Blake's 11th month

To Blake:

It's really not possible that you're eleven months old now. I feel like we've all stepped on a magic time machine that has sped up our lives. I think you're the magic that powered the machine.

Again, you have challenged us with some sleeping issues...you like to get up at 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning now. For a couple of weeks you were getting up at this time for the day. This meant you and I were both pretty tired. You'd last through breakfast with your sister and then we'd bundle you up in the sled for the trip to the school and you'd be asleep by the time we got home. The bump, bump, bump of the sled runners over the snow had a very soothing affect.

But, then I smartened up and brought a bottle into your room the night before so I could change you and feed you in the dark and you started going back to sleep until 7:00. Yes! But, you are still an early riser and an early-to-bed kind of guy. Do you have farmer in your genes?

You are a challenging kid this month, but in a fun way. You still go after the TV/VCR/DVD every chance you get...you understand that I say, "No!"...you just choose to ignore it. You've also developed a habit of complete silence when you're getting into trouble. If I can't hear you, I start running, only to find you climbing the stairs, pulling on cords, trying to get the plug covers off the outlets or grabbing the toilet. You've only given me a couple of heart attacks so far, but I'm sure you'll be giving me some more in the coming months.

And, while you don't listen to "no", you can now shake your head "no". Normally, you do this during breakfast when you refuse to eat any of your cereal, instead favouring a diet of cheerios, breakfast pitas and clementines. Generally, you will eat anything, which your dad delights in by giving you bits of pretty much anything that he's eating. In fact, you actually scared your babysitter with the amount of food you ate the first time you had lunch with her.


You now have a few "favourite" parts of the day. One is when you get to take a sled ride across the soccer field to drop Faith off at school. You're very cute all bundled up. The second is when we pick up your sister. And the third is when daddy comes home from work. You crawl to him laughing and saying "da da da" like he's the second coming. It's very cute although I must admit to being slightly jealous.

Love,
Mommy

Noooobody

Faith and George were watching TV last night when an ad for Bad Boy Furniture store came on TV. These are the famous Mel Lastman ads (former crazy mayor of Toronto and current crazy owner of Bad Boy). When Faith heard the tag line, "Who's better than Bad Boy? Noooobody!", she promptly replied, "God and Jesus!" Yikes! I guess Mel can't compete with them.

Yummy brunch

George's office Christmas party was on Sunday at a very nice restaurant in Waterloo. They did a brunch again this year, so they could make it a family event. Unfortunately Blake woke up with a fever on Sunday morning (at 5:00 am!!), so I was the designated parent and stayed home with him while George went with Faith the brunch.

Now, last year's brunch had gummy worms, which very much impressed Faith, so we weren't sure if that could be topped. But, when she got home, she took great delight in telling me that the "napkins were tall on the plates" and there were "stick things" on the table. Then she declared that "it was better than McDonalds". High praise indeed from a 6 year old.

Man in the moon

The other evening we were driving into Kitchener with Faith and Blake when she pointed out the (almost) full moon. She then went on to explain that the astronauts can only go to the moon when it's full.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Well, there's not enough room up there otherwise."

Kind of brilliant logic I thought.

Blake's tenth month

Blake at 10 months (1)
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

To Blake:

So, how many 10 month olds get to say they've been to Disney World? Yes, you officially made your first trip to Disney this month, complete with a ride on the carousel, Winnie the Pooh's adventures, and river ride. Miraculously, you also handled a 27 odd hour trip in the van...both ways! Faith was a key to this, and crackers, lots and lots of crackers. Melba toast and Baby Mum Mums are Valium for babies.

Florida itself was a bit of a revelation for you. The best part was splashing around in the pool and generally demonstrating to Nana and Papa your ability to go through an entire day without sitting still. At nights you had the new adventure of sleeping with the whole family in one room. Generally this meant that you would wake up around 3:00 am and decide it was time to play. After a few nights of this, I finally clued in and just brought you to bed with Daddy and I. This worked like a charm and you slept the rest of the night...although often with your feet in my ribs, and you head under Daddy's chin.

The rest of the month was a bit of blur as Florida was the BIG event. Halloween was fun, although I'm fairly certain you could not appreciate how cute you looked in your tiger costume, complete with roaring sounds. Nor could you comprehend how rare it was to get a full-size chocolate bar!! from one of the neighbours when we went trick or treating. Faith thought your introduction to Halloween was great as she ended up with both her bag and your bag going from house to house with our neighbour long after you were home in bed.

And, I think it's safe to say that you are officially a self-feeder now. Not only do you eat paper and kleenexes, but you actually feed yourself most of your meals. Depending on the day, "most of the meal" ends up on your lap, but you do pretty well actually, and I usually only need to do a small amount of heavy duty cleaning after mealtimes.

Oh yeah...and you've pretty much weaned yourself. Except for when you get up in the morning, you've lost total interest in nursing, but get inordinately excited when you see a bottle coming your way. Apparently you're not a breast man.

Other favourite things to do now? Cruising the furniture, chasing me into the kitchen and throwing up your arms to be picked up so you can see what's going on, and climbing up in front of the TV (not allowed but enticing to you nonetheless). Anything, as long as you're NOT SITTING STILL. I'm not sure yet when you're going to climb out of your crib, but it's only a matter of time as your sister pointed out today.

As always, it's an adventure.

Love,
Mom

Growing up way too fast

Sitting watching a movie
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Faith is looking more and more grown up every day. I can't believe that she's only six and a half. Maybe it's her bangs, which she's been diligently growing since the summer. For some reason having no bangs makes her look older. Of course, being almost up to my shoulder in height helps to increase her age factor as well. Hopefully she stops looking older, however, before she hits the teen years. This will surely give her Dad a heart attack.

Disney with Nana and Papa

Disney with Nana and Papa
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Just a small sample of our recent trip to Florida. Highlights included the Teacups and Cinderella's Carousel (Faith's two favourite rides). She did not, however, enjoy Splash Mountain with me. It was a little bit too much for her, especially the drops down the water chutes in the pitch black. Her comment was, "When I bring my kids to Disney, I'm going to tell them to go on that ride with their dad!"

What more can I say about Disney? It's magic. Enough said.

A witch and a tiger

A witch and a tiger
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

It was an all day Halloween fest today. Faith wore her costume to school, and Blake got in the spirit by wearing his to drop her off. His costume is a little tiger, complete with a roar sound effect, that is a hand-me-down from Karen. Very cute. Faith was a "very scary" witch with a black and grey wig and huge hat that kept blowing off in the wind today. The best part, though, was the bright red lipstick that she got to wear with the witch costume.

Tonight we went out trick or treating in the neighbourhood. Blake lasted for about half an hour, and then Faith took off with our neighbours and tackled the rest of the street. A big difference from the 10 houses she did last year! She was very impressed with her haul when she came back home.

The sugar high continues....

Wrestling and cute bums

Every time I change Blake now, it turns into a wrestling match. But, today it turned into a game of tag.

As mentioned previously, he does not like to lay back and enjoy having his bum changed. This eats into the precious time he spends crawling around the house looking for new pieces of debris to eat or cupboard doorknobs to lick. George pins him to the ground when he changes the diaper, which strangely Blake doesn't seem to mind from him. It must be a guy thing. But for me, I haven't quite gotten to that point and Blake knows it. Once I have him laying on his back with the diaper off, he does a nice little flip and crawls away. So, I can get the diaper off and, one, two three, a naked bum is streaking away across the living room.

Today, Blake figured out that this is a fun trick to play on mommy. So, he crawled as fast as he could (which is actually darn fast) around the end of the couch laughing as I scrambled rather inelegantly across the floor to grab him, thinking the whole time, "Please don't pee on the new carpet." When I finally caught him, he squealed with delight and all I could think was, "Oh crap!" The game is afoot, as they say, and this time it's in the form of a semi-nude baby crawling madly around my house in an effort to escape a new diaper. I can only hope he'll tire of this soon, but this hope seems faint at best.

At least he hasn't figured out how to take the diapers off themselves yet. That will had a whole new level of difficulty.

How we spent the weekend

Chaos
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

We watched Cordelia and William this weekend so I can only say this photo sums up the weekend...fun but chaotic. :)

The big adventure for the weekend was a trip to a pumpkin patch with the four kids...yes, just me and four kids. I am slightly crazy. The kids were great though. And we even survived our adventure in the corn maze. No one got lost and that was my goal. I didn't want to call Karen and Rob to tell them that William was in a corn field somewhere in the township. How do you explain that to your friends?

Blake's ninth month

To Blake:


Time seems to be speeding up now. Or maybe it's just you.

On September 20th you started crawling and you've just gotten faster and faster. If it's possible to say that you run while you crawl, then you do it. We have learned now that anything on the floor is fair game for you to gum, so I feel as though I'm constantly on a recon mission for little pieces of paper, old bits of vegetable and various odds and ends from craft projects that end up on the hardwoods in any given day. I've given up on getting all the cheerios. We just let you eat those off the floor. (Is this second child syndrome or just picking your battles?) I think we hit a new low when Daddy gave up one day and just put your highchair tray on the floor so you could finish dinner there.

The theme of the month has been movement. You are sitting up from crawling, climbing the furniture, and us, and bonking your head on a daily basis. This bothers your Dad particularly as he says your head sounds like a melon hitting the floor. (Ouch.) Sometimes you could care less and others you scream like crazy. Then, you get crawling so fast that you flip yourself over onto your back. I'm not sure how you accomplish this but it's hard not to laugh even when you're crying.

And, finally, you have teeth. The first tooth was almost a surprise. Just looked and there it was. The second tooth came a week later, the day after Thanksgiving, and was much more traumatic. Fever of 103 F and much crankiness....although strangely much better naps and sleep.

We're also not sure about the talking thing yet. It seems like you're saying words, but is this merely a parent's fantasy of a genius child or true language? Only you know, and you're not telling.

You're "activity" baby now too. We have a baby time thing on Monday and Tuesday, which means singing various songs that you mostly enjoy. Although you like crawling around and checking out the other kids and the toys better than hearing me sing The Wheels on the Bus. On Fridays we go to swimming lessons, which you really enjoy. The first lesson you even blew bubbles in the water. Mostly you like floating around and splashing. For me, swimming lessons is an acrobatic feat trying to get you ready, then me ready while not setting you on the yucky change room floor at any point. (Uncle Duncan took the picture when he came to lessons with us after Thanksgiving.)


And, you got to experience your very first Thanksgiving at our house. The biggest benefit for you, besides lots of extra attention, was leftovers. Turkey, sweet potatoes, potatoes...you ate it all! Eating food on your own now is a favourite activity. For awhile you even refused to let me feed you unless you had food you could feed yourself too, so now you get lots of little pieces on your tray to eat or drop in your lap. Whatever works.

And here is a picture of Thanksgiving Day...you're the one trying to escape in the first row.


Right now, you are a one man adventure.

Love,
Mom

p.s. Vitat stats: 18 lbs (8 kgs) and 27 inches longs.

Faith practices her reading and other things

Faith practices her reading by the window
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Faith has really been working on her reading the last couple of weeks. Today she reminded me to get out all of her fall books for Thanksgiving and Halloween. After school, she practiced reading her Thanksgiving book next to the patio window. Note the concentration in her look.

Before the reading, we went to Tim's for a smile cookie. All the proceeds go to a local charity this week, so it seemed like a good idea. But, we both decided that the cookies were just a little too sweet. We needed a big glass of milk to go with them, but as we had to stop at the bank before we headed home, we had to make do with stale water in the car. (Yes, I always keep a half empty water bottle in the car for that possible emergency...stuck in a ditch for a week with only a Baby Mum Mum and a cup of water kind of thing.)

The bank trip was a story in itself. I wanted to be able to see Faith's bank account through my internet banking. So, I stopped by the branch this morning to get her added to my site. Imagine my surprise when they told me that because the account was in her name only, they would need her permission to add me to the account so I could see it. I proceeded to inform them that she was 6 years old and that this was ridiculous. The response, "because of the privacy act we can't" was like one of those bureaucractic responses I'd expect from the government...oh...and a bank.

So, after our Tim's trip, I stopped at the bank with Faith. I explained to her before we arrived that she needed to be there so I could see her account information. Her facial expression was something like, "huh?"

When we got there, I was waiting for them to ask her something about letting me see the account. But, apparently her mere presence with me was permission enough.

When I explained why we were there to the bank rep, Faith's response was, "Why can't the adults just do this?"

So right.

Blake trying to crawl around the couch

Blake trying to crawl around the couch (1)
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Blake is now doing the circuit of the main floor...at least the great room. He crawls around the living room, the kitchen, and then over to the table to eat leftover cheerios from the floor.

I took a photo of him here trying to crawl around the couch next the fireplace. He thought it was great fun seeing me on the floor as he came around the corner.

Really good light and really cute baby

Blake trying to crawl up my body as I take a picture
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

This is now my new favourite photo of Blake. (Click on it to see a larger version.)

I was sitting against the patio door when Blake tried to crawl up my body while I was taking his picture. This was the result. You can even see my reflected in his eyes.

Blake's first tooth

Blake's first tooth
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

After being cranky for a few days and drooling even more so than usual, I hoped something was finally happening in the tooth department. Luckily he's crawling now, so he can replace some crankiness with exploring the house, and it also helps that he wipes up the drool as he goes with his knees.

Anyway, Blake had the best naps of his life today, although I didn't think that meant anything until I was getting him ready for his bath. I saw a peek of white on his gum and felt the sharp little point of his tooth breaking through. His first tooth!

George was out dropping Faith off at Sparks, so he heard the news as soon as he got home.

When I picked up Faith later, I contemplated waiting until morning to tell her, as I knew she would want to see it and Blake was already asleep. But, I decided to tell her anyway. The first thing she said was, "No more boob for him."

She does know how to get to the point.

Anyway, I took this picture to commemorate the event...I didn't even try to get him to open his mouth to show us the tooth. But it does show off his eyelashes quite well. :)

Curly-headed boy on a 30 degree day in September

Curly-headed boy on a 30 degree day in September (2)
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Tuesday was the hottest day on record for our area...30.3 degrees celcius. Blake's hair had the curls to prove it!

The heat didn't stop him from making a few big strides on Tuesday though. Last week he started crawling (on Tuesday actually). This Tuesday he decided he could sit up from his tummy.

I was changing his diaper with our normal wrestling match. He likes to flip over while you're changing him and crawl away. While this does give me a very nice view of his cute little bum, it doesn't make for easy diaper changes. Anyway, he did this to me on Tuesday morning, then promptly turned back towards me, pushed himself up to sitting and gave me a big grin, as if to say, "Look what I figured out!"

This breakthrough came after a very early morning. Blake woke up at 4:00 with a croupy sound. I brought him into our bedroom so George could hear him. George then left for a couple of minutes to put the humidifier in Blake's room, when he came back Blake was lying happily on the the bed. When he saw George, he said, "Da!" quite clearly.

I'm not sure if this actually qualifies as his first word as he does sound like he says "Hi!" when he sees us. And, he has said "Mama" when he's upset...but I'm stretching here.

Oh yeah, and he's started waving too. He's a boy of many tricks right now.

Out of left field

It was again unseasonably hot today, so both Faith and I wore tank tops today. Very odd for autumn.

Even odder...

I was reaching into the fridge today to get Faith a cheese slice as her bedtime snack, when she looks at me in my nice black tank top and says, "Those boobs make you look like a real mom."

Blake's 8th month

To Blake:

The eighth month can be called the month of trying to crawl. As soon as you figured out rolling to get what you want, you decided that crawling would work even better. You were up on your hands and knees shortly into your eighth month and you've been there ever since. (Although your first "official" crawling didn't start until September 18th...two days into your ninth month, but who's counting?)

Your big achievement in crawling in the ability to move yourself backwards at a fairly rapid pace. The faster you do this, the more frustrated you become as the object of your desire gets further and further from your little hands. This also means you can do things like get stuck under the bed. Basically, we can't leave you alone now, otherwise, you'll be into something you're not supposed to be. (So far, the worst has been an errant pen that you used to draw on your face. Faith rescued you from this form of body art.)

As you've gotten closer to crawling, you've learned to get all the way up on your toes and hands, with your bum up in the air...the downward dog position for any yoga lovers. I have no idea how you do this without falling on your nose.


About two weeks into your eighth month, you also learned how to give wet, slobbery kisses. Although this should be really gross, Dad, Faith, and I can't get enough of it. But, you're kind of stingy with the kisses. You will only perform this trick on your own whim and definitely not at our command.

Feeding you is getting somewhat easier, and messier. You have developed enough of a pincer grasp now to feed yourself cheerios, bananas, and bits of cheese (although by looking at the floor, you still need to increase the ratio of food to mouth). This means you can keep yourself quite happy eating cheerios while we have supper, and this has made dinner times much more peaceful.

Your other big trick is the ability to spit out your food, generally onto me. (See a previous post for all the messy details.)

September marked the return of the school routine. So now, instead of bundling you in a Baby Bjorn underneath my winter jacket, you get thrown into the backpack for the walk to and from school. You are still charming the girls, although less so the last weekas you're recovering from a cold that you caught from your sister, and gave to me. Only a mother can find the amount of snot coming out of your nose cute...and I'm not that mother.

The best part of the day for you is when we pick up your sister. As soon as you see Faith, you squeal with delight. Or maybe I should say screech. Squeal sounds too cute for the ear-piercing sound you emit. You also like to emit this sound while sitting in your high chair. Frankly, it's kind of annoying but you, and Faith, seem to find it quite a delightful activity.

You're now on an actual schedule, which is great. And, it only took eight months to achieve. You get one morning nap, and one early afternoon nap, then one late afternoon nap, then bed by 7:00. Then you're up at 4:30 t 5:00 for something to eat, then up again at 7:00 for the day. So, I know longer look/feel like a zombie and everyone is much happier in general. Generally, we go for a walk after your morning nap to get a Globe and Mail or pick up some groceries. You tolerate these activities as long as the stroller is moving along, but you usually get bored by the end so I'm racing home before you have a total meltdown.

Anyway, in general you're entertaining yourself more and more now...which often means I'm scanning the floor for potential hazards as you work your way across the room. Things will start getting really interesting as your mobility increases, so for now I'll enjoy this somewhat peaceful interlude.

Oh yes. And I'll take whatever kisses you're willing to dole out.

Love,
Mom

Tales from Tim Hortons

On our way down to Allyson and Curtis' baby shower on the weekend, we stopped at Tim Horton's for a quick bit to eat, and to feed Blake his lunch. The stop proved memorable for a couple of reasons.

At the pit stop, Blake got to eat his first Tim Horton's bagel, complete with cream cheese. I was feeding him his lunch of jarred turkey and veggies, which he pretty much thought was disgusting. So, he was doing a lot of looking around and spitting out and not much eating. Then, he spied Faith eating a bagel and he gave her "the eye". This is the look he now gives anyone with food. It basically says, "Why am I stuck with this pureed crap when you have what looks like some very edible, real food? Please give me some of your food...NOW." So, as he wasn't eating anyway, we broke up part of her bagel into little bits and let him go to town. He suctioned it back like it was the best thing he had tasted to date.

So, as Blake was dining on Timmy's, a nice older lady stopped by the table to say, "Oh, what a cute baby!" (Yes, we agreed, even with cream cheese dripping down his chin.)

Then, she turned to Faith and said, "I bet you like being a big sister."

To which Faith promptly replied, "Yep, except when he puked in my hair this morning."

The lady was taken aback for a second, and then recovered nicely with, "Oh...babies do that."

Personally, I was torn between feeling proud that she actually spoke to someone she didn't know (and with a witty reply at that), and slightly embarrassed that she came out with a less-than-Hallmark-moment response. The truth is messy, however, and never more so that with a baby in the house.

He's a poet and didn't know it

We headed to my parents last weekend for a quick trip. On Saturday, Faith and I attended Allyson and Curtis' baby shower (our reason for the trip). On the drive down, Faith decided that she wanted to write some poetry. George helped her out with a little ditty for Allyson. Prepare to be amazed....

It farts, it stinks,
It's not just you,
It's baby too.

George was so pleased with this version that he added another line:

It farts, it stinks,
It burps, it drinks,
It's not just you,
It's baby too.

Faith wrote down the poem and gave it to Allyson at her baby shower. She thought Curtis would enjoy this special gift...and besides, as she said, "It's true."

I'm not that messy mom

I'm not that messy mom
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Blake loves to eat although he's getting messier and messier. How messy he gets is inversely proportional to how hungry he is. When he's power eating, no problem. Once he's satiated, then all manner of mess is created.

I took this picture after his meal of cereal, plums (made in my new mini food chopper!) and some sort of weird vegetable/fruit concoction that I got from the store. He has this wonderful ability to blow the food out of this mouth in such a way that it covers himself, the high chair and my glasses. It took a few days to work up to this coverage area, but now he's pretty good about it. The worst part is that Faith gets him going when she laughs at him and he thinks that this food spitting is a pretty good game. Hence, the mess.

As the piece de resistance, he then rubs his messy hands all over his face and suddenly he has the look of some modern art piece. He takes a lot of baths now. And me....I do a lot of laundry.

Movie star pose

Movie star pose
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

I love this picture of Faith that I took on our front lawn over the weekend. (Or what's left of our front lawn as it's been beaten down by an infestation of crane flies and drought and our ongoing environmentally-friendly lack of watering...also we're too cheap.)

The first week of school was over and Faith loved it. She finally got to do math (counting by twos) on Thursday, so she was very happy. She also loved French and walked around saying, "Bonjour maman" one evening. Although, if you ask her what her favourite part of school is, she says, "Snack time." She's her father's daughter.

On the weekend, we helped Aunt Allyson put together her party favours for the baby shower this coming weekend. And, we didn't even eat much of the candy! After finishing up the favours, we took Blake and Faith out to the front lawn so we could sit in the shade and enjoy the warm weather. Hence the sunglasses pose.

First day of grade one....continued

We can safely say that the first day of grade one was a success. I picked up Faith from school today and was met with a very happy kid. She didn't stop talking from the time I picked her up until we walked in the front door. The summary is as follows:

"We had two lunches, but they're too short to eat all your food."
"We got to go outside for recess. The grade 1,2,3s get to play on the play equipment only in the first recess. The older kids get to play on the second recess." (This is grossly unfair, apparently.)
"There are lots of rules in Grade 1. You have to ask to get out of your seat!"
"I'm sitting with all people I know."
"Grade one isn't very good because we didn't do math today and didn't get any homework." (I almost wanted to check her temperature after this comment.)
"I met a girl who got lost in a cornfield." (What?)

Anyway, she was very excited still and is looking forward to going back to school tomorrow. And, she is still very gung-ho about making her lunch, which she did with George after her favourite supper of "plain noodles and salad".

The grade one adventure has begun.

First day of grade one

First day of grade one (1)
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

I dropped Faith off this morning for her first day of grade one...her very first day of all-day school. She was very excited about everything from making her own lunch, to picking out her clothes, to getting her own desk at school.

When she found out she was going to get her own desk, she yelled, "I'm so excited!" What a change from JK and SK!

She hasn't comprehended yet that she actually has to do work at school, I think.

When we got to school, it was a swarm of parents and kids waiting by the grade one door. We got to meet her teacher, Mrs. Witherspoon, and Faith even talked to her! Then, when the bell rang, we all trooped inside to see the kids' cubbies and classrooms. Faith's new desk is really a round table where she's sitting with her friend, and two other boys (which I'm sure I'll hear about when she gets home).

So, the first day has been a success so far. We'll see what she has to say when she gets home.

I did it...Blake finally gets a cheerio in his mouth

I did it...Blake finally gets a cheerio in his mouth
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Blake jumped over a major hurdle on September 3rd. His pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination finally allowed him to get a cheerio into his mouth all by himself! This is most exciting for the rest of the family as it means we no longer have to get our fingers bitten off feeding him cheerio after cheerio.

Curly-headed flirter

Curly-headed boy
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Blake is definitely a smiler. Especially for the ladies.

I was telling George the other night at supper how he loves to smile at all the sales clerks when we are out shopping.

"Yeah," Faith piped up, "Even the ugly ones."

Tattoos for school

Tattoos for school
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Faith decided that she wanted to do some temporary tattoos on each arm this week, just in time for the first day of school. She's a biker at heart, I guess.

Speaking of school, Faith found out her classmates and teacher on Friday. She has a couple of friends in her class (although not all), and there are more girls than boys, so she's happy. Plus her teacher is a girl, so it's all golden.

Today, Labour Day, is the day before school and she's been bugging us all day to make her lunch. We decided that she can start helping with this this year (I always remember making my own lunch...Mom, did this start in grade 1?). Anyway, she has taken this decision with a certain single-mindedness that only a six-year-old, or her father's daughter, can have. George finally told her she had to wait until AFTER supper to make it.

Her next question, of course, "Can we have supper now?"

Learning how to crawl

Learning how to crawl
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

As you can see from the photo, Blake has been practicing his crawling stance for the last couple of weeks. He has worked his way up to rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, but he hasn't quite managed to get moving in a forward motion...yet. It's only a matter of time. And then life will get very interesting. Do you know how many little beads, Barbie bits, and other choking hazards are strewn about our house? Constant vigilance and possibly liquor (for me) is the only answer.

Riding an elephant

Riding an elephant (4)
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Last Friday we headed to African Lion Safari for a family trip. It was great, if a little hot. (Blake could have cared less...but the rest of us had fun.

The highlight was Faith and George's ride on the elephant. Faith wanted to do it as soon as she saw the elephant rides, so we thought, "Why not?"

As you can see from the picture, they got to ride a Mommy elephant with Junior following closely. This is just one of the million pictures I took of the event.

Faith thought the whole thing was very cool and George actually didn't mind the height.

The camping trip

Playing horse and carriage (1)
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Our trip to the RV park this year was exhausting and fun. At one point we were running a semi-daycare. :) We had seven kids running around our site, with the bikes, helmets, toys, and chairs to prove it. The kids were great though...they played and played and played whatever their imaginations could come up with.

In this picture, you'll see them all playing horse and carriage. Faith's at the front with the reins saying "trot on!" and the rest of them are the wedding party (although I'm not sure William is aware that he's become a wedding crasher).

When I grow up...

At dinner the other night, Faith was talking about what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wants to be in the hospital. After determining that this meant being a nurse, I asked her "Why?" Thinking, of course, with a warm glow in my heart, that she wants to help sick people, or make people feel better, or something equally humanitarian. Her answer?

"Because I get to see people's privates."

Omigod!

Blake's 7th month

Blake at 7 months, originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3.

To Blake:

OK. I'm just a little bit late on this blog for your 7th month. My only excuse is that the month has been crazy as we've tried to pack every last morsel of summertime fun into the last four weeks before school starts again for Faith. But, enough of excuses. What has been happening?

Where do I start? This month has brought so many changes in you. Every day you're more and more of a person who can thrill us with new and exciting skills.

Of course, the most exciting skill for me was the first night you slept through the night! This occurred on June 25th and lasted for exactly three nights. What heavenly nights they were, but unfortunately fleeting. Alas, you are now back to getting up a couple of times a night again. I'm sure this will stop once you've become a teenager.

For some vital statistics, we went to your 6 month appointment (actually about a week late) and found out you were 15 lbs 6 oz and 23 3/4 inches long. Oh...and you have big head. You're in the 25th percentile for height and weight (pretty typical since they're comparing you to non-preemies), but for head circumference, you're in the 75th percentile! According to Daddy, this means you have big brains. All of your eating is going directly to gray matter.

And speaking of eating, we have broadened your horizons with fruits (bananas is the fruit of choice) and meat. Chicken was not a big hit unless mixed with something. You continue to love cheerios and I think you would just eat these all day if you could. A lovely discovery that comes in handy during dinner time. You like to sit at the table with us, but get pissed when you don't have anything of your own to eat. (Actually, I'm pretty sure you're saying, "Screw the purees! Give me steak!") So, Daddy and I take turns feeding you Cheerios and giving you your bedtime bottle one-handed.

Of course, we do all of this with you in your highchair now. If you sit on our laps, we spend the entire meal moving objects out of your reach as you try to pull out the placemats from beneath our plates, cups and utensils. And, when we take everything off the placemats so you can have it without inflicting any damage, you lose interest. Apparently it's all in the thrill of the chase for you.

Faith has discovered this the hard way. If you pass within three feet of her head, you always manage to grab her hair. At this point, I'm thinking this is just an unconscious reflex for you as you're so good at it. Luckily, she's pretty good natured about it now. I suspect as you age, she may clock you one.

Daytimes are a little crazy with you now as you DEMAND someone's full attention pretty much all the time. You have a great way of saying "PLAY WITH ME NOW!" without ever using any words. Who needs baby sign language when you've got your killer combination of screaming and whining at the same time. You follow this up with the knock-out punch of a huge grin when you do get the attention you so desire.

At night, you've become a mover and a shaker, or I should say a roller. You're never in the same place that I put you to sleep in the crib. You move from one end to the other, you get your feet stuck in the side of the crib, you hit your head--you're doing a dance in your sleep. And, you've started rolling over to your tummy in your sleep too. The first couple of times you did this, you woke up screaming your head off and completely disoriented (hence we only had three nights of sleeping through). Now, you just like to sleep on your side or your stomach and don't wake up quite as surprised, thank goodness.

You've also been doing some traveling with us to the cottage with Aunt Karen and Uncle Rob's family and camping. While you loved being outside at the cottage and swimming for the first time in the lake, you hated actually sleeping there. :)

Your favourite trip this month was the camping week with Uncle Paul and Aunt Kim's family, and Nana and Papa. You were outside every day almost all day and showered with attention from everyone. Nirvana. You also found out that you could MOVE to what you want by rolling. And what you wanted more than anything was to eat the grass. If I looked away for a few seconds and you had invariably rolled to the edge of the old quilt we had thrown down and had a handful of grass heading towards your open mouth. More fibre I guess.

You are definitely a lot of work and it's worth every minute.

Love,
Mommy

Dragonfly along for the ride

Dragonfly along for the ride
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Karen took this great photo of Blake and I at the lake. Blake was experiencing his first taste of swimming when a dragonfly landed on my thumb. The perfect cottage experience actually. :)

Blake loved the water, but only when his feet were squishing in the sandy bottom. When I lifted him up to float around he was not too keen on this. The temperature of the water may have had something to do with this too...a little chilly for his little body.

The cottage trip itself was our second one with the Rob and Karen and it was tonnes o' fun. George performed an intervention with Rob and plied him with beer and bbq for the weekend. (Rob's been on a new eating regime and successfully lost a bunch of weight, but it involves NO DRINKING. So, he took a holiday from the regime on his holiday.) The kids enjoyed the lake and the campfires. Karen and I enjoyed a good bottle of Strawberry wine (sweet but good) and scrabble.

Relaxing and fun.

Blake's sixth month

To Blake:


I cannot believe that six months have already passed. We have gone from bundling you up for the daily trudge to school through the snow and wind, to letting you play around the house in nothing but a diaper to keep you from getting too hot during our summer weather.

The changes you've been through in the last month have been amazing. You are now eating solid foods...a lot of solid food actually. You went from one teaspoon of food your first day to 5 tablespoons morning and night the next week. Yikes! I'd give you more, but 5 tbls is the maximum serving size, and frankly, I don't want you to explode. You puke enough as it is. Cereal has been a good solid favorite, except for rice, and veggies have been even better. Although the amount of food that's going in is now coming out...a lot. And Faith has this strange fascination with looking at each diaper, although she's gotten over wanting to help change them. That didn't last too long.

In the last couple of weeks, you have found your voice. Basically, you are talking even more than you were before, which I would never have thought possible. And, your squeals, while delightful, can split my eardrums! Faith can really get you going, and can make you laugh like crazy. (Is there any better sound that a baby's laugh?)


Sitting up...you decided to accomplish this postural feet on July 12th, just under the deadline for your 6 month birthday. You're still a little wobbly, which means a few head bonks that drive your Dad batty as he thinks I'm letting you get a concussion. (I think you're made of tougher stuff though.) Faith likes to practice sitting up with you on our bed in the morning while she watches Arthur. It goes pretty well until you spit up a small portion of your breakfast, but she sits on your Dad's side of the bed, so I don't mind too much.


And, alas, you have recently become a thumb sucker (and a toe sucker too actually). I'm fairly ambivalent about this new development. It does mean that you have something to comfort you at night (although that hasn't seemed to stop you from waking up any less), but I can't take away your thumb when I want the habit to stop. Right now, it seems like you're sucking on something from the moment you wake up until you go back to sleep...and the eczema on your cheeks is there to prove it.


You are still waking up a couple of times a night, although have decided to sleep in until 7:00, which is somewhat helpful. I look forward to when I can actually get 8 straight hours of sleep. I don't think I can remember what that actually feels like. What I really don't understand is how your Dad cannot hear you at night. Is this genetic programming or something?

Another major change this month is that you are officially a backpack kid. You want to be entertained all the time, and you seem to find sitting in the backpack carrier as I make dinner, do the dishes, fold laundry, the most entertaining vantage point in the world. The first time I put you in the backpack, you started laughing...which was a relief as carrying you around on my hip was getting a little tiresome. (Did I mention I have an appointment with my physiotherapist on Tuesday night?)

And, I swear that you can save "Hi" now. Yes, I know this is typical parental bragging, but you seem to say it at the right times, or at least repeat the sound on cue. Either way, it's a very cute habit. I've been trying my darndest to get you to say Mama, but that hasn't worked yet. I'll keep at it though.

So, the sixth month has seen many changes...you're definitely not a newborn anymore and you are your own little person. An active, funny, charming little baby boy.

Love,
Mom

Two little imps go rock hunting

Faith and Ava spent some time hunting up rocks in Ava's backyard on the weekend. Paul and Kim are getting ready to move, and perhaps Ava wanted a souvenir?

A good Christmas present

Faith told George this morning that she's going to put "a full night's sleep for Mommy" on her Christmas list. Amen sister.

Higher education

I was cleaning up the hallway upstairs when I overheard Cordelia and Faith talking in the bathroom.

Cordelia: "Are you going to College?"
Faith: "Yes."
Cordelia: "I'm not."
Faith: "Why?"
Cordelia: "Because in College you have to learn a lot of stuff. I'm smart. I already know a lot of stuff."

Cottage!!

At the movies

So I saw Sicko yesterday...sort of. I decided to try out the whole "movies for moms" thing at the Galaxy as I just had Blake yesterday. And, they were playing Sicko...even better! Unfortunately, Blake does not share my affinity for movies, or maybe it's just Michael Moore movies. Dear god...perhaps he's a conservative like his dad!

Anyway, I would definitely recommend this one. Although I did have to leave before the final few moments (too much crying...which mysteriously ended as soon as I got to the car and turned into happy smiles...like "Thank God...she's finally doing what I want now!"), Sicko is Michael Moore's least strident, and I think most effective, documentary to date. The stories are relentless and after watching it, I don't see how anyone in the free world could doubt that the US system of health insurance/healthcare is pretty much a complete and total disaster.

George got to hear a bit about the movie after I got home, and after about three stories of woe, he told me to stop as he couldn't take it anymore. I didn't even get to the really, really upsetting ones either.

Anyway, it all makes me glad that I live in Canada and don't have to pull out the cheque book whenever I head to the doctor. I'm happy to pay the taxes that come with universal health care.

So, two thumbs up from me for Sicko, and one sucked thumb from Blake.

Blake's fifth month

To Blake:

You're now five months old! This month, you have discovered your toes and they are now your favorite toy in the whole world. You found them the week before you turned five months and they have been your constant companion since then. If you're laying on your back, your feet are in the air and your hands are holding on to them. I've even seen you do this in your sleep! No wonder you still can't sleep through the night...you're too darn fidgety!

The other big trick you have discovered this month is the ability to drool like Niagara Falls. You are now permanently bibbed, and re-bibbed, and re-bibbed each day.

As well, anything that you can reach is now ending up in your mouth for a thorough oral exploration. (Yes, this means that you're now a grabber...which Faith has found means her hair gets pulled a lot now.)

And finally, you have become quite the squealer. I'm surprised you can't break glass with your happy squeals!

Mornings now start around 6:00 am. You're up by then, no matter how many times we try to put you back to sleep. So, I feed you and watch the news and the weather for the day. By the time your sister gets up and wants to hold you, Dad is gone for work, and I'm rushing to get ready before you decide that you're bored and want some more attention. (This pattern seems to continue throughout the day.)

You still hate getting into your car seat, but I keep the "sun toy" in the chair so you can play with that in the car until you fall asleep. When I'm driving, I can hear a little "crinkle, crinkle, crinkle" sound and know that you are staring determinedly at the toy and your little fingers are scrunching the sun's rays trying to figure this thing out. It's just so cute and I have no idea why.

In the evenings, you're now getting a bottle just before bedtime as you now sleep until about 1:30 or so. In fact, at the end of the day, the only thing you seem to want to do is eat. Your sister even gets to give you a bottle now, which she thinks is pretty cool.

Actually, you seem to just keep getting cooler and cooler.

Faith's first missing tooth

Faith lost her first tooth on June 5th, after wiggling it for a few weeks with her finger. So, we decided to pull it out with a washcloth tonight to see if it would come out. Faith tried, then George tried, then I pulled it out with a quick tug. Faith thought it was great until she looked in the mirror and saw a little blood...then the tears started! But, it stopped very quickly and she decided the whole thing was very cool and wanted to call Nana and Papa and Gramma and Grampa right away.

What work does your Mom do?

The question for the day in Faith's class was "What work does your Mom do?" (Their studying "work" this month.) I asked what Faith thought my work was.

"Doing laundry, making dinner, stuff like that."

When it came time to answer the question for school, though, she said, "Playing with my brother and I."

All in all, I think that was a much better answer.

A morning conversation

"I think I put my underwear on inside out."

"Don't worry Mom. I do that all the time."

Loving it...

Faith has decided that she completely loves school now. She told here teacher, "I never want school to end."

The secret?

The classroom just got a whole new set of Barbies, including "one with hair down to her feet!"

Good to know she figured this out before the end of the year!

Blake's fourth month

To Blake:

Four months! Four months have passed and I can't believe it. We've gone from the dead of winter, skipped right over spring, and have started summer. Now, instead of a sleepy baby you've become this talkative, smiling, flirty little person. You especially love dropping Faith off and picking her up at school so you can smile at all the older women...the five year old girls just love to hold your hand! You ride around in the Baby Bjorn like you own the world...face out of course, with your little sun hat on, and just laugh and smile.


Big events for you this month were your baptism on April 29th. We had a lot of family come up from Harrow, and Nana and Papa arrived from Florida . Papa got to meet you for the first time and give you the inspection. You passed of course.


For your baptism, you were so well behaved. You essentially fell asleep half way through and didn't wake up again until we got home and it was time to eat (you always know when it's time to eat!). You looked very cute in the baptism outfit -- a shirt, pants with suspenders and a little hat -- that Gramma got you. And, we even had the blanket from Nana's baptism to wrap you in.

Other big events this month included you rolling over for the first time! It was quite a shock when you did this on your sister's birthday, and a nice present for her. I turned around for a second and then looked back to find you had gone from your tummy to your back. You looked a little stunned by the whole event!

You've also taken to trying to fit your whole fist in your mouth, and sometimes two fists. You chew on anything that gets near your mouth...blankets, bibs, fingers, hands...and have decided that drooling and blowing bubbles is an Olympic sport. It should be gross but it's actually pretty cute for reasons that mostly have to do with you being cute whatever you do.

Your big sister still thinks that you are the best thing on the planet. She's been changing your diapers (!!), giving hugs and kisses, and singing you lots of her made-up songs that you love. I took the picture below of the two of you on your fourth month birthday, and even though it's blurry and off-centre, I totally love it. It just seems to capture how much she adores you.

You hit 12 lbs 9 ozs on your fourth month birthday and now feel like a "stuffed little sausage" according to Gramma. This is a pretty accurate description even though you don't really strike me as breakfast food. You are, however, a very solid little kid with curly hair that looks a bit like a mad professor after we give you a bath and horseshoe shaped bald patch at the back. Don't worry...it'll all grow back and then fall out again when you hit middle age.

Love and kisses!

Good to know...

"Mom, Dad said he'd still marry you even if you were bald. But, he'd prefer that you not shave your head."

Blake's third month

To Blake:

We're still struggling with getting enough sleep this month. But, on the plus side, I read a magical book that should come as a user's guide to with every newborn called "The Happiest Baby on the Block" about halfway through the month. It told me how to calm you down and get you to sleep better. Lo and behold, the first time I followed the book's instructions on swaddling, I got an hour and half nap. From that point on, we've been getting slightly better every day, with a few days of backsliding thrown in for good measure. Finally! Even Faith has gotten the hang of this and "jiggles" you when you sit on her lap if you're fussing.


So, you're still eating every two hours or so, but sometimes it's 2 and half or three. And at night we can often get you to go for a couple of three hour stretches. It's amazing what a difference this makes. Of course, Gramma thinks this is because you're a little like Uncle Ryan and just eating so much because you're growing like crazy! A couple of days before your 3 month mark, you weighed 10 lbs, 10 ozs!

The cooing and gooing continues. In fact, you're almost laughing now. You especially like doing this with your sister, who sings made-up songs to you while you smile and coo at her. My favourite sounds are the "ah-goo" sound you make with me when I talk to you. No sweeter words were uttered. :) Actually, the picture below is you saying "ah-goo" to me!


You also had your first cold at Easter. Ughh. Luckily it wasn't too bad...mostly lots of gross excretions from your nose. On the plus side, it let you sleep for a 6 hour stretch without eating...although I think we can find a better way to get you to sleep longer. You were still pretty happy through your cold, unlike your Dad who was laid low for a few days during tax season by the same bug.

I've started trying to give you a baby massage when you have your afternoon bath. So far, you like this about half the time. You like your feet rubbed (who doesn't?) but it all falls apart at your arms. Part of the problem is that you get tired so quickly after you wake up (about an hour max) that fitting in the massage and bath before you start getting cranky is a little difficult. All the books say to wait an hour after eating before you get a bath/massage, but we have to cut this a little short. Consequently, you like to puke on yourself in the tub. Hopefully you remember none of this. :)

You have officially met all of your aunts and uncles now. Easter was at our place, and you were passed around to Uncle Duncan and Deanna for the first time. I think they were impressed with you...you didn't puke all over them, which was good. Grampa was not so lucky. When he showed up, you immediately puked all over his good shirt. It was a sign of love right?

You keep getting more fun as you grow more alert and smile more and more. Your big blue eyes just draw people in and you have this way of looking around that seems like you're processing everything at an amazing rate. I can practically see your synapses firing!

But the best times are when you put your head on my shoulder and rub your soft hair on my cheek. I'm like a great big security blanket and there's nothing better for me.

New t-shirts

Faith and I went shopping at Walmart with Blake on the weekend. Two things that happened:

1) We were hopping out of the car when she said, "I wish it was just the two of us." Uh-oh, I thought. She went on, "It's not that I'm mad at him or anything, it's just easier to shop without Blake." Amen sister. She'll soon understand that it's always easier to shop without the boys!

2) I wanted to buy her a couple of t-shirts. (6x and she'll likely outgrow them in a month after I washed them!!!) Anyway, she chose a purple shirt and a striped pink shirt, both with front pockets, "because I want a pocket shirt like Papa."

Bouncing baby boy

Blake had his monthly RSV shot today, during which he screamed his head off as usual. But, we did find out that he is now 10 lbs 10 ozs. (OK, 10 lbs, 9 3/4 oz, but I figure I can round up.) So, he's officially reached the weight that his uncle Ryan was when he was born. I just have to say to my mom, "OUCH!!"

Swimming lessons

Faith went to her first "on her own" swimming lessons today at the pool behind our house. I wasn't sure how this experience would go as our previous tries at swimming lessons quickly degenerated into tears.

This time, however, was amazing!

Faith had no trouble getting into the water. She put her face in the water! She slid down the slide! She swam all the way across the pool in her life jacket and then jumped into the water!!!! She did awesome.

Blake and I watched from the sidelines how well she did. I kept giving her the thumbs up.

She is also the tallest kid in her class by a good foot, so it's kind of cute watching the four kids in the class standing together. There's even a girl from her SK class with her. So, all in all, the experience exceeded all my expectations, and I think Faith's as well.

Yippee!!

Spring so far?

Spring has been interesting so far. We had some real warmth a couple weeks ago (see the previous post of my flowers). Then, April hit and we've had cold weather and snow!

Just what to say...

Faith had her "best Sparks meeting ever" last night. They went to a local pizza place and took a "pizza tour". This involved going into the "giant" freezer and seeing how pizza was made from scratch. (She also picked up a good tip about poking holes in the dough before you put it in the oven to prevent the air bubbles that always get into our homemade pizza. Who knew?)

The best part was that they got to make their very own pizza. She informed me that this was a "personal pizza, Mom". Her's was cheese and pepperoni...no sauce of course. I actually had a slice when she came home and it was really good. She's insisting that we go back there to get more pizza soon...she knows which one I should order now.

Anyway, when she went to bed at 8:00 , she was still very keyed up. So, when I went to bed at 8:30 she came into my room saying she couldn't sleep. I let her watch one singer on American Idol and then it was back to bed. A few minutes later she was back again! Uggh. So, I informed her that she had to put herself back to bed. This did not go over well.

Being sleep-deprived myself, I ended up taking her back to bed to circumvent another 10 minutes of arguing. I tucked her in and then went to leave the room, only to hear, "You are the best mom ever." Man, that kid always knows just what to say!

Blake's second month

OK...so Blake is almost three months old and I'm just posting this now. Call me a bad mother. :)


To Blake:

All I can say about month two is that we both survived. OK. A bit of an exaggeration. But, I have constantly been amazed at how little sleep a human being can survive on and still function.

No, you are not the greatest sleeper...or at least you didn't start out the month that way. You liked to eat every two hours, and at night it often took almost an hour or more to get you back to sleep. So, by my calculations, that meant no sleep. (I'd do the math but mental tasks like this are just beyond me right now.)

The month itself had lots of interesting activities and milestones. The biggest one is your first smile! This happened just before March break, and the smiles have been getting more frequent and bigger every day. Smiles are your saving grace...they remind me why you're worth all the work. That and you're pretty cute too.

Other milestones include tracking objects and, cutest of all, making cooing and gooing noises. You still grunt a lot, but you're actually starting to sound more like a baby and less like a caveman. Your favourite object to follow with your eyes is your sister. Faith still adores you and is always hugging, kissing, and generally mauling you. I wonder if this will continue when you start pulling the heads off her Barbies? She even sings you made-up songs and whispers in your ear, "I'll always love you baby brother." I can only hope you both remember this when you're older and getting on each other's last nerves.

Big events this month included your first overnight trip. Actually it was supposed to be a trip to see Gramma and Grampa over March break, but it ended up being the week before at Karen and Rob's house. We got stuck in Waterloo due to a huge snowstorm/windstorm. I tried to get home, but the road was packed with cars, and we could hardly see. At one point I pulled over into the parking lot of the Sikh temple to feed you, then we got back on the road, only to come to a dead stop for about 20 minutes with no end in sight. So, I turned around and headed back to Karen and Rob's house. Faith was very happy to have a sleepover at Cordelia's, and you and I stayed on the pull-out couch in the basement. What an adventure.

We did go to Gramma and Grampa's the next week for a few days to meet your great-grandparents, great aunt, and some of my friends. After our dry run the week before, this trip was easy. You like to sleep in the car. :)


You also went to church with us for the first time this month...now that you're past your due date, we're bringing you a little more. Happily, you were angelic and slept through the whole thing.

And, now that the weather is nicer, we've all been getting out for walks. You even got a little sunburn on your face (sorry!) one day from riding in the sling. I'll do better on this next time.

Month two has been all about eating, sleeping (sometimes) and growing. You're even outgrowing your little round plastic bowl that I use for your baths. I sit you in it now and you look like a little buddha baby with all the little rolls of fat growing on your legs, arms and belly.

I can only imagine how big you would have been had you been born on your due date, March 3rd. Having a preemie does have some advantages! And the best part is that we got to know you that much sooner.

Thank god it wasn't me

On Friday I dropped Faith off at Karen's house for a few hours. I had to sign some paperwork at a lawyer's office and dragging both kids along didn't seem too palatable. So, instead Faith got to hang out with Karen and William and play with Cordelia when she got home from school.

As every parent knows, you're always hoping that your kid behaves at some else's house and doesn't start telling strange stories about how much daddy and mommy love to drink or discussing what color underwear mommy wears. So, when I picked her up, Karen's first comments were about a question that Faith asked her. I thought, "Please...don't let it be embarassing."

So, they were sitting together on the couch playing polly pockets, when Faith says, "I have a question. Where does life come from?"

Faith goes on to say, "I mean...I don't understand it. To me it just seems like magic or something."

At this point I'm thinking two things. One...yippee, it wasn't embarrassing! Two, "Wow...glad you had to field this one and not me!"

So cute...

The hat says it all. Blake goes out and about in a Winnie the Pooh "bag" that his Aunt Judy and Uncle Chuck gave him. It's perfect for our spring days. So far, he really likes going out in the afternoons with Faith and I. I throw him in the sling, which he enjoys more than the stroller, and we either walk or bike down the street. Today we looked for signs of spring. Faith found leaves, twigs, grass, rocks, broken pieces of sidewalk, shorts (although it was too cold for this in my opinion), flowers, and so on. I also discovered that she doesn't want to walk in the woods behind the house anymore because she thinks they have scary creatures like the Harry Potter movies. Yikes!

Signs of spring

The crocuses in my front flower bed started blooming on Tuesday in our unseasonably warm (about 20 degrees C) weather.
Faith and I got out the sidewalk chalk and bubble makers to play with. Faith play hopscotch with our neighbours and everyone decided that spring was finally on its way!