Aidan's Antics

For the past couple of months, Aidan has been up to all variety of crazy things. First, his Beaver troupe had a seventies night where all the kids were supposed to dress in seventies clothes and learn how to disco dance (I have some HILARIOUS video but I keep getting upload errors on Blogger). Here are a few snaps from the night.

Then the last week of school they had a PJs and crazy hair day. Here's Aidan sporting his faux hawk.

The week after school ended, Aidan attended art camp. One day, he comes storming out of the camp with a paper mache pencil, which he thought was pretty cool. Here he is outside our house ...

Here's a camel watercolour that he did

Here, Aidan is rock climbing at Mississauga Ribfest - I think we should call him SpiderBoy!

Here's hoping he continues to have more fun as the summer progresses!

TDH Fundraiser - Delivery of Goods

Recently, the director of TDH went to Vietnam and delivered many bicycles and appliances to the Vung Tau 3 orphanage (where Maya is from). Click here for photos. It was wonderful to see the items delivered and to see what a difference the fundraising gala made! We are looking forward to next year's gala and hope that our friends and family will join us!

A Room of Her Own

and a room of our own!

A few weeks ago we finally finished Maya's room and moved her into it. She adapted quite quickly to her new surroundings. It had been a long process to get her there.

When we returned home from Vietnam at the end of March, she would only sleep with me in my bed and refused the crib and was also waking 3-4 times nightly. After getting her on solids and getting a sleep machine, she was only waking 1x per night. At that point, we started moving her to the crib after she was asleep. I then discovered she would accept the crib if I jumped in with her! That craziness went on for a few weeks until I tried putting her down about 30 minutes later than her usual bedtime when she was more tired and less likely to protest. That seemed to work. We then started letting her sleep alone in our room (as moving the crib to her room would require disassembly and reassembly of the crib). She started sleeping through the night consistently. A month later, near the beginning of July, we transferred her to a room of her own. So it was a gradual process but she is sleeping consistently 11 hours per night and not waking (or at least not waking us up ;)). For her, this gradual process was necessary to make her feel secure.

Here are a few photos of her new digs. We got the quilt and chair cushion in Vietnam. They didn't have too many patterns suitable for a little girl. So I am sure many of you have the exact same one! Anyway, I'm happy with how it looks. We also got Maya a new chair (which she loves to get read to in) and my mom's needlepoint looks lovely too.

Dresser with Vietnamese Quilt

Close-up of Quilt

View of Room from Door - Nana's needlepoint on left side, new chair on right

Maya woke up the first morning after we got her chair and said "chair!"

Centre Island Says Summer

Every summer I like to go to Centre Island - at least once. It reminds me of my childhood and it is such a special place for the little ones. We decided to play hookey from swimming lessons and go for the day last Wednesday. Here are some photos from the day.

Maya waiting patiently for the ferry

Aidan is excited about the trip!


So is Maya!

Goofing around with her big brother

Enjoying cookies on the boat ride over

Aidan driving the old fashion car. Maya and I are in the backseat.

All aboard! My favourite ride there is the train, which winds through the park and gives you a great view of the animals and the city

Aidan had a blast on the old fire engine ride!

This year I let him ride the little roller coaster all by himself..

He was very excited when he got off

Maya went on the merry-go-round but didn't like it. She preferred to ride in the stroller and munch on her raras (raisins)

Centre Island never disappoints. It was a great time with the kids!

What Maya Can Do Now

Maya is learning lots of words. Some new ones include bye, Cora, rara (raisins), clock, more (another favourite), hot, and ball. She knows that cows say "moo" and ducks say "quack quack". She still loves her food - especially raisins, yogurt, broccoli (can't get enough broc-broc!), and "crackas". She is using a spoon well. She is running now so we have to watch her like a hawk. She also likes to wear or carry Mike or Aidan's shoes. She is consistently sleeping through the night and taking one 2 hour nap each day. She loves to say "Hi!" to everyone in a squeaky voice.

Here are a few pics that I hope bring a smile to your face like she does to ours. I had some cute videos also but for some reason Blogger keeps giving me upload errors.

All the Way to Wasaga

This past weekend we did a day trip to Wasaga Beach, on the south shore of Georgian Bay. It was a long day but a nice time with the family. Here are a few photos from our trip...

Aidan, Maya, and Mike building a sand castle

We stopped at "Plunge", an indoor/outdoor pool at Blue Mountain. Aidan enjoyed himself!

Maya liked the playground


Of course, we had to get the requisite photo(s) on the big Muskoka chair!

Birds of a Feather

Thursday night Mike came home from work and changed out of his work clothes into a T-shirt and shorts. Little did he know that Aidan was wearing the same thing- the Vietnamese flag - like father, like son!

She Calls Me Mom

She used to call me "Mama" when we were in Vietnam and then shortly thereafter. However, she now consistently calls me "Mom". That's what happens when you have a seven year old brother! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she sees me as her mother. I'm just a little sad that she calls me "Mom" and not "Mama" or "Mommy". It's just a little strange for a kid so little to sound so much older!

Guess Who Went Pee on the Potty?!

Yes, Maya!!! She has been interested in the toilet for a while now; so I brought out the potty a week or so ago and had her sit on it a couple of times with her clothes on. Then today I caught her squatting in the kitchen and I said "Let's go to the potty'". So she went, I helped her get her diaper off, then she sat down, and did the deed! I nearly fell over. She's only 16.5 months. I hope this is not a one off. Aidan trained VERY LATE, even for a boy. We literally spent hundreds of dollars on Thomas trains as rewards to encourage him. He was just not interested.

So if she is an early trainer, it would be a dream come true!

Backyard Baby - Part 2

Here are a few shots of our "baby" (now 16 months old) that I took in our backyard last weekend. We still love her smile! She lights up our life!