Winter walking wear

Roll over practice, so close

Stripey Christmas Camo Jammies

Thanks auntie C and uncle J

Day 3 - Third run :)

Boxing day bust

Despite the grid lock on the roads, in the mall and in the store, we only spent the morning period to realize my favorite supplier had no suitable shirts for sale this year. Maybe next year.

Present Videos

Christmas Day - Live from the Lodge

Meeting Santa

We met Santa today at Jambinos, an indoor playground for kids. We haven't really explained about the big man in red, or Father Christmas as he is known in England. Father Christmas asked all the expected questions about what toys Bryn would like for Christmas. Bryn said 'turtles...and a crab'. Santa replied that he hadn't heard that one before. He laid his finger aside his nose and with a merry laugh moved towards the cafe. Bryn looked after him and said 'He's a big boy. Like Daddy. And now he's going to have tea.' I couldn't stop laughing. Oh to be two and so innocent and cute!

post by lj

Some exciting work at Siemens Oncology Care

http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Startpage-HIT.113005.0.html?&L=en

http://www.slideshare.net/fovak/heidelberg-ion-therapy-center

Lost it

Winter is usually good for 1 spill: quota filled!

An ice covered footbridge over a little stream had me sliding on my back fretting what the rest of the ride home would be like soaking wet. Luckily friction stopped me from finding out the answer.

Don't worry mom -- no injuries. And, for those tracking the tech gear score - the blackberry goes up 1 point versus windows mobile for surviving unscathed, despite impact involvement.

Good news... the cold snap is breaking up tomorrow, so commuting should soon return to normal :)

Still got it!

I have tested my hardiness today -  I managed to cycle commute the 4km to work in extreme winter conditions: -2C and snowy roads. It was tricky and darn cold, but I convinced myself that my tough upbringing has prepared me for these moments.  As for  my ability to withstand the rigours of Canadian living and still being able to commute from Wildwood to Cowtown in January... I'm not sure  :) 

few more pics

thanks for this shirt aunie carmen

we know where the big blue eyes come from

you can see bryns first big bandage here. had it a week then down to just a oversize band-aid and now has nothing on it. tip is all black and nail is close to falling off but is healing well.

Ellis vids

Only tried sweet potatos two times and then gave up as i need to get the blender fixed and get another high chair before we can really get going on solids. but his expression is priceless.

Dishes

This video is more to show you what Bryn is capable of so might be a bit tedious for some of you. But i find it so amazing that he knows exactly where to put everything. He is such a good helper.

Hooker and Brown: Join the Search

Jerry, the friend who came over the lakes district for the Kendal mountain festival as a finalist for the Boardman Tasker book prize, has posted a trailer for his novel, please check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-RAFMmLO20

Lucinda and the Half Blood Prince

Bryn and Otter :)

Bryn and Otter :)

uncle shawns visit

baking

thanks reva

she was a total star staying with me for 3 of the 7 nights kev was in chicago last week and the main reason i held together so well on my own for so long. i am so lucky to have such a good friend!

more kendall

two fireheads

lunch on the go

sleepy passenger

Finger Update

Went to Bryn's appointment yesterday to have his finger checked out. Looks like the graft did not take and the tip will probably fall off. The doctor indicated that the graft reattaching was unlikely in the first place as the piece of finger was so small and had so few blood vessels. However, the tip is acting like a biological bandage and is protecting the skin underneath which seems to be healing over nicely. The doctor thought that because Bryn is so young there is a good chance that the tip will regenerate with enough tissue that there may be no 'deficit' i.e. won't look like any of his finger is missing. Have to go back in another week and probably the whole process will take a month before it is healed.

In other thrilling news, Bryn finally got a haircut! Bit of a hack job and very uneven with hunks missing but at least a bit better than the shaggy dog he was resembling.

Ellis has eaten solids twice now. Started him on pureed sweet potatoes which he gobled up nicely.

Ok, gotta run, someone is stealing a toy off his brother as he is not getting mom's full attention at the moment.
P.S. Kevin is back from a week in Chicago in 2 hours! YAY! Cant wait to see him! I survived much better than I thought I would due to the amazing support of Reva and Mirjam. Thanks so much to both of you.

A trip to emergency

Don't want anyone to worry but we had to make a trip to emergency on Thursday. Bryn lost a tiny bit of his fingertip in the door when it slammed shut. I called the ambulance and they took us (me, Bryn and Ellis) to the children's hospital where they reattached his fingertip. It was a 4o minute surgery and he had to go under general anesthetic. It went well but they kept us overnight just to make sure he was ok.

He has a huge bandage on his hand but otherwise is doing fine. We have an appointment on Friday where they will undo the bandage and check to see how the graft is coming along. Worst case scenario the tip wont grow back on and he will have a chunk of his fingertip missing (fortunately the nail was not affected which the doctors said causes more long term problems). Best case is the graft works and the tip regrows together and he regains feeling in it.

Was pretty traumatic when it happened and I was totally freaked out (had to collect the bit of finger and bring it with us to the hospital). Also didn't help that I couldn't get a hold of Kevin for 3 hours after it happened as his phone was on the fritz, murphy's law, the one time I need to get a hold of him and I can't. But to put things in perspective they found a bed for us in the children's cancer ward. Talked to one mother there who's son is 7 and has cancer. Think I can live with a missing fingertip and count my blessings.

Robert D didn't get Queen E but he got some nice digs

Bryn's full english

Winter walks in the lakes

I have been absent for awhile as I came off my bike on the way to work a few weeks ago and broke my phone in the progress. Alors there has been no updates on the fly. My scrapes healed faster than my phone was replaced but now I am re-enabled.

We have come up to the lakes for the weekend as my friend Jerry is a shortlisted author in the Kendal mountain festival's Taskman Boardman literature award. It was wonderful to see Jerry over from the great white north, and I highly recommend reading his book Hooker and Brown.

Bryn found some puddles this morning on our walk - he is having so much fun! Ellis is enjoying Bjorning around on his mummy's front. Daddy is loving having the long weekend with the family.

Happy anniversary to mom and dad xoxo

Ellis the Wizard

Up the Hill

Bryn's second birthday party

sceptics agreed that the dairy free cake was actually tasty despite very low expectations. this is only the second time bryn has ever had cake, the other occurance being his first birthday. kevin said he enjoyed it (was busy feeding ellis so mised the consumption) .
finally have an appointment with the alergy clinic on dec 15 so will hopefully learn he has outgrown it. fingers crossed.

Pictures are out of order but here you can see both candles blown out. He did it all by himself!
(I have to confess that we practiced a bit a few days before. I lit a few candles for him and stuck them in a banana so he wouldn't be to overwhelmed by all the people staring and expecting a performance.)

Bryn and I baked the cake together which was really fun. He is a good helper although I decided to decorate it alone as the cake was a bit fragile. Was a significant improvement upon last year's cake though which, when removed from the pan, promptly disintegrated into a million crumbs. Master crisis-solver Kevin to the rescue. He mashed all the bits into square tupperware containers and with the liberal smearing of icing managed to 'sandcastle style' create a pretty decent four tiered tower cake. This year I bought proper spring form pans and had brand new flour. Still sunk a bit in the middle but I am slowly getting better at this birthday cake thing. At this rate Bryn will have a masterpiece by the time he is 15!

Thomas, Bryn and Edie had a tea party.

Again out of order but wanted you to see the progression from lit candles, to one blown out, to two blown out to actual eating of cake.

Thomas is such a cutie!

And Edie has a high cute factor too.

Mirjam and Caroline share a laugh as the kids were all outside with the dads and we actually had a few moments of uninterupted conversation.

This is a typical British reaction to root beer. Hence why it is not sold anywhere in the UK that I have found. Caroline couldn't even finish her glass. I drank it instead and she was horrified to learn how much I love it.