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!!!!

Ode to Rudy

We got our little cocker spaniel Rudy from my WONDERFUL Uncle Dave and Joanne in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in March 2002 . . . here is a brief synopsis of our little pup's first two years:
This is the photo that won Paul's heart - I e-mailed him this and we decided we were going to get ourselves a dog!

This little guy did get into a little bit of trouble in his first few weeks with us!! Hard to stay angry with a face like that though :-)


But he also did a lot of sleeping and being just "plain cute"!!

And then we added a new member to our family - Rudy fell in love with Peter right away!

Rudy is a great little singer and does a fantastic rendition of Home on the Range . . . Rudy visits with his cousins Maggie and Cleo Christmas 2004!!Rudy passes Obedience School with flying colours!!!!


And still looking cute "as always"!! We love you Rudy . . .

Ahhhhh! He naps!

Pete is finally getting back to a regular nap schedule after a long summer of traveling and varying schedules!! This is great news for Mommy, she's very happy about this. He's now back to two full hours between 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. . . and is happy and raring to go after his beauty sleep!


We had a barbecue the other evening with a few friends and their children. Pete was nice enough to share his two seater lawn chair with Connor, until his little brother arrives that is!

Pete - there's no one in that stroller sweetie!

Pete drinks from a real cup now

Well, Peter has been drinking from a real cup lately instead of his sippy cup. Here he is enjoying some juice with his morning breakfast! *Ahem* please excuse the bed hair - we just got up!


After breakfast he decided to head into the backyard and check out the world . . . from the top of our patio table!!! He's sure becoming a good little climber :-)

Pete brushes his teeth!

I can hardly believe my little Pete is growing up so quickly - he looks like a little boy now and hardly resembles the baby he was such a short time ago!! He is learning lots of good habits lately, including brushing his teeth every morning and every night at bedtime. Peter has said roughly 10-15 words, but doesn't use them together yet. His latest favorite is "MORE" (mo-uh) and he uses it all the time . . . more juice, more snack, more playtime, more everything! We are working on potty training too - what a big boy Pete will be to his little brother :-)

New gate!!

Here is the new gate that Paul designed and built himself - it blocks off access to our backyard so Pete and Rudy can't "escape" anymore. It gives lots of privacy too - we just have to coat it with a stain and we'll be all finished. Way to go carpenter Paul!!