Magnus Votes Green

The Ontario elections are underway, and today at dinner my father was expressing his opinion on the various parties, mentioning each one in turn.  "Green!" interjected Magnus with a self satisfied smile.

Vancouver Photo Booth Session

On our last evening in Vancouver, Auntie Clemmie and Uncle Amir horsed around with Magnus in front of the laptop:

I love that last picture because you can see grandma peeping from the doorway heh heh..

What a lovely visit we had in Vancouver.  Thanks to our amazingly generous, untiring, and loving hosts.  We'll miss you!!

The Magical World of Abu Dhabi

Before we left Shanghai, Magnus learned how to say "Abu Dhabi", or rather, a close approximation which sounds more like "Dabu Dab! Dabu dabu dabu dabu dyaaaaadeee".  He sometimes likes to throw in a "Daddy" in the mix because he knows that his Daddy is somewhere in a place called Abu Dhabi.

The day Magnus and I left Shanghai, we spent a lot of time watching airplanes at Pudong International.  He loved watching the planes taxi-ing toward the gates, flight crews scurrying around in their modified vehicles, and fairly frequently, a plane taking off.   "Look Magnus!  See the airplane?  The big big airplane?  Where is the airplane going?" I would ask each time.  "Dabu dabu dabu!" he would shout.  I was so tickled by his response that I would encourage him: "Yes that's right, Abu Dhabi!"

Now that we've been in Vancouver for a few weeks, Magnus has decided that many things go to Abu Dhabi, not just airplanes.  The garbage truck for example.  The construction workers.  Po-po.  The cuteness really does not wear off.  Here he is standing outside the apartment telling me that the plane overhead is going to Abu Dhabi:

It then occurred to me that I should probably explain that not everything goes to Abu Dhabi.  Abu Dhabi is perhaps becoming Magnus' Santa Claus, and he might be disappointed when he arrives that it is not the fantastic swirling vortex he envisioned.

On the other hand, we may never even set foot in Abu Dhabi, since Kendrick just signed a tenancy agreement for an apartment in Dubai.  Should the myth continue?  Hmmm….

Kits Playground

Magnus has been hanging out at the local playground the past few days, and he loves it.  I love it too, because they've laid some nice spongey material on the ground as opposed to sand; that ubiquitous irritant in my sandals.  Also, the jungle gym is both challenging, stimulating, and safe.  When I think back to the jungle gyms my brother and I used to climb up and down, I'm amazed we escaped childhood with little more than scrapes and bruises! (Although, I will never forget the triumphant feeling of victory when I finally screwed up the courage to walk across the two narrow beams holding up the tire swing).

Here is Magnus conquering the surprisingly steep slide:

On the second day, Grandpa showed Magnus how to "drive" the steering wheel at the top of the slide.  It quickly became his personal toy of the day.  Imagine trying to talk down a stubborn 2 year old you can't reach from his favourite toy.  No raisons, no gummi bears, no threat of abandonment, nothin' doing.  In the end I had to wait for a proper diversion (i.e. several infants/toddlers throwing tantrums in the vicinity) to take the opportunity to reach up and yank his shirt toward me.

Here he is with his steering wheel:

This is me taking a picture of Magnus from far away, while hiding behind a tree.  Note the expression of relative unconcern, despite Grandma and Grandpa attempting to generate alarm.  Did I mention that Clem's camera has a wicked zoom?

Stanley Park

Last week Grandma and Grandpa took us to Stanley Park.  It was a treat to be surrounded by all that natural beauty!  Magnus liked touching the leaves of an evergreen tree (gosh, I can't even identify it), running up and down a grassy knoll, and imitating the Canada geese who were pecking the ground for.. pine cones?

My favourite picture from that day is this one:

Magnus was running around so much it was impossible to get a shot of him standing still with any natural scenery in the background.  I caught him in this picture because he had decided to walk backwards and was forced to go very slowly.  Also thank goodness for Auntie Clemmie's camera, a real time point and shoot with SLR and amazing zoom capabilities!  This green shirt he's wearing is his favourite shirt.  He recently learned how to say "green" and he uses it all the time to tell us he wants to wear this green shirt.

Having a giggle with Grandpa at the Lion's Gate Bridge:

Magnus 22 Month Biostats

Height: 88cm (~75%)
Weight: 27.5lb (~70%)

Ref: http://www.dietitians.ca/Downloadable-Content/Public/LFA-WFA_Birth-24_BOYS_EN_bw.aspx

Use Your Words!

Magnus' vocabulary list at 22 months (roughly in order of acquisition):

• Mommy (formerly Mama)
• Daddy
• Po-po
• Ta-ta (meaning Gong-gong)
• Ayi
• Am (delicious/eating/cooking/Uncle Amir)
• Apple
• Ice
• Wa-wa (water)
• O
• No
• Mole (yes, his mommy has has a lot of moles)
• Moon
• Bao bao (tombliboos)
• Egg
• Please
• Me
• Ch-ch (ninky nonk)
• Pi-pi (pinky ponk)
• Auntie
• Dabi dabi dabi dabi (Abu Dhabi)
• Meeyummeeyum (yummy?)
• Cheese

Farmers Market

Auntie Clemmie, despite having only 2.5 hours of sleep, came by this morning to see Magnus.  We went out to the nearby farmers market together.

I bought some orange cherry tomatoes for Magnus, yes for eating, but mostly to have the novelty of holding a small round orange object.  Don't eat the tomato, ok Magnus?  <Nod nod nod>.

The next thing I bought was a bulb of garlic.  Organic garlic usually has a milder taste and I wanted to see if it was going to enhance Grandpa's dishes.

We saved the best for last, although we very nearly bypassed it.. savoury buckwheat crepes.  Grandpa ate a chorizo crepe but Auntie Clemmie and I each had an artichoke heart / tomato / basil / organic cheese / bechemal sauce version.  Magnus ate bite after bite of Auntie Clemmie's crepe.  When we got home, he proceeded to scarf several large portions of Mommy's crepe too.   As if it weren't enough, he also had some big bites of Grandpa's fried rice, in which he added half the organic garlic bulb.  Did it make a difference?  Well, I couldn't actually taste the garlic (it was quite porky) but the rice was very delicious, so perhaps it did have a very subtle influence?  It certainly did not detract from the dish, and Magnus liked it too!

Before his afternoon nap, Magnus did some of his usual running around in the apartment (Grandpa -> Mommy loop).  But this time, Grandpa took a video on his iPhone.  When Magnus watched the result, we couldn't tear him away.  "Wa-wa!" cried video-Magnus.  "WA-WA! HAHAHAHAHA" cackled real-life Magnus.

Tommy and Fudgie

Today we brought Magnus to Auntie Clemmie and Uncle Amir's place downtown to meet Tommy and Fudgie.  I don't know who had more fun: Magnus getting to play with two sweet, docile cats, or all the adults watching him giggling and laughing.

Magnus was also very impressed with Uncle Amir's guitar collection, as well as the brand new baby guitar Amir presented to him (!!!).  He told us several times that Daddy also has a guitar, all the while slowly learning to pluck a few strings.  He even insisted that Uncle Amir strum a few tunes for him.  Is Uncle Amir as good as Daddy, Magnus?  Hmmmm?? :)

We had some delicious pizza and pasta at a nearby restaurant before heading home.   As I carried a drowsy Magnus back to Grandma and Grandpa's apartment, I asked him how he hugged the cats.  He gave me a big, squishy hug.

Jet Lag - Day 8

Travelling with Magnus makes jet lag a longer, sleep-depriving grind.

Magnus fell asleep today at 11pm Vancouver time - a great improvement in comparison to his sleep times earlier this week (usually 2am).  If I'm lucky, he'll sleep a little more than his usual 5 hours.  I'm already on the unlucky side as I am struck by a bit of insomnia, and so, having already perused all the reading material on the dining room table (i.e. grocery flyers), I decided to start up this long overdue blog.  I rather dislike all the templates on blogspot but that can wait.

Jet lag aside, Vancouver has been wonderful - family, fresh air, gorgeous end-of-summer weather.   We have the most wonderful hosts here with Grandma and Grandpa.  I've been trying to get Magnus to say "Grandpa" or "Grandma" but he stubbornly will not even try.  He has made a bit of word progress, however, including:

1. "Pru" (he liked the dried prunes here so much he mastered this word without any prompting)
2. "Mommy" (discarding the former, baby-ish "Ma-ma", sniff)
3. "Am" (short for Amir, but this word is already in his repetoire to mean delicious food)
4. "Auntie" (in reference to Auntie Clemmie - Auntie Tristany has officially lost her monopoly on this word!)

He's learning lots of other concepts that he's not verbalizing, such as the wail of the police or ambulance siren (there seems to be a lot of emergencies in this part of town).   Say the word "Treehouse" and he'll run to the television, rummage around for the remote control, and bring it to each adult until he finds one who will turn it on for him (not hard).   

He's also developing some new habits, not all of which are good.  For example, he absolutely refuses to sit in his stroller anymore.  He would prefer to push it.  It's actually the cutest thing to see, but it really hampers the mobility of the group in general and tires out his caretakers!

But where was I?  Oh yes, jet lag.  2.5 hours of sleep and counting.. wish us luck!