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
We had a great night in Halifax and a great sleep at the hotel and actually ended up all sleeping in for the first time on our trip.
With sleeping it didn’t give us any time for some more exploring since we were meeting up with an old friend for brunch so we could catch up and meet his girlfriend. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Ardmore Tea Room on Quinpool Rd. It is a greasy spoon type of restaurant where the servings are a good size and the prices are right. We had a great visit and caught up on all of the most recent news.
Once breakfast was over we were headed back to Truro, but not without a stop at Darthmouth Crossings which everyone out east had been talking about. This is similar to any of the new shopping plazas being built full of “outlet” stores.
Once we were back in Truro we met up with Dave’s oldest sister for a walk in Victoria Park. We followed the path up to the waterfalls and on the way back stopped under the shade of a tree for a visit and to let our daughter stretch her legs some. There are quite a few trails in this park, so next time we are out we will have to explore more of them, since we didn’t really have time on this trip.
Check out what we got to on some of the other days of this trip:
We set aside a day and night on our trip to head into Halifax. We both love this city as it was somewhere we had both lived at some point.
We headed for the city shortly after breakfast to be able to enjoy the day wandering around and doing a little shopping. Our first stop was the Delta Barrington to see if we could check in early and park the vehicle. The room was ready early so we could off load our stuff before heading out by foot to explore the city. They definitely welcome families at this hotel and were quick to get a crib for our room. They also gave our daughter a little gift pack which consisted of a phthalate free dinosaur which was just the right size for her little hands and a little board book. She loved these gifts and we can’t keep the book out of her hands!
Once we were set we headed down to the waterfront for some lunch at Salty’s. This is one of the best waterfront restaurants for fish and chips and a great view. It was a busy spot out on the patio. The restaurant did not disappoint.
We wandered along the boardwalk running the length of the harbour area making our way to the Keith’s brewery.
We did not go for a tour on this trip, but instead turned up towards Spring Garden road to wander and maybe some shopping. The rain started to come down pretty hard as we were making our way up this road so we stopped to buy an umbrella so we could keep wandering. Once the rain lifted we ventured into The Halifax Public Gardens. These are lovely gardens that are open to the public during the day and are locked up at night. They are a great spot to enjoy a picnic lunch.
After wandering around downtown Halifax we made our way back to the hotel for our daughter to have a nap. She was not having any of that, so I thought it might be nice to take a drive out to Fisherman’s Cove since it is written about in all of the tourist information.
I have to say that it is not what it is cracked up to be, however there was a nice little beach area where little ones can splash about in the ocean water. Since it is a shallow cove the water isn’t too cold either. Our daughter had her first step in the ocean here.
After our little play in the water our daughter was sleepy so we loaded her in the car and headed back to the hotel. Once back at the hotel she was ready to go again and full of energy so we changed into dry clean clothes and figured we would grab some food down on the boardwalk. We grabbed a bite from one of the huts and sat at one of the picnic tables set up in the harbour. We got to see Theodore Tugboat up close as well. Maybe next time we are out there we will have to take her on a tour on Theodore.
What is your favourite thing to do in Halifax?
Check out what we got to on some of the other days of this trip:
Day 9 – Our first full day in Nova Scotia was set aside to visit with my sister-in-laws and their families as well as Dave’s grandmother and parents. It was a warm day so the little ones had fun playing in the kiddie pool and getting to know each other. It was great to catch up with everyone and this was their first time meeting our daughter.
After which we took some family photos and enjoyed a nice dinner.
Day 10 – Was a nice relaxing day. The kids played together in the morning and then after lunch Dave and I headed out to catch up with friends and their little ones for a bit. When our visit with friends was over we made our way over to Dave’s oldest sister’s place for a swim in the pool and some more visiting.
Day 11 – Dave’s parents took us out to Masstown Market for lunch. This is a large fruit and vegetable market as well as some grocery goods, deli counter and some household goods. They also serve lunches and ice cream. We had a wander around the market checking everything out before sitting down to a great lunch. I had a half a sandwich and salad. The salad was a spinach and strawberry salad which was fantastic. While Dave enjoyed another lobster roll.
To read about more of our trip check out the links below:
It was another early morning, but not as early as we had been getting up (5:45am) which meant we got a good start on the road.
Our original plan was to drive as far as St John’s, NB and then camp for the night. Dave had other ideas though once we got on the road. We took Route 1A up to the Maine/ New Brunswick border and enjoyed some of the sites along the way.
From the border we then headed to the main highway since Dave wanted to get to his parents that night instead of the following day. On the way we did take one detour to St Andrews By the Sea to enjoy our picnic lunch by the water and wander the main street. This is a really cute town and they have a great art shop where we picked up some pottery to take to my mother-in-law.
Then it was back to the main highway to reach our destination. This was our daughters first time meeting Dave’s parents and we arrived just after dinner.
To read about what we got up to on the other days of our trip check out the below links:
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.
Early morning trend continued on day 7 with our daughter waking up at 4:45am. Since it was nice and early and the weather forecast for the morning was good it seemed like the perfect day to hike up Cadillac Mountain. We headed out of the campground around 6:15 once we had woken up enough, brushed our teeth and made some peanut butter sandwiches for the hike. We hiked the Cadillac Mountain South Ridge Trail leaving from Blackwoods campground. The trail is fairly flat and moderate from the campground to the main trail head and involves crossing the main island road. There are some boards you need to walk across in the swampy areas as well.
Once you hit the main trail head the climb begins. The South Ridge Trail is the easiest of the trails leading up Cadillac Mountain but the trail could be challenging at times, especially with a little one on my back. It is recommended to hike up the mountain to be at the top for either sunrise or sunset. After hiking this trail in the light, I would definitely not want to hike this in the dark. They were working on the trail in a number of spots when we were hiking up to help preserve and protect the surrounding landscape. There are some fantastic views along the way. At the right time of year there are also a great deal of blueberries lining the trail so you could have a nice snack. Our daughter napped in the carrier for a large portion of the upwards climb.
Once we reached the summit we enjoyed a bit of a snack and a break before hiking back down. Many people will hike one way and take the Island shuttle back down. Nearing the final stretch is where you can meet the biggest challenge. It is rocky and a bit of climbing is involved. You reach this portion after hiking down a bit where there is a pond. The views are definitely something else once you are up at the summit.
As we started the decent back down Tessa had a run in with a porcupine. She would not let us remove the quills while on the trail so she had to hike back to the campground with them in her mouth and nose. We were back at the campground by 11:00 am, so Dave headed into Bar Harbor to take Tessa to the vets while our daughter and I made and had some lunch and relaxed a little. The vet told Dave that they have dogs in there at least a couple times a week who have had a run in with the porcupine on Cadillac Mountain.
After lunch we headed out of the park to grab a shower and get cleaned up. There is a private operation offering paid showers just outside of the campground located on the main road. It is $2 for 4 minutes since there are no showers within the campground.
Once cleaned up we headed back into Bar Harbor to pick up a few items, check emails and then pick up Tessa from the vets. Since Tessa was in no state to walk (she had to be put under to have the quills removed), we took a drive down to Bass Harbor to see the lighthouse.
The drive was nice and it was a great way to spend part of the rainy afternoon. Once we reached the lighthouse the sun decided to come back out.
After a little drive around Bass Harbor we continued on to Southwest Harbor to grab some dinner before heading back to camp. We decided to order take-out from a little place on the main street. Once I had ordered dinner I headed next door to check out Hatched On MDI. This is a gorgeous children’s shop carrying clothing, toys, etc that are not your run of the mill. She carries lots of the brands that I like for our daughter which are more unique and the woman who owns the store was a great help in choosing some outfits to take home with us. Once my shopping was done dinner was ready and we were back on the road.
We decided we would take our dinner to a freshwater beach we had passed on the way down. Paige was enjoying watching a family play frisbee on the grass while we ate. Then we let our daughter wade in the water and play in the sand.
We had trouble getting her out of the water to head back to camp. Once back at camp it was time for our daughter to head to bed and then we got ourselves organized and partially packed for the trip the following day.
To see what else we got up to on this trip check out the links below:
Up with the sunrise to greet the day (approximately 5:00 am). Since quiet hours at Blackwoods campground are until 8:00 am. We headed out of the site by 6:00 am, with Peanut Butter sandwiches in hand, so we didn’t disturb too many campers with our daughter talking up a storm. She was really taking to the camping thing by this point.
We headed out for a drive on part of the park loop on our way to Sandy Beach to hike part of the Ocean Path. It was the hi-lited trail of the week so we figured it must be worth checking out. It was so nice and quiet on the drive and we were able to enjoy some great views while we watched the sun coming up more.
Sandy Beach has large washroom facilities and change rooms which made us wonder if this beach gets pretty packed on a hot summer’s day. It was quite cool when we headed out so we were dressed in our sweats and hoods were up. There is a very nice beach down a set of stairs here which dogs are not allowed on. It was so peaceful standing at the top watching and listening to the waves crashing into the pink granite cliffs.
The ocean path is a relatively flat gravel path that follows the road for a portion of it. There are some stairs on trails leading from this path to lookouts along the way. You could probably do this path with a stroller as long as it was one meant for “off-road”. We decided to hike as far as Thunder Hole which is a 2.8 mi hike return. We were the only ones on the trail going out to Thunder Hole so it was so nice and peaceful. We reached Thunder Hole shortly after low tide and it was putting on an impressive show. Our daughter was a little uncertain of it when we neared the hole, so I mostly stayed up top while Dave and Tessa spent some time right down there watching the waves and the spray.
After our short hike we ventured into Bar Harbor. Our first stop was breakfast at the Ivy Inn located on the main strip as you are heading south out of town. The service was incredible, and the food was amazing. I had oatmeal with fruit compote and burnt sugar (never thought I would rave about oatmeal, but this was so good, even my husband who only like the instant oatmeal packets thought this was really good) with a bowl of fruit (nice fresh fruits and berries), and Dave enjoyed the local egg breakfast with a side order of praline bacon. If you enjoy coffee with your morning breakfast then you must stop in here. They have the best coffee I have ever tasted. The breakfast was quite reasonable for the 2 of us and our daughter enjoyed a little of our breakfast while chatting up a storm with some of the other guests.
After enjoying our breakfast we then thought it would be a good morning to browse the shops and maybe pick up a few items to take back with us. It was still early so many of the shops were not yet open, but as we made our way towards the harbour more were opening up. We picked up a couple locally written books for our daughter at Sherman’s books that were recommended by the staff there. Tessa also got a new lobster stuffed chew toy to play with.
Once we were shopped out we drove out to the Oceanarium to check it out, but you have to do the 1.5 hr tour (can’t pick to do only some of the sites) so we weren’t sure our daughter could handle that since she hadn’t yet napped.
So it was back into Bar Harbor for some lunch before heading back to the campsite. We tried Stewman’s which is right on the harbour. The service was terrible, the food was not very good (I ordered 2 piece fish & chips – one piece of fish was cold and soggy and the other was ok) and much pricier than many of the other restaurants around. Dave said that his lobster was cooked properly and he enjoyed the lobster. I would definitely not return here. The high chair they brought us was coated in dried food and when I asked for a cloth to clean it, the server told me I could just use the paper napkins sitting on our table.
The rain started while we were eating our lunch, so we made a stop at the grocery store and Natural Foods to pick up some groceries before we headed back to camp.
Since it was raining and our daughter had finally fallen asleep we dropped the groceries and headed out to Thunder Hole as they had told us the best time to see it was 2 hrs before high tide. Since it was bucketing down and our daughter was napping, Dave parked the car and then headed down on his own to see it. It was very busy, but Dave said that we had actually seen it put on a better show when we had been there early in the morning.
We then decided to drive down to check out Northeast Harbor. This is a cute little town and where you can catch the mail boat over the Cranberry Island. We stopped and enjoyed the view at the harbour until our daughter woke up, at which point we stopped at the hardware store to pick up a tarp then back to camp.
The tarp was to create a floor in our dining tent for our daughter to play on while we prepared dinner. She thought it was great since she could check out our camping bin and get her sillies out.
To read about what else we got up to on this trip check out the links below:
Again we were up about 6:30, grabbed breakfast (included at the hotel) and headed out. There was a light rain in the morning. We continued on Hwy 1 to be able to enjoy the coast and little towns along the way.
Our first stop of the morning was at the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. We walked out part of the way along the breakwater but after reaching about the halfway mark, we decided to turn around as it was harder going since the breakwater you walk out on is large stones piled together. I was nervous about taking a wrong step and falling with our daughter on my back which prevented me from being able to look around and enjoy the view. We stopped, took a couple photos and turned back where we spent a little bit of time on the sandy beach checking out the sea weed and shells as the tide was partially out when we were there.
Our next stop was Camden, Maine. This is such a cute town with an interesting attraction. The waterfalls that run into the harbour do so by running under some of the building on the main street. It is pretty neat to see.
We picked up lunch to go and took it with us to Camden State Park where we drove up Mount Battie to enjoy our lunch at the top. It gives you a great view of Camden and on a clear day you can see Mount desert Island. The cost was $4.50 per adult and we did not have to pay for our daughter. There is also a lookout tower you can climb to get an even better view.
As we continued on our drive we drove through Fort Knox, Maine where we saw this interesting bridge which has an observatory at the top. Maybe next time we do this trip we can stop to check out the observatory.
“Next stop Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, Maine. We set up camp for the next three nights at Blackwoods campground which is down at the south east end of the island. The camp sites have little to no privacy, are stone and quite a bit of water was running through our site when we got there. You are not able to reserve a specific site, but rather they are assigned as you arrive. When we checked in there were still quite a number of empty sites left. The washrooms were not the cleanest and Dave kept noting to me that there was no soap in the washrooms. I think we just got too spoiled when we camped at Silver Lake State Park that it made this site look worse than it was.
We wanted to take it easy after getting the tent set up so just headed into Otter Creek (first stop near the campground) to the general store where we picked up a few grocery items and ordered a pizza. The pizza took over an hour to be made on a grocery store crust so we ended up missing the evening program at Blackwoods campground (the other nights we were there they only offered the late program). So we just headed back to our site and relaxed and had a fairly early evening.
To read about what else we got up to on this trip check out the links below:
