Yesterday, as we were driving home, I was wondering if James had fallen asleep, so I asked Sara, "Is James still...

Yesterday, as we were driving home, I was wondering if James had fallen asleep, so I asked Sara, "Is James still with us?" Of course Nate pipes up from the back and goes, "Yes, James right here." So, I attempted to explain that what I really was asking was whether James was conscious of what was going on around him. Obviously I didn't do a good job explaining myself because the next thing Nate says in a very serious voice is, "We shouldn't put James on the street. He might get broke... and cheerios come out."

Thought this was neat.

Thought this was neat.

From Robbie Melvin:
http://blog.robbiemelvin.com/2011/12/my-grandmothers-piano/

Nate installed a Duplo tower in our upstairs bathroom at some point today.

Nate installed a Duplo tower in our upstairs bathroom at some point today. I thought nothing of it until this evening when he explained it. Apparently it was a "men's toilet for peeing standing up".

As the boys were eating cheerios this morning, I was reminded of how when Nate was the age Jame is now he used to...

As the boys were eating cheerios this morning, I was reminded of how when Nate was the age Jame is now he used to purposefully press on the cheerios with his index finger and make them go flying across the room like tiddlywinks. Thankfully James appears to have avoided learning that trick by virtue of the ferocity with which he attacks his food. Cheerios still get everywhere, but in more of a cookie monster crumble kind of way.

Most things Nate pretends to be, I can sort of understand the logic to.

Most things Nate pretends to be, I can sort of understand the logic to. Even, if he's pretending to be non-living thing, usually it's the moving sort that would fun to be, like a dump truck or excavator. On rarer occasions he might be something inanimate, like a bridge or a road, but at least those are sort of exciting, because moving things drive across them. I didn't have any answers though as to why, when I was getting him ready for bed the other day, he exclaimed, "I a pile of dirt!" Seriously?

Anyways, I went a long with it, claimed to be a front-end loader, and scooped him up with my arms, made beeping sounds as I backed out of the bathroom, and dumped him (literally) into his bed. This of course was met with great delight. As I tucked him in for bed, he added, "This is a dump truck (pointing at his bed), the blanket keeps the dirt from flying out."

Then, as he has done every subsequent night that he's pretended to be a pile of dirt, he insists that I pray for "this dirt" instead, whenever I get to the part in the prayer where I thank God for Nate.

Nate's pretending generally follows a standard rule.

Nate's pretending generally follows a standard rule. Picking a recent example, if he's pretending to be a baby pig, then Dad is the daddy pig, Mum is the mummy pig, and James is the "James pig". Lately however, it's gotten a little harder to keep track of, because he's been pretending that James is "Nate". So, James would then be the "Nate pig". (Sometimes it's just easier to go along with things rather than ask questions.) Yesterday, he took it a step further by trying to convince me that James (a.k.a "Nate") was supposed to do what I had just asked Nate to...

For advent we've been giving Nate characters and pieces of the Nativity story one day at a time, with the idea that...

For advent we've been giving Nate characters and pieces of the Nativity story one day at a time, with the idea that everything builds up and culminates for Christmas when he gets the baby Jesus figure and we can tell the complete story.

Except what we didn't count on, and I'm not sure why we didn't, it how irrepressible Nate is once he gets an idea in his head. He already knows baby Jesus is part of the story, so he's always finding creative ways to include him as part of the story with the available pieces he has. Yesterday, he took a crumpled piece of chocolate wrapper and announced happily, "This baby Jesus!" After putting him with Mary and Joseph and the donkey, he decided that wasn't good enough, he needed a manager too. No problem, the sort of prickly looking plant outside of the stable will do. "This a manager!", as he stuffs the candy wrapper down into the plant.

Yes please.

Yes please.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-7RlL3YtiQ

I installed the Google+ plugin for Chrome, it allows you to +1 any page, but it also shows you how many other people...

I installed the Google+ plugin for Chrome, it allows you to +1 any page, but it also shows you how many other people +1ed the page you were on.

58,000 people have +1ed the Google Plus homepage.

A timely article for the Christmas season. #1 and #5 are certainly huge hits with our kids.

A timely article for the Christmas season. #1 and #5 are certainly huge hits with our kids.
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/01/the-5-best-toys-of-all-time/all/1

Fun facts for post Grey Cup.

Fun facts for post Grey Cup.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406.html

Interesting.

Interesting.

Originally shared by Alireza Yavari

TIME Magazine, US Cover vs International Covers
Source: http://www.time.com/time/magazine
Please consider that these are a selection of covers through few years. Although generally we should expect a better job from the media, some of these can be coincidental.
.

Went voting on Saturday. Nate was deeply disappointed, he thought I said "boating".

Went voting on Saturday. Nate was deeply disappointed, he thought I said "boating".

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

In Focus is always excellent, but this is a great set.

In Focus is always excellent, but this is a great set.
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/11/national-geographic-photo-contest-2011/100187/

Nate has been pretending to be a baby for quite some time.

Nate has been pretending to be a baby for quite some time. That, however, is no longer good enough. Two of our friends have had babies in the past month, so Nate is now pretending to be a new baby. This reached a bit of a climax (or so I hope) yesterday when he kept asking Sara to watch him be born. He had put a large quilt on the sofa and would get under it and then crawl out slowly head first smiling. After putting up with this routine a couple of times, Sara walked off to do something else in the house. Upon returning back she discovered Nate lying down on the sofa with his head on a pillow. 'Is the new baby sleeping?" "No, nursing."

Wow, XKCD is a huge and incredible money thing today: http://bit.ly/XKCDollars

Originally shared by Tom Francis

Wow, XKCD is a huge and incredible money thing today: http://bit.ly/XKCDollars
http://bit.ly/XKCDollars

Forging art like no one is buying

http://kottke.org/11/11/forging-art-like-no-one-is-buying

I started to run with James in the stroller to get out of the cold quicker, and James began to pump his fist in the...

I started to run with James in the stroller to get out of the cold quicker, and James began to pump his fist in the air with joy and squeal with glee. He's definitely a thrill junkie.

Nate, pointing at me, "You Manitoban. I boy-itoban."

I came home for lunch the other day, and Nate decided to strike up some casual dinner conversation with me.

I came home for lunch the other day, and Nate decided to strike up some casual dinner conversation with me.

"How was your day, Dad?"

"Good. Did you have a good day, Nate?"

"No."

Surprised, he seemed perfectly happy, "What went wrong?"

"Battery was breaking." Referring to a pretend battery for his pretend train. It's a tough pretend world out there.

Nate's bed has slats in the side guards, they happen to be the exact size of Nate's foot, which means he can stick...

Nate's bed has slats in the side guards, they happen to be the exact size of Nate's foot, which means he can stick them through, but then they get stuck and he needs help getting them out. I really wish I could say this isn't something that happens often, but that isn't the case.

Anyways, a couple of weeks ago Nate gets his feet stuck in his bed rail again and he's wailing for me to get him unstuck. I'm worried he's going to wake James, so I rush in. Given that this isn't the first time this has happened, I go, "Nate, how about you don't put your feet through the railing."

Nate, with complete innocence, "Why?"

"BECAUSE YOU KEEP GETTING THEM STUCK! THAT'S WHY!"

The cycle does not change, and tonight he gets his feet stuck in the railing yet again. I plod into his room to get on with inevitable routine. When I walk in, the only unusual thing is that he's wedged both feet in this time. I go to unwedge his feet and he goes, "Why they put these holes here?"

I almost cried. (If I had the presence of mind, I would have responded, "That's what I wonder every night too.")

I was reading Nate the story of David and Goliath before bed, and the story mentioned that David was angry.

I was reading Nate the story of David and Goliath before bed, and the story mentioned that David was angry.

Later, as I was tucking him into bed, "David angry cause he not have pants?"

"No, Nate. David was angry because Goliath was being disobedient."

(Might explain all the violence in the Old Testament though.)

Yesterday, Sara had prepped Nate earlier in the day about what happened on Halloween and was trying to get him...

Yesterday, Sara had prepped Nate earlier in the day about what happened on Halloween and was trying to get him excited about it before supper.

Sara, "Nate, what are we going to do after supper?"

"Go to the park!"

"No, today we're going to do something special"

"Play Lego with daddy!"

...eventually we get him on the right track...

"And what are we going to say?"

"Trick or treat"

"And then what are we going to get?"

"Candy!"

"And then what will we do with the candy?"

"Use it for haircuts!"

(One of the few times Nate gets to have candy is when we give it to him as a distraction during haircuts.)

Latest games James is playing:

Latest games James is playing:

James takes his soother out and tries to give it to Nate.

Nate pushes it away, "No James, I don't need a soother, I a big boy."

James laughs and then tries to give Nate the soother again.

Repeat indefinitely. (Both think it's hilarious.)

The other game is, he rests his head on his highchair table just waiting for Nate or me to react and go, "No James, no falling asleep at the table, stay awake!" At which point he lifts his head up, gives a big smile and does it again.

This is pretty crazy awesome.

This is pretty crazy awesome.
http://kottke.org/11/10/quantum-levitation

Nate built himself a computer desk today by pulling together various pieces around the house.

Nate built himself a computer desk today by pulling together various pieces around the house. I was pretty impressed that he had thought it all up himself. He had a chair to sit on, a desk, and an old electronic garage sale toy for a keyboard.

He was proudly telling me about it, as I was changing him for bed.

"Daddy, I have a computer."

(I'm feeling really proud of him at this point. I'm a computer engineer. Sara's a computer scientist. Look at our son, already swept up with the power and potential that computers bring to us.)

"That's great Nate, what do you do with your computer?"

"Watch monkeys."

...there are so many great things computers can do, and my son believes their purpose is to show youtube videos of monkeys.

Superheroes respond to Occupy Wall Street!!!

Superheroes respond to Occupy Wall Street!!!
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/13/superhero-occupy-wall-street/

Random Ice Cream Sandwich announcement provoked thoughts:

Random Ice Cream Sandwich announcement provoked thoughts:

Who would have thought that we'd be in a position where:

- Android is borrowing from Microsoft ("People") and Apple is borrowing from Android (notifications).

- Microsoft seems to be coming up with the most new ideas

- Blackberry is desperately trying to play catch up

Was reading books to Nate for bed. He had picked "Where's Waldo", and was very tired already.

Was reading books to Nate for bed. He had picked "Where's Waldo", and was very tired already.

First page, "Nate, where's Waldo?"

Pauses for a few seconds and then points to Waldo. (He's got the general locations all memorized, so he just looks in the general area where he knows Waldo will be.)

Second page, "Nate, where's Waldo?"

Pauses for a few seconds and then points to Waldo.

Third page, "Nate, where's Waldo?"

Doesn't even bother looking around, "He might have gone home."

This just showed up on my computer. Oh Windows, I feel so conflicted about you too.

This just showed up on my computer. Oh Windows, I feel so conflicted about you too.

Yesterday wasn't the first day I had to physically separate the boys.

Yesterday wasn't the first day I had to physically separate the boys. It was, however, the first day I had to separate them because James was the continued instigator. Both boys completely adore each other, and Nate's favourite thing is to read books with James before bed or nap time. Unfortunately, it's not really conducive to getting ready for sleep, when James is happily and repeatedly launching* himself on top of Nate and then cheerfully gumming him.

*"Launching" is the correct word to use here. James can't crawl yet, but if he knows there's a pillow or soft body beside him, he can propel himself from sitting with surprising speed and vigor.

Does it really get any better than LEGO Monty Python?

Originally shared by Joseph Lee

Does it really get any better than LEGO Monty Python? Well maybe LEGO princess bride, but until I get the necessary pieces, here's So-called Arthur king and his silly English knights! #Niiiiiiiiiiii

Nate woke up this morning while it was still pitch black out, as per usual.

Nate woke up this morning while it was still pitch black out, as per usual. This morning however, Sara noticed that Nate had shoved a chair up to the window and was intently flashing his flashlight on and off out the window into the dark night. Asked what he was doing, he explained that he was trying to wake up the sun.

Not sure which is better, that he thought up the idea in the first place, the fact that our neighbors might be wondering if we're secretly spies sending coded messages, or the idea that sun probably got up this morning and went, "Okay, fine, I'll get up, just stop shining that blasted light in my eyes." It did seem brighter out when I biked to work, now that I think about it.

Just caught a waft of aroma coming from Nate's diaper.

Just caught a waft of aroma coming from Nate's diaper.

"Nate, did you just go poo in your diaper?"

Nate deadpan, "We shouldn't worry about that."

Excellent article

Excellent article
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/my-familys-experiment-in-extreme-schooling.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Nate was supposed to be asleep, but he's calling for Mom.

Nate was supposed to be asleep, but he's calling for Mom.

I walk in, "What the matter, Nate?"

"I want the fan on louder"

I walk over to the fan. It's already at it's highest speed setting.

"Nate, I can't make it any louder, it's already at it's highest fan speed setting, it won't go any louder."

Nate patiently waits for me to finish explaining, "Mom will know how to do it."

Not to be outshone by Mom (I'm the man of the house here), I then try to rig together an amplifying platform by placing the fan on top of some rigid toys that I hoped would provide some acoustic conductivity. Nate looked unimpressed when I left the room.

Ha!

Originally shared by Eddie Garcia

Ha!

Nate has been pretending to be other things for quite sometime.

Nate has been pretending to be other things for quite sometime.

Often the purpose appears to be to provide some sort of loophole, as opposed to being primarily for his own enjoyment. As an example, I can't count the number of times I've asked Nate to go upstairs to bed, went to walk up the stairs, only to hear, "I a worm", and turn around to see Nate wriggling around on the floor (well, he is complying... just at an infinitesimal pace). Also, conversations as follows (actual example from last weekend), "Nate, don't bump the potty." "Mouse bump the potty?" 'No, mice shouldn't bump the potty." "Rabbits bump the potty?" "No, Nate. No mice, rabbits, or anything you are pretending to be should bump the potty."

He's been known to be an excavator, spider, bird, rabbit, monkey, mailman, river (a.k.a. a bridge), baby, etcetera.

Lately he's taken to pretending to be things for extended periods of time. For example, the majority of last weekend he pretended to be a mouse. "Nate, would you like dessert?" "No, mouse wants dessert." I was having trouble figuring out the sudden interest in being a mouse, until I read one of his favourite stories again to him last night. He can recite good portions of it himself already, and it's called the "Big Red Barn". In it, all the animals on the farm play all day until night falls and they all go to bed, or so I believed. Last night I noticed the mice are a notable exception. As the book notes, they stay up and play all night under the moon. So much for being an inspirational children's bedtime book.

Nate blinking repeatedly, "I a police car, my lights flashing."

I'm a little disappointed at the level of info in the provincial election pamphlets I'm getting in the mail, it's...

I'm a little disappointed at the level of info in the provincial election pamphlets I'm getting in the mail, it's really hard to distinguish between candidates when everyone's platform is:

Help seniors and young families, create jobs, improve infrastructure and reduce crime.

Sounds good to me.

Much is being posted about the 10th anniversary of 9/11, this photo spoke the loudest.

Much is being posted about the 10th anniversary of 9/11, this photo spoke the loudest. (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/09/911-the-decade-since/100144/#img09)
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/911after090911/a09_23914504.jpg

Trying to get Nate to sleep at a friends cabin, "Nate, I'll stay in the room with you, if you lie down and close...

Trying to get Nate to sleep at a friends cabin, "Nate, I'll stay in the room with you, if you lie down and close your eyes."

Nate lies down.

"Nate, you need to close your eyes, or Dad will leave."

"I a pirate. Sleep with eyes open."

The other day I whispered into Nate's ear, "Nate, tell Mommy, 'You're beautiful.'"

The other day I whispered into Nate's ear, "Nate, tell Mommy, 'You're beautiful.'"

Nate, "Mommy, I beautiful!"

...well the 'you' was ambiguous.

Unlike fight club, the first rule of Google+ appears to be to talk about Google+ (on Google+).

100 YEARS / STYLE / EAST LONDON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JxfgId3XTs

Sara came down with James after he had woken up and handed him to me.

Sara came down with James after he had woken up and handed him to me.

Thinking I'm clever, "Oh my, James! You don't have any clothes on. You must tell me your secret. How did you get Mom to rip those clothes off you?"

James spits up all over my clothes.... didn't really work as planned.

Had a bit of a miscommunication with Nate tonight about who was coming over to babysit.

Had a bit of a miscommunication with Nate tonight about who was coming over to babysit.

"Jesus coming over?"

"No, Charissa. Sha. Ris. Ah."

He does love the little children, but family services might not be so understanding...

Nooooooo, just noticed Google+ has a games tab that states the following, "The games you play and your...

Nooooooo, just noticed Google+ has a games tab that states the following, "The games you play and your accomplishments (such as high scores, levels, and achievements) may be visible to other Google+ users. This makes it easy to find friends and play together." ...it also happens to make it easy to annoy friends.

Where in the World? A Google Earth Puzzle - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/where-in-the-world-a-google-earth-puzzle/100120/

The AC broke at work, but the VP brought in popsicles for everyone!

The AC broke at work, but the VP brought in popsicles for everyone!

(File under: small victories)

Yesterday I biked home on a 48 degree humidex day, with a dress shirt and pants on, from a office with air...

Yesterday I biked home on a 48 degree humidex day, with a dress shirt and pants on, from a office with air conditioning that couldn't handle the heat, to a house with no air conditioning at all. I walked in the door and Sara handed me a freshly made blueberry smoothie. Best. Wife. Ever.

(That's right, I'm publicly bragging.)

+1 Sara Epp

Looking Through the Eyes of Soldiers

http://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/2011/07/05/looking-through-the-eyes-of-soldiers/?mod=WSJBlog

Last Christmas, a friend gave me a small Lego set just for fun.

Originally shared by Tyler Neylon

Last Christmas, a friend gave me a small Lego set just for fun. It's part of a Creator series, where each set comes with instructions for three different models. I love the versatility and expressiveness of Lego, and I think 3 is far too small a number for what can be done with these, so I challenged myself to create 50 original designs with this one set of about 50 pieces. These images are the result.

Calgary Fun

Canada Day Parking

Parking the car overnight on the Prime Minister of Canada's driveway by request.

Canada Day

Rest stop

New toy

Testing blogging from my phone.

Actual Food

This weekend we were trying to get Nate to eat his lunch, but he wasn't interested. Instead he was busy acting out an elaborate portrayal of eating an imaginary ice cream cone, complete with exclamations of how good it tasted.

Me: "Nate, your ice cream cone is imaginary, would you like some actual food? Mum, has some actual food for you."

Nate's face lights up and he looks over to Sara.

Sara lifts up Nate's fork with the same piece of salad on it that has been there for the last ten minutes.

Nate (downcast): "Nate no like actual food."

It's all fun and games until someone does a Hitler salute

I need to start this post with a disclaimer: Nate often does strange things for which we can find no explanation.

For example, a couple of months back he used to, on quite regular basis, randomly break from eating his meal and announce, "Nate do this." At which point he would commence to very precisely move his arms up and down opposite of each other. What made the behavior all the more bizarre was that he would do it very ... very ... slowly. As a guest who witnessed this pointed out, "It seems improbable that a two year old would do that." (In particular a very active and enthusiastic two year old.)

Just yesterday we were eating supper and he put his foot up and onto the table so that the tips of his toes were pointed at a grain of rice that had fallen off his plate. When told that feet do not go on the table, he replied that his foot was a bird eating at a bird feeder. With admirable lack of laughter we calmly pointed out that regardless of what he was pretending his foot was, it should not go on the table.

This morning we were calmly eating breakfast, everything normal, when Nate stopped, said, "Mom do this", and proceeded to do what appeared to be a perfect Hitler salute. Naturally, being the good spouse that I am, I began to laugh out loud. Nate joined in the laughter and when the laughter had died down stated matter of factly, "This make Dad happy." Oh oh. I just know this is going to come back to haunt me the next time I'm at the playground and bump into that Dad I really don't know.

Future Consumer

We ran out of orange juice at breakfast this morning. Nate immediately goes, "Buy more!" It's amazing how fast they catch on to how western culture works.

Theological Discussions with Two Year Olds

Nate unprompted while eating breakfast, "Nate thank Jesus give me two eyes."

"Yes, Nate, that's a good thing to thank Jesus for. Having two eyes is great, because now you have depth perception."

"Nate no eat Jesus."

"Yes, Nate, we don't eat Jesus... well, actually we kind of figuratively... never mind, let's just leave it at not eating Jesus."

Passions

When Nate wakes up, the first thing he asks is to go outside, either to play in the sandbox or to eat outside. He loves his sandbox. Unfortunately that love can be evidenced by sand strewn in patches across our entire backyard. We've been waging a slow campaign, with little obvious results, to get him to keep the sand in the sandbox. I didn't think anything had sunk in until yesterday.

Yesterday, Nate and I went to watch some construction vehicles doing work up our street. Nate watched for sometime, happily naming and pointing out all the different types of construction vehicles. We watched for sometime, when suddenly he began to get excited about something, gesturing and yelling loudly. It took me a while to figure out what was going on over the din of the construction equipment, but eventually I managed to make out that he was trying to tell the construction workers that the sand they were working with needed to stay in the sandbox. (If only he was that passionate about following rules himself.)