Sam walking...

Here is a cool photo of Sam walking in the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary...

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

Today we made it outside to enjoy the nice sunny day. There is still enough snow on the ground to be bothersome (keeping small boys from eating it), but the signs of summer are on their way. We went out without gloves, jackets, toques or anything resembling full winter gear and no one complained of cold hands.
We met up with Dawn, Ryan and the boys at our house and created a motorcade. We cruised down Bow to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. It is pretty unassuming from the road, and offers no services, but it does have trails, birds, muskrat, bridges and an old restored house to play around. The boys enjoyed it and Lily scooted all over the field.

While we were walking around we saw a Canada Goose sitting and turning her eggs. A male kept watch while the boys turfed snow into the stream. Here they are trying to see the eggs:

Sam decided for the first time that riding on the front of the stroller would be fun:

I want to ride my bicycle...

Today was finally a hint of things to come weather wise. The sun was shining, it was in the positive degrees, and we got our new bike trailer out. Dawn and Ryan had picked it up for us so we got theirs out as well and Ryan and I took the four boys out cycling around the reservoir, South Glenmore Park and back through Glenmore landing. Here are our boys ready to go:

Sam enjoyed the slide, and they ran around the park in the sun:


Max slept on the way there, and Sam slept on the way home. When we arrived at Dawn's he was was still sleeping so we hung around until he woke up.

Here is Max from this morning:

Max's 1 year numbers

I took Max to get two shots today. He took the first really well, but the second made him cry. Apparently that happened with the hockey team they had in the other day, too :)

Max weighed in a 9.81kg and 75.5cm. This put him at 50% height and 35th percentile for weight.

Thanks, Paola!

A package arrived yesterday from Aussie - with some made in Australia UGGs! Sam loves the 'slippers', and since they fit him Max will have to wait.

Trev was here for the better part of the week, and with Darcy, Sam and Max in Edmonton for two days we had a few nights out (Flames lost, movie and sushi on Wednesday). Once they returned home, Grandpa had some time to read to Sam before bed last night:

Boys in Red

Sam is getting more and more annoyed by Max playing with 'his' toys. Sam has taken ownership of the train, the new waterfall, and all train cars EXCEPT the caboose. That is one that Max can play with.

Sam has been running a fever for a few nights, but seems to be on the mend. Last night was the first night in a long time (it seems) where we all slept past 7 a.m. Here he is keeping an eye on Max:
Sam loves to sit on the counter while we cook dinner or breakfast. He helps to stir, puts the toast in the toaster or anything he can do to help out. Once in a while he touches the frying pan, or grabs a knife - but otherwise it is fun for all!

Max was pretending to read today:

It takes a bit of following Max around to get him to forget about you. I end up with a lot of out of focus shots of Max heading right towards me!

Max put on the super-cute face for this afternoon.

Daniel's Birthday Party

Thankfully, given the snow and wind these days, Dawn and Ryan were able to get the Gym at the "Y" for the afternoon for Daniel's birthday party. All the kids loved having the whole gym to play in full of balls and soft building material. Max was showing off his walking, now that Daniel is an up and coming challenger...

Max was really moving around the whole afternoon:

This was his first look at the gym when we arrived:
Sam playing a little B-ball:

Night out for Darcy and Ali

Tonight the boys are home looking after the little ones as Allison and Darcy head out to a movie. We've been having a little bit of a tough time with Sam lately, especially around bedtime. And today Max has been pretty needy in terms of crawling/walking over and crying to be picked up. He has 10 teeth now, but some aren't fully in, so this is probably the culprit most of the time. As a result Darcy needed a break.

Just before the snow (!) tonight, we had a few minutes in the yard while Matt cooked up some barbecue pork. Here is Rogan on the deck:

Sam near the slide:
And Max yesterday, getting into the cupboards:

Max looking very serious! Kind of a 'c'mon Dad - not another photo' type of look perhaps:

Night out for the parents

Last night Allison, Matt, Dawn, Ryan, Darcy and I got some time away from the kids. We hired two babysitters, and all went out for a concert with some Dancing in NW Calgary. It was really a fun night, and we all had a good time. It was the CKUA's Spring Dance Party. Amos Garrett and the Eh Band were playing. The band was good and we stayed out until midnight or so. This morning, Darcy and Dawn took the boys (4 of them) to Glenmore landing for a walk while Ryan and I finished up the gutters on our house. It looks good, but I think I would go for the custom fit ones next time...

Sam and Andrew in the stroller eating licorice.

Getting the boys ready!

On top of the snowman:
Sam made it up, too:
Trevor is coming tonight for the evening, so I'm sure the boys will enjoy that! Max is starting to SOUND like he is trying to say things at the right time, like 'more', 'Daddy', 'Ali', etc. He is also starting to get up on his own and take a few steps!

Stories in the car

Tonight we drove to the pool with Sam and Max, and on the way we had to stop at the gas station to put air in the tire, then go to the police station to pick up my Blackberry that had been stolen. Darcy explained it all to Sam, who was crying after I almost closed his fingers in the front door... Sam listened and then said "Mom? We have too many jobs!"

When I was in getting my old Blackberry Sam was in the car asking Darcy "Is daddy going to eat his blackberries?"

All the way there and all the way back he chattered on and on about a story involving Monsters, phones, the police, planes, and various wrong turns. It was an interesting story but not totally accurate. I seem to recall there being more monsters than he described...

Video of Max Walking

There is nothing better than video to get the real feel of walking for the first few times!

Snow? It's April!

We were treated to quite the unexpected snowfall this morning. Here are two pictures that show the many inches of snow 'raining' down on Calgary this morning:

Max really is walking!

Here's the proof!

Max walks into his 2nd year!

Today Max turned one! He had an early start, quick breakfast and an extra long nap to prepare for the ensuing onslaught of ice cream cake, singing, smiles and clapping. He enjoyed his first cake, with all family around, and really enjoyed the 2nd, over at Dawn and Ryan's house.

When we arrived back home, Grandpa (Trevor) was helping his and had a new shoe in each of Max's hands. Somehow, he figured he was holding onto something and walked right over to Darcy. He did it about 8 more times - walking at least a few feet in distance without help! We didn't think he'd make it before his 1st birthday. It was awesome that all four Grandparents were there to see it, and his brother and Ali got to see before he went to bed as well.

He seemed to enjoy watching presents being opened. He would put out his index finger and touched each item as it passed him by.

The Family Assembles...

The family assembles for Max's first birthday tomorrow. Trevor has been in Calgary all week, Maureen arrived this morning, and Lynne and Ian arrived in the afternoon. Claire, Molly and Eric are still in town before they head home on Sunday. Everything is in place for Max's birthday tomorrow!

This morning, I was playing with Max and noticed he had two new teeth. A little later in the day he was upside down and I found two more! When I told Sam at lunch how many teeth Max had he said "Ten teeth. Oh my goodness!"

Also, this morning when I was getting Sam dressed I asked if he wanted to wear jeans today. He answered "I'd love to!". He is getting so polite (most of the time...). In the car with Grandpa and Darcy he said "I'm going to be really nice to you today."