milk factory blog

First Skate

I've just posted some funny pics of Ella, the birthday girl, on skates for the first time. Click here.

Other birthday photos will follow!

My Daughter's Castle

New Year's Resolutions 2006

1. Plan meals
2. Declutter
3. Exercise
4. Blog

We're into the second week of January, and as a household, we're not doing too badly with the first two items on our list. Our meals have been mapped out for the week, and I've re-organized Ella's room and strategically placed her pony castle (and all the teeny tiny pink and purple accessories that go along with it) at the foot of her bed. Out of sight, but not out of mind.

What's a pony castle, you might ask. Well let me tell you...

It is a little girl's dream house. 100 sparkly stickers. Little magnetic feet that when placed just right, make music play and open kitchen appliances. Little pony brushes and little pony cups and saucers. And really little pony forks. It is enough to make a mother, who specialized in social and feminist pedagogy, go a little bit crazy.

Don't get me wrong. I love the fact that Ella has so much fun with her little girl toys, and I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of Santa and his pony-loving friends and family. But it's me, and not Santa, who has to spend MANY hours in the day making the ponies walk and talk and drink tea.

New Year's Resolution #5 - buy wooden toys only, declare red or orange as the new pink, and enroll our little girl into swimming, soccer, and martial arts classes as soon as possible!!! 

Pumpkin Patch Kid

While I was cleaning house in preparation for a dinner party (the floors have been washed, the carpets vacuumed, and the dust bunnies collected), Go-Daddy-O and Ella went to Steveston to meet friends at a pumpkin patch. When they arrived, there was an hour-long lineup. And admission was $7 per head, with no discount for the kids. Crazy!

Go-Daddy-O has zero tolerance for standing in long lines, or for paying a fee to enter what he calls "the equivalent of a Christmas tree lot," so he took Ella to a playground instead and then found a FREE pumpkin patch. They bought one really big pumpkin, and two tiny ones--one for us, and one for Hana.

 

Team Spirit

Thank you to everyone who sponsored the Milk Factory team in the Run for the Cure. We raised over $2000! I've posted some pictures from the Run here, along with a memorable Ella-story:

http://blog.milkfactory.com/2005/10/team_milk_facto.html

5 Orange Circles

It is an absolute chore to get Oliver to eat vegetables so I was very excited to hear Oliver talk endlessly about eating "lello corn" at daycare today.  Of course, we don't have corn in our house so I saw the opportunity to introduce the idea of other colored food...like orange circles (carrots) and green balls (peas).  Well!  According to O, that sounded like an awesome dinner!  Ha!

Continue reading "5 Orange Circles"

The Skunks Are Coming!

Tomi has been scolding me for not blogging, and I couldn't resist this short Ella story.

I'm sure this is partly because I'm a man, and therefore fascinated by bodily functions, but I've been wondering at what point young kids develop a sense of smell. Until recently, Ella has been really focused on touch and taste and sound.

As far as smell goes, I was really starting to wonder when she'd notice someone had passed gas. I would let one go and she'd laugh at the sound, noting that I'd tooted, but she'd never comment on the smell (even when it was worthy of comment). It just seemed to be something she wasn't detecting.

Anyway, this all changed out of the blue a couple of weeks ago while we were staying with her Auntie Em and Uncle Puff in Victoria. She was sleeping in our bed for the trip and the two of us took a nap together on the Saturday afternoon. We were all snuggled up face-to-face and drifting off to sleep when a very silent, but very rank bit of gas escaped me.

When the stank drifted up from under the covers she suddenly opened her eyes wide and--with a tone of some concern in her voice--declared: "Oh Daddy, I think the skunks are coming!"

Ah yes, another developmental hurdle cleared.

Vehicle Fanatic

The addiction started with Daddy's car (a spiffed up Honda Civic), then it was the rental "Baby Car" (above).  Then there's Pop's truck and Yeh-Yeh's car.  My car, not such a thrill...I don't know, I love loved my Lexus SUV...and will miss it terribly since we are now, officially, a mini-van family.  Though, I do give the Honda Odyssey kudos for the double sliding doors that open by remote...handy with a toddler in one arm and an infant in the other!  Oliver is obsessed with "my van" and must know its whereabouts at all times.

The addiction elevated to a new level over the past couple of days.  Oliver is now quite chummy with the local law enforcement!  In all the right ways of course...he is only two, after all!

On Sunday he got to sit in a big red fire truck and today it was a police cruiser - with flashing lights no less.  The cop was smart enough to turn off the engine as Oliver climbed behind the wheel.  Perhaps there's already a bulletin out about his love for vehicles at such a young age!

He was one happy camper...and me without my camera on both occasions!

Good Parent = Bad Blogger

My absence can be easily explained in two photos...

 

Busy, busy boys...morning until night (and sometimes during)...and we wouldn't trade them for the world!

Mini-Vacation

I've just posted some pics of Ella on the Milk Factory business blog.

Summer Hiatus

By necessity, Penny and I have taken a bit of a break from blogging. There's the business blog, Hana's blog, the newsletter--and email replies. And those are just the things that we do in front of the computer.

However, that's really no excuse for not doing a quick post every once in a while so that we can keep track of milestones. And here's a biggie. My mom turns 65 tomorrow, so we celebrated by going for Chinese dinner at the Flamingo restaurant on Cambie. We had a fantastic dinner that consisted of mostly seafood: jellyfish appy, prawns and scallops in a bird's nest, lobster in cream sauce, fish maw and crab soup, and steamed halibut. Other dishes included abalone mushrooms, poached chicken, longevity noodles, and tapioca pudding. Yummy!

Our family is happiest when eating good food. The sad part is that we're Chinese, and as a family, we've NEVER gone for one of these delicious 10-course meals because none of us can read a Chinese menu. I had to call a friend, and she got her dad to order for us.

Here's my mom and my aunt (it was her birthday too) blowing out the candle in their longevity buns.

And here's Ella in her "Chinese" party dress.