In hindsight the past 3 years have been a blur...but in the day to day time doesn't move that fast. I have recently done a review of this blog from the beginning...to reminisce on life with our wonderful girl so far, and felt a bit overwhelmed at all that has happened in Sasha's lifetime...glad I have this blog to remember it all, hehe. And even more glad to have a loyal audience of loved ones who find it all worth following!To mark the transition of her 3rd year, we had a gathering in our common room. The brilliant sunny day allowed us to open the big doors and with the park right beside us the play time was inside and out. Sasha had a great time and here you can see her jumping for joy with her balloon :)
We were super lucky to have Fraser in town for the weekend, and gladly put him to work playing with Sasha so we could get stuff done, and he also helped with our corn dog assembly line, while I finished the best cake I've ever made...a double layer chocolate brownie cake, blueberry and blackberry filling, with berry creamcheese icing...mmmmmmm. so yummy!
A handful of children for Sasha to run around with and a dozen grown ups to enjoy their energy made this a party full of fun. One friend from her day care was able to come, and she also lives around the corner so I was super happy for them to have some bonding time outside of the child care. (and she looks to be a big fan of Keyan too, hehe) Her friends Merlin and Nolan made it too, and little Dianne who I haven't seen since she was a wee babe...so beautiful! I miss my friend Julie, and though she had to work it was faboo to see her hubby and little girl! We were also happy that Che could be there for the fun...and if you wonder about the bandaged hand (now in a cast...he "had an organ fall on him - and it wasn't a kidney." haha) But he can still play his ukelele so its not all bad ;)
First thing she wanted to do after her post-party nap was to read her new books, then dress up in her new princess costume jewelry. She has now worn all her new cloths, played with her new dress up stuff, and loves all her new books! A very memorable 3rd bday for her, and she truly seems to be a happy camper overall which makes me a happy mommy :)Now...here's the recap, with lots of pics, to cover the rest of the month of April:
Our family friend Kevin was in town from Scotland during his stop over en route to Whistler for a week of skiing. We had a lovely dinner at Dad's, and Sasha just adores him as you can see from the playtime action and farewell hug pic...awwww!
The next big event was the Grand March for Housing which had a great turnout. We didn't make it to the rally, but we ran into many folks we know (like Mike, in the top hat, doing his salsa dance on the sidelines), got to boogy down the street with the Carnival Band, and for a while got to add our voices to the masses who came out in a call for more affordable housing - now!
We made it a fair bit past Carnegie where Mark works, before Sasha finally tired of all the walking (and the march started just before nap time, so our plan had been to go as far as we could before she became uber crank from fatigue)
Once we left the march we ended up on an adventure walk along the seawall on the way home...and stopped for ice cream too! I love the pic of Che playing his uke on the rocks with the olympic village in the background...
The beautiful weather this month has made it possible for us to get lots of work done in our patio garden tiers. While Sasha has fun on the patio with the water and dirt, we have planted swiss chard, artichokes, carrots, zucchini, parsnips and beans so far. We'll see what ends up surviving the season ;)
She still loves to change the diapers of her teddies and dollies, and take the to the doctor (aka mommy or daddy) for tummy aches. She prefers taking pics with my camera and using hers as a gameboy since it has a matching pairs, tic tac toe and picture puzzle games.Her favorite thing in the world these days is being daddy's little girl. (the pic of Mark and the spoon was taken by her) It's actually hard not to take it personally some days when she disses me with a "you're not my friend. I only want to play with daddy. you can go away now." ouch! But then there are the days when I'm the favorite and all is well, hehe.
Granma Penny found a little scooter for Sasha and she loves it. Did not take her long to find her balance on it...she really is a quick learner of all things (well...potty training is a whole other matter. lots of pee success...and this week a fair bit of other success as well...almost there)
We had a great long weekend over the Easter break. She loved the easter egg hunt and we had a fun adventure to get to Granma's for the family dinner involving a walk to the skytrain at Main, a skytrain ride, a fun seabus ride, another bus and a quicky walk. Worked up a good appetite and Sasha was so excited to see her cousins. :)
random good time at work. easter monday. how to crack a coconut...and pose for your success shot ;P
Other non-photo-worthy news includes a little health update on the girl. She had a really bad spotty bum for a while and a trip to the doctor provided a prescription for some antibiotic cream which seems to be doing the magic of clearing it. Though I'm still searching for understanding on what lead to it to begin with...
Her actual bday on the 30th included a follow up with the eye doctor. Good news is she seems to be fairing well with the new lens prescription which was weaker than her last. Though they want us to patch her eye for 2 hours a day now until the next appointment in early August.
I too have been back to the doctor for a physical and have begun the first step in tests to re-examine my kidneys and my pituitary as my body has been quite wonky lately. Headaches that last about 3 weeks (5 since September) and crazy chronic joint pain despite my new addiction to stretching multiple times daily. Healthy overall with good blood pressure...so no worries folks. I'm pretty sure the end analysis will be that my stress has been exasperating things with my poor little gland and once life is all smooth and easy everything will be just fine. lol. but seriously...no worries.
between my awesome daughter, family and friends I've no complaints...other than that pesky job search...but I'm keeping myself busy with positive distractions:
-a girls nite out with Kirsten and Kristen with food at Rhizome and quality time over drinks...becoming a regular thing now these ladies nites - hooray!
- still working at my guitar skills and playing my songs with joy almost every day. also have words coming to another melody that has been in my head for ages...this one is for Sasha.
- I am now a part of another green team - this one for our co-op! Excited to work with Sarah and Jim and work towards positive change on all garbage, recycling and other green ideas for our home environment. Crazy how garbage has become such a huge focus in my life!
- and my ultimate distraction in life comes from the documentary. as you could guess from this post not starting with "Yippee! We're now workin with the NFB!" you may have gathered that they did not choose to help us with the development of our project. But I am full of gratitude for the time the production committee spent discussing our proposal, and to Teri who I had a great dialogue with all their feedback. A lot of it was very positive, and it sounds like a few years ago they would have brought us in for an "investigate" at least (where they provide some pre-production development funding and production support for starters and full development if you get past the investigate stage) Competition is tough and money is tight...and we aren't quite polished enough yet to garner these precious funds.
So we have had time to reflect on what we need to do: create something that speaks "amazing cinema" and help the character not get lost in the politics of the subject. A couple of things really gave me confidence: one, they love the idea and believe the subject matter is compelling and very much worthy of being a documentary project; and second was Teri's comments that she felt, based on my passion and determined voice, that I am up to the challenge of producing this piece, and that she knows one day she will see our film on a screen and kick the production committee for not grabbing us when they had the chance. Nice little dose of ego-boosting ;)
And even better - Tanya and I had a superb brainstorm night recently to bounce ideas on the story and how to make it more cinematic...and I really and truly think we've got it now! I'm even more excited than ever!!! And you will hear more soon enough. For now just know that I'm happy with the outcome of our submission last month and more confident than ever that we will succeed with "Educate Me!?"
This time of the year Vancouver, like most places, is ridiculously beautiful. I love that Sasha was born in this time of renewal and beauty. With the tune "What a Wonderful World" playing in my mind, here are a few pics of the amazing world we walk through every day between home and daycare...5 blocks within a very nice place to live. And smell the floral perfection of those lilacs soon blooming in the air. sweet :)
China Creek hill (across from her daycare), the Means of Production community garden, and a view from the hill outside our home. We may not have the view out our window...but we see it everywhere else!!
couple of fun video clips this month:
play at granpa's
wheee down the slide
