Highchair Pics

I was all set to wait until Maelle was 6 months old to introduce her to solid food, like I did with Loic, but she another idea!  For the past week or so, whenever she sat on my lap when I was eating, she has reached out for the spoon or fork and has opened her mouth wide open like a baby bird.  She then watches the fork go back to the plate and follows it with her mouth wide open again!  So, we decided a few days ago to let her try some baby cereal.  She took to it right away!  She has had it about three times now and is now opening her mouth and really grabbing the spoon to get it into her mouth quickly. It is really, really cute.  She is over 5 months old now so I feel like since she has shown us how ready she is, we might as well follow her lead.

I have been breast feeding her before we eat dinner then letting her have her cereal while we eat dinner so tonight we brought out Loic's high chair for her to sit in.  She loved sitting in it while we ate dinner!  And she polished off a tablespoon or two so of baby cereal too.  Adorable.  She then had a bit more breast milk and fell asleep :)

Have I said how quickly she seems to be growing up?  She was a tiny baby 5 and a bit months ago and now she seems so big and her personality (laid back, happy, loves to watch her brother and the dogs to everything) is really coming through loud and clear.  She is quick to smile at anyone and everyone who looks at her and she loves watching her big brother - he can make her laugh just by looking at her!

The pics are just iphone ones, we need to take out the camera for some really clear shots soon.

So so so CUTE!!

Blurry but still adorable.

Ahhhhh!!!!

Give me that spoon!!

Yummm!!

In other news, Loic loves preschool.  When I went to pick him up last week he asked to stay longer.  

The dogs are all doing well too.  Tonight Jody and I took them up Dempsey for a hike in the woods but we saw a bear on our way only a few blocks away from the start of our hike and he wasn't scared of people at all so we kind of freaked ourselves out and shortened our walk!  Funny since just last night we took the dogs to the same spot and didn't worry about bears - even though we know they are there.  I guess it took seeing such a confident one nearby that worried us (plus I heard something in the bushes - probably a squirrel).  I am not convinced the dogs would do much to warn us of a bear nearby or I worry that they might attract one to us and then proceed to not defend us :)

-E

First day of preschool

Loic is going to preschool two mornings a week from 8:30-11:30.  This week is gradual entry week in case kids are upset or don't want to stay without their parents but I am thinking it won't be an issue because today he got there and immediately said, while rushing in the door: "Where do I put my pack pack (backpack)?  Where is my cubby?" and I had to call him back to me to say goodbye!!

I spied on him when I went to pick him up and he was eating his snack at the table with the other kids, chatting away.  I think he will be fine.  I, on the other hand, had a bit of a moment when I dropped him off.  He is growing up so very quickly.

He is so very funny and chatty and kind.  He also listens very selectively but is getting better about that (slowly, very slowly).   Yesterday at the park his friend was scared on the slide and he stopped and said: "I will help you, give me your hand, don't worry".  I almost cried it was so nice.  But I didn't, because that would have been odd and the other park parents would have wondered about me :)

Our before preschool photo moment.

I should have written in down but when asked he says he wants to be either a paleontologist (yes he says that specifically) or a policeman when he grows up

Cutie pie during afternoon tummy time :)

She can go quickly from her back to her tummy and then stays there chatting and grabbing toys

The best of many shots of the two of them.  Maelle really, really loves her big brother and laughs and laughs and laughs at him

Preschool day two is tomorrow, I think he will be fine.  I, on the other hand, think he is growing up far too quickly but I am really proud of my nice boy.

-E

Baby is 5 months old

How on earth is she 5 months old tomorrow?
Still the nicest, happiest, cutest baby.  She nurses so well and so efficiently - her brother would nurse off and on all day (and night) but she is down to business this girl.  Sometimes at night she just wants a quick cuddle and won't even latch on - so unlike her brother in this regard!  He would never turn down an opportunity to nurse that boy :)
She is obviously eating well because she has now more than doubled her birthweight at 5 months old.  We are still just breast feeding; I am not in a hurry to start her on solid food and will give it a go in a month or so.  I find it so very satisfying to be able to make and feed my babies what they need in the first 6 months of their lives myself.  And talk about convenience - nothing like not having to bring anything with us to feed the baby except, well, me.  She hasn't had a bottle and at this point I figure why bother?  I hate pumping and actually can't pump well at all.  We have even gone out to a late movie and left her at home (she slept the whole time we were out).  While Loic and I had a rough start breast feeding, Maelle has been a pure pleasure to feed.  He was a joy to feed too but in a different way because we were more worried about his lack of weight gain and feeding him wasn't so carefree feeling.

 Maelle's first trip to the PNE

(This the the 9th year that Rob and I have gone together (!))

 Content after eating (no skin showing :))

Isn't she adorable?!

 This is Loic as a baby, probably closer to 8 months old but they are starting to look more alike

 She has amazing big blue eyes this girl

And she is so quick to smile!

We had a good time at the PNE this year.  Loic missed his nap to go see a kid's group with Rob (who is an awesome Dad I should add) and my mom, Maelle and I joined them later in the afternoon.  We also had a great long weekend in Whistler last week.  

Rob is taking Loic camping next weekend and is leaving us girls at home but we will meet them for dinner one night.  Loic is already excited!

E

Happy Gotcha Day Tyler!

9 years ago today we adopted Tyler from VAS.

He was labeled as a whippet lab cross and we were told he was a young adult.  He had by far the worst separation anxiety anyone has ever seen and it took us two years to teach him that he wasn't going to die if we left him home alone.  He is still nervous with people but now sleeps on the couch when he is home alone :)

The long story short, we ended up with the nicest, smartest, funniest, sweetest most loyal dog.

I can't imagine a nicer family pet than Tyler.  He is so kind with our children and I love running agility with him (even though he can be naughty :))

We love you Tyler and hope you live for many many more years!

-E

Silly horse and a pond

My mom went away this weekend and asked me if I would like to take care of Jeff on Sunday.  "Sure thing" I said.  I have ridden him the past few Sundays and have really been enjoying the trail rides (I also like the time away from my kids, husband and dogs - love you guys!).

So, yesterday I went to the barn and was cleaning the stall before I met my friend for a trail ride.  I brought Jeff in from the outside holding paddock, where he goes when we clean his stall because he is a giant pig, and lo and behold his right eye was really messed.up.  I called the vet and said: "you need to come to the barn, Jeff has messed up his eye" (that is the technical term).  What did he do in the holding paddock?  Well, for starters he torn off most of his upper eye lid and a lot of the lower one too.  I am not squeamish until it comes to eye things.  The vet asked me to see if the inside of the eye was cut and I believe I said something like "I don't know, I am not going to look at it again and it is really, really *messed.up*" (there goes that technical speak again).

Thank god she came out right away and sedated the bejesus out of the horse and then froze his face and  then took almost an hour to stitch his eye back together.  The good news in all of this is that he did not damage his actual eye ball.  Yay Jeff!  He is on antibiotics for 10 days, had a tetanus shot and is getting pain killers twice daily.  The best part is the eye drops.  I have given eye drops to kids, adults, all types of dogs and now horses.  And you know what?  Giving horses eye drops is by far the hardest!  With the help of my mom we managed to get them into his eye tonight.

The other good thing?  He has an awesome mask to wear.  I borrowed it from a friend of a friend of a friend and picked it up at the racetrack last night.  It is great and will keep him from rubbing out his stitches while his eye heals.  Without further ado I present the one eyed space horse:

Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

In other news, Loic's dream came true last weekend when Erin called and asked us up to help spread gravel in Dave's pond.  Loic adores Dave's pond and up until this day had not been allowed in it.  We spend a good hour in the pond and Erin and I finished off two waterfall features with stone - we did quite a lovely job!!  Who knows, maybe we need to give up our respective careers in Marketing and Biology to start landscaping water features?!  Rob did a good job as our hired hand and moved gravel where we asked him to while Loic ran up and down the creek portion of the pond, throwing gravel around.  We have been talking about the pond since :)

Erin worked in a sundress and Loic worked in a Spiderman T-Shirt and his underwear :)

Gratuitous sleeping mini-Rob picture

Barb's Pictures

Barb took some great shots when she was here so I am posting them here - with her permission of course :)

 Loic milking the fake cow at the farm, he sure loves that thing!

 Lolo petting a goat :)

 Doing barn chores in the rain

Rob and his mini-me playing with Loic

In other news, Tyler and I are back at class but I am not sure how long we will last - class is awesome but late, and in Langely.  Maelle is fine with me leaving before her bedtime (I feed her just before we leave) but it means that she get up earlier to nurse than normal so I am finding it tiring.  I have never given her a bottle and don't plan on it and she can go to sleep easily without nursing, unlike Loic!   That plus the traffic on the way home is awful due to the highway construction going on in Coquitlam.  Oh well, we can revisit it in a few weeks.

We have been hiking up Lynn Headwaters while Loic is at camp and the dogs sure do love it there; it is also a nice change from our usual Bridgeman walks.

We have been having a lot of fun lately - we have been to the aquarium and Loic has been in a cute two hour a day "camp" three days a week - the past two weeks it was "Construction camp" and the next two weeks it is "Forest friends camp".  He then starts pre-school and I also signed him up for a one hour a week art class.  My plan is to drop him off at art class then walk the dogs while Maelle naps in the Ergo carrier.  What I did with Loic without that carrier is beyond me although I guess I wasn't chasing a three year old at the time!!

We are off to Whistler for three nights next weekend and we are all looking forward to it, I really hope the weather holds!!

E

ps - Thanks for the great pictures Barb!!

Happenings (with pictures!)

We have been doing a lot of fun things this summer!  I will share our fun times with some photos...

 Someone turned 3 and had a cake while we were on vacation in Parksville!

 Loic then had another cake (seen here sharing with his Uncle Ryan "My uncle is a funny guy like me!" says Loic) in Campbell River where we had a great two days visiting with family both in Campbell River and on Quadra Island

 Having fun with his Dad on the beach in Parksville - Loic *loved* the beach

 At the sandcastle contest with my mom in Parksville - Grandma Claudine is welcome on vacation with us anytime, we had a blast!

 Visiting with my Grandpapa aka "Superman" in Powell River

 "More" or "Other" Grandma (we aren't sure which grandma is more and which is other!) came to visit and stay with us from Toronto!  

ps - we want you to move to Vancouver Barb but no pressure :)

 We have been spending a lot of time in the back yard smiling and sharing the blanket with one or more of the dogs - still the happiest baby on the planet

 We visited Natalie's happy farm and bothered, I mean, looked at the chickens

 We met new friends with Grandma at Dave and Linda's house

 Maelle met her Auntie Erin for the first time!

 Rob, Maelle and I went to Seattle for the weekend!

 Most sunny afternoons we can be found in the backyard doing a lot of this

 We go to the barn and play in giant piles of gravel with our friends (we also ride the pony but dirt piles are equally entertaining)

 Loic and Rob ate at Pinkberry for the first time!!  Both were happy campers :)

 Loic waited for his turn to milk the fake cow at the farm

 Loic ate popsicles and played with sticks while on vacation

Duncan comes over to share our pool on hot days :)

Phew!  We have been busy!  The trip to the island lasted a week and we went from Parksville to Campbell River and Quadra Island then onto Powell River and home.  BC ferries must have been pleased with us...

Maelle is 4 months old now and I have no idea where the time goes.  I also cannot believe that Loic is now three years old!  He is going to preschool in September two mornings a week and I think that he is going to really like it.  We are sending him to a french preschool and I am curious to see what he thinks.

I also did a dog trial with Tyler a few weeks ago and while he didn't Q in anything he listened very, very well so it was a success in my eyes.  We are going to do a set of classes again starting this week which he should enjoy.  Toby is doing well and Arthur, oh Arthur, is on a slew of heart medication which is costing us an arm and a leg....oh well, he turns 14 next month.

E