Happy Halloween & farewell

Today is Halloween. I rushed to see you after work so that I could spend Halloween with you. It's an insane time for mommy at work, but when it comes to things like this my priorities are set.
Last year we had a crazy Halloween at our home because our neighbourhood has millions of kids. It doesn't help that a few doors down is a house that goes all out with their Halloween decorations. They even have a haunted house. It gets so much attention that my street ends up getting hundreds of kids. I couldn't deal with that stress this year so we decided to go to your Toronto grandparents' house for Halloween. They live in an older area where there aren't that many kids.
You wore your costume from last year again. It's a little short at the ankle, but I knew I could get one more use out of it this year. I think you looked adorable. You wouldn't wear your costume to daycare in the morning, but I managed to get you in full gear before we went out Trick or Treating. We went to a few houses and you really enjoyed it. You just loved going up all the stairs and seeing all the Halloween decorations. We went with grandpa (daddy went to the hair salon to get a haircut), but you kept pushing grandpa away and not letting him hold your hand. You kept saying, "Push!" and making hitting motions to grandpa. I'm really not impressed with your behaviour these days. You seem to get cranky often and push lots of people away. It really irks me!

On another note, today was your last day in Toddler Room 2. Starting tomorrow you will be moving to Preschool. You are the smallest kid there. They all tower over you. I'm a little worried.
Your teachers- Amanda, Carolina, and Diane as well as your classmates from Toddler Room 2 made you an adorable card with a sweet message. I had a tear in my eye when I read it.

I made a small gift package for all the teachers for daddy to give to them tomorrow morning.

Banner redesign

My friend YJ asked me for help for her 2nd son, Austin's 1-year birthday party that is coming up next Saturday. She isn't very crafty so she wanted some help. One of the things she needed help with was to use the banner she had for her 1st son, Asher's birthday and put Austin's name on it. She didn't want to do a completely new banner because she told me she wants to keep everything the same for both of her sons. That way when they are a bit older they won't complain how one got something better.

The banner is quite big and the writing are printed on the banner. Basically I would have to find a way to cover
up Asher's name and put Austin's name.

And ta-da! This is my solution. I used a blue, card stock paper behind the letters I printed out to cover
Asher's name. Then I glued the letters that I printed on card stock and cut out with a 3 1/4" circle punch. I printed
out a few extra circles with boy icons- a football and a baseball/baseball bat to ground everything together.

I didn't glue everything down yet. I'll do that at the day of her party.

Here's a close-up of one of the circle punches. I used a blue colour that picks up the blue colour from her
original banner. That way it doesn't look like I slapped something on to cover up something.

I stuck double-sided tape so that I can stick it on the day of the birthday party.

Here is one of the cards that I stuck on the letters.

And here is the back. I, again, stuck double-sided tape so that I can stick it on the banner once it's hung.

The story of my life…

It seems that lately all you've been doing is crying and throwing tantrums.

Happy 5-years!

Today is daddy and mommy's 5 year anniversary. I can't believe it's been 5 years already. Daddy and I have been together 6 years before that so we've actually been together for more than 10 years! Anyways, although we aren't lovey dovey now (well, we never really were) we still have a deep love for each other that sometimes isn't obvious. Yes, we argue like most people, but we understand each other.

I wanted to take daddy to a new restaurant that I had heard about- Barque, but it's far from where we live and daddy didn't want to go without you. I wanted to have daddy and mommy alone time, but daddy never wants to be without you. So we ended up going to a place near us- Bluestone Bistro. Daddy had read good things about it so he wanted to check it out. Sadly, the restaurant closed shortly after our visit due to the economic downturn.
Anyways, here are some photos I took of our time there.

We dressed you smartly to bring us to our anniversary lunch.

My partner in crime. Here's to another 5 years!

We ordered oysters and sweet potato fries (for you). The food was so good, but I got sick
later in the evening. Daddy doesn't think it was from the food here because he had the same
thing I ate, but I was throwing up nonstop. 

I just adore oysters. If I could, I would eat it every day.

I ordered the steak and a side order of mushroom risotto. Everything was a la carte. Quite expensive,
but the steak and the risotto were excellent.

This was daddy's dish. Not as good as mine.

He got a side order of pasta in rose sauce. This was excellent as well.

Roar like a tiger

I had to check to see if your last year's tiger costume still fit before Halloween.
It's a little short in length, but I think we can put you in it again this year. It was quite a struggle for me to get you in these as you freaked out when I put the head piece on you. I guess you didn't know what was going over your head. I had to keep saying, "Aidan, you're a tiger. Roar like a tiger!" Then I brought you over to the mirror to show you what was going over your head. By then you calmed down. I was able to put the whole costume on you and brought you over the full-length mirror again. By that time you were checking yourself out and roaring like a tiger at your own accord. It was quite hilarious. I even brought your tiger stuffed animal down from your bookshelf so you could play together for a bit.

The bad news? When I tried taking the costume off of you. You started crying and crying because you wanted to keep wearing it. That's the story of my life these days. You freaking out because you either don't want to do something or you don't want me to do something. Sigh.

Anyways, enjoy the roaring of the tiger in the video below. Quite scary to be honest. You have a very hoarse roar that could even scare the scariest of tigers.

One Saturday morning

We have a ritual on Saturday morning. It's to let you sleep in. When you wake up you run to our room to say good morning to us, then we go downstairs and we watch your Saturday morning cartoons while you drink milk. It's something so simple, but that's my favourite moment these days. I love sitting next to you on the couch while I hold you in my arms while you watch your TV shows.

Your worst nightmare

There is one thing you fear and that is Mr Potato Head. You had your first encounter with Mr Potato Head at your Toronto grandparents' house when you saw Auntie Sara's Transformers Potato Head (called Optimash Prime). Optimash Prime was sitting on their media unit and when we tried to give it to you to play with you freaked out.
Then, I got the original Mr Potato Head from work and when I brought it home you, again, freaked out. I think it's because you can take out Mr Potato Head's features and that just freaks the hell out of you. We even had to hide Mr Potato Head in your play room closet, but even then you knew where he was so whenever you were too close to the closet you looked anxious and stressed out. Well, it's a clear fact that you don't like him and I had told my family about it. The other day, Auntie Sara sent me a picture by email and labelled the email, "Aidan's worst nightmare." See the photo below.



I had a chuckle about it, but I know I can't show it to you or you will cry. Sad, but true.

So fresh and so clean clean…

This is your outfit going to your Toronto grandparent's church on Sunday for Thanksgiving service. I used a little hair gel on your hair to push it to the side. That way you don't have the Lloyd Christmas thing going on. I love dressing you because I feel like you're my doll. It also helps that you are so cute in anything I put you in!

Afterwards we went to Auntie Sara's house. It's funny because lately you've been so needy and you don't tend to let anyone (other than myself and daddy) hold you. However, with Auntie Sara you immediately went over and gave her a hug. She seriously has a magic touch with kids. I mean at one point she had you sitting on the couch with her iPad on your lap watching Sesame Street. You were as good as you can ever be munching on kielbasa sausages and cheese triangles.

Indian Summer

It was a beautiful day today. So warm that it felt like Indian Summer. We decided to check out Southbrook Farms again for a 2nd year in a row because we took some great photos of you there last year. Plus, it's so kid-friendly.
You had a blast, but because you are at a tantrum stage you get really upset every time daddy and I want to take you away from something that you are doing- i.e., you were entranced by the chickens in the chicken pen and when daddy tried to pull you away to do something else you freaked out. I really do hope this stage is just a stage because it is driving me CRAZY! Anyways, enjoy the photos. I'll be so sad when all the leaves are on the ground and winter begins. Bleh.