Watching: To be honest, not a whole lot. Though we turn on the television for a little bit each day while she slurps up her post-nap milk, lately she just hasn’t been interested. We usually end up turning it off 3 minutes later and move on to reading books instead (which suits me just fine ☺). Besides that, she does still enjoy watching her usual music videos.
Singing: ‘This Girl is on Fire’ by Alicia Keys. With a carrot microphone naturally. That or a broccoli spear will do.
Playing: ‘Kick’, which basically involves kicking or throwing a beach ball back and forth again and again. It just never seems to get old. What’s amazing is how much her gross motor skills have developed lately… Throwing, catching, and jumping off and over things seem so natural to her now. The other thing she’s been doing lately is “exercising”. Sometimes I’ll find her in the middle of the room, our bath mat under her, doing some strange bending/curling/squatting/crunching movement repeatedly. Other times I’ll call her and she’ll respond with a frank “Sorry, Mama!!! I’m busy right now. I’m exercising!” Such a funny little lady we have.
Talking about: “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” “What ’cause?” It never.ever.ever.ends. So when the fourth “What ’cause?” to my response to her original comes along, I take a breath and remind myself that each question is an opportunity to be the kind of parent I want to be. Because sometimes that’s what it takes.
Reading:Sit, Truman was one of her recent library favourites. The best part was that after a week or so of reading it multiple times a day, she began reading it to us. There’s something about listening to your little one “read” a book that just melts a parent’s heart. As for home books, Scholastic’s Number Tales (books I have for teaching) have, without a doubt, been a clear favourite for the last month. Each of the books has a ‘Can you find…?’ page at the end, which Grae just adores despite their simplicity. Because of this, Grae’s deemed them “game books” and nothing else will do before bedtime.
Eating: Okay, so technically this is drinking and not eating, but this girl loooves tea. She first had it at Baba’s house during our crazy Christmas adventure and she fell in love immediately (tea in fine china for everyone – including kids – has been something that’s happened in my Baba’s house since I was Gracen’s age). Since then, I’ve found some really yummy caffeine-free tea that are also free of weird herbs that may not be kid-friendly, so Miss G’s been enjoying a cup of tea with an ice cube as a special treat every now and then.
♥
Danielle from Sometimes Sweet, a blog I’ve followed for a very long time now, does regular Currentlyposts which inspired my Gracen-modified ones. ☺
Gracen’s been interested in letters, their names, their sounds, and words that begin with them for quite some time now. She’s also known how to verbally spell her name for just as long (longer actually), but the two had never really come together. While she’s asked me to print her name quite a lot, she’s never attempted to ‘make’ her name using her foam bathtub letters, her letter magnets, or any of the other alphabet manipulatives we have around the house.
Until tonight that is…
This evening she came to me as I was preparing dinner and said, “Mama, come see!” I went into her room to find that she’d climbed up onto her shelf, retrieved her baby blocks, and was carefully arranging them in order to spell her name.
Smart little cookie.
♥
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This afternoon, while I was brushing my teeth and throwing on some lipgloss in the bathroom and Miss G was watching at the doorway, Grae announced that she was going to tell me a story. This is it, word for word (giant pauses and all).
Once upon a time…. There was a nice mum mum. She was brushing her… teeth. And Grae Grae loved her brushing her teeth. But theeeeeen… Gracen sat on her head!!!
Such a strange little doodle I spend my days with.
This afternoon Miss G made a little congratulations card for her sweet playmate Ainsley, who became a big sister 11 days ago. She decided she wanted to draw Ainsley and her new brother on the inside of the card, which was a big undertaking seeing as she’s only ever really drawn circles, triangles, squares, and happy faces. When she asked for help, I walked her through the parts we needed to add to her start of two smiley faces (“Okay, now what does Ainsley have on her head?”, “What about feet? Should we add some?”, etc.) and this is what she created.
Pretty brilliant for a first real drawing, I’d say. ☺
♥
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After our morning adventure, Miss G and I spontaneously decided to head down to Broadway to get her hair trimmed. As usual, we went to Melonhead, and as usual, we had another great experience. Though this was Grae’s third haircut, it was the first that I had not prepared for by packing along very special sit still treats. ☺ Thankfully, it wasn’t an issue. We walked in without an appointment and got in immediately (which is always nice). Gracen chose where she’d like to sit (the pink car – again) and happily enjoyed some crazy Treehouse show while the lovely stylist snipped away.
Before.
During.
After.
A sweet little style.
Celebratory pony ride.
Before I knew it, Gracen was sporting a cute new do and we were on our way.
♥
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Watching: Strangely enough, this video. Brad and I laugh about it all the time. Not only is about all things spooky {and our little girl has been known to be frightened of a loud sneeze}, but the song itself is hilariously odd. It’s slow and soft, yet surprisingly upbeat all at once. “Spooky things doing a spooky dance….” Kills me every time.
Singing: Right now, every song she hears. This little lady is a total music lover who chooses to watch music videos over television and can often be found dancing and singing while doing other activities. New favourites added to her repertoire include Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Rock-a-Bye Baby, Spooky Spooky, and I’ll Love You Forever.
Playing: Dress-up. Constantly. Poppop recently made her a wooden dress-up centre and she got all kinds of costumes and accessories for it for Christmas. It’s not unusual for us to have a fairy, jester, or cat roaming around the house nowadays. In fact, yesterday I took a pink poodle out for a walk around the neighbourhood.
Talking about: Everything. Non-stop. Our days are question after question after question. “What’s that?”, “What’s it called?”, “Why for?”, “Who’s dat?”, “What his name is?”, “What dat sound is?”, “What’s Mama talking about?”
Reading: Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex. She and Papa picked it our at our latest library visit, and despite the fact that she can be ultra sensitive and the book is about a ‘cold gray tomb with a black lagoon, and two slimy claws, and a couple of jaws’ etc., we’ve read it every day before both nap time and bedtime since we checked it out.
Eating: During our 3 weeks of vacation, I think she ate her weight in pistachios, cashews, and other fancy nuts we don’t normally keep around. Now that we’re home and getting back into a routine, we’ve been making smoothies each morning (which has been great for getting a good amount of green veggies into our breakfasts) and she loves the whole process – gathering ingredients, making the smoothies, and slurping them up.
♥
Danielle from Sometimes Sweet, a blog I’ve followed for a very long time now, does regular Currentlyposts which inspired my Gracen-modified ones. ☺
Listening to: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Again and again and again. She’s memorized almost the entire thing over the course of the last 3 days and she sings it to us before nap time and again before bed time (twice – once to each of us), as well as throughout the day.
Playing: Memory. She has a couple of card versions, as well as a wooden disc version, and she just can’t get enough. The thing is that she’s good at it. Really good. (So good in fact that she dominated her Papa in a game last week.)
Talking about: Names. She asks about everyone’s names right now – whether it be someone walking down the street, a fellow elevator passenger, the owner of a cafe we regularly frequent, or an artist we hear on the radio. She regularly announces her entire name (both middle names and her giant last name) and asks strangers their names too.
Eating: Every single time I’ve asked her what she’s wanted for lunch or dinner for the last month, the answer has been a immediate and purposeful “Tofu.”. Besides that, she’s gobbling up apples and giant carrots like there’s no tomorrow and has started a new morning routine… Instead of just having a cup of milk during our morning cuddle in Mama and Papa’s bed, she also wants a little bowl of apple slices or a big peeled carrot to naw on while we read books and watch music videos. Oh – and her new favourite snack? Cucumber slices on crackers.
♥
Danielle from Sometimes Sweet, a blog I’ve followed for a very long time now, does regular “Currently” posts and I’ve always enjoyed them, so I decided to borrow the idea and tweak it just a bit in order to suit a toddler. ☺
We had plans to attend a morning story time today, but when we woke up to no rain, I knew we had to make the most of it and get outside. Grae agreed without hesitation and immediately suggested going to the beach. In particular, the beach with the “biiiiiiig ladder and biiiiiig slide”.
It’s still kind of crazy to me that my baby girl can do all of the things she can now…
Today we woke up to the first dry morning we’ve had in days… So though we already had plans for a lovely indoor day, we put them on hold, layered up, and headed down to the beach for a morning of fresh ocean air. It’s been quite a while since our last beach day, but our routine little lady didn’t skip a beat. Our visit went as all of them do – playground time, a walk to Starbucks for a hot drink, actual beach time to collect treasures in the sand and dip our toes in the ocean, and then back to the playground for a second round of play before heading home for lunch and a nap.
Here is our morning in photos…
Uncovering treasures in the sand pit.
Cashews and a steamed milk while making friends through the window.
Driftwood collector.
“Mama takes a picture of Grae!”
“A little bit farther?”
Running from waves.
“Here birdie. Have dis green leaf.”
Sand drawings.
Water watching.
Admiring our autumn-coloured city.
Hand wash.
“No almost time for home. Grae Grae naps on the log!”
“It’s cooooooomforble, Mama.”
Suddenly she can do this.
“Spin it, Mama! Spin it!”
Little adventurer. (She climbed to the very top of this play structure and went down the giant tube slide all by herself. THREE times.)
Tonight, for the first time ever without being prompted or having me say it first, Gracen said three little words that instantly melted my heart into a pile of mush.
We were {very slowly} making our way home from Seattle, Papa and Uncle Brett in the front of the vehicle, and she and I in the back, when she took my face in her hands, looked me square in the eyes, and said…
Over this past long weekend, we celebrated Gracen’s 2nd birthday with a backyard party in the sunshine. The afternoon went amazingly well… The sun was shining as hoped. There was just the slightest breeze. The decorations were handcrafted and colourful. The snacks were made of local ingredients and individually portioned for easy toddler chasing. The wee ones played until they were soaking wet and filthy. The sweets were plentiful. And Miss G had the time of her life… An afternoon filled with “yittle fwends”, tons of play, 2.5 “cupcakes”, Davison Orchard’s fresh-pressed apple juice, an endless supply of crackers and treats, and a generous sprinkling of hugs – for her, it just doesn’t get much better than that.
Since the party, she’s wanted to talk about it constantly. “Mama talk (about) Grae Grae’s birf-day party?” is a request I now hear more times a day than I have fingers. We discuss all of the details of the day, and inevitably end the conversation with a “More play yittle fwends, Mama?” Yes, Babygirl… We’ll have your little friends over to play again sometime very soon.
Here is Miss G’s special afternoon in photos… (Be prepared. This may be the most photo heavy post of. all. time. But I’m sure you already expected that, right?)
The Invitations:
These simple little invites {along with almost all of the decorations} were made while we were in the Okanagan on vacation. Using this free printable as a starting point, I sketched out what I wanted the invitations to look like and Bradley designed them using Photoshop. Once they were designed, we printed them on Grandpa Dave’s colour laser printer, cut them out by hand, created homemade pouches for them, and punched out some pretty confetti to tuck into the pouches.
The Decor:
This last minute little chalkboard greeted guests on our front porch and asked that they make their way around the side of the house.
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I crafted a few of these ribbon chandeliers out of embroidery hoops and wide grosgrain ribbon, and hung them up around the yard to dance in the breeze.
Last year, I did a more traditional timeline of Gracen through the months, and although I loved how it turned out, this year I wanted something a little bit different… I ended up deciding on a ‘timeline tree’. We chose 2 photos for each month {from 13 to 24}, added the text using Photoshop, printed them, and hung them back to back using jute and curtain clips from IKEA that we already had on hand. And voila. Our plum tree instantly became a tree filled with memories of the past year.
Across the way, in our fig tree, I hung the felt poms we had made for last year’s party, giving it just a touch of colour. The beauty in not really having a colour scheme, is that everything goes. ☺
On the main food table, we displayed the letters T-W-O I crafted with cardboard letters, tissue paper dots and Mod Podge.
I also strung up one of the many fabric buntings I sewed for the occasion between two vintage apple crates that Grandma Charlotte’s family has had since she was a little girl. In the middle, I framed a copy of the birthday interview I did with Miss G on her real birthday so that guests could take a read.
For an added touch, we picked a couple of the beautiful dahlias growing in our front garden and popped them into vintage mason jars that used to belong to Gracen’s Great Grandma Amy.
Our photo booth backdrop consisted of a plain sheet {not very glamourously duct} taped up to the wall of our house, and a handmade fabric bunting strung across it.
The Snacks:
Here’s a peek at the food table… Since the party was from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., we stuck with snacks only and tried to keep them as portable as possible so that parents could munch and chase after their wee ones at the same time. Also, although we had a separate table to baby/toddler friendly treats, I wanted to make sure that everything we served was Gracen friendly (save the desserts)… Nothing more insulting than not being able to eat the food served at your own party!
On top, a layer of hummus topped with fresh veggies, many from Grandma Charlotte’s garden. On the bottom, individual layered bean dip cups {with homemade pita chips on the side}.
Fresh berry cups.
Okanagan cherry cups.
Plums picked straight off our tree the night before.
Besides these snacks, we had individual fruit salsa cups with homemade maple cinnamon crisps, as well as brown paper bags of stove-top popcorn.
For the adults, we served chilled lemonade and citrus iced tea in mason jar cups.
We also had an ice water station, which the kids quickly discovered and had a blast playing with.
At the toddler table, we served toddler trays (which included a variety of healthy bite-sized snacks), as well as fresh-pressed apples only apple juice from our favourite place in Vernon – Davison Orchard.
And for the wee babes – purée pouches in a variety of flavours.
The Sweets:
Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the desserts on the day of the party… Not sure how I managed that one, but I’ll blame it on being busy I guess. Fortunately, I took a is a couple of crumby photos the night before while I was baking into the wee hours of the morning.
For the adults, I decided to try out these mini mason jar cheesecakes and I’m so glad I did. They were easy to make, easy to hand out, and out of the 20 I made, we were only left with 2 at the end {at a party with a total of 12 adult guests}.
For the munchkins, I used Pioneer Woman’s vanilla cupcake recipe (I made them using 1/2 wholewheat flour), baked them in flat-bottomed ice cream cones (a trick I learned early in my Kindergarten teaching days – no wrappers to mess with and much easier for little ones to hold), and topped them with this {ridiculously rich} buttercream frosting, candy sprinkles, and fresh raspberries. I also baked some regularly (sans the cone for adults that preferred cupcakes to cheese cake).
For Miss G, I whipped up this sugar-free banana muffin recipe (and added an extra banana, skipped the salt, and replaced the melted butter with grapeseed oil), baked some in a flat bottomed cone so it would look like the ones many of her friends were eating, and topped it with fresh whipped cream (made without added sugar – just a touch of vanilla) and a fresh raspberry on top. I baked up the rest of the batch as regular muffins, and topped several of them with whipped cream and fresh raspberries for the other babes who don’t do sugar yet.
The Play Stations:
Since first birthdays are often more about the adults than the wee ones, I wanted to make sure that this year’s party was all about play. Messy, fun, noisy, old-fashioned play, just the way Miss G likes it. I set the stations up all around the yard, making sure there was plenty of space and a little something for all different tastes.
A big bucket of sidewalk chalk sat at the beginning of the path.
A construction bin filled with pea gravel , tower building supplies, scoops, tractors, and a hardhat for the little builders.
And on the other side of the yard, we used a hot water heater drip pan and this homemade bubble solution to create a ‘baby in a bubble’ station.
We also had Grae’s pool blown up and filled with water and toys, as well as the sandbox filled with all sorts of moulds, buckets, scoops, and plastic dinosaur bones.
The Birthday Girl:
After having a good hour and a half of quiet time in her room, we decided that the birthday girl was probably too excited to nap. We got her up, lathered her with sunscreen, and she picked out a party dress and decided how she wanted her hair done. Then it was time to head out into the backyard and get started on playing while we waited for her friends to arrive.
The Action:
Gracen was beyond thrilled when her guests started to arrive. Hugs and playmates = one very happy little girl in our house.
Although the whole ‘baby in a bubble’ thing was really hard to do in the beginning, the solution did make great big bubbles using regular wands, so I was glad I had picked them up the night before.
All of the sensory bins, with the exception of the gardening one (which I don’t think even got touched), were a pretty big hit.
The kiddos enjoyed digging for dinos in the sandbox.
And the birthday girl made her rounds all afternoon.
This little corner was put together with our littlest guest and Grae’s beloved friend, “Baby Tate”, in mind… Away from the action, in the shade, and filled with all of Grae’s favourite toys from when she was a baby.
Before long, it was time to bust out the bikini and make a splash in the pool.
Judging by our now beautifully decorated cement pad, the sidewalk chalk paint was one of the favourites.
The snacks, hugs, and company weren’t bad either…
Time for Cake:
As you can see by Grae’s face, she wasn’t so sure about her ‘2’ sparkler… Luckily she had her little friend Jaiden nearby. I think her excitement and lack of worry made everything alright. What did go over very well with Miss G, however, were the “cupcakes”. Yes, cupcakeS. She ate every single last bite of the one I’d baked in the cone for her, then demolished a second one, and made her way through half of another. Two and a half muffins?! Hey, when it’s your party, you’re allowed.
Better with Time:
As the party went on and the bubble solution got handled more and more, the better the bubbles got (just like Jackie from Happy Hooligans said it would). Our resident bubble expert, Jordan, was not only able to put both Gracen and Jaiden in bubbles, but he was also able to make bubbles that were seriously HUGE.
The Photo Booth:
Before leaving, we asked each of our guests to have their photos taken in our makeshift photo booth using the felt props I’d created for last year’s party. Here they are…
Ava and Jordan (somehow their parents made it without being in the photo… sneakers!)
Auntie Brandie, Jackson, and Kevin.
Auntie Silke and Ainsley.
Grandma Charlotte and Uncle Brett.
Tracy and Keagan.
Auntie Steffie and Baby Tate.
Jaiden and Cheri.
The Goodie Buckets:
This was probably the part of the party Gracen looked forward to the most… Handing out her goodie buckets to her friends. We’d collected little items for them for a long while and Grae was so excited about them that I’d made sure to really prep her about the fact that we’d be giving them away. Thankfully, it worked like a charm and she was very happy {and proud} to hand them out at the end of the party.
To go with our backyard theme, the buckets were filled with a watering can and sidewalk chalk (all bought at Michael’s), as well as a big beach ball (purchased at Superstore), a mason jar of Bouncing Bubbles, and a bubble wand (purchased at our local teacher’s store). The best part? (And I totally blame me being excited about this on the Ogasawaras, because before them I never really got that excited about a good deal…) At regular price, each of the 8 buckets would have cost well over 16 dollars, but because we started collecting early and found some great deals, each only cost around $4! (Crazy, right?)
And that was our afternoon. Miss G loved it and we did too. It was the perfect way to celebrate our little girl turning two.
This morning, Miss G asked for a marker. I gave her one, she went to her little table, and returned with this paper a moment later and proudly announced, “Happy face!”
Yes, indeed… That’s certainly a happy face. The first one she’s ever done all on her own.
For me, a big part of being a mama is creating special memories and traditions that your children will hold dear always and perhaps one day, pass onto their own children. With that being said, a birthday tradition we are starting this year is conducting video recorded birthday “interviews” of sorts. As the years pass by the questions will change and grow just as our little girl will… Here’s what she had to say on the day of her second birthday.
From her interview, I put together this so we’ll have something a little more concrete to add to her baby book:
Watching: To be honest, not a whole lot. Though we turn on the television for a little bit each day while she slurps up her post-nap milk, lately she just hasn’t been interested. We usually end up turning it off 3 minutes later and move on to reading books instead (which suits me just fine ☺). Besides that, she does still enjoy watching her usual music videos.
Gracen’s been interested in letters, their names, their sounds, and words that begin with them for quite some time now. She’s also known how to verbally spell her name for just as long (longer actually), but the two had never really come together. While she’s asked me to print her name quite a lot, she’s never attempted to ‘make’ her name using her foam bathtub letters, her letter magnets, or any of the other alphabet manipulatives we have around the house. 
This afternoon Miss G made a little congratulations card for her sweet playmate Ainsley, who became a big sister 11 days ago. She decided she wanted to draw Ainsley and her new brother on the inside of the card, which was a big undertaking seeing as she’s only ever really drawn circles, triangles, squares, and happy faces. When she asked for help, I walked her through the parts we needed to add to her start of two smiley faces (“Okay, now what does Ainsley have on her head?”, “What about feet? Should we add some?”, etc.) and this is what she created. 
During.
After.
A sweet little style.
Celebratory pony ride.
We had plans to attend a morning story time today, but when we woke up to no rain, I knew we had to make the most of it and get outside. Grae agreed without hesitation and immediately suggested going to the beach. In particular, the beach with the “biiiiiiig ladder and biiiiiig slide”. 
Where have I been and why does my girl suddenly look so grown-up?
Cashews and a steamed milk while making friends through the window.
Driftwood collector.
“Mama takes a picture of Grae!”
“A little bit farther?”
Running from waves.
“Here birdie. Have dis green leaf.”
Sand drawings.
Water watching.
Admiring our autumn-coloured city.
Hand wash.
“No almost time for home. Grae Grae naps on the log!”
“It’s cooooooomforble, Mama.”
Suddenly she can do this.
“Spin it, Mama! Spin it!”
Little adventurer. 
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Yes, indeed… That’s certainly a happy face. The first one she’s ever done all on her own.
♥