My First shoes

My First shoes, originally uploaded by MRHames.

This is me, sporting shoes for the first time. In Canada, they call these "runners". In the US, "sneakers". Not that I run or sneak, but anyway. Have a great New Year's Eve day!

The new wheels

As promised a long time ago, we picked up some new wheels. This allows all the girls the ability to road trip together. Lucy in the back. Autumn in her car seat in the back. This new ride, a sleek black Forrester, is technically Autumn's first new car.

Think back. You can probably remember the car you grew up in. For me, it was a green Plymouth Volare (which always reminded me of the Dean Martin song that my dad played many saturday mornings, but I digress).

This will be Autumn's growing up car. As she rolls around on the carpet beside me, I'm continually struck by moments. They get corny, I know. Her first dog just licked her face. It's enough to bring a tear to your eye.

Animated Autumn

Photo 51, originally uploaded by MRHames.

So last night, the family went for a walk. And through most of the walk, Autumn was laughing hysterically. She was in the baby bjorn, attached to mom. I walked Lucy. I would walk ahead, turn around and make a noise and Autumn would just break out laughing. It was amazing. It's been so much fun watching her get more and more animated. We've truly enjoyed it. so thanks Autumn. We look forward to your continued laughter.

sleepy, sleepy, sleep

Ah sleep. Some say overrated. For the last couple of night, sleep hasn't been that regular. Good thing, because things aren't that busy at work. But still. We could use a little shut eye. Not sure what the deal is, but it could be the start of her chicklets coming in. The doctor said that her gums were firming up, and that means some teeth. It also means a lot less sleep for us. Alas. Here's a picture for fun.

Ho-Ho-Ho

So, it was a whirlwind. It starts with loading up the car. We have the four-legged girl in the back of the Subaru. The two-legged one in the car seat in the back. Mom in the driver's seat and dad in he back trying to entertain/contain the girls, depending on their leg count. The Hames Family Christmas eve tradition begins, appropriately, at a pub. In England, the pub is a meeting place. On Christmas Eve, people bring their kids, sing songs and Santa brings presents. Autumn is too small for much of it, but she did manage to get some Guinness on her little fingers.



Then it was off to Christmas caroling. This was the 30th Anniversary of us getting together to sing Christmas carols. This was at Aunt Tracey's house, and while we were into singing, Autumn was more into eating.



But then, after some bad notes were hit, and good ones left out there to suffer, it was Christmas morning. Autumn's first. Another Hames family tradition is to sit and listen to the Queen while we eat Christmas breakfast. Then, we open pressies.




Then, we gathered all the girls, loaded up the Subaru, and made the dash back to Buffalo to have Christmas #2. Autumn slept on the entire ride home, whereas the other girl had some issues about looking forward, and literally choking herself. Anyway, we had no problem at the border. We unloaded at home. And then went off to the Cadenhead Household to have dinner and open more pressies.





We sat down, had a wonderful dinner, and wonderful conversation. As I've said before, the holidays are about spending time with family, not about the gift-giving. I might be biased, but bear with me. This year, looking at Autumn smiling, or giggling at something made it the best Christmas yet. And we have lots more pictures to remember it by. Happy holidays everyone.

Love, the Cadenhead Hames clan.

Sabres Fan- Thanks Guzz.

Just a quick note to say GO SABRES! Although throughout the years I have watched hockey games and even back in high school had a crush on a few hockey players- never in all my years have I been so excited by the sport of hockey.

Pam and I went to a game last week, and although the Sabres did not win- a good time was had by the two of us. We did the whole thing- a burger and a beer before the game, ice cream during the second period and a few expletives shouted at the Montreal fans at the Arena. Next stop- a jersey for mama ! (note: Pam was decked in her old school jersey- NICE!)

Thank you Dave for giving up your tickets to us girls- we had fun right to the end!

Mom comments on Dad's 'Poop's there it is' post

Mom just wants to say that she does not feel the same way about Autumn's bowel movements. She is not comfortable posting about them nor would she ever EVER use the expression 'pitch a log' to refer to anything that came from the most beautiful little baby in the world.

clarification was needed that dad stood alone on the previous post.

Poop, there it is.

I can remember in my single days thinking that people with kids were weird. I can remember wondering about parents who talk about their kids poo like it's something important. If you could see me eating words, I'm doing it. Now

Because this is the second post about her pooping. The first one, admittedly, was more about Dad. This one is all Autumn. This morning, she pitched a log. What I mean by that, without trying to gross you all out is that she had a solid little log of poop. It was the first solid little bit of poop I've seen. I had seen some close ones. But this was solid.

Look at me. I'm posting about Autumns poop. You could argue that I shouldn't be this proud of poo. I'd listen. But here's the thing: she's gonna do a lot of things in her life that will make me fiercely proud. So this is really just a little practice. And honestly, I went up stairs and told Rhona right away about the solid log. And she confirmed, with a sigh, that it might be her first one.

So yeah, I'm proud.

Happy Half Year Birthday Autumn!

6 months today. wow. sometimes it seems you just arrived, while other times it feels like you have been here forever.

You have grown so much ! You started size 2 diapers this week. There are so many things you can do already-

• grab
• grasp
• babble
• giggle
• pop things in your mouth
• reach out
• squeeze (our lips and noses)
• smile
• squeal
• jump in the jolly jumper
• roll over when you feel like it
• hold your own bottle
• eat with a spoon (to date; sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, apples, pears, bananas, rice cereal)
• stick out your tongue
  
• stand up with help
• sleep through the night (nope.. not yet just seeing if you are paying attention)
• sit without help (still occasionally tip over)
• entertain mom and dad endlessly
• make us smile without even trying
• inspire us to be the best we can be

I can't believe you are six months old today. I think as you grow older we will acknowledge both your half and full birthdays. Happy Birthday- We love you, autumn.

Weird curling shot

I have to admit, I find this weird on many levels. Don't get me wrong, I love curling. But this is sorta silly. A fashion magazine in Canada shot this spread. More pictures here.


It kinda reminds me of when I went to the World Premier of Men With Brooms. The after party was at swanky curling club in the north end of Toronto. There was a lot of hype and hope for this movie from the Canadian Film Industry. It had one of the biggest budgets ever, and had Canadian star power. Anyway, the after party was filled with the required beautiful people trying curling. Women in very inappropriate shoes were trying curling. I thought for sure someone would go down, especially since there was booze involved. No one died. Well, except for the dreams of a successful movie.

THE HOLIDAYS

We all agree, the holidays can be stressful. Getting presents, wrapping presents, figuring out where to go for Christmas, this list can go on and on.

For me, the best thing about Christmas is hanging out with family. My favorite memories of Christmas are of hanging out with my sister, and later my brother. Of sitting in the pub (back when it was Bramalea Place) and saying hi to all the people, and singing songs. I have the memory of leaving Carol singing with my sister one night and getting a ride home, and falling into a snow bank. None of this will mean anything to many of the people here, but then again, your memories will mean nothing to me.

The presents were nice, don't get me wrong. But more and more, my memories of growing up aren't about presents, they are about moments. And those moments were with family. So this holiday season, as you get stressed about the many things you will get stressed about remember this: you are making memories.

So make the most of them. And give your family a hug.

Web 2.0

So, Time magazine says we're the person of the year. And by we, I mean anyone with an internet connection. We, the authors of this blog, wanted to create something that did a couple of things. First, it created a memory hole for Autumn. Assuming that blogger, owned by Yahoo!, manages to stay a float, Autumn can potentially look back at some classic posts like, "A Night of Pooping", "Some belly time", or "Last Night", where I make her a deal.

The other goal was to create a place for people who don't get to see her every day, but can hear about her. Like, for instance, how she slept this morning until 6:00 AM! Or, how yesterday, her poop was decently solid for one of the first times. Or, how we had a pre-Christmas celebration at Simon and Christina's (they are going to Vancouver for Christmas), and Autumn opened her first Christmas present!

Anyway, that's what we are all about. And that's person of the year, in Time's world. For having a blog, for reading a blog, for talking. For updating the people we love on the life of our little girl. But I think we're only scratching the surface. Case in point:

This is a site that plays music and shows art based on the weather in your location. Just log on. It figures out where you are, and what the weather is there. Then it shows colors and plays music based on said weather. I wonder what it will play in the autumn? That's Web 2.0.

A night out

Last night, Nanny and Grandad came for a visit and let mom and dad go out for an adventure. We finished our Christmas shopping, went out to dinner, and went to a Christmas Party. Meanwhile, Autumn basked in the grandparent glow.



Nanny brought a new camera, and took a lot of pictures. We took a few pictures. All in all, mom and dad had a nice adventure, and so did Autumn.

On the beach in Florida

I don't know about you, but this shot makes me happy. I'm just saying.

Peter Boyle passed away

Peter Boyle, the dad from "Everybody Loves Raymond" passed away yesterday. Raymond is one of Rhona's favorite shows, so it's news around here. It's also news because Peter Boyle is responsible for a couple of moments that made me laugh out loud. One was this from "Young Frankenstein".



The other is a harder thing to find, so I'll start with a description. Peter Boyle plays a mental patient who is a religious nut in a movie called the Dream Team. It has Michael Keaton, and Christopher Lloyd. Anyway, in this movie, Peter Boyle goes into a Baptist Church. He starts to talk about how 'we're all naked in the eyes of the lord." And then he says one of my favorite lines: "Get naked for Jesus." That particular line, as my wife can attest, is one that I use often. And it was Peter Boyle who said it. If you liked Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein, or just as Raymond's dad, rent Dream Team. It's funny. Here's the trailer.



He'll be missed.

happy happy joy joy.

anyone who knows me at all knows that the holidays are not my favorite time of the year. but i just had to write today to say that i am super happy.

happy to be a mom, a wife, a friend and a woman. Happy to be the age i am, happy with all of our worldly and outworldly possessions, happy with the intelligence i have accumulated over the years, happy about the great weather, happy and guilt free with the relationships with family,happy there is a rumor in the air that an old dear friend is giving some thought to moving back to Buffalo, happy that i am running again after a long hiatus due to injury and pregnancy, happy to have our dog and cat and happy that it is Autumn's first Christmas .

today is a wonderful day and as i drive around with my new moon/sun roof open and my tom petty blasting i find myself filled with total contentment. I can take a deep refreshing breath and not feel stressed.

i am thankful for today and for everything in my life.

Autumn at Daycare

This morning dad dropped Autumn off a daycare in the new ride (pictures to come soon). The new ride is a Forrester. We can now get both girls in the car.



Looking around the day care, it's hard not to notice her smiley face everywhere. We, of course, thinks she's very photogenic, but we have a built in bias. Still, it's nice to see her all over the place. And the more we play peek-a-boo, the more she'll know we'll always come back to pick her up.

Peek a boo

There's nothing more fun than playing peek a boo. And lately, Autumn has been getting into it. Really exploring what is going on. This website talks about what Autumn is learning in a scientific analysis. If that's too much information on hump day, then this is a more simple explanation.

Peek a boo not only makes Autumn giggle uncontrollably, it also helps her build trust in her parents. Babies worry about separation. She worries that when we drop her off at Day Care, we won't come back. The simple game of peek a boo we played this morning teaches her that we'll disappear for a second, but we'll come back.

But honestly, when I'm playing peek a boo, I'm not thinking scientifically, and I'm not helping her ease separation anxiety, I'm doing it to get her to giggle. Because there isn't a better sound.

More autumn laughing

This is Autumn in a giggle-fit

She had her giggle on.

on the beach in Florida

on the beach in Florida, originally uploaded by MRHames.

It was a few seconds later that Autumn discovered sand. We'll have more pictures of that later. There are some other new ones at Flickr.

We have pictures

Yes, Autumn and Rhona were in Florida for a week. Here are the first of many.

See my Tabblo>

Drinkers Earn More Money Than Non-Drinkers

"Drinkers earn 10 to 14 percent more money at their jobs than nondrinkers and men who drink socially, visiting a bar at least once a month, bring home an additional 7 percent in pay, according to a new Reason Foundation report by economists Bethany Peters, Ph.D., and Edward Stringham, Ph.D."

From here. A Reason study. I think it's funny that people with Ph.D's are studying this. And they are doing it on the Reason website. Which is mostly a conservative website. And really, it was the conservatives who slammed through the 21 year old drinking age in the 80's -- thus ensuring that as kids go to college, they spend most of their college career (a time widely perceived to be about becoming an adult) learning how to cheat the system to get booze. Their first life lesson as an adult comes in the form of learning how to cheat.

And it turns out, they might make more.

A couple of countdowns

On the left side of our little blog, you might have noticed a couple of things. First, a countdown to Autumn's birthday. This isn't mean to be scary. Since this is about Autumn, I thought it would be nice to count down each year.

The second is another countdown. It's the countdown, to the second, of how long George Bush will still be president. It's just a countdown. Nothing political about that. Is there?

Last day alone

The girls come back tomorrow. In the week passed, Autumn had her first plan ride, her first trip to the beach, her first experience in a RED STATE, and her first Vacation.

What was the week like for dad? Tougher than he thought. Forget the notion that he shed a tear watching them leave, he thinks there's a good chance there could be a wet eye when they return.

The dog misses them. She's been acting a little weird lately. The cat definitely misses his mom. The cat has been sleeping on mom's pillow. Also, he's been bugging dad to run a bath.

Anyway, the three of us only have one more day. We're looking forward to them all coming home.

Weird Foods

This Sunday morning, I was sitting at home thinking about food. It possibly stems from that fact that I am suffering from day two of a hangover -- Friday night, I lit it up.

So, yesterday, I was suffering from Hangover Hunger. I would have eaten anything. Which got me to thinking about the things I like and don't. In terms of foods, I will try just about anything. In Turkey, I passed on the sheep brain, and I sort of regret it. In my defense, it was a grayish brain on a small plate, and I had no idea where to start.

In Scotland, I jumped right into the Haggis. The sauce it came with was a Whiskey Cream Sauce which was stellar. People seem to wonder about Haggis, but I wonder what they think of Hot Dogs. Think about the hot dog. It's clearly not 'dog' inside of it. Some claim to be beef, others 'meat'. I avoid them wither way. I do not always avoid Sausage, which can also be sketchy.

I won't touch liver or kidney either. I've never had the chance to say no to heart, or tongue, and I'm not sure if I would.

So, if you're reading this, tell me the food you will not touch. What seemingly gross food do you love? Posting is easy and anonymous.

The end of Leftovers

For us, Turkey day was Saturday. We cooked a bird, made some delicious roast potatoes, and had a great time. For the rest of the week, I had my staple turkey leftovers.
1. Turkey Soup. Boil the bones, drain. Add onion, sage, salt pepper, and generous amounts of Turkey. Enjoy.
2. The Turkey Sandwich. Eat person has their favorite way of making a turkey sandwich. Mine is this: Take a brown bun, spread mayonnaise, add salt and pepper to the mayo so it sticks, add turkey, top with lettuce. Sometimes I'll add stuffing.
3. Turkey curry. Growing up, curry was always something to do with the leftovers. We fairly consistently had a Sunday dinner. Roast beef, lamb, etc. The next night was a curry, where my mom used the leftovers as the ingredients. To me, a curry is the perfect solution for leftovers, so mine uses a lot of turkey, any vegetables, the potatoes, and all stuffing. It makes a wonderful meal.

I just finished the last bit of Turkey Curry. Meaning, thanksgiving is over. Officially.