tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:43:20 +0000reunionrabiesbatsTugaloovacationkitchenrenovationsfamily"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." -Peter Pan, Act 1, Sir J.M. Barriehttp://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (AHP)Blogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-7609607541914525171Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:45:00 +00002010-12-12T21:54:24.657-05:00Thomas' ability with words is often remarked upon. I won't even pretend that I don't get giddy with pride every time this occurs.Some recent examples:When I get Thomas up in the morning I dress him before breakfast. While this does have the disadvantage of allowing him to get his clothes messy before school, he's usually inclined to cooperate when clothes stand between him and food. Not so http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2010/12/word-play.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ADS)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-8908942427204897986Mon, 25 Oct 2010 01:32:00 +00002010-11-07T14:12:19.096-05:00  1. Bring Grandpa Dave 2. Invite lots of friends 3. Ride behind a tractor! Paco, Sofia, Thomas, Grandpa Dave, Finn and Mary on the "hayride" (Raina, Rosie & Benoit were also there!) 4. Bring extra clothes in case you decide to run into a giant mud puddle... ...with your friend Finn. 5. Choose your pumpkin carefully. 6. Recover from the hard work with ginger cookies & apple cider.http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2010/10/things-to-remember-while-pumpkin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-8397852967747061048Mon, 25 Oct 2010 00:29:00 +00002010-11-07T20:04:57.384-05:00 Eric is 2 months old today and guess what? He is intentionally batting at the giraffes that swing over his bouncy seat. He's growing up already!http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2010/10/2-months.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-5553922933943375561Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:25:00 +00002010-11-07T14:11:18.581-05:00Thanksgiving around here was more exciting than we anticipated. First, we had fantastic guests: Grandma Patti was up for the weekend; Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Yves came up for a Sunday Thanksgiving dinner, which was actually going to be at lunch. We had planned well. Pies were baked or bought. Side dishes were prepared. Turkey was dry-brined (yum). But we did NOT expect the oven to go haywire,http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2010/10/futility.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-1849207735619173221Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:14:00 +00002010-09-30T21:55:07.761-04:00Eric is one month old! He's cooing and gurgling, and just today (Thursday the 23rd) I saw him smile, possibly on purpose. Mind you, he did not smile at me - oh no, he smiled in delight at the black and white design André put on the living room ceiling this weekend and which he has been staring at, enraptured, since Sunday night. (You may remember that Kim & Bridget came up with the brilliant ideahttp://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2010/09/one-month.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-3346695135822622011Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:05:00 +00002010-09-23T10:13:44.795-04:00So much to say, and so little time. I haven't written a thing about all the grandparent visits (and help). I don't know how we would have made it through the first few weeks without all the help from Shirley, Patti, Donna & Jim. And, of course, we loved seeing Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Yves. Grandparents just can't be beat! Nor have I written much about Thomas, who is a fantastic big brother http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-week-on-our-own.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-1185982357609086871Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:34:00 +00002010-09-19T11:22:37.299-04:00So it's been almost three weeks since Eric was born and I've been wanting and wanting to write. We know we probably won't have any more children, and somehow this makes me even more aware of the importance of every moment of Eric's babyhood. I've been trying and trying to remember the first few weeks of Thomas's life but the memories are so wrapped up with who he is now that I can no longer trusthttp://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2010/09/three-weeks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-5069355298181557072Sun, 12 Sep 2010 23:49:00 +00002010-09-19T11:01:56.933-04:00Eric Sebastian Bernier joined our family at 9:49 pm on Tuesday, August 24th. He weighed 8 lbs 15.2 oz (a healthy boy and considerably bigger than his brother, who was 7 lbs 5.5 oz) and had a full head of dark hair. We think he's perfect.More birth details here: My water broke at 8:30 in the morning (as I was heading up the stairs to retrieve Thomas's shoes). A quick phone call to the midwife http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2010/09/welcome-eric.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-7977919266777609388Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:05:00 +00002009-11-09T22:09:55.130-05:00A scary moment this evening. Thomas and I were on the front lawn waiting impatiently for the garbage truck to make its weekly appearance when the neighborhood bully cat showed up. Thomas wanted to pet him, but the cat was stalking Babbington, so I distracted the boy. Clearly I did not distract him enough, however, because a few minutes later Thomas ran towards the porch steps - and right http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/11/cat-attack.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-3908362248658870674Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:09:00 +00002009-10-29T21:13:42.262-04:00As some of you have heard, poor Thomas has been quite sick these last few days. We can't be sure, but the odds are that he has been experiencing H1N1 (since it is the only flu going around these parts). Anyhow, it has been tough for the whole family, most of all Thomas.I'm happy to report, however, that he's doing better this evening. In fact, he has transitioned from "grateful not to be http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/10/sick-baby-on-mend.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ADS)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-4381100767467228122Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:57:00 +00002009-10-25T17:04:28.257-04:00One of Thomas' first words was "mess" and he has occasion to use it quite often. Usually we're philosophical about it, but sometimes it's just too much.http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/10/worth-thousand-words.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ADS)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-6472134488496675199Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:05:00 +00002009-10-06T21:13:01.589-04:00I am seriously in love with the daily "report cards" from Thomas's daycare. They tell us what he ate, when he slept, what he did, what he liked - so much information on one little half-sheet of paper. But no matter how much I treasure the written word, sometimes there's nothing like a conversation - like today when Miss Tally (Thomas's favourite daycare provider) handed me the report card and http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/10/empathy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-847515718780949273Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:56:00 +00002009-10-06T21:05:19.590-04:00A few weeks ago concerned staff at Thomas's daycare mentioned to us that Thomas was holding on to his shoes while he napped and suggested that perhaps he needed a lovey. We promptly sent in a small blue teddy bear. Thomas hadn't really chosen a special toy, but Blue Bear seemed to fit the bill for naptime: soft, cuddly, huggable.Today Blue Bear came home. Why? Apparently Thomas prefers to sleep http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/10/shoe-fetish.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-4336402912060978745Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:42:00 +00002009-08-30T22:02:38.831-04:00So Thomas has been in daycare full time for a week now and he appears to be doing extremely well. (André and I aren't doing too badly, either, though I had to find ways to prevent myself from picking him up early nearly every day.) By Thursday of this week Thomas left our house without crying & today was a banner day because he got dropped off without crying. Yippee!Getting dropped off with nohttp://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/08/daycare.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-7382746091692947513Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:33:00 +00002009-10-06T21:14:57.164-04:00For a few weeks now Thomas has been creating projects for himself. It started when he began moving some very light plastic children's chairs from the deck to the kitchen to the playroom and then back again. He would do this two or three times before he got tired.Next came the ducks. He has four rubber duckies (thanks Aunt Bridget) and one black pirate duck (Grandma Leslie thought she gave thishttp://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/08/ducks-in-row.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-1645723623185009730Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:20:00 +00002009-07-26T20:36:57.192-04:00Yesterday Thomas was sick - really sick - for the first time. Well, he had a fever once before and we got nervous, but this time he was vomiting. Somehow I never thought of sicknesses when I thought of all the firsts we would go through.The poor kid slept nearly 13 hours, so we should have known something was wrong, but when he threw up just a little right after he woke up, I thought it was a http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/07/sick.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-6851881751755749646Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:26:00 +00002009-07-26T17:48:24.474-04:00In my imagination, today has been Thomas's perfect day. It's a rainy one (so far this summer has been the wettest here in 17 years, so it's often a rainy day!) so we met up with two of Thomas's friends - Parker and Eli (whose moms are Malia & Erin) - and went to an indoor baby "gym". It's a giant foam-covered play structure with a ball pit and slides and tubes. You can only imagine T's delighthttp://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/07/thomass-perfect-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-7423188901164904871Tue, 26 May 2009 20:14:00 +00002009-07-26T20:37:35.837-04:00by guest blogger Grandma Shirley:Ahhhhhhhhhhhh ... when Thomas woke from his morning nap (short one) he did not want me to take him from his crib so I said ok and sat and talked with him for a bit ... then asked him again ... again it was a strong no ... so I said I'd come back in a few minutes and get him and I went down stairs ... he did not protest and I had the monitor on and he babbled ... Ihttp://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/05/poop-surprise.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-748333013080294239Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:14:00 +00002009-05-02T21:43:41.949-04:00For nearly 11 months now, Thomas has thought (rightfully, no doubt) that the sun and the moon revolved around me. André likes to say that it's like living with Bono and being the Edge. (For any of you who don't know those names, think John Lennon and Ringo Starr.) The Edge is really great, but if Bono's in the room, well, we all know who'd we'd rather be with.Poor Thomas has been sick for a http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/04/theres-new-sheriff-in-town.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-227709606566347569Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:01:00 +00002009-07-26T20:38:05.161-04:00Just to set the record straight, I was planning to trim those bangs before I even knew that André was blogging about haircuts...http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/04/somebody-got-haircut.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-3039741065681827011Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:04:00 +00002009-04-05T11:06:28.340-04:00I don't think we'll make it to his first birthday before that unruly mop gets trimmed.http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/04/somebody-needs-haircut.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ADS)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-2266325729589513906Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:50:00 +00002009-04-04T21:12:24.920-04:00Early in March the three of us were down in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina for the wedding of two dear friends with whom we share a special bond: they met for the first time at the same time and place that Mandy and I did (the wedding of two other friends down in Washington D.C.).We traveled to Charleston separately, since I needed to be there a bit early to do some groomsmen-related thingshttp://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/03/charleston.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ADS)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-4961577016743071775Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:39:00 +00002009-03-30T21:46:45.894-04:00Well, no pictures for the moment - and yes, we've been ridiculously bad about keeping this blog up since I went back to work (we're exhausted) - but the news of the evening is that Thomas walked. He's been cruising around the house for weeks with one or both hands on the walls, the chairs, the cats, whatever, and he's been happily toddling around using just one of our fingers to balance, so we http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/03/walk-like-man.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (AHP)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-871194656187801654Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:35:00 +00002009-02-26T22:00:04.147-05:00There's something about babies that moves people to quilt since Thomas has received a number of beautiful, handmade quilts. After the kitchen was renovated, we converted what was the dining room (where we actually dined no more than half a dozen times) into a play room. Grandma Patti suggested hanging the quilts on curtain rods in this room, something that we finally got around to doing. The http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/02/quintet-of-quilts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ADS)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220225317172718174.post-3609077857204528189Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:28:00 +00002009-02-19T21:53:06.774-05:00Today Barack Obama visited Ottawa, his first official visit to another country as President. Historically, U.S. Presidents have often made their first visit to Canada since it has the benefit of being 1) close, 2) friendly, and 3) safe. Although it was expected that he would stick with this practice, I was still pretty thrilled to learn that he was coming.I decided that Thomas and I needed to http://thebeginningoffairies.blogspot.com/2009/02/welcome-to-canada-mr-president.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ADS)2