Thursday, July 25, 2013

Making the Most of Summer!

We have been making the most of our summer holidays and are thoroughly not having to scoot out of the house to work and daycare in the mornings! We've had play dates and swimming lessons, seen the Changing of the Guard downtown, dropped in on Oma and Opa, gone exploring with friends, been to see Totem put on by the Cirque du Soleil, celebrated family birthdays and friend's birthdays, gone to the Ice-cream Festival, and spent a ton of time playing outside! We are loving it! I can't believe we're already approaching the end of July....ugh!

My baby is very quickly being replaced by a little girl! On the 18th of this month she turned two and a half! She is very much at the "myself", "I too", "I do it" stage. She is a master mimicker and wants to help with absolutely everything. If she doesn't want to do something...well, that's a different story! I get what I call the flopped fish as she sprawls on the floor and pretends to be asleep. Yup, that's my girl! Often pushing the limits, she is full of spunk and energy and is quite the character! She is bright and has a good sense of humour. The words are coming faster than I can keep up. The books we're reading are getting longer and more detailed. Her little mind is ALWAYS going. She's very much in tune with what's going on around her. Her little knees and legs constantly have scrapes and bruises because she's go, go, go. She's rough and tumble on one hand, yet loving and full of hugs on the other. She certainly keeps me on my toes and I wouldn't have it any other way. She is my little love.

Yes, she is fully clothed!
Lounging while out shopping
Helping Oma pull the cart at the nursery
How does this fountain work?
Happy Canada Day!
My little adventurer! She constantly has bruised knees...wonder why!
Rainy day fun

Changing of the Guard...tried uploading a video. Couldn't get it to work tonight!
On the look-out for ducks!


Joy!

Like my new house?
Sweet tooth extraordinaire!
A quiet moment at a friend's birthday BBQ
My silly girl!



Sunday, July 21, 2013

National Ice-cream Day!

Today was National Ice-cream Day...who knew?!? We have an incredible farm bang smack in the middle of our city, the Experimental Farm that, for a fee, is open to the public, and runs a series of programs specifically geared towards kids. Today they had an Ice-cream Festival so my brother, my sister-in-law and I loaded up our kids and met up for a good portion of the day. The weather was perfect and we had a great time!

Going to see the animals and play on the awesome play structure has always been enough to keep Keira both busy and happy. She actually woke up this morning saying "Animals!" and rattled off all the animals she intended to see and pat. She must have said "cows!" at least 20 times on our way to the farm. Add to that mix crafts, giant bubbles, ice-cream demos and taste testing, games, music, getting to milk a fake cow, free ice-cream (in addition to the taste testing!), and a picnic lunch, and she was one busy little girl! We were at the farm for four and a half hours. Needless to say, within minutes of being strapped into her car seat, she was snoring! ;-) 










I love days like these!!! I have to thank my brother for finding out about the festival and inviting us to join him and his family. What a great day! 














Saturday, July 20, 2013

She's Mastered the Straw!

Drinking from a straw takes some skill, one that Keira took quite a while to master. Whenever I had a drink with a straw, she would insist, "I too, I too!", yet inevitably would chomp, chew, or pull at the straw rather than suck up any liquid. It didn't matter what I tried, she simply couldn't get the hang of it.

My mother ended up getting her a straw sippy cup. Keira was able to figure it out but could (or would) not transfer her new found straw knowledge to a regular cup and straw. When the cup was left at my SIL's house one day, I ended up buying Keira some other straw cups to have on hand and to replace her sippy cups. She has been using them daily for her water. 

Today was the day the penny finally dropped! I'm not sure why or how, it just did! She asked for a sip of my booster juice (which I was planning on sharing with her anyway), and rather than pouring it into her cup, I decided to hand her mine and see what she'd do. Any guesses? She stuck the straw in her mouth and proceeded to take a drink, then asked for "more please!" What a ham!!! Keira being able to use a straw will make my life that much easier when we're out and about!!! Love my funny girl! 

We are loving our summer holidays. We've hit the nurseries, played at different parks, gone to see The Changing of the Guard downtown, been to see Cirque du Soleil with friends, and just finished a week of swimming lessons. Our summer plans have changed slightly. In just two weeks we're off to Cape Cod. We had originally planned a holiday to the UK with my mother. However, she is still experiencing significant difficulties with her foot from the break and surgery she had in November. We've decided long distance plane travel and hobbling about the UK is not a good idea and have opted for a shorter road trip instead. We are all super excited to be heading for the beach! Every time I tell Keira we're going on a road trip with Oma to a place with a pool and close to the beach, she shouts "Yay!" She might not think so after sitting in the car for nine hours! ;-) I've been gathering toddler supplies to keep her entertained while having to stay secure in her car seat. If you have any brilliant suggestions for keeping a two and a half year old busy in a car that DON'T involve a DVD player, please send them my way!!!

I'll post other summer pics shortly. For now, here's my big girl drinking from a straw for the first time today! For those of you who follow me on Instagram, they're duplicates, sorry!

                       

This way works too!
She's a character! Love my funny girl!