This morning I took Isaac to a music performance. It's an educational music series for kids 0-5 to introduce children to musical instruments and singing. It was a lot of fun. We got to hear a trumpet, trombone, tuba, bells, a base drum, wooden blocks, and another instrument (which I missed hearing the name of). They performed holiday sing-along songs and various bits from the Nutcracker.
I asked Isaac which instrument he liked and he said "The big one." :)
We stopped by the Library and I picked up a few children's books from the VPL Book Sale. I got Isaac a small frog magnet from Bookmark, The Library Store (run by the Friends of the Vancouver Public Library). The last time we went to the downtown library I picked up other magnets for Isaac, so Froggy will have friends on the fridge.
We stopped for some crepes before heading to the sky train. Isaac had some bites of my ham and egg crepe, and bits of banana bread we packed for a snack. I offered him an apple sauce crepe, but he didn't like it at all and refused to eat it after trying a bite.
Isaac napped on the way to the train station. I picked up some seaweed, tofu and spinach then stopped by Value Village. I picked up a few more books and a few duplo minifigures. When we got home and checked the mail, I was happy to discover an envelope from Lego with our missing pieces from the Fire Brigade!
All-in-all we had a great day.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Cooking class pictures
Isaac has one more little chefs cooking class left. It's been a great course and I love the instructor, but the commute to the class isn't fun. I'm hoping to try to register for the course again over the summer. I'm just catching up a little with uploading some of the pictures from the camera onto the computer. Here are some of the other things Isaac has made in cooking class but I neglected to write about.
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| Pizza |
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| Spinach Dip |
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| Cranberry Scone |
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| Vegetable Soup |
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Transitioning to No Naps
Isaac is definitely going through a no-naps transition. Several days in a row, no nap. Yesterday he had a late nap. Today he had an active day, didn't nap and fell asleep at the table while we ate dinner (around 5:45pm). Unfortunately, he didn't finish his dinner so I have a feeling he'll wake up later and say he's hungry.
Today we made some rice crispy squares (Isaac helped to measure marshmallows and stir everything together), played a board game Hi Ho Cherry-O (which we modified the rules to make the game to by faster), and Daddy took him out to the park in the afternoon.
I really wonder if he'll be able to attend my choir performances. One is at 7pm and the other is at 2pm. If he doesn't nap, he's in bed around 6:30pm. If he naps, then he can come to the evening performance. Not sure how I can get him to nap that day.
Update: He woke up at 6:40pm. I fed him the rest of dinner. Now I don't know what time he'll go to bed tonight. Maybe 9pm?
Today we made some rice crispy squares (Isaac helped to measure marshmallows and stir everything together), played a board game Hi Ho Cherry-O (which we modified the rules to make the game to by faster), and Daddy took him out to the park in the afternoon.
I really wonder if he'll be able to attend my choir performances. One is at 7pm and the other is at 2pm. If he doesn't nap, he's in bed around 6:30pm. If he naps, then he can come to the evening performance. Not sure how I can get him to nap that day.
Update: He woke up at 6:40pm. I fed him the rest of dinner. Now I don't know what time he'll go to bed tonight. Maybe 9pm?
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Night Owl
Saturday - we went swimming in the morning. Had dim sum for lunch. No nap. At 5pm, the boy looked like he was going to fall asleep sitting up. I tried to keep him up, but let him go to bed. Only he didn't want to sleep. Screaming and crying. No nap.
We had dinner and he fell asleep at 6pm. It was a restless sort of sleep. He kept waking up and was whiny and needy. I tucked him in several times. I changed his diaper twice. I fed him penguin crackers twice and another time I fed him some left-over chicken pot pie. At midnight he got up.
Here we are... almost 1am. Isaac is playing (World of Goo) on the iPad while I sit here typing. The boy does NOT look sleepy one bit. I think I'm going to turn out the lights and go to bed. Maybe he'll decide that he wants to sleep too.
Not sure what we'll be doing tomorrow.
We had dinner and he fell asleep at 6pm. It was a restless sort of sleep. He kept waking up and was whiny and needy. I tucked him in several times. I changed his diaper twice. I fed him penguin crackers twice and another time I fed him some left-over chicken pot pie. At midnight he got up.
Here we are... almost 1am. Isaac is playing (World of Goo) on the iPad while I sit here typing. The boy does NOT look sleepy one bit. I think I'm going to turn out the lights and go to bed. Maybe he'll decide that he wants to sleep too.
Not sure what we'll be doing tomorrow.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Weekly Update: November 14-18, 2011
This week Isaac made 2 mini loaves of bread in cooking class. One was a rye bread and the other was a cranberry loaf. I really liked the cranberry loaf, but Daddy thought it tasted too much like fruitcake for his liking.
On Tuesday Auntie K and G came over for a morning play date. We made blueberry pancakes together. They brought over some chocolate zucchini cake. I need to remember to return her container. As it neared 1pm, Isaac and G went a little crazy running around and chasing each other. I think they both had a good time. We need to organize our mini playgroup Christmas party soon. In the afternoon, Isaac napped in the stroller while I went to the library to return some books and pick out some new ones.
Wednesday morning we arrived a little late to preschool. Normally we're there before they open the doors. I guess we left the house a tad late. I returned some more books while Isaac was at school. When I got home, I noticed that the number of items we have at home and the number the computer system says we have checked out doesn't match up. Isaac has 24 items at home, so keeping track of everything is tedious (since he messes up the pile). Anyhow, I've had problems with books not getting checked in at least a couple of previous times so I try to keep on top of checking up after I make returns. I was able to clear the book off our account, but they didn't want to do a shelf check to verify if it was there or not. I'm tempted to go and look for that book the next time I stop by that branch.
Wednesday afternoon and evening Isaac complained about having a tummy ache and had diarrhea. On Thursday morning, he still had diarrhea, but was acting completely normal otherwise. He couldn't go to school so we played at home all day.
Friday we skipped out on meeting up with his playgroup friends. Actually it was more because I was too tired to go. My sleep schedule is a bit messed up at the moment because my nap times are at bad times. I found Isaac's Christmas present at Value Village. He's getting a 250 piece set of TinkerToys - it was complete though 2 pieces were broken (so I tossed them out).
Currently dvd requests: Dora the Explorer. He likes the music and most of the characters except for Swiper the Fox. He also likes watching All About Volcanoes - it's a video for young kids (about K-Grade 4 level). I might borrow other videos from that series to see if he likes any of the other topics.
On Tuesday Auntie K and G came over for a morning play date. We made blueberry pancakes together. They brought over some chocolate zucchini cake. I need to remember to return her container. As it neared 1pm, Isaac and G went a little crazy running around and chasing each other. I think they both had a good time. We need to organize our mini playgroup Christmas party soon. In the afternoon, Isaac napped in the stroller while I went to the library to return some books and pick out some new ones.
Wednesday morning we arrived a little late to preschool. Normally we're there before they open the doors. I guess we left the house a tad late. I returned some more books while Isaac was at school. When I got home, I noticed that the number of items we have at home and the number the computer system says we have checked out doesn't match up. Isaac has 24 items at home, so keeping track of everything is tedious (since he messes up the pile). Anyhow, I've had problems with books not getting checked in at least a couple of previous times so I try to keep on top of checking up after I make returns. I was able to clear the book off our account, but they didn't want to do a shelf check to verify if it was there or not. I'm tempted to go and look for that book the next time I stop by that branch.
Wednesday afternoon and evening Isaac complained about having a tummy ache and had diarrhea. On Thursday morning, he still had diarrhea, but was acting completely normal otherwise. He couldn't go to school so we played at home all day.
Friday we skipped out on meeting up with his playgroup friends. Actually it was more because I was too tired to go. My sleep schedule is a bit messed up at the moment because my nap times are at bad times. I found Isaac's Christmas present at Value Village. He's getting a 250 piece set of TinkerToys - it was complete though 2 pieces were broken (so I tossed them out).
Currently dvd requests: Dora the Explorer. He likes the music and most of the characters except for Swiper the Fox. He also likes watching All About Volcanoes - it's a video for young kids (about K-Grade 4 level). I might borrow other videos from that series to see if he likes any of the other topics.
Missing Lego Pieces
Off topic again, but I just want to vent. I opened up my Lego Fire Brigade 10197 set this evening and right off the bat, I noticed missing pieces. Thinking it might've been just a couple, I substituted in a couple of my pieces and tried to continue on... but got stuck again shortly afterwards.
It looks like my set is missing an entire bag of pieces. My set is from batch 39R1. I will be calling customer service tomorrow to see if they can send me the missing bag! I looked online to find that lots of other people have the same problem with this batch.
Update: I called up customer service this morning and they're sending me the missing bag. Hope it arrives in the mail soon. The woman I spoke with was really pleasant and helped to resolve the problem quickly.
Update2 (Dec 9, 2011): The missing lego pieces finally arrive in the mail today! Hooray!!! I'm going to take a nap then start putting together the Fire Brigade tonight.
It looks like my set is missing an entire bag of pieces. My set is from batch 39R1. I will be calling customer service tomorrow to see if they can send me the missing bag! I looked online to find that lots of other people have the same problem with this batch.
Update: I called up customer service this morning and they're sending me the missing bag. Hope it arrives in the mail soon. The woman I spoke with was really pleasant and helped to resolve the problem quickly.
Update2 (Dec 9, 2011): The missing lego pieces finally arrive in the mail today! Hooray!!! I'm going to take a nap then start putting together the Fire Brigade tonight.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Lego Modular Sets
Ah!! I'm so excited. After staring at the pictures of the Pet Shop (10218), Grand Emporium (10211) and Fire Brigade (10197) on the Lego web site for awhile (well, since the Pet shop was released and I found out about the modular sets)... DH just bought me all three sets!
I can't wait for them to arrive. I don't know which I want to build first. When Daddy said he was buying me Lego, Isaac said he wanted Lego too. I think I will let him play with the finished sets. Of the three, he'll probably enjoy the Fire Brigade most.
I guess I should give an update about the boy too. He is currently sick. He has a runny nose and a cough with phlegm. He's been sick since Saturday evening. We ended up skipping out on the Wall-E screening at the planetarium on Sunday. He also missed his cooking class and Twos Time this week. We did end up going trick-or-treating at the mall. I figured it would be ok since we were just staying indoors.
This morning Isaac and I woke up later than usual (8am instead of 6:30-7am). We stayed home all day. We spent the morning watching Cars and playing with Lego Duplo and K'nex. After lunch, we tidied up all the toys and moved some stuff around to make space for the Christmas tree. I put the tree up in the afternoon. We spent the rest of the afternoon making "presents" to put under the tree. I made 4 Lego boxes with lego ribbons. Isaac made 2 Duplo "presents" that look like rockets. One is for Mommy and one is for Daddy. He skipped his nap today and started falling asleep on the carpet at around 5:30pm while playing with his Duplo trains and track. I kept him up because it really was too late for a nap and he either would've missed dinner or wouldn't sleep until late. We ended up putting him to bed at around 6:45pm with mommy milk and a story. He was out as soon as we turned off the lights. His nose is raw from me trying to remove/clear his mucus. Poor boy. I hope he'll sleep well tonight and feels better soon. I really want him to be able to go to school tomorrow.
Update: Isaac is staying home today. Mucous is still yellow. Playgroup tomorrow, I'll have to see how he's doing tomorrow morning before we decide if he gets to go. Swimming lessons start Saturday... and that's also up in the air. Sunday we're meeting up with a friend from our birth group.
I can't wait for them to arrive. I don't know which I want to build first. When Daddy said he was buying me Lego, Isaac said he wanted Lego too. I think I will let him play with the finished sets. Of the three, he'll probably enjoy the Fire Brigade most.
I guess I should give an update about the boy too. He is currently sick. He has a runny nose and a cough with phlegm. He's been sick since Saturday evening. We ended up skipping out on the Wall-E screening at the planetarium on Sunday. He also missed his cooking class and Twos Time this week. We did end up going trick-or-treating at the mall. I figured it would be ok since we were just staying indoors.
Update: Isaac is staying home today. Mucous is still yellow. Playgroup tomorrow, I'll have to see how he's doing tomorrow morning before we decide if he gets to go. Swimming lessons start Saturday... and that's also up in the air. Sunday we're meeting up with a friend from our birth group.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Getting Ready for Halloween
Costume... check!
Pumpkin carving... (we'll be doing that tomorrow)!
This coming week at preschool, the kids are asked to dress up in Halloween costumes (if they want to). We finally made our way to the Gourmet Warehouse to pick up the key component of Isaac's Halloween costume. A kid-sized chef toque!!! I saw it there the last time we visited, so I just hoped they would have some in stock today. We were not disappointed. There was only one choice for a plain white chef toque ($5.00) - all the rest had colours or other patterns on them. Isaac also picked out a wooden spoon ($2.50) for himself. He saw some cupcakes displayed in the baking ware section and kept asking for the cupcakes!!!
When we got home, Isaac put on the toque right away (and has agreed to wear it to his next cooking class as well). There's velcro on the back so that it can be adjusted by a tiny bit.
We picked up some sushi for lunch. I took an afternoon nap and Isaac stayed in bed and napped with me. I'm glad he's sleeping. If not, I would likely have had to take him out for a walk in his stroller.
Tomorrow we'll be picking up a pumpkin for a jack-o'lantern. That should be fun. I wonder if Isaac remembers helping to scoop out the seeds last year?
Here's a picture of the mini quiches Isaac made in cooking class last week:
I was surprised that he was willing to eat the green and red peppers in the quiche since he generally doesn't eat peppers (not even off a pizza). I think he liked the peppers because they were in a tart, the texture was soft and they were covered in cheese. Or maybe it's simply because *he* made it so he wanted to eat his creation.
Update from the past week:
Tuesday, I took Isaac to the library and playground. An older girl (3.5yrs old) took his sand bucket and he chased her around trying to get it back. I only put a stop to it when he was up on the big kids playground equipment and started going down the ladder facing out while holding onto his sand shovels. I was afraid he would fall down because he was focussed on catching S. He didn't want to leave the playground, so I had to physically remove him and put him into his stroller. He was fine once he got back his bucket. On Friday we had a play date at Auntie S's house. Isaac had a lot of fun. All was well until after lunch, the kids went crazy. They started off sitting on the stairs together screaming and kicking the steps. Then they went upstairs (I told Isaac he wasn't allowed upstairs and took him down). From downstairs, we were hear periodic loud "Boom"s from the kids jumping off a bed. I was really surprised that he listened to me, by staying on the first flight of the staircase! I could see that he wanted to go up and join the other kids, but he was good. I let him play for awhile longer until he started getting destructive. He helped with clean up time but put up a fight when we had to go home.
Pumpkin carving... (we'll be doing that tomorrow)!
This coming week at preschool, the kids are asked to dress up in Halloween costumes (if they want to). We finally made our way to the Gourmet Warehouse to pick up the key component of Isaac's Halloween costume. A kid-sized chef toque!!! I saw it there the last time we visited, so I just hoped they would have some in stock today. We were not disappointed. There was only one choice for a plain white chef toque ($5.00) - all the rest had colours or other patterns on them. Isaac also picked out a wooden spoon ($2.50) for himself. He saw some cupcakes displayed in the baking ware section and kept asking for the cupcakes!!!
When we got home, Isaac put on the toque right away (and has agreed to wear it to his next cooking class as well). There's velcro on the back so that it can be adjusted by a tiny bit.
We picked up some sushi for lunch. I took an afternoon nap and Isaac stayed in bed and napped with me. I'm glad he's sleeping. If not, I would likely have had to take him out for a walk in his stroller.
Tomorrow we'll be picking up a pumpkin for a jack-o'lantern. That should be fun. I wonder if Isaac remembers helping to scoop out the seeds last year?
Here's a picture of the mini quiches Isaac made in cooking class last week:
I was surprised that he was willing to eat the green and red peppers in the quiche since he generally doesn't eat peppers (not even off a pizza). I think he liked the peppers because they were in a tart, the texture was soft and they were covered in cheese. Or maybe it's simply because *he* made it so he wanted to eat his creation.
Update from the past week:
Tuesday, I took Isaac to the library and playground. An older girl (3.5yrs old) took his sand bucket and he chased her around trying to get it back. I only put a stop to it when he was up on the big kids playground equipment and started going down the ladder facing out while holding onto his sand shovels. I was afraid he would fall down because he was focussed on catching S. He didn't want to leave the playground, so I had to physically remove him and put him into his stroller. He was fine once he got back his bucket. On Friday we had a play date at Auntie S's house. Isaac had a lot of fun. All was well until after lunch, the kids went crazy. They started off sitting on the stairs together screaming and kicking the steps. Then they went upstairs (I told Isaac he wasn't allowed upstairs and took him down). From downstairs, we were hear periodic loud "Boom"s from the kids jumping off a bed. I was really surprised that he listened to me, by staying on the first flight of the staircase! I could see that he wanted to go up and join the other kids, but he was good. I let him play for awhile longer until he started getting destructive. He helped with clean up time but put up a fight when we had to go home.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Weekend outing
We're definitely in the process of cutting naps. There are some days where he will nap in the afternoon and some days he refuses to sleep (but will be cranky in the evening and go to bed early).
Today Isaac fell asleep in the car on the way to the planetarium. We arrived a bit before 11:30am. Isaac wandered around pressing buttons and touching stuff. At 11:30am, we watched a live demonstration talk about rockets launching. In advance, we warned Isaac that he had to stay sitting and be quiet or we would leave... I also bribed him with some gummies. He was good and enjoyed the session. After, we proceeded up to the planetarium theatre. We watched "The night sky". Isaac was amazingly good. Not a peep out of his mouth. I thought he would find it boring because it was just a darkened room with stars projected up and a long talk about all the stars/constellations that we would see in the sky around this time of year over Vancouver. After we left the theatre, as we were waiting for the elevator there was a moment where I thought he might get upset that we were leaving. But he seemed to accept a quick comment from us that "the show's all done".
In the process of TTC. Won't say too much about that. It's kind of personal. We have had some disappointments but I remain hopeful. We're a bit older now and I'm still not ready to give up breastfeeding so it may be harder this time around. One difference I feel now (compared to about 4 or 5 years ago) is that I'm not insanely jealous and envious of other people getting/being pregnant. I guess the big reason is because we already have Isaac and if things are not to be, then I'm ok with it.
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I went to a swap meet this morning while Daddy took Isaac to the playground. Didn't find any lego. We went out for dim sum afterwards. I took a nap in the afternoon while Isaac and Daddy went to another playground. They came home and had a snack. Isaac didn't want to nap, but he fell asleep on the floor while watching Wall-E. I transferred him to bed.
Isaac has cooking class and I have choir tomorrow. Hopefully the transit ride to his cooking class won't be too packed. I think I have worked out a good timing (if we can get out of the house on time - too early and we're sardines, too late and we'll miss the start of class).
Today Isaac fell asleep in the car on the way to the planetarium. We arrived a bit before 11:30am. Isaac wandered around pressing buttons and touching stuff. At 11:30am, we watched a live demonstration talk about rockets launching. In advance, we warned Isaac that he had to stay sitting and be quiet or we would leave... I also bribed him with some gummies. He was good and enjoyed the session. After, we proceeded up to the planetarium theatre. We watched "The night sky". Isaac was amazingly good. Not a peep out of his mouth. I thought he would find it boring because it was just a darkened room with stars projected up and a long talk about all the stars/constellations that we would see in the sky around this time of year over Vancouver. After we left the theatre, as we were waiting for the elevator there was a moment where I thought he might get upset that we were leaving. But he seemed to accept a quick comment from us that "the show's all done".
In the process of TTC. Won't say too much about that. It's kind of personal. We have had some disappointments but I remain hopeful. We're a bit older now and I'm still not ready to give up breastfeeding so it may be harder this time around. One difference I feel now (compared to about 4 or 5 years ago) is that I'm not insanely jealous and envious of other people getting/being pregnant. I guess the big reason is because we already have Isaac and if things are not to be, then I'm ok with it.
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I went to a swap meet this morning while Daddy took Isaac to the playground. Didn't find any lego. We went out for dim sum afterwards. I took a nap in the afternoon while Isaac and Daddy went to another playground. They came home and had a snack. Isaac didn't want to nap, but he fell asleep on the floor while watching Wall-E. I transferred him to bed.
Isaac has cooking class and I have choir tomorrow. Hopefully the transit ride to his cooking class won't be too packed. I think I have worked out a good timing (if we can get out of the house on time - too early and we're sardines, too late and we'll miss the start of class).
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Cutting naps
It seems that Isaac is starting to cut naps on some days. He went napless on Saturday and again today. I was able to put him to bed extra early today (asleep by 6:30pm instead of the usual 9pm). I don't really know why he's cutting his nap... maybe I just missed the timing since he was looking quite sleepy a bit earlier but I wanted him to eat lunch before his nap.
I know that there are a number of kids his age that have already cut their naps, but I think he generally needs his nap still. He's much less agreeable in the evening when he doesn't get a nap.
Today, I took Isaac to a Strong Start class. First we had some gym time, then free play, circle time, snacks, he wasn't interested in reading time, but listened in on the story time at the end. For snack time, they served crackers, cheese, oranges and apples. Isaac really loved eating the cheddar cheese. He kept asking for more but didn't touch any of the other stuff. I was hoping that taking him to school would help to burn off his energy so that he'd nap... but I couldn't get him down after trying for an hour. I left him at home with Daddy and went to do a blood test.
It looks like one of Isaac's 2-year molars has finally broken through and is coming in at the back. 3 more to go. I haven't noticed any teething symptoms this time. Then again, the teeth seem to be coming up quite slowly.
Tomorrow we have Twos Time. I've volunteered to help in tomorrow's class. Hope it'll be fun.
I know that there are a number of kids his age that have already cut their naps, but I think he generally needs his nap still. He's much less agreeable in the evening when he doesn't get a nap.
Today, I took Isaac to a Strong Start class. First we had some gym time, then free play, circle time, snacks, he wasn't interested in reading time, but listened in on the story time at the end. For snack time, they served crackers, cheese, oranges and apples. Isaac really loved eating the cheddar cheese. He kept asking for more but didn't touch any of the other stuff. I was hoping that taking him to school would help to burn off his energy so that he'd nap... but I couldn't get him down after trying for an hour. I left him at home with Daddy and went to do a blood test.
It looks like one of Isaac's 2-year molars has finally broken through and is coming in at the back. 3 more to go. I haven't noticed any teething symptoms this time. Then again, the teeth seem to be coming up quite slowly.
Tomorrow we have Twos Time. I've volunteered to help in tomorrow's class. Hope it'll be fun.
Little Chefs Cooking Class - Pasta
A big pot of water was boiled while the kids each got a cutting board to knead their dough. Then they all took turns turning the crank on a pasta maker to flatten and cut their dough. The pasta was cooked for about 2-3 minutes, then served with a bit of olive oil. Isaac gobbled down his pasta. I found the sage flavour to be a bit strong. We brought some extras home for Daddy to try and I mixed in some cream of mushroom soup with broccoli and mushrooms.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Cooking Class and Weekend Update
This morning, we got up a bit after 6am. It's a bit earlier than normal since we have been getting up at 7am lately. I decided to take the stroller and walk to the station instead of catching a bus to the station. It was packed on the bus! Next time I think I will wait for a later bus so that we can avoid the throng of students heading to UBC for their 9am classes.
Isaac fell asleep on the bus ride to the community centre. I woke up him 10 minutes before class started. Overall the class went pretty well (with the exception of incident involving Isaac pulling two of his classmates down). Isaac washed his hands and stayed sitting waiting for the class to start (I was impressed that he didn't try to get up and run all around).
Today the kids made bread pudding. Everyone was given a cutting board, a butter knife and 2 pieces of rosemary olive oil bread. They tried cutting and ripping the bread into little pieces and put the pieces into a baking dish. After, they got to crack and egg into a bowl and mix it with some milk. They poured the egg-milk mixture onto the bread. Next they cut up some cheese and sprinkled it on top of the bread. The teacher put the baking dishes into the oven. Everyone helped to scrub the table, then had to go wash their hands before snack time.
After snack time, they got to try the bread pudding. It was a little soggy, but tasted ok. Isaac ate some of it in class and we brought home the left-overs so that Daddy could try some too. The trip back home was much more relaxing on an empty bus.
This evening, I was at a choir auction/rehearsal and Daddy put Isaac to bed. Isaac was a very good boy for Daddy and went to bed without a fuss.
Yesterday, we took Isaac to the planetarium (H.R. MacMillan Space Centre). Isaac had fun pressing some buttons on some of the displays (especially triggering a propeller to spin). We watched a live demonstration/talk about "A Day In Space" then we watched part of Galileo in the planetarium. He was was chatting a lot at the start of the show (and we tried to ask him to be quiet...) but once room darkened, he quieted down. We watched about half the show when Isaac declared "All Done" and got up from my lap. I didn't want to disturb the other viewers so we took him out... but as we left, he kept wanted to go back (and had a major meltdown with lots of screaming and crying). We ended up upgrading our admission ticket to a year membership. Any mention about why we left triggered another round of crying.
We got a message from our friend that they had their baby (and they invited us to visit them at the hospital). Since we were already almost downtown, we headed to the hospital to make a quick visit before heading home for lunch. Isaac conked out in the car ride to pick up lunch.
Saturday, we went to a fair so that I could get a chance to hear a choir perform. We also had a potluck dinner at Auntie E & Uncle S's house. Isaac had fun (and asked to go again the next day).
Friday, we met up with our playgroup friends and went to a gym time at a community centre. Afterwards, we played at the park for a bit. I took Isaac to Ikea for a hot dog after that. I also picked up additional little bins and a Trofast wall storage to sort and store our lego. I still don't have enough bins for each colour, but it seems to be a good size for the lego. I store the mini figures, base plates and miscellaneous pieces in one of the bigger bins. I still have some lego technic and bionicle lego pieces stashed away.
I hope tomorrow will be a semi-relaxing day to visit VV, the library, then meet up with Auntie C. and baby B at the mall.
Isaac fell asleep on the bus ride to the community centre. I woke up him 10 minutes before class started. Overall the class went pretty well (with the exception of incident involving Isaac pulling two of his classmates down). Isaac washed his hands and stayed sitting waiting for the class to start (I was impressed that he didn't try to get up and run all around).
Today the kids made bread pudding. Everyone was given a cutting board, a butter knife and 2 pieces of rosemary olive oil bread. They tried cutting and ripping the bread into little pieces and put the pieces into a baking dish. After, they got to crack and egg into a bowl and mix it with some milk. They poured the egg-milk mixture onto the bread. Next they cut up some cheese and sprinkled it on top of the bread. The teacher put the baking dishes into the oven. Everyone helped to scrub the table, then had to go wash their hands before snack time.After snack time, they got to try the bread pudding. It was a little soggy, but tasted ok. Isaac ate some of it in class and we brought home the left-overs so that Daddy could try some too. The trip back home was much more relaxing on an empty bus.
This evening, I was at a choir auction/rehearsal and Daddy put Isaac to bed. Isaac was a very good boy for Daddy and went to bed without a fuss.
Yesterday, we took Isaac to the planetarium (H.R. MacMillan Space Centre). Isaac had fun pressing some buttons on some of the displays (especially triggering a propeller to spin). We watched a live demonstration/talk about "A Day In Space" then we watched part of Galileo in the planetarium. He was was chatting a lot at the start of the show (and we tried to ask him to be quiet...) but once room darkened, he quieted down. We watched about half the show when Isaac declared "All Done" and got up from my lap. I didn't want to disturb the other viewers so we took him out... but as we left, he kept wanted to go back (and had a major meltdown with lots of screaming and crying). We ended up upgrading our admission ticket to a year membership. Any mention about why we left triggered another round of crying.
We got a message from our friend that they had their baby (and they invited us to visit them at the hospital). Since we were already almost downtown, we headed to the hospital to make a quick visit before heading home for lunch. Isaac conked out in the car ride to pick up lunch.
Saturday, we went to a fair so that I could get a chance to hear a choir perform. We also had a potluck dinner at Auntie E & Uncle S's house. Isaac had fun (and asked to go again the next day).
Friday, we met up with our playgroup friends and went to a gym time at a community centre. Afterwards, we played at the park for a bit. I took Isaac to Ikea for a hot dog after that. I also picked up additional little bins and a Trofast wall storage to sort and store our lego. I still don't have enough bins for each colour, but it seems to be a good size for the lego. I store the mini figures, base plates and miscellaneous pieces in one of the bigger bins. I still have some lego technic and bionicle lego pieces stashed away.
I hope tomorrow will be a semi-relaxing day to visit VV, the library, then meet up with Auntie C. and baby B at the mall.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
First Day of Preschool
Isaac was awake before 7am, but I told him he couldn't get up until after the alarm went off (set for 7am). When the alarm started beeping, he started yelling "Wake up!". He dumped all the lego out and got upset when we made him clean up the mess.
We had breakfast, got him changed but it was still a little too early to leave the house. The class today is just 1/2 day, and we were slotted in for the 2nd half. Turns out I didn't need to pack him a snack today. We got a chance to chat with the teachers, I signed up for a couple of parent volunteer days, and I updated our emergency contact info.
When we first walked into the room, Isaac took off and wanted to play right away. I had to corral him to his cubby to put his coat and backpack away, and to put his name tag on. Isaac went around to a few stations to play with the house, trains, and slide. He didn't want to join in at the circle time, but eventually sat on the rug when he saw the teacher playing with a duck puppet saying "hi" to each of the kids sitting on the rug. Everyone stayed in their seats except Isaac when the teacher pulled out the "Wheels on the bus" book. He moved right up front to have a better look at the book. As they were singing, he looked around to observe (other kids singing, and doing song motions). When the teachers sang a good-bye song, Isaac took off and ran to the door. Isaac got a stamp on his hand before he left the class.
We went out for dim sum at Jade Chinese Seafood restaurant. We didn't make it there in time for the discounted price. The service was slow - the waiters seemed to be busy chatting up their regular customers. The food was decent, though the portions were a little small for some of the dishes. We will probably go back another time, but it doesn't look like it'll be a place we'd go too often.
We went home and I put Isaac down for his afternoon nap. He fell asleep just before 2pm and woke up at around 4pm. I went out to VV while he napped and picked up some books. Time to prepare dinner. I'm making soup noodles with vegetables, tofu, chicken balls, and leftovers.
We had breakfast, got him changed but it was still a little too early to leave the house. The class today is just 1/2 day, and we were slotted in for the 2nd half. Turns out I didn't need to pack him a snack today. We got a chance to chat with the teachers, I signed up for a couple of parent volunteer days, and I updated our emergency contact info.
When we first walked into the room, Isaac took off and wanted to play right away. I had to corral him to his cubby to put his coat and backpack away, and to put his name tag on. Isaac went around to a few stations to play with the house, trains, and slide. He didn't want to join in at the circle time, but eventually sat on the rug when he saw the teacher playing with a duck puppet saying "hi" to each of the kids sitting on the rug. Everyone stayed in their seats except Isaac when the teacher pulled out the "Wheels on the bus" book. He moved right up front to have a better look at the book. As they were singing, he looked around to observe (other kids singing, and doing song motions). When the teachers sang a good-bye song, Isaac took off and ran to the door. Isaac got a stamp on his hand before he left the class.
We went out for dim sum at Jade Chinese Seafood restaurant. We didn't make it there in time for the discounted price. The service was slow - the waiters seemed to be busy chatting up their regular customers. The food was decent, though the portions were a little small for some of the dishes. We will probably go back another time, but it doesn't look like it'll be a place we'd go too often.
We went home and I put Isaac down for his afternoon nap. He fell asleep just before 2pm and woke up at around 4pm. I went out to VV while he napped and picked up some books. Time to prepare dinner. I'm making soup noodles with vegetables, tofu, chicken balls, and leftovers.
Dental Checkup and Preparing for Preschool
This morning I took Isaac to the clinic to get his teeth screened by a dental hygienist. It was a good visit, Isaac was very co-operative. There was no biting, no crying, no screaming, no bad behaviour. I was happy the visit went smoothly. She had some areas where she was a bit concerned but gave the ok to see us again in 6 months.
I was given a task to find a family dentist for all of us. I asked her for some recommendations. I'll try to followup and inquire at a couple of places to see if we can find a dentist/clinic that is a good fit.
We've been reading stories to prepare Isaac for preschool for the past month. He seems to be looking forward to going to Twos Time.
This evening after we put Isaac to bed, I started labelling his things for preschool tomorrow. I found Mabel's Labels easy to use. I'll have to see how they hold up. I labelled his water bottle, a thermos food jar, a snack container, a set of utensils, two tops, two pairs of pants, a couple of jackets, cap, and sun glasses. His shoes are starting to fall apart, so I didn't want to waste a label on it. Instead, I wrote his name on masking tape and stuck it in his shoe. Hope I didn't forget anything.
I packed him a set of spare clothes, socks, underwear and diapers, his water bottle, and a snack. Daddy took the day off tomorrow so that we can attend the parent orientation together.
I was given a task to find a family dentist for all of us. I asked her for some recommendations. I'll try to followup and inquire at a couple of places to see if we can find a dentist/clinic that is a good fit.
We've been reading stories to prepare Isaac for preschool for the past month. He seems to be looking forward to going to Twos Time.
This evening after we put Isaac to bed, I started labelling his things for preschool tomorrow. I found Mabel's Labels easy to use. I'll have to see how they hold up. I labelled his water bottle, a thermos food jar, a snack container, a set of utensils, two tops, two pairs of pants, a couple of jackets, cap, and sun glasses. His shoes are starting to fall apart, so I didn't want to waste a label on it. Instead, I wrote his name on masking tape and stuck it in his shoe. Hope I didn't forget anything.
I packed him a set of spare clothes, socks, underwear and diapers, his water bottle, and a snack. Daddy took the day off tomorrow so that we can attend the parent orientation together.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Little Chefs Cooking Class
This morning was a rush. We missed the early bus by a few minutes. We waited about 17 minutes for the next bus. When we got to the station, I had to carry Isaac and make a dash for the trains. The train was crowded, so I'm glad I didn't bring a stroller (not to mention, I wouldn't have been able to run with it since the wheels aren't happy if I attempt to walk fast). We transferred to another bus and got to the cooking class 5 minutes late. Door-to-door travel time was about 1 hour 10 minutes.
Little Chefs I is a 1.5 hour cooking class for 2-3 year olds. We're actually allowed to leave them in the class and pick them up afterwards - it's a parent-optional class. Each parent volunteers to help out during one class in the term. Next time, I need to remember to bring a container so that I can bring home their cooking.
When we arrived, some of the kids were seated around a big table while others were lined up at the sink to wash their hands. We joined the hand-washing line-up. One of the teachers handed out a mixing bowl to each kid. After she went around the table and everyone got a turn scooping a cup of flour and adding in some water to their mixing bowls. They mixed with forks and their hands. Then they were encouraged to flatten out their dough and punch out circles. The teachers put the cookies onto baking sheets and put them in the oven. The kids washed their hands, then helped to scrub down the table.
Snack time
The teacher sang a song (where each child had to say there name and what snack they were eating). I was filling out a form at the time, so I missed listening to hear if Isaac said his name or not but I did hear him say "craisins" for his snack. :)
After snack time, the (non-edible) cookies were just about ready and cooled briefly. The teacher handed out everyone's cookies and they were allowed to decorate them with crayons. The crayons melted on the cookies. There was a hole punched on the cookies so that we could bring them home, string them and hang them up.
The teacher went over a list of things the kids will be making this term. I requested a copy of the list so that I can post about that next week.
I was amazed that most the kids behaved pretty well in the class. I plan to stay and observe next class and in the following sessions, I may go to the library to do some reading. :)
Little Chefs I is a 1.5 hour cooking class for 2-3 year olds. We're actually allowed to leave them in the class and pick them up afterwards - it's a parent-optional class. Each parent volunteers to help out during one class in the term. Next time, I need to remember to bring a container so that I can bring home their cooking.
When we arrived, some of the kids were seated around a big table while others were lined up at the sink to wash their hands. We joined the hand-washing line-up. One of the teachers handed out a mixing bowl to each kid. After she went around the table and everyone got a turn scooping a cup of flour and adding in some water to their mixing bowls. They mixed with forks and their hands. Then they were encouraged to flatten out their dough and punch out circles. The teachers put the cookies onto baking sheets and put them in the oven. The kids washed their hands, then helped to scrub down the table.
Snack time
The teacher sang a song (where each child had to say there name and what snack they were eating). I was filling out a form at the time, so I missed listening to hear if Isaac said his name or not but I did hear him say "craisins" for his snack. :)
After snack time, the (non-edible) cookies were just about ready and cooled briefly. The teacher handed out everyone's cookies and they were allowed to decorate them with crayons. The crayons melted on the cookies. There was a hole punched on the cookies so that we could bring them home, string them and hang them up.The teacher went over a list of things the kids will be making this term. I requested a copy of the list so that I can post about that next week.
I was amazed that most the kids behaved pretty well in the class. I plan to stay and observe next class and in the following sessions, I may go to the library to do some reading. :)
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Boo-boo
We met up with our playgroup friends at the park this morning. Isaac had a lot of fun until he fell off the swing and landed on his face. He got a minor cut in his mouth (some bleeding) and his chin got scraped. I got him to drink some water to try to wash out some of the blood and I wiped his chin with an alcohol wipe to sterilize the area. He stopped crying when I offered to give him a popsicle when we got home. He had a pink popsicle and some licks of my M&M's Strawberry Popsicle.
Now he's watching some Curious George episodes while I make some dumplings for lunch.
Now he's watching some Curious George episodes while I make some dumplings for lunch.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Catching up.
I finally got around to sorting some of the photos from the past few months.
Isaac had a fantastic time at the Vancouver MusicFest at VanDusen Garden. We bumped into one of Isaac's playgroup friends and one of the families from our birthing group there. I also met up with one of my friends from grad school there with her baby. Lots of kids seemed to love the Bobs and LoLo concert but Isaac didn't seem to enjoy it so we had to leave that a bit early. He cheered up after he got a blue helium balloon and jumped around in a bouncy castle for a bit. Then we moved onto the tent with a bunch of chairs and drums layer out. Isaac especially loved playing with the drums! We spent a lot of time there participating in the drumming circle session. The kids started off playing and stopping when signalled (and Isaac stopped only when he noticed everyone else wasn't playing). Then they were asked to playback beats. During one part of the workshop, the facilitator asked individual kids to play solos (and have everyone else echo back what was played). Isaac got to play a solo. After what seemed like a long time, Isaac wandered off his drum and left the tent. There was also another tent set up to let people try all sorts of instruments (a musical petting zoo). He fell asleep in his stroller as we walked around the garden.
Today we had a creative movements class today. I didn't really like the class so I ended up withdrawing from it.
We got a letter from the preschool with our September schedule. The kids have a gradual entry into the program. During the first two weeks, some kids go during the first half, and some kids go during the second half. There's a parent orientation on the first day and I think we need to schedule in our parental volunteer duty days. I've been reading Isaac "Llama Llama misses mama" in preparation for the Twos Time program.
Isaac had a fantastic time at the Vancouver MusicFest at VanDusen Garden. We bumped into one of Isaac's playgroup friends and one of the families from our birthing group there. I also met up with one of my friends from grad school there with her baby. Lots of kids seemed to love the Bobs and LoLo concert but Isaac didn't seem to enjoy it so we had to leave that a bit early. He cheered up after he got a blue helium balloon and jumped around in a bouncy castle for a bit. Then we moved onto the tent with a bunch of chairs and drums layer out. Isaac especially loved playing with the drums! We spent a lot of time there participating in the drumming circle session. The kids started off playing and stopping when signalled (and Isaac stopped only when he noticed everyone else wasn't playing). Then they were asked to playback beats. During one part of the workshop, the facilitator asked individual kids to play solos (and have everyone else echo back what was played). Isaac got to play a solo. After what seemed like a long time, Isaac wandered off his drum and left the tent. There was also another tent set up to let people try all sorts of instruments (a musical petting zoo). He fell asleep in his stroller as we walked around the garden.
Today we had a creative movements class today. I didn't really like the class so I ended up withdrawing from it.
We got a letter from the preschool with our September schedule. The kids have a gradual entry into the program. During the first two weeks, some kids go during the first half, and some kids go during the second half. There's a parent orientation on the first day and I think we need to schedule in our parental volunteer duty days. I've been reading Isaac "Llama Llama misses mama" in preparation for the Twos Time program.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Highlights For The Week
Yesterday we went to the mall and checked out a nature exhibit. We watched most of a safari show/presentation and Isaac got to touch a bearded dragon and an albino bull snake. He really liked the archeology display, "Bone Zone". It was a table filled with sand and rocks and hidden fossils. There were paint brushes scattered around the table and kids were encouraged to gently brush the rocks to reveal bones.
During one of our classes this week, I left Isaac in the class for about 15 minutes to see how he did without me in the room with him. According to the instructor, he looked for me a couple of times and she was able to divert him to play for a bit before he started looking for me again. On his third search for me, she led him out of the room to find me. He didn't cry, but just kept asking for me.
We went out for dinner a couple of times to see some relatives who were in town visiting.
I was able to register Isaac for swimming and a cooking class for this fall. G will also be in our swimming class, yay! Isaac will be starting Twos Time this September. I bought labels from Mabel's Labels so that I can label his clothes, shoes, bags, and containers for preschool. I also picked up a Cars FUNtainer Thermos water bottle and a Thermos food jar for his snack time. I'll have to see how these hold up after a few months of use.
On another note, I really dislike the Learning Curve Cars Insulated Straw Cup. It leaks like crazy because every time he takes a sip, water stays in the straw, then when he opens/closes his bottle, the water drips out. I had to replace his Playtex insulated straw cup because he chews on the straw and it tore. I ended up buying a couple more of the Playtex ones because at least those cups don't leak as much!
Today we met up with friends to play in a water playground. It was a little chilly. Isaac was shivering and one of the other moms carried him over to me when they noticed he was really cold.
Tomorrow evening we are going to babysit G while Auntie K and Uncle H go watch the Harry Potter movie. I may let Isaac stay up later to play with his friend (depending on how tired and crazy he gets). We might attend a music festival on Sunday. Next week we have a Creative Movements class every morning.
UPDATE: This morning I went to 3 garage sales and picked up a couple of books and a mini-set of dominos. Daddy and Isaac played together at a couple parks. In the evening, babysitting G went very smoothly. We played with trains, cars, had pizza, watched an episode of Hikaru No Go, Daddy and G put some Go stones on a Go board and played some iPad games while I put Isaac to bed, then I gave G a snack, read him a story, and he played with a Thomas the train puzzle. We're still deciding if we'll go to the music fest or not, there's 60% chance of rain and it's an outdoor event.
During one of our classes this week, I left Isaac in the class for about 15 minutes to see how he did without me in the room with him. According to the instructor, he looked for me a couple of times and she was able to divert him to play for a bit before he started looking for me again. On his third search for me, she led him out of the room to find me. He didn't cry, but just kept asking for me.
We went out for dinner a couple of times to see some relatives who were in town visiting.
I was able to register Isaac for swimming and a cooking class for this fall. G will also be in our swimming class, yay! Isaac will be starting Twos Time this September. I bought labels from Mabel's Labels so that I can label his clothes, shoes, bags, and containers for preschool. I also picked up a Cars FUNtainer Thermos water bottle and a Thermos food jar for his snack time. I'll have to see how these hold up after a few months of use.
On another note, I really dislike the Learning Curve Cars Insulated Straw Cup. It leaks like crazy because every time he takes a sip, water stays in the straw, then when he opens/closes his bottle, the water drips out. I had to replace his Playtex insulated straw cup because he chews on the straw and it tore. I ended up buying a couple more of the Playtex ones because at least those cups don't leak as much!
Today we met up with friends to play in a water playground. It was a little chilly. Isaac was shivering and one of the other moms carried him over to me when they noticed he was really cold.
Tomorrow evening we are going to babysit G while Auntie K and Uncle H go watch the Harry Potter movie. I may let Isaac stay up later to play with his friend (depending on how tired and crazy he gets). We might attend a music festival on Sunday. Next week we have a Creative Movements class every morning.
UPDATE: This morning I went to 3 garage sales and picked up a couple of books and a mini-set of dominos. Daddy and Isaac played together at a couple parks. In the evening, babysitting G went very smoothly. We played with trains, cars, had pizza, watched an episode of Hikaru No Go, Daddy and G put some Go stones on a Go board and played some iPad games while I put Isaac to bed, then I gave G a snack, read him a story, and he played with a Thomas the train puzzle. We're still deciding if we'll go to the music fest or not, there's 60% chance of rain and it's an outdoor event.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Weekend Events
Yesterday we went to the Maritime Festival at the Britannia Shipyard. Isaac boarded a few boats. He got to ring some bells and listened to a music and dancing performance. The event started at 11am (which is a bit late for Isaac since he typically naps late morning/early afternoon). We stayed for an hour, then went to pick up some lunch. Isaac fell asleep in the car in our way to buy lunch.
When we got home, he woke up briefly as I brought him up from the garage. However, when we got home, I asked if he wanted to sleep more. He responded "sleep", so I told him to go to bed. He crawled into bed himself and took his nap. I had lunch with Daddy.
The boy woke up and I went to have a short nap. I fed him lunch, then we went to get Isaac's hair cut. We went to a regular hair cutting place that didn't specialize in children's cuts - so he sat on a booster on a regular chair. He sat quietly and watched as a lady quickly cut his hair and praised him for being good. He squirmed a little when she tried to cut the hair near the nape of his neck. When she was finished and about to blow the hair off his head with a hair dryer, I told her he was scared of hair dryers so she brushed his hair with a powdered brush.
Today we're heading to the Family Farm Fair. It runs from 10am - 4pm. Isaac fell asleep in the car on our way there, so I woke him up. There was a train table set up and Isaac was captivated by it. He jumped briefly in a bouncy castle, but I called him away to check out the petting zoo. I tried to encourage Isaac to pet the goats, donkeys, ponies, and bunnies... (which he did try but wasn't very interested in), instead, he wanted to spin the toy windmill or check out metal models of farm machinery. He sat in a fire engine.
When we got home, he woke up briefly as I brought him up from the garage. However, when we got home, I asked if he wanted to sleep more. He responded "sleep", so I told him to go to bed. He crawled into bed himself and took his nap. I had lunch with Daddy.
The boy woke up and I went to have a short nap. I fed him lunch, then we went to get Isaac's hair cut. We went to a regular hair cutting place that didn't specialize in children's cuts - so he sat on a booster on a regular chair. He sat quietly and watched as a lady quickly cut his hair and praised him for being good. He squirmed a little when she tried to cut the hair near the nape of his neck. When she was finished and about to blow the hair off his head with a hair dryer, I told her he was scared of hair dryers so she brushed his hair with a powdered brush.
Today we're heading to the Family Farm Fair. It runs from 10am - 4pm. Isaac fell asleep in the car on our way there, so I woke him up. There was a train table set up and Isaac was captivated by it. He jumped briefly in a bouncy castle, but I called him away to check out the petting zoo. I tried to encourage Isaac to pet the goats, donkeys, ponies, and bunnies... (which he did try but wasn't very interested in), instead, he wanted to spin the toy windmill or check out metal models of farm machinery. He sat in a fire engine.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
1 Day
Last day before Daddy comes back home.
This morning we met up with our playgroup friends at a playground. It was too cold to play in the water. Highlight: chasing seagulls off a soccer field. There was one seagull who just kept moving to a different part of the field, so Isaac and J would keep running after it. When the seagull finally decided it had enough and flew away, the boys went to explore the gates on the far end of the field, so Auntie E. and I went after them.
I took Isaac to McDonalds for lunch. He almost fell asleep on the way there. His eyes were closing as I parked the car. When I asked if he wanted to eat at the restaurant or go home, he mumbled "restaurant" so I took him out of the car. Isaac had a Chicken McNugget happy meal and I had my usual (and I ate his fries).
We ate, went home, I put Isaac into his stroller and went to Value Village. He was still awake when I was browsing the book section, but quickly fell asleep soon after. I found a bin full of regular sized Lego for $8. It was really nice that there were no dead bugs and NO Megablox in the bin, though there were some broken pieces I had to toss away. I'm a bit leery about buying some bins after one experience of finding a bunch of dead bugs at the bottom of a Lego bin once. The lego filled the entire bathroom sink.
When I combined this set with our current bin of basic regular Lego blocks, I was able to build 7 mini Piston Cups for Isaac. He lined them up together like a choo-choo train.
For dinner, I made noodles with chicken broth, carrots, celery, tofu, and chicken balls. He watched a couple episodes of "I spy", then a couple "Word World" episodes while I fed him dinner. I started his bedtime routine at around 7pm and put him to bed at a bit after 8pm. Since I didn't have a nap today, I was pretty tired and fell asleep at Isaac's bedtime. Unfortunately, I missed a phone call from someone at the choir I'm planning to audition for. I will have to try to get in touch with her next week.
I'm just uploading some photos from the camera to iPhoto. I'll have to play around with iPhoto to get more comfortable using it. We have used Picasa, but I have had problems with some file corruption due to the large size of our albums and the sheer number of photos we've taken of the boy.
Daddy's home.
This morning we met up with our playgroup friends at a playground. It was too cold to play in the water. Highlight: chasing seagulls off a soccer field. There was one seagull who just kept moving to a different part of the field, so Isaac and J would keep running after it. When the seagull finally decided it had enough and flew away, the boys went to explore the gates on the far end of the field, so Auntie E. and I went after them.
I took Isaac to McDonalds for lunch. He almost fell asleep on the way there. His eyes were closing as I parked the car. When I asked if he wanted to eat at the restaurant or go home, he mumbled "restaurant" so I took him out of the car. Isaac had a Chicken McNugget happy meal and I had my usual (and I ate his fries).
We ate, went home, I put Isaac into his stroller and went to Value Village. He was still awake when I was browsing the book section, but quickly fell asleep soon after. I found a bin full of regular sized Lego for $8. It was really nice that there were no dead bugs and NO Megablox in the bin, though there were some broken pieces I had to toss away. I'm a bit leery about buying some bins after one experience of finding a bunch of dead bugs at the bottom of a Lego bin once. The lego filled the entire bathroom sink.When I combined this set with our current bin of basic regular Lego blocks, I was able to build 7 mini Piston Cups for Isaac. He lined them up together like a choo-choo train.
For dinner, I made noodles with chicken broth, carrots, celery, tofu, and chicken balls. He watched a couple episodes of "I spy", then a couple "Word World" episodes while I fed him dinner. I started his bedtime routine at around 7pm and put him to bed at a bit after 8pm. Since I didn't have a nap today, I was pretty tired and fell asleep at Isaac's bedtime. Unfortunately, I missed a phone call from someone at the choir I'm planning to audition for. I will have to try to get in touch with her next week.
I'm just uploading some photos from the camera to iPhoto. I'll have to play around with iPhoto to get more comfortable using it. We have used Picasa, but I have had problems with some file corruption due to the large size of our albums and the sheer number of photos we've taken of the boy.
Daddy's home.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
2 Days
Isaac was up pretty early this morning. I took him to the potty at around 5:40am. Then I stuck him in his crib and told him he could look at books if he didn't want to sleep. I napped for a bit longer, when I checked on him, he had half the books from his bookshelf in his crib. I took him out at around 7am.
We had breakfast, then got out the door before 8:30am. I picked up a pack of 2 zone bus tickets from 7-Eleven, then we headed for the sky train station. Got to the station around 8:42am. We transferred to a bus and got to Kerrisdale a bit after 9:20am. We walked over to the community centre to get a family membership card so that I can try to register Isaac for a fall course there. Then we walked to the Kerrisdale Play Palace.
They opened at 9:30am, we waited a few minutes for them to open the door - and we were the first ones in. Isaac started off with the fooz table, then moved onto the air hockey table before we went to play in the toddler area and bouncy castle. N. and A. came at 10am. Isaac tried to follow them up the big kids bouncy castle slide... but half way climbing up, Isaac got scared/upset and started crying/screaming. I went in to get him. I guess he's still too young for that one.
In the toddler area, he played in the play house, drum, paper box bricks and toy trucks for most of the time. He was starting to get fussy at 10:30am, so I took him out for a snack. When I mentioned that Isaac was going to have a snack, N. followed us out to the plastic picnic benches. Auntie C. came with N's snack and we shared. Isaac got some of N's fruit gummies, and N. had some of our raisins and craisins. A. joined us a bit later.
We stayed until 11:15am. Isaac looked like he was starting to get tired. I changed his diaper, then headed over to Ajisai for some sushi. Isaac had a half order of salmon sashimi and a piece of ikura (sprinkled on top of his salmon pieces). I had a seafood salad and a chopped scallop cone.
I stopped by London Drugs, then caught a bus to the sky train and headed back home. When we got off the train, Isaac fell asleep in the stroller. I walked around Value Village, then went home. It was warm and stuffy in our place and a neighbour was drilling and vacuuming with their front door open, so it was a bit loud. I decided to take Isaac back down to the lobby since it was more comfortable there and sat there reading some local papers and ads for about an hour.
When Isaac woke up, we came back up. I put on Cars for him and went to take a nap. Woke up when the phone rang. After we got off the phone with Daddy, I decided to stick with my dumplings plan and made that for our dinner (augmented with left-over vegetables and chicken drumsticks).
We had breakfast, then got out the door before 8:30am. I picked up a pack of 2 zone bus tickets from 7-Eleven, then we headed for the sky train station. Got to the station around 8:42am. We transferred to a bus and got to Kerrisdale a bit after 9:20am. We walked over to the community centre to get a family membership card so that I can try to register Isaac for a fall course there. Then we walked to the Kerrisdale Play Palace.
They opened at 9:30am, we waited a few minutes for them to open the door - and we were the first ones in. Isaac started off with the fooz table, then moved onto the air hockey table before we went to play in the toddler area and bouncy castle. N. and A. came at 10am. Isaac tried to follow them up the big kids bouncy castle slide... but half way climbing up, Isaac got scared/upset and started crying/screaming. I went in to get him. I guess he's still too young for that one.
In the toddler area, he played in the play house, drum, paper box bricks and toy trucks for most of the time. He was starting to get fussy at 10:30am, so I took him out for a snack. When I mentioned that Isaac was going to have a snack, N. followed us out to the plastic picnic benches. Auntie C. came with N's snack and we shared. Isaac got some of N's fruit gummies, and N. had some of our raisins and craisins. A. joined us a bit later.
We stayed until 11:15am. Isaac looked like he was starting to get tired. I changed his diaper, then headed over to Ajisai for some sushi. Isaac had a half order of salmon sashimi and a piece of ikura (sprinkled on top of his salmon pieces). I had a seafood salad and a chopped scallop cone.
I stopped by London Drugs, then caught a bus to the sky train and headed back home. When we got off the train, Isaac fell asleep in the stroller. I walked around Value Village, then went home. It was warm and stuffy in our place and a neighbour was drilling and vacuuming with their front door open, so it was a bit loud. I decided to take Isaac back down to the lobby since it was more comfortable there and sat there reading some local papers and ads for about an hour.
When Isaac woke up, we came back up. I put on Cars for him and went to take a nap. Woke up when the phone rang. After we got off the phone with Daddy, I decided to stick with my dumplings plan and made that for our dinner (augmented with left-over vegetables and chicken drumsticks).
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
3 Days
Isaac woke up a number of times last night, but stayed in bed until 7am. He was really cheerful this morning. We had breakfast and are getting ready to go out to a playground.
We went by the library, playground, art gallery, value village and back home for lunch. He had some hot dogs and cucumber slices. He took a his nap from 1:30 to 4:30pm.
Time to make dinner. Shake and bake chicken drumsticks, rice and chinese veggies (bok choy).
We were playing with lego, and Isaac started getting upset over every little thing. I guess it's bedtime. After I gave him some milk, I told him he can go to the potty or brush his teeth. I went to brush my teeth, then I got his tooth brush ready. I thought he was messing with the blinds in our room, so I went to look for him and he had removed his pants and diaper and was sitting on the potty reading a lego catalogue. He seems to like the Harry Potter Diagon Alley Lego scene in the January 2011 catalogue.
We went by the library, playground, art gallery, value village and back home for lunch. He had some hot dogs and cucumber slices. He took a his nap from 1:30 to 4:30pm.
Time to make dinner. Shake and bake chicken drumsticks, rice and chinese veggies (bok choy).
We were playing with lego, and Isaac started getting upset over every little thing. I guess it's bedtime. After I gave him some milk, I told him he can go to the potty or brush his teeth. I went to brush my teeth, then I got his tooth brush ready. I thought he was messing with the blinds in our room, so I went to look for him and he had removed his pants and diaper and was sitting on the potty reading a lego catalogue. He seems to like the Harry Potter Diagon Alley Lego scene in the January 2011 catalogue.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
4 Days
The boy fell asleep around 9:30pm. He woke up around 4:30am, Had mommy milk, went potty, then went back to sleep in his crib. We got up at 7:30am.
I didn't end up going to the bakery yesterday. I don't know if we'll have enough time to run over to pick something up before our friends come over. I'll have to give him breakfast and see.
I paid M & L for dinner so now I am low on cash. May need to visit the bank. I also put in orders on stocks yesterday and they were filled this morning. I still think the market will go lower, but I guess I won't aim to catch the bottom this time around.
I finally got Isaac ready to go out by 10am. I rushed to the bank and bakery. On our way home, Auntie C. buzzed us for parking. We met them in the lobby and went up the elevator together. They stayed for about an hour and a little.
Isaac had part of a pizza pocket and a hot dog for lunch. He fell asleep for his afternoon nap at 1:10pm. We'll probably try to go to the park in the afternoon (if he doesn't get up too late). For dinner tonight, he'll be having the pasta left-overs from yesterday.
We got up from our nap just before 3pm. Isaac snacked on some apples and played with his play-food. We went down to check our mail. Then had a web chat with Daddy while eating dinner. After dinner, I gave Isaac a bath and started the bedtime routine at 7pm. I got him into bed by 8pm and lay with him until he fell asleep at 8:20pm.
I didn't end up going to the bakery yesterday. I don't know if we'll have enough time to run over to pick something up before our friends come over. I'll have to give him breakfast and see.
I paid M & L for dinner so now I am low on cash. May need to visit the bank. I also put in orders on stocks yesterday and they were filled this morning. I still think the market will go lower, but I guess I won't aim to catch the bottom this time around.
I finally got Isaac ready to go out by 10am. I rushed to the bank and bakery. On our way home, Auntie C. buzzed us for parking. We met them in the lobby and went up the elevator together. They stayed for about an hour and a little.
Isaac had part of a pizza pocket and a hot dog for lunch. He fell asleep for his afternoon nap at 1:10pm. We'll probably try to go to the park in the afternoon (if he doesn't get up too late). For dinner tonight, he'll be having the pasta left-overs from yesterday.
We got up from our nap just before 3pm. Isaac snacked on some apples and played with his play-food. We went down to check our mail. Then had a web chat with Daddy while eating dinner. After dinner, I gave Isaac a bath and started the bedtime routine at 7pm. I got him into bed by 8pm and lay with him until he fell asleep at 8:20pm.
Monday, August 1, 2011
5 Days
Isaac was up sometime before 6am. I don't know when but I'm guessing 5:30am or earlier. I gave him the choice of going to play by himself or going to his crib. So he went out to play in his play area.
I wanted to sleep 'til 7am but got up at 6am to monitor him on the potty. He ate 3/4 of a shredded pork bun for breakfast. I had a bun too. He played for a bit more, then he helped me clear the floor and we did some vacuuming together. After, we went for a drive to a garage sale and value village, didn't find anything today. After we came home and I set the boy up with a bowl of peeled oranges and the anime movie Totoro while I made lunch. Mmm... Hot dogs! I cut up a hot dog for him and gave him some ketchup to dip. He fed himself the hot dogs while I fed him oatmeal and peach sauce. I had a couple of hot dogs and a salad for lunch.
I'd still like to go out and try to get some pineapple buns and some chinese pastry after Isaac wakes up from his nap. We were awaken by a phone call on my cell but he immediately went back to sleep. I'm not sure who called though. I don't remember what time we had a nap, but I think it was around 12:15-12:30ish pm. It just feels like a long nap since it's already after 3pm now.
I wanted to sleep 'til 7am but got up at 6am to monitor him on the potty. He ate 3/4 of a shredded pork bun for breakfast. I had a bun too. He played for a bit more, then he helped me clear the floor and we did some vacuuming together. After, we went for a drive to a garage sale and value village, didn't find anything today. After we came home and I set the boy up with a bowl of peeled oranges and the anime movie Totoro while I made lunch. Mmm... Hot dogs! I cut up a hot dog for him and gave him some ketchup to dip. He fed himself the hot dogs while I fed him oatmeal and peach sauce. I had a couple of hot dogs and a salad for lunch.
I'd still like to go out and try to get some pineapple buns and some chinese pastry after Isaac wakes up from his nap. We were awaken by a phone call on my cell but he immediately went back to sleep. I'm not sure who called though. I don't remember what time we had a nap, but I think it was around 12:15-12:30ish pm. It just feels like a long nap since it's already after 3pm now.
I saw a craigslist posting for a ju ju be bag that I wanted to buy new (but couldn't justify paying full price for). I'm not sure if it's still available, but I emailed the poster about it. Hope I do hear back from them.
For dinner tonight, I'm not sure if Auntie L and Uncle M will be stopping by or not, so I'll just make cream of mushroom pasta for our dinner. Maybe I'll make some bacon and add it into the sauce.
Tomorrow, Auntie C. N. and A. will be dropping by for a short visit in the morning.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
6 Days
This morning we went to three garage sales. We got a foam mat floor puzzle for $1, Disney Cars book for $0.25 and a case of K'nex for $5.
For lunch, Isaac has some apple slices and a pizza pocket. He took an 1.5 hour nap. After his nap, he had a cookie then we headed out for the afternoon. We stopped by the library, Kin's, and a bakery. Isaac ate an egg tart while looking at the kittens in a pet store.
Time to make some dinner while Isaac watches a couple episodes of "I Spy". We're having rice, chicken wings and some chinese veggies. I also stir-fried some celery with ham. We watched Cars while we had dinner. We started the bedtime routine super early today (7:15-ish pm). I put Isaac in bed at 8pm and he was asleep by 8:30pm. I feel tired too. There are still dishes to do and I need a shower. Sleep beckons.
For lunch, Isaac has some apple slices and a pizza pocket. He took an 1.5 hour nap. After his nap, he had a cookie then we headed out for the afternoon. We stopped by the library, Kin's, and a bakery. Isaac ate an egg tart while looking at the kittens in a pet store.
Time to make some dinner while Isaac watches a couple episodes of "I Spy". We're having rice, chicken wings and some chinese veggies. I also stir-fried some celery with ham. We watched Cars while we had dinner. We started the bedtime routine super early today (7:15-ish pm). I put Isaac in bed at 8pm and he was asleep by 8:30pm. I feel tired too. There are still dishes to do and I need a shower. Sleep beckons.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
7 Days
Isaac was up around 6:37am. He played by himself and I got up after 7am. We did the load of laundry, had bacon, scrambled eggs, oatmeal/toast, and apple juice for breakfast. Stopped by a garage sale, stopped by a park (while waiting for the 2nd garage sale to start), dropped by the 2nd garage sale, played at the park for about 40 minutes (while waiting for the restaurant to open), had sushi for lunch AT the restaurant, picked up a nectarine from Safeway, then went home. The boy fell asleep in the car on the way home at around noon.
This afternoon looks to be nice and warm so I think we will go to a water splash park. We'll probably have dumplings for dinner tonight.
We got up late from our nap (3pm). It was 25 degrees C and sunny, so I decided that we should make the most of the rest of our afternoon. We headed to the water park and was stopped on the way by the train tracks as a Union Pacific train was passing by. We didn't wait too long and got to be pretty close so Isaac got a good view.
We were extremely lucky to get a parking spot almost immediately! I drove through the middle Two cars just left so the car in front of me got one spot and I got the second one. There were cars parked all the way onto the street outside the park. Cars were parked illegally on pedestrian pathways. Many cars were just sitting waiting for spots. It was crowded at the park, but Isaac had a lot of fun getting wet and splashing some puddles. We brought our bucket this time. He held onto it most of the time until he decided to go to the playground then he just left his bucket and some girl picked it up. I trailed after he when I saw him leave the water area. He was up on the bridge when I caught up with him. When I asked him where his bucket is, he got a little stressed and hurried back to the water area to reclaim his bucket from the girl. I changed him back to his clothes, then it was my turn to have fun.
I went to Value Village and picked up a few books. After, we went home for a late dinner. He looked at a travel advertisement and when we were looking at the ocean, I mentioned that sailboats sail on the ocean. Then he said "I spy bow tie". The reference for this comment is from the "I spy" video he watched where there was a bow tie on a sailboat. We spent the rest of dinner playing "I spy" (looking around the table and room of things we spied).
Now I need to give him a bath and start the bedtime routine.
This afternoon looks to be nice and warm so I think we will go to a water splash park. We'll probably have dumplings for dinner tonight.
We got up late from our nap (3pm). It was 25 degrees C and sunny, so I decided that we should make the most of the rest of our afternoon. We headed to the water park and was stopped on the way by the train tracks as a Union Pacific train was passing by. We didn't wait too long and got to be pretty close so Isaac got a good view.
We were extremely lucky to get a parking spot almost immediately! I drove through the middle Two cars just left so the car in front of me got one spot and I got the second one. There were cars parked all the way onto the street outside the park. Cars were parked illegally on pedestrian pathways. Many cars were just sitting waiting for spots. It was crowded at the park, but Isaac had a lot of fun getting wet and splashing some puddles. We brought our bucket this time. He held onto it most of the time until he decided to go to the playground then he just left his bucket and some girl picked it up. I trailed after he when I saw him leave the water area. He was up on the bridge when I caught up with him. When I asked him where his bucket is, he got a little stressed and hurried back to the water area to reclaim his bucket from the girl. I changed him back to his clothes, then it was my turn to have fun.
I went to Value Village and picked up a few books. After, we went home for a late dinner. He looked at a travel advertisement and when we were looking at the ocean, I mentioned that sailboats sail on the ocean. Then he said "I spy bow tie". The reference for this comment is from the "I spy" video he watched where there was a bow tie on a sailboat. We spent the rest of dinner playing "I spy" (looking around the table and room of things we spied).
Now I need to give him a bath and start the bedtime routine.
Friday, July 29, 2011
8 Days
Isaac was up a couple of times last night. Once around 2:30am, and again around 4:30am. I was worried that he might want to get up at the 4:30am time, but very fortunately he went back to sleep!!! I woke up at 8am, and the boy is still sleeping. Our soccer class it at 9:30am - so the timing of breakfast and getting ready to go to class is getting tight. Usually the morning process takes an hour or more - especially if he's not cooperating to leave the house. I might drive to save a few minutes. I'd better just get myself ready and make his breakfast now.
La la la... Isaac is still sleeping. It's 8:50am. Oh never mind, I hear him mumbling stuff about a plane and Eva.
We got to class a few minutes late. Isaac was pretty good at class. At the end of soccer, the teachers gave everyone a little bottle of bubbles and some stickers. We headed over to Auntie E's house to play with J. and G. It was ok, though we broke a ceramic bowl, a wind wheel, and a pair of J's glasses there today. I think I should try to replace the wind wheel since Isaac was involved in breaking it. Auntie E. made us a very yummy spaghetti and meat sauce. Isaac liked it a lot. She packed some for us to bring home. Yay!
Got home at 1pm. Tried to put Isaac down for a nap, but he doesn't seem all too sleepy. I think I'm going to have to take him out for a walk in the stroller (aka go to VV). He's currently reading on the potty. I guess since he was up so late this morning, he's not as tired yet.
No real nap. I walked through Value Village, the neighbouring thrift store, bank, Chapters, and a grocery store. Finally on our way home he fell asleep (shortly before 5pm). When we got home, I transferred him to bed... then proceeded to try to clear his nose. That woke him up. We had a web chat with Daddy during dinner and I tried to put him to bed early. He still didn't end up sleeping until a bit after 8pm - but I guess that's earlier than "normal" from the last few days.
Tomorrow morning I have plans to do a load of laundry, have bacon & eggs for breakfast, go to two garages sales and visit a playground in between. Then I'll pick up some sushi for lunch on our way home. I'll have to see how that goes. It depends on when Isaac wakes up and my motivation level. If the laundry does get done, then I can take him to a water splash park in the afternoon (still need to wash his swimming suit from his last park visit).
La la la... Isaac is still sleeping. It's 8:50am. Oh never mind, I hear him mumbling stuff about a plane and Eva.
We got to class a few minutes late. Isaac was pretty good at class. At the end of soccer, the teachers gave everyone a little bottle of bubbles and some stickers. We headed over to Auntie E's house to play with J. and G. It was ok, though we broke a ceramic bowl, a wind wheel, and a pair of J's glasses there today. I think I should try to replace the wind wheel since Isaac was involved in breaking it. Auntie E. made us a very yummy spaghetti and meat sauce. Isaac liked it a lot. She packed some for us to bring home. Yay!
Got home at 1pm. Tried to put Isaac down for a nap, but he doesn't seem all too sleepy. I think I'm going to have to take him out for a walk in the stroller (aka go to VV). He's currently reading on the potty. I guess since he was up so late this morning, he's not as tired yet.
No real nap. I walked through Value Village, the neighbouring thrift store, bank, Chapters, and a grocery store. Finally on our way home he fell asleep (shortly before 5pm). When we got home, I transferred him to bed... then proceeded to try to clear his nose. That woke him up. We had a web chat with Daddy during dinner and I tried to put him to bed early. He still didn't end up sleeping until a bit after 8pm - but I guess that's earlier than "normal" from the last few days.
Tomorrow morning I have plans to do a load of laundry, have bacon & eggs for breakfast, go to two garages sales and visit a playground in between. Then I'll pick up some sushi for lunch on our way home. I'll have to see how that goes. It depends on when Isaac wakes up and my motivation level. If the laundry does get done, then I can take him to a water splash park in the afternoon (still need to wash his swimming suit from his last park visit).
Thursday, July 28, 2011
9 Days
Up before 6am. I didn't look at the time, but my best guess is that it was probably around 5:30am. He wanted to go to the potty... so he went by himself. When I checked on him, I found him wiping pee off his potty seat (I guess he wasn't aimed/positioned properly). There were books scattered all over the floor.
He was happily playing with his car garage, then asked for some cheese. I cut some up for him and gave him a bamboo two-pronged tooth pick to poke the cheese.
So much for the good morning. The boy unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper. I put him in the crib and made him wait while I rolled it back up. After, he was in a bad mood (I guess because I scolded and punished him). When I let him out, he proceeded to break my Duplo castle. When I took the castle pieces away, he threw a tantrum... and threatened to dump out all the lego from another bin. I took the bin away from him and he had another fit.
I decided it was time to go out. We walked to the thrift store and value village. While we were at value village, the boy fell asleep a bit before 10:15am. Since I didn't take a stroller, I had to lug him home. Even though he was "asleep" he was aware of his surroundings. When his hat fell off a couple of times, he immediately grabbed at his head. Even though it was a short distance, it took me a big of time to get home.
I guess we'll have a normal lunch time (having left-overs) and maybe we can go to a park in the afternoon. If it's warm enough I might attempt going to a water splash park.
We went to play at the water park today and stayed there for almost 1.5 hours (including clothes changing time). Isaac played mostly with the water cannons and a couple of water volcanoes. I ran into another mom from one of Isaac's earlier Creative Movements classes. She's moving away in January, but I'm planning to arrange a few play dates over the end of summer and fall.
Auntie K. invited us over for dinner tonight at 6pm. I'm not sure if there's anything I can bring over.
I'm going to give Isaac a bath, then get us ready to go out for dinner.
He was happily playing with his car garage, then asked for some cheese. I cut some up for him and gave him a bamboo two-pronged tooth pick to poke the cheese.
So much for the good morning. The boy unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper. I put him in the crib and made him wait while I rolled it back up. After, he was in a bad mood (I guess because I scolded and punished him). When I let him out, he proceeded to break my Duplo castle. When I took the castle pieces away, he threw a tantrum... and threatened to dump out all the lego from another bin. I took the bin away from him and he had another fit.
I decided it was time to go out. We walked to the thrift store and value village. While we were at value village, the boy fell asleep a bit before 10:15am. Since I didn't take a stroller, I had to lug him home. Even though he was "asleep" he was aware of his surroundings. When his hat fell off a couple of times, he immediately grabbed at his head. Even though it was a short distance, it took me a big of time to get home.
I guess we'll have a normal lunch time (having left-overs) and maybe we can go to a park in the afternoon. If it's warm enough I might attempt going to a water splash park.
We went to play at the water park today and stayed there for almost 1.5 hours (including clothes changing time). Isaac played mostly with the water cannons and a couple of water volcanoes. I ran into another mom from one of Isaac's earlier Creative Movements classes. She's moving away in January, but I'm planning to arrange a few play dates over the end of summer and fall.
Auntie K. invited us over for dinner tonight at 6pm. I'm not sure if there's anything I can bring over.
I'm going to give Isaac a bath, then get us ready to go out for dinner.
10 Days
Tiring day.
One good thing, Isaac didn't wake up last night (or if he did, I didn't hear him). He woke up for the day at 7am and we got up at 7:30am. We had breakfast and got ready to go to soccer class. The boy was purposely running into other kids and Moms. I gave him a couple of time-outs there. He must've been a bit tired because he was hyper and screamed running around. He settled down a little part way through class when "connected" some chairs to form a train and sat there for a while.
After class, he played at the playground for a bit. We went by Value Village, then we were off to the library to get a sticker for his kid's summer reading club booklet. We stopped by the art gallery, a chinese grocery store, then Isaac fell asleep in his stroller there. I was feeling exhausted when we got home. I put him in bed, but unfortunately woke him up so he didn't have much of a nap today.
We had left-over pasta for lunch. Then I left on the Cars movie and took a nap. When the movie was over, he came to look for me. I tried to get him to nap with me to no avail. He asked to go to the potty, so I took him there and went back to sleep. I woke up to the sound of something crashing. (It was his bath toys.) There were bandaids all over the floor and bottles of saline nose drops everywhere (many with the caps missing). I put his diaper back on and stuck him in his crib. He apologized and I took him out.
I set him up with some play doh while I prepared dinner. We had rice, bok choy, (I had steamed eggs - the boy gagged when I tried to sneak some on a spoon for him), and a mixture of sautéed minced pork, sliced chinese sausage, diced kohlrabi, and diced rehydrated mushrooms. For dessert, we had some yogurt.
After dinner, I gave the boy a bath, and put him to bed. He was asleep just after 9pm.
I took a shower, did a load of laundry, did the dishes and topped up the hot water in the water dispenser. I'm going to try to go to bed soon.
One good thing, Isaac didn't wake up last night (or if he did, I didn't hear him). He woke up for the day at 7am and we got up at 7:30am. We had breakfast and got ready to go to soccer class. The boy was purposely running into other kids and Moms. I gave him a couple of time-outs there. He must've been a bit tired because he was hyper and screamed running around. He settled down a little part way through class when "connected" some chairs to form a train and sat there for a while.
After class, he played at the playground for a bit. We went by Value Village, then we were off to the library to get a sticker for his kid's summer reading club booklet. We stopped by the art gallery, a chinese grocery store, then Isaac fell asleep in his stroller there. I was feeling exhausted when we got home. I put him in bed, but unfortunately woke him up so he didn't have much of a nap today.
We had left-over pasta for lunch. Then I left on the Cars movie and took a nap. When the movie was over, he came to look for me. I tried to get him to nap with me to no avail. He asked to go to the potty, so I took him there and went back to sleep. I woke up to the sound of something crashing. (It was his bath toys.) There were bandaids all over the floor and bottles of saline nose drops everywhere (many with the caps missing). I put his diaper back on and stuck him in his crib. He apologized and I took him out.
I set him up with some play doh while I prepared dinner. We had rice, bok choy, (I had steamed eggs - the boy gagged when I tried to sneak some on a spoon for him), and a mixture of sautéed minced pork, sliced chinese sausage, diced kohlrabi, and diced rehydrated mushrooms. For dessert, we had some yogurt.
After dinner, I gave the boy a bath, and put him to bed. He was asleep just after 9pm.
I took a shower, did a load of laundry, did the dishes and topped up the hot water in the water dispenser. I'm going to try to go to bed soon.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
11 Days
Why is it that on the nights I stay up late... the boy wants to get up early. He definitely didn't get enough sleep last night since went to sleep around 10pm, woke up sometime in the middle of the night and wanted to get up at 5:30 am. I stuck him back in his crib and closed my eyes. When I woke up, he was still up, and he had pulled a bunch of books into his crib from the bookshelf. (I guess I should mention that I re-arranged and cleaned part of the bedroom last night while the boy watched Cars and Wall-E.) I let him out of his crib at 6:30am.
Since I rearranged some of his toys in the bins last night, things were different and he was playing happily by himself while I slept a bit longer. I fed him breakfast, we took out some garbage and we dropped off a bag of my old sweaters at Value Village. After we went to the library, art gallery, then met up with K. before her swimming class. K. gave Isaac a kiss on the cheek before we left. It was cute. :) I stopped by Kins, a bakery (to get Isaac egg tarts), bank, PriceSmart (where he decided to take his nap), then just got home.
Lunch time: I think I'll make some macaroni with zucchini, mushrooms and meatballs. I'll try to make extra so that we can have it for lunch tomorrow too.
Dinner: Shake & Bake chicken drumsticks, chinese veggies, rice.
I need to make one more garbage drop-off while he's sleeping.
I woke Isaac up from his afternoon nap and we had a late lunch. I wanted to take Isaac to a sing a-long at the library, but he didn't want to go. We had dinner and he's watching Cars.
Since I rearranged some of his toys in the bins last night, things were different and he was playing happily by himself while I slept a bit longer. I fed him breakfast, we took out some garbage and we dropped off a bag of my old sweaters at Value Village. After we went to the library, art gallery, then met up with K. before her swimming class. K. gave Isaac a kiss on the cheek before we left. It was cute. :) I stopped by Kins, a bakery (to get Isaac egg tarts), bank, PriceSmart (where he decided to take his nap), then just got home.
Lunch time: I think I'll make some macaroni with zucchini, mushrooms and meatballs. I'll try to make extra so that we can have it for lunch tomorrow too.
Dinner: Shake & Bake chicken drumsticks, chinese veggies, rice.
I need to make one more garbage drop-off while he's sleeping.
I woke Isaac up from his afternoon nap and we had a late lunch. I wanted to take Isaac to a sing a-long at the library, but he didn't want to go. We had dinner and he's watching Cars.
Monday, July 25, 2011
12 Days
It's been a busy day.
Last night Isaac was up at around 3:30am. I took him to the potty and tried to get him to go back to sleep. He asked to go to the potty again 2 additional times. Back to sleep a bit after 4am. He got up at 7:30am!
I woke up this morning with what felt like a swollen throat. It was uncomfortable swallowing water. I think it must be allergies. I had the fan on last night since it was warm, and that probably stirred up all the dust. The first thing I did this morning was dust part of the blinds in our room. Isaac tried to help.
A bit after 8am, we had breakfast. I took Isaac to the potty, got him changed and drove to his soccer class. There is another Isaac in his class (who we met before in gymnastics last year). There were also a couple of boys we met before from our art class. Isaac enjoyed playing "What time is it Mr. Wolf?" though by the third time they repeated the game, he lost interest in it and was running off. During the class, he seemed to prefer playing with hoola hoops, bean bags, and jumping off the stage onto a big mat. The soccer part didn't really get his attention.
After class was over, he bolted out of class and went straight for the playground. He played there for a bit while I chatted with a couple of other parents from our class. After we headed to Ikea. I let him play in the kids area, then we picked up a floor lamp and a couple of storage bins. We each had a hot dog, then we went home. On our way back, we were stopped at a set of railroad tracks. A LONG train was passing through, took awhile just sitting there waiting for it to pass. Isaac didn't mind. It would've been nicer if we were closer to the front of the line of cars so that he could get a better view of the train.
I got Isaac to help clear the toys off the floor. I put our bed sheets into the wash, then vacuumed, then steam vacuumed. Isaac snacked on some cheese and ham. After, Isaac had some Mommy milk and he looked tired, but when I tried to put him down for his nap, he wouldn't sleep. He was talking up a storm, and playing with the blankets in his crib. Then he pretended the blankets was water spewing from his aquarium. When the dryer finished, I made up the bed and he still didn't want to sleep.
Finally at 4pm, I decided to take him out to Value Village. He fell asleep in the elevator as I was leaving the building. I walked around for 1.5 hours, then went home. I made dumplings for dinner. I tried waking him up at 6pm, but he didn't want to get up. So I ate my portion of dumplings. I tried to wake him up again and threatened to eat his "mum mum", then he started whine/crying and came out to eat at 6:25pm.
I guess he's going to be up late. I'll try putting him to bed at 9pm tonight.
Last night Isaac was up at around 3:30am. I took him to the potty and tried to get him to go back to sleep. He asked to go to the potty again 2 additional times. Back to sleep a bit after 4am. He got up at 7:30am!
I woke up this morning with what felt like a swollen throat. It was uncomfortable swallowing water. I think it must be allergies. I had the fan on last night since it was warm, and that probably stirred up all the dust. The first thing I did this morning was dust part of the blinds in our room. Isaac tried to help.
A bit after 8am, we had breakfast. I took Isaac to the potty, got him changed and drove to his soccer class. There is another Isaac in his class (who we met before in gymnastics last year). There were also a couple of boys we met before from our art class. Isaac enjoyed playing "What time is it Mr. Wolf?" though by the third time they repeated the game, he lost interest in it and was running off. During the class, he seemed to prefer playing with hoola hoops, bean bags, and jumping off the stage onto a big mat. The soccer part didn't really get his attention.
After class was over, he bolted out of class and went straight for the playground. He played there for a bit while I chatted with a couple of other parents from our class. After we headed to Ikea. I let him play in the kids area, then we picked up a floor lamp and a couple of storage bins. We each had a hot dog, then we went home. On our way back, we were stopped at a set of railroad tracks. A LONG train was passing through, took awhile just sitting there waiting for it to pass. Isaac didn't mind. It would've been nicer if we were closer to the front of the line of cars so that he could get a better view of the train.
I got Isaac to help clear the toys off the floor. I put our bed sheets into the wash, then vacuumed, then steam vacuumed. Isaac snacked on some cheese and ham. After, Isaac had some Mommy milk and he looked tired, but when I tried to put him down for his nap, he wouldn't sleep. He was talking up a storm, and playing with the blankets in his crib. Then he pretended the blankets was water spewing from his aquarium. When the dryer finished, I made up the bed and he still didn't want to sleep.
Finally at 4pm, I decided to take him out to Value Village. He fell asleep in the elevator as I was leaving the building. I walked around for 1.5 hours, then went home. I made dumplings for dinner. I tried waking him up at 6pm, but he didn't want to get up. So I ate my portion of dumplings. I tried to wake him up again and threatened to eat his "mum mum", then he started whine/crying and came out to eat at 6:25pm.
I guess he's going to be up late. I'll try putting him to bed at 9pm tonight.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
13 Days
We dropped Daddy off at the airport then stopped by a park on our way home. Isaac wants to go with Daddy on the plane. When we got home, he snacked on some seaweed. We took out the garbage and I tried to go to a garage sale.
Unsuccessful - I drove by the site, but was unable to park the car in the vicinity of the garage sale so we proceeded back home. On our way back, Isaac fell asleep (10:20am). It's a bit too early for a nap, but he seems to be needing an earlier nap lately. I think I need to put him in bed earlier. I hope he isn't too tired for his soccer class tomorrow morning.
I am watching an ebay auction and there's still over an hour left before it's over. I have a price in mind. There's already 9 bids on the pirate ship, and the chances of winning this auction for the price I want is quite slim. I guess I should think about lunch while the boy's napping.
The boy's nose is stuffed up. I try to clear it but end up waking him up. After a tussle I get some nose drops in and was able to suction some mucous out. A win for Mommy. But it's a short nap and I don't think I can get him to go back to sleep.
Just under 5 minutes left for the auction. Isaac didn't go back to sleep so I'm trying to feed him some dinner leftovers while I watch the auction. I'm hoping I'll be able to put in a bid at the end... Someone just beat my bid by a little. I bid 211.53 and it went for 214.03. That one was close. I put in my bid in the last 20 seconds and just got out-bid in the end.
Time to finish lunch and watch Cars.
Shortly after starting the Cars movie, I remembered about the Kids Safety Fair at a community centre. I turned off the tv - and Isaac got mad. I managed to get him into his stroller and he settled down when I opened our front door. Just after leaving the parking lot, the boy cries "Potty". He said it a few times, so I know he wants to go. I ask him to try to wait until we get to the community centre.
When we got to the fair, there was blaring music and kids laughing, yelling, and having fun. I asked if he needed to go potty and he insisted "No Potty". Off we went to play. First we went to the bouncy castle slide. Then he jumped for a little on another bouncy castle. It was empty except for Isaac. We saw a rescue helicopter circling overhead... and it was landing! I asked him to leave the bouncy castle and we watched the helicopter make its descent. I thought that they would let us get up close to it again this year, but unfortunately they got called off to an emergency. We walked around the booths collecting stickers, a pencil, magnet, whistle, safety bracelet and a frisbee. After our walk around, he asked to go to the potty again.
I took him into the community centre and he went to the potty. After, he played at the playground, went on the bouncy castle again and we headed back to the car. I found a garage sale listing close by and stopped by before we went home. I picked up a toy car ramp/garage/car wash for free. The sounds don't work, but Isaac seems to like it. I can give it away when we're done playing with it. :)
After a popsicle, I gave Isaac a bath and he just fell asleep for his second nap at 3:50pm. Time to take out his diaper garbage.
Hunting around the house for the bag of Gourmet Baby... Finally find stowed away in another bag beside Isaac's toy kitchen. It's 5:50pm and the boy is still napping. I will definitely need to wake him up within 10 minutes. It'd work better if dinner was ready too. Still waiting for the soup to boil (for chinese soup noodles).
Unsuccessful - I drove by the site, but was unable to park the car in the vicinity of the garage sale so we proceeded back home. On our way back, Isaac fell asleep (10:20am). It's a bit too early for a nap, but he seems to be needing an earlier nap lately. I think I need to put him in bed earlier. I hope he isn't too tired for his soccer class tomorrow morning.
I am watching an ebay auction and there's still over an hour left before it's over. I have a price in mind. There's already 9 bids on the pirate ship, and the chances of winning this auction for the price I want is quite slim. I guess I should think about lunch while the boy's napping.
The boy's nose is stuffed up. I try to clear it but end up waking him up. After a tussle I get some nose drops in and was able to suction some mucous out. A win for Mommy. But it's a short nap and I don't think I can get him to go back to sleep.
Just under 5 minutes left for the auction. Isaac didn't go back to sleep so I'm trying to feed him some dinner leftovers while I watch the auction. I'm hoping I'll be able to put in a bid at the end... Someone just beat my bid by a little. I bid 211.53 and it went for 214.03. That one was close. I put in my bid in the last 20 seconds and just got out-bid in the end.
Time to finish lunch and watch Cars.
Shortly after starting the Cars movie, I remembered about the Kids Safety Fair at a community centre. I turned off the tv - and Isaac got mad. I managed to get him into his stroller and he settled down when I opened our front door. Just after leaving the parking lot, the boy cries "Potty". He said it a few times, so I know he wants to go. I ask him to try to wait until we get to the community centre.
When we got to the fair, there was blaring music and kids laughing, yelling, and having fun. I asked if he needed to go potty and he insisted "No Potty". Off we went to play. First we went to the bouncy castle slide. Then he jumped for a little on another bouncy castle. It was empty except for Isaac. We saw a rescue helicopter circling overhead... and it was landing! I asked him to leave the bouncy castle and we watched the helicopter make its descent. I thought that they would let us get up close to it again this year, but unfortunately they got called off to an emergency. We walked around the booths collecting stickers, a pencil, magnet, whistle, safety bracelet and a frisbee. After our walk around, he asked to go to the potty again.
I took him into the community centre and he went to the potty. After, he played at the playground, went on the bouncy castle again and we headed back to the car. I found a garage sale listing close by and stopped by before we went home. I picked up a toy car ramp/garage/car wash for free. The sounds don't work, but Isaac seems to like it. I can give it away when we're done playing with it. :)
After a popsicle, I gave Isaac a bath and he just fell asleep for his second nap at 3:50pm. Time to take out his diaper garbage.
Hunting around the house for the bag of Gourmet Baby... Finally find stowed away in another bag beside Isaac's toy kitchen. It's 5:50pm and the boy is still napping. I will definitely need to wake him up within 10 minutes. It'd work better if dinner was ready too. Still waiting for the soup to boil (for chinese soup noodles).
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Potty Training with Training Pants
I picked up a pair of Kushies Training Pants from Sears and we've been using it for at least a couple of weeks now. I didn't want to go with the disposable pull-ups since it's costlier in the long run and it's too similar to a diaper - and he knows he can pee in his diaper whenever he wants without going to the potty.
He just had his first accident in the training pants yesterday. He noticed immediately when he got wet, told me: "uh oh". It was nice not having to clean up the mess (on our carpets) because the trainers kept the pee contained. Since we only have one pair of trainers, I had to switch him to a pair of regular cotton underwear afterwards. He was fine for the rest of the evening.
Since I don't have any other training pants to compare with... I can only give my impression of the Kushies one. The trainers look very puffy when worn. The boy seems comfortable wearing them (and will request to wear it). It kind of makes some crinkle noises when he moves around. There were no small sizes available at the store, so I went with the medium. It's a little big on him, but it seems to work ok. I might look for another brand to try.
I'm not sure when I'll feel ready to take him out in underwear. Our outings are usually too long. Maybe we can try a short walk out (just to see what happens). The training pants give me a little more confidence.
He just had his first accident in the training pants yesterday. He noticed immediately when he got wet, told me: "uh oh". It was nice not having to clean up the mess (on our carpets) because the trainers kept the pee contained. Since we only have one pair of trainers, I had to switch him to a pair of regular cotton underwear afterwards. He was fine for the rest of the evening.
Since I don't have any other training pants to compare with... I can only give my impression of the Kushies one. The trainers look very puffy when worn. The boy seems comfortable wearing them (and will request to wear it). It kind of makes some crinkle noises when he moves around. There were no small sizes available at the store, so I went with the medium. It's a little big on him, but it seems to work ok. I might look for another brand to try.
I'm not sure when I'll feel ready to take him out in underwear. Our outings are usually too long. Maybe we can try a short walk out (just to see what happens). The training pants give me a little more confidence.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Miscellaneous updates
Here are just some random updates about our ongoings.
Last week Isaac had his first nose bleed. He was acting up, then throwing a tantrum so we put him in his crib. Then if it's possible, he got even more upset and at some point his nose started bleeding. He smeared it on his hands and got some blood stains on his crib sheets, but it wasn't anything serious (the nose bleed, that is).
We've been enjoying some nice sunny weather. We went to the Steveston Salmon Festival to celebrate Canada Day. Isaac had fun watching the parade (and we had a nice surprise seeing one of his friends in the parade). Over the weekend, we went to Kits beach. Enjoyed a walk there. Isaac explored the beach with Daddy while I attempted to build a sandcastle. They later came back and Isaac helped me decorate my mound of sand with sea shells and seaweed. We've also been going to parks the last few days.
The weather forecast seems to be nice, so I might take Isaac to play at a splash park "tomorrow" (which is really later today). We have a playdate with N. on Wednesday.
Potty training: I recently bought a pair of training pants (underwear lined with water-resistant covering). When we're home, I try to offer him the choice between diapers or the trainers and he's picked the trainers a few times (and has stayed dry in them). One time we forgot he had his trainers on and went out to pick up some dinner. I only remembered that he had that on while we were out and we didn't stay too long, but all was well and he had stayed dry. He's still mostly in diapers and he doesn't ask to go potty unless he needs to poop. Potty training is still a work-in-progress.
He's started eating raisins and craisins. There was a long period when he didn't like them, but after a grocery store clerk gave him a box... he's enjoyed them since. I pack that as a snack when we go out. He still gets the Dole Squish'ems apple/berry/strawberry sauce blends, PC organics cookies, and sometimes a pack of seaweed.
I curtailed my ebay/online shopping during the postal strike and I think we're done buying duplo. Isaac is getting more interested in my little lego and occasionally I let him have some play time with them when he's strapped into his booster seat at the table. I'm also building up a nice knex collection. Now I just look for regular lego and knex when I go to Value Village or garage sales. I picked up some clothes for me and some for Isaac at the last 50% sale at VV. The only problem is trying to get the yucky smell out of some of the clothes.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Growing and Learning: Cherishing Little Moments
Over the past week Isaac has been conquering some of his fears. At his last Time For Fun class, he got up and joined the other kids to play with the parachute during circle time. Normally, he's really scared and just sits with me to watch everyone else do that activity. Also, he's been going into the shower a couple of times and doesn't mind getting water in his face. In our swimming lesson today, he willingly dipped his nose into the water (which is also a first for him).
At the playground, Isaac raced with another kid to the slide. When the other kid (E.) got there first, he suggested they go down the slide together. I helped Isaac sit behind E. and they down they went. They went on the slide again together several times. Isaac kept asking "gether". I think he had fun playing with E. He also asked another mom at the park "Please" and pointed to some sand shovels and bucket before playing with them.
This morning when Isaac was helping me take out the garbage, he found a couple of baby toys in the garbage room, so I brought the back home and washed them. One item was a Laugh And Learn activity table. It was missing the spoon and the table legs, but seems to be working properly (and still had batteries in it). The other toy is sort of like an infant activity cube (except it's not a cubed). He was excited to play and figure out what each thing did.
I ordered some more duplo train switches from someone off Bricklink but with the postal strike, I don't think it'll be arriving any time soon. No real finds from Value Village lately.
At the playground, Isaac raced with another kid to the slide. When the other kid (E.) got there first, he suggested they go down the slide together. I helped Isaac sit behind E. and they down they went. They went on the slide again together several times. Isaac kept asking "gether". I think he had fun playing with E. He also asked another mom at the park "Please" and pointed to some sand shovels and bucket before playing with them.
This morning when Isaac was helping me take out the garbage, he found a couple of baby toys in the garbage room, so I brought the back home and washed them. One item was a Laugh And Learn activity table. It was missing the spoon and the table legs, but seems to be working properly (and still had batteries in it). The other toy is sort of like an infant activity cube (except it's not a cubed). He was excited to play and figure out what each thing did.
I ordered some more duplo train switches from someone off Bricklink but with the postal strike, I don't think it'll be arriving any time soon. No real finds from Value Village lately.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Visiting the Grandparents
The last few days have been busy. Friday night after putting Isaac to bed, we packed our bags and booked a taxi for 6am. We were up around 5:30am Saturday morning packing the rest of the things we think we'd need on our trip.
We got to the airport and checked in our luggage and Isaac's car seat. The security check went smoothly (though Isaac didn't want to go through the scanner by himself so I had to carry him). When we got to our gate, Isaac watched some tv on the big screen while daddy picked up some breakfast. Isaac had some bites of a chocolate chip muffin. We let him run around for a bit. We boarded the plane and Isaac seemed to be excited about the experience at first. We got blankets and pillows complementary on the plane (maybe because they had to switch to a smaller plane so people's seatings got switched around and some people were offered earlier flights out). We were still taxiing around the runway preparing for take-off when Isaac fell asleep.
He napped for the first hour of the plane ride. Then he watched some Ponyo and snacked for a bit. After, he started getting restless and had figured out how to take off the seatbelt. Isaac wanted some water so I opened my water bottle... I had a little incident with some water spouting out like a fountain.... I'm guessing it was from the pressure in the plane. My pants, a blanket and my seat got drenched. It eventually dried, but I was scared to open my water bottle again afterwards. The only other mishap is that Isaac poured juice down the front of his shirt and pants. We had to strip him and change him into some spare clothes I had packed. Part way through the plane ride, Isaac started running up and down the aisle. He was upset at having to stay seated and buckled in during the landing.
Grandpa B met us at the airport and drove us to my parent's house. Isaac check out the house and went from room to room, then checked out the toys. Lots of duplo and some baby toys. I think his favourite "toy" is the kitchen timer. He discovered that he didn't have to wait for it to go off to hear it ding if he turned the knob the other direction. We went out for dinner, but Isaac didn't make it through the entire dinner (he was going crazy). Aunty A drove me and the boy back early and he fell asleep almost immediately. I transferred him onto the crib mattress (which we left on the floor). He woke up an hour later and was ready to play again. I think we got him down for the night at around 10:30pm.
This morning Isaac was up at 6:30am. He wanted to eat breakfast so I gave him oatmeal and a fruit cup. He went out to play with Grandma. We had brunch at Cora's but Isaac fell asleep and slumped against me before our order arrived. Midway through our meal, he stirred and seemed to want to switch positions so we layed him across three chairs (his head on my lap, his body on a chair and his legs on Daddy's lap). We finished our breakfast and went home. When we got back, I wasn't able to take him out of the car without waking him. I'm guessing the nap was about an hour long.
He snacked on a few bites of ham and cheese. Then we went to Value Village. There was no lego, but I picked up some books and a couple of puzzles. After we headed to my in-law's house. Traffic was a bit slower than expected. The boy said he needed to potty while we were in the car. I was a little worried that he would poop, but it was just pee (and he had a diaper on). We took him to the potty when we got home. Then he went up and down the stairs by himself (using the bum slide method going down). After he looked around each of the rooms, then went to look for Grandpa.
Daddy went to Fortinos to pick up a few things we needed plus some dinner for Isaac. Grandpa steamed some sticky rice and dim sum to augment our dinner. Isaac pooped on the potty, had his bath, then played for a little. Daddy and Grandpa went to meet up with Aunty J and pick up Grandma from the airport. I stayed home with the boy. He fell asleep at 7:30pm. I'm not sure if this is just a nap or if he's down for the night...
[update: He woke up at 8:37pm but I was in the room with him and was able to get him back to sleep.]
We got to the airport and checked in our luggage and Isaac's car seat. The security check went smoothly (though Isaac didn't want to go through the scanner by himself so I had to carry him). When we got to our gate, Isaac watched some tv on the big screen while daddy picked up some breakfast. Isaac had some bites of a chocolate chip muffin. We let him run around for a bit. We boarded the plane and Isaac seemed to be excited about the experience at first. We got blankets and pillows complementary on the plane (maybe because they had to switch to a smaller plane so people's seatings got switched around and some people were offered earlier flights out). We were still taxiing around the runway preparing for take-off when Isaac fell asleep.
He napped for the first hour of the plane ride. Then he watched some Ponyo and snacked for a bit. After, he started getting restless and had figured out how to take off the seatbelt. Isaac wanted some water so I opened my water bottle... I had a little incident with some water spouting out like a fountain.... I'm guessing it was from the pressure in the plane. My pants, a blanket and my seat got drenched. It eventually dried, but I was scared to open my water bottle again afterwards. The only other mishap is that Isaac poured juice down the front of his shirt and pants. We had to strip him and change him into some spare clothes I had packed. Part way through the plane ride, Isaac started running up and down the aisle. He was upset at having to stay seated and buckled in during the landing.
Grandpa B met us at the airport and drove us to my parent's house. Isaac check out the house and went from room to room, then checked out the toys. Lots of duplo and some baby toys. I think his favourite "toy" is the kitchen timer. He discovered that he didn't have to wait for it to go off to hear it ding if he turned the knob the other direction. We went out for dinner, but Isaac didn't make it through the entire dinner (he was going crazy). Aunty A drove me and the boy back early and he fell asleep almost immediately. I transferred him onto the crib mattress (which we left on the floor). He woke up an hour later and was ready to play again. I think we got him down for the night at around 10:30pm.
This morning Isaac was up at 6:30am. He wanted to eat breakfast so I gave him oatmeal and a fruit cup. He went out to play with Grandma. We had brunch at Cora's but Isaac fell asleep and slumped against me before our order arrived. Midway through our meal, he stirred and seemed to want to switch positions so we layed him across three chairs (his head on my lap, his body on a chair and his legs on Daddy's lap). We finished our breakfast and went home. When we got back, I wasn't able to take him out of the car without waking him. I'm guessing the nap was about an hour long.
He snacked on a few bites of ham and cheese. Then we went to Value Village. There was no lego, but I picked up some books and a couple of puzzles. After we headed to my in-law's house. Traffic was a bit slower than expected. The boy said he needed to potty while we were in the car. I was a little worried that he would poop, but it was just pee (and he had a diaper on). We took him to the potty when we got home. Then he went up and down the stairs by himself (using the bum slide method going down). After he looked around each of the rooms, then went to look for Grandpa.
Daddy went to Fortinos to pick up a few things we needed plus some dinner for Isaac. Grandpa steamed some sticky rice and dim sum to augment our dinner. Isaac pooped on the potty, had his bath, then played for a little. Daddy and Grandpa went to meet up with Aunty J and pick up Grandma from the airport. I stayed home with the boy. He fell asleep at 7:30pm. I'm not sure if this is just a nap or if he's down for the night...
[update: He woke up at 8:37pm but I was in the room with him and was able to get him back to sleep.]
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Weekend Activities
Friday night we ordered Indian food takeout. We augmented the dinner with some Louisiana M&M chicken wings. They were a bit spicy so I started dipping the chicken in yogurt for Isaac and he seemed to enjoy that.
Swimming class on Saturday morning was good. Isaac participated in a song, he also blew bubbles and dipped his ears in the water. We saw a black baby rabbit nibbling on some broccoli and carrots outside of the aquatic centre. After class we wanted to go to the public works open house event... so we got there early and parked out in front. It started raining (which made it less desirable to attend the outdoor event), but the deciding factor was that Isaac fell asleep. We went home instead... but was unsuccessful trying to transfer Isaac from the car to bed. He woke up and had some blackforest ham, bologna and cheese rolled up together.
At dinner, we ordered some take out from Gingeri. Daddy made some rice and broccoli. I reminded Isaac about the rabbit eating broccoli and Isaac decided to eat some broccoli too.
Last night a couple of hours after I had put Isaac to bed, I heard him cry/whine about something then fell back asleep. Since he didn't seem distressed, I didn't go check up on him. When I went to bed, I found him sleeping on the floor. I guess he must've fallen out of our bed and settled himself back to sleep on the floor.
He mostly prefers sleeping in a bed instead of his crib. There are still some occasional times when he asks to sleep in his crib, but mostly he likes being able to get out of bed whenever he wants. He was up by 6:30am and played with his lego train and tracks this morning. After, I gave him some mandarin oranges and half a glass of milk with chocolate syrup (because he won't drink plain milk).
I let Isaac open up the Lego Duplo 5641 Busy Garage set I had stashed in the closet. I bought it back in January when it went was on sale (50%off) on the lego website. Isaac and Daddy played with the new cars and attached some of the train-cars to the cars.
Sunday afternoon, we stopped by Old Navy to look for some jeans. We ended up picking up a Curious George t-shirt for Isaac. He also got a bruise on his cheeks from bumping into a table in the store. We went out for dinner at a sushi restaurant. Isaac didn't want to sit still in his chair (he was in a regular adult chair). The restaurant was pretty empty since most people were probably at home watching the hockey game.
We put Isaac to bed earlier tonight (at around 7pm). It still ended up taking awhile for him to get settled in bed. I let him sleep on the bed but he kept running out of the bedroom. I ended up putting him in his crib and holding his hands through the rails until he fell asleep at 8:13pm.
Swimming class on Saturday morning was good. Isaac participated in a song, he also blew bubbles and dipped his ears in the water. We saw a black baby rabbit nibbling on some broccoli and carrots outside of the aquatic centre. After class we wanted to go to the public works open house event... so we got there early and parked out in front. It started raining (which made it less desirable to attend the outdoor event), but the deciding factor was that Isaac fell asleep. We went home instead... but was unsuccessful trying to transfer Isaac from the car to bed. He woke up and had some blackforest ham, bologna and cheese rolled up together.
At dinner, we ordered some take out from Gingeri. Daddy made some rice and broccoli. I reminded Isaac about the rabbit eating broccoli and Isaac decided to eat some broccoli too.
Last night a couple of hours after I had put Isaac to bed, I heard him cry/whine about something then fell back asleep. Since he didn't seem distressed, I didn't go check up on him. When I went to bed, I found him sleeping on the floor. I guess he must've fallen out of our bed and settled himself back to sleep on the floor.
He mostly prefers sleeping in a bed instead of his crib. There are still some occasional times when he asks to sleep in his crib, but mostly he likes being able to get out of bed whenever he wants. He was up by 6:30am and played with his lego train and tracks this morning. After, I gave him some mandarin oranges and half a glass of milk with chocolate syrup (because he won't drink plain milk).
I let Isaac open up the Lego Duplo 5641 Busy Garage set I had stashed in the closet. I bought it back in January when it went was on sale (50%off) on the lego website. Isaac and Daddy played with the new cars and attached some of the train-cars to the cars.
Sunday afternoon, we stopped by Old Navy to look for some jeans. We ended up picking up a Curious George t-shirt for Isaac. He also got a bruise on his cheeks from bumping into a table in the store. We went out for dinner at a sushi restaurant. Isaac didn't want to sit still in his chair (he was in a regular adult chair). The restaurant was pretty empty since most people were probably at home watching the hockey game.
We put Isaac to bed earlier tonight (at around 7pm). It still ended up taking awhile for him to get settled in bed. I let him sleep on the bed but he kept running out of the bedroom. I ended up putting him in his crib and holding his hands through the rails until he fell asleep at 8:13pm.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Books
Isaac's current favourite books are by Robert Munsch. Isaac has been requesting "More Pies" and "Murmel, Murmel, Murmel". He likes the silly sounds and some of the repetition in the stories. He was into "Something More" and "Pigs" but has moved on. At our last library visit, I picked out 7 more books and bought a couple from Value Village.
Toilet reading mostly consists of board books (which I bought from Value Village) and includes:
Toilet reading mostly consists of board books (which I bought from Value Village) and includes:
- A board book set of Curious George First Words About Animals (Includes First Words at the Aquarium, First Words at the Circus, First Words at the Farm, and First Words at the Zoo. First off, there are not a lot of words in these books, but what Isaac enjoys about them are the pictures. At first he picked out a few objects on the pages and pointed to ask what they were. Now he points out objects or even the scene and will say what it is (if he knows what it is) and use words to describe the object (colour, size, temperature, etc) or things you can do with the object (turn, spin, cook, etc). With 4 books, he can choose what he feels like looking at. It's a nice variety.
- We have a set of 3 DK Flip the Flap books - Farm animals, Counting, and Things That Go. He doesn't look at these books as much now, but on occasion he will request to look at Things That Go. These books have nice pictures and the flaps make it more interactive and interesting for him while he sat on the potty (especially when he was a little younger).
- Thomas the Tank Engine's Hidden Surprises is fun for Isaac because he's currently into trains. I'm not crazy about the Thomas franchise/merchandising but trains in general are things he's been on, played with and can relate to. We have a couple of Thomas trains/track but I'm not planning to expand our toy collection in this direction unless I happen to find stuff at Value Village.
- Potty Time with Elmo is not a great book, but for $1 from VV it's ok. Isaac likes to press the buttons and hear the sounds.
- London Drugs advertisements - Isaac loves looking at kitchen gadgets and identifying other household tools and items.
In the last few months, we've moved onto other books but Isaac still loves his Curious George Treasury books (we have the red one and the blue one). A favourite book The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson is fun to read. Isaac likes stories about trains, cars and cooking. We've started reading Lama Lama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney in preparation of preschool. Isaac seems to prefer non-fiction books when reading on the potty. He likes hearing me read a book about "Birds and Chicks", or factual books about tractors or planes. He went through a few weeks really interested in reading his "Cars" comic book but his interest in that book seems to have faded. I usually look out for nicely illustrated, not too text-heavy nonfiction books for Issac's toilet reading when I'm at Value Village or the thrift store next door.
Update: June 23, 2012
We've been going to the library at least once a week if not more frequently. Our recent favourites include a series of books about a dog named Polo by Regis Faller. It's a comic style picture book with no words. Isaac has asked to: "zap me in the book" because he wants to have the adventures with Polo too (especially when polo plays with the monkey band). This morning I woke up and found him "reading" a couple of the books by himself. We've borrowed: "The Adventures of Polo", "Polo and Lily" and "Polo and the Magic Flute". I hope the library will add a few more of these books to their collection. If I ever come across this in VV it's a definite buy. :)
Another fun book to read is "Donut Chef" by Bob Staake. I think we love rhyming stories in general and this one is pretty cute about two competing donut shops. Isaac also likes "Hello, Robots" by Bob Staake and find it funny when the robots get all mixed up.
We've gone back to some Dr. Seuss books like "The Sneetches" and "The Lorax".
Easy reader books... Star wars themed books are always a big hit just because he loves spaceships. He also likes the Lego books, but DH thinks they're just another form of advertising for Lego products (which is quite true - now I've got my eye on looking for a large green lego troll from the Lego Fantasy Era).
Update: June 23, 2012
We've been going to the library at least once a week if not more frequently. Our recent favourites include a series of books about a dog named Polo by Regis Faller. It's a comic style picture book with no words. Isaac has asked to: "zap me in the book" because he wants to have the adventures with Polo too (especially when polo plays with the monkey band). This morning I woke up and found him "reading" a couple of the books by himself. We've borrowed: "The Adventures of Polo", "Polo and Lily" and "Polo and the Magic Flute". I hope the library will add a few more of these books to their collection. If I ever come across this in VV it's a definite buy. :)
Another fun book to read is "Donut Chef" by Bob Staake. I think we love rhyming stories in general and this one is pretty cute about two competing donut shops. Isaac also likes "Hello, Robots" by Bob Staake and find it funny when the robots get all mixed up.
We've gone back to some Dr. Seuss books like "The Sneetches" and "The Lorax".
Easy reader books... Star wars themed books are always a big hit just because he loves spaceships. He also likes the Lego books, but DH thinks they're just another form of advertising for Lego products (which is quite true - now I've got my eye on looking for a large green lego troll from the Lego Fantasy Era).
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Need More Trofast Shelves For Lego
My Duplo Knights Castle (Lego #4777) arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon. I've already built two castles, but they haven't been able to survive Isaac's onslaught. I have NOWHERE to store my new pieces.
We ended up getting a taller Trofast shelf/frame to store our toys. Unfortunately, it's not very stable and looks like it can tip easily. They've included screws to bolt the frame to the wall but it's not really an option for us.
Update:
We use the medium and large sized bins for our duplo and the small and medium bins for regular lego. I got a shelf that holds 6 small bins together. I sort the lego by colour, so I'm finding that 6 bins just isn't enough since there are more than 6 different colours! Some of the colours currently have to share a bin together.
After a few recent swap meets and value village lego purchases, some of the little bins are filled to the brim. I might have to move some of the lego to the medium sized bins.
For the last couple of months, I haven't been able to fit all our duplo into our existing bins... so I've built houses and other structures and left it out (and the boy destroys them when he's in a tired, destructive mood). I think I need to visit Ikea again to pick up another shelf and some more bins. Maybe I should take Isaac there sometime this week.
We ended up getting a taller Trofast shelf/frame to store our toys. Unfortunately, it's not very stable and looks like it can tip easily. They've included screws to bolt the frame to the wall but it's not really an option for us.
Update:
We use the medium and large sized bins for our duplo and the small and medium bins for regular lego. I got a shelf that holds 6 small bins together. I sort the lego by colour, so I'm finding that 6 bins just isn't enough since there are more than 6 different colours! Some of the colours currently have to share a bin together.
After a few recent swap meets and value village lego purchases, some of the little bins are filled to the brim. I might have to move some of the lego to the medium sized bins.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Early riser
Last night, Isaac went to bed at around 8am and as far as I'm aware, he didn't wake up until this morning at 5am when I got up to get a drink of water. It should be easy to adjust to the EST time zone when we go visit in a couple of weeks. He's playing happily with his various train sets. He likes to say "all boar" (All Aboard) and "tick" (tickets).
Yesterday Isaac enjoyed the art class because one of the projects was a train. He spent a long time colouring it. He fell asleep on the way home. N (2yrs 4mos) and A (5yrs) came over to play at 2pm. Isaac woke up from his nap at around 2:45pm and only ate a tiny bit of dumplings for lunch. It was interesting to see how an older child played. It was more chaotic since N & A would fight with each other. I didn't notice too much conflict between Isaac and N, though Isaac did try to take something from A and A didn't let go of the toy.
Today we're having J over to play. Isaac seems to be looking forward to seeing J.
Isaac's been taking the ipad off our kitchen bar counter the last few days. I guess there's really nowhere "safe" to put stuff any more.