Christmas time is all about fun...

Just some pics to share of our holiday fun so far: (unfortunately, I have been terrible at taking pics lately and I dropped my p&s camera :(

Enjoy and Happy New Year!


Anyone who has been by our place knows of how fun our hats are =)

Taken @Gingerbread Lane

Our little Santa

Sofia helping dad build her new kitchen!

26 months - Challenging Times

Our little miss S is entering her terrific yet terrible two stage. She loves to play and have a great old time, with no consideration of scheduling or appropriateness (ie. chasing after her to get her pants or jacket on before we need to go out). She can charm any aunty/uncle into playing with her and is not shy about it (demanding...but knows what she wants) The terrible part is managing the tantrums, how to best discipline her when she is testing her boundaries and dealing with her independence (ie. wanting what she wants when she wants it...)

It is truly the most challenging part of being a parent and tiring too. I have realized that I have to be more patient with her. Many times, I have lost my cool and felt terrible afterwards. Many moms tell me this is very normal but I think I still need to work at being more patient despite how frustrated I feel. Personally, I believe that kids act up as a way to get our attention so a strong negative reaction will just further demonstrate that they have pushed the right 'attention' button.

Month 26: memories to remember

Bedtime routine - after reading, we would sing the zoom, zoom, zoom song that allows us to zoom her into her bed. She loves it and can say the last word of each phrase and countdown with us plus wants us to zoom her teddy into bed too =) Once in bed, we would sing, "If you're happy and you know it" and "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and then finally we will end with a prayer and we can finally say good night and leave the room.

She can read the Sandra Bonyton, "Blue hat, Green hat" with our prompting on the word. It's amazing hearing her voice. I've noticed that she can say the last word of each sentence in a few books. She also seems to switch the wording in her simple phrases such as, "tv watch" or "baby sit". She is developing a bilingual vocabulary so certain words are said either in Chinese or English. She also is confused with the pronouns, you and me so when you point at Sofia's photo and ask her who that is, she will say, "you" when it should be "me". She can't say her name but refers to herself as "miu miu" which is our nickname for her.

We were watching the "Baby can read" DVD today and I was surprised how many of the words she knew and how she was able to mimic what the kids did in the video. We only showed her the video a handful of times when she was younger but she can definitely enjoy it more now.

She is into taking care of her teddy and mimicking what mom/dad does on a daily basis (ie. wash dishes, take baby to potty, wash hands, eat and drink) and dancing to any song with a beat!

Miu Miu, what would we do without you? =)

Food scraps collection update

In the summer, I had mentioned that the City of Burnaby implemented a Food Scraps program where you can dump your organics into the yard waste bin and they would pick up weekly. I am happy to report that we have been trying it out and love that we can recycle the organic stuff! It does require a few extra steps in our garbage routine but I think it is definitely worth it.

We started off with buying a ceramic compost container to keep the waste in the kitchen and then received another smaller version to keep next to the sink for convenience of everyday scraps we accumulate. The carbon filter keeps any smell from seeping through. The only nasty parts is dumping the scraps into the yard waste bin (stinks!) and having to clean out the container afterwards. However, we discovered (City actually recommends this) that by placing newspaper folded into a cone-shape into the container first before dumping the scraps, it actually prevents the organics from sticking to the container making it harder to clean. Now the cleaning part isn't so gross so thumbs up from me! We have been filling both containers up weekly so it's great that instead of it going to the dump, it's being composted. The City of Burnaby will be implementing a similar program into multi-family dwellings soon so it's great for those living in condos/townhomes.

Now if only I could get myself organized enough to get both kids on cloth diapers. Sofia is still using cloth diapers part time but disposables are just easier when we are out. Soon I hope...

4 months

Ahhh we are entering the 'golden' months with Nolan! A period of established routine, cooing/giggles and smiles and immobility. He celebrates his 4th month with a check-up with the doctor and his immunizations tomorrow. We expect him to be close to 17 lbs (yikes, can't imagine carrying him for another 8 months!) Luckily for us, he's pretty good about sleeping anywhere when tired without being carried.

Sleep: He gets cranky around 8pm so I wonder if he could sleep earlier but with two kids, we can only manage to put him to sleep around 9:30pm when his sister sleeps. He is waking up around 7am and with a quick feed, I can usually put him back down to sleep until 9ish or whenever Sofia wakes him up with her loud screams. He has one short nap mid morning and a long one in the afternoon that sometimes coincides with Sofia's nap (makes for one happy mom) and another short nap around dinnertime. I can't complain, he's a pretty decent sleeper so far but i'm sure sleep regression and training is just around the corner...

Pottying: With getting used to a routine with the kids, I have been able to attempt pottying Nolan. At first, I was only able to catch some pees and due to inexperience, many accidental pees on the counter and onto his foot. Then a week ago, he poop! Now, I can take him a few times in the day and I can tell he is trying to poop each time. Sometimes, I catch the big ones and other times, it's only the little poop farts.

With big sis: He watches as Sofia plays and dances around him all day with fascination. She loves to give him hugs and kisses all day. It makes me feel so happy and blessed to see the two of them.

Hand coordination: He is grabbing his bib and sticking his two fingers in his mouth daily. I think he is teething with the way we are going though bibs and changing clothes each day (spit up is still a major part of our lives) =) On a few occasions, he has pulled on his toys on the bouncy chair and playmat (and my hair ouch!)

Nicknames: baby no no, nolie, nole, big guy, da tan (big situation) - for his explosive poops (in the past) and spit up/vomit

Only four months with you and I love you so much already.

Guess who? =)

Both taken around 3 months, can you see the resemblance? The hair is a dead giveaway =)