Happy 5th birthday Moo!

Dear Myra,

Our little Myra Moo. It is such a joy to be your mama and dada. You fill us with such immense pride and humility. You are, first and foremost, a wonderful caregiver. Your kisses make us melt. You fill your words and actions with such emotion and love.

We love how you whisper messages into our hands to take with us and seal them with kisses.

You take great care of your brother and protect him fiercely. But you do have a mean streak and hold grudges. You will retaliate if you feel scorned or misunderstood. You are very sensitive. It hurts your feelings when we call you a “wrecking ball.”

You are straightforward with us when we wrong you. We love your frankness and candour.

You are 5 going on 15. You love pop songs, bubblegum and getting your nails or hair done. You have an incredible fashion sense and can make anything look good. You make sure you have accessories for special outings like the necklace and bracelets you put on just to get on the plane or go to the dentist.

You always know where anything is that we’re looking for. Especially when you shouldn’t know where these things are. Such as matches, pills, nail polish remover, chocolate, etc.

You make us laugh when you come up with rhymes and songs that are improvised and hilarious. Like the time you were riding your bike down a hill: “Don’t forget your moo moo. You don’t want a boo boo.” Or when you dressed like Snow White, laid down and waited for a kiss. When no one came you sang: “Some day “NOBODY” will come.”

We love how you refer to the absence of people as “Mr. Nobody”. As in, “who’s in the shower right now?” Myra: “Mr. Nobody.”

We love your number estimates that sound serious and convincing even though the numbers are made-up such as “sixty-forty” or “about forty sixty hundred hours”.

You still love the good things in life – chocolate, massages, baths and cuddles. And of course, swimming. When days are hot. When days are cool. We love how much you love to swim and how you try to dive under things and fix your hair when you come up for air.

We love when you play waitress and tell us the various options at your restaurant. ‘Which one do you want? We have chocolate and vanilla, or we have whipped cream so which do you want? Are you sure you don’t want the whipped cream?’

You enjoy cooking and baking for those you care about. Your specialties are hummus, kale salad, bread, pancakes, pizza and cookies.

You have made our family complete. We can’t imagine life without you. We are so lucky you chose us to be your parents. We are honoured to care for you and have you care for us. 

Happy Father's Day

To the best dad I know.

Disney!

Happy New Year!

Here's to a relaxing start to the New Year!

The Year in Review

There were tons of science centre visits (Thanks Mere and Pere for the annual pass!)

Our first family trip to Disney

A whole lot of relaxing at the beach

Some good old-fashioned learning

A little weirdness

A graduation

Myra's first special helper day

A little Santa goodness

And a family-filled start to 2013!

Happy Birthday Mummy!!

You are the apple of our eyes! Have a really good birthday, Mummy! 

We love you soooooo much!

Happy 6th Birthday Vincent!

Dear Vincent,

It was 6 years ago at this very moment that you came into this world. We are so lucky to be your mum and dad.

You are such a responsible, caring, thoughtful boy and you make us proud every single day. You like things to be in balance and feel conflict deeply. You take your responsibilities to your family and friends seriously and you can always be counted on to do the right thing. You value fairness, kindness and generosity and are always looking for ways to help others.

You love routines. Your favourite TV show is Arthur and you time your breakfast and afternoon snack by it. You love having a ‘punk rock dance party’ to get the house clean. “Vincent music” continues to be anything loud and fast. You also love "waltzing Matilda" and request the song during car trips. You and Myra can be counted on to pretend to play steel drums and she always finds a way to make you laugh. You still have the best and most infectious laugh ever. You and Myra are such good friends. You hold her hand when walking to school or the beach or millpond and you take care of her when everyone is playing in front of the house.

You still love the movie Toy Story and now you play the video games. Your favourite foods are still fruit – strawberries, apples, bananas. You like simple foods -- peanut butter and jam, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and veggie dogs. For a treat, you like cinnamon buns, butter tarts, pie or chocolate cupcakes.

This year saw you begin grade 1. You love going to school and playing Mario and SkyRiders with your friends at recess. When you come home, you like to write math problems on the chalkboard.

At home, you love nothing more than building things with your Dad. Whether it’s train tracks or Ikea furniture (you love those instructions!) you really enjoy the process.

You have a deep knowledge of your abilities and you have taught us to trust you to know yourself best. When we tried to get you to take swimming lessons you refused to go, explaining that you would prefer to teach yourself. And so you did – just a few months later you were swimming underwater unassisted.

This year saw your first rope jump into the millpond and your first trip to Disney. You learned to ride a two-wheeler bike without any assistance or practice. You just told us one day that you were ready and off you went without a fall or a catch. When you write your name you carefully make the serifs on the n afterwards in the way most people cross t's and dot i's. When you draw pictures, you always add a blue sky and green grass and make people's faces with expressive eyebrows. You kept a summer journal of activities you wanted to do and ticked them off as they happened.

We are so happy you chose us to be your parents.

Happy 6th Birthday!

Love, Mum and Dad and Myra. xoxoxo