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!

Allergy

Nate (after a series of coughs):

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

Walking away from Christmas

Patty went out with her brother yesterday evening to go get our Christmas tree.  They'd just left when it started to snow, quite heavily.  A little later we had an 8 foot Christmas tree in our living room, and a very excited Nate, who could not wait to decorate it.


We very quickly realized though, that there is quite a big difference between the number of lights you need for a 6 foot tree, compared to an 8 foot tree.  Since we have only ever been able to fit a 6 foot tree in our old place in Vancouver, we only had enough lights for a 6 foot tree.  After several failed attempts at trying to stretch the lights to cover the tree, it was pretty clear that we needed to get more lights if we wanted to trim the tree that evening.


By this time, Nate was getting quite frantic about being unable to start the tree decorating.  It was still snowing and blowing like crazy outside and neither one of us really relished the thought of having to venture out for lights in that weather. We tried to convince Nate to wait till the next day to trim the tree, but he was having none of it.  Increasingly distraught  at the prospect of having to wait another day, he bowed his head and wandered away, announcing "I'm walking away from Christmas!"


I found him sitting on the floor of Patty's office, in the dark.  A few minutes later, I was getting snow blasted in the face as I walked to Walmart to get some lights.


Nate got to trim his tree before going to bed.

Missing friends

A couple of weeks ago, Nate wandered into my room in the morning and woke me up with this:-

'I miss Vancouver. I like Vancouver better than Halifax. I miss my friends there and I miss your friends at the coffee shop.'

Then he slumped his shoulders forward, as if defeated and launched into an overly dramatic wail. At the time I thought that he just wanted some attention, and so I pulled him up onto the bed and cuddled with him while we talked about the good things that came with our move to Halifax.

He hasn't let it go yet though. He's brought it up several times since then. We've been here for almost 8 months now, and in the past couple of weeks it seems to me he's mentioned missing people in Vancouver more than he did during the entire 7 months prior.

He's not the only one though. I've been missing my friends too. When I first moved here, I made a conscious effort not to pick up the phone to call people back in Vancouver, or to check in too often on Facebook. I felt I needed to let go a little, if you will. I didn't want to be living my life in Vancouver via the phone/internet while I was here in Halifax. Of course that didn't stop me from thinking of my friends there. I guess Nate hasn't stopped thinking of his friends in Vancouver either.

And so my friends out West, know that you are missed by a little boy, and his dad.

I think Nate may have inherited a love for tools from me

We were at The Home Depot today, getting more things for the basement reno. We had Nate with us this time, and although he wasn't all that excited to go initially, he quickly warmed to the place once we got there.

Some things he wanted to buy:

• various tape measures - 'for measuring things'
• a rubber hammer - 'so I can bang on things'
• some small screw drivers - 'cause they are made for little boys like me and they're cute'
• 2 packs of 10 carpenter pencils - 'one for you and one for me'
• a chisel - I have no idea why

This could be a good thing, I could think of worse things to do than go to The Home Depot with Nate for a few hours.

Excuses

Patty:

Nate, take your toys and books up to your room.

Nate:

But I'm too tired. Those things are too heavy. My hands are all sweaty. It's almost lunchtime. I got to make supper. I need a rest.

Reminds me of Joliet Jake explaining why he didn't make it to his wedding.

The boy and the nice monster - as told by Nate

Alternatively known as The nice boy and monster or The nice boy and the nice monster.

Once there was a boy. One day he found a monster.
It was a nice monster, and they became friends.
The boy helped the monster look for the squiggly arrow sign.
They had to look a long long time before they found it.
Then the boy said 'This looks like the right place!'
And then he pushed the button where the squiggly arrow sign was.
Then this big giant door opened, and there were all kinds of monsters inside.
Then the boy and the monster shook hands, and then they said 'Goodbye'
The End!

Nate told me this story and two other variations of it this morning, as we lay on a blanket in our backyard. For reasons I do not yet know, and perhaps may never know, he is in love with the idea of picnics. And so we were having a picnic in our backyard.

This story is Nate's rendition of The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan.

I was only gone for a day...

Natal day in Halifax, a celebration of the birth of the Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. I worked a full shift at the Goat today, the first time in awhile since I've been on my feet for nine hours straight. My feet are killing me!

I left home while everyone was still asleep, and when I got back I was greeted by Nate running down the hallway yelling 'Dada!'. He was talking up a storm, about what he was doing, and what he'd been up to during the day.

'We went to Sobey's because we didn't have any baking soda. Then we came home and we made chocolate cookies.'

'Did you go to work dad? Were you on the bus? How did you come home?'

We had supper out on the deck, it's Nate's favourite thing now, having supper outside. I realize I was only gone for a day, but he seemed so much older to me when I got home.

For the past week or so, I've been leaving his bedside light on after reading him his bedtime story. He wanted to "read" his book one night after I read it to him, so I told him he had to turn off his light after he was done and go to bed. I said I would check in on him later. He's been good to his word so far, and every time I've gone up to check, his light has been off and he's been asleep.

Now, after I read him his bedtime story, he tells me:

'I'm going to read my book, and I'll turn off the light when I'm done. You can check on me at 4.30 (he still doesn't know how to tell time and makes a new one up every time).'

It's a good job I'm back to my half days shift tomorrow, who know how much more growing he'll be doing while I'm gone!

Nate on soccer

Nate went to his first soccer practice this evening. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go. My fault, I totally forgot and said I could work this evening. He's been pretty excited about it, and Patty said it was all he could talk about this evening. So what does he say when they get there?

'Mum, I don't know about this soccer thing.'

Of course, by the time it was over and people were leaving, he wanted to keep on playing.

Nate's goodbye

I am writing this now, before I forget it.

When we left Singapore, we were seen off by my parents and my brother Kevin. Poor people, they had to wake up at 3am to make sure we got to the airport on time. After going through security and customs, we turned around to wave goodbye to my family through the glass. I was carrying Nate over my left shoulder, and he kept on waving as we walked towards the gate.

Then he said:

'Goodbye Kevin! I'll see you later. I'll be back soon.'

There was of course no way Kevin was going to hear it, and it was probably just as well. It was said in such a sincere voice it would have broken his heart. It damned near broke mine, and I just barely held it together as we approached our gate.

So this is how it's gonna be

Nate (calling loudly):

Nana! Nana! Where are you Nan?

Me (to Nate):

What do you need Nate?

Nate (loudly to me):

I NEED NANA!

Generosity

I forgot my wallet when I left the house the other day. I managed to scrounge up enough money from my tip cup to buy Nate a cookie at the café, but that was about all I was going to be buying for that outing.

On the way home Nate insisted we stop off at the pet store to get a treat for Snoopy. I reminded him that I did not have any money on me, but he was adamant, so I obliged him.

After playing fetch the ball with a member of the staff, Nate picked out a chew stick and said “I get this for Snoopy.”

What follows is the rest of our conversation:

Me: We can’t get that today Nate, I don’t have my wallet so I can’t pay for it.

Nate: But I want to get this for Snoopy.

Me: I know and that’s really nice of you, but I don’t have money to pay for it.

Nate: I have some money dad, it’s OK.

Me: I don’t think that’s going to be enough (as he fished a quarter out of his pocket)

Nate: It’s alright dad, we can go home and get some more money from my piggy bank and then we can buy Snoopy a treat!

At that point there was a collective ‘Awwwwwww!’ from everyone who was within earshot.

I don't want to go

That's twice now I've heard those words from Nate on the mornings when I wake him to go to daycare. I don't know why, but he just wants to stay home when I tell him it's time to go to Kristi's house. Last Friday, it took us almost an hour and a half to convince him that he could not stay home by himself. Thankfully it wasn't nearly as difficult this morning, but it still took us some time to get out of the house.

Of course once we got there, he quickly forgot he didn't want to go in the first place. As we pulled up to Kristi's this morning, he said to me "dad, are you going to come and play with me at Kristi's house?". Well, with an invite like that, how could I possible say no?

So this morning I got to hang out with Nate, Aiden and Vivienne, and play with toy cars and planes and watch them bounce around on the mini trampoline. Everyone shared or took turns, and at one point when they each had a toy car, Nate made sure I had one too. "I go get a car for you dad!", and he did.

After the initial struggle to get him to Kristi's, it was nice to see him enjoying himself there and being part of a larger group. And when it was time for me to go, he ran over to give me a hug and a kiss. Invisible I am not.

Snippets from the walk home from daycare

Fridays after a shift at the cafe, I pick Nate up from daycare and we walk home. This is what he had to say yesterday:-

• on what he did at daycare - "I went to the park and I saw bugs and ants on leaves and ants on tree!"
• on seeing a dog crossing the road - "That's a poodle! Over there, that brown one! That's a poodle!"
• on having a friend over for dinner - "I know Noah! He's my friend!"
• on leaving the parkade under our building - "Shhh! The cars are sleeping. Quiet, don't wake the cars, they're sleeping."