Well the weather was too crazy to head to Vancouver this weekend. It was disappointing not to see Little E's friends and of course Auntie Soph, but better safe than sorry as they say.
We had a great day today - although another wake up call that we're no longer city dwelling. We had planned to go swimming today, only to find out that the pool didn't open to the public until 1:00! Where are we?? Instead we spent the morning at the market, snacking on home baked goodies and listening to a band called Celtic Cargo Cult and watching Little E clap and shake her little booty.
This afternoon we drove around scoping potential neighbourhoods for a home.
When we got home Little E had just woken up and was hanging out with Granny - man is she cute - Little E I mean. Besides her dancing and singing and obsession with certain events, some of the words I love to hear from her are:
Vack-e-tume - vacuum
Mussis - muffins
Tee too - thank you
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Our Routine
We're feeling so much more settled now.
We have a routine and we're starting to get to know our way around now - things are feeling more familiar. One of the ways I can tell I'm becoming an Islander again is the reluctance I now feel to leave the Island.
Little E is making some new friends here too. We have a music class every Monday (that a girlfriend of mine just happened to sign up for with her kids) and a play gym class every Wednesday. I will take some photos of the play gym tomorrow - it's amazing!!! The first time we went, I could barley get Little E's coat and shoes off before she was running into the middle of the gym to dive (literally) into a soft container of balls.
I start prenatal yoga tomorrow night and choir next Thursday - hopefully I can keep my food down during all of that deep breathing.
There have been some impressive new developments in Little E's activities. Tonight she made a salad - I mean while Granny was on the phone and I was out she tore up the lettuce and put it in the bowl making sure she tore off all the brown bits and put them aside! Brilliant!
She has become aware of the need for privacy during her bowel movements. She makes her way to the broom closet and proceeds to poo in solitude.
She dwells on and recites major events - I fell on the stairs while holding Little E and now she reminds me to be "careful mommy - ankle" on our way down, Granny broke her planter pot and Little E will not let it go! "Boom - pot broken", and finally the other day she was up on the counter while I was cooking and decided to taste the pretty hot pepper sitting on the pretty red dish. Hmm she points at the offending location and says "spicy"
Today Daddy C bought Little E a remote control car her own size. He is now the most popular person in the house.
These photos are entitled blueberry face and princess plays hockey:
We have a routine and we're starting to get to know our way around now - things are feeling more familiar. One of the ways I can tell I'm becoming an Islander again is the reluctance I now feel to leave the Island.
Little E is making some new friends here too. We have a music class every Monday (that a girlfriend of mine just happened to sign up for with her kids) and a play gym class every Wednesday. I will take some photos of the play gym tomorrow - it's amazing!!! The first time we went, I could barley get Little E's coat and shoes off before she was running into the middle of the gym to dive (literally) into a soft container of balls.
I start prenatal yoga tomorrow night and choir next Thursday - hopefully I can keep my food down during all of that deep breathing.
There have been some impressive new developments in Little E's activities. Tonight she made a salad - I mean while Granny was on the phone and I was out she tore up the lettuce and put it in the bowl making sure she tore off all the brown bits and put them aside! Brilliant!
She has become aware of the need for privacy during her bowel movements. She makes her way to the broom closet and proceeds to poo in solitude.
She dwells on and recites major events - I fell on the stairs while holding Little E and now she reminds me to be "careful mommy - ankle" on our way down, Granny broke her planter pot and Little E will not let it go! "Boom - pot broken", and finally the other day she was up on the counter while I was cooking and decided to taste the pretty hot pepper sitting on the pretty red dish. Hmm she points at the offending location and says "spicy"
Today Daddy C bought Little E a remote control car her own size. He is now the most popular person in the house.
These photos are entitled blueberry face and princess plays hockey:
Friday, January 6, 2012
Strong start
We've been touring the Strong Start programs at the various elementary schools trying to get a feel for the schools and the neighbourhoods. They all vary in their attendees and play supplies / programs and judging from Little E's reaction the Comox school Brooklyn is her favourite so far.
Little E is behaving differently towards the other kids and I realize that it's because they are all new and unknown. She still asks for her friends in Vancouver and I suppose I underestimated the depth of her relationships. After reflecting on a drive to Nanaimo and back (dropping off Daddy C to head over to the mainland to work on the house) I realized that she would be feeling the same as me right now.
I miss my friends and sister, I'm nostalgic for the city and my home and everything here is new again. Except that it's old because I grew up here. Anyway, we're just getting settled I suppose - this is life.
Little E is behaving differently towards the other kids and I realize that it's because they are all new and unknown. She still asks for her friends in Vancouver and I suppose I underestimated the depth of her relationships. After reflecting on a drive to Nanaimo and back (dropping off Daddy C to head over to the mainland to work on the house) I realized that she would be feeling the same as me right now.
I miss my friends and sister, I'm nostalgic for the city and my home and everything here is new again. Except that it's old because I grew up here. Anyway, we're just getting settled I suppose - this is life.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
We've Landed
Whooee my writing fingers are a little stiff, hopefully this all makes sense ;)
So far so good!
It's really comfortable here at Granny's house, and Little E especially loves the chickens in the backyard. She greets them with a "good morning girls" when she walks the doggy with Daddy in the morning and helps Granny feed them in the afternoons. They won't replace her friends and rellies in Vancouver but they sure do a good job of keeping her interested here.
It seems like Little E is settling in quite well. We have her room all set up with her crib, toys and books. And she's getting to know Granny's neighbourhood going on walks with the dog. She's talking about Granny, GG and Great Granny a lot with them around more now (although Parker, Maddie and Izzy still make regular appearances in her stories). I am looking forward to introducing her to some new little friends - and meeting some myself.
I am enjoying the short distances to virtually everything and the ample parking once there. The extra pair of hands on Little E is pretty fantastic too. We have been touring the house inventory and haven't found anything promising yet, although there seems to be a lot on the market with more promised now that the new year has rolled around. Now we just have to get ours on the market…
Here are some photos of our Christmas excitement over the past week.
Happy New Year!!
So far so good!
It's really comfortable here at Granny's house, and Little E especially loves the chickens in the backyard. She greets them with a "good morning girls" when she walks the doggy with Daddy in the morning and helps Granny feed them in the afternoons. They won't replace her friends and rellies in Vancouver but they sure do a good job of keeping her interested here.
It seems like Little E is settling in quite well. We have her room all set up with her crib, toys and books. And she's getting to know Granny's neighbourhood going on walks with the dog. She's talking about Granny, GG and Great Granny a lot with them around more now (although Parker, Maddie and Izzy still make regular appearances in her stories). I am looking forward to introducing her to some new little friends - and meeting some myself.
I am enjoying the short distances to virtually everything and the ample parking once there. The extra pair of hands on Little E is pretty fantastic too. We have been touring the house inventory and haven't found anything promising yet, although there seems to be a lot on the market with more promised now that the new year has rolled around. Now we just have to get ours on the market…
Here are some photos of our Christmas excitement over the past week.
Happy New Year!!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
A Farewell Ticket
Arrrgghhh
What a send off. Yesterday when I was shopping for the one present (other than Little E) that I am required to buy this year (thanks to a present swap) I naively parked on West Fourth along with a row of other suckers and came out to an empty strip and a tow truck loading the last of us onto his lift.
One hundred and fifty dollars later (not including the gift money) I was right back where I started. The second most painful part of the scenario was the fact that I had arranged childcare for Little E in order for me to do some running around. At the end of the 2 hours the only thing I had managed to do was stop at a grocery store to pick up more boxes - ooo fun.
Today turned out to be more productive. I dropped Little E off at our friend Kate's house where she played with little Hannah. I packed 2 boxes, did 2 loads of laundry, vacuumed the house, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher and still had time to sit down and eat.
I wish I would have arranged some more play dates with Kate and our neighbour Sarah. Little E had so much fun with their little girls - once home, she said their names for the rest of the day.
I'm sure we'll meet some new friends in the Comox Valley too. Gulp.
Here's a cute little video (thanks to Parker's mom Donna) from Little E's play date last Friday.
What a send off. Yesterday when I was shopping for the one present (other than Little E) that I am required to buy this year (thanks to a present swap) I naively parked on West Fourth along with a row of other suckers and came out to an empty strip and a tow truck loading the last of us onto his lift.
One hundred and fifty dollars later (not including the gift money) I was right back where I started. The second most painful part of the scenario was the fact that I had arranged childcare for Little E in order for me to do some running around. At the end of the 2 hours the only thing I had managed to do was stop at a grocery store to pick up more boxes - ooo fun.
Today turned out to be more productive. I dropped Little E off at our friend Kate's house where she played with little Hannah. I packed 2 boxes, did 2 loads of laundry, vacuumed the house, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher and still had time to sit down and eat.
I wish I would have arranged some more play dates with Kate and our neighbour Sarah. Little E had so much fun with their little girls - once home, she said their names for the rest of the day.
I'm sure we'll meet some new friends in the Comox Valley too. Gulp.
Here's a cute little video (thanks to Parker's mom Donna) from Little E's play date last Friday.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Emotional Work
We are in the thick of packing right now. The only reason I have time to write this is because Daddy C has gone out to get more boxes.
I was doing ok emotionally, until we started taking all of the pictures off the walls. I think I am mostly worried about Little E. We visit the picture wall at least once a day, and already she has noticed that her favourite baby playing piano photo has disappeared. Her room is looking much more bare and there are boxes piled everywhere.
The only reconciliation is that soon we will be seeing a good number of the people in the photos in person. And I was thinking about it the other day, although I remember a number of the places we lived when I was little, I don't ever remember the actual move process. So hopefully this isn't as traumatizing for Little E as I'm imagining. It's probably harder for me.
p.s. Little E gave herself a porridge spa this morning. Perhaps a relaxing mechanism…
I was doing ok emotionally, until we started taking all of the pictures off the walls. I think I am mostly worried about Little E. We visit the picture wall at least once a day, and already she has noticed that her favourite baby playing piano photo has disappeared. Her room is looking much more bare and there are boxes piled everywhere.
The only reconciliation is that soon we will be seeing a good number of the people in the photos in person. And I was thinking about it the other day, although I remember a number of the places we lived when I was little, I don't ever remember the actual move process. So hopefully this isn't as traumatizing for Little E as I'm imagining. It's probably harder for me.
p.s. Little E gave herself a porridge spa this morning. Perhaps a relaxing mechanism…
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Bye Bye Parker
It was a bitter sweet day today.
We had to say goodbye to little miss Parker - it was the last day that I will be looking after her before the move.
Although they have their moments of feud and downright nastiness, Little E and Parker have become like sisters. Holding hands whenever we go for a walk, hugging and kissing and imitating each others emotions. Little E acts like the responsible older child (bossy? or perhaps leader is a nicer description) - reminds me of myself when I was little. She's always looking out to be sure that Parker gets a piece of whatever she has demanded, or retrieving Parker from the living room when I'm trying to suit them up and herd them out the door - "come on, come on Parker".
I wonder how long it will take to adjust.
Parker's mommy bought Parker and Little E matching leggings and tunics that they are sporting today.
We had to say goodbye to little miss Parker - it was the last day that I will be looking after her before the move.
Although they have their moments of feud and downright nastiness, Little E and Parker have become like sisters. Holding hands whenever we go for a walk, hugging and kissing and imitating each others emotions. Little E acts like the responsible older child (bossy? or perhaps leader is a nicer description) - reminds me of myself when I was little. She's always looking out to be sure that Parker gets a piece of whatever she has demanded, or retrieving Parker from the living room when I'm trying to suit them up and herd them out the door - "come on, come on Parker".
I wonder how long it will take to adjust.
Parker's mommy bought Parker and Little E matching leggings and tunics that they are sporting today.
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