Eleven Months

A year ago at this time, Jack was curled up safe and sound in my belly. We were at my parent's for a get together and it was 30 + degrees out. Claire was dressed in a sun hat, a sun dress, and was lathered in sun screen.

What a difference a year makes. Jack is now a walking, babbling little boy. And as for the weather...it's more like 3 degrees and their is lots of snow on the ground.

I am amazed everyday at how funny this boy is. He loves being chased. All I have to say is, "I'm going to get you" and he takes off at lightening speed giggling like a maniac. It cracks me up every time. When we are in the van he likes to make funny sounds from his car seat and when I make them back I see a huge smile in my rear view mirror. He still loves soft blankets. He will roll around and bury his face in them and make us all laugh. He's obsessed with our cat and as soon as he sees her, he boots it over to her to bury his face in her soft fur. 

He's a happy boy and always quick to smile.

He walks about 50% of the time now, and crawls at an insanely fast speed the rest of the time. He's super busy and into everything. When we tell him no, he turns around and looks at us, gives us a mischievous smile, and then turns around and continues to get into whatever we told him not to. When we get up to physically remove him, he crawls away as fast as he can while letting out squeals of excitement. 

He loves his mommy, daddy, and sister so much, and we feel the same. Can't help but reminisce about where we were this time, last year. The excitement and anticipation of waiting for him to come. And how fast they grow from a tiny helpless newborn, to a busy little toddler. Love you baby boy! 

Wordless Wednesday

Spring Fever

The temps have risen, the snow is melting and we are loving it! Being able to get out of the house in spring jackets is so wonderful. The kids love it as much as I do. And one of the best things about spring for kids is the puddles that the melted snow creates.

When I put Jack down on the ground he touched his hands to the ground and then did a double take. He was so surprised at how the dirt felt. It's pretty cool to watch a baby and see them experience things for the first time.

My little drunken zombie

I love Claire's facial expressions and hand gestures when she's telling me something. Oh so serious!

I'm dreaming of picnics, and splash parks, and trips to the zoo, and play dates at the park. It's going to be a fun spring/summer!

Wordless Wednesday

Lazy Days

Since it's March break, dance and preschool are not running this week, which means we don't have anywhere to be and we can hang out in our jammies for much of the day.

But the mild temperatures and sunshine were calling us, so we finally got dressed and headed outside this afternoon. Rumour has it we can expect 11 degree temps this week which I am thrilled about!

A Few New Photos

Jack continues to walk more and more everyday. Before he starts though he gets his arms set up all stretched out in front of him like a zombie. He falls down a lot and gives me a heart attack each time. He wobbles around like he's drunk. A drunk zombie.

Some photos from a visit to grandma and grandpa's house yesterday

Walking Jack

He has gone from occasionally taking a couple steps to taking ten or more and walking across the room. Every chance he gets, he's trying to practice.I love this stage!

Looks Are Decieving

Yesterday we were going a little a lot stir crazy. It has been a very long, cold winter, and we are sick of being stuck inside. So when I looked outside and saw the sun shining I thought we would head outside. Lesson learned - just because the sun is shining and it looks like a beautiful day, doesn't mean it's not freezing and windy. We went for a little walk around the arboretum, and got right back in the van because it was so cold it hurt. *sigh* We will try again another day.

We were only out there for about ten minutes, but I managed to snap a couple photos. I'm making an effort to shoot on completley manual mode which is a bit of a challenge to get the hang of, but I think it will really improve the quality of my pictures. I also got photoshop and have been trying it out for editing. These are my first photos from my attempt.

Wordless Wednesday

Ten Months and a Hair Cut

In two short months we will be celebrating Jack's first birthday. It's amazing how the time can go by so fast, but at the same time it's hard to imagine a time without him in our lives.

He is Mr. Personality now. He has smiles for everyone, but is a little weary of people he doesn't know. He says mama and dada in context now which makes my heart melt like nothing else. He will be busy playing, and then remember me and crawl over to me as quickly as possible while saying 'mama' over and over in a deep growling voice. Not to sure why he growls when he says it, but it's pretty funny to watch.

He will take a few steps between us, but then realize he's doing it on his own and quickly sit down. He practically runs around furniture though. He's absolutley obsessed with stairs and makes it his mission in life to catch someone leave the gate open and climb up the whole stair case at lightening speed.

If I catch him getting into something he's not supposed to, I will say "Noooo Jack" He will turn around and look at me and say "Aaaauhhh" as if to say who me?, I'm not doing anything. He will then go back to what he was doing while laughing hysterically.He is a little trouble maker and I love it. I adore his mischievousness.

He loves stuffed animals and blankets. He will spend ten minutes rolling around on a blanket and he loves rubbing his face on them. He sleeps with a fuzzy soft blanket all snuggled into him.

He is such a sweetie, and we love him with all our hearts. I feel kind of sad that he is getting older, but I also really love how life gets a bit easier at this stage, and one year olds are my absolute favourite age, so I am looking forward to the coming months too.

Also just wanted to share a picture of Claire's new hair cut. We're lucky that Claire's grandma cuts hair, so when we went for a visit today, she gave her a little trim. How cute does she look with her new hair style?

A Fun Saturday

I love Saturday mornings when you wake up and have absolutley nothing planned for the day. We get to lounge around for a bit, and then we Jack goes down for a morning nap we throw around different ideas. We could go swimming, or an indoor playground, or anywhere else our heart desires. Today we decided to try out the butterfly conservatory. So when Jack woke up, off we went.

Claire loved the huge bugs

One of my favourite pictures of Jack. He loved sitting in his stroller and watching the butterflies fly by.

She was very curious about this owl display, but when it started playing owl sounds she was totally freaked out, and this picture shows.

I signed her up for a five week bug preschool program at the end of March which should be fun. Happy weekend!

My Sweet Girl

Yesterday was rough. There were lots of temper tantrums, lots of time outs, and I just wanted it to be over. Thankfully today was much better. We had a really good day. We played, and had fun. And we spent a lot of time just cuddling and talking. She is just so funny, and I love our little conversations.

At one point, I looked over at her watching Dora and couldn't believe how big she looked. She looks like a little girl now. The baby in her is slipping away. She looked so beautiful. I had to take a picture.

Sometimes she's so full of attitude, and just wants to be independent and be a big girl. But then there's also those times where she wakes in the middle of the night scared, or needs to hold my hand to walk down some stairs and I'm reminded how sweet and innocent, and little she still is. I'm savouring her three year - oldness because I know I will miss it one day.

When Denis got home from work, we went for a walk outside just her and I. It's so nice to have that one on one time evry once in a while.

And even though it was only 1 or 2 degrees today...it was sunny and beautiful and I could smell spring. It's just around the corner.

Wordless Wednesday

Family Day

We used family day just as it was intended and had some good quality family time today. Daddy got to come watch Claire at dance class which they both loved! When we got home, Jack and Denis had a nap, and Claire and I got to have some fun.

We played with playdough

We played candyland

When Jack woke up we gave him some strawberry cream cheese toast, so we could get some baking done. Jack didn't mind at all. That boy loves to eat!

And then we got to work and made some yummy banana bread. I think baking is one of  Claire's favourite things to do.She looooves it!

Happy Family Day!