Yogurt's 3rd birthday

Allison invited us to her 3rd birthday party a few weeks ago.  We have never been to the Norquay park and we were pleasantly surprised!  The playground is decent in size and has a fun water park component as well.  There is also huge field for people to play soccer/baseball, etc.  

This is Nate's very first time playing on the swing.  My two monsters had so much fun.  Both were squealing in delight!

 

"Hi, mommy.  Wassup?"

Nate chilling with por-por while Ali plays with the bubble wand.

Lunch time!  The two girls enjoying their pizza/sushi/veges on the picnic mat together.

I love how my little one eats her pizza.  So adorable AND funny.  Who eats pizza like that?  (apparently, my girl does!)

The Quadruple As!!

I love the cake!  See that little girl on the swing (on the cake)?  Isn't that cute?  

The two cake monsters enjoying their dessert together.  Precious!

 

We had so much fun celebrating your 3rd birthday Allison!  Wishing you the very very best!!

Circut time!

Wanted to blog about my cricut for quite some time now.  I saw this awesome deal during Black Friday last year and decided to upgrade from my little cricut to a big girl cricut.  Check it out, isn't it super stylish??  (Sorry, I am just so so in love with my machine!!)

Last year has been super crazy with our second child, I really didn't have any time to play with it until my friend's baby shower.  I saw a super cool baby art and it inspired me to make one myself.  It turned out quite well and I really wanted to make one for my kids too.  Oh right, I meant to make it, but it completely escaped my mind!  Crazy mommy brain.  Alright, I will add room-decor-art to my to do list.

I made another baby art - "a school of fish" for yan yan's birthday (Ali's bff):

Kai mama got two cricut cartridges for my birthday this year - which then reminded me that the princess cartridge that I bought for Kiki a year ago.  I have always wanted to make her a paper doll to play with.  Now, I finally have a chance!  Sorry that my pic is upside down.  The puffy dress is for Kiki and the other one is for Ali.

I really wanted to make clothes for my kiddies, but I suck at sewing.  The best I could do was to make dolls, towels and bags (pretty pathetic ones).  Last time I was at Joann's, I bought some fabric paint and a few 6-9 month onesies - hoping I would be able to make some cute outfit for Nate and his friends.  

When I started to work on the tees, Nate is already 8 months.  Time just flew by without me knowing.  Anyhow, went to Walmart to get onesies for Nate and tees for Ali.  Outfits for some summer fun!

Ali's whale shirt:

Nate's crab shirt:

My godchildren saw them and wanted to wear one too.  They each picked a design that they liked.  Hayden chose a goldfish that resembles his "rocket" for his shirt and Kiki picked a unicorn (of course!) for her dress.  Too bad I don't have any good pictures of my "products".

It is almost back to work time (only 2 more months left) and before I have to put away my cricut, I thought I would go crazy and make a few more tees.  In case anybody is interested, here is how I made the shirts:

1.  Pick a design and cut it out using your cricut.  I used "Create a Critter" cartridge for these tees.

2.  Tape the "frame" of the cutout on the shirt.  

3.  Colour the design using the fabric paint.  Make sure you remove the paper right after you finish painting and don't wait until it is dry to remove the paper.  I did that when I first started and the paper would stick to the design as it dried and it was REALLY difficult to take it out after.

4.  Wait until the paint dries and keep on working on the different layers.  For the pink dino, I tape the cutout back on the tee and then paint the spots on the body and lastly, the eyes and mouth.  The pink dino is pretty easy to do.  I made a T-rex one for Nate and that one was a bit more cumbersome.

Two more shirts for the baby cousins.  It is actually quite fun to make (and a bit addicting!).  I totally recommend this cartridge - an awesome buy!

 

Hanging out with our kai family

It's our kai family's annual visit to Vancouver.  Lucky for us, we get to hang out with the kids!  

Kai mama joked about taking baby Nate home and leaving one of her kids here.  Kiki and Hayhay were a bit stressed, not knowing that their mommy was just full of it!  I felt bad for the two, but I have to admit it was also quite entertaining to watch the two panic over who should be "thrown out of the house".

Kiki enjoying a quiet moment, drawing a few pictures.

Hubby enjoying some fun play times with the kids.  This is the first time that Ali got really jealous of her daddy.  She was almost in tears one night, telling us that Anders is HER DADDY.  Not Kiki's and Hayden's.    Every now and then, she would remind me that "He is MY daddy.  Ali is jealous."  So cute!

Ali playing train with Hayden goh goh:

 

I made a paper doll for each girl.  I am so glad I have finally got a chance to use the cartridge that I originally bought for Kira.  We spent quite a bit of time using the Cricut this trip.  We also made a few shirts together too.  Come to think of it, I forgot to take some pics of the shirts I made.  Oh man!

Ali's very first movie experience.  Her first movie is Dumbo and she actually quite enjoyed it!

We also went to the Arcade together with the kids.  Again, Ali's very first time.  The kids were SO excited!!!  And the games were such a rip-off!!  I couldn't believe how many tokens we went through.  And the number of tickets you need for some crappy prizes.  But considering how much fun they had, it was all worth it.

While we were waiting to get into "The Boss", the kids ran around.  They have so much energy!

Nothing is going to stop the kids having fun.  Even in Costco food court!

One of the outings was at Fun 4 Kids in Aberdeen Mall.  The three musketeers climbed up the play structures and had a blast.  Baby Nate had a lot of fun playing balls in the baby/toddler area too!  What a good find!

Science World is always a good place to hang out with the little ones.  Ali had a lot of fun playing with Kai mama.

And of course, a trip to the outer space with Hayden is in order!

 

Hubby played "duck, duck, goose" with the kiddies.  They all loved it so much.  Actually, I find it more entertaining to watch hubby play sometimes.  He is so funny!  It was Ali's first time playing this game and she quickly changed it to "chick, chick, goose".  Who is this hilarious girl?

A day out with the Quadruple As

Nothing beats a day at the farm with the little ones.  Last time we went to Maplewood farm, Ali was only two.  She enjoyed it and appreciated it a lot more now that she is one year older.

We started off at the Rabbitat.  Ali's favourite hang out spot!

And the day got a whole lot better when we had Yogurt and her baby bro joining us.

Mommy forgot to bring a hat for Nate, so Por-por lend him hers.  Haha...look at him!  So funny!

"Look at that!  It's a horsie, mommy!"

After we checked out all the animals, we had a little picnic with the...chickens.  Man, the chickens were so scary!!  They were hovering around for leftover food.  

 The two girls enjoying their lunch together.

In the afternoon, we were invited to the Quadruple A's house for some water fun.  We were so so happy to play in the pool as it was scorching hot!

The water was a bit too cold for Nate (as he was still recovering from a cold), so he went in to play with Adrian inside.  And according to the daddies, the two little boys had so much fun hanging out!!  They really enjoyed each other's company!  Another pair of BFFs in the making, perhaps?  

Thanks for hanging out with us, Yogurt and Adrian!!  We had so much fun!  Another playdate soon?

9 months update

I meant to write a 8 months update for Nate, but things just got so crazy that I kept pushing it back.  Here comes the 9 months update!

My little boy is growing so so so fast!  Sorry, I should say, rolling so so so fast!  Nate has gained much mobility in the past two months.  The fight for the toys officially begins in the Lam household.  Ali loves her baby bro, but at times, she would hoard the toys and put them on the couch so baby Nate could not lay his hands on them.

When Nate sees a new toy or anything that is curious about, he would creep (army crawl) to it really fast.  He is able to use his legs to help him too (but still not a proper crawl yet).  He is like an energizer bunny.  Even if I stick out my leg to block him, he would just keep on rolling!  His favorite toy is my elmo slippers.  He always tries to get them whenever I am not looking!  He can switch easily from belly to the sitting position and vice versa.

Everything Nate can get a hold of, he will just stick it into his mouth.  And I mean everything!!!  He LOVES his shakers.  We had to really watch him with the shakers because sometimes he likes to put the pointy end in his mouth.  He has 8 teeth.  EIGHT!!  

His all-time-favourite is....SOPHIE the giraffe.  Nate is a really busy baby - Sophie in his mouth, and toys in his hands.  Doesn't this picture remind you of a little puppy?  Go advance pet!

Nate is not as crazy about books as Ali, for sure.  He does like to look at pictures from time to time, but he does not have the patience to listen to me reading it.  Nate wants to "eat" it instead.  According to Nate, books are quite yummy.  He also protests quite a bit if you take his toy away.

 

Nate is not as vocal as Ali.  He still has not say "mama" and "dada" yet, which makes me a bit worried.  I hope he will learn to talk soon.  My little guy definitely knows his name tho.  He will respond to his name when called and sometimes, he will even wave to say bye-bye.  Baby knows simple commands and signs.  He also likes to check with me whenever he is getting something he is not supposed to get.  For example, we have a little tent (filled with books) in our little room.  Before he crawls in there, he will look at me first before he crawls in.  Actually, he will just crawl in regardless.  If I encourage him, he usually smiles before he proceeds, but if I say no to him, he will just crawl a bit faster.  Hahaha...silly baby!

 

Eating solids is still a main concern for us.  Nate is a terrible eater.  I don't know why, but he seems not too interested in food.  Even when he was a tiny baby.  He always clamped his lips really tight when we tried to feed him.  Lately he is a bit better, but still has a long way to go.  He is learning to drink formula from a cup, but he only drinks about 2 oz (at the most).  Still a long way to go before I can wean him off.  As of this week, we tried to feed him solids 3 times a day.

Feeding Nate made me realize how lucky we were to have Ali as our first baby.  She is such a great eater!  Not as much nowadays, but still eating generally pretty well compared to a few of her friends.  Baby weighs 8 kg and is 72 cm in length.  Nate-nate, eat more so that you can grow up to be a big, tall boy!  Mommy doesn't want you to be a little shrimp!!! 

We followed Ali's sleep schedule religiously when she was a baby, but not so much for Nate.  Poor boy has to revolve around his big sister's school/class schedule.  He still naps 3 times a day, although his naps are not that long (from 30 minutes to a little over an hour).  Nate goes to bed around 8:30 and I usually feed him around 11 and then again at 5 in the morning.  He gets up around 7-8 in the morning.  I think he can sleep in a bit longer in the morning, but Ali makes too much noise when she gets up!!

I am really glad that I kept a blog for the two kids.  I have such terrible memory that I don't remember what I did yesterday.  Occasionally, I would reread my old posts on Ali's first year development to refresh my mind as to what and how I overcome some of Ali's "growing pains".  I hope I will have the stamina to continue to blog.  Wish me luck!