Post Xmas holiday party

So today, the Kozai's put on a most excellent spread. It was great to see everyone although, it was quite eye-opening to see all those kids.

Russell enjoyed his seat at the head of the kids table... he also looks like he gets a little chatty when he's had a few beers. (wonder where he gets it from?)



Thanks again for all the enthusiastic parents who took photos and promptly posted and/or distributed them.

Heres a few of baby Kai.

So we thought he was napping....

but when we went to check on the little dude, it seems he was just hanging out.






... note to self... Lower crib mattress.

Russell's first Christmas

okay.. so naturally today is all about a bunch of firsts.

First Christmas Present.



First Christmas breakfast with Uncle Timmy, Auntie Deedee, and Uncle Louis.


Mommy clearly enjoyed it as much as Russell.

Christmas Eve

Mom and Dad came over for the traditional Tabata Xmas eve dinner.

Grandma Tabata kitted Russell a new scarf to go with his Maple Leafs sweater... (still need to show that.. trust me it's awesome)



....and Grandpa and Russell modeled their matching sweaters... although Russell wasn't in much of a modeling mood.

Xmas Party

Yea!! we finally hosted a party in the new place. It was a good test to see how child ready the house is. I guess it faired okay. At least no pediatric injuries were reported.

Thanks to everyone who came out to join us during the busy holiday season. Like usual, the day blew past and I hardly got a chance to snap any photos. Thanks to everyone who did, and posted them.

Okay, I did get at least one picture that day.

Christmas Card Photos

Okay... some fast and furious updates cuz we are way behind...

So we decided to do photo cards for Russell's first Christmas, as many of you now know. Here some of the shots we had to choose from.


One from the mall.. Russell exploded into tears seconds after this shot was taken.



One very conservative one... not Christmasy enough if you ask me but did allow Russell to retain some dignity.


...and of course the one we picked. I know he wouldn't want this photo to materialize until well after high school. But by the time he's in University, it can only help his 'cuteness' factor with the ladies.

Catching up ... again

Well with the holiday upon us, we've been quite busy for updates. We went to pick out our Christmas tree with Russell. Honestly, even all decorated and lit up, I don't think he's all that impressed. He's much more enamored with the empty cardboard boxes.



Russell had another vaccination shot this week too. To be honest, Julianne really keeps track of which one it is more than I do. But he did get weighed again. Latest official weight is 19lbs 1 oz.

We also did a long overdue cleaning of his room. In his closet I found a new toy he's really taken a liking to. My old PS/2 keyboard. What do you think of his new cubicle. I guess its a long road to the corner office.

Our Designated Driver

in keeping with the auto theme of the last post.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

back to normal??

So today, we finally did the big move. The hardwood has all been replaced, so has the trim and the main floor was repainted so Louis came by to help move the TV, Loveseat, and a few other items back upstairs.

Not a lot of stuff to move but more than i could move by myself. We started around 11 and between playing with Russell and the odd water break we finished around 12.

We had lunch, played more with Russ, watched Ratatouille, a little football, and finally, Louis got his jacket and returned to his car to find.....



.... well, that and a note from some lady who slammed into the parked car about 3 hrs earlier. The rest of the night was filing police reports, going to the collision reporting center, then getting some food for Louis, along with a generous portion of booze. He was well liquored when i dropped him off. We'll see how this all pans out, but I can't fault Louis on this one. Nothing like when he beached the whale.

Halloween !!!

October 31st has come and gone... probably one of the biggest days of the year in the Beaches. We were bi-polar in our priorities, first it was Russell's first Halloween, but also, our first Halloween in the new house. We had no idea how many kids we'd get, how much candy to buy, or if we were going to take Russell door to door.

We got a few kids before 7pm but Woodbine was pretty quiet so we decided to take Russell to visit some of our friends in the neighborhood. As soon as we walked through the alley, and out on to Boardwalk Ave, the street was packed with kids and parents alike. There was a big display (at least 3 houses worth) on Boardwalk that looked pretty cool.


We made our way over to my friend Dave's place on Sarah Ashbridge. He was perched on his porch with a glass of vino in hand dolling out the sweets with the other. Looked like a pretty nice gig and gave daddy ideas for next year.

Next stop was Julie's friend Angela on Winner's Circle. Carys was actually taking her pre-sleep snack so it was a quick visit.

Russell was again, very popular with the ladies in his pumpkin outfit and received lots of attention. Funny it seemed like we took a lot of pictures at the time, but there seems like less to choose from than usual. Anyways, here's how we'll remember our pumpkin from Halloween 2007.

6 Months !!!

Well, as far behind as I've become, I can't miss Russell's 6th month birthday.

Russell recently has begun to start his day with Rice cereal. They call it 'solid' food but its really more runny then the breast milk he's used to. He's also gotten pretty good with maneuvering his own bottle. Today, Julianne changed his diaper while he held and drank his own bottle. I don't know if this is a good habit to get into because those dudes that take a drink into the men's room with them really creep me out.


Russell also tried out his new 'muff' for his stroller. All ready to be cozy warm when Mommy or Daddy is freezing in the months to come.



Russell even had a party to attend... sadly, it wasn't for him. His cousin Alexi had his 2nd birthday party on Sunday, and wasn't above sharing his balloons.



Lastly, Russell is now getting his first tooth! Mommy is frantically looking for some all natural, organic dental floss.


Happy 6 Months Russell !!

wow... fell way behind again...

he're a token photo to keep us up to date.


Today we took advantage of the unseasonably summery day. Met one of Russell's Mommy Fitness friends, Samantha. Samantha is a natural blond with blue eyes. I guess the boy has good taste. We also met Samantha's parents, Erin and Andy.

Deep in the heart of Texas

Sorry, no Russell update today. Today was my first full day of Callidus training in Austin Texas. For all my fellow weight loss competitors, I thought you'd all be interested on how my diet went today.

Breakfast - plain croissant & black coffee
mid morning snack - training provided breakfast burrito and diet coke
Lunch - BBQ Brisket... awsome BBQ.. Rudy's BBQ Awsome place... you simply order meat by weight, and they give you bread and fixin's and sauce and stuff. Tomorrow, I'll skip the bread... it's a total Atkinsfest.
Dinner - Chicken fried steak...cuz real Chicken fried steak is beef not chicken !!! ...and 2 pints of draft... pints were $2 each !!!

no late nite snacks planned yet.

Post #100 !!! - Guy Humour

Tonight, Julianne went out for Nikki's wedding rehearsal and dinner. I found a new way to entertain Russell.... of course it should be obvious... get a few guys drinking beer and belching, you have a pretty rewarding evening. I'n never forget sitting around the cottage, with Rick Raciopal describing the different kinds of bowel movements, and being in tears laughing the whole time. This is a promising sign of things to come.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Daddy's other new trick...

Daddy is also using Adobe Lightroom for his processing... it really kicks azz.

new toy for daddy...

Daddy got a new lens.... Tamron 28-75mm f2.8

That means a whole slew of new photos of Russell.

Mommies storm the island

The mommy group took to the sea to visit Centre Island today. Russell looks quite content to hang with his hommies.

bbq test

Looks like pulled pork will be on the menu after Sep 21st.

Like Father Like Son....

I wonder where he gets it from???

Back to the Berry patch.

Mommy and Russell have really taken to those Raspberries. Although, looking at the field, no one really else has.

Not the youngest anymore !!!

Russell moved up to 'older' status last week when Tatyanna was born on the 29th of July. You may remember Russell wishing her a good delivery on an earlier post.

Here is Tatyanna...


...and Russell clearly looks more mature now that he has a little cousin to look up to him.

Boozing it up

Somewhere in the middle of daddy's week off, we decided to do something we haven't done for a while.... visit a few wineries in Niagara.

We stopped and sampled at Jackson Triggs, Stratus and finally a fancy schmancy lunch at Hillenbrand.




After lunch, Mommy and Daddy took a lesson in blending wines. They were given a few bottles of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Savignon to try out different blends and finally bottle their favourite.




After all that tasting and blending, lucky there was a designated driver among us.

Henry's Party

Russell had a very busy day today. First he visited Nikki's wedding shower where he garnered some extra attention.



Then it was straight to uncle Henry's party.





Russell make sure to wake up to wish Sophie luck before she left to bring his newest cousin in the the world.