Marie's Web Log

Actually, they're mostly from Christmas Eve, and a few days before. I'll have some from Christmas day when I get my other CD back from the developing place. Click on the links at the bottom to see them.

On a different note: Amelia reached a milestone yesterday. (Those who are a bit squeamish might want to stop reading now, though I will try to use the technical language.) She did a bowel movement in her potty. I had to hold her on it, mind you, as she was struggling to get off and saying "No, no, nappy, nappy." That's diaper to those in North America. She seems to think she can only do such things in her nappy, and when I showed her the results in the potty, she said "Uh oh." Hopefully my enthusiastic praise will get the message across.

She had a bad night last night, somehow ended up on the floor and woke at around midnight crying, then went into tantrum mode. It's very weird how she has them in the middle of the night when she's not awake. So today she was very tired and we made the mistake of taking her out in ther stroller, thinking she would go to sleep. Well, that part wasn't really a mistake - the mistake was thinking we could get her out to play in a park and then she would want to get back into her stroller. She did not! We put her in anyway, and this resulted in a major tantrum that lasted at least half an hour and had her running around a field screaming and then rolling in the mown grass. Not pretty.

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Posted by marie at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I don't think I've mentioned the book proposal project here before. It's a nonfiction proposal that I'm working on with a friend who is part owner of a gym in Mississauga and does personal training and also write articles and speaks about fitness-related topics. The book will be about the unique method he uses to help his clients achieve their fitness goals. It's not just physical, but mental as well.

We're now trying to decide to which publishers we should send the proposal. I thought I'd mention it in case any of you have any contacts in that area, or any (useful) advice to offer!

Posted by marie at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Amelia had another bad night last night. She woke up crying at about 2 am. It's almost like she's having a nightmare, which then segues into a tantrum-like episode. I hesitate to use the word tantrum, as to me it implies wilfullness and ill-temper. But it's more like she has very strong feelings and just can't get her message across. Which I guess is an alternate definition.

We don't know why she woke up this time. She is still teething a little, and had had a very active day, so that might have played a part. She didn't go back to sleep until 3:30. She is at the stage now where she can ask for a cuddle, which she did after her crying subsided. Very sweet.

In fact, she is at the stage now where her language is exploding all over the place. She repeats every word I say, and remembers them too. She is starting to say the names of some of the other children at daycare. It's quite fascinating. I only wish we were able to provide her with a truly bilingual household. One of Ian's classmates, a girl from Beijing, came to visit on Saturday, and I'm hoping she will come regularly and talk to Amelia in Mandarin.

My own Chinese course ends in two weeks' time. I have really enjoyed it, though one night a week is not enough to become fluent. (Obviously!) One of the challenges with Chinese is that foreigners learn it through a system of romanisation called "pinyin." Learning the written characters is a separate enterprise. So you almost have to learn it twice.

Wode Zhongguoren pengyou, nimen zenme yang? Women mama huhu - hen mang. Tianqi tebie leng. Shang ge xingqi, xia xue le!

It has been cold lately, almost to Canadian standards. Today it rained, the first time in quite a while. Can't think what else I had to say. Ian got some results back from his essays and was pleased with the marks. I am busy working on the book proposal (much delayed due to me not doing anything on it!) and trying to figure out how to get more editing/writing work.

All for now. Hope you are all well.

Posted by marie at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)