trout lake farmer's market

Anyone who has been around this blog for a while will know of my fondness for farmer's markets. On the weekend we headed to the Trout Lake farmer's market in East Vancouver (where I grew up). A bit smaller and cozier than the Sydney markets we're used to, it was a nice change of pace. We came home with arms full of produce and some treats too. Needless to say, dinner later that night was absolutely delicious!

p.s. We're taking off tomorrow for a few days to unplug and relax. I'll be back here for 52 on Sunday. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Clementine: Dressed in her Sunday finest, in her dad's arms.

My mom's friend knit Clementine this gorgeous dress, and another friend gave her these sock "shoes." Together, it was just the cutest baby outfit in all the land.

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.

slowing down

On the weekend we booked our flights to Colombia, which means that we have just under 3 weeks left in Vancouver. Upon realising this, I felt all in a panic, worried that we're running out of time. There are still so many things I want to do here in my hometown, not to mention the shorter trips we'll be taking to Whistler and the Gulf Islands.

As always, life with a baby forces me to slow down and re-prioritise. We have to balance our touristing and catch ups with a lot of time spent at home. Clementine is a relaxed and happy baby, but she's a distracted eater who doesn't breastfeed well in public. She's also not napping well in the stroller that we borrowed from a friend. So we aim to be home for most of her feeds and at least one long nap a day. I could and have let myself be frustrated by this, but I'm trying so hard to let go.

Thanks to my mom, my husband and I can nip out for short little jaunts while the baby sleeps. And my friends have been happy to come to us, which makes catching up a whole lot easier. My husband and I are also planning to sit down and write out a list of our must do's while on this side of the globe, and then prioritise from there.

But enough of my petty woes already! We've had a lovely few days, with a trip to Main St yesterday, a delicious lunch at Peaceful restaurant today, and tonight I plan to go to a yoga class. I can't complain about that!

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"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Clementine: Playing with Katrina.

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.

in which clementine meets everyone

One of the great joys of being here has been watching my friends and family meet Clementine. So far, she has met:

1. Mateo - my little brother, her uncle. He is hilarious with her; every time he's home when she is, he yells "selfie time!" and whips out his phone to take photos. The results are hysterical (this one is my favourite ever).

2. Abuela - Ok, so my mom has met Clementine already, but no one is happier to see her than she is!

3. Grandpa - my dad, her Canadian grandpa. It was pretty great to watch my dad sit and make funny noises for Clementine's amusement. She was quite taken with him.

4. Andrea - my friend from highschool. She gets 4 photos because C was so damn cute that day. Andrea's great with babies, the perfect aunt.

5. Rochelle - one of my mom's best friends, who I've always thought of as my aunt. Rochelle just adores Clementine and showered us with a bag filled with baby gifts!

6. Vanessa - we met way back when we were competitive gymnasts, and despite a rocky start, we became the best of friends. She's the person I originally travelled to Australia with, and the friend I was with when I first met my husband. Next year she's getting married and I'm a bridesmaid, can't wait!

7. Carol - Katrina's mom, and a close family friend. We've had two backyard meals at their house this week and it has been lovely.

8. Pierrette - one of my mom's oldest friends and another aunt like figure in my life. The first time she met Clementine, she was naked and peed all over Pierrette's skirt. Pierrette just laughed.

9. Katrina - my oldest friend. We met in kindergarten. It is just so great to watch people who I have known forever playing with my baby. It's the best.

her name

As promised, here is the story of Clementine's name...

We spent a lot of time when I was pregnant trying to choose a name for our future son/daughter. I even wrote a post about it, where I wrote that my husband and I have very different tastes in names. I'm still hoping for a son named Cedar someday, and he's still repeating, "how about William?"

Eventually we found a few girls' names that we agreed on and this became our shortlist. They were old fashioned English names - one was my preference, one was his preference and one we both liked equally. Clementine was one of them. I loved the sound of it, the fact that it can be pronounced in my other languages, the built in lullaby and it even passed the syllable test! When it came to boys' names, however, we couldn't agree on anything. In the end, we had just one name that I wasn't even crazy about.

Moments after Clementine was placed on my chest, someone in the room reminded us to check for the sex. My husband announced that it was a girl, and I cried and kissed her head over and over. I was so surprised that I actually asked him to check again! (On a side note, we are both so happy that we waited to find out our baby's gender. Initially, my husband wanted to find out as soon as possible but I vetoed him. He now admits that the surprise was one of the best things about having a baby!) He immediately asked me if I'd like to name her Clementine, as it was my top pick for a girls' name. Overwhelmed and worried about making the wrong decision I stuttered, "yes! no! I don't know."

So our little girl remained nameless for about 2 days. My husband generously told me that it was my decision - I could choose any of the 3 names on our shortlist and he would be happy. In the hospital we tried calling her these 3 names, and even starting singing 'Oh my darling.' In the end I knew it would be Clementine. My husband and I shook on it and it was a done deal. My last name is her middle name, and my husband and her share the same surname.

I worried so much about choosing the "perfect" name and now that she's here I know that we have. She is most certainly our darling Clementine. I love that when people hear her name they sound surprised, and then exclaim what a beautiful name it is. I love that it's easy to spell and pronounce. I love its meaning. And I love that since she's been born I've discovered other "Clementine" songs (thanks to Claire and Gentri): one from Megan Washington and this one from Sara Jaffe.

Tell me, did you have as hard a time as we did naming your kids?

p.s. these photos were taken by my friend Ellen, of Ellen Arthur photography. I'll be sharing the rest of them soon.

old homes

 

The first weekend that we were here, we visited our family friend who lives in the historic part of New Wesminster. Today it's a suburb of Vancouver, but back in the day, it was actually BC's first capital. Vancouver is a fairly new city, and it can sometimes feel like it's lacking character. So it's such a nice treat to wander through the streets of New West and gaze at the heritage homes. The gardens are also a sight to behold, with their hydrangeas, roses and canopies formed by 100 year old trees.  A short drive from Vancouver, it's definitely worth a visit if you ever find yourself in this part of the world.

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"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Clementine: Swinging away in the hammock.

We've been missing Clementine's swing while we've been staying at my mom's place. Then we realized that she might like the hammock on the balcony. Well, does she ever! It's huge, but she hangs out in the middle and we gently push her. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.

first beach trip

 

Yesterday we took Clementine to the beach for the first time. In the late afternoon, when the sun was still high, we drove to Jericho. She was asleep when we got there so we hid under the shade of a tree. When she woke up we set up on the sand, with an umbrella (not the beach kind) for shade. She actually seemed even happier than she is at home; I think she liked the sea breeze. This poor Aussie baby of ours doesn't enjoy the heat. This makes me scared for Australian summer later this year...

Anyway, we think she's too small to swim but my husband and I took turns dipping her toes in the water. She had the cutest puzzled look on her face the whole time. As for us, I'm sad to say that after living in Sydney for a few years I chickened out and deemed the water too cold to swim. I'll try harder next time.

3 month clementine

Clementine is 3 months old now. No longer a newborn. My husband and my mom keep making fun of me for taking so many photos of her, but I just can't help myself. I want to remember everything about her, from her blue, blue eyes to the way she crinkles up her nose when she smiles.

In this last month she has started to smile more and more, though she's still more hesitant with strangers. And speaking of strangers, whenever people first meet her they exclaim, "Oh that hair!" We're still wondering if she's going to be a redhead, or maybe a strawberry blond. Either way I think it's fair to say that sunscreen will be in order.

She's also getting louder and louder this last month! She squeals with delight and can now make a noise that sounds like a dolphin. Of course, this also means that cries are getting louder... Her other new trick is pushing down hard with her feet to scoot herself backwards. Girl does not hold still. Ever. 

p.s. that last photo, oh my heart!

 

home for the summer

 

Going home is such a nice feeling. My husband hasn't been here in a few years, and I haven't been here during the summertime for 5 years! And the best thing about this trip is that we have 2 whole months. Typically, the hardest part about visiting home as an expat is that you have so little time to squeeze everything in. There are so many thing we want to do while we're here - like swimming at the beach and hiking the Chief - and we can tick them off our list slowly but surely.

For now we're taking it easy while we recover from the flight and the accompanying jet lag. My mom lives in a perfect spot; it's central, close to the beach and easy to walk most places. Just perfect for us right now. So many more photos and stories to come...