Another photo gallery

• A warm spring morning on the patio -- better wear those sunglasses and that sunhat!
• It's tea party time with Sarah
• The first al fresco dining of the year (Brrr!)
• Getting crafty with Mama (stuffing pillows for the dogs and cats at the SPCA)

Musical Girl

We've recently come into the possession of a couple of new musical instruments : a ukulele (found on Freecycle) and a keyboard (thanks to the generosity of our good friend Lisa and her family). Gwendolyn enjoys playing them both, although the keyboard, with its myriad of sounds and beats, is clearly her favourite.

Gwendolyn's musical ear is really developing. She now can recognize and often correctly identify a number of instruments on the recordings we play at home -- specifically piano and guitar, but also the trumpet, flute and a few others we've pointed out to her.

We hope you enjoy this video clip of our enthusiastic little piano player. (We still seem to be having issues with posting videos; if you see only a black screen below, please hit the play button. Hopefully you will be rewarded...)

We're still here...

My goodness, but we've been away for a while!

No, we weren't on holidays again.

No, we haven't been particularly busy.

Yes, Daddy's been a bit lazy. (And he can't even blame it on the hockey playoffs.)

OK, enough said. As is our habit with "catch up" postings, here's a photo gallery from the past few weeks:

• "How many more quarters do I need to pay for college tuition, Daddy?"
• Earflap toque, bike helmet, sunglasses... Clearly someone is ready for an adventure!
• Cooking up some fun at her vintage Fisher Price kitchen (Thanks, Heather!)
• In the midst of her Easter egg hunt
• Doing her best scary face (We're not sure where she picked this little trick up, but it's funny and creepy at the same time. We've tried the "if you do that too often, your eyes will stay that way" routine to no avail.)

Gwendolyn's Style File: Volume Two

With Spring comes more sunshine, and the need to protect Gwendolyn's eyes from harmful rays. Up to now, we haven't been able to entice her to wear a pair of sunglasses. But a week or so ago, she began asking about buying a pair (too many recent stroller rides with sun in her eyes, Daddy reckons), and Mama obliged today.

And her pair of choice? Burgundy wrap around Foster Grants, with glittery flames shooting down the arms. They even look great worn upside down! Our girl will be the coolest kid on the playground next week, for sure.

Gwendolyn's Style File: Volume One

Gwendolyn often rummages through Mama's footwear collection, trying on shoes and boots and clomping around the master bedroom and bathroom. Here she is, modeling Mama's prized faux leopard skin boots. Note the pair of black stiletto heeled pumps in the background of the first photo -- another favourite pair to try on.

We've had no little sprained ankles so far, thank goodness.

Shhhhh! Artist at work...

The following was captured by Daddy over the weekend -- a video of our resident artist in action.

Note her quiet concentration and the pauses where she puts down the pen. It really seems like Gwendolyn is thinking through what she wants to put on the paper. Fascinating!

(By the way, we're not sure why the video "screen" is now black to start. Hopefully the folks at Blogger are working on a solution...)

You grow, girl!

We thought you'd enjoy this photo of Mama and Gwendolyn having some cuddle time on the couch -- it shows just how big our little girl is getting!

At this rate, she'll be taller than Mama by the time she's six...