December 2012
BROTHERS GRIMM MINUS THE GRIM
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THE FARTING DOORSTEP IN IRELAND
Merry Christmas from Ireland. Although my son doesn't seem to know Christmas from Halloween at this stage of his life. He was more impressed with the door stop behind the door that makes farting sounds than he was of Santa's reindeer making a clamor on the rooftop. Just the same, Merry Christmas.
DAD FINALLY FINISHED DESIGNING AND BUILDING CONOR'S FIRST ROCKING HORSE
21/12/12 14:05
I finally finished Conor's rocking horse 4 days before Christmas. It took about a month to create having to work on it only on evenings when I wasn't too tired from work and an occasional Sunday when Conor was sleeping. One Sunday I worked all day when Valerie kept Conor occupied so that I could finish the horse on time.
It was a long standing dream I had to build my first child a rocking horse for his first Christmas. I chose Spanish cedar as the wood simply based on what was available at the nearby hardwood store in Cambridge. It was 13' long, 2 inches thick and 7 1/2 inches wide. I couldn't believe I needed all but one foot of it to make a little wooden horse for a 14 month old child. But with every cut of the spanish cedar, the aroma was intoxicating. And I never enjoyed sanding so much knowing that Conor would never get a splinter in his hand if I took the time to sand it correctly. There are no nails or screws in the horse. Instead, I used mortise, tenon and dowel construction. The same kind of construction that's been used in building since as early as 2500 BC in ancient Egypt.
I took my wife into the basement to see it first as I put the finishing touch, his tail, on the horse. When she saw it sitting on the workbench completed, she looked at me and cried. I have to say it feels real good to have a skill that allows me to create something of worth to my boy using my own two hands and a skill I learned 23 years ago.
Here is the horse sitting under the Christmas tree before Conor saw it.
EAGLE TRIES TO SNATCH BOY IN MONTREAL PARK
This is the most amazing video I've seen recently. A mother is playing with her two kids in a park in Montreal, Canada. While the mother is looking after one of her children, a golden eagles swoops down and grabs her 15-month old child and actually picks him up and begins to fly away with him. But I guess the baby was too heavy for the eagle and he drops the baby from about 4 feet in the air and the baby tumbles back to earth. Wow! I'm keeping an extra eye on my boy now!
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH A ONE-YEAR OLD
Ah, come on, Christmas shopping with a child? That's a recipe for disaster. Unless you just make a game out of it. Mom shopped while Conor and I amused ourselves. Tiny Elton John had a great time and the holiday shoppers got a kick out of us, too. It's great being a dad!