NO PARENTS!

August 29, 2011

Fin had his first night away from mum and dad...PARTY!

Fin and I (aunty carls) had a wicked time without the parents around...

We watched the fountain at the park.

chewed on sophie's head...nothing new here.

more quality time with sophie.

met some interesting kids around the swings.

is this love?

i think so.

squeezed him into his super rad high-top shoes and brand new overalls, looking good little man.

went to watch the ducks.

hanging out in the shade.

the ducks came nice and close.

cute...we had tons of fun...i am so tired.

Auntie Car-Car Comes to Town

August 24, 2011

Finlay's Aunt Carleigh is visiting on her way home from Australia and boy are we ever having fun together!

We went to the beach and played with Finlay's friend Henry (they're in a band together, hence the tambourine).

Finlay leaked after his picnic.

Playing us a tune.

Finlay and Carleigh together at the beach.  She finally made it onto the blog!

We couldn't get Fin to look at the camera because there was so much to look at that was way more interesting.  This is probably the 20th shot of the three of us standing in this spot.

Great beach day!

We went to Salt Spring Island for a short day trip (trips are shorter with a baby!!)  This is Finlay and Auntie Car waiting to get onto the Ferry.  You can't see it, but his hat says "Cheeky Monkey" and gets lots of comments because he is pretty endowed in the cheek department.

Mama and Finny on the Ferry.  He fell asleep in the Ergo promptly after this photo.

 Finlay laying back and enjoying the ride in his stroller.  We walked around the market and some shops, we ate a picnic on the park lawn at the market, listened to some live music, and had such a great time we forgot to take pictures!

Another milestone - Finlay is standing and holding himself up!  I keep my hands nearby to catch him when he falls but he really enjoys the view from up there.  Here he is at the pub before the ferry back home.

"Let go mum!  I can do it myself!"

Checking out the view.

"Check it out, Auntie Car!"

"The beers are on me!"

On the docks in Fulford Harbour.

We had a beautiful day!

 

Finlay is Eight Months Old... and a few days...

August 20, 2011

My have we been busy!  Finlay is changing more and more every day and it is keeping Tyler and I on our toes!  Here is a quick update and a few of the latest pictures.

 Finlay is still working on crawling.  He can push up on his hands and that propels him backwards and he has figured out how to pull himself from side to side.  He has yet to pull himself forward and, although it doesn't really seem necessary all of the time, he has got himself into a few positions in which forward motion is essential.  In the picture above, Fin has backed himself into the bookshelf and his legs are straddling the corner.  If he moved left he was bending his left leg to an uncomfortable degree and if he moved right he was doing the same this to his right leg.  I had to move him after he got upset trying but only getting more and more frustrated.

 Finlay is into finger-foods.  He loved Veggie-Booty, peas, rice cakes and veggie-pancakes.  In this shot he is trying whole broccoli, steamed, for the first time.  He wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

 Then is went in his mouth!

 It's my favourite veggie too!

Finlay working on crawling.

I keep placing toys he wants just out of reach to encourage him to move forward.  He will stretch and flex his feet but doesn't push or pull forward.  Progress though; he no longer pushes himself away from the toy he wants!  After a few tries he gives up and just plays with something closer.  He's a pretty chill kid when it comes to that sort of thing.

Hopefully we'll get some more posts up soon!  Hope you are all enjoying the end of the summer!  We sure are!

TOYS!

August 12, 2011

This post is actually a little behind.  I (Tyler) have not been on my game in helping out on the blog as much as I would like and I had been meaning to get a post up for a couple of weeks but have failed miserably.

In early August, Finlay, Mom and I were playing on his play mat when we heard our apartment buzzer ring. The intercom currently is a one way only sort of situation, however our balcony is just above the main entrance which has led us to not answering the buzzer and simply poking our heads over the balcony to see who it might be.  On this day the visitor was for Finlay.  A very nice letter carrier had a package for Finlay.  Neither Lyndze or I knew what it was but quickly figured out that Grandma had been online shopping at a little store in Dundas which specializes in wooden/"natural" toys.  It was quite interesting to see Finlay's reaction as we began to pull the toys out of the box. The look on his face was so excited and there was no doubt in his mind that what was in the box was for him.

"For me?  Really?  You shouldn't have!"

Shocked and stunned.  Such a lucky bub!  You can see an owl (right) whose wings crackle when you touch them.  Lyndze is working on the second bedroom for Finlay and there is an owl theme.  Not sure who was more excited about this toy, Lyndze or Fin.  What you cannot see is that under the owl's wing is a baby owl that chirps when you play with it.  Finlay has already figured that out and he loved to shake it.  Too cute!

Two toys with wheels came in the package.  These little car toys are meant to roll away from babies as a way to entice them to crawl. We'll see how it works!

Lead free paint may not be as tasty but Finlay does not seem to mind.

Finlay has a couple toy car-ish things but he is a big fan of this car in particular.

We were all dressed up and ready to go out as Finlay has one final chew on his doll.  There was also a great rattle that rolls in the package of which Finlay loves the sound.  We do too, actually, it's a soft sound and he could shake it all day and we wouldn't complain.

Thanks Grandma!  Finlay is just loving his new toys!  (and so are we:)

Summer Days

August 6, 2011

A lot of people ask us, "How have you been spending the summer?" and some expect some vacation stories, trips, days at the beach, etc..  Although we are having a nice summer, I would say that in some ways it is a lot quieter than we're used to.  

For the past eleven summers we have worked at camp, and we were both campers for most of the summer for the 7 or 8 years before that...  Our summers have always been fantastic and every day off something worth writing home about.  

But there is no vacation for us this year!  We are hard at work!  Finlay has been having some challenges with getting enough sleep (by default, so have we!).  We are reading books and talking to lots of other parents and trying to figure out how to help him (and us) get some more quality shut-eye (more quantity would be good too).

Currently, the main plan is routine.  We had some little trips here and there planned but have decided to post-pone them until the fall in the hopes that sticking around here will help Finlay figure out this sleeping thing.  This doesn't mean that our summer has been void of fun!  We have been spending lots of time at the park, walking to the beach, enjoying the many farmers markets and artisan markets around town, and going to various baby-group outings.  When we are at home, Finlay works on his crawling (still on his tummy and dragging himself around at present), we work on baby-proofing, and there is of course, NAP TIME!  

When Finlay naps, sometimes we nap, but when we don't catch up on z's we are sure to visit Cafe Nap-Time.  Our balcony is small but is sunny in the afternoon and we sit outside with the baby monitor, some food and drinks, and sometimes a book.  It's amazing.  It's the best cafe I've ever been to!  If Fin is awake and we want to hang out at our cafe, we just pull his highchair up to the door, so he is shaded, and he plays with his toys and watches the leaves move in the wind and listens to the crows chatter on the power-lines and has a great time! Fun for the whole family!

We did get out for a day of sailing (instead of the overnight trip we had planned) with Hilary and Calvin.  Hilary did an amazing job with the boat and the weather was great.  

Finlay stretching out in his sun-suit.

Finlay helping pull up the sails (he is chewing on a rope).

More rope-chewing with mama (I didn't give it a try).

Finlay is growing so fast!  This is him in an outfit his Nans got him when we were in Ontario.  It seemed so big in June but I pulled it out today and it fits him!  There is an orange Westphalia van on the socks and shirt.