Finally settled in... well, sort of...

Let me just say that it's been really hard transitioning back to our every-day life ever since we got back from Vancouver. When we landed on Saturday all of us were exhausted since we were up since 4am that morning. The flight was also very stressful as you were extremely cranky from getting hardly any sleep. You threw quite the temper tantrum right after we took off. There was hardly any room in the tiny plane for me to walk around comfortably. I was standing while holding you near the flight attendant's area in the back while you were screaming/crying. Eventually you dozed off, but it wasn't without letting the whole passengers in the plane know who the crazy baby's mom was. Ugh. I don't ever want to have to go through that again. It didn't help that daddy gave me attitude when you started spitting out your food. I guess you had too many snacks and your stomach wasn't taking it too well. I was only giving you stuff to munch on because that was the only way to keep you still and quiet in the plane. I really hate it when daddy criticizes me for things when he isn't helping in the situation. 

I'm just glad to be back, but I feel like I didn't really have a vacation. I worked while I was over there and I was checking email every single day. I seriously need time to myself for one day. Wouldn't that be nice?

So even though it is now Tuesday I'm still exhausted. On Sunday I had to plant the flowers that your Vancouver grandfather gave to us to plant in our garden. That took me 4 hours. Then I had to go grocery shopping because we had absolutely nothing in our fridge. All to find out that all the big chain supermarkets were closed for Easter Sunday. I went to 2 different places before I decided to go to a Korean supermarket. They are never closed! Not even on Christmas! 

Then on Monday I came home to find our fridge was broken. Basically we had to throw out all the stuff in the freezer because it had all melted. I was so mad! Daddy had to call a 24 hour refrigerator repair man to come and fix it. It cost us $200 and I didn't go to sleep until close to 1am. 

I'm just hoping that things will calm down soon. It doesn't help that your sleep schedule is all messed up. You slept close to 12am on Sunday and yesterday you slept almost at 10pm. Today was a little earlier at 9:45pm, but it wasn't without problems. All three days you wouldn't sleep and kept calling out 'Daddy, appah, umma' so that we wouldn't leave you. Today when I tried putting you down you started freaking out and crying uncontrollably. I had to lay you down a few times because you kept standing up in your crib. I had to keep repeating, "Go to sleep!" and "Ddook!" ("Shush" in Korean). Eventually you fell asleep, but I'm so frustrated and annoyed.

Last day

Today is our last day in Vancouver. It's bittersweet. This was one of the better trips out here. I'm starting to like the idea of possibly living in Vancouver one day. It would definitely be a lifestyle change. I'm such a work horse in Toronto and Vancouver is soooo different. I feel like people really do enjoy life out here more. I see people hanging out in café's and the parks are always busy. I always wonder what these people are doing when they should be working. However, I see that life is not always about work. There's more to it. Yes, moving to Vancouver will mean that I probably won't find a job comparable to what I have right now, but I don't know if that's a bad thing. I'm just blabbering here and the possibility of moving to a different city may never come into fruition, but you never know... Plus, your Vancouver grandparents are retired and they would love to babysit you any way they can. They were quite smitten with you while you were here.

Here's a short photo recap of you in Vancouver:


Eyelashes to die for!





Papparazzi!

King of the house

The weather was quite nice today. A little chilly, but sunny enough that we went outside to the backyard as a family and played. Your Vancouver grandpa brought all these toys from the neighbours house (don't worry, they gave us permission) and you played and played. It's so nice in Vancouver right now. All the cherry blossoms are out and they have way more exotic plants than in Toronto. I think you'll have a difficult time transitioning when we get back to Toronto because you literally are the king of the house. Your Vancouver grandparents cater to your every demand. They even started sleeping with you every night starting on the second day we were here. I don't mind because I'm kind of enjoying a little freedom.

Sleeping beauty

We are currently in Vancouver right now on vacation. We arrived on Friday, but I haven't had a chance to post because I was tired and jet-lagged and on Saturday Auntie Jane and I went outlet shopping in Washington State.

It was very stressful in the airplane ride because the flight it approximately 5 hours and the plane attendants told us before we boarded that the TVs weren't working. Daddy and I started panicking because we were really counting on that to keep you occupied for a few hours since they had the Treehouse channel. Plus, it was especially difficult for me because you didn't want anyone holding you except me. By the last 2 hours I was sweating bullets in the plane trying to keep you happy. One thing that was stressful was that your bottles in your lunch bag started leaking. It was the bottles with the straws. I think the pressure from the flight was making it leak like crazy. Next time I'm going to bring the sippy cups.

The next morning my arms felt like it was about to fall off. I was wondering why that was and then I realized that it was because I was holding you all day. Daddy keeps saying how the plane ride wasn't as bad as he had expected, but it's because he didn't have to do anything.

The plane on the way back better have the TVs working or mommy is going to be very upset.

Here are a few photos of you taking a nap in your grandparents' house. You have really formed a bond with your Vancouver grandpa. I thought it would be with your grandma, but you completely ignore her and only want to play with him. You even started ignoring daddy. However, you are still very needy when I'm around. As soon as you see me you start crawling to me (like you are a baby) and start whimpering for me to pick you up. It's very tiring actually.


Look at you all bundled up in the pink blanket.


Look at those precious hands.


And those precious ears.

Terrible 2

Wow. You are at the terrible 2 stage.
Right now daddy is desperately trying to put you to bed, but you are having none of it. I'm just not impressed with your behaviour. You throw so many tantrums that I'm really starting to dread hanging out with you.
Just today you threw a tantrum at the waiting area at your doctor's office. I gave you a container of Cheerios to munch on while we waited, but as soon as I tried to put it away you fell to the floor and started shrieking/crying hysterically. Everyone waiting there was trying to be polite by pretending not to notice, but it was hard not to. I just hope that this is a phase and it will pass. I do pray that you will be in your best behaviour on Friday when we board a plane to Vancouver. I'm just stressed thinking about it. Ugh. The good news is that you are over your ear infection. The 2nd dosage of antibiotics did the trick. However, the doctor said your throat was a bit swollen. They took a swab to test if you have strep throat. I hope it isn't that. I can't deal with another sickness.

You may ask why your face is so red in the above photo. I gave you a bath right after you ate pasta and it was all over your face. That's why your face is so red. You get really sensitive every time food is on your face.

2 sick boys = exhausted mommy

It's been an quite the weekend for mommy. Both daddy and you were extremely sick. I had to do my best to take care of both of you. Actually I really took care of you and ignored daddy. Haha.

You were pretty needy and your nose was running A LOT. Daddy and I had quite the job wiping your nose throughout the day. I know it sounds gross, but we wiped your nose with the shirts that we were wearing since we didn't always have a Kleenex handy. At one point daddy's shirt was covered in snot!

All I can say is that I'm kind of happy that tomorrow is Monday. It's not easy taking care of 2 sick boys! The good news is that you are feeling a little better. Your nose wasn't as runny by the end of the night. Hopefully you will be ok for daycare tomorrow.

#1 Nightmare

Today mommy worked from home. Usually when I do that I put you in daycare, but not for the full day. However, since you were sick I decided to keep you at home. Boy, was that a big mistake! I hardly got any work done because you were so cranky and needy today. I think it took a toll on you too because you slept at 7pm- earlier than your usual 8pm sleep time.

So you'll probably notice a small change here. I have done a small redesign on the blog. I thought it was time for a change. I've made it a little more visually interesting. I'll probably add some more tweaks in the upcoming days. You can see the old version below.

Hello, I'm a Mac...

Dear Aidan,

Looks like someone is becoming a Mac fan. Auntie Sara came over today and she brought her brand spanking new iPad 2 with her. She was showing me all the specs of it and you were all over it! When Auntie Sara turned on a Toy Story app that sang songs you immediately started bopping your head like you were dancing. I've got to get me one of those for you (and me!).

Tomorrow I'm working from home again so that's good news. You've been too sick lately. At least you'll be able to sleep in a little bit...

Poor baby

Dear Aidan,

Look how battled you look. You are down with your 100th cold. The night that daddy and mommy fought was the night that your symptoms were starting to show. It's been hard the past couple of days. I literally woke up 6 times last night to tend to you. Daddy didn't even help. He keeps going on and on about how babies seek out their mothers when they are sick, but I think he's just saying that to get away with not doing anything. I'm still extremely angry at his behaviour. He keeps wanting to 'squash the beef', but I don't think he realizes the seriousness of the situation. He doesn't think in his heart of hearts that he did anything wrong. He was actually trying to put the blame on me saying how I was the one that gave him attitude. Whatever. I'm so sick of how badly he treats me so I'm not going to be nice to him for a while. Aidan, I want you to have respect for women and treat them well. Daddy used to be like that, but once he married me he treats me like his servant. All he does is nag at me and ask me 'what's for dinner?'. My wish in life is to hear daddy turn to me one day and say how much he loves me, how thankful he is to have me. He only says he loves me when I do things for him or if I'm mad at him and he wants to 'squash the beef'.

Squash the beef?!?

Dear Aidan,

You know what daddy says to me this morning?

"I didn't forget last night."

"There's a lot of tension in the house..."

"Let's squash the beef!"

How can I squash the beef after what he did? I can't squash the beef when we don't even talk about it- why he's upset and why I'm upset. And he walks around this morning like what he did was no big deal and we can just forget about it. I couldn't sleep last night because I was so upset. I'm so sick and tired of how daddy treats me and how thinks that I'm just like him- I have no emotions and I can keep on living like this.

Am I a doctor?

Dear Aidan,

I'm so angry right now.

I just put you to bed, but don't worry I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at daddy.

You woke up crying and daddy went to get check up on you. Whenever you wake up crying I'm always awake too (because I'm a light sleeper). After about 5 minutes and you didn't stop crying daddy yelled into the baby monitor, "Steph, can you come here?!" This is what I hate about being a mom. They always think that we have the answer to everything. I yelled back, "Why do you always call for me?!" Then he basically said, "There's something wrong with him [you]!" Sure... every time he goes to get you there's always something wrong with you. I never call for daddy's help when I get you. Even if you are crying more than you were crying today.

When I went to your room daddy was holding you and he started swearing at me saying how f-ing stupid I was for saying stupid comments like that. I hate it when he swears in front of you. It terrifies me especially when you are just starting to expand your vocabulary. I told daddy to stop it and to not swear. He said that I should stop talking and he would shut up. He then left the room and left me to deal with you. What a jerk! Yes, you were coughing a bit (sign of another cold?), but you just happened to wake up. It's nothing that we haven't dealt with before. I mean, I'm not a doctor. All I can do is calm you down and put you back to bed.

There is one thing that I will say out of this whole drama- think about the person that you want to marry. I always regret not marrying a Christian. Daddy always told me that he would go to church, be the leader of the family, blah blah blah, but it was all a lie. I know he loves you very much. That I know is true, but that is one regret I have in life.

Roar like a tiger!

Dear Aidan,

I'm completely and utterly in love with you. I know all parents are in love with their kids, but I don't think I ever loved someone as much as I love you. Sorry daddy! You are simply the sweetest, precious, cutest, most interesting person that I have ever met.

Last night before I put you to bed I was reading you bedtime stories. I have a shelf in your room where I keep all your books. I display some stuffed animals on your shelf too and you pointed to the tiger that was on one of the shelves and I made a roaring sound to represent the sound that a tiger makes. You started mimicking the roaring sound. It was just too cute for words. This morning, when I went to your room when you had woken up you pointed to the tiger again and said, "Roar!" in a hoarse voice. I couldn't resist taping you doing that this evening while you were riding on daddy's shoulders while we were playing.

I'm so sad that our weekend is over, but I don't think I'll be working too late this week. I love you and I miss you already!

Cool as a cucumber

Dear Aidan,

You are really beginning to mimic whatever we say to you now. It's quite amazing actually.

You watch what we do and if we say something you try to repeat it back. You aren't perfect in pronouncing some of the things that we say, but I think it's a huge step. This morning I woke up to you talking gibberish in your crib. Later on I kept hearing you repeat, 'Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh...' over and aver. I went to get you and I realized that you were saying that because you had pooed in your diaper. Haha. Then, you started grabbing all your blankets in your crib and started draping them over your crib. You see, I do that every morning when I get you from your crib. That's why you do that. I find that I'm really enjoying this stage right now. You are starting to help me do chores around the house. Today you helped me water the plants and fold laundry. Aigoo aigoo aigoo...

You can say 'Um-ma' quite well now. (Yes!)

Let's see... these are the words you can say now:

Hi

Daddy

Um-ma ("mom" in Korean)

Appah ("dad" in Korean)

Feet

Head

Tiger

Aidan

"I" (for "I love you" or "eyes")

Bab bap ("food" in Korean)

Cookie

Uh oh

Cheese

"kah" (for "Milk". I don't know how that is, but I guess you are pronouncing the last letter of milk?)

As for actions you can do a lot now. Just today you were showing us marching (daddy taught you that), saluting, and spinning.

The photo above are pictures I took of you on our way to Galleria this morning. We put you in sunglasses because you tend to squint a lot in the car. Don't you look like a Korean ah-juh-shee's?