Peter's new bedroom mural

Well, the mural in Peter's new bedroom is finished . . . my mural guy Dave finished painting it today! We are so thrilled with his work, it is just amazing. The picutres don't do it justice at all.

We wanted something subtle (and not too expensive) so the lighthouse, rocks and lobster trap, etc. are just in one corner, while the ocean, clouds and seagulls continue very lightly around the entire perimetre of the room. We are excited to add some cool rope, maybe a few pieces of driftwood, and a cool light fixture to complete our Nova Scotia creation! The new bedding also arrived yesterday so we just have to add the baseboards, move the bed and furniture in and voila! a room fit for a king/toddler :-)

Obviously more pictures will be on the way once we have a completed project . . . couldn't hold back on these though, we're so happy with this guy's work.

Footnote - can you believe he is originally from Halifax and this is his first East Coast mural in 15 years of working in this business and, YES, he paints murals every single day of his life. Completely freehand and so talented (www.muralmagic.ca) . . .

New card samples

Here are some of my latest card designs - some of them are holiday/Christmas theme . . . hard to believe December is right around the corner!

Peter at gymnastics class

Well, we finally managed to take our camera to gymnastics class this morning!! Here are some shots of Peter on the various pieces of equipment . . . he does pretty well considering he's by far the youngest and the smallest in the class! Future Olympian maybe???


Peter is a great little climber and can crawl right across this board!

As a matter of fact, he can climb anything!!!


No wall is too big for me to climb . . .


Don't they have pint-sized rings for us little guys????




Here I come!!!


Look at me!!! I have great balance :-)

Peter is really getting the hang of this . . .


Peter is on top of the world here!!


Peter is getting ready to climb up the bars!!!

Peter climbs up the bars with some help from Dadddy!!

Pete the obsessive teeth brusher

Peter's absolute favorite pastime right now is brushing his teeth - he would do it ALL day long if we let him . . . he likes to climb up on the sink by himself so he can reach the toothpaste and toothbrush and brush his teeth on his own. No help allowed from mommy and daddy anymore!!

Peter is 18 months old!

These are our lates pictures of Pete . . . he is 18 months old now, I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday he was a wee little thing. He's becoming such a big boy now. He is learning every day to do so many new things all by himself. He loves to copy other people. His latest is licking his finger and wiping dirt or food off of me - he's seen me to do it to him so many times! But now he's doing it to everyone . . .

Last weekend was Peter's first gymnastics class - it was really amazing! What better place for him to show off his running, jumping, tumbling and climbing skills? He's taking classes at the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre (www.ottawagymnasticscentre.ca), a very professional gymnastics club where "real" gymnasts train. It was exciting to go and watch all the gymnasts there - and little Pete following in their footsteps!! He even did a few somersaults and I must say, he did very well and kept up with children much older than him in the class. He walked the balance beam and hung from the rings as well. No pictures yet but I hope to get some at one of the upcoming classes so stay tuned.

One downside to Pete's new age milestone seems to be his temper and very determined attitude. He is not great at listening to Mommy and Daddy right now, even when sometimes he is in danger. So I gave in and decided to try a "time out". The first couple worked, I told him he would have a "time out" if he continued with his behaviour (dumping the food and water dishes on the dog) and when he did I put him in his room with the door shut for 2 minutes. He was very upset and it almost seemed to work . . . until . . .

today I threatened a "time out" if he didn't stop putting toothbrushes in the toilet. So he looked at me, smiled, marched to his room, went in and sat down and closed the door behind him!!! Not really the punishment I thought it would be, might be back to the drawing board for us :-)


There's nothing Pete likes more than pushing around his mower!! It's favourite toy, by far. And he LOVES following Mommy or Daddy when they're mowing . . .

Hey you!! Give me that camera would you?????

Peter is trying to give Rudy a drink of water from his toy in the mid September heat wave we had today. Rudy took a pass so Pete decided to drink it himself!

Labor Day Weekend

This morning was our first "coolish" morning of September! We headed out for a hike through our local dog park, Bruce Pit. Peter, don't you know you're too young for Tim Horton's?????

This was Pete's first day wearing his new jeans - wearing any jeans, I think, since last spring because it's been so hot here!




"Hey, isn't a dog going to come fetch this stick from me?"

Later on that evening, we went across the street to our local park and playground (pretty convenient for us!!) and Pete got in some action with the local kids! Pete's a BIG fan of anything you can climb . . .





Peter, I don't think you're supposed to be up there, you little monkey!!!!