New Cuz!

Congratulations Erin, John, Matt, & Andy on the arrival of a beautiful new daughter whose name can't be shortened to a four-letter version.

Lauryn Patricia

Cherub

Forgot to post this earlier. I love the thumb to middle finger reflex, which he still does.

What to do when the weather goes South at the end of May...

That past few days have been cold and miserable. And since our landlord has turned off the heat for the summer, so have we. Emmanuelle woke up three (or was it four?) times last night, probably because she was cold. Add to that the fact that we're both under the weather, her with a nasty cough and me with allergies, and you can probably appreciate our volatile temperaments lately. Nevertheless, we've made the effort to get out for fresh air and to take advantage of what the neighbourhood has to offer. Sure beats sitting around a dank apartment.

Reflecting on the weather

Exploring the alleyways of Little Italy

First solo swinging.
Two pensive swingers

Will and Sarah kindly donated a trike to Emmanuelle. She hasn't quite figured out why the foot rests don't stay still when Dad pushes the trike, but that will come with time. Incidentally, Dad only learned to ride a bike when he was eight.

The first moments on the trike

This is my favourite photo so far with this camera.

That's enough cycling for one day.

Third best bagels in Montreal

Or: What to do when you have nothing but time on your hands.

For those who have been wondering when I would follow up on my Pumpernickel recipe, I made some bagels the other day. I essentially followed the recipe in the Cordon Bleu professional baking book I bought a couple of years ago, except that said recipe does not account for eggs, which are a known ingredient of the very best Montreal bagels, those from St-Viateur. (Celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, for those who care. You can pick up a canvas tote marking the occasion for a mere $4 donation to charity.) Of course I also added some flax seeds and a little oat flour (well, actually I made two batches, one oaty and one flaxy). Aside from that, pretty close to the text book. Oh, and in the first book I used salt, as per the text book; in the second I did not, as per St-Viateur.

The result:

Both iterations were pretty darn good, and I have to say that both are more "bagelly" than a lot of what you get in grocery stores, which in my opinion, are just buns with holes. The second batch were closer to St-Viateur than the first, sweet and chewy and slightly crisp. I don't have a stone oven, so you can't expect miracles, but if anyone wants to come over for brunch one day, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Nancy Dancer

Nancy works too much. She also travels, (which is good), but mostly she works too much. Which is bad. The fact that she works too much means that we don't see her as often as we would like. Which is sad. But she promises that she will invite us to her place next month, (which is promising), for supper, (which would be superb). Also she brought a present for Emmanuelle and one for Oscar. Which, like Nancy herself, is very, very nice.

Duss!

Lookin' natural.

Mothers' day!

I haven't quite figured out who's supposed to get flowers on Mothers' day - my mother or the mother of my children. So this year I just sat on the sidelines and reflected on the question. We did have a nice brunch Chez Cora, though.

The trip to Cora took its toll on Emma - no afternoon nap today.

Our gift to Grandma - a grandson. (Timing is everything.)

The Ottawa clan.

A nice photo with little to no nose-picking.

Wallflowers

Kaya's birthday!

Cousin Kaya turned 1 year old on May 9th.

Here's your gift, Kaya!

Just let me unwrap that for you...And if you don't mind, I'll open them right up...
Tasty blocks!
Magic music ball, Emma approved!

Long distance visitors

Mom and Dad came all the way from Regina to see their newest grandson. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Let the rapture begin.

Kaya comes to play!

He has eyes!
Dancing at PizelliDancin' II
A gaggle of grandchildren.
Kaya meeting her newest cousin.
I have you under my spell.
And Shazam! You're out.

Hodge-podge...

...of photos of Oscar. We went to Denis and France's place on Sunday. Oscar got to meet his Uncle Yan for the first time, making Yan once again the first Uncle to meet one of our kids. (Mark, Mala, and Kaya are coming on the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa.)

Of course, Oscar deserves a video, too.

We were just waiting for him to do something other than sleep, poop, and eat. This is about as good as it gets for the moment.

Emma's first music video

New digs, new friends

The first few weeks at home are full of new encounters and visits with friends. Julie and Jimmy had been dogsitting Mao for about a week (Thanks Julie!) so Oscar and Mao hadn't met yet. (That rhymes.) Mao lost no time in checking whether Oscar had any treats for him.

He isn't really going to lick Oscar...!?!

He didn't really lick Oscar....!?!

Blech! He did!!!

Val is a natural with the little tykes.
Our Go-to-Gal Julie.Already ashamed to be seen with her younger brother.

We also had a few other visitors, (Felix, Daniel, Melanie, Leanne, Hanni) who were baby and/or camera shy. Special thanks to Grand-Papa Denis, France, Julie, and Jimmy, for variously looking after Emmanuelle and Mao and giving Mom and Dad a break (to do fun things like visit the accountant). Thanks to our accountant, too, for that matter.