Girlie Goes to the Salon!

On Tuesday, we took Nory to the salon for her very first haircut.  I was tired of pretending the mullet was hip (actually, I was tired of this months ago), but her Daddy insisted on growing those beauty locks without concern for the varying lengths.  It wasn't until this week, after I informed him about a children's salon, that he said OKAY to the idea.  HOORAY!  Here are some pictures (and pardon any blurriness - she doesn't really sit still too well):

Pre-haircut.  What a great day!  Beautiful weather, a cool breeze.  Nothing better than a trip to the mall ;)

Here it is - the little gem I found on Instagram!  SO ADORABLE inside.

Nory with her hairdresser, Mahar.  I think she looks so tiny in this red cape!

Everything goes to the mouth.  Sharp, pointy, could-cut-you objects?  WHO CARES!  Whatever soothes these achy gums of mine ;)

A clever little baby-salon trick:  placing a tv with an episode of Barney before your subject!  Or an enthusiastic Daddy.  Both work swell :)

Mahar said she was "very, very good" for an 8 month old.  WAY TO GO, NORY!!!!

Slicked back, greased-lightning look :)

WOWEEE!!!  Her first blow-dry.  She wasn't really sure what to think of this part!

"Mom, you're joking if you think you're going to take ANOTHER picture of me!"

The hair cut looks really sweet.  No more mullet.  No more bangs in the eyes.  It's good all around.  One day, when she lets me, I will try to take a more professional "after shot"!

Like a CELEB.

So I'm pretty sure that Nory is the best ego-booster out there.  It doesn't matter what I do (minus the nasal spray up her nose), she seems to think I'm great.  It's AMAZING.  Every day I'm flattered.

For example, she has clearly shown me and everyone she knows that I am the most hilarious person on the planet.  I can make silly sounds, pretend to eat her toes, play peek-a-boo, WHATEVER.  She thinks I'm the world's best comedian and although I look and sound ridiculous during these moments, I'll take it.  (Some of you just can't wiggle a towel in the air like I can - and that's okay).

Then there is her love and respect for my arts & crafts.  Many people don't take me seriously as an artist, but my daughter does.  Collecting various interesting items (or stealing them from a friend's classroom), sorting them by colour, and putting them in plastic water bottles is a lot of work.  I only had a little bit of fun during the process ;)  But, VOILA!  Discovery bottles in five different varieties were made and my little one enjoys each and every one of them.  I've got confirmation, folks!  After she picks one up, she looks at me with the "THAT IS SO COOL!!!" face and I think to myself, "You're bang on!  IT IS COOL! Thanks for the support!"  Haha. 

Singing the colour songs while playing with these bottles is on this week's "MOST FUN" list.  You should come over and play, too.

Anyways, it goes without saying that she has become my all-time favourite person.  What lady doesn't love constant love and attention?  I will allow her to boost my ego any day ;)

The Sandman Hates Me. FACT.

Nory has pulled two basically-all-nighter's in a row.  She is really congested and we are assuming she has a cold, although the liters of drool that come for her mouth every day may indicate that it's all related to teething.  Either way, we are one TIRED household!  The funny thing is, Kumari has been coming in for the mornings this week so we can sleep in.  This is an amazing benefit for people that can relax enough to get back to sleep.  But due to the fact that I am a terrible sleeper (understatement), I haven't been able to sleep past 5 a.m. on any of these days!  When Nory gets up, I get up.  And regardless of how little sleep I got last night, the pattern has held strong.

One of my only shots of her bottom teeth!  I think she's working on the top ones now....P.S. GO LEAFS GO!!!!!

After laying in bed for 1.5 hours after Kumari arrived, I decided to call it quits and make the world's largest pot of coffee.  Extra strong.  If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  Right?  

My daughter doesn't seem to need any coffee.  She's happily playing with her toys and letting out her characteristic, happy squeals.  Thank goodness she's satisfied with the entertainment in the house.  This afternoon's playdate with Amirah has been cancelled so that we don't get that little girlie sick, too!  Regular playdates at our house will have to do ;)  

Two things that are really AWESOME:

1)  Colourful tunnels 

2)  Putting away groceries

Another holiday is over. The silver lining?

There's always another one waiting to be celebrated!!!!!!  Next up?  HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!  We've already started to decorate Nory's room for the occasion......

(One more holiday closer to CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!)

Eleanor's FIRST Thanksgiving!!!

This year, we were invited to a little Thanksgiving celebration hosted by Emily, Shannon and Heather.  

Let me tell you something:  these gals went ALL OUT on making the event a very special one.  We felt right at home despite being miles and miles away! 

It could have been the professionally made decorations (GEM!), or the Martha Stewart quality turkey (H!), or the all-around, super-cozy atmosphere that just happens to exist within the realm of Miss Shannon.  Could have been the many delicious dishes cooked with love from our other Canadian/American comrades, too (I'm not kidding about the LOVE part - the pumpkin pie was topped with a heart!).  I wish I could better convey the bottle-up goodness that marked this occasion.

Time for some pictures?  Perhaps they will get my point across.

Prepping for the day.  Mama's working in the kitchen.  Nory's working in her kitchen....in the kitchen.  HOORAY FOR THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Who says center pieces have to be complicated?  This one screams AUTUMN!!!!!!!!

Check out this little turkey!  If you had to guess the profession of each host....you would guess??? Haha.

Of course, we can't get rid of this place entirely ;)  A little bit of Kuwait joined us in our Thanksgiving feast!

So much to be thankful for!  Yes, it does in fact make reference to TIM HORTON'S on this tree....

Thanks again ladies for the five-star experience.  We are so lucky to have people like YOU in our lives abroad!!!

We hope you had a family-and-food-filled Thanksgiving back home!
XOXO

And we thought shopping without Nory would be stress-free ;)

I'm really not okay with parents turning shopping locations into their very own, rule-free amusement park.  Mmmmm hmmmm....to this experience we can add a stale apple fritter, an unmelted-cheese-grilled-cheese, a no-price-tag incident, and a broken shelving unit.  Next time around, we're bringing Girlie with us.  She's either good luck, or a happy distraction from the things that drive her mama insane. 

#conversationswithasportsfanatic, #nannykumariisthebomb, #stillamazed

While Phil was checking sports this morning....

Lindsay:  Hun!  Guess what?! 

Phil:  (continues to check sports)  OH MY GOD.  The Tigers...

Lindsay:  Phil!  I have something miraculous to tell you!  Nanny Kumari is a GENIUS!

Phil:  (continues to check sports)  That's brutal.......I can't believe this (referring to Tigers loss)...

Lindsay:  HUN!!!!!!!  You know how Nanny Kumari gets Nory to eat the brown rice cereal?  She mixes it into her bottle!  And Nory eats the WHOLE THING! 

Phil:  (continues to check sports)  Hun, they were up 5-1.....

Lindsay:  Also, Kumari cut Nory's nails WHILE SHE WAS AWAKE! 

Phil:  (surprised) That IS a miracle!!!! 

A Picasso in the Making ;)

Being on holidays for the whole week, I am determined to find some fun things to do with Nory each day.  I searched the interweb for a little inspiration this morning and I came across one mighty-nice idea: using sticky paper and odds and ends to make a work of art!  It's perfect for babies (and Mama's!) because there's no gluey mess and you're able to talk with your baby about colours and textures, etc.  I decided to embrace the season and today I purchased a bunch of autumn-coloured ribbons and paper for Nory to use. 

I cut the ribbons different lengths and I made different shaped leaves with the coloured paper.  Then I taped the sticky paper to the window (sticky side out!), gave Nory the bin of ribbons/paper and let her go to work!

She was really amazed at the sticky feeling in the start.  She kept putting her hand on the paper and then pulling it off.  She looked at me for approval, smiled, and then kept on touching!  Once I showed her how to stick the different pieces onto the paper, she got the hang of it and followed along.   

The ribbons were a big hit, too!  She gave them a good cleaning (a.k.a sucked the heck out of them!) before placing them on the "canvas".  Sometimes she would pull the ribbons off and reposition them - editing her work, like a full-fledged artist!  The leaves were a little trickier to move around.  They required a free edge to grab onto.  

VOILA!  Here is her final product!  I left it taped to the window just in case she feels the need to make some changes tomorrow ;)  Her Daddy was quite impressed when he got home from the gym this afternoon. 

God bless whoever it was who invented the Internet!  Ideas at your fingertips - in a second's notice!  I wonder what activity will result from tomorrow's WWW search!

8 MONTHS!

My Darling Eleanor, YOU ARE 8 MONTHS OLD!!!!!!!! GOODNESS GRACIOUS! 

I can't believe it. 

At this point you're a confident crawler and have started to pull yourself up on anything you can.  You know how to open drawers and cupboards and you know when to bolt in the "not allowed area" whenever we're not looking.  Computer cords, the iPad, my mobile, the tv.....these are all things you gravitate to, despite having a plethora of amazing toys around the house.  We joke that we're going to bring all of these electrical devices with us to the finish line of the "crawl competition" taking place at the autumn fair.  Surely, that should secure a first place position!

You're a busy girl.  ALWAYS MOVING.  If you're not crawling, you're wiggling your way out of our arms or bouncing like a wild thing in your much-loved jumperoo.  You should see how crazy you get in that thing.  Nanny Kumari yells out "SCH-WAY-A, SCH-WAY-A" (meaning "slowly, slowly") because she's scared you're going to break your neck.  Sometimes you scare me too!  Changing you has also become quite the challenge given your energy.  The minute I lay you down to be changed, you flip over and try to stand up.  This, obviously, creates a big challenge and I haven't yet perfected the quickness required to get the job done solo.  Tonight I yelled for your Daddy to come help and most of the time you giggle back at me - knowing FULL WELL what trouble you're up to ;)

You have tried many new foods this month, with pureed pumpkin being a regular staple (your mama is on a big pumpkin kick!).  Just like you are with your bottle, you are an extremely distracted eater.  If there is anyone around, any movement in the room whatsoever, you're very unlikely to eat.  In fact, even if something colourful catches your eye - like your hanging quilt or a toy - that's it.  We stop the eating process and resume play/whatever because you refuse to avoid what's interesting and focus on the task at hand - EATING!  Oh well.  The doctor says you're growing perfectly and we need to relax.  So we try to.  And we know you always eat when you get hungry.  Unless you're tired....in which case you always like to sleep first, eat later.  You keep life interesting ;)

You're doing lots of talking these days.  You have been saying the "da" sound for a while and have recently introduced the "ba" sound into your repertoire.  You've also become a fan of a lip-smacking noise (like someone would make after eating something really tasty!) and the characteristic HAPPY NORY SCREAM has held strong.  You were quite the entertainment at last week's volleyball game, where you had both U14 girls team giggling over a silent gym and an echoing baby.  Add to the fact that you thought you were riding a horse - bouncing non-stop and flailing your arms.  It was a funny site, but we survived the embarrassing experience ;)

The kids at school have come to love you.  You are all over Instagram from your Treasure Hunt Club appearance and every volleyball team on campus has had you cheer them on from the stands.  You've also attended basketball practice, during which time you appeared to have more stamina than the team and Daddy started to yell at them REALLY LOUD - saying that there's no way he's going to let his daughter move faster than them!  Haha.

Getting home from work has become one of the best feelings in the world.  The minute we walk through the door, you crawl over to us as fast as possible and want to be held (momentarily, of course).  I have the instinct to run to you, but you're just too determined to move all by yourself and so I resist the urge and look forward to the moment you get to me.  You're the best.

We love you so much, sweet Nory Girl.  October is sure to be an exciting month and Christmas is JUST AROUND THE CORNER.  You wait - it'll be AMAZING ;)

XOXO