Playing in the garden on a very windy day!

A few days before Gabrielle's birthday we started practicing asking her how old she was...here are the results...Of course, we had to practice eating some cake too...cornmeal muffins to be precise!

Butterflies & Balloons

I bet you couldn't tell that we were having a birthday party in our house this past weekend! Gabrielle turned 1 on the 20th and we celebrated in true Armstrong fashion. Not a square inch of space was left undecorated - balloons, butterflies, bugs and flowers are now found adorning our walls. The look on Gabrielle's face when she came down after her morning nap on Saturday was priceless!

Grand-ma Twyla and Grand-pa Gil, along with Auntie Shannon, Uncle Greg and cousins Blake and Alicia made the trek from Kelowna, and some very close friends came from the Loops to celebrate the special day. Of course Grand-mama was there too, but unfortunately Grand-papa couldn't fly home from a business trip in California in time. We did take lots of photos for him!

We had cake and cookies and sandwiches cut in the shape of flowers, along with lots of veggies and a fruit basket carved out of a watermelon (thanks to the talents of papa).

What a wonderful party!

Teeth in Australia
Walking in Toronto
Driving in France

The never ending developments of our baby girl! With just 4 days until she is ONE the leaps and bounds she is taking are overwhelming! We spent the last two weeks in Toronto visiting my sister Nadia and family – and what an awesome time we had! We feel right into the time-change, with minimal impact on anyone’s sleep habits! A few short days later, Gabrielle walked! While we’re a few steps away from entering in any marathons, she is walking about on her own terms! She has great balance, but is such a proficient crawler that it seems she prefers the comfort of being on all fours!

And some funny naked shots!

We are all mesmerized in some sense to the magic of helium balloons, and it seems even more bewildering through the eyes of a 1 year old. Tante-Nadia bought Gabrielle a purple flower balloon that she would not let leave her sight. Everywhere she went in the house Gabrielle would tow the balloon along, at the height of about 5 feet- just high enough for us to follow without actually seeing the baby! I was amazed at how long the balloon lasted! We had to take it to the airport with us (10 days into our balloon adventure) and Nadia said that upon her return to the car the balloon had shriveled out of sadness into a purple mound of wrinkled plastic. It seems Toronto was in mourning pending our departure.
Easter weekend we spent up on the shores of Georgian Bay at the cottage – and what a change from the hectic pace of city life! The weather was glorious, but cool, and we had a lovely time. Daryl flew out east for the long weekend and it was wonderful to spend some time with him and for him to see Gabrielle walking! As you can see from the photos, she has turned into a real snuggle bug!
As Gabrielle’s birthday was fast approaching, we decided to celebrate a little early and bake her a wonderful 1st birthday cake! Seeing as she has always been our little monkey, it was rather appropriate to bake a monkey cake! Made with bananas and decorated by Nadia, Mac and I, I think it might have been a bit too realistic – for when she saw it for the first time she screamed! The terror wore off and the shrieks turned to whimpers and then she started to explore. It wasn’t the dive-in rip the monkey to pieces frenzy that I was expecting – but rather a more delicate poke here and there. Our little graceful princess…who would have thought?!?!
For her birthday, Tante-Nadia and family bought Gabrielle an awesome red car that she can sit in and be pushed around in! She loved the car and the adventures of trying to climb in and out of it. It has a little horn and a great trunk where she can hide all of her treasures. That seems to be the game of the month – putting things (any thing) in and out of any other thing. We’ve saved all our boxes (cereal, tissue, etc) and they are far better than ANY expensive toy in the shops.Our visit went by much too fast and I miss my sister terribly, but it is nice to be home; even though the house is empty. Gabrielle and I had a wonderful day together playing in the garden. She discovered the birdbath and how much fun it was to splash in the water - until she realized that her sleeve was wet and the water was actually freezing! She did love to watch the birds and airplanes and to watch the wind blow in the trees. She wasn't sure about the feeling of grass on her hands but got use to it soon enough. She was quite a little explorer and I can't wait to spend more days outside with her.