Just another day

Yesterday we went to floor hockey again. I managed to get Elijah to play for most of the session this time. I bribed him. Yes, I will admit to using that tactic when necessary. It was a cheap bribe; chocolate milk for floor hockey. Whatever works, right? He had a good time, so it was worth while.

After the session we were on the bleachers having a snack. I was holding Charlotte on my lap and opening a granola bar. She was grabbing for it and I joked to Yvette that she was looking hungry. Yvette offered me a baby MumMum for her since Avery was eating them. I thought I'd try it out, thinking Charlotte would just play with it or gag on it or something. Nope. She ate it so fast I couldn't believe it! Then she ate a second bar, holding it herself!! Crazy child. Guess I have to start buying some of those for her now.

The sun was out yesterday morning too, so when Elijah and Charlotte were finished their snacks we went outside. One of Elijah's favorite things to do is run. So, he ran for a while. We have a game in the dirt field outside of the community center. He picks a post to run to and I follow him with Charlotte in the stroller. He loves it. We ended up at the playground, which I thought would be wet. It wasn't so he played there for a bit on the slides.

After all that, we went home. In the car on the way home we passed someone walking. That led to a discussion about relative speeds of things. Cars are faster than people walking and riding bikes, but sometimes motorcycles are faster than cars. So, he says to me, "I'm going to get big and Papa's going to get small. Then I'm going to ride on the front of the motorcycle and he's going to ride on the back. Then we can go vrooooom aaaaall around the roads. Wouldn't that be cool, Mama?" Yup, that's his father's son.

Taking a walk

On Sunday, another beeautiful February day here in Burnaby, we went for a little walk down by the river. We fed the ducks mostly, but also walked around a little bit and just soaked up the sun in general. Gary and I both had cameras so we took a lot of shots.

A gold medal for Elijah

For some reason, despite the fact that Elijah loves playing hockey, he resists playing in the floor hockey class I signed him up for these past couple months. I'm really not sure why this is, aside from it being an "attention grabbing" scheme. Anyway, last week, after coaxing from myself and the 2 instructors, we managed to get him participating a little bit. At the end of the class they were each presented with a gold medal and got to stand on a little podium to receive it. I got a couple pictures of the presentation and him playing. Josh was there too, so he's in some of these shots.

Jolly Jumper Update and more

It's been a while since we recorded Charlotte in the jolly jumper. You can see the last video of it here (taken in November). I figured, since she's so much more enthusiastic now, I'd post another one. It's pretty fun to see. It was taken February 14th.

Here's another one of her playing peek-a-boo. No interference from Elijah this time.

And the last one to share was taken just minutes ago. She was sitting here talking at me. She sounds so intent on getting her point across.

Little did I know she was trying to get me to change her diaper...

Gung Hay Fat Choy - So starts the year of the tiger

The kids and I hosted the New Year's Eve dinner here. All I had to do was cook the rice as Helen and Yehyeh brought all the other food! Helen had bought a New Year's outfit for Charlotte and I did her hair in an approximation of the good luck and oh-so-cute "fire cracker". Elijah didn't get an outfit, but got a hat with a long braid attached. Very cool. Yumi wore her outfit and was so cute. So, here are a few shots from miscellaneous sources of the evening. The New Year's dinner actually just took place last night, since Gary was home. Hot pot! Mmmmm... We also celebrated Ed's birthday. The only picture I have is a shot of his cake. So, Happy Birthday as well, Ed!

Charlotte's first swim

Last week Charlotte and I went to the pool for her first swim! Yvette and Avery came with us to keep us company. I had quite an adventure finding swim diapers and a swim suit for her. I went to Zellers the day before, assuming that they'd have both items- no problem. Not the case. I guess they're considered seasonal despite the fact that children take swimming lessons and warm beach vacations even in the winter. I found exactly ONE single swim suit of any size, shape or color in Zellers. And what do you know - it was the right size! I wasn't too picky at that point so I bought it. Only $7 too, so didn't worry too much about it. Turns out it fit right and looked pretty cute. So, I'm happy with it. I took some pictures of her in it before we went to the pool. Since it was just me handling her in the water I didn't have opportunity for pictures in the pool. But I'll tell you this - she's a water baby! No fussing at all. Loved the water. Splashed around, looked around, played with the rubber duckies and even let me float her on her back. Pretty cool. Didn't even cry in the shower afterwards. Yay Charlotte!

Charlotte at 8 months!

Well, as mentioned in my last post, I didn't have pictures of her yet. I've remedied the situation and here are her 8-monthiversary pictures! She's sitting up, playing with things in her crib and showing off her first tooth! She got that a few weeks ago - on January 25th! She's earlier with her teeth than Elijah - 7.5 months instead of 11 months. She's working on her second tooth now. I don't see any sign of the top ones yet.