Jasper is so happy that baby can finally reach the train table to play trains (well, sort of....)
Jasper finished his ENTIRE potty chart in one week. It took him 3 months to get 3 stickers and thanks to the crash course in SUmmerland, he is now a peeing pro! Now its off to the toy store for his prize!
Playing in the backyard
New vs Old Christine!
Sue the bday girl and Kieran Day
All the Days and Nielsens
Jasper was on "holidays" all last week in the Okanagan (thanks Mimi/Papa, Auntie Shell and Cousins!!) While on holidays, Jasper got a crash course in potty, going both inside and out (again MANY THANKS to Mimi/Papa/Auntie Shell). And while Jasper is still pretty resistant to going indoors, give the kid a patch of grass/bush/puddle and its go pee/poop go! We are so proud and we are blazing through the big bag of Smarties : )
We also had a couple of bday celebrations this weekend. Auntie Sue and the entire Day clan came over to celebrate her "39th" and we had a fabulous time at Katelyn's 3rd bday at Maple Grove pool.
The girls getting their drink on at the Wine Bar
The old stomping grounds, soon to be torn down!
Replace the Smirnoff with Rockaberry Cooler and we could be back in high school!
The babies chatting about life at the family BBQ at Willows beach
Classic Self Portrait
Griffin is 8 months old! And to mark the occasion with style - he decided to spring his top two teeth (complete with lovely gap between) AND start crawling AND pull himself up standing all on his own. Looks like Griffin is in a hurry to catch up with big brother - perhaps an early walker on our hands? And just perhaps, might be potty trained before Jasper?!
We also had a lovely visit to the Okanagan - perfect weather and lots of fun visits with family and friends.....
Auntie Sha Sha and Uncle Ty looking gorj!
G and J's first Quad ride
G on the moose
Ole Mor sharing some laughs with G
(this is what it says on the tshirt Jasper made Aaron)
"My Dad likes to watch Wall-E.
His favorite tv show is hockey and his favorite thing to do is go fishing and get the mail.
Jasper."
I think Jasper captured the essence of Daddy quite well, and his likeness too!!
Thanks Papa C for coming to build our playfort (and fence!). We love you!
Griffin showing off his hammering skills
King of the Castle!
Griffin rockin the slide
Team Nielsen On Board
Train Heaven
And He's Up - Griffin Pulling to Standing!
Thomas Pseudo-Bouncy Castle Thing
Cinders and Ashes! Its Thomas!
Whoever came up with this little idea must be laughing while watching the truck (or shall I say train) loads of money come rolling in..... We ventured up to Squamish last weekend for the annual "Day Out With Thomas" event. Basically, this is probably as close to Utopia as possible for Jasper - loads of food, bouncy castles, trains and a zillion kids to play trains with...and of course Thomas. Although, what should have been the climax of the day - the actual train ride on Thomas itself turned out to be the low-light. Imagine cramming onto a stuffy un-air conditioned passenger car with a zillion little kids screaming, and once we finally get going (at about 1 mile an hour) we reverse thru some bushes, pull forward into some crappy industrial area, stop, reverse and go back. Total train trip = barely 20 mins, Total ticket price = 66$, Total Tantrums = 3, Thomas memories to last a lifetime = Priceless!!
Jasper - you are 3!!
My sweet little boy, you have changed so much this past year. You have blossomed into such a social butterfly and can make friends with anyone at any time it seems. You are still so sweet and gentle with others, although you are starting to stand up for yourself more often when someone threatens to take a favorite of yours. Despite that, you are still happily willing to share and you make me so proud. You still love going to "escuela" (school) and have made some great buds. You are speaking some spanish and saying all your letters and numbers up to 30 (and spanish numbers to 10!). Your coordination still needs a little work, but I am sure that spaziness comes from Dad (hee). Lightning McQueen has taken over from Thomas as the favorite toy du jour, but you still have a soft spot in your heart for trains. You can articulate more and more complex thoughts and sentences and are speaking so clearly. We are still working on the potty thing, but we will get there eventually. Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you!
Ok, so for the official birthday weekend recap (and yes, we had cake of some form at each of these events).....
Bday trip to Science World with the Cousins and a ride on "Spencer"! (aka SkyTrain)
Lunch at White Spot and Picnic Dinner at Cates Park!!!
Big Bday Bash with all the cousins and friends at Mickey McDougall
Some Bday Knitted Treats from Olde!
Daddy and Griffin at Confederation Park
Me looky barfy on Mother's Day
Suddenly, I look at the calendar and its May 24th - GASP! My baby is turning 3 in 5 short days (and my other baby 7 months!) - DOUBLE GASP!
The sun has also decided to make its presence known late this month which has been lovely as we have been logging a lot of time on the playground circuit and getting the backyard ready for the summer. We also braved the bridge and tunnel crowds at the Cloverdale Rodeo and had a great time, well, until the ride tickets ran out and the mini donuts were all consumed........
Mother's Day came and went with a fizzle instead of sizzle. Unfortunately I think our old friend Norwalk decided to pay me a visit a few days prior so I got to spend the entire weekend spending QT with the bathroom...le sigh. Aaron stepped up to the plate wonderfully and looked after all 3 of us all weekend long, and I even managed to choke down some of my breakie (it was really good honest, it was just the nausea) and the lovely choc chip cookies Jasper baked for me (you know you are really sick when you can barely eat a home baked cookie). Jasper also composed a wonderful song for me, called the "Mommy Song" - who says musical genes don't run in our family?
B is for the second Bottom tooth that Griffin has sprung in the past 2 weeks. B is also for a whole Bunch of drool (click on photos to see drool in all its full body glory).
B is for bdays! Happy Bday to Mum and Happy Bday to my Bro who is edging oh so close to 40
B is for Buzz cut - the bsat way for us to avoid having to take Jasper to get his hair cut too often
Today is Griffin's 6 month birthday and since I have already posted many of his amazing accomplishments in my last post, I will add just a brief commentary and a few vids highlighting some of his new skills (that being the tongue stick out, sitting and of course rockin the jumperoo!).
Unofficially my sweet boy you must tip the scales around 19 lbs and are bursting out of all your 6 month clothing. Nobody makes you laugh more and harder than your big brother and I love watching your relationship with him grow with each passing month. You adore solid food and I swear eat more than your brother, and thanks to some serious sleep training, are now doing some "good" nights and even better naps - dare I say I might actually get regular REM cycles again?! You are so close to being able to sit up without a safety net of cushions all around you and you are still the biggest cuddle bug, and for that I am so thankful.
Sweating, sleeping and cruisin in San Fran
We are still a few days shy of Griffin's 6 month bday, but he had such a big week of firsts that I wanted to blog/brag about it early.
1. After MANY weeks of slow torture and much drool - his first tooth appeared! (followed very closely by the second on the bottom front)
2. First plane ride to San Francisco, which was accompanied by his first heat wave (it was 30 degrees both days!!)
3. First real roll over from back to front. Except that he gets mucho pissed once on his tummy. He also started the roll over at night in the crib, which means mucho crying because he can't right himself and/or gets stuck in the bars.
4. First "sleep thru the night". After 2+ weeks of sleep training, Griffin actually slept from 7:30 until 6:28am 2 nights in a row with only one wakeup (me waking him intentionally to feed). This was followed by many nights of terrible sleep after San Fran, but ah well.
5. First actual jumping in the jumperoo (as opposed to just sitting there, or having his brother bounce him) - its too funny and will try to post a video clip.
6. And what parental blog entry would not be complete without a mention of poop. Griffin also had his first bout of constipation while in San Fran - bu-bye ooey gooey breast milk poos!
The cousins. Impossible to get all 5 still at the same time!
Consuming chocolate egg # 200
Choo! Choo!
What better way to start off the easter caloric indulgence weekend than a sunny trip to Stanley Park to ride the train and to...hunt for chocolate eggs! Of course, approx. 90% of Vancouver's population also had the same idea so it was a bit crazy but fun nonetheless. I think Griffin enjoyed his first train ride!
Saturday was all about indulgence for me...I cashed in my bday prezzie and spent 2blissful hrs at the spa, so lovely. We then were treated to a deelish meal at Jose and Pilar's which was capped by not one, but two huge slices of easter cake (and about 4/5 glasses of vino - yum!).
Sunday was easter lunch at the Days...again, much much food, not as much drink (only due to the early hour) and much more dessert (incl. Paigey;s birthday cake!)and chocolate.
And I wonder why my jeans are tight these days....
...and there is still more chocolate in the house : )
