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Retiring the jumperoo… or are we??
Grandma and GP came down from Vancouver on the weekend to help Daphne celebrate her (26 again?) birthday and to visit with the little man. On Saturday the boys went to an electrical store and then had a pub lunch at the Wild Rover in Kirkland while the girls hit the mall and went for American-sized salads that could have fed a 3rd world country. 
On Saturday evening the grandparents babysat while Jeff and Daphne hit the gym and then went for dinner. Of course, the highlight was getting home to Jeff’s “homemade” birthday cake.
We just chilled on Sunday. And it WAS chilly what with a dusting of snow hitting us again. This week has been a busy week work-wise with Jeff gearing up for a conference next week. Although his team DID make time today to go curling…
Now regarding the jumperoo. Just when we thought we’d pack it up as it was just taking up space Gav decides he’s a fan again. So I guess we’ll give it a bit more time. He really gives that thing a run for its money!
Another year…..
Finishing off the birthday we thought it would be cool for me to post some quick thoughts on the ‘ole blog. It’s not been as regular a posting schedule as we would like, the little guy is not so little anymore, and for 9 months he is certainly a handful.
Its been a wonderful year. 2 new additions to our family on the west coast, first little cousin Alex and 5 weeks later little ‘G’. It has been so amazing seeing these guys go at it. From Daph and I living a global life, Western, to Vancouver, to London (and all over 
Europe) and now Seattle – it has been an awesome 13 years. Now, with Gavin, it seems like chapter 5 has started and so far its the best part of the book. I guess it is part fiction (yea there are some things that happen that you just cannot believe) of course non fiction and definitely comedy. I’ll never claim to be a writer, but I couldn’t have dreamed a better storey.
Little Gav gave me my first birthday present today. Of course he was more interested in the bag and the tissue paper it came in, but it was by far the best gift I have ever received (besides him of course). It didn’t even matter what it was – 2 gorgeous pictures of himself framed 🙂 and something no respectable beer drinker would ever turn down – a 6 pack of Dublin’s finest :). Maybe one day I’ll get to take him to Dublin, right to the top of the brewery and sit in the glass walled restaurant, look across Dublin city, and share his first Guinness with him. Then maybe down to the Temple Bar area to one of the smaller quieter pubs and share a pint with some locals. Did you know that the Guinness (family) company own all the taps in Dublin that pour their beer? In any pub you walk into, from the keg, through the pipes to the taps they are owned and managed by Guinness. Maintenance guys travel all over the place cleaning and managing the systems. That’s how important quality is to their brand. Its little things like that you can only learn from sitting in a pub – ‘in the experience’ that no book or web page shares with you the same way. I wonder what he will learn in his travels.
So the day was off to a brilliant start, drove through some of the worst traffic in months, but had a smile on my face all day. Not because of the 50 facebook birthday wishes, (how cool is that, and thank you! ) but because of how the day started. Daphers made the perfect dinner , homemade chicken parm, and a killer bottle of red. We even had blossoms for dessert.
Seeing him arrive home is so much fun. He smiles with his whole body. He gets so excited, he flaps all 4 limbs up and down, kicking in the air as you hold him. His face is entirely consumed by his smile, his eyes are almost shut, but they are grinning. His mouth is wide open and stretches from ear to ear, 2 half teeth sticking out at the bottom, and this little giggle bubbling out. He is entirely focused on the moment, not thinking about his long day at daycare, or homework, or any other stress. He is just happy to see you.
And that is just perfect. 
This is a super cool commercial…
Filmed at Liverpool St. Station in London:
Lisa’s Baby Shower
Hosted a little afternoon tea baby shower for Baby Cranna 2.0 yesterday afternoon. Amelia, Nicky, Anna and Kim (with Ellie – 4 weeks) came along but the group present meant that Lisa C, Lisa W, Mel, Davina, Lynsay, Vicky and Sarah were
also able to attend in spirit. We made a little Recipe book for Lisa containing fav veggie recipes as well as "recipes", or words of wisdom/encouragement, for the new arrival along with some pictures.
Here’s a video so you can see the finished product. Not sure I have a career in this but I think she liked it…. Thanks everyone!
Happy New Year
And one of our many New Year’s resolutions is try to reduce the time between postings. Seems many of our readers will be able to hold us to that. Yes, thanks for your emails….
Much has happened since the last post. We had a great 5 days in Vangroovey – enjoyed Christmas Eve with the Berezowskyj’s/Umran’s (with only one trip to the hospital), Christmas morning German Pancakes (which the boys slept through, in addition to the present opening), drinks at David and Anne’s with all the cousins and little kiddies, followed by a yummy Christmas dinner on Osler St.
The next day we visited with cousin Kelly, Justin, Katy, Zoe and Noah and then that night we joined Steve and Nicole for to watch the Oilers beat the Canucks (boo!). The next day we hit the road back to Bothell and the remnants of snow.
Jen, Mark and Alex came down from Vancouver to join us and the Crannas for New Years dinner at ours. We managed to make it past New Years but a few of us were feeling the (was it 8?) bottles of wine the next day.
Since then we’ve been back at work and getting back into the swing of things. Gav’s been a little under the weather but sleeping like a champion to make up for it. He’s also particularly enjoying some of his Christmas pressies – his car (thanks Lara), his musical table (thanks Santa) and his wooden blocks (thanks Grandma and GP).
We hope all of our family and friends had a enjoyable and restful holiday. And we hope to see many, if not all, of you in the new year!
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