Five on Friday

I cannot believe I am late posting this two weeks in a row, I need to try and carve some time this week to plan my posts.  I finally got caught up with house work, and my usual schedule of things, so the blog kind of suffered as a consequence.  So as usual linking up with Darci.

{one}
Today is my mama's birthday!  We had lunch with her this afternoon at her office, along with my sisters and her coworkers.  This weekend will be the family shindig at my parents house for her and my grandfather who had a birthday this past Monday.  Family gatherings are usually a big boisterous affair, we are the typical Portuguese family, talking loudly is our normal decibel thank you very much. 

This is one of my favourite photos of my mom at my wedding.  It really encapsulates her personality.

{two)
We have switched Lucas to forward facing in the car seat this week!  And we are both loving the change, for the most part.  Lucas is a very energetic child, and since learning to walk its a task to get the kid to be still for more than five minutes, so needless to say car rides are not always fun.  Especially if he just woke up, he's always dying to run around and expend all the energy he just built up.  So forward facing has allowed us to take advantage of the amazing DVD players we have in our van, and for the most part it entertains him for 5 minutes, he's not really big on tv for extended periods of time (which is a good thing since we don't encourage it anyway).  The best part I have to say is being able to turn around and him see me, it helps keep him happy and feeling like he is getting attention.

{three}
I took a huge step in getting some Mommy time this week when on Thursday after Lucas had dinner I went out for a drink with my bet friend!  Gasp! I actually did something just for myself!  Lucas adores my best friend and she has become his honorary Zia, he even dished out some kisses to her this visit!  The hubby got Lucas ready for bed, and got him to sleep just fine, and nothing crazy happened while I was gone, even if I did text him almost the whole time I was away, and I may have been home by 9:30, baby steps people, this was such a big deal for me.  But I have to say it was so nice getting together with my girl friend and talking about normal non-child related.  And of course my friend and I ended up at Chapters before heading home, cause we are huge nerds what can I say.

{four}
My mother in law bought Lucas some adorable fall outfits and I am dying to put them on Lucas.  Even though I am praying that the good weather continues to persist until Lucas' birthday in THREE weeks (holy crap that's soon), I cannot wait to deck the kid in adorable sweaters, and jogging suits!

 

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{five}
Captain W"one"derful to the rescue!!!

I just sent out this week Lucas' invitations and I came up with an superhero alter ego for the little man that I am using for his Avengers Birthday Party.  I have to say I am quite proud and happy with my cleverness, and with how this came out.

 

I hope everyone is enjoying the last long weekend of the summer, even if the weather is set to be gloomy, as long as we are joined by friends and family I'm sure it will be filled with fun and laugether.

Wordless Wednesday - Sweet tooth

The hubs and I like our sweets, if you don't believe me just ask my thighs!  Lucas just got introduced to milk, I have a whole post dedicated to how and why the whole process went, but I'm seriously behind on my blogging since we are soaking in every last summer day!  So we thought it was definitely time for the little guy to get a taste of his first ice cream, and what do you know, kid was not a fan.  I'm not sure if it was the cold, which is kind of odd cause he loves freezes, but he just looked at the darn cone with such suspicion, and really did not dig it!

 

Lucas has to touch everything before he eats anything new, he is a very textured oriented kid, I believe its cause we always encouraged him to touch his food when we started solids, and a way to make him feel more comfortable.

 



 

Oh the face of discontent! 

 



 

Much happier just playing with the cone!

 



 

For now I guess he won't be the kid racing the ice cream truck down the road, just mommy and daddy lol.



Five on Friday

 So I know I'm late posting this but things have been busy around here this week.

{one}
Monday I had lunch with my mom and sister (who work at the same office), but on the way there I picked up my youngest sister whose nine going on thirty.  She is the most amazing little kid I know, and I have loved every moment of being her big sister, and seeing my first baby be such a great aunt to Lucas sometimes brings me to tears.  She is so in love with him, and just all around a great friend to him, she may be a tad obsessed but he clearly doesn't seem to mind.

{two}
I bought Lucas his first set of toddler markers, and he had so much fun doodling for the first time!  The clean up wasn't too bad since they are obviously washable, and came off his skin fairly well, which is a good thing cause little man had marker all over his arms, and face.  I'm going to frame this first of many masterpieces and put it in my office.

{three}
The hubby and I had a last minute date night on Wednesday, and I finally survived dinner AND a movie!  I was pretty proud of myself I'm not going to lie.  I had been feeling a tad overwhelmed and run down lately, since I feel like I haven't fully caught up on things around the house since being sick, and then keeping a super energetic kid occupied.  We had dinner at one of our favourite fancy sushi places Spoon and Fork, their sushi is to die for, and they make THE best beef satay!  We watched The Mortal Instruments, since I just finished the first book in the series, and the hubby indulged me with my movie choice, but he ended up enjoying it as well.  Little guy had fun with his nonni, and only really asked for me when it was time for bed, makes me sad and proud at the same time that he realized I wasn't around, but thankfully he didn't fuss and went to bed like the champ that he is, and I was rewarded with extra smiles the next morning.

{four}
I have decided to embrace Lucas' love for dirt and just let him go at it this week, and I'm pretty sure he was grateful.  I know that boys tend to love all things dirt and rocks, but it usually brings out the OCD in me, and I break out in hives seeing him stick his dirt filled hands in his mouth, but when I decided to just let it go, I'm not going to lie it was pretty fun and cute to watch him go to town, and I may have gotten in there with him, and made some mud pies. 

 

 

{five}
We had Lucas' one year photo session yesterday, and I cannot wait to see the photos!  He was an absolute champ and the photographer was so in love with him.  She's been photographing our family since Gianni and I got engaged, and she is so amazing with children.  I will post all her information when we get the photos.  Highlight of the session had to be the smash cake, I had made a simple vanilla and whip cream cake the night before, and it was adorable that Lucas at first would only stick one finger at a time in the cake, but when he realized we were encouraging him to just get in there...well get in there he did!  He smashed until his heart's content, and even got his feet in there by the end!

 

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend, I'm off to join the little guy for a nap :)

Wordless Wednesday - My Big Boy

So today Lucas is 11 months old, and I'm feeling very teary-eyed and emotional over the fact that his birthday is a month away. 

This year has been by far the best in my life, and spending this time with my little man has brought me more fulfillment than I ever imagined possible.  I craved motherhood from the moment Gianni and I decided to have a baby, but nothing prepared me for the immense love and emotions that would come from raising my son. 

I was editing pictures this weekend and these stood out to me, as I realized that my baby is such a little man already.  One who loves attention, is so playful and smiley, and literally makes everyone who meets him laugh and smile.  He has his days, as he learns to push limits, and is always trying to get into some kind of mischief, but even then I find myself looking back at the end of the day and shaking my head in amusement over his amazing personality.

 

We've reached quite a few milestones and developments this month, so I will be sure to update everyone on his formal monthly post tomorrow!

Five on Friday

Linking up again with Darci for Five on Friday

{one} I recently bought this easel from Ikea to start some skill building with Lucas, and to let the little guy get creative.  I'm planning to spray paint it this weekend in banner red, and I'm taking advantage and adding a few pops of red to his room.  I think it will really compliment the blue and brown sports theme really well.

{two} The hubby and I used to be huge tv junkies pre-Lucas, and obviously we still enjoy watching shows together, or a good Saturday night movie, but after long days at work and with the baby we are a little more selective about what we watch since its usually an hour of tv a night before bed.  One show that we discovered last summer, and we are huge fans of is Suits (which airs on Bravo Canada, Wednesday nights at 10).  Love love the witty banter between the characters, and makes me slightly regret not going to law school (only slightly since I know that working at a law firm would not be nearly as exciting as these two make it out to be); the fact that young fake lawyer Mike Ross is played by a Canadian actor only adds icing to the cake.  Plus the two main characters are not too bad to look at...hehe sorry hubby.

{three} Lucas and I have been loving the park lately, and we were a tad excited to find a new one in a nearby neighbourhood this week that had more slides and jungle gyms catered to little kids his size.  I love seeing him move from just enjoying the swing to wanting to run around and play, the look of joy on his face would make any mama smile!

 

{four} I stumbled on this old photo from the day we found out we were pregnant with Lucas.  When we were at the fertility clinic all throughout that cycle we kept going back and forth emotionally, since at first it didn't seem my follicles were going to work and then all of a sudden I had four viable eggs so we dubbed them Spartacus, and we kept that nickname throughout the process and pregnancy since he was our little fighter coming into this world.  So when I got the results from the clinic that day I went out and bought this for Gianni as a way to say that we did indeed have a little Spartacus on the way.  This came up in a conversation with my in laws this weekend, and though in retrospect its pretty darn hilarious, Lucas has lived up to his nickname, in strength, willfulness, and charisma.  

 



 

{five} I have a confession to make - I am a closet One Direction fan!

 

 

They are just so darn adorable, and down to earth, and its not like I love them like I did New Kids on the Block; I love that they are involved in philanthropy and seem to always have fun in their videos making the most of their youth.  I want to pat their heads and make them cookies, and have them over for a play date with Lucas, hehe.  Its funny cause their video for Kiss You came out I watched it with Lucas, and sometimes if I watch one of their videos on youtube when Lucas is in a cranky mood it cheers him up lol.

 

I hope everyone is enjoying the more mild weather we are having this week!



Tips for a Day Trip to the Zoo

So as I mentioned yesterday, and was evidenced by all the photo glory, we had a blast at the Toronto Zoo on Saturday.  I thought  I would put together a small list of things that helped made the day easy and manageable with a little one, and things that we should have done in retrospect.

1. Time out your day - Our child is a routine baby, we have always had Lucas on a manageable schedule, and to be honest this really helps schedule other aspects of our day, and contributes to Lucas adjusting to hiccups that sometimes arise.  We planned to be at the zoo for 10 which is usually Lucas' first nap, however we knew that sometime in the 45 minute drive he would take a catnap, and it would be extremely necessary if he was going to enjoy the day.  So if your child does not or will not nap in the car I would say plan to start your day after his morning nap (if he or she is still on a two nap schedule); my niece naps only once already so this was a perfect morning start for her too.

2. Dress Appropriately - I'm not going to lie we are a family of sweaters, so I made sure that we all wore cool and light coloured shirts, and very comfortable shoes, including the little guy.  Since Lucas loves to walk, but hates to wear shoes, I made sure to put sturdy running shoes on him, since I knew he would have a harder time to pull them off, and then he was so entertained he never tried to do so anyway. 

3. Bring Distractions - You would think that the Zoo would suffice in entertaining your child, but all kids' attention spans are only so long, so we made sure to pack the stroller with a few of Lucas' favourite toys that are usually in the car with us, especially a musical toy, that would make him content in the stroller.

4. Bring Plenty of Snack and Drinks - When all else failed and it was necessary to keep the little ones in their strollers, placing a cracker and drink in front of them really helped! 

5. Pack a Picnic - So we didn't bring lunch with us because we were under the assumption that we were not allowed to do so (several other amusement establishments in Toronto don't allow outside food in the premises), and I was a little bummed when we discovered that we were only too welcomed to do so.  Next time I plan on bringing our own food, since there are tons of picnic locations available, and lets face it the food provided is quite expensive.  Having a cooler would have been nice too so that we weren't forced to drink warm water all day.

6. More the Merrier - Spending the day with my sister and her family was great, because we both had the same view on how the day should pan out, we were all very easy going.  Also this was a huge help with the children, since both my niece and Lucas are equally in love with their aunts and uncles it made helping each other out with the kids that much easier.  When my niece was walking around there was always a hand that she was willing to hold, and 8 eyes watching the children is always an advantage.

7. Rent the Available Strollers - Both kids really loved getting out and stretching out their legs and running around, and it can get a little tedious constantly putting them in and taking them out of the strollers.  The Zoo provides stroller wagons for 2 kids that is not only roomy but would have probably kept them more content "cooped| in a contraption; so this probably something to look into for our next trip. 

8. Let Kids be Kids - Lucas has an obsession with dirt and rocks, and at home and anywhere we really go he's drawn to them.  Usually I'm a bit of an anal mom not wanting him to touch it (especially since I know its going to end up in his mouth), but on a fun day like this I just let the little things slide and let him roam around in the dirt as much as he wanted.  Also slushies are by no means the most nutritional snack, but if the adult are going to indulge, its only fair to the let the kids have their fun as well, and deal with the sugar high later.

9. Break, break, break - With kids who obviously walk a lot slower than us adults expect to take things slow, and have to stop for a number of the usual reasons - diaper changes, drink stops, cuddles, and children's fascination with the most weirdest things.  Honestly I loved it, because its often in those moments that you see something that you may have missed if you were lolling around at your usual pace.

 

10. Let the kids walk - Obviously it would be so much easier if the darn kids would just stay strapped in their strollers, but then where's the fun in that.  As long as we were watchful, and when we in less trafficked areas we let the kids roam around as much as possible, letting them explore the zoo at their own eye level.  This was a great way to avoid stroller tantrums, and kept them overall a lot happier throughout the day.

Most importantly...don't forget to have fun!

Wordless Wednesday - Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My

We had an absolute blast at the zoo this past weekend with my sister and her family.  The weather was great, not too hot, and not too cold.  I have another post planned for things that we did right and wrong with a little one on a day trip like this, so for now just a picture heavy Wednesday of an amazing family day!

My little guy looked pretty happy to be going!