It’s been a busy summer here in the Trach household and so the blog was forgotten yet again. I had gotten into the habit of doing my monthly (or so) blog updates while Angelie was at nursery school and Sarah was napping…. But over the summer with both girls home for the day there never seemed to be enough time to do it.



Sarah has made leaps and bounds over the summer. She went from learning to sit and commando-crawling in late June, to sitting consistently, pulling herself to a stand and crawling on her knees in late July. She even made an attempt to climb the stairs. I turned my back and heard her calling to me, and she was half-way up unable to get down. From that day on, all baby gates are closed at all times!!!! In August she started walking around the furniture, even across flat walls. Now she walks holding on with one hand, and when stood upon her feet a few paces away will walk a few halting steps to Mom or Dad. We’re sure independent walking is only days, or weeks, away!



Sarah also has a fascination with power cords and potted plants, dumping not only mine but friends’ as well. She has made her first cell phone call as well. She pulled Daddy’s off the shelf where it was charging and managed to dial mine from his contacts list. Lucky it was me she called and not someone else.

In July we went to the Toronto Zoo while in town for a family wedding. Angelie rode a camel with her Grandma! But she was too timid to pet the manta-ray.



In August we had my niece Megan come and stay with us for two weeks. She was a big help in keeping my girls occupied so I could get things done around the house. We did lots of touristy things while she was here. We enjoyed having her, but I think Megan was glad to go home where she wasn’t followed around by a 4-year old all day.





Each summer Megan comes to stay it seems we start a different project. One year she crocheted a hat, last year she sewed a newsboy cap on my sewing machine, and this year we made sugar flowers to decorate a cake for her mother's birthday.



In August, Angelie went fishing for the first time. She went with Auntie Robin, Uncle Grant, and Megan. She didn’t catch anything “but it was still fun.” (I had photos but accidentally deleted them from my camera. Luckily after I printed them.)

Angelie started earning an allowance this summer. She has chores that she must do: keeping her toys picked up, setting the table, keeping all the bathrooms stocked with toilet paper, and going to bed without a fight. She saved up her allowance for 10 weeks over the summer to buy a “Fun Factory” stuffed animal for herself AND a matching little sister one for Sarah. Unprompted, she used her own money to buy her sister a gift. As a reward, Daddy chipped in to buy clothes for the two stuffed cows. Several weeks later, at an end of summer clearance sale, she bought a baseball cap for Sarah for next summer. I’m very proud of her!



Angelie has also started reading! We keep telling her to stop reading because she’s only 4 and isn’t old enough yet. Which of course, as is our intent, spurs her on. Mostly she is memorizing words I think; she has a very good memory. But she’s also sounding a few words out. “Mommy what does ‘yelled’ mean.” “That’s ‘yield’ Angelie. Stop reading.” She also demanded to have her very own library card and no longer wants to sign her books out on mine. She has graduated to chapter books as well (listening not quite reading on her own), and I’m surprised at her retention and comprehension.

And September brought school. Angelie started Junior Kindergarten this year. She goes full days. We enrolled her in Joan of Arc Academy, which is a private Catholic bilingual girls school. JK and SK are conducted in French but then by Grade 1 the girls are ready for half-day English and half-day French. We think a bilingual school is the right choice here in Ottawa. It also has small class sizes (only 8 in her class this year) and an emphasis on work-ethic and community involvement that we like. (Again, I had photos from her first day, but deleted them from my camera after I printed them.)

Sarah is missing her big sister, but I hope will benefit from the same one-on-one time with me that Angelie had as a toddler. I’ve just started her in swimming lessons, and she’s loving the water. She’ll be a fish like her sister was. Angelie has stalled in her own swimming lessons, now refusing to go after ‘failing’ her last session because she won’t put her face in the water. We'll get there.