THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life - December Edition

We are in Toronto.

We survived the move. (Or at least phase one of the move.)

This is a few days late due to the general chaotic state of our life at the moment. But things are actually going really well. Now that we’re here and the worst parts are behind us, things feel much more relaxed. There’s nothing left to do but just be here. And focus on Christmas, finally.

So here’s what happened during our last month in Vancouver!

I went to a special screening of the film The Room. (If you haven’t heard of it, it’s widely regarded as the best worst movie of all time. The recent movie The Disaster Artist was made about it.) It was hosted by Greg Sestero who plays Mark in the movie. Oh hi Mark! So that was fun.

We tried to spend as much time as possible enjoying the things about Vancouver that we will miss. Namely this:

I will definitely miss being a five minute walk away from this. It was such an exceptional way to live. A piece of my heart is here forever.

We tried to go on a few more hikes to take advantage of all of the beautiful nature at our disposal.

I had my little farewell party with my Vancouver area ladies and it was lovely and I cried. It was just really special to have all of you guys in one place. We went to a yoga class and then out for brunch! It was quite the quintessential Vancouverite type of outing! Thank you guys for being my people in Vancouver. I’m so sad to be far away from you again. ♥

I took my last classes at my home yoga studio, Semperviva. I’m really sad to leave it. I always dreamed of getting to practice there and it was so nice that that dream got to be a reality, even for just a little while.

We then took a quick little overnight trip down to Seattle! We wanted to visit once more before moving away! Carrie came with us!

We also tried to cram in as many Vancouver Christmas activities as we could before leaving! We visited the Capilano Suspension Bridge to see the Canyon Lights (so magical!) and we visited the Vancouver Christmas Market (so fun!).

Archie's first carousel ride!

Then the moving chaos got underway.

Unfortunately all three of us caught a BAD cold at this time and I caught it the worst. Not the greatest timing, that’s for sure. We went on a food tour of our top five favourite Vancouver restaurants for five nights in a row. This is our tradition whenever we leave a city now!

The movers showed up and packed up our house. They are such an incredible tornado. We did nothing and the next thing that we knew, our entire apartment was in boxes.

The following day they came back to load up the moving truck. They also put our car in the truck. Off went our stuff!

We moved into a hotel for two nights and then flew to Toronto. We traveled with SO MUCH STUFF. Plus a toddler. Plus a cat. It was ridiculous! Thankfully the Air Canada staff at the airport were incredibly kind and accommodating to us.

We arrived in Toronto and moved into our temporary corporate apartment! It’s nice! It’s in a great central location and it’s bigger than I imagined with two floors. It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. There was also a welcome basket from Ubisoft waiting for us in the apartment!

We’ve just been trying to settle in and decompress ever since. Like I mentioned, we went out with an agent and saw a house that we really liked and so we applied for it. It’s such a big, lengthy process with tons of paperwork involved. I had a very strong feeling in the house that we are supposed to live there. This house will allow us to have a really nice guest room and you guys are ALL INVITED OVER!! It isn’t a big house, but for us who have always lived in apartments, it seems like way more space than what we’re accustomed to. So I’ll let you know if we get it!

We also attended a book signing with Chef Matty Matheson! He’s a Toronto chef that Tim really likes. So that was fun. We like eating his bologna bowls, ha ha.

So that’s been life so far! I’ve come to terms with moving to Toronto at this point and am a lot more excited about it. I’m still sad about Vancouver but I’m in a much better place to move onto our next chapter.

Life with Archie:

Archie has handled the move incredibly well and is being so easy in general. He’s just down for whatever we throw at him and it’s making our lives a lot easier.

Archie went for his two Speech & Language Assessments and the Speech-Language Pathologist that he saw pretty much just confirmed everything that we already knew. That Archie demonstrates really great understanding of language and non-verbal communication skills. He’s attentive to his environment and enjoys interacting with others. But Archie’s use of language is not at the level that is expected for a child of his age. So we’re going to be working to help support him in using more words to communicate (not that we weren’t already doing this). After the second appointment we were also told that Archie is “ready to talk,” based on the way that he is currently communicating.

He also went for his Infant Development Program appointment (which was also more of an assessment) and the Consultant concluded that Archie is NOT a good candidate for the program. Which is GREAT news! She said that apart from his speech everything about him is perfectly normal and on track. There isn’t anything “wrong” with him. She recommended continuing to work with a Speech-Language Pathologist (which is separate) and that Archie wouldn’t require further services though the Infant Development Program.

Archie also saw his Pediatrician and he pretty much just agreed with everything that all of the other specialists have said. He didn’t seem very concerned and just recommended that he continues to see a Speech-Language Pathologist in Toronto. Archie was also weighed in at 24.3 pounds.

So this has all been a big relief. It feels so much better to know that he’s simply a late bloomer in some ways and that we’re narrowing down his issues.

Additionally, we have already been referred to the Preschool Speech & Language Program in Toronto and they have called to confirm that they’ll be able to get Archie into their program right away instead of him having to go onto the wait list. So that was amazing news!

And now it’s December somehow?!

I think that we’re mainly going to try to enjoy Christmas activities now that all of the craziness is over.

We already went to Ubisoft’s Kids Holiday Party.

Sarah arrived and is staying at my place!!! (This was an unexpected turn of events. She is having testing and likely surgery done in Toronto. It’s really nice that I’m able to be here to support her.)

We have Ubisoft’s Studio Holiday Party and I’m very excited to see how it compares to the other parties that we’ve been to. I have a feeling that this one will be over-the-top. Can’t wait to get fancy!!

We’re going to the Toronto Aurora Winter Festival. I’m also hoping to get to the Toronto Christmas Market. There’s also the Trinity Bellwoods Flea Happy Holidays Market.

I’m going to see a Stars concert!

We’ll have our own little family Christmas at home, probably on the 15th.

And then we’re leaving for London, Ontario on the 22nd! And rolling into Christmas! It’ll be so easy just to drive there! We’ll be there for about a week with the Golems doing all of the various Christmas festivities. We’ll be returning to Toronto before New Years.

I can’t tell you enough how much your love and support has meant to me this year. I’ve had a bit of a doozy of a time. You have all made me feel so held and supported that all of the crazy obstacles that I’ve faced haven’t seemed nearly as bad. I’m so lucky to have each of you in my life and in my tribe. I was just telling Sarah yesterday that I feel like I’ve been a bad, absent friend lately and that I feel like such a space case, off in my own world. Please know that I’m still here and I’m still thinking of you all. Please keep me in all of your loops because I always care about everything that’s going on with you!!

I really want to wish all of you warm, bright and beautiful Christmastimes.

You’re in my heart. ♥