New glass

eyes, originally uploaded by J J Justinsen.

Shot with the SMC P-FA 50mm f1.4 which I acquired on ebay April 10. Took a bit of time for the money to clear through paypal, but it finally made it here on Tuesday.


I think I am really going to like this lens. Should come in really handy for the 100 stranger project I'm working on.

When a reflector arrives in the mail, it's time to take some photos

Shot with my SMC Pentax-M 1:1.4 50mm, with a gold reflector to one side.  I think they turned out rather nicely.

Good dog

When Nate woke up this morning, he called me into his room and told me his tummy didn't feel like it normally did when he woke up.  Then he threw up.  That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day.  He got me to make up a bed for him on the sofa, and spent pretty much all day there.

At some point during the day, Snoopy abandoned his favourite spot on the back of the other sofa by the picture window and curled up with Nate.  I think it was his way of making Nate feel better.  Nate said that Snoopy was taking care of him.  It reminded me of when Nate first came home and became the newest member of our pack.

We were living in Vancouver then, and Snoopy had been number-one-son for over a year and a half.  We were of course concerned about how he would react to the new addition.  Would he feel threatened and perceive Nate as competition or worse a snack?  We needn't have worried.  Snoopy took to him right away, and made it his job to look after Nate.  

He would wake me in the middle of the night when Nate was crying and we were slow to respond.  He would come into Nate's room with me, and if I was having a hard time settling him back to bed, Snoopy would run back to our room to rouse Patty.  It was almost like he was saying 'that guy hasn't got a clue what he's doing, you better go give him a hand'.

Whenever I took Snoopy out for a walk, the first thing he did when we got home was to check on Nate. He would run over to the bassinet and peek over the top,  and if Nate was not in there Snoopy would run upstairs and check the crib.  He would not do anything else until he had found Nate.  

When Nate was old enough to start walking around the dog park, Snoopy was his constant shadow.  He was never far from Nate, not even when there were other dogs to play with.  He watched over Nate.

Snoopy, sticking close to an under-the-weather Nate.

I'd always meant to write a post about how great Snoopy was when we first brought Nate home, and maybe I have already?  I forget.  But watching Snoopy today brought back all those memories, and when I snapped the picture above, I already knew what I was going to do with it.


Good dog Snoopy.  Good dog.

Nate turns 5

Nate turned 5 yesterday.  We started the day off with crepes for breakfast, followed by some presents.  The rest of the morning was spent getting ready for his party.  There were cakes to ice, fruit to slice, wiener rolls to bake, and a house to make presentable.  It was pretty close in the end, but we got it done and I think everyone had a good time.  


Happy birthday bubba!

Winter fun

Nate and his little red sled, which turned out to be the fastest thing on the slope.

The long climb up.

Coming down.

Going over the top

Catching some air.

I think he's having a good time.

Experimental hair

Getting in the mood for Halloween

We've been trying to get this done for a few days now, but the weather hasn't been very cooperative.  That and I have been feeling a little under the weather.  But we caught a break this morning, it wasn't raining, and I wasn't feeling too badly.


A few minutes of fiddling about and voila!  May I present to you dead Ned.  As you can see, it didn't take Nate long before he was hamming it up for the camera!

On the waterfront

Sundays should always start with surprise visits like this

Two old friends got to spend a little time together today.  I doubt if surprise visits get any better than this.

Father's Day

This evening, Nate went to his treat jar and  picked out a chocolate heart for me.  "Happy father's day!", he cried, as he presented me with his gift.  "It's a Transformers chocolate and they're really crunchy!".


It might not seem like much to you, but it meant the world to me.  I already know I'm his best friend because he tells me this quite often.  I know he loves me because he tells me this almost  everyday now.  Today I found out just how special I was, when he picked a treat out of his treat jar just for me.


So Nate, if you should be reading this one day,  I just want you to know just how special you made me feel today.  I love you son!

Nate, back in 2008

Getting ready for the Tooth Fairy

We were back at the dentist's again this morning to have Nate's front tooth extracted.  Nate did very well, and we only had to bribe him with one Lego Bionicle and one Lego Star Wars toy.  The hardest part was the needle, it just took so long to get the stuff into him, and he didn't like it.  But Dr. Macdonald was great with Nate, and made sure that Nate was in control.  He told him that all he had to do was say stop, and he would stop.  And that was how it went.  I think that really helped Nate feel more comfortable about the whole process.  That and having Patty sit in the chair with him. 

In the end it took just under an hour to get the job done.  Nate got to take his tooth home in a special little tooth necklace, and tonight it goes under his pillow to await the Tooth Fairy. 

It wasn't even half an hour after we left the dentist's when we heard him proclaim 'It's a good day.'

Symmetry

It's probably been happening for some time now, I just never really noticed it.  Nate's Lego constructs have mostly been on the small scale, usually assembled from pieces no longer than two stud lengths.  Last Friday he dragged out his mega blocks and started building with them.  It seemed like he was only at it for a short while when he walked into the office to show me this.

It may not look like much to you, but to me it was vastly different from the other things he's made.  It's obvious that some thought went into it.  It is completely symmetrical, in form and colour. My first response was to ask him if he had made it by himself.  Silly question really.  I had been in the office, Patty was out of town, there really wasn't anyone else!  But to me it didn't seem possible that he had done it all by himself.

Later on that same day he came and showed me this.

'A robot!', I said.  

'No!  It's a mask!' he said.

And so it was, complete with eyes you could look through.  

I have no idea when a child is supposed to develop these abilities, I just find it fascinating that it came about so quickly, and that I was fortunate enough to be around to witness it.  A few days later, I watched him as he put together a 'building' in the waiting room at the dentist's.  You could almost see the gears turning in his head, as he picked through the bins looking for the pieces he needed.  He almost always picked them in pairs, but sometimes he'd find one piece and add it to the building before going back to find another one.  If he couldn't find another one, he would look for a new pair that would work instead.

I'm pretty sure I could have watched him for hours.

The tooth fairy

I took Nate to see the dentist yesterday morning.  Some while ago he was trying to show Patty he could jump up and spin around in the air.  However he forgot he had his hands in his pockets and lost his balance.  He fell and smacked his face into the hardest part of the kitchen floor.  A while later we noticed that his front left tooth was starting to discolour.


Yesterday, we learned that the tooth was dead and had to come out.  So the good dentist took some time to explain to Nate how the tooth fairy had called and put in a request for Nate's tooth.  Apparently she's building a house and needs Nate's tooth because it's the perfect fit for a hole in one of the walls.  Personally, I find the idea of a house built out of teeth a little creepy, but Nate seemed to think this was perfectly fine.  Dr. Livingstone also explained how they would remove his tooth, and how he would have to take it home and put it under his pillow so that the tooth fairy could pick it up.   He's already wondering what the tooth fairy will leave him in return for his tooth.  


The whole visit went without a hitch, and he didn't even want to leave after he was done.  We spent another 20 minutes in the waiting room so that he could play with the mega blocks.  He's always enjoyed going to the dentist and I hope that his next visit won't change that.  


On the walk back to his grandparents' after that, he told me 'I love my dentist'.  He also told me he loved me and I was his best friend.  He turned to hug me, and I picked him him up to give him a big squeeze.  Then he broke the spell with 'You can put me down now dad!'  He's so sentimental.


We go back on Monday morning to get the tooth removed.

Allergy

Nate (after a series of coughs):

I think I have an allergy. Yeah, I think I'm allergic...to myself.

Slugger

Everything I know about baseball comes from movies like The Natural, Field of Dreams, and Bull Durham.  When his nana asked him if he knew what baseball was, Nate's reply was "Yeah. It's a show on TV".  Are you starting to see a pattern here?

His grandfather got him the tee ball set.  To my untrained eye, he looks like he's got pretty good form.  But what do I know about baseball?

They're also good for making pictures

I have no idea what he thinks he's doing with them, but he sure had fun!  What a goofy kid, I suppose he gets that from me.


Then there's this snippet of a conversation from the other day.

Nate (playing Lego Indiana Jones on the Wii):  

Dad, I can't move anymore!  

Me:  

Hold on Nate, I think that remote is out of juice.

Nate:  

Juice?  There's no juice in the remote! That's ridiculous!

Me:  

No the batteries are dead, they're out of juice.

Nate:  

Oh!  There's the juice that is the real juice you can drink, and there's the juice that's electricity!

And not long after that he's talking to me about solar power.  I kid you not.

4

Nate turned 4 last Friday, and we threw a party for him Saturday.  In case you missed it, it was a Batman themed party.  There were cupcakes, balloons, face painting, crafts and games, and pizza.  We had 15 kids over, and I think they all had a great time.

An excursion across the harbour

I've been meaning to go across the harbour to Dartmouth and visit my friend Zane for awhile now.  It's been almost four months since he opened Two if by Sea, and as busy as he's been, he's found time to stop by and see me at work.  


So this morning, Nate and I got the bus downtown and caught the ferry across the harbour to Dartmouth.  I doubt if we could have picked a nicer day for it.  The sun was shining and it wasn't all that cold out.  


We found the cafe, a short walk from the ferry terminal.  There was one free table and we snagged the four-seater, even though we were just two.  It wasn't long before Nate had his hands on the largest chocolate chip cookie I've ever seen.  How big was it?  Let's just say in the battle between Nate and cookie, the cookie came out on top.  Not everyday you see a kid defeated by a cookie.  I got a shot of espresso, followed by a macchiato, a cup of Kenya from the pour-over station, and another Kenya brewed in an Eva Solo.


Perhaps best of all though, was the fact that we got to meet people.  Nate made friends with a two year old girl, I got to chat with her and her mum, and I even helped out a customer with a home espresso problem.  I was reminded of when I first started going to JJ on Main, even before I started working there.  It was more than just a cafe, it felt like a community centre. 


Nate and I are hoping to make this a regular excursion.

Another year gone

I had planned to post an entry for the end of 2009, or the beginning of 2010.  You know, one of those looking at the year past, or looking at the year ahead jobs.  2009 was such a big year of change for us, but the more I thought about it, the more overwhelmed I got by it. 


So here we are on the third day of 2010, and still no big year-end post.  I think that ship has sailed.  As for the year ahead...who knows, I've been too busy digging out from under all the snow we've had this last little bit to even think about it.  If nothing else, it was a nice way to get out and spend some time with the neighbours.  Truth is, I'm really glad for the exercise as well.  


But I digress.  The thing is, I've given up on my original idea.  No one needs me to go over the past year, after all you were there too!  As for the year ahead, I am no soothsayer.  Instead, I've decided to aim a little lower. 


So for my first posting of the new year, I present to you Nate and Tex.

See it hasn't been all work, we got to play as well after all the shoveling was done!  Nate actually helped build this snowman this afternoon, and didn't knock it over after we finished, that being his usual M.O.  Not a bad way to start the year eh? (I did say I was aiming low!)


Happy new year!