Bachelorhood
Owen and my lovely wife spent a week in Manitoba recently. There were lots of phone calls and bedtime stories read over the phone. It was strange at first, not having them around; then there was the realization that I could do literally whatever the hell I wanted, on my own schedule; then I decided that I really couldn't do literally whatever the hell I wanted, because my wife and son were in Manitoba and mostly just then I wanted to play trucks with Owen.
He's a very little man and it's a very big house and I don't quite understand how it can feel so empty without him.
Social Animal
The other day I took Owen out of bed and got him changed, and then started to carry him out of the room. He reached for his crib, where Cow and Monkey were still sitting, since he'd forgotten them there. "Guys?" he says, reaching out for them. "Guys!?"
My lovely wife has been packing up some of the younger toys he's outgrown and replacing them with more advanced stuff. Part of this means Owen discovering things that he hasn't really outgrown, but for whatever reason were consigned to a bin or a nook or cranny. His Blackberry is one such item.
Last time he had his hands on it, he was old enough to know that phones are cool because Mom and Dad have them but not really old enough to know what they're used for. He's now figured that out, and as a result, he spent a lot of time walking around the house with the phone up to his ear, saying, "Hello, Owen, hello, Owen" and "yes, yes". Sometimes he'd hold it in front of himself to speak, speaker style, and sometimes he'd just hit all the buttons to send texts.
Every so often I'd talk to him on my phone and he'd crack right up.
My favourite part was when I asked who he was talking to and he said "Doctor". I asked which doctor and my lovely wife asked, Do you mean Doctor Who? And he confirmed: "Doctor Who!"
He doesn't necessarily get all the subtleties of communication yet though. My lovely wife was telling me about a dream she had, complete with a long and involved series of strange decisions and inexplicable setbacks, in the manner of dreams. After a while we looked over at Owen and he was staring at her with a look of, "What the hell were you doing" on his face, just not understanding at all what she was talking about.
Development
Owen very rapidly lurched into multi part words (Elephant, Motorcycle) and multi-word sentences. I noticed it his first night back from Manitoba when I asked if he'd hugged Panda and he said "Not yet!" Now he's stringing together words like nobody's business.
He got some new books for his birthday. Of special significance are the Doctor Seuss books "Ten Apples Up On Top" and "The Shape of Me". Apples On Top, in particular, is his new literary obsession. He's gradually drawing down but for a while there it was 2-4 times a day he'd get you to read that thing. "On top!" he says. "Not drop!"
Also, he's figured out how to open the front door. Well, we had a good run.
Bedtime
Owen's been very good about staying in bed in the morning. Even when he's awake, he'll talk and play but he won't get out of bed until someone goes to get him. So imagine my surprise the other morning when I went to get him and found him out of bed, diving to get back with his hands on the edge of his toddler-bed, looking up at me with a red-handed expression.
"What are you doing out of bed?" I ask.
He holds up a soother. "Pink," he says. "Out."
"Your soother was out of bed and you were going to get it back?"
"Ya." He pulls himself into bed.
"Would you like to get out of bed?"
"Ya." He jumps out of bed.
Comedy
Owen was walking around while my lovely wife and I were not entirely committed to the idea of getting out of bed. He was wearing his PJs under his newer sleep sack, a much larger pink outfit with holes in the bottom for his feet so he can get around in it.
Suddenly he starts saying, "Foot! Out! Foot! Out!" My lovely wife observes that he must have a foot stuck inside his sleep sack. He just kept repeating "Foot Out" and it reminded me so much of a robot stuck on a command in an old Star Trek episode. FOOT OUT FOOT OUT ERROR ERROR FOOT OUT ERROR
Part of me wants to teach him to say "ERROR" when something is wrong and he needs help. I'm a horrible person.
He was wearing a shirt the other day that my mom got for him. On the front it shows a dump truck emptying its bucket, which is full of cookies. The back is a reverse angle on the same thing. He loved it. Trucks! Cookies! What's not to love?
He got his hair cut today. When he goes, he goes to a place where he can sit in a big plastic car and play with its steering wheel while they cut his hair. Afterwards he got pizza.
Last night I mentioned I needed to go get a haircut and he leaned towards me with an earnest expression and a nod. "Car," he said, trying to convey that I should totally go to the place where I can sit in a car while they do it.
Looking for a new phone
My phone is quite old and is starting to die. It's mostly okay but it sometimes turns off without warning, most likely due to a loose connection. I've also cracked the otterbox case at some point so I guess it's about time to look for an alternative.
Wish list:
Candidates so far: Nexus 5; whatever replaces the Nexus 5; HTC One M8 from Wind (would have to wait until April); Xperia Z1 Compact (on sale because the very similar Z3C is coming soon); Moto G (much cheaper but much less of a phone).
An Unpleasant Discovery
I noticed today that the fog lights on my car are gone. When the hell did that happen? Did somebody just unscrew and make off with the bulbs? Who does that?
I can't remember the last time I bent over to look at them. It could have been months.
Sometimes you notice something and you wonder what else you aren't noticing.
Owen and my lovely wife spent a week in Manitoba recently. There were lots of phone calls and bedtime stories read over the phone. It was strange at first, not having them around; then there was the realization that I could do literally whatever the hell I wanted, on my own schedule; then I decided that I really couldn't do literally whatever the hell I wanted, because my wife and son were in Manitoba and mostly just then I wanted to play trucks with Owen.
He's a very little man and it's a very big house and I don't quite understand how it can feel so empty without him.
Social Animal
The other day I took Owen out of bed and got him changed, and then started to carry him out of the room. He reached for his crib, where Cow and Monkey were still sitting, since he'd forgotten them there. "Guys?" he says, reaching out for them. "Guys!?"
My lovely wife has been packing up some of the younger toys he's outgrown and replacing them with more advanced stuff. Part of this means Owen discovering things that he hasn't really outgrown, but for whatever reason were consigned to a bin or a nook or cranny. His Blackberry is one such item.
Last time he had his hands on it, he was old enough to know that phones are cool because Mom and Dad have them but not really old enough to know what they're used for. He's now figured that out, and as a result, he spent a lot of time walking around the house with the phone up to his ear, saying, "Hello, Owen, hello, Owen" and "yes, yes". Sometimes he'd hold it in front of himself to speak, speaker style, and sometimes he'd just hit all the buttons to send texts.
Every so often I'd talk to him on my phone and he'd crack right up.
My favourite part was when I asked who he was talking to and he said "Doctor". I asked which doctor and my lovely wife asked, Do you mean Doctor Who? And he confirmed: "Doctor Who!"
He doesn't necessarily get all the subtleties of communication yet though. My lovely wife was telling me about a dream she had, complete with a long and involved series of strange decisions and inexplicable setbacks, in the manner of dreams. After a while we looked over at Owen and he was staring at her with a look of, "What the hell were you doing" on his face, just not understanding at all what she was talking about.
Development
Owen very rapidly lurched into multi part words (Elephant, Motorcycle) and multi-word sentences. I noticed it his first night back from Manitoba when I asked if he'd hugged Panda and he said "Not yet!" Now he's stringing together words like nobody's business.
He got some new books for his birthday. Of special significance are the Doctor Seuss books "Ten Apples Up On Top" and "The Shape of Me". Apples On Top, in particular, is his new literary obsession. He's gradually drawing down but for a while there it was 2-4 times a day he'd get you to read that thing. "On top!" he says. "Not drop!"
Also, he's figured out how to open the front door. Well, we had a good run.
Bedtime
Owen's been very good about staying in bed in the morning. Even when he's awake, he'll talk and play but he won't get out of bed until someone goes to get him. So imagine my surprise the other morning when I went to get him and found him out of bed, diving to get back with his hands on the edge of his toddler-bed, looking up at me with a red-handed expression.
"What are you doing out of bed?" I ask.
He holds up a soother. "Pink," he says. "Out."
"Your soother was out of bed and you were going to get it back?"
"Ya." He pulls himself into bed.
"Would you like to get out of bed?"
"Ya." He jumps out of bed.
Comedy
Owen was walking around while my lovely wife and I were not entirely committed to the idea of getting out of bed. He was wearing his PJs under his newer sleep sack, a much larger pink outfit with holes in the bottom for his feet so he can get around in it.
Suddenly he starts saying, "Foot! Out! Foot! Out!" My lovely wife observes that he must have a foot stuck inside his sleep sack. He just kept repeating "Foot Out" and it reminded me so much of a robot stuck on a command in an old Star Trek episode. FOOT OUT FOOT OUT ERROR ERROR FOOT OUT ERROR
Part of me wants to teach him to say "ERROR" when something is wrong and he needs help. I'm a horrible person.
He was wearing a shirt the other day that my mom got for him. On the front it shows a dump truck emptying its bucket, which is full of cookies. The back is a reverse angle on the same thing. He loved it. Trucks! Cookies! What's not to love?
He got his hair cut today. When he goes, he goes to a place where he can sit in a big plastic car and play with its steering wheel while they cut his hair. Afterwards he got pizza.
Last night I mentioned I needed to go get a haircut and he leaned towards me with an earnest expression and a nod. "Car," he said, trying to convey that I should totally go to the place where I can sit in a car while they do it.
Looking for a new phone
My phone is quite old and is starting to die. It's mostly okay but it sometimes turns off without warning, most likely due to a loose connection. I've also cracked the otterbox case at some point so I guess it's about time to look for an alternative.
Wish list:
- Android, obviously, although I'd consider Blackberry.
- Screen size doesn't matter.
- Camera quality is massively important.
- Waterproof is a huge plus.
- Dedicated camera button is a huge plus.
- Better horsepower than what I have now (which won't be hard).
- Ideally a Google, Motorola or Sony; if not that, HTC is okay.
- Ideally less than $400 off contract, $450 absolute tops.
Candidates so far: Nexus 5; whatever replaces the Nexus 5; HTC One M8 from Wind (would have to wait until April); Xperia Z1 Compact (on sale because the very similar Z3C is coming soon); Moto G (much cheaper but much less of a phone).
An Unpleasant Discovery
I noticed today that the fog lights on my car are gone. When the hell did that happen? Did somebody just unscrew and make off with the bulbs? Who does that?
I can't remember the last time I bent over to look at them. It could have been months.
Sometimes you notice something and you wonder what else you aren't noticing.
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