Samara's Christmas Concert

Here is a video clip of Samara and her classmates, performing at their Christmas concert.  It's difficult to see, but Samara is on the far left ("A B C" on her shirt).

She was FAR more animated when she was practicing the routine at home....something about the stage just sucks the life right out of her!  Still, hope you enjoy!

Halloween

Well this was Talia's first Halloween! Mer took both girls trick-or-treating along our street, while I sat on the porch and dished out candy. Talia was dressed as a turtle and Samara was dressed as "super sister fire fighter"... it was her idea to add the firefighter hat ;-)

Talia at the Art Gallery

Mer and Nona took Talia to the AGO one day and by the looks of it, Tali had a great time!

Pumpkin Picking with Friends

A couple of years ago, we went apple picking in the fall with our friends, John & Michelle, and their kids.  It turned into an annual tradition...okay, it's only been 2 years, so it's a very young tradition, but a tradition nonetheless!

This year, all the apples were picked, but there were lots of pumpkins begging to be picked, so that's what we did.

Looking forward to next year!

Samara's First Teeth Cleaning

Samara had her first 'real' dental appointment in October.  We got her a "Dora goes to the dentist" book some time ago to help her get an idea of what would happen. We also brought her with us on previous appointments so that she would become more familiar and comfortable with the dentist and cleanings. 

Even still, she was anxious on these previous visits - so much so that she wouldn't even sit on the chair!

Needless to say, I was not looking forward to taking her to first cleaning and was bracing myself for a tear filled morning.  Much to my surprise, Samara was a champ!  If she was anxious at all, she didn't show it.  In fact, she was sooo much better than I ever was as a kid.

When the hygienist asked her to open her mouth, she cranked her mouth open so wide that I thought she was going to unhinge her jaw!  She never cried, she never freaked out, she was just this calm little patient who was very happy to get a lollipop and toothbrush at the end of it.

Thanksgiving at Rattlesnake Point

This year we decided to take the girls to Rattlesnake Point at Thanksgiving - it was a beautifully sunny day and the fall foliage was spectacular.

Nona and John joined us and after an hour's drive outside the city, we had a great afternoon enjoying the outdoors, before heading to a nearby pub for our "thanksgiving dinner".  Definitely a break from the traditional thanksgiving activities of gorging, but hopefully something we continue to do with the girls for years to come!

Mer's Birthday Day

Mer had a milestone birthday this year (I shall not mention numbers, but she's still a young hottie to me!).

We had plans for adult birthday that evening, but in the morning, we packed everyone up and headed down to some of Toronto's revitalized waterfront.  It was VERY early, but armed with coffee we visited the Sherbourne Commons and Sugar Beach.  

It was amazing - there weren't many people out (did I mention it was REALLY early...on a Sunday?!), so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.

Afterwards, we met Michelle and her kids for brunch, before lingering around St. Lawrence market.  Great day!

Hanging Out with Hami & Habi

With such a warm fall, we managed to extend the "deck season" and had a great visit with Hami and Habi who dropped by for a visit.

It was a nice chance for the girls to hang out with the grandparents - no plans, no itinerary, just hanging out.

Guelph in the Fall

Whenever we visit Penny in London, we try to stop by Guelph to hang with our friends Dennis, Mary and their brood.

Samara and the kids made individual pies for dessert, when they weren't playing in the yard.  Dennis made a butter chicken for dinner from scratch, and we ended up sleeping over (fun)!

My Little Pony

We had the chance to visit Penny in London back in September.  We were looking forward to taking Penny to lunch and catching up.  What we didn't expect was "Farm Animal Day"!

Some kind folks in the area brought a goat, chicken and pony to Penny's long term care centre.  Well, you can imagine what Samara thought of that!

While I thought she'd have some reservation about riding a pony, she was not only game, but she wanted to ride the pony again and again!

I'm thinking of buying a pony for her...just need to figure out where to keep it ;-)

 

Easter Part 2: Lees, Pophams & Mooneys

On Saturday morning, we packed everyone up in the car and made the drive to London for the Lee-Popham Easter.  It was also an opportunity to celebrate Penny's birthday.  After a fun lunch, we all went to a park to enjoy the wonderful weather and open some gifts!  Unfortunately, Terry was not feeling well and couldn't attend, but it was still nice to be able to make the trip.  Samara had a great time running around the park, playing with Sean and Spence, and riding her bike.

The next day, it was off to North Drive for a final Mooney Easter meal at grandad's house.  I say final because the house was recently sold, so this was an opportunity for the family to have one final gathering there.  This is a house that Mer's grandad designed and had built over 50 years ago, so it was both a poignant and nostalgic day.

Everyone was in fine form and it was nice for Samara & Talia to hang out with their cousin Ethan.

Easter Part 1: Lees

Easter weekend was shaping up to be a busy one.  On Friday, we had plans to meet the Lee cousins for lunch.  Mer recently bought a family pass for the AGO, so we decided to take the girls there first, since lunch was going to be at Wah Sing in nearby Baldwin Village.

 

It was nice to rediscover the pleasure of visiting the gallery - with a family pass, we had the luxury of wandering around leisurely, without feeling time pressure or the need to see as many exhibits as we could.

After a yummy lunch we all went back to Sooky's house for some dessert and a little Easter egg hunt for the kids.  All in all, a fun day!

Bedtime Story

 

One morning this past week, Talia was lying down with Samara as Samara "read" a Robert Munsch story to Talia.  Of course Samara can't read, but she's heard the story enough that she can recite it from memory.

So she read the entire story, and by the end of it one cutie was fast asleep!  Check out the video evidence.

More Samara Quotes...

Samara LOVES to talk.  She is one of the chattiest kids I know.  When she thinks I'm sleeping, she'll continue talking to her imaginary friends.  I couldn't make up half the stuff she says, even if I tried....really hard.  So here is more of Samara in her own words.

"Fall Time"
While driving out to Scarborough this past fall to visit her Hammi and Habbi, Samara was listening and singing along to her CD of kids songs, when out of the blue, she stopped singing and said "Look at the beautiful colours Abpa" referring to the changing leaves of the trees along the Don Valley. She went on to explain "The leaves change colours, then they fall down. That's how we know it's fall time".

Meaning of "Damp"
We woke up yesterday to a rainy morning. As I normally do, I picked up Samara out of bed, had Samara in my arms, and was pulling open her curtains and opening the blinds to greet the day. Samara looked out and said "oh, it looks damp". I didn't respond, so she asked "Daddy, do you know damp?" I said, "I'm not sure, can you tell me what it means?" She said, "when something is grey and wet, it is damp."

Conversation in a Bathroom Stall
Samara had to use the bathroom during a recent visit to IKEA, so I took her to a family bathroom (with change table and couch for nursing) and into a stall and was crouching in front of her (in a supportive way, not preparing to pounce on her). There was not a whole lot of anything going on, so I asked "Samara, is anything coming out?" No answer. So I asked again "Samara, are you done or do you have anything coming out?" She replied, "Abpa, I need a minute - no, five minutes", so I waited. After about a minute of communal silence I asked again "Are you done?" to which she replied "Abpa - you are not supposed to tell me when I'm done, I tell you when I'm done, that's how going to potty works".

Having been put in my place, I humbly replied "you're right Samara, I'm sorry about that". Her reply? "That's okay, abpa - can you wait on the couch outside? I'll call you when I'm ready." So I did as she asked, and after another minute or so, she called out "did you hear my poo daddy?" to which I relied "yup", which prompted a "did you hear my pee daddy", which yielded another "yup". She concluded, "all done!"

Ice Cream What?
I was taking Samara to the park last weekend, when she saw the following billboard ad for Virgin Radio featuring Katy Perry.

She look at it and said, matter-of-factly, "Apba, that woman has ice cream nipples".  All I could do was laugh and give her a big hug.  "Those aren't ice cream nipples" I said, "but you're right, they look that way".

Sugar Bushing at the Kortright Centre

We decided to play hooky a few weeks ago, and took the girls to the Kortright Centre to see how maple syrup was made. Samara was intrigued but true to form, was most interested in sampling the syrup and pancakes. It was a gorgeous blue-sky day and a great chance to walk in the woods.

Talia's Baek-il

Talia chills out a bit before her party...just takin' in a little reading. Y'know.

To celebrate Talia's 100th day (her baek-il), we had a small family gathering at home. After suggesting that she'd make just a few things, Mama Kim went all out and provided a huge feast of our favourite Korean delish dish-es.

Long Time No See!

Well it's been some time since we've updated the blog - feels like a litte bit of a catch up is in in order.  It's not that we haven't had anything to post - just haven't found the time!

So as we try to make a push to post things from February and March, we hope this little video will satiate your thirst for all things Samara & Talia, until we're all caught up.

Enjoy! 

Winter Fun

This has been a winter of firsts for Samara.

We went to Withrow Park for her first toboggan ride.  I think she was nervous at first, but all it took was one run for her to exclaim "Can we do it one more time daddy?"

Mer and I helped her to make her first snowman.  Admittedly, we used a less orthodox approach - rather than roll wet snow into large balls, we simply shoveled snow into a bid pile and gave it a face! 

Samara also tried skating for the first time.  We took a roadtrip to Guelph this past weekend to visit Dennis, Mary and their brood.  Turns out Dennis had built a small rink in his yard, and had a pair of those skates that you strap onto your shoes.  Samara was game so we slapped them on and put her on the ice.

She did well when she tried.  We walked around the rink and managed not to fall.  However, she was the soon asking "Apba, can I take the skates off now?" and seemed to enjoy spending her time mucking around in the snow, or hanging around the hockey net.

I've included some video for your entertainment.

Goofin' Around

Samara is showing her developing sense of humour.  She will often say "I like jokes".  I don't know whether she knows what jokes are, I just know she loves to laugh.

She is at her funniest, when she doesn't mean to be, and when she is speaking earnestly about something (e.g., while listening to CBC radio: "did you hear that?"...."what Samara?"..."they said what apba said when I don't go to sleep like apba asks"...."what did they say Samara?"....."consequences!").  But she is also funny when she goofs around.  Yesterday we were at Pizza Nova waiting to pick up dinner.  There was music playing over the speaker, so Samara just started doing some kind of wiggle dance by herself.  I started to laugh, which snapped her out of whatever head space she was in, and she stopped.  So I started dancing and she continued on, and soon we were doing all sorts of silly dances.

I took these shots one day when were just messing around the house.  I simply said, "when I count to 3, make a face" - and she did!

Samara's 3rd Birthday

Just as Samara was coming down off the high of the holidays, it was time to get ready for her birthday!  Samara had recently attended several birthday parties for friends and was curious to ask what her birthday would be like.

Mer and I had a bit of struggle.  On the rational side, it was hard for us to justify throwing $200 - $300 for a 3-year old's birthday.  On the emotional side, we wanted her to have a fun and special day and didn't want her to feel that she was somehow less loved because her birthday was not at a Gymboree, or had goodie bags, or was not like her friends' parties.

In the end, we decided to host the party at home.  We invited family and friends with kids, to drop in for a couple of hours.  The night before, Mer and I were getting things ready, re-arranging the house, cleaning, prepping food, and decorating.  Honestly, we were both wiped out by the time we went to bed (late!).

The next morning, Samara was up early (as she has been recently doing).  I carried her downstairs and asked her to close her eyes until we got down.  At the bottom of the stairs, I asked her to open her eyes and she was just thrilled! There were balloons and letters that read "Happy Birthday Samara" taped to the wall.  She said "I love you daddy" and I immediately felt silly for having doubts about whether she'd like her party.

Once Mer came down, we had a birthday hug and some breakfast before getting ready for the guests to arrive.  Here's a video snippet of her party.

Sisters

Samara and Talia are growing with each passing day and while it's too early for them to interact fully, we love watching them together.  Samara never misses a chance to give her little sister a hug or kiss - when she wakes up in the morning, when she returns home from daycare, when it's time to go to sleep, even while Talia is sleeping.

Her expression is one of concern when Talia cries and she immediately says, "Oh no!  Talia is crying.  I think she needs some breast milk!"  I just hope her empathy persists into her teens ;-)

Samara has bestowed Talia with the nickname "bumble bee" - we don't know why or how, she just did.  We like it, so call her that as a term of endearment as well.  Now we just need to find a children's book about a "monkey" and a "bumblebee" and the girls will be thrilled!

Ear Infection

Over the holidays, Samara developed a fever and a cough so we thought a cold or flu and tried to make her comfortable until it ran its course.  However, after 5 days, when there was no break in the fever and her temp actually got worse, we decided to take her to hospital.


Turns out she had an ear infection.  Poor kid was trying to be so brave - she hardly complained, and took her meds like a champ.  We had to give her antibiotics every 8 hours, so when we put her to sleep, she knew we'd have to wake her up 5 hours later and would say "Apba, when you come to give me medicine, I will do this.." and she would open her mouth as wide as she could!


One day on the antibiotics and she was bright eyed, bushy tailed and her old self again!  These photos were taken near her worst.  She had little energy and felt weak and ill.  We completely caved on any rules we had about watching cartoons and let her have all the "Dora the Explorer" she could handle.  I download an entire season's worth, and she plowed through those in a matter of days!


Mer and I are both sooooo tired of Dora, but Samara could watch her over and over and over and over and over and over....you get the point.

Mooney Christmas

We had the good fortune to host the Mooneys this Christmas as well.  It wasn't the whole clan, but it was great to be able to spend some time with Grandad, Jill & John, and Ashley & Duncan.

As always, the stockings were over the top (see Samara wedged in between 2 stockings...well, I guess it looks more like the stockings barfed out a bunch a stuff), but great fun.

It was nice to meet Duncan for the first time, and we hope to see more of him in the future!

Little Family Christmas

This year's Christmas was special for our family for several reasons, but foremost in my mind, Talia had her first Christmas and we, as a family, had a day to ourselves!

Amid the hectic holiday schedule of visits, we had a morning where we didn't need to be anywhere and wasn't expecting anyone.  So, we had a slow start to the day, a nice breakfast, and we opened a few presents and just enjoyed each other's company.

Samara received a wonderful robe from her aunts (Madeleine and Catherine), which matched Mer's quite nicely.  She wore it around the house the whole day!  Honestly, I thought the two of them could have entered a "mom & daughter" contest and would have won the "bathrobe competition" hands down ;-)