Might as well jump

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. 

 

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

Just in time for Mother's Day

Oscar meets Spring

It is a foreign concept after the months and months of snow and cold. But yesterday, Oscar had a chance to feel sun on his face, grass in his hands, and smell the sweet scents of spring.

Even though temperatures hit a high of 20 yesterday, Emmett and Oscar's Mom has warned her boys not to get to used to it. The weekend forecast predicts snow and a high of 3 degrees. Sigh...

Oscar meets grass in the freshly aerated backyard.

Look closely, and you can see green in the gardens. Yes, it's actually spring (for a few days anyway)

Six months old

The Quebec Liberals win a majority government. An Australian ship detected two distinct, long-lasting sounds underwater that are consistent with the pings from aircraft black boxes in a major break in the month-long hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, and the multinational search continues. The "Heartbleed bug" prompts a Revenue Canada shutdown. The Ultimate Warrior, the retired U.S. professional wrestler who just days ago was inducted into the WWE hall of fame, dies at the age of 54. And Oscar celebrates his six month birthday.

 

On this milestone birthday...

• He has expanded his food repertoire and has tried a variety of pureed products, including rice cereal, bananas, green peas, chicken thighs, avocado, oatmeal, applesauce and chickpeas. The chickpeas did not go so well.
• He does not sleep through the night, BUT he is going longer stretches and is only getting up once, sometimes not at all.
• He is a thumbsucker, unlike his big brother. Oscar LOVES his thumb.

 

• He waves his arms madly and excitedly when he says goodbye to Daddy in the morning - the best part of Daddy's day.
• Even though most of his 182 days on earth have been spent with his Mom, his first words/sounds are "Dadadadadadadadada" (much to Mommy's chagrin)
  
  

Signs of Spring

Snowpants, sweaters, mittens, hats, and struggles with getting dressed still dominate the StranMcCann household. Winter is just endless in this part of the country, keeping Oscar and his Mom cooped up inside even though the calendar says it's spring. The weekend winter storm left another 2-4 cm of snow on the ground, with temperatures diving well below zero and icicles everywhere. The only sign of spring? The yellow daffodils and tulips bought at the grocery store to give Emmett and Oscar's Mom hope that this winter will soon end.

 Fortunately, Oscar is quite oblivous to the weather outside.

He's more concerned about the fact that he won't be the youngest in the family for much longer. His little brother/sister is due to arrive in October.

(Oh, and by the way...April Fools !!)

Five months old

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake rattles Oaxaca in southwestern Mexico. In the Malaysia Airlines jet mystery, Vietnamese aircraft spot what they suspect was a door of the missing Boeing 777, while troubling questions emerge about how two passengers managed to board the ill-fated aircraft using stolen passports. Canada is in 10th place at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics, with 4 medals in Alpine Skiing and 1 in Biathlon. The Ukraine crisis continues, with Putin declaring that Russia had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian citizens, and his parliament voted to change the law to make it easier to annex territory inhabited by Russian speakers. 12 Years a Slave scoops the Oscar for best Picture. Emmett enjoys a day outside without snow pants as a Chinook brings some warm weather to winter weary residents. And Oscar celebrates his five month birthday.

 

 

 

 

And just so big brother Emmett doesn't feel left out...

Four months old

Canada ranks 4th at the Sochi 2014 Olympics, starting strong with a gold, two silver and a bronze medal in Freestyle Skiing, Figure Skating and Snowboarding, respectively. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty gets ready to table the federal budget on Tuesday, saying it will include targeted measures to promote job creation,  protect consumers' spending power, and boost rural high speed internet access. And Oscar celebrates his four month birthday.

Just like that, four months have flown by...

Warrant issued

Be on the lookout for three month old Oscar. Last seen guzzling warm milk then chucking it up. Other aliases include: Akbar, Rockstar and Chucker. Wanted for creating excessive sleep deprivation in his mother. Reward if found.

The quirks of an 80 year old house

Although Chateau StranMcCann was extensively renovated and remodeled by the previous owners in the past ten years, the house maintains some of it's 80 year old heritage.

Ornate lighting fixtures...

Built in wooden shelves with glass doors...

Brown brick fireplace (with living room mess cleverly hidden from the lens of the camera)...

Original oak hardwood floor...

Ornamental feature (the exact term escapes Emmett and Oscar's sleep deprived mother)...

 Curved wall from living room to dining room

 
Original heating register

 

It is here that the eldest of the StranMcCann boys decided, on his own, to pee. Not when he was sleepwalking. Not in a moment of urgency, when he couldn't make it to the bathroom and sought out an alternative. He just looked at it and in his four year old mind, thought, "I should try peeing in there". Much to the chagrin of his parents, who are utterly perplexed by this activity. 

His little brother Oscar, was also quite upset to learn about the pee-in-the-heat-register, as one day, he will share this room with Emmett.