Aidan loves sharing.

Look how he shares Mommy’s nectarine:

Last night we took Aidan to the fireworks.

I know, I know. I know what you’re thinking. It was only last weekend that we tried taking him to the drive-in, and didn’t we learn about keeping him up well beyond his bed-time?

In short, no.

Vancouver has this fireworks festival that runs every year. Three or four countries compete over four nights spaced through the end of July and early August. The fireworks (this year, they’re called the “Celebration of Light” but it’s gone through different names as the sponsors have changed) are a BIG DEAL here. Estimates are somewhere in the neighbourhood of 300000 – 500000 people watching them on any given night. We’re fortunate enough to be able to see them (almost completely) from our dining room windows, which has the benefit of being able to hear the music simulcast and see the fireworks without having to deal with the crowds. But on the other hand, it’s pretty interesting to be in such a large sea of humanity. Gwen and I, pre-baby, have gone down to English Bay and sat with several hundred thousand people on a beach, a scant few hundred feet from the fireworks barge. The five or six hour wait, followed by the several hour trip home is a bit hard to handle now, post-baby.

Aidan was pretty well prepared yesterday. A nice, long walk in the morning, a three hour nap in the afternoon, and reasonable meals all pointed to an after-hours outing that wasn’t going to be a disaster.

So, after supper, we packed up and walked down to Vanier Park. It’s not too far away … about twice the distance from our place to Granville Island (maybe 3 km total). Vanier Park faces English Bay, on the south side of False Creek. From there, we had a clear view of the fireworks barge, and the several hundred thousand people crowding the beach there. Vanier Park was crowded, but not oppressively so. There were probably a few dozen thousand people in the park.

Around 8 pm, we found a spot of parched grass and waited for the two hours we had until the fireworks were to begin. Aidan crawled around, played with the stroller, and we went for several walks with him. All in all, he behaved himself quite well.

Then, after the sun had set, we bought him his first ever glow-sticks. Actually, they were glow-bracelets, but they were perfect. He loved waving them around in the darkness. I think Gwen loved waving them around as much as Aidan did. These kept him busy and occupied up until the fireworks started.

Which they did, promptly at 10 pm. Aidan liked watching them, but wasn’t as mesmerized as we thought he might be. He watched the first little bit while sitting with Gwen, and the majority of them while sitting in his stroller. While sitting in his stroller, though, he alternated between playing with the stroller, watching people around him, and watching the fireworks. The flashes and colours seemed interesting to him, but didn’t captivate him. The explosions didn’t bother him in the least. He didn’t jump, start, or even think about crying when they went off. Gwen and I remarked to each other that he’s such a city boy. The spectacle lasted for about 40 minutes, and by the end, he had pretty much had enough.

We packed our things up and walked home. As you can imagine, the Seawall was pretty crowded, and we didn’t get home until 11:30 pm. Aidan, although flagging, was still awake. It didn’t take him too long to get down though.

For your edification, a video showing Aidan and Gwen with the glow-sticks, and a little bit of the fireworks is below:

Today my baby boy got his first black(ish) eye. Sigh, he is such a boy!

Aidan loves to climb, and he loves books. Not just his books, but Mommy’s books. The ones that are on the shelf that he shouldn’t be able to reach. So, what did Aidan decide top do today? Well, he decided it would be fun to lure Mommy into a false sense of security. He decided that it would be a good time to climb up on the bottom shelf and reach as far as he could on tiptoes. He decided it would be a good idea to pull as many books as he could down to the floor. What he didn’t anticipate was that he would fall on his butt and that the books would fall on top of him. He didn’t understand that if that happens you should look down, not up. And then the small hardcover that he knocked down wouldn’t poke you under they eye with the sharp corner.

When I heard the crash I turned around and Aidan had already closed his eyes and was in the silent part of the scream. I comforted him as best I could and he stopped crying fairly quickly. It was as I was sitting down with him that I noticed what had really happened. Until then I just thought some of the books had fallen on his head. Ouch! Corners of books can hurt. Thank goodness it was a small one and his black eye is only a small bruise. On the up side, 5 minutes of breastfeeding later and he was asleep for a three hour nap.

I hope he has learned his lesson. Hmm, not counting on it though. :)

Today, Aidan had his first real haircut.

We weren’t thinking the clearest, so we don’t have a good “before” picture, but as a reminder, here’s what he looked like a week ago:

We brought him to the same barber I’ve been going to since I’ve lived in Vancouver. I needed a hair cut, and Aidan needed a hair cut, so it seemed like a good idea.

We brought Aidan into the barber’s, which looked busy, but it turns out there were a number of people waiting for others getting their hair cut, and those in the chairs were soon finished too. So, in short order, we had Aidan sitting on a booster seat in the chair. Not how I thought it was going to go down … I though I would have to hold him in my lap, and I wasn’t too sure as to how that was going to work for cutting the back of his head.

Aidan, of course, likes his new vantage point, since there are tons of mirrors, and there’s almost nothing Aidan likes doing more than looking in mirrors. I’m not saying he’s vain, I’m sure he just appreciates the physics of light.

Anyway, Aidan’s happiness starts to wane when the biggest bib he’s ever seen is placed over him. Then, with the boy clutching Daddy’s hand, and with Mommy trying to capture his attention, the barber goes to work.

We’ve had several discussions about how to get his hair cut, and so when asked by the barber, we meekly say, “Well, you know, it has to be out of his eyes, and those wings over the ears have to go, and it *is* too long in the back …”. He looks appraisingly at us, and sets out, doing some cutting and trimming with his scissors.

After a short while (Aidan hasn’t minded this, so far, despite his proximity to a man he doesn’t know … usually a recipe for the biggest case of shyness you’ve ever seen) the barber stops, looks at us, and asks if it’s short enough. We look at each other and murmur that well, perhaps it should be shorter.

At which point, the barber pulls out his electric clippers and really sets to work. He wets Aidan’s hair down by spraying his own hand with a water bottle and then rubbing it through Aidan’s hair. The scissors are going, the clippers are going, and slowly, Aidan is becoming less thrilled with the whole procedure. It’s not panic stations yet, but there are some tentative cries of discomfort. It helps to have Mommy taking most of the boy’s attention, and the boy even lets her manipulate his head so that the barber can get at his neck. It took longer than I expected, but in the end, it went much better than I expected. Both Mommy and Boy made it through without too many tears.

And, well. I dare say he cleans up pretty good.