---

Today Hadley and I joined Beth, Clara, Adelaide, Christine, Hannah, Luke, Annie, Norah and Conner for a playdate at Beth's house before heading to Nebs in Oshawa where the kids enjoyed 5 frames of bowling.   (They were allowed up to 2 full games but that is all we had time for as their bowling balls roll quite slowly down the lanes).  They all took turns very well and clapped and cheered for one another.  They also enjoyed a few snacks at the table.  
Hadley had a small mishap and dropped a ball on her hand leaving a bit of a bruise but she still wanted to play so we iced it between turns and she said that helped.
We all signed up for kidsbowlfree.com and only had to pay for shoe rental.  $2.25 per kid.  Not bad for an afternoon of bowling.

- Leanne Verkley

---

37 wks LMP (35 wks gestation).
The baby weighs approximately 6.30 lbs or 2859 grams and is approximately 19.13 inches or 48.6 cm long.  This is the earliest date for full-term birth.
The baby settles in under my pelvis at this point. This process is called "lightening" which makes breathing a little easier for me but the baby's new position doesn't stop the kicking and punching.  This is all according to pregnancy.org but...

Today at our midwife appointment after an unusual reading of the baby's heart rate, we did a non stress test and an ultrasound just to check in on the baby.  After all that it was determined that the baby was fine and weighs in at approximately 7.9 pounds and is closer in size to a 38 and a half week baby instead of a 37 week baby.  Even with the 37 cm which was measured.
My blood pressure was it's usual low self coming in at 96 over 60.
I am supposed to count each day and make sure that I have 6 movements in 2 hours.
Weekly appointments start now.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Brian, Hadley and I went to visit Lindsay and Jamie and their new baby Henry!    He was born on the 28th of August and now at three days old we finally got to meet him.  
He is SO cute!  And little.
I am so excited for their new little family.  I could totally relate to delivery stories, sleep deprivation and being totally in love.
And now I start to think of the arrival of our second baby.  
Such an exciting time!  

- Leanne Verkley

---

I used to read all the time.  
Before I was a mom I read on the GO Train a lot on the way to and from work.  Usually the newspaper in the morning and a novel at night on the way home.
However, since taking on this new career, it has mostly been kids books, or snippets from an online article or the newspaper as I find the time.
It has taken me 3 years to finish Michael Crichton's - Travels.  It was a good book and included a section on Kilimanjaro which was truly fun to read.  However, I am super glad it was written in such a way that I could start and stop this book.

In the last month or so, I decided I would start another book.  I read Malcolm Gladwell's - The Tipping Point.  An interesting read on how things can change in our society.  I decided I would dare another book that I could pick up and put down.  However, this time I didn't need such a book.  I read the whole thing in under a month.  Sure there were days I didn't have time for reading but it still didn't take three years.  A huge achievement.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

I took Hadley out today for a little shopping adventure.  We had 4 stores to get to on this fine Saturday:  Walmart, Zellers, Shoppers Drugmart and Dollarama.  We got to them all and found everything I was looking for including leather ballet slippers and tights for Hadley's upcoming dance classes.  (The main thing we were looking for).  HOWEVER... I have been exhausted ever since.   Lots of baby movement today!  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley and I were joined by Hadley's Grandma Verkley and Aunt Julie.  We went to the Ontario Early Years Centre where they were hosting a tea party.
Hadley played with a pre-set-up tea party with teddy bears, served everyone gumdrops, and cookies and made crafts.
It was fun to enjoy this day together.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

36 wks LMP (34 wks gestation).
The baby weighs approximately 5.78 lbs or 2622 grams and is approximately 18.66 inches or 47.4 cm long.
The baby grows over 1/2 ounce of fat/day now. I shouldn't be surprised if I gain a pound a week at this point.
Breathing may become more difficult as the baby grows and gives my lungs less room to expand. I'll be able to breathe easier once the baby drops down before birth.
I am up going to the washroom once a night or so.  Rolling in bed is difficult.
I can feel the baby's feet and hands moving around now with great definition.

Tonight we registered Hadley for dance classes for the year.  It is called twinkle toes for 3 and 4 year olds at Dance Inc.  (Minutes from our house).
They had an open house tonight and Hadley loved watching the dancers.  She looked so cute trying on the little dance outfit.  Now I just need to get her tights and ballet slippers.
The class will consist of basic ballet and some acrobatics.  It is a half hour once a week running from September to June.
She loves to dance so I am hoping this is a good fit for her.  :)

  

- Leanne Verkley

---

This morning we had Hadley's annual hearing test done.  There were a few small tests done with her pointing to places on her body and repeating what she had heard.  As well there was a quick inner ear exam.  All is well.  

Then this afternoon we joined the Ontario Early Years Centre in Ajax for Hadley's first time bowling.
I showed her a few times how to stand on the little dots and how to put the ball on the floor and roll it and then she was like a pro with a score of 59 after 8 frames.  (With bumpers).  Instead of the 10 frames we were only able to bowl for one hour.  It was $3.  
Special note:  Hadley waited patiently when it wasn't her turn and helped to reset the pins if necessary with a manual button.  She loved having the roll of helping with the resets.
We were joined by Hannah and David and I think the girls had a lot of fun in their special bowling shoes in the glow in the dark atmosphere with fun music playing!
It was so much fun for me to show her this new activity.  :)  

- Leanne Verkley

---

The baby is 35 wks LMP (33 wks gestation)...  and I am 32 years old today.  
The baby weighs approximately 5.25 pounds or 2383 grams and is approximately 18.19 inches or 46.2 cm long.  The baby is almost completely formed now!
At the midwife appointment today the baby measured 35 cm.  Which is exactly what it should be measuring.
My blood pressure was 112 over 62 which is the highest it has been, but still low.  :)
Today our appointment was with Jay instead of Lisa or Jenny as they are both on vacation.  
I have started packing the baby bag.  Just a few more things to put in.  
They say fetal movement starts to slow a bit as the uterus begins to get full with the baby but this week movement has been crazy.  Perhaps hiccups or braxton hicks.  
5 weeks to go!
Remember go to http://www.expectnet.com/game.php to view or add your guesses.  verkley2 is the name of the game.  

Celebrations for my birthday included a relaxing pedicure which was much needed as my feet were in rough shape.  Brian watched Hadley while I enjoyed this!
Then we enjoyed lunch together before Patti treated me to Marble Slab ice-cream in the afternoon.
We had our midwife appointment before eating dinner at Sauter's Inn in Pickering which was entirely too much good German food.
After dinner we went to Dairy Queen even though we already had ice-cream earlier in the day as I had a coupon to use.  
Hadley and Brian sang Happy Birthday to me at home with a candle in our ice-cream and then after a few bites we put it in the freezer to enjoy later.  (Honestly dinner was a lot of food)!
I was overwhelmed with the facebook birthday wishes!  
Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Saturday was filled with pool party fun at our friends Andy and Joanne's house.  They just got a pool this summer and this was their official opening party with their friends.
Hadley and Brian had so much fun in the water.  I watched as Hadley held on to a pool noodle and floated for a few seconds on her own with Brian by her side.    She will be swimming on her own in no time I suspect.  
At almost 35 weeks pregnant, I decided not to swim this time.  However, this just means we will have to go back!  
Their pool and hot-tub were beautiful and we stayed late to enjoy the good food and company.  

Sunday we headed to Tom and Cathy's house to enjoy the annual Verkley picnic.
The day was filled with great conversation with the many that attended.
Some highlights were more visiting time with Lisa and Jeff, stories of Cecilia's trip to Papa New Guinea, golf cart fun, Cathy, Doreen and Brian's first time on the zip line, (which I hope to do next year), Hadley playing with Leahanne which resulted in her changing how she said Leanne.  It used to be LeaLan.  Now it is a clear Leanne.  
There was a wonderful chicken BBQ dinner, with great desserts.  I think Hadley ate far to much watermelon this weekend but she LOVES it.
It was another late night but so much fun.

Today will be a low key day I think.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

34 wks LMP (32 wks gestation)
The baby weighs approximately 4.73 pounds or 2146 grams and is approximately 17.72 inches or 45 cm long.
My antibodies to disease begin flowing rapidly to the baby through the placenta.  The baby begins to develop sleeping patterns now. I wish I knew how to influence this.  :)
Babies born prematurely on or after this date have a good chance of survival with most of their organs functional. This is good news!
The rapid flow of blood through the umbilical cord keeps it taut, preventing tangles.  This is also good news!

Hadley and I met up with Lindsay today.  It is fun to share this pregnancy with her, among my other pregnant friends.  :)

6 weeks to go!  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Tonight Hadley, Brian and I went to the Ajax Pickering Rouge Valley Hospital for a tour.  The hospital has undergone a number of changes so we wanted to familiarize ourselves with the layout.  
Most of the interior was the same but the entrance has moved from the front to the back.
It was fun to show Hadley the hospital where she was born.
For me it became a little more real that the baby is coming.  
I should really put together my hospital bag.    

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley asked me tonight if there were monsters in a picture she has in her room.  I said, no Hadley, there are no monsters in there.
She then said.  Okay, thanks mom.
That was much easier than how I thought it would go.

- Leanne Verkley

---

I am totally in nesting mode.  
The issue is that after doing the regular every day activities my body is too tired to do the stuff my mind wants to do.
Anyone know how to get a hold of the cleaning fairy?  She forgot to stop by my house this week.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley and I met up with Megan, Rob, Anne, Louis as well as some of Rob's extended family at the Toronto Zoo.  I was happy to tour them around and show them the animals.  Anne really enjoyed the tigers.  Louis reminded me what it was like to have a newborn around.  
The highlight for Hadley today was a rare treat of beavertails by the polar bears.  She said it was kind of like eating a donut.  :)
As well Hadley also thoroughly enjoyed a visit to Stingray Bay.  She LOVED touching the stingrays! One splashed her and she loved telling her dad about that later.  
It was so much fun to watch her engage in this activity.  
One thing to note: 6 hours at the zoo today proved to be a lot on my pregnant body.  The evening consisted of very low key activities.  (Reading, TV etc.).  
Still, a fun day!  Thanks Doig's!  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today we decided to take advantage of the free afternoon at the ROM that they offer every Wednesday from 3:00pm to 5:30pm.
Once we arrived we immediately got in line for The Warrior Emperor and Chinas Terracotta Army exhibit.  For an additional fee of $7 per adult and $3.50 per child we were looking forward to seeing this exhibit.  
While in line someone came up to us and gave us one free adult and one free child ticket.  LUCKY!
However, before we could buy one additional adult ticket the tickets were sold out.  
So we went to talk with the concierge to see what they could do.  Success, they sold us one additional adult ticket.  
When we went to get our tickets scanned to enter, they told us that two of the tickets had already been used.  
Bahh, so now we had one adult ticket to a sold out exhibit.  
So, Brian went in while Hadley and I went to explore the dinosaurs, the bat cave and the kids zone.
She loved the kids zone where she dug up dinosaur bones, tried on chain-mail coif, and played with a castle in the under 6 section, plus much more.
While we didn't spent much time at the ROM together, we did enjoy sharing stories later at Gabby's where we had dinner.
After dinner we spent some time walking around a nearby park, listening to a tuba player, and watching parkour jumpers practice.

  

- Leanne Verkley

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33 wks LMP (31 wks gestation).
7 weeks left!  
The baby weighs approximately 4.23 lbs or 1918 grams and is approximately 17.2 inches or 43.7 cm long.
Baby's fingernails are growing long.
A surfactant, which helps baby breathe after birth, coats the air sacks (alveoli) in the lungs.
The placenta, which feeds the baby and acts as a barrier between the baby and mom, continues to grow.
Ribcage kicks are good and strong!  
We still haven't confirmed a name so if you have any suggestions please pass them along for us to consider.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

It isn't very often that I get time alone.
Today Brian, Hadley and I went to Explore and Discover Greenwood conservation Area with the Ontario Early Years Centre.  It was good fun to make a bird seed craft with Hadley before Hadley and her dad went on a hike to hang it up for the birds.  A pine cone, lard and red river cereal.  
The hike was described as a bit of a feet so at almost 33 weeks pregnant, I stayed back in the shade and read my book.  The weather was PERFECT!  Cool shade, a nice cool breeze and warm weather with a beautiful view.
It was a half hour or so of just me and nature and my book.
Don't get me wrong, I love doing things with Brian and Hadley, but this was a nice treat.
They came back hot, sweaty and happy.  They had collected flowers, and other things that we put together on a sticky clear surface and then covered it with another piece of the same stuff to make bracelets!  VERY COOL.
Hadley even brought me special flowers just to show she was thinking of me on the hike.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

It has been fun to listen to all the guesses of what gender everyone thinks baby Verkley #2 will be.  
I thought it would be even more fun to share those guesses with everyone.  So, if you would like to add your guess, please visit the following website:

http://www.expectnet.com/game.php

The game name is verkley2 for anyone interested.

- Leanne Verkley

---

32 wks LMP (30 wks gestation).
The baby weighs approximately 3.75 lbs or 1702 grams and is approximately 16.19 inches or 42.4 cm long.  At today's midwife appointment the baby measured 32 cm at 32 weeks which is great.  I am up a total of 45 pounds.  That is approximately what I gained in total with Hadley and the weight only comes on faster from this stage onward.  (OH DEAR).  
Protein in my urine showed a little so we are going to do some tests for that.   Lisa our backup midwife didn't seem to be at all worried just a precautionary measure.
My blood pressure was 98 over 58.
The fetus may hiccup, cry, taste sweet and sour, and respond to pain, light, and sound.
The baby's brain and nerves are developing directing bodily functions.  The volume of amniotic fluid begins to diminish.  Baby's bones get stronger, limbs get fatter, and skin takes on a healthy glow.

Is it too early to nest?  I really just want a clean house in every way these days but my body isn't allowing me to do all that my mind's TO DO list has planned for it.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

On Thursday, Hadley and I headed to Listowel to help out with Lindsay's baby shower.  There were decorations to get up, food to prepare and games to play.  
We enjoyed showering Lindsay at Sarah's house before her baby is due to arrive in just 4 weeks.
Janie made an amazing cake shaped like a onsie.  Along with this there were some other fabulous foods to try while we enjoyed the company of the guests.
Lindsay was also grateful for the beautiful gifts she received.  :)

Friday we spent the day with Brian's mom.   We went for a walk to her small park but with it rained out with puddles everywhere we decided to drive to the big park which was drier. Hadley loved the time there.  I was a bit in shock when we drove by my great grandpa's house only to find it was torn down.  (My dad told me just a few days before but it was still a bit of a shock).  
We also went to check out the new Giant Tiger for some shopping and then we enjoyed some KFC for dinner.  

Saturday was my cousin Natasha's 30th surprise birthday party.  She was definitely surprised.  I am not sure how many people were actually there.  (Quite a few though).
My aunt Charlie arranged for Brad James to sing LIVE for us for a few hours.  He was quite good.  
The party was mostly outdoors except when it really rained.  At that point we enjoyed food and cake indoors.  Then the party went back outdoors for a campfire.
It was good to catch up with my mom too.

Sunday we continued to catch up with my dad (we slept at his house the entire time we were in Listowel but only saw him for short times each evening while we were there).  

Glad to be back home and back into routine.  It was a tiring couple of days but good fun!

- Leanne Verkley

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31 wks LMP (29 wks gestation)
My computer was broken but is now fixed so this update is a few days late.
The baby now weighs approximately 3.31 lbs or 1502 grams and is approximately 16.18 inches or 41.1 cm long.
The baby should typically be head-down - which I think mine is. We shall see what they see at the next midwife appointment.  
If I'm having a baby boy, his testicles have dropped from his abdomen, where they grew, into his scrotum.
The baby's taste buds develop. Yum, that soup was good, Mom!
More updates in a few days.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

This last week has been very busy.
First Hadley and I went for two days to visit Shaye at her new house in Muskoka!  It is so cute.  With lots of wilderness around her.  A perfect house for her.
She treated us to good food and conversation.  We also traveled to Gravenhurst when the rain stopped to enjoy some time by the water and at the park for Hadley.

Then a few days later Brian, Hadley and I drove to Point Farms on Lake Huron to join Phil, Doreen, Kiana, Aiden, Jeff, Teresa, Scott, Alex and Josh and their friend Brandon for a camping weekend.
We again enjoyed much conversation especially over the news of Phil and Doreen adopting again, and our baby coming in just a few short weeks.  
We don't normally camp with an air mattress but at 7 months pregnant this made it all possible.  
We saw a birds of prey show, and enjoyed one hike with the kids, as well as some time at the beach but mostly we spent time at the park, and enjoying time around the campfire.
Hadley loved Jeff and Teresa's dog Stella and played VERY well with Kiana and Aiden.
Teresa brought marshmallows that were so big that I don't think you would believe me if I told you how big they were. It was great to get out camping.
Good times!

- Leanne Verkley

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30 wks LMP (28 wks gestation).  10 WEEKS TO GO!
The baby weighs approximately 2.91 lbs or 1319 grams and is approximately 15.71 inches or 39.9 cm long.

Baby's body continues to grow quickly. The baby's brain is developing, with different sections taking shape.
Colostrum may begin to form. It is the predecessor of breast milk.
I am pretty sure I have Braxton-Hicks contractions most days but they say don't worry.

Back pain continues.

I have gained about 37 pounds.

The baby doesn't like it much when I sit upright in a chair... or lay down, or well, I am pretty much uncomfortable in most positions.  However, I don't seem to have much swelling so that is a plus!

Couvade often returns to men at this stage, bringing depression, fatigue, and weight gain. Increased communication helps, along with regular exercise.  

So that is the update for this week.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Well, I have never been to an auction before so today after checking out the Rands Road Garage Sales (found nothing), we headed to Kahn's Auction Barn to check out what it was all about.  
The viewing started at noon and the bidding started at 1pm.  We got a number just in case but this was more of a learning experience than a buying experience for us.
In the big orange barn just north of Pickering we sat in our chairs as we saw a few things go for amazing prices.  Other things, well, you have to know what things are worth.  
Still it was fun to see what it was all about.  I think I would go back when I really was looking to buy furniture as most of it was show room stuff from builders houses or antiques.  Quite nice!  
Hadley got free snacks and drinks from the auction assistant and she loved that!  
We drove through the country roads on our way back to Ajax which was also quite nice.  :)

Tonight after dinner Hadley actually swam in her little pool rather than just play with the water in the pool.  It was a great temperature!  It was fun to see her truly enjoy the water, twisting and turning, splashing, and just getting everything wet.  She loved it!

A nice Saturday.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today turned out to be a very busy day.
It started with Focus on Preschoolers at the OEYC for 9am.  Hadley wasn't quite ready to do crafts at that time but we went and she made an effort until the toys were brought out and then she just wanted to play.  

At 11 am we met up with Patti and Alicia at Rotary for some splash-pad fun.  I think we were there for almost three hours!  Including a picnic lunch and a few swings at the park.

The afternoon was enjoyed with popsicles in the backyard and a soccer game on TV.  Spain won and is moving on in the world cup.

After dinner we had an early bath and then met up with Krista, Simon, Trinity and Alexa, as well as Patti, Andy and Alicia for some fun just outside the library.  A free summer program called kids in the square provided live entertainment that the kids loved.  
It was 2007's Canadian Children's Group of the Year. Described as the "Canadian Wiggles" and the "U2 of children's music", Splash n' Boots.
It was a hot night but lots of fun.  

What a busy day.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

29 wks LMP (27 wks gestation).  I am now officially in my Third Trimester!  Approximately 11 weeks to go!
The baby weighs approximately 2.54 lbs or 1153 grams and is 15.2 inches or 38.6 cm long.
The skin is less wrinkled now.  
The baby can make grasping motions, and may like to suck its thumb.
For me, I am mostly finding that I move much slower in the evening and I still have some back pain.  
We are in the home stretch now though being in the last trimester!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today was just a Tuesday in the summer but we enjoyed the morning in the air conditioned AMC theatre in Whitby for their $1 movie day.  
We saw Madagascar.  Hadley LOVED it.  
She has been singing the song "I like to move it move it" all day long.  So cute.

The afternoon was spent at the McLean Centre Park with Chris from the OEYC at a program called books on the run.  He read books to the kids while we sat on a tarp in the shade.  The books were all about bugs and then we did a craft making our own butterflies.  Hadley drew on coffee filters with markers and then sprayed them with water bottles to make the colours run.  Then after they dried in the sun we added pipe cleaners.  

We came home to watch the Netherlands win and move on in the World Cup to the finals.  Go Orange Go!
Hadley always cheers against whomever we are cheering for.  Sometimes it is the other team, sometimes it is the refs.  Today is was Uruguay or blue as she called them.

Then tonight it was just one of those nights where I hadn't done the grocery shopping yet and McDonalds was calling our names so to celebrate the win, we headed there to enjoy the goodness that is McDonalds and some play time in the play place for Hadley.  Then grocery shopping as a family.  :)

Tonight it was finally time...
The air conditioning was turned on. I don't need it to be particularly cold or anything but just to take off the edge of the humidity we put it on to about 25 Celsius.   Ahhhh, refreshing.  :)

Hmmm, do we have any lemonade?  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday we had our last monthly midwife appointment.  From here on in they will be every two weeks.
The baby measured 28 cm at 28 weeks which is great and what we should expect.
My blood pressure was 80 over 50 which is low but nothing to worry about since I don't feel faint.  I just need to be aware of it and try to drink more water.
Hadley, Brian and I all look forward to hearing the baby's heart beat every time we go and it was nice and strong.
This week we were given some paperwork to fill out for our next visit.  Some medical info, and birthing plans and such.  
All seems well.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Canada Day was busy.
We started the day celebrating Chaylee's daughter Blair's first birthday.
From 10-1 pm we enjoyed some time outside, a BBQ lunch and cake.  I can't believe she will be one on the 16th!  Wow, the year went fast!

The afternoon consisted of a walk around Rotary Park to enjoy all the activities the town put on.  There was live Entertainment - all day long, Inflatable rides - Hadley loves jumping on them!
We saw the Petting Zoo and the giant inflatable beaver as seen during the closing ceremonies at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Wes, Julie and our family came home to enjoy a roast beef dinner with cheesecake for dessert.  mmmmm.

The Legault family met up at our house before heading to the fireworks.
The kids played for a bit and then we went to Iroquois park in Whitby and met up with Beth and Chaylee and their families to play ball, and frisbee before enjoying the fireworks.
Hadley loves fireworks.  She kept saying KABOOM!
Such a fun day in our own community!  Happy Canada Day!

- Leanne Verkley

---

28 wks LMP (26 wks gestation).
The baby weighs approximately 2.22 lbs or 1005 grams and is 14.8 inches or 37.6 cm long.
The baby has assumed the "fetal position," with its legs tucked up to its chest.
It's common to be tested for gestational diabetes about this time but I haven't had any real signs of this so we have opted out at this point.  We also opted out with Hadley.  
I might feel Braxton-Hicks contractions at this time. The uterus hardens for a moment then returns to normal.  Hmmm, maybe that is what I have been feeling???
The baby's eyes open and the eyes are able to sense light changes in the womb.  Interesting but I don't quite understand how there would be light changes in there.  
Hormonal changes may cause grouchiness to come back.
Congestion might set in as hormones continue to change. I should avoid heavy, fatty foods, they are harder to digest.
I feel a lot of kicking or punching these days but I love it.  

Today I visited my friend Christine and her new baby Luke.  He was born June 19th.  He is so little.  She looks great, but she reminded me of how much work a newborn is but how worth it it all is.  :)  Hannah is doing well being a big sister.  

Hadley loved seeing the baby and talking about our baby too.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

Last night Julie (Brian's sister) arrived at our house late, just as we were coming home from my sister's birthday party.  
She spent the night so that she could enjoy the Netherlands game today with us at 10am.  
After the dutch win, we had lunch and then headed to Rotary Park to fly a kite with Hadley.  She saw someone on one of her cartoons fly a kite and has been asking to try this ever since.  So, today was the day.
While Brian and Julie made a great effort to put it in the air and hand it off to Hadley, that just wasn't happening.
So instead, it went more like this:
Hold kite up high, give Hadley the rope, turn her around so she wasn't looking at the kite and tell her to run.  Then, seconds later, tell her to stop because the kite came crashing down.
There were a few moments where the kite was actually in the air, but I think we will have to buy a new kite that only has one set of strings to maneuver instead of two.  Plus maybe a windier day.  
Still good fun.
After a while it was time to play with her ball, and then head home.
We enjoyed frosters / freezies afterwards.
After dinner, Julie generously offered to babysit while Brian and I went to go see Toy Story 3D.  Very cool.  I did notice that I was wearing the glasses through the whole movie but it was cool.  Thanks Julie!  
What a nice day!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday we travelled to Listowel and had a short visit with my dad, my grandma Louch, and Papa Jack.
Then we were off to my mom's house to celebrate my sisters birthday.
We had a nice dinner, and then yummy cake.
Hadley and Jayden played really well together.  Hadley loved seeing Joe and Mandy, and my mom and Pat as well.
It was a nice visit all around.
Happy Birthday Mandy!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to have one of my girlfriends treat me to a free pedicure.  She got a spa gift certificate from her husband for mother's day but didn't want to go alone.  So... she invited to treat me.
It was a lovely treat!
So, I decided that since she was so generous, I would treat her to Marble Slab.  It is a new ice-cream place in Ajax.  
High end creamy ice-cream that you can add in toppings and they mix it together on a marble slab.  YUM.
What a nice girls night.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today we met up with our usual gang at Lynde Shores for a hike and Hadley happily handed out the little bags of bird seed that we prepared for each of her friends.
They were all SO happy to have their own little bags of food to feed the birds with but they LOVED that the chipmunks would eat right out of their hands.    
It was clear that these animals have been fed a million times before and they were not at all afraid of the kids.
So we walked along the cleared pathway and saw blue jays, squirrels, chipmunks a few birds I didn't know the name of and two raccoons.  The kids put birdseed everywhere.  On the ground, on tree trunks, in bird feeders.  They loved it.
The raccoons presented a real learning opportunity as I tried to explain that we shouldn't feed them as they are nocturnal and we shouldn't encourage them to be awake during the day.  She seemed to understand and moved on to the other animals.  
I got a great picture of Hadley feeding the chipmunk literally right out of her hand.  :)  
Later Hadley randomly came up to me and said:  "Mommy, watch".  So, I did and she started to blow out.  At first I wasn't sure what she was doing until there was a slight whistle sound.
A few times today, including while in bed tonight we heard her practice her whistling.  We didn't start this but we will continue to practice with her until she gets it.  
It is so exciting when she actually makes a sound.  :)
Later we were visited by her Grandpa Verkley.  She loved sharing her photos of the day, her toys and her whistling attempts.  
What a nice day.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

27 wks LMP (25 wks gestation)
The baby weighs approx. 1.93 lbs or 875 grams and is 14.41 inches or 36.6 cm long.
The baby's hearing continues to develop.  The baby can hear the outside world over the sound of my heartbeat. "Hi baby"!

Babies born prematurely at this point can survive. There might be some issues, but they can pull through.  Good to know.  

I have to try not to lay on my back or stomach from this point forward. It cuts off circulation to the baby.  The stomach, no problem.  The back... I sometimes wake up on my back.  However my friend Beth loaned me her pregnancy pillow and it definitely helped last night.  http://www.babyearth.com/images/images_big/10-0446-01.jpg

- Leanne Verkley

---

After meeting with my midwife the last time she suggested that a massage or chiropractic visit might be good for my sore back.
I thought massage sounded less invasive since I have never had either so I looked into my options.
With no benefits at the moment I took the advice of my midwife to check out MEDIX School.  These are students who are learning but need patients to practice on.  Their supervisor comes in once during the massage to make sure everything is okay or to answer questions from either me or the student.  The best part is that it is $30 for an hour instead of $60 -$80.
However, the EVEN BETTER part is that my appointment last week was cancelled due to the masseuse calling in sick... SO... I got a free massage for the inconvenience. It was one hour of pure bliss tonight.  
They have locations in Kitchener, Brantford, Toronto, Scarborough and Brampton.  
www.medixschool.ca is their website for anyone interested.    
They were very professional in the Scarborough location.  :) 2130 Lawrence Avenue East, Scarborough.  416-701-1201.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today was a very full day.
First thing in the morning Hadley presented Brian with a card that she made.  She was proud of it and Brian loved getting this hand made gift in bed.
Hadley woke Brian by saying: "daddy, daddy, it's daddy's day"!  

By 10am, we were ready and on our way to Rotary Park for a pancake breakfast in the park.  It was busy, but we managed to find a table and enjoy breakfast by the lake.  Such a nice day for this.  
There was also a waterfront festival for Ajax Home Week today, so we spent some time viewing the vendors goods, and watching Hadley on the jumping castles.  (SHE LOVED THIS).
Lunch was a picnic lunch in our backyard before heading out to the zoo for a few hours.  
We spent some time at the splash pad, then took the zoomobile around the zoo.  
Some time in here is when Hadley really understood that Father's day was the same as daddy's day.  :)
This was followed by Brian's choice of dinner out at McDonald's and some playtime for Hadley in the play place.
In the evening we walked down to Rotary Park again to watch the Ajax Home Week 40th Anniversary Fireworks.  Hadley was dancing to the music and saying "ka boom" to all the loud fireworks.  She also kept saying "more"!  So cute!  
What a great day!
Happy Father's Day Brian!

- Leanne Verkley

---

This morning while Hadley and Brian were watching the Netherlands play football (soccer), I went to Grandview to participate in a parent seminar.
From 9am -1pm we talked about games, strategies, and ways to help our children move forward with their speech at the correct stages.
What I confirmed was that Hadley is exactly where she should be.
However, I did get some strategies for a few sounds that she should have before she turns four.
All in all, worthwhile.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today I took Hadley to Melonhead Children's Haircare in Whitby.  http://www.melonhead.ca/
They have a great selection of chairs to sit in.  Hadley chose an orange airplane.
Then with her attention on the television, they cut off about an inch and a half and added some layers.  
After she wanted to try out the pink car chair so with only one other child in the place she was allowed.  
Then she got to choose a lollipop from a bucket.  She chose yellow.    
She did great!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Well it has happened.  Hadley got her first bee sting yesterday at the zoo.
After a busy day of riding the new carousel on her choice of the dolphin (which was free for today only - going forward will be $5 per person), rolling down the hill by the flamingos, and seeing animals, we were on our way to see the polar bears when Hadley started to cry and point to her underarm.
It was clear that she had a sting.
I took her to the Caribou Cafe (the closest restaurant) and had a closer look.  I then talked with some zoo staff to see if there was staff at the nursing station as I would make the trek for her.  They confirmed there was and seconds later a man from another table who overheard our conversation walked over, opened his wallet and showed me that he was an ambulance attendant.  
He had a look at Hadley's sting, confirmed that the stinger was out, and told me to ice it, and watch for swelling and make sure she talks and plays normally throughout the day.  If I noticed anything unusual I should have it checked out later but otherwise she should be okay.
After getting ice in a cup from the restaurant, I went outside to put some in a serviette for Hadley, and seconds later this same man came over with a clean plastic bag for our ice.  
Hadley let me hold the ice on for a few minutes and then she wanted a break from the ice.  
She began to play normally and there seems to be no further affects.  
I was also reminded to watch the next time she is stung as that is usually the true test for an allergy.  
What a blessing to have this man help out.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today was the last MOPS for the season.
Hadley went into her classroom easily and was excited because there was supposed to be a surprise today.  (I didn't know what it was).  
The MOPS group room was filled with lots of yummy treats, free lipstick for everyone and many gifts to be won.  I won two books, and a candle.
We chatted for about an hour and a half, and then the kids came in with their surprise. They sang for us.  It was Hadley's first concert.  SO CUTE.  While she just sat there with the group looking like she didn't know the words it was still cute, but after when we got home, all she did all day was sing the song.  :)  "My God is so big so strong and so mighty..."

- Leanne Verkley

---

This week was the first week of the AMC Summer Camp.
Every Tuesday throughout the summer the Whitby AMC is showing old kids movies for $1.  With kids under age four being free.
So for $6.52 Brian, Hadley and I went out to the movies.  $4.52 of this was for popcorn, a drink and licorice.  (The kids size).
This week was Shrek 3.  Hadley sat through the whole movie and loves the character Donkey!
I am excited for this cheap option for the summer.

- Leanne Verkley

---

26 wks LMP (24 wks gestation)
The baby weighs approx. 1.68 lbs or 760 grams and is 14.02 inches or 35.6 cm long.

Hadley loves to give the baby kisses now.  
This morning Hadley woke up and told me that we needed to buy the baby a soother.  Yesterday we were in the car and she was explaining that the baby could sit behind the drivers seat beside her.  So cute.  

If the baby doesn't move 10 times within a 5-hour period (during a regularly active time) I should be alarmed.  While I haven't counted, I can look down at any moment and within a few minutes I feel or see the baby move so I think all is good.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Brian and I were married 6 years ago today.  It has been a beautiful adventure.  
We celebrated today with waffles and pancakes for breakfast.  (Hadley and I made them in princess crowns).
Then we enjoyed a matinee at the AMC in Whitby.  We saw the new Shrek movie.  Hadley is so cute with the popcorn as it is still almost as big as she is.  
Then we went to a car dealership to test drive some vehicles.  We will need to buy something in the next few months and decided to take the time between the movie and dinner for some investigations.  
Dinner was at Mongolian Grill.  My favorite.  Although this was recommended by Brian.  Hadley loved using her chopsticks.  Again, very cute.  
I very much enjoyed the time out with my family.  It was a great day!
Happy Anniversary Brian!  Thanks for celebrating with us Hadley!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley's favorite game is hide and seek.
Well, mostly it is her hiding under the purple blanket on the green couch saying... "Mommy, say, where's Hadley?"
I say:  "Where is Hadley?"
And she says: "under the purple blanket on the green couch."
It is so cute.
Her and Brian started this hide and seek game with mommy the tickle monster coming to get them.
Today she started saying: "Mommy, say, who belongs to these feet?" With her feet hanging out of the blanket.  
So cute.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

This week Hadley has switched from wanting to draw letters and "lists" and circles to wanting to draw objects like sunshines, and giraffes, turtles and other things.  This is such a cool thing to watch.  I love her drawings. :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

25 wks LMP (23 wks gestation)
The baby weighs approx. 1.46 lbs or 660 grams and is 13.62 inches or 34.6 cm long.  The baby is kicking lots.  I love that!

Not much of an update this week except that my back is SO SORE!  I feel very unbalanced with a hobble and lots of pain.  Heat seems to help.  Hopefully this will pass.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

This morning Brian joined us at Rotary Park for the Ontario Early Years Centre (OEYC) program called best foot forward.  AKA Soccer.  
The coach, Chris (who joined the OEYC in January) was great!  
We joined Chaylee, Ethan and Blair and the other kids and did the warm-ups and exercises.
We ran around trees, dribbled and tracked the ball, played red-light green-light and did some kicks into a goal as well.
Hadley continued at home with some of the things she learned from the program.  So cute.  
The class was an hour and a half with a snack and story time in the middle.  (See Brian's blog for additional info on story time: ajax.verkley.com/blog/brian).
This free program goes until the end of June.  
It was fun to have Brian join us today!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today after a fun filled visit with Julie (playing with Hadley's toys, and a BBQ dinner), we headed to the McLean Centre to join Annie, Larry, Norah, and Conner for a swim date.
Hadley is a little fish!

I managed to find a bathing suit to fit into and we had great fun.

Hadley loves the water.  By the end she was crouching down with her head under water and jumping up like a jack in the box.  She loved seeing our reactions to this.  She also would walk along the bottom and move her arms like she was swimming.  She practiced blowing bubbles and walking slow on the deck and enjoyed herself immensely.  
Another new thing tonight was that she wanted to try out the big pool.
She has been in deeper pools before but not at the McLean Centre.  
So Brian and I each took turns allowing her to jump into our arms into the deeper water and she loved it!
She also laughed and giggled when her dad took her under the mushroom waterfall.
The only disadvantage for her was that the toys were supposed to stay in the smaller pool.  She didn't mind at all that the bigger pool had colder water.
It is so fun to watch her in the pool because she loves to swim so much!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday when we were out, we came to the situation of low fuel.  
Normal.  It happens.
Anyway, Hadley "helped" us find the gas station and then when Brian asked her if she wanted to help pump gas she agreed.
I think he was surprised by this, but after the offer, as a parent you have to follow through.
So, at age three, she assisted her dad in pumping gas into the car.
Brian did the points card, and the visa part, then she pushed the button for regular gas, and then they both held the handle and waited.
I think Hadley was surprised by the click at the end that tells you the tank is full.
When all this was finished she watched Brian put the nozzle away, and put the cap back on, but then she closed the gas flap.
What a great little helper.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Well, the baby is doing well.  The heartbeat is strong, (I love hearing the baby's heart beat) with my blood pressure 92 over 50.  (Normal for me).  They measured the baby today and it was 24cm at 24 weeks which is what it should be.
All is well.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Last night Ley, Chaylee, Patti, Annie and I went out for a girls night out.  While I didn't watch Sex and the City when it was on TV, it was a decent girls night out movie.  
We enjoyed popcorn, the movie, and then DQ ice-cream afterwards.
It is always fun to have a night out with the girls.
Brian and Hadley watched the hockey game while I was gone and Hadley was asleep when I got home.
However, the cutest thing happened, she came down stairs saying I need daddy because I can't find mommy because she is out.  But then she saw me.  So cute.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

24 wks LMP (22 wks gestation)
The baby weighs approx. 1.32 lbs or 600 grams and is 11.81 inches or 30 cm long.  I have gained about 30 pounds and my stomach feels really heavy with the baby usually feeling low.  My back seems unbalanced and I often have to take a moment after sitting or laying down to walk normally but I hope that doesn't last.

The baby is almost fully formed about now -- and finally looks like a miniature human instead of other-worldly.
Bones solidify and baby kicks. Sometimes it feels more like a lurch, reminiscent of the Loch Ness monster.
Most babies turn upside-down around this time but will continue to rotate until about week 31 LMP.

I love looking down and seeing my stomach move.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

Tonight on TV Hadley saw the baseball game on and said to us " we went there with Julie and Grandpa".  
I love that her memory is getting stronger and stronger.
We were there April 12th.  It is now June 1st.

While other things have come up like this, I think it is noteworthy to mark down.

Recognition is now also really cool to watch.
She recognizes pictures of grandparents (she saw a photo of my dad today and said, "that is my grandpa right mom"?  So cute.
And she loves to see baby pictures of herself and then say things like " that's me as a baby."

- Leanne Verkley

---

Colour - Still green.  While she likes other colours, green is still her favorite.  

Song - Airplanes by B.o.b. F/hayley Williams, when this song comes on the radio Hadley says mommy, this is my favorite song.  Please turn it up.

Food - Cucumbers, which she would eat like an apple if we let her (just give her a chunk and she is good to go, although she does prefer it in slices with dip).
She loves yogurt, freezies and chocolate chips.  
Lucky Charms for breakfast if she has the choice.  Noodles are a favorite for dinner.  Then the ever popular McDonald's french fries with mayonnaise dip.  
She also enjoys her chocolate milk with a straw!

Game - hide and seek with mommy coming to find her and tickle her.  She could do this for a VERY long time.  

TV Show - Backyardigans.  I love the excitement she has when she hears the theme song!  So fun to watch!  She also loves to wave good bye to them at the end of the show.  

Computer - PBS games, but specifically right now the toopy and binoo games.

Bath Toys - Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Roo and Lumpy.

Travel Toys - Princess figurines.  

While there are a lot of things in her life that she likes, I thought I should jot down a few things of great importance in her life at the moment.

- Leanne Verkley

---

23 wks LMP (21 wks gestation)
The baby weighs approx. 1.10 lbs or 501 grams and is approx. 11.38 inches or 28.9 cm long.
Meconium, the baby's first stool is developing.  We will likely see a lot of this come out after baby is born.  
On a more exciting note, the baby can hear the my comforting heart and stomach sounds. I wonder if my hunger noises are comforting?  
Vernix, which protects baby's skin from amniotic fluid, covers the entire skin and now a special type of fat called brown fat develops. This keeps baby warm at birth. It also provides nourishment while my milk is coming in.
Baby might begin to suck its thumb around now.  To go along with this, Hadley has almost no thumb sucking now except when she is really tired or bored,  YAY!

The May long weekend was pretty low key but we did manage to head up to the Cole cottage for a day taking in some of the best May 24th long weekend weather that I can remember.  Hadley loved playing in the sand, by the water, and with her toys outside.  She also loved the campfire, fireworks and sparklers.  
On the Monday we celebrated Jason's birthday in Listowel and had a short visit with Anne Marie as well.
It was HOT at 35 Celsius but I am not complaining.  I would way rather be hot than cold.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley and I busied ourselves with filling and swimming in her pool for the first time this year.
I managed to get the back lawn cut while she sat and filled the pool with water.  The front lawn maybe tomorrow???
We enjoyed lunch outside and played in the sunshine throughout the afternoon.
For dinner we joined Annie and her family at McDonald's and then headed to the zoo for members day.
We got to enjoy a free night at the touching experience for stingray bay.
Hadley and I touched and watched the stingrays and then enjoyed free juice and cookies provided by the zoo outside with our friends on a beautiful evening.
What a great day!

- Leanne Verkley

---

22 wks LMP (20 wks gestation)
The baby weighs approx. 15.17 ounces or 430 grams and is approx. 10.94 inches or 27.8 cm long.
A heartbeat can be heard without specialized listening equipment now.  This is cool but we haven't experienced it yet.  
Real hair and toenails are beginning to grow. The baby continues to urinate and drink amniotic fluid, which is exchanged every three hours.
At this point, baby girls have developed all the eggs they'll ever have in their ovaries.
The brain is rapidly developing. Fatty sheaths that transmit thought are forming. Eating protein is very important to help develop this.

Hadley is so cute when she tells everyone that the baby is in mommy's belly and growing.  Then when it is time for the baby to come out she thinks that the baby will want to play with her toys right away.
She also thinks that a soother will fix all crying.  It is really cute to watch her walk around the house with her babies saying shhhh shhhh shhhh.  She holds them up on her shoulder and rocks them.  
I think it has been so helpful to have so many of our friends having babies just months before ours is due.
Lots of baby movement, but mostly at night right before bed.
Speaking of which...
Good night!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today at the park, Hadley received her first dandelion flower from a boy.
All I know is that his name is Carson and that he tried to block Hadley from going anywhere in the park even with me right by her side.  
One time when she went down a slide (I was at the top right behind her), she accidentally slide on top of the dandelion she was holding because she was trying to turn around because he was at the bottom.  This kid was FAST!
I quickly went down behind her to help her out.
His dad called him away and then a few minutes later he arrived with a new dandelion for her.  
Hadley thanked him but didn't really want anything to do with him.  She was just glad to have her flower back.  
I am guessing he was around 5 years old.  
He wanted to do everything she was doing and she just wanted to play within her own space.
To give her some space we went down to the beach to build sand castles and throw rocks into the lake.  
Guess who followed?
At least he continued for a walk down the beach which suited Hadley just fine.

Even with this craziness, it was a great day to spend outside after a few days of Hadley having a fever of 103 F or 39.3 C.  
After the park we went to the Early Years Centre to do some crafts; which she loved.  It was a butterfly theme day!  She turned bread into two triangles and then put a carrot in the middle.  Then she decorated and ate her butterfly creation.  
She also made a caterpillar by using accordion folding paper supplies.   There was colouring, painting and a few other things as well.

I think she felt great to get out of the house.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

21 wks LMP (19 wks gestation)
The baby weighs approx. 12.70 ounces or 360 grams and is 10.51 inches or 26.7 cm long. NOTE: Length is now measured heel to crown instead of rump to crown.

I am to avoid hot-tubs, and super hot showers as I want to keep my body heat low and not "boil" the baby.  The hot showers are hard for me.  I love my HOT showers.

The smell of cucumber and carrots are less desirable than they once were.

There is more and more movement.  Brian got his kick to the head tonight.  :)  He loved it.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

This mother's day started off with pancakes, forget-me-not flowers from Hadley picked from the yard (with a "Happy Mother's Day" that was not pre-said to her.  I hear Brian only told her that they should get me flowers because they loved me). Then later we went out to buy flowers for my planters outside.  
This was all followed by dinner out.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms in my life!  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley and I headed to Toronto to visit with my good friend Lindsay.
It is so much fun to be talking with her about pregnancy and kids.  
She is pregnant with her first baby and is due one month before me, exactly!
I am so excited for them and it is fun to be sharing this pregnancy experience with her.
Hadley was great while we enjoyed catching up at a local coffee-shop near her house on the Danforth.
A fun day!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley asked me tonight at bedtime who would marry her.  
I think this came from a story I told her earlier in the day about my engagement and wedding rings and me marrying someone that I loved.
She insisted that I would marry her because I was somebody who loved her.
Hmmmm....

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley asked me if she could just put her hand between her legs instead of going to the potty.  I said, no, you better go.  So, she went and was successful.  
Then later tonight at bedtime, she used the excuse "I better go to the potty".
This was just a stall.
Still, I am happy to report that this means she is definitely more aware of the potty and it's usefulness in her life.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

I am now 20 wks LMP (18 wks gestation).
The baby weighs approx. 10.58 ounces or 300 grams and is approx. 6.46 inches or 16.4 cm long.
The baby's milk teeth begin to form under the gums.
The baby's body hair, including eyebrows and lashes begin to grow with small hairs called lanugo covering the baby's body and face. Most of it falls out before birth.
Right now the baby's skin is translucent. If you could see the baby, you would also be able to see his/her bones and organs, too!
As my belly grows, it puts pressure on my bladder.  My digestive system is also changing with a little bit of un-comfortability. So, I try eating smaller meals at more frequent intervals.  Stretching sometimes helps too.
I am craving cheese and "real meals".  Snack foods like chips or crackers or quick fix cookies or whatever, just are not cutting it.
The baby is definitely growing and movement is becoming more frequent and noticeable at least to me.  
We are now half way there!  20 more weeks approximately until we meet this new little person!

- Leanne Verkley

---

This week Hadley started adding the "S" to her yea.
So now when she is answering in the affirmative it is so cute and definitely clear to hear her say: Yes!

- Leanne Verkley

---

We were watching the Pittsburgh Penguins play the Montreal Canadians in the playoffs tonight and after the game one win by the Penguins (6-3), I told Brian that the baby was really moving.
So, Brian put his right hand on my lower left side, and then he felt the baby move!  This is no kick to the head like Hadley did to him, but still so much fun for me to be able to share with him.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today we had our first midwife appointment with our back up.  (Lisa).
The appointment was mostly about confirming results from different labs that we sent off.  All came back to be good.
My blood pressure was 102 over 52. (Normal).
Hadley heard the heart beat and she even thanked God for that in her prayers tonight.  (So cute).  
I weighed myself again and I am still at the 20 lbs mark so no weight gain in the last two weeks.  (Probably very okay although I didn't ask).
Things that are developing this week with the baby:
Baby is approx. 8.47 ounces or 240 grams and is approx. 6.02 inches or 15.3 cm long.  This week the baby's blood cells take over for the liver in producing blood and the gall bladder becomes functional, producing bile which is needed for digestion.  Yay for growth and development!  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley and I went to meet up with Jessica yesterday to do a re-assessment of her speech and language.   They had no major concerns.
They did however mention that in the next 6 months we should work on her adding sounds to words.
Like adding the S and Z sounds.  For example at the end of nose.  Currently she says "no".
Another sound that she has is the SH for shoes, but if this SH sound is at the end of a word like brush, she just says "bra".
More sounds to work on are TH (like in her cabbage patch kids name Martha it comes out as MARTA), words that start with F she usually substitutes with a P sounds like PINGERS for fingers.  The K at the end of words like MILK is MAK.  So while it is there, the word isn't right.   The last sound to work on is the JUH sounds.
Like Orange.  She says Oran for Orange.  When she adds the G sound at the end it is very enunciated.
So while there are things to work on, nothing stood out to be crazy out of line for her age.  

Cute words that she has at the moment are:
FOON - Spoon  * no concern as the SP is apparently a difficult sound connection.
PORNER - Corner, PAR - Car * these are just a habit as she can say the hard c sound for other words.  
INTERDING - Interesting * This is a four syllable word so it should come with practice.
BANA - Banana * She has all the sounds for this but it is common for words with a duplicate sound like na na for the second sound to be omitted.  However we should work on this with her.  
LELLO - Yellow * This is normal for her age group.
ALMOAT - Almost * With practice over the next 6 months she should get this one.

I am sure there are other words that she has that are cute to be noted but that is what I can think of right now.

So, for now there is a seminar that I am hoping to attend in June to keep up on new strategies help her continue to learn but other than that, we just wait for the next assessment which will likely be in 6 months.

- Leanne Verkley

---

This morning we went to our ultrasound for baby #2.  
By 8:30 am I had to have four glasses of water down for my 9:30 am appointment.
While Brian and Hadley waited in the waiting room, the student technician had a look and then later the other technician took over.  45 minutes later, Brian and Hadley were welcomed in after I had a washroom break.
Then they did another look for a few more angles.  
I loved watching the baby move (and this baby was all over).
I also loved watching Brian and Hadley watch the baby.
We got some great photos which I hope to share soon.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today aside from a trip to the Real Canadian Super Store and Walmart, Hadley and I went to the park and then the Early Years Centre. At the centre we used pine cones, sand, feathers, sticks and other outdoor things to paint with to celebrate Earth Day.  (I think Hadley loved painting my hands more than the paper.  She giggled like crazy).  We read books about the earth and later we enjoyed time outdoors with bubbles, and she even learned (kinda) how to play eye spy.
For eye spy, if I was picking something she would keep guessing until she found the right thing, but if she was picking something, she would say, I spy with my little eye something that is green.  Look mom, the grass is green.
Still fun!
It was a fun day with the girl.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

18 wks LMP (16 wks gestation)
The baby weighs approx. 6.70 ounces or 190 grams and is 5.59 inches or 14.2 cm long.  I felt first flutters last night.  That was fun!    I can't wait until Brian and Hadley can feel the baby move too.  Perhaps the movement was the baby saying that s/he really enjoyed the DQ ice-cream!  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

Last night Annie and I went to see Hot Tub Time Machine at the Cineplex.
Anyone that loved the 80's would love this movie.  It was supposed to be a bunch more of us but do to different circumstances it ended up just being us.  
Still fun!
Afterwards we decided that DQ ice-cream was a great idea so we got it and took it over to Patti's house since she couldn't join us as Andy was out.
We talked until after midnight and then we headed home.
Good times of laughter and conversation.

- Leanne Verkley

---

All day today Hadley went to potty on her own.  YAY!  Hooray!  She would say, "I have to go", and then she would run.
The only help she needed was help with her pants up and down and wiping.
Afterwards she knew to get her step-stool to the sink to wash her hands, and use soap.  She puts one hand under the towel to dry her hands and one on top.
I think if we were at home all the time there would be little to no accidents.  So I think it is safe to say that she is home-trained.

Now to figure out how to potty train out of the house???

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today I am 17 wks LMP (15 wks gestational) along in this pregnancy.  
The update for this week:
Sleeping is uncomfortable, but lots of pillows help. I am still trying to sleep on my left side but I find I toss and turn a lot.
The baby weighs approx. 4.97 ounces or 140 grams and is approx. 5.12 inches or 13 cm long.   The baby is beginning to accumulate a little fat now so it's important that I eat balanced, nutritious meals to meet my energy needs as well as the baby's needs for development.  This is also important to keep up with Hadley.  So I try.  
I have gained 20 lbs which is just over a pound a week.  I feel heavy.  Some of this weight gain is from eating out so much on our Olympic vacation so hopefully the gaining will slow a little.  However, from what I remember, this is approx. the same as it was with Hadley.
Still it is good to focus on eating healthy.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Again this year we enjoyed the Blue Jays Home Opener.  
On Monday night we met up with Brian's dad and sister at Yorkdale Subway station before we went downtown and had dinner at Jack Astors.  Tickets to the game were part of a Christmas gift for Brian's dad.  
Roger's Centre was sold out, with 46 321 in attendance.  I love going to the home opener as it is the only game all year that sells out and feels like the glory days of the early 90's.
The game was against the Chicago While Sox.  
With a close game there was an eventual loss of 8-7 to Chicago in 11 innings.
Hadley was a trooper and stayed up through the whole thing.  Minus literally 2 minutes at the end of the game.
I think the popcorn was a highlight for her.  Although playing games on her aunt Julie's iPhone and the shoulder ride on her grandpa's shoulders down front street were also pretty fun for her.
She was up until pretty much midnight and then slept in until 11 am this morning.    I wasn't sure how bedtime would go tonight but she fell asleep around 10:30 pm.  We will try to slowly bring her back to a normal bedtime over the next few days.  
All in all, a fun night out.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley is now three so I took her for her official 3 year old doctor visit.
Painless.
Dr. Nag talked with her about stories of our trip, stickers and a few other things and was happy to see that she could relay stories of happenings in her life.  She asked about Hadley's play time wanting to know if she likes to pretend.  Yes, she loves it.  She wanted to know how long her attention span was.  I said depending on what we are doing it could be very long.  Like the other day we read a 96 page Winnie the Pooh book and she sat through the whole thing.  She asked her to hop.  No problem there.  She then said by next year she will be hopping on one foot.  And then Hadley made a very cute attempt.  I don't think it will take a year for her to master this skill. :)

Hadley was measured at 92 cm up from 88 cm last year.  Then she was weighed and she was 30.25 lbs up from 25 lbs last year.  
She is in the 25% for height, meaning 75% of kids are taller than her.  (This is a total switch from last year), and she is in the 50% for weight (again a switch from last year of 25%.  This means she is average weight to all other kids her age instead of underweight).
The doctor said this often happens.  One year it shows growth up, the next year weight.
Hadley had her eyes, teeth, and ears checked.  Dr. Nag felt her stomach and listened to her heart and lungs.  All good.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley is now three so I took her for her official 3 year old doctor visit.
Painless.
Dr. Nag talked with her about stories of our trip, stickers and a few other things and was happy to see that she could relay stories of happenings in her life.  She asked about Hadley's play time wanting to know if she likes to pretend.  Yes, she loves it.  She wanted to know how long her attention span was.  I said depending on what we are doing it could be very long.  Like the other day we read a 96 page Winnie the Pooh book and she sat through the whole thing.  She asked her to hop.  No problem there.  She then said by next year she will be hopping on one foot.  And then Hadley made a very cute attempt.  I don't think it will take a year for her to master this skill. :)

Hadley was measured at 92 cm up from 88 cm last year.  Then she was weighed and she was 30.25 lbs up from 25 lbs last year.  
She is in the 25% for height, meaning 75% of kids are taller than her.  (This is a total switch from last year), and she is in the 50% for weight (again a switch from last year of 25%.  This means she is average weight to all other kids her age instead of underweight).
The doctor said this often happens.  One year it shows growth up, the next year weight.
Hadley had her eyes, teeth, and ears checked.  Dr. Nag felt her stomach and listened to her heart and lungs.  All good.

- Leanne Verkley

---

I am now 16 wks LMP (14 wks gestation).  
The baby weighs approx. 3.53 ounces or 100 grams and is 4.57 inches or 11.6 cm long.
The baby's is fully formed with just some growth changes from now on.  The ears and eyes have moved this week to their final positions and should look more "normal" by now.  
Sleeping and resting on my left side increases circulation to the baby and the rest of my body too. So I try.  But often I wake up on my back.  
The chance of miscarriage gets much lower after this week too.  YAY!
My uterus should be the size of a cantaloupe or a little bigger.  Yup.  We are definitely growing!
So that is the update for this week on baby #2.

- Leanne Verkley

---

This morning Hadley was happy to see that the Easter Bunny had come to her house.  Her basket was full of chocolate, eggs, toys and such.
We enjoyed breakfast together as a family and then went to pickering to go on an Easter Egg Hunt at the Courtyard.  
The hunt wasn't so much of a hunt as there were no eggs to be found when we go there.  (We were even there 15 minutes early).  
So we waited it out by seeing the Easter Bunny, and then sitting in the courtyard with free hot chocolate with marshmallows.  
A little while later some of the eggs that were collected were handed in for gifts and then re-hidden for others to find.
So Hadley finally found her bright orange egg and she held it with pride.
This egg was handed in for a chocolate bunny with some jelly beans.

Following the hunt we went for a family walk on one of the trails near the courtyard.  We played pooh sticks.  (Throw a stick on one side of a bridge, and watch it race under the bridge to see who's stick goes the fastest on the other side).  

When we got back home we had lunch and then decorated eggs.
This was followed by outside time together playing catch, and enjoying the sunshine.
Beautiful.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Brian and I did some much needed work around the house.
The railing that was taken down to try to put our new couch in our basement was put back up.  The Christmas lights and Fall leaves around the window decorations were taken down (I know, it's about time).   We hung a picture frame that we got for Christmas.  The blackout blind for the baby's room that broke a while back was finally fixed and re-hung.  
I have my first load of laundry done with another in the washer and another in the dryer.  
I also went today to buy some spring/summer clothes for Hadley and was quite successful.  $53 for for 6 full outfits!  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Tonight I got together with Annie, Patti, and Chaylee for a girls night out.
We started with dinner at Annie's house.  She served a wonderful noodle bake with garlic bread.  Then we carpooled to downtown Toronto.
We walked by almost all the booths and were taken in by the creativity and yummy samples.
I bumped into an old friend / colleague,  Jer and his wife Tasha.  It was so good to see them.  They just got back from a Yukon vacation so we talked for a few minutes and then decided there was much more to catch up on so we would figure out another date to talk more.
The night went on with us being silly trying on hats, giggling and just having a great time.
After the show ended we went back to Annie's house for tea and strawberry cheese cake that Patti made.
Thanks for the fun ladies!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Last weekend we moved Mandy's family into their rental house where they will be until their new house is built.
There were many boxes to be filled and/or moved onto trailers, cars, and vans.  With lots of help on hand we finished around 3pm.
Mandy's friend Jen provided a wonderful chilli lunch and Anne Marie watched Hadley while we worked the day away.
I am so glad it was a beautiful day.

- Leanne Verkley

---

For Christmas we were gifted tickets - second row and centre tickets to Disney Princesses on Ice at Hamilton's Copps Colosseum.
So March 21st we were off to see the show.  While we thought it was good, Hadley LOVED it!
The year prior Hadley received Disney princess figurines for Christmas and she loves making up adventures for them to go on.  In fact the figurines were a huge part of our Olympics vacation.  Her imagination in the car seat was very fun to watch and listen to.  
While she has not seen the movies she definitely knows who they all are with Belle from Beauty and the Beast being her favorite (at least most recently).
It was a beautiful moment to watch her watch these princesses come to life right before her eyes.  
From beginning to end she was totally taken in by the stories being shown in front of her.
Thanks Mandy and Joe!

- Leanne Verkley

---

While I still feel like I would like to post about our trip... I also feel like it is a huge write up.
So until I have time, I will just tell you about the current events.
March 20th Hadley turned three.
She was very aware that she was two before her birthday and that she would be three on her birthday.
We celebrated with our families at Brian's mom's house.  There were balloons, gifts, food and cake.
Hadley was very excited about her cake.  It had green icing, just what she asked for.  On top it read: Happy 3rd Birthday Big Sister Hadley.
A beautiful way to keep the focus on her (being the new big sister), as well as perfect timing to share with all our family in the room that we are just over three months along in our pregnancy.  
I am not sure Hadley completely understands yet, but with time I am sure she will.  We are so excited and have already had our first midwife appointment and a listen to the baby's heart beat.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

We arrived home from our Olympics North American adventure last night late and today has been crazy with groceries, cleaning the car, laundry etc.
I am sorry there hasn't been a post while we were away, but I do plan to get back to posting really soon.

- Leanne Verkley

---

This week has consisted of a long list of TO DO's.  
Return library books, get an oil change, 4 new tires for the car, look into insurance, etc. etc.

However with all this rushing around, I managed to "attend" a wedding as well.
Well, here is what I mean...  My brothers good friend Chris got married in Vegas on Tuesday night and it was broadcasted live on the Bellagio website.  
So cool that I could "be there".  
My brother was in the wedding party so this was extra special to be able to watch this as I could point Joe out to Hadley.
The ceremony was lovely with a beautiful art piece created by the couple out of sand.  Each pouring one of two colours of sand into one glass heart shaped tube representing unity.  
There was of course Elvis music at the end of the video and it just added to the feel of a Vegas wedding.  
They both looked so happy!
What fun!
All the best to Chris and Chantelle!

- Leanne Verkley

---

This afternoon Annie called to say that she and her family were going swimming at McLean's Centre tonight.  I had never really looked into evening swimming but this sounded like fun.  Kind of like a date night out with my family.  
So after dinner we went for two hours of water fun.
Annie and her husband Larry met us there with their kids Norah and Connor and we enjoyed the warm kiddie pool.  
To note though, usually when I go the water-slide isn't open as I go to parent and tot swim.  SO... Brian and I took turns and tried out this fun ride in the big pool.  
The water is colder in the big pool but the slide was fun!  Hadley will love this when she is bigger.

As usual Hadley totally enjoyed her swimming experience.  Every time I go with her there is less fear and more "look at what I can do".
She knows where the toys are, she listens very well with my gentle reminders about walking on the deck, she has no fear about jumping into either Brian or my arms from the edge even if she goes under water and tonight she showed how natural it is to pick up the doggy paddle.  She just started doing it.
Also new tonight we put a pool noodle under her arms and let her try to go on her own. (Within our reach).
There were smiles on her face the whole time.  She even tried to get rings from the bottom of the pool tonight.  This was something that I loved to see her want to do.  She wanted to do it on her own but instead it was more successful with me holding her body while she blew her little bubbles and after only a few seconds I would pull her back up from the one and half foot bottom of the pool.  HUGE smiles.  Success!  Ring in hand!
Two hours went by so fast!
Hadley again practiced her back floats with our assistance.  Mostly she is just practicing to keep her legs out and still and her ears in the water while we held her up.  But it is so fun to see her feel proud of herself.  
She is a little fish in the water.  She loves it and it was such a fun family night out!  What a treat to go swimming with Brian and Hadley!

- Leanne Verkley

---

On Monday we went to visit Brian's dad's for his 60th birthday and we enjoyed a wonderful roast beef dinner to celebrate the event as well as some great visiting time and cake!

On Tuesday Hadley and I went on a bit of a small road trip.  In the morning we were in New Market visiting Christine and her son Dean.  
Christine is due to have her baby girl on February 12th so I wanted to visit her before the beautiful day.
Then in the afternoon we continued north to Barrie where we visited with Sherri-Lyn and Logan.  
We were later joined for a great BBQ dinner with Cort.
It has been a while since I had caught up with Christine, Sherri-Lyn and Cort in person so I was due to visit them.    What a nice day!

- Leanne Verkley

---

After spending two days at home without a single outing I feel as though we finally got somewhere.
It all started with me firmly suggesting that there are 15-20 places in the house that Hadley should not put her pee.
From then on, she attempted all weekend to go to the potty.  I would say with about 50% accuracy.  I know we still have work to do but this still makes me happy.  
It was like a light bulb went off in her head.
Some of the time she would tell me she had to go while other times I asked and she thought about it and then went.
All I was looking for was a little effort and after my suggestion, I got it.  
She asked for a diaper a few times and I told her that at home we don't need diapers we can use the potty.  She seemed to understand.

I am a little afraid to leave the house.  I don't want to ruin the progress we have made.
We will see what tomorrow brings.

- Leanne Verkley

---

To all my friends out there that might find this interesting.    While watching TreeHouse with Hadley there was a commercial for www.tystoybox.com which is apparently the official website for Backyardigan's stuff!  Among other TV stuff for Super Why, Caillou,  Thomas, The Wiggles, VeggieTales, Sid the Science Kid and more.
Have a look!

- Leanne Verkley

---

It has been a long time since Hadley and I spent the entire day at home.
There is usually at least one outing planned.
However, I was determined to just stay put and let Hadley enjoy her toys and home.
We played games, put together puzzles, played with playdoh, played with green water in the sink, we did some drawing, read books and many other things.  (Some mild cleaning too).
I am pretty sure she had a very happy day!

- Leanne Verkley

---

ABCDEFGHIJK LO LO P QRSTUVWXYZ.

- Leanne Verkley

---

On Tuesday I traveled to Listowel to stay at my sisters so that Hadley and I could join my sister and brother and Pat to go to my mom's Dr's appointment in London on Wednesday morning.
The Doctor had relatively good news.  The cancer they found in my mom a few months ago has had no growth.  It is still  2.5cm in size.  So, where it stands right now it looks like she will be having surgery the first week of March (TBD) to take it out.  It sounds like it may take a month or maybe a little more for recovery but then she should be back to normal.
Also to note:  my mom has quit smoking and is now on day 18!  I am so proud of her!

On Thursday Hadley and I spent the day with Brian's mom and her friend Jane.  We enjoyed good conversation and good pie!  

Friday night we had dinner with my dad, Brenda, Amanda and Joe at the Anchor in Listowel.  The food was good as was the atmosphere and conversation.

Saturday we helped my mom move from Exeter to Fordwich.  She wanted to move closer to her family in Listowel.

While in Listowel this week, my sister also sold her house.  She didn't really mean to, but it happened.  How you say?  Someone made an offer on her house without it even being on the market and the offer was too good not to accept.  So, now she has plans to move at the end of March to a rental, and then build over the summer.

It was a crazy busy couple of days!

Oh, and Sunday morning we drove back and stopped in at home for only a few minutes to pick up a birthday gift for Ethan!  We then drove to Whitby to celebrate his 3rd birthday.  

Today we tried to do normal things.
Hadley and I went to Playday Mondays in the morning, we got groceries and then went for a walk to the park in the afternoon.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

A few days ago we were at our friends Delena and Shawn's baby shower.
The event had friends and family gather at Shawn's parents house to celebrate the fact that these two wonderful people will soon be parents.
Boy, or girl?  We don't know yet.
There were games, food and good conversation.
Brian and I each won a prize for different games.
Hadley had fun entertaining everyone by singing and drumming and dancing and doing cute things that kids do.  Twirling, running etc.
We can't wait to meet Baby Bender!
Delena will be off work starting tomorrow so it could be anytime!  Yay!  
May she have a short, mild labour.  Amen.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Okay so the other day on Backyardigans on TV they were telling knock knock jokes.
So they told the following joke:

Knock, knock.
who's there?
Banana
Banana Who?

Knock, knock.
who's there?
Banana
Banana Who?

Knock, knock.
who's there?
Orange
Orange Who?

Orange you glad I didn't say Banana.

Well afterwards we were laughing really hard for some unknown reason and Hadley thought it was the funniest thing.

So, she tried to tell the joke herself.
This is how it went:
Hadley: Knock, knock.
Me: Who's there?
Hadley: Banana

Hadley: Knock, knock.
Me: Who's there?
Hadley: Orange - HA ha HA ha HA That's funny!  Ha ha Ha Ha HA!

So cute.

- Leanne Verkley

---

The other day Patti and I took the girls (Alicia and Hadley) tobogganing.  We went to the small hill near the hospital.  The girls LOVED it!
We used crazy carpets and a small purple sled that Patti had for Alicia from last year.  Hadley used this purple sled mostly on her own most of the time.  Alicia preferred to go down with her mom.
It was so much fun to share this experience with Hadley and Alicia and Patti.
I felt like such a kid.  
What a great winter day!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today on the way home we turned onto Rands Road but without our house even in site Hadley said, "almost home".  
What a cool thing to have her recognize where she was and tell me about where we were going including reciting our address with great enthusiasm.  

I often ask Hadley to tell me when she sees certain locations when we get close to them.  Like the library, the OEYC, the grocery store, home etc.  
Up until now she has been able to point them out as they come into site but not tell me that they are upcoming without being prompted.  

Also today on the way to PlayDay Mondays she said without being prompted, "I'll tell you when I see it".  
I love that she is trying to be involved in what we are doing even in the backseat of the car.

- Leanne Verkley

---

The why questions have started.

Okay, my plan is to relax and answer what I know, and google the rest.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley is now in size 6 diapers.  While many of her peers have been in this size for a while now, I was really hoping to not have to use this size at all.
However, it seems training her to use the washroom is taking much longer than I once thought it would.  
She is only two, so I am not worried, but it would be SO nice to have her out of diapers.
I know she will get it when the timing is right.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

I have been trying to get Hadley to use scissors properly for a long time but she hasn't has the strength to open them with just one hand so it was usually an assisted task.
However, in the last week she has been working really hard at this new skill.  While her accuracy still needs some work, she does cut approximately where she intends to using just one hand with the thumb in the thumb hole and the other fingers in the proper location.  She also knows how to properly hold scissors when she is walking which is also REALLY important.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday we had Shawn K. and Shawn B. over for New Years.  We played two games.  One called Puerto Rico, and the other called Killer Bunnies.
Both were new to me and both were fun.
I do however think it is important to note that Abu helped me to win Killer Bunnies at 5am.  (Thanks Shawn K.  for handing Abu over at the last minute.  Hehe).

The night was full of food, and good times including a toast with Dick Clark at midnight.  We again took a picture of Hadley in bed with a noise maker and hat on her bed as she fell asleep at 10 pm.  

In the morning Hadley woke at 9:15 am.  While this would normally be okay, it meant that I only got about 4 hours sleep.
Hmmmmm.... sleep.... need more sleep...
Well... I guess that means I should head to bed soon.  
Yawn!

All in all a good New Years celebration.  Thanks for the fun everyone!
Happy New Year!

- Leanne Verkley

---

When I say spoiled I truly do mean that I am blessed!
For Christmas one of my gifts from my dad was a much needed new couch and chair to replace the ever aging and loved couch that was gifted by Brian's aunt Cecilia to Brian when he moved to Toronto in 1999.  
I am pretty sure it was loved many years before he received it so it is a well used couch and love-seat set.  And well... it is still in use.  Let me explain...
My dad came yesterday to deliver the new couch and chair all the way from Listowel.  
The good news is that I now have a sitting area in the upstairs where Hadley and I spend a lot of time.  The bad news is that it was supposed to be for our basement but we couldn't get it down the stairs despite our best efforts.  Hmmmm, now what do we do?  Sectional?  Not sure.
In any case, I love my new sitting area and will love it even more when everything from Christmas is put away!
Thanks dad!

- Leanne Verkley

---

From the 26th to the 28th it was Christmas with the Verkley's.
On the 26th we got together with Brian's mom, grandma and sister Julie, with Lisa and Jeff on Skype.  We enjoyed spending time together and opened gifts.  We were again spoiled.
On the 27th after staying over night we spent the day with the Stock side including Christine, Tim and Lucas from England and Steven from Calgary. (Steven surprised everyone by coming to town.  So much fun!) Among others that live closer.  It was a full house but good times and good food.  
We also snuck in a short visit with Lindsay and Jamie.  Much to short but hopefully we can get together again soon for a longer visit.  
The 28th was a little more intimate at Brian's dad's house but it still had that warm Christmas feel with even more food.
I am thankful for my eight or so Christmas gatherings with friends and family but man... I am tired and my house looks like Christmas EVERYWHERE.
Much cleaning in the near future!  

Thank-you everyone for making my Christmas special!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today we took advantage of the free skate in Pickering sponsored by Tim Hortons.  
While Hadley was a little unsure of herself on skates at first, she soon felt comfortable enough to walk on the mats around the arena.
It took a little bit to get her to use her legs on the ice but eventually she understood that if she just stood up and balanced herself she would have fun slip sliding around with our support.  (She giggled every time we said: slip slip slide).  
She smiled a lot even through the struggles.
I can't wait to take her again.

- Leanne Verkley

---

This past weekend started with what I would say is the fastest trip I have ever made to Niagara Falls.
On Saturday morning we woke up early to head to Niagara Falls to pick up casino chips for my brother for Christmas.  
This year my brother and sister and I went with a theme to give each other a night out and with my brothers upcoming trip to Vegas this seemed like a perfect gift to give him some practice before going.
Unfortunately Saturday was the only time we could pick up said gift... en-route to Listowel.  This made for a tiring day but I loved the look on my brothers face when he received his gift!  So it was worth it!  
The rest of Saturday afternoon was spent with my mom enjoying Christmas together over a roast beef dinner at my sisters house.

Sunday was Christmas at my dad's house and we were lucky enough to enjoy the company with my grandma and papa Jack as well.  
We enjoyed Chinese food, good conversation and played a game together.  

Our family was overwhelmingly SPOILED with gifts this weekend.  I am truly a little stunned by the generosity towards our family.  
While I can't explain how blessed I feel, I am also VERY thankful.    

- Leanne Verkley

---

Tonight we joined Andy, Patti and Alicia at Downsview Park to go see the Trail of Lights.  http://www.downsviewpark.ca/eng/tol_promo.shtml  
I have wanted to go to this for a few years and it finally worked out this year.
This is a 3KM walk around animated Christmas lights.  It was quite cold but a nice walk none-the-less.  Things like this help to get you in the Christmas spirit.  While a bit expensive for a walk,  ($13 for our family) it was a nice night out.  
We went out for hot chocolate and donuts afterwards - yummy!  

- Leanne Verkley

---

My Christmas Tree is up and beautifully decorated.  YAY!  I LOVE IT!  
We got a beautiful Balsam Fir tree from Vandemeer's again.   It is close to home which is a huge bonus.  
This year because we only have one car, we picked out our tree and loaded it up into our car and then Hadley and I received a generous car ride home from Patti while Brian drove our tree home.
Hadley was so excited to help decorate the tree.  From the lights and ornaments to the star she was in love with what she was being a part of.  
Every day she finds at least one ornament that needs just a little moving to a new special spot.  :)
She has even added quite a few of her own beautiful decorations.
Now there are presents under the tree and this makes her even more happy!  She helped make tags and wrap presents today and I am very excited to watch Christmas through the eyes of a child.  It is truly magical.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today after Hadley and I had lunch in Toronto with a few old colleagues, we were walking back to the train and found out that Don Cherry was doing a book signing at one of the book stores right near where we were.  (BMO Tower).  So we headed straight to the book store and luckily we ended up being the last in line.  We just made it!  Not bad for only finding out minutes before!
While we didn't buy a book or get anything signed (he wouldn't sign anything but his book) we did get a picture with him.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

From the time Hadley woke up this morning until after dinner Hadley was successful at putting pee and poop in the potty.  YAY!
With only one mistake after dinner I am counting today as a successful potty training day!

One day down...

Tomorrow I may be out of the house for a few hours so we will see how that goes.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Tonight at bedtime Hadley said to me, "I love you mommy".
I said, "I love you too honey".
She then said; "I love you too honey mommy".

So sweet.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today we went for the first time to the OEYC in Whitby.  They have a gym day on Fridays so we thought we would check it out.  It is pretty much the same as the Ajax PlayDay Mondays only a little smaller.  So that took up our morning.

The afternoon we spent a good amount of time on the computer.  I thought it was time to introduce a mouse to Hadley.
For the first few minutes I thought "this is never going to work".  The Mac mouse has only one click but a there is a scroll wheel that she couldn't keep her little fingers off of.  Then I had an idea.  I found a little circular ladybug sticker and put it exactly where she should push down and EUREKA!  She got it! I told her that this was her VERY special button.  She loved having her own special button.  There is no going back now.  She played for most of the afternoon on starfall.com and did a lot of the work herself navigating around.  I did have to be there for the entire time because there are other things that she can click on that I wouldn't want her to go to, but it was fun to watch anyway.  It was the perfect environment.  She knows the ABC portion of starfall pretty much like the back of her hand and now there was a new FUN element to introduce.  
I have never seen her giggle so much in one day.  She had so much fun!

What a great day!

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday was a very busy day!
We started the day off with our regular music and movement class and it was followed by a new class for December called cool books at the Early Years Centre.  (The crafts for this were good but the person in charge was a little intense for the age of kids there).
She intended to read three LONG books but after she realized the attention span of the kids would not quite make it through the first book, she attempted to finish and then decided just to skip the last two books.  Still good fun.

Later in the evening we met up with Patti, Andy and Alicia and went to the Adventure to Bethlehem.  We did this last year and had a great time and thought we would share the experience with them this year.  
Like last year, the church gym had been decorated to allow us to travel through time back to the markets of Bethlehem in the time of Jesus' life.  Hadley and Alicia held flashlights to guide us through the caves.  The scenes really came to life with actors and props although this year we went on opening night and it wasn't as rehearsed as I think it felt last year.  We had to pay taxes just like last year with a penny that they provided to us.  Hadley likes to be trusted with money;  So this was fun for her.  There were more animals this year to feed as last year they found the animals got too full and didn't want to eat when the kids came around.  I wish we had more time with the animals as Hadley loves feeding them and watching them and petting them.  There were sheep, goats and and a donkey.  
For those in the area that are interested: admission is free (donations of food or money are welcome but not a focus) and it is being held for three days: December 3rd, 4th and 5th at 1 Stevensgate Drive at Rossland Road, between Westney and Church Street in Ajax.   905-619-3331.

- Leanne Verkley

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I think Hadley is growing.  Today while I was putting somethings away in Hadley's room she was doing her usual jumping in the crib and within what seemed like one second of me not looking... she climbed over the top of the crib.  

Okay, time for a big girl bed.

Lucky for her we knew this day was coming so we have been preparing the spare bedroom for her.  With lots of clean up and the purchase of a new ABC border and me making a pink valance.  The room is almost ready.  We just need to get a dresser for her.  

Tonight, Brian somehow convinced Hadley that it was her idea to want to sleep in the new big girl bed.  She loved the idea.  
While it took 1/2 hour of me in the room with her, she took to the new sleep arrangements well.  We will see how through the night goes.  :)
I will have to keep my ears wide open in the morning.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Today Hadley and I went swimming with Patti and Alicia at the McLean Centre.  It has been SO long since we have been swimming but Hadley LOVED it.  She was jumping in with no issues of water in her face and when she wanted something on the other side of the pool I would ask her to put her ears in the water and put her legs down and back float across.  She would do this with my help with no problem.  We KIND-OF do this in the bath tub and I guess it has paid off.  Other times I would ask her to blow bubbles and she did that also.
She and Alicia played with the water toys and splashed around enjoying the water.  So much fun.

Later in the afternoon there was a storytime/holiday make and take a the library.  We made a lantern and a Christmas tree.  One was supposed to be left to decorate the library tree but Hadley loved her masterpieces so much that when she asked if she could take both home, I eventually gave in.  Despite my efforts of trying to show her how it was supposed to work.  
She was so proud of her work that she kept trying to show the person in charge what she had made.  It was fun to see her so proud of her work.

- Leanne Verkley

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The other night I met up with Christine and Rhona, two girls that I used to have as room-mates in college.  We started the night at The Korean Grill.  This is such a good deal.  $13 all you can eat meat, rice and soup.  You have to cook your own meal at your table, but that only added to the experience.  I was so full.
Christine treated both of us as a Christmas present.  NICE!

Then we went to Montana's for a few drinks as Rhona had just started a job this week and didn't want to stay out too late, as originally planned.
So just after 10pm Christine and I headed to Club Frequency.  We talked and danced the night away.  I felt a little old in the crowd but the dancing was fun.  
By 3am I was in bed, and by 7:30am, I was up with a toddler for the day.  YAY!  
I was actually okay all day yesterday but I went to bed by 10pm last night to try to catch up.
Thanks for the fun time ladies!

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley had her re-evaluation this week at Grandview for her speech.
They had minimal concerns.  However they did give us some things to work on.  Primarily finishing words.
To work on this we are specifically targeting the sound of T and M.
For example we are doing games and worksheets that allow her to practice words like gum, yum, sweet, tweet, spot, boat.  
Other things we are to emphasize are everyday normal words that end in T and M.
Hat, mitt, boot, hot, home, yum, mom, etc.
Salwa, the person who did the re-evaluation thinks that working on these things  will help her to understand that all words have finishing sounds.
Once we get clear T and M sounds with one word, we need to work on adding a word and keeping the end sounds.
Hadley does seem to keep the P sounds at the end of words but most other words she drops the end sounds.
While she is pretty much exactly where she should be for everything else, she is a few weeks to approx. one month behind others her age with word endings.  
So in short, nothing to worry about, but something to work on.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Last night we arrived at the Santa Claus Parade and found a spot on Harwood in the middle island with a great view.  Hadley and I enjoyed the view on our sports seats by the roadside while Brian stood behind.  Those seats sure do keep you warm when sitting on the ground!  Plus this meant no stroller to maneuver through the crowds.   (Good idea Brian).

We were soon joined by Andy, Patti and Alicia.  
I think the girls felt our excitement as we pointed, waved, sang and cheered our Merry Christmas wishes to those in the the lit up floats.  
I actually really like having the parade at night!  
It was so much warmer this year but a little foggy. I would take that over the VERY cold weather from last year ANY DAY!  Although a little snow would have been okay.  :)

There were also a lot of candy canes to be received.  YUMMY!  You know what this means... candy cane ice-cream is on its way!  :)

Santa came to town with two real reindeer in front of his float as well as the pretend ones on his float.  I love that real reindeer were there.  

After the parade we went to Patti, Andy and Alicia's to enjoy cupcakes and the girls played a little while.  While this made for a late night for the girls, I think they had a great time!

Ready or not Christmas is coming.  40 days...

- Leanne Verkley

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When Hadley doesn't want something to happen, or doesn't think something is right... she says " no, too bumpy".  
NO IDEA WHY.  
But CRAZY funny!

- Leanne Verkley

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In the last few days Hadley has started calling me mommy and not money.  YAY!
It is so cute.  
Mom-my.

However, Daddy this week on the other hand has sometimes turned into Debbie.  Hmmmmm...

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday Brian, Hadley and I went to the Ex to meet up with Shaye to watch Price Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall officially open this years Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.  Admission was free to Royal Spectators and fairgoers who wanted to welcome the famous couple at the grand opening ceremonies taking place in the Ricoh Coliseum.  The only stipulation was that you had to be there before 9:45am.  So that is what we did.  Otherwise it was $18 per adult.  With children under 4 free.  In case anyone was wondering about going.  
While I didn't know if I would ever actually see a royal in person, it was on Shaye's list of things to do before she turns 30.  (November 27th).
It just so happened that she got an email about this happened last week and we were able to join her.  YAY!  
I am happy to have had this experience!  
After watching the official opening we were able to enjoy feeding the animals
(which Hadley LOVED)!  There were sheep, goats, llamas, and cows to feed.  She was a little timid at first until Brian and I fed them and then she was ALL OVER IT!  
She kept telling the bigger animals "not you" and kept calling, LITTLE, LITTLE, where are you LITTLE"?  She only wanted to feed the little animals.  So cute.  There were also piglets that were only a few days old.  Again cute.  
There was a kids area where we coloured, painted, lifted the flaps, played with a stuffed horse and got a new card game that Hadley loves.  Well, she loves the cards (Winnie the Pooh and the gang are on them).  The rules will come later.  
After this we had lunch, and then wandered around to see the exhibits.  
By 2pm Hadley was tired so she nodded off in her stroller while we looked at a few more booths.  
We boarded the GO train at 3pm.  Hadley slept for almost 2 hours.  
What a fun day!

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday Brian, Hadley and I went to the Ex to meet up with Shaye to watch Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall officially open this year

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday Brian, Hadley and I went to the Ex to meet up with Shaye to watch Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall officially open this year

- Leanne Verkley

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Today I decided that it would be a good idea for Hadley to know my first name (she already knows Brian's), and her last name.
So throughout the day I would ask her, what is your first name, and she would say Hadley, then I would ask her what my first name was and by the end of the day she said her version on Leanne.  While it is so not clear to anyone else, it is clear that she knows the answer.  We will work on clarity later.  By the end of the day she was also able to tell me that her last name was Verkley.  
YAY!
She knows her first and last name, her mommy and daddy's name, and her address.  Well, at least the first part of her address: 168 Rands Road.  
I am not so sure her phone number will be that easy to learn.  If there are any tips out there for that... please share!

- Leanne Verkley

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I started a new program today at Carruthers Creek Community Church AKA C4.  It is called MOPS.  Mothers of preschoolers.  
The program runs every other week and goes for 1.5 hours.
In this time, Hadley goes in a play room with other kids her age and does circle time, songs, books, snack and open play.  Then the moms go in another room and discuss other topics of interest such as the topic this month: living on a budget.  I had some great moms at my table this week.  Jessica, Nicole and Heather.
I think this group will be really good for me for many reasons (spiritual growth, new friendships, me time), but I think it will also be good for Hadley to play with other kids without me around and learn how to listen to other authoritative figures.  
Hadley did really well apparently and only stood by the door for the last few minutes and they said she kept saying, mommy come back, mommy come back.  (Which Brian and I have taught her that if she can't see either of us, she should wait where she is and we will come back for her because we love her).  But they said she wasn't alarmed, or crying just telling them what should happen.  They said if she looked really upset for any reason they would have brought her to me.  (Two other kids were brought in during the meeting so I felt good knowing that they would consider her emotional well being and bring her in if they felt she really needed me).
She was VERY happy to see me when I came back and said: mommy, I missed you.  (So sweet).  I missed her too.  
For us, this is a long time to be apart.
After week one, I am happy with the new program to add to our regular routine.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Today we started the day by going grocery shopping and who do you think we met in the parking lot? Patti and Alicia.  So we shopped together.  While I expected this to be hard, it was actually okay.  Hadley kept saying "she's getting away." This was because they were ahead of us. So cute.

Then we made plans to go to the park in the afternoon since it was such a beautiful day.
On our way back, Hadley and I found two lady bugs.  One red with black dots and one orange with light grey spots.  We put the ladybugs on a leaf and brought them home.  
We put them in a jar and Hadley has been watching them all night.
It is so fun to watch her explore.

- Leanne Verkley

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Last night we met up with Beth, Dave and Clara and we went to the kids safety village in Whitby. They decorated the little buildings that were small replicas of big stores and buildings.  The doors were about 5 feet with the first story windows at about 7 feet.  (We went there for Christmas one time).  http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/leanne/index.cgi?sid=482&user=
There was also a colouring station, music area, balloon animal station and more.  Plus Hadley received a loot bag on the way out.  A good start to our Halloween fun.

Then this morning we started out with a trip to Toys R Us.  They were celebrating their 25th anniversary and the first 100 customers got a gift card with a surprise value ranging between $5 and $50.  
So after waiting in line for 3, maybe 5 minutes, we went in.  Then after receiving my card, I went back to get a cart to put Hadley in and when I came back through the doors, the guy gave me another card.  (Nice).  
I checked the cards on the price check scanners and they were each for $10.  Sweet!  They are giving out more cards tomorrow.  We shall see how motivated I am.  

Today in the morning we met up with the mommy group.  This has been an annual event to get the kids to play together, and get a group photo of them in their costumes.  This year we also did extra photos with the two new babies. This was a yummy potluck event.

In the afternoon Brian joined Patti, Alicia, Hadley and I and we went to the zoo.  This is also an annual event since Hadley was born.  However it is usually just Hadley and I and usually on a weekday.  But it was fun with more people.
It was a windy day but I think we got some great photos!

After this, Andy joined us at our house and we had pizza before the big trick-or-treating.  
At 5:50pm, we thought this would be a good time to go out.  It turns out we went out early.  We were pretty much the only people out.  So we did a few houses with the girls together, then they went home, and we came home.  We handed out some candy and then Hadley and I went out again later to some more of our neighbours.  After Hadley got into the swing of things she kept saying "next door mommy, next door."  So cute.

Hadley also loved running to the door and handing out candy once she heard the bell ring.  She would run, shout "sombody's here, hurry"!  
Between 7:00 and 7:30pm we had the most kids.  (I thought this to be late for a Saturday since the kids didn't have to wait for parents to get home from work.  Oh well).  

At 8:00pm we turned off the lights after a respectable count of 58 kids.

What a busy 24 hours!

- Leanne Verkley

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- Leanne Verkley

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While I don't go to church every week, I do enjoy it when I can go; and I am glad I could go this week because I found out that the times for church are changing starting November 15th.  
Due to large attendance, they are changing the 10am service to:  9:09am, and adding an additional service at 11:11am.  Plus there will be an evening service at 6:06pm.  I am not sure who picked the times but I think they are interesting enough to make people talk about the times and remember them.  :)

https://www.thecommon.org/
This is a website that was introduced to us yesterday.  It is a website that helps.  
If you need help you post an ad for what you need, if you can help, then you look for posts from others.  I thought this was cool.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today we turned Hadley's precious pumpkin into a Jack-o-lantern.  
She picked out her beautiful pumpkin one day while we were grocery shopping and almost every day since then she has hugged her pumpkin on the front porch whenever we went out.
She also said : I love you pumpkin.
Then today we told her that we were going to give him a face.  
She said that he needed eyes, a nose and a mouth.  I think she totally understood what was happening.
Brian cut off the top and Hadley and I dove in to remove the seeds and gunk.
Mostly she just stirred the seeds in the bowl with her spoon as she didn't want to get her hands dirty but still there was the odd time that she put her spoon in the actual pumpkin.  
Afterwards she was quite happy to see that her pumpkin now had a face.  
When the carving was complete we lit him up with a tea-light candle.
Wonderful.  
With the candy purchased, the pumpkin carved, the front porch decorated and the girls costume ready, I now feel like Halloween can come.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today Brian braved going outside to Pumpkinville after being sick for 5 days.  
Brian, Hadley and I did the hike that that trails committee led.  (The group Brian recently joined).  The two hour hike was a bit long for Hadley but even though I carried her for a lot of it, I still quite enjoyed being out on a hike.
After the hike we met up with Patti and Alicia and the girls went on the bouncy castles, wandered around the pumpkins, and did some crafts.  
It was a beautiful free autumn family day.
Alas, Brian is still sick so after being out for a few hours it was back on the couch for him.

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley has taken up humming.  
She hums the alphabet, or twinkle twinkle little star, or baa baa black sheep almost every day.
Okay, so they are all the same tune.  Whatever.  
:)  
However, since she sings the alphabet a lot, I am pretty sure it is actually the alphabet that she is humming.
One of her favorite times to hum is while we are rocking in her rocking chair right before bed.

Oh, just to note... if she sings the ABC's, she still will not include M or N and sometimes Y is still eliminated.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday we headed to Listowel leaving from the Pickering mall at 3pm.  After much traffic and bad weather we arrived at 8:30pm.
So, after putting Hadley to bed, with Julie and her grandma watching over her; Brian and I headed to my brother's friend's buck and doe.  (Chris and Chantel).  
The night was a huge success money-wise for them from what I hear.   Joe did a fantastic job at the crown and anchor table!

Saturday we had Thanksgiving with my dad, Sunday we met up with my mom for lunch, and then visited with the Verkley's at Phil and Doreen's at their annual football Thanksgiving event.
Monday was lunch / dinner with Brian's dad.
There was so much food, and good conversation.  
Thanks for the fun everyone!

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday our friends Ryan, Jenny and their son Owen came to Ajax and we enjoyed a rainy day at the zoo.  The pavilions provide a fun day out even when the weather is not so nice.
Then we stayed up way too late playing games.
Good times.

Saturday I went to an old co-worker's baby shower and reminised with the girls of days gone by.  

Sunday I hosted my first ever Tupperware Party.  I feel so old.  BUT... I love tupperware.  I had a good turnout of 8 friends plus me.  With over $800 in sales.  This means I got approximately $125 in free product!  I love it!

- Leanne Verkley

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Today Hadley held up two bags of chips that were the same and said "they match", then we showed her something else and said to her that they were different.
All day long since then she has been holding up similar crayon colours and other things that are the same, and other things that are different and telling us if they are "the same" or "different".
This is so much fun to watch her express this new found knowledge.  

- Leanne Verkley

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On Saturday it was the annual potluck for our midwives.  This is the second one that we have attended.  We met up with Jenny (our midwife for Hadley), as well as our good friends Christine, Rob, and their two boys Matthew and Alexander.
There was a jumpy castle, fishing in a baby pool, colouring, and toys outside on mats for the kids to play with.
It was good fun.

After this we headed to the Ontario Science Centre where we took advantage of the free day for the 40th anniversary.
(Well, we had to pay $8 for parking but otherwise free).
It was good times but it was so busy so I am glad that we didn't pay to get in.
Regular price is $18 per adult, $11 for 3 and older, and free under 3.
Hadley thoroughly enjoyed the market where she got a small cart and was able to shop like an adult, and even check out her food at the cash.  Each kid took their role either putting food away, shopping, and even cashiering.
She also really liked rolling the balls down tracks to see them roller coster around.  We did see more, but those were the highlights for her for sure.
Maybe we will go back in a few years when we think she will get more out of it.
All in all, a good Saturday.

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday night, almost all of the girls from our mommy group got together to go see Love Happens at the Cineplex.  
We all cried and then laughed that we were all crying.
Then later we went out for drinks and we all laughed so hard that we almost cried.  What a great time!
Happy news for the third member of our group of seven to be pregnant with her second baby!  Congratulations go out to Beth!

- Leanne Verkley

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There are four words that I am sure she can read.
Mommy, Daddy, Hadley and Verkley.

The other day I was pointing out that our license plate had Verkley on it.  She repeated after me and I thought, this is something to work on.
Then when we were out with Brian, I asked her what our license plate said and she said VERKLEY.  
She has recognized Hadley, mommy and daddy for a while but I really noticed that she is very interested in what things say over the past few weeks.
I love that she is always asking: what's that say?

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley's favorite TV show is Super Why!  She can sing some of the theme song; she says "Super Why to the rescue" and "Hip Hip Hooray"! which is another song that repeats in each episode.   She gets so happy when it is on.  
She loves that I can bring it up on demand on my computer.  Small clips and games can be found at http://pbskids.org/superwhy/

This show is a great tool for learning about letters, spelling and reading.
While I am a little Super Why'd out, I am glad it she loves a show that teaches so much!

Other shows that she likes (but definitely not as much) are Sid the Science Kid (another really good learning show for science), Curious George, Martha Speaks (this show teaches bigger words), Arthur, Clifford the Big Red Dog and of course Sesame Street.

To note, she also just learned this past week how to use the proper remotes / buttons to turn the TV and sound on.

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley can now turn the water on in the washroom.
At least she can do it in the washroom on the main floor.  She puts her little stool up close to the sink, and then climbs up kicking her feet against the front of the vanity and then she turns the water on.  She can even turn it off.

We had a talk today and hopefully she understands that she should only play with or use the water when Brian or I are with her as we really don't want her to get burned with hot water.  
The good news is that it takes a few minutes for the hot water in that room to really get hot enough to burn.

She is getting so big!  This reminds me of the Raffi song "I wonder if I am growing",

- Leanne Verkley

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Today Hadley looked at a few different things with writing on it and said... "What's that say?"
She had true interest in what these things were. One was a book and the other was a sign at a store.
This is so cool that she recognized that there were words to be deciphered and secondly that she knew how to ask to get her answer.
I love that kid!

- Leanne Verkley

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On the weekend Hadley had a fever of 39 C, or 102 F.
This lasted most of the weekend and made for a quiet low key weekend.
However, she mostly got better and then it hit me.  Today I am finally down to 38.2 C or 100.76 F.  Not quite normal but much better for chasing around a toddler.
Keeping up to a toddler is challenge when they are sick, it is even more of a challenge when I am sick.
I feel I am on the mend though.  Hopefully Brian doesn't get this.

- Leanne Verkley

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Tonight while Brian and I were bathing Hadley we noticed that she was really repeating words from our conversation.  We heard her say next week and then Brian decided to say Monday and she repeated it.  We cheered and she was so happy with herself.
So we went through each of the days of the week and cheered with each new day.  
After we heard her say Thursday we cheered and then she said Friday all on her own.  How did she know that Friday came next?  
We continued with the remainder of the days and she repeated them very well.  
I am still not sure she knows what the words she said meant but this was very cool to watch her repetition.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Today I took the sprinkler out in the backyard and tried to convince Hadley that it would be fun to run through the water.  
So after me jumping through a few times she finally decided that I was crazy and moved far away from the sprinkler.  She still wanted to watch me go through as she cheered me on, but she didn't want to do it herself.  
Oh well, it was fun anyway!  It reminded me of when I was a kid.

- Leanne Verkley

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My nephew turned one today.  I can't believe how fast the last year flew by.
My sister had a birthday party for him on the Monday of the long weekend which was good fun.
It was a beautiful day with lots of food, people and gifts.
We enjoyed the day outside in their backyard.
Jayden's actual birthday is today and I have reflected on the past year and how wonderful it is to have him with us!  
Happy BIrthday Jayden!

- Leanne Verkley

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Another milestone.
Hadley has graduated into size 5 diapers.  I was hoping she would be potty trained before this happened but it is a much longer process than I anticipated.
There have been a lot more successes in the last little while but I think the complete training will be a little while out yet.

- Leanne Verkley

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After 10 years and 213 000 KM of making memories in my 1999 Green Oldsmobile Alero, the front spring broke.  
This is a spring that basically holds the whole front of the car together.
I was told that this is normal after 10 years of wear and tear and that a rough road was likely the culprit.  (Well, I am not pointing any fingers, but I am  pleased to announce that after a few weeks of construction, we now have a beautiful new road outside of our house).  
However, with a brutal scraping noise under my car and a quote of $1300 to fix, we decided that it was time to put my car to rest.  :(

After some investigation we found a wrecker that agreed to try to fix her and sell her for someone else to use if he can.  If not, he will send me a cheque for the parts.
I actually cried today.  It was hard to watch the tow truck carry her away.  
It felt like a small portion of my independence went with her.  
I know, we still have another car, but I am pretty sure there will not be anything like my FIRST car.  

- Leanne Verkley

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On Saturday Brian, Hadley and I headed to Etobicoke / Mississauga to attend Michelle and Derek's wedding.  They had a large church service and a reception with lots of polka music, and lots of food.  
I think the high-light for Hadley though was the goody bag that they prepared and had on our table for her.  We stayed until after midnight and then headed to Cecilia's (Brian's aunts) house to stay over night.  
This saved us so much time as we had to get up early to head to Strathroy the next day for the VON walk.  
Here we met up with Jeff and Theresa and their family as well as Phil and Doreen and their family.
We walked approximately 5 KM in the rain and then enjoyed a warm lunch with some entertainment.
The good times continued back at Jeff and Theresa's where we had pizza and chips!
I was tired but the group decided that it would be good fun to go to the drive-in.  So, we did.
We saw The Ugly Truth and District 9.
The Ugly Truth was very predictable, but District 9 was really good with a flair that is different from that of our normal North American films.
Just after 1 am we were back at Phil and Doreen's to spend the night.
We got home pretty late the next day after enjoying some good food and conversation.
So are the fun tiring times of our lives.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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My birthday week was full of wonderfulness!  
It started the day before my birthday.  I didn't feel like cooking so we decided to use up a free pizza coupon I had for Pizza Hut.  I also had free coupons for  Dairy Queen.  Mmmm Blizzards!  I love FREE stuff.
Later that night I did some scrapbooking with some of my scrapping friends.  So that was a fun day!
On my actual birthday I got together with my mommy group for a get-together / shower for Chaylee and her new baby girl Blair.  It was like old times when everyone was off work for the first year of Hadley's life.  We all got caught up and watched the kids play.
That night Brian, Hadley and I used up another coupon that I received from Boston Pizza.  So dinner was less than $20 for all three of us.
The next day I was treated by my brother to Wonderland.  
It was so much fun to take Hadley to wonderland for the first time.  
Her first ride was the old Ford cars. She also enjoyed the merry-go-round, the tea cups and the playground.  We spent a good amount of time in Hanna Barbara Land.  We also were able to get in line at the end of the day for the Behemoth.  After Joe rode the ride with one of his friends, Hadley watched in Joe's arms as Brian and I took our turn.  I was terrified going up, and going down I kept thinking that I didn't sign up for bungy jumping (or something like it).  However, after the ride was over, I wanted to do it again!
The day was so much fun!  (Thanks Joe).  
On Thursday we went to the "Make and Take" at the Ontario Early Years Centre.  Hadley made some great crafts.
Then Friday we headed to Kitchener to Brian's grandmothers house where we met up with Brian's sister Lisa who came in for the weekend from Nova Scotia.  We also met up with Julie, Brian's mom and Brian's grandma obviously.  
Saturday we met up with my mom for breakfast and then headed over to Mount Forest for a BBQ at Steph and Derek's House.  Here we met up with Ryan, Lori, Trevor, Melanie, Joel, and their respective children.  Including the newest baby, Nolan (Ryan and Lori's 3 month old baby).  It was a late night but a lot of fun.
Sunday was the Verkley picnic at Don and Maria's house.  Again so much fun.  
We were able to catch up with so many people.  It was a pig roast feast with great conversation.  What a busy FUN week.

- Leanne Verkley

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When Hadley was 18 months old I signed her up for a speech assessment program provided by the government at Grandview.  It had a 9 month wait and after finally being assessed it was determined that she was pretty much right where she should be with her one word sentences.  However, because we waited and went through the process, we were allowed to go into the 5 week program that shows different strategies to help kids learn to speak.  
So over the past 5 weeks we attended a one hour session every Friday morning where we would learn new strategies and have play time with one on one advisors.  I learned that Hadley sometimes needs to lead, we need to offer opportunities for turn taking, I needed to provide temptations so Hadley wants to communicate.  As well, I needed to simplify my language, and finally I now need to repeat what she says and show her how to add a word.   Over the past 5 weeks Hadley really learned to connect words.  In fact she now has quite a few 3 and four word sentences up from her one word utterances.  

We are also working on finishing words.  Hadley has some words that I know what they are but others who don't talk with her everyday do not.  An example of this is: Ahh, it is often used for off.  When we show her that off has an F sound at the end, she will try it.  We just have to have patience and continue to model words.  
I am grateful for the program and feel good to know that Hadley is where she should be compared to others her age.  They told me I should not be worried at all.  
Sometime throughout the year they will contact me to re-asses Hadley to confirm she is continuing her speech growth at the appropriate level.  I love free government programs!  

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley and I finally ventured to my friend Shaye's new place near Washago.  (Orillia area).  She lives in this cute little cottage like house right on the water.  
It has such a beautiful view.  :)
We spent much of our time indoors catching up as it was raining but when the sun did come out we did head out her back door and went in the water.  So cool and convenient.  Hadley loved playing in the water!
We also enjoyed a small walk but then the rain came back.  
After much conversation throughout the day we relaxed with a movie "Return to me".  A much needed girly flick.    :)  
Shaye made us fabulous food throughout our stay and I was super surprised when she handed me a birthday present.  Not that she doesn't get me a present every year, I just wasn't expecting it.  She is so sweet.  
I felt like I was on vacation while visiting her.  Hopefully we can visit again really soon!

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday, Brian's sister Julie came over for a visit.  We decided to go to the Toronto Zoo to explore the new Tundra area.  http://www.torontozoo.com/tundratrek.asp

The main attraction was the polar bear exhibit that is five times bigger than the last one and now holds three polar bears.  It is magnificent.  They did such a great job on this area.  Of course there are also arctic wolves, arctic foxes, reindeer, snowy owls and geese.
I am excited for this new area to explore.  Plus I think it will be even more fun during the winter when the crowds are much smaller.  :)  

We also decided to go in and explore "sharks at stingray bay".  There was an additional $3 per person charge but we were able to pet the stingrays.  Hadley even participated this year.  (Last year we didn't let her touch them due to possible allergies but this year we held her up to experience the fun.  She wasn't scared but it did take her by surprise the first time she touched one.  

Another area that we went to was the orangutang upstairs viewing area.  This is not an area that we usually get to because we usually have our stroller but we ventured through the zoo for almost 5 hours without the stroller.  We did have to take turns a few times to carry Hadley.  However, Hadley had a favorite carrying buddy.  So a special thanks goes out to Julie!

We saw more of the zoo that we usually see but the above have special mentions for this particular visit.  

It was a great day with beautiful weather.  
Hadley went to bed easily and was still tired today.  It was a very quiet day today.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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After five years of being married, I think I have officially changed everything to include my married last name.
Oddly enough the hardest thing that I have been spending 5 years trying to change was my name with BMO.  (The bank that I used to work for).
However, today my new credit card finally arrived in the mail with the correct name on it.  
Yay!

- Leanne Verkley

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Today while Hadley and I were out walking I turned to Hadley and said: I love you Hadley.  She then turned to me and said: I yuv you money.
She calls me money all the time.  I am sure mommy will come one day.  
So close.  I'll take it.  
I loved it.  What a great moment!

- Leanne Verkley

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This past week, Hadley and I joined my dad for a few days at Sauble Beach.  He rented a large cottage that hosted many of us for a few days each (throughout his week long stay there).
We enjoyed some time at Sauble Falls, Hadley went paddle boating for the first time on Sauble River, we went for walks on the beach and the strip, we went on the swings and had good campfire conversation.  
On top of all of this we were also treated to some great food!
Thanks for the mini vacation dad!  

- Leanne Verkley

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Last weekend was my friend Michelle's Bachelorette (I met her while at school at Georgian College).
She is marrying a great guy (Derek) at the end of August and I couldn't be happier for them!

The day started out with me traveling to Barrie to meet my friends Cort and Sherri-Lyn's new baby Logan.  It was so good to be able to do two events in Barrie on the same weekend!  Logan is so little.  We enjoyed tea and conversation before I went to join 15 or so ladies to take a pole dancing class.
That's right, we all spent $20 and took a one hour pole dancing class.
It was SO much fun but my arms were really sore the next day!
After our lesson we went out for dinner and enjoyed cocktails at "Manhattan's" to the sound of live music.  The conversation was fun and the atmosphere was great.  
Following this we headed out for dancing at "The Bank"!
I had a great time and haven't been dancing in a long while.  The fire alarm was pulled and the firemen showed up so that led to some fun photos of Michelle in her tiara with the firemen.  
Unfortunately I had to leave at midnight with a 1.5 hour drive ahead of me.  I was quite tired the next day and I am sure Hadley wondered what was up with me.  I look forward to partying with these girls again at the wedding!

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday Hadley and I joined my brother Joe and his friends in Toronto.
Hadley recognized Joe right away, said his name and wanted him to carry her.  She also wanted to show off her new words.  We walked around in the rain, had dinner at the Texas Grill on Front Street and then headed to watch the Jays / Cleveland game.
Not much action in the game up until the 7th when Rolens hit a home run to make the Jays up 1-0.  
However the Jays lost it in the 9th when Cleveland scored two runs.
The game started at 7:07 pm.  Hadley was asleep at 8:00 pm and woke up at 9:30 pm when the game was over.
She was awake all the way home (on the GO) and for a little while after.
She eventually fell asleep just after midnight.
It was great catching up with my brother.  :)
Thanks for the fun!

- Leanne Verkley

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Last weekend was a games weekend and it is only now that I have found time to write about it.
We had our good friends Andy and Patti over and we played games until 2am!  Both Alicia and Hadley slept while we played our board games and the wii and it was so much fun.
Sunday the fun continued as Michelle and Derek came to visit.  We went to the zoo for the day, then came back home for a BBQ, more games, and then a campfire.
So much fun.  
We need to play games more often!

- Leanne Verkley

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When Hadley was only a few weeks old my best friend Lindsay hosted a baby shower for her in Toronto.  It was here that Lindsay gave Hadley her first (and only to date) Cabbage Patch Kid.  
Well, we left her in the box due to small accessories until today.  It says 3+ on the box but I think she can handle the soother accessory that she came with.  Hadley found her today and expressed great interest in opening her up.  She was so excited!
So today we proudly announce the adoption of Martha Erica.  Her birthday is tomorrow.  :)  Perhaps we should have waited until tomorrow to open her but we couldn't see the date on the birth certificate until we opened her up.  
It is so much fun to watch a two year old get so excited!
I told her that she couldn't open her without her dad so she went and got Brian and grabbed his hand and brought him to Martha's box.
(I knew Brian would also want to witness this excitement).  
She waited very patiently as Brian gently released her CPK from her living quarters.   She loved Martha instantly.  

- Leanne Verkley

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On Wednesday it was Canada Day and we headed to Waterloo to enjoy Canada Day with Brian's dad.  We actually went to Larry and Faye's house (Patti-Jo's Cousin's) and enjoyed good food, company and fireworks in their elevated backyard.  (PERFECT view of the waterloo fireworks).  Hadley was full of energy and then when the fireworks started she was amazed and then relaxed and then asleep halfway through the actual show.  :)  At least she wasn't afraid!  
The next day we headed to Listowel and had lunch with my sister Mandy, her son Jayden and my brother Joe at McDonalds as Joe was working.   A short visit but still nice.  From there we  headed to Brian's mom's house as we learned this week that she was moving.  We spent the day helping her go through things in her garage.  Julie was also there helping out.  I think we got a lot done!  She is hoping to list her house really soon.  The reason the title says "Bear's moving news" is because that is what Hadley calls her grandma.  Bear.  While my note previous to this was all about how well she was doing with her speech, it seams that grandma to her, should be said "bear".  This just started this weekend but it was very consistent.  It is SO funny.  
That night we also caught up with my dad for a visit and I actually got him signed up on Facebook.  We will see how much uses it.  :)
The next day was Friday.  We headed to the Pinery campground to meet up with Brian's uncles Phil and Jeff and their family and friends.  The weekend consisted of great hikes, time on the beach, and campfires amongst catching up.  Hadley is such a great little camper.
This time there were almost no mosquitos!  YAY!
On our way home we headed back to Listowel to move some heavy furniture to the garage for Brian's mom and caught up with Brian's cousin Tina, her boyfriend Jesse, and Brian's sister Julie.  
It was a busy weekend but I was so happy to catch up with so many people.

- Leanne Verkley

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When Hadley was 18 months old her speech was not quite at the same level as that of her peers.  So I looked into getting her on the nine month waiting list at Grandview to have her assessed.  
I figured if she caught up, I wouldn't worry, but at least she was on the waiting list.
At the end of June her name came up so we went to the appointment to have them assess her.
They showed her flash cards and asked her to identify things, they played with bubbles, dolls, and other toys to see how she played and communicated with them.
After the hour long visit it was determined that she mostly spoke in one word sentences and didn't finish words.  So to work on this we were instructed to add one word to whatever she said and repeat words back to her in the correct manner if she didn't finish them.  For example she says MIL for milk.
In the last week she has blossomed to A LOT of two and three word sentences  making her exactly where she should be.  YAY!  
However, because we went to the assessment we are now able to attend a five week course that gives us different things to work on to continue to build her vocabulary.  So we are signed up for that over the summer.
The other thing that should be noted is that she is advanced in her play skills.   (Closer to that of a three year old).  She understands how stuffed animals and dolls can pretend to do things that we can do.
I am so glad that she is where she should be.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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Last week Brian, Hadley and I joined our friends Patti, Andy and Alicia to go camping at Awenda.  It is a provincial park just north of Midland.
We left on June 21st and celebrated Father's Day, the date that Brian and I had our first date, and the first day of summer at Saint Marie Among the Hurons.  http://www.saintemarieamongthehurons.on.ca/english/index.htm
We walked through some of the buildings from the earliest Canadian pioneer life seeing iron being molded, food being cooked, as well as singing and dancing.  We were even invited to join in with some of the dancing.  
From here we headed to our campsite in Awenda.
http://www.out-there.com/awenda.htm
After setting up camp we had a wonderful steak dinner toasting the day with wine.  
The next few days consisted of hikes where the girls did a good deal of walking, swimming at the beach where the girls played by the waters edge jumping into Brian and Andy's arms, and collecting sand to put on Patti and my feet.  We also had some very relaxing campfires but we can't forget to mention the mass of mosquitos.  There were so many mosquitos!
Alicia and Hadley got a long really well.  Patti and Andy were great to camp with also!  

Alicia's wagon was a huge hit as getting a ride was so much fun for Hadley even if it was just to the washroom.  :)
(Note that the park is right beside the washroom).  

On Tuesday night Hadley starting limping for no reason.  
I took off her shoe and found a mosquito bite on her toe.  While it seemed odd that this would make her limp, I left her shoe off and took her into the tent to play mosquito free for about an hour and a half.  When I asked her to stand she would say knee knee and would appear in great pain.  When we tried to touch her knee she would cry in pain.  
I carried her to dinner and she was her regular self but after dinner when she attempted to stand she was clearly hurt.
We brought her back into the tent and she fell asleep while we tried to call telehealth on our cell but with bad connections we decided it was worth the trip to Midland to get it checked out.
After 3 hours in the ER, Hadley was seen, gifted with a bear, and her swelled knee was ex-rayed.  Hadley did not like the ex-ray process.
There was a positive outcome though.  The doctor saw nothing wrong in the ex-ray and said just to watch her.   To note: I thought it was cool that the ex-ray was just a file sent from one computer to another internally from the technicians to the doctor. YAY technology.  
Hadley fell asleep on the car ride back.  It was very late and she needed sleep.  The next day she was running with no appearance that anything was wrong from the previous day.  YAY!
On Wednesday we headed into Penetanguishene to take the girls for ice-cream and some mosquito free park time.
We continued our camping adventure until Thursday when we headed back to Penetanguishene for lunch on the harbour and then home.  
On the way home we stopped just north of Uxbridge where we took Hadley strawberry picking.  OUR GIRL LOVES STRAWBERRIES!  This was so much fun to take her and allow her to pick and eat the berries.  She totally understood that the green stems needed to be taken off before eating and wanted to offer Brian and I berries every time she ate one.  (So giving).  
What a great vacation!

- Leanne Verkley

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I have been trying to convince Hadley for a while now that a horse is a horse and not a neigh and a sheep is a sheep, not a baa.

Nope, she likes to call them neigh and baa.

I guess this is the type of update you get on a rainy day.  

- Leanne Verkley

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While Hadley now has many two word connections, three word connections are coming fast and furious now.
Most popular are:
I see you, I found you, dare it is (there it is). W'are you? (Where are you).
I did it.
I you, (I love you).  It's a three word sentence in my books.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday we were fortunate enough to have my sister come down to watch Hadley while Brian and I took some time out for ourselves to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.
We spent the afternoon golfing at Carruthers Creek.  This was my first time golfing since being pregnant with Hadley.  It was so much fun but I didn't do that well.  But it didn't matter.  The day was beautiful.  
We also enjoyed a dinner out at Montana's.  Mmmm.  Steak!  
The evening was complete after we watched the Penguins win the Stanley Cup.

Saturday we went over to Patti and Andy's house to celebrate Alicia's 2nd Birthday.  Alicia opened each guests gifts upon their arrival.  She knew they were for her and she knew what she needed to do to unwrap them.  It was really cute.  
The girls played in the pool, the sandbox, in the swing, and around the yard with the other kids.  Bubbles were also a big hit.  
We stayed until we felt the girls really needed to go to bed.
Good times.

- Leanne Verkley

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This morning Patti, Alicia, Hadley and I headed to the brand new Ajax Fire Station Head Quarters.  (North on Salem).  The tour was arranged for by the Ontario Early Years Centre.  
We arrived at 9:30 am and were greeted by the firemen (each shift does have one girl on it, except the shift that was on today).

We were able to see the trucks and get in them but I think the sirens and lights made Hadley a little nervous as she decided it would be best to just stay outside of the trucks.  
Sparky came out to hug and greet the kids but this only added to her apprehension.  
Things seemed to turn around when the kids were given fire hats and we moved into the dispatch room with all the computers and phones.  (This is where the 911 calls are sent).    
Candy in the kitchen also helped to make for happy little ones.  :)
They had a beautiful kitchen with an attached living room with a plazma TV and lazy boys for each of the fire fighters.  
We saw their murphy beds (the night shift is allowed to sleep anytime after 10 pm on their shift but they say it usually isn't worth it to sleep).  
We found out that Ajax has approx. 10 call outs each day.  
The firemen seemed to love their jobs mostly for the excitement factor.  They were very friendly and the kids all got colouring books before leaving.  

We had a small snack picnic on the front lawn before heading home.  

I went to play baseball tonight but Brian said that Hadley wanted to go to sleep with her fire hat on.  I imagine that would have been a little tricky.  :)  

- Leanne Verkley

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While Hadley's hair is still very fine, it is thickening and so two pig tails (I think I have been out voted on calling them pony tails) are now very common as they keep the hair out of her eyes.
Tonight while she was sleeping I put them in braids.  This is the only possible way to put braids in her hair.  We took pictures but her hair is really too fine to hold the braids for very long so she can't wear that style yet during the day.

Hadley is now really trying to link words.
Popular ones are:

Side Down - Up-side-down
Up Peas - Up Please
Hep Peas - Help Please
Oh No - Oh No
Oh dee - Oh dear
Sit dow - Sit down
And her favorite:
How You - How are you
(The conversation is usually "How You? I say "good".  Then she says "fine").

Dress up is very fun for Hadley.  She especially loves to add socks to her stuffed animals.

Drawers.  Hadley now knows where the BBQ supplies are kept if we say we are going to BBQ, she will go get them.  She also knows how to get socks.  (See above).  

Green is still Hadley's favorite colour.  She calls it Breen.

Potty training is still in progress.  BAHH!

We switched Hadley to 2% milk this week.  This allows her milk to be shared with the family.  HOMO milk is REALLY thick!

At play group it doesn't matter which snack I pack, Alicia's is always better.
This works out because Alicia likes Hadley's snacks way better than her own also.  

Winnie the Pooh and Piglet are her favorite little toys to carry around the house.  She calls them Pooh and Pig.  They are the same size as her hands and were originally bath toys that also came with a Tigger.  (She loves Tigger but he is left in the bathroom for bath time).

Minnie and Mickey and baby Tad are new favorite stuffed animals.  Alicia also has these.

Puppets are also really fun for her.    She likes the muppet type one that I made.  (Papaya).  But she also really likes the ones at Playday Mondays.  

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Bear Wants More" are favorite books at the moment.  

She loves all of her Little People and especially loves to have me pretend to knock on her little house door and climb up and down the stairs and have them go to sleep in their beds.  If she introduces Pooh and Piglet into the mix and we are playing with her, she always plays with Pooh and Brian and I always get Piglet.  

Feeding the fish has become a new favorite thing to do each evening.

Outdoor fun.  Sidewalk chalk is always fun.  While there are many colours she almost always gives me the pink chalk.  

Today we filled her kiddie pool and she played with her water toys for a long time.  She even put her feet in.  One at a time for about 1 second each;  but she did it a few times.  

Summer is coming!

- Leanne Verkley

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Tonight we enjoyed the company of Patti, Andy and Alicia for dinner.
Hadley wasn't sure of all of these people joining us for dinner but later she warmed up to having them there.   At first she didn't really want to eat her dinner but in the end she did eat.  The two girls shared toys wonderfully.
The roast beef dinner was decent, but the apple pie was AMAZING.
We talked about our upcoming camping trip, some project stuff that we have on the go, and life.
It was a fun night but I am tired.  (Note: I am writing at almost 1am).
I better go to bed.  G'night.

- Leanne Verkley

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Tonight we enjoyed the company of Patti, Andy and Alicia for dinner.
At first Hadley wasn't too sure of all of these people joining us for dinner but later warmed up to having them there and didn't really want to eat her dinner.  The two girls shared toys wonderfully.
The roast beef dinner was decent, but the apple pie was AMAZING.
We talked about our upcoming camping trip, some project stuff that we have on the go, and life.
It was a fun night but I am tired.  (Note: I am writing at almost 1am).
I better go to bed.  G'night.

- Leanne Verkley

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On Saturday it was Hannah's second birthday.  She is one of the little girls from our mommy group.  Christine (her mom) invited all the moms and dads and kids from the mommy group over and everyone had a great time.  There was play time, presents and cake in a cone.  (Christine made cupcakes in ice-cream cones for the cake and they were tasty).  

Today was a wedding shower for my good friend Michelle who is getting married in August.  It was at a hall and the tables were set up like a wedding.  There were a lot of people there but it was well organized and there was a lot of food.  It was good to catch up with Michelle and Sarah.

I am exhausted after these last three days.

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday May 22, I went into Toronto to meet up with some old colleagues for lunch and ended up going into my old office to visit some other friends that couldn't meet up for lunch.
Hadley was really good about hanging out next to me and she was really well behaved.
After a few minutes of visiting around the office we went in for a visit with the CEO.   I walked out into the hall after our conversation and she ran back into his office.
She thought I would run after her so she looked back for me and then ran into a glass table where she chipped her front tooth.  This was a total accident and awful for me to watch.  
This cut our visit short and there were a few people I didn't get a chance to talk with (sorry) but I wanted to head home to hopefully get a dentist to look at her mouth.  HOWEVER, it was Friday afternoon and after back and forth conversation with Brian on my cell we found out that our dentist was closed.
After we got home, Brian and I decided that it was okay to wait until Monday to have it looked at by a dentist.
UPDATE TO COME.

- Leanne Verkley

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Tonight I was invited to play with an old colleague in the TMFSL (Toronto Mutual Fund Softball League).
This is the same league that I played with when I worked for BMO/GGOF.
Brian watched Hadley and I drove into Toronto to Moss Park.  This park is interesting to say the least.  There are homeless and crazy people everywhere.  There was one lady doing some sort of ritual in left field and she was half naked, and a soccer team playing in right field.  
Jeremy has been a great friend to me over the years.  He now works at Markel and he invited me to fill in for one of the girls that couldn't make it.   Of their seven girl roster, five couldn't make it tonight so he had to find replacements.  We played against the Toronto Blue Jays (their execs, and admin staff).  
We lost badly.  25-11.  
BUT... I had so much fun.
The team has so much potential but we just fell short on quite a few plays.
Jer put me on first base for the whole game so that meant I was involved with a lot of plays.  So that made it so much fun!
After the game they held a practice and I stayed for that also just for fun.  (Even though it looks like they won't need me very often if at all in the future).  
Brian said Hadley was great with him all night.  (GOOD NEWS)!

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday after getting home from Music and Movement I found out that we would have a surprise visit from Brian's sister Julie in just under 2 hours.  
Let's just say that Hadley loves showing Julie all of her new accomplishments and toys.  This was a very nice surprise visit.
Julie spent the night and joined us for Books on the Run at Lyndeshores Park.
We got up and were at the park for 9:30am.  We listened to some great books being read to us, sang some songs and then went for a hike.
We did the 0.5KM trail with Patti, Alicia and Julie.  
The birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and ducks were VERY friendly and there were a lot of them.
Hadley thoroughly enjoyed the wildlife.  She would point out birds, and chase whatever was on the path.
Later in the afternoon we received a phone call that we would be having another surprise visitor.
Hadley's Grandpa Verkley (Brian's dad) would stopping in on his way back from Nova Scotia where he was visiting Brian's sister Lisa and her husband Jeff.
This was nice as we sat outside (on a beautiful day) and got to hear first hand about his most recent adventures.
Hadley played with water and water toys, then she switched to playing with ET and her stroller.  This kept her fairly occupied while we enjoyed our conversation.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Today I opened my mail only to have an undeliverable Christmas card from 2007 returned to me.  
I sent a card to a friend in the USA December 12, 2007 as dated on the envelope and it was returned to me today.  
It is unbelievable that Canada Post can deliver a letter anywhere in Canada within two days but the US Postal system took over a year to return an undeliverable piece of mail back to the sender.  
It made me laugh as least!  

- Leanne Verkley

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Our plans for the long weekend changed last minute.  
So this meant that we would have warm comfortable beds to sleep in, but we still wanted to enjoy the outdoors.  
So on Sunday, Brian, Hadley and I headed to the Rouge Park near our house.
http://www.rougepark.com
While it is only a few minutes drive from our house it felt like we were FAR away and it definitely didn't feel like we drove closer into Toronto.
We couldn't hear the highway, we saw only the beauty of the outdoors.
It was wonderful.
It was a free hiking adventure (with no map) and since Hadley walked for half of the 3KM, we were out for about two hours.  
She was very tired afterwards but I think she really enjoyed her day as we did.

Today we went to the zoo and let me tell you, it was a zoo.  We took the zoomobile to the back of the park and Hadley walked to the bottom of the Canadian section hill where Hadley LOVED the bears and then we went back up and then we took the zoomobile back to the front.  This took us about 2 hours.  It was a beautiful day to be outside but it seemed that everyone else thought so also!

The rest of the weekend was spent doing things around the house.  Not all that exciting but good to have a chance to get these things done.  

- Leanne Verkley

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We have been trying to teach Hadley to say her name for a while now and while she has sort of said it for a while... today she said "Ha E" when I asked her to.
If she wants to do something she will still usually say "you" when she means me.  
So I now see how hard it is to teach the English language, but she is working on it.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Today started early but the celebration for Mother's Day began with me being presented with a painting with the word MOMMY spelt out in stickers on it.    The letters aren't exactly in order but all the letters are there.  :)
Then we all enjoyed a pancake brunch.  Mmmm.  Yum.  
While I was getting some of the things ready for this brunch Hadley and Brian went outside.  When they came in I was presented with a beautiful bouquet of dandelions.  Hadley was so proud of her gift.  I loved it.  In fact I loved it so much that I asked her to pretend to present them to me again so I could video tape it.
Of course the first time was better but the second take on it was still SO CUTE.
Later we enjoyed a mini picnic by the hospital.  We did this so we could introduce peanuts to Hadley.  She loves peanuts!  We have wanted to do this for a while but really haven't had the time to do it.  So today when we were blessed with family time we decided it would be a good time.  If she did have a reaction we would be near the hospital and have an interesting Mother's Day story.  However, we are happy to report that there was no reaction; which is GREAT!
We spent some time running around the park area, up and down hills, picking dandelions and just enjoying time together.
Then we went and did some shopping.
Hadley was exhausted after this and fell asleep in the car.
So, this meant that Brian and I could have a date.  Even if it was just at home.
Brian BBQ'd a wonderful dinner for me including steak, potatoes, and shrimp and he placed it over a bed of spinach.
We thoroughly enjoyed this over a glass of red wine.
It was a beautiful day.

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday Hadley and I travelled to Brantford Ontario to visit with an old college room-mate of mine.  
Since I met her in 1997 it will be 12 years of friendship all based on one semester of living together in Rez.
We spent the day enjoying conversation, then she had her 8 year old nephew come over and we all went out for dinner and then and evening walk.
This was followed by watching a movie and then bed.  We were so tired.
This morning we had plans to go feed the ducks but the rain, thunder and lightening changed our plans.  
So we enjoyed more tea, lunch and conversation before Hadley and I headed back to Ajax.

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley is great at counting.
She can say most of the numbers between 1 and 13 in order.  (11 and 12 are hard and 13 sounds like t-teen).  
She loves to count stairs as she climbs up and down them.  Thus the reason she can count to 13.  
Also she loves to count down 3-2-1.  This usually results in her being airlifted like a spaceship.
I think it started from some of the songs we sing:
Here is one example:
Zoom zoom zoom, we're going to the moon.
Zoom zoom zoom, we're going to the moon.
If you want to take a trip, climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom zoom zoom, we're going to the moon.  
5-4-3-2-1 Blast off.
While this song starts at 5 it is still a favorite for her.

- Leanne Verkley

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I have been wanting a hair cut for a long time and really didn't know what I wanted other than a lot off.
It was heavy and put back most of the time.
So I finally decided that I would get enough off to donate to http://www.locksoflove.org/ so that some child with cancer could have a real hair wig.
A quote from their website:
Children under 6 years receive synthetic hairpieces because this age group experiences rapid growth in the size of their head. Children ages 6-18 with long term hair loss receive custom, vacuum-fit hair prosthetics.

I figured if I was thinking 8 inches than 10 wouldn't be that much more.  
However, after I got home I thought...wow this is short.
It will take some getting used to but it is for a good cause.
I measured the braid today just to be sure I met the requirements and found out that the hairdresser actually cut off 12 inches even though she measured it THREE times.  Oh well.
It is probably the shortest I have ever cut it and the pony tail is so small.

Anyway, it feels light and healthy.
Pictures can be found on facebook or by clicking on this link:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1523796&l=8c752f6729&id=512129307

Hopefully that works!

- Leanne Verkley

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Just some things to note about Hadley.

Ice cream is her favorite food, she calls it i-ice.
She can spell her name - sort of.  She sometimes says the H, always misses the A, then gets the D, L sometimes the E, but ALWAYS the Y.  She loves Y.
Green continues to be her favorite colour.
Potty training is still a work in progress although we are getting somewhere with usually one success each day. She often runs to the potty after the deed is done though.  
She can identify about 2/3 of the alphabet when I show her the letters as well as the word "Boom" in the book The Cat in the Hat.
Words have increased like crazy in the last few weeks and her understanding of things as well.  There are too many new words to comment on them all.
The word "no" is a favorite and she often says it even if she means yes.  Although she does say yes sometimes too.
She loves to play pretend especially with her Fisher Price Little People.  She loves to make them go through doors in the house.  
ET is her favorite stuffed animal.  ET is Brian's from when he was a kid.  She calls him T - T.  She will go around the house looking for him... and bear (Beh) and Elmo (Elm).
She likes to have her dolls and people say "hi" to each other.
When we show her a picture of Brian she says "da ye", when we show her a picture of me she says "ma", and when we show her a picture of herself she says "you".
She loves to check for new mail.
Starfall.com is her favorite website as it has the ABC game as she calls it.
She loves going for a ride (rye) in the laundry baskets.  
She is still teething the last four molars and they sometimes wake her in the middle of the night.
Brushing her teeth becomes interesting to her when we ask her to brush the teeth of one of her toys.
There are so many things to note but hopefully I covered some of the things that I just haven't noted in a while.

- Leanne Verkley

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- Leanne Verkley

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Today was a regular Monday but while it was just another day in our life, it was fun and worthy of noting.
I told Hadley in the morning that we would possibly be meeting up with Patti and Alicia today and all I heard all day long was Shaw?  Shaw?  That is what she calls Alicia.  She kept asking me in her own little way where she was.
She would turn her little palms up and ask "Shaw"?

We went about our day to Playday Mondays at the McLean Centre where we sometimes see them but they often go in the morning and we went in the afternoon so they weren't there.  
It was still fun and Hadley used up so much energy jumping on trampolines, walking on balance beams, going up and down slides, chasing after balls, and so much more.  
Then we went to the Ontario Early Years Centre where we did meet up with Patti and Alicia. Together the girls painted their hearts out, Hadley made a  drum, as well as a fan, they played with playdoh.  They made glue and sand art, sang songs, read books, held hands and just enjoyed hanging out.
These two little girls are the best of friends.

- Leanne Verkley

---

After church on Sunday morning we decorated eggs with Hadley for the first time.  She was pretty amazed with how the colour in the cups turned the eggs into Easter Eggs.
This was followed by a mini Easter Egg Hunt that was SO much fun to watch.  With each one she found, they went directly into her mouth.  At one point there were 5 jelly beans in her mouth!  She loved it!
Later in the day we headed to KW to enjoy an Easter dinner with Brian's dad and family.  I was so full after this wonderful meal!
And finally, Hadley and I went to the zoo today to celebrate the 20th Egg-Stravaganza.  We followed clues and wrote down the names of the animals that had their areas dressed up with Pinata's Easter Egg made by schools in the area.  While it was actually quite difficult to see the animals with all the kids (being as they were off school);  The reward was chocolate on the way out of the zoo.   We will go back another day to actually see the animals.  

- Leanne Verkley

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The other night Brian and I attended a meeting for traffic congestion calming on Rands and Finley.
The meeting was an open house for people in the area to learn about options and give suggestions as to what can be done to slow people down on Finley and minimize traffic on the east end of Rands as an alternative to getting to Westney.
The good news is that the Police, Ambulance, and Fire Departments all wish to keep speed bumps out.
There were a few good suggestions that came up:
1.  Make Finley wider and mark a right turning lane at Finley and Westney so that the traffic can turn right on a red. Minimizing the long line up of cars during peak times.
2.  Mark crosswalks with textured pavement to slow cars down.  
3. Put in pretty islands in the middle of the roads or increase curbs to encourage cars to slow down.

It will be a year before anything actually happens but I still think it was important that we attended.  The proposals will be ready in the next few months for the residents to reveiw.

- Leanne Verkley

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Tonight Brian, Hadley and I met up with Shawn K, Shawn B, Delena, Adam, Krista and my brother Joe to head to the Blue Jays game.
There is nothing quite like the home opener.  I mean since the early 1990's.
We met outside the dome and enjoyed some street meat!
The dome was nearly at capacity with 48 027 people in attendance.  It was so nice to have it in the dome as it was a surprisingly cold snowy/slushy day.
(So much so that Listowel got about 15-20 cm of snow ~ resulting in school closures.  5 more cm expected tonight ).  It certainly didn't feel like baseball weather that is for sure.
We had 5 seats in one row and 4 in the next which made it possible to talk with pretty much anyone.
Our section 534 in the top level was very rowdy and entertaining.  
Hadley seemed to be having a great time with her little hand claps and cheers.  She also had huge smiles on her face for most of the game.  
I think everyone was impressed at how well she did to make it through 9 innings.  The girl beside me even commented on how well behaved she was.
While she watched the game for the most part, she did have some other things to keep her occupied like food, stickers and such.  
The Jays won 12-5 but in the eighth inning we weren't sure if they were going to have to forfeit due to fans throwing things on the field.  They suggested that if it didn't stop, this is what would happen.  The Detroit team just left the field and we had to wait and see if they would come back on to play.  I have never seen this happen.
They did come back though and the Jays got their win.  

- Leanne Verkley

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On Saturday while traveling to Listowel for my dad's birthday, Hadley and I stopped in at the Elmira Maple Syrup festival.
While I wasn't sure if I was going to stop in or not, I found a parking spot right downtown and it was free.  
Hadley and I got bundled up, and made the trek around the tents sampling and enjoying the ambiance in the VERY cold weather.
This was my first time at the festival.  While I did enjoy it, I think it would have been much better in warmer weather.
Anyway, we got to Listowel that night in order to stay over and get up early to do breakfast with my dad the next morning for his birthday!  After breakfast we spent some time in his backyard talking and enjoying the beautiful weather before the drive back to Ajax.

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday night we went over to Patti and Andy's house for a dinner party.
Patti does a lot of play groups with me and after much conversation we decided that we should do a camping trip in the summer.  Now before going away together we really needed our husbands to meet.
So a dinner party was the perfect idea.
They had us over for a wonderful BBQ'd steak dinner.
Wow, was it ever good!
Plus the conversation was so good that it went well past the kids bedtimes.  :)
Alicia and Hadley had such a good time running around and playing.  It was fun to watch.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley put her boots on by herself today.
While she has always helped by getting her boots, sitting on the bottom step and pushing her feet in while I hold her boots close to her feet; today she held onto the wall and put her own boots on all by herself.  The first time they were on the right feet but the next time... well... left and right is a lesson for another day.
Still this is a huge feet.
(Pun intended).  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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Last week when I took Hadley swimming I really tried to work on her blowing bubbles in the pool but she was more interested in the toys and other aspects of having fun in the water.
However, today while taking a bath, she looked at me and then began to blow bubbles on her own in the bath.
After I cheered she did this repeatedly throughout the entire bath.
Hooray!  She can blow bubbles.
I mean, I knew she could as she can blow bubbles with a bubble wand, but this was the first time she did it while she was immersed in water.
Hooray!

- Leanne Verkley

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While it is all hear-say.  I did hear today that some of my friends from GGOF were let go.
I never like to hear that people have lost their jobs.  
Some of these people have been at GGOF for MANY years.
I wish them all a positive future wherever they may be led.
CRAZY ECONOMY!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley is two and I can definitely say the last two years went by CRAZY fast.
Last week we took advantage of getting together with a lot of different people to celebrate.

We went to the Pickering Nuclear Plant puppet show taking advantage of the March Break programs that were put on.  We spent time at The Toy Blocks (lego room) with Lori, Audrey, Beth and Clara.   We had breakfast at Sunset Grill with Lori, Beth, and Christine.  We had a photo shoot at the Pickering Loblaws to commemorate Hadley's second year.  We enjoyed time at the zoo with Patti and Alisha and spent a few hours wandering different paths as it was so nice out.  There was a birthday gathering in Listowel on Friday night to enjoy a Winnie the Pooh cake that my sister made for Hadley.  
Hadley was also spoiled with so MANY wonderful gifts.  (Which we have yet to explore).  Thank you everyone!
Saturday we met Winnie the Pooh at the Kin Station in Listowel after the Paddyfest Parade which we enjoyed viewing from the Cole residence.  We also took Hadley for a free skate at the Listowel arena and we were happy to see that she still enjoyed skating quite a bit.  
Following this there was a Verkley gathering at Tom and Cathy's to celebrate the March birthdays and welcome Phil and Doreen's new baby boy Aidan into the family.  
All in all I think we celebrated Hadley's birthday week in full force.

- Leanne Verkley

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- Leanne Verkley

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Tonight while Brian was trying to fix something he got out a small flashlight.
Anyway, Brian gave it to Hadley with the light on and let's just say she was mesmerized by it for the rest of the night.  She loved to shine it across the room with the lights off.  She loved seeing my fingers turn red when I put them on top of the light.  She loved it when I would hold up my hand when she tried to put the light in my eyes.  (She giggled so much that I think I encouraged her more and more every time I did this.  I couldn't help but encourage it, it was so funny to watch her explore this new found wonder).
All in a simple flashlight.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley and I took advantage of the March Break Madness programs and we went to a free puppet show at the Pickering Nuclear Plant.  
While I registered for the 0-7 year old program, I somehow got put into the 7-9 year old program.  
There were a lot of other kids there that were her age but mostly because they were younger siblings to the older kids.  
Hadley watched the entire one hour program on Reducing, Reusing and Recycling.  She loved it.
There was also a home-made bird feeder craft afterwards.
I continue to be impressed by the free programs put on in Durham Region.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Okay, officially in 9 days Hadley will be two.  So saying she is XX months old will be over but for now she is still just under the mark so I have titled this entry 24 months.
Anyway, with that comes a visit to the doctor for a very "painless" checkup.  
While there were no needles, Hadley did not like to be measured or weighed by the doctor and she really didn't like having her eyes checked with a light flashed in them or having a cold stethoscope on her chest.  But we made it through.  The weigh in actually happened with both of us being weighed and then subtracting my weight.  

She weighed in this time around at 25 pounds up from 21 pounds at 18 months.  She was 88 cm tall up from 80 cm  with a new head circumference of 48 cm up from 47 cm.

She is now in the 75th percentile for height, up from the 50th percentile meaning she is now tall for her age up from average.   She is also now in the 25th percentile for weight up from the 10th percentile meaning now only 75% of the kids her age weigh more than her instead of 90%

I thought the doctor was going to do backflips.  She seemed so happy with Hadley's growth.

She was only slightly concerned with Hadley's speech as it is a little behind that of other kids her age.  She did say that some kids just talk later but  she recommended that we have a hearing test done.  So we will book that in the next little while.

The next check up shouldn't be until she is three.

- Leanne Verkley

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Hooray for hot water!
For some time now I have been noticing that during my showers I have had to turn the water to the hottest setting about halfway through my shower; and by the end of my shower I have been wishing I could turn the handle further.
I tried changing settings on the hot water heater but still nothing worked to keep the hot water coming until the end of my shower.
(I don't take long showers I just like HOT showers).
So, after attending the home show, and doing a little research we called direct energy and decided a replacement rental from them was what was in order.
Our 16 year old, 60 gallon tank was replaced with a new 50 gallon tank that is much more efficient.
I called on Wednesday, they came on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning (today) ... HOT WATER for my shower and Brian's too!   Brian  took a shower right after mine to test out how having a smaller tank worked out and he said he had enough hot water!
While I still had to turn it up a little during my shower, (I said I liked hot showers), I certainly didn't have to put it on the hottest setting and I had hot water until I decided to get out.
(I took a few extra minutes this morning to enjoy the luxury of our hot water being restored)!

Hooray for hot water!

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley and I meet up with Patti and her daughter Alisha (from our Music class) to go swimming at the Whitby Rec Centre.
Hadley is a little fish!
She doesn't love to lay on her back in the pool, but will kick her legs on her front if I hold her (for a few seconds).  
For whatever reason though she won't try to blow bubbles in the water even though she can blow bubbles with a bubble wand and she can blow on her food to cool it down.  
She does however love the fact that the pool is shallow enough for her to run around in with her keeping her head above water.
The most fun thing for her is to go around and collect the toys that other kids are no longer using.
It is quite a workout for both of us!

- Leanne Verkley

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The spelling of words has begun.
Hadley loves to have baths.  So when we say "are you ready for a bath?"
We must really be ready.
So Brian and I now spell this one out when we are talking about it in future tense.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Is it too early for nightmares?  The other night Hadley woke up saying NO NO NO.  Perhaps she was just exercising her NO independence?  But she seemed pretty asleep other than she was standing and saying no.  
I picked her up, and she was instantly asleep again.
In the morning she was her regular self, handing over the white and orange stars out of her lucky charms.  (I am not sure why she doesn't like to eat these ones but she always hands them over).

New... green is the new red.  (See Red is best post).

At the zoo this week I noticed so much more interaction from Hadley with the animals.  It was like she realized now that she had something to share back with me.  This is very cool.  
I noticed that they have moved some of the exhibits (fish etc.) and have put out some more of the free flight birds.  Hadley loves the close encounters with these birds.
Hadley has also now found a love for donating to the zoo.  There are little donating bins that allow you to race money into a pit.  So now we enjoy a penny race when we go.

At Music and Movement class this week Hadley really got into the Sticky Sticky Sticky Bubble Gum Song.

We start by patting our hands on our knees... then we sing:

Sticky Sticky Sticky Bubble Gum
Bubble Gum
Bubble Gum
Sticky Sticky Sticky Bubble Gum
Sticking our hands to our (insert body part, Hadley usually picks her head)
And we pull (we pull our hands away from that body part)
And we pull (we pull our hands away from that body part)
And we pull (we pull our hands away from that body part)
and POP!  (Hadley says POP and claps her hands together).

And repeat.

Hadley also now knows a lot of animal noises including: cow (mmmau) dog (ruff), cat (yeow), sheep (baa), bird (tweet tweet), horse (no), frog (ra), chicken (buck buck), lion, tiger, and bear (roar), monkey (oooh ooh) and fish (she pops her lips together).

There are always so many new things to evaluate in her life.  It is beautiful to watch.

- Leanne Verkley

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Nose blowing:
This week Hadley blew her nose for the first time.  She now must "blow" her nose every time she sees a kleenex box.  While it is not always effective, it is so cute.

Puzzles:
With my pampers points I traded in some of my points for a vehicle puzzle.  While I couldn't find a link to it online this "Melissa and Doug" puzzle has 9 pieces that are exactly the same shape but all different colours.  They are all the fronts of vehicles.  The backs are fire trucks, police cars, etc.
Hadley now places all of the correct pieces with the correct colours when she plays with this puzzle. We were pretty sure she understood colour before but this proves it.
  
Spoons:
Hadley has been helping me with unloading the dishwasher for a while now but his week was different.  I caught her looking at the back of a spoon.
It seemed very clear that she recognized herself and I found it interesting to watch her ponder how this reflection worked.

- Leanne Verkley

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While Hadley will use all of her crayons and markers, and all of her cups, she definitely has a preference to red.
She will often say that something is RA if asked what colour it is is.
But I know that she has a preference to red because she will pick up the red crayons or red markers first and if I go to get her a drink she will often say RA until I show her the red cup or explain that the red cup is dirty.
The good news is that she understands what dirty is.
I love that she has preferences.
I also quite like the book "Red is best".
I should did that out of her library of books this week.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today Brian, Hadley and I went to Ajax's Winterfest.  A free event put on by the town at the McLean Community Centre.
We saw professional ice sculpting that was well done, there was an outdoor ice-rink, and a live DJ.
There were horsedrawn wagon rides that looked pretty cool as well as dogsled rides but they had a nominal fee and long lines.  
While we watched the horses and dogs for a little bit, we didn't go for a ride. (I thought it was pretty weak that a lot of the dogs were not even husky's but still I think the kids that went for rides were having fun and Hadley loves dogs so watching them was very entertaining for her).  
The bouncy castles looked like a lot of fun but they were full of big kids so for this year we opted to watch and then walk on.  There were opportunities to try snow shoeing which again we saw but didn't participate in.  
There was a Frosty Cafe that had hotdogs and the like that seemed decent.  However, we brought our lunch and had a warm car picnic at lunch time.
It was a nice day but the wind made it very cold so it was nice to be able to eat out of the wind.
Inside the centre they had free hot chocolate, face painting, temporary tattoos, and children's art and crafts which were very popular.  

Perhaps it was just that Hadley is still little and most of the events were hard to have her participate in, but somehow, it still seemed like there was missed opportunity.  Perhaps there could have been fort or snowman building areas or snow baseball, or soccer or maybe raffles.  I am not really sure what I felt was missing but it seemed like something was missing.
In any case, the price was right and it was nice to be outdoors with my family.

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday Brian, Hadley and I headed to Barrie where we normally go to watch the Super Bowl.  (My college friend Cort is really into football so it seems appropriate to watch it at his house with many other friends that also join in for the party).  
Every year before the game starts there is always a snow football game played and while I assumed those that couldn't play due to pregnancy, injury or whatever other excuse they could come up with, would at least come to watch, that was not the case.  There were no spectators that we knew just a few people playing in the park.  So this presented a challenge.  Hadley has never been babysat by anyone before.  She has always been with at least one of her parents.
However, both Brian and I wanted to play and with two nurses, a new mom and a few others around it seemed like a great situation to leave her for the first time.  Plus we were only a few blocks away with a cell phone on hand for any emergencies.
We let her know that we were leaving and apparently that was enough for her to get on with her day.  (Well, the three hours that we were out).  
The update was that she did all the regular stuff like eat, read stories, play and lead people around.  There was no report that she went looking for us or was upset in anyway.  This is good news.  
While I did think of her lots while I was out, I strangely didn't worry at all.  I felt we left her in good hands despite my original thoughts that she would be babysat by a family member for the first time.
Brian and I had a great time playing snow football playing on opposing teams.  While it was all for fun, our team scored three touch downs and Brian's team scored one.  
We enjoyed many snacks and a great game with the Steelers winning their sixth Super Bowl against the Cardinals 27-23.  Brian's sister Julie will be very happy!  
Hadley chose the underdog - Cardinals - to win this year.   Last year this boded well for her but this year Cort's sisters baby McKenna chose the winning team.  We let the babies choose by pointing at the team they thought would win.  Perhaps Cort and Sherri-Lyn's baby that is due in July will pick the winner next year???
The drive home was late but it was another successful Super Bowl Sunday!  

- Leanne Verkley

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I know that Hadley has four molars left to get in her primary teeth collection.  
I am pretty sure that this teething is the cause of her fever for the past two days.  
What I am not sure about is how many of the four teeth are coming in.  
I keep trying to look when I brush her teeth but so far I can't tell.
The good news is that she didn't have a fever at all today.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today Brian, Hadley and I spent some family time just playing with Hadley and her toys.  Sometimes I forget to write about the simple stuff that happens around our house.
There were bean bag races using big serving spoons, we did a bean bag toss game.  Brian and Hadley walked her dog around the house, I gave some piggy back horsey rides.  There were lots of games with her "little people", much time with books and it was just good fun throughout the day.

Later in the evening there was a small incident where Hadley tripped over her own feet and got a huge nose bleed and a thick upper lip, but sometimes these things happen .  While I know this REALLY did hurt her, she was in good spirits after we got her all cleaned up.  Hopefully it heals fast!

So are the days of our lives.

- Leanne Verkley

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- Leanne Verkley

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Today while I was unloading the dishwasher, Hadley was sitting beside me on the floor eating a pudding.
There was a small mishap where the pudding ended up on the floor.
Anyway, without being asked, she stood up, went and got a cloth and proceeded to scrub away the pudding.
After the clean up she then walked the cloth over to where we keep the dirty cloths.  
So cute.
What a good girl.

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday was a busy day for Hadley and I.  We started the day at the Books for Babies program at the library.  We came home for lunch and then headed out to the Music and Movement program.  Hadley was uncharacteristically practically falling asleep during this program so when we got home at around 2:30pm she went directly to sleep.
She slept until 5:15pm!  She was tired.  
This sleep was good for her though as we headed out to the Early Years Centre that night for the Literacy Day events.  This program filled with fun activities that involved reading and playing with words and the alphabet went until 8pm.
The day was fun but it was a lot for just one day!
We also got a free book from the Early Years Centre.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today was the day to weigh in and face the music from the damage I caused myself over the last four weeks or "Christmas".
I am not sure if the benefits of weighting in only once a month as a lifetime Weight Watchers member is really good over the holidays.
It just meant that I cheated for approx. 3 weeks and tried to get back into reality this past week before I had to weight in.

Well, it turns out it wasn't as bad as I thought but I still had to pay for this holiday eating.
I haven't had to pay since June of 2006 until this Christmas indulgence.  This was quite hard to take.  
As a lifetime member I am allowed to be 2 pounds over my goal weight and still not pay.  
Let's just say I am motivated to get those 2.6 pounds off within the next month as I don't want to have to pay again!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley and I met up with Mia and Nicole (Friends we met at the library that live near us) and we went tobogganing.  This was Hadley's first time tobogganing and she loved it.  
There is a hill right near their house and they had a toboggan designed for kids 2 years and younger.  Hadley was very secure in this little sled.  The hill is a hill the size of a small bunny hill that you would see while skiing.
While we only did a few runs it was great fun!
Nicole loved to pick up the boulders she found but Hadley really hasn't embraced playing in the snow as of yet.  I am pretty sure next year will be a different story.

- Leanne Verkley

---

This past weekend (Janaury 17th), Brian, Hadley and I went to an old co-worker of mine's wedding.  It was so much fun to catch up with the gang.  
Everyone loved Hadley, and I must admit that Hadley behaved amazingly.  
She was super quiet in the church and super friendly at the reception.
Hadley, and I danced the night away with the gang and I think besides the bride she was the star of the night.  
We eventually decided to leave at 11:30pm.  I am sure Hadley would have continued to be well behaved but she was showing a lot of tired signs and we felt it was best for her if we left.  She fell asleep within minutes of being in the car.
We had a great time.  Congratulations Lisa and Richard!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley is really big on roll playing right now.  She loves to pretend to eat or serve us, or move cars around making vroom vroom noises, or cuddle and kiss her babies, or play with her figurines in different settings.  

She has also recently taken to playing by herself for a few minutes at a time which is great for me to get a few things done.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

At Christmas time Hadley was blessed with many supplies to keep her little self entertained.  She has markers, paint, stickers, glue, and so much more.
She loves using all of these things and knows that when the craft box comes out that she will have fun.
So, thanks to all that contributed to the contents of this box.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Since the new year Hadley and I have been going to so many programs and they all seem to be at the Library.
We have Music and Movement which is my favorite program of all of them.  The music is up-beat and Hadley gets to run off energy that she wouldn't normally be able to use at home.   Plus she loves it!  This is put on by the Early Years Centre.
Then there are the programs that the library actually put on.  1.  Books for Babies which we have done many times in the past but it is still such a good program.  2. Story Stretchers.  This is a new program for us and the leader is great.  He does about 10 minutes at the beginning that has a Sesame Street feel.  He holds up a letter and then shows different pictures of things that start with that letter.  Then there is a peal and stick game and then a colouring / cut and paste craft.  (This is my second favorite program).
The last program is called tales for twos.  I don't love this one, but it is okay if we need something to do for free.
There is a lady that reads a few books and does one finger play, and then a small craft at the end, but it just doesn't have the same feel as the other programs.

In any case, I am happy for free programs and I love our library!

- Leanne Verkley

---

On January 11th in the morning Hadley and I went to a birthday party for Ethan, the eldest baby in our  mommy group.  It was a party at My Bubble in Whitby and it was great fun to have all the babies together playing their little hearts out.  (I can't believe he is two... that means Hadley is almost two).  

In the afternoon, I held my first ever scrap-a-thon.  This is where I had myself and 5 others over to scrapbook from 1pm until approx. 8pm.  
We talked the day away, enjoyed pizza for dinner and achieved some great pages in our books.

So much fun!

- Leanne Verkley

---

We were in desperate need of a new vacuum and now we have one.
Canadian Tire was having a special on the Hoover Wind Tunnel Vacuums for 50% off.  So the $200 vacuum was now only $100.
The pros:
Bagless, Hepa Filter, Power Tools, Strong Suck that is especially good for hair!
The Cons:
HEAVY!

So far so good.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today all seven mommies and all seven babies got together at Beth and Clara's house for a mommy group Christmas.
We met up at 10:30am and while it seemed like we had only been talking for a few minutes we realized that it was lunch time.
We all brought things for a potluck lunch and we were full when lunch was through.  
Each of the babies swapped names a few weeks back, so after lunch we did our gift exchange.
Hannah had Hadley's name and gave Hadley a Winnie the Pooh bath toy that sticks on the wall and has three little figurines (Pooh, Tigger and Piglet) to go with it.  (She tried it out tonight and loved it).  
By 1:30pm I think all the little ones were exhausted from all the craziness that comes with that many kids in one room.  So we called it a day.
From there we headed to Melon Heads since we were already in Whitby.  It was time for Hadley to receive her second haircut.  Contrary to the first time she had her hair cut, she loved it.  She jumped into the little pink car and drove her little heart out.  She made little car noises vrumm, vrumm, and turned the wheel with vigor.  She was also given two My Little Ponies to play with as well as a spray bottle and comb.  The lady was fantastic and while I thought I may have to worry about keeping her in the chair, I actually waited for her to finish playing after her haircut was complete.  She smiled and giggles and had a lot of fun.  YAY!
It was a little more expensive then Tiny Tots in Pickering but the extra $5 seemed to be worth it!

- Leanne Verkley

---

For Christmas Brian and I bought Hadley her first pair of skates.  
I had been looking for them last year as I wanted her to try skates as early as possible as it seemed like a very Canadian thing to skate as early as possible.
So this year Brian and I found the smallest size single blade skates made (kids size 6 ~ just her size).
So for the record Hadley can tell all of her friends that she skated for the first time when she was only a year old (21 months technically).
We took her to the free skate at the Pickering Rec Centre sponsored by Tim Hortons.
After getting Hadley's skates on we stood her up on the rubber floor and she seemed to have decent balance although she still held onto our hands.
We took her out on the ice just after the zamboni cleaned the ice and she loved it.  
Brian and I took turns gliding around the kids learning section of the ice with her.  (No chairs or pylons or the like were available so we held her under both arms for the first while and later Brian and I each took a hand and she glided or tried to walk between us).  
We also picked her up a few times and skated around the entire rink while holding her and she seemed to love how fun it was to move so fast.
She giggled and smiled the entire time.
After the hour on the ice, Hadley fell asleep shortly after we put her in the car seat.  
Everyone had so much fun!  What a great afternoon!

- Leanne Verkley

---

This year after being out on a Christmas road trip for four days until December 30th we decided that a night at home would be good for New Years.
We had great fun with the company of Jenny, Ryan, Owen and Shawn K.
We played board games, Wii, toasted the countdown with Dick Clark and stayed up until 2am before calling it a night.  Ryan, Jenny and Owen spent the night while Shawn K. drove home as he only lives a few minutes from our house.
Hadley went to bed easily at 9:30pm so we went upstairs at midnight and put a hat and party favours in her crib as we did last year and took a picture and wished her a happy new year.
In the morning we had pancakes and then we played one last board game before Ryan, Jenny and Owen left.

I am tired but here I am at 1:20am writing in my blog.
Our lives are full and blessed and I am excited to see what the new year holds for the Verkleys!

- Leanne Verkley

---

December 27th we went to Kitchener to spend Christmas with Brian's dad and family.  We enjoyed great company, we were spoiled with gifts, we had yummy food and the evening went late with a movie (Mamma Mia).  
We spent the night and had a wonderful breakfast as well.
December 28th we headed to Listowel to spend Christmas with my dad.
There were the usual people in attendance (Dad, Brenda, Amanda, Joe, Mandy, Jason and Jayden - well Jayden was new this year).
This year however we enjoyed more great company.  My grandma and papa Jack came, as well as my aunt Nancy, Uncle Kent and cousin Megan.  
It felt so good to have everyone around.  Truly it felt like Christmas.
There was so much food and again we were spoiled with gifts!
It was fun to buy for Jayden this year and Hadley had so much fun opening more gifts.
This year the only thing that was missing from Christmas was a visit with my mom as she lives in Surrey BC.  I thought of her lots and talked with her throughout the week of Christmas so that was okay and I am glad to hear she is feeling a little more settled now.  So that is more good news.

While we had one less Christmas than normal we are blessed with a lot of family so we decided to continue our road trip and travel on December 29th to spend a day with Brian's uncle and aunt and cousin (Phil, Doreen and Kiana).  
Hadley and Kiana played, coloured, read books and had a great time with Kiana's doll house until bed time.
Hadley stayed up despite my efforts to relax with her on the couch so after just over an hour of trying, I gave up and she stayed up with us as the adults played Ticket to Ride.  This was such a fun new board game that I had never heard of before but I may actually seek this out to add to our collection.
By midnight we all headed to bed.
Hadley slept in until about 9am so that was okay.
Just after lunch on December 30th we headed to Brian's cousin Meaghen's house to visit with her, Brian's aunt Dona, Brian's mom and Brian's grandma. His uncle Bernie was working unfortunately.  
We did this quick visit just before heading to Brian's uncle Joe and Aunt Patricia's house.   Brian's mom came also and we visited with Joe, Pat, as well as Brian's cousin Christine and her husband Tim who were home for the holidays from England.  Hadley took to Christine very easily despite this being her first ever meeting.
I am telling you, we are blessed with lots of family.
After getting caught up, we decided that Hadley really needed to get to bed at a decent hour so we left by 7:25pm and she was asleep in the car by 7:30pm.
We drove around three hours home, unloaded the car with all our presents and overnight stuff and then went to bed shortly afterwards ourselves.
Hadley slept until 9am the next morning.  (13.5 hours  ~ She was really behind on some sleep and it was a great time to catch up!)

We were blessed and spoiled again this year!
Thanks to everyone for making our Christmas special!

- Leanne Verkley

---

This week I read in the local newspaper about the Williams family from Pickering and how they decorate their home with enough lights to cost them $1000 for their hydro bill in the month of December alone.  At least that is how much it cost them last year.

So Tonight Brian, Hadley and I headed to Pickering to see this Christmas Town.
There were so many lights with dozens of animated holiday icons like toy soldiers, angels, polar bears, snowmen, candy canes, and to our surprise a toy train that actually moved.

While their neighbour also has his house decked out, we thought it was funny to see a huge blow-up Grinch only a few doors down.

If you live in the area you should really head out to see this free light spectacle.

- Leanne Verkley

---

On December 23rd Hadley and I got together with the mommy group at My Bubble Play Place in Whitby.  It was nice to get out with everyone that could come as most moms are teachers and are off for the holidays.

This year feels a little different as Brian and I don't really have weekends or holidays.  However, winter has come with abundance this year with lots of snow outside and that helps to mark the season; even if it means lots of heavy wet shoveling.   I love it.  
Hadley is fun and looks so cute in her one piece snowsuit, boots, hat and mitts.

Today (Christmas) was especially fun as Hadley had such excitement digging down into her stocking for her goodies.  She would say "ooooohhh ohhhhh oooooooh".
She showed excitement even before she knew what it was that she was bringing out.

As for unwrapping gifts she would tear small pieces off of her gifts and want to put that piece in the garbage before she would continue.
As she went along she would realize there was a gift inside and then the paper could just go on the floor, but the process would begin again with each new gift.

She thoroughly enjoyed opening each gift with her big gift from us this year being her first pair of skates.   Size 6 is the smallest that they make skates which is her size.
While we gave Hadley her gifts for the most part, she would always ask before opening a gift if she picked it up  by saying "ya?"  
This is especially good as there are still gifts under our tree for a few more Christmas gatherings we have in our future.

The day was very low key, but we enjoyed a roast beef dinner and time together.

- Leanne Verkley

---

There have been a lot of things going on this month and with that Hadley continues to change.  She is growing even though I don't have measurements to share.  I know this because she can now reach the railing on the stairs.  
Other things that are noteworthy are that we can now ask her "Where's Hadley?" and she will point to herself.  
I have just started to wash her clothes in Tide rather than Ivory and she seems to be fine with the change.
We continue to work on potty training however it is difficult when we are out of the house so much.  Perhaps after the holidays we will work on it a little more diligently.
Important to note though is the fact that after Hadley has gone in her underwear she usually recognizes that she needs to go to the washroom and goes there or to the stairs if we are in the basement.

Tantrums are a new "fun" experience.  
While they have just started and are usually at home and short lived; it's tiring and hard to negotiate with a little girl who knows that she wants something but can't express it.  We can usually ask her questions about what she might want and work with her to figure out what is frustrating her with yes no questions as these are popular words for her.  So that is good news.  But the process is still tiring.

Hadley has definitely started the teething process of the bottom two of her last four molars. They haven't broken through so it may be a long process but it has started none-the-less.  They are making her cheeks rosy and it seems to have instituted a middle of the night wake up call.  This wake up call lasts for a long time if I try to put her back to bed in her bed but only a few minutes if I bring her into our bed.  
While this isn't a good solution for the long term it will work until after the holidays as we all need sleep to get through this busy time of year.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

There is so much to write about that I don't really know where to begin.
I guess I will start with the Verkley Christmas Pajama Party at Maria and Don Green's.
  
December 21st we headed to get together with the Verkley's for Christmas.  The drive was okay until we hit Perth County.  We had a few questionable moments but made it safe and sound to Monkton where we enjoyed great food and company.  After just a few hours however, it became apparent that we would be staying overnight for a pajama party as hwy 23 was closed.  
Hadley is such a party girl and stayed up until everyone went to bed despite my efforts.
The next morning (December 22nd) we enjoyed more great conversation over a delicious breakfast and a game of scrabble before heading into Brian's mom's house for Christmas with her.
Phil, Doreen, and Kiana joined us for a few hours before attempting the roads back home.  
We called Lisa and Jeff and wished them a happy first anniversary and enjoyed a very yummy turkey dinner.  As well we were spoiled with presents.

We left late but got home safely after a very enjoyable time with family.

- Leanne Verkley

---

On Sunday afternoon Brian, Hadley and I headed to Vandemeer's Nursury  (http://www.vandermeernursery.com/subpages/contact/contactus.htm) where we went to pick out our beautiful balsam fir Christmas tree.  I love this kind of tree mostly because they are full and not prickly.  
This year we decided to take our chances on a $40 tree that was tied up nicely at the lot.  We decided to do this because this would allow us to easily place the tree in our trunk with just one seat down.  
We have always bought a tree that was opened up so we could see it before we bought it but it has always been a challenge to bring home with just a car.  
So this year despite not seeing it up before we got it home, we are fortunate enough to have a beautiful and full tree.  
We let it the tree settle for a day before decorating it and then brought out all the decorations for Hadley to explore.  She helped as much as possible but the loops and hooks on the ornaments were a bit difficult for her.  
Hadley had the most fun dancing to the Christmas music and adding the tinsel on the tree.  
I think she is a little perplexed though as to why there is a tree in our house although she is really well behaved around it.
Today we had Julie come by and she played with Hadley while I wrapped a lot of my Christmas gifts.  (HUGE thanks Julie!)  
We shall see in the coming days how Hadley is with keeping the gifts wrapped and under the tree.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Last night Hadley and I met up with Beth, Clara, Christine, Hannah, Chaylee and Ethan (from the mommy group) and went to the Kids Safety Village in Whitby.  
http://www.drps.ca/internet_explorer/our_organization/unit.asp?Scope=Unit&ID=63
This is a kids sized town with real streets, street signs and buildings where kids can learn to use the street safely without traffic.  
Anyway, it was decorated for Christmas with lights and trees, blow up snow globes etc.  And it was great because Hadley could walk around and explore everything safely.
Santa was wandering the streets but Hadley wanted to walk the other way every time we saw him.  
There were also donkey's, goats and other stable animals walking around. (All of which had a person walking with them holding their leash.  All the animals were very tame and we could pet them).
It was very cool.  Literally.  
We were there for about an hour and then went back to Beth's house for hot chocolate to warm up.  Mmmmmm.
This was great winter fun.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley has recently taken to kissing us with her mouth closed.  
Up until now she has come at us with a wide open mouth.  
Both open and closed mouth kisses are cute, but the closed mouth one is less wet and sometimes even has that lip smack sound.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Last night our good friends Lindsay and Jamie had a housewarming party as well as  Jamie's 31st birthday.  
Brian stayed home with Hadley as she has been teething all week and sleep is very important right now for her.  I understand she didn't sleep through the night, but I think it was still better for her to be at home.  
Speaking of little sleep, the weather was bad and the party went until 3am so I decided to stay overnight and head home early in the morning to relieve Brian.
Today has been pretty low key.
Everyone was tired.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley moves her little fingers and tickles us and then laughs and laughs.
While her tickles don't really tickle, it is still the funniest thing.

- Leanne Verkley

---

TV during the day is a real treat in our house.  Twice this week Hadley and I watched Sesame Street.  Let's just say that she loved it!  What great programming!
I don't know if we will watch it all the time but it is good to know there is still strong programing out there like I remember from my childhood.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Royale was on sale this week.  We don't usually buy it because it is so expensive.  However, this week it was $6 for 40 rolls.  A savings of approx. $8.  Plus I had a one dollar off coupon.  So I bought it.  
While interesting, that isn't the point of the story.
Getting to the point...
Hadley loves the kittens on the packaging so much that as soon as we got home she put the package in her room and started to pet the kittens.
http://www.royale.ca/
Too funny.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Last night Brian, Hadley and I went to Rossland Ridge Bible Chapel (www.rosslandridge.ca).

Their gym had been decorated to allow us to travel through time back to the markets of Bethlehem in the time of Jesus' life.  These scenes really came to life with actors and props.  We even had to pay taxes.  (Money was proviced to us).  There were two sheep (one with a black face and one with a white face), a Jacob sheep (the type of sheep likely to be around back then), a llama and a goat to feed and pet.  
For those in the area that are interested: admission is free (donations of food or money are welcome but not a focus) and it is being held for three days: December 4th and 5th 6 - 9 pm.  December 6th 10am - 4pm.at 1 Stevensgate Drive at Rossland Road, between Westney and Church Street in Ajax.   905-619-3331.

If you have time, I would definitely recommend this as it will get you into the Christmas spirit.  They had something very similar to this in Listowel when I lived there.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Brian and Hadley spent the day together while I headed into Toronto for Shaye's 30th birthday celebrations.  
We started the day by watching Shaye's friend Todd and his group perform at Second City.  They had an improv show that was really funny.
Then, we went to Wayne Gretzky's for dinner.  There were about 7 of us including Todd who bounced back and forth between tables of the cast and us.
A few cast members actually came to our table and pretended like Todd was a celebrity and asked for his autograph.  Then after they found out it was Shaye's birthday they said "okay, on the count of seven, let's sing" and so after the count of seven, we sang happy birthday!
The staff then brought out a cake for Shaye and sang to her after hearing us sing.  Her cake wasn't quite enough...
Our table couldn't seem to resist the dessert menu and so we shared two servings of the stone mill cookie dessert which is REALLY good. A warm cookie doh in a hot skillet with ice cream on top.  MMMMMM.....
While it was a fun day, I am glad to be home as I hear awful weather is in the forecast.  I pray everyone drives home safely.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

On Friday November 14th,
2008 over 800 people joined in
an amazing event at the Zoo
in an attempt to break the
Guinness World RecordTM for the MOST LEAP-FROGGERS!

It was a beautiful, sunny day (despite rain being forecasted earlier in the week) and our participants enjoyed animal visits from our reindeer and camels, entertainment by our buskers and musical act "Tribal Quest", free hot chocolate and free coffee supplied by Starbucks.

As found on the Toronto Zoo website:

The previous world record for most leap-froggers was set in 2006 in Germany, and was 1,197 leapers. The Zoo had over 800 people, so the record was not broken, but what an amazing turnout, and more importantly what amazing support for frog conservation and bringing this important conservation issue to the forefront!

CTV and 97.3 EZRock, sponsors for the event, were on site and kept the event "HOPPING" all day! Special thanks to Tom Brown for acting as our Emcee and keeping energy levels high as always! Thank you to all the sponsors that made this event such a huge success!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Brian's Facebook game launched this week.  He has been working really hard on it for some time now and it is now available for play.
For those of you with a Facebook account, you can check it out at:

http://apps.facebook.com/fableisland/

Have fun with it!

- Leanne Verkley

---

I am alive.  Our blogs have been down.

A few updates from this week:
Creative Play opened in Ajax.  They had a free day on their first day for 2 years and younger so Hadley and I went to check it out.  
It is an old warehouse turned into a play area.
They have a brandnew wood climber, but it was reserved for 3 and up.  They had a really cool trampoline that Hadley loved as it had handles for her to hold onto.  She played on that quite a bit.  As well she really liked the little tikes toy car.  There was a train that she could sit on and push a button to move around a track but she wasn't really interested in it.  It reminded me of a small version of Ricky Schroders Silver Spoons from the 80s.  Besides that it seemed like it was two moms that put their kids toys in a room and are now charging $5 for people to use them.  They had a craft area but the tables (on day one) already had glitter stuck to them and crayon drawn all over them).  No crafts were available while we were there.
They did have couches all over the room for moms to chat while watching their kids play so that would be kind of cool if you came with other moms.
I am glad it was free.  Perhaps we will give it another try in the future after they have had it open for a while.  After all, it is only a 10 minute walk from our house.

I tried out Moms and Tots at the Salvation Army Church this week.  It was free and fun.  There was an hour of free play with the church toys, then we made silver bells out of silver paper cups, ribbon and bells.  This was followed by singing, story time and announcements.

We met up with Lori and Audrey at their house on Tuesday afternoon.  Lori is now back to work full time so it was nice to catch up with her to see how life is.  We played with the girls outside and went for a walk around her neighbourhood without strollers.  The girls loved the freedom.  

I had a scrapbooking night out this month which was unusual but fun.  
Ley from my babyville group hosted and while I got 4 pages done (AWESOME), it was hard to travel with all my stuff!  One day if I ever get a Costco membership I will get a cool carry case that rolls like luggage.  Everyone has them and apparently they are cheap (only $30).
(Ley is going back to work on Monday and wanted to host this time so as to use all of her materials for this session.  I guess she has the same problem, she wants to bring everything when she comes to my house but it is too much.

Focus on Toddlers at the Early Years Centre this week had a playdoh theme.  We made red Kool-Aid playdoh.
I got the recipes for cinnamon, cocoa, and a few others that were at different tables.  Maybe we will try those sometime.

This week we also had a rare dinner party outing at our good friends Michelle and Derek's.  We travelled downtown Toronto to their house, and enjoyed a beautiful dinner with great conversation.  It has been a while since we have seen them so it was nice to spend some quality time catching up.

On Friday we went to Music and Movement class at the Library.  This is my favorite free class!  Hadley usually dances up a storm, runs around and has a great time.  However this week she was tired from our outing the night before so she actually just wanted to be held while I rocked, and moved to the music.
Speaking of dancing though, Hadley now dances in circles which makes her dizzy but she loves it and when she gets really into it she is up on her tip toes.  It is the cutest thing.  

Friday afternoon we went and met up with my friend Christine and her son Dean.  We spent a mellow afternoon just catching up while the two toddlers played by our side.

Today we went to Little Feet Fitness and Fun Centre where we met up with out babyville group.  It has been since August since we last got together so it was fun to see how much the babies had changed.

Looking back it has been a busy week!

In other updaes:

Hadley has been great about getting her shoes for us to put on her from the door for a while now.  However we have recently switched to boots and although the first few days she wanted to find her shoes, she now can find her boots when asked.

While boots at the door was a little confusing, I later realized that she had two boots in her life.  Boots is also a character in her Dora book.   She seems unaffected that they have the same name and she can point out Boots the character on a few pages of her book.  As for chicken, she has toy chickens but she also will approve to eat chicken if we ask.  Again she seems unaffected that they have the same name.

Hadley now has added "no" to her vocabulary.  It is more of a neh while shaking her head no and very cute.   She only uses it when she really doesn't want something.  She is still a very positive kid and will say ya most of the time.

I am sure there are more new words that I haven't written about but Hadley now attempts the word buckle after dinner when she wants out of her highchair.  It is more like bubeh.

Lucky Chams:  Hadley LOVES them.  She will eat all the marshmellows first and then eat a few of the rest of the cereal.  Pink stains really well so I tend to eat those from her bowl.  :)

Baby monitor:  I am now pretty confident that I will hear Hadley through the night so starting this week, I now only use it  when we are downstairs.  No more ticking clock through the monitor during my rest time.  :)

That's it for now.  Time to motor Ricky Shroder.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today was a busy day.
It started out with Hadley and I heading to the Toronto Zoo to register to be a part of possible record breaking history.  
From there we headed to the library where we enjoyed an hour of music and movement put on by the Early Years Centre.
After this it was back to the zoo.  For what...
Well, we made an attempt to break the world record for the most leap froggers.
I know... anyone that knows me knows that frogs are not my favorite.  
Despite my own differences with them I am really trying to embrace them as I don't want Hadley to have any fear of them and it is the year of the frog after all.
Anyway, at the event there was a ten foot plus inflatable toad, as well as someone dressed as a toad walking around.  
To add to that there was a band, free stickers, posters, magnets as well as free hot chocolate, coffee and tea.  Plus there were reindeer and a camel in the parking lot.  
We were there for about two hours but the actual event went for five minutes live on CTV.
The task was to leap frog over other people trying to beat the current record of 1197 people leap frogging in Germany from 1996.
Hadley and I made the attempt but Hadley really just wanted to run around so  most of the five minutes was me leap frogging over her, or just attempting to jump together.  
I figure that counts with a one year old.
We don't yet know if we beat the record but it will be posted on the Toronto Zoo website tomorrow if you want to check it out.
www.torontozoo.com

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley and I met up with Lori and Audrey to go to My Bubble.
My Bubble is a new indoor play place between Ajax and Whitby and Hadley absolutely LOVED it.  She had so much freedom to run around and play.
It was actually quite fun to watch her interact with other kids and explore new surroundings.
My Bubble basically has an indoor park with slides and tunnels with the extra fun of virtual adventures.  This actually amazed me.  You could virtually kick leaves, or a soccer ball, or jump on the ground and virtual waves would move the water around.  There were many different interesting virtual realities to play with.  
All of this for the low price of $3 for as long as you wanted to stay.
We were there for two hours.
I definitely recommend this place.  
While Little feet is a great baby play place with most of the room basically built of foam; My Bubble is the logical next play place for your growing toddler / pre-schooler.
http://www.mybubble.ca/

- Leanne Verkley

---

Tonight I had a get-together with a few girls from my mommy group.  I miss them so much now that they are back at work.  We are going to try to meet up again this month if possible which is nice.
It is funny but the second we are together it is like we never missed a beat from the last gathering.  
We enjoyed pizza and and each other-it was good fun.
Plus tonight I got a great handle on two pages of my scrapbook.  
(Slow and steady).

- Leanne Verkley

---

Without wanting to jinx it, I thought it was important to note that Hadley regularly sleeps though the night now.  She went through a phase where she was getting up once through the night and she would tap her little fingers together for the more sign and cry until I would ask her if she was hungry.
I think it was a growth spurt.
In any case, after the time change last week she has been sleeping through the night for approximately 11 hours.
(Of course she doesn't usually nap during the day and although some days I think this would be nice, I find that on the rare occasion that she does, it really throws off her bedtime).  

- Leanne Verkley

---

This week has been amazing weather-wise.  It has been in the high teens and sometimes into the low 20s.  Hadley and I were happy to not have to wear coats but then when entering stores it was really odd to hear Christmas songs.  (48 days left until Christmas).  Ahhhh.  
Okay now the pressure seems on.  I will have to really start my shopping soon.

- Leanne Verkley

---

This weekend was a crazy busy weekend.
I was sick!  Quite sick actually.  Ears, nose, throat.  The works.
However, the mommy group was getting together with all the babies in Halloween Costumes.  I had to go.  
I hope they forgive me for going but I really didn't want to miss out on the year later photo.  (It is so hard to get everyone together these days with work and life).  
It was so nice to catch up with everyone even if I didn't have a voice.
The last time we were all together with the babies was August.  Everyone has changed so much.
After this very fun potluck lunch, Brian and I headed over to spread some more of my germs to Lindsay and Jamie's friends and family.
They were moving and although Hadley and I didn't do much moving, I think they appreciated Brian's help.
Then today Hadley and I went to hang out at Julies with Julie and Brian's cousin Meaghen.  We ended up watching Sydney White, eating a lot of left over Halloween candy and just catching up.
Julie completely surprised Meaghen as she didn't know we were coming to visit.
The Meagher adults were having a family reunion so after dinner we went to Brian's grandmas to bring Meaghen back to her parents and help clean up the party room.
We spent a little time catching up with some of Brian's aunts and uncles, his mom and grandma and lots of people I have and haven't heard of before.
It was a great weekend but man was it busy.
I am tired...and still sick.

- Leanne Verkley

---

The other night we took on the task of carving our pumpkin for Halloween.  I must say that I am quite impressed with how our jack-o-lantern turned out.  Hadley put her hand in to see what the guck was all about but didn't want to get too dirty.  She did however want to taste the pumpkin so we let her eat a clean part.
The other day at the Early Years Centre she painted a gourd to get ready for the event.  Then today...we took out her costume and headed to the zoo where we met up with Joanne and Gracie.  We took a beautiful walk around the Africa's section and we saw LOTS of animals out.  I can't get over how nice the day was.
When we got back home we did a mini photo shoot with Halloween as the theme.
Dinner was a nice salmon casserole and then we began trick-or-treating.
This year we only took Hadley to our neighbours house.
1. She doesn't know any different and 2. She doesn't need crazy amounts of candy.
She did however very much enjoy staying in her Winnie the Pooh costume handing out candy to all the kids that came by the door.
Tonight Hadley discovered candy rockets.  The small little sugar candies that I used to call "pills" when I was little.  She could pick those out of all the other candies quite easily and after she had a taste for them she definitely conveyed to us that she wanted more to eat.  http://www.danscandystand.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/thGiantRocketsCandy.jpg
I have posted Halloween photos on facebook for anyone that has me on their friend list and might find that interesting.

Happy Halloween!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday was especially fun at the zoo.  
My sister Mandy and her son Jayden as well as my cousin Natasha and her two sons Cooper and Jake all came with us to the zoo.
While I think Hadley gets quite a bit out of going to the zoo, it was SO much fun to watch how much Cooper got out of the whole experience.
We went around the Eurasia section at Cooper's request after see]ing the map.  
Highlights in the this area for him were the Jelly Fish in the new coral reef area, the siberian tigers, the kangaroos, the snow leopards and of course Santa Claus's reindeer.  Then we quickly went to see the tamarins, marmosets, beavers, otters and owls in the America's as well as the Gorilla's and fish in the African Rainforest Pavilion.
Sadly we didn't have time to see more, but gladly they said they will be back.
It was such a fun day.  I did feel little like a tour guide sometimes though.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

This weekend was so much fun.  
It is so much fun to pick out gifts for new little babies.
Saturday was a busy day.
We started out by visiting Lindsay and Jamie at their pre-move garage sale, then we headed to see Shelly's new baby McKenna.  (This is Cort's sister and her baby.  Cort was a roommate of mine while at Georgian).
McKenna was born at 7 pounds 10 ounces.  Very close to the size Hadley was.  She was so little.  It brought back beautiful memories.  It was so much fun to bring her a gift adding to the sea of pink gifts.  Although to note, I actually had pink and purple to add to the collection.  :)
It was so nice to visit with Shelly, McKenna, Cort, Sherri-Lyn, Margaret and Colin.  I definitely don't see these people often enough.
After this visit it was time to attend a second shower for my sister that was being put on by Jenn for the Sproat side.
This meant more gift giving and more time to see Mandy and Jayden.
What a fun, busy day.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley finally got air time while jumping.  
She got suck a kick out of how excited we were for her to finally be able to jump.
She doesn't get off the ground every time but she still did it more than once today.
My little girl can jump!  Yay!

- Leanne Verkley

---

I had plans to tackle a few errands today and got most of them done.
However, I underestimated how long it would take if I let Hadley walk the mall instead of ride in her stroller.
I started at Old Navy to look for pants for Hadley, but had no luck.  Then Zellers to buy some more underwear for Hadley in a bigger size.  Sears to get undershirts that are not onsies, however, I had no luck until I found them at H & M.  Here I found one pair of pants so that was good.   I made a trip to Dollarama for cheap snacks.  They have great prices on Munchies and Lays chips.  ($1 each for decent size bags).  Plus I made stops at Weight Watchers to be weighed in. (I am still in my good zone).  Then cash converters to find a universal adapter for a keyboard that used to be Brian's when he was a kid.  (Now Hadley can play with it).  Oh, and I had some things to mail.  
I was too tired to go grocery shopping after this so that will have to wait.
In saying that, we had a wonderful dinner: Brian's rice-terpiece extravaganza.
Time to rest.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

For the last few nights Hadley has been waking up a number of times through the night.  So last night we tried two things.
1. Restricting drink in-take late into the evening and 2. we turned our heat on and added a comforter to Hadley's crib on top of her other blanket.
She was asleep by 8:30pm last night, but at 12:30am she was up letting us know how thirsty she was.  She drank a full glass of milk and then slept until 8am this morning.  
It seems as though she was warm enough at least.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Okay, I know Christmas is still over two months away but I have had requests for gift ideas so although it is early, here are a few things that I can think of that would be good ideas for Hadley:

First priority this year is clothes that are 24 months plus. Please keep the season in mind when selecting her size so that the outfit will fit her at the appropriate time.

Musical:
Bells (I saw some at scholars choice that were great, they were different bells that were tuned to different notes), also a tambourine and a drum would be good, as well as new kids music CD's.  

Outdoor:
Water station, and sand stations both with lids if possible.  I saw some at Toys R Us, but there may be other good ones elsewhere.

Car:
I have seen beanbag trays that would be good to allow Hadley to colour in the car.

Indoor:
Kids digital camera, play kitchen, fridge magnet letters and books.

Storage:
There are vacuum seal bags that would be very helpful in storing Hadley's clothes that no longer fit her.  I have seen these at Linen's and things, and on TV but they may be elsewhere.

Of course RESP contributions are always nice also.

I am sure there are so many other things that you could spoil her with, so feel free to be creative but if you need ideas I hope this is a good start.

If I think of anything else I will either post them or pass the ideas along as they come up.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today we met up with Lori and Audrey and headed over to use our free passes (found in our Today's Parent Magazine) at Whittamore's farm.  http://www.whittamoresfarm.com/pumpkinland.htm
We spent some time letting the girls explore the pumpkins and the two story tree fort with a really long slide. There were farm animals, some tire horses to play on, a puppet show, and even a wagon ride that went around the farm and through a "haunted" forest.
After we finished playing in the fun-land we headed to the shop and bought some fresh apples.
It was a nice day out.

- Leanne Verkley

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While we have been singing the Rolli-Polli song both at the Ontario Early Years Centre and the Library for over a year now it was only just yesterday that Hadley would roll her little wrists, put her hands up and say one "up" during the singing of this song.
We were so excited to watch her do all of this together.

The song at the Early Years Centre:
Rolli Polli, Rolli Polli,
Up, up, up.
Up, up, up,
Rolli, Rolli, Polli,
Rolli, Rolli, Polli,
Down, down, down,
Down, down, down.

The song at the Library:
Rolli, Polli, Rolli Polli,
Up, up, up.
Up, up, up,
Rolli, Polli, Olli,
Rolli, Polli, Olli,
Down, down, down,
Down, down, down.

A little annoying that they are not the same as the tune is the same.  I sing the wrong version at the wrong place a lot.  

However, I do like this song as it teaches a lot as it goes on with out, out out, in, in in, front, front front, back, back, back, loud, loud, loud, soft, soft, soft.  You get the idea.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

---

This past weekend we enjoyed three Thanksgiving Turkey dinners.
This time with the dads in our lives.
Saturday we met up with Brian's dad, Julie and some extended family on Patti Jo's side of the family.  The food and company were great!  Hadley especially had a great time with the dogs.  John, Patti-Jo and Patrick were kind enough to extend their hospitality to us overnight.
In the morning we enjoyed some bacon and eggs before heading out to meet up with the Verkley extended family at Phil and Doreen's.  There we enjoyed a good game of uphill football and my first ever outdoor Thanksgiving feast.
After much great conversation we were again blessed an overnight stay at Phil and Dorren's.
Hadley and Kiana had a great time playing and after our Pancake brunch we headed to meet up with my dad, my sister, her husband Jason, and their son Jayden, my brother and some extended family on Brenda's side of the family.
Again the food was great.  
The turkey was HUGE and smoked with lots of leftovers.  Smoked turkey was another first for this Thanksgiving.  The leftovers were great in sandwiches and tonight in my first ever casserole.
The weather was fantastic this weekend and I am thankful for great food, conversation all of my family both immediate and extended.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

1.  Hadley now knows where her knees are.  This is helpful in the song head and shoulders, knees and toes.  However, we still are working on finding her shoulders.  Which I knew would be more difficult than the rest of the body parts as it is the only one that is more than one syllable.  

2.  With Hadley's ever famous "YA", she is getting more and more frustrated that we don't know what she means.  She has such expression but we don't always understand her.  So today more than once she took my hand and showed me what she wanted.  I think this made her feel better that she could show me even though she couldn't tell me what it was she was trying to tell me.

3.  October first I renewed my Toronto Zoo yearly membership and it has already paid itself off.  I still have the temp card and I have been there four times already.  
Admittedly, I went one time this week and just took the zoomobile because I found out that it would be stopping for the winter after the Thanksgiving weekend.  I usually take this once or twice a year.  Mostly to find out what is going on at the zoo.  (It is quite an informative ride).  I learned that once the new Tundra section is built, the ever famous LONG walk back to the Canadian section will be closed with no animals using that area.  (This is probably a good thing as I only went back there out of guilt because it is such a far walk for not much viewing pleasure.  However, I do plan to walk back there at least once more before they close it).  
Today we ventured to the Americas to see the flamingos among other animals.  From here you can get a good look at the construction for the new Tundra section.

4.  Hadley and I went to the new Early Years Centre in Ajax for the first time this week.  It was closed for moving for almost a month so we really haven't been in such a long time.  The new space is MUCH smaller, but I think it will still provide a great space to have some free fun.  PLUS, Hadley can get dirty here and all I have to do is clean her up, not my whole house.
This week was a transportation focus.  

5.  Books for babies is back at the Library and it seems better than ever.  Lots of songs and books.  Hannah, Audrey and Hadley are all there this time, and they have lots of hand outs of the songs to take home and have fun with.

6. Potty training.  HMPH.  Well, it had a good start and then life happened.  What I have learned:  Potty training is actually code for train the parent to put child on toilet every half hour and never leave the house until they get the idea of it.  
We continue to try for the most part but when we leave the house it is just WAY easier to put Hadley in diapers for now.  However, I am hopeful that with Hadley's new leading ways (see point 2) we may be onto something new to try after the long weekend.

7.  Mom's Thanksgiving weekend.  
Last weekend we celebrated with each of our moms enjoying the company of my extended family on my mom's side and when we got together with Brian's side we had both of his sisters and mom's company to enjoy.  Alongside the great food!  

8.  Last weekend I also hosted with my cousin Natasha's help, a shower for my sister.  I think it was quite successful.  The catering was amazing and I think Jayden received some great stuff.

9.  I finally got my sewing machine out and fixed a few things that had been lingering for a long time.  I feel great about that as these things were just sitting on the floor bothering me.

10.  I had a scrapbooking night this week with Marsha, Ley and Melissa.  I feel great about the progress I made.  It was only two pages but that is two more pages done that I didn't have done before.

11.  I know know why I am tired.  See points 1-10.  Then add laundry, dishes, and any other other house cleaning that I can fit in.  

12.  Brian and I smile all the time.  This little girl in our lives just makes us happy.  She has the best nose to nose open mouth kisses.  She has the cutest little voice, she is so interesting to watch as she learns, she has the best facial expressions and most of all it is just plain fun to watch her spread her love.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

About two weeks ago when we asked Hadley "what does a dog say?" She would reply with a wwwoof.
Last week and this week she seems to favour ducks.  She still loves dogs, but she points to ducks first in books, she saw some ducks today at the zoo which made her quite happy.   She has stuffed animals that are ducks and has started playing with them regularly and just last week I found replacement bathtub duck toys which she definitely favours over her other bath tub toys.  Which if you look back before she accidentally put her bath tub ducks into the toilet, these were already past favorites.  See previous post: http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/leanne/index.cgi?sid=326&user=
So after happily replacing these ducks we have really been trying to encourage her learning about things she likes.
So when now when I ask her what does a dog say, she replies Ah WA, and when we say what does a duck say, she says Ah WA.
If you say dog and duck to yourself out loud you will how confusing these words could be to someone learning the English language.
If you say woof and quack out loud you can see how Ah WA covers both.
We will continue to work on these animal names and sounds.

- Leanne Verkley

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If you wish to be on the do not call list, register at the following link:

https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday was day one of wearing underwear for Hadley.  
We officially started potty training.  She is what I would consider young for potty training but she seems ready.  So, no more onesies.  She will be in big girl shirts now.  hmph.  She is growing up so fast.  
I am very proud of her.  
One and a half hours in and we already had pee and poop in the toilet.  
The rest of the day didn't go as smoothly but Hadley has most definitely connected what it means to have dirty underwear.
Within the last week she stared using size 4 diapers, she stared using the word Die-ya to let us know that she had a dirty diaper and she also started pushing the step stool up to the toilet  and sitting on the potty seat insert with her clothes on.
So yesterday when I knew we would be home for three consistent days in a row (I know, rare for us), I thought we would give it a try as she seemed really interested!
The morning was a lot more successful than the afternoon but still a success nonetheless with all her effort.
A few times just after sitting on the toilet and reading her book we put Hadley's underwear back on and seconds later she would pee.  I think she sometimes thinks that she is supposed to have a diaper on for peeing.
Although first thing this morning after waking up I took her to the washroom and she had a successful pee on the toilet.  YAY!
So after day two I am feeling good about this endeavor and hope tomorrow has even more success stories.
Today while out shopping Brian bought smarties as a reward for each success.  We will try that tomorrow.

- Leanne Verkley

---

This week Hadley has really worked on her words.  Three new ones to add:
Die-ya = diaper
Dat = that
wwwoof = woof

- Leanne Verkley

---

Last night 6 out of the 7 mommies from our mommy group were able to get out for a girls night out.
We started with a movie...The Women.  It was a fun movie that we could all get a laugh out of.  
After the movie we headed to Montana's for drinks and more talking.
We had so much fun but by midnight we knew that we should call it a night as our little ones would have us up bright and early.
It is so much fun when we get together.

- Leanne Verkley

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After giving birth to Hadley approximately a year and a half ago, I remember what it was like to have somebody around (Brian's mom) to help with the little stuff that was just hard to get to right after Hadley was born.  It was SOOOO great!
  
So, over the last two weeks I have tried to model what I considered to be so wonderful and offer any help I could to make my sisters transition into motherhood as easy as possible.
While Hadley and I stayed over and did some laundry, dishes, and cooking, I wish I could have offered more assistance; but the truth is that my sister is recovering fantastically and seems almost back to her 100% independent self.
She is a strong woman!

I think Hadley had a great time at the park with Mandy, Jayden, Tasha, Cooper, and Jake, as well as the many visits from other people to the house while we were there.  Hadley loves Jayden but did get a little jealous if I held him too long.  

It was nice to be there and fun to help and I love being an aunt, but it is also nice to be home again.  

- Leanne Verkley

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It seems an Egyptian donkey was jailed for theft.  Check out this link:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/080918/oddities/egypt_animal_justice_offbeat

- Leanne Verkley

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Today was Hadley's 18 month needles.  This was a big one.  It included doses of Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, Measles, Mumps and Rubella.  She has had all of these before so there should be minimal reactions, however, she does seem to be in a little pain in both legs and this seems to be frustrating to her.  She is actually napping right now which is unusual for her.  Hopefully the time while she naps will help.

Hadley was not happy about actually getting the needles but afterwards she was fine and she acted normal up until approx. 4 hours later when she began to cry after trying to climb the stairs.  This crying continued until she fell asleep with me rocking her in the rocking chair.  Poor girl.

She weighed in this time around at 21 pounds zero ounces up from 19 pounds 12 ounces at 15 months, and she was 80 cm up from 77.5 cm tall with a new head circumference of 47cm up from 46.5 cm.
She is still in the 50th percentile for height, meaning she is exactly in the middle of the height chart for kids her age.  She is however in the 10th percentile for weight up from the 7th percentile meaning now only 90% of the kids her age weigh more than her instead of 93%.

We talked about her vocabulary, her walking, running and stair climbing ability, her foot development, her teeth, her knowledge of body parts, her playing skills (pretending, copying, sorting) as well as a brief conversation on next milestones to look forward to.
I did bring up that Hadley doesn't seem to use her hands to stand up and I wondered if this might be bad for her foot/knee development but Dr. Nag said this was normal.   She has no concerns.
The good news is that there are no more needles until she is between 4-6 years of age.  (Before school).    YAY!

- Leanne Verkley

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After a brief test today I realized that Hadley knows seven body parts.  When asked to point out specific body parts she can do so for her head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tummy and toes.
After trying to get her to touch her nose, which she touched most of the time when asked, I was also working on the other body parts with her but there seemed to be no consistency to her recognizing them on a regular basis until today.  I went through the whole list and she did them all.
WOW!  This is an important milestone to note.  I am so proud of her,

- Leanne Verkley

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I am now an aunt and I couldn't be happier.  This is my first time being an aunt and it is fun already!  A new baby around and I still get to sleep at night.  :)

My sister gave birth to a beautiful little boy, 20.5 inches long on September 9th at 8:57pm.  He was born by C-section for two reasons.  1. He was eleven pounds one ounce (OUCH) and 2. My sister developed gestational diabetes at the end of her pregnancy.  Both of these meant a high risk birth, so for the sake of a safe delivery a C-section was chosen.
The time of delivery meant that no visitors could see him on his actual birthday because it was outside of visiting hours.  However, I was the first person aside from Jason and Joyce (Grandma Sproat AKA Jason's mom) to see him the next day.  He is little, but big.
I remember being so tired just like my sister is and that is why I can't wait to go help her out.  I am going for a few days this week and a few days the week after to do what I can to make the transition to parenting a little easier if I can.  I am very excited to be able to spend this time with the new family.
Plus I can't wait to introduce Hadley to her new cousin.  (She wasn't allowed in the hospital).
Welcome to this world baby Jayden.

- Leanne Verkley

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After frequenting another mommy blog, I was inclined to use the posted idea of a writing down a few things that describe Hadley at the moment.

1.  Ya.
She says ya to almost anything we ask her.  Although she uses it to answer appropriately in most situations, she definitely uses it A LOT!  Today she was just walking around going "ya ya ya ya ya" . She also uses ya in question if she would like permission to do something.  She does however, let us know if she means no by moving her head side to side.

2.  Communication
She doesn't really repeat many words but we know that she knows a lot.
We can ask her to help us with many tasks and she does exactly what she is supposed to.  If she wants something, she somehow points, or uses the previously mentioned ya or no to let us know if we are on the same page.
We try to use key words so that we can get to this same page more quickly.
Hungry, diaper, drink, door, shoes, help, leave it there, etc.

3. Verbal Words used consistently
She can say a few words including:
Ya, dad, ere (there), wa (water), up, no, mom (no and mom are rare).


4. Sign language
She taps her little fingers together for the more symbol to mean food or water.

5. Stairs
She usually climbs just a few stairs and then sits but if she needs a diaper change she will climb right to the top.  She is getting more and more confident with the stairs both up and down.

6. Waving
If we say: hi, see ya later, good night, or good bye, or something of the like, she will wave.

7. Ball
She will try to put her arms out to pick up a rolled ball to her but will walk it most of the way back to you and then drop it or hand it to you.
If we hold a ball up to her waist she will push it down to the floor and start to laugh.  She also enjoys chasing after a rolled ball.

8. Eating
She loves to hold utensils but prefers to eat with her fingers.
She tries to use the utensils but I think she finds it too slow.
Her favorite food at the moment is yogurt (any flavour).  She is pretty patient with me feeding her messy foods which makes for minimal cleanup.  However, sometimes she wants to do it all by herself.
She feeds herself most of the time but things like applesauce, yogurt, pudding and such, I try to feed her.

9. Her favorite book
She likes lots of books but today she played with the Goodnight Moon book quite a bit.  I try to read to her everyday so she knows a lot of different books.

10. Music
She knows how to turn the music on the CD player but has no idea how to push the play button.  She knows something in the play button area needs to be pushed but can't figure out exactly what.  However, the big power button with the red light comes easy to her.
She loves to play her musical instruments and we love to hear her songs.  She pushes down the keys on the xylophone that my dad got her almost every day.  She has many other instruments and musical toys that she also likes to push buttons to make them work.

11.  Helping
Hadley is quite the little helper.  She loves to push clothes that I hand her into the dryer, she will pick up the silverware out of the dishwasher and hand them to me, she loves to water the plants out front with the watering can and she will take things to the recycling bin when asked.  (However, this usually results in her finding something interesting in said bin that she wishes to take out.

Hadley's little personality makes us smile.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today we took Hadley to the Little Tots Hair Shop in Pickering for her first haircut.  While the atmosphere was good with Hadley sitting in a little fire-truck; she did not like this experience.  
About half way through Hadley sat on my lap but even that wasn't as good as getting out of there.
After we paid, received her hair clippings and certificate and were in the parking lot she was all smiles.  
She looks so grown up with her big girl hair cut.

From the front it looks pretty much the same, but from the back it is definitely a big girl haircut.  I will try to post photos to facebook soon. Hopefully tonight.

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday we went to Rotary Park with our friends the Jackson's. (Brian, Theresa, and their three boys: Owen, Andrew and Curtis).  
We met up with them after Brian's mom got to our house just after lunch.
We spent a good amount of time at the splashpad and then some more time at the park.  The kids had a great time!
Throughout the afternoon conversation the topic of Brian, Hadley and I wanting to walk the waterfront trail to Toronto one day came up.
I am not sure exactly how it was decided but basically I was asked yesterday if today would be okay to take on such adventure, and since I had nothing else going on...I said, why not!

We packed a lunch and snacks as well as all the gear for weather and rest stops and headed out this morning at about 7:30 am from our front door.

Brian looked up some maps and information and found out that the trip to Toronto would be approx. 30 KM.  See more info at:
http://www.waterfronttrail.org/ and also check out Brian's blog at ajax.verkley.com/blog/brian

I felt great on the walk.  It was a perfect day with a nice breeze and good company.  We had lovely breaks by the beach, at playgrounds, and at the marina's along the way.

17.06 KM  later we arrived at Rouge Hill Go station. This is where we called it a day.  Not quite all the way to Toronto as we had originally planned but we made it over half way.  We took the GO train back arriving home just after 4pm.  
We walked from Ajax to Scarborough.  That is quite a feat.  I am proud of this.  However, I would really like to finish the walk down into Toronto someday but that is an adventure for another time.

- Leanne Verkley

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This weekend was Lindsay's 30th birthday bash.  Brian stayed home to watch Hadley while I partied with Lindsay and the gang downtown Toronto at Milestones.  Good husband points as I know he would have loved to have been there also!
Jamie got excellent husband points for putting a birthday wish on a billboard right at Dundas Square where everyone could see it from the restaurant balcony.  It came up every 4 minutes from 10pm till 2am.  It was good fun to cheer every four minutes all night long!  After midnight, we moved the party to Jack Astors for drink as Lindsay's cousin Jeff was working, and then we needed to move the party again, so the party continued back at their condo.  I finally left just after 3am, getting me home at about 4am.
I was very tired the next day but it was so much fun.

We went to Toys R Us on Sunday and while shopping Hadley picked up a Fisher Price Popper (http://www.fisher-price.com/us/products/product.asp?id=199) and pushed it around the whole store.  She loved this toy so much  that we bought it for her.  She plays with it ALL the time.

For the first time, Hadley said "hello" while on the phone to my sister yesterday.  It was very clear!  We keep trying to get her to say it again, but so far it was a one shot deal.

Today was such a nice day that we spent some time down by the Ajax waterfront.  LOVELY.  The 7-11 slurpie conditions were great, but the sun made it melt so fast!

- Leanne Verkley

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Today was the last official meet up before 6 out of the 7 moms from our mommy group are officially back at work next week.

We had a fun night on Wednesday night enjoying pizza and scrapbooking and having a "moms only night", and then again today we got together with the babies.

I have spent a lot of time with both these incredible women and their babies over the last year and a half and I am not sure how often we will get together going forward.  We were all a little sad today but we enjoyed each others company to the max.  We have gone through so much together.  So many firsts, so many laughs, and even a few tough times.  
What will the future hold?  We shall see.

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley's dance has changed after the weddings from the weekend.
My cousin Brittany was marrying Kevin and our friends Shawn and Delena were marrying each other on the same day.
Saturday was a busy day!
We managed to get to a good portion of each event and now after much dancing it seems Hadley has picked up some new moves.
Before this weekend if you asked Hadley:  Are you dancing?  She would bop her head from shoulder to shoulder.  Now, she twists her whole body.  It is so cute.  She loves to dance.

- Leanne Verkley

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I am very blessed.  The day after I got back from our vacation, my friends and family came to Ajax to have dinner and drinks/cake with me for my birthday Saturday night.  I was still quite tired from our trip but the company was great and we stayed up until 4am.
(Hadley got up at 7:30am, so that was fun).  
Let's just say that Sunday was a PJ day.
Monday, my actual birthday was a little less fun as this is the day Brian lost his job at Bell.  See Brian's blog: http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/brian/index.cgi?sid=429&user=
Brian insisted that we go out for dinner as planned as this day was supposed to be my day.
It was hard to feel like celebrating but Brian made every effort to make it a day about me.
We went to the new Keg in Ajax, which we had been waiting for a good occasion to spend so much money on one dinner.  It was delicious but I did feel a little guilty spending so much money given the news of the day.  However, this is not where the gifts ended...
I was further spoiled with my new Tissot Watch from Brian, my complete Anne of Green Gables book set from Hadley, wine, flowers, scrapbooking stuff, lottery tickets, candles and much more from those that attended and those that couldn't be there from the gathering on the weekend).  
(It was a good birthday despite the news).  
Looking more and more into what happened that day, the blessings keep coming.  We have been given time.
With a 6 month package from Bell, we have been blessed with time to figure out our new life direction.  Not everyone gets this chance to go in pretty much any direction they like, while married with a child in the picture.
We have no idea what the new direction will be, but I continue to pray about it and ask for others to pray with me.
After this news, my birthday was again celebrated yesterday by the downtown crew from BMO/GGOF at Jump.
I am truly blessed.

- Leanne Verkley

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Well, we are back from our maritime vacation.
We spent two lovely weeks exploring the east coast of Canada.
We tried to drive as much as possible when Hadley would normally be sleeping so as to keep her days and nights straight.
We left Friday August 1st and got as far as Dorval where we stayed in a hotel for the night.
August 2nd we headed for Old Quebec where we enjoyed the outdoors walking around the city, followed by a wonderful dinner at St. Hubert.  The evening was spent standing in the rain watching a sound and light show on enormous grain silos about the last 400 years.  Interesting but wet and the sights were mostly blocked from my short point of view.
There were so many things going on for the 400 year celebration, so we stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express, which was expensive but the only thing available that night.  However staying the night allowed Hadley time to spend the next day in the kid play area (which she loved).  We also enjoyed some gelati ice cream, beer and peanuts at a pub and of course more walking around.  There is so much to take in with music, tents, horse and buggy rides, and so much more.
We camped that night at Beauport Municipal Campground.  (It was decent and inexpensive offsetting the previous night).
We left early August 4th to get some hours on the road.  We stopped in BIC Quebec National Park for lunch, and then another stop at Cap Chat later in the afternoon to touch the St. Lawrence River and have a snack.  This was our LONG drive day.  We stopped again at Park National de la gaspesie to enjoy a spaghetti dinner.  This was such a long day on the road but it didn't stop there.  We continued to drive until after midnight so that we could be at Gaspe to see Perce Rock at Sunrise.  We had a little glitch with our camping reservation at Panorama de Perce in that they closed before we arrived.  So, we slept in their parking lot, in our car.   Recommendation - if you make the drive to see this, stay at a hotel!  It was a long drive for a beautiful view (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perc

- Leanne Verkley

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Last night we deemed it time to lower Hadley's crib to the lowest level of the three levels.
Hadley is growing so much and gaining so much strength.
She now loves to use her arms to pull herself up on the couch and other things and she was looking as though she could use this strength to pull herself up and over the crib.  Thus, it was time to lower it.
I think she was a little perplexed by her new lower crib, but I feel a lot better.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley loves to "jump".
I say: Jump, Jump, Jump, and she marches heavy footed around the room.
So it really isn't jumping, but it is still REALLY cute.
It is really funny to me because as a kid, I couldn't jump.
I would squat down and put all my effort into it and I would get zero air time.

- Leanne Verkley

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My car is officially "experienced".
We hit 200 000 KM the other day.
In November it will be 9 years old!

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley has been working on learning how to blow kisses.
It started with her just bringing her hand to her mouth but the follow through was a bit of a challenge.
However, this past week, she has totally got the hang of it; And there is sometimes even sound affects:  MmmmmmmWWWah!
She is a very affectionate girl and loves to show off her new talent.

- Leanne Verkley

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You really realize that it is summer when you have the chance to sit back and enjoy a freezie.  I prefer the orange ones but most flavors are good.
I don't know the last time I had a freezie.  It made me feel like a kid again.

I suppose that is why I have freezies in the house.
Hadley loves them!

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday night the moms from our mommy group decided to get together without babies for a hot tub night at Beth's.
We left the babies with our husbands and headed out for the evening.
We enjoyed strawberry daiquiri's and talked the night away in the hot tub.
Mostly about the babies.  
But it still felt like a much needed girls night out.
Saturday we headed to my friend Shaye's house for a summer BBQ.
She lives basically outside the door of McRae Point Provincial Park about 20 minutes outside of Orillia.
We enjoyed the afternoon/evening by eating so much good food and conversation.  We ended up staying overnight and then spent a good portion of today also with Shaye.
She made us a wonderful french toast breakfast and then we headed out to the beach at McRae Point Provincial Park.  
I got to try out my new sling that Lori made for me and it is WONDERFUL.  I love it.
Hadley,Shaye and I put our feet in the water, while Brian was onlooking from a picnic table, and then we spent some time on the swings.
After a bit, we headed back to Shaye's for lunch before we had to head out.
Tonight I had baseball at 6pm and we won 11-4, which is awesome as we haven't had that many wins this season.  We were very happy!
From what I hear, Brian and Hadley spent a fun night at home together playing games and the like.
The only thing that was a bit of a challenge this weekend was Hadley's sleeping.  She woke up Friday night through out the night, and then last night at Shaye's in hysterics.  It seemed like nothing would console her.
But after trying a diaper change, food, and a drink, and some cuddle time she finally fell back asleep.   However she was up 3 hours later.
I felt broken. I needed sleep.  She normally sleeps through the night so I was really not used to this!  She went back to sleep by 8am, and so did I.
I definitely  paid for staying up late.  I was exhausted!
She was up late again tonight.
We will have to work hard this week to get her back on schedule.

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday I met up with two old roommates from college:  Rhona and Christine.
Recently, within the past two months, Rhona returned from Oman (the middle east) to Canada and is actually now a Canadian citizen. (Although she admits that she still doesn't know the anthem in full).
She was in Canada for a few years, then spent a few years in the states then she went home and applied for Canadian citizenship and now she is back.
She is working downtown Toronto, and since Christine lives in Brantford, and I am in Ajax, this seemed like the best place to meet.
We decided to try out the new patio at Jack Astors (Yonge and Dundas Square).  It was quite good.
The patio was quite warm but it had great atmosphere, a great view and they had water misters that would provide a "small" amount of relief to the heat.
We talked, ate, and laughed a lot!
After a two hour lunch, Rhona had to go back to work but Christine and I spent some time in Dundas Square, and then we moved to Nathan Phillips Square.
Hadley and I caught the GO train home and actually met a new friend.
Shawn and her daughter Isabelle live in Whitby and we seemed to have a lot in common.  Isabelle is 9 months old and they go to the zoo once a week.
I gave her my email address and maybe we will hook up one of these times.
Another fun day in our life.

- Leanne Verkley

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BIRTH ORDER OF CHILDREN

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.


                         Preparing for the Birth:

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.

2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.

3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.


                               The Layette:

1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.

2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.

3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

                                 Worries:

1st baby: At the first sign of distress梐 whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby

2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.

3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

                                 Pacifier:

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.

2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.

3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

                                Diapering:

1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.

2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.

3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

                                Activities:

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, Baby Zoo, Baby Movies and Baby Story Hour.

2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.

3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaners.


                                Going Out:

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.

2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.

3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.


                                 At Home:

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.

2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.


                      Swallowing Coins (a favorite):

1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays

2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.

3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!

- Leanne Verkley

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On July 15th Hadley and I joined Lori, Audrey, Beth and Clara at Petticoat Creek conservation area to have a Teddy Bears picnic and a day of swimming.
I thought I blogged about it but apparently not.
Anyway here is the link: http://www.toronto4kids.com/content/view/333/
It is a hidden gem.
Just south on Whites Road in Pickering they have a HUGE 1.5 acre swimming pool with a grassy area to have a picnic and let the girls run around.
It was great - a very enjoyable day.
All except the part where I got my first speeding ticket.  81 in a 60.
Bahh.  The policeman was nice about it at least and knocked it down to 75.  This means no points and just a small $52 fine.
Bahhh.

At least the day was fun.

- Leanne Verkley

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Remember when you were a kid and you had the see and say toy that had the pull handle on the right, and when you pulled it down the farmer would say...the dog says: woof, woof.
Anyway, Brian found one of these at a garage sale for I think $0.25 and Hadley now has the strength to pull the handle herself.
This link provides a very modern link to what I mean.
http://www.fisher-price.com/us/seensay/

Hadley's is actually blue and not so complex.
But still lots of fun!

- Leanne Verkley

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This past Saturday Brian, Hadley and I went to Derek and Steph's wedding in Atwood.
The wedding was planned to take place at our good friend's the Johnston's pond but the weather told us to move.  It down poured!
Unfortunately, minutes before the wedding was to take place we were all running for cover.
Most ran to their cars but the wedding party and a few other close friends including us went in the Johnston's house to figure out what to do from there.
Sadly, it was decided to move the ceremony.  (The guys worked so hard on the property the weekends prior to the wedding and the site looked great but the weather was too bad to stay there).
So, we witnessed Derek and Steph's union at the Atwood Hall about 45 minutes later.
It was still beautiful as they are such a cute couple.
The day went well with lots of catch up with some high-school friends and Hadley even slept from 8pm until 1am at the reception.
She only woke up when someone decided Karaoke would be a good idea.
However, she woke up in good spirits and just danced with us until 2am.
Everyone commented on how well behaved she was.
After the hall closed up for the night, I took on my DD role and drove some people back to the Johnston's.
And then Brian, Hadley and I back to my dad's house for SLEEP!
We all slept in, and then visited for a few hours before heading home just in time to do a few things before I had to head out to a double header for baseball.
It was a busy weekend, but good fun.

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday, Hadley and I got up early to go to the Ontario Early Years Centre Focus on Toddlers Group. We planted some kidney beans, played with the toys, and sang a few songs.  
We later came back home to hook up with Julie who stayed over night after the ball game the night before.  
After a little more sleep, she wanted to join us for our afternoon at McKinney Park in Whitby.  This is a fabulous water park hidden in behind huge buildings.
The ground is a soft rubber, and there is a lot of room to play.
We also met up with Beth, Clara, Lori and Audrey.
Following our outing we headed to 711 for our FREE Slurpee.  
July 11th is National Slurp-Day at 7-Eleven.  They were small, but they were free.
It was all good.

- Leanne Verkley

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Last Thursday Hadley and I went to Yorkdale Mall to shop with my brother Joe.
We spent a couple of hours there and were quite successful in finding what we set out to shop for.  (All except new sunglasses for me).
But it was still a good shopping day.
We met up with Julie and Brian's uncle Paul and then headed to meet up with Brian downtown at Casey's for dinner.
Then we all headed to the Jays game to watch them beat the Orioles 6-5 in the ninth.
To read about the game:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=280710114

Hadley did well, but was asleep before the 7th inning stretch.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today Hadley and I ventured to Whittamores Farm.  
http://www.whittamoresfarm.com/
To note: I seriously thought about picking my own strawberries and even drove all the way to the spot near the back of the farm to park my car but decided against it after I saw the rain clouds.
It would be one thing to try to tackle picking strawberries on my own with a 15 month old, but a whole other thing to do it in the pouring rain.
So, we headed to the market onsite and bought a flat of beautiful strawberries, a few good stocks of rhubarb, and some sweet peas.
We had free passes to get into the fun park but decided against it due to weather. (The passes are good until the fall, so maybe we will go back when something else is in season other than strawberries.  Who knows?)
When we got home I took all the stems off the strawberries and Brian and I watched as Hadley enjoyed herself in the wonderment of Ontario Strawberries.
She has had strawberries before and didn't really like them, but these....WELL, let's just say she loved them!
Anyway, after she was finished she needed a bath before I could tackle my jam.
I made a small batch of 6 little freezer containers for Brian and I, then I made two strawberry rhubarb pies, I froze a huge bag for future use and left the rest for eating fresh on icecream (which we did tonight).  Perhaps we will have some on our cereal in the morning?  
Overall, I think it was a successful day!

- Leanne Verkley

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Words are fun.
See Brian's update about Hadley's first conversation on June 29th.
http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/brian/index.cgi?sid=409&user=

Today she used two words together for the first time.
"Mom, up".

- Leanne Verkley

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This past week we were on vacation!
Friday night we started by taking Hadley to the Toronto Zoo.  Now this might not seem like a vacation thing to do as we go often.  However, Brian and I wanted to take Hadley to the Stingray Bay exhibit together and we finally were able to do so.    Both Brian and I touched the stingrays (which was a little like petting fish), but Hadley didn't.  Which was okay since they eat shellfish and Hadley shouldn't have that until she is three.

Saturday we met up with Steve and Brent to go see a Blue Jays game in Toronto against the Atlanta Braves.  The Jays haven't played them since 1992 in Toronto so this was a special game to attend.  Cito Gaston vs Bobby Cox rematch too!

Sunday we spent the day getting prepared to be away for the week; and Monday we headed to Ottawa.
We took Hadley to our nations capital for the Canada Day Celebrations.
It was crazy busy, with people everywhere, but it was so much fun.
We met up with Shaye, John, Patti-Jo, Julie and Pat.
We sang O-Canada with the masses, watched a parade. watched the changing of the guard, the musical ride of the RCMP, and the snow birds fly over parliament hill.  
There was so much going on that we couldn't take it all in, but we did our best.  We managed to see the Terry Fox Van that was on display.  http://www.tourofhope.ca/
We ended the day by enjoying a beautiful "make tax payers proud" fireworks display!
I love Ottawa!

We had a side adventure that evening as we were staying in Alymer and the buses apparently stopped before we made it back to the hotel.  So, with us singing show tunes on the street we waited to see if one would come by, but eventually took a taxi to the Chateau Cartier for a good night's sleep.  It was after 1:00 am and Hadley was still awake and happy!  
In the morning we enjoyed a nice morning dip in their pool before we checked out.
After exploring the ByWard market and getting some fresh fruit, we headed to Bon Echo to camp for two nights.
We went on some hikes, saw some deer, and enjoyed the beautiful park and the great outdoors.
Hadley was a great camper!

From here we went to Listowel to spend the night with my sister while Brian spent the night out with his friend Derek for his stag.  (You will have to ask him for details on that).

Speaking of Brian, we met up with him by noon the next day and headed for the Pinery for some more camping.  This time on Lake Huron with Brian's Uncle Phil, and Jeff and their families, plus a few of their friends and extended relatives.

We spent the first day on the beach, (Hadley didn't like the cold water at all).
Doreen and Kiana made solar s'mores that were SOOOO GOOD!  Then that evening Hadley experienced her first campfire.
She fell asleep too early at the other camping adventures.

On Sunday Kiana read LOTS of books to Hadley, and we played a game called, keep yourself out of the poison ivy.  It was good fun.  Brian went canoeing with Jeff.
On our way home we stopped off to visit with my mom and Pat in Exeter.
When we got home, I realized how much laundry and clean up is required after a trip.
I am exhausted!
It was a great week!

- Leanne Verkley

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On Wednesday Hadley experienced a fever of 38+ degrees celsius all day, but after going to bed, she awoke to a temperature above 39.
She required some Tempra to bring it down to normal and she slept well after that.
Now a few days later, 4 teeth have started to poke their way through the gums filling in the spaces in front of the molars.
With these new teeth making their entrance, that means she only has four more baby teeth to come in and they aren't suppose to come until after she is two.
YAY!  This means we have more than a few months without teething!
However, the next set are the big molars at the back.  YOUCH!

- Leanne Verkley

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Last night the town of Ajax set off the fireworks that were supposed to be set off the week before for home week.  (They didn't do it the week before due to rain).
Anyway, Hadley was sleeping when they were going off, but we could see them from our bedroom window so even though we weren't at the park, we didn't miss out!

- Leanne Verkley

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Today Brian and I thought it would be a warm enough day to finally try out Hadley's new swimming pool.  So we filled it up with hose water and let it sit out in the sun for a bit.  
Then in the afternoon we put Hadley in her new full body swimsuit and dipped her toes in to the FRIGID water.
She didn't like it at first but after a while she was in and out playing with the water and toys.  I am glad we got the pool that has full sides as otherwise she would have scraped up her legs.
A couple of times she actually went to sit down but then realized the temperature.
We were out there for quite a while as Brian put together her Muskoka chair that she got for her birthday.
After a fun filled afternoon, we emptied the pool.  
The  pool we got has a drain plug making it so that emptying it is a lot easier.  (No need for a mosquito breeding ground).  
I went off to baseball by 5:45pm and Brian said she was so tired that she fell asleep somewhere between 6:30pm and 7pm.  I guess sun can do that to you.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today is day one of no nursing whatsoever.
Hadley is officially 15 months today and after about a month of just before bed feeds, I felt it was time.
I am happy for her and my new found freedom.  
I am sad because I grew to love our one on one quiet time together.
It was a little bit of a challenge to get her to go to sleep tonight but nothing crazy.  It took 25 minutes of rubbing her back in her crib.  
I was a little sore afterwards from leaning over but I don't want to get in the habit of laying with her in my bed if I can help it.
She woke up a few times within the first few hours of sleeping but I think this was mostly because she is teething again.
We shall see how the rest of the night goes, but so far, so good.

I spoke too soon...I must go tend to an unhappy camper.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley now says ball and I am positive she knows what it means.
First of all, she has a plush soccer ball that she can use in the house.
(Which I might add she just started kicking and not just rolling or picking up).
As well the neighbour kids seem to kick up to three balls in our back yard at a time.  (Hadley looks out different windows where she can see them and says ball).  
I must admit our backyard is/was scary up until this afternoon so that might be why they didn't come to get said balls.
You see, every time we went to cut the lawn it had either just rained, or the grass was still wet, or it was about to rain.
So tonight...the grass was cut and the balls thrown back over the fence.  FINALLY!
YAY!

- Leanne Verkley

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Today was Hadley's 15 month needles.  This was for pneumo conjugate and Varicella.  The first one she has had before, the second one is new.  It is for chicken pox.  We have to watch in approx. 10 days she may break out in a small patch of spots around where the needle went and she may have a small fever but otherwise she should be fine.  
Hadley was not happy about actually getting the needles but afterwards she was fine and she acted normal all day.
She weighed in at 19 pounds 12 ounces up from 17 pounds 2 ounces at 12 months, and she was 77.5 cm tall up from 72.5 cm tall with a new head circumference of 46.5 cm.
She is in the 50th percentile for height, meaning she is exactly in the middle of the height chart for kids her age.  She is in the 7th percentile for weight though, meaning 93% of the kids her age weigh more than her.
The doctor has no concerns.
I did bring up that Hadley doesn't seem to like milk and she suggested adding more yogurt, more broccoli, more cheese and to try to hide it in whatever I can in order to help Hadley to get the calcium that she needs.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today I met up with my babyville group for a walk at Rotary park.  It was quite nice and I was motivated to get the flower pots out of the garage when I got back.  (I will get to planting them later, but at least they are out).  I left Hadley in her stroller to watch while I spent the few minutes to do this.  I also thought, I would get a head start on taking out the recycling for the night.  I knew it was early but it was one less thing to do later.

Later...
It started to rain... in-fact it started to hail and downpour.
While I was going around closing all the windows, some kid/teen decided it would be a good idea to empty my recycling and swipe the bin for protection.
SHEESH!
I hope that person has a conscience and brings it back!
As they are $5 to replace.
I guess I will be taking my recycling out later from now on.

- Leanne Verkley

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This weekend Brian and I decided to take Hadley camping.  This would be to celebrate our 4th year wedding anniversary and Father's Day.
We decided not to venture too far and headed to Presqu'ile provincial park.  http://www.ontarioparks.com/English/pres.html

It is about two hours from home which meant that we could get there Friday night (Friday the 13th) just in time to get our tent set up for a lightening rain storm.
Surprisingly Hadley slept really well and only got up once but really it was just breakfast time.  (We just weren't ready to get up yet).
So we fed her and fortunately she went back to bed easily until a more reasonable camping hour to wake up.  

Our site 330 (a premium site on the lake for the same price as a regular price) was beautiful to wake up on as we could just unzip the door to our tent and look out onto Lake Ontario.  
But after we actually got out of the tent we went to watch some common terns flying and fishing in the lake.  These birds are crazy to watch as they fly, back peddle and do an arrowhead dive into the water.

At 10:00 am we joined the tour at the lighthouse to learn a bit about the history of the park.  Then we went on a hike of our own to see the shore birds and we were happy with what we saw but the mosquitos were CRAZY!  
So we headed to the beach to spend some time with Hadley playing in the sand.  The beach was quite a nice beach and it was fun to watch Hadley play in the sand with shovels, pails and other sand tools.  
We made some small "castles" which she sat on, but it was all good fun.  
By 2:00 pm we had to head back to the campsite to re-book for the night.  (The computer system was down the night before so they could only book one night at a time).  Sadly our site was booked and we had to move to site 331.  It was okay but wasn't as nice.  However we still had some view of the lake.
Later we headed into Brighton to browse an antique shop.
We also walked through the town and eventually had dinner at Vito's Pizzeria.  
They had excellent service and the food was good also.
We went back to our campsite and sat by the lake showing Hadley how to skip stones.
She eventually just tried to lightly toss them just in front of her and thought this was the funniest thing.  (I love her laugh)!

That night we enjoyed a decent fire that lasted longer than we expected as our wood was very dry.
When the fire was dying down close to midnight, I decided to pack up everything and I did so just in time.
You see, just after I had sat down to enjoy the last little bit of the fire, I turned my head lamp to my right and about 3 feet from me was a raccoon!  I nearly jumped in the fire!
I think I startled him/her enough to stay away all night!
This is the second time this month that I have had crazy raccoon's try to get so close to me.  The other time was on our last garbage day.  One tried to climb onto our deck while I was sitting there and then that night another one was on our roof looking at us in our bedroom windows!
I digress.  

Today we actually came back to join a tour on the history of how the once island joined the land.  (Presqu'ile means almost island).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presqu%27ile_Provincial_Park
Ian our tour guide was quite knowledgeable and personable making this quite interesting.
However, I was tired after the hour plus tour.  We did have Hadley walk as much as possible this weekend and it was so cute when she was on uneven terrain and reached out for our hands but I still felt like I carried her quite a bit.  
This tour was not stroller accessible so I carried her for most of it.  (Don't get me wrong, Brian helped.  I was especially thankful for his help up the hill near the end but nonetheless I am tired).
I am sad that I lost my sling a few weeks back and I would like to get another one before another vacation if possible!
Anyway, after the tour we decided to head for home.  
We made a stop in Coborne at the Big Apple.
http://www.roadsideattractions.ca/apple.htm
I had never been there before and after sharing a mumble crumble apple pie with Brian, we headed up the big apple to look at the view (of the 401).  
We took a few photos and were on our way.
Strollers were not allowed in the gift shop so we skipped that.  
We probably didn't need anything from there anyway.  :)

I was supposed to play baseball tonight but the thunder storm cancelled that.
So it is a low key evening at home.  
Hadley just went to bed and I think I might go to bed soon myself.

All said and done...I would definitely camp with Hadley (and Brian of course) again.  
:)  

- Leanne Verkley

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Our music class ended today.
I am very sad as this was a fantastic FREE class.
It was a great mix of circle sit down time, and then exercise/puppet/musical instrument, beanbag, and other fun.
It may be back at the Early Years in the fall, but still I am sad it won't be run during the summer.

- Leanne Verkley

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On June 11th, Hadley finally voiced mom mom mom.
She has been trying to say mom for a very long time and usually mouths the word but the other day she used the sounds.  It was like music to my ears!
She didn't just say it once but three times!

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley's eyes smile.
Actually, all of Hadley's emotions show through her eyes.
However, the best thing ever is to see her beautiful smile shine through her eyes.  
It lights up my world.
:)

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley has been up a few stairs before on her own (with us right behind her) but she is now tackling the stairs right to the top (still with us behind her).
She giggles so much while going up.  

Brian and I are trying to practice going down the stairs with her as she will now need this skill.  I think it might take a bit for her do this on her own.

- Leanne Verkley

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Today in our Music and Movement class we were right there as Hannah took her first steps!  This is a very exciting thing!
After the class Lori, Christine, Hannah, Audrey, Hadley and I met up with Kim who had the day off.  She also had some news.  1. She bought a house in Pickering and 2. Her husband got a new job closer to the new house.  
She misses being off work A LOT!

It was a beautiful day... actually it was quite hot which prompted us to check out the water park by the lake.
Audrey got the most into the water park but was a little alarmed when the sprinklers really started to go.  Hadley was very cautious not to get too wet as the water was cold and Hannah tried touching the water but with only her first steps taken this morning, she didn't venture in too far.
It was quite fun and I am glad Christine had her camera there.  I can't wait to see the photos!

- Leanne Verkley

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Today after spending some fun time at the zoo enjoying the new coral exhibit with Lori, Beth, Audrey and Clara, we got ready to host the East Ender.
The weather was dreary but our Mexican themed meal was a hit.
We started off with pan dip and nachos, and moved on to full fledged taco madness.  There were so many toppings!  Of course there was WAY too much food but it was so yummy!
Hadley was very well behaved and didn't mind sharing her toys at all.
There are so many kids now.  :)
It is so funny that when we started having these things there were no kids at all.
It was good times as always but I am glad it will be someone else's turn to host next month!

- Leanne Verkley

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Tonight after having dinner out with Shawn K and Brian at the Imperial Buffet, I got home only to give Hadley a bath and put her to bed.
Well, for the first time ever, Hadley went pooh in the tub.
That is funny enough until you are in such situation.
What do you do?
Well, I picked her up as quickly as I could, and held her little bottom over the way too big toilet to finish the job.  Then the cold, wet little baby is in need of clean up, diapering, PJ's and bed.
So after all of this is taken care of, there is the job of sanitizing the tub and tub toys.  What I thought would be a simple bath bed routine, ended up being quite the production.
But all is now clean again.

- Leanne Verkley

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Tonight 5 of the mommies from our mommy group went out sans babies.
We started the night at Demitres (ice cream), and ended at Shoeless Joe's (drinks and nachos).  A little backwards but we wanted more talking time after our ice-cream.
We were all out for 4 hours, with not one call from our husbands.  
We laughed and talked and had a great time.
We have decided to do this again in July.

- Leanne Verkley

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Last night I got together with some of the GGOF girls.  
Well, we all worked there at one point, but now only Lisa works there.
Dianne, Johanna, Eva, Lisa, and I all got caught up at Jack Asters on Front Street in Toronto.  Jenny couldn't make it this time round.
Hadley came downtown with me on the GO train and we enjoyed some nice conversation and dinner before heading back to Ajax where Jason and Mandy were coming for a visit.
They stayed overnight as they were going to a wedding in Kingston today.
It is so nice to have visitors.  Especially since gas is so expensive these days.

- Leanne Verkley

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Last night I got together with some of the GGOF girls.  
Well, we all worked there at one point, but now only Lisa works there.
Dianne, Johanna, Eva, Lisa, and I all got caught up at Jack Asters on Front Street in Toronto.  Jenny couldn't make it this time round.
Hadley came downtown with me on the GO train and we enjoyed some nice conversation and dinner before heading back to Ajax where Jason and Mandy were coming for a visit.
They stayed overnight as they were going to a wedding in Kingston today.
It is so nice to have visitors.  Especially since gas is so expensive these days.

- Leanne Verkley

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OH NO!  Hadley flushed the toilet on her own for the first time today.  What am I am in for?  Well, let me tell you...while I was cleaning the washroom this morning she decided it would be fun to put a plastic bag (clean ready for replacing in the garbage), into the toilet.  I stopped her before she could flush it.

She seemed a little alarmed by the whole event.  Not scared but more in wonderment of what happened and why.

- Leanne Verkley

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On Thursday I headed to Kitchener where I met up with my mom, aunt and cousin for lunch.  I ended up spending some good time after lunch catching up with my mom.  It was a beautiful day.  
After arriving back home I realized I had a lot of work ahead of me to get things organized for the long weekend away at the Cole cottage.
It seems kids need to travel with everything but the kitchen sink...but if I could just fit that in...

Anyway, we went up to the cottage late Friday, with a brief stop in Listowel to see Aunt Julie and Grandma Verkley.  (We had to wake Hadley for the visit but it was good fun).

Saturday the weather was great but Sunday was down right frosty!

We worked on planting some flowers, chopping wood, and other opening weekend chores, but the best part was just catching up with everyone.
I am a little tired from the weekend but it was definitely worth the drive!

Although we were on top of cleaning Hadley the best we could over the weekend; Hadley experienced her first shower today.  It was a little tricky, but we managed.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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I have the best family!
Brian woke up early today with Hadley so that I could sleep in.
THIS WAS GREAT!
When I did get up at 9am we all had breakfast together.  
SO NICE!
Then later we went out shopping and had lunch together.
LOVELY!
Brian then watched Hadley while I went out to play baseball and had some time out with friends at the pub.
On top of all of this, I now have a photo book with pictures in it that has one picture from every month of Hadley's first year.  As well I was spoiled with a cake taker.
It was a rejuvenating day.

- Leanne Verkley

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The tree in our backyard has had beautiful blossoms on it for about a week now.  We are so lucky because I think we have the most beautiful backyard when it is in bloom.  
Today however, we had quite a wind which took off most of the flowers and left the tree green.
This is sad, but happy.  
I am happy to see that summer is heading our way!

- Leanne Verkley

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They have finally been replaced!
We now have wooden chairs for our beautiful homemade table that we got made for us for our wedding by Brian's uncle Joe.
I am so happy!
Matching is nice, but safety is nicer!  
The old chairs had put in their time.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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With all of the crazy learning that Hadley has undertaken in the last while, the newest is real communication.
She says "ya" a lot, and she is learning what it means. She also has a cute little laugh that definitely conveys that she means YES!  
Like if we ask her if she is hungry, or needs a diaper change and the answer is affirmative, she does this cute little laugh.
No on the other hand, she doesn't say it, but she has learned that shaking her had from side to side conveys the message clear enough.
Sometimes though she shakes her head no and says ya.
Oh well.

To note: I think she has entered a mimicing stage.  I showed her the sign language for "more" and she used it over and over again when I had ice cream to share.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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Brian and I went out for dinner tonight at Montana's and after feeding Hadley her nutritional food that we brought for her, she seemed like she could still eat more.
So for the first time, we ordered her food off the kids menu.
French Fries.  At $0.99 for a huge plate it was a great deal!
She ate quite a lot of them!  

At bedtime tonight, I decided to put her in the crib and just see what happened.
I stood by the crib and rubbed her back for a bit, then I just stood there watching her as she giggled, and held up her hands.  She was calm the whole time.  After about 45 minutes of waiting for her to fall asleep, I decided to slowly just step away from my awake baby in her crib.
I actually got out of the room, and then watched her on the video monitor as she fell asleep on her own!  YAY!
Hmmm, should we feed her more fries?

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley is now forward facing in her car seat which is great because we can now entertain her a lot easier on drives.
The downside is that it is a little more challenging to get her in and out of the seat and we can no longer just grab the bucket and move her to the stroller or house -and keep her sleeping.
The other change that comes with this is that she is now forward facing in the stroller.  It was interesting to take her outside, and then realize that I had a diaper bag in one hand, Hadley in the other and a stroller in the trunk...hmmmm.
Once I managed to get the stroller out, and get myself and Hadley organized, we went for our walk.  
I must admit that I miss not looking at her while I walk, but she seems to enjoy being able to look where she is going.
Today while walking to our music and movement class at Lakeside Community Centre,  I did stop to talk with her a few times.  I usually talk with her lots when she is facing me so I think it was important for me and her. :)
My little girl is constantly growing!

- Leanne Verkley

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Last Wednesday night Hadley broke out in her first real fever.
The root cause are four molars coming in at the same time.  OUCH!
This turned into a mild ear infection in her right ear.
I found this out yesterday when I went to visit the doctor after day 5 of taking TEMPRA (her first medication ever).
In good timing, the fever broke on day five which is when TEMPRA recommends consulting a physician for further instructions.
In fact last night she actually had a temperature reading of 35.3 Celcius for most of the night.  (I am guessing she has a low normal temperature, but I will have to check this when she is 100%.
In any case, she is in much better spirits, not lethargic like she was, and not hot!
I am glad to have my happy Hadley back.  It was a rough couple of days/nights!
I should sleep some time.  

- Leanne Verkley

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My business seems to be doing quite well.  With a recent order just yesterday I have already reached my three month minimum sales requirement in just two weeks.  So now I don't have to worry so much for a little bit.
However, I have decided to give myself a new goal.  If I sell $400 in product in the next two weeks I will get my initial investment back.  So...here we go.
With that being said, I have asked my wonderful husband to add a link on my blog under the others section on the right.  So, if you haven't looked at my website already, please check it out!

- Leanne Verkley

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- Leanne Verkley

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Just after Hadley's first birthday I realized that a bedtime routine was needed.
Before then, we were letting her stay up until she got tired.This was usually around 11pm.  (Way too late for me!)  I was getting nothing done, and was exhausted.

Since her birthday we decided that routine was the way to get her used to an earlier bedtime.
So with the same things happening around the same time every night including me taking her up to bed at roughly the same time each night (sometime between 8 and 8:30 depending the night) we have now gotten to the point where she actually goes to sleep at this time.
You see, when we first started this, I sat in her room with her for roughly two hours rocking, humming, feeding, whatever it took to not entertain, but relax her.

Now tonight, I am proud to say she went to sleep in 10 minutes!  Hooray!
Of course things change every day so we have to work with life, but having Hadley in bed this much earlier allows me to get some of my own things accomplished.  Even if it is just the laundry!

- Leanne Verkley

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There has been a lot going on in the Verkley household over the past week.
First of all Hadley has tried a lot of new foods.  It is getting to the point where it is a bit of a challenge to list all of the new foods.

On Monday I got together with my friend Christine and her new son Dean for a shopping trip at the mall.  Basically we walked and talked the halls as it was raining the day we met up.
Tuesday we celebrated Audrey's first birthday at our Mommy Group.  I decided to bake a cake in the #1 pan that I got for Hadley's birthday.  Everyone loved it!
Wednesday a few of us went on a field trip to Costco and I was able to take advantage of Beth's card.  (I think it would be dangerous if I actually had my own card)!
Thursday I went to see 21 at the movies.  It is a good movie to go see if you like the Ocean's series you will like this movie.
On Friday Hadley and I started a new group for toddlers at the Lakeside Community Centre.  It is a really great program that allows for singing, dancing and play.
Then yesterday was a day around the house, but today is my dad's birthday!  We made the trek to Listowel to visit, enjoy some food and of course have some cake!  So you see, it has been a busy week!

- Leanne Verkley

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I hit my goal today.  Actually I went a little under my goal, but still, I am on to the maintenance plan.   This means I get to eat more!
It took me just over a year to loose just under 30 pounds of weight that I had from my pregnancy.  
I feel great and am glad to be back at goal.

- Leanne Verkley

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Last Wednesday night I hosted my monthly scrapbooking night, only this night was different;  It was different because I have decided to start selling Creative Memories scrapbooking products.  I have used the acid free products for years and speak highly of their quality.  If you need anything, please feel free to ask.  This is something for everyone.
If you just want to sort your photos and keep them neat in containers that make sense, they have products for that too.  If you want to create hardbound books with your digital photos, there is any easy click program to set that up, with a book mailed to you when you are finished.  If you don't have much time but still would like to add a little pizzaz to your albums we have a slide it product that allows you to put your photos in an album with a few embellishments that allow for colour and text.  There is a product for you if you want a predecorated album that you can just insert photos into.  Of course there is a full line of scrapbooking stickers, papers and albums that allow you to show all your own creativity.  As well, there is a new framing option that allows you to display pages that you are working on.  So, if you are looking for something to help you get or keep your photos in order, please let me know.  
You can visit my website at: http://www.mycmsite.com/sites/leanneverkley

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley has most definitely learned to use her feet.  She is taking a few steps more and more often here and there between larger objects to help her to get around.
Check out her video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhQd-fHXgs

- Leanne Verkley

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This week has been an eventful week.
Last Tuesday we met up with our regular group of mommies and babies and late Wednesday night all the babies fell ill.
This was Hadley's first time actually vomiting.  Numerous times.  Not fun.
The following day we pressed on as it was her birthday.  Her first birthday!
We did some running around during the day but really tried to keep things low key until the party began.
We wanted to have many more people come to her party but since we couldn't host a BBQ outside we had to limit the number of invitees as our house is only so big with very few spots to sit.  We were very thankful to all those that made the trek to Ajax to help us celebrate!
Hadley was showered with gifts, and watching her with the cake was extremely fun!
We put the whole cake in front of her and although she did touch it, she wasn't really interested in getting it all over or anything.  In fact she actually held her hand out and wanted the cake off of it.   She did lean in with her mouth though and took a tiny bite of the slice we cut for her.  Then her interest in the cake was over.

After a few hours at her party I started feeling ill....oh no.
Yes, I caught her bug.  Infact, we were all sick.  Brian and Hadley were also doing their best to carry on through the party.
The entire family was sick for days and we are just now starting to get back normal.
We were blessed to have Anne Marie and Julie stay over for two nights after the birthday party. They watched and played with Hadley while we got through the roughest part.  BIG THANKS!

Our Easter weekend, the earliest it will be in our lifetime was spent relaxing, trying to fight off this bug.
I did put Hadley in her pretty new Easter dress on the Sunday and she opened a few gifts but the day was pretty low key.  I did have a pop though and it was tasty.  Mmmm, the first in 40 days.  This lent seemed particularly long since I love ginger-ale when I am sick.

As for new foods, we have introduced milk and toast to Hadley.  Both with no sign of an allergy.  We do know that there are many types of bread out there, but she seems to be good with the first type of bread we introduced.

Thursday morning (yesterday) was Hadley's one year needles.  This was for Measles, Mumps and Rubella, as well as Meninggococcal Group Conjugate.  Hadley was not happy about actually getting the needles but she acted normal all day.
She weighed in at 17 pounds 2 ounces up from 16 pounds 6 ounces at 10 months, and she was 72.5cm tall up from 70 cm with a new head circumference of 45 cm.

For me, I have 0.4 pounds to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight down from 5 pounds at the ten month mark.  I am just about there.  :)

- Leanne Verkley

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On Friday Brian's sister Julie came over and decided to join us in our fun night out.  It was my friend Michelle's 30th birthday (a friend from Georgian College).  
We started the night out at the Outback restaurant where I was also privileged enough to catch up with another old friend from school; Sarah.
The food was fantastic, (I had steak and of course the bloomin' onion to share at the table) and we even enjoyed some cupcakes that had icing, icing and more icing.

From there we headed to Woodbine Racetrack to try our luck and bet on the horse races.  http://www.woodbineentertainment.com/qct/default.asp
We learned how to bet and stayed for three races.  Julie won three for three!

I learned that night that Michelle and I had been there before TOGETHER, and we didn't even know it.
We both worked with an inventory management company called Resolve and they brought their clients there each year as an appreciation event.  The event was so big that we didn't even know each other was there though.
I had forgotten how to bet since it had been about two years since I was last there for work and they only gave us one free two dollar bet to play with.
Anyway it was a great night but all of this still doesn't top the highlight...
Are you ready for it?

Hadley started to say Dad Dad Dad.
She was making ddd sounds and mmm sounds before so the race was on for which word she would say first.  Dad or Mom?  Either way we were going to be proud of her first word.
That night she seemed to just be saying dad dad dad randomly, but now she seems to be able to copy it from us most times.
I think she is on her way to understanding that by saying dad, it actually refers to someone specific.
  

- Leanne Verkley

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We decided that it was time to try corn with Hadley since there are so many foods with some form of corn in the ingredients.  She didn't love it, but didn't hate it either.  Corn is pretty mild tasting and it is a good finger food size.

There seems to be no allergic reaction, so that is great news.
This is a nice easy food for me to prepare so that is cool also!

- Leanne Verkley

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- Leanne Verkley

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My little girl is really growing up!
And moving up.
See Brian's blog at http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/brian for an update on her first adventures up the stairs!

- Leanne Verkley

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This afternoon after we got back from a cold, fun, busy March break day at the zoo with Lori and Audrey I noticed that two more teeth had broken through Hadley's gums on the bottom.  One on either side of the two bottom middle teeth that she already has.  
Just days before her first birthday she now officially has 8 teeth, even if these ones are JUST poking through.  

- Leanne Verkley

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Last night we took Hadley to her first Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre.
Details are highlighted on Brian's blog:

http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/brian/index.cgi?sid=360&user=

Although it was a bit of work to keep a baby fed, entertained and not afraid when the crowd went crazy, the experience was all worth it.

- Leanne Verkley

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Last night we took Hadley to her first Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre.
Details are highlighted on Brian's blog:

http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/brian/index.cgi?sid=360&user=

Although it was a bit of work to keep a baby fed, entertained and not afraid when the crowd went crazy, the experience was all worth it.

- Leanne Verkley

---

The next food to be introduced to Hadley is cut up bits of green pepper.  She didn't really like it at first but has since voluntarily eaten the bits if they were on her tray.  However, she prefers her soft fruit the most.  Pears, bananas etc.  But still, she tried the green pepper and there were no signs of an allergy which is good news.

As for the snow.
I actually don't mind shoveling the snow, but I am out of space to put it.
We have a fire hydrant on one side so I can only put snow to the right of our driveway.  
I went out last week and spent an hour clearing the snow during one of Hadley's naps, and then this past weekend Brian went out and started to work on the driveway while I got Hadley ready to tackle a Canadian winter day.
When she was ready, we went out to help.  Hadley basically just sat in her snowsuit sitting on top of the snow watching us shovel.  
Brian and I took turns being right beside her make funny faces, causing her to giggle.
After about 20 minutes Brian took her inside while I finished the end of the driveway.
Being a parent is much of a tag team event!

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley now has the concept of turning the lights on.
She has been able to turn lights off for some time now, http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/leanne/index.cgi?sid=284&user= but turning them on was much harder.
She sometimes gets confused with which way she needs to move the switch but it is cool that she can at least maneuver both up and down on the light switch now.

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley has now tried her first fruit that wasn't fresh.
We gave her peaches from a can, as they now have them packed in water rather than in a light syrup.  Which I think is great!  I think they taste the same.
Every time I think about it, I can't help but sing the song by the Presidents of the United States.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvAnQqVJ3XQ

Anyway, there doesn't seem to be any reactions and she loves them.

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley has changed her sleep patterns dramatically in the last 4 days.
Perhaps it is because she knows that Brian and I are exhausted and need to catch up on sleep, or perhaps it is because this week I was home consistently during the time that she has had her nap each day.
I have to figure out a happy medium though because her nap time seems to be right in the middle of the day which makes going out for anything really hard.  In anycase, I am grateful.
I was able to shovel the snow yesterday, and get caught up on a few chores the other days, and today, I am even trying to catch up on some email.   Imagine that!!!
Her night time sleep has also changed.
She is going to bed between 7:30 and 9 now and sleeping for aprrox. 11 hours.  (Sure she is still getting up to nurse approx. twice, but I don't mind since she was only sleeping 8 hours before).  This gives me so much more time...you have no idea!
Plus she seems really happy and easy going.  Which is also nice!

- Leanne Verkley

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On Thursday the mommy group was heading to IKEA but I really wanted to see The Spiderwick Chronicles so I opted out.
However, Lori wasn't feeling 100 % on Thursday so she also missed out on their IDEA exploration.
We had no real plans on Friday so when she called and wanted to know if we were interested in joining her on her little adventure to IKEA, we were in!
This was Hadley's first leap year and first adventure to IKEA.  
I managed to get out of there spending less than $25 on product.  Of course we had lunch there...I had the salmon and then there was a little icecream adventure, but the day was good despite the bad weather.

- Leanne Verkley

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Both watermelon and triscuits seem to not have had any affect on Hadley.
She loves the watermelon almost as much as bananas and the triscuits as much as shreddies.  (Maybe even a little more).
There are so many foods out there, it seems like it may be a while before we get to mixed food...like pizza or the like.
Oh well, for now we keep trying new things one item at a time.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley's birthday is quickly approaching. (3 weeks today)
I know...one year flew by!
In any case, with this comes the question, what does she need/want for her birthday?
Well, here are a few ideas:
For clothes, she needs 12-18 month summer wear.
Short sets, onesies, PJ's, light pants or capris, t-shirts, dresses, a light jacket, sun hats and shoes/sandals (I think size 4?).  
She also needs little swimmer/spasher diapers to go under the two bathing suits that she already has.  Size: small 16-26 lbs.
And of course toys and books to peak her curiosity.  
Gifts are definitely not necessary, but I thought I would just put it out there for those interested.

- Leanne Verkley

---

As Hadley is getting more and more mobile she is becoming more and more of a little helper.  Everyday (or every other, depending on how many dishes we use) I set her down about 5 feet away while I open the dishwasher and then quickly I take out all of the silverware except the spoons.  By the time I get this done she is right there standing at the edge of the dishwasher holding on and taking one spoon out at a time.  
This is cool enough, but she actually hands them to me one at a time as I thank her for each and every one.
It takes a little more time but she loves it and I love it.
She is such a good little helper.

- Leanne Verkley

---

I am very tired of the sickness that has made its rounds at the Verkley household.  Over the past few weeks it has been circulating between Hadley, Brian and I.   It is stealing precious sleep from us and we really just want it to leave.

On a side note, I went to the mall today to pick up a few things and while in line at Sears I was between two acquaintances who were talking and I actually joined in on the conversation as the line was taking a while and the one person had a baby.  Anyway, it came up that the one without the baby was actually the mother of Steve in Sum 41.
I met a SUM 41 MOM.  
Ahhh, Ajax' claim to fame.

- Leanne Verkley

---

This was such a crazy weekend.
Friday night we went out to Joanne and Andy's for our first Eastender dinner of 2008.  It dawned on us that we started having these dinners without kids and now between all of us there are seven little ones.  Right now we are at a one adult per kid ratio.  
Joanne made lasangna from scratch, also brought was garlic bread, salad and cookies to accompany this lovely meal.  
All were a hit.  
We stayed out way too late but had a great time.
Saturday I met up with some of the girls from my mommy group to get together with Chaylee who was the first mom to go back to work (in January).  We definitely miss her in our little group and it was nice to catch up.
We also had a little potluck that ironically included lasangna as well.  This time there was a lettuce and pasta salad to accompany the meal with two kinds of two bite desserts.  
Dinner on Saturday night was out at East Side Marios with the GGOF girls.  Eva, Dianne, Jenny, and Johanna.  I say GGOF girls but only one from this group actually still works at GGOF.  But it was such a fun gathering.  We hadn't seen one another for about a year and a half for the most part so the catching up went from 5pm until almost 11pm.  I am surprised East Side Marios was so patient with us as none of us were drinking; but they were great!
Sunday I came crashing down.  I was VERY ill.  I had a fever of 38.2 and was just week all over.  Plus I had a stuffed nose, sore ears and a headache.  Hadley apparently wasn't feeling all that great either as she slept for about 3 hours.    (This was so nice for me).
I went to bed early despite really wanting to watch the rest of the Oscars.
As soon as Hadley fell asleep, I went to bed.
Overnight and only one tylenol later, I managed to gain so much strength.  My temperature went down o normal, and I felt so much better.
My nose is still a little full, and my throat a little dry, but I feel about 85% better.
I guess I had just worn myself out and needed a day to recoup.  
It is a good thing it was on a weekend so Brian could really help with Hadley.  What a blessing that was!

- Leanne Verkley

---

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley is 11 months old today.   I suppose this means we should figure out some one year old birthday plans soon.  

In any case, today she hit the 11 month milestone.  It was a simple day, and I am glad it was as it had an early start at 5:30am.  
I am not sure why it started so early but when Hadley woke up this morning she was ready for her day.
Ahhh ... okay.
By mid afternoon I was ready for a nap.
However, that didn't happen, but, this early start worked out really well for my evening scrapbooking plans with the mommy group.
Hadley was in bed by 8pm which allowed me to enjoy my pizza/scrapbooking gathering.  
I really enjoy having these at my house as it allows Hadley to hang out with Brian, sleep in her own bed and I can attend to her if I need to.  Plus it is my little contribution to our mommy get-togethers as I usually can't host during the day because Brian works from home.  So it works out perfectly.
It was a good day, but I am tired.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley is now very good at putting her hand up for a high five if we ask.  We sometimes have to pull her thumb out first but after her hand is "free" she is happy to oblige us with a light little tap to the hand.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley started to clap, and not just once but all day.  She clapped at the right times to "If you are happy and you know it", she also clapped when she was proud of herself throughout the day.  It started with just a light tap but throughout the day she actually started to make a clapping noise.  
This little girl is happy and she knows it!  I think she has fun clapping.  In fact she is clapping right now for no real reason.  We absolutely love watching her clap.  It is so very cute!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday Brian and I took a CPR/AED level C certification course.  It was approx. 3 hours and is good for three years.  We brought blankets to sit on, food and toys as Hadley would be with us and it would go over lunch.  It was $50 per person and well worth the peace of mind.  We learned all ages from baby (0-12 months), child (1-8 years) to adult (9 years plus).
  
Among others, Christine and Lori from my mommy group also attended with their husbands.
Christine also brought Hannah as well as a few other family members who were interested in taking the course.  Christine was good enough to set up our private course with Valerie who provides Emergency Response Training. Valerie is an authorized Red Cross Provider. So, for anyone interested you can check out information online at:www.ert-cpr.com or if you are in the area her number is 416-937-8576.

- Leanne Verkley

---

I have been meaning to write about this for months now and I keep forgetting.  I started "brushing" Hadley's teeth in December.  
After I brush my teeth in the morning it is Hadley's turn.  I take a rubber finger baby toothbrush and put it on my finger, put water on it, and then I basically attempt to rub her gums with the tiny brush.  Toothpaste isn't advised until they understand the spit concept.  Speaking of concepts, she really doesn't have the brush concept either but while I make the attempt to brush her teeth she just bites down.
It is a start anyway.

- Leanne Verkley

---

We have recently introduced kiwi to Hadley's pallet and she seems to really enjoy it.  They are quite messy for both of us but I am glad she likes them with no reaction.
We also tried plumbs again after letting them sit on our counter for a few days and she really loved them.  We think they are sweeter after sitting because she ate them as if they were bananas.  (Her favorite).

- Leanne Verkley

---

Today Hadley and I were at the zoo with our friends Lori and her daughter Audrey and Beth and her daughter Clara.  
While there we saw many indoor exhibits that the girls thought were very interesting.  We managed to hit the gorilla exhibit at just the right time, seeing them just as food was set out for them which resulted in a fight between two of them.  The babies seemed to love watching the movement of this exhibit but were in awe of the big wall of fish which were just around the corner from the gorillas.  I think they could have watched the fish for hours holding up their little hands against the glass.  Saying oooh ooooh.  It was so cute and fun to watch.  

Viewing the animals was only part of our experience today.  Of course we had our own little photo shoot throughout the pavilion, but still there was more to the day.
We were asked by CBC if we would like to be on the evening news to be included on a segment about weather in Toronto and the upcoming family day.  This was Hadley's first time on TV so that was kind of cool.
After the interview we talked with and shook hands with the minister of labour, Brad Duguid, who was interested in how we would be spending our first upcoming family day.  We were also in pictures for his own publicity around this new holiday, so it was quite a day for us at the zoo.  

It is kind of interesting that this is the first year that there will be a family day and it is the first year that Brian, Hadley and I are together.
Sometimes I think it is just plain cool that we have a daughter.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Although it is minus 17 celcius out, feeling like minus 26 with the windchill, I decided that after Babyville, I might as well do the running around errands that have been piling up for a few weeks.  
Hadley was asleep for the entire in and out process of about 5 stores so that made it easier as I could just keep her bundled and covered.  Still it was quite the workout for me to get her stroller in and out so many times in such cold weather.  However, I feel like I am more on top of things now that those TO DO's are done.  Don't get me wrong... the TO DO list still has a few items on it but it is looking a lot better now.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley had a small lesson on how gravity works the other day.
I had been tossing one of her toys up into the air a few times and then it seemed like she wanted to try this also.
So, she grabbed the toy, opened her hand and... it dropped, but she looked up.
This was followed by a very confused look.
It was very cute.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Saturday I headed to Oakvile to attend a baby shower for my friends Stacey and Sherwin.  I went to highschool with Stacey and don't get to see her very often, but she is such a cute pregnant person.  They are due to have a little boy in the middle of March so this is very exciting.  
After starting out I thought about turning around as their was a lot of white all around, but then the weather got better so I continued on.
The afternoon included good food, party games and of course gift receiving.  

Today we were going to attend the Verkley birthday gathering for all the Verkley family members with birthday's in February at Phil and Doreen's but we got as far as Kitchener where we stopped due to weather.   We ended up visiting with Brian's dad, and Julie, and were later joined by Patti-Jo and Patrick.  It was a good day over all but just a change from the original plan.  
It seemed that most roads  past Kitchener were in rough condition resulting in people being storm stayed wherever they were.  So we didn't go any further.

After a long day awake, Hadley fell asleep on the way home at 7:30pm and has been sleeping ever since...so we shall see how the night goes.
I think I will do a few things around here and then get to bed before 11.  :)

Brian is sick so hopefully he can use this evening to rest up and get better.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Friday night we had Lindsay and Jamie come out to our house for a visit.  It had been so long since our last visit that we actually exchanged Christmas gifts.  Don't get me wrong we did see each other only days before Christmas but we didn't have our gifts with us and after Christmas life has just been busy on both sides.   However, we finally found a date to visit.
I cooked a crab stuffed sole, with rice and spinach accompanied by a salad that Lindsay made.  Later I also brought out an apple crisp dessert.
We spent a good portion of the evening on the Wii wearing off our meal.
It was a good night and I hope we can get together again soon.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Next on the food introduction list are peas and whole blueberries.  
Hadley is so funny with these tiny little spherical foods.  She doesn't really like them but we did manage to get her to at least try them by splitting them in half.    
She does the funniest thing with the peas ... every single time we place whole peas on her tray she picks them up very soon after they are placed in front of her and purposely drops them on the floor beside her.  It is hard not to laugh.
This is the first food she did this with ... on purpose and it is funny that she didn't do it with the blueberries.
Brian thinks it is especially funny as he isn't a fan of peas.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley is getting more and more mobile by the day as seen yesterday with her taking a second step on her own.  See Brian's blog update titled Second Step at: http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/brian for details.
Although she isn't walking yet she is definitely making progress.
Along with her second step from yesterday she has also taken to some crawling to get her to her destination of choice.
This is very exciting.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Thursday Hadley and I went to our first Bouncing Babies session at the Library.  It started with a sensory session where Hadley and the other babies were given tinfoil, cellophane, wrapping paper, and a few other papers to play with and crumple up.  This was followed by a get to know you exercise where I met up with Perry and her baby Alexander.  Perry was in our Pre-natal class, so that was kind of cool.  (Krista and her daughter Trinity and Virginia and her daughter Viena were also there.  
Singing and dancing and lots of movement made the hour pass by quickly.

Friday we attended Musical Babies at the Early Years Centre.  This was also a first session and it was led by the same instructor and was basically the same only it started with a craft at the beginning.  We made home-made rattles with beans inside.  I decorated Hadley's with her name and squiggles on it.  We used these rattles in the session that followed.  
The group was pretty large and it had most of the same format as the day before.
Still it was fun to get out and jump our jiggles out.  Or so the song goes.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Thursday Hadley and I went to our first Bouncing Babies session at the Library.  It started with a sensory session where Hadley and the other babies were given tinfoil, cellophane, wrapping paper, and a few other papers to play with and crumple up.  This was followed by a get to know you exercise where I met up with Perry and her baby Alexander.  Perry was in our Pre-natal class, so that was kind of cool.  (Krista and her daughter Trinity and Virginia and her daughter Viena were also there.  
Singing and dancing and lots of movement made the hour pass by quickly.

Friday we attended Musical Babies at the Early Years Centre.  This was also a first session and it was led by the same instructor and was basically the same only it started with a craft at the beginning.  We made home-made rattles with beans inside.  I decorated Hadley's with her name and squiggles on it.  We used these rattles in the session that followed.  
The group was pretty large and it had most of the same format as the day before.
Still it was fun to get out and jump our jiggles out.  Or so the song goes.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Well, I kind of missed Groundhogs day this year.  I totally forgot about it until today.  So for those out there who also missed it check out: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=cc3WYb_G5RA
to see that there apparently was no shadow to be found when Wiarton Willie emerged.  However, Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow http://www.groundhog.org/prediction/ so really, I have gained minimal insight after looking this up.

Instead, I spent Saturday in Listowel visiting.  I purposely caught up with my sister, brother, cousin, dad and even my friend Meghan.  But, I was happy that I was able to catch up with all the people I saw while out for dinner also.  I think I knew somebody at every other table.  Ahhh, small town!

I came back to Ajax that night to sleep in my own bed before heading to Barrie for our annual Superbowl extravaganza at Cort and Sherri-Lyn's.

Hadley was given the task of picking the winner of the Superbowl and although she didn't have the same pick as me, she was right.  
We put two pieces of banana on the counter, one representing each team.  Now, since she is clearly right handed and the bigger piece of banana was on the right and represented the Patriots, (my choice) I was surprised to see her reach out and choose the Giants.  However, apparently I should take this girl to Vegas as she chose right!
Brian and I also won at half time with Brian's score pick.

It was a good weekend but again busy.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

It seems I am a little behind on posting food introductions.
We have recently introduced cut up chunks of mango to Hadley and she seems to enjoy them as much as cut up banana, apple and pear.  WIth no reaction.

Ground up beef is new and she seems to like it as much as turkey or any vegetables.  Which is not much at all really.

Introducing food is slow going as I want to use up the food I made in my class.   However, chunkier texture is now more enjoyable to her, and feeding her the purees is proving to be a challenge as she wants "real" food.

Even cut up green beans seem better than green bean puree.  Although still not a favorite.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Well it seems we have our first reaction to food.
We introduced Arrowroot cookies to Hadley and 1. she loves them and 2. they really work to buy a few minutes for me to finish something... BUT... a small rash appeared on her tummy and she had some white spit up.  So we took them away for a few days and all seemed fine.
About a week later we re-introduced them to her and although the white spit up didn't come back, the rash did.
So for now Arrowroot will be out of her diet.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday Hadley and I went to visit our Friend Theresa in Bowmanville.  She has three boys under the age of three.
Let me tell you, I now understand what tired is.  I thought I knew before but now... I understand.
It must be so hard to keep everyone happy and entertained at the same time.  What an amazing juggling act.
This was also the first time visiting baby Curtis who was born in December and the first time being at Theresa and Brian's new house!  
Theresa and I spent the afternoon catching up, jumping, painting, eating Cheerios, and I even saw a bit of Bob the Builder.
Hadley brought out the softer side in Owen as she offered kisses and Andrew in return wanted to give Hadley a kiss also.  Andrew was ever so gentle from the moment he met Hadley.

I think I had a taste of being an aunt yesterday.  AKA, play with kids, give them back!  Three under three is a a lot of work.
Kudos to Theresa and Brian.  

- Leanne Verkley

---

Tonight I had a few of my mommy group friends over (Christine, Beth and Lori) to work on our scrapbooks.  We got set up, ordered pizza, and began to talk.
Okay, we did actually work on our scrapbooks but for some reason even getting one page done took a while.
The laughter was enough to keep us a little distracted from staying on task but after a few hours at it we all actually got a few pages done.  
We found inspiration from each other as we shared stories and pictures.

Hadley also wanted to join in the fun so she hung out with us as we went about our cutting and pasting.  Brian was on call for diaper changes and anything else we needed but there was no keeping this little girl away from the party.  
Hadley was fairly well behaved so it was no big deal to have her around but after everyone left it didn't take her long at all to get to sleep.

I should clean up but I will get to that tomorrow.

I had such a good time.  Perhaps we can do this often?!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Although it is a bit of an undertaking to prepare for bath time it is becoming more and more fun to bathe Hadley.
This fun is mostly because it is so enjoyable to watch her play with her toys after she is clean.  The routine is such that we soap her up and clean her hair and body first, and then she has a few minutes of play time with her Winnie the Pooh toys (Kanga, Hefalump, Eeyore, and Winnie) and 3 rubber ducks (Mamma, Papa and Baby).  

She definitely has a preference for the ducks but loves the other toys also.
I actually think that she has a rank of preference for her bath toys.
1. 3 ducks (it doesn't really matter which one of these)
2. Kanga
3. Hefalump (Elephant)
4. Eeyore
5. Winnie (odd that her Winnie the Pooh toy is the least favorite of the Winnie the Pooh toys).

We have rubber ducks stuck to the bottom of her tub so that she will not slip slide around and that is a huge help.  

Perhaps we will try bubble baths in the future???  That could be fun!

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley's wave has been a work in progress.  
It started as an entire arm lift, and then she realized that she needed some wrist action.  Now, she is using fingers to define her little wave.  It is the cutest thing.

While a few weeks ago standing was a distracted wobble that we instituted, http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/leanne/index.cgi?sid=311&user= it is now still a distracted wobble, but she seems to be doing it on her own.  She usually starts at a table playing with the toys on it and when both hands get occupied she stands... until she realizes that she is doing it.

She is also now holding onto small tables with one hand, using the other hand to reach down to the floor to get a toy that is of interest to her.  This usually results in sitting on the floor but she tries to remain standing if she can.  She is reaching while standing to go from one object to the next.  Sometimes this results in a fall but if the objects are close enough she makes the transfer all on her own and continues to play.

Going from a sitting position to a standing position while at an object is very easy for her now.

Her play is also more defined as she now tries to do things with her toys.  She rattles her rattles, pushes buttons to get music started, takes her mega bloks apart after Brian and I have built our masterpieces.  

While at her zoo house block, she moves the objects and walks completely around it.    http://ajax.verkley.com/blog/leanne/index.cgi?sid=281&user=
She plays at this block for long periods of time!

Reading to Hadley is also getting easier.  She now pays a lot more attention and even tries to turn the pages slowly when I hold them for her to grab at.  Although this will be a work in progress for a while to get pages turning at the right time and full attention, it is MUCH better than when we first started reading.  Believe me!

I am sure there is more definition that I missed writing about so if things come up I will post them later.

Time to go play!

- Leanne Verkley

---

We have slowly started to babyproof out house.  The plugs all have faux plugs in them, we have started with the cupboards but still have some work to do on a few of them.  We have to find solutions for some.
Yesterday we put up the video monitor in Hadley's room, as well we installed the baby gate at the top of the basement stairs.  
Everyday we find something new to monitor or make adjustments to but we are also really working on saying consistent NO's to things that we just can't change in the house that Hadley shouldn't get into.
Now that she is becoming mobile it is more of an issue.  It will be even more so when she takes the leap to walking on her own.  We have a little bit of time but not much until that happens.

- Leanne Verkley

---

On Friday I had a change of plans of what I expected to do with my day but it was okay because Hadley and I ended up going out for lunch with the mommy group enjoying all you can eat at the Imperial Buffet.  This was our first time there and it was a good experience.  The best part is that we used coupons making it two for one.  So each adult paid $6.
I would say it is very comparable to the Mandarin.  So this is an incredible price!
Then tonight Brian and I decided to go back for dinner since he had never been.  We had the same two for one deal but it was dinner pricing of $28 making it $14 per person.  Still a great deal for what we enjoyed.  (The crab and desserts were especially good).
I am pretty sure Hadley gets the concept of all you can eat.  She seemed to eat a whole lot more than normal both times we were at this restaurant.
I am SOOOO full.
I better eat well from now on for the rest of the week.

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday, Hadley and I left a little early for Babyville so that we could go to the library to sign up for the up-coming Bouncing Babies which start in February.
We have been trying to get into the program for many months over the phone but always get the same result.  We are full.
To this I always reply...but it is only 10:01am and registration started at 10am!
So this time we were standing outside the library at 5 minutes to 10 and we were second in line.  This program really is popular.  There were quite a few people waiting.  
I guess it is because it is $60 to do at the rec centre and free at the library as it is government sponsored.
Anyway, we got in.
This little adventure made us a few minutes late for Babyville but everyone seemed to understand our tardiness as it kind of comes with the territory of having a baby.  There was actually one person who arrived after me.
The topic this week was whether or not the one year old needles are associated with autism.  With the health nurse on hand, we discussed our concerns, looked at pamphlets and came up with the conclusion that there was no concrete connection.  I had already concluded this with my own research but it was nice to have this reaffirmed.  
The other topic was breaking the bond and I use this loosely.  
All of us have worked so hard to create this mom and baby bond and now some have to leave for work in only a few months.  So they are trying to work on detaching for a few hours at a time to get used to the idea of being away for up to 10 hours of the day if you include commuting.  
I am so glad I don't have to go through that yet.  I am not ready for that.

Later in the day Brian was telling me about his day and I kind of missed the challenge of a days work in the office.  
Still, I am glad to be able to be at home.

The night went on and Brian and I decided to finish the third part of our movie weekend.  We were able to tackle the first two movies of Lord of the Rings over the weekend and just had one to go.  We watched the first disc of the last movie only to stop to attend to Hadley who fell and hit her nose.  There was just a tiny bit of blood in her nose but it wasn't gooshing and stopped quickly.  
She tries so hard to get around and reaches for objects to help her that are just out of reach and then leans in hopes she will catch herself on the other object.  I was literally right beside her and just missed catching her.
Let's just say that after this, I didn't really feel like watching the rest of the movie. (Maybe tomorrow night).

The rest of the night was spent comforting our little girl until she went to bed.  She usually gets up about four hours after she goes to bed for food, but I set an alarm for that time just in case she slept longer as I thought it would be good to check on her, but she woke up two minutes before my alarm with her normal cry for food.  She was awake only a few minutes and then back to sleep.
She did however, wake up every two hours after this, which was abnormal for her.
I didn't mind though as it gave me an excuse to keep checking on her.

It is almost 9:30am and I hear her stirring on the monitor.
More computing later!

- Leanne Verkley

---

I woke up pretty grumpy this morning and I couldn't figure out why.
I realized that for a while now I haven't had a creative outlet.  
So, today I decided to do something about it.
Brian helped me set up a table in the spare bedroom where I could leave all of my stuff out.  I set it up so that all of my stickers, paper, and cutters are within arms reach.
The hope is that slowly I can tackle one page here and one page there and it won't seem like such an undertaking to get everything out and get started only to be needed elsewhere.   I am quite behind as I was a little naive in thinking that my year off would be nothing but TIME to get things done.  HAHA.
I am quite happy even though I didn't even get started on a single page today.
I see the possibilities.  
This creative outlet opportunity is exactly what I needed.
(Oh and the bed is still useable by guests, we just had to turn it in the room).

- Leanne Verkley

---

Hadley will be 10 months old on the 20th.  So we went in to get her weighed and measured today.  She is now 16.6 pounds up from 15.5 pounds and 70 cm long up from 67cm from her eight month appointment.  This appointment didn't have any needles just a check up to see where she was at.
The doctor is happy with her standing with objects and movement around objects.
For me, I have 5 pounds to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight down from 7 at the eight month mark.  I keep pressing on.  :)  Slow and steady.
  

- Leanne Verkley

- Leanne Verkley

---

Yesterday the mommy group got together to go to the mall (Pickering Town Centre) and our mission was to stay out of the baby stuff.  
This is harder than you might think.  
A few of the adult stores had kids sections so while some people were trying on clothes...you know where the moms went; but for the most part we were on track!  We knew that our wardrobes at home needed us to focus.
After 5 hours in the mall and some Dairy Queen, we were all tired but I think each one of us had at least one good purchase to show for it.

- Leanne Verkley

---

This week Hadley and I started attending Babyville.  It is a government sponsored group of moms that meet once a week with a registered health nurse to talk about anything we would like.
I registered for this group when Hadley was much younger but they were full.  So when they called to say there was a spot opening in January I wasn't sure if I should still attend as it is for babies less than a year and I had heard that most moms got in when their babies were really young so I wasn't sure if I would be with all kinds of moms that had just had their babies or if there would be moms with older babies.  It turns out that the majority of the group is in the same boat as me.  They were on the waiting list.  So I think the conversation should be good.
This week we talked about ground rues, we did introductions, and set topics for the next 6 weeks.  (This is so the health nurse can come with related info).
I think this will be another worthwhile program.

- Leanne Verkley

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This morning after Brian went off to work...(yup, it is Sunday, but he had to work today); Hadley and I got ready for the day.  
We had some time before we were to be in Listowel, so, I took Hadley to Church for her first time.  I have been looking for a good one in the area and my friend Theresa suggested Carruthers Creek in Ajax.  So, I decided to go check it out.  
She was right, it had a good mix of modern worship with a band on stage, a huge screen which displayed words for the worship, Biblical text and a powerpoint presentation.  The minister was very easy to listen to as he brought some old text to life in a modern context.
I did however find it hard to keep Hadley entertained for the entire time.  
She was good for 3/4 of the time but the last little bit was a challenge.
I am not ready to leave her in the nursery yet, so I don't know if I will go every week but perhaps I will try going every once in a while.

After the service we headed to Listowel to Brian's cousin Tina's as she was hosting a Pampered Chef Party.  We enjoyed good snack food that was prepared with cool cooking tools that were being presented by Julie's friend.

After this we spent some time visiting at my dad's, and then met up with my sister for dinner.  We enjoyed food at the new Crabby Joe's in Listowel.  I was VERY impressed.  I would definitely recommend this restaurant.  

It was nice to get caught up with so much family in one day.  

The drive home was less then preferable.  Highway 86 was awful with snow everywhere and it really didn't get better until we hit the 401 and DVP.  

I was very tired when I got home and once in the house, Hadley decided that she was now awake and ready to play.  (I was happy that Brian would get to see her, but it would have also been nice to have transfered her into bed and have her keep sleeping).  Oh well, she is in bed now and we will work on the car seat to bed transfer another time.

It was a very busy day.  Time for sleep!

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley is really on the move now!  She gets around quite easily by using objects to help her along.  From chairs to toys she uses almost everything.
Among other things, she has made her way around our coffee table that has the map of Canada on it. (Beautifully made by Brian's grandpa, for those of you who have seen it). Perhaps she is trying to tell us she needs a vacation?

Did somebody say vacation?  No...oh.  Okay.

Anyway, she easily gets herself up on things now and in only a few seconds she has moved from wherever I have set her down.  Although she doesn't go far, she just moves.  I am pretty sure she loves this new found freedom, but with it she has discovered what it means to bang her head.  Nothing major to note of but I am sure there will be a few bumps and bruises along the way.  
She still gets frustrated from time to time when her legs aren't quite in the right position to get up and when this happens she has a really cute frustrated "ahee hee" noise that is accompanied by a squinchy face.
It is so much fun to watch her learn, grow and explore.

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday Hadley and I went and meet up with my mom and aunt for lunch and then after my aunt went back to work, my mom, Hadley and I spent the afternoon together.  It was a combination day.  The lunch was for my mom's birthday and the afternoon was to find a gift for Hadley from my mom for Christmas.  My mom wanted to get her something but didn't know which toys have had recent recalls and such so she thought I might be up on that and we could shop together.  After some time in Toys R Us and Walmart, we went with a Dora The Explorer couch that folds out to a bed.  
The great deal is that it was marked as $29.99 even though it was supposed to be $49.99.  So they gave it to us for the cheaper price.  This meant that Hadley also got the Dora pillow and a key ring that makes jingling noises and has other car sounds on it.  
It is always fun to shop for Hadley.  
Thanks again mom, and Happy Birthday!

- Leanne Verkley

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Hadley is making a lot more noises lately.  She is really working on using her teeth, tongue and lips.   Popular sounds include "a woooo woooo" and "mmmmmmmm".
I can't wait until she says her first word.
Sometimes I think I hear words but nothing is consistent yet.

- Leanne Verkley

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Yesterday we introduced Hadley to Cheerios.  
Now that she has 6 teeth they are less of a choking hazard.  
SHE LOVES THEM!  She will eat so many of these fun little circles.
We now have a good variety of cereal snacks to occupy her with while we get her real meal ready or to take with us if we are on the go and need to buy some time.    (Rice Krispies, Shreddies, and now Cheerios).
I must admit that the Cheerios are my favorite ones to give her.  She puts the entire circle in her mouth, they melt easily and they don't crumble like Rice Krispies or Shreddies do.  Plus I like to snack on them also.

- Leanne Verkley

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This is a whole new element to worry about.  
Before...I knew that Hadley was safe lying in her crib through the night.  Now I must listen for her head banging against the side of the crib.  
I tried to put the bumpers in yesterday but with the style of her crib, they don't really tie in well.  (Small sacrifice for the beautiful crib).

I think we will be hooking up the video monitor in a more permanent location very soon.

I suppose this is just preparing me for when she is really mobile.

Small Steps.  

Oh no...steps!

- Leanne Verkley