I’d like to start the year by correcting an omission in last night’s review of our 2011. Our darling dog Kirin, patiently waiting to be walked this morning, is still very much loved despite my forgetting to post any photos of her!
So to make up for Kirin, here’s one just for her (photos all taken in Morro Bay, Kirin’s favourite beach town):
The year started with P helping his dad in Scotland, and D in LaLaLand plodding away at work. P’s return to LaLaLand was well-timed for the looong wait we had for the arrival of the latest love of our lives, Finlaggan, named, incidentally, not for the whisky, but for the Loch on Islay* in Scotland. Since then, it’s been all-go on the nappy-front. But it’s not stopped us from travelling or amusing ourselves in non-nappy ways (although we’ve also since discovered that a lot of fun can be had with nappies).
The three of us have been to San Diego, Morro Bay, London, Bournemouth, Oxford, Scotland (mainly at Bankhead), and Vancouver. (And plenty of parks in LaLaLand alone.)
Just a couple of months after Fin’s arrival, we headed down to San Diego for a long weekend. That was fun for me; after having gone back to work after a mere 6 weeks post-Finlaggan, it gave me a chance to bond with him while P attended a Drosophila conference.
Post-SD, my mother (Po Po to Fin) came out to LA to watch over Fin as P spent some much-needed time on tidying up data and writing his manuscripts. Plus, we had Fin’s Welcome to the World party after his first set of immunisations. And drove up to Morro Bay with Po Po for some early summer chillin’ by the sea.
Morro Bay:
The trip to the UK in the summer was a very important one for Fin to meet his Granddad and the paternal relations. Somewhere, I have photographic evidence that he hung out and played well with his two cousins. But this will have to wait until I can dig through the million or so photos we took in 2011 alone. (The chances of our older unblogged trips ever seeing light of day are fading…)
The most recent trip to Vancouver was especially fun as my parents came with us, and we met with my cousin, his fiance and his parents. They were the ones we used to go on long road-trips to Malaysia with (all the way to Penang from Singapore), so it was great to recreate and reminisce.
Rice crackers taste even better when you have a fantastic view to the waterfront in our fancy-pants rental apartment, that would normally be way beyond our reach:
On Bute St, on the way to the Waterfront, 4 blocks from our plush rental apartment:
In all, it’s been a busy year, but one filled with a great deal more tears and laughter than our usual. And we look forward to more of everything in 2012!
Bonne Annee! 新年快乐！ Happy New Year!
*Pronounced Aye-Lah as opposed to Aye-Lay or Is-Lay.
Fin wide awake on last night’s flight from YVR to LAX. Fortunately, he was in a decent mood for 90% of the flight, helped by the important task of emptying the seat pocket of never-ending safety cards, magazines, menus and sick bags. Towards the end of the flight, his crankiness ramped up a little, and our new magic weapon was produced: a thunderbird puppet. Not the British Thunderbirds*, but the North American mythical Thunderbird instead (photos to follow).
*Thunderbirds are go!
Two emerging top front teeth could explain Fin’s recent spell of crankiness and loss of appetite.
He now has the necessary tools to finish his favourite arrowroot biscuits instead of ditching a soggy, gummy biscuit.
And we’re looking forward to increasing his repertoire of finger foods.
Finlaggan went for his very first bicycle ride* today! We went around the nice and flat sky wall around Stanley Park in the mist. He enjoyed watching the fellow cyclists, pedestrians, quacking ducks and honking container ships. He also made some friends at Milestones in English Bay where his greedy parents enjoyed a prime rib au jus sandwich (foreground).
And the jus of the title is the inevitable snottery leakage from the cold bébé’s nose, mixed with the drizzle that he bravely sat through to satisfy his parents’ desire to get his new rain gear properly wet and feel justified in having bought a rain suit for a baby who lives in dry, sunny LA.
*Photographic evidence to follow when the Eye-Fi can be convinced to talk to the travelling laptop.
“I’ll have the wanton mein and yu pein jook please.” @ McNoodle House, Richmond, BC.
多谢 to Uncle SW for all the top-Vancouver eats!
Fin needs to wear a waterproof suit to drink water.
While I enjoyed some Canadian oysters in a sammie, Fin munched on a large, well-preserved onion ring.
