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.

Summer in a bowl

Nate, Snoopy and myself stopped by our next door neighbour's yesterday morning and Nate got to go up on the roof deck and pick tomatoes. I think he really enjoyed doing that, there were so many different tomatoes and it was quite the job to keep him from picking them all.

For awhile it seemed like it was still the middle of summer. The sun was out, we were picking ripe tomatoes off the vine, and Snoopy and Mika were stretched out on the deck. And this is what we came home with, a bowl of lovely tomatoes and some basil to go with them.

I decided to make a little tomato salad for dinner with our little bounty. So a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some of the fresh basil, and voila! Summer in a bowl.

Thank you Jean. They tasted heavenly!

Not for my vegan friends, or the faint of heart

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/ linking to your results.

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese

8. Carp

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Foie gras

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects

43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Fugu (pufferfish)

47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV (Fin du Monde in Quebec)

59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. Kaolin

64. Currywurst

65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini 

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

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."

Occassionally, I am not invisible

Most days when I drop Nate off at daycare, he barely bats an eyelid when I say goodbye and go to leave. He's usually playing with some toy or his friends, and will yell 'goodbye!' without even turning his head. It's almost like I'm not even there, invisible, already gone.

This morning, we were running a little late and when we got there they were getting ready to go for their morning walk. I was pulling my shoes on and getting ready to go when he came and snuggled with me and said 'I love you dad.', quite out of the blue. What a nice surprise. But he wasn't done yet.

As Snoopy and I made our way from the house, the kids all emerged and started heading off on their walk. I heard Nate yell 'Goodbye dad!' and then 'Wait, I want to get you a hug!' So I run back over, and he runs up to me and hugs me. As he heads back to the group he says 'I get you a kiss' and comes back and plants one on my mouth. Then he's off again. yelling 'See you later!' as he rejoins the group.

Today, I was not invisible.

I suppose it was inevitable..

I've been toying with the idea of a blog now for some time.  My son is now two and a half and I'm increasingly finding myself wishing I had a place to record the things he does or says.  Sure, I have hundreds of photographs of him, okay probably thousands.  Yet it doesn't seem enough.  I fear that the time will past and all these moments will be lost.  I'll look back at the photographs one day and wonder where they were taken, what he was saying or doing.  I know I won't be able to record everything here, but it's more for the moments that stick out.  My friends tell me those are the moments I will always remember, but I can't even remember what I had for breakfast most days, or what I did the night before.  I find it hard to believe I will remember something that happened 30 years ago when I am in my senior years.

So that's the primary purpose of this blog.

Of course I'm sure there will be other posts as well, where I will probably make cynical pessimistic and downright depressing observations about the world around me.  I'm sure you can hardly wait.