12 Years a Couple

Well, it's been a dozen years. Wow. How did that happen?

We are doing pretty much the same things now that we did then... well, sort of. A little bit. *hangs head* Not really. I guess we are doing different things. But still awesome. Why? Because it's in our nature.

;-)

Surprising moments

It's funny how Isaac is sometimes. He will seem to be a very serious kid sometimes, but then you do something new or unexpected and his face lights up like the sun and gives out such a hearty laugh. It's really like if you flipped a switch. Today I picked him up and danced him around using the na na na NA song, as you do. He loved it. It's fun, what can I say. I must do it more often, but it becomes a source of jealousy.

Tonight when taking him out of the bath, he reached up and grabbed the curtain bar with a hand. Well, of course I have to be silly since it's in my nature, so I pretended he was doing a one arm pull up. Cue face lights and laughter. Then he reaches up with his other hand and actually pulls himself up. He's a strong little fella.

He's also starting to figure out blocks (mega blocks) and actually stacking / connecting them. He seems to be figuring out how things roll, connect, smash, etc quite well. Often doing this while standing too.

I think that I need to make more of an effort at doing the things that will make him smile and laugh.

I love the little guy. I just wish that he'd sleep at night. And not be sick.

Serious Isaac

Fun and laughing Isaac. It can be a quick transition

Eight Years

Well, it's been 8 years. Almost. The time has just flown by. Like anything there has been ups and downs, if I'm being realistic. But all I choose to remember are the ups. I feel so lucky, privileged. More than anyone has a right to be. A bunch has changed in during this time, but like aged wine I think that it gets smoother every year. How does that work? I have no idea. 

Great times. 

Public school

Conversation with Alice while I was driving the other day:

Me: And that's what the school you'd go to is called. [redacted] public school. It's the type of school everyone pays for so everyone can go.
Alice: Okay
Me: They also have private schools where people pay extra to go to.
[30 second pause]
Alice: Is that where you take off your underwear and show everyone your private parts?
Me: What? No! Huh? Why would you think that?
Alice: It's a private school.

I come to realize that I will never fully predict how she will string different concepts or word associations together.

My rainbow thinker

Spring into my heart

Spring used to be my least favourite season. Everything brown, 6 months of dog poop uncovered by snow and dissolving into the grass, bug. Lots and lots of bugs, specifically black flies. Kind of like this.

Anyways. Then I moved into the city with Laura. Flowers. Bike rides. Tulips and lilacs and blossoms everywhere.

No dog poop.

Yes, a few bugs, but nothing that you could mistake for a coat.

Then we married in the spring. Ah, so many happy memories and we keep on making more. Now, I'm not saying that spring is now my favourite season, but it's definitely moved up in my ranking. Definitely top four.

Which one is not like the other...

A photo series of one of my favourite people. Top 3.

I love these photos that I took the other day. I need to use my 55-200 lens more. Fun.

Trying hard to not smile

Biting her lip to not smile with her new facepaint

The smiles start

Laughter of my girl

Showing how she sparkles - literally

All done

Handcoats and spacelight

The good days I can come up with words without too much of a struggle. Most days aren't those. Usually it's just a pause or two while I try to remember the works. On bad days I can't come up with my words at all and it's really frustrating. Someone described this happening to them and how scary it was.

They had a concussion.

Now, my brain might be permanently addled from when I was younger. Who knows. But I find it funny that people have a bad side effect from a concussion, that frightens them, but it's just an average day for me. Yish.

The summer starts

I swear just 2 weeks ago it was around freezing each morning. Today was like over 30 (feels like 32) so it's a bit of a shift. I still have not gotten the winter tires off the rabbit. :-/

Isaac is almost walking. Which means that he doesn't want to just sit on a blanket outside, nor can he walk and keep himself clean. We'll see how it goes, but at this point it's looking like a lot of laundry. At least kids clothes are small.

Today I feel like I'm starting to get sick. I've had a headache all day and a gross throat. Yay summer? Bah. (This is me making excuses for a non-entertaining blog post)

*sigh*

The old man at work

It's funny. I still feel young. I am just not actually young. We have a big group of co-ops in - about 7. We usually have 1. Well, some of them just finished first year so that would put them around 18 or 19 years old. One of the frameworks that we use at work was created in 2000, so that puts it pretty close to the c-ops age. Crazy.

I look at them and see the confidence that I once felt. The confidence that you really know something when you've just had a light intro to it and really know jack-all. One of the guys said that he really knows java. We asked them if they had used annotations and no one had. That's one of the main features of version 5 which was released way back in 2004. So funny.

Today we gave them a firehose of information hoping that they'd retain 5%. It's funny how different school is from a job.

Hugs of CRUSH

It always takes a bit to figure out things with kids. "Ohhh... that's the sign they've been making for 3 weeks and it means X! Now I get it". That kind of thing. Well, the other day Laura pointed out how Isaac hugs her. It's a crushing-arms-around-the-neck squeeze. It's a hug from a little man who loves deeply and doesn't quite understand his own strength yet.

So if I'm ever talking on the phone with you and I suddenly sound like I'm being choked, it probably just means that my children love me very, very much. Windpipe crushingly much.

Here they are clearly plotting my early demise after their discussions on how to divide up my lego fortune.

Twitter dating

Because it amuses me.

Nervous about my date tonight. What happens when she finds out that I have 2 kids? Am married??? I'll just play it cool. #clivebixby

— Jim S (@jim_i_am) May 2, 2015

Date is going really well. Hopefully it works out with this Julianna chick. Maybe I can convince her to go home with me! #clivebixby

— Jim S (@jim_i_am) May 3, 2015

I think that this is happening! The bill is paid and next stop my pad! #clivebixby

— Jim S (@jim_i_am) May 3, 2015

We're at my pad! Now just to turn on the charm. No woman can resist the Clive Bixby! #clivebixby

— Jim S (@jim_i_am) May 3, 2015

Oh no! Julianna is falling asleep! [looks in mirror] You can do this Clive Bixby! #clivebixby

— Jim S (@jim_i_am) May 3, 2015

I'm not quite sure what happened last night. I have a vague memory of dealing with a screaming midget all night.Where's Julianna?#clivebixby

— Jim S (@jim_i_am) May 3, 2015

@jim_i_am Do not lose heart, Mr. Bixby. I stayed and made you breakfast. Hmmm... or could it be... Bikes-by! #clivebixby

— Dr Lorrible (@Dr_Lorrible) May 3, 2015

Date night

It's been a while since we've had a date night. Before last night the babysitting was always done with family which leads to a certain amount of guilt because everyone refuses money and I'm sure that's not how they'd like to spend their evening.

Last night we had a sitter over, someone that a friend uses, and it seemed to go well. After a brief 2 hours we were able to leave the house and be on our way. A beautiful evening to bike along the river on our way to downtown. The sky was pinks and purples. The birds singing and the squirrels frolicking. We saw 3 bunnies on our way to dinner.

After we got to the fancy fancy restaurant we ordered wonderful tasty food with wine pairings. It was good. Some might say oh so good, but we all know that place is down the street. A quick ride back home in the dark and only 1.25 hours late for the babysitter. Ah well. I hope that she wasn't too put out.

It was really nice to go out. Long overdue.