our alaskan adventure!

it was a fantastic vacation, and i'm a little sad to be home. our 7-day alaskan cruise with gabe and my parents was perfect (save for the short bout of seasickness the 3 of us suffered in the open ocean on friday morning). i actually had 3 worries in anticipation of the trip:

#1 was sleeping in the cabin with gabe next to us, but after settling in the first night, gabe figured it out and he was a dream. chris and i even managed to sneak out for the dessert buffet on wednesday night while my parents sat in our dark room :-) we've now been home for 2 nights and gabe's refused to go to bed!

#2 was gabe's napping...i've never had much luck with gabe's naps in his peg stroller (30 minutes max), and now we've switched to a maclaren (with no nap practice pre-trip), so we were venturing into unchartered territory. fortunately we managed to nap him in my parents room a few times and we had success in the stroller as well.

#3 was potty-training...i didn't want him to poop in his diaper for 7 days, but i wasn't sure how he would do on the travel potty. again, turns out i worried for nothing...he did his business faster on the travel potty than at home! i guess he knew there were better things to do like check out the glaciers and eat yummy food :-)

our ship, ms zuiderdam (holland america)
inside stateroom
our inside stateroom on deck 6 was more spacious than i expected, but still only about the size of our condo bedroom/bathroom combined. my parents had a deluxe suite with a verandah, so we hung out in their room a lot, checking out the views and playing with gabe. our cabin stewards, lou & joe, were fantastic. it's sad to hear about their life...lou has a 5 month old son (named gabriel!) who he's never met because he's been working on the ship so he's only seen him via webcam. at least he only has 3 more weeks on the alaska-run and then he's going home for a while.

the food
delicious! we boarded our ship on saturday as early as possible so we could enjoy lunch before we departed. right then i knew it would be a great week for food! one meal down and i had already overeaten :P throughout the week we mostly had sit-down meals in the dining room consisting of 3, 4 or 5 course meals (that would be breakfast, lunch AND dinner). of course no cruise would be complete without a trip or two to the buffet! yup, i gained at least 5 pounds this week.

chris, sandra, mike and i treated ourselves to a baby-free meal in the pinnacle grill for fine dining. i have to say that was the best evening we had: our window seat afforded us a view of our departure from ketchikan (after waiting for a tardy passenger to be let on board), we saw whales (we think they might have been orcas), and we saw our american pilot get picked up from our ship and taken back to shore, and i even got a little drunk from my authentic baked alaska...complete with fire!

the activities

in between all the meals and snacks, we managed to check out some of the onboard activities: the indonesian tea ceremony (basically it was high tea with indonesian tea selections...all the food was pretty standard...finger sandwiches and sweets), the vegetable and fruit art display, behind the scenes kitchen tour, free slot tournaments (chris and i won t-shirts!), evening shows, whale-watching, etc.

tracy arm fjord & juneau
our first icebergs were seen in tracy arm! they weren't quite the titanic-size that i had imagined...more like small to medium-sized boulders (of course, only 10% of the iceberg is actually visible). since chris, sandra and i booked an excursion we didn't actually get to visit juneau at all. instead we took a helicopter ride (a first for the 3 of us) to mendenhall glacier. i was really nervous about being in a 6-passenger helicopter but it was actually quite fun...i just wish the ride was a bit longer! the glacier was gorgeous and we got to drink water straight from the source. refreshing!

skagway
this time we actually got to do some sightseeing and shopping in town. our shore excursion (for the entire family) in skagway was a train ride on the White Pass & Yukon Route (the Klondike Gold Rush).

glacier bay
this was where we saw all the glaciers: margerie, grand pacific, johns hopkins, and lamplugh. the best part of all the glaciers was seeing the calving (when the ice falls from the glacier into the ocean, creating icebergs). the sound as the glacier is cracking is unbelievable...dead silence in the inlet then a loud thunder-like roar before chunks of ice break off crashing down. it felt a bit like watching paint dry...standing around waiting for something exciting to happen, but when it does...WOW! at least we had seals nearby to occupy our attention :-)

ketchikan

more shopping! actually, i didn't spend a single dime on anything. it was great travelling w/my parents cuz for once i didn't have to buy souvenirs :-) i can't explain it, but chris and i were so tired that we didn't venture out very long...instead we opted to nap with gabe for 2 hours. in hindsight it was a waste, since we missed out on half of the town.

all about gabe!

gabe was definitely a star attraction on the cruise! he won everyone over with his infectious smiles and 2-handed waves. it's funny, all the staff and crew onboard are very pleasant and friendly, but as soon as they saw gabe, it's like a light switched and they became all mushy and uber-friendly. just like lou, they all miss their families back home and they probably don't get young babies on board very often. and really, who doesn't love a baby when they smile and clap at anything?!

overall, it was a great vacation! we spent time together as a family yet chris and i were able to get away for a few hours here-and-there. it does benefit everyone when you travel with the grandparents :-)

11 months old!

ok, this past month just flew right by, and i only have 4 more weeks of 24/7 fun with my little buddy :( it's been a very exciting month and gabe's kept me laughing throughout!



we're cruising! in more ways than one :-) we took our alaskan cruise (i'll post about it later) and gabe was definitely cruising his way around the cabin! since everything in a stateroom is more cozy, the furniture was close enough that he could maneuver his way around the bed, couch and coffee-table. unfortunately during one cruising stint, he had a tumble and got his first black eye. his walking days aren't too far off...gabe's gotten really brave and has been seen standing without any assistance.

pre- and post-bruise

we're talking! gabe's favourite word to say is dada, but it's still not 100% directed at chris. when asked where's mama or where's dada, he does associate us with the words, but no solid attempts at saying mama yet. in the past few days he's started 2 new things: teeth-grinding (ugh!) and lip-smacking. i love the lip-smacking...it's noisy and hilarious to watch.

we're waving and signing! gabe's word/sign association is growing stronger. when he's finished on the potty, he'll sign "all done". and last night at dinner, when i asked if he was "all done" or wanted "more", he signed "more!" and with all great successes, gabe loves to give a round of applause. at the chef's master dinner on the cruise, after the "performances" gabe was clapping for all the servers and entertainers. he's given a "thumbs up" once but we haven't had a repeat performance yet. we've noticed that gabe usually won't wave at strangers until he's warmed up to them, but once he does it's a never ending waving game :-)

we're eating and drinking! gabe has FINALLY started drinking water! he really enjoys holding onto his sippy cup but he's still having trouble tipping it so he can drink the water. instead he prefers to bang his cup on the table until water sprays everywhere :P gabe was a superstar on the cruise and ate everything that was offered to him. we would usually order from the kids menu for him (chicken nuggets & fries, fish & chips, mac & cheese), but because we were eating 3 or 4 course meals, his food didn't come soon enough so he ended up eating whatever we were eating.




gabe's 11 month birthday was celebrated on the cruise, and the staff were just loving him. he was "kidnapped" on more than one occaision by the dining steward and the dining manager. in honour of his birthday they surprised us all with a special birthday cake and indonesian celebration song for gabe.

alaska, here we come!

it's been a busy week-and-a-half! g&s were in town so we had lots of playtime for trevor and gabe...good times; maddie's 1st birthday; playdate @ jonah's house; playdates with charlotte, luke and grace; the list goes on! so much activity and i captured it all on camera...visit my picasa link for all the fun times :-)

and now i'm taking advantage of gabe's morning nap to do some last minute packing for our trip. see ya'll in a week :-)

kids say the darndest things

gabe and i hit the play area at brentwood mall again, and i tell ya, i got a real kick out of the older kids. a little boy and a little girl were sitting in the "car", and the little boy told the little girl "take me to the casino!"

seriously, when gabe starts talking, i hope that's not his first real sentence :P

dogs & babies

proof that babies and dogs aren't all that different :-)

everyone needs a good cleaning!

watching the world go by

good old nap-time

dress up!

diaper-time!

everyone needs a good chew toy!

10 months old!

OMG, i can't believe i'm mom to a 10 month old baby, and that i have to return to work in 2 months!

movement - gabe has been an exploring machine! in this past week, i've caught him cruising along the table toys at my parents house, and he's definitely trying to figure out climbing...lifting his legs up but not quite sure what the next move is. we've also been "walking" with him when he's wearing his shoes...definitely a funny sight to behold :-)

babyproofing - with gabe's mobility, we've become aware of how much babyproofing we need to do in our condo. so far all we've done is cover up the electrical outlets :P

success with sippy! i fell asleep on the couch at my parents house, and gabe decided to reach over to the coffee table and help himself to his sippy cup. after all my failed attempts at getting him to drink water or juice, he decided to display his independence and drank his (watered down) gatorade without any help. however, since that one time incident, he's failed to continue with it :P

speech - during his crying fits this past week, my mom was convinced he said "mama", but it was mixed in with his head flopping and crying, so i wasn't sold on it completely. so for now, the common words are "wawa", "baba", and "dada". gabe's made a few other random sounds, like "ja", "ju" and "sh".

waving - out of the blue, gabe started waving (or signing). it's a strange type of wave (or sign). if anyone watches russell peters, one of his gigs talks about the east indian "i don't know" gesture (similar to screwing in a lightbulb). that's what gabe's "waving" looks like. but i'm not sure if he's trying to say "all done". in addition to the waving, he will sign "milk" simultaneously, but that just looks like he's waving to himself. whatever...it's all very cute :-)

family time - because chris only has sundays off work, we're trying to do more family activities instead of just running errands for the week. having said that, we've only done 2 activities: lunch @ granville island and a trip to the aquarium (amazingly, it was chris' first time!). because gabe still has 2 naps it can be tricky to coordinate outings in a 3 hour window.

randomness - gabe's 8th tooth has taken forever to pop up, sitting at his gumline for 2 weeks, but it's finally broken through. his hair has been growing like a weed in the past month, so we'll be getting his first official haircut in a couple weeks...just in time for our alaskan cruise! gabe loves playing with his toys at home and at my parents house...all the noises and pop-ups keep him entertained for hours. he's discovered the bottoms of his toys and likes to flip everything over and check'em out.

on a very happy note, gabe seems to have recovered 100% from his virus. it took a week but we definitely noticed an improvement yesterday...almost no fussing and the rash seems to have vanished.

on a "thank goodness for potty-training" note...gabe was so miserable last week that i didn't bother putting him on the potty and just let him poop in his cloth diapers. by day 3 he had developed a nasty diaper rash on his bum-bum so we quickly went back to using the potty during gabe's more pleasant moments (along with mama singing the wheels on the bus for 10 minutes!).

yippee! happiness in the lok household again!

heat + virus = miserable gabe

man alive, it's been HOT! fortunately my parents have an air conditioned home, so gabe and i have been spending our days over there, plus we have a portable aircon unit in gabe's room to keep it cool at night. yippee!

having said that, one would think our week's been a "breeze". nope, gabe chose this week to have a slow and total meltdown. at first i blamed it on the heat, since our place is like a sauna 24/7 and nursing him was torture. but then the rash appeared...under his chin, behind his ears, under his armpits, and today it's just all over his little body. after the rash came the tantrums...for no reason! crying because he wasn't being held, crying because he didn't want to be held, crying because mama wasn't holding him. then came the "body flinging". we called him the human pretzel because on more than one occasion, my mom was tangled with gabe and had to be "rescued" :P

after the worst day yesterday, we took gabe to the doctor and indeed he's suffering from a virus. unfortunately there's nothing we can do except keep him comfortable and cool, and perhaps the occasional dose of baby tylenol :-) thank goodness for my parents! we've been passing gabe like a hot potato trying to keep him calm...poor chach...he's been crying so much he's gotten hoarse!

despite all the misery, this has been a great "practice" week for my return to work. gabe's been very cooperative and taken all his naps in the pack & play at my parents' house. granted, they vary from 15 minutes to 3 hours in length, but we take whatever he'll give us!

how do i love summer?

let me count the ways:


fruit season - any day now i'm gonna turn into a blueberry, a lychee, or a pink grapefruit

cold bevvies - my 3 fave (junkie) drinks: mango lychee milk slush bubble tea, fresh strawberry bubble tea, coke slurpees

bbq'ing - maui ribs, 'nuf said!

balcony time - now that we have patio chairs, i'm gonna enjoy chillaxing on my balcony

playing outside - it's a big big world out there for gabe to explore and he's loving it! we've also been walking a lot because of beau, and it's cute watching them side-by-side on our walks.

9 months old!

this past month has been insane!

gabe is finally crawling now...it started off slow a few weeks ago, but yesterday he managed to crawl from the carpet all the way to the kitchen (all in an effort to meet beau...more on him later)! he's also working on lifting his body up, doing a "downward dog" and seeing what can develop from that, which is usually nothing :-) gabe's also showing interest in walking...if i hold his hands he'll push his legs up to standing and he'll take a few steps forward.

crawling out of his room after mama!

2 more teeth have popped out, for a grand total of 6 teeth! and with the growth of his first 4 teeth, he's started to grind them together...very unpleasant. i'm not sure if he's becoming a fussy eater or what, but he's refused food on a few occasions. i'll have to jazz up his meals and make them more interesting! i've tried to encourage self-feeding, but the nutrios are too small for him to make the hand-mouth coordination; the bananas just get all mushed up before they get to his mouth. and honestly, i hate the mess babies make when they self-feed, so i just have to get over that and let it be.

we've had to lower the crib to the bottom setting since i caught gabe on his knees with his hands on the top railing trying to push himself up. now i have peace of mind knowing that gabe's safely confined in his crib.

we've successfully completed his swim lessons at ED Pool. unfortunately they didn't end on a happy note...during his back starfish, the instructor said to lean them back so their ears were in the water and gabe hated it! then to top it off at the end of class the instructor turned on the fountains but my little man was mad when we went through them.

my mom instincts have gotten sharper. gabe's been a busy boy this past month, and i've caught him in the acts of all his "naughty" behaviours. he definitely does make a different noise, whether it's crying or general chatter, when he's attempting something new and exciting. gabe's been testing out his vocal chords and hasn't let us forget that he's around - the "dadada's", "wawawa's", and "bababa's" are so cute...it just melts my heart to hear him.


now that gabe has a more predictable schedule, we've jumped back into puppysitting PADS dogs. i knew beau was the perfect dog for our return to puppysitting...he's an older dog, full knowledge of the basic commands, and so docile. and sure enough, the two of them were nose to nose and gabe got a big lick on the face :P even when gabe started poking at beau's paws, there was nothing more than a head-lift and a look of boredom from beau. while walking the dog with a stroller presents its challenges (the stroller's gotten away from me a couple times!), and having an un-neutered dog is a first for us (i think he's marked every tree in our 'hood), there's nothing i love more than spending time with my boys.

we all scream for ice cream!

since gabe started eating food, i've been going "by the book" introducing foods one at a time for 3 days blah blah blah. but this past weekend, it all went haywire. unbeknownst to me, my cousin was sneaking some whipping cream to gabe! all i saw was the aftermath of gabe munching away and licking his lips. then yesterday, my mom and i were enjoying our cherry ice cream cones when she decided that it would be fun to let gabe try it, too. surprisingly he wasn't taken aback by the coldness but rather dove right into the cone to get more :P