Because pretty much everything is shut down from Christmas Eve through Boxing Day here in Heidelberg, today was our first real day out and exploring with Grandma Charlotte. We took her down to the main pedestrian / shopping area in the city, went out for a delicious lunch, explored side streets, shops, and playgrounds, and walked along the river. Grae napped in her stroller, so we were pretty much out and about all day and then finished off the evening with a stop at the park across the street from our flat and a game of Hungry Hippos. ☺
Besides a Christmas Brad and I spent at Railay Beach a few years back while I was {unknowingly} pregnant with Miss G, this year’s Christmas was probably our most non-traditional. Our tree was a house plant strung with baubles. Our turkey dinner was dinner out at a restaurant. Our usual snow was rain. And our family members came in the form of Grandma Charlotte arriving on our doorstep this morning and surprising the heck out of Miss G (a definite highlight of the day). Different isn’t necessarily a bad thing – in fact, it was a really lovely day and I’m absolutely thrilled we got to spend our first Christmas away as a family of 3 here in Heidelberg – it just would have been that much better with all of our family members here, of course.
Our day started at 5:40 a.m. when Miss G awoke raring to get the day going. We opened stockings in our dimly lit living room, made a big breakfast together, and Brad announced that he had to go for a quick trip to the store shortly afterwards. Of course, he wasn’t going to the store, but to the train station to meet his mom and help her back to our flat to surprise Gracen. It felt like he was back in no time at all, and when he arrived, he opened the door and announced, ‘Look at what I found while I was out!’ He stepped out of the way to reveal Grandma Charlotte with her suitcases in tow and Gracen’s flapping, hopping, and shrieking began. The first words out of her mouth were, ‘What in the WOR-WOLD?!?’ and then she later declared it the ‘Best. day. EVER.’ Gracen helped unpack her suitcase full of all sorts of Canadian goodies and opened a string of never-ending gifts. The rest of our day consisted of a long walk in the rain, a playground stop, naps for everyone in the house, dinner out, and an early bedtime for all of us.
For some reason or another, I ended up giving my DSLR a bit of a break today, I don’t have a ton of photos and several of these are from my phone, but here’s our day in pictures…
The stockings were placed by the house plant with care…
What a lovely Christmas Eve we had today… We woke up to the most gorgeous sunrise, and after having some breakfast, enjoyed some low-key time around the apartment. We read books, played with play dough and unifix cubes, and Gracen danced her way around the apartment in her favourite ever dress {from Over the Loom}. When we were ready, we set off to the playground across the street and stayed there for most of the morning until we were chilly enough to warrant bringing hot mugs of tea over to sip on. There were walks and naps in between, and then we all sat down together to make the dinner Miss G had requested – turkey and rice soup. Afterwards, it was back outside in search of pretty lights and a playground to play at. We arrived home with rosy cheeks, and Miss G opened 2 little wrapped packages, just as she always does on Christmas Eve – one containing a pair of cozy jammies and the other containing a holiday book to add to her collection {this year, How Many Sleeps Till Christmas by Mark Sperring}. After she was snug in her bed for the night, Brad and I put on Love Actually, poured some wine, and wrapped up some gifts to place under our house plant turned Christmas tree {hey, you do what you gotta do, right? ☺}
This morning we met up with good friends and toured around the city together. It was a day filled with cafes, restaurants, walking, glüwein, and Christmas markets, and though it wasn’t the most munchkin-friendly day, Miss G managed to hang in there until falling asleep in her stroller about 3 minutes after leaving dinner. With Brad staying at a local pub for football night, I was going to make the 35 minute walk back to our apartment as quickly as possible for bedtime, but instead, I bundled my sleeping babe up tightly and leisurely made my way through the glowing shops and market stands, enjoying them one last time before they disappear tomorrow morning. When we eventually arrived at our apartment, I lugged my sleeping girl upstairs, set her into her bed, and listened to her sleepy murmurs as I removed her boots and jacket in the dark. I covered her up with her duvet, and she was out for the night. It was a good day.
Sometimes I forget just where we live. While our actual building and apartment are nice, the area of Kuwait we live in? Ehhhh, not so much. It’s a newer area, so it’s definitely in development (we just got roads recently which was huge, and we’re hoping waterlines might make it in before our time here is through) and it’s largely inhabited by third world nationals whose extremely low paying jobs are sadly still better than what they could find in their home countries. And while it can be sad and draining and frustrating to live here sometimes, I’m actually really glad that we do. In a country where {I think} it’s very easy to slip into the ‘more! more! better! more expensive!’ mindset, living in Mahboula keeps you grounded. Humble. Grateful.
And Miss G? Well, she’s just as happy exploring sandy lots and rubbish piles. In fact, today when I suggested we go out on an adventure, she quickly retrieved a bag to collect treasures in. I was skeptical, but sure enough, she found a few things she just had to take home (a pretty rock, a marble, and a plastic figurine). Here is our morning in photos…
Today my little lady and I set out to make one of our favourites – cinnamon dough ornaments. We followed the same recipe we followed last year and were so excited to cut out a bunch of cinnamon scented gingerbread people to decorate once dry.
We’ve wanted to get this little miss a bicycle of her own since we first moved to Kuwait, but finding one that is good quality and not covered in trademarked characters / ridiculously ‘girly’ has proven to be a challenge. We came across this very study and more sporty one a couple of weeks ago while at Go Sports in The Avenues and decided we’d pick it up in the New Year, but when Miss G and I learned about their storewide sale today, she got quite the surprise! She’s still getting used to it and the training wheels we borrowed from friends could use some tweaking, but I think she’s pretty excited about her first real big girl bike.
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Well, it’s official… At 3 years and 3 months, Gracen is completely done with napping. Truthfully, I’ve dreaded the arrival of this milestone. I know it sounds dramatic, but I feel like two hours of nap time each afternoon has been key to my being able to be an engaged, {somewhat} organized and on top of things mama during Miss G’s awake hours. It was my time to tidy up the house, come up with a plan for dinner, make phone calls and return emails, set up an activity for the afternoon, and sneak in a little time for myself. And when the naps stopped happening, I was a little panicked. I’m not going to lie… The transition period has not been easy, but I do feel like we’ve sort of fallen into a routine that is working well for both of us, now several weeks later.
The whole thing started about 6 weeks ago or so… I’d put Grae down as usual, she’d lay there for her normal two hours, and simply not fall asleep. Soon it became two hours of her calling me to her room repeatedly to make all sorts of requests and tell me she didn’t want to nap. Afternoons after “nap time” were hard. She was tired and frantic and needy and without some time to myself, I wasn’t at my best patience-wise. We’d fumble our way to a very early bedtime, and she’d immediately crash {and I’d want nothing more than to sit on the couch and enjoy some silence, but couldn’t because I had catching up to do from the crazy day that had just come to a close}. Most afternoons, our only saving grace was being outdoors. After the attempted nap, we’d head downstairs to our courtyard and stay there until dinnertime (I swear that fresh air – and water – have magical powers over tired, cranky, out of sorts kids). At this point, I really didn’t want to give up on naps all together, because a couple of times a week she’d actually fall asleep when put down, and those afternoons were GLORIOUS. After a sleep, she’d be happy, easy to reason with, and calm for the rest of the evening. Dinner wasn’t rushed, and bedtime routines were calm and slow. Those days were lovely.
Several weeks later, the couple of naps that were happening a week, stopped. I knew I had to make a change, but I wasn’t sure what the best plan was. Based on her afternoon demeanour, I honestly felt like Grae still needed a nap, but afternoons were becoming a little less frantic and cranky, and a little more manageable. I figured that as long as we both had some time to ourselves to rest and recharge, our afternoons would continue getting easier.
Enter the timer / rest / quiet play time combo – our new afternoon routine that is {*knock on wood*} working really well so far. After lunch, we get ready for nap time as usual. Miss G puts on some jammies, picks a couple of books and stuffed animals, and we snuggle and chat about our morning. I tuck her into her bed, and before leaving, set her timer for one hour. For that hour, she lays in her darkened room playing with her animals, singing songs, chatting, and reading her books with her glowing night light in hand. She knows that for that hour, she doesn’t have to sleep, but she does have to lay and rest her body. Having the timer there seems to have alleviated the problem of her calling me back to her room repeatedly and we both get to enjoy a little downtime to relax and recharge for the afternoon ahead.
Once the timer goes off, she pops up out of bed, turns on her light, and calls me. I bring her a little drink and snack, set the timer for another hour, and quiet play time begins. This is one of her favourite times of the day. She begins hauling out building blocks, dress-up clothes, and toy animals from her drawers and our only rule is that she plays in her room quietly for the full time without coming out. Most days, it’s no issue at all. In fact, sometimes the timer goes off and she pops her head out to tell me that she’s not done playing yet and she’d like some more time. The best part is that the play that happens during this hour is pretty amazing – it’s imaginative, often quite elaborate, and completely independent. I’ll fully admit that sometimes I eavesdrop to what see what sort of play scene is unfolding behind that closed door.
Today, once the timer had gone, she popped out into the hallway just vibrating with pride and excitement. “Mama! I know it’s time to clean up now, but just come and see what I made first! It’s a coffee shop! A Duplo one! And I’m using the little tiny cute cup I got when we got milk the other day. Come see! Come see!” I went into her room and amidst a sea of toys and clothes was this…
A coffee counter made of Duplo, just as she’d told me, complete with a barista and a customer.
We thought ‘dress up for the party’ meant pretty dresses and fancy shoes… It actually meant dress up in a costume – oops! Luckily the birthday girl kindly lent Miss G one of her many princess gowns.
Today was seriously the most wonderful day… A perfect blend of fun activities and downtime, time at home and time out and about. Gracen had an absolute blast, and as we tucked her in tonight, her last words were, ‘Mama, will tomorrow be Halloween too?’ I wish, sweet darling.