Halifax to Dunedin in 80 days... (or at least, that's what it felt like to us!)

“Da-dah’s gone?” Charlotte asked me the morning that Will left for Australia, two weeks before we were to leave to meet him in New Zealand.

“Yes, Dad’s gone, but we are going to go and meet him in a few weeks”.  “me!” she would exclaim each time I would explain that we were going to see dad on a big airplane. “ha-ha-topter?”  no not a helicopter, on an airplane.

For the next two weeks, no matter where we were, Charlotte would tell anyone who would listen “da-dah’s gone!”, sometimes adding “Wool’s gone...”.  This happened at daycare, at the grocery store and just about any other time we were out running errands.  She would sometimes say it in such a distraught tone that I always felt the need to explain to people that dad hadn’t ‘left’ us, but rather he was simply away on a business trip. When I asked her if she would like to go and visit Dad soon, she emphatically replied, “Me!”

Finally the day came that I promised her - we were going to see Dad!  After packing for two weeks, readying a carry-on bag full of toddler snacks and entertainment and running every possible scenario through my head, we were prepared to leave for the airport Saturday December 3rd at 7:30am.  

First leg: Halifax to Toronto.  Somehow we lucked out and got the entire last row of the plane which was good for a restless toddler anxious to see her da-dah.

Second leg: Toronto to Los Angeles. After a brief layover in Pearson International, we were on our way to the United States. This time were weren't as lucky and had a single seat to share next to two reasonably large men.  Charlotte was not pleased with this arrangement and let the seat in front of us know it with more than occasional kick, (sorry whoever you are.)  After a long five hour flight wrestling her we finally arrived at LAX. Whew!

Note to self: Trim toddlers nails before trying to attempt restraining her on next flight; or end up looking like you tried to give a cat a bath.

This time our layover was a bit longer (6 hours) so we planned a snack, a bath and a bit of a nap at a nearby hotel.  When we arrived they were filming an episode of Glee in the hotel lobby. This would have been more exciting if we hadn’t already had plans before embarking on the third leg of our four leg journey. It included bubbles in a bathtub and nap under a fluffy duvet!

Third (and longest) leg: Los Angeles to Auckland. After what seemed like only an hour, we were back at the airport waiting to board Air New Zealand’s overnight flight from LAX to Auckland at 9:30pm (for those keeping track its still Saturday.) The pending flight being 15 hours door to door. "Uggghhhh," I thought to myself, "tough enough on a fairly well adjusted adult - this was likely to be a nightmare with an exhausted toddler." I gritted my teeth and braced myself for the nightmare to begin...

Thankfully, we were given a bassinet that was installed like a large canvas basket on the wall in front of my seat.  Charlotte quickly fell asleep in my arms shortly after dinner service allowing me to move her to the bassinet without waking her.

Though it was clearly small for her, she made it work, and much to my amazement and everyone around us, slept for nearly 9 hours (yes, 9 HOURS!) Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I dozed in the comfy new pod-seats of Premium Economy.
In fact, I actually woke up feeling refreshed and was able to enjoy breakfast service before Charlotte woke up for the breakfast service.

After finally arriving at Auckland airport (6:30am local time, on Monday - somewhere along the way, we lost Sunday!) we were faced with another long layover in Auckland. Damn, so close yet so much time to go.
The hotel in LA was great, so we quickly decided to head over to the Kiwi Airport Hotel... but not before grabbing a snack of apple slices for Charlotte and a ‘flat white’ for mum.
Mmmmmm, Aunty Lucy was right Tig. The coffee is much better here!
Ok, one more flat white and then we’ll go to the hotel...

After another welcome nap and a shower, we headed out for a strawberry ice cream at the strawberry farm nearby, before making our way back to the airport. At this point, Charlotte seems to be seriously doubting my promise of producing Dad, but the ice cream seems to be working as a reasonable consolation prize.

Last leg: Auckland to Dunedin. Back at the departure lounge while waiting for our flight to board, Charlotte walked around waving to everyone saying ‘bye-bye’ seeming to know the drill well at this point. That’s right Tiggy, next stop Dunedin!

Another two hours and we finally land at our destination at 4:30pm Monday.  Just as we are making our way from the gate Charlotte spots her Dad riding up the escalator. She threw her little arms up in the air and squealed with delight,

“Da-dah!”.

Finally mum makes good on her promise!

Preparations for New Zealand Trip

Three weeks out from departing from Halifax for New Zealand, Michelle and I realised that Charlotte might need something to entertain herself during the 48 hours of sitting in planes and waiting in airport departure lounges.

Michelle was the one scheduled to travel with Charlotte alone as I was in Australia “on a job”, so she quickly got to work putting together some activities to entertain the two year old…

I looked in the bag of trick right before I left for Perth and this is what I found;

·         Sesame Street Colouring Books,

·         Crayola Crayons,

·         Play-doh,

·         Cookie Cutters,

·         Cookies, crackers and fruit, and of course,

·         A quantity of Apps downloaded onto Michelle’s new iPad.

Perhaps the funniest of all the preparations made was the realisation that there was in-flight entertainment but Charlotte hates having anything on her head.

The following sequence of photos shows Tig practising wearing headphones in Halifax in the event that she might find the Wiggles or Clifford the Big Red Dog on Air New Zealand’s program line up.

Elmo's World

I'm not one to use the television as a baby sitter, but let's face it; Jim Henson is a bloody legend. Without the Children's Television Workshop there would be no chance to catch up on the house work or sneak outside for a quiet cuppa.

I could go on and on about how Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby have captivated our daughter's imagination and are slowly teaching her the A, B, C's and 1, 2, 3's; but given that Charlotte (gratefully) received FOUR Elmo's and THREE Cookie's dolls for Christmas - I don't think you need much of an explanation.

Check out this clip of Charlotte (sitting in her new push chair bough specially for travelling to New Zealand), eating Cheerios and watching the beginning of Elmo's World...
If you listen carefully, you can even hear her say 'hello' to Elmo's pet goldfish, Dorothy!

"Hi everybody! Elmo's so happy to see you."

Cleanliness is next to Tiggy-ness

As if it wasn't bad enough that Charlotte likes to wipe the tray of her high chair after dinner and has started emptying the dishwasher for her Mum; we have now discovered that she's into mopping the lino too...

...perhaps there's some Joan Pinfold or Kim Taylor in her after all.

Tiggy’s Tinkles

Ok, I know what you’re thinking. Charlotte is still a little bit young for us to be expecting her to be potty trained, but this is how it is. All the big kids at Day Care have their own pot (with name tags to boot), so we thought Charlotte should have one too.

Well, talk about the new favourite toy!

No sooner had we got the potty home, did Charlotte crank into ‘Self Potty Training Mode’. The kid spent a good part of the first week dragging it all around the house and parading it to everyone who walked through the door.

She practiced sitting in it fully dressed, she practiced sitting in it with just naps, and the other day guess what; she climbed on right before her bath and behold…

Tiggy tinkled!!!

We know full well that this picture will be somewhat embarrassing to Charlotte as she gets older, but our baby just went potty on her own, and check it out;

Mum was so proud!

Anyway poppet, that’s all we’ll say about it for now because you’ll be in your Elmo Diapers for a little while yet, but at least you go to a Day Care where toilet training comes as part of the sticker price.

Good one kid, now all you have to do is remember to put the seat back down like Mum asked you too ;)

Love Dad, xx

A Fall Song

by Ellen Robena Field

Golden and red trees Nod to the soft breeze, As it whispers, "Winter is near;" And the brown nuts fall At the wind's loud call, For this is the Fall of the year. Good-by, sweet flowers! Through bright Summer hours You have filled our hearts with cheer We shall miss you so,  And yet you must go, For this is the Fall of the year. Now the days grow cold, As the year grows old, And the meadows are brown and sere;  Brave robin redbreast  Has gone from his nest, For this is the Fall of the year. I do softly pray At the close of day, That the little children, so dear, May as purely grow As the fleecy snow That follows the Fall of the year.

Tigs First Words

Charlotte's initial experiments with the English language include the following syllables on her now venerable vocabulary list:

- Neuw, (NO!)
- All done
- Mum
- Wool, (Will)
- Da-daa
- Nann
- on? (lights, ceiling fan, tv)
- hullo? (Hand to ear when phone is ringing)
- Bear
- Elmo
- Cookie, num num
- Bum bum, (often accompanied by derty)
- No more
- More
- Oh mammy, mammy, mammy, (go away Mum, I don't want my face washed/bum changed/chakra messed with)
- Book
- Turdle, (turtle)
- Eny, (Ernie)
- Nana, (banana)
- A-pull, (apple)
- A'ball, (ball)
- Shoes'on, (shoes)
- Dog,
- kittycat
- Pffftttt ffftttt fffttttttttt!!!!, (Elephant)
- Tongue click, click, click, (Giraffe)
- [Puffing Sound], (Monkey)
- Rrrrrr, (Lion)
- Dragon, and my favourite;
- Heeeeeee, (I look good in the mirror today).

Quick, call Oxford. The kid's a baby genius!!!

Bilby St - Street Bash

HRM Fire truck stopped by the party to let the kids see the truck

but then it got called away for a fire... 

Drew and baby Alice

Olivia had a little face painting done...

Tiggy and I hi-jack a little scooter and go for a joy ride

About to get caught by the owner of said scooter...

Being told off by scooter owner :(  

oh well, it was fun while it lasted.





 The Band - Petty Larceny played in the afternoon - Such a fun day!

Thunder and lightning, crashing down...

Charlotte's predictions about "Thunder" came true. Two days after the fireworks display, we had an epic electrical storm of biblical proportions. Over 2,000 lighting bolts struck Canada on this day, and two people were rushed to hospital with their hair standing out on end. The whole city was rattled... 

...but not my kid, Charlotte. Unlike the fire works - where she was amping to get up and see what was going on - Tig thought the thunder was a non-event. Or at least, that's the way she acted.

     "Banana!" she would say. "Ball!"

Sure, the lightening was entertaining her for about 3.5 micro-seconds; but when all was said and done, the kid practically put herself to bed at the height of the giant tempest, and paid it no more regard. Even when the lightning cracked almost directly above the house, and the thunder rattled glasses on the shelves, she just rolled over and snuggled into Mr. Bear, (That's 'Mr Bear' the Almon St Mascot - not 'Monsieur Bear' from an earlier post).

I fly kite's in Lightening Storms,
I eat Thunder Bolt's for breakfast.
No way man, I'm not scared...

Anyway, poor ol' Deb, Lucy and Philip - they were camped out at Shubie Park in their collapseable camper hoping it wouldn't live up to its name. Eventually, in the interests of comfort and peace of mind, the New Brunswickers saw sense and sought refuge in Gumpy's driveway. Wise move. You know what they say, a good storm in the Maritimes is like a red-neck's divorce. Either way you look at it, somebody's losing the house trailer!

Oh well, at least we know the camper doesn't leak! And we also know that Charlotte Lillian (a veteran of the fire-works), prefers Treehouse TV over The Weather Channel any day. That kid man. She just rolls with the punches and takes it all with a grain of salt. 

Roll on hurricane season now, I suppose. Sigh! At least the morning after on the Halifax pier was quite the beauty for Barrett's little Privateer...

Wilbur sends.

Happy Birthday Halifax!!

On the 1st August it was Halifax's Birthday - not that any of the locals knew what "Natal Day" was all about - to most, it is just another excuse for a day off work. Michelle and I were watching another episode of Damages when we heard the first of the fireworks crack above the city. It must have been around 10pm. 

Illegal backyard explosions are nothing new in the North End of Halifax, so it was 5 minutes in before we actually decided to grab the baby out of bed and run across the road for a look - but I am so glad that we did.

Charlotte was already standing up in her crib, holding onto the bars and staring at the pink and blue and green lights flashing through her curtains. "Thunda!" she said, as if I needed prompting about the likely source of all the noise.

Wrapped in blankets and standing with a bunch of strangers from across the street, we three stood and watched in wonderment. 

There were Dahlia's, and Spider's and Willow's; Horsetails, and Smiley Faces, and even Bengal Fire - but what was most spectacular, was that on this one night it was pretty clear to see that all of us were seeing something we'd never seen before... 

Michelle and I spent more time watching Charlotte's face than we did looking at the fire works. Her jaw dropped, she clapped her hands and her eyes grew wider and wider. It was a picture of pure wonderment. A moment caught in time. Michelle had tears in her eyes she was laughing so hard. We found ourselves watching the fire works through that little midget's eyes. 

She clapped, and blinked and at one stage even let out a little, "Whoah!!!" It was really quite the scene.

Haha, bloody great! Thanks kiddo. It's pretty neat to see fireworks again for the first time. I forgot how great they really are. Good times ;)

Hop-Scotch!

Nana Niccy and Lucy visit Halifax

Kia ora Kiwi Kuz.

Peek-a-Blue-Blocker-Boo!

Christmas in July - well... almost!

Hey guys, Tig here - how'ya goin'.

It just occurred to me that I never managed to tell you guys about my first Christmas - well, better late than never, so here goes....

Twas the night before Xmas, and all through the house, not a Tiggy was stirring - not even a mouse... ha, that's not altogether true. In fact, I have to tell you, my first Yule time was no walk in the park.

Actually, it was really quite frightening.

Dad had been freaking me out all week. For some reason he was getting all excited and telling bedtime stories about some scary old man who was going to climb down the chimney and do something nasty to all my toys!

I was terrified - was Dad trying to tell me that the scary dude from Day Care, with the big beard and the romper-stomper boots was 'COMING BACK'???

First of all, why was that wanna-be Saint Nicolas coming back to my house to steal all my toys, and more importantly - what was he going to do to us when he finds out that we don't even have a chimney???

I mean, c'mon guys - the last time we met that old white beard he told me he had "something special" for me, then the next thing I know...

He's trying to stuff me into his duffle bag!!!

I was having none of it then, and I tell you what - I'd have no more of it a month before my first birthday - Christmastide or not!!!

Anyway, stressful as it was the night before Xmas, when all I could think about was being carried off by the evil bagman in magenta - by next morning I realised that perhaps I had it all wrong.

I remember how Mum and Dad had decided to try and sleep in after getting me up for my bottle and a change of naps like they usually do.

Dad quickly fell back to sleep (like usual) and was just starting to snore when I finally figured out how to turn the television on - *FULL VOLUME*. Then I accidentally set the television to some shipping channel from the harbour with lots of static on it, and promptly lost the remote behind the headboard.

Haha, before long we were all up and about together and having a grand old time. (Sleeping in on Xmas morning is a waste of heart beats anyway).

Anyway, like I was saying; Xmas was a really confusing time for me being only 11 months old back then, (that is 335 days for those of you who like to count). I remember it like it was only yesterday.
The craziness started when Mum started getting me dressed.

Instead of my usual Dikies jeans, diaper shirt and grey hoodie, Mum insisted that I dress up like one of those Fruit-loop Elves on the Treehouse Holiday Special.

Xmas or not, Ma'ma knows I didn't like wearing hats back then but still insisted that I wore a giant sock on my head everywhere I went. Gee's Louise - I was starting to feel like a travelling road show.

Anyway, dressing up to the nines wasn't the part that was confusing me... but it sure was a sign of things to come.

...it was when we went down to Day Care and Mum palmed me off to some strange old man with a pot belly and a white beard growning out of his eye balls that I really lost my belly wick...

Anyway, it's all done now. I've had over six months to recover from the stress of it, so I guess now is the time to write about my feelings before the old man gets stuck with the life-long expense of taking me to therapy!

Season's Greetings out of season you guys. Love you lots, Tig xx