ice cream and raspberries

yummmm, he had his first taste of ice cream (just a tiny bit on the end of a spoon) and a raspberry. you should have seen his face. priceless. the ice cream was one of those situations, where, as soon as the spoon left his mouth he jumped for it and grabbed on to it and refused to let go. as if the spoon itself seeped the sugary goodness. it kept him occupied for at least ten minutes. and then he finally figured it out, i think. the ice cream experience was followed closely by a raspberry. and that was an entirely different ball game. there was a yelp, a shrug and then, just as the final sour and juicy taste reached the back of his throat, he sort of trembled with his entire body and his face contorted in a weird grin... but he kept sucking on it (making these funny faces all the time) and finally swallowed it. as soon as his mouth was empty, he reached for the next one. we gave him two. two raspberries. it's awesome watching a child experience all these new tastes! at some point, a very long time ago, we all did the same thing... i can sort of remember it. i can sort of remember my first experience with gooseberries. and i can clearly remember my first taste of a banana. but that's a whole other story.

i'm baking two cakes, as we speak. we have two parties to attend tomorrow, a 60th and a 40th birthdays. and i'm baking a cake for each. it's a chocolate & rum & raspberry cake and i got the recipe (who am i kidding - i actually spent a day learning how to make it!) from a lady, who was marvelous at everything she touched. she was this absolutely amazing eighty year old (i believe she was 80 when i met her). she cooked, baked, sewed, knitted, kept herself in shape, kept her house freshly painted, helped families, children and women everywhere, did charity work for countless hours of the week, hung out with her grandchildren and if i was a family member, i could probably list a few dozen other things she accomplished. but most of all, she had this youthful way about her... she could relate to me, she did not judge, she was just a spectacular human being. and amidst all that, she still had time to spend a whole afternoon teaching me how to make a cake (i can cook, but i'm miserable at anything baked!). and she was only someone, who attended the same church i did. go figure! today i'm baking her cake and feeling like i owe her one. unfortunately, she passed away a couple of years ago, before i had a chance to tell her how much i admired her. but every time i bake this cake, i feel like i need to do something to keep her memory alive. in fact, i miss her! here is a toast to people like her. i hope that if i ever manage to reach 80+, i can do it as graciously and wonderfully as her!

all things green

i hear that people get addicted to blogging. i can see it, yeah. it's nice getting all these immediate responses from people. but i would only get addicted to reading other's blogs. i'm too lazy to be addicted to blogging myself. hi. hi. hi. a friend recently pointed out that the blog etiquette means, that you are supposed to respond to other people's comments on your blog. forgive me, but i was not aware of this until now. i will try to do just that from now on. notice, i'm stressing the word 'try'.

kaspar’s had a mellow day. even though, like most times, after i've written something positive about his sleeping habits, they were not so good last night. he was up very often. i don't count any more, or else i just get depressed about it. but, i wouldn't be me, if i didn't look for reasons. i figure this time i can blame broccoli. you have to blame something, you know. it just makes me feel better. and i'm sick of blaming teething. even if he still is teething. yeah, getting showered by my drooling child's saliva is something i've gotten used to. but... back to broccoli... this kid of ours is strange. he seems to really take to all things green. is it not the norm for kids to hate green vegetables? with him the love affair began early on with avocado. then about a week ago i discovered green peas. peas and rice, peas and rice… I always get the rheostatics song stuck in my head :-) (p.s. did you hear about the rheostatics? they're breaking up. local rumour mill...) and yesterday he had broccoli for the first time. loved it. but, maybe he did not sleep so well because of it. i don't do so well after broccoli. perhaps neither does he. or perhaps it's just something i can put the blame on. perhaps. it's 10:30 pm. i just spent the last two hours trying to put him to bed, but he's totally awake. at least he's totally happy. i hate the nights, when he cries. but, i've given up trying for now. he's just chilling in his bed and chatting away while i'm trying to finish this entry. i wonder when my little jumping bean will run out of steam...

oh, i feel the pressure... i feel it, i do!

oh, the pressure! yes, i know, i know... it's been a week. i'm sorry! i'm absolutely honoured to be so wanted by you :-) we have had quite a week since steve got home from tour. not only he's been hogging the computer, but i've also been working on pieces for a show that's coming up in march. then on the week-end we drove up north with some friends. monday and tuesday nights were spent with family, friends and neighbours. busy, busy lives, you see!

steve got home last week, the day after we found out about the juno nomination. he was thrilled. the whole band was on the ninth cloud, in fact! the tour had been incredible. they had played sold out venues, sold a whole lot of cd's and got a good stack of press. this week they're doing some cbc interviews and on friday they head out to barcelona. what a high! i'm feeling it, too, even if it isn't all that direct.... i get asked now and then, if i will go to the junos. the answer, unfortunately is - no. first of all, even if i was invited, kaspar wouldn't be. and the other thing - they are charging partners of juno nominees full ticket price for the event, which ends up being $450. i think that is absolutely outrageous! i have a million of things i'd much rather spend that kind of cash on... steve will have to party for both of us.

kaspar has been an absolute darling for the last week. he's been sleeping well. he's been eating everything from green peas to broccoli, mangos, strawberries and best of all - loving yogurt. he can eat an adult sized yogurt cup in one sitting and still ask for more. and he's starting to really get into playing. he'll happily sit on the floor with some toys and play. he's also learning how to crawl. the beginning stages of crawling have been more like shuffling backwards with chest flat on the floor, legs doing all the work. however, last week-end emils (he's almost four years old) was good enough to demonstrate the proper crawling position to kaspar. he picked up on it fast. now he's using arms and legs and the backwards crawl is going very well. i wonder how long it will take before he figures out how to move forward. i try to entice him with toys and things, but he only gets more and more frustrated as he's moving further and further away from the 'wanted' item. he just does not get it... poor kid! in this picture he's trying to chase emil's foot! if you look carefully you'll notice the white sock in the corner of the shot :-) yes, emils got away, because kaspar backed into the couch.

we spent the last week-end on healey lake. it was an annual event of a sorts for a few years but last year we all got too busy and skipped the wintry fun. it was nice to go again! our friends christina and erik own a cottage on healey lake, however, it's not winterized... so, we rent a cabin on the other end of the lake, right near the local 'lodge'. the lake is only a couple of hours north of toronto, but it's unbelievable how different the weather can be. we left toronto, early on saturday morning, snow-less, dry, cold and rather dark. only an hour north of the city the snow banks began growing and by the time we arrived in mctier (the town near healey lake) the snow banks on the sides of the road were at least a meter high. it also began to snow as soon as we left the city limits and it did not stop snowing for the two days while we were there. on sunday morning we measured almost a foot of the fresh white stuff on the driveway and began wondering if the snow plows will reach us before the evening. unfortunately they did... we were sad to leave the winter wonderland. however, some of us had to return back to work! here is an awesome snow shot of us out on he road. it's hard to believe that this was the main road leading to the lodge!!! toronto, on the other hand was just the same as we had left it. no sign of the mountains of snow we had in the north.

i've spent the better part of this week working on my new line of work, taking pictures, writing artist statements and organizing applications. it's that time of the year, when a lot of the show applications are due. a bit of stress. a bit of pressure. there is nothing like it to get me motivated and get stuff done. i know i've been promising pictures of work, so here are a couple. some are still pieces in progress. there are still many kinks to work out... but, i'm loving the studio time. it would be very hard to handle being home with kaspar, if i did not have my studio. i consider myself very lucky!

well on that happy note, i think i might end this photo issue. i'm thinking of watching either some figure skating or american idol. cbc was advertising tonight's shows - they said that tonight is the night to catch some sappy music, melodrama and skimpy outfits. apparently both of the shows offer that! :-) i'm not sure what to pick. sappy music, melodrama and skimpy outfits are not rally my cup of tea, but we only get two chanels and both seem to be showing just that. and i'm too lazy to walk the four blocks to rent a movie... lazy, yup!