Grandpa's Belated Birthday

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday a little late this year because of all the hustle and bustle at the end of the school year for me. We had a great lunch and ended it off with a yummy black forest cake topped with a Canada Day fruit tray. Happy birthday Grandpa, with love from Philip and the rest of the O'Leary gang! :)

Meet Arya Bari!

We went to visit the newest addition to the Bari family, Arya, who is one day old today! Mom, dad and baby are doing well and Philip was excited to meet his new playmate and potential girlfriend... hehe. Congrats again to Biba & Eban for their beautiful little daughter... welcome to the world, Arya! :)

Grandma's Birthday

Last week we held a surprise party for Sandra's 63rd birthday. Thank you to everyone who made it on such short notice, and Sandra thanks you for all the wonderful gifts! Surprise parties are always fun, but the best part is getting the extended family together. Happy birthday, Grandma, with love from Philip and the rest of us! :)

Happy Belated Father's Day

We spent Father's Day with my family and Paul's family on that incredibly busy weekend. Unfortunately we forgot our camera at my parents' place so there are only pics of us at Sandra and Joe's below. It's nice to have a day to celebrate all the hard-working daddies out there, and I know it's cliche to say, but I'll say it anyway: Philip is really lucky to have the best daddy in the whole wide world!!! Hope all the fathers had a great day that day!

Hi Cousin Morgan!

Cousin Morgan came to visit from London, England with her parents Casey and Sam earlier this month. As usual, it was fun getting the two kids more acquainted with one another, and although Morgan is only 3 months older than Philip, she is much bigger and has lots more hair! Thanks for taking the time to visit with us during your jam-packed stay in Toronto and we look forward to your next visit in January! :)

School's Out So The Posts Begin!

Now that school is out (YAY!), I can finally relax a little and be a full-time mom again for two months. I must admit that my job was putting quite the toll on me the last few months and my poor family paid the price by having such a busy and stressed out mom at home! Needless to say, Paul, Philip and Patch are thrilled that I am much more calm now, and hopefully I will stay this way come September when Philip goes to daycare. I don't know how other mommies out there balanced full-time jobs with babies at home, but hopefully they handled it much better than I did. Saying I was stressed out is putting it really mildly.... yikes! For future reference, I do NOT recommend parents do the rotating shift thing like Paul and I did... daycares are definitely around for a good reason! Just dish out the money and you'll be much happier parents because of it, trust me! :)

Well, now that I have some time on my hands, I can finally blog again. Philip has changed so much since I stopped blogging in March and I apologize profusely for the lack of updates. Here are some of his latest accomplishments: he is tall but still scrawny (we'll get the 15-month update on the 11th, but I'm guessing he's just over the 20 lb mark), he has been walking for the last two and a half months and is practically running now, he loves climbing stairs but hasn't quite mastered going down them yet, he can get up on his own without any support, he doesn't like to be held much anymore because he enjoys walking so much, he has 12 teeth the last time I counted and his molars are coming in quite nicely, his favourite toy is his Spiderman ball from Uncle Daniel and Auntie Ami, his favourite song is still "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and he loves to mimick the rain coming down, he loves to dance whenever he hears music playing (which is lots in my house), he can say "mama", "dada", "ni ni" for milk (in Cantonese), "mum mum" for food, "baw" for ball, "boo" for book, he understands lots of phrases like "hands up", "bib on/off", "kick the ball", "kiss kiss", "take a bath", "change diaper", "read book", "away from doggie", and "bye bye", he loves storytime and turning the pages for us, he can wave bye bye, blow kisses, clap his hands, play peekaboo and go "a-ba-ba-ba" by putting his hand over his mouth repeatedly, he still laughs up a storm, he is still bald but has a really nice, round head (haha), and he still has the easiest disposition, thank goodness (I don't think I would have made it these past three months if he didn't!).

There will be a lot more updates in the next two months (to make up for the last three) so please come back often and check out the latest on our little growing O'Leary! :)

P.S. Congrats to the Tran family (Van's 2nd baby boy, Aaron, is 2 months old), the Chang family (another nephew, Lucas, is 1 month old... check out his blog!) and the Bari family (their first, a little girl, Arya, was just born today!) for their newest additions to their families. Philip looks forward to playing with them all really soon! :)

Long Time No Post!

Ever since I started teaching again at the beginning of April, I have found it quite difficult to find the time to post! For those of you who don't know our schedules, Paul and I have an arrangement where he takes care of Philip during the day while I work, and right when I get home from work, he heads straight to work himself. It works really well for Philip since he always has a parent at home, but needless to say, Paul and I don't see each other much and feel like "single" parents most of the time! Now that Philip is walking too, it has become even tougher to balance work with being a parent, especially since I take my work home with me. Here's a typical evening for me: Furiously marking... Philip, don't pull Patchie's hair... trying to mark some more... Philip, that's not a toy... give up on marking, try to plan a lesson... Philip, leave the blinds alone, please... trying to plan again... Philip, you can't eat that, it's not food... Philip throws up.... AAAGGGGHHHH!! hehe. Oh well, Paul and I are beyond exhausted, but Philip is as happy as can be, and it's only going to last for two more months, so we'll have to make do. Boy, am I ever looking forward to the summer though!!!!

On that note, I'm going to start by cheating (yes, a teacher cheating!) and use my brother-in-law Jouky's beautiful collage (thanks Jouks!) for Philip's 1st birthday party. We had a great time and Philip enjoyed every second of it! Thank you all for coming and giving such generous gifts! More posts, pics and updates coming soon, once the marking is done, I promise!!!

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there! Enjoy! :)

Aloha Hawaii

We went to Hawaii during the March Break for a "relaxing" family vacation. Philip got to enjoy his first plane ride and his first real trip, but unfortunately he got sick with a stomach virus (again) once he got there! However, he proved to be quite the trooper and still enjoyed playing with his cousins the whole time. We won't be heading back to Hawaii anytime soon, but the memories and picturesque views will definitely last us a lifetime. Aloha Hawaii and enjoy the pics! :)

Catching Up With the Baris

Paul, Philip and I went over to Eban and Biba's house last night for dinner. We caught up with them on all the ongoing baby activities (it seems everyone around us just had or is having a baby really soon) and we got to see a very pregnant Biba too! She isn't due until July but she definitely has that baby glow. We're really excited for them and look forward to Philip having another playmate this summer! Yay babies everywhere! :)

Funny Face

Philip likes to show his teeth. He's still stuck at six teeth (four upper, two lower), but he sure likes to show them off, especially his two front ones, or his buck teeth... hehe. He loves to make this funny face where he lifts his upper lip to show his teeth and gums, and starts making loud sucking sounds. He looks like a bunny rabbit and it's the funniest thing. It's really hard to explain and I unfortunately don't have it on video camera yet, but hopefully this pic will help show you what I mean. I guess he's just preparing for Easter festivities, where Philip will be the Easter bunny himself!

I Like Meat

Being the year of the pig, Paul thought it would be a great idea for Philip to try some ham. Needless to say, our son takes after his daddy and loves eating meat. Why am I not surprised? Mmmmm... pork... haha.

Aunt Myrna's Birthday

We celebrated Aunt Myrna's birthday early yesterday by going over to Aunt Lynn's condo. It was a surprise birthday party and she was definitely surprised! Lynn cooked a lovely chicken dinner while Deborah prepared all the food and even baked the cake! Thanks for having us over and for all the hard work, ladies! Happy birthday, Myrna, and may all your wishes come true! :)

Visiting Grandma & Grandpa

We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner yesterday. We had Swiss Chalet, as usual, and then Philip got to show them all the neat things he learned to do! He was talking up a storm, cruising along the coffee table, jumping up and down on the couch, bouncing on Grandma's lap, and walking everywhere (with me holding his hands still, of course). Needless to say, Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Mike were mighty impressed, and Philip was quite proud too. Walking without assistance is just around the corner, I think!

A Chinese Patch Too!

With all the really cute Chinese outfits the boys were wearing, I couldn't forget about my favourite doggie, so I got him his own little outfit as well. Yes, I know I'm crazy, but you have to admit that he looks adorable, and the best part is that the outfit is reversible too! Happy Chinese New Year, Patchie says! :)