Grandma and Grandpa Come to Town

Mister Man has been blabbering blurting out more and more these days. He is starting to string together words and feels more than articulate with his portfolio of vocabulary. Anything within his sight that he is unfamiliar with, he points to excaliming ' DAT' DAT'..wanting desperately to know what 'THAT' is?? We are slowly but surely learning to bridge the gaps between our different forms of communication.

Sam Man was showered with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa who scooted in from St. Kitts to catch up with Mister Mover and Groover. Spoiled Sam Man was swimming in gifts from his adoring grandparents…at this rate there is going to be no room or need for any gifts at Christmas time given the endless generosity on the part of the boy’s gaggle of grandparents. Sam Man then led his fans down to the Beach so Grandma and Grandpa could treat the ‘poor starving’ boy to an Italian feast at Il Fornello’s. Naturally the boy was riding one incredible carb high after ingesting mounds of bread, pasta, and more 'complex carbs'. We opted to go to the recently opened Dufflets to scoop up a healthy smattering of dessert offerings and theb head back to our 'humble abode' for to consume and digest the goodies. Needless to say, we were riding one incredible sugar HIGH after the obsene and gluttenous amount of sugar consumption.

The Clarmitage Gang has slowly but surely fallen into a comfy 'fall groove'. Sam the Man has become ever more confident and comfortable with his daycare possee..especially now that he has ascened higher and higher atop the ladder of seniority amongst his classmates. My only complaint these days is the man has failed to submit to a peaceful and serence bedtime routine....n matter how we 'set the stage', the guy will always end up screaming his guts out when put into bed....he is defeintely a lover of attention!!! He has started showing movements of hauling himself out of his crib but has defintely started making the motions to haul himslef over the bars. I fear it is only a matter of weeks until we have to "graduate" from his crib to a "big boy" bed : (

I hate the fact that these kidlit creatures insist on growing up way faster than you are reday for them to do so!! I seriously wish he would ask for permission to progress to his next milestone.

Munchkin in Montreal

Torrid Traveller Timbit road the rails with his ‘rents, Pops and Uncle Mikey to Montreal for his first ever visit to La Belle Province. We hopped aboard le train on Friday afternoon and chugged our way eastward. Sam Man so pumped by the excitement of the trip on the Choo Choo that he did not sleep a wink (against my greatest hopes and expectations). Unfortunately the trip coicidded with the boys’ super duper maman needy streak wherby he must spending every waking minute with his mother in full view….There were non stop chants of MOM MOM MOM and fuss pot sessions every time I stepped out of sight…..his attachment to me has been a bit trying…..love the loyalty but also nice to be able to go pee without a freak out attack on the part of the Samster

Timbit Takes in the Sights and Sounds of Montreal

The scenic train ride was actually a relatively peaceful and pleasant one having been able to pacify timbit with all things electronic, food, and friendly seat neighbours. I have to say that train travel is A1 when it comes to travelling with little munchkins. Timbit crashed out shortly after our arrival in Montreal and refuelled his energy stores with a super slumber in the new surroundings. Saturday, the gang of piled into our rental van and headed to the Eastern Townships for a daytrip. Timbit was fortuate to be able to take in the awesome colours of the fab fall folliage whilst also experiencing the backroads of the Townships.

Tyke Timbit Shows Off the Wonders of Technology to Grandma E

We all popped into visit beloved Mrs. Eldridge/ Grandma E to allow Sammy to finally introduce himself LIVE in person after having offered only a preview of the legendary lad via photos. Hammy Sammy was full of vim an vigor and put on quite the show for Mrs. Eldridge and her fellow housemates at the seniors home. He was totally enamoured with the offerings of the library and proceeded to empty and re-stack most of the book shelves. I definetely think the boy is sniffing out a potential career in library science. After our visit, Pops led us on a tour of Brome Lake Country to point out all his old stomping grounds and hotspots from his former glory days. After a long and lovely day in the coutry we motored back into the city. We were then showered with a surprise visit from Mar Mar's family who were sad and disappointed that Guest of Honour Sammy/ Timbit the Tease had descended into Never Never Land before the whole gang arrived to meet him. Although regretful about missing the party in his honour, Sammy has vowed to make a return appearance.

Sunday, Sam Man was treated to a grand tour of Old Montreal as well as a classic heart sopping Quebecois meal of poutine and hotdogs. Tuckered Timbit passed out for most of the sightseeing.

Feasting in L'il India

Blissful Bunch with Bloated Bellies

The weekend was a beautiful one and we seized the opportunity to soak up the sunshine buzz down to Little India. Uncle Mikey tagged along for the veggie feast. Sam Man led the charge for the food line and manage to inhale quite the interesting/bizzarre combo of garlic naan, cucuber salad and butter paneer sauce. He is definetely acquiring his parents' 'interesting'/ weird palate.

Timbit Fielding one of Many Fan Calls

Timbit's obsession with phones continues. Anything that remotely resembles or can serve as a mock phone/PDA is an automatic hit with the boy. The guy wil yap into a credit card if given the opportunity. Any potential meltdown can be averted by donning a techno gadget of some sort. The Cline side definetely emerges in the boy with his obsession for all things electronic....so much for the affinity for organic green and healthy age appropriate toys. The phone is definetely a way to channel his verbosity and gregarious nature. Timbits vocabulary is expanding everyday as is his expressiveness. The boy is seriously contemplating taking a run at the next Canadian Idol title with his singing and dancing act. Music Man plays one mean act with the measuring spoons and metal cookie sheet.

We are still having to learn how to conserve our stamina and pace ourselves throughout the day in order to keep up with the Torrid Tike....I so envy his endless supply of vim and vigour.

Sailing Sailing Over the Ocean Blue (or Murky Ontario Waters)

This past weekend was jammed with heaps o’ excitement and action. Saturday, our Strathmore Blvd Street gang congregated chez nous for a pizza party. We fired up half a dozen pizzas loaded with freshy organic goodies fetched by Pops and Mar Mar at Brickworks. We fuelled up for our night out on the town to take in Nuit Blanche – the night long artsy phartsy celebration of the arts in T.O. Sam Man took a pass on the evening after having tuckered himself out amusing the neighbours with his latest ‘stand up’ routine and from gorging himself with the pizza feast. The grandparents were kind enough to stay over night so that we night revelers could be afforded a morning sleep in.

Supercharged Samuel did not disappoint his sleepover guests and was up and at ‘em at 2:30 AM and then at 5 AM ready to rock ‘n roll. After a morning visit with a trio of grandparents- pops, mar mar, and nana, we packed up for an afternoon of cruising Lake Ontario with Captain Field who afforded First Mate Sammy to set sail on his first ever boat ride this past weekend. James kindly (and bravely) offered to take us all out on his sail boat for a leisurely sail on the lake. Sailor Sam was all in all a good first mate despite his desire to pull and tug on any dangling rope/sheet shroud and all the other loose but ever important parts of the sailboat. Thankfully we were loaded down with treats so we were able to pacify the mini matie with goodies when it was important to sit still. Pre-sail, the expanding sammy was already at the upper limit for the weight restrictions on the life jacket and I think he was totally maxxed out by the time he had ingested half a butter chicken roll, a pecora and whack of sweet treats over the duration of the sail (miraculously he didn't chuck up his chips). Sam Man and I were banished below in the cabin whilst the rest of the crew perform any serious manouvres/ tacks so to avoid having either of our HUGE noggins wacked by the boom. The weather was el perfecto and Sailor Sam was most impressed with his initial nautical voyage. We capped off our day with some bevies at the sailing club- the little man had obviously not shed his sea legs and proceeded to take a huge nose dive on the parking lot pavement. Brave boy managed to shake off the pain and shock pretty quickly but chalked up some pretty impressive scrapes and bumps to the head. The keener sailor barely made it to the car before crashing out from his big day on the open waters.

The wordy and whizzy busy boy continues to amaze me with all of his new feats and sayings.
He has got some good rhythm and roll and loves to shake it like a mad man when in earshot of any music.