On the weekend...

We went to the beach! And we went on a boat! What a good weekend. I was a little nervous about the boating, but it went mostly well. 

(tentative)

The little dude is typically not super into water, but after a few minutes at the beach, he was good. The beach near our house is just on a lake, so the water is super calm. He and Jon just sat on the edge of the water for half an hour, splashing a bit, but mostly just looking around. I sat back on our blanket and enjoyed watching the two of them.

(chilling) 

 (love him)

(like a marshmallow) 

While Cohen loved the beach, the boating wasn't quite so fun for him. I think the worst part for him was wearing the giant puffy lifejacket, and going fast in the boat. Once we anchored for lunch, he was happy again.

(that sweet little face) 

On the way back to the dock, Cohen was not too happy. My friend had brought some cheese puffs, so we let Cohen try one. He was in love. So I fed him a bag of cheese puffs one by one until he fell asleep. I totally get why I sometimes see moms giving their kids chips at the grocery store. Those cheese puffs quieted Cohen right down!

(lubed up with tons of sunblock)

While we were at the beach, Cohen was always trying to play with other kids. He loves to grab our hands and run straight towards strangers. When he gets about a foot away from someone, he stops and just stares for a few minutes. No smiles, just staring. If you try to coax him away, he starts crying. I am just trying to embrace it, and chat with whomever Cohen chooses. 

Also, Cohen tried dog food for the first time this weekend. He loved it. He definitely got a few kernels (morsels?) before I could stop him. He was pissed when we took the dog bowl up off the floor. He spend the rest of his time chasing the dog, who was so not impressed. 

Baby's First Bike Ride

I am so happy to be back on on my bike, taking little evening rides with my family. We just got a carrier and helmet for the little dude. He does not love the helmet, but he definitely loves being on the back of dad's bike. 

There is something really nice about doing the normal things we used to do pre-baby again. Jon and I have always done lots of biking together, and it is one of the things we were most excited about doing as a family of three.

We are not loving the helmet we got for Cohen, so if anyone knows of a good brand of baby helmets, that would be great. I would prefer something that goes down over his ears, but maybe I am just being a little overzealous with the safety.

More pics from our weekend on Bonavista Bay

(family selfie at Bella's Restaurant*) 

(sweet sleeping baby) 

 (he loves the hiking carrier so much)

(pizza picnic in the trunk**) 

(our view from the trunk) 

(hiking King's Cove on a rainy afternoon) 

(family selfie. with me looking possibly a little creepy)

*Bella's Restaurant was the cutest. This couple bought it and renovated it a couple years ago, then got married in it. They have these scrapbooks of the transformation that you can look through. The food was really good, and really reasonable. But the main reason we ended up there a few times over the weekend was because of how sweet this couple is. As a former waitress I think I have a really good "waitress-mode detector." I can tell when servers, hosts, etc are just turning on their sunny working demeanor. But this couple seemed really genuinely to enjoy their job of running this restaurant/motel. 

**We love the Bonavista Social Club. All the food is excellent. But that place is busy. It's really not an awesome place for kids. It's tiny and laid out really poorly. Jon had the idea to take our food and eat it out of the back of our SUV just down the road. Perfect. Also, Jon got the moose burger, which he ended up having to share because Cohen LOVED it. 

Review: Eagles Cliff Lodge

We stayed at Eagles Cliff Lodge in Bonavista Bay over the weekend. They got our business mainly because their website is really good compared to most accommodation websites in Newfoundland. 

I pretty much don't take pictures without the dude in them anymore. Also, now that I finally have an iPhone, I almost never bring along my normal camera. The phone is just so easy!

Cohen had a nice bath in the tub. The water in the area (like lots of areas of Newfoundland) is brown. Like, really brown. It's not a huge deal, but I was happy to get home to clear water coming from the tap.

Price: Expensive! $250 per night plus tax.
Bathroom: Small with a tub. There was also a small laundry in the washroom, which could be convenient for longer stays.
Breakfast: No. Though there is a full kitchen with all the dishes, pots, pans, coffee makers you could need to make breakfast.
Wifi: There was wifi, but it was super slow.
TV: There is a really small TV in an awkward spot in the living room. I did wish there had been a tv in the bedroom.
Location: Pretty bad. They advertise as being close to Trinity and Bonavista, the really cute little towns in the area, but this place is a good 30 minute drive from there. The closest restaurant is maybe 10 minutes away. Be prepared to do a lot of driving if you stay here. But. There were lots of icebergs around.

Notes:
I really wasn't too impressed with this place. For the price and the isolated location, I would have liked to see a hot tub or a really fancy nice shower, or homemade buns in the morning (this is surprisingly common in NL). Two mountain bikes are supplied, but there is really nowhere to go with the bikes. The roads are really hilly and narrow and windy. Not safe for biking, especially with kids.

On the plus side, the bed was really comfortable. And it was really quiet at night. And there was a small hiking backpack in the closet that came in handy. This would be a good place to stay if you love hiking and kayaking, and it is July or August. Otherwise, I would recommend staying closer to the towns of Bonavista or Trinity.

An Iceberg Weekend

Today we got back from a few nights in Bonavista Bay. Jon booked us into this little cabin so that we could check out the area, but mostly the icebergs.  I really think icebergs are amazing for all the usual reasons, like they are so old, and they traveled so far to get here. But also, they make me stop and take a second to realize how amazing this earth is. I know that sounds so cheesy, but they are kind of like a little reset button for me. When you see them in real life, they look so odd, like they totally don't belong where they are. They are surprisingly noisy, and surprisingly colourful. Plus, they don't last very long. Jon and I have actually witnessed a huge one break into pieces before our eyes. Awesome. You pretty much have no choice but to sit back and just be amazed by them.

11 Months Old!!

I can't believe we are so close to Cohen's first birthday! This past month has been so awesome with Cohen.

- He has finally got the hang of crawling, and now he loves chasing a ball all over the living room
- He has 6 cute little teeth that we brush every day with his own toothbrush
- His absolute favorite thing to do is run up and down the hallway with one of us holding his hands.
- He also loves dropping things and bending down and picking them up while still standing. He will just stand there dropping something over and over just so he can pick it up again.
- His favorite thing to eat is frozen blueberries. I will fill a muffin liner with them, and he will eat them by the handful until every single one is gone. Blueberries are the only food that he doesn't throw on the floor.
- He pretty much eats whatever we eat now. Some things he has tried and liked this month: scrambled eggs, frozen yogurt, liver pate, rye bread, garlic fingers, pizza, kale, corn on the cob. He loves it all. It seems like he is never ever full. He eats a lot.
- He still isn't saying much other than dada, but his baby talk is getting way more animated.
- He loves to wave, and gets really excited when someone waves back at him
- Still sleeping through the night, from around 7:30 pm to 6:30 am
- I breastfeed once in the morning and once in the evening now. Thinking about phasing the evening feed out really soon.
- Jon and I talk about how lucky we are to have such an amazing little guy at least once a day. I feel so fulfilled by my little family of three.

Cohen's Last Teaching Day

Cohen and I went to the elementary school this morning for his very last teaching day! It was in the gym with the two other anti-bullying babies and all the grade three students in the school.

The kids all sang while we walked in, then the babes were all meant to sit in the middle for questions. Well, Cohen insisted on walking around (while holding my hands) the whole time, and one of the other babes crawled after us. They put on quite a show.

The three babies are all born around the same time. This guy, Freddy, backed right up and sat in Cohen's lap. Cohen didn't seem to mind. So cute. The kids asked how many teeth each baby had. Cohen won with his six teeth, which the kids figured was because of his parents' profession. The kids also asked what size shoes that the babes wear. I have no idea. Tiny? Baby sized? one kids got up and said what moments with the babies were their favorite. The kids from our class said their favorite was the time that Cohen held hands with the doll and thought the doll was his girlfriend. So Cute!

Then all the kids were offered a cupcake, including the babies. Cohen dove into his like he had never tasted sugar before (which is pretty much true). The other babies were not so interested. Cohen was a sticky mess in minutes. He also insisted on wearing only the one shoe. The kids were commenting on how messy his hair is. Basically, he is just a total mess all the time. Love him.

The kids gave him homemade cards and a new outfit. The whole event almost brought tears to my eyes. There is nothing better for me than seeing Cohen interacting with other kids and babies, and seeming so happy and content. Thank you grade three students!!

PS: The first class, third class, fourth class.

Some recent cuteness and firsts

(digging in to a care package from auntie Krys) 

(baby's first hot dog. he loved it) 

(baby's first creamer. he loved it more than hot dogs) 

(in heaven with the creamer) 

(baby's first ice cream. he loved the banana flavour) 

(baby's first outdoor bath)

A sunday hike

It was finally nice enough to do a little hike the other day. We did this same hike back when Cohen was just a few months old. Looking at those pictures, I can't believe how big Cohen is. I am really loving this stage, which I guess is what I have been saying at every stage.

We are now using the happy trails carrier from MEC. We love it. It is really light, and relatively inexpensive compared to other carriers we considered.

The carrier must be comfortable, because Cohen was shrieking with happiness for the first 45 minutes straight. He seemed so happy to be up and able to look around. There is absolutely nothing better for Jon and I than to see Cohen so happy, especially doing something we love to do.

We stopped at the top of the mountain for a little snack. I love that he can eat whatever we eat now.

The last half hour or so of the hike, Cohen fell fast asleep. That carrier must be pretty comfortable. I love that little baby so much. Look at those sweet eyelashes. And that fluffy baby hair! Anyway, I am really looking forward to doing a lot of hiking this summer.

Back from vacation

We just got back from a little family work/pleasure vacation. Jon and I had a course in Toronto on Friday, and my grandmother turned 80 on Saturday. 80! We decided to extend our work trip a few days so we could celebrate with family.

Cohen was so amazing during the whole entire trip. I was a little worried about the flight, since it was way longer than any of the flights he has taken before (3.5 hours or so). We got lucky on the way there and had a flight that was pretty empty. We had three seats to ourselves, which was the best.

Cohen was able to stretch out and snooze for a while. Note that he is a total mess. We found that the best way to keep him occupied was to bring out snacks every hour or so. At 10 months, I find he is too young to be interested in watching a movie or playing with any toy or game for longer than ten minutes. He ate abut a million of those little artificially flavoured puffed rice things made especially for babies.

One of the best parts about traveling with a baby is you never have to wait in line to go through security. They just whisk you off to the front of the line. It's the best. Thank you Coco.