Go Canada Go!

Not sure if it was the two-day-old taco salad, or a stomach flu relapse, but last night was not a good one for me.

I'll leave it at that.

This morning, coffee in hand, I'm feeling better. And I'm ready for another day of Olympic fun. Much to the dismay of Sonwun and Sontoo, the TV has been tuned to the Olympic channel pretty much all day since Friday night. Good-bye Dora, good-bye Diego.

It's one of the joys of being the stay-at-home parent. I get to watch it all. And yes, I've seen each of Canada's medal victories so far. Great stuff. Go team go!

All three of my favourite moments, thus far, have been at events where Canada has medalled. Big surprise, yes?

In the women's moguls, where Canadian Jenn Heil took silver, I enjoyed watching American Shannon Bahrke. For those of you that didn't watch this event, there are three giant pillows that the top three skiers sit in. As better scores come in, those three are bumped down and, eventually, off the big pillows.

It can't be easy to sit there, waiting for the big bump. But Bahrke's enthusiasm for the new winners felt real. She started in the top spot and with each bump, she enthusiastically congratulated the new top dog. And when a team mate fell during her run, she met her at the bottom of the hill with a giant hug. Great to see.

Others on the big pillows congratulated new winners, but for most of them it looked more like a formality than a heart-felt expression of camaraderie.

Bahrke ultimately took bronze, by the way.

In speed skating, I loved watching Kristina Groves. Again, the enthusiasm she showed, the little dance when she won, the little dance on the podium . . . the unbridled joy was just fantastic to see. She grabbed bronze in the 3000m event. I just loved watching her.

And finally, Canada's golden boy, Alex Bilodeau, who brought home the top prize last night in the men's moguls. An awesome display, made better by his older brother Frederic. I won't get into the entire story there, but it was cool. (You can read more about it here.) Alex's brother has cerebral palsy and, according to the gold medallist, Frederic has inspired him and taught him many life lessons that contributed to the drive to win. Really cool to watch Frederic celebrate his little brother's victory!

Anyhoo, as for the MTV, etalk additions to CTV's coverage of the games, I'm tolerating the extra crap. It has not been as offensive as it was the first morning.

I still don't care about who's dating who and I have yet to see an MTV bit that I actually find funny or amusing or even mildly entertaining. But at least it's not as offensive as the opening night recap.

I'll leave it at that for now.

Go CANADA!

Short and Sweet

Well, the day started almost perfectly. Sontoo, who is still in the early phases of communication, covered all the bases.

He calls from his crib at 6 a.m., daddyyyyyyyy, daddyyyyyyyy. I hear it through the baby monitor in the basement, where I'm enjoying my coffee and Andre Agassi's book, OPEN. I'm several chapters in and so far, it's interesting and very readable. I admired Agassi when he was in his prime, the whole rebel thing in addition to his outstanding play. But when you find out where it all came from . . . I'll let you read the book.

Anyway, I make my way upstairs before Sontoo wakes up momma. I open the door, walk in, close it.

"Hewooe Daddy!" he says, in a chipper little voice that always makes me smile.

"Hi Sontoo."

I turn on the little lamp and turn to see him on his back, smiling. He rolls over, gets to his feet and balls up the gramma blankets. He has two, and he won't go to bed without them.

He collects them in his arms, stands and waits to be picked up. I oblige and he snuggles into my shoulder as we take the short walk to the change table.

"Towmater," he says, pointing to the brown tow truck character on his Cars wallpaper.

When the change is over, he rebundles the gramma blankets and snuggles back into my shoulder for the trip downstairs. It's early, so I'm hoping we can settle in together on the couch, maybe snuggle and rest for a few minutes

"Dwink pees," he says, just as I get comfortable.

I get back up and go to fill a sippy with milk.

I return. He laughs with anticipation when he sees the cup.

"Denk oo," he says upon receipt of said cup.

For me, that's the perfect start to any day. Happy, content boy. Please and thank you. Not yet 2 years old.

It's gotta be a good day.