Neil's office had their yearly summer BBQ this past Thursday.  On a weekday no less - no complaints about that!  One of his co-worker's has a family cottage out near Wasaga Beach and so a plan was set in motion to have the office shut down for a day of beach therapy!  

The weather looked as though it wasn't going to cooperate.  There had been severe thunderstorms in the area the night before and in the morning it was grey and drizzly. But by noon, the clouds were gone and the sun was out!  Turned out to be a fantastic day to spend the beach. 

After a tasty BBQ lunch, most of his co-workers and their families headed down to the beach (maybe a 10 minute walk).  The sand was soft (not rocky) and the water was clear and surprisingly warm.  There was some choppy surf hitting the shoreline but that didn't stop our little rugrat from racing right into the water! 

Alex had so much fun we had trouble getting him to leave.  It would seem we have a little beach bum on our hands!  Looks like we'll have to bring him back out to the lake!!  

I know this blog is woefully behind but believe me, I am working on getting all caught up. Today instead of the usual word-LESS Wednesday, I thought we'd change things up and showcase my now talking little guy.  He says: Mum, Da-da and tries to sing with The Cat in the Hat.

We are back in Toronto after a long visit in Regina.  This month was a bit quieter after the all the visiting, birthdays, baptism celebrations, etc of last month.  Still, it is amazing to me how much Alex changes every day.  It just seems like he is doing something new all the time.  

At 13 months, you:

• can now open the door from inside the room - no more getting trapped in rooms!
• weigh 25lbs (95th percentile)
• are 31.9 inches long (off the charts)
• bring us books to read to you.  You have definite opinions on what you want to read and what you DO NOT want to read.
• like books with flaps and/or textures
• went on your first camp trip and LOVED it.
• love your great Aunt Syl.  I have never seen you warm to anyone like you have warmed to her.
• are starting to get used to Dixie (Auntie O's basset hound).  You like to chase her around and you have even pet her (once or twice)!
• loves strawberries, raspberries and cheese.  You will eat most things but you LOVE these three items and would probably very happily eat them exclusively.
• are still nursing but will drink milk from a sippy cup.

Here is the link to the 13th Month pictures.

A few videos from the month:

Splashing in the Puddles while camping 

Pool Party with the Great Aunts

Mmm Ribs

This week we decided to try our hand at camping with Alex.  After having all of our stuff stowed away, I took to cleaning out and restocking the camp totes.  I had one moment of hilarity when I mused aloud to Neil that there were a few items like granola bars, etc in the totes from our last outing that were long expired, "why didn't we camp last summer?"  Duh! Might have had something to do with giving birth.

I then took to the web to try and book us a site for a couple of nights.  While still debating on where to go, my cousin Katie told me of her plans to camp with her boyfriend Jeremy and their dog Cash out at Awenda Provincial Park.  We were invited to join them and we did in fact meet up with them.

It was a lot of work to get set up and to watch Alex but he was having so much fun exporing our site that it was hard to get too upset that things were taking longer than in our pre-child experiences.  Alex is so naturally curious he was touching everything: trees, rocks, dirt, camp stuff.  He crawled into our half setup tent.  He kept checking the tires on our truck.  He chased his ball all over the place.  

One thing that shocked Neil and I was that he insisted on walking everywhere.  No whining for mom and dad to carry him.  He walked to the playground, to the bathrooms, to Katie & Jeremy's site, etc.  This was a lot of walking for the little man.

Alex really enjoyed camping.  He was eager to help - he was pretty funny trying help dad get the campfire going - don't worry, he was perfectly safe.  He just brought dad kindling and crumpled up newspaper.

My only complaint is that Alex was so stimulated by the whole camp experience that I had trouble getting him to sleep and as a result missed a lot of my favourite part of camping: sitting by the fire.  

Trying to mimic his bedtime routine I gave him a bath (a very cold, icy bath) in a camp tote.  This probably didn't help matters.  He did eventually fall asleep.  Mom was so tired she only managed a little campfire time before she turned in too.

In the middle of the night, a storm rolled in and there was some really loud thunder and lightning.  Alex slept through most of it but was up for about an hour at 6am.  We took some silly family tent pictures during this time.

It rained steady until 10am.  We finally emerged from the tent when it was only drizzling but the site was a big muddy mess by that time so we decided we didn't want to stay another night.  

Overall, our first camp outing with Alex was a big success.  Next time hopefully we will have drier weather.

To see all the pictures from this trip, click here.

Alex is ONE YEAR OLD!  I cannot believe how fast this year has gone.  I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!  My baby is no longer a baby.  He's a toddler!  

At one year, you:

• are extremely mobile.  You are constantly on the move and are getting quicker all the time.
• you have learned to open and close doors - in particular, the door handles that you just pull down.  This has been a bit comical and a bit annoying.  You have this habit of letting yourself into rooms and then getting trapped in them.  Then when someone comes to let you out, you slam the door in their face.
• are still putting all sorts of weird things into your mouth.  This month it has been rocks.  Not cool.
• are an established flyer.  Unfortunately, our flight to Regina this month was mom's least fun.  You were squirmy and uncooperative.  You slept a big chunk but then woke up 20 minutes before landing and screamed THE ENTIRE TIME. We were not very popular.
• scared the living beejesus out of your parents.  We made TWO trips to the ER this month.  The first time, you had croup.  The second time, your parents over-reacted.
• have been introduced to stairs.  You have no trouble climbing up, but getting down is a whole different ball game.  After one wipeout at Grandma M's you now seem to hover at the top of the stairs until someone comes to help you.
• like playing in the Pirate Ship at Grandma M's.
• were baptised at Bread of Life Lutheran Church.

Pictures from Alex's 12th month can be found here.