Camera Preoccupation

Karen here.

I haven't blogged in a while. And there's good reason for it.

1) I started back to work! Ugh! It doesn't completely suck. I actually really enjoy what I do for a living and probably am lucky to say I have fun at my job. However, after spending 14 months at home with my baby, it was hard to leave him all day with a stranger. Now, it has gotten easier. Afterall, it's been a month so we're all kind of in a groove, mornings and evenings. Weekends are especially nice, if not busier than ever. But it's a few evenings a week that I find hard. See, Matt and I are alternating drop-offs and pick-ups so that we can alternate nights we get to the gym. In theory, it works. In reality, it mostly works. What sucks is the nights I get home from the gym - Magnus is already in bed. True, Matt has his head down in the kitchen making dinner and lunches and I slide in beside him to help. But I don't get to hug or kiss my little guy. Rather, I only see him for an hour in the morning, if that. So not being able to say goodnight is hard, but we all seem to be doing well. Magnus sleeps well, and he eats well, and he seems to really like the daycare lady.

2) I'm pregnant.

So when you combine 1 & 2, you get TIRED!

3) But the biggest reason I haven't blogged in a while is because Magnus has discovered the camera. But he doesn't completely understand it. His favourite thing in the entire world is to sit on my lap and watch videos of himself on my phone. Adorable? Yes. But anytime the camera is out, he wants to watch it. And he gets really upset when he can't. So whenever I whip the camera out to record him doing something fun, or silly or goofy, he runs right at me to see what I'm watching. Needless to say, it's been rather difficult getting any good footage in the last month. For example, the following videos demonstrate what I deal with.

The only way we've been able to catch a video of Magnus is to preoccupy him. Here he is being pushed by his cousin Davin.

And here he is stuffing his face with pasta.

That's it. That's all we've gotten in the past month. So, we will continue to TRY to capture the little man doing what he does best - being a curious 15 month old.  :)

Karma

Matt here.

I thought I would try to squeeze in a quick post while Magnus has his morning breakfast.  This Saturday morning, while we were trying to catch up on Season 7 of Magnum PI, Magnus decided to interrupt the peaceful tranquility and contemplative meditation that comes naturally when looking at Thomas Magnum's mustache by doing what he has done for every morning since December 26: going for his blocks.  

I have titled this post, "Karma", for a specific reason.  8 or 9 years ago, while Christmas shopping for my nieces and nephew, I had found gifts for all of them with the exception of Charlotte, who would have been around 1 or 2 years old.  I found myself returning to the same area of  the toy store, looking at a box of coloured wooden blocks.  A woman beside me noticed and said, "Oh, we have those and they're awful.  My daughter loves them but they are all over the house and we are always stepping on them and tripping over them."  I thanked her for her warnings and took the box directly to the cash!  

Fast forward to Christmas 2014 and one of Grandpa Ross's gifts:

Of course, I never thought that my past goals of getting nieces and nephews the loudest and most adult annoying toys would come back to bite me.  I believe that Ross's blocks come in a respectable 3rd place behind the noisy hand-me-downs from Jud & Jill (a combined 2nd place) 
 

With one of his many hand-me-downs

and Magnus's Aunt Mary Beth's toy remote control (now forever hidden at the base of the toy box), which Magnus carried around for months and unofficially wins the most annoying toy of 2014.  Congrats Mary Beth!  

Mags and his remote

An honourable mention goes to my mom, who gave Magnus a snow man for Xmas that sang some sort of mind torturing tune when you pressed its hand.  Even when hidden behind Xmas cards on the mantle Magnus would see it and scream for it.  I'm sure whichever family finds it at Goodwill next year will treasure it for years to come.

Parenting 102

Matt here.

Back in March, 2014, we posted a blog called Parenting 101.  It involved Karen posting a video of Magnus hitting himself in the head with a rattle. Rather than consoling him when he started to cry, she kept laughing and filming.  

Well, we think such parenting toughened him up!  So much so that he now loves risking everything for a thrill.  Here he is on the slide at the school across the street.  

Luckily for Mags, it seems like we might be helping him risk it all.  

I have started to learn my lesson.  Smaller, slower sides, for now:

 Either way, helmets might be on the way.