gizzypooh

Wow, where has the time gone? Looks like I have neglected this blog yet again (I haven’t updated since October!).

Well, perhaps I should at least recap some of the major events that have happened since my last update.

• We went trick-or-treating with the boys (baby’s first Halloween!)
• We went to Hawaii for a wedding (BTW, traveling with 2 young kids is no walk in the park)
• Christmas came and went (baby’s first Christmas)

Here are some highlights about the boys:

• The kidlet (my oldest son who is 3) loves to draw these days. In fact, he is able to draw people with faces, arms, and legs. He used to just draw squiggles prior to this progress so this is pretty impressive stuff for us.
• The kidlet can read. OK, maybe not but he can pretend to read. He memorizes the books we read him (some are pretty lenghty ones too) and recites them back to us.
• The baby can sit (started sitting with more balance at 6 months)
• The baby’s been eating solids (he didn’t enjoy at first but now seems to like his food)
• The little guy got his first haircut. His hair was growing like crazy and his long sideburns made him look like a girl (he often got mistaken for a girl). So my mom chopped off the sides and trimmed a little bit of the front (was getting into his eyes). Now he looks more like a boy.
• We can see teeth on the baby’s gums. They haven’t really sprouted out yet, but we can finally see the whites of his teeth. For the longest time we thought he was teething (at around 4 months) but we only started seeing them in the last couple of weeks (at around 7 months).

Some random updates about myself:

• Still sleep deprived. The baby was starting to wake up every 2 hours at one point after he hit 4 months. We thought he was teething, but he wasn’t yet. Then he kept getting sick (the big one gets sick from preschool and always manages to spread the germs to the baby) and then getting better, and then getting sick again. At the moment, he is sick again with another cold (cough, stuffy nose, fussiness, etc.). He’s been sleeping better lately but not really close to sleeping through the night yet. I guess every baby is different. I am looking forward to the day that I can sleep more than 6 hours straight. Broken up sleep is better than no sleep but not comparable to continuous sleep.
• I haven’t done too much sewing lately. I think I made a bunting flag and a small zippered pouch for gifts. Oh, I did make the baby some pants which I had to adjust because his bottom is too big. I had gotten all this Christmas fabric which I didn’t even have the chance to use this year! What a bummer. I guess I will have to save it for next year…
• Bought a new point and shoot camera for myself (Canon SD1300 IS). Not sure if I love it. It was at a good price but for some reason it’s hard to compare with my dSLR. I will have to take some more daytime pictures before I can judge.

Nothing overly exciting but this is my life now as a mom with 2 boys on maternity leave. Sometimes life feels pretty mundane but then again I know that this is the season for me to be a mom and be there for my kids and I am trying to enjoy the little joys in life. The boys bring me joy (the giggles, the way I see the brothers bond, the milestones that they achieve each day) and they of course also bring me pain (the meltdowns from my toddler, the sleepless nights from the baby’s wakings). But I know that I would rather go through this in life than never to experience this at all. So I am just trying to take this in one day at a time. Soon enough my maternity leave will be over and I will be back at work (kind of looking forward to working again and thinking of “adult” stuff again if you know what I mean). But for now, I need to live my time as a mom for my boys. And of course I totally appreciate the help that I have been receiving from my family (my mom has been so helpful with the little one this year and the hubby will try to take care of the kids on the weekends when he isn’t working) and our nanny.

I cannot believe that 2010 is almost over. This will totally be a memorable year on many levels.

• The Vancouver Winter Olympics! Definitely a highlight for our city. It made our nation so proud to be Canadians. (I think many people had Olympic withdrawal after the Olympics ended!) Watching the gold medal men’s hockey game was the most exciting event ever.
• We had another baby! Little j was born in May. Having to care for two children is definitely a different challenge than just caring for one. It has been amazing watching the little one hit his milestones as a baby. How quickly we forget once they happen. Now I know why some parents record everything that their children do. We cannot help but sometimes compare the little guy to our first born. But it is also amazing how unique and different each child can be even though they come from the same gene pool.
• First time traveling with 2 kids. We went to Oahu, Honolulu for a good friend’s wedding. We love Hawaii but this was a very challenging trip for me. I had to pack for a 6 month old, a 3 year-old, and myself. We had so much stuff to bring. I have to admit that this wasn’t my most pleasant trip however I am thankful that I was able to witness the union of our good friends in such a beautiful venue. Hawaii will always have a special place in my heart. I am sure that we’ll be back again. My oldest son is already saying, “I want to go back to Hawaii again.”

Looking back on my list back in January 2010, I have to say that I want to do more of the same things that I listed back then for 2011. I think I can honestly say that I have indeed done more of all of the items that I have listed (yay for me!) but of course being the Type A personality that I am, what I have accomplished is just never enough.

Here is the list again (with an extra bonus for 2011):

1. More photography. I need to take more pictures. I need to take more pictures of my children. I also want a new camera and a new lens. But that’s another post of its own…
2. More crafting. I love to sew. Hope to have more time for this in the new year.
3. More reading. I love to learn! I really should do more of this to keep my brain healthy.
4. More blogging. I should post more often.
5. More journaling. Writing down the events of your life is important for self-reflection.
6. More exercise. This is a new item for 2011. It’s not like I don’t run around the house after my kids (well only one kids is mobile for now) but I definitely need to get off my butt more often and just get my heart pumping. I find regular cardio kind of boring these days. Maybe I need to sign up for something fun like hip-hop lessons or something. Hopefully I can find the time when the baby starts to sleep better.

Well, wishing you all a very happy 2011! (I need to go sleep now…)