Thursday, January 19, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2007
House Reno et al
Let me start off by stating that winter has officially arrived here in Vancouver! "Why do you say that?" you ask. Allow me to explain. Granville Island Brewery's "Winter Ale" is now being brewed. Now that I'm a father of two and rarely get to the pub, I'm sure that today wasn't the first day it was served, but it was on tap when I stopped into the Raven after my yoga class tonight(a whole other story). I was let down to discover the pub's Cold Beer & Wine store didn't yet stock the Winter Ale. I will head to the government Liquor Store tomorrow to investigate and will report back.
Now looking back, I see it was November 5th I last wrote. It has been a rather busy house since then. On Thursday the 8th, Ed of Green Monkey Renovations, started finishing the work in the kitchen that I hadn't finished and also demolished our bathroom. The bathroom demo went well and most of it was out in day one. All we had left was a bathtub. That was the case till Wednesday, when the plumber came and started his work. Thursday saw the electrician come around and tell me nothing was up to code, I needed a new fuse box, the fellow who had previously done the wiring didn't know what he was doing. On closer look the fuse box would do, seeing as our oven was gas not electric it was wired correctly and he would be more than happy to help.
Thursday also saw my wife catch the 6:30 am ferry, over to the island for work. Ella was not due back till Friday 7:00 pm. Which left me in the house with two builders, a plumber, a sparky, two boys under the age of two (one of whom is breast feeding and won't drink formula), no wife and oh yes I'm late for my dentist appointment, can't find his number and my parents aren't picking up their phone(they, bless them, agreed to baby sit the boys while I was at the dentist, and the bank, and Homedepot). The house is covered in plaster dust, but I'm not stressed. I'm not sure who was more relieved to see Ella back home, me or the boys.
Ella came home just as Fin was in the final stages of being put to bed. Ewan was crying in his room. So Mummy swooped in, picked up crying baby, we had a family bedtime story in Finlay's room and all was well with the world. Thursday had gone really well. Mum and Dad had the boys for a good portion of the day while I ran around getting things for the builders. They also fed us dinner that night. By the time we got home they were both tired and went to sleep no problem. More importantly they slept through the night. We did fairly well till Friday afternoon, no chance of a nap, with all that was going on, we had a meltdown of Chernobyl proportions. I ended up with both boys on my lap, both crying, and screeching, faces red, tears rolling down their cheeks, snot from their noses. It was awful, I felt terrible for the poor guy filling my house full of dust, who was working right there and had to listen to it all. It was wonderful to see Ewan just beam and chuckle because his mum was home.
Some highlights from the last couple of weeks;
Now looking back, I see it was November 5th I last wrote. It has been a rather busy house since then. On Thursday the 8th, Ed of Green Monkey Renovations, started finishing the work in the kitchen that I hadn't finished and also demolished our bathroom. The bathroom demo went well and most of it was out in day one. All we had left was a bathtub. That was the case till Wednesday, when the plumber came and started his work. Thursday saw the electrician come around and tell me nothing was up to code, I needed a new fuse box, the fellow who had previously done the wiring didn't know what he was doing. On closer look the fuse box would do, seeing as our oven was gas not electric it was wired correctly and he would be more than happy to help.
Thursday also saw my wife catch the 6:30 am ferry, over to the island for work. Ella was not due back till Friday 7:00 pm. Which left me in the house with two builders, a plumber, a sparky, two boys under the age of two (one of whom is breast feeding and won't drink formula), no wife and oh yes I'm late for my dentist appointment, can't find his number and my parents aren't picking up their phone(they, bless them, agreed to baby sit the boys while I was at the dentist, and the bank, and Homedepot). The house is covered in plaster dust, but I'm not stressed. I'm not sure who was more relieved to see Ella back home, me or the boys.
Ella came home just as Fin was in the final stages of being put to bed. Ewan was crying in his room. So Mummy swooped in, picked up crying baby, we had a family bedtime story in Finlay's room and all was well with the world. Thursday had gone really well. Mum and Dad had the boys for a good portion of the day while I ran around getting things for the builders. They also fed us dinner that night. By the time we got home they were both tired and went to sleep no problem. More importantly they slept through the night. We did fairly well till Friday afternoon, no chance of a nap, with all that was going on, we had a meltdown of Chernobyl proportions. I ended up with both boys on my lap, both crying, and screeching, faces red, tears rolling down their cheeks, snot from their noses. It was awful, I felt terrible for the poor guy filling my house full of dust, who was working right there and had to listen to it all. It was wonderful to see Ewan just beam and chuckle because his mum was home.
Some highlights from the last couple of weeks;
- Fin enjoying his Granny's apple pie with vanilla ice cream. He was wolfing it down with his spoon while holding the other one up in a stop sign motion as if to say, "No no no, too busy eating to answer your questions"
- Ewan grinning and laughing, he's such a happy sole
- Fin letting us know on more than one occasion he has to go potty
- Ewan enjoying his food, his portions sizes have doubled and tripled from when we first stared feeding him solids
- Discovering all the words that Fin has learned, I think star is the latest.
- Watching Fin interact with his Grandparents over in England by webcaming. How amazing is that. I remember my Grandparents not having a phone and getting to speak to them at Christmas when they were over at my Granny's brothers place!
Ewan and Fin interacting is probably the most memorable and enjoyable. Today while I was washing Ewan face, Fin grabbed his facecloth puppet of Winnie the Bear and started to help. Ewan started laughing at Fin, Fin laughed back and all three of us were laughing. Same thing happened in the car driving over to Nanny's. Ewan can make raspberry noises now and was practicing his new found talent. I copied him and Fin joined in and there were all three of us driving along blowing raspberries and laughing. On that note I bid you all good night.
PS One of my three regular readers, also writes a blog, and I've not seen any updates on her space lately. You know who you are Auntie Louise. I hope you get as much grief from your faithful readers as I do from mine ;)
Monday, November 05, 2007
One Week in and Still Standing
Here we are, one week in and the house hasn't fallen in, both boys are clean and well fed, although I think Ewan may be coming down with a cold. In fact overall, I think it went quite well. The house was tidy, very little laundry to do on the weekend as I had kept on top of that. By the end of the week, my timing was getting better for dinner as well.
Tuesday night we carved out our pumpkins and made Jack o'lantrens from the pumpkins that the boys had harvested from the pumpkin patch with Ella and Auntie Catriona on the weekend. Fin quite enjoyed his first pumpkin lobotomy, although he wasn't so keen about all the squishy innards. We did get him to spoon out some seeds and stick his head in the opening at the top and shout in to hear his echo.
Wednesday saw me venture out of the house for the first time. Admittedly,it was just with Finlay. Mum and Dad, aka M&M, Granny & Granda, or as Fin says Nanny & DA, came over to Baby sit Ewan while Fin and I went off to our Kindermusic class. I was feeling quite pleased with myself as we drove down the road, the boy was chatting away, I had left in plenty of time as to not show up late, and despite the fact it was Halloween and neither of us was in costume I felt no guilt. No guilt until I realized I had left the house without the diaper bag(more importantly diapers or wipes). Luckily Fins bowels held. Could you imagine my embarrassment and the looks from the other parents(mothers) if I had had to ask to borrow a diaper. There was a brief moment during class when I thought I would have them all "tisk tisk" me but luckily it was the kid dressed up as a cowboy that was smelling up the place.
The class itself was fun and very well run. The children all get different rhythm instruments for the parents and themselves each song. They learn tempo, rythm, loud and soft, while they sing songs, dance, etc. That along with story time and quiet time packed into 45 mins. You can tell the lady that hosts the class has had training as an educator. She even counts off the lights when they are turned off for quiet time. The Skye Boat song was played for quiet time, so needless to say I was quite impressed.
As it was Halloween, Ella came home to a spicey roast pumpkin soup, that bordered on historic, and her salad was sprinkled with roasted pumpkin seeds. That night we had no trick or treaters, I think our street is to much work for very little yield. Considering no one knocked on our door we managed to get through an awful lot of candy.
Thursday saw my friend Chris come by with his two lovely daughters Abbey and Megan. Abbey was the first little one we got to see grow up when we moved back here and she is a gem, love her to pieces. She used to call me Cotts and it made my heart melt. Megan is also a little character. She is only about a month older than Fin but that months always seems to be a huge difference. She can say a good few words now and can sing her ABC's( although it was AB AB AB E AB AB AB B). They came by with coffee and donuts, Hmmm donuts.....
Friday finally saw the Misfeldt men leave the house alone together for the first time. And yes, I did remember the diaper bag. Save on Foods is remarkably quiet at 8:30 Friday morning. Both of the boys were very well behaved. Fin didn't seem to mind being in a regular cart, as opposed to the car shaped ones. Ewan I think slept as he was strapped to me in our baby carry thing, though that may have been due to a lack of oxygen as it was a little tight. Finlay still has a way with the ladies behind the deli counter and got himself a slice of ham to snack on as we shopped. Although I forgot a couple of things on the list, over all it was a positive outing and not as daunting as I feared. Will try again this Friday. I was feeling quite domesticated with a pot of chili brewing on the stove, and an ice cube tray of broccoli, steamed and strained in the freezer.
It's after midnight but I'll try to fill the rest of the week up to date tommorrow. No promises though. Take care all
Tuesday night we carved out our pumpkins and made Jack o'lantrens from the pumpkins that the boys had harvested from the pumpkin patch with Ella and Auntie Catriona on the weekend. Fin quite enjoyed his first pumpkin lobotomy, although he wasn't so keen about all the squishy innards. We did get him to spoon out some seeds and stick his head in the opening at the top and shout in to hear his echo.
Wednesday saw me venture out of the house for the first time. Admittedly,it was just with Finlay. Mum and Dad, aka M&M, Granny & Granda, or as Fin says Nanny & DA, came over to Baby sit Ewan while Fin and I went off to our Kindermusic class. I was feeling quite pleased with myself as we drove down the road, the boy was chatting away, I had left in plenty of time as to not show up late, and despite the fact it was Halloween and neither of us was in costume I felt no guilt. No guilt until I realized I had left the house without the diaper bag(more importantly diapers or wipes). Luckily Fins bowels held. Could you imagine my embarrassment and the looks from the other parents(mothers) if I had had to ask to borrow a diaper. There was a brief moment during class when I thought I would have them all "tisk tisk" me but luckily it was the kid dressed up as a cowboy that was smelling up the place.
The class itself was fun and very well run. The children all get different rhythm instruments for the parents and themselves each song. They learn tempo, rythm, loud and soft, while they sing songs, dance, etc. That along with story time and quiet time packed into 45 mins. You can tell the lady that hosts the class has had training as an educator. She even counts off the lights when they are turned off for quiet time. The Skye Boat song was played for quiet time, so needless to say I was quite impressed.
As it was Halloween, Ella came home to a spicey roast pumpkin soup, that bordered on historic, and her salad was sprinkled with roasted pumpkin seeds. That night we had no trick or treaters, I think our street is to much work for very little yield. Considering no one knocked on our door we managed to get through an awful lot of candy.
Thursday saw my friend Chris come by with his two lovely daughters Abbey and Megan. Abbey was the first little one we got to see grow up when we moved back here and she is a gem, love her to pieces. She used to call me Cotts and it made my heart melt. Megan is also a little character. She is only about a month older than Fin but that months always seems to be a huge difference. She can say a good few words now and can sing her ABC's( although it was AB AB AB E AB AB AB B). They came by with coffee and donuts, Hmmm donuts.....
Friday finally saw the Misfeldt men leave the house alone together for the first time. And yes, I did remember the diaper bag. Save on Foods is remarkably quiet at 8:30 Friday morning. Both of the boys were very well behaved. Fin didn't seem to mind being in a regular cart, as opposed to the car shaped ones. Ewan I think slept as he was strapped to me in our baby carry thing, though that may have been due to a lack of oxygen as it was a little tight. Finlay still has a way with the ladies behind the deli counter and got himself a slice of ham to snack on as we shopped. Although I forgot a couple of things on the list, over all it was a positive outing and not as daunting as I feared. Will try again this Friday. I was feeling quite domesticated with a pot of chili brewing on the stove, and an ice cube tray of broccoli, steamed and strained in the freezer.
It's after midnight but I'll try to fill the rest of the week up to date tommorrow. No promises though. Take care all
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
First Day and a Bit
Well, yesterday went fairly smoothly, but did have a great deal of help from Mum and Dad. Ewan slept in til about 8 o'clock, which let Fin and I do our usual morning thing. Ella has taken over feeding him breakfast, it is a nice bit of time to spend with him before running off to work. This is also the time she seems to be putting on her face, so not focusing entirely on him. Needless to say the boy is quite messy, maybe it looked like putting war paint all over your face looked fun. Yesterday he was soaking from pouring water down his front while drinking like a big boy. (I'm sure he wasn't at the hockey game with me and Uncle Ben to see how that was done).
When Ewan arose and graced our presence, breakfast went without too much of a hitch. The boy has a healthy appetite much like his parents and older brother. Ella seems to have got him used to eating off the spoon because there was surprisingly little mess. I was feeling quite pleased with myself as the tears didn't start until 10. Mum and Dad were coming over to free me up to pick up the van from garage and get it through AirCare. After a few cuddles and attempted feeding from the bottle, it was determined the youngest was tired and Dad showed me his technique for putting Ewan down. Don't want to jinx anything but it has worked for me three times on the trot now.
I'm off to fold an ever multiplying pile of laundry. I 'm sure the laundry pile is an asexual, cell dividing, science experiment Ella has created. She always complains of losing socks, so has come up with a way that they reproduce to replace the missing ones. Will try to get that task completed before the sleeping beauties awake and turn into crying crown princes;)
When Ewan arose and graced our presence, breakfast went without too much of a hitch. The boy has a healthy appetite much like his parents and older brother. Ella seems to have got him used to eating off the spoon because there was surprisingly little mess. I was feeling quite pleased with myself as the tears didn't start until 10. Mum and Dad were coming over to free me up to pick up the van from garage and get it through AirCare. After a few cuddles and attempted feeding from the bottle, it was determined the youngest was tired and Dad showed me his technique for putting Ewan down. Don't want to jinx anything but it has worked for me three times on the trot now.
I'm off to fold an ever multiplying pile of laundry. I 'm sure the laundry pile is an asexual, cell dividing, science experiment Ella has created. She always complains of losing socks, so has come up with a way that they reproduce to replace the missing ones. Will try to get that task completed before the sleeping beauties awake and turn into crying crown princes;)
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Here We Go Again!
Wow! A year since the last posting on here. Well needless to say I've been busy, but no more excuses.
In May of this year we welcomed Ewan Christopher into our, seemingly ever growing family. Once again Ella did a tremendous job, and I just kind of coasted along for the ride. As most of you know that is not that unusual for me. Now the real work begins, no, not the blog writing, but being a full time stay at home Dad. No running of to work to get away from it all. This is it, I'm in the trenches.
I'm doing a disservice to my youngest. He is a lovely boy, and if possible, is even better tempered than his brother. Ella and I had visions of the second child being a nightmare as our first was fairly well behaved and a happy soul.
If I was staying at home with either one of them I would be looking forward to the next 5 and a bit months. But life is a numbers game and I'm clearly outnumbered here. If I was a defence man playing a 2 on 1 against me, I know to play the pass and leave the shot to the goalie. I'm filled with terror that they won't nap at the same time, Ewan will cry, and try as I might he won't stop. Fin will decide he's had enough of being the good older brother and will act up, and suddenly I've got two screaming, crying, hungry boys, who need changing and cuddling and my wife will be home in an hour and I forgot to defrost the chicken from the freezer.
The time I had will Finlay for those months at home I wouldn't exchange for the world. I'm sure the next stint at home will be just as rewarding, and I look forward to sharing some snippets of round 2 with you.
Good night.
In May of this year we welcomed Ewan Christopher into our, seemingly ever growing family. Once again Ella did a tremendous job, and I just kind of coasted along for the ride. As most of you know that is not that unusual for me. Now the real work begins, no, not the blog writing, but being a full time stay at home Dad. No running of to work to get away from it all. This is it, I'm in the trenches.
I'm doing a disservice to my youngest. He is a lovely boy, and if possible, is even better tempered than his brother. Ella and I had visions of the second child being a nightmare as our first was fairly well behaved and a happy soul.
If I was staying at home with either one of them I would be looking forward to the next 5 and a bit months. But life is a numbers game and I'm clearly outnumbered here. If I was a defence man playing a 2 on 1 against me, I know to play the pass and leave the shot to the goalie. I'm filled with terror that they won't nap at the same time, Ewan will cry, and try as I might he won't stop. Fin will decide he's had enough of being the good older brother and will act up, and suddenly I've got two screaming, crying, hungry boys, who need changing and cuddling and my wife will be home in an hour and I forgot to defrost the chicken from the freezer.
The time I had will Finlay for those months at home I wouldn't exchange for the world. I'm sure the next stint at home will be just as rewarding, and I look forward to sharing some snippets of round 2 with you.
Good night.
Monday, October 30, 2006
We're back
Hello all,
My goodness, over a month since I've last posted. Slap on wrist.
During that time we were away for two weeks, I was having problems logging in and then feeling under the weather for about a week, but none the less also some lethargy.
We had a great time in the UK. We flew into Glasgow and met Pat and John, only to have to wait for two hours for the luggage to get unloaded off the plane. Then a drive across country to a nice little cottage about 1/2 hour from St. Andrews. We spent most of the time up there visiting friends and relatives. The high-light for me was introducing Fin to his Great-Granny. I'm not convinced she new who we were all the times we were there, but she was certainly taken with him, reaching out for him, giving him cuddles and kisses. We got some nice photos of the two of them and some lovely video footage that I will treasure, even if the two of them don't remember their meeting.
From Scotland we drove down to Northampton and had a busy couple of days at a wedding in London. Both sets of parents babysat. My folks come over a bit early for their holidays as we got Fin christened on the Sunday. He was really good but the service was a bit long for him and he had a serious melt down just as we had to get up in front of the congregation. He then proceeded to destroy the flower arrangement by the bird bath, but it kept him from screaming so we let him pluck petals and by the time the vicar was finished there was a nice pile of confetti at our feet.
Grandma Patricia put on a lovely reception, with enough meat pies to feed an army. It was nice because we got to visit with folks there which freed up the rest of the week to just relax and visit with Pat and John without racing around. We went to the park a few times and fed the ducks and Fin went on a swing for the first time. He absolutely loved it! He laughed up a storm the whole time. We've since found a playground close to home, that has a swing he fits in. He still enjoys it just as much.
He did so well flying as well. On the fight over he had a few fits but slept for about four hours and then from Manchester to Glasgow slept the whole way. On the way back he didn't sleep as much but was as good as gold and only cried for about the last twenty minutes. He charmed everyone. When we were queuing to get through customs at least twenty people came up and said how well he did and what a delightful child he was. We even had people take him and play with him for a portion of time while we were grounded in Winnipeg. Needless to say his parents were very proud of him.
He's just woken from his nap so I'll fill you in later about what we've been up to since we've been back. Including new teeth.
My goodness, over a month since I've last posted. Slap on wrist.
During that time we were away for two weeks, I was having problems logging in and then feeling under the weather for about a week, but none the less also some lethargy.
We had a great time in the UK. We flew into Glasgow and met Pat and John, only to have to wait for two hours for the luggage to get unloaded off the plane. Then a drive across country to a nice little cottage about 1/2 hour from St. Andrews. We spent most of the time up there visiting friends and relatives. The high-light for me was introducing Fin to his Great-Granny. I'm not convinced she new who we were all the times we were there, but she was certainly taken with him, reaching out for him, giving him cuddles and kisses. We got some nice photos of the two of them and some lovely video footage that I will treasure, even if the two of them don't remember their meeting.
From Scotland we drove down to Northampton and had a busy couple of days at a wedding in London. Both sets of parents babysat. My folks come over a bit early for their holidays as we got Fin christened on the Sunday. He was really good but the service was a bit long for him and he had a serious melt down just as we had to get up in front of the congregation. He then proceeded to destroy the flower arrangement by the bird bath, but it kept him from screaming so we let him pluck petals and by the time the vicar was finished there was a nice pile of confetti at our feet.
Grandma Patricia put on a lovely reception, with enough meat pies to feed an army. It was nice because we got to visit with folks there which freed up the rest of the week to just relax and visit with Pat and John without racing around. We went to the park a few times and fed the ducks and Fin went on a swing for the first time. He absolutely loved it! He laughed up a storm the whole time. We've since found a playground close to home, that has a swing he fits in. He still enjoys it just as much.
He did so well flying as well. On the fight over he had a few fits but slept for about four hours and then from Manchester to Glasgow slept the whole way. On the way back he didn't sleep as much but was as good as gold and only cried for about the last twenty minutes. He charmed everyone. When we were queuing to get through customs at least twenty people came up and said how well he did and what a delightful child he was. We even had people take him and play with him for a portion of time while we were grounded in Winnipeg. Needless to say his parents were very proud of him.
He's just woken from his nap so I'll fill you in later about what we've been up to since we've been back. Including new teeth.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
More snippets
We had another youngster over yesterday. Tristan is one month older, 3 or 4 lbs heavier and about six inches taller. The boy is a monster. Fin took it all in his stride and once again immediately struck up a conversation. They sat down across from each other chatting away. Tristan grew tired of that and decided to explore. He knows how to crawl. We need to do some child proofing. Fin watching the giant move around and tried rocking but it wasn't enough to get him moving, so he shouted at Tristan to get his attention and tell him to crawl back over to him so they could continue their conversation.
We've started feeding Fin meats to go along with his fruit and veg. We've also increased his portion size and that seems to be helping him sleep longer through the night. (touch wood) He's like a little bird with his mouth open waiting to be fed. He screeches louder than a bird if you don't move the spoon fast enough. Yesterday he snatched the food from the spoon, on the way to his mouth. It was like a snake striking out.
I prepared his meals for our flight on Friday. He is getting chicken, potatoes with cheese, and carrots followed by pureed apples. He had a preview for dinner tonight and apparently it was a hit. Hope the flight isn't too traumatic for him or any of the other passengers. Well must go finish packing and will try to post one more tomorrow before we leave. Ciao for now.
We've started feeding Fin meats to go along with his fruit and veg. We've also increased his portion size and that seems to be helping him sleep longer through the night. (touch wood) He's like a little bird with his mouth open waiting to be fed. He screeches louder than a bird if you don't move the spoon fast enough. Yesterday he snatched the food from the spoon, on the way to his mouth. It was like a snake striking out.
I prepared his meals for our flight on Friday. He is getting chicken, potatoes with cheese, and carrots followed by pureed apples. He had a preview for dinner tonight and apparently it was a hit. Hope the flight isn't too traumatic for him or any of the other passengers. Well must go finish packing and will try to post one more tomorrow before we leave. Ciao for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)