Baby Shya

Kellie and Shayne had their baby last night! It is Shya an 8 lb beautiful baby girl. She is very sweet. We went to the hospital but I could not manage to wrestle with Beckett and chase Ethan and take a picture for some reason. I will post a picture of her soon.

Beckett, Fifty One Weeks Old

You have now started stepping in earnest. You have fantastic balance when standing and you even bob and bounce up and down while on your feet. It seems like you are trying to jump. In the last week you have started venturing forward in the upright position. Before that you motioned like you were going to walk and then dropped down to one knee and would crawl scoot to your destination half standing still. Now you are trying to walk for real, and just like everything else...you think it is hilarious.

Sandcastle Surprise

Last night, Ethan got out of bed several (thousand) times. He would slip out of bed and escape from his room. Troy and I heard the thumpthumpthumpthumpthump of his little feet running across the wood floors and then down the stairs to our room. (gigglegigglegiggle) "Youwake? Its not early."

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"It is the middle of the night - go back to bed!", I probably repeated a dozen times in my hiss-yell voice.

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So we got up this morning with not much sleep from the night before and these kinds of days are generally painful in the parenting field from my experience. Troy was pooped but heading off to work - I was left to deal with Captain Crazy and his little brother Chuckles.

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Troy called a half an hour later, "How is everyone doing?"
"Ummm, OK? I guess. I think I am going to go for a drive." I responded.

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As I was getting us all dressed for the day I was thinking of driving destinations. Starbucks drive through. MacDonalds for a sausage and egg grease stack. Sooke? I will often go for a drive (I especially did in the early days of Beckett) as the kids are strapped down and generally get sleepy and I love to drive. Maybe Nanaimo? I've always wanted to check out that Children's Place Store - but then I would have to go in with the boys...

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I started packing the diaper bag in anticipation of going on a really long drive to encourage a really long sleep. Then it hit me. Parksville. Beach and sandcastle competition.

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So we got in the car and went to Starbucks for coffee and MacDonalds for breakfast and the Malahat for a nap and Parksville for entertainment for the day.

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The plan worked. Thank goodness I brought extra clothes in the diaper bag as we all got sandy/soaked. I think some people felt sorry for me being dragged around by a puppy while a wet sandy baby was in my arms and I was trying to chase a toddler running in every direction on the most giant beach with the tide way out! I got lots of sympathy smiles and one mom said to me, "Only mom's with two or more know - and I can't believe you brought your dog - you're crazy, I leave mine at home". Point taken.

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I'm glad we went out - I'm even glad we brought the dog. We had a good day despite all of the challenges. At least that is how I will choose to remember it from the pictures years from now.

"A tractor on the back of a truck!" OMG! I should have known it was an omen that the trip was going to be good.
Morning milk. EARLY morning milk.
Breakfast in the car. EARLY breakfast in the car.
Doggie pit stop. Wet grass. DANG! Sign of things to come.
Beckett conks out.
"Helicopter!" OMG! This is the best park ever.

No dogs allowed inside sandcastle exhibition. Sorry Kobe! A nice volunteer brought him a bucket of water and he got lots of AWWWS and pets of course.
"A castle! A HUGE castle!"
The "spacemans" were our favourite. It had a planet, a rocket, spacemans, and even a few aliens. i didn't get the whole sculpture in the picture. It was giant even compared to the other sculptures.The forever and ever beach.
With lots of sand. Mucky, wet, tide-out sand that REALLY sticks.

Plus some ice cream dribbles to make sure we get good and messy.

Group shot. Beckett kinda wanted out of the stroller...
Fresh clothes and the drive home. Beckett thought something was hilarious. Forgot extra socks and dry shoes...
Sweet, silent, slumber.

Beckett, Forty Nine Weeks Old!

This past week you have started to voice frustration and self agency. When you don't want to be picked up you do the arched-back-stiff-body-arms-in-the-air. You also make a crazy mad noise; you open your mouth half way, curl your tongue up and make a forced croaking type sound. It makes us laugh. You have already hit the stage where you are no longer easily distracted. You can be quite determined. Glad to see you have it in you...

Happy 2nd Birthday Savannah

This weekend we went to another birthday party! Savannah's! We had so much fun, thanks for inviting us.
Ethan helping Red with the presents.
Beckett climbing a stack of books.
Reading with the party girl.
All decked out in party gear...
Checking out what it is like to be a girl. Just for a minute.

Sweet Pea

This year our neighbor gave us some pea seeds for fun. She planted some with her grandson who is a bit older than Ethan and she thought Ethan might enjoy it too. They were called Mr. Bigs.

So we planted them and marvelled when they sprouted, when they got taller, when they got curly arms that grab on to each other, when they got flowers, and finally when they got peas!

I was pretty impressed at how often Ethan examined his little garden, and remembered that we should water it.

I showed him how to split the peas and he was actually willing to eat some green food. A great project all around.

Until Kobe dug the pot up the other day...

Ethan: The peas are dyin'. Kobe got them. Sor-ry! (to the plants - CUTE!)

Fish for Lunch on a Perfect Summer Day

This morning while we were eating breakfast Ethan announced that he would like to have fish for dinner. I asked him what made him think of having fish and he plainly said, "I just want to have fish!"

After our morning dog walk and trip to the coffee shop we headed home to put Beckett down for his morning nap. "Mama, I want to go to the fish store." said Ethan. Who knows why toddlers come up with what they do?

As Ethan was so intent on getting some fish today I had the idea to take the kids down to Fisherman's Wharf to eat at Barb's Fish and Chips when Beckett woke up from his nap. So we packed up and drove downtown through the throngs of tourists and traffic spotting a horse! and carriage!, a boat! with a helicopter! parked on the back, people!, bridges!, and a castle! (the legislative buildings).

Ethan really enjoys downtown.

We wandered on the dock and checked out the float homes and all of their pretty gardens. We watched the float planes taxi by headed for their liquid runway towards the edge of the harbour. Looked over the edge into the water spotting thousands of little fish and Ethan noticed how "the sea is green!" under a boat when the sun shines in the water from the underside.
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There were tons of people on the wharf, and the line for food was incredible but Ethan and Beckett made friends with "neighbors" in the lineup with their smiles and curiosity and they were so very good and polite and patient today. It was one of those outings where you feel very proud of your kids instead of flustered and rushed because of whining or crazy behaviour.

We sat at a table and a few people asked if they could join us. We had some small talk about where we were all from and how hot it was while enjoying our food with strangers.

There were two boys at the table next to us just a bit older than Ethan and Beckett. They all smiled at each other and the babies waved and pumped fists - that certain unknown and easy communication between kids. The older boy and his mom were folding brightly colored paper while they waited for their food and after a few moments he came to our table holding a bright green crane for Beckett and a bright blue paper airplane for Ethan.

There were smiles all around. We thanked the family with the paper crafts and bid farewell to our table mates. We left the dock for the park across the street and tossed the tumbling paper airplane through the warm summer air towards the car as we walked.