Happy birthday to our little Jasper George! How tiny he was, just one year ago today.
Here are his monthly photos with Fred, to see how much he has grown over the year. The photos got more and more difficult to take as he started moving.
Our attempts at one year photos with Fred are even worse. I can see why people get professionals for this!
Jasper had a fun day today going for stroller walks around town in the sunshine, playing with his toys and eating lots of food. He got to have a pizza party with his Dad while I went to a retirement party in Bayfield.
He got phone calls, Facebook messages, e-mails, texts and mail from friends and family all over. What a lucky kid to have so many people who love him!
It's strange to reflect back on the past year. People say that the time flies by, but it doesn't really feel that way for me. We have packed a lot into this past year, and I am really grateful for the time I've had to spend with Jasper. It feels like the right time to go back to work and for Jasper to start daycare. I think he is going to love playing with other kids all day and learning lots from the staff there.
Thanks for reading this blog, it has been fun to document the last year this way. I'm not sure how often I'll write new blog posts, since we won't really be "on the road" much for the next little while. I will try to give updates every so often to share photos and new milestones.
This week was the first week in a long time that we spent entirely at home. It was relaxing to not have to travel anywhere and nice to get to enjoy some of the things around town.
Need to get all the Tupperware out
Jasper's top two teeth are coming in, so he is being more picky about what he eats lately. Hopefully it is just the teeth, not a permanent thing. Bread and cheese isn't really a balanced diet.
On Sunday, Pat hosted an umpire clinic at the Davidson Centre, so after cooking 90 hotdogs for the kids, we took Jasper out to explore the park.
First visit to the Davidson Centre park
He was very reluctant about all the different ground surfaces at first, but he slowly got used to the new textures, and started to crawl around.
Learning not to eat wood chips and rocks
After a few minutes, he was climbing all over the play structures and Pat had to chase him so he wouldn't fall off.
Playing the park chimes
Jasper is almost a year old now and is definitely starting to show his own personality more and more. He is a stubborn little guy, and he definitively knows what he wants. He's starting to point to things, so at least we can get an idea of what he wants. He's also pretty cautious, especially when standing up. He will very slowly squat up and down a dozen times before deciding to crawl instead. He's also a really affectionate kid who likes hugs and cuddles. He likes to give "kisses", which are more like face licks or bites, depending on how excited he is.
Another week, another trip to the city for sporting events. Pat had tickets to the Jays home opener series, and I had tickets to take my nieces Hailey and Regan to watch the Olympic Swimming Trials at the new PanAm pool in Scarborough/
Checking out the wedding album
The PanAm pool is right near the Toronto Zoo, so in between heats and finals on Friday we went to visit the animals. It was a really chilly day, so we had the place mostly to ourselves.
Regan and Jasper with the polar bear
We managed to see the polar bear cub Juno and the two Giant Panda cubs without even waiting in line. There were signs that said "2 hour wait from here", so I was glad to be there on a cold Friday afternoon!
Jasper and his cousins in the pavillion
Regan's favourite part was seeing the giraffes. We got to the giraffe enclosure as the zookeeper was feeding them and giving a talk.
Regan and the giraffes
We had weekend passes for the Olympic Trials, so we went to watch heats and finals on Friday and Saturday. There were some exciting swims and some disappointments, as with any trials event.
Regan and Jasper in matching stripes.
Jasper doesn't like to sit still for long anymore, so Regan entertained him by letting him crawl around the stands.
Regan and Jasper at the pool
We stayed with Andrew and Katie in Markham and they were great hosts for the weekend, letting us stay in their AirBnb rooms and cooking us great food. Sorry for the early morning wake ups on a weekend! Mom and Dad came to visit on Saturday afternoon and we all had a Costco dinner feast before going to the pool for finals.
Pita Pit stop on the way home
Sunday, the girls had to head home to North Bay, so Jasper and I met up with Pat downtown. We met some friends for brunch and then caught the Sunday afternoon Jays game with Dudar and Britt. Didn't get any pictures from that one, but it was a fun time and the Jays won!
The week was a pretty regular one, with Grandma and Grandpa coming over for dinner and to help with bed time stories. Jasper is able to follow along with books (usually) now and help turn the pages.
He is also becoming a bit of a daredevil in his little bath tub. He likes to stand up and take all of his rubber duckies off the ledge, then put them back up, over and over and over.
Trying to escape the bath
On the weekend, I ran my first race since Jasper was born, the Around the Bay two person relay with my Aunt Colleen. It was a chilly morning, but I was really happy with my 15 km time. Colleen ran really well too and we ended up 7th place in our category.
Visiting Great Grandma Beaton
While I was running, Pat took Jasper to visit his Grandparents in Toronto and Whitby. First stop was with Grandma Beaton in North York.
Lunch at Amica
Then it was lunch in the Amica dining room with Great Grandma Love and Great Aunt Cheryl.
Visiting Great Grandpa Love
After lunch, they went to visit Great Grandpa Love at his new place nearby. Jasper loves to explore new places and to see his Great Grandparents. He always gets lots of smiles and waves from the residents and staff at Amica and Donway Place.
This Easter, we took a family fun trip to Chicago with the Hoyles and Beatons. We left Thursday evening and drove to a motel in Battle Creek, Michigan, then drove the rest of the way Friday morning. Pat was happy to be back in the land of Jimmy John's sandwiches.
The whole family stayed at a hostel in the Wicker Park neighbourhood, just a few stops on the subway from downtown. The hostel had a common room that Jasper could roam around in and plenty of stairs for him to climb.
Reunited with Aunt Kate and Uncle Andrew
After a BYOB Mexican seafood feast, I took Jasper home to bed and the rest of the family headed to the Willis (Sears) tower. The wait to go up the elevator was more than 2 hours, but it was worth it as Mike and Charlotte got engaged at the Skydeck on top. Back at the hostel, we had celebratory champagne in plastic hostel cups.
Skydeck proposal
Saturday was a day to explore the Chicago waterfront and downtown. We took the El to Grant park and then split up to the Field Museum and Planetarium.
The Field Museum is like the ROM, with dinosaurs and lots of historical artifacts. Jasper really enjoyed playing in the kids section of the museum. His favourite spot was the book shelf, so really we should just take him to the library.
Napping by the Chicago skyline
After the museums, we rode the Hop on Hop off tour for an overview of downtown Chicago. I'd never done a bus tour like that before, and I think next time I'd just walk or ride transit. It was nice to have the whole family together, and I'm sure Charlotte appreciated not having to walk with her broken foot.
Family selfie at the "bean"
We finished the bus tour near Millennium Park and went to check out the famous Cloud Gate sculpture. There were hundreds of people all taking the same photo in front of the "bean".
With Uncle Scott at the Cloud Gate
Uncle Scott carried Jasper to our restaurant reservation for deep dish pizza at Giordano's. We lost some family members on the walk over, but we were reunited at dinner.
Everyone loved the super cheesy deep dish pizza, especially Jasper. After dinner a group went straight to Howl at the Moon to get a seat for the dueling piano show. I took Jasper home to bed and then met up with the group later. It was an impressive show at Howl at the Moon.
Astronaut Jasper
On Sunday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. Again, Jasper loved the kids section, especially the stream that carried balls around the room. He was too young for most of it, but enjoyed watching the older kids play.
Sunday evening we went to the Chicago Diner, a vegetarian restaurant that serves comfort foods like chicken wings, shepherd's pie, burgers and shakes- all meat-free. Pat and I have been there twice before and I even have their cook book. We went early enough to get a table for 14 and the food did not disappoint.
It was a successful family fun weekend and great that we were able to meet up with Kate while she is unable to leave the US.
