Last day in the infant room

My baby is growing up…

Today was your last day in your infant room before you move to the toddler room. You teachers- Amanda, Laryssa, Nadia and Noah were kind enough to make a card for you with all the handprints of all the babies in your class. So cute!

Not the best picture. Look how your hair is. You are in dire need of a hair cut.

The cute handprints of the babies in your class.

It's hard being a parent

I'm not going to sugar coat what it is to be a parent. Yes, it's amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it is H A R D. I've been struggling ever since I started work trying to balance it all. If you've noticed that I haven't posted as many posts, it's because I am literally pooped by the end of the night. I wake up at 6:10am every day and get both you and Kendall ready for school. On a school day, I have to pack you lunch. I'm always in a mad dash to get out of the house every morning because I always feel like I'm running late. It doesn't help that you sometimes throw a tantrum because you don't want to turn off the TV. Then I have a full day at work where it's always hectic. I usually work late so by the time I get home it's close to 7pm (or later). Sometimes Kendall is sleeping and sometimes she's not. If I'm lucky and she is awake, I put her down to bed. She usually sleeps around 7pm. By the time she is down, I have to get you ready for bed. There's a whole routine there- brushing your teeth, washing your face, reading you a book, going through your communications folder from school, praying, kissing you goodnight. Sometimes you cry… er, most nights you cry… because lately you've been scared of the dark. By the time both of you are down, I'm exhausted and I just want to crash. Then, I would either eat dinner (if I didn't eat already) or I get ready for the next day. I usually have to cook dinner for the next day so that you guys have something to eat when daddy brings you home. Then I shower and just watch TV or shows on my iPad. 

Daddy is another story. He has his whole routine he does with you guys too- he picks you both up from 2 different daycares, he gives both of you a bath, he feeds you and plays with you. On the days I come home late, he puts both of you to sleep. It's not easy being a parent! Sometimes I wonder why I live like this and if there is light at the end of the tunnel. But I know all that hard work is forgotten when you kiss me and tell me you love me. For Kendall, all she has to do is smile and make kissing sounds with her lips (she doesn't really know how to talk yet). 

Hello Noelle~

Meet your cousin, Noelle! She was born today. Isn't she so precious? Auntie Jess had such a hard time carrying her so it's a miracle that she was born healthy and almost full term. Praise God! I can't wait to meet her in person.

We had a mini fashion show today with Kendall. I love playing dress-up with her. Your Vancouver grandma brought clothes that her friend bought for Kendall so we wanted to take a few photos of Kendall wearing them. It's a little big for her, but doesn't she look so cute??

Your grandma has gone snap crazy ever since she got here. She's been taking hundreds of photos
of you and Kendall. 

Daily reports

Since your daycare got bought out last year, they've been slowly making positive changes. One of the changes that they have implemented was to put all your progress reports online in live stream. That includes reports of when you eat, sleep, have a bowel movement. Today, they started including milestones/achievements with a quick snapshot. It's awesome! 

Look how adorable you are here.

Sorry this is cropped off.
I think they just wanted to indicate that you are walking, but you were walking ages ago.

Same with your fine motor- palmar grasp. This was achieved a long time ago.

Have you seen anything cuter?

You are becoming cuter and cuter every passing day that you are driving me crazy with your cuteness. It's not just that you are physically cute, your actions are so lovable. You always come to me with open arms (to get hugs) and just even hearing my voice makes you break out into a huge smile. When you see me you just make this huge sucking-in sound because you are so excited to see me. How can you beat that???

This shot was taken on our way to Aidan's hip hop class. Usually I take Aidan by myself, but today, daddy decided we should all go because he had to run a few errands. It always makes me happy when we go out together as a family because nowadays, weekends are spent with me taking Aidan out while daddy stays home with Kendall. 

Ironman and Wolverine- the 2013 edition

I'm so glad I get to work home on Thursdays and Fridays when I'm not in production at work. Luckily Halloween fell on a Thursday this year so I was able to take you trick or treating. Originally Auntie Jessica and Emma were supposed to join us, but the weather was terrible so they cancelled. I called up my friend, Jen, and her son Nate to join us as they just live around the block. Daddy and Kendall stayed home because the weather was so bad and daddy was giving out the treats. Even though we bought 1,000 treats, we ran out in the blink of an eye. That's how crazy it is in our neighbourhood…

Mom sal (translated from Korean, meaning body ache)

What a day I had! I experienced the little monsters to the extreme today :-S

I took a day off today because Kendall had her 15-month checkup today at 9:45am. I decided to just take a day off and spend time with Kendall (since I hardly see her during the work week). 

I dropped you off at daycare in the morning with Kendall and it was all fine. Kendall was surprisingly pretty good when I first got to the doctor's office. It's always very stressful when it's the checkup appointment because the doctor measures everything and the appointment usually involves getting shots. As soon as I took off Kendall's shoes, she started crying uncontrollably. I couldn't even get her to calm down even when I gave her veggie chips. Every single thing that the doctor told me to do- take of Kendall's clothes (to weigh her), hold her down (to measure her length), open her mouth (to check the back of her mouth), hold her head (to see inside her ears), etc. involved a fight. At one point, Kendall was kicking the doctors upper body while the doctor was trying to see inside her mouth. Kendall was crying to much that it took a good 15 minutes for the doctor to see her pupils- her eyes were closed shut crying. By the time it was all over I was in a ball of sweat and Kendall got the hiccups from crying so much. 

Here's where she is at right now:

Weight: 8.32kg or 18.34lbs (down from 8.37kg last time)

Head circumference: 44 cm (same as last time)

Height: 74cm (up from 70cm last time) 

And the bad news? Kendall lost weight and because she was experiencing diarrhea, the doctor couldn't administer the vaccination shots. The doctor told me I would have to come back in 2 weeks to give Kendall her shots. AND, she will most likely be weighing her again since the doctor was concerned about Kendall's weight. ACK! I'm definitely not looking forward to the follow-up appointment. 

When I got out of the appointment, daddy had texted me saying that he was leaving work early and meeting us at the doctor's office. We ended up having a nice lunch and doing errands- grocery shopping and picking up prescription medication (Kendall had an ear infection). I can't wait for the day when I can just do… nothing. No running errands, not making dinner, not picking up kids, not grocery shopping, the list goes on and on. I didn't realize being a parent was SO HARD.

Here's Kendall walking with daddy after the doctor's appointment. You wouldn't know it from this video that just a few minutes before she was a crying mess.

I guess all the crying made Kendall pass out in the car. She almost never sleeps in the car. She actually fell asleep holding onto her veggie chips. Aigoo, aigoo.

We stopped by a ramen place to have a quick bite to eat. Look how cute you are!

Drinking water, all by herself.

Such a good eater… That's why it puzzles me that you lost weight. I was sure you gained weight.

Waiting for more food.

Pretty Kendall.

So by the time everything was done and we got home, it was close to 3pm and time to pick up the original monster- monster 1. Tonight was your daycare's Halloween party so I wanted to make sure you got a bath, ate dinner and had time to change into your costume before heading out. You were looking forward to this party for a whole week now so I thought you would be loving it. Or so I thought…

The Halloween party was at a high school and the teachers converted the whole main floor into a
Halloween-themed room. It was AMAZING!

They had stations set up for activities. 

I present you Iron Man!
I don't know if the new environment made you anxious, but you were quiet, clingy and just not
looking like you were enjoying yourself. When teachers walked by and said hi to you, you just
turned away and said nothing. I hate that!

More of the Halloween decor.

There were close to 500 people at the party. 

All the teachers dressed up in costumes. It was pretty cool.

And the best part of this party? Why, it was the entertainment, of course! They had hired Bounce Entertainment and they were soooooo good! All the kids were on the dance floor dancing like crazy. I was so impressed and I thought you would be all over it seeing that they were playing all the songs that you knew on the radio and I know how much you love to dance. However, you just stood there sulking and you didn't do anything. I think you were the only kid that didn't dance. I kept encouraging you to have a good time, but you were so clingy to me. Eventually you loosened up a bit and actually danced a little bit, but not much. You decided in the end that you wanted to go back to the activity tables and we did some of that, but when the party drew to a close you started throwing a huge tantrum because you didn't want to leave. You actually ran away and when I didn't follow you, you came back and hit me! I was so angry! I tried putting on your jacket and your tantrums got even bigger. I couldn't even get it on and by that time you were screaming and crying. All the parents were looking at me and I was so embarrassed. By the time we got to the car I was about to explode. I screamed at you all the way home. I'm so upset that you aren't like the other kids and it frustrates me that maybe it's something I'm doing wrong. Why is it that you don't say hi to people? Why are you such a snob?? Why do you go crazy when things aren't going your way? Every single thing has to be a challenge for me. I constantly have to think of ways to get you to move onto another thing because once you get into something, it's like you are in a trance. 

When we got home, I was so mad that I didn't even want to see you. I told daddy what had happened and he got so mad. He tried to put you in time out, but that obviously doesn't work with you. Daddy gave you so much memme. I took a quick video of when you are in your tantrum stage. 

How can a boy so cute by so… BAD?!

I really don't know what to do with you. You can make me so mad!

What started off as a nice morning- you playing with spoons (I know, you're weird…) and singing The Wheels on the Bus turned into a nightmare of a day. I really didn't think you were going to have a tantrum when I took you to hip hop class because you've been to several classes now and it's been pretty good, but I should have known better. I realize that I have to constantly talk to you so that you don't suddenly turn a 180… 

We got to the community centre a little early so we were watching the kids by the swimming pool. We always pass the swimming pool area when we are heading to your hip hop class. You kept saying, "Mommy, how come you never take me swimming. I want to go swimming…" I took a mental note to sign you up for swimming classes in January, once your hip hop class is over. I guess the longer you stayed with me, made you more clingy and just not wanting to go. When I told you it was time to start heading to your class, you started whining and saying how you didn't want to go. I tried taking off your jacket and you freaked out. I just started walking ahead telling you to follow me. You started screaming at me and you actually charged at me and hit me. I was shocked and embarrassed as there were a lot of parents milling around waiting for the hip hop class to start. I was so mad that I started grabbing your arm and talking to you sternly (I would have yelled at the top of my lungs if we were alone). You were just flailing your arms and just screaming. I thought once the teacher came out of the class to take you guys in you would calm down, but no. You were not consolable. I dragged you into your class and tried to get you to stand up, but I couldn't. All the other kids were being distracted by your screaming/crying so I told the teachers that I couldn't put you in this week. All my energy was put into getting you to calm down that I forgot your water bottle in your class. By this time I was fuming and so angry that I just started screaming at you in the parking lot. When we got to the car I just yelled at you nonstop. I was so angry that you couldn't be like the other kids in your class, angry that you didn't go to your class when I had paid for it, angry that you never listen and angry that I forgot your water bottle. 

I know it doesn't seem like it, but this was you before the whole tantrum fiasco. It's like a switch.
One minute you're such a sweet boy, and the next a little devil.

I was so angry when I got home that I just didn't want to deal with you. I literally threw you down in bed and forced you to take your nap time.

I was so angry at daddy too because he never takes you on Saturday mornings to dance class. It's always me. I never spend time with Kendall because I'm always with you. I think daddy just doesn't want to deal with you sometimes. I just am hoping and praying that this is just a phase and it will pass…

The only thing that made my day a little brighter was when Kendall smiled and played with me.

Mommy & Aidan day

It's definitely fun doing day trips with you because now I don't have to lug around a huge diaper bag and a lunch bag. You are now potty trained and if you're hungry, I can just buy you something to eat. Since Summer is coming to a close, I wanted to take you to the museum downtown and have a mommy and son day. Plus, it would be the first time you would be riding the subway. Fun!

We parked at Yorkdale and I took the umbrella stroller. Little did I know that Yorkdale doesn't
have an elevator so I had to lug the stroller up and down the stairs a few times. Not fun!
Other than that, it was a pretty fun adventure. You really liked the subway.

When we got out of the subway, you told me that you were hungry. Knowing what a picky eater
you are, I took you to a bistro that I sometimes go to during lunch. I ordered you a ham and
cheese sandwich. More gourmet than you're used to.

When we entered the museum, they had an activity set up near the entrance where kids could
make their own crowns with jewel stickers. 

I really liked the Korea section in the museum. Represent!
I loved these beautiful bottles.

And what beautiful vases.

Korea, the rabbit.

Korean manuscripts.

Dresser. Your Toronto grandparents' house used to have something like this.

You really loved the different sections in the museum. I was actually quite surprised how
interactive it was for children.

Daddy sent me a picture of Kendall. They stayed home while we went out.

Chinese building.

There was a section in the museum where it was all children activities and you immediately went to the sandbox where you pretended you were an archaeologist finding a dinosaur bone.

My little Indian Chief/Terracotta warrior.

Look how small you are.

Dinosaurs!

Aidan, say cheese!

After the museum I treated you with ice cream. There was a soft serve ice cream truck parked
outside of the museum. You obviously loved it!