Grandma and my mom arrived Vancouver safely this morning. I mentioned that my mom started a knitting project for her long Greyhound bus ride. When her carry-on luggage was checked prior to boarding, she was told knitting needles were not allowed on the bus. What a disappointment! What was my mom going to do for the next 20 hours?
Their bus driver was a young fellow named Peter. "Great!" my mom thought to herself, "Peters are nice guys!" She asked Peter, "I want to ask you a question. You don't need to say "yes". Will you allow me to knit on your bus?" Guess what this friendly guy said? My mom promised him that she would not hold him hostage by using the knitting needles.
Vancouver is raining and has been raining for the last few days. Since Grandma and my mom come from sunny Alberta, they may be able to bring them some sunshine.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Uncle-to-be
I am going to be an uncle in May of next year. Everybody is excited about it, except me because pregnancy is too abstract a concept for me to understand. My mom starts to tell me, "Emily and Peter and baby."; "Baby in Emily's tummy." I imitate and pat my tummy while saying, "baby".
My mom told me she is going to Vancouver to see Emily and Peter. She is not sure if I can understand. Grandma and my mom leave tomorrow morning and will be back on November 9 by Greyhound bus. This is the first time my mom travels by Greyhound. Since this is going to be a long ride, she started a knitting project and this will keep her occupied. Initially, she bought several Chicken Soup for the Soul books for the road. However, she needs to take a camp bed and her laptop. So, she changed her mind about books because they are heavy.
The bruise on Grandma's face is now finally less noticeable. She fell a month ago and hit her forehead. Since she is taking Aspirin, which is a blood thinner, she developed a huge hematoma right away. As the blood drained down her face, she looked like a raccoon for many, many days. She warned my mom not to tell anybody and not to post her picture on the net.
My mom told me she is going to Vancouver to see Emily and Peter. She is not sure if I can understand. Grandma and my mom leave tomorrow morning and will be back on November 9 by Greyhound bus. This is the first time my mom travels by Greyhound. Since this is going to be a long ride, she started a knitting project and this will keep her occupied. Initially, she bought several Chicken Soup for the Soul books for the road. However, she needs to take a camp bed and her laptop. So, she changed her mind about books because they are heavy.
The bruise on Grandma's face is now finally less noticeable. She fell a month ago and hit her forehead. Since she is taking Aspirin, which is a blood thinner, she developed a huge hematoma right away. As the blood drained down her face, she looked like a raccoon for many, many days. She warned my mom not to tell anybody and not to post her picture on the net.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Swimming
I used to love "swimming". I don't actually know how to swim, but I enjoyed being in water. Back then when I saw water, I said "jump" and I jumped in. Many years ago (probably 20 years ago), we were at a lakeside one time. I kept running towards the lake wanting to jump in. My mom made full use of that opportunity to train my gross motor skill. After I got to the shore, she took me back a distance. I ran towards the water again and then she took me back. Despite my mom's creative efforts, to this day I still don't run very well.
There was another time. My mom was mopping the floor. She had a bucket of water in the kitchen. When she went out to the living room to do something, she saw me moved quickly along the hallway towards the kitchen. I could really run when I was up to mischief. By the time she caught up with me, I was already stuck inside the bucket.
My mom used to take me swimming weekly. Since I enjoyed it so much, she registered me for Special Olympics swimming. That was about 10 years ago and I participated for about one year only. Initially, my support workers went with me. Then, for some unknown reason, I started to become reluctant to go swimming. My mom had to come along to encourage me to participate. Often times, when I arrived at the place I stopped at the general office area instead of going to the change room. Some of you may be able to guess why I chose to linger there. They had a fan in the office! My mom would borrow their fan to get me to follow her to the change room. Gradually, I absolutely refused to get into my swimming trunk.
My mom felt sad that I lost interest in swimming, as it is important for me to be physically active. Due to my strong resistance, my mom decided not to force me to continue to attend the swimming program. From time to time efforts were made to take me to swim. However, whenever anybody tried to put a swimming trunk on me, I refused. It got to a point that I would refuse to put shorts on because I thought that was for swimming too. So, my mom backed off and waited for a few years before she tried again. I wouldn't even enter the building when she got me to the Jasper Place Recreation Centre. Then she tried a different pool. I went into the building, but I backed out as soon as I saw the pool inside.
When we went on the Alaska cruise, my mom got me into the pool once. After that, I wouldn't even get near the swimming pool deck. When I went to Disney World with Emily and Peter, they got me into the pool a couple of times. I was reluctant initially, but Peter managed to get me to dive under water to pick up pebbles from the bottom of the pool. My mom was so happy that I obviously enjoyed the experience.
Last week, my mom decided to take me swimming again with the help of a support worker. We got into the Jasper Place Recreation Centre with no problem because I have been going to the exercise room in that facility. When my mom and the support worker got me into the change room, I hang onto my pants so that they could not put the swimming trunk on me. With gentle persuasion, my mom managed to get me to cooperate. The water in the pool was nice and warm.
There was another time. My mom was mopping the floor. She had a bucket of water in the kitchen. When she went out to the living room to do something, she saw me moved quickly along the hallway towards the kitchen. I could really run when I was up to mischief. By the time she caught up with me, I was already stuck inside the bucket.
My mom used to take me swimming weekly. Since I enjoyed it so much, she registered me for Special Olympics swimming. That was about 10 years ago and I participated for about one year only. Initially, my support workers went with me. Then, for some unknown reason, I started to become reluctant to go swimming. My mom had to come along to encourage me to participate. Often times, when I arrived at the place I stopped at the general office area instead of going to the change room. Some of you may be able to guess why I chose to linger there. They had a fan in the office! My mom would borrow their fan to get me to follow her to the change room. Gradually, I absolutely refused to get into my swimming trunk.
My mom felt sad that I lost interest in swimming, as it is important for me to be physically active. Due to my strong resistance, my mom decided not to force me to continue to attend the swimming program. From time to time efforts were made to take me to swim. However, whenever anybody tried to put a swimming trunk on me, I refused. It got to a point that I would refuse to put shorts on because I thought that was for swimming too. So, my mom backed off and waited for a few years before she tried again. I wouldn't even enter the building when she got me to the Jasper Place Recreation Centre. Then she tried a different pool. I went into the building, but I backed out as soon as I saw the pool inside.
When we went on the Alaska cruise, my mom got me into the pool once. After that, I wouldn't even get near the swimming pool deck. When I went to Disney World with Emily and Peter, they got me into the pool a couple of times. I was reluctant initially, but Peter managed to get me to dive under water to pick up pebbles from the bottom of the pool. My mom was so happy that I obviously enjoyed the experience.
Last week, my mom decided to take me swimming again with the help of a support worker. We got into the Jasper Place Recreation Centre with no problem because I have been going to the exercise room in that facility. When my mom and the support worker got me into the change room, I hang onto my pants so that they could not put the swimming trunk on me. With gentle persuasion, my mom managed to get me to cooperate. The water in the pool was nice and warm.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Birthday
Today is my 27th birthday. Even though my mom has been telling me it is my birthday today, I didn't get excited until I see the candle on a cupcake. Yes, a cupcake! Let me post a picture for you to see it.
I kept asking my mom to light the candle while she was busy with cooking supper. She told me to wait till after supper. Oh boy, that was really tough. I was so antsy that it was not funny at all.
Finally the time came for me to watch the candle being lit and then I was allowed to blow it out. My mom knew I want to blow out the candle by myself. She does not trust that I can do so "safely", i.e. blowing it out without contaminating the whole cake. When I was ready to blow, she took the cupcake off the big cake and placed it in front of me. I blew and clapped. Job done and I am happy! I don't even want to eat the cake. In my opinion, the sole purpose of the birthday cake is to hold the candles.
I kept asking my mom to light the candle while she was busy with cooking supper. She told me to wait till after supper. Oh boy, that was really tough. I was so antsy that it was not funny at all.
Finally the time came for me to watch the candle being lit and then I was allowed to blow it out. My mom knew I want to blow out the candle by myself. She does not trust that I can do so "safely", i.e. blowing it out without contaminating the whole cake. When I was ready to blow, she took the cupcake off the big cake and placed it in front of me. I blew and clapped. Job done and I am happy! I don't even want to eat the cake. In my opinion, the sole purpose of the birthday cake is to hold the candles.
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