Let's give it a try; we had a Canadian weekend, so the least I can do to thank all our new Canadian friends, is to write a blog in English, even though it will take me two days instead of twenty minutes. It will be Canadian English, so please read 'aboot' whenever you see 'about', 'no' when you see 'that's okay', and so on. Just so you know: that's how English works in Canada. And Laura, if you read this, please forgive me my 'pii', if there is any. And feel free to tell me so, cause after all you're a great teacher. Your mum told me you started at the age of four. Teaching your kindergarten-teacher about counting. '...thirty-eight, thirty-nine..' 'How far can you count?' 'I'm sorry, but have you heard of infinity?'
Norah had a hard time adjusting to the small family we are after her grandparents left. But she managed, and seeing Pake and Beppe at Skype is as normal as changing a diaper again.
Norah started out with her Terrible Two's by adding the letter B to the A and E she was all ready reading. She sings ABC up to the J now, after that she just throws out sounds. Sometimes it's like the song, most of the time it's just funny. We're switching to English songs more and more. It's probably because that's what she sings in daycare, and as long as we refuse to play children's music at home (she has to live with Muse, John Mayer and Tracey Thorn mostly) it will stay this way, I guess. She does still speak a lot of Dutch. And we mix up Dutch and English in one sentence more often than she does it.
Reep Verkade op. Zei ik dat we ook drop hadden gekocht? Inge, beheers je.
I've been recovering from the procedure I had two weeks ago, and I'm feeling okay. It's been hard for us to loose the baby I was expecting, but Will has been great and so were a lot of people down here and across the ocean. Right now we're doing fine. Enjoying Canadian fall, and getting ready for winter. All the Canadians around us are quite relaxed, but we're like the squirrels in the parks; running around, buying warm clothes, finding things to do for the long cold months we'll spent inside the house.. it probably won't work out that way. There's too much fun stuff going on outside, and there is a big underground-city waiting for us to explore. It's not cold at all down there.
Norah had two birthday parties last week to make up for the few people we had over on her actual birthday (I was in the hospital then). First our fantastic babysitter came over, with some other Dutch collegues of Will. We had Dufferin pie, kind of the 'Koekela' of Toronto. Really good stuff. Two days later, some playgroundmums came over and Norah had a great time with Josh, William and Quinn. She was spoiled with the most beautiful presents all week long. Books, a physician set, stickers and pencils, puzzles, thomas train stuff and the greatest Halloween hat ever. She also got a loon, making the real loony sound. We use it a lot, and it's like living in Muskoka at Elm St, downtown Toronto. You should come and check! Don't pay attention to the noises you hear from outside please. Bob the builder, and the usual traffic, got company last week. A bunch of employees of the Delta Chelsea aren't happy about (aboot) their salary, so they decided to go outside, shout around and hit drums, pots and pans all day long, and call it a strike. I don't know if you know what happens to sound when you stand in front of a tower, but it definitely gets worse, the higher it goes. Norah hardly took a nap for a few days, and I guess the babies higher up in our tower didn't sleep at all. Anyway, I love the sound of loons.
We celebrated Halloween at daycare, in Guelph with the Osbornes, and finally we planned a 'trick or treat' at Josh's grantparents (Toronto, High park).
At the Ryerson Early Learning Center we enjoyed breakfast together with all the kids and parents in daycare, preschool and kindergarten. Norah was a strawberry, I was a flower, and we ran around in a room full of monsters, princesses, butterflies and superhero's. In Guelph, we were invited to enjoy a late Thanksgiving diner with Laura's family (on Ann's side). In Halloween costume, so Norah wore her strawberry suit again, and I was a Star Trek Girl, while Will dressed up as Einstein (or any nerdy prof). We had the most wonderful time, making new friends and enjoying good food and delicious home made wine (Hall is a long time expert on the subject). Norah felt at ease, even though she just met 20 new people. Looking at the pictures, it was probably mostly because Dan and Laura were around. She had a great time playing with everyone, but the puppies, Dan and Laura were her favorites. On Sunday, we went home again and after a short nap, we took Norah to Josh. In the streetcar, on our way to high park, Norah snapped and she didn't stop crying (very, very loud, scared and tired) until we walked through the door of our own apartment, 45 minutes later. It was her way of saying 'that's okay' (nooh!!!), I guess. 'Cause inside the house, she immediately stopped and started playing.
We were very sorry to cancel the greatest adventure of the weekend: a real Halloween trick or treat. We'd looked forward to walking trough the neighborhood where Sarah grew up, looking at ghosts and skeletons and pumpkins lighting up in the dark. And of course, collecting a ridiculous amount of candies for our daughter. But it was just to much on her. We put her to bed at 6.30-ish, after playing for an hour and eating a good Dutch meal of potatoes and cauliflower, and yogurt for desert.
So much for Halloween. We had a great time, after all! A lot of pictures of our adventures down below. I'll grab a camera soon, myself, 'cause Will doesn't show on any picture. Photographers...
En dan nu: heksenhiel. Met koffie. Geen combinatie, maar je blijft er wel wakker bij. Zo meteen in het zonnetje naar de speeltuin, dan lopen we het er weer af.
WANDELING DOOR KENSINGTON
NOG EEN KEER JARIG
THANKSGIVING/HALLOWEEN IN GUELPH
I loved this entry! I love the pictures of Noor and Siegfried and Mr. Bear!
ReplyDeleteHugs to all,
Laura