Last few weeks - Grandpa & the Fair

So, this will be the last post before the Great Northern Migration. The movers come this week and by Friday, we will be living in the Toronto suburb of Oakville. Oakville is a nice suburb very similar to where we live now with a vibrant downtown right on the lake.

As for the family, everyone is well. Shelley is doing great, but she is adjusting to being home with the girls full-time. I think there will be lots of activities, and a gym with child care, when we get to Canada. Finley continues to be both very opinionated and very able to articulate those opinions. She's fully in the terrible twos, but will say the funniest things. You'll see a couple of videos of her below and with all kids, she is quite good at repeating (or singing) things she hears.

Harper is getting very big and all four of her front teeth have broken through. The top two just dropped in this past week, while the bottom two have been through for a couple of weeks. She is "talking" up a storm and is about to crawl any day now. In the coming weeks, I'll post some comparison pictures of the two girls at the same age, as it seem they look a great deal alike, save their coloring.

Here goes with the posting - as always click on the picture to enlarge:

We took Finley and Harper to the Lake County Fair last night. Finley had a great time on the rides, which you'll hear about below, but this was her favorite ride. She really enjoyed driving the purple car, and only the purple car.

You can see her turning the wheel and really focusing on her driving. Lately, when we are in the car, she'll yell at us for not having both hands on the wheel. Tonight, when I told her I did (they were on the bottom), she said they weren't on the right part of the wheel. She's so bossy, but if you've driven with her mother, you'll understand where she gets it!

Looking both ways before making a left turn.

In addition to the car, she got on these bumble bees, which went about 15 feet in the air. She had to sit on my lap and kept saying how high we were in the air.

Yep, back to the car. Only the purple car.

Again, pay attention to the focus. In addition to the rides, she really enjoyed her first corn dog, the corn on the cob (which she's had before), and the funnel cake (which she hadn't).

Monty is doing well, although the thunderstorms we've had lately have played havoc with her storm anxiety. She just shakes during the thunder and lightning, and lately she has taken to hiding under Finley's bed or in one of the closets. We hope that since our house in Canada will have fewer, smaller windows, perhaps the issues will be reduced.

Grandpa Steve came up for a visit this past week while I was in Anaheim. Grandpa and the girls went to Lambs Farm to see the animals and ride the little train around the park. Harper liked her first train ride, it seems.

Finely LOVES this tutu and will literally wear it everyday in a week. You are all (the 6 of you) going to be seeing this in the pictures ahead.

For example, Finely in said tutu with a goat. Shelley said Finley didn't want to leave the petting zoo she was having so much fun.

And a girl in a tutu brushing a lamb. She really is very affectionate with the dogs, esp. Dixie, who she'll walk up and hug up on all the time. Poor dog.

Speaking of dogs, Jack is feeling himself again. As you can see, his wound looks much, much better.

Harper has started eating the puffs and she loves them. They dissolve in her mouth and she just wants to shove them in her mouth. I can't deny paternity a trait like that.

As I mentioned, Finley loves her dogs and her Dixie especially. You will hear a bit below Finley showing her love in song.

Finley is a little sweaty Betty when she sleeps. No matter how hot, she likes to be under all of her covers. This rats nest doesn't represent an atypical morning when she wakes up.

The front view - she's still SO PRETTY.

So these videos below are from my new Blackberry, so there may be some formatting issues, as it appears the videos are very small. This one below requires an explanation. It is Finley singing each dog's "song." Shelley has a song she sings to each dog and Finley sings along with her. In the video below, she tackles her special arrangement of You are my Sunshine for Monty and a compilation of several Dixie's songs - Dixieland Delight, The Dixie Chicken, and If Heaven ain't a Lot Like Dixie. For those wondering, Jack's song is How Much is that Dog in the Window, mixed with Stomping in my Air Force Ones (long story).

Shelley took Finley on a little roller coaster at the Fair. With the video so small, you may not be able to see her, but they are on the back of the car.

This video is Finley describing the Fair last night. When we were trying to shoot the video, she insisted on getting RIGHT UP ON THE CAMERA, which is why she's so close.

Well, that's it for now, but I am sure I'll have some good pictures this week with the move coming. Wish us luck!

My Latest, All Too Infrequent, Post

I know that I'm a barely getting a post every two weeks, but that is that best I am able to do during the transition to Canada. I have a series of posts that I think I'll be able to put up over this week, including this one, as well as a bunch of pictures from a sitting Shelley took the girls to at Kiddie Kandids. We also just got a thumb drive with all of the pictures from the girls at daycare. Their last day was a week ago, so they gave us a bunch of pictures from the last year, or six months for Harper.

Overall, everyone is well. Shelley is transitioning to being with the girls full-time. So far, the transition is going well . . . she hasn't really even started to need to drink medicinally yet. Finley continues to talk up a storm with quite a good vocabulary. At the same time, given that she is fully immersed in her terrible twos, that only means she is better able to articulate all of the way she is unhappy or how she isn't getting what she wants - RIGHT NOW!!!

Harper continues to grow and grow. She's about 17 pounds and has her first two teeth on the bottom. Her top two look like they will break through at any moment. Harper continues to be very happy and she loves the mornings, as she gets the family up around 6:00 most days. She is constantly smiling a loves to be held, but is also very content to play by herself, esp. if she can get by without Finley seeing her play with any of her sister's toys. And at 2, Finley thinks they are ALL her toys.

The pictures below are from the last few weeks since the baptism. Most of the pictures are from Shelley being home with the girls, as I've been in Toronto most weekdays, but I did take a few. I apologize in advance for any typos you see in this post -- I am trying to get this up as quickly as possible, as the girls are out walking the dogs and Finley likes to read the blog, but doesn't have any time for me to actually update it!

Here is Finley holding her towel before she gets into the bath. She hates taking baths, until she gets in. Then, there is no getting her out until we drain the water. She has no desire to get into the real bathtub, so she still is in the baby/toddler tub on the kitchen counter.

Shelley said that with all of my travel, I should teach her how to use the riding lawnmower. Here she is during her inaugural ride and, well, she hasn't been on it since. She looks like a natural though, no?

Finley helping Shelley make my favorite childhood birthday treat - blue cake with blue frosting. In this case, they were blue cupcakes, but they were even better with Finley's help.

She is putting the finishing touches on -- the sprinkles.

Shelley's friend Kendell came and visited with her daughters. Here is Finley and Lauren, who is four, playing together on the sit and spin.

As I said, Harper is not only getting big, but this is her usual facial expression. She is very, very happy. Next up for her, a couple more teeth and crawling.

Straight out of the bath. Look at those chunky thighs. Not quite like her cousin Teddy's, but I don't think we really need a daughter with thighs like Teddy's.

Harper loves the water, too. She really enjoys being carried around the swimming pool, too.

Harper splashing.

I'll get more into why Jack is wearing a donut in a minute, but poor Shelley just is trying to sneak away to pump a bit and all of a sudden I look over and she has several helpers.

Finley does a pretty nice job of playing with her sister. Harper loves to watch her, so I hope this continues into the teenage years.

Sisters. . ..

So a couple of weeks ago, we had a growth removed from Jack's flank. It seemed like it had started growing recently, although we'd been monitoring it for about a year. Well, I'm glad we did, as it turned out to be malignant. However, it is a hard spot to keep clean and tight, as the skin is taunt there. This is the "after" picture after his 3rd procedure to help it heal. After the first surgery, he pulled his stitches and it was becoming infected, which required more surgery to remove the dying flesh.

Here you can see the wound, but also the tubing they put in to help it heal. Today, it looks much better, and is almost fully closed. It has been a hard three weeks for him, but it seems like he is in the home stretch. The vets also felt like they removed all of the tumor, so that makes us feel much better, too.

He did have an e-collar on, but he figured out that if he tried to go through the dog door hard enough, it would eventually come off. This inflatable donut is hooked through his collar, so no such luck. He doesn't really like it, of course, and he looks like one of those people on an airplane with a neck pillow.

Harper really likes to wave now, as you can see.

Finley still loves to play with her dolls, named Harper, Amy, and Lucy (after a girl at school).

Daddy and his girls.

Since Harper is teething, she chews on everything and anything.

So, Finley loves to mimic what Momma does, which in this case, is nursing Cousin Baby Amy. Yep, not really sure what to make of this one.

We've always said Dixie is the most mellow of the dogs. The other two would have immediately run when Finley approached with the sunglasses in her hand. But not Dixie. The regret is written across her face, though.

Grandma Susie came to visit the week after the baptism. She was a huge help, as I was out of town that whole week. They just enjoying the fresh air on the deck.

Finley still loves her books and she will get anyone to read to her for as long as they can stand it. The same books over. . . and over . . and over again.

That's all for now, but I do have the other pictures that I PROMISE I will get posted sometime over the next week. Enjoy and I appreciate your patience. Once we get moved, I hope to get back to a weekly routine.

Kiddie Kandids Pictures

Shelley took the girls for their regular photo sessions. They will either become models, though given their destined height, not likely, or blind from the perpetual flash. Here is the full CD of pictures that were taken. Enjoy.

That's all for now, but we'll try to get some more up this week.