Cousin Love

I can never express enough how much joy it brings me to see Lucas play and socialize with his cousin.  My sister and I grew up with a boat load of cousins when we lived in Portugal growing up, but time has seen us all grown apart and living on different continents around the world.  It has always been my wish to have the cousin grow up together, and have each other as play companions, and hopefully one day that will foster a bigger and greater relationship.  No pressure :)

This past weekend we spent the day with my sister and niece, and I'm just loving this new stage in their relationship.  With Lucas playing and understanding more its so sweet to see them interact, and often scrap it out like its no one's business.  Emily at almost three is such a little miss, and it was just too adorable to see her rat her cousin out when he threw toys, or touched her craft.  Lucas is really big on sharing food and drinks, but Emily is not so keen, so her cute little indignant look when she would catch her cousin drink from her sippy cup was just too much to handle.  Oh and the battle for the same toy has slowly begun, and like great mommies my sister and I just let them handle it themselves, after all they need to learn to deal with each other.

This pic kills me.  Real boys play with My Little Pony!

My fave moment had to be when they took a bath together, and Lucas being the boy that he is was causing quite tsunami in the tub, and Emily would just laugh and cover her face completely indulging her little cousin in his boyish antics.  Then they hung out in the crib like cool kids that they are.

I'm looking forward to plenty of more memories in the making with these two.

Five on Friday

Its been a while since I did this link up, thought I would try to get back into the swing of things.  Here's just a small rundown of whats been going on around here.

ONE

I am currently obsessed with Downton Abbey! I have no idea why it has taken me three seasons to discover this show since it encapsulates so many of things that I adore: period dramas, English History, and the role of women (for those who don't know I have an English and History Degree, and my senior thesis was on the literary women's movement in England).  I am so in love with the characters, and the lovely intersecting of classes and the upstairs/downstairs movement.  I watched the first two seasons in a week and half thanks to nap time.  I'm currently engrossed in the third season, and have already started PVRing the fourth season.  I am going to be pretty sad when I'm done, and must start researching possible replacements on the PBS Masterpiece website!

TWO 

Last Saturday Lucas and I went over my aunts for a little playdate, just the boys and their mamas.  Girls pretty much rule the roost in my family, I only have sisters, my mom only has one brother, and he in turn has one son and daughter.  My uncle is actually only 7 years older than me so his kids are more like cousins to mine and my sisters children, than they are to us.  Usually at family events the girls tend to over power the two lonely boys in the group, and they are stuck playing some sort of girly endeavour.  So this time they played with their trucks until the heart's content, and screamed and threw balls like it was no one's business.  Its nice that they have each other, and even though there were a few scraps, it will be great to see how this relationship grows in the future.

THREE

Last week was a doozy in the Baccega household.  You know how they say bad things happen in threes, yeah its true.  We started off the week with the motor for our central vacuum deciding to die on us.  Thankfully we are still warranted, but will have to pay some sort of replacement fee.  Then the brake pads on my van decided to make all sorts of creaky sounds, and worried as I was to drive in this horrendous weather with a possible problem with the car, the hubby quickly got them replaced on our mechanics, yet again another expense.  We capped off the week with our master ensuite toilet which has been on the fritz deciding to overflow and creating a huge leak into my kitchen ceiling.  I discovered it after nap time bu slipping on the floor with the babe in my arms.  Yup not cool at all.  We currently have ugly holes in our kitchen, and have decided to do the potlights and new light fixtures in there that we were waiting for the spring to do.  Thank you to my hubby's boss though who has offered to send some guys and material to get it done for us.  It was the small silver lining in a messed up week.

FOUR

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and I'm kind of pumped for crafts and special lunches with my boys.  Last year Lucas had no clue what was going on, and obviously this year won't be much different, but I'm getting into the spirit and just yesterday we worked on our first set of homemade Valentines to send some special people in his life.  Also we are pretty excited for our Valentine's themed double family date tomorrow with my sister and her family.  I have some crafts set up for the kids, we are going to enjoy a "romantic" home cooked meal, and heart shaped desserts might be involved.

FIVE 

My parents have been on vacation in Dominican for the last two weeks and they come home today!  This is the longest I have been away from them since I went on my own two week honeymoon.  I was so happy for them to finally go away on a nice vacation but I realized just how many times I call my mom for the most frivolous things.  I lost count of the times I picked up the phone and almost dialed to then remember that they weren't home.  I will be glad to see them!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and keeps warm, its supposed to be a cold one again.

Lucas is 16 Months

Since I missed last month's update due to the holidays, this is really a rundown of Lucas' developments from the last two months.  Its been quite the time celebrating his second Christmas, and although he was still not that into opening gifts he really enjoyed his new toys and books.  Its always still a wonder for me to experience life and moments through his eyes, and I marvel at the little things that he learns daily, and the things that he teaches me in my journey through motherhood.  Here's a small glimpse into the world of Lucas lately.

Sleep: I don't think we have ever really had a problem in this area since we slept trained Lucas at five months.  Lately the early riser in him though has been killing this mama.  Lucas unfortunately takes after his father who is notoriously an early riser because he gets a few hours of sleep and he's as well rested as I am when I get eight hours of sleep, I secretly hate my husband for this.  So Lucas likes to rise usually around 6-6:30 but the past month or so its been more like 5-5:30 and Lord knows where I get the energy to keep up with him, because when he wakes up its like the energizer bunny around here.  He naps once a day usually from 1-3, but there have been days that he rests an extra hour, and I am eternally grateful on those days.  Lucas has never been one for having a lovey or stuffed animal that he has to have with him in bed, but he is very partial to his blankets, and lately he likes to snuggle up in them to fall asleep, its pretty adorable.

Eating: We just had his 15 month shots and well check up a few weeks ago, and little dude is 29 pounds, so its safe to say that he has a healthy appetite.  He is also towering at 89 centimeters, so he looks like a quarterback in training which has his father looking forward to a future in football, which I marvel at how I'm going to feed my monster child.  We have hit a few snags in the veggie department lately, and he seems to enjoy them more in soups or mixed in rice or pasta so I've been sneaking them in where I can.  He adores fruit though which is great, apples and bananas being a fave, but he likes more exotics things too like kiwi.  He has made huge strides lately self feeding himself using utensils.  He has pretty much mastered the fork, and sometimes I catch him smiling at himself when he get the food on the fork and then in his mouth.  Using a spoon is a whole other ball game, but I still let him practice even though we often get as much yogurt or soup on him as we do in him.

Motor Skills: Little man is clearly a boys boy.  He loves anything to do with trucks and balls, and he has gotten so good at "driving" his trucks around the house, as well as throwing balls with purpose now.  We have been playing with stickers lately to help with fine motor skills, and not only does he enjoy the activity he has gotten really good at adjusting the stickers to help him actually stick them on the paper.  Since Lucas learned to run, that's his fave mode of transportation which really justifies my need to pass out along with him at 8pm sometimes.  He has learned to walk down the stair holding my hand and the banister, and he loves getting to the bottom that he often does a little dance.  He learned to climb the ottoman in our living room last week, and now climbing everything has become his fave pastime.  I'm doomed.

Language Skills: This is something I stress about on a daily basis.  I feel like Lucas should be saying more words, than we go to our playgroup and not only does he communicate more than some of the other children but his understanding of the world around him amazes me.  I feel like we as parents put so much stock in what our kids "should" be accomplishing instead of just guiding them and letting them find their own pace.  Lucas "talks" a great deal often with expressions and tones that are relevant to any given situations, and he understands several commands very well, such as picking up toys, asking for something, and doing simple tasks.  He added duck, cat, and dog to his vocabulary, he understands who his vavos (grandparents in Portuguese) and his titi (aunts in Portuguese) are.  He loves books, and will recognize titles when I ask him for a particular book as well.

Personality: I don't even know where to begin with this one.  Lucas is generally a social and happy kid but he's joined the world of tantrums and crocodile tears lately, and its exhausting.  He is a very strong willed child, and very independent and enjoys learning and figuring things out for himself, so he get very frustrated when he can't or when I try to help him.  He has gotten so much more cuddly as of late, he snuggles against me in bed in the morning, or watching tv, and I can't even tell you how my heart bursts when he kisses me unsolicited.  He is a bit of a mama's boy and I love every minute of it.  He can go all day without seeing his father, and the moment I slip away to take a shower he wants to follow me to the bathroom.  Don't get me wrong he loves on his dad a lot, but he has a special love for his mommy.

I have more updates, and things on my mind coming to the blog soon.  Hope everyone else in keeping warm in these cold temps.

New Look

In case you haven't notice the blog got a makeover over the holidays!

Thanks to Lindsey over at Designer Blogs, the blog is looking a little sleeker and bubbly which is exactly what I was going for.  I am still ironing out some kinks with the navigation bar, and I intend to follow up with some more DIY and recipe posts in the future.

I am thinking of changing the URL eventually but keeping it the same for now.

Let me all know what you think of the new look.

2013 - Review in Pictures

I'm seriously behind again in blogging, lately the energy level has been low, with Lucas waking up at the crack of dawn, and keeping me running after him until he's ready for a nap, and by then all I have strength for is to make a coffee and sit down.  We are still in January so I'm that behind on the customary year in review post.  This year was amazing, seeing my little baby grow into a toddler, and experience all his many firsts.  Being a family together has been by far the best part of having Lucas, and this year in general.

January - We started off the New Year right with Lucas' first time in the exersaucer, and this quickly became his fave toy for a really long time really, and it gave mom some free time as well!

February - We started Lucas on solids, and he was a champ right from the get go.  His first foods were sweet potato and apples still faves to this day.  Lucas celebrated his first Valentines Day at his play group where he made a statement to fellow little ladies.

March - Lucas was Baptized in our Church, with my sister and brother in law as his godparents.  It was a wonderful day of love and family.  That month my little man mastered the art of sitting on his own.

April - Lucas celebrated his cousin's second birthday, and he was all about giving her some love.  At the end of the month my little man quickly went from sitting, to standing, to crawling around the house!

May - We went on our first date night at a charity gala, and we may have sneaked out early since this mama was having anxiety over leaving her baby.  We also celebrated my first Mother's Day where I was truly pampered by two loves.  Lucas also started eating more "solid" foods, and truly enjoyed the sensation of chewing food.

June - Lots happened this month, we began enjoying the warmer days with the little man getting his feet wet, and truly loving to be outside. He got a new set of wheels for the summer walks, he transitioned into the big tub for his baths, and he finally got some teeth.  We finished out patio outside, and Lucas mastered the art of walking!  We celebrated Father's Day and Daddy's birthday, and made a family excursion of Springridge Farms.  Boy was that a busy month!

July - Celebrated Canada Day with his cousin and aunt, and started the tradition of family date days with my sister.  Spent as many afternoons as possible at the splash pad since the weather got really hot.

August - Lucas attended his first wedding, and he was quite the party animal, as well as the most dapper wedding guest.  Family date at the zoo this time with his cousin.  Lunch with his young aunt.  Boy learned to have a fondness for anything dirt.  Lucas tried his first ice cream and it did not go down well, to this day he does not have a liking for ice cream yet, sorbet he loves.  We capped off the month with celebrating my mom's birthday.

September - Lucas started a new play group for one year olds.  We took him to the farm for a family date to celebrate his birthday.  Celebrated his big first birthday with an Avengers themed party.

October - Double family date apple picking, and the kiddies are finally learning to play together.  Lucas celebrated Halloween at his playgroup, he was the cutest monkey.

November - this was a low key month, with the colder temperatures we spent a lot of time indoors, especially since the little guy got his first cold.  The moment we could he played in the snow for the first time, and after getting used to his big boots he loved it.

December - Lucas got his first haircut, and just like that I lost my baby face.  We celebrated Christmas with our families, this picture of Lucas and his cousin dancing is by far my fave picture of the holiday season.

It was a stellar year, and I just know that this year will be just as great.

Appreciating 2014

I am still alive in case anyone out there was wondering.  I took a break from blogging for several reasons; I really wanted to enjoy the holidays with my family especially since this year Lucas understood just a little more what was going on around him, I barely took photos during the holidays because I really just wanted to soak everything in.  We were also busy with some house and family projects that hopefully I will be able to share with all of you soon.  Lastly, I just needed to recharge my batteries, and begin with a new outlook for the new year.

With that being said I am currently making some changes to look of the blog, and although the URL will be the same my little corner of the blogsphere will now be called "EVERYDAY JOYS" so next week when it becomes live don't think you are lost, you are indeed in the right place.  I just felt that this new name encompassed more my outlook, and feelings about what I write about, and indeed that is how I feel right now about my life, that they are small and wonderful joys that happen in my everyday life.

I have seen many mommy bloggers begin the new year by forgoing resolutions and instead picking a word in which to live their lives this year.  I for one love love this idea, because I hate resolutions, I suck at keeping them, and often find that I unrealistically put too much pressure on myself surrounding them.  Instead picking a word that should encompass how I want to confront the year ahead just feels right to me, and way more up my alley.

So this year I want to APPRECIATE.

I want to forget the petty things that often consume too much of my time, worrying me unnecessarily when I have more important things that I could concentrate on.  I don't want the bad things in relationships I have to be my focus, and instead appreciate the amazing things those same relationships being to my life, and how rewarding they are deep down.

I want to appreciate all the little moments I have with my little man, before he no longer wants to snuggle against me in the morning, or rushes to me when he needs me.  I want to appreciate and savour every new word he learns, every smile he bestows on me, and every moment good and bad.  I will learn to appreciate his tantrums and realize that they are part of his growing pains; and try to appreciate every strong willed moment of contention, since it really only shows how much alike his parents he truly is.  I will appreciate him in my life, because he is my pride and joy.

I want to appreciate my marriage more, and try to find time for just the two of us in our crazy lives.  Appreciate the fact that my husband is my best friend, and learn to appreciate the small things we do for each other, and stop sweating the big things, that truly don't matter.

I want to appreciate the life I have, the stability of my home and family, the things I have and not the things I want.

Here's to appreciating 2014 and everything it will bring.