Music class

As you will have noticed from a previous post, music - listening and playing - is something that will hopefully be a big part of Kirin's life. From an early age, he has been exposed to a lot of it. Jack Johnson used to be the music of choice for massage time and Bob Marley has already featured heavily. More recently, we have discovered that Kirin is preety keen on The White Stripes, too.

At Christmas, one of his gifts was a lovely little set of musical instruments (courtesy of granny) that includes a harmonica, kazoo, set of spoons, tambourine, egg shakers and a percussion instrument in the shape of a fish. Fortunately, it's one of those toys that will is able to entertain both mummy and son. And, it may also be inspiring Kirin to become a comedian.

Snow

This photo (not a great pic but one of the few of the three of us) was taken on Boxing Day in Waterton Lakes National Park, which is about 90 minutes away from my parents in Lethbridge. This is a pretty quiet park compared to some of the others in the Rockies and in winter the place virtually shuts down, except for some hard-core back country skiers and the like.

Normally, there is a lot more snow on the ground but there was more than enough for Kirin to have a good time. Of course, judging by our facial expressions, you could be forgiven for thinking that the parents were enjoying it more than he was!

Islands in the Stream

Country music. It's not quite not my bag but some of the folky/bluegrass stuff is pretty good (think Johnny Cash). Johanna, however, is a fan and is especially keen on Dolly Parton. So, the plan is for the two of us to sing "Islands in the Stream" at our next karaoke session. Until then, here is a clip of mummy and son practising their vocals and dance routine.

Christmas in Canada

It's 12:30am and jetlag leads me to think about updating the blog.

The little video above is of Kirin and his three-year-old cousin Suran (the daughter of my brother Sunil and his wife Rehana, who live just outside of Calgary). Johanna (and Sunil?) was decorating the tree and these guys were endeavouring to untangle one of the rows of beads. It was a long process. And yes, Kirin is saying "Mama" on seeing Johanna. Incidentally, he also says mama when looking at the cats, our friend's dog Louie and, occasionally, me.

I have to admit, I was a little worried that Suran wouldn't take to Kirin; she is used to being the only grandchild (although she has a new, four-month-old brother called Yash) and I wasn't sure she would be too keen on sharing the limelight. Well, fortunately, I was wrong - Suran is a precocious, cute and curious little girl, and these two were inseparable for the entire two weeks. It was beautiful to watch them playing together and she was wonderfully sweet with him. One day, we went to see some family friends and she introduced him to Sonal by putting her hand on his shoulder and saying in her small, lispy voice: "This is my friend, Baby Kirin."

Sufice to say, we had a great time with the family. I really missed not having my sister around but we still managed to enjoy lots of good food, much wine (mostly Sunil's impressive homemade vintage), many early nights and a fair bit of playing in the snow. Will post more pics when I get a chance, including some shots of the kids on their sleds.

One final note, our good friends Auntie Sarah and Uncle Scott became proud parents in October to little Max and have created their own blog to show him off. Click here to check him out.

Happy new year!