2010

Happy New Year from the Okes

Two thousand and ten, while now a memory, was kind to Amy, Avery, and me. We celebrated Avery's first birthday south of Playa del Carmen, Mexico at a beautiful resort next to the Xcaret eco theme park. Avery wasn't yet walking on her own, but enjoyed pushing mommy in her inner tube in the shallow pools and, along with Amy ate her weight in avocado.

I went back to work in the first weeks of the year after six months at home with Avery. Amy took six weeks off work in order to delay Avery's start at daycare. We eventually found a home based daycare within walking distance from our home with a kind and generous Spanish speaking lady who had previously worked as a kindergarten teacher in Colombia.

With both of us back at work, we had to squeeze our fun in on the weekend, be it skating on the canal as a family, or in my case training for and running my first marathon. I thoroughly enjoyed my running experience and am very proud of having accomplished it, although you'll have to excuse me for not planning on running another 42km race in the foreseeable future.

Amy's spring work trips translated into spring fun for Avery and me. Much to our surprise, we arrived in Nashville at the same time as their flood of the century was peaking. Thankfully the airport and our hotel were not impacted, and we were able to have a very enjoyable visit despite the ongoing calamity. A month later, we went on a second work trip to Toronto (pictured below-left), where Avery and I were able visit with Susan and Myles at the park, the drop-in centre, the zoo, etcetera over the course of Amy's conference there.

Amy again enjoyed a six-week leave from work over the summer during the weeks that our daycare provider was visiting her extended family. Avery loved getting messy at the cottage beach and is always happy swinging and sliding at the park. The summer play culminated in Amata's visit in August, and our trip to Ottawa's new water park, Calypso.

At Amy's ultrasound appointment in September we learned that our next baby was healthy and growing well and that we will be having a second daughter! We are expecting the new arrival in February, which would make her and Avery slightly more than two years apart.

As the year went on, Avery's vocabulary expanded rapidly, and she is now making simple sentences, which Amy likes to record. One recent example is "Pee-pee comes out of Avery's bum-bum," if you can excuse the crude subject matter and technical inaccuracies. She is almost exclusively good natured and has a healthy sense of humour, but is starting to show the occasional stubbornness of a typical two-year-old.

As Christmas was approaching, Amy and I were very happy to be part of Deborah and Christopher's wedding if not only for their sake, perhaps also because it was held in the Dominican Republic! Despite torrential rains throughout the day of the wedding, it proceeded as planned, and all the guests were treated to a wonderful dinner and lively entertainment.

Amy and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and would like to wish you a peaceful yet lively 2011.