wake up call

what do you do between 5am and 6am? most people sleep, i presume. most normal people... most of those without insomnia, at least... not i! this is kaspar and me (of course behind the camera) at 5:30 this morning. yeah. his favourite time to play is about 6am or so. some mornings a little earlier, some a little later. and i'm no game at that hour. i try really hard, i do, but very often rabbits get called ducks and elephants go galloping not horses and chickens say quack, quack... how can anyone keep up with a kid at that hour of the morning, or, night i should say? the big elephant pillow is my favourite toy. at least i can lay my head on it during those early morning play dates :-)

elliott brood got the rising start award at the indie music awards. unexpected victories! they play tonight. in a couple of hours. i'll try to make it out, i think. last chance to see them in toronto for a while. they have most of the next four months booked on the road, less three and a half weeks. the price of fame!

it was a gorgeous, sunny, warm day. we spent most of the day out, even though kaspar had barely slept last night. he was in an awesome mood, though. i love going out with him - he loves company and is always better outside the house, then he is at home. (i get the feeling he gets bored at home!) both of this top front teeth have fully broken through the gum (that's teeth no.3 and no 4), little white jagged lines. he probably will start feeling better now... knock, knock, knock!

lethargic

that's a word, isn't it? lethargic. yeah. it's a word. and that word describes me. (sometimes i have to be careful with some words. last week was a good example - i was trying to say octogenarian, but i said octovarian. and i had no ovaries in mind, believe me!) but tonight i feel so very lethargic, that it took me 45 minutes to simply sit down and write the first word for this entry. oh. boy.

it was one of those crazy days, when you wake up feeling like you have so much to do, that you just jump out of bed and get to it. i did. shortly after 7am. i had to get the extra 45 of sleep, because i was pretty much up from 3am until 6am trying to keep kaspar out of the four corners of the crib. he was thrashing and turning and fussing forever. he'd corner himself pretty much every 15 minutes and wake me up complaining about it. i'd put him back in the middle of the crib and within about 15 minutes it would be the same thing all over again. steve, of course, slept soundly through the whole ordeal. lucky bugger! so, at 6am it was daddy's turn. they came downstairs to hang out and watch cartoons while i did a 45 min snooze sandwiched between two pillows. but by 7:30 i had a coffee in one hand and a mouse in the other and i was workin' away. the TOAE applications (that's toronto outdoor art exhibition) were due today. it's been two years since i've been in it and i would very much like to get in this year. so, i've been working, working, working. this morning i still had to go through about 150 pictures, write artist's statement, resume, biography, fill out forms, burn cd and get the whole thing ready by 2pm. it was rough. especially after i realized that half of my carefully shot pictures were blurry and it was -10 outside, and my only diffused light source was the great outdoors. but, i did it. i did finish the applications and sent them off to 401 richmond with steve. he was on his way to independent music awards night (it's not the juno's, not yet) i don't really know what these indie awards are all about. i've never heard of them. but i suppose that elliott brood didn't make them up. they're nominated. i'm sure i'll hear all about it tonight, when steve gets home. last night they got home from barcelona. spain was superb, i hear!

well. all that hear-say.... but i'm lazy tonight. after getting all the work done in the morning, i spent the rest of the day hanging out with kaspar. he was a bit on the cranky side. a bit feverish. a little 'not himself. who knows what was up his sleeve...

action

i'm trying to capture some action, here. it's not an easy task. kaspar has turned into the energizer bunny. once he's in this jolly jumper, there is no stopping the kid. i never thought this was possible. a few days ago he discovered that the jolly jumper is not only intended for lounging around in... i feel very sorry for our basement neighbour. i keep trying to put carpet and foam under the kids feet, but the thumping can be felt throughout the house. i don't understand how his little head can take so much jumping. at times i try to curb the activity and divert his attention to some other seemingly fun activity, but most of the time it fails. as soon as i try to take him out of the seat, he squirms and screams and it doesn't take long before he's won the fight. (frighteningly enough, him winning the fight happens way too often, these days!)

we've just had an absolutely crazy week-end. on saturday we had dim sum and two parties to attend. kaspar participated in only one of the events, but was so burned out by the end of the day that he fell asleep at 5pm and did not wake until 10pm. however, at 10pm, he wasn't sure what to do with himself. my mom was good enough to entertain him for two hours in the dark (just the nightlight on) until he got tired enough to go back to sleep. i was the lucky one. i got to go to my friend elviga's 40th all by myself. it's awesome to have a night out now and then! and it's even more awesome to have a grandmother baby-sit. i don't think i would trust anyone to baby-sit at this age.

kaspar has now proven countless times (including this week-end)that he will not go down for a nap, when there is entertainment to be had. he's going to be a social butterfly, if this continues. looking on the bright side of things - at least he's a very good sport about it. he spent the day at the party, missing first his noon nap due to the car trip, then his 4pm nap because there were too many women paying attention to him at the party, and during all this time he did not get cranky or upset or distressed. he was on his best behavior. by the very end, he did fall asleep in my lap, holding my finger, quietly zoned out. because of all the messed up saturday schedule, sunday was even more odd. he slept for three hours in the morning, then for an hour in the early afternoon and finally fell asleep at 5:30pm and did not fully wake up (except for eating) until 6:30am this morning. go figure!

i've got two deadlines on march 1st, which is the day after tomorrow. i only figured that out today. i kept thinking - it's only the 26th - four more days until the end of the month. so, instead of working, i lounged around with kaspar all day yesterday and borrowed two movies from my favourite neighbour and watched both of them last night while waiting for kaspar to wake up (which, of course, he never did!). today, i've had this panicky feeling in the pit of my stomach... got a lot done. i'm still hoping to make both of the show deadlines but the end of the day on wednesday. knock, knock, knock...

it's weird. march first. and i feel like the winter has just hit us. it was snowing today. a bit of snow, now and then, most of the day. snow and rain always throws me off, a little. makes me a bit sleepy and lazy. kaspar was just the same, today. slept a lot. march should ring in spring. it should, it should, it should... i wait impatiently for spring. for sweater weather. for crocuses and tulips in the yard. for that pale tint of green in the trees. but for now, it's snow, and i have to get back to work in the studio. a few more hours before i can call it a night!