pointalism

I've got this guilt complex about the blog now. Not only that... I often find myself procrastinating.... doing other stuff, when I could be updating the blog. Kind of like Kaspar, when he's about to be taken to bed. He'll walk to the bathroom a half a dozen times - first asking to brush his teeth again, then asking for lip balm or cream for his hands or another bath or simply pretend he has to go pee over and over again.

I wonder if every parent has experienced this feeling of - what's wrong with my kid? I had that exact feeling, when last November out of the blue, Kaspar began to draw. No it was not that he was drawing per say, but rather that his drawings consisted mostly of little miniature doodles, dots and points. Pointillism. I had never seen a sixteen month old kid drawing like that. Most kids take a pencil in their fist and just draw a continuous line, gesture like shapes that cover most times not only the piece of paper, but also the table or floor beneath the paper. Not my kid!
Now, here is the strangest part... In the very beginning my faint attempts of asking what he was drawing (at that point he was not really talking yet) were actually gratified with an answer. He brought me over to the window, pointed at the gray sky and made little squeaky, squally noises. The gray sky was full of birds flying high above us. It took me a moment, but I figured it out - the noises he was making were the same as the noises we had heard the seagulls make at the park the previous day.
Now we communicate freely! If he sticks his nose against the paper and tries to smell it - it'a flower. The noise of a fire engine - an obvious one. The hand motion of throwing something against the floor, followed by a thumping sound - ball. And who said you need signing classes for kids. They invent their own signs. You just have to be patient enough to decipher them!

For Christmas, Kaspar got a large box of markers, pencil crayons and these paint sticks that are more like very oily and wet crayons (all washable, thanks to very wise gift givers!) Even though I try to watch him, he's discovered ways of getting to the markers on his own. Occasionally he hides a marker, while we draw and pulls it out later, when I'm not watching. He's a sneaky, smart little fellow! He'll draw with the marker, make some marks on the table or the chair, then pull me over to show them to me, yet, as he's wisely pointing them out to me he'll say "NOOOO!" in his most honest and serious sounding voice, and shake his head just like I do, when I'm telling him not to do something.

Now that several months have passed since those first few weeks of drawing, Kaspar has begun to draw like all kids do. He scribbles, and draws large and often goes over the page. But, if you ask him, what the little birds look like in the sky, he still goes back to drawing dots on the page. I love watching him and interrogating him about what he's drawing. :-)

boots

i love this picture &
kaspar loves the boots.

liar, liar....

Yeah. I’m a liar. I’m glad someone called me on it, or else you might not have seen the next entry until the following month or something. My brain is not in the “blog” mode yet. I actually forgot that I was blogging again….. an then of course, we’ve been on a trip and I’ve been feeling sick and all that jazz……

Kaspar has been thoroughly spoiled this holiday season, because everywhere we go he’s got play mates galore! It’s hard on us. Well, not the days with the kids, but the following days at home. Then we become the play mate substitutes. For instance, yesterday he took my hand, pulled me down onto the floor, I thought – ok, let’s play. However, he had something else in mind! He wanted me to crawl under the coffee table so that he could look at me through the glass from the top. Yeah. This was shown by not so gently pulling my hair in the direction of the coffee table and down. He’s devised a way of communicating, that involves a lot of physical contact, yet leaves him off the hook for having to speak. Smart little fellow!

Well, I took a few days off work after a nice mellow New Years’ eve with some friends and a hundred oysters (yum!). We went to Ottawa for a visit with friends of ours who are here for the holidays from Latvia and Kaspar hung out with Rudis & Inguss for a day. Here is Kaspar and Rudi just hanging out right after Rudis’ christening.

Then last week-end we attended a marvelous wedding for our friends Julija and Zanis ( and here is Zanis blog, which I found by fluke one day, while looking up info about orchid care ) The wedding was so spectacular that afterwards I felt like I had been on a holiday. I was involved with making wedding rings for them as well as doing the flowers, which all added up and kept me rather busy day and night the few days just before the wedding. Steve ended up picking up a lot of slack and Kaspar missed me, and clung to me like a little koala, when I did show up at home. At the wedding though, he was a doll. He was so happy to be amongst a crowd that as soon as I put him down, he’d dash through the legs of people and out the door, into the long hallway of the Latvian center and down and up the hall… It was hard to keep up, considering the high heals and my inability to sneak through people’s legs and under people’s drinks.

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!