Christmas Morning

It's Nathan's second Christmas and he's as excited as ever. He had fun opening his stocking and some of his presents. The unwrapping idea was novel for a couple gifts, not all his. He did however play with all the toys he received. Thank you to everyone for the gifts, cards and Christmas wishes. All the excitement was overwhelming for Nathan as he had to go down for a nap after the gift opening.

Here's Nathan playing with his new garage set. And Java with her new Christmas toy.

Nathan enjoying some fresh air Christmas Eve.

The Latest From Alaska

All is well up here. Nathan had a fun Halloween. We made it around to 6 or 7 houses before he started shivering. Besides, I had lots of candy at home that needed to be handed out. Nathan even helped with that. He was always first to the door to see all the kids. He had a great time and went to bed easily. The day after, I had to take him to the emergency room as he cut himself over his left eye. No stitches were needed, but glue was. It took 3 of us to hold him down, while the doctor glued the cut closed. Since then, things have been going smooth. Keeping busy with swimming, hiking, and next week-play group.
You can watch the video to see Nathan's new torture method for Java. He was actually chasing me at the time, but uses the swiffer to get Java to run. I don't blame her.

Visit to Edmonton

It was a long day of travelling to get to Edmonton...

...but it was worth it. Nathan and I had a great time visiting friends and family for two weeks. Alex even made a special trip up to Edmonton for the Oct. 4th weekend to attend a friend's wedding. The reaction from Yves, when Alex showed up unannounced to his wedding was priceless. There's no need to mention the fact that tears were shed. Oops! Congrats Yves and Amanda. The visit seemed way to short, but we had a great time. Nathan got to go swimming with his aunts and cousins, as well as ride a bunch of rides at West Edmonton's Galaxy Land.

Nathan even got to celebrate his birthday yet again, with a birthday cake and lots of presents. Thank you everyone for the gifts. Nathan plays with it all.

New Hair Cut

Nathan had his first professional hair cut today, and needless to say the hairdresser finally got most of it cut. Nathan cried the entire ordeal. I had to hold his head against my face while she cut one side, and then we switched. The whole thing took maybe 10 minutes, but I bet it's 10 minutes Nathan would not like to live again. Perhaps in 6 months or so.

We also went for a visit to Tif and Noah's to help Tif celebrate her birthday. Here's Nathan playing outside with Noah and a couple of dogs, Sweetie and Aero.

Here is a video of Nathan trying to use his fork to eat. He's got the concept, but gets a little frustrated. Just watch and see his finale.

Eagel River Nature Centre

It was a chilly autumn day in September. A few friends and I took the kids and dogs for a short hike at the Eagle River Nature Centre. It was a nice sunny day. Everyone enjoyed the hike including Java. She was quite interested in the fish swimming under the platform we were standing on. As you can see, winter is slowly approaching as the mountain peaks now have snow. It's only a matter of time before that snow reaches the base of the mountains.

Afternoon at the Park

It wasn't the nicest of days, a little rain, but that didn't stop us from having a little fun at the nearby playground. Nathan prefered to play with the rocks, until he realized he could climb!

We went down the big slides together, but Nathan accomplished the little slide all on his own. First time by himself. He climbed up, sat down, and pushed himself down the slide. He's a natural on the slide.

Nathan really wanted to climb the big kid stairs, but as you can see the first step is taller than half of his height. Once I lifted him beyond that step, he was good to go.

Fun in Alaska

We've been keeping busy since Nathan's birthday. Playing with new toys and new friends. With some of Nathan's birthday money, we went and bought him a nice new chair, so he can sit and enjoy his bottle of milk in comfort. We also got a Thomas play tent. Not only does Nathan love playing in it, with it, around it, but Java likes to get in on the action as well.

Just this past week we took a field trip to "H2Oasis Waterpark". It is the 5th largest indoor waterpark in the United States. Doesn't even compare to West Ed! We got to enjoy the company of Tif, Noah, Julie, Remi, Jen, and Spencer. It was a lot of fun as Nathan splashed away in the water, went into the wave pool, as he held on for dear life to my bathing suit, and went down one of the kiddie slides sitting on my lap. I knew it was time to get out when Nathan's lips started quivering. He lasted a good 1.5 hours in the water. I'm sure we'll go back!