Standing by herself... well almost!!

The Chievious - officially closed, but still up to chieviousness!!!

Wow, what can I say?  This little girl is so quickly turning into just that... a little girl!  No longer the little baby, and no longer can I chart her every new little development.  She has just taken off at such a startling rate, it's all I can do to keep up!!!  I can't believe how interactive she is... initiating and making sense of her world.  Her grasp of language is startling, and she spends her days now pointing and asking in the dearest little voice "gaa?", waiting for me to tell her what things are!!  Oh, and yes she also excitedly tells me whenever there is a dog in sight! :)

We've been doing swimming lessons... she went under water for her first time the other day!  And she floats all by herself in the life jacket and quite enjoys it!!  And we've made a little friend... baby Benjamin!  He's just 5 months old but she thinks he's quite something... when visiting the other day, she placed toys in his hands and kissed him on the nose!!

In short, we're joining the land of the living (as I call it!)  Yes she still likes to sleep in til noon, but I'm trying to get us up a bit earlier and out to some activities more often.  But in order to do that, I don't stay up so late myself, which means I don't get my own blog/photos/video time anymore!  Of course, living life is more important than documenting life so although I miss my down time and blogging, I'm fine with it.

I guess what I'm here to say tonight, is that I'm releasing the Chievious+2 blog.  I don't want it to become a "it's been a while" type of blog, and I don't want to worry about getting the weekly updates in.  This was created to be a keepsake, and that it will be.

So from here on in, the Chievious+2 blog is officially closed.  If I happen to have time and need an outlet for some memory keeping, I'll add it in here, but it will be sporadic if at all.

The Chievious lives on... is growing FAST, and is busier than ever!!!  She's the sweetest, dearest little soul I've ever encountered and I'm so lucky she's my very own daughter!!! :)

 

Clapping Hands

I forgot to mention in last night's blog that she has started clapping her hands all by herself!!!  She did this for the first time on Monday night, and by Tuesday, she'd do it by request!!  And she's so proud when she does!! :)

Shifting from chaos to creative energy!!

The last couple of weeks have been a huge progression of new development, I don't even know where to start!!  Suddenly, Brenna's world has gone from random chaos to the channeling of creative energy.  But not just channeling creative energy, she's also inputing information and responding creatively.

Before:  Playing with Toys - Most interesting when toys were put away, she would go through the toy containers, and one by one take things out and throw them on the floor behind her.  When she was done, she'd turn around, pick the toys up, and throw them in the other direction behind her!
Now: She'll take toys out but she'll also put them back in the box!  I actually didn't think this would ever happen cuz I've tried to show her that since she first started using her hands!!
Before: We'd build towers for her to knock down.
Now: We still do that, but she also builds towers now!

She'll actually spend tons of time just sorting things.  She got really into playing with the little chocolate easter eggs over the weekend, and she just put them from one bowl into another and back again.  Today when she found them again at Gramma and Grampa's, and started to throw them on the floor, I quickly asked for another bowl and sure enough, back and forth between bowls was such great fun!  Then later, same thing with a cup of pens.  Out and on the floor and then in the mouth, so I grabbed another container, and back and forth we went from one back to the other.  And was I amazed at the precision she has now in controlling her hands.  No longer is it a randomish in general direction toss the item.  No,,, instead she diligently points the pen and places it perfectly among the other pens!!

Tonight during bedtime story, Nathan was pleased to show me that she could follow along the story, and at the right time with the prompts, she could lift the little flaps that hide the little animals, and then place them back again.  Before it was a random tug and pull at things, but now it's at a prompt in a specific deliberate manner! 

And every day she shows more and more that she knows what we are talking about.  She's been with it for a while, but seriously, just in the last few days especially, she is really synthesizing and acting on verbal information!  It's exponentially increasing each day, literally just since Sunday!!  I was so endeared today when I placed her on little bench in the garden at my parent's house, and of course she immediately started to crawl but I warned don't fall, and she looked at me and then sat still for a good 10 minutes while we chattered and I handed her flowers and leaves.

Oh and she's so good with musical instruments too... Gramma gave her her first harp lesson today and she played happily for the other Grandparents who are here visiting.  She enthralled us all!!! 

And so funny... she loves to push around little toy trucks, trains, and a plane we have for her.  Well sunday night (Easter sunday) we get home and she's pushing it around making what I thought was a frustrated noise, but when I looked closer, she was making a play noise for the plane!!  She must have learned it from one of my nephews earlier that day.  Oh it was so cute!!

Well I have tons more to say... I hardly get time to blog anymore so I have lots of catching up to do.  Wish me luck with that but for now, I better get some sleep!!  The chievious will be up for another busy day before I know it!!!

Theme of the Week - Sign Language

I have to try to get some video of this because it is so frigging cute!!!  But the last couple of weeks, Brenna is starting to do her baby sign language with us!!  I've used several signs with her since she was about 5 months old, but one has really caught on and I only introduced it very recently.  The sign for milk.  I started using it to refer to nursing, but she has caught on to it meaning eating in general.  So now, whether she's eating food or nursing, she periodically gives us the sign that she is eating.  It's so very cute.  I find it so neat to get a glimpse into some of her thoughts... at that moment when she starts to sign she is thinking of eating.  It's so darling. 

She's also waving bye bye a lot now.  And I think maybe using a few words?  Definitely says Mammm a lot, but also said ga-ga while clingy to Gramma's leg today.  Could that have meant Gramma?  Or just coincidence?

Ah well I have more to say but must must must get to sleep!!! 

March Break with Cousins!!!

Since it's march break, we have two of my brother's boys visiting for the week.  Duncan and Aidan have been fine guests, and we've all been having a lot of fun.  I'm amazed too at how much Brenna loves having them here!  She just loves watching them, and even if they're just quietly doing their own thing, she goes about quietly and happily doing her own thing with her toys.  I'm impressed since generally when it's just her and I, she demands most of my attention, but this week with the boys here, I've been able to do all kinds of other things without her getting upset.  It's very nice!!!

Here's a little clip from last night of Duncan and Brenna having some fun.

Skyping with Auntie Rochie and Uncle Ben

Over the last several months, thanks to their brilliant initiative, Tuesday nights has been skype night with Ben and Rochelle.  It's been great to just hang out each in our own living rooms but at the same time together... it really does a lot to close a long distance gap and gives them a chance to see Brenna as she grows!!!  Here's a little clip from tonight that was too cute!!

In Search of the Best-ever Chocolate Chip Cookie!!!

When I was a kid, Saturday mornings were often spent baking cookies, and more often than not, chocolate chip cookies was the favourite pick!! Nothing, I mean NOTHING was better than a homemade chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven!!! The aroma, the soft chewy chocolaty melt-in-your mouth awesomeness... yummmmmmm :)

Well, I haven't been a big chocolate chip cookie baker since then. Partly because I was always a bit discouraged that the awesome chewy texture didn't stay just right after the cookies cooled. But, since my triumph with making the best-ever chocolate brownies, I've decided to keep an eye out for a chocolate chip cookie recipe that looks promising.  And at last, I have found one that I am trying out today!

Nigella Lawson has a chocolate chip cookie recipe in her book titled Kitchen.  In it, she talks of wanting a chocolate chip cookie that has a bit of tender, fudgy chewiness, but an edge of crisp bite too.  Mmmmm, sounds good to me!  She then claims she's baked many a cookie in order to come up with a recipe that doesn't disappoint.  Okay, I'm convinced, I gotta try this!!!

******

Okay, here are the pics... I had to post them since I took the time to bake these and write this post - which was written before the cookies came out of the oven.

Unfortunately, I do not like the cookies one bit!!!  Not a bit... I do not like them in a box.  I do not like them with a fox.  I do not like them in a house.  I do not like them with a mouse.  I do not like them here or there.  I do not like them anywhere.  I do not like green eggs and ham.  I do not like them, Sam-I-am!

Okay, I got carried away.

*Sigh*

These are not too dry, nor are they too chewy and doughy.  They are however, CAKEY.  And I don't want a cake-cookie!!

Next to try... Martha Stewart.   Or... if anyone has a good chocolate chip recipe for me to try, send it my way!!!

Theme of the Week - EATING... FINALLY!!!

Will write something about this later but for now, here's the video...

My Happiness Complete

The sweet little Chievious has FOUR big sore looking lumps along her gums... and she's just beside herself with teething discomfort.  Needless to say, she's having a hard time and my hands are FULL!!  But despite this, as she sleeps in my arms, I can't help but meditating on my life and how very lucky I feel to have had the opportunity to have such a wonderful baby!!!  Of everything I've done in my life, all the adventures I've had, I can say that my happiness has never been as complete as it is now, in taking care of this sweet little soul.  I feel so very lucky!!

Runaway Baby!!!

This was taken a few nights ago... she's so funny!!!

Theme of the week - Talking and singing :)

Finally!!!  I've been waiting for sounds of baby babbling for months now!  The books say often babies start this around 5 months... Brenna is now 8 months and has decided she has some things to say. :)  She had said the typical "agoo" sounds at around 3 months, but then went to making sounds in her throat instead of using her mouth for consonants and syllables.  Her throat noises are cute too... it took me a while but I finally learned how to make them with her!  But I have to admit I was getting a little concerned that her lack of babbling might indicate a hearing problem.  Well now she has the whole gamit... gaga, baba, wawa, and how can I leave out, mama!

On the mama note, she's been saying mammmm for quite a while now (it was mentioned in my post from back in October), but we really weren't sure if she knew what she was saying or if the sounds were just a coincidence.  Well there's no doubt now!  She's continued making that one sound, only when she's tired and wants to feed.  Now it's expanded to a maammmaaammmaammm  anytime she wants my attention, ...and is very cute I might add! :)

Enjoy the video...

Theme of the week - Standing!

Yes, pulling herself up and standing, all over the place!!  No it's not good enough to just sit and play, or get up on knees, if there is room at all, it's on the feet!  At her potty, against the couch, to look in boxes, and even to give me kisses, she's getting on her feet as much as she possibly can, and I can't help but thinking, isn't this a little soon?  After all, she's my little baby... supposed to be laying helplessly on the floor cooing and playing with her feet!!

Oh, and I almost forgot, along with standing, she is climbing everything she can!  Up the first stair, onto the mattress, she climbed onto her change table, and even onto the upside down toy box at Gramma and Grampa's house, so of course now that is not her toy box anymore for a while so that she doesn't hurt herself!
And... she fell down a stair!!  I was blow drying my hair and hadn't realized she was going up, (it's one stair and then a platform before turning a corner to go up more stairs).  Well suddenly I heard a thump and a cry, and though she wasn't hurt, she was spooked, and frozen in place to make sure I could see what had happened!!  The look on her face was heartbreakingly urgent, but once picked up, she decided she was okay.  Okay enough in fact, to try going up the stair again!  So it is now blocked with boxes!!

Best-ever Chocolate Brownies!!!

I have pretty high standards when it comes to brownies.  It's gotta be good quality chocolate taste, the right texture, not too cakey, not too dry, a good amount of moist on the inside yet chewy on the outside, especially on the edges, and a shiny crackly top!!!

When I saw the ad for this recipe and they claimed it was the best-ever brownie, I had to try it!  And yes, I have to agree, this brownie met every one of my expectations, hopes, dreams and desires that I could possibly have in a brownie!!!

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

Prep 20 min.  Total 4 hours 50 min (includes cooling time)

Makes 16.

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
Aluminum foil
10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp water

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp (generous) salt
2 large eggs, chilled
1/3 cup + 1tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup walnut pieces

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325F.
Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang.  Coat foil with nonstick spray.  (Don't skip the foil if you want to get these out of the pan in intact pieces!)
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 tsp water, vanilla, and salt.  Stir to blend.
Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot).
Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigourously to blend after each addition.  When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended.  Beat vigourously 60 strokes.  (The beating makes the gluten in the flour take on that awesome chewy consistency!) Stir in nuts.  Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes.  Cool in pan on rack.  Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan.   Cut into 4 strips.  cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies.
DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead.  Store airtight at room temperature.


Confession: I ate SEVEN out of 16 pieces!!  Bad, bad, bad.... so today I sent the rest of the batch for the guys at Nathan's work.  I also fed 2 pieces to the Cogeco techy who was installing our cable and internet.  He says Cogeco overworks the techies to the point that they have to cut corners with the customers... but I think the brownies helped him to an excellent job!!  Guess I'll have to make brownies everytime we need a techy over!!

Making Friends

I've been looking for some good Mediterranean recipes since it's the type of food Nathan can handle best with all his allergies.  So this afternoon Brenna and I went into the local Indigo to see if we could find a good recipe book.  While there, I took her into the kids section, and let her crawl around on the floor for a while.

Well this really cute little girl came by.  She was 4 going on 5 (but didn't know when her birthday is!), and she actually looked a lot like Brenna, just older.  Well Brenna was quite taken with her.  She watched her with wide eyes, and then started to crawl after her when she moved about the room.  It didn't take long before the little girl was equally taken with Brenna!  Her eyes shone brightly as she reached out her hand, and Brenna reached back to take it.  They were fast friends!!  And oh were they ever cute!!

I couldn't help but marvel at how different, how grown up this little girl was!  She talked like such a little grown up as she thoughtfully checked out the books and talked with Brenna.  It's hard to imagine that my little crawling baby will be walking and talking like that in just a few years!

And oh, poor Chievious was actually heart broken when it was time to go home!  She cried bitterly when we went to leave.  That was a first!... She's really on the ball now with knowing what is going on and what she wants!

And did I mention, she's just the sweetest little thing!!!

Theme of the week - Settling into our new place!

Chievious is doing quite well all things considered!!  After all the packing, never ending boxes, people coming and going, and then a plane ride and more people and boxes and random car rides, finally, Daddy went to work and Chievious got to settle back into a routine.  And she seems quite happy about things.

She's crawling all over the place now, quite intent on discovering what every corner has to offer!  And she's loving pulling herself up to a standing position to examine what's inside the fridge whenever she gets the chance!! 

She really does have the sweetest little personality. :)

Playdate with Grissom

As it turns out, Mel and Olaf have just moved back to Calgary from Ontario in the same two weeks that we are preparing to move to Ontario!  So once again, playdates with Grissom will be only during visits, but this time will be us visiting Calgary instead of them.  We really wish we could have had more overlap with both of us in the same city at the same time especially since Grissom is the only baby Brenna knows!  So anyway, we had time for a playdate, and had a really nice time visiting.  Here are pictures...

 

Theme of the Week - CRAWLING

She's officially crawling!!!  And I can't decide if it's been more of a learning curve for her or me!  It's so funny to watch her face... just when I think she should look impressed and proud with herself, she's all poker faced like this is normal and old hat.  She has after all been working toward this since she was born!  But then, she'll get an idea in her head, something she wants to go check out, and she'll eagerly launch into her little crawl with hands slapping on the floor and a big giggle as she goes!!!  Oh too cute!!!

But learning curve for me... well the first day of her mobility, I tell you I didn't even get a bite to eat until dinner time!  She was into mischief left right and center, and the second I got her out of one thing, she was onto the next!  I did try to have some food, but if I was close enough she'd grab at it, and if I wasn't close enough, she'd grab at something else, and while I busies myself removing the said unsafe item, she'd been into yet another!  Suffice it to say, I did not let Nathan get to bed that night without baby proofing the main area as much as currently possible!!  Many things are now hiding behind doors in the other room, the jolly jumper frame blocks the drawers of the pantry from opening, and the love seat is angled at such a way that she can't get behind it, so we also hide things behind there!  Life has been quite a bit easier since!!

I have to admit I had quite fun watching Nathan deal with her tonight... he'd left the broom and dust pile out, and had other things in piles (we're in chaos trying to pack for the move), and she went for the dust with a great giggle of glee!  He laughed, caught her just in time, proceeded to clean up while she then dumped his pile of stuff so he reached for the things and she succeeded in getting the broom!!!

Well, videos are coming, but slowly since, yes, we are in chaos with the big move at hand.  Saturday at noon, we have our first buyer coming so we're trying to get show ready by then!  Wish us luck!!!

LOOK at what she DID last night!!!!!

She's not supposed to do this yet!!!!  She can't even get herself into a sitting position yet by herself, but somehow she thinks she's going somewhere?!!