Ice Skating

We bought Caitlin a pair of skates for Christmas, got them sharpened and ready, and awaited the cold weather. The bay barely froze at the cottage, but Uncle Graham had been up the weekend before and shovelled off a little spot for Caitlin to skate knowing we were coming. After the cold weather this past week, the small rectangular spot was made into a true rink although the rest of the lake was a slushy mess.

Here we are getting all ready for her first skate!

She wasn't in the best of moods; that's what no-napping does to a 2.5 year old (just too exciting up here to sleep!). But tomorrow's forecast is supposed to be warmer, so this was our window to do it. She was disagreeing about everything - making it such a pleasant experience. In this shot, she didn't like her helmet rubbing against her menamo… Arg!

But we eventually made it down the ice, and she got right to it. Look everyone I'm skating!

Daddy skated her back and forth…

And twirled her around - the best part in her mind I'm sure! It was quite the back-breaking activity...

Taking a rest as daddy stood up to straighten his back :)

We also brought down grandma's kindergarten chair we all learned to skate on too in case she felt inclined to go solo at any point. Not the case, but it was fun to be pushed around!

Surprise!

Daddy needed another break so Caitlin found the perfect spot to crash too.

She thought it was hilarious when daddy skated on top of her

Then he put Caitlin back in the chair and pushed her around a bit more. When he stopped and skated to the other side of our little rink to check a soft spot, she kept calling for him to help her up...

Then guess who decided to stand up all on her own?! Our brave girl has great balance!

She didn't fall, but that moment didn't last long. Action shot of them skating towards me!

She sure had a ball skating and being silly, but it was time to come in for dinner and some hot chocolate. And Robaxacet for daddy :)

Bedtime Cuddles

Adam's proud big sister was excited to have him come play in her bedroom after dinner!

And I know he thought it was a novelty too :)

With his full attention, what better time for silly faces?!

Even though Caitlin's faces were hilarious, Adam started rubbing his eyes and pulled out his sleepy arms. Tough crowd kiddo.

Caitlin noticed his reaction so she started talking to her 'little buddy' as she's dubbed him about going to bed.

Looks like more than one person is tired in this shot. Caitlin's 'tell' is ear rubbage and a menamo. Guess it's time for bum changes and jamamas!

Just as she gave him a kiss on his cheek, he leaned in for a real smackeroo! At least there aren't any qualms about boys having cooties yet!

Playdoh Chef

Caitlin is really into Playdoh. Santa brought her a cool set that included a million different colours, rolling pins, squishy contraptions to make noodles, animal & shape cut-outs and more. Her favourite thing to make is her favourite thing to eat. Pah-sketti and meatballs!

Rolling out the balls requires a lot of concentration.

Almost done…

Voila! Doesn't it look delish?!

Snow Angel

After last night's snowfall, Caitlin and daddy went out to shovel the drive while Adam slept soundly inside :)

We plopped her on the front lawn and she was happy enough to experiment with her little red shovel. Such a great purchase - it's just her size!

I wanted a cute shot of her all bundled-up and did my best to get her attention even though she was pre-occupied with the white stuff. She finally acknowledged my pestering with was a classic kid 'Huh?' look.

Then she realized that snow had been building up on her fleece gloves. The solution? Eat it!

Want some mom?

There's my shot :)

Just before we headed in, daddy showed Caitlin how to make her first snow angel. Once one was under her belt, it's all she wanted to do :)

Snake Hunting

Even though there's snow on the ground, I felt like a fruity smoothie for breakfast. So my sweethearts made one for me! A few strawberries might have gotten stolen along the way... :)

The blender scared the crap out of Adam though! No tears, just a bewildered look. What the heck was that?!

After Adam went down for his nap, Daddy bundled Caitlin up and took her outside for some exercise. Yaaa for winter soccer!

We left her to play in the snow while I tidied up and made lunch, but kept our eyes on our little snow bunny from the window. I guess she thought we weren't paying attention because she proceeded to climb up on stacked patio bricks. Not a hot idea, so I tapped on the glass and shook my finger at her. Surprise, mommy's all-seeing eye caught you!

After lunch, Caitlin and daddy migrated down to the basement to play in her fort with an ice cream in hand - a reward to a great lunch :) They told ghost stories and hunted for snakes with flashlights. This is her new thing - snake hunting. Not sure where she got this from, but I sure hope she doesn't find any down there!!

Finger Man

Adam loves playing in the living room while Caitlin is dancing around. He likes to sit and watch, but he can't quite do that solo yet...

But he's happy enough to spend the time on his tummy. Unlike his sister, he seems to like tummy time!

He zones right in on her when she passes by, and squeals when she pays attention to him :) He loves her so much!

Adam has also been using his fingers on and off to self-soothe him instead of using a menamo. I used to pull Caitlin's fingers out of her mouth and replace them with a soother thinking that it would be easier to get rid of a menamo when the time comes (yeah right!). But there's been times when I've been driving the car and he's fallen asleep with his fingers in his mouth - specifically the middle two - and he seems just fine. I'm going to leave him to his hands, he seems so content.

While we played, I could see him start to show signs of being tired. Quiet baby :)

Assuming the position: right hand in the mouth, left hand over his eyes...

Time for nappies!

First Food!

Our sweet little boy started baby cereal this morning!

He waited patiently while I prepared it. Little did he know I was about to feed him gruel.

First bite…

Meh.

Okay, so that was the first bite. Try another sweetie.

Still unsure.

My little mother hen wanted to help feed her baby brother. Instead of navigating the tiny spoon into his mouth, I put her in charge of wiping his face. He liked that she was hovering around over this mini-milestone.

I'm onto you now. Seriously mom, stop feeding me this crap!

Not surprisingly, he did a good job considering this was his first time swishing something around in his mouth. I gave him barely a tablespoon, but it's just practice anyway. I'd say this was a successful breakfast considering how we used to have to plug Caitlin's nose in order for her to open her mouth so I could shove food in! (Yes, not much has changed in that department).

Although Adam is a good eater, I discovered after this breakfast that he isn't a fan of being wiped down afterwards.

All done my dear :)