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

Noah is 8 months old!!!

Noah is 8 Months old today! He is a big boy who loves playing with his big brother. He continues to crawl around everywhere and is starting to take steps while holding onto Momma and Daddy's fingers. He cruises around furniture quite well and sometimes feels courageous enough to try to let go. Chasing Gavyn around the house is one of his favorite pastimes. Noah is very vocal...sometimes too vocal. Hearing "Ba-ba-ba-bo" at 2:40 am is not Momma's idea of a good night's rest.


This morning we went to play with some of our friends at the playgroup in Apex. Here is Noah playing with a ball, aka "Ba-ba-ba-bo".
And Gavyn had lots of fun with Angelina making huge block towers and taking turns knocking them down.

At the end of playgroup, the kids chased bubbles around the room.

Such a magical time!!

Whatz Up???

Noah now has 5 teeth. 3 popped out Thursday night (Feb 21). He also has found his tongue as you can see from the pictures. He is bringing the "Whatz Up?!?" back.



Our Chunky Monkey now weighs 10.23 Kg (22.55 Lb) Here he is in his "outside diaper" just before bed.

Bath time is so much fun!!!

Here are Gav and Noah playing in the bath together. Bubbles are key!! Not only do we add bubble bath to the water, but we blow bubbles too. Noah is getting good at catching the bubbles...with Gavyn's direction. Lots of fun.

It has been cold...

We have been enjoying some time outdoors but it has been super cold. Check out Gavyn's Icicle Lashes. Pretty "cool" eh?

Here is the fort Matt and Gav built. Gavyn and Ruff love playing in it.

Noah was wrapped up in the sling and in a blanket as usual. A bit too frosty for little monkeys.

Sexy Matt pose!!

Ruff enjoying the chilly weather!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!
Here are the "Hearts" and "Soles" of our little monkeys. They both got a kick out of making these hearts!!

It has been a while since our last entry cause everyone has been sick. Noah is still working to get over his cold/flu. A rough couple of weeks for us all.
We have spent most of our time indoors. Here are a few of things we have been doing.

Noah enjoying his bath -- helping to clear his nose too!!

We also discovered that Noah's crib is much more fun when filled with balls. Noah doesn't actually sleep in the crib, so we are coming up with creative ways to make use of it. It also doubles as a reading spot for Gavyn -- it is usually filled to the brim with books.


We made a car for Gavyn out of one of our FoodMail boxes. Vroom, vroom...

Have a great Valentine's Day!!!

Blizzard days...

...are synonymous with pyjama days. This week we had 2 days of blizzards and today was snowy. We made it out to our Attachment parenting group on Thursday that was hosted by Erin and Maple. It was great to see everyone and chat about how things are going with our little ones.
Noah still isn't super interested in solid foods but does enjoy a nice mix of rice cereal and apples.

Here are our little monkeys playing together.

And here is Noah hard at work filling our dishwasher after dinner. Great to have good help!