Weekend Fun with the NYC Cousins

This weekend we had our cousins from NYC visit...and we had such a great weekend. Sabrina and Mary arrived on Friday afternoon. After work we had Wanda, David and Baba join us for a lovely Thai dinner (not made by us however).

Here's a picture of Truman and David relaxing after dinner watching a movie together. Truman's favourite movie again lately is "Finding Nemo" and I can't tell you how many times we watched at least some parts of the movie this weekend.

Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast before heading downtown to the ROM. I never realized what a great place the ROM was for children. Truman loved the dinosaurs and we even did some excavating for some bones. His favourite part was going through the bat cave (which I think he went through at least half a dozen times). We will definitely have to go and explore again sometime soon.

This afternoon Wanda graciously offered to babysit Truman, while Sabrina, Mary, Jerry and I went to Unionville for a little stroll in the sunshine. Truman I have to say was playing hard to get with both Sabrina and Mary all weekend, but of course, as soon as we dropped them off at the airport Truman asks when we'll be seeing them again.

Meeting Noah

On Friday evening we had the pleasure in meeting the newest addition of our family little Noah. Truman was a little jealous when I first held Noah, but quickly warmed up to him. So much so, that he wanted to hold Noah, help change him and help put him to bed.

Noah is a happy, sweet boy. Anya and Wolf are blessed with another wonderful baby. On Saturday night Jerry and I babysat Noah and we heard two little peeps from him all night. Jerry rocked him back to sleep while I heated up a cherry pit bag and within seconds he was back asleep. I keep hoping that our new little one will be half as good!

On Monday I received a call from daycare letting me know that Truman will be graduating to the preschool class in two weeks. What a bittersweet feeling for me. Truman has been asking for months to go to preschool (ever since Emma moved up) but I felt a little sad that he will be moving up. This morning when we talked about it, he told me he didn't want to go and that he wanted to stay with Carol (his teacher). My heart was breaking. I know that he is going to love being with his friends again and he's already enjoying his visits.

Thanks to Dora, Truman has learned to count to 10 in Spanish. Thanks to the several movies Truman has been watching (Ice Age, Jungle Book, Madagascar) Truman had been asking all types of questions about animals, where do they live, what do they eat, what do they like doing, and what colour are they. I am learning to think quickly on me feet and when I don't know the answer I call reinforcements (for example I had no idea what a crab said, so we called Tina for advice).

Now that Jerry's trial is over we finally feel like a family again. This weekend we ran a lot of errands together and went shopping for a big boy bed for Truman. Jerry desperately wanted a bunk bed, but unfortunately it won't fit in either of the rooms without it taking over the entire space. So, we are still on the hunt for a new bed. We are hoping to have the new bed in place by the time we return from our trip to start the transition. The countdown for vacation begins!

Will You Be Mine?

Yesterday Truman and I spent Valentine's Day by going for a nice long walk in our neighbourhood. Truman isn't too fond of the stroller these days, but wanted to ride in the stroller to our destination (Mastermind) but wanted to walk home - and he walked the entire way home. I am truly amazed by his stamina! We went to Mastermind to buy a gift for Sabrina's birthday party. Sabrina is Emma's best friend and she is in Truman's class. Truman was so excited to see Emma and the two of them spent a lot of time together as well as the other children from his class. It was nice to see all of the children playing so nicely together.

After the party, we took Truman to Grandma and David's house for another sleep-over. Truman seems to now understand the routine on some weekends. So much so, that when we dropped him off and set him up with his video he told us "Just go now". This gave me a glimpse of what I am to expect during the teenage years....oh my! So with a night off, and being a fabulous wife, I took my husband to the auto show. Jerry and I had such a nice evening together and we finished off our evening with dinner and then home for dessert (courtesy of my sister Tina). Delish!

Tomorrow is Family Day, our relatively new stat holiday and I am looking forward to the extra day with Truman. Unfortunately my dear hubby has to work (federal court), but hopefully he won't be at work too long so that we can all spend some family time together. I am counting down the days until Jerry's trial is finished (7 more business days), so that life can get back to normal.

I also should mention that the Topolski Family will be expanding come July. We are all very excited (well, Truman is some of the time). Truman is hoping for a sister which he would like to name Mogli. For those of you who don't watch cartoons, Mogli is the little boy in the Jungle Book.

Also a thank you to Danka and Ola for visiting this weekend. It was so nice spending some time togther and Truman has not stopped asking about both of you. He's been asking if you will come back and visit us soon!

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Family Day!

Terrific Two's?

The last few weeks have been extremely challenging with my dear son. The challenge and stress could be a combination of things....Truman has recently undergone another growth spurt (all his 2T tops are now belly shirts), his father has been working long hours (busy on a trial), and he's in the midst of his second year. I go from dealing with non-stop boundary pushing and aggressive behaviour leading to many time outs to Truman acting nothing less than an angel. I guess this is all part of dealing with the terrific two's!

We recently taught Truman how to say his last name...and it is quite adorable to hear him say it....it sounds like "taposki" He also knows that my name is Michele and Daddy's name is Jerry. He thinks he's rather clever when he calls us by our given names! We are also working on teaching him his phone number...we're getting there, he can usually tell us the missing numbers.

Truman's new favourite toy is this wooden pizza that Misty have him for Christmas. He loves making pizza for everyone and will give you the toppings that you ask for. He already knows that his father does not like vegetables (sigh), and mommy likes mushrooms! I was worried this weekend when Masha, Lana and Mario came for a playdate. I was so afraid there was going to be a major confrontation over this pizza, but Truman was such a gentleman and shared the pizza immediately with Masha. I noticed that Truman played so nicely with Masha this weekend and was so willing to share his toys with her.

Truman loves to sing....his favourite song is "Life is a Highway" from the movie "Cars"...we have heard it a few times in the car and whenever we play piano it's the only song he wants to hear/sing. He is however, growing out of the movie Cars (thank goodness) and has moved onto "Four Square" and "The Wiggles" again.

The Topolski Family has been keeping quite busy over the last month meeting up with friends and family. We're looking forward to checking out the skating rink at the park across the street (we just found out about). Let's hope the weather warms up!

My spell check is not working on this post, I apologize for any spelling errors!

Merry Christmas!

This year we celebrated Christmas, as we do most years by gathering at my parent's home on Christmas Eve. There is always a lot of eating to be done and this year was no exception!

We all woke up fairly early Christmas morning to start opening all the gifts. This year Avery and Truman were both quite spoiled and in turn it took us a few hours to open up all the gifts. In between gift opening sessions we all enjoyed a lovely breakfast as we needed to keep up our strength. Avery seemed to enjoy his first Christmas and I am sure next year will be even more exciting.

Truman must have been a very good boy this year because Santa brought him exactly what he asked for....an apple! He was very excited to open his gift from Santa and has been letting us know since that Santa brought him an apple. I wonder if we will get off as easily next year?

On Boxing Day we headed over to Wanda and David's and enjoyed a yummy dinner, and had the most delicious cheesecake (baked by Tina of course). I wanted a second piece but refrained from giving in to my sweet tooth! Truman and Avery were both angels. Our little man who never eats meat, ended up eating two pieces of veal schnitzel! He also asked for ice cream (as he is now accustomed to having it at grandma's house).

We took Truman skating for the first time on Saturday evening and to our surprise he had a great time. It did take us however, almost a full half hour to convince him to put on his skates, but once we did it was hard to get off the ice. Jake, Rebecca, and Ryan also joined us, and Jake is a natural on skates. He was amazing to watch and I am sure next year we will see him with a hockey stick in his hand. His Jake Starkman the next Wayne Gretzky?

I hope everyone had a very happy holiday season. I am looking forward to spending the next week with Truman and Jerry.

Birthday Bashes

This weekend we celebrated Jerry's 35th Birthday! Happy Birthday Jerry!

We started the weekend with a family dinner to one of our favourite pizza places. After dinner, in the bitter cold, we purchased our Christmas tree. Truman had a great time running around trying to find the perfect one. Jerry and I decided that this year we would decorate the tree while Truman was asleep. The next morning I brought Truman down to see the tree, he said "it's big and beautiful" and with hands on his hips he said "Who built this? I like this!".

On Saturday night, we headed out in the winter storm to have dinner with my parents, Pat, Avery and Tina to celebrate both Jerry and Tina's birthday. My dear sister turns 30 on Thursday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TINA!!! It took poor Pat, Tina and Avery an hour and a half to get to the restaurant. By the time they arrived, Truman was ready to leave, but not before he shared some french fires with his favourite cousin Avery.

Sunday afternoon we went to Jerry's work party to have a second visit with Santa. Truman was very excited running around the building and seeing so many people. Eventually he found some smarties in the cookie making room which put him over the edge. This was one of his first experiences with chocolate...and he kept telling me for the rest of the day how much he liked it! Needless to say, we had a short visit at the party and missed seeing Santa. My dear son had too much fun spinning around and pretending to fall on the floor. I decided it was time for Truman to get home and have a nap. Besides, I was completely worn after chasing him for a few hours.

Monday night Truman and I went to Tina, Pat and Avery's house to celebrate Tina's birthday. We were joined by aunt Misty who loved playing with little Avery. Truman gave Avery about a hundred kisses, and Avery didn't seem to mind at all.

Weekend Update

This morning we headed to Hot House to have a delicious brunch and listen to some jazz music. We joined Tina, Pat, Avery, Misty, Troy, Karyn and Nick. We were all stuffed, including Truman who must have ate about 10 slices of watermelon. Truman loved the music and was dancing for most of the morning. Jerry and I were not expecting him to be on such good behaviour...it was not until the end of the meal when he began to lose his patience. Luckily we had all had our fill.

Here's a pic of Truman posing, he asked me to take at least a dozen pictures

Troy, Misty and Truman...Truman was just not interested in posing this time

Pat and rosy cheeked Avery

So, Jerry and I finally caved and got Truman's hair cut. Some may say he was long overdue, but we loved his beautiful curls and big hair. I asked the stylist not to take too much off...so it is still longer in the front...and it's curlier than ever. Truman, however almost had a nervous breakdown while getting his hair cut...Jerry had to hold his arms and legs down, while I held his head. All the while he was screaming as if he was being tortured. This was not my idea of a fun time. As soon as it was over, Truman acted as though the previous ten minutes never happened.

Here's Truman on Thomas the Train after getting his hair cut, as he wouldn't stay in it while scissors were near his head....

Last night, we went to Canadian Tire to buy Truman a sled, as there is a great hill up the street that is perfect for Truman's age. We took him this afternoon and he loved it. I think Jerry must have taken him down the hill at least fifty times.

I also wanted to wish Misty a very Happy Birthday, we hope that you had a wonderful day!

Obsession with Cars

Every evening when I pick Truman up from school, inevitably on our way home he will tell me that he would like to watch Cars. He is no longer interested in the Wiggles, Thomas Train, or television, he just wants to watch Cars. He loves Mac, Lightning and Mator and talks about them all the time. In fact, he has started to sleep with the DVD cover! When the movie is on, I have a hard time getting his attention.

Here are a few pics of Truman introducing his baby cousin Avery to the movie...Avery too seemed to enjoy it!

On Monday night we had our parent-teacher meeting at day care. Carol, Truman's teacher told us that Truman likes to talk a lot (really?) and he is very social and is happy to greet anyone who comes to the door. His only objective is for him to concentrate using his cutlery more. When we finished our meeting it was quite a bit later than we normally are when we pick him up, and he was the last child in his classroom. I have never seen Truman so upset. I was told that he kept telling his teacher that his mom was coming. I think he thought we were going to leave him there. Poor thing.

Since this is the first time I have blogged in a long time, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the newest Topolski Family Member. On November 3rd, Noah was welcomed by Anya, Wolf and Joachim. Congratulations! We cannot wait to meet you!

Determined Climber

My son can be very determined when he wants something. So much so, that he goes after what he wants when he wants it (or cries until he gets what he wants). Last week, Truman would stop at nothing to get his soother. Interestingly, this desire for his soother has increased since mommy took the soother away from him while in the car. I was busy putting away laundry, or doing some other domestic chore, entered Truman's room and found him with a chair pulled up beside the crib and one leg over the side.....

Here's the determined look "Mommy, I want my soother". Little does he know that his days with a soother are numbered. I am hoping to phase it out by the end of the year. We will see how strong willed I can be! So far, so good with not letting him have one in the car!

And the relief...I got it mommy, now get me outta here!

Since this incident Truman loves using his chair to get into his crib. He likes to pretend to put his stuffed animals to bed and cover them with his blanket. Hmmm...do I see a big boy bed in our future?

Stay tuned for some pics from Hallowe'en...Truman and I have been practicing putting on his costume (I need to prepare him), tonight was a struggle...but once the outfit was on he liked looking at himself in the mirror!

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving! The Topolski-O'Brien-Braun clan have decided on a new annual tradition....Chudleigh's Apple Farm. I can't tell you how much fun Truman had, let alone the rest of the family! Here is a pic of Truman in the "pumpkin patch"....he was having difficulty deciding which pumpkin to take home!

Truman loved the tractor/hay ride to the orchards...in fact he's been talking about it ever since we came home. Truman has also become quite the expert on how to pick apples, he even told me that I needed to twist the apples first before pulling them off the tree. Here's Truman tasting the goods...

I think we picked a good two and a half bags full of apples, I hope this does not mean I have to bake a pie? Avery had a good time as well and helped Pat pick out the best pieces of fruit to pick. I can't wait until next year when both boys will be running around!

Last night Tina and I cooked a Thanksgiving feast for the family. We were joined by Nanny, Oopa, Grandma, David, Baba, Misty, Troy and Peter. The food was delish and I think we will be eating leftovers for the next few days. DELISH...especially the desserts...Tina treated us to a triple chocolate brownie mousse cake and a pumpkin cheesecake.

Cross Border Shopping

I am not sure if I am brave or crazy, but I decided to take my rambunctious two-year old cross border shopping with Tina, Avery, Karen and Misty. I was anticipating the worst and looking back now, it actually wasn't too bad. Sure there were moments throughout the trip where I was extremely stressed out. For example, I am not sure what I was thinking when we embarked on a five and a half hour car ride. There were a few instances where Tina and I were about to jump out of our moving car, listening to two children screaming in unison...mine was yelling "out mommy, out, I want out" all the time knowing we had another 3 hours to go! Nothing like a good book to calm him down. Truman poved to be quite the entertainer the entire weekend, in fact, the only time he stopped talking was while he was asleep.

And shopping, yes Truman lost his patience when I was in BR trying on a mountain of clothing. And yes, he opened the door to the change room when I was wearing next to nothing. Tiny little moments, easily forgotten! Thank goodness for playgrounds at the mall! For the most part Truman was quite helpful in picking out things for me to buy and try on (maybe he will be a shopper too...Jerry only prays that he is not).

In the end I was very happy that I was able to spend the entire weekend with him.

Weigh In

When I picked Truman up from day care today I explained to him that we were going to the doctor. He promptly said to me that he didn't want the doctor and that he wanted to go home. We pulled into the parking lot and he then explained to me that he wanted to bring his soother and Loula (his stuffed puppy) to the doctor. I figure he must have remembered the last time we visited the doctor and needed his soother after his immunization. Luckily there were no needles today.

Our not so little guy weighed in at about 32 pounds (it was difficult for us to weight him as he refused to stay still), which puts him at the 88th percentile for weight. He also was 92cm in height which also put him at the 88th percentile for height (which I am not surprised about). His predicted adult height will be just over 6 feet!!! Gotta love on-line tools....anyhoo...

I must quickly blog about the pains and joys of parenting a two-year old. One minute I have no idea what do to, like earlier last week Truman took a chunk out of my skin when he didn't want to put on his coat. The next minute, I am over come by pride when he does something amazing. For example tonight we went to the park to play, he found this round, black, plastic thing that to me looked like junk. Truman looks up to me and says "Mommy, I fix it. Come". So I follow my son over to the sandbox. He picks up a school bus and puts this black plastic thing on it, which turns out to be a wheel. He proudly looks up at me and says "Mommy, I fixed it". I was beaming. Maybe he will take after his Oopa and become and engineer???

Another milestone - Truman peed in the potty tonight. I was so excited that Truman was trying to force himself to pee again so he could flush the toilet (the condition is he can flush if he pees). I am not expecting too much, but maybe this is another good start!

Happy Second Birthday Truman!

Today the Topolski Family celebrated Truman's second birthday. We celebrated Truman's special day by going out for pizza at one of my favourite places. It was a perfect evening and my heart was swollen with love, pride and joy for my son. Where has the time gone? It feels as though the past year went by in a flash and I am afraid that time is only going faster. So, what did this past year bring? We started off Truman's second year by introducing him to day care. Believe me, I think it was harder on me than it was on him. Truman adjusted very well and continues to enjoy going to school everyday and being with his friends. He loved graduating to the Toddler Room in March so that he was able to play with the big kids.

Truman experienced his first haircut - which went better than I expected...it was his second hair cut that was more traumatic - and we are due for a third sometime soon - but I am having difficulty parting with his beautiful curls.

Just before 15 months, Jerry and I experienced our first temper tantrum - and what a tantrum it was! Not like they have gotten any easier, albeit less frequent, but I think we are better equipped in dealing with them.

In February Truman had surgery to put tubes in his ears - after the surgery he became a different toddler....and what a difference it made in his speech and learning. Now our dear little one starts talking the moment he wakes until the moment we put him to sleep. Today we asked him how old he was and he confidently told us he was four (the day before he said he was five). When we explain to him that he is only two - he tells us "no, I'm four". Guess he's the boss.

Earlier this summer we sold and bought a new home, which Truman adjusted to with ease. He still calls it the "new house", but I think he loves all the space he has and I think he loves that the park is across the street. He asks almost everyday if we can go down the slides, but inevitably when we get there we pretend to make pizza!

We had most of the Topolski Family visit us this summer - which was wonderful for Truman, especially all the time he was able to spend with his cousin Joachim. Truman was also introduced to new his cousin Avery and the two boys are still getting acquainted.

I have enjoyed every moment of watching my son grow, there are both hills and valleys, but the moment Truman gives me a huge hug and a kiss, and tells me he loves me - I forget everything but how much I love him and how lucky I am to have him in my life.

Truman - I wish you the most wonderful birthday and wish you all the happiness in the world. You are my angel.

Cookie Monster

Truman's new best friend is a little blue monster in a red sweater. This weekend Cookie accompanied us almost everywhere. On Saturday morning, Cookie had to come to Tim Horton's for breakfast. Truman insisted that Cookie wear shoes - and luckily I was able to improvise fast enough and used a pair of small infant socks as shoes. Cookie sat in the stroller and then in the high chair at Tim Horton's. Cookie even had some of Truman's bagel.

At the dinner table Cookie uses Truman's high chair, watches TV with Truman and even came grocery shopping with us this evening. Cookie even tried watermelon tonight! As you can see from all the pictures Cookie does whatever Truman does.

I apologize for the lack of blogging lately - but with packing and getting ready for our move on Thursday - I have had such little time. I am exhausted but did not want to miss out on documenting this milestone.

Geneva Park

Last week our Belgian family (Anya, Wolf and Joachim) came to Canada for a visit. We are so happy to have them here and to spend some quality time with them. We have especially enjoyed being with Joachim. It is a great chance for the two cousins to get acquainted. The last time they met they were only a few months old!



Jerry, Truman and I just go back from Geneva Park where we had a mini vacation this past weekend. For those of you who have not heard of Geneva Park, it is on lake Couchiching, and if lake Couchiching sounds familiar it may because you have visited Casino Rama (or maybe Orillia). We were kindly invited by Wanda, David, and Baba and we had a wonderful time.

Joachim and Truman had a lot of fun together....splashing in the rain, destroying sandcastles at the beach, playing at the Shire, and playing the piano. There were only a few altercations between the two, the most serious one involving a truck. Truman loves to ask about Joachim but pronounces his name Yo-Ke-Keem. Too cute. By the end of the weekend, Truman knew every one's name and after we left, Truman has been asking about Anya, Wolf and Yo-Ke-Keem non-stop!

Meal times were probably the most difficult for both sets of parents. Joachim was more interested in watching other people, and Truman would rather be an actor then eat. I can't say the same for myself as I probably ate too much over the last few days. The desserts were too good!

There were a lot of activities at Geneva Park, but we seemed to have stuck to the basics....long walks in the mornings, playing at the beach mid-morning, playing at the park in the afternoon, and then doing some sort of activity after dinner. It was a perfect amount of time for us to be away.

Anya, Wolf and Joachim come home tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully we will spend some more time with them before they leave to Alaska on Friday. Luckily, they will be returning to Toronto in August and will be staying with us (in our new home).