TWO Teeth!

It has been a busy couple of weeks. Mark and I decided we would attempt the drive to Southern Ontario with Kian in the car. It went surprisingly well! We made a few stops on the way and decided to travel on the American side of the lake. Kian was absolutely fascinated by the carousel at the mall in Syracuse so, of course, we went for a ride. We did arrive at Oma and Opa's place in 9 hours rather than the 15 that it took last time.








Oma's knee surgery went well. We went to visit her everyday in the hospital (except the day of the big storm!) and tried to cheer up all the other patients who were there as well. I think Kian was really missed when he left! Oma is now out of the hospital and doing well.

Kian cut his first two teeth while we were away. He also started on vegetables and is even crawling now. Backwards, slowly, but on his hands and knees and moving none the less! I guess we better baby proof the house fast! We didn't get to visit as much as we would have liked because most people were out of town and the two snow storms that came through made driving interesting in a town where there seems to only be one snow plow! We did see Barb and Ed and Kian had a fabulous time playing with Ed.

Some photos to keep you updated.

6 Months Old!

It's hard to believe that 6 months have gone by already! I feel as though I have been walking through a dream, and maybe I have with the lack of sleep we have experienced for the most part! Kian is actually starting to sleep really well through the night now. The last three nights Mark and I have been waking up wondering if we slept through the crying or what happened to the baby to make him sleep that long. We have a schedule that seems to work which is great!







There has been quite a bit of snow in the last few weeks. The barbeque is no where to be found in the snow, the cats don't leave the deck (if they even decide to go out at all) and the snow pile out front is up to the top of the garage door. Winter isn't over yet. Mark celebrated his big 3-5 birthday this past week. I don't know if he feels any older but he has enough power tools now to build the house from scratch! Maybe some of our projects will get finished soon.....

Kian had his first cold. That wasn't all that much fun. He didn't understand why he couldn't breathe through his nose and would get really upset about it, which didn't make breathing any easier! He was really teething last week as well so we weren't sure if that was possibly making the cold seem worse.



Uncle Guy and Auntie Jacquie were up for a night to visit. Kian loved hanging out with them. He is starting to play strange with some people when they come over but we have figured out if you sing The Hokey Pokey he is laughing and happy and they are safe then. Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? is his favourite book (I can now recite Mr. Brown can Moo for anyone who is interested!) and of course, Itsy Bitsy Spider is still at the top of the list as the favourite song. Swimming lessons are enjoyable. We jumped off the side of the pool and went down the slide as best as we could last week. He isn't crawling yet but every day we wonder if we should dig out the baby gates. He is sitting up mostly unsupported now and playing with his toys. That gives us a few minutes to do something. Very shortly we will be able to introduce other food into his diet and I'm sure he can't wait! He can wait, I'm sure, for his 6 month shots that he gets next week! Maybe daddy will be able to make it this time. Kian also understands the sign for milk, although he can't do it yet, and he knows who the cats are when you ask him. He likes the watch cat "TV".



The month of March will be spent in Niagara at Oma and Opa's place. Mark and I have decided to attempt the car ride. Lets see who will be taking the train home!

Groundhog Day

Some days it feels as if we are living our own version of Groundhog Day as one day seems to blend into the next. The activities are starting to build which is starting to add a bit more structure. Kian is now almost 6 months old (wow) and is becoming more interactive with other children. Library playgroup on Tuesday mornings has become a favourite with puppets, songs and (his favourite) bouncing!

Saturday was Ysabella's first birthday party and we were happy to celebrate with her.




















Kian thought that Ysabella's toys were great and even tried standing on his own! Scarry I know. Kian also got to meet Charlie who is the son of Chris (one of Mark's soccer pals) and Leigh. As well here are some more pictures from the past couple of weekends, including some swimming lessons with Dad.

Cereal Monster

Kian has now started cereal and decided that it is GREAT! I think he can't wait until he has teeth so that he can eat all the things that mom and dad are eating.

The Christmas holidays were spent in Niagara at Oma and Opa's place. Oma was supposed to have a knee replacement but due to unfortunate circumstances the surgery was cancelled. Kian and I went down by train, which was almost three hours late on the way down and broke down on the way back so that we had to take the bus (just from Brockville). VIA was very good about giving us a free ride back to Niagara in the next six months. Kian was really spoiled by Santa and friends. He had a great time meeting all his aunts, uncles and cousins as well as grandparents.
Swimming lessons have started and the little fish is thrilled to be in the water where he can play with the other children and splash up a storm. He has just decided that other children are interesting and watches what they are doing. He learns a lot from his friend Ysabella, who is almost one. He's determined to do what she does, but he has a way to go to catch up. He saw Ysabella on Friday afternoon and on Saturday morning he was sitting by himself (something he saw her doing). She is crawling so I hope that he doesn't learn that right now!


We were at the library for a babytime group over the weekend with Jarrett and Noreen and the girls, as well as Lee, Lorna, Callum and Roan. Kian had such a good time that we signed up of a group during the week. I guess I have to relearn all my nursery rhymes and other preschool songs. This week we are trying to get back into a routine and hope that will help the little monster sleep through the night better. He is just about there.

Christmas Photo Album

Sorry we haven't updated this for a while, but now that the holidays are over life is getting back to normal.

Here are some photos from over the holidays of family & friends we got to see.

Santa's coming!

Well, Christmas is finally around the corner and I think we are as ready as we are going to be. This being the first Christmas for Kian we will be spending it at Oma and Opa's house. Unfortunately Oma had a fall and broke her ankle so she won't be as mobile, but it leaves her to play with Kian while mom and dad make dinner with Opa. We are getting excited to see everyone in Niagara as well as Auntie Renee who is coming to visit from Victoria. Kian and I are taking to train down to Oma and Opa's place due to the experience last time we tried the long car trip....






The past couple weeks have been pretty busy around here. Kian has been going swimming with mom and dad on Friday nights. He loves it so much! Now he figures that bath time is like the pool and he splashes around like crazy. He cries when he has to get out of the tub. He absolutely LOVES his jolly jumper and spends upwards of two hours in there a day. You can tell that he's tired by the cry but he just can't stop jumping. He is usually laughing and babbling to himself when he is in it. It will have to come to Oma's place at Christmas or he is going to be very disappointed.




The neighbourhood Christmas party was held at our house this year. There were nearly more babies than adults as Landry, Chloe, Rowan and Calum were all able to visit Kian (and the adults). I now realize why I go to bed at 10 o'clock because when you go to bed at midnight (as we did after the party) and the baby gets up every hour, and then is really awake at 6 in the morning it makes for a very difficult day the next day. That next day though was Kian's first breakfast with Santa and we couldn't miss that (although we did have a tough time hearing the alarm). He was very excited to see Santa for the first time and gave him a really long list for Christmas.

Also Grandma visited us last weekend and had lots of fun laughing with Kian. We look forward to seeing her, and all our family and friends over Christmas!

Party Animal

Last week officially started winter in the capital for us. The first snow storm of the season was on Thursday with 20 cm of snow that we actually had to shovel! Kian and I felt a little cooped up that day and decided that we absolutely needed to go outside to experience why all parents hate winter! Snowsuits and car seats, need I say more? It's a good thing he is still in diapers and I didn't have to ask if he had to pee first! We did manage to get out and go the 5 minutes down the road to meet Cheryl and Ysabella for a very nice lunch, but I can say that the scraping the ice of the windshield stuff really sucks with or without a crying baby to boot!

Friday night Kian went to the public pool for the first time. He loved the water and spent an hour kicking around and getting dunked with mom and dad and Jarrett, Noreen, Landry (age 2) and Chloe (5 months). He had a great time and boy did he sleep well that night! Landry had a good time going down the water slide and splashing around in the kiddy pool. I think we might try to make swimming Friday nights our regular thing in the new year.

Saturday night we attended a good-bye party at Christina's place for Natalie, who is off to Cuba. Lucky her! Kian started his "party animal" stage early in life stripping down to his diaper and dancing on the tables! He was a menace in the car on the way to the party and left Mark and I thinking that we might not make it. Unfortunately the train does not go to Christina's place! He did manage to wear himself out sufficiently and actually SLEPT in the car on the way home!






















Sunday morning we had a wonderful brunch at Uncle Mike and Ania's new home. We also got to see Grandpa and Babshu (sp?) who were visiting for the weekend. Breakfast was great and Kian even had a small nap so mom could eat and socialize for a few minutes.

Monday morning dad was late for work. He played soccer Sunday night at 11 pm and then was wired once he got home. Kian unfortunately wasn't having a very good night and mom and dad didn't get much sleep. Mom met Jane and Sylvia for breakfast in the Glebe. That was really nice since we haven't seen each other for a year due to no sailing last year. Kian got to meet the Makai chicks. We were all originally hoping that Kian would be able to expand the Makai ladies crew but now I think he is the token male on board!

This week I'm hoping will not be as busy. I do know that Friday morning we are having a new patio door installed. I'm not sure why we decided to do it in the snow, but I guess for the same reason we decided to do our roof in December a couple years ago. It will be a cold morning in the house!

We are starting to look forward to the holidays now that the snow is on the ground. Auntie Renee has changed her plans for the holidays and Kian will finally get to meet her. Too bad she lives so far away. Unfortunately Uncle Darcy won't be joining her so we will have to meet him later.