Gold Medal Baby

This is the line where I should apologize for not blogging very much. Consider it done.

I have several stories to tell today -- not all baby stuff, though Quinn is now clearly the star around which we orbit. His gravity is every bit as strong to us as that of the Earth beneath our feet.

It's Sunday morning, with the big hockey game coming up at noon. All of Canada will be watching, but I will miss being with the boys for such a big TV sports occasion. I've thoroughly enjoyed these Olympics by way of television, more so than any other. I honestly don't know if actually being in Vancouver would have been much fun for us, with all the crowds and lineups and requisite spending. But I'm probably wrong about that. Bethany and I tuned in to the slalom ski event yesterday morning that we could have attended with some tickets I won from work, and she made a great point that made me feel better about not using them. "Can you imagine us there in those grandstands, trying to change a diaper?" No way. We've done just fine following things from the living room, I don't feel like I've missed anything event-wise. And as for the vibe in Van, I can experience that vicariously through the many people we know who did go over, took photos, and will have stories to tell for a long time I'm sure. That aspect of the Games has been well covered in both the mass and social media. Vancouver has done very well these past two weeks! Maybe I'll get more into the Olympics another time.

Quinn is doing great, growing steadily and continuing to impress us with his development. We're getting lots of smiles now, even had a first giggle! He rolled over for the first time a few days ago, and he is adjusting beautifully to the recent switch from disposable to cloth diapers. He must be double his birth weight by now. Sleeping patterns have improved from where they began, but getting up to deal with feedings and diapers remains a daily thing. Seems Dad gets the better sleep for the first half of the night, while Mom has to play catch-up from about 4, 5 or 6 o'clock on with Daddy and Quinn moved out of the bedroom. Once departed, father and son may sleep more on the couch, or dad may stay awake with baby asleep strapped to his chest (as he is now).

We enjoyed a super trip down to Victoria last weekend for Quinn's welcoming party at Bethany's parents' place. Anne did a terrific job setting it all up and making all the food for a good five dozen guests. We got the chance to visit with many good friends, some of whom we hadn't seen since our wedding. Once the party was over, Anne followed up with dinner for 11! It turned into a lovely intimate occasion with immediate family only. That was the night of the Canada-USA round robin game that shared everyone's attention with the Baby of Honour for a few hours. We had such a great time, we decided to stay in town an extra night. It was a great opportunity to spend precious hours with family, the grandparents especially. We took Quinn to my mom's work, and to Bethy's mom's sorority meeting (at the IMAX theatre!). Also out with both grandmas for dinner at Red Robin, our fave Victoria restaurant.

Quinn does very well in noisy public places like that, so long as he's bundled up to one of us in this sweet baby wrap thing we bought online. He seems unfazed in rooms full of chatter, like restaurants or potlucks or whatever. Music is especially useful in keeping him docile, and the louder the better. That stems from all Bethany's pregnant jamming with her bluesy rock band here on Denman, Full Circle. He's been exposed to full volume sound waves since being a wee fetus. We asked the experts to make sure such exposure wasn't harmful back then, and they said go ahead and rock out -- it would have sounded to him like having your head dunked in the bathtub with a stereo blaring. But I don't think we'd have him in the same room as a drum kit anymore, now that's he's out of the tub.

I mentioned IMAX, we saw the Stomp production titled "Pulse" -- it was very good, you should make sure to catch that one. Pretty easy call, I've never seen a bad IMAX film. One of the previews was particularly exciting -- there's another NASA production coming soon all about the recent Hubble repair mission. I'll be sure to have my glasses taped and pocket protected in time for that one!

There was a major fire on our own street a couple of days ago. Our neighbours unfortunately lost their house, though nobody was hurt. It was a spectacular blaze, fully engulfed by the time the department arrived. It was about 10am, and I had Quinn strapped to me much as I do now. The pager went off, and the words "Denman Island Fire Department... structure fire, Baikie Road..." sent a surge of adrenalin even stronger than usual, since it was so close to home. Not too close as it turns out, it was way at the opposite end of the street, probably 300 yards away. I passed Quinn off to Bethany and tore out of there to the hall. Strange to be speeding AWAY from the fire scene, but that's how it works! We're all useless without proper attire and equipment. The dispatcher was clear from the start that everyone was out of the house, so that was a relief. Once on scene, I was tasked with another guy to haul a hose into the adjacent yard and start putting water into the rear of the structure, which was not yet fully involved. There was no saving the house, but we had a chance at perhaps saving part of the building and maybe some contents. I think it was too late, but I'm honestly not sure how it turned out back there. Our other priority was to keep the perimiter soaked to prevent the fire from spreading into the trees.

Our hose was the thicker kind -- 2½ inches in diameter, as opposed to the 1½ more easily handled by one person. Ideally, you want two people on the small hose and three on the big one, but there were just the two of us. It was tough work to keep that thing aimed correctly -- one has to work the nozzle, while the other supports from behind by holding the hose level and bracing his partner against the force of the water. The chief (who is also our realtor) was there beside us to coach us along (both of us had only seen a few structure fires to date). Alas, the building was doomed and collapsed before too long.

I used up my air bottle and retreated into the ambulance for the rehab phase. This is where they take your vitals while you rehydrate and eat some energy food in preparation for going back to work. Once the paramedics are satisfied with your recovery, you're cleared to return to the fire ground. I strapped on a second tank and was assigned to target some remaining spot fires and smoulder points. All told, the operation took about six hours and I was exhausted by the end. A few days later, I'm still sore from wrestling with that 2½" line. It certainly sucks to see a neighbour's house burn to the ground, but it's all just stuff in the end. I thought we did a pretty good job, and it was an experience I was sure I'd need to deal with sooner or later. We'll go through events at the next practice, and we'll be a stronger department for it.

Early in the fire, Bethany and Quinn got bundled up for a walk down the street to have a look. It was light drizzle, so they didn't stay long. There were on-lookers throughout, but Bethy could tell pretty quickly that she was in the way so they didn't stay long (the tankers were in and out constantly bringing more water to us). She took an adorable video of Quinn in his fireman's onesie right before they left -- copies available upon request.

That's all the bloggin' I've got in me for now. Quinn is stirring -- time to go wake up Mom! Thanks for reading, good health to all.