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It’s pretty easy to tell Victor is an All-Star, especially when four dozen people stop so they can say exactly that in a single afternoon.

Diane and I took part in the most recent Vankleek Hill Trash & Treasure village-wide yard sale event this past Saturday and, at least on our street, Victor was the drawing point. People were crossing the street to have a little visit with him.

He had a great time hanging out with his mom on the front porch. His great-grandfather showed up later in the afternoon and the two of them laughed at each other… it’s pretty much at the point where, when they look at each other, it’s like they’re looking into a mirror.

Little Victor is well over sixteen pounds now. He may be seventeen pounds by now. I haven’t been to a “Watch Me Grow” session at the Knox Presbyterian Church in a few weeks, and I think Diane’s been working most Tuesdays, so getting him weighed regularly like we used to just hasn’t been happening.

…actually, I totally forgot to ask Diane is she went this week.

Diane’s oldest son, four-year old dynamo Andrew, has been a great brother to Victor so far… so far. When Diane was still pregnant with Victor, the doctor asked about other children in the home. When he found out about Andrew, and how old he was, he said it was the perfect age to introduce another child. Apparently, according to the doctor, there’s a lack of jealousy at that age.

So far so good. Andrew loves to hold Victor, won’t let anyone touch Victor if they’re sick, and he’ll ask Diane if he can feed him. And, when we’re changing Victor’s diaper, Andrew will even hang around and ask questions about Victor’s poo.

I know it’s a long, long way off, but I think there’s a better possibility of the two of them together making a good team than there is of them growing apart.

Victor’s been sick for almost 48-hours now. He’s got a cough, and he sneezes and as of a few hours ago his right cheek is slightly swollen. Diane, who has travelled this road way before me, says the liquid children’s Tylenol should get everything under control.

But he’s still sleeping and eating as well and as much as normal… which is to say he’s guzzling back bottle after bottle and sleeping away the milk hangovers for hours.

Over the weekend he also spent about four hours in his Jolly-Jumper. The kid’s going to have thighs bigger than mine before he’s two.

Victor will be six months old Saturday. Just to recap, he was born December 12, 2009, at 9:49pm in the Ottawa General Hospital. Technically he was born a day prematurely, but five weeks before his official due date. So, because of hospital protocols, he spent his first six hours in Intensive Care.

I spent two hours in there with him, but Diane and I were just too exhausted, so I found her room on the Maternity Ward and passed out… on the floor, because hospital protocol said dudes can’t sleep in maternity ward beds, even when they’re empty.

When I woke up — about thirty minutes after falling to sleep — the nurse had just brought Victor back from the ICU. After the three of us checked each other out for a minute, we all went back to sleep. At least that’s what I remember. I was so tired, for all I know Victor and Diane could have been shooting off bottle rockets.

Which is definitely something I’ll be teaching him how to do.

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Photo Of Victor’s Week:

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This week Victor, Diane and I watched “The Road” (2009) with Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee, and “The Killing Fields” (1984) with Sam Waterston and Dr. Haing Ngor. Not exactly the most upbeat of movie selections, but both were fantastic. I’ve seen “The Killing Fields”… it must be at least a dozen times now.

Both movies are based on earlier books, both movies are about surviving a hellish situation — “The Road” is about a father and son trying to survive in the aftermath of a global catastrophe by travelling to the Atlantic Coast. The “Father” hopes to have taught his young son all there is to know about survival by then.

“The Killing Fields” is a biography of Dith Pran, a Cambodian photojournalist during the end of the Vietnam War, when the Americans were pulling out of the region after destabilizing Cambodia, allowing the Khmer Rouge to take over. The main story is about his escape from the ensuing Cambodian Holocaust of 1975-1979, so he can return to his family. Along the way he adopts the son of one his abusers.

We also watched my favourite Nick Nolte movie, “The Good Thief” (2002), it also stars Ralph Fiennes and Nutsa Kukhianidze. It’s about an American curmudgeon, gambler, thief and heroin addict dying slowly in France, but willing to try “one more big score.”

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Bob: We give you Elvis, we give you Dylan, we give you Hendrix, what do you give us? Johnny Hallyday!
Roger: Don’t get me started about Johnny Hallyday…

It’s be a wee bit of a stretch, but the relationship between “Bob” (Nolte) and the younger characters is very close to one of an absentee / addict father and his adoring children.

We do like themes when we rent our movies.

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