We've been in Iqaluit 6 months...

We are now 6 months into our stay here in the North and it has been great so far.
We have met lots of people and have been quite busy with all sorts of activities.

Noah and Gavyn are doing well. Noah is now 8 months, crawls everywhere and cruises along the furniture. He takes steps holding onto our hands and it won't be long before he is on the run! His first word was "Dada" -- Matt was so excited. We had expected Noah's first word to be "Momma" seeing as he hears Gavyn say it all day. Gavyn is doing well too. He loves playing outside and the cold doesn't seem to bother him. His favourite thing to do is play with our neighbour's dog "Ruff". Such a gentle dog. Gavyn keeps asking when we can keep "Ruff" because he loves him.

Next year Gav will start preschool in the "Francisisation" program at the French school. He is doing great. So far he know colours, the alphabet, numbers, lots of animals, tractors and trucks, he knows garcon and fille and which is which, and lots of phrases like "bonne appetit", "je m'appelle Gavyn", "j'aime manger les piments rouge" -- all of which is a huge change from the original "ne touche pas". Kids have brains like a sponge!! I wish I could learn that quickly.

We are planning our first trip out in mid-April. We will spend 2 weeks in the townships with our families, one week in the Dominican and then a few extra days in Ottawa. It will be nice to see some trees, enjoy the warm sunshine and see our family and friends. Surely all of the stores and "general availability" will be a shock to our systems! Can't wait for a really good Latte!! And restaurants! This trip out will mean that we will miss most of Toonik Tyme (http://www.tooniktyme.com/english/index.html)- the return of the Sun festival. Check out the Photo Gallery on the site to see some of the cool activities. It is unfortunate that we will miss out as I was looking forward to tasting some of the tradition delights (seal, bannock, etc.) and watching the igloo building. Matt was also looking forward to playing in the festivals hockey tournament. Hopefully we will catch some of the fun before we fly out and we will plan to stay for next years' celebration.
We also hope to catch up with some of you while we are down!
Hope that everyone is doing well!
We'll be in touch soon.

Take care and big hugs to you all.
Love,
Cindy, Matthew, Gavyn & Noah