A memorable day!

Today was a memorable day for many reasons. The first reason is that today Kai not only came to a stand all by himself, but he also took his first steps!! Jitse was the first one to witness Kai's new skill, but later today he happily repeated it for Silvia to see. So far four steps is the most he has taken, but we are very proud of him and can't wait to see him do it again.

Another fun thing we did today was install the bicycle seat we brought from Holland. Silvia and Kai took a test drive and Kai really seemed to like this new means of transportation:




After our bicycle adventure we took off to the playground, another thing Kai has started to enjoy lately. When he sees the swings and slides he always tries to climb out of the stroller, I guess we are not going fast enough for him! He loves to be on the swing and stare at the other children and he goes down the slides by himself without any problem. Today he also discovered that sand is a lot of fun.

A visit to the sugar bush

Last weekend we took a little trip to a sugar bush just outside of Ottawa. It was still pretty cold, but at least it was not freezing and snowing anymore. This was our first visit to a sugar bush and all three of us really liked it. Here are some pictures of our day:

Kai loved the animals in the barn.



It is obvious who had the best view.



The shed where the maple syrup was cooked.



We went for a ride in this horse drawn cart and within a few minutes Kai was nicknamed "The Cowboy" by our driver: our little guy was squealing with delight upon seeing the horses.



The collection of the sap from the maple tree.



The preparation of taffy on the snow:





Jitse enjoying his taffy.

Surfer Kai's word count.

Apart from the continuous babbling in baby-language Kai has lately started saying real words in the right context. To our surprise he is both using Dutch and English words. Here's his word count so far:

mama (mommy)
papa (daddy)
dag dag (bye bye)
bye/bye bye
boem (boom)
doei (bye)
baby
hachoo
ja (yes)
Kai
broem broem (vroom vroom)

He also really likes to imitate things we say, even though it doesn't sound like the actual word yet. Words he is trying to imitate are:

tot zo (see you later)
ei ei (this is from a Dutch nursery rhyme)

Kai's relation to food

Lately Kai has started to enjoy table foods. Whenever we are eating something that is suitable for Kai too, we let him eat off our plates. Here are some pictures of him enjoying some new foods:


A bagel with melted cheese for breakfast.


Eating pancakes for the first time.


His first food order at a restaurant: cheese curds.

Kai in action: some videos

Click here to see a video of Kai walking behind his cart or here to see a video of him drumming.