coco and kaeli: close encounters

jas and kaeli came for a visit this week and it was an irresistible opportunity to get the wee folk in a photo together.  coco wasn't having any of it but i did kind of bribe him with a juice freezie in return for his participation (aka "not fleeing the chair!).

kaeli is wearing the little dress that i made for her recently.  it's from a downloadable leila & ben pattern and is the easiest ever - it takes no time at all.  it also happens to match our couch cushions remarkably well!

and had to share - kaeli treated me to one of her patented pouty lips.  so cute!

little nest, big appetite

coco and i went over to little nest on commercial drive today to meet my sis-in-law and general pal-around-town jasmine and my wee niece kaeli. coco and i got there early, so i enjoyed the world's biggest americano and we shared a rhubarb crumble square. it was divine. for those of you who need a place to go - go there: high chairs aplenty, delicious food from a constantly-evolving menu, great service and a truly child-friendly space.

cole can sometimes be a little nervous about going into a big space filled with shrieking youngsters - hey, me too - so we agreed that we would peer in the windows first. apparently he didn't remember the other times we've been there. on the drive he kept saying "no cafes. no any cafes today", which makes it sound like i spend my days lounging in coffee shops, expecting him to get his thrills from the sugar packets and free daily papers. alas, we don't spend a lot of time in cafes... he is just very vocal right now about his likes and dislikes. or his likes/dislikes/likes/dislikes and yes/no/yes/yes/no/no type things. he is two, and very opinionated, you see...

anyway, while we were there he had a great time. he sprinkled pepper on the tables and ate it up - apparently very enjoyable.

he ate his treats, he got water many times from the water dispenser, he played with the toys and eyed the kids. he loved seeing his auntie jasmine and cautiously, gently, patted his little cousin kaeli. he ate lunch too, since about twelve he declared he was hungry and i got him an egg with toast. he now calls little nest the "egg cafe" and wants to go back.

kissing cousins

coco and i just had a great visit with my sister (in-law, technically) jasmine and her newish (almost 6 weeks old) baby kaeli. coco is fascinated by "goo goo babies" as we call small wee folk, as compared to his big-boy self. with only a tiny bit of asking he gave kaeli the cutest soft and gentle kiss on the head - and of course i missed it on camera. luckily he's fond enough of the camera and cousin-kissing to go back for a second take. so adorable!

halloween hoedown

much fun was had on saturday morning, carving the pumpkins we got last week at westham island. the most fun was had, to be honest, during the goo-scooping part. we scooped goo like professional goo-scoopers. cole really enjoyed it and we had a relatively tidy time. but the morning got along and we had plans to head out to langley for some trick-or-treating in gramma & grampa's neck of the candy-stocked woods. so, while cole ate lunch, we took turns doing a lightning-round of pumpkin carving.

and we finally settled on cowboy for cole's halloween costume. it was a tossup between homemade cowboy and last-year's duck, but cowboy got the most votes (in my non-scientific, undocumented, biased, random passing mentions to friends & family...). yee haw:

the costume was a scramble of bits and pieces that turned out really well. on hand we had a hand-me-down plaid flannel shirt that he wears all the time and of course his much-loved cowboy hat. to counter the chill he wore a few sweaters under the shirt - hence the very cowboy-like physique. i have a "mystery drawer" that contains interesting toys and whatnot that i find at random regular intervals. once in a while i grab something fun from the drawer - this time i hauled out a sheriff badge and a six-pack of various stick-on mustaches from the japanese dollar store (it's quite a drawer!). on friday we stopped by the granville island toy store on main because i randomly remembered that they had the horse-on-a-stick toy that would be really perfect, and hey, at least it's a waste of money that turns into long-term entertainment! the horse needed 2aa batteries to make a very authentic clip-clop sound, so i took those from our remote (and used the tv manually - oh, the horror!) oh, and i found a potato gun because apparently i'm promoting violence? (not really - just really into accessories!) and last but not least, i made cole a cowboy-style drooling kerchief late on friday night and then gussied up a pair of brown courdoroy pants by temporarily basting a strip of fringe-cut fleece onto each leg. fancy!

we had a great night, playing outside and, when it got dark enough, trick-or-treating with the lovely folks next door. their little guy james was the cutest frog! the boys really got the hang of it after a couple of houses. mmm... "cole" is really going to enjoy that candy! ;-)

ontari-ari-ari-o

we just got back from a week visiting my family in ontario. the funny thing was that what i was nervous about - the flight - was a piece of cake, both ways, and what i didn't even give a thought to - the daily routine - was a total debacle!

cole was such a happy camper on the flights. i highly recommend gravol and then snacks, new toys and stickers for plane travel with a kidlet this age! he slept for a couple hours on the way there (and three on the way back - delightful!), and then happily munched snacks and stuffed sparkly dino stickers down the armrest of our seat for ages. we lucked out with a set of bulkhead seats to ourselves on the way there, which was a treat and a half... i got to watch 3/4 of a movie i'd never heard of, which sadly had gone off the rotation on the way home. anyone know how the brothers bloom turns out? (actually, don't tell me - i'll drum up a copy online and finish it off.)

it was fantastic to see all the family i hadn't seen in ages. my parents, brother and sister-in-law and neice, my grandmother, my aunts, uncles and cousins, heck - even neighbours... so fun to introduce cole to everyone too. he never got tired of saying everyone's name (bryyyy, shell, ga-gra) and he was delighted to find many staircases to climb and various new methods for thwarthing my desire for sleep. but good god - he was a hard to manage... the child would not eat! not even his beloved crackers!!! and this is a kid who normally would eat anything even resembling dried bread-like products! i don't know what it was, but he barely ate a speck (thankfully he also seemed to grow, according to jamie). and sleep? forget about it! he woke up all night long, only napped when i had him in the car (so we got to enjoy many long country drives and lovely fall foliage). and it took the whole week for him to let me out of his sight, and even then - constant calls for "mama" which were endearing and heartbreaking and utterly exhausting. and my poor grandma, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday - she kept thinking cole didn't like her because he wouldn't sit still on her lap for two seconds! and i'm going to have to work hard to part him from his reinforced bond to the pacifier (which he calls 'poppie')...

but... he got to meet everyone, smell that same fall smell that i love, eat apples at my favourite farm market, pick pumpkins and leaves and acorns, enjoy many treats and he's still talking about his favourite folks. i'm so glad we went.

many more photos to come but for now here's the first one on my camera, taken on our first morning there. it's just a silly one of cole lounging on the leopard-print futon in my brother's basement family room (where we slept so comfortably, if not soundly thank you cole) but it's seriously one of my favourites:

thank you to everyone for your hospitality, the wonderful meals, the activities, the conversation, the help and the good company.

ps, for you jamie - the stellar jay is not a real blue jay. no contest!

Photos from our week...

This week we have been able to really get to know more about our little gentleman Cole. The first few days at home from the hospital last week were kind of a blur, but we are starting to get a good routine for our days and nights and also better at reading his cues too. Jamie does most of the diaper changing - he's got quite the knack! :-)

We've also been able to venture out all together several times to enjoy this springtime weather - some stroller walks around the seawall and to Yaletown (even into Urban Fare for groceries!), and some other trips out with Jamie carrying Cole in the Baby Bjorn. It is so nice to get some fresh air, and Cole seems to really love to snooze while we're on the go!

At our Doctor's appointment on Thursday Cole's weight was almost completely back up to his birth weight, which is totally normal. His umbellical cord stump fell off on Sunday last week, and it continues to heal well. He's opening his eyes more and more, although his favourite activities are still eating, sleeping and exercising his digestive system!

Here are a few photos of our week...

Before & after

Just going back through some photos and wanted to share this one of us on the night we went to the hospital...

We were trying to wait until the contractions were strong and regular, but when we got into the car to finally go, they eased up a little. So, we took a drive around Stanley Park to see if they'd kick up again, which they did by the time we got to the lighthouse!

And here we are just a week later - all three of us on a little outing, visiting Bonnie & Dave.