Milestones

Aurora is able to pull herself to a stand! She's done it in the bath which we're not too thrilled about for safety reasons and now she's done it in a storage bin. No, we don't use a storage bin as a play pen. We had an empty one in her room while I was organizing and Danna put her in it. Well, she pulled herself to a stand in it! I wanted to show Chris so I put her in it last night and she did it again; 3 times actually! I got video of all 3 times but will only post one. They're pretty much all the same. We're so proud of Aurora, she's becoming such a big girl.

As I am typing this blog entry Aurora is using the couch to pull herself to a stand. As soon as Chris sits her down she pops back up. She is very proud of herself and laughs big time when she's standing.

Another milestone she's reached recently is cruising along the couch. She absolutely loves to walk, assisted of course, and now that she's getting better at standing against something (like the tub, a chair, or the couch) we're letting her do that more often. Well put those two together and you get cruising! At first it was just a few steps and then she'd fall but the other night she cruised the whole couch! Of course when I got the camcorder out she didn't do it and was too interested in looking at what I was doing instead. I'm hoping to get it soon which I don't think will be too hard as she's improving her pulling, standing, and cruising on a daily basis.

Goodbye 2010, hello 2011

On this the last day of 2010 I thought I'd reflect on the goodness that was 2010 as well as what's to come in 2011.

2010 was an amazing year, mainly because our sweet little Aurora joined our family. And what made it even more special was that she arrived on my birthday! We just love her to bits; her smile can cheer me up whenever I'm sad or frustrated (even if I'm frustrated with her and her non-existing sleep), she's so alert and aware and interested in the world, she has the cutest, most infectious laugh, she's continually learning and growing and it's awesome to watch her develop, it's very obvious she loves her family and we all love her, and she fills our lives with such love and joy.

Other great events in 2010:

• My visit home at the end of March/beginning of April. I wanted my family and friends to experience some of my pregnancy with me so I flew back home for 10 days. During that time I had a baby shower and got to spend time with some friends I hadn't seen in a while. Also, Danna got to feel Baby Bean (as she was known as at the time) move and hear her heartbeat.

• Danna and Zachary's visit to St. John's for 3 weeks just after Aurora was born. I loved having them there, even though I was sore and tired. It was hard not having family around when Aurora was born so to have them there shortly after and for so long was just great. Danna was a huge help around the apartment and with Aurora and gave me an adult to converse with during the day while Chris was at work. Plus, I love her and spending time with her . And I always love being with Zach. We did tons of sight seeing while there and really made the most of the visit.

• Our move back to Toronto (well, Brampton, but close enough) at the end of July. While the move was chaotic and with very little notice (3 weeks to move from Newfoundland to Ontario!) I love being back with my family and friends. I definitely miss my friends in St. John's and area, especially since 3 of them are pregnant and 2 others have babies, but I wouldn't trade being able to spend my year off with Danna and Zachary for anything.

• In July, another baby joining the Sherwin clan. Cole Masuzumi was born on July 16, 2010 to Amy and Todd (Chris' sister and brother-in-law). We were ecstatic when we heard of his birth and even more so when we had the chance to meet him.

• Our trip to B.C.. At the beginning of September we went to B.C. and had a Sherwin family reunion of sorts (we were missing 3 family members). It was great to see all our nieces and nephews again (and some for the 1st time) and see how they had grown and matured. We loved showing Aurora off to Chris' family, even though she was cranky. Since Aurora doesn't have any grandparents on my side it was important that she meet her grandparents on Chris' side and I loved that we had the opportunity to do so while she was so young. We had a great time visiting and hope to visit again soon.

• The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. These were special to me because I had the honour of carrying the Olympic torch in November 2009. It was great to watch the games unfold, and Canada kick butt, and know I was a part of it.

Notable mentions:

• Chris' 29th birthday
• My 30th birthday (overshadowed by Aurora)
• My last day of work for a year
• My surprise shower thrown by some friends in NL
• My work shower
• Finally getting screeched in
• Chris getting a job
• Our move from Danna's place to our own place
• Aurora's 1st Christmas

Now onto 2011. This upcoming year has some big shoes to fill but I look forward to (most) of it. I do not look forward to looking for a job and returning to the workforce. But other than that it should be good, and here are a few reasons why:

• Aurora's 1st birthday
• Aurora walking
• Aurora saying mama (she's been saying dada for quite some time now)
• Aurora's teeth finally coming through (they have been causing such discomfort)
• Aurora sleeping better????? (wishful thinking)
• I should have just said Aurora as she will now make every year special
• Chris finishing his thesis
• my champagne birthday (I will be turning 31 on the 31st)

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Aurora and Santa

Our little monkey

Chris wanted to share this photo with everyone as it is now his favourite photo of Aurora. Another mommy I know knits these beautiful hats and I asked her to knit this brown and pink monkey hat (see the ears?) for Aurora. We think the hat is absolutely adorable and on Aurora it's even more precious. Chris especially likes that her top lip is a bit taut just like a monkey's.

I also wanted to share this video of Aurora rolling...sort of. I just turned off the camera and didn't expect she'd roll right away and so I caught the tail end of the roll. She doesn't roll often enough that I've captured a full roll but I hope to soon. And she hasn't rolled from back to tummy yet so no video of that.

Please vote for Aurora

We entered the video of Aurora laughing in Fisher-Price's Best Little Laugh contest and would greatly appreciate all the votes we can get. So please vote for Aurora and ask everyone you know to do the same. You can vote once a day and the contest runs until December 31, 2010. The winner gets the ulitmate Fisher-Price toy closet, a year supply of Fisher-Price diapers, and a Kodak Playsport digital video camera. Thanks!

video link: http://bestlittlelaugh.com/entry/3485219

Aurora and Zachary

Aurora absolutely adores her cousin Zachary. She will watch him for hours on end as he runs around, jumps, and plays. He always gets the biggest laughs out of her. Case in point:

But, as evident in the next video, there are times when she isn't feeling the love, even if he is. And yes, that's me laughing my butt off at Zachary getting his hair pulled by Aurora. I know, I'm mean. Everytime I watch this video it makes me laugh just as hard as I did when I took it. I am considering sending it to America's Funniest Videos; think we stand a chance at winning?

Aurora's such a big girl!

2 days ago Aurora desperately wanted to stand and lean against her activity mat (I say desperately because she fussed when I moved her away from it and when I moved her close to it she leaned in even closer) and she seemed so steady that I moved my hand and voila, she was leaning against it on her own! She was able to do it for quite a long time and was very steady. Our little girl is growing up too fast! :(