Listen Up

On this, the evening of my 15th month Birthday, I'm here to assure you that I will be speaking to you out loud soon. I have been reading loads, and I am already fluent in a slightly more primal form of distinguishable wordgrunts. I fully understand your sophisticated verbal and non-verbal communication and am simply choosing the perfect poetic moment.

In other news, it seems we are moving at the end of the month. Either that, or my parents have developed a strong affection towards brown boxes. We are apparently moving to a land called Kids, which seems only appropriate. I headed over there last weekend to look around and you'll be relieved to know they allow some adults in, and they have ice cream.

Mike & Jessica

Earlier this month I attended the wonderful wedding of my big cousin Mike (Uncle Mike) and the lovely Jessica. I have spent much time with both of them over the last year and a bit: we've flown on 3 planes together, spoken 2 languages together and shared 1 letter in common in our first names... and we're related. Needless to say, I felt a little confused when I wasn't asked to speak on the big day.

Regardless, the ceremony and the reception were a truly wonderful time had by all, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't learn a little something. The most important thing I took away was that relationships are a delicate symbiotic balance of giving and receiving (which I felt I demonstrated on the day by playing both quarterback and receiver).

Happy Bastille Day

On Tuesday night, I was invited to a soirée put on by the ladies from Vitamin Daily to celebrate Bastille Day (they must have heard about how I totally did France this time last year). It was a lovely affair, filled with lovely people.

I strolled onto the scene a wee bit late looking un petit peu Français, and a little bit Rock & Roll.

It took me a few minutes to really open up and relax, but then I just started doing my thing and it was on! I ate a fair amount of fries, some fancy fish and a few other tasties - all prepared in a French manner (not that the French are known for their manners ;).

As the night moved on, I helped my buddy Sean make some popular drinks for some guests - you'll be happy to know, we split the tips.

Carry on Camping

Last week a few of us went camping at BradsDadsLand Campsite on Hornby Island. Boy was that a fun time - although I have to admit, I was relieved when I learned we hadn't moved into the wilderness for good.

When camping, you do many things differently: you wake up super early to some sort of crow/rooster soundtrack, you spend 100% of the time outdoors - usually running, and you're allowed to do pretty much anything you want with dirt, sand and rocks.

One of the highlights had to be renting that catamaran and sailing around to a private bay (it was a shame that T-Pain wasn't able to make it).

Halfway through the trip, my friend Quinn and his parents arrived at the campsite next door which was a great surprise. It's always nice when an old friend comes around - someone you can chat with and relate to.

On our last full day we celebrated Canada Day and my friend Eric's Birthday with some live music, good food, contained mischief and a fair number of hippies (which I learned is one of the side effects of camping). All in all, a lovely jaunt in the wilderness.

Glorious Food

Like it or not, I pretty much eat what you eat now. That's right... the milk I drink these days is of the cow variety (as strange as that sounds). I'd have to say the transition began months ago when a certain cousin of mine irresponsibly put a finger of whipped cream in my mouth, and I thought Yep, food is going to get good.

I eat cherries like nobody's business. While I was at my friend Joanna's birthday party on the weekend I ate sushi (followed by my very popular Ice Ice Baby performance). And I now eat whole apples by myself - not that it does any good, as the Doc gave me three more shots this week.

Two weeks ago I even ate a Quesadilla (which, I learned, is not a dinosaur) at this wonderful place called BabyEats, with Quinn and Sophie. It's a lovely place to share time with friends. I even found a moment to teach Sophie about the benefits of property ownership.

Sunny Days

It looks like summer has finally arrived. I remember last summer like it was a million years ago so it's nice to have the pantless days again (although I can't help noticing I don't get much company in that particular fashion movement).

I hung out with my good friend Quinn the other day, which was lovely (brought the parents along so they could entertain each other). He taught me that all good lawnmowers blow bubbles.

Earlier that day we went to ThomasHaas - you might say that Thomas Haas some of the tastiest croissants around (okay, okay enough...).

In closing, I would like to know who has been planting Gigantic Teeth seeds in my gums recently. Seriously, if I chose to harvest these ones I could key a piano.

Dr. Feelgood

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I spent a little time catching up with the garden in Victoria - I find it so calming. I've always said, it's important to find balance.

Upon my return, I had a doctor's appointment with Leslie - just a general check-in sort of thing. The latest numbers are about 32" tall and 26 lbs light. She told me that I was at the 90th percentile for weight and the 80th for height. My question to her was does that include elephants and giraffes? Oh, how we laughed...

(I avoided my four next immunization shots with a questionable cough - I fully intend to sidestep this appointment until they develop chewable shots...)

One Year

It's official: I am one year old... and it feels amazing! Before I go any further, I want to say many thanks to everyone who found the time to come to my party, and thank you to everyone who brought & sent such beautiful & thoughtful cards & presents. I am going to get to work on a little video of the party and will post it when it's done (hence the release forms when you arrived).

I also wanted to show you the cupcakes that the ladies made for the party. Can you believe them? And those aren't even real ladybugs... amazing. (Although, a little predictable that they would only make ladybug versions - I mean come on - where are all the gentlemenbug cupcakes?)

Here I am enjoying one of the above mentioned cupcakes.

All in all, I'm enjoying being one. There's a certain air of sophistication that now follows me on my adventures. One of the things that I've learned since turning one, is to try and enjoy everything you can to the fullest. Which reminds me of one of my favourite quotes...

Time flies like and arrow,

Fruit flies like a banana.

Grow up, not old

Beaucoup Birthdays this month - lots of family and friends are growing another year older. I hope you all enjoy your festivities. Funny you should mention Birthdays as mine is a week away - the Big 1, or 'I' as the Romans say. 

It seems to me that age is based loosely on the passage of time, which is fine - but I was wondering if it shouldn't be based purely on experience. If we went with this new groundbreaking concept of age, I feel that I might have a case for something a little more impressive than one. 

I mean I do dishwashers, I'm becoming a fairly accomplished vacuumanator, and I'm quite a particular decorator.

I've faced some pretty tough critics in my time, and I've even been known to chow down on Organic unsalted churned butter... package and all.

To all of you who are amazed that I'm going to be turning one already, I say Believe it - it's happening. In fact, if we can reexamine the concept of age, I might even be two!

Styling by Melonhead

Just to be clear upfront, it's still me in the photo - you probably just don't recognize me after I had my hair carefully disheveled (although it certainly didn't take 4 units). That's me handing the scissors back to Candi after I made a couple of minor corrections.

With all the intense socializing at daycare (I also teach the odd workshop there), the haircut and other preparations for my upcoming 1 year birthday blowout (crazy right?), I've starting napping whenever I can get a moment - sometimes even in a faint sepia tone. 

Easter Island

Happy Easter Everyone! I hope you all arise to bundles of flowers and mounds of packaged oval chocolates. (I've tried chocolate... it's good.)

Since my last update I've turned 11 months, started Day Care two days a week, been sick all over a JJBean, and learned to climb up stairs. It must be said, I then proceeded to infect my parents last week (accidentally, in my defense), who weren't quite as resilient as they would have liked to believe (they even called in reserves to keep me entertained). We're all better now, but let me tell you, daycare is a pretty intense place.

(To answer your question: Yes, the ears came with a tail, but I have to draw the line somewhere.)

First Steps

I know... I'm still pretty shaky, but these are literally some of my first steps. (Before I forget, I'd like to thank my boys Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee for the inspirational background music.) 

My record distance was set on Sunday at 20 feet - and I'm not talking baby feet here people! For the young kids coming up behind me, all I can say is take it one step at a time.

FinallyFotos

Loads of people have been asking for more photos. Well, here you go. As a side note, I will mention that they are mainly of me. However, in other ways it's quite a diverse collection.

There's me smiling then sullen, questioning then playful, crawling then dominating, sharing then giggling, swinging then posing, side-faux hawking then Brandoing, busing then hanging, breaking then entering, and finally thinking then snuggling.

Second side note: I am currently 31" tall, and have set a personal goal of walking, unaided mind you, before I hit 12 months. As a wise man once said... We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon.

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

Well, apparently today was a pretty big day for Dublins everywhere. As usual, I spent the day roaming around the city introducing myself to people - they couldn't believe it when I told them my name. Several people offered to buy me a drink, but I told them that was a ridiculous offer as I have an unlimited supply. (I'm told that I'll appreciate the offer later on.)

Earlier in the week I went to my buddy Jasper's 2nd Birthday Party (that's me in the 'Liverpool 4 - 1 ManUtd' jersey). If all 2nd Birthday Parties are like this, I need to keep making friends with anyone in the 0 - 23 month old window. Hosts put out an impressive spread and let you have'at'er, they add whipped cream to yogurt (!), and give you bags of goodies when you leave. I gotta tell you, that sounds like a party for Dublin to me.

Back in my Crib

I will start by sending out a big Thank You to the trio that kept me company at the end of February while my parents were away. And thanks again for the MusicalJungle. I'm telling ya - the fun that thing brings - it never ends.

Back home now with the 'rents - I have to say, it was kinda nice to get a little break from them - I mean it's all the time with those two. They did bring me back some nice things though - including a few pairs of multi-coloured socks that say New York on them. I'm thinking Hellow? Of cowse they're new - who wonts old socks!?

Latest thing with me is that I've started signing - my parents go crazy for it (it's so easy). Every now and then I like to see them lose it - I start with a sign, lead that into some steady clapping, distract them with some word-like gurgling and then knock 'em down with unassisted standing for 5 seconds. (It's almost embarrassing.)

Island Living

Last Friday I noticed, briefly, that my parents were nowhere to be seen. However, I had captured the attention of 3 Grandparents, and haven't let it go since. I am told that my temporarily roaming parents will be home soon, and I thought it would be a neat trick if I could start walking by myself as a coming home surprise for them.

In fact, last week in an attempt to have better access to dishes, I climbed onto the dishwasher door when no one was looking. (I'm fairly certain that if I could get everyone to look away for an extended minute or two, I could blanket the entire city with a fine layer of cheerio dust.)

On the last day I was with my parents, we had a lovely breakfast in Vancouver with a recent house guest. Simon (who is my friend Henry's Dad), is the silliest German mock-turtleneck salesmen I had ever met.

Toys and Fun Times

I got this toy today from Commercial Drive (where I go when I feel extra hip... or Italian... or both I suppose). It's pretty incredible - quite a bit better than the Chairman Mao toy my Dad brought back from China (I'll post that link when he gets his pictures up).

Recently, I've discovered a new game called Runaway. In a nutshell, I act pretty casual while a wet diaper comes off getting ready for bed (like I'm doing a complex math problem in my head), and the second the parent turns to put it somewhere, I'm off like a streaker in a convent. Naked. That's right - it's awesome. Plus, if you get away and have a few brief moments to yourself, you have full access to your boys. Anyway, I highly recommend it.

Before I forget, it was my 9 month birthday the other day - pulling into the 4th quarter now.

PinchPunch

Pinch Punch, first day of the month! Here are some photos from the rest of January. It seems I did an awful lot of eating throughout January. Hibernating tendencies I suppose - nature - nothing I can do about it. That's probably why I'm 28.5 cms now.

New Campaign

You'd have to be living on roller-coaster vitamins to think that today wasn't an exciting day. In fact it's even inspired me to run - I'm not sure what for just yet, but I'm gonna do it. When I was young I overcame the odds and taught myself to crawl. One day soon, I'll be walking like nobody's business. And then, some day, some where, I'll run.

I especially liked the part of the speech when he suggested unclenching fists. A couple of weeks ago I started clapping and haven't looked back. You can't do that with your fists clenched.

8 Month Birthday

Happy New Year Everyone! I trust you all had a delightful introduction to '09. I don't know about you, but I think this year is going to be one of the best so far.

Since the New Year I have been trying all sorts of new foods - may I recommend the noodles with a sprinkling of shaved cheese, the warm light chicken stew with veg, the classic hand full'o'cheerios, all washed down with a couple of healthy glasses of the house water.

Jan 10th was my 8th month Birthday - we had a pretty low-key, mini, good-time party. I mainly chatted with my friend Quinn and a few of the ladies. Let me tell you, getting older can be stressful at times - it's a lot of responsibility. All I can hope for is that I take it in good stride.

Holidayeee

Well it's official... if it hasn't been said before, Christmas is good times.

Every day there's smiling and laughing, eating and yelling, colour and clapping, chewing and crawling, and lights and life!

Speaking of all things good, have you guys ever seen plastic dishes!? This christmas I received some delightful garments and some playful toys, but Holy Mother of Moses, once I tasted the plastic dishes I was hooked. I've heard a little bit about penicillin and the space time continuum, but whoever is responsible for these pieces of wonderment deserves the science prize of all time.

Thank you kindly for the wonderful prezzies and I truly hope you all had a delightful season. Here's to a Happy New Year!

Stand Tall

The rumours are true - I've been doing the standing trick for the last 4 days (ages). It feels like it was only yesterday that I was doing a lot more not standing. 

Incidentally, I also managed my first crawl on that Sunday (about 2 hours after the "I'm not into napping right now, so I'm going to pull myself up and stand at the edge of my crib" stunt). There are far more pictures of me standing these days, as I do that like it's going outta style. I'll keep you posted on the crawling, but at the moment I just don't see the point, as I can now reach the heavens (and the table).

I learned about the snow today (and that my Mum really, really likes it).

7 Months - Trip

I turned 7 months yesterday. It seems like a pretty pivotal number - 7 days of the week, 7 deadly sins, there are 7 colours in a rainbow and it's how many months old I am.

For a birthday trip I went to San Francisco for a couple of days. Having never been to San Francisco, it was a real treat. Good weather, great people and tasty bites. We spent some time with my cousins in Berkeley which was lovely.  Speaking of the food, I ate in several new places with new smells and people, but the food always tasted the same.

(I'm hoping to start crawling and standing on the same day - before 2009. I'll keep you posted.)

Photography Weeks 27 - 29

As we have a fair amount of pictures to get through I thought I'd try and keep you busy in time with the slideshow. 

Hi there, just chilling on the couch - nice to see you. 

Here I am playing with my buddy Jasper - man, that guy knows some cool stuff. I just try and take it all in as best I can. Charlie Brown Piano, what? My Grandad needs to teach me how to play this thing.

My mum, having lunch on her birthday. Who's birthday, you ask? MY MUM'S!!

Water? Yes please pretty lady. 

So these are what babysitters look like, eh? 

That's my mum. That's my mum.

"Highchair Musical 3" auditions - joy... and... drama.

Hmmm, what would happen if I used my powers for both good and evil?

Me again. Lion impression - Roar!

That's my Dad.

There's a guy hanging out in the woods in Snowman pajamas.

That's right - sometimes I like to comb my hair.

Mum's Birthday

Yesterday was my Mum's birthday (I'm not sure if you all know my mum, but if you and I have hung out before, she's usually pretty close by). She seemed thoroughly excited about her approaching big day - she's been telling me about it for ages.

I decided that it's nice when people have special days - it got me to thinking about how special I think my mum is:

• She feeds me all sorts of healthy foods throughout the day, so I can probably thank her for my dominating size and fitness.
• We have the best conversations (sometimes even about secret stuff that I can't tell you), and she's always reading, singing and teaching me things (like how her hair isn't to be used as a handle). Although, she seems obsessed with repeating 'ma' to me, slower and more pronounced each time - a little annoying to be honest.
• She's happy to come by in the middle of the night, if I feel like having a chat.
• Without getting too over the top, she's a very good snuggler.

Mum, if you're reading this, I want to say the biggest birthday thank you for all your endless love and patience. Without you I probably would have joined the circus by now, what with my incredible faux crawl/push around ninja tricks and killer teeth.

I love hanging out with you. You taught me to smile.

Doctor Doctor

I saw Dr.Leslie again today - this was my second visit with her, so we caught up a little before we got into the personals and nakedness. For the numberbods out there, I'm about 21 lbs and just over 75 cm tall. After dropping a couple of points in the size percentiles a couple of months ago (mirroring the economy), I'm right back at the top again. As far as she was concerned, everything seems to be in perfect working order. 'Seems?' I said - oh, how we laughed.

As a general update, I'm eating all sorts of things now: yams (very tasty), rice cereal (sure), oatmeal (really nice), plastic feeder jets (good for cleansing), apple/oatmeal/banana breakfast cereal (okay), avocado (what are you punishing me for?), water (Sweet Jesus, that's a delicious beverage). In terms of crawling, I'm not there yet, but man, do I have the reverse-push taken care of. Go ahead and throw a big'ole check mark by that one.

6 Months

It seems like the milestones never stop. Here I am at 6 months old, and I'm pretty sure I have another 2 teeth coming in - if I keep getting any more teeth I'm going to run out of room for food. Speaking of food, I can now add rice cereal, sweet potato and water to my repertoire (although, so far I'm rather suspicious of banana).

History

Tonight was quite something. With the time change, my schedule has been a little messed up of late, but tonight, there was no chance I was going to miss the results. 

They put me down at a reasonable time, but I got right back up again. They comforted me and asked me what was wrong, and I told them: This election has been going on for my entire life - there's no chance I'm missing the results now. I've come too far to put my head down and dream of never-ending milk fountains at such a historical moment. They seemed to hear my cry, as I was able to return to quietly witness this race come to its rightful conclusion.

This is no time for me to suggest that my official endorsement had anything to do with tonight's outcome - let's just agree it didn't hurt. Tonight should be about all of us using this momentum as a launching pad for positive change. Imagine the things we can accomplish while aiming for a better tomorrow. Who knows, maybe I'll even start liking banana.

Halloween

OK - so here's just a picture of 3 regular old pumpkins in the woods hangin' out - nothing to see here. "Next slide!" I'm just kidding, that's me in the middle, in a professional pumpkin disguise. Apparently, last weekend was all about going to different places pretending to be different things. To be honest, I've got so much going on these days trying to learn about how to be me, I've hardly got time to pretend to be other things (story of life I suppose). I don't even know what kinds of noises pumpkins are supposed to make (and these other two were no help). 

I don't want you to be alarmed, that's me as the bee aswell. Far more convincing I know - I really got inside the essence of the hardships of a bee that had wings, but couldn't fly. 

By the end of the weekend, the disguises got a little mixed up - right about the time the wine-drinking, miniature horse-riding cowboy arrived.

Great Store (plus mystery guest writer...)

I'll be the first to admit that at times I can be pretty picky when it comes to quality control (although for the most part, anything that I can get in my mouth has a good chance of passing the test). Last month, my Dad came back from a trip with a lovely set of soft blocks, and told me about this store The Little Seed. So being the kind of guy I am (personable, handsome & opinionated), I did my own research - sure enough, it's a gold mine of eco/green baby gear!

I then contacted the store, we got to talking, one thing led to another, and they asked me to write a quick guest post on their Seedling Blog.

I go off on a little bit of a rant, but I hope you enjoy it - and many thanks to my new friends Soleil and Ashley. Let's do it again sometime.