Christmas

Christmas Eve we had an early dinner (homemade pizza), & took the kids to Church at 6pm. They did so well & were relatively quiet :). We were about half an hour early, but still about half an hour later than everyone else. We ended up having to sit in a room off to the side where extra chairs were set up. It worked out well & there was less pressure to keep the kids perfectly behaved. After church we picked up some hot chocolate & took a drive to see Christmas lights. A neighborhood close by has some of the most amazing lights.



Owen woke up earlier than usual Christmas morning, I guess he could sense the excitement. We wanted him to wait while Gavin ran downstairs & got the video camera, he wasn't very happy about having to wait. He didn't understand why he couldn't go downstairs with daddy. It was only a minute he had to wait, but I guess it felt like an eternity! He was really excited to see the gifts that Santa brought, & he was a pro opening his gifts this year! Noah really didn't care about opening gifts besides trying to eat the paper, but he did like some of his new toys.





My mom won this display at work. Imagine my surprise when they showed up in the afternoon with the hugest gift ever! The cardboard sleigh is in the recycle & the bigger than life dog is now downstairs. This after we told my mom to "cut back on gifts" so funny.


Christmas video

Charcoal Portraits

While in Hanoi, friends of ours were gracious enough to get some charcoal portraits made of the boys. We love how they turned out! photos don't do them justice but you get the idea.

Noah


Owen

10 Months Old

My little baby turned 10 months today, soon we'll be planning his birthday party. In many ways it feels like Noah has always been a part of our family & in other ways it seems like he was just born yesterday...minus the postpartum pain of course!

This past month Noah has really become more fun. He plays more with Owen & his favourite game is to have Owen chase him around, or have us carry him & chase Owen. Noah giggles so much when he plays with Owen it is really cute to see them together. He is a crawling machine & is on the go non-stop, he is a really fast crawler. Just recently he has learned to pull himself up to standing using the coffee table or a chair as leverage. He gets the proudest look on his face when he accomplishes something, & when he tries something that doesn't work out, well my boy has a temper!

Noah's personality is so different than Owen's as a baby. I find it fascinating really, & often find myself dreaming of what they will be like when they grow up. Noah is a risk taker, full of curiosity, & always finding trouble. I have a feeling his teenage years are going to be really difficult for us!

Finally some teeth! his two top teeth came in first. Gavin affectionately calls him "baby beaver or little chomper" because he still doesn't have any bottom teeth! They are coming soon though.


playing peek-a-boo


When Noah had the stomach flu we had him weighed at the doctor's, he had lost a pound and weighed 18.9lbs. but I think he's starting to gain weight again.


I just love Noah's hair, it's an awesome colour with perfect highlights. It's starting to get curly & I love how it curls up on the sides. So cute!


First major ouchie. Poor baby bumped his forehead off the tile floor :( the bruise came immediately but luckily with a little ice there was no bump.


We love you Noah!

Owen Singing

Snow Day

Owen was begging to go out & play in the snow this morning. Noah & I enjoyed watching him from the patio doors, Owen seemed to really be having fun! With Noah still not feeling well I didn't bother to take him out.

"look mommy - I brought you a piece of my snowman!"


It was difficult to walk in the snow. I should know, I had to go out twice to help him up, put his boot back on & help him with his mittens.





everything about this boy is adorable!

We were hit with a nasty stomach flu on friday and just now starting to feel better. I won't go into detail, but it was bad. I am so thankful that Gavin wasn't sick & was able to care for us. I was so worried about Noah getting dehydrated & stressed about that for the past few days. We took him to the walk-in clinic saturday to make sure he was getting enough fluids. It's so hard when your baby is sick, you feel so helpless. Luckily, Owen got a very mild case of the flu, & after a good nights sleep on saturday was better.

We missed a Christmas party with friends that have adopted from Vietnam, but there was no way we could make it.

Noah could only keep down about 2 ounces of formula at a time, & small amounts of pedialyte. Today he is able to eat 4-5 ounces at a time. He hasn't had any solids since friday morning, if he continues to keep his formula down I will try him with some cereal at supper.

He's playing with some toys now so that's a good sign! up until now he's been mostly cuddling & sleeping.

A Weekend of Christmas Fun

We had a busy weekend full of Christmas fun. Saturday we went to an evening parade with friends of ours & their kids. Owen loved it he was bouncing to the music, watching closely for Santa & gathering tons of candy canes for the ride home. After the parade we went out for dinner with our friends, the kids behaved so well!.

We bundled Noah & Owen up for the parade. Noah could hardly move, he would just move his eyes back & forth to watch the floats go by! He was really good during the parade he liked watching the lights I think.


Gingerbread House Float


Owen was really excited to see Santa Claus. You could hear Santa saying "HO HO HO" on the speakers & Owen's eyes were glued to the parade waiting to see Santa!


On Sunday morning we listened to Christmas carols & decorated our Christmas tree. Owen had fun helping decorate this year. He kept putting most of his decorations in the same spot, so we had to spread them out over the tree when he was finished. We had one casualty on the new hardwood floors, but for the most part the decorations made it on the tree. I bought a new pre-lit Christmas tree in the States a couple of weeks ago & I LOVE IT! It's much nicer than out old one & easier to put up as well. Our cat (seymour) loves it too though & still hasn't learned to keep away from the tree!


Sunday evening Gavin's work had their annual kids Christmas party, it is held at the fantasy fair in the Woodbine Center. The kids get dinner, tons of treats including donuts, cotton candy, candy canes, slushies, & ice cream! It is kind of crazy, but the kids love it. Santa is there for pictures & the kids get to ride on the rides all evening & take home presents! It really is a fun party.

I thought for sure Noah would cry on Santa's knee, but he played with his beard instead. Owen stayed perfectly still, obviously unsure of what to make of meeting Santa. I think he thought Noah would protect him if needed. At least this year Gavin & I didn't have to sit on Santa's Knee with Owen! I will post the picture they took of the kids on Santa's knee when we get it.


Riding the Carousel with mommy.


Owen's favourite ride by far! of course it was the only ride that cost money.


Owen loved the train! this year he got to ride with daddy.


Eating ice cream at 9pm. Just what every two year old should experience. We had a minor meltdown after the ice cream. Obviously staying out so late, eating junk food & riding rides all night was a little much for Owen to handle. We left just after 9, & finally got home around 11pm. We were exhausted! When Owen finally settled down to sleep he told us how much fun he had. The Christmas party was totally worth it, meltdown & all. We are happy it is only once a year though.


Tonight we are off to welcome home our friends & their baby girl at the airport! I am really looking forward to it. They have waited so long, & tonight we finally get to meet their sweet baby!

Our Family

Our family according to Owen :)



Daddy, Mommy, Owen & Noah

What is Noah you ask? Owen seems to think he is a plastic bun from his play kitchen set. He is too funny. He never plays with any stuffed animals so it is interesting to me that he chose the ones he did. Two of them are from Vietnam!

I've updated Noah's 9 month post with his weight & height.

Since the weather has gotten a little colder we've been visiting a local play place. Owen has such a great time there he is really comfortable running around & having fun with the other kids. He has started to share toys much better & I must say that he is the most polite two year old I know. It is not uncommon for me to hear him say to another child " excuse me please" while he tries to push his way past! Things that made him nervous when he was younger never phase him now, & I love watching him explore & learn new things. He still keeps a close eye on me though when we are out, & often calls out "mommy" just to check where I am. I am always very close to him, he just doesn't always realize it :)

One of the many things I love about Owen is how loving he is. It amazes me how open he is to expressing and accepting affection. He is always cuddling, snuggling, hugging etc. he is full of "I love you's" and his newest thing is to high five and then say "we're best friends now mommy". He is the sweetest, & has the most gentle soul in the world. I just love him.

9 Months Old

Updated: Noah's weight is 19lbs 13oz (just under the 50th percentile) his height is 71.5 cm (50th percentile), and his head circumference is 43cm (5th percentile) Yikes! He is growing steadily so everything is well!


According to our home scale Noah is 20lbs. We will have his weight checked at the doctor's on thursday. As of tonight he won't be in the infant car seat anymore!

Still no teeth! I get to love that gummy smile even longer.

At 9 months old Noah still wakes once a night for a feeding, usually between 2 & 3am. He sleeps until 7:30 though, so we can't complain too much. His daytime routine however isn't ideal, he prefers to nap mid day and evening making him go to bed close to 11pm. Somehow I have to get the energy to change that around, I think I'm going to have to get him up much earlier for a few days to get him to nap morning and afternoon. I've just been too tired in the morning to even think about getting out of bed earlier!

Noah eats 3 meals a day & has 3-4 (7oz) bottles a day. We still make all of his baby food besides cereal, but he has just recently decided he doesn't want cereal anymore & wants to eat what we are eating. Mealtime is a bit easier now because Noah has started eating most of what we eat for dinner. He really likes pasta, & most veggies when they aren't mashed up. We just make sure that everything is cut really tiny so he doesn't choke, he seems to prefer it that way. He use to gag on everything including rice cereal, I think he hated the texture.

Since learning to crawl a few days ago, he is on the go non stop! he can get all over the place now & we have had to start closing the gates on the stairs again. He is always after Owens sippy cup & toys, preferring them to his own! He often frustrates Owen by knocking Owen's toys over or pulling apart puzzles that Owen works on, the boy is trouble already!

getting into Owen's toys.

On the Move!

Noah had been close to crawling for a while now, he would get up on his hands & knees & rock back & forth. It took time for him to learn to put his knee forward, but finally on thursday he did it!. I knew he was very close to crawling, so I really tried to get him to crawl before I went away this past weekend. I'm so happy I didn't miss him crawl the first time! Gavin captured this video of him on the move on sunday. Life will never be the same now!. Noah gets frustrated easily as you can see in the video, but my little guy is determined. I just love when he learns new things, each baby stage becomes my favourite. I'm so proud of my adorable baby!

Happy Halloween

We started out our halloween by carving pumpkins after breakfast. Owen seemed quite pleased that he could make a mess on purpose. He was equally excited that the pumpkin eyes were shaped like the moon...it's the simple things in life i guess :)


In the afternoon Adam, Tirza & Kian came over for a visit. We wanted to get some photos of the kids dressed in their halloween costumes. It's never an easy task to get photos of three kids two and under but we keep trying!

Kian wasn't too impressed with playing dress up :)


The spider attacking the lion. Half of the time was spent trying to keep Noah's hands to himself. In retrospect I suppose we should have put Owen in the middle. Poor Kian - Noah is sorry I'm sure.


The best photo on my camera...sigh


The cutest Dragon in the world. While trick or treating I heard him be called an alligator, crocodile, & dinosaur, apparently crocodiles have wings? news to me.


Cutest little Lion - Kian's first halloween


Seriously this baby spider is sweet! Noah's first halloween


all ready to go out!


heading to the first house - Owen stepped right inside the door. He did great saying "trick or treat" & "thank-you" even if it was barely audible!





Owen came home with tons of candy we let him have two small pieces of candy then it was off to bath & bed! This year the kids started coming out at 6:30 & it was all over by 7:30! Owen ran through the neighborhood & gathered enough candy in 30 minutes to last until next year.

Pumpkin Patch

I think Owen would love to live on a farm. The kid is in heaven being outdoors, seeing tractors, animals, drinking hot cider, & getting dirty. I think he had the best day ever, he was telling us how much fun he had on the drive home. Today we enjoyed the great weather & went to a local pumpkin patch. It got a little cold late in the afternoon so we had to cut our trip a little short & head home. We enjoyed a hay ride, searching for the perfect pumpkins & hot apple cider. Owen had his first pony ride, climbed on some tractors, checked out the animals in the barn & went through the corn maze. We had a great day! So much fun that Owen is now in bed with his white baby pumpkin he found at the pumpkin patch! I should sneak up to get a picture of him sleeping with the pumpkin but I'm not sure I want to risk waking him up.

You can view last years pictures here. The first picture of Owen is one of my very favourite pictures of him.

This year he wasn't very interested in having his picture taken. Oh well, I'm sure there will be plenty more pumpkin patch pictures to come, I think we have found a new family tradition.

Here are some pics from this year.