Sadhbh's first steps!

Since starting crawling just over a month ago, Sadhbh has been mainly interested in walking. She was almost walking on her trip to Ireland and spent a lot of time balancing against tables, sofas and anything else she could pull herself up against. In the last week she has taken her first few tentative steps and quickly moved on to toddling around the house. She revels in her new found freedom and delights in getting into places she wasn't able to before. The kitchen has become a treasure trove of activities with lots of cupboard doors to open. Mom and dad are already thinking about Sadhbh-proofing the kitchen and can't believe their little baby girl is growing up so quickly!

Tadhg and Sadhbh celebrate Baba's birthday

Saturday was baba's birthday and she had a birthday celebration in Tadhg and Sadhbh's cousins' house. Tadhg and Sadhbh were happy to be able to celebrate with their Canadian family after their recent trip to Ireland. 

Tadhg helped his baba open and read all of her cards as well as blow out the candles on her birthday cake. It was a beautiful day and Tadhg and Sadhbh enjoyed the opportunity to swim in their cousins' swimming pool.

Tadhg and Sadhbh fly home

After a great holiday in Ireland, Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad were looking forward to getting back home to their own house again. Granny and Granddad came to the airport to wish them farewell. It was great to see them and hopefully they can make it to Canada fora return visit this year.

The flight home went well for the seasoned travellers. Tadhg and Sadhbh were happy to get home to their own toys, books and beds.

Tadhg and Sadhbh meet more Irish friends

The rest of the week was a busy whirlwind of play-dates and meet-ups for Tadhg and Sadhbh. On Tuesday they were back in St Stephen's Green to meet with new baby Victoria for the first time. On Wednesday they went to Uncle Ger and Auntie Amy's house to play with the girls some more and bounce on their trampoline.

Thursday saw another trip to Uncle Ed's and Auntie Maria's house to meet their cousins and grandparents again.This would be their last play-date with their cousins on this visit and everyone had a great time. It was also a chance to celebrate Kyle's birthday as Tadhg and Sadhbh will be home in Canada for the big day itself. 

On Friday, they met with Auntie Aoife and Tadhg's friend Reuben and Sadhbh's new friend Diarmuid. It was another great play-date with a fun trip to a local playground the highlight. It was a busy week of visiting and everyone was looking forward to getting home on Saturday after their whirlwind trip in Ireland.

Tadhg and Sadhbh enjoy St Stephen's Green

Saturday proved to be a busy date as Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad had dinner with Uncle Ger, Auntie Amy, Sarah, Chloe and Tara. After a great meal in mom's favourite Dublin restaurant, Milanos, everyone wandered down to St Stephen's Green to enjoy the rare sunshine in Dublin. Sadhbh loved people watching in this famous Dublin landmark. 

Tadhg chased after the girls and tried to do whatever they did, like balancing on the flower beds and sitting on the fountains. After saying goodbye to Uncle Ger, Auntie Amy and the girls Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad wandered down Grafton Street and visited the new Disney store which was great fun. Tadhg wanted everything but had to settle for one toy. Sadhbh enjoyed checking out the Disney Princess dressing room. It was great to spend the day in Dublin enjoying the city.

Tadhg meets his old friend

On Saturday, Tadhg had a play-date at his old mate Lochlann's house. Tadhg and Lochlann were in a mom and baby group Tadhg lived in Ireland and they (or rather their mom's) have kept in touch ever since. Tadhg tries to visit every time he is in Ireland and mom arranged another play-date for Saturday morning - almost 1 year since their last one. It didn't take long for the two chums to rekindle their friendship. They were running around the garden and playing Lego as if no time had passed. Sadhbh enjoyed playing with Lochlann's little sister Keeley although Sadhbh is a good bit younger. It as a nice visit and great to catch up Lochlann and Keeley (and their mom and dad) once again.

Sadhbh's first haircut

On Friday, Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad returned to Uncle Eddie and Auntie Maria's house to visit with their cousins some more. Luckily granny and granddad were well enough to come visit this time so Tadhg and Sadhbh met their whole Irish family in one place! Auntie Maria is a hairdresser so mom asked if she could give Sadhbh her first haircut. Auntie Maria was more than happy to and so Sadhbh had her wispy locks clipped. Sadhbh was great throughout the whole process and was very interested in Auntie Maria's hairdressing equipment.

Tadhg and Sadhbh visit their Irish cousins

After a day spent recuperating from their trip and getting used to the new time-zone  Tadhg and Sadhbh visited their Uncle Eddie and Auntie Maria's house on Wednesday to spend some time with their Irish cousins, Kyle and Grace. It had been a long time since they last saw Kyle and it was their first time to meet Grace who was born last September. The kids were excited to meet each other.

Dad and mom enjoyed meeting their little niece for the first time and enjoyed seeing the little girl cousins together. Sadhbh wasn't used to having another baby girl around and missed having all the attention. Grace was excited to see her cousin and tried to walk around after Sadhbh (she is almost ready to go!). 

As Kyle is older since their last trip home, Kyle and Tadhg were better able to play with each other. Kyle was interested in the Power Ranger toy Tadhg brought along and the two boys enjoyed playing on the slide in the garden.

Kyle was also keen to show Sadhbh around his house also and the two bonded over shoes! Unfortunately Granny and Granddad were still sick from their recent trip to Malta and weren't able to make it to Uncle Eddie's house for the visit.

Tadhg and Sadhbh fly to Ireland

On Monday Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad packed their bags and drove to Toronto for their flight to Ireland for their summer holiday. Tadhg had to take some time away from school but mom and dad reckoned it was ok for a week long trip home which is an education in itself. It was a beautiful sunny day and mom and dad hoped they would have some sun in Ireland too.

Tadhg and Sadhbh slept for most of the journey. Tadhg on dad's lap and Sadhbh on mom and in the sky cot which she barely fit into (this will be her last trip in a sky cot).The flight went fine and everyone was happy to arrive to a wet, grey Dublin morning. Granny and Granddad were at the airport to meet them (and to handover Tadhg's child seat for the trip). Tadhg and Sadhbh were happy to see their grandparents although granny and granddad were a bit sick from their recent trip. Let the holiday begin!