18 Month Check-up - Stats

We took Caleb for his 18 month well baby check up last week. Everything looks good - he's walking and talking and growing as expected. He's 86.5cm (34") long, 12.22kg (27lbs) and his head is 47cm (18.5"). His height to weight ratio has progressed from the first percentile at birth to the 49th percentile...so basically he's starting to look less like his dad and more like his mom :P

Caleb has about 15 words and another 10 or so signs that he uses consistently and in the right context...he's picking up more every day but STILL (to my continued disappointment) has not managed "mommy". Robin is "deeda" and thanks to Aunt Jane's efforts he's now got "nana" down, just in time for a visit to Ontario to see her. He's very outgoing around adults and always eager to impress and entertain but is much more reserved and shy around other kids. Robin is taking him on Saturday mornings to Kindermusik, where the ages of the kids range from 18 months to 3 years, making him among the youngest in the group. He stands to the side (often sucking his thumb) waiting for his turn to participate. He loves music and dancing (signs music and says "dance") and seems to really enjoy the class, but we think just needs to feel a little more sure of himself around other children before he'll take part on his own. It's only been 3 weeks so far, hopefully he'll gain some confidence and show some more independence in the coming weeks.

Helping Dad out in the yard...

Playing on his new slide...

Hanging out in the pool with pal, Jack...

Hanging out in the pool with Aunty J...

He's a very helpful little guy...mopping the floor for mom, then having a cuddle with dad....

Caleb's Maggie impersonation...

Riding the Waterloo Dark boar...and showing us all why he's starting to look more like mommy than daddy!

Pictou Wedding

We were invited to the wedding (on Aug 1) of a good friend from Robin's youth that was being held at the Pictou Lodge in Pictou, about an hour and a half drive from Fall River. We decided to make a nice weekend away out of it. For anyone considering visiting Nova Scotia I think Pictou is a must-stop! It's really lovely little town and the Pictou Lodge turned out to provide more than just adequate accommodations. For one thing, the accommodations were more than adequate, but there was also so much to do at the resort for adults and younguns alike.

There was a great park and life-sized chess set to play with:

We had a beautiful view from our cottage:

The wedding was really unique and the ceremony was beautiful. Both the bride and groom are musicians (flutist and percussionist, respectively) and they played a piece as part of the ceremony. Caleb was mesmerized. After the ceremony the wedding party picked up various instruments and began to lead a little parade. All the guests had pop cans filled with rice under their seats, meant for joining in:

Dancing and enjoying the reception. Caleb made many new friends and was far too busy entertaining everyone to realize it was way past his bedtime:

On Sunday we had some time to play in the ocean (Caleb's first time!) and enjoy a delicious brunch buffet before heading home:

Out and About at Home in NS

Besides traveling and weddings, we've been up to a fair bit this summer on the weekends. The weather hasn't always been seasonal (except for the past few weeks) but we've enjoyed a lot of what there is to do around Halifax and home, in Fall River.

Greek Fest is a big deal in these parts and, having lived in Greece for a while, Lori was anxious for the nostalgia the event would provide and to share some of her favourite Greek-isms to Caleb.

Neither the teddy bear balloon animal nor the clown fashioning it were particularly Greek, but Caleb enjoyed this treat:

Double forking it while enjoying some of Auntie's favourite Greek fare:

At Taylor Park between our house and friend Jack's house:

I played rugby this year for the first time since (apparently semi-) retirement back in 2004. I played with a team that's local to Fall River called Riverlake and had a fun time, despite being 8 or 9 years older than my next oldest teammates. We didn't do much winning, or even much scoring, but it was satisfying to give one more year to the sport. I'm now quite certain that my body is too old for such an aggressive sport. Perhaps next summer I'll find a nice soccer team or something.

Out supporting mommy at a rugby tournament:

Getting used to walking on uneven ground (he's an old pro by now):

A visit to the beach with Auntie and mom, near our house at Windsor Junction Community Centre:

Celebrating Jack's second birthday. I think this is a funny picture because it looks like Izzy sharing something super-important with Caleb and Jack over cake:

Checking out what Jack's Nanny and Borris (the dog) are up to down in the backyard:

The tall ships came to Halifax this summer and it was a pretty big deal. We took at Saturday to go check out some of the festivities and board a few of the ships. Jody, Brian and Jack came with us and we really lucked out weather-wise because the whole rest of that weekend was rainy and foggy.

Tall Ships 2009, with Jody, Brian and Jack:

Just plain funny:

Auntie Tina's Wedding in Ontario

Again this year we spent our summer vacation in Ontario and this year we had the added fun of being there for my sister Tina's wedding on June 27. The trip was a little shorter than we had planned since I went back to work on June 1 to a new job and didn't think it would be appropriate to take 2 weeks off after only 2 weeks of working, nor did I really feel the need for a vacation just yet! The wedding was beautiful and we had a chance to spend some time with lots of family and friends.

The vacation begins...on the road from Ottawa to Peterborough:

Sitting with Grandma during the ceremony:

Taking a break with mom in the shade:

Giving Auntie Tina our congratulations (isn't she pretty?):

He was so good all through dinner and the speeches...he spent some time with everyone...
Uncle Jeffrey and Grandma:

His cousins (my cousin Ted's kids) Liam and Ethan:

Tina's wedding cake that I made:

Showing cousin Emma how this eating this is done:

Back at the cottage we invited friends to visit on Sunday...

Having some lunch with Alexis and her mommy (Suzanne):

We saw lots of other friends that day too but I just got too busy to keep taking pictures of everyone :S

At the end of a long day taking a bath. My mom used to bath Tina in the sink at the cottage too (back then it was a laundry tub though!) and this picture reminds me of one I know I have of Tina somewhere...

Monday we took a quick trip to Toronto to visit a few people...

Meeting Charlie for the first time and hanging out with his mom (Madeleine):

Visiting and having a snack with Hannah...

...and Autumn:

Meeting Ava for the first time (and visiting mom's friends Melissa and Jeff):

Pooped:

Last day in Peterborough, checking out Papa's boat:

Swinging with Nana and Papa on the deck:

Back in Ottawa, visiting Molly, Fred, Nick & Etienne:

And eating their sand:

We spent 5 very busy days there together and then the boys stayed on in Ottawa to visit with friends and family while I returned home to go back to work. This also conveniently provided the perfect opportunity to bring a bittersweet end to nursing.

Caleb's First Steps

Caleb has been cruising for months and spent our entire trip to Ontario recently (for Auntie Tina's wedding) insisting on holding onto someone's finger while walking around. Mostly Grandma's finger, all through the halls of her condo building I hear, but I didn't stick around long enough to see it for myself :( On Saturday, after picking up Robin and Caleb from the airport, I was making dinner and Caleb must have been really excited about the food (wonder where he gets that?!) and forgot himself to take a couple steps towards me (and the food) on his own.

We couldn't get him to go it again but on Wednesday after work I got home and he was going after the flowers that were on the kitchen table. I put the flowers on the floor and grabbed the video camera (it's Auntie Lori behind the camera!) and sure enough, he walked right for them. After so many months of "practice" we knew there'd be no stopping him once he was ready to let go...

I Love GroBaby!

I have lots of different types of cloth diapers - flats, fitteds, pockets, AIOs; commercially made, WHAM-made...you name it. From newborn through toddlerhood my favourite has been the BumGenius 3.0 OS pocket, mostly because it has fit Caleb really well at all stages, has never once leaked and is easy to use/wash. I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting cloth diapering options though and I follow Autumn Beck's blog All About Cloth Diapers and clicked through to the Cloth Diaper Superstore to look at the new BumGenius Organic OS AIOs and found these.

My new GroBaby diaper system arrived about a week later and has since surpassed the BumGenius 3.0 as my all-time favourite cloth diaper. They fit great, look adorable, don't leak AND (possibly best of all) I can switch out the snap in insert and keep using the shell as long as it isn't soiled. I really couldn't ask for much more...there must be some enterprising cloth diaper enthusiast working on a self-cleaning model, no?

I will say that I've had a hard time teaching anyone else (babysitter, husband, auntie...regardless of how often they change diapers) how to use this system. The shell inevitably ends up in the diaper pail after only one (non-soiled) use and I end up with clean inserts and no shells. Perhaps GroBaby could produce a nice instruction card that could be posted on the side of my clean diaper basket for the less cloth diaper savvy users in my house :)

Pic of Caleb in his Kiwi GroBaby to follow...

Adventures in the Laundry Basket and Other Fun Times

Some more random pictures:

Caleb sporting his new wool diaper cover. I'm not nuts about this one, but it's super cute. For a while there was no place that he was happier than sitting in the laundry basket filled with his toys. Hours of quiet enjoyment. It made me laugh when he would suddenly disappear below the edge of the basket because he was leaning over in search of the next toy he wanted to chew on. Then he'd sit up with gusto, holding the selected toy up like a prize. So. Cute. Did I mention how much this kid loves to eat? That's blueberries all over his face, and he's loving every second. The last pic is of him in one of his sleeping sacks. I made this one...it's fleece camo.

Ladies' Man:

Kisses for Hannah...kisses for Autumn...hmmm he seems to really like Alexis :P The other day he offered me a kiss for the first time. I usually have to ask and even then he'll only do it if he feels like it. But the other day he was sitting on my lap and turned to grab my face with both hands and then just planted one (a very slobbery one!) on my cheek. What a sweetheart!

These were taken during our recent trip to Ontario to celebrate Christmas with my family. Tina's fiance, Scott, was home from Afghanistan for 3 weeks, so we decided to celebrate early while he could be with us. We stayed in Ottawa with Robin's mom most of the time and made a couple of short side-trips to Eaganville (where Tina and Scott live) and Peterborough/Stouffville. The picture on the left is Caleb with Robin's mom, the middle is him playing with some of his new loot, and on the right hanging out with Magg.

One day while shopping in a store in Bedford called Bump, Baby & Beyond, I got talking to the girl that was working and one thing lead to another...and well she invited me to her playgroup :) I've really enjoyed getting to know some other moms and especially the small group of moms and babies that live in our little area of the HRM. In the pics above we're at a "mini-playdate" at Lily and Landen's house.