The Robiltons

In our house August is the Month of Mike. For the past three years Mike has been working on his MBA on a part-time basis at the Schulich School of Business. August is the only month of the year that Mike hasn't had classes, assignments, group meetings and other school-related commitments. So each August, we try to take advantage of the down-time and have some fun and do some entertaining. This year we've managed to see many friends and Mike has been able to spend more time with Henry. It's been a long road, but the end is in sight - only two more classes this fall, and then he'll be done. Hooray daddy!

We've seen some new faces recently. First, there was Aunt Amy who we met earlier this month.
Then our friend Lisa came for a visit last week. And tonight we had dinner with our friends Jessica and Geoffrey who live in Amman, Jordan, and who will be back in Canada soon, we hope! Unfortunately, Henry was a bit fussy during our visit with them and kept us occupied, and we weren't diligent enough to fetch the camera - so no photos of them.

Last weekend we attended the wedding of our good friends Pete and Susanne. Henry wore a white button-down shirt and navy pants - just like dad.
We knew Susanne would be a beautiful bride, and she was.

It was a happy day - the ceremony was touching, the dinner was delicious, the dancing was serious and the party was raucous!
Some of the dancers.

Dear Henry,
This month we have watched you grow into a happy baby! You delight us with smiles and coos, often spontaneously. You love to stand with weight on your feet and survey your surroundings. You've started to gain control over your hands, and you frequently try to put things in your mouth. We had two overnight trips from home this month, and both were a success. You love to watch us eat, which is one of the signs a baby is ready for solids. You've got three more months to go before that happens, so I hope you're patient. Sometimes you look ready to pull up a chair to the table and join right in. I'm not sure whether it's my imagination, but you seem to get frustrated when that doesn't happen. You still sleep well at night, although you don't always sleep through until morning. Your bedtime is much earlier now (7:30 or so, compared to 10:00 a few weeks ago). We learned that you were ready for an earlier bedtime when your evening nap started stretching to last 8 hours, and on three separate occasions we skipped the bedtime routine of bath, jammies and lullabies because you were fast asleep. Your morning nap is exactly 45 minutes long - always. Your other naps still vary - widely. You are still growing well (weight = slightly more than 16 lbs, length = 69 cm). People often comment on the size of your hands - all the better for playing basketball with, right?

We went on a road trip to Stratford this weekend, and Henry met a lot of people for the first time last week:


He met Aunt Amy for the first time (Amy is home from Kelowna for a week), and Aunt Amy babysat Henry - his first time with a babysitter (when M&/orD weren't within a 100m distance).

He met the Mantler side of the family, including Henry's great-grandma Anna who is 92 years old. Great-grandma Anna shared a lovely German nursery rhyme with Henry.

And he met our friend Julie and her son Oliver who is 7 months old.

Dad was on holiday last week. In addition to going to the cottage and going to Stratford, we spent a day working in the garden, and a day exploring Queen Street West (it keeps us young) and Henry experienced his first restaurant meal with us (well, his first indoor and non-Starbucks restaurant meal).

We just returned from a few days spent up at a cottage with Mike's parents, brother, sister-in-law and nephews. We had a great time: perfect weather, lots of hands and attention for Henry, warm water. Henry seemed to really enjoy it. There were new things to look at (I think he loved the chipboard walls inside the cabin!) and by the end of the day he was exhausted and slept really well (not straight through the night, but solidly, and without being disturbed by the noises of a busy campsite on a long weekend). This was our first overnight trip since Henry was born, and given our success with this venture we're anxious to strike out again soon.

Oh what to do during a heat wave? Sit and blow bubbles; hang out in the bouncy chair; maybe go to Yorkdale?