Playtime

Today Rebekah and I visited a moms and tots playgroup at the local recreation centre. I was given a voucher for 12 free visits from the local health unit, so we decided that today would be the day to check things out. Well our first visit was a success. Bekah really enjoyed it. She mostly played by herself but didn't shy away when other kids would come around and by the end she was approaching other kids. I wasn't prepared for the number of people there...atleast 50 kids from newborn to about 5 and as many parents. It was a noisy place for sure, but lots of fun for her. At first I felt a little silly packing the digital camera but I was glad to see that there were lots of other parents there with cameras too so that made me feel better. The playtime always end with clean-up and then a story. I decided to leave at that point because Bekah hasn't mastered the art of sitting still yet (just come sit beside us in church one day to see what I mean!). And she started to whine when she saw me reach for her jacket, so obviously she enjoyed herself. Because Bekah is an only child and because we are so far from family and friends, she has spent most of her time with mommy as her only playmate. So I was very relieved to find a place where she can interact with other kids. And I was just as relieved to find out that she's pretty comfortable playing even when I'm out of sight! I can't wait to go back next week :)

Another milestone

Rebekah took her first steps today! Granted they were little, her feet barely came off the floor, and she didn't really get anywhere, but it was still a very special moment for me! I know that very soon she is going to be racing around on her own, and it makes me sad. For me anyway, it seems like walking is the first step (pardon the pun) into childhood and the leaving behind of babyhood. As she stood up beaming with pride, her little legs started to wobble and down she went. It was so cute I couldn't help but laugh. And what does my little comedian do? She stands up again and flops down in an exaggerated manner, and looks in my direction waiting for a laugh. And that pretty much occupied her time for the next 10 minutes ;)

Standing Tall

In the past few weeks, Rebekah has been getting braver and has finally been trying to stand on her own. I say 'finally' only because many babies have already mastered walking by 15 months, not because I'm anxious for her to stand. In fact I'm glad she's not walking yet since its much easier to catch a crawling mischief-maker, rather than a walking one! ;)

Today she managed to stand up and clap her hands, turn her waist, wave her hand and bend down without falling over. I could see in her eyes that little twinkle, suggesting she might dare take a step, but in the end she decided crawling is still faster, and down she went. Luckily she likes to pose for the camera while standing so its among the easier positions to snap a picture or two!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I sit here typing this entry (with my empty pumpkin pie plate beside the monitor), I feel completely stuffed! But then again, there's nothing like the feeling of a full tummy after a yummy Thanksgiving meal. And the fact that there are only 2 and a half mouths to eat a 12 pound turkey did nothing to help the situation! Dave and I are used to having small Thanksgiving celebrations, since it has been over 3 years since we've been home with our family in October. But this year the celebration actually seemed a little brighter because Rebekah is actually big enough to eat turkey and play in the leaves :) Here are some photos from our day:

We started our day with a stroll through the Hyde Creek Nature Reserve, just a couple blocks from our apartment. It is an old-growth forest right in the city and it is very dark and damp. The trees are huge and the forest floor is full of moss and ferns. Unfortunately most of our pictures didn't turn out because it was so dark. But here are a couple.

Dave and Bekah found a huge tree leaf, one of the biggest we'd ever seen!

Once we got back to our place, we tried to get Bekah to pose for some pictures. Normally a Thanksgiving picture would be taken in a big pile of leaves or something, but out here in BC things are still pretty green!




Two pals just waiting for the big feast to begin


Dave's ready to dig in...


...so is Bekah!

And finally we watch the old Garfield Thanksgiving special from the 80's (our tradition!)

It's Official

Dave had his final meeting with the presbytery this past Saturday and has been officially accepted as a student minister with the Associated Presbyterian Church in Canada. He has a two-year schedule of graduate studies, presbytery exams and church ministry which he must complete in order to receive his ordination. We are excited to finally be on track! In addition to these duties he has also volunteered his web design skills to update and maintain our church website (check out the link on the sidebar...APC Vancouver). Things are certainly going to be getting busy here! We'll do our best to keep things up-to-date on this end. We just wanted to share the good news.