Flasher!

Tee Hee! It's just her slippers - not a naked Paddles.

Cutie in the Park

Partners In Crime

Just take a look at these girls! You just know they're plotting an escape into the wilderness.

"Okay, you're cute - just go and distract the moms."

"You, look for weaknesses in the defenses."

"What?? We're not doing anything!"

"Okay! Let's go for it!"

Aerya had a great time at her birthday party! Food of course is a priority for her (she is Derek's daughter), and she took full advantage of the Dora cake.

There were lots of animals to interact with, though you will notice that while all the other kids were feeding the ducks, Aerya was WAY on the other side of the pond looking for rocks!
She was a bit nervous of the ponies, so she skipped out of a ride but she did pet the goats and horses.

Aerya also had a great time playing with the kids and exploring the wilderness. It was a bit too 'rustic' for my tastes, but even dirt impresses our girl!

Pickles

A day would just be incomplete without (several of) Aerya's favorite snack.

Our Baby Girl Turns Two...

Today is Aerya's second birthday! Derek and I spent some time last, before the clock moved to 12:08am and talked about the miracle that is our daughter. Aerya is the most amazing little girl. So happy, loveable, energetic, smart, polite and loving.

It is so hard to believe that at one point, we were never going to having a child. Of course, we would never have known what we were missing. But somehow Aerya came into our lives at the just the perfect time to complete our family.

Thanks to everyone for all their birthday love and good wishes. Can't wait to see everyone on Sunday!

Dancing Queen(s?)

Aerya loves to dance, the crazyer the better. While she does sometimes show a bit of Derek's rhythm, mostly it's all me - and you know that's not good!

The Newest Addition to our Family

Meet Scotch, the latest addition to our family. After we took in a stray cat over a cold snap this winter, Meux just hasn't been the same. We decided she was lonely and so we casually discussed getting her a playmate. Coincidentally, Derek's Dad happened to know a cat that needed a new home and suggested her to us. Aerya and I went to meet her and decided to bring her home to see if she'd like to live with us. The rest, as they say, is history.

Scotch has had a few name changes in her lifetime originating with Moo, then Miss Moo and now Scotch. We thought that Moo and Meux might be a bit too close to be able to differentiate for Aerya. Derek chose the name by the way because she has eyes the color of a good bottle of scotch.

We were a bit worried about the cats getting along, but within an hour of meeting each other they were fast friends. They now follow each other around, Meux tries to groom Scotch, Scotch tries to play ball with Meux and they always settle down together for their sleeps. We're still not sure just where they sleep. We've found them on the kitchen table, in the office (Meux on the chair and Scotch under it), in Aerya's room at the window and randomly on the floor round the house. At some point each night they do (loudly) venture into our room but I think Scotch is too hot to comfortably sleep on the bed.

Scotch is a gorgeous cat with long, persian-like, white fur offset with a couple of tortise-shell colored patches and a great big racoon tail. I just can't stop petting her all the time!

Um, I'm not ADD! Wait, was that something shiny??

The video says it all, and I entirely blame her father for this trait!

Playdoh

Aerya loves to play playdoh. She's even learned not to put it in her mouth!

Here's some of Daddy's handywork on display, and as you can see, she's quite pleased with the result.

She plays everyday with Grandma for about an hour creating everything you can imagine. She has some pretty specific requirements though: all colors must first come out of their containers, each color must be made into a ball, other people can only play with the colors she assigns them, you may not make a shape she hasn't approved, there is no mixing of the colors (including adding eyes or other features in other colors) except on very special occasions, and a few others depending on her mood.

I keep wondering where she gets this bossiness/anal-retentive behaviour from???

Aerya's Backpack

She got this cute Dora backpack to hold all her snacks and books for the day. It's too cute!