I'm sure there's a reason we taught them to talk

While I don't remember it being a conscious decision to teach them... this whole 'kids able to talk on their own' thing has its pros and cons.

Bedtime routines have evolved somewhat... and each is enjoyable in their own way... most of the time. When putting Zach to bed, we usually have fun chats about whatever he did that day "played", read a book and then the routine of turning out the light "green light, go" and ensuring that all his sleep toys are tucked in comfortably. That crew consisting of Joey, Mickey Mouse, Moose-Moose and Lion.. Lion, by the way, gives fairly decent back scratches. Then it's "good night, sweet dreams" and therabouts 8pm it's done.

Little miss, however, is not so much into the sit-in-the-chair and read bedtime stories anymore... now we must sit on the floor and she may read to me (or have me read) teacher-style (display book, read page, turn page, display and repeat)... or she'll want to try any put "ponies" (those hair elastic thingys) in my unfortunately inadequate hair. It takes forever to convince her to get into her now toddler-bed and most of the time she doesn't go willingly. When she does, all her friends must be there... which currently include Charlotte (the frog), Dora, Daisy, Baby, Princess, Sheepy, Minnie Mouse... several of whom all evidently need or should have their own blankies (tea towels). But we'll have chats about who she played with or how many 'ponies' daddy should get in his hair. When she doesn't want to go to bed... she'll squawk or screech at me. In fact, back to the subject line, whenever she doesn't get anything that she wants, that's what she'll do.

Getting out of the house, on a daily basis, is another unfortunate impact of this whole kids-talking thing. Everything rolls right along until almost exactly 8am when somehow the listening stops... shoes or boots won't go on and they'd rather play or run around instead of getting ready an in to the car. Drives me nuts... and there's yelling on both sides.

Still though, I love those night time chats before bed...

Blogs are useful...and time for kindergarten!

Tomorrow marks another big milestone... tomorrow Zach has his orientation to kindergarten and meets his teacher, Mrs. Branchaud. It's just staggering that this day is here already.

This also serves as a great reminder that blogs are very useful parental tools... filling out the lengthy intake form, I had to answer questions on when he had his first words, first two-words and first sentences.

Having two munchkins at various milestones... some of these dates get muddy in the mind.

I will renew my commitment to chronicle the lives of the two wonders... Zach now 4 years, and Aly a very precocious 2 years.

11.1.1

A new day, a new year... and I guess the first year of a new decade!

January 1st is often a fairly dry day... now complicated by having to occupy Zach (a busy 3yr old) and Aly, who is entering the terrible 2's right on schedule at 19 months. Two munchkins who care not that mommy and daddy went to bed at 1:30am. Aly decided 5:45a was a good time to start her day.

Christmas 2010 went really well... Grandma and Grampa came up bearing a staggering number of gifts for their grandmunchkins. The highlights being the Rose Petal cottage, complete with tiny furniture; a large 2-seater wagon which comes with seat belts. Thomas the train has made his first appearance in our house along with all 3 Toy Story movies and Lightening McQueen is still God in the house. 2 Mack trucks and several more Cars paraphenelia.

For me.. I doubled the number of waffle makers I owned in 5 minutes.

Here's to a fantastic 2011... Disney in March up next!

Milestone in life

... to pick up from my last post. Yes, they did win! It was pretty stressful... having to leave with 10 minutes left in the 3rd period and then refreshing my Blackberry browser every minute to get news... only to have it go to OT and then rushing up Main St. USA to make our dinner reservation (Crystal Palace) and having an off-duty waiter tell me "Hey, congrats!".

Yeah we did!!

It was colder than normal in Florida that trip... good for visiting Disney and the bugs had a ball. The 2nd week, in Palm Coast, was still cool and weather not great so having to come up with stuff to do was challenging.

Since then, Aly's 1st birthday was a smash... nicely cooperating and smearing her first cake all over her face. Zach's 3rd birthday in August had its moments... having it in the park was nice but setting up nearly gave me a nervous breakdown. We'd bought a talking Lightening McQueen big inflatable balloon in Florida. When tying it to the picnic table, it was pretty windy and it kept flying in my face. So I tied it to the bench and another gust of wind got it and before I could blink it was up up and away. Noooooooooooooo the helium-filled balloon was gone like a rocket and in minutes was in Gatineau airspace.

All this, not the purpose of this post!

Today was my last day at the department I've been with for the last 11 years and altogether the last 16 years. Natural Resources Canada has been a great place which really gave me my first shot but it's time for a change. Monday I start at Public Safety Canada! New adventures, new staff... intimidating but exciting!

Now, if only Aly and Zach would stop taking turns getting various illnesses, viruses and coughs... a good nights sleep seems like such a great thing now!

Off to Disney and Gold 2010

It's 11:21pm right now... we are all packed and ready to fly to Florida early tomorrow morning. It means getting up at 4:30am but the 2010 Vancouver Olympics are on and Team Canada is in the semi-final game against Slovakia. The winner goes to the gold medal game, which would be Sunday (February 28, 2010).

Once again, I am leaving Canada the day before the Olympic Gold Medal hockey game.

This has happened once before.

In 2002. I went to Guatemala.

That turned out pretty good for Canada.

I'm just sayin'.

This will be Alyssa's first plane trip and, shockingly, Zach's 3rd (and he's only 2.5 years old). 5 days at Disney World before we meet up with Grandma and Grampa to stay at Orange Lake and then Palm Coast.

Here's hoping it's the happiest place on earth... Sunday especially.

I must get better at this

Ok... I knew it had been a while since my last posting. It has always been something I mean to get to every day but then, by the end of the day, am too tired to write it. I knew it had been a while, but last August??? Sheesh..

That isn't to say I haven't been thinking about it or thinking of topics, phrasings etc.. to use. But by the time we get both munchkins to bed and have some relaxation time, well, I'm pretty zonked!

Rituals

One of the topics floating in my mind is/are the rituals that evolve with Zach. A couple of months ago, he got a 'big boy' bed which really consisted of removing the drop-rail... but I'll get to that later. Until then, we had a very predictable bedtime routine that I always smile about. We'd get upstairs, brush his teeth "I want to do it!" and then sit in the armchair in his room and he'd pick out a story for me to read while he drank his milk and held Joey. Then, the conversation would go like this:

Daddy: Are you ready for bed?

Zach: Yeah (small voice)

Daddy: Should we get into the bed?

Zach: Yeah (small voice)

(Get into bed)

Daddy: Hug?

Daddy: Hug for Joey?

Daddy: Another hug for daddy?

Daddy: Ok, time for bed. I love you

Zach: I love you daddy

Daddy: Good night Zach

Zach: G'night daddy

Now that he (as of December 2009) is in the big-boy bed, the ritual has changed a bit as he now insists on getting into the bed without assistance.

When we modified his bed... he got a pillow and blankets. He did his afternoon nap that day no problem. We patted ourselves on the back for being good parents. Then we put him down for bed at night... all went well.. until about 10:30pm when I, downstairs watching tv but about to come upstairs, suddenly heard a loud bang followed by crying. Sprinting up the stairs, I discovered that he had indeed fallen out of bed. We had focussed so much on him potentially voluntarily getting out of bed that it never occurred to us that he might in-voluntarily get out.

Come to think of it... I'm not sure why I don't fall out of bed regularly. I mean, how do we/our body just know not to fall out of bed??

We bought a bed rail...

Siblings

Zach and Alyssa are starting to interact.... we can count on Zach to make his sister laugh but still need to work on how to be gentle with a baby. She went from no crawling to full-on tear across the floor literally overnight in December. He got a ride-in police car from his Nana & Grampy for Christmas (2009) and needed to be stopped a few times from running over his sister... or stepping on his sister... or stop banging her head against the refrigerator... or dragging her around by her leg... this is all new territory for me, this sibling thing.

Eating

Alyssa has progressed quickly to solids and is up to the pureed mush stage, cheerios and wafers. Zach has turned into one of the pickiest eaters I've ever seen. Pretty much every meal we need to cajole, plead, threaten, bargain, negotiate to get him to eat his dinner. I, in fact, hate the war we call dinner right now because it's very very trying on the patience. That and trying to stop him from bringing his foot up onto the table...

Being Cute

Saves them often.

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.

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...

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 --

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.

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).

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...

History unfolds

I'm watching some world history unfold tonight. It's been election season in North America this past month... first another (waste of time) election here in Canada and the exact same result as the last... a minority government again.

That's not really the history part.

In our neighbours to the south, the most important election for president is unfolding. Either way, history will be made with either the first Black president or the first female vice-president. It's 10pm right now and although nothing has been officially called... it very much looks like Barack Obama will be America's first Black/African-American president. Turnout for voting is the highest in history, which speaks to how important this election is.

Obama is a mesmerizing figure. Charismatic, extremely well-spoken, the man just has presence. He's like Bill Clinton but with added significance. He's campaigned on a platform of "Change"... millions come out to hear him speak. There hasn't been a lightening-rod type figure like this since JFK. It's not my country... but even I get filled with hope about what this guy could do. The economy is in bad shape, morale is low and palpable... it's the perfect conditions for a 'hero' to come in and just by doing so, could turn things to an upswing.

Zach is 14.5 months right now. He's walking/running pretty much everywhere, opening and closing doors, drawers, pulling himself up onto the couch and often heard to say "Hi!". He has no idea of what this moment could mean... he just wants to explore everything, take Joey the bear with him, and if he can, put something in his hand into his mouth.

Years from now, I really do hope he asks me "why wasn't there a black president before?" I really hope that he is completely mystified as to why this would have been an issue at all.

Zach - today shows progress in the USA and the world. Maybe they're growing up. Someday, maybe Canada will jump the race divide... we've had a black Governor-General, hopefully a PM oneday. Hopefully, we'll all get to the state where it's the person that matters, not what they look like.

D!

I've gotten quite horrible at this... but I'll try and recount some of the highlights of the past few months. From an earlier post in June the hope that "da-da" would eventually distinguish me from the garbage can. Well, with regular consistency I can now report that I'm now "D! "

This is exciting.

Not only do I get a positive association for the sound that letter of the alphabet makes, there's clear recognition that I'm on the 'known associates' list of the Z.

Little Z continues to move like lightening and is one of the busiest and most determined little people I've ever come across. He pulls himself up on nearly everything, pushes his little ride-on toys while walking behind them and I swear is days away from walking on his own. It brings an interesting issue up... if walking and talking turn out to be such grief-causers down the road (having to chase them, trying to live through language you might not want to hear), why are we in such a hurry to teach and encourage them to learn these skills?? I mean, really, they'll learn how eventually won't they? Just as with the issue of the pacifiers and getting attached to it (how many adults do you know with this problem? Exactly) they'll figure out the walking/talking thing without us anyway. Why hurry it along?

Something else happened in July (2008) that I swore never would.

We bought a mini-van.

In retrospect it was probably inevitable.

Ok, I'm up, now what do I do?

That sliver of hope about associating 'Da Da' and looking in my direction is looking better all the time. In the past couple of months, baby Z has progressed from a frog crawl to outright speed demo crawling and now has figured out how to pull himself up on stuff.

This is inspiring and jaw-droppingingly cool... and sorta funny as well. He'll pull himself up but hasn't quite figured out what to do once he's there.

At the same time... all that teething-teasing since he was 5 months finally broke through. Our little hero now has two bottom teeth and two uppers... which from time to time cause him no end of crankiness.

I must say... tiny tot swimming lessons can be very entertaining to watch but participating is an entirely different thing. Led by the cheery 14 year old (or so) 'instructor', she has her charges (including the parents) in the shallow pool trying to demonstrate blowing bubbles etc... to 8-10 month olds who have no interest whatsoever. The part she hasn't really clued into is it's all fine for someone who can't walk and is carried around to float in water etc... you take your parent in their mid (ok late) 30s and ask them to keep getting up and getting down in 2 feet of water.. well, I guess she doesn't know the knees of a mid (ok late) 30 year old.

... but getting that semi-interested glance and little smile when you 'jump' into the water is kinda neat.

FYI... Da-Da could also be the garbage can

I have to admit... hearing "Da-da", as Zach is often babbling now, is quite rewarding. I mean, what father doesn't like to hear "dada" or something similar being among the first semi-articulate words coming out of their child's mouth?

News flash... and I think I'd read about this somewhere... is that while 'dada' is a fairly common first sound... it's fairly random and can be used to describe any of mom, dad, hunger, garbage can or perhaps the latest results of the American democratic race.

So, that tempers the excitement a tad but still... there's still that flicker of pride when "Da Da" comes out of his mouth and he's at least looking in my direction.

It's a world of laughter

Taking a 5-month old to Disney World is an interesting experience in a lifetime. Me, I love Disney and always have. Sure I was spoiled as a child and went often when I was a young'un. Even two years ago, Julie and I went for a vacation (winter after the wedding and Italian honeymoon, Florida was the affordable option) and did Disney... and had three very packed fun days there. Now we're traveling with someone who cannot (at this point in time) speak, walk, hold himself up, or be permitted to be out of eyesight.

Needless to say it's a different pace.

Still... I found myself watching him more than whatever ride we happened to take him on. Watching his fascination with the swirling lights or colours, became much more interesting to me than the ride itself.
Stopping for feeding every once and a while... many many rides he cannot yet go on. But still, here I am, now a parent of a child at Disney World. It doesn't mean squat to him right now but it means the world to me. I'm not really sure why... For some reason I waited nearly an hour in line for Zach to have a picture with Winnie the Pooh. Zach has several items of clothing with said Pooh and I thought it would be appropriate. Every 15 minutes or so, the characters would take a break. After nearly an hour, I was the next person in line. No-one was next for a picture but I. The three characters there.. The Pooh, Tigger and some unknown female character named Darby... they take their break. But hey, I'm next, so I'm patient. Tigger and unknown girl return... No Pooh. The 'handler' explains that Winnie had another photoshoot. This mystified me.. of course he does... right here, right now!

I was pretty ticked... maybe it was the almost-hour in line... maybe it was the 'who the hell are you Darby?'... but I was affronted that my little guy wouldn't get his photo opp with Pooh Bear. Did he care? He just ate, all was right with the world and now there's a 6ft tall orange and black cat standing next to him.

What's a dad to do?

Get him a photo opp with the Mouse himself, that's what!

It IS a small world after all...

It's been a while since we caught up here. I formulate posts in my head and then the day just seems to get away from me. Before long, it's two months later... Work has been hectic and busy for months now and every once and a while I start hearing the "cats in the cradle" in my head which means it's time to stop everything and hang out with little Z.

So what's been happening? Well, little Z had his first vacation at the end of January... first trip, first flight, first visit to another country. Zach in Florida was a smashing success.

In talking to many people about flying with a baby, I think we were pretty well prepared. I can't say enough good things about the people at Westjet, they're just amazing. It'd been suggested to us that we don't take the 'pre-board' advantage... which, secretly, I was looking forward to. Next best thing to first class I figured. However, the good advice we got was that if you do the pre-board, you're then sitting there for 20 or so minutes doing nothing while your infant gets antsy. So, in talking to the nice Westjet people, we compromised (since they needed to give us instruction on the plane anyway)... I went on half-way through and got everything settled... handed the ultra-light cool stroller we got, put the carry-0n's in the overhead compartment (with a selection of toys out, blanket etc..) All good.

We learned quickly that the key to infant flying is distraction. Westjet planes are a big help in this, with every seat having it's own personal tv. So, tune it to Treehouse and that buys you 15 minutes or so with the flashing colours... walk up and down the aisle.. and with a cute 5 month old, you feel quite popular. The feeding during ascent and descent worked out fine and Z seemed to enjoy. The arrival in Florida, with grandparents eagerly waiting, went speedy and before you knew it we were on our way...

And the first stop, in keeping with grandma, grampa and Mommy's favourite tastes, Ghirardelli Chocolate at Downtown Disney. But first, to greet the Florida sun, Zach had to make himself more comfortable...





Once settled into the condo, roughly 1.5 miles (yeah, miles, what can you do?)... The Florida adventure was in full sway... and the (continuing the string of firsts) first swim in the first pair of swimming trunks. His first swim, well, he seemed fairly unimpressed. No big smiles, no "My god, this is the coolest thing ever!" But conversely, no freaking out either.

With the vacation underway... and Disney eagerly looming, Grampa made his pronouncement. "When we're at Disney, I am taking him on 'It's a Small World' and he will sit on my lap!"

Who can argue with that?

A Year in Review - 2007

I've been reflecting on my year... the year 2007 that is. Did much happen?

I've learned about:

• Swaddling and my complete inability to master it
• How, for the first three or so months of a person's life, getting up at midnight, 3am and 5am oddly becomes expected. However, despite what anyone says, it's never pleasant. You adjust, you adapt... you gain more and more appreciation for your wife who takes all this in stride.
• How, when in pre-natal classes and the teacher informs you that you will at some point have a urge to shake your baby and you think that seems harsh, you understand with full clarity at 4am
• The first time your baby grips your finger, it's the coolest thing
• You're often tired and can't remember not being tired... and this is with your wife doing yeoman's work during weekdays so you can sleep and be somewhat alert for work
• Babies come with stuff, lots of stuff... you go somewhere, you've got a lot of stuff to bring/carry
• My job is to carry stuff
• Thinking of yourself as a parent takes a while... it's fun to say in the abstract but it takes a really long time to really think of yourself as one.

This was going to be a lot longer post but it took me roughly 2 months. I'm working on doing this better... blogs and parenting!

The first Zachary Christmas

The first Christmas. I've been told a lot that the first Christmas with your child is cherishable beyond belief. Well, aside from family craziness, the little Z's first Christmas was very enjoyable indeed. He got rather spoiled from various sources, but not overboard... we were careful about that. I've seen kids with tons of toys and all manner of things. We want Zach to value his toys and possessions, not to just throw toys at him to keep him occupied. I'm amazed at the abilities of some toys today... wheels that will teach him the alphabet, balls that will teach colours, little houses that teach 20 different actions in 4 different languages. It'll be interesting to see how these types of toys affect this generation.

But I digress...

I think the most humbling moment for me, as a parent, was when I was wrapping gifts the other day and when it came to "To" I'd put Zach, or some cute moniker, and then I got to the "From" and wrote down "Daddy"... and it struck me that it was the first time I'd done that in the "from" area. Gotta admit, that was pretty cool.

Our little friend is only 4.5 months old for his first Christmas. This has a couple of bonuses.

First, we don't need to wait until he's asleep to wrap gifts. Second, he doesn't really care what he gets. I was told often, and it's quite true, he'll be quite content with tissue paper or a box. As true as that might be, how many parents, new or otherwise want to be the parent that only gets their kid a tissue or a box for Christmas?

Many a picture was taken... he got to be with both sets of grandparents who absolutely delighted in shopping for him and being with him on his first Christmas. Stories will be written of the first Christmas and we'll tease him about how he was sooooo cute in all his "Baby's first Christmas" clothes, hats, and bibs.

He had a good day... by which I mean in a generally good mood all day long. Enjoyed his book that made a crinkle sound and the teething (4 at once at current count) didn't distress him too much. Him having a good day made our day great.

The first of many Christmas's to come... the insanity of family gatherings, the wonder in a child's eye. Hark the herald indeed.