Graduation

June.

All over the city, province and country, thousands of students are finishing one chapter of their lives and getting ready to move on to the next one. Graduation. Emmett donned his best duds, and he and his pals at preschool/daycare celebrated in style, as they all get ready to move on to Kindergarten in September. The ceremony had certificates, mortarboards, songs, several dozen parents and a sandwich bar for lunch. Fortunately, it was void of the "lobster-in-the-toilet" prank.

Oscar or Emmett?

Eight Months Old

The world’s oldest man, Alexander Imich, died in New York at age 111, according to the senior citizen residence where he lived.  Children return back to their classrooms in Moncton for the first time since three Mounties were killed June 4, 2014, in one of the deadliest police shootings in Canadian history. Brazil puts the finishing touches on it's preparation to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. A 14 year old Michigan teenager carried his seven-year-old brother on his back, battling heat, rain, fatigue and more to finish a 64-kilometre walk to raise awareness about cerebral palsy. And Oscar celebrates his eight month birthday.

His monthly photo shoots are getting more challenging. Between grabbing the birthday poster, and ripping open his diaper, it took several attempts to capture him not moving. 

 

Food. NOW.

In a frantic attempt to obtain sustenance, a juvenile O. stranmccannii sinks its mighty talons into its parent's face.

First language acquisition

Oscar can't speak, but he makes valiant attempts to communicate. Best guess here is that he's trying to tell the base runner to steal third.

Seven months old

StatsCan reports that Canada lost 29,000 jobs in April. The Ukraine crisis continues, with Pro-Russian insurgency to hold vote on autonomy. Farley Mowat, one of the elder statesmen of Canadian literature, a trickster, a ferocious imp with a silver pen, an ardent environmentalist and a passionate polemicist who blurred the lines between fiction and facts to dramatize his cause, died earlier this week, five days short of his 93rd birthday. It's day 57 of Clara's Big Ride, and Olympian Clara Hughes will be biking from Eagle Plains to Engineer Creek in her attempt to end the stigma of mental illness. And Oscar celebrates his seven month birthday.

 

 

 

His seven month tricks include sitting up by himself, sleeping through the night on an almost regular basis, making "ma ma" and "da da" sounds, blowing raspberries, sticking out his tongue and grasping things with his hands and fingers. He hasn't yet mastered the art of rolling over, and still hates tummy time.

Oscar meets Spring - Take Two

As the emotional yo-yo of the changing seasons continues, Oscar and his mom enjoyed a day in the garden yesterday, with Oscar supervising the seasonal weeding, and Oscar's Mom introducing him to the plants and budding trees.

Taking a thumbsucking break.

 

Watching the birds

Checking out the buds on the crabapple tree