It’s January here and it’s been mighty cold. -40 for a few weeks at the beginning of the month was not a fun time for Sierra…not much to do when you’re stuck indoors! We did our best to go to a store and let her walk around whenever we could.
Sierra has had a rash that would show up on her cheek and other areas of her body from time to time. At first we thought it might be an allergy of sorts. Then we started thinking it might be some form of eczema. Whatever it is, it prompted us to try some non-scented bath wash/shampoo and some different creams to put on her body. We have no idea if any of this helped, but it went from her cheek down to her legs and feet and at the time of writing, it’s all cleared up. Maybe it’s some weird rash that spreads through the body and then the skin gets used to it and it disappears? Who knows.
For the past week I tend to put on videos about elephants or hippos or other creatures while Sierra eats breakfast. She gets really excited when she sees these majestic creatures.
Sierra having fun with her new abacus…always handy if the nuclear war destroys all calculators.
Good thing we were cleaning out the storage room otherwise it would have been months to stumble upon another Christmas gift that was wrapped up in a shower curtain! Nanny had bid on this item from a silent auction in Gaspe…it is a frame of all formats that music has been released on…78s, 45’s, 33 1/3, 8 tracks…you name it, they got it. Quite an interesting history lesson!
I’ve been really inspired to write music during the past month. I managed to finish up two solid tunes which I’m quite happy with. Here’s my trusty helper showing me how to use the guitar pick.
Sierra practicing some yoga moves.
New Year’s Eve dinner over at Jon and Chantal’s, where we had supper with a monkey.
Victor Von Dube with his eye on the prize.
The kids put on a great spectacle for us.
Photographing children is an exercise in futility.
Snowman!
Standing straight and tall!
Sierra is starting to play with her food in the morning instead of eating it. This drives me slightly mad.
We got to head up to Lynn and Sue’s for a night which was fantastic (although it was -40 outside so there wasn’t much fun in the woods happening!)
Sierra really enjoyed traveling the world.
The kids playing in the morning
I’ve been working at Place du Portage since 2001 and I never knew there was a greenhouse in the building! Nat and Etienne were quite amazed at the selection.
While Ellie enjoyed opening gifts for her first birthday, Sierra was scoping out the toy room.
Aunt Trish managed to capture Sierra a few times
The trick is to start them young in building Ikea furniture so they can handle their own Billy bookcase when in university!
For the past few months Sierra has been interested in what we were up to when making supper. I stumbled upon the idea of a ‘learning tower’; something that can allow kids to safely watch/help out at the counter height. Someone developed an Ikea hack so I bought this step stool for $25 and spent another $10 for wood (let’s not count the other $20 of screws! I figure that’s a negligible cost considering I used 10 screws out of a pack of 100). Other than freezing my ass off outside in the garage in the middle of January, I would say it was a success. The only issue I had was there were no wood coloured stools at Ikea when we dropped by so I (I mean Mom) will need to paint it white. An important thing to remember is that this thing can still tip over fairly easily. Mike and Melanie one that was pretty much the same design and poor Max tipped it over one day. I’m wondering if I can learn from that lesson and perhaps attach a piece of plywood on the bottom so it would make it harder to tip over. I’ll think about it over a few beer.
It’s exciting to see Sierra very interested in how tools work.
At work, they were moving us to the fifth floor so everyone stored their plants and other assorted junk in my office on the second floor while they moved. I felt like I was living in the jungle for a few days!
Showing off her latest masterpiece.
With the fourth floor closing up for renovations I begged Vero to come visit me at work before they tore it all down. It was in this very spot back in 2005 that Vero rounded the corner and I was blown away by this stunning human being.
A re-enactment of my reaction when she rounded the corner.
This was definitely her reaction years ago. No lie. It was neat to see Vero come back to the fourth floor after all these years (she had worked there as a summer student). Some things had changed and others hadn’t.
Check out this awesome Deadpool that Amy made for Sierra!
Near the end of January it started to get to be nice outside so we took advantage of it and went snowshoeing. Last year we were able to carry Sierra in the sling but this year it was time to try out a sled. We had a bought a nice big red one and it was horrible as she kept falling off when I would pull it. We resorted to using her baby sleigh that she is nearly done with. From the looks of it, she didn’t mind at all!
From my vantage point, I couldn’t tell if she was having a good time or not with those screams.
I think she must have been getting tired at this point?
She sure loves those bubbles.
Mel and Jon invited us over for supper (where we could also try out some tunes for their wedding in July). I snuck off to the basement to hang out with the cool kids at one point.
Sierra is still pretty shy around the kids (maybe not the ones at daycare?). I tried to get a few photos of her but she was always on the outside just minding her own business. No matter, it’ll take a few years for her to realize these friends are awesome.
Theatre friends plotting the demise of their husbands.
I had to leave the party early to see Big Wreck on their 20th anniversary tour of ‘In Loving Memory Of’. It was a great night out with Etienne at Algonquin College. The only thing that sucks about the college is that you have to finish your beer before going into the theatre!
Killer, killer night with them playing their entire first album (and b-side Ill Advice, only one of my favourite Big Wreck tunes!). They also finished off with a couple of extra tunes and blew our minds with guitar solos. Seriously, how insane is Ian Thornley on the fretboard? Also, I have to point out that Algonquin College always offers a great view from the floor, especially if you venture to the right hand of the stage where there is no one standing.
See ya!
Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries died today at the age of 46. No real details at this point, but what does it matter anyhow?
