“Swan Lake” ride for kids at Canada’s Wonderland

Week 145 motherhood: 2 years 9 months and 6 months old: 

• June 22:  Wonderland – this was such an interesting day.  We all woke up nice and early and arrived to Wonderland just a little after 10 a.m. to beat the rush of people.  Yay!  We even got a parking spot really close to the entrance and headed straight towards Kidzville and Planet Snoopy.  We saw two Snoopy characters to take photos with but the toddler was not willing to take a photo with them.  She refused three rides that day, two of which we lined up for for at least 10 to 20 minutes before she said she didn’t want to go on them.  It was too bad.  We were there bright and early to avoid long line-ups but she didn’t want to ride on the helicopter ride (the first one).  We packed a lunch which we ate out at the shaded picnic tables outside the gates.  There were actually so many schoolkids on this visit (it was so chaotic and crowded when we arrived in the morning).  The toddler did enjoy two rides — the merry-go-around and the swan lake ride.  She went on them three times each.  She liked the arcade before we left as well, wanting to ride on and touch all of the games and ride-on games.  She didn’t want to leave in the end.  We watched a live Snoopy singing performance too.  Smart of the staff to put on a show for only 15 minutes because you know that kids don’t have a long attention span.  It was the first “live” show that the toddler has watched and been to.
• The baby was pretty good the whole day.  She didn’t sleep a long stretch in the stroller and I fed her a few times on and off before she continued dozing off.  None of the rides were suitable for her unfortunately.
• DH and I were able to go on the swinging boat ride (what’s it called again?  Edit: “Viking’s Rage”) — what a way to relive our young child-free days of amusement park rides haha.  And we couldn’t leave Wonderland without a funnel cake too.  The toddler enjoyed it.  (Can’t believe funnel cakes are like $17 now.)
• Despite the toddler not cooperating and voicing herself and refusing lots of rides that I wished she could have gone on, it was a really nice day.  The weather was beautiful and sunny with a breeze and we all walked over 10,000 steps each.  It was a great day to be outdoors.  It was actually my first time going on a swan ride too (the toddler went last year with DH and his uncle at Centreville).
• June 23:  We had a belated dragon festival dinner with our relatives at a restaurant for the first time since the pandemic.  It was really nice to dine out with relatives again and for them to see the kids again up close and personal.  The baby didn’t really cooperate during this dinner.  She didn’t nap during it and even after I fed her, she didn’t really nap again.  Instead, we did pass her around from relative to relative at the table.  It was nice to have our hands free to eat for a while and it’s so great that she is content being in others’ arms too.  The toddler likes to stick to me and DH only.
• June 25:  I’ve been seeing the number “44” frequently these days.. since last week at least.  At first, the number didn’t seem all that great because “four” sounds like “death” in Chinese.  However, I kept seeing it and upon Googling it, it is actually an auspicious number and means that I have guardian angels looking after me or something of that vein.  I look up at the clock and it says “double four” often or my steps end in 44..  it’s strange and interesting.
• The baby tried BLW with a steamed carrot last week as her first food.  (The toddler’s first food was carrots too; I had cooked and pureed it for her.)  The baby really ingested some because we found 2 clumps of carrots in her diaper a day later.  Yay!  She actually ate it then.
• We’ve spoon-fed her rice water and then her third food was hummus.  She actually took to it really well (such an easy conveniently ready-made food too that is nutritious and iron-rich).  She already looked hungry and was licking her lips when her dad brought out the spoon.  Actually, upon being seated in the high chair, she was already ready to eat.  This little girl is so funny.  We love it 🥰.
• DH spoon-fed her the hummus and she liked it.  I took out the num num spoon and she grabbed it in her hand immediately and started eating up the hummus and sucking on the spoon like she was used to it all her life.  Amazing and fast learner!!!  The toddler never used the spoon in that way, ever.
• We realize we have an eater on our hands 😄.
• Another big contrast is how little the baby likes books and being read to while the toddler has always enjoyed being read to and reading.  Even this morning, she had a book in her hand and was reading to herself/flipping through the pages.  The baby gets annoyed and fed up by page 3 usually 😅.  She turns and arches her back and you can tell she doesn’t want to hear any more.  The baby always is alert to when the TV is turned on and likes to turn to it… 🤦🏻‍♀️.
• I still have lots of postpartum hair loss.  It’s been more than a month already..  So many strands of hair in the shower drain after I wash my hair.  Could it be because I’m counting calories too/maintaining/losing weight that my pp hair loss is even worse? 🤔
• (I just saved this draft and glanced at the webpage and it shows I’m at 414 words.  Another four sighting!)
• It’s also 2:44am now…
• Sold the 12 bottles of similac formula online since they are expiring in August and we won’t need them anymore.  Hopefully.  Watch my milk dry up by August 😅 and it’ll be so sad if I have to end up supplementing/locating formula.  It was a good peace of mind to have them at home when the baby was born.  She drank a few bottles during the first week before my milk fully came in anyway, so it was a good purchase no matter what.
• The toddler has been sleeping around 9:30pm after a bath and then waking up around 8am or 7:30am.  She likes to wake up, walk out of the room by herself, and go to grandma’s room to say hi and scoot underneath her legs like a train lol…
• The toddler likes to close my washroom door when I’m brushing my teeth and getting ready in the morning and then either lay on the floor outside the washroom and put her feet together (“pat gurt jern”) or do the same motion on the bed.  She gets such a kick out of it when I open the door and try to act surprised.  She likes to do this a few times.
• She likes having her diaper changed on the bathroom counter where the baby is changed.  She wants to be the same lol..
• An annoying habit that popped up in the last 2 days is that the toddler will go to my closet during my morning washroom routine and take clothes out and put them on the bathroom floor 😑.  It makes my clean clothes dirty and it’s just annoying in general.  She doesn’t like to pick up things that she’s dropped herself either.
• The toddler likes to play with the spare baby bottles and pumping parts that sit on the window ledge.  I should really put those away and put some toy blocks there instead for her to play with.  She likes to fit the medela pump and bottle together after I showed her how to do it.
• She’s been enjoying clothing her stuffed animals but she doesn’t know how to snap the buttons closed.  Her hands aren’t strong enough to close the buttons so she asks me to help her.  Same thing with a Zipper.  She doesn’t know how to zip up yet and asks me to help her.
• We got goat milk from a Flashfood order and the toddler drank it no problem like cow’s milk.  I discerned a more “tarty”/sour taste to the goat milk than cow’s milk has.  Love how the app allows us to discover new food items. 😄  I’m able to fulfill my daily calcium needs adequately too with these discount items.  We got a 4L bag of 1% MF milk for just $1!  (3 days to expiry but it’s okay because I know I can drink about a liter of milk per day — hot summer weather is perfect for a cold glass of milk.)  It’s so great.  Also, ever since I started recording my meals on the MyFitnessPal app, I can see clearly what I’m deficit in and overloading on.  Usually I’m lacking fiber and calcium each day.  Our TGTG Metro salad bags have been helping to improve our diets with more greens and fiber and now these dairy products from FF are helping us maintain our bones.  It’s such a win-win situation. 😄
• June 27:  We attended an in-person EarlyON class for the first time again in a while (we haven’t even attended the virtual ones and it’s surprising that the toddler hasn’t asked about them either).  This was an EarlyON location that I have been wanting to attend for a long time.  The reason being?  It’s only 2 minutes away from us and which I guess would be considered our “home” location.
• The site was inside of an elementary school and it didn’t disappoint.  (The only downside is that there is no AC inside like most elementary schools 😅.)  The toddler was immediately drawn to the connect four game where there was another child playing as well.  The toddler immediately knew how to play by picking up the pieces to slide through the grid.  She had played this previously at the Kids Fest.  Unfortunately, the other boy playing there reached for the same tile that the toddler had in her hand and grabbed a few and said, “Mine!!”  His parent was next to him but didn’t see this happen until a few seconds too late.  She apologized on his behalf and gave a couple tiles to her to play.  However, the toddler was spooked out already by this point.  The parent explained to me something about his home daycare sharing toys, and I said it’s okay because kids at this age are still learning how to share.  Then she directed my child to use the other side of the Connect Four game to play. 🤨  I mean it made sense to separate the kids, but how about asking your own child to play elsewhere instead of mine?  Geez.
• The facilitator at this location was super, super nice, friendly, and warm.  You can tell the facilitator cares when they ask for your child’s name.  She also squealed for joy and was so excited to see the baby.  She was so sweet and came by so often to talk to us, bring out a changing-colour cube toy for the kids, and asking about us in general.  I felt so welcomed and warm. 😊
• The toddler wanted to read for a while since her sister was in the baby area with grandma.  The six-month-old was interested in the plastic babies, but the toddler didn’t want to let her play.  She asked me to cloth some of them in the available clothes.  It was hard to fit the tight onesies on the plastic dolls but I did it.  You have to be so careful to fit each limb in.  If a child did it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they happened to rip the onesie by accident.
• June 26:  Boiled an egg and mashed it with warm water to feed to the baby.  She wasn’t a huge fan of it but it’s a great exposure to eggs to her.  I feel like I’m more experienced with knowing how to give solids to the baby this time around.  This baby is also more interested in eating solids than the toddler was at this age.  This baby holds on to the num num spoon so well and knows to suck on it for food.
• June 28:  We gave her a section of orange to suck on and she really liked it!
• The toddler likes to play with food and she put sliced black olives on each of her fingers like rings.  So funny and creative.