We took our brand new car, dubbed The Fitzy Car by Fitz, up to Ottawa for the weekend. Our Sunday consisted of a family gathering that quickly turned into the Fitz and Avery Show. Him and his cousin played with cars on the blanket and absolutely ran themselves ragged.
ABOVE & BELOW: We took Fitz to Ottawa for a few days over the Easter weekend. Obviously, Lee was very enthused, especially when it came to feeding him chocolates.
ABOVE: This is one of the last times he wore his winter hat and coat.
ABOVE & BELOW: Fitz has come to love running up and down the laneway behind our house. It offers him lots of space, interesting things to see, and freedom from traffic. You’ll notice that his hands are inside his mouth in almost all of these pics — he spent most of April teething (his back mollars are coming in). This was also the last weekend with his flowing locks untouched — photos below reveal the barber handiwork of Matt and Carly.
ABOVE & BELOW: New hair cut!
ABOVE: Fitz has taken a liking to walking under sandwich boards.
ABOVE & BELOW: Fitz has become Mr. Cool with his new sunglasses.
ABOVE & BELOW: Fitz is a big-time hugger and no one receives more attention from him at daycare than Abigail (above) and Yazsou (below).
ABOVE: Kath and Max with Fitz and Carly at a play date in the East End.
ABOVE: Fitz did a fair bit of travelling this month including a lot of trips in the backseat.
ABOVE & BELOW: Near the end of January Fitz and Carly travelled to Ottawa by train. Fitz liked looking out the window but found it difficult to sleep.
ABOVE & BELOW: Fitz ran amok at the High Park Library on Roncesvalles.
ABOVE: Got a little artsy with this photo using my reflection in the window looking in into the livingroom from the porch. The winter white makes it work.
Fitz spent Thanksgiving in Ottawa where he showed off his hair and plentiful teeth.
While at the cottage in the Gatineaus, Fitz got to experience a lake up close as well as show off some of his new skills: throwing stuff and pulling himself up.
We had a handful of friends share the Gatineau cottage with us over the course of the week. Most of our time together was spent on the dock, swimming in the lake, reading on the deck in the afternoon, and enjoying fine spirits within the covered porch at night.
ABOVE: Nick floats in Lac l’Ile on an overcast day.
ABOVE: Gen executes a near perfect dive. When she surfaced Nick pointed out that she might have jumped in with her sunglasses on, which was later confirmed when this photo was reviewed close up.
ABOVE: Carly also exhibits good form in her dive.
ABOVE: Nick takes a different diving approach.
ABOVE & BELOW: Jason and Mark listen intently to someone’s story. Probably Gen.
ABOVE & BELOW: Nick joined us for a last few nights of the trip, while Meghan stayed for the first few days.
During the trip Fitz reached the 11 month mark. Each month brings new discoveries and you could really see his curiosity was piqued whenever we took him for a walk through the forest down to the dock and lake. He reached out to touch leaves, point at trees, and look around at his surroundings. And he didn’t mind being carried down in the Ergo carrier by his parents.
BELOW: The family at 11 months.
ABOVE & BELOW: Carly’s parents came up to the cottage on Grandma’s birthday. They stayed for the food and later kidnapped Fitz back across the Ontario border in order to give Matt and Carly two nights off/sleep-in mornings.
ABOVE & BELOW: We spent the last night of our vacation back in Ottawa at Carly’s parent’s place where we were reunited with Fitz. Who knew a plastic basin could make such a good pool for such a young kid?
BELOW: Friends Gen and Nick joined us for a handful of days at the cottage and came back to Ottawa with us.
In the middle of our week at the cottage, Carly’s cousin Clayton came in for the day from Constance Bay with his mom Barb, his wife Megan, and his eight-month old Declan. Fitz and Declan had briefly met on the May long-weekend in Ottawa, but they quickly found out they liked each other a lot.
BELOW: This montage gives you a better idea of how Fitz ended up on top of Declan.
BELOW: After the initial excitement died down, the boys got straight to throwing blocks and rings and crawling around.
ABOVE & BELOW: During the first few days of our stay, Fitz made some significant strides in his ability to move around. A hybrid crawl-hop has emerged that involves him pushing off with his left foot and steering with his right. There are times when he looks like he’s striking a pose in a sprinter’s starting position.
BELOW: Fitz has also made great strides in stuffing his mouth full of blueberries and putting a sock on his head.
Week 47 consisted mostly of getting ready for our vacation at a cottage in the Gatineaus with our friends. While out running chores in the days before leaving our little man begun working on his cool guy poses.
BELOW: Before heading off to the cottage, we spent the night and following day in Ottawa with Carly’s parents. Packing for vacation with a child is a new phenomenon for us. Fitz is only 23 pounds, but needs twice as much as either of us! Luckily, we didn’t need to pack any toys as Fitz has a whole bunch waiting for him.
BELOW: Our friend Meghan joined us for the first few days of the trip, including hanging out in the backyard of the Dunsters and taking Fitzy for a walk. Over the last week he has been quite eager to pull himself up and take steps with assistance. He obviously needs to burn some calories — look at the rolls in those thighs!
BELOW: With that expression, you can easily imagine that Fitz is grooving to some funky music. And again: those thighs!
BELOW: Fitz and uncle Chris catch up.
