Chris as a wee lad

Untitled, a photo by beebs on Flickr.

I love this shot of Chris at 4 or 5 years old, taken by Grandpa in the New Hampshire woods

Ride, Augie, Ride

August pretty much taught himself how to ride his strider bike this weekend! He'd live on the thing if given the choice. Thanks to Gramma and Grandpa for the awesome wheels. Love is an understatement.

Augie's aspirational bike hero is this little dude named Jo Jo:

Sunshine Coasting

We had a quick visit at Gram and Gramps and got to see the Aunties (Megan, Kari and Steph) as well as cousins Jake and Brandon. August was totally taken with the boys. He points to the photo of Brandon and Jake above and asks me to say their names over and over. He played with Brandon;s skateboard and Jake showed him a few tricks on his boogie board.

Blueberry face

Littlest Chef

Favourite new thing is getting up on his step stool to "help" while I get dinner ready. Usually involves a whole lot of banging spoons and sampling of whatever food is being prepared. The John Deere tractor-themed apron is from Nana and Papa and it came with the teeniest rolling pin and baby oven mitts, too.

Bed head

Maybe time for a first haircut? Post-nap wild curls in the Maxwell tradition.

Meow meow

La Casa Gelato

Weekend with Nana and Papa

We had a nice little getaway to Salmon Arm to see Nana and Papa over the long weekend. Lots of sun, play, and mosquitos (they didn't care for Augie, thankfully).

Birthday Boy!

Our little baby is TWO! He's a whirlwind of sweetness, cheekiness and neverending curiosity and we love him SO much. The cliche holds true: it really, truly feels like just yesterday we were waking up at 1am with my first pangs of labour, saying today's the day we get to meet our little love.

Gramma and Grandpa came to visit from New Hampshire (via Portland, where they celebrated our twin nephews' first birthdays a few days earlier!) and made the occasion that much more special.

Our Secret Garden

There's a beautiful park three blocks from us called the Italian Garden (funded by the Aquilini family, infamous owners of the Vancouver Canucks) and it's pretty awesome. There are fountains, mosaic tiles, statues of operatic heroes like Turandot and Pagliacci, plus lots of green space to run and play.

Augie loves any chance to splash around in water so he was in there with his water socks like nobody's business. It will definitely be a regular haunt for us this summer.

Weekend ritual

We always try to fit in a little hike every weekend even if it's just within the city. Here are a few shots from last weekend in Lynn Canyon, one of our favourite places. Now that Augie's getting a little older, he likes leading our pack down the trails and seeking out sticks, babbling brooks, ferns and giant slugs.

(this one melts my heart)

(ok, this one does too)

Better late than never

I've been totally lax in my updates here and it's partly because I don't know if anyone actually visits the blog. The comments don't work (why, blogspot, why?) so it's gradually taken a backseat to the occasional Facebook updates. Oh well. I'm going to try and post here more often again, even if no one except Chris and Gram read it.

Augie will be TWO in two weeks!! So many changes so quickly these days. He's the laughing, running, playing light of our lives and it all just keeps getting more fun. Seeing the world through Augie's ceaseless wonder and desire for new things is one of the best parts of parenthood so far. Little adventures every day.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was busy and fun. We went to the neighbourhood fire station with plans to merely peek in the windows and check out the beloved fire trucks but lo and behold, there were five fire fighters literally jostling to let Augie see inside the truck, climb up inside, look inside the compartments with cool tools, and wear a mini firefighter's hat. I've always thought firefighters were great but I've been impressed by how eager they are to please kids, wave, open up their doors. Augie was awestruck.

After that we went to our fave Maplewood Farms and roamed around with the horses, sheep, goats and ducks. We weren't done yet, though. Next was our favourite neighbourhood parks for some digger, slide and swing time. August can now climb up and slide down all by himself! What a big boy.