Happy Halloween!

It's amazing how much changes in a year. Last year we had to carry marley from house to house while collecting her candy. This year little miss m walked from house to house on her own and even managed to carry her own basket. She was such a big girl and the cutest cupcake ever.

Montreal!

For thanksgiving weekend we decided to take a little road trip with some friends to Montreal. We stayed at Le St. Martin which was right downtown and enjoyed poutine, Schwartz, bagels, fondue, wine and good friends! It was a great little getaway and Marley enjoyed playing with all of her friends, big and small.

Should we be concerned?

Marley's latest obsession seems to be with my shoes with a preference for high heels. For some reason she feels the need to take off all of her clothes before putting them on. Here's hoping this is just a phase.

Terrible Twos!

Look at my two year old! So far, not so terrible, but 360 more days to go.

Its July already!

I remember how July used to be so exciting when I was younger, it was the true start of summer and best of all, it was my birthday month!

These days, I feel like time is flying so fast, it is now July and I've barely noticed. In fact when Saadia asked me today what I was thinking of doing for my birthday, I didn't even know what she was talking about, my birthday felt like it was ages away!

Another sign of time flying is my lack of blogging! Hard to believe its been 3 months with no posts. Life gets a whole lot busier with a toddler. Leaving them to entertain themselves just doesn't seem to cut it. These past few months we are really enjoying getting to know our daughter. Her personality has emerged and there is no doubt, she is one saucy lady. Always trying to cause destruction and mayhem whenever my back is turned; squeezing every tube of anything she can get her hands on, toothpaste, lotion, lip gloss. Nothing can be left on any surface reachable by tiny hands.

We've discovered the Science Centre (what a great place for kids!), every park and playground in our hood (now we can't pass one without having to stop in it) and of course, Ed's ice cream and Starbucks. Marley loves to drink her starbucks ice water out of a straw and sample as many free ice cream flavours as she can. I'm so glad to live in Leslieville, its become even more meaningful now that I get to rediscover it through Marley's eyes. Just today, we tried Paulette's homemade donuts and fried chicken and Marley definitely gave those donuts a thumbs up! (A cinnamon sugar covered sticky thumb at that.)

I've been riding my bike like crazy, made it all the way to the Humber River Bridge (that's all the way in Etobicoke people!). It took me all day to get there and back and I had to ignore the fact that rollerbladers were passing me on the uphills but the point is I managed to get there and back in one sweaty piece.

Last weekend we visited the Etobicoke Ribfest and enjoyed a gorgeous (and hot!) afternoon on the straw mat with ribs and many of Marley's play mates. I'm sure y'all have already seen the photo above on Facebook, but its become one of my favourites of Ms. M and its from our ribfest afternoon so I'm reposting it on my blog. Hopefully I'll be able to post again before the summer ends, now to get back to my freshly baked chocolate chip cookies! (Something else I haven't done in awhile... bake!)

Happy Summer Everybody!!

Jamaica and Mother's Day

Jamaica was a great vacation, family, friends, and all you can eat, who could ask for anything more? I loved vacationing with my besties, and nice that our spouses also enjoyed their boys nights out (every single night!) while the kids enjoyed playing together. marley loved the ocean, ate a thousand French fries and had lots of practice walking in her new crocs. Vacationing with friends is the way to go!

This past weekend we celebrated Mother's Day, one of the perks I've really come to enjoy after childbirth. Not only is it another opportunity to be showered with presents, it's also a day to be pampered and appreciated by my family! I got to sleep in, got served a made to order breakfast, enjoyed 2 dozen roses and spent the day picking out my brand new bike! I think my husband may have had a hidden agenda there though because somehow he managed to get himself a new bike as well. Plus we also got Marley her first baby bike seat and are hoping to make our first family bike trip this weekend. As many of you know, I only recently learned how to ride a bike after my niece and nephew taught me in my aunt's yard. I hope to post a video for them so they can see what great teachers they were! I never thought I'd ever be able to ride and now I have my very own bike! I hope youre proud Michael and Jessica!

And some more firsts...

Ms. M has recently discovered how to climb! She can climb up and down the stairs, climb on top of a stool to get things she wants (which has become quite the problem for my mom, I often find the stool hidden inside the playpen where she can't get to it to prevent her from her getting into trouble) and now she climbs our ottoman so that she can open the drawers to the hutch and take everything out. Last time I gave her a bath (and used the stool to sit on while I bathed her,) I left the room for one moment to grab her pjs and turned around to see a naked baby walking down the hallway carrying a plastic stool (that is as big as she is) to the tv room. It was quite a sight!

Ms. M also now gives kisses. Well, she doesn't give them, but puts her head out to "receive" them when you says "kisses!" to her.

Ms. M plays hide and seek! Although hiding for her is just crouching down into a ball so she can't see you, then she'll jump up and scream while she either chases or runs away from you.

We are still having challenges eating and sleeping but now that Marley has discovered feeding herself, I am able to get a few more bites into her mouth, in between her figuring out how to get her own spoon in.

We've recently booked our next vacation to Jamaica, so we shall see how she enjoys the beach and the pool, now that she is older. I know her mother is very much looking forward to it! (And most of all, enjoying vacation with my two best friends, yahoo!!)

Easter!

This weekend we celebrated Easter at my brothers house where he cooked up a storm! Souvlaki, roasted fish, BBQ pork for lettuce wraps, plus all the Korean food my mom had prepared. The kids all participated in an egg hunt in the backyard which was hilarious because it was mostly all of their parents running around screaming, 'here! Here!' or maybe that was just me.

Friday we went to visit my grams in her nursing home. She recently suffered a few more strokes but it seems that no matter what happens to her, she never loses 'herself'. She might be tired or depressed, but somehow you can always get her personality to shine through. (usually by telling a joke or reminding her how she used to make my nose grow with a clothes pin, that seems to be a memory that neither one of us can forget!)

Just having the long weekend was a treat in itself. We were able to see friends, family, run errands, and still squeeze in a little relaxation. Now the countdown to vacation begins! We're attempting another trip in a couple of weeks, this time back to Jamaica, hopefully with some good friends too! Can't wait!!!

Its Potty Time!

(Sorry about the pun, I couldn't resist!) I've been meaning to start potty training and realized in order to this, I kind of needed one important piece of equipment, so here it is, the PINK potty! I didn't mean to buy a "girl" specific one, but I wanted to order it online and this was the only colour that this particular model came in. I'm probably the ONLY parent in the world looking forward to this, and to be honest, I don't really know why, but I can't wait to see how cute Ms M will look on her very own toilet. Good thing I'm camera-less these days, otherwise you might be subjected to a photo of another "first" to come...

Jury Duty

This week I have been on Jury Duty. I had been kind of dreading it, thinking of it as a chore but when I got there on Monday, I realized I was totally wrong about this experience. Its in fact, quite the opposite! I found it to be extremely relaxing to have an entire day essentially to yourself while you wait to be called. I had my laptop, could check and respond to work emails (totally uninterrupted!) and even managed to read an entire book (when was the last time I read?!). It was "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", a book I had purchased just prior to giving birth thinking I would read it while in the hospital. Boy was I wrong about that one. Anyway, I finally got to reading it, and it was pretty good, I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series which I've heard (from all the nurses in my delivery room,) is better than the first.

Alas, my jury duty has now come to an end. Yesterday my panel was selected and luckily I didn't get chosen (also luckily I had my book to read throughout the extremely boring process where they call each randomly chosen person up to the stand,). It was the trial of a cocaine dealer and expected to take 5 days. The weirdest part for me was going to the cafeteria at lunch and seeing none other than Mr. Suspected Cocaine Dealer in line behind me. That was very interesting...

It was a very welcome break to the monotony of every day work life. Looking forward to it again in another 3 years!