The days have been endless but the weeks have just flown by. Why is that always the case? Dylan's bronchial infection was apparently just that, an infection. However, on the day he finished his course of Biaxin, he developed a cold. The downside of having Sasha in daycare. So he was congested again. But this time it was a stuffy nose instead of a stuffy chest. So a week of that resulted in him losing his appetite for yet another week and about a pound and a half. However, in view of the fact that at 8 months he is the size of a North American 1 year old, the weight loss is apparently nothing for us to worry about. Around this time I gave up on channelling my inner Martha as I kept having to throw away the food I had painstakingly made, which in addition to his not eating, made it doubly frustrating. So I switched to jars of food, which was less painful to chuck after a spoonful. He has started eating again although we are back to square one which is simple pureed fruits..sigh..just as we were on to avocado and cottage cheese. We are also just getting back into the usual nap schedule and instead of getting up every 2 hours (I swear, it was like having a newborn again), he only wakes up twice for his milk (which we are transitioning into whole milk by mixing half formula and half whole milk). Before his infections, he was going through the night without milk, but I guess we have to take small steps towards that goal again. Also, as I am trying to get him to hold his bottle, his fast flow size 3 nipples have been swapped back to size 2's, so he wont choke, but this increases his feed times from 5 minutes to 15. Ah well, as long as he learns to hold his own bottle soon. Funnily enough, even when sick, he is such a happy camper. Laughing, giggling, grabbing at things, launching himself off the sofa, and torturing Sasha. I hated his being sick, but one day as I was walking Sasha to daycare I was able to put things into perspective. Ahead of us on the sidewalk was a boy in a wheelchair with his carer. He was obviously paralyzed from neck down. So while I found it such a chore to wake up every 2 hours, at least I knew that time would heal Dylan and he is still my healthy happy bunny. Thats all that matters right?

D is in Europe again so I am not only sleep deprived but also surviving on cereal and coffee. I am just too lazy to cook anything for myself. So lazy that I actually walked to the end of the block and bought myself a tuna salad sandwich for lunch. How sad is that.

To keep myself busy, I have been gathering stuff around the house to sell at the yard sale we are organizing week after next. I am seriously surprised how much junk we have. I am also amazed at how much of Sasha's clothes we still have left after giving away 2 suitcases full recently. We have another 2 suitcases..I swear..when did she wear all these clothes? I also notice that from age 2 onwards, I seem to have only gone to the Gap around the corner..again, I am reminded of how lazy I am. Pricing everything for $2 each...which is a steal considering there are barely used Laura Ashley and Ralph Lauren dresses and Gap outfits galore. I initially thought of holding the sale ourselves, then decided to invite a couple of neighbours thinking the more the merrier. Since 4 of us were planning to sell our kids stuff, I figured I would just ask around if other neighbours would be interested. So far we will have 16 houses selling stuff from snowboards, skis, furniture, china, lamps, and lots of clothes (we are thinking of calling it the GapKids resale sale). It is now a street sale. Should be fun and a great way to recycle and reuse..keep those toys out of the landfills.

We went in for Dylan's monthly and Sasha's bi-annual medical check-up yesterday. Sasha is doing well, Dylan not so well. The congestion that he has been getting on and off has been diagnosed as a bronchial infection. There are 2 possible reasons for his bronchitis, an infection or some other form of irritant. We are treating it as an infection and dosing him with Biaxin. Hopefully it works because the alternative is that we dose him with Ventolin and other steroids via inhaler as the bronchitis may then be irritant based. And of course the obligatory visit to the allergist to determine what is causing all the problems. So far he seems to be doing better, although I may just be projecting. We have been on high alert to catch any potential allergic reactions, but touch wood, so far so good. Doug is supposed to fly off to the UK this evening but he has cancelled his trip. The idea that a severe allergic reaction could occur while he is away for a presentation sort of freaked him out. The only other problem is giving him the medication, which is still bitter even with the Bubble Gum added flavour. I never know what to do when he gags and pukes whatever little bit he has had. I have been told not to top up as this may be dangerous (main reason why they have banned cold flu and cough medication for below 2s...parents tend to top up, babies get an overdoses and severe complications and even death occur). I have to call my pediatrician tomorrow to follow up..hopefully we dont have to go in and get the inhaler. My poor baby boy...

On a different note, Sasha is doing extremely well with her potty training. She no longer wears diapers at home during the day. While I still have to ask her on occasion if she wants to potty, especialy when she is playing, she has more often than not told me when she wants to pee pee or poo poo..yup, she even doing #2 in her flower and Dora potties. I still have her in diapers when we are out and about but that is more so for my own convenience because I find it impossible to take her to a public loo when I have Dylan with me. She has on occasion requested that she keep her panties on and promised "not to have an accident Mummy". I guess it is true..they will do it when they are ready and there is no point in forcing them into it. I remember the angst of potty training last year...and I cant believe how easy it has been the second time around. I also cant believe how much poo my tiny little girl produces...

The 3 day extravaganza is past. I am just now getting more comfortable with having a 3 year old as opposed to a 2 and a half year old. How time flies.

Last Thursday, we had her first celebration at her daycare. Pizza and cupcakes from The Cupcake Shoppe and loot bags for all. We had a similar celebration last year but this year, it was very different. Sasha was more excited and she not only participated but helped me with choosing the theme, Dinosaurs and Fish, helped me choose the plates to be used and more importantly the little gifts for her friends. We settled on a little toy car placed in mini-chinese take-away style containers filled to the brim with Easter chocolates and jelly beans. We even had fun assembling the 8 loot bags. Apparently she had fun and she let R, the little boy with an uber creepy crush on her sit next to her. R is 3.5, is a foot taller than Sash, cute but has informed me that he loves Sasha because she is very exciting to play with. Uber creepy...well, as far as a 3 year old can get.

On Friday, we started the day with the opening of presents. We had a few as Doug tends to go crazy when it comes to buying toys for her. I let him buy whatever he wants because..well, he just likes doing it so much.





After a waffle and rainbow sprinkle breakfast, a bath, we measured her, as we do annually, and headed out to the Ontario Science Center.







It was amazing, impressive even. We had heard that it is great for kids, and although it is literally a 10 minute drive away, we have never been. One of those next weekend sort of outings. Are we ever glad that we did. The Center is huge. I was imagining it to be a small building with a couple of exhibits and maybe that static electricity machine thing for kids. Instead, it had an Imax theatre, many floors with various exhibits with cool themes like electricity, chemistry, the planetarium...you get the drift. More importantly, it had a KidSpark designed specifically for kids under 8 to enjoy scientific based play.



After spending what seemed like hours at the KidSpark, we watched an underwater themed Imax movie narated by Jim Carrey. Sasha's first movie in a real movie theatre. We headed home soon after and prepared ourselves for the next day.

The last event of the 3 day extravaganza was her party at Kidnasium with 8 other little friends and their parents. I decided to keep the group small and limited to the neighbours and one best friend from Daycare. The parents were also going to be there and I also wanted them to feel comfortable. It was Toddlers Gone Wild. The ran, they jumped, they screamed...all that under the watchful eye of the Kidnasium staff. Games were organized and to be honest all I had to do was light the sparkler candle for her cupcakes (finger foods only so cutlery was not needed)



After all that activity, the kids sat down for their pizza, which was ordered by the staff, juice and cheese. Desert was dinosaur and fish cupcakes from Lollicakes, with the fish and cupcakes made from Belgium chocolates.



I wanted the kids' loot to be a surprise even for Sasha so I ordered them all personalized crayon holders. I am not a fan off buying a bunch of toys and stuff for loot bags so I figured something useful would be appreciated.





After Kidnasium, we headed back to ours. I started filling up the ice buckets while Doug went round the corner to pick up the sushi...lots of sushi. We herded the kids down to the basement, stuck in a Sleeping Beauty DVD and made a couple of bags of popcorn. While the kids were zoned out on the couches (thanks Kidnasium) the adults enjoyed a quick dinner, a couple of glasses of wine and each other's company. By 9pm everything was cleaned and the dishwasher running.



All in all it was fun and more importantly Sasha was involved right from the beginning. Maybe next year she can plan her own 4 day extravaganza.