Blue Ribbon

Z has been progressing really well with his swimming. He's really gotten the hang of it. This week he achieved his blue ribbon! Well done Z!

Party!

This past Sunday was Z's 4th birthday party. The weather this time of year is unpredictable, so we narrowed down the options and then let Z decide where he wanted to go. He decided he wanted to take all his friends to see a local kids theatre perform 'Aladdin' and then have cake and pizza afterward. It was lots of fun and the kids had a blast.

Visitors from north of the border

We had a nice surprise on Friday night when Stephen's uncle from Victoria called to say he was just outside of Sacramento, and would be in San Francisco on Saturday as part of a longer road-trip. So on Saturday we lucky to catch up with B and B. Here's a photo.

Birthday Days

February is always a big month for birthdays in our house. Z turned a big 4 years old this past week. He's already reading books for much older kids, and doing really well with his letters. He's always got lots of hugs and kisses to go around, and loves entertaining his baby sister. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful little boy. Z had a great birthday on Tuesday, including not one, but two birthday cakes! First, a birthday at school with his friends. One of the other little girls shares the same birthday, so every year we have been sharing a cupcake birthday for the kids at the school. Then in the evening at home we had a special dinner from Mediterranee on Fillmore - Z's choice - and a birthday princess cake - not only mum's favourite, but Z's too! And as with any four year old on their birthday, there was soooo much excitement about opening all the presents. He wanted to open the gift from his sister first, which included books about the planets, Babar, Richard Scary, and pirates, as well as a batman helicopter to go with the batcave from mum and dad. Needless to say the rest of the week has been spent having a great time playing with all of his birthday gifts.

Another 'birthday' we celebrated this month was A's 6 month birthday. She's really growing fast and is now weighing in at 19 lbs. A's doing really well on solids, and now has a whole sporgus-board to choose from during feeding time. She's also just taken to some formula, which is a big relief all around, especially after her first reaction to the hypo-allergenic version, which definitely wasn't to her liking! She's able to sit up on her own (with a little help from the boppy pillow), she's blowing a lot of raspberries, and always has a big smile for mum and dad. Her biggest smiles and laughs are saved for big brother Z, who is a constant source of wonder and excitement. She loves playing with her little cat, her blue dolly, her sofie the giraffe and the monkey on her playmat. A is just the most placid and happiest of babies, and a joy to have.

Happy Valentine's Day

Yesterday was A's first Valentine's Day and she took it all in her stride. Z is an expert now, and always has a great time. He stayed up late for a couple of nights working on his valentine's cards for his class and A's as well. Z wrote his own valentine's this year, and did a great job. On Saturday morning, Z and A accompanied Dad to his annual visit to the florist. Z picked out the flowers - a bouquet of beautiful pink roses. Z and A each got a red heart balloon from Mum and Dad, which is always a hit. A has been having a great time holding the ribbon, but hasn't quite worked out that the balloon is attached. Here's some of Z and A's artwork to celebrate the big V-day!

First teeth!

After a couple of weeks of serious drooling, A finally sprouted her first tooth. It is her front centre (right). Then yesterday out popped number two right next to the first (centre left). She's had a little cold this week, but seems to be over it and back to being the happy little girl she is.


New teeth taken on 16 February 2009

Here are some other pictures from our recent visit to the zoo, which included A's first ride on the carousel.

Ribbons, Musicals and Food

It's been a busy couple of weeks for us. Z has been progressing very well with his swimming, and has now progressed to his green ribbon! It's started raining here over the last few days, after a couple of weeks of fabulous, and unseasonal, weather. So Z and mum headed out to see a local performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Legion of Honor. It was Z's first musical and he had a great time! The other big, big news of the last couple of weeks is that A has started eating her first solid food. She's loving the baby cereals, though doesn't know quite what to think about pureed pears, but at least it's a better reaction than we got when she tried the formula!