A Year in Photos

Winter Picnic

Sat, 7 Jan 2012 14:45:11 -0700

Before everyone went home after the holidays we went for a winter picnic in Bowness Park. It was a bit cold and windy so it was a fairly short picnic but we all had fun.
Grandma and Grandpa went home to Florida on Tuesday. We were super sad to see them leave but we had a great visit with them while they were here. After they got home we called them on Skype and the first thing that Makenna did was give the computer screen a big hug!

Tobogganing

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:33:47 -0700

We haven’t had any new snow for a few weeks and the weather has been so nice that the snow that is still here is all packed down and icy. Not perfect tobogganing conditions but it sure was fun. Everyone took a turn racing Makenna and she had a blast. The hill is short with a moderate slope that’s perfect for Makenna. She’d yell “weeeee” as she went down with a big smile! One toddler can definitely entertain six adults for at least an hour!

Merry Christmas

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:20:11 -0700

The house was full of family and friends over Christmas and a Merry time was had by all. The number one form of entertainment was Makenna and she filled the bill by dancing, playing and just being herself.
On Christmas eve we were so lucky to have a visit from Santa. Santa brought Makenna a stroller for her doll and a new copy of Good Night Moon (she promised Santa to not rip this one apart). He also brought candy canes for all the adults.
After Santa left Makenna carefully chose cookies to leave our for Santa and we tossed carrots outside for the reindeer too.
The rest of Christmas Eve was filled with visiting and assembly of the new kitchen that Grandma and Grandpa gave to Makenna. She LOVES her kitchen and she serves a good cup of coffee that come with a cute warming that “it be hot!”

Before everyone arrived for Christmas Makenna made some footprint crafts to give as gifts. We were really happy with the results and Makenna spent a lot of time choosing who to give each one to.

Grandma and Grandpa visit

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:07:40 -0700

Mom and dad made the trip up from Florida for Christmas and were blessed with sunny skis and warm winter days. Makenna had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa. We went to the zoo, for lots of walks and she helped Grandma do some baking. Thankfully she likes to clean up as much as she likes to make a mess of flour while baking.

Frosty the Snowman

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:00:34 -0700

It was nice and warm this weekend which made the snow perfect for building a snowman. Makenna helped shovel the snow while Craig built Frosty. We struggled with finding good items for his features so we settled on tennis ball eyes, a carrot nose, Fruit Loop mouth and green bean eye brows. Spencer was less than thrilled at the use of his tennis balls for the eyes. He has stubs for arms and legs as we didn’t have any branches and our poor little trees can’t afford to give any up.

Pre-Christmas FUN!

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:10:41 -0700

This weekend was stuffed full of some of my favourite Christmas traditions!
On Friday, Makenna had 3 friends over to decorate gingerbread houses. It only lasts a couple of hours but it’s a busy, messy, sugar rush fun time. Makenna carefully sampled all the candies before choosing what went on the house, then she directed me where to put the icing and she placed the candies on her house by herself. The girls played while we cleaned up and they finished off with a short but very cute cuddle on the couch.
The next day we went out to find our Christmas trees. Makenna was a bit less than thrilled with the process but she loved riding in the sled. She watched Craig cut down our tree and then we chose one for her room. After the boys carefully tied the trees to the roof (it was extremely windy so they might have flew off once before they were secured) we headed to our picnic spot for a hotdog and smores roast. Again, Makenna was less than trilled and Grace found it rather chilly but Spencer was more than happy to keep her warm!
In the evening we put up Makenna’s tree and she was trilled to be able to decorate it by herself! I think she did a great job and she loved choosing a place for each decoration. I was completely unsuccessful at having her pose with the tree after we were done. We turn the light on every morning and evening and take a moment to admire the tree.

On Santa’s Knee?

Mon, 5 Dec 2011 18:28:53 -0700

We went to visit Santa earlier this week. After walking by and saying hi a couple of times in the past couple of weeks we realized that Santa is never busy around 5 pm so we jumped at the opportunity to not wait in line. Makenna was excited to see Santa, however after she realized that there was a slide in the play area she didn’t really want to leave. See that kid in the background posing for a picture in the chair; Makenna wouldn’t have anything to do with cute photo opportunities!
Santa’s visit went well. She sat on my knee next to Santa and she even looked at him a few times. She had a very tight grip on my hand but we all left happy and that’s what counts.
This weekend we had planned to go Christmas tree cutting, however we got a big snow storm and travel on the roads wasn’t recommended so we stayed home for a snow day. Makenna loved the sled and she was leaning over to drag her hand in the snow for the entire walk. We have about 20cm of snow in the backyard but it doesn’t accumulate as much on the ridge because it’s so windy.

Christmas Parties

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:14:01 -0700

This weekend was a busy one as we had both of our company’s kids Christmas parties and Jeff, Kris and Andrew were visiting. We had lots of fun with Andrew as he spent all day saturday with us. Makenna enjoyed the pre-party puzzle building with lots of high fives.
My company party was on saturday and it was a bit overwhelming for Makenna. They had bouncy castles, tattoos, crafts and a mini roller coaster track. Makenna fell in love with the roller coaster, however she didn’t fall in love with waiting in a line for her turn. As soon as the line got longer than 4 kids she had a meltdown. After some lunch and a jump in the bouncy castle, the line was short and she could enjoy it again. Once Santa arrived and she instantly clung to my neck. Waving from the side of the stage was a close as she would get.
Craig’s party was on Sunday and was at least 1/5th the size of mine. There were lots of crafts to enjoy and balloon sculptures. This time we got much closer to Santa as she sat on the arm of his chair with only one arm wrapped tightly around my neck. Santa gave Makenna a Cabbage Patch doll and she fell in love with her instantly. When we got home we had to put her baby down for a nap and Kenna rocked her and sang Rock-a-bye Baby. She was the cutest kid at both parties!

Brush Your Teeth!

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:12:47 -0700

For the past few months, brushing Makenna’s teeth has been torture for everyone involved. I was at wits end and solicited advice from a friend; that evening we distracted Makenna with a video on the ipod while we brushed her teeth. There was no squirming, screaming, restraining or crying ... it was easy and painless!
It’s been about 2 weeks and now Makenna looks forward to brushing her teeth. We start one of her favourite video clips (Dora, Mickey Mouse or the Sound of Music) and she happily brushes her teeth, then we take over for a more thorough clean and everyone leaves happy.
I hope all toddler issues are this easy to remedy!

Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:13:41 -0700

We went to the zoo on Sunday, it was the first really cold day this fall and as a resultwe practically had the whole place to ourselves! Makenna’s favourite animal is still the Gorilla. When we ask her what she wants to see at the zoo she says “Goilla!”. Although her pronunciation is getting good she still misses the “r”. Makenna squeals and laughs as they move around and go about their Gorilla business. She also enjoyed the Meercat’s and the hippo’s, but the Gorilla’s are the only animals that we have to encourage her to leave, all of the others she turns around and says “bye” to as she walks away.
We’re seeing lots of changes in Makenna’s personality lately, especially in her expression of her feelings. She’ll stomop her feet anytime she hears “no” but she also get’s excited and says “yippy!” The first incidence of this occurred after we asked her if she wanted ice cream.

Cutest Garden Gnome Ever!

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:54:50 -0600

This might be the last year that I am able to pick out Makenna’s costume for her so I had to go with the garden gnome, and I think that everyone will agree that she is the cutest garden gnome ever!
I’m not sure what the tear was from in the first photo because there was only fun during our time playing in the garden and leaves. Maybe it was after she discovered that leaves taste “yucky”. This gnome takes great care of her pumpkins and garden ... she even waters the dead leaves.
Makenna can never keep her cuteness to herself so we took it next door and she shook hands with a skeleton. Yes, she was really shaking his hand and she laughed at the scary noises and cackles from one of the animated grave stones. I’m quite sure that is not the intended response but we’ve been visiting this yard almost daily for the past month. As it got dark Makenna was a bit apprehensive, but that was probably due to our neighbour, Dave, dressed up in a very scary devil costume.

There was still lots of treat or treating fun to be had as we visited some of Makenna’s favourite neighbours. Our first stop was Peter and Joy who adore Makenna. As usual, we had to stop them from emptying their whole bucket of candy into Makenna’s bin!
After we got home, Makenna was so hyper and excited about her candy stash; she dumped it out and examined it and then stuffed it all back in the bin.

Remote Tea Party

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:44:03 -0600

Some people work remotely but we just host remote tea parties. Kenna always opens a tea party by announcing “PARTY!” at the top of her lungs. Her special guests today were grandma and grandpa who joined us from Florida. There are lots of laughs and giggles as they try to share treats through the computer and as grandma and grandpa hide. It’s cute to see Makenna lean to the side to try to look further into their house when they lean away from the camera.
Makenna was a lucky girl as she received mail twice this week. The first was an invitation to a friend’s fairy party, which she is super excited about and the second was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse stickers from Michelle, Brad and Jake. She loved the stickers which she promptly placed all over her and my face. Thanks for the mail surprises!

Fun at the Library

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:02:47 -0600

Since the weather is turning a bit cooler we decided to go to the library to borrow a few books. Initially it was a bit hard to keep track of all the books that Makenna was pulling off the shelves but after a few minutes she found a giant paper page version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear that she loved. Since we have a board book version at home so we didn’t put in it our pile to borrow, but Makenna got rather distressed when a little boy picked it up to read it and then took it home.
After Makenna picked a few books to borrow we played peek-a-boo through the shelves.

All About Two

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:25:04 -0600

Although we celebrated Makenna’s birthday last weekend with a party her real Birthday was this saturday. We didn’t have another party but we did celebrate in our own way by enjoying all the things that Makenna loves right now:

“Kenna help you”

Breakfast. Pancakes made extra special with a #2 made out of chocolate chips

Colouring

Spinning

A game of “catch you”

Dollies (including one “borrowed” from Daycare). She read them Goodnight Moon before naptime

Walking and exploring (with pockets full of rocks)

Bathtime
water = fun in all situations

Who’s Turning 2?!

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:31:00 -0600

We went to Jeff and Kris’s this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving and since we were all together we also celebrated Makenna’s Birthday (a week early). Makenna has been singing the Happy Birthday song for a couple of weeks. They have had quite a few birthdays at daycare so she knows the song well and loves to sing it in the car as we drive home.
Her beautiful cake was made by our friend Shannon and it was delicious! Makenna’s favourite part was the icing.
Auntie Kris and Uncle Jeff spoiled Kenna as usual and she especially loved their gifts: jewelry and tools! She proves that you can be stylish and handy!

Petting Zoo

Tue, 4 Oct 2011 20:28:35 -0600

I love that Makenna likes animals. I appreciate that she’s cautious but not afraid and gentle most of the time. The one exception is chickens, she is always excited to see them and wants to get close but as soon as they show any movement towards her she freaks out and runs away.

P-A-R-K

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:59:38 -0600

When Craig and I are talking about going to the park we have to spell it out instead of saying the word because Makenna gets so excited and she will want to go right away! I made the mistake of asking her if she wanted to take Spencer to the park (meaning dog park) and once we were there she kept asking where the park was. She was more than happy to accommodate Spencer’s trip to the dog park as long as there was a stop for a snack. The next day we made a special trip to the kid park for an adventure on the tire swing!

Imaginative Playtime

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 20:46:14 -0600

Hiking

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:34:38 -0600

Craig had a baseball tournament in Kananaskis this weekend so Makenna and I came to cheer on their team and have a little mountain fun. Throughout the weekend we did a few short hikes in the area and Makenna loved walking on her own. She’d listen to the birds and squirrels and notice a tonne of details along the path including sticks, rocks, leaves, berries and flowers and even a tiny burrow.

Kenna’s Bike?

Mon, 5 Sep 2011 19:23:49 -0600

We had a great Labour Day long weekend full of fun activities and lots of sunshine!
Almost every time that we’re in the garage Makenna points out Mommy’s bike and Daddy’s bike and then she says “Kenna’s bike?” with an over-exaggerated inflection. I think that she considers the Chariot as her bike, but it’s always hung on the wall behind the van so she can’t see it.
As soon as we mention a bike ride she gets excited. She loves wearing her helmet and riding in the trailer. She’ll talk and talk as we ride along and sometimes she’ll fall asleep. I’m sure that biking will be an activity that we’ll enjoy together for years to come.
Makenna also started doing this big goofy smile where she scrunches her nose and smiles big!

Lakeside Fun

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 21:49:45 -0600

Makenna loved to spend time at the water playing in the sand, swimming, riding on the taxi tube and sitting in the lounge chairs. She even liked going off the slide but didn’t appreciate it when the catcher missed and she went under.

It’s always sad to leave ....
but we’ll be back next year.

Old School Horses and Feeding the Animals

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:37:02 -0600

Grandma and Grandpa have an old toy riding horse that is the perfect size for Makenna; she loved going for a ride. She also enjoyed feeding the animals, she even liked to make it easier for the squirrels and chipmunks by shelling some of the peanuts for them. Then she would quietly watch while they came up and took them away. Every morning she would go out with Grandma and feed the whiskey jacks and the blue jays from the porch.

Painting

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 21:29:38 -0600

Grandma wanted some new birdhouses for the yard so we built a few and decided that Makenna should paint the warbler house. She really took her painting responsibility seriously and was particular about where and how she painted. Some sides were painted with a brush, while others were painted with her hands and fingers.

Uncle Jeff came to the cottage later this week and he taught Makenna how to drink the milk from her cereal bowl. He was very impressed that she learned so quickly!

Tea Parties

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 21:17:21 -0600

Grandma bought Makenna a tea set and she hosted quite a few parties during our visit. Makenna loved these parties and you could tell how special she felt with the kid sized cups and plates. I was surprised how good she was at holding the little cups. She even shared her snacks like any good tea party attendee should.

Off to the Lake

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 21:08:57 -0600

We set off on Friday afternoon for our summer vacation at the family cottage. Makenna surprised us by being perfect on the drive; 16 hours is a long time for anyone to be sitting in a car, especially a toddler. Our first couple of days at the lake were filled with traditions. The first of which was being measured on the pole that everyone in the family has used since the cottage was built. The second was a boat ride to check out the lake. Last but not least was some relaxing!

Two full weeks of fun times to follow!

Grandparents are Funny

Tue, 2 Aug 2011 20:19:21 -0600

Grandma and Grandpa came to Calgary for a visit before they go to Kamloops to see Andrew play in the Western Canada Games and boy are they fun! Grandpa loves to play hide and go seek and Grandma taught Makenna how to crack and egg and scramble it with a fork. Now she wants eggs with every meal.
Makenna is really excited to get to the cottage to play with Grandma and Grandpa in the sand pile and the lake!

Pretty Flowers

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 14:12:47 -0600

The wildflowers at Nose Hill are in their peak right now so we took Makenna out for a walk this morning. The backpack carrier has a teddy bear that lives in the pocket and when we stopped for a rest, Makenna took the teddy and made him smell the flowers. After his excursion she treated him to a drink of water from her sippy cup. While in the backpack, she made sure that Teddy could see where he was going!

Bee Beep, Bee Beep

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:58:20 -0600

It’s an understatement to say that Makenna loves the water. She loves to play in any and all water, including the water in Spencer’s bowl. It’s been such a nice week that we’ve spent a tonne of time outside enjoying our backyard and playing in the kiddie pool and the water table.
I love the intense concentration that she has while she puts the train pieces together. As soon as their all joined up she pushes it around the rim of the water table and says “bee beep, bee beep, bee beep”. Makenna’s second favourite thing to play with after water is rocks, so you can imagine the joy of the train cars filled with not just water but rocks as well!

Thanks to all those that let me know that they were disappointed that I didn’t post the photos last night. I’m really glad that so many friends and family are enjoying this project as much as we do.

Weekend Visitors

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:43:39 -0600

Makenna was especially cuddly this weekend and the lucky recipients of some Little M love were Auntie Kris and Uncle Jeff. Kenna loves her Aunt and Uncle and is even getting very good at saying their names clearly. Uncle Jeff was nice enough to teach Kenna about teasing, wresting and crawling over the back of the couch.

Pool Time

Sun, 3 Jul 2011 19:52:13 -0600

Master of the Spoon

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:08:05 -0600

One of Makenna’s nicknames is Miss Independent and “Kenna do” is becoming a very common phrase in our house. An independent task that she mastered quite early (around 15 months old) was using her spoon. Today at 20 months, you can see her sense of accomplishment as she successfully feeds herself with both her spoon and fork.

Strawberry Picking

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:08:44 -0600

Fresh picked Ontario strawberries are sweet, juicy and delicious! We took Makenna to a u-pick farm and put her little fingers to work picking berries for Oma. Once she was trained to only pick the red ones she was a good little worker, although she consumed 70% of what she picked and taste tested almost all the berries she touched. They all passed.

Oma and Auntie

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:05:27 -0600

We headed to Ottawa last week for the annual Vervoort family summer party. During the week we spent lots of time with Oma, Auntie Yvonne and Uncle Ray. Makenna loved playing with Auntie in her gorgeous backyard and they even managed to tame the concrete deer for a ride or two!

Sunglasses

Sun, 5 Jun 2011 19:23:20 -0600

A short time ago Makenna hated wearing sunglasses but for the past week we haven’t been able to keep them off her, including when we’re inside. We think it might be because she sees both Craig and I wear glasses. We haven’t had a lot of sun lately, so Makenna has definitely enjoyed the bits of sun when they come around!

My New Friend Gryffin

Sun, 29 May 2011 21:28:32 -0600

Grandma is the Best!

Mon, 23 May 2011 20:02:27 -0600

Hugs and Kisses

Sun, 15 May 2011 19:46:41 -0600

One of the best feelings ever is when Makenna wraps her little arms around your neck for a big hug. I could live off Makenna giggles and hugs! Makenna has been a great hugger for quite a while and she does gives kisses, although they usually are simply a gesture toward you while making a kissing sound.
Makenna’s friend Grace came over this afternoon to help prepare our shared vegetable garden. Makenna was napping when she arrived but when she woke up she came right outside and sat next to Grace and gave her a kiss! SO CUTE! The hugs and kisses continued throughout the afternoon, which is a great source of entertainment and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Outside

Sun, 8 May 2011 19:30:39 -0600

Makenna is talking more and more everyday and at the same time her words are becoming understandable to people other than just her mother. She loves to play outside, so whenever she has a chance she goes to the sliding door and says “outside”. Recently we did a bit of un-landscaping and moved some gravel and rocks out of the yard. Makenna joined in as child labour and used her own wagon to move rocks from the yard to her sandbox. Her sandbox is now a sand, gravel and rock box.

Big Cousin

Sun, 1 May 2011 19:20:10 -0600

We went to Spruce Grove this weekend to visit my family and their new puppy, Gryphin. Before we went up I had a thought in my mind that I would post a photo of Makenna and the pup but my favourite from the weekend was this photo of Makenna looking up to her cousin Andrew. My nephews are so good with her and she really loves spending time with them. Out of all of Makenna’s cousins, Andrew is the closest in age to her (he’s 15 next month!). She’s also lucky to have lots of second cousins around her age on Craig’s side!

Easter egg hunt

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 19:34:58 -0600

The Easter Bunny left a trail of chocolate eggs for Makenna to follow from the stairs to her gift in the living room. She carried her basket to the living room and then went back to the trail and collected a couple eggs at a time and brought them back to her basket. She loves to put things away so an egg hunt was right up her alley!
After the collecting was done she sat down to enjoy and egg an quickly learned that they taste much better one they are unwrapped!

Baby or Big Girl?

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 19:51:59 -0600

We had a lot of fun this week; Makenna’s personality is really developing and she’s becoming quite the character!
Makenna loves her backpack, she keep her slippers and a book inside. She’ll grab it then walk away while waving and saying “bye”.
We have one cupboard in our kitchen reserved for Makenna to play in (where we keep the tupperware, dish cloths and tea towels). This week she found a baby bottle in her cupboard and has been obsessed with it ever since. This is a bit ironic because as an infant she didn’t want to have anything to do with bottles! I ask her what the bottle is for and she answers “baby”. Then I ask her if she’s a baby or a big girl and she answers “big girl” while she still has the bottle in her mouth.

Lets go to the Zoo

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 19:47:33 -0600

The sunny warm weather drew us to the zoo this weekend with our friends Andi and Grace. The main draw at the zoo was the new baby giraffe. Despite how adorable the giraffe was the favourite animal of the day was the gorilla and they did put on a show! Both girls were really interested in the interaction between the toddler gorilla and her older sister, their play isn’t unlike human children so I think they maybe identify with their “fun”!

Sleeping Makenna?

Sun, 3 Apr 2011 19:13:27 -0600

This photo does not represent Makenna’s normal sleeping habits but I had to include it here because maybe we’re hitting a new milestone! Makenna rarely ever sleeps anywhere but in her crib. She’s a good, reliable night-time sleeper so we’ve never complained. I don’t have any of those cute photos that most moms have of their baby sleeping in the highchair or jolly jumper. This morning Makenna stayed awake and played in her crib during her morning nap so she was tired when Craig and I took her for a walk. She was awake for most of the walk but on our way home she was quiet and then asleep!?!
We didn’t want to wake her up when we got home so we got out the deck chairs and hung out on the front driveway. Normally we’d go to the backyard but the 30cm of snow that we received yesterday doesn’t allow us access without snowshoes and sleds.

Makenna’s Buddy

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:31:06 -0600

I’m breaking the rules again but including more photos but we accomplished a lot this weekend and I wanted to included Makenna’s new toy. Grandma and Grandpa gave Makenna some cash for Christmas since we spent Christmas in Florida and couldn’t bring too much home with us. We found a play structure on sale, but since we have a couple of feet of snow in the backyard we had to try it out in the livingroom! It’s an understatement to say Makenna LOVES slides. Thanks G-ma and G-pa we’ll get lots of use out of this over the years!

... eyes, ears mouth and nose

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:22:06 -0600

Some things are very hard to capture in photos and this is one of them. For the past couple of weeks Makenna has been very interested in identifying facial features of everything including people, dolls, animals and photos. She’s mastered the identification and pronunciation of the words eyes, ears, mouth and nose (shortly after head and shoulders).
We were busy this week so taking photos wasn’t a priority but I managed to capture one moment where she’s pointing out the eyes on her chipmunk stuffy. Note that she’s also sitting in her booster seat from last weekend, which has found a home in the middle of the living room.

Weekend in Kananaskis

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:30:38 -0600

Skype

Sun, 6 Mar 2011 18:07:24 -0700

We talk to my parents through Skype once a week. It’s a lot of fun to see Makenna interacting with Grandma and Grandpa through the computer. She plays peek-a-boo and gives them hugs and kisses (which results in a very dirty computer screen and some accidental hangups).
Makenna had yet another cold and was tired and irritable for most of the week, but this weekend she woke from her sleeps well rested, happy and with lots of energy again. We’re very happy to have our Kenna back. She still has a dry rash on her face and a residual runny nose but at least she has the tissue in hand to give it a wipe.

Peek A Boo

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 21:03:48 -0700

Peek-a-Boo is Makenna’s favourite game. She plays in her high chair by covering her eyes with her hands, she plays in her crib by covering her face with her blanket and recently she’s discovered that she can hide behind the curtains in our bonus room.

A Love of Books

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:50:07 -0700

On a side note ...
Since I am spending a lot more time with my camera I decided to make a new strap that was longer and more comfortable to wear.
This beauty is made from a scrap of gorgeous sari trim that was given to me by a friend and the back is a super soft microfiber that doesn’t scratch my neck!