An old favourite - John at 10 days old. Back then, just turning his head was a big deal - he couldn't even smile. Check out the colour of those eyes - it's not a camera illusion. They were actually a dark slate grey when he was born. We couldn't tell where his pupil started, they were so dark. It took a couple of months for them to lighten up to blue.
He's come so far! As you may know, John has become quite the little cruiser lately. As long as there's something to hang on to, he prefers to get about on foot. A few days ago, he walked from the table to the chair to Mike. Mike was holding him up, then let him go - and he stayed standing up! It was only for a few seconds, before he wobbled and fell, but he was standing all by himself! We did it a few times, but now he won't play along. We don't think he likes it, because now whenever Mike holds him up, he bends his knees.
The nurse predicted that he'll be walking before his first birthday - she just may be right!
He's become a very good crawler as well. The days of slithering along the floor have ended - he's up on all fours now. Preferred destinations include stairs and the bathroom, so I've got to keep doors closed and an eye out at all times. He got so upset when I wouldn't let him lick the toilet brush. It has since been banished to the upstairs bathroom.
His other destination is often Mike, which Mike is loving. John will often boot it to the door when he hears dad's key in the lock, or he'll head to the office, if Mike's on the computer. It's really cute.
He didn't start crawling on all fours suddlenly. There was this weird between stage, when he was up on his hands, but would propel his body forward with one foot, while sliding along the other knee. It sort of looked like he was pushing a skateboard or scooter. However, all fours is much, much faster, so he's switched over.
The strike goes on. It's an every day thing, so no trip home for Mike. He only needs to work 16 hours a week to get strike pay, but so few guys are turning up, he's decided to take up the slack and get out there every day, as many hours as he can.
In the morning he pickets one of the work centres, to prevent non-striking techs from the parent company from getting out on time. They're allowed to delay each truck by 15 minutes. Then, he's part of the flying picket team. Basicly, these are little teams of groupies, only mean. They hunt hunt down techs from the parent company out in the field, then picket right in front of the customer's house. When the tech leaves, they follow him around, setting up pickets wherever he stops to work. The logic is, those techs are essentially scabs, because they've been assigned work normally contracted to Mike's company. They're also hoping for some sympathy from our city's rabidly pro-union population.
Things are turning a little ugly. There's some evidence that the parent company is expanding their new non-unionized, piece rate contractor to the striking region. Not cool. I feel sorry for the guys in that company - if they start working here, they're going to be facing some serious hostility in the field from ALL the unionized techs, whether on strike or not.
The parent company has also denied the purchase of Mike's company to the media, but according to the stock exchange, the sale has already gone through. Not sure what that's all about.
All in all, it looks like it's going to be very long and very bitter, and there's a pretty good chance there won't be a company left when everything's over. It wouldn't be the first time this company shut down a whole division over a labour dispute. No matter what happens, good luck trying to keep the union out of that new company. I bet the union bosses are in there already.
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