My plan is to print this blog into a book - but it obviously hasn't happened yet - and I'm afraid one day it'll just vanish because I haven't updated in a year. 

So, this is the end of this blog journal. Meet me over at the other one...www.myboysandme-canada.blogspot.com. I sent out invitations to those of you that asked (or didn't, in many cases!), but if I happened to miss you (I had to type out EVERY email address one at a time!) then send me an email (heller_adair@yahoo.com) and I'll send you an invite. 

I tried to get photos up on the other blog for you, Vin, but the file sizes are just too big. Until I can get Photoshop there won't be any photos. 

We got the kiddies dressed up and headed over to my sister's house just down the block. I didn't expect Atticus to do much trick-or-treating as he had a total melt down at home before we left when mom got the candy ready. I was sure at the first house we went to he'd want to eat the candy right away and throw a big fit and we'd have to pick him up and take his screaming self home. 

Vin, Dad, and Atticus took a trip out to a friend of Dad's acreage to drop off the boat. The acreage was a great place to be as there were dogs, cats, and old trucks to play with. The cat even let Atti pick it up and carry it around (thought only Odus would let him do that).

So it was my birthday on Tuesday. In the afternoon we had a little tea party with some relatives and Vin carved a really cool pumpkin for me (he wouldn't be happy with this picture of it; doesn't do it justice). Since some of my family members had to work that night we decided to do the big family supper on Wednesday instead. I thought it'd be fun to leave the boys with mom and dad and take Vincent to a hockey game Tuesday night. It was Vincent's first hockey game and our team lost, but it was still a fun thing to do.

  

Back in Taiwan we had a bathtub that was really deep. When Atticus was little we had him "swim" in it in his neck tube at least a few times a week. I think that really helped in making him comfortable in the water and I want to make sure Dillon is just as comfortable in the water. Since we don't have such a deep tub here I bought some books on teaching babies to swim in a regular tub. Today Dillon had his first class and he was such a champ. The book said it usually takes babies 0-4 months a few weeks to feel at ease floating on their back; Dillon floated around today just as happy as can be on his back. He played with his hair, chewed on his hand, did a bit of talking. I was so happy to see he liked the water that much. We took him to the swimming pool on Wednesday and he 'swan' for an hour happily, and he's used the neck tube (though not as much as Atticus did), but I've never tried to get him to float on his back. The next lesson is bubble blowing. Seems a bit advanced but we'll give it a go!

  

We've definitely been keeping busy. It's really a luxury to have someone to watch the kids if I/we need/want to head out to do something. On Saturday Vin and I went out shopping for about 4 hours and mom and dad stayed with the boys. What a treat!

These first pictures are our last meal out in Taipei, at the Taipei airport, and on the flight to Vancouver...

Well our trip to Canada ended up being very much less eventful than I had prepared myself for. We had all 3 seats in the bulkhead so Atticus was able to sit in his own seat with his seatbelt on and eat his meal by himself. Dillon slept in the bassinet they provide until after we'd finished out first meal, and then Atticus fell asleep and we put him in it and held Dillon instead. Eva Air is fantastic and when Atticus was awake he was able to watch cartoons on his own personal  TV. The 10+ hour flight went by really fast!

We stayed the night in Vancouver as the last flight to Saskatoon was only an hour after we landed. We were all up at 2 am and eagerly awaiting 6 am when A & W would open. We had no problem checking our tons of luggage and got off to Calgary without much trouble. The back half of the plane was empty so once we got level Atticus had a bit of room to play. Calgary to Saskatoon he slept. So all in all, other than being really tired and feeling a bit confined, Atticus did really well traveling.

In the last few days we've spent most of our time just relaxing and getting the kids onto this new time zone. Atticus (and Vincent) went to their first rodeo on Saturday and Atti got to sit on an actual retired rodeo bull. He was the calmest, fluffiest, nicest bull I've ever seen. I'll post a picture once I figure out how to do it on this computer. Our camera also broke so we are pretty low on pictures right now.

We had Thanksgiving dinner yesterday with all my immediate family. All the little boy cousins had a great time running around the house and playing rough. Atticus has really taken a shine to Jared (the cousin that is closest in age to him), and loves to play in the backyard or go for walks to his other cousins' house. The temperature is hovering around 4 degrees but that hasn't slowed this little guy down (Vin is another story!).

I'll see if I can't get some pictures up soon, especially for Atticus and Dillon's grandpa in Taiwan (I know he misses them a lot).

 

Sunday was our last day trooping Dad around on our little 'play dates'. We got to meet up with Nevada and Gemma once more, and my cousin, Melissa, came up from Kaohsiung to see us once last time before we leave for Canada. We had a great time at the sand pit once again...

Or at least it stopped raining.

We picked Dad up from the airport on Friday night. After A LOT of tea at Vin's dad's house we made it back to our place by late, late in the night. Atticus knows that from visitor's suitcases comes wonderful things, so he was eager to help Dad unpack. They played a bit of 'cars' before bed and then we all shuffled off to bed by 2 am. 

We got up bright and early this morning (8:00) to get ready to go to our play group's farewell for us and another family. Atticus was happy as can be until 9:00, but at the stroke of 9...

One more picture that is very 'Atticus'...

Vin's brother-in-law dropped by yesterday. We almost never get company so when we do, and maybe this is why we rarely get company, Silas and Atticus go a little bonkers. Silas thinks he can lure people into playing with him if he runs wildly around the house with stolen objects, and Atticus loves Silas' antics and joins right in. 

I'm lost without the other laptop. I'm a MAC girl and have a lot of difficulty trying to figure out Windows. We just can't seem to get the other one back on the internet and neither Vin nor I are very good at that sort of trouble-shooting. I long for an office/work room that I can just have everything neatly set up and organized and out of the hands of toddlers. Vin will be keeping the computers with him so in a month or so I imagine my posts will take a dive and be fewer in numbers.

I took Atticus for a bike ride when Vin came home the other night. It's amazing to me that pre-baby I was able to cycle 150 km in a day and get up and go to the gym the next day for 3 classes. I cycled (yes, what I do now hardly consitutes as 'cycling', but it's all I got) up a hill that was so not a hill you couldn't even notice it went up, but my legs were telling me otherwise. Winded and sputtering I brought my boy home after only a short spin around the neighborhood. I can hardly stand myself (literally) this way.  

We took Atticus and Dillon to the sand box behind City Hall yesterday. Atticus loves little girls and will search them out, chase after them saying, 'baby' (it's more like 'baay-beee'), and as soon as he gets the chance, dives in for a hug. It's pretty cute. If it's a little boy he walks up real close, bends over at his waist with his legs straight and head on the ground, bum sticking way up in the air. Then walks away. That's 'hi' in Atticus language. And if it's a big boy he just wants to lay down on them like they were Silas.

Speaking of which, the big boys love our little monkey-in-the-middle. He never gets tired of that game and none of the other 'big boys' will allow themselves to be the low man on the totem pole for the ENTIRE game. They throw HIS ball back and forth over his head and he thinks it's the most fun in the world.

Vin has been working on this next anatomy workshop he does on Sunday so it's been a bit of a slower last few days. We did manage to go the beach on Saturday later in the day. It was really nice to be there when the sun was going down and it was a bit cooler. We lost Atti's shoes and got stuck in the sand, though. And then when we took a big detour to get a burger to take home for dinner we arrived and did the, 'Did you bring your wallet? No, did you?". Vin ended up calling work and asking a girl at front desk he doesn't know if we could borrow $20. She said yes and we were so thankful. If any of you know "Jill" from the front desk at Pure tell her 'thanks' from me, and when you see Vincent remind him to pay her back!

Vin's been trying to ride his bike to work lately (training for triathlon in November and Ironman in April). Today as he was getting his bike ready Atticus ran off and came back with his bike helmet, "Please!", he begs.

Heart strings pulled...

I pry Atticus off (with a death-grip) Vin and he gets himself and bike out of the house. Atticus stands at the front window sobbing, helmet in hand, "Please, please!".

More heart strings pulled...

Vin goes out the front gate and Atticus runs over to me (sitting on the kitchen chair) and puts his hands under my butt trying to get me off the chair, holds his helmet up, then points outside, "Please, please, please!". He runs to the front door with his helmet, still saying, "Please, please, please...". I figure he might just be happy to go into the yard and forget about the bike ride, so I open the door. He races to the gate, still hanging onto his helmet for dear life, and continues begging as he frantically tries to open the gate Vin just left through.

Heart strings pulled so much they're all stretched out of shape...

It was so cute, but so pitiful that he wanted so badly to go on the bike with his Daddy and couldn't. Vin will make a point (or I'll make the point for him   ) to take him out for a ride tonight.

Sometime around the end of October I'll be shutting this blog site down and printing it into a book. I'll start another blog site but will be keeping it on a sign-in user basis. If you want to continue reading please send me an email and let me know so I can add your email address to the list (if I don't have your email address it won't let you view the blog).

My email is heller_adair@yahoo.com.

The other morning I was nursing Dillon and asked Atticus to go and get his shirt. I'd never thought to get him to retrieve his own clothes and wasn't even sure if he knew what I was asking him to do. But toddlers sure do surprise you with the knowledge they have tucked away and wouldn't you know it he came skipping back waving his green t-shirt. Wow, he knew to not only get a shirt but to get his shirt and from where. Ok, go get your shorts. AND HE DID! He came skipping (he likes to skip or run, not walk) back with tan shorts. HE EVEN KNOWS HOW TO MATCH! MY BOY IS A GENIUS! Actually, truth be told, he came back with tan shorts, orange shorts (wouldn't that be nice with the green shirt), and red swim trunks (even better with the green shirt!). He'll also fetch clothes for Dillon. And, how nice, he's back to throwing diapers away (he had taken a break for a few weeks). What a worker bee.

Since Atticus and Dillon were born in opposite seasons I don't have anything in the way of 0-3 month summer clothes. I've got some onesies that my family had sent with mom, but nothing likes shorts or t-shirts. When we go to Jen's house I'm SO (yes, Jen, it's true) envious of her little baby in her sweet little summer outfits. Dillon won't get enough use out of summer outfits before we go to Canada for me to justify buying any, but I thought maybe if I dug deep enough in Atti's baby stuff I could find something. I did. Little orange swim trunks. So there Helena will be in her sassy summer dress and there Dillon will be in his little orange swim trunks (and maybe a green shirt, Atticus!).

And lastly, went out for dinner (to TGI Friday's, we love it too, Nevada!) and not only did Dillon sleep the whole time (rare), but Atticus happily played with his balloon and even ate a good amount of food (again, rare). They even cooperated long enough for us to have dessert in a mostly leisure amount of time. A real treat that is for sure.

The other lap top is on vacation (and we don't know how to get it back), so until we do, no pictures. Thanks for reading.

First, here are a couple more pictures from the other day at the sand pit at City Hall. The boys found a faucet and got eachother good and wet, and grabbed a drink while they were at it...Stripes with fish; a good look, Hunter!

Dillon laughed for the first time today. He's been smiling for a few weeks, but even his smiles are now much bigger and more frequent. A lot of times when he's really fussy and I can't figure out what it is he wants, if I just stop and talk to him he beams. I think that's what all the fuss is about; he just wanted someone to talk to him and give him a chance to talk and smile.