Spring is here, summer is on it's way!

We have had a pretty long winter with some unusual weather around the country. Even last week we had another hailstorm hit our house and leave Wellington with slushy streets for the day. At long last we are having days without the fireplace roaring and many more visits to the beach. Emily is even starting to get used to wearing sunglasses, although she still pulls them off pretty quickly. Bryce just got back from his annual Vegas trip and brought back an american cold/flu which has slowed his down considerably this week and amalgamated with my current New Zealand cough to put me on bedrest yesterday! Add all this to an emergency 111 call to the fire department last week when the chimney was glowing red from a chimney fire and we have had an eventful month of September.
Emily is still being a fussy eater from time to time, with the exception of "as-tah" (pasta) which she enjoys immensely (as you can see from the following photos).



Em found a cowboy hat in the closet that had been destined for her cousin Nisha in Canada but would have cost jizillions in freight to mail it, so it stayed in New Zealand. Lucky for Emily, because she is loving being a cowgirl!


Em is enjoying tearing around on her bike, even indoors. Here you can see her taking George the teddy for a ride around the kitchen. She is really starting to create her own little stories and make believe. She especially enjoys feeding her baby and tucking it under a blanket to go to sleep. It's so sweet watching her kiss the baby good night. Mind you, if she is caring for her baby and I offer her some food she usually just chucks the baby on the ground and runs to me, so we still have a ways to go before she perfects her mothering. It does make us think she will enjoy having a baby brother or sister though. She knows that there is a "bubba" in my tummy, but isn't quite sure whether that means her and Daddy also have one in their tummy too.

Snow day part 2

Prior to last weeks "the snow came to us" day, we had planned a trip to Mt Ruapehu so that Emily could meet the snow for the first time.

Being a blue bird Saturday after the years biggest snow dumping, there were a huge number of cars heading for the mountain. We had planned on driving a little way up the hill and parking on the side of the road, jump around, slide a bit, build a snowman, depart the scene type mission however the Whakapapa ski area access road was closed. By 9am all the car parks were full, and they didn't want any more cars going up as there was no where to put them.

As the road gate people had no interest in letting us past the barrier, we went sideways to find a patch of snow to have fun on. Good friend Rachel and daughter Holly joined us for the snow mission. Holly's main interest seemed to be eating snow!


Despite the expressionless look, Emily did some sign language for "more" so probably enjoyed the sliding.


Once Emily and Holly had burned out, we headed for the Grand Chateau for some luxury hot chocolate and scones.



On Sunday we headed off for a walk around Lake Rotoponamu near Turangi.




Em decided she was done with the backpack and needed to walk herself, worked for a bit however she is easily sidetracked!

Mondays "big snow" day

Some strange weather going on here! Apparently -73.3 degree last night. You think we would have noticed that.


Awoke to this sort of mix between hail and genuine snow.


Since there was a fair bit more snow on the hills behind town, Candace and Em decided to take a drive to visit some snow.



First snowman building experience.


After a (cold) clear sky morning it got darker and the real snow started falling. This is looking out the door at Bryce's work.


It may not look like much, but this is at sea level and I'm sure the statisticians will have to consult the history books to tell us when this last happened here. Maybe there will be more to report tomorrow.

Weekend wandering

The weather folks were calling for almost snow like conditions today so we decided to head out into the jungle for a walk. For a change we put Emily on her feet rather than the backpack to see if she would follow the track to any degree.


Turns out Emily was pretty focused on following the path.



With a tree down across the track Em simply wanted a hand to grab to help her climb up and over.


Once back to the car it was all about the post walk feed.

Poor Daddy...

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Here is a picture of the beautiful figurine my parents gave us when Emily was first born. It has sat on our coffee table for 13 months, until Emily was more adept at finding things in the house to play with that aren't "toys". For the past 2 months, this lovely couple and their baby who are sharing a quiet moment admiring their new baby have been thrown and knocked off the table innumerable times. They have fared extremely well throughout all this toddler torment....until today.
Maybe it was the couple just saying, "this is enough, we can't take any more abuse", or maybe it was the increased strength our 16 month-old has when throwing. Regardless, the statue is no more, and literally speaking, "Daddy has lost his head". I hope this isn't foreshadowing the state of Emily's father when he holds his second child in his hands and realises life is gonna move a lot quicker.
Here is our figurine, as it looks, post-Emily-shot-putter-extraordinaire....

Parenting is fun!

I am pleased to say that since my last post Emily is growing and changing so much but her need to touch everything and pull everything off shelves has slowed down. It may have something to do with the fact that most rooms in the house have closed doors during the days now, to avoid mishap throughout the entire house!
We headed up north to visit Trish, Sinka, Sammy and Henry during the school holidays and also visit with our friends Carl and Denise and their two boys. Here is a picture of Carl and Bryce and their protege's at the foozball table. It is a bit dangerous for little ones to play as they handles are exactly at head height for them and Liam actually got taken out by a rogue move by Emily or Bryce when trying to defend their goal!

We had a really nice time visitingthe Sinclairs at the farm and Emily loved being around all the animals (dogs, cats, chickens, lambs, sheep). It was nice to get away, especially after having not had my usual "mom" break from Em by teaching at school. It was also really cold and rainy for much of the holiday so being cooped up inside with the fireplace and a 15month old made for some tiring days.
Em is really enjoying her little trike. She motors around on that thing pretty quick now and enjoys going downhill.


Its also neat to watch her start to get shy around other people. She is recognizing that things she does without thinking around Mom and Dad might look silly in front of others, and chooses to shy away. It is very cute.

We took Emily and Mia to Lindale to see some of the farm animals yesterday. The girls enjoyed getting up close to all the animals, although the lambs were a bit intense for our lil ladies. Especially when Cheryl and I got to feed the lambs their milk from a bottle. Those little sheep were extremely energetic sucklers and it made Em a bit freaked out. She didn't let go of me the whole time I had the bottle in hand.

What comes before terrible twos?

Emily has been bit by the curiousity bug - she needs to touch and handle everything, even if it's just for a second. There has been a remarkable change in her in the past few days where she just is so interested in everything, especially in the things I am doing and touching - whether I am cooking, typing, reading, or putting on clothes. It is neat to see her so interested, but it can be a little tiring to try to keep up with her swift attention span changing from one thing to the next so rapidly. Bryce had her sitting in the front seat of the car yesterday after his bike race, and she was a maniac with all the buttons and knobs to play with.
She has also taken to wearing her helmet more often, due to the cuteness factor of the panda picture on the front of it. As you can see, she wears it around the house, even when her bike is nowhere near. Bryce is thrilled.





This is Emily and her friend Mia. They are really starting to recognize each other and enjoy playing together. Emily tends to be a little too affectionate though at times and can knock Mia over when she tries to give Mia a kiss/hug/aka rugby tackle.

Newbie, Lorenzo, the Jan project?

Looking for a nickname for the newest addition to the Lorcet clan. Bryce quite likes Newbie, but our friends have a dog named Newbie and it reminds me too much of calling our new baby after a canine! Lorenzo is my pick, but as we don't know (and won't until D-Day) the gender, Lorenzo seems to lean to the masculine side a wee more.

I am excited to be pregnant again, but a little in awe of going through the whole event all over again. Luckily, Emily is such a cutie each day that it reminds me why I am going through the morning sickness, fat tummy, stretch marks and the inevitable "day of pain" once more. Let's just try to remember that I said that this is only for once more.
This is a picture of Lorenzo's lil feet. Awwww..... ;)

We like new skills!

Why is it with kids that you know immediately that you need to go and investigate as soon as they disappear and go quiet?



Oh, and we like things like this written on the ground.

Our beach adventure

After being stuffed up in the house most of the weekend from heaps of rain (except for one super fun cocktail party where Bryce and I actually had a night out together!), Emily and I decided we needed an outdoor adventure on Monday.
Our friends Cheryl and Mia joined us and although our adventure was pretty mild by most standards, it was refreshing to be outside in the sun for a couple of hours. Emily and Mia had fun playing on the beach with the shells, sand and driftwood, until....Emily found her shadow. She was curious and a bit intimidated that she couldn't get away from it, unless she hid in Mommy's shadow, of course.

Em and Mia at the Beach from Candace K on Vimeo.

and here's the pic of Bryce and I on our first date since November (we think?).

Winter Cyclocross

Went along to the start of the winter Cyclocross series today, great fun in the mud. We call this pose - "bring it on, motha nature"

We suited Emily up in her Rain Suit and rubber boots, along with her woolen beanie/"toque" and gloves/"mitts". She was a bit slow to move at first, as I remember being as a young child in all my snowsuit clothing getting prepared for the Canadian outdoors. Em's curiosity and love for puddles overcame the confines of the rubber attire and she explored her surroundings. Unfortunately for her, she fell several times and managed to use her face to brace the fall. She seemed to enjoy "eating dirt" though, which pleased her father and inflated further his dreams for her future as a professional mountain biker. The many spectators of the race, became Emily spectators; and she had a few onlookers and a few cheers after a fall, when Emily was stood up again, fully smiling, amidst the wet mud, on her face.

Bryce decided to do the short race (30 min + a lap, vs 45 min + a lap) as he hadn't been training much and had been sick for the past few weeks. His attempt to "blow it all out" worked and his cold seems to be lessened post-race. He came 2nd in his race, so I think he was pretty happy with his efforts.

The course got slashed with rain the day before the race, so the bikes and riders got covered in mud. Not that seemed to effect the outcome at all. We had hoped to see some muddy carnage with cyclists sliding off their bikes on each corner, but most riders were pretty lucky.


Emily enjoyed watching all the bikes riding together and kept calling out "dada" which is her name for bike. She didn't get much dirtier than this after almost 2 hours in the mud, which was pretty good for the cleanup at the car. What was really cool, was after taking off all of her muddy gear and getting her nice and warm and eating in the back of the car, she cozied right into my down jacket and looked like she was ready to fall asleep. I have always loved being outside, and playing in the cold weather, but the most awesomest thing about doing that is the feeling of warmth you get after you come back inside and get into warm clothing. It was beautiful to watch our daughter learn to appreciate one of the awesome things in life. Next step: introduce hot chocolate and marshmallows to that moment. She will flip.