Where did the day go?

Days seem to be flying by and its not that we're busy with anything really, just the day to day. We are all doing well. I've got a sore throat and I think I'm trying to fight off a cold because I feel tired. Gary is still running a lot, he did a nice 10km run early this morning. Kai is also running all over the place and getting into everything. Apparently his soccer ball belongs in the toilet and daddy's wallet should be in the closet. I'm excited to be going back to work part time, I think it is the best possible solution for what to do (for me). Kai has been doing well at daycare and I feel really good about where he is. I'm also so thankful that he is able to have a solid 3 hour nap there, what a relief!
My goal for this month is to see a chiropractor. I've never seen one but I think I should. My back has really felt out of whack since I was pregnant with our 10 million pound baby.
Our first football game is next weekend, hopefully, as long as they find us fields outside of Vancouver (due to the strike).
I should be acting like Gary and I have a life as I believe its Friday night but we have free cable for one month and I think we are watching the Lions game tonight. By the way, I have really realized that I am an introvert. As time goes by, I believe I am more and more introverted. This is not a bad thing. Really.

It's always exciting for Kai when the newspaper comes....

Here's his silly face...auntie Jantina has taught him to do this on command.

His newest word is `Up! Up! Up!' so here is trying to make daddy's chair go up.

Kisses from daddy

Kai's `new' shoes

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting I've been looking for shoes for Kai as he has size 4 (or smaller) feet and finally found these second hand leather Air Jordans for $1.99! He looks so cute clomping around:) As mentioned in Maria's comment, now that I'm back to work, it appears I'm not blogging. My goal is to continue to update the blog at least twice a week and to continue to take a plethora of pictures:)

So, I've been back to work for two days. We have staff meetings this week and start teaching next week. I have to say that I love where I work and its great to be with my second `family' again. The only hard part is leaving Kai and I have to say that so far, its easier than I thought. I think its a lot more tiring for him but he appears to be doing well. Today when I dropped him off and started walking out the door, he ran after me and fell face first on the hardwood. He was really crying and then we saw that he had a pretty bloody nose. Oh boy, his first nose bleed as I'm about to leave. We got him fixed up and left a few minutes later. Apparently he was a good boy and he took a solid 2 1/2 hour nap. Phew. He loves that blankie. As soon as work is done though, i can't wait to see him, that's the hardest part...just the drive to go get him:)

Sammy the Salmon

Today we went walked to our local park to celebrate our community's wonderful work with conservation and sustainability:) It was actually kinda cool as there was a huge, inflatable, colourful salmon that we could go inside of. Inside, there was a puppet show about recycling.


So far, going back to cloth diapers has been awesome. It is waaaaaaaay easier at this stage. I've also seen re-usable cloth swimmers which we should've gotten at the beginning of the summer. This morning I hit the garage sales at 8am and I bought him the cutest jean jacket (its brand new!). Sure, its for a 2 year old but when I roll up the sleeves, its perfect! One more day and then its back to work! Wow.

PNE

Three hours were all we needed (due to the sweatiness of it all and the need for Kai's second nap). What did we do? First we went to Superdogs. Kai sat there expressionless for about 20 minutes. We were up in the balcony and it was dark with so many lights flashing, he had no idea what was going on. It's too bad we weren't on the floor with the dogs, he would've LOVED that! Then, we went to the petting zoo area. Kai was able to pet the goats and sheep and call them all doggies.

We then headed out to the `Flying Canucks' which were present and future Olympians that showed off their ski/snowboard flips and trampoline skills. Kinda fun. Here kai and I are future bobsledders.

We then watched the parade and Kai got to see Curious George and Scooby doo. We met up with Maria, Kris and Ani for a bit too. Kai was walking everywhere and trying to eat bugs on the ground.

Finally we saw the Peking Acrobats which was def. the highlight. It was pretty cool stuff, although, we left a few minutes early as our little guy was causing a bit of a scene (rightfully so, he was up 2 hours past his regular nap time and it was a million degrees in there). Fortunately the traffic on the way home was okay at 5pm! Woohoo! Kai fell asleep after screaming for 15 minutes. I am going to buy him 2 of his special blankie so we are never without one. I tried getting him excited about a different replacement one in the car, but, he placed the corner in his mouth and decided it wouldn't do (he always holds a corner in one hand and sucks his thumb with the other when he's trying to sleep).

I'm really excited for the day when he doesn't need to nap and he can be SUPER excited about all the rides and beg me for cotton candy:) I wonder if I'll let him have it....

A few more days..

*two new videos at the end if you've already read this post*

We discovered this pathway that winds amongst trees and long grass just seconds from our house. It looked sort of garbage-dumpish and that's why I was pleasantly suprised to find a path with beautiful trees! We picked some blackberries which reminded me of the good ole days. We would pick tons and either sell them to the produce store for some good money, or, my mom would make us pick an icecream bucket each so she could make jam and pies. My dad would put us in the tractor bucket to ensure that we got all the good, juicy ones.

My dad (opi) with the two grandkids. My dad was tempting Kai to eat a bug and it was driving me crazy as he would've eaten that millipede in a second!

ani

A few more days and then...I'm back to work! I'm sort of looking forward to it so that's good! What else is new? Kai is a monkey, and is into everything but I LOVE it. Except for the toilet, I don't love that he's into that. He just makes me laugh. I ask him to get me something and he gets about a foot away and then he pulls it away, giggles, and runs. Maybe I'll get sick of it, but for now, I think he's funny! He is a squirmer and when I try to change him (on the floor), he starts rolling and rolling...Talking about diapers, we are back to cloth again (I'll have him disposables for daycare) and I'm wondering if there is any advice for covers vs. all in ones. Is anyone selling any?

A little more on Kai, he's got another word. Door, but he doesn't say the `r'. He has been saying `daddy' all the time and only mama if i really, really encourage him. He is still eating bark mulch at the park, therefore, our visits last about 5 minutes.

Yesterday I had the whole house to myself for about 8 hours. It was crazy! I have not been alone in the house for more than an hour IN OVER A YEAR! I let doors slam, I went shopping, I read for 2 hours straight, I scrapbooked 4 pages, I ate at the appropriate times (with kai, I usually forget i'm hungy until he's napping or something). Wow, I felt single again. By 4pm I was eagerly awaiting the return of my boys, that's for sure!

On Tuesday we had a family dinner for my birthday. Three of my sisters were there (one's in Namibia, but her boyfriend came) as were the signifigant others/boyfriends etc. It was really fun as we questioned the newest `man' about his inentions with my sister and why he was attracted to her etc.

Football practices started again yesterday, fun times. I'm excited to play again this fall. I'm really excited because we now have two people that can QB which takes off some of the stress/pressure!

Here's a video showing his `fun' crawl.

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And this shows how much kaisie loves Daddy (aka Zooper as Gary has been calling him) as he will leave anything as soon as daddy's ready to play! By the way, I know our mirrors are very dirty, it seems to be one of his fav. things right now so I'm not cleaning them everyday!

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GC Photography!

Hello all! Gary and I (well, I guess Kai too), are excited to introduce to you our newest little project! We now have a studio in our basement available to take photos of YOU (or anyone else you know). Our photos, and information, are available for viewing on our GC Photography blog on the side link. Once on the blog, there is also a link for our portfolio.

Above is the advertisement that we are handing out. We are also available to do on location shots, whether they be candid or posed. If you haven't seen Gary's photos before, he's pretty talented. This has def. been a team effort and I look forward to seeing what we can do. Don't worry, I won't be advertising on here at all, but if you know anyone that would like pictures taken, please contact us!

Doggie kisses

Kai got his fingers caught in the door (he could open and close doors all day long) and nothing would console him UNTIL....Thompson's doggie kisses covered his face. His crying was warranted as the skin came off two of his fingertips.

A nice relaxing stroll?

Kai and I went to the park this morning at 9am and after the fifth handfull of bark mulch that made it into his mouth, I decided it was time to go home. Sometimes, he would pretend to put it in his mouth and then throw it away. Other times, he'd look at me, smile and jam it in. I don't worry about leaves and dirt but when a sharp piece of wood could possibly penetrate his esophagus or intestines, I'm not too excited (I've seen too many episodes of `House'). So, we decided to head home. Kai wanted to push the stroller. That seemed good to me, it would tire him out. The 3 block walk, which normally takes a few minutes, took about 25 minutes. He had to stop at each tree to hold onto it and walk around it. Every leaf had to be put in his mouth. Sometimes he wanted to stop and play with my toes (he LOVES feet and everything to do with them; toes, socks, shoes). The lawn ornaments were extremely exciting and had to be touched. The fences had to be banged on. I just kept thinking of how patient I was being and I was pretty proud of myself:) I'm glad he could enjoy his walk, its fun to see him be so interested in everything. Hopefully I continue to be patient and appreciate his wonder.

Happy Birthday to....me!

Cute birthday picture from friends! Thanks guys!
My birthday was yesterday so it seemed to be celebrated with a whole lotta food! For breakfast, Gary, Kai and I went to IHOP. I never eat large breakfasts but boy, did we get our money's worth! Kai also enjoyed sausage, eggs, french toast etc. Then, Trisha (my sis) dropped off some DQ concoctions and my dad dropped off a milk chocolate hazelnut bar. My sisters all got Gary and I a gift certificate to Vij's in Vancouver so we went there tonight without Kai (thanks for babysitting Grandma!). If you are looking for good indian food, you probably want to check it out. Dinner starts at 5:30 but when we got there at 5pm, we were 9th in line. By 5:15 the line up was a block long. They were so friendly and efficient there and the food was AWESOME. I had beef tenderloin with a chesnut and mushroom sauce, garlic mashed potatoes with cumin and some greens. It was probably the best meat I've ever had in my life. Gary had the duck with a mango curry which was also amazing. They give you tons of naan bread (although I actually like Gary's better because I don't like cumin seeds in my bread) and chai to drink. Yum yum.
Finished off tonight by watching `So You Think You Can Dance'...no idea who is going to win but I sure thought Danny's solo was amazing. Bon nuit!

Pros and Cons

Gary is a great cook and photographer, which is super fabulous. Let me just point out a few things...

Pros: yummy food and great variety, don't have to cook often, don't spend a lot of money on eating out, great pictures, fun to be creative together

Cons: good food can be quite expensive (only real parmesan cheese for him), no excuse to go to a restaurant when he can make it himself, lotsa trips to the grocery store (walking 95% of the time which I like...a fun-ish family outing), we're not really `allowed' to buy macoroni and cheese or hot dogs (but I do when he's gone!!), expensive camera stuff, always new computer programs to learn, always one more piece of equipment needed for the camera or computer.



Please don't think I'm complaining, I'm not. Just showing both sides to something.

What did we do today? Gary ran a 7 km in 30 something minutes which pumped him up for the day and then we went for a walk around Mill Lake where Kai learned the word `duck'. We've been super busy getting our little business together and it should be ready to go by the end of the week!

Kai has turned into a big little boy in the sense that he no longer will go happily if I remove him from something, he now acts like he might die. If I'm carrying him away from the computer or something else he shouldn't be touching, he pushes himself away from me with all his might while verbalizing his anger with screaming. If I don't let him eat some food that I may be eating, oh boy, watch out. He likes to throw things and eat everything (today he ate some leaves and grass and would've continued to do so regardless of the taste or texture). I know little boys can be a bit wild so I'm getting a little nervous about what's to come. I have to say that I cannot wait to discipline him (I heard you should start at about 18 months, no idea where I got this from but sounds good to me)! Time outs, here we come! For now, its just the firm `no'.

Here's a cute photo of Kai that was taken a couple days of go by my lovely personal chef and photographer; Gary.