PNE

On Monday, we went on our annual trip to the PNE. After the boys had their naps, we met up with Gramma, Grampa and Aunty Laura to catch all shows, eat the food and see the sights of the fair. Daniel was old enough to really appreciate everything this year and Adam really enjoyed it, too - much more than he did last year, when he was three weeks old!


As soon as we arrived, we went to find spots for the Toontown Parade. The boys really enjoyed the characters, dancers and floats. Daniel really liked the Thomas the train float and the firetruck one. Adam was just in awe of the hugeness of everything. (Is "hugeness" a word???)

Next we went over to the Agrodome to see all the farm animals. Daniel was the speediest kid in there, taking about a 3 second look at each of the animals. Adam really liked the baby chicks. We stopped to see the pig races, but there was too much talking and not enough pig racing, so we left.

Daniel got to milk a wooden cow!

Next we went over to the Canadian Forces display. The boys had fun playing around in a life raft - it was kind of like a trampoline in there. They got to sit inside a fighter jet and Daniel got his own dogtag. Mommy just hopes they're happy enough looking at all these things, and never need to actually join the military!

Every year, we have to get a picture with the chicken and the pig!

Next was dinner, where we met up with Uncle Neil and Auntie Gloria. Of course, everyone had to get their choice of PNE food. Daniel managed to eat an entire footlong hot dog (well, without the bun, of course!). After dinner, it was time for the Superdogs! The boys loved the show! The theme this year was "Bling it On" and all the dogs had sparkles in their fur. Daniel clapped along to all the music and cheered on the dogs as they raced. The arena is split into to teams - the Bow Wow team and the Woof Woof team. We were on the Bow Wow team and Daniel chanted Bow Wow along with everyone else in the audience. (OK, he kind of echoed everyone, but it was still cute!) Adam was enthralled with all the dogs and kept pointing and grunting at them as they jumped and raced.

After the Superdogs, we all split up. Adam fell asleep soon after, but Daniel got his second wind. So we took him to the motorbike show, which he loved! First, he was so scared and didn't want to go near. It was really loud and there were lots of bonfires around, so he was a little freaked out. But then the stunt bikes came out. They did huge jumps and stunts and Daniel loved it. I was so scared and, everytime I let out a little shriek or closed my eyes, Daniel would laugh hysterically! He definitely did not want the stunt bike part to end!

At 10:30, Daniel was still awake. We met up with the others for the final fireworks show. Adam slept through it all, even with the loud music and big bangs. Daniel watched the whole thing, but his eyes were completely glazed over and I don't know how much of it he actually saw! But he did still manage to eat a few mini doughnuts!

It was a fun and busy day and the boys had a great time. It's a fun family tradition that we hope to continue for many years to come.

Funny video!

Here's Adam walking with his push car for the first time...with some comic relief by none other than Daniel!

Adam's first haircut!

I finally gave in, after much nagging by James and a few comments from strangers thinking Adam was a girl, and took him for his first haircut. He got to sit in the airplane seat and he did so well! No crying, except when I tried to take the soother out of his mouth for the pictures. He was pretty fidgety and kept trying to look around at everything, but a basket of little toys helped keep his attention for a few minutes.

Unfortunately, the pictures aren't the greatest. I was trying to hold Adam still and take photos at the same time. But here they are:

Before:

During:

After:

What a handsome little guy! No more baby curls - now he looks like a toddler!

Adam's 1 year doctor's appointment

It's hard to believe a year has gone by! Adam had his 1 year appointment on Tuesday and he's doing so well. He's up to 19 pounds 10 ounces! That puts him somewhere around the 30th percentile! What a chubby little guy! He's still only 27.5 inches, which is below the charts, so all that weight is going straight to his belly. The doctor is thrilled with his growth. She wants him to continue with the formula rather than switching to cow's milk, until his weight is up a bit more. With all the troubles we had with Daniel starting cow's milk at a year, I'm fine with holding off for a bit.

Adam also had to get his MMR shot, which he did not appreciate. This was the first one to go in his arm and it goes in sideways rather than straight into the arm. He was really mad at the doctor. When she came back with the bandaid for him, he started screaming at her, as if to say, "Don't you dare touch me again!"

Overall, he is doing really, really well. It's amazing how quickly he's grown in the last month. He gained over three pounds in a month! Way to go, Adam!

Blackberry picking

Blackberry season is quickly coming to an end, so James and I decided to take the boys out blackberry picking. They had so much fun! We went to the "old school site" in our neighbourhood. The original school in our neighbourhood burned down 20 years ago and nothing has been built in its place. So it's a perfect area for blackberry bushes to take over. Daniel is really good at blat-bawie pittin and knows how to pick out the good ones. Usually the good ones end up in his mouth! Adam likes the taste of them but isn't so sure about the texture. He chews them up, gets all the juice out and then spits out the skin!

Skytrain, Seabus and Lonsdale Quay

The boys and I went on a little adventure today. We took the Skytrain and Seabus over to North Vancouver and Lonsdale Quay today. They both loved it! They stared out the window the entire time. Adam excitedly pointed out the window at all the cars below. Daniel kept telling me there were "lots of vroom vrooms - houses, TOO!" They both loved the Seabus, or Busboat, as Daniel calls it. I couldn't get a great picture, but they were in awe staring out the window at the cruise ship and industrial lands.

We wandered around the quay for a bit, but it was cool and windy, so we headed inside.

There's a children's area with a few kiddie rides and a small playground, so we hung out there for a while. Daniel played on the rides but Mommy didn't want to spend the money to make them move! Adam preferred the little playhouse.

Then Daniel discovered the ball room. He had such a great time in there! There was a twisty slide that he must have gone down twenty times. Then we had lunch outside and got some ice cream for a treat. The Seabus and Skytrain ride home was a little tougher because Adam fell asleep and Daniel almost did. It was a little hard manoeuvering them by myself. But it was worth it, because they both took really long naps this afternoon!

A bit of catching up

This summer has been quite busy and, by the time I can sit down at the computer, I'm usually too tired to add anything to the blog. But I'll try to catch up. Here are a few highlights from the past few weeks.

We went up to the Okanagan to visit with the Rowes and the Campbells. Many fun days were spent at the beach. Pictures can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/6owz6g

James and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. We were able to leave the boys with Gramma and Grampa for the evening while we went for dinner and to see "Jesus Christ Superstar" at Theatre Under the Stars. Here we are, just as happy and in love as we were on our wedding day. :)

James really enjoyed his four weeks of parental leave. We had lots of fun as a family. He was also able to do some things around the house that really needed to get done - our front porch is painted, we have a gate on our back deck so Adam is all safe and sound. I don't think James was quite ready to return to work yesterday - I think he liked being home!

The boys have had a busy month, too. Here are some highlights about them:

Daniel:

Daniel's vocabulary has exploded. He talks in much longer sentences and says some of the funniest things. One of his favourites is strange me when he does something wrong or silly. However, he still is really hard to understand, so it comes out more like frange me.

He spent lots of time with friends over the past month. His friend Carson spent almost an entire weekend at our house while his mom was in the hospital. The boys thought it was the greatest thing ever that they got to see each other every day. Carson thinks everything Daniel does is hilarious and Daniel loves being the entertainer. Just wait until he's in school - he'll be such a class clown!

Daniel's really getting interested in sports, too. He loves to play baseball in the backyard and is learning to throw a frisbee. He loved going to watch Uncle Neil (or Nemo as he sometimes calls him) at the World Ultimate Championships. I guess we'll have to be signing Daniel up for t-ball or soccer soon!

Daniel's newest favourite thing is superheroes. His absolute favourite is Spider Man (or Pawa Man as he pronounces it.) He loves to walk around shooting webs from his hands and catching bad guys. James decided to turn him into Duck Man one night.

Adam:

Of course, Adam's biggest news was turning one! He's growing up so fast. He's finally figured out how to drink efficiently from the bottle and that formula has helped him pack on the pounds. On July 10, he was 16.5 pounds. By July 30, he was 19 pounds! His one year appointment is on August 19, so we'll see how chubby he is by then!

Adam has learned to clap and wave bye bye. It's so cute! We watched some of the Olympic opening ceremonies and Adam clapped and giggled every time he saw the fireworks. I don't have a picture of him clapping, but I have a really cute video. I'll have to get James to show me how to add it to this blog.

Adam's also learning how to feed himself. He's actually not bad with a spoon. But he prefers his hands and usually makes a big mess!

My apologies again for slacking off on the blog! I'll try to be better...at least until I go back to work on September 2!