Happy First Birthday Austin!

Today is Austin's first birthday, so we had to have a party. We invited his family and some friends and he seemed to have a really good time. The best part was, of course, the cake -- which he thoroughly enjoyed. And was on a sugar-high for awhile afterwards!

Here are a few pictures, enjoy!

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Austin: working hard at being a monkey

Austin really is a curious monkey now days. Here are a few things he's good at lately:

• If it opens, he'll open it and take everything out.
• If he can climb in it (such as his dresser drawers), he will.
• If he can climb on it (such as the bar), he will.
• If he can crawl under (such as the gate blocking off our office), he will.
• If it's placed neatly on a shelf, he'll take it off.
• If he can eat or drink it, he will (even if it's not his).
• If it can be pushed, he'll use it to walk.

Here are a few pictures. Enjoy.

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How we spent our vacations

On Feb. 4, we drove Austin out to Brampton, settled him in with Grandma and Granddad and early the next morning, we said our goodbyes, snuck out the door and took a 4-day vacation in Las Vegas.

From what I've been told, Austin had a very good time in Brampton, and other than the fact that he wanted to get up way-too-early in the morning, he was also very good. My parents kept him busy taking him out every day to the likes of the mall or to the Early Years' Centre to play with other kids. In fact, my parents kept him so busy, and had so much fun with him, that they forgot to take any pictures!

Ryan and I had a fabulous time in Las Vegas. It wasn't a long trip, but long enough to relax, feel like an adult again...and to miss Austin. We stayed in a smaller hotel right on the strip and spent most of our time sightseeing by visiting all the other hotel/casinos on the strip. Some of them are so big that we were wandering for an hour or more just looking around.

We also rented a car one day and drove out to the Hoover Dam -- which was really interesting and I'm glad we took the day trip.

We were lucky, while it was -20C or colder in Toronto, it was 23C and sunny every day we were in Vegas. Apparently, that's unusually warm for Las Vegas for this time of year, but we sure weren't complaining.

We ate very well at some very nice restaurants and although we didn't come back with more money than we left, we had a very good time.

So now we're all back in the real world. Ryan's back at work, Austin is adjusting to life not being spoiled by his grandparents, and I'm enjoying my last week at home with him before I really head back to the real world next week.

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