no, i'm not confused about being pregnant - that's pretty obvious and straight forward. but for some reason, since i saw my family doctor at 5 weeks to get referred to an OBGYN, everything has been confusing and less than straight forward. it's a good thing this is my second pregnancy because if i were a first-timer, i'd be pretty fed up right now and in need of a stress test!
i had originally gotten a vancouver OB recommendation from a colleague and asked my family doctor to see if i could get in with her. after a week of not hearing back, i followed up and my doctor's receptionist sounded so confused. she actually said to me, "you're pregnant?" so more days past and finally i heard back and she told me that the referral was denied since i live in burnaby, am not high-risk, and delivered in burnaby previously. ok fine, i thought it might be a long-shot. so then i asked the receptionist to forward a referral to an OB who saw me a few months after gabe was born, and had checked my c-section recovery. after another week passed by, i followed up with the OB's office, and they didn't have my referral, and advised they prefer phone referrals vs. faxed referrals (but no faxes had been sent in lately). so i called my doctor's office again with the latest development and the receptionist seemed confused..."oh? has anyone taken your blood work yet?" no, you fool, because i've been waiting for a referral to an OB so i can get all my blood tests done at once!!!!! after many back and forth phone calls, at the 8 week mark i finally had an OB appointment and all the paperwork started for my blood work.
ironically, the day after my 8 week appointment, i started to have some spotting. so, my boss drove me to the OB clinic and i was given a check-up, and a rush request put in for an ultrasound. the following week i went for my dating ultrasound and was given the revised due date of dec. 28.
my first set of blood test results came back normal - nothing to worry about. yah! then i went for the quad screen blood work in mid-july, which tests for down syndrome and neural tube defects. 3 days later, my OB called and asked me to come in to discuss the results because i had tested positive as a higher risk for downs and ntd's. cue freak out. i had a migraine for the rest of the day. and then i was in a fog for 2 days as i anxiously waited to hear from the hospital for a detailed ultrasound appointment. by friday afternoon, i hadn't heard from anyone so i called my OB's office, and there was more confusion. the OB had told us we'd be going to women's for the ultrasound, but she sent the referral to a private clinic. so the receptionist would talk to the doctor on monday morning. monday had never dragged so slowly...by 10 a.m. i was calling my OB and they were just working through the appointment bookings that came through over the weekend. just before noon, my OB called and i had a 7:30 a.m. appointment the next day for my detailed ultrasound, followed by an meeting with a genetics counsellor at women's.
wednesday morning - the ultrasound went smoothly, baby was very active, and most of the measurements were taken. because we're only 17.5 weeks, she wasn't able to get a few heart measurements or see the full face clearly. so, we'll have that done at our 20 week ultrasound. she also said the doctor would be able to tell us the gender which she put in our file, but because they like to give results after 18 weeks gestation, there's still a possibility of an error for us.
the appointment with the genetics counsellor - it started off with a surprise. apparently when my quad screen blood test was matched against my 9 week ultrasound, somehow the dates were messed up. so when they were doing the down syndrome and ntd results, they showed up as positive. in fact, the ultrasound was incorrectly dated, so the original test results were inaccurate based on how far along i was, and i was given a negative rating - meaning i was not a high risk for downs or ntd. all that anxiety was for nothing! i think the confusion was that my original due date was dec. 22, but after the 9 week ultrasound, they pushed me back to dec. 28. that's my only rationale for the mix-up. bottom line, it was good news.
then the other shoe dropped. in the quad screen test, 2 of the anolytes they measure were on the high end (normal = 1, mine was 3+). because these 2 anolytes weren't for down syndrome or ntd (and the ultrasound showed baby's spine was perfectly fine), they classified it as "reason unknown". the other red flag came from the ultrasound. the technician was checking the blood flow to the placenta and discovered "notching" - an irregular blip in the flow. because of these 2 incidents, the counsellor is recommending that i be considered a higher risk pregnancy, requiring more check-ups. my OB won't have the official genetic report until later next week, so i'll be doing more follow-up with her to see what i can/should be doing differently (if anything at all). i also want to know what happens further down the road if the notching is still an issue :P
all of this on top of my ongoing sciatica issues :P so, at 18 weeks along, i'm definitely frustrated with this pregnancy experience, and can't believe i still have 21 weeks to go.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
happy birthday to me!
this post has taken me forever to create and get posted online :P but here goes:
it's official...we're pregnant with baby #2! since this wasn't a planned pregnancy, it took awhile for me to get over the shock, and for the fog to lift off my head. a few weekends ago we shared our news with friends, and their excitement for us has brought me around. my biggest fear about being pregnant was the pregnancy itself, and the labour/delivery with gabe wasn't a great experience either...so having a 2nd baby was an unlikely event.
everyone knows that my pregnancy with gabe wasn't the best, and it looks like i'm in for a repeat with this one. when i was only 6 weeks pregnant, i took the proactive step of going to physiotherapy to get some stretching exercises to minimize my sciatica. well, the stretching has helped a bit, but it looks like i'm in for another painful pregnancy. on quieter days, i can get through it all with minimal pains, but just having one too many activities can push my nerves to their limit. it got pretty bad last night, and i was suffering on both sides so ultimately i just went to bed to forget about the pain :P
new for this pregnancy was the queasiness. in my first trimester, i felt the need to eat all day long just to ward off the ill feeling, and luckily i was ok and never had to throw-up. i've also been having a lot more lower belly pain - nothing severe - but if i stand up too quickly this baby is just reminding me of his/her presence. i was also getting morning headaches, which was likely due to my interrupted sleep - i'm usually awake every 2-3 hours :P
before we told our friends about the pregnancy, we explained everything to gabe and he took the news well (i've asked him in the past if he wanted to have a little brother or sister, and he's adamantly said NO!). now that everyone is openly talking about the baby, he's very excited and always likes to remind us that there's a baby in my tummy and that we should use our quiet voices (i'm not sure when we've ever yelled in front of gabe?!). hopefully he'll still be as excited once the baby actually arrives!
our original due date was dec. 22, but after my OB sent me for a dating ultrasound, it got pushed back to dec. 28 - yup, my birthday :P so this poor child of mine is going to be stuck with a christmas-time birthday. as i'm just past 13 weeks, today was the first time we got to hear the baby's heartbeat and since i scheduled it on my day off, gabe got to accompany me he was very excited to be included.
in the meantime, we've taken a stroll down memory lane at my parents' place looking at all of gabe's old baby stuff that needs to be dusted off and freshened up for this new little one. it's also giving way to some anxiety about where everything will go in our little home! somehow we will make everything work for us, and we'll be a cozy family of 4 by the end of 2013!
it's official...we're pregnant with baby #2! since this wasn't a planned pregnancy, it took awhile for me to get over the shock, and for the fog to lift off my head. a few weekends ago we shared our news with friends, and their excitement for us has brought me around. my biggest fear about being pregnant was the pregnancy itself, and the labour/delivery with gabe wasn't a great experience either...so having a 2nd baby was an unlikely event.
everyone knows that my pregnancy with gabe wasn't the best, and it looks like i'm in for a repeat with this one. when i was only 6 weeks pregnant, i took the proactive step of going to physiotherapy to get some stretching exercises to minimize my sciatica. well, the stretching has helped a bit, but it looks like i'm in for another painful pregnancy. on quieter days, i can get through it all with minimal pains, but just having one too many activities can push my nerves to their limit. it got pretty bad last night, and i was suffering on both sides so ultimately i just went to bed to forget about the pain :P
new for this pregnancy was the queasiness. in my first trimester, i felt the need to eat all day long just to ward off the ill feeling, and luckily i was ok and never had to throw-up. i've also been having a lot more lower belly pain - nothing severe - but if i stand up too quickly this baby is just reminding me of his/her presence. i was also getting morning headaches, which was likely due to my interrupted sleep - i'm usually awake every 2-3 hours :P
before we told our friends about the pregnancy, we explained everything to gabe and he took the news well (i've asked him in the past if he wanted to have a little brother or sister, and he's adamantly said NO!). now that everyone is openly talking about the baby, he's very excited and always likes to remind us that there's a baby in my tummy and that we should use our quiet voices (i'm not sure when we've ever yelled in front of gabe?!). hopefully he'll still be as excited once the baby actually arrives!
our original due date was dec. 22, but after my OB sent me for a dating ultrasound, it got pushed back to dec. 28 - yup, my birthday :P so this poor child of mine is going to be stuck with a christmas-time birthday. as i'm just past 13 weeks, today was the first time we got to hear the baby's heartbeat and since i scheduled it on my day off, gabe got to accompany me he was very excited to be included.
in the meantime, we've taken a stroll down memory lane at my parents' place looking at all of gabe's old baby stuff that needs to be dusted off and freshened up for this new little one. it's also giving way to some anxiety about where everything will go in our little home! somehow we will make everything work for us, and we'll be a cozy family of 4 by the end of 2013!
Thursday, March 21, 2013
ski trip - part 2!
after the success of our weekend ski trip in january, the lowe's booked a flight back to yvr for a whole week at whistler!
this time we stayed on the whistler side in a 1/2 duplex at creekside. the only downside was that it wasn't ski-in/ski-out - we had to cross hwy 99 - so we opted to drive over each morning since the creekside lot offers free parking :-) after the hassle we discovered in january of trying to get into a restaurant for a large group, it was nice to plan our dinners in every night. it also ensured that lisa and brendan had leftovers for lunch the next day...there aren't a lot of options at creekside.
we signed the kids up for 4 full-day lessons...and they did great. the 3 and 4 year olds aren't actually allowed to go on chairlifts during lessons, so the teachers take them on the creekside and village gondolas. the neat thing about whistler kids is the flaik system. each child is given a gps tracker that straps around their shin. at the end of each day, parents are able to log onto the flaik website and view the stats on the child...vertical, distance, average speed, and see exactly which runs the child skied on, and when they took a break at the tree fort :-) imagine our surprise when black diamond runs popped up on gabe and trevor's flaik tracker! then looking more closely, most of them were triggered when they would go across a black diamond run :-) however, they did a short stint on the upper parts of a couple black diamond runs...usually as a short-cut to get to a blue run!
for us grown-ups, the ski trip didn't exactly start off well. on our second ski run, geoff suffered a bad fall on the peak to creek and had the wind knocked outta him. he was a trooper and managed to ski the rest of the day, but by the end of the day, he was in rough shape. on friday morning he discovered his wrist was fractured (he was put in a cast) and his ribs and shoulder were badly bruised. so he had to cancel his originally planned ski lesson. since he was supposed to take a lesson, sunny and i booked a spa morning at the westin, leisurely lunch for 2, and then shopping in the village. the 2 of us had a great day...it was hard to resist the end of season sales...both of us had brand new ski outfits!
on saturday, sunny and i crossed the peak to peak and spent the day at blackcomb. since we lost our ski-leader, we had to come up with our own plan and find our way from lift to lift. apparently neither of us can read a ski map, because it took us 3 tries to find our way to 7th heaven. by then, i was in need of a lunch break and we scurried back to the daylodge :P fortunately we knew exactly where to go after lunch and didn't waste anymore time.
geoff''s parents joined us for the weekend, and more importantly came to celebrate brendan's 2nd birthday with him. and in true 2 year old style, we saw a glimpse into the terribleness that is yet to come :-) good luck, lowe's!
chris joined us for sunday skiing and we spent the day at whistler. unfortunately, chris' lower body is not cut out for skiing. he's always had trouble fitting ski boots due to his flat feet, wide feet, with a weird bulge. even though we went to a pro store to buy his boots and they customized the plastic boot for him, they continue to cause problems. so after 2 runs, chris took a (very) early lunch break. thinking that the 2+ hour break would suffice, he hit the slopes with us but barely made it down one run. so he hit the daylodge again and it was a girls ski afternoon.
misery loves company...on monday, both chris and geoff stayed off the slopes, and had a chill day. so the originally planned "family ski day" turned into a mom's & son's ski day :-) since the boys were familiar with the whistler side, the 4 of us hit the gondola's and the chairlifts, and skied our hearts out. sunny and i took turns leading the boys down the slopes and they did awesome. every time we would stop on the slope, they'd look at us and say "why are we stopping?!" or "let's keep going!!". after lunch, we took the kids through the enchanted forest - no fear! - and found the tree-fort, and had an afternoon snack at the beavertail stand.
for our last day of skiing we had planned to hit blackcomb again. but the mountain had over a foot of new snow overnight and the winds were gusting, so peak to peak was closed, as were several of the higher-up chairlifts due to avalanche control. even geoff couldn't resist the last day of skiing and bundled himself up and hit the slopes with us :) (chris left on monday night...he couldn't get a whole week off work since they were short-staffed.) the snow was pretty heavy on tuesday, we were all skiing pretty slowly...we only got 1/2 the number of runs in compared to the day before. even the tree fort was closed because of all the snow fall...so we just HAD to go back to beavertails for our snack :)
by the end of our ski trip, the new snow was quickly turning to rain...we couldn't have timed our trip any better! hopefully our next ski trip will be injury-free!
this time we stayed on the whistler side in a 1/2 duplex at creekside. the only downside was that it wasn't ski-in/ski-out - we had to cross hwy 99 - so we opted to drive over each morning since the creekside lot offers free parking :-) after the hassle we discovered in january of trying to get into a restaurant for a large group, it was nice to plan our dinners in every night. it also ensured that lisa and brendan had leftovers for lunch the next day...there aren't a lot of options at creekside.
we signed the kids up for 4 full-day lessons...and they did great. the 3 and 4 year olds aren't actually allowed to go on chairlifts during lessons, so the teachers take them on the creekside and village gondolas. the neat thing about whistler kids is the flaik system. each child is given a gps tracker that straps around their shin. at the end of each day, parents are able to log onto the flaik website and view the stats on the child...vertical, distance, average speed, and see exactly which runs the child skied on, and when they took a break at the tree fort :-) imagine our surprise when black diamond runs popped up on gabe and trevor's flaik tracker! then looking more closely, most of them were triggered when they would go across a black diamond run :-) however, they did a short stint on the upper parts of a couple black diamond runs...usually as a short-cut to get to a blue run!
for us grown-ups, the ski trip didn't exactly start off well. on our second ski run, geoff suffered a bad fall on the peak to creek and had the wind knocked outta him. he was a trooper and managed to ski the rest of the day, but by the end of the day, he was in rough shape. on friday morning he discovered his wrist was fractured (he was put in a cast) and his ribs and shoulder were badly bruised. so he had to cancel his originally planned ski lesson. since he was supposed to take a lesson, sunny and i booked a spa morning at the westin, leisurely lunch for 2, and then shopping in the village. the 2 of us had a great day...it was hard to resist the end of season sales...both of us had brand new ski outfits!
on saturday, sunny and i crossed the peak to peak and spent the day at blackcomb. since we lost our ski-leader, we had to come up with our own plan and find our way from lift to lift. apparently neither of us can read a ski map, because it took us 3 tries to find our way to 7th heaven. by then, i was in need of a lunch break and we scurried back to the daylodge :P fortunately we knew exactly where to go after lunch and didn't waste anymore time.
geoff''s parents joined us for the weekend, and more importantly came to celebrate brendan's 2nd birthday with him. and in true 2 year old style, we saw a glimpse into the terribleness that is yet to come :-) good luck, lowe's!
chris joined us for sunday skiing and we spent the day at whistler. unfortunately, chris' lower body is not cut out for skiing. he's always had trouble fitting ski boots due to his flat feet, wide feet, with a weird bulge. even though we went to a pro store to buy his boots and they customized the plastic boot for him, they continue to cause problems. so after 2 runs, chris took a (very) early lunch break. thinking that the 2+ hour break would suffice, he hit the slopes with us but barely made it down one run. so he hit the daylodge again and it was a girls ski afternoon.
misery loves company...on monday, both chris and geoff stayed off the slopes, and had a chill day. so the originally planned "family ski day" turned into a mom's & son's ski day :-) since the boys were familiar with the whistler side, the 4 of us hit the gondola's and the chairlifts, and skied our hearts out. sunny and i took turns leading the boys down the slopes and they did awesome. every time we would stop on the slope, they'd look at us and say "why are we stopping?!" or "let's keep going!!". after lunch, we took the kids through the enchanted forest - no fear! - and found the tree-fort, and had an afternoon snack at the beavertail stand.
for our last day of skiing we had planned to hit blackcomb again. but the mountain had over a foot of new snow overnight and the winds were gusting, so peak to peak was closed, as were several of the higher-up chairlifts due to avalanche control. even geoff couldn't resist the last day of skiing and bundled himself up and hit the slopes with us :) (chris left on monday night...he couldn't get a whole week off work since they were short-staffed.) the snow was pretty heavy on tuesday, we were all skiing pretty slowly...we only got 1/2 the number of runs in compared to the day before. even the tree fort was closed because of all the snow fall...so we just HAD to go back to beavertails for our snack :)
by the end of our ski trip, the new snow was quickly turning to rain...we couldn't have timed our trip any better! hopefully our next ski trip will be injury-free!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
winter update
wow, it's been awhile! as a follow-up to my last post, here's gabe's anxiety update: after taking out a bunch of books from the library and searching the
internet for anxiety resources, i decided the best course of action was
to visit our family doctor. so, i gave him the full run-down on gabe's
situation, and on doctors orders we are ceasing all group activities for
a year. obviously gabe has performance anxiety, and considering he's
only 4 years old, he told me that we shouldn't be in a rush to get him
involved in swimming, soccer, skiing, what-not. so until he turns 5 and
has adjusted to kindergarten next fall, we aren't signing up for any
group lessons. however, we will continue to help gabe develop his
skills, but on a more 1:1 basis (i.e., private lessons).
and onto more somewhat recent (and happy) activities!
the month of december was pretty rough in our household. gabe caught a cold, and passed it to my mom, dad, brother, and chris. my mom is pretty susceptible to catching bugs, but once my dad got sick, i started popping the cold fx like nobody's business! knock-on-wood, i've been fortunate enough to have escaped this round :-)
with the girls weekend trip to seattle, sick family members, christmas parties, and birthday parties, this was the first year we missed out on bright nights @ stanley park. by the time i even thought about organizing anything, all of the weekend prime times were sold out! turns out to be just as well, since it was a pretty rainy month :P we also missed out on the santa claus parade, and gabe refused to visit santa at the mall. we'll try for next year!
christmas eve was our usual tradition of opening presents at my parents house. as christmas should be, gabe was the big winner of the evening...this year everything was Cars or Lego-themed, and he was in present heaven. and the grand finale of the evening was a brand new scooter. he hopped onto it and almost smacked his head into the kitchen wall :P but he has improved a lot since that night, and he's ready to hit the pavement! on christmas morning, santa was also good to gabe and brought him some Lego and books...just as requested in his letter :-)
since my mom was run down leading up to christmas, i had to do some turkey dinner research. FYI, sutton place hotel offers a full christmas dinner for pick-up on christmas day - 18 pound turkey, stuffing, potatoes, veggies, gravy, cranberry sauce, dinner buns, and a cheesecake. as a back-up plan, it worked out great, especially since my mom and aunt had supplemented dinner with some "extras...just in case". all in all, not too shabby!
this was the first year (in a long time) that chris had to work on boxing day :( so, gabe and i hit the seymour toboggan park with our friends. being my first time on the sled, i ended up taking gabe and lexi together...traumatizing for all involved...that was the only sled ride the 3 of us did :P afterwards, gabe was content to play in the snow, and "sled" down a 2 foot mini-hill into the parking lot. next time we'll just drive up and play in the parking lot...at least it's free!
and right in between xmas and new years, i celebrated my 35th birthday :-) gabe and i spent the day together just puttering about and then my parents graciously took gabe for a sleepover that night, so i could have a girls night and chris had a boys night. the girls and i hit minami in yaletown for a delicious dinner.
this holiday was extra fun because the lowe's came home for 2 weeks! we had many playdates with them, but the highlight was our getaway to whistler. chris was still suffering from bronchitis (and the many side effects of the medication), so gabe and i loaded up our car and drove up on our own. we stayed at the greystone lodge (ski-in/out) on the blackcomb side of the upper village. for 2 days, gabe and trevor were at the all-day ski-camp while geoff, sunny and i hit the slopes. we couldn't have asked for better weather...gorgeous sun, mild temperatures, and best of all...the kids had a great time at ski camp. looks like ski trips will be in our future soon :-)
keeping in mind gabe's anxiety, he had a choice between group ski lessons (i had to remind him that trevor wouldn't be with him) or private lessons at mount seymour, and of course he chose private :-) he's only had one lesson so far, but hopefully by the end of his 5th lesson, he'll graduate from the magic carpet to the chair lift. he seems to have inherited my fear of height, and has already expressed concern about going on the chairlift. i'd like him to do it with a teacher first and then i would be willing to buy a lift pass and take him skiing after his lesson. if all else fails, we'll ski together at whistler and just use the gondola!!!!
and onto more somewhat recent (and happy) activities!
the month of december was pretty rough in our household. gabe caught a cold, and passed it to my mom, dad, brother, and chris. my mom is pretty susceptible to catching bugs, but once my dad got sick, i started popping the cold fx like nobody's business! knock-on-wood, i've been fortunate enough to have escaped this round :-)
with the girls weekend trip to seattle, sick family members, christmas parties, and birthday parties, this was the first year we missed out on bright nights @ stanley park. by the time i even thought about organizing anything, all of the weekend prime times were sold out! turns out to be just as well, since it was a pretty rainy month :P we also missed out on the santa claus parade, and gabe refused to visit santa at the mall. we'll try for next year!
christmas eve was our usual tradition of opening presents at my parents house. as christmas should be, gabe was the big winner of the evening...this year everything was Cars or Lego-themed, and he was in present heaven. and the grand finale of the evening was a brand new scooter. he hopped onto it and almost smacked his head into the kitchen wall :P but he has improved a lot since that night, and he's ready to hit the pavement! on christmas morning, santa was also good to gabe and brought him some Lego and books...just as requested in his letter :-)
since my mom was run down leading up to christmas, i had to do some turkey dinner research. FYI, sutton place hotel offers a full christmas dinner for pick-up on christmas day - 18 pound turkey, stuffing, potatoes, veggies, gravy, cranberry sauce, dinner buns, and a cheesecake. as a back-up plan, it worked out great, especially since my mom and aunt had supplemented dinner with some "extras...just in case". all in all, not too shabby!
this was the first year (in a long time) that chris had to work on boxing day :( so, gabe and i hit the seymour toboggan park with our friends. being my first time on the sled, i ended up taking gabe and lexi together...traumatizing for all involved...that was the only sled ride the 3 of us did :P afterwards, gabe was content to play in the snow, and "sled" down a 2 foot mini-hill into the parking lot. next time we'll just drive up and play in the parking lot...at least it's free!
and right in between xmas and new years, i celebrated my 35th birthday :-) gabe and i spent the day together just puttering about and then my parents graciously took gabe for a sleepover that night, so i could have a girls night and chris had a boys night. the girls and i hit minami in yaletown for a delicious dinner.
this holiday was extra fun because the lowe's came home for 2 weeks! we had many playdates with them, but the highlight was our getaway to whistler. chris was still suffering from bronchitis (and the many side effects of the medication), so gabe and i loaded up our car and drove up on our own. we stayed at the greystone lodge (ski-in/out) on the blackcomb side of the upper village. for 2 days, gabe and trevor were at the all-day ski-camp while geoff, sunny and i hit the slopes. we couldn't have asked for better weather...gorgeous sun, mild temperatures, and best of all...the kids had a great time at ski camp. looks like ski trips will be in our future soon :-)
keeping in mind gabe's anxiety, he had a choice between group ski lessons (i had to remind him that trevor wouldn't be with him) or private lessons at mount seymour, and of course he chose private :-) he's only had one lesson so far, but hopefully by the end of his 5th lesson, he'll graduate from the magic carpet to the chair lift. he seems to have inherited my fear of height, and has already expressed concern about going on the chairlift. i'd like him to do it with a teacher first and then i would be willing to buy a lift pass and take him skiing after his lesson. if all else fails, we'll ski together at whistler and just use the gondola!!!!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
anxiety?
looking back now, the struggles gabe and i had over swimming lessons and piano lessons might not have been a power struggle or plain old preschooler stubbornness. perhaps it was something more serious that i overlooked. and now that we've struggled through 2 soccer lessons, my mom thinks gabe suffers from anxiety. for once, i'm not doubting her wisdom or experience...after all, she spent 25+ years surrounded by 6 and 7 year olds :P
soccer lesson #1. we had been talking about it for a bit, but leading up to it, we never practiced playing soccer. on the day of his lesson, gabe was pretty excited about it. he did comment his tummy hurt at one point, but he often says that (when he doesn't want to go to bed, when he doesn't want to floss his teeth, etc.). at bonsor, i took him into the gym, showed him where to put his water bottle, and then my parents and i watched him from the bleachers. he did really well during the warm-up...running to the wall and back during roll call, running around the gym with the other kids. and then it was time for jumping jacks. he froze. he never fully recovered after that. he hunched his shoulders, hung his head, and didn't run but chose to walk...slowly. i didn't want to seem like an overprotective parent, so i let the teachers guide him and work through it. after a few minutes, i noticed his shoulders shaking and his face was scrunching up, so i stepped in. his eyes were all red, and he was putting on his bravest face so the tears wouldn't stream down. oh boy, he was a hot mess :( i had never seen his face so splotchy red, and his breathing was so intense, he needed time to recover.
we took a break and talked through the activities and i re-assured him that i was proud of him for participating and that he could do activities at his own pace, he didn't need to keep up with the others. the teachers were great, and one of them took him back to the group. once the soccer balls came out, i thought he would recover, after all he loves kicking them around. but he froze again. it was breaking my heart to watch him struggle through his fear. but fear of what?
after lesson #1, i assumed he just needed time to practice his skills. he was so excited to tell chris about his soccer lesson later that night...he had retained all the information that was shared and that he had seen (but not done). so over 2 weeks he practiced his t-stops and kicks at my parents house, and at home with chris.
soccer lesson #2. again, all seemed fine (no complaints of tummy aches), nothing was out of the ordinary. this time, gabe and i had discussed the option of me sitting inside the gym and my parents would sit outside on the bleachers (he's asked them to watch him every week). so, we walked in together, and i sat on the bench while he joined the other kids in the welcome circle. this time he ran to the wall when his name was called, but as other kids were running behind him he started to slow down, and on his walk back, he hunched his shoulders and slinked back to his spot. then it was time for jumping jacks - he actually did the arm motion but not the legs (yah, progress!), and then he attempted to stand on one foot while wiggling the other foot - yippee! then the kids had to line-up behind the teacher, get their airplane arms ready and "fly" around the gym. gabe froze. well, sort of. while the other kids were running, he was barely walking. after walking 1/4 of the gym, gabe started to panic. the class was already lined up and getting instructions for the next activity by the time gabe was halfway around, and my heart broke. he eventually caught up with the kids, but by then he was dry-eye crying, splotchy-faced, and shutting down.
at that point, i took gabe aside for a chat. asides from the obvious situation, i knew that the pants he picked were too loose and the shirt too big, so i changed him into more size-appropriate clothing (hoping he would at least feel better in his clothes). after a brief reassurance from grandma that we all loved him, we returned to the gym. unfortunately that was all we did. gabe didn't want to have anything to do with soccer at that point. he was fine sitting with me on the bench and just watching the other kids play. the teachers tried twice to get him to re-join the kids (playing at his own pace), but he wasn't interested. he did clap for the kids when they scored a goal, so i was hopeful that he wanted to do it, too. but no, he refused. he finally wanted to join the kids at the goodbye circle so he could get a sticker. i didn't want to punish him for not participating, so we sat together and he got his sticker.
we still have 3 more soccer lessons to get through, and with the upcoming ski lessons we've signed up for...i just don't know what to do. i've started to read up on childhood anxiety, and gabe has displayed many of the symptoms. but i need him to open up to me and discuss what his fears are so we can talk through them, but he's obviously embarrassed by it and doesn't want to open up yet. but he has mumbled that he doesn't want to get hurt, there are too many kids around, and he doesn't want to make new friends :( to watch him go through his anxiety is painful...it breaks my heart and i just want to wrap him up and protect him. but, he's a big boy now, and we have to work through it. if it truly has been going on since the summer, then we need to nip this in the bud!
the timing of my (undiagnosed) discovery is impeccable...we have a parent meeting at preschool this week and the guest speaker is a counsellor coming to discuss childhood anxiety. i'm hoping for some great information at this meeting, and with anxiety bc as my guide, hopefully we can make a little bit of progress before soccer lesson #3.
soccer lesson #1. we had been talking about it for a bit, but leading up to it, we never practiced playing soccer. on the day of his lesson, gabe was pretty excited about it. he did comment his tummy hurt at one point, but he often says that (when he doesn't want to go to bed, when he doesn't want to floss his teeth, etc.). at bonsor, i took him into the gym, showed him where to put his water bottle, and then my parents and i watched him from the bleachers. he did really well during the warm-up...running to the wall and back during roll call, running around the gym with the other kids. and then it was time for jumping jacks. he froze. he never fully recovered after that. he hunched his shoulders, hung his head, and didn't run but chose to walk...slowly. i didn't want to seem like an overprotective parent, so i let the teachers guide him and work through it. after a few minutes, i noticed his shoulders shaking and his face was scrunching up, so i stepped in. his eyes were all red, and he was putting on his bravest face so the tears wouldn't stream down. oh boy, he was a hot mess :( i had never seen his face so splotchy red, and his breathing was so intense, he needed time to recover.
we took a break and talked through the activities and i re-assured him that i was proud of him for participating and that he could do activities at his own pace, he didn't need to keep up with the others. the teachers were great, and one of them took him back to the group. once the soccer balls came out, i thought he would recover, after all he loves kicking them around. but he froze again. it was breaking my heart to watch him struggle through his fear. but fear of what?
after lesson #1, i assumed he just needed time to practice his skills. he was so excited to tell chris about his soccer lesson later that night...he had retained all the information that was shared and that he had seen (but not done). so over 2 weeks he practiced his t-stops and kicks at my parents house, and at home with chris.
soccer lesson #2. again, all seemed fine (no complaints of tummy aches), nothing was out of the ordinary. this time, gabe and i had discussed the option of me sitting inside the gym and my parents would sit outside on the bleachers (he's asked them to watch him every week). so, we walked in together, and i sat on the bench while he joined the other kids in the welcome circle. this time he ran to the wall when his name was called, but as other kids were running behind him he started to slow down, and on his walk back, he hunched his shoulders and slinked back to his spot. then it was time for jumping jacks - he actually did the arm motion but not the legs (yah, progress!), and then he attempted to stand on one foot while wiggling the other foot - yippee! then the kids had to line-up behind the teacher, get their airplane arms ready and "fly" around the gym. gabe froze. well, sort of. while the other kids were running, he was barely walking. after walking 1/4 of the gym, gabe started to panic. the class was already lined up and getting instructions for the next activity by the time gabe was halfway around, and my heart broke. he eventually caught up with the kids, but by then he was dry-eye crying, splotchy-faced, and shutting down.
at that point, i took gabe aside for a chat. asides from the obvious situation, i knew that the pants he picked were too loose and the shirt too big, so i changed him into more size-appropriate clothing (hoping he would at least feel better in his clothes). after a brief reassurance from grandma that we all loved him, we returned to the gym. unfortunately that was all we did. gabe didn't want to have anything to do with soccer at that point. he was fine sitting with me on the bench and just watching the other kids play. the teachers tried twice to get him to re-join the kids (playing at his own pace), but he wasn't interested. he did clap for the kids when they scored a goal, so i was hopeful that he wanted to do it, too. but no, he refused. he finally wanted to join the kids at the goodbye circle so he could get a sticker. i didn't want to punish him for not participating, so we sat together and he got his sticker.
we still have 3 more soccer lessons to get through, and with the upcoming ski lessons we've signed up for...i just don't know what to do. i've started to read up on childhood anxiety, and gabe has displayed many of the symptoms. but i need him to open up to me and discuss what his fears are so we can talk through them, but he's obviously embarrassed by it and doesn't want to open up yet. but he has mumbled that he doesn't want to get hurt, there are too many kids around, and he doesn't want to make new friends :( to watch him go through his anxiety is painful...it breaks my heart and i just want to wrap him up and protect him. but, he's a big boy now, and we have to work through it. if it truly has been going on since the summer, then we need to nip this in the bud!
the timing of my (undiagnosed) discovery is impeccable...we have a parent meeting at preschool this week and the guest speaker is a counsellor coming to discuss childhood anxiety. i'm hoping for some great information at this meeting, and with anxiety bc as my guide, hopefully we can make a little bit of progress before soccer lesson #3.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Legoland 2012!
when we planned our disneyland trip, i insisted that we had to make a side-trip over to legoland. so, we loaded up our rental beast and drove down to carlsbad. (we actually spent a few hours at the san diego zoo when we arrived, but it was a pretty quick visit...not much to report there.) in the planning process, we determined that gabe would probably enjoy 2 days at legoland, and the website offers online promos to get a 2nd admission day free!
we stayed at the sheraton carlsbad, which is conveniently located right behind legoland with its own private entrance to the park. (anyone going after spring 2013 can stay at the new legoland hotel!) thankfully legoland has "normal" operating hours, so we were able to sleep in and enjoy breakfasts at the hotel restaurant :) also, because the park closes at 5 p.m., we were able to stay until closing without needing an afternoon break.
like their website says, legoland is great for the 2-12 year old kids. the rides are catered to the little ones, so gabe was able to ride by himself! his favourite ride was the Royal Joust - he managed to get a few rides in before the line-ups hit, and he also enjoyed the Volvo Driving School. i was so proud of gabe...he was the only kid who managed to stay on the course and not crash into walls (or any other cars for that matter). he learned his safe driving skillz from me of course :-) the rest of the rides were for kids and adults, so we all got to experience the fun. also, the rides are a great way to see more of the lego exhibits, like on the storybrook lane boatride.
the people-hours and imagination that goes into each exhibit is amazing. i had posted a picture of the mgm grand on facebook, and at first glance ppl actually thought we were in vegas :-) the photos don't really do the pictures justice though...to see all the little pieces stacked together that actually create a whole cityscape...crazy! new york, new orleans, washington, san francisco...very realistic! i think chris' highlight was the star wars attraction - they had created several scenes from the movies as well as head busts of the main characters, including a life-size darth maul.
while safety is important, it was also the biggest downfall of the legoland rides. if a child attempts to unload a ride incorrectly, or unbuckles too soon, the safety alarm is triggered and the entire ride shuts down. it happened after we'd been in line at the royal joust for 30 minutes. they had to offload each child (about 10-12 of them scattered throughout the "courtyard") and escort them back to safety, the engineer has to come and do his magic flip the switch, and then every single horse had to trot the course before the kids could ride again. a similar situation happened to my dad and bro on the technic coaster...fortunately to kill some time, my mom was completing a legoland survey and as a thank-you, she received a free 75 piece lego set :) also, there were a couple rides that i wanted to take gabe on, but the height and age requirements were more strict than at disneyland!
with our tickets, we also had admission to sea life aquarium. so we spent an hour walking through and gabe really enjoyed it. they had several touching stations and he was really brave and touched the starfish and shellfish. he's never wanted to do that at the vancouver aquarium!
legoland also had a halloween party when we were there (similar to disneyland, with the trick or treating stations set-up throughout), but we didn't stay for that. we already had 10 pounds of candy to carry home...we didn't need more :P
a trip to the states isn't complete without a stop at the premium outlets! our hotel was 3 minutes away, so we managed to get a bit of shopping done as well :) "in the moment" i always find shopping with my mom really annoying...she is a rack surfer and will find all sorts of items for me to try on. but, i have to admit that she does have a good eye, and she knows what will look good on me. plus, she got my birthday shopping done a couple months early ;-)
our final stop on our vacation was to the OC! we stopped in newport beach, took some touristy pictures and watched the fishermen on the pier (gabe LOVED seeing the freshly caught fish in their buckets - dead and alive!).
all in all, a FANTASTIC week-long vacation! now i just have to sort through my 700 photos and get my photobook organized for my parents christmas present :P
we stayed at the sheraton carlsbad, which is conveniently located right behind legoland with its own private entrance to the park. (anyone going after spring 2013 can stay at the new legoland hotel!) thankfully legoland has "normal" operating hours, so we were able to sleep in and enjoy breakfasts at the hotel restaurant :) also, because the park closes at 5 p.m., we were able to stay until closing without needing an afternoon break.
like their website says, legoland is great for the 2-12 year old kids. the rides are catered to the little ones, so gabe was able to ride by himself! his favourite ride was the Royal Joust - he managed to get a few rides in before the line-ups hit, and he also enjoyed the Volvo Driving School. i was so proud of gabe...he was the only kid who managed to stay on the course and not crash into walls (or any other cars for that matter). he learned his safe driving skillz from me of course :-) the rest of the rides were for kids and adults, so we all got to experience the fun. also, the rides are a great way to see more of the lego exhibits, like on the storybrook lane boatride.
the people-hours and imagination that goes into each exhibit is amazing. i had posted a picture of the mgm grand on facebook, and at first glance ppl actually thought we were in vegas :-) the photos don't really do the pictures justice though...to see all the little pieces stacked together that actually create a whole cityscape...crazy! new york, new orleans, washington, san francisco...very realistic! i think chris' highlight was the star wars attraction - they had created several scenes from the movies as well as head busts of the main characters, including a life-size darth maul.
while safety is important, it was also the biggest downfall of the legoland rides. if a child attempts to unload a ride incorrectly, or unbuckles too soon, the safety alarm is triggered and the entire ride shuts down. it happened after we'd been in line at the royal joust for 30 minutes. they had to offload each child (about 10-12 of them scattered throughout the "courtyard") and escort them back to safety, the engineer has to come and do his magic flip the switch, and then every single horse had to trot the course before the kids could ride again. a similar situation happened to my dad and bro on the technic coaster...fortunately to kill some time, my mom was completing a legoland survey and as a thank-you, she received a free 75 piece lego set :) also, there were a couple rides that i wanted to take gabe on, but the height and age requirements were more strict than at disneyland!
with our tickets, we also had admission to sea life aquarium. so we spent an hour walking through and gabe really enjoyed it. they had several touching stations and he was really brave and touched the starfish and shellfish. he's never wanted to do that at the vancouver aquarium!
legoland also had a halloween party when we were there (similar to disneyland, with the trick or treating stations set-up throughout), but we didn't stay for that. we already had 10 pounds of candy to carry home...we didn't need more :P
a trip to the states isn't complete without a stop at the premium outlets! our hotel was 3 minutes away, so we managed to get a bit of shopping done as well :) "in the moment" i always find shopping with my mom really annoying...she is a rack surfer and will find all sorts of items for me to try on. but, i have to admit that she does have a good eye, and she knows what will look good on me. plus, she got my birthday shopping done a couple months early ;-)
our final stop on our vacation was to the OC! we stopped in newport beach, took some touristy pictures and watched the fishermen on the pier (gabe LOVED seeing the freshly caught fish in their buckets - dead and alive!).
all in all, a FANTASTIC week-long vacation! now i just have to sort through my 700 photos and get my photobook organized for my parents christmas present :P
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Disneyland 2012
It's been 17 years since I vacationed with my whole family, and it might be another 17 years before we do that again :) After a week with my parents and my brother, we were definitely ready to come home! Here's my (long) summary of Part 1 - Disneyland/California Adventure:
Disneyland Hotel - our family vacation just happened to coincide with Gabe's 4th birthday, so we splurged a little :) For his birthday present, Chris and I arranged a celebration package from Mickey Mouse upon our arrival at the hotel. On our room door was a "Surprise" banner, inside the room was a "Happy Birthday" window banner, Mickey's footprints on the floor, a Mickey Mouse plush, a helium balloon that Mickey actually sings Happy Birthday, a helium balloon bouquet, a personalized Disney autograph book signed by Mickey with an official Disney autograph pen, and a boxful of Mickey items (Hidden Mickey book, photo frame, jelly beans, and personalized Happy Birthday Mickey ears). Also, when we checked in at the hotel, they gave Gabe a signed photo from Buzz Lightyear & Woody and a Happy Birthday button.
It was great to have connecting rooms, so my mom could watch Gabe when we went to the park at night :) And also Gabe got a kick out of knocking on their door in the mornings. The hotel rooms come standard with mini-fridges, so to save on morning hassles we went to Target and stocked up on bottled water, snacks and breakfast necessities. Definitely a life-saver on the early morning admission days...waking up at 5:30 a.m. was already a pain :P Also, I heard someone saying that to buy a bottle of water inside the park was $3.50, no surprise considering the hot dog meal we bought Gabe at Mickey's ToonTown was $10 :P
The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland - since we were vacationing with the Wong's, we had made a draft itinerary so we didn't miss anything important. It was based loosely around the touring plans in this book. It was definitely a great reference guide because it provided age appropriate ratings, descriptions, and personal reviews by families. I think the only piece of advice that we didn't follow was Toy Story Mania - we happened to be there mid-day and waited almost an hour...the book advised to do it first thing in the morning. Instead, we made Cars Land a priority.
Disneyland - because we were in the park at opening time, we managed to get a lot of rides done within the first hour on day 1 (we thought it would take ALL morning). For Gabe, the best ride was Autopia - even though he couldn't reach the gas pedal, he really enjoyed "steering" the car...i think we did that ride about 8 times (thank goodness for FastPass!) :P I was very proud of Gabe on this trip...we had been to Playland/PNE a few times over the summer to practice going on rides and not being afraid. On our vacation, he went on every single ride that we asked him to (no rollercoasters, or anything with "thrill", "doom" or other scary connotation words) and then depending on how he felt afterwards we could repeat them, or move onto something else. Every single time (with the exception of Autopia), he refused to ride a second time. He wasn't a big fan of the dark places, loud voices, and the unexpected turns and drops in the rides. Most of the time he would cover his ears to dull the sound. I think the most frightening ride was the Nemo Submarine...staring out the potholes was great, until the sharks appeared and then the underwater "landmines" started exploding. Game over for Gabe...his face was buried in my side. I've also heard from other people (my mom included), that they feel claustrophic inside the sub.
Travelling with the Wong's and my family had its perks - we all took turns going on grown-up rides. After a bit of pressure from the boys, Vanessa and I even faced our fears and rode the Big Thunder Railroad "coaster". I'm not sure my dad and bro appreciated our ear-piercing screams from behind them :P We had done Soaring Over California on our first night, and I wasn't sure how Gabe would do on it, because you're sort of suspended in the air in front of a giant screen, but he was a trooper! We found the trick (for all rides) was to talk him through each one and encourage him to engage with the characters - so we would be waving at the cars, boats, people, whatever.
Mickey's Halloween Party - ahead of time, it seemed like a good idea to pay an additional fee for the extra evening hours for the Halloween party. In hindsight, we would never do it again, or any additional theme party. First...Gabriel feel asleep in the stroller as soon as we arrived at 6:30 p.m. and woke up an hour later. Second, because of Gabe's nap my family ended up aimlessly running around the park to the trick or treating stations and wound up with 10 pounds of candy. Third, we didn't take any pictures with characters, no rides, nothing. After securing curb-side seats 30 minutes prior, the Halloween parade was a letdown. At least we got some souvenir shopping done along Main Street :P
Disney California Adventure - as a guest of Disneyland Hotel, we were able to get in for early admission at DCA. This was our opportunity to ride Radiator Springs Racers, since the line-ups are consistently 2+ hours, and the Fast Passes are taken within 1/2 hour. I think this might have been my favourite ride...but I missed out on 1/2 of the experience - I was so busy taking pictures through the ride, and then comforting Gabe because he was freaking out.. We were in the backseat of the car, so we couldn't see what was coming up - sudden turns, hills/drops, etc. After our ride, the plan was to get a FastPass, but by then the line-up was at least 30-45 minutes long, there was no way we would get a pass, so we opted to spend our time on other attractions.
We did miss out on a few key attractions at DCA - the World of Color show...we actually had a FastPass for the 8 p.m. show, but after early morning admission, we were just too exhausted. We also missed the entire Bugs Life attraction; however, since Gabe hasn't heard of the movie, I wasn't too fussed. But we did spend a lot of time in Cars Land because Mater and Lightning have become his favourite characters, and it was pretty neat to see them "drive" through Radiator Springs!
Disney Apps - it was great to have wi-fi on this trip, so we could plan our next ride according to the line-ups that were being reported. It's also nice to be able to surf and check email while standing in long line-ups, or waiting for other people in our party to go on rides while we waited w/the kiddies :)
The Frustrations - of course, no vacation is without problems. What we didn't realize (whether it was omitted from the book, or we just plain forgot), is that during shows like World of Color, everything else in the area will shut down. On our first night, my dad, bro, Chris and I hit DCA to go on some rides, and were excited to see no line-ups at California Screamin'. Well, it was actually closed, as were all the other rides nearby. I think they close about 15 minutes prior to the show, and don't re-open until both shows are over.
At the Halloween Party, we had hoped to do some more rides, but because of the fireworks show, areas of the park are closed off (presumably for safety reasons?), so we couldn't get to Fantasyland. Lesson learned...get in all the rides while you can, because you never know! This was a true point for Radiator Springs Racers...the day before we rode on it, the attraction had to be shut down for several hours because it completely broke down.
Disneyland isn't a relaxing vacation. Because we technically only had 3 days at the parks, we really packed our itinerary. We also factored in afternoon breaks each day...turns out WE needed it more than Gabe did :P Makes sense...he was cruising in his stroller while WE walked everywhere!
The Good Times - I want to end our Disney adventure on a positive note! Gabe has never been a fan of people in costumes, but he managed to conquer his fear on this trip. We managed to snap a pic of him hugging Goofy...melted my heart!
We also squeezed in a breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. While over-priced, it was great to meet a few of the characters 1:1. We didn't see too many characters throughout the park - maybe we were in all the wrong places - so to have a few pictures and autoraphs at breakfast was definitely a highlight for the kids. Gabe was brave and did a few pictures solo, but I think Baloo was just so big he got frightened :P Also, the cast members at the restaurant brought out a birthday cupcake with an "I'm Celebrating" button for him.
While I was hesitant about a Disney trip at age 4, I have to say that the timing worked out. Gabe was just the right height to do all the rides (accompanied with us of course), he found things he really liked and embraced the experiences. We didn't have any meltdowns or tantrums either! Also, it didn't hurt to have 5 adults watching Gabe, plus having 2 little friends on this part of our trip was brilliant! All in all, Disneyland was a HUGE success :)
Stay tuned for Part 2 - Legoland!
Disneyland Hotel - our family vacation just happened to coincide with Gabe's 4th birthday, so we splurged a little :) For his birthday present, Chris and I arranged a celebration package from Mickey Mouse upon our arrival at the hotel. On our room door was a "Surprise" banner, inside the room was a "Happy Birthday" window banner, Mickey's footprints on the floor, a Mickey Mouse plush, a helium balloon that Mickey actually sings Happy Birthday, a helium balloon bouquet, a personalized Disney autograph book signed by Mickey with an official Disney autograph pen, and a boxful of Mickey items (Hidden Mickey book, photo frame, jelly beans, and personalized Happy Birthday Mickey ears). Also, when we checked in at the hotel, they gave Gabe a signed photo from Buzz Lightyear & Woody and a Happy Birthday button.
It was great to have connecting rooms, so my mom could watch Gabe when we went to the park at night :) And also Gabe got a kick out of knocking on their door in the mornings. The hotel rooms come standard with mini-fridges, so to save on morning hassles we went to Target and stocked up on bottled water, snacks and breakfast necessities. Definitely a life-saver on the early morning admission days...waking up at 5:30 a.m. was already a pain :P Also, I heard someone saying that to buy a bottle of water inside the park was $3.50, no surprise considering the hot dog meal we bought Gabe at Mickey's ToonTown was $10 :P
The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland - since we were vacationing with the Wong's, we had made a draft itinerary so we didn't miss anything important. It was based loosely around the touring plans in this book. It was definitely a great reference guide because it provided age appropriate ratings, descriptions, and personal reviews by families. I think the only piece of advice that we didn't follow was Toy Story Mania - we happened to be there mid-day and waited almost an hour...the book advised to do it first thing in the morning. Instead, we made Cars Land a priority.
Disneyland - because we were in the park at opening time, we managed to get a lot of rides done within the first hour on day 1 (we thought it would take ALL morning). For Gabe, the best ride was Autopia - even though he couldn't reach the gas pedal, he really enjoyed "steering" the car...i think we did that ride about 8 times (thank goodness for FastPass!) :P I was very proud of Gabe on this trip...we had been to Playland/PNE a few times over the summer to practice going on rides and not being afraid. On our vacation, he went on every single ride that we asked him to (no rollercoasters, or anything with "thrill", "doom" or other scary connotation words) and then depending on how he felt afterwards we could repeat them, or move onto something else. Every single time (with the exception of Autopia), he refused to ride a second time. He wasn't a big fan of the dark places, loud voices, and the unexpected turns and drops in the rides. Most of the time he would cover his ears to dull the sound. I think the most frightening ride was the Nemo Submarine...staring out the potholes was great, until the sharks appeared and then the underwater "landmines" started exploding. Game over for Gabe...his face was buried in my side. I've also heard from other people (my mom included), that they feel claustrophic inside the sub.
Travelling with the Wong's and my family had its perks - we all took turns going on grown-up rides. After a bit of pressure from the boys, Vanessa and I even faced our fears and rode the Big Thunder Railroad "coaster". I'm not sure my dad and bro appreciated our ear-piercing screams from behind them :P We had done Soaring Over California on our first night, and I wasn't sure how Gabe would do on it, because you're sort of suspended in the air in front of a giant screen, but he was a trooper! We found the trick (for all rides) was to talk him through each one and encourage him to engage with the characters - so we would be waving at the cars, boats, people, whatever.
Mickey's Halloween Party - ahead of time, it seemed like a good idea to pay an additional fee for the extra evening hours for the Halloween party. In hindsight, we would never do it again, or any additional theme party. First...Gabriel feel asleep in the stroller as soon as we arrived at 6:30 p.m. and woke up an hour later. Second, because of Gabe's nap my family ended up aimlessly running around the park to the trick or treating stations and wound up with 10 pounds of candy. Third, we didn't take any pictures with characters, no rides, nothing. After securing curb-side seats 30 minutes prior, the Halloween parade was a letdown. At least we got some souvenir shopping done along Main Street :P
Disney California Adventure - as a guest of Disneyland Hotel, we were able to get in for early admission at DCA. This was our opportunity to ride Radiator Springs Racers, since the line-ups are consistently 2+ hours, and the Fast Passes are taken within 1/2 hour. I think this might have been my favourite ride...but I missed out on 1/2 of the experience - I was so busy taking pictures through the ride, and then comforting Gabe because he was freaking out.. We were in the backseat of the car, so we couldn't see what was coming up - sudden turns, hills/drops, etc. After our ride, the plan was to get a FastPass, but by then the line-up was at least 30-45 minutes long, there was no way we would get a pass, so we opted to spend our time on other attractions.
We did miss out on a few key attractions at DCA - the World of Color show...we actually had a FastPass for the 8 p.m. show, but after early morning admission, we were just too exhausted. We also missed the entire Bugs Life attraction; however, since Gabe hasn't heard of the movie, I wasn't too fussed. But we did spend a lot of time in Cars Land because Mater and Lightning have become his favourite characters, and it was pretty neat to see them "drive" through Radiator Springs!
Disney Apps - it was great to have wi-fi on this trip, so we could plan our next ride according to the line-ups that were being reported. It's also nice to be able to surf and check email while standing in long line-ups, or waiting for other people in our party to go on rides while we waited w/the kiddies :)
The Frustrations - of course, no vacation is without problems. What we didn't realize (whether it was omitted from the book, or we just plain forgot), is that during shows like World of Color, everything else in the area will shut down. On our first night, my dad, bro, Chris and I hit DCA to go on some rides, and were excited to see no line-ups at California Screamin'. Well, it was actually closed, as were all the other rides nearby. I think they close about 15 minutes prior to the show, and don't re-open until both shows are over.
At the Halloween Party, we had hoped to do some more rides, but because of the fireworks show, areas of the park are closed off (presumably for safety reasons?), so we couldn't get to Fantasyland. Lesson learned...get in all the rides while you can, because you never know! This was a true point for Radiator Springs Racers...the day before we rode on it, the attraction had to be shut down for several hours because it completely broke down.
Disneyland isn't a relaxing vacation. Because we technically only had 3 days at the parks, we really packed our itinerary. We also factored in afternoon breaks each day...turns out WE needed it more than Gabe did :P Makes sense...he was cruising in his stroller while WE walked everywhere!
The Good Times - I want to end our Disney adventure on a positive note! Gabe has never been a fan of people in costumes, but he managed to conquer his fear on this trip. We managed to snap a pic of him hugging Goofy...melted my heart!
We also squeezed in a breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. While over-priced, it was great to meet a few of the characters 1:1. We didn't see too many characters throughout the park - maybe we were in all the wrong places - so to have a few pictures and autoraphs at breakfast was definitely a highlight for the kids. Gabe was brave and did a few pictures solo, but I think Baloo was just so big he got frightened :P Also, the cast members at the restaurant brought out a birthday cupcake with an "I'm Celebrating" button for him.
While I was hesitant about a Disney trip at age 4, I have to say that the timing worked out. Gabe was just the right height to do all the rides (accompanied with us of course), he found things he really liked and embraced the experiences. We didn't have any meltdowns or tantrums either! Also, it didn't hurt to have 5 adults watching Gabe, plus having 2 little friends on this part of our trip was brilliant! All in all, Disneyland was a HUGE success :)
Stay tuned for Part 2 - Legoland!
Thursday, October 04, 2012
gabe turns 4!
4 years ago our little man made his entrance into the world and forever changed our lives...for the better?! well, given the rough summer we had, i'll still say it's been for the better :)
gabe's birthday always feels like a week-long celebration, but this year it's extending for 2 weeks! on saturday we celebrated with the lok's for all the october birthdays, gabe's birthday party with his friends was on sunday (more details below), i had my preschool duty day today for his birthday celebration followed by a gabe & mom dinner date @ hi-genki, and then on sunday we're off to disneyland for a special 4th birthday celebration! sheesh, what more could a kid ask for?!?!
this year gabe was semi-involved in his party plans. given his artistic abilities, i did plant the idea of an art party this year, and gabe van gogh was in full agreement! he was allowed to pick the friends he wanted to invite (the ratio of 8 girls, 2 boys is a bit crazy but the story of his life), he helped pick the loot bag goodies, and he had some input for his birthday cake. in typical gabe-style, he wasn't impressed with his cake, and was hoping for a thomas cake :P however, everyone else thought it was pretty cool to have your picture on a cake!
the party was held at pinnochio art studio along the heights. gabe instantly liked the studio because of their outdoor sandwich board sign (he calls it "the pencil nose place!"). the activity was painting a scene (blue sky, green grass, brown tracks, white clouds) and then colouring a thomas stencil to glue on, as well as random stickers for embellishment. the hour-long activity was a bit much for gabe...i ended up painting most of the scenery for him, but he really enjoyed colouring thomas!
after the activity, it was cake and snacks for everyone! it was great to catch up with our friends...now that gabe has preschool on wednesdays, it cuts into potential playdates with friends. but soon enough there won't be weekday playdates once they all go to full-day kindergarten! so now gabe and i are enjoying afternoons together running errands or playing games at home.
it's been a really busy week, and being out 3 nights in a row this week messed up my planning, so for gabe's preschool celebration, i ended up making rice krispy squares for his birthday treat...a definite hit with the kids! fruit was also served and was equally popular :-) since it was my first duty day of the year it was really great to see how comfortable gabe has gotten at preschool. he didn't cling to me for the full class (neither did sofia for that matter!), and he was totally into doing his own thing. i was tidying up during story time, and i made eye contact with gabe a few times and he didn't mind sitting without me. and during his song (BINGO), he waved at me and was singing away. melt my heart! the sweetest moment was at the end of class when they're dismissed through a song...he got to choose a buddy, and he chose emma and the two of them walked hand-in-hand to the cubby room. sigh. my little man, he really is drawn to the girls :-)
and in less than 72 hours we'll be at disneyland! i don't know about gabe, but i'm pretty excited! all i have to do is get through the work-day tomorrow, piano lessons, and a preschool classmate's birthday party. the craziness never ends!
gabe's birthday always feels like a week-long celebration, but this year it's extending for 2 weeks! on saturday we celebrated with the lok's for all the october birthdays, gabe's birthday party with his friends was on sunday (more details below), i had my preschool duty day today for his birthday celebration followed by a gabe & mom dinner date @ hi-genki, and then on sunday we're off to disneyland for a special 4th birthday celebration! sheesh, what more could a kid ask for?!?!
this year gabe was semi-involved in his party plans. given his artistic abilities, i did plant the idea of an art party this year, and gabe van gogh was in full agreement! he was allowed to pick the friends he wanted to invite (the ratio of 8 girls, 2 boys is a bit crazy but the story of his life), he helped pick the loot bag goodies, and he had some input for his birthday cake. in typical gabe-style, he wasn't impressed with his cake, and was hoping for a thomas cake :P however, everyone else thought it was pretty cool to have your picture on a cake!
the party was held at pinnochio art studio along the heights. gabe instantly liked the studio because of their outdoor sandwich board sign (he calls it "the pencil nose place!"). the activity was painting a scene (blue sky, green grass, brown tracks, white clouds) and then colouring a thomas stencil to glue on, as well as random stickers for embellishment. the hour-long activity was a bit much for gabe...i ended up painting most of the scenery for him, but he really enjoyed colouring thomas!
after the activity, it was cake and snacks for everyone! it was great to catch up with our friends...now that gabe has preschool on wednesdays, it cuts into potential playdates with friends. but soon enough there won't be weekday playdates once they all go to full-day kindergarten! so now gabe and i are enjoying afternoons together running errands or playing games at home.
it's been a really busy week, and being out 3 nights in a row this week messed up my planning, so for gabe's preschool celebration, i ended up making rice krispy squares for his birthday treat...a definite hit with the kids! fruit was also served and was equally popular :-) since it was my first duty day of the year it was really great to see how comfortable gabe has gotten at preschool. he didn't cling to me for the full class (neither did sofia for that matter!), and he was totally into doing his own thing. i was tidying up during story time, and i made eye contact with gabe a few times and he didn't mind sitting without me. and during his song (BINGO), he waved at me and was singing away. melt my heart! the sweetest moment was at the end of class when they're dismissed through a song...he got to choose a buddy, and he chose emma and the two of them walked hand-in-hand to the cubby room. sigh. my little man, he really is drawn to the girls :-)
and in less than 72 hours we'll be at disneyland! i don't know about gabe, but i'm pretty excited! all i have to do is get through the work-day tomorrow, piano lessons, and a preschool classmate's birthday party. the craziness never ends!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
speech therapy success
back in the summer i took gabriel to see a speech therapist. we had gotten a referral through our family doctor, and i wasn't sure what the wait time would be. fortunately we got an appointment within a month. at our first appointment, the therapist assessed gabe's speech, focusing on my areas of concern - the hard C, K, and G (otherwise known as the "cough" sounds). while he passed the assessment, she did admit that he was ever-so-slightly behind for his age.
about the exam - in usual style, gabe was uncooperative for almost 10 minutes, refusing to look at the pictures and/or repeat words...but once tammy pulled out her arsenal of toys (thomas!), gabe was a dream. when tammy presented the tongue depressor to gabe, i was convinced he would fight it - after all, i have a terrible gag reflex and won't let doctors near me with it. however, this was a strawberry flavoured stick and gabe did great! he even let me try it on him so we could practice at home.
we went home that day with a fistful of grape and strawberry tongue depressors, worksheets, and stories. i actually got lazy the first week and we didn't practice our exercises, but the following week, we sat down and accomplished our task! by our 2nd day, gabe had almost mastered his cough sounds...he would pause and think for a moment and really work at the sounds.
the downside to achieving his cough sounds was that he lost his L's. we addressed that in our second (and final) appointment with tammy. fortunately the L's are a 4-5 year old development, so no need for any more speech therapy...gabe will develop at his own pace, and achieve greatness in his own time :-) however, we did get some optional exercises if we choose to help speed up the process...
about the exam - in usual style, gabe was uncooperative for almost 10 minutes, refusing to look at the pictures and/or repeat words...but once tammy pulled out her arsenal of toys (thomas!), gabe was a dream. when tammy presented the tongue depressor to gabe, i was convinced he would fight it - after all, i have a terrible gag reflex and won't let doctors near me with it. however, this was a strawberry flavoured stick and gabe did great! he even let me try it on him so we could practice at home.
we went home that day with a fistful of grape and strawberry tongue depressors, worksheets, and stories. i actually got lazy the first week and we didn't practice our exercises, but the following week, we sat down and accomplished our task! by our 2nd day, gabe had almost mastered his cough sounds...he would pause and think for a moment and really work at the sounds.
the downside to achieving his cough sounds was that he lost his L's. we addressed that in our second (and final) appointment with tammy. fortunately the L's are a 4-5 year old development, so no need for any more speech therapy...gabe will develop at his own pace, and achieve greatness in his own time :-) however, we did get some optional exercises if we choose to help speed up the process...
Thursday, August 30, 2012
a midsummer's nightmare
i am very envious of all my friends' happy summer updates :S for me, the summer seems to be a never-ending nightmare. every day is a guessing game of mom vs. gabe - who will win?
my parents continued to babysit gabe over the summer, and they do fun activities together...whether it's outings to ikea/costco/metrotown/gourmet warehouse, adventures @ the beach, lunch dates @ nikkei, or just blowing bubbles and painting on their balcony. gabe has a great time with my parents and they never experience any problems.
on the flip-side of that happy coin is the terrible 3's and i seem to get them every day. we've been battling the nap/no nap situation for awhile, and i've decided he still needs that nap - whether it's in the car, in the stroller, in my arms, i don't care...don't wake him up! dealing with gabe on a no nap day is no fun.
having said that, sometimes the day just doesn't start right at all. on bc day, chris and i wanted to get some errands done and then try the steveston waterpark. by 9 a.m., the day was a disaster. gabe refused to let me put sunscreen on him, and he refused to put on his swim trunks. chris and i both used our nice, but firm, voices and he wouldn't budge so we cancelled our plans. this was tantrum #1. 90 minutes later, gabe calmed down and we (well, me) are all going crazy stuck at home on a nice day. so, i decide we need to go to brentwood - i need my watch repaired and we needed lunch. 10 minutes later we've parked the car right near the food court entrance, and gabe demands to be carried (we didn't bother bringing the stroller). we refuse to carry his almost 40 pounds around the mall. meet tantrum #2. chris and gabe stay at the car while i get my watch fixed. 20 minutes later, and gabe is still sulking on the curb, so we hop back into the car. not so easy with our almost 40 pounder...he's kicking and screaming at chris, who's trying to get him into the carseat. by the time we get home 15 minutes later, gabe has bruised up both shoulders from the seatbelt straps (he got his arms out TWICE on the way home) and his voice has gone hoarse. he continues tantrum #2 at home, where he decides to unlock the door and leave home. he does that twice. after more battling, we finally get gabe into his bedroom, and after some door slamming and hoarse yelling on his part, he finally gets tired and goes to sleep for 2 hours. chris does the same (minus the door slamming and yelling) :) i think this was our worst day, so i'm glad chris was around to help out and we kept each other in check so we didn't cause too much damage to gabe.
having said that, this was gabe's first experience with a spanking. we never planned on being the spanking-type (even though we both grew up on the receiving end), but on this particular day, and after 5 hours of battling it out, it was the final straw. he received 2 blows to the behind, and he had no reaction to it at all. all he said was "it burns!", and continued to tantrum. lesson learned, don't bother spanking. we also tried to instill the naughty corner, but that didn't work out so well either. so instead, we took away his privileges as well as everything that he threw at us (including his table placemat) :P
swimming lessons: another lesson learned...don't bother until gabe is older :P i'm sure parents were rolling their eyes at us as i dragged gabe into the swimming pool, and would randomly dunk him in frustration :P we had a lesson after vegas and he actually did well for half the class (front float, jumping into the pool). then he melted down. the following week, i got sick (more on that another time), and then for his last class, we simply forgot to go :S we'll take a break for the fall and discuss it in january.
needless to say, i am definitely glad summer is coming to an end, and gabe is going back to preschool in a couple weeks. even more exciting is that he'll have school on wednesday mornings, so i'll get a couple hours to myself...i'm looking forward to hitting the gym again and finding a zumba class!
my parents continued to babysit gabe over the summer, and they do fun activities together...whether it's outings to ikea/costco/metrotown/gourmet warehouse, adventures @ the beach, lunch dates @ nikkei, or just blowing bubbles and painting on their balcony. gabe has a great time with my parents and they never experience any problems.
on the flip-side of that happy coin is the terrible 3's and i seem to get them every day. we've been battling the nap/no nap situation for awhile, and i've decided he still needs that nap - whether it's in the car, in the stroller, in my arms, i don't care...don't wake him up! dealing with gabe on a no nap day is no fun.
having said that, sometimes the day just doesn't start right at all. on bc day, chris and i wanted to get some errands done and then try the steveston waterpark. by 9 a.m., the day was a disaster. gabe refused to let me put sunscreen on him, and he refused to put on his swim trunks. chris and i both used our nice, but firm, voices and he wouldn't budge so we cancelled our plans. this was tantrum #1. 90 minutes later, gabe calmed down and we (well, me) are all going crazy stuck at home on a nice day. so, i decide we need to go to brentwood - i need my watch repaired and we needed lunch. 10 minutes later we've parked the car right near the food court entrance, and gabe demands to be carried (we didn't bother bringing the stroller). we refuse to carry his almost 40 pounds around the mall. meet tantrum #2. chris and gabe stay at the car while i get my watch fixed. 20 minutes later, and gabe is still sulking on the curb, so we hop back into the car. not so easy with our almost 40 pounder...he's kicking and screaming at chris, who's trying to get him into the carseat. by the time we get home 15 minutes later, gabe has bruised up both shoulders from the seatbelt straps (he got his arms out TWICE on the way home) and his voice has gone hoarse. he continues tantrum #2 at home, where he decides to unlock the door and leave home. he does that twice. after more battling, we finally get gabe into his bedroom, and after some door slamming and hoarse yelling on his part, he finally gets tired and goes to sleep for 2 hours. chris does the same (minus the door slamming and yelling) :) i think this was our worst day, so i'm glad chris was around to help out and we kept each other in check so we didn't cause too much damage to gabe.
having said that, this was gabe's first experience with a spanking. we never planned on being the spanking-type (even though we both grew up on the receiving end), but on this particular day, and after 5 hours of battling it out, it was the final straw. he received 2 blows to the behind, and he had no reaction to it at all. all he said was "it burns!", and continued to tantrum. lesson learned, don't bother spanking. we also tried to instill the naughty corner, but that didn't work out so well either. so instead, we took away his privileges as well as everything that he threw at us (including his table placemat) :P
swimming lessons: another lesson learned...don't bother until gabe is older :P i'm sure parents were rolling their eyes at us as i dragged gabe into the swimming pool, and would randomly dunk him in frustration :P we had a lesson after vegas and he actually did well for half the class (front float, jumping into the pool). then he melted down. the following week, i got sick (more on that another time), and then for his last class, we simply forgot to go :S we'll take a break for the fall and discuss it in january.
needless to say, i am definitely glad summer is coming to an end, and gabe is going back to preschool in a couple weeks. even more exciting is that he'll have school on wednesday mornings, so i'll get a couple hours to myself...i'm looking forward to hitting the gym again and finding a zumba class!
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