To Do List

Just before heading out to choir rehearsal, I couldn't find the main set of car keys.  I had it this morning when I took Isaac to school.  M couldn't find it when he went to pick up some pizza for dinner so I was the last person to use it.  It turns out that it just fell off the counter into a box (hard to spot because the box was filled with a bunch of stuff like blankets, toys, clothes, bags, and mitts).  Glad it turned up though.  I was a bit worried that maybe I lost it at lunch (I took Isaac out for Pho and stopped by Value Village).

We got into our first pick for Isaac's preschool next year.  I need to remember to pick up the registration package and pay the deposit fee.  We're putting him in Salmonbellies.  It focusses on phonetics.  I like one of the instructors, but I didn't get a chance to meet the second one.  The room is quite small, so that's another thing I worry a little about.  I hope that he won't have too many problems in that class.  Our second pick, Rainbow is the classroom next door to his current class.  I still have a lot of doubts and I'm still not sure if we made the right choice for Isaac or not. [Picked up the form, still need to fill it out and submit it.]

There are other programs and preschools that run on other days, but I like having the option of possibly going to Strongstart or taking other classes in the morning.  Even if Isaac does end up cutting his nap, I just don't think afternoon is a great time for him to be in a structured setting.  If the weather is nice, he's better off going to a playground.

I am still considering trying to sign up for cooking class again, but at the moment, the idea of going to Kerrisdale on a Monday and have my choir rehearsals in the evening feels like too much for me on that day.  I'm not sure if choir runs year round or if there's a summer break... but I will likely postpone cooking class for the summer since there aren't many other classes that I'm interested in.

My other to-do list items are to round up Isaac's library books and return some of them.  I've been borrowing a bunch of them but over the last couple of weeks but have yet to return any books so they're piling up and getting lost in our bedroom.   [Returned most of the books, borrowed 3 videos]

I'm still waiting for people to rsvp on Isaac's birthday invitations.  So far we have 3 friends who plan to come.  Hopefully more people will respond soon.  [We are expecting 4 preschoolers, 1 toddler and 1 baby.  Still awaiting replies from 9 more families.]

I need to see the doctor to see if he'll make a referral for Isaac.  And I want to get some blood tests done for myself.  It was too rushed to go today so the next chance I get to see the doctor I like at the clinic is Wednesday afternoon.  Maybe I should take Isaac to the mall for lunch after preschool and get on the queue for a doctor's appointment before we eat.  Wait times at the walk-in clinic are typically 45 min - 1.5 hours.  My other chances are Thursday afternoon, Friday afternoon, or Saturday morning.  [Went to the clinic today-Thursday, and Dr. C. made the referral for Isaac and gave me my blood test requisition.]

We have a lunch date with a friend at Ikea on Friday.  I think we're going to skip the VSO Tiny Tots Friday morning... but then again, it might be fun.  They are focussing on speed: presto and largo with the theme: sailing on the musical seas.  Maybe we can do both... 9am catch the sky train downtown, 10-10:45am concert, then rush to catch the sky train home - get home by about 11:45am and drive over to Ikea afterwards.  Hmmm... timing is tight, but it is do-able.  [Bought a ticket for me and Isaac to attend the concert tomorrow.  We will rush back for lunch at Ikea.]

The other thing I'd like to remember is to pick up some garlic powder.  I like to use it to season pork chops (with soy sauce) and sometimes I sprinkle it on steak... though we mostly just use the Montreal steak seasoning.  [Got some garlic powder and pork chops on Wednesday.]

Tiny Tots - Holiday Hooray

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.]

Enjoying the weather

Monday, one of my friends came over to visit in the afternoon and brought some bubble tea.  I drank most of it while Isaac napped.  When he woke up, he joined us and happily drank the remaining peach green tea from my cup.  We walked to the local elementary school to vote.  It was raining, so Isaac wore his raincoat and boots and splashed in some puddles on our walk.  Afterwards,  we had Indian food for dinner and watched the election results.

Tuesday morning we had nothing planned so we were able to take our time to walk around.  Isaac played with rocks, picked dandelions and weeds (to give to Daddy), looked for rabbits, visited a little art gallery and accompanied me on some errands.  When we passed by the skytrain station, he asked to go on the train.  I told him we would go soon another time.

Wednesday morning, Isaac was up early.  Daddy and Isaac built a nice train track layout together while I slept in.  I fed the boy breakfast and we got ready to go out.  We took the train downtown to the library to see a puppet show.  Isaac was excited that got to feed one of the puppets a strawberry (made out of felt).  They performed stories from a couple of kids books: "Dear Zoo" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".  We were able to make it back home on the same train ticket.  On the way home, Isaac fell asleep (11:30am).  I'm always debating if I should bring a stroller or not, but I'm glad I did since carrying Isaac when he's asleep is tiring.  We had dumplings for lunch.  After lunch, Daddy took us to the mall.  I picked up some fruit to share with our friends on Thursday.

It looks like rain in the forecast.  Our agenda for Thursday includes an art class in the morning and a play date with N and his brother A at our place in the afternoon.  We may go downtown again on Friday if the other Mommies are interested in seeing the puppet show.  It's puppet show week at the downtown library.  I wonder if it'll be the same show or something different.

Crazy About Trains

This morning we had a play date at N's house.  As soon as I got Isaac's shoes off, he was off playing with the toys.  I went in and removed his jacket as he was playing.  He started off with the play kitchen, then investigated contents of a bin and picked out a mailbox.  Next, he played on their piano.  After, he spent the rest of the time putting together some train tracks then connecting a long line of trains together.  The boys played together for a little, but mostly played independently side-by-side.

Isaac got a 5 minute warning before we had to leave... but he was very upset to go.  He only stopped crying when Auntie C offered him a treat for the car.  I had a great time chatting with Auntie C.  It seems we have lots of interests in common.  I hope that we can get together again soon.

Update for the week.

It's just been busy.

Sunday: We wanted to go to the Aquarium except we couldn't get downtown easily due to road closures for the Sun Run.  So we detoured and went to Kitslano beach instead.  It was a bit windy that day.  The boy scootered around for a little, then he explored the sand, rocks, shells and water.  Shoes, socks and hands wet.  Wind + wet = cold.  His little hands were red.  We washed his hands and had a snack at the cafe: fish and chips.  Isaac ate some fries but didn't like the fish (cod).

We had a play date with a new friend on Wednesday morning.  N and Auntie C came over to our house.  They stayed for an hour, we played with toy screwdrivers, had a snack and watched an episode of Word World.  We will be going to their house to play next Wednesday.

Isaac seemed to have a rough night.  We had a hard time putting him to bed.  He woke up at 11pm and didn't want to go back to sleep.  He seemed to be very upset about something, but we couldn't figure out what was bothering him.

On Thursday morning,  we had our second art class.  Since Isaac didn't sleep very well the night before, he was tired at class.  He did some of the projects, but lost interest part way through the class.

This morning, we went to the Aquarium and a playground in Stanley Park.  After we went to Hokkaido Ramen Santouka for some ramen.  There was a short line up at the door.  We got seated in a small table for two.  I was able to squeeze in with Isaac on the bench.  We ordered immediately.  I got a Toroniku shio ramen and Daddy had some sort of miso ramen.  As we waited for our food, the boy got restless.  I let him snack on some cookies.  He wanted to play with chopsticks and salt & pepper shakers.  I decided to take the boy out for a walk.  I bought Isaac a salmon sashimi from Sushi Mart and fed that to him in the car.  Isaac gobbled that up.  As we were finishing the last piece, Daddy called to say that he finished his ramen.

We went back to the restaurant.  Daddy fed Isaac some miso soup and noodles as I had lunch.  The pork jowl was really fatty (a bit too fatty for my preferences) but very tasty!  I liked the shio ramen.  It had a nice flavour.  Daddy likes Kintaro more because it's cheaper, but this place is good none-the-less.  When we left, there was a line up out the door.  When we got home, Isaac played for a bit, then we all took an afternoon nap.

[Edit]
I forgot to mention that on Thursday morning, both Daddy and I slept in and the boy was keeping himself busy in the morning.  He even raided the fridge and helped himself to some sliced black forest ham (and left a trail of it everywhere he went).  I tried to salvage some of the ham that was left out by cooking it in cream of mushroom soup (and serving it with some broccoli and pasta).

Saturday Activities

This morning we had our usual swimming lessons.  Isaac didn't really want to follow along with the class activities so we just played with buckets and pool toys.  After class, we spotted a brown rabbit outside in a fenced area by the parking lot.

We got home, took a bath, then went out for dim sum at Gingeri Chinese Restaurant.  We made a reservation before we left the house.  When we got there, we got put onto a short list and waited several minutes to be seated.  We ordered a beef noodle roll, chicken feet, sui mai, seafood soup dumpling, chicken with black bean and tofu, chicken sticky rice wrapped in leaves and shrimp spring rolls.  As we waited for our order, a waitress walked by with a plates of 4 mini egg tarts, so we added that to our order.

The boy started off eating 2 egg tarts while we waited for our food.  The tarts were fresh out of the oven, the shell was fluffy and the boy devoured them.  He wanted the rest of the egg tarts, but we told him he had to wait so that he could eat some other food.  The beef noodle roll came first.  It was tasty and cooked just right.  The boy ate 1.5 rolls.  Daddy had .5 and I got the last one.  Next the spring rolls came.  They were too hot for the boy so we set .5 aside for him.  He watched us as we ate the spring rolls.  The spring rolls were just ok - I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a lot of shrimp in it.  When it cooled enough, the boy enjoyed his spring roll.  The chicken feet came after.  Isaac had some of the cartilage and skin from the chicken feet.  The flavour was ok - average tasting.  Next we had sui mai - it was also average, but Isaac liked it.  The chicken and tofu dish was pretty good.  We gave Isaac some of that to try and he ate it.  The last to arrive was the seafood soup dumpling.  It was really small, but tasty.  We split it between the three of us.  Daddy had a sticky rice and we brought the remaining two home along with an egg tart.

When we finished lunch, I lined up at Toys R Us to participate in the Lego - Build a rabbit event.  Isaac played in the play house, then went into Toys R Us with Daddy to play.  I was still in line when they came out of the store.  Isaac sat in the stroller and waited in line with me as Daddy went to pick up some fruits, vegetables and buns.  After an hour wait in line, I started putting together the rabbit.  Isaac was getting tired and one of the staff was offering people in line bagged pieces so that they could take them home to make... so I asked for that and returned my partially constructed rabbit.  (The only negative about the bag is that the person who packed it missed 2 pieces... so I had to modify the construction directions to make the rabbit.)

When we got to the car, Isaac was sound asleep as Daddy transferred him into his car seat (1:30pm).  I transferred him into his crib.  His nap was close to 3 hours.  By the time we got up, it was basically dinner time.  I gave Isaac a pineapple bun, 2 sticky rice.  It was still bright outside, so we walked to Value Village and came back home.  Isaac had a couple of mandarins as he watched an episode of Curious George, then it was bedtime.

Random Monday Notes

One accident this morning while wearing underwear.  Then a diaper leak after our gymnastics class as I was carrying him to the car.  He definitely needs a bath today.

We went to the community center early and I let Isaac play in the park for a bit.  Maybe that was a bad idea because he was tired during his class.  Gymnastics class was the same as before.  Isaac liked the free time at the start of class, but once the circle time and circuits were going on, he just wanted to leave.  I regret not registering him for the earlier class (9:00-9:45am).  That would've been better in terms of his mood and alertness.  He was rubbing his eyes and whining in class and fell asleep on the way home (at 11:30am).

When we got home, I changed his diapers and pants and put him in his crib.  I checked the mail and our gap/old navy order arrived.  Now we have lots of extra bear underwear, a pair of pajamas, a Gap cap (he outgrew his old one), and a couple pair of socks.

Not sure what to do about lunch today.  (Ham and toast with jam.  I offered left-over noodles and soup, but he didn't want it.)

Since his nap was so early, we had a good chunk of time in the afternoon to go out.  We walked to the a field and wandered around there for a bit, then continued on to the library.  He played in the water fountain (it was empty - they don't turn on the water until summer), then we walked to the playground.  We looked for bunnies but didn't find any today.  Stopped back by the playground, then onward to the library.  I let him run around by himself as I chatted with one of the moms I met from a program we were in last term.  We're going to meet up for a play-date sometime.  Isaac came back a few times, then disappeared.  I couldn't find him in the kids area so I looked around and found him at the front messing with a sign.  I hope he didn't leave the library without me.

After the library, we went to the mall.  I got Isaac a ham and cheese roll and picked up an apple, pear, and some mushrooms.  Then we cut through City Hall and stopped by Value Village on our way home.  We got back home at 5:30pm.

We're ordering some take-out for dinner.

Vancouver Central Library Outing

This morning we met up with a friend at the Children's Library (lower level of the Vancouver Central Library).  Isaac played with some blocks,  puzzles, plastic eggs, and puppets.  We had lunch (ham, cookies, fruit cup, juice, a bite of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich), stopped by a grocery store, then headed home.

Isaac fell asleep on the way to the skytrain (he was sitting in his friend's stroller since she wanted to walk).  I carried him to the skytrain and let him lie on one of the seats on our ride home.  He woke up when we were transferring onto a bus - so his nap was pretty short (less than 1 hour).  I can't get him down for another nap so we'll probably have to put him to bed early tonight.

Having no stroller was a little difficult when he fell asleep, but it was good just being able to sit in the crowded skytrain without the constraint of a stroller.

The weather is nice and bright outside.  Tomorrow is forecasted to be nice too.  We'll probably go to a playground with some friends tomorrow.

Stroller Woes

It's a cold and rainy day.  I was out walking with Isaac to run some errands.  We stopped by VV and the mall.  I picked up two pairs of pants from Old Navy for him.  I also got some mushrooms, snap peas, and a Cobbs pizza roll.  On our way home, one of the front wheels from the stroller broke off!  I struggled to push the stroller back home on three wheels.

We have a Peg Perego Si stroller.  I didn't expect this to happen.  The warranty was only for 1 year, so it has expired.  I'm not sure if it can be repaired or not.  Daddy will have to contact the company to see what can be done.

I am planning a trip downtown on Wednesday, but it'll be trickier without a stroller.  I guess we'll manage as long as we're not out too long.  I don't want to lug Isaac around when he's napping.

(Update] Peg Perego sent us a replacement part (we paid for the shipping).  Daddy pried off the cap on the broken piece to get the tire out.  He was able to repair our stroller.  It's still a bit rickety but in working condition now... I'm not sure when the wheel part on the other side will break, but I suspect it might not last.

Good behaviour?

This evening we stopped by Kam Do Restaurant to order some take-out for dinner.  The boy was running around everywhere, climbing on chairs, playing with the salt and pepper shakers... a waitress came by and plunked him onto a chair (he was standing on) and told him to sit still (in Cantonese) and warned him she was watching him.  Isaac froze in place.  He had a serious-sort of expression on his face - definitely not a happy one.  Daddy and I sat at a table across from him.  I laughed at him, he did not flicker... his expression never changed.

Awhile later, the same waitress came back with a plate of mango pudding (saying it was a treat on her for being good).  She scooped up a spoon and put it into his mouth.  He seemed unsure of what was going on and tentatively ate a bite.  She gave him the spoon and told him to feed himself.  He started to poke at the pudding.  I helped him scoop up little spoonfuls and he fed himself most of the pudding.

After he was done, he sat in the chair across from Daddy.  I took him out to walk around while we waited for our take-out.  It was an interesting experience.

Happy Birthday!

We got up a bit after 7am.  I fed Isaac some watered down oatmeal and apple sauce.  He didn't finish all the apple sauce but I think it's because he's a bit tired of eating that all the time.  After I gave him mommy milk, had breakfast and we went down to return the lounge keys and do some recycling.

After, we stopped by VV (but didn't see anything - seems the best days for us to find stuff is typically Wednesdays or Thursdays).  We dropped by the bank then caught a skytrain to Aberdeen.  Isaac likes going on a train.  When we got to Aberdeen, everything was still closed.  I ordered dim sum takeout, then we walked around the food court.  I gave Isaac some beef rice noodle roll (he kept asking for more) - but I wanted to catch the train back on the same ticket.  I bought him a foil "Happy Birthday" balloon.  I also gave him a penny to drop into the fountain.  He was really happy about that.

I made it to the station in time to use my ticket.  We cut through the mall and picked up some mushrooms from Kins and a whole wheat pizza roll from Cobbs.  Then we went to the library to return and pick up some books and videos.  On the way back home, Isaac fell asleep at 12:44pm.  I finally got the lego duplo babies I ordered from ebay (from a German seller) over a month ago.

Time for me to eat lunch, wrap up some of his presents from our family and maybe take a nap.  I'm really happy that Isaac seems to be feeling noticeably better today.  His appetite is back, but I'm going to be careful not to give him too much at a time.

Twos Time

Yes! We got into next year's program!!!  Twos Time is a program that prepares children for preschool.

I got a phone call this morning from the community centre confirming that we got our first choice picks on two days in Twos Time program.  Due to the popularity of this program, general admission is by lottery.  There is also priority given to parents of past and current participants.  We submitted the lottery request form last month, and I was expecting to hear back next week.

The program runs September 2011 - June 2012.  Isaac will be going two mornings per week.  The structure of the classes include: free play time, circle time, snack time and some gym/outdoor time.  There are some mandatory parental duty days each term.  I met the teachers at an open house and they seem wonderful.

I'm so excited.  I hope Isaac will like going to Twos Time.  I'll need to go and fill out the registration forms before April.

We were at G's house today.  Isaac had fun playing with his friends.  He played with a choo-choo train, in an inflated ball pit, on a ride-on toy, taking pictures with a toy camera, pressing buttons on a calculator, triggering music from a couple of toys, and playing with G's new dinosaur set - he like the trees and kept trying to hide the rocks.

After, we did some groceries and went home.  Daddy put Isaac down for his nap and he was asleep by the time I came up with the groceries.  I picked up some apple chips.  Isaac thinks they're ok.  Tonight we're having steak for dinner.

Update:
I'm sad to hear that our friends didn't get into the program.  They heard back from the community centre in the evening.

A Walk in the Park

The weather is beautiful today.  This morning we walked to the park.  I had Isaac in rain pants so that he could play on the slides without getting his pants wet.  We looked for rabbits, then walked on the oval track.  After, we went to the library to pick up some books and videos.  I gave Isaac a snack and tried to get him to sit for the library story time, but he was more interested in playing with the water fountain.  I put him into the stroller and he listened to one story.

We walked home and I made Isaac a grilled cheese sandwich.  He also had a few bites of celery (dipped with ranch dressing).  He looked tired, but didn't want to nap.  I put him in his crib anyways.  After an hour of whining, he finally fell asleep at 1pm.

Visiting the Aquarium

This morning we went to the Aquarium with our play group friends to celebrate a birthday.  The kids ran excitedly from tank to tank, peered at many interesting fishes and marine animals and climbed on rock structures around the displays,

We watched the Beluga show.  Isaac clapped enthusiastically after seeing the whale jump up, make clicking noises, and eat fish.

The parking rates for Stanley park go up to the summer rates starting April, so it might be worth trying to make one more visit if we can (though it'll be difficult since all are weekends for this month are booked).