after being listed for a week and a half. The little twist here is that the buyers are also the sellers. We couldn't bear the thought of leaving this wonderful area, and neither could the other vendors, who just needed to downsize and lose the stairs! So. We have a little while to dream and plan, as we don't actually move until the beginning of February.

Other news:

Tineke is practicing a lot of words now, and though I would not call this talking, it is that very sweet pre-talking where it's more of a chant. She waves and says "Hiiiii!" She calls Erik "DaaDeeDaaDee"or my favourite, "Daa Eee" and follows me around with the "Mammmammammammamamamama" that all mothers of toddlers are familiar with (I don't want to say it drones on and on - drone has a negative connotation, but it is used a great deal, and generally when I'm not living up to her expectations). She tries to say Laika's name, and though I can't translate it on the keyboard it is recognizable. Our favourite though is "Tickkle tickle tickle" She says this when she's getting tickled and oooh. It is cute.

Halloween Happened:

Leif continues to have issues regarding dressing up at school. It has always been a stress for him! Pajama Day at school! Weird! Who are all you hippies? Backwards day? No way. Halloween? Only on Halloween night, outside trick or treating. This year it was the PA announcement the day before during which the principal said something along the lines of "Looking forward to seeing you all dressed up tomorrow!" So Leif decided that he could not go to school. He WASN'T dressing up, and he also wasn't going to be the ONLY one who wasn't dressed up. This is a battle that I've fought before (and won by the way) but on that dark, rainy October morning I was fine with it (more PJ time for me). Leif stayed home. But that's the last time. On Halloween night we had a great time. The Vampire, Bo Peep,and their pet Dalmatian.

The Paw:

Oh, and Tineke now has a little paw for a right hand. She pulled a chair over and somehow the top of the chair hit her on one little finger nail. I think she is going to lose the nail. The important thing is to keep a bandaid and antibiotic on her sore fingertip. This is a tall order and requires bandaid, medical tape, baby sock up to wrist, girly sock up to shoulder and then shirt on top to hold it all together. It is cute how quickly she's become used to her paw. She picks things up with it, wipes her eyes with it, waves with it. So adaptable. Poor little tiny finger. That's enough updating for today! Goodnight.