Smiles and Superheroes

Update on Evelyn:

Evelyn has started smiling (like, on purpose!)! Haven't tried to catch it on camera yet because they're still few and far between and when they happen I'm busy letting my heart melt. Sometimes her mouth just hangs open, other times she gets a Jean Chretien style half smile, and occasionally she figures out how to smile perfectly. Watching her go through the motions makes smiling seem like a puzzle she's struggling to figure out.

A less fun experience has been caring for her first diaper rash. Poor girl. Not sure what caused it: Huggies disposable wipes we used on her while we were between washers? diapers may need stripping (they've been less absorbent this week)? the heat? Anyway, we've been giving her some naked time to air out the area a bit. It's a messy endeavor that's worked best while laying down on a towel in shady areas of the backyard and by providing longer stretches on the change table.

Yesterday I took Evelyn to her last midwife appointment. She's now 61cm long and 10.8lbs (was 54 cm and 9.3lbs at birth).

Some Evelyn pictures from the last few days.

Super dad calms mad baby

Love the little cape...

Evelyn and Isaac meet - they are one week apart

Sleepy from watching their parents play Magic all afternoon

Time to pack them up

New outfits as Evelyn now fits in her 3-6 month clothing

Pretty new blanket

Mistaking tummy time for nap time

Not enjoying tummy time

Getting her hair washed

One of her last baths in the baby tub as she's growing so quickly

Gazing lovingly

Update on Caleb:

Caleb's superhero camp is finished and he'd like to stay home the rest of the summer. We'll see how it goes because he's already starting to act bored again. We borrowed a ton of movies from Julia though and he has a playdate at the new trampoline park Saturday morning.

Wearing the crafts he made at superhero camp last week

He started off as Super A

But ended up as Super Bob

When Caleb read this to me he read "reward 100,000 ice cream scoops"

Talking to his baby sister

Update on Liana:

Liana's been awesome. She's still content cooking/baking, watching Buffy with me (college years now) and helping to care for Evelyn. She also picked up Fables again - graphic novel series based on fairytale classics that we're both into - which she had set aside since March Break. I stopped reading them myself as they're $15 a pop that I couldn't justify paying for only myself (for books that take such little time to complete). Now we're both ready and eager to procure volume 14. Also, we're thinking about registering for some raw food workshops.

Liana loves baby cuddles just as much as the next girl

Photobomb dog

Taking solo shots of Liana because we barely have any recent ones

And she desperately wants to replace the one used for her in the Family Member Profiles page (she thinks it's horrid)

Newborn Photoshoot

Just received the edited files of Evelyn's newborn photo shoot, taken when she was nine days old at our place by Miaou! Photography. Here are some of my favourites:

Some mommy and Evelyn pictures (the rest of the family was out!).

Oh and we got some freebies of Dexter thrown in, too.

Supercooking and the Outdoors

To my dismay, Caleb had been getting bored hanging out at home. I imagined the kids would have a blast with me this summer but it turns out it's tiring having a newborn and six year olds demand a lot of attention and energy. Caleb showed no interest in summer camps this year but agreed to go this week because he'd be in a camp with his cousin Eddie. So Caleb's playing it up at a local Super Hero camp. This morning when we went outside to leave the air smelled funny, like farm funny, and Caleb said "It smells like cows. Maybe someone has a stuffed toy of a cow that smells like a real cow." Haha, don't think that would go over very well on Dragon's Den. I also had to turn back when driving him to camp because Caleb reminded me he needed a pillowcase and a picture of himself for camp craft today. I told him he has a good memory and he replied "yeah, I have good memories." Funny kid.


Liana and I have dedicated this boyfree time to watching copious amounts of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (halfway through the series) and making kitchen messes. We didn't photograph all our meals but here's a snapshot. No links as we were using hardcopy recipes.

Breakfast "Pink Lady" (colour is from beets)

Breakfast blueberry almond shake

Breakfast "Power Packed Green Smoothie"

Snack chocolate orange smoothie

Our first attempt at making sushi for lunch! "Quinoa Vegetable Maki Sushi Rolls"

After a little practice!

Miso soup

Vegan Buster Parfait (on left) - didn't get a picture of this one but it was delicious and really did look that cute

I've been trying to be more active and to get the kids to be more active. Liana and I both joined My Fitness Pal so together we're tracking our food and exercise (also a great way to track Liana's nutritional intake as a vegan). Getting Caleb or Liana to go outdoors is like pulling teeth but once we're out they're usually glad for it. Liana and I even went for a lovely 5k walk/run last Sunday in preparation for the Colour Run.

Still afraid of the monkey bars

 

Trying out her new roller skates

 

Windy evenings call for a bonnet!

Caleb flying his kite with a little girl he met at the park

Picture Liana took of a cloud that has a heart in it

My favourite place to go for long walks (about a 20 min walk from home)

Waiting for Liana while she takes 2,745,654 pictures at the bike path

 

Dexter's loving this being more active thing

Dinner in the backyard

Evelyn's second time in the pool

 

Darcy was just helping Caleb out of the pool but this picture's hilarious

Love her face

Darcy has mad diving skills

Caleb wading through the Darcy made waves

 

Evelyn loves long sleeps during the day. This is unfortunate as far as nights go but allows for oh so sweet cuddle moments.

Sisterly bonding

We call this Evelyn's giving up or surrendering to sleep position - usually means it'll be a long nap!

And a random thing: We bought and adhered the City's $2 no junk mail sticker yesterday and woke up to this:

Fail!