Long day

I am pooped! Today was a very long day, but a good day.

We went to the mall in the morning to get some more clothes for the both of you as the weather is getting colder. We quickly had lunch at the mall before we rushed to go to your eye doctor appointment. You've been complaining about your eye hurting for a few weeks now. I took you to a walk-in a couple of weeks ago, but the doctor said nothing was wrong and that I should just put a warm cloth over the eye that was bothering you. However, I knew something was wrong when you kept complaining every day and rubbing your eyes constantly. I was worried that your vision was bothering you and you would have to get glasses. Luckily your eye sight is fine, but the bad news is that you have allergies. Not sure of what, but there is something in the environment that is making your eye itch. The eye doctor prescribed an allergy medication for your eyes, but I think I will have to get another allergy test done soon. Sigh.

After your eye appointment, we went to the library to return your books. We then went to Home Depot to buy cabinet hardware for the kitchen knob that I broke this morning. Usually you have nap time in the afternoon, but I think your body is used to being awake the whole day. You didn't seem as cranky and tired as when you were younger. When we came home, we did laundry and sorted you and Kendall's clothes for donation and to give to Auntie Jess' new baby. After dinner, I texted my friend Jenn to see if her son, Nate, wanted to go to the park with you. I told her I would take the both of the them to the park so that she could have a bit of a breather. You guys played in the park til it got dark and then we went back to Nate's house where you played there until 9:00pm. What a day!

Here's a cute video of Kendall eating Korean rice pops. 

You and Nate at the park. You guys were so wild and crazy. It's like you guys were never let out or something.

BFF's? You and Nate.

At one point, you and Nate were pretending to be magicians and being totally hilarious. There was a woman there with her daughter and she kept laughing at you guys playing.

Mommy & Aidan day

Now that you are older, it's much easier taking you out with me. I don't need to pack food, diapers, wipes and all the stuff you have to bring when you have a baby. Plus, it's more fun. I can take you to places and you actually understand where I'm taking you. 

Today, I took you out with me to return your library books that we had borrowed. It's becoming out little tradition- borrowing books, reading them before your bedtime and then returning them for new books. After the library, we went to eat Pho because I was craving it. You also like noodles too. I had called Auntie Jessica to see if they wanted to join us for dinner, but she didn't pick up. However, she called when we were almost finished eating and invited us over to her house. You love going to Emma's house so you were so happy when I told you we were going there.

Emma got a new swing/slide playground set from her paternal grandparents for her birthday
so you guys played outside for quite a bit.

You loved her playground set so much!

Look how cute you guys are.

It was a hot day and the sun was especially bright. I commented how this area looked like
heaven and Auntie Jessica said she said the same thing to Wayne the other day! We always
say the same things. I guess it's a twin thing.

Because it was so nice out, we decided to go to Canada's Wonderland for a little bit. It was such a blast going with Emma. You really enjoyed it.

Mother/son day

I love spending time with you and having quality time together. Now that we have discovered our local library we can start our own tradition of going together and that being "our thing". Today, I let you play on the computer and you really enjoyed that. 

So excited to be going again. Too bad you lost those sunglasses… You were so excited grabbing
books everywhere that I think you left your sunglasses somewhere and somebody took it.
We checked all the places that we went in the library and there were no signs of your sunglasses.

Aidan: "Mommy, can we get this book?"

Too bad it was a picture book…

Playing games on the computer.

It took some practice for you to get used to the mouse.

But once you got the hang of it, you were hooked. The only thing that made you want to leave
the library was that mommy was taking you to the movies. We watched Planes.

Always eating a popcorn while watching a movie.

Last Friday together :'-(

The time has finally come… This is the moment I have been dreading- the last Friday together before mommy has to go back to work. Instead of just staying home I decided to go out. First we went to Vaughan Mills where we shopped a bit and had lunch at the food court. Mommy rented a double stroller that looked like a fire truck and you both loved riding on it. Then we went to the public library that is near our house so that I could borrow some books for you. Since you love to read I thought starting a library card would be a good idea. I remember how much I loved going to the library with my sisters when I was younger. I want you and Kendall to have a passion for books like I did.

This morning, I woke up to see you in my bed. Lately you've been coming to our bed in the middle
of the night. I don't know if it is because you know you're going to be apart from me, but it's
something that you have been doing every single night for the past week.

At the mall, Kendall kept putting her leg up and resting it on the side of the stroller. A sales girl
commented how she looked like she was just chillin' and cruisin'

Sorry this picture is blurry. I took this photo of you at the library. You loved it there. Just as
I had suspected you would.

Beautiful sunset. End of an era.

We're going to the beach~

Ever since we read Ian Falconer's Olivia, you've been asking me to take you to the beach.

Well today was your lucky day, because we decided to go to Sibbald Point with daddy's friend's family since it was the long weekend. We thought it would be a nice day to barbecue and play in the beach, but it turned out to be a nightmare. It was soooooo cold and so windy. We couldn't enjoy ourselves because all we could think about was trying to keep warm. And both mommy and daddy didn't bring a sweater so we literally froze our a$$ off :-S

On our way to Sibbald Point. Not a good look…

You trying to keep warm in your huge Spiderman towel. That's Keidyn beside you. He was so
nice to you. He kept playing with you and he was so friendly. You really took a liking to him and
that's surprising because you are normally very aloof and standoffish. 

You finally doing what you've been wanting to do- building sandcastles.

Quick video of the beach and how cold it looked…

Who likes going to the doctor??

Let me tell you about a strange boy who likes going to the doctor, the dentist and the hair salon. I don't know any kid that can sit still and enjoy being in an environment that many other kids his age find terrifying.

I think the last time you had your shots was when you were 2 years old. I was a little nervous because today was your 4-year checkup where you were getting your shots. I didn't have daddy with me today as he couldn't take time off from work. I had to take both you and Kendall. It's not easy taking 2 kids to the doctors office, especially if it involves getting shots. Last week was Kendall's 1-year check-up where she got her shots and she was a hysterical mess. I expected you to be the same. With Kendall, I had to hold her on one side while the receptionist held the other. All this, while the doctor was administering the shots. Kendall was trying to kick us off while crying at the top of her lungs. It was very stressful. 

The doctor called in the receptionist again when it was time for your shots to help me hold you down. I had talked to you all morning telling you you were getting shots and you seemed pretty calm about it. I was shocked when the doctor put the needle in your arm and you didn't even squirm or cry. You just had this blank look on your face. And it was the same when the doctor put the needle on the other arm. Even the doctor and the receptionist were stunned. They were so surprised that they gave you 2 toy cars and a lollipop. You were just so excited to get a bandaid and your toys. 

So here's where you are right now:

Weight: 32lbs

Height: 38.5"

The appointment was at 11:30am, but the doctor was running a bit behind so we went to the
public library that is in the same building. I read you this book- Sylvia's Spinach, which is about
a girl that hates spinach (perfect book for a picky eater like you, no?) and you fell in love with it.
You kept asking me to buy it for you, but you tend to ask me to get you things that are über
hard to find…

After the doctor's appointment it was lunch time. I had packed lunch so we ate in the office building, just outside of the food court. While we were eating you noticed a glass partition that had a mirror. You kept going in front of it and dancing while looking at your reflection. It would have been fine if this was in a remote area, but it was a high-traffic area. People kept looking at you and smiling because you were dancing so much! Luckily, I was able to get a video of you.

BBQ at the Chung's

Auntie Sara and Uncle Dan invited us over to their house for a BBQ after Auntie Jess' baby shower. I didn't bring you to the baby shower because I knew I couldn't watch over you while I was preparing everything and leading games. So daddy and you stayed home while I was at the baby shower. We went to Auntie Sara's house around 5pm and we didn't end up leaving until 11pm. It was a long night, but a fun night. You and Auntie Sara really bonded. She read to you and played with you for most of the night.

Say cheese for the camera!

You love reading books.

A day in the life

My what a day you had. We first started out going to church in the morning. We decided to visit Auntie Jess afterwards since our church is not so far from her house. She hadn't seen you in a while. Then we headed back home for a bit and then we visited your Toronto grandparents while daddy played soccer nearby. Here's just a quick snapshot of what happened today. I'm trying out a new iPhone app called Instagram where it allows you to put cool filters on iPhone photos that I take. So far I'm loving it!

We decided to pick up lunch for Auntie Jess on the way to her house so we stopped by Apache Burger. She said it has really good hamburgers. We ate there before we got her food because we didn't want to bring add more garbage to her house.

Auntie Jess was sweet enough to read to you while you were there. Here she is reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, a classic!

Look how engaged you are. Your hair looks so black here... Usually it's a dark brown.

On the way home from Auntie Jess' you passed out in the car. You had a very long day...

You had a BLAST at your Toronto grandparents' house. We played in the backyard, we went to the park and all in all it was a great afternoon. Daddy just put you to bed and you slept quite well... So long to a great weekend.

The boy who loved to read...

There's one thing you love and that's reading books. Actually you don't know how to read yet so I guess it would be for me to read you books. Auntie Sara and Uncle Dan just came back from their England vacation yesterday and they brought you back Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit book. I had the chance to read it to you today and you really enjoyed it. I was so afraid that you would rip out the pop ups (because you had already done that to your other books) and I didn't want you ruining such a beautiful book. Luckily you didn't :-)

One thing I'm noticing is how much you are changing. You try to copy everything we are saying now. This morning when daddy brought you to our bed after you had woken up you started pointing to the picture frames above our bed and started pointing and saying 'daddy, umma, Aidan!' Well, you don't say 'Aidan' quite perfectly. You say 'Ah-Den'. You then sat on mommy's stomach and started pointing to all my parts starting with my eyes. It was very cute.

Then at church you grabbed the wooden puzzle toys- the ones where you match the cut-out shapes to the puzzle back. You were fitting all the shapes into their proper place like a pro. And when I ask you what you want you nod your head as if you understand everything I am saying now. For example, if I say, "Aidan, do you want cheese?" You then nod your head. And then I ask you, "Say please." Then you say "peace" (as in please). After I give you the cheese I ask you to say thank you. Then you say, "Tank you". After you eat the cheese I ask you to throw it in the garbage and you run to the garbage can and throw it out. It's quite amazing. How did something that was nothing become this amazing little creature???

Goodnight Moon

Dear Aidan,

One of your favourite books so far is called Goodnight Moon. It's funny because when I first got that book as a gift at my baby shower I wasn't all that impressed with it. The illustrations were just ok and there were no bells and whistles such as a pop-up or flaps that you open. However, now I see why it's a cult classic. I think it's all the things that you can point to that's perfect for a toddler at your stage. I've been reading that book to you ever since you were born and I used to point to every single item that is in the poem in every page. Now I make you point to the item when I read it out to you. For example, the page where it reads, "Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight light, and the red balloon...", I say to you, "Aidan, where's the red balloon?" Then you point to the red balloon. You have the red balloon mastered and I'm in the process of getting you to master the kittens, the bears, the mouse, the house, the old lady, and the cow. You mostly get the bears, the cows, the kittens, and the mouse, but sometimes when you are tired you get frustrated and slam your fingers on the page.

Your cheeks are so red today. You were eating Alphagetti today and you had it all over your face. Notice the double bibs too. You are teething so your drools are more than usual.

There's one thing you love doing and that is getting read to. Once I finished reading this book to you, you grabbed it from my hand, started flipping through the pages and started blabbering like you were pretending to read.

I'm hoping that you will expand your vocabulary more. I got a package in the mail yesterday from the speech therapist's office that your doctor referred me to. I have to fill out this long questionnaire and return it to them before they can see you. The package also had tips on how to help you to talk. One thing was to get some of the things out of your reach so that you can learn to ask for things. So what I started doing was when I'm feeding you cheese I only give you a little bit on your plate and once you are finished eating it I ask you if you want more. I keep repeating the word cheese and even show it to you refilled on the plate, but out of your reach. When you reach out for it I keep repeating, "Cheese? Aidan, do you want cheese? Cheese, cheese, cheeeeeeese." I did it for 2 days in a row and you started saying cheese. Or at least it sounds like it.