Happy Birthday, Aimy!!

I'm 1?!

Well, plus one month anyway!

Aimy's first birthday was a pretty low-key affair. She got a few gifts from her great-grandma and we went out for Greek food for dinner. The little munchkin of course had no idea what was going on and was a bit confused as to why we were out, but she ate some crackers in her high chair and enjoyed dropping them and the toys we had brought for her (and Grandma's calculator too!) onto the floor. We didn't take a ton of pictures nor did we do a birthday cake but she won't remember anything of that day anyway.

Reading the birthday card from Great-Grandma

Tigger!

New clothes

A content baby!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Greg!

We love you sooo much!

Second Island Visit

Right after Christmas we took the ferry again over to Vancouver Island. It was wonderful to spend even more time with family over there. We stayed in Duncan until the 28th and visited in Victoria until the afternoon of the 29th. Here are some photos of our visit.

Family photo 

Playing with Great Uncle Bruce and Great Aunty Jan

Always someone to entertain the baby

Teaching Aimy how to play the organ.

Playtime!

And there is always time for snacks!

Breakfast with the Joneses

Christmas Time... One Month After

Carlos arrived in BC on December 21st and spent the first few days of his stay adjusting to the time change... just in time for Christmas! We spent a pretty typical Christmas with my family. First, Christmas Eve  with the Joneses, and then Christmas Day at my parents' place. Aimy enjoyed herself immensely both days, though she was completely tuckered out after spending time with all of her newfound family on the 24th! I'm really happy she was able to spend her first Christmas in Canada.

Happy family! Preparing to leave for Christmas Eve dinner

Opening presents. Aimy loves water bottles!

Great Grandma

Hanging out with family

Christmas Eve was also the day of our big announcement: my dad got everyone to gather around and declared proudly that he and my mom are going to be grandparents again. I'm due at the end of June and excited to add another member to our family.

Santa came!

A present for me?

My lovely sister and brother.

Playing with wrapping paper.

Digging for Uncle Greg.

Where did Uncle Greg go?

Playing with the paper is way too much fun

Merry Christmas!

Adjusting to Life in Canada

As I said in an earlier entry, Aimy adjusted a lot more quickly to the time change than I did. But that wasn't the only thing we had to adjust to. At the beginning it was hard for me to get used to the idea of stores being open on Sundays (what a novel idea! And even after a few weeks of being back here I have to remind myself that we can only go grocery shopping on Sunday morning.) And of course it was strange to be able to hog the covers and sleep in the middle of the bed for 3 weeks.

Adjusting to new toys!

Uncle Greg's phone was always a hit.

Getting used to crawling on carpet!

What is this big thing that makes music?

Fortunately, Aimy was comfortable spending time with her grandparents and her aunt and uncle. Being the centre of attention seemed to agree with her... surprising or not? She also adjusted right away to the Canadian baby food (no spinach for 5 weeks?! Unheard of at home!) and absolutely adored eating her yogurt and being fed by everyone. She even got to the point where she'd share her cereal with Uncle Greg (though not every time).

Aunty Sandra wants to feed me!

One thing we didn't have to adjust to - they have French
cheese! Anne-Cécile, tu auras quelque chose à manger
le matin au Canada!

Overall I think it was easier to get used to life in BC than I thought it would be, and it made coming home a bit more difficult. And of course, we miss the people that made our time so much fun the most!

Always lots of love for the camera.

Off We Go Adventuring!

This blog post will be about my first trip to Vancouver Island with Aimy. But before I get into that, good news! We got Aimy's citizenship documents in the mail today. Now the little pumpkin is a dual citizen... and probably years before I will be! Having this will make passport applications so much easier.

That said, on to more good stuff!

The second weekend we were in Canada, my parents took Aimy and I over to Vancouver Island. That was her first big trip since we arrived in BC, and it took some creative packing to get everything in the car! We got up early on Friday the 14th to be able to catch an early ferry to Victoria, and Aimy had fun "driving" the car on the way over.

Grandpa lets me drive! Wohoo!

Aimy fell asleep as we were coming down from the ferry terminal, so we decided to go on a bit of a drive and went up to the observatory. I had never been there before, and we were lucky enough to get a great view. The hilight though was coming down the mountain to spot a guy who had parked by the side of the road and had brought out his bagpipes to practice. Guess his wife didn't want him playing at home...

Gray on the way over...

Sunny in Victoria! Isn't that always the way?

Sleepy baby!

We had a nice dinner with the Island folk that night and on Saturday morning, went for a VERY windy walk at Willows Beach. Aimy tried to look into the wind a few times and then decided it would be more fun to snuggle her face into my chest and fall asleep. Her snoring was quite cute - I think she takes after her dad!

View from Pete and Judy's deck. Gorgeous.

Braving the wind and waves.

Two of them! 

Blustery day.

Walking through Uplands Park

Quite the sight!

Next, we went up-Island to Duncan and Aimy met my mom's brother and his wife for the first time. She had been a bit scared by Pete and Karl when we visited in Victoria, and she had a similar reaction to Bruce. Fortunately she did warm up to him by the end of the visit, and the next time we came over they were pretty good friends... most of the time.

I guess this isn't so bad... as long as
Grandma is watching me.

All in all, a nice long weekend on the Island!