Merry Christmas!

Last Christmas Grant and I were in Mexico and a mariachi band was serenading us with Feliz Navidad.  This morning Grant, Sofia, and I listened to Feliz Navidad by Dora and Boots.  Although being in Mexico last Christmas was amazing watching my little girl shake her booty while Dora sang wins in my books.  The white dress that she is wearing is the dress that Grant and I bought for her on Christmas Day last year.  We went to the market for the purpose of buying something for our daughter, her very first present from her Mumma and Papa.  

Merry Christmas from The Dybdals!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A good nights sleep

Last night was Sofias first night in her big girl bed.  She made it all the way through the night!  I'm not quite sure how she didn't fall out.  

It is so nice to be woken up with a "hi-no" Sofias version of "hello" instead of crying.  I think that Sofia had issues with her crib and she would start crying as soon as she would wake up.  She was starting to just call out to us but more times than not it was crying.  That's not a good way for anybody to wake up.  I'm SO relieved that she is having happier wake ups in her bed.  We'll see how tonight goes.

Thanks for the new doll Nikki.  I thought a new doll was a good way to celebrate the first night in her bed so I gave it to her a bit early.  I knew you wouldn't mind.

Referral-versary & Winter Solstice

One year ago today at 1615 PT we got the news that a Miss Sofia was waiting for us in Ethiopia.  This was the first image that we saw of our Nigist.

Fast forward 12 months, a court date, some immigration documents, and a trip half way around the world and this is a picture of our Nigist today.  I am more in love with her than I could've imagined possible last year.  Every day I am happy and thankful to be her mother.  

Grant, a couple kids, and a couple dogs mid snowball fight

Our street came out to play today, there was 4 kids, 5 dogs, and 13 grown ups.  We helped each other shovel, threw snowballs, built snowmen, pulled the littlest kids on the sled up and down the road, and went tobogganing on the little hill at the end of the road.  It was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time.  Sofia was yelling "wwwweeeee" and "woo hoo" as she was being pulled back and forth on her sled.  I love the street and our neighbours, it was such a great way to celebrate the first day of winter.

Sofia and Morgan

The airport

On Tuesday Sofia and I went to get my parents at the airport.  A neighbour had given Sofia a special Christmas outfit and I thought this was the perfect time for her to wear it. 

Sofia and Twinkle waiting for Grandma and Grandpops plane to land

YEAH, they're here!

It took Sofia a day or two to warm up to them again but we're all having fun now!  She was a big hit in the airport and many people stopped to comment on her pretty outfit.

Egg Nog

Who knew that egg nog made such a good moustache. 

A whole bunch o'silly

During lunch the other day Sofia was being a ham.  The shutter speed on my camera is usually too slow to catch the 'many faces of Sofia' but with her being extra silly I was able to capture a few pictures.

Then Sofia decided that she was going to eat Qimiks food.  I guess her lunch wasn't enough!  Lucky for me this girl knows how to 'make believe' and she was only pretending to eat the dogs food. 

A weekend of firsts

So I'm way behind with my posting.  My parents came last Tuesday and we've been busy shopping and playing in the snow!  

Sofias first nap in her big girl bed

First time seeing snow

First sled ride

Sofia LOVES snow!  She has been tobogganing every day this week.  She's a champ too, when she falls off (read face plant) she stays still and waits for you to pick her up then with a great big smile she says "Again!"  

The snow started last Saturday night and there is no sign of grass in sight!  I've been racking my brain and the longest I've seen snow here is 4 days.  We must be setting some sort of record. There is no doubt now that we will have a white Christmas!  

IT SNOWED!

Last night was incredible.  Snow makes me feel like a little kid waiting for Santa!  every 10 minutes I looked outside and got more and more giddy.  It started snowing last evening at about 4 and is still snowing at 7am!  I get to teach my baby girl about SNOW! and we didn't even have to drive 3 hours to find it!  YEAH.  All the 'street parents' and I were having a party last night, and all night we were giggling with anticipation of bundling up with our kids and playing in the snow.  Oh my GOSH!  I'm having trouble restraining myself until daylight to take her outside!!!  

I can hear all you cynics (Danielle) saying "What is she nuts".  NO I'm a transplant.  I grew up in Ontario and spent hours and days rolling in the white stuff.  My parents used to build an skating rink in our backyard every year.  I LOVE WINTER!  If I ever left Victoria it would be to live somewhere there is real winter.  So when winter comes to Victoria for the brief period it does you must celebrate and rejoice because it's fleeting.  And yes, I would be this excited about the first snow of the year even if I lived in Northern Alberta.

I'm off to the storage space to dig out the snow pants and snow boots!  YAHOO Today is a good day!

0945: So I just spent 45 minutes shoveling our driveway while Grant pulled Sofia on her sled up and down the street with Qimik chasing them.  I finished shoveling the drive and then had to do it again cause the snow is coming so fast.  I know this sounds odd for your easterners but it's very exciting here.  Snow is usually a centimeter or two and only lasts until the sun comes up.  This snow is going to be here for days!  Yes even after shoveling for 45 mins I'm still excited and I still love it!  I've got chills just thinking how pretty all the Christmas lights are going to look tonight.  

My Martha Moment

This morning after watching Sofia cover and uncover her baby doll with a tea towel about a hundred times I thought "I wish she had a cradle so she could rock her baby.  I bet she'd like that".  Well 10 minutes and an empty mandarin box later and she did!  It's not the most esthetically pleasing baby cradle I've ever seen but it rocks and that's what's important.  I'm thinking of covering the outside with paper when I have a spare minute (maybe mid-January!)

Tidoo having a nap. 

While Sofia was napping I busted out the sewing machine and made a mattress, pillow, and blanket for the cradle.  I think that I had more fun playing with it today than she did!  And if that's the case I feel ever better that it cost nothing!

On another note my work is already interfering with my Mummy Duties.  I just signed Sofia up for her first set of swimming lessons and I'm work on the first day!  Sad Mumma but luckily her Papa can step in for me.  Since I have to work one weekend a month I'll miss a few of them.  Grant and I decided before we had kids that I would take them to swimming lessons and he would take them to gymnastics.  Drat hospital work.  

I might have mentioned before that I'm having nightmares about returning to work.  Just simple things like not remembering how to do my job, or xraying the wrong body part, or the wrong person, or crashing the computer system do to my incompetence.  The hospital I work at is a small country one so a lot of my shifts I'm alone.  Not a good time to not remember how to do your job!  I don't get any refresher days so I'm planning on spending any downtime relearning the computer system.  I know that I'll be alright and I'm hoping it's like riding a bike.  I've been doing my job for almost 10 years so I'm sure I'll fall right back into it.  I'm hoping I'll be so focused on remembering that I won't miss Sofia too much!

19 months old

Is it possible to watch your child grow?  Because I'm pretty sure that Sofia is taller today than she was yesterday!  Her nap yesterday was 3 hours and last night she slept 13!  If that doesn't say growth spurt than I don't know what does.  Just for the record on December 5 Sofia weighed 27lbs and was 31" tall.  I'll measure her again once she's back to her usual sleeping patterns.

Sofia is big time into books right now.  We sat and read books for 40 minutes the other day.  One after another.  Every once and a while she'd jump down to go get more.  I can't believe her attention span.  Are we raising an academic?  I hope that she always holds a fascination for books.  That's one thing I miss is reading.  I used to read books all the time, now I tend to read blogs or watch tv.  I think I'll go to the library and get some books on tape for my commute.  That's something to look forward to for my back to work. 

Sofia is also big into her stuffies and dolls.  She likes to play 'mommy' to them.  She calls them "bay-bee" and rocks them in her arms.  She looks at them lovingly and covers them with blankets.  Her favourite outside activity is pushing them in her doll stroller.  And yes, she reads to them too.  

Sofia is also becoming a great helper around the house.  She likes to help unload the dishwasher and it's become her job to put away all the plastics and pots/pans.  She has started helping me do laundry too.  She puts the clothes in the washer and dryer and presses the buttons to start it.  I think this is going to have to stop though because she turned on the dryer yesterday while I was in the shower and she has figured out how to disable the child lock (even though it might have been a fluke).  Sofia also likes to help sweep and vacuum.  

I am constantly amazed that the little baby that barely crawled when we met her 7 months ago is the amazing little girl we have now.  Watching her grow and change has been an immensely rewarding experience.   She is a great balance between outgoing and cautious.  I love watching her teach herself new things.  She is very cautious when it comes to climbing and heights but is outgoing enough to try.  Once she realizes that she's safe, the joy that comes over her face is overwhelming to see!

Looking back on the past 7 months there are somethings I would do differently and somethings I would have had more patience with.  For the most part I think that all of us did a pretty good job though.  There is no handbook for bringing home children, although there are a lot of recommended readings!  I found so many of them had conflicting points of view and I went with my gut most of the time.  I always wanted to be a mother my whole entire life.  Now I can very proudly say that I am one.  I felt like a poser for the first few months, like a mother impersonator.  In many ways I was.  Now I'm the real deal.  I've also learned a lot and grown as a person.  I know my limitations and how to work with them.  I've learned that I have maternal instinct and that the expression "a mother knows" is true.  I will enjoy every day with my daughter good and bad.  She is a blessing and I realize it.  My sights are set on baby 2 though.  Baby fever has struck again.  It was a 4 year journey to Sofia, lets hope it doesn't take that long again! 

What Daddies do...

They drink cocoa

They read books

They paint

They hike

Lucky girl Sofia is about to have her Daddy home with her for 2 months.  Grant is taking the last of the parental leave.  They are going to have so much fun!  The happy part for me is that I only work part time and so I'll get to share in some of their fun.

3 weeks today I'll be at work, trying to remember every thing I knew in my previous life.  

Child Locks

6 months 23 days - That's how long the child locks on my washer and dryer worked at keeping my child locked out.  Darn kid's too smart!  Let's hope the ones on the kitchen cupboards last a lot longer!

Humbled

Yesterday was a rough day.  Sofia is teething and her teeth seem to bother her the most at night.  We both lost a lot of sleep but got up at the regular time.  My temper gets short when I'm tired and Sofia get hyper when she's tired... Not a healthy combination.  

When Sofia woke up from her nap I filled her full of lunch and packed her into the stroller for a long dog walk.  Qimik has been sick or sickish for the last week and I've been watching him closely.  Sofia now likes to walk for a portion of our time out so when we got to the park I let her out of the stroller.  She's learning how to stay on the path/trail and she's doing very well.  Qimik walked into the middle of the green space to do his business so I had to follow him.  I got involved in following Qimik from spot to spot but I knew that Sofia was following behind me.  By the time I could turn my attention back to her I saw something that taught me a lesson and put me in my place. 

Sofia had gone into the basket underneath the stroller and gotten a Kleenex out.  She had walked onto the grass to follow me.  Then she bent down and using the Kleenex scooped up some invisible something.  Exactly what I had just done 5 times.  

I'm crying as I type this because she fills my heart.  What a lesson!  What a girl!  Unconditional love is amazing!  I need to remember this for a long time.  They may be little, they may not have many words to communicate with you, they may not always listen to you but they are always watching you.  

Our first conversation?

Today when Sofia and I were shopping... 

Sofia: "Cli Cli"  (what she calls Qimik)

Me: "Oh, do you see a dog Sofia?"

Sofia: "No dog Mumma"

Her first three words were "good dog Qimik" but that's always with prompting.  In the last 2 weeks she's been putting together 2 words on her own.  Cold hands.  No Dada.  Hi Mumma.  But this was the first time she has strung together 3 words to get a point across.  

Cooking

So I've been trying my hand a cooking some Ethiopian food lately.  

This is the super yummy Chickpea Wat that I made last week.  It's super easy to make and really yummy to eat.  Injera is hard for us to get (as in an hour + round trip) and so I served it over rice which worked well.  This dish will be on our Christmas menu this year. 

The other dishes I've made are Atakilt Wat and Shiro.  I will be making the cabbage dish for Christmas dinner with Grants family.  With the shiro leftovers I took a bit of artist license and smothered some chicken breasts in it and baked them in the oven... YUM!  

The links I included are from 3 different sources and I encourage you to explore all of them.  There are some great recipes out there just waiting to be found!  I plan on trying some more from recipezaars Ethiopian section.  The wat recipe was really easy to follow and turned out really well with no tweaking.  (Although I will add a bit less cayenne pepper next time cause it was a bit spicy for us) 

Hair

I've been having fun with Sofias hair the last 3 days and she's been doing a great job of sitting still.  I was able to give her 2 braids and 2 pony-puffs on Saturday, on Sunday I was able to get 4 braids done, and today she has pigtail-puffs with red & green ballies.  I'm getting faster and her attention span is getting a bit longer.  After a lot of frustration I'm feeling optimistic!

December 1st!

BRING ON THE FESTIVITIES!!!  I'm ready!  This year December is all about count downs.  Count down to my parents coming, count down to my brother coming, count down to Christmas (all 2 days of it!), and count down to me going back to work.  Our calendar is filling up fast.  The social butterfly in me LOVES December!  Tonight Grant has promised me the lights will go up outside.  The tree will come when my parents get here.  I'm so excited today, I love December 1st.  I've got the Christmas tunes cranked and I'm baking cookies!

For Uncle Ben

Reading a book to Cat

"cheese!"

3 of her favourite things; blanket, baba, & Cat

Kissing the TV while watching Pengu

Ramblings

Winter coats and woolies are far easier to put on than sunscreen.  I'm just saying...  I am really enjoying not having to lotion Sofia up every time I want to go outside.  I like the summer sun but suntan lotion is a pain.  I'm always worried if I missed a spot, if I used enough, and if it's time to re-apply.  Mittens and toques are no brainers, much easier!  

Sofia is learning in leaps and bounds.  Today she climbed into the rocking chair in her room.  I had no idea she could do that.  She also is testing going downstairs standing up.  She's figured out standing sideways helps.  Her knee bends are getting deeper, it's gonna happen soon.  

I love watching Grant teach Sofia new things.  They had a game in which Grant would stand Sofia on her stool in the middle of the room.  With Grants help she could get down, without Grants help she would just cry.  As soon as Grant would help her down she wanted back up, and back up, and back up, and back up.  I should mention that Sofia is a great fake cry-er, she can turn it on and off like a switch tears and all.  Sunday when they were playing their game I said, "I should really get some video of this."  Well I should of because on Monday she'd figured it out!  She can now bend her knees and step off the stool all by herself.  Note to self: "Don't put off for tomorrow what can be done today"

The count down is on for me going back to work.  Grant is going to stay home for a couple of months and then Sofia will start daycare.  I'm torn about going back to work.  I want to 'talk' about it but today I must clean!  

Thug?

Look at that swagger!

Aww yeah!

Givin' bones to Mum as she cruised by.

Hee hee, I love this little leisure suit.  It's soft and purple with a very cute Tinkerbell on it.  I can't decide if she looks gangsta or retired Miami style.  

Ready for winter

Can you tell I grew up in Ontario?  November comes and I break out the winter woolies.

Where's the snow? 

It has been quite chilly here the past few weeks.  Sofia is good about keeping her boots, mittens, and stroller blanket on.  She also does a decent job at staying hidden under the strollers rain cover.  I am in love with her winter coat!  I've never been big on name brands but the Gagou Tagou brand has won me over!  Not only are there clothes fun colours and patterns they are smart!  Her mitten strings snap on in the inside of the wrists and the sleeves have front and back snaps to hold them on.  BRILLIANT!  

Sofia loves her dog.

Qimik  loves his girl.

Talking

Sofia has started talking in her sleep.  Her room is across the hall from ours and it's loud enough to wake me up.  Her talking is usually a sign she's ready to get up, so when I hear her I wake up and prepare for her to call out to us.  After being woken up the last 3 nights by her talking I finally put all the pieces together and realized that she's talking in her sleep.  Sometimes it's a giggle, once she was reciting the words to a book "Moo, Baa, LaLaLa", and this morning she was calling "Qimik!"  Yes it's sweet and cute but I'm tired!  I don't fall back asleep easily and so I lie awake and stress about how I'm losing sleep.  I'll try shutting both our bedrooms doors tight tonight and see if that helps.  I guess like everything else I'll get used to it in time.  

Sofia is very curious and keeps a close eye on what Grant and I are doing.  She copy cats us both all day long.  Today I was squatting down to take her picture and so she squatted down too.  In this picture she was watching Grant shave.  Hopefully she never has to copy that behaviour! lol

I broke down

I have a rule (that I adopted from my Dad) that nothing Christmas happens in my house until December 1st.  I couldn't handle it anymore I am too excited about this Christmas.  Right now Mr Bing Crosby is crooning to me ... ahhh so lovely! 

I've asked Grant to drag the Christmas box up from the crawl space and I've already got our special Christmas picture hung above the fire place!  Skipping last Christmas gave me the break I needed to be able to appreciate the season again.  (We'll be doing that every few years)  It's nice to have the perspective back and the joy of celebration!  I'm most excited that my parents are coming this year and my brother is coming too!  It will be so great to have my whole family all in one house!  Grants family lives in town near us so we will be spending time with them too!

I've been working on teaching Sofia 'Jingle Bells' for a while now but this morning when I put Bings cd on she started singing along to Silent Night.  Well the 'ooooh oooh part'  at least.  Watch out GrandPops and GrandMa you're in for the Christmas of a life time!!!

Yesterday afternoon some friends (with Ethiopian children) and I got together and had a little cooking party.  We made doro wat, chickpea wat, shiro, and atakilt (cabbage) wat.  Oooh! it was so yummy!  The kids all enjoyed themselves and the adults too!  My goal is to be able to add an Ethiopian night to our regular meal rotation (yes I'm that boring! I have a meal roation)  Although cutting up the vegetables is a bit labour intensive if I use my food processor it will be a snap!  Safe to say we'll be enjoying an Ethiopian dish or two with our traditional Christmas dinner this year!

Thanks Auntie Hez!

Thanks for coming to visit us and thanks for the cowboy hat.  We had a lot of fun with you and we miss you.  Hope to see you again soon.

Sofia and her Auntie Hez

Cuban Pete (click for a fun video) 

"I go chick-chicky-boom chick-chicky boom chick-chicky boom!" 

Less Word Wednesday

Although Sofia has grown a lot she still fits into her special dress.  We met some friends for dinner at the local Ethiopian restaurant and I decided she should wear her it.  Click here  to see a much younger Sofia wearing her dress.  She's changed a lot, eh?

I decided that being 18 months old was worthy of celebrating and so I got Sofia a cake.  Since we had cake I figured she could blow out a candle, might as well go all the way.  

Sofia loves "Cheers"

Sofia and Papa had a lovely morning together while Mum just chilled by herself.  Then Papa went to work and Mum and Sofia had a nice afternoon together.