A week at the cottage

Our week’s vacation this year was spent at a quiet little cottage on a lake in Sundridge – about 45 minutes north of Huntsville.

We spent most of the week doing absolutely nothing by adult standards, but having a heck of a lot of fun exploring in by Austin’s terms. Every afternoon was spent swimming – something that Austin absolutely loved. On the Sunday, he tried to get climb into the lake, shoes and all, and by the Tuesday he was jumping off the dock into daddy’s arms.

Although the weather was beautiful every day but one – and even on that day, it was still only cloudy and 20C – every morning it was too cool to swim, so we found something else to do. One day, we went for a drive around the lake; a couple of days we took Austin for a walk a few kilometres up the road and back.

Another day we drove into town and found a park – which happened to be on the water and proved to be just as much as a draw for Austin as the playground.

And on another day we went to the nearby petting farm. The goats and donkeys were really friendly – especially when you were holding food – and Austin really enjoyed feeding them.

The only activity we planned was a hike on the Tuesday. We left the cottage around 10:30 and drove until we found the Forgotten Trails. We heard about them from a pamphlet left behind at the cottage – and forgotten they were because only my keen eyesight found the tiny little sign pointing in the right direction. But, once we found the trail we wanted, we found it was well maintained, and apparently seldom used. In the two-to-three hours we were gone from the car, we saw no one, and our car remained the only one on the side of the road.

It was a two-kilometre hike up to a lookout (and then two kilometres back) – a pretty decent hike with an extra 30 pounds on your back (which thankfully, Ryan was carrying!).

But the view was really nice, and we even managed to figure out how to use the timer on our camera and snap a couple of family pictures.

That about sums it up. Ryan and I spent the rest of the time relaxing and reading when Austin napped and making our way through the James Bond collection in the evenings. Austin, on the other hand, when he wasn’t playing in the water or running around the property, was learning how to climb out of his playpen when he didn’t want to sleep and discovering that ice cream sandwiches are the best snack in the world.

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Photos from camping trip number II

We enjoyed camping so much, we went on a second trip the weekend of July 13-15. Well, to be honest, the second trip had been planned before we even went on the first, but regardless, we did enjoy ourselves.

This time, we went to Presqu'ile Provincial Park, near Cobourg, Ont. (on Lake Ontario) It was much warmer this time around, although we were all still more comfortable in pants than shorts on the Saturday. And unfortunately, Saturday afternoon was spent hiding from the rain. Although, at least we were just wet, not cold and wet like Canada Day. And Austin definitely enjoyed playing in the mud puddles that came courtesy of the rain.

Here are a few pictures, enjoy.

mmmmm, watermelon

The remenants of the Fudgeo!

On the Sunday (when the sun was shining brightly) we went to visit the lighthouse.

And then it was off to the beach. It was really windy though,
so we opted not to put our bathings suits on.
Although Austin did end up pretty wet!

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Canada Day camping weekend

Camping over Canada Day weekend was a whole new experience for Austin – and to a certain extend for mommy as well, who had never really done anything like this before.

The three and a half day trip was at Arrowhead Provincial Park – about three hours north of Toronto (near Huntsville) – and was spent with three other families. In total we were 8 adults and 5 kids between the ages of 13 months and 7 years.

To sum it up, the trip consisted of sleepless nights (because the youngest member of the family takes up the most amount of bed space), cold days (because I doubt the temperature peaked above 20C all weekend), even colder nights (because it was a whopping 7C or 8C overnight), a lot of dirt, fantastic food (who says camping means only hot dogs and hamburgers?) and good company.

And we did have fun, even if Austin had trouble sleeping in his crib and ended up sleeping between us each night. For the record though, at least one of the nights, he woke up screaming because he was cold – and it was freezing that night. And even though it was too cold to go swimming and we all became experts at huddling under the shade tent for rain protection every time a shower passed through, we all really enjoyed ourselves. I think Austin especially loved being outside for pretty much three days straight. And by the end of it -- he was, shall we say, just a little bit dirty!

On the Sunday, Ryan and I strapped Austin to one of our backs and went for a hike to Stubbs Falls. It was a pretty easy trail for a total of about 4-5 km of walking, which is a good thing, because even though we bought a good carry pack, it’s still heavy to carry 27-pounds of Austin around on your back!

The rest of the time was spent doing pretty much nothing except watch Austin, Lilo, Isabelle, Andrew and Ian play on the campsites. And once the kids went to bed, the adults spent the evening by the fire.

Enjoy the pictures. There were some group shots taken, but they’re not on my camera – when I get them e-mailed to me, I’ll share them as well.

Coming back from the hike

Testing the water temperature in Stubbs Falls

Austin loved pulling this little wagon all over the campsites, so much so that he even tried to pull it when Isabelle was sitting in it.

Three of the kids (Austin, Ian and Lilo) hiding from the rain and watching the Backyardigans on the portable DVD player.

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Mr. No Fear

Austin has become Mr. No Fear these days. Nothing, absolutely nothing seems to scare him. Which I guess is a good thing, but certainly keeps mommy and daddy on their toes.

A few examples to prove my point:

Last week, I took him to the park after work. There are two play structures at this park -- a baby play area (for ages 2-5) and an older child area (aged 5-12). Austin only likes the big kid slide. Why, because there's 8 stairs to climb up instead of only 3 and the slide is longer AND twirls around, whereas the baby slide is straight and short. And of course, it's way more fun to go down on your tummy, head first.

Another good example is, he likes to climb up on the couch. And once up, he sees no reason why he shouldn't climb up on the back of the couch. So there he is, crawling along the back of the couch, while we hover between trying not to laugh and trying to tell him no.

And finally, a video:

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The Evans family keeps busy

I’ve been slacking a little on the updates lately, I know. It’s been busy around here these last few weeks.

So what have the Evans family been up to? Well, the adults have decided to redo the backyard, which is taking up a lot of time but will be a great space when it’s done. (This family picture was taken in my parent's backyard, not ours!) For those who haven’t seen the backyard – picture a space that had been neglected for 10 years where trees and hedges are wildly overgrown and starting to consume the yard and an abundance of weeds are a normal site – some of which can grow to six feet in height.

For many a weekends, this has been the project. And now, the wildly overgrown hedges are gone, the tree has been cut back, the weeds have been tackled and pulled and a new patio has been laid. Next comes the removal of the old patio and new grass and voilà, we will have a backyard!

Ryan takes the credit for much of this, as my official job description has been to keep Austin out of the way. (Although, I have managed to get good and dirty when he sleeps for a couple of hours in the afternoons.)

Austin is a happy kid these days and has now completely mastered the art of walking, using it as his only mode of transportation. Well, except when he’s trying to run!
The park is a favourite destination on weekends, where he’ll spend hours climbing up the stairs and sliding down the slide. And as you can see by the picture, we experimented with sidewalk chalk one weekend! Since then, we’ve stuck with crayons, which are a little less messy, but apparently taste good – leaving one of us to constantly repeat ‘we don’t eat crayons Austin.’

Now that the backyard is semi-done, it’s nice to know there’s a safe place to take him outside to play. He loves being outside, and always wants to walk out the front door – with a backyard, he’ll be able to and I don’t have to worry about him running onto the street before I can catch him.

We have lots of plans lined up for this summer already – a long-weekend camping trip in July and a week at a cottage on a lake in August. So there’ll be lots more updates and photos to come this summer. But I think we'll have to wait awhile until Austin's able to drive us there!

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News and updates

A lot has happened in the last month, and I just haven't managed to find the time to write about it until now.

Austin has really figured out this walking thing now and is able to walk (when he wants to) from one end of the house to the other. He's even mastered turning corners and stopping to catch his balance. He does still crawl from time to time though. But those times are getting less and less frequent. Soon he'll be running around the house I'm sure!

He's also starting to say a few distinguishable words -- the main one being cat. We have two cats and now, almost everytime he sees one of them he points and says cat -- well maybe it sounds more like 'at' but he's very clear and direct about it. It's just too bad, that after almost 14 months, our cats are still scared of him and run from the room whenever Austin's around. And Austin of course, tries to chase them -- no wonder their scared! I think the cats will start hiding in fear all day long when Austin starts running!

The other words that he tends to use is "hi" when Ryan or I come home, and 'dada'. (of course!)

This photo was taken in early March, but I really like it so I thought I'd share anyway. Thankfully Spring is finally here, so we'll be able to go to the park on the weekends -- something that Austin loves!

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He walks!

It's official. We've gone from saying Austin is taking a few steps, to Austin is walking a little.

Here's the proof:



And he dances!

One of his favourite things to do right now is dance -- especially to his 'dance CD', a Fisher Price CD where all the Nursery Rhymes have been remixed for dancing. Every time we turn it on, he goes up to the dresser, turns the music up louder and starts dancing!



In other news, I'm back at work now which means Austin goes to a babysitter's everyday. (Not a daycare centre as we had originally planned. We made a last minute switch in January and have been very happy with the decision.) He seems to be enjoying himself, and likes playing with the two other kids who are there every day. He'll even wave goodbye to me when I drop him off now.

He's also working on some new teeth (this'll be tooth number 8) and at his 12-month checkup a few weeks ago, he weighed in at 24.4 lbs and almost 32 inches, putting him in about the 75 percentile for his age group.

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A few videos from the last month

There's not much new to report right now, but there are a few videos and pictures I've been meaning to post. So here we go:

This first one is from Austin's vacation in Brampton, with Grandma and Granddad, while mom and dad vacationed in Vegas. The Backyardigans is Austin's favourite TV show, and, as you can see, he gets very excited every time the opening music starts.



This second video is from his birthday party last week AFTER he ate, and as the pictures showed, rather enjoyed a large piece of birthday cake.



And here are a few more pictures from the birthday party:

Austin with his friend Isabelle and his Aunt Suzie.

Checking out his birthday cake.

After finishing his rather large piece of birthday cake.

Playing with his Zebra -- a birthday gift.

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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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Playing in the snow...sort of

Last week, I finally cut the tags off Austin's snowsuit, wrestled him into it and headed outside to play in the little bit of snow that had fallen.

As you can see by the picture, there isn't even enough snow in Toronto to completely cover our grass, but here it is, the end of January, and this is the most snow we've seen. And really, the first snow Austin's ever seen. (It snowed the day he was born here in Toronto, but that didn't mean much to him!)

He wasn't too sure what to make of the whole thing. And he got frustrated when he couldn't move around -- I guess it's kind of hard to crawl when you're bundled up like that. But he was very interested in touching the snow (and eating it), only to look at me, surprised that it was cold.

Hopefully we'll get some more snow soon, we bought a baby sled for Austin back in November and we have yet to take it out of the bag!

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New video and another update

As many who saw Austin over the Christmas holidays noted, he has given up the military-style crawl and now motors around the house with his 'monkey-style' crawl. Because of this new crawl, he has shown less of an interest in learning to walk, and more of an interest in simply getting to where he wants to go as fast as he can. (As you can see in the video, he wants to get to the dishwasher -- always a favourite destination whenever he hears it opened.



He is, however, still very good at cruising along, and is much steadier on his feet than he was even a month ago. He has also gotten good at walking along holding on to only one of our fingers (instead of both our hands). I know I've said this before, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he starts taking a few steps.

He now has six teeth, the top four popping out in a short three-week period in December. And we think he's working on a seventh -- on the bottom this time.

A little over a week ago, he learned to climb stairs, and has even managed to climb all the stairs from the basement to the main floor in our house. And he has also learned to wave hi and bye...although sometimes he starts to wave just because he can!

A favourite game is to empty the books or the CDs from the shelf. I've given up trying to stop him -- instead I just take pictures of him 'helping mommy clean up'.



In another five and a half weeks, I'm heading back to work, and we've already arranged daycare. He'll be going to a centre just down the street from our house where I'm sure (at least I hope so anyway) he'll enjoy playing with the other kids.

I should mention that his blocked tear duct seems to have cleared up on its own -- which is a relief. It means he shouldn't have to have surgery.

I think that's all for now.

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First Christmas

Christmas has been a week-long affair for Austin. It started with a drive to Montreal on Dec. 24 -- which was a rather uneventful almost-six hour ride, despite that fact that he slept very little. Santa's sleigh (aka, our SUV) was pretty full however -- it's amazing the amount of stuff you need to bring when travelling with a baby and Christmas presents.

Austin's Christmas present to everyone was to sleep in until 8:15 on Christmas morning, followed by present opening at the hotel with grandma and granddad, Ali, Billy and Suzie. He tired of the game quickly, so mommy and daddy finished opening his gifts for him. He did, and still does, very much enjoy the gift Santa brought him.

Then it was off to great-grandma's house for brunch with the rest of the family. Below is a picture of grandma with most of her grandchildren, and now great-grandchild.
And, of course,there was another flurry of present opening.

Christmas dinner was at a friend of the family's where Austin sampled most of the meal. He wasn't too sure whether he liked turkey or stuffing, but he certainly did love the homemade spicy guacamole appetizer...who knew!?

We made the reverse trek along the 401 on Dec. 26. Again, he chose to sleep very little, prompting us to decide, when possible, future drives will be done at night.

On Dec. 28 (at Austin's bedtime) we loaded up the car once more and headed for London. Christmas at grandpa's (Ryan's dad's) was the next morning, where once again Austin opened a present or two before tiring of the game.

Last, but not least, Christmas moved to Nana and Gramps' house (Ryan's mom's) on Dec. 30, where Austin received, and mommy and daddy opened, more presents.

Austin clearly doesn't understand the whole Christmas and present thing, but will definitely enjoy all the toys, books, dolls and DVDs he received. And mommy will too -- because there are now new books to memorize and more than one Baby Einstein DVD to watch!

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A visit with Santa

A few weeks ago, we took Austin to see Santa at the mall. Although a little hesitant to smile, he was very good. And we managed to buy a really good picture.

Then, last weekend, we went to the PCL family Christmas party where Austin, once again, got to sit on Santa's knee. He was too intrigued by Santa to even look at the camera and smile, but we did manage to get a few nice shots. You can almost see just how badly he wants to reach over and grab Santa's beard!

We'll be heading to Montreal on Dec. 24 to spend Christmas with the Gardner clan, then home on the 26th and to London on the 29th and 30th to do Christmas with Ryan's mom and dad. It'll be busy, but fun.

Merry Christmas (and Happy Hannukah) to all.

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Nine-month checkup

Austin went for his nine-month checkup yesterday and he's doing well. He's now 21 lbs 9.5 ozs and 29.5 inches long -- I think he must have sprouted in the last few weeks because, suddenly, all of his pants are too short! I guess it's time to start bringing out the 12-to-18-month size clothes.

I should mention, however, that he has a blocked tear duct. An ophthalmologist told us that it's not uncommon in children -- about 6% of babies are born with it. And 90% of the time, it clears up on its own by the child's first birthday. So that's the hope, and we're massaging his tear duct regularly, as instructed. But if it doesn't clear up, he will need surgery next spring. We've been assured that it's a very quick, and effective, surgery.

He's still cruising along the furniture, the walls, chairs and anything else he can get his hands on, and in the last week, he has tried to take a few steps on his own. Unfortunately, when trying to walk from the dresser in our room to the bed (about a foot and a bit apart) he took a pretty good tumble -- and has now developed a small, but healthy, dose of fear. It should keep him from trying a stunt like that again for at least a few more days.
Regardless, he still manages to get himself into every nook in the house, as you can see in the picture he's behind the couch and under the shelf!

He's doing really well at sleeping at night now -- many nights he sleeps from 8 p.m. until 7 a.m. But some nights he still wakes around 5 a.m. for an 'early morning snack' and then goes right back to sleep until 8, or even 9! But as usual, he's still not much of a napper. On a normal day, he'll take two, 20-30 minute naps.

That's all for now.

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