Connor's 5th Birthday

Connor had a great time at his birthday party. Everyone played nice, had fun, and ate lots of cake (especially Connor!). He got a lot of superhero and spy stuff to play with or wear - right up his alley. He loved all the birthday greetings and songs that were waiting for us on the phone when we got home too. It was a long day though, so we didn't get to call everyone back (we will in the morning though).

The party host came in and sang songs with the kids as they waited for their hot dogs to arrive. This is after an hour of playing so they were hungry.
I love how happy he is here! Beside him is one of his best friends - Jack. In this picture they are singing the "I'm squishing up my baby bumble bee..." song. Connor usually doesn't participate in sing-a-longs - it was great to see him get involved.
Batman cake! After we sang Happy Birthday, we had to sing the Batman song too.
Connor sweet-talked one of the staff to play with them. Ring Around the Rosie and tag. Poor girl will probably sleep well tonight.Jack wanted me to go for a race with him down the slide (you can see his arm in this picture). Darien wasn't so sure about the ride at first but after a moment broke out in a big grin. 5 years old, can you believe it!?

10 Months Old & Our Resident Comedian

• Darien 10 months - 2007 Connor 10 months - 2003
  I know that you all have heard snippets about Connor's doings and sayings. Lately it is eerie how much he is starting to resemble his dad's sense of humour - and that includes laughing at his own jokes.
  
  Here are a few gems from the past week:
  
  • "Let's buy another dog so Samson can have a friend - we can call him Meat Eater but don't worry he won't eat human meat."
  • "Hey, let's go see what those humans are doing."
  • As he was watching a funny video on the computer, "Daddy, I'm not laughing yet. Why?"
  • As he is trying to push his tummy out, "Why won't my tummy stick out as much as daddy's does? Do I have to eat more?"
  • As he is coming over to me lifting up his shirt, "Mommy, I drew boobies on myself so I can feed Darien too."
  • "Look, I'm a ghost. ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"
  And he set-up his little table, got the candle, (yes, he likes to be in his underwear), and said to Jeremy, "Waiter, can I have some pancakes please?"

We are having more than our fair share of challenges with Connor lately but we are trying to focus on what a sweet kid he can be too. It helps.

New Westminster Quay

At the New Westminster Quay there is a decommissioned tug for the kids to play in. It was made into a children's play area for EXPO '86 and here is Connor playing Captain in it. Him and the little boy pictured got along pretty well until they were trying to determine if the cannons shot cannon balls or water. I'm pretty sure you don't have to guess which one Connor was rooting for. But for the most part they had a lot of fun together. We walked along the boardwalk to the end where there is another nautical themed kid's area (a submarine this time). Poor Darien, he couldn't see anything on the way there because the sun was so bright I had to put the cover down on the stroller. He didn't make a sound though.
Ahhh, that's better out in the sunshine. It was a beautiful day but quite chilly and windy by the water. His eyes were watering and it was just about time to head home.
Connor wanted a picture with his brother so here it is. I told Connor that he is not to move until after I pick Darien up, but as soon as I took the picture he was off. Thank goodness Darien was holding on!

Barnett Marine Park

Here we are, mommy, Connor, and baby Darien (I am 6 months pregnant here) at Barnett Marine Park in 2006.

And here we are again in 2007! I admit it is not the best picture of any of us (and Connor looked a lot happier last year) but there are so few pictures of me that I thought I would share anyway.
Here is a picture to prove that I am not exaggerating or bragging when I say Darien is going to be walking before he is 10 months old. He takes 1 or 2 steps on his own now - he can crawl quite fast but he is giving himself rug burn on one leg because of the way he propels himself forward. Once he gets more confidence, I am sure walking will be his preferred method of locomotion.
Ahhh, baby's first handful of sand. And yes, it went straight into his mouth.
It doesn't look like he enjoyed the sand overly much but he kept going back for more.

Connor's cupcake was more to his liking. Watch the video to see how much Darien tried to shove in his mouth despite Connor's protests.

This is immediately after the cupcake incident, Darien is clapping to show his approval of the chocolate treat.

Taking a stroll along the beach with daddy.Connor playing the part of the ostrich. We had a serious argument tonight over taking a bath. Connor decided that it was okay to have sand in his hair while he sleeps. I disagreed and ofcourse he had his bath.

As you can imagine from this picture, the sand was not only in his hair at bathtime.