It's Great To Be A Kid

Today was so much fun. Mommy took me to the Vancouver International Children's Festival. All of Vanier Park was full tents and there was a ton of different things for kids to do.


I love getting my face painted so that's the first tent that we went to. On one cheek a got a happy face to go with the Mr. Happy t-shirt I was wearing. The next tent was a self-serve face painting tent so I got Mommy to put a school bus on my other cheek.



After that, there was so much to choose from. I made and flew a kite, played with some giant bubble makers, flew a wooden airplane, learned about crafts and games from Taiwan and rode a bike so fast that I lit up five light bulbs!


Mommy thought we should stop for lunch (I think SHE was hungry) but I was too excited. We found a wooden train to ride, then a real ambulance and fire truck with paramedics and firemen! I spent a long time in the fire truck and got a real surprise when my friend Hayden, from preschool, showed up right beside me. When it was Hayden's turn to be the driver, I played with the computer on the fire truck and navigated for him. We're a great team.



Next we visited the bike rodeo. Here I learned how to ride a bicycle and tricycle safely. There was a pretend bike route and I had to put on a helmet and ride around following the traffic rules. I stopped at the yellow and red traffic lights, stopped again at the stop sign, watched out for other traffic when I went through the intersection and had to walk my bike through the cross walk. They even taught me how to use hand signals to tell the cars which way I'm going. I really liked the bike rodeo and it wasn't too busy so I went around it six times. I was an expert by the time I finished and all the police men knew my name.



After the bike rodeo, we found a tent called the Sonic Playground. It was full of interesting things that make noise - sort of like instruments. They were funny instruments though. I've never seen anything like them before. Some had phones attached to them, others used popcorn to make noise, one had a computer attached to it, another made different noises depending upon where you turned its arrow. All of it was kinda weird. Outside the Sonic Playground tent, I had lots of fun banging on the xylophone. The shiny thing in the middle was really fun to bang too. It's fun to be noisy!


From here, I asked Mommy if we could go to the Sandbox tent that I saw. It was full of trucks, pails, shovels, rakes, tubes, sand (of course) and kids. I love playing with trucks in the sand and I found a steam roller that I've never played with before. I found it really interesting to see how it flattened the sand. I think Mommy enjoyed the shade and a chance to sit down for a little while. She even ran into her friend Ching Yi whom she hadn't seen for a long, long time.



Now I was hungry. Mommy brought a lot of food in her back pack so we found a shady place to sit. I ate everything! A peanut butter "smartie-pants" sandwich, a big apple muffin, a fruit leather, a whole cup of juice, a cheese stick and some of Mommy's nut bar. That's WAY more than I ever eat. I was still hungry but Mommy said our concert was going to start soon. We agreed to have some ice cream after the show.

Family Place gave us tickets to see Connie Kaldor. I hadn't heard her before and Mommy didn't know she played music for kids. We both enjoyed the show. Connie Kaldor was funny and even though I was getting really tired, I couldn't help but get up and dance. My favourite was a fiddling song. The song kept getting faster and faster and faster and I had to dance faster and faster and faster to try and keep up.

After the concert and ice cream, I sat in a real teepee. Just as I was about to leave the teepee, my friend Taylor popped in. She was hiding from her mom. I know Taylor from Family Place and we always have fun playing together. We ran around together for a while while our Mommies talked.

Next it was time to try to circus tricks. I was too small for most of them. Juggling looks fun but it's too hard to hold three balls at the same time. I didn't even try to throw them up into the air at the same time. They just kept popping out of my hands. Hoola hooping was hard to do too. The hoop just wouldn't stick on my hips no matter how much I span around. Stilt walking was much easier and fun. I can't do it all by myself yet but I think I know what to do in case Daddy wants to build me some stilts for home.



After stilt walking I was getting pretty hot and tired. Mommy said she's buy me something from the toy tent - I chose a tiny train and a pin wheel - then I convinced her to take me back to the bike rodeo for three more loops. After that I was ready to go home. I'm sure glad that I'm a kid. The Children's Festival was so much fun!

Here Birdie Birdie

Mommy, Grandpa and I went out to Ladner this afternoon to visit the bird sanctuary. It was my first time there - ever.


The weather was perfect. It was sunny and warm but not too hot. The trails were shady in some spots and sunny in others. Grandpa was in charge of the map to make sure we didn't get lost.


We saw so many birds. Some I had seen before, like ducks and geese and there were others that Mommy and I had never seen before like this heron.


We did so many things in the two hours that we were there. I discovered what a bird blind is, I climbed a great big blue tower to see the view from the top, I looked for a beaver dam and I saw a little birdie building a nest. My favourite part was feeding the birds.


Here I am feeding some ducks. All the birds were pretty friendly. Not afraid of me at all. As soon as they saw my paper bag of bird seeds they'd come right over.



After almost two hours of walking I was pretty tired and I had to get Mommy to carry me back to the car. She put me up on her shoulders and I had a great view. I should have asked her to carry me sooner.


It was a really fun afternoon and I look forward to next time we go to the bird sanctuary.

Chopsticks

Mommy made chinese food with noodles for dinner tonight so I thought it would be a good time to try out the chopsticks that Aunty Wendy gave me.



Some of the food ended up on my shirt (and glasses...face...floor...chair...) but most of it made it into my mouth.

BIG Boo Boo

I had an accident at the playground on Thursday.  I fell off the ladder while racing my friend to the slide.  It was a pretty big fall - Mommy says my feet were as high as her eyes.  Good thing there are wood chips all around the playground or I wouldn't have bounced off the ground, I would have just gone "thud."

I've been the Children's Hospital two times now, once on Friday and again today.  This afternoon, they put a cast on my arm.  I don't like it.  It's heavy and makes running around really difficult.  Also, I feel lopsided and sometimes I fall down because of it.

Mommy says I can't go to gymnastics or yoga class until my elbow gets better.  I'm not supposed to go the playground with my friends until the cast comes off either.  The good part though is that I don't have to have a bath ALL WEEK!  Yeah!

Happy Birthday Avi

Today is my birthday and Mommy had TWO parties planned for me. The first party was with my friends and the second party was with my family.

My first party was a Birthday Bus party.  Marrisa, Aiden, Matthew, Thomas, Luke and Zachary all came to that party. Matthew, Thomas, Luke and Zachary are my favourite friends from school and Marissa and Aiden I've just always known -- I usually have a play date with them every week while Mommy and Aunty Melodie drink coffee and talk.

We started by doing a craft and playing with my toys while we waited for everyone to show up.  Mommy cut up some yellow, black and red paper so we could build buses.  I added some special decorations to my bus - pompoms and colourful stickers.  After all, this is a party bus!

After everyone made a bus, we went outside to collect bus tokens.  Daddy got up early in the morning and hid them all over the garden so even I didn't know where they all where.  Some where easy to find, some where hard to find and some the squirrels and crows took away.  Here we are looking for the last token.  Daddy was giving us lots of hints but we just couldn't find it.  Finally, Zachary spotted it.  It was in the corner of the stair rail.  If you look closely, you can see it in this photo that Mommy took (us kids are all looking in the wrong place). 

After the bus token hunt, we played a game just like Musical Chairs but instead I called it Musical Bus Stop. It was fun because nobody was out and we had fun racing each other.

The next game was like Pin The Tail On The Donkey but I didn't want a donkey so Mommy made a big London bus for me. We collected pictures of all my friends and they had the pin their faces in the bus windows. We all did a pretty good job and had a good laugh after the game was done at where we all landed.


A few more games after the London Bus game - Pass The Present and Truck-Truck-Bus (my version of Duck-Duck-Goose) - then it was time for lunch.


Matthew's mom brought a real treat for the party - Jello Jigglers. I'd never had them before and they were delicious! We also ate cheese quesadillas and chips. Most of my friends ate the veggies and dip that Mommy put out but not me. Even though I'm four years old now, I still don't like vegetables. My friends' mommies got to eat chili, veggies and corn bread.


Then came the best part...my London bus birthday cake. I asked Mommy to make another one just like last year and she did a great job. Better than last year's. The best part is that it was CHOCOLATE CAKE! Mmmmm! My favourite. Here I am with my friend Matthew waiting for the sparkler to finish.


After lunch we played a little more in my playroom, created our own musical parade, then it was time for everyone to go home. I gave Mommy a big hug after the party and told her that it was the best birthday party I ever had.

While Daddy and I played with some of my new toys, Mommy got ready for the next party. We were having Grandpa, Aunty Wendy, Uncle Kelly, Jacob and Uncle Wasson over for dinner and ANOTHER chocolate cake!

This time I told Mommy it would be OK if we have a different kind of cake and she suggested a car racing cake. I liked that idea.


It took a long time to make but the cake was worth it. It looked great and it tasted delicious. Also, Jacob and I got to keep the toy cars that were on the cake.


So far, I love being four years old.

Little Bean

Last week I planted a bean seed at school. I water it each time I go to class. This is a photo of my friend Zachary and me checking-out our seeds.


Can you find the stick that has my name on it? If you look really carefully, you can see my bean sprouting!


(My name stick it right in front of the "NS" on the BEANS sign)

Stomp

Sometimes I like to help Mommy when she's cooking. I have special jobs to do every time we make pancakes, smoothies, scrambled eggs, coffee, and oatmeal. There are so many foods I help her with.

Today Mommy is making crunchy chicken for dinner. My special job is to crunch up the corn flakes. If I can crunch the corn flakes up really well, then the chicken is extra crunchy. Daddy is going to BBQ the nuggets after Mommy makes them into bus and volkswagon shapes. They're looking pretty tasty. I think we're a great cooking team!

Thoughts About Mommy

"Even though Mommy's hair is messy, I still love her."

Sticky Rice

Mommy took me out for one of my favourite lunches today - sticky rice! I love it especially when there are chinese doughnuts too. I love to dip them in the sweet sauce under the sticky rice.


I ate so much today that my belly is big and round like a basketball.

Happy Birthday Marissa

My friend Marissa is turning 4 (just like me!) and she had her birthday party this morning. I had fun. We played some party games, played with her toys and ate some yummy food.

I'd never played pin the tail on the donkey before so I had to lift up the blindfold a bit to make sure I got the tail on right.


The games were fun but I think the toys were the best. Marissa's brother, Aiden, has a really fun toy that I played with during most of the party. I built a race car, airplane and motorcycle all by myself. The vehicles are screwed together with an electric screwdriver that really works. Daddy thinks he's a handyman. I guess I'm a handykid.

Arrrrrgggg

Ahoy maties! My friend Olivia has a princess and pirates birthday party this afternoon. I decided I'd rather be a pirate than a princess so Mommy helped me get dressed for the part.

Being a pirate is pretty hard. I had to learn lots of new words and I've had to keep all the other pirates away from my map to the secret treasure. It's been hard because I don't have a pistol or a sword. Keeping my puffy sleeves clean is a challenge too.

Junior Engineer

ALL ABOARD! Like my new hat? Now I'm a real engineer just like the man who works on the Polar Express train.

Today I got a new piece for my Thomas train set. It's a collapsing bridge. I love it! Now some exciting accidents can happen to my trains. Mommy took a video so you can see how it works.

Big Rocks

Sometimes Mommy and I have to go downtown to make some special deliveries. Outside of the office is a HUGE round rock. I've tried so many times to roll it but it's REALLY heavy. Mommy says if I eat healthy and exercise then maybe my rocks (that's what I call my muscles) willl be strong enough to move that ball one day. I'll keep trying.

The Sitting Game

Sometimes Daddy and I play this funny game. We each sit in our own chairs facing each other and we have a contest to see who can stay in their chair the longest. It's really hard and sometimes I can hardly do it. Sometimes Daddy talks with me to help me think of other things and stay in my chair. Wonder who won today?

Baby Bear's Bowl is Just Right

This morning Mommy, Daddy and I all had oatmeal for breakfast. We were like the three bears in "Goldilocks And The Three Bears." Daddy had a big bowl of plain oatmeal, Mommy had a medium sized bowl of oatmeal with dried cranberries and I had a small bowl with butter and brown sugar. I think my bowl was the tastiest – just like Goldilock's thought the baby bowl was "just right."

Tinkering with Contraptions

Uncle Raj from Edmonton came for an unexpected visit on Saturday. He always brings me excellent gifts and this time he brought me a set of Tinkertoys. They are so much fun and I've been building contraptions all weekend. Here's old fashioned airplane that I built.

Tiger Woods Watch Out!

Daddy took me to Golf Town today and he bought me my own set of REAL golf clubs. I've always had golf clubs but the set I had before was just a toy. This set is REAL. It comes with a blue golf bag (my favourite colour) and special straps so I can carry the bag and clubs on my back. Daddy tried to show my how to hold the clubs but I keep forgetting what he tells me. Daddy says that this summer, after I turn four years old, I can take lessons if I want to.

Mommy's Home!

Mommy came home today. Daddy and I watched the planes landing from Iona Park in Richmond. When Daddy saw the Cathay Pacific plane fly over us, he told me that it was Mommy's plane. Soon after that Mommy called us from her cell phone. We zoomed to the airport and she was waiting for us with her big suitcase.

I'm happy Mommy is home again. I missed her very much.

A-V-I

AVI...that's all that I know how to type so there won't be any blogs for the next two weeks.  I need Mommy to help my type my words.

Mommy is going to Hong Kong and China and won't be back until the end of the month.  I'm not sure how long that is but we drew some airplanes on my Thomas calendar so I can try to keep track.  I'm going to miss her very much but Daddy says he and I will have lots of fun together.

See you when Mommy gets home.

Just In Time for Easter

Dinner Date

Last night my friends Marissa and Aiden came for dinner. Mommy planned a kids' dinner party then movie night for us. Here I am helping out with dessert.



That isn't all that I did. I also helped Mommy make some hors d'oeuvres. Don't they look yummy? I decided on the baby toasts, the cheese and peanut butter. Mommy added the other stuff.


After our appies, we had a yummy dinner of macaroni and cheese then snuggled all together on the couch to share popcorn and watch the Herbie movie. Marissa didn't like Herbie though so we ended up watching Bobs and Lolo's "Musical Adventure" DVD. I love their music.


Mommy and Daddy had a grown-up's dinner with Aunty Melodie and Uncle Scott while we watched our TV then we all ate my delicious chocolate cake together.

I'm Not Grown Up Yet But...

...I like borcht now.

Can You Imagine?

Today was the last day of my "Movement and Make Believe" class at the Arts Umbrella. I love my teacher Laura because she has a great imagination and always thinks of fun and silly things for me to pretend.

Today Mommy was allowed to watch some of the things I've learned since January.  Here I am doing the hula.



Did you see me in the red shirt and blue jeans? This is our "Sounds of Winter" performance and I'm pretending to ice skate.

Pyrogies

Sorry there haven't been any blogs for a while. Mariya was staying downstairs in our guest room so Mommy has been too busy to take any pictures or to type the blogs for me.

I do have some interesting news to share. I have a new food on my favourite food list. I've added pyrogies to my list. Maryia brought homemade ones from Edmonton and they were delicious! I also like the rice that she put inside her cabbage rolls but I didn't want to eat the cabbage on the outside. Borcht isn't on my favourite food list. It's a pretty colour but it doesn't look like it will taste good. When I grow up, I will like it. Mariya taught Daddy how to make it so he can make it for me when I'm bigger.

Bellybutton

Last night I went to a "two-circle" dinner for Chinese New Years. There were so many aunties and uncles that we filled up two circles.

In case you don't know, I really don't like it when my clothes get wet. If water dribbles on my socks, I have to change them. If my sleeves get wet when I wash my hands, I have to put on a new shirt. It makes a lot of laundry for Mommy to do.


At dinner, my collar got wet! Yuk! Mommy didn't bring an extra shirt for me to wear so I had to eat dinner with no shirt on. I was really tidy though so I didn't get any rice falling into my bellybutton.

Money Down the Drain

Every Thursday after my Arts Umbrella class, I like to go to the Granville Island Kid's Market. Last week I found a blue bus that I wanted to buy but Mommy said no because she had just bought me a new car the day before.

When we got home, we decided that I would be helpful around the house to earn some money so that I could buy the bus myself. Here's the chart that we made. I'm supposed to earn enough quarters to fill all the circles. When all the circles are full, I'll have enough money to buy the bus.


I worked really hard all week and had only two spots left to fill this morning. Before we left the house, I helped Mommy make the bed, was very cooperative and then I put on my own shoes and coat. Mommy said I was a really good boy and gave me the last two quarters to fill my chart. Yippee!

After Arts Umbrella, we bought the bus. I paid the cashier myself by counting the quarters for her. Unfortunately, I can't show you what the bus looks like because I've already lost it. Somehow it got left behind while we were looking around the Kid's Market. Mommy and I spent a long time trying to find it but we didn't find it anywhere.

I'm kind of sad because I tried really hard to get enough quarters to buy the bus this morning. As Max and Ruby say, "money down the drain." Mommy says I can keep trying to earn more quarters and when I have enough we can go back to the store. Next time I'll be more careful with my new bus.

Las Vegas Surprise

Daddy's been in Las Vegas all weekend and he brought back a surprise for me.

Lei See

Chinese New Year was lots of fun. I liked our family dinner and going to see the lion dance. I also liked getting the red "lei see" envelopes. Grandpa, Uncle Kelly, Aunty Wendy, Uncle Craigy and Aunty Dorothy all gave me "lei see" this year. There was lots of money inside and I put it all in my bank to save for my RV bus.

Giddy-up

On our way home from Richmond this afternoon, we stopped at Choices Market to get some groceries. We didn't go to the Choices near our house, instead we went to the one that has the train up top. I had fun racing the train around the store while Mommy tried to shop and make sure I didn't run into anything.


After we paid for our groceries, the cashier gave me a balloon then Mommy let me ride the horse outside the store. This is a new friend of mine and I've named him Oreo because he's black and white.

Gung Hay Faat Choy

Mommy and I went to Parker Place in Richmond this morning to see the Chinese New Year lion dance. We talked about it at school and Mommy told me about it at home so I knew that it would be very loud. I don't get scared of loud noises so I was excited to go.


First we saw three lions dancing on the stage. They had lots of energy and could stretch really tall and jump around. The drums made me feel like a dancing noodle.


After the lions danced on stage, they went around to all the stores in the mall. Each store had a bundle of vegetables and a red envelope hanging in the doorway for the lion to eat. The lions had to jump up high to eat the veggies. I don't like vegetables and I'm small so I don't think I would do that if I were a lion. But when I'm bigger I plan to like vegetables and then I'll be able to jump up high to grab the veggies.


We didn't stay to watch the lion go to all the stores. It was starting to take too long. Instead we went to get lunch and Mommy bought me one of my favourites, a pinapple bao.


Gung Hay Faat Choy

New Trick

I've discovered a new thing to do with my Kid's K'nex.

Hide & Seek

Daddy and I play hide and seek almost every night. I'm getting pretty good at finding new hiding spots (Mommy helps me) and staying quiet until Daddy finds me. Sometimes I forget to hide everything though.