can you believe that we went camping?

This past weekend we headed the wilderness, well okay someplace natural, and went camping at Horne Lake.  Horne Lake is only about an hour north of Nanaimo, and has some interesting caves nearby to explore.  We shared a lakeside campsite with Vanessa, Rob and Zoe.  

For this special first time camping with Jake we bought a new family tent, the Family Funhouse from MEC.  It is 10 x 10 feet, and is tall enough that even Dad can stand up in it.  It has a screened in vestibule and lots of big windows and doors for ventilation.  We brought along Jake's playpen, and he was snug as a bug in a rug.

In fact Jake napped and slept well while camping, it must have been all of that fresh air.  He did have his usual early morning wake up, and since we had just returned from Ontario these ones might have been a bit earlier than usual.  Mom and Dad got up at 5 a.m., packed Jake in the stroller and went for a walk in the dark to help the other campers enjoy more slumber.  We watched the sun come up and decided that it was a lovely family camping tradition.  Its one that we look forward to forcing Jake to share with us when he is a teenager and wishes he could sleep in as long as he wanted.  Good times to come Little Dude.

Dad had done all of the meal planning and packing for us.  He had some wonderful food, including Creme Brule coffee for Mom and 'smores to share with others.  The second night he cooked a salmon on the fire, and served it with new potatoes.  Delicious.  Jake had pureed medley.  Someday Little Dude you'll get your 'smores.

Despite the rain, Jake was in constant good humour.  He loved camping, with so much to see. He kept warm with his fuzzy, feeted pants and hoodie.  

And he enjoyed sitting around the campfire soaking up the ambiance.  He had great playtimes outside on the tarp and in the tent on the sleeping bags.

All in all it could be called a success, and it was a time to relax and unwind.  It is going to be so great to be able to share camping experiences with Jake in the future as he becomes more mobile, and finally when he is able to join us kayaking and eventually out paddle us old farts. Looking forward to it Jake!

seven months old already

Can you believe it? Jake is seven months old.  Today we went blackberry picking at Neck Point, and took a break to have some lunch on the beach. We all shared some potatoes, and Mom and Dad enjoyed a beer.  While sitting on the beach, sucking on rocks and smashing them together, Jake pulled his first ever sitting up by himself.  No props, no light holding, it was all Jake.  Wow big milestone to hit on your seven month day!  And it changes his playtime, he now can play with some more complex toys easily; toys like stacking rings and the 'laptop' activity board.

At seven months, Jake weighs 18 lbs and 13 oz.  He is 28 inches long, which means that he is wearing clothes sized for 9-12 month olds.  The eating of solids foods is now firmly established, and he has begun to eat finger foods like rice puffs using the fine motor skills to pick them up (kind of) with his fingers.  Here are some of his milestones that he has reached at seven months:

• sits alone for about ten minutes
  
• while sitting can lean forward to pick up toys
  
• can pick up small objects (like rice puffs) with three fingers and has some difficulty releasing what's in his fingers but can sometimes pull it off
  
• when he drops things, he looks for them
  
• constantly making talking noises, and now is stringing consonants together followed by vowels, like for instance da-da
  

nan and poppa

Jake flew on an airplane!!!  Jake and Mom had a very special adventure together.  They flew to Ontario for one week so that Jake and his Poppa could meet.  The travel to Ontario was about 7 hours long, and returning was about 9 hours.  Jake was a wonderful travelling companion, and the flights and airport waiting times went the best that they could go.

Mom and Jake travelled with the frontpack, so that Jake could have a great view of all that there was to see in the airports waiting for flights or walking to connecting flights.  The diaper bag backpack was loaded with some new-to-Jake toys that he could explore, some baby foods with lots of spoons and napkins for clean up, and extra clothes just in case (which we needed in between the Vancouver to Toronto connection in the airport). 

 

Time on the plane went reasonably well.  We were in comfort since we were flying business. Both ways there were empty seats beside us, so Mom had space to organize things for Jake and an extra tray to eat her meals off of.  Jake nursed on take offs and landings, so had no problems with his ears.  He played on mom, they walked about the cabin, they ate food, watched the cartoon movie, he sat on the empty chair next to Mom

and even had some space in front to play on the floor on his blanket.  

He was a lovely baby to travel with, and he got lots of kind words and smiles from everyone.

This trip was the first time that Poppa had met his grandson, and it was love at first sight for both of them.  Jake certainly did enjoy spending time with his Poppa.  He wore his special birdie shirt that Poppa had bought him.

They enjoyed cuddling in bed

sitting in the big chair watching the birds outside

wandering in the garden, even getting to eat one of Poppa's self-grown green beans

Poppa helped Nan with changing a diaper.  Apparently Jake and Poppa were laughing so much that they really weren't much help for Nan.  Poor Nan.  Poppa also helped out with looking after Jake while Mom and Nan headed to the mall for shopping, and he helped with getting Jake up from his naps.

And of course, the trip meant that Jake got to visit with his Nan again.  

Jake sure does love his Nan.  And she was excited and delighted to have Jake come stay at her house.  She had been busy getting a playpen, high chair, stroller, food, bibs, rubber duckie for the bath 

and all sorts of things for his arrival.  And what an enjoyment for her to be able to go for morning and evening walks with Jake, and to bath him and feed him his meals.

Jake loved being on vacation.  He even got a special holiday excersaucer to enjoy time in the living room

and in the yard.

A highlight of the trip was Jake meeting his Great-Nanny, who turned 100 years old on July 24th.  When we walked into her room, it did take a couple of seconds for her to register who he was, but she was instantly delighted that he had come to meet her.  She held him for the whole hour that we were there.  

It was very important that we had this opportunity to visit Great-Nanny, since she has been asking Nan about meeting Jake every week since he was born.  It was an opportunity for four generations to share a visit.

Jake met the rest of his extended family when Nan and Poppa had a wine and cheese afternoon.

Nothing gets the Parent family out like wine.  

Jake met Aunt Rhodell and Uncle Tom

(though Aunt Rhodell did 'hog' Jake and spent a lot of time holding him)

Aunt Ros and Uncle Guy

Cousin Brenda

Cousin Carolyn and Second Cousin Sammy 

(Jake wondered when he would be able to grow long hair like that)

and Cousin Steve, Cousin-to-be Kaitia, and Nan's friends Jeannette and Marilyn.

Last but nowhere near least on the trip was a couple of days visiting the Cooks.  Marie is Mom's best friend, and they have been friends for 21 years!  Who would have guessed that some day they would go from good times at the pub to good times with the kids.  

Madeleine is now 6 and starting Grade 1, Sophie is turning 4 and starting Junior Kindergarten.

We did crafts, played games, went to the park 

where Jake went for his first swing ride, 

and had a general grand time.  Madeleine and Sophie were wonderful to Jake, they helped to feed him 

and teach him some signs, they brought him toys and played with him.

They have lots of practice being big sisters since the arrival of Violet in May.

She is such a precious flower.  It was a tender gift to be able to hold a small newborn again.  Its so hard to remember that my Little Dude was such a little potato once too.  Violet makes tiny little cooing noises when she nurses.  Ah, the memories.

It was great to catch up with Trevor, who is one funny guy.  He cracks me up.  He brings laughter and good times to the household that's for sure.  And he was such a good sport to come to the airport late at night to pick up Jake and Mom; circling for an extra 45 minutes while we waited for our delayed baggage.  Thanks to Marie and Violet for the ride back to the airport when it was time to leave.  

Thanks to our family and friends for such a great visit, you helped to make it smooth.  We had such a good time.

playdates

It has been really great to meet other moms through the baby group at the Health Unit.  At three weeks old, Jake and Mom went to these weekly drop-in meetings.  The meetings were facilitated by a nurse, and usually it was an opportunity to ask each other questions about baby care.  It was a great way to get out and feel a part of something.  And as time went on we made friends with some of the moms and babies.  It has been a fulfilling experience to meet new people and to become part of a community.  Even though Jake and I have not been attending the baby group at the Health Unit for a couple of months, we have been meet our new friends regularly for playdates.

We often hang out with Ethan and Ainsley (along with their moms Jen and Riki).  Here they are at Ethan's house:

Once a week we meet with Ethan, Ainsley, Lucas (& Karen), Logan (& Koren), Thomas (& Keri), Anton (& Kathy) and Cohen (& Chai) for coffee at a local coffee shop.  As a treat, one week Lucas had us over to his house for some play and his mom, Karen, made some delicious coffee.  Here's Anton, Ethan, Lucas and Jake at Lucas' house:

Another weekly playdate is with Zeke and his mom, Cathryn.  We usually hang out at their house in Lantzville, but sometimes the come for a visit to our house.  The day goes by so quickly and usually 5 hours have gone by before the moms figure out that its time to say goodbye, what with all of the chitchat, tea and snacking.

We see a lot of our friends at sing along groups, other baby groups, and we meet for swim time once a week.  We have even gotten together for BBQs and dinners.  Making all of these great new friends has made a big difference in our lives.  It really has enriched our experience and has opened up a new life for us to be a part of in Nanaimo. 

fuzzy wuzzy

It's arrived!  Jake's hair is beginning to grow in.  He was born with some darkish hair, which fell out in the first couple of months.  Then nothing.  Well, slight fringe of hair along the bottom back.  But Jake was definitely a bald baby.  Much like his mom, who as you can see was a baldy too.  Well around about a month ago a slight hint of fuzz began to appear.  Its so soft and lovely to pet.  It is turning out to be light brown in colour, with perhaps hint of red.  It will be interesting to see if he end up being redhead like his dad or a brown haired dude like his mom.

feast fit for a king

Jake's eating of solid food is well underway.  So far to date he has enjoyed: rice cereal with prune juice, bananas, sweet potatoes, chicken, chicken soup made by his dad, salmon and potatoes with dill, peaches, avocado, green beans, pears and apples made by his mom from their fruit trees last summer.  

It has been an absolute delight exploring the world of foods with him.  And he is a great eater. He lets you know with a raspberry sound when he is finished eating.  He is up to about 1/4 cup per meal, and eats three meals a day.  Which makes for lots of clean ups.  

We have needed to turn washing of hands and face into a game, with the help of the Cleaning Bee...buzzzzz buzzzz which gentle dabs at Little Dude's face.  He enjoys the game with some giggles and presents face for cleaning.  The many meals also make for lots of dirty bibs, so thank you Nanna Grace for the special one.