November

November has been the hardest month we've had in a while. Lots of challenges, some changes, but ending with a bang, as we leave for Disneyland on Saturday for Jakob's fifth birthday.

DH broke his hand at work, which resulted in surgery, pins, and now lots of physiotherapy. He's been off for almost seven weeks, and adjusting to having both of us home has been interesting. We've come to find a great balance, sharing child duties as much as he can, and the kids ADORE having him around all the time.

Unfortunately, for some reason, our dog Phoenix went mental. He's always had aggressive tendencies, but recently it got to the point where he could not walk anywhere there might possibly be children without going on the attack. We took him to the best behaviourist around; her assessment resulted in us surrendering him that day to the shelter. Brokenhearted doesn't even begin to describe the loss we've felt in his absence. We tried so hard to make it work, but with kids coming and going all the time, he just wasn't safe to have with us. I'm so hoping that a great family with no kids decides to take him home :(

Ellie's food seeking has gotten more difficult to handle. She asks for food all the time, and has out-smarted us on more than one occasion, getting into food she isn't allowed. We're working with her amazing team of therapists, so hopefully we can all collaborate and come up with a well rounded plan for dealing with her new behaviours. Other than the eating, and associated weight gain which we're trying to keep in check, Ellie has been outstanding!

She's so confident on her feet, she runs practically everywhere. Her vocabulary is booming, although she doesn't use most of her words much. She loves to stack blocks, play with her babies, and absolutely loves bath time. Her hair is soooo fun, it's a big curly mess! We signed her up for preschool next year, and our six month goals are all very reachable. She continues to amaze us daily.

Jakob is turning FIVE next week. I am completely overwhelmed at the thought. He's been adjusting better to school, and I've come to realize that his teacher is actually on our side, so this is good. He loves French, and is picking it up like a sponge. That reminds me, little E is also picking up a few French words here and there. Yesterday, she said "Au revoir" clear as day, to Madame as we were leaving the school!

This hasn't been the easiest year for Jakob. There's been a lot going on with Ellie and with DH, and he's done so well at entertaining himself and understanding that he can't always have all our attention, much as we would love to give it. We found an awesome deal for a trip to the Magical Kingdom, so we're going to surprise him on Saturday with a trip for his birthday! We have our bags packed already. All that's left is to wait three sleeps, and tell him the big news. I can't wait!

So, some bad, some good! Overall, I'm eager to be done with 2013. But, my family is always saying I need to stop rushing everything. I'm going to try!