Visiting the Taylors

We had a short, but lovely visit with Alison and Drew in Charleston, SC.  It was so nice to see them and spend time with their kids.  Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any pictures of either of them, only of the kids.


Cohen and Ellery had a great time together.  Here they are after their dance performance (note the ballet shoes that they're both wearing):

Here is Nate holding Finn.  He is such a sweet boy and loved to hold, play with and make Finn laugh.

Buddies Cohen and Ellery enjoying a popsicle after a long afternoon of swimming :)

Six Months Old!

Our sweet baby is already half a year old!  He continues to be a very easy going baby and is always happy.  He loves attention from his big brother and watches everything Cohen does.  Finn is now 18 lbs 11 oz (75th percentile) and 66.5 cm long (50th percentile).  It seems funny now to say that he was a preemie, but despite his size, we still need to be extra cautious with him.  Finn has just finished his second round of antibiotics because he developed a persistent infection from a minor cold.

Finn is now playing with toys and sitting on his own (for short periods of time).  He also giggles and squeals with excitement when he's happy.  He loves to blow bubbles and raspberries, which his brother never did.  Finn has just started playing in the exersaucer and loves it!  Cohen also likes playing with the exersaucer when Finn is not in it...apparently it makes a great fort.  Finn continues to be a good sleeper.  He still wakes up several times in the night, but eats quickly and goes back to sleep easily.  He's finally staying awake for most of the day with just short naps, so there's more opportunity to play and interact with him....but it means less breaks for Mommy :)  Finn also had his first vacation this month with our road trip to the USA.  He was fantastic during the whole trip!

We are just starting to see the beginning of his personality coming through and we can't wait to get to know him over the upcoming months.  Already we couldn't imagine our family without Finn.  We are looking forward to watching him develop over the second half of his first year!

Peter and Lillian

We had a wonderful visit with Uncle Chris, Aunt Kate, Peter and our newest niece, Lillian. 

Sweet baby Lillian

I love this picture because Peter is drinking his milk with his finger in his belly button, just like Cohen does :)

Our sweet nephew Peter

Peter is trying on Cohen's new bike helmet...who wouldn't love a blue kitty helmet??

Cohen and Peter got along so well!  Here they are holding hands as we were walking through the aquarium.

Road Trip

We embarked on our marathon road trip of 3500 km through 7 states and one province in a mere 6 days with two kids in the car.  To say I was nervous about how it would go would be an understatement, but both kids surprised me and did really well on the trip.  They were fantastic in the car and so well behaved on all our stops and while visiting our American family.  It actually felt like vacation and it was so nice to spend some time with all four of us together. 

A big thank you to my parents for taking great care of Molly for us while we were gone!  Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Cohen in front of the underground dolphin viewing area (you can just see the dolphins at the top) at the Baltimore aquarium.

Cooling off in the fountain by the Charleston waterfront.

Note the gorgeous park along Charleston's waterfront.  It was a beautiful city!

Daddy and Cohen at the end of the pier at the Charleston harbour.

Being silly at a restaurant.

Daddy and Finn chillin' in Chris and Kate's backyard.

Finn's first time in the go-pod...not sure what to think of it :)

My Babies

Cohen really wanted to hold Finn, but Finn didn't want to cooperate.  These are the best shots I could get.

All three of my babies:

Finn's First Easter and Cohen's First Egg Hunt

We had a great Easter this year.  Cohen loved all the activities leading up to Easter, including decorating eggs with cousins Serena, Ayla and Maeve and doing an Easter Treats cooking class where we made and decorated Easter cookies.  He was even really good during church (even though we haven't been good about taking him lately).  But the best part for him (of course) was the Easter Bunny.  He was so excited to see that the Easter Bunny had left surprises for both him and Finn and loved looking all over the house for the eggs.  Every time he found one (even if we had to point it out to him), he excitedly yelled "My find it!".  It was so much fun for us to watch him.  The other highlight for him was the time spent with his cousins, both at Nana & Gigi's house on Good Friday and at Oma & Opa's house on Easter Sunday.

When he went to bed on Sunday night, he asked me if the Easter Bunny would come again that night.  He was pretty upset to find out that it was only a one time thing.  I've noticed that his imaginative play over the past couple of days has involved the Easter Bunny (not surprising) and church (which did surprise me!).

Finn was a trooper over Easter weekend, he made it very easy for Mommy to prepare for Easter and to enjoy the festivities.  He didn't fuss about being away from home during nap times or past his bed time.  I think he also liked being with his cousins and was happy to be passed around by the adults.


Here are a few pictures from the egg hunt.  I couldn't get a picture of him looking at the camera because he was so focused on his task :)

Playing with his new toys from the Easter Bunny

Finn cuddling with Oma

Outdoor egg hunt at Oma and Opa's house (he's got a chocolate egg in each hand, which he's closely guarding)

Serena found a chocolate bunny

Maeve is happy just to be outside with the big kids!

Ayla won the jackpot, several large chocolate bunnies!

Finn was happy to watch the big kids

Decorating the cookies that Cohen and Mommy made

Having a much needed rest.

A rare photo of Mommy and Finn

All Dressed Up....

...for a walk on a chilly afternoon.  I had to take some pictures because he looked so cute!

Sleeping peacefully after our walk: