the contingency day off

so mom and dad did everything they could to prepare for a day in the mountains whizzing around on the sacred white stuff (snow ... not clouds you ninny) there's over 3m snow base on mt seymour, that's 9 joel heights of snow.. wow. they checked the forecast religiously, got all our snow gear ready, prepared for the best. so this is the night that i decide to wake up and scream my head off 4 times, the final one at 5.49am.

thanks ... they said ... graciously

so mom lets dad sleep for a while, then dad takes me out walking for a while, mom sleeps, then i pass out in the stroller at 10.50, so dad picks up mom from home, and we all walk together down to the beach. the sun and blue sky with lovely fluffy clouds is quite a picture. the mountains covered in snow look fabulous. but we're all way too tired to be up there. Kits beach decides not to sell fish and chips until march, so climbed the slope to the famous sophie's cosmic cafe - a kits icon and thoroughly fine place to eat breakfast and burgers and things.

we got the finest seats in the window, sun streaming in. it was our first ever successful family meal out, and i behaved impeccably, having a load of fun with a bus and a police car (ickle ones on the table that is) mmmm great food, great company, and mom and dad finished off with a chocolate and coconut milkshake.

so it worked out ok in the end. let's go with the rest of the week.

Joel Sopwith PhD

I went back to UBC this morning to complete my PhD, and to collect another free T shirt. I'd outgrown my last one after all. I spent a few minutes watching pictures on the TV screen for them, but really it wasn't a patch on Pingu. Now that's seriously funny. It makes me laugh out loud, especially when he spits out his vegetables.

anyway.....mom was quite surprised yesterday when i went into the bathroom and picked up her hairbrush to brush my hair. isn't that what it's for? i know my toothbrush is for chewing, and the broom is for sweeping the floor, surely the hairbrush is for hair. it didn't seem to make much difference to mine though. maybe i'll try dad's styling stuff next time.

mystery solved

Hmmm...curious....definite evidence of silver foil in diaper. where can it have come from?

ahh..mystery solved...small tooth marks on mom's Toblerone carefully placed out of reach on top of bookcase - unless small person climbs onto low sofa, crosses the gap onto higher sofa, negotiates cushions and arm rest onto coffee table and then climbs bookcase.

hey - after all that surely a guy deserves some toblerone? next time i'll leave the wrapper though - it didn't feel so good on my teeth (i've got a new one by the way, at the back somewhere)

who'd have thought it

if you take a rusk, carefully put it on a yoghurt pot lid, shake some water onto it out of your sippy cup, stir the resulting mush with your fingers and then carefully spread it on to any available surface - did you know that when it's dried you'll need sandpaper or a chisel to remove it? no, mom didn't either.

mom's little helper

i'm getting quite handy in the kitchen. i know how to empty the cutlery from the dishwasher (although mom has to do the knives and forks first), and i'm excellent at stirring tea. i recognise the importance of stirring between every sip, just in case the milk is starting to separate out. it means i can get quite busy if mom and dad are having a cup of tea at the same time, but that's OK - it's about time i earned my keep around here.
if the lock is off the cupboard under the kitchen sink i draw attention to it straight away, even if i've only just got out of bed, and if the fridge is open - well, you can rely on me to be there in seconds.
give me a cloth and i'll dust the coffee table and TV stand, but i'm still not at all keen on the vacuum cleaner :(
and when i've had enough of all this domestic stuff i bring mom her shoes - it's time to go and splash in some puddles.

water, water everywhere

It's now rained for 28 days in a row, and mom has finally seen sense and bought me a proper rainsuit. i know she likes doing laundry, but really - washing my entire outfit including coat every day just didn't make sense. anyway, now i can sit down or fall flat on my face in puddles and it's OK. i did both today actually. and yesterday, come to think of it. dad's been playing with a new camera, but i'm not sure whether he managed to capture the moment for posterity.

what's the difference between a puddle and the duckpond? no - it's not a joke, it's a serious question. mom laughs when i splash in puddles but she grabs me and screams when i try and splash in the duckpond. she does the same kind of thing in the bathroom too. it's funny when i throw my little yellow duck in the bath, but i got yelled at when i threw it in the toilet. what's that all about?

my official first walk

walking outside is simple pure fun .. it was a grey day, but we made the most of it around the kits beach area. look at my smiles. watch a small (but perfectly formed) movie here, to see me strut my stuff.