ready for work?

Schuyler still enjoys trying on mummy's shoes and holding daddy's keys. She has now integrated her new potty skills with her old passions!

let her eat cake!

While the pinata did not entice Schuyler was front and center when the birthday cake arrived on the scene. At first she made a show of using her spoon but that was just too slow so she got hands-on and went for it. Mmmm, chocolate cake for dinner!

a pool & a pinata

The moment we spotted the pool at Theo's second birthday party (that was meant for a fishing game complete with live fish) we knew that Schuyler was going for a swim. There is no body of water she will not attempt to plunge into as soon as possible. She spent a good chilly 30 minutes in there and screamed when forcibly removed. The hosing down afterwards didn't go well either.

She recovered enough from her post-swim clean up to sort of join in the Easter egg hunt. She limited her participation to finding one plastic egg and opening it. She was thrilled to see some candies and after sampling two jellybeans she let her mum confiscate the rest.

Schuyler thought it best to ignore the brutal beating of the party pinata in order to familiarize herself with the workings of Theo's car.

the window series: "posing on the potty"

spoon?

hair clip

With some reluctance, Schuyler can now see without a screen of hair in front of her eyes thanks to her little hair clip (aka "heh kip"). We often lose the battle of the hairclip but when we win, it's pretty darn cute.

proof positive

On January 25th we got the proof that Schuyler is going to have a sibling around 30 September. BermyBabies here we come!

the return

Schuyler had a wonderful time at the Orlando airport. She had a nice meal, rode the train and pointed out every airplane in the terminal. Once boarded she amused herself by watching the action outside.
Schuyler's parents had a wonderful time at the Miami airport when Schuyler finally slept for 2+ hours. She had a light dinner aboard and was happy to entertain all of the tired and annoyed passengers until we arrived home 2 hours late.

turtles

In honour of their new friend "Tonto" the turtle who lives at the end of Arega Street, Finn and Schuyler don their new pajamas. What they don't know is that the turtle pajamas are really just gator bait.

playground #3

I'm firmly convinced that Florida consists entirely of (a) swamps (b) strip malls and (c) big playgrounds. Schuyler approves.

fishing around

It seems wherever there is water, Schuyler will try and find a way to immerse herself in it. Cousin Finn takes the smarter approach to fishing (using a rod) whereas Schuyler believes that her lighting reflexes and agile dexterity will make her hands on style win out in the end.

wildlife festival

In Sebastian, Florida, the wildlife exhibition consists largely of animals who feed on toddlers.

double trouble

Everyone needs some pictures that will embarrass them later on in life. Schuyler has never had as much fun in her life and was especially keen to ensure Finn had washed behind his ears.

playdoh

Finn played with the Playdoh. He made little balls, rolled them into snakes, carved a miniature Mount Rushmore out of it. Meanwhile, Schuyler simply emptied the playdoh cups so she could play with the cups themselves. Oh well, she'll dig it someday when she figures out what she can make.

tornadoes and toddlers

One of the enlightening things about parenting (and other endeavours) is the loss of ego. I've walked around with breakfast yoghurt stains on my crotch at work (try explaining that one); I've opening discussed the consistency and colour of my child's poop (with more than a little enthusiasm); I've sung nursery rhymes about sheep in public; i've eaten green beans cold to show how tasty they are; i've feigned interest in the most banal of storytime stories; i've made rubber ducks kiss and have conversations; i've apologised to thousands of people for various social infractions caused by my link to my kid.

And I love it.

And from this video, it turns out that grand parenting isn't all that different.

cupcakes!

Julie and Lyndon came over... bringing severe weather and a tornado warning with them.

If Gramps is good for anything (and there is some debate about this), it is a tray full of cupcakes. These were lovingly smeared across all exposed body parts by Schuyler. Yum.

en francais

so we're down in Florida visiting Greta, Scott, Annie (Nan) and Flip (Gramps) and having a great time. we've had daily visits to see the tortoise that lives at the end of the road. we've tried to find the ten foot alligator that lives in the pond nearby but to no avail (it would be a great deterrent for the kids - no more naughty step, meet the naughty 'gator!). Anyway, the kids have been having a brilliant time with one another - i don't think Schuyler has ever had this much fun in her entire life (new toys, lots of people who seem to want to play with her, big gaga named Jackson (pictured above), Finn, a bath with her cousin, a tortoise, pocket doors that she can open, other doors she can open, playgrounds everywhere, a grocery store with carts with steering wheels!).

I just wanted to write something briefly while i think of it because today was something of a watershed for Schuyler and her french. in our babycenter emails they said to expect language bursts around this time and we've certainly noticed her repeating almost everything we say instantly. anyway, this morning, Schuyler got up at 5:50am which kind of annoyed her dad so he read Lilou (a french kids book, above) with her. Normally, when i point to the bird or the rabbit and ask her what it is, she always responds in English ("bird", "bunny") but this morning, for some reason, she instantly said "oiseaux" and "lapin" which blew her proud daddy away. Fast forward to Daddy getting home after a rare evening at the movies with Mama and Greta while Gramps and Nan played man-to-man defense with the kids. Dad got home in time to read to her and (disappointingly) she wanted to read an English book ("Goodnight Vermont") about a billion times and Dad read in English. Now, "arbre" (for tree) is one of her only consistently french words but this time she pointed to a tree and said "tree" which annoyed her dad who reflexively replied "en francais, s'il te plait" to which his 22 month old said "arbre". I know this is probably boring to those of you who are not her father (which, i realise, is all of you) but for me this was mind blowing. Trying to speak to her in french (which is not your own language) while everyone is speaking english can be a very lonely and sometimes unrewarding experience and to have her express that she "gets" that there are two languages and that they have names is amazing to her dad. Schuyler, je suis fiere de toi.