Developments

Bram seems to be picking up on a few words/signs. He started sorta saying "Uh oh" today when he dropped things...


He also attempted the sign for water today while saying 'ata'. Listen to the first sound he makes at the beginning of this video. Here it sounds more like 'duh-duh' I suppose. You'll also see that frutrated/angry thing he has been doing, which initially made us laugh, but now I'm telling him 'no' and helping do a sign for an appropriate word like 'help' or 'please.'




Finally, Jonah realized today that he can climb up on top of our car. (He had been getting a real kick out of just looking up there the last week or so, so I suppose it was only a matter of time.) Jonah agreed to do a demonstration for you while Bram watched from Jonah's car seat.

Brammy dear

Sigh. Baby carseat is a thing of the past for Bram!



Mealtime is only getting messier - him and the floor!



Dude can SURE make a huge mess!

Can't help but take garden pics

I can't believe how fast our bean pole plants are growing. These climb quite tall and have pretty flowers and produce green beans! How perfect is that?

Our cucumber plant flowered. I'm officially hopeful.

Our buttercrunch lettuce. We've had at least 3 salads with this already and there's plenty more to eat in the next few days.

I planted spinach about two weeks ago. I'm resisting the urge to pick it. Baby spinach is tasty!

Raspberries, not yet stolen by chipmunks and other critters. Next year we're going to have some fencing up around our food growing areas for sure!

We have lots of clematis. The following two pics are of current blooms.



I love cosmos and planted these from seed a couple weeks ago. They're doing great! I want to move some to another garden or two but I'm resisting the urge. Blogging instead. Then running. Not to mention the usual tidying and laundry frenzy.

I think this is a kinda of dwarf sedum but I'm not sure. Our GIANT hosta is in the background.

I think this is called speedwell. Also known as sunny border blue veronica spicata. Or something. It will be purple.
Jonah wanted to be in the pictures I was taking. These turned out the cutest. First, Jonah looking at the stonecrop. Second, Jonah with the astilbe.

Canoeing on the Grand River

Yesterday we took a canoe trip down the Grand River here in Cambridge with Glenn's cousin Tim and his daughters. It was great to get out on the water and the kids had a lot of fun. We really don't spend enough time together and it's just too bad because the kids get along so well. Amara and Rhianne seem to get a real kick out of Jonah. Good news though - by the end of the summer they should be living only about 15 minutes away. We BETTER see them more then!








Snack break on the water...




The afternoon's fun included splashing, racing, tricking, throwing children, punching, chasing, reminiscing and other various shenanigans.

Great escape

If you follow me on facebook or twitter, you already know this. But I just can't believe it. I'm still in shock. Bram escaped his exersaucer the other day. I was in the bathroom. Glenn and Jonah were at the piano within sight of Bram. But before we knew it, Bram was in the hallway knocking a propped up baby gate over. We suspect he simply dropped his book and was reaching to get it and somehow got out of the exersaucer safely and made his way up the one step to the hallway. We tried to get him to do it again but he was just frustrated. Which reminds me. I left that out of my 10 month update...

I'll have to get a video of Bram's 'frustrated' action. It's funny but we're gonna start laughing at it less and actually work on teaching him some more signs, like 'help' and 'all done' and 'please'.

He definitely knows "Dada"!! And he used the sign for 'more' a lot at supper tonight because he is now a big fan of my pizza crust.

Cutie pie face full o' broccoli...

Also Bram did great today when his Grandma and Grandpa came over to take care of him while Glenn, Jonah and I got out in canoe on the Grand River with Uncle Tim, Amara, and Rhianne. More on that later!

The year's best deals so far

Here they are. Our best deals of the year so far! Both literally taken FREE at different times from the garbage piles of people down the street.

Glenn portaged this rocking bench down the road and we put it out front. My Mother's Day pot of lavender is beside it. This plant could supposedly grow to be 2 feet tall. So far, so slow! I don't see it happening.

This took team work. We stacked the two muskoka chairs and each held a side. Put them in the backyard beside the birch tree for now. I would never pay money for muskoka chairs with such designs. But free, that's a whole different scenario!