Riding the Kiddie Boat Ride at Centreville

23 months and 2 weeks old:

• Sept 4:  Bb is almost two years old!
• We visited Centre Island and in particular Centreville, an amusement park with rides and a farm for young kids (probably best is under 10 years old) finally.  DH bought a family pass online (a better deal than buying it on site) and bb was able to try so many rides for the first time!  It’s like a small version of Wonderland just for toddlers and young kids.  It was my first time there to see the rides in action.  I had never ridden on the rides before as a kid (at least from what I remember).
• Bb went on the antique car ride with DH, grandma, and her uncle.  She didn’t really know what was going on, but it was a great new experience for her.
• They tried some other rides too, the ones where she was old enough and tall enough to try.  The best ride, we discovered that day, for her came later in the day which was the solo boat ride “Kiddie Boat Ride”.  She literally sat by herself in a little boat which was connected to a spinning arm with other occupied boats and sat there as it went around in a circle.  It was so funny because it was the first time we let her ride something on her own and she had to sit by herself too!  I laughed so hard because she looked so small and cute and vulnerable in the boat but just that it was funny to see her be independent for the first time.  She really liked it.  It also felt like we were dropping her off at school for the first time to be independent.
• Bb saw how the other children rang the bell on top of the boat and how one other boy would use both his hands to straddle both wheels.  She did that too.  She watches by learning a lot.
• She enjoyed it so much that we lined up again for the boat ride.  This time, when we were in line, she watched a boy just sit in the boat and not doing anything or holding anything.  When it was her turn to ride the boat, she did the same “cool” stance and didn’t do anything either.  It was so funny.
• It was also bb’s first time wearing a life jacket when they went on the swan ride.  How lucky for her to try this ride!  Even I have never tried this swan ride myself before lol.
• We also had a funnel cake with apple cinnamon for the first time.  The fried bits were harder and more battered than the ones I’ve had at Wonderland.
• Bb was so tired that she passed out not on the ferry (also her very first time on the ferry!) but in the stroller when we were walking to the parking structure.  But then she woke up upon being put into the car seat and didn’t sleep again on the ride home surprisingly.
• Also, we had to wait in line for the ferry going to the island for about 40 minutes.  During this time, we were all just standing and waiting at the gates crowded with everybody else.  It was miraculous that bb was fine with chugging a bottle of milk and then waiting patiently with everyone.  She didn’t get fussy or cry to get out.  For a toddler to wait for 40 minutes inside of a stroller in the sun is absolutely incredible.  I’m so, so proud of her.
• I guess she was just staring at people’s butts while we were waiting.  The line-up for the ferry coming back was more interesting because her stroller top was actually open and she could people-watch.  But the line-up for the island ferry was basically her inside of her closed stroller because it was so sunny.  Amazing she did so well.
• On the day of going to Centreville, we couldn’t find her sun hat and the lens on her sunglasses fell out and we couldn’t find it in the car.  So unfortunately on that sunny day, she had to do without those summer essentials.
• We visited the small farm that was on Centre Island too.  Bb recognized the peacock and also the horse and cow.  She always waves to animals willingly (but not so much when we ask her to wave to humans).
• When we ask her to wave or say hello to someone, she still goes “sau my jet sou” (hiding my hands) and putting her hands behind her back.  She’s so funny.
• Bb enjoyed the spinny rides like the spinning tea cups, the rocking ferry, and merry-go-around.  She actually went twice on the spinning tea cups with DH.  She smiled so hard and laughed during the first couple of spins.
• Bb placed her doll on the training potty for fun this week.  She recognizes that as a place for the doll to do her “business”.
• Bb is still continuing to put toilet paper into the toilet this week.  She likes ripping up the toilet paper into small pieces to throw into the toilet.  Also, she learned how to flush the toilet this week!  She developed enough strength to push it down.  She can flush the toilets in the house that are the typical handle-pushing-down ones.  She can’t reach the flush buttons that are eco-friendly and located at the top of the toilet.
• To my surprise this week, she actually let me cut her fingernails and toenails while awake this week.  She had just woken up from her nap and I was able to coax her to come with me to the bathroom to trim her nails.  She watched as I used a regular adult nail clipper to trim them.  She didn’t flinch or retreat.  This is one of the few times we are able to trim her nails with her being awake and watching!
• This week, she likes going on the bathroom scale in our bathroom to weigh herself.  She says “bon ha chun seen!” (let me weigh myself).  Funny she is so willing when at first we wanted to weigh her and she refused.  And then after weighing herself, she says “hen jor wor” (I got lighter).  Honestly, she didn’t know what she’s saying and it’s just things she’s repeating from us.  Because of her holding on to the bathtub when she’s weighing herself sometimes, the number on the scale fluctuates and isn’t actually accurate.  She needs to let go of the tub for the number to be correct.  And whether she actually is lighter or heavier doesn’t matter because it’s a ballpark number that changes day to day.
• Bb speaks with such a Cantonese accent.  She finishes off her phrases with “wor”, “la”, “ai”.  I realize I speak like that too, but when she says it and I hear it, it’s much more pronounced to me.
• Sept 7:  We took bb to her third wedding party!  Bb has been very cooperative lately and not acting out anymore (due to my increased attention on her) and she also agreed to wear a lovely dress and cardigan without complaint.  She looked so, so cute in it.  It was a perfect little flowery dress and a white long-sleeve cardigan with her white sandals.
• That morning of the wedding, bb woke up around 7 or 8.  DH tired her out purposely by bringing her to the park and to play with sand.  She then came back, ate lunch, and then grandma slept with her at noon.  I woke her up at 2:10 p.m.-ish and we all got ready to leave the house by 2:55 p.m.  It was perfect timing and bb was able to get in a late nap to allow to survive the long night ahead.  I’m so glad that we were able to “manipulate” her wake schedule once again in order to attend the 4 to 10 p.m. wedding (six hours long).
• She was quiet and well-behaved during the 30-minute car ride to the venue.  And when we got there, bb wasn’t too uncomfortable in the ceremony seats.  She was comfortable enough that when the ceremony started, she even started talking a bit.  DH had to shush her.  She still stared at people we introduced her to, but she has improved so, so much in the last couple of weeks due to us going out much more often.  She was fascinated with the white rose petals that were meant to be thrown on the bride and groom as they walked down the aisle.
• I was so glad that the venue was so big and had large grassy grounds and flower gardens where we were able to roam around and burn off some energy before we sat down at the table for the reception part.  This really helped bb to sit still during the reception.
• We didn’t bring our own booster chair.  Bb sat in the high chair/booster that was provided by the wedding venue and she sat in it pretty well for the most part.  She had some cheese crackers and blueberries that we brought for her and bread from the bread basket.  It was a much more open venue space so whenever bb was starting to act up, we brought her out to the hallway to take a breather and let her walk around.  It worked so well.  She also had some of the kids’ mozzarella sticks and some of the cheese pizza (gigantic portion).  She scribbled with her crayons in the colouring book that we got from the previous wedding we attended too.
• We were also able to hear the speeches from the night clearly too!  Bb didn’t act up or need to be held during those parts which was a pleasure for us to listen to the speeches.  I love weddings so much.
• By 9:30, most of the festivities had wrapped up and DH was lining up for the egg waffle late night station.  Bb was actually not showing signs of tiredness yet which I was very surprised about.  While I was chatting with a friend on the couch though, bb was lying down and squirming on the sofa.  She was tired enough to lay down at least but not so tired that she was acting out.
• Whenever I sing the alphabet song “A, B, C, D, E, F, G”, bb follows up with “liga lo ma chi” which sounds like the rest of the song “H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P” lol.  It’s so cute and I now sing that part of the song like her too.  I don’t want to correct her too soon because she’ll be singing the correct version before long.
• Bb tasted and ate her first mooncake tonight.  It’s not officially the day of the mooncake festival yet but I was feeling for some after dinner tonight.  Bb really enjoyed the yolk and the lotus seed paste part.  Last year, we were so busy that even though we had mooncakes in the fridge, we didn’t even open them up to eat or celebrate.  So nice to eat the decadent sweet treat this year again.
• She is at such a cute stage right now, physically and mentally.  She looks cute (I don’t care that I’m her mom and I say this because it’s true) and the things she says are adorable too.  She will be two years old next week!
• Actually, sometime in the last couple of weeks, we told her that she’ll be two soon and whenever I ask her how old she is now, she already responds that she’s two lol.
• Bb has been watching background TV recently.. I’m happy she’s not watching cartoons or fast-moving programs yet, but she does watch the screen whenever we have CP24 on or when grandma watches her evening Chinese shows.  We talk to bb throughout it so she knows what’s on the screen and so it’s an interactive activity. She points out things she sees too and recognizes grocery stores, “bald” people, asking what the thing is that telecasters are holding (a microphone), people swimming, etc.
• The most frequent thing that bb asks is “Lei gor mei lay gah?” (What is this?)