Spring has Sprung

After an almost record breaking winter with snow, snow and more snow, spring has finally sprung! Now this isn't to say that the snow has melted, because with the amount we have, that will be awhile yet, but we have had some glorious, warm days and we're finally able to walk around the neighborhood without having to worry about losing Brutus in the snow :) Simon is loving all of the time outdoors. He spends the whole walk pointing - at birds, at airplanes, at clouds. Brutus is loving getting out and is the perfect stroller dog. He walks right beside the stroller, doesn't pull, doesn't stop to sniff everything and keeps up a decent pace so that I get some benefit out of the walk too.

One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed

Well he's not quite at the point where he's jumping on the bed but he is all about going vertical these days. He loves climbing the stairs, climbing on furniture, climbing onto the fireplace surround at my parents, climbing the chairs in the waiting room at the doctor's office, climbing his bus. In the beginning he only knew how to control himself in one direction - UP! - so we ended up with numerous bumps, scratches, bruises and bloody lips. With much urging, Simon now understands the art of getting down in a controlled manner. He now turns around and backs off things versus his previous technique of diving headfirst.

A Sweet New Tradition

Until I started looking for a sugar shack, I never realized how unique to our region of the world that this tradition is. Yet in 20+ years of living in Ottawa, I have never been to a sugar shack. Well in the vein of establishing new family traditions, we decided that a trip to the sugar shack for maple syrup season was a must. We headed out bright and early for a trip to Fulton Farm in Pakenham. Simon was a little under the weather and managed to sleep in the car even though he had just woken up for the day a 1/2 hour before. When we got there we immediately headed inside for breakfast - pancakes, sausages and of course, maple syrup! Normally this would be a dream breakfast for Simon but he was far too interested in looking around at everyone coming and going (apparently we're the only people in Ottawa that have never visited a maple syrup farm!). After breakfast we headed out to check out the other activities. It turns out this wasn't a great year to come since the weather wasn't warm enough to produce the syrup so we didn't get to see any of the production or actual sapping of the trees. We did however get to sample taffy on the snow and the yummiest cotton candy ever - I'm seriously debating going back just for this. We expect that Simon is going to love this yearly tradition judging by his appreciation of the snow taffy. After his initial taste, he quickly realized that he would need to bite down to get more of that yummy maple syrup flavour!

Simon's One Year Appointment

Going to the doctor was a challenge now that Simon is mobile and not content to sit on my lap and look around. He had to be everywhere - climbing the chairs, going to visit the nurse in the back, pulling stuff off the walls, trying to get into the crayons... And to make things harder, the office was totally overbooked and it was almost an hour before we got out of there which never happens. Simon showed off his balancing skills and generally put on the charm for the nurse and doctor. He barely cried for his two shots but was hysterical getting dressed since by that point, he was ready for a nap. Of course I did the bad Mommy thing and dragged him off to playgroup since it happened that his appointment was on a Wednesday.

Here's Simons statistics at one year - weight 23lbs. 8oz. and 28 inches - he dropped way down on the height/weight percentiles (about 50 for both) from as the doctor phrased it, "super baby curve to his more natural genetic curve".

Happy Easter - At the Barkers

Let me preface this by posting the email thread that went into planning our dinner timing. It had all of us laughing at our desks and each of us tried to out-do each other with our responses.

From John....
Mom is calling around now, and we are all invited. Monday looks like the best day, as far as I can tell. Is everyone on board for Monday Easter dinner? We can do it here, or at Mom and Dad's, if Mom and Dad will let us all back in the house. Last time I went over, the door was locked. The nerve...

From Eric....
Why am I the only one CC? Is it because Debbie makes all my decisions?

From John....
Eric, I just CC'd you for reference. I didn't put you in the to: field because:
1. Yes, Debbie makes all your decisions. Didn't you read the small print at your Wedding?
2. You are special
3. I wasn't actually sure if you could read
Don't feel bad, eventually we'll live close enough to each other that we can insult each other in person...

From Debbie....
Monday is fine with me, but if not, go ahead without us on Sunday.

From Eric....
Ditto!!

From Lynsey....
Monday is good for us... we are going to Shawn's parents for Saturday brunch.

From Maureen....
Sounds good to me. John are you okay with that?

From John....
Mo, Uh, I typed it, so I think I'm ok with it. Let me check with you though to see if I am OK with it. You may tell me that I am not ok with it, at which point I'll have to consult the rule book.

Eric, Did you get a rule book? I only got page 1 which is just the table of contents.

From Eric....
This is found in Appendix A labeled Mind Melt!

From John....
Make 2 billion copies, 'cause no other man has ever gotten a full copy before.

From Matt....
We are good for Monday. PS - I need a copy of that book Eric.

From Vanessa....
He'll have to bring it to you in parts - it's pretty heavy and Eric hasn't been around the Barkers long enough to build up his muscles moving around furniture.

PS - please don't leave it lying around the house like you do with all of the other papers that you bring home :)

From Eric....
Ill bring the Cole's notes instead...as Matt's attention span would not last past page 2.

From Dad....
Mum is currently out someplace shopping, so hold the final arrangement for an hour or two (or several - she went to HomeSense), but I suggest we do it here on Monday largely because I cannot imagine where we can all park on John's street (as the mud-river is politely called).

Also of course, we are in dire need of a fire alarm test at 81A and the Yorkshire Pudding should tell us if the system still works.

From Dad....
Mum has decided! Monday Easter DINNER at 81a - 5:30pm - Roast Beef and the usual accompaniments - we look forward to seeing you all.

From John....
Can we make it Sunday instead?

From Dad....
Not a problem John, your dinner on Sunday will be alongside the third snow bank on the left past McDonalds in Portage La Prarie. For everyone else 81A at 5:30 on Monday.

Well we all turned up Monday for the Roast Beef feast and it was chaos as all Barker events are now that our family has grown so much. Simon arrived in high fashion in his Easter tie. We thought that it would drive him batty but he knows when he looks good and he likes to flaunt it. Granddad finally got to take Simon for a spin on his tricycle. He had been waiting to do this since he put it together after Simon's party. Watch out anyone who got in his way as there was no stopping him on his laps of the house - poor Olive is already jumpy with all of the kids around and now she has to worry about being mowed over by a tricycle. True to Dad's prediction, dinner was announced by the fire alarm and we all took position to combat the smoke - I stood under the fire alarm and waved a pillow, Braedon hit the fan, Eric opened the back door, Mum opened the kitchen door and Dad opened the dining room window - you would think that we had done this before :) Dinner was yummy as usual and Simon loved the yorkshire pudding which means more people to compete with at roast dinners. He followed that up with more ice cream (we can't help it, we're soft as he loves it so much - it's a good thing we never buy it otherwise we would probably let him have it at home everyday) served by Granddad. He was very demanding as usual. After dinner it was the usual kids gone wild - everyone was screaming, crying, climbing and playing - three kids under 5 can create quite a lot of noise. It was a fun celebration and it's hard to imagine that there will be another Barker next year to add to the mix.

Happy Easter - At the Fullers

Well we had part I of II of Easter festivities today. We spent the morning at our place lounging in our jammies (Matt and I were totally defunct parents and forgot to give Simon his Easter basket and plastic eggs to play with) and then headed off to the nursing home to wish Granny a Happy Easter. Simon was a little ADD kid there and kept us on our toes doing a rotation of escape, unravel the toilet paper, open the drawers, check out the trash can, play with the tape recorder, pull out some kleenex, and then try to escape again.... We got some nice Easter pictures of the two of them and then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's place for an afternoon nap. Once Simon regained his energy, he started up again, this time focusing on the kitchen cupboards and the magazines. He showed off his dapper outfit and generally just entertained us all with his antics until dinner. Simon loved the ham but passed on the parsnips and carrots in favour of peas. Ice cream was on the menu for dessert and Simon screamed if it wasn't coming fast enough. Grandma had to scrape the bowl clean and then show Simon that it was empty so he didn't keep demanding more. The easter bunny will have to remember to show up tomorrow so we can get some pictures before part II of Easter festivities.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Simon's new favourite game is monkey-see, monkey-do. He is into copying everything he can. His newest favourite is the head shake. Matt started it with him when he needed something to keep him awake on the car ride home. Basically he shakes his head and then says to Simon "your turn" and then Simon shakes his head. This has evolved and Simon can now connect the words no, with a head shake. So if you say, "Simon, no thank-you", he smiles, shakes his head no, and then continues doing what he was doing. We can't wait until the day he can connect no with stopping what he is doing - does that day ever come??

Simon has also taken to copying Brutus. Tonight at dinner, he and Brutus were wrestling with Brutus' giant moose. Brutus would grab onto to the moose and then do his kill head shake, Simon would then grab onto/flop onto the moose and also do a killer head shake. It was hysterical to watch and we caught a few still photos which obviously don't do the whole thing justice but fun to see none the less.

Stepping

Well they aren't the first steps that he has taken but they are the first steps that he has taken with a purpose of actually walking and not just diving at an object. Simon was standing by his bus while I was a few feet away refueling from all the heavy moving with a Gatorade. He decided that he needed some (as he does with all of our drinks) and cautiously started to walk towards me. Five steps later, he was there and sipping out of my bottle. He took a few more steps here and there this evening and we're thinking in a few weeks when he gets a bit more confident (and a bit less excited about the whole thing) that he'll be a full-time walker.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

In honour of our Irish heritage - Simon is 1/8 Irish although everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick's Day.

Simon's Birthday - Family Party Edition

Well the family party was a bit of a scramble since our floors were in the process of being replaced so there wasn't much time for the monkey themed party part II, like I had originally planned. Instead it was lunch and store bought cake. It was kind of disappointing since I was so excited for his first birthday but in the end I was worn down from our week of being homeless and in upheaval. Simon didn't seem to mind though. After a long cuddle with his uncle John to start the party, he jumped right into the festivities. He loved having his high chair in the row with all of the other adults - especially since the ones beside him were feeding him ice cream. The balloons were also a big hit, both for Simon and Braedon and Emjae. I'm thankful that I got two bunches since Emjae and Braedon both wanted ownership of one. We had to blow up a balloon for Simon to play with on the floor so that he could get in on the fun too! Cake was not Simon's favourite this go round. The chocolate cake was a bit too rich and made him a little sick. He got some great gifts from the party goers. Granddad and Nanna bought him two table and chair sets - we had wanted one large table but we saw this little one and it was too cute to pass up so we got two! Grandma and Grandpa gave him a hooded towel and more money for his education fund as did Granny Lay. And the aunts and uncles got together to give Simon a tricycle which Simon loved to climb all over - the box that is. I was a bit of a control freak when it came to the gifts because we have so much stuff already, but it was so nice not to feel overwhelmed by more toys. And last but not least, Great Aunt Kaye (emphasis on the great) bought him some more bibs (the bibs from England are such great quality and design and I love everyone she picks as my new favourtie) and two cute t-shirts with attitude. I can't wait until the summer so that I can get pictures.