four generations

We had a lovely visit with my Grandma in Brampton last week...

Our "four generations" photo

I wonder what elements we all have in common. My mom was looking at some pictures of Grandma recently and remarking how much she thought I looked like Grandma when she was young. So I wonder what physical traits -- like our tendancy to have hunched shoulders or similar eyes -- and what other traits -- like our preferences and personalities -- Maia will inherit generations. I wish I could have know my great grandma and her great grandma...

Great Grandma offers applesauce to a toddler with strong opinions

Grandma spent some time singing Dutch songs to Maia as she chose from a myriad of responses, from ignoring to bouncing to singing to smirking to eating her cookie.

Never a dull moment with Maiers.

fall photo fun

Some of you faithful readers have been asking for more recent pictures of Maia.

Hopefully this will help satisfy your craving....

mommy essentials?

A friend just forwarded a link to a website called mommy essentials that advertises a product called the Babykeeper.

What will we think of next?


"The Babykeeper is a patent pending infant carrier style seat, that hangs from the stall wall in most public restrooms, and can also be used in many public fitting rooms."

mondays

On Mondays, I spend most of the afternoon and evening at the church teaching piano lessons. As Mondays are Tim's day off, he spends much of the day as Mr. Mom... well, to be fair, Mr. Dad. He never seems to 'endure' spending most of his day off at home. Instead, he truly delights in his half day alone with Maia. Each Monday night when I come home, his eyes light up as he retells the adventures of their time together.


Tonight when I got home, I found this email in my inbox:

"hi mom

dad and i had grild cheez tonit
with chedr and feta
i trid an oliv - yuk
and relish - i dont lik that eethr
but the grild cheez waz gud
now im plaing drum
mabee il pla with you sum da

i love yu

maia"

janelle

Our dear friend Janelle has taken a keen interest in Maia from the very beginning. On her visits home to Zurich (from Brock University) she always makes a point of spending a little time with Maiers. She has been determined to teach her how to blow kisses.

Well, all Janelle's hard work (mixed in with a whole lot of fun) has finally paid off. I don't have a video to prove it, but Maia has indeed begun blowing kisses.

It's hard to describe the delight of watching such a little being with a will of her own as she chooses her last action of the day -- especially when it's a knowing grin in your direction that breaks for the loud smack of a kiss as you turn out the light at night.

a moment with oversized fruit

Today, I took Maia grocery shopping at No Frills. As soon as I took her out of the car, she started signing for "banana" (click on "B" and scroll down to "banana" if you're interested). At first, I thought she was asking for one, which didn't make sense because I had just fed her. But then I looked up at the store and saw the giant "No frills" sign -- featuring massive bananas -- across the outer wall of the store. Too funny.

november 25

I'm getting excited about a collaborative concert I'll be doing in two weeks with Ottawa's Mike Yates (singer/songwriter/cellist/guitarist/bodhranist) and Toronto's Trevor Howard (singer/songwriter/guitarist) at the Freeway Cafe in Hamilton on Saturday, November 25. I'm hoping you locals can make it out!


I can't decide which ad I like better. Feel free to give your opinion.

"Mike Yates, Trevor Howard and Monica Joy in an evening of both solo and collaborative music at one of their favourite places to play. Monica writes beautiful songs with a strong message, Trevor sings catchy and clever songs with an amazing voice, and Mike performs songs as the hopeless romantic on voice and cello."

Isn't that lovely?

running the sahara

I just found out that three men from three nations are running across Africa. Yes, running. Across Africa. From the west coast to the east coast of the Sahara desert. They'll be covering 4,000 miles -- about 50 miles a day for the next 80 days -- across the Sahara Desert to raise awareness for the 1.2 billion people around the world who don’t have access to clean water. Looks like they're making a documentary in the process.

Did you know that a child dies every 15 seconds due to diseases from dirty water? If you aren't already aware of the ONE campaign, you really need to check it out. Come and join us!

Every day, I like to have a hero. Today, my heroes are Charlie Engle (USA), Ray Zahab (Canada) and Kevin Lin (Taiwan).

walker stalker

Many of you have asked for a video of our little walker. Here she is stalking "Phil the dog" (as Krista likes to call him).

Her new found freedom is a delight to watch.

Except when she falls especially hard time after time. Poor dear.

Walking has been such a long time coming... and yet rather like the blink of an eye. Turns out the warning we've received from most every parent we know is quite true... it all goes SO fast. We're trying to drink in every moment of joy.

there's a roller coaster in my living room

Recently we started using the "Toy Bus" -- a toy lending library on wheels. The bus makes a stop about 50 metres from my front door every other week. We get on, we choose up to five toys, return our old ones, and are on our way. Rather than buying multiple toys for $20 each, we payed $20 for an annual membership and now have access to hundreds of toys that don't need to clutter our home. It's ingenious.

So this week we came home from the toy bus with a small roller coaster. It's true. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but it did. It's basically a car on a track that makes a small descent. But it's the length of a room. So I had to put it between two rooms. But one room is a foot lower than the other. So now our dear girl needs someone to slow her down at the end of the track to keep her from crashing into the couch.

See for yourself. Listen for one of her new words... "UP"!



Perhaps the funniest thing about it is that THIS is what has got her walking unassisted. She is so excited when she gets to the end of the ride that she dismounts in a hurry and walks (and squeals) across the room to do it all over again.

Priceless fun for ten more days.

toothbrush girl

Who would have thought that brushing one's teeth could seem so appealing to a 15 month old that she would want to give up one of two hands for navigating her way down the hall in order to simultaneously use her toothbrush?

pumpkin art

I almost neglected to show you the outcome of the "date night" at home Tim and I had at the end of October. Sadly, the moon's features froze and deformed before all our little visitors arrived (over 50 kids this year) while waiting in the cold for a few days. Tim's stars, on the other hand, are still as lovely as the night he carved them.