Just a few more months till two. Woot!

Yogurt Asplosion
(1 year, 6 months)

Oh no, that means the terrible twos are just around the corner! Oh boy. Sebastian has been a delightful little devil this year. A rowdy little rugrat. A mischievous little menace. A rambunctious little rapscallion. I shudder to think what next year will bring.

Beach Bum
(1 year, 6 months)

We don’t have a baby anymore. Nope, Sebastian is a toddler in full effect though “toddling” hardly does justice to what this kid does. He may not be the most eloquent chap, but his physical prowess is well beyond anything even Emily had achieved at this age. It’s really a sight to behold. Here is a short list of a few of our favorite recent accomplishments:

• Sebastian has been loving the music class that he has been attending these past couple of months. Once a week he goes and sings and claps and dances to his favorite little ditties along with a small group of children his age. Well, that’s what he is supposed to be doing. In actuality, Sebastian is the first kid to break out of the music circle and rip through the pile of toys that have been strategically hidden (from him) around the room. He eventually finds his way back and dances for a bit, but never for very long. Those toys are just too alluring! Our son is a bad influence on the other children.
• You wanna see a forward roll? Sebastian will show you a forward roll! And not some crappy, out-of-control forward flop. No, he is in full control over his elegant forward rolls. They are a thing of beauty. And then he goes and jumps on his head.
• Here’s a big one: Sebastian has (finally) stopped breastfeeding! Emily chose to stop at 13 months but our little boy needed an intervention at 20 months. We cut down his feedings for a while, only giving him boobie-time before going to bed at the end, but he is now officially weaned. Now we just need to get him to sleep through the night. Ugh.
• I find the fabricated look of innocence on his conniving little face when he takes something he knows he’s not supposed to touch to be very funny. Funny, yet disconcerting. Our son is a thief. He’ll flash that innocent look, but he won’t even consider stopping what he’s doing. He won’t put down what he knows is not his. Your pleading or commanding just make him move a little bit slower. But he continues all the same. Until you physically get up to stop him – then he legs it in the opposite direction… while laughing at you!
• Yes, the boy is a fighter, but he’s also a lover. There’s no going to bed without first giving everyone a big kiss goodnight. There isn’t any lip smack at the point of contact, but there is a deliciously extended “mmmmmm” upon approach. He’s also very fond of meeting Emily after school with a big old hug. So snuggly. So lovely.
• Having a big sister to emulate has really driven Sebastian to become more of a daredevil than Emily ever was. Sure, Emily was jumping down two steps at a time when she was only two. But Sebastian is jumping down three steps and he’s only 21 months! They jump on the bed together and jump off the couch together and race around the garden together. It’s a beautiful thing. We sometimes fear for our lives.
• I can’t stand his shrieking any more! Learn to express yourself, godammit!
• Emily just got a new bicycle! A nice new blue bike that Sebastian will inherit one day. Emily could never really pedal the Big Wheel we had in the house before now, but she is pedaling like a pro on this new big bike. Oh, and so is Sebastian. That’s right, he climbs up onto Emily’s new bike and competently cycles around the house. It’s crazy.

You know, I say that Sebastian doesn’t talk very much or that he “isn’t eloquent,” but I’ve gotta give the kid credit where credit is due: he has effectively doubled his working vocabulary over the last few months. He’s not trying very hard to string more than one word together, but he’s building up a solid foundation. Here is the current state of verbal affairs:

So there you go! That’s our boy at 21 months. I want to write about 4000 more words about how great Sebastian is but, given that a picture is worth 1000 words, here are four photos instead.

Superseb
(1 year, 7 months)

Cosmo Caixa
(1 year, 7 months)

Zombie Child
(1 year, 8 months)

I’ve Been Working
(1 year, 8 months)

And finally, here’s a video for all you “moving picture” fans out there. Here, Sebastian (1 year, 8 months) enjoys a quiet afternoon spelunking.

Well, we just finished our last full rehearsal of The Snapping Turtle’s Lament before we open this Friday. I’m a little nervous since I haven’t been on stage for almost three years. But the group and the show are great. My text is (90%) memorized, my character is off the hook, my costume is green and complete, my turtle is sweet, I’ve almost got the scene changes figured out, and the entire cast is firing on all cylinders. It’s an absurd comedy involving puppets, food, music, the pursuit of money, and – if you behave – Teletubbies. It should be lots of fun. All that’s left is a dry tech on Wednesday and a full-fledged no-holds-barred technical rehearsal on Thursday. Oh yeah, and we need to put butts in seats. Come see the show!!

Can you tell which one is supposed to be me?

I was rocking the command line in DOS on our home computer back in 1981 before anyone else on the block had one. I was coding Web pages back in 1995 before most people knew what the Web was. I bought my first digital camera more than 10 years ago when most people thought a Polaroid was the future of photography. I’m an “early adopter” and proud of it. That’s why I felt crazy embarrassed that it took me so long to jump on the smartphone express. In my defense, I was just waiting for the right time.

A few years ago, the virgin market was budding with experimental new devices and something called an iPhone while companies struggled to understand exactly what they were doing and what the market really wanted. I knew that I wouldn’t have to lug around my cell phone, my mp3 player, and my Palm Pilot for much longer; a single-device solution was on the horizon. And I was excited.

I can write till I’m blue in the face as to why buying an iPhone was never an option for me. I’m simply not their target market: I choose to build my own computers; I run Linux on my home box; I prefer a manual to an automatic transmission; I’m a tweaker and a hacker and a pirate; I want my devices to do what I want them to do, not what they want me to do; I am a power user. So when I heard that a line of smartphones was coming out based on Google’s free and open source Android operating system, I knew the time was nigh. But I didn’t take the plunge right away. I’m one of the few pragmatic early adopters out there. I had to research this investment to death before climbing aboard. This was last year and all I kept reading about was the rumor of a behemoth of a superphone being developed under shroud of mystery by a little company called HTC, supposedly codenamed the Bravo. Or the Passion. Or the Dragon. But in actuality, it was called the HTC Desire. And it turned out to be everything it was hyped up to be.

Emily and I went to the supermarket today. Sometimes, at the checkout counter, they give my kids free gifts. Just for being cute. Sometimes it’s colored pencils. Sometimes it’s beach balls. Today it was a bag of potato chips. Walking home, Emily quietly thought about what had just happened for a minute before we had the following conversation:

Emily: Daddy, why did they give me a present?

Me: That was very nice of them to give you a present. Why do you think they gave it to you?

Emily: Because I’m cute.

Me: (laughing) That’s right!

Emily: People always think I’m cute.

Me: That’s because you are cute. Don’t you think you’re cute?

Emily: I don’t know. I can’t see myself.

Me: Have you ever looked in a mirror?

Emily: Yes.

Me: OK. So when you see yourself in the mirror, do you think you’re cute?

Emily: Yes.

Me: And do you think Sebastian is cute?

Emily: (smiling) Yes.

Me: Is mommy cute?

Emily: Yes!

Me: And do you think I’m cute?

Emily: Yes. That’s because everyone who is a Zamrycki is cute.

Now that’s cute.

Hey, wanna see the lovely photos I took at Jan’s birthday this year?

My Birthday Girl

Yes, I know Jan’s birthday was in April. I’m working on catching up. I swear.

Not celebrating a birthday that is evenly divisible by 5, we didn’t break the bank on this year’s party. God, that sounds so romantic. Anyway, we invited a gaggle of close friends to join us for an impromptu picnic in the verdant gardens of Barcelona’s noble Montjuic. It was a beautiful day, we were in a beautiful setting, and surrounded by beautiful people. Children frolicked, tales were told, wine was guzzled, and memories were made. I took many photos that day, but I must admit that most of them were of people whose last name rhymes with Ham Ricky. If you’d like to view a smattering of these jolly photos, just click on the following link and be whisked away:
**Fancy-shmancy full-screen slideshow**

This is where I work:

I have no idea where I was when this was planned and executed. I had no idea it was happening. I wish I knew. Looks like it was fun.

As you can see, I share the site with about 2000 other people. The place is like a college campus. Some of the members of my team (LFP Marketing) can be seen on the second half of the steps at around 4:12 of the video.

I like my job.