Just signed in to this website and realized how long it has been since I posted. Well, never mind that, let's just see what I have to say now and forget the last six months of silence:)
We have been enjoying the last 10 days with Nana here taking care of Evie. We missed Nana a lot this summer while she was busy selling cheesecake and other yummies. We did enjoy getting to know Fanta and the kids at Fanta's daycare (Miranda, Zack, Opal, Kian, Elliot). We also really enjoyed walking to/from Fanta's with Evie and had settled into a pretty sustainable routine, albeit one that had us working rather limited hours due to the constraints of the open hours at the daycare.
One of the highlights of our learning to cope without Nana was starting a dinner co-op (which continues on!). It is a simple and fun solution to the problem of two working parents trying to get a hot healthy home-cooked meal on the table every night. It works like this: on Monday nights Michael and I cook a yummy healthy meal made from organic and/or locally grown foods for 3 other families and drop it off at their homes by 6 p.m. On Tuesday nights Lisa does the same, on Thursday nights Maria follows suit and finally, on Friday, Bailey delivers her meal to us all. Only one weeknight remains where we have to fend for ourselves. We usually savor our co-op meals so that we have enough left for lunches and that extra non-coop weeknight. Or I put something into the slow cooker. We enjoy selecting one special meal to cook each week, we enjoy cooking together and we especially enjoy meals being delivered to us! I'm becoming a better cook, learning from Michael as we cook together. We're trying new foods as recipients of other people's special meals and as chefs. I have thoroughly enjoyed three fish-based meals! That's more fish meals than I've enjoyed in my entire pre-co-op life! We learned to make phenomenal pulled pork. We can cook gluten-free meals with no trouble.
Now that Nana is here, we are adjusting to a new routine and trying to take full advantage of the extra time we can spend at work, cleaning around the house (we're still unpacking, but I'll get to that later...) and reconnecting with each other. Last week Michael and I went on walks around the neighborhood several nights after Evie was in bed. We talked, held hands, laughed, discussed research and parenting and homebirth (bad idea, criminally bad). We finally finished unpacking and organizing our bedroom and set up an office for Michael (and sometimes me!). We also purchased our travel tickets for the Christmas holiday. Over the weekend we played in an ultimate frisbee game while Evie napped at home with Nana. We didn't worry about the rain and we went out with the team for drinks afterward. We also spent some fun time playing with Evie and had Lidija, Keven and their twins, Lilly and Luca over to the house. We even went out for the India buffet at Woodlands on Sunday. Evie really likes mango lassi:) And on Sunday night we went to Boo at the Zoo, where Evie wore her frog costume and especially liked seeing the "liolin" (Lionness).
Evie is flourishing under Nana's care. She is speaking in more complex sentence structures, expanding her vocabulary, working on potty training (first day almost entirely diaper-free today!), pretend-playing in her kitchen and with her dolly and spending lots of time outside. Nana has been active on the internet since she arrived, ordering Halloween tattoos to give out this Saturday for trick-or-treat, ordering several winter coats for Evie, finding and buying a wagon for Evie and so on.. Evie and Nana have gone to the library for circle time, spent a day at the zoo, had a playdate with Joy, Grace and their dad, Chuck, had a playdate with Toby and gone for lots of wagon rides. The best part of my day at work is when I get my daily photo(s) from Nana!
Michael had a "best moment of his life" this morning. Evie went to bed before he got home last night, so she missed her nightly bedtime stories with Daddy. When she woke up this morning and saw Daddy she asked right away for him to read her a story. What a sweet girl. She missed reading her stories with Daddy and she wanted to make up for it. I think this says volumes about her love for her Daddy and her adaptability.
Michael and Nana just took off to the airport to pick up Grandpa (i.e. Pops). We'll all be together celebrating what is bound to be a really fun Halloween in our new neighborhood (did I explain that we had to move September 1st and that we're now 0.3 miles away from our old house? We LOVE our new home and neighborhood...but that's another post). I really love the month of October, Halloween, pumpkins, decorations, candy corn and costumes. I'm so sad that it is almost over but so excited that Halloween is almost here! I'm glad we got to have Boo at the Zoo last weekend so some of the excitement is spread out...it's like having TWO Halloweens! I'm supposed to be asleep now, so I better get off to bed.
Good night!
Heather
