farewell

my uncle tosh loved the hot weather, so it seemed fitting for him that we said farewell on the hottest day of the summer (so far). i don't know if many churches are air conditioned, but the one we were at definitely wasn't. it must've gotten close to 40 degrees in the chapel...and unfortunately mid-service the heat claimed a victim. one of the elders in attendance passed out and had to be taken to the hospital. by the time she left in the ambulance, she was conscious and seemed to be ok. phew!

it was a really long day today...the morning service, reception lunch, cremation service, and then dinner at the riverrock casino. there's a story behind the casino, and it's cute :-) july 12 would have been my uncle's 3 year anniversary since he received stem cells from one of his sisters. he really had hoped to be released from the hospital by this date, and wanted his friends and family to join him at the casino for some gambling. sadly, since he passed before this could happen, my aunt decided what better way to honour his memory than dinner at the buffet and some gambling after dinner. the "joke" would be to see who would win big tonight...i was hoping it would be my auntie joyce. the latest update from my parents was that my uncle terry was up $90.

since we knew it was going to be a long and emotional day, chris and i were armed with all of gabe's favourites: goldfish crackers, puffed wheat, mangoes, animal crackers, juice, raisin buns, and most importantly, the ipods :-) the service itself was an hour-long, and gabe was a real trooper. since we had to get there early, we let gabe run loose and burn off his energy and explore, until we absolutely had to be seated. once the service started, so did the ipods :-) for the most part, gabe sat quietly in the pew and watched his cartoons. occasionally he would look around the church, decide it was too quiet, and yell out "ma!".

while it was never my intention to turn gabe into a tv junkie, on days like this it's come in extremely handy :-) as long as he has kai-lan to watch, he's a happy child. even if there's no sound accompanying it, he'll be ok. it's gotten us through this funeral, flights to/from vegas and toronto, car-rides when we need to keep him awake as we run late for his naptime at home, and long (social) meals!

everything else we've tried hasn't been met with as much success...stacking cups, leapfrog junior (even with a kai-lan book!), crayons...he just loses interest rapidly...they have about a 3 minute lifespan :P and now my mom's caving in...she might be buying an ipod for her outings with gabe. this, in addition to the weekly "gabriel" shopping of 3 books and 2 hats she just bought for him :-)


how did our parents raise us without modern technology?!

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!