Fifteen years before I was a parent, the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series for the first time... the first time a Canadian team had won the world championship. A year later, they did it again.
As Blue Jay fans in the early 90's, we got used to winning. The SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) was sold out every single night. The joke used to be that the easiest job in town was being a ticket-seller for the Jays because you were done in April.
Tonight, August 7, 2009, the Jays are having a reunion of those two World Series teams. It's really hard to believe it's been 14 years since the last time they won. The memories are so clear in my mind. These were my heroes, the guys that excited not only a city but an entire country. I still remember the lineups, the thrill when Joe Carter or Robbie Alomar stepped up to the plate. White, Alomar, Carter, Winfield, Olerud, Maldonado, Gruber, Borders, Lee in 1992.... WAMCO of 1993 (White, Alomar, Molitor, Carter, Olerud).
I still get chills... remembering exactly where I was for each. In 1992, with my friend Anne-Marie and her roommate (who's name I'm blanking on) at their apartment on Uplands Drive, way past midnight and slamming my hand on the ground when Winfield hit his double down the left-field line and yelling "run! go go!" and then, because closer Tom Henke had already been used, Timlin coming in to pitch the 11th inning and the play-by-play which is burned into me.
"Nixon bunts... Timlin up with it... tosses to first... and for the first time the world series banner will fly NORTH of the border!"
Flash forward to 1993. WAMCO led the way... Olerud, Molitor and Alomar went 1-2-3 in batting average in the league. The World Series, this time against the Phillies, followed almost the same script, losing game 1 but winning 2 & 3. Game 4 in Philadelphia which became the highest scoring game in world series history with the Jays coming back to win 15-14 and then watching game 6 in Toronto... Glen and I eating and watching the game at JJ Mugs on Yonge Street and then the play-by-play yet again...
"The 2-2, well hit down the left field line... way back and.... GONE! Joe Carter with a 3-run homers... the winners and still world champion, the Toronto Blue Jays". I have to add here that the radio commentary by the late and legendary Tom Cheek had the best line "Touch 'em all Joe, you'll never hit a bigger home run"
I still get misty watching it...
Those were my heroes... I looked up to these guys, I followed all their games, their stats, got the Carter jersey. The world needs heroes to look up to and be inspired.
It was good to see them again tonight... and Winfield still wants noise.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
All this girly stuff
I have to confess... I don't get all these little girly clothing things. Sleepers, ok... onesies, yup can do... but there are many of Alyssa's outfits that I am changing out of that I never would've figured out how to put her into let alone understood that those things should go together.
So, as long as I'm getting her ready for bed, we're fine.
Since my last post, I've travelled across the country to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. It was magnificent countryside and I learned a tremendous amount. Still though, it was really hard being away from both Zach and Alyssa... let alone Mommy. Good to be away but not a good time to be away.
Alyssa is a good little sleeper and even more so a good little eater. Our division of duties has me doing the evening/night bottle feeding and try to have her asleep by midnight or so. Mommy then gets up with Aly (I'm trying out short nicknames) at around 2 or 3am. A lot like when Zach was born. The difference, of course, is that Zach is here this time around and has taken to getting up closer to 6am then later. This is wearing Daddy out a tad because he then has to go to work all day. I'm fervently hoping that after the famous 'first six weeks', that Alyssa becomes more like her big brother and sleeps longer during the night.
Zach seems to really like his new little sister. "Hi sister" is heard all the time and always either wants to go into her room to greet her... even when he's not fully attired... say, oh, I dunno, after a bath...
He loves to "help" with his sister.. putting the soother back in her mouth when she cries, or even when she isn't. When she's sleeping, that's a bit of a problem.
All in all... so far so good with two children. Tiring for sure... not a lot of quiet time to just relax. Less blogging time but I'm always trying to work on that.
I probably won't bother trying to figure out the clothing...
Thursday, April 16, 2009
On the day you were born Alyssa
It's Alyssa's birth-day!
What a beautiful little bundle... Everything went smoothly and, given it's 10:30p in our semi-private room and daddy is folded into a hard chair, I thought I'd recount the day of your birth.
Little Zach got up early again today... 6:10am. I think Ubu nosed his door open early... I waited until he started to cry and then it was time to get up... Fortunately Grampa was up waiting with the obligatory apple juice... So daddy could lie down for a while longer.
Your mom and I got up (separately, mommy's a morning person) and while she showered, I had a bagel... Mommy still annoyed that she wasn't allowed to eat after midnight. Zach left for daycare just before 8am with Grandma & Grampa
In the news today... A Tamil protest continues in downtown Ottawa... The weather has turned warmer and forecast for today was sunny and 16c. Mom and I left for the hospital just after 11am... This whole scheduled birth making it feel like an odd day... Like we were just going out for lunch...
We checked in at 11:30... Came up to the 8th floor and were taken to a prep/recovery room where they got mom ready... By 1:00, mom was prepped... Had quizzed the anethesiologist about the eating issue, and wheeled off to the operating room. They dressed daddy up in funny clothes and told him to wait outside the room for 20 mins. At 1:30p they started... Daddy waiting with mommy's head while the doctors did their thing.
And at 1:52p, Alyssa Anne May Robertson came screaming into the world!
10 fingers, 10 toes... and completely beautiful.
Nice to have you with us now Alyssa...
So here we are... Sharing a hospital room with other people... You're sleeping, Mommy is trying to sleep (with next door baby screaming)... and Daddy in an armchair thinking about tomorrow's back problem.
-Steve-
-- This message was Blackberry'd --
What a beautiful little bundle... Everything went smoothly and, given it's 10:30p in our semi-private room and daddy is folded into a hard chair, I thought I'd recount the day of your birth.
Little Zach got up early again today... 6:10am. I think Ubu nosed his door open early... I waited until he started to cry and then it was time to get up... Fortunately Grampa was up waiting with the obligatory apple juice... So daddy could lie down for a while longer.
Your mom and I got up (separately, mommy's a morning person) and while she showered, I had a bagel... Mommy still annoyed that she wasn't allowed to eat after midnight. Zach left for daycare just before 8am with Grandma & Grampa
In the news today... A Tamil protest continues in downtown Ottawa... The weather has turned warmer and forecast for today was sunny and 16c. Mom and I left for the hospital just after 11am... This whole scheduled birth making it feel like an odd day... Like we were just going out for lunch...
We checked in at 11:30... Came up to the 8th floor and were taken to a prep/recovery room where they got mom ready... By 1:00, mom was prepped... Had quizzed the anethesiologist about the eating issue, and wheeled off to the operating room. They dressed daddy up in funny clothes and told him to wait outside the room for 20 mins. At 1:30p they started... Daddy waiting with mommy's head while the doctors did their thing.
And at 1:52p, Alyssa Anne May Robertson came screaming into the world!
10 fingers, 10 toes... and completely beautiful.
Nice to have you with us now Alyssa...
So here we are... Sharing a hospital room with other people... You're sleeping, Mommy is trying to sleep (with next door baby screaming)... and Daddy in an armchair thinking about tomorrow's back problem.
-Steve-
-- This message was Blackberry'd --
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The day before
It's the day before the arrival of Smidgette... the day before life changes yet again.
Smidgette - you're coming into our lives tomorrow... another new experience for me. Daddy is an only child... this whole sibling thing that you're coming into with your brother Zach... completely foreign to me. Fortunately your mom has two so there's plenty of experience there. But still... I've had 20 months to get used to your brother and (most of the time) he's a joy to be around and brightens our days. Please be like him ;-)
On the day before you're set to arrive... your grandparents (Grandma and Grampa) have been here for 2 days to help out with your brother. The weather has been sunny, in the mid-teens temperature We had stuffed salmon for dinner and daddy went to play volleyball for the last time of the season. For the record, his team won all 3 of its games.
Mommy is understandably a bit nervous for your arrival as she's having what's called a 'c-section' which means we're coming into get you before you come out on your own. Why? Well, it's a bit hard to explain... Daddy is in this training/development program to teach him how to be a good leader. To say it's just a training course would be dramatically understating it. It focusses a lot on personal reflection, introspection, and learning about yourself and how you behave in the variety of situations that will face you. Here's the thing... it's a 6 week program that daddy's work has invested a lot in. There were two weeks last October (2008) and the next two weeks are next week and the week after. The week after next, 10 days from now, daddy is supposed to be in Whitehorse.
Mommy is being really understanding about this... but daddy still feels horrible at the prospect of being an entire country-length away from you, your brother and your mommy so soon after your arrival.
The good news is that, after reading what I wrote after your brother was born, you're just going to be sleeping a lot and eating. Mom will have Nana to help out and daddy will be away for only 5 days.
Can't wait to meet you tomorrow... can't wait to sleep in a chair-bed again... and really happy we won all the volleyball games tonight.
Smidgette - you're coming into our lives tomorrow... another new experience for me. Daddy is an only child... this whole sibling thing that you're coming into with your brother Zach... completely foreign to me. Fortunately your mom has two so there's plenty of experience there. But still... I've had 20 months to get used to your brother and (most of the time) he's a joy to be around and brightens our days. Please be like him ;-)
On the day before you're set to arrive... your grandparents (Grandma and Grampa) have been here for 2 days to help out with your brother. The weather has been sunny, in the mid-teens temperature We had stuffed salmon for dinner and daddy went to play volleyball for the last time of the season. For the record, his team won all 3 of its games.
Mommy is understandably a bit nervous for your arrival as she's having what's called a 'c-section' which means we're coming into get you before you come out on your own. Why? Well, it's a bit hard to explain... Daddy is in this training/development program to teach him how to be a good leader. To say it's just a training course would be dramatically understating it. It focusses a lot on personal reflection, introspection, and learning about yourself and how you behave in the variety of situations that will face you. Here's the thing... it's a 6 week program that daddy's work has invested a lot in. There were two weeks last October (2008) and the next two weeks are next week and the week after. The week after next, 10 days from now, daddy is supposed to be in Whitehorse.
Mommy is being really understanding about this... but daddy still feels horrible at the prospect of being an entire country-length away from you, your brother and your mommy so soon after your arrival.
The good news is that, after reading what I wrote after your brother was born, you're just going to be sleeping a lot and eating. Mom will have Nana to help out and daddy will be away for only 5 days.
Can't wait to meet you tomorrow... can't wait to sleep in a chair-bed again... and really happy we won all the volleyball games tonight.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Soon to become the Smidget(te) Chronicles!
Here's the thing about having a 18+ month old... you're often too tired to blog on any sort of regular basis. Sorry about that. Smidgette is set to arrive next Thursday, April 16th so we'll have many many new adventures to recount.
Little Z is growing by leaps and bounds... he's got a vocabulary that increases seemingly every day... I'm now clearly "Dada", "Mama" is also a popular figure in the house... he can count to fifteen (often missing twelve but what can you do?)... he doesn't walk anywhere, he sprints... often asks for toast, pancakes, cookies (thanks to some grandparents), crackers, peppers... he's got quite the grocery list.
February 2009 also brought another trip to the magical land of Florida and Disney World with Grandma and Grampa. Those swimming lessons last fall/winter paid off as you couldn't get him out of the kiddie pool if you wanted. A really nice timeshare near SeaWorld... although we didn't venture into SeaWorld... maybe later in life. We even survived a dinner at the Olive Garden with very little mishap.
And... I'm happy to report... Winnie the Pooh and I have mended fences. As you might recall from last year, we had an incident. This year... while strolling through Disney's Animal Kingdom, we went by a faux boat landing and a helpful attendant told us about a character greeting spot with little or no lineup. We got down there and who do we see but Pooh, Tigger, and Eyore. We're literally next in line... and off goes Pooh for a break. My jaw hit the ground... no-way could this be happening two years in a row... but fortunately he returned this time... much to the delight of little Z.
Other highlights this time around included the Lion King show which was spellbinding and Z falling asleep while I was carrying him into the Finding Nemo show.
The Magic Kingdom this year was not the happiest place on earth. I think we're going to chalk this up to teething... but it was a challenging day with a periodically completely grumpy and miserable little bug.
Smidgette's arrival is now pending... less than a week to go. The whole scheduling of a birth is very civilized... we're set for April 16th at 1pm. Makes you wonder what to do with the rest of the day...
I'm going to try and remember how to email to this blog as I'll be (of course) with Julie during the nights with Smidgette (when yes, her name will be revealed).
Little Z is growing by leaps and bounds... he's got a vocabulary that increases seemingly every day... I'm now clearly "Dada", "Mama" is also a popular figure in the house... he can count to fifteen (often missing twelve but what can you do?)... he doesn't walk anywhere, he sprints... often asks for toast, pancakes, cookies (thanks to some grandparents), crackers, peppers... he's got quite the grocery list.
February 2009 also brought another trip to the magical land of Florida and Disney World with Grandma and Grampa. Those swimming lessons last fall/winter paid off as you couldn't get him out of the kiddie pool if you wanted. A really nice timeshare near SeaWorld... although we didn't venture into SeaWorld... maybe later in life. We even survived a dinner at the Olive Garden with very little mishap.
And... I'm happy to report... Winnie the Pooh and I have mended fences. As you might recall from last year, we had an incident. This year... while strolling through Disney's Animal Kingdom, we went by a faux boat landing and a helpful attendant told us about a character greeting spot with little or no lineup. We got down there and who do we see but Pooh, Tigger, and Eyore. We're literally next in line... and off goes Pooh for a break. My jaw hit the ground... no-way could this be happening two years in a row... but fortunately he returned this time... much to the delight of little Z.
Other highlights this time around included the Lion King show which was spellbinding and Z falling asleep while I was carrying him into the Finding Nemo show.
The Magic Kingdom this year was not the happiest place on earth. I think we're going to chalk this up to teething... but it was a challenging day with a periodically completely grumpy and miserable little bug.
Smidgette's arrival is now pending... less than a week to go. The whole scheduling of a birth is very civilized... we're set for April 16th at 1pm. Makes you wonder what to do with the rest of the day...
I'm going to try and remember how to email to this blog as I'll be (of course) with Julie during the nights with Smidgette (when yes, her name will be revealed).
Monday, January 5, 2009
2008: A Zach in Review
A whole year gone by... and with it apparently my ability to blog regularly. Much has happened in the life of Z including the announcement of a new Smidgette! Yes, little Z will have a baby sister come the end of April 2009. It strikes similar pangs of nerves as when we were expecting Z. What am I going to do with 2?? I'm (quite comfortably) an only child, I have no frame of reference!
That and Z is one of, if not the, busiest small people I've ever seen. What happened to my laid-back chill-like-dad angel? Well, still an angel but never ever stops moving! New words appearing all the time... climbing like a monkey. He'll still stare down any new person or thing which is proving to be quite unnerving to some but once he warms up to you, you'll be his best friend.
So 2008 found the adventures of little Smidget take him to Florida in January... A long road trip through Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (including Cape Breton) in the minivan his parents swore they'd never own. He visited family for a wedding in St. Thomas, Ontario in May and went to see his grandparents twice in Peterborough in their new home. Well-travelled little dude already.
He went from crawling, to pulling himself up on furniture, to suddenly walking/running everywhere with seemingly no transition at all. He's acquired "mommy" as a word and did his best at words such as tree 'tee-ya'. His most recent obsession is opening and closing doors and has progressed to being able to reach doorknobs and pulling a door shut behind him. This means any day now I'll have to buy those doorknob thingys so that he doesn't decide in the middle of the night to hit the town. And of course by 'he', it will also soon include 'he and she'.
The city right now is still in the throes of a transit strike which went through the Christmas season with currently no end in sight. Roles have reversed somewhat at home... on an average day, I'm now leaving earlier and doing the daycare pickup by 5pm and Julie is carpooling and going in later/staying later.
I can't wait to see what 2009 brings for Z, Smidgette and everyone around us...
That and Z is one of, if not the, busiest small people I've ever seen. What happened to my laid-back chill-like-dad angel? Well, still an angel but never ever stops moving! New words appearing all the time... climbing like a monkey. He'll still stare down any new person or thing which is proving to be quite unnerving to some but once he warms up to you, you'll be his best friend.
So 2008 found the adventures of little Smidget take him to Florida in January... A long road trip through Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (including Cape Breton) in the minivan his parents swore they'd never own. He visited family for a wedding in St. Thomas, Ontario in May and went to see his grandparents twice in Peterborough in their new home. Well-travelled little dude already.
He went from crawling, to pulling himself up on furniture, to suddenly walking/running everywhere with seemingly no transition at all. He's acquired "mommy" as a word and did his best at words such as tree 'tee-ya'. His most recent obsession is opening and closing doors and has progressed to being able to reach doorknobs and pulling a door shut behind him. This means any day now I'll have to buy those doorknob thingys so that he doesn't decide in the middle of the night to hit the town. And of course by 'he', it will also soon include 'he and she'.
The city right now is still in the throes of a transit strike which went through the Christmas season with currently no end in sight. Roles have reversed somewhat at home... on an average day, I'm now leaving earlier and doing the daycare pickup by 5pm and Julie is carpooling and going in later/staying later.
I can't wait to see what 2009 brings for Z, Smidgette and everyone around us...
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