Nathan's Cyst

Nathan had an appointment with a dermatologist in New Westminster this afternoon because he has a reddish bump, about 3mm in diameter, on his right cheek.  It has been there for 6-9 months (or longer?) and our family doctor didn't know the cause of it. 

{See the purple dot in the middle of his right cheek?  That's where the cyst is.}

The dermatologist says that it's a cyst, but very unlikely cancerous (because I don't think it's grown in size since I've noticed it, and cancerous cysts typically grow quite rapidly).  What likely caused it is that there was a foreign object that entered his skin (could even be like a facial hair being trapped in a scratch/cut on his face) that the body grew a pocket around because it was foreign, causing a cyst. He says they typically don't go away on their own, and that the only way to get rid of it is to remove it surgically. We are going to go back again in 3 months to confirm that it hasn't grown, and then get further details on what surgery would involve. 

Enchant

We had the opportunity to visit Enchant in Vancouver this past Wednesday evening, thanks to some tickets from my sister and a couple of her friends.  I can't pass up the opportunity to do something festive when it's free admission for all of us :).

We left Surrey at 4:30pm and it took us an hour to get to Enchant.  Not too bad.  What made it even better was that Jon found us free street parking only a five minute walk away from Enchant.  Yahoo!

The weather was absolutely perfect.  It was a few degrees below zero, so it was cold, but that also meant that all of the snow on the ground was not melting so it was perfectly winter-y.

Matthew was the most enthusiastic about the maze portion.  He kept running so far ahead of us that we couldn't see him and would have to hunt for him.  He needed a leash :).

The kids all loved searching for the reindeer.  Thank goodness we found them all relatively quickly or I would have been frustrated.  :):

We chose to not visit the food trucks or the marketplace because we had no intention of purchasing anything anyways.  It was about 7pm when we left Enchant and had no traffic on our way back, so at least the kids got to bed at a decent time.

Olivia is 15.5 months old!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Olivia!  I've been meaning to do a '15 month' post about you for a few weeks...and it's been so long that it's no longer relevant to put it as '15 months'...so you get an extra .5 month added to the title :)

You continue to grow and develop, which is always very entertaining.  I think a "highlight" in your development this past month is your ability to throw a really good tantrum.  I'm talking about a "screaming/crying while laying on the floor" tantrum that I always vowed my kids would never have (oops!).  You definitely know what you want and don't want, and you don't like it when you don't get your way.

You continue to say "Ma" for Mom, and have recently added "ba" for ball and "kack" for quack/duck.  The words are going to really start coming quickly now, because you are forever trying to talk.  You love sitting and looking at your '100 words' book.  You love it when I sit with you and tell you the names of the things you are pointing at.  You definitely took the initiative with wanting to learn to talk because I have not sat down and read you that book at all until you took interest in it.  Being the baby of the family, you know how to get what you want!

You have a deep love for Kayla and Nathan.  You love Kayla because she is always watching out for you, and you love Nathan because he loves to "love on" you.  You continue to be very tolerant of his never-ending hugs and kisses.  You like to sit beside him on the couch.   You like Matthew, but the two of you don't really pay any special attention to each other.

We are working on forcing you to a eat a little more.  I've realized that you typically only tell me that you don't want more food (by refusing to take another bite) not because you are full, but because you are tired of sitting in your high chair.  I usually force you to take another bite or two and then you willingly finish the rest of your portion.  When you are done with everything, you try to put your cup on the table and lift up your plate to pass it to me.

You absolutely love fruit.  Your favourites are blueberries, strawberries, and grapes.  You also love tomatoes.  Your biggest love is candy though!  If you see it, you ask for it!

Olivia, you have really developed a love for playing with Fisher-Price Little People.  You are quite entertained by putting each person in a vehicle or putting them in a house.  It's really cute watching you sit and play with them.

You have a larger love for playing with (bald) dolls.  You always have a doll with you, held nicely against your chest.  You like to also have a blanket for the baby, and if one is not around then you use an extra item of doll clothes as a blanket, and if that is not around, then you pull a wipe out of my wipe container (haha!).  You like to put the 'blanket' (or whichever item you are using as a blanket), on top of the baby's face when it's laying in the ground.  You love taking your baby for walks around the kitchen in one of our many baby strollers, and you've learned how to feed your baby a bottle.

We've dropped your afternoon bottle, so you know only have a 9-oz bottle just before you go to bed in the evening.  We only dropped the afternoon bottle because I forgot to pack one on a Sunday morning and we had no plans to be home that day at all, so you had to do without...and you did just fine!

You weigh an even 24lbs.  The older you get, the more you are resembling Kayla's body type.  You are a perfect size...large enough to not be overly concerned with your growth, but small enough to be my baby.  But let's be honest here, even when you are 40lbs you will still be my baby :).

Nathan's Smooth Skin

While I was changing Nathan into his pajamas after his bath this evening, I was commenting on how smooth and clean his skin felt.  I wasn't looking right at him while I helped him step into the pants, but I heard him say, "Feel how smooth my noodles are, Mom!"  I looked up and laughed.  "Nathan, those are called nipples, not noodles!"

Cinderella 3

The oldest three kids and I were watching Cinderella 3 while Olivia napped.  We were about 75% done the movie when I noticed Matthew was crying.  My kids don't frighten too easy, so I asked him what was wrong.  "Everything bad is just happening to Cinderella!"  It was true, the mean stepmother had been doing everything possible to prevent Cinderella from marrying the prince.  I assured him that all Disney movies have a happy ending and he stopped crying immediately.  It was so cute!

Beautiful Fall Day

The weather was SO NICE this morning that the kids and I headed to our "little park" already at 9am this morning.  They even chose to ditch their vests at one point because they were getting so warm!

{So disappointed that none of my pictures of the four of them on the steps turned out clearer...guess that's what I get for trying to jump around to make them smile while also taking the picture}

{My girls.  Love these two!  I can always count on Kayla to watch out for Olivia}

 

{They each take one toy to the little park each time and play with them, rather than play on the playground equipment because it's designed for little toddlers}

{I've realized that I don't have near as many pictures of these two together as I used to}

"Oh, Shit!"

It's no secret that one of the most used words in my day-to-day talking is "shit."  I typically don't hide it from my kids, so they've grown up hearing me say it.  Today, while watching the Canucks game, Matthew noticed that we lost possession of the puck and said, "Oh, shit!"  I was so proud!  I didn't even say anything to him because it's not his fault he's picked up my language :).

Nathan is 3!

At three years old you weigh 38.2lbs and are 40.5" tall.  You are growing out of your size 4 clothes and so I have to pull out the box of size 5 some time and see what's in there.  You are wearing size 9 shoes, but that's only because Matthew still has the size 10 ones.  You wear size 9 boots.

You can be such an incredible, smart, outgoing, mature three-year-old that at times I think you are older than three, but then you can be such a pain in the butt with big attitude and a whole lot of stubbornness that I realize you are actually three.  :)

You are smart.  When you want to learn something, you absorb it like a sponge.  You know how to spell and WRITE your name.  As you write each letter, you say the steps that I said when I taught you how to form each letter.  It's really cute.  It seems like you will be right-handed.

Puzzles are a breeze for you.  You have no problem doing 24-piece puzzles, and have even done a 35-piece one.  It won't be long before you start playing Uno and Go Fish with your siblings.

You enjoy singing!  You like to sing while you play, whether it be "Let it Go" while you play with the princesses from Frozen or the theme song from Jake and the Neverland Pirates while you play with your Jake figurine.  You also will do all of the actions from nursery-rhyme songs.

Your favourite toys are Kayla's princess figurines and your new Jake and the Neverland Pirates boat and figurines.

You are best friends with Matthew and Kayla, but you are also best friends with Olivia.  I think you call her "Trouble" more often than you call her "Olivia".

You shed a few tears on your first day of Children's Church (Sunday School) because you didn't want me to leave, but you got over it and now you are very confident and participate fully whether it be in your preschool class or the big group time with all of the other kids.  You aren't intimidated by the older kids and answer any question asked by the leader that you think you know the answer to.

You started swimming lessons this past September.  Yikes.  The first day you kicked and screamed.  I stood by the edge of the pool and passed you to the teacher and told her I was okay with her forcing you to participate as long as she was comfortable to do so.  I tried to bribe you, but that didn't help.  The next session you still cried, and so I stood by the edge with my keys in my hands and told you if you climbed out of the pool I was going to drive away and leave you there.  It worked - you stayed in the pool.  You still cried, but you didn't try to climb out.  The third day you only shed a couple tears at the beginning and then were fine the rest of the time.  Since then, you are the most enthusiastic member of the class.  You are becoming quite a fish in the water, not scared to put your face in the water.

Your favourite food for dinner is rice.  You would eat white rice plain, if I let you.  You prefer to be fed, but most of the time I force you to feed yourself, which results in a lot of refusing and tears and threats.  You are affectionately called my "Banana Boy" because you ask for a banana ALL THE TIME.  One day I told you that you couldn't have a second one because you had already had one that morning, but you could have one "tomorrow."  The next morning, you woke up and asked right away, "Is it tomorrow, Mom?"  I said, "Yes," and so you said, "So then I can have a banana, right?"

You have an insane amount of love for me.  I am your favourite person in the entire world.  If you are upset, the only person you want is me.  Sometimes, if you aren't listening or responding to me, then I'll threaten to have Jon take over and then you right away snap out of whatever mood you are in and start listening and responding.  You often can be heard saying, "I want Mom!"  I enjoy the cuddles I get from you when we rock on the cuddling chair to help calm you down when you're throwing a tantrum.

Even though you can be so so so stubborn, you do hold a special place in my heart.  Maybe it's because you always want me, or maybe it's because for a few years I thought you might be our last child.  You are a special little boy who is growing up far too fast for my liking.

Matthew's Thoughts on School, Friends, and Childbirth

Matthew and Kayla attend our local Christian School, and their cousins (whom they are extremely close with) attend a French Immersion program at a public school.  Matthew and Kayla are well aware that their cousins are learning to speak French, because they often have new words to share with Matthew and Kayla.  On our drive home one afternoon, Matthew asked me, "What's better, Mom?  Learning about God, or learning French?"

**

For the past year or so, we have been talking with Matthew, Kayla, and Nathan a lot about marriage, and specifically that boys marry girls and girls marry boys, especially with Nathan as he is really into learning about the differences between boys and girls, and who he can and can't marry, etc.

When Matthew and Kayla get off of school, I ask them both a lot of questions.  One question that I always ask is, "Who did you play with at recess?"  I always ask them this because I want for them to be comfortable playing with other kids in their class.  Because they are each other's best friends and in the same class, they naturally gravitate to doing everything together.  Anyways, Matthew often says the names of a couple girls in their class that they have played with that day.  I asked Matthew what the other boys were doing and why he didn't he want to play with them.  His response was something along the lines of, "But I can't play with the boys because I need to find a girl!"  He thought that he could only play with girls because he knew he could only marry a girl!  I quickly explained to him that he didn't need to worry about that yet!

**

On Nathan's birthday, as we were driving to my Mom's, I was discussing with Matthew and Kayla how the doctors helped me a lot to get pregnant with them (in vitro fertilization), and how they helped a little with Nathan (frozen embryo transfer), and how they didn't help at all with Olivia (natural pregnancy).  I explained that the doctors also help mothers get babies out of their tummies.  I explained how having the doctors take them out only hurt a little because I had "special medicine" to make me not feel anything, but with Nathan I couldn't get the "special medicine" because the doctor was too busy and so it hurt so much that I was screaming.  Matthew looked over at Kayla and said, "Oh and Kayla's going to have to do that too, when she's older."

Olivia is 14 Months Old!

Olivia, Olivia, Olivia.  You are growing into such a fun little toddler.  Most days I'm completely smitten with you!  You have learned to go with the flow, and you let us know when you're not happy.  You may be small and fun to be with, but you don't let us overlook you.

You are learning to communicate and it's so impressive.  You know exactly how to get what you want.  If it's on the counter, you stand right beside the counter at the spot and reach up, opening and closing your hands.  You especially like to stand and reach to ask for your soother, which is always kept in the same spot on the counter.

You love it when your siblings play the "Put your hands up if..." game while eating their meal; as soon as you hear, "Put your hands up!" you put both of your hands up.

You run to the microwave as soon as you hear it on, always assuming that it means your bottle is being heated up.

You have become much better at eating your breakfast and lunch.  You are starting to understand logic, which has helped.  "Eat one bite of your bread and then you can have a bite of fruit."  You also understand when someone gives you a cookie or a candy and asks you to bring it to me to help you with it.  You don't even try to take a bite until you've reached me.

You love shoes.  When I tell you to get your shoes so we can go, you run (yes, run!) to your shoe bin and grab a matching pair...usually your pink crocs.

You also have an obsession with Matthew and Kayla's underwear.  Weird, I know.  Whenever they have a pair laying around (either clean or dirty), you manage to find it and walk around with it (sometimes on your head!).

You learned how to give high-fives.

You are not scared to go down any size slide.  If there's no one to help you, then you go down on your tummy, feet first.

You have discovered your love of books.  You like to sit and point to things and babble.  Yes, you are really starting to babble lots now!  It's really cute!  Your first word was "Mom"!  Whenever you need me and I'm not in the room, you yell "Mom! Ma!  Mom!".  Very cute.

You love any kind of bouncy ball, and will pass it when asked.

You love any doll that has a bald head.  If the doll has hair, you want nothing to do with it.

You are great at having your teeth brushed.  You sit on the counter and patiently wait while I brush the top and bottom teeth.

You get really excited when you see your cousin Emma's house, or when Emma comes to visit Grandma's house, too.  You get really shy when Grandpa tries to talk to you.

You have adjusted really easily to having only one nap a day.  You go down any time between 12 and 1, and typically sleep for two hours.

You get really excited when Jon comes home from work.  You run to him to give him a hug.  Likewise, you get really excited when your siblings get home if you haven't been with them.  Kayla is definitely your favourite, though, because she pays so much attention to you.  She is the first one to help you if you need help.  That being said, she's also the first one to remove you from a situation if you're being annoying to them :).

You weigh 23.6 lb and are 31.5" tall.  You are quickly outgrowing your 12-18 month clothes.  I nearly died the other night when I put a 2T fleece sleeper on you and it actually fit quite nicely... I was expecting you to drown in it!

Olivia, stop growing up!!  You're supposed to be my baby forever, remember? :)

Olivia is 13 Months Old!

**So I had started typing this around September 9...but for some reason I never finished and posted it!  Oops.  So here it is, in it's unfinished version because a new '14 month' entry will be coming soon.**

And...just like that, it's already been a month since your birthday.

This month you have started dropping your morning nap, and replacing it with only having one nap, beginning around noon.  This is probably a good thing because once Matthew and Kayla are in school for full days (in a couple weeks), then it would be best for you to only have one nap because a later one in the afternoon would be cut extremely short due to school pick-up time.

You have really started to sleep through the night, which is wonderful!

Your favourite foods are oranges, strawberries, and candy!  You LOVE suckers.  I asked you to share yours with me the other night and you kindly reached it out to me.

You don't fall asleep in your carseat very easily, even if you are due for a nap.

You don't like being put in the church nursery.  I get called back in every Sunday, usually after I've only sung a couple songs.  Once I'm in there, then you're fine.  You also have a strong preference for myself over Jon when you're upset.

You have three bottles a day: 6oz before your morning nap, 6oz before your afternoon nap, and then 8oz before bed.  If you need one during the night, you get between 3-4oz.

Part Two: Our Two Week Vacation - Gallagher Lake (Oliver)

After a week of camping at Wright's Beach Camp with my side of the family, everyone packed up to head out while we packed up to head out for a week of camping with Jon's side of the family.

What's a Struik family vacation without some updated family photos?!?!

{The family!}

{The grandkids!  There are 21 of them from 6 months to 15!}

{Jon and his four older sisters}

{Jen & Dave and kids}

{Pauline & Mike and kids}

{Leanne & Ryan and kids}

{Michelle & Kam and kids}

{Us!}

{Matthew}

{Kayla}

{Nathan}

And now, for the regular camping photos:

{Early morning shenanigans!  I was usually one of the first up, with Olivia.  I gave up on changing her before letting her out of the trailer.  Letting the others sleep is worth way more than clean pajamas.}

{Morgan was a frequent visitor at our site.  She always sat in the same spot at the table and liked to eat with us when we had hagelslaac (chocolate sprinkles) on bread in the morning}

{She was very fond of Olivia}

{By the end of our last week, Olivia was crazy in the water.  She would just walk straight in and wouldn't stop, even when the water was at her shoulders!!!}

{Buried in the sand and given mermaid tails}

{All the tricycle/bike riding kids...19 of them!}

{They went to bed amazingly every night; they were just so exhausted from all of the non-stop playing!}