ipod strolling

ipod strolling. the urban parent has many tools in their armory. a night-time stroll in the vancouver drizzle is sometimes the only one that works when i scream and shout and moan and groan and cry and generally express unhappiness. dad put the U2 collection on shuffle, and off we went. this morning i was fabulous kid whom everyone adored. i stared joyously and inquisitively, I sang the songs in church, I showed off my perfectly formed dimples in broad grins, I blew cute bubbles and dribbled on various people’s clothing. I enjoyed hanging out with the penas from mexico city. what a great sunday. tonight I’m not quite so fabulous, so after trying everything that ever calms me down, a stroll in the rain was quite simply the only way to give mom some peace. hopefully after a good feed I’ll enjoy the peace and tranquility of my wonderful cot, and sleep for a few hours at least.

for dad’s version of the stroll, read city of blinding lights :)

the resulting portrait

wow, i did ok. my official image, known to all governments, terrorist organisations, and customs officials. just need to answer all the difficult questions on the form (how am i supposed to know what colour my hair is going to be?), and the world is my aphrodisac shellfish.

PS Uncle tim suggests i don't use the photo on the right... :(

Passports

So with flights booked, we've finally set about getting me my passport. Hey Hey doesn't need one, so he's good to go. I'm getting a nice blue Canadian one. This may cause trouble when we land at Heathrow and i have to go through the non-EU channel without mom or dad, but maybe i'll be walking by then. it is a couple of months away still.

So, my passport: we went today to get my photo taken. I sat on dad's knee and did my best to fulfil the government's requirements:
Show a full front view of head and shoulders without head covering.
Image must have the face square to the camera with a neutral expression and with the mouth closed.
Taken against a plain, uniform white or light coloured background with no other person visible.

dad took off my hat (and bib, although there was no mention of that in the instructions) and did his best to stay at out of the picture. i concentrated hard on holding my head up, closing my mouth, opening my eyes and not moving. i'm not sure i managed it, but we'll find out tomorrow when we go back and pick up the photos.

If they're OK then the next step is to go and see my lawyer. do i have a lawyer yet, mom?

Hooray for Hey Hey

Hey Hey is my new best friend (after mom and dad, of course). He's a monkey that on occasion i cuddle in a really cute way, but normally i just settle back and chew on. This means mom and dad needn't sit with their fingers in my mouth for hours at a time.

Our flights are booked for April. We're arriving at Heathrow on April 5th, and staying until the 21st. Hey Hey and I are travelling in style - we've got a fully horizontal bed where we can both stretch out in comfort. I think mom and dad are jealous. They'll be sitting in the first row of economy class, where they can see all the rich people in business class with their comfortable seats, nice food and choice of films, but will themselves probably have less room than anyone else on the plane. That may have something to do with my bed........ good job it's only a 10 hour flight.

transport

i'm sure i've told you before about my stroller - it's a blue Zooper Sport "for discerning babies". i get to go out in it with mom when we go shopping or to church. when the sun's out we sometimes go as far as the beach.

if we need to go further than that, then we go in the car. the car's blue too, and is kind of a stroller with extra seats for mom and dad, and an engine so no-one has to walk. i'm not sure that a Ford Focus is a car for discerning adults, but it goes just fine.

today dad went out in the car with four Mexicans, so mom and i had to go on a bus. as she pushed me down the road mom explained to me about buses. they're kind of like strollers for lots of people, but everyone has to go the same way so sometimes you have to do some walking too. not only that, but the bus driver doesn't go as fast as dad so you have to might have to wait for a while at the bus stop.

it turns out there's lots of things mom didn't tell me about buses. she didn't tell me i'd get on the bus IN my stroller. i knew we were going along but mom was sitting beside me, so who was pushing? getting on the bus was a bit of an adventure too. it was kind of like when i go flying with dad, but i was still sat in my stroller and the whole ground was lifted up. weird. and the people on the bus were kind of odd too........

i did get to have lunch in Tim Horton's though. Urban mom fed me whilst perched on the side of the sink in the disabled washroom. I've eaten in better dining rooms, but lunch still tasted good.

welcome home dad

so, dad just walked in. 4:07pm, he left the house at 7am after kindly hanging out with me since 5:30. words to mom as he walks in the front door ...

"wow, you look great ... are you OK?"

hmmm, dad should work on his opening lines, eh? mom luckily thought this was very funny.

vital stats update

so mom and i went to the doctor today. i've been crying quite a bit, fussing. turns out that i'm growing REALLY fast. at birth i was in the 75th percentile of normal babes, with a big head. my body has now caught up with my noggin to make me a 95th percentile plus boy.

in non-scientific terms - i'm hooge. so mom is obviously a tremendous dairy queen. i'm also very strong, developing quickly, can hold my head up. my stomach muscles are working over time. dad loves to take me flying round the apartment, and i love it too. i'm crying because my body's doing a lot. what a kid.

father, son and wholly mimic'd