Halloween Playdate!

Jack and his friends all dressed up for Halloween!

Thanksgiving!

It is a beautiful day today. And I wasn't sure it was going to be- yesterday was blah, to say the least. Thunderstorms in October. Whodathunkit.

We're heading over to my parents place in a bit to do the turkey thing, but we couldn't resist getting a few pictures while the sun was shining. And by 'we', I of course mean 'Ben'.

Wishing all Canadians, here and abroad, a very happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble! Gobble!

Our week at the cottage

We spent a fantastic week at the cottage with our good friends Robyn, Jon and their 5 month old Nate. We all really like camping, but it seemed a bit too difficult this year with the two little ones. So a cottage was a great compromise. We had all of our baby gear (which took over the cottage completely) and the comforts of home, with the lake right outside our window. It was a 'first annual' kind of experience.

All of us after exploring the Bonnechere Caves (less exploring, more listening to a REALLY enthusiastic guide...)

Jack looking at at the cave wall.

Jack and Mom unwinding after a busy day.

Ben braving the cold water for a sunset swim.

Cool Dude.

Ayer's Cliff visit

We finally got to meet our niece last week! Jack and I spent the week in Ayer's Cliff with Kath and Mackenzie, and Ben and Ahren joined us on Wednesday. Jack was not his usual cheerful self, but this was quickly explained with the appearance of his very first tooth! Jack had lots of fun meeting his little cousin and his aunt and uncle. We can hardly wait to see them again at Christmas!

We sang lots of songs with Mackenzie and Auntie Kath.

Uncle Ahren hardly dropped me at all!

Jack and Mac hanging out on the floor.

Last day of swimming lessons!

Jack's last swimming class was today. He was enrolled in a 5 week class (Parents and Tots 1) for 4-6 month olds. We had lots of fun and made some new friends!

Front Crawl.

Back float!

Focussing on the frog.Jack's first report card! (He passed with flying colours!)

Play time!

Jack loves his new exersaucer! He can turn himself around in it (kind of) and play with all kinds of different things!

Hanging out with Riley

Jack is getting really good at holding his head up. He has rolled over once, but I'm pretty sure this was accidental. He's getting there though! With Riley in tow!

Jack's new high chair

We've decided to start Jack on cereal. It is a bit early (about a month early), but he is such a big baby and is so interested in everything we eat and drink, that we thought we would try it. And so far, so good! He is still pretty little for his high chair, but opens his mouth wide when the spoon comes and swallows the cereal. Well, most of the cereal. Admittedly, a large portion of it ends up in his lap. And his chin. And my hair. But still, it's a start!

Tulip Festival

We spent a lovely afternoon at Major Hill Park today, and took in the last weekend of the Tulip Festival. Unfortunately, this coincided with the ever-important game 5 in the playoffs, so we decided to record it and not listen to the radio, and then hopefully we wouldn't know the results until we watched. Yeah right! As soon as the Sens won, Ottawa pretty much went bananas. Cars were honking, people were hanging out of their windows, it was craziness. So we figured that they won. But we didn't know by how much, so Ben and Jack caught up when we got home.

Overall, a pretty terrific Saturday.

3 1/2 months and still no sleep...

Jack is now 3 1/2 months old, and I have yet to sleep longer than 3 hours at night! That's not entirely true. There were 2 nights about a month ago where he slept for 4 hours. Those were good nights. ARG! It's a good thing he's cute! He isn't fussy, just wants to eat a lot. I discussed it with our family doctor and she says that it's normal- he's just going to be super tall so he needs to eat a lot. Lucky me... :0)

We got one of those cute chairs that prop babies up before they can sit on their own. Jack is still a bit wobbly in it, but he is staying upright for longer and longer periods. He has also started laughing recently, which is lots of fun. He laughs mostly when I tickle him, blow rasberries, or when he coughs. He finds coughing to be particularly entertaining.

Possibly we're not quite ready for the chair yet... :0)

Gotta love the faux-hawk...

Hanging out with Dad on Sunday morning.

Playdate with Jack and Nate.

We went over to Robyn and Jon's house on Thursday and Jack and Nate had their second 'play date'... Well, it was more of a Robyn and Jen play date at this point. But I'm sure the kids enjoyed themselves too!

Ben, Jack, Nate and Jon.

Chillin' in the play pen. Jack is very 'touchy feely' as he has recently discovered his hands. So we put Nate facing the other direction to prevent Jack from grabbing onto his hair...

Robyn, Nate, Jen and Jack.

Jack's photo shoot.

We took Jack to get his picture taken a few weeks ago, and these are the results. He wasn't overly impressed with the whole experience, but we managed to get a few good shots.

Our first family picture.

Teeny tiny little sweater vest.

Crazy hair.

Kinda silly, but cute.

Fulton's Maple Sugar Bush

When I was little I used to go to Fulton's sugar bush every spring to see how they made Maple Syrup. It is a great place- you can take a walk through the forest and see the sap coming out of the tree, you can take a sleigh ride pulled by Clydesdale horses, you can buy maple sugar candies and syrup and maple butter, and maple tea... there are endless possibilities. You can also have a wonderful pancake breakfast... it is a lot of fun, and I have great memories of Fulton's from when I was a kid. Ben's family used to make their own maple syrup, so it brings back memories for him as well. (Incidentally, Fulton's also has a wonderful leadership/teambuilding program that they offer all year round- I have taken several groups of camp counsellors there. I highly reccomend it.) (www.fultons.ca -check it out!)

So yesterday morning Ben and I were inspired by the nice spring weather and decided to take a little trip over to Fulton's. It is just outside of Pakenham, so pretty close to us. Jack slept through the whole thing, which was a bit of a mixed blessing because we got to eat our pancakes uninterupted, but he didn't get to see the horses. But he got fresh air just the same, so all in all, it was a great day.

"Maple Shoppe" and Restaurant

Wagon Ride

Napping

On the walking trail

Mmmmmmm...

Jack's first trip to Ayer's Cliff (March 16th, 2007)

We went to Ayer's Cliff for St. Patrick's day weekend to visit Ben's parents. It was Jack's first long-ish car ride (4 1/2 hours) and he did pretty well. He slept most of the way, except for when we had to stop in Montreal traffic. He had a bit of a melt down then, but really, who doesn't in Montreal traffic?

He had a great visit with his grandparents and met some of Joanne and Paul's friends.

Jack and Grandpa Britton

Chatting with Granny Chaffey

Taking a snooze with "Auntie" France!

Being silly with Daddy.

Jack & Daddy...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!

Happy birthday Jen!
We love you...

5 weeks old...

It is hard to believe that Jack is one month old already. He is doing really well- still eating like a champ, which is tiring for me, but I'm told it will slow down soon! He is already into his 3 month clothes! He is starting to show a real personality- he's genearally a pretty laid back, happy guy. He is starting to smile a little more regularly (especially during his 4:00 am feeding... he finds that one particularly funny for some reason!) and likes to play on his baby gym mat.

Ben and I are doing well, although we are definitely exhausted! I'm recovering from my surgery and am now pretty much able to do anything I could before.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!