Ye haw!

It's officially Stampede. Uncle Chet's in town and the little cowpoke is excited to do some ranchin'

First Stampede Breakfast

Owen and I went to the Stampede Breakfast at CBC this morning. I've always meant to go but could never get up early enough. Somehow that's no longer a problem for me. So off we went.

When we got there the line wasn't too bad. I'd kinda cut Owen's breakfast short and brought it with us figuring I could just feed him in the line. As I went to grab the Tupperware I saw some guy out of the corner of my eye who I thought looked familiar. Then I saw this man's wife follow behind him, an Asian woman. And then it clicked. It was Jack Leighton.

We got two plates and two juice boxes. Owen got one pancake, no sausage, no syrup. I got two pancakes, a sausage and lots of syrup. Owen ate the whole thing and loved it.






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Nice dinner with me ma

So the original plan was for mom to come over today and hang out with Owen and I. We would do some running around - cuz I know she loves it- and then home for Owen's nap. While he slept, we would make some food for him. Still loving the food, so much that the freezer is bare (for him, at least). Sadly - though not for her - she got a job and it started today. I did still manage to make a few things while he napped. A delicious turkey and veg medley, an apple parsnip carrot finger salad, and a red lentil rice and veg mix. Last time I made lentils they were yellow and he didn't care for them unless they were mixed with something. Hopefully he will like the red and mixed.

He's been doing a lot better at a few things, even since the weekend. His forward motion is crazy fast. Still commando style but man can he motor. And he's also much better at getting from sitting to crawling.

His walking is also much better. Now before you get all crazy thinking he's walking, he's not except when you hold him up. But he now willingly puts one foot in front of the other, which he didn't consistently do before.

I'm tired from chasing him around today. I really can't leave him alone for a second. He is fixated on the doors, opening and closing them, which is great except i've had to take off all the plastic ends so he doesn't try to eat them/choke on them. So the door is getting sorta wrecked. To be honest though, I can't be bothered to stop him. He's so into discovering how the door works that I cant bring myself to take him away from it.

He also continues to be enthralled with the lamp. Ive discovered that he cant actually tip the lamp over because the cord's too taut. The speaker stand however, is easy to topple and much heavier. He's brought it down on himself 3 or 4 times today. Thankfully, he didn't hurt himself too badly, bit it's just a matter of time.

I must admit I'm torn as to what to do in these sorts of situations. I've been experimenting with a little discipline: a firm "NO" and a redirect, but he doesn't seem to be getting the message. I can't tell whether he is trying to see if I mean it or is too young to understand. A small part of me thinks that if he hurts himself he'll learn his lesson. But I wonder if that's bordering on negligence. I hope I can walk the line.

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While standing on the couch this morning, Owen took one hand off and calmly placed it on the coffee table. He stood there for about 20 seconds and then fell back on his ass. I thought for sure he would cry, especially when I heard myself gasp, but he just turned to one side, twisted his legs around and commando crawled away.

Who needs a baby gate when you have no stairs?

Owen tried to eat Maya's food today. And he would have been successful if he'd had about 10 seconds more. He actually had 2 kibbles in his mouth and one in his hand when I caught him. He must have thought they were cherrios.

He's been crawling about for a couple of days now... not actual 4 point crawling, but rather commando style, like he's some guerilla army guy. And wow, can he motor!

I've been racking my brain for another - higher - place for her food, but there really isn't one. And I don't want to encourage her to get up on the countertops any more than she already does. We tried to put her food in the pantry, but she flat out refused to go in there and eat. I think it's because the pantry is also her toilet. I can hardly blame her. No matter how clean my bathroom was, I wouldn't want to eat in there either.

So today I went on Kijiji to search for a gate.

Canada Day Hike

In years past, Kris and I have done hikes on Canada Day, the most memorable being an 18 km one in Waterton. This one was a lot less ambitious, only 5 km round trip, but it was Owen's first hike in the Rockies. The hike is called Grassi Lakes and is just west of Canmore. Grassi is named for a man named Lawrence Grassi, a stonecutter and trail maker who lived from 1890 - 1980. And he was an Italian! which I didn't know until I read the sign along the trail. There was a beautiful waterfall



and two lovely blue-green lakes.




At the top, there were lots of rock climbers.



Kris wore Owen on his back, which he didn't mind too much. After a while, he settled in to looking at the sights and listening to the sound of the water.



On the way down, he had a nap. So cute.

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Europe 2010

I finally found a bit of time to post some select pictures from our trip... ones that I couldn't post with my phone when we were away. To enjoy, click on the picture.