happy birthday

It is the 100th anniversary of the Pacific Biological Station, where Mom works. As a celebration the research station held an Open House and we all headed over to see the displays. Thousands of people from Nanaimo look forward to this event. The staff did a great job, and some of the displays included a live cooking demonstration of fish and seafood (with samples); a large 'reef' inhabited by dogfish, rockfish, lingcod and big skate; tanks and tanks of invertebrates;

tours of the research vessels; and many posters and booths outlining the research conducted at the station. Jake got a chance to see the posters (made by Maria) about Mom's research programs: lingcod and sharks and skates.

And possibly there may be a future shark researcher in the family.

three months old

Jake is now three months old. He is about 14 lbs and almost 24 inches long. Some milestones for Jake at this age include:

• full head control
• bearing his weight when he is held on a firm surface
• chuckling and laughing
• hold stuff
• responsive cooing noises

Many of these milestones are a reflection of his increased awareness and curiosity of the world around him. There are some great times exploring ahead.

Thanks for a great three months Little Dude. Keep growing!

anything to declare? yes, cutest baby ever!

Jake is now a world traveller, of sorts. We just had our first ever road trip and stay over in a hotel, which was the trip down to Seattle. In a nutshell, the trip was stressful and hard work but Mom and Dad still had a good time. Jake came out unscathed, so I think we could call that a good time too.

The trip started with a stop at Starbucks (appropriate Seattle start) on the way to the ferry for some caffeine fuel and a Top Pot donut, which are infamous "Hand Forged" donuts from Seattle. Ironically, these donuts are one of the treats that I look forward to from a trip to Seattle and this stop was the first time that we had seen these donuts available outside of Washington State....so we need to find another treat. These donuts are good, but the Maria-found handmade donuts from Port Alberni are still the best.

Time on the ferry went by quickly, with songs, rocking Jake in his carrier car seat and walking him around and around in the baby frontpack letting him look at stuff.

The border crossing was longish (40 minutes) but we spent the time with Mom in the back seat nursing or changing Jake, and with Mom and Dad eating their packed lunch. Jake had his own identification (birth certificate) and I assume is now in the US customs database as "Cutest Baby Ever crossed border on April 21".

The impetus for the trip (aside from getting out of the nest and doing something different) was to attend a lecture by a knitter and author, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot. We made it to Third Place Books with time to spare, in fact enough time for dinner and early enough to grab excellent seats for the lecture. About 200 or so people were there, so it was nice to be close to the stage. Mom loves knitting, and it was a neat feeling to be amongst so many knitters who have a love for the same hobby, and to see a knitting hero who has a great sense of humour about the craft.

Jake, Mom and Dad stood in line to meet the Yarn Harlot and to have her sign her latest book, Things I've Learned from Knitting. She did comment on Jake's cuteness, who after spending 3 hours (bless his little heart) in this bookstore had had enough, and was asleep on Dad's arm. Proven by the photo taken by the Yarn Harlot and posted on her blog appropriately named Yarn Harlot.

We were off to finish our journey with the quick (at that time of night) drive to downtown.After a long day of driving, it sure was nice to relax in the hotel room, kick back in your t-shirt and diaper. Yeah man, feels good!

Holy Doodle there's the Noodle. Still rich. We spent our day in Seattle walking, walking, walking. Mainly with Jake carried by Dad in the baby frontpack.

We explored Queen Anne neighbourhood which gave us magnificent views, and some spectacular old heritage homes.

The walk in this neighbourhood was straight up a very steep and long hill, with a stop at Top Pot (yes another couple of donuts) and some shopping at boutiques at the top. Oddly enough one of those boutiques was a yarn store. Go figure.

We headed downtown to our favorite spot, Le Pichet, which is a Parisian-style cafe. Divine decadence. Mom and Dad shared some Lillet, a favorite drink of theirs introduced to them on previous visits to the Le Pichet. Mom's new favorite thing about Seattle is the chocolat chaud served here. It is French-style, which means melted chocolate and cream served with real whipped cream on the side. So good, you eat it with a spoon like the dessert it is.

Of course Seattle visit requires a quick trip to Pike Place Market, and Jake's first pose with the bronze pig. Kind of a tribute to the Old Sow and Piglet shtick that Mom and Jake have going on. Looked at some fish for sale and went to the geek store (aka the comic book and collectibles store).

Its a lot of hard work travelling with a 3 month old. It is difficult to manage diaper changes and feedings when in public, and its nerve wracking to deal with crying episodes. So after a day in Seattle, the most welcome option for dinner was takeout burgers from Dick's (a Seattle hamburger chain) and chilling in the hotel room.
Here's a tip for travelling parents with an infant, put the crib in the bathroom. That way baby gets a good sleep early and isn't bothered by the lights on or tv noise, and parents get a good sleep without the baby snoring. We brought a nightlight to put on the bathroom and brought Little Dude's blankets from home so that it was as close to his own crib as possible. It worked well.

We decided we had done enough, Mom and Dad were tired and had a good time...so why push it. So the next day we headed back home. As we were driving out of Seattle by 8:30 a.m. we realized that our lives were measurably different from before....instead of being completely on the road by 8:30 seen as an early start, it was for us actually a late start since we were up for diapers and feeding around 5:30 a.m. Well we do get earlier starts.

The trip was hard work and stressful. It was also great fun and wonderful. We are glad that we did, but even more glad to get back to the nest and to just hanging out again. The only real snag was coming home to find that we had shut Lucy T. Cat in Jake's bedroom. Seriously. Lucy forgave us. Eventually.

record snowfall

We woke up Saturday morning to find 1 and half feet of fluffy snow!! And unfortunately, no power. Saturday morning was to be our set off for the big road trip to Seattle. First big road trip with a sleepover somewhere other than Jake's crib. So we were all a little disappointed, well all of us except the cats who couldn't believe that we would be leaving them behind. With no heat we all got bundled up, with Jake in several layers ending with this adorable fluffy bear suit. Snow Bear! complete with little ears on the hood and paw prints on the feet. The afternoon proved to be sunshiny so Jake in his first snow in his cool baby shades. No Jake was not impressed with his sunglasses.

The power was eventually restored, we spent the day watching movies and eating food from the freezer. The weather today is sunshine and warm temperatures. So the road trip is back on for tomorrow. Sorry cats.

look who's reading.....

....well okay, look who is being read to. At almost three months old, Jake now looks at the world around him which includes the books that mom and dad read to him. The British Columbia government has a program targeting new parents, encouraging them to read to their babies. Read early, read often. Jake's mom and dad love books, especially dad, so Jake already has many. Many were pressies from friends and family. Some of Jake's favorites (as determined by mom and dad's favorites to read) include:

• Barnyard Dance
• Big Rex and Friends
• The Hungry Caterpillar
• White on Black
• Hop on Pop
• The Going to Bed Book

Infants like to listen to voices, and reading books introduces them to language. The books have great pictures in them that babies find intriguing to look at. Best of all its a chance to cuddle on mom or dad's lap. Mom and dad like it too.

the cats

One of the questions that people have been asking us is "How are the cats coping?". We have two cats Lucy (fluffy gray and white) and Simon (velvetty gray). As most people know, they really were the center of the household for a number of years. And then BINGO, along comes the number one Little Dude. So how have they been coping being bumped down into second and third position (we'll let them worry about who is in which position)? Well initially they were quite disgusted, then alarmed that there were certain rooms (our bedroom and Jake's room) that they were banned from. They were used to full run of the house, and used to full cuddling on the bed at night. Our sleeping has been much more restful since the ban by the way, somewhat because we are more tired but mainly because there aren't two 9 lb furballs hogging up the bed. Lucy also initially was startled by Jake's cries and kind of had a look of disdain akin to "What the hell is that?".

Now they take what they can get in the way of attention, which is still plenty. They are much more pleasant to have around the house, happy to see us and all. They did go through a phase of hanging out with the baby stuff to try to be close to us, but they are not allowed near the baby. Lucy would lounge on Jake's playmat
and Simon did put up with cuddling under Jake's baby blanket.
One thing is for sure, the two cats now rely on each other for playtime and for cuddle time. Seeing them sleep next to each other would be unheard of a year ago. Now look who has learned to get along.

playdates

Well Jake doesn't quite play with friends yet, but he can 'play' (i.e. look at stuff) next to them. We had two playdates this week, which is also a lovely excuse for the parents to drink tea and visit. First there was a playdate with Zeke, who is one month older than Jake. Zeke brought his mom Cathryn and his sister Sable. Sable enjoyed puzzles, rock hunting and some fun videos. Second visit was with Spencer and his mom Colleen. Spencer is two months older. At this stage, Jake actively looks at toys and engages in looking at books. Its amazing to see Zeke and Spencer actively reach and grab toys. Or as Spencer shows us, actively grabs his toes.

moms' night out

Well the big news is that last Tuesday night, mom had her first return to the ice rink for a hockey game in 10 months. No hockey after 2 months pregnant and 2 months or so after Jake was born. It was also the first time that Jackie and Vanessa got to play hockey together since Vanessa started playing about three years ago. They both played defence, creating the 'Wall of Sunshine' that effectively screened their goalie every time. He was a very good sport about it, and luckily he was a good goalie so very few that got by us actually went in. Good times were also had on the bench with the endless girlie chit-chat between shifts. Meanwhile back at home, Jake slept for about an hour, and then gave dad some cry time. Luckily mom arrived back home in time for another demand feeding. Yes the next day she slept in and her legs ached from skating.