Cletus

On Leif's bday this year I noticed that one of his front teeth was 'bigger' than the other. It wasn't actually bigger, but lower, as the adult tooth had started pushing it out. For the past few weeks now we have been watching and worrying. Though we wiggled it, and he wiggled it, Erik tugged, and a friend tied a string around it 3 times the funny tooth wouldn't budge. And it did become funny. Leif started talking without fully closing his mouth. When he smiled the tooth would stick straight out at almost a 90 degree angle. He earned himself a few politically incorrect, Smoky Mountain type nicknames.

So yesterday at his dental cleaning, I asked the dentist to consider what we should do. She showed me his x-rays. Apparently the two adult teeth are coming down neck and neck and things are only going to get more crazy. She suggested that she give them both the yank. I asked if she would freeze them, and then agreed. I sat in the waiting room nervously trying to corral Tineke and keep Laika busy with coloring books. When Leif finally came out I was expecting a big toothless grin. Instead he emerged with a roll of (slightly pink) gauze poking out between his lips (I forgot about blood and gauze!). He came and crawled into my lap. I thought he was traumatized, but he was just quiet. Laika was firstly worried about why he wasn't talking, and then jealous that he had a loot bag. As we exited the building I realized that my knees were weak. We did it.

When we got him Leif let me take the gauze out. He loves his new look, and his new lisp! He started talking right away. He loves the dentist! He got a new toothbrush! She puts a little vacuum in his mouth called Mr. Thirsty! He wants to be a vampire for Halloween. He wants to shoot water out of his 'squirt hole'. He was anything but traumatized. Laika was so jealous that she spent an hour with a roll of gauze in her mouth.

Happy Birthday Leif

You will be 6 years old tomorrow! What a wonderful year you've had.

You have learned to swim underwater, ride a bike, feed a baby and read simple books. You have made amazing diagrams, maps and lego creations. You are excited about learning French.

You have built dinosaurs, received report cards, lost teeth, and found library books.

You have ridden on the Big Rides at the fair!

You have charmed girls, fought with boys and lost many of your earlier fears . . .

but . . .

you still cry if you think you've hurt someone's feelings, or if you feel you've disappointed us. You still worry about people who are put into awkward situations, and you still love being at home with your sisters.

We are so lucky to have you in our lives and love to watch you grow into a sensitive, playful and caring boy. We take turns taking credit for your

wonderful qualities. You are observant and detail oriented like your father, and sensitive and careful like me.

You are the best big brother that your two little sisters could have and the light of our lives.

We love you birthday boy.

Ride a Bike in 5 Easy Steps

Today was our first day of a five day session at Pedalheads. They promise an over 90% success rate for losing the training wheels in the first week. How do they get those wheels off so fast? Well, they do everything that we do, but in a camp like setting, where EVERYONE is doing it, and the instructor says so (instead of mom) and it's all a big game!

Firstly - make sure kids can ride bike with trainers on

Secondly - force them to ride on grass (it takes some effort, but is soft)

Thirdly - tell them that the training wheels are what is slowing them down and making it hard

Fourthly - tell them to eat their snacks while you remove their training wheels

Last - push them really fast and say "Keep pedalling! You're doing it!"

All morning Leif was obsessing about not wanting to go to Bike Camp. He already knew about the possibility that they would take off his trainers, and he knew about the grass riding and was not interested in either of those. But he was the first one to ride really far all by himself, and he is in for such a treat when they finally set him loose on some firm ground! Laika took a little bit longer to get the hang of it, but by the end she could also keep going after her push.

We have four more afternoons of Bike Camp and then lookout SeaWall!

International House of Confusion

There are some men out working on the roof of the townhomes connected to our building.  When we look out the window we look down on them.  I asked the kids to see what they were doing.

Leif:  There is a German guy building a Mexican house out of Chiney rocks out there.

You would think that we tell jokes around here about, "A Mexican and a German and a priest walk into a bar  . . . but of course we don't.  So maybe they aren't actually doing roofing, maybe there is a German guy building a Mexican house out there.  

 . . . . and in related news (that news being Leif saying the darnedest things)

As Tineke is now crawling around eating all manner of foreign objects I'm on choking hazard alert.  So yesterday I run into the playroom and start sweeping her mouth for whatever little bit of paper she is chewing on.  I find a Lego 'bushing' which is a tiny round thing.

Anita:  Oh No!  I thought we'd got rid of all the Lego from this room!  

Leif:  Well, we tried!

Anita:  I'm just really worried about Tineke eating choking hazards.

Leif:  Well, you know what we could do?  We could cut open her stomach and all of the weird things that she's swallowed will fall out!

If this seems shocking, it isn't.  His favourite thing right now is learning about sharks.  And his favourite page in his favourite shark book shows all of the crazy things that people have found after cutting open a shark (suits of armour, purses, chickens, cameras, a moose).  I'm afraid we wouldn't find such interesting things in Tineke's stomach.  But thanks for the cool book Grandma and Grandpa!

Spring in the City

At last Spring has arrived! The past few days have been beautiful. 

To get into the whole 'spring cleaning' mood Laika was using some handsoap and her toothbrush to clean some toys. To her credit she did this all on her own, without my knowledge. So when it came time to brush her teeth I had no idea that we had some soapy contamination going on. When she complained of the toothpaste being too spicy and hurting her throat I was confused. When she started crying and big bubbles started coming out of her mouth and the bubbles smelled a little like 'French Linen' I knew we were dealing with something a little out of the ordinary. So of course I made her hold still while I took a picture.
Here are Leif and Erik at Queen Elizabeth Park. It was so bright and beautiful. You can see the whole city. This is the park beside the building where Laika takes gymnastics. I think we'll be picnicing here for the rest of the year!
Tineke has learned that sand is a lot of fun, and has yet to eat some!
I love Vancouver in the spring. The cherry blossoms are the best, but these rhododendrons are so huge and bright that they can't be overlooked.
At the top of Queen Elizabeth Park there is a beautiful pond and fountain with benches all around. Beyond that you can see the dome. That is the Bloedel Conservatory. It is filled with tropical plants and birds and the smell of rainforest flowers.
One of our favourite Sunday afternoon destinations is Jericho beach. You can watch people learning to sail and collect shells. Often police officers drive by on little dune buggies and wave at you.
This photo of Erik and Tineke commemorates last Sunday, when she sat in a swing for the first time. She loved it! She laughed every time she started swinging forward. Auntie C commented that Tin looks like TinTin in this picture. I agree! We just need to get a little mousse in the front.
And lastly, here are Leif and Laika at Jericho hill park. They are in their PJs waiting for swimming lessons to begin. How fun it is to run in the grass in your pajamas, seeing how long your shadow has become. Soon it will be this bright after swimming lessons as well.

6 Months!

Tineke turned HalfaYear old yesterday.  Her development for the day was to start saying, "A Dadada, A Dadada"  over and over again.  This makes everyone so excited.  But don't get too excited in her face or she might start crying.  There is a stage in her crying where she starts blowing raspberries.  So at 6 months she's learning to say the same thing over and over again.  She also sits in her highchair and eats food with the family now.  She keeps her chubby little arms out like she's flying and peeks over either side of the highchair to see if someone is going to play peekaboo with her.

And Leif is learning a lot at school.  In his 'Ecriture' book he has drawn a house and labelled it 'mizo' (maison) and a castle is 'chatoe' and a bird is oiseau!  He has also learned that if you call mommy 'lame' everyone starts laughing, and then tells you not to let it happen again.

Laika has recently learned that if you pull an entire roll of toilet paper into the bath with you the water becomes full of 1000 swimming ghosties.

Sssssshhhhhhh

There was a time when Laika was little that Leif felt left out, sleeping all alone in his bedroom.  So we set up the little igloo tent in our room and when he came to visit in the night he had a cosy place to go that didn't involve taking up the entire middle of our bed. 

Sleeping arrangements are constantly changing around here.  Though Leif and Laika are pretty great at going to bed there are still nightmares, nosebleeds, trips to the bathroom and (like this morning) taps on my shoulder, "I just barfed in my bed."  I remember before having Leif my friend telling me that since her daughter had been born 4 months earlier she hadn't had more than 4 hours straight sleep.  I could not believe it.  I mean, I believed her, but didn't want that to be true.  Well.  It is true.  Though Tineke has BEEN a good sleeper, she is going through a little 6 month growth spurt or something that has her waking frequently in the night and not going down as easily as before.  I'm pretty much guaranteed a waking at 2ish and then at 4:30 she's hungry and from then on she's waking quite a bit until about 7:30 or 8.  So there is that whole 4:00 5:00 6:00 blur when I'm just hoping she won't notice the sun starting to rise.

Erik and I are both quite tired.  He's working on a new film and this means longer hours as he takes meetings and travels around the city checking out all of the locations (tech scout).  By the time he comes home we are both exhausted, but we aren't out of the woods yet.  We still need to make sure everyone is full, bathed, played with, teeth-brushed and to bed.  By 9:30 the little ones are all sleeping soundly (usually).  If I were smart I would just go to bed right then, but it's nice to have 10 minutes or so to talk to Erik.  I don't know, just to see what's going on.  A few days ago I tried going through the day without coffee.  It didn't work.

I'm not worried, I know that these things all work themselves out.  This is probably the toughest sleep time of our lives, so things can only get better!  

As for the barfing - I had hoped it was just that he had swallowed too much water during swim lessons last night, but I don't think so.  Right now Leif is asleep on couch with what I'm hoping is just a touch of a flu and Tineke is napping peacefully.  Laika is out for a walk with Chaplin and his mom and dad.  I'm taking the opportunity to wash bedding and towels and disinfect doorknobs and keyboards and light switches.  Last April we had a horrible 3 day festival of puking.  Leif and Laika each threw up every 10 minutes (NO EXAGGERATION) and Erik threw up 11 times.  I was sick once, but I was pregnant, so who knows.  Anyway.  What I did learn is that I want everything in this place to be in order in case I come down with gastroenteritis.  So, I'm off to fold towels and remake beds.

Learning

Leif is now interested in learning to read.  He's learned bits and pieces over the years, but has not really been patient with it.  Now he's getting excited about the prospect of reading a book to himself.  He is enjoying using this little beginner reader.  When  you watch the video you can see why our finding time to read alone together is tricky!

Valentine's Parties

We are party animals.  A few nights ago we had my former professor over for dinner.  We had a lovely time and he was fabulous with the kids.  Within 5 minutes of his entrance Leif was trying to climb on him and Laika licked his sweater.  He told them stories about scorpions and elephants and pirates and had Leif singing "Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum".  Laika asked him if he had a girlfriend.  Then she pulled out her Godzilla suit and the party was on!   After supper Leif laid down on the couch with his head on said guests lap for a long cuddle as we attempted an adult discussion.  It was a great visit, and he left with some new art to put up on his fridge.  As I put her in bed later that night Laika asked if we could go to his next birthday party.  I said we probably could.  She wants to get him some 'little kids' for a present, since he doesn't have any grandkids yet.  I told her that we couldn't give him kids.  "Oh, well then I'll just get him an iPhone."

Today Laika hosted a little Tea Party with another little princess.  They ate jello and cupcakes and those weird wafer cookies and drank peppermint tea filled with sugar and cream.  This party was in response to the fact that Leif was going to a birthday party today, and it breaks Laika's heart that he is now invited to parties that she isn't.  A Valentine's Day Tea Party was the perfect distraction for her and gave us a reason to eat pink cupcakes and drink red wine.  As Erik went out to pick up some things he asked me, "Should I get a bottle  . . ." and before he could finish Leif called out "Of rum!"

(above is an old-timey pic of Laika as a babe)

Sunshine

Yippee!  It was Friday (or Friderday - whichever you prefer).  Leif went skating for the first time with school.  He held tightly to his cone (or pine cone - you choose) and very s l o w l y worked his way from one side of the rink to the other.  The most glamorous mom was also on the ice, and she took him for a little spin.  She is glamorous and kind both!  Leif said he loved it.   Laika was cold and didn't love watching all the skating, but it was highly amusing for those of us on the sidelines.  The best moment was when they opened the gate to let all 60 kindergarten kids on the ice.  The kids tried to flood through, but as each one hit the ice he or she wiped out, and then the next kid would wipe out and one would get back on her feet, and then down again.  The ten or so strong skaters pushed their way through and started showing their stuff.  The floundering horde were helped out by a bunch of big orange pylons.  

We went to Science World in the afternoon and checked out the Lego exhibit for the second time.  We were then inspired to buy more Lego - remember, members get a discount (this is how I justified it).  We got a box of 'girl Lego' for Laika.  It was completely worth it.  Now she is actually motivated to build when she can make a pink car with two little girls in it, or a white bunny with a flower on it's head.  We are getting quite the collection which is fine by me, because Lego is Awesome.

Our life is so busy with swimming and nightmares and school and grocery shopping and Legotime and gymnastics and cooking and cleaning and driving and playgrounds.  I am necessary in each endeavour, and Tineke is by my side through it all.  She is my little smiling, toe-sucking mascot.  There are 3 hours a week when it is just the two of us all alone while both kids are at school and she's often asleep.  The rest of the time we share the sidelines watching our big kids play.  Now she is at the point where she will watch the kids in the pool, gym or park.  They are so proud of their happy baby sister.  I learned that Laika knows how to sing "You Are My Sunshine", so we've been singing it to Tin all day.  We like to get very dramatic during the sad part.  As we sing, Tineke lays on the floor holding her toes in her tiny fingers and laughs at us.  She knows she is our Sunshine. 

Gadget Mouth

One of my very favourite things that happens in our house is called Gadget Mouth.  This happens when you give Leif a bicycle pump and a balloon.  As soon as he has to focus on the dual task of firmly holding the rubber balloon opening and pumping with all his might something magical happens to his mouth (and if we're lucky his whole face).  He concentrates so intensely that his lips tighten against his teeth and swerve off into his cheek.  Both eyebrows go up, and yet he might squint.  His nostrils flare.  You never quite know exactly what Gadget Mouth will look like, but it always makes me laugh so hard (with no noise, head turned away - stomach bouncing) that I feel guilty.

Today Leif used his allowance to buy some new Lego (small exaggeration since we hardly ever put money in that jar and if we did it still wouldn't add up to 55 bucks).  Anyhoo.  Awesome new Lego set means many opportunities for surreptitiously looking up from his hands as he pushes a tiny little Lego doo-dad into place.  I need to videotape these moments very soon, because I know that future Leif is going to get a big kick out of Gadget Mouth, and if I could get him to watch and laugh with me then I wouldn't have to feel guilty about setting him up with a needle and thread tomorrow.

Chinese After Supper

As we walked to London Drugs tonight to buy me a Krups Universal Grill (which I love) . . .

Leif said,  "I have to show you a really cool After Supper treat."   

I said, "Oh, you brought a treat for us to open after supper?"  

"No.  An After Supper thing."

"OK, so something to show after supper?"

"No.  Like Chinese After Supper."

"You mean Chinese New Year!?"

"Yes!"

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Let's Have A Joint

The Scene: early Sunday morning, in our bed, Tineke in the middle, Laika on me and Leif climbing in . . . 

LO: Not Good Morning.  

LO: I said, "Not Good Morning."

ERT: Why not?

LO: I didn't even sleep last night.  I had too much cough.

AJN: That's too bad.  Climb in.

(Leif climbs in between us)

LO: Let's have a joint.  I have a joint.

AJN: What!?

LO: I am the joint and Tineke is the gear and Laika is a gear too.

AJN and ERT:  Oh.

The Scene:  Laika on the couch cuddling with Erik, but now he's talking to me and she's getting bored, and is trying to extricate herself from behind his legs.  He's not making it easy for her.

LJ: Oh man.  I gotta get out of this situation. 

(the best part is, she says it sort of under her breath - to herself)

The Scene: Sitting at the kitchen table eating Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.

LO: Mom.  What's your favourite thing in the world?

Me: You.  You and your sisters and dad.

LO: No, not your favourite people.  Your favourite thing.

Me: Snorkelling.

LO: No.  I mean.  What is your favourite thing!?  

Me: Umm.  Hmmmm . . .

LO: Come on! A rocket or a horse?

The Scene: Driving Laika and Tineke home from preschool.  Laika trying to talk to me from the backseat.

LJ: Mommy.  Did you bleepep auguuus a beee sooool?

Me:  Laika, I can't hear you.  Talk more loudly.

LJ:  Mommy.  Did you knoow that weee bleeeoooopp and a soooool and uuuuugg?

Me:  Laika, wait until we get home.  I really can't hear your question.

LJ:  MOMMY!  I SAID, "Did you know that Angela and Nargis don't actually sleep at Tiggy Winkle Preschool!"

Bedtime Interview

I'm putting kids to bed, so I'm going to interview them before they fall asleep.

Favourite Mythical Beast

Laika - Twinkle Monster

Leif - El Chupacabra

Favourite Song

Laika -  Tortuga (Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack)

Leif - Popcorn (by Hot Butter)

Favourite Things to Dream About

Laika - Fairies flying around me

Leif - Clubhouse with robots in it

Favourite Teddy Bears

Laika - Rocky Raccoon, Baby Maxine, Saul the Bear, Posey the Dog

Leif - Trevor the Bear, Dixie the Dog, Tim Johnson the Dog

Favourite Movie

Laika - Happy Feet, Bee Movie

Leif - The Incredibles, Night at the Museum (he saw a bit on TV)

Favourite Place to Go

Laika - swimming lessons

Leif - Science World

Favourite Foods

Laika - apples (and my invisible pet dog likes raspberries)

Leif - bananas

Scariest Thing

Laika - a monster

Leif - a dragon

What do you like to Draw?

Laika - Agent Superthin

Leif - my favourite thing to draw is robots

OK, and now Erik is here to take over!

We'll do this again someday.

An Average Day

This may not be that exciting to read, but for future reference - Here's a little rundown of the average day.

Laika is always the first one up, at about 7:45.  She comes into our room, crawls in beside me and lays down for a few minutes.  When I start worrying about her falling off, I take her out to the living room and turn on Curious George.  Then I get Leif up.  The two of them watch CG while I empty the dishwasher and put away any old dishes or clothes that got stripped off in the living room the night before.  I also prepare breakfast at this time, and they will eat it when CG is over.

Usually Tineke is still asleep and in bed with Erik.  I prod him a few times before he gets into the shower leaving Tineke all tiny in the centre of the bed.  Her little fists straight out.

Eventually we all get washed and dressed.  Erik gets hugs and kisses and then the kids give him an 'arrow' (they stand in the hall and pretend to be traffic signs pointing to the elevator) and we say goodbye.

I make a pointed effort to remain calm as I try to get the kids out the door.  They try to get ready without standing up.

Today we took Laika to gymnastics.  We watch her do her thing and then we eat a packed lunch together on a mini picnic table in the viewing area.  

We take Leif to school and play outside for a few minutes while we wait for the teacher.

Today Laika skipped preschool so that she could come to the doctor with Tineke.  Tineke was measured and weighed and jabbed today (two shots).  Laika held her little head and kissed it while she was getting her shots.  She was really excellent.  I was so proud of her.  Afterward she told me that she didn't like seeing the needle, but that she wanted to help her sister.  She also said that when Tineke cried it made her lungs sad, and she placed her little hands on her chest when saying this.

After school we pick Leif up from Ben's house and come home.  If Tineke is asleep I will start supper (even if it's only 4 - which it was today).  I find it almost impossible to make supper when all 3 kids are awake.  I like to have them playing with toys or doing art or schoolwork while I cook, and these things take help, so it makes it easier if Tineke is asleep.

We eat supper either before or after Daddy gets home.  Then more playing, and a bath, or sometimes a movie.  Tonight they just played and played so well that I decided I'd give them a bath in the morning.  Often Erik puts L and L to bed (and falls asleep on the floor) while I take care of Tineke.  Tonight however he had a script to read, so I held Tineke and sat on their floor singing lullabies until all 3 fell asleep.  It was a lovely ending to a lovely day.

How the Weekend Starts

Tomorrow morning Leif and Erik will begin the second set of soccer lessons.  The first session was so educational for Leif as he had NO IDEA about how the game was played.  In the first lesson he was on the Blue team, so he was so confused about why the Red team was coming over onto his side, and they were trying to score on the Blue goalie!  In his mind it was the Blue Team vs. the Blue Goalie, and the Red Team vs. the Red Goalie.  This is a hilarious idea to me.  The poor goalies all alone.   In team sports you need to cooperate with your team mates and be aggressive toward the other team (inasmuch as taking the ball is aggressive).  Leif is not aggressive AT ALL, so he gives the ball a wide berth.  When he sees the throng of boys coming in his direction he hastily hops aside.  Luckily in this class the parents are encouraged to stay with their player to point them in the right direction.  Erik does a good job pointing Leif the right way, and Leif does a good job trying to look busy.  He pulls on his pinny and runs around.  On his last day in December he gave the Coach a hug goodbye and the coach offered us some reassuring words about how Leif is a 'thinker' and an 'observer' and that this often results in the best kind of player.  Maybe.  Although when you see the bloodlust in the eyes of some of the other kids it's hard to imagine that he's ever going to go for it in the same way.  Fortunately Erik and I don't care if he ever gets really into sports, we just want him to understand about what a 'goal' is and why the kids are wearing different colored pinnies.  And we like to go take the kids out to the coffee shop afterwards.

First Swimming Lesson Ever

Today Leif and Laika started their swimming lessons.  They are so lucky to be in the same class of only 4 kids (all classes have only 4 students).  Lessons start at 11:30, but were a few minutes late as one of the babies in the baby class had pooped in the pool.  So they had all sort of vacuums and skimmers out and were changing the filter etc.  Very educational for our first day.

Before they went in we bought goggles.  These were a big hit.  They make them feel invinsible.

So, the instructional objective in the Starfish level is to get them used to water.  This means making them get their heads under the water . . . lots and lots of times.  The instructor was wonderful, she kept everything moving so fast and kept them so happy that they didn't have time to dwell on the fact that she kept tricking them.  Her number one tactic is to give them a rubber toy of some sort, then they put it on her head or shoulder, and then she stands a few feet back and they have to jump to her to get it back.  The trick is that she always steps back, so they flop into the water and then she picks them out and gives them the toy and they keep on going.  In 25 minutes both children had been fully immersed more than they have been in their lives so far!   They have these things called 'magic islands' which are big metal stools with bars on them that 4 kids can sit on.  They push these islands into the deep part of the water, so that the instructor can be working in deepish water and the kids have this handy island to jump on and off of.  The instructor would ask the kids to give her 5 and then when they slap her hand she falls right back into the water.  This is hilarious to them.  Getting into the water is easy as they keep the pool at bathtub temperature.

Both kids were chatting nonstop when they got out of the pool.  Their adrenaline was pumping, "I was the deepest kid!  I went soooo deep!  I could see underwater.  Did you see me go underwater?  Did you see us sitting on the island?  Next time I'm going to go under and try looking around.  When do we go back?"

Phew.

Godzilla!

Oops.

I said that something (I can't remember what) looked like Godzilla.  Then Leif said, "No mommy, Godzilla is a gorilla."  Then I said, "No, it's like a giant lizard."  Erik backed me up, and then offered to prove it by showing Leif some old Godzilla movie clips on YouTube.  You can guess how this might turn out.

Leif and Erik enjoyed the clips.  Laika did not.

Erik stopped the clip as soon as he sensed her tension, but the damage had been done.  She is now afraid of the giant fire-spewing lizard, and I'm just waiting for her to run to our bed in the night.  

We spent all evening talking about how Godzilla is actually a nice man named Jeff, who lives in Japan (but I thought that 'Jeff' sounded really non-threatening), has two kids and now works in a hot dog stand.  He doesn't even have that Godzilla costume anymore!  The buildings were made out of cardboard!  Then Leif sat down with a piece of paper and a felt.  He drew a picture of a tall building and a small man.  He said, "OK Laika, so this is how buildings REALLY are. But this is how they made the man in the Godzilla suit look big. . . " then he turned the paper over and drew a big man and a tiny building.  He said, "This building is made out of cardboard." Laika said, "I get it Leif!  I didn't know they were made out of cardboard."  So, she GETS that Godzilla isn't real, and really believes it, but is still worried that he might catch a plane to 'our village'.  This is part of being 3.

At least this fear is a little more understandable than Leif's big fear: 

the scary letters on the Curse of the Were-Rabbit poster.

Est-ce que je peux aller au toilette?

Leif hit his second kindergarten speed bump, and came out unscathed.  Yesterday I didn't make him to go to the bathroom before we left for school.  I thought about it, but we were so busy (Laika, fully clothed down to raincoat had decided to lather her hands up with sunscreen to be 'ready for the beach').  He has visited the school bathroom a number of times without incident.  However, lately the students get to jump a beaver with their name on it down a little path every time they ask a question in french.  Leif couldn't recall how to ask to leave for the bathroom.  In his mind speaking in French became a necessity and he froze up.  He sat there ALL AFTERNOON  holding his bladder.  When Jen came to pick him up he was standing in the line up and began to sob uncontrollably.  She and Madame Myriam realized right away what had happened and made sure no one else did.  Jen got Benjamin's spare clothes, took him to the washroom and changed him.  To her credit, even Benjamin still doesn't know why Leif walked home in his spare pants.  By the way, Leif has a spare set of clothes at school, but was too stressed to find it.

Last night Erik and I both shared a tale of wet-pants.  I gave Leif my Grade 1 tree-climbing story.  I'll save my Grade 4 desk-pee story for when he needs a tale of mortification in the older grades.

Today Leif brought Mme. Myriam a card that read, "Thank you!  Merci!  Love Leif" with a heart breaking little picture of him standing there with his arms out for a hug.  Mme. Myriam called him over to thank him.  I asked if she gave him a hug.  Yes.  And a Kiss.  She's French you know.

He still loves school, and Jen, and his teacher.

Leif is a Grown Man

Sometimes Leif takes us completely off guard.

About 2 weeks after Tineke came along, he came and sat beside me and asked earnestly, "So, how's the nursing going?  Is it still stinging?"  He was not trying to be cute, but asked with genuine interest.

You could take two things from this:  either I'm sharing way too much information with my 5 year old son, or he's just very perceptive.  I'm sticking with the latter.

Last night at supper Erik asked Leif if he thinks we should have another baby in our family. Without missing a beat he looked at me, calmly raised his eyebrows and asked, "Would YOU like to do that?"  It isn't lost on him that I would be the one most directly affected by such a decision.

Oh, and in case you're wondering - he would still like to have 'chiplins' or 'forflins'.  We taught him the word 'quadruplets' and he thinks it's hilarious.  He also keeps saying, "Laika, maybe we're having quadruplets!"  But guess what - we're not.