RED MITTENS

Dubbed the "it" souvenir of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, next to a gold medal, the red mittens became the most coveted item in Canada. Oprah, the queen of daytime television, was one of many celebrities to boost the status of the red mittens.

People who didn't even go to the Olympics wanted the red mittens. They were so popular that stores began to ration them. People stood in line hours before the stores opened. The mittens showed up on eBay and people were willing to pay up to 4 times what they were worth. It was a frenzy in Canada, and of course we were a part of it.

Laurin, Joe, and Tim got sucked into the shopping frenzy. After a late night out, early in the morning they dragged themselves to the Official Olympic Store in Whistler well before it opened. It was either that, or face the wrath of some unhappy girlfriends, wives, or moms if they came back to the states empty handed.



As for you...yes, you got your red mittens too.

SUPER POWER

Like me, you've been gifted an amazing ability. Unlike me, I hope that someday you may harness this amazing ability to your advantage. Amazing ability? As in super power? Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.  Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Super Alison?

Well, not quite. More like you can sleep with your eyes open. Super power, no. Amazing ability, sort of. How many people can sleep with their eyes open? Not many.

The only thing I've found it useful for is faking out your dad inadvertently.  He's been known to have conversations with me, thinking I'm awake. He's also been known to panic and check for a breath on me, thinking I'm dead. Wouldn't it be great if you could figure out how to sleep in school with your eyes open? That's every kid's fantasy. After 21 years of school, I never mastered it. May you have better luck.

PEEKARU

While in Whistler my friend Laura and I found it amusing to take pictures of interesting and sometimes odd things...

How in the world did they get these things on a plane from Switzerland?

Is this the Olympic equivalent of a "Kick me" sign?

That's a lot of little snowmen.

Go Vikings?!?

It turns out we weren't the only ones doing this. Your dad had an unusually large number of people approach him for a picture of you and him. Sure, they said it was too cute to not get a picture of you, but I'm thinking it fell more into the interesting and odd category.

Interesting and odd. Kind of like this thing that we found online. The Peekaru. Interesting. Not so cute. Kind of odd. Very creepy. Luckily for you your head was too big to fit through the one we bought for this trip. Seriously, this baby could have been you.

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET

What parents would put their first-born child within feet of a vehicle flying down a mountainside at over 90 miles per hour? Apparently your parents.

Not to worry though because from the looks of it, you loved it.

GOLD MEDAL

What a jam-packed day for a little one. You went on your first of hopefully many ski chairlift rides while we were at the men’s slalom skiing event.

You saw Italy take the gold in that event, and then later that night you got to go to the medal ceremony.

Not only did you see Italy's Giuliano Razzoli get his gold medal, but you experienced your very first concert …Usher.

Your first concert lasted all of three songs. Why only three songs? Did you start crying or have a melt down? No, but your dad would’ve if we'd subjected him any longer to Usher’s pop R&B tunes. 

WINTER OLYMPICS

As a kid, I wanted to go to Hawaii. Palm trees, hula dancers, and the beach. Who wouldn’t want to go? My friends would go there for vacations and I wanted to go there too. Your grandma told me one day that I didn’t need to go to Hawaii because I had gone there when I was almost three years old. She had the pictures to prove it. Too bad I don’t remember. So to this day, Hawaii is still on my vacation list.

You’ve just experienced a similar trip of sorts. You went on a trip that most people would kill to go on. You went to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada! Too bad you’ll never remember it. But I have the pictures to prove it.

Bobsled, biathlon, and slalom skiing.  You saw it all.  And no, that's not an European man purse your dad is wearing.  It's your diaper bag. 

GOODNIGHT WHISTLER

Look who's grabbing things...

It's time to bring out the toys!  After 4 months of either completely ignoring toys or just not realizing what they were for, you've finally started taking an interest in them.  This realization came about a week before we left for your first trip out of the country, to Canada for the Winter Olympics!  And your mother couldn't have been less prepared. 

Diapers, check.  Bottles, check.  Wipes, check.  Clothes, check.  Bibs, check.  Burp cloths, check. Butt balm, check. Pacifiers, check.  Formula, check.  Blankets, check.  Travel bed, check.  Baby passport, check.  Car seat, check.  Baby Bjorn, check.  Toys, oops. 

Missed the boat on toys.  So instead of reading you Goodnight Moon every night before bed, you were read whatever Whistler travel guide book that happened to be nearby.  Goodnight Whistler.  Goodnight Blackcomb.  Goodnight Peak to Peak gondola.  Goodnight après ski people. 

Toys?  Anything that happened to be convenient became a toy.  Who knew a baby could have so much fun with an empty pack of gum or an electric toothbrush? Who brings an electric toothbrush on a trip?  Your mom does.  I'm a dentist.  I have to.  That and floss.