21 months old!

i've finally decided that it's time to put away some of gabe's "baby" toys and upgrade to new and better toys. so we hit toys r us today and came out with $100 worth of goodies. sadly, we only got 3 items...a shopping cart (he LOVES pushing things around), wooden alphabet / number / word blocks, and a thomas the train mega bloks set. up next...the get out and grill bbq! but first we need to rearrange some furniture in the condo to make some room. and lastly, i found a great activity table today, but again...we need more space :P my mom's also been shopping up a storm for gabe...new shape sorters, stacking cups, swimming pool (which we can FINALLY use this week!), books, and a few more "little" things for him.

we're really trying to emphasize gabe's speech development. i was an average child and starting talking at 12 months old. my brother didn't talk until he was 3, and ended up in a specialized program to help with his development. hopefully we'll avoid this path :P there's a limit to how far we can push gabe to "talk" without frustrating any of us. we thought "please", or a version of it, would be the next word in his vocabulary, but all we've managed to get is serious arm-flapping...sometimes he looks like he might take flight from the flapping. it's pretty funny :)


my parents and i are definitely seeing the 2 sides of gabriel. my parents don't let him get away with murder (as grandparents might do), in fact, my mom is very strict and gabe knows the rules at her house. at our home, we're definitely more "rule-free" and anything goes. gabe also realizes i'm the one leaving him to go to work, so when i get home, he just wants to spend time with me. as much as i would love to sit and play or entertain gabe, my next priority is to get dinner on the table for us. and some days that's the worst time of day...i end up with a tantrumy toddler standing on my feet, pushing me aside, screaming at me while i'm cooking. the other day at my parents house, they were flabbergasted by the tantrum he threw with me since they almost never get this behaviour from him. which is a good thing...i don't have to worry about poor behaviour with the "babysitters", and they get to spoil him rotten. i love it!

it's not only the tantrums that are different, but the eating routine. there have been a few skipped meals at home because gabe won't eat what i've prepared. he's never missed a meal with my parents and eats all of the food presented to him, including vegetables that he's passed on w/me. it's incredibly frustrating to see this deviousness from a toddler, but i'm trying to let it go...at least i know 4 days a week he's getting well-balanced meals from the 4 food groups.

when gabe was a baby, i had the best intentions in the world. i never imagined he'd be a tv-junkie at this age, but with the summer finally arriving, i've gotten a few more headaches than normal so i've got a rotation of ni-hao kai-lan, backyardigans, and go diego go. we've also noticed it's harder for gabe to behave in public, so we've been playing our ipods to keep him entertained and quiet (more on this in my next post).

for now, i think we're seeing a preview of what the (terrible) 2's are going to bring us. parenthood...what a journey :P

when you gotta go!

i had a glimpse into my future today. there were 2 boys at the playground with their dad...around 4 and 7 years old. the older boy was getting jumpy and finally announced to his dad that he HAD TO GO! so off they scurried to the nearest tree so the boy could pee. the younger boy had been playing until that moment and then ran over to see what was happening, and he decided he needed to go as well. so both boys did their business and then carried on :-) mental note...always have the hand sanitizer closeby!

it amused me greatly because about a week ago a similar incident happened. except this boy went on the open grassy area, and much to the mom's chagrin, ended up peeing into the wind :P we'll look at the positive side...at least i won't have to worry about finding a toilet in a jiffy!

little moments (& 20 months old!)

gabe and i went to the hats off day parade, and we had a great time. it was gabe's first parade, and after seeing everyone waving at the parade participants, he started waving "hi" to them as well. it was that little moment that got me choked up for a second...it's always surprising what catches me off guard and i get all sentimental.




on friday night, i left my boys at home and as i was saying goodbye to gabe, he gave me a big hug and kiss, and then waved bye. he's getting better at saying goodbye to me when i leave him behind, and i got a little choked up that he wasn't upset that i was going out. sigh, there's no satisfying me ;-)


before the rain started pouring down, we made it out to confed park and went on the miniature train ride. we had no idea what it would be like (and i forgot my camera so i don't have any pictures either), but i was worried for gabe when i saw it was a narrow bench that you had to straddle, and no railings or anything to hold onto. we ended up in the front of the 3rd "car" and gabe was able to hold onto the frame, and i had my arms wrapped tight around him. he really enjoyed the ride, clapping his hands along the way, and having a little giggle now and then. my little man is really growing up. another tear :(


as gabe reached his 20th month, we got to meet baby lily and baby alexandra. i forgot how little newborns are, the sweet little cooing noises they make and how peaceful they are when asleep (especially when they lie on your chest...love it!). having said that, we are happy to live vicariously through our friends and their newbies!

this month we had a minor setback with food...gabe refused to eat a few of his meals, and has started to pick out his vegetables. but if there was rice, he'd be as happy as a clam! so we laid down the law, and told him his options...eat what you're given or be excused from the table and wait until bedtime snack. the past few days have been better, and i haven't resorted to hiding his veggies...yet.

we're expanding gabe's vocabulary. he can now say "thank you" 3 different ways - sign language, nodding his head "shie-shie", and now says "ta!" (after weeks of practicing with grandma). he still yells "ma!" a lot, but it could mean anything (not just referring to me), and he's starting to enunciate "dada!" better.

i was so proud of gabe yesterday...he let me put on his crocs for the first time and he only fussed for 2 seconds...literally! i was pleasantly surprised to see him keep them on while riding in his new wagon en route to the playground, AND he walked around the sandbox with them on. it was also his first time in the sandbox, and he loved it! i hope the "new things" freak-out from prior months was just a phase and that he's getting better. new things really are fun!

toronto 2010

we survived our trip to toronto!

unfortunately it didn't start out great...i was suffering from a cold and gabe had just started to get sick. once we arrived in toronto, we discovered that trevor had also caught a cold a couple days earlier. by the end of our trip, everyone was sick, but nothing was stopping us from going out and having a good time!

the flight - we lucked out with both flights...they weren't sold out, so we managed to get a seat for gabe. thankfully westjet has seatback tvs and treehouse is one of the featured channels, so he was occupied for awhile :) en route to toronto, he only slept for 15 minutes as we were landing followed by a short snooze in the car-ride to geoff & sunny's. thankfully though on the flight to vancouver he actually slept for 2 hours, much to my shock!

the lack of sleep - with the new environment, different time zone, and being sick, gabe had 2 stellar nights of 1 hour sleep each. surprisingly though it didn't negatively affect him...he was still in good spirits, albeit a little tired and would fall asleep in the car or stroller...and for once in his short little life, he fell asleep at the dinner table (BEFORE HE EVEN ATE!) :) however, this particular meal was preceded with a torential tantrum :P

the activities - the 3 of us went to visit my toronto office. we didn't do it on our last trip to toronto, as it wasn't really close-by to geoff & sunny's previous home and we did more touristy things. so i was very excited to visit our office this time and put faces with names of ppl i've been working with. we also took gabe to the toronto zoo. we could've spent all day there, but alas the rain started just as gabe fell asleep in his stroller. and thanks to geoff, we went to a blue jays game! it was a nice (albeit slightly windy) night so the skydome was open and we got to see the cn tower all lit up.

the family - the main purpose of our trip was to visit my extended family in toronto, who may not get out to vancouver again and meet gabriel. so we had a nice dinner w/our long-time family friends and sort of got caught up with everyone. it was gabe's 1st time seeing my parents & brother after 2 weeks, so he was acting strange with them, combined with the lack of sleep, and he was in fine form :P we also had lunch the next day with my great-aunt and her husband. it was a little sadder that day...my aunt is hard-of-hearing and is undergoing treatment for it (currently everything she hears sounds computerized, almost robot-like), and you have to be right beside her for her to hear you. and her husband is legally blind...all he can see are shapes moving around. but i'm definitely glad that everyone got to meet gabriel :)

visit w/the lowe's - our arrival was pretty funny...geoff and trevor came outside to greet us, and trevor instantly started crying when he saw gabe. i guess he forgot how much fun they had in vegas :) it was definitely a busy house with the boys on 2 different routines and schedules. gabe definitely took advantage and played with all of trevor's toys while he was at daycare, but in the evening he respected trevor's tent and would stay on the outside and watch. gabe did pick up one little manner of trevor's...he will still sign thank you when prompted, but he now bows his head to say "shie shie" (thank you in mandarin) :)

life is normal again, gabe's back to his regular routine, and now my parents are both sick :(

sweet earth

last fall, we decided to take family pictures at home and outdoors. unfortunately the 2 days that we chose were both wet & rainy, so we made do with the photos we had (created 2010 calendars and "Gabe's 1st year" book for the grandparents). the photographer we chose, shona dion of sweet earth photographic, knew i wasn't going to be satisfied with our sessions, so she suggested a 3rd photo session on a nice day. it's taken us from last fall until mother's day to find a sunny sunday we were all available! in the long-run, it turned out for the best...we have great photos indoors and outdoors, and of gabe at 2 different ages.

19 months old!

summer is just around the corner, and i can't wait! longer days, nicer days, more time to spend outside and keep my son entertained! i find that as he's getting older, he requires more attention and definitely needs activities to keep him occupied. i still rely on treehouse to keep gabe entertained while i'm cooking dinner or just need 30 minutes to myself :)

now that i've spent a full week with him, i've really noticed how much gabe has grown...

• he still gets upset when introduced to new clothes, but after 2 attempts he accepted both his spring jacket AND his hard sole shoes in the same day! unfortunately he still won't sit on the new travelling toilet seat i bought...we may have to travel w/our baby bjorn toilet seat :P


• he's starting to make his own verbal version of "dada", which is more like "nya-nya". he's still good with "mama" but "no" has disappeared from his vocabulary.


• at the playground, gabe can now climb the stairs and will go down the slide with limited assistance. he has a tendancy to lean too far forward so i have to be close-by.


• it's fun to have little conversations with him...if you phrase a question or statement the right way, seeing gabe's response is priceless. he laughs and claps for "yes", shakes his head and grunts for "no", and then when he's not sure how to respond he just looks at you like you're crazy.


• gabe's getting much better at walking when we're out in public. usually he gets so clingy that chris or i have to carry him because once he's tasted freedom, he won't go back in the stroller. today i was uber-brave and took gabe to the aquarium WITHOUT the stroller! he was a superstar, and i only had to hold him so he could see the animals being fed.


• he's still a great eater and can now use a spoon to shovel his food. the only catch is that he`ll shovel food in his mouth until he gags, so we have to remind him smaller bites and to chew and swallow :)
  

and now we`re just a few days away from our trip to toronto! yahoo :)

my boy is making a difference!

i received an awesome email today from nugget's family! we see them every so often at PADS events, but Nugget doesn't have public access anymore, so he's always at home :( anyways, it turns out that Nugget's "mom" works with kids who have disabilities, and so he helps her with the kids. he's very patient with them, letting up to 3 kids rest their heads on him, brush him, read stories to him, and he'll be getting his teeth brushed next week by one of the teens :)

i'm so glad to hear how well nugget's been doing. his family has continued raising PADS dogs, after diamond (nugget's sister), they had jazz, acadia, and now raider! nugget's had a revolving door of constant companions...not to mention the 3 kids in the family :) we're going to make a trip out to maple ridge in the summer and spend some time with our "firstborn"...gabe's gonna go nuts when he meets nugget!

pigeons, and ducks, and geese...oh crap!

similar to sandra's post last week, we took gabe to granville island over the weekend where he discovered the pigeons :)




shortly after the pigeon-chase, gabe and chris encountered some canada geese. NEVER turn your back on a goose! seriously, i had just turned and started walking away and a huge commotion errupted and all i see is chris grabbing gabe and getting him out of reach from the big goose! the goose was attacking everything in it's path...he chased another goose and it smacked into a dock (it wasn't hurt). across the little pond, we finally noticed a female goose preparing a nest, so her man was protecting the area.

gabe seemed unfazed by everything and went back to chasing pigeons, but after my mini heart attack was wary of the ducks...



it was a great family day, and we even managed to take gabe to the hair loft for his 2nd (professional) haircut!

18 months old!

gabe's 1.5 years old! that means...he's been walking for 6 months, i've been working for 6 months, he's 6 months away from turning 2 years old, and i'm just in DISBELIEF! there's a couple in our building who have a newborn boy and we chat with them about how they're doing..it really does seem like a lifetime ago that we were feeding every 2-3 hours, sleeping on the couch with gabe, and i was forever attached to my breast pump :P i'm definitely enjoying life right now!

here are a few random tidbits from this past month:

• we managed to weigh gabe while we were in vegas, and he's a whopping 28 pounds!
• he really likes the slide at the playground, but still refuses to be pushed on the swing.
• he has his first scab on his knee, and tries to find it when he sits on the potty. i've been cringing when he scratches at it, but he thinks it's pretty funny.
• he'll hold our hand so he can go up and down steps.
• his favourite meal is tuna casserole.
• he's been practicing "stabbing" his food with a fork, and he can feed himself with a spoon once someone places food on it. the "shovelling" action is still difficult.
• gabe really will try and eat anything...he used his chopstick at dim sum to get sauce from the steamer of chicken feet, and he insisted on trying my latte (so i let him taste the foam off the top).
• he didn't like santa, and surprise surprise he didn't like the easter bunny either.
• he definitely has a little attitude now...he's been developing some bad habits that i'm trying to correct. sneaky little bugger has that "what'd i do?" look about him along with a sideways glance to avoid eye contact during our chats.
• and the funniest thing about gabe right now...he doesn't like my dad on mondays, but likes him just fine on tuesdays, thursdays & fridays :-)

and that's my life with a toddler :-) up next...my parents (& brother) are off to europe at the end of the month, so i'll be on vacation for 2.5 weeks! yippee!

las vegas 2010

chris received a complimentary stay from aria @ citycenter, the newest hotel on the strip, so we packed our bags and met up with the lowe's for a 4-day getaway!

the preparation
i can't believe how much we had to pack for 4 days. travelling was so much easier when gabe was 5 months old & nursing...just pack lots of clothes, diapers and the hooter-hider. this time we needed activities, treats/food supplies, and comfort items. it was our first time on a plane since last march, and it took a lot of planning. anyways, 2 suitcases and 2 carry-ons later, we were ready for anything!

the flight
now that we have nexus passes, we got to use them for the first time to fly out of bellingham. love it! unfortunately our flight was delayed by almost an hour, so gabe was in FINE shape by the time we boarded :P at least there was another toddler on our flight so they got to play together for a bit. gabe was excellent on the flight to vegas...we had new leap frog books for him, new dvds (too bad our dvd player crapped out after 30 minutes), we had lots of treats, and he even took a 30 minute nap! it would've lasted longer except the descent bothered his ears so he screamed for a while :(

the hotel
aria did not disappoint...it was clean and modern, the staff were friendly, the restaurants were fabulous, and the rooms were amazing! our standard room seemed super-spacious with lots of room for gabe to run around, it overlooked the back entrance with a view of vdara's pool (the palms and rio were in the distance, and the bellagio beside us), and we had twice daily housekeeping (i really like turndown service!). and to add to the luxury of the room, everything was controlled by a touch screen panel (not ideal with a toddler...gabe managed to hit the "turndown" setting, which turned on the tv to the music channel, dimmed the lights and closed the sheers - and then 10 minutes later it closed the blackout blinds and turned off all the lights :P).

thanks to great weather in las vegas, we managed to take gabe to the pool twice. we haven't been swimming since his lessons last summer, so he wasn't a fan at first. but once he saw trevor having a good time, he warmed up to the idea and on the 2nd day, he was kicking his legs in the water!


the food
a trip to vegas wouldn't be complete without excellent dining options! we ate most of our meals at aria...buffets (sunday brunch, breakfast), 2 dinners - julian serrano (spanish) and sirio ristorante (italian). and of course we ventured off the strip for dinner at nobu!












the kids
there's nothing more unpredictable than kids. trevor took a while to warm up to gabe, and gabe didn't know what to think of trevor. there was hugging, bowing, pushing, sharing, crying, screeching, laughing, and everything else under the sun. by the end of the trip the boys were best buds and chasing after each other.












the lessons learned
#1 - gabe hates new things...whether it's new clothes, new shoes, new environment...he just has a hard time adjusting.

#2 - gabe hates the potette potty...we used it for alaska when he was 11 months and he took to it immediately! in hindsight we should've practiced before vegas, but he's obviously outgrown the floor potties and only likes to sit on the big toilet (he wouldn't sit on the potette on the toilet...it's obviously not comfortable for him). so i spent 4 days chasing him with the potette and cleaning up accidents from the floor :P i'll be buying ANOTHER portable toilet seat for our trip to toronto :P

#3 - gabe's growing up...over the weekend, i made the big leap and let gabe feed himself at the table. i hate the mess, but at some point, my boy's gotta grow up and do things for himself!


#4 - go with the flow...as much as i would've liked gabe to keep with his nap & bedtime routines, he would fall asleep at the most inopportune times. to make it worse, since we would be out-and-about, he would only sleep for 30 minutes. so by dinnertime, he wasn't the most cooperative toddler. bottom line, we made the best of our situation and did what we could :)

all-in-all, it was a great mini-getaway and the boys have already received an invitation from aria for a return visit! gee, i wonder why... :-)