Photo op

It's been a busy month. It's been a relatively mild and un-snowy February, so we've been getting out a bit more than usual. We've also had some important visitors: Grandma Eileen, and some guy named Barack Obama. The Barackstar didn't stop by for coffee, but his 7-hour visit certainly set this place abuzz. We were all warned for weeks ahead of time that there would be no public events, no chance to see him in person, ginormous security, etc, so the crowds were relatively sparse. But Mom and the kids did get to wave at the presidential motorcade, which passed through our neighbourhood. She reports that it was very exciting.

To give you a sense of the impact his short visit made, here's an anecdote. President O stopped by a bakery in Byward Market on his way out of town and bought some maple leaf shortbread cookies to take home to the fam. Pandemonium! I read in the paper yesterday that this bakery sold about 300 of the cookies per week before they became Canada's most famous souvenir. Now they're selling over 1,000 a day and looking to buy foreclosed properties in Florida with the excess profit (okay, that last part may not be true).

Beyond that, it was nice to have Grandma E around for 10 days, even though Tom and I didn't get to go away for a tropical vacation, which was the original intent of her visit.

On an unrelated topic, we went to a professional photographer last week for a portrait session. I need to choose 3 of these 128(!) images for printing, and I need help! Click here to have a look, and let me know which ones you like (each pic has a reference number). There are definitely more than 3 that I like!

"I'm just a boy with a new haircut and that's a pretty nice haircut!"

Remember that Pavement song from, oh, 1994? Anyway, this weekend it was time to take Dexter in for his first trim. The wisps I had been hoping would turn into sweet little kisses of blond curls had instead turned into something distinctly like Rod Stewart's look from the disco age.

Mullet or shag? We report, you decide.

So, off to the barber we went. Dexter was remarkably calm throughout. No tears, no whimpers, no complaints at all. It was almost strange. He dozed off on the drive over and stayed asleep in my arms while we waited for our turn at a regular, old-school barbershop (all the kiddie haircut places are way out in the 'burbs), so he was pretty groggy when I propped him in the chair and the scissors started snipping. Or maybe he was mellow from the contact high we all got from the dude who walked in absolutely reeking of a certain herb (at 11 a.m.! Dude!). Whatever the reason, the cut was no problem. He even sat still for the electric clippers!


The whole procedure was over in 5 minutes. The barber was lovely and said it was an honour to give Dexter his first haircut. Mother and child left the shop untraumatized, except for the whole "contact high from sketchy clientele" situation (maybe next time we really should drive out to one of the kiddie haircut shops in deep suburbia). And voila--the new look!

Night at the museum

On Thursday the Museum of Nature had a member's preview night for this season's special exhibition, "Discovering Chimpanzees." I thought it would be fun to take Henry out, just the two of us, for a special, after-dinner activity to cement his status as a Big Boy. I'd also like to cultivate his interest in any animal that is not a remorseless predator, so it was a 2-for-1 on the parenting goals front.

We learned lots about chimps from the exhibits and a guest speaker who taught us how to make screeching chimp noises. Henry was enthralled by an interactive exhibit where you stick a wire down holes in a concrete "termite mound" and activate a light when you find a pretend termite. Since it was a special event, refreshments were served (alas, no wine and cheese. The museum knows its core audience too well. So we got platters of animal crackers and chocolate-covered banana slices).

We both had a fun time and learned many facts about apes. Henry's intense interest in the natural world certainly has taught me a lot about topics I knew next to nothing about three short years ago. Henry's eagerness to dive into subjects that interest him and his ability to soak up information is one of the most rewarding aspects of this phase of his life. It's impossible not to get caught up in his enthusiasm.

Monkeying around