Signing

Riley has started using sign language.  He has been doing the sign for 'milk' for a while now.  He was using it for all food including when he wanted 'more' of something at the table.  Today he figured out how to do the actual sign for 'more'.

I love how excited both Riley and Kiera were at these first breakthroughs in communication.  I will never forget the look on their faces as the realized that they could ask for something and I could understand them.  Here he was getting excited and doing the sign up high.

 

He's a pretty happy guy.  He is eating a lot finger food these days and loving feeding himself.  He really likes watermelon and today we shared a fresh peach.  (and, no this isn't one of the new signs we're working on!)  If you enlarge the photo, you can see Riley's first teeth coming in.

Random

Neither of these girls wear pigtails very often so we had to capture the moment.

Riley enjoying the sun by my weed patch garden.

Making music together on a rainy day.  It is so much fun to see these two play together now.

"Started out with 3 wheels, then I went to 4, just to get to 2.."

We've been taking Kiera out with her bike lately.  The first time out this summer was last weekend and she rode for over an hour! 

Meanwhile, Riley went for his first ride in the jogging stroller.  Looks like he finds it comfy enough.

I think we wore Kiera out with all the biking, she crashed on the way home.

Yesterday Kiera went bike riding with Melissa

all the way to the playground and (most of the way) back.

  

(Note: Song lyrics are from the Justin Roberts CD Meltdown.)

More Summer Fun

We've really been enjoying the nice weather.  This week:

Riley went solo on the swings at the park for the first time.

We went berry picking.

We went to Aldergrove Lake for the first time.  It was a great little lake with nice sand and it wasn't too busy.  It is amazing: these days 5 moms getting together adds up to nine and a half kids!  Here is Riley and his girlfriend eating sand together.  (She's an older woman - by one whole day!)

Kiera has been making new friends with each trip to the beach.  At Aldergrove, it wasn't so much about making friends as it was playing with their toys.

At Harrison Hot Springs this weekend, she did make friends with a little boy and they had lots of fun running around in the sand and yelling together.

Riley stayed in the shade and caught up on his summer reading while Kiera was busy building sand castles.

Here Kiera is begging to be carried to the blanket as she doesn't want to walk barefoot on the grass.

  

At Harrison, Ken and I realized it had been nine years (and 3 days) since he proposed while we were up there for the weekend.

Cougars and bugs and bears (oh, my)

We did the red loop at the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest - 1.4 km - not bad for Kiera's little legs.

Some reassuring signs at the trailhead...

 

but they were a few months old.

Riley's first hike in the backpack.

Summer

With July, summer weather finally arrived and with it came...

trips to the lake

(Riley the baby Sherpa)

 

ice cream (Riley absolutely LOVES ice cream and shared with me but for once he was a tidier eater than his sister.)

 

Canada Day Parades

 

fireworks and festivals.

The Cat Who Loves to Be Vacuumed

and the other one too

 

Shopping Cart for Two

As far as Riley is concerned, the best part of the new car seat is he now gets to ride in the front seat of the shopping carts.  He LOVES this, particularly when it is a double cart and he gets to ride beside Kiera.  Even better if there are steering wheels!