Poo Procedure

I'm not really in the mood to detail Elliot's ongoing battle of the bowel movements, but I just love this photo of Elliot and little Carter who he met in hospital a few weeks ago as he had a biopsy of his rectum to make sure all was a-ok downstairs.

The results of the biopsy showed that he has no physiological reason for his ongoing problems. At this point, we're not sure if this is good or bad news, but Elliot was really brave throughout the procedure. And even more impressive, Elliot put up with Carter for hours as he awaited his procedure and only confessed to me once we got in the car afterward that he really didn't like the kid at all.

Easter Egg Hunt

These handsome boys are ready to hunt for some eggs!! Little did they know that they Easter Bunny delivered some extra treats this year! Here's some more footage.

Ice skating

This year for her birthday, Aine chose to go ice skating with just Cailey and I (and the moms of course). This idea suited me just fine because I've wanted to try skating for awhile now.

What I hadn't imagined was just how hard it could be! Still, I didn't give up, and before long I was able to push around my seal buddy without tripping and wobbling. And Mom was impressed because I kept smiling and trying and didn't even cry when I fell really really hard on my elbow. (You should have seen the bruise the next day!)

On the way home, I asked Mom if we could go skating again but this time without Aine. When Mom asked why, I explained that Aine is a better skater than I am because she has gone skating before. And she'll keep being better than me unless I get the chance to catch up. (Sometimes Mom's a bit slow!) ~ Elliot

School-free Day

Teachers have student-free days, so Team Thomas decided that we'd be a bit naughty and have school-free day to celebrate how well Elliot was doing in school and enjoy a trip to Adventure World without all the crowds.

Great decision!

And we had an incredible time!!

Paul and I got to try out the awesome new roller coaster (what a rush!!!)

Elliot went non-stop all day. He's finally big enough to go on pretty much every ride and every water slide, and he did. Several times. Paul and I couldn't keep up.

And Ollie, well he had his own kind of fun. Going down the same little kid water slides over and over and over. Riding in the kiddy jeep ride around and around and around over and over again. Whatever floats your boat, little guy!

The Weekend to End Women's Cancers

For months and months I worried. I worried how I'd ever possibly raise the $2000 dollars necessary to take part in the walk. I worried whether the ankle I sprained in May and then then hamstring I tore in November would stand in the way of completing all 60 kilometres. I worried about blisters and sunburn and rain. And you know what? There wasn't a thing to worry about.

The Weekend was perfect! In the end, I raised nearly $3500. I didn't have a single niggle of a blister or any other major woe to get in the way of me walking the entire 60 kilometres (actually I think it was a bit longer than that, but don't get me started!!). And the weather couldn't have been finer.

Best of all, I was inspired and encouraged by all of the incredible men and women who walked alongside me. Some walked with walking sticks or crutches or were pushed in wheelchairs. There were folks who had fought and won several bouts of cancer and others who were still in the midst of their fight. And I got so much more out of the weekend and the people I met than I could ever give back. 

Zoe and I nervously await the start!

I did it!

Hooray for us!

Oliver is 3

Oh my little Ollywood, what a character you've become! It has been so much fun this year watching you grow up and into quite a little personality. Who knew that you'd be keeping Elliot on his toes with your jokes and adventures!?! Only instead of an imaginary tiger family, you've got your dinosaur land, and I just love the stories you tell me about your dinosaur mom and sister. Your real mom and dad don't stand a chance with you two little jokers and storytellers!

And speaking of Elliot, I want to be sure to mention just how much I love the way you two brothers look after each other. Sure, you fight and argue like little devils sometimes, but it is so heartwarming to watch you run to each other's side as soon as one of you gets hurt or feels sad. As you two are getting older, a real mutual adoration has developed (instead of just the one-way one that existed last year), and now Elliot is the one asking you to play with him.

I'm sure it helps that you are such a sharing and thoughtful little guy. You probably don't know this, but most preschoolers have a really hard time sharing, but not you. I love the way, you're always offering tastes of your ice creams, licks of your lollipops, and whatever else you have. You bring coins from your money box to Jessica when you see her and sneak bits of food to Nacho every chance you get.

But that's not all, when Elliot is sad, you're the first to think to run and get his cuddly blanket. You've asked your Nana about her knee surgery nearly every time you've seen her for the past six months. And when I crash on Elliot's scooter when we're coming home from dropping him off at school (yes, it's happened more than once!) you come running to my side to pat my shoulder, check if I'm okay, and say, "Mommy, you have to be careful!"

It probably also needs to be said that the flip-side of this wonderful generosity and thoughtfulness is a sensitivity that is easily hurt and an anger that is just as easily incited. You're a real fire-cracker some days and have the rest of us walking on egg shells trying to be careful not to upset you. I know that you're working really hard on using your words to talk about what's upsetting you instead of shouting or hitting so I won't go on about this too much. I just wonder whether this is just part of you being three or something that you'll have to continue to work on as you get older.

Speaking of being three, you sure are learning all sorts of new things these days. You can count almost all the way to 20 and say your ABCs with only a couple of little hiccups. You seem to have effortlessly just started to do your wees and poos in the toilet one day and there has been no looking back. You're swimming underwater, kicking with a kick board, and have just started to master the sinking required to retrieve things off the bottom of the pool. (Interestingly, despite your amazing water proficiency, you will not venture into the ocean and fight with us every time we try to rinse the shampoo out of your hair.)

You love to ride your bicycle and scare us to death with your 'tricks' like standing on the seat or putting your feet on the handlebars or riding with no hands! And you show no fear as you ride your scooter down the driveway with your brother (which I'm pretty sure will land one of you in the ER one of these days!)

Yep, you sure have done a lot of growing up this year, and you are definitely a little boy with a mind of his own now. But do you know that the two things that I love the very most about you haven't changed since you were a little baby? You still have the most endearing and contagious chuckle of anyone I've ever met. And you are still the cuddliest, snuggliest little guy I ever did know. I love our goodnight cuddles, eskimo nose rubs and your super sweet kisses on my cheeks.