If you're happy and you know it...

That song makes him smile all the time! What doesn't make him smile is getting over the chicken pox and teething. This also makes mommy smile a little less than normal:) Question for those familiar with cribs etc.....Kai loves sticking his legs and arms through the rails in the crib. We have used bumper pads (please no comments on the dangers of them, I know) to help alleviate that but he would stick them over the bumper pads and through the rails. The past 3 days he has gotten them stuck quite badly (he sticks it through as far as he can and then rotates). I can usually get him out but once had to get Gary's help to wrench him out as I can't tell which way he has rotated. While we are turning him and pulling his leg through, he is screaming. His calf has a nice bruise on it now because of this. Should I just put him to sleep in a playpen from now on? Any ideas?

Kai's 1st Birthday Party

We are blessed to have such great families to celebrate with. We are happy (usually:)that they are nearby and look forward to many more celebrations together.

Kai got lotsa books and clothes and some great foamy blocks! He also got some flashcards which are actually made for 9+ months, woohoo, let the school lessons begin!

I got emotional for a second after reading a card because it was about how he's gone from a baby and is growing into a little boy and I think I must just be tired, but its kind of sad that he's growing into a big boy. I don't know why that's sad. Maybe I'm teary eyed with love for him? I don't know. Gary took the video footage that I've taken over the past year and made a 10 min. DVD with music, which we all watched together. The first time I watched it, I cried about 10 seconds in. For me, whenever music starts playing with a slideshow or video, tears will surely follow.

A giant monkey from auntie Nutty! (Trisha) The monkey even has a cute belly button.

Carefully eating his first taste of chocolate cake (well, besides the junk food that has been snuck to him by opi and gramma without my knowledge!).

Neatly stuffing his face

The cake (after it was half eaten)....it's supposed to be a monkey. I made it yesterday when Annika was here so she got to have a little sugar while I babysat (don't read this Maria!).

Kai refused to take his morning nap and this is what he was like when we were getting ready for people to come. I was really nervous that our little guy was going to be G-R-U-M-P-Y but he wasn't! By the way, this blankie is his favourite blankie in the world.
I will write some thoughts on his first year when its his actual birthday next Saturday.

Ani

I bet I could get some really good pictures of this girl if she would just sit still!

Giggling on the floor

Today I've got Ani here. I've realized its a bit harder when there are two on the move. When Kai used to just sit and play, it was a lot easier. Kai is now at the stage where he likes to hit people, in the face, with toys. I hope this phase goes quickly? I give him the super mean `NO!' and put his hand down at his side. Any tips? I'm suprised I don't have a black eye by now. Sometimes when i ask for a kiss, he gives me a huge grin and as he's moving in, he hits me. So, if you think he's going to kiss you but he's a got a big grin on his face, beware!
*PS Please don't think we are irresponsible moms letting Kai play with Ani as he is sick. Ani has had a lot of contact with Kai over the past month so if she would've gotten it, she would be sick by now (she was vaccinated too but 10-15% of those vaccinated can get it).

New Favourite Toy is...

Daddy's wallet! All week we have been `stuck' at home with a contagious kid. We take him on walks or jogs where no one else goes. He doesn't look too freaky because there are only 2 spots on his face but he is def. `off'. Feverish, grumpy. If I move him away from something (the mirror, tv, dresser), he freaks out! Either this is what a one year old is like, or this is what a kid fighting chicken pox is like. Or both, I guess. Talking about the dresser, his new love is to open every drawer, throw his shoes and dirty laundry in there and pull out the clean clothes. Oh ya, so fun for mommy.

Okay, so when I say that we take him for runs, I mean that we may have had our last family run together. Monday we had a wonderful, beautiful jog together. Sure, it was only 20 minutes long, but how fun for Gary and I to run together again as it took us back to our good ole dating days. Yesterday though, Gary took me on the hilliest 30 minute run ever and I may have lost my love for running (okay, maybe not the hilliest but boy, not a good way to work myself back into a run over 20 minutes!). I even walked. I'm not a walker when I'm on a run. However, I have decided to give a flatter run a try and see how that feels. My body just doesn't feel right running anymore...I guess it takes a lot of work to get back into it and I don't know how much I want to put into it.

Not much else new here. Gary and I have been; working out, getting our little business together (more to come when it's up and running-ish) and making yummy food. Gary has also been enjoying his alone time in the basement playing `Madden Football' or is it just called Madden? I don't know. We are reading a book together right now and we had to talk about what we found romantic. Apparently Gary finds it romantic if I give him alone time in the basement so he can play Madden. My idea of romantic is a little different but at least its easy for him to find me romantic, just send him down to the basement! Hmm, maybe Madden would be a good name for our next child (if its a boy)...but then I wouldn't want to call him Mad for short. No, I am not pregnant.

Also, having Gary around is so awesome! Maybe every job should provide at least one month off so that couples can both be home to parent and enjoy each other. Seriously, what a gift that Gary gets up with Kai half of the mornings so I can sleep til 8! What a gift that Gary is a stickler like me for having a clean house! What a gift that Gary loves to cook!

Finally, a couple new things that Kai has done; he KICKS a ball (where did he learn that?), and he has added some new moves into his dancing routine (whole body is now involved). Seriously, I have never seen a kid that loves to dance so much! I could have a little hip hopper on my hands! Woohoo! Finally, he LOVES the Telus commercials. It's the animals in it. He perks up and goes to the tv whenever it comes on. Oh boy, a whole lotta writing and not too many fun pictures. Oh well. I'm trying not to post too often but I can't help it! I'm sure that when I go back to work it's got to slow down! Have a great weekend everyone!

Bye Bye Auntie Jackie!

Kai waiting for Jackie to come by and say goodbye (I know, terrible lighting on this photo).

Kissses for auntie Jackie.
Jackie leaves today for Namibia. She will be gone for 3 months. I'm super excited for her as it will be such an amazing experience. She brings a lot of energy, compassion, and expertise with her. I'm not nervous about her safety or her getting homesick (aka missing Tyler too much), I am a little nervous that she might get sick. But, she's going with another nurse so they should be able to take care of eachother?!

Sick, Little Baby

You know he must be tired/sick if he's willing to snuggle with mommy on the couch. He won't let go of his blankie or his doggie or thumb. It's hard because we can't take him anywhere so he's been at home for days. We did go jogging with him this morning and I think we'll take him for a walk now as he is screaming in his crib. Fortunately the spots are still at about 50 and his fever is not too bad. We have his one year birthday party with family this Saturday, so, I hope he feels better by then! Below is the birthday invite we made for him...the bottom looks a little weird because I removed the address for the sake of this blog:)

Chicken Pox

Woke up from my nap with Gary trying out his new lens. By the way, I was never able to nap before but these past couple weeks, no problemo!!





















Tonight we had a family dinner to say goodbye to Jackie as she is going to Namibia for 3 months. I suggested a family photo but was met with many pairs of rolling eyes, so, here is just a picture of Annika. This little monkey is getting so old!

Our little monkey has the chicken pox. He is 2
weeks away from his chicken pox immunizations. Oh boy. It doesn't seem too bad yet but he is pretty tired. In the meantime, we're keeping him at home and away from the real world. He only has 50 dots so far, apparently they can get 500?! That would be hard for me to look at.

Yesssssss, Daddy Bought a New Lens.

In the first 5 seconds and at the very end, you can hear his new word...I really won't post every new word. Really, this should be the last one:) Oh boy, I have ISSUES!

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Gary bought a new camera lens today. I won't say how much it cost but this is him being happy while looking at the new lens. Apparently it focuses faster, has a crisper image, larger aperture, image stabilization and a whole lotta other stuff. We bought it off of craigslist and sold an old camera and lens of his in ONE day...wow, what a great resource!

Below is a video of last year at this time. Wow, I was HUGE! I don't have many pictures from the last 2 months of pregnancy so when I stumbled across it today, it brought me back. It didn't transfer onto here very clearly because we do not have a digital video camera. Anyway, it's a video of me 8 1/2 months pregnant!


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Time to get fit!?

It's so nice to have a cooler breeze blowing through our house! This afternoon we put together the York Mega Max 3001 in our basement. Thanks to Maria VT for giving it to us! It's a huge contraption, but, Gary has been looking into getting something to do some weight training with. We have been trying to EMPTY our unfinished basement suite as the plan was to start finishing it, but, plans have changed. We now have a new idea for the basement but I will post about that next month once `things' have gotten underway.

Below Gary and Kai are playing pass. Here Kai has just thrown the ball and he's doing a good job! Oh boy, I know I post about everything but that way I can remember it all. I really hope that if/when we have #2 that I take just as many photos and make just as many posts! Don't want to play favourites...

Below is Kai taking a few steps. Previously, he had walked right across the whole room but it's always hard to capture the `best' moves. By the way James, I hope you are happy that he is now wearing shorts. How could I put pants on him last week when it was 37C? Crazy kid.

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Green Lake

Nice, relaxing 3 days away. We spent time cleaning, reading, eating, and swimming. Gary finished his book and I found the book `Underground to Canada' (amongst some pretty random titles that are up there) and that was a good, quick read.

He wasn't really loving the floatie and kind of hung on for dear life. The water was a little cold for a little guy but he did all right.

Smiles for daddy.

I want to wear mommy's sunglasses!

He just walked all around the deck pushing on the glass. The neighbour dog came by each day to say hello...beautiful chocolate lab.

Here's the family shot before we went swimming. I know its a little fuzzy but i cropped it because it was taken from so far away.

Kai was not a big fan of the cold water but once he could hold onto the dock it was a little more fun for him. He's wearing one of those bathing suits with the built in life jacket. It's a little hard for him to move in and he looked kinda funny all buff like that.
I know all of his words sound the same, but we now have a very distinct sounding one, `Yesssssssssss'. I told him `Kai, No!' when he was touching the remotes. He responded with `Yessss, Yesssss, Yesssss'. He doesn't know what it means but he knows it made me smile earlier:)