Category: Grandson goo

Delightful trip

So, I was in Victoria yesterday because Katie and I could not STAND that Alex was so amazingly verbal these days but mOm had not received a demonstration.

We had yummy food and Alex drove toy trucks over mOm’s feet and called her ZiziMa. He likes ZiziMa house. He used to like the Flying Pig but now it almost scares him.

I chased him all over deck 5 of the Spirit of British Columbia yesterday.  My feet are still singing.

I have to take the car back this morning, but I’m going to run some errands first.

Putting this here so I can find it later.

No MMCo today

Jeff and I hosted Paul’s birthday last night. I got tired and went to bed at nine (folks came by at two, which is fine, because the Alex was one of them.) Also that might have something to do with the fact I was up at 2 am YESterday too.

Watching Paul with Alex. Alex pretends to feed him chili, Paul pretends to eat it, the two of them laugh like drains. This went on for about ten minutes.  I got one decent pic, which mOm already has.  He’s laughing so hard his face is almost blurry.

Alex refers to himself as Ack. This is charming. He is now speaking in perfectly intelligible sentences of two or three or four or even five words. Then the next thing he says is gibberish, right about the time you were thinking of boasting.

Nita, Keith, Alex, Katie, Peggy and Tom, Mike and Cassidy and Rob Warner all came by.   Plus Cassidy gave preserves to Paul which he will enjoy mightily.  Her southern rellies put magic in that woman’s kitchen….NOM.

Alex on his belly watching Jeff fix the deck with a screwdriver, and calling him Unca Jeff quite clearly. Playing with the hose and running all over the yard. Playing with the posture ball.

He was so busy he never even got to play on the pinballs!

Extra special hugs to cousin Lindsay for singing happy birthday to her uncle! That was very cheering.

Happy people eating chili. I made vegan chili and I’m glad, I tell you.

Much very good beer including Dageraad.

Heart full of gratitude, mind full of I HAZ NOT ENOUGH SLEEP.

Thus the pause today on the writing.  Back tomorrow, have no fear.

Alexcuddles

Yesterday something happened I’ve been so longing for, I’m quite verklempt. Alex is not a huggy kid, but he nestled in the crook of my arm, squished against his mother, and fed himself from a bottle while kicking up a storm (his mamma got the worst of it, of course).

But I got to cuddle with him, smell his hair and feel his skin, and it was life affirming.

And he’s talking in sentences.  It never happens overnight, it just feels like it. There were so many I didn’t even keep track of them.  Katie says it started a week ago.  Sometimes he still babbles, but he’s turning into a kid who hears and repeats what he hears, sometimes so precisely you crack up from sheer wonderment.

When I left him yesterday he was asleep in the stroller, and when he woke up he was fine for about half an hour, and then it was WAYAH ZIZI WAYAH ZIZI as he announced his displeasure that he didn’t get to hug and kiss me goodbye. Katie texted me and I called him to apologize. HIYAH ZIZI! That was good enough, he handed the phone back to his mamma.

Some of his complete sentences are about people who aren’t around. He talked about his Poppa (Paul).

We went through all the genealogical names.  Mum and Daddy. Grammy and Zizi and Unca and Auntie. Cousin. Ellie! Zizima! (great grandmother, reviewing it with a picture of her as Katie does her best to give him a picture of who she’s talking about in front of her to keep him oriented.) He reviewed the photographs I took of him with amused interest.

Kitty news:

He is Obvs. Feel. Much. Better. today and yesterday he brang me a freshly killed roof rat. Margot is still a little subdued but not really off her food.  Might be the change in the weather, which has broken off into real rain, thank god, it’s been so dry.

Alex redux

Got Alex to talk to his Zizima (mother of Zizi) on the phone yesterday.  I like listening to my mOm melt on the phone, it’s so charming.  I got an email from her jam packed with medical news, some pending, some good some… well, it’s like you’re a car, but you’re never tuned up, you’re never getting the right octane fuel, and you’re covered in rust. But you still run.  Sorta.

Carly, Nita, Mike, Jan, Katie, Alex, Paul and (late) Keith and me all joined up at the Bombay Bistro and ate our little faces off.  GOD THEIR BINDI DO PIAZZA is so fricking awesome, and the lamb biryani likewise. We got seated too late for Jeff to feel comfortable joining us (it was pushing 8 pm…)

NITA AND MIKE LOVED LOVED LOVED THEIR WEDDING PRESENT.  I am, as you can tell, inordinately pleased.

Now Jeff and I are off to a Downtown Shopping Adventure, and it sucks, except we’ll be happy when it’s done.

Alex the wondergrand

I got to see Alex yesterday at his momma’s house (Katie is doing very well) and he smiled his face off to see me. Then I gave him my three pound barbell (after all, it SAYS Alex on the side) and he started lifting, bro, which was hilarious, (good form too, even funnier) and then he rolled it all over the floor and then he started dropping the sumbitch, more than once, and this look came over his face – every parent knows it – and after some kind and pleasant voiced persuasion (his mother doesn’t yell at him unless it’s life or death and Alex is more compliant than any child his age I’ve known, as he really really wants to keep his mother happy) Alex went back to rolling it across the floor.  He has learned to say ‘antenna’ which is very sweet.

He has crossed some kind of developmental barrier which allows him to consider things rather than assuming that it’s bad and he should proceed immediately to a-wailin’ and a-grizzlin’.  He didn’t even come close to even thinking about crying the entire time I was there.  The last month has also been amazing in terms of language development. It’s very clear that he understands virtually everything that’s said to him and his speech is becoming clear enough to understand.  I was out of the room and he was toddler-arguing with his mother so I called are you grumpy Alex? and he said, just like a teenager would, No!

No sign of being interested in toilet training.  For this summer camping trips were invented.

He played for a very long time with my Cat Alone app. BUG! BUDAFY!

“DO YOU WANT THE FINGER ALEX” is actually a question appropriate to the game. (If he presses on the magic finger that appears it vibrates and buzzes.)

No pictures. I have memories of a sunny faced toddler running like a fool all over his apartment while issuing sticky kisses and high fives. This from last summer, Prismafied, will have to do.

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There were castor bean and nightshade plants on the walk back to the car.  New West, it’ll kill ya.

Ray Donovan was awesome, Dark Matter was okay I guess (fave continues to be 5, played by Jodelle Ferland), Killjoys is ramping up with great scripts and performances and then Keith and Paul came over yesterday to watch the Sugar episode of Addicted to Pleasure, and that was very nice.

Ghostbusters is still on at the International Village Cineplex. I should have gone last night but whatever.

I bought a battery backup for my phone (since you can’t actually replace the battery on a One S, god strake them in thayre tendre partes) and then, in a sudden blinding flash of You Know the MacBook is Doomed Since the Interior goes to 84 degrees C every time you run video and components will inevitably blow you fool! I purchased a replacement in the form of a MacBook Air, from London Thugs. I backed up the old one, Time machined the new one, everything took an hour and worked perfectly (except having to enter brOJeff’s ludicrously lengthy wifi password three times, o well) and now I have a computer with twice the power, half the weight, three times the storage and a much faster video processor. Everything I need to work transferred over without difficulty including Scrivener and Finale, the two really big ones for creative work. I’d like to publicly thank Jeff for providing the backup drive.  All part of adulting….

No I can’t afford it.  But I definitely can’t afford not to, so there you go.

 

The Terrible Baby Monster

He was in fantastic shape today. First, he *asked* to come see me, then he very sweetly greeted all his favourite parts of visits to Geekhaus, being the Star Trek TOS pinball and the Xenon pinball, the big blue ball, the kitty (Miss Margot, who suffered his very gentle pats with as good grace as she could), his special toys, and THE FAN. To say he is a fan of the fan is puttin’ it mild. Then he wanted to play with Cat Alone, and we went to the park and I pushed him on the swings. Then I called mOm because I wanted to share the wealth, and he bellowed a toddler “HIYA!!” into the phone, which hopefully will make mOm melt into a happy puddle when she picks up her messages. And he napped, the little dickens, so Katie and I could catch up.

Alex

Alex has made so much progress since the last time I saw him it’s quite remarkable.  His mother recounts a story about him grizzling at her to try and get something out of her, since his ability to intuit when she needs 20 solid minutes to get supper happening is excellent.  Finally she gave in and he teasingly signed thank you about fifty times; she’s willing take the teasing for him not having to be prompted first.  Stuffing manners into kids is a tedious but ultimately rewarding task.

Alex played ON me.  I am obviously not a threat to him any more, and he ran up and started using me as a roadway for a truck (gently, and with a little furrow in his brow.) He also flung himself on me once while I was indulging in floor play, flinging his amply pneumatic stomach onto my shins as I was lying down. He played nicely with the butterfly game on my phone.

And he called me GiGi, which is my name as grandma.  More than once.

And then, proving that he is the biggest little clown in New Westminster, he brought me my shoes and umbrella, and I said to Katie, “He’s done with me! that’s my cue to leave,” so I did (it was nap time anyway.)

Buddah!

This is what Alex says all the time.  It’s his all purpose word.

He smooshed his finger in the sun room door this morning.  Total elapsed time crying less than two minutes.  Katie inspected his finger and shrugged.  He’s gotta learn.  And he did! He started to play with the door again and I said “Whatta ya gotta go and do that for?  Doors are ouchie!” and he pivoted and went back to play with his blocks.

The grands are really enjoying him.  He creeps up to his great grandpa’s easy chair and coaxes him into a game of peekabo.  He mimes knocking great grandma’s walker over so he can play with the wheels.

I’m really enjoying being kind of unplugged.  Time flows differently in this place.

Second book to the editor yesterday.  Cover mockup for the third book below. Aren’t fractals awesome?

hairsinisteralt

Today, the butterfly house and a meal at Sassy’s and then home on the ferry this afternoon.

I am content…

Deadwood of the Caribbean

Higher body count and more cannons but you get the general idea. That’s Black Sails, which I heart so much only the prospect of there being two more seasons is preventing me from panicking about there only being 2 or 3 more episodes from season 2 before it runs out.  I honestly want to go straight to Jeff’s door, bang on it and say IT IS MY BIRTHDAY I want to BINGE WATCH THE REST RIGHT NOW. He’d probably agree though, and then what? We have nothing awesome in prospect right now except mopping up on seasons 6 and 7 of The West Wing.

Current word count 4379. Things are a little smoother after a rocky start. Glykeria has arrived at Raven’s door.

I have applied for ISBN numbers for my ebook editions of the novels.  Two weeks to wait.

Getting irritable over no Alex except for two seconds when I went to meet his momma at London Drugs and he was asleep.

Weather here is damp and nasty.

Margot got her Sunday dinner last night (I wait right until 6 pm to give it to her) and she SANG FOR HER SUPPER which was three anxious little merps – she can’t actually mew since she had the surgery. Then she stuffed her face in the dish and ate like she had no expectation of ever receiving food again from anyone.  Every time she slowed down, she’d back away with that funny little caterpiggle in reverse movement, pause, and then she’d jam her little face in like a front end loader and scarf again until she ran out of breath.  I watched her eat, it was a tender combination of hilarious and sad.

So many of my friends are having pets die and animals put down right now the Rainbow Bridge is getting crowded. Love your people critters and your fur critters as hard as you can!

Little bit of Alex, no writing

Oh, it was so good to see baby Alex today.  He was in wonderful shape, running and playing and being cooperative and stubborn in pretty much equal doses. Paul fed me and the kids and Alex and we had a quite jolly get together. Keith has set up a meditation room, and I approve.

I have a really bad case of dyspepsia that’s lasted 24 hours now.  I may be breaking out Tums before this is over

Heinz writing

Only 57 words.  Also a lot of walking, a lot of napping and a lot of BABY ALEX.  He let me snuggle him for 30 seconds while he didn’t realize I was doing it (he was facing his mother.) I got to watch him conquer a playground.  Paul took video.

He crawled at speed across the wooden chips at the adventure playground at the south end of Robert Burnaby Park, found a bar that is at his waist height, and then whacked and attempted to eat it. Then he pushed himself over the bar in an attempt to somersault or otherwise get over it. At the last possible second to avoid a mild face-planting impact, his mother grabbed the seat of his pants and gave him a soft landing.  With astonishing speed he pivoted, crowed in triumph and then tried to do the same thing going in the opposite direction.

I also watched him play very noisily with a Tonka truck, attempt to throw himself down any set of stairs possible, and smack his lips and grunt while eating. He takes a bite, smacks his lips and opens his mouth loudly while saying, AH! like a grownup with that first mug of coffee in the morning – he’s apparently imitating his pater.

The first time he did it (Paul, Katie and I lunched at Planet Bachelor Plus One – the boys have a lodger until October 1, a delightful young woman who just got a job downtown and needed bridge lodging) Paul and I laughed so heartily that we startled him and he quit eating, his eyes huge and his lip out in dismay. After about ten seconds he got that evil Warner Brothers grin and started doing it on purpose until the two of us were useless with laughter. (Katie rolled her eyes.) Paul’s got one of them on video but I imagine the camera will be shaking so hard the image will be useless.

I didn’t take any pictures.  There are lots of baby Alex pictures, but for now I have a beautiful day at the park in my memory and that’s enough.

Then home for a nap.  Katie calls me at 7 and I go YIPE and get dressed, grab Otto and walk to Planet Bachelor Plus One, during which walk I had a very brief non-run-in with the running Lady Miss Banjola; we exchanged greetings. Her runners are VERY PURPLE but she was otherwise particoloured and I don’t think even the drivers of Vancouver would have been able to pretend they couldn’t see her. At Planet Bachelor Plus One Paul purchased and fed us A FEAST OF Chanaa Masala and Curried Prawns and Bhindi and Garlic Naan and Butter Chicken and Mogo and Pullau Rice.  EVERYTHING was so tasty and perfectly cooked it was very very lovely and Alex started to melt down and Katie left and Paul drove me home.

Today I make no plans.  Soon come the trip to Ontario.

 

Dropped off

Katie and Alex and I saw humpback whales (two of them) from the stern of the ferry boat yesterday.  It was so marvellous!

The first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning around 3 am was Alex.  He has a memorable face, and such merry blue eyes.  Katie and I had a talk and I told her that I won’t try to pick him up or cuddle him again until he wants me to; I may wait years, or forever, but he’s just not that into me, so I’ll let myself be baby driven.

I was not able to get as much of the mOm-assisted edits done this time and while I’m disappointed I think it will be fine.  I’m not feeling any pull toward writing today so I’ll work on other things instead.

I very much enjoyed driving the Modo car, which is a Prius.  I didn’t enjoy the gas card not working so I have to make sure I get my money back.

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH TURDS. There’s no picture, but some of you ****ers be squeamish.

I took a book by a Christian (Phil Ryan) out of the library.  It’s called After the New Atheist Debate and it’s a sort of Point Counterpoint on the New Atheist positions and the Defenders of the Faiths – including the horrifyingly sexist and racist Theodore Beale.  BUT it contained this gem: Alasdair MacIntyre is paraphrased by Ryan as saying “modern moral debates (are) ‘interminable’ because of the ‘conceptual incommensurability’ of rival positions”.

a visit

Woke at 4:34 with a bug crawling on me.  Sigh.  I’m sure I have a mild case of RLS because I very often get ‘the crawlies’ but my crawlies don’t move, and bugs do, so that’s how I tell the difference when lying in bed at night.

I’m getting a new mattress.  This one is shite.  I don’t feel like spending any money.

Patricia and I got together downtown to (briefly) discuss my potential job application but mostly to drink a few sophisticated beverages, in the jungle that is the café at the VAG (no fewer than 4 species of bird and mammal came through).  We scored the best seats in the house. She asked to look at baby pictures.  I am extraordinarily proud of Alex (also Katie, who is doing a more than creditable parenting job under circumstances that are more difficult than what I experienced), but I don’t spend a lot of time talking about him, because his accomplishments have more to do with the quality of his vocalizations and his digestive processes than anything grownups consider remarkable.

Our server, Claire, a charming woman, talked to us a while about how people freak out about there being animals and she’s like, duh, it’s outside with 25 years worth of very dense foliage and food, and if you see mice there’s no rats, so whatevs.  Her attitude was very bracing, and damn us if we didn’t use the last of the pita to tempt Sir Sparrow and the Sire de Mousey.  And Patricia said something so complimentary I ain’t repeating it,  but it’s one of those things I’m going to be pulling out and mentally burnishing every once in a while for the next couple of weeks any time I have the Thrumps.

After two beers (Sunsetter Summer I b’lieve, and normally I LOATHE wheat bears and they give me an immediate headache but this was delicious and carried no such freight) and some hummus it was aff hame, except I said at Granville (exaggerating somewhat) CRYFACE O WHY IS IT I MUST LEAVE YOU MY FRIEND I WISH TO CONTINUE BEVERAGING.

I pointed to the nearest pub, and she had a better idea (she lives blocks away) and we went to a very nice bar called Uva, with extremely loud music (I need to find a bar downtown with music at a comfy level) and exceptionally nice washrooms and kindly servers, and I had a Raven, because I don’t get to go to Jericho Folk any more because they stopped (rent and exhaustion trending upward as I recollect) and that was the only place I ever drank it.  It was very, very good, even better than I remember although that might have more to do with how often the beer taps were cleaned at the Galley than anything else, because it was in a bottle.

So we chatted a while longer and I went home. Very pleasant to discuss the interface of domestic life with contemporary feminism, and on that subject I need make no further public remarks.

And now Jeff’s up and there’s tons on the PVR and it’s another smoking hot day in Vancouver and we are going to a family picnic tonight, yay! Also, it’s a resumé day, and I know better than to try to write more than one kind of fiction on resumé day.  I have the job description to hand, which will make things easier.

Writing will commence after the family picnic.  I am sure of it.  I was a little underfriended, and by the time I’ve done catching up with my dear ones I’ll be much closer to having a full tank.  Thank you Mike, Patricia and Alex for that!!

MUST EAT.