Very early this morning, Brad headed off for a week in Nepal, where he’ll be attending a tech conference. Tonight, as we were messaging back and forth with him, Grae requested that he send her a picture of himself in his hotel room. She promptly received this silly bug-eyed photo, and wanted to send him one right back. Like father, like daughter, I guess. ☺
Life back in Kuwait is treating us well. Our apartment is slowly starting to look like a home, Gracen and I have fallen into a nice routine despite the fact that we have very little mobility right now, Brad’s enjoying his new job, and I’m tutoring 4 afternoons a week, which is perfect. Here’s a peek at our new {old} life in Mahboula… It’s not one of the country’s loveliest areas, but strangely enough, it feels a lot like home.
early morning sunrise over the Gulf
She may be 3 now, but this little monkey still needs her afternoon nap. The trouble is, It’s happening maybe 3 out of 7 days a week right now. I’m fairly certain that it’s due to the fact that we’re not out and about burning off energy and soaking in fresh air right now like we usually are… Case and point – every single time we journey down to the Gulf Road for a Starbucks date, she goes down for her nap super quickly and without a issue. We’ll have a vehicle and more freedom very soon, but in the meantime, we’re working with what we have. Some days, like today, that means making laps around our apartment complex while observing all of the construction going on around us. Did it earn us a nap today? Nope, it certainly didn’t. But it was worth a shot. ☺
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Gracen’s new favourite thing to do? Walk to one of the nearby bacalas (tiny little hole-in-the-wall corner stores of sorts). We could need absolutely nothing at all, but she begs to go, even if it’s just to look. Really want to make her day? Take her and let her pick out a little package of nuts as a treat – nothing beats it.
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For the time being, we’re still without a vehicle. We’re very lucky to have a super spacious apartment and many common areas around the complex (we have a big courtyard, a kid’s play area in one of the lobbies, a book exchange and games lobby, a gym, and a pool which is currently green, but hopefully being fixed soon), but both Miss G and get out and explore people, so staying at home day after day sometimes gets a bit repetitive. Mahboula, the area of Kuwait we live in, isn’t walker friendly (we’re still in the process of getting roads and street lamps, and hopefully one day in the near future we’ll get waterlines too), so it’s quite an effort to make it to any sort of destination. Add in the heat and the fact that I need to push my little lady and our Bob through sand, construction sites, piles of trash, and groups of stray animals, and it makes for quite the adventure.
During our first stint here in Kuwait, my Friday ritual was to go to The Avenues first thing in the morning when the mall was nice and quiet (Fridays mark the beginning of the weekend here). I’d pick up a coffee, browse the shops, visit Dean & Deluca, and leave before noon when things began to get crazy. When Grae arrived, the tradition continued, only now as a mama and Grae date. Brad would get a morning to himself to sleep in and have some downtime, and Gracen would snuggle up with me in the Cuddly Wrap or Ergo as we cruised along. It was always one of favourite parts of the week… A little piece of calm civility in a country that can sometimes be chaotic and overwhelming.
Only 5 days to pack and a ton to do.
A going away gift. We have the very sweetest friends.
Progress…
All of the toys, books, games, and puzzles Gracen will have in Kuwait are in these two bins.
2 a.m. and finally feeling good enough about the progress made to go to sleep before picking up the moving truck the next morning.
Loading day.
Nearly finished.
A sad final dinner in her 2nd home… A towel as a picnic blanket, a bento box for a plate, a spoon borrowed from the downstairs tenants, not a vegetable in sight.
Farewell, little house.
Halfway through the 6 hour drive back to the Okanagan.
An hour away from our destination and dinner is served… In a car seat. Sardined between bins.
Whew! What a week it’s been. I’ve got to say that moving is probably one of my least favourite things to do ever. Several Christmases ago, my brother and I sat down with a pen and paper and listed off all of the houses we’ve lived in in our lifetimes and if I’m correct, this move will be my 52nd. Oy. I must say, it does get easier… Moving frequently has caused me to really think about what I hang onto and in most cases, if I haven’t used something within the last few months, I’ll happily give it away, recycle it, or get rid of it rather than moving it just so it can collect dust somewhere new. That being said, moving with a toddler {and only 5 days to pack an entire house} is not, in any way, easy. Gracen was wonderful through it all, but it was definitely tough. Between trying to be an engaged parent, keeping up with making healthy, homemade meals, attending final play dates and outings, and packing everything into boxes while a curious little somebody wants to take everything out, I felt spread thin to say the least. Sleep was even less plentiful than normal, which means patience was too. Buuuuuut, thanks to a lot of help from Brad’s parents in the final two days, we did it. We packed everything up into a moving truck {and two vehicles}, scrubbed down the house, handed over our keys, and said goodbye to the little old house that has been our home for the last two years {since we arrived home from our first stint in Kuwait}. Now we’re in the Okanagan for the next few weeks until our big, BIG move and I’m happy to report that we should be able to get the bulk of our stuff sorted/stored/put away this morning. Here’s to a little bit of downtime before our next adventure begins!
♥
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Long ago during my university days, I nannied for a family that had taught their son to open pistachio nuts by placing them inside a towel and smashing them with a hammer. I must admit that at the time I thought it was a little crazy… The danger! The noise! The mess! Oy.
But take a look at what took place in our kitchen this morning… Yes, I’m totally eating my words, and yes, I taught my daughter how to smash open peanut shells using a giant, heavy hammer. While I thought it was slightly insane years ago, now I think it’s sort of brilliant. Not only is it fun, but it encourages both hand-eye coordination, motor skill development, and independence too!
Gracen had an absolute blast with it, and for me, that makes eating my words plenty worth it. ☺
♥
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The last time we got a passport for Miss G, she was just a couple of weeks old and so sleepy that our biggest challenge was waking her up in order to get a photo with her eyes open. We literally tried waking her for 45 minutes before the photographer suggested the {somewhat cruel} method of gently wiping her face with a cool, wet cloth. It worked, and with some seriously stealthy propping and holding, we got the photo we needed.
This time around, I worried that we’d have the opposite problem. With all of the restrictions on Canadian passport photos (serious expression! closed mouth! centred face! no shine! no hair touching eyebrows!) and a little lady who very much prefers being on the go rather than staying still, I thought we could be in for a challenging visit.
But here’s the thing. By now, I should really know better than to ever doubt this little lady. We chatted about what we’d be doing and how it would work beforehand, arrived at the photography store, she stood perfectly still where the photographer asked, and kept a closed-mouth serious expression on her little face. He quickly snapped 3 photos, told us she had done better than most adults do, and sent us on our way 2 minutes after arriving.
The best part is that we submitted the passport application just before closing yesterday afternoon, and Gracen’s shiny new passport will be ready for pick-up come Monday. I love how easy things are in Canada!
♥
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Jessica of Northshore Mama, Nat of Nat Nanton, and I met just over a year ago when the three of us were all nominated as Vancouvermom.ca’s top 30 bloggers. Despite the bustling room filled with people, the nerves of knowing absolutely no one, and the craziness that is 100+ moms all gabbing during a rare night out, Jess, Nat, and I managed to connect during the celebration event and learned that we all had baby girls within a few months of one another. That night, we decided a play date / mommy date was in order sometime soon. Since that night, we’ve chatted pretty much daily, have met up for several mama outings, and have even attended some munchkin-friendly events together, but we didn’t get around to that original play date until today. And I have to say, though it was a year in the making, it was well worth the wait. These ladies and their munchkins have a special place in my heart. The girls each have distinctive personalities and it’s such a joy to watch them interact, problem solve, and compromise with one another. Together they’re a perfect blend of determination, compassion, humour, and smarts, and something tells me that if these girls stick together, they’ll no doubt conquer the world one day!
snack time // play time
sharing is caring // incognito
a natural // baby love
pony rides // nat attack
friends
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This morning I had a little bit of housework to do and Miss G suggested that she’d play with some freshly coloured rice I’d made while I got my clean on. It’d been a quite a while since she’d last opted to play with a rice bin or tray, so I was happy to hear that she was still excited about such a simple sensory activity. While I put the rice into small containers, she picked out items she wanted to use while playing with it. She gathered up a divided plate, heart-shaped ice cube tray, cup, scoop, bowl, and funnel and we laid everything down on a large blanket in the living room.
She got to playing right away and immediately mixed the different colours in the bowl while using the funnel. Watching the individual colours mix into speckled sea of rainbow colours is always so much fun (and so is crazy bed head ☺).
There was a lot of mixing, dumping, and pouring, but the favourite of the morning was definitely this little scoop paired with the funnel. She quickly learned that using the two together was a great way to fill the little heart-shaped ice moulds and we later on we even experimented with extending our funnel using a bubble tea straw.
After she was through playing, we scooped up the rice, added it to the bin of coloured rice we keep in the solarium, and shook the remaining grains off of the blanket outside. Easy, simple fun.
To see how we make our coloured rice, click here.
♥
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Though we aim for very little screen time in our house, this afternoon Grae asked me if she could spell some words on my computer. Because there was so much potential learning involved, I just couldn’t say no. She cozied up under the covers of our big bed, selected her font colours, and typed her name first. Since she already knows how to spell ‘Gracen’, she did it on her own, even though hunting for each letter was {painfully} slow. After completing her name, she asked to type other words. She selected a new font colour each time, told me her word, and I spelled them aloud while she searched for the letters. Needless to say, her newly found skills left her as proud as a peacock.
♥
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Growing up, my brother and I used to stay at my Baba’s (grandmother’s) house for a week or two or three each summer. Being the phenomenal lady she is, she’d bring us into the forest, chop down what seemed like huge trees, and have us help her haul them out to create outdoor teepees worthy of side tables and mattresses. Our summer teepees are one of my very favourite childhood memories now as an adult, and definitely something that I’d like Gracen to experience. While not nearly as grand, today we threw together a very quick little teepee after stumbling across some bamboo sticks. Gracen was in awe of our new structure and immediately went in the house to retrieve her pillow and a couple of blankets. It’s amazing how special a sheet and some sticks can be when put together isn’t it? There’s no doubt that there will be many more of these in the weeks ahead (tutorial to come, for those who asked) and I can’t wait.
♥
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headed out // lunch for two