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We dipped our foreign traveling toes into our new hometown’s waters by starting the day off at the uniquely situated downtown Costco. We stocked up on some produce and snacks for the kids, and enjoyed a leisurely weekday visit to the biggest of big box stores.

Not only were there some fun, local candy (Bounty candy bars) and dry goods brands (my fave – Dad’s Biscuits), but best of all, they have poutine on the hot food menu! So we ordered that and called it a day.

Well, we made it! Today is Day One of our first annual family month abroad! We’re taking it easy this first year and are in Vancouver. After a mostly calm drive, with a detour for some delicious cafe food in Bellingham, we arrived at our rented condo excited and relieved. The kids are thrilled to be in a new place, and were literally bouncing off the walls…well, their feet were!

We made it through our first afternoon (stocking up on groceries at Urban Fare), dinner, and bedtime routine, and I’m currently enjoying a beautifully-lit downtown Vancouver skyline. What an amazing adventure awaits us!

Nol has been “talking” so much these days! I want to write some of his words down before I forget. He’s still mostly babbling, which is the cutest and I’ll feel sad when that ends. One of his most common babbles is “gabadabadaba.” Recently, he has taken to reciting the names of his most beloved people right before he falls asleep: “dada, jiejie, dada, jiejie.” Yep, that’s the order on the family totem pole right now – dada, jiejie, then mama somewhere down near the feet.

I’m constantly amazed by how much he understands, so much more than he can verbally express right now. I see it every time I ask him to put something away or come over to me or find “jie jie” and Daddy. His comprehension of Chinese is also impressive, and he totally puts things into context to get the full meaning. When I tell him in Chinese that it’s time to eat, he starts taking bowls out of the cabinet for me to fill with food.

And he definitely pays attention to when Syd is upset, and offers comfort in the best way he knows how right now. He pats her on the head or moves his head down and cocks it so he can look directly into her face. It’s the cutest thing and Syd is starting to recognize that these gestures are signs of concern and affection, as opposed to any taunting or ill-will.

Choo-choo = train

Apple = fruit that looks similar to an apple

Na-na = I’m hungry

Shoe

Wa-wa = water

Ball

Ammal = animal

Nol’s not the only one in our household who has his own vocabulary, though. One of our favorite “Syd-isms” at the moment is “un-got,” which she says for “forgot.” Not sure where she got that from or how she came up with it, but I love-love it!

(This post was written in January 2015)

Today was one of *those* days. A day where I felt like I was drowning in the quicksand of my kids’ lives. Drowning without a life preserver to save myself. Last night was rough – Nol didn’t want to sleep and was awake for 2+ hours in the middle of the night. After that was when I most likely went back to sleep on the wrong side of the bed, waking up to a doomed day. The grey and stormy weather was in on the plot too, adding gloom to the doom.

I brought Syd to her friend’s 4th birthday party at an ice skating rink. First mistake was thinking that she was well enough after this past week’s flu sickness to enjoy herself because right off the bat, she hid behind my legs and didn’t want to interact with her friends. After the effort of tracking down the correct skates, putting them on, we had a disastrous time on the ice, with me trying to prevent her flailing and sliding body from falling while I attempted to stay upright myself. Then, two meltdowns in the party room later, I was ready to melt myself…right into a puddle of tears. That’s one of the great injustices of parenthood – that parents can’t have meltdowns of our own just because we need a release of our emotions.

Today was one of those days where I needed to get out of the house for some retail therapy (aka buying groceries and house supplies) to calm the dissatisfaction in my soul. Even after returning home, I felt remnants of frustration and exhaustion such that I didn’t even want to hug Nol after he toddled over to greet me at the garage door.

Then came bath time. Nol loves bath time with his jiejie (big sister) so much. I didn’t plan on bathing them together tonight since Nol already had a bath last night and sometimes I think it’s nice for Syd to have the tub to herself, as great as she is about sharing it with her didi (little brother). But his desire and excitement to get in the bath was just too great, so I put him in. A few minutes later, as I was in the shower (Tom kept an eye on the kids in the bath), I hear Syd singing a make-up song to Nol with the line “I like your little penis.” It was hilarious! And it totally turned my day around, with its innocence and creativity and love. The exhausting and trying children I saw five minutes earlier were now the sweet angels and kernels of joy I love so dearly again.

So, today was one of those days…one of those days with the lowest of emotional valleys that give way to the highest of peaks of joy.