March

One Week Old - March 31, 2009
One week already. Amazing. We're documenting Milo's milestones (week and monthiversaries) with pinwheels.

Milo meets our good friend Rob for the first time.

Tummy time always starts innocently enough...

Does any baby really like tummy time?!?

Random - March 30, 2009
Yup...we cracked. I think we made it to day eleven before we introduced a soother to Kaden. Milo made it (or more appropriately, we made it) until day six! Milo got to meet our good friend Jen and Ali finally convinced somebody to play with her (after checking in on Milo). And of course, a few more random pics of our littlest man.

Sleep versus Hunger...the ongoing battle of a new born.
Today sleep might win...for the moment!

Milo and more! - March 29, 2009
Check out me and my boys (yes, it's plural now)!

Poor Ali...I don't think she knows what's going on or why her piece of the 'love pie' just got a bit smaller. Don't worry - everyone has their own pie! She snuggles with the shoes in the hopes that somebody's feet will soon fill them to take her out!

Kaden and Nanna prepare some Brownies to have at lunch with Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma and Pa spend some more time getting to know Milo.

We cracked open the playdoh set Kaden got for his birthday. He got a big kick out of it.

Other fun games today included burping with Daddy, Sharky and Stingray.
Great game, Daddy. At least you're polite about it!

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Milo seems less than interested to smile with me so I decided to try his looks out instead.

More Milo - March 28, 2009
I think Milo could swallow his own face when he yawns! Some more pictures of our little man during his first week with us...although it has only been a few days, it's hard to imagine life without him.

Baby hiccups are pretty cute!

Kaden is still enamored with his little bro. He almost loves him too much. We're actually having to stop him from trying to continually kiss Milo! At least we've directly the love to the top of his head or the tips of his toes. Milo is holding an "M" magnet delivered to him by this brother. "M is for Milo" afterall!

Kaden is becoming quite the little helper. Here Nanna introduces emptying the dishwasher. Daddy is not yet convinced that a 2 year old should be handling knives...it's not like they're the sharp ones...

Three Days Old - March 27, 2009
On his third day of life, Milo caught some zzzzz's in various places and on various people, captivated his older brother, made a fuss about not being old enough to eat pizza, and made his first outing to the park!

"Nice to see you too, Kaden"

How rude to eat in front of me...I'm hungry too don't you know!

Milo's not so sure about  taking the bassinette on the road! Kaden enjoyed the audience though. It was only a quick trip for our littlest Calvert. Gas eventually got the better of him so we left for home for what would become one of his many daily outfit changes!

Apparently Nanna missed having Poppa around to wear matching outfits...can you guess who dressed Kaden this morning?!?

Not wanting to miss out on the action, Ali stayed pretty close to anyone who would stand or sit still long enough for her to get comfortable. Otherwise she was scoping out the new competition.

Milo's home! - March 25, 2009
Welcome home Milo!!! You can read and see all about Milo's birthday on Milo's Birthday page. After 24 hours in the hospital, we managed to check and make it home in time for lunch. Milo spent his first day at home sleeping under the watchful eye of his big brother (and Nanna)!

Brrrr - it's cold outside...and inside too! - March 21 & 22, 2009
Ah the joys of an old house. We woke up Friday morning with a chill in the air - inside! Oh yes, the furnace had stopped working in the night. Okay...so I can't blame the age of the house on this one (unlike the leaky roof) because the furnace was newly installed during the owners renovations last fall. We didn't know what the problem was; just that it was cold. A quick call to our landlord and later that day we had his furnace guy over. Too bad it apparently wasn't an easy fix. Long story short, he couldn't fix the furnace on Friday (couldn't get a part before the stores closed)...or Saturday (not sure what the excuse was then). With everything closed on Sunday we were without heat until MONDAY! Welcome to Toronto Nanna and Poppa...good thing Goat stayed tucked away warm inside. We had several space heaters and developed a complicated system to use them (turns out the wiring in this old house can be blamed for its age, and depending on where we had things plugged in, we were repeatedly tripping fuses)! So we spent a few days wearing coats in the house and staying close to the heaters. To keep warm, I enlisted Craig and my father to hang the mirror and install some shelves. Craig and I also hung a few pictures. Despite "the weather" it's starting to feel a little more like home here now.

Kaden's actual birthday! - March 18, 2009
Nanna and Poppa arrived today to help celebrate Kaden's actual birthday and to welcome the arrival of Goat. Kaden can tell us that he is two and that his "actual birfday" is March 18. Pretty clever. When Kaden woke up from his nap he was very excited to see his grandparents. It was a nice afternoon so we took a stroll to the park to play.

One of the great things about this park is that it is bordered by a train track. Kaden gets a kick out of seeing the Go Trains as well as the Via trains...he can even tell us which is which. He looks on with delight and points and says "look at that"! He will often sit in the swing with his finger to his ear saying "listen" in anticipation of the Go Trains arrival! Once the train has passed his says "bye bye Go Cain"!

Multi-tasking - swinging and watching trains.

Another favourite activity for Kaden is to help Nanna and Poppa put ice in the drinks!

Kaden shares his love of reading with Ali. I think Ali was hoping for her dinner instead!

Time to take the requisite birthday photos! Two years old - amazing. Where does the time go?!? Our little man is such a big boy now...boggles the mind.

Of course, what would a birthday be without candles and presents! This time it was Nanna's delish baked goods on the dessert menu.

Rip Rip Rip...Hooray!

Combining cleaning with playing - March 16, 2009
Kaden love the swiffer ("the sweeper") so in itself I guess it's a sort of toy! But today he took froggie along on his sweeping adventures. Too cute.

Birthday month continues - March 15, 2009
To add to all the birthdays celebrations thus far, Grandpa has a birthday in March. So we were off to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner to celebrate Grandpa, Daddy, Uncle Chris and Kaden...again ;] By this point Kaden figured it must be everybody's birthday including Grandma and Mommy. Fortunately we each get our own month later in the year! Another bonus of all the birthdays is the new and yummy desserts Kaden gets to eat. This time it was cake and ice cream. Yummy...if not "a little bit cold"! Of course, we don't eat dessert very often (other than animal crackers and fruit) so whenever something sweet and tasty is on the menu Kaden now sings the Happy Birthday song - regardless of the occasion! Kaden got some new books and a puzzle - two of his favourite things. The next morning at the house he was already reciting the names of the new books and new which was which on the shelf even though we had only looked at them briefly the night before. He has a memory for books that's for sure. Thanks Grandma and pa!

Is it too small or is he too big?!? - March 14, 2009
While we fixed up Milo's room (which you can see on our Preggers page), Kaden rediscovered his bassinette.  As you can see, he's just a touch too big for it now, but he had a ball trying to squeeze himself in!
 

Double Hooray for Parks - March 14, 2009
We have a park within a couple hundred feet of the house (just beyond those trees you see ahead of Craig and aden in the picture...and our house is the one with the iron fence you see). Perfect. Here we give it a go for the first time. On this particular outing, Kaden tested out a few of the usual suspects (swings and slides), took a ride on a new friend (the teeter totter), but spent most of the time running amok with Daddy!
 

Just like Mia!
I introduced a new sippy cup to Kaden. He has used the same sippy cups for so long that I didn't know what he would think of this new one. I started down the road of "it's a big boy sippy cup", but he didn't let me get much out before he said "it's just like Mia"! Yes...that is true, Mia was drinking out of the same one a few weeks ago. Kaden happily drank it down!

Move over Bunny
Kaden has a new friend named Thomas. He has discovered a love of trains and has identified with Thomas himself. We don't watch any TV with Kaden, but he apparently believes us when we give each train a name and Nanna has bought him some books to confirm them! He often takes Thomas out now to put in his highchair or to read with. Thomas even occasionally has a "poopy bum"!

MMore fun with Thomas.
       

Happy Birthday Daddy! - March 10, 2009
Today Craig turned 32...and his birthday passed without having to share it with anyone else ;] Kaden and I started the morning at playschool. I had to take these photos as all but one of the paint smocks were being laundered and this was the only other thing for Kaden to wear! Ridiculous...but seriously cute! He and his buddy David had fun painting together.

After playschool, Kaden and I drove to Daddy's office to take him out to lunch. Our good friend Rob joined us as well. We first got to take a tour of the Mr. X office, which was nice for me to see where Craig is now working. The four of us ate at a sushi restaurant just around the corner from his office. Kaden didn't dine on sushi, I brought left over pizza for him instead, but he did try to use the chopsticks! He actually managed to get some things in his mouth. I'm not sure how tasty vegetable tempura dipped in yoghurt actually is...but he didn't seem to mind!

Later that day Kaden and I crafted-up a card and some wrapping paper for Daddy's gift.

Craig doesn't get home in time to eat dinner with us usually, but we were just finishing our meal as he walked in the door. Just in time for dessert! So while Kaden and I ate apple pie for our dessert, Craig ate it for his dinner. Seems like an acceptable thing to do on one's birthday! Kaden, being the birthday pro that he is now, helped again to sing the birthday song and to blow out the candles with Daddy. After dinner it was time for gifts, which Kaden happily helped to open. And then it was time for "party tricks" - which meant mostly just being funny with the party hat...where's Kaden?!?

Not so sure about apple pie.
I told Kaden I had made apple pie for Daddy's birthday dessert. He talked about it all afternoon and as soon as Craig walked in the door he squealed "apple pie"! He has never had it before, but obviously the impression left on him by the smarties and ice cream cake lead him to believe that all birthday dessert were simply yummy. It took some convincing to get the first bite into his mouth. After all that, he seemed to like it, but bite number two consisted mostly of apple (which despite being covered in cinnamon and sugar was a little tart) and that was the end of his first dealing with apple pie!

March is Birthday Month - March 8, 2009
Our Toronto family has numerous birthdays to celebrate in March - in order - Craig, Chris, Jim, Kaden and Papa. Soon, we will have Goat to add to the mix. As we go through March we are having a parade of birthday celebrations. There could be worse things, no?! Before today's festivities, I trimmed Kaden's hair and got him dressed in his party duds (thanks to Auntie Glenda and company). What makes this outfit particularly interesting to Kaden is the pockets in the pants! They have zipper pulls that he can open and close. He discovered them and when we stuck his hand inside one of the pockets he said "there's a wocket in my pocket"! He's a cutie, that's for sure. We spent part of our morning doing more chores around the house to get things settled. Daddy and Kaden assembled the dresser in Goat's room and then it was back to Kaden's room to replace the garbage bags with blinds (he has a street light right out front that makes his room very bright during the night...a problem that needed to be fixed quickly, hence the initial use of garbage bags). Unfortunately this task was not something Kaden could easily help with so while I was busy puttering and unpacking we distracted Kaden with his lego and then eventually strapped him in to make a birthday poster for Great Papa.

That night we were off to Gran and Grandee's for dinner to celebrate the four Calvert/Ross birthdays. Kaden loved the balloons - although you can see that it is next to impossible to take a good picture of a toddler shaking and batting balloons with delight! He had fun playing "asleep/awake" with Auntie Gail and he spent quality time with Gran counting down the timer on the microwave! Of course, no birthday is complete without cake and presents! This time Kaden knew what to do...he sang the birthday song and as soon as the candles were lit he took aim and helped to blow them out! He doesn't often get sweets, but he certainly has been getting his fill this month! This time it was lemon meringue pie and chocolate ice cream cake...a first for both, but it was the ice cream cake that was the ticket! "A little bit cold"...but delicious...can't you see him clapping in the background? Everyone was well fed and sufficiently spoiled. A good night all around.

Christmas in March - March 6, 2009
Nanna and Poppa bought Kaden and easel for Christmas, however there was no sense in having it shipped to BC just to move it back to BC. It arrived this week and Kaden and I worked to set it up today. He thinks it's great. We haven't used it for anything crafty yet, but the magnetic board is enough for now. He had such a good time playing with the letters and numbers and then I remembered he also got magnetic animals in his stocking. Fun times.

"M" stands for what?!?

Hooray for Parks - March 6, 2009
I was worried that we wouldn't get to a park until much later in the spring here in Ontario. I was pleasantly surprised last weekend to find the park near our house dry enough to play(albeit cold) and even more delighted to find this park with our friends this week! Jen and I have been canvassing businesses as part of the fundraising for the playschool our children attend. After each outing of chatting up store owners we try to do something to "reward" our patient children who are slaves to their strollers while we're doing business. On this particular day, it was quite warm, we ventured to a park. You might notice a new position (or at least an old one returned) for Kaden on the slide. Months and months ago when he and I were visiting the parks without Daddy, Kaden started to go down the slide on his tummy. It was easy for him to get in position by himself while I was waiting at the bottom. We have been trying to convince him to give his bum another chance, but until now he has resisted. The tide was turned, I think, at playschool where (despite earlier photographic evidence) the kids are only allowed to go down the slide on their bums. He seems pleased with himself.

CN Tower - March 2, 2009
Since arriving in Toronto, Kaden has had a couple opportunities to play with "legos". One of the kids stores we shopped at in Mississauga had a table with some big lego blocks and the OB office has a bucket he plays with during my appointments. We had lego-type blocks we borrowed from a friend in Vancouver, but they didn't attach together very well so they were used more as a means to just fill and dump the bucket the came in. Noticing Kaden's affinity for these lego blocks, we picked him up a box as a gift for his birthday party. He sometimes asks Mommy or Daddy to build him and airplane or a dinosaur, but mostly he likes to build the CN Tower..."a tall tall tall tower"! His face just kills me. What determination.

Our first house guests! - February 27-March 1, 2009
My brother and his family drove to TO to visit for the weekend. It's still a bit of a trek for what turns out to be a quick visit, but it is much easier and cheaper than a flight to or from Vancouver! We're looking forward to doing this with them much more often, in both directions. Kaden was so happy to see his Uncle Goo (that's Drew to him), Auntie Glenda, Ben and Mia. We packed the weekend with playtime at the house, a trip to the Ontario Science Centre, a visit to the park (yes...we were happily surprised to be able to swing in February, in Toronto!) and Kaden's 2nd birthday party. It was a busy, but fun-filled weekend.

Play-time with the cousins. Of course...you can never get all three to look their best in one photo (sorry Mia...this one's not the most flattering for you)! Ali was also very excited to have new people to play. It took a little while for her to settle down and for the kids to warm up to her (she is much bigger than Ben and Mia's daschund), but you can see that Ben and Ali became good friends (please excuse Ali's pose...). Mia was a little less certain of Ali and when she returned home she started referring to her own pouch as a "baby dog"! Too cute. Kaden certainly benefited from having an older cousin. Auntie Glenda came loaded with a bunch of Ben's "old" toys. Now we've got new trucks and cars and a tool bench and best of all...the start of Kaden's love affair with Thomas! Kaden has recently discovered trains - the kind you can play with not just watch (like Skytrains and Go Trains). He really liked playing with Grandpa's spark-inducing railroad and more importantly, his friend David's train table. "Cains!" "Play David's cains!" Indigo stores and the Mastermind toy store near us also have train tables set up for kids to play while parents' peruse. A big hit with Kaden. Up until this point, Kaden only knew them to be fun trains, but with the introduction of the travel suitcase seen below, we identified the main character as Thomas. And so it begins.

If Kaden gets a hold of a bag or some sort of carrying contraption he often pretends to go grocery shopping. If you ask him what he is going to buy at the grocery store he answers very healthily - apples, milk, red peppers, etc. I had brought this purse down for Mia to play with, but Kaden found it more interesting and walks around the house saying, "Apples please, apples please!"

We spent Saturday morning at the Ontario Science Centre. As it turns out, it is only about 15minutes away from our house. Awesome. It was pretty chaotic, but the kids had a great time and in the end there is still SO much more for us to see and do when we go back.

Ah the simple joy of buttons.

A few paces from our house is a park. Awesome. Kaden has noticed it, but unfortunately it has been buried under snow since just about the time we moved in. I'm not sure when it all disappeared, but when we took the kids down to play it was even dry! Kaden was so happy to be swinging again - it has been quite some time since we've been on one.

On Sunday morning we celebrated Kaden's 2nd birthday with "the kids". We had all three of his cousins and his two new best buds. It was a relaxing morning playing in the house, eating pizza for lunch and opening gifts. Kaden understood what it meant to have a birthday this year. He knows that he is turning two (and he will even show you with his two fingers). He has had cupcakes before, but this was his first introduction to smarties. Delish. He was actually more interested in the smarties than the cupcake itself (although he talked about them all morning and continues to talk about them since)! He put the first smartie in his mouth and said "a little bit crunchy" and then proceeded to gobble up the rest! He also really liked the birthday song and continues to sing it on a regular basis..."happy birfday, happy birfday, happy birfday to YOU!" Kaden also understands presents - Christmas was a good re-introduction - and he happily "rip, rip, ripped" to reveal his new treasures. The fun thing is that Kaden doesn't just appear to want to open one and move on. After each gift he said "play with that"! We were the ones who had to keep him on task so that the party could start to wrap-up! Of course the big hit of the gifts was his very own Thomas engine - thanks David and Katie!!!

A few of Kaden's thoughts on his birthday...

And of course - the joy of gift opening.