Thursday, March 28, 2013

18 month old baby

Well, okay, he's actually closer to 19 months old by now. I've been meaning to make this post for a while! And I suppose he isn't really much of a baby these days. No, Aedan has fully embraced toddlerhood!

What is he up to these days? He TALKS! Wow does he ever. When he's awake, he keeps up an almost constant stream of babble, with about 20 recognizable words thrown into the mix. It amazes us how quickly he can pick up a new word; we go through periods where it seems like he learns a new word every day! Some of his words are: gah-gah (dog), ball, apple, date, wah-wah (water), bird, ice, and heavy. I think that last one is kinda funny, he usually says it when he picks up a big book or a wooden toy my dad made for him. Oh, and let's not forget "mama" and "dada"!

Peekin'

Aedan expresses himself in many ways. He still signs regularly, though I've slacked on teaching him new signs. But he still uses dog, milk and outside on a daily basis.

He's also become quite adept at expressing his frustration (much to our frustration!). I suppose toddlers are tempestuous creatures, and Aedan is no different. He'll be happily playing along and suddenly burst into tears because something hasn't gone right. He cries when he's getting tired (but he also signs that he's getting tired), he cries when he's getting hungry (I'm learning to anticipate his meal times), he cries when he can't get his way.

We must keep reminding ourselves: babies are not manipulative! It must be so hard to go through your day having a good 90% of your efforts frustrated. Although, he's getting better and better at most things he likes to do!

Trying

Completed Tower

Aedan loves stacking his blocks, whereas before he only loved knocking down the towers that Mama made. He can build them up quite high, though, and he likes to add non-block things into the mix, trying everything from bits of fluff, to bottle caps to a ball.

And speaking of balls, he loves those, too! His throws were pretty random and uncontrolled until recently, but now he's really good at throwing in one direction (straight ahead!) and he's a bit obsessed with having two at a time. Maybe he'll be a juggler!

He also loves to climb: furniture, Mama, stairs, whatever (or whomever!) he can get his hands and feet gripped onto. He seems like a bit of a daredevil to me, but what do I know about toddlers? Maybe they're all like that.

He loves to play outside, too. I still walk the trails with him on my back, but lately I'll let him down for the homestretch. He can walk a good distance, and likes to chase the doggies. He also loves being pulled up and down the lane in his little sled. This summer should be interesting...we need to get a fence up around the yard!

Sled!

Aedan is still nursing, but I feel like my supply has really dropped off recently. In response, his appetite for solid food has grown immensely! He polishes off some pretty impressive plates of food, eating pretty much everything we do. He loves fruit (grapes being a favourite lately), dates, oatmeal, tofu, beans, broccoli...anything we put his way. It's wonderful! I feel like we're establishing a really healthy food-foundation for him. It's a lot of time spent in the kitchen, but I'm so glad I've committed to cooking almost all of our food from scratch, and keeping only nutritious, wholesome foods in the house.

Snack Time

Life with a toddler is exhausting, challenging, and joy-filled. I learn so much about human development, and Mama-development, every day!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Spring Moon

Only a week ago, it was close to 40 below at night, clear and sunny and cold during the day...and here we are, all of a sudden surrounded by the first signs of spring!



~ The snow is melting off the rooftops, crashing to the ground in great thick sheets that rumble the whole house


~ The city and highways departments have been working to grade all the roads down to pavement or dirt

~ Ice Guessing tickets are on sale!

~ Starting seeds and dreaming of the garden (still lying under at least 3 feet of snow!)

~ Melting and drip-drip-dripping everywhere

~ Letting the fire go out today!

~ Opening doors and windows and letting the fresh air blow through the house

~ No long underwear and no plugging the car in!

~ Small flocks of snow buntings flitting around. I love these birds, so starkly black and white, and still remember the first time I saw them, right around this same time of year!


Now is the long haul before all this snow is gone, and the first green shoots of lupine and bluebells start to poke their heads up in the yard. 

What are the signs of spring where you live?

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Finally...Nicaragua!

Granada was gorgeous, beautifully restored colonial buildings: 
Monastery

Cathedral Detail

Colonial buildings and a volcano

Granada had lots of really unique, colourful doors!

Colour!

More doors

Isla de Ometepe was calm and quiet after the bustle of Granada. It was a bit buggy, but had lots of natural beauty to fill our days!

Volcan Concepcion
Volcan Concepcion

Egret

Watering hole Ranchers would bring their livestock down to the lake each day for a dip!

Jungle Walk

Volcan Madera
Volcan Madera

San Juan del Sur was the ocean...and not finding quite what we wanted. Still...there were flowers and ice cream and sunsets!

Bird of Paradise

Ice Cream!

Sunset

We learned so much about what we want from a vacation, and about travelling with a toddler. Last year, in Belize, we stayed in one spot. We found that got a bit tiresome after 2 weeks...this year, we visited 3 different places over the course of about 2 and a half weeks. We found this to be a bit too much travelling. Aedan was a real trooper, but each move meant resettling of nap times, getting comfy in new surroundings, finding kid-friendly places to play...we're getting closer to finding what we want, closer to the perfect vacation. Learning about yourself, what you're capable of and what you're not capable of, is definitely one of the most exciting parts about travel!

P.S. In case you were wondering...I kept up with my photo-a-day challenge all through Nicaragua...and lost it while visiting family in Ontario. Maybe next year!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Suprise!


Oh my, I didn't expect it to take me this long to make it back to this space! Nicaragua seems so long ago now, and I promise I'll get some pictures up soon. The days following our return from vacation have been a bit hectic, to say the least...

We've been preparing for our wedding!

On March 14th, we drove out to Tombstone Park with a couple of witnesses, our friend who is a marriage commissioner, my parents, sister and brother-in-law, and we got hitched!

March 14th, 2013

We've been talking about doing this for awhile now, and we picked this particular day because it kicks off the Spring carnival weekend in Dawson. We thought that if any family made it up, it would be a really fun time for them to be in town. And it was! We spent a busy week cleaning the house and yard up, getting ready to hold the casual reception here. We kept things small and fairly private, as that is the kind of people we are (well, except for sharing my life on a blog. Heh heh!)

An hour before we left the house, we picked out a few readings from a selection our friend the marriage commissioner had in her arsenal, and pocketed our own written vows and our wedding bands. It was a gorgeous day, clear and sunny. After driving along the Dempster for awhile, we pulled into a runaway lane a couple kilometers past the Tombstone Interpretive Center, with a beautiful view of the snow-covered mountains. We built a little fire, and as we gathered in a loose circle around it, the wind died and we began. It was short and sweet and heartfelt, and seemed so right for us. Aedan slept through the whole thing on my back, but we were happy that he was "there", and not just back in the truck sleeping (or crying or running around).

Back at our house, we signed the papers and it was officially official. We had a friend cooking for us, pulled pork and baked beans and roasted veggies and potatoes and coleslaw and 3 different desserts. More friends joined us for a bonfire. Aedan had a blast running around the yard with his friend Emery and pretending to drink beer.

It was a beautiful day, a beautiful evening, and we are so grateful to everyone who helped make it special. I never thought I'd get married, but all of a sudden it felt like exactly the thing I wanted to do. So there ya go. I'm a Mrs. Bush Mama now!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Home, home again

Hello, friends and family! I just wanted to get a quick post up to let you all know that we're home, safe and sound. 

The vacation was not always what we thought it would be, but such is life. The visit to Ontario was wonderful, as it always is. 5 weeks is long, though, especially for this home-body, and it is so good to be back! Aedan and I have been nestling in here at the cabin, getting settled again, while P is right back into the swing of things at the hotel.

You can expect a longer post with pictures of Nicaragua, plus an update on all the goings on around here...because there are some real goings-on, I tell ya!