Cutting up bananas for the pancakes

Week 149 of motherhood with 2 year old 10 month and 7 month old: 

• July 26:  The past week, the 7 month old tried steak (she really loved it), pineapple, apricots, peanut butter on toast (strips), banana, carrots.
• I brought out the Jenga wooden blocks again for the toddler and she started building things with it.  She started lining them up side by side too to build a staircase and then the outline for a house.  She then made a “swing” for the peg people and beds for them.
• We trekked to Mississauga on the weekend for some old school dim sum cart brunch at Emerald Chinese restaurant (so yummy but man is is dim sum expensive these days!).
• We attended the Bricks in the Six event in the afternoon, which was a new eye-opening event for the kids.  The toddler tired out before we finished seeing everything and wanted to sit in the stroller.  There was a line-up to see the Lego creations that we unknowingly got stuck in for a longer than necessary period of time; we could have gone to the main exhibition room instead.  This event was much bigger and had more epic creations than the one we visited back in 2017.  It was still nice to attend with the kids.
  • There was a build zone area in the vendor’s area.  The toddler immediately got to building when she saw the large plastic Lego blocks.  I loved that she knew immediately what to do because she’s played with it before.
  • We also were part of a mosaic of Lego tiles where we each got to build a part of the bigger picture.  The assignment wasn’t easy for the toddler and she mostly watched us do it.
  • When the baby was hungry, I found a chair near the sides to sit on and nursed her that way.  I’m unfazed now and can nurse her anywhere.  There were so many people walking and milling about, but I knew no one really would pay attention to me.  And if they did, they usually don’t look or stare for long — they know it’s awkward and rude.  In fact, most people in public don’t care but it’s actually moms at EarlyON programs who actually look at me a little longer… sometimes.
  • Both kids definitely didn’t appreciate the complexity and creativity of the Lego sets put on display, but next time we decide to attend, they’ll be older and they’ll understand it more.  (We actually weren’t firm on attending because we knew the kids were too young, but then my friend couldn’t go anymore and offered the tickets to me at a discount — so it was kind of like it was meant to be.)
• I love the way the baby folds her hands.  When we were out taking a walk, she folded her hands so politely and “like a gentleman”.  It’s the cutest thing.
• Whenever we go out to public, people usually comment on how cute and adorable the baby is.  It’s cute too when she smiles back or giggles at the stranger too.
• DH tried sitting in the middle seat in the SUV vehicle for the first time.  The toddler tends to kick and “bully” grandma when she is in the back, so that’s why we tried it.  Surprisingly, DH fit in the middle seat (we thought it would be too small and tight but he said it was okay).  He had the time of his life in the back with the two kids and talking and playing with them lol… 🤷‍♀️
• Whenever I reserve a TGTG bag online and DH picks it up for me, the toddler likes to joke that “mama buys it and daddy steals it”.  She knows that she doesn’t actually “steal” it, but she says it for fun.  And whenever I pick up the bag sometimes, I’ll tell her that I “bought it and stole” it myself. 😂
• The toddler loved the Coco Pandan cookie from the Night Baker TGTG bag that I picked up this week.  She liked the pandan parts only actually.  She kept asking me for the “green parts”.
• This week, the toddler has been enjoying soy milk and requesting for it more than the cow’s milk.
• In the morning when the toddler wakes up, she goes to grandma’s room and requests to “crawl under her”.  She is used to DH being away in the mornings now, now that he has to go into the office three times a week.  We’re all used to it by now too.  I used to rely on him to give us a break during lunch time when he worked from home to catch a break.  Now, we’re used to it and the two kids are manageable (ish).
• I noticed the toddler is taller this week.  She’s slowly growing out of the 3T clothes.  I search for lots of 4T clothes on marketplace sometimes but have yet to find something that I want to buy yet.  I’m glad that I bought 3T clothes for her to wear even when she was 2 years old.  It meant looser clothing for a comfortable fit but that she was able to wear for a longer period of time.
• The baby has grown too this week in that she’s lost a bit of her chubs and rolls. 😭  She is moving more and active and super strong.  DH stood her up and she stood so firmly with both feet planted on the ground.  She plays in the exersaucer in the living room now and she is able to stand up quite well.  Sometimes, we do cushion her with blankets but sometimes she is fine on her own too.
• I was washing the toddler’s feet (because she had me do it once and has enjoyed it since then and requests for it) in the sink and I was noticing how big her feet were.  It wasn’t long ago when I was holding her little pink newborn wrinkled feet in my hands and now she is already grown and has long slender feet.  Her feet are wide how it’s supposed to be.  It made me very nostalgic and how these two years have really flown by.  It doesn’t feel like it when we’re in the day-to-day, but when I stop and look, time really does fly.  This stuff makes me so emotional and sad because them being young and small is such a fleeting time.  It feels even faster because some days and moments are hard (when she’s tantrumming or when I’m feeling so mentally and physically tired that I just want to zone out on my phone).  I don’t want to wish time away but sometimes I just want a break too.  It’s such a hard bittersweet balance for all parents…
• We attended the Creative Chefs class in Aurora again.  This time, “blueberry and banana pancakes” was on the menu.  I put that in quotations because they actually didn’t end up having blueberries.  They had strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries instead (no shade — it’s just a fact I noticed).  Unfortunately, I have to say that the Creative Chefs programming at this location is not very good…  The facilitators don’t explain or show the kids at a “kids level” what the cooking process will be.  I really liked the Creative Chefs class at the Thornhill location.  I’ll never forget how they read a book about pizza and then introduced the ingredients to the kids before we made them.  And the facilitators let the kids do most of the work and encouraged the parents to let the kids do the work.  At this Aurora location, the facilitators don’t put much emphasis on the independent part and don’t seem to care as much…
  • The chickpea flour was already in a bowl when we arrived (there was too much of it actually — makes it harder for the kids to mix).  The kids had to dump the baking soda from the plastic cup into the bowl and mix it.  Then they cut up a banana with the plastic knife and smushed it with the plastic fork (not easy to do).  The banana mush then went into the bowl.  The facilitator then added water to the bowl (she did this for us instead of letting the child do it themselves).  And then they cooked the pancakes on the griddle for us.  The griddle took a long time while the pan didn’t take as long but the pan was too hot (you’re supposed to cook pancakes on low heat) and burnt them…  Then the kids put the fruit on top of the pancakes to eat.  There was syrup too.  The fruit was actually previously frozen and thus very wet and soggy.
  • They used chickpea flour because it is gluten-free and devoid of most allergens that most kids have.  Unfortunately, this meant that the pancakes actually didn’t taste very good.  One of the parents there commented that the pancakes looked terrible and didn’t taste good.  I also found it “interesting” that she was so enthusiastic about the process that she kept taking selfies with her son but then threw away the pancakes afterwards because they didn’t taste good…  What does her son think about that?  It seems very just “for the gram”.
  • The toddler liked the pancakes though and ate some of it, and the strawberries as well.  We brought a Tupperware container to bring the leftovers home.  (I was happy to see her slice up the bananas successfully using the plastic knife — yay for small skills.)
  • I liked that they actually did circle time (songs) this time at the end.  However, it felt so short.  I wish the facilitators were a bit more into it at this location… but that’s life.  Not every location is the same.
  • Grandma made pancakes with the baby too.  There were more than enough sets to go around for everyone.  (This Creative Chefs class is the one with the lowest attendance.  I wonder why?)
• We visited the splash pad again because the toddler said she wanted to go.  She says she likes the “old one” versus the new one.
• It was funny that after we changed into her Crocs and played for a short period of time that she didn’t want to play anymore and instead wanted to go to the regular playground.
• We noticed that when the toddler is with me at a playground, she wants me to slide down with her.  As in, she needs to sit on my lap while going down the slide.  But when she goes with DH to the playground, she is able to independently go down the slides herself. 🤦‍♀️
• We attended the morning EarlyON Magic Show at the park.  Unfortunately, we arrived about 15 minutes late.  We weren’t as prepared as the other parents who packed picnic blankets and camping chairs.  We just sat on the lawn on the free beach balloons lol.  I think the magic show catered more to older kids as the toddlers wouldn’t really understand the jokes.  However, it was still interesting for them to see, such as when the magician pulled out coloured string from his mouth.
• We attended the “Songs Rhymes and Stories in Cantonese” EarlyON class.  There were so many infants there coincidentally!  My toddler was like the second oldest there.  The other older child was four years old.  It was great to have the kids listen to Cantonese songs and stories.  The baby, once again, woke up to join the fun even though she was tired and sleeping in the car seat.  She joined just a tad too late though since the “choo choo train” song introducing each child was finished already lol. 😅
• We learned the “dim sum” song and a “vegetable soup” song.
• It was a great session and I liked how the facilitators broke the circle time up into two parts.  The toddler was able to play with toys in between the time, which she relishes in.
• The baby’s bottom tooth is more prominent now and thankfully she didn’t display any symptoms of teething this week.  Not really fussy.  She also knows (mostly) not to bite me anymore.
• This week, the toddler continues enjoying to “change” her stuffed animals and then stashing the “used” diapers into the cabinet of her play kitchen.  We have to secretly retrieve them and unwrap them so that the baby can use them. 😅
• Almost every day, it’s another one of her stuffed animal’s (pretend) birthday.  So she will prepare the play food for them and have them sit in the high chair lol.
• The toddler comes into our room and says our bedsheets are smelly and that in the future when she is older, she will help me wash them lol.  The toddler seems to have some sort of super nose as she often comments that things or people are smelly.