A Happy Halloween It Was!

Since 2001, Brad has been carving jack-o-lanters. Each year, I enjoy hearing about his ideas and plans leading up to the big day but most of all I LOVE watching him at work because he clearly enjoys doing it. This year's masterpiece took him 3 hours. Here it is in progress...

...and voila!

I love toasted, salted pumpkin seeds. I can't draw my way out of box but I can separate pumpkin seeds like nobody's business. And, so, I was relegated to pumpkin seed duty this year. I've always wondered how to get perfectly crunchy seeds without baking the heck out of them so I did a little research and discovered that the trick is to boil the seeds in salted water first and then toast them in the oven. They turned out to be deliciously dry and crunchy. Next year, I want to make half of my pumpkin seed bounty a sweet snack with honey, cinnamon, and maybe some nutmeg. Yum!

Halloween Party

Aimee & Kai

Felix (12 mos.), Atti (6 mos.), Kai (4 mos.), and Boedy (4 mos.)

I hosted a little Halloween party this afternoon. My friend Aimee was visiting from Penticton with her beautiful baby Kai so I had them over along with my neighbour who also happens to know Aimee from prenatal bootcamp. Small world! My neighbour brought her sister who just moved here from Toronto and of course they brought their two gorgeous boys. We had a great time catchting up and decided that we must get together more often.

4 Months Vaccinations & Other Stuff

Boedy had his second set of vaccinations today. He weighs 17 lbs. 12 oz. (almost double his birth weight), is 69.5 cm long (27.4 inches) and his head size is 43.5 cm (17 inches). I just double checked my conversions because I was sure I was wrong. Wow, he's huge! Dr. Angie had nothing but positive things to say about Boedy and said I was a "model mom". Toot, toot! ;-)

Dr. Angie suggested starting Boedy on cereal at 5 months to get his little digestive system used to it. So far, he's not showing any major signs of wanting anything more than breastmilk. He sometimes watches us eat but isn't grabbing for our food yet. We're starting to prepare for solids...bought a booster seat for feeding on the weekend and have ordered some baby's first meals books. Can't wait to put our food processor to work!

Seeing as Boedy is growing so fast, I have started shopping for clothes for him on Craig's List. It's amazing how many clothes I have found that are brand new with tags. I stopped by one vendor's house in Coquitlam yesterday and picked up some fleece sleepers for dirt cheap and a Baby Einstein "My First Signs" dvd. I'm planning on starting signs with Boedy shortly.

Brad just came home and announced that he's taking us "someplace warm" for Christmas. Yeah baby! Next on my list...new passports for mom and Boedy.

In other news, my good friend Shelby from Fredericton and I have decided that were going to run the Vancouver half marathon next May. Training for me officially began yesterday. My knees still hurt but no pain, no gain or as Shelby likes to put it go big or go home.

Brad is starting this year's pumpkin masterpiece tonight...stay tuned for pictures. I've seen the blueprints and it's gonna be special.

"Jump up, jump up, get down...so get out your seats and jump around"

You should have seen Boedy's face as he learned how to jump around in his new Jolly Jumper. It was a look of shear determination (a Jessica face for sure)...and then came the smiles. I noticed today at bootcamp that they also have a Jolly Jumper so I will be trying Boedy in it tomorrow.

We had a pretty quiet weekend. I went to my first Kids Swap Sale (no Jesse they don't swap kids, only kids stuff) on Saturday and bought some gently used clothes, toys and baby gear for Boedy. Timing was perfect as Boedy has almost outgrown all of his clothes. We're buying 12-18 month clothing for him now. Crazy! I took him to the gym with me on Sunday afternoon to allow Brad some quiet time to get some work done. Boedy entertained the other gym goers and watched me walk, walk, walk for a good 30 minutes (I'm hoping that this turns into run, run, run sooner rather than later but for now my knees can only handle walking...baby steps). What a little trooper!

We're going for his 4 month shots on Thursday. Time is flying by and, as most of you can probably tell, I'm loving being on maternity leave. My work sent me an email last week asking me when I'm coming back....bahahaha...I still haven't responded. :-)

The email did prompt me to start looking into daycare options though. I've got Boedy waitlisted at one spot that we visited last week. It's only two minutes from our house and is right across from the train station (I take the train to work). Brad could drop us both off in the morning and still be on the road for 7:15 a.m., his usual departure time. I've just scratched the surface with daycares though...a lot more work to do yet...

Stars & Strollers

Boedy and I went to see our first movie together with our friends Erin and Colby. Both boys had a great time and were so well behaved.

This was taken after the movie. I would say that it was a successful outing.

The theater was equipped with a change station. I think every mom took advantage of this.

I thought it was pretty cool that Boedy's car seat fit right in the movie theatre seat. Here he is waiting for the movie to start. He watched the whole movie and even laughed when the characters laughed. It was too cute.

Backyardigans

Happy 1st Birthday Lorelei!

Party animal!

We all went to the pumpkin patch the day after the party.

JP, Nicole, and Lorelei

I bit the bullet and bought a monthly membership...

...at Bodies By London...

Bodies by London is the the fitness studio where I take Mom & Baby Bootcamp classes. Heather, the owner, is sitting on the ball. There is also another room where they have child minding for the older kids.


Heather's great because if a baby's crying, she'll take the 'lil pumpkin and allow mommy her workout. Boedy has been mostly happy just chilling in his car seat. Today, Heather moved him to the swing about half way through the workout and he was happy to go back and forth and back and forth. He was an angel. Looking forward to our next class!

Splish Splash I Was Taking a Bath

Pumpkin Patch

We had a wonderful time we had at the pumpkin patch today with cousin Lorelei, uncle JP and autie Nicole and our neighbourhood friends. The weather was incredible. Check out the patch: http://www.laitypumpkinpatch.com/.

Rocking out with my new guitar...

I love my new teething guitar that plays music. Thanks Nana! Can't wait to see you again in November!

Check out my new big boy (12 month) fleece monkey sleeper. It's a good thing that daddy put this on me last night because we woke up to frost on the roofs this morning. I'm sure that sun will warm things up just in time for Lorelei's birthday party this afternoon.

I'm all bundled up to go for a morning walk with dad. Mom is staying home to get the house ready for the cleaners on Monday. Mommy found out over the past couple of weeks that she is the last of her friends on both coasts to hire a housecleaner. Oh, the tricks she learns from her mommy group. She also found out that you can order your groceries online through Thrifty's and that they'll deliver to your house for a flat fee of $8. When mommy told all the other neighbourhood moms about her new discovery, they all told her that they had been regularly using the service for a while. Hmmm, I wonder what other tricks these sharp mommies have up their sleeves...

Hanging out with the backyardigans...

As you can see, Boedy is busting out of his carrier. There's little Joseph in the background. His mommy is 7 months pregnant with numero deux.

Thank you Barters for the cute booties from New Zealand!

Tara (shares birthday with Boedy) holding hands with Atti (5 months)

Each day at about 4 o'clock, all the neighbourhood moms gather "out the back" for some mommy conversation and play time with the babes and toddlers. The dads start showing up shortly thereafter and we all have a nice little visit and talk about all things baby. Here are just a couple of shots of today's visit. I'll post some more next week so that you can meet Boedy's friends (and our friends too).

Mom and Boedy are Getting Fit

I had an amazing work out this morning at Bodies By London, www.bodiesbylondon.ca, a fitness studio that specializes in pre and post natal fitness, yoga, and dance located in Port Moody. Our first class was Mom & Baby Bootcamp. Boedy and I enjoyed every minute of it. Boedy sat in the middle of the studio with the other babies and watched me from his car seat the whole time. He seemed very interested in what was going on. Part of the work out requires the moms to run outside for about a minute. Each time that I came back from my run, Boedy greated me with a smile. Too cute! We had so much fun and it was great connecting with lots of other moms and babies. What a positive start to the day! We'll certainly be adding more classes to our weekly schedule. I'll take pictures next time we go.

Night, night!

"I've been eating by a crocodile. What sound does a crocodile make?"

"Mom & Baby Bootcamp in the morning, HOORAH!"

Post Nap

"I'm all rested up for my bath. I get to go in the big tub tonight."

" I've just learned how to tug on this thing. Now, if I could just figure out how to get it off."

Baby Sing & Learn

"Moomy took me to a Baby Sing & Learn Program at our local library this afternoon. I had so much fun reading, singing, and dancing but it tuckered me out. I enjoyed seeing my friend Colby and his mommy Erin too. Next week, we're going to the movies with Colby and his mommy. I can't wait!"

Boo!

"I'm having a little play before going to visit daddy's work. I'm so glad that I can now reach and play with the toys on my chair. I think it's pretty cool that the chair makes musical noises when I bat at my toys. Mom tells me that I look pretty cute in my new pumpkin onesie that daddy's co-workers bought me. She also seemed pretty surprised that it fits me like a glove seeing as it's 18-24 months. I've got a busy weekend coming up - I'm going to my cousin Lorelei's birthday on Saturday and to the pumpkin patch with my friends on Sunday. Fun, fun, fun! Daddy tells me that we may even be able to go on a hay ride before we pick our pumpkin. I hope that we can find a pumpkin as big as me."

First Family Weekend Since August!

I've got my family back.

I was solo for a solid month with Jessica and Boedy in the Maritimes. They had a great time and all was well, but man, what a long stretch without them!

This weekend marked the first time we've been able to do a family weekend since August. It was very normal, and generally uneventful, but wow... felt really good as it was a return to familiarity.

Hangin out with Dad.

Learning how to chop up mellons. Boedy is convinced that with a little practice, mom will get it eventually.

Learning how to ridicule the Leafs on Saturday night. The little man has it figured out already... he filled a diaper to match the ones the boys in blue wear around the ice.

Hangin out while mom rearranges his room. Out with the tiny clothes, in with the big boy clothes.