I am so ridiculously lucky to be called Mama by this little lady each day…
♥
I am so ridiculously lucky to be called Mama by this little lady each day…
♥
Taking this little monkey to her first ever swimming lessons this morning…
♥
This has become an after nap time ritual in our house… These three wooden puzzles perfectly in line, the pieces strewn upon the floor, some chill music, and a very determined little puzzle master at work. Oh ya – some serious bed head is also necessary.
Our little daredevil watching a game of basketball at the school across the street. Luckily there’s a big bed covered in a cushy duvet and tons of pillows right there…
Gracen was born expressive (you can see examples here, here, here, and here), but recently it seems that she’s begun exploding with personality. It’s just the sweetest thing to watch our baby growing up to be a little lady with a personality all her own. More than anything, she loves to please. She is gentle, kindhearted, and truly loves to share and make others happy.
She also knows just what she wants. And these days, that’s to do everything on her own (payback time, Mama). “Grae Grae”, meaning Grae Grae puts on her pants by herself or Grae Grae walks down the slippery wet steps on her own or Grae Grae puts the books away without help or Grae Grae picks out her own clothes, is heard countless times throughout our days. And in all honesty, although it means our little girl is growing up, I love it. I love that she wants to be independent. I love that she’s up for a challenge. And I love that she has likes and opinions of her own.
But perhaps the most entertaining part of her emerging personality is her newfound sense of humour. You can just see her trying be funny and then pausing to enjoy the laughter that follows. A prime example was today when I asked her to stop and smile for a photo. Here’s what I got instead:
What a silly little duck. I absolutely love our little girl and her emerging personality. ♥
This morning as I was cooking up a pot of spicy black bean soup and Grae was playing, I heard an unusually loud sucking noise coming from the living room. I thought for sure that there was a tea party in full swing happening in the living room, but carefully poked my head around the corner to find this…
Our sweet and nurturing little lady nestled in the corner of the couch nursing her baby doll. I don’t know why, but this just kills me every time. Melt my mama heart.
When Grandma Sue was in town last, Gracen got the sweetest little package filled with pretty purple tops, a belt, and a new pair of jeans (of course the sparkly purple kitty belt is her ULTIMATE favourite). So when we tried her jeans on for the first time this morning, I snapped a couple of quick photos to send to “manmaw”. Little did I know that we had a little model on our hands!
While doing a little bit of organizing tonight, I came across these picture cards Grandma Charlotte gave to Gracen months ago. At the time, Grae was more into chewing on them than looking at them, but that’s not the case any more. She immediately opened the box, placed several on the floor, and said “Mama?” in the way she does when she wants me to ask her about something. This is the first time she laid eyes on them since she was 10 months old. Smart little doodle. I have a feeling we’ll be doing a lot of this in the next few days…
Just sitting in the bathroom making animal sounds… Business as usual in the Kossowara household.
Apparently routines are just as important for baby dolls as they are for our little baby doll.
First off, Bubba’s bath.
Then story time.
Next up: A pre-bedtime potty break.
And then into bed it is!
The funny part is that this was all Grae. I was in the bathroom getting drying my hair when she came in urgently saying, “Bubba!” and then signing ‘bath!’ on repeat. After Baby was squeaky clean, she then took it upon herself to make sure Bubba got a story and a pee in before I later found her in Grae’s crib, snuggled up with a blanket and all. I think we may have a little mommy on our hands…
Today our baby girl turned 19 months old. Yeesh. I feel like we just celebrated her half birthday last week. Why do the days have to pass by so quickly?
Here’s what our little Lulu has been up to this month…
Gracen loves:
She dislikes:
She thinks it’s hilarious when:
Grae’s new foods include:
The new words she regularly uses include:
The new signs she’s using regularly include:
Right now, she:
Funny / Cute things she’s been up to lately:
The basics:
Well, that’s been Miss G’s month. Like always, our little lady is a constant source of humour and joy and time seems to fly by faster than it did the month before. I’m excited for what next month will bring… I know that very soon she’ll be learning so quickly that I will no longer be able to keep track of all of this stuff, but hey – I’m up for the challenge! Here’s to another wonderful month with our Little Lulu. ♥
My baby girl turned 18 months old today. Officially one and a half. As in… Tomorrow she’ll be closer to two years old than to one. Goodness gracious…
One thing I’ve noticed since becoming a mommy is that I now have an overwhelming urge to create traditions, make the holidays more special than ever, and create memories that our little lady will keep with her always. So today, we continued a little tradition we started last year. We celebrated Gracen’s half birthday. Nothing fancy. Just a day focused on Grae with a few special little things mixed in here and there.
Our day included a trip to Science World with friends, a Mama and munchkin date for hot drinks, picking up helium balloons on a whim, and a “cupcake” (a healthy banana nut muffin topped with fresh whipped cream) with a candle after dinner.
Here’s what our little lady has been up to this month…
Gracen loves:
She doesn’t like:
She thinks it’s hilarious when:
Grae’s new foods include:
The new words she regularly uses include:
The new signs she’s using regularly include:
She now:
Funny / Cute things she’s been up to lately:
Big things that have happened this month:
Well, another month and what feels like a hundred new little things learned by our doodlebug… Before we know it, it will be time to start planning her second birthday party. (Okay, who am I kidding? I’ve already given it some serious thought.)
If you want to see the difference 12 short months makes, you can see her last half birthday update here.
This post is late. BEYOND late. So late in fact, that Gracen will be 18 months old in just 2 days. But we were so sick when she turned 17 months that staying awake was nearly impossible… Let alone posting a monthly update. So here it is, short and sweet with one lousy picture of my very sick {at the time} little doodle.
Gracen loves:
She thinks it’s hilarious when:
Grae’s new foods include:
The new words she regularly uses include:
The new signs she’s using regularly include:
She now:
Funny / Cute things she’s been up to lately:
January was a bit of a crazy month for us… Between traveling home to the Okanagan for a week, our ‘Christmas in January’ celebration, another round of teething, and the sickness that hit our house just recently, things have been a little chaotic. Here’s to a low-key February!
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.