Victoria Day in Ottawa

Victoria Day is a federal statutory holiday in Canada celebrating the late Queen Victoria's birthday. Observed on the last Monday before May 25, it has become more commonly known as "May 2-4 weekend." Canadians honour the Queen, known as the 'Mother of Confederation' by consuming a 2-4 pack of beer. We travelled 5 hours Northeast to the nation's capital, Ottawa, to celebrate the holiday.




We fell in love with the city, situated along the Ottawa River and the Rideau Canal, as it offers history, greenspaces, architecture (a balanced blend of modern and traditional buildings) and the Byward farmers market. We took a stroll across the provincial line to Quebec and back along the river. A wonderful city and we can't wait to go back!











In 1945 the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters for the preceding three years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, in the Second World War. Today over 1 Million tulips are in bloom throughout the city and the Tulip Festival has been a major attraction since 1967.













Mark and Henry in front of Parliament. Mark took in the amazing architechture of the historic building while breaking in the new baby backpack. Henry did not find Parliament that exciting, but did appear to be rather comfortable in the pack.





Nana Myra was happy to see bagpipers on Rue Rideau outside of our hotel, Chateau Laurier. Nana loved the music, but Henry looks a bit concerned about their outfits.

1st Birthday Party...Canada Style

Round two of Henry's 1st Birthday Celebration took place on May 7th in Toronto. It was a full house with a dozen babies and toddlers. Grandma and Grandpa Kaasa arrived a few days before to get their "Henry fix" before the big celebration. We had beautiful weather for the party and everyone cheered Henry on as he demolished his Safari themed cupcake...Daddy decided to give him chocolate this go-around. As you will see, he thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.

Click here for the full photo gallery of the party in Toronto


Mark built a beautiful custom train table for Henry's gift. His face lit up when he woke up to find it in his play room. It's sure to provide countless hours of entertainment for Henry AND Daddy!


Henry's favourite gift? It's a toss up between the train table, The Home Depot tool box and this very special scrap book from Grandma Kaasa. He laughs and points at all of the pictures of the handsome baby.




We celebrated Mother's Day while Grandma and Grandpa were visiting. Special Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for their help getting ready for the party and for Henry-sitting while Mark and I saw The Lion King at the theatre.

Henry Benjamin is 1 Year Old!

To celebrate a 1st birthday properly for a dual-citizen baby of course you need to plan parties on both sides of the border. (This was news to Mark, but I quickly educated him on the requirements and process.) We started the trip to Michigan with a Detroit Tiger game. Papa Andrew had a box suite so Henry continued his streak of being a high-roller. Then on April 30th we celebrated his 1st birthday with friends and family at Nana Myra's house. We had beautiful weather for the big day and Henry was a champ, greeting everyone and showing off his new skills. He especially enjoyed his "Giraffe Smash Cake" which was decorated in the likes of his favourite book...."If I were a giraffe." Round two starts tomorrow when Grandma & Grandpa Kaasa arrive in TO for a visit and to celebrate Henry's 1st birthday with all of our Canadian friends. Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes via email, cards and letters. We appreciate all of the love and well wishes!

Click here for the full photo gallery of the party in Michigan

































Great-Gram and Henry at the Tiger game.























Taking a quiet walk with Papa Andrew in the front yard.























On Henry's actual birthday, May 2nd, we had lunch at The Rainforest Cafe in Toronto with his friends Alex and Avery and their Mom's.
























A few other notables in the life of a 1 year old:

Reading books...























choosing his own toys...



















and helping Mom in the kitchen.
(Don't you just want to smooch those chunky legs?)

Playing ball and walking

A couple of fun videos to see what Henry is up to as we near his 1st birthday...

Click here to watch Henry playing ball with Mark.

Click here to watch Henry walking with his toy cart.

11 Months

Henry turned 11 Months old on April 2 and time is flying by at warp speed. Every day he surprises us with something new he's learned...recognizing a familiar face, following a simple command or walking (still with a little help) all over the place. He has four teeth now, 2 on the bottom and 2 on the top. Mark has noted that there is a gap between the top 2 "big enough to drive a truck through." Daddy is so sweet.



He absolutely LOVES swim class, although it's exhausting kicking your feet while floating in a boat!


Auntie Liza took lots & lots of photos at Henry's class this week. Click here to view the photo gallery































Henry's favourite breakfast food, Daddy's homemade waffles! Yummy! Yes, he eats the entire waffle...he has learned to hold it and take relatively small bites all on his own.







Great-Gram playing with Henry. It made her especially happy to see that when we say "Where's Grandma?" Henry spins his head around and looks directly at her. It is so rare to have a Great-Grandparent, these moments are precious. Next month Henry turns 1 and Great-Gram turns 87!




Jake and Henry love to play catch. Jake gently nudges the balls over to Henry and he usually kicks them back in Jake's general direction. It is amazing to watch them interact, they already love each other so much.



Storytime with Auntie Liza and Great-Gram. We had a wonderful visit with them this week. Henry really enjoyed playing with both Auntie and Gram and it was sad to see them go home.

Henry's Walking! Sort of...

Click here to watch!

And the army crawl...
Click here to watch!

March Madness? Not so much.

Usually this time of year we are in full Sparty gear cheering on our Green & White. This just wasn't the year for the Spartans, nor the GT Yellow Jackets. So rather than sporting our MSU T-shirts and Tech tank tops, we are layering on the snowsuits and wool mittens, much to Mark's dismay. The snow isn't slowing us down though, we just returned from a week long visit in the States. Mark went to Las Vegas for a Home Depot convention and Henry and I visited friends and family in Michigan.





It appears Henry may skip crawling altogether and go straight to walking. While he does "creep" or "army crawl" to get where he needs to go he prefers to walk with a little assistance. He has also learned to wave "Bye-Bye", this was mastered during our morning routine waving to Daddy and watching him leave for work. This is usually followed by a series of "Da-da...Da-da...Da-da's" throughout the day. Usually the "Ma-ma's" come out when he is tired or hungry, but "Da-da" gets the smiles and laughing Henry. Go figure. A couple times he has muttered a "Ja-Ja" when he hears Jake barking or when he is trying to give him a toy. So darn cute.










We celebrated Mark's birthday at Buddy's pizzeria, a hometown favorite. Even though it was Mark's birthday, Henry was the star attraction. Auntie Liza was all smiles to get her "Henry fix."

















We took Henry for his first haircut as his locks were getting a little unruly. He was very good for Nancy Ann, our long time friend and expert stylist, while she cleaned up his baby 'do'. He's as handsome as ever.