Aurora Wells

We Wellses have been blessed by a string of good Christmas-style luck this year, mostly involving travel plans. The day Mommy and Aurora flew home from California was clear and mostly dry, and neither our plane, nor the one taking Daddy to China, had any problems at the Vancouver Airport. The next day it snowed, and snowed, and snowed in Vancouver, but being housebound wasn’t so bad. We managed to get out enough to finish our Christmas shopping and visit the Milleys, but mostly we stayed home.

Lucky stroke number two was that Daddy didn’t have to extend his trip to Japan, and was able to fly home Saturday. Yay! Again the weather cooperated, and he made it home safe and sound in time to spend a rather jetlagged weekend with us.

In case you didn’t know, Vancouver (and in fact, most of Canada) has been the recipient of enormous loads of snow in the past couple of weeks. Vancouver is unfortunately less well equipped to deal with it than most Canadian cities, so when we get a big dump we pretty much have to cross our fingers and hope that our pantries are well stocked enough and that no trees fall on nearby power lines.

The Sunday before Christmas blessed us with another big snowfall, but with some shoveling, help from a neighbour, and more luck, we managed to get the car out of the snow pit in front of our house on Tuesday morning and drove up to Grandma and Grandpa Wells’ house in the Okanagan. We had a beautiful drive on mostly pretty clear roads, even though the Coquihalla highway, with its high mountain passes, can be pretty scary in the winter. As it turns out, the only time the car got stuck was when Daddy drove it around our block!

We found out later that the following day, the Lower Mainland got completely hammered by the biggest snowstorm of them all. Highway 1 became a big ice sheet in the Fraser Canyon and was actually closed down for most of the day. Almost all flights into and out of Vancouver were cancelled or delayed, and travel on Christmas Eve was a nightmare for most people. I am so glad we got out when we did! It’s not like there’s no snow here – there is, in fact, tons of it in Armstrong – but since snow is the norm here, it doesn’t stop life in its tracks.

So, on to Christmas! There were five of us this year, but only four really knew what was going on. Aurora managed to participate much more this year, since she’s learning to unwrap presents, but she still needed a lot of help from the grownups. Despite all efforts to cut back this year, there was still a small mountain of packages under the tree, and it took most of the morning to get through them all. Aurora’s big present was a small table and chairs from Grandma and Grandpa.

She also got another teddy bear, whose red turtleneck sweater coincidentally matched her own new one!

The grandparents decided to spring for a trio of webcams this year, so that they could Skype with us and Jim & Lori in Chilliwack. Unfortunately, all three cameras have to be returned, for three different reasons; ours is going back because it won’t run on a Mac; Jim & Lori’s is unnecessary because Lori’s Mac already has a built-in webcam; and Grandma & Grandpa’s computer needed new software that would have cost a third of the price of a new computer (with a webcam already built in). So, Brian and I bravely volunteered to venture to Vernon’s Future Shop the next day to purchase a new laptop computer for Grandma & Grandpa.

Which leads us to the fourth lucky stroke of the Holiday Season: The Boxing Day Miracle. Now, I’ve heard stories for years about the dreaded Boxing Day lineups and shopping madness that overcomes normally mild-mannered Canadians every year the day after Christmas. It’s similar to Black Friday in the States, but since everyone’s making returns and exchanges of stuff they received the day before, it’s even hairier at the store registers. We were afraid we’d have to park a mile away, line up in the cold before they’d let us in the overcrowded store, not be able to find the computer we wanted, and stand in line for hours to buy whatever we did manage to find. We left our darling baby girl with Grandma & Grandpa Boxing Day morning – our first Mommy & Daddy-only outing during her waking hours.

And the miracle was this:

We parked three stalls away from the front of the store,

There were no lineups, plenty of sales staff, and they found the exact computer we came for, no problem. The salesguy walked us over to the register, rung it up, and we were on our way about 20 minutes after we arrived. Brian remarked that it was the easiest shopping he’d done all holiday season, and I heartily agreed. We returned back home to find Aurora dressed up in a beaded necklace, sparkly bracelet, and big, red, clip-on earrings. Yikes! It’s a good thing we weren’t gone longer, or she might have had makeup on!

So, wish us luck for the return trip home tomorrow. The weather’s still pretty crappy in Vancouver (the snow turned to rain and caused massive flooding, according to the news reports), but tomorrow looks like the best weather day for the roads in the interior. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This afternoon Aurora woke up from her nap in that way that is typically described as, “getting up on the wrong side of the bed” but is really more similar to “hurricane in training”. She screamed on the change table, she screamed on my lap, she screamed standing on the floor, and so on and so on. I thought it was because I’m weaning her off the mid-afternoon nursing, and she didn’t want the sippy cup. However, when she’d flung herself backwards off my lap and I got a good look through her wide-open mouth at her upper gums, I saw the distinctive atoll of a new molar, her first, breaking through. Well, then, no wonder.

So, what else is new?

Aurora is such a good walker now; arms down, carrying things, picking her way over rough terrain (like paving stones). She can go up stairs all by herself, although she prefers to hold onto the wall or railing rather than crawl up with her hands on the next step. Going down is more of a problem, and causes Mommy heart palpitations, because she doesn’t like to turn around and go backwards. We practiced a lot at the Nestor grandparents’ house. Last week she started pushing herself up to standing without holding on to anything, thereby achieving the final step to self-mobility. You go, girl!

We are still (for almost three months) working on dropping that mid-afternoon nursing, and sometimes when she’s teething hard, I consider cutting her off completely, cold turkey. After all, if I was going back to work like most of the other moms, there’d be no option to keep nursing five times a day, would there? Aurora gives new meaning to the word “stubborn”, but I’m learning to find my inner Nestor, too. I’d prefer more peaceful afternoons, but it would be nice if she was weaned before she can write the word breastmilk.

As for toys, Aurora is now very attached to her teddy bear, although she is also fond of Bobby and Susie, the Duplo Lego people I named when I got tired of referring to them as “little boy” and “little girl”. Her favourite game is, on the count of three, to be flung (very gently) into her crib atop a pile of stuffed animals.

We also did a bunch of fun stuff in Long Beach while we were there. Here are some moments caught on camera, such as visiting El Dorado Park with Grandma:

Great-Grandma Ann knit the matching hat and sweater for Mommy when she was a baby. Trés chic, non?

Playdate with Rafael Squire:

Aurora was not crazy about sharing her stuff (and her uncle Steve) with this newcomer.

That’s better! Uncle Steve and Grandma Gail all to myself, and on the swing, to boot!

Learning how to play cards with Great-Grandpa Harold. And of course, the best fun can sometimes be found in the trash or recycling box, and that’s where we found this plastic page protector:

And some things just can’t be captured in still photography:

musical_chairs

I was planning on waiting until Aurora was at least three years old before taking her to Disneyland, because kids really can’t appreciate it much younger than that anyways. However, Aunt Ash asked if we’d like her to sign us in to Disneyland free so we could see her in the Christmas parade – AWESOME!

I think there’s some kind of law that you have to take a picture at the entrance on your first visit, and since I didn’t want to get in trouble, here it is.

We brought the stroller, but Daddy ended up carrying Aurora most of the time – she can see better that way, anyways.

This may sound maudlin, but my heart really does swell as I walk down Main Street, because of all the happy memories I’ve had at the park over the years. Now I get to share it with my daughter, too. I’ll probably bore her to tears with my stories about “the good ‘ol days at Diz”.

And here’s something a little different: real, live reindeer!

Then, finally, the reason we came; to see Ashleigh in the Christmas parade. She let us choose whether to come on a day when she’s playing a Wicked Stepsister or a Rollerskating Snowflake. Such a tough choice!

ash-in-diz-parade

Can you imagine if this was your job?

I’m a little behind on the posts, due to being away from home and having lots to do, so here’s a backdated post from Sunday, Dec. 7th. The Wellses and Nestors went to see Uncle David and Aunt Ashleigh’s new house before heading over to Dr. Nestor’s Office Christmas Party. These are pictures of their house – brace yourself – three days after they moved in:

Yup, that’s right. Gorgeous, eh? I am pretty sure, almost seven years after moving into my own home, that mine will never look as put-together as theirs did in only a few days. Now, to be fair, they did have several weeks before moving in to paint, replace the flooring, and renovate the bathroom and stuff, and they did have a good bit of help from friends and family, but you gotta admit, it’s pretty stunning.

I am more than a little jealous, especially of the orange and lemon trees in the backyard. Kudos to you guys for managing to get in as first-time buyers in this crazy housing market!

Of course, Aurora only had eyes for that other little adorable bundle of energy, Ilse the dog. At their first meeting, Ilse’s frenetic excitement overwhelmed Aurora, and when Ilse jumped up (yes, she’s that tiny) and licked Aurora’s hand, Aurora’s lower lip jutted out in that wavery way and she started crying. This second visit, though, the tables were turned, and Aurora’s piercing shrieks of delight made Ilse think twice about approaching such a frighteningly loud little person.

Uncle Steve and Grandma Gail “1-2-3-Jump!” with Aurora down the sidewalk as we head to the party. She looks so cute in her rosebud-accented swing coat (thanks, Kay)!

Stopping at the Great-Grandparents’ house on the way home, we managed to get a picture of four generations. Aurora has a remarkable rapport with Great-Grandma Ann, who’s no longer capable of talking very much. They smile and wave at each other, and seem to understand each other on some level the rest of us don’t. I love the smile on Ann’s face whenever Aurora enters the room – it’s priceless!

It’s always fun visiting Aurora’s cool uncles Steve and David. Here’s a little treat they put together for the holidays:

The Robeez (sounds like Robbies) photos have arrived – here are a few (click on ‘em to make bigger):

Here they just wanted the back end of a crawling baby, to show off the pretty little garden Mary Jane slippers.

I think I had a very similar diagonal-stripe knit skirt in 1985. Wasn’t much longer, either.

Here you get the full impact of the Amazing Aurora Eyes’n'Lashes. How could I deny anything to a child who looks at me like this?