It has been a few years since I have even looked at this page, and to be honest I thought it had all been lost, since I stopped paying annual fees to maintain my domain name. I am reviving this as a few people recently had asked for our itinerary on our east coast trip back in 2012 as well as asking about details from some of our more recent travels.
Since I last posted loads has happened with our family and with me.
We made a move out west to the Canadian Rockies 3 1/2 years ago. This was to provide our family a better quality of life. For us this means more time together as a family enjoying the outdoors.
The move has allowed me to be at home with our children, while being able to pursue education to make a complete career change once our youngest is in school full time. I am currently studying to become and SLPA (Speech Language Pathology Assistant), with a future goal to eventually complete my masters in Speech and Language. I was looking for a career that would allow me to have an impact on others, while still allowing me the time and ability to be at home when my kids needs me. The interest in this new career path has stemmed from working with our youngest who was diagnosed with a severe speech delay shortly after his second birthday. There have been many hours spent, working on speech and we will have to continue for some time to come. There have been huge gains for him and through a great preschool program last year, he no longer has the need for an aide in the classroom. My youngest is also our child with endless energy and so he needs lots of time outdoors to burn that energy off!
I am actively involved in both of my children’s schools (this year they are at separate schools, but hopefully next year they will be in one school together) through volunteering and as a member of each of their parent councils.
We have had many adventures in the west since we moved out here, and over the next few months I will try to share some of our adventures and any tips, tricks, itineraries, etc from them. We invite you to join us here and always love to hear feedback, tips or ideas for new adventures.
Ok, first I know it has been ages since I actually updated my blog. Time has just been flying by since I have been back at work. It is hard to believe that Paige is already 18 months. How she has grown and changed over the last 5 months since I last posted. It has been a winter full of colds, flu and ear infections. I am sure most mom’s can attest to the sleepless nights that first winter after going back to work, but keeping our fingers crossed that now that the warmer weather is arriving that this cold & flu season may finally be over. Also the fact that we are pretty much through the teething phase I would expect shall make a big difference as well.
The last 2 weeks Paige has been transitioning up to the toddler room at her daycare and that has not gone as smoothly as we would have liked, but I think things are finally sorted out and I don’t have to be worrying to much about my little girl!
Paige has become so independent and we have seen her grow by leaps and bounds. The last 6 weeks have been especially big with so many changes coming at us. Our little girl is growing up.
Favourite Things To Do:
Go outside
Sing
Play in her kitchen and with her babies
Bake and help cook
Reading stories
Snuggles
Music & Dancing
Helping with everything around the house
Playing on her plasma car
Skyping with her Nanna & Pops
Arts & Crafts
What I can do:
Huge number of words, signs, and starting to put simple sentences together
Picking out all of her own outfits
Putting on her boots by herself
Helping to undress and dress herself
Putting on her coat by herself
Understanding multi-step instructions
Able to communicate her wants & needs
Turn on the radio herself
Do the actions to songs
Sitting on a stool at the kitchen island on her own
Measure out ingredients
Able to go for walks
Identify some colours and animals
Tell us the names of her friends at daycare
Wipe her own nose
Puzzles
Getting her own snacks
Favourite Foods:
Fish Tacos
Homemade pasta noodles and sauce
Berries (all types)
Kiwi
Yogurt
Apple Sauce
Sweet Potato
Homemade Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Avocado
Cheese (all types)
Mango
Still not overly keen on most meats – will eat ham sometimes. Willing to try most things put in front of her at least once.
The last month just flew by and I am not really sure where it went. We have been busy around here with me back at work and Paige in daycare full-time it has definitely taken some getting used to. We have also had 2 ear infections over the past month and an allergic reaction to her MMR vaccine. So looking at that I guess it is kind of easy to see where the time has gone.
Favourite Things to Do
Read stories to her babies, herself and to us
Walk when no one is watching
Dance
Going for hikes
Snuggles
Playing with her babies
Playing on her drum
Picking vegetables from the garden
Helping in the kitchen
Dusting/cleaning any time she can get her hands on a cloth or rag
Playing on her plasma car
Hiding
Exploring
Eating
Playing her little piano
Craft time/Drawing on the chalkboard
Playing with friends
Music
Milestones
Walking on her own when she thinks no one is watching
Dancing and keeping her balance without holding on
New words – Banana, Daddy, Hey, No, Yeah, Gee, Uh Oh, Now
Helping to undress herself
Put her shoe on her right foot
Climbing everything
Using her signs with more frequency
Signing when she is hungry
Choosing her own outfits to wear (can definitely lead to some interesting ones!)
Able to show us 1 with her finger when asked
Following simple requests
Cleaning up her toys
Favourite Foods
Wild Blueberries
Homemade Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Raspberries from the garden
Greek yogurt (20% fat)
Cheese
Fish – Salmon, Fish Tacos with Cod
Pasta
Avocado
Chickpeas/Hummus
Banana
Grated Pear
Soup when she can feed herself with a spoon
Sweet potato with cinnamon
Bread
Will still try anything put in front of her
Today Paige turns One. It has been a fantastic year of learning, making wonderful new, adventures galore and lots of laughs. So many things have changed for both of us over the year. I have really started to feel established where we live now that I have made some great friends with similar interests all thanks to Paige. We have covered loads of km’s on hiking trails around the Durham/GTA region as well as through New England and Maine. My goal for this coming year is to track our mileage covered for Paige to read later.
Who knew that a little one could change ones life so much (for the better) and could open so many doors as well.
We have enjoyed music lessons, swimming, hiking, zoo visits, camping, finger painting, stroller walks, and get togethers with other new moms. We have learned about new places to check out near us. I have also found that being able to share the activities I love with Paige can be a really neat experience since I can see things in a new light and from a new perspective.
With Paige I will definitely continue to learn loads and I suspect I will be tested in the years to come by her determination and stubbornness!
Many people warned me that the first year with a little one would be way more work than I could ever imagine, it would be very trying, exhausting and one of the hardest years. I found it to be the complete opposite. It was one of my best years, one of my least stressful years, and one of my most fun years. I found it to be easier than I was expecting and I embraced it full heartedly.
Paige had her cousins and friends over for a painting party this past Saturday to celebrate. It was a good excuse to get the little ones together now that we are all back to work, allow us moms to catch up and have a great day watching the littles ones enjoy themselves fully.
Favourite Things To Do:
Read stories to her dolls, herself or with us
Walk around the kitchen and dining room with her walker or one of the stools
Dance
Skyping with family
Going for hikes
Bath time
Snuggles
Playing with her babies
Playing in the yard and picking vegetables from the garden
Helping Daddy with our renovation projects
Helping in the kitchen
Sitting at the kitchen island on one of the stools
Playing on her plasma car
Playing hide & see
Exploring
Eating
Playing her little piano
Climbing up the stairs
Craft time
Playing with her friends
Milestones
Standing on her own
Taking a couple steps out in the yard on her own
New words: – pretty, dress, silly, baby, puppy, doggie, why, Tessa
Trying to dress herself – helping put on her shirts and dresses, trying to put her socks on
Climbing on things
Walking with her walker
Able to propel the plasma car using the steering wheel
Making animals sounds while reading Mr Brown Can Moo to herself
trying to chain up Tessa outside
opening her bedroom cupboards and taking her toys out, and putting them back
Blowing kisses
Giving hugs
Using the little rocking chair in her room on her own
Picking vegetables from the garden
opening the baby gates
Favourite Foods
Peaches
Wild Blueberries
Blackberries
Greek Yogurt (20% fat)
Cheese
Cottage Cheese
Avocado
Pasta- with pretty much any sauce
Sweet Potato with cinnamon
Bannas in the peel
Cheese bunnies
Tacos at daycare
Green beans from the garden
Fresh Bread
Paige still continues to try new foods
Paige is 11 months today and it is now less than 1 month before I head back to work. I am going to miss spending all of this time with my little princess and it will definitely be an adjustment for both of us! Paige has been using her signs a great deal more which makes communication a little easier for her. Unfortunately Paige has also started experiencing night terrors which can occur at night and also occasionally during her afternoon naps. Paige had 5 top teeth come in this month without much fuss, just a desire to snuggle more. We have also started to experience some separation anxiety with Paige, which I am sure she will get over fairly quickly once she starts with daycare.
Favourite Things To Do:
Reading stories with us or to her dolls
Climb up and down the stairs
Climb everything in sight
Use the dining room chairs and stools as walkers
Open the screen doors
Skyping with family
Going for hikes
Swimming/bath time – especially jumping off the side of the pool, or putting her face under
Snuggles
Finger Painting
Singing and using her musical instruments
Playing with friends
Sleeping
Chasing Tessa
Playing in the yard and garden and tasting everything she can find
Feeding herself with a fork or spoon
Having tea parties
Play hide and seek in the family room
Watch and play in the rain
Milestones
Climbing up and down the stairs
Climbing up onto our bed and anything else possible
Said Nanna
Opening doors and baby gates
Feeding herself yogurt and more liquidy meals with a spoon
Making skype calls on her own when we aren’t watching
Following simple instructions more regularly
Put things into and take them out of a container
Climb down from a chair or couch
Help dress and undress herself
Favourite Foods
Plain yogurt
blueberries
blackberries
avocado
cheese
homemade mac and cheese (loves if it has lots of garlic in it)
cherries
apple chunks
oatcakes
homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal
wants to try everything we are eating and will try everything a couple of times before giving up on it
This past week-end we were up in Kincardine to celebrate with my brother and his family. They were married in a very small ceremony last year with just their immediate families present and so this year they were having the party and a vow renewal ceremony on their first anniversary.
It was one heck of a hot evening, but the setting was gorgeous. They had the ceremony on the beach with everyone standing watching at around 7:00pm. It was a fun evening and a great reason to get the family together. Here are a few of the pictures I snapped of the evening.
Our little girl is now 10 months old and has changed so much since that first day we met her. She is still the happy little soul she has always been (at least for the most part) and generally has a smile on her face. She is such a busy little girl, she never stops moving. She is most definitely a strong willed child and is making sure we know it regularly. Her hair is getting much blonder as time passes and she still has beautiful blue eyes. We recently went on a road trip/ tent camping trip with her and she loved the tent (you can read more about that trip in some of my other posts).
Favourite things to do:
Singing songs and using her musical instruments
Reading stories
Swimming/ bath time
Going for hikes
Playing outside
Chasing bubbles
Skyping with family
Snuggles when sleepy
Shopping
Playing with friends
Chatting up a storm
Talking to her toys
Chasing Tessa (our golden retriever) around the house
Climbing stairs and on everything
Checking out some of the flowers in our gardens
Milestones:
Climbing stairs
Holding on with 1 hand when standing, bending to pick something up, bouncing
Saying Bye Bye
Stacks her toys in the corner of her room when she is done with them
Giving kisses to her dolls
Favourite Foods:
Plain Yogurt
Blueberries
Blackberries
Apricots
Peas
Cheerios
Yogurt Drops
Pasta
Bread
Oatcakes
Shredded Cheese
Apple chunks or grated
Grated Pear
Banana as long as she can eat it from the peel
Wants to eat everything we are eating now and would pass up her food for ours if she can get her hands on it.
It has been quite some time since I last posted (almost a month). We had a busy week preparing for our camping trip and then we were away for just over 2 weeks. Now that the dust has settled a little I can get back to more regular postings.
I will be posting a number of posts about our trip – where we stayed, what we saw and our route so stay tuned for that later this week and next.
The week before we left on our vacation my parents came up for a night to have a visit with Paige and attend music class with her. Paige was in her element at music, but a little distracted having Nanna & Pops there to entertain as well. The next morning Paige was loving her snuggles out on the porch and stories with Nanna while my dad was cutting up a fallen tree in our ravine for us.
I had my follow up appointment with the Naturopath that week and she has started me on a few different supplements to try and sort some things out for me. Hopefully these will help.
We had Paige’s 9 month appointment. She weighed in around 20lbs so pretty much the same as her 6 month appointment. Developmentally she is ahead on most milestones, however her joints are much looser than most littles ones at her age.
I also had my physical done at the same time and as always the Dr suggested I loose some weight, but said that it was understandable that I needed to lose a few since I am busy with a little one. It was also suggested that I need to be more active (I did explain the amount of hiking/walking we do). So maybe I need to control my portion sizes a little?!
Paige was a great help in packing for our trip and had to check out all of our bins before I could pack anything in them. On top of that Paige decided that the day we were leaving on our trip (Thursday June 21) she would climb the stairs while I was out hanging laundry. So we now have a much busier girl on our hands.
Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the start of our camping adventures and travels.
I am sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning and listening to the birds while I enjoy my cup of coffee, while my diapers soak. It rained last night so things have really greened up and it is much quieter than many other mornings when the construction starts about 4:30 am.
Our hike last Monday was good. There were 3 of us mamas with our little ones on our backs. The little ones were having a great time chatting up a storm as we headed out on the trails and they all napped on the way back. It was a muggy day but we still covered 7.5 km. In the woods the heat wasn’t so bad, it was when we would come to a clearing you could feel the heat and humidity hit you like a wall.
Paige had a blast at music that afternoon as well. There were more little ones this week for Paige to interact with. She was really intrigued with the felt board and actually tried to climb it to reach some of the pieces. She has definitely become much more comfortable in the music class setting.
Tuesday we headed to the Naturopath to see if we could find a solution for my seasonal allergies. They have been really bad this year so hopefully we can find something that will help that I can take while still nursing. Right now I am trying one thing and I have a follow up this week. It has been a few years since I last saw a Naturopath, but had a great experience with the one I saw out in Victoria, BC.
Wednesday we hung out in the yard, and swam in the pool. It had definitely warmed up and Paige was having a great time in the pool. She is not big on being in a life jacket and prefers to be free to kick about and swim.
Thursday was our last Baby Beats class from the previous session so Paige got her certificate and had a great time playing with the other little ones. She is no longer shy at all and was determined to keep scooting up to the teacher and trying to climb inter her lap. She also had a great time with the felt board again. Also this week she tried out the drum and thought that was pretty neat, although she did seem to enjoy chewing on the end of the drum stick more!
Friday we didn’t make it out to our stroller walk since we had to have someone in to look at our reverse osmosis system. Instead we spent the day in the yard, in the pool and went for a walk up the road. Paige was a busy girl and kept me hopping. She was also really into making big messes. So Friday night was a later night cleaning.
Saturday was a lovely day and since Dave was working I had a friend over with her little one. She was also babysitting another little one and brought along one of her friends and little ones. We had a nice lunch and then hung out in the pool with all of the babies. During our swim my lovely dog decided to go wandering in the ravine and was so kind to bring me back an animal part. Not sure where it came from, but kind of gross so she had to be tied up outside until Dave came home and could bathe her.
That evening we went out for a nice dinner and then took Paige and Tessa for a walk up the road as a family. It has been a while since we have just gone for a family walk on our road so it was nice. Another home was torn down recently on our road to make way for Hwy 407 and they are preparing to take another one down. So there were lots of changes for us to see on our walk.
Yesterday was a nice quiet family day. We went out for breakfast in the morning then came home and hung out at home. We went for a swim in the pool after lunch and then afterwards hung out on the deck until Paige was ready for her afternoon nap. We started sorting our gear for our upcoming camping trip and made our lists of last minute items to pick up and things to do. I can’t wait to take Paige camping and see how she reacts to sleeping in a tent and enjoying the outdoors 24/7. After our camping she will also finally get to meet my husband’s family who she hasn’t yet met. It should be a nice trip and will be nice to spend some family time together in the outdoors.
Today my parents are coming up for the afternoon and night and to go with Paige to her music class. I know Paige is excited to see them since she was up in the middle of the night and was wound right up. I had to explain to her that it was not time to get up yet and she would have to wait until after lunch to see her Nanna & Pops. She is still sleeping this morning, so maybe she understood?!
First off I am sorry it has been so long. We have gotten so busy around here (not really sure with what) that I didn’t really have much time to sit down and write up some posts. I am going to try and get a little ahead over the next couple of days (time permitting) so there won’t be such a long break again. Fingers crossed!
Paige has gotten over waking herself up from sitting in her sleep, but with this heat has been waking up thirsty every night for the last week and a half between 11:00pm – 12:00 for a “snack”. It means I am struggling to get used to being woken up once a night again, either that or I stay up to try and get her fed again before I head to sleep.
Construction of the highway has been very busy the past couple of weeks as well which means they start early in the morning and it also means it can be tricky getting in and out of our place. On the upside some of the expropriated homes have come down on our road so hoping that means the one next door will be coming down soon. Also with all of this construction maybe they will be done our section soon which will also include some nice new paving on our road. Paige loves watching the big trucks go by.
The day we had our pool filled we unfortunately had to take down Paige’s swing set since it had been eaten from the inside out by carpenter bees. I think we might have to wait until next year for a new swing set now.
Last post we were getting the pool filled that day. It has taken some time to warm up enough to be tolerable but today we spent some time in the pool together. Even though the water still feels quite cool, Paige was having a blast and did not want to come out. She swam a bit on her back in her life jacket then had fun floating around in one of our floating loungers splashing the water.
After swimming we hung out on the porch playing until her afternoon nap time when we headed inside where it was a little cooler. We topped off the day with a barbecue at our place with friends.
Also I was able to get the paint colour fixed (thank goodness) it is a little lighter than we wanted since it was a lighter base used to get the “wrong” colour I had originally asked for, but at least it is in the right tone. I also managed to get one coat of paint on half of our kitchen cabinets. They definitely look better, but boy were the fumes strong from the melamine paint.
Tuesday May 29 Paige had a swimming lesson where we worked on jumping off the edge of the deck and going underwater. Paige couldn’t get enough of going under water. She especially loved when we would go right to the bottom and back up (there is no real deep area in the pool where we take lessons).
That Wednesday we had a hike with a friend in Durham Forest. We did the Red Oak and Spruce loop. It was a great day to be out hiking and the loop is about 8km. Unfortunately we dropped the head rest to the pack on the first time round so I ended up having to hike this entire loop again. Thank goodness the weather held out. On the second time round it was amazing how different the trail seemed as we noticed things we had missed the first time round. Paige was really enjoying seeing all of the different butterflies that she could point out to me.
Thursday was Baby Beats which Paige absolutely loves. The morning was spent playing out on the porch.
Friday we worked in the yard before the wind and rain storms hit that afternoon. \The wind was wild and brought down a great deal of branches and leaves. It looked like a tornado had been through our yard. Some of the branches that came down were bigger than some trees. So Saturday was spent trying to clean up the yard. Paige chipped in with the clean up, even if it was only 1 leaf at a time.
Sunday turned into a nice day and we spent it catching up with one of my husband’s buddies from school who came out to share some exciting news with us.
This past Monday we led a hike out on the Seaton Trail from Whitevale. It was overcast so not too bad for our hike. We covered about 7.5km. The hike always seems to go by quickly when you are in good company.
That afternoon was the start of a new session of Baby Beats which overlaps for 2 weeks with the session that is just coming to an end, which means Paige gets to go to music 2 times in 1 week for 2 weeks straight. There were only 2 little ones at the class so Paige got to choose some of the songs and was having a great time being the centre of attention and snuggling up to the teacher.
Tuesday was our last swimming class so we did a little of everything. There were no life jackets used this class. The little ones also got to go down the slide once more. Paige got a nice little certificate which will go in her scrapbook (when I actually get around to starting it). That afternoon it was a great afternoon to play out on the back deck and enjoy the fresh air. Paige had fun singing songs and playing her instruments.
Wednesday we walked at the zoo with one other mommy and her little one. I am glad we had decided to shift the walk an hour earlier since it was very busy with students and daycares and it was becoming so hot at the zoo by the time we left. We did check out the kids zoo, which I hadn’t even noticed before. Paige really enjoyed watching the Prairie Dogs run around their enclosure.
Unfortunately by the time we got home my migraine was getting the better of me so I had to climb into bed while Paige played so nice and quietly in my bedroom until I could function a little again. She seemed to understand that Mommy couldn’t play and that I needed to lay down since she played quietly and didn’t fuss once.
Thursday was Baby Beats again. Paige has grown so much more comfortable at these classes now and doesn’t hesitate to join the other little ones up at the felt board or check out the other instruments put in the middle for them to all play with.
Friday we were out for our usual stroller walk with 2 other moms and babes. It was a bright sunny day but with the breeze off the lake it wasn’t too hot. After afternoon nap we played/worked out in the yard to get some things done before the rain was to arrive.
Saturday we finally picked up the final load of mulch (1 yard) that we had been putting off getting. We transplanted and split 2 of our large hostas that needed to come out of some of my other gardens as well which really cleaned up the way the back yard looks. We also managed to pull up a bunch more of the mustard garlic that keeps taking over the hill in our yard. Our gardens have really exploded with all of this rain and heat. We have never seen our plants do so well. It is nice to see and things are really filling in.
Yesterday we spent the day taking it easy and just enjoying each others company. We started with breakfast on the porch. Paige had her nap while we got a few things done around the place then it was time for all of us to swim. After swimming we played on the porch and had some snuggles then Paige went down for her afternoon nap. During her nap Dave and I sorted out the details of our trip out east that is coming up since plans fell through that we had accounted for in the middle of our trip so we had to make some phone calls to switch check in dates and reconfigure our plan. In the evening friends came for dinner and Paige had her playmate to play with while we all caught up since it had been a little bit since we had all gotten together
Today we are off for a hike on the Seaton trail. Depending on the heat, not sure if we will make it as far as we did last week but we shall see. Then it will be Baby Beats in the afternoon. This week there should be a few more little ones at the class which will be fun for Paige.
