City Slicker Kid

You know you are raising a west coast city slicker when:

1. We say, "Let's go to a coffee shop." and she responds with, "Hooray!"

2. She thinks that snow is a form of dirt.

3. She knows how to hold the elevator for other people and is adept at using a fob.

4. She knows the word lobby.

5. She loves getting out the yoga mat and exercising.

6. Sushi is her favourite food.

7. The only farm animals she's ever seen are 2 inches high and made of plastic.

8. She carries a purse. In her purse is a wallet. And a cell phone. (Not a real phone though, I promise!)

9. She thinks guitars and saxophones are mainly found on street corners.

10. She's made a sport out of pigeon chasing.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Festivals, France, and more to come...

In case you haven't seen them yet, there are a few new posts up on motion58.com. Pop over to see the latest news on Kyle's films. There is more exciting news coming up in the next several days so keep checking back!

I Heart Vancouver

This is a Vancouver music video with the band Watasun, former Granville Street buskers.

Goodnight Papa

I got the camera out too late and didn't get her dragging out all her blankets from her room to tuck him in. But I caught story time, which is the best part. Well actually, the ending is the best part.

Baby's First Haircut

Make that, Toddler's First Haircut.

It's been a long road, this hair growing business. After over two years we finally decided that Esmé was starting to look like Patrick Kane and it was time for a haircut.

Sometimes I make a parenting move that, pre-baby, I swore I would never do. Spending 28 bucks on my kid's first haircut when I have perfectly good scissors at home is one of those choices.

But hey, if you got to sit in a pink car while you got your hair cut, you might just pay that extra cash too.

This was the most girly experience either of us have ever had. Esmé had a choice of Thomas the Train, Lightning McQueen, or a pink Barbie car. But even after I tried telling her how cool the train was, she insisted on this Pepto Bismol car. Maybe it's because I put her in a pink shirt this morning. Or maybe I'm failing as a mother.

Ever since Esmé watched Grama get her haircut, she's been super excited to get hers cut. She often pretends that she's my hairdresser and spends a looooong time combing, "cutting", and blowdrying my hair. (It actually feels kinda nice!)

So I told the hairdresser that Esmé will do just fine and I'm positive that she will sit very still. But I guess the hairdresser has had one too many rowdies and insisted on turning on the TV during the cut.

Notice the glazed look of Dora-hypnotism.

So after the cut, the blow-dry, and the application of more hair products than I have in my bathroom cupboard, out comes the red glitter shaker. Yes, glitter. The stuff you use with glue. On paper. During craft time. The stuff that you never want your kid bringing home because you will still be finding bits of it after your kid has left for college, let alone imbedded in her hair for all eternity. Esmé's expression above echoes my thoughts exactly.

In the end she left with some sort of sparkly, poofy, pagent-girl hairdo, but it was definitely worth the experience.

And no girly experience would be complete without a halter-top wearing Barbie sticker to take home.

Crayola

Esmé and I were colouring the other day I noticed this...

What? REALLY? Oh dear Crayola, have you forgotten what century we are in? I checked the black crayon. Nope, no mention of Africa. Maybe that would be a little too obvious.

Okay, for you factual types out there, I did do my research a bit and found out that, according to the Crayola website, Indian Red is also a reddish-brown oil paint found near India. But hey, that's not the point! Intent doesn't matter when the first thing that comes to most people's minds is not obscure oil paint but a racist reference to a people who have endured centuries of brutality. Let's not normalize these terms any more than they already are. Who are these crayon-colour-thinker-uppers anyway? Sheesh.