Food Fun

Since January, Aimy has gone through a lot of food-related changes. Almost overnight she began to refuse us feeding her most of her meals, and would no longer eat 'baby' food either. Though it took a little while to figure out that she wanted to have the same food as us and feed herself, we got there in the end. Now, she eats at the table at the same time as we do, and eats almost the exact same things.

Some food, she loved right away. Pasta, chicken, and potatoes always disappeared first. The veggies... not so much. The first three times she tried whole peas, no go. I couldn't even hide them on her fork with other foods - she'd just spit the whole mouthful out. It took a few tries, but now, she enjoys them. Same thing with broccoli, and more recently, carrots. She has favourite meals, that's for sure, but in general she eats well, and we try to get her to eat balanced meals as often as possible. And recently, we've discovered that she adores curry. Who would have thought?

Showing Daddy that the plate is empty...

... by licking it for him.

Must get every last piece!

Maybe Mama doesn't want me doing this...

Another successful meal

Curry face!

Wanting to put curry fingers all over the camera (and
a very very empty plate, considering this was the first
time she had eaten this dish!)

Outdoors Again

We've been taking advantage of the warm weather as much as possible these last few days. On Wednesday it even got up to 29°C! The temperature has fallen now - between 14 and 17 - but at least we've been enjoying some sunshine.

Carlos doesn't work on Wednesday afternoons and since we knew it would be hot, we planned on spending  the early afternoon indoors (since that's when Aimy naps, anyway) and going out for a walk and perhaps test out the lake. We headed out of the house just before 5 and went for a nice stroll along the cycling path at the lake before finding a really nice spot to park the stroller and take off our shoes and go in the water. Just like at the ocean, Aimy was a bit weirded out by the sand, but as soon as she realized that we were going to wade, she got excited and headed for the water. You'll see in most of the pictures that despite Carlos or myself trying to stop and get her to smile for the camera, she was so happy to be wading that she didn't even look up and just kept walking!

On another note, the blog has now had 3150 page views! So glad to see that you all are still checking in to see how life has been going here. I hope you'll all keep coming back!

Lakeshore sunshine

What is this stuff?

Happily testing the waters.

Always wanting to go deeper!

Too much fun

Go go go, Mama!

Loving this!

Being swung back and forth in the water
is fun too!

Piggy back rides are the best.

How big? SO big!

Still big! 

Saturday at the Beach

It finally feels like spring! Saturday it was 20ish degrees and today it got up to 26 (though I have to say that's more like summer than spring) and we're supposed to have sun and similar temperatures until next weekend. After the morose beginning of the season that we've had so far, it was nice to get out and soak up some Vitamin D.

Today we went for a beautiful walk along the plage des Abatilles, which is just inside the city of Arcachon. There is a really nice walkway and a bike path along the beach, as well as grassy areas for picnics. There were a lot of people out enjoying the sun and the heat, and Aimy had a great time people-watching and pointing at all the dogs from her stroller.

Yesterday, though, was a lot of fun. After Aimy's nap, we headed off to the beach town with the intention of taking a walk on the sand. But when we saw the water and saw how many kids were dipping their feet in, we decided to see how Aimy would react. When I first took off her shoes and put her down in her bare feet on the sand she refused to stand up and kept kicking her feet away from the sand as if to say "What the heck is this stuff?!" After a while of that, though, she decided to stand up and try walking, and once she got going it was hard to get her to stop! The proof in pictures:

Quite a few people in the water!

Not bad for a 13th of April

Checking out the other people having fun

Saying "Bye bye" to Mama before going
on a big adventure!

Heading for the waves

First taste of the water

And we like it enough to go further!

Coming back to tell me all about it

I want to go out again!

And so they do

Sweet baby girl, all happy from her ocean
adventure!

Happy Birthday, Aunty Sandra!

So good to talk to you today, and I hope that all those smiles Aimy sent your way made your morning a little brighter. She was definitely thrilled to see you! This photo may be from a little while ago but I think I can safely say she'd be happy for you to unwrap her from a bag like this.

Toddling Around

Aimy's new favourite activity: walking up and down the hallway, laughing the whole way. Just because she can.

Down the hallway I go...

And back I come!

I could do this all day.

Turning around mid-hallway.

Look at me, Mama!

My favourite. Trying to look shocked that
I am there with the camera even though
she's gone back and forth 5 times already.

And so, just 3 days after she stood up unassisted, she can walk around the house. Even now she has just walked from the kitchen to the office to see what I am doing. Proud parents? I think so!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa! (and Aimy's first steps)

Hope your day is as wonderful as you are! Though I'm sure hearing the big news that Aimy took her first steps today was a great present. Smart girl waited until Grandpa's birthday to take the plunge. (And strangely enough, waited until yesterday to stand up from sitting unassisted. Leaps and bounds, I tell you!)

Happy birthday!!

Happy Easter!

Hope you all are having a nice Easter weekend. Ours has been a bit wet, so we haven't been outside much, but we did get a lot done in the house.

We spent part of Saturday and Sunday setting up the furniture in the baby's room. I'll post more pictures once it's a bit tidier - right now I am in the midst of organizing the closet, and there are things all over the fold-out couch we have left in there. The bed is a combination crib and change table that converts into a 'big kid bed', and I'm really happy with it. And it's great to have both the couch and crib fit into the room - now I have a place to feed the baby at night, or even sleep in there when we have guests. We also did a big cleanup and hung some more photos and frames in the living room. I love how the house is become more ours every day. Now we just need to install the light fixtures we bought earlier in the month and it will really feel homey. Still can't believe we have bare bulbs in more than half the rooms. Oh well, there's always something to do around the house, and I like it that way. (like hemming and hanging the curtains in our bedroom, or hanging more photos and frames etc. etc. )

Looking at all the pieces for the baby's bed

"Helping" Daddy

What do you mean, I'm in the way? This is where I
shoud be!

Aimy has been as adorable as usual lately (as can be seen in the photos, of course!) She was not very cuddly  when she was small - in fact, she would often squirm away if she thought we were getting too close - but now she loves to snuggle with us, and she gives kisses all the time without being asked, especially if I am singing to her. She loves songs with finger actions and sometimes tries to do them too, though she's usually content to watch. Whenever I finish singing, she immediately says her baby version of "Again? Again?" Makes me smile every time. And she loves my Russ teddy bear (it's actually named Cocoa but I called it Russ) and will kiss it and hug it tightly and talk to it when she has it in her arms. Makes me happy that she loves something that used to be mine, even if she doesn't know it.

Otherwise, we made a traditional lamb dinner tonight and had the obligatory cake for Easter (they are everywhere here, especially when it's a special occasion), and both were delicious.

Joyeuses Pâques! Happy Easter!