We did some pictures with a friend for Kiss of Light, but Aria couldn't resist being a part of the action. These are shot in our basement garage at our condo. It's the second time I've done that -- it's a great spot for this kind of thing, something that I've just gotta use more. The only drawback is that it's a little chilly (hence our little girl's parka), but it really wasn't that bad (that parka is overkill on pretty much any day here).

We got a few raised eyebrows with the whole get-up in a dusty garage, but that's part of the fun, right?

And specifically for Dad who just stated that you can't trust any picture these days, there is no post processing at all on these images. Zero.

It Snowed Today...

Aria's been in the snow today three times. I think she's getting a kick out of it -- it seems like it's the first snow she remembers. She loves this snow suit, and surprised me by being able to put it on all by herself -- well 95%. Her ability matches her determination.

Anyway, she even worked with me on these pictures, walking over to play at this entrance gate. It's been a while since she's wanted to do pictures, so I'll take what I can get. She loves that we have pictures of her on the computer, but isn't always in the mood to have the camera pointed at her.

Belligerant Baby

Deb: Aria say Sorry for being...
Aria: sorry for being...
Deb: Belligerent
Aria: NO!

Stages

We were sitting around the staffroom, and my colleagues were talking about their kids finding places to live, offering counsel to struggling friends and acquaintances, and other impressively mature things. I admitted that we are in different stages of life, because we're celebrating that Aria is toilet-trained.

And for us, that is big news!

We discovered it sort of by accident when we stopped putting diapers on her! She now only wears a diaper when she sleeps at night (even 3hr naps are fine!), and sometimes that's even dry the next morning. This is credit to her -- we weren't pushing, she was just ready.

Her style of warning is dramatic enough to head off accidents too. She doesn't say "I may have to pee in the near future..." or "I need to pee, right now". She says "I'm peeing!!" That doesn't mean she is, but it sure gets a reaction. :-)

Meanderings by Deb

It's been a crazy bit of time for me - and of course, really I should be working on stuff for the seminars I'm leading at a conference TOMORROW...but why else would I be on here, if not for procrastination?

It's been a busy start to the year. My courses are all on one day - which means every other day I'm at school, and the other days I'm at the church. Brad still watches Aria on Mondays, which is awesome, and the school play is beginning as well.

I'm also taking a course on how people learn and are motivated to do stuff (applies to work, parenting and teaching - although most of the people in the course are talking about teaching almost exclusively) and I'm totally geeking out on it. I love this kind of stuff - since it resonates so much with how I'm starting to think anyway. Basically - external rewards (like grades, stickers and cash) don't do much to ACTUALLY motivate us to learn more, do better, live better - and at times they prevent it. Be honest - would you actually do a better job at your job if you got a bonus at the end of the year? Or would you do the same job regardless. What if you got LESS of a bonus than you thought you deserved - would that make you continue to work as hard? See? You won't do MORE for a bonus, but you will do LESS for a smaller than expected bonus. NOT useful?

I was looking over this blog the other day, and realized that there aren't NEARLY enough pictures of Aria on it - figured it was probably because now that we're shooting everything in RAW, we actually have to convert it before we just throw things on - it's a little more work - thus...

So - I thought I'd throw a video on, just to make up for it. Aria LOVES stickers - but doesn't understand that most people put them on papers or in sticker books. No, she's pretty sure they're for putting on your hands. And if not on your hands, somewhere else on your body. And the more the merrier.

After this video was made - I passed along all the rest of the stickers we bought for Sun Peaks to my nieces - who put them in sensible places, like the fronts of books (thus making the characters look like they're eating lady bugs etc...- but I digress). We were at Sun Peaks this summer for a conference for Brad's work, and Kristine and I foolishly agreed to watch the 0-3 year olds, since we figured Aria would enjoy playing with the kids anyway. Silly us. Neither of us are "baby" people - so all the crying good-bye's got to us after a few days. BUT it was fine in the end. And we bought stickers, and there were some left after the last day of the conference. What else are you supposed to do with stickers? I ask you??



Speaking of my nieces - now that they're in the area - Aria is starting to understand what sisters means. Basically - she seems to think that people she loves a TON are her sisters (or perhaps people she'd love to have living at our house??). She pronounces it "Si-tuhs" and so far has called Uncle Rob and Auntie Hyangju her Si-tuhs, and Boo, Mike Wazowski and Kitty her situhs as well (if you don't know who I'm talking about, you obviously don't watch as many Pixar movies as I do...lucky you).

She's also starting to just offer I love you's to people. It's pretty great when you pick her up from her crib and she says "I love you so much, mommy" and cuddles in for a hug. Of course, she also kicks people (well, just Brad) when she's mad. Hmmmm...

I got new glasses - and the nose pads came off already - so I went back to get new nose pads and explained to Aria that my nose hurt. She kissed it better. It's really amazing how much better it ACTUALLY felt. Ladies and gentlemen (and the rest of you who read this stuff), kissing actually makes things feel better. Try it sometime (with someone appropriate).

I think you're all wonderful!
Deb

If Only I'd Stuck With Gymnastics For A Few More Years...

Yeah right! Check out some of the cool camera work -- I love where the camera spins with the gymnast.

Some Memorable Lines

We were among family for dinner, and Aria suggested that we listen to music, which she calls 'musit'. (The CD player was right near her chair, so it seemed natural to her). Her Mom told her that we're talking and it wasn't time to listen to music. She thought about that while conversation continued around her, and then piped up again, slightly louder:

"How about if nobody talks, then we can listen to musit."

Nanna and Opa were baby-sitting when Deb and I went out to Dinner for Schmucks (we really enjoyed it!). In order to prepare her for bed-time, they started to ask if Etton (her blue elephant buddy) was getting tired. Finally Aria told them:

"Etton's not tired but Aria is."

A Monster at the End of the Book

By Aria:
Oh I so scared...

You stop turning pages

You still turning pages?

I scared

Oh, you turn 'nother page?

Stop turnin' pages.

He so 'barassed.

The End.

I'm such a geek

I'm totally geeking out on this course I'm in right now. First of all, it's a pass fail - so it's an easy one to go to and work on what I need to, and know that it is enough. Secondly - it's about technology and the school culture. How are people changing with all the new technology that's available to them. How are students changing and how does that mean that the schools will HAVE to change. What an interesting concept - what a challenge to me as a teacher. I has made me want to re-think the whole way that I teach, and totally change things. Kids don't want to be told anymore what to learn - and why make them remember ANYTHING that they can find on their own later - but to learn to THINK about it - to learn how to have a thirst for knowledge, and where to go to teach themselves what they're geeking out on, to learn to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT rather than just listen - THAT is a challenge. I'm really excited - and a little anxious.

But yeah, I'm totally geeking out on thinking about how our culture is changing, how our thinking is changing, and the potential for what that can mean for the future. Brad told me about a guy - Seth Godin - who is offering an entire MBA without the MBA. You can pay thousands and thousands of dollars to go to "school" with this guy who isn't associated with any school, and take "courses" to NOT receive a diploma at the end - and people are signing up in droves - why? Easy - he's a guy that the prof's are quoting in their classrooms (I should know, my prof just did it yesterday). Who CARES that he's not scholastic - he KNOW STUFF, and in this changing culture, that's going to stand for a whole lot more than taking courses and writing some obscure PhD on one random topic, which now makes you able to pass on your VAST knowledge on lots of stuff you didn't actually research... hmmmm.... who would YOU rather learn from?

I'm very interested to know what the expectation for schools is going to become in the future. And how that's going to change. I think students need to be spending a lot more time thinking about the WHY questions, and the who am I questions, and that what am I going to do with all this information I have access to questions rather than just filling them up with useless facts they could look up in 3 seconds, given a computer, or a laptop, or an iPad, or just a phone.

Hmmmm.....

On a totally unrelated note: Dad & MaryAnna have been watching Aria as I'm taking this course, and it's been AMAZING (although I do feel like I'm totally taking advantage of them), but it's great to just work at school without having to also be watching Aria.

And speaking of Aria...She's awesome. Here's some shots of her in Korea from the first day - chasing birds and exploring one of the temple grounds over there. It was stinking hot - which gave her hair perfect ringlets - seriously - it was ridiculous!





This look is her newest one. It's her super excited, I just saw birds fly away (or whatever), look, and this trip was the first time it came out - which is funny because it's pretty common for Korean women to hide their teeth when they're showing emotion as well! I LOVE it!

I'm done school...YAY YAY YAY YAY

I'm very happy to say that school is done...all I've got is a few more report cards and one staff meeting to go and I'm laughing...
Who am I kidding - I'm already laughing.

I love summer.

Trip to Korea
Summer course with a friend
Trip to Sun Peaks with Brad's work
Trip to Ontario
Processing Wedding Photos
Summer camp??


Some things I WANT to do (anyone wanna go with me??)
: Go to Bard on the Beach at least once
Go to Godspell
Go to Lion King

Can you tell I love theatre?

The Coronet Is On Its Way

I have the deposit in hand from the 'Net's new owner. She's planning on keeping it rough-looking. In fact, she's thinking of satin black, with an edge-to-edge mesh grill and some mag wheels. That'll look absolutely killer! She's promised to swing by when it's done. I definitely want some pictures of it after it's been paid some proper attention.

We're not loving the idea of selling this thing. Really not. But it's going to someone that's going to really cherish it (she's owned vehicles from Porsches to Jeeps), and who will have a total blast in the thing. That's so much better than the scrapyard we were forced to consider.

As she walked away, she told me she's going to try to get plates's floating the idea of getting plates put on it that somehow spell "Loud Toy" in memory of Aria. We'd be so honoured!

Well, it's a Sad Day Here...

We've owned our car for more than 6yrs. It's just too much of a project for us to tackle at this point, so we're trying to give a happier home somewhere else. It's the machine that Aria calls the 'Loud Toy', and we've all had some great times in it together.

A brighter moment happened today when somebody made a serious enquiry -- he'd be a great owner for it. He and his buddy had some great ideas about how to fix it up (and loved some of the ideas that I've had but couldn't pull off). But nothing's final yet. Except that we need to sell it. We've already bought it's replacement -- which is frankly what's prompting the sale. It'll be a fun car, and needs far less work, and we got a screaming deal on it, etc., etc. But it's no 'Net. Sigh.

Here's the current fleet. The closest is the 'new' Chrysler, a 1981 Cordoba -- it keeps the trend of every car I've owned being a Mopar.

Oh, I should share: the adventures with this car have already begun. I ran out of gas driving from the place I bought it to the gas station. Right at a major, busy intersection. A kind-hearted stranger helped push it across the street and into the station. And another primed the carb with gas when it wouldn't fire right away. It was a moment that I felt so close to the Langley community. The whole time Aria (buckled in her seat in the back) was going: "This is interesting! This is interesting, hay? The car stopped! This is interesting, hay Daddy...?"

Then on the trip to get it Aircared (it failed, which I expected), going around a corner the car quit suddenly -- no power, no power-steering, no fan, no radio. Nothing. I came to a stop, popped the hood, and saw that a lead from the battery that had disconnected. Apparently without that connection, nothing goes. I re-attached it, and everything came to life again. I was laughing pretty hard by the time I got back in. Car ownership is fun, as long as you can roll with it! (As a colleague of mine would say: that's a pun, not a joke.)

I can't believe how quiet this thing is. I'm not exaggerating when I say that if you have the fan on over half, you can't hear the motor. That's a big difference from the raucous glasspacks on the 'Net. It was a hilarious and poignant moment when I punched the throttle taking a turn, and the tires squeaked over the paint lines on the road. Aria said: "Almost a loud toy, hay Daddy?" Yeah almost, kid. Almost.

Listen to the Whole Thing -- There Will be a Quiz!

Just kidding. We thought we'd let you in on what turned out to be the longest conversation that Aria and I have ever had. It turned out to be pretty circular, and rambling, and a bunch of other things typical of a 2yr old whose primary fighting sleep. But it's undoubtedly cute.

Keep in mind, that this is well after our nightly routine, and Aria and I are pretty much in the total dark. She just started talking and talking, and was obviously in good spirits, so I grabbed the mp3 recorder and captured some of it. We started a good 15mins before, and ended a fair amount of time after.

Listen at will -- I expect there will be very few that put the whole ~45mins into it, but if you do, you'll be rewarded with the semi-coherent ramblings of a two-year old, and two attempts at a lullaby by her father. She is soundly asleep now, believe it or not.

Click here to download.

She'll Get Her Point Across

Aria's vocabulary is growing rapidly. But as she reaches out further, she's getting to some pretty priceless places.

She had a little cut on her toe, so her Mom gave her a Band-Aid. It was a brightly coloured, which of course was very special to Aria, but she was given instructions not to touch it. For the rest of the day she told us both (raising one cautioning finger, and tilting her head down for emphasis): "Don't touch Awya's bamp-babe." The greatest is that she's learning to subtly vary how she says things until she's actually communicating, so we got: "bammabe...bamblape...blamplabe".

Deb was washing the mirror in the bathroom. Aria watched in fascination, and then asked: "Is Mommy washing the face, the face...toilet?" (Perhaps Deb was looking a little flushed? Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Aria and I went to Chapters yesterday where she likes to play with the "choo-trains", and there was a toy helicopter there. I congratulated her on recognising it as an "ay-plain", and then told her it was a special kind called a helicopter. She said "Oooh, owie-popper!"

She has just entered the possessive stage. She apparently owns all the cars on our block, most of the houses and buildings in our neighbourhood, and just about anything else she can point at. Because things are called "yours" or "hers", she calls everything "mines". When she gestures to herself it's with her whole hand up by her collar bone: "This Awya's house? It mines!"

Isn't it Ironic...

Don't you think??