A mess with a middle eastern flair

Tonight we leaned that
a) Draya really likes couscous
b) couscous is much messier than rice
c) sticking sneakily to a baby's clothing, couscous is easily tracked ALL over the house
d) it might be time to start encouraging Draya to eat with a spoon more often instead of with her fingers

Look at the babies!

Last night Draya was flipping through her First Book of Mother Goose saying “baby, baby, baby” and pointing at the babies on some of the pages.
She is now up to five steps at a time unassisted.

Only 2 weeks behind

I'm trying to stay on top of our photo gallery. I am, really! :)
Here are 2 cute shots from Iz's birthday party on May 6 and a 3rd one that I have dubbed "talk to the hand".
Draya & J play baby doctors

Balloon!

"That's it Mommy, no more photos... talk to the hand"

Meeting Brenda

Baby Brenda was MY baby doll when I was I little girl. She's been loved a LOT and abused a little (the stain on her front is from a haunted house she participated in once). I took her out to use for a game a little B's shower. Draya took to her immediately...

touching Brenda's mouth

patting her gently

playing with her fingers

giving her kisses

poking her eyes

Brenda fits perfectly into Draya's preemie sized clothes. It's nice to have her around again!

A day of firsts!

Today Draya rode in her car seat facing forwards for the first time.
She also took her first step, away from our friend's coffee table and over to mommy's leg.
She'll be running in no time!

Garlic Girl

Draya loves garlic sausage. She had 5 pieces (cut into smaller pieces) for her snack tonight along with 1/4 of an avocado, some canned orange slices, puffed wheat and milk.
You just know that this is going to come back to haunt us in her diaper later though! :)

Sleeping arrangements have changed

I took Draya to visit her Nana yesterday afternoon for Mother's Day. When we got home Daddy had done some cleaning upstairs and moved her crib out of our room and into hers. We put the cat gate up to keep Ginger & Casey out of both of our rooms and slept with the hall light on a both doors open. She slept for 10 hours. She briefly fussed at about 3am when I went past to use the washroom but went back to sleep when I rubbed her back. This just may work out.
Our room looks so empty.

Sometimes it's like she's a different child

Draya has been oddly moody recently.
She hates baths again. She won't sit down in the water, she just stands, holds on to me, and cries. I just bought her some cool new tub toys and bubble bath but she hasn't been able to enjoy them.
She still doesn't like the grass in our backyard, even when she is wearing shoes. She starts to sob as soon as I stand her on it.
At daycare on Thurs & Fri she was crying a LOT again. She didn't want to stay in the baby room with the other 3 small children (she is the youngest, the others are 16 & 17 months) but instead wanted to packed around out in the bigger kid area. She only naps for half an hour while she's there and doesn't eat very much.
She WAS sick yesterday & today (cough & runny nose) so that explains SOME of it but not everything.
It's like she's some other child with a completely different personality. God I hope she gets used it there and settles in SOON before she drives the staff totally nuts!

Riding her walker

Not always a conventional child, Draya has turned her push walker into a riding toy. She absolutely LOVES playing with it this way.

To turn around or not to turn around?

I took Draya to the medi-clinic yesterday where she weighed in at 20lbs 3oz. We were very excited because this means that she is now large enough to face forward in her car seat. So, Daddy went to turn her seat last night and it said: “22lbs facing forward”.
I did some research on line today and 12 months & 20lbs is only the bare minimum. It’s actually safer to keep kids turned around longer because facing the back protects their neck better if there is an accident.
So it looks like Draya will be looking out the back window for at least a few more months. She still fits the seat fine that way, her legs aren’t uncomfortable. She doesn’t seem to mind the view and sleeps a good deal of the time anyway. We’ll see how long she is when she hits 22lbs and go from there…
Now I just have to fix the little mirror so I can see her again!

Bed Talk

Draya slept 7 hours straight last night in her own crib and didn't wake up at 3 for a feeding. Yay! She fussed twice but Daddy rubbed her back & she fell back asleep. She woke up at 6:30 so I fed her then and let her stay in our bed with me. Because I'm going in to work late I let her sleep in. I got up and started working around the house and getting ready. I figured she would cry when she awoke. Instead I heard a little thump at about 9:30, went upstairs and found her crawling towards me happy as could be. She had climbed over the pillows and out of our bed all by herself. That's my little monkey :)

The LAST of the Vancouver photos

So we FINALLY downloaded our 2nd memory card and here are the last 4 shots I've got to share from our Vancouver vacation. They are all from April 7th, our last day there.


Having fun at the Grandville Island Market with Auntie V & Uncle M.


Our Happy Family!


Draya & the big tree t.v. at the Vancouver airport.


It's always good to brush up on your airplane safety.

Baby had a VERY busy weekend

On Friday night she celebrated Cinco De Mayo by drinking (non-alcoholic) margaritas at Auntie Morgan’s. On Saturday she ate a hot dog and chocolate cake and had lots of fun with the other kids at Izzy’s birthday. On Sunday she went to Brandon’s shower and visited Auntie Tanya’s kitties.
Funny, she was STILL full of energy when we tried to put her to bed on Sunday night. She is SO my child!!

14 Month Update

Draya turned 14 months old yesterday! My how time flies!!
She is going to be heading into full-time daycare as of next Tuesday. Daddy got a new job. There will still be some days when she is home with Nana or Grandma or Grandpa because Mommy has an evening meeting. Most of May will end up being 4 days a week because of that. This week she had one good day at daycare and one weepy one.
The teething situation has been better. Draya now has 8 teeth and I'm certain that others are hovering just under her gums, ready to inch their way out.
I am trying to wean her off of the 3am feedings...again. She has been going down to sleep between 10 & 10:30 pm most nights and is usually up between 7:30 and 8am. She still eats like a bird, small amounts every 2-3 hours and she is siill not a big fan of most meats (although we still try to get at least a little bit into her every day). She is, however, enjoying her cow milk more and has been choosing it over water most of the time. She would rather drink her water from mommy's glass and straw than out of a sippy-cup anyway.
Draya has now been officially counted. Mommy put her name on the census for the first time this morning - woo hoo!

Belated Photos from the Aquarium!

These are too cute not to post! They are from April 6th and I would have had them up earlier but life has been too hectic. That and every time I get near the computer Draya wants to play keyboard bangers.


Already a lover of toy ducks Draya was fascinated when she met the real thing in Stanley Park.


The Dolphins kept swimming past, checking her out.


So did the fish.


Making friends with the giant turtle.


Cool! Jellyfish!!


Fancy fish-hat fashion! We tried it on but we didn't end up buying it.

Stay off the grass!

On Friday night we had our first fire pit of the year. Daddy cut the backyard grass and then I took Draya out to play. Grass is pointy. She wasn't wearing any shoes or socks. I sat her down and after a moment she started to sob. She hated the feel of the grass. Any time I tried to put her down on the ground for the rest of the night she would cling to me and wail.
On the word front she will now say something that resembles "thank-you" when you hand her things. Most notably when you give her food and she's sitting in her high chair. He favourite words however are still "bye-bye" and "that", accompanied by either a wave or a point (or a two handed point if she really wants something).
Draya would also like to welcome the latest addition to her readership - Hi ggma & ggpa!! Hugs & kisses!!