Looking back on 2021
We enjoyed a great New Year’s Eve with friends last night, and though we may be a bit sluggish today, it was a symbolic finish to an eventful year for our family. Of course, in some ways similar to our goings-on this year, Daniel whined and whined until he fell asleep in his mother’s arms well before midnight. Certainly this was a fitting end to a year that held plenty of good news for us, as well as some challenges to overcome.
It wouldn’t be a real recap if I skipped over all the difficulties of the year. First and foremost in my mind, I made the decision this year to look for a change in my work environment, which I found near the end of the year. The process of looking for a new job can often be grueling, and the end of the process is not in sight until all of a sudden we receive some good news. Recently, the demand for developers has increased enough that I have had recruiters from many different companies contacting me multiple times per week. Though it is certainly nice to feel that interest from the market, it can also be tiring to be constantly communicating the same sorts of messages over and over again. Thankfully, I’m done with that now, and I’ll be moving on to a new post in February.
Daniel clearly deserves his own paragraph. He’s a cute kid, but at the age of 2 or 3, every child can be a pain at times. To be fair, he’s going through quite a lot of changes, and in September he started going to school. Obviously, he was very excited beforehand, but not so after the first day. But I was very proud of him for accepting that he will be going to school, and not crying. Many of the other children in his class were crying for weeks after he stopped, some still continue to resist school. That being said, we are still dealing with the sorts of tantrums that most parents have to deal with when their children are this age. We’re hoping that 2022 brings a definitive end to that.
Miriam has also made some big strides in the past year. Her reading and writing has been advancing in leaps and bounds. And I don’t just mean in English. She can read and write at some level in English, French, and Chinese. That’s pretty impressive for a 6 year-old. She also started doing her first extracurricular activity this year: gymnastics. She loves it, and I’m happy to see her training her body as well as her mind. She still has plenty to learn, of course. We’re still working on the idea of trying new things, notably food, and being more social.
After years of hard work raising our children, my wife Alex is finally getting a little rest (but not that much). With both of the children finally in school four days a week, she has some time to work on her own projects, uninterrupted. The biggest change that we can all see in her is her desire to be more active in our church. She has been attending several meetings each week, doing some reading, and thinking a lot about what is most important to her. I’m proud that she is prioritizing this.
Of course, I would be remiss to not also mention the big news in our extended family: notably that my brother Kevin bravely took on Mont Blanc with me, and also got married! It’s been a year full of mostly good news for us, and I’m hoping that 2022 brings more of the same. Clearly the good doesn’t come without challenges attached, but so far we’ve been up for that. Here’s hoping that 2022 goes just as well.