Human sponge

Dear Aidan,

I'm so amazed how quickly you are picking things up now. Now you are able to copy everything that we do. Remember how I was saying yesterday that I was trying to teach you what'bbo bbo'meant? Well, you already picked it up. Daddy was showing me when I got home from work that when we say 'bbo bbo' now you come over and open your mouth as if about to kiss. Well, it's more of a French kiss, but still... Plus, I taught you a couple more things today. When I clap and say 'jjak jjak goong, jjak jjak goon' (in Korean it means clap, clap) you start copying me. I also taught you to put the back of your hand to your mouth and start moving it back and forth while blowing and making sound. I know it's hard to visualize, but I took a few snapshots of you doing that. You just loved it!

Kick, kick!

Dear Aidan,

You seem to understand what we tell you now. Now you know to wave when we say bye bye. You also know that kick means kick the ball. Today daddy was showing me how you can kick the ball now. When he started saying, 'kick, kick!' you immediately got up and looked for your mini soccer ball. Then you kicked it. I was lucky that I was able to capture a video of you doing exactly that when I shouted, 'kick!' Next thing I'm trying to teach is 'Bbo bbo' which means kiss in Korean. You already know what hug means. When we say hug you run over to us and give us a big hug. Awwwww...



Lately I've been seeing a lot of kids in the bus/subway while I'm going to work and coming home from work. Maybe it's because the school year has commenced, but every time I see a kid around your age I start thinking about you a lot. Today as I was walking to the subway on my way home I saw a little boy holding his father's hand. It's uncommon to see a boy your age on Bloor Street where I work because everyone there are professionals. Well, this boy was walking so carefully on Bloor and he was enjoying every step that he was taking. The little boy was so out-of-place where everyone was just rushing to get somewhere. It was so cute! It just reminded me of you right now at this age because you are just fascinated about everything. I just wanted to run home and give you a hug. I can't wait to take you out on day trips so that I can watch you do stuff like this.

My future hockey star

Dear Aidan,

What a night we had last night. You are so sick with ANOTHER cold. This time you are coughing a lot and you are really congested. You woke up crying from coughing last night. Daddy went to bring you over to our bed so that we could all sleep together. We thought that you would go to sleep right away. Boy, were we wrong. You were tossing for 2 hours straight. Daddy tried holding you and then putting you down, but it didn't work. We also tried changing your diaper and vacuuming your nose, but that didn't work either. Eventually I had to get up and feed you milk then rock you to sleep. I couldn't put you down in our bed because I just figured that you would be tossing and turning again. So I put you back in your crib. That did the trick. Both mommy and daddy were total zombies when we woke up at 6:25am. We got 3 hours of sleep. Sigh.

Now mommy is sick. I had to go to a walk-in clinic near my work to get a prescription for my swollen throat. The doctor told me I should drink lots of fluid and get lots of rest. I wish!

Even with all this lack of sleep you were looking a lot better today. You played well when mommy came home. Daddy was trying to teach you how to handle a hockey stick. Of course, it wasn't a real hockey stick, but just your little plastic one. You were so enamored with the ball.

We also taught you to wave bye bye today. Mommy was getting ready to go upstairs to put you to sleep, and daddy was waving bye bye to you. Daddy asked me to wave your hands so that you understood what that meant. Just then, you started waving your arms by yourself. It was so cute!

Well, I'm heading to bed now. Hopefully I can get sleep tonight.

Dinner party

Dear Aidan,

We came home pretty late last night so I didn't have a chance to post pictures I took yesterday at Do Yoon's house. Daddy's friend, Do Yoon, was hosting a dinner party at his house with his wife, Suran. It was us and Suran's friend, Hyun Jung & her husband, Daniel. Do Yoon is really into cooking so he prepared a wonderful meal for us. He made mushrooms stuffed with spicy crab, salmon steak, and rack of lamb. Mommy made hae pari naeng chae, which is a Korean jellyfish salad and Hyun Jung and her husband made walnut and cranberry salad and a cheese platter with prosciutto. It was a delicious dinner and it felt nice doing something like that. We haven't done a nice dinner party in a while. Daddy and I really enjoy eating, but ever since we had you we have to scarf down our food at restaurants so that one of us can look after you.


This was your outfit. You're wearing a jacket that Do Yoon bought for you in Korea that you got on your birthday. The jeans are Mexx jeans that mommy got for you, and the shoes are from Auntie Sara.



The table setting. I was drooling looking at all the food. Daddy, not so much. He was still recovering from his food poisoning incident so he didn't eat that much. Guy missed out!



Close-up shot.



Mommy's hae pari naeng chae. It took me forever to prepare/make, but it was so good. I got the recipe from your Toronto grandma. All the guest's loved it too. There was nothing left by the end of the night.



The salad. It was really delicious as well. I forgot to take photos of Do Yoon's mushroom, salmon, and lamb, but that's because you were a handful that night.



You look so good, but...



You were so needy. Daddy and I had to hold you most of the night because you cried every time we put you down. You just wanted to be held. It was hard...

Everyone is sick in this house...

Dear Aidan,

What a day. Daddy ate something weird yesterday (I think it was the Orange Julius drink that he got yesterday) and as a result he got food poisoning! He was in immense pain and he was in the bathroom most of the night. He woke me up in the middle of the night telling me that he couldn't go to work today. Basically he told me that I had to drop you off at daycare. I was fine with that except for the fact that I didn't sleep a wink last night. You were also not feeling well. You had a terrible cough so you had trouble breathing while you were sleeping in your crib. You woke up around 1am and started crying hysterically. I had to bring you over to our bed to soothe you. Unfortunately you kept tossing and turning because of your cough. Daddy is still quite sick. He's been just lying down the whole day and he didn't eat anything. You, meanwhile, had a really bad cough that the daycare told me to buy Vicks Vaporub for you. When I picked you up from daycare (I had a half day at work so I picked you up at 4pm) we went directly to Shopper's Drug Mart to buy medicine for you and daddy. I ended up buying Vicks Baby Rub and cough syrup for you and some sort of Charcoal pills for daddy- that's what the pharmacist recommended.

I'm pretty tired from taking care of both daddy and you today, but I'm hoping it will be a little easier tomorrow. It sucks because it's the long weekend this weekend, but it's being ruined by all the sickness!

I leave you off with a video of you throwing Rosco's toy to Rosco.

Let the trumpets sound!

Dear Aidan,

Mommy was done work EARLY today. I had thought that since today was the last day of production at work that for sure I had to work late. However, all the pages that went out today were all easy pages so we ended up finishing at 4pm. My boss wanted to take us out for a pint across the street so I was there for another hour. It felt good to know that I was going to see you today. Daddy picked me up from Finch passenger pick-up and I think you were surprised to see me. You kept looking at me and you smiled very slowly. We then went over to your Toronto grandparents' house for dinner and to see my cousin's daughter from Korea, who is here to study English for a year.

I leave you with some videos of you at your grandparents' house today. You were quite the needy one. I guess you were afraid that I was going to leave you so I had to constantly be by your side. You freaked when you didn't see me!

Frustrated

Dear Aidan,

This is the 3rd day in a row that I haven't seen you before you went to bed. I am beyond frustrated. I only see you for half an hour in the morning before daddy takes you to daycare, but that's not enough! What frustrates me is that at work sometimes I'm waiting for the Editors to give me stuff to send to the printers. I don't have much to do, it's mostly a waiting game. I was watching the clock at work to see if it was hitting close to 9pm because that's when we normally put you to sleep. I knew I wasn't going to make it home in time so I thought that I could download Skype so that I can at least say goodnight to you before you went to bed. Just my luck that by the time I downloaded it into my work computer you were already asleep. Sigh.

On a happier note, I'm supposed to be done production tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I'll be late again, but I'm planning to take a few days off after this issue wraps up so that I can spend more time with you. And I must say, daddy is doing a fantastic job as a single father. He's been playing with you, doing the pick-ups/drop-offs, making dinner, giving you a bath, and putting you to bed. I'm so thankful that he isn't getting annoyed at mommy coming home late all the time.

The photos above were taken this morning before you went to daycare. Nowadays I don't even have time to take photos of you unless it's in the morning...