Immune Booster

Every illness a person has, and survives, makes them all the stronger for it. In our household, therefore, we'll have some pretty strong kids by the end of the year. I remember thinking in October how healthy we'd all been for so long. Since then the kids of bounced from chickenpox, to flus, to colds and on to another round of flus. I've done all the right things naturopathically and traditionally, but it's just one of those months (or two)!!

Anyhow, I hope that we're on our last bought for the time being.

Here's a cute shot of the boys - in between illnesses (two different flus, in this case).

A la prochaine (whenever that may be).

Julie

Circus Train

We had a great time creating a family costume for Halloween this year. We were the circus train in the "Halloween Howl", a family fun 10k run. The first car in the train was driven by the ringmaster, Adam and had the ferocious lion, Evan. His roars were super scary, especially when we were going through tunnels.

The second car of the train was driven by the circus clown, Julie. Inside was a very rare site indeed: Oli the circus giraffe.

We had a great time and we're sad to see that this was the last Halloween Howl run scheduled. Hopefully we'll find another run for next year.

In other news, Evan has the chicken pox. It makes for a very scary Halloween costume but not a very happy Halloweener. Unfortunately, we'll miss out on the rounds for this year but at least we know that this childhood right of passage will be done with in a few days (though of course we're expecting Oliver to be sporting spots shortly).

A very scary and sweet Halloween to you all,

Julie

Catch Up

Hey Friends,

I'm not sure why we haven't updated our blog in so long...perhaps we've just been too busy enjoying summer. But, with the threat of frost looming tonight and the official end of summer just days away, all that's come to an end.

Here are our updates for the past several months:

JUNE

Evan's first team: soccer. Yes, we did show up with orange slices when it was our turn to bring snacks. Evan had a blast with his friend, Finn learning how to dribble, pass (not a 3-year-old's number one priority) and, of course, score! Whenever Evan is in goal he is the indomitable "Kipper", no matter the sport. As for Oli, he had his own fun on the sidelines as you can see.

JULY - THE CAMPING MONTH

We had lots of fun camping and boating this summer. We stayed relatively close to home, starting at Dickson Dam near Innisfail AB. We spent our time there with Mona, Sarah and a host of friends and family who came and went. Later we spent a few days in Fernie and then, la piece de resistance, we found our new "home away from home" on Lake Koocanusa in S.E. BC. The kids got used to spending plenty of time on the boat and on the beach. Koocanusa was warm enough for everyone to swim with no fear of hypothermia and the adults got to practice their wakeboarding and waterskiing skills. Good times!

AUGUST - DAYS TO REMEMBER

August 11th marks Adam and my anniversary, and, as of last year, Oliver's birthday. This year Adam had to be away for the festivities as he played at he Canadian National Ultimate Championships in TO.

Oli, Evan and I had a great little birthday party here in Calgary. We decided to have the party at a local park where the kids could play to their hearts' content. It was an all-round success.

SEPTEMBER - SCHOOL DAYS

Here we are at last, up-to-date in September. Of course, I forgot to mention Folk Fest, Adam's horse trek and a million things in between.

At any rate, Evan started preschool the first week and he's doing really well with it. The highlight so far has been having Giggles, the school bear, for a sleepover. Giggles and Evan had fun all over the place.

As for Oliver, he is talking a tiny bit (kitty, DaDa, Mama...), signing lots and still crawling. We figure that he'll walk when he's good and ready.

Adam has a new job with the CBE teaching grade six and I'm tutoring, trying to be "supermom" and working my way up a couple of badminton ladders. LIFE IS GOOD.

Peace to all of you.

-Julie

That was then...

We've pulled some old clothes out of the closet for Oliver in the past couple of weeks. Among the treasures are a pair of old pyjamas that Adam wore when he was a kid - yes, they're as good as new 34 years later. Maybe you can tell that Oli was trying to chase me and get the camera as I was taking the pics of him crawling. Man, he's getting fast.







We also pulled out one of the cuter sleepers that Evan had. The first picture is Evan at 8 months and the picture below is Oliver at 9 months.


I thought it would be fun to compare the pics of Evan and Oliver. Unfortunately I don't have one of Adam in those PJs.


On the theme of retro (sorta), Evan is totally into bowling these days. He has a little preschooler "bumper bowling" class on Mondays which he adores. While he bowls, Oli scooches around and trys to get at anything he can grab.


Happy Days.

Lil' Fang

You never know how those teeth are going to come. In Oliver's case, he's taking after his dad and perhaps, Dracula.

Here are some recent photos of our munchkins.

Island Life

We spent the better part of the last week out on a little travelled Gulf Island: Lasqueti, with good friends who have found their ways and paths there.

It was such a great week for all of us. For me, I reconnected with my longtime friend, Jenny, and her son Gryphon who are both so close to my heart.

For Adam, it was a time without a schedule or a bell ringing.

For Evan and Oliver it was a week of the outdoors and the unexpected.

For all of us, it was a week of open experiences and open people. I'm so glad that we all had the chance to get "out of the box" and feel how our friends are living.

Highlights: marimba intoxication, 9 on 9 and 3 on 3 ultimate, wheelbarrows of delight, forest wanderings, sleeping in the home that Jenny built and Evan's absolute trust of the people to whom we introduced him (within minutes he was peering into Peter's eyes, hanging between his knees - - - Ok, maybe you had to be there!).

It was also a great chance for us to jump ahead to spring. Though March 20th has come and gone in Calgary, the green is just peeping through. In contrast, on Lasqueti the flowers are in bloom and we were eating from Jenny's garden. I'll never forget the site of Evan hanging out in the garden and asking if he could eat more kale from the Jenny's plants. (Please let him ask for more kale at home!).

It is so so good to get an alternate perspective every so often. We live in such a consumer-oriented world here in the city that we need the retreat of the island life every so often - yes, maybe more often. It was touching to see how affected our kids were: Evan cryed his eyes out on the ferry when we left; wishing already for our next visit with our dear friends both old (Jenny and Gryphon), and new (Sue, Peter and Sheila).

Thanks to our hosts for their generosity. We hope to reciprocate in the not-so-distant-future.

Milestones

It seems that time is literally flying by with Oliver these days. Six months was an eternity of milestones with Evan, but now that we have two, six months has gone by in the blink of an eye.

Oliver is now eating some solids; so far avocado, sweet potatoes, apples, pears and bananas. He took to eating with vigor, literally ripping the spoon out of my hand and shoving it in his mouth! He also sits up with just some support from the back and rolls/wiggles around the room.

Last, but not least, he has a new tooth (bottom front) which broke through today. That explains his lack of sleep and slight fussiness as of late.
In some ways I just want it all to slow down - I want my little baby. In others, I'm excited to see this new little person growing up and getting ready for playtime with his brother. Everyday is definitely an adventure; I just need to take time to absorb all of the amazing changes our little Oli is going through before he's all grown up.

Winter Fun

Anyone who lives in Calgary, or anywhere "North" for that matter, certainly won't argue with the reality of global warming. There are too few days to get out and enjoy the snow in the city.


However, we were blessed with lots of snow and some mild weather last week - the perfect combination for outdoor activities. Evan got to try out his new skis and build a snowman.



We all had a blast tobogganing and playing outdoors. Evan Oliver got in on the adventure.
Thanks to Eric for the great pictures.

A Smile's Worth...

For those of you who are far away and wondering how things are going with our boys, let the pictures do the talking! Enjoy.

Skiing Young

We spent most of the week between Christmas and New Year's in Fernie - our favourite hangout.
All last year Evan was dying to try skiing. Whenever we'd go out he'd practice on our skis by laying them out in the front yard and pretending to ski. He would even bend his knees and pretend to be careening down the hill, and then fall over yelling, "crash!"
We figured that this year he would be old enough. Some friends with experience in this sort of thing recommended that we start by going down the hill with him standing on our skis.
Adam went out with him a few times and then I went down. We even braved the Deer chairlift which was a total thrill for him - at least the getting on and off parts. We spent most of the middle part of the trip discussing why the chairlift is so high up and how much longer it would be until we got to the top.
At any rate, skiing is a total hit with Evan. We definitely have to get his skis fitted for boots before we go out again; as long as we can convince him not to turn to snowboarding, that is. You see, our friend Joel has told Evan that snowboarding is much cooler than skiing so Evan is determined to be a snowboarder! I told him that once he is comfortable skiing, he can try boarding. Then, we'll move him on to the teles. He can follow in my snowprints, though I am guessing that he'll progress through the sports about twenty years faster than I did.
As for Oliver - I doubt he'll have much trouble keeping up with his big bro in a few years. He is jumping like a mad man - in my arms, in his exersaucer and in the jolly jumper. He'll have legs of steel by the time he's one!
"Peace in" (Evan's response to Peace out - and I like it) and all the best of the new year.
Jo Larson with Oliver, Finn and Meredith