not impressed by the snow

The snow has been here forever. Well at least two weeks, which for the west coast is forever for snow. It was at it's peak, about 2-3 feet deep and fluffy. It is now less than a foot and icy. 

We are not impressed that it is still here. Jake is not a fan of the snow, but will likely be one this time next year when he can roll around in it and we can all build a snowman together. A sunny day last week invited us outside to play, since we have been couped up in the house together for a number of days. So we bundled Jake and ourselves up and headed to the front yard. Jake was not impressed. At all. In fact there was some howling and some tears involved. 

And he didn't even have to shovel. Just wait until he is old enough to have to do that. Then we'll see tears.

oh yeah, and jake is eleven months old

December 25th also marks the date when Jake turns eleven months old. He is now 22 1/2 lbs and is 31 1/2 inches long!

Since so much else is going on right now, here is a quick update on the milestones that he has reached at this age:

• can pull himself up to stand
• can use a walker or hang onto your hands to walk by himself (for about 6 feet)
• can say words like ball, button, hot, cat (pronounced 'dat'), and of course daddy and mommy
• can crawl, and does so all over the house, chasing balls, the cats, mommy or daddy, or being chased himself to be tickled
• can wave hello; hasn't quite figured out bye-bye
• points at objects with his index finger to draw your attention to something
• understands the meaning of many concepts and words as well as simple instructions like "Eat it"
• helps with get dressed when in the mood
• demonstrates affection by giving a hug and a kiss (although not a puckered kiss, so it is quite moist)
• can stack things two at a time
• likes to put things into containers and also dump them out
• has started to sort shapes and match them to the holes that they go in on his toys

Phew! That's a lot of stuff to have accomplished, and its amazing how fast he has done so. This has been a very busy month. Keep up the good growing Jake.

merry christmas

Jake's first Christmas. What a great day. It started early, as usual, and we started with a family Christmas breakfast of Daddy's special scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. 

Afterwards it was into the pressies. Jake had a fun time opening up presents and discovering that stuff was underneath all of that paper. He sat the whole time on the couch right next to Daddy, all snuggled up, opening and playing with toys and books. 

He got some fantastic gifts including a shape sorter elephant from Richard, balls from Nanna Ann, snowy owl from Nanna Grace and dump trucks from Nan and Poppa. Mommy and Daddy gave him a Bunny Book which has also been a great hit.

And we all munched the gingerbreads that were our stockings.  Jake's was a small shark shaped one, and Mommy and Daddy had large fish shaped ones akin to their "Will You Marry Me?" special cookies from a previous Christmas Eve.

After Jake's afternoon nap, we all headed over to Vanessa, Rob and Zoe's. We gave Zoe a dolly made by Mommy and a cradle for the dolly to sleep in. 

Zoe gave Jake a favorite book of hers about when cats go wrong. So true, Zoe, so true. 

We then settled into our Christmas feast of turkey, dressing, potatoes, wild rice, yams, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower. Don't forget the gravy. Vanessa and Rob spent a couple of days preparing a special meal, which required, among other things, for bacon and herb butter to be rubbed all over the turkey. It was the best Christmas dinner ever. And topped off with Nan's Christmas pudding and brandied hard sauce made by Daddy. We even soaked the pudding in brandy and lit in on fire for the special effect.

Jake, Daddy and Mommy all put on pajamas because this was a special visit to the Flemming-Hodes; one where we all got to sleep over. It meant that Jake got a good night's sleep without being woken up to go home, and that Mommy and Daddy could have one more glass of wine.

And it meant that the next morning we could all enjoy Vanessa's waffles! 

Jake loved them!

What a fantastic first Christmas.

holiday open house

Yesterday we held our (sometimes) Annual Holiday Open House. It is such a wonderful tradition for us; a great time to visit with our friends. There was a lot of food, a lot of wine and a lot of eggnog. That day had been a big snowfall day, adding to the already large amount of snow on the roads, so we were pleased that about 30 people still braved the conditions to come. 

Jake helped set up for the party, and inspected the toys that were left out for his friends to play with. Yes, acceptable. He sampled the cheese, cabassa and crackers that had been placed out for guests. Yes, acceptable. He wore his party finery, a brand new sweater vest made by his Mommy. Yes, acceptable.

When the guests began to arrive, Jake welcomed them to his party with a great big grin, and usually a cracker in hand. "Hey welcome to the party. Can you believe it? There are crackers!" He had many friends to play with: Anton, Aidan, Liam, Zoe, Griffin and Aurora. The kids had a great time. And so did the adults.

The next morning we recuperated, all three of us sitting on the couch recounting the party's events. And enjoying leftover tortierre (a favorite of Little Dude's and a tip to his French side of the family) and gingerbread cookies. 

Little Dude couldn't believe his luck.....a fun party with lots of food and friends AND gingerbread and tortierre to enjoy the next day. I think we have a social little boy!

getting closer

Jake has reached a large milestone. He can now get himself up to a sitting position from laying down, which makes crawling to a destination all the more worthwhile. And in even bigger news, Jake can pull himself up to a standing position. His Daddy has spent the last couple of days showing Jake how to do it, and giving him encouragement. 

Jake has even begun to shuffle along the couch in chase of a toy. And his crawling has become more of a bum shuffle, no more commando crawling with arms only, so his speed on the floor has increased.

Go Jake! Go!

first christmas tree

Off we went today to get our Christmas tree. There was a break in the snow storms, so we braved the outside. We frequented our favorite Christmas tree lot, which we know are locally grown. The family that runs the business are fun, and this year Jake received a special Christmas Bear as a present. After picking out the tree, we headed to one of our favorite bakery and coffee shop where the three of us shared a huge scone and Jake had his first tasted of hot chocolate (spoonfuls from Daddy's). He was quite impressed.

This year, only simple ornaments that are big and non-breakable. Up 

went the handmade felt ornaments that Mommy made for her first Christmas tree out west. Jake even has his own ornament that he received as a present from Ann. Christmas Eve, the presents from family that have arrived by post will go under the tree, and of course there will be some for Jake from Santa himself. 

The house smells of Christmas tree and gingerbread, and its wonderful to tuck up inside while the snow is accumulating outside.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Wheeee!!!! We received about 10 cm of snow! It is very cold and brilliantly sunny out, making it feel truly like winter, and truly like Christmas. Since Mommy and Daddy grew up in Ontario, we had to admit to each other that it felt right to have cold weather and snow in the winter, especially around Christmas. Rather than risk some slippery driving, we all bundled up, put Jake in the backpack and headed up the hill to the grocery store.

 

Wide eyes, big smile and rosy cheeks!

'tis the season

December 1st marks the date that we can officially start to put up Christmas decorations around the house. This will be Jake's first Christmas and, despite the fact that he can't understand what it is all about, it is exciting to have him as a part of the holiday season. So, up went the outdoor lights on the house (with Jake watching Mommy and Daddy from his highchair in the big front window). The wreath is hung on the front door, and inside all of the lighted garland is up on mantle.

To be made this year will be Jake's personalized stocking to hung up with Mommy, Daddy's and of course with Simon and Lucy's. The advent calendar is already counting down the days until Christmas, and in years to come it will hopefully be a source of excitement and anticipation to share with Jake.

We have already attended our first Holiday Party and went to the Children's Christmas Party at Mommy's work. Jake had a blast circulating and chatting with people, while enjoying a carrot stick and slice of cucumber. He even got his face painted with a cute little snowman. 

There was a magician which made Jake's eyes pop. And Jake sat on Santa's lap and got his first Christmas present. He said "Thanks" by sticking his half eaten cucumber in Santa's beard. That's the Christmas Spirit....sharing with friends.

happy ten months

Such a little boy!  Ten months old today!  He still weighs 21 lbs, which is a plateau in the weight gain.  Likely a reflection of his more active (i.e. crawling) lifestyle.  He is now 30 1/2 inches long. Jake's sense of independence is growing each day; he prefers to feed himself, he can drink from a sippy cup without help, he plays on his own and can turn the pages of his books.  And with six new teeth, you can start to see the little boy Jake.  Soon not the baby Jake, but not too soon please!

Big milestones for this past month:

• crawling (albeit commando style)
  
• beginning to use signs to communicate
  
• sleeping through the night without the need to be fed
  
• vocalizes constantly as if having a conversation using lots of vowels and consonants
  
• sitting very well on his own for indefinite periods
  
• for sure he knows his name, and Mommy and Daddy along with Lucy and Simon
  
• can put objects into bins, trying to fit shapes into the proper holes

hair

Okay so it's not the thickest head of hair out there, but Jake does have hair.  He might look a bit bald, and he was for quite sometime, but his hair is growing in.  It is quite fine, but when it's wet you can see that he does have a lot of it.  In fact, it is getting long enough at the back to begin to develop the sweetest, cutest little set of curls.  They are so kissable.

The colour is a light brown, almost blonde.  Many people think that there is a reddish tinge to it, much like his Dad's.  Today we took a trip to the barber shop to watch Dad get his hair cut. Jake scoped out the experience and is looking forward to a full head of hair to get trimmed.

jake enjoys books

We received many books for Jake when he was first born. What wonderful presents since we can enjoy them with him again and again. Jake likes to have books read to him. He turns the pages, and if the book has any touch and feel portions, he explores away. His favorite types of book so far are the ones that have flaps that he can lift to reveal a peek-a-boo surprise underneath. And one called "Tails" seems to have it all for him right now: flaps, things to touch and things that move.

Jake goes to to storytime at the library, and he loves it. He sits and listens and watches attentively. We have started to get books out of the library for him, to keep the stash of books fresh. We usually read a couple of books in the afternoon. 

And every night there are a couple of bedtime books, ending always with "The Going to Bed Book".

to crawl position

So far Jake's crawling has been commando-style: he pulls himself along with his arms.  And amazingly he makes good time and distance.  But he has just recently been able to manoeuvre the from sitting position, to hands and knees position via the difficult to balance crouch. 

 

It's only time before the full on crawling begins.

surfing

We took a mini-break to Tofino.  Jake is now old enough to start enjoying adventures like this since he likes car rides and looking out the window, he likes being carried in the backpack and in fact kicks his legs in a 'giddy-up' fashion if you stop too long, and he likes to eat finger foods which makes eating in a restaurant easier (as long as you are willing to share).  We left first thing in the morning (7 a.m.) right after Jake had his breakfast and  Daddy was on the water by lunchtime.

Daddy  had a great time surf kayaking.

Mommy did an hour of boogie-boarding and was exhausted.

Jake explored the beaches

dreamed about kayaking

ate his lunch in the great outdoors

also ate his lunch on the road (what a good sport)

played in the hotel room

ate snacks in the hotel room

explored the rain forest

and put up with getting changed in the car.

We can call it a vacation because Jake slept right through the nights, without any wake-ups at all, and woke up each morning after 6 a.m.  Thank you Jake, that was a nice break.