Lake Louise

We took our first family vacation this weekend with Emily, going to Lake Louise for a couple of nights. Aside from not too much sleep the first night with two excited young boys sharing a room, the get-a-way was a success. Everyone traveled well in the car with Emily sleeping the whole way and the boys entertaining themselves with a few toys. Bruce was able to do some downhill skiing with Matthew covering new terrain on the mountain and even doing some jumps. I got in some cross country skiing all the way up the Moraine Lake road trail, and Bruce had some time for downhill and cross country skiing on his own. Aside from skiing we were able to get the kids out for some skating, sledding, walks, trips to the bakery, and treats from the ski lodge.

February photos

As always it seems most of the photos are of Emily. I guess being most photographed goes hand in hand with being the littlest. This week she is sleeping longer at night just getting up for one quick early morning feed. She is showing strong abdominals pulling herself forward when in a reclined seat, or grasping her feet when laying on her back. She practices nightly "tummy time" with daddy and building on this idea Matthew has started daily "finger time" where Emily practices grasping toys or Matthew's fingers. She seems to be doing well with her grasp as you can see from the top photo she managed to get her mobile down. We didn't see it happened, but came into her room to find one suprised young girl!

Andrew had fun at music class and Time for 2's this week. He was a little put out they did not make a craft to put on the fridge this week, so we had to make one when he got home. Matthew enjoyed a couple of field trips including one to listen to an orchestra. He was thrilled to be a "captain" at ball hockey, picking his team and getting the first turn in goal. Sometimes I feel like I am living with two teenagers as Matthew is often saying "AWESOME" &"Ah...yesss", and Andrew's favorite expression lately is "Oh man".

The boys went for allergy testing. We were pleased that Andrew does not have any allergies. Matthew's testing was again positive for peanuts and cashew/pistachio, but he is not to have any nuts. We were obviously hoping he'd be one of the small percentage of children who outgrows the allergies, but is not, at least for now. After the doctor left the room Matthew declared "Whew...that was a close one" as he let me know he was happy to still have the allergy and was not at all pleased about the prospect of being asked to eat peanuts or nuts.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

We hit another milestone this week. Emily is rolling from her tummy to her back as of last night. Earlier this week she also came very close to rolling from her back to her tummy, but didn't quite make it. In these photos you can get a bit of a feel for her chubby cheeks and long eyelashes that everyone whe sees her comments on. Her eyes remain blue at this point in time, but we'll see what color they settle on. As well we will have to see about her hair color as it is darker from birth, but her new hair is coming through quite fair.

The boys were excited for Valentine's Day, and Matthew declared this one the best Valentine's Day ever. We exchanged cards, had some treats and had given him some hockey stickers which he promptly put all over his hockey sticks. He has been off school with Teacher's Convention and the Family Day holiday. There has been lots of fun with playdates, and street hockey. Friday night he and the neighbors played hockey for 4 hours, which he reasoned was much harder than the pros play as their games are only an hour. Andrew has been doing lots of playing both inside the house, and outside with the nicer weather. He and daddy made a snowman in the yard yesterday.

Emily is 4 months old

Emily turned 4 months old this week. She had a check up with her doctor, and her check up/vaccinations with the nurses at the Health Centre. She is doing and growing well. She weighed just under 17 pounds and was about 67 cms tall which puts her off the charts for weight and moreso height. This is no suprise looking at her big brothers who are also off the charts.

People always ask how the kids get along and really they could not be more loving. You can see an example from the top picture. The boys are always rushing to give their little Emily a touch or cuddle.

This week Emily is bringing everything to her mouth as you can see in the next photo. She started trying a bit of rice cereal and took to it right away.

You can see Matthew doing some computer games as he loves to do. He is already better than his parents at most games which is a bit sad. Andrew can be seen doing some pretend play with his trucks/animals and making music for us.

This morning Bruce made us some of his famous pancakes, and then we made some Valentine's Smartie cookies. The guys are out sledding at our local toboggan hill and Emily is napping after a busy morning, which is why I have a few minutes to share this all with you.

Miss Emily

Emily will be 4 months old next week. The time has certainly flown by since she was born. She can be seen at play around the house practising sitting, under her playmat, in the baby seat or in the Bumbo. She is grasping toys more and more. Emily is a very social girl thriving on attention from those around her. She is also so happy, and shares lots of coos and giggles when at her happiest. No matter what she is doing she is one well dressed young girl, always in a cute outfit with the generosity of gifts from friends and family!

Andrew Having Fun

Andrew still takes music and goes to a little playschool program once a week as well. He loves snack time, and is so proud of the crafts he makes there. He displays them on the fridge, carefully choosing the magnets to hang them, and also plays with the crafts around the house all week. He enjoys a wide range of play around the house. You can see him here doing playdough stacking, and Firefighter pretend play. With the colder temperatures, and snow, he is out helping with shovelling every opportunity he gets.

Matthew's other favorite activities

Matthew also enjoys making crafts, doing puzzles and playing computer games. Sometimes it is hard to get a turn on the computer around our house. You can see from all the photos that whatever he is doing he is often doing it wearing a hockey jersey.

Matthew loves hockey!

Matthew is really into street hockey. He plays on our long driveway with the neighborhood children just about everyday. His favorite position is in goal. He is also enjoying a 10 week ball hockey class at the Southland Leisure Centre. He is always checking the paper to see when a hockey game is on and then the next day to see who won. He says his favorite teams are the Flames, Oilers and Hitmen.