Birthday weekend!

Jaymi's birthday was this weekend - I can't believe she's 9 years old!

Oct. 22/11

I love ..... her generosity

Jaymi had her birthday party this weekend, and maintained her idea that she DID NOT want presents from her friends.  She only wanted them to bring a small monetary donation as well as an item, both for the SPCA.  She loved her party, loved that they brought lots of stuff for the SPCA, and didn't regret it at all! In fact, she can't wait until we get a chance to visit the SPCA and give the donated items and money to them.

Oct. 23/11

..... that she has friends she has known since she was very little.

Jaymi has three friends that she still considers very good friends, whom she has known for many years.

1 - when we first moved here, and started to get to the know our neighbours, she met Connor.  Although he is two years older than she is, they get along so well, and love to play the same activities.  She was about 2 when she first met him.  They are both quite busy with school and activities now, but they still love to get together when they have a chance.

2 - Before preschool began (when Jaymi was about 3 years old) we met a few people through a local internet site and Gareth was one of them.  They ended up being in the same preschool class together and he was the only one she would talk to.  They eventually both left the school and attended different schools for kindergarten and up, but we maintained a weekly playdate for them since.  She considers him her best friend (outside of school).

3 - Jennica also attended the same preschool as Jaymi, but they didn't talk or play together back then.  When Jaymi showed up at the same school and kindergarten class as Jennica, they remembered each other and began to play together.  They were inseparable for years, and although they go back and forth with new friends, they are still very good friends.

Below is a picture of them in kindergarten (top left), Grade 2 (right), and this year - Grade 4 (bottom left).

Three of Jaymi's favourite things - school (& friends), cats, and taekwondo!

Oct. 12/11

..... her flexibility

She is so physically flexible and energetice, and fit.  It's awesome!

Although I really hate watching all of the new things she discovers she can do on the monkey bars with her friends.  It makes me nervous!

Oct. 13/11

..... her seriousness about schoolwork (while in school, anyway)

Jaymi takes her work seriously while she is in school.  When it's time to do schoolwork, she can always be seen with her head down, pencil working away.

Oct. 14/11

..... her braveness

She is putting her hand up in taekwondo to answer questions now.

She is speaking up when she wants to ask the teacher in school a question.

That's awesome - she is getting much braver now.

Oct. 15/11

..... the effort she puts into taekwondo

They are taught at taekwondo that you should always do your best.

They are taught that you should be "happy but not satisfied" with each accomplishment.

And Jaymi gives her all in the class, for sure.

She does what she is supposed to do, quickly and with as much strength and speed as she can.

She recently entered her first taekwondo tournament.

She entered in the sparring category, the forms, and the weapons category.

She had a fantastic time, and won three medals!

Oct. 16/11

..... her decision to grow her hair this year.

Mark and I have always liked her hair longer.

But in January she wanted it short and we finally said yes.

Now she is trying her hardest to grow it...very impatiently....and it is.... slowly.

Oct. 18/11

..... her nuturing nature.

She came out of her room one night and was worried that Socks had possibly swallowed something he shouldn't have, and was in pain.  She heard him crunching something, then she said his eyes were very wide.  She worried that he was hurting.

I checked him and he was totally fine.

I love that she worries about him like that.

Oct. 19/11

..... her imagination

Jaymi has begun writing a book of her own.  She is fascinated by the Warriors series by Erin Hunter, and has read almost all of the books, and recently she decided to write her own story, using the Warriors characters and history.  I just love the vocabulary she is using and the way her imagination comes out in the story.

Oct.20/11

..... her excitement about her birthday.

Jaymi is planning her birthday.  She isn't letting me do much on my own - it's all her!

It's a Warrior Cats birthday party.

And she DOES NOT want presents (from her friends).  She wants her friends to bring a $3 donation and an item for the SPCA.  None of the money will go to her - it's all for the SPCA.

I love her idea!

So we are making sure that she has a fantastic birthday party and gets presents, of course, from family members.

And we will go to the SPCA and give in the donation, visit the animals and 'tell' them about it, and Jaymi says that will be her present - the warm fuzzy feeling she'll get from making the animals happy.

Oct. 5/11

..... her unconditional love for Socks (her kitten)

We got Socks back in June, and Jaymi is still so in love him.

Every day when she gets home from school, she immediately looks for him in the house, cuddles him and says hello.

Oct. 6/11

..... her love for board games

It was hilarious watching Jaymi and her friend Zoe play Bedbugs together recently!

Oct. 7/11

..... that she's my kid!

Oct. 8/11

..... her changing style

I love watching her figure out her style, and what she likes to wear.

It frustrates me that she doesn't like dresses or skirts anymore (again!).

But oh well.  I do want her to be her own person, right?

She likes pants and shirts.

She loves shoes, especially flats.

She doesn't really like to wear pink that much.

She likes comfortable clothes..pants that stretch - no cords or jeans.

She likes her hair straight and smooth - no poofiness or waves or curls.

She still likes to mismatch her socks, most of the time.

Oct. 9/11

..... her curiosity

Jaymi helped me with the Thanksgiving turkey this year, and also made her own pumpkin pie.

I am always quick to help her learn new things, so when she asked me if she could see the giblets, and inspect them, I jumped at the chance to teach her something new.

We marvelled at how the heart looks just like ours would.

We cut open the heart and noticed the blood vessels and arteries.

We noticed how the liver looks the same on the inside and outside.

We cut apart the neck and saw that there were vertebrae just like ours.

Oct. 10/11

..... her long-standing friendship with Gareth

Jaymi has known Gareth since somewhere around age 3...before preschool!

They went to preschool together, and then when it was time to go to kindergarten, they went to separate schools.

Since that time, they have had a weekly playdate.

They have always been at each other's birthday parties as well.

Gareth turned 9 the other day, and Jaymi was happy to choose two Warriors books for him - she knew which ones he would enjoy.

They both have a love for "Warriors" by Erin Hunter.

They discuss the series endlessly, in detail.

They love to pretend they are warrior cats in a certain clan, and they act out whole scenarios.

Oct. 11/11

..... her interest in planning her own birthday party

Since about 2 years ago, Jaymi has wanted to be in on the plans for her birthday parties.

Here she is, planning her upcoming party (a cat party) while eating leftover pumpkin pie.

:)

Fun = cats, science, food, taekwondo, toys, and friends :)

Sep. 18/11

..... her ideas of places to go

Jaymi loves cat shows.  Every time she hears about one, we HAVE to go.

She was excited to learn that our cats can actually enter one, if we choose to do that.

And she won some raffle prizes from this one too!

Sep. 19/11

..... the things she learns from Mark.

Like pouring whipped cream directly into her mouth.

Yep...that must be a Daddy thing, right?

Sometimes you just have to shake your head.

:)

Sep. 20/11

..... her curiosity

We found this amazing science kit, where you get to use test tubes, beakers, droppers, etc., to make various concoctions to taste and drink.

Jaymi had so much fun with it.  We made things that foamed, things that crackled in your mouth, and things that blobbed together.  Fun!

Sep. 21/11

..... her ability to figure things out

Another great find - this circuit board kit.  She spent a loooong time putting together various designs of circuit boards, to light up a bulb, start a motor, etc.

She even tried a few of her own designs.

Sep. 22/11

..... her love for mango (right now)

She thinks it's hilarious that I don't like mango.  At all.

Yuck.

The reason it's hilarious is because since I always tell her that she has to try new things, and re-try things as well, when she insists that I should try mango over and over, I do (trying to show her that it is possible to eat something you don't like, and you WILL survive).

Yuck.

Sep. 23/11

..... her giggles during taekwondo

It was Bring-a-Buddy Day at taekwondo, for a Child Safety Seminar, so she brought Saegeas - one of her best friends right now.

Whenever she spars with another friend, she (and they) just smile and giggle the whole time.

:)

Sep. 24/11

..... her love

I love that she says, "I love you" all the time.

I love that she says, "I miss you" all the time.

I love that she loves me so much.

Sep. 25/11

..... her love for all things 'cute'

She likes little things because they're cute (like this cake pop).

She likes pathetic things because they're 'cute' (like the SPCA cat with one ear and the wilted deformed Christmas tree you see at the store).

Sep. 28/11

..... her dialogue.

I love listening to her conversations.

Jaymi: "Mommy, you HAVE to come and look at how cute Socks is right now! Mommy, Socks is just being so cute again. Mommy, I think Socks thinks he's in a cute war and he's winning. If he was in a cute show, he'd win. Oh, I can't resist you when you have your head down, Socks. Aw, Socks, you are one tired kitty, aren't you?"

"Mommy, I bet if you and were in a war together, and we brought Socks and the other people saw him and went, 'awwww' and said 'you win!'. It would be so funny if Socks won the war for us. And then if we went to the bathroom and Socks stood on the toilet and if he was toilet trained, and he peed in the toilet. That would be funny. And wouldn't it be funny if we left the bathroom and Socks was just following behind us, silently? And everyone said, 'where is Socks? I haven't seen him anywhere?' and he was right behind us. That would be so funny, wouldn't it?" ;)

Sep. 29/11

..... her love for massages and back scratches.

This massage chair demo at the mall is always a hit with her.

Oct. 1/11

..... her friendships

Jaymi and Saegeas had a fantastic playdate the other day.  They have been begging for a playdate together.

First Jaymi invited Saegeas to a Bring-a-Buddy night at taekwondo.

Then Saegeas invited Jaymi to Awana Bring-a-Friend night.

Then they had a 'real' playdate on a weekend.

They gave Socks TWO sponge baths,

rode down two steps on our main floor, sitting in plastic under-the-bed storage containers,

played cats and puppies,

and had so much fun!

Oct. 2/11

..... her awesomeness.

This is Jaymi's official Gr.4 photo.

I decided this year, to take one myself instead of spending the money on the ones through the school.

I think it turned out pretty good!

Oct. 3/11

..... her sense of humour with Socks.

She'll often be telling me a funny story about Socks, when he reaches up and places his paw over her mouth, as if to say, "Please stop talking about that".

She thinks it's so funny, and she'll just stand there, letting his paw stay there until he's done.

Oct. 4/11

..... her collection of 'germs' (stuffed microbes)

I found a new one for her (the one on the left - halitosis/bad breath).

So now her collection includes:

halitosis

tuberculosis

cholera

2 platelets

the flu

a red blood cell

polio

algae

the common cold

syphilis

strep throat

a brain cell

and a giant brain cell, not pictured here.

Sep. 9/11

..... her physical strength

This girl is strong!

All this taekwondo training has made her so strong, physically, and very fit too, I think.

Anyway, she was awarded her blue belt last week, and is already thinking about the next belt (High Blue - blue with a black stripe)

Sep. 10/11

..... how she's not growing up too quickly

She still loves bouncy castles and face painting, and fairs and pretend play.

I love that she isn't trying to be older than she is, and that she is staying innocent.

There will be many, many years for her to be more grown up.

Sep. 11/11

..... her memories

Every year since Jaymi was very young, we have gone to a fair called Metchosin Day.

It has always had this thing where you line up FOREVER to take a 5-minute turn on a mini-excavator and you get to work the controls, dumping and scooping and turning.

She has always wanted to do it and remembers it as a tradition now.  I wasn't sure, now that she is almost 9 years old AND not into construction at all (like she was when she was little) whether or not she would want to do it this year.

She did!

Sep. 12/11

..... her academic ability

She is so smart and such an academic little girl.

She is in Gr.4 this year, and her first spelling test went well - 18 out of 18!

Sep. 13/11

..... her whimsy

New t-shirt she picked out from Zellers :)

Sep. 14/11

..... her endurance

Sep. 15/11

..... the way she wakes up in the morning

If I have to wake her up for school, it's actually quite nice.  She's so cuddly and warm and cute.

And now she wakes up with Socks purring in her ear as well...she opens one eye and pulls him close to her to give him a big hug.

:)

Sep. 16/11

..... her excitement about moving up in levels.

She was excited about getting her new ballet clothes to begin grade 1 ballet.

In another 2 months as well, she'll begin rehearsals for the Nutcracker Ballet!

Sep. 17/11

..... her responsibility.

She is excellent at taking care of Socks (and Cookie too).

It's routine for her now.

In the morning, she cuddles him, checks his dry food, changes the litter, puts his collar on, and feeds him his wet food.

After school, she greets him as soon as she gets home, plays with him, feeds him his dinner later, and sometimes even trains him.

At bedtime, she takes his collar off, puts him into her bedroom, checks his water and dry food, changes his litter, and settles him down for the night.

Once or twice a week, she gives him a sponge bath.

The final days of summer and back to school

So, the last few weeks have come and gone, and were mostly full of fun.

We went to Vancouver for Jaymi's MRI, and got good news - her tumour is stable.

What that means, is that the MRI looked exactly like the last one, 3 months ago, and we don't have to back for another one until January.

So, we decided to have some fun and enjoy Vancouver.  It was kind of a celebration of the good news and I think, we deserved the fun.

And after the last couple of weeks of August were over, of course, it was time to get ready to go back to school - Grade 4 this year!

So...on with my 365 project.

--------------------------

Aug. 16/11

..... I love that she likes to go to plays.

We don't go to nearly enough of that kind of thing, and I have always had a love for theatre, so it's so much fun to take her to see a play.

Aug. 17/11

..... I love that she doesn't mind getting wet.

Aug. 18/11

..... her collection of reading medals.

She has quite a few of these, from the library summer reading club.

She does it every year, and always gets the medal at the end.

She also has tons of reading medals from taekwondo - they award them for filling out reading charts every day.

Aug. 19/11

..... her ideas

This waterpark has a big puddle in the middle, at certain times.  And Jaymi just loved jumping from the play structure right into the puddle.  It was pretty deep, too!

Aug. 21/11

..... her opportunities

While we were at Ronald McDonald House, Jaymi got to meet an author named Candace Weimer.

Candace was diagnosed with leukemia 4 years ago and was given 2 years to live.  She made the decision to fight it and get better and beat the cancer, and she did!

She wrote a book that is basically her journalling, and tells about her feelings from diagnoses through treatment to recovery.

Jaymi got a free book which Candace autographed, and they talked a lot.

It was a fantastic opportunity for Jaymi.

Aug. 22/11

..... how she helps me remember how to be a kid!

In the Ronald McDonald House, she just loved her bed!  It was a tiny room, but her bed was like a little fort, and she invited me up there one day.  Fun!

Aug. 23/11

..... her choice of toys

We got passes for Science World, from the Ronald McDonald House, and after having a lot of fun there, Jaymi got a stuffie platelet and a mango popsicle.

She reeeeallly wanted the stuffie platelet, after seeing how cute they were and learning what they do (clot blood).  Even now, when she gets a cut, she yells, "Platelets!  Do your job!"

:)

Aug. 24/11

..... her lack of fear

She has no fear of heights, which is awesome, because she thoroughly enjoys things like this Vancouver Lookout, where the glass elevator rides along the outside of the building.

Aug. 25/11

..... her connection with animals

Jaymi is in love with cheetahs right now, and when we went to the zoo, she was ecstatic that they had a cheetah!

He came right over to us, laid down and purred as loud as he could.

She just purred right back at him, inspected him, adored him, talked to him, and sat there for over 1/2 hour, until I dragged her away.  (We visited again later, and he was still there!)

Aug. 26/11

..... her fishiness ;)

She is such a fish.  Always has been.  She loves water, loves swimming, and will stay in there all day if she could.

She swam every single day, and sometimes twice a day.

Aug. 27/11

..... her childhood wonder

This was taken as she ran back to me after going on her first ride at the PNE in Vancouver.

She loves fairs so much!

She especially loved going on the roller coaster and all of the spinniest, scariest rides.

Aug. 28/11

..... her love for hotels

I love that there is so much about staying at a hotel that she loves.  It makes the vacation so much fun, before we've even done anything!

There's the ice machine,

building forts in the room,

watching a movie in the evening,

room service,

riding the elevator to the top of the building,

the front doors (if they're rotating or automatic)

the pool,

the hot tub,

exploring around the hotel,

practicing using the room key card in the door

and of course, bed jumping!

Aug. 29/11

..... her daring

We found this great free suspension bridge just near Abbotsford.

We even happened to be there while a large group of firefighters were doing some practice rescues down below.  So much fun to watch!

Aug. 30/11

..... her ability to make me experience things out of my comfort zone

Jaymi so badly wanted to ride the chairlift when we went up to Grouse Mountain.

So, we did it.

We had done a chairlift before, but it was way smaller.

I didn't realize this.

This one was long (about 15-20 minutes) and HIGH!

I actually got pretty nervous on it, and I don't usually get like that.

It was freaking me out a bit, and at the same time, I was thinking how awesome it is that I stepped out of my comfort zone to do this so that she could experience it.

Aug. 31/11

..... her willingness to pose for pictures ;)

Sep. 1/11

..... her new obsession - cheetahs

Sep. 2/11

..... her love for home

Home, sweet home!

Sep.3/11

..... her love for twirling

This is her new 'character skirt' for ballet.  She needs a character skirt for Gr.1 ballet this year, as well as ballet shoes, character shoes and her leotard.

She thinks this skirt is amazing, and loves to have twirling contests with me.

Sep. 4/11

..... her new food obsession - mangos.

Yuck.

I do not like the taste of mangos.

But Jaymi does.  Mango anything.

Mango smoothies, mango ice cream, mango juice, mango yogurt, fresh mangos, dried mangos, mango popsicles......

Sep. 5/11

..... how cute she is! 

;)

Isn't she cute?

I just love this picture.  It was her last swim of the summer, before school started up.

I just thought she looked cute, with her goggles, swimsuit, towel and flip-flops.

Sep. 6/11

..... that she likes school.

She started Gr. 4 this year - wow!

We always celebrate the first day of school by going to Dairy Queen afterwards.  This year we deviated from our regular tradition of ordering dipped cones, and she wanted to try a milkshake.

Sep. 7/11

..... how she makes me laugh.

Sep. 8/11

..... her empathy for Cookie

Cookie got into some kind of fight outside recently, and came home with some injuries.  They seemed to be fine after a few days, but about 2 days ago she was limping.  It seemed to be getting worse today so we took her to the vet.

Jaymi was very concerned about Cookie.  She kept reporting new symptoms to me, like her breathing rate, etc.

So the vet gave us some antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medecine because she has an abscess.

Hopefully she feels better soon.