The Talens' Tales

M(om): Gideon? Do you have a smile for Mom? G(ideon): Oh Mom, you always ask me that question. Here. A quick smile for you. Is that enough? M: I will take whatever I can get Gideon. And I certainly love to hear that belly laugh. G: Well, you are funny, mom. Much more funny then Dad. Joash is pretty funny too. M: What have you been up to this month, Gideon? G: Well, I have master rolling, so I don't need to do it much anymore. Just in bed because it is so much more comfortable to sleep on my belly.  I also went to Old Home Week and took a trip to Halifax. I am now a dual citizen of Canada and the  United States. It was a nice trip, but I didn't like to be in car seat by the end of the day. M: It was a long day, but you did so well. What other things do you like to do? G: I like to go outside. I also like to talk to my brother and sister. And I like taking a bath. I love to kick my legs and splash. And I like to take naps. I am a much happier kid when I have my

M(om): Gideon? Do you have a smile for Mom? G(ideon): Oh Mom, you always ask me that question. Here. A quick smile for you. Is that enough? M: I will take whatever I can get Gideon. And I certainly love to hear that belly laugh. G: Well, you are funny, mom. Much more funny then Dad. Joash is pretty funny too. M: What have you been up to this month, Gideon? G: Well, I have master rolling, so I don't need to do it much anymore. Just in bed because it is so much more comfortable to sleep on my belly.  I also went to Old Home Week and took a trip to Halifax. I am now a dual citizen of Canada and the  United States. It was a nice trip, but I didn't like to be in car seat by the end of the day. M: It was a long day, but you did so well. What other things do you like to do? G: I like to go outside. I also like to talk to my brother and sister. And I like taking a bath. I love to kick my legs and splash. And I like to take naps. I am a much happier kid when I have my

Not the best pictures, but it was still a nice outing with the family. The kids were super surprised that Marshall from Paw Patrol was in the parade. That was pretty much the highlight for them. Joash said he was embarrassed that Marshall was there. Then he asked what embarrassed meant. I think he was both excited and a bit surprised that it took him a long to recognize it as Marshall from Paw Patrol. He didn't quite believe it was Marshall until it was right by us.  Gideon hiding in the shade. He was not really happy in the stroller, but happily laid on the blanket for the entire parade.  Those bagpipes and drums are very loud.

We took a quick trip with the whole family to Halifax on Monday. The real reason for this trip was to visit the US Consulate to report Gideon's birth, renew Joash's US passport and to renew my US passport. But we also planned something fun too. Many people asked why didn't go down the day before and stay in a hotel. The truth is we were slightly terrified to have our entire family sleep in one room together. Everyone sleeps so well at home, in their own rooms. And our appointments were not until late morning, so could pretty much get up the time we normally do and be there on time. So there was lots of driving. Praise the Lord for the DVD player in our van. It certainly makes things much more pleasant for everyone. Gideon was a pretty good traveler, but I think he was pretty sick of his car seat by the end of the day.  We have zero pictures of our time at the Consulate because the security is pretty tight there. Wilbert had to go and bring his phone back our van. We

It is Old Home Week on PEI. We took the kids on Saturday when it was the dairy show. They were less then thrilled to sit through part of the dairy show, but they liked everything else. Joash was very eager to do the Pedal Tractor Pull again. He said he had been practicing all summer for it.  This year he did a full pull on his first pull with 50 lbs in. The second round he had 100lbs in the sled and he almost made it to the end, but his foot slipped off the pedal. He was pretty proud of himself.  Of course, Old Home Week has to celebrate all of life on PEI, including the ocean. We found a cute crab and lobster!  And the kids were so excited to go on the rides this year. They went much better for Mataya this year.  They tried a new one which was an obstacle course then ended with a big slide. It was another fun day at old Home Week and hopefully the weather will be good for the parade later on this week.

What has Gideon been up to lately? Being an incredibly good baby! He is pretty content to eat, sleep, smile, coo and roll over. I even managed to catch a smile on camera this morning. He is starting to really play with his toys and he loves to see his siblings. We sure love this little guy!

Mataya has certainly been growing up lately and showing us that she is three and she means it. "I do it myself," is a constant chorus we hear all day long from her. This includes picking out her clothes, which ends up some great outfits like this: We are also working on mastering using the potty. She is doing pretty well over all. She can be a bit hit or miss and is not totally accident free, yet, but she is well on her way and I am enjoying only changing one bum around here. She also had started to like to play with the play kitchen food a lot and like to make lunches and picnics and takes snacks everywhere. She is also starting to care for her baby doll a bit more than she used too. The other day when I was feeding Gideon, she plopped down next to me and started to feed her baby.

Joash has really been enjoying summer. He has enjoyed the attention from visitors and he loves being outside. He goes as soon as he can almost every morning.  Some other interesting things Joash has been doing is working with this solar power kit that we found at the local dollar store. He was so excited when we built the first thing and set it in the sun and it worked! (And so was I.) He has also grown tall enough that he can pedal the Dutch skelter around the farm. He drives this all over the farm and in and out of the barn. Today he even went to get the mail with it. It is hard to believe he will be back in school in about a month. He does enjoy being at home, but I know he misses school too.

Gideon has master rolling this week and sometimes, he is not too happy about it... He can go from his back to his belly all on his own. And if you lay him on his belly propped up on his elbows, he will roll over to his back. He started rolling in his crib at nap time, so that means no more swaddling. Which also means we have to relearn sleeping through the night. He has done two nights swaddle free, which have gone okay. He stirs a few more times during the night, but I only got up once to actually feed him so he will settle back to sleep. So, not too bad and hopefully we get back on track quickly.