Since starting my three month paternity leave, I’ve started to learn what it’s like to spend entire days with Thomas; and I’m still to learn what it’s like to do this for weeks on end, and looking forward to it! He’s a really fun age right now, and I feel like I have a new play-buddy, except he doesn’t drink and I have to change his poop a few times a day .

Bubba is already able to climb the bars and get up to the top level and shoots himself down the slide. It’s a bit nerve racking, but he’s a champ. It feels like only yesterday he was learning to roll in our Maui condo.

With our next one on the way, I really get it when people say “they grow up so fast.” Alex is ready to go at any moment. We’re in the redzone, but my guess is things start happening March 12th. And I think it’s a girl.

I’m looking forward to some serious quality time with T-Bone. We’ve got Imagination Station every Wednesday, story time at the library, and Little Dippers at the local pool when possible. I feel so grown up.

The economy is not much better today than it was in 2007 when the recession began. There’s been many major events from the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, to the massive bailout efforts put forth by the US Government, to the seemingly stunning stock market recovery during 2009.

In the past week, we’ve seen some signs of the “recovering” economy faltering and possibly the begin of the long predicted pullback. The Globe and Mail published a great little summary of the events in the US, how the people were screwed by bankers time and time again, and what Obama plans to do to make those bankers pay.

I particularly like the part about financial industry lobbyists returning “home on their private aircraft, where they were served fried puppy for dinner by their personal chefs.”

USA, USA!

Great picture!

We made it to the mall before Santa and were only behind one Mom with her kids. Thomas was ready to bust through the rope and run to Santa, kinda like a dog with his eye on a steak 20 yards away. When it was finally our turn, Thomas took off like a juiced sprinter in the 100 metre dash. As he got within a couple metres of the fat man in the red suit, he froze and looked back for us.

Alex put him on Santa’s knee, and we were wondering how he’d react. My money was on a full scale tear fest. But as usual, I was wrong. He seemed really curious about everything around him: the reindeer, the lights, the Christmas buildings with cotton snow, and this dude that was holding him while we all waited for a smile or a cry. Alex managed to tickle him (Thomas not Santa) just enough to get a couple good shots. The end result as you can see below was pretty damn good.

My boy is a champ. What can I say? Merry Christmas!

This is a new personal best for our household: The Christmas tree was trimmed by November 29th. Mind you, it’s a fake one; but a damn good fake if I do say so. A few pine cone air freshners doubling as ornaments and it’s just like the real thing.

Thomas was ripping around the living room in his Santa outfit as Nat King Cole rattled off some yuletide cheer in the background via MP3 (of course). Nothing in the key of St. Nick to be found on the digital TV music channels just yet — too damn early I guess.

But that’s not stopping the Chens from getting our jingle bells on, and stockings hung.

Today was a busy one.

Since I had the day off, (I’m working the coming Saturday), and Thomas’ fever was over and done with, we decided to see Grandma and Grandpa Cryer as they left town to start their new life in Kelowna, followed by a visit with Uncle Jeremy, Aunty Scarlett and baby Xavier – our inaugural visit was cut short.

We were 1/3 the way to West Van when Grandpa called to say that they were ready to head for the Okanagan to make sure they get in with daylight ahead of them. So we re-routed to Caffè Artigiano in Burnaby for a morning drink. Perfect for us since it’s only a stone’s throw to Jeremy’s place. We spent some time chatting about this and that, and before we knew it they had to get on the road. Thomas had fun hanging with Grandpa, trying to pry his Blackberry from the holster to press them buttons!

We said our “see you soons” and were off to see Xavier. When we arrived, the little guy was sleeping, but that didn’t matter to Thomas. He quickly made himself at home, opening doors and sliding open cupboards like he owned the place. We ended up hanging out for the day. Thomas had a tough time getting down to his nap, but when he finally passed out, he was out for a good while.

Grandma and Grandpa Chen came by (they hadn’t seen their grand kids in 15 hours) with lunch. We left for home shortly after to beat the rush hour traffic. So ended another weekend.

Baby Xavier - aka the X-Man

We didn’t have a chance to visit Xavier on November 19th because 1) I worked until 8pm and 2) Thomas was rawking a fever from a bout of roseola. I was a bummed that I couldn’t be there that evening, but Alex and I were determined to visit the hospital Friday night since I finished up at 4pm. We were hoping Thomas’ fever would break and it did just that. I ripped out of work (later than I wanted to) loaded up the troops, and ripped it across town to Women’s Hospital in a monsoon like downpour. I can’t remember having driven in heavier rain – even for Vancouver!

When we arrived, Xavier was feeding and having a bit of a tough go. So we waited down the hall and tried to occupy Thomas. My parents kept him busy as he ran around from one person to the next, eating his snacks and drinking his bottle. His fever started to creep up a bit, so we gave him some Tylenol to keep him cool. Big mistake. He unloaded his stomach all over himself and me. Which was good time because Xavier was finished feeding. Alex and I took turns sticking our heads into the room to meet the little guy, make sure Scarlett was okay and pay our respects. We all wanted to see how Thomas would react to the new kid on the block, but we had to save that for the next visit. We took off with puke-boy in tow, back into the rain, home to PoMo. All the while enjoying the pungent odour of milk, food, and everything else he consumed that day.

It was a busy evening to say the least. But it was all worth it. Totally worth it. I got to meet my new nephew, see my parents become grandparents for the second time and see my little brother become a Dad before my eyes.

]]> http://chrischen.ca/xavier-clifford-chen-son-nephew-cousin.html/feed 1 http://chrischen.ca/thomas-at-the-vancouver-aquarium.html http://chrischen.ca/thomas-at-the-vancouver-aquarium.html#comments Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:18:21 +0000 Chris http://chrischen.ca/?p=344

We decided to introduce Thomas to the Vancouver Aquarium last April. He was a little young to really appreciate it, but we kinda wanted to check it out for ourselves too. Neither Alex nor myself had visited the Aquarium since elementary school. And what can I say but: “Things done changed!”

Needless to say, Thomas loved the exhibits, until it was snack time… then he had a mini-meltdown. But a couple rice crackers and a a bottle of milk later, he was good to go. We’ll definitely be returning in the Spring to check things out again. This time Thomas can run around and go nuts.

Debt sucks

Working in banking, part of my job is to extend various credit products (i.e. loans, lines of credit, and credit cards) to my customers. I’m not against debt, but the problem I’m seeing with most people who come into my office for credit is that it’s for all the wrong reasons. These days, people have forgotten (or never learned) what it means to save for something whether it’s big or small, instead they just get a loan. The best part is that they come in fully expecting to get the loan; without a credit history, with a terrible credit history, with little, to no assets, or simply based on the fact that they’ve been a customer since they were a kid.

There’s a scary sense of entitlement by many people these days. The prevailing attitude is that “I work hard, so I deserve a .” A lot of people work hard, but not a lot of people can indulge in endless luxuries. Of course, many people look at these luxuries as necessities, and will do anything to fund their needs so they can be happy right now, without a thought of what they’re really spending.

Hello?? Can you lookup depreciating asset?

I find it especially worrisome when 19-25 year olds walk into my office expecting to get some money to buy their first car, new furniture for their place, or (increasingly) to consolidate debt they’ve already accumulated! I blame their parents for not teaching them the value of a dollar and how to save money. And I’d bet money that the majority of these debt consolidating kids, who don’t qualify for a consolidation loan because their income to debt ratios are through the roof, can’t ask their parents to co-sign on the loan either because their credit is just as crappy!

The credit crisis going down in the US is proof in the pudding that people just don’t know how to manage their debt load. After years of spending without the cash to back things up, the American economy is only starting it’s long overdue crumble. According to MSN Money: the average Yankee household has $8000 in debt; 43% of Americans spend more in a year than they earn; and personal bankruptcies have doubled in the last 10 years. And as for us Canadians, don’t think debt is an American-only disease. We’re quickly screwing ourselves just like our neighbours to the south.

Hold the phone Warren Buffet! Do people think their spending doesn’t have to be paid back some day? That they can simply live life making minimum monthly payments and feel good about themselves? A lot of the people that enter my office for credit don’t care about the cost of borrowing because all they look at is the monthly payment and whether they can swing it each payday. No wonder it’s impossible for them to start a savings account — they’re too busy living cheque to cheque.

The point of my rant is that you; the instant gratification needing, working for the weekend, can’t see the problem with cashing my cheque at Money Mart, driving a $30,000 car while wearing designer jeans but don”t have two dimes to rub together, racking up $250 a month cell phone bills; restaurant frequenting, happy go lucky, living for today, cuz I might die tomorrow, soon to be bankrupt dummy — LEARN TO LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS or you’ll have nothing to show for, besides a mountain of debt and a life sentence of working to payoff what you owe.

Thomas at the Tot Lot

Today was my second day off in a mid-week, weekend — if that makes sense? Of course, that means I’m working the coming Saturday

It’s been a rainy past few days as Vancouver’s fall weather has really set in. But, we got a sunny break in the clouds around noon so Alex and I took Thomas out on his trike to the the Tot Lot for some fresh air and a chance for him to burn off some steam before his afternoon nap.

At about 17 months, the little guy is a non-stop fountain of energy! Any outdoor time makes life a little bit easier. Thomas was wet on the knees and covered in wood bits from crawling around — shocker!

We took a short walk after playing for a while, checked out the Sev for Dr. Pepper Slurpees, but they didn’t have the flavour. They’re quite possibly the best beverage out there. Next time.

Shortly after getting home, T-Bone went down for a sold hour and a half nap.

Mission accomplished.

For those of you currently on Shaw’s High Speed Internet, I’m sorry to tell you that your Internet connection sucks. Why you ask? Because Telus is testing its ADSL2 service, and I’m one of the lucky few in British Columbia to have a trial fibre optic connection going straight into my house.

This fibre line offers killer downloads of just under 25 Mbps (aka 25,000 kbps) and uploads of just under 5Mbps (aka 5,000kbps)!

What does this mean in the real world?

It means that I can download the full version of Windows XP SP3 (316MB) in about 2 minutes flat! It means that video streams start a second after I click play. It means my Net connection kicks yours in the www.balls!

In addition to this warp speed, I have Telus HDTV service running through my walls. The service is every bit as good as Shaw’s, and I’d venture to say it’s a little better because it’s IP based. This means I can surf the web on my TV (in limited form at the moment, but sure to be full-featured when launched to the mainstream market).

Unfortunately, you can’t get Telus fibre just yet because it’s in a trial phase and will be for a while still.

It sucks to be you!