June 16th
Joshua is already holding his head up, I have another strong little one like Sebastian was.

Today, Father's Day, we brought Josh home from the hospital. He slept through his first car ride. It was pretty unpleasant outside, with overcast weather, but we were happy. Hubby, Sebastian, and Logan all came to bring us home

June 19th
Joshua attended his first playgroup tonight. He contentedly let everyone oggle over him, then proceeded to sleep. He was so unenthused.

June 20th
Today was Joshua's first time on a bus. Yet again, unenthused and slept.

July 17th, 2001
Sebastian declared today Happy Brothers Day. I'm not quite sure what that means, but it's sure cute.

July 18th, 2001
It seems I've been so busy catching up on life that I'm letting myself forget about the important things. I've really been working my butt off to get this house organized and cleaned, I'm giving Seb his own room so that's been a huge job in itself. Anyway, I'm beginning to digress. My point is, I'm so caught up in household stuff and my own projects that I've slipped on, that my life as a mother is paying the price. I looked at Sebastian this evening after hubby went to work and was awestruck, he's a kid now. He's responsible and independant and damn but if he doesn't have my sense of humour. I just was really overwhelmed by how much I'm missing by focusing on other stuff. So tonight I said screw the dishes and picking up of toys and turned on some music. Joshua was in his chair watching us and Seb and Logan and I danced. How many more years can I dance and sing at the top of my lungs with my kids without them resisting? Not too many, methinks. Especially when it comes to Sebastian. So here it is, 8pm and my supper dishes are keeping the counter company and I have laundry to do and I stuck to my floor on the way to the computer. But I feel better about my day than I have in a long time, and I've been feeling pretty good about my days in general until now (and my weeds are flourishing very nicely in my garden, I'll be making dandelion salad for dinner tomorrow).
I have 3 kids who are very happy that their mom got silly with them and are sound asleep. Screw the dishes.

All three of them had their own little milestones today.
Sebastian is now the VERY proud owner of his first 2-wheel bicycle. It has hand brakes that he can't quite get the hang of, but other than that he's already riding like a pro (with training wheels of course). He's asked me to take the training wheels off, but there's no way I feel comfortable with that for a 3 year old. So we compromised, I have to get him a helmet and head to toe armor then I'll take the training wheels off.
We've all been having direct conversations with Logan more just to push him into talking for himself. Amusingly, the most effective one is Sebastian. You should hear those two chattering together. Dammit, I'm digressing again. Where was I? Oh yeah, one of the things I've been doing with Logan is teaching him the alphabet. Tonight while I was making supper he repeated every letter clearly for the first time. It may not sound like much, but he's come a LONG way.
And then there's Joshua. While I was doing letters with Logan and making supper Josh was in his chair on the floor next to me. He was really happy, he's an amazingly social child for a one month old, and I suddenly heard him start cooing for the first time. I was startled, and when I turned around I saw the lucky one to get cooed at was the cupboard door. I never said my kids were normal, Sebastian sings while he goes to the bathroom now Joshua talks to cupboards. But it was damn cute.

July 22nd
I've actually got an amazingly empty week coming up so I'm taking a week off of life. It happens to coincide with our fair being in town, so the boys and I are going to do that and as many museums and stuff as we can hit in a week.
I know it sounds silly to be taking a vacation at home, but my husband used up all his vacation time while I was pregnant and sick so we're pretty much stuck here for another summer. However, since the boys are getting older, they need more exposure to stuff (I think ). I was sitting here tonight, trying to figure out a place we can go cheaply (because we are STILL behind from hubby taking time off work) when I relaized, a lot of people come to Edmonton for vacation, why don't I take advantage of being here already and do stuff.
I figure between going to places during the week when they're cheaper, and doing lots of free kid-orientated stuff (like parks and picnics) I should be able to get a week of fun for a hundred bucks.
I'm determined to make this a quality week for my boys. Let's see how it turns out.

July 23rd
I feel like I'm writing a back to school essay in grade 4 or something. Anyway, this was the first day of my week off of life. To open up our week the boys and I went to the Muttart Conservatory (4 glass pyramids containing plants and flowers from 4 different climates). We had a good time, even though I forgot about my allergies and now look like someone's beaten my eyes, Sebastian loved the Arid pyramid. I literally had to drag him out with him screaming all the way. Who would have known the kid had such a love for cacti?
Tommorow on the agenda--The Provincial Museum and a picnic in the River Valley.
I should have done this a long time ago, only the first day and already I'm having so much fun with my boys.

7/24/01 So here we are at the end of another busy day of my Vacation-at-Home. Today we went to the Provincial Museum, with an added surprise bonus, my mother decided to join us so that was fun. By far the boys favourite part was the Habitat Gallery. In there are tons are stuffed animals indiginous (how the hell do you spell that?) to Alberta, all shown in very realistic displays. They also liked the Indian display (or, to be politically correct, The Gallery of Aborignal Culture). They didn't like the dinosaur displays quite so much, I think the sheer size just overwhelmed them. They also didn't like all the live bugs (I don't blame them, I didn't much like seing cockroaches the size of hampsters either), but overall a great time was had by all. It was drizzling when we left so we headed downtown to eat instead of doing our picnic, then this evening we went to our playgroup. We were out of the house from 11AM until 8:30PM, and nobody came home damaged. I think that's a pretty damn good day. Tomorrow--we're hitting the fair and (if it doesn't rain again) a picnic lunch at the Legislature

7/26 Well, we eventually made our way to Klondike Days at 6 this evening. I waited and waited for the rain to stop, but to no avail. So, we went in the rain. I'm tired, so this will be short, but we all had a great time. I spent way too much money, but it was all worth it. I'll fill in the blanks when I'm more awake. Tomorrow--The Edmonton Art Gallery and whatever else strikes my fancy (plus giving in and catching up on some laundry).

7/30 I just gotta tell you this one. Sebastian, at three years old, has decided to change his name. His choice? Buster Bunny. I thought Sebastian was a good name.

7/31 The Buster trend continues, when I told him to go to bed tonight he said no. When I asked why, he said because you didn't call me by my name. So finally, I had to say "Buster, it's time for bed." He said okay and went to bed. I've compromised and am calling him Buster Brown for now.

8/5 Tonight he and I were just chatting, and I ended up asking him what he wanted to be when he becomes an adult. He hemmed and hawed for awhile, then broke into a big grin and said "I want to be just like you, Mum". How am I ever gonna be able to get mad at him again?
Today while I was cleaning and the boys were playing I had Coronation Street on the television for background noise. Next thing I know, Sebastian is imitating the actors, speaking in a damn good British accent. I'm not raising a child, I'm raising a small Grouch Marx. "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." Hmmm, maybe some of this is my fault lol. sept 8th

August 13th, almost 2 months old.

November 3rd
Could October have become any more insane? I don't even know where to begin. Sebastian started preschool at the beginning of the month. He only goes twice a week but he loves it. Logan is thriving on the extra attention he is getting, and I actually get to sit and relax once in awhile. Sebastian is currently waiting to have some dental work done, and he is in quite a bit of pain at night. I feel for the poor little guy, and my poor ears. Joshua learned how to roll over, back to front and front to back, and has convinced himself he can crawl. He can't, but he sure can wiggle. The dog gets down on his tummy and wiggles across the floor with him.
Halloween has come and gone for another year, with another good load of candy. This year I was accompanied throughout the streets by Elmo, a puppy, and a ladybug. Joshua also had a doctor appointment on Halloween, he now weighs in at just over 14 pounds.
All three boys and I went to Sebastian's Halloween party at school. Logan had such a fun time, and Seb was a great big brother leading him around. At one point I asked Logan if he wanted to sit, he said yes, I asked him where and he said "on my butt". He didn't have a clue why everyone began to laugh.

Summer