The Adventures of the HRGCs: August 2013

The Boat One

August 25, 2013

Another lovely sailing trip thanks to Captain Bruce. Finlay is at an age now where he is really interested in boats (and diggers and trucks and other large motorized vehicles) so the trip was a really big hit. Something finally trumped the airplane ride.

The weather was perfect for the day trip to Sidney Spit. We packed a lovely lunch and it was really nice to catch-up with the newly-weds and to see Bruce, once again, interacting with Fin and Shay (this man really needs grandbabies!).

Here is Finlay with the WHEEL! Any park we go to he is driving the boat and just loves the wheels on the play-equipment. This was a real wheel - "not pretend Mama" he reassured me.

Hilary and Fin driving the boat. At the end of the day, Bruce let Fin actually drive the boat. He turned us in circles and could feel the reaction to his turns. He was wild about it and talked about it for days.

"I see 'Enemy'!" You know who you are...

Shay-Shay and Mama. He didn't fight the LJ too hard. Even nursed in it.

Serious sailor. Cutest baby on the boat.

On the Spit. Fin has a net. We are looking for "something."

We Ontarians aren't familiar with the sea shore. If you pick up large and loose rocks you find these little crabs. We found tons and picked them up and felt them "tickle" as they tried escape.

More crabs! Fin refused to take his LJ off. He loved it.

Fin and Daddy walking along the beach.

Finlay found "a home" and he and Bruce played in it.

"Mama, do you want to play in my home with me?"

The language coming out of this guy amazes me.

Family.

Little feet in a big ocean.

Love it.

Thanks so much to Bruce and to Hilary for arranging things! It was just lovely and Fin really enjoyed it!

Three Sleepless Nights = Shayme's First Tooth

August 18, 2013

The teeth are here! Sleep is just around the corner, right? We were up all night for three nights in a row. Then, after a particularly rough night, we were sitting at our favourite cafe and I saw something! Something in his gummy smile was different. So I stuck my finger in his mouth and there was a sharp little tooth poking out. By the end of the day there were two. I'm going to miss that gummy smile but I'm so happy that all those sleepless nights were for teething after all!

Here he is, back to being just cute. He loves this baby faces book.

I tried to get a picture of the teeth but it was really just a blurry photo of my finger.

We went blackberry picking up the street and when we got home I gave Shay three berries to eat/play with and....

... he popped one in his mouth and...

.... "What is this sweet surprise?"

He loved them!

"More berries!"

He had berries in every roll and all over his chair. A very sweet mess!

Check out the Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJV0JHnRq8k

Grasping at the Heel

August 4, 2013

What's in a name? Seamus is Gaelic for "James" which means "one who grabs at the heel." When the biblical character Jacob (aka James) was born, he was grasping his twin brother Esau's heel.

Seamus is captivated by Finlay. He watches him intently for hours each day. He hangs on his every word, sound, movement, giggle... He is also often grasping at him. His little hands are always hooking onto Fin's clothes, hair, blankie, etc.. Fin's reaction is mostly "MY ARM" or "MY E!" and to pull the interesting subject quickly and violently away from the exploratory baby.

Shay is so interested in his world. I cannot wear earrings these days or he will pull my ear off to get at them. He is so happy to roll and reach and examine and play. He's a little scientist.

Shay just decided that he sits now. One day he didn't like anything I was doing with him until I put him in a seated position. He still falls over regularly but if he wants to sit he sits.

Playing hockey with an Aussie. I don't think Thea saw anything wrong with the size of the puck or her lack of stick. Going to have to get this kid ministicks soon! Canucks or Leafs?

Here he is sitting!

So happy! You can really tell that he just wants to be doing what Finlay is doing and sometimes he is so frustrated the he is not. But sitting is something Finlay does (barely ever, but it is a big kid thing) and it is so satisfying to Shay.

Shay is totally his own little person and he is so very different from his brother but he is grasping at Fin's heel. He is so eager to join him in play, in food, in making messes - in life!

Adventures in Food

August 1, 2013

Shay is now six months old and interested in what we're doing at the dinner table. So, after some reading and chatting with some other parents, Tyler and I decided to adventure into the world of baby-led-weaning. Weaning being the next stage of eating and not weaning off breast-milk. This means that we aren't going the conventional route and feeding Shay "baby food" or mashed up food. We fed Finlay home-made baby food and found that it was a lot of effort and he had difficulty digesting most of it.

And so, the new adventure with whole pieces of food began.

Some rice cake went over well. He gummed at it and drooled and got some down. The idea is that he is interacting with the food, exploring it, playing with it. There are some new smells, tastes, textures, and maybe he will get something into his belly. All of his actual nutrition still comes from milk.

Finlay is trying new foods too. We are starting to feed him eggs (free-range and organic) and, after months of just trying a little his is now really going for it. Not a vegan anymore!