The cousins can't wait to meet Arlo!

The cousins had a great weekend together. There was a fire in the snow fort and hockey in the afternoon.  Emma is wearing her mask that we picked up in New Orleans.  Ambrose is wearing a mask and cape from Aunty T. Can't wait for a picture with all three monkeys.

 I imagine Arlo in a classic mexican wrestling mask. 

Pictures of my sisters new baby boy to follow.

Ambrose and i drove out to Mitchell after dropping mom off at the airport.  the day eventually became nice.  A storm snuck up on us on the way up and i had to white knuckle a bit....Ambrose had a two hour thunder storm nap.

weekend sleepover with uncle gody, auntie naomi and cousin emma

the title says it all

here are some fun pictures


observations and milestones
-Ambrose is able to stand on his own for a few seconds
-able to sign for more (but not consistently, usually he just claps his hands. If he is really wanting more he'll grunt and extend his arm and hold out his hand and kick his legs)
-likes to be funny (e.g. putting plastic pot lid on daddy's head and knocking it off and laugh hysterically)
-appears he loves meat (sorry auntie des). If offered a few bite size morsels, he will almost always pick up the meat piece first. He tolerates purees, including vegetable ones, as long as he is also able to feed himself other food at the same time.
-loves loves loves bath time, particularly playing with his bath duck (was a favourite of breanna's and jessie's)
-is absolutely fascinated by the cats (and they are so tolerant of him). unfortunately he likes to pull their tails or grab their fur
-we have had to postpone his 9 month check up so he has not been weighed since the beginning of December. He has to be at least 24 if not 25 pounds. He is thinning out a bit but he is one heavy solid mass of a baby.
-continues to love crawling all over me  but now likes to bite my shoulder, knees etc
-can crawl downstairs as well as up
-has been able to bang things together to make a noise for quite some time
-has been aware of object permanence for a while
-can walk while pushing his car down the hallway (he gets quite a bit of speed so it's almost comical how quickly he whizzes by)
-loves to sit quietly and read books. He wants 4-5 read at a time.
-likes sleeping on his tummy. During the night he will flip around like a fish: back, to tummy, head towards the wall, head toward the foot of the bed
-will kick his legs and move his body while sitting in his metoo chair to see everything on the table move and rattle about (cause and effect)
-has been saying mama quite audibly. I believe he has said dada too. He still will say nananananana when he's incredibly hungry.
-loves older kids, particularly his older cousins jessie and emma
-is an incredibly fast crawler and cruiser
-is able to play independently for stretches of time (so nice!)

Christmas Part II

Later on Christmas Day, Dave, Ambrose and I made our way back to our house and joined Nana and Papa Streit along with Uncle Gody, Auntie Naomi and cousin Emma. The kids opened their toys and we enjoyed a lasagna dinner.

Emma and Ambrose had lots of fun playing together, particularly going for rides on the lil tykes push car.

ride em cars are fun!

Christmas stockings

Boxing Day was spent just hanging out. Shirley and Emma went to the Nutcracker with friend Lou and her granddaugher Chloe.  The next day Shirley and Abby headed off to Mitchell and Ambrose and I went to my mom and dad's to visit gramma and eat some leftovers and dainties.  

Gody and Emma

Emma and Papa

Click here for photo gallery

Emma's new coat + dog sledding on the river*

Emma has a new winter coat!! (too bad winter is on the way out, it will fit perfect for next year.)
Mrs. Antonio from The Pas made it especially for Emma and Emma LOVES it. The trim of Emma's coat has a dog and sled. i called neighbor Sid and asked if he was taking his dogs out. Emma met Hobo, Wolfie and momma Vicki and went for a dog sled ride on the river.

Sounds too good to be true but we have proof.

the end.


* with improved video link

pregnancy update

So I will officially be on maternity leave on Monday. I ended up working all last week (with the exception of Friday afternoon) and still have a few odds and ends to wrap up over the weekend and then I'm done.

I am now 38 weeks or 40 weeks. My early due date is March 9th -Tuesday! But I believe baby will come closer to the March 21st date. But we'll just have to wait and see...

Emma and Gody are visiting and will be spending the night (Naomi as well, in between her work shifts).
Emma touched my tummy and said "it's very big". Indeed it is.
She discovered some baby soap at home and brought it over for choochoo.

another for the birthday girl.

30 years Aunt Des!

for aunt des..again.

Emma has made her mind up about some of the things that she loves. enjoy ....you too des.

pre christmas past christmas times

Christmas will be descending with a vengeance upon winnipeg and Mitchell. Aunt Des from Ottawa (Uncle Emile not able to come out this Christmas). grandpa and nana from the north. These are some festive shots to help everyone hit the ground running this season.

i believe i can fly

This is the third post in the Emma Trilogy.

Emma can also fly...though she does not enjoy rides at the fair.

If you watch carefully you will catch a glimpse of a pregnant lady.

enjoy!

for aunt des...finally!

this is what this blog is forty percent about.

pleasing aunt des with emma moments.

our first visit to Mitchell

This past Sunday David and I (and copper) made the trek to Mitchell, Manitoba to have brunch with Gody and Miss Emms (unfortunately Naomi was at work). It took us approximately 1/2 hour to go from door to door, which really wasn't that long at all and we enjoyed the mini road trip.
Mitchell appears to be a great community and Gody and Naomi's new house is new and quite lovely. They have already made the space their own and the backyard is huge!
Emma was quite pleased to have us over and was very proud to give me a tour of the house and to show off her room, adjacent playroom and where she rides her bike downstairs. After a lovely brunch, we all checked out the backyard, and as Gody's pictures demonstrate on Emma's picture website, there was much running about. David captured some shots and videos as well. Uncle David captured miss emma's crocodile tears when we were leaving.