Xie Family On Line

Birthday Boy

2007-01-20T08:01:00.000-08:00

Jas was the birthday boy yesterday. To make it obvious, he brought two packs of cupcake to school, one vanilla and one chocolate. His favorite is vanilla. The school realized that and sent his happy birthday cards, two as well. One is from his teacher and the other is from the school secretary. The birthday party will be in February 10 at WorldBowl. It's one month late because some of his friends are on vacation this month. We need to send out the invitation after they come back and let them have time to reply. He had the noodles for dinner, which wishes long life for Jas.

From this month Jas goes back to the after-school program. He can play the balls (dodge ball) in gym with his friends. He enjoyed it so much that he asked me not to pick him up early. Connie also started going to the home care. I picks her at first and then Jas, so Jas can have more play time at school. It's good for Jas can do some indoor activities at school in winter, without crashing things at home.

Connie can walk very good now. She's abend (or forgot) the crawling already. She also finds a lot of places to sit, such as the box of bottle water, the cabinet under the island. As before, she always open the drawers that she can reach, and throw things from inside to the floor. Sometimes we don't have that much energy to stop her every time. But we have to stop her when she opens the garbage bin.

Met Santa

2006-12-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

The children's party was at Fantasy Fair. It's a huge indoor amusement park. Jas took most rides that are available. Connie took only three, Fantasy Fair Express (Train), The Antique Carousel and Ferris wheel. I'm sure she will try more next year. They also met Santa and received the presents. Jas is quite experienced and had a chat with Santa. He showed Santa the NBA jersey (Wade, Miami) he was wearing. He got it just before the party in the Woodbine Center, along with new shoes. Connie was a bit scared cause it's her first time. But she was very happy (you can see her big smile on photo) with the gift, another turtle. Jas got one turtle when he was one year old. Is it because they all move slow at one year old?

Jas decided to have his birthday party at home. We've discussed several places and even visited Putting Edge and Racing Car. And they didn't satisfy Jas. Mom and Jas already started their preparation for the party.

Party Season

2006-12-13T07:25:00.000-08:00

This is the fun month for Jas. Besides two Christmas parties, he was invited to birthday parties, one in every week. The first one he went is the experience of trampoline. Last week the theme of the party is reptile. He touched the real snake, the big one. He played hockey (first time not at home) at the kids' Christmas party. Now he is the big fan of Geronimo Stilton. He has finished a few Geronimo books already.

Connie recorded walking sixteen steps just a few days ago. She can explore the different floors freely by herself now, because she knows how to crawl down the stairs. Her adventure doesn't stop there. One of her favorite place is bathroom. One day she was standing by the toilet and saw me coming to get her. What she did is to put her hand into the toilet quickly and stir the water there before she was taken away. Sometimes her brother takes her to basement. Jas plays hockey while she plays her kitchen toys there. But when she tries to take a glance at the Monopoly that Jas is playing, she always ends up being taken away by her brother. Jas complains that she messes up the stuff like grabbing or biting the paper money of the game.

Happy Birthday

2006-12-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

Connie had her first ever birthday last week. She walked a few steps on that day. It looks like her statement to her second year. She got the cake with one candle on it. This time she needed her big brother to blow the candle for her. Hopefully she can do it by herself next time. She had her birthday photo and another one with the family. We had a dinner outside for the celebration. But I guess she didn't understand what's going on or what all these are about, even she is the reason for all of these. And we know these are not for her when she is only one year old, instead these are the memories that she can revisit when she is old enough.

We were invited to Jas's Recognition Assembly at school on Monday. He took the award for his great achievement in his first term of grade 2. And that's not the only award. He brought home another one from his music teacher. During the meeting with his teacher, we're happy to know that he made a lot of friends and is a popular guy at school. Another amazing thing is that all of sudden he likes going to library and reading the books. He usually picks about 10 books and finishes them within two days. That's very welcome sign to us.

Step Start Walk 'n Ride

2006-11-12T19:29:00.000-08:00

That's Connie's one year old birthday present from Mom and Dad. It's still more than 2 weeks away from that date. Maybe it can help her to accomplish something (her first few steps) before her birthday. She is so used to crawling. Even she can stand for a while. When she decided to go somewhere, she just sat down and started crawling. She doesn't gain much weight so far. That's why she can crawl fast. Especially when I opened the fridge, she was on the rush and tried to reach the fridge before I closed it. The other noticeable change is that she is using pacifier now. And she likes it. That's the big relief to us. We don't have to watch her all the time, just to make sure that she is not eating (swallow) any strange things.

Jason attended the memorial assembly at school on Friday. Mom was too busy with Connie at home and missed his performance. We promised him that it won't happen next time. The previous Friday he went to his friend (Azim)'s birthday party and it's watching movie (Flash Away). He was Nija Turtle on the Halloween night. He went out Trick or Treat with his friend Patrick. The trip was not that long as last year because his friend had to go home early. He still got lots of candy. Since we just threw away the candies he got from last year(he can't finish them), Dad decided to take some candies he got this year to office.

First Fever

2006-10-29T14:36:00.000-08:00

Connie got her first fever in her life on Monday. Mom gave her some motrin to release the fever in the morning. It took her two days to recover. No visit to doctor was required. On Thursday she visited Mom's office and met Mom's co-workers. Jas went to see the dentist during the last weekend and got one of his baby tooth removed. Jas did his sharing at his class by telling his classmates about thie chinese moon festival. His teacher told us that he did a great job. He had a picture day on Thursday and PA day Friday. Both Connie and Jas went to visit Patrick's house on Friday. They enjoyed the pizza lunch there.

The basement finally is done yesterday. It looks very good. Jas is very excited and actually he went down and checked the progress with Dad and Mom every day so far. It's very busy weekend cause we need to move the furnitures down there. Jas did help a lot cause he's a big boy now. A lot of cleaning job was done and still a lot are left.

Broadcast Yourself

2006-10-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

That's what YouTube says and what we did. Connie's first video was uploaded to YouTube and shared with our family and friends over the net. Several more videos were taken but pending on Mom's approval. Our basement is under construction and planned to be finished by the end of next week. Going down to check the progress is one of Connie's favorite things. What's going on here, that's what you can read from her big and curious eyes.

Jas had a play day at Jessy's house on Thursday. He didn't come out right away when Dad was there to pick him up. Dad was told that he was in a very tight soccer game with Jessy. On Friday, he said that he want to thank Dad's company because Dad has to stay in the Office late and couldn't buy his Sushi. Mom had to take him to the store and in addition to Sushi he got the Pick-A-Pooh. If it were Dad, he wouldn't get them. Pick-A-Pooh is the popular stuff in his age. He got another one today because Mom and Dad are pretty happy about his behavior today.

What You're Not Eating

2006-10-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

It's about Connie. One day, she hid behind the sofa and was very quiet. That's not good sign. I went over and she was eating the leaf of the plant. She is putting everything she gets into her month, Jas's music books, nails attached to the table, her toys (of course) and licks the stuff that can't fit into the mouth, like the door, the wall and the carpet. She even swallowed the part of Jas's toy's manual before we can get it out of her mouth. What she is not the eating is the baby food!

Jas got his student of the week last week. He got the pokenmon cards as the reward from us. In addition, he went to the movie , Open Season, with Mom. He got the hockey table last month and now he is a very good player, on the table. He doesn't watch much TV now, except Maple Leafs game. All of sudden, he becomes the big hockey fan.

What Happened

2006-10-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

It's been for a while before coming back to the blog. The whole family went back to China on May 11 for a long vacation, longer for Mom and kids. Dad joined his highschool reunion. Jas went to the 6 day Yunnan tour with his parents. Connie is too young to get the permission from her grand parents. She basically stayed inside the grandpa's apartment for the entire 4 months in Wuhan, missed a lot of delicious dinners in the resturant. Jas was much more lucky. He usually started eating-outside from breakfast. There are so many variaties of food for breakfast at SuiYuan's ShiTang. Jas becomes the fan of ReGanMian, a specail noodles (only) can be found in Wuhan. That's Dad's favorite after (not before) he left his hometown.

Dad finished his vacation earlier because of the work. After he left in June, Jas got some trainings in Badminton. He decided to continue the sports and brought the gears back here. But they still hide somewhere after more than one month. He visited the zoo in Wuhan, poised with several animals in the photos. In the middle of the vacation, he actually started missing his own home here. Mom visited the spa and enjoyed the beauty program. But Connie, who spent most her time inside, didn't have much to talk about. Her grandpas didn't want her to catch any bad things ( bactearia, virus) outside.

They finally came back on Sept 2. Jas now sees him in grade 2 and is happy to play with his friends again. Connie can stand and crawl very fast. She is biting anything she can get, toys, books, shoes, plants, even the wheels of the stroller. We have to keep an eye on her all the time, just try to find out what she is eating.

5 Month Old

2006-05-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

Connie got three more needles today. She is now 14.5 lbs and 66 cm long. She is gaining weight more quickly recently despite of diarrhea. The doctor told us there is no problem. But she does poo several times per day. She enjoys biting anything she can get, including her hands and feet. She pulled her brother's hair, so hurt that made Jason cry. Of course she didn't understand what she did. Jason pretended to be a horse and let Connie ride on him. She was smiling all the way on her brother's back.

Jason went to Lulu's birthday party at Dave Buster. He got more than 800 points from the games he played. He played a lot of basketball there and redeemed his points for the mini basketball set. And he is playing it at home now.Today he went to Hayden's birthday party at Messy Hand. We're happy to see that he didn't mess up his clothes after the party. Last Wednesday we attended his school's openning ceremony. He was wearing the T shirt for the event and performing with his classmates on the stage.

New Food

2006-04-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

Connie started eating baby food and she likes it. Her big brother was pushing it away when he was given it at first time and never takes since then. The antoher big step for her is she can drink the bottle with her eyes open. Not long time ago she only accepted the bottle when she was or almost asleep. Maybe she was not happy to be given the new food that is strange to her.
Her apetite is improving and hopefully she can gain more weight.

Jason got more his favorite Yugio cards and went to the Yugio tournament today. He reached the 4th round and more important he enjoyes it. He may need more powerful cards. He got fever last week and stayed at home one day. It's been for a while that he missed the school because of sickness. The good news is that he recovered quickly and without any antibiotics.
We've sent his teacher a letter for the coming long vacation. He may miss his school and his teacher M&M.

4 Month Old

2006-03-28T17:15:00.000-08:00

CN will be 4 month old tomorow. She can stretch out of her infant bath tub now. Bathing is one of her favorite things. We applied the passport for her today for her first oversea journey in May. And she will get her new stroller this weekend which we bought the past Saturday. It's spring already. She will enjoy and experience more outside.

Jas played basketball a lot inside the house recently. His ball killed the plants, hit the remote control in my hand and finally hit and broke the light cover in his bedroom. That's the end of his winter basketball season. He is not allowed to play the ball that often and that wild. Besides the basketball, he started reading the chapter books.

Jas's New Jersey

2006-03-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

He got the Jersey of his favorite Raptor CB4. This is the award to him for being the student of the week, again; and the serveral As on his report card of this term. This red large size Raptor's Jersey fits him very well and he looks forward to wearing it at the next Raptors' game (probably next season).

The march break started on Friday and It's spring already here. Jas went to the Yugio Tournament with his friend JS. There will be more events for the coming week for the march break week.

CN's 100th Day

2006-03-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

Maybe tomorrow. She can do more things now, like enjoy the music and bath, listen to you, smile and make new noises. She didn't gain that much weight on her third month check(11lbs and 6). However, we can tell that she is getting bigger.

Jas is a real basket ball fan now and plays the game inside house, usually in the hallway and in his bedroom. But that came to the end last night because he broke the light cover in his bedroom by throwing the ball at it. So he is playing his game on the net or just watches the NBA games on TV.

We've booked the flight going back home on May 12. I will join the highschool reunion. We will travel to the other cities after that. Jas has to skip the school for almost two months. But we have no other choice.

Valentine's Day

2006-02-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

Mom got her roses on that day and Jas gave out and recevied a lots of cards at school.

Olympic started on Feb 10 and will end on Feb 26. Now we have a chance to watch Short Track, Speed Skating and Figure Skating. The winter also finally arrived this weekend. The temperature dropped from 6C Friday morning to -11C Friday night. And it's very cold today when we went out shopping. We bought lots of stuff at Vaugh Mills, all at very good price.

Our coughing went away after taking the chinese herbs, Zhegu (bird) soups and chinese pills. Don't know which one worked. CN is making more noises now and smiles more often when she is in good mood. Jas becomes a big basketball fan and is playing inside the house, testing the quality of our brand new construction. There is no way we could contain his energy. The good thing is that he is the only one running around. His sister can not join at his time. CN's registration letter arrived last Tuesday and her birth certificates were applied on-line.

Happy Year of Dog

2006-02-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

Both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are in the weekend. We had a pot luck on Saturday which is New Year's Eve, watched ChunWang after the dinner (busy with the cards, reviewed it on the next day). Four families gathered and there are two moms expecting baby this month and one with a new born!

Jas's birthday party was on Sunday at Hokypoky. Eight of his friends showed up. They played in the field, got the coins for the fun stuff inside, had pizza lunch. At end, the Yugio cake was presented (ordered by us the day before). Jas made the wish and blew the seven candles. Everyone sang the birthday song to him. They also went up to the stage and danced with lion (don't know his name). His friends were happy when leaving with the loot bags plus the prize they won.

CN went for her second month check on the last day of January. She was 10.5 lbs and 63 cm. She got her first needles, TWO. Her mom's heart was broken when she started screaming.

The whole family is still coughing except her. I went to see the chinese doctor and got some herbs. Before that, I took the Buckley's. It tastes awful, but does not work for me.

Smile without Front Tooth

2006-01-22T14:12:00.000-08:00

Jas lost his third tooth, his up front one. We took the photo for record keeping. Thusday was his birthday. It was his Pizza day and he got the extra piece as the birthday boy, in addition to the cards from his teachers and the sticker on his sweater. From mom and dad, he got the Pokemon cards (two sets) and his favorite food, Salmon Sushi. CN is on her eighth week in the world and she can wave her arms more often and likes to look around at the brand new world.

LH's family was invited for dinner and T's family also dropped by before he is leaving for Seattle today. On the previous Saturday, we also have two families (HU and ZHOU) visiting CN.

Raptors Game

2006-01-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

It was 8C for the past few days. And it's back to winter temperature this weekend. However, it will go above zero from Monday again. So far it's really springlike January.

On Jan 5 Jas and I went to the Raptors game in ACC. They played against Houston Rockets. Yao didn't show up due to the injury. Raptors won the game and Mike James was very impressive. Jas named him the leader of the Raptors. They scored more than 100 points so we got the free pizza after the game. Fans were chanting 'Pizza! Pizza!' when Mo-pe went to the line to shoot for the 99 and 100. The other thing Jas learned is chanting 'Defence' when the ball is in the opposite team's hands. There were lots of fans there, more than 17,000, but Jas met his classmate Ethan at the entance. We booked Jas' s birthday party on Jan 29 and the invitations have been sent out. Jas also started his level 7 swimming class and enjoyed the private lesson for day 1. Today is day 2 and there are 2 more girls. So no more private lesson.

It will be quite a while for CN to enjoy what her brother is doing now. She did go out with her mom to the parental program.

New Year

2006-01-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

Finally we have a break now, from the busy holiday events both at work and at home.

At Dec 17 weekend, when I supposed to update the blog, I was working on the fix for QUE tax changes. At the same time I went to confirm the apartment for L and temporary residence for W, after searching on Internet for a while. The fun thing was the children's christmas party for Jas. He got the present from Santa, played with MK and had a lot of fun and a big burger from Burger King.

Several days later we went to finish all the holiday shopping at the freezing night. And Mom was tired of wrapping all the presents. At Christmas Eve Jas went over to NiuNiu's house and Christmas night ak and lisa sisters came over. We need to make sure that Jas is busy all the time. We went to T's house and Jas got his Roboraptor on boxing day! Now we can mention something for CN. We took her for one month check on Dec 30. Mom went with us. She weighed 8 lbs and 8 ounces and was 53 cm long. She still wakes mom very often during the night. Mom has to catch sleep during the day when Grandma takes her downstairs.

SH's gathering was on Dec 31 morning. Only Jas and I could attend. During the night all of us went to the dinner with Huashiyi's friends and waited for the new year's bell at Guan's house.

After fighting the cough for about 3 week, I went to see Dr. Chen for some herb medicine. Hopefully it will work.

Back to Work

2005-12-11T19:10:00.000-08:00

Monday was the last day off for me. I took CN for her first doctor's visit. She actually gained some weight sine left hospital (6.2). She did sleep 3 to 4 hours during the night. But that changed since two nights ago when she became awake during the night and asleep for the day. Hopefully she will go back to the good the habit soon.

Jas took the final test for the C school and got 89 (better that most the other kids). Today he went to MK's birthday party in his own house, a scientist was invited to conduct the party. Right after it, J and his mum came over to visit his new sister and he got the gift for being a big brother! We also notified his after school teachers that we will pull him off from January. He was very sad and we convinced that he will be back in November next year, only 10 months off!

First Week for CN

2005-12-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

Finally she arrived, at 8:56am Nov 29 YC hospital. We got up before 6am and got to the hospital around 6:30. There was light rain outside. We waited in the delivery room 1 at first. The nurse did some checking and prepared the paper work. She started IV. We both changed the cloth, wearing the uniform.X went into the operation room aroung 8am. She waited for the doctor for a while. I went in after 8:30 when the operation already started. The operation finished around 9:30. We went back to the waiting room with the new family member. She was wrapped by the nurses. The other nurse checked the recovery status of X. After 11, we moved to 5213, and X stayed there for 3 nights.

Jas got his report card this week. All Bs, little bit disappointed. But still good accomplishment. Now he is big brother.

It's almost that time

2005-11-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

M started her M leave the past week. Packing is done, phone number is there and car seat is home. We're ready. Pre-D dinner was held at Red Lobster with T and N family (T paid the bill). Equipments reveived from T and J. Now is the waiting time.

We've got serveral achievements from Jas. First, his cough is gone. Second, he passed Youth Aqua level 6 and will go to level 7. Last, he got A+ from C school quiz. He will take the exam on Dec 9. He said this spelling review (60 words) was fine, except mis-hearing one word . We will get the result next week.

I went to the Focus group Tuesday night at E & Y, got some expenses. We got the first real snow on Thursday and Friday, around 5 cm I think. The driving to Jas's C school was a big challenge. Jas and I shoveled the driveway Saturday morning. M and I bought the Christmas gifts from Jas's buddies on Wednesday after I finished my seminar early that day.

Coughing Week

2005-11-20T17:30:00.000-08:00

It started on Tuesday. Jas played basketball in the gym when I picked him up from the after school. He was sweating and still hot after got home. Then he played at home with single layer shirt. When mom wanted him to wear more clothes, his hand was already very cold. He was fine during the evening time. We reviewed the 60 words that will be tested for the next spelling quiz. During the night he woke up around 12pm and coughed for one hour. I gave him the medicine (chinese herbal things). He visited J's house after school. We finished reading Giant Child and his homework -- reading level book: It's raining; and updated his reading log. I can tell he didn't have much energy after that. During the night, he got the fever at 38C. I gave him the Motrin. He took the sick day off on Thursday. He went back to school on Friday, geting better but not perfect. We got the first snow flerry Friday afternoon and I got home late because of the traffic. We didn't want him to miss his C school and He was late for almost 30 minutes on that day.

It's very nice and warm for the weekend. As planned, HD and J came at 3PM for a play day after he finished his swimming class. LL came as well. She stayed late before I drove her home. J left around 5:30PM and HD stayed 30 minutes longer. We did some reading in the morning. The first was home work, level book Jumbo which was supposed for Thursday when he was sick. The next is library book HENRY AND MUDGE AND A WILD GOOSE RUN. Mom and Dad talked about their own experiences with goose when they were kids. Tonight we finished the other one, HENRY AND MUDGE AND ANNIE'S GOOD MOVE after the spelling review.

Mom and Dad went to Y hospital on monday for Pre-O appointment. M started her M leave after Friday. We went shopping today for C's stuff. And her/his bed was set up yesturday. G arrived on Wednesday to help M for the new comer. We're getting ready now.

Busy Week End

2005-11-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

Jas brought his award certificate back home on Friday. And now it hangs on the wall of our office room. Actually it was taken by camera on Tuesday (Nov 8) after it's posted on the school bulletin board along with the picture of the winners.

After his swimming class around noon, Jes went to his friend Hed's house for a play day (we fed ourselves in IKEA, hotdogs, coffee and not-that-good cakes). As Staturday night's regular routine, three familys got together playing BaoHuan (card game). Jas was so tired and fell asleep on the floor before we left T's house at 2 AM.

Today he got up early at 9:40AM and I finally opened my eyes at 11:40AM. We read the book, Giant Children, which is from his school library, after Breakfast or Lunch. It's poetry with tons of humors. We dropped him to his friend AJ's birthday party at Putting Edge. Hopefully he can pick up some golfing skills at his second appearing of this 18 hole course. His first visit was a few months ago and that's Hed's birthday party. We checked the price for party there, as well as the Horky Morky. We (Mom and Dad) prefer the golfing, but Jas wants the H&M. It's his event and we'll book H&M for his birthday.

As his busy schedule continues, Mom called and confirmed his next party appointment in December (MK's). Also comfirmed that his play day at JS's place on Wedensday and JS and Hed coming over on Saturday. To seal this busy weekend, we read the Giant Children and the last poem we read is Monster Me.

First Day on Ice

2005-11-06T18:46:00.000-08:00

Not too late last night, card game ended at 1PM. It might by the last game for a while. And today we took Jas to skating for the first time this season. He picked it up very quickly.

He enjoyed the arena as well as the time with his friend Pa. He got his award, Pokemon cards yesterday.

Student Of Week

2005-11-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

Jas is named as student of week in his T. W. PS for the past week. We'll go to buy him the award after his swimming lesson today, probably the Pokemon cards. As the parents, we're very proud of what he's accomplished.

As a grade one starting in September, he's showing pretty good interest in math and spelling. He still needs the improvements in writing and more willing to read the booksby himself. His teacher, Mrs. M&M, called last Wednesday regarding his progress. He's going great at school. However, we need working more on the following areas for him to exceed the expectations:

1. Patterning: better expression about what has been done.
2. Sorting: be creative, explore the different ways in sorting the obejects
3. Reading: (for us) ask questions, (for him)figure out the new words by the context and circumstances
4. Writing: accurate in using capitals and periods; write more than 4 sentences
5. Behavours : set up rules in areas, such as fairness, health, etc.