New beginnings

Hi again one and all!

So this last little while has been a big time of change. We finally moved into our house, after months of painful renovations! My sister Laura, brother-in-law Charles, and niece Eva have moved to Ghana, Africa! And overall, it just feels like a time of changes (just in time for the upcoming new year!!)

The weather has been great lately, and by great I mean it sucks! Rain, rain, rain, and oh ya, did I mention more rain!!! Well, it beats having snow and -20 degrees-C (but not by much!) The house is great and we’re still just getting settled in. Hadrian seems to like it! He had a bit of trouble adjusting initially (especially his sleeping), but he’s been doing better as of late. It’s a big adjustment for him (and us); we went from our happy condo, Hadrian’s first home, to Debby’s parents’ house, where we stayed for over 5 months, to this new home. So naturally he got a bit confused as to which one is his true home! But all is well now.

So I finally got my H1N1 vaccine and both Debby and Hadrian have had theirs too. Everybody’s been so paranoid about this so I figured I might as well get it and at least hope that it protects us a little! Hadrian has caught a bit of cold recently (no flu-like symptoms though) and it quickly spread to Debby. I’m still holding out… so far!

Aside from that, Hadrian’s doing very well. He’s starting to say quite a few different words now (both in English and Cantonese) and he is understanding a lot now too. I can tell to go get something, or to put something down, or to come to me, or it’s time to eat, etc. It’s amazing how much his personality has developed! He’s very loving and affectionate but also very mischievous at times. One of his favorite things to do is when he’s eating something he really enjoys he’ll pretend to give you a bit and then pull it away and shake his head “no”!! He also started saying “no”. It’s kind of cute, but also annoying at times too!

He loves to copy us now, so in the mornings when we brush our teeth we give him his little tooth brush and he tries to brush his (but mostly just ends up chewing on it!) He also really enjoys reading books together at night time before going to bed. He’ll go and grab one of his little books and bring it to me saying “book, book” and then he sits with me and reads (well I read and he repeats some of the words!) He’s gotten really good at identifying some of the images now. He knows: bird, duck, bea-bea (bear), wo-wo (dog in Cantonese), mao-mao (cat in Cantonese), fa (flower in Cantonese), bug, fish, shoes, baby, boh-boh (ball), etc… And he can identify us in photos too: mama, dada, popo (grandma To), gong gong (grandma To). So it’s lots of fun, everyday he’s learning something new!

Well, there you have it! Included for your viewing enjoyment are some recent photos. I’ll try to send out another update around Christmas/New Year’s time, but if I’m late I’ll wish everyone a Merry Christmas in advance! May we all eat, drink and be merry! And in the infamous words of Clark W. Griswold Jr., “it’s good, it’s good!” (inside family joke, see National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!!!)

Danny, Debby and Hadrian.

A special day

Good day one and all!

Well I’m dedicating this latest blog entry to my family and especially to a very happy newlywed couple, my sister and now brother-in-law, Laura and Charles. We just helped them to celebrate their wedding day on Saturday, September 26th, 2009! The day went beautifully, the weather was great and all went off without a hitch (except the couple themselves who got hitched! … ha, ha, ha!!!) I’m so proud of my little sister and she couldn’t have found a better guy than Charles, who I’m pleased to now call bro! So, on to the details!

I’ll start at the beginning. We (Debby, Hadrian, and I) flew in to Montreal on Friday, September 18th. Hadrian was OK on the flight but at times he was a little monster! He slept maybe an hour out of the whole 5-6 hour flight (including stop-over in Toronto, which I will get to shortly). The rest of time we were constantly trying to ward him off from wandering around the aircraft or picking random objects off the floor and attempting to eat them! Needless to say, we were pretty tired by the end of it!

As mentioned, we also had a bit of an incident (or near incident) at the Toronto airport. As soon as we disembarked the first plane and headed over to the next for our transfer, they announced that the flight was overbooked and that not everyone would be getting on that flight. So when we proceeded to check in, only Debby had a seat assigned, while Hadrian and I were left on stand-by with the likelihood that we wouldn’t make the flight. In addition, the next two flights were oversold and we might not get on another flight until 7 or 8 pm (it was around 4:30 pm at this time). That would mean waiting around another 3 to 4 hours in the airport with no food or milk for Hadrian. We were pissed!!! (excuse the language!) Not a great way to start our vacation. So obviously I complained, and remarked that I had an infant who was tired (true) and hungry (kind of true) and sick (not so true!) In the end, as the plane was boarding they called my name and we finally got onboard.

On to Montreal… The next morning (September 19th) we had a golf tournament for Charles. We played “best ball” and there were 4-foursomes. Charles’ group claimed the best score, however not without controversy!! But we let him have the victory since the event was organized for him! Then after golf we returned to my parents’ place for a sort of bachelor/bachelorette party (“sort of” because they already had their official stags, which seem to be veiled in mystery! Think “The Hangover”!!!)

For the rest of the week leading up to the wedding: we visited my grandmother for some well missed Italian home cooking; I went out with the boyz for a night of cigars and beer at “Stogies” downtown; we helped out with preparations for the wedding; and of course spent time with the family. Hadrian had a great time visiting his grandparents, aunty and uncles, and playing with his favorite cousin Eva! Actually, this time Eva was happy to see Hadrian and play with him (she just needed some time to warm up to him during our last visit in May/June!) She still didn’t hesitate to claim almost everything as hers though (à moi, à moi!!!), it was very cute!

On Friday, September 25th (the day before the wedding), they had the wedding rehearsal and a subsequent BBQ diner at my parents place. The rehearsal went well, no tears (unlike our own wedding rehearsal 4 years earlier, where Debby balled her eyes out! But she didn’t shed a tear during the actual wedding ceremony!!? But I digress.) Anyway, since Hadrian was the “ring bearer” and Eva the “flower girl”, we practiced walking up the isle with them. Hadrian actually surprised me and walked the whole way holding my hand, without even deviating once! (Usually he doesn’t want to hold my hand anymore because he fancies himself as being all independent now.)

So on to the Special Day in question! As previously stated, the weather was beautiful and the morning and afternoon were clear and sunny. It got a little cloudy later in the afternoon, but overall it was a great late September day. During the morning the girls were busy going to get their hair done, and make-up, and getting dressed, etc. I had to look after Hadrian, since Debby was a bridesmaid and busy with Laura and the other girls. I, of course, only needed about 10 minutes to get ready, but getting Hadrian's stuff ready took considerably longer. There’s baby food, a bottle of milk, extra diapers, a change of clothes, night time sleeper, blankets, high chair for the reception, playpen for him to sleep in, stroller, etc… Just writing the list takes more than 10 minutes!! Luckily Laura & Charles got a suite at the hotel where the wedding reception took place, so we could bring Hadrian and Eva up there to sleep when it was their bedtime. That way we all got to enjoy the wedding festivities and not have to worry about the kids.

The church ceremony went well, Hadrian walked half way up the isle but then started to lag behind a little so I picked him up and carried him the rest of the way! He still did very admirably and looked so cute in his little suite. Actually, mom, dad, and baby made quite the attractive bunch, if I do say so myself! And the bride was absolutely beautiful and the groom was equally as handsome too!

After the ceremony it was on to the reception. Hadrian had lots of fun chasing around after his little cousins. Before long though he was showing signs of sleepiness, for he had not taken any afternoon nap with all the excitement. So at about 8:30 pm we took him up to bed and then it was p-a-r-t-y time! The reception was great, food was awesome, and of course there were drinks o-plenty! Not a few friends and relatives were feeling the happy tingle of the Nectar of the Gods!!! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and many praises were heard for the great event. The only sad part was leaving at the end. Since Laura and Charles were spending the night at the hotel and leaving for their honeymoon the next morning, and we were also departing the next day back to Vancouver, it was a bittersweet farewell. Especially also since they will be departing on their great African adventure in only a few short weeks. But this will only be a brief moment in the scope of our lives and before long we’ll be enjoying each other’s company again.

So before this blog gets much longer, I’ll try to wrap things up. In summary, we had a great vacation and enjoyed our time in Montreal immensely. Now it’s back to the grind, we’re hoping to have our home renovations done within a month and then the exciting move can happen. Then we’ll be happy to have family and friends visit and stay with us in our humble new abode!

Well, that’s it for this update. Here are a few photos of us and the wedding festivities. Please enjoy!


Danny, Debby and Hadrian.


P.S. No history lessons this time, but if you’re lucky next time I might have something to report!!!

Birthdays and beyond!

Hey everyone!

Well as the title states, birthdays seem to be the theme this time out! Hadrian just celebrated his 1st birthday on July 20th. We actually had two parties for him; the first was a shared party for all the babies in our “birthing” group and the second was his own party.

Our “birthing” group is a group of about 10 parents who all had their babies around the same time. We all went to the same prenatal classes together and the mommies have been keeping touch with each other since. It was fun to see all the babies growing up now and everyone had a good time at the gathering. Then, for Hadrian’s own birthday party we went to a park and had pizza and lots of fun in the sun! There was a little water fountain park there and we took him into the water and he had a blast! That was during our “extreme” heat wave here in Vancouver, so the cool water was definitely welcome. Speaking of heat waves, we had record highs during those 2-3 weeks. Every day was in the 30C’s and it went as high as 35C or 36C. Even at night it wasn’t much cooler and here in Vancouver most people don’t have air conditioning so it really got uncomfortable! Anyway, the temperature is back to normal now: cool, cloudy, rainy and grey!!!

So Hadrian had a great time for his birthday, and this leads us to another b-day. Our little niece and god-daughter Eva just had her 2nd birthday a few days ago on August 11th. We would like to wish her a very Happy Birthday! And this also leads us to one more birthday mention. Our good friends Timir and Sue Yee just had their first child, a baby boy, on that very same day! Congratulation to the happy new parents!! I will come back to the importance of this day a little later, with some interesting historical tidbits (I knew you were all just yearning for my ancient historical anecdotes!)

Hadrian has started taking steps on his own now, which is a new development. He was already quite comfortable walking while holding your hand or holding onto chairs or other objects, but now he’s becoming braver and started letting go to walk from one place to another by himself. He still can’t get up if he’s sitting or falls down, but let’s start with the walking and eventually he’ll learn (in reverse!) how to crawl and stand up!! His appetite is still great and he’s always adventurous enough to try and eat something new!

On the home front the renovations are coming along well. We’re still hoping to be finished by some time in September, hopefully before our trip back Montreal for my sister Laura’s wedding. Speaking of which, we are really looking forward to coming back to Mtl and having everyone there see Hadrian again and how much he’s grown and developed! We’re also very excited for Laura & Charles’ wedding, I’m sure it’ll be a great party!!

Well that’s all for now. Here are some more recent photos of the little emperor in action! Most of them are of Hadrian eating (as usual!) and the last one was just the other day getting yet another hair cut (#5 or #6 ? I don’t know I lost count!) Hope you enjoy!

Danny, Debby and Hadrian.

P.S. As you may know from some of my previous blogs, I have somewhat of a fascination with ancient history. Here are a few more interesting facts relating to our little Hadrian!

On the day of his 1st birthday, July 20th 2009, it was reported that a unique religious shrine to a Roman god was uncovered at a fort along Hadrian's Wall in England. According to the report, an altar dedicated to Roman god Jupiter of Doliche had been discovered next to the north gate of Vindolanda in Northumberland. The exceptionally well preserved altar was dedicated by a prefect of the Fourth Cohort of Gauls to the important eastern god. It was estimated that the highly decorated stone altar, showing the god standing on a bull holding an axe and a thunderbolt, stands some 110cm high and weighs around 1.5 tonnes!

The second note of interest relates on a few different levels! August 11th, the birthday of our niece (and Hadrian’s cousin) Eva, was also the same day Hadrian officially became Emperor of the Roman Empire! This also just happens to be the day our friends Timir and Sue Yee gave birth to their little baby boy. I guess this was a good day!!!

Here follows the brief history. After the passing of his father, Hadrian's only male relative was his father's cousin, his first cousin once removed. This man was M. Ulpius Traianus, better known as the future emperor Trajan. Trajan and his wife Pompeia Plotina, who had no children of their own, became surrogate parents to the child Hadrian. Trajan succeeded Nerva and became emperor in 98 A.D. A few years later, in 100 A.D., Hadrian was married to Trajan’s grand-niece, Vibia Sabina. The union linked him even more closely to the emperor's family and led to his adoption by Trajan as successor. Thus, on August 11th 117 A.D., his dies imperii, the army of Syria hailed its legate, Hadrian, as emperor for the first time and the roman senate gave their formal acceptance. The rest, as we say, is history!

On the home front

Hi all!

Last time the big news was that we were moving. So the move is done (thank you very much to our friends who helped us in that endeavor!) and we are now back at Debby’s parents’ home. We’re very grateful to them for allowing us to stay at their home until we’ve completed renovations on our new place. As far as the renos are concerned, they are moving along quite well so far. The majority of the demolition work is done and some of the new framing and drywalling has already begun. I won’t go into all the details right now but sufficed to say it is very time and energy consuming!

We also recently went on our long 1 month trip to Montreal, which was great. It was Hadrian’s first time flying and he took to it very well. A future jet setter if I've ever seen one! No problem with his ears during take-off and landing but he was a bit of a handful trying to keep him entertained for 5 hours! In Montreal everyone was extremely happy to meet the little guy. Especially his grandma and grandpa, and his aunty and uncles. There was one exception though; our little niece Eva, who is about a year older than Hadrian. The first time she laid eyes on her new cousin, she gave him a glare that would frighten a grown man! She immediately saw him as an intruder to her domain and then proceeded to cry in protest of him being there. Of course Hadrian realized none of this and was ecstatically pleased to see his older cousin for the first time. The whole sight was very amusing to the rest of us! Another particularly cute moment was the first time he met his great-grandma Colangelo. As soon as he saw her, he opened up his arms wanting to be held by her!

Our visit there was quite eventful; from attending two weddings, one 50th wedding anniversary, and his uncle’s birthday, to a side trip to Toronto to visit Debby’s relatives. We even had Hadrian’s Baptism held while we were there! It was very busy but nice to see everybody again, and for longer than a week this time!

So back to the little guy, he is after all the reason I created this blog to begin with! Well believe it or not he’s now only days away from his 1st birthday! Hard to believe it’s been that long already. I still remember when he was just a little new born. The funny thing though is you quickly forget how small they used to be. He went from this tiny 7-1/2 lb baby to weighing at least 25 lbs now!

We finally cut his hair! Actually my mom was the hairdresser and we cut it while we were in Montreal, and not once but twice!!! It was kind of sad to see it go, it had gotten so long, but once it was cut he looked very cute. Still no crawling but we think he’s getting close to walking! He actually took a couple of steps on his own the other day so we’re very excited. He also now has his 4 front teeth and a fifth one seems to be on its way. They’re still very dangerous though, he’s bitten both Debby and her mom on more than one occasion!!

He’s still eating everything in sight! It’s amazing to see how much the little guy can gobble down. He usually has his meals first and then when Debby and I eat he starts to grunt and pant for more food again. He’s like an eating machine! Ironically though, he isn’t very chubby. But he seems to be in a growth spurt now because he already visibly looks taller than he was when in Montreal. Hopefully those “tall” genes will stick!

His sleeping has improved dramatically as well. Now he goes down to sleep at night without much fussing at all and he pretty much sleeps through the whole night. He’s even waking up at a relatively decent time now, around 6 am! Right after we returned from our month in Montreal he had this habit of waking up at like 5 am every morning, so 6 is definitely an improvement!

Debby has recently returned to work, so that’s been a bit of an adjustment. And that means that Hadrian is going to the babysitter’s now. In fact he’s taking to it very well and seems to enjoy going there. I think it’s helping him to develop a little quicker too. There’s been no issue with him missing us or crying when we drop him off in the morning. Actually, he doesn’t even glance back at us when we leave; he doesn’t seem to think twice about it! O well, I guess he has a strong independent streak in him!!

So that’s it for now. We’ll be sure to keep you all posted on our progress with the house as well as on Hadrian’s latest escapades! Not to mention his 1st birthday as well! Debby and I are doing well, if not very tired from all the renovation activities! Hadrian is being a great little boy and growing up quickly. Here are some recent photos, including our trip to Montreal. Enjoy!

Danny, Debby and Hadrian.

Big changes ahead

Hi everyone!

Well as the title states, we’re going to have some big changes in the near future. No, Debby’s not pregnant again, we’re not quite ready for that yet! This change will affect our daily lives however. What is it? We’re moving!!! We sold our condo and bought a house in Vancouver. We take possession at the beginning of May and must be out of our condo by the end of the month. We’re kind of sad to be leaving our home of almost 4 years, our first home and the first place Hadrian has lived. But at the same time we’re very excited to be moving on to a house where we’ll have a lot more room for our growing family.

In the mean time though, the house does need quite a bit of work and we’re planning on doing renovations before we actually move into the place. Thus, we are going to be moving back to Debby’s parents’ home in the interim. This poses a bit of a challenge because we’ll be pretty limited in space. All three of us will be sharing one bedroom, since the second bedroom is almost completely full of our boxes! Anyway, I’m sure it’ll all turn out well and in the end we’ll have a wonderful home to move into.

Now aside from that, we also have a big trip coming up! Yes, we’re finally coming back to visit my hometown of Montreal. We’re coming mid May and are actually going to be staying for a whole month! It should give us plenty of time to introduce Hadrian to all our family and friends out there and we also have a number of family events to attend. We’ll be going to two weddings, one 50th wedding anniversary, and our own little guy’s Baptism! And on top of that we’re going to visit Debby’s family in Toronto! So it’s going to be a pretty hectic month but it’ll be a nice change of pace to be away for a bit.

Now on to the little guy! He’s now over 8 months and weighs at least 20 lbs, if not more. His hair is still growing and we can practically tie it in a ponytail now! We’re thinking of letting it grow at least until we visit Montreal, it’s kind of like his trademark! He hasn’t started crawling yet, but we think he might be one of those babies who go directly from sitting to walking. He already stands quite well when you hold on to his arms or waist. His first two teeth have appeared now. They’re the two front bottom teeth, and they’re so cute! Cute, yes, but dangerous as well! You don’t want to get your fingers anywhere near them because he’s liable to chomp on them, and those teeth are sharp too!

He’s still eating very well. Actually, he eats like a horse! He pretty much wolfs down anything we put in front of him!!! It’s good to know that he’s not too picky on food so far and we’re doing our best to avoid giving him any sweet or salty foods. While his eating is great, his sleeping is another matter altogether! He still wakes up a couple of time throughout the night and he always fights going to sleep. We tried the “cry it out” method, but he’s so stubborn that he’ll just end up crying for about 2 hours or more until one of us goes in to comfort him. We’re still working at it, so hopefully with all the changes coming up it won’t mess up his sleeping schedule too much.

Well that’s all for now, Debby and I are doing very well and Hadrian is a happy little boy. We look forward to coming to Montreal and visiting everybody there again! Here are some recent photos of the little guy for you to enjoy.

P.S. Happy Easter!!!

Danny, Debby and Hadrian.

A new year begins

Hello again family and friends!

Well this is my first blog entry for the new year and I thought it would be a good time to let you all know how things are going in our world. A lot has happened since my last update. The weather in Vancouver was doing its best impression of Montreal, with several significant snow storms occurring around Christmas time. There was certainly no question about having a white Christmas this year! I think we set a new record for the most snow in December. I know all of this probably seems quite comical to those of you living in the snowy east, but for Vancouver this nearly shut down the city! Anyway, sufficed to say we had fun digging our car out of parking spots and shoveling all the pretty white stuff! The holidays were fun though and everyone had a great Christmas and New Year, especially being Hadrian’s first.

Speaking of the little guy, he’s now passed 6 months and he’s turning into quite the little bruiser! He was last weighed around 18-1/2 lbs and he’s 69.5 cm long. Did someone say Shaquille O’Neal!! Just kidding, but for the kid of a 5 ft asian women he’s pretty huge! It seems like he’s growing up so fast, already 6 months have gone by and the days of him being this tiny newborn are gone. He still has tons of hair (we actually had to cut the front a second time now because it grew back into his eyes again) and we especially love his “wings” or sideburns! When we bathe him now the hair at the back of his head goes down past his shoulders, it’s pretty cool! And when it’s dry it kind of looks like a Donald Trump wig!!!

We started using the jolly jumper with him just before the holidays and he really likes it! It’s one of the few places we can put him and he’ll be content bouncing away for up to an hour some times! He also started to roll now, which is an interesting new development. Whenever we place him on his stomach he stays there for a few minutes and then rolls onto his back because it’s easier. He still isn’t really rolling from his back onto his stomach, but we think it’s because he’s too lazy to!

Another interesting new step in his evolution is that we started feeding him solid foods now. That’s been a fun experience! We started with the powdered rice cereal, which he took fairly well. Then we added chicken and that was kind of “different”! Debby thought that since he has pretty strong gums and like to bit everything, that just shredding the chicken was enough instead of actually blending it. Needless to say, his first chicken experience wasn’t the best! He was virtually gagging on every bite and the poor little boy’s eyes were all puffy and watery from his constant heaving! This little incident was enough to convince Debby to start pureeing all his food until he gets used to eating. So next we gave him some yams, and just recently some avocado, and each time we mixed a little bit of one with the other. Just think how delicious a rice cereal, chicken, yam and avocado smoothie sounds, yummm-o!!! When it comes to eating he seems to prefer trying to feed himself, as he’s constantly grabbing at the spoon and trying to shove it in his mouth. He also likes grabbing the cup or bowl with his food and tries to chew on the edge or shove it in his face too. But he’s actually pretty good at drinking water from a little cup. If we hold it up to his mouth he tries to take it and drink. It seems he’s already getting ready for those pints of beer with his old man in the future!

Another thing he started doing recently is giving us “kisses”. He especially likes to do it to Debby; I think my scruffy face kind of acts as a deterrent! He likes to grab onto her face and plant a big wet one on her cheek. It’s pretty cute!

We also just celebrated Chinese New Year a couple weeks ago. This year is the Year of the Ox. Actually, it’s the Year of the Brown Cow, since 2009 is a Yin year (of Yin & Yang), which makes it the female sign Cow, and Brown indicates that the major element of the Chinese Five Elements is Earth. But don’t worry; I won’t go getting all technical on you!!!

I mentioned last time how Hadrian had gotten a little cold and we kind of caught it; well it happened again now but this time much worse (for us especially). Hadrian caught something first, he had been to a 1-year old’s birthday party and we think that’s where he got it, but this time he had a fever too. Naturally we were worried and took him to the doctor, but everything was ok, he was just under the weather for a few days. But then I caught it and it hit me like a ton of bricks! I haven’t been that sick for a long time and I was in pretty rough shape for a week or so and I’m only now finally starting to feel better. And low and behold, Debby was next to be sick as a dog and left suffering at home! People with kids say we should get used to this because when Hadrian starts going to daycare or school he’ll be getting sick a lot more frequently. Yay, we’re looking forward to that!!!!!!

So Debby and I are relatively good, again trying to get over our respective colds, and Hadrian is as happy as ever! Here are some recent photos of the little guy, hope you enjoy!

Danny, Debby and Hadrian.