So now that I have been a parent for over four and half years I realize that there are things that you love and loathe about every "stage". I will confess that the baby stage wasn't my favourite. Although nothing beats a sleeping infant on your chest, I just couldn't wait until my kids could tell me why they were having an insatiable cry-fest. I can still remember rocking/bouncing/swinging my babies wishing they could tell me why they were up for the 38th time that night. Is it because you hated baby sing along group today? Is it because you detest being swaddled like a baby burrito? Is it because the elastic on your adorable little Robeez is cutting off the circulation in your chubby ankles? Is it because mommy smells like baby spit-up and puke? There are only a handful of situations I knew exactly why my baby were crying, most of the time it was a lucky guess. Looking back I only recorded happy moments, I can count on one hand the number photos I have of my babies expressing another other emotion than adorable, gleeful happiness which leads me to this misguided belief that my babies cried only 5 times in their infant year.
Because mommy made me try creamed corn.
Because its butternut squash.
So to ensure that I preserve a more accurate memory of this toddler/preschooler stage, I started documenting both Joy, Sadness & Anger. I know people refer to this stage as the 'terrible two's' and my husband refers to our 2 and 4 year olds as 'the two-nami (tsunami) and 'the four-nado' (tornado). Pretty accurate description as with this age, I feel that everything is amplified....when they are happy, they are hysterically laughing, good-for-the-soul belly laughter that is contagious but when they are upset, they are like a natural disaster of wailing, failing bodies accompanied by a tsunami of tears. But the greatest thing with this age is that most of the time, the trigger for the 'twonami' or the 'fournado' are totally irrational, flat-out stupid reasons. I used to get so irriated with these tearful episodes but I realized that if I just stayed calm that they might learn to not make such a stinkin' deal over non-issues. It also makes me feel better to take pictures of them in such episodes and know that I could blog about it later. There are less pictures of Nallie because I realized quickly that taking a picture of her while she is in such emotional state causes the meltdown to go from just 'loud and annoying' to Defcon 5. So in no particular order, these are reasons why my child is crying.
Because I have the keys but can't reach the key hole.
Because the small Mr. Potato Heads have no ear holes.
Because I didn't get to paddle the laundry basket boat.
Because a toothbrush is invading my mouth.
Because I am not facing the same way as my brother.
Because I can't reach the spoon.
Because my banana bread breaks apart when I hold it.
Because I wanted to wear my jammies all day.
Because the balloon is bumpy.
Because the cake keeps falling off my fork (and I refuse any help).
Because Dad gave the empty Kleenex box to my sister and not me.
Because I didn't open the front door.
Because I can't print the letter Y.
Because Mommy said no Cheetos for breakfast.
Because mommy didn't let me bring a princess purse with me.
Because I woke up and realized I was awake.
Because they didn't have Paw Patrol shoes in my size.
Because I wanted a 'big boy' bowl.
Because I had to wait my turn to sweep the floor.
Because Mommy held my hand down the stairs.
And one of my favourites...
because we don't fit in the laundry basket together.
I am documenting these moments in time not to make fun of and laugh at them (although it is hard not to laugh sometimes) but to remind myself that this amplified emotional disaster over trivial issues is just a stage and as with any stage, it is an abundant blessing to be parenting little ones and I will miss it tremendously when this stage is over. And just as trivial issues will cause my kids to dissolve into a tsunami of tears, really insignificant things will also bring them great joy and uncontrollable laughter. Yesterday, the kids invented 'belly tag' and they ran in circles trying to crash their belly buttons together and were laughing until they were hyperventilating. And the things that cause them to cry might be a really big deal to them at that moment in time. At least it's a lot easier as a parent to console my sobbing toddler that it is OK to drink from a pink cup and the water will taste the same as it does in the blue cup than a sobbing teenager with a broken heart. I am not ready for that yet, so please by all means just keep crying over not being able to wear your bathing suit to school.
Simon and two of his friends signed up for Valley Granfondo in June where they will be biking an epic 160 km and Simon hasn't had much time to train lately. This is mostly my fault since I often jet off for work (and leave him with Dad duty) when he gets home from work which doesn't leave him much time to get on his bike. So I was feeling rather guilty that I wasn't giving him the time he needed to train for his 160 km race so that when I heard his friends were doing a 100 km today (the Pacific Populaire), I signed him up and told him he had 48 hours to get ready to bike 100 km. I thought Simon would panic but he looked at the route decided it wasn't overly challenging. But I guess anything after biking the Granfondo race to Whister last September, any route seems like a picnic in the park.
But speaking of picnics in the park, we gathered our cheermeisters and went to cheer all the dads. We had a picnic lunch and the kids sported their "Go Dad Go!" shirts and made full use of their loud vocal cheering abilities and shook their cowbells with all their might. Had to admit, it was pretty adorable. It was great energy and I am sure all the riders enjoyed being serenated by this pint-sized crew.
Go Dad Go! Go Dad Go! You can also watch the 7 second video of their loud vocal abilities...
We timed it pretty well and the kids didn't have to wait long before the dads came in. Simon and Lance finished together and completed the 100 km in 4 hours and 10 minutes! Brian unfortunately got a flat tire with less than 12 km to the finish but he fixed up his tire and the kids were happy to cheer for him at the finish.
Can you spot Simon and Lance?
Brian happy to be at the finish
Simon wanted to take the classic bite-your-medal picture but sadly they only got pins so here is the best we could do
The finish was right by a park so that worked out well for the kids to play after their hard work cheering.
Loved that these kids made lots of people smile today!
It is now a tradition to use Resurrection Eggs to help Natallie understand Easter was not about bunnies that lay chocolate eggs but about a Savior that loves her more than she could ever know. Last year we kinda skipped Easter because we were throwing up in Cancun. Anyways, two years ago we did "the hunt" and both kids were so excited about doing it again this year...
We opened one egg every evening after supper. Inside was an object that was part of the Easter story like silver coins that represented Judas betraying Jesus for 30 silver coins.
Natallie knew today was Easter and she burst into our room at 7:00 am, turned on all the lights and yelled, "its Easter! it's Easter!"
Hallelujah, He is Risen so I guess I need to get out bed now too.
They hunted for eggs in our brand new faux grass front lawn.
Then we opened up the eggs to find the letters inside each egg and matched each colored letter to the color-coded paper to spell the 'secret message': JESUS IS ALIVE!
Celebrate! Hallelujah! He is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed!
I hope we can keep doing this every year until the kids think its stupid to look for eggs in the front yard. It's so much fun to look back at see how much they have grown and how much we are blessed.
My sister and I are less than 2 years apart and from what we remember of our childhood, we really enjoyed being sisters. There was the time I accidently rocked her too hard on a teeter totter boat which landed her in the hospital but other than that our childhood was all happy memories or at least we forgot all the bad stuff. I remember playing house (the baby was always named Angelica), taking every kind of extracurricular activity today (you name it, we did it...even Circus camp...we seriously learned to ride unicycles together), complaining about Chinese school, and watching every episode of Full House together. We loved the Olsen twins, I remember wishing we were twins and we'd dress up alike and pretend to be twins sometimes.
It was so nice always having my sister to do new things with and always having a friend. I remember one time, we went to sleep away camp for the first time and we got so homesick, we tried to sleep on the same bunk together but our wicked camp counsellor told us we weren't allowed and we would break the bed (seriously? how much can two tiny Asian girls weigh?) I remember having to retreat back to the top bunk with Rainbow on the lower bunk and we tried to hold hands through the night.
Anyways, anyone who knows my sister knows she is awesome. She is now affectionately referred to as Auntie Rainbee to the kids and we decided to throw a surprise birthday party for her.
We got balloons and re-used Noah's "Happy Birthday" banner from his minion-themed birthday and the kids were so excited. She wasn't supposed to come to 5:45pm and I really shouldn't of told the kids to be on the look-out at 4:00pm because they just sat by the window anxiously waiting and by the time it was 5:45pm they had left their lookout duties but we managed to pull it off and all yell SUPRISE!
Oh and the cake! What a disaster! I was in such a frenzied state trying to get everything ready before she got there that I dropped the cake and the 5-second-rule-it's-still-good rule did not apply. It was not all good, it was all smushed on one side and the once legible "Happy Birthday Rainbow" in pink icing now said "Haonkalfdaosfhadshfn,jnayagfbjksdafbjkd" I tried to fix it. I put that plastic Happy Birthday in. This is what it looked like after I tried to improve it.. #FAIL
Then Simon - who the kids refer to as The Fixer Upper was able to work his magic and made the cake look like this! I am so impressed. I married this man for a lot of reasons but I didn't know that fixing smushed cakes that neurotic wife had dropped on the floor was one of them! #WIN
I wasn't even going to tell Rainbow that I had dropped it but Simon deserved credit for his miracle work so I told her and then I showed her the picture of "nailed-it" fix job. That made everyone laugh. Glad I am good for at least that!
Happy birthday Auntie Rainbee! Thanks for being a great sister and a even better auntie.
1. Wrestle small child into thermal layers, ski pants, ski jacket, helmet, goggles, gloves.
2. Rest from the exhausting cardio workout.
3. Bring small child to ski lessons.
4. Ignore small child's requests that she only wants to ski with daddy and mommy. Take small child to 'preschool ski school'
5. Tall Aussie man with reflective goggles attempts to take small child to the bunny hill.
6. Small child wails and wails and wails.
7. Take small child away from tall Aussie man. Small child is relieved and thrilled to ski with Daddy.
8. $69.00 + tax for the lesson is non-refundable. Parent wails and wails and wails.
post ski school trauma
Age 4 (the redemption year)
1. Buy used ski gear. Let small child get excited about skiing by wearing skis around the house.
2. Notice big scratches on hardwood floor. Allow small child to only ski on small rug in the bathroom.
3. Go to Big White. Promise small child she will not be left with tall Aussie man this year.
4. Attempt to teach small child yourself. Experience some success running alongside on the bunny hill. However, realize that teaching small child to ski while on a snowboard is impossible.
5. Borrow your mom's skis that are at least one size too small.
6. Realize that you haven't skied in two decades and it is not like riding a bike. The skill does not come back.
7. Put small child in a hula hoop and ski down bunny hill with her. Praise the Lord that you didn't trip over your own skis and fall on small child.
8. Husband buys a skiing leash and teaches small child to ski while on a snowboard. Even manages to navigate small child on leash in the glades and not get tangled in a tree.Wife is dumbfounded how he does this.
9. Return home with small child excited to keep skiing. Register small child for ski lessons at Grouse mountain with her good friend. Promise there will not be any tall Aussies there.
10. Small child loves her ski lessons. Moves from level 1 to level 3 after first lesson. Reward small child with over priced fries in cafeteria.
11. Continue with the next 3 lessons. Every time it is P.O.U.R.I.N.G. rain. Proud that small child and friend are happy skiing in ponchos and muddy buddy.
12. Last lesson, teacher takes small child down 'the Cut'. 14. I am almost teary in nostalgia because I still remember skiing down the Cut when I first took lessons at Grouse. *see excerpt from childhood diary below
14. Daddy takes small child skiing. Small child is beaming to show Daddy she can take the chair lift and turn and stop all by herself.
15. Realize of all the activities I want small child to be able to do (swimming, gymnastics, dance, skating) that being able to ski with her is one of the most meaningful because it was a family activity that I have such fond memories off all through my life (again see excerpt from childhood diary below). Therefore cue the happy dance that small child seems to be liking skiing as much as I hoped she would.
16. Buy small child and myself a seasons pass so we can keep making more snowy memories.
17. Begin scouring Craigslist for skis small enough for a 2 year old....
*Below are excerpts from my childhood journal - apparently I couldn't spell very well and embraced the neon of the 90's
Jan 4 1992 We went skiing at Grouse. I have my own ski poles, ski boots, skis, and googles. My dad has all those things too. My mom and my sister Rainbow has everything exept the poles. We went down the Cut. That's one of the sort of steep ones. It is steep and lumpy and the snow are very hard packed. we ski down Cut. My sister and I jump over the lumps. My Dad and Mom trip over the lumps. Mom likes going down Paradise. It is not as long and lumpy. On Cut you ski for a far way and come up by chairs that are hung on a long string. You jump off at the end. I saw a lady who forgot to jump off. A man had to stop the thing. That's funny.
Dec 3 1994 My sister and I both have our own skis, poles, boots, ski suite, toook, ski gloves and everything. So do my parents. My mom does too. (Even skiing is OK for my mom). But Rainbow, (my sister) love to speed. And my mom likes to "take it easy" so Rainbow and I usually reach the end of the slope first. My dad likes to "go fast" but its not speed. If he goes fast, he falls. I've gone skiing at Grouse Mountain and Whistler Mountain. I never been to Sypres Jan 6 1994 In the holidays we also went to Whistler. We drove all the way to Scamish. we ate a big breakfast there and we went back in the car. it was a long ride. We skied down "Pony Tril". I got tangle and my skis hit me on the face. My Dad kept falling and my mom snowplowed everywhere so it took a long time to get to the bottom. In fact it took an hour and half. My mom rested and my fater, sister and I skied down again. This time it only took 1 hour!
I love that I documented skiing when I was young so here I am continuing to chronicle the hopeful beginning of small child ( and soon little brother) embracing this family tradition!
