Winterlude Part 1: Ice Sculptures at Night

We went to Ottawa last weekend for our annual trip to Winterlude. It was the four of us, plus Mom, Dad, Matt and Gina. We had a great time! We went up on Friday night and started off the weekend at our usual restaurant, The Highlander Pub. It was yummy, as always, but a bit more difficult this year with two kiddos. They don't have high chairs, so we had to take turns holding onto a very squirmy Leah. She ate like a champ though - bangers and mash, tons of veggies (including a dozen mushrooms that I didn't want!) and a good amount of Cameron's meal.

After dinner we walked over to the ice sculpture garden to take a look at the sculptures lit up for the night. It was pretty chilly out but we were all bundled up good so we were okay.

Winterlude!

Cameron and Nana check out one of the ice sculptures

There were some really neat ice sculptures. I couldn't tell if there was a theme at all, but most of them seemed to have some kind of Japanese/Asian symbols in them.

There were also a bunch of modern art installments. This one was neat but most of them were just weird.

Love birds - Matt and Gina

Poppa, Cameron and Nana in the hearts

Cool dragon ice sculpture

These are just a few of a huge fish sculpture that was so neat.

This is how Leah spent the entire time at the ice sculptures:

Mama and Cam checking out ice sculptures. Mama looks extra freckly in this blue lighting!

After we looked at all of the ice sculptures, we headed back to the hotel. On the way, we stopped to get BeaverTails. They were delicious, of course. Cameron really liked them!

Chateau Laurier in the evening light

Cam Cutes: Boots and Toots

When we got home from daycare the other day, I was putting away the bags and getting Leah out of her car seat. While I was in the middle of all this, Cameron asked me, “Mama, what letters are in ‘boots’?”. Absentmindedly, I spelled it for him, but wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing while I spelled. As I was putting stuff away, he came over and brought me a little whiteboard that we have, that I use to write notes for Tim in the mornings. On it was written, in very shaky handprint, b o o t s. He said, “Mama, I wrote a note for Daddy. He forgot to put my boots on today so I wrote this note to help him remember tomorrow morning.” Needless to say, I was impressed! I didn’t even know that he knew how to write all of those letters, nor that he understood to write them in order. Smart little monkey! :)

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I put Cameron to bed last night because Tim was busy downstairs getting stuff ready for a potluck lunch his team was having today. I told Cam that Daddy would be up after he was done cooking. Here is our conversation:
Cameron: Tell Daddy to be careful. The coldy is going to make him gassy.
Mama: The what?
Cameron: The coldy. The coldy he is cooking, it will make him gassy.
Mama: Ohhhhh, you mean the chili he is cooking.
Cameron: Yes, the chili, it will make him gassy. (long pause) Mama, what is gassy?
Mama: Gassy means you have to toot a lot.
Cameron: (laughing) Haha, Daddy is going to toot!

Playing in the Snow

On Saturday morning the sun was shining so we decided to go play outside for a bit. The kids got sleds for Christmas but we haven't been able to use them yet because the weather is never right to go out - it is either too cold or too windy or we haven't been home. So even though Leah was sleepy and Cam was tired out from soccer practice, we decided to take advantage of the sun and play outside a bit.

Leah was so cute in her snowsuit. She couldn't really move too well, but it was adorable.

Trying to crawl around in the white stuff. The last time she crawled around in something that looked like this, it was sand in Florida. She was unhappy to find that this white stuff was cold.

Snow kids. It only took 20 pictures to get one where they were both sort of looking at the camera.

We decided to give sledding a try. The snow was pretty deep so it made it hard to walk to pull the sled. Cameron joined Leah in the sled, which was lucky because he alerted me to the situation going on...

...Leah fell over off the sled and face planted into the snow. Luckily Tim was there to photograph the incident while Mama went to the rescue.

Poor little monkey, scooped up in Mama's arms.

She did not like the cold white stuff in her face. The sand tasted much better and wasn't nearly so uncomfortable.

Feel much better after some Mama love.

Leah and Mama

We climbed up the snow hill at the top of our driveway.

It is pretty darn tall. There is a lot of snow out here.

Hello cutie!

You can't tell in this picture, but I was hovering just barely out of the frame ready to catch someone who decided to make a dive off the snow hill.

After playing in the snow for a while, we decided to go for a walk.

This is the perfect ages for the wagon - Leah is finally big enough to ride and Cam is still small enough to fit too. They had so much fun together, they kept putting their heads together and laughing at each other. So sweet!

Playing in the Snow at Nana and Poppa's

This is a long overdue post, from December actually. One day, Cameron went over to Nana and Poppa's house to help Nana make Christmas cookies. After they were done making cookies, they went outside to play in the snow. Cameron didn't have his snow pants because Mama forgot to pack them, so it was time to improvise!

Cameron and his big icicle

Poppa and Cameron

Cameron on the top of a giant snow mountain (otherwise known as the snowdrifts on the bottom of Nana and Poppa's driveway)

Cameron and his little snowman

And now, for Cameron's improvised snow pants - a garbage bag! Nana cinched it up around his waist and he was good to go for his sled ride. No wet pants for Cam!

Poppa gives Cam a ride

The sledding hill on the side of the house - not the biggest hill but perfect for a three-year old in trash bag snow pants.

Cameron and Poppa. Check out those fancy snow pants! North Face and Columbia have nothing on Nana.

Leah: Nine Months Old!

On Tuesday, Leah turned nine months old - she was officially outside for as long as she was inside! She is getting so big so fast, we cannot believe it! Leah had her 9-month checkup (the good one - no shots!) on Monday. Here are her stats:
Weight: 17 pounds, 14 ounces - 33rd percentile
Height: 27 inches - 31st percentile
Head: 44 cm - 49th percentile


So she is petite, apparently. But anyone who has seen her thigh and arm rolls might think otherwise! She is just right to us. :)

Leah's first "sprout" - Jaime was able to get this little ponytail into her hair

Leah has done a lot this month. She has gotten so much more mobile. She is a crawling champ, although she still favors her wounded soldier leg-dragging crawl. Occasionally she will get up on all fours like she is going to crawl normally, but she hasn't done it yet. Her new style of crawling is the bear crawl, up on her hands and feet. She gets where she needs to go! Leah also knows how to pull herself up and does it on pretty much everything and everyone. She hasn't quite figured out how to cruise along furniture yet, but she is getting close.

Crawling is easy, even in the sand!

Leah the bear

Leah can wave now and says "Hi" and "Bye-Bye" when she is doing it. It is so cute, although not quite so much at 6am when she wakes up sometimes and says "Hi!". She also makes some definitely sounds to indicate Mama, Daddy and Cameron. Mama is a "Maaaaa" sound and Daddy is a "Da" sound. Cameron is "Baaa", we are guessing for brother. Her big accomplishment for the month has been figuring out how to clap. We tell her, "Yay, Leah!" and
she claps and smiles. We love it!


For eating, Leah has pretty much been into all of the real foods. We completely have skipped the "3rd Foods" category of baby food and just give her food off of our plates. She has had most meats - steak, chicken, turkey, ham, pork. She has tried many fruits and veggies, including some new ones in Florida: blueberries, various melons and oranges. She eats muffins and waffles, cheerios and puffs, pasta and bread. The newest thing we are giving her is cheese and other dairy products (but not milk). She eats so well, we are so impressed with her. She wants everything on her tray, loves trying new things, and eats like a chow hound. She does so good!! So far she only has two teeth, the bottom middle two, but that doesn't seem to stop her at all. I guess she just gums everything up.

Schnitzel, potato and carrots for dinner - she ate a huge amount

Leah's first bite of ice cream

Some of the biggest news is that Leah has really been starting to sleep pretty good. Most nights she goes to bed around 7 or 7:30 and lately she has been starting to sleep through the night. She usually wakes up at 5:30 or 6 wanting to eat and then goes back to sleep for another hour or so. She occasionally wakes up at night but has been doing really well overall. We cannot wait for that day when she sleeps all the way through consistently.


Overall, it has been a great month. She is so sweet, so happy and is getting to be so fun. She laughs at us, especially Cameron, and we have been starting to have some really fun nights where we all play together. It is so fun. We love our Leah bear!

Florida, Day 7: Last Day :(

Our last day in Florida was Tuesday. Our flight wasn't until the evening, so we had all day to enjoy the sun, sand and pool. Cameron started out the day helping Opa squeeze oranges for fresh orange juice. They made delicious juice!

Squeezing these oranges is hard work!

Smush that orange!

I asked him to smile for the camera and this is what I got.

We went for one last walk on the beach, down to the public beach and back. Tim was taking a picture of the rest of us and someone came and asked if we wanted our picture taken. So here is a family shot on the public beach.

Mama, Cam and Leah in front of the lifeguard shack

Leah slept for the whole walk

Daddy and Cam - Daddy was trying to get Cam to put his toes into the ocean, but one toe in and he felt how cold it was, and that was it!

Then Daddy and Cameron swam in the pool one last time. Cam was doing so good swimming on his own!

Daddy and Cam swimming "laptops" - When Cameron saw other people swimming laps, he asked Tim what they were doing. Tim told him "Swimming Laps", which Cameron translated into "swimming laptops". He kept asking Tim to do a laptop, it was so funny and cute! Tim would swim on his back with Cameron hanging on around his neck and they would do a few laptops back and forth.

Cuddling up and getting warm in his monster towel!

The last activity for the day was one last time playing on the beach. Cameron packed up the beach toys and down we went.

Both kids got filthy. We let them do whatever and just go nuts, and they got so much sand everywhere. They had fun though! Cameron kept asking us to dig holes and bury him in them.

After initial hesitation, Leah decided she loved the beach!

Leah and Opa

One of the holes that we dug for Cam, he requested that we put Leah in instead. She didn't seem to mind.

Hey guys, what's up?

After making a face-down sand angel, Cam was a bit sandy.

The kids played so well together. Cam helped Leah dig and make castles. It was really sweet.

Beach baby!

Daddy and Cameron chasing after seagulls

Leah loved to crawl around in the sand. She left a hilarious trail behind her since she crawls on her stomach like a little army girl.

Cameron joined Leah in the sandy race

After a face plant. It didn't really phase her though, in fact, she tried to eat the sand off her lips.

We tried to take a picture of all four of us by putting the camera on a beach chair. It didn't really work too well.

Someone nearby offered to take a picture for us. He took a bunch and they came out nice, I thought.

A picture of all of us - Opa, Leah, Omi, Mama, Cameron and Daddy