‘Can I wear these today, Mama? They go with my outfit, don’t they?’

Our poor girl. Our house is still in disarray and Grae’s “play area” has become inside the giant box our couch came in. Luckily she’s such a good sport.

Today Gracen and I met my good friend Brandie and her gorgeous little man, Jackson, for a walk and a picnic afterwards.

Just checkin’ out the neighbourhood.

Today we were amidst a GIANT Ikea run when it became very apparent that Gracen needed a break. Thank goodness for these little kiddie stations scattered throughout the store.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I’ve moved waaaaaay too many times to be a packrat. In fact, my motto is ‘The more you chuck, the less you have to pack’. Despite my need to not have a bunch of useless junk to move from one place to another, I do have one plastic bin of special items I kept from my childhood. Today I came across the bin and found this little gem. A naked, plastic baby that was mine when I was little. I remember clearly that she was not my favourite doll growing up. She wasn’t that much fun after all. She didn’t have any clothes, let alone multiple outfits to change her in and out of. And she didn’t have any hair to brush and style either. Just a few hard plastic strands stuck to her head. Nevertheless, I knew that she was special and that I would always keep her. I knew this because she belonged to my mom when she was a little girl. This little dolly has had quite the life. First it was my mom’s, then mine, and now Gracen’s. And who knows… Maybe one day, she’ll be passed down again.

In recent days, Gracen’s little hairdo has been verging on the point of a mullet. Well, today she was sitting in my lap and I was stroking her hair when it came to me – ‘I could totally make some little ponytails back here!’

The only word that comes close to describing the current state of our house right now is disaster. And that might be an understatement. We are still amidst scrubbing the grime out of this place, while trying to paint and unpack at the same time. Currently, there isn’t really a clean place for a baby to sit, let alone play, crawl, or eat. Thank goodness for the sunroom that’s at the back of the house. Today is was the only semi-suitable spot for the wee one to have lunch.

Even though we celebrated Gracen’s birthday at the beginning of August in the Okanagan (photos coming soon – a huge thanks to my Auntie Viv for those!!!), we had take a break away from the cleaning, painting, and unpacking to do something at least sort of special for the doodlebug’s real birthday. First, we headed to the Vancouver Aquarium with Grandma Charlotte and Auntie Steph.

There’s something to be said for having a yard in Vancouver. Well, anywhere really. After spending four years in what must be the beige-est place on earth, you come to appreciate the outdoors more than ever before.

Here’s what our little lady is up to at one year…

She loves:
• Sharing her food by shoving it in your mouth
• Getting a whole carrot or a whole piece of fruit to munch on
• Any kind of flatbread or breadstick
• Eating straight from a squeezey pouch
• Watching out the window
• Climbing
• Emptying boxes, bags, and bins
• Visiting the park/playground
• Being outdoors
• People watching
• When her Papa gets home from work
• Having books read to her
• Her “bubba” (a very old plastic doll that used to belong to her Mama and before that, Grandma Sue)
• Imitating your actions and words
• Dancing

She is OBSESSED with:
• Hats (turbans included)
• Balls

She dislikes:
• Laying in the tub and getting water in her ears

She thinks it’s hilarious when:
• She holds her food out to you as though she’s going to share and then snatches it away at the last minute
• She shoves her pointer finger in your bellybutton and wiggles it around
• She tickles your toes
• Adults crawl
• Mama races around the house pretending to be a superhero

She now eats / drinks:
• Natural peanut butter
• Prawns
• Wholewheat naan
• Artichoke hearts
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Feta
• Barley
• Wholewheat spaghetti
• Tomato sauce
• Dried cranberries
• Shitake mushrooms
• Snap peas
• Butter chicken
• Thai red curry
• Homemade pizza
• Chicken chilli
• Tuna melts
• Organic milk

She now says:
• “Dat?” – that?
• “Bubba” – baby
• “Ba” – ball
• “Pa” – park
• “Pup pup” – puppy
• “Woof” – dog barking
• “Buhbye”
• “Hot”
• “Purple” (after you say it)
• “Shampoo” (only once, but it was the most clear, perfect “shampoo” ever)

She now signs:
• Milk
• Drink
• Eat
• Hat
• All done

Recent changes / milestones include:
• Pooping on the potty (for the last 5 weeks)
• Learning how to flush the toilet
• Putting herself to sleep without any sleep props or rocking (we’re on night 6 of our 10 night sleep training program)
• Sleeping flat on her tummy
• Taking her first step (only one!)
• Almost seeming ready to move to just one nap a day (despite the fact that her Mama is not ready to accept this yet)

Wow. That’s a lot. Our little girl is growing up at light speed.
*Sigh*

Today we started unpacking some of our kitchen boxes. Grae was absolutely loving all of the packing paper. It was like her birthday party all over again!

Bradley and Grandma Charlotte arrived in Vancouver about an hour and a half after we did, and we were very lucky to have Uncle Brett, Auntie Steph, and Uncle Micah come over to help unpack the truck and occupy Grae. The truck is emptied and returned, and now the unpacking begins…

This morning we left the sunny Okanagan and headed down to the coast. We timed it so that Gracen and I left in the Kia just before her regular morning nap time, and according to our plan, she slept most of the way to Merritt. We stopped in Merritt for a stretch, some lunch, and a potty break before jumping back in the vehicle for the rest of the drive. Grae napped again for a couple of hours, and we were in Vancouver in no time.

Today’s job involved getting all of our worldly possessions packed up into the U-Haul truck. Thank goodness we had the help of Grandma Charlotte, Grandma Sue, and Rorie because there is only so long a baby can remain entertained by being in a box! :)