July in BC

After a couple of weeks back at home in California, we all flew up to B.C. to spend a week and a half in Abbotsford.  Naturally, Steve took the kids to visit the nearby John Deere store.

We celebrated Henry's 1st birthday on July 16th. Unfortunately, he got sick just a few days after we arrived, and was not really his usual happy self for most of our visit. He had Roseola, which meant a high fever, rash, and generally cranky baby for over a week.  The heat wave during our visit didn't help either.  Henry still loved his cake though!

Grandpa Mark built a pen for Henry so that he could enjoy the backyard with the big kids.

And the big kids gave him plenty to watch!

We went south to Birch Bay to see Aunt Joanne (and Uncle Tom and Aunt Debbie who happened to be visiting), and got to explore a low tide area and find all sorts of crabs and shells.

Madeleine decided to be a chef one day and made up this Rainbow Salad for us all to enjoy. 

Back at home in California for the last four weeks of summer vacation, we explored some beaches, played with friends, M and R did a Vacation Bible School, and as always, they enjoyed garage time with Daddy.

June at the Cottage

I am finally catching up on our summer pictures. Right after school finished in early June, the kids and I flew to Ontario to spend some time at the cottage in Port Elgin. Steve went to Texas for a conference and then joined us for the last week and a half. We had such a wonderful time at the cottage and enjoyed the perfect weather. 

Before we left, I managed to get a picture of Henry with his 10 month sticker (he was almost 11 months - oops!). I'm afraid this is where his monthly photos end. He is the third child, after all. 

Thanks to Grandma Georgia, we had an early birthday party for him at the cottage and he loved it. He got a bit impatient waiting for the cake and shortly after the second picture, he dove in for a big bite.

If only M and R were always this loving and affectionate towards each other...

We spent a lot of time at the beach, and this yellow kayak was a huge hit with the kids.

Henry was pretty happy to stay off the sand for the first week or so, but he gradually got a bit more brave and went exploring. The water was too cold for his comfort though, and often we would head to the beach after lunch and he would have a nap there.

Caleb, Brody, Uncle John and Aunty Julie came to visit and the kids loved playing together.

Everyone was excited to see Steve after his conference!

Henry got lots of cuddles with the grandparents.

He loved reaching up to the piano to play the keys.

The kids loved the visits from Uncle Chris and Aunty Kristin too...

We can't wait to go back again!

Happy Birthday, Madeleine!

Madeleine celebrated her birthday recently with Grammie and Grandpa, who made some special "Madeleine cookies" at her request. She has certainly grown up a lot in the last year. She is loving reading and sewing, and recently started violin lessons. She seems to have hit a good rhythm in terms of being helpful at home, playing with her brothers, and being generally really pleasant and happy. 

Henry was baptized at our church at the start of April. He wore a cute outfit that Ross wore when he was a month older for Uncle Chris's wedding. Henry just squeezed into it! He was very happy with the pastors and didn't mind the water one bit.

Both my boys seem to love watermelon...

Grammie and the boys got lots of cuddles on their recent visit.

Henry loves music and especially loves plunking away at the piano. He puts his whole body into it and gets very excited.

Even though he is almost 10 months, I figured I should get some pictures with the 9 month sticker before it's too late!

He is commando crawling all over, and getting up on his knees to try and pull up on things. He eats anything - isn't picky at all yet - and has two solid naps (if we're actually home, that is). He is still usually waking up once in the early hours of the morning, and then goes back to sleep. He is not very interested in any of his own toys, but loves playing with Madeleine's horses, or Ross's race cars, or plastic cups.

He got four top teeth in the last month (he now has six altogether), and he often sticks his tongue out like this:

One more picture - thanks to Ross!

8 months!

This past month was full of excitement for Henry (and thus all of us) - he started rolling every which way, started commando crawling a few days ago, and we got a visit from Aunty Kristin! She made Henry a stuffed bunny with an "H" on the pocket when he was born, and then Ross got a yellow one at Christmas (which he named Hug-a-rrific), and on this visit, Madeleine was thrilled to get one with a rosy pink cover, and a flower embroidered on the pocket. She's named it Lily and snuggles with it every night.

We went to the Aquatic Park in Berkeley on the day Kristin arrived to take advantage of the sunny day.

Except that there was a chilly wind and my sensitive Californian children got cold - lucky for them Kristin shed all her layers to keep them cozy!

We all enjoyed some frozen yogurt one afternoon.

We tried to do a hike in Tennessee Valley that ended at a beach, but heavy rain was forecast for the following day, so they had closed the trail to the beach! We were disappointed, but went on to San Francisco and had fun at the beach by Crissy Fields.

Henry and Kristin share the same vibrant blue eyes!

I finally got around to taking some pictures of Henry and his 8 month sticker - but he just wanted to crumple and eat it.

He doesn't stay on his blankets for long anymore - now that he can roll off of them and scoot along our slippery tile and wood floors!

He loves holding this hockey stick and waving it around. It won't be long until he's getting in on the hallway hockey games here!

On an unrelated note, Steve had a busy month giving talks about the instrument his team is working on. He gave one talk to the Astronomy Department at Caltech (a private university in Southern California), pictured below. The other talk was to Madeleine's first grade class as this month they were learning about scientists. Her teacher invited a few scientist parents to talk about their work. Both talks were well-received, and Madeleine was very proud to have her Daddy come to her class.