landscape of toys.

dress up.

at the park.

the sun was shining. opa & m went to the park.

swinging.

sliding.

smiling.

abschied.

rike is leaving canada... continuing her studies in heidelberg. she has been living in toronto while her fiancee (!), karin, has been studying in my program in waterloo. dave's guitar lived with her in toronto, & even made it to some open mic nights... more action than it's gotten for a while. we will miss rike: her infectious laugh, tenderness for mateo, & affection for white wine ;). aufWIEDERsehen liebe rike!

susie.

susie came today. she brought gifts of fresh biscotti & sony voice recorders. happy thesis writing! winnipeg & field work... here we come!

m likes biscotti that ryan makes

one of m's "auntie winnipeg"s

westgate.

this past week, there were a lot of winnipeggers in kw. this is because westgate mennonite collegiate came to town. 8 years ago, i graduated from there. this year, i organized the billeting for the following: 1 concert band, 1 concert choir, 1 jazz band, 1 string ensemble, 1 vocal jazz group, their chaperones. breslau mennonite church really stepped up to the plate to host... i was so happy. (!) my cousin julian & his friend nick vandoeselaar (whom dave taught guitar about 5 years ago, & i taught sunday school over & over again since he was 3) stayed at our place. they were kept very busy, so basically they were only here during the night, but they managed to hang out with mateo a bit, who loved all the extra attention, sing/play in a wonderful concert on wednesday night, & politely make their beds. they are welcome again anytime.

julian turned 18 on april 19. unfortunately for him, legal age in ontario is 19. this was the best we could do.

m was very popular with the ladies. (recognize meghan entz?)

concert choir

nick & baby m

julian & baby m

walking.

picnic.

today, the weather was so beautiful. sunshine, but with enough breeze to keep from being too hot. m & i ventured out into our new big backyard for a little picnic. & bird watching. & rolling in the grass. &, unfortunately, being chased out of the backyard by the neighbour's badly trained shepherd that growled & barked & freaked out m so badly that he screamed for over an hour. but until then, we had a really nice time out there. here are some of the before shots:

new pants.

thanks to erin at boolah baguette, mateo is outfitted for spring... and summer. at least in the pants department.

soooo funny!

new baby jail.

a wooden gate to keep us all from falling down the stairs.

might eventually make a good jungle gym. but not right now. now it's good for standing.

easter.

paska so good, oma would be proud.

trying on his sweater knitted by tante tatjana arcand. a little bit too big, but perfect for easter anyway. merci bien!

sushi baby.

yesterday m tried some barbequed eel, which is definitely our favourite kind of sushi roll. we'll see if we can train a sushilover yet.

m & the sushi roll regard each other quizzically.

the eel gets the staredown.

& i think he likes it.

march is a good month for birthdays or the cupcake decimation

the birthday boy (showing off his birthday shirt, made by erin of boolah baguette. check out her amazing stuff here.)

m's new "camera smile"

march 22, 2010 marked mateo's very first birthday. it is amazing to think that a year ago he was a tiny little bundle... how far he (& we!) have come in just a year. a year ago we wondered about what kind of a child we were welcoming into our family. today, we still wonder what kind of a person he will turn out to be. here are some things we know:

1. he loves to laugh... tickles, "wo ist mateo?", & taking the bus are just a few things that cause him to burst into giggles

2. he loves music... he loves to wiggle his bum & tap his spatula in time to any music playing anywhere, anytime. also, no one would ever get any sleep at our place without asian dreamland.

3. he is a thoughtful boy... as in, he is full of thoughts. pros & cons must be weighed, every little tiny piece of fuzz carefully examined, instructions of any sort result in a furrowed brow... you get the idea.

4. he's a ham... he loves putting on a show, playing peekaboo, squealing with laughter, clapping his hands... all for attention, all the time

we are so thankful for the people in our lives who love him & us, both near & far. we are so blessed to have friends who watch him faithfully, pick up the slack when we need a break, especially since our family is so far away. skype makes things easier, but it's not like having them here.

we are excited for the months & years to come... today mateo crawled for the first time, & yesterday, he said something that sounded for all the world like "danke, mama!" which brought tears to my eyes (which i know is ridiculous, because he didn't know what he was saying ;)

every day with m is a new adventure. we love you, baby! happy birthday!

birthday cupcakes. with vegan buttercream icing (which was a marginal fail, unfortunately.)

he was totally enthralled by the candle...

... and of course wanted to touch it.

first taste of cupcake... hm...

sharing some icing with mama.

happy boy.

the aftermath. followed by bath & bed. ;)

moving.

our new home: 289 ahrens st.

karin, working hard with ali & david to get our monstrous couch up the stairs

the couch ate her.

kitchen filled with boxes.

toben, intelligently retreating into the pantry closet.

last days in the old place

eating all by himself.

sort of.

mateo & toben are friends.

sort of.

driving around looking at so many apartments is no fun. especially in my stupid hat. not even sort of.