Ryan in the Jolly Jumper

I put Ryan in the Jolly Jumper this afternoon, for the first time. For the first few minutes, he just looked around and seemed interested in this new, upright perspective. Then, he figured out how to turn himself around on his tip-toes. A few minutes after that, he had a nice big spit-up down his front and on the carpet. However, I was expecting that (they all do it), thus, the bib. After the spit up was over with, he became more animated, and finally did a few little bounces.

It's so funny seeing this little man up on his feet!

He's still mulling this over. ( . . . and yes, that is a little spit-up on the carpet. Yuck.)

"Hey, this is alright!"

By the time he'd been in there for about 20 minutes or so, he started doing some little bounces, and got quite chatty about his experience. I think he's going to like the Jolly Jumper more as he gets stronger.

Sleep-over & Red Bull Air Races 2010

On Saturday evening, Scott and Chloe drove down from Oakville to spend the night with us, and go to the Red Bull Air Races over the Detroit River the next day. Just like last year, Andrea and Chloe greeted each other as best friends, and it was like they had only seen each other yesterday! The girls play so well together. Andrea didn't fall asleep until after 10PM, and Chloe was closer to 11PM! Still, they were both up bright and early the next day, and eager to head to the riverfront to the see planes.

The girls had fun waving their flags and dancing to the music during the pre-race show.

Kevin was pretty impressed with the planes. He and Andrea had to take turns sitting on Daddy's shoulders so they could get a good view of the pre-race show, and later, the planes running the course.

"Da planes, da planes!"

There were some interesting fighter planes in the pre-race show. Two were old war planes; the second one was a rare German plane from WWII.

Then a pair of more modern F14s made a few passes by us. They were very loud! Ryan was a little nervous about them, but he didn't cry.

Mmm . . . Canadian flag . . .

Red Bull parachutists way up in the sky

We got to stay for the first round of the races. The kids were pretty worn out from the late night the evening before, so it didn't take long before they had had enough.

"Yeah, planes, okay. Gimme my blankie!"

We stayed long enough to see if Canadian, Pete McLeod (from London, ON) would make it into the second round. Here's his plane zooming by at the turn of the course.

Unfortunately, he didn't advance to the next run, but it was fun to have a "local" favourite to cheer for!

Ryan's 4-month Appointment

Today we took Ryan for his 4-month-old check-up and immunizations. He is doing great! He weighs just over 15 pounds, and is 27.5 inches long (almost the exact same measurements Kevin had at this age!).

Ryan was all smiles for the doctor until he got his shots--ouch! But he is sleeping off the effects of the shots, in his swing, right now.

Here's a picture from Saturday, just before we left to go to a birthday party. It is the first time Ryan has worn a sun hat. He wasn't too sure what to make of it, but Mommy thought it was adorable. :)

May 2-4 Weekend 2010

Boy, did we have a busy long weekend! On Saturday, Uncle Chuck and Brigitte came over for a visit and a BBQ. We were having fun making Ryan laugh! He started laughing just over the long weekend. Uncle Chuck coaxed a few giggles out of Ryan by tickling him, and Daddy got Ryan to giggle with his "phew, stinky feet!" act.

On Sunday morning, Andrea and Kevin had their last swim classes until the Fall. They are both doing really well. In September, Andrea will move on to Preschool C, and Kevin will be starting Preschool A (his first class without Mom or Dad!). Andrea swims first on Sundays.

doing back floats and swims with her teacher

Andrea always waves "hi," gives a big thumbs up, and yells, "Did I do a good job?" to us after she has her turn.


Below, Andrea is practicing blowing bubbles/putting her face in the water, and swimming to the teacher.

Andrea's favourite part is jumping in. The teacher moves back when it's Andrea's turn, because she does such huge jumps!

Kevin's class starts right after Andrea's ends. He is still swimming with Daddy, in Parent and Tot 3. He usually enjoys swim class, but kind of likes to do his own thing (not follow instructions!).

swimming after a ball he wants to play with

front floats

Kevin likes it when Daddy lifts him up high, and bobs him down into the water.

Ready, set . . .
. . . yahoo!

Ryan and I have only gone to swimming with the kids for the last two weeks. He likes the sights and sounds at the pool, but it does get really hot in there!

Poor flushed baby . . . the heat puts me to sleep, too.


Kevin found some pool noodles to play with: not part of the lesson, but still fun!

Andrea wanted to pose in her new bathing suit.
Kevin's class has to practice wearing life jackets. He does NOT like it.

We decided to leave a bit early because Kevin was having an "off" day. He was happy about that!

Bye-bye, swim class. We'll probably be back in September.

After swim class, lunch, and a nap, the kids went over to Gram and Papa's to help Gram plant the flowers we ordered for her Mother's Day present (they came in this week). I hear they had lots of fun filling pots with soil, digging holes, and placing and watering plants. I wasn't there, but I have some pictures from the first of May that show how much the kids enjoy working in Gram and Papa's garden.

If you hadn't noticed, their favourite part seems to be watering the flowers.

Later in the evening, our friends Dave and Mel invited us over to join their fireworks party. The kids enjoyed the big swing set, sandbox, some munchies, and playing with other little people while we waited for it to get dark enough for the fireworks. Andrea especially loved their trampoline!

This is the only time I saw her take a break, until it got too dark to jump!

The fireworks were great, and after such an active day, we had three super-sleepyheads on the way home!

Andrea's JK Spring Concert

Today, Daddy and I were so happy we could attend Andrea's Junior Kindergarten Spring Concert. We went to school with her this afternoon and visited her classroom. The children sang songs for us, we had an indoor snack-time picnic, and we made a craft together.

The Program

Andrea was not shy in front of the visitors. She was/is one of the most expressive (and loud) singers. Below, she's doing the actions for "Kiss Your Brain."

Andrea had a special part in the "Green Jelly Bean" song. She got to be the "1 green jellybean!" Here she is, getting ready for her part.You have to watch the video to see all the "emotion" she puts into her part. ;)

Later, some brave moms and dads were invited up to do a silly dance with the teacher and the JKs. Daddy did a great job!

After all the songs, it was snack time. We brought a beach towel, and sat down and shared a snack of apple juice and fruit twists.

We had a few extra minutes before it was time to make the craft, so Andrea picked out a book to share with Daddy.

The craft we made together was a spring-themed place mat. The teacher had everything arranged really well, so all we had to do was pick out our paper and pre-cut decorations, and arrange them as we wished. We let Andrea pick out all the decorations, and glue everything in place herself (we just helped apply the glue).She is so proud of her work, and we are so proud of her. We had a wonderful time visiting Andrea's class!