joshua's on the move

As I mentioned in this post, Joshua began walking on Christmas Day!

I can hardly believe how quickly he has gone from "very wobbly toddling" to "confidently walking"... I think it's only a matter of time before "over-confidently running". And since we know it's a bummer for grandparents, aunts, and uncles (and other friends!) to not be able to see him walking in person, we've tried to capture him on video a few times. 

To be honest, not a lot happens in these videos... it's pretty much just a minute of Joshua toddling around. Which might be cute for some but probably boring for others, sorry!

favorite places tour: camana bay, part two

Yesterday I shared a little bit about Camana Bay and how much we love taking Joshua there. One Saturday morning we took him there to let him walk around and burn off some energy and he took a liking to one of the fountains. Nope, not one of the fountains for kids to play in... this is definitely a just-for-decoration fountain. 

favorite places tour: camana bay

One of our favorite places on the island is Camana Bay.

From the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in November.

It's this "New Urbanism" development (I actually don't really know what that means, so don't question me on it:)) that has shops, restaurants, apartments, and workplaces all in one area.

The restaurants have lots of outdoor seating, most of the roads/walkways are pedestrian-only, and there are lots shaded grassy areas... it has a super laid-back vibe. It's also really family-friendly, which is a plus. They even go so far as to have two sets of fountains for kids to play in - the smaller set with a covering that keeps it shaded which makes it perfect for smaller kids.

We end up there a few times a week, usually... to go out to eat, to look at the bookstore (Brett's favorite place on island, obviously), to meet friends for a walk or a playdate, to kill time and let Joshua burn off some energy... It has actually become our "go to" option when we're looking for something to do. We love it.

In the past few weeks or so since Joshua has begun walking, we have taken him to Camana Bay in the morning to run off some energy. He likes to be out of the stroller so he can look at things, and stop when he wants to look up close...

...or try to get in.

Sometimes he prefers to push his stroller.

He loves exploring and feeling independent (probably like all toddlers:)) and there's enough space at Camana Bay to let him do his thing. And when the baby's happy... everyone's happy!

our first cayman christmas

So, I've definitely fallen behind on posting. Sorry! We've been pretty busy the past few weeks with Christmas and a quick trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I'm going to try and catch up, so hopefully you'll be seeing several posts this week and next!

Christmas seemed to creep up on us more than usual this year, probably because we didn't have any weather clues that December was approaching. No changing seasons - well, I guess it had begun to cool off just a little with those "Christmas breezes" but not much. It took a while to get used to seeing Christmas lights strung around a Palm tree... while wearing shorts and flip-flops. One of the things that has been especially hard to adjust to is how different the passage of time feels when you only have very subtle changes in seasons.

Cayman does seem to go "all out" for Christmas, though, perhaps in an attempt to make up for the lack of cozy Christmas weather. You'll see Christmas lights and decorations at almost all of the businesses and stores, lining the streets and roundabouts, and on many houses. 

We had minimal decorations this year - partly because we figured Joshua would pull down/destroy anything he could reach, and partly due to our sticker shock when we looked at Christmas decorations. We bought a small two-foot pre-lit tree and hung a few ornaments (that we had brought from the US), and sprung for some (kind of ugly) stockings. It was simple but we loved it. :)

On Christmas Eve we gathered with our church family for Sunrise's Christmas Eve service. It was kind of surreal to be on the beach singing Christmas carols at sunset... and it was just as lovely as you can imagine.

Afterwards, we tucked Joshua into bed wearing some Christmas pajamas (and turned the A/C down just a little so he wasn't too cozy:)) and watched It's A Wonderful Life. 

The next morning we opened presents and had cinnamon rolls - Joshua was a HUGE fan of his first cinnamon roll (without the icing). Almost everything he was given this year had wheels - so lots of trucks and cars. He was in heaven!

Sunrise had a Christmas Day service in the morning so we cleaned up and headed to that. It was a small gathering and very family-oriented, which was nice. After the church service, we had a few friends over for brunch and headed to Ryan and Katie's house for Christmas Dinner later on. In between, we called or skyped with our families... and Joshua began walking! The few days leading up to Christmas, he had taken one or two steps here and there... but nothing very consistent. On Christmas Day he took several three- or four-in-a-row ventures, so we figured that counted as beginning to walk!

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. Since it didn't really feel like Christmas (we went to the beach the next day!), I don't think it quite registered we were missing Christmas with our families, and it was a nice opportunity to create new traditions as a family.