Last week I brought both kids to Messiah practice, but we only stayed until the break because Matthew was restless and I thought best not to push my luck. After all, at that point people still thought I had well-behaved children! Matthew "sang" along to quite a number of the choruses.

Elizabeth was keen to come back, so Matthew went fish light shopping with Daddy while we sang. Elizabeth's favourite part is still the warm up, but she also greatly enjoyed the "Sheep song" and "Hosanna" (aka All we like sheep and Halleluia) which she was sure to sing loudly in my ear. (The lady next to me was a first time participant and not too sure of her notes, so she asked people repeatedly to sing loudly in her ear. Hopefully she couldn't hear Elizabeth's version, which had a few misplaced sheep since she doesn't quite know the whole thing yet...)

- Come Sing Messiah (0.381791)
- Smiley Face Pancakes (0.366412)
- Piano Recital (0.363095)
- Triathlon (0.359238)
- Field trip to Agriculture museum (0.358187) All

The best part about having cousins nearby is being able to play together often. Said playing can be rather boisterous and loud, so it's even better when we have enough energy to take them somewhere other than home!

- Xander's birthday (0.276316)
- Joey and kids (0.264463)
- Housey (0.255952)
- Hashi (0.254658)
- Best Friends (0.253247) All

At 21 months we started the process of night weaning. Matthew is unimpressed.

He's getting new words every day, but many of them sound the same - even to Mommy and Daddy. Elizabeth often claims to understand what he's trying to say. Suspiciously this often coincides with what she'd like him to do. He doesn't mimic words the way Elizabeth did, but once he's decided he's using a particular sound for a particular meaning, he gets annoyed if we don't quite catch on.

On the plus side he's started to negotiate. This makes giving daily iron much easier as we can trade chocolate for cooperation. This might have been as of 20 months, a post that is conspicuously missing. Mommy has been too exhausted to blog recently - sorry kid, we really did intend to write a monthly post about your growth and development until you were two but the dreaded second child syndrome is stronger than the best of intentions. There are extenuating circumstances, not least that you spend many of your waking moments trying to demolish the house, launching yourself down the stairs or generally leaving a trail of destruction behind you. Elizabeth can always tell when you've been in her room, no matter how well Daddy thinks he's tidied up afterwards. But we all adore you nonetheless.

- Skating (0.394495)
- Virtual Piano Recital (0.392817)
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Know what's a bit jarring? My friends' kids are all growing up much faster than ought to be allowed...

We appreciated this visit very much because we don't often get a chance to see Kaitlyn or her Daddy.

- Beach (0.256338)
- Le Patinoire (0.252174)
- Angie (0.252011)
- Still Tulips (0.244957)
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Hardly enough to cover the leaves, but Elizabeth is already dreaming of snowmen, forts and tobogganing.

"Is the canal be open?" she asked eagerly.

- Thanksgiving (0.286364)
- Cricket wrangling (0.262443)
- Spring! (0.25)
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