mini zee

This past weekend, we went to visit my girlfriend, Nicole, and her family who live north of Whistler. I wasn't sure what to pack for Josh because I couldn't imagine snow, especially with the spring-like weather we've had in Vancouver. Luckily, I packed Josh's winter stuff because there was still LOADS of snow to play in!

Josh wasn't too sure about the snow - uneven ground is a toddler's worst nightmare! But he definitely liked the hammock. I'm trying to convince Brian that we need one at home: And even though Josh was reluctant to walk on the snow, Nikita LOVED it... And she LOVED all her friends up there. Nicole and all her neighbours have dogs so Nikita is a social butterfly when she goes up there. Even though there was snow, the weather was warming up fast and I think the snow will soon be gone. We had a good visit with Nicole, Sig and their 3 boys, hanging out in Walkerville, catching the rays... ...and even catching a ride on the Mini Z! A few pointers before Bri and Josh head out... ...and here are the results (I can't watch!)

you give me fever

I sent Josh to daycare today with a fever. Am I a bad mommy?!

He woke up this morning with a fever. I took his temperature and it was just over 100°F. I gave him Infant Tylenol and it went down to just over 99°F in half an hour. He wasn't showing any other signs of sickness, so I brought him to daycare and told them about it. They said they would keep an eye on him and if he got worse, they would call me.

I don't want to be a worrywart mommy but at the same time, what if something is really wrong?! If only he could tell me how he is feeling!

once

I used to watch movies WAY more than I do these days. I also used to watch different movie genres much more easily. These days, I find that I need to watch feel-good movies. Any movies that have disturbing, depressing or intense subject matter are just too much for me.

The last movie that I saw that was even remotely intense was Hotel Rwanda. I was on maternity leave and Josh was having a nap. It was on the movie channel and had just started so, I figured, "what the heck!". Well, I cried for most of the movie. It was an excellent movie, but just way too emotional for me!

I wasn't always like that! I've watched movies that were much more intense, violent and sad, but I guess having a baby has changed my hormones forever!

So, in the relatively light repertoire of movies I've seen lately, when I see a movie that shines, I have to blog about it. The movie Once is that movie.

Once is a low-budget Irish film described as a "modern-day musical". It is about a "guy" and a "girl" that meet in Dublin and spend a few days together trying to put together a demo CD. Being a musical, the main characters are played by musicians, not actors. I don't want to say too much about the movie because you should just watch it. It is a beautifully done movie with a wonderful soundtrack (which I have since downloaded from iTunes).

I hope you watch it. If you do, tell me what you think...

happy valentine's day

Brian and I are celebrating Valentine's twice this year! Since we are new parents, we find that any special occasion that allows us to go out on our own is well worth celebrating. Last weekend, we had an early Valentine celebration going to Chambar and then the Canuck's game.

Since all the tickets are sold out, I had to peruse craigslist to find tickets. The seats were pretty good. True they were in the last row of the nosebleeds, but they were also at centre ice.


Chambar was wonderful. We had heard from many friends that it was a good restaurant and it definitely lived up to it's reputation. Brian tried one of the Belgian beers from their extensive list and he really enjoyed it. The beer was good, the wine was good and the food was excellent. We were told that the mussels were their signature, but we haven't been keen on mussels since Brian's dreadful experience with mussels in the south of France. Nevertheless, we would definitely go back to Chambar.

Unfortunately, the Canuck's game was a bad one to watch because the Canuck's lost to the Avalanche by a score of 6 to 2. So, what do you take pictures of when the game is not going so well? The fights of course!


This weekend, Brian is taking me to see Tony and Tina's Wedding. I haven't gone before and I haven't heard much about it, but it is a different kind of show and it seems like it will be fun. I'll have to let you know...

you spin me right 'round, baby

I am astonished at the rate that 1-year-old's learn. It's true that this is such a fantastic age for kids. It seems like Josh understands something new everyday. One day I am constantly repeating myself trying to get him to do something and the next day, he does it the first time I mention it.

Take spinning around, for example. He started spinning around a few weeks ago when he heard music that he liked. I never thought I labelled it for him, but apparently, I did. Here's what happened the very first time I asked him to "spin around"...

gung hei fat choy!

I often get teased because my friends think that I say I'm Chinese only when it suits me. The truth is that my family is from Indonesia, but somewhere in our ancestry, we came from China. So, I guess that makes me Indonesian-Chinese, or "IndoChink", as me and my siblings affectionately call ourselves.

Growing up, I remember Chinese New Year being a time where we went to a parade full of dragons and firecrackers of which I was afraid. And, if we went up to my grandfather and gave him a "pi-pi" greeting, as my mom called it, he would give us a red envelope (which all Chinese know what that means!).

This is why I don't really consider myself Chinese. We don't follow Chinese traditions (or Indonesian ones, for that matter!). But that is no reason why we couldn't go down to Chinatown today and watch the New Year's parade.

We took my girlfriend's daugther, Skye, and Josh and we stood in the rain with MANY people to take part in the celebration. Josh got to see his first parade (for some reason, which I don't recall, we missed the Santa Claus parade). I was hoping he would not be afraid of the dragons, loud drums and firecrackers. As it turned out, he was completely mesmerized by it. You can see, it was hard to get his picture because he wouldn't turn around!


Josh also got to sit on his first motorcycle, courtesy of Vancouver's finest. We hope that this will be the only photo of Josh that has anything to do with VPD!


Check out the rest of our parade photos below. Gung Hei Fat Choy, everyone! We wish you a healthy and prosperous Year of the Rat!

wisps of her

My cousin writes poetry. Actually, she's really Brian's cousin, so am I supposed to say she's my cousin by marriage? Or is cousin OK? Whatever! Anyway, Brian's cousin, Kim, writes poetry. I NEVER knew. I met Kim the same time I met Brian (2002) and I would say we have become pretty good friends. She and Brian are quite close, so we've all spent a bit of time together. Maybe it has to do with the fact that she lived in our basement suite for close to a year! Hehehe...

Anyway, Kim and I have had MANY heart to heart's and she is a fabulous heart to heart talker. We've had some pretty good conversations! But we never once talked about poetry - probably because I am a complete idiot when it comes to poetry! I don't know why I'm so shocked to hear she writes poetry, but I am.

So, I checked out her poetry blog. Like I said, I know nothing about poetry, but this one poem in particular touched me. I'm sure it had everything to do with the fact that it's about wee Joshie. But I'm also touched that Josh had such an effect on her that she would write a poem about him.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Kim. We all love you too!

wedding bells are ringing!

Congratulations to my bro, Lenny, and his new fiancée, Tini. Lenny proposed this morning and Tini said yes! In true romantic form, Lenny prepared a picnic breakfast for Tini and then promptly woke her up to surprise her with it! Hehehe...don't wedding proposals take you back to the time when your spouse proposed (sigh!)? It's such an exciting time, isn't it?!

So now, my family, spread across North America, is preparing for a wedding! Lenny is the last of us 5 siblings to get married, so we better make it a big one! There is no date or venue yet (they haven't even been engaged for 24 hours!), but if my mom could have it her way, I bet that our family Disney cruise is looking more and more like a Disney wedding! Hahaha...

Congratulations again, Lenny and Tini!