Starting Solids

We have been giving Edison "solid" food for about a week now. So far he has only had rice cereal and banana. The banana was a big hit, he really seems to enjoy it. I'm going to try sweet potato on him next. It's fun watching his face as he gets the taste of something for the first time. This is a whole new experience for him and he makes some pretty funny faces as he tries to figure out what this new texture in his mouth is.

I'm not sure if he's actually interested in what's on the spoon as much as he just wants to chew and suck on the spoon itself. But he does reach for the spoon every time and he uses both hands to get it into his mouth. It's quite a messy experience as seems to enjoy smearing the food around on his tray with his hands.

So far it's been fun and I'm looking forward to seeing him experience other new tastes and textures. Here are a few pictures that Jonathan took of his very first time eating the rice cereal.

Sittin' Up

Edison has been sitting up on his own pretty consistently for about a week now. We still prop some soft things around him in case he tips, but he can last quite a long time. I think he really likes being able to sit up and see his toys a little better. He really likes looking around and he especially likes to watch Albert as he wanders around the house. Even though it is very exciting that he's sitting on his own, I'm totally blown away at how fast he's growing! Here are a few pics I took yesterday while he was playing:

I love watching him operate his little hands!

Fun at the Zoo!

Good News:
For Christmas this year, my mom and Andy bought us a season's pass to the Greater Vancouver Zoo. Its great because it is fairly close to our house and we can go whenever we'd like and don't have to feel like we have to make a whole long day of it, because we can go as often as we like. We went for the first time a couple of days ago when we were still having the really nice weather (cold, but nice). We wandered for a couple of hours before Jonathan had to go to work. Believe it or not, Jonathan had never been there before and didn't realize that they actually have quite a lot of fun animals. Edison slept in his stroller for the majority of the time, but once he gets a bit older he'll love it.

Bad News:
I took tons of pictures while we were there. When I got home I went to transfer them to my computer only to find out that the SD card in the camera had corrupted the majority of the pictures. We've been having a little trouble with this SD card lately, but its never done anything like this before. Anyways, I have a few of the pictures but I guess I'll have to make sure to bring the camera back again next time and try again. I guess the animals aren't really going anywhere.

Edison was nicely bundled

I don't know why this guy was walking around with his nose up in the air like that

Wordless Wednesday - Foooooood

A Visit to Powell River

Jonathan, Edison, and I took a little trip up to Powell River for a few days after Christmas. Jonathan's sister Sara, her husband Gord, and their three kids Tyler, Linden, and Sienna live there. We haven't seen them in a little over a year so it was a much needed visit, especially because they hadn't met Edison yet. Here's what we were up to:

Day 1 - We left in the morning to begin the 6 hour journey to Powell River. Altogether, it takes a few hours of driving and two ferries to get there. Although its long, the trip is beautiful. There is a lot of driving along the ocean and the mountains were so nice to look at as they were covered in snow. This was Edison's first trip on a ferry.  

Edison, all bundled up and ready to go!

On the ferry

First time sitting by himself at a table in the high chair

Lots of scenery to take in

I braved the freezing cold wind to take a couple pictures out on the deck

We stopped at a look-out point along the drive

 

Arriving in the town of Powell River

The day we arrived was Tyler's 10th birthday so were able to celebrate it with him that evening. It was a fun night of pizza, video games, and catching up.

Tyler, Linden, and Sienna

Party hats!

Can't go anywhere without the Jolly Jumper

Edison, getting to know his cousins. He loved watching them. 

Day 2 - Our first full day in Powell River was spent exploring around their house and neighborhood. Their house is right on the ocean. It was so nice look out the window of their living room and take in all the scenery. I spent quite a lot of time with the binoculars watching the seals and the many different types of birds that hang out on the ocean.

This is their front yard!

For Christmas this year, one of the gifts Sara and Gord bought the kids was 4 chickens! They built them a nice little home in their garage and they will start laying eggs soon. Apparently the chickens will lay enough eggs to feed their whole family! I spent some time in there petting them and feeding them out of my hand.....and now I want one.

The boys, showing us the chicken's house

Chickens!

Sienna was a little cold

Later on that day we took a walk/bike ride around the neighborhood. Jonathan even took over Tyler's bike to try to show him how to do a wheelie. We had gorgeous weather the entire time we were there, but it was also quite cold outside so we didn't spend tons of time out there.

Here is Jonathan's wheelie

Here's Jonathan doing some other trick, meanwhile I'm walking in behind yelling "you really should be wearing a helmet!" 

Later on that day we went to Desolation Sound to "desolate the clams" as Jonathan put it. Even though I wasn't interested in partaking in the clam feast, I did go along to check it all out. We had to wait for the tide to start going out, which meant we didn't have a whole lot of daylight left to uncover the little guys.

Gord doing some digging

Jonathan and Sara picking through the rocks

The scenery was awesome, too bad we were running out of light

Day 3 - The next day Jonathan and I drove in to the town of Powell River, grabbed a Starbucks and then headed to Willingdon Beach for a little walk. That night was New Years Eve and we spent it hanging out, eating, playing music and video games. Jonathan also entertained us with his "drano bombs" which make and extremely loud bang!

Willingdon Beach

Brrrr

You can look down that hole and see the sea life

Day 4 - On our last day, most of the house (not Edison however), had a good sleep-in. Jonathan and I hit the road in the afternoon and started the long trip home. We stopped to take a couple pictures along the way.

This was once the largest pulp and paper mill in the world

These WWI and WWII concrete ships are creating the largest floating breakwater in the world

Edison driving the car....or sucking on the steering wheel

This looks like snow, but its frost!

We had a really fun trip and it was nice to get out of town for a few days, see some sights, and visit with family. Thank you to Sara and her family for taking us in and showing us a good time! We look forward to coming back...in a little warmer weather.