Seating arrangments

Dear Aidan,

One thing that has been stumping me on organizing your birthday party is figuring out an effective seating arrangement that went with your school-theme. The last 1-year birthday party I went to was for YJ's son, Asher's birthday party. She didn't have a seating arrangement for his birthday party so people were confused as to where to sit. I wanted to make sure for your party I seated people where I wanted them to sit. So I was racking my brain to see how I could come up with a cool way to have people's names on the table. Right away I thought of name tags. I was thinking of doing something with the 'Hello my name is...' tags. This morning I made samples of it printed on kraft paper. I made a red and blue version. I printed out 8 tags per sheet and I left the name area blank so that I could write freehand the names of the person. Here is a sneak peek:


This was my first go at it so I didn't like how the 'my name is' printed out. It was way too small so the ink around the font was bleeding into the letters. I made it a lot bigger the second time around and you will see what I mean on the next photo.



As you can see I made the 'my name is' a lot bigger. I think I'm going to be placing these directly on the table so that when guests arrive they can see where they are sitting. I'll put the loot bags for the kids by their name tags as well.

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Aidan,

Happy Father's Day to a very special daddy. It's been a bumpy ride leading up to today, but we want to say how much we heart daddy. I know I can be tough on daddy sometimes, but inside I really appreciate him and love him for being him. Every time I see how daddy is around you I know how much he loves you. Sometimes daddy doesn't show it with words, but his actions speak loud on how much he loves you.

Daddy wanted to dress you up in your new Messi jersey today for church. I was a little hesitant because all the Koreans would be giving us dirty looks at church. Well, we ended up dressing you in it anyways. I took you down to Mustard Seed, which is a Sunday School program at our church for the first time today. I wanted to see what other kids your age were doing there. Plus, you were getting a little big for the nursery room. Anyways, right when I put you down on the foam mats you chased down a fabric soccer ball and started playing with it. All the teachers and parents that were there thought you were so cute because you totally looked like a mini soccer player with your jersey outfit and ball. I just had to take some pictures!


Here you are with the fabric soccer ball.



Where did the ball go???



Do you have it Mario? (The guy you are chasing is Victoria and Jacob's dad, Mario).


Afterwards we rushed home because daddy had to help our friends, Jenn and Ed, move into their condo. I stayed home with you, but I wanted to take some better shots of you in your outfit with my good camera.


You looked stunned here.



You always get so fascinated when Rosco starts eating his food. Do you see Rosco in the background?



We went upstairs to play in your playroom and daddy happened to be lying down on the mattress by your foam mats. You crawled to him and started laughing at him. I thought it was so cute.



Oh no! One of mommy's pet peeves is when you start taking out all the connectors from the foam mats and put it all around your play room. You started making a big pile by the vent. Ugh.



You in action.



Rosco doesn't look impressed either.

I took a video of you playing by the vent while the air conditioner was on. I guess you were fascinated by the cold air coming out of the vent. Sorry I sound a bit creepy in the video.





Haha. Look at your hair! This was right after mommy and daddy gave you a bath. Your hair is getting pretty long and it was sticking straight up after daddy towel-dried your hair. Classic Kodak moment.

The future Messi?

Dear Aidan,

I'm falling asleep while I'm writing this. I hardly slept a wink last night. Don't worry, it's not because of you. I think it's because I ate Chinese food so late last night. I was so full and the food wasn't the healthiest either so I was tossing and turning all through the night. Now I'm so sleepy. I think I'm going straight to bed after I write this post. Daddy is at Kew Beach playing soccer so mommy and you are all by ourselves at home. Well, you are sleeping now so it's just me (oh and Rosco).

Our day started early because we had to go to the RBC Insurance office near our house to sign our new insurance policy forms. That was at 10am. Then we went to Vaughan Mills mall to eat lunch at the food court. While we were there there was a kiosk selling all Fifa World Cup jerseys. Daddy was looking at them and I thought for sure he would buy you a Korea jersey, but he bought you Argentina's Messi jersey! I guess Korea's last performance against Argentina was so disappointing that daddy didn't want to buy you a Korea jersey. Or, maybe it's because Argentina's player, Messi is AMAZING. Then again, maybe it's daddy's hopes of making you the next superstar soccer player. Messi doesn't look like your typical soccer superstar. He looks like your average joe, but he is really talented. Daddy kept telling me that he is daddy's height too. Daddy likes hard-working athletes and Messi is one of them. Anyways, daddy said that he was going to dress you in the jersey tomorrow for church. Uhhhh.... that would be suicide! All the Koreans at church would give us dirty looks! We'll see if he changes his mind. I don't know what he is thinking...

Daddy's day

Dear Aidan,

Boy, mommy is pooped today. Because we are taking our Toronto grandpa out for Father's Day dinner on Sunday I wanted to do something for daddy today. Since it's daddy's first Father's Day I wanted him to go to the spa to pamper himself. Plus, daddy loves getting a facial! I told my friend, YJ, about it yesterday and she thought it was a great idea for her husband, Andy, to go to the spa too. So we decided that we would send the hubbies to the spa while we, the wives, looked after the boys. YJ and Asher came over to play, but it was a tiring night. You were really cranky because you were pretty tired for playing a lot today. Asher took away some of your toys that you were holding in your hand and you started throwing a fit. Usually you're not like that, but I think you were so tired that everything was irritating you. The hubbies were gone for a while so I gave you a bath myself and eventually put you to bed. Although it was tiring it was all worth it when daddy came home and he looked so happy.

Oh, and I've got great news! You walked today! Well, you took 4-5 steps by yourself without holding on to anything. It was during the afternoon before YJ and Asher came over. You were standing by the window sill in your play room and you just turned around and started walking. Eventually you fell on the ground, but I was so shocked. YJ told me yesterday that Asher started walking right after he went to Gymboree because he saw other kids walking there. Maybe that happened to you too. Anyways, I thought it was fluke so I tried making you do it again. I held the house phone on speaker so that you would be drawn to walk towards it. Before today, you would fall to the ground from a standing position and crawl over, but today you made an effort to walk. You didn't walk more than 2 steps before you fell, but you were walking! I showed YJ a few times while she was here and she thinks you will walk soon. I even put you on our kitchen floor and you made an attempt to walk again. I told daddy during dinner and he said he has to see it with his own eyes. I hope you will try again tomorrow. Let's show daddy your accomplishments.

Outing!

Dear Aidan,

What an exciting day for you. My friend YJ called me at 9:30 this morning to see if I would be interested in checking out the Shops at Don Mills + checking out Gymboree. She knew that we got a 2nd car, but I told her I wasn't comfortable driving it yet so she picked us up and we went in 1 car. It's been a while since I went out (that is, for fun instead of running errands) so it was quite exciting.

The reason why YJ wanted to check out the Shops at Don Mills was because they have an outdoor wading pool/fountain area for kids. I guess she saw kids playing in that area last time she went so she wanted to always take her son, Asher, there.


This was taken just when we got there. We met up with Auntie Sara because she had a day off and she lives right by the Shops at Don Mills.



You were starting to get tired because it was already 12pm by the time we got there and you usually take a nap during that time. Can't you tell you're getting tired?



Here is Asher and YJ. YJ is 4 months pregnant, but you can't tell! She finds out the sex of her baby next week. I wish she has a girl, but daddy thinks she's going to have a boy.



One of the few photos I have of us together. I made sure Auntie Sara took some pictures of you and I together.




Unfortunately, you never seem to want to look at the camera when we are taking a photo together. *Sigh*



Before we went to the wading pool area we wanted to grab a bite to eat because we were all so hungry. We ended up checking out a Thai place called, Linda. You and Asher looked so cute because you took a menu from the waitress like you guys wanted to order your own food. The waitress thought it was so cute!




What's so funny Aidan? Haha, I love your smile. Auntie Sara (who you adore, btw) was making you laugh quite a bit.



I kept putting one piece of Cheerios on the table to keep you from getting restless at the restaurant and I guess Asher was watching you eat it. He ended up wanting Cheerios as well even though YJ told me he doesn't eat it anymore. What happened next was quite funny because you guys were trying to out-beat each other in eating the Cheerios.



Here is Asher eating his Cheerios.



You with a Cheerio in your mouth.



After lunch we parted ways with Auntie Sara and head to another mall, Promenade Mall, to check out Gymboree. It's an indoor gym that is designed for little kids. It was your first time there and you absolutely loved it! I'm not sure what Asher is doing here, but he looks like quite the little Buddha.



You were so fascinated by all the balls and free range you had to crawl everywhere. Apparently Asher started walking after he started going to Gymboree because he saw other boys walking. Hopefully I can go again before I go back to work.



You loved this yellow ball with the holes on it because you were grabbing 3 at a time and throwing it, chasing it, then throwing it again.



You then moved on to playing with foam blocks. If you see the background with the ramp, little kids were crawling up on that and sliding down on the other side. I was trying to make you do that, but you weren't too comfortable with it.



Asher is dunking the ball!



Hi Aidan!



Asher and you were on this wobbly rocking thing and we were rocking you guys back and forth. Look at you holding so tight!



You in action.



I didn't capture it on camera, but you grabbed onto the air-filled form in front of you and you stood up and tried walking to me without holding on to anything. Unfortunately you fell on your bum, but I loved it how you tried walking on your own!



OK, it's time to go home now!

Mommy is absolutely pooped and so are you. You were so tired at the end.

All Star Wings & Aidan

Dear Aidan,

The weather has been terrible today. It rained quite a bit and it was very windy. I don't know what it is about this week, but I've been just in a lazy mood. It hasn't been the most easiest of weeks either. You weren't the worst you've been, but you have been waking up at least once at night, you've been very fussy with eating your solids, and it's been a bit hard putting you to sleep at nights. You are also quite vocal these days. I mentioned it yesterday, but it's hard taking you out because you get very fussy. You are no longer the quiet baby that you used to be. Today was no different. We went out to the Acura dealership when daddy got home. Daddy wanted to get a cargo placemat for the back of the car and then we went to All Star Wings to eat dinner. All I have to say is thank goodness All Star Wings is a sports bar! You were squirmy and making lots of noise. Daddy had to feed you Cheerios every 5 seconds to keep you quiet. These photos were taken at the restaurant. Most of the photos are blurry because you will not stay still.







Tomorrow morning at 7:30am Korea plays Argentina for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. I would like to see it but we'll see. It all depends on whether you wake up in the middle of the night and how tired I will be!

What's that on your face?

Dear Aidan,

You've been sporting a red blotchy spot for a couple of days now on the right side of your cheek (see arrow in photo). I don't know how you got it or what it is, but it's been bothering mommy and daddy. Hopefully it will go away soon. The photo I posted doesn't show it that well, but it's much more apparent in person. Anyways, this photo was taken when you took a short (I mean SHORT) nap today. I think you slept for about 15 minutes max. Ugh. Why can't you sleep longer? You were so cranky because you hardly slept during the day so it was a rough day for mommy. You were super loud and you were crying a lot. Lately you've been talking a lot. You talk a lot of jibberish and you start making loud burst of noise like 'Ahhhh!'
It's really difficult to take you to public places now because you get so loud. I've tried giving you your toys and snacks, but it's still quite hard. I'm so used to wolfing down my food everytime we go to restaurants so we can quickly eat and leave. No more enjoying food.

I took a short video of you sleeping today because you looked so cute.


I worked on the loot bags for your party this morning. I made 16 loot bags, but I'm not sure if I should make a few extra just in case. It takes a lot of time to put these together.


Here's the lunch bag loot bags that I'm going to be giving out to all the kids. I didn't seal the bag because I still have to put the baked cookies in there once your Toronto grandma bakes it for me 2 days before the event.



Here I am holding down the flap of the bag so you can see what it will look like once the flap is sealed. I stuck a cute #2 pencil on the flap and the kids can use that to write on the notebook that is inside. On the front of the lunch bag I stuck a library card with a thank you card with your photo on it. I stamped the library card holder with your birthdate and your name.




Here's what's inside the loot bag so far: The custom notebook that I made, a Milky lollipop, 2 Milky candies, 3 Crayola crayons that I bound together with striped deco tape, and Pocky snacks.



A close-up shot of the thank you card.

It was so fun making these. I hope the kids like it.