Two-wheelin'

my cautious, perfectionist first child has finally learned to ride her bike without the training wheels!! learning to ride your bike is like a huge milestone in everyone's childhood, so i didn't want to push this one and make it a miserable one for Skye. but she's been watching some of her friends do it and finally decided it was time for her. she got very very frustrated yesterday and cried, but today, was able to take off. here is a movie of her (after the frustration and tears, mind you :) ) riding down our block. we are quite proud of her!


Skye takes off the training wheels!! from slkim on Vimeo.

and here's another movie of her playing her violin. i'm playing the viola and we're playing Old MacDonald, Skye's favourite song to play right now.


Old MacDonald from slkim on Vimeo.

teenage years already???

that was the thought running through my mind today when one of Skye's friends came over for a playdate after school. the exact comment that triggered this thought was: "when you're done with whatever you're doing, i want some banana bread."

ok, maybe i'm PMSing, or maybe i just had a bad day, but i sort of raised my eyebrows and gave this little 7 year old girl a second look. i probably wouldn't have given it a thought if this girl had said this to her own mother, but i got the strange feeling this girl was feeling much too comfortable in my own house. perhaps it's my Korean upbringing, but heck, you never got away with talking to an adult like that when i was a kid!! and i think i have this idea in my head that under 10 yr olds are still "innocent" and still look up to adults.

i know, this is all nothing in the grand scheme of things. kids will grow up, no matter what, and kids will still need us parents no matter how old they are. but it's a little frightening to think that the teenage attitudes are already upon us.

Claire's potty talk

Claire: I need to go poo poo.
i take Claire over to toilet and help her up
Claire: I need book.
i hand her a book and say: call me when you're done.

few minutes later.
Claire: I done!!
i help her clean up.
Claire: I poop small poop.
i help her get off the toilet. Claire peers into toilet and says: oh, big poop. what's big poop doing??

St. Patrick's Day

a friend asked me today when St. Patrick's day was. honestly, i had no idea - do i look Irish? but when Skye came home from school, she was full of talk about St. Patty's day. she picked out her clothes for tomorrow before she went to bed. green top, green pants and green socks, but no green underwear. she has always been all about the colours: valentine colours for valentine's day, easter colours for easter, halloween colours for halloween, christmas colours for christmas. you get the idea. but i never thought i'd see the green come out for st. Patrick's day!

Skye is growing fast and fast testing my wisdom in areas of raising her. she is most definitely my first child, the perfectionist who tends to be bossy. it is hard for me to remember that she is still just a little girl, especially when Claire seems so small in comparison. it is difficult for me to be just as attentive to her needs because i expect so much more from her.

Do i dare hope...?

the past couple of days have been so beautiful, they have been enough to get me hoping again. yeah, the locals tell me there's bound to be more snow before winter's really over, but still, now that we can go out the door without looking like big fat marshmallows, i'm starting to itch for spring to really arrive.

while Skye was out on a playdate, i managed to take Claire to a park. it was such a treat!! she'd been asking about the park over the winter and i've always had to tell her, no, it's buried under the snow. we had a great time. here are some shots.




and of course, the warm weather brings out all the neighbours, so here's the neighbourhood gang. they were very busy playing some complicated game with teams and whatnot.

Taking big steps

we've been busy - the girls have been taking giant steps in their development.

Skye has been taking violin lessons for the past month. we started because she has been asking for them for the longest time and i just neglected to get her going. part of me didn't want to fill up our lives with too much "stuff", but i finally gave in because she has been asking for them and i figured if she is the one that wants to do it, she will be motivated to learn. it has been fun to watch her develop. she has a tiny violin and makes lots of squeaky sounds, but her bowing is actually quite good. i didn't start viola until i was 12, so i think she will get much further than i ever did!


then Phil took Skye skiing for the first time a couple of weekends ago. she had a blast! i've posted some movies on vimeo, so please take a look.




Skye goes skiing - part 2 from slkim on Vimeo.

and finally, news of our dear Claire. she has been sick this week and has been a terrible monster to live with, but i don't blame her. she's been throwing up and i've refused to feed her any dairy (the minute she drinks some milk, she throws up) and so she has been mad, mad, mad. today, she tried to grab my cheese toast out of my hand! but other than that, she is growing in leaps and bounds as well. she has learned to "read" lately and occupies herself with books quite a bit. and she carries her little pink "strap bag" around EVERYWHERE!! we'll see how long this trend lasts. :) here she is with her constant companion.



and here she is "reading"

Claire reads from slkim on Vimeo.