Changes

As the leaves have started to fall, it is a clear indication that the last days of summer are coming to an end soon. Sept. 21st marks the last day of summer! It's always sad for me to put away our flip-flops, t-shirts, shorts, etc. I always try to hang on to summer and whenever I can, I will always wear my flip-flops :)

I remember that the last blog that I posted was about the mundaneness of life and how I was learning to embrace the "every day ordinary stuff". Ironically, I miss it as this month has been a month of changes. It's the start of a new school year and I went back to work part time at Fleming which is my old elementary school. It's quite nostalgic walking down the same hallways as I did when I was a child. Even some of the old teachers are still there! My old grade seven's teacher's son is now teaching his class. Talk about a small world!!!

The boys are transitioning to their respective daycares and I'm learning to juggle working and being a mom. The house is definitely not as a clean but I am reminding myself that it's okay and things will settle down as we all get into a new routine. Despite it being difficult to adjust to new schedules and being more tired, I have to come realized how much I do love teaching and that I have made the right decision to go back into the workforce part-time. I still spend most of the week with the boys but it's also nice to have work to look forward to, as well.
Here are some updates on the boys...let's start with the younger one...

Noah's 14 months' update

• N turned ONE back in July and we had a really fun Luau to celebrate his first birthday!
  
• Nicknames: Noey, Nono
• N started walking just a few days before he turned one and is now getting a lot better walking independently.
• N can climb up and down the stairs all by himself
• He still seems to be the calmer and happier one of the boys
• First words are: Adah, Babu, Mama
• Loves to eat noodles, veggie crackers and anything that Aidan is eating
• Loves to play with anything that Aidan's playing with

Aidan's 3.5 years' update

• Fave song: Down by the Bay (makes up his own lyrics like ghost eating toast and moose kissing a goose)
• Began attending Sunset Daycare in Sept. and loves the teachers and his new friends. He's learning so many new things there like empathy. The other day, I was feeling sad and he gave me a hug and drew me pic of the whole world to make me feel better.
  
• Fave activities: reading and art
• Started riding his no-pedals bike in Aug.
• Aidan is telling me to write that he loves swimming with Joshie!

**We want to thank Auntie Melissa for taking our family photos for us this summer at the Oval. We absolutely love our pics! It was nice to include the dogs this time around**

Back to the mundaness of life

ALOHA! We got back from sunny Hawaii at the end of May and it's hard to come back to rain, rain and more rain. We had a lot of fun traveling with our friends as there were a total of four families = 8 adults, 4 boys and 1 girl. Ever since coming back, we've realized how mundane our lives are...

We can pretty much tell you how our every day looks like:

6:30am: kids wake up
7:00am: feed them breakfast9:00am: A goes to preschool, N naps
11:45am: pick up A from preschool
noon: lunch time
1:30pm: nap times for both boys
4:00pm: after nap activity: library, go to the park, playdate, cook dinner
5:45pm: dinner
6:45pm: get ready for bed...good night!

I wonder how we can inject some spice into our lives? I guess, it is in the mundane ways of life that we find security. I know for a fact that if we were to mess up the boys' nap schedules in order for us to go out, etc. then we would be the ones to pay for it in the end. Kids in general like schedules because they would know what to expect and helps them to function better. At least, it is in my family's case. I just need to accept this phase of my life and embrace as it is, mundane and all.

I am reminded of what our dear friends have told us: "we are living the life!" as most people aim to have a family, dogs, a home, etc. and we have exactly just that. I need to really remember that especially when my three old throws his epic tantrums, and my ten month old attempts to drinks from the dog bowl....

Spring already?

I was just thinking about how long it's been since updating this blog, and I couldn't believe that Winter has come and gone, and we are already now mid-way through Spring. The reasons for this blog are mostly to keep a record of the things that our family goes through and to keep in touch with those that are far away. This past season has been a memorable one as it was filled with lots of fun and activities. Our city hosted the Winter Olympics games and I was pleasantly surprised at how I ended up enjoying them. I loved all the different cultures getting together for one common goal and the energy on the streets were electric. We've also been busy renovating our home; it seems like an endless task but it is slowly coming together. VC has been working very hard on our backyard getting it ready for the summer bbqs by laying down some flagstones, new fencing, etc. Can't wait until it's all done and I can sip a glass of sangria on the new patio.

Noah's Update

• Age and weight: 8 months and is close to 25lbs (just 6 pounds less than A)
  
• Nicknames: Noey (given by A) Godzilla (because he likes to destroy A's trains), Noahsaurus (given by Auntie Lulu) and Notastic (given by daddy cause he's fantastic!)
  
• Started crawling in late Feb. and is now going all over the place and even climbing the stairs. He is also cruising along the sofa, too.
• is enrolled in Music Together classes with big bro and has been thoroughly enjoying the music and is the "social butterly" of the class as he goes to each person and says hello in his own way.
• Loves, loves, loves to eat, especially our food. He's been refusing to eat mush and even though he still doesn't have teeth, he's pretty good at eating noodles, Os, and small chunks of food.
• generally a happy and easy-going baby and his giggles light up my day

Aidan's Update

• Age: 3 years old
• Nicknames: Coop, bug
  
• Started preschool in March at Spare Time Kids World and has been enjoying going to school and learning new things
• Some of his favourite places to go to are: Aquarium and Science World
• Potty-trained when he was 2.5 years old =) but is still in diapers for night though.
  
• According to A, his best friends are: JM and CG
• Favourite dog: Rylee
• Favourite bird: owl
• Favourite colours: red and blue
  
• Favourite food: bunnies and fish congee
• Newest obsession: Lightning Mcqueen from CARS
  
• When we observe A during his various play dates, we've come to realize that he can be the ruthless ring leader, making others follow him or play with things that he insists that they should play with. We are working on teaching him that he needs to let others do their own thing and if they choose not to do what he wants them to then that's okay too.
• I love Aidan's enthusiasm for life!
  

A Year in Review

2009 has been a year full of new adventures and introspection. One of our church members, Dr. Kerry Telford, tragically died with her infant, Sarah Grace, in a floatplane accident back in November and a couple of our dear friends' dads have passed away recently. As a result of such sad events, it brings us back to our knees as we ask our Creator some hard questions and often times, there's silence. "Why God?" "Why Kerry and her little girl?" Eventhough I've only talked to her a handful of times, Kerry has often radiated such fullness of life and joy that can only come from above. She's done such marvelous deeds to her community and to her jungles in Peru. A life that seems to be taken away far too soon. Our thoughts are with Kerry's family and with our friends' families who have lost their loved ones. In light of the frailty of life, we're reminded to live life to its fullest and to be thankful for what we have at this present time. We wanted to take this time to wish you a Happy New Year and we hope that you will enjoy reading our blog as we finish this year off by counting our blessings one by one:

• First on the list is of course, the birth of our second baby boy: Noah


• A's strong immune system as he licked the HK's tram windows and still didn't get sick =)


• Our first trip to Asia and we had a wonderful and memorable time spent with family


• Izzy finally received a continuing contract with the VSB after 6 long years!


• Watching A's learning new things. His latest accomplishments include being potty trained (day time) and stringing lots of words and actually making sense.


• A and N's brotherhood! It's such a joy seeing them interact with one another.


• One of Vince's highlights was Playtown in HK. Imagine a 10,000 sq. feet indoor playground that features gigantic play structures that both kids and adults can climb into and a really awesome ballistic arena.


• Family is always a blessing esp. Auntie Lulu who lived with us at the beginning of the year. We truly appreciate her help and her love towards us! She's so wonderful to our boys (and Uncle Damien, too).


• Izzy's mom came out during the summer and was an invaluable help during the birth of Noah.


• and last but not least, we're thankful for our friends both old and new, near and far...

Life with 2

A lot of people have asked how life is with 2? The first three months have been super hectic, like a whirlwind but things have settled down a bit and I am getting the hang of it these days. I love watching A interact with N and vice versa. My favourite times are when N is giggling away when A is doing something funny....and let me tell you how many silly tricks A has up his sleeves. Sometimes, N would laugh so hard when A is doing something that he shouldn't be doing ie. jumping too close to his head, bumping into him, etc.

The hardest part I would say is to make sure that each boy gets enough attention from me but the truth is that N is often ignored b/c he's so sweet and easygoing as he's content just staring or sucking on his fist. My little Noah is growing so fast and he's almost four months and close to 19lbs. Crazy! A wasn't even close to that weight until he was ONE. What is going on? Maybe it's my supermilk. =)

Wake up, Baby Noah!

Hello everyone,

This is Aidan and I have great news: I am officially a BIG brother now to...

Baby Noah
born on July 23, 2009
8lbs. (a bit heavier than me when I was born!)
51 cm. (same length as me when I was born!)

Noah was born at BC Women's Hospital after an intense and natural delivery at 10:30am in the Cedar Room #14 (just a few rooms down from where I was born!!). I like reading to Baby Noah and I even tried to share my trains with him but he doesn't want to play b/c he's always sleeping so I keep saying "Wake up, baby Noah"!! So far, it hasn't really worked yet. When mommy tells me that he's hungry, I also offered him some of my cheerios and once again, he did not seem interested. I want to play with him now! I like being a big brother so far =)

praying for the peoples...

Lately, we've been asking A who he would like to pray for (inspired by Auntie T and lumlum) and he's been answering us with "peoples". He often remembers to be thankful for the things that he has, too. It really warms my heart when A is able to look beyond himself and be able to grasp the fact that the world around him is a very big place. Of course, he has his typical two year old tantrums here and there but when he asks to pray for "peoples", it reminds me to persevere as it makes the hardships of parenthood all worth it.

I am 38 weeks prego and I have a gut feeling that baby #2 wants to make an early arrival. My mom's flying in from TO to help us out indefinitely and I'm very, very thankful to have an extra pair of hands as doing everyday things can be tedious now with my HUGEMONGOUS belly. I am trying to really enjoy my last days with A and try to prepare of what is to come. Another season of our lives is about to begin...

In case, I don't get a chance to blog, I wanted to brainstorm some of AC's new stuff:

• newest obsession: Thomas the Train
• fave animal at the Vancouver Zoo: racoon
• loves climbing, running and jumping
• finished his first "Music Together" class and has learned many new songs (his fave: Ladybug)
• developing a funny sense of humour
• started humming and singing (and dancing at times) with no prompting
• gives fishy kisses to daddy
• still loves his hippo and must have it when he goes down for his naps and bedtime

Thank you for the wonderful times, Auntie T, Uncle P, and lumlum! We miss you!!!