2013 Christmas Letter

2013! The end of the year is upon us again. Just after writing last year, I was sent off to the Midwest Clinic, a musical expo in Chicago, Ill, which rates as one of the coldest places on earth, or so it seemed. The expo itself consisted of concerts, workshops and seminars on many genres of music from classical to jazz, old to modern. There were also instrumental seminars and even a masterclass on musical direction and conducting by Leonard Slatkin and another by Wynton Marsalis. I arrived home on the afternoon of Liam’s second birthday, for which he was very excited.

In February I travelled to the UK for the naming dedication service for Ivy (Sermons – who is my youngest Goddaughter) in Colchester. For February in the UK it was rather mild. It was also good to catch up with some of the old Brunel crew.

April brought the next lot of Highland Dancing examinations, which kept us busy for two days. Lynne Hamilton came back to Bermuda, and whilst here was able to take time out of her busy schedule to see a bit of the island. Liam also entered a red with a yellow border Hibiscus flower into the Agricultural Exhibition and won a first prize. He also liked looking at the many other exhibits.

May was rather cool. Liam enjoyed the festivities at the Bermuda Day Parade. His favourite was the Regiment Band (of course). It also brought the arrival of the largest ship ever to dock on Bermuda, the Norwegian Breakaway, which is the fourth largest cruise ship in the world. Onsite Engineering played a big part in ensuring that the dock was strong enough. Our biggest project yet, although it was mainly the structural side of the business who played the biggest role. Liam won two firsts and a third place in his school sports day events. Apparently he has picked that trait up from his mother.

It finally warmed up enough to go swimming in June. In fact we have been to the beach more this year than we have in probably the last ten. We also took Liam fishing for the first time. He caught a variety of white and yellow grunts, a cowpolly and even a greedy little black joe.

We also held our second Highland Games. This year we had a lot of International participation, with the “H” division band of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police being the stars, escorting the His Excellency, the Governor through the streets of Hamilton to the Saltus Grammar School field. The Highland Dancing competition had its first overseas participants from the MacKenzie School of Dance, Nova Scotia, the Schiehallion Dancers and Sandra Bald-Jones Studio from Ontario and dancers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It was a superb event once again and we look forward to the next one in 2015.

July and August were mainly swimming, fishing and visits to the Aquarium, on weekends at least. Liam played the bass drum at Band practice. At the end of August I became the Pipe Major of the Bermuda Islands Pipe Band. The jury is still out as to whether this is a good thing or not.

The Regiment Band travelled to Estes Park, Colorado at the beginning of September to participate in the Estes Park Tattoo and Highland Games. Our show called for me to switch from clarinet to bagpipes and back again whilst doing a display. Needless to say, it took a few rehearsals to get it right, but in the end, it worked very well. We drove to Denver on the Monday and overnighted there. It was very lucky we did, as the torrential rains came that afternoon and washed away the road which we used to leave the town and Estes Park had about a foot of water down the main street. Then on arriving in Miami, we were informed that due to a nearby Tropical Storm, the Bermuda Airport was closed and we had to overnight again in that city. Later in the month, Grandpa celebrated his 99^th birthday.

Liam continues to grow up fast. It seems like every day he is learning something new, a new word or even a song. We made him a Regiment Band uniform for his Halloween costume, and he wore it with pride, although we think he was a little disappointed that he didn’t get to march in the band with his daddy. We also discovered that he is going to be a big brother in about May of next year.

November and December are traditionally the countdown months for Christmas. This year has been no different and the time has flown by rather too quickly. I was invited to play at the Jardine Mathieson headquarters for their annual St. Andrews Day celebration alongside Major Steven Small, Director of the Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming. It was a bit nerve racking, but I think I held my own quite well. He also held a master-class for the members of the band, each getting about 30 minutes of instruction. I certainly learned a lot, and our tuning appears to be much better as a result. That same weekend, the Dancers held workshops with Dana Gamache from Canada in preparation for their examinations in April next year.

Last Saturday, we held a fund-raising bake sale for the dancers and raised quite a sum to assist with hall rentals and bursaries for the children who cannot afford the nominal fees for lessons, examinations and competition. The Dance Corps. is also looking to visit Canada next July and compete in a couple of competitions there. Much to our surprise, a taxi pulled up and Santa Claus himself came and bought some goodies! Marisa is also continuing to submit papers for her Doctorate degree, which should be successfully concluded early in the new year. I will then thankfully be made redundant in my role as proofreader-in-chief.

And so another year draws to a close. Next year promises to be an exciting one and we find out what life is like as four. I have been told by one friend that 1+1 makes a whole lot more than 2. So it remains for me to wish you a very Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays and for a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2014.

Aidan, Marisa, Liam & …..

Bad Blogger... Bearing News

Back to our old bad habits of posting once or twice a year!

Yes, it is almost time for our annual letter and time for Liam's third birthday update. But I would be somewhat ashamed of myself if I were to look back and see that the only mention of us expecting Sproglet 2.0 would appear in those two letters when he or she has been hanging around with us for 4-5 months thus far...

Yes, our biggest surprise of 2013 is that Liam will be a big brother! Definitely not expected, planned or otherwise. A rather nice surprise once we got over the shock of it all. And we were shocked. I honestly thought that I was getting ill and expected to hear the worst at my October nephrologist appointment. I didn't expect a day later to be looking at a positive pregnancy test and then two weeks later finding out that we were almost 13 weeks along!

So now I will make an effort to blog the experience so that i may share it with our future addition in that same way i plan to share Liam's blog books with him. While I am surprised, I am grateful for the opportunity and pray that we will have a healthy and uneventful pregnancy.

So more later!

Liam - 24 months

Date/Week:  24 months

Milestones: 

• Liam was a gingerbread boy playing the drum in his Christmas Concert.
• Had a family only party for his 2nd birthday with a donut cake with muppet characters on it
• received many musical instruments - he's really good with the drum and knows how to blow the recorder to get sound. He also plonks away on his electronic keyboard
• Prefers to listen to piano music or marches in the car
• Favourite words - mine, mummy, daddy
• Received his first piece of mail from the school that he might go to for foundation year 
• Christmas was great fun!

Developmental Progress:  

• Says that his name is Liam!
• Shares with mummy and daddy and the dogs. Getting better with other kids
• Starting to say please and thank you more consistently
• still 10th percentile for height/weight - but he does have long legs!
• Counts to 20
• If you ask him for a particular colour block he will give it to you but he does not tell you what the color is when you ask him
• Changes the beat on his drum in accordance to the tempo that Aidan is playing at on the recorder
• Brushes his teeth on his own
• Knows up and down and says it when he is jumping
• Can point out some numbers consistently and a few letters
• Still remembers some spanish words whenever we pull out that book at night
• Sings Twinkle, Twinkle, BINGO, Row your boat, 3 Blind Mice and Jingle Bells. Also knows the Alleluia and a few other sung responses at church
• Likes to dance to music and is good at galloping to the music
• Knows the names of all of his classmates and says hi or bye to them
•  

Thoughts and Feelings? 

I'm late updating but it has been busy - as usual. I am happy that Liam had a proper party this year for his birthday as everyone was sick for his 1st birthday. He had a wonderful time and received many musical instruments. We ended up having a jam session at the end of his party - he game each one of us an instrument and he played his drum and we had a really good time! And we sounded good (Aidan was playing the recorder and boy, he's good! I guess the recorder for a clarinet player is simple!)

So now we're looking at 2013. Not sure how I'll do updates. Liam is now in the transition class and next month attends the open house for the school he may attend starting September 2014. In the meantime he's learning so quickly and it is glorious. I just love watching him explore the world.

As for us, Aidan is doing a promotion course for the Regiment through to the end of March and I am working on finishing this degree. Then there's highland exams to coordinate and the Highland Games in June. So 2013 is hopefully going to be a year of adventure!

What I am looking forward to: 

Graduating this year!

2012 Christmas Letter

Season’s Greetings to all. Since the last letter we have once again had a very eventful year. Having a one year old has ensured that we are always on our toes. Liam has grown from a baby firmly into toddlerhood this year. Words become more distinct and more plentiful by the day. As with every toddler, his favourite one is “NO!” However, thus far we are grateful that he is generally an amiable soul.

Mid-December found Aidan as a single parent as Marisa was sent to an EU sponsored conference in Antigua. On 16^th December, my brother, Brendan and Suzy had a son, Benjamin Thomas. Mother and baby came through well. Liam’s first birthday also a few days before Christmas. We held a small celebration for him and a big one for us, as we held our annual Christmas party on the same day. Christmas came and went and we rang in the New Year. Liam went into the Toddler class and settled in well. Very soon after this he started walking, one step at a time to start with, then many, then faster, then running – and now Daddy and Mummy are tired.

As has become customary, Aidan and Marisa walked the PALS (Patients’ Assistance League Service – a cancer care charity) walk. This involves a 15 mile trek from Dockyard to Hamilton. Unfortunately, Marisa sprained her foot on this walk and this has dogged her for a good part of the year. Aidan also ran his first APWT (Annual Personal Weapons Test) with the Regiment as a Senior Range Conducting Officer, following his qualification in the same in 2011.

Marisa’s dissertation proposal was approved in March and although she is still working on it - The End is Near!  Overall it was a mild and dry winter, which was a significant change from the last two or three. This meant that the plants in the garden started to bloom in late March and early April, instead of June. April also brought another round of Highland Dancing examinations.

Following in the Highland theme, Bermuda hosted its first Highland Games in June, ably assisted by the Band and Soldiers of the Atholl Highlanders, the personal private army of the Duke of Atholl. Events included the “Toss of the Caber” and a kilted relay race. Aidan was in charge of “The Highland Run”, which was a 6 mile cross country race, which included four steep hills. Most participants liked the course, however admitted that it was tough. Marisa ran the Highland Dancing Competition. Once again we had no overseas dance groups. However there is a promise of several when the Games returns in June 2013, so stay tuned. The Atholl Highlanders also participated in the Queen’s Birthday Parade in celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.  They were the first foreign contingent to participate since the British and Canadian forces left Bermuda in 1995. Sgt. Stones also received his Diamond Jubilee Medal. Liam also won his first medal when he came first in a running race at his school sports day.

The Regiment Band travelled to Jamaica in late June to participate in the Jamaica Military Tattoo, part of Jamaica’s 50^th Anniversary of Independence celebrations. We were housed at the University of the West Indies, and I was prepared for the mosquitoes. An electric fan also greatly helped. The Canadian Army sent a group, which included members of the Ceremonial Guard from 2011, and the Trinidad & Tobago Steel Band was there from our visit to Virginia in 2007. One of the more interesting visits was to the JDF Coastguard and we had a tour of one of their new Coast Guard ships.

August was hot, humid and horrible, so we spent most of it indoors. However, September brought cooler weather when we travelled to Ireland and Boston with Aidan's parents. We stayed in a very nice apartment on the outskirts of Dublin. We took Aidan’s parents to Valleymount, and the Poulaphuca reservoir under which the village of Blackditches lies. This is the ancestral home of the Stones family. We also met up with my father’s cousin, Dermot on a number of occasions, as they had never met. Dermot’s sons Hugh and Rory also met us one evening for dinner. We were delighted when Dermot arranged a visit to a restored Martello tower, overlooking Dalkey including a personal tour from the owner and restorer. We took Liam to an exhibit called Imaginosity, which was billed as a Children’s Museum. It is actually a series of interactive exhibits for children of all ages, including a grocery store, rally car driving simulator and a three storey climbing apparatus to name a few.

From Ireland we flew to Boston, where we stayed for the final weekend. We saw a concert by Idina Menzel at the Wang Center and took Liam to the Davis Farmland. This year he was followed around by a young goat. Unfortunately, Aidan got very sick on the final day, which put a bit of a damper on events.

Marisa spent a good proportion of the Autumn compiling data and writing the various parts of her dissertation. Aidan was drafted in to assist. Liam takes a parent and tot dance class on Saturday mornings, which he appears to enjoy. He is also becoming a drummer, having a very good sense of rhythm. He has been known to parade around the house with a bucket on his head and being a drum major.

Aidan has also spent some time on Ancestry.com, in the public library in Dublin and collating information from other family members and sources. He has developed quite an extensive family history. One particular branch leads back to Normandy in France, where an ancestor came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. He also discovered several former school and work colleagues who turned out to be relations. Another interesting fact is that his Irish roots lead to a great Grandfather who was a farmer of pigs and chickens in County Wicklow and a great great grandfather who travelled to New York in the late 1800s, which may be where the family legend of the stone carver who created some of the statues in St. Patricks Cathedral, New York may have come from. Another avenue to explore, another clue to investigate.

Next week, Aidan will travel to Chicago for the Mid-West conference. This a four day series of musical workshops to improve his musicality, courtesy of the Bermuda Regiment for being the Best Senior Non-Commissioned Officer for 2012.

In closing, from our family to yours, may we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year for 2013.

Liam - 21, 22 and 23 months

Date/Week: 21, 22 and 23 months

Milestones: 

• He's visited Ireland and met his Irish cousins (we still are working on getting his Irish birth certificate)
• We're doing a 'Parents and Tots' dance class and both Aidan and I go with him
• He comes to my 'Tiny Tots' Highland Dancing class but is still a bit young for most of the activities - he does like it when we march though.'
• He says grace ("God is Great") - the words are not clear but the cadence is correct
• Insists on sitting at the table in a regular chair and eating with our utensils (he'll even eat mini wheats at breakfast if Aidan has them)
• His favourite songs are 'Old Macdonald', 'Bingo', 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' and 'Are You Sleeping' (when he sings 'Morning bells are ringing', it sounds like 'Wanna have a wee-wee')
• He's become a picky eater but thankfully eats broccoli, brussel sprouts and asparagus
• Knows how to use my iPad better than I do
• Favourite iPad app - Disney's 'It's A Small World'
• Favourite YouTube video - Mahna Mahna
• Loves the Muppet Show and is crazy about Animal
• When he wants you to see something he will grab your face in both his hands and then turn your face towards what he wants you to see
• When he wants you to sit next to him, he will pat the space next to him
• Loves his books and has a stash in the car to keep him entertained
• Already singing 'Jingle Bells'
• If you do 'This Little Piggie', he'll laugh 'wee, wee, wee' with you and give you his foot saying 'Other One!'
• Can say 'NO' with a million different intonations
• If you build something with Lego, he must take it apart
• Knows what Aidan does with the electric razor and tries to do the same
• Knows both sets of grandparents - there's Grandma and Grandpa (my parents), Mama and Grandpa (Aidan's parents) and Grandpapa (Aidan's grandfather)

Developmental Progress:  

• He jumps!
• Knows that he is Liam and actually refers to himself sometimes
• Potty training is still in the training phase... will tell you when he needs to go but doesn't usually want to sit on the potty at home. Apparently sits on it but won't go at my parent's house and maybe 50/50 for completing the task at school. 
• In the meantime, he wears pull-ups during the day and diapers at night.
• Is able to point out most animals (and the sounds they make)
• Counts to 10 whenever given the chance and recognizes some of the numbers when he sees them - 1, 2, 8 and sometimes 5
• Getting better identifying colours but not consistent
• Can get up and down the stairs on his own - but we observe him very closely when he decided to do it on his own.
• He is so independent.... and focused when he's doing a task
• Loves doing the wood puzzles with animals
• Knows his body parts really well
• Undresses himself and can pick out his clothing and get mostly dressed (pants easily, shirt a little difficult, shoes and socks on occasion and flip flops are easy
• Knows the names of all the kids in his class
• Turns on his music in the morning and plays or sings while he waits for us to come and get him (thank goodness he isn't climbing out of the crib anymore)
• Climbs on the table, chairs, stools... anything he can climb (sigh!)
• If you try to put him down, he grips on to you with everything, including his toes
• Open and closes doors... privacy is a memory
• Is ok with having his teeth brushed if someone else is brushing their teeth
• Brushes his hair with a brush.... and brushes the dog's fur as well 
• In the bath he tries to wash himself with the soap
• When he arrives at my parent's house he yells out 'Grandpa, where are you?' - not really clearly yet but close!

Thoughts and Feelings? 

I've been tied up in dissertation world so sorry for the lack of updates. Trying to remember three month's worth of developments has been tough. But thankfully there are lots of great memories to pull from to start the process... I may need to do some updates later. In any case, Chapters 4 & 5 of the dissertation are written and the editing process has begun... hope the next few steps go fast!

So Liam is almost 2. He is definitely more boy than baby. He has a very strong personality and I swear will be either a politician or an actor when he grows up. He likes to interact with people and is a constant smiler... unless he's trying to get his way and turns on the water works. And then there the flirting with the ladies. We're so in trouble when he gets older!

He is so enjoyable at this age. He runs us ragged and takes over every second of our day when we're awake. I swear sometimes that I cannot survive the day if he doesn't have a nap on Sundays! He loves his grandparents. He loves his books, he loves Elmo and Animal. He loves music! He still loves to cuddle, especially before bed.

What I am looking forward to: 

His Christmas Concert is on Dec 7th and his birthday is Dec 22nd. We're all home between Dec 25 and Jan 2 so we're thinking of playing tourist that week and taking Liam to all of the rendezvous season events. I am just looking forward to lots of time with my little family!

Boston-Bermuda - 1 Oct

We were up before 5.30 because we had some packing to do. It didn't take that long so we were down to breakfast by 6am. Aidan was feeling better and had cereal but I was going downhill fast and opted for oatmeal in order to have the energy to get home. We were packed in the car an

d off to the airport by 7am. The gps avoided the Mass Pike again but took us via route 9 to just south of the city. We were able to quickly check in ... when did International travel reduce the bag allowance to one bag?

Anyhow, we had a short wait. We didn't take lunch on board since Aidan and I were not in the mood to eat.. such a shame since there was a Johnny Rockets in the terminal. The flight down was quick. We all slept through most of it and Liam only had trouble with his ears during take-off... he was asleep during the landing. 

Sterling - 30th Sept

Another rainy day... worse than yesterday. Everyone is under the weather and I am predicting that I will get sick once I get home. Not happy about this at all!

We tried to make a go of our last full day. We headed out to Sterling, MA and the Davis Farmland. We saw such amazing fall foliage on this drive. We also saw many beautiful houses, barns and fall decorations on porches and in yards. We got to Davis Farmland and were some of the first in. Liam loved the animals. He was followed around by a baby goat and when the goat jumped up on a bench with him he told the goat to 'get down'. Liam interacted with chickens, sheep, goats and emus. He was adorable trying to say 'Llama'. After time in the farm yard he went to the play town and enjoyed the miniature store and tool shed. Afterwards he played in the musical maze. Unfortunately Aidan was feeling really poorly so we decided to head back to Natick. So no apple picking this year but we will definitely be back in the future.

The rest of the day required me to drive the car, as Aidan was out for the count. It has been a while since Aidan loves to drive while we're on vacation. I got everyone sans Aidan from the hotel to the mall in one piece. Shopping with Liam proved to be interesting on my own. At first he walked with me and then due to the number of people and strollers in the mall I got one of the little cars that they rent out to parents. He lounged in his police car as I tried to do some shopping in an hour before I was to meet up with Aidan's parents. I hardly got anything accomplished. Either I wasn't inspired or Liam was rearranging the displays. I guess I will be doing the bulk of my shopping at home this year!

For dinner I dropped Aidan's parents at The Cheesecake Factory and picked up some dinner for my little family. I was the only one who ate though. Liam was asleep and Aidan was not in any shape to eat when I got back. So we had a quiet evening with PBS on tv and decided to do our packing in the morning.