Whoops - part 2

So, the only person who didn't yet know that we were picking up stix was M's grandmother. It had been her big birthday and then she was feeling under the weather, then I got a touch of flu, and today it was M's turn... So when I posted the photos late last night, I warned him. I even thought about putting a note at the top - If anyone knows Gen, well don't tell her - sort of thing. But she doesn't own a computer.

Well, not one but two of my aunts-in-law are regulars of the blog it would seem (thanks aunties!) and checked it before anyone else... So rumours started to fly and we get a phone call wondering where in Saint John this new house is. Chastened grandson makes a rapid drive over to his grandmother's to set matters straight. Whoops... Sorry, Gen.

Ah Saint John, 2nd fattest city in Canada

Had a quick lunch at an uptown (that's "downtown" to most of us) café yesterday; it’s pretty upscale for low-income Saint John. Of course, everyone else in the joint seemed to know each other and/or passerbys. A couple of older men came in to have a late lunch; they asked specifically for rolls. A friend of theirs passing by commented on the fact that one of them had asked for whole wheat : “You’re not even diabetic”...

We came, we saw, we bought

Sorry for the silence, but it almost feels like the easy part was choosing a house (first offer accepted 12 hours after the agent picked us up!). The harder part has been finding the down payment and making sure it hits the bank account at the right time, getting the mortgage, appraisal, lawyer, insurance, etc. And closing the deal in 12 days before the new city land transfer tax. But it looks like it will be done. So here are the photos - none of the outside or the basement b/c we forgot. But we held our first party when 11 of us came out on a bitterly cold day to check out the house and got stuck on the front porch b/c there was no key to the locked screen door...

It's on the westside of the downtown core. It's on a one-block, one way (not very attractive) street with several other young kids. It's been a working class neighbourhood but yuppiedom is inching closer - though we might not stay around that long. Very close to 2 streetcar routes, it "should be" a 25-30 minute commute for M and a 12 minute walk to the French immersion school and 20+ to the French language school; we have asked to be considered for both but they may be full. It is about 8 blocks from a great summer park (treed, super playground, wading pool, healthfood snack cart!), weekly farmers' market, outdoor skating rink, and mall with basics. 3 blocks the other way, there is a terrific community centre/indoor skating rink/indoor pool/ park/playground and wading pool. High Park - the city's largest and wildest - is 30 minute walk or easy street car. Our friends Kelly & Sam live just 12 minutes walk away and the boys might be classmates, while the Oakville crowd made it by car in 33 minutes on a Saturday.

It's 100 years old and in decent shape. We have to get some wiring redone and we want to put a toilet/laundry room in next to the kitchen (hopefully, that won't take as long as France but no one has returned our calls...). Newly renovated (with bland "designer" paint colours), it has a fairly open ground floor, with one stained glass window. There's a smaller, enclosed room to the right as you enter (play space/guest room?), a large-enough living area (photo of everyone standing up) with a cut away wall into an eat-in kitchen. Upstairs is a big bedroom at the front, a smallish bedroom in the middle (which the kids will share) and a sizeable family room/3rd bedroom at the back, with a bright tiny office space (mine!!) attached and - only hitch - the only full bathroom. It feels downright roomy to us. The backspace isn't very big (smaller than Issigeac) but it will be good for eating out (under a lattice of vines), a paddling pool, a little digging and has a shed. There is a rentable suite apartment downstairs, and we already have someone interested!

We'll need some furniture and want to build in some storage under the stairs. Thanks to the Nairobi house, we have enough curtains. But we have to set aside some money for Seb's bribe - I mean present. The other great news is that we think that we can continue with our dual existence of a "vie en rose" - to be determined next year.

We will pass out the co-ordinates in a more private manner, but do consider yourselves welcome! We move Feb 25ish, so give us a couple of weeks to get settled.

Thanks Grandad

My dad sent Seb some post-it sticky thingies with pre-printed learn-to-write lines and parts of words on them. Seb decided that the best thing to do was decorate his bed!

And here's a glorious shot of our girlfriend sitting in the blocks wagon, just like her brother did. It was taken on the 4th.

Whoops

The trouble with having a 4 year old in on the surprise party is that he is 4. His dad just went to pick up Nannie as a diverting measure to get her out of the house, and as soon as she got in the car, Sebbo spills the beans............... Good thing the relatives love him to bits.

Sophie - a member of the messy food movement

We are still struggling a bit with what to feed Sophie. But we haven't had any allergic incidents, so that's good. She eats a lot of lentils and chicken and a portion of fish every 2-3 days. She loves her ever-so-sweet rice milk and any fruit she can get. She seems to have gone off her morning oatmeal & applesauce a bit, as well as avocado nno matter what we do to it. She is pretty good on her veggies, and thankfully, she ADORES pasta. Seb was the only pre-schooler we knew who didn't like pasta till he was almost 3. Sophie is more than making up for that.

She is at an age where she demands to feed herself. She loves finger food and most of it gets in her mouth. So plop her in her highchair, put on the tray (at which point she jabs her finger at the tray as if to say "right here, right now"), and just dump out those bite size pieces.

At our request, we have been referred to a nutritionist, but don't know when that will happen. Until then, we juggle the different dishes that we all have and all the "leftover" pots that are jammed into the fridge!

This one is for the Brighton cousins

I have bug-eyes and now Seb does too! I don't know who chose them, but thanks Eric & Madeleine. BTW, you can even see your old Quentin Blake calendar in the background and the duvet cover is from the lanes.

I have tried to upload the acompanying video but it seems to freeze everything, so check back here later.

What a ham!

No comment needed.

But speaking of ham, his newest joke c/o "Chirp" magazine, which his friend Xin gave him for his birthday (thanks Xin and Nuan) goes like this:

"How did the hurt pig get to the hospital?" "How?" By Ham-bulance!" Sounds better when he does it.

--------------- I did warn people that this blog is primarily intended for grandparents and other devotees of Seb & Sophie! ------------------------

He got to ring it again!!!!

There's the boy in action.

The pleasure of snow

Here are some great shots of the kids at their grandparents' place ("Hey, Soph. One day, 1/2 of this will be ours!"). I love the look of amusement on Sophie's face, while Seb's is one of pure fright (though it must have been the angle b/c he loved it and would lie down to try to go faster.

Meanwhile, we were all worried that those over 50 might keel over in their efforts to run up and down the driveway as fast as they could, dragging 55 lbs behind them. But instead, a delayed turkey supper (for those who eat it) with all the fixings called and we went back into the house to put all calories back on. Note Marite's - our neighbour in France - plates.

Unfortunately, the rain and really mild weather has washed virtually all the snow away. So instead we turn to indoor amusements - swimming class yesterday, first footie lesson today and a surprise party for Nannie's 75th birthday.

Then, Friday night, the in-laws came over for a wild evening of charades with a 4 year old (plus an excellent cheddar and parsnip soup if I may say so myself). Seb loves to play; it started with a set of cards that dear ol' Babush gave him. They tended to be actions (i.e. riding a bike, swimming, etc). Now he understands that you can make them up from your head, though he often asks for help. The best moment was when I got up to take my turn and since I was undecided about what I should act out, I raised my finger to my mouth and looked pensive. Seb yells out "You're thinking!!!!" I relinquished the floor with peals of laughter.

On her own two feet

Lorraine noticed today that Sophie is climbing the stairs on two feet and no longer on her knees.

Breaking news

I have just agreed to do a consultancy that starts immediately. Another Save the Children gig that will pay the bills and challenge my brain beyond determing whether Sophie is grousing b/c of a) teeth b) hunger or 3) her brother is crushing her ribcage.

I'm not sure how long the contract will be 15-20 days but at my pace it will be all of january. Fortunately, Seb headed back to pre-school today (it's the newly opened building at Sam de Cham - which Mike panned for too few and too small windows, plus nowhere to hang coats yet or to sit to take off boots). Nana and Gramps are stepping up to plate and doing childcare 3 days/week, plus I will work one of the weekend days and a couple of evenings (!).

But it will be all systems go till mid-February, so there might not be much blogging.

However, it all starts with my lovecalling me down for a lunch of salmon and steamed veggies. Might even have a glass of wine to start the work juices flowing!

Seb - a member of the Slow Food Movement

Sebastian has always been a slow eater. I would love to say that he lingers at the table to savour every morsel and engage in witty - ok, so he is only four, then funny - conversation. But no, just plain old conversation would be good.

We try to ensure that one adult sits down with him at each meal and we usually succeed. But the one course meal drags on for 40 minutes. There is lots of cajoling, some whining, many deals struck - and lost. Even the idea of dessert doesn't speed things up, and sometimes I promise more than fruit. Instead of conversation, we get chunks of performance art or great arias, sung at full volume and full mouth. I swear that as much, if not more, food falls under Seb's chair than Sophie's - and that's saying something!

I have thought about giving him a time limit and then no more food for the evening. This might be worth considering because his latest move is to announce (post-pee and tooth-brushing) that he is hungry, and he wolfs down his bedside plate (except tonight's leftover salmon which he brish aside with "Not THAT fish").

Debt- free

Yes, it is true!! I/We are debt free. We made the last payment on my student loan last month and thus, we are debt-free for January and February 2008. Then in March, we plan on going into debt for the tidy sum of $325 000, who knows maybe more! The bank will allow us to pay it off over 35 years. So all going well, I should next be debt-free in March 2043. Crazy...

An even quicker post of New Year's Day

Here are a couple of shots of how we started our New Year.

1- too early as Seb got us up before 7 a.m. despite trying to bribe him to stay in bed by putting a New Year’s bag full of goodies at the end of his bed and agreeing that his sis would sleep in another room so he could turn on the light early this morning and play with said goodies.

2- My love (wearing his new swanky lounge-wear / pjs) making fruit smoothies as a great healthy way to start the year (plus eggnog lattes)

3- Seb trying to try on his swim goggles. He is thrilled that he is enrolled in lessons starting this weekend (“am I going to learn for real?”). In fact, he is very interested in "for real" - santa, tv - are they all "for real"?

quick post of photos

I realise that there are no photos up of Santa's (and mere mortals) beneficence. So before I hit the hay, here they are. The one of Sophie in her navy cord dress was taken on the 26th, as she settled in to enjoy her/her brother's train set.