For example, Tivona had not yet met her Dedek! Ljuba had long said that Tiva looks just like him, and here you can judge for yourself as they enjoy each other's company.
For Taya, the Ontario trip was a wonderful extension of Christmas. Here she is showing off her reading comprehension and conversational skills about "Olivia Claus", one of our favourite books. (Note how Taya's mouth and whole body just can't stop moving. She's been like that since she was in the womb.)
Talking and eating (about Olivia)
Tivona also hadn't met Auntie Elisa and Uncle Tony. If Tiva looks a little weirded out, you should've seen Taya, who rewarded Uncle Tony for the kind invitation to be his and Elisa's flower girl by saying over and over again, "Who's that man?", and bursting into tears when he asked her about the monkey she was holding.
Tiva was, as usual, a happy camper wherever we went.
Tiva knew Auntie Sandra well from Sandra's trip to Vancouver. Here are those two, with Tiva mid-blink.
(I personally think she looks adorable like that--maybe conditioned by months of trying to help her fall asleep, when the closed eyes meant a welcome respite from Tiva's 'bloody-murder' screams. If you want to see the open-eyes version, you'll find it here).
We definitely took a hit on the Chan family front from switching our Christmas/New Year trip for this Jan/Feb trip. Thanks to the Chan Carusone family's hospitality, my parents' generous loan of their car, my father's organizing of a Chinese New Year dinner (without shark fin soup, of course--if you haven't seen Sharkwater, you should!) and a dim sum brunch, and the Huntsville Chan's efforts to come down despite lousy weather, we did get to see everyone (and Hermine!). We actually managed to see many of them more than once, even with the complication of Taya getting sick, and all the rest of us following. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to organize ourselves sufficiently to take good pictures (sorry!). But here are a few pics from the Chan Carusone home. First, Taya adoring Millau.
Tiva with Grandpa.
And a real reconstruction of Taya and Senna sharing a bath (not a cheap-o attempt at Photoshopping a false event!).
Back in Etobicoke, Babica and Dedek went out of their way to try to make us feel at home. It worked--Taya embraced my term 'home away from home', and here's Tiva loving the Jolly Jumper they got for her, just as she loves her Vancouver one.
One of the special treats of this trip was having Ljuba's cousin Erika around, from Slovenia. It was also nice to have some fresh snow. The combination yielded the following three photos, of Tiva loving tobogganing with her Mama,
of Taya and Dada on a snow-venture (with Erika behind the camera),
and of Taya with Erika.
Soon, the rehearsal dinner was upon us. All these occasions were a huge amount of fun but also a feat of parental juggling. To prepare for the 7pm rehearsal and following 9pm dinner, we kept the girls on mountain time. And, because Taya was routinely missing naps (despite being super tired), we walked her in the stroller when we knew that a long evening was to come. This meant two walks of 2+ hours on snowy streets for me--I called them Etobicoke half-marathons.
The rehearsal dinner meant the beginning of practicing, of two kinds. We started practicing the flower-girl walk the day before the rehearsal dinner (in the hopes that a positive experience at the rehearsal dinner would mean few nerves in front of the big crowd). That went well. Then, at the rehearsal dinner, Elisa and Tony gave Taya the violin that Elisa had played on as a little girl. Here's Taya practicing on that beautiful instrument.
Before we knew it, Tony & Elisa's wedding day was upon us. This was the biggest juggling feat of all. Dressing and organizing for a formal event is a big thing for both Ljuba and I, add a baby and a toddler and spread out a photo shoot, ceremony and reception over 10+ hours, and you have a logistical challenge. With much help from Ljuba's parents, siblings, Erika, and then--towards the end of the evening--a whole team of Elisa's friends, cousins, and aunts, we managed to pull it off. Here's Taya and Elisa at event #1 (the pre-wedding photo shoot), around noon, while I walked Tiva for a snowy/slushy/icy nap in formal attire.
Tivona was golden through the ceremony. She woke up a few minutes before it started, but the loudest noises she made were some cooing and an explosive burp and poo. Here she is hanging out with Mam, while in the background a handsome and poised Dedek stands by, and Taya and Erika sit mesmerized by the violinist.
Then to the church for the ceremony. Like a well-oiled machine, you'll see coaches Mama and Dada and athlete Taya preparing and executing the flower-girl walk down the aisle. ;) Seriously, I've never felt more like a coach, giving Taya this pep talk while she did her warm-up bounces (that was spontaneous on her part), in the video below.
Pep talk pre-walk down the aisle
Then the walk. More coaching. See Taya point where she'll walk, and you can imagine her mentally running through her performance as she prepares at the gate/doorway, like a downhill skier. Off she goes. A perfectionist (surprise!), she isn't quite pleased (she does use this word) with the placement of the first petal. See her pick it back up, and see Mama-coach slide quietly to the aisle for some mid-event coaching. Then she's off again, dropping petals and smiling as dozens of cameras click away. Ah--to have that kind of grace under pressure!
Taya dropping her petals--and picking them up
(There are plenty more photos at the Webshots folder where these pictures sit, for those who want to see more--of other family, too. You should be able to navigate there from any of these links, or from this.)
Elisa related that most churches don't allow flower girls under four years of age. As a coaching parent, I understand this completely. In Taya's case, it wasn't just the walk down the aisle. Actually the most difficult part was sitting through the hour-long ceremony, all the while up at the front in the company of the bridesmaids, surrounded by all these interesting things (e.g., bibles, pews) begging to be played with. You saw from the first video how she can't sit still? She squirmed up and down in her seat so many times that Lauren--courageous, generous Lauren (better pic here)--got scuff marks from the velcro in Taya's shoes. All the bridesmaids, in fact the whole wedding party, were incredibly helpful and patient.
The drive from the ceremony to the reception provided both Tiva and Taya a chance to nap. The 30 km/h circling I did on the snowy roads in industrial Mississauga nearly provided Erika, Ljuba and I with some sleep, too!
First, we had more photos. Please don't ask me why Taya is swallowing an imaginary horse. Or why she did that in dozens of other photos that night!
Elisa has always exuded love for Taya and Tiva. The feeling is more than mutual. Every time Taya's feet hit the ground that evening, she was off like a shot. Even if I didn't see her initial escape, I always knew where to find her. "I just wanted to see Auntie Elisa," she would explain when I corralled her, as I tried to explain that Auntie Elisa loved her very much but that she might also have to spend some time with some other people that evening. Here's the beautiful bride with her two adoring nieces. (For two other gorgeous near-identical pics, see this and that.)
Taya loved everything about the wedding. For her, everyone was her guest. And few people disabused her of that notion, the way they went on and on about her being so gorgeous, so wonderful, so cute…. It seemed like everybody who came up to any of us (Ljuba, me, Dedek, Babica) raved about Taya.
There was a lot to love (about the wedding). The circus spectacle of the wedding was something to behold, as Elisa and her sisters brought their work into her wedding (they own an acrobatic dance company, A2D2).
For a taste of the performances, here's Samantha (in pink) and Julie, Elisa's sisters.
For a couple of parents who are frequently seen walking a baby in jogging or even pyjama pants, it was nice for Ljuba and I to have a chance to dress up, even if Ljuba did stress about shoes and dresses for a good month. But the photos, like this one of a regal Babica with Taya, will last forever.
Tivona, clearly teething (as in this photo) was super. She fell asleep on me for a nap just before the performances began, but woke up as soon as the MC piped up in his (appropriately) booming voice. To accommodate Tiva's nap, you can see the baby carrier I'm wearing, which we conscientiously chose to blend in with my shirt. Anyway, Tiva kept her eyes open and never cried (until bedtime much later). She's practically unflappable--it's amazing.
Taya really loves all her family, and it's precious to see her seek them out. At the wedding, she sought out Dedek to play stick-on stickers with her.
We all wanted to give a little something back to Tony and Elisa, who entertained us with a day full of performance and love. So we made up a song (altering Skin-a-ma-rinky Dink) and sang it (all together) for them. Little did we know that this was the very same song that Elisa and her sisters first performed together! [Personally, I was proud to have made it through the song--for those you know me, I'm routinely the butt of family jokes when it comes time to sing or hum! But I've been practicing lots and expanding my repertoire with Taya and Tiva.]
Skin-a-ma-rinky dinky dink ... and the Elvis Presley thingy
Notice how at the very end, when people were already clapping, Taya took the mic and said something? Listen again. As I put Taya in her car seat, at the end of the night, she said to me sadly, "I did the Elvis Presley thingy, but no one laughed." Yes, that's right--she said, "Thank you, thank you very much!" You should here her do it in private; when she performed it afterwards for Tony & Elisa they did indeed laugh--heartily!
Speaking of the end of the evening, we'd planned to leave immediately after the first dance (in part so we could see Elisa's dad, Bob DeAngelis play). The dance and performance were amazing, and well worth it. But the plan to leave immediately after was thwarted. See here what happened: our little flower girl got whisked away and swung all around the dance floor, having the time of her life even though she was so tired than she kept sitting down.
Abducted! ;)
We're all still basking in the glow of a wonderful wedding and a wonderful trip!
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