February

Gold Medal Day - February 28, 2010
I tried to capture a few pictures of the elusive Quatchi (also thanks to Emma for the Olympic apparel). Today was the gold medal men's hockey game. The game started while the boys were napping, but it lasted much longer then there sleep. It was a bit of a challenge to parent (aka pay attention and distract) the kids while we were watching the game! They did a pretty good job of playing with us and themselves in the basement even when the game went into overtime. Kaden watched a little bit, but was really captivated by the raising of the flag and the playing of Oh Canada. Good thing for PVRs as well as he asked to hear the anthem several times in a row. It is now also one of his bedtime song requests! The last two pictures I thought were a good one for a role reversal!

Hats Rock- February 26, 2010
Just a cute picture of Milo sporting another winter hat.

Milo's Eleven-monthiversary - February 24, 2010
Our littlest man is growing so quickly. His first year has flown by. He's getting faster at cruising and is even holding onto things with just the tips of his fingers on one hand. I've even caught a quick glimpse of him letting go and "standing" before his knees buckle or he purposefully sits down. He's getting much more chatty and loud (obviously he's figured that's the only way to be heard around here) and he's picking up on some signs ("fan" and "more") and other gestures (smacking his lips, clapping, shaking hands and high fives). What a cutie!

Our boys were donning their matching red shirts today. Kaden and Ali are really getting along so well these days. Ali always seem to think of Kaden as a playmate whereas she has been much more "careful" around Milo. Of course given her size, Kaden was often nudged a little to roughly for his liking. Now that he is a bit bigger and Ali has settled down a bit the two of them play together much more often. Milo is getting much better at sitting on his knees and drinking out of a sippy cup. And Kaden is getting even more skilled at using the computer (under our watch), but he can select his own videos and even spells the word GO when we look up Go Trains.

More Balls of Fun - February 23, 2010
Today we introduced Balls of Fun to some more friends. Connor and Isabelle are just about the same age as Kaden and Milo and they were excellent playmates for each other - Jen and I even managed some time to chat while we watched the kids run/crawl about together!

Random - February 22, 2010
Poppa wears a brand of shirt called Paul & Shark. Whenever he visits Kaden comments on the shark logo on his shirts. Kaden got to sport his own logo today as Poppa mailed him a shark sticker from his latest purchase. Too cute. Milo tried something new today as well - rice cakes. I'm not sure he sees what his brother likes about them yet.

Go Trains - February 21, 2010
We used to live near a Sky Train station. Kaden may not remember it now, but we often would walk up to a nearby overpass and watch the sky trains whizz beneath us. Although they don't run as often, we live right near an active rail line (Go Trains, Via trains and freight trains all use the line) and they are equally fascinating. While Milo and Daddy were at swimming in the morning, Kaden and I walked up to the crossing near our house to watch a Go Train. He's also sporting the Olympic mitts sent to him by our friend Emma (thank you!). We often have to drive across these tracks to head to playschool and various other locales. I can time the morning commute to school to generally see a Go Train, but at any other time it's a guess if we'll see one or not. The trains and signal lights are a hot topic of conversation as we head out in the car and now we even peek down the tracks as we cross them to see if a train might be coming - if it is I'll often pull over so we can wait and watch it! Kaden's fascination of Go Trains has also blossomed with the help of YouTube...we've expanded our repertoire of ABC and 123 songs to include video clips of signal lights and trains. One of these days we'll actually catch a ride ourselves!

Now we have our own video on YouTube to watch!

While Kaden was swimming with Daddy I caught some of Milo's fine motor skills in action.
He's getting really good at "threading the needle". Balls aren't just for eating anymore!

Road Trip! - February 20, 2010
I'm not sure how it took us over a year, but we finally made the trip to London to visit Amy, Craig and Keira (we're definitely making it a more regular activity going forward). The kids did well in the car and had a great time playing in London. There was even enough snow for us to build a bit of a snowman! Amy and I both took turns holding each others non-smilers and we rounded out the day with a stop at "Old McDonalds" on the way home (the hats are on during dinner as the restaurant was freezing)! A really great day.

Our little monkey - February 19, 2010
This isn't the greatest picture, but I wasn't wasting time getting the right composition before intervening. Milo is figuring out how to climb and "the cave" beneath our fireplace in the playroom is apparently an inviting spot. The stairs are next on his list! Life is never dull.

BOWLING NIGHT! - February 18, 2010
Kaden's preschool had a fundraiser bowling night and pizza party. Daddy got to cut out of work a bit early to join us for what turned out to be a really fun evening. Kaden LOVED bowling. We managed to get dinner into the kids shortly after arriving before the commotion was too distracting! And then Kaden was let loose! He squealed and shrieked and bowled his little heart out (it looked more like shot put than bowling)! Milo even got into the action - he loves balls after all. After about 20 minutes Kaden had enough bowling and, after running around for a while, he found the video games - it's in his blood I guess. Fun!

Our bowler in action.

On the racetrack...

Bunny Bear - February 17, 2010
Kaden has had two stuffed animals in his bed since he was a baby. Until this past year, he had never really taken a keen interest in them other than to know they are his bedmates (he would notice their absence). However we knew that this year would be the end of the bedtime soother for Kaden so several months ago we started to encourage Kaden to snuggle with his soft buddies if he needed some comfort in the night. He's become much more attached to both Bunny Bear and Mr. Who (an owl in case you were wondering) and today he decided to bring Bunny Bear down to show him around. It was very cute. I caught up with them for some reading time.

Milo is mobile. Milo is curious. Milo likes to hang about while I'm trying to cook dinner.
Where does that leave us? With Milo opening and closing cupboard doors!

A proud day for Daddy - February 16, 2010
Daddy still has some of the best things from his childhood (thanks to Gran for holding on to them). They are typically the highlight of Ben's trips to see Uncle Craig. Transformers. Up until this last visit from the Ottawa cousins we have kept the box of Transformers out of the reach of the littler ones. However Kaden and Mia are of an age that small parts (and somewhat fragile toys) are not so risky. It took a while for Kaden to understand what was in the box that Ben coveted (he was calling them Ben's treasures at the start of the weekend!), but once we cleared up who the box actually belonged too and that all the kids (save Milo) could explore their contents it didn't take long for Kaden to hone in on his favourite...Blaster (a stereo)! Like father like son...and so it begins.

Swimming Swimming in the Swimming Pool - February 2010
This winter Daddy has been taking the boys to swimming lessons. We couldn't find a time when we could take them together so Craig has spent the past couple of months going back and forth to the pool with each kid separately (we've managed to find a class we can all attend staring in the next session). They all had a lot of fun. During one of each of their classes, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to check out the action. They were able to get some pictures of the kids in the water - thank you! Kaden is becoming the master-jumper leaping as far as he can into the water, going under and then being brought back up by Daddy to do it all again. Milo likes the water (not as much as his bath), but is not always convinced he's having fun! Check out the bathing beauties...

Family Day - February 15, 2010
We spent the morning with our good friends (and family) the Roberts! We started the morning at Starbucks then attended a special Kindermusik "playdate" all about he Very Hungry Caterpillar and capped off our fun-filled family day with lunch out at a local diner. Fun!

Happy Valentine's Day - February 14, 2010
Another perk of our family's visit this weekend was the arrival of Milo's new crib! Thank you Auntie Glenda and co.! Doesn't Milo look so peaceful taking his first nap in his new bed?

This winter hasn't really been snow-filled. Not that I'm complaining, but if we're going to live in a winter climate then it would be nice to do wintery things. Despite still being able to see the grass poking through, we took the boys tobogganing after their naps. The lack of snow had no effect on fun though. Both boys (and grown-ups) had fun sliding down the hill.

Hitting "the slopes"!

Family Weekend - February 13, 2010
Uncle Drew, Auntie Glenda, Ben and Mia came to spend the weekend. It was great to see them all as we had not been together since August! The kids were all well behaved and had a great time together and the adults even managed some time to chat.

It's not so much that they're playing with each other, but that they're playing together in the same room...in a similar fashion!
It's the universal language of music...

We took the crew to our new favourite haunt - Balls of Fun. I managed to get a bunch of shots as you can see, but you'd be surprised how many I took that were just a blur - the kids were moving so much and so fast that it was hard to take a good shot! The last picture is a Kaden original!

Balls are fun. Bouncing is fun too!

Back at the house after lunch and some good naps from our tuckered-out tots the kids got to open some Valentine's books from Nanna and Poppa - thank you! They even got some Valentine kisses (the hershey kind)...which the adults enjoyed later as well.

Some more pictures of our wee-one practicing his standing on my legs while I'm trying to get dinner ready. Between Milo and Ali it's hard to maneuver the kitchen!

Go Canada Go! - February 12, 2010
Here are some of the pictures of my attempt to get both boys to look at me at the same time while not covering the words on their papers...who was I kidding!

Valentine's Prep - February 11, 2010
In preparation for a visit from our family this weekend, Kaden and I work to make some Valentine's cookies. I'm not sure how green is really a Valentine's colour, but that's what came with the pink, purple and white in the box!

Milo likes to hang about under foot as I'm getting dinner ready. He will often amuse himself with various things at baby-height, inluding Ali, but eventually he comes calling to let me know he's hungry.

Kids - you just have to smile - February 9, 2010
My cutesters at lunch...full and happy!

Yup, he's doing it again...I've learned now to close the crate door when Milo is playing in the area...

Another stereo for our little man. I forgot that we had this old CD player, but as we work to finish unpacking the basement we discover this little treasure! Kaden is so happy to be able to play CDs regardless of where we play in the house and he even controls the iPods in the kitchen (his new favourite is the Jackson Five's ABC & 123)! The best thing about this stereo is that it has a tape deck. Unfortunately we don't have any tapes. The last time we were at the library I noticed that they had books on tape (we always check out one book on CD when we visit), but our library is now being renovated and the new branch we visited didn't have any tapes. I told Kaden we would try to borrow one from Grandpa or Great-Papa the next time we visit one of them!

We love Rob! - February 6, 2010
Our good friend Rob came to visit tonight; and what a night it was! To start, Craig and Kaden went to pick Rob up at the GO Train station. Not only did Kaden get to see two trains, but the best possible thing also seemed to happen...Rob missed the train! You might not think this is a good thing, but the story of Rob missing the train is still the most talked about thing in our house and as I write this it's actually February 19th! Kaden talks often (to us and to anyone else he meets) about how he and Daddy were looking for Rob when the passengers got off the train, but Rob wasn't there. Then they found him...he was in a car with his friend Lucas who was kind enough to drive Rob when he missed the train! He says the story with such excitement and enthusiasm - laughing about the whole scenario. "Silly Rob...I don't know why he missed the train." Although not caught in pictures, Milo was equally enthralled with Rob and starred and smiled at him the whole time we were eating dinner. After dinner, Kaden directed Rob in how to play with him and the tunnel. At one point I suggested to Craig that he and I go out as Rob seemed to have everything under control!

Boys in Red - February 5, 2010
Following in his brother's footsteps, Milo has discovered the coasters. Seriously - why invest in expensive toys when there is such joy from dumping, clapping and stacking coasters! Trying to get the kids out the door I snapped a quick pick of our boys in their hats.

Some things are just not meant to be duplicated...but when I unpacked this outfit and dressed Milo it reminded me of Kaden at this age. Of course, I spent the better part of the day trying to coax Milo into a similar pose as Kaden (last picture in the row)...but these are the best I could do! Such cuties.

A new place to play - February 4, 2010
The boys and I checked out the Ontario Early Years Centre just down the road from us. They have a drop-in play time everyday. They also have classes that we can attend, but we might wait to take advantage of those when Milo is no longer napping in the morning and Kaden is out of school. The kids are happy enough to muck about the playroom and discover the new toys. On our first visit we happened to luck in to a scheduled drop-in of an Olympic torch. Very cool. After talking with the kids about the Olympics and seeing a torch first-hand we were prepped to watch the torch be lit during the opening ceremonies in Vancouver. Kaden also learned about Quatchi so we found a video for him to watch and learn about all the mascots. 

Did I mention before that Milo must have been a dog in another life?!? Yup...here's my wee tot inside Ali's crate. By the time I got the camera Ali had already made her escape, but she was in there when Milo first came to visit!

Breading Bookworms - February 3, 2010
Milo is cultivating his love for books - and not just his love of eating them! He's very good at turning pages when you read to him and will often let you 'hold back' the next page until you've finished reading the current one. He loves to get books out of the basket in his room and in the playroom and will sit and flip through quite a few on his own (often upside-down and backwards, but he has the best intentions). He most definitely has his favourites and is even starting to recognize some of them by name - he perks up when you start talking about them and has even reached in to the basket and pulled out the one we're talking about (though that was probably a fluke). He's not making the sign for book yet, but he knows when we say the word book and make the sign and he always seems to use the 'buh' sound when we're talking about and looking at books. He hasn't quite figured out that you need to be gentle with books so we have to pay close attention if he's looking at a book or magazine (or cook book) with paper pages.

Along the path of baby firsts, Milo is starting to play peek-a-boo!
He recently started hiding his face behind his stuffed hippo on the change table and behind his bib at the table.