Happy 9 months!!

Aidan in just a diaper on this hot day!

Already at nine months is our little Aidan. What did he get for his nine month? A new playpen bed to sleep in. His sleep pattern at night was just not right. At night, Aidan would wake up every three hours for a little feeding before falling back asleep. Or he would wake up and crawl around the bed searching for toys to play with -- usually at 4 am. Or he would want to crawl and get a close up at the fan on the floor. No no no. I would not be able to get any sleep because I have to watch for his safety. So, we bought a playpen for him to sleep in. We did the same for the girls when they were small. And I thought it helped make them sleep through the night...and allows me that same luxury too!

He can wake up..crawl in his contained space without having me worry about falling off the bed or looking for the fan.

The first few nights of putting him in there to sleep, he cried for about 30 minutes. I know he must feel scared because all this time, I have been sleeping next to him providing the little security he wanted. It breaks my heart to hear his sobs...and hiccupping. But I know that he must learn to sleep longer than 3 hours at a time and eventually through the night. I just restrain myself from his cries and just pretend to sleep.

So far, so good. He has learned to sleep for 6 hours straight. I still give him one feeding and a cuddle and he falls back to another long sleep. Fingers crossed that this continues.

Other milestones...he has learned to pull him self up to stand at the sofa and at the, heavens for bid, the coffee table. Some bumps and bruises but I guess that is just part of this phase. He not only stands but quickly lets go as if he wants to stand by himself. But he ends up falling or we catch him before he falls. What's the hurry little guy??

He is also eating so much different foods too. Although I still feed him his infant cereals and jarred goodnesses but he prefers our table food. We have gone through the different meats like chicken, pork and beef. He has tried noodles, pasta and thick congee. He likes congee made with chinese soup, oxtail or plain water. He has also learned to turn his head and makes a face when he sees his blue spoon. And he has not even tried the food yet...he already makes a face as if he does not like it. But when he does get the first taste, he eats without any problem. Games at the table?

His vocabulary has now expanded to asking for milk but that is about it. But lots of facial expressions for happy (he squints his eyes as he smiles), saying "no" by shaking his head side to side and he knows when he is getting yelled at because his eyes water very quickly and the corners of his mouth turn DOWN. If he wants food, he does go "mum mum".

Can't wait what the next month brings!!!

Petting Farm

Our day at the Petting Farm on McCowan Rd, south of Stouffville Rd. It was a really hot day even the horses did not want to stay outside. They went and hid in the shade. Or were they afraid of the CHANS??

Hot and Hazy

It has been a long time since we had such a hot summer and it has only begun. The days cannot go by without the air conditioner. Although I do appreciate the summer breezes in the morning. But as of lately, the humidex has already reached 30 celsius in the early morning hours. So, we do not open the screen door for our fresh breath of morning air. I can only remember our summers like this when I was little. So many years ago. Going to summer school and sitting a hot classroom of 30 ESL kids. Summer school was for ESL kids then, but we registered anyways...just to keep ourselves busy. I guess you can imagine that we did not pay much attention in class because lessons were so easy. I even remember the trips to Kew Beach, Centre Island and McDonalds.

With the days so hot, I even become very selective in what I prepare for lunch and dinner. We have had a few nights with noodle and soup so far.

Anyways...here is the update since my last entry.

On July 3, it was the start of the Family Fishing Week for this year. We went to Beaverton, our favourite spot up near Lake Simcoe. This year, Joyce and the gang, Karen and mom joined us. It was their first time up there to enjoy what we do every year. We even dropped by the Dollarama for a fishing rod so that Samuel can do some fishing with Anson too. The ride up was slow. There was some traffic congestion if you consider single lane both ways...and a really slow driver leading the pack. Passing was not do-able. There were some police cruisers checking for speeders - nothing new for a summer weekend heading north.

For lunch, we had a nice picnic by the lake. I made stromboli which is a pizza pocket but looks like a strudel. I also made the summer rolls as our salad to eat by hand. Joyce brought some yummy butter tarts. While Karen and mom contributed the apples which I do not recall seeing on the table. hmmm.

As for fishing, they did catch some black fish -- which we have never seen before and the standard yellow perch. The fish were small but the smiles and excitement on their faces when they reeled them in were memorable...darn, I brought my camera but did not take a single picture.

The only bad part of the outing was that there were tons of mosquitoes. We were lucky that they were not the hungry ones...just very annoying. The public washroom was fixed and have newer toilet stalls too. But the bug problem is still there. Lots of dragon flies hanging on the walls. I would not dare to sneeze in there.

Summer vacation...now what?

It seems like school started not so long ago...but really it was long ago. Aidan was not even born when school started for this year. I can't believe he is already 8 months plus. Seems odd to be allowed to sleep in but sometimes I just want to get up early anyways. Last day of school was June 29th at 11:30am...sort of brought some sad feelings to see the school year end when I was waiting in the school yard with my regular parent friends. Sad to also know that one of the EAs will not be returning to Wilclay in September. Cona was one of the first teacher friends I made. We got to know one another while helping out on various school trips. But the change is good for her since she will be working a Donald Cousens PS and it is only 5 mins away from her home. She will also be able to pick up her own kids from school now.

Report cards for the girls were good this year. I noticed some positive improvements especially with Amelia's..more A's this term! Must be the EQAO boot camp work. Next year, Amanda will be doing the EQAO tests.

What is in the plans for summer vacation?? We will be continuing with piano lessons, we also started tae kwon do -- which is some spectacle to watch, and of course, we will visit the library for 1 book to read each week. We can't stop reading over the summer.

Ah yes...our plans to drive to PEI...still in the works on the route. It seems like more work to prepare this time. The last time we went, I don't think I had time to read about other routes and just marked the route I saw shortest on the map. We can take the same route but we do not want to reduce the driving speed when we enter the little communities along the way. All highway would be nice. But then it means tolls. I90 is the toll highway we plan to use...and then it goes to I95 -- I don't remember if that one had tolls. But we will go thru MA this time.

So what is Aidan up to these days? He is crawling into everything...he has tried to climb into small places, pull down all the puzzles and games we stacked, and has also found the floor plants to knock over. But we stopped him on the last one. He also found out that the heat vent covers are removable and the door stoppers make noises when you pull them. Another trick he has learned...make faces of disgust when he does not want to eat his food. But mouths every piece of paper he finds.

I better check where my little explorer is up to now...