Year: 2010

To Alberta and back

Mara was a model baby on the trip to Alberta last week. Travelling with our stroller wouldn’t have been practical, so we were lucky that Mara finally started to enjoy being taken along in the baby carrier.

Here we are in the food court at the West Edmonton Mall:

The temperature was much colder than we’re used to (so far this fall, at least). Minus 38! Mara wasn’t impressed with being bundled up, but she loved visiting with all her cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends of the family we introduced her to in Red Deer and Calgary.

Little pea in a pod

Mara got to dress up as a pea in a pod for her first Halloween. She showed off her costume at her dad’s office on Friday and everyone thought she was incredibly cute. Back into costume again last night, to greet the few trick-or-treaters that came our way (the last batch of kids to come to our door were actually dropped off by minivan, and each one of them said to me “Oh, you have a baby!” — Mara was making some noise in the living room at that point).

James carved our classic pumpkin:

Afternoon sunshine

This photo was taken two weeks ago:

Earlier that day we had tried to get Mara to pose for photos with her arms like this, chin propped on folded hands, with no luck. Later that day she figured it out on her own and I managed to take a picture.

Hanging with the grandparents

This past weekend my parents came up to visit, and Mara really enjoyed spending time with her grandparents. Her grandmother sang her lots of songs and her granddad took her for lots of walks! We tried to fit as much as possible into just a couple of days. Ever since they left, Mara’s main activity has been napping (when they were here, she didn’t want to miss anything by sleeping during the day!).

Has rattle, may shake it

It’s been an incredibly busy couple of months. The move into the house started at the end of July and kept going for the first two weeks of August. It feels like it’s been ages already since we’ve been here, so I have to keep reminding myself that only a few weeks have passed and it really isn’t bad that there are still boxes to unpack. Thankfully, Cullen and my cousin Colette were able to help us with the first stages of unpacking. We also had other relatives come up over the course of the month to help us get settled a bit (and to play with Mara).

Last week Mara held a rattle for the first time. She also shook it a bit, which made me very excited! A few days later I saw her pass the rattle from one hand to the other, but I think this actually happened by accident since it hasn’t happened again.