Virus, Chameh and other delights

We found out what that super high fever of Castle's was all about.  He had another fever the day after, then broke out in a rash yesterday morning, and still have it today.  Doctor's prognosis is a virus, and that little body of his is trying to make antibodies.  

One of my besties far away diagnosed the same thing when I emailed her, her kid had it last year.  But just to make sure, we took him to see the doctor anyway.  It's great having a community of experienced Mommies who can be medical support, especially to first time parents like us.  

Even though it looks rather itchy, the rash doesn't bother him.  Just like every other time he's been unwell, he simply smiles through it all.

I've been trying to incorporate more fruit into our diet.  It's not a habit yet but I'm determined to make it one.  So to create more interest (for Andrew) I gravitate to all the funky looking and tasting fruits.  Like this one, the size of a small 1990s Nerf football, it's a Chameh - Korean Melon.  

Tastes like cantaloupe with a watermelon crisp refreshing finish.  We had it with breakfast.

It's a great size for a small crowd like us.  Castle didn't have any because he's not liking chunky food at the moment.    

Teething pain has turned him into a very gingerly eater, pushing away anything that does not mush with his tongue.

Here he is sporting his winter hat that I found for 94 cents.  I love a good summer sale on winter gear.  He'll probably need this thing in a month if our weather stays the way it is. 

Sorry, I'm complaining about the weather again.  Happy long weekend.

Random

Found these at the Asian mall.  I'm picturing myself talking into my iPhone with one of these against my face.  So ridiculously hilarious.

Andrew wants one.  I just know it.  Jotting it down on the Christmas list right now.  I think the My Little Pony one suits him best.

Here's a polar bear-ry from our strawberry plant.  They still taste tasteless.  Gonna get some fertilizer.

Ok, now back to the Asian mall, Lens Mugs.  Saw these on the web a couple years ago and wondered when I'll be able to get my hands on one.

There you have it, complete randomness today.

Dining Out: Lift

Castle had a very high fever last night right before bed, just at the temperature where you think, yikes that's a little high.  We were dreading another hospital visit.  No more hospitals, please and thank you.  I couldn't decided if we were being hasty and unwise by keeping him home.  We monitored him and by morning he was all better.  Phew.  We blame it on teething.

The last time he was that warm was on Sunday, when we sat out in the sun at Lift for brunch.  It was one of the two days of summer we've had around here and we were not going to let it go to waste.  This restaurant is built on stilts over the water in Coal Harbour and the patio is awesome on a nice day. 

We quickly slathered sunscreen on the bub hoping that it will seep in.  Eventually he went back into the stroller with the shades pulled down all the way because he kept taking his hat off.  It didn't do much though, he was steaming hot regardless.

They give you American sized portions here at brunch.  Neither of us could polish it off.  The pearl onions in my Corned Beef Hash were such a delight.  I wonder who got to peel all those teeny marbles.

Andrew had the Huevos Rancheros.  It was the size of a large party platter.  Good thing he ordered it and I didn't, I'm not a fan of beans. 

One other great thing about this place is that they have complimentary valet parking, which we took full advantage of.  Castle was very irritable near the end, we literally signed the bill while walking out the door.  We are still trying to refine the art of dining with infant.

Biebs

We had a few friends over last night and watched the Justin Bieber Never Say Never movie.  I know what you are thinking.  Skeptical about what they were getting themselves into, I lured with promises of ice-cream sandwiches.  None of us have seen it and I managed to convince everyone to give it a go. As it turns out all of us were pleasantly surprised by this teenage pop superstar.  He is actually talented.  But of course we joked about his hair, the high pitched screaming tweens, and how sad it is that Boyz II Men were singing backup, with only the Moms knowing who Boyz II Men are.

Andrew and I talked about 'What if that's Castle?' Hypothetically for the 0.0026% chance that Castle wants to be the next Justin Bieber.  Being a famous pop star is not the very last thing we want for our child but it's close. Would we encourage him?  The cautious mother in me came pouring out.  We realized that the stage we are in now is the super easy part of parenting.  Feed change play bath sleep repeat.  We like to think that we will be able to encourage our child to be whatever he wants to be, and still feel OK about it.

We actually prayed for the Biebs, we earnestly hope that he doesn't fall off the rails like so many young stars have, and that he can be a good role model, because his circle of influence is much bigger than he can imagine, and everyone is watching.

forty and free

Summer finally showed up this weekend!!! We paid a little visit to the Burnaby Village Museum.  

There's a farmers market on Saturdays.

It's free admission all year.  

A good outing for the family.  

We learned all about printing sans computers.

We didn't get to the carousel because we were hungry for lunch.  

And I was craving Chinese food, so we left early to go find eats elsewhere.

We'll have to go back for that carousel ride.

Harvest

I have been watching our strawberry plant blossom.  The little fruits are maturing and they are now dripping red little gems.  So cute!

Look at those glistening deep ruby droplets.

We were so excited to taste them, they looked so good.

Here's the first harvest.  Three little treasures, red throughout.  So how did they taste?  To repeat what I said about the English Peas... Well they sucked!  They were watery and tasteless.  Not even tart, just bland with no flavour what so ever.  How disappointing.  I have lost all hope for the rest of them.

Thigh Bands

When babies go through the last trimester in Mom's tummy, they are gaining weight and are getting a workout by pushing on the walls of utero.  This is how muscles develop and get toned before needing to use them in the outside world.  

Castle, unfortunately, missed this workout.  Therefore, he is a giant blob of a loungy marshmallow most of the time and is very behind on his gross motor skills.  We have been followed by the Infant Development Program since he came home.  They track his development progress and help us with exercises to do with him to help him catch up.

Due to our move, we now have a new physiotherapist for him.  We had an appointment with her this week and she immediately picked up on something that our last physiotherapist missed.  Castle has a head tilt and it's greatly hindering his gross motor development.  This should have been corrected sooner but how were we supposed to know?  So from now on we are only carrying him tilted to the right (to correct his head tilt), forcing him on all fours no matter if he likes it or not, and wearing these nifty thigh bands during play time to help his hips and focus his balance.

Colour

This was the green that I so much wanted to paint over in our bedroom.

It's a nice colour, just not for us.  Plus, it went horribly wrong with my new dresser. I found it on Craigslist and already newly painted 'Tiffany Blue'.  The scroll work was the first thing that drew me in.  

The seller wouldn't budge on the price when we bargained.  It was inexpensive but not super inexpensive.  We went there unknowingly with $5 short.  I some how managed to find a Toonie in my purse. ($2 in Canadian speak) We couldn't fit it in the SUV since Castle was in the back seat.  Andrew went back later that evening to pick it up and the guy asked him for the extra $3. Andrew told him he was a stubborn bargainer and he giggled. He was out to make a profit, me thinks, and told us that his friend painted it with a paint sprayer.  He's probably splitting the $ with his friend.  We never did give him the full asking price in the end.  My story is that we never agreed on a price, and I'm sticking to it.

Here's what it looks like against the newly painted grey wall with my beloved bird lamp.  I love it.  My wrists are hurting from all the painting.  So far I've painted everything except for Castle's room and one wall in the dining area. I'm taking a break.  It's not fun paining white on white primer.  There's no satisfaction in seeing the impact of change in colour, and for the life of me I can't see at all where I've painted.  That's why we don't have any 'Before and After' shots, it all looks the same.  Since we are on the subject of colour, here's a photo I took out of the window on our car ride home from the grocery store yesterday.  

Looks like something in the Caribbean, but nope, East Van.  And only East Van can pull this one off.  I wish I was in the Caribbean right now.  Heat!  It's currently Jul-uary.

One Year Old

We were in the middle of packing so we decided to forgo the hoopla of a birthday party for our little boy.  He wouldn't have known the difference anyway.  

We did, however, celebrate with cake.  Having never had cake before he didn't really know what to do with himself.  

Considering that he is 10 months old adjusted, I was a little hesitant in dishing out so much sugar all at once.  But he is ONE, that's a huge deal, he MUST have birthday cake.  

I was a little disappointed that there was no time for me to make one, we were moving in two days.  I found the best one I could, with fresh raspberries and fresh whipped cream white chocolate frosting. And the cake had to be chocolate, it would look messier in photos.

He enjoyed eating the bowl, squishing cake between his fingers...

... and using it as a face scrub.

Some of it did land in his mouth.

Weekend

Have I mentioned that summer didn't show up in Vancouver this year?  It's darn right miserable.  16°C and raining, bone chilling wet coldness that cuts right into your core.  Ugh.

It poured on Saturday so we went to Ikea, and everyone else had the same idea.  Regardless we dragged our selves out of that maze, ice-cream cones in hand, a shopping cart full of stuff, and a tired baby who had way too much fun playing in storage boxes.

Sunday was a little better that it stopped raining.  So we ventured to Granville Island after church.  After Niagara Falls, this places is second in visitor traffic in Canada.  

 We love Granville Island. 

We participated in an impromptu drum circle, where anyone could pick up drumsticks and start banging.  It was much fun. I banged on the big drum.

We strolled through the Public Market and admired all the beautiful produce.

Yum yum cherries.

Gooseberries and blackberries.

Literally ran into these beautiful arrangements.

 We found fun things at the Kids Market.

I wanted to take these three home.

 Last but not least, we were captivated by brooms.  Yes, brooms.  Hand made on site.

 Auntie Amanda was visiting and she loves Harry Potter.  How appropriate.