10 months

I guess Maddy's 10th month birthday was a while ago, but better late than never. I just realized how many new things she can do, so I wanted to get them all down for her to read later on.

She now has four teeth. The first two (bottom, front) came at the same, the next to appear was her top, front, but only the one on the left. I thought the top, front, right tooth would be next in line, but last week one more bottom tooth came. Her smile looks all wonky and crooked, but still cute in her mother's eyes!

We have a real talker on our hands. Three words that come up consistently are 'lottie', 'woody' and 'daddy'. We're not sure that the 'daddy' is referring to Josh, but if we say 'daddy' she'll look for Josh. She babbles A LOT! So cute to hear. I really should get the camera out and record some of it, because I know I'll miss it.

Maddy is definitely more verbal than mobile. She still just rolls from her front to her back and once she's on her back she just stays there. I can tell her stomach muscles are getting stronger because if we hold her legs down she can pull herself to sitting. She is getting better at pulling herself up and over my legs if we're sitting, but the whole crawling thing is still a mystery to her. I think she'll soon learn because she's beginning to want things that are out of her reach and getting frustrated that she can't have them.

KISSES!!!! I love the kisses the most. She won't do it every time, but if we purse our lips she'll lean in with her mouth. It's still a work in progress as she doesn't quite know how to close her mouth, but I'll take a slobbery kiss any day. She'll also give a 'hug'. Well it's more like she'll squish you in the crook of her neck. It's especially cute to see her hug one of her stuffed toys.

She loves to eat, and now the foods that she can eat are really appetizing to us. Sometimes I look at what she's having, compared to what I'm eating, and wish I could have the same. She's loves fruit especially melon and kiwi. She can pick up pieces of fruit and feed herself. The kiwi used to be harder but she's even mastered that. She can also pick up little puffed rice bits and feed herself. She loves her 'snack trap' filled with rice cakes and puffs. (Actually, I love her 'snack trap' filled with rice cakes and puffs because it keeps her busy for a LONG time!) Recently, we've been getting her to share and now she loves to pick them up and hold it out for us to eat.

That's about it for now. It's amazing how quickly the changes are coming now. I'm trying to hold onto and enjoy every change because I know that they too will soon be gone.

Chip! Chop!

Well I finally did it. It's been a long time since I've changed my hair style. I'm not one to take many risk with my hair and even then there are so many things to consider when deciding on a style. When I was pregnant I decided that I wanted a change, but everyone tells you not to do drastic changes when you're pregnant because it could just be the hormones!! :) So I waited. Then after Maddy was born, I figured that being able to throw it up in a ponytail was very necessary, so I left it. Now that I'm heading back to work, I feel like a new chapter is starting. I want to have a new me! So here it is...

Maddy's Last Swimming Lesson

Today, as I sat and watched Josh and Maddy in her last swimming lesson, I was shocked to see how much she has grown in the summer. In her first lesson, I remember Josh having to hold her in the sitting position because she hadn't quite mastered sitting on her own yet. I also realized that I just sit there with a huge grin on my face as I watch them in the water. I must look kinda funny, but I don't care. It's so much fun to see her look at everything around her. They always do the same thing during each 'lesson' but the babies just love it. Today they got to go down the waterslide at the very end of the lesson. What fun!!!

Parksville/Tofino

Last week we went to the Island for a family holiday. We stayed in Parksville for a couple of days and then took the Westfalia to camp in Tofino.

Traveling with Maddy is getting easier now that she can eat some solids or have a sippy cup with milk while still strapped in the car seat. She is so interested in new surroundings that it's so fun to see her take it all in.

Waiting to get on the ferry

On our first full day in Parksville we went to Coombs to see the 'Goats on the Roof'. They have a great little store there that sells a lot of different food products that you don't see in regular grocery stores. The last time we were there, I was pregnant and so sad to see the HUGE selection of cheese. So this time I was excited to go back and try some. We showed Maddy the goat on the roof but it just sat there, so I doubt she believed that it was real. She really loves crows so she spent more time getting excited over the birds. In the afternoon we drove to Cathedral Grove. It really is gorgeous to drive through the forest and see these super huge trees on both sides. We went for a quick walk in the forest, but I have to admit that I was more concerned about being bitten by mosquitos than enjoying the beauty of the trees. I'm happy to say that I didn't get bitten and I'm just getting over the bites from our Revelstoke trip.

Cathedral Grove

The next day we drove to the other side of Vancouver Island to Tofino. I'd forgotten how windy the road was and was really nauseous on the way there. Luckily we had everything with us so we parked on the side of the road and made some grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I LOVE OUR WESTY!! We spent the afternoon at Long Beach and walked around the town of Tofino. That night we camped and after Maddy went to bed, we enjoyed some toasted marshmellows and wine!! Unfortunately it was raining the next day so we decided to cut our trip in Tofino short and headed back to Parksville after a nice lunch. I'm so glad we decided to go to Long Beach the day before. At least we got to see it once. It would've been nice to see Schooner's Cove and play with Maddy in the tidal pools but it was not to be. We'll have to go back another time.

Playing in the sand at Long Beach

When we got back to Parksville, the rain seemed to follow us so we hung out and went the beach for a quick looksy. It was raining so hard in the afternoon, so we went to the mall. We were glad to see the sun on our last full day there. We went back to beach and Maddy got a chance to sit on the sand and 'play' for a bit. In the afternoon we went to the Beach Festival to see the sandcastles and then off to Qualicum Beach.

'Rocky' getting ready to go to the beach

The Parksville Beach Festival

Our week seemed to go by so quickly. Very different from our usual end of the summer vacations, but still lots of fun.

City Girl at Heart

*****UPDATED!! See below.********

Maddy will be 10 months old tomorrow and she learning so many things really quickly. I thought I'd post a few of them to share with everyone, but also to save the memories for Maddy to read when she is older.

I'll start with Maddy's aversion to all things 'green'. She seems to get the heebie-jeebies when she touches grass and other naturally occuring foliage. Once I tried to get her stand on the grass with her bare feet and she pulled them up and then gave a little shudder. The next time was when Josh bought me flowers for our anniversary. She was so intrigued by the colorful new 'thing' in the room, so I took her for a closer inspection. She touched the greens and shuddered again! It's really quite funny. While we were in Revelstoke, Josh's mom tried to slowly show her all-things-green. She did well when it was one seperate leaf at a time, but she still shudders after touching more than one green thing. One blade of grass, good (she's quite interested and loves to hold and look at it from different angles), but here's what happens when she encountered the entire lawn...


I couldn't get a great picture to show how much she hates it. She'll actually lift the entire leg up so that she's just sitting on one butt cheek!!



Hee hee, she's so funny and these pictures are even better, I couldn't resist posting them!


She was sitting there for a good 5-10 mins like that. Here's what happened when she got tired....

Pommegranate Picnic

It looks like all my praying on Saturday worked for dry weather on Sunday. Every year, Pommegranate Community Midwives host a picnic at New Brighton Park. If it rains, it is cancelled and they don't have another one until next year, so I was really hoping the weather would be dry. It was nice to see the Janice and Kat again and to show them how much Maddy has grown. There were tons of babies everywhere and even some toddlers. It must be so rewarding for the midwives to look around and see so many children they helped bring into the world.


Maddy made a new friend at the picnic, well at least until she pulled a whole handful of his fur and he yelped out in pain. Poor, poor dog!

Judy's Wedding Shower

Since I'm returning to work in September, I've started to wean Maddy of her daytime feeds. Although I'm sad about having to wean her, I'm enjoying the extra freedom it has given me. This Saturday I went to my friend Judy's wedding shower by myself!! Maddy stayed home with Josh, so I knew she was in good hands.


The shower was really nice and although the host said it would be fine to bring Maddy, I'm really glad I didn't. They had chef Gurj Dhaliwal from the Food Network's Superstar Chef Challenge 3 there. He gave us a cooking demonstration and made delicious rack of lamb with ratatouille and feta cheese and stuffed, baked muscles. YUM!! It looked easy enough, but somehow I think it'll be a while before I can try to make myself at home.


The shower was lots of fun and it was great to meet some of Judy's other friends who will be at the wedding. We ate the muscles and lamb that Gurj prepared along with way too many sweets, laughed and played shower games. It's always fun to open presents, even when they're not forme, I love to open presents :) Strange, I know!

Thanks for a great time, and good luck to Judy and Rob in 3 weeks when they say their 'I dos'!

August Long Weekend Already??

We have been so busy around here lately so I'll try and do a blitz blog.

Last Tuesday Maddy finally met her great aunt and uncle, Joe and Maria. They live near Portland, OR and they came to spend the night with us before we all left for Revelstoke the next day. It was quite funny to see Maddy sitting with Joe. She was so interested in his white beard, she just sat on his lap and stared at him. The funniest is when he gave her a kiss goodnight. I guess his beard tickles so she'd curl her feet and body up and wait for the kiss to be over.



The following day we packed up the Westy and prepared ourselves for the 6 hour drive to Revelstoke. Josh and I had our things in one bag and ALL the other bags, bins and containers were things for Maddy. I admit that I brought some clothes she never used, but a lot of it was for washing, feeding or entertainment. The entire back part of the van was full. Hee, hee I guess our days of backpacking will have to be put on hold for a bit!

The drive to Revelstoke went well and it's a bit easier since she can eat some of her meals while sitting in her car seat. We noticed her third tooth poking through and we think it was affecting her appetite. On the way there, I discovered that if she refused to eat with the spoon, all I had to do was give her a little piece of food to hold in her hand. While she is busy examining that piece, she'll absentmindedly open her mouth to take a bite!

The next day we had plans to head to the campground in the afternoon, so Josh and I decided to take Maddy to the swimming pool with Oma. It was great because we had the whole pool to ourselves and the water was nice and warm. Oma took lots of pictures for us (I guess they don't have the 'no cameras' rule) and I'll try and post some later.

After naptime, we headed to Carnes Creek campgrounds. It's about a 20 min drive outside of Revelstoke. The weather was a little grey, but the rain held off until after we went to bed. We were warm and toasty in the Westy, but poor Joe, Maria, mom and dad. They were in their tents and had a not-so-restful sleep.

We also tried a new sleep arrangement for Maddy this time. Last time she was in a pack-n-play in the front of the van. That meant that we had to go to bed at the same time as she did because we'd have to crawl over her to get to our bed. This time we just left the backseat up and she slept in the back! It worked perfectly and we were able to come in through the front door and climb to the upper bed without disturbing her. It was nice to actually enjoy the campfire this time!!


The next day, Pascal, Kim, Kaes and Lyn joined us. The weather made a turn for the worse, so we spent most of the evening huddled under the tarp and laughing at our misfortune. It certainly didn't feel like August, more like Thanksgiving day weekend. We made it through the night and the next day was beautiful. It was so nice that dad could even take the boat out for a few rides. Maddy and I didn't go because we didn't have a life jacket that would fit her. We'll go next year!
On our last campfire night, I got to roast the last marshmellow. It was the one and only marshmellow roasted on the entire trip because we ate all the others during the rainy days and nights! I took extra care, knowing that it was the only one, and it was the best!! :)



Maddy had a great time. She was so content to sit on everyone's lap. She was probably to warmest one of all. She looked so adorable all bundled up, just waiting with her mouth open for the next bite of food. She didn't really even need to many toys to play with because she was happy just sitting with someone and looking at all that was going on around her.



After three nights, we were ready to come home to our showers and warm beds. Sunday night was even more special because mom and dad babysat Maddy while Josh and I went out for the first time without her!!!! Wow, it was fun. We went for a nice dinner, had wine, an appetizer, main course and even stayed for a fancy coffee afterwards. It was nice to go, just the two of us, and 'dine' instead of 'eat'.


On Monday it was time to go home. The weekend was so much fun and it was great to be with the Blommesteins again. We're already looking forward to next year! Phew, I'm done. I guess it really was a LONG weekend! Congratulations if you made it all the way to the end. :)