Redwood Park

*There's another new entry below this one*

We went to Redwood Park for the very first time on Saturday - what a great place!  Matthew and Kayla loved walking through the woods, looking for signs with the tree types and then looking at all of the birdhouses.  Nathan loved looking for dogs along the trail - "Gawg!"

They also all enjoyed the playground at the end :)

He's walking!  :)

Matthew's Eye Doctor Appointment & Swimming Lessons

Matthew had his 3-month follow-up appointment this past week and it went really well (despite the office being over an hour behind schedule and thus Nathan missing his morning nap!).  Matthew's vision has completely improved, and they feel that his eye doesn't drift as much because his far-sightedness has decreased (so his eye isn't having to overcompensate).  He still has to go back in three months because they want to keep a careful watch on it...but it's good news so far!

On a completely unrelated note...
Matthew and Kayla just completed their first set of swimming lessons.  I wasn't even sure when I would start them, but my decision to return to work for 20 hours has allowed for us to afford swimming lessons.  They successfully completed Preschool 1.  It's amazing how much more confident they are in the water now.  When they started four weeks ago they were even super cautious to walk in the water without their puddle jumpers (their instructor practically had to pull Matthew along).  Now, they are jumping up and down in neck-deep water, doing assisted front and back floats, blowing bubbles, and putting their whole face in the water (Kayla barely so).  I may have helped Matthew learn how to blow bubbles underwater for 3 seconds by submerging my face in their bathtub water...the things we do as parents!  I've enrolled them in Preschool 2 already (starting tomorrow) as I figured I'll get one more session in before I succumb to the craziness of working part-time (although the last week of lessons is my first week of work).  Nathan does quite well watching Matthew and Kayla in the pool - he just sits in the stroller with my Mom and eats apple-cinnamon Cheerios.

Nathan's Crawling & Walking!

I cannot believe it.  Nathan actually learned how to crawl and walk on the same day.  Crazy boy.

He's been taking steps back and forth between pieces of furniture for a little while now, but today he actually made the transition from doing his butt-scoot to get places, to walking.  The only issue for him is that he can't stand up if he's in the middle of the room with no furniture around.  He was practicing this afternoon, trying to get to standing on his knees - it was hilarious!

Still cannot believe he beat Kayla by 13 days.  Sorry Kayla, I have a new fastest child :).

11 Months Old!

At 11 months old, Nathan weighs 25 lb 6 oz.  He's definitely getting heavy!  Here are a few of Nathan's accomplishments this past month:

- Nathan learned how to 'high-five'.

- He will shake his head "no" if you try to get him to do something he does not want to do, such as making him walk somewhere he doesn't want to go, or putting him in his car seat.

- He will nod his head for "yes".  He's really good at doing this if you ask him, "Do you want more?" or "Are you hungry?"

- Nathan learned to go from a laying down position to sitting.

- He has also learned how to stand up in his playpen and crib.  Every time I go to get him from his crib he's standing up, waiting for me.

- Nathan has tantrums like no one's business if he doesn't get what he wants.  He usually throws himself on the ground.  Cute, but not so cute.

- When he doesn't want to eat anymore, there is no convincing him otherwise.  I'm not quite sure how I want to handle this one yet, as there are times where I feel he needs to eat more to finish his plate.  I don't want to parent my children differently, but it wouldn't kill Nathan if he was short calories every now and then.  On the other hand, I want him to learn that he has to finish all of the food on his plate.

(He heard the airplanes in the sky...couldn't see them though because of the clouds)

- Nathan said his first, second, and third words!  He learned how to say dog (gawg), duck (gawk), and dad.  When he saw Jon walk in the front door after work on September 4th, he quickly started butt-scooting towards him saying, "Dad, Dad, Dad".  Jon's pretty proud.

- He can climb stairs (and really fast)!  We do have a pressure-mounted gate that we can use at the bottom of the stairs to prevent him from climbing, but between Matthew, Kayla, and myself, there's usually someone to watch him climbing up during the day.  Luckily, there is a landing halfway through the flight of stairs so even if he were to fall, at least it would only be down seven stairs.

- On September 11, we realized that he could take steps.  This was totally unexpected as I thought he wouldn't walk until after he turned one.  Now, I'm thinking he might walk before his first birthday!  I guess he'll just never crawl!  He easily can take up to ten steps, when he feels like practicing.

- He knows our bath time routine.  He stands by the edge of the tub and willingly lifts up his arms to get his shirt off and lifts up his legs to step out of his pants.  Any other time you try to undress him he is not very cooperative.

- Nathan still gets three 8-oz bottles a day (after his morning nap, after his afternoon nap, and just before bed) and prefers the milk to be warmed up.

Matthew and Kayla go to the Dentist

I finally booked Matthew and Kayla their first dentist appointments.  I've been meaning to make appointments for them as soon as they turned three, but well, it didn't happen.  I finally made an appointment for this month because I originally was not going to be returning to work after my maternity leave was up, so I wanted to get them in before our coverage under my plan ended mid-October.  (But, in case you're wondering, I am returning to work (part-time)...hopefully not forever ;)).

Anyways, they had their appointment on Tuesday.  I was so nervous for them, almost sick to my stomach.  I've never liked the dentist (who does?), but after I received terrible news last fall that I had 15 cavities to be filled, I have despised the dentist.  I tried to be careful in not letting Matthew and Kayla see my nerves.

They had their appointments at the same time, which was both nice and not-so-nice.  It was great because we were in and out of there in 30 minutes, but it was a little difficult to be in both places at once.  Kayla was super nervous as soon as she had to climb into the chair - she just couldn't relax and couldn't concentrate on following the dentist's instructions - so I spent 75% of my time with her.  Matthew did fantastic.  He's also more used to doctor's appointments so that helps.

Given it was their first experience with the dentist, they both did great.  Given it was their first appointment and Matthew has a cavity, it was not so great.  Seriously?!?!  How many three year olds need to get a filling?  And he has three teeth with almost-cavities.  It baffles me.  Both Matthew and Kayla eat the same food, brush their teeth at the exact same times on the exact same days by the exact same person (Jon usually - not that I'm blaming him!), and one has a cavity (and three to keep an eye on) and one has none!  Bring on the dental bills - I can only imagine how many we're going to accrue over the next 19 years.

Barriere 2014

*There's another post from this morning below this one!*

Jon and I went camping with his family in August for the first time in four years (and so our first time with kids!).  They only go every two years, and two years ago we decided not to go because Jon was teaching summer school.  Thank goodness, because I started miscarrying our baby that week.  It would have been awful to have been camping then, when all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and die.

Other than a one-night camping trip to Allouette, this was the first time we used our (new-to-us) tent trailer.  It was great.  We didn't even forget to pack anything!

We took advantage of having the entire family together so we took a bunch of family pictures: 

Jon and his four (older sisters).  I'm not going to lie...it's definitely not easy being the only sister-in-law (and also being the youngest couple) when you're really introverted/shy/quiet like myself.  I was quite nervous about spending a week with Jon's family as I've never done it before...but I think I did good!  :)  Nathan needed a nap each afternoon, so for most of them I retreated to the tent trailer with him and read/napped while Jon watched Matthew and Kayla.  It was absolutely wonderful.

Us!

Oma and Opa (Jon's parents) and all 19 of their grandkids.

The whole family!

Opa and his grandsons.

Oma and her granddaughters.

Jon and I

These six are all so close in age!  So cute how they all had different-coloured Puddle Jumpers.  

Nathan having his routine evening bath.

Jon's nieces and nephews spent a fair bit of time playing with a bucket of random McDonald Happy Meal toys that I've accumulated from free bags of toys I've received.  For the whole week after camping, Matthew kept mentioning how Josh (his oldest cousin - in the green tanktop) kept clumsily throwing toys in the air whenever Matthew blew his whistle.

Napping at the beach in the afternoon.

Me and my boy :)

Kayla was such a fish!  We could barely keep her out of the water.

He refused to be left out of having a ring pop during 'church'.  You can't hide anything from Nathan!

My favourite moments of the week?  1) Out-scheming Michelle in one of our many late-night rounds of Mafia.  So much fun!  2) Tickling Jen's calf during Mafia, making her think that the skunk we had sighted was rubbing against her leg.  I may have nearly peed myself in laughter.  

Looking forward to our camping trip in two years!