Gender Differences
Esther is now 9+ months old. She is crawling and walking around furniture, standing unassisted and has occasionally taken a step on her own. She has 4 teeth, weighs 19 1/2lbs, likes to eat everything we're eating but also likes to spit food and water from her mouth.
She is beginning to use her voice and her signs more and is really enjoying books, especially about animals. She has followed her older brother's development (other than his exceptional weight gain and her hair lightening) almost exactly.
However, there are a few exceptions...
She LOVES babies. I mean goes crazy over them. There could 20 toys between her and her prey (the infant) and she will push them aside with a vengence to get to that baby. She also loves dolls. We didn't have any (only stuffed animals) because Simeon wasn't into them at all. Thankfully a client I was visiting was intrigued by Esther's enthusiasm over one of their dolls and gave it to her.
She adores her 'baby'. Her affection consists of kissing, licking, talking to, dragging around by the hair, slapping on the face, dropping on the floor, banging the head numerous times on the floor...okay, so we're still working on the gentle thing!
It sounds mean, but she really is showing love with all these things.
Another thing she has taken to doing lately is putting clothing (or dishtowels, or anything cotton for that matter) on her head to look 'pretty'. She's constantly trying to 'dress' herself.
At this age, Simeon's favortie game was for me to build a tower while he recklessly knocked it over. His motto for everything seemed to be 'Destroy and Conquer!"
I guess I wasn't expecting my kids to play so differently at such an early eage. So much for the gender nurturing thing. Mine seem to come by it naturally! Or maybe Esther just wears too much pink! :)
Toddler Philosophy
Yesterday Simeon, Esther and I were playing on my bed. At one point Sim puts his arm around us and whispers what I thought was 'I love you'. So I replied, "We love you too Simeon!" He then sat down and said with much enthusiasm, "I just love you guys SO much!" My heart melted. I don't think he's ever said "I love you" spontaneously before. And he said it with true emotion behind it.
Then my bubble burst as he paused and said, "Well, I do not love Mama and BSter (otherwise known as Baby Esther), I just love Dada." I smiled and told him that of course he loves Daddy but he can also love Mommy and Esther. His response: "No, I cannot love Mommy and BSter, I can only love Daddy. I cannot love you both all together at the same time."
I guess I should be happy that he is using complex thinking skills, but I will need to help retrain his philosophy on love! :)
Fun Fun Fun!
Well, although things have been crazy with all the house stuff, we are managing to do a few fun things while summer lasts! Simeon and I made a cake and a card and decorated a bit for Deyan's 28th birthday on August 11th!
Unfortunately, we only had 25 candles! :)
We took in 2 Folklarama shows. For you non-'peggers, Folklarama is a very fun annual festival of cultures. There are over 40 pavilions set up all over the city over the course of 2 weeks, each representing a different culture/place. They serve authentic food and present some form of entertainment relative to them. In the past years we have attended the Spanish and Japanese pavilions. We usually go for Deyan's birthday since it always falls during the festival! This year was no exception. We went to Cuba for this special occasion. We had to stand in line for over an hour, but it was well worth it! The food was delicious and the latin dancing was very fun and energetic! They told a 'story' with their music and dance that was very comical and made fun (in a good way) of their own chaotic culture. I wondered how the kids would do, being up so late (since we missed the first show) but they loved it! Simeon is quite the little dancer! :) This week we did Brazil. The food was ok, but the show was great! Lots of rhythm and crazy flips! They were doing something called Capoeira which is a combination of dance, music, acrobatics and martial arts created centuries ago by the slaves and natives. Very cool! Once again, we stood in a long line and didn't even get a seat inside, but the kids did great! Everyone commented on what musical children we have, especially watching Simeon's moves! :)
Since we parked so far away, Deyan and Simeon took the 'new and improved' exhibition scooter!
This week I also took the kids to Peak of the Market's family fun day. Everything was free (with a donation made to Cancer Care) and we had a blast! A friend came along with her kids and parents too. It was nice to get out of the house and enjoy some sunshine again!
A few of the highlights were: all we could eat corn on the cob and perogies and popcorn, sun bracelet, tour of the warehouse, and...
Ambulance tour with coloring book and stickers
Petting Zoo
Chicks and their parents
Chinchilla - A lady was walking around with this little creature on her purple fuzzy hat. Simeon asked her if he could have it on his hat!
Bunnies!
This calf looks so big next to my babies!
Inflatable bouncers - so fun!
This slide was quite a climb and quite a rush! Good thing my kids love adventure! (By the way, it is so fast that all our pictures are of us at the bottom!)
I think Simeon's highlight was his first pony ride! Can his smile get any bigger! He is growing up so fast!
Done - Finally!!!
Thank you Jesus - everything has gone through! Woohoo! Now comes the fun stuff - picking out appliances and furniture and stuff...and the not so fun stuff - packing and cleaning and unpacking.
Rochelle - congrats on your house! As for the number 8, (which generally means new beginnings) here are a few more little tidbits: We bought the house at the beginning of August (8th month) when Esther was still 8 months old. We also take possession on September 1st, which happens to be our 5th wedding anniversary! God is good.
Thanks for your prayers and support guys! I may be calling on some of you Winnipeger's to help me out in the next few weeks! :)
Waiting Sucks!
So, here's the scoop on the house. Everything is moving along, quite smooth actually. We have been approved for the grant which was one of the hassles we were worried would take along time. Now we are just waiting for mortgage approval. We have a mortgage broker who's been excellent at getting things done as quickly as he has control over. The lendor has approved us, but we are still waiting on final word from the mortgage insurance people. It would seem that they have approved us, but they wanted to do an appraisal on the house before confirming anything. This, unfortunately, has been a long and drawn-out process. I really believe everything is going to fall into place - hopefully by tomorrow - but the uncertainty is agonizing!
In the meantime, I've slowly begun to get organized and start packing. I've even had a friend offer to come by weekly to help me while my kids are at the babysitter's! Anyways, I'll try to update as soon as we get the final word!
Water Babies
Simeon and Isaac Esther, Molly and Bryce
(the newest Birth Roots babies)
Well, since I can't seem to get on the ball and start packing, I thought I'd post some more fun pictures. We've had a really hot sunny summer in Winnipeg so far and we've tried to make the most of it by spending alot of time near water! The beach, swimming pools of friends, the wading pool at our park, and even sprinklers! The kids are both little fish. Simeon can now swim just holding onto a noodle. Esther purposefully puts her face in the water for fun. I think we'll do some swimming lessons in the fall after we're all settled into our new place.
Esther is now 9+ months old. She is crawling and walking around furniture, standing unassisted and has occasionally taken a step on her own. She has 4 teeth, weighs 19 1/2lbs, likes to eat everything we're eating but also likes to spit food and water from her mouth. 
She is beginning to use her voice and her signs more and is really enjoying books, especially about animals. She has followed her older brother's development (other than his exceptional weight gain and her hair lightening) almost exactly.
She adores her 'baby'. Her affection consists of kissing, licking, talking to, dragging around by the hair, slapping on the face, dropping on the floor, banging the head numerous times on the floor...okay, so we're still working on the gentle thing! 
It sounds mean, but she really is showing love with all these things.
