Bittersweet Moments

Izzy, you did not cry when I dropped you off at school today...you gave me a wave goodbye instead! YAY, what a milestone! You have finally gotten over your separation anxiety.

When I came to pick you up from school, I asked you...
Mommy: So Izzy, do you play with any friends at school?
Izzy: Dino, mmuak mmmuakk! *purses lips together and makes kissing sounds*

Oh my goodness...that's the funniest thing EVER! I went home and told Daddy and he was a little concerned. He has been teaching you to say "NO, Dino!" when he approaches you. Awww, Daddy wants to be the only man in your life. Hilarious.

Love, Mom

Flower Girl

Dear Izzy,

Mommy's soooo proud of you today. You did such a good job being Auntie Janet and Uncle Jeff's flower girl. To tell you the truth, Mommy was very worried that you'll just be running around and screaming...but to my surprise, you are such a little ham! I could tell you loved the attention you got from everyone!

Sean, the flower boy, did an amazing job too! The both of you are definitely the cutest flower boy and flower girl in the whole wide world!

Love, Mom

Walking down the aisle

Izzy bustin' a move!

Practice Run: Flower boy and girl

Oh you guys are so cute!

WHY?!?!?!? ...

...did you throw my phones into the pool??? You threw both Mommy's brand-spanking new iPhone and the home phone into the pool while we were having a pool party today. URGH....ISABELLE!!!!!

Adventures in Toronto

Thank you for being a good girl on our trip, Izzy. For the most part, you were your cheeky little self. Mommy knows how much you value your sleep and when it gets interrupted, you can get quite cranky! But even with the time difference, the bad/missed naps, you were still quite well-behaved, well, for Izzy's standard anyways.

You did well on the plane ride there and back and we have to really thank Uncle Andrew who flew with us from YVR to YYZ. He helped entertain you on the plane and with our luggages because Mommy had so many things we had to bring with us. I think you scared him with the amount of snacks that you ate on the flight!

You had a lot of fun in Auntie Evelyn and Frank's house...playing in their beautiful yard, climbing up and down the stairs and terrorizing everyone in it. The first 2 days we were there, we visited the malls. The third day, Mommy and Izzy ventured out downtown to meet up with one of Mommy's ex-co-worker and her girls. We had a great time! We even met up with Mommy's ex-boss!

Izzy's new obsession...STICKS!

Izzy with her instant girlfriends, Ryleigh (left) and Madison (right)

The next day, we went and saw Daddy at his competition at the culinary school. You were sooo happy to see Daddy because you hadn't seen him for about 3 weeks. Daddy was also delighted to see you. We went there to support Daddy and he did GREAT! Just for you, Daddy won the right to represent Canada in the 2013 Bocuse d'Or to be held in Lyon, France. We will be there to cheer Daddy on!

Izzy running down the halls of the culinary school with Kimberly

Champion Daddy and baby finally reunited!

Since you've been such a good girl and traveler, Mommy is confident to take you on more trips now.

Love, Mom

Happy Easter, Izzy!

You've come a long way! Look at how much you've grown...

This is your first Easter that you we able to enjoy! We went to an Easter Egghunt party on Friday and you had a great time with your little friends. Mommy put on your Hello Kitty tunic dress for you and you carried your Hello Kitty Easter basket to the party. You picked up so many Easter eggs containing so many goodies inside. Then we sat on the picnic mat under the tree and had a great potluck picnic. Mommy made hazelnut cupcakes with Nutella buttercream frosting...yummm. It turned out well! Mommy can make those for your future school events! Mommy is starting to get the hang of the whole Suzie homemaker thing and I am starting to enjoy it...hahaha.

On Easter Sunday you got an Easter basket from Mommy and Daddy containing a whole bunch of new toys...all Hello Kitty! You had yourself a fabulous Hello Kitty Easter!

Love, Mom

Mommy's cupcakes

Izzy looking for Easter eggs

Mommy & Izzy

Playdates and Playground

Izzy,

You really know how to have fun. And since you are now so interactive, Mommy has been taking you to the playground and also to more playdates. You enjoy playing with other kids, although a lot of times, it seems you are quite bossy! But you are good with sharing, taking turns and you are very gentle when playing with others. Mommy can tell that you also like playing with older kids. You keep up with them very well and are even able hold your own. Wait till you are able to walk and run, you'll probably be running circles around everyone!

And the other day when Mommy took you to the park and got over the fear of you getting dirty, it was the very first time you played on the sand! You were very curious about it and even tried eating sand but since it tasted yucky, you spat it out - thank God! But I guess that's how you learn. Mommy could see some tomboy traits because you really loved playing with the sand truck. After playing in the sand, we went to the slide castle and played in it...you slide down the slide belly down a few times and loved the adrenalin rush! You have also learned to climb down stairs feet first and Mommy was so proud that you remembered all the lessons we taught you at home!

We'll try to do playdates once a week and playgrounds more often, OK?

Love, Mom

Izzy hosted a playdate...

...and shared her toys so well!

At the Dress-up playdate, playing with older kids

She totally felt comfortable with them!

Playing in the sand for the first time!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Dear Izzy,

It's Daddy's birthday today! You were supposed to share Daddy's birthday but because you had a mind of your own (and also maybe you don't like to share) you decided to come into the world early last year.

We went out with Godpa Dan for a small celebration dinner for Daddy's birthday. I think you had more fun than anyone else! You were so talkative and cheeky this evening, playing with Godpa Dan and the wait staff at the restaurant. You got to try duck confit, scrambled eggs with caviar and mussels in white wine sauce. Daddy is having a blast feeding you different stuff after Dr. Scott's OK. You really enjoyed the scrambled eggs and caviar! You are going to grow up with one hell of a palette. Your future boyfriends are going to have a hard time impressing you at restaurants, much to Daddy's delight!

Happy 34th birthday, Daddy! We know you've been very busy preparing for your competition in April so after it's over, we should have a big celebration!

Love, Mom

Cheeky face is at it again...

Izzy trying to blow Daddy's candle

1st Birthday Party

Dear Izzy,

Daddy threw your 1st birthday party today and boy was it fancy! Mommy almost thought he was planning your wedding or something. Daddy's theory is "Go BIG or go home" so he went all out. First, the venue was spectacular...it came all decked out with a pretty red chandelier. Eve on Nemo had a beautiful kitchen, spacious indoor space and modern outdoor patio. The was a chance of rain today but the weather held up very nicely...the sun even peeked out!

Daddy has been busy prepping for your party for the last 2 days that's why you haven't seen him at home. But now you know why because the food was impeccable! We had about 40 guests who joined us in celebrating your 1st birthday. Your little friends came as well...you had a blast!

The theme of your party was "Hello Kitty" and you were decked out in your Hello Kitty tunic dress. We had Hello Kitty candy and also a Hello Kitty cake! You ate your first lollipop and some cake today and so you were running on pure sugar all afternoon.

You absolutely loved it when everyone sang you "Happy Birthday"...even clapped to yourself when they finished. You were also serenaded by Markie, he sang you his own version of "Happy Birthday" and you were mesmerized by him! It was the cutest thing ever.

All in all, it was a great day and we are so lucky to have so many friends and family who made this day EXTRA special with their presence. You received so many gifts and now our living room has been taken over by all your new toys. You also received monetary gifts that have been deposited into your savings account for future educational use.

You will never remember this day but hopefully with all the photos we took, will be able to relive it.

Love, Mom

Izzy looking at Daddy in appreciation for the birthday party he catered

Hosting Your 1st Playdate

Dear Izzy,

We hosted our first playdate at our house today. It was a brunch playdate that started at around 11am. Although it was pouring rain out there, it was so much fun. We were supposed to have 5 friends over but because of the torrential rain, only 3 could make it...but still, all the babies and mommies had a blast!

As usual, because Daddy wanted us to look good, he made nutella and banana mini french toast topped with vanilla creme fraiche and marinated "Harry's berries" strawberries. It was delish and everyone enjoyed it! You had one toast all by yourself, not to mention, in addition to the (how many?) others you had the night before when Daddy was preparing it.

Your friends who came were Caitlin (11 months), Nicole (10 months) and Max (15 months). Max tried to feed you puffs a few times, it was so sweet! And all of you played house together. After your little friends left, you took a 1 hr 15 min nap! Woohoo...I guess we will have to plan more of these playdates in the future!

Love, Mom

Nutella and banana mini french toast, vanilla creme fraiche, marinated "Harry's berries" strawberries

Waiting for her little friends...

Yay, they are here!

Max tried feeding Izzy some puffs

Baby Gym Class

Izzy,

We went to a trial baby gym class today! Mommy is trying new activities everyday to see which would tire you out so you can nap better during the day because ever since we came back from Vancouver, you've been back to your bad napping habits of only napping 30-45 mins at a time.

So you had fun at the baby gym class. There were so many toys and equipment to play with! We did some gymnastics, rode on the swing, on the rocker and swam in the ball pit. You enjoyed playing on the equipment a lot but when it came to story, rhyme and circle time, you couldn't sit still and wanted to crawl and cruise around! The other babies sat nicely in their Mommies laps and listened to the teacher but Mommy was chasing you around the gym.

We are home and after Mommy fed you, we put you down for your nap. We'll see what happens...hopefully you sleep for longer than 45 mins today!

Love, Mom

First time in a ball pit...you started sinking like quick sand and didn't know what to do!

Izzy mesmerized by the bubbles

Goodbye Vancouver, Hello LA

We are going home today, Izzy. We were supposed to leave on Friday but Daddy didn't get enough of Vancouver so we decided to stay a couple more days.

You had an awesome time in Vancouver...you had a few playdates with your mini-friends, Kaiden and Maika, sampled a good variety of Vancouver's food, celebrated Christmas and New Year's, went shopping every chance we had and most importantly of all, spent lots and lots of time with Ah Kong, Ah Ma and Godma. They are certainly going to miss you!

Our plane ride back to LA was a late one and by the time we reached home, it was already 11pm and you were dead tired!

Mommy hopes you keep up your holiday sleep schedule of sleeping at around 7:30-8pm and waking up around 8am!

Welcome back to warm and sunny LA, baby.

Love, Mom

Sunday Brunch with the extended family

Isabelle and Friends

Hey Izzy,

We went to 2 playdates in the last 2 days. You are starting to make little friends! You had such fun and Mommy had a good time watching you interact with your little friends. You guys are hilarious! We will make sure to go to more of these playdates next year as you are at the stage where you enjoy playing/watching/interacting with babies your age (and plus you sit nicely in the carseat now).

Love, Mom

From left to right: Payton (12 months) , Nicole (8.5 months), Devin (9.5 months, his birthday is 1 day after Izzy's!) and Isabelle

"Hi, my name is Payton...and you are...?"

From left to right: Nicole, Isabelle and in the background with the cutest devilish smile, Devin

Beach Clean-Up Duty

Dear Isabelle,

Being the good citizen that you are, we joined Daddy and his colleagues for beach clean-up duty today. We had to pick up the small little pieces of debris because the fishies and the birdies think those things are food and they accidentally eat them and get sick. While we were cleaning up the beach, Daddy took you close to the water to watch the waves. You really enjoy the sound of the ocean, it sounds just like your Sleep Sheep and also maybe it's because Mommy and Daddy took you to Punta Mita Four Seasons resort on our babymoon!

After beach clean-up, we had lunch on the beach and you entertained all of Daddy's colleagues with your cuteness. They couldn't get enough of you! What a beautiful November day it was!

Love, Mom

Picking up debris

Watching the waves

What a beautiful day!

Happy Halloween!

Hi my little petite pois!

You were a hit at Redondo beach today! We were there for your first Halloween celebration and went treat or treating with Daddy's colleagues and their kids. We dressed you up as a pea, Daddy wore his chef's uniform and Mommy dressed up as a pea farmer. You sat in one of Daddy's pot the whole time and everyone was so tickled by your costume! People could not stop taking photos of you. If Mommy were to charge $10 a photo, we could have added to our Manolo collection! They kept on telling us to enter you in the costume competition but Mommy was afraid that you were going to melt down soon because you were already up for over 2 hours since your last nap!

You were such a good girl though. After trick or treating, we went out for dinner and didn't get home till 9:00 pm. You were up for 6 whole hours and didn't get cranky till we were driving home. You stayed up till 9:30 pm to wind down after the fun-filled day then went to bed.

I think you had tons of fun today...we can't wait till next Halloween because we already have another awesome family costume idea!

Love, Mom

Petite pois - from the farm, to your table

The chef and his petite pois

My little pea

WHOA...What a Weekend!

Dear baby,

WOW, our 3 day trip felt like 3 weeks! It's our first Mommy & Me trip with Mommy's friends. 9 of us (Auntie Chris, Uncle Moe, Auntie Maggie, Uncle Kevin, Auntie Peggy, Uncle Andrew, little Kaiden, Mommy and yourself) took a roadtrip to Seattle and spent 2 nights there. Mommy is exhausted. You have pretty much been in pain for a good duration of the trip due to cutting your bottom tooth. You are usually a very cheeky baby but you've been miserable at different times of the day for the last couple of days!

We stayed at a beautiful condo with breathtaking views in Seattle's downtown. The condo was within walking distance to the Space Needle and Pike Place market. We did quite a few fun things on our trip!

View from the condo

Just like when we are with Daddy, it's all about food for Mommy and her friends. Uncle Kevin, Auntie Maggie, Uncle Moe and Auntie Christine cooked a few scrumptious meals. 1 quick and easy dinner, 2 huge breakfasts and a seafood feast! We had so much to eat that there were always leftovers after each meal!

Seafood feast!

We also went swimming and as usual, you had a blast in the water...my little water baby. It was Kaiden's first time in the pool and he seemed to have lots of fun too! He was so nice to share his floaties with you.

Mommies & Babies

We were walking a lot while we were in Seattle. We did a short walk each morning so as to not disturb all the Aunties and Uncles as you are such an early riser. We also walked to Pike Place market and to the Space Needle. The weather was just beautiful for all those walks!

Mommy is amazed that even though you and Kaiden are only 4 days apart, sometimes you both are at the end of each spectrum but at other times, you guys are so similar! Kaiden cut a tooth while we were on the trip as well, he was miserable for the first night and the next night, it was your turn! Kaiden is such a calm and relaxed baby while you are hyper like a little monkey...from the moment you open your eyes till the next time you close them, you move non-stop. I think you tired out all the Uncles and Aunties as well.

Isabelle picking on Kaiden again...

Usually Mommy can handle you all by herself but with this teething business, it will be our last trip by ourselves, until all your teeth come in. We really missed Daddy...we are not going anywhere without him in the future!

Love, Mom

Isabelle and Kaiden

What are the two of you doing sleeping together?!?!?

Belle Meets Kaiden!

Dear Isabelle,

You met with your instant friend, Kaiden, today. Both of you are only 4 days apart but what a world of difference! To start, Kaiden is such a good sleeper/napper as opposed to you, who doesn't take naps. Both Mommy and Auntie Peggy compared notes and concluded that both of you and our pregnancies are complete opposites!

Mommy and Daddy also got to catch up with Auntie Christine, Uncle Andrew and Auntie Peggy. It was good to see all of them again. It's so funny, our last meeting, both you and baby Kaiden were still in our bellies!

Kaiden is such a cutie pie. We need to set up longer playdates as today's meeting was way too short! We'll see them again at your baptism celebration.

Love, Mom