Victoria Christmas '11 - 'I didn't do anything'

We're getting ready to leave Victoria today - I think we've been here for about a month, or a year it's hard to tell for sure. I've had the best time! We had a great Christmas and saw lots of old friends and relatives. I've seen lots of wildlife, done some hikes, played some soccer games, eaten ribs, bought sneakers, played with my new chainsaw (thanks Grandpa), driven cars, and learned ping pong.

One thing I've picked up this week is a useful phrase... I didn't do anything. It comes in handy whether you've done anything or not, but can also be used in advance. The response I most commonly receive is Oh really? which makes me think I'm really on to something.

One thing I did do this week, was make my brother Ollie laugh like he's never done before. He probably told you that he's taught himself to roll over, but now he can really chuckle - I'm sure he'll be able to play soccer in about 3 days.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

_

The REAL Santa...

I've met the real Santa three times now: once at my school, once downtown and once at Oakridge. I'm pretty sure that makes us acquaintances now - we'll find out on the Big Day I suppose.

The weather has been amazing this Fall - sure it's been cold, but it has barely rained at all. That means loads of playing outside. I'm pretty sure the older I get the more energy I have - I can barely stop to take a breath (I hear my parents complain about it quite a bit, but they're coming around).

We're playing our original Saturday Soccer now, and Coach Glyn has always preferred outdoors, which is awesome. (I promise that there are other kids here off camera getting a drink - this is not a personal camp set up by my Dad.) There must be a million balls to choose from at Soccer, but I still get pretty clingy to whichever one I've chosen. My Dad insisted on me posting this particular picture as he's excited that I've kicked the ball so hard that I'm airborne. It's a good thing I like soccer...

Remember... it's almost Christmas

A few weeks back, my Dad and I went on another secret mission (we does those a fair amount now). We took the bus downtown and joined a big crowd of people in the cold. After a fair amount of being quiet, a band started and then another one, and another one - it was a band parade that consisted of mostly Canadians in a variety of uniforms, and a mini band of Russians. It was pretty powerful stuff.

Speaking of powerful stuff, I scored three goals last Saturday at my soccer. Two were in a drill, but one was in the scrimmage (my Dad was medium excited, but I could tell he was holding back his jubilation). I will try and find you a picture, but Dad says that I have to protect my 'image rights' for future contracts. He's alright my Dad, but a bit nutty.

"Actually..."

It has been a busy couple of weeks, and I thought I would get you up to speed more visually this time - actually, I like talking too. Shortly after Halloween, my Dad and I went to see a BC Lions game at the New Stadium! I love that place. Actually it's not new, but it sure looks that way.

It was so loud at the game that I was a little unsure at first, but I eventually got into the times when the announcer told us all to make noise - I just went for it. I got a foam claw and practiced my roar on one of the ramps. We left just before the end, but it was quick late so I took a committed snooze in my chair on the way home.

Swimming has been getting better and better, and my Dad and I have a pretty dedicated Tuesday now from waking in the morning, swimming in the afternoon, and dinner at La Taqueria.

Lastly, Ollie and I wanted to give a shout out to our parents. 16 years ago tonight was their first date. I'm not sure what a date is, but it's probably something from back in the middle ages. Put it this way, I have no photos of them from then because photos were stored on paper back then! What? Anyway, Ollie and I did one of us instead - this is from our 'strike a pose' catalog.

Just one more thing...

Here we are at Halloween again. This year I have been making appearances as Spiderman, most noticeably at my school Halloween Party where we put on, what critics have called, A Hallowonderful Performance! This here is a picture of me and my brother Oliver. Monday night we are going to try a new part of town for trick or treating - I'm very much looking forward to it.

Last week my Grandad stayed with us which was great. We played soccer together and he made us some very tasty food. He uses a lot of big words, but I have found a short word that I find comes in very handy, and the word is 'just'. As in just a minute, I'm just doing something, or my favourite to any request that I stop doing what I'm doing, No [you're wrong], I'm just doing this! I haven't found a word as useful as this since I discovered No.

Fall Festivities

Hi Everyone! I do hope you've all been well. I'm embarrassed to say that it has officially been a month since my last communication, but we're still up and running at least. Some of the highlights of this last 30 day period are sure fun to recall.

I am very much enjoying my baby brother - and he smiles at me every time I get right up close to him - he's like an angel (they're so innocent when they're young). I go swimming every Tuesday with my dad now, and have started a new soccer on Saturdays (last week I scored a super goal). My Dad and I have been spending more time together which keeps me busy (part of the reason for the wait between posts).

Speaking of my brother, he has got his own little gig over at OliverBoy.com - if you feel like subscribing, there is a box on the right hand side of his page. He's bigger into the photographic journey, but he's still learning about the audience.

I CAN RIDE A BIKE!! And, I have a new BABY BROTHER!

I got a 2 wheel, sans training wheels, racing bike from my new baby brother - and I can ride it all by myself!! Which leads me to my second piece of news... my baby brother arrived! All 9lbs 7oz, 22+ inches of him (a little lighter, and shorter than I was but nobody's counting).

He was born on Friday morning (my parents were gone all night - probably preparing). The picture above was taken today, and the picture below was taken about 5 minutes after he joined us. Everyone is so excited! Mum and Dad looked tired when I went to see them Friday afternoon, but other than that, they were healthy and happy.

And, he brought me a new 2 wheel bike! I'm not sure how, but I haven't had time to ask or care. On Sunday, my Grandpa and Dad took me out to give it a spin, and after a few tries it was just like riding a bike! No problem.

In terms of my little brother, there will no doubt be more information very soon, and rest assured I have already looked into domain names for him.

So we're in to 'any day now' territory as I'm told. Any day now, and I'm going to be a big brother and meet my new baby brother. It's kind of exciting, but also, I recently had my face painted which, needless to say, is immediately exciting. One thing I'm looking forward to is all the hip hop talk we'll be able to throw around (sup brother?) - I sure hope he likes hip hop talk. Also, I'll get to teach him stuff and get him to do stuff for me - it's going to be pretty cool.

People have asked me... 'hey Dublin, will your little brother have a blog of his own like you?' I always tell them that I'm a pretty special breed and it would be unfair to have the same expectations for other babies as people do for me. Truth is, I'm not sure - but if he does, I might read a bit of it.

Sons of SBs

A couple of weekends ago, I went on a short road trip with my parents. We didn't go too far, but we left Friday morning, popped across the border, and arrived in Seattle with a non-hotel reservation (pretty easy to get actually). Luckily, wonderful Slade, Kristen and Liam invited us to stay with them for the day and night in their wonderful place in wonderful West Seattle.

Weather was beautiful and Liam and I spent a fair amount of time sharing things, riding on shoulders, and talking about what it's like to be the son of an SB.

No-I-Know-Dat!

So far, Summer has been an island beach tour - any more of this and I'm going to start to think I own the beach. We were in Qualicum for 5 days with lots of family which was great. Every day Emma, Devan and I would go to ConeZone for ice cream, and every night we'd have a beach fire and roast marshmallows. I learnt loads of stuff from Devan (nudge nudge, wink wink).

Recently, my vocab has been increasing, as has my retention. My new common phrase is a snap 'No, I know that!' Certain people tend to repeat things to me as though I didn't hear them the first time. I've also gotten quicker to correct people, which in a way is my gift to society - I think I'll keep it up.

We sure got a good weekend of weather - about time too, the final weekend of July. On Saturday we went to Kits pool for the first time if you can believe it (we live just up the hill), and then carried on to the Whitecaps game with 27,542 other people. Today I played soccer with my Dad (chips, volleys and flicks), I got my haircut, we walked to 4th for dinner and then I almost got eaten by a dog. All in all an exciting weekend.

Parksville Paddle

Hope everyone is having a lovely, lazy summer. We went to Parksville (Vancouver Island) last week, which was loads of fun. Late night partying, musical beds, waterparks, it had all the ingredients.

My Nanna and Grandpa brought their 5^th Wheel (poorly named with 4 wheels) which made for a more comfortable excursion than last year’s “Cold Camping Hornby”, and we were right on the water. I peacefully sat and watched older boys do tricks on BMXs at the skate park for long periods of time… I think I’m starting to learn the real concept of ‘Cool’.

My Dad tried paddle surfing a couple of times, and at one point we took to the water together (don’t be alarmed at the lack of life jackets, the water is about 2 feet deep for about a mile).

Parksville certainly got my vote, and I’m sure we’ll be back. Coming up… Qualicum!

Classic Summer Weekend

Although it seems like an eternity ago, I hope you all had a good weekend. Was it me, or was it a particularly busy one? On Saturday I had soccer practice, which was lovely, followed by a delicious ham & cheese croissant at a local coffee parlour. Then later that afternoon I accompanied some fellows to 'the track' for the first time - we behaved like Gentlemen. Turns out I was pretty good at picking winners: for the first race I picked the Green horse - his name turned out to be Unquiet, and wouldn't you know it, he came in first!

For the second race I picked the Green one (considering he did so well in the first race, and it's my current favourite colour), and he came in second! At this point, Dad was doing a lot of signalling and visiting the ticket counter for other people... and this was when my Green horse picks were no longer doing quite so well - things became more quiet if you will.

Sunday was a new day, and after some wonderful Fish & Chips on Granville Island, we rode bikes to Greek Days! There were so many people, and so many smells. I learned the art of 'people watching' and also that it's not always a great idea to say everything you're thinking, in a loud, unmissable voice.

Related

Earlier this month, I finally met my new cousin for the first time. Sabine and I got along famously... we talked about what it's like to be related (pretty cool), I showed her how I can do a table stand, we discussed that there are two more cousins on the way in September, I showed her how I ride my bike, and eat food with a fork, and run really fast, and jump high, and colour, and put my shoes on, and carry things with one hand.

Then we thought it would be hilarious to do impersonations of our parents. And....... nailed it! Sabine and her parents stayed with us for four days and it was sad to see them go, but we decided we're going to keep in touch, and visit whenever we can squeeze it in to our busy schedules.

Speaking of schedules, I finally got my own GP last week. As part of the application process, I had to have my measurements taken. I am officially 3, I'm a very fast runner, I don't like to acknowledge 's's at the beginning of words that start with 's', and I weigh 45 lbs (don't judge me) and am 3 1/2 feet tall.

Gettin' Schooled...

Much has happened since my last entry. My birthday party was a blast: bouncy castle, sandbox, friends and unbridled excitement. Thanks to everyone who made it! Needless to say, I crashed earlier than usual that evening - it was like a crime scene.

Of course with a new age comes new experiences, and yesterday was my first day of Montessori Pre-School! (I was going to take my briefcase, but went with my new frog backpack instead - turned out to be a good call.)

We set out for the long journey kitty corner from our house just before 0900 hours. It's so great over there. So much to do, really nice people and great activities. I started the day with a little Science just to let the locals know.

As we're talking about learning, I asked my Dad what asshole meant the other day. We were driving back from soccer practice and Dad complimented another driver by saying nice work asshole. I didn't get a straight answer but I think it must have been the man's name, or maybe it means good guy or something. We didn't dwell on it anyway.

I'M THREE!!

I stayed up as late as I could tonight to tell you the big news and be the first one to sing Happy Birthday to myself. (Although, as I told Daddy 3 days ago, it's frowned upon and you should really be quiet when other people sing it to you.)

So... I'm turning THREE in a few hours!! May 10th! I can't wait. Just for fun, I took a stroll down memory lane and enjoyed some moments from my past. This was my first DubJam back in late 2009. And then, interestingly enough, this is what I was up to exactly 1/2 my lifetime ago. And lastly, in the interests of Mother's Day, I remember my first Mother's Day like it was yesterday.

(For those who are curious about this photo, my parents left me with my Grandpa, Nanna and Grandma for a week recently... they let me do all sorts of things!)

Whitecaps!

So I'm trying to take in as much of the world as I can before I hit 3 (I know, I know, 3 is the new 2). Recently, I went to a Whitecaps game with my Dad and some friends, and had a terrific time. We started warming up about an hour before kickoff when we all met at Handbag Lake near the stadium. Vince brought me a Whitecaps drum, so I gave that a spin during some quiet meditation.

The crowd at the game (21,000 strong) was very loud, and it was difficult to know exactly when to get louder and stand up (or when to yell 'White' and when to yell 'Caps'). During the second half I started to learn that you can blend in getting loud when you want and staying quiet when you want. It was a beautiful day and I can't remember who won, but I definitely know who to cheer for.

Whatever...

Well, we're back in the swing of things in Vancouver. The weather's been expectedly unpredictable, we've been hitting our usual lunch spots with familiar friends, and we're getting closer to this year's Federal Election.

In other news, this Saturday is annual Record Store Day so think about buying a recording from a store, it's less than a month until my 3rd Birthday, and I haven't worn a diaper now in over a month! That's right, I'm diaper and soother free, baby! Big boy stuff.

As a last bit of news for you, but certainly no less important, I tried out my first 'Whatever' last Sunday. My parents had quite the reaction - so I plan on dropping a few more around town.

Indiana Visit

We had a great time in Indiana! Right off the bat we got picked up in a Limousine by a guy named Jerry (stage name probably). We drove all the way to Bloomington where we were dropped off at our new temporary home - a delightful Bed & Breakfast (there was a bathroom aswell).

Then we went to see Granddad play the piano with a trio before dinner. It was nice and loud, and there were drums. This was the first time I'd seen Granddad play - he was pretty good for a guy who just started.

A couple of days later I was invited to walk the prestigious campus of Indiana University. It was huge - and I walked it all. They were nice enough to give me the run of the place for a couple of hours and I could tell I was getting smarter, more quickly than normal.

On my walk, I discovered a tree that grew shoes! I know right? Madness. You have to see it to believe it. We examined and discussed that tree for a lengthy period of time as you can imagine.

The next day, my Dad and I did a few duets on the old ivories. As you know, I don't like to blow my own horn, but we got pretty good. This piano was also loud. I'm starting to like pianos.

On the last day, I retired for the evening on my claimed bed, organized these photos, researched some new jazz songs for Granddad and watched an episode of Curious George. It was a pretty quick trip, but we had a great time!

Travel Bug...

I recently left to do a little traveling with my family, and we kicked it off in style. This is a picture of me and my Dad in the cockpit of the plane we all took to Phoenix. (Sorry about the photo quality, the pilot may be good at flying, but he was pretty rubbish at picture taking.)

Mum and I went to the great state of Arizona to visit Grandpa and Nanna who were there for a couple of weeks, while Dad went to a conference in Austin. We had such fun in Phoenix. I can't post those photos right now (security), but as a teaser I'll mention our time involved a Suns game, baseball games, slow trains, great zoos, sky diving, camel rides and popcorn. It also had some impromptu fountain dancing where I took off all my clothes to hit the water. I haven't felt that young in months.

We met up with Dad again, this time in the great state of Indiana where we are visiting Grandad and Judith. The weather's been awesome here - perfect for running at the 93rd percentile for speed and form. I watched Grandad's trio play when we arrived which was wonderful. More pictures to follow...