Teeth!

Kansas

Esmé got to go on her second big plane trip last week when we flew down to the middle of the United States to meet her great-grandmother. It was a family reunion of sorts as my mother also met us there. How wonderful it was to have four generations of women together, to experience that closeness and history that runs in our blood. I grew up knowing my own great-grandmother and I loved the connection we had across four generations. I am so happy that Esmé gets to experience that as well.

Esmé also met her cousins and instant friendships were created.

We made delicious glazed donuts from scratch using a recipe from my great-grandmother. It made so many that we actually couldn't eat them all and threw some out. Yes, that's right, we actually THREW OUT donuts. That's pretty much a sin in my world.

We spent most of the time sitting and visiting (a favourite Kansas pastime). But there was also lots of playing and exploring.

Although we did have a great time overall, Esmé had a few rough days. The second day we were there she got a fever that kept her from sleeping and I stayed up all night holding her in the rocking chair while she whimpered and tossed.

It wasn't until the next morning that I suddenly realized why she might have a fever. So I looked into her mouth and there it was, a gleaming white tooth poking up through her painful little gums.

It was so sudden. One day she just had an adorable toothless grin and the next day there was this intruder. And then, before I knew it, a second incisor fought its way through. So Esmé came home with two teeth, leaving her gummy smile back in Kansas.

"And what's Kyle up to these days?"

After so much talk about my daughter, I'd like to fill you in on the life of my busy but wonderful husband. When people ask what he does for a living, I kind of stumble a bit because it's not easy to sum up his days. I used to be able to just say "actor," but now it's complicated. So here they are, the latest links to his life...

Kyle Rideout

The filmmaker...

Motion 58

Hop the Twig

The actor...

Studies in Motion

The voice over...

Animation

The teacher...

Bard in the Classroom

Young Shakespeareans

The criminal for the police academy...

(I'd love to have a link for this one, but you'll have to rely on Kyle's stories instead.)

And of course, the always loving husband and father...

Top Ten Reasons You Know You Don't Get Out to the Movies Very Much

1. You are so excited to be going out that you wear high heels.

2. You forget to eat lunch before you go because you are so busy getting everything ready for the babysitter and are starving so think, "That's okay, I'll just grab something at the theatre" only to realize that the hamburgers are $13.

3. On the way there you think how nice it would be to just pull over and have a nap in the car instead.

4. You finally use the free movie passes you've had since last Christmas.

5. You keep your cell phone in your hand during the movie so you can feel it vibrate just in case the babysitter calls.

6. You periodically check the cell phone just in case the babysitter called and you missed it.

7. You text the babysitter in the middle of the movie just to make sure your phone is still working.

8. You keep having the urge to turn down the volume on the movie because it might wake the baby.

9. You cry whenever the scene shows a distraught baby. Even if it's only in the background and no one else in the theatre even noticed it.

10. When you tell people what movie you saw they say, "Oh, I haven't gone to see that one yet," and you think "that one?? I haven't seen any!"

The Paramedic Struggle

As most of you know, our plight with the BC government over our ambulance service has been long and disappointing. Last year we went on strike, asking for more ambulances to remedy the long response times (too long when a loved one is seriously injured) and overworked paramedics (for example, we often don't even get a proper lunch break in our 12 hr. shift) as well as higher wages to be on par with the other emergency service workers such as police and firefighters. (We currently make less than garbage truck drivers, and in many cases, less than minimum wage.) We were legislated back to work by the government without any bargaining. And now things are only getting worse. We will soon be losing more ambulances and paramedics in BC. If you live in BC, please go to the site below and send a letter to your MLA. It's easy, just enter your name and info and hit send.

http://www.saveourparamedics.com/letter.php

Everyone's Fighting for a Piece of Lap

Peekabah

We are astounded by how many new things Esmé is learning every day. She is so determined and doesn't stop moving from the moment she wakes up until she finally gives in to sleep at the end of the day.

She's been doing a lot of standing around lately. She does have to hold on to things but will often forget that little detail, thinking that she is capable of exploring a toy with both hands while standing. And so her head has met the hardwood floor more times than we can count resulting in several bruises and one bloody nose.

Most of her standing is of course done while desperately clinging to my legs when I'm in the kitchen.

Esmé likes to chatter quite a bit, most commonly saying "bah bah!" which seems to have many different meanings. Three months ago she started saying the word "mama" but it was just random sounds. (Although it still tugged the ol' heart strings.) But lately she seems to only say it as she crawls toward me and when she wants comfort and is reaching out to me. The word varies a bit, amma, mamama, etc. but I think we can safely say that it's her first word!

Then, a few days ago Kyle was playing peekaboo with Esmé, a game which we've recently discovered to be more fun than Disneyland. They were having a great time and we were all laughing together. Then suddenly Esmé blurted out "Peekabah!" Kyle and I froze and stared at each other like, "Did you just hear...? Did she just say...?" And so her second word was delivered.

Like most parents, we are pretty much convinced that our child is a genius. Until, that is, she does something like this...

Or this...

(This is after she pulled a blue chalk painting down on top of herself.)

So maybe she's not a genius, but she sure is entertaining.