Our Family Web Log - Istra + Emeth

Ellipitically

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:26:08 -0500

Probably a year, at least, since Anne expressed interest in getting rid of her elliptical trainer, and Selena expressed interest in acquiring it, and many close calls of almost getting it, against all odds Anne still had it, and Sandro and I managed managed to extract it and get it to our place. And, almost miraculously, we found a corner space to shove the monstrous thing in. So, finally, Istra can get some exercise....

Emeth, on the other hand, has decided to stick with vigorous lolly popping as his exercise of choice.

(Sorry about the video being so dark. You know how it is...)

Istra / Emeth

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:30:10 -0500

An irony of the kids being away is that I have at least a tiny bit of time to post things here. But, without the kids, what to post here?

So I've pulled up this photo shoot I did with Istra on Dec 14. I call it a photo shoot, but... the situation actually was I was sitting at my desk in my office and Istra showed up in the doorway pushing her toy stroller (with Eeyore the donkey and Tessa the pink puppy strapped in). I wanted to do a lighting (flash) test with my camera, so I grabbed it and took the top-left picture. As soon as the flash goes off, Istra goes off with the faces. So i keep shooting. She keeps making faces. I try to stop, but she wants me to take a few more, to show her what she looks like. Really, it only took about 3 minutes for all of those faces to materialize. (I was going to organize the heads into a neat block of squares, like last time... but then I noticed that the chaos and jumble much better captured the feel of the experience...)

In the interest of fairness I figure I'll go give Emeth a chance also. You may remember the head mosaic I did of Istra when she was only around 1 and a half years old (did another when she was even younger, standing in her crib, but can't find it at the moment). She was already making faces. Lets see what Emeth will do at two and a half...

I find Emeth in his room, sitting on the floor by himself looking at a book. He didn't say anything to me that I can remember. But I think if the heads spoke, the words may have gone something like this:

1) What? Oh, it's you. 2) Ah! What was that?!! Flash?? What are you doing?!!! Ugh. 3) I'm going back to reading my book. 4) Are you still here? Do not offend my dignity. Thanks for coming by. You are free to leave, any time you want.

Ha ha. Emeth is funny in his own way.

It's not just about Xmas anymore

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:06:40 -0500

Some (yawn) scenes from Istra's first Christmas Concert, for those interested. The first and last pictures are of Istra's teacher, if you're curious as to her appearance.

Halloween is for suckers

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:45:29 -0500

Istra, after a long grueling night of trick-or-treat, releases herself from her uniform, and ponders the meaning of it all. Trick, or treat? Sucker, or suckee? Pony, or unicorn?

Emeth, rebel, refusing to don his dragon-y covering at the crucial moment, instead cleverly disguised himself as himself. A little boy with big pockets. He also refused to carry a bag, and insisted on people stuffing his right hand pocket with booty... only when it was filled to overflowing did he consent to adding a little to the left, also. Meanwhile back at home, daft poppy thought the lad could use a little broccoli pick-me-up after his long night's labours. Poppy was dismissed. But, broccoli-less, consciousness suddenly fled...

Let this be a lesson to you all.

Laundry room revelations

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:35:07 -0400

This is not new (though it's not all that old either). But I've just been updating the Istra Art archive...

The first day of school

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:45:27 -0400

... brace yourself, world.

Swimming with noodles

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:26:18 -0400

Istra surprised us this weekend by suddenly taking to the noodle. She's been telling everyone that I taught her how to swim with it, but really I didn't do anything except be there. Before this weekend she would not go in the water without clinging tightly to some adult torso, neck, limb, or combination thereof. But (no doubt inspired by the bravery of six year old friend she acquired) she suddenly armed herself with the blue noodle and ventured forth. The chilliness of the water did nothing to cool her enthusiasm. She had a lot of fun, too.

Boy meets...

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:58:08 -0400

As the rest of us stood in awe and fright, Emeth came up behind the fearsome creature and, lifting his arm and pointing, asserted loudly: "Bummm! Bum! Buuuum! Bum! Bum! Buuuuuummm! Bummm. Bum. Bum... bum."

Luckily, that's one of the few words he can say. It sure came in handy for him this day.

A first time riding a real bike outdoors ever...

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:25:59 -0400

We really love our bikes. Their beauty exists for us on many levels. Aesthetics. Practicality. Efficiency. Economy. Fun. Exercise. Environmental friendliness. So it was with a fair bit of excitement that we finally were able to take our kids outside on their own bikes for the first time ever in their lives.

As previously posted, we had gotten them bikes a few weeks ago. The riding has all been indoors, though, as we didn't have helmets for them. Today that last detail was remedied. And despite the periodic showers, we headed out to a nearby schoolyard for a spin..

I think everyone we passed by were stunned to see a (just turned) two year old whizzing along confidently under his own mechanical power. A few even commented on it to us. Istra, for all her loudness and bravado, turns out to be a much more cautious cyclist. She carefully gets off her bike for curbs and downward slopes. She worries about going too fast. Good for her. (And great bike clothes!) Emeth gets upset when we interfere with his heading, determinedly, towards stairs. Good for him too! (His helmet and heavily padded crotch will doubtless save him, if we aren't able to!)

We, ourselves, never would have imagined that when Istra took her first two-wheeler out that Emeth would be right behind her on his at the same time. Actually, Emeth was ahead. Mommy had to run to keep up with him sometimes. But anyhow, here we all are.

Despite having to wait out some rain under evergreen trees (and a tiny playground roof), it was a great day. And the leaves are just starting to green the skies...

(P.S. the slideshow may work better now than it has been...?)

Emeth and Istra's new cousin

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:37:33 -0400

As of 3:41 in the morning on Saturday, Istra and Emeth officially have a new cousin. Congratulations, Istra and Emeth!

No, wait, congratulations are supposed to go to the new parents, Steven and Megan? Ah yes, that's right, the world doesn't revolve around Emeth and Istra. Must try to remember that. Must try.

Congratulations, Steven and Megan and little Meisie.

Meisie had a bit of a tough time making her premier appearance, but when we saw her Sunday evening she looked like she was doing very well, and planning on staying out here with us.

For those who want high-resolution images of the new peanut (or future photos of older peanuts) I wanted to relay a quick tutorial on how to download the full sized images from the new interface on the photo album linked above. When viewing a photo in the album:

First get to an album index page (where you see thumbnails) by clicking the title of the album in the top right "breadcrumb" links.
Now click the icon on the top left of the page that says "show sidebar" when you hover over it.
From the sidebar select "Add Album to cart" (alternately, for individual pictures, you can click the shopping cart icon when viewing the individual photos you want to download).
Now you'll be on the shopping cart page: notice the dropdown control that says "Cart actions" in the top right area of the screen. Click this and select "Download in Zip" and click the "Go" button.
Your browser should now ask you to download or open a file called g2_album.zip. Save or open this file, and then "extract" the contents to where you want the pictures to be on your computer. Then you can delete the g2_album.zip.

Bikes for the Babes

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:11:42 -0400

We figured it was time for Istra (approaching 4 years old) to graduate to a two wheeler, so we picked her up one. She loves it! But to our amazement, Emeth also loves riding it. Even though he has to vault himself onto the seat like a horseback rider, and can barely reach all the way down to the pedals... he flies! So we got him a bike too (for his birthday, a few days ago). In this video we have the bedroom floor cleared as we took out the carpet to clean it... the kids made it their bicycle track for a little while. Whee!

Catch that train

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:39:35 -0400

It's not quite Emeth's birthday yet. But since it is close, and the family was together (with an extra special appearance by Whitney flown in from the plains), we decided to unload a bunch of new trains on the lad. Seemed like the best thing to do.

The linked photo gallery is still in rough shape with many broken links/pictures... but it has a nicer new slide show module at least! Check it out.

By golly, here's a whole bunch of us...

There's a lot more that could be described. But I'm (more than) out of time. The pictures will have to do.

The utter terror of a slightly running nose

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:46:37 -0500

We're good! After many weeks of struggle, everyone is pretty much healthy again. You don't need to know the diarrhea and vomit filled details. And surprisingly, it wasn't even all that relaxing and peaceful around here as one might have thought, while Istra barely moved from the couch, sleeping nearly all day every day for nearly three days. Oh well. We're good now. (Besides my broken foot, but that's another story.)

We even went out to the playground to play yesterday. Strangely, no other kids out. They must all be sick. Or wimps.

Today, at some point, Emeth had a very slightly runny nose. Selena and I looked at each other in terror. No, Emeth, no!!! You are absolutely forbidden from getting sick again!!!!!! Absolutely forbidden.

Mega, Mega Milestone

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:43:49 -0500

Emeth, sampling a treat that mommy gave him.

"Why doesn't this thing work??!! Why????! WHY??!!!!!" inquires Istra with her usual calm inquisitiveness. "WHYYYYYYY!!!!!!".

For days now I have been trying to set aside the time to share the news of this fantastic moment that occurred over the past weekend. Now, astonishingly, I can't even remember which day it was, let alone the hour, minute or second of that day. It's a bit depressing, because you'd think my memory would be more sharp on this sort of event. I guess I am getting old. But nevertheless, before i forget completely, I must record the essential fact.

Emeth, at just over one and a half years old, has made some significant progress as a human being already. He can can feed himself. He can walk. He can also run, and even dance. He can clap his hands (sort of). He has been leafing through a book or three. This is all well and good, but last weekend he was standing as he often does like a prisoner at the kitchen baby gate (the kitchen being freedom, and all the rest of the world a cell), and he looked up and saw me retrieving a certain Bowl from a shelf, and he pointed up as I did, and looked at me and said.... "Pop Corn"! I am serious, i would not make something like this up. My boy, who just barely in the last few weeks has started acquiring a few vaguly formed monosyllables such as "aug" (dog) and "uhhs" (bus), suddenly says (are you ready for this?): "pop corn". And he repeats it! This is the greatest moment of my life. This is it.

Oh sure, his pronunciation isn't entirely up to the Queen's righteous standard yet; it did sound a little more like "off horn", but well... you figure it out. Well, no wait, you don't have to figure it out. I've told you. It's God's honest truth! It is true. It is truly awesome.

Popcorn, indeed. That's my boy!

Now, before I leave I don't want to neglect Istra, who is also advancing in her own peculiar... ah, i mean... interesting way. For example, the day after whatever day the above glorious event took place, I was in the bedroom, and I saw Istra standing half twisted around in front of the full length mirror behind the door. She then announced into the mirror: "Hello Bum! How are you to day?"

Yes, we're all making progress here. As for me, well... I currently have bicycles hanging on my dining room wall. Fantastic, isn't it! I hate to brag about this stuff too much. Normally I'm so much lower key, as you know. But sometimes... sometimes, you just have to cut loose for a moment.

I'm sure you understand.

Tim, on a special occasion, with a few friends get his back and everything.

Halloween with Joachim (it rhymes!)

nospam@example.com (Tim Middleton) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:49:00 -0500

This is Little Red Riding-hood and the Wuff. Together with them, and a certain pirate, we looted houses of their treats the other night.

Naturally, in order to fit in with such characters, we needed disguises.

Emeth was a moody lion, who refused to wear the ears and mane his mommy had spent so much arranging for him.

Istra was a winged rainbow unicorn pony, who complained a lot of being too hot, and besides which absolutely refused to fly at all. So it goes.

Time can be a funny thing. Selena unearth a dress she last wore to her grade 12 prom, which now served again as her Halloween costume. In an odd twist of fate a corset (also fished out of the well of time) had to be strapped on top of the thing to make it work. But work it did, and looked good even (if not better), all these years later.

Click for more pictures, if you need further evidence.

As for me, lamely I can barely get myself dressed most days, let alone dressed up for any other occasion. However while we were walking the haunted streets that night I was struck by a sudden inspiration... so next year... maybe... just maybe... just maybe, Goodwill be willing, I shall don the identifying accouterments, if not vissage, of one of the boldest and greatest of our heros of our age... maybe.

Istra calls wolves "wuffs". Though she calls this particular wuff, Joachim. (She used to call him "Bikini", but that's another story...)