Jacob @ 5 months

At five months, Jacob is growing so fast! His new favorite thing is rolling over. He figured it out February 10th and hasn't stopped since. Except that he can only roll from his back to his tummy, not the other way around (the way that most normal, not-so-squishy babies do). So 800 times a day, I have to flip him over so he doesn't get so frustrated (because he hates to be on his tummy). Or I'll find him in his crib in the complete opposite direction of how I put him there.

He is still generally a happy baby-- always a smile on his face. (Which is why, this past weekend when he fussed all day long, wouldn't let me put him down without crying and barely cracked a smile, I knew he was sick and took him to urgent care. He tested negative for flu and they said it was just a virus. Still, I knew something was wrong when this boy didn't want to play and giggle.)

He loves bath time so much! He really wants to be able to sit up straight and is really working on his tummy muscles.

Abigail loves her little "Jakey." Though at times she's a little rough and can often be found laying directly on top of him or swinging him really high in his swing, he doesn't seem to mind and always has a smile for her. She is always asking about Jakey and concerned when he's sick or spitting up.

He hasn't gained a whole lot more weight since his last visit, but I'm guessing he's around 19 lbs. now. He is still nursing every 3-4 hours. His is generally on 3 naps a day now (2 short and 1 long one in the afternoon) and waking up only once a night, but that night time feeding is sporadic and I never know what time he's going to be up. His hands are constantly in his mouth-- definitely working on some teeth somewhere in that mouth. I have even caught him sucking his middle two fingers like his big sister, but we're really trying to curb that with a pacifier!

We still can't figure out what color his eyes are. Right now they're a dark gray, really close to brown, but still not quite brown. He also has a significant more amount of hair than Andrew did at his age, but it is still undetermined whether it will be curly or not.

Our sweet little guy will have a bronchoscopy in just a short week, to make sure he has nothing worse than the tracheomalecia they have previously diagnosed him with. He is not worse, just not better either, and we want to be cautious. Still, the procedure requires him to be put to sleep and it's a little scary, so all prayers will be appreciated!

Weekend in Montreal

Where we live now, we are a mere 2-3 hours away from Canada (a whole other country!). Our church has established relationships with a church plant in Montreal, so Brett has been up there several times. However, we hadn't yet been as a family. I just recently got my enhanced driver's license, which allows me to get into the country by car without a passport. The kids only have to have their birth certificates. So it was surprisingly easy to get across the border.

We left early Friday morning. Our first stop was Duc de Lorraine for French pastries. They have an amazing selection. It was a little late for breakfast, but we tried a couple things anyway.

Then we went next door to St. Joseph's Oratory, a beautiful, church (the largest in Canada, and the dome is the 3rd largest of its kind in the world) dedicated soley to St. Joseph, whom the designer, Brother Andre, credited all his miracles. They do hold Catholic mass there regularly, but there is also a museum inside and most of it is designed just for tourism. There is even a place where you can see St. Joseph's actual heart. Tourists come to light candles and say prayers to their patron saint of choice for healing or whatever it is they need. It was a little sad that such a beautiful place is so dead to true spiritual life.

The main basilica was absolutely gorgeous and even the kids recognized the awesomeness of the place. You go in and look up and there are just no words. (Also, if you are in Canada where most people speak French, the best people to get to take your family's picture are Asian people-- twice we found they took the best pictures. And they speak English.)

The view from outside was also very beautiful.

We met some of Brett's friends for lunch, then went to check into our hotel, the YWCA downtown. Then we wanted to give the kids the experience of riding the Metro. We had no particular place to go, so we got on and off at a couple stops to see the sights and ended up seeing Notre Dame Basilica at night. It was so pretty. And freezing cold! But the kids loved riding the fast Metro and just being in a new place. (Jacob, not so much. I had to carry him in my wrap so we didn't have to deal with the stroller on the Metro, and he is one heavy kid. And he hates cold wind in his face, so he was a little grouchy.)

I was grateful Brett has been several times and understood how to navigate the Metro system. It was a little confusing to me, but we didn't get lost and managed to not lose any kids on the way. (I held Abi's hand pretty tight the whole time!)

 After it got dark we got crazy and decided to save money we would just go to a grocery store to get some food for dinner and cook it at our hotel's kitchen. Except the nearest grocery store was a good 20 minute walk from where we were and then another 20 minutes to the hotel. In the freezing cold. With a little 3 year old and a baby in the carrier. It was treacherous and everyone was crying but that was a good dinner by the time we sat down!

The next day we got up and met another of Brett's friends at a nearby mall. David & his wife are from Egypt but have lived in Canada awhile now. They graciously spent the day with us, entertained & loved our kids, cooked us an amazing lunch, and were great company!

We went to a little arcade at a movie theater, which of course the kids loved.

After the arcade and watching some people at an indoor parachuting place (just for fun), we went to their apartment and played XBox. The kids are now begging to have one! They happily played for several hours after lunch. So we didn't see much of Canada the 2nd day, but it was snowing outside and we were tired from the previous day so we were perfectly happy to relax and just spend a day inside. We called it an explorational trip, to see what we'll do differently the next time we go-- because we will go back!