We celebrated Kai's 9th birthday with him on March 3rd! How exciting to watch him develop into such an outstanding little human being! I have watched him from so many different angles throughout the years. I have seen him through the eyes of an auntie who thinks he can do no wrong, and I have seen him through the eyes of a fan who loves watching him and hearing about him succeed in hockey, I have seen him through the eyes of an educator who is absolutely impressed and inspired by his genuine curiosity and love to learn, and finally I have seen him through the eyes of a parent whose child is so lucky to be loved by such an amazing little guy. We love Kai very much, and had so much fun celebrating! Pacey had so much fun playing kitchen with Kai and being silly with Vayda!
We are SO lucky Marni watches Pacey. She loves her as though she is her own. Pacey calls Marni's mom "Mamma" and refer's to her brother as "Uncle Jay." And Mamma and Uncle Jay are very good to our girl too. Marni takes Pacey out shopping and plays all kinds of games with her. She knows her as well as anyone can. She loves my daughter - that gives me a world of comfort when I drop her off. I know that no matter what the day brings, my sweet girl will be taken care of, loved, and happy. Thank you Marni, thank you so very much. Here are a few pictures Marni took of Pacey's birthday celebration at her house.
Vayda is Pacey's big cousin. She has loved Pacey since before she was even born. Even when I was pregnant, Vayda was always so interested in the baby and really hoped it would be a girl, although she was convinced it would be a boy because boys are usually first. Pacey loves being around Vayda and always talks about how pretty Vayda is for days after they have a play. Vayda loves showing Pacey new things, and being a big cousin to her. Together, they giggle and laugh, they have little adventures, and sing songs. They are so fun to watch. I am grateful for the love Vayda shows Pacey.
I love Vayda because she is always teaching me something new.
I love Vayda because she always makes me laugh.
I love Vayda because she helps me get Bampa to give us twice the normal amount of cookies. Bampa kind of melts for his girls!
Kai is Pacey's big cousin. He is incredible with her - so patient and gentle. He is always wanting to show her how to do things and lets her figure things out too. He likes to tell her things and talk to her and she loves, loves, loves when Kai is over. She gets so excited! They can be playing a game or watching TV, whatever they are doing, Pacey is always smiling and having fun. Kai loves to help Pacey and he loves seeing her new tricks and teaching her a few new ones too. It sure doesn't seem like long ago, when Kai was a little guy and we all marvelled at his tricks. I loved when he used to say his full name and tell us that ketchup chips were "Spice-sky." He was the cutest little guy and I am proud of the little man he is becoming!
I love relaxing with Kai, watching anything he wants to watch - just so long as we are close by, I am one happy little girl.
Kai can't go far without me sitting near him. If anyone tries to take a picture of Kai by himself, I photo bomb the picture every single time. I just love this guy so much!
Pacey and Cos are best buds! He cries with her, they play chase. She shares her french fries with him, she talks about him all the time. They really do love each other. I happened to snap this one day when we came back from Marni's. Usually Pacey has a snack and watches TV, and Cos is always right at her side!
If possible, Pacey would make cupcakes every single day. She absolutely loves it when I ask if she wants to make cupcakes. She takes a chair from the kitchen table and pushes it to the counter, climbs up, and pushes up her sleeves. Then she looks at me and says, "Ready mommy." That is when I know it is time for her to dump the mix in the bowl, pour the pre-measured oil and water in, and squeal in delight as I crack the eggs. Her next job, while I mix, is to put the paper in the muffin tins. She counts them as she puts them in. It impresses me that she can count to 12 (and backwards from 5, thank you very much!). Once I am done mixing, she is always ready to lick the mixers. It is so fun to bake with her, she brings renewed joy to the entire process. She peeks through the oven window and watches them bake, when they come out, she climbs back on her chair and blows on them to cool them down. When we ice them, she puts the sprinkles on…….. one……….at…………a…………..time. It is a long, but incredibly adorable process. Daddy and Bampa love cupcake nights too!!!
In Denver, Pacey and I were in Target shopping away. We were in the left over Christmas section and Pacey was singing the Elf on the Shelf song, and attracting a lot of attention. There were many "aww's" and lots of people who struck up a conversation with her. There was one lady in particular who became quite smitten with Pacey and played little peek a boo games and showed her funny faces and what not. She asked Pacey what her name was and out of the blue, with no prompting or previous conversations, Pacey said "Rae-rae." Since then, she has preferred to be called "Rae-rae" and will correct you when you call her otherwise.
We had a really busy Christmas this year! We spent time with our family and friends in Winnipeg and we also took Pacey-rae on her first plane ride to Denver! I hope you enjoy the slideshows from our Christmas events!