11 Months!

Truman's social calendar was quite full this weekend. On Friday afternoon we headed home from Ajax, as we spent the last couple days there while Jerry was in Vancouver. I quickly dropped off Morrie and went for a walk with Masha and Lana. Masha is adorable and looks exactly like Lana. After our walk, Truman and I headed to Milestones to meet Jessica and Lisa for lunch. Truman was very well behaved and enjoyed eating lots and lots of bread. Friday evening we met up with Grandma, Grandpa, and Baba for dinner. Grandma offered to babysit, so that Jerry and I could attend a work function later that evening.

Saturday morning we headed to Tim Horton's for our weekend morning bagels and coffee. Truman can now identify the Tim Horton's bag and gets extremely excited once he sees it. I can't get the bagel out fast enough for him! Later that morning, Jerry took Truman swimming while Emily and I decided to pamper ourselves a little. Jerry dunked Truman five or six times in the pool and he didn't even flinch. Lately as well, while we are bathing Truman, he'll put his face in the water. He can't get enough of it! Later that evening, Tina and Pat came over to babysit for us while Jerry and I went out for dinner for Ryan's birthday. HAPPY 35TH BIRTHDAY RYAN!!! We had a great time with the Starkman's and the Silver's. We will have to get sitters more often!

Sunday morning we headed to the Silver's to celebrate Macayla's first birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MACALYA!!! Mac had a great time at her party and had fun with her closest friends Jake and Truman. Mac tried cake for the first time, but wasn't too interested in the sweet stuff! What a great party! Truman had a lot of fun, even though he continually was frightened (by a certain nameless someone). My poor sensitive boy! Truman also turned 11 months on Sunday. The countdown to his first birthday begins. OK, I've wiped away the tears, I'm OK, really.....

After the party, we headed to the Pickle Barrel to meet up with Jamie, Erin, Tim, Katie Ben, Steph, and Dash. Christine decided she wanted to go shopping instead. Can you blame her? I think she said she wanted to buy a new purse. It was great seeing everyone again, even though it was a short visit. Jerry and I were so full from Mac's party that we couldn't even order a smoothie!

When we got home we tried to put Truman down for a nap, but he simply refused. So after some time trying to get him to sleep, we packed up our stuff and headed over to Grandma's for dinner. Truman only wanted to walk (like usual) and took about five or more steps on his own. He had a great time exploring Grandma's garden and even crawled on the patio, which I was really surprised about.

Truman is enjoying walking and reading. He can't seem to get enough of these two things. My back is a little sore and I am a little bored of some of the books....but I'd do anything for that little bug! Oh, yes! That is a picture of Truman pregnant, he's due in January! Lucky for him, he hasn't experienced any morning sickness!

Harry Potter and the Welbeck Manor

This morning Truman decided he wanted to earn his keep at Welbeck Manor. He went to the bottom drawer in the kitchen and took out a cloth and started to clean the floors. He rubbed that cloth has hard as he could and made the floors sparkly clean. Good boy! Taking after is father already! The silverware needs polishing next!



This weekend was all about Harry Potter....we picked the book up at 8am (although we pre-ordered it to be picked up at midnight, sadly the Death Eaters placed the catterwauling jinx around our house which forbade us to leave). Jerry started to read the book immediately and put it down only to to take Truman to his swimming lessons. During the lesson I grabbed the book so that I could start reading about the Deathly Hallows too! Jerry then begged me to go to the mall so that he could continue to read in silence and being the good wife that I am, I obliged. Jerry finished Harry Potter as we were pulling into the Sullivan's driveway later that afternoon. Yes! The book was finally mine! I managed to finish last night.

I got one picture of some of the kids Saturday afternoon. Here's a picture of Christine who just took a dip in the pool, Olivia who decided she wanted to crawl away to something more interesting and Truman who is not particularly happy with sitting on the grass, he's somewhat of a delicate lad. Ethan was just too busy jumping in the pool and Dash was taking a nap so we didn't get the other boys in the shot. I have a feeling it will be some time before we can get all five (soon to be six) kids in one picture together.

Step One, Step Two

Truman has decided that crawling is so passe and that he would rather be upright every chance he can get. He especially loves to climb up my legs so that I have no choice but to grab his hands and help him walk around. On Monday, he took his first two steps unassisted. He is becoming more fearless every day....or maybe more in dependant! Which leads me to eating...gone are the days of spoon feeding my little one. Truman would rather feed himself, so I have been giving him a lot of finger foods. But now he also wants to use his spoon himself. Mealtime is no longer clean or neat (or quick)....food is everywhere, one me, on the floor, on Morrie's back...and of course all over Truman. Doesn't his tray just look delish?

I wanted to say a special thank you to Misty for helping Jerry and I so much on Saturday at the BBQ. Whenever Misty would like to quit her job and come be our nanny/au pair, she should let us know as we would take her in a heart beat!

BBQ Season

The Topolski Family ended the weekend with "Naked Time" however, I think I should clarify that Truman is the only one of us that actually gets naked. I am sure he is going to be so embarrassed by the fact that we did this to him....but honestly we love it! Although, as you can see in one picture, our always naked puppy was left out of the festivities.





















Anyhoo, summer time is BBQ season time and Jerry, Truman and I have been getting our fill. Last weekend we were invited to Emily, Grace and Mark's house for an early dinner as we both have young kids who are in bed by eight. Luckily we live a two second walk away from one another. Truman and Grace had so much fun playing with Truman's shoes and crawling around. As a side note, Truman and Grace learned to crawl on the same day!

Also, last Saturday was a special day for our close friends Lana and Mario, they welcomed their daughter Masha Sophia into the world. Mom, dad and baby are all doing well! CONGRATULATIONS!

This Saturday we skipped swimming (bad parents) because Truman spent the night coughing and had a bad runny nose. But, we'll be back next week. However, we did not skip our weekend tradition of Tim Horton bagels (and happy juice for mommy). Saturday afternoon we headed out to Brooklyn for an indoor BBQ at Tim and Alie's house. Here's a pic of Alexis and Truman on their first "date" together. Truman polished off a lot of meat and loved the pulled pork that Tim made. What a feast!

Today we had Pam, Ashu, Ana Sophia, Mike, Sue, Tyler and Brendon over for an afternoon BBQ. Little AS is so adorable and is Ashu's spitting image! Brendon had a great time playing with Morrie, and Truman loved watching them run around the backyard together. I am sure that we will have a few more BBQ's before the summer is through!

Too Busy To Pose

Since Truman has learned how to crawl he is investigating everything in the house. He also enjoys pulling himself up on everything and trying to stand on his own. Poor boy hasn't mastered balance yet and inevitably falls down. Truman is now too busy to pose for a picture...he would rather chase Morrie around the house or find out what is in the closest drawer. What can a mom do? I may only have action shots for the next little bit.

Truman made my day today by saying "mom" for the first time. Honestly, I was so excited and touched I thought I might cry (even though I doubt he was actually calling me!). For the past few days I have been amazed with his level of understanding and amazed at some of the things he has been doing. Such a sponge!

Yesterday Baba took Truman and I to buy Truman his first pair of shoes. We went to the same store where Baba bought Jerry his first pair of walking shoes, some 33 years ago. Truman was so good while he was getting his foot measured and when he was trying on different styles of shoes. Baba was so happy that she was able to do this for her great grandson.

10 Months!

On Friday Truman turned 10 months! It is hard for me to comprehend that in 2 short months he will be a year old. I am having such mixed feelings....how life will change, but I suppose change is what also makes life interesting.

On Friday afternoon, Aunt Lily came from NYC to visit with the Topolski fmaily this weekend. We are so happy to see her as we missed her last weekend. The three of us spent the afternoon hanging out together. It was so nice to see Aunt Lil and Truman bonding. We then headed over to Grandma's house for dinner (Chinese...yum!).

Saturday afternoon we were invited by Eddie to the Granite Club for brunch and were joined by Ryan, Rebecca and Jake. It was such a lovely afternoon and it felt like we weren't even in the city (although, the city is DEAD this weekend.....where did everyone go???). After brunch, we headed to KiddieProofers to purchase some gates and some other gadgets to keep Truman out of trouble. Now that Truman is crawling, he is into everything. I also have to say he is a lot happier now that he is mobile. Jerry was so upset when we were at the store, and not that the salesperson helped in the matter. We felt like such neglectful parents for not buying EVERY gadget that they had in the store. I think at one point Jerry was going to leave after a few words that the salesperson uttered. Anyways, we purchased only what we needed and I am sure that Truman will be safe. Yikes! This place preys on the fear of the first-time parent!

Saturday evening we met up with Baba, Grandma Wanda, Grandpa David and Lily for a delicious Italian dinner on College street. Truman was an angel and decided to flirt with every woman he saw....blowing kisses and waving. Machismo! He is starting so early, what am I going to do?

This afternoon we headed to Oakville to visit with the Sullivans and Thorntons. Truman found a few toys that he was really interested in (maybe Mommy may have to buy one) and the kids seemed to have a great time playing....oh and maybe the adults had fun playing with some of the toys too! We then went to Grandma's to celebrate Baba's 91st birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABA!!! Aunt Lily taught Truman how to identify "light"....I was so proud of my little boy. He also said his first real word this weekend "up"! He may not be the most mobile kid....but he sure loves to "talk'!