birthday at The Observer's Log

Posts Tagged ‘birthday’

Happy 3rd birthday, Monkey

22 Aug 2010

Well, Monkey, despite all your best attempts to drive Mommy and I to the brink of toddlericide, you made it to be three. It was your first birthday in Canada — your previous birthdays were both in Costa Rica. It wasn’t as warm as it was there, and there was no pool for you to splash in. But that didn’t seem to bother you any.

It’s hard for some of us to truly believe that you’re three. You’re still a baby to us, in many ways. And yet even someone who’s never met you before can carry out a (reasonably coherent) conversation with them. You know what you like and what you don’t like (even if you actually do like it and you’re just being difficult), and you no longer parrot what we’ve said — you have your own thoughts.

And I gotta tell ya, kid … today, you made me a very proud daddy.

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Happy BirthZAP to me

16 Jul 2010

A little over four months ago, Alex dragged us all out to see an eye doctor. It had been a couple of years since my last visit, so there was a pretty darn good reason to go back and visit. Not that I particularly wanted to go — I’ve got a phobia of anything touching my eye, and eye doctors have a bit of a tendency to do just that.

At the end of the appointment, the doctor told me she suspected I might have something called “narrow angles”, and sent me to an ophthamologist. It took nearly two months to get into see him. That was an awkward appointment, and ended up with the news that I needed surgery. Which I got, today, on my birthday. Laser surgery. In my eye.

Ow.

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Happy 97th Birthday, Nana!

29 Jan 2010

There’s nothing like a birthday to make people feel young. Yes, young. You think birthdays make you feel old, don’t you? C’mon, admit it, most people think of birthdays as another notch in the Age Belt, and suddenly grey hairs appear where you didn’t think they should, and you swear you feel your bones creaking.

I’m of the opinion: You’re only as old as you act. Namely, if act your age, you’ll feel old. Oh, sure, there’s a need for maturity and responsibility in our society. But, like all things, there’s a time and a place for all of that. And I think more people should just lighten up and be more immature. ‘Cuz frankly, it’s more fun.

This is something that, to some degree, I learned from my Nana.

Nana is my grandmother — my Mom’s mom. She’s my last living grandparent, and is one of those living embodiments of the Energizer Bunny. She might have slowed down more in recent years — she is 97, after all — but she gets around really well, still remembers quite a lot (even if she sometimes has trouble following a conversation), and has the same wit she’s had most of her life. Frankly, I hope I look as good and think as well as she does when I’m her age.

Equally important tonight was the fact that it brought her family together. It’s been a while since we packed into a room, and I hadn’t seen some of then since we went to Costa Rica — and my Uncle Dave and Aunt Alaine even longer than that. We even had a new addition — my cousin Pam’s newborn daughter, Sarah. The Monkey, of course, was utterly fascinated by the baby.

So happy birthday, Nana! This time next year, you’ll have two more great-grandchildren to faun over.

Happy 2nd birthday, Monkey

22 Aug 2009

Today, you turned 2, Monkey. It’s almost hard to believe that it’s been two years, and yet those two years seem to have disappeared in a blink. You’ve spent just over half of your life (to date) here in Costa Rica, and I wonder if you even remember Canada. One day, I suppose, we’ll be wondering if you remember Costa Rica.

Your day started off with all of us getting up early … well, early for a weekend, anyway. We had to make breakfast, cut up fruit, make hibiscus tea, make salsas, and decorate the louge area up by the pool for your birthday party! I wonder if you’ll remember this, too?

Well, even if you don’t, we took lots of pictures and movies.

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A (wet) birthday vacation

20 Jul 2009

Well, Monkey, if your memory is any good, you should remember the last few days for the rest of your life. And not because you got to spend five uninterrupted days with your dad (remember, I just turned 37 … I’m not old), or even because Nana is here for a visit.

It’s ‘cuz I doubt you’ll ever see that much rain ever again.

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…I’m not old

16 Jul 2009

Happy birthday to me! 13,505 days and still counting! Whee!

Happy first birthday, my daughter!

22 Aug 2008

Hey kiddo! I know you’re not reading this on your first birthday — you can’t quite walk on your own right now, let alone read anything. So I have no idea how old you are now that you’re reading this. You could be 4, 14, or 40. It doesn’t matter how old you are, though. You’ll always be my little girl.

It’s been quite the year. I remember where I was exactly a year ago to the moment I’m typing this: sitting in a small, dark room with your Mom as she was coping with labour. It seems simultaneously so long ago, and as if it were yesterday. I remember the nervousness and excitement we were all feeling. You were coming. We didn’t know you at all yet. Not what you looked like, what you’d sound like, if you’d like us at all, if you’d be a happy baby (and you have been such a happy baby!), or even if you were a boy or a girl.

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Surprise birthday weekend in Revelstoke

17 Jul 2006

This weekend, it was my turn to be surprised. And surprises came in droves.

Sunday was my 34th birthday. I find it a little hard to believe that I’m actually that old. I always figured when I was in my 30s, I’d be more … mature. And yet I find myself being more immature with each passing year. I guess I’m holding to my pattern — 18 years old, with a heap of experience. For now, I think that’s a good thing. Experience helps, and one can’t get too mature. You lose all the fun, after all!

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