Omie boxes

Here are my initial thoughts on the Omie box.  We are loving our Omie boxes (thanks Sis H for this lovely Christmas gift)!  We ordered 2 boxes from readisetgo.ca.  It's the only Canadian site currently selling this lunch box at the moment.  It retails for $50 USD... and with the current exchange rate and weak dollar, the Canadian price $69.95 is expensive but fair.  We just finished off our first week back to school and the Omie box got used 4 out of 5 days.  The kids like having "hot lunch" and I like not packing extra containers with separate thermo containers.  The compartments are deeper than a Yumbox.  The food isn't hot at lunch time, but does stay warm.  The things I don't like about the Omie boxes are that they are heavy and the divider slides around and doesn't always keep food separated (in the section that uses the divider).  My grade 1 boy doesn't have any issues opening or closing the box and thermos.  My 2 yr old needs help with opening and closing the Omie box.  She can open the thermos if it's not closed tightly.  So in comparison to a Yumbox, this is trickier for a preschooler to use.

The only other big name lunchbox we don't have in our collection but may get one day are stainless steel lunchbox kits: Planetbox (they come in three sizes: launch, rover and shuttle).  I'm not in a rush to pick one up because I don't mind the plastic ones we have.  I've heard that the Planetboxes do leak... so it might not be good for directly packing things like yogurt.  Looks like they are moving in the direction of bento style accessories with silicone food cups... They have recently introduced some silicone "pods" but I don't know if it seals closed in the container when the lid is closed.

I've been sick and haven't had energy to make themed lunches.  I picked up some new supplies over the holidays that I'd love to try out soon.  I hope to recover and get back into making fun snacks and lunches.

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.

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.

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.

Lego Shopping Addiction

Move over ebay... I just discovered bricklink and it's easy to search for random lego pieces.  I have to stop looking on that site or I'll end up buying a lot more stuff.  I've never had any problems with ordering things off ebay, so we'll see how it goes with bricklink sellers.

What I like about bricklink: huge selection of lego, no bidding wars
What I dislike about bricklink: it's hard to determine the shipping costs, and there's a lot of just waiting around. When you submit an order (you have committed to buying it without fully knowing the exact shipping and handling costs), then you wait for the seller to come back to you with the total, they wait for you to pay, you wait for them to check that you've paid, you wait for them to send you the items, and you wait for the items to be shipped.  Granted that you can't control the wait times for the actual shipping... I still find it frustratingly slow compared to shopping on ebay.

I wonder if I should set up a store on bricklink or ebay to sell off some excess lego duplo inventory I've accumulated?  Any how, it's something I can probably do relatively easily.  The barrier to entry is low (hence lots of competition and you're limited by what you have available to sell and the price you want to sell at).  I have some ideas of how to create interesting lots but it's doubtful I'd be able to make any significant money from it.  Since there is a lower supply of duplo on ebay, I suspect that I would be able to make more per transaction by listing on ebay.  I would have to look into the fees involved in setting up a sellers account on paypal and also one of the systems to see if it's even worth my while or not.  I would also have to look into possible tax implications - and consult with my accountant [AKA... my dad].  It could be a fun hobby.

Duplo Lego Castle

We picked up a lego duplo castle set from a craigslist listing today.  I was a bit unsure about paying $30 for 90+ pieces of castle pieces and the picture posted was small and didn't clearly show what pieces were included. After putting the boy to bed, I washed the lego pieces and searched online for duplo castle building instructions.

It turns out that we now have two duplo castle sets: 4776 Dragon Tower and 4779 Defense Tower.  Structurally, the Dragon Tower is complete.  We are only missing one crest (lion), two poles and two flags (one of each: lion flag and a dragon flag) from the Defense Tower.  The sets did not come with any figures or accessories, but we have duplo figures we can substitute in (and of course our dragons).

On a side note, I am excited that Lego will be opening a store in the Toronto area.  I'm looking forward to visiting the store the next time we're in town.


We ended up ordering the Duplo Knight's Castle from BrickLink.  I also picked up some extra pieces from a listing off kijiji.  Now we have enough pieces to build a decent fortress.

Building instructions for the Duplo castle sets are available on Peeron:
Dragon Tower #4776-1
Knight's Castle #4777-1
Defense Tower #4779-1

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.

More Lego...

Ok.  I said I wasn't going to buy more toys... but I did.  :(  I just couldn't stop myself... I walked into Value Village and found another three bags of duplo lego.

We now have a mini playground set, an additional grandma and mom figure, a seal, an orca, a dog and an alligator.  Of course this, this also comes with a bunch of regular blocks and square ones.  I still haven't washed the square ones... We already have too many of those types of pieces.

Today I built a lego duplo chair for the boy.  At first he just stacked more blocks on it.  When I implied that he could sit on it, he tried it out.  It seemed to hold up ok - though I did hear some creaking.

Must Refrain From Toy Shopping For The Rest Of This Month...

Ok. I just ordered the deluxe lego duplo train and an extra set of straight tracks from the lego website.  It was super expensive.  Grandma and grandpa: some of Isaac's birthday money is going into the train set. The rest is going into his bank account.  THANK YOU!!!

I must not shop.  I must not shop.  Let me repeat that one more time... I MUST NOT SHOP.  Except for any incidental birthday party costs, food, and clothing needed for the boy, I will try not to buy additional toys... at least for the rest of this month and next month.  Instead of walking to Value Village, I think I will have to avoid going there.  We will walk to the library or city hall instead.

Time to find a new hobby/obsession.  I will have to look into doing more random arts and crafts and try to teach Isaac to sing songs.  He's starting to "fill in words" in a couple of songs and books.  He sings part of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and will say "I" for his name and "mama" for my name in a welcome song we learned from our creative movement class.  I'm going to work on "Twinkle twinkle little star" and the alphabet song with him.

Huge pile of dishes in the sink.  Time to start washing them... or putting them into the dishwasher.

Trying New Foods

Recently, we got Isaac to try some brussel sprouts... he disliked it and spit it out.  On the weekend, he was also willing to eat scrambled eggs dipped in ketchup.

Today Isaac was willing to try new foods.  He ate raw celery dipped in ranch dressing.  He wouldn't try the carrot, but would eat carrot if I chewed it for him, and tried a tomato but made a face about it.  He had a couple bites of banana and some bites of mango too.  Normally when we try to offer different things to him, he refuses to try them outright.

Today I got a pickup notice for a something that was supposedly attempted to be delivered on Friday.  I don't think they even tried to buzz our door.  I went to the post office to pick up my package.  It was one of my ebay orders - just some loot bag goodies and prizes.

I was waiting all day for a UPS delivery from Amazon UK.  My duplo bridges finally arrived at around 7pm.  Isaac sat in his booster chair staring at the delivery guy while Daddy paid for the duties.  Thanks Daddy!  We opened up one of the bridges and I integrated the new pieces into our existing track layout.  Now we have an oval with one end raised up.  Isaac had a little bit of fun making trains fall down the ramp.

The bridge pieces help to add more variations to our track and is fun to play with.  I wish that part of the bridge would have the tabs to connect them together instead of just the joins underneath.  It makes the bridge structurally much weaker - especially when playing on carpet.  I also wish there was a way I could reinforce raised sections of the curved track.  I just have the raised sections of track on pillars... but it all falls apart easily if I try to pick up the track to move it somewhere else.

Happy Family Day!

Daddy got Family Day off today.  We went to Metrotown to do some shopping.  We took a train ride through the mall on the Metropolis Express.  Isaac enjoyed it a lot.  He was really quiet and just seemed to be in a "trying to absorb the experience" sort of mode.  When we saw the train again later that morning, he wanted to get on again.

I was able to use an old gift certificate for RW & Co to buy a new pair of pants.  I'm so glad they honoured the gift certificate (it was from 2007).  I guess I don't really go shopping there too often... never mind even general clothes shopping for myself.  Daddy also treated me to a Macadamia nut mogul from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  We haven't had a chance to eat it today since we tried the cake instead.  I think it'll still be good tomorrow.

After some shopping, we went to Curry King Cafe for lunch.  Isaac fell asleep as soon as we got there, so we had him sleep in his stroller while we at.  Daddy had a curry beef brisket and I had a seafood fried rice with fried garlic (which came with a soup, garlic bread, and a Hong Kong milk tea.  The beef brisket was a little dry and the fried rice was on the bland side, but the service was quick and the place was clean.  I've had this dish from here a few years ago and my recollection was that it tasted better before.  They used to sprinkle in fish roe, there was more garlic and it was minced and lightly fried, it was also more generous with baby scallops - lightly cooked over high heat.  It seems like they've cheaped-out on the ingredients.  We ordered a congee to go for the boy.  He woke up as we were getting ready to leave the restaurant.

We went to Gourmet Warehouse to pick up some kitchen utensils and some ingredients I needed for a fondant.  The boy liked looking at some of the merchandise but quickly got bored when I wouldn't let him touch most of the things there.  After we stopped by a shop on Kingsway to buy some Vietnamese meatballs.

When we got home, Isaac had a bit of mushroom chicken congee.  I took a nap and Daddy watched Isaac.  Not sure what they were doing, but Isaac would occasionally come in and climb on top of me and I would yell for Daddy to get him.  Daddy ordered sushi for our dinner and went to pick it up.  We had a web chat with my parents over dinner.

In the evening, we stopped by the post office but I was unsuccessful in picking up my parcel.  The website said that my parcel was available... but the clerk said that it wasn't there.  I will try to sort that out tomorrow.  After, we went to Choices to pick up lots of oatmeal for the boy.  I got treated to a bag of veggie chips.

It was getting late when we got home.  We had some cake then I put the boy to bed (mommy milk, brush teeth, potty, cream, story time, bed).  It was already past 9pm by the time he was in bed, but he was so tired he fell asleep almost immediately.  We will have to try to put him to bed earlier tomorrow night.  I have a lot planned for tomorrow morning.

Tiring Day

Today just seems a bit trying. We got up at 7:12am. I wanted to go back to sleep but he didn't let me this morning. He played for a bit and did some painting with a couple of paint brushes, then we had breakfast. (Isaac just finished his last box of oatmeal.) I had some Eggo's, then put Isaac on the potty. We rushed out to class. I didn't bother hunting for a parking spot, so today I parked upstairs. There were lots of spots there.

Creative movement class was good. Isaac seemed to have a good time. After class, we returned our books and videos and picked up some new books and a video Kiki's Delivery Service. We stopped by at Value Village on the way home and I picked up some Lego dragon figures and a small bag of the regular lego pieces.

It was a bit after 12 when we got home. I washed the dragons and the boy tried to feed them food from his toy kitchen. I didn't think I'd have time to make Isaac lunch so I gave him an avocado and a yogurt. After, I heated up the salmon and rice leftovers for myself. Isaac had some bites of the salmon also. We watched the beginning of Kiki's. At 1:30pm, I tried to put Isaac down for a nap since he was looking extremely tired. He fought it like made, then demanded to go to the potty.

I put him on the toilet, then called the post office to check if my parcel was available (and it was). I bundled Isaac up and we went to the post office. As soon as the car left our parking lot, the boy was fast asleep. I left him in the car and ran in to pick up my package. Then I also picked up a small bag of honey mandarin.

We came home and I had to lug the boy up from the parking lot. I didn't want to make two trips, so I struggled to carry him and the other items up. I put the boy in his crib. Now it's time for me to wash my lego and check out my package. The parcel came from England - it's an Ebay item of duplo furniture. I'm going to take a nap too (if I can).

Isaac napped for about 3 hours. We got up at 5:30pm. Dinner ended up being late - around 6:30-7:30pm. I made soup noodles with soft tofu, chicken balls, snap peas, and 2 types of mushrooms. I was going to make Shake & Bake chicken... but it didn't happen. Maybe I'll try to make it tomorrow morning so that we'll have a lunch when we're at our playgroup.

I finally put Isaac into his crib at 10p. He didn't seem to want to sleep but I think he's out now. I'm going to take my shower and reheat some of the dinner to snack on. I hope our schedule will be more normal tomorrow.

Good Morning

Another morning gone.  The boy got up at 7am and I told him to go play and let me sleep.  He was pretty good, played with the toys in the bins and off the bookshelf.  He occasionally dumped toys onto my bed (of things he "broke" that he wanted me to fix).  I got up at 8am after he turned on my clock radio.

I gave him some banana bread, blueberry sauce and oatmeal for breakfast.  The banana bread is ok... I prefer my regular recipe instead.  Maybe it would've tasted better if I was able to follow the recipe exactly.

After breakfast, I put Isaac on the potty then got us ready to go out.  We took out a bag of garbage, then headed off to Ikea.  I returned the blue bin and picked up some smaller ones.  I was tempted to buy other things but held back.  (Note to Daddy: they no longer sell the glass cups that we have, so please be careful with the remaining ones.)  I wanted to go to Value Village afterwards so I had to take a round-about route to get there.  When I got to the parking lot and looked back at Isaac, he was fast asleep with his head hanging forward (11:30am).  I took us home and put him into his crib.

For lunch, I think we'll keep things simple and just have some dumplings.  I'm actually pretty hungry right now so maybe I'll make some for myself first.

After I ate, I got sleepy so I went for a nap.  At 2:30pm, we woke to the sound of my phone ringing.  When I finally realized that my phone was ringing, I rushed for it... but missed the call from the front door.  I took the boy downstairs in hopes of catching the postal delivery guy, but found a mail pickup notice instead.  I'll have to call tomorrow to see if the parcel is at the post office.  :p  I hate missing a delivery.  I'm not even sure what package this is from... either it's one of my Ebay items or Isaac's birthday decorations.  I tried to look up the delivery notice number but it's not on the system yet.  I guess it'll be available tomorrow or the day after.  What could it be!?  I want to know what it is!!

The boy was not particularly pleased to be carried off to the lobby after waking up.  He had a 3 hour nap again today.  I wonder if he's going through a growth spurt.  He does seem to have extended his reach for stuff on our kitchen bar counter.  This morning he was able to get his container of "Elmo Cookies" without too much trouble.

Ok.  I've resigned myself to not knowing what my package is.  Time to make some lunch for the boy and see if he's up to a visit to Value Village.

Isaac had 3 dumplings and a yogurt for lunch.  After lunch, we stopped by Kin's to pick up some garlic, lemon, mushrooms (white and oyster) and snap peas.  I got Isaac a cheese roll from Cobb's, then we went to Value Village.  We didn't see anything good at the store so came home after a quick walk-through.

For dinner, I made the "Baked Salmon II" dish - though I used 3 cloves of garlic and dried parsley instead.  It tasted pretty good, but too garlicky and a bit too salty...  I'll have to try it again with the proper amount of garlic and slightly less salt and maybe increase the lemon juice a tad.  Isaac ate a good-sized portion of the fish, mixed grains, butternut squash baby food, and a slice of orange.

We were watching the beginning of Totoro again today and he came to grab me when there were soot balls about, he was also a little unsure about the big Totoro.

I think we'll start getting ready for bed soon.

Shopping

This morning we got up at 8am.  We flipped through books, I sang some songs, and I put on his Zoom Zoom Zoom music to keep him entertained at breakfast.  He had his usual: oatmeal and a fruit cup.  After he ate, I had a couple of boiled eggs.

He played with some duplo and also dumped some of the books from his bookshelf into the corner by the lamp.  We have a wind and rain warning and I was not in the mood go for a walk.  I called up Auntie K and arranged for us to go to Ikea together.  K, G and Isaac played in the kids area while I went to pick up a Trofast bench storage and bins; 1 large blue bin, 2 medium red bins, and 2 small green bins.  I also picked up a spare r14 light bulb for our floor lamp.  (Note to self: the light bulb is cheaper at Staples.)  Isaac had fun playing with the toy kitchen and G had fun pushing a wagon.  We gave the boys a snack then I dropped K and G back home.  G was falling asleep when they got home.  Isaac looked a bit tired when we got back, but he doesn't look ready to nap anymore.  I'm going to make myself some soup noodles for lunch.

Ended up having some sliced cucumbers dipped with ranch dressing and some instant noodles.  Isaac wasn't too crazy about the cucumbers.  I think I gave him something else to eat as well, but can't remember what it was.  Isaac took his nap at around 2:20pm.

I got my chance to fetch my new purchase from the car and put it together.  I missed a step part way through and didn't notice until I was near the end when I saw that I inexplicably had 4 extra parts left ... so had to undo a few steps to fix my mistake.  After putting some of Isaac's toys into the bins, I realized that the blue bin is way too deep.  I'm going to have to go back and exchange it for a medium bin and a small bin.  Maybe I'll go tomorrow.

Isaac had a super long nap and didn't wake up until 5pm.  I made steak and mushrooms for dinner while Isaac played with some toys and we had a web chat with Daddy while we ate.  Bedtime didn't happen until 9pm.  Isaac fussed a bit in his crib before going to sleep, though it was evident he was tired.

Ebay update: the auction I was winning... I ended up losing in the last minute.  I'm actually a bit relieved because I didn't really, really want the duplo figures but would've paid for it to use as prizes.  Now I have about 5 more auctions that I have bids on, and I'm losing on all of them.  I did go back to rebid on one (but still got out-bid), I don't want to pay more than $20 just for 2 pieces of duplo even if they are nifty pieces.  Since I'm losing all my auctions, I think it's a good time to take a long break from Ebay.  I'm just waiting for a few more items to ship to me.  Back to scavenging at Value Village.

I'm making a couple loaf's of banana bread, but I had to substitute a couple of ingredients, omitted walnuts (though I would've liked to add it in if I had some on hand) and I forgot to grease the pans before I put the batter in.  Hope it turns out.  Today's been so busy, I didn't even have time to do my daily pogo challenges.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Still waiting for my banana bread, but I can smell it now.  Better than the burnt smell that I first detected when I put the loaves into the oven.  I think it might've been from the flour the dusted the pans with...  If it turns out, I'll give one loaf to E & S to thank them for helping me last time Daddy was away.

Home alone again - Day 1

We dropped Daddy off at the airport this morning.  After we stopped by a grocery store and came home.  I fed Isaac the rest of his breakfast, then we headed out to take out some garbage and go to the library to participate in a Chinese New Year celebration event.  We did a bunch of arts and crafts activities, then walked home.  Isaac fell asleep on the way back.  I was up late last night so I'm pretty tired and will take a nap now.

Plans for lunch: dim sum left-overs
Plans for dinner: beef with mushrooms and corn.  (leftovers)

I didn't quite end up falling asleep until close to when Isaac woke up so I felt tired in the afternoon.  We did the recycling and watched parts of an anime, Totoro.  Isaac seemed a little scared by some parts of the anime (discovering the soot balls).  He kept calling "May" when other characters were calling her name.

Isaac had some bites of toast, mushrooms, some bits of corn, a couple bites of beef and yogurt.  After dinner, I gave him a bath.  For his bedtime stories, we read: "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?", "Green Eggs and Ham", and "Llama Llama Red Pajama".  He started going a little crazy during the second book, but I got him to calm down and listen (by letting him either choose to go to bed or stay and read the book).  He also choose to go to bed instead of getting nose drops - specifically saying "bad" (for bed).  I did not hear a peep from him when I left the room.

Anyhow, I am mostly done with my ebay shopping spree.  It looks like I might win one more auction and am still deciding if I want to re-bid on one.  I have been buying duplo... mostly the items will be for Isaac's birthday party (except the tracks and some miscellaneous furniture pieces).  I have been tempted to buy other duplo furniture, a duplo baby/family, and other track pieces, but I think I will just hold off for now.

He's not really playing too much lego lately.  Instead he's been clamouring to watch television and videos.  Mostly, he's watching educational programs but I think I will have to cut down his screen time.  Maybe I should think up some arts and crafts activities we can try.  I've been wanting to teach him how to glue stuff onto paper or let him paint with a paintbrush.

Rain gear

Rain coat... check
Splash pants... check
Rain boots... check
Rain hat... check

The boy is all ready to play in the rain.   I just picked up a pair of rain boots in size 9 and rain hat in size 3/4T from Please Mum.

We had our creative movements class this morning.  He always looks forward to the class... though when we're there, I have to chase after him since he likes running out of the room.  He fell asleep on our way home, so I dropped him off and went off to run some errands.  It's so nice that Daddy works from home.

Dinner we had cream of mushroom soup with macaroni, mushrooms, ham and broccoli.  We also had some avocado and Isaac had a yogurt.  He kept asking for the mini honey mandarins I picked up from a grocery store today.  I bought a small bag of them... but they're all gone now.  I might go get some more tomorrow.   I like them too.  They're really sweet and tasty!

I went out to a preschool info session this evening while Daddy fed the boy dinner and gave him a bath.  I met up with the other parents from our play group at the info session.  We'll have to fill out a lottery request form to try to apply for the program.  There's a long waitlist for the current sessions... I hope that we'll be able to get a spot this fall.  It sounds like a great program.

When I got home, Isaac ran up to me and gave me a huge smile.  Then he went off to play again.  I finished my dinner, and we put Isaac to bed.  Tomorrow we'll be heading over G's place to play with G and J.

Survival Test - Day 13 of 15

Busy morning.

Up at 7:30am. I boiled 2 eggs (for myself) and we had bacon. I also gave Isaac some oatmeal and a fruit cup. Watched Ranma. I was a bit worried that he would be too tired for our 11am class so I tried to get him to nap... but of course that didn't go over well with him. After a bit fit in his crib, I took him out and let him do some finger painting with his red paint. He still doesn't have a word for "red" yet. I resisted the urge to buy Lego from the website even though the prices were marked down on top of the existing sale price. It was so tempting but I'm holding out for the sets on my wish list. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't wait to buy his toy lego car since it's a little cheaper now, but it's ok. Most of the extra sale items cleared out pretty fast so I might've missed it if I waited.

Packed him up and we went off to the library to return our videos. After we went up to the dance studios. Isaac immediately headed to where we have our creative movement class so I had to tell him that we were doing a different class today. We headed to our music class. It went alright though he was a bit tired. Today we played with sticks, tapped a tambourine and shook some bells. I brought a toy truck to class to keep his hands occupied. He did a few actions from the songs but mostly watched.

After class, I gave Isaac a strawberry/apple sauce snack pouch and we stopped by the art gallery and museum. We went to Richmond Centre to pick up some veggies and mushrooms. I also got Isaac a pizza roll from Cobbs. Then we went to Save-On Foods to pick up some meat and other ingredients (for our dinner tonight). He was surprisingly good for being tired. I borrowed a "car" cart from the grocery store - it comes with a kid-sized steering wheels and I can buckle Isaac into the seat. He munched on the bread while I shopped.

Just as we got home, I told Isaac we're almost home and asked him if he wanted to nap. He nodded yes. When I parked the car and looked back, he was asleep. Transferred him into his crib (1:24pm) and went to get the groceries from the car.

Starving. I made spaghetti with zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes for lunch. Tonight we're having baked chicken thighs with basil and garlic powder. I also plan to use the slow cooker overnight and make a beef dish for tomorrow so that we'll have lunch ready when we get home from swimming. I'm just eating now (2:40pm) and I highly doubt I'll get much of a nap today. Time for me to play some pogo while I eat.

He's having a pretty decent nap. I heard him wake up briefly as I was doing the dishes but he went back to sleep. I guess it'll be a very late lunch and a light dinner for him. I bet if I went in to take a nap he'd wake up.

He woke up at 3:55pm. Time for lunch. I'm giving him the spaghetti, zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes. He's also having some apple juice and his pizza roll. He also had a mandarin.

After lunch, we went for a walk to vv. We came home and Daddy called. Isaac talked to Daddy for a little, then we connected on a web chat. I baked some chicken thighs and made some bok choy for dinner. The boy also had mixed grains and a yogurt. Dinner was pretty late (around 7pm). After dinner, we played some lego and I put him to bed around 9:20pm. I'm guessing he was pretty tired because he went to sleep without a fuss. I did the dishes then prepared a crock pot recipe (started the crock pot at 10:30pm). Hopefully the "Best Beef Dip Ever" will taste good for tomorrow. Washed more dishes.

Time to shop... I mean "window browse" online. Well, that or play pogo... or both! Can't stay up too late since we have swimming lessons tomorrow morning.

Survival Test - Day 5 of 15

Oh... where to begin?  Lots of wake-ups.  A bit before midnight, he woke up and I changed his diaper (it was still pretty empty).  Nursed him, then decided that his nose really did need some nose drops.  Turned on the lights, wrestled him down to get in some nose drops, then nursed him a bit more and put him to bed.  After a little bit, he started screaming.  Not sure if anything was wrong (no limbs were stuck in the crib rails).  I picked him up, snuggled with him and let him lie down with me in bed for a little.  Put him back in his crib.  Quiet for a bit, then he starts getting upset again.  I shushed him and he stopped crying.  I vaguely recall this happening again at least one more time.  Then I'm finally asleep.  Roughly before 5:30am, the boy is standing in his crib asking for milk.  I look at the clock and tell him to go back to sleep.  He occasionally lies down, but moves around in his crib a lot.  The batteries die in his aquarium and he gets upset and keeps slapping at it trying to turn the thing on.  I get up and remove the aquarium from his crib and try to reassure him that I'll change the batteries after I get up.

6am, I give up and nurse him in bed.  We both fall asleep.  I wake up at 9am and leave the boy in bed.  He just woke up about 10 minutes after I got up.  Time to replace the Mr. Fishy's batteries.  I really don't think AA batteries are a good substitute for C batteries.  Mr. Fishy is working again and has relocated to the other side of his crib.  Time for breakfast.

Isaac had a bowl of oatmeal and a mandarin fruit cup.  He was very cooperative because I told him his friends were coming over to play soon so he should hurry up.  G got here just as Isaac finished breakfast.  I put the boy on the potty, and he was really good and quick.  He wanted to play with G.  J arrived shortly after, and I left them to pick up some milk from Save-On Foods.  Toys were scattered all over the place when I got back and everything was in full-swing.  The boys ate lunch then headed home (around 12:30pm).  I'm trying to get Isaac to have his lunch now.

Ack!  I think Isaac snorted a piece of spaghetti up his nasal cavity somewhere.  He was laughing at something then suddenly choked and started crying and pointing at his nose.  I didn't know what to do, so I put saline drops into his nose and nursed him.  He's still pointing at his nose and whining.  I'm not sure what else I can do.  It's the second time this has happened to him.  I hope it resolves itself soon or I'll have to take him to the doctors - though I don't really see what they can do about it either.

He seems back to normal again though he refused to nap at his normal time.  I gave up at 2pm and took him out of his crib.  We went out to vv and the mall.  I used part of my sprize points and bought him a new gap raincoat in size 4T. 3T fits, but I figure the 4T he can grow into.  Gap is ending Sprize in February.  It's too bad, since I think it did get me to buy more clothes from their store.  Snacked on an egg tart at the mall.

I feel like things are reverting back to normal - dirty dishes, no clue about what to eat, etc.  I picked up some Shanghai dumplings for Isaac, and a beef broccoli dish for myself.  I made some rice at lunch that I didn't get around to eating, so that's ready.  Time for me to do the dishes and eat before Isaac wakes up.  His nap started at 4:08pm.  I'll have to make sure he's up by 5:15pm or so.

Dishes washed, toys tidied, caught up on some news (yay Target coming to Canada).  Something about food always taste so much better when you're starving.  Mmm... beef broccoli.  I might need to make more rice.

I woke the boy up at 5:48pm.  He had a dinner/web chat with Daddy, had a bath, played some lego, then bedtime.  I don't think he fell asleep until sometime after 10pm.  I hope that he'll sleep alright tonight.