We made up some Easter Eggs today. The boys loved it! They were so excited, I'm surprised that they waited sitting while the eggs were in the dye. They picked out their colors beforehand - Liam blue and Kane green. Even with all the warnings, it took Kane under a minute to break his egg. I told him to leave it and it would be okay (they were hard-boiled and would hold up with a few cracks), but he decided to take every last piece of shell off then he kept asking me if he could eat it! I of course said no, since the dye had penetrated the egg a bit, but Kane decided to dig his finger into the egg, break it apart and then eat the yolk! He even tried to eat a piece of shell! Crazy!

The boys have been obsessed with watching The Chipmunks lately - you know - Alvin, Simon and Theodore. I'm surprised they like it - seems a little "mature" for them (all about crushes, dating and getting into trouble). Reminds us of when we were young though - makes me want to go out and buy an Archie comic!

So we tried putting Kane into training pants and underwear, and although he is generally great at going potty he is not yet interested in switching into underwear. No prob - we will try again later. Liam's asthma has creaped up again with the onset of Spring. We put him back on the steroid puffer and also went to see Dr Sandhar (Naturopath). Hopefully we can curb the seasonal allergies this year and Liam can enjoy running around outside. I'm happy that is has warmed up though and the snow is almost gone - it is great to get outside again! Puddles, mud and water draining into the storm drains - what more could two toddler boys want?!

Waiting patiently for the eggs Mar. 28, 10	Liam and his orange egg Mar. 28, 10	Kane disassembling his green egg Mar. 28, 10

Kane loves to dress up - nothing new. It used to be boots, mittens and helmets, now we've just brought all of the Halloween costumes out to play with - although Kane prefers to make his own costumes (see pictures below). Kane's new expression (besides "NO" - yes that has returned) is "HEY!" - said in a drawn out, whiney voice. Everything gets a "heyyyy" from him and yes, he is two, so he doesn't want to do anything that you want him to do (even if deep down he really does). We get a lot of "Mommy I want milk" and then when we give him the milk he'll kick up a fuss and say "I don't want milk!!. We've learned to just set the milk down and forget trying to reason with him. Sure enough a minute later he'll sneak over and grab the milk and suck it back! What a monkey!

Speaking of monkeys! - I never thought this would happen!! So Kane has decided that he does not need to sleep anymore. I should really check my past journal entries because I remember Liam going through the same stage. One night last week Kane decided that it would be a great idea to go into Liam's room while he was fast asleep and pump hand soap onto his head! We are downstairs and hear Liam crying saying "there's soap in my hair!" and we thought "What??!" Joe was baffled and didn't believe it until he found Kane hiding under his covers with the soap pump in his bed. So then came the impromptu head washing, with Liam none-too impressed and still half asleep. What do you get when you mix water and hand soap? - serious suds!! Joe had to dip Liam horizontally into the shower to rinse off the suds.

So if that wasn't bad enough, Liam returned the favor to Kane the next night. The soap pump is now hidden for bedtime (and no, the event was too traumatic to take pictures!)

Kane covered in chocolate (soy) ice cream Mar. 9, 10	Kane covered in paint (see a pattern here?) Mar. 10, 10	Liam painting (more so on the paper) Mar. 10, 10

It's Halloween year round in our house! Mar. 18, 10	Must be tough being a pumpkin! Mar. 18, 10	Liam and Kane out to fight fires Mar. 24, 10

Oh what fun, with just some red poster board! Mar. 24, 10	Kane with Mommy's red shoes and an umbrella (Dorothy meets Mary Poppins?) Mar. 26, 10

Yes, we packed up the family and headed down to Lethbridge Alberta for the weekend. Joe had a Judo tournament so we all decided to go. The kids had a blast. They were amazing in the car and loved staying in the hotel. The pool was a huge selling feature (as was riding the elevator). The weather was amazing - much warming than Edmonton at +13 and after the tournament we enjoyed some time in the park.

The boys LOVED the pool. We brought them little whale floaters so they could float on their own, but Liam really liked the waterslide. He went down with Daddy, although he did try once by himself (that didn't turn out very well - I saw the shear terror on his face as he got to the bottom). Kane and I enjoyed hanging out in the "warm pool" (hot tub), although his fav was doing cannon balls. We also had a family first - eating at McDonald's! The boys shared a hamburger and fries and Liam was fine (not a big fan of the hamburger, but that wasn't a surprise - Liam ate the bun and Kane ate the pickle - no one complained at all about the fries, they disappeared!). It was a lovely family getaway!

Joe ready to fight Mar. 6, 10	Joe about to win his match! Mar. 6, 10	First of many attempts at getting the boys to sleep! Mar. 6, 10

Liam got a violin and started lessons! It is so cute - a really tiny violin. The boys take turns playing it. Liam isn't thrilled with the lessons, but he loves his teacher (may just be smitten with her!) and loves to hear her play songs on her violin. Each class he asks her to play a "superfast" song and when she does he gets a huge smile on his face. He's not a fan of holding the violin (properly), but I have to hand it to him - it's not an easy instrument to play! Liam is learning to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It is incredible that he already knows the names of the strings and the notes in the song. Makes me think I should teach him piano (way easier to hold and doesn't require standing!!).

Kane on the other hand has been quite surprising. The first time he touched the violin he held it under his chin like a pro and used the bow like it was second nature. He is actually quite obsessed with it. He keeps asking to take it out, he wants to rosin up the bow and he'll proclaim quite matter-of-factly "it doesn't sound good Mommy - needs more rosin".

In other news, Kane did his first poop on the potty this week! Yay! We celebrated by blowing up balloons and playing checkers (Kane's choice). He is using the potty only here and there. I think we should try underwear soon and see what happens.

Liam's new violin Feb. 15, 2010	Kane playing the violin Feb. 15, 2010

Yesterday Kaney went potty all by himself! He was running around without a diaper on (a normal occurrence lately!) and he said that he had to go pee, so he went to his little potty, sat down, and did a full pee! He was so proud - though not as proud as I was!! Yay Kaney!!

Liam is back eating soy again, so he is almost eating everything that we cut out last summer. He has had soy lecithin, soy oil and soy sauce. Now we will try soy milk and yogurt and best of all - soy ice cream!! Yay! He is doing wonderful. Besides having no allergic symptoms, no respiratory problems and less sickness, his is eating better! Hi is still picky, but not as picky as before. We have weaned him off the steroid puffer so we'll see how long he can go without it. The Doc said to put him back on if he gets sick.

Kane's new word, much to my happiness, is "okay"! Now instead of just saying "NO" to everything he says "oh--kaayy" really drawn out in a low voice, like he's giving in. It's actually very cute.

I wanted to make note of some of the funny things that Liam and Kane say. Here they are:

- They repeat back and forth to each other "This this again"
- Kane says "Dood again" for "do it again"
- They like to march around the kitchen singing "It's a big boost, da da da da" - not sure where that came from!
- They often call each other "fooby" and then giggle

Sometimes it's like they have their own brotherly language! Tonight I got a good laugh from Kane. He pulled his pockets out of his pants and said "Mommy, there's socks in my pockets!"

Well today is the first day of 2010. Seems strange! We are celebrating the New Year with a Pajama day - wearing our PJs all day. Last night Sarah, Tom, Anna and little Matthew came over to help us ring in the New Year. The kids had SO much fun. It got a little crazy in the end. Liam and Anna ended up stuffing their shirts with balloons, dressing up as a Fire Chief and Police Officer, then ripping off each other's pants! We did the countdown to New Years (a little early) and the kids toasted with some sparkling apple juice (which was not a hit). Matthew was content to hangout on the couch watching hockey with Joe and Tom. It was a lot of fun.

We met up with our old friends and all their kiddies in Fort Saskatchewan on the 27th for our 2nd annual Christmas party at the Dow Centre. The kids had a blast and us adults enjoyed catching up. Liam and Kane were thrilled to finally try out their new skates. Liam loved it, but Kane was pretty weary. They'll both need some practice.

Here is a clip of Liam singing the new song that Daddy taught him "Sixty-four". If you listen carefully, you can hear Kane singing in the background too.

Liam is doing really well on the steroid puffer. In fact, we have not had to give him his emergency puff at all since he's been on it. We saw the doctor the other day and she was quite pleased. Now we can wean him off the steroid until Spring allergy season comes. Liam is eating a lot more food now too. We have introduced almost everything back that we had eliminated this summer. We are still staying away from soy, sesame, all nuts, watermelon, cantaloupe and of course milk, eggs and fish. We will have to try soy in the coming year.

Liam's first time skating Dec . 27, 09	Daddy & Kane skating Dec . 27, 09	Owen, Liam and Sadie Dec. .27, 09

Kane and Woody Dec . 27, 09	Kane with his new doll house Dec . 29, 09	Liam and Anna's big bellies Dec . 31, 09

	Matthew and Joe Dec . 31, 09

What a wonderful Christmas! On Christmas Eve we went to the candlelight church service. The boys really liked it. We had to giggle at them a few times as Kane tried to throw things off the balcony, Liam asked incessant questions and Liam almost lit Kane's hair on fire! When we got home, we left reindeer food on the lawn for Santa's reindeer and the boys left cookies and soy milk for Santa. Soon after they at most of the cookies and threatened to drink Santa's milk too! (see the video for the 24th).

Liam got a Thomas race track from Santa and a cool car garage and track from Nanny and Poppy. Kane got a new, blue shopping cart, neat blocks, a doll house from Nanny and Poppy and I think his favorites were a blue puck and his new fuzzy blue boots from Santa.

After opening gifts we headed off to Two Hills for a pyrogy feast! The boys got skates and mittens from Baba and Gee Gee and just couldn't wait to go out skating. The strange highlight of the evening had to be the boys "trying" to sleep in the same room. They would not settle down and stay in their own beds. We had to go in at one point when we heard them singing out "naked, naked, naked". Turns out that Liam had stripped off Kane's clothes and Kane was dancing around the room, quite happily I might add, stark nude! Nice!

We had an amazing turkey feast on Boxing Day (Baba's famous) and headed home this evening. Tomorrow we are off to Fort Saskatchewan to catch up with all of our friends.

Liam's Thomas Race track Dec . 25, 09	Kane's Blue Boots Dec . 25, 09	Opening the Car Track Dec. 25, 09

Flying PJ Brothers Dec . 25, 09	Serious Looks! Dec . 26, 09	Kane and Gee Gee Dec . 26, 09

Last night we had Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's with Todd, Cindy, Payton and Grayson. Wow, did the boys ever get wonderful gifts! and they had a lot of fun playing with their cousins. They each had a turn trying on Payton's butterfly wings and running around the house. As you can see below, Payton is a little doll! Liam and Kane love their dress-up suits, Kane loves his sled and Liam loves his new cars. I lOVE the PJs the boys got from Cindy's parents - superhero PJs equipped with capes!!

We took the boys to see the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra's Christmas concert this weekend. We all loved it! The boys were so impressed to see the instruments "up close" - well, from the second balcony anyway. They even played a piece to a snowman cartoon at the end. That was a big hit. The best though was going back stage at the Windspear to see a Bass up close! Joe knows the guy who plays Bass in the orchestra. We were all shocked at the size of the instrument and how old it is (from the 1700s). What a treat!

Kane didn't even unwrap his sled before climbing in Dec . 21, 09	Liam's new car Dec . 21, 09	Payton in her ladybug dress Dec. 21, 09

Butterfly Grayson Dec . 21, 09	Cutie-Pie Payton Dec . 21, 09	The Rescue Crew Dec . 22, 09

	Kane in Grandma's Boots Dec . 21, 09

So Liam is still in love with little Avery at his school. Grandma tells me that he hugs her every day and has started hugging her little sister as well. Apparently the little sister just LOVES it (she is the same age as Kane). The other day at preschool, Liam went to hug a little curly blonde-haired girl, thinking from behind it was Avery's little sister. But when he hugged her and realized it was actually a little boy with curly blonde hair, he turned to Grandma with a very unhappy face and said "Grandma, I hugged the wrong sister!" Grandma nearly cried laughing.

Liam had his preschool Christmas concert last night. His class was wonderful! They Sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, with actions. I was thrilled to finally be able to meet little Avery, Avery's sister and her parents. It was very apparent that Liam is infatuated with her, and that she likes him as well (although maybe not equally as much!). They had fun jumping and running around. The cutest was when Liam fell down and insisted that Avery help him up.

Kane likes to dress up in boots (winter, rubber or cowboy), mittens, toques and helmets. He is always wearing something "extra". He has even taken to putting shoes on Liam. I laughed the day that he put Liam's winter boots on for him. Liam has been calling Kane a "trouble maker" - isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?!

Thanks to Daddy (I really say that far too much), the boys are obsessed with the human body - mostly the digestive system and food turning into poop. Daddy makes all the sounds from the food being chewed to the "pooooop!" in the end. We've been reading "The Body Book" every night and they laugh and laugh when we come to the stomach, intestines and well... you know.

Grandma and I had a good laugh the other day. I came to pick up the boys to find that Joe had dressed Liam in Kane's clothes! He looked ridiculous, but hilarious in two-year-old clothes! Luckily he wasn't in school that day! I had to take a picture though. Hey Daddy - toddler clothes have tags with sizes that actually correspond to the kids' ages!!

(backwards) Helmet Head Dec . 1, 09	Liam in Kane's Clothes Dec . 2, 09	Putting up Christmas Tree Dec . 9, 09

Ready for Christmas Concert Dec . 15, 09	Christmas Concert Dec . 15, 09	Liam and Avery Dec . 15, 09

	Liam and Kane at Concert Dec . 15, 09

The boys had a great time trick-or-treating last night,and BOY did they score a lot of candy - too much really. I think folks see two cute little kiddies waddling up to the door and they can't help but shower them with candy (usually chocolate bars). It's unfortunate that Liam cannot eat most of the candy, but we did get lots that he could eat.

Liam dressed up like a pirate for his preschool party. See the picture of him saying "Arghh" in Liam's photos section (4 years). For trick-or-treating Liam dressed up as a fuzzy panda and Kane dressed as a fuzzy puppy. They were super cute (and warm). I had to join in by wearing Liam's pirate hat.

So Kane has now stopped stuttering and is talking wonderfully in sentences. He LOVES to copy whatever Liam says (or sings). I made the mistake one day of telling Kane that he had "sock Goblins" (sock fuzzies) in his toes. Well - he freaked right out and a few days later had a complete and utter fit when he saw some sock fuzzies floating in the bath tub. For a week after he would not take a bath without throwing a fit. Took us that week to figure out what was going on. Now both Liam and Kane have to have a thorough foot inspection before entering the tub! Kane is loving hockey still, and loves building things.

Liam's asthma really bothered him while we were away in Newfoundland, and did not improve when we got home. We were giving him his puffer at least once a day and they even had to give it to him at school a few times. We decided to put him back on the steroid puffer, even though it made him act crazy the last time he was on it. So far so good though.

Ready for trick-or-treating Oct. 31, 09	Arghh! Oct. 31, 09	Off we go! Oct. 31, 09

We had a wonderful two weeks in Newfoundland. It was a relaxing holiday. The kids enjoyed playing in the woods, eating homemade bread and fries, throwing rocks in the Atlantic and visiting the local sites. They didn't even mind the rain and occasional snow. We had fun visiting Topsail beach, the Geo Center, the Fluvarium, Signal Hill, Cape Spear, Bowring Park, ITT Flgyt's shop and even the local Mount Pearl Library. We also had a great time at Joe's cousin Tanya's wedding. Liam just couldn't wait to get on the dance floor and get his groove on.

Kane was sick for a few days with a fever, but he was a trooper. He spent lots of time on the couch watching Charlie and The Chocolate Factory - over and over and over. We almost thought he was going to turn into an Oompa Loompa! He even sings the songs.

Liam enjoyed taking drives around St John's and Mount Pearl and loved telling Poppy how to drive ("faster Poppy", "catch that car Poppy", "red light Poppy"). He's a demanding backseat driver! Liam is also quite the dancer. He got down and shook his booty at Joe's Aunt Leona's house - and made a new friend. We also had a fun day at Lester's Farm during their Pumpkinfest. We checked out the petting zoo, tons of pumpkins and went through the corn maze.

The best part of course was time spent with family. It was great to see the boys with Nanny, Poppy and Aunt Allie. I remember one day when Poppy made a little car garage out of a cereal box and he and Liam played cars for over an hour. The two weeks certainly went by too fast.

Topsail Beach Oct. 14, 09	Teeter Totter - Topsail Beach Oct. 14, 09	Just behind the Parrell house Oct. 15, 09

Frog at Fluvarium Oct. 17, 09	Joe & Liam at Signal Hill Oct. 21, 09	Me & the Boys at Signal Hill Oct. 21, 09

The Fam at Cape Spear Oct. 21, 09	Boys at Tanya's Wedding Oct. 24, 09	Family at the wedding Oct. 24, 09

Liam and I with Nan Oct. 25, 09	Liam dancing at Leona's Oct. 25. 09	Leaves in Bowring Park Oct. 26, 09

Joe, Nanny and the Boys Oct. 26, 09	Liam and Nanny Oct. 26, 09

Kane and Liam were playing on the couch tonight and Kane bounced, rebounded and landed face first on the floor. Result = fat lippy Kaney. Poor little dear.

Liam is 4!! Ahoy me Harveys - that's what Liam said tonight after his Pirate Birthday party. It was a great party. We were outside at Hawrelak Park. Joe cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on a BBQ made from a beer keg. The kids flew kites, played in the playground, had a sack race (with malt bags of course) and they all went on a treasure hunt. It was super windy but despite a few plates taking flight, we were good. Liam got some wonderful presents too. Walkie talkies, Buzz Lightyear, a digital camera, trains, movies, a gears building set and more! Yay! Thanks everyone!

Pirate Kaney	Arrgghh!	Mode of cooking

Sweet little Julian	Birthday (Pirate) boy!	Chow time

Sandra and the boys	The Boys tending fire	Pirating the cake

Happy Birthday!

Grayson	Grayson and Owen	Payton

Owen in the Sack Jump	Liam jumping away	Close race!

A tri-effort	Grandma jumping?!	Payton prefers to stroll

Treasure map time	There's a Squirrel!	X marks the spot!

Tonight we went to an outdoor movie - like a portable drive-in. We saw the movie "Up". It was awesome. I had the boys all cuddled up with me on a lawn chair with a blankie - and good thing too, it was chilly! Poor Joe was shivering in his little cotton jacket and not blankie or children for warmth. Great night though. Kane is now obsessed with a dryer ball. He carries it everywhere and didn't put it down for the entire movie tonight. He takes it to sleep too. Maybe we can use the dryer ball as a transition away from blankie?

So we have almost made it though 3 whole months of this crazy diet. Funny thing is that I think we ALL feel better! Liam is doing wonderful. It's quite amazing that it's mid-september and he hasn't had a major asthma attack. A little cough here or there, especially if it's hot and humid, but he's been drinking water instead of using the puffer and it's working like a charm.

So it's time to start introducing foods back that we have eliminated. We introduce a food and watch for 4 days before trying another food from the list (starting with the least sensitive foods first). There are so many foods on the list that it's going to take a while before we try the really reactive ones. Tonight liam tried potatoes. He loved having mashed potatoes again. Besides some coughing tonight when he was running outside, he seems fine. Can't wait to have rice again!

Kane playing in the sandbox Sept. 15, 2009	Kane covered in sand	Kane sleeping in the sand

Tonight when I took Kane out of the bath tub he said he had to go pee. Now he's done this before after bath and usually just sits on the potty and nothing happens. Well, tonight he peed! Yay Kaney! How lovely would it be if he started telling me when he had to potty?!

And little Mr Liam has been wearing his underwear overnight!! No more sleep diapers! He has gone 4 nights with only one accident. He is very proud of himself, as he should be, and this time he is "on board" and wants to wake up dry. He is also very concerned with his liquid intake before bed. I have been impressed when he wakes in the night or early morning to go potty. Good job Liam!!