We're baaa-aaack...

So, I'm quite aware that it's been a while... But better late than never! Our lives have been quite chaotic lately. Is that really new information though?

We've been getting our condo ready to move into, keeping the house uber clean for showings, making plans, shopping for condo stuff, enjoying any nice weather that comes our way (which has been few and far between so far this summer), going to work, going to daycare..... etc, etc, etc.

Talulah has been exercising her independence lately. She's very much an "I can do it myself" girl. The amount of times I hear "No... Lula" (as in "Stop it, I'll do it") in a day is ridiculous. It's pretty amazing to see her becoming her own little person more and more every day. She's so amazing, funny, caring, feisty, smart, beautiful.... She's the best!

Ponytails, more specifically one ponytail right on top of her head, have been a hit lately. When we're getting ready for work/daycare we do our hair together. Talulah watches me getting ready and then says, "Hair, Lula. Hair, Lula peas." so together we do Talulah's hair. Once her ponytail is in, she smiles at herself in the mirror and makes faces and laughs at herself (in an "I'm so funny" way) and says, "Pretty." It's beyond adorable. When we're at the front door getting ready to leave, she performs in front of the mirror and smiles at her pony tail and again declares how pretty she is.... Precious.

Here's a link to the June photos of Talulah:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=235975&id=678560725&l=2852c0baf0


Until next time!

Cousin Update ♥

Talulah has another update on her baby cousin...

Gustav is doing so well that he gets to graduate from the NICU! He will be moving on up to the special nursery to continue his visit in the hospital.

This is great news because it means he's growing, and getting stronger every day... It also means that his parents get to participate more in his daily care, which they've been itching to do since he was born!

Congratulations Gus, Mommy & Daddy!

Here are some pictures of Gus's first snuggle with his Daddy :)

P.S. I haven't had a chance to sort through my own pictures in a while, but I PROMISE that there will be some new pictures of Talulah soon.

Introducing...

Gustav Thomas Nance Colbeck

Talulah would love to introduce the arrival of her new baby cousin Gustav Thomas! Gus was born at 4:24pm on May 26, 2010 and, being 8 weeks early, he weighed in at a wee 3 lb 15 oz... but he's doing great!

Because he's a preemie he'll be spending some time in the NICU. When Gus gets to go home we'll plan a trip out to Winnipeg to meet him.

In the mean time, we get to enjoy these pictures of our handsome little cousin & nephew.

Bus!

This past week Talulah and I were in charge of feeding and hanging out with my dad & Brenda's cats, Maggie & Miss Kitty, while they were away.

This is just a video (a long one... with very poor quality because it was filmed using my phone...) of us hanging out.

Oh, and did I mention Talulah loves buses?

They don't get much cuter than Talulah...

So, on the weekend Talulah and I went to the mall. We were just strolling around, checking things out and we went to Bo Bebe. (It's a great baby store and since my seester is having a baby we've been checking it out more frequently.)

We decided to buy some sidewalk chalk. While I was paying Talulah noticed that a display at the front of the store was seriously lacking in the creativity department and thought she'd help out a little. While she was rearranging the display she came across some belly butter which has a very similar packaging to deoderant.

I was following her along and straightening the products and I see out of the corner of my eye that she's picking up each and every little "deoderant" and applying them to her armpits (lid on, of course). So, I laughed and said, "Are you putting that on your armpits?"

Talulah nodded her head and very seriously said, "Dah" (which is what she usually says for "yes"). I and the two women who worked there had a really big laugh and Talulah enjoyed the attention.

ADORABLE.

Then this morning when I was dropping Talulah off at her daycare, she saw her bunny ears (that she got from her Great Aunty Laura and her Great Uncle Rob for an easter present) and wanted to put them on before we got out to the car. In fact, she insisted on wearing them or else she didn't want to get out of her car seat.

So in we went, bunny ears and all. When we got inside ALL of the daycare teachers smiled and said, "Oh, who's this bunny coming to visit us? Talulah you're so cute!"

They all fussed over here and gave her hugs and again, Talulah loved the attention! She happily went in to show her little buddies her purple bunny ears and they all loved them too.

I have the cutest kid in the world :)

Snow Angel

So, it's official... Talulah LOVES snow. I mean, I figured she did before but there was always a little bit of doubt. Not anymore, all doubt has been washed away (or rather, "snowed in"). It's April 29th and we had a crazy snow storm in Calgary. In fact, there was even a winter storm warning in effect! We're not just talking a lovely snowfall... We're talking crazy blowing snow going completely sideways covering most traffic lights so you can't even see if it's red, yellow, or green.

Everywhere you look people are grumbling about the snow. Radio stations are complaining, the traffic updates are terrible, even picking up my morning coffee the barista was saying, "I thought it was spring!"

Taking all of that into consideration, you'd think it would be the beginning of a lousy day.

You couldn't be more wrong.

Talulah woke up this morning with a big hug and kiss for her mom. That alone makes the day a hundred times better. But then I brought her over to the window to look outside and her eyes lit up, she pointed, smiled and said, "S-now! S-nooow, s-noooooww!" She was so excited that everything was covered in snow!

She insisted on wearing her snowsuit to daycare this morning (even though we were driving there so she wouldn't be outside much). She was so excited to put her mittens on, she kept waving with her cute little puffy paws, we took a detour from the car into the daycare so she could walk on a pile of snow that someone brushed off of their car onto the sidewalk.

That, plus... Her drop off at the daycare went really well! She normally cries when I drop her off (since we switched her from Laurie's dayhome, which she LOVED, to this new daycare) but this morning we went inside, Talulah took off her boots and helped me put her indoor shoes on. Then she helped me sign her in and hang up her snowsuit. Then she grabbed her lunch and fussed just a little. I said, "Can Mommy have a kiss?" She gave me a huge kiss and an arms-wrapped-tight-around-the-neck hug and went into her class. That's it. That's all. No tears. It's like the snow came out and Talulah's world got a little bit brighter.

So, now.... taking ALL of that into consideration, I think I'm in for a great day thanks to my little snow angel!

(March 2010) We had a snowfall over night so we left the house early so we could go for a walk in the snow before the dayhome opened.

(January 2010) At Lake Louise Talulah was trying to figure out the best spot to climb.

(January 2010) "Forget the climbing... Did you know you can eat this stuff?!"

(January 2010) "Why are we inside when all that snow is outside?"

(January 2010) "Okay, I'm ready... Let's go!"

(March 2009) We went to Crystal & Jack's house to build a snowman, but the snow wasn't sticky enough. You'd think a baby would be unhappy just sitting in the snow... But not this one!

(March 2009) Two peas in a pod...

(February 2009) Talulah and Mommy going for a walk with Uncle Jay in Winnipeg. I think the high was like -31C or something that day. I was so worried that she was unhappy and/or frozen... But she wasn't. She had a great time!

(January 2009) All tuckered out from an outting, but still bundled up for the snow.

(December 2008) This was Talulah's first real snow storm and uber cold weather. She was all bundled up super warm and just stared at the snow.

(November 2008) No wonder she's never hated the snow... She's always been so bundled up she probably doesn't even know it's cold!

Ouch!

So lately Talulah's been faking injuries to get kisses. She'll come over to me with a pained look on her face and say, "Owie" with this pitiful little voice. And then I ask where, she shows me, and I kiss it all better.

Well last night in the bath she kept saying "owie" and getting me to kiss her feet better. She'd point to the drain stopper thingy and then to her foot and say "ow" and then give me her foot for a kiss.

I was repeatedly (and happily) kissing her feet better when all of a sudden she grabbed my hand, gasped, pointed to my palm and said, "owie" in that same pitiful voice with a very concerned look on her face and then kissed my hand better! Then she did it about 20 more times. It was ADORABLE!

I played her game and splashed my hand around and then stopped and said, "Ooh, owie!" and she looked at me with an annoyed face (instead of concerned) and said "No."

I laughed so hard.

So, I swear I have a good excuse for not blogging...

Okay, so that's sort of a lie. No, actually it's just a lie.

I have no excuses at all for not keeping up with my darling Talulah's blog. I got lazy, and then I kept feeling overwhelmed at updating because it had "been so long".

So, I'm biting the bullet.... Not making excuses.... And jumping back in here!

Let's see.... Talulah got cuter and cuter and more awesome and cuter! She's the best. Her Grandpa Bruce calls her "Sunshine" and I think that's a pretty appropriate nickname for her. She literally lights up the lives of everyone who meets her. Just one smile and you get why he calls her that.

I mean, I'm the mom so I might just be a tiny weensy bit biased. But I'm pretty sure that she is THE BEST kid ever.

Can you believe she's a kid now? I find that I'm saying that every few months. She's really losing her babiness (she'll always be my baby though) and she's full on toddler now!

Ready for a quick photo catch up? Here are some from August 2009 to March 2010. Enjoy!