Saga of the Snot

If you ever see Colin or Cara with their noses dripping with snot, please don't judge me. If you don't have children, and you think it's disgusting that any parent can let their child out in public with snot going to their mouth and they don't do anything about it... I'll tell you why.

It never ends. In fact, it completely mystifies me that such a small human being can produce so much mucus. Scientists really need to find a way to harness energy from snotty children - the world would never run out of energy.

I do, in fact, wipe the snot. I wipe it many many many times, I roll it up, wipe, dab, pick - I do it all. I am a pro snot surgeon. There is an art to it. You can't wipe too hard, or else you'll start to rub the skin too much, so you have to be gentle enough. But you have to have enough force to make sure you wipe it all off in one fell swoop, or else the snot just migrates to another part of the face.

And you have to do all this, with an unwilling subject.

And just as you feel like you've accomplished the task with flying colours.... it appears again almost instantly. So, I'm left with either using up tissue every 2 minutes for the next 8 days, or... letting my child's nose run a little on occasion.

So, don't give me the stink eye - my children are not neglected, I'm not a disgusting human being... I just don't have enough tissue on me to keep the snot at bay.

How to Feed a Monster

If you've ever wondered how a monster gets his nutrition, Colin knows how. I happen to have my phone with me when I caught this moment, and as soon as I heard him play out an imaginary situation (sully was sad and needed something to help him feel better), I decided to let him continue one... with my camera recording.

He loves Dinosaurs

Colin Age 2
June 9th, 2011

Colin is going through a huge dinosaur phase. He loves them, reads about them, stomps around like one, and eats like one. We were at TJ's house, and TJ is currently being potty trained. He, was struttin around in his big boy underwear like nobody else's business. It was time for lunch, so the regular routine is to go wash their hands. TJ went first, and was up on the step ladder, and Colin was waiting patiently behind. I was watching them just to make sure they didn't fall, but then when I turned to look... I saw the most peculiar thing.... Colin was going "WOW.........................." with the most admirable voice, only 1 inch away from TJ's bum. yes, ONE inch.

It turns out, TJ was wearing dinosaur underwear.

RIP 'Ici-Go-Go'

Joe and I are in mourning. We knew it was going to happen one day, but when it actually happened, we didn't expect the sadness that arose from it.

Since Colin could speak, he's always referred to oranges (the fruit or colour) as icigogo (ice/i/go/go). The funny thing was, when we said 'icigogo' to him, it was foreign. He thought he was saying orange the whole time, but it always came out as icigogo. We thought it was sooooo cute - as every parent would think about their child's quirks (but really - this one was cute. the cutest quirk. more cute than your kid's or any other child you know).

And then... today, at 3:30pm, while watching the opening sequence to The Backyardigans, he was listing off the colours he saw: "red, ewwo (yellow), boo (blue), geen (green), orange." And just like that, Ici-Go-Go was dead. There was no warning, there wasn't any process, just in a moment.... it was gone.

Joe and I stared at each other, and there was a sense of loss. We almost didn't know what to do, but then it started. We asked Colin to repeat the colours again. And there it was. "Or-ange". Okay, Okay. Joe got the fruit. "What's this Col?" Joe asked. "Or-range". Hmm... "what's this?" "OR-RANGE". Col probably thought we had been abducted by aliens... why were we in such a craze about this colour all of a sudden??

His baby days are fleeting, everyday he becomes more of a big boy. He's in his big boy bed, he likes to choose his own clothes, he takes his own clothes off (sometimes at inappropriate times...), helps cook, does chores like wiping the table... he's growing up.

The best parts of parenting are those treasured moments, when they are babies... I sometimes wish I could bottle up the 'baby-ness' so I could keep it forever, but then they won't grow up. What fun would it be to have an 18 year old son refer to oranges as icigogos? Not so cute anymore huh? Girls may slap him not knowing he was talking about oranges.

I digress. As parents, we grieve the loss of baby days, but we're also looking forward to what kind of young man he'll become. I can't hold on to it, so I'll blog about it. And shed some virtual tears.

Say it ain't so, rest in peace, icigogo.

Hockey is a religion

Here's to hoping God hears the prayers of a 2 year old.




Go Canucks Go!!

First Love

Monday, June 6th, 2011, is a date that will be marked as a date that my heart stopped and smiled. My dear first born, said the 3 words that make all women melt. Especially if it's coming from a 2.5 year old with a sniffly nose with a scratchy voice.

A while back, Joe bought him a house to play in for the sunny days (it seems pretty baller, but it was for a smashing $32 at Superstore). Part of the feature of this house, was that it had a mailbox, so I had left Colin a note in there on the first day he played with the house. He didn't care. I didn't really care that he didn't care, he was having too much fun and that was enough to put a smile on my face.

But with the recent sunny days, he's been outside quite a few times (hmm, perhaps the culprit of this recent cold he has...), and he checked his mailbox. The first piece he had was junk mail (really - it was some Fido flyer... I'm pretty sure that was Joe's handiwork). But his second piece of mail was my little note to him! It survived the rainy days, and remained in tact. It read:

Colin,
I (heart) you
Love,
Mommy

I read this to him, and he looked at me, and smiled. That already made me melt, he understood the meaning of the words on the paper. He wanted to treasure the note and hold it. Then I read it to him again, "Look! It says, I Love You! Mommy loves Colin".

He looked at it again, and at me with his eyes lit up. He then said it. He said, "I love you". He said it knowing the meaning of it. He's repeated 'I love you' to us before (he usually says 'A Na' actually), but this time there were 3 distinctly special words. In all of his terrible twosome recently, crying at night because he's been sick, never ending snot saga, whining for his bottles.... those 3 words just erased all the bad and made me a pile of goob.

I know he won't always express his love to me with these words for long, so I'm going to make a point to remember that he said it, and meant it when he was just 2 years old.




And I wish I could tell you the moment lasted forever and the rainbow showed up and Josh Groban started singing.... but nope. Since he was so 'in love' with me, I thought he'd be willing to take a picture with the precious note..... but nope. :) That's motherhood for ya!

Best Diaper Bag Alternative

You've heard the saying - someone's trash is someone else's treasure. In this case, Joe's dud purchase from Deal Extreme was the best find so far this month! (okay, so it's only June 3rd, but it's still a great find).

Our business ChicGeek Photography has been booming, and Joe has been looking for camera bags to carry all of his gear now. His first place to search is usually Deal Extreme because... all great and cheap things come from China - free shipping.

Well, he's learned that all (and I really mean everything you can think of) great and cheap things under $20 come from Deal Extreme. He didn't like his most recent purchase, and stowed it away thinking it was useless.

I, however, am female, and love bags. Being a mom, you graduate from the love of purses, to the love of diaper bags. I found this so-called 'dud' and started investigating. I looked at the bag, it had compartments (many many compartments), a shoulder strap and handle straps, easy access, and the ability to sit flat on the floor without flopping over. It was a wonder to me why I had never thought of this before.... but camera bags make the PERFECT diaper bags.

Diaper bags cost a pretty penny. Rip-off camera bags from China, however, do not. So, if you're on the hunt for practical bags (and if fashion is not your priority after shooting out some babies) - I would highly recommend checking out my husband's duds.

The actual bags that he got were these ones:
Camera (now turned diaper) Bag
Fake Arcteryx waist bag




This photo shows what I usually carry in my bag (4 diapers, burp cloth, hooter hider, change of clothes for Cara, socks, plastic bag, change pad, sippy cup, 2 dinosaurs, wallet, wipes, soother, nail clipper, tissue).








It all fits, with room to spare! I usually have to add phone, keys, snacks, and extra jackets to the mix, but it'd fit it in easily. I probably could even put the iPad in there too.

Please note: This particular version comes with a small compass... so for those who are directionally challenged, you may consider this model.








This Farcteryx (fake arcteryx) waist bag was also another great find - because when Cara gets a little older, all I really need to carry around are the wipes, diapers, wallet, keys, and water/snacks for the longer days.





**I'd like to add, that I'm new to all this blogging stuff, but Joe has informed me that he's set up an affiliate account for DX so please use any of the links I've posted on here so Joe can redeem himself from his failed purchases!

May Madness

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. The month of May has been a very very busy one, so please forgive me for not posting for a couple of weeks. You will understand soon enough why I haven't blogged in a while.

Crazy #1: My good friend, Jem, got married.
Crazy #2: In-laws came to visit
Crazy #3: Disneyland with my entire family

Although each of these events were tiresome at times, I do not regret any of them one bit. I anticipated each and every one of these special occasions, and was really excited when the events drew near. The kind of excited where you don't sleep the night before - yes, even with the in-laws arrival!

It was very crazy. Jem's wedding was actually easy, because everything was taken care of, and all of us bridesmaids just had to show up to get our hair and make up done. It was just a 1-day cray cray, with a couple of weeknight evenings set aside for manicures and rehearsals. I left Joe in the dust to single parent (my mom helped out a bit though), but being away from the kids from morning til night is tough!! A mother doesn't stop being a mother even when she's away from the kids - that meant pumping (for those who don't know what I mean, you don't need to) even when I was at my most glamorous state I've ever been in a long time.

Then, the in laws arrived. Actually, the in laws arrived before Jem's wedding, but took off for their own little vacation, and then arrived back the evening we came back from Disneyland. A lot of coordination was necessary, but I was so excited for them to come. Joe's parents live in HK and don't get the luxury of just dropping by to see the grandkids, and seeing them grow up. It would be their first time meeting Cara, and I was excited for them to just spend quality time with Colin too (yes, secretly I was also happy for the free babysitting).

And then, Disneyland. If you want real madness, go to Disneyland with your entire family. Which includes the crazy loud Chinese mother, and then 3 opinionated sisters (accompanied by 3 grumpy husbands because they're on a family trip with their crazy mother -in-law), and 5 children all 2 and under. We could have done a reality tv show about this trip, and put the Kardashian Family to shame.

It was a mental month. It really was. Joe and I were exhausted. But if we didn't have these events to look forward to, what would have filled these dates? Grocery shopping, Jungle Gym, going to the park... all good things, but nothing for the memory to think back on as 'Good times'.

For Joe and me, we need to look forward to something, so that the mundane daily activity of him going to work, and me staying at home doesn't get stale. We are working towards something, and there's a light at the end of that mundane tunnel. For the children, each of these events are documented by our in-house photographer (Joe), and memories are created. I want them to look back on their childhood with gladness, times that were filled with fun while surrounded by family. It may be hectic, and at times frustrating, but it's really worth it when we look back on these times.

[For the record, Joe was there, he was just the one taking the pictures so he's not in any of them! On a side note, if anyone wants to prevent that happening on their own Family Disneyland reunion, Joe is available for hire. Crazy mother-in-law not included.]