Today Grae and I attended our first event hosted by the online Expat Mums in Kuwait group that we’re a part of. It was an outdoor coffee morning down in Fahaheel in front of the fountains. It was hot, but it was nice to meet up with a few other moms and munchkins living in Kuwait. Afterwards, we headed inside for a few minutes to cool off.

Today was Amita’s (our wonderful housekeeper/nanny) birthday. To celebrate, we had Josephina, one of Amita’s friends who also works in our building, and Kate over for some Chocolate Bar cupcakes.

Gracen’s had a little cough and a runny nose for the past few days, so in an effort to not pass the sickness along, we skipped our usual Sunday Kindermusik class and went to Starbucks this morning instead. (I love Starbucks in Kuwait because it is the only smoke-free establishment in the country.)

Today Gracen and I went to the annual Workers’ Appreciation Luncheon at our school. Ms. Theresa has been the Grade One maid (I’ll never get used to that word) since I arrived here in Kuwait, and I’ll always have a special place in my heart for her. “Workers” around Kuwait are often treated and paid very poorly, and somehow many remain extremely kind and generous… Theresa was so excited to see Gracen and I that she ran up behind us and basically tackled us with a giant group hug. It scared the living daylights out of Grae to say the least, so that explains her less than cheery face in this photo. Ms. Theresa, you will be missed! :(

Today during breakfast our feisty little monkey began staring me down while doing her power sniffing. I gotta say, she’s got some serious staring contest potential! :)

A breakfast of champions! Steamed broccoli…

After returning home from a yummy sushi lunch, we decided to sit by the pool for a little while this afternoon.

Our smiley and squeaky clean baby girl after bath time. :)

I discovered this teeny tiny blister on Grae’s teeny tiny toe today… Tell me, how does a baby (who wears stretchy organic cotton shoes) get a blister on her toe? Strange.

‘Our pool is fixed and full of water? I. am. so. excited.’

Gracen’s newest trick involves scrunching her little noise up, pursing her lips, and breathing in and out quickly. It’s quite funny to watch. She looks like a little rabbit on a desperate search for some food.

This afternoon we decided to head downstairs to the courtyard to enjoy the warm breeze and sunshine. We packed up some blankets, Grae’s tofu and avocado, a couple of toys, and were on our way. Grae was a silly little thing the whole time we were down there. She made music…

Gracen sends her love halfway around the world to all of her wonderful grandmas. Grandma Sue, Grandma Charlotte, Nona, Great Grandma Routhier, Baba, and Great Grandma Shirley – We are thinking of you today. :)

Gracen’s very first beach experience. She drug her little fingers through the sand, inspected them carefully, and of course, put them in her mouth.

Today was a bit of a long day. Brad was at work with the car (and stroller and Ergo) and Gracen and I were at home getting things done and hanging out. Now normally I try to give Gracen only a couple of toys to play with at a time (partly so she learns to happily play without too many “extras”, partly so that she spends time with each of her specially-selected toys, and partly so she doesn’t become overstimulated), but today was different. All of her toys seemed to be out from a little baby play date we had earlier in the week, and I thought, ‘What the heck? Let’s see what she does.’