Then Saturday it was off to pick up my mother for a 4 day visit. We've decided to teach Van to call her Ba (there should be an accent but my keyboard can't add it) which is Grandmother in Vietnamese. This was my mom's first time meeting him and she was thrilled. Here is a nice pic of Ba O'Toole and Van:
After picking up my mom we made our way to an adoptive family gathering in Greely. It was great to finally meet some of the families I have gotten to know through blogging:
Then we headed back home to host a bbq for Pat's 40th and Van's 1st. I decided to bake a cake for Van and settled on a carrot cake recipe that uses apple sauce instead of sugar (I figured he's energetic enough as it is). Frankly I'm not much of a baker (Martha Stewart I am not...far from it) so it was all uncharted territory for me. It was not pretty by any means but it tasted pretty good if I do say so myself. Van seemed to like it too. He better have as I sliced open my finger trying to slice the carrots lol. Anyway, here are a few pics of the evening:
He just couldn't blow the candles out himself...go figure.
Starting to dig in.
Sharing with Auntie Mo.
All over the face as it should be!
Then the next day we headed over to Sam and Woody's for the twin's turning two birthday bash. Once again we got to spend time with some families we have known for awhile but had never met. Unfortunately Van slept through most of it. We had fun though :)
Backyard fun.
Hanging out in the pool.
The twins waiting to dig into their cakes.
Van is finally awake...well kind of...
Wednesday was Van's actual birthday so we had to let him open some gifts (from us and his many admirers) and enjoy his new presents on that day too.
We decided to put on his traditional outfit for a bit. Until it became apparent that the material was too slippery for proper present enjoying fun. A truck from Auntie Mo and Uncle Rob.
A ball tent from us. Fun fun.
The Alphabet Train from Aunt Joan, Uncle Glen and cousins Maura and Natalie. He really loves this toy. Kept him entertained for almost half an hour the other day!
Unwrapping it with Chibi dog looking on.
Playing with it.
Note the concentration.
Then to top off our week, yesterday the Stanley Cup was in our neighbourhood so we just had to go see it. Ben Eager (formerly of the Hawks but recently traded to the Thrashers) grew up down the street so he brought the Cup. When we got there the lineup was crazy so we snuck around the back and took some surreptitious pictures of Eager with the Cup from behind.
Pat got a sneaky shot with Van lol (who does not look too impressed. "Stanley Cup? What's that?". Oh you will know all about it little man, all about it :) ).
And that was our weekend/week. Van is now 1 year old. He is babbling like a crazy man but no recognizable words yet (maybe some Vietnamese words, hard to tell lol). He takes numerous steps a day, the most was 6 at one time, but has not started walking yet. He still sleeps well through the night, sometimes fights daytime naps, likes to feed himself some days but needs to be spoon fed others, and changes his food likes to dislikes and visa versa daily. He has 6 teeth now, 4 upper and 2 lower, and appears to be showing "teething" signs often. He is very active, particularly when he is tired and can't sit still for a minute. He is, I would say, a pretty average one year old. We are still getting to know him everyday and him us. It has been quite a journey so far I must say. I wonder what he'll be like when he's 2...
