chaos complex

I hope this isn’t the trend – an infrequent big pile of pictures. I would like to be posting to the blog more often, which has the bonus of involving less work each post. On the other hand, the infrequent posting is because of a full and rich life, so… that’s good.

The plan a week ago was to write in appreciation of the fabulous Easter feast at the Barans’. Rita cooked up a mouth-watering ham and we coloured eggs (well, mostly Chris and I coloured eggs. Go figure). It was a quiet, quality evening that felt very centering. A calm eddy in the usual torrent of activity. Avery received one of those circular wheely deals that every toddler loves, but her feet don’t quite reach the ground yet. No worries. There’s enough onboard entertainment to keep her occupied until then.

Since then the weather has been cruelly teasing us. I’ve worn shorts three times and a rain jacket three times. Today looks to be a dreary stuck in the middle sort of affair despite the beautiful sunrise. Yeah, I see a lot of sunrises these days. Oh, Avery. You early rising rascal.

Did I mention we have a table on the way? With chairs and everything? Marjorie is beside herself with anticipation. So is her mom. Actual family meals around a real purpose-designed table. I grudgingly admit I will probably enjoy it as well. For the novelty if nothing else.

Check out that kimono onesie Avery is wearing. A gift from Katie and Emily. Possibly the cutest thing ever. Avery loves it. Lots of room for her frequent workouts. “Workouts” generally involve swimming across the floor. She’s not crawling yet, but SO close. She’ll push right up on her hands and feet, as high as she can push, and then she’s not quite sure what to do next. I’ve seen her manage to move a knee forward twice now though, so the trundling terror is right around the corner. That’s assuming she doesn’t just stand up and toddle. Could go either way. Currently her fastest mode of transport is wriggling backward on her tummy, and she’s definitely interested in getting places. She gets frustrated when she backs up against a wall and can’t figure out how to keep going.

So spring is imminent! It’s not quite time to flip the closet, but soon. Just in time for a crawling baby. Baby, meet world. World, well, you’ve been warned.

In other news, I picked up my new sport coat, so I can look especially snazzy when Chaos pitches its work in Banff this June. Last year we took one series and it went very well, but in the end nobody bit. Not too surprising. We know the show is ambitious. Game changing, sure, but scary for any network not ready to take the big leap forward. This year we’re taking the entire A-Flight armory. Three series and a feature. And enough ideas to float a network indefinitely. We will be glad-handing the industry elite, and where we made a good impression last year, this time we take no prisoners. The more we learn about our chosen industry, the more we see that the only thing standing between us and domination is who we know. Or, more specifically, who we don’t know. Time to fix that.

We recently got some encouraging news about the deliberately vague super-secret project we’ve been working on with unnamed A-List Talent. No ticker tape parade yet, but in this particular case, it turns out that no news was very good news indeed. A deal might still be a year away, or more, or less – there’s just no way of knowing – but the myriad threads are starting to come together. Wish I could say more. I will just say that his success is our success, whereas this time last week I thought quite the opposite.

Ok! Time to shower. We’re off for lunch with Gramma Judy and her bestie Roseanne, and guest starring Rita. And then, Lee and I head to the Flying Puck to watch the Canucks stomp Colorado. Happy Saturday! Hope your weekend is scintillatingly super fantastic and full of wins.

And now for four minutes of my daughter eating avocado:

That was on the 14th, just shy of six months old. Since then she’s started driving and is up for another Nobel Prize. Wait… sorry, getting ahead of myself. Since then she’s tried banana (yes),  cantaloupe (yes), and lemon (yeeg! no, wait, more. yeeg! no no, just a bit more.) She’s also a big fan of sharing Mum’s water from her glass. She can fit her entire face in the glass, and she doesn’t swallow much, but it sure is the most fun ever.

A tooth! There’s a tooth poking out of her face! Right there in her mouth parts! I would say that explains the drool, but the actual quantity of drool seems consistent. Perhaps her Sophie the Giraffe has been receiving even more vigorous gnawing of late. Avery’s range of sounds is also increasing quite rapidly. Any relation? Does a bit of a tooth suddenly give you consonants? Now I’m imagining all the old toothless people I’ve seen trying to speak coherently, and I wonder…

We think the swing may be losing its mojo. She still thoroughly enjoys it, don’t misunderstand, but it’s not the magic bullet of nap times that it used to be. She’ll nod off sometimes, but more often these days it’s a fun distraction for a few minutes until she realizes we’re trying to distract her. She’s wily, that one. So we may let the swing go to its next home, and replace it with a table. You know, one of those things where a family gathers to eat and converse and be a family. Yes, Marjorie is leading that charge. Not that I object.

So if the swing has lost its… swing… then what’s the new trick? Brace yourself. This is a wild one. The Floor. Yes. Behold its mysterious power. Avery can now (only just now, actually. Like, yesterday now.) sit up on her own for pretty much as long as she likes. We’ve got a nice rug big enough for her to topple safely in any direction, so we chuck down a few cushions with a handful of toys in varying degrees of in reachedness, and she’s good. She can’t go from flopped to unflopped yet, but if we start her sitting up, she might be perfectly content to sit for five minutes before carefully toppling down on to her belly – and maybe even taking a little nap! Glorious! Actual observable self-entertainment for whole minutes on end, followed by the elusive catnap! You can’t help watching her be all independent, and then you shake yourself when you realize you’ve got upwards of five, ten, maybe even fifteen minutes to Do Something. Like eat with two hands. Precious luxury.

Pictures! Note the excruciating adorableness of Avery in her new sun hat.

Katie and Colin are in town! This is Katie’s first time. Marjorie knew she would love it, and her reaction reminds me of mine. Wide eyed and drinking in the energy and knowing that this is where you want to be. Sucked me right in. We’ll see if we’re calling them neighbours in a year.

So they’ve been touristing and we’ve seen a bit of Central Park with them, such as the Lewis Carroll sculpture. I had managed to miss that on previous excursions, so that was nice. Central Park is big, yo. It’s easy to miss stuff. Though interestingly, Stanley Park is more than 10% bigger. Yeah. A little trivia for you there.

While both Katie and Colin have enjoyed some Avery time, it has to be said that Avery and Katie seem to be fast friends. Almost inseparable, even. Very fun to see. Katie even came over this evening to babysit while Mum and Dad went on a date. Yes, you read correctly. A real date at a real restaurant. A nice one! Marjorie wore pearls and lipstick. I wore a tie with hardly any irony. We were giddy! Thank you, Katie, so very much for that. We had a top shelf great time. I suspect you had a pretty good time as well.

In other news, Chaos has pretty much wrapped the post on The New Me. We’re tinkering with the web site, then we’ll post the video and I’ll be able to share it with you. Please let me know what you think. PSA: when you watch, sit on a towel so you don’t wet the couch.

In case I don’t post for a few days, I’ll say it here: Happy birthday, Robyn! I love and admire you, dear sister. I hope your day is shiny.