Tag: Daily Life as a Parent

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Whispers in the Dark: Comforting Valeria Through a Hard Night

Posted on by Mama

It should come as no surprise that you sometimes get those difficult nights with your kids. Now, Valeria has been struggling as she has her last set of molars coming in (UGH, but not nearly as bad this time around since she can let us know), but on top of that she’s going through a bit of a growth spurt. It always comes in one big wave for my baby girl and it’s not always easy, but this time it seems that her growth spurt is bothering her more than anything. She was complaining that her shins hurt and her arms, and mommy needed to kiss them better. Which I happily obliged!

However, I think last night it was kind of my fault to be frank. I suggested she get a little Finny the Shark before bed; it was around 6:15 PM and thought 15-20 minutes would be perfect. My husband and I were exhausted, so we needed a little rest, as parents do every so often. It’s a pretty low stimulation show, so I thought it would be okay…I was so wrong! She ended up watching much longer than we had intended and 7 PM rolled around real fast.

Unfortunately, I think her brain was much too stimulated when she went to bed. So my husband put her to bed around 7:15-7:30 PM because her little eyes were closing. She was asleep for about 2 hours before she popped up and began crying. She sometimes does that when she is dreaming, so we waited for a bit but she wasn’t stopping and my husband headed back into her room. I decided to ninja the camera and head to our bedroom in case I needed to go in ASAP. Sometimes she only calms down with me and than my husband can put her back to bed. Things seemed to be going well but she kept “fake sleeping” and wiggling around. Which as you know can be frustrating.

After about an hour to an hour and a half, I stepped in the room and gave my husband some much needed relief. I rubbed her back and sang to her, she seemed to calm down a bit. Then Guido (our new kitten) came in search of me and found me in her room. He decided to cuddle up with us too, which again didn’t help only because she still gets so excited to see him. I tried to get her to focus on sleep, but than Guido decided to start playing with her toys. My husband came in and got him, which upset Valeria. I picked her up and rocked her in my arms to calm her down.

We ended up going into our room with her, however she was too excited even for that. She kept saying “Mommy only…mommy only” and that was because she was a bit upset with my husband from something earlier in the day. He ended up leaving and going into her room, and I was calming her down until my eyes just couldn’t stay open any more. I must have fallen asleep because I was suddenly woken up by Valeria stand by the edge of my bed saying “Guido, up up.” The reality, was I got a little annoyed and sternly told her to come to bed or she is going back in her room. She got upset and I soothed her, but eventually she opted to go back to her own room.

Eventually, through lots of crying she finally fell asleep. My husband was very patient with her, but we were both super exhausted. We just wanted her to go to bed. Needless to say, not one of our better nights to be fair, but it’s reality.

Not every night is going to be a perfect, calm and a soothing situation where everything goes perfectly and you can help them through whatever the situation may be. Sometimes, parenting comes with frustrations, decisions that aren’t always easy and you do the best you can. The do the best you can was just that last night and I’m trying to be entirely transparent here.

We can definitely tell how exhausted she is today, but she will get a slightly earlier nap (which she hit the sack just before bed and snowing away by 12:15 PM and will HOPEFULLY have a nice long nap) and just take it easy. Also, so no electronics or television today, which to be fair she doesn’t get a lot of anyway. But, a little detox from it wouldn’t hurt.

We have a felt Christmas tree that her Buni (grandma – my husband’s mom) gave her, so we will put it up in her room and decorate that this afternoon. I’ll cut and paint her nails, since Grandma (my mom) gave her some nail stickers that are Christmas themed. We will do some reading, colouring, play with Guido and just have a calm afternoon.

Send positive energy her way today please and thank you. And I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Paws, Purrs & New Beginnings: Our Journey to Adopting Guido

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It will probably come as a bit of a surprise to those who have been following me for a while, that we’ve decided to adopt a new kitten. Earlier this year I sadly lost my last two remaining girls – Willow and Salem. I vowed to not get another pet for a long time, but vows have been broken!

I started to long for the companionship of another pet, something that was coming and going over the last month or so. I kept telling myself it isn’t the right time and I don’t need the headache of finding someone to watch him or her while we’re gone. However, my husband says I manifested this one by looking at kittens every day on the SPCA website. It’s a possibility that I may have, but my witch secrets will never be revealed! Needless to say, the opportunity arose, we discussed it and ultimately felt it would be really great for Valeria to grow up with her own little cat. Best friends if you will.

Picture this….SPCA 2025…. Insert dream sequence here will you..

I had spoken with my mom regarding a cat for Christmas, she has been missing the companionship of pets as well, since her little dogs had also passed away this year. We discussed it and eventually landed on this one little precious kitten:

Cutie patootie right?! Her name is now Raven

I filled out the paperwork and got a response to come for a meet and greet. Well, I adored her as soon as we saw her and knew so would my parents. She came home and her little adventure was told in another post: https://mamaonthemove1.com/2025/12/04/tiny-paws-christmas-awe-the-sweetest-surprise-for-my-parents/, so I won’t rehash all the details. However, when we were there, the lady let us know that she had brothers who hadn’t been adopted yet. Of course that peaked my interest and I had to ask which ones and she gladly let us know. I asked if I had to reapply and she said ‘Nope, just shoot me a reply on the email you have for the adoption..”

As we left and began our trek home back on the highway, I looked up her brothers. I would have taken one of them home right then and there, however none of them were there at the moment. People graciously foster these babies until they get adopted. Still some good people out there in the world! We landed on “Croc”, as the staff aptly named him. Anthony and I discussed it and ultimately decided that it would be wonderful for Valeria and would make her incredibly happy. Also to teach her some responsibility. Plus bonus for me too! I made sure 100% that Anthony was okay with the decision and he was. I told him that would be my Christmas gift and I was done. He agreed, however I KNOW he will end up getting me another gift. Unnecessary, but highly thoughtful of him!

That day, I sent a message and we set up a meet and greet on December 5th. We let Valeria know that she will be getting a cat of her very own, even showing a picture of him to her. Which she jumped up and down, her whole body FULL of pure joy and excitement.

All week Valeria kept asking about her kitty “Guido” which is what we have named him. Friday, finally arrived and we headed to my mother-in-law’s for the day and got to spend a lot of time with my husband’s side of the family. Which again, Valeria was super excited to see her Buni and spend time with her and her cousins. But the day flew by quickly and we were now needing to leave to go get our little Guido. Our appointment was at 5 PM.

We did a quick little meeting with him so Valeria could actually see him, paperwork followed along with payment and then back in the car to hit the highway. We got home around 7 PM.

When we got home, I set up his litter box, his food dish with fresh water and brought his cat tree to his little area for the night. He was a bit skittish, but he warmed up so fast and LOVES cuddles and affection. He doesn’t seem to enjoy loud noises or being startled, but we are still really new to him. He is such a sweet boy and Valeria is obsessed. She wants him to Nani with her all the time, she also follows him around constantly. She played and watched him all last night until she went to bed.

He’s a short-haired all black cat, when we got him we thought his eyes were like his sisters – which are yellow-brown, however his are slightly different. When he was in the sunlight today, I noticed that right around is pupil he has a beautiful green colour and then it melds into an amber yellow. His ear is clipped like his sisters, apparently this is done to show that he has been neutered and chipped. In case he ever gets out and picked up by animal control. I personally love it and think it gives him this edgy, badass look. He is much bigger than his sister in size and weight. I can’t wait to see him fully grown!

Meet Guido!

When Valeria woke up this morning and I went into her room, I stated I was going to feed Guido. She of course got excited and said “Help Mommy” and of course I don’t mind her helping at all. So we took his food to his dish and the three of us watched him eat. It’s kind of comical to watch though because he does a bit of dry, than wet and just back and forth until he was full. We played with him a bit and then went upstairs to make breakfast and get ready for the day. He is definitely more vocal than his sister, he literally sat at the top of the stairs meowing until I opened the door. I let him explore and roam around the main floor. I don’t want to overwhelm him with too much, so slowly but surely letting him explore at his own pace.

He has now explored each floor to an extent, and has cuddled with all of us while Anthony read a book to Valeria. She still doesn’t know how to quite react to him wanting to sit on her lap and cuddle with her. She just goes “Mommy, go mommy” and tries to wiggle free and then pet him. She’s learning! I sense they will be best buddies, he keeps trying to grab her attention. Two babies trying to play with each other and not quite sure how to.

We will be heading to the pet store to pick up some food and toys for him and that’s about it! Eventually we will bring him to see his sister or vice versa, but for now we want him to get acclimated to his new home.

We are so happy to welcome our little Guido to the family and hopefully we will have many more stories of Valeria and his shenanigans in the future!

Hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Tiny Paws & Christmas Awe: The Sweetest Surprise for My Parents

Posted on by Mama

It’s no surprise Valeria has my love for animals and they seem to gravitate toward her too. I swear cats and dogs just b-line for her as soon as they see her. I adore it.

To shed some light, we were not the only ones who lost animals this year, my parents did as well. There is always a great sadness with the loss of an animal, but also a great emptiness too. To come home to a pet who just loves you, gives you companionship and affection without any condition is amazing. You begin to miss it all and I know, just like myself, that my parents (especially my mom) are missing it too.

SO….

I adopted a kitten for them.

Yes, you read that right, I adopted a little female kitten for them. She is all black, short-haired, with brownish-yellow eyes. She is very shy at first, but warms up quickly and man is she full of energy and LOVES to play.

Anthony and I went to pick her up on Saturday morning at the SPCA in his home town. I fell in love with her little face immediately. We completed the paperwork, paid and back home we headed. Valeria had quite the surprise when she came home from Grandma’s house that day. We kept the kitten with us for the day/night since my parents were going out of town for a party.

Valeria was obsessed with her! She was playing with her, chasing her around, trying to hug and kiss her. And she was so concerned with giving her food and water, she kept pointing at her bowls going “Apa” (water) or “Eat…eat”. She even picked up her food dish and tried bringing it to her at one point. She kept wanting to see her when we weren’t with her, so before bed we brought her down to say good night to the kitten. As we were down there she laid down next to her and said “nani upstairs…” and so my husband and I asked her if she wanted the kitty to sleep with her and she nodded and said “mhm”. It was the cutest thing ever. We brought her up to bed shortly after, informing her that she can see the kitty in the morning.

I spent the night playing and spending time with the kitten on and off, but needless to say, we all adored her, even Anthony who claims to not be an animal person. I beg to differ on that opinion.

The next morning, the very first thing Valeria wanted to do was to go see the kitten. I got the kitten’s food ready and we spent part of the morning with her. It was my birthday so we did go out for a bit.

But that afternoon, we headed over to my parent’s house with quite the surprise. They were so excited! Which is exactly the Christmas surprise I wanted for them. Valeria was glued to the kitten at grandma’s house. She was a bit sad when we had to leave at the end of the night, but we explained that it was going to stay at grandma’s house. Unfortunately, when we got home she asked for the kitty and then said “at grandma house now” and we had to tell her yes and that we can go whenever she wants to see her.

We went over today to see my parents, my brother and the kitten. The kitten is now named Raven and she has warmed up like crazy and has everyone wrapped around her little paws. Her and Valeria were playing the whole time we were there, they are buddies.

And surprise…

We are adopting Raven’s brother! We pick him up on Friday so more to come on that. We think Valeria growing up with a kitten of her own was a great idea since she is so great with animals. Plus, it will grow up with her! I’m looking forward to seeing Valeria’s excitement on Friday.

Merry Christmas to my parents!

I hope you enjoyed and have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

☕November So Far… In All Its Warm + Messy Glory

Posted on by Mama

Evening everybody!

It’s been a minute since I’ve written and I was going to post a book review…or two, however I’ve opted rather to catch you up on what’s been going on in my November so far. So, shall we?

First off, Valeria is growing like a literal weed and learning something new everyday. It’s astonishing the things that come out of her mouth. She is quickly becoming her own little human and knowing exactly what she wants and needs. If she doesn’t like something she will surely tell you!

Trying to navigate her feelings and emotions lately has been a struggle for her and us. She is truly a little ball of chaos, both good and “bad”. However, I am struggling to understand why she has suddenly been so hesitant to go down the stairs and with her potty training at times throughout the day. Is it a regression? Is she trying to push boundaries? If anyone has a clue, I’d love to be informed!

Speaking of potty training, might have to do a post on that….hmmm…

Second, I removed my fake nails and went to just shellac. Doesn’t last nearly as long (shellac chipped after 3 days and one my nails broke from being so fragile), however I felt like this was a bit more cost effective for the future. Or if I even continue to do it. Times are rough here in Canada and my money can definitely go elsewhere.

Third, I cut off my hair. Let that sink in for a moment…. I’m not just saying a little trim since my hair was half way down my back. I mean full on chopped it off. One side shaved and a little bit edgy, which suits my style. HOWEVER, it was a little shorter then I had intended, so I’m going to grow out the longer side a bit.

BEFORE

And here is the AFTER

Drastic right? Yeah, I’ve had a few moments where I’ve doubted that I did the right thing and wondered if it made me look too masculine. But, no turning back and hair grows. It’s always kind of been my motto when I do short hair cuts.

You might be wondering why I did this though and it wasn’t just for the change of style or a fresh start. All valid reasons included in this change, but ultimately I was sick of pulling out chunks of my hair all day long. I was shedding so badly I couldn’t handle it any more and it’s not just from postpartum. I’m severely anemic and that’s just one of many wonderful symptoms I’ve been dealing with the past year. A tale for another day.

Fourth is that we celebrated Silas’ 1st birthday (one of the nephew’s on my husband’s side of the family) and it was great. He was a smiley and happy boy through his whole party and it was wonderful to celebrate with everyone. The kids had a blast running around and playing together. My favourite part of the whole day was all the kids helping to blow out the birthday candles (Valeria included) and when Silas took his first bite of his cake. Those little eyes went so wide with happiness, it was magic.

Fifth, I took down all our Halloween decorations and put them away. I went to bed spooky and woke up festively kooky. Haven’t started decorating for Christmas yet, but maybe next weekend. We’ll see.

Sixth is that we were suppose to visit family this weekend, however they all got sick even the baby. So I have been keeping in touch throughout the week and told my cousin for them all to rest and recover. We can always plan for another weekend, but no rush. I know when we aren’t well, we just want to be left alone. With winter fast approaching, it might be a weekend in the spring time.

And that’s about it right now and nothing else really to report. Other than a mountain of chores, ideas floating in my head on how to make Christmas more vintage, homey and warm. Along with a ton of other things floating around in there. Ahh got to love anxiety and over-thinking!

I hope your November is going great and that it’s been nice and cozy so far. And I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Tiny Boots, Twirling Leaves, and Mama’s Magic Moments

Posted on by Mama

We’ve had some pretty great fun this Fall – spooky foods (compliments of mama chef), silly crafts and great outdoor adventures. I truly believe that parents, especially us mom’s, are the memory makers for our children. Those precious little moments and things that we do for specific seasons/holidays to make it more…magical.

Who doesn’t want stuffed bell peppers with a Jack-o-lantern face. Really easy and simple to make and tasty too! She loved this dinner, she thought it was funny.

Mummy hotdogs anyone? Okay forgive me for the mayonnaise/mustard eyes, I had to improvise. But super delicious, filling and easy to make.

For Halloween dinner, we decided to have spaghetti and Monster balls, which she really loved the monster balls, she thought the eyeballs were funny. (They were edible, however we did not allow her to eat them).

There were plenty of baking days as well sprinkled in there, between making pizza dough all the way to cakes and cookies. It was non-stop kitchen fun with her these last two months. However the fun wasn’t just limited to the kitchen!

I’ve sprinkled a few of our crafts that we’ve done together through various posts in October, but I find all the patterns online. Please, if you want some wonderful craft patterns for kids, this is my go to: https://www.simpleeverydaymom.com/

I found her site by accident and it’s been such a great tool to use, so full credit goes to her. But I’ve also gotten ideas on Facebook (from mom groups) and on Pinterest as well. Here were the last two crafts we did in the month of October.

Isn’t it cute!? Valeria loved sticking the apples together (with some help from mommy).

This one was a lot of fun and really nothing crazy is required! I had a picture frame looking cardboard piece that was used from a package we received. It was perfect for the sheer fact it looks like a little frame for the tree. The craft was easy; draw a tree trunk and colour it, then cut it out, place packing tape along the back for the leaves to stick to, go for a walk and let your little one collect leaves to stick on. That simple! Valeria placed all the leaves herself, pretty beautiful if you ask me.

I also have been putting the month and year her crafts were made so we have that as part of the memory.

We also had two pretty great day trips to an apple orchard and a honey activity farm. Lots to do and it’s become a bit of a tradition that we go every fall. This is our second year and it was so wonderful to watch her run around through the corn maze with us, to pet/feed the animals herself and to just explore and play. Truly a blessing to be a part of it as a mom.

But that’s about it, we had a wonderful Fall season full of activities, parties, cooking/baking and crafts galore! Another Fall season in the chaos chronicles completed. Now…onto the Winter fun!

I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Making Waves at Two: Our Under the Sea Celebration – Happy Birthday Valeria!

Posted on by Mama

First off I want to say a very BIG

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY GIRL VALERIA!

How the time has flown by, you are two already and it has been such a wonderful and blessed ride with you thus far. Watching you learning, growing and discovering who you are and that incredible little personality forming, I can’t tell you what a proud mama I am. You have brought me so much love and light, even in the darkest of times. I love you baby girl and wishing you all the joy and happiness this year and beyond!!

Now please indulge me as I go over her wonderful birthday party that was held this weekend in the company of our family. We unfortunately couldn’t celebrate with my husband’s side, so she will be getting another party this weekend coming to celebrate with them, which we are very excited about.

Nevertheless, she had a wonderful time, adored the decorations/food and got to be the center of attention all day long (even though she didn’t really want to be). It was wonderful to see the smile on her face as she ate cake and opened her gifts, truly remarkable!

The theme was Under the Sea/Mermaid and when I plan, I go all out. It’s just who I am, plus I want these to be memories she will always remember. So weeks of planning, prepping and crafting all lead up to this….

Personalized Banner from Grandma
I made this on Friday night, decorated my mom’s place on Saturday night, cute right?!
Waaaaaaaaay too much food….not my idea just FYI, but all delicious! My husband the BBQ Master that day
I just thought that was funny…Made the signs in Canva
Jellyfish pull apart cheese bread made with puff pastry, a ton of cheese and herb butter….woke up early to make that one!
Fish bone pull apart Nutella bread made with puff pastry and Nutella….another one I woke up early to do that day
Sand dollar sugar cookies and sugar cookies in the shape of sea creatures (those were frosted later)…I’m not a baker, don’t judge my burnt cookies….okay judge a little..
Valeria helping mama unsafely cut the first piece of her birthday cake….yup birthday girl has to cut the first piece, tradition for us.
Her candle – since you couldn’t see it
The design on her cake, which you couldn’t see in the photo. I designed this with AI and then tweaked it to what I wanted. It turned out great!
Her dress and gifts!
She is obsessed with this tea set! I had to stop taking pictures because she needed help with opening gifts, but she got a lot. Everyone was very generous. Thank you to everyone!!! ♥
Anthony and I created a book specifically for Valeria. YEEEES….I used AI to help with the idea, but again I tweaked it to make it our own. A gift for her birthday
We used AI for the images….I’m artistic, but I ain’t THAT artistic. We had it printed through Canva as a hardcover book.

So there you have it folks! An absolutely incredible day for little Miss Valeria! I’m glad you could come on this photo journey with me….apologies for all the little captions. She was a lucky little girl and spoiled rotten to say the least, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Showered with love and gifts….not to mention A TON of food.

Hopefully one day, I’ll show her all the photos from the day and hopefully it makes her smile.

Wishing you a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao from a very blessed mama!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Mermaids, Mini Manicures, and Endless To-Dos

Posted on by Mama

I don’t know where this month is going, but it’s flying by far too quickly. Valeria’s birthday is FAST approaching and I feel like I’ve been planning forever with no progress in sight!

It’s going to be an Under the Sea/Mermaid theme and of course I will be going all out. I’ve got table clothes, hanging decorations, balloons, plates/cups, homemade craft decorations, etc. I mean you get the gist. I have to order her cake this Friday, which HOPEFULLY they can do what I want on-top of the cake. It’s going to be a very simple cake to be fair. I wonder if I should get a plan cake top and put on cake decorations myself…hmm…

Valeria was a great little helper with these, very eager. The hand print crafts are my fav….her tiny hand crab!

Sorry my mind drifted in thought there, been happening a lot lately.

Not only is Valeria the main event this weekend, but we are also pairing it with Thanksgiving, but the party is all her. Though to be honest, I probably would have skipped Thanksgiving dinner and instead had homemade pizza and appetizers. However, people still want to have a big turkey dinner, SO I will be cooking all day on Sunday. I have some baking to do on Saturday and cleaning but hopefully I can get it all done.

I’ll create a whole post for her birthday party don’t worry!

I did get my nails done for the party last weekend and when Valeria saw them, well she wanted to have her nails painted to match. I happily obliged.

Though I will have to redo the nail polish for Valeria before her birthday party. It’s the kid friendly, non-toxic and basically comes off with water. It’s amazing and highly recommend Piggy Paint if any parent is interested. Pretty quick drying as well if you do it in thinner layers. We currently have black and blue, but I’m hoping to purchase more of them for her in the future.

To chalk up my week, most of the time has been spent planning for the party this weekend and also Potty Training.

IT HAS BEGUN!

I will however do a separate post all about our potty training adventure. Let’s just say…could be worse.

I’m going to end it here because I’m cold and want to burrito myself in my blanket while re-watching the Netflix adult cartoon Haunted Hotel. I’m such a kid at heart.

I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

From Morning Songs to Messy Crafts

Posted on by Mama

A lot has been going on the last…mmmm what ten days-ish. Frankly I don’t really want to dive into it, but let’s focus on something fun shall we!

Valeria is talking more and more each day, And keeping her very energetic body/brain busy is getting harder each day. She constantly wants to learn and goes from one activity to the other. We try to do a mix of physical activity, art, music and general learning.

Physical Activity: The trampoline that Anthony bought her has been well used recently thankfully and she loves doing bum-bum jumps. We were walking a lot in the summer, however we recently have had coyote sightings in our complex (we’ve seen the coyote three times – once right in front of the house). Needless to say, we haven’t really gone walking. We playing chasing games and she has big foam mats where we make her a ramp to climb and tumble on. Hopefully when she turns two, we can enroll her into a gymnastics program for toddlers.

Music: Is the usual Romanian kids songs, Italian kids song (when she is in the mood) and Finny the Shark. Also I’ve been doing songs like Patty-cake and Miss Mary Mac, etc.

Art: Is colouring or I started doing crafts with her. Right now we are doing Fall and Halloween themed crafts. I’ll post a photo down below, but she has made a cardboard owl with fake leaves, a paper/felt apple tree (Mama kinda failed that one…OOPS!), Popsicle stick Halloween characters and paper hand turkeys. The turkeys we made three of them; one for us, one for grandma and one for her Buni.

General Learning: She has flash cards for colours and shapes. Also flash cards that are question/answer. We only use the cards we think she can answer right now. We play matching games, teaching her ABCs, she can count up to five on her own already and ten with our help. She loves watching us write her name and teaching her each letter.

Extras: we get her in the kitchen to help with baking, to clean up after her messes, manners, sharing, and we read to her constantly.

I’m a little tired but I believe that’s it!

Hope you enjoyed and keep a look out for more Fall activities with Valeria!!

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Just Us Girls (Until the Doorbell Rang)

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It’s been a bit since I posted about just every day life and I thought why not. Just an average day with little miss Valeria and I as daddy had to go into the office. Mama/daughter day, it was really nice.

She’s such a well behaved little girl, I can’t complain really when she has a bit of a breakdown due to exhaustion or when she wants attention. How could she want my attention still, she was stuck with me all day?! It’s sweet really that she just loves spending time with me and Anthony always.

She was having a rough night last night so I went to sleep in her room. Anthony’s alarm was going off at 5 AM to make the couple hours drive to his office, so we thought it best he gets the bedroom to himself. She was wiggly and I’m almost certain I was punched, kicked and crawled on throughout the night. Oh toddlers! To say she is an active sleeper is an understatement. She also decided it would be a wonderful idea to wake up at 7 AM after she had hardly slept. Yeaaaaaah… mama was TIRED! Eventually after calling for daddy and me explaining that it’s just us today, we crawled out of bed. Diaper change completed, teeth brushed and clothes changed – we headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

Now….breakfast was barely had. She kept say ‘toast, toast…’ followed by ‘baycan…baycan..’ which translates to bacon, just to clarify. So I made her toast with a bit of peanut butter and some bacon. If you could see my face, you would know she hardly ate – having half a bacon strip and 1/4 of the slice of toast I had made her. She just doesn’t have much of an appetite for breakfast lately.

We proceeded to play; colouring, puzzles, DuoABC lessons and we attempted The Little Mermaid but didn’t last long before she started getting cranky due to exhaustion. I had to push it until 11 AM because I knew if I didn’t, well it would mess up her whole evening sleep schedule. Thankfully, she was able to last and slept from 11:15 AM to about 1 PM. However, in that time I washed dishes, cleaned the rest of the main floor bathroom, brought up clothing that were scattered all over the house (don’t even ask…), cleaned the kitchen, cleaned up the recycling, handled some bills, made her soup and just before she woke up I attempted to start making brownies. I didn’t get a break really.

Once she was up she wanted to listen to Finny the Shark music, so I put that on for her while she played with her rocking horse. I finished up in the kitchen, dished out soup in a bowl and opted to attempt Casper the Friendly ghost. She liked it for 15 minutes before she wanted to colour and do other things. I left it on because well….it’s me and I love Casper. She also ate two massive bowls of soup. We played up until the doorbell rang at 4:30 PM.

My mother and brother decided they were going to pop by, mentioning it the night before to me on the phone. It was nice that they came over. When that doorbell rang and she saw who it was – she was shrieking with excitement. They played with her as I made dinner and well we had brownies and coffee for dessert. Anthony walked through the door just as we finished dinner and Valeria was thrilled for a second time that evening. He ate quickly and then spent time with Valeria. My brother managed to fix our coffee maker and we sat around chatting. It was some really nice quality time. They left around 7 PM, which was just in time for Valeria to go down for the night. She was getting fussy and asking for milk.

We said our goodbyes to my mom and brother followed up by diaper change, pajamas and then bottle filled. Whisked upstairs to bed for a quick book and her nightly prayers. I gave her kisses and we said our I love yous and I left the room. I watched on the camera as Anthony and Valeria both fell asleep. They both looked so peaceful.

The night ended quietly – I finished the novel I was currently reading and eventually Anthony woke up so we could watch our show. Not long after he went back to bed and here I am writing this post and watching my all time favourite Autumn show – Gilmore Girls. Every September I start it, but now I’ll watch the rest of this episode and maybe another then pass out.

So I will bid you farewell right now.

Hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Long Weekend Magic: Simple Fun, Sweet Memories

Posted on by Mama

Now before you all come for me, I knooooow that Summer is still in swing until September 22nd. But I’ll be real with you, once September hits, it’s Autumn for me. Plus, it’s also Labour Day weekend and the last weekend before kids return to school here in Canada. So why not embrace the last bit of summer freedom with some family fun?!

Friday was the start of our long weekend, with a quiet day spent at home for the most part. Only a few errands to run. We were suppose to head over to my parents for dinner, but we opted to push it over to Saturday so Valeria could spend more time with them.

Saturday morning was fairly mellow with our usual routine at play; breakfast, colouring, reading, a little Romanian kids music, general play and a nap to follow. In the afternoon we went over to my parents place around 3 PM. My middle brother, Marco, lives with them now and took over our old haunting grounds – the basement. Valeria was very excited to hang out down there, explore her Zio’s room and watch Bluey on his massive television.

We went for a walk around the block after we had dinner (mom cooked – YAY I didn’t have to!) and it was really nice. My stomach sadly didn’t like the food (damn teriyaki sauce!), but hey it was delicious going down. The walk helped though….and the peppermint tea. After that it was basically all of us hanging out and Valeria playing with everyone. It was nice, she didn’t want to leave. However it was WAY passed her bedtime and she was beginning to sputter cry. We knew right then and there that we only had minimal time to get her home.

Why is it that kids are like little volcanoes – quiet one moment, then erupting the next?

Regardless, we got her home in time and off to bed quickly. The rest of the evening was pretty much relaxing for the most part. I worked on a bit of my wood burning and watched some movies. Anthony was working on some things too, a passion project if you will. I’ll keep it under wraps for now, but keep an eye out in a future post! I definitely did the exaggerated wink at the end of that sentence when I typed it by the way.

Sunday was a jumbled mess….

I had to roast up 2 bushels of Sheppard Peppers, which my mom purchased at the beginning of the week and decided to give me too late. They were starting to rot AND I had also mentioned that they would be an all day process. We had to go for a picnic with the whole family that afternoon. Needless to say, the peppers ended up in the trash and I (and Anthony)….wasted a lot of time roasting them. I’m extremely annoyed but in the end they were unsafe to eat. That is the end of that story, onto the picnic.

The family picnic was great! We ended up going to a park called Pinafore Park and it was beautiful. There was so many different covered picnic areas, a splash pad, multiple playgrounds and a little amphitheater. My whole family arrived before we did, Valeria was tired and had a long nap that day. But they found this little covered picnic area behind the amphitheater and it had a little open area by the treeline for the kids to run around. Not to mention a trail entry into the forest – which just walked you either in a straight line or a circle back to the entrance. We had a wonderful picnic all together, each of us bringing something. I opted to bring my own food for fear of my darn stomach. After we all ate, we blew up a giant beach ball, we all kicked it around and were playing with it. Valeria had an absolute blast chasing that ball from one person to another. Picking it up, kicking and throwing it. I got some incredible photos of everyone. The boys were playing catch and they even got in a game of Bocce.

If you don’t know what Bocce is I’ll explain it. It’s an Italian lawn bowling game in the most simple form. Basically two teams roll larger coloured balls as close as possible to a small white target ball (it’s called a pallino) to score points. The more balls you have closest to the pallino for your team than the more points you accumulate. So you need to be strategic and try to knock the other opponents balls away from the pallino. It’s also underhand rolling or throwing. Really, reeeeally fun and if your in my family, can get competitive. Absolutely love it!

When Valeria started to get a bit restless, we opted to all pack up and walk over to the playground and swings. She was so excited and she spent the whole time pretty much just swinging away. Her favourite thing to do at the playground to be honest. Not surprising though, I was like that too as a kid. She crashed pretty fast though and by 6:30 PM, we were heading home. We had a bit of a drive, but again made it home just in time before a full on meltdown happened due to exhaustion. Let’s just say, she slept pretty good, which some tossing an turning from being exhausted.

Now for today, well that one was pretty easy. Valeria came RACING into our bedroom with daddy in toe, all while she yelled ‘Mommy, Mommy” over and over again. My eyes were closed, but I heard her making noise in her room as she played. As she stood at the side of my bed, I popped my eyes open and said “Morning baby!” She jumps up and down excited with a smile on her face and says “Morning baby.” I leaned over and picked her up, putting her in bed for morning cuddles. She was snacky this morning, but she ate a good amount for breakfast before we got her ready to head to the park and splash pad by our house.

We were there for at least 45 minutes to an hour. She played on the slide, banged on some drums and then once a swing was free….LOOK OUT. She ran to that swing so fast and stayed there for a while. A little boy was being pushed on the swing next to her and he was singing – Oh Mister Sun (which she DOES NOT like at all) and she kept saying “No….Noooo…” as Anthony and I just looked at each other and laughed. At one point, someone pressed the button in the splash pad which got her attention and she says “Apă…” and well the swing was over.

We took her over to the splash pad and she was having a ball as she watched the water at a safe distance and put her hands in only when she felt it was necessary. Then a little boy came and they started to play together, he wanted her to go and run through the water with him (which she skirted the edge of the water instead), but she kept telling the little boy “Boy….in.” It was pretty funny to be honest, but his attention span turned to his bike and the playground we had just left. We played a little longer, running along the edge of the water with Valeria before it was time to head home for a nap.

Once her nap was done, my mom called and asked if we wanted to head over to hang out and spend some time. I made dinner for everyone and we hung around playing with Valeria. The time passed quickly though because before we knew it, it was time to head home. She did not want to leave grandma’s house, but she was super exhausted when we got home.

She fell asleep fast. However, it seems like she is having a bit of a rough sleep, so I’m going to call it here. Next wake-up will be mine.

I hope you had a wonderful long week (if you had one that is) and have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!