Baby names

It's hard to decide on a name for a baby. Sometimes I think that we've settled it. We haven't.

I look at just two names and it's so hard to decide. I know that I'll love the little one whatever we call her, but I want to pick the best name for her. How can we make her happy? And us, and family? We've thought hard about all the kids names. Alice sometimes tells us that she hates her name and would rather be called Elsa (from Frozen). It hurts a bit. But we get the last laugh because we named her and any changes will require legal action on her part. Ha ha, take that!

How should you decide on a name? The sound of 3 names together? The first and surname? The sound of the 3 kids names together? The sound of you yelling the kids name to put her shoes on for the 17th time that morning?

I wish that things clear to me.

Or that I had some pie and tea to be able to ponder the choice of names. Pondering usually is easier with pie and tea.

Finding My True Love

Well, I've fallen in love (again), and not with my wife. I never knew that lightening could strike like this. This is awkward since we've been together for like 13 years, married for 9. It's especially awkward because it happened on a Date Day™.

Needless to say, I'm having a hard time bringing this up with Laura. Laura has also met my love, so she might be forgiving, maybe even understanding.

It was five strips of bacon, dunked in buttermilk pancake batter, deep fried and served with maple syrup. It was like what I imagine heaven to be. You know, if heaven is bacon deep fried in pancake batter with maple syrup.

For the record, I've never fallen out of love with my wife. If anything, it's little trips every day.

Notice the crazy eyes. Happy, happy crazy eyes.

Laura won't even sit up for the picture because it would take farther from the bacon.

Date days

With young kids, a lot of time it's difficult to have a "real" date. Scheduling, having someone else look after the kids, just being too tired. So what we've done a couple of times is out kids into daycare and then going out for breakfast / lunch. Lunfast if you will. 

The other day we did that. We dropped the kids off, watched the start of the changing of the guard (as one does), and then headed to our favourite pancake / Canadian fare food truck. Alas it had moved. So we were forced to eat somewhere else delicious. Then as we often do when we find ourselves away from the kids, we ended up in a toys store.

Lots of bike riding around. Good time had by all. A pretty fun date, and not that different than our first dates together. 

Did I mention that I love my wife? No? Well I do. 

Not dead yet

Another week, another cold. This one I blamed on the children of course. It had a weird fever where it was like I was soaked from a swim. Kids are gross. Infectious too.

One of the disadvantages of being a mouth breather and having an awesome commute to work / daycare is that, perhaps, when the kids are insisting on blowing raspberries, or sneezing, or, well, anything other gross thing that they can think about, I'm a bit too close to the germ cloud they produce. Yum.

But I'm not dead. Not yet. Despite their best efforts.

This is how we roll.

On being a father

The other day I was at a BBQ with family. It was shortly after Father's Day so it was being talked about. My brother that has 2 kids and 2 step-kids says to be "When you think about it, it doesn't take much to be a father". I think that he was talking about the act of conception.

I totally disagreed. That's not how I see being a father at all. I see "being a father" being all the times you wipe noses, rock them back to sleep, hug them after a skinned knee. It's a lot of time. Decades. Lifelong.

My favourite people

Go. Swim. Ca-nal.

Isaac is such a joker. Every day he says goodbye to the daycare workers Sorna (bye Sor-na!) and Samantha / Sam (Bye Steve! [giggle / sly smile] Bye Sam!" Funny man.

Then on the days we are lucky enough to be biking home, as we approach the 417 bridge / Pretoria bridge we will have an exchange like this, almost word for word, each and every time.

Isaac: Go. Swim. Ca-nal. Alice. Go. Swim. Ca-nal.
Me: No!
I (sadly): Why?
M: Why not?
I (big grin): Not. SAFE!
M: That's right.
I: Too. Dirty. Yuck!
M (laughing): That's right. Yuck!
I: Yuck!


Tonight while I had him sitting on the toilet trying to fill that instead of his pants, I thought that I'd tell him a story to help him relax. So I decided to start stories the way that I do when I'm making it up and go with "There once was a boy and the boy loved (insert something here, tonight it was dragons) very much". He yelled "NO! READ WHAT IS SAYS!". I was quite taken aback. Mostly because that's how I start every story for Alice to tease her and because it's the opening to one of my favoute books. What he said tonight is her usual response. It's so funny: I tease one child and the other one learned from example. I've got to be careful.

I want to hang onto those moments

It's funny. The kids right now are so cute. Well, not right now because they are asleep, but when they are awake and not fighting or running away or anything they are cute.

They play well together. Alice says funny things with how she sees things. Isaac talks in his toddler voice with pleading to "go to air-port. Go wreally high. Go wreally fast. Higher. Higher! HIGHER!". Then he moves in for the really great hug.

I want a time capsule of specific moments so I can go back to them. Maybe a pensieve would be good enough. Moments to cherish.

Don't get me wrong. I'm pretty sure my brain could do with actually sleeping all night for a while to undo 2 years of damage. of damage. of damage.

Who am I? How did I get here?

Oh ya. Yes, I'll enjoy when my kids are older and can do more for themselves. I just know that I'll miss some of these moments while my brain damage has blotted out all the bad things.