Caitlin's first food: banana!

So today I decided it was time to let Caitlin have her first taste of food. I decided on banana, mashed a small piece up, mixed it with a little formula, warmed it a touch and gave it a try. Caitlin opened right up like a baby bird. So cute. She had a couple of bites and wasn't so sure. I don't know if it was just the taste, the texture, the newness of it all, or 'all of the above', but she wasn't quite sure about it, although she seemed much more interested once she was in charge of the spoon.

Right after her first bite. Stunned.

'Ew, get it out!'

'Not so bad now that I'm in control!'

It's been a while!

Sorry I haven't been on top of the blog lately. My dad and Jean (Grandpa and Nanna) are visiting, plus we've all been sick for weeks. Hopefully there's an end in sight soon. Both Caitlin, then Ben, had pink eye. Caitlin's has been cleared up for a few days and her drops are done. Ben will be on drops until the weekend, but his eyes are looking much better so he's at school this morning. Poor little guy's been so clingy, not wanting me to leave him, telling me how much he'll miss me. It's so hard to drop him off at school, but his teachers are great and hold his hand until he finds his bearings, then he has a great time, and knowing that makes it easier.

Ben and Caitlin have been very much enjoying their visit with Grandpa and Nanna. Ben and Grandpa have been playing in the yard a lot. They have a gravel/tractor pit they 'work' in, digging in the sandbox with Ben's digger toys, filling up dump trucks, hauling and dumping, and then they take breaks to eat imaginary snacks at 'Nanna's house'... tea, biscuits, and cookies. And Grandpa's been getting lots of giggles out of Caitlin by blowing on her belly.

And speaking of Caitlin's giggles, she was really giggling up a storm at Ben yesterday. It was the most we've heard her laugh. Ben would put his head close to her and she'd touch his hair and laugh her head off. It was adorable!

I've been taking lots of photos with my new digital SLR camera Nic and the kids gave me for mother's day. I'll be sure to post some when I get a chance.

Mother's Day

What a wonderful day we had. I've taken tonnes of photos, but I'll have to upload them later when I have a bit more time. Watch this entry for an update.

I slept in. Ben and Nic went out to McD's to pick up breakfast this morning. Nic surprised me with a digital SLR camera that I was hoping to buy from a former colleague (I wasn't sure I could convince Nic it was a worthwhile investment - but I guess I did!), cards, and flowers.

Caitlin's extra special gift was laughing for the first time today. Baby laughter is such a beautiful sound. I get the warm fuzzies just thinking about it. As it turns out Caitlin's sense of humour is much like her brother's - she laughed at toys being dropped on the floor.

There was a carnival in town so we went to ride some rides. Ben and Nic went down the massive slide several times - Ben loved it! Then Ben and I rode the bumper cars and the mini-coaster. Caitlin slept through most of it. :)

Oh man, I really bungled that up!

The other night I was putting Ben to bed and he started talking about how Caitlin was in my belly. Then he paused thoughtfully, then asked 'how did she get out??' I always thought I'd answer gracefully and frankly, but no. I wasn't quite sure how to proceed. After a minute of 'um... ah... hmm' on my part I finally said 'well, mommies have a hole in their body that babies come out of.' Which quickly spawned the next question: 'where is it??' Oh my god, I thought I was going to die! After more 'hmm... um... um... hmm... ah... well...' on my part he spared me and moved on to another topic.

I really need to get better prepared!!

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Some babies will just fall asleep anywhere. Ben was never one of those babies. He was a good napper and night sleeper, but conditions had to be right, i.e., in his crib, darkened room, white noise, soother and blanket. If we were on the go Ben needed a blanket draped over the stroller, we HAD to be moving, he absolutely needed his soother and blanket - and that hardly worked beyond 8-ish months when I really became a slave to the nap.

Caitlin, on the other hand, is one of those babies who'll drop off almost anywhere. We went to Chuck E Cheese yesterday. You can imagine the noise - video games galore, music, plus what sounded like a million 2 - 8 yr olds running around and screaming at the top of their lungs. I was playing pinball, Caitlin was in her car seat on the floor between the game and my legs. One minute I looked down, she's playing with her toy, the next she's out like a freakin' light. SO bizarre. Poor Ben would have been a red-faced screaming mess.

I remember seeing random pics of babies asleep in their high chairs in the middle of a meal, on play mats, wherever... and I could never figure it out!

So close to full on giggles.

Yesterday Caitlin and I were at Costco and I was SO close to getting full-on giggles with her. The closest I managed to get were laughs reminicsent of my late Uncle Archie - a quick burst "HAH!"

What seemed to be doing the trick was me repeatedly saying 'Boo!'. It probably helped that she hadn't napped much through the day and was tired. Seems I'm always funnier when the recipient of my efforts is either tired or intoxicated.

Bathroom humour has entered the household.

And it doesn't show any sign of leaving soon.

Typical of all little boys, Ben has learned that bums, poop, and toots are quite hilarious. He thinks it's quite funny to joke about things coming out of his bum, and he loves to play 'the poop game' - yes, we have a game. He thinks it's hysterical to imagine there's a poop on everyone, and especially funny when we yell 'ew! get it off! get it off!'. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? :)

Although Ben was saddened when he was using the toilet this morning and Daddy turned the bathroom fan on to 'suck up the stink'... Ben was quite upset about 'losing his stink', so Daddy turned it off, Ben sniffed and was once again a happy boy for getting his stink back.