Whiterock

Today was really sunny and warm so Mommy suggested we all go for a walk on the beach. Daddy drove us down to Whiterock because Ba hasn't seen it before and we spent the afternoon walking, tossing rocks in the water, and eating ice cream.

My Lion Doesn't Sleep, He Sings

When I was a little baby, Aunty Elaine and Uncle Eddie gave me this lion and mouse. Mommy tells me the song that the mouse sings is called "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".


I keep wondering how the lion and the mouse work.


I know they're just toys and not a real lion and mouse but their mouths move and it looks really real when they sing.


I didn't figure it out today but one day I will.

Little Chef

I helped Mommy cook dinner tonight. We had sweet beans on toast with cream spinach and roasted tomatoes. My job was to make the toast.


Putting the bread in the toaster.


Taking the toast out and putting it on a plate.


Bon Appetit!

Lounging

I had a busy day at preschool today and now I'm tired.

My Own Money

For Christmas, Uncle Jimmy and Aunty Eva gave me a magnetic responsibility chart. For each magnet I earn, Mommy and Daddy give me 10 cents. I've worked really, really hard this past month and I've saved up a lot of money. Today, Mommy is taking me to the toy store so I can buy whatever I want with the money I've earned.

Look what I bought!


Mommy helped me build this really tall marble contraption. It's almost as tall as me.


I'm going to be very busy now. I have lots of work to do so that I can save up enough money to buy another toy.

Happy Birthday Mommy

Mommy's birthday is today. I like it when her toes are sparkly with new paint so I gave her a bottle of nail polish for her birthday.

Underwater View

My friend Aiden is turning 3 years old. Today is his birthday party. Since he loves sharks so much, he's having an under the sea party.

My goggles came in really handy. We played a fishing game and I caught A LOT of fish thanks to my goggles!

Roller Coaster

For Christmas, Uncle Brian gave me a Kinex roller coaster. Mommy and I spent this morning putting it together. My job was to sort out the pieces and hand Mommy the right ones. It took us two hours but we finally finished it. I love it!

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is always lots of fun. It's the day I get to eat the gingerbread house, stay up late, watch TV and play games with my family.

The gingerbread house was really hard to break. That icing WAS hard as cement!

Just before midnight, we took out the noisemakers and party hats. Don't we look great! We're all ready to celebrate!

After watching the countdown on TV*, Mommy said that since it's a special night, she'd let me stay up a little longer to play games. Ba and I had a real competition trying to see who could get the most fish.

Happy 2009!

* Mommy's Note: Avi counted down the seconds to 2009 with a Toronto broadcast.

Boxing Day

This year's Boxing Day was a little unusual. It was Christmas Day all over again except this time at Grandpa's house! I loved it! We went to Grandpa's house in the afternoon and met Aunty Karen and Uncle Hanson. They arrived from Toronto that morning.

We did the usual family picture. It always seems to take forever. We take a million pictures and nobody ever remembers how to work the timer on their camera.

Then it was time to open stockings and gifts! Even though I opened a lot of gifts yesterday there were still a lot of gifts to open. Fun, fun, fun!!!

That night Grandpa made a full-circle, fancy dinner. There was turkey and all the usual dishes as well as a few extra vegetarian dishes for Ba to eat.

I love Christmas especially this year because it lasted for two days!

Christmas Day

Last night I was thinking that Santa's reindeer do a lot of work pulling the sleigh so I left some carrots for them. Of course, I also left some cookies, a glass of milk and a note for Santa. I think he really liked everything because there were only some crumbs left and he wrote back to me!


Christmas 2008

Dear Santa,

Here are some carrots for the reindeer. Here are some cookies for you. They are chocolate and I helped Mommy make them.

Please read my wish list and see if there is anything in your pack that matches.

I've tried to be a very good boy so I hope I made it on the "nice" list.

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Avi

[Santa's Reply] Thank you Avi! The cookies were delicious. Thanks for being such a good boy this year. Love, Santa

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This morning, it was really head to stay in bed until everyone else was awake. First I went downstairs to make sure Ba was ready. This was her first Christmas because she doesn't have Christmas at her house in Nairobi.


First, we open our stockings. This is always really fun because I get to find out what Santa brought. I must have been a good boy because Santa brought exactly what I asked for when I visited him at Oakridge. A watch!


Mommy, Daddy and Ba are really slow with their stockings so I decided to help them out. Because it was Ba's first time I think Ba wasn't sure what to do with her stocking so I helped her first. Mommy and Daddy have done this so many times before, I don't know why they still need my help! That's OK. I don't mind.




After stockings, come the presents!!! I like to go under the tree to find the gifts for everybody. Good thing I can read everyone's name.



Here are some of the presents I got. I love them all. I spent the rest of the day playing with my new stuff while Mommy cooked dinner.



Uncle Brian, Aunty Wendy, Uncle Kelly, Jacob and Grandpa came for dinner so we had a full table. I like it when there are lots of people at the table. Merry Christmas everyone!

Piano Recital

On Christmas Eve, there's always a big party at Grandpa's house. I told Mommy that I'd like to do a piano recital so everyone can see what I've learnt. Before we all sat down for dinner, I played four songs for everyone. Here is my grand finale, "Busy Bees".



It's a hard one because I have to play with both hands at the same time.

Gingerbread House

Mommy and I have been busy building a gingerbread house.  I decorated the roof and all the windows while Mommy did the baking and the building part of it.


The decorations look so yummy. It was really hard to put them all on the house and not eat them.


Doesn't our house look beautiful? I can't wait until New Year's Eve when Mommy says we can break it open and eat it.

Sweet Dreams

As visions of sugar plums dance in my head...

Kodaly Performance Party

Today we had a party in my Kodaly class. We each had to perform a song for our classmates. Here's part of my singing performance.

After everyone sang, we had a few treats. Mommy made these yummy Rice Crispy squares.


Piano lessons are right after Kodaly.  I thought you might also like to see how my piano playing is coming along.

Frosty the Snowman

My friends Thomas, Serina and I built a HUGE snowman at school today.

Let It Snow!

It's snowing! I LOVE SNOW!


Here I am at Grandpa's house. Do you like the snowman Jacob and I built (with some help)?


The only problem with snow is that after playing, my clothes are cold and wet. Grandpa put my pants and socks in the dryer and gave me his socks to wear to keep me warm. His socks make GREAT leggings!

Bubbles 3

Today was my last day of swimming lessons. I passed! Next time I'll be in Bubbles 3.

Holiday Party

Mommy and Aunty Melody organized a big party for Family Place. There was face painting, colouring, cookie decorating and crafts. Santa managed to find some time to come down from the North Pole and best of all, Bobs and Lolo were there. I love their new song about the train! It was a great party.


Here I am chatting with Santa.


Here I am with Maria. She's helping me make a hat.


Here I am with the hat I made. I'm eating a delicious cookie that I decorated.

Christmas is Coming

It's December and I'm so excited about Christmas. Today Mommy helped me get my little tree out of the storage closet then Ba and I decorated it. Here I am making a popcorn wreath with Ba. She's really good at putting the fluffiest popcorn onto the string. I'm testing the popcorn to make sure it's OK to use.

Full Load

Mommy is organizing a Christmas party for Mount Pleasant Family Centre. Today we used Daddy's car to pick up 200 loot bags that were donated to the party. Our car was STUFFED! Luckily there was still a little room left for me.

Jack-o-lanterns

Woops! Yesterday was so busy that I forgot to take photos of my pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.

Halloween

Thumbs up! That's what pilots do when they're ready to takeoff.

Do you recognize me with my helmet on? If not, it's me, Avi. I'm dressed as a pilot for Halloween. My jet is zooming over the clouds.


Halloween is also Grandpa's birthday so, as we do every year, we visited him to wish him a happy birthday before going out trick or treating.


This year, I went trick or treating with my buddy Thomas in his neighbourhood. There we SO many kids that I had a little trouble with my airplane wings getting in the way. That didn't stop me from visiting lots of houses and getting LOTS of candy.

Diwali

Tonight is Diwali and because Ba is staying with us, we are really celebrating it this year. Tonight, after a nice dinner, I got to go outside and play with sparklers. Daddy says when I'm older, we can light some fireworks.


This whole week we've been busy with special things to do. Here I am helping Ba make a rangoli outside our front door.


Every night we've been lighting candles and putting them on the stairs and sidewalk. Mommy lights the candles, Ba brings them to me and my job is to put them in the right spot.


Here I am with Mommy before going out to Navatri (dancing). Don't I look nice in my outfit?

Pumpkin Patch

Today, I went on my first field trip ever.  My preschool class when to the pumpkin patch to get ready for Halloween.

Mommy and I met all my friends with their moms at preschool. When I got there, there was a big, yellow, school bus waiting for us! After everyone got on the bus, Cathy made some announcements then we sang songs all the way to the pumpkin patch.

When we got to the farm, I saw some funny looking animals. Mommy told me they're llamas. There were also horses, chickens and some really cute and funny pigs. After watching the animals, we took a hayride to the pumpkin field.  Wow!  There were so many pumpkins that it was hard to choose one.


Mommy said to look for one with a nice shape and to also make sure that it wasn't rotten.  I had to check all pumpkins out so it look me a really long time to find a perfect one.  Finally I found one and Mommy did too so we had two pumpkins to take home for carving.


Here's a picture I took of Mommy.


Here I am with my friends Luke, Thomas and Matthew.  Don't we look funny sitting on pumpkins!


After everyone chose a pumpkin, we waited for the wagon to take us back to the bus.  I had lots of fun jumping on cubes of hay with my friends.


Stay tuned for my blog about Halloween where I'll show you the jack-o-lanterns we make out of the pumpkins we brought home today.