Shape sorting

Here is a link to a small video of Daniel sorting shapes (on youtube). He says 'no' when it doesn't fit, and 'yeah' when it's in the right place. I'm amazed at how clear his attempt at 'triangle' sounds, a fluke I think. This was videoed 2 weeks ago.

Shape sorting video - click here

Christmas Lights at Stanley Park

Last night we all ventured downtown on the bus to Stanley Park for the Bright Nights display put on by the firefighters every year. Thousands upon thousands of lights and decorations! I'm sure there must have been at least 100 santas. Daniel loved the displays, and kept repeating "more!" But after an hour we were getting cold and hungry, and it was time to start the journey home.


Daniel sampled his first hot dog, and enjoyed looking at the penguins (not real), the giant polar bear, and watching the train go past.

Playing games

Sometimes Daniel surprises me by doing something more 'boy'-ish than babyish. Yesterday he started playing with a toy train by himself, saying 'toot toot', and driving it over the furniture (and me). He has a shape sorter (the tupperware variety that most people have experienced in their lives sometime) and he is getting good at doing it by himself. If the shape doesn't fit he says 'no', and if it goes in he says 'ya' with a nod of his head, or gives himself a little clap. I'm enjoying this independent playing! He seems quite industrious at play, and I appreciate when it coincides with dinner preparation. Sometimes he yells at the top of his lungs (could be mama or dadda or some random noise) just because, which takes a little getting used to. Daniel is 17 months old today, and his baby side is quickly vanishing.

Daniel in the snow

Here's two photos from today. Nice 'dry' snow (so it wasn't slushy).
Nathan took Daniel out for 10 minutes, but I think he was more interested in playing with his stick!

First snow

Today we had the first snow (a very light dusting, probably thinner than icing sugar!). Lots of Christmassy things happening as the year wraps up. One week for Nathan left: 2 papers and an exam.

This weekend is our church's community Christmas party, and lunch with our friends Frank & Amber. I've been busy trying to get photos printed (which is more work than is reasonable), baking, finishing our family Christmas letter, trying to get a stool sample from Daniel (I never, ever want to put me or him through that again!) and keeping warm. My snow jacket is about to be retired (last night I had to get Nathan to zip me up, it was that tight) and I'll dig the bigger one out of the suitcase upstairs. Here's my 6 month belly shot. Sorry it's poor quality, it's hard trying to do it yourself and I never remember to ask Nathan.

Less than 2 weeks til Christmas! We still have no firm plans for the day itself, which isn't as unsettling as I'd thought. We will catch up with lots of people before the day, so it will probably be pretty low key (and relaxing). Regent let us know of some Christmas meals we could attend, but unfortunately Nathan's exam or Daniel's naps coincide.

I will email out our Christmas letter soon. If you would like one (and I forgot to email one to you), please ask :)
Merry Christmas!

Sunny days

Not much to report right now! Getting ready for Christmas (tree is up and Daniel's presents are wrapped), Nathan has 2 weeks to go and a few papers to write. We've had sunny days though, and expecting more for the next few days, so loving the clear blue sky! Does mean it's very cold though. When the clouds come back maybe they'll bring some snow. We've had some frost the past few mornings, and ice on the car windscreens. But that's about it :)

Number 9

Daniel two bottom teeth finally have some company. Tooth number 9 (bottom, just left of the middle two) popped through yesterday.

Yaletown

Yesterday we caught the new Canada Line downtown to Yaletown. It wasn't a really nice day, rainy and cold, but we made the best of it and decided to get out of the house.

No personal pics, unfortunately we left the camera at home. We checked out a huge steam engine at the Roundhouse, a building dating back to 1888. It was the first engine to cross Canada. We climbed in it and rang the bell, and then moved on cos it was cold! We walked around for a little while, but then we were getting hungry and wanted to find somewhere that was dry.

We then went to Urban Fare, a gourmet grocers, who were having a tasting weekend, so we got to sample lots of free yummy food: coconut breaded shrimp, cheese, chocolate, biscotti, wine, bread - it was great! Saved us some money on lunch too.

Climbing

Daniel and his friend Ixmu love to climb things, it's their latest trick. Here is a picture of Daniel looking quite pleased with himself.

Today I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and when I came back the wicker toy basket was upside down (it is about 25cm/10in tall), pushed against the side table, and Ixmu was standing on it in front of the laptop! Quite daring I think, but since I'm not sure how strong the basket is, nor do I want them playing with the laptop, I quickly put a stop to that.

Instead, I got out the Ikea step stool from the kitchen, and put it against the couch, so they could stand and not really hurt themselves. They tried to climb it at the same time. We also stacked up the couch cushions to form a mountain in the middle of the room and spent some time clambering over them. Mind you, they thought climbing on the cushion-less couch was fun too :)

new due date

I had an appointment with one of my midwives on Friday, and they concurred with the radiographer that from my first ultrasound my due date should be March 11. Not a huge change, just a technicality since baby's generally come whenever they want!
I also asked about the size of our baby (they measure head, belly and femur). Seems this little guy will be much like Daniel was, long and skinny, with a narrow head like their daddy.
Everything is going/growing well, and my belly is measuring at 21 weeks, so pretty close. Two nights ago there was some major turning in my belly, Nathan said it felt like a little mouse inside me, since the baby is small and the movements don't feel very strong yet.

We're expecting a boy!

On Wednesday afternoon (last week) we had our ultrasound, and found out we are having a boy. Although we got a little lost (yes, I have been there before, but it was my fault for thinking we were taking a short cut), and were a little late (also the last appt of the day), we really enjoyed seeing our little bub on screen. It seemed that the technician was in no rush, so we felt like we saw heaps of the baby, and this time around had a much better idea of what we were looking at! I have an appointment with my midwife this Friday, but it seemed that everything is as it should be. I tried to remember some of the measurements that came up on the screen to search on the internet for how big the baby might be growing, and if I remembered them correctly we are right on track with the 50th percentile. We couldn't get a profile shot of the baby's face as it didn't want to move from its comfy position, but we did see it kicking and moving around.

So we are thinking about names now, which is hard but makes for fun conversation! Daniel has no idea and probably won't right up til the baby is born. He can point to my belly if asked where the baby is, but that's about it hehe.

I did find out recently that my due date is one of THE busiest time for the olympics/paralympics which is one block from our place, so maybe we'll be calling the ambulance just to get through all the road blocks! I'm really excited that Mum's plane tickets for March are booked too :)

Bubbles & Broncos PJs

Daniel enjoyed his first bubble bath this week. For some reason it has taken me a long to even find bubble bath in the shops - maybe it's considered dangerous now?

We also tried on some warm fleecy Broncos pj's from Gran-nan Johnston. The pants are still a tiny bit long, but with nights getting much cooler, these are going to keep him toasty warm. :) And Daniel makes a great whinny when he sees the buckin' bronco. Thanks Gran-nan!!

Jack-o-lantern

Since Daniel is Canadian, and this is our last Autumn in Canada, I decided that we would carve a pumpkin. Here are some photos of the process. Daniel wasn't thrilled with the pumpkin 'goo', and I had to trick him so he'd put his hand inside. It ended up a little scarier than I'd intended, but I wasn't going for perfection, just a decoration for outside our front door! We put a tealight candle inside and lit it up for the evening.

Daniel at play

Cool Dude Daniel at play - inside (in his pjs) and outside in the garden!

Scan next week

Not much to say at present, except looking forward to our 21wk ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon at 4.30pm! More news once that has happened :)

Vegemite and U2

Our friends and fellow Aussies, Dave & Jackie, kindly donated Daniel their last tube of Vegemite. Yesterday's lunch was a speedy affair as he gobble down not one, but almost two sandwiches! He was a hungry little vegemite, and it is by far his favourite spread. I was running out of ideas (besides honey) as he isn't a huge fan of strawberry jam, and we've decided to remove cream cheese for his diet for a while.

He loves animals, and his favourites at the moment are dogs and ducks. He tries to say duck :)
I reckon he knows about a dozen animal noises currently.

This Wednesday Nathan is going to the U2 concert. Vancouver is the last show on the tour, and the only one in NorthWest America, so should be huge. He and some friends from Regent will be lining up from around 9am (6.30pm start) with their vocab cards and books to read, and someone has offered to come around later in the day and pick up their 'stuff' before the gates open. They are in the general standing area, and hoping to get fairly close to the stage.

Nathan is also starting some TA work for intro Greek next week for 4 or 5 weeks, trying to squish that into his schedule! It is an honour to be asked, and we'll appreciate the extra income.

Street view on Google maps

Earlier this year Daniel & I were taking a walk when the Google street view car was taking pictures of Vancouver.

Here we are!

First belly pic

I thought since I'm four months along I should post a 'belly' shot. This bub has decided to squash my insides rather than grow outwards too much at the moment, but that will come! Depending on the clothes I wear, most people seem surprised when I say I'm pregnant ("you don't look it!").
I've been feeling some definite kicks this week, even when I'm walking around, so that's good news. Had my latest check-up with the midwives last week which went well, and will start measuring my belly from the next visit which will be in mid-Nov. Feeling good the majority of the time, although I am definitely struggling on the memory front. I burned porridge so bad this week that we had to throw out the pot! (That happened when I was pregnant with Daniel too, except there was oil in the pot which caught fire. ) And I left the fry pan turned on with the last pancake in it, so they were tossed too. At least we didn't loose the fry pan! I'm sure there's something I should be doing right now, so that will be all for now!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day we drove with our friends Mark & Angela to AppleBarn at Abbotsford, about an hour away. We met up with a load of friends there, but mostly did our own thing. Below are some photos that Mark took during the day. (No apple photos though, as I think pumpkins are much more photogenic and autumnal!)


Daddy & Daniel on the pumpkin pick-up truck (ie ute).



I love this one! "Insert caption here"


Trying to roll the pumpkins.


Check out his beenie! it's a cross between a beenie and ear muffs I think. Nathan was embarrassed ;)


The wind stopped blowing so fiercely, and the sun came out, so off with the hat and coat. Daniel is always trying to lift things that are bigger and heavier than you'd think would be possible!


Hay ride back from the pumpkin field. Pumpkins in tow. (Ours cost $3. Looking forward to pumpkin carving for the first time in 1 1/2 weeks).

Fall Photos

Get ready, to wiggle, we've been waiting for so long....

Lucy, Lissa & Ella joined us for The Wiggles concert. Not a lot of dancing from Daniel, but once he saw that big red car, he knew who we were watching! Wags is a favourite at the moment.

Daddy & Daniel playing in the leaves.

It's raining leaves??

Leaves in my hair :-S

Watching Daniel play in the playground behind our house. Love the colours of autumn leaves!

Peek-a-boo!

Photos from the weekend

Here are some photos from this last weekend in the US (see previous post).


Daniel dancing and playing the claves with Adam at the New Earth Refuge.


Deception Point - a beautiful place!



Dinner at a Mexican Restaurant.

Angela & Mark, Adam & Suzanne, Bob, and us!

The Henley family farm at LaConna.

Normal Days

I didn't realise it had been so long since our last post!
We are trundling along with our mostly normal day-to-day lives. This is my 3rd week babysitting, and it is going really well. I picked up a 2nd hand double stroller last week. It does drive like a tank, but it gets us to places like the library or the shops when I need to. We've been frequenting the local drop in playgroup about 3 times a week, and although it is noisy and there are a ton of little kids, I think it is good for them and me! I'm also doing a little tutoring, which is fun. I'll be helping out 3 girls that I used to teach in math.
This last weekend we got away to New Earth Refuge near Burlington, Washington with some friends. We had basically no plans but to hang out and relax. Daniel was great, and so was the location. It was fun, but not too draining.
Fall is setting in, we wore warm jumpers all day today, and there's some rain tonight.
Daniel got a molar some time in the past fortnight, so 7 teeth now.
Got to go help with bath time!

Daycare begins

Yesterday was my first day taking care of my friend's daughter Ixmu!
We had a lovely few hours, and here's a picture of the two big kids eating lunch at the table Neen and Pa helped us get.
It's definitely more fun with two! But busier too!

Lunch with Mark & Angela

We had a lovely lunch yesterday at Mark & Angela's new apartment. We had roasted Mennonite chicken, which was fabulously juicy :)
Afterwards we took Daniel to the park, and Mark took some photos of Daniel. You can see them here: photos

Good Food

What makes food good?

Tonight we had baked potatoes. They were soooo goood! And I've made so-so baked potatoes before. But tonight I put them in the oven for an hour, simply rubbed in a little olive oil. And I think the trick is to not wrap them in foil (tried that before), that and having the 'right' type of potato (I used Russett). I did a little research, and apparently that is like steaming potatoes, and does not get that gorgeous crispy skin. And the toppings count too. Butter, sour cream, crispy bacon bits (real bacon, not the vegetarian simulated stuff), mushrooms, salsa if you so desire, and salt and pepper. Yum! I skipped the grated cheese tonight, and had the potatoes with a side of salad. I think simplicity has something to do with good food.

Daniel hasn't been very fond of potatoes so far. I think it's the texture. I had a little leftover garlic mashed potato, so after I fried the mushrooms in the bacon 'juices', I rolled the potato into meatball size and fried it in the bacon juices too. So Daniel peaked his fat intake today, but doesn't bacon make everything taste better? :) And he ate most of it too! And washed it down with some blueberries and milk.

Anyway, that's my rant on food for a while hehe.
On a family note, we all had colds, but are on the tail end now, just finishing up with the runny noses. Nathan heads back to class next week, and I start babysitting part time. I'm also hoping to audit a course called Biblical Themes in Art - signed up, but we'll see how busy we get. I'll have my next ultrasound at the end of October, which I'm looking forward to, since we are finding out our baby's gender this time!