Better, faster, stronger

I did it. I put in an order for faster internet (15 Mb down, 10 up). In 15 years that will seem laughably slow. It's actually fairly slow for these days, but I'm cheap. We've had 6/0.8 for years now and it's usually seemed "fast enough". Other than uploads, those are never fast enough.

We had ordered Laura a fancy watch. When I was asking Laura if she really wanted it she said something like "Will it make my life better? Yes? Then order it. I don't mind spending money on things that will make my life better". That's a good measure to look at things. Will it make me happier and my life better? Yes.

Today on the bus I overheard someone talking about something they drink. They said "I don't enjoy it. I drink it for health reasons". Sounds like a pretty shitty thing to do to yourself if you don't like something that much. I don't really love veggies, but I at least enjoy them. Especially covered in butter.

Doing an action that will make you live a bit longer, but it being a shitty time, a longer shitty time, doesn't make sense to me. Strategic spending of money to improve your day to day life does.

One down...

Well, it happened. He turned one. It went well, but only finished getting things ready 30 minutes after people arrived. That's normal, right? Ah well.

Despite a runny nose, he did quite well with the crowd and only freaked out for 30 seconds. I consider that being a super star.

He did well. His sister? Not so much. Almost everything has been a fight today. It's been a long, long day. Why must I be tested so much? Scratch that, she was great in the morning going to sportball and seeing a reptile show. I have to keep on reminding myself that she's three and even though she can be quite articulate, it doesn't mean that she can properly express her emotions without trying to crush people. It's been a long weekend for her.

This post is rambling and I have no idea where it's going. Maybe it just means that I need to go to bed soon. I could do that.

Milestones can be happy and sad

Tomorrow is a big day for Isaac. It will be busy, fun, and exhausting. I'm excited about it, but also a little sad. We are moving on from this stage. We might not do it again.

He won't be our baby forever, nor would I want him too. That doesn't mean that it's not bittersweet. 

What we teach our kids

A transcript of something that happened today:

[Me in normal voice] Does anyone want coffee?
[Me in high pitched voice] I do! I do!
[1 second later]
[Alice in normal voice] Does anyone want special milk?
[Alice in high pitched voice] I do! I do!

Sometimes we don't realize what we're teaching our kids until they school us with it.

Those nine little words

You know how far you've come in your relationship when your spouse leans over to you and quietly says "if you wake the children, I will end you". 

Maybe tonight wasn't the best night to eat chips. Too loud. 

Mr. Crinkle Eyes

It's funny with winter. Sometimes Isaac is so bundled up that all you can see is his eyes. You can look at him, make a face or whatever and you just see his little face around his eyes crinkle up. You miss the rest of the face, but it's enough.

I'm so tired right now, but Alice started to puke today and Isaac probably will be sick tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it. Mostly because I can barely see the screen now.

Don't you see, you already have

Talking things over with people can help. A lot. And I'm not talking about rubber ducking either. I've been debating for a while about a 4/3's or similar mirrorless camera vs jumping up a notch in the dslr world. Mirrorless cameras usually have size and weight going for them, while I love playing with my our dslr and we have a bunch of lenses for it. What to do.

So, I was talking it over with Laura again tonight and she said that there's no way she can help me make the decision. Oh, and aren't I going to get a new phone this fall? Wouldn't that be the small camera I always have with me?

Yes, she helped me come to a decision even when she thought that she couldn't help.

I feel like a Bond villain:
Bond: You'll never make me reveal the secret base.
Me: Oh but don't you see Mr. Bond? You already have. Bwahahahaha...

So. In conclusion I think jumping up a level or so in the dslr market is what my plan is. Maybe something on the smaller side. Simple. Like a Nikon D4S. Seven grand for the body a normal price, right? :-P

Beating to a different drum

Things change all the time. Currently Isaac loves to drum on things. He drums on the chesterfield cushions, empty buckets, highchair trays, tables, foot rests, steps, anything he can get his hands on he drums. He always enjoys banging things together. I came home last week and Laura had given him a heavy pot lid and a small metal ladle and he was clanging them together. He was so happy. My head... not so much.

I'm not saying that this makes him musical. I'm just saying as he approaches his first birthday he really loves making sounds. It's pretty cute. I wish I had a video of him playing the tambourine today. Yes, playing it because he actually seems to understand how to.

I wonder if he'll still like "making music" when he's two. I'll have to tell you in a year.

Little drummer boy

I love the sound of banging two things together.

I'm in costume for my Bluegrass quartet

How to find photos that we have uploaded to flickr from our phones

It's hard to remember what pictures we've last put on flickr. It's actually really hard to figure out since the option isn't even in the advanced search. But I was able to figure it out (from a forum post) - you just need to add the pram cm with the "camera manufacture" (that's my guess what cm is).

For instance, for my iPhone 4, you add "cm=apple/iphone_4/"

Here's all the photos that came from my iphone 4, recent first. Here's all the pictures from my wife's iphone 5S.

Edit:
iPhone 6S Plus
iPhone 7 
iPhone XR 
iPhone 15 Pro 
iPhone 16 Pro 

Easier!

After a hard day's snowfight

To be fair, I did all the snowball throwing. I think that she likes to just sit there and see where the snowballs land. I do my best to make them close without making contact. She just looked so tired and dejected - like one of those photos of workers from the 1930's that's been working 60 hour weeks all their lives.

Shell shocked as the 'nowballs rain down around her.

What is it boy? Did Timmy fall down the well?

One of the things that's different with the second child is understanding issues sooner. Looking back at videos of Alice I can take one look at her and know that she's tired, but it takes me a minute or 2 to figure it out in the video. I guess it's just practice / experience.

Now when Isaac is pawing at his door from the hallway, that probably means that he wants his diaper changed. When he is starry, that probably means he's super tired. When he's bashing two things together and making lots of nose, he's probably having the time of his life.

I'm starting to learn that being a good parent is less about doing and more about observing and learning.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

One thing that I noticed while we were traveling was that people reacted to Alice differently depending on her hair. Maybe it was more than that, but I think that it definitely had a factor. Usually her hair is a whole mess of blonde, but on some occasions Laura was able to convince her to style her hair. It was either a "formal" style with "all of the things" or 2 pony tails. People seemed much warmer when she had her hair done. I have to admit she looks pretty cute with her hair in 2 pony tails...

It's funny. I didn't think that people would react that differently based on a kids hair, but I guess they do.

Everyone getting ready for the formal night. Pony tails for Isaac next while Alice works on her blue steel.

The right tool for the right job

We always make decisions and tradeoffs. We just came back from a quick vacation in Mexico and since we didn't plan on leaving the resort, we only took the "beach" camera. It's waterproof so it's great for the beach, the pool, etc. But it doesn't take great pictures when the light's a bit dim. I'm not super trilled about it's sharpness either. Frackers. But the thing is, taking the dslr would have taken up a lot more room and hardly been used at all.

Should the next camera be a 4/3's or similar mirrorless camera if I'm deciding not to take the camera because of size? I don't know. I can't ever seem to make up my mind. I want it all. All of the things.
*sigh*

Ah well. One of these days I'll figure it out. Or not.

Milestones of a baby

I think that every baby comes to an age where they are just tall enough to finally reach their mobile, rip it down, and use the parts to bash against the bars of their cage crib. Today was that day for Isaac.

I have a feeling that he's going to be a lot more destructive than his sister. Mostly because the things that he really enjoys is bashing 2 things together or launching them behind him when they are in his way or no longer hold his interest.

It's funny how different they are some times.

Those moments

Currently I am sitting on a balcony watching the beautiful waters in Cancun Mexico. I've tried to take pictures to capture the transition from white sand, to light aqua, to darker aqua and all the way to navy in the distance but I fear that they will all fail.

Today we had lunch (and beer!) by the pool after playing on the beach and then swimming in the pool for Alice and myself. What was the best part of the morning? Seeing Alice's eyes sparkle with joy and mischief and she jumped into my arms again and again in the pool. That's what "swimming" is for Alice currently. 

I don't think that I can ever get tired of looking at my kids eyes.

Don't assume that I didn't enjoy my morning with Isaac as well. I did. Every day he's more of his own person and lots of fun. He's getting into his own type of trouble: baby trouble. He seems intent on crawling off a bed head first or pounding so hard on the balcony glass we think it might pop out. Every time I'm repeatedly unable to distract him I hand him a kindle or the "tough" camera for him to play with. Few things other than beach balls and his sister make him so happy. Where Alice was all about clothes at a young age (but older than this) he seems to be about electronics, even if they are turned off. 

An amusing thing happened last night. While I was trying to distract him in his highchair while Laura brought food with Edgar J. Hand of the east coast Hand Puppets, I thought that he would like it to look more like a puppet. So I wrapped a cloth napkin around my hand. Well, that was not right, not right at all. Isaac looked at me, looked at the hand and seemed to ask "what have you done? What is this abomination???"  So I took the cloth off and Isaac gave me such a look of relief. Apparently I'm not allowed to becloth my hand puppets. 

Those moments are my favourite and things I can never capture in photos even if I tried. 

2015-03-06 2:32pm