Goodbye Again

Today Oona tried to feed Foufou and Foufou took a swipe at her with his paw. He didn't actually nik  or harm her, just scared her. Oona cried and was devastated. After we reprimanded Foufou, Oona grabbed her blankey and marched off with her little arms pumping and said, "mommy I want to go home." She had had enough of trying to make friends with Foufou in vain. 

On our way to the airport on the highway, we realized that we did not have the blankey or flankey as Oona calls it. We did an about turn at the next exit, drove back and retreived it.

Here is Sonja in the airport check-in lineup updating Alex. Oona is asleep and Kiefer is asleep in the Baby Bjorn. A few minutes earlier everyone was wailing. 

Favouite Oonism for the day, "I play the flanio."

~I~

Oona Baiken

This morning I asked Oona what she would like for breakfast and she answered, "Bacon and eggs please." So Allan drove to our favourite deli for bacon but  forget the eggs. We finally ate breakfast at dinnertime and Oona had bacon, more bacon and fat puffy chocolate Christmas cookies - that's all. Well the weather is below zero so I figure the freezing cold justifies bacon. Here's Oona feeding bread to swans on Lake Ontario and playing catch with a snowball. In two more days she will jet back to London with Kiefer and her mommy.

Our favourite Oonaism so far, "Just a minute, I thinking 'bout things."

~I~

Teeth

We are a little bit fixated on teeth. Here is Oona checking out the teeth of the bear that welcomes people to a shop on the main drag in Oakville. And here is Oona using the rubber resistance band to do"excises" with Nana. Oona counts with me and as I do my repetitions. 

This morning, for a about a half an hour, Oona  quietly, carefully, with great concentration, pealed two hard boiled eggs and nibbled until she had eaten all the white and left the yolk. At Omi's house in Kent last summer, she took an egg from the larder, shook it to her ear and asked, "a chick in dere?"  Sonja and I tried desperately to explain that a mother hen sits on the eggs to warm them and then the yolks turns into baby chicks.

 Our  early morning, leisurely peeling hard boiled eggs in peaceful bliss, was disrupted. Everyone got up, the phone rang, the doorbell rang, Kiefer cried a most persistent very loud cry, Sonja was in the shower and Allan yelled, "Innnngriiiiid, dooooo something!"

~I~

Snow

And More Snow

Last night before bed, Oona sat on the window seat and watched giant snowflakes float down on our little pond. This morning woke up to a white ground, white roof-tops and a frozen white pond. Sonja had to buy winter boots before the day’s activities which included going to see great grandma Galberg for lunch. Here is grandma Galberg and Kiefer. By mid-day the sun shone and the roads were clear. Then off to Chris and Marianne’s for the evening where  Oona made chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles with Marianne, played with Uncle Chris in the snow, and enjoyed her favourite dinner. Pasta! Phuew! What a social schedule! Then home to sit with granddad on the comfy couch with milk and a huge bowl of fresh popcorn and “one more episode of Winnie –the –Pooh.” We have seen all the Winnie videos the library owns - maybe more than once.

~I~

No Swimming Today

Today we packed our swim bags and with great excitement arrived at Oona's favourite pool only to find classes in progress and no swimming for us. (better we should study the timetable brochures) So here we are at twilight with plan B.

We visited the nearby lakeside park where Oona ran around the bandstand, touched the moose and said to me, "Nana it's not real."  We did not last long as we left our mittens behind and the temperature approached zero.

Both Oona and Kiefer saw and chatted on ichat with their daddy in London. Kiefer tries very hard to communicate.

Oona's computer skills astound me. She plays on a kid's site and knows exactly where and how to point the mouse and click.

~I~

The Past Few Days

Most of Oona's outdoor activity around here consists of chasing Foufou, our cat, around the house, under the bushes and among the flower beds. Foufou trys to avoid Oona at all costs and Oona becomes very frustrated. Finally! here he sits with her as they both watch Winnie the Pooh bed time video. Oona leans away from Foufou because if she sits too close the cat leaps away. She did reach over to pet him but asked first, "he bite me?" She told us all on her own, "Button bites people, Jack Growls and Beano is a good dog."

We all went to the wedding of Kristi and Jon who came to Kent to Sonja and Alex's wedding.
Their most moving ceremony encorporated elements from two traditions - Jewish (Jon) and Lutheran (Kristi) .
During the speeches, the comment that made me chuckle the most ; Jon spoke of his Granny who " found time to not only knit hats for him but also balaklavas for the Israeli army."

Kiefer and Oona were in good care with Allan's brother and his wife who reported that Oona went to bed like a little angel.

Earlier in the week Chris had a how-to-change-a-nappie lesson by Sonja demonstrated on Kiefer. Marianne is expecting a baby girl in mid February.

~I~

Shopping Day

Well no one would believe the parsnip with the spaghetti roots at the Winter Fair, so here is the picture. And here is Oona grocery shopping at Whole Foods. The little car is attached to the buggy and Oona did not want to leave it. We also went kiddy shoe shopping and Sonja bought Oona and Kiefer running shoes. We had to estimate when Kiefer would be running.

Grandad took Oona swimming at a fantastic kids pool she loves -warm water, waterjets and a waterfall and all kinds of water toys.

Alex left  for a quick family visit to New York on a little airline that flies from the Toronto Island airport - which is situated at the bottom of down town Toronto just off shore - and will return tomorrow.

~I~

Royal Winter Fair

Today we all went to the huge Royal Winter Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. The fair is the largest indoor fair and equestrian competition in the world and has been held every year since 1922. Growers, breeders, exhibitors from all over Canada and some international come to exhibit their animals and compete for the best cow, horse, goat, pig or vegetable.

Kiefer and Oona liked the billy goats. Oona fed a little goat that followed her around the whole fence periphery. She said, of the little goat, "He's my best friend."

We liked these two cozy piggies.

Some of the root vegetables looked very strange - parsnip roots with tendrils that looked like spaghetti, beet roots the size of small pumpkins, sunflowers that reached to the ceiling of the industrial building.

This pumpkin weighted 952 pounds. The first place prize pumpkin weighed in at 1,234 pounds!

We stayed too too long with so very much to see that Alex and Sonja had noisy and cranky ride home in the evening rush hour with both kids crying in the back seat of their car.

~I~

Buggy Bike and Sidewalk Art

Here we are again. This time in Canada. Sonja, Alex, Oona and Kiefer arrived safely and reported that no one cried on the flight. Yesterday Alex biked into town with the yellow bike buggy attached to Allan's bike. Both Alex and Oona had a dental checkup - Oona's first. Oona sat in the chair with one leg bent and crossed over the other at the knee and allowed me to check, polish and apply flouride to her teeth while she held mister thirsty (saliva ejector). She was sooooo relaxed. Easy, as if it were nothing. Then again she had watched her daddio and he is also very relaxed. She pushed all the buttons on the chair and gave him a ride up and down, backwards and forwards and laughed.

Then we went home and did a little bit of sidewalk art with sidewalk chalk which will wash off in the rain. Oona wanted to keep her bike helmet on!

Kiefer smiles and sleeps and eats and kicks.
All for now.

~I~