Grae comes back from the kitchen where she was changing her clothes (she’s all about having “privacy” these days) and says, “I had some of my milk!” We’d stopped by a coffee shop earlier and she still had some of her steamed milk left when we arrived back to the apartment, but I knew it had been put in the fridge. What hadn’t been put into the fridge though? My leftover skim latte that was in the exact same kind of cup. Ugh.
At 2 and half, the girl hasn’t had sugar or fast food and eats very few things that are processed, but she’s had her first swig of coffee. Super.
I’m not going to lie… It wasn’t all rainbows and sprinkles in Mama.Bubba.land today. Our morning was pretty good, save the minor screaming incident that occurred when leaving the toy section at Superstore… (Ugh. Must admit, these occurrences are brand-spanking new to us and I have to come up with a plan to better handle/minimize them asap.) But our afternoon? It was rough.
I’m not sure what it’s all about, but in the last couple of weeks, nap times have started getting tricky. Not all days, but some. The majority of the days of the week, I lay our little lady down in her crib, give her a kiss before closing the door, and she puts herself to sleep and stays asleep for 2 to 3 hours. She wakes up rejuvenated, happy, and ready for the rest of our day’s adventures. But the other days? She just doesn’t fall asleep. She talks and plays in her crib for a good long while, then the jumping and chucking things out of her crib begins, and then crying, calling for Mama, and “No more sleeeeep! Play – yaaaaaa!” stage kicks in after that. This all could be driven by one of about a million things… Our house regularly being 30 degrees during the day, her two year molars just finally finishing pushing up through her gums, her sleep needs changing…. Who knows? I’ve {very reluctantly} given thought to the fact that she may be starting to get ready to drop her nap, but her behaviour sans nap tells me otherwise. Although she’s happy to be retrieved from her crib, without a nap, she’s off for the rest of the afternoon. She’s less independent, quicker to tears, and a little irritable, quite frankly.
Today was one of those days. I knew she needed a nap {despite what she was telling me} and I was feeling up to the challenge, so we tried for 3 straight hours. THREE. WHOLE. HOURS. I thought for sure that we’d succeed in the end… We didn’t. Instead, I was exhausted, she was upset, and the nap didn’t happen. Frustrating. But what do you do? I brought her out of her room, fed her a snack, she played while I cleaned house and made dinner, and then we ate. Life goes on.
Both needing a little pick-me-up after a long afternoon indoors, we retrieved a treat from the freezer and headed outside. I sat on the front porch and she ran circles around our yard, popsicle dripping everywhere, before we turned on the sprinkler.
There’s something about a little girl clad only in a hat, panties, and popsicle drips, happily splashing through sprinkling water that can turn your whole day around…
And thank goodness for that.
♥
Photos edited with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.
I got this question from a local mom last time I posted about Granville Island, and I thought I’d share…
It looks like you guys go to Granville Island a lot. This summer my son will be at the age where he can enjoy these sort of outings, but the trouble is, I usually only go to the Public Market when I go to Granville Island. Where are all of these cool little spots you take your daughter to? Any tips?
I’m actually really happy to answer this question, because although I’ve always loved Granville Island, the truth is, up until we moved back to Vancouver from the Middle East, I was a Public Market and boardwalk kind of girl too. Here’s what our normal visit looks like now:
1. First off, free parking! I know that many of my friends pay for parking off the island and walk on, or park in pay lots on the island. Not necessary! If you park in the lot right beside Bridges restaurant (near the public market, but not in front of it – off to the side) you can have a free stall for 3 hours! And as long as you arrive before 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. (even on weekends) you shouldn’t have a problem finding a spot.
2. Public Market. We normally stop and get a little treat for Mama and a little treat for Grae when we visit. Grae’s treat often comes from Terra Breads. They have amazing fresh-baked bread of all sorts and can quickly tell you the ingredients in any of their homemade goodies as they keep a recipe binder on hand under the counter. Grae’s favourites are the cheese flutes (an extra special treat because they are made with white flour) and the walnut bread. If not bread, we normally stop at The Grainry. They have all kinds of natural and organic goodies for purchase in small quantities, and Grae almost always ends up choosing their no-sugar-added/unsulphered dried mango or apple. For me, it’s coffee! My newest stop of choice is Nons. They’re quick, they accept debit, and they’re located right beside the bank machine if you need to take out some cash.
3. Public Seating Area. After gathering our goodies, we almost always head outside to enjoy the seating area in front of the Public Market. Gracen watches the birds (while I put on my brave face and try not to pass my ridiculous fear of feathery friends down to my daughter), we watch the boats come and go, and enjoy the musical performances that are often happening. The only thing I don’t enjoy about this part of our day is the incredibly greedy/aggressive small dog-sized seagulls who are always trolling above head. Although it has gotten much better now that the crowds are out, we’ve been swarmed twice and let me tell you, it is FREAKY. The first time actually resulted in blood after Gracen’s finger was bit by a seagull desperate for her bread, and I’ll tell you all about today after this list. Best advice – keep all food completely tucked away.
4. Boat play structure. After our fill of aquabuses, birds, and bands, we normally stroll over to the Kid’s Market. While the Kid’s Market itself is not my favourite place, Gracen does love all of the at-toddler-eye-level toys for sale in the shops, so sometimes we take a quick browse. Most days, however, we head straight out back to the little boat play structure. Gracen rotates between the role of captain and passenger inevitably makes a new little friend or two.
5. Water park & playground. After finishing up with the play boat, we walk along the little path to the water park and playground area. The water park is still fairly new to us because we weren’t here last summer and it’s not been quite warm enough lately, but she did experiment with it a little today, and I can tell that it’s going to be a summer favourite. On the other hand, the playground is an old favourite. Between the saucer swing, the climbing structure/merry-go-round, the slides, the sand pit, and the kid-operated river, we can easily spend a couple hours there. The plus is that the False Creek Community Centre is right next to it, and we almost always duck in for a quick potty break.
6. Ron Basford Park. After coaxing Grae away from the playground, we head along the little seawall to Ron Basford Park. I personally think it’s Granville Island’s best kept secret. It’s a basically a giant grass-covered hill that is has a little path that leads to a Canadian flag at the tippy top. It’s the perfect place to let your little one run off some energy, and even better yet – it’s the perfect place for a snack stop or picnic.
7. Seawall. After leaving the park, we usually follow the seawall in front of the Granville Island Hotel and past the Sea Village. I’m not sure who loves the Sea Village more – me or Grae… How cool would it be to have your house on the water?! By the time we reach last one, without fail, Gracen’s request is loud and clear, “More home! More home!”
8. Performers. On the way back to our car, I always try to scope out one or two performances that are live in action. Grae normally gets out of her stroller so she can let loose and dance or sway to the music. After a few songs, we head back to our vehicle, load up our things, and make our way home for some lunch and a nap.
Now onto today…
What’s worse than being attacked by greedy dog-sized seagulls? Being shit on by said seagulls first, then being attacked. True story. Ugh…
Grae and I were minding our business while watching the aqua buses come and go this morning when I felt a series of warm, goopy plops hit my arm and hand. Sick. As I’m one-handedly attempting to open the diaper bag and retrieve a handful of wipes, 3 giant seagulls start swarming us. Globs of shit still all over me, I abruptly grab Gracen’s bread flute out of her hand, chuck in into the bag, and start fending off seagulls left and right. Grae’s now crying, the bird crap is dripping off of my hand, and the best part? I realize that this is all taking place in front of a row of busy window seats. I look up to see 3 people waving. Oh, let me die now…
Even worse? Me literally washing my sweater with hand soap in the bathroom sink, then ringing it out and putting it back on soaking wet because it was chilly, I had a strapless dress on, and didn’t bring anything else. FML. One thing was for sure, I wasn’t going to let a large load of bird crap ruin our morning. We had driven all the way there and Gracen was excited to explore, so on our way we went, albeit dripping wet. Here are a few photos from the better parts of today’s Granville Island adventure…
Ugh. What a day. It’s never a good sign when you fly out of your house, race down to the highway, and suddenly find yourself in gridlocked traffic, crawling so slowly that the speedometer remains at zero, with no end in sight. And that was just the beginning of my morning. By the time things got moving, it was already ten minutes until the time I wanted arrive at the school I was subbing at in Surrey, and I was still only a few kilometres from our house. Needless to say, I was a little panicked. I hate being anything less than 35 minutes early when I’m subbing. (There’s nothing worse than walking into a random classroom full of expectant students, unknown routines, and never-seen assignments without having time to devise a game plan for the day.) Well imagine my surprise when I race up to what was supposed to be my destination, only to realize that, in fact, it was not. I may have cussed out Google Maps right then and there. It’s now ten after eight, the warning bell rings in 25 minutes, and my phone Map app is now telling me that I’m 18 minutes away. I wanted to scream. Desperate, I put in an SOS call to Brad’s cell, and there’s no answer. You’d think I’d know my own house number for moments just like these, but ridiculously, I do not. What are you going to do? As I aimlessly race around Surrey side streets in search of school signs {blinded by the insane sunshine no less}, I madly scroll through my recent calls in search of my phone number. Jackpot! Found it. Bradley picks up. Desperate, I bark, “Hi babe. I need your help!” And then just like that, he’s gone. My phone is powering down (this has been a problem recently – my phone just decides to shut down – and at the most inopportune times might I add). Sweet Jesus. So now I’m left, lost on some side road in Surrey, without an address, phone, or GPS. FML. The kicker? It wasn’t Brad I called. It was my father-in-law up in the Okanagan. And with my insane plea for help and subsequent disappearance, he’s now worried. (Of course, I had no idea. I didn’t find any of this out until I had happily taught half of the day away in a classroom full of the most lovely grade seven students I’ve ever met.) So after several failed attempts to get ahold of Bradley, he wakes Brad’s brother (who also lives in Vancouver) and sends him over to our house to investigate. DI.SAS.TER. All caused by me and a slip of my finger.
Of course, he walked into our house to find out that everything was fine. I had eventually made it to my school, Gracen was busy playing, and Bradley was cleaning the house. False alarm.
All I have to say is that on days like today, it’s a good thing I get to come home to this happy little bean.
David Gray’s Greatest Hits and the generous glass of red wine I’m currently consuming helps too.
There’s something about a little girl clad only in a hat, panties, and popsicle drips, happily splashing through sprinkling water that can turn your whole day around…
