a week with Oma :)

from pickin' her up just after midnight on the 1st through to this morning it was busy times during Oma's stay!

after a day of relaxin' and bonding time for her and Sasha we had a joint family gathering (you guessed it-a backyard BBQ!) where most of the Whittam clan were able to come out...but the best part was having my cousins and aunt here to unite a large portion of my family for the first time in a long while! (pic below)

then throughout the week we went to Granville Island, walked the seawall at Stanley park, walked to the Drive and back(where I finally got to go for my massage given to me at the baby shower...and yes...it was fabulous! thank you ladies!!) , exploring neighbourhoods, lunch with Mark near Carnegie and a tour of Chinatown and Strathcona gardens. all of these were firsts for Sasha so really nice for my mom to be a part of them. another first she shared was the first attempt with the rice cereal, which she ate a few small spoonfuls of with little mess. (below is a picture from her meal of yummy organic squash the next night)

as always, visits with loved ones pass too quickly! we hung out a lot, made jam and mostly just reveled in having Sasha united with her Oma...not to mention how great it was to have her company for the long walks which I love! :)

i'm lookin' forward to uniting them again next year when we visit my mom, and all my other loved ones, back in Ontario. for now we'll reflect a while on a really special visit...thanks for comin' out mom - we love you!

below are some of my favorite pics of Sasha in the past couple of weeks:
- Sasha and Oma: at the airport; feeding time; snuggling on the deck; in the park; changing and bath time; with me, Mark, Che and Karma cat
- in mid-rollover...and finished on tummy unsticking her arm; with her feet in the air; smelling flowers in Strathcona garden; hangin' out; in one of her new hats; dancing with daddy; at Carnegie library; and with me showing off her amazing smile!

a week with Oma pics

Sasha meets Oma :)

4 months & nearing summers end...

Sasha is 4 months old today and she recently achieved another big first…rolling completely over onto her belly! She's been able to roll on her side for some time, but she now wastes no time on her side…it's all or nothing. Apparently these are the first steps to crawling so I'm keeping an extra eye ('cuz you know all parents develop that eye in the back of their heads right?) on our soon to be mobile girl. I know it's still a fair ways away…but I also know this will happen sooner than I think in that strange parental-time-warp kinda way. ;)

anyways, she's finally had her first set of booster shots, which would have been far less traumatic if we hadn't been in the waiting room for over an hour before we got in! (to say she had 'lost all her happy' is an understatement!) the positive is that she still has a clean bill of health and she finally got to meet our family doctor.

rounding out our lazy days of summer...

the weekend that just past was spent at the Jones Park Fun Day (and in recovery the next day!), an event put on by a handful of folks in our community (some of the same fabulous folks I work with on the PAC for Che's school) and Kensington community centre. I was MC'ing the event and had a blast, while Mark and Sasha hung with Granma, Karli, Elise and Brett. Our talented niece Elise belted out a great tune to help us fill the line up when one act was late...she was amazing!! we have a great amount of talent in our community and it's nice to be a part of organizing events which showcase this and bring everyone together in a fun way :)

our friend Jonathan earned his title of Uncle in our tribe when Sasha spit up on his lap (she has a certain knack for gettin' the guys right between the legs) he is a great role model for her life and we also look forward to Sasha growing up with his baby-to-be (so very soon!)

in less than 2 days my mom arrives and I'm soooooo excited for her and Sasha to meet!!

we'll be having a joint clan gathering and many other fun things going on while she's here, so the next update should have many more pics of our adorable little one...including (perhaps) some of her first solid food attempts...bound to be messy and super fun :)

two weeks with brother :)

In the past two weeks we've been lucky to have Che with us and he has spent a lot of time with Sasha...I think she is far more interesting to him now that she is babbling, smiling and laughing in response to him. He even has the walk-&-rock to sooth her down pat! He's defintely proving to be a great big brother :)

Sasha is doing fabulous! We had a visit with her pediatrician this week (after this appointment she is now graduated to visits at the office instead of the hospital - yeah!) and she was "thrilled" with her health and development. She is now 15 lbs 4 oz and 25 1/4 inches long! Will she ever slow down?!

Below are a few more pics from the past week (the previous week with Che we were away and I did a seperate entry for it below):
- long enamoured with her hands, she is now greatly entertained by her favorite toys as well. she spends a great deal of time exploring them with her 5 senses...and she naps with them too
- the boys pickin' blackberries...which I turned into my first batch of jam ever!
- she is now big enough to face forward in the snuggly (which really stimulates her and helps her sleep even more!)
- she sleeps long enough (and soundly enough) that she is in her crib now overnight (for just over a week now she sleeps for a solid 6-8 hours!!)
- tummy time: she is able to lift part of her upperbody as well as her head which has her interacting with her toys in a whole new way
- and she already has the boys wrapped around her fingers: her Uncle Heath, daddy and brother vying for her smiles; and swingtime with Brad (my kind of community meeting. we're planning a festival in our local park for next weekend and thankfully these folks like to hang with Sasha too!)