This little parcel arrived for Grae first thing this morning…
Of course, she wasted no time opening it.
Inside, Gracen found all kinds of pretty Valentine’s things from her “Manmaw” Charlotte.
Including this Valentine’s stamp set. When you see red splotches all over Gracen’s face and hands in the next few days, you’ll know why. :)
Ponies.
Morning reading.
Serious colouring.
The Rainbow Fish on storylineonline.net.
Errands, round one.
Usual post-nap scene. A cozy blanket, books, and a little snack.
Errands, round two.
(On a side note, we can’t go to Superstore without going to see this little duck. He’s been the only duck amongst a crowd of bears since we moved to Vancouver 6 months ago, and Grae loves him. Every time we walk through the doors, she starts signing ‘duck, please’ and proceeds to point you in the right direction. We stop by, she visits with him, and that’s that. Not quite sure what we’ll do when the duck eventually finds a home one day…)
Crayon transferring.
Messy dinner.
Pre-bedtime apple.
Gracen got the sweetest little Valentine’s package ever today! Her cousins, Auntie, and Uncle sent her a Dr. Seuss board book and this adorable ‘5 little thumb buddies ♥ you’ valentine. Melt my heart! Thanks for making our little lady’s day, Kossowan Clan. Grae loooooooves mail!
Today was a day of firsts for our little family… It was the first time Gracen and I were apart for a day, it was my first day back in the classroom in over a year and a half, and it was the first day Bradley was at home to man the house and take care of the doodlebug all on his own. If I am being honest, I wasn’t concerned that Gracen and Brad would do just fine… I was most worried that I’d be the one that was a mess! Overall, my first day away went quickly (there’s really no other way when you’re surrounded by 21 energetic Kindergarteners) and I was home smushing on my little lovebug in no time. And although I’d rather spend my days with Grae than with a classroom of students, it was sort of refreshing to be back in my teacher role after an extended break. Definitely doable once a week. As long as I continue to receive videos like these that is.
This morning’s activity involved baking a fresh batch of healthy muffins for the week. Baking with a very busy baby isn’t always easy, so I try to have my ingredients {roughly} measured out before we actually get started. I find that it’s just easier if Grae can stay involved with the dumping and mixing and not have to wait for me to fetch and measure ingredients.
Today we sat on the floor next to the lazy susan and measured out the dry ingredients together and then she did this while I quickly gathered the wet ones. There’s nothing like a little bowl of almonds and a drink to keep this little munchkin happy.
When I had everything out and ready, it was time to get to work. First, Grae gave the dry ingredients a little stir by hand.
Then she added the walnuts.
In they go! This may not be the fastest way of doing it, but I always try to let her do it her way first and then help her dump the rest in afterwards.
In with the milk and olive oil.
And now for the egg…
In it goes.
Then the fun part. Adding the shredded carrot and zucchini!
She quite liked this step at first, but she didn’t love that her little hand was covered in grated carrot in between handfuls.
Once everything was in the bowl, it was time to let the mixer do its job. Grae held the bowl, just in case. :)
This was the point when Miss G realized that she could see her reflection on the side of the stainless bowl. Too funny!
With the batter finished, it was time to brush our muffin tin with olive oil.
Gracen waited patiently while I scooped the batter into the cups and then she sprinkled some cinnamon on the tops of the muffins.
Oops. The result of overly enthusiastic cinnamon shaking.
The final step was placing a pecan on each muffin top.
Of course, Grae wasn’t shy about shoving some in her mouth when she got the chance.
With the muffins in the oven, it’s now time to wait…
Gracen made sure to check on them part way through.
They’re done!
Here’s the end result. You know how you sometimes bake some healthy and then end up eating it because you know its good for you and not because it actually tastes good? Well not these! They are actually really delicious.
Not to mention, they’re kid approved. Gracen loves them!
If you’re in the mood for some yummy and mostly healthy (they do contain a small amount of sugar and salt) muffins, I strongly recommend you give these a try. I have issues following recipes as they are (hence the reason I’m not a great baker), but the recipe I used as a loose guide can be found here.
Or if you want to try our version, here it is:
Preheat oven to 350° . Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan by brushing it with olive oil.
In a large bowl, combine together the flour, brown sugar, flax, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oats and nuts. Add the oil, egg, milk, carrots, zucchini, and banana and stir until just blended. Sprinkle muffin tops with cinnamon and place a pecan on top of each.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and watch your baby gobble them up enthusiastically.
*I actually added an extra 1/3 of a cup of milk because the mixture seemed like it needed a bit more moisture, only to realize later that I had forgotten my thawed banana in the microwave (again, bad baker). With the banana, I don’t think we would have needed the extra milk. OOPS!
This is what could be seen at our house for most of the afternoon… It was Gracen’s first ever Super Bowl Sunday, and although she was happy to hang out at home with her Papa, she was more interested in her books than in the game.
Sadly, it wasn’t the Patriots turn this year, but I have a feeling that they’ll be Super Bowl champs several times in this little football fan’s future. :)
This morning we packed up our things and headed out to Granville Island bright and early.
The air was crisp, but we layered up and did some exploring.
Naturally, we ended up at the Kid’s Market. It was Grae’s lucky day. We were there so early that she was asked to test drive this ride to make sure that it was working well for the day.
After riding in a corvette, we popped in and out of stores until we came across this guy. She patted his leg, said “neigh”, and desperately wanted to climb on his back.
All of the rides caused Grae to work up an appetite. (Have I mentioned that she’s been a bottomless pit the last few days? I think she’s making up for all of the days she spent sick and not eating last week.) We headed to the market area where Gracen devoured a Terra Breads cheese flute and half of my souvlaki platter. This little lady is all about Greek food right now. Tzatziki? She LOVES it.
After a yummy lunch, we headed back outside to enjoy some more fresh air. Gracen is all about being able to let loose and run around without having to hold someone’s hand.
Of course, Gracen walked right up to the local musician who was performing and started dancing to his music. (Side note – If you look closely, you’ll see a couple with a dog and a stroller sitting on the bench behind Miss G… You’d probably think that they had a baby as well, but no. That wasn’t the case. The stroller was actually for their four-legged furry friend! I’m all about loving your pets – I did miss a funeral for a human being on the day I found out Titan had died because I couldn’t get my butt out of bed after all – but a doggy stroller? Really? Anyways, moving on…)
Besides enjoying local musicians, Grae’s other favourite Granville Island activity is running amidst the birds.
I’m not going to lie. This freaks me out. Sometimes I think that one of these human-sized seagulls is going to pluck my little girl up by the sweater and fly away with her. Of course, Gracen doesn’t seem to be the least bit worried.
We had a lovely morning {mostly} outdoors, which will make up for the afternoon we’re about to spend indoors watching the Super Bowl… Go, Patriots, go!
The weather was gorgeous today, so Gracen and I decided to head down to Stanley Park to visit the aquarium.
First stop – the beluga whales.
Next stop – the sea otters. This little guy was totally performing for Grae and she was just soaking it in. Sea otters have to be one of the cutest creatures ever.
After being outside for an hour and a half, we headed inside to warm up a little bit. Grae loves the giant tank by the entrance way that is filled with all kinds of sea creatures.
Next we headed to the dolphin underwater viewing area.
This dolphin was very playful with Grae and provided all kinds of entertainment by doing flips and twists, touching her nose to the glass, and diving in and out of the water.
After seeing most of the main exhibits, we parked our stroller and headed into Clownfish Cove for some playtime.
Gracen explored, played, and made some new friends before it was time to head downtown and meet Bradley for dinner.
Gracen adores the little family and friends photo book she got in her stocking while we were up in the Okanagan.
I’m fairly certain we’ve “read” it at least 5 times a day each day since she got it. She carefully points to each person’s face and either tells me the person’s name or waits for me to tell it to her.
“Manmaw” (Grandma) and “Ee-Doh” (Gido) are easy peasy.
Grandpa Dave still gets called “Ee-Doh” most of the time, but we’re working on fixing that.
Inevitably, someone in the book is always “pretty, pretty, pretty”. Today Grae ran her little finger over Auntie Rozi’s hair several times and announced, “pretty, pretty, pretty”. I asked her, “Grae, do you think Auntie Rozi is pretty?” and with big eyes, she gave me the biggest, most serious nod ever. Aw, Auntie Rozi – Grae thinks you’re pretty!
Here are a few of the other pages in Miss G’s book:
Making the book was super easy. All I did was round up some photos, add the text using Pixelmator (the photo editing program I use), and printed them out. I picked up the little album while grocery shopping, and it cost next to nothing.
We’re still waiting on a couple of photos of great grandparents, but Gracen loves this little book anyways. The best part is that Little G always has her loved ones close by. :)
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Gracen absolutely adores this little sweater from “Manmaw” Sue. In fact, I think she’s worn it everyday since she got it. It doesn’t matter how much it clashes with her outfit, it’s the only jacket she wants to wear right now. Oh, and just in case you forget who it’s from, she’ll remind you every few minutes by pointing to her sleeve while announcing “Manmaw” and nodding her head convincingly.
The weather has really been warming up here in Vancouver, so this afternoon we decided to head out on a little walk around the neighbourhood.
There were some kids playing basketball at the elementary school across the street, so naturally, that’s where my little ball-obsessed lady led us.
You can’t go to the school without stopping by the playground, so that’s just what we did. (Notice that Grae’s walking up the stairs rather than crawling up them… She’s been working on that lately.)
Miss G is becoming so independent at the playground… She was able to get herself up the stairs, across the rickety bridge, and down the slide several times all on her own.
Satisfied with her time at the playground, we were back on our way. On a sort of funny side note – Grae was so into these shrubs that she lost her footing while sniffing them and fell right in! Oopsies. She was a little surprised, but just fine when I pulled her out.
On the way home, she tried her hand at collecting rocks. Lucky for me, these ones were a little too big to take with us… Next time, Grae. Next time.
We were playing in Gracen’s room this morning when she discovered this.
If she pulled all of the bins out of the one side of her shelf, she could fit inside almost perfectly.
She sat inside of her new little hideout for a good long while.
She was pretty proud of her new discovery to say the least.
Celebratory crib jumping was necessary afterwards. :)
Normally Gracen and I share the responsibility of picking out her clothes… She starts by picking out one item, and I’ll pick out another item to complete the outfit. But this little outfit? It is a creation all her own. She started by selecting last year’s incredibly summery Easter dress, but then paired it with a long sleeve tee and tights. Good save, Grae. Good save.
Little Miss G chose to wear her red sparkly shoes today and she could not have been more proud of them. As we ran errands, she kept pointing at her feet, announcing “pretty, pretty, pretty”, and then nodding her head in confirmation. :)
Hmmmm…. I wonder where Gracen could be…
Here she is!