Puddle jumping

Last weekend, we drove out to Guelph to visit (auntie) Jamie for the day. It so happened that it was College Royal weekend -- which basically means it was open house weekend. But because Guelph University is an agricultural university, their barns and vet school, etc. were all open -- meaning we could visit the animals.

But the first stop was to get Austin's face painted in the kids area they had set up at the vet school. He wasn't too sure about this at first, but once he looked in the mirror he thought it was pretty funny. (He was painted like a dog.)

We then went to the barn and saw the cows, chickens, pigs and sheep. Austin was so excited by the animals that he barely wanted to stand and look at them -- he just wanted to move on to see what else was in the barn!

Then, as it was a warm afternoon, we walked along the campus and Austin, who refused to sit in the stroller but had to walk along holding daddy's hand, discovered puddles. And he quickly discovered that puddles were a lot of fun to jump in. So he had to criss-cross his way along the sidewalks, making sure he splashed in every puddle big and small.

Unfortunately, at the end of the walk, mommy and daddy discovered that winter boots aren't all that waterproof! (So a trip to the store the next to buy rubber boots was high on the priority list.)

On another note, we finished Austin's new room last Sunday and every night this week we've asked him at bedtime if he wanted to sleep in his new 'big boy bed' in the blue room (that's what he calls the new room). And every night, he answered no, so we put him in the crib in the other room.

But tonight he said yes. He crawled into bed, grabbed his Mickey doll (which he won't sleep without) and went to sleep with barely a peep. It almost seems too good to be true right now, and in all honesty, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'll let you know what happens.

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February and Austin's second birthday

February may be the shortest month of the year, but it sure felt like the longest around here.

It started out with a lot of fun and a SuperBowl party that consisted of 8 adults and 4 children (one who was only old enough to lie in her parents arms). Needless to say, most of the game was spent watching the kids play and scream rather than watching the game. But it was still a good time, and the kids had fun together -- especially when they all decided to play with the laundry basket (and yes, they all got in without being prompted!)

Then Lilo, Isabelle and Austin thought this would be a good idea!

The month then chugged along at February speed and suddenly it was almost Austin's second birthday. We planned a small party this year, inviting just the same two friends over (and their parents) for him to play with and eat cake with. Then, two days before, mommy came down with the flu and on Feb. 24 -- Austin's actual birthday -- Austin came down with the flu. (And then, for the record, Ryan came down with it on Feb. 25.) Needless to say, we had to cancel the party while we all took turns complaining about who was sicker.

Even though Austin was running a pretty high fever on his birthday, we offered him a cupcake -- which I had already made. And even though he hadn't eaten anything all day, he still managed to find a way to eat the whole thing!Unfortunately, this flu went through our house like a train wreck, and lingered and lingered and lingered. All three of us were in varying stages of misery all week and by the following weekend both mommy and Austin had come down with secondary infections. But we are now on the mend, and we did manage to have Austin's rescheduled party on March 2. Here are a few photos:

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