back... back.... back........ back........

It’s been close to four months since I wrote the last entry and what excuse do I have? I’ve been busy. Yes. Really busy!!! Most of my friends would just say – what else is new. But I’m sticking to my story! Besides "busy" takes on a whole other meaning, when you have a one year old at home. Really, it does!!!

At the end of September, after two weeks of missing blog entries I got short emails from family and friends inquiring when they "might see some new pictures of Kaspar", "would I be posting something soon" etc. Then, eventually, some began to worry and started calling or emailing and asking if we were ok. Thanks for caring, yes, we we’re fine! We’re kicking! We’ve been busy and I just ran out of time. Between juggling work and home and Kaspar and jewelry and laundry and dishes and the few volunteer projects I have had on the go… well, you get the picture…. Eventually all of you gave up, I think. And then, I gave up, too! I even thought about pulling the blog off the site and just calling it quits, but, then out of the blue a good friend emailed me a short note. It simply read "I miss bloggy". And it hit me – darn it, I MISS it, too! I miss writing it. I miss the comments. I miss the interaction… So, tonight, on the last day of this year 2006 the blog of Kaspar (even though, it’s mostly about me, who am I kidding?) gets resurrected. With a whole slew on new years resolutions, a whole stack of good thoughts and wishes to all my family and friends and people on the planet out there, everywhere……… I’m back.

So, what is new? I hate that question, even though, I am the first to use it on my friends and I’ll come clean - my answer is always the most predictable one – nothing…. It’s not all that true. Kaspar, for one, is bigger, taller, louder, faster, skinnier, more talkative, with more hair, more teeth, more demanding then the last time I blogged. He has leaned to pose for the camera. He has leaned to dunk things in the toilet and learned not to do that, too. He has developed a true love for books and loves to make the sound of an ambulance, as he’s reading about one, or just hearing one go by somewhere in the distance.

He has gone through a phase of love for celery, blueberries, black figs, melons, boiled carrots, apples and currently - raisins. I cannot complain. Raisins are definitely cheaper then fresh figs! It’s all transitional. I keep hoping for a meat or butter or cream kick, as I’m having a hard time making that kid gain a pound or two, but so far I’ve had no luck. He’s tough to please. He’s a picky eater. But all he eats is fruits and vegetables. Some mothers’ dream, I’m sure.
Kaspar has also gone through several colds and we’re just getting over the last. I’m amazed how true ring the experiences of other parents, who warned me that meeting other kids seems to be all about picking up another bug or two. The last cold started with the kiddy Christmas party a couple of weeks ago and got every one of us sick within 48 hours. Yeah, we spent the Christmas season recovering!

Christmas seems to have escaped me this year. Not only it’s been way too warm to feel like Christmas, but we’ve also been too busy and preoccupied with work to think about entertaining and this has lead to a total ‘lack of Christmas’ feeling for myself. Yes, Christmas has always been about having people over, cooking, baking, cleaning, decorating, sending cards, wrapping gifts... And I have managed to be too busy for all of the above!

Kaspar, however, has been spoiled silly for Christmas. Just this morning Steve and I had a little ‘discussion’ about the concerns we have regarding the piles of gifts (mostly new toys!) Kaspar has received. Being a parent is tough. You have to have a plan in place to deal with these things! And I don’t mean just the new toys… New toys simply mean having to organize and get rid of some of the old ones. Yeah. That means I HAVE more work to do! Argh… Then there are new clothes and closets and drawers to organize. These things seemed hard enough when there was just me, but now I’m doing it for all of us.

Anyhow… I’m going to stop right here, so, that you do not have too much to read the first time back. And I do hope to continue later tomorrow or the day after. Yeah, you can call me on it. I know, I do have some pending translation work, some pending jewelry work….. but….. I hope to be back for good….. later :-)

nonsense

I was taking the subway to work this morning (Which happens rarely these days, because usually I'm on my bike!) and I could not help but listen to several conversations of people sitting or standing around me. It's amazes me, listening to the way people talk about things.... their every day lives. One woman was describing shoes she had seen on the internet to her husband "They were so beautiful! You know, that dark navy blue colour, I think it's called midnight blue. Pump heel, a little rounded toe, classical really. I think I should order a pair! What do you think?" He yawned and looking a little perplexed, said "What do I think? (pause) About what?" I almost laughed out loud, while she calmly repeated the entire description all over again. People-watching is a fascinating past time! I can relate to the old Portuguese men, who sit on the bench, on the sidewalk, sipping an espresso, just watching the world go by!

some pictures

Here is a good one! While Steve has been at home, they've been often going to the park during the day. Kaspar always brings back something.... It's either shoes full of sand or pants full of sand or pine cones in each hand. I love this gorgeous weather we've been having, too!

This one was taken, while Kaspar's grandparents were visiting. I don't think Granpa trusts that Kaspar will make it all the way down. :-) He's looking a bit tense, I think. Kaspar has done these stairs hundreds of times, however, he is getting a little too sure of himself these days. I will admit to that. A few days ago, while a friend was over visiting, he decided to try stepping down the stairs the same way the adults do it. Thank God she was sitting right there and dove for him fast enough that all Kaspar got was a big scare! And of course, we both had our hearts in our stomachs, too.

Showing off and entertaining seems to be his specialty, these days! Grandma had just brought him a gift in this colourful bag and as it often seems to happen with children, Kaspar was more interested in the bag and the paper then the gift itself. Grandma made him the most amazing sleeping-bag in the shape of a ladybug, with all the parts - legs and eyes and antlers, the works! It's fabulous. Kaspar does not use it to sleep, but does love to pull it over his head and hide in it. I'll try to catch that on film (symbolicly speaking) one day.

healey lake

It’s raining. The sky is a steely grey, almost the same colour as the wet asphalt. A grey fall day. September. Who would have thought that the last long weekend of the summer will feel so fall like? After a superbly busy night and morning (Steve’s been stressing over a mix of some film music and I’ve been trying to get Kaspar back on his feet!), we are on our way to meet some friends at a cottage. I’m so glad we have some time off, even if taking week-ends off makes us extra busy during the week! Kaspar is fast asleep in the car seat and I’m enjoying the luxuries of the modern world – a laptop plugged into the cigarette lighter of the car panel. Spectacular!

It’s ironic that we never managed to take a week-end off during the heat of the summer, but now for the second week-end in a row while it rains and gets cold at night, we are spending time out of the city. Grabbing the last opportunities of cottage living this summer!

We spent last Saturday and Sunday at Emils & Markus’s parents cottage. It was interesting having a 3 year old, a 13 month old and a 10 month old - 3 boys - all hanging out together. They did not interact in a way that would have made sense to you or I, but they watched each other intently and picked ideas up from one another almost immediately. It was interesting, observing the dinamic of these three boys! Emils, being the oldest, really knows the ropes. He keeps an eye on his little brother and was always ready to show Kaspar and Markus some new trick with a truck or ball or something. However, his own toys were not for sharing. In fact, they’re not even called toys – they are TOOLS! And don’t you dare try to suggest otherwise. Emils is a true workoholic, at his young age! He likes to put on his tool belt, grab his chain saw and go to work cleaning up the trees around the cottage, raking the earth, digging and building. He goes about it with such intent and serious attitude, that one cannot but admire this kid’s concentration and eagerness! Markus is about the same size as Kaspar, but he’s still crawling and has just begun to stand up, while holding on to something. This proved to be a bit tricky, because Kaspar is still far from knowing his own limits, let alone knowing the limits of another child. Markus had to be saved a few times from Kaspar’s grabbing hand or a toy flying through the air, aimed right at his head. Steve and I had the chance to practice our parenting skills with the constant reminders - “Kapar, be gentle!” or the favourite “No, Kaspar, hair is not for pulling!”

I’ve always loved going to Erik & Christina’s cottage, because it’s a real rustic cottage experience, with an outhouse, no hot water (only recently installed running water) and my absolute favourite part – it’s on an island. There is something magical in arriving at the cottage by boat! Kaspar loved the boat, too. He immediately got intot the sound of the motor of the boat and began humming along in tune. He loved turning his face to the wind and watching the white foam of the water left begind the boat. Even wearing the life jacket was not an issue anymore. Since we were last at the cottage, Eriks has built a perfect little guest house (they call it ‘bunky’ and steve’s convinced that such a word does not exist) where we were sleeping. I think their family has just outgrown the cottage during the last three years, so having the guest house built was just the next logical step for them. But was it ever amazing for us! It was beautiful… we had privacy and space and we could listen to the rain drumming a symphony on the roof od the little house, while we slept and in the morning we were woken up by the birds and the sound of little waves lapping the shore of the lake.

The week-end was cool and cloudy, but, as it often happens with weather issues, the sun came out a couple of hours before we were planning to leave. The Sunday ended up being beautiful, sunny and warm. I managed to sneak in a nice long swim, before packing the boat and Kaspar spent some time fishing around in the water with his hand off the edge of the dock. It’s great to have friends who invite us along to such beautiful places!!!

other

Ok. I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m getting really bad at this blog update thing. Really bad!!! I just noticed that I had not even posted a post I had written almost two weeks ago. Bad! Bad! Bad! I suppose I could complain that between work, studio, Kaspar, laundry, dinner making and house cleaning, I just don’t have the time, but who would want to hear that. So, here is a short recap of the last couple of weeks:

Since the weekend in Haleybury (the town with the chlorinated beech!) we’ve been busy with a few family related events. Kaspar’s aunt Amanda got married. (The picture is of Amanda and Steve chatting in the field after the ceremony). But, shhhh, don’t tell Kaspar about it. We’re hoping it’ll go unnoticed, because we did not take him with us to the wedding. We just told him that ‘mom’s going to work’ as we both dashed for the door. I don’t think he knows the difference between Saturdays and weekdays as of yet. The week after the wedding we had a superb visit with Grandma and Grandpa. They were in town from Victoria for the wedding and we got to spend some time with them, as well. I would have posted some pictures, but I don’t seem to have any on the digital. I cannot remember did I take any pictures? Maybe our digital was in Lethbridge with Steve at that point. I have no idea, to be honest. But, I’ll post some pictures, if Grandpa sends us some! Hint, hint… I know he took a few good shots with his camera! Then we had a week of doctor’s appointments and things of that nature to tend to. Kaspar was a real trooper! Last week-end we spent at a cottage with Kaspar’s friends Emil & Markus, but I plan to write a whole post on that and have a series of pictures to post. Who know when, but the intent is there. This week we hung out with Kaspar's cousins, aunts and uncles, whose respective birthdays had been missed during the summer months. But our camera was out of juice for that one. We just cannot keep up with the life of that digital camera!!! And today is September 1st. I cannot believe that the summer has pretty much come to an abrupt end. It’s already September long weekend! Nights are getting chilly. The days are windy and cool. We’re closing the windows in the house to keep some of the warmth in. This weekend we’re off to another cottage with some friends and after that we have to start thinking about Christmas. Yeah – I’m almost as bad as a department store, ha! But, I have to have all my Christmas season work done well before October 15th, so that I can send it off to galleries and get it into displays by November 1st. Ugh! More work! I’m so glad that my mom is there to take care of Kaspar during the days! Thanks mom!!!

haleybury

Our long discussed camping trip to Cobalt / Haleybury turned into a hotel stay in Haleybury, because the idea of camping with Kaspar that far from home had turned me into an obsessively worried mother. I’m usually not that way, really! Steve was set on us going. So, he was also set on making me want to go. And the only way to do that was to have a hotelroom for us in Haleybury! What could I say? We packed the car and headed out shortly after 7 pm on a Friday evening. Traveling with a one year old is all about planning your time, and for Kaspar, the best time to travel was at 7 pm. Well, maybe not just for him, but more for us… because at 7 pm he’s ready for sleep and that means we don’t have to keep him occupied and happy for the six hour drive. He really did sleep most of the way, but as soon as we arrived at 1:30 am he was wide awake. He was ready to check out the new pad! First he decided to drum with all the might he could muster up in his little fists on the air conditioning unit. That did not go over very well! Dad pulled him away instantly and tossed him onto the bed. After all, people were fast asleep in the rooms next to us. Next, the telephone was pulled off the shelf and before I knew it we were on speakerphone. That had to be unplugged pretty much immediately, because there is no way of keeping Kaspar away from telephones. He loves them! He adores them! Just like trucks and bikes and carts and anything else that has wheels on it and moves. And if the item makes a sound, then even the better.

Haleybury proved to be an interesting little town with not much to offer. Out of the three local restaurants only one was open and it did not look like a place where anyone with a little kid would like to eat, even though the dingy window sported a ‘we’re family friendly’ sign. The town had almost no businesses open, but there was a Sears catalogue order store that displayed an array of age old Sears clothing and some kitchen utensils as window displays. Fascinating! But the weirdest thing was the beach on lake Temiskaming, which was chlorinated. Yes! A chlorinated beach that is in the lake. Talk about weird!!! I could not believe my own eyes, I actually looked it up on the web to make sure that someone was not pulling a joke on me. Kaspar and Steve did try out this anomaly and went for a nice long swim on Sunday morning, but I could not bring myself to do it. It’s just not right. LAKES SHOULD NOT BE CHLORINATED! That my personal take on it.

The weekend ended up being pretty slow and mellow. On Saturday night, while Steve was playing a show at the festival, Kaspar and I hung out at the hotel, watched bad tv shows and ate wild blueberries in bed. He loves blueberries and enjoys being in new surroundings, so, he had a great time! I enjoyed myself, too. It had been a while since I had had a chance to chanel surf. Dangerous Liaisons (the one with John Malkovich looking young and sexy) was on and when Kaspar finally passed out I managed to do a little catching up on unanswered emails, too.

After having an awesome lunch provided free of charge by the festival organizers (They had the most amazing catering service – a local man with some awesome home made steak sauces was delivering the best tasting steak on a bun sandwiches, really good ribs and totally amazing breakfast deals!)and having a nice walk in the woods, we started to head home. The trip back was a lot harder, because Kaspar slept only for an hour and the rest of the trip we did everything in our power to keep him occupied. We even went for a grocery shop in a small town along the way, just to break up the monotony of sitting in a car seat for six hours. The last leg of the trip from the highway down Jane street he finally gave up on all patience and cried all the way home. We got back at about 9pm and Kaspar was fast asleep in his own bed about a half hour later. I think it will be a long time before I agree to go on another 6 or 7 hour road trip with Kaspar.

oh dear

oh dear. we just had a great little visit with kaspar's grandparents, who mentioned that they were unable to leave comments on the blog (and i had wondered why no one ever left comments?) well. it's my fault. i must have somehow changed some settings. silly really! i'm changing them back. so.... keep those comments coming! sorry!

backtracking

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to do updates, sorry. I’ll try to backtrack a little… after all, a whole lot of things have happened since August 2nd.

August long weekend we were offered a cottage of a good friend of mine (well, her parents, to be exact!). I was totally thrilled about the idea, especially since I had the Friday off and we could avoid the long weekend cottager’s traffic. Yeah, the traffic out of the city on long weekends in the summer can be absolutely grueling! I rushed home from work, packed, organized everything and was almost ready to pack the car, when we found out that there was a massive rainstorm raging in the Minden area. So, we decided to put off the trip until the next morning. On Friday we did leave early enough that the 2.5 h trip only lasted 3h and 45 minutes. Not all that bad! However, Kaspar was in no mood to be in the car for ANY length of time and I spent most of the trip turning back toward him to keep him occupied and got out feeling a bit like an invalid – with a sore neck and feeling all crooked in my spine! But that was not the last of our worries. As we were approaching the cottage, we noticed a lot of fallen trees. I refused to believe that the cottage might have no power. After almost four hours on the road you really don’t want to arrive and find out there is no electricity, no running water, no fridge to keep milk cold etc. But… yes, we found just that! There had been a huge storm with over twenty-hurricane touchdowns in Ontario just the previous Wednesday. I was so determined to be at the cottage that I instantly convinced my mom that we could stay for a day, because the power would probably come back overnight. She was not thrilled about the idea, but the weather was gorgeous and the sun was out and the BBQ had a full tank of gas and the lake was warm, so she sort of agreed. She regretted it a couple of minutes later, when (thanks to a working cell phone) we reached a friend, who informed us that the Minden area is not expected to have power back until Monday or Tuesday. Oh well! We still went for a swim. Kaspar tried out his brand new lifejacket! He’s such a water baby, that I thought it would be wise for him to wear a life jacket, when we go swimming or even while we hang out on the dock. I cannot say that he was in agreement with me, but we managed to go for a short swim with the jacket on. Before I knew it, it was time for dinner, the meat tasted spectacular, especially because I had hardly eaten all week (I had been very ill the previous week-end and it took me another three days before I was able to hold down any sort of food, save toast and black tea). However, my joy for food lasted no more then about 20 minutes. The nausea came on slowly, like a dark rain cloud on a windless day. Within the hour I was rocking back and forth on the couch completely sick to my stomach, unable to respond to Kaspar’s joyous screams. He had just discovered a whole tub of toys behind the door in the other room. All I could think was – I need a toilet. One that flushes! We waited for a bit, but my mother refused to wait around until I got worse and began to pack the car. Our cottage experience lasted a whole two hours. It was sad, really! By the time we hit the highway it was Kaspar’s bedtime and he fell asleep after about ten minutes of complaining, I was thankful for small blessings! We arrived at home shortly before 10 pm, me – well drugged with my mom’s heart pills (the valium kept the nausea at bay while we drove); Kaspar – just waking up from the long nap in the car seat; and my mother – totally exhausted after all day of driving and taking care of both of us. So, instead of hanging out at a cottage, I spent another weekend nursing myself back to health, while Kaspar dug in the dirt in the back yard!

The past week Kaspar and my mom and I spent at the kid’s camp, where I was teaching jewellery making to six boys aged 8 to 12. It kept me away from the telephone, computer and such. Felt kind ‘a good! I only had to teach for about three hours a day, so the rest of the day was spent hanging out with Kaspar, going swimming and goofing around in the little kiddy pool. It was awesome! Great weather! We also had great company, because I had asked my friend’s daughter (a gorgeous twelve-year-old, who’s great with kids and very mature!) to help with the teaching. She ended up being a spectacular assistand as well as an awesome babysitter for Kaspar. Our week passed very quickly. Before we knew it, I was packing up the studio and rushing back home, just to have enough time to do laudry, unpack and pack the car and leave for our trip up North. Here is Kaspar playing peek-a-boo in the car!

walking

Here is an entry I wrote on the 1st of August, but it was never posted... I think I was waiting for a picture :-)

Kaspar is walking! Yes, it’s true... (Sorry Steve!) Last night, as I was beginning to wonder how I’m going to keep him awake until seven pm (if he goes to bed before seven, he’s more then likely to get up at 5am, and that’s not good!) he just got up, stood there for a moment and then took three or four steps, while holding a ball with both hands. My mother and I both gasped! It seemed unbelievable. He has been close, so close to walking for at least a month now, that we did not expect it anymore. The actual first steps came as a total surprise. I said something along the lines of „That was three steps!”, but my mom disagreed and was sure it had been five. While we sat there debating over three and five, he simply got up and walked from the doorway to the nearby chair. I was cheering and applauding and Kaspar was obviously thrilled himself with the idea of walking! However, as soon as I tried to encourage him, or ask him to come over to me, he would revert back to crawling. He’s a stubborn little fellow! He does things, when he wants to, not when asked!!! Between 6 pm and 7 pm he walked short distances throughout the different rooms in the house at the very least a dozen times. He was so intrigued by the process that after walking for a bit, he would sit down, lift up his foot, look at it, feel it and then get back up again. Funny lad! I wish I had caught the walking on camera, but I had left it at work.

hot humid heat

I think tonight must be the hottest night of the summer. I’m sitting here almost completely still, only my fingers moving on the keyboard and yet my shirt is wet and I keep having to wipe my brow. I’m sure glad that despite my feelings of oncoming illness I installed the air conditioner in the bedroom last week. Thankful for small blessings!

Today was hot! Very hot! I felt it. Kaspar felt it. He was grumpy all afternoon. I gave up on games shortly after coming home, undressed him, sprayed him down with a mist of water and sat him in his high chair, while I attempted to install a new kitchen faucet. Grandma came and saved him from his crackers and the spray bottle. He might have invented a new form of play dough, given enough time. He did figure out how to get a little spray out!

But I deserve a medal, I think! After three months of leaky kitchen sink, I installed a new kitchen faucet. And not just any old kitchen faucet, but one with a pull out spray handle!!! As Kaspars big cousin likes to put it “I did it all by own self!”

today we were gardening

camping with kaspar? or no camping?

So, that's my dilemma. We’ve been talking about a potential camping trip for a couple of months now, but as the date is approaching, I’m loosing sleep over the logistics of it all. Yeah, I have to admit that I’m not looking forward to camping with my very active one year old, who still spends 90% of his day on his hands and knees and who tends to pick up everything he finds mildly interesting (including ants, pebbles, sticks) and puts everything in his mouth! I can just imagine it… All clothes will be completely dirty by the end of day one. I’ll be chasing the lad through dirt and grass and puddles pretty much the entire weekend. Yeah, he’s really not into spending too much time in his stroller anymore! And what would we do at the end of the day? I think the good old fashioned spit on a hankie wont do the trick here. How many wet wipes would we need to wipe off a child, who’s been on all fours all day? At home, I sometimes have to run two baths to get him clean after a few hours in the back yard. This kid loves to get dirty!!! I wish we would have done the camping thing last year, while he was still a baby and could be carried everywhere. It sure would have been easier!

I fell really ill on Friday. In fact, I have not been able to hold down any food since Friday evening. Also had high fever for about 12 hours. So, I’ve slept for many hours during the day and during the night, for the last two days. But while insomnia (caused most likely by too much sleep during the day) was bothering me last night, I decided to check out the internet regarding my camping dilemma. You should try typing “camping with toddler” into google. Some amazing stories come up, yet not one of them gives me any peace of mind. There are horror stories about kids with allergies from bee stings to insect repellent and mosquito bites; warnings about kids eating poisonous plants; and general advice that parents should go camping only if they are prepared to spend most of the day on the move with a kid in a backpack (because most strollers are not made for wood paths!) and walking is the only way to keep a toddler off the ground. Basically the popular opinion is that camping with a toddler is extremely challenging (next to going to the moon, inventing the wheel and such), especially if you’re not a regular camper. And I cannot remember, when we went camping last, so, I don’t think we can count ourselves amongst ‘regular campers’.

So, while I’m nursing myself back to health and trying to spend time with Kaspar today, I will keep pondering this question about camping. I wonder if I have enough wisdom not to put myself through the cruelty of a whole week-end in the woods with Kaspar. Since Steve is absolutely set on this camping trip, I’m thinking, maybe I should send him camping with Kaspar and just have a weekend all to myself. Oh, how very tempting… if only I was not still nursing the kid.

bike ride

I was so bummed out yesterday that my digital had completely run out of juice. Kaspar had his first bike ride and I did not have a camera to take a picture with. I came close to digging out my SLR. Yes, I still own one of those! But then I figured it would probably be a year before I develop the film. I recently developed some film that I had shot about three years ago… how lazy we get in this digital age!

On Sunday we were invited for brunch at a friends house. I figured this was my chance to finally get Kaspar riding the bike. On Saturday morning I began to assemble his bike seat. It was still packed and sealed, brand new in a shiny cardboard box, given to us by good and wise (What an awesome gift for city dwellers!!!) friends – Laima & Uldis. Kaspar was out and about in the back yard, while I attempted to put together this contraption, and he quickly figured out that it was meant for him and that we were going ‘booo-boooo’. I think that might have had to do with the life size pictures of a kid on a bike that were visible on every side of the box, or perhaps just seeing my bike out got him excited, who knows… but my attempts at assembling this piece of equipment, which (as if life were not hard enough for parents!) came in 32 separate pieces, each sealed in an individual plastic pouch was put on hold indefinitely.

Well, I shall give credit, where credit is due – I’m no spring chicken when it comes to getting things done with a baby in tow. I’ll point out that I began to assemble this seat on SATURDAY morning, when in fact, I only wanted to use it on Sunday. Always thinking ahead, yup! That’s the only way to get somewhere these days! And then distractions such as a bucket full of water and a freshly dug up flower bed with some nice black dirt are much appreciated. An hour later I had the seat assembled (even if it was still on the ground, assembling the safety straps from the pictures in the manual was enough to merit an award!) and a baby dirty enough to need three baths. Well… c’est la vie!

By Sunday morning all the necessary bolts were tightened, all the parts were used up (Except for the paint protector rubber covers, which I’m still perplexed about!) and to the horror of my mother, we were ready to head out. You should have seen the joy in her face, when I discovered that I did not have any air in my tires. I don’t know what I had been thinking. Of course there would be no air in tires, if the bike had not been used for more then a year! Duh! But, I was not about to give up so easily. Not after all that labor of love… What do you think neighbours are for? Rita’s shades were open (which usually means she’s awake!), and she’s on her bike all the time, so I figured that she must have a bike pump! Knock, knock. It turned out that her little, funky looking bike pump was missing parts, but while we were trying to figure out if I can make it to the gas station four blocks down the street from us, across the street comes our favourite neighbour Astrida carrying something the size of a small backpack, which turned out to be an old air pump. It was one of those pumps, that can be plugged into the cigarette lighter thinggie, in the car, and when it turns on it makes a whole lot of noise. Awesome! The air gage was not working, but we managed to get plenty of air into the dilapidated tires and we were ready to roll. I thanked all the summoned neighbours for helping us out and off we went… my mom followed us a couple of blocks (Just to make sure Kaspar as not screaming for help!) while we got used to changing gears and picking up speed. Kaspar was so thrilled that he forgot all about having to pull the helmet off. He pursed his lips hummed like a little motor behind me, all the way to Kaiva’s house.

No new pictures... BESIDES, THE UPLOAD BUTTON DOES NOT SEEM TO BE WORKING! Argh!

crawling, climbing, walking

So, Kaspar turned one and he's still not walking. He's been very close to taking his first steps, but he always bails on it the very last second. He is such a good and fast crawler, that walking simply does not seem to be a priority. However, he can stand up, in the middle of the room (without holding on to anything) and just stand there looking at a toy in his hands for quite some time. Today he stood up on his own and began to move to the music that was playing, sort of dancing without moving his feet. That was quite a sight! When he stands still, he seems so stable and so sure of himself, it's almost unbelievable, that he's about to get back down on all fours to advance ahead. A while ago, my mother and I were sort of placing bets ... She was convinced that he'd walk by the time we returned from our trip to Latvia. I was sort of aiming for twelve months. We both lost! And all Steve wanted was to be at home, when Kaspar takes his first steps, but I have a feeling he might not get his wish granted, either. He's leaving for another three week tour tonight. I highly doubt that Kaspar will start walking tonight, even though Steve has been trying his darn best to convince him, he should. But Kaspar is not only a crawler, but also an absolute acrobat on the stairs! He knows how not only to climb up, but also how to come down the stairs feet first. When there is nothing better to do indoors, or when the clock strikes 8pm and he's not even mildly interested in sleeping, we take on the stairs. Climbing the whole way up or coming down is one of those things that makes him so very proud and happy. Three or four climbs can also exhaust him enough, so that I can get him into bed! If I did not get bored assisting him, he would be willing to spend hours climbing up and down and up again until he'd probably just fall asleep right on the stairs. No, I'm not joking. I've heard of stories like that! In fact, Steve has been known to have fallen asleep in the hallway as a baby!

the heat is unbearable

The heat during the last few days here in Toronto has been absolutely unbearable. It’s disgusting! Every move makes you break out in sweat. Kaspar has been spending the days pretty much naked, but even then, as I bend over to pick him up or just give him a hug I’m met by a clammy, sweaty, hot little body. He doesn’t seem to mind the heat, except that his sleeping schedule is all messed up again. I wonder if it’s due to the heat. One good thing has come out of this heat wave - Kaspar has learned to like water. I tried for months to give him water to drink, in a bottle, a sippy cup, plastic cup, anything… but had no success, whatsoever. The heat has given him a lesson, though. Yesterday he fell asleep sucking on his water bottle.

Last week we put out the little blow up pool out on the driveway for Kaspar. It was all good for a few hours, while he was in it, but you should have seen the tears as he was being taken out. The tears, the screaming! It was just like the time, when we were on the beach in Latvia and he was not allowed to play in the water any longer. As I was carrying my squirming, screaming child back to the towel, I remember lifting my head up and having my gaze meet the gaze of and older woman, who looked at me in total amazement and anger. I wonder what she was imagining I was doing to my kid? Here, in my own driveway, I’m only worried about my neighbours. At least I can explain myself to them! Within a few days, the pool became a sort of a stunt thing for Kaspar, and we had to take it down for his own safety. While he did learn, that he was not going to be allowed to soak in the pool every hour of every day, he began to lean over the edge (just to put his hand in for a bit) and came close to diving into the pool head first several times. So, now the pool is back in the box. And Kaspar only gets a little bucket of water. That usually ends up getting poured over his own head in no time at all. :-) He does love water. I'm looking into swimming lssons in my own neighbourhood.

I have to leave for work in just a few minutes. In some ways I would love to stay at home and spend the day doing nothing in the back yard, but today the enticement of an air conditioned office is making me very happy. Last night was hot. I had a hard time sleeping. Then the wind and lightning kept waking me up. I wonder if there was a tornadoe somewhere close by. Will have to listen to the news this morning....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

It's his birthday! Yes. Today is Kaspar's birthday. We did have a party yesterday - here are some pictures to prove it :-) The cake did not go down well. He was fascinated by it, but only by trying to shove all the icing and blueberries off the cake and onto the floor. Apparently that's what you do with a spoon. Taste test proved to be disastrous, because he simply spat the spoonful out. It's a miracle it did not land only the cake itself. Steve called, just as we were serving the cake and he got to sing happy birthday to Kaspar over the telephone. We had a fun day, which lasted well into the evening. Kaspar took a three hour nap and gave me a good break, but then he was ready to party again and we ended up calling it a night at 10:30pm.

work, work and more work

No, this is not a picture of Kaspar working. This one is still a good little shot of Kaspar sitting in a bowl at my friend Rita’s house in Talsi, Latvia. After taking a sauna with us several times, he had come to the understanding that sitting in a tub is a pretty cool thing to do. The old fashioned saunas in Latvia get heated up pretty hot, around 80 degrees Celsius, so, it’s not advisable for a little fellow like him to spend any considerable amount of time in such heat. However, he was really into it. So into it, that I could hardly keep him out of there. So, I devised a plan – a nice cool tub of water on the floor of the sauna with Kaspar in it up to his armpits. Boy, was it a hit! But ever since then he has been climbing into every large laundry bowl he comes across…

Speaking of the little guy… he’s going to be ONE in just a couple of days. We’re throwing him a party on the weekend. I’ve been loosing nights of sleep over this. How do you throw a party for a one-year-old? What kind of cake do I give him, so that he does not get sick after? (I’ve heard some horror stories from friends with little kids!) I’m hoping that it all just falls into place, somehow. Uh!

I have been about two weeks since we got home from our trip and yet I feel like months have passed. The first ten days I spent every free minute in my studio, because I had been accepted into the TOAE, but had to finish all this work for the show. Otherwise I only had a small array of pieces to show and that’s hardly acceptable for this show! The show was a success. Drew a good crowd! I was in a new spot, right by the city hall, in the shade. I still have not decided, if that was good for business, but it was definitely good for sanity. It never got too hot in the shade, and the weekend was a pretty hot and sunny one. It was nice to be in that show again. I cannot believe that it had been two years since I had been a part of it. Time flies!

The Monday morning after the show I had to begin working. Yes! I’m back at work. Back to sitting behind my desk. Computer humming. Telephone ringing. Number crunching. Typing. Filing. All that fun stuff. I don’t like it much. I’m just not used to going to work every single day. My job is actually awesome, even if it sounds like a bore on paper. My boss is great. I can work at whatever pace I set for myself. I have very flexible hours. I have an office all to myself. I’m really like a queen bee at that place! But… yeah, there is a ‘but’… I just don’t want to work. I like being home with Kaspar. I like doing the mundane little things at home. I’ve really gown to appreciate being home over the past year. Besides, I have my studio at home. So, whenever I get bored with ‘home’, I go into the studio, close the door, turn on CBC One and get cracking. I love that option. So, it just feels like I don’t need another job outside of the house. However, our financial reports tend to disagree. So, I have a job and it’s not at all a bad job and that’s my consolation.

It’s 3:30 in the morning and I’m beginning to wonder if I should try to catch another couple of hours of sleep before Kaspar wakes. I fell asleep tonight at 8:30, while I was putting Kaspar to bed. Only woke up at midnight, feeling uncomfortable, hot. I was still in my jeans. Yuck! Undressed, slept until 1am and then the thunder woke us both. It took me an hour to put Kaspar down again and by then I was wide awake, myself. So I figured that this was my chance to finally update this blog. I’ll try to get back into doing it on a regular basis. (“Try” is the key word here!:-)) Goodnight!

disappearing act

Sorry for the long disappearance! Our last three weeks in Latvia were overrun by family gatherings, weddings, trips of all sorts and sizes, spectacular summer weather, lack of internet connections … and to be totally honest … keeping up with this blog and emails became such a ‘job’ that I figured – I don’t need a job during my holiday! So, I disappeared, only to return to a mail box full of 68 emails (thank god, gmail sorts out junk mail, because the junk mail folder had 348 emails in it) and a whole lot of angry messages about not keeping my blog going. My appologies…

We’ve been back for two days. Back in Toronto. Back at home. Back in the swing of things. I’m still processing the last few weeks of our trip and the whole ‘returning to our regular life’ thing. Kaspar is going through some heavy jet lag, I think. His lack of sleep during the night and long naps during the day are sort of forcing me into an odd schedule myself. But, we’re happy to be back home! Here is a picture of Kaspar still in Latvia. The day before we left…

nightingales & rain

Last week a friend of mine from Toronto was here. She stayed at my mom’s place and we got talking about families and history and grandmothers and it turned out that her grandmother was a friend of my grandmother’s way back. Go figure! The world is so small, so small…

Last week it also rained a lot. It was a cold and wet sort of a week. One night, as the rain stopped pounding on our windows and the evening was approaching, my friend decided to hook up with some old friends and go for a drive out to a town called Tervete, where she used to work in a sculpture park of a sorts. It’s a large property with wooden and bronze statues that are made after characters from books by a Latvian author Anna Brigadere. She wrote a lot for children, fairy tales and stories… so, the sculptures are of the one foot tall boy “Spriditis”, the “King of the Forest” and so on…. But that’s really not important. So, she decided to go and invited me and Kaspar along. I could not resist. After several days indoors we both were dying to get out. Even if it was going to be a late night!

We piled into her friend’s car, tight like sardines at 8pm in the evening and drove into the sunset. Kaspar slept for the hour in the car, while we drove. By the time we arrived the rain began to sprinkle again, but that was not going to stop us. Armed with umbrellas, Kaspar in the sling across my shoulder we went for an evening walk. We stepped out of the car shortly after 9pm. It was still somewhat light out. Dusk. (Evenings are light, here! In fact, I think the night (as darkness) only lasts for about four hours right now.) We paid little attention to the sculptures, but went to all the beautiful nature spots in the park and listened to many stories about the park, many local tales and past love affairs with this place. My friend’s girlfriend’s husband is a local from Tervete. He had stories galore! Very interesting fellow! But the best part came around 11pm, as we were crossing a little meadow and approaching a creek with a little bridge across it, someone said: “Hear it? It’s a nightingale!” And sure enough, there were a couple of them calling out to each other across the field. It turned out that the interesting local fellow could not only tell tales, but do the nightingale call, too. By the end of our listening session we could not count the nightingales singing back to us. There were at least seven or eight of them singing back and forth to one another from every corner of the field. I had never heard anything like it in my life! A nightingale’s song is not all that special, when you listen to just one bird, but when there are many of them singing back and forth, it becomes an entirely different experience. It was magical. As the night started to come upon us, we hurried back to the car, but not before exploring the edge of the creek and finding a remnant, a piece of an old clay pot. I thought it was quite something. But the locals were not at all surprised. Somewhere, just up from the park are ancient burial grounds, never excavated… and the creek washes out smaller pieces occasionally. So goes the story!

But, that was not the end of our trip. We still had to stop by the mother in law’s place in town, where we got showered with hugs and kisses and were given freshly milked cow’s milk, a whole 3 L jug of it… and a whole lap full of lilacs, that she kept breaking more and more of, as we were starting to pull out of the yard. And it did not take us long to realize that my cousin is about to get married to a guy, who has grown up only three doors down the street from this lady and for many years has taken milk from her. I’m telling you…. This world is a very small place!

We drove back watching the night time sky and listening to an amazing mix of Islandic pop, a band called “Pink Martini” and some Latin American music. It was a perfect conclusion to the night. Kaspar had stayed awake on the whole walk and was in a great mood thoughout the night, but slept soundly in the car on the way back. I managed to pull him out of the car and carry him up to the bed, without waking him. So, our fine little trip came to a conclusion and the next morning we all slept in until 11 am. I love sleeping in until 11!!!

The picture of the field is the view of the creek, where we listened to the nightingales and the picture of Kaspar is taken in the car, just before we started driving back. Yes, he does look exhausted, doesn't he?

retreating

We've been chilling at home for a few days. On Saturday Kaspar hit a rough patch and I was forced to accept the inevitable - teething or not, it’s time to take it easy for a few days. We’ve now spent the week-end at my mom’s place (the house, where I feel most at home, where I grew up), with regular nap times, getting to bed on time in the evenings and spending the days playing and walking and digging in the dirt in the back yard. It seems to have worked magic on the little fellow. He’s back to his old self, again. I guess the gypsy lifestyle can be hard on anyone, especially such a young chap!

Last week we spent a day hanging out on a farm, where they raise racing horses. Standing in a field surrounded by these gorgeous animals was both magical and a little frightening. Even though the woman, who takes care of them, reassured us of their friendly temper, we were cautious. The last thing I wanted to experience was being trampled by a herd of horses, especially with Kaspar in the sling. Even being kicked or bitten by a horse was not on my list of things to do. So, we kept our distance and made sure not to be swarmed by more then a couple of animals at a time. Kaspar loved to touch the soft nose of the horse. Every time his little hand managed to reach far enough to touch, he’d quickly pull away and squeal with pleasure. This black horse in the picture was very friendly! He kept trying to nibble on my hand and I was a little afraid that Kaspar’s hand might fit too far into his mouth. But in the end Kaspar only managed to put his fingers in the horse’s nostril. That kind of put an end to our relationship. I don’t think he was impressed. The horse, I mean. Kaspar was more then impressed! He was just waiting for the next opportunity to pick another nostril.

On Friday it rained. It’s been pretty cool all week, in fact. I’m so very glad that I brought my spring coat and a few extra jackets for Kaspar with us. We were visiting a friend of mine and went for an unusual stroll. Unusual for Jurmala, at least! Since Jurmala is a town that stretches for miles along the coast of Riga bay and has gorgeous white sand beaches, most residents of this town go for walks along the beach. But this time we had a nice stroll through the pine forest just before the beach, where the city has put pathways that are not unlike the boardwalk along the beaches in Toronto.It was great! A clean wooden path slightly raised above the forest floor, smooth… perfect crawling surface for Kaspar. Even though it rained a little the pines gave us just enough cover not to feel soaked and kept the path just dry enough for us. I’m calling this one “Chasing Kaspar”. I bet it will be spectacular here in the fall, when all these light green colored blueberry bushes are full of blueberries. Path or no path… I bet they’ll be picked!

cats

Latvia is full of stray cats. Maybe some of them aren’t stray, but just not looked after, too well. Who knows... but it’s May and wherever we land, I’m always listening to a half a dozen of howling cats at night. The apartment buildings and the courtyards in the cities are the havens for these night time sopranos, but I have noticed a couple on the street where my mom lives, as well. The best night time choir I’m hearing right now, just below the third storey window, where my sister lives. The loud choir of miow’s and screeching occasionally gets interrupted by someone screaming at the poor creatures to stop the noise and a little while ago it sounded like water (or some other liquid substance) being thrown out the window. A swoosh of a sorts followed by a whole racket of cat noises. Entertaining to say the least!


My sister has a sweet little cat named Hercog. He has accepted Kaspar as an equal, a playmate of sorts. They get along famously and even seem to be alike in some ways. They both like to play with the sheer curtains in my sister’s pad, very often getting totally tangled in them. They both are equally good at using up the toilet paper. The roll quickly gets spread throughout the entire apartment, if someone leaves the bathroom door open by mistake. The painting above my sister’s couch often gets attacked, even though the cat seems to scratch and Kaspar seems to pull and I’ve learned to restore with the use of nail polish, gum and other innovative, spur of the moment procedures. Thank God my sister cannot complain too much abut the painting, as it really is my painting, that she’s acquired by fluke. The stroller has also become a favourite of the cat and Kaspar. Hercog can spend hours sleeping in the basket underneath the stroller and Kaspar can spend hours trying to get him out of it. It’s great! It keeps Kaspar busy and entertained and I have time to watch bad Latvian day time drama.

on the road

Even though I haven’t had a chance to update this blog on a regular basis, I’ve been keeping notes on paper. These next few entries might not be in the right order, but you should still get the general idea of what we’re doing and where we are these days.

We’ve been on the go the last few days. I’m beginning to feel like a gypsy, spending a night or two in one place, before packing up and going to the next home. My family members all live in separate towns and we’ve pretty much have done the rounds in the last few days.

About eight or nine years ago, some European report listed Latvia as the country with most traffic caused deaths per capita. It changed soon after that. I think the government realized that this was not good for tourism :-) Police cars were posted on highways and tickets were handed out left and right for a while. I remember one drive, with a friend of mine, from Riga to Jurmala... I think we got stopped three times within that half hour. Every time we got away with the minimum 5 Ls (about 12$ CAN) charge. Today some things have changed. However, highways are still the same old narrow two-way roads. Yes - there is only one highway in the whole country that is more then a two-lane (one lane each way) highway. It's the short stretch of road that leads out of Riga, passed the airport and on the way to Jurmala (the long narrow city stretching along the shore - beach capital of Latvia). The roads are not policed quite as much. People still drive way over speed limit. And the way people pass the slower driving cars still at times takes my breath away. I think, living in Canada has turned me into a 'pussy cat', as far as driving is concerned. Even though I sometimes find myself in complete moments of panic, while sitting in the front seat of someone’s car, I must admit, that those Latvians are very good drivers! It must be the Soviet training… having to learn to deal with the worst conditions and still come out on the top. The drivers here are defensive, quick, fast to react…

We’ve spent so much time in cars the last week or so, that Kaspar has finally learned how to sleep in his car seat. He now takes naps whenever we go for a longer drive and has adapted to ever changing schedules and sleep patterns. I’m amazed at his adaptability! He’s hardly ever cranky and at times, when company is good, he’s willing to stay up until 11pm or even midnight. Then we usually spend the next morning sleeping in until 10am or so. He’s a spectacular travel companion! Am I repeating myself.... ??? I can hardly remember what I wrote in the last blog entry.

dandylions lilacs & violets

We caught this picture on the last day before the rain began. There are dandy lions everywhere! They hardly use any chemicals on lawns here, so, dandy lions are an inescapable part of reality. Kaspar is thrilled, because these are the only flowers he’s allowed to pick. If he had his way, he’d have my mother’s yard all plucked and turned into mush. And then he’d go for the next door neighbors’. He’s definitely a “flower child”, but on his very own terms!

It seems like the whole world is in bloom. Cherries are just dropping their petals. Apples, plums and pears are in full bloom. So are most of the lilacs. It’s a gorgeous spring, here! I don’t even mind the rain these past few days. However, I cannot say the same about Kaspar. I’m beginning to think that he suspects a conspiracy against him. No one is willing to take him outside, no matter how much he begs and pleads. The last day we were out for a walk must have been three days ago. We spent the morning walking around the grounds of the property, where our wedding was held about six years ago. It’s near Talsi. I took this picture of Kaspar under the old oak. That is, if you can spot him there, a speck at the foot of the trunk. It’s said to be 220 years old and many people here believe that such trees hold a certain sense of magic in them… maybe Kaspar felt it. He sure did not want to leave this little spot under the tree.

where's waldo?

oh, i meant to say 'where's kaspar?' we were on our way home and decided to stop at a road side pub/restaurant for lunch and found a spectacular playground for children, practically brand new, squeaky clean and pristine, inside the restaurant. kaspar was in seventh heaven! he was consumed by the balls and had no intention of leaving. i actually had to run with him out to the car and tickle him, while strapping the car seat and distract him with food afterwards, just so that he wouldn't cry franticly about being taken from his favorite playground. no wonder parents love ikea! ikea has it all figured out!!!

we just spent the day slacking off. kaspar woke up shortly after six, but i managed to play "sleeping beauty" for about 20 minutes in bed, while he picked my nose, tickled my belly button and played with his own toes. at least i could stay under the covers. finally, at about 8 am my aunt got up to make coffee and found me curled up on the couch and kaspar playing in front of me on the floor. she sent me back to bed. oh, i love her! i slept in until 10 am and woke up just in time to put kaspar down for a nap. the next two hours were mine! he slept like a baby. (the truth is, this saying is absolute bull. babies hardly ever sleep. what does that mean - sleeping like a baby? who came up with that one? must have been a childless man!) anyways. kaspar did sleep... and i hung out and had breakfast and read and relaxed. it's wonderful to be away from home. i can actually relax and not think - there is laundry to be done, floors to sweep, jewellery to polish etc...etc. after the nap we went to the beach and checked out some of the outrageous homes along the beach (more to come on this subject!) but we were home well before 3pm, because kaspar seemed tired. even though he had enough energy to try to haul it out to the water every time i put him down in the sand, he was not happy with the whole walk idea. we came home and sure enough he fell asleep shortly after 3pm. here's the strange thing - he slept until 7:17 pm. i managed to pull off a bit of snooze myself, but he slept for four hours. i was terrified that putting him down for the nigh will be impossible, but by 9:15 in the evening he was in bed and asleep by 9:30. strange. absolutely strange! it's a bit late for jetlag :-) as i'm typing this, i wonder... will he wake me up at some ungodly hour tomorrow morning? i better go and catch a snooze myself, soon. it's already after 1 am.

oh. here we go again. pictures are so finnicky on this site. i wonder if i'm doing something wrong. anyone else have problems uploading to blogger?

another day

here is another day at the beach! kind of chilly, windy. it's funny... riga is only a half hour drive from here, where we're staying for the moment, but in riga it's +22 today, yet, here in jurmala (and especially on the beach) it's only +15. i'm not complaining, though. spring can be pretty nasty and cold in latvia, but so far we've only had sunny days and gorgeous weather. and everything is blooming. even the lilacs are about to burst into bloom!

kaspar has picked his favourite place to stay - my aunt aija's & uncle jani's house seems to be the pick of the week. what can i say? my kid is a true bourgeois! aija's house is large and spacious and he can crawl everywhere and there are lots of new toys (from aija's grandkids). he loves it here! so much freedom... no one chasing after him and telling him not to touch this or that or something else :-) he gets bored in the smaller places, it's very noticeable. the apartments. the kitchens. even my mom's place. he has this funny way of asking to go outside, when he gets sick of being in one place. he lifts his arm, outstretched over his head and waves his hand towards the window and makes this funny whimpering sound. communication. the kid knows how to make himself heard! it's awesome. i wish i had done more in the way of showing him sign language, but that never really worked. i think i gave up, because with sign language everyone has to be on board, really... oh well! c'est la vie!

yesterday, kaspar was allowed to crawl around outside for the very first time. my mom's yard is full of flowerbeds and plants and only the center of the yard is grass (whatever grass there is at this time of the year). of course, he headed straight for the flowers. it's rather pointless to try to keep him away from plucking the flowers. i learned it the hard way. i had a friend over, but spent most of my time chasing kaspar out of the flower beds. he thought it was a very funny game. he did! but even though i tried to keep my eye on the lad, he was rather fast at putting plants, earth and dried leaves in his mouth. my granny used to say "every kid needs to taste his fair share of earth, mud and sand." i sure hope she's right! here he is - caught in action. dirty mouth, diggin' the dirt between the paving stones, a hand full of leaves - busted!

what we've been up to

here is a picture of kaspar meeting his 'opits' (grandfather) for the very first time!

the last few days have passed in a daze of a sorts. being back in latvia again, meeting all of my family, having kaspar here with me, traveling from one town to the next... it's a change from our toronto lifestyle. we're loving it!

kaspar has been the centre of attention pretty much at all times and is definitely getting spoiled by it. he's becoming quite the party animal. the 7:30 bed time is out the window. his naps now happen whenever he's in a car and last as long as the drive or sometimes just 15 minutes. stroller is almost unnecessary on our walks through the town or down the beach, because as soon as he lets out a peep there is someone right there, more then happy to carry him. he has begun to eat pretty much everything that we eat, because people just let him taste any food they're eating. this means he's been introduced to meat, sugar, white flour, garlic, spices, salt - all within the space of a week or so! so far so good... knock, knock, knock :-) and he's also met all sorts of animals. he's attempted to hug and pluck several fluffy cats. he has had a chance to check out and pet many different sized dogs. he loves the dogs, because he definitely recognizes the tail. he sometimes does say 'aste' while pointing at the dog (it means 'tail' in latvian!) we also met a few cows and he attempted to pick the nose of a very young little baby cow. funny enough, i don't think the cow cared. brown chickens with bare bottoms were quite a sight. the ducks were also interesting (but different ducks then the ones in high park pond - white ones). my sister keeps promising to take us to the zoo, however, i think for now we've had enough animals for one week!

the weather has been spectacular here. nights are still chilly, but during the day, in the sun, the temperature has been as high as +25 degrees celsius. we're spending a lot of time outdoors. the beaches are stunning at this time of the year and pretty much empty! spring has just begun here. the woods are full of these little white, blue and yellow flowers called 'vizbulites'. trees are just starting to turn green. the birch patches are all aglow with that pale green, almost yellow glow. i cannot wait until the ieva's begin to blossom. ieva is a tree that produces this stunningly fragrant flower in the spring! i have no clue what they might be called in english. sorry! my vocabulary for flowers, trees and wildlife in general is very poor in english. will have to work on that!

today we spent some time at the soviet vehicle show in kuldiga. it was an awesome array of cars and busses, bikes and military vehicles from the soviet era, along with people all dressed up to reflect the times of the make of each car. there were also soviet flags and soviet songs and the 'pionieri' (school aged children, belonging to something that would be like a ''children of lenin'' club, similar to 'boy scouts' but for the soviet school kids) piling into the old busses. a great show! the mc of the show was very funny and had just the right thing to say about each of the pieces on display. he had a way of telling the history to reflect the tragedy of the times with good humour and satire. e had some good laughs. my sister knew some of the people in the show, too! so, we got some good pictures.

anyhow.... that's all i can manage for today. it's midnight. i better get some sleep before kaspar wakes up.

p.s. i have a cell phone now! yes. my own cell phone, here in latvia. if you want the number e-mail me! then you can all call me and bug me... :-) and i've posted some pictures on flickr, because uploading to blogspot just takes too long.

hip hip hooorrrrayyyy!

hip hip hooorayyyyyy! we're in latvia!!!

we had a few excruciatingly busy days just before our departure. even though i had good friends helping me out with babysitting a couple of afternoons, i found myself running out of time constantly. then, kaspar got sick two days before we were scheduled to leave. it was so stressful! i was so worried about the flight, about his well being, about myself keeping my sanity. uh! however, after a good day of chamomile tea and a whole lot of people sending good thoughts and prayers our way, his fever broke and he was fine on the day of the flight.

we left for the airport shortly after 3pm, even though our flight was scheduled to leave at 6pm. that was me trying to be super organized! good thing, too, because shortly after arriving at the airport i realized that i had left my sling (baby carrier) at home. we don’t leave the house without that contraption! i could not imagine spending the next two months without it. i contemplated taking a taxi back to the house (for a short moment), but decided to call my saving grace, my favourite neighbour, someone who really should be awarded the title of a ‘fairy god mother’, because she always saves me in situations of distress and is always there for me – astride. and she saved us again!!! so finally, at 6pm, after approximately 24 hours of no sleep we boarded the plane and took our seats. the flight was smooth. kaspar was more then happy flirting with the flight staff, sitting in my lap and doing laps up and down the isles on his hands and knees. he slept for a couple of hours, maybe three in total. however, i could not sleep, partially because i was afraid i might let go of him, partially because the flight had some turbulence and maybe also due to over exhaustion. But I managed to relax a bit and keep my eyes shut for a while. in frankfurt we had a short layover, however, for a couple of overtired little travelers the two hours seemed to last forever. kaspar was on his second wind. he wanted to move and crawl, but the floors were so disgusting that i had to keep him on the seats. they were long, bench like seats, so i could let him crawl a bit, if i kept close supervision. his energy lasted for about an our and then he just became tired. thank god we had the sling. about 15 minutes before our flight to riga began boarding he fell asleep in my arms and stayed totally passed out until we landed in the riga airport. i was thrilled to get a short hour of shut eye in during the second flight! the seats were narrow and small and i was able to prop pillows and bags around us, so that i was sure he was not going to slip out of my arms, even if i did fall asleep.

when we finally landed and got through the passport control and got our luggage, i was so glad to be done with the flight, so glad to be in riga, that the rest of the airport antics did not even phase me. you see, we had arrived on the same plane as the slovak hockey team for the world championships. so, there were men in beaver suits, a whole orchestra dressed in red suits playing a march of some sorts and a few young girls doing something that reminded me of really bad cheerleading moves or really strange dancing. besides that there was press, of course, with cameras and without, and a lot of people and fans. my mom kept asking if we should take a picture of kaspar with the beaver in the hockey shirt, but in all honesty - i was too tired to care. so, we went home instead! the first night, for the very first time in his life, kaspar slept from 8:30pm until 11:15 am the next day. that was definitely a first!

the picture in this post is on of us taken at terminal one in toronto just before checking in for our flight. terminal one is awesome! it does not even look like a toronto airport! so sleek and new... yikes. the image is not loading. why. why. why? i hate tech problems! tought luck. no picture this time...

pics

i’m thinking …. pictures. this blog is going to be a photo blog. i just don’t have the time to recall everything i wanted to write about, and so much time has passed that to be honest i don’t even remember what i wanted to write. time has been escaping me lately. only a few more days left here in toronto and then we leave for latvia. we’re (me and kaspar) going to be gone for nearly two months. i promise to keep you posted from latvia!

the weather has been marvelous (or should i say "was marvelous") for almost a week here. warm, gorgeous, sunny spring days. my mother (despite her busy work schedule, before leaving) spent several days tending to our garden, making it absolutely stunning, while I spent time in the studio and hung out with kaspar. but steve got a bit of his share, too, while he was home for a few days. here they are in front of the garage soaking up he warmth.

easter sunday we had a short visit with oma and kaspar’s couzins. here is a good little shot of kaspar and his cousin carter. carter is about a month younger then kaspar. what a difference a month makes at this age. wow! by the time they’re 12, no one will suspect an age difference. it’s great to have cousins the same age. i have a cousin, who’s eight months younger, but we always felt like we were a team, especially when we were younger. supposedly i bit her in the toe, when i first met her as a baby.... :-)


the view from the other side... this one is us peaking over the fence at our neighbours yard. but as you all know, nothing is one sided. she's got special access! look at this gate. kaspar is taking a run for it... can you blame him? chased by the camera. as though he was camera shy or something.

hope to post more tomorrow. tonight is just one of those nights, when too much excitment keeps us all awake!

another week

i don't know about this thing called time... it's deceiving. it's just never what you think. it always passes either too fast, or too slow. there is either not enough of it (that's me!) or you're bored, because there is too much of it (for some people, i hear!) well, i just wanted to warn you - time is not on my trusted list!

do we have news? oh, do we ever! let's see... kaspar's fifth tooth is out; grandma is home from the hospital; oma has had her operation and is doing well; kaspar has a brand new cousin; i am a whole year older; we finally have hard copies of our tickets to latvia; my cousin's youngest is sick - so easter plans have fallen through; steve is home for two weeks; steve's european tour schedule has been confirmed; i've made a few jewellery deadlines and also missed a few; kaspar has figured out the 'i demand' command; spring is here; our garden is blooming, including the 'ieva' tree; i've joined a gym (well, for two weeks, 'cuz it was free (does that count? maybe not. but i did...); an old high school friend is coming for a visit; oh... i could go on, but i'm bored. list are sort of boring!

now, let's elaborate: yeah - kaspar has sprouted another tooth. it kind of just appeared one morning. even though, i think i should have seen it coming. he did spend two days with one hand always in the mouth, as though searching for something. the tooth's on the top, on the right side of the two front teeth. i'll miss his honest and funny little beaver face - the two front top and bottom teeth. it's a cute look. c'est la vie!

grandma and oma are both recovering miraculously well, i'm proud to report. oma had her lumpectomy and is doing very well and the news from the doctors are promising. we keep holding our thumbs for both of them!

i'm thrilled to report that my brother and his wife just had their baby. it's a boy. well, we already knew it was going to be a boy, but we're thrilled anyway! his name is patrik. he's still in the hospital in kuldiga with his mom, but everyone else is celebrating! he's incredibly cute, 58 cm tall and over 4 kg at birth. congratulations guys! i cannot wait to meet him. ants in my pants :-) here is a beautiful picture of patrik at the hospital.

oh yeah, yesterday was my birthday. you're probably thinking 'happy birthday' or 'oh, i missed it'. well, thanks for the happy birthdays, if you're thinking it. and don't worry, if you forgot. i forget everyone's birthdays all the time. in fact, i'm the queen of forgetting birthdays! i should have one of those programs that email you a reminder five times before each birthday. i had a great day. ran a bunch of errands, like getting kaspar's passport renewed, which took two hours at the passport office. absolute disaster - that office! it's funny, he's only had a passport for a couple of months and it's already expired. we got him a passport before he had a birth certificate, so, it was good only for a few months. and i saw my best/oldest friend for lunch, which was awesome. sometimes it's just really good to touch base with old friends. and i got some take out sushi for dinner and went to bed early. slightly uneventful, but a nice day! i'm thankful for it.

where was i on this list? tickets to latvia. yeah. kaspar and i are going to latvia for a couple of months. we leave in a couple of weeks and we will be there until the end of june. i cannot wait to see my whole family and friends, have kaspar meet his 'opits' (my dad) and just take time out before having to return to work on july 1st. looking forward to it! steve's hoping to join us for a few days, after his european tour is over. i think he confirmed his tickets today. hip, hip hooray!

our elaborate easter plans have fallen apart. we had hoped that my cousin, with his wife and two kids might com up from the sates, but the youngest is sick. they’re staying home partly because they don’t want to introduce kaspar to a fancy thing called the stomach flu. that must be a nasty thing for young kids!

i started writing this last night, but never posted it. ooops. here is a fresh morning and i’m posting last night’s blog. more to follow on the rest of the subjects on the list, not yet discussed. :-)

some days...

oooohhhh, did i ever get a slap on the fingers with that last comment.... for those of you not fluent in the latvian language, i was just told that if i've started a 'blog' then i'm also responsible for updating it. uh! the balls of some people. :-)

well. we've had a week of insane news. and it's kind of thrown me off kilter. it started with us finding out that oma (one of kaspar's grandmothers) has cancer. she's an amazing woman, who, just a short two years ago went through some very rough time, losing her husband (steve's father) to lung cancer. i was so saddened by the news! but i'm praying that this will be in no way similar case. she's scheduled for surgery on my birthday and i'm hoping for a birthday present - news that the entire lump is removed and it has not metastasized. just recently, in a special on cbc television i heard that the statistics today are - 1 out of every 3 people in north america will be diagnosed with cancer some time in their life. yikes!

a mere 12 hours after the news about oma, we found out that grandma (grandma lives on the west coast!) had broken her leg, been rescued by a helicopter and was in hospital awaiting surgery. shocking! that was two grandmothers with bad news in one day. and a friend of mine emailed me to say that bad things come in threes. the guts! i refused to believe it, and thank god grandmother #3 is doing just fine. no problems to report there! now, grandma's was a story i could have devoted an entire blog entry to. or maybe grandpa should start his own blog!?! their story was like something out of a james bond movie. but grandma has been pinned, plated and screwed back together and now is at home, resting and healing. we wish her a full and fast recovery!

the third sad event followed just this past week-end. and it in no way compares with the above two. elliott brood did not get the juno. sorry guys! but, that was enough bad news for me for one week. enough things to worry about. uh. and it's not over yet! i'll keep you posted, if you promise to keep all our grans and omas out there in your prayers...

on a happier note i can give you a rockin' update on kaspar. he's finally over all his fevers and ills and is doing grand! he's discovered that he can stand up on his own pretty much anywhere, where there is something to hold on to (the picture is him cruising the couch!). that includes mom's pants, from behind, while she's doing dishes. that's a funny one! especially, since i cannot turn around without making him fall and he holds on for his dear life so that i have no chance of turning around... it's a site that has to be experienced first hand. the whole standing thing has also given him a few red bumps on his otherwise perfect forehead, which he has begun to abuse regularly. lately, he's become more and more daring, at times jumping off the bed head first, or crawling into the wall head first. he usually thinks that it's very funny, until it starts to hurt a bit more then he had expected. and then we have one of those big huge grand wails...

about two weeks ago kaspar graduated to taking baths on his own. he finally learned to sit still, so that i was not afraid to sit him in the tub on his own. it took him a while to realize that the tub is slippery and constant movement does not make for safe bath time. we had a couple of 'face under the water' moments, which, to my surprise did not phase him at all. but now, he's the king of the tub! he loves it. it's hard for me to take him out. as soon as he notices the towel in my lap, he just turns his whole body away from me and pretends i'm not there. some times there is crying, kicking, screaming... well, you get the picture. but i can hardly have him sitting there turning into a prune, can i ???