In a Flash

I was photographing Naomi today because it's been a little while and I was just using some automatic settings and natural light:

But the natural light was fading on me:

really fading:

So I grabbed a white blanket for a better background and tried out the flash. Not bad and I do like how her lip colour stands out here but a little too stark, I think:

So I tried partially blocking the flash with my fingers. Much better:

Also, kinda interesting that the background is overexposed.
Oops. covered the flash too much:

Best Hallowe'en EVER!

I've never had so much fun trick-or-treating. Or maybe I did when I was a kid and I just can't remember it but tonight was AWESOME. I'm still a little giddy 5 hours later. Adam has been really excited about Hallowe'en all week and the night did not disappoint. All day, he was like a kid at Christmas, so to speak, starting from the moment he got out of bed and saw his costume, which I'd laid out for him.

I had been a little nervous about how the night was going to go because Adam was being unco-operative and unpleasant when it was time to eat dinner and it looked like everything was going to be NO all night long. This despite a four-hour nap. We let him settle into playing with trains for a few minutes, which helped. I think he was just nervous. While he was distracted with the trains, I whipped his costume onto him and all of a sudden he was excited again.

For the rest of the night, Adam was at his most charming, delightful, and polite best. Which is saying something because, really, despite being 2 years old and having developed his mother's stubbornness (yes, I take full credit, er, blame) he really is a great little kid. Not only was Adam well-behaved but he was just so sweetly wide-eyed about everything. He was just as eager to talk about the jack'o'lanterns at every house as he was to collect the goodies. Perhaps the jack'o'lanterns were even better than the candy harvest. He liked to interpret the expression on each face. The vast majority were supposedly "happy," but a few were funny, and even fewer were scary. Luckily, he never caught on to any of the spookiness of Hallowe'en other than some minor trepidation when people's faces were hidden behind any kind of mask.

Naomi was her usual doll-like self. Only toward the very end of trick-or-treating did she get a little squirmy because it was time to eat. Adam was happy to call it a night because we finished at Rob and Becky's house, where he got to hang out with Clare, play with her fabulous toy collection, and munch on candy, of course.

Unfortunately, we never got a shot with the full effect. This snap is missing the conductor's hat, the orange pumpkin bucket, and the green rainboots. Ah well. Needless to say, Adam was a HUGE hit with the neighbours. His manner was adorable and OMG the JOY that spread across everyone's face upon seeing this costume. I had deliberately been avoiding any gender-connotated language but we did get a lot of compliments on the Princess Thomas costume. I had been sticking to "your costume is wonderful," and avoiding princess, beautiful, and pretty.

My theory for why Adam wanted the pink dress is sibling rivalry. I don't think Adam has even clued into pink for girls/blue for boys. But he does think that all pink clothes (even mine) belong to Naomi. And he had been asking why Naomi's shirts were called dresses. So, I speculate that he thinks she's been getting special treatment with the dresses and all manner of pink clothing. But really, who knows what's going on inside the head of a two-year-old, even if said two-year-old almost never stops talking.

Kudos to Dion for being a good sport. Thanks to Rob and Becky for hosting. Thanks to Po-Po and Gung-Gung for the Thomas costume. Thanks to Katie for lending her dress and thanks to Shana for delivering it. Thanks Naomi and Adam for the Best Hallowe'en EVER!

Pumpkin Patch

How cute are Adam and Clare? Don't you love her sweater?

Rob tells me that Adam was actually able to move the wheelbarrow a little bit. Also: thanks to Rob and Becky for bringing their camera and posting these photos on their picasaweb album.

I started explaining Hallowe'en and trick-or-treating to Adam. He's pretty psyched, always hoping that the next time he wakes up it's going to be Hallowe'en. I'm trying to play down the scary part and play up the fun parts. I tried to explain costumes: "You wear FUNNY clothes - a funny hat, a funny shirt, maybe marker on your face. What type of costume would you like to wear, Adam?"

Without hesitation, Adam replied: "A pink dress." I guess he'd think that would be "funny." This answer has remained consistent in future discussions, even after the arrival of the Thomas the Tank Engine costume from PoPo and GungGung and some Google image searches of trick-or-treating and Hallowe'en costumes.

I guess I'll ask around to borrow a pink dress to go under the train costume. The sleeves and skirt would still show. Or maybe I'll look for the size 4T pink princess costume that Naomi is bound to request in a few years and buy it now.

Niagara Falls

Tiffany took this photo. She wrote:
"Adam talks almost non-stop. He and I share our birthday. Coincidence? "

Here we go-oh!

Naomi is creeping and rolling around all over the place and thinking about crawling, I think. Sigh.

And some more headshot, just cuz.

Our little raggamuffin ...

... playing peekaboo in the pantry.

One in, one out.

In the past few weeks, Adam has given up his highchair/booster with straps at home. We still need it for some restaurants and parties. His main motivation, I think, was to be able to see the kitchen clock. His view was blocked where the highchair was.

So, Naomi has graduated from the rocking chair beside the table to the highchair at the table. She still lists; so, we stuff some blanket beneath her elbows but I think a Bumbo would be better. I haven't gotten around to scouring Craigslist. Anyway, I think she likes it.

This picture makes me stare.

This one makes me yawn.

This one makes me sigh.

This one makes me smile.

And this one makes me laugh.

Happy Birthday, Dion!

Dion got two cakes this year because I'd already bought the stuff for making/decorating a cake with Adam when I learned that Dion's parents had ordered ice cream cake. Yay! When baking with a toddler, it's not really about the baked goods so much as the activity. So we just made cake from a mix and used icing from a tub. I think it's been a LONG time since I've done that. If it's been a long time for you, too, you may forget just how intensely sweet that stuff is. Really, really sweet. Maybe it's just the flavour. I'll try short cake or something next time.

What's that behind the candles, you ask? Yes. more candles! Adam found them in a drawer and insisted that they belong on the cake. So he added them. Here's a better look:

Don't worry. We didn't light those.

laughing

One of the best times to be a parent is when you're lying face-to-face with your smiling baby and then you do something to make her laugh. So you laugh. Then you hear your own laugh again as she copies it, nearly exactly. Then you laugh. Then she belly laughs and you do too.

Those two minutes completely make up for the entire previous night of nearly no sleep.

troopers

I'm getting braver about driving long distances by myself with the kids. The difficult part is that Adam doesn't sleep much in the car. We can usually keep him entertained but he really needs to run around. However, the trip to Ottawa last weekend could hardly have gone better.

The way to Ottawa was nearly miraculous: One mom, one toddler, one infant, 5.5 hours, one stop, ZERO crying. This is really impressive because Adam slept no more than about one hour, probably less. I'm pretty sure Naomi slept 90% of the time, if not more.

The way home wasn't much worse: 6.5 hours, two stops, maybe 10 minutes of crying (Adam only.) When we got home, Adam had indeed slept for nearly an hour. They stayed asleep while I took some pictures, and very carefully packed everything in the stroller and shopping cart so that we could get everything upstairs in one trip. I actually had to wake Adam up to go upstairs.

That there, BTW, is a one-second exposure, freehand (no tripod.) Take that!

very proud

I was really proud of Adam on last Sunday. We went to Kiefer's baptism at 12:15, then to the after-party, then straight to Jean and Ian's for a late dinner. That meant: NO NAP. That's pretty tough on a kid who usually naps for about 3 hours every afternoon.

But Adam tried to be quiet at the baptism. He didn't have much success but I did see the effort on his part. Then he played really well with the other kids at the party, which he doesn't have much practise doing.

Well, at one point he did hoard his favourite toy, a lawn mower, while he was playing with his second favourite toy, the kitchen. We didn't exactly cure his distaste for sharing overnight.

BTW, please, nobody get any ideas of buying us a toy lawn mower. They are TOO LOUD for families without a basement.

By almost 5 pm and Jean and Ian's, Adam was feeling like this:

At 5 pm, he was also terrified, TERRIFIED of Tugger and Chelsea, the dogs. He wanted Mommy a lot, but would also go to Uncle Ian (Hobbs) for comfort. But by 8pm, when I took this shot, he was still behaving like this:

And Tugger and Chelsea were his new best friends, too.

Yay, Adam!

Naomi with some Hobbses

All dressed up!

I've got to find more excuses to get the kids all dressed up. Too cute. Here they are ready to go to Kiefer's baptism.

Kiefer Robert Brian Carter's Baptism

The kids and I went to Ottawa last weekend for the baptism of my old friend Doug's third child, Kiefer Robert Brian Carter. (or was that Kiefer Brian Robert Carter? I think both sound good.) Unfortunately, I didn't get many good photos of Kiefer but here are a couple that turned out okay.

Robert, the godfather, Kiefer, and Doug

Melanie, Kiefer, and Doug

apple picking

Not Friday, but the Friday before, we went apple-picking at Chudleigh's, near Milton. The OEYC nearest us rented a couple of school busses, which Adam rode with Poh-Poh and Gung-Gung. I drove with Naomi and Clare. Becky and Rob were kind enough to let Clare play hookey from daycare so that she could come hang with us.

Adam was very happy to have his friend with him. He figured out how to hold her hand (he'd never had to "lead" before) and then would tap her on the shoulder saying, "Friend. This is your friend," and the like. super cute. Unfortunately, Adam is a close-talker with other kids but Clare stood up for herself and would turn aside when necessary and say, "No."

I think Clare had a blast, too. We were a little worried because she's having some separation anxiety but I think she was simply too stunned to cry when our car pulled away from Rob and Becky's. I suspect that she was thinking about making a scene but realised that there was no proper audience. She did cry just a little bit about half an hour later when she wanted to fall asleep in the car but couldn't. Then she asked very clearly for her binky; so, I obliged her.

Naomi. Well, pretty much she slept on Poh-Poh in the daddy magic.

Some more photos. There's even one of me - just for you, Auntie Joan!

more photos of a drowsy Adam

Adam caught on film

Adam is so active that it's really tough to take his picture these days. I can only really get him when he's (nearly) asleep or strapped into a chair.

Here he is sprawled on his "parachute blanket" as he's waking from a nap.

And here he is, finally taking an interest in the art supplies he got as "big brother presents" from us and from Naomi. He's mainly interested in squeezing the finger paint onto the tray and in mixing the colours in the tray and on the paper.

Why would you DO that?

Dion and I can often be heard exchanging the phrase: "Why would you do that?" Although, we no longer need the words - a look is enough to send the message.

"Why would you DO that?" is invoked when a sleeping baby is moved or a toddler's confiscated (but forgotten) plaything is named within his earshot or whenever a child is imprudently provoked to tears, whining, or begging.

anti-clutter campaign

Here is one of the baby steps I've taken in decluttering our condo. These steps I'm taking are so tiny that really, I feel like I'm rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic but Rome wasn't built in a day, take care of the pennies .... Any more aphorisms you'd like to suggest, readers?


Before. Notice that the boxes, clutter themselves, had become a surface on which to collect more clutter. I'd been leaving them out because I had delusions of using them "soon" in grander decluttering blitzes but I've decided that it was worth my time to collapse them and store them in an equally accessible but less visible pocket of the condo.

After. Not a grand improvement but at least the stroller belongs in the front entrance and the laundry basket has been minimized.

A blogger I follow, Swistle, is also going through a decluttering campaign. I'm inspired by her new mantras:
You can't clean clutter.
and (when deciding whether to keep or discard an article):
Does it bless? Or does it oppress?

An organising guru I once saw on CityLine once said, "Every item in your home has your permission to be there," or words to that effect. A simplification for multi-person households (he's single) but still something to consider. He also questions why people are so careless with things that they proportedly value. If it has value, it should be used, stored, or displayed accordingly.

Because infants are such easy subjects ...

Again, I had too many to choose from. I need someone to help me pick through all the frames.

I was shutter-happy yesterday.

More photos of Naomi

Not exactly the same old, same old. I'm a little disappointed that this first one didn't turn out as well as it looked on my DSLR display. Ah well.







This hand: totally looks like mine babyfied.

retouching

I should just get over myself and start using that "I'm feeling lucky" button to auto-correct my photos, eh?

Naomi!

Long Weekend

We had a great long weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't get my camera out until late on Saturday. So there are no pictures from Leigh and Jenn's barbeque, which was a blast. Here are a couple from the Lew/Sui barbeque.

Naomi with Bak-Bak

Adam with Poh-Poh and his new toy "from Uncle Norman."
He's on to you, guys. Just ask him who gave him the new digger and drill.

We let Adam stay up too late on Saturday, which made Wonderland on Sunday challenging. It didn't help that he's still fighting off a cold. Our biggest mistake, though, was spending too much time at Splashworks. We thought he was just cranky but then figured out that he was actually afraid. Apparently, he likes playing WITH water, but not IN water. Actually, it's not very surprising - considering he's entering a fearful stage. He's suddenly afraid of a lot of things that never used to bother him (e.g., some loud noises) or that he used to really like (e.g., dogs.) Hopefully, he'll be over it next year, since we have 2010 season's passes. Dion was really disappointed that Splashworks was a no-go.

Probably, Adam's favourite part of Wonderland was waiting in line since he got to cuddle.

Meanwhile, Naomi worked on going bald and on sucking her thumb, for which she still lacks the requisite coordination.

Adam did perk up in the afternoon, despite being beyond tired. He'd had some alone-time in the stroller, eaten, and spent some time in the traditional playground, which is familiar territory. He even consented to going on rides with Dion, i.e., without me.

Adam rode the jalopies and trains twice each.


Dion and Adam on "James"


Naomi at the playground


Dion, Naomi, and Fred Flintstone on the carousel


We rode the carousel three times. Adam got Dino (the purple dog, he called it) each time.

Uncle Peter and Aunt Leela

I could hardly choose ...

which, from among the many shots from this "roll," to blog. Here are a few.

The sun went behind clouds for a few minutes which gave the really blue shots. They look great "warmified" but I avoid digitally correcting my "good" shots. It feels a little puritanical, I know. I am, however, willing to correct quick snapshots that capture a cool moment but are technically poor.

I would title this ....

"The Difference Between Moms and Dads" were it not that I am responsible for half of the ridiculousness in this photo.

Naomi's positioning on the counter - that's all Dion's doing. He had her while making dinner after our soak in the whirlpool. Meanwhile, I was showering and dressing Adam. So that "outfit" - that's all my doing. Furthermore, we don't normally keep rattles on our kitchen counter. Adam brought them for Naomi.

cottage - kids (& a couple of adults) inside

cottage - kids on the beach

l-r: Adam, Nathan, Sophia, Clare

Clare. my favourite subject for the week. I got so many great shots of her.

Sophia. adored by Adam. She gets that Greek goddess thing from her mother.

Naomi. What? You can't tell she's on the beach? Well, yes, that is her car seat. I didn't really think she'd want onesies full of sand.

Nathan. hard to capture that fabulous grin on "film." He's just too lively and busy.

Adam. just Adam.

play time

much better

before



after

I finally got around to cutting Adam's hair. I only retouched the bottom since his last haircut from the barber was a really short crew cut. This look required about 8 Hersey's kisses and 3 viewings of "Thomas and the Birthday Mail."

I need to find a new Thomas episode on Youtube. That one - really sexist. "Rosie isn't very strong but she's still really useful."

Check Up

Naomi had her 2-month check up yesterday. A clean bill of health but she just played around with her rotavirus vaccine rather than swallowing much of it. $80 well-spent (by Manulife)?

age	WEIGHT			HEIGHT
mos	lb,oz	%ile		in	%ile
0	7,1	34		20.0*	72
1	9,12	47
2	12,10	77		22.5	34

*Our paed measured her at 19.75" (63%ile).

FTR, there was an error in Adam's last checkup update. He was 38", not 36", in case you were confused.