It is COLD out there!

Ok, I have said it before when I have heard people complain about the weather - We live in Canada, it's January, and it is cold - deal with it! But after the warmish weather that we have had I am finding it particularly difficult to deal with this cold snap. The low for tonight is -16 with wind chills the temperature will feel more like -24. That is just too darn cold. This morning the snow was blowing and drifting to the point that I thought that the buses might be canceled and Emily would experience her first 'snow day' of 2010. To say that Emily was thrilled at this prospect would be an understatement. So you can imagine her disappointment when I told her that the buses were indeed operating and she had to go to school!
Emily participates in a program at school called 'Rocket Readers', the goal of this program is to encourage kids to read by rewarding their efforts with stickers for every 10 books that they read. Emily is now reading level B books which I find pretty impressive given the fact that she is only 5 years old. I am sure that I wasn't reading books at this level until at least grade 2. Kindergarten has certainly changed.
Mady continues to try everyone's patience - the 'terrible' twos can't pass soon enough! Her speech is evolving very well. Last week her response to any direction given was 'oday', this week she has added 'alred' (alright). Emily is now known as 'Onolie' - which I think is an improvement from 'dar', Norb is now 'Dada', Grandma is now 'Ma', and I am now 'Mum', 'Mama', or 'Mommy'. I don't remember feeling as excited when Emily first called me 'mommy' - I think because I assumed that speech was a normal developmental progression that every child would have. But seeing the pride in Mady's eyes when she is able to produce a sound that has meaning is so wonderful - I am sure that there will be days that I will need to remind myself of these moments when she won't stop talking :) Don't get me wrong - I absolutely loved hearing Emily call me mom for the first time, it is just different this time. I still love opening the door after a busy day at work and hearing Emily shout "Mom!". I wouldn't trade these moments for anything.