Jour deux de garde

Translation - Day two of daycare. Why the french? Why not?! I sometimes feel like I'm trying to understand another language - oh wait a minute - I am! It's called Rowyneese.
Anyway. We had ROwyn's second day of daycare today. I wavered back and forth on whether or not to pick her up earlier or to send her for the day. After speaking with the administrator, he reassured me that sending her for the day would be the best thing for her. We also addressed the hearing aid issue - Don't take them out! and the water issue. I felt much more confident with her staying the day after our discussion.
As soon as we got into school she started to cry. I stayed for a couple of minutes thinking this would calm her down but it didn't work. She wouldn't even let me put her on the floor even if I was sitting down with her. I ended up passing her off to one of the teachers and waved bye and left. My heart broke a little.
I waited three hours before I called to check up on her. I thought 3 hours was pretty good. It was 12:30. Rowyn had eaten lunch (yummy strained green beans) and had her milk and was getting ready for a nap. She had started to interact with the kids and her environment and was generally having an ok time. No tears. I wished the teacher luck with getting her down for a nap and said I'd see her at 4:00.
When I picked Rowyn up she was crying - but the teacher said it just started. Rowyn was happy to see me and was told she had over an hour nap. YAY Princess! She had finished the rest of her food in her lunch bag and had an overall great day.
WOW am I relieved. I'm so elated that she was able to have some fun today and not be totally traumatized. I'm sure there will be rough days in there that are yet to come, but I feel more confident that we can handle this and get through it.
When we got home, Rowyn was a whirl wind of excitement. She did laps around the kitchen with her new ball and had a blast with Khaos. She was very happy to be at home and I was so happy she was at home.

Here is Rowyn's first report card from Daycare. She'll get one of these every day.


Bo-Bo has a new friend in the group. Ruben has now joined the Soloy household and has become a Rowyn favourite. She just LOVES Ruben. She'll go get him if we ask her "Where's Ruben?" and she'll give him a BIG hug and kiss and then proceed to lie on him, to jump on him, to roll on him and have a great time.

Daddy even enjoys hangin' out with Ruben! Ruben sure is a kool dude!

Here's a typical Rowyn pose. "Where'd it go Mama?" Like her cute outfit! She looks like such a toddler now. No more baby.

So how did day care turn out?

How did Rowyn's first day at daycare turn out you ask?
Not good.....
She cried whenever someone left the room, didn't eat anything I packed but ate the kid next door's blueberries instead, didn't have her milk, and didn't nap. All in all, it was a disaster. Did I mention the teacher took her hearing aids out because they thought she was crying because of them?
Please tell me this gets better?? I'm pretty traumatized.
Next day is this tuesday coming up......

Today's the day......

Rowyn's first day of daycare. We're slowly integrating her into the daycare. We're doing a couple of days before I go back to work on Sept 4th. I was a brave Mummy today. I didn't cry when I left her. I must admit, I did cry (alot) last night while I was packing up all her toys, food, clothes for the daycare. I never thought I could be so attached to someone. She's been my world for the last year and it's a little hard to imagine her not being there every time I turn around. I'm not the one who she's hugging when she goes for a nap or smiling at when she has her fruit for lunch. I hope I'll be the one she runs to when I pick her up from daycare and I hope I'll be the one that gets the giggles and hugs right before bed. Bo-Bo is waiting for her when she gets home today.
I'm going to squeeze her extra tight tonight.

Rowyn turns 1 in Nova Scotia, starts to run after cats, and points at birds

Where oh where has our little Rowyn been? She's been a traveln' woman!
We just got back from a very busy and very exciting trip out to the East Coast and then up north to visit G&G Soloy.
I admit - I was pretty nervous about flying on a plane with our princess and even more nervous about how we were going to deal with nap time. As you know, Rowyn revolts when nap time comes around and forget putting her down in the play pen. I resigned myself to having a very cranky kid that would have a very early bedtime.
So our story goes.... much to my amazement......

We arrived at the airport for 10:00. The check-in lady was super nice and we were able to score a seat at the bulk head with nobody sitting beside us. Rowyn had a hoot playing with the barf bags and charming the steward and stewardess who could see every move she was making. We had to hold Rowyn facing us during taxi and take off. I thought this would be an issue because it involved staying still for more than 30 seconds. We were able to look out the window and see the guys loading the baggage, directing the plane and look at the runway. Before we were even finished taxing down the runway, Rowyn was asleep on my chest. WHEW! She slept for 40 minutes and then busied herself with playing for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness the plane ride was only 1 hr 50 minutes though. We picked up our car, checked into our hotel in New Brunswick (St. John) and then headed out for our first adventure.

Rowyn enjoying a snack after her power nap on the plane


We rented a car - Nissan Altima - which was perfect for us. Lots of head AND leg room. Nobody was as impressed as Brad was. He was actually comfortable.
We headed out to see St. Martins and the Sea Caves along the Fundy Trail. We couldn't believe the scenery. We got lots of cool pics and enjoyed our drive while Rowyn took another power nap in the back seat.

The car...


Beautiful! Just beautiful


Our napping princess. Thank goodness for Blankies!


Heehee! Mummy and Daddy enjoying ourselves


Really cool covered bridge. What can I say?! We were touring and being annoying picture takers. We snapped over 400 pics on our trip!


We went to the Sea Caves in St. Martin. The tide was out so we were able to walk around and explore the scenery. It was really neat and we were glad we took the time to go out there.




Off onto the ferry on Saturday for a trip across the Bay of Fundy from St. John NB to Digby NS. I was looking forward to this and expecting to have a nice, pleasant trip with some sight seeing. Well, Rowyn had a different agenda. We spent the 3 hours trying to entertain a cranky girl who just wanted to go. We weren't even off the ferry yet and she was nodding off in the car. She was fighting SO hard to stay awake but just couldn't manage it.


Did I mention - Thank goodness for Blankies?!


We drove to Annapolis Royal to meet up with Uncle Jai and Auntie Lauren (Brad's Bro and wife).
Along the way we came across this.....(Taken especially for Auntie Mel!)


We arrived just in time at the Market in Annapolis Royal where Jai and Lauren have a booth. We walked around a bit and took in the sights. Wish we were able to be there earlier to check out more stuff though. We were able to see their set up and I even bought a magic wand!


Then it was off to Jai and Lauren's house... Where Rowyn discovered Emma! She had a ball playing with Emma. Emma on the other hand could take or leave Rowyn. She would let Rowyn pet her sometimes but other times Rowyn as a little too enthusiastic for her. One afternoon Rowyn and Emma were chasing each other around the house. Did I mention that Rowyn is now walking - not just taking a few wobbly steps, but on her two feet going from room to room?! I think she wanted to keep up with Emma. She managed to go from a wobbly two stepper to a kid that's now trying to hustle her way from room to room as fast as her little legs will carry her. It's hilarious to watch her try and run. She gets so excited with herself. And she points now too. She couldn't stop pointing at Emma and giggling and laughing. It was the best to see her so excited and happy.


The next day Jai and Lauren took us to see the sights in Bridgetown, the ocean, Annapolis Royal and to Digby....


Checking out the ocean by Jai and Lauren's house. I was SO surprised at how FRIGID the water was. No swimming for us!



Rowyn hanging out with Uncle Jai

We went to visit an old fort in Annapolis Royal. Here is Brad and Rowyn visiting the sights....


Jai and Lauren directed us into Digby where Brad and I were determined to try some fresh east coast lobster. For Brad, this was uncharted territory. While I've had lobster before, it was still an experience. Brad did well with his surf and turf. I was immensely impressed and proud of him for trying something very different. We had a beautiful day (it was suppose to thunder storm)and a roof top patio spot to dine at. Rowyn managed to amuse herself on the patio playing with the chairs and playing with her portable high chair the entire time. She had a great time and so did we.




HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE GIRL! ROWYN IS ONE YEARS OLD!!!!

On Monday, Rowyn's actual birthday, we celebrated by eating cup cakes and hanging out. It seems so ironic that 1 year ago we were at home, having just brought a brand new baby into the world and now we're not even in our own province to celebrate her first birthday. We've had so much fun getting to know Rowyn in the last year and watching her grow into our little girl. We love you Rowyn!

Jai made Rowyn a magic wand for her birthday. Brad was able to pick out the wood especially for Rowyn and Jai hand crafted it just for our girl. Thanks Uncle Jai!

Harry Potter look out! We have a new witch on the rise! Here is Rowyn saying "abra-cadabra pizza!"

Low and behold.... here is the pizza. Thanks Rowyn - it was DEEEEE-LishIOUS. Talk about gourmet. Let me tell you - this pizza was amazing. Fresh ingredients from the garden, home made dough and lots of TLC. YUMMMMMY


We had to say goodbye to Jai and Lauren on Tuesday morning. We hope to see them soon though. We enjoyed our stay very much and are looking forward to coming back!

On Tuesday morning, Brad, Rowyn and I set out for Peggy's Cove and then continued on to Halifax. Everybody raves about Peggy's Cove and how you MUST go there if you're going to NS. I never realized that there were only 40 people that actually lived there. Who knew? Guess you had to see it. Was it great? - it was ok. Glad we did it but I think Brad and I had a better time driving along the Fundy Trail in NB and seeing the Sea Caves. We're not much for about 200 people milling around small, narrow streets all trying to snap the same picture.




We had such beautiful weather in Halifax on Wednesday. We got up and we were out the door of the hotel by 9:30. We walked around the docks on Front Street Halifax and saw all the sights. Including jellyfish. I didn't know that there were jelly fish in Canada's cold waters. YUCK.
We were amlessly meandering along the boardwalk when along came this....... Pretty neat to see up close. That's not something you'll see down at the Beache in Toronto!

We walked up the steep hill in Halifax to the citidel. Rowyn was amazing and was napping while we strolled our way through Halifax. I was so impressed that she napped in her stroller not only once in the morning but in the afternoon too. We couldn't have asked for anything more from her. She was awesome.

For those of you that are into South Park (OOOPPppss!!! - I mean Trailer Park Boys - I was corrected by the Trailer Park Guy himself (aka Daddy) this pics for you

There was a garden park in Halifax and we walked through it. To Rowyn's delight there were pigeons waiting for a hand out. Rowyn was VERY excited to see them. She couldn't stop laughing and giggling. I think our girl is going to be an animal lover.

Our last dinner in Halifax was at Salty's restaruant down on the warf. We had an amazing view of the docks and enjoyed watching Rowyn talk and point at all the pigeons and birds that were around.
You would think that Rowyn would be pointing at me and excited to see her Mummy, but don't be fooled. There were birds behind me that she was way more interested in. Sigh



All in all, our vacation out east was perfect. We couldn't have had a better time if we tried. We wished we could have gone further into Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, we wish we could have spent more time with Jai and Lauren and we wish we could have hit the Calbot trail in Nova Scotia, but hey - there are other times and other years. Plus we have a family connection out there for an excuse to visit!

Note to Brad - I'm a good navigator and I think we'd kick some ass on The Amazing Race!!!