Christmas

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and the days were filled with fun and surprises.

This was Rory's first Christmas and ours as a family. We had a quiet couple of days and enjoyed just taking in a little down time - although it did seem rather busy, but festive. Lots of goodies to enjoy and special moments to treasure.
Here is a glimpse into our Christmas holiday:

Rory knew he was excited for some dude in a big red suit to appear and he checked the skies throughout the day. Oh by the way Rory is now pulling himself up on pretty much everything! Needless to say he has had a few bumps and tears shed on learning this new skill.


"Santa?? Oh Santa?? Are you out there?"


A new Christmas Eve tradition - storytime with daddy with Twas the Night Before Christmas...


The Augustine's on Christmas morning 2010.


Rory was quite interested in taking a peak at the presents under the tree. He was wearing his snowman pajamas with a flap over the bum!



Rory was much more interested in the wrapping paper then many of his gifts. Tissue paper seemed to be his favourite to taste and to wave over his head - all the time giggling and smiling.


Santa's little helper was pretty worn after the morning of presents, but I think he really enjoyed his first Christmas with mum and dad.

We caught up with my sister and the kids on Boxing Day for a day of snacking, silliness and even a little skating.


Wishing everyone all the best for the holidays.
We will see you again in 2011!

Zoolights

Zoolights!

Every year the Calgary Zoo puts on an outstanding lights display around Christmas time. Our first annual trip to Zoolights as a family began this year. It is a fantastic atmosphere as there is Christmas music being played, carolers, crackling fires to warm up beside and of course the mandatory purchase of hot chocolate to stroll around with. It really gets the Christmas feeling into full swing.

This one was my favourite this year - the monkeys were swinging from palm tree to palm tree.

We said a quick hello to our friends the hippos and giraffes before heading back out into the crisp night air.

It was a great start to our family tradition - but a little too much for little Rory this year.

Warm and snugly - Rory couldn't resist closing his eyes for just a few minutes - 'while visions of sugarplums danced in his head'.

Laundry

Laundry time!!
Everyday Rory provides us with more and more entertainment. He seems to get 'into' pretty much everything at the moment. One day last week Rory was quite taken with our laundry basket. Full or empty he doesn't mind - as long as there is somewhere he can poke his little fingers into to explore - he is happy for at least 10 minutes.


Rory has even manged to pull a full basket onto himself - which he finds quite hilarious, as there are even more things he can play with.



Man - mum and dad have lots of cool stuff - look at me in this thing - this is great!

A view from inside.

Look at all the holes!! I could be here all day!

Bath time

Cool hair and splashing in the tub!!
My hair is growing so quickly - mum and dad like to play with it when I am in the bath. Today I am sporting a little David Beckham Mohawk look. I think they are just being really silly. I just like to be able to play with my toys.


MMM... this rubber duck looks mighty tasty...


Oh please mum, put the camera away already!!



Okay this is fun - daddy has taught me how to splash. Get this - I'm actually allowed to make a mess and I do. I get water absolutely everywhere! Mum and dad find this rather amusing as well and mum has her camera out again.

Check me out splashing with daddy - he is much better at it than me, but I'm getting better. And it's so much fun. I think everyone should try this and do it every time they have bath.

It seems like every day I am learning to do so many more things. Although I am hearing my name much more now and it's followed with 'no' - I'm not sure what mum and dad are going on about - I already know my name. I wonder who this 'no' person is??

PEAS!!!

PEAS!!!
Hello everyone - I wanted to share with you all just how much I love my food - especially my peas!



This is me really getting into my lunch one day with mummy. I love my peas so much that sometimes I cannot help but to giggle my way through my meals. Unfortunately this does mean that I do get a little messy. Sometimes I sneeze and peas go everywhere - even all over mummy or daddy!! They just giggle too - well most of the time they do! One time I even had peas up my nose!!



I was especially silly today and mum thought it was blog worthy - especially a video of my giggles. I hope you enjoy and remember to eat your peas!!

On the move...

Uh Ohhh...


Hello everyone - I'm over here now!!

Rory is on the move. His crawling has improved so much and it has allowed for much more exploring and well, to say the least, getting into pretty much everything!



Including snooping under the Christmas tree at the presents. To do this Rory had to scale over a rather large body pillow, but after a few attempts he seemed to have figured this "Rory block" out with ease. Much to mum and dads dismay.



Caught in the act! But mum I thought I was supposed to crawl over this?


And if the 'exploring' wasn't keeping us busy enough - Rory has also figured out how to pull himself up on things to get a better 'look' at what is out of his reach.


It's a whole new world now - for everyone!



Look at me mum! Look at what I can do now!

Oh dear - how life keeps changing, but we are loving every minute - watching Rory explore his new world around him. He always keeps our days very interesting with both of us laughing and keeping us on our toes wondering what Rory might discover next. He is definitely getting braver, now venturing into our bedrooms and bathrooms, over, under and through anything that happens 'block' his way (whether it is meant to or not).

Winter in the mountains

This past weekend we met up with some friends in Banff at one of our favourite spots - Cascade Ponds. It was an absolutely beautiful day - sunny with a slight chill in the air. After all the snow we've had over the last few weeks the mountains looked spectacular. And the trails were in perfect condition for Rory's first sled ride.





It was quite a task to get the little guy all bundled up - Rory is quite the fidget and was so excited to be out exploring the mountains with mum and dad.




But with no complaints - Rory chilled out and watched the beautiful surroundings pass him by as daddy pulled him alongside the now frozen ponds. Rory would occasionally stretch back and look up towardsthe sky and at the towering snow capped peaks as he let his hands brush over the snow as it drifted past him.

Check out this video of Rory's first downhill sled ride!







And what is a day out in the snowy mountains without a little play in the snow and of course a little taste of the white stuff!



All smiles as Rory pretends he is soaring through the sky.



Thanks for the sled ride daddy - I promise to pull you next time.

All the fresh mountain air and sunshine was just too much for our little Eskimo. On our last walk around the ponds, Rory's eyes drew heavy and he fell into a deep snooze. Another fantastic day in the mountains.

A winter swing ride

Rory very much enjoyed a beautiful winter walk and a swing ride in the snow. After about a week of temperatures hovering around minus 25, we welcomed a Chinook wind and soaked up the just above zero temperatures and gorgeous sunshine.


Rory was very excited to get back in his neighbourhood swing.

Rory loves his swing rides - snow or no snow!

Rory goes to Ontario

Rory has caught the travel bug - having had a fabulous time on his first plane travel adventure with mum. Rory and I travelled to Ontario for just under a week. We were kept extremely busy visiting friends and family.

With our passports in hand we boarded the WestJet flight to Hamilton. Rory was making friends (mostly with the ladies) with his cheeky grin and two new (yes that's right) pearly whites!

We were greeted in Hamilton by a very excited grammie and gramps! Our next few days were filled with many visitors and day trips...

But there was always time for stories with grandma and grandpa.

Rory already has a great love for books and really enjoyed these quiet moments with grandma or grandpa just to himself.

Rory had many visitors, all willing and waiting to get a moment with the little guy.

Rory had a special eye for his Auntie Cheryl. For the entire visit Rory would give Cheryl the biggest grin and would not take his eyes off of her. He especially enjoyed sharing his dinner of pureed peas and pears with her.

Grandpa and Rory spent many hours putting shapes into the house and tipping them out again. Rory loved this old toy of his mum's - thanks for saving it grandma.

The weather was great and Rory was able to spend some time rolling and crawling around grandma and grandpa's beautiful backyard, taste testing pieces of grass and many leaves (oh the joys of teething!) along the way.

What a dapper little chap! Rory is modeling a purchase made during a day cross border shopping. How I miss outlet shopping - what a day!! Rory's first time leaving the country.

Rory was also very lucky to meet his other great grandparents.

Rory was all smiles for his great grandma Werkman.

Rory loved sharing his meal times, especially with grandma and grandpa.

(I bet grandma and grandpa are still finding remnants of Rory's meals)

Rory giving grandpa a little helping hand.

A big thank you to all of our visitors - it was so awesome to be able to share our little bundle of joy with family and friends. And of course a very special thanks to mum and dad for going out of their way to make this trip a memorable one.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

Rory celebrated his first Halloween yesterday. He was wearing his special first Halloween outfit sent by Grandma. Rory wasn't too sure about our glowing pumpkin, but he did attempt to take off the top to look inside.



Rory Callum Augustine - captured and put in his crib under the charge of being just too darn cute!

Serving hard time in the crib.

Looking out at the freedom around him, wondering if he'll ever see his toys again!

The prisoner has escaped!

Ohh...these rocks are a little chilly, but anything is better than being in lockdown in the crib.

I'm FREE!!!

Freedom is wonderful - the cheeky grin is back.

My handsome felons.

Rory was assisted in his escape by Captain Lindsay of the Augustine pirate clan.

Cheeky little fellows.

Hoping everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!!

6 months on

I don't know how it happened - but our little Rory is now almost 6 and half months old. Where does the time go? Everyday is a new adventure. His smiles and giggles are endless and it doesn't matter how tired we are Rory can always warm our hearts with those big brown eyes. And recently a big, wide gummy smile which lights up his whole face. Rory has also discovered the fun of peek a boo and has learned how to cover his own face with blankets and look for our reaction when he pulls it off - priceless.

The gummy smile

Rory has also begun to eat some 'real' food. He loves his fruit, especially peaches and pears.

Sweet potatoes and carrots have proved to be the messiest, finding pieces of it in his hair, eyes, nose and even his ears!

Yummmy!! Sweet potatoes - a messy business.

Another big accomplishment for Rory, just this past Friday, Rory crawled forward for the very first time. A very exciting moment for all of us - although this has led to Rory getting into many more things now. Including getting stuck in some precarious spots.

Enjoy the video of Rory's first moves.

Rory a little stuck!

All and all we are loving every minute of watching our son grow.