Rant

I'm beyond annoyed.

My boss emailed me on Monday while I was at Canada's Wonderland with you and Kendall and she made it sound like there was an emergency. I hate when she does that. She always makes me worried that something happened to our magazine and that I no longer have a job. Well, it turns out that it wasn't an emergency. She just wanted me to work on a new logo for the magazine. Apparently her bosses want the magazine to be redesigned for the September issue. There's nothing wrong with that, but she wants me to work on it NOW… Now, while I'm still on mat leave… and she's not paying me…

Does she not realize I have 2 kids at home with me 2 days a week and I have no child care help???

At least pay me then. She is crazy. It's because she doesn't have kids. She doesn't seem to understand that kids are a big responsibility. I don't just sit at home with tons of time on my hands. Kendall is a handful now. She always wants me to play with her and she's moving around a lot. She doesn't like being in her playpen anymore. 

They even sent me a laptop yesterday (BTW, I had to sit at home waiting for the laptop to come the whole day) so that I can start working. This is just insane. It's totally illegal and she can get in a lot of trouble from HR by doing this. Her reasoning is that she wants me to get a head start on it because when I return to work in August I will be in the thick of things. Ugh. I am so not looking forward to going back to work…

Preparing for kindergarten

Last night I went to your kindergarten orientation session at your new school that you start in September. It was very informative and I got to meet some of your new teachers. They also talked about how we, as parents, can prepare our kids for kindergarten. They gave each parent a bag with alphabet magnets, scissors, glue, books, crayons and other activity things that we should work with our child. 

This morning you noticed the bag and wanted to open it. I took you downstairs and got you to work on a few activities that the teachers had suggested- cutting straight lines on the edge of a paper with the scissors; using a cookie sheet and placing the alphabet paper and getting you to match the alphabet magnets to the letters (BTW, you already knew the uppercase letters and lowercase letters long time ago); matching up numbers in the same way as the letters exercise; and building letters with shapes. 

So happy with his completed work.

Kendall, meanwhile, is practicing learning to use her pincer fingers to put Cheerios in her mouth.

She's finally starting to get it. 

Visiting grandparents' new business

You and mommy visited your Toronto grandparents' new business today. I've been wanting to visit them for a while now, but it's hard with a baby in tow. Plus, the weather's been really crappy lately.

Their new sandwich/coffee shop is close to downtown so it took us a while to get down from where we live. I wanted to check out their place before they start renovations on Saturday.

Their new business is in dire need of renovations. They plan on putting laminate floors, painting
the walls, painting the ceilings, changing the chairs, changing the tabletops and putting new
shelving up.

I took out the tacky sticker on the glass.

They have a lot of tacky posters and stuff hung on the walls. Not needed, in my opinion.

The coffee area.

The walls were a gross green and yellow. They plan on painting it a medium gray colour. Nice!

I'm thinking this wall area would be nice to hang some pretty frames.

I absolutely hate glass cubes. They are so 1980s. They aren't removing this though. It would
be a huge cost to remove/redo.

Aren't the chairs and tables hideous??

We plan on putting shelving along this wall. Your grandma wants me to help her choose accessories
for the shelves. I'm planning on going shopping with her on Saturday so we can pick out some
stuff together.

Here's another look.

Even though the store was hideous, my parents did a good job buying this place because they will turn it around. They already improved the menu and the customers are already appreciating all the changes that have been made to the food. I think the customers will also be floored once they see the place after it is renovated.

Wonderland with the Choi boys

Mommy's friend, YJ, decided that if the weather was good today we would take our kids to Canada's Wonderland. She also has a season's pass.

The weather turned out to be gorgeous. It's so nice spending the day outside and not cooped up in the house.

I didn't tell you that we were going until the last minute because if plans change you get really upset. You were so excited when I told you that we were going with Asher and Austin.

It was my first time taking both of you so I was nervous, but I knew YJ would help me out.

Heading to Planet Snoopy.

I was pretty upset with you because even though I told you that there were certain rides that we couldn't go on because I had Kendall with me, the first ride you wanted to ride was Boo Blaster. You were whining and wouldn't walk when I told you we couldn't go to that ride. When I told YJ about it, she told me to leave Kendall with her while we quickly went on Boo Blaster. I was so nervous because YJ would have 3 kids with her. Everything turned out ok though and when I went to find YJ, she had Kendall on a ride with her. I didn't think that Kendall could go on any rides, but as long as she could sit up on her own she could go on some of the rides. I still held onto her tightly though.

You rode with the Choi boys in the ferris wheel while mommy and Kendall sat in the other seat.

Kendall sitting all by herself.

She loved all the rides. She didn't cry once.

You in the car ride.

Kendall in the car ride.

I didn't bring a stroller for you because I had Kendall in her stroller.
However, YJ's stroller helped so much because you got so tired near the end. You just slid
right beside Asher and YJ strolled the 3 of you around the whole park. You also loved riding
the stroller. 

So cranky and tired near the end of the day…

Kendall was awake for most of the day, but by the end she passed out.

Aigoo aigoo.

The many faces of Aidan

Since Summer is almost here we decided to buy you a new bathing suit. Canada's Wonderland has a huge water park so we are excited to take you this year. I got you to wear your new swimsuit while I took some pictures you started giving me all these faces for me to capture.

Surprised face

Thinking face

Crying face

Jjing jjing face

And here's the real deal:

Loves looking out the window

You are so different from when Aidan was a baby, but one thing that you are similar in is that both of you love playing by the window sill. I remember Aidan used to love standing by the window sill and just looking out the window.

Month-by-month- Month 10

You're now in the double digits!

I can't believe I only have 2 more months until I go back to work :'-(

It was so hot and humid today that I put your in short sleeves and shorts when I went out to do errands. Even though I was out for most of the day you were a pretty good baby. You weren't really fussy and I'm happy to say that you're back to your normal self. No more roseola! 

I also have very exciting news- I got word from Auntie Jessica that she is going to have a baby girl! I'm so happy for them! I can't wait until you guys all grow up and become close cousins.

I wet your hair for this shoot (why didn't I think of that in my previous shoots?!) so that your
sides aren't so pouffy. I think you look so cute here!

I always tell daddy that I think you have such a cute profile. I just want to bite every single part
of your body. Nom nom nom.

New throne

I installed your new booster car seat today in the small car. We are still keeping the other car seat in the big car. That way we can drive the small car when it's just one of us (mommy or daddy) going with you or Kendall. It will save us so much money on gas!

Victoria Day fireworks

We've been to Canada's Wonderland a few times now and every time I go I see a Victoria Day fireworks poster. You have yet to see your first fireworks so I thought that it would be a good idea to take you this year. The only downside to it was that it was going to start at 10pm and your bedtime is at 8pm. Plus, the children's side of the park closes at 9pm so even if we go you won't be able to ride anything until the 10pm start time. Nevertheless I still wanted to take you. Daddy, being the boring guy that he is, thought that I was crazy for wanting to take you. Yes, it's inconvenient and a hassle, but that's what makes life fun. The best memory I have growing up are the spontaneous things that my parents did. I remember them taking all 3 of us to Ontario Place when we were young to see fireworks and I remember how fun that was. Yes, it was way after our bedtime, but the fact that I still remember it is saying something. Daddy doesn't have any childhood memories so I'm hoping that you will remember your childhood and think that you had a positive upbringing :-)

This says it all- look how happy and excited you are. You actually thought that the rollercoaster
was the fireworks. You didn't know what to expect so you just assumed the lights on the rollercoaster
was the fireworks. I had to show you google images of what real fireworks looked like so you
understood.

We got to the part at 9pm, but it was already packed. We sat in front of the mountains.
We were glad that Auntie Jess, Uncle Wayne and Emma were at the park. We got to watch the
fireworks with them.

Aidan and mommy.

Emma, all bundled up. It was waaaaaaaay past her bedtime too :-(

Auntie Jessica had funnel cake! Mmmmmm.

Crazy eyes.
Actually, you were patiently waiting for the fireworks to start. Since you know how to tell time now
you were waiting for the clock to turn to 10pm.

Tired, but happy to be here.

Look at your face seeing the fireworks!

It was a special time and I'm so glad we went.

We actually had a nightmare of a time getting out of the parking lot because everyone was leaving at the same time. It took almost an hour to get out and I ended up getting a nail in my tire. We got home close to midnight :-S

Even with all the chaos at the end I wouldn't change the experience for the world!