Wonderful outings of late

Since being back at work, it feels like I never have much time to spend with Abner. The morning is spent rushing around getting ready to head out the door, and the evening is spent rushing around getting ready to head to bed. That leaves the weekends.

We've been making a point of getting out to enjoy the great outdoors nearly every weekend lately. Last weekend we returned to one of our favorite spots for a walk: Blackie Spit.








Then, for mother's day, we checked out Mundy Park in Coquitlam for the first time. I highly recommend it. It's a decent sized park with lengthy trails, two 'lakes', playing fields, disc golf, playgrounds and enormous power lines too!

When we first arrived, we needed to change Abner, so we spread the change mat on the ground near the parking lot and TDSH set to work on Abner's lower half, while I entertained the top half. At one point I put my hand on her cheek and it felt rather sticky, which was odd since she hadn't eaten anything sticky. After a couple of moments, it dawned on me that it was the electrical current from the power lines that I was feeling.

So now, not only have I locked my daughter alone in my building's lobby and dropped a can of beans on her head...I've also electrocuted her too!

If you're at all worried about the power lines, just make sure you don't use the parking lot off Mariner Way. It's worth it to visit the park though...cause how awesome is it to see something like this right in the city?










This weekend, Abner and I headed to the Barnet Marine park with the cousins to give TDSH a few hours of piece to work on his weekly lecture. It was a glorious day weather-wise. I could happily spend an entire day there from sun up to sun down just hanging out on the beach or under the shade of the trees or sitting 'round one of the many picnic tables.






We also hit Burnaby Mountain Park for a dinner picnic the same day, but I forgot to bring my camera. Monday we walked through Campbell Valley Park with the Grandparents, but none of my photos turned out. Boo.

Hmmm...maybe she needs more fibre?

Woke up this morning to TDSH announcing that Abner was, pardon the expression, shittin' bricks.

Can't see what I'm talking about? Take a closer look...

What you're looking at is actually a rectangular-shaped puzzle piece.

Our best guess as to how it got into her sleeper is that Abner loves to put everything behind her head - and I do mean everything. She picks up books and drops them behind her head. Holds each end of a string in her hands and puts the string behind her head. Balls, blocks, food, clothes, you name it - it goes behind her head.

In this case, when she put the puzzle piece behind her head and dropped it, it must have slipped right into the neck of her sleeper and settled next to her diaper. Et voila - shittin' bricks.

Birdwatching anyone?

For months now, whenever I ask TDSH where he'd like to go on the weekend, he's asked to go to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Ladner. I've been less than warm to the idea because it doesn't seem right to pay money to walk on the trails at Reifel when I can walk for free elsewhere.

Anyhow, he got his wish on Sunday. We headed out to Ladner while Abner had her morning nap in the car. She napped so long, we had to sit and wait in the parking lot for her to wake up!

After stopping five minutes down the trail to change Abner's shirt - she got pooped on by a bird - we had heaps of fun strolling along the trails, watching for birds and listening to the cacophony coming from the trees. Apparently we were witness to some rare tern, but it just looked like any old bird to me. It certainly had the hard-core bird watchers in a tizzy though (and I do mean hard-core -- these people wore kneepads for Pete's sake!).

We had to laugh at ourselves because we were surrounded by folks with some of the most sophisticated, expensive photography equipment around, shooting some of the most spectacular wildlife in the area - and here we were with our little point-and-shoot snapping away shot after shot of Abner. I had to include the shot above just to prove that we actually saw birds!

Abner and TDSH ventured up the lookout tower to see what they could see while I stayed on the ground guarding the stroller. I don't think they would have seen much up there because a rather noisy two-year-old was screaming her head off for her mommy the whole way up. In her defense though, even TDSH said it was a bit scary up there.

There are bird blinds set up throughout the park so you can observe the birds in stealth mode if you wish. I imagine this would work much better if you weren't equipped with a small child testing out her vocal chords every 10 seconds or so.

If I ever get around to writing that book about stroller-friendly walks of the Lower Mainland, this would definitely be on the list! Sadly, it looks like our stroller walking days are numbered. Abner was more than happy to do her own share of the walking.

Birthday decorations and such...

I know I posted a few pictures from Abner's birthday party already, but I wanted to comment on the decorations and party favors. I had so much fun over the last few weeks sewing up bunting to hang around the party area and homemade bean bags to give out to each of the party guests (well...each of the party guests under four feet tall that is). I'm really happy with how they all turned out.

The bunting was the inspiration for the party invite I created. What I love most about it is that it is made from old receiving blankets and leftover scraps from projects I've made for other babies. I can look at each of the fabrics I chose and remember working on each of those projects and the special kids they were made for. I hope to keep it in good shape so we can pull it out year after year.

I wanted to make sure each child had something to take home with them, and these bean bags fit the bill perfectly. They were super easy to whip up thanks to a lovely tutorial from my friend Miranda. Many a night has been spent lately with beanbags in hand while episodes of LOST play on the DVD.

Indulge me...my little girl just turned ONE!

THEN:

Weight: 8lbs 11oz
Length: 21 inches
Hair: dark brown
Teeth: none
Words spoken: none
Steps taken: none
Talents: breastfeeding, sleeping, poopin', peein' and pukin'
Favorite things: mommy and daddy's fingers, sleeping on someone's chest, and being carried in the sling

NOW:

Weight: 21 or 22 lbs (this is just a guess)
Length: 27 inches (again, just a guess)
Hair: very, very blond
Teeth: 6 (ish)
Words spoken: depends how you define words...definitely has momma and dada down
Steps taken: two (on her birthday no less!)
Talents: crawling, climbing, getting down safely off the couch/bed, drinking from a cup, picking nose (and eating it!), licking absolutely everything, putting things behind her head (we haven't figured out why she does this one yet), turning pages, eating finger food, and lookin' super cute!
Favorite things: books (mostly GRUMPY BIRD), balls, opening cupboards and pulling everything out, dropping food, being outside, knocking over anything stacked up, standing in the tub, eating cereal, swings, and pulling on cords.