Another first

Yesterday Jitse and I took Kai out for dinner: it was the first time that he was actually aware of us eating out, instead of sleeping in the sling while we ate. We chose to go to a Persian restaurant within walking distance of our home, we had never been there before and thought this would be a good chance to try it out. Unfortunately we forgot to bring our camera, because watching Kai at the restaurant was priceless. Our little guy was busy smiling at all the other customers and the waitress, looking at the lights and the fans, dancing to the Persian music and eating kebab, rice and bread in between. He had a great time and so did we, we'll definitely try to do this again soon.

Kai went skating too.

The post about Kai's first swim reminded me that Kai went skating for the first time too! Last week we took him to the Rideau Canal (for the non-Ottawans: world's largest skating rink) in his stroller. He was fine for the first 30 minutes, but just as we started taking pictures he'd had enough.

Kai's first swim.

This morning we took Kai for his first swim in the Splash Wave Pool in Gloucester. We didn't know what to expect and thought he might be a bit frightened. He proved us wrong! Kai loved every minute of our visit to the swimming pool and splashed away. He was fascinated by the life guards and just kept smiling at them, we think he liked their yellow and red outfits.
Here are some pics of our little outing:

Ready to go in (and peeing on daddy)

Enjoying the warm water

Kai would not let go of the toy watering-can

Relaxing in his towel

All dressed and ready to go

What 9 months can do.

Chatting with a friend today made me realise once again how much Kai has changed in the past 9 months. This collage really shows how he is on his way to becoming a toddler.

Moving up!

Last week Kai decided he was big enough to climb the stairs all by himself. He had already climbed part of the stairs, but now he has conquered them all. After the discovery of how much fun it is, it has become an impossible task to keep him away from the stairway. If we forget to pay attention for 1 second, we will hear Kai panting enthusiastically and see him crawling towards the stairs, or climbing them. When he is halfway up, he usually will start screaming "aah aah aah", because we have a very nice echo in the stairway: he sure likes to listen to himself. Once he reaches the top, it's time to play with the safety gate. Safety gates are fun, because they can be opened, closed, opened, closed, opened......
Here's some proof of Kai's new skill:

In between of all this exercise there luckily still is some time to meditate...

....and play!

Getting mobile

Wow, Kai's 8.5 months old already and has had his first Sinterklaas, Christmas and New Year's Eve ! He is really starting to change into a toddler and is not so babyish anymore. A few weeks ago our little man has cut his first tooth and we can't believe how sharp it is. Sometimes he will accidentaly bite our fingers and when we say "Ouch!" he starts to cry loudly. He is crying more than he ever did, he just keeps running in to things that make him cry. Sometimes it's just a little frustration when he can't eat our books and other times this "running in" should be taken very literally: Kai is crawling, pulling up to a stand AND trying to cruise. These things are very exciting for him and for us, but he bumps his head at least three times a day. (And that's when we are just counting the times when it really hurts, he starts wailing and/or will get bruised.......again). Thankfully these little accidents don't keep him from being very excited about his new skills and he keeps practicing, his new goals seem to be climbing the stairs and riding his moose (see pics). He never ceases to amaze us, so we just enjoy what he is doing and try to keep the camera handy....



Our little technician......

......or our little musician.

Real Canadians go mooseback riding

Kai really likes his Elmo chair.

Now, what can we find in here.....

Just one of those adorable smiles.

First time on the swing!