Family outing

Daddy didn't think we should go to church today because he thought you were still not 100%. He didn't think you should be around other kids. However, by late morning we needed to get some fresh air so we went out for a quick trip to the mall to use a gift certificate we had gotten from our friends for Kendall. Daddy wanted to use that to buy Kendall something for her room.

We decided to give Kendall a bath before going out. You can see that she has fattened up
quite a bit.

Kendall is wearing a 6-12 month outfit. Can you believe it?

Daddy wanted me to take some shots of you and Kendall together. 

You love kissing Kendall. 

What a handsome boy you are. 

You got your hair cut on Friday so now hair is not covering those pretty eyes of yours.

On our way to the mall Kendall was making such cute expressions in her car seat. I couldn't
help but take photos of her.

And this is what we got at the mall- it's a butterfly mobile.

Daddy picked it out. It's not my 1st choice, but it's subtle. 

The worst feeling- helplessness

As a parent, the worst feeling is feeling helpless when it comes to your sick child. I've gone through so many of these ever since you were born. I want to do whatever I can to make you feel better, but when I can't I feel so frustrated and helpless.

This morning you looked ok. Daddy and I kept asking you if you needed to barf and you said no. So we figured that you had passed your rough patch with the food poisoning situation and decided to take you on your second skating lesson. On our way there I told daddy to stop by the gas station to buy you Gatorade since you lost a lot of fluids last night. As soon as daddy got off the car you whispered to me, "Mommy, I have to barf." I immediately unbuckled you from your car seat and I took you over to a patch of grass at the gas station. You were gagging, but nothing came out. I asked you if you had to barf and you shook your head. I was extremely worried that you would throw up while you were at your skating lesson, but you told me that you wanted to skate. The whole car ride there I held a large Ziploc bag over your mouth just in case you threw up. When we got to the ice rink you were smiling and excited. You did your whole skating lesson no problem. You were much improved from last week. You weren't flailing like you were last week. At one point you stood up on your own for a few seconds without daddy holding you. I'm so proud of you!

Look how still you are here.

The teacher was teaching all the kids to crawl on all floors. I guess to teach them to be
comfortable on the ice and learn balance.

Here's a video of the teacher teaching you to hold your arms out to the side to learn balance.

Kendall sleeping in her Bjorn. Excuse her dry skin. The fluorescent lighting is making it
more visible here.

It's so cute when I see all the kids with their skating gear. You included.

Near the end of the lesson the teacher gathered all the students all around and did an exercise of touching each body part while sitting on the ice. It was the cutest thing. Lucky that I was able to get a video of that.

The lesson always ends with the teacher sticking a sticker on all the student's helmets and giving a high-five.

After the lesson daddy skated over to where mommy was watching in the sidelines and
I was able to take this photo. You don't look so happy here. I think it's because you wanted
to skate more.

After the lesson I can see how pale you are and you don't look quite yourself.

Immediately after the lesson we rushed home because daddy had to go to a soccer tournament. I wasn't too happy because you weren't feeling well and he was leaving us, but daddy thought you weren't too bad. I decided to go to your Toronto grandparent's house because I wanted to do a few errands- buying you bananas, apple sauce, bread. Apparently when your child is sick you are supposed to go bay the BRAT diet (Banana, Rice, Apple sauce, Toast). Also, I knew that having my parents would help me deal with 2 kids. When we got there you looked a little woozy and you were just sitting on your grandpa's lap watching cartoons. We noticed that you were getting feverish and very pale. I didn't have any medicine with me so your Toronto grandparents rushed out to get your medicine. At that time you fell asleep and that's when I took the photo above. This is a kid that NEVER wants to sleep so I knew you were really sick. Daddy texted me just then and I was getting mad at him for leaving you when you were sick. He felt really bad so he was going to leave his game to come home. However, as soon as we gave you medicine your fever went down drastically and you were back to your usual self playing and fooling around. Auntie Sara came by later so I told daddy to enjoy his soccer game. You still aren't eating really, but I'm not really forcing you as I don't want you to throw up everything in your stomach.

When we came home around 5:00pm you were feeling much better. I asked you what you did during the day and here is a video of you talking about it:

Daddy's always playing soccer or working, so now when I ask Aidan where daddy is he always either answers, "Daddy is working" or "Daddy is playing soccer."

And here is your refined Gagnam Style dance. You are absolutely OBSESSED with that video!

Why am I ridiculous?!?!

That's what daddy keeps muttering to himself now. You (Aidan) just woke up with puke all over yourself and came into Kendall's room while I was breast feeding her. I yelled over to daddy saying you puked. Puke was all over your face, arm and clothes. Daddy went to your bed and he was like, "OMG!!" Yes, that's fine that he freaked, but daddy started ranting like crazy a crazy man yelling at you for puking and then started blaming me for everything- for going to the restaurant that YOU picked, for moving the floor length mirror in our bedroom earlier that day (what does that have to do with anything??). He just gave you a bath and he's yelling at me to throw away the sheets. You guys are now lying down in mommy and daddy's bed.

Oh no... You just puked again in our bed!

... I'm back. Daddy totally flipped out. He is not making the situation better. He's yelling at me for not helping him when I'm still feeding Kendall. I had to stop breast feeding her because you were freaking out. I went to our bed and yes, there was puke, but not as much as I thought. Same for your bed. Still I know it's bad that you did, but you need to be calm in these situations. Daddy even yelled at me for the height of our stool in our washroom. Wth!!

I think it was the kalbi that I fed you at 168 Sushi because that was what was on your bed. Ugh.

I'm now lying down with you with towels all under you and doing laundry. I'm sorry that you don't feel well... My poor baby.

My lil ung-ga

Lately I've been calling you 'ung-ga.' I'm not sure if there is a meaning for it in Korean or it's just a word my mom made up, but I remember my mom saying that to us when we were younger. I think it's just a word of endearment. Because I call that to you every time I see you Aidan's been calling you that when he sees you too now.

So how did you get those 3 marks on your face? They are actually 3 small scabs that formed after you scratched your face with your nails. You are so active and sometimes a little violent when you eat/sleep- punching me and rubbing your face that I think that's how you got those marks.

Here's a video of you smiling at mommy. Lately you've been smiling at me whenever you see me. I think you know who I am.

Gallery wall finally complete

Daddy and I finally finished the gallery wall that mommy's been wanting to do going down the basement. It was such a huge DIY project because I first had to choose the pictures, do a mock-up, measure everything and do the actual hanging. However, I think it turned out beautifully.

This was the inspiration behind the whole project. I first saw this tear when I was searching
paint colours. I loved the visual impact of all the black & white frames hung on a grid. 

We bought the 20.5" x 20.5" frames at Ikea for $19.99 a piece. We bought 9 so it ended up
being quite expensive. However, when you think about it frames from other stores would
have cost much more.
I ordered the prints at Costco at 12" x 12". They were much cheaper than Walmart. I think
they were around $22 for 9 prints at Costco whereas the 12" x 16" prints at Walmart would
have cost a little over $90 for 9 prints. They didn't have square prints available so that was
the only viable option.

I made a quick mock-up on my computer of the configuration that I wanted. I mixed family
photos that I took with some travel photos. I think having the travel photos breaks it up a little. 

Finally mounted. It's not perfect, but we did our best. I bought sawtooth hangers instead of
using the wire hangers that the Ikea hangers came with. That way the frames didn't lean
forward like they sometimes do. I attached 2 sawtooth hangers on each corner of the frame
because normally sawtooth hangers don't support heavier frames. These were 8lbs each.

The gallery wall view from the basement.

Close-up of the photos.

One of my favourite shots of Aidan and Kendall.

When you saw the gallery wall up you said to me, "Mommy, what's this?" With which I replied,
"It's pictures of our family." And you responded, "Wow, I like!" Haha.
I asked you to pose in front of the frames. At first you did a happy face, then you changed
your expression to a grumpy face. What a character you are.

Kendall's 2-month check-up

Today was your 2-month check-up. The appointment was for 10:30am, but I woke up at 9:30am. I slept in because I was up in the middle of night a few times (feeding you and taking your brother pee pee) and then I had to wake up again at 6:40am to get your brother ready for daycare. I frantically got ready and then I fed you (from my left breast) before I left the house. I even pumped my right breast while I was driving because it was quite engorged. Luckily I made it in time. I was nervous because this was your first appointment where you would be getting your vaccination shots. I remember with Aidan he cried so much and I was a ball of sweat afterwards. However, I had nothing to worry about. You didn't even cry when the doctor gave you your first shot on your left thigh. I was quite amazed so I commented to the doctor, "I'm surprised she didn't cry." I must've jinxed it because as soon as I said that you cried when she gave your 2nd shots on your right thigh. However, It wasn't as bad as I thought. You cried for 5 seconds and then you were fine.

Little do you know that you will be getting your shots in the next little while. Look how content
you look.

Where you got your shots on your right thigh.

Where you got your shots on your left thigh. Aigoo, I see a little blood. Look at those rolls!

Content baby at home after the doctors. Excuse the red mark between your eyes. You
scratched yourself on the face.

And here's where you are right now in your growth. The doctor was quite surprised how big
you had grown. I call you my little fatty. Keke.

What a poser

I love taking pictures of you these days because you now understand all my commands. Before it would be extremely hard to take photos of you because you wouldn't stand/sit still so all my photos were blurry. Now, you actually stand still and give me different poses. I love that now I'm home I can take great pictures of you in natural lighting. Today I noticed how bright and sunny it was in your room so I took out my camera and told you that we were going to have a mini photo shoot. I asked you to give me several different poses and you did every one of them. You even suggested some new ones to me. What a little poser you are!

Left: I asked you to do a cute-sy Korean pose where you create a dimple by poking your
cheek. A lot of FOBs seem to do that pose. Haha.
Right: I asked you to close your eyes so we can see those lush lashes of yours.

Left: This was your own pose. I call it the Home Alone pose.
Right: I asked you to do the Korean Sarang Hae (I love you) pose. It's basically creating a
heart shape by putting your hands on your head.

Left and right: I asked you to put your hands over your eyes and then remove them.

So I think you're ok to go back to daycare tomorrow. You still have a little scabbing, but I think you're fine. I've also asked daycare to help me with your potty training. I'm going to be giving them 5 pairs of underwear and 5 pairs of pants in case you have an accident. I hope it goes well. Fingers crossed!

Eating better

Ever since we cut back your milk intake, your appetite for food has skyrocketed. Whereas before you wouldn't touch any food from the kids meals from restaurants you now devour them. That is good news for mommy and daddy because some of the kids meals are quite expensive. Today we went to Chili's and we got you a Mac N Cheese meal with fries and apple juice. You licked your plate clean. Now to get you eating vegetables…

1st skating lesson

Today was your first skating lesson. We actually enrolled you in the same skating lessons last year when you were 2, but it was a total fail. The skating program said you were too young at 2 to register, but daddy practically begged them so that's why they took you in last year. However, I know why they don't encourage 2-year olds to register. You threw a huge tantrum in the change room and we couldn't even get your skates on. We had to leave right away and got a credit for it. Both daddy and I were very weary about how you would take it this year, but we've been slowly prepping you for the big day. We made a whole shopping day of it when we bought your skates and helmet. You were so excited leading up to today because of it. We even talked to you about it for a few weeks telling you that you were going to go skating with daddy and you would be wearing your new helmet and skates. We said, "Aidan, no crying when you go skating, right?" You nodded and even pinkie swore to mommy promising that you would be a good boy. We were still pretty worried and even put on your skates outside of the change room just in case you threw a tantrum, but we had nothing to worry about. You were so calm and excited. Mommy and Kendall watched from outside the skating rink where it was warm, but it looked like you were having a blast. The only person that looked like they were struggling was daddy. I could see him struggling trying to keep you standing because at the beginning you were flailing your arms and falling over. I couldn't stop laughing watching him holding you.

There you are sitting with other toddlers your age. You are wearing the blue and red jacket.
Look how cute you guys look with your little helmets.

The first class was basically teaching the kids how to stand up. You struggled at the beginning,
but I think you were getting much better near the end. You were even holding your arms out
to balance yourself.

Here's a video mommy took of you in your skating lesson. Look how you're listening to the instructor.