Recommended Canadian Content of the Week: Blue Rodeo

Several weeks ago I took Gabe to San Francisco to participate with his t-ball team in a "Little League Day" at AT&T Park. Claire had the great idea of Gabe and I driving up Saturday and staying at a hotel so we could get to AT&T Park early Sunday morning for the Q&A with Giants coaches and players. (And then return in the early afternoon to sit in the bleachers with his team for the game.) It was a weekend of firsts for Gabe: riding in a "subway" (the Muni Metro), riding on a cable car, going to the top of a skyscaper, walking through Chinatown, going across the Golden Gate Bridge. Hopefully some of it made some lasting memories.

Driving home after the game Sunday, Gabe fell asleep (and slept all the way home—he was exhausted after a couple long, busy days). I didn't want to listen to my usual podcasts and risk waking him up (as I did on the way up Saturday), so I set my 5-star music playlist to shuffle. I enjoyed listening to a subset of my favorite music, something I don't make time to do very often.

I was struck by how much of it is Canadian. So I came up with an idea for a series of blog posts, each describing a favorite Canadian band or artist. My idea was to do this weekly, but since it has taken me weeks to finish writing up this first post, don't expect them that often. I'll do what I can.

Several of the tracks that played during my drive were by Blue Rodeo, and I've since noticed that there are more songs by them in my 5-star music playlist (13) than any other group or artist. (Runners-up are The Beatles and Louis Armstrong with 9, and R.E.M. with 8.)

I remember first noticing Blue Rodeo when Much Music took a liking to them after they released their first album Outskirts over 20 years ago. Their album with the most songs I've rated 5-stars (5) is Five Days in July, but I've over-listened to that album and need to leave it alone for a few years before I can enjoy it again.

If you buy only one song of theirs, I (currently) recommend Bulletproof from Palace of Gold. But I also recommend...

From Tremolo:

• Falling Down Blue
  
• Dragging On

From The Days In Between:

• Cinema Song
• Sad Nights

(I'm a sucker for ballads.)

Competitive Drive

A friend (of mine) asked Gabe why he likes sports so much. Gabe responded (with the complete honesty of a four-year-old): "Because I like to win."

3 anecdotes

I found a piece of pink construction paper taped to the headboard of my bed the other day, with a heart shape cut out of it. Around the heart was written (in crayon) "Furr Dad love sekret Jild Fnd - I wot tll you Hoo mad this." [Translation: For Dad, love secret child friend. I won't tell you who made this.] (The J in "Jild" was backwards.) Elleda has been enjoying writing notes and in her journal she got from her tooth fairy "Trixie" after her second tooth fell out.

When we got back in the van to head home after Gabe's birthday party, Henry was singing (before we turned the music on) "Nothing's gonna change my world; Nothing's gonna change my world."--a line from the Beatles' "Across the Universe". I guess a song can get stuck in a two-year-old's head too. (That song has been in the news lately.)

I don't really have a cute anecdote about Gabe, but for several weeks I've been enjoying taking him out for breakfast on Friday mornings. That kid can eat! He'll eat his Mickey Mouse pancake, sausage and egg and then eat most of one of my pancakes. And he still has room for a donut if we have time. Claire and I have noticed that he has been acting out much less, and has been sharing and doing special favors for Henry and Elleda. Perhaps our "dates" have a little to do with that. Or perhaps he's maturing.

I've updated Flickr (and www.spitzer.us) with new photos.

I took Gabe to a hockey game

I took Gabe to see the San Jose Sharks play the Dallas Stars on Saturday. (A friend at work got my the tickets and took his son who is about the same age.) I was a little worried that Gabe would miss his nap (which he still seems to need and takes every day without fuss), but he did great.

I felt like I was passing on a family tradition: my dad took me to many hockey games as a kid. (For years we went to the Centennials games, and we saw the short-lived Cowboys play a few games, and we went to several Flames games, of course. Ya gotta love Wikipedia.)

But one tradition we didn't continue: Gabe actually stayed awake for the entire game. I used to fall asleep during the game, and then wake up between periods to watch the Zamboni.

We got up and walked around during the breaks between the periods, and enjoyed eating an ice-cream sundae during the start of the third period that we bought during the break. After the game I bought Gabe a t-shirt, which he proudly wore home and all-day yesterday.

Gabe did very well following the game. He was a little overwhelmed at first, it took 5 or 10 minutes before he'd remove his hands from his ears--hockey games are much louder than they were when I was his age. But before long he was cheering loudly and clapping and yelling "score"! I was impressed when we got home and he explained that it was fun, but that the Stars won 3-2. (He missed the empty-net goal.)

Contest photos

I enjoy listening to The Apple Phone Show podcast and reading their blog.

They have a couple contests running right now.

As the entry to the first contest, I uploaded these two photos of Elleda and Gabe I took with my iPhone to Flickr.com.



This blog post is my entry to the second contest.

First family bike ride

A couple weeks ago both Gabe and Elleda renewed their interest in their bikes. Actually, in addition to the larger bikes with training wheels that they each have, they both also have a smaller bike with no training wheels. Gabe gave his a shot back when he learned how to ride without training wheels, but he found the smaller, lighter bike harder to balance. (I see that I blogged about him wanting his training wheels back in May, so I don't think he's tried to ride without them since then.) However the idea got planted, we found ourselves taking those smaller bikes to the park.

For Gabe, learning to ride his bike again was just like riding a bike. Because he could easily put his feet on the ground while sitting on the bike, he could stop easily. That gave him his confidence back. But he still needed our help getting started.

Elleda didn't want our help, and didn't even want us to watch. So we watched out of the corner of our eyes. (She really did seem to have performance anxiety--she did better when she didn't think we were watching.) She was persistent. I think she figured out how to ride (for the first time, without training wheels), stop and start without help in less than an hour.

I think seeing Elleda figure it all out for herself gave Gabe some incentive. Gabe announced proudly this week when I got home from work that he could start by himself.

So Saturday I took down Claire's bike from the garage roof and re-inflated the tires, and went out and bought a WeeRide seat for Henry and mounted on my bike. After everyone awoke from their naps we went for our first family bike ride. We were pretty ambitious: we rode probably a little more than a mile to the local Jamba Juice. The kids did great--no complaining, they stopped and walked their bikes across the street and through a busy parking lot, and (aside from the parking lot) they rode all the way there and back. I was especially impressed with Elleda--she's now quite confident on her little bike. I even saw her ride right off a curb.

A Weekend Surprise

Not a weekend goes by where--after spending some sustained "quality time" with the kids--I'm not surprised by something they do. This last weekend the surprise that stands out in my memory occurred Friday evening, when Claire and I took the kids to the park. Elleda chose to bring the tricycle with extra wide wheels. It's very stable and so she feels confident going quite fast. Gabe wanted his "Razor" (scooter--more on that below), and I took one too so I could keep up. Elleda and Gabe had a couple races, and Elleda kept winning. (It didn't hurt that she kept giving herself a head-start before yelling "Go!") Gabe was getting frustrated, and Elleda noticed. So she let Gabe get a head-start and held herself back and let Gabe win, and called him the champion. I thought that was very generous (and shrewd), especially for a little girl who has a few months to go yet before she's five (and who also doesn't like to lose).

I've seen Elleda be that giving with Gabe before, and I've been a little concerned that she does it only to appease him (and prevent a row). But this time I felt she genuinely wanted to make him feel better, and realized that was more important to her than winning.

Sunday evening we all went "around the loop". Claire pushed Henry in his little "coupe-car", Elleda rode her two-wheeler (with training wheels), I grabbed a scooter (again) and Gabe got started on his bike (with no training wheels). (I think Claire talked them into riding their bikes. Gabe was a little reluctant and asked for his training wheels. We, of course, reminded him that he doesn't need them anymore.) Claire got Gabe started and he went about 10 feet (with me right behind trying to be ready) before stopping so suddenly that I bumped into him a little and couldn't catch him in my surprise. He fell to the side but was fine. But that was enough with his bike. Claire and I tried to talk him back on, but his mind was made up. Claire, Henry and Elleda kept going, and (after trying in vain to get him to jump on his bike and catch up) we went through the back gate and returned his bike to the garage and grabbed a scooter for him. There's no sense forcing Gabe--not that I could anyway--and we have to remember that he is only three. Then we took a short-cut through the neighborhood and caught up with the rest halfway around. We had a pleasant time finishing the loop. Elleda was quite confident on her bike.

Since I haven't posted in a while, I should write something about Henry. He's a happy little guy, who especially loves it when his brother and sister play with him. (They're both very good with him.) He doesn't walk around like he's expecting to fall anymore--he's practiced enough that he can do it without thinking. Now he's starting to run a little bit.

Aside from drippy noses, they've all been quite healthy for a good stretch now. I hope we can keep that going through the summer.

"Me ride bike no training wheels"

Gabe has had his choice of several different tricycles (that we just managed to accumulate without really trying) ever since he was big enough to climb onto them. He never showed much interest. But even a year ago he was interested in two wheel bikes. Early last summer Claire bought him a medium-size bike with training wheels; I thought it was much too early. But he caught on pretty fast. He didn't like having the training wheels though; he would notice every time someone (of any age) rode by without training wheels: "Wow! No training wheels!"

For the last few months he's been asking to ride a bike with no training wheels. A couple weeks ago a neighbor gave us a tiny little red two-wheeler (that their son outgrew) and he was eager to give it a try. We took him to the park and he did alright, but he'd forget to steer while concentrating on balance, and visa-versa. We had to hang onto the seat and handle bars while he got started, and continue to hold onto him or the seat and be ready to grab him when he went off the path or lost his balance.

Last Friday Claire suggested I take the training wheels off his larger (blue) bike, and we went to the park. I guess the bigger wheels made it easier for him to balance. Before long he could ride by himself (while I ran alongside) and even start to turn when he had to.

We took the blue bike camping this weekend (I had the red one packed, but he asked for the blue one) and he spent every moment he could on his bike (when I was available to take him). It didn't take long at all before he was riding up and down (small) hills and turning and going quite fast (with me running beside him). On Sunday he went on a couple quite long rides (stopping only occasionally), and he was even starting to learn how to stop and put his feet down.

Now he's talking about going for bike rides with Mommy and Daddy on their bikes. He's determined (and skilled) enough that it probably won't be long where he can start and stop on his own so we can do that.

If I sound proud it's because I am. And I have a right to be; he only just turned three, after all.

He's certainly a strong-willed kid. We've been struggling with and focusing on the negative side of that coin lately. So it was a pleasure to see the positive side. He's got plenty of potential--our job will be to support him and teach him discipline so he can harness all that ability and drive.

My Little Pony Live!

Saturday we took Elleda and Gabe (and Chloe) to see My Little Pony Live! (Jo babysat Henry.)

We managed to avoid the temptation to buy $15 coloring books, $10 magic wands, $5 balloons; the kids didn't try to talk us into anything. (Chloe did briefly, but I guess she didn't have her own money.) I'm not as disciplined when Claire's not with me--I bought Elleda a $20 program & coloring book when we went to Disney on Ice.

The show itself was cute. There wasn't much to the story (though I found it more coherent than the My Little Pony books that I always hope Elleda and Gabe don't pick for their bedtime story), and I didn't find the songs very catchy. But the kids seemed to have a good time.

I found out Sunday that it did make an impression on Elleda. She described the show in great detail (much more than I thought her capable of) to her Auntie Louise.

I survived the weekend

Claire met a friend in San Francisco last Saturday morning, and came back Sunday evening--so it was just me and the kids all weekend. This was my first time I did this with all three kids. Claire last took a weekend "off" sometime before Henry was born. But it was easier this time.

Elleda is quite eager to please and so for the most part she was no trouble. And Gabe was surprisingly on his best behavior most of the time. (I say surprisingly because most of the time Gabe's nature is to push the boundaries unless they're made very clear and he has no choice.) Sunday afternoon he came upstairs with me (while Elleda played with the computer and Henry napped) and helped me tidy up. He even picked up the whole wagon-load of Mega Bloks without even having to be asked.

And one of the sweetest moments all weekend was after Gabe accidentally hurt Henry and then (with minimal prompting) cheered him up by playing "catch" with him for several minutes with their Dora ball. Henry ate it up (as he always does when he gets any attention from his brother or sister); he let out a big laugh every time Gabe gently tossed the ball to him and then would eagerly throw it back for more.

Bedtimes--which used to be the hardest part of being on my own with the kids--have gotten much easier with all three.

So that leaves mealtimes. Henry is at the age where he just can't resist throwing everything off of his tray, so we're constantly looking for new ways to distract him while we feed him. And Gabe and Elleda just can't sit still and eat. But even if they did all co-operate, I continue to have a deep dislike of preparing meals. But I had no choice, and I managed just fine.

It was interesting observing Elleda over the weekend. I can see a lot of myself in her. Several times she just needed to be by herself. And (also just like me) she likes to stay indoors. When Gabe was anxious to go to the park (and Henry was awake so we were ready) Elleda would invent a new game (or even let Gabe decide what to play) in order to distract him.

One other moment that stands out in my mind was Saturday afternoon while Henry napped (but after Gabe and Elleda awoke from brief naps), we curled up together on the couch and watched The Incredibles. What a great movie. I enjoyed it as much as the first time. It was over the kids' heads, but it was fun to try to explain it to them. It certainly kept their attention.

1-on-1s with Gabe & Elleda

Yesterday (Saturday) Gabe and I dropped off the van for servicing and walked to the Silver Spur Restaurant for breakfast. (Claire and Elleda did the same thing a couple weeks ago--we stole their idea.) I didn't expect to enjoy breakfast with a three-year-old as much as I did. Gabe sat across from me at our table for two and ate most of his Mickey Mouse pancake (eggs and fruit--he gave me his bacon), and was very well behaved. And we were never at a loss for conversation. On the way back to get the van Gabe said he wanted to do something with "just Daddy, no Mommy, no Elleda, no Henry" again.

Then we went to "Blue Ball Park" and had fun racing on the steep, side-by-side slides. Gabe kept winning--he kept saying "ready, set, go!" after he already started down. He got scared when he went down so fast he lost control, flipped over onto his belly and landed face-down in the sand at the bottom. But after a little cry (and wanting his mommy) he was ready to climb right back up and go again.

Then on to Kaleidoscope where we shopped for birthday presents for John. (We got him a medal detector that we got Josh for x-mas that we heard he enjoyed, and a rocket powered by vinegar and baking soda--they didn't have the rocket-car we got Josh.) Gabe had fun playing with "the fastest cars in the world" with "simulated scale speeds up to 600mph."

Finally on to Costco to buy some patio chairs Claire had picked out earlier. Gabe wasn't able to help, but he didn't get in the way either. (He was drooling over a "big-boy bike"--he really wants to learn how to ride without training wheels.)

We got home just in time for lunch and naps. My morning with Gabe was a pleasure.

Then after some chores (including picking up a patio table Claire had picked out elsewhere), it was time to wake Elleda up for her surprise: going to Disney on Ice at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. (Claire and I hadn't talked about it, but we both knew it was best not to tell Elleda we had these plans in advance so she wouldn't gloat to Gabe and get him jealous--Gabe is very sensitive to when things "aren't fair" in his eyes--he gets that from his dad.)

We listened to Here Come the ABCs (from my iPod in my car) there and back--I enjoy it as much as Elleda does. I take a lot of pleasure in her interest in the songs' titles and lyrics. I hope as she gets older we'll have fun talking about what tastes in art and entertainment we have in common (or not in common).

The show was fun, but unfortunately the "plot" was centered around The Incredibles. Elleda would have been much happier if it was about the Disney princesses. (They only showed Cinderella and Snow White in a parade, and her favorite Ariel wasn't there.) By my standards the show was quite blatantly commercial and mediocre, but I enjoyed Elleda's excitement and interest.

I enjoyed my 1-on-1 time with both kids. I'll have to look for more opportunities to do it again. (It will get more difficult to find the time as Henry gets older, and of course he should get some 1-on-1 time too; so all the more reason to remember to make it happen every couple months or so.)