Boo Yanks, Boo Red Sox

I'm taking off tomorrow for four days away from la famille - New York and Boston, celebrating Greg's 40th and his impending fatherdom. We're seeing two games at the soon-to-close House-That-Ruth-Built, Yankee Stadium, plus another at Fenway. Kate's mom arrived today to take my place as Kate is working all weekend. Hopefully we don't scare her off ever coming back. Molly's sleep issues seem to be subsiding as she woke up just twice and once during the past two nights. One additional challenge is that Jacob has started to bite. But he only does so when he's hungry, and then it's hard to blame him for thinking that Molly looks like the tastiest alternative. Perhaps Lois's cooking will keep his hunger at bay. So, this is likely my last post until early next week.

The Triplets

We had a great weekend with Lindsey and Jules (who is big enough that we got asked several times if the kids are triplets - to which I responded, "Yes, and these are my two wives"). Despite Lindsey's pacifism and dedication to international law, her son still insists on the commando crawling technique. So, while our guys gave him some mobility tips, we're hoping that Jules passed along some sleeping secrets to Molly. She's going through a funny phase (please, please, let it be a phase), where she wakes up 5 or 6 times a night, but falls back to sleep instantaneously after you lie her back down. It should be an interesting weekend for Kate's mom, who is covering for me while I'm away in New York and Boston (sleeping soundly).

Here's a short video of Jacob pushing Jules in the walker wagon.

What I've Been Reading

Just this minute finished Nicole Krauss's The History of Love, which was just fantastic. One of those books where you finish the last page and want to go back and start all over, just to savour the language and soul and wisdom. It's a great exploration of loss and loneliness, a search for meaning, and the many stages and forms of love. Best book I've read since Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.

Another recommendation for Rawi Hage's De Niro's Game, which has been on Canadian bestseller lists for a few years and was a finalist for Giller and GovGen awards. It's the story of two best friends growing up in Beirut during the civil war of the 80's. The story is gripping and taut and captures the nihilism and pointlessness of a modern, urban war. What I really loved though is the original writing style, which pounds and builds and echoes, with short, choppy sentences, like hip hop in a novel form. Not for the light of heart, but it will stay with you.

In the past few weeks, I also finished Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Canadian, Joanne Proulx. Great title and I'm as much of a sucker for the coming-of-age genre as anyone. There seems to be quite a buzz for this debut novel, but it didn't quite do it for me. Teen angst in suburban Michigan gets set off by the protagonist eerily predicting the manner and timing of a friend's death. But this supernatural power is never explained - I hate it when a literary device is used to cover a gaping hole in a story. Plus, I don't think I know anyone like the characters in the book - at least they didn't ring true for me.

Being out at Gambier for a week with no internet, tv, or Olympics meant I got a fair amount of reading done. So I also finished The Deportees, Roddy Doyle's short story collection. The stories share a theme of being set in the new, multicultural, economically vibrant Ireland. For Doyle fans it's worth the price of admission for the Jimmy Rabbitte story alone - a neat afterword to the Barrytown Trilogy. If you're not already a Doyle fan though, then this isn't the place to start as it doesn't hold a candle to his best novels.

Playing at the Park

Summer seems to have arrived with gusto this week so there's been lots of time spent in the park. Who knew you didn't need to be able to walk in order to climb up playground equipment and go down the slides?

How I Lost 30 Pounds Without Really Trying

Since I have now lost 30 lbs over the past 18 months (and am down to what I weighed at age 20), I thought I would share my 8-Step Guide to losing weight. My book and Oprah appearance are in negotiations.

Step 1
Go to Europe for wife's 1st trimester. Sympathetically eat all the chocolate and pastries you can get your hands on, while never exercising at a pace faster than a waddle. Thus, gain 10 lbs in order to make your subsequent weight loss seem more impressive.

Step 2
Do not return to your desk-based, computer-staring, hotel-staying, fat-encouraging, soul-destroying job.

Step 3
Move from the fittest city in Canada to the, well, let's charitably say to a much less fit town. This will increase your self-confidence and make you feel skinnier by comparison.

Step 4
Have twins (please consult your doctor as this step might not be right for you). Stop sleeping. Start eating nothing but dropped bits of banana for lunch. Walk 20 km a day either pushing or carrying the increasingly heavy bundles of joy.

Step 5
Since muscle weighs more than fat, whatever you do, don't use the gym equipment that occupies half of your office.

Step 6
Take over all the cooking duties in the house. Learn to cook well enough that you don't need to order takeout every night (it helps to move to a town where there is little to no possibility of tasty take-out), but not so well that you always want second helpings. Do not learn to bake.

Step 7
Start playing tennis twice a week with 75 year olds. Not much exercise but again, does wonders for your body image and self confidence. You're guaranteed to feel lithe and spry.

Step 8
Marry someone who's never too impressed with your accomplishments. Preferably someone who claims to not have noticed any of your weight loss, or who queries whether you have a tapeworm, or who claims to have lost a similar amount of weight over the same period even though most of that weight is actually named Molly and Jacob.

Reinforcements Have Left

We had my parents here all week, and besides spelling us off for a night out on Wednesday (a dinner cruise on Lake Muskoka), tennis for me on Thursday, and 9 holes of golf on Friday, the lawn and garden are no longer looking like an abandoned lot.

In kid developments, Jacob has learned how to descend stairs (good) and both kids have learned to dive unassisted down slides in the park (scary).

Here are some photos from my mom:
- Kids in a tube

- Going up the slide

- Down the slide with Grandpa

- Admiring their cousins' handiwork

- Molly diving

- At the splash pad

- Lovin' the breadsticks

- Lovin' the smoothie

Do Babies Like Eggs?

This one's a tribute to Kate's dad, who always (and I mean always) talks about how much babies like eggs. Stick around for the end as the kids demonstrate their respective ebullience and reticence.

Photos from Gambier trip

My one great regret about leaving Vancouver (besides the coffee, the restaurants, the seawall, Lynn Valley park, running at Burnaby Lake, the ethnic diversity, and the Commercial Drive vibe) is parting from our cottage on Gambier. Here are some photos from the kids first visit to my favourite place in the world.

Jacob the intrepid explorer

Jacob with one of his mother's educational contraptions

Snack time

Kids' first time in the ocean

Molly, Molly, Force-to-be-reckoned-with Molly

The Little Drummer Girl

Best Window Seat Ever

West Bay pier

Hiking on the island

In the Big bathtub

On the little ferry

On the big ferry

Back From Lotus Land

We arrived back home late Saturday night. The trip to BC was fantastic - the traveling... not so much. Jacob decided he doesn't sleep on airplanes so he cried on and off for most of the flights. On the bus from the airport to the hotel he did his first grown up throw-up. We're not talking about a baby spit-up - this was the real deal, all over himself, all over me, all over the bus. After that though, they were both great.

We were in a hotel in the city for a total of 3 nights and we managed Indian, Thai and Moroccan take-out. Oh the joys of big city food. We also did breakfasts at our old haunts, JJ Bean, Cafe Deux Soleils and Sophie's. Didn't have much time to see old friends but we did see Shauna & Mike and their 3 (!!) kids. Plus a drop-in at one of Kate's old hospitals. The balance of the week was out at Gambier. We almost sold the cottage but that potential deal fell through, so it's still up for grabs. It was so special having the kids out to the place where we had always imagined having kids. The weather was breathtaking so we were in the ocean almost every day and we hiked all over the island.

Photos:
We did the swings tour of the city. Here's Molly in a "big kid" swing in the park by our old house in Van.

And Jacob at the park in Horseshoe Bay

And Molly coming right at ya

Both kids in the Horseshoe Bay park

A real, live totem pole

AWOL

We're heading off to BC later today for a week. Kids' first lengthy plane ride, plus some good food, good coffee and probably our last visit to the cabin on Gambier. Will report back next Sunday.