Rose after the party...

When Paige and I arrived home after the birthday party, Rose had just got up from her nap.  After I snapped the photos of Paige Rose insisted I take her picture in the same spot.

Birthday party...

Here is Paige in her party dress.  She went to her first ever drop off party for her friend Rebekah from school.  She has had numerous party invites since the start of the year, but I decided to limit it to the girls who are her actual friends.  I don't think it makes sense for her to attend lots of parties, bringing gifts, etc. when she is not going to invite all these people to her party in July.

Rebekah's party was a "glamour girl" party where the girls had their hair, makeup, and nails done.  Paige reiterated for months before this party that she wouldn't want her makeup done, and when I picked her up she'd only had her hair and nails done.  I was kind of relieved.  No need for makeup at this age in my mind.  But the party looked quite cute.  Apparently they dressed up and had a fashion show too.  She came home with a group photo.

This is Paige after the party posing.  She showed me some "fashion poses" with pouty lips and squinty eyes that they must have been taught.

First bike ride of the season, and Rose's first ever bike ride...

This was on March 6.  A really nice day for a bike ride to the park.  We hadn't been to the park yet this year (well not in Burlington anyway....Or actually we did one day before we went to Orlando, but it ended up being colder than anticipated and it was not very fun)

lol

In the car while running errands:

Paige: "Mom! That car had 2 winter tires and 2 all season tires!"

I knew she knew about winter tires having black hubcaps, but all season!?

Not working!!

Rose's new phrase when she's trying to put on her shoes, open a flap in a lift-a-flap book, open her water lid, etc.

"Not working! Iss not working Mommy!!!"

Colours...

Rose has started to learn her colours.  Her favourite is green, which she always guesses correctly.  All other colours she calls purple, yellow, blue or white, only getting them correct sometimes.

Rose's memories...

Since we went to Disney World, Rose has been naming things strangely.  If she sees a horse now she calls it a "horsie ride".  She saw a Nemo toy this morning and called it a "Nemo ride".  There was a horse ride and a Nemo ride at Disney World.  She's all confused.

When she sees the pictures from our trip she gets excited and gasps.  If she sees scenery pictures or photos from the theme parks she will gasp and say "ME!!", as in "I've been there!".  She will see a photo of something and remember it was close to a ride, or remember what we were doing.  When she sees a picture of Paige sitting down with a tiny bit of blue behind her she remembers it was on the monorail and says "YA TRAIN! YA ME!!!". I can't believe her memory is so good.  I guess it will take a few months for new memories to suplant these memories of the trip.

Paige Swimming..

Paige's aforementioned amazing swimming in Orlando...

I used youtube to upload these video, which was easier, but I don't like how it pops up other "related" videos after...like this one shows a bunch of other "Paige swimming" videos on youtube, none of which are this Paige swimming. 

Monster's Inc.

As i mentioned before, Rose now loves the movie Monster's Inc.  The other thing I believe I mentioned a few months ago was her fixation with monsters.  not sure if she saw it on a TV show or what but she would go into a dark room and exclaim "Ah monsters!" and run out looking scared.  she has said there were monsters in her room, behind the chair, and under the bed.  She isn't actually scared, she just pretends to be for a little drama. 

Here's a video from a month ago or so:

Anyway, now that she has seen the movie, she will do the same routine, but exclaim "Ah! Monster's Inc."

Part 14: Home...

Crazy girls decided to wake up at 7:00am on the morning of our departure.  I had banked on them sleeping in, so that made things a little tricky.  Toys were all away and there wasn't much to do but watch TV. I thought I could wake them up at the last minute to eat a quick breakfast. 

Our flight was delayed, but that was awesome as it gave us time to decompress at the airport.  We were some of the last passengers to check in for our flight (typical), and if the flight was on time we would have been rushing all the way to the plane as per usual.  we enjoyed coffees and watching planes move around on the runway.

Girls at the airport....



Our flight felt short again and I got to finish the duration of my movie that I had started on the flight to Orlando (almost--i missed the last few minutes).

Now that we've been home for a while, the girls are easing back into their routines.  Paige is missing her daily swims, but was happy to get back to school and see her friends.  Rose has learned quite a few things from being on vacation and we saw her vocabulary practically double while we were away.  So many new experiences and fun things to talk about.  She is stringing together sentences and always uses words for things, not that we can understand them all, but you can tell it is a word to her.   I think her mood improved slightly too and she has broken a few bad habits while we were away (such as yelling mommy up up upie upie upie) while I am trying to make meals.

As for Mike he is busy with various leads from his trade show.  He took Paige swimming 2 days after we got home to keep up with her progress. 

As for me...ahhh....i could still be there sitting in the sun, swimming and visiting Disney, but life must go on. Mentally planning for next year, a trip to Vegas in April for Mike and I, a possible Euro girls reunion in the summer, Edmonton trip, and cottage trips.  Busy year ahead....