Mom Has Been Busy

I have not written for months because my mom has been ultra busy. The only thing that can slow my mom down is for her to get sick. It is unusual for her to be ill and when she does, it generally hits her hard. She came down with the flu over a week ago and she is still suffering from it. Despite her high pain tolerance, she takes Tylenol everyday to cope with bone and muscle aching. Her throat feels raw and she has taken more lozenges this past week than her entire life time. As she gets better gradually, the bug is going around in our household. Both Peter and Grandma are not feeling well. Hopefully, Adelaide, Emily and myself can remain healthy.

My mom went to Vancouver in July to attend a cousin's wedding. She stayed at Emily and Peter's apartment to help with baby care and packing. Initially, the packing was extremely organized and donation runs helped in reducing the moving load. As time ran out, everything went into boxes for moving. Under Peter's supervision, box contents were to be organized and not random. Nonetheless, finding things can still be a challenge at times. They rented a big U-Haul truck and moved back to Edmonton at the end of August.

When our family moved from the westend home to Millwoods and then from Millwoods to our current address, the experience was similar to Emily's move . . . only it was much, much worse. My mom did make attempts to sort our belongings. She couldn't possibly cope with the workload, so there were random stuffs packed in same box and there were "untoouched" boxes being moved from one location to the other. Having been in our home for over a decade, there has been more additions to our garage/basement when other extended family members moved and needed storage space.

Emily and Peter's moving home marked the beginning of a frenzy of cleaning house, IKEA trips for shelving units, organizing accumulated messes, and donation/ECO station runs. The job is endless and work is still in progress. My mom appreciates Emily and Peter's help in this horrendous task of getting our home in order. A lot more work is needed to be done yet.

Camping Trip

My mom and I left for Clearwater, British Columbia, at 5 am. Thursday morning. It was so early that it took my mom a long time to get me out of bed. I was sleepy and quiet most of the morning. I don't generally sleep while traveling in the car. By the afternoon, I was so tired that I was giggly. After 9 hours of driving, we arrived at our destination. My mom checked into a motel and started to unload the car. I refused to stay in the room and got back into the car. A 9-hour drive was not long enough for me! Shortly afterwards, Emily, Peter and Adelaide arrived.



We visited three waterfalls in Wells Gray Provincial Park the next day - the Helmcken Falls, Dawson Falls and Spahat Falls. The Helmcken Falls is very pretty and it is considered as the Park's main tourist draw. Due to my love for water, I enjoyed watching the rushing water and listening to the roaring sounds. Sometimes I refused to leave the area. While on the trails, I walked slowly or came to a complete stop due to distractions by my surroundings. My mom engaged me in a game of hide and seek by getting behind a tree. I had a lot of fun running toward the tree to find her. That was very effective in getting me to go from point A to point B.

We came across three bears in different locations of the park. My mom, Emily and Peter were happy to be able to see them in such close proximity. We were in our car, of course. Otherwise, the encounter would not be described as "happy".

In order to expose me to a new experience (tenting), we checked into a camp site on Saturday. I have camped many times before in our van. However, the last time I slept in a tent was when I was 2-year-old.

My mom and I slept in a big tent with a fly over it. I called out, "mommy" and pointed to the top of the tent. A big bug (an inch long) got trapped between the tent and the fly. I laughed out loud as I watched the bug flew back and forth frantically. That kept me entertained for a long time before I fell asleep.

It started to rain at dawn and I was probably waken up by the sound of raindrops on our tent. My mom noticed that I was staring at the top of the tent. She asked me, "What do you see?" I said, "滴滴" (meaning drip, drip). I love water and I thought it was so funny having water dripping onto our bed. We planned to camp for 2 nights, but the rain cut our stay short and we came home on Sunday.

Ice Cream

Yesterday when my mom proposed to take me out on my buddy bike, I said to her, "Ice cream". Her response was, "Sorry, mommy does not have ice cream in the freezer." Well, if she wants me to go on my bike daily, she needs to come up with something more appealing to me than grapes. . . . . Guess what my mom bought today. :)

We have ice cream now, but I haven't got any yet because we didn't go out on my bike today. This afternoon, my mom was struggling with making up her mind. In the end, she decides not to go out due to the extremely hot weather. The heat really gets to her. Tonight, we have a thunder storm and it helps to cool down the house for a good night sleep.

Emily and Peter are going on a camping trip in BC. They have invited my mom to join them for a couple of days. Last night, I was over at my mom's home to sleep over. I was so good that my charm won her over. My mom told me I will be going on a long car ride. She is not sure if I understand what this is all about yet. I will when I see her packing.

Buddy Bike

The weather is gorgeous today, so my mom decided to take me out on my buddy bike this afternoon. She was not sure if I would resist, so she didn't tell me what we were going to do. She handed me a favorite snack as we walked out of the house. Having that to distract my attention, she got me on the bike with no problem.

This is the first time we go out on my bike this year. My mom remembered how reluctant I was last year and that she had to use ice cream to entice me. To her surprise, I actually enjoyed the bike ride today. I giggled as our bike sailed out onto the street. I helped in peddling from time to time.

I saw a small squirrel ran across the street in front of us. My mom stopped peddling so that I could watch the squirrel climb up a tree. One time when we were in Jasper National Park, I saw a squirrel came out from under a rock a few feet from where I was sitting. I jumped up, screamed and ran away. Today, I wasn't afraid because I was sitting high up on my bike and I felt safe.

Leaps and Bounds

Adelaide is sure growing fast. Her weigh-in at the midwife's office around mid-May was 7 lbs. 14 oz. We didn't have a scale at home to weigh her accurately while they were here to visit. She was getting heavier to carry, but we had to wait till her next midwife appointment back in Vancouver to know her exact weight. On May 31, we found out that she weighed 9 lbs. 5 oz. The next thing I know, she has gained more weight and was 10 lbs. 5 oz. on June 10. Baby gifts of clothing are coming in and my mom is worried that Adelaide may outgrow some of them before she goes to Vancouver to visit them at the end of July. She hopes that there will be someone we know going to Vancouver soon, so that she can forward the smaller sizes to Adelaide.

My mom went on a shopping spree buying pretty dresses for Adelaide. She took me along one time and I imitated how she looked through the dresses one by one on the rack. Then I started to take some clothes off the rack and restock them on other racks. Instead of stopping me, my mom allowed me the time to hang the clothes back up. That was a very good practice of eye-hand coordination for me. My mom followed me around and placed the clothes back to where they should belong.

Meeting Adelaide

I have finally met Adelaide in person last week. I call her "baby", as Adelaide is too difficult for me to say at this time. I am sure Adelaide's name is on my mom's "to teach" list.



I shy from getting close to Adelaide. I have not shown much interest in her for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I don't know how to interact with babies. I have not had such experience in the past. Secondly, I am a lot more interested in Peter . . . actually, I am more interested in Peter's computer. When I see Peter, I don't call him "Peter". I say "computer" instead. Peter and computer are not separable anyway.

Peter let me watch music videos on his computer. He teaches me how to use a digital camera. And, he sets up Wii Mario Kart for me to play. How can I not be attracted to Peter when I get so much attention from him! I hope he will visit again soon.

Adelaide

Adelaide is sure growing fast and she looks different from the time she was born. I am going to meet her in person soon. My folks are going to leave Vancouver Friday afternoon. They plan to split the driving into 2 1/2 days so that they can have frequent stops to take Adelaide out of her car seat. They will arrive Edmonton Sunday night. I may not see them until Monday depending on the time they get home. Emily, Peter and Adelaide will stay till the following Saturday. I am sure the week will go by really fast.

It is a Girl!

As of last evening, I am officially an uncle. Isn't Adelaide beautiful? I look forward to meeting her when Emily and Peter bring her home to visit around the end of this month.

While Emily was pregnant, she looked like she had a watermelon or football in her tummy. Many people predicted that she was going to have a boy because she carried the baby all in front of her. It was interesting that both Chinese and Caucasian people offered the same prediction. We are happy it is a girl and she is healthy.

Baby Update

There is no sign of baby yet even though Emily's tummy is getting sore from false labor pains. She sees her midwife once a week until the baby is born. So far, the midwife has been predicting that the baby will not arrive early. So, everybody, have patience.

In the meantime, my mom got all of her income tax returns done. It is a relief for her to get caught up. Now she can start to catch up on other backlogs. One of these days, she will be able to have a life again.

With my mom's support, I applied and interviewed for inclusive post-secondary education at Grant MacEwan and NAIT. Unfortunately, I have not been accepted. My mom was not hopeful that I would. She tried anyway because it is not right to give up without trying.

Beautiful Blooms

My mom left for Vancouver Thursday morning. After she left home, she realized that she had no map. She continued on her journey, as she didn't want to waste time going home for the maps. She figured she could find her way to Vancouver and then to Emily and Peter's apartment. She arrived safely at around 8 pm. as planned.

As my mom drove over the Rockies, it was still brown everywhere until she reached Hope, British Columbia. Suddenly, it became all lushly green. It was like driving from one season into another. Vancouver is beautiful with cherry blossoms all over the city. Many other flowers are also in bloom creating multitudes of spring colors.

Emily is now staying home awaiting for the arrival of her baby. While my mom was still in Edmonton, she was too busy to get excited. Now that she is in Vancouver and seeing how big Emily is, her excitement starts to mount.

It's A Small World

My Grandma is giving away her entertainment unit. As she cleans out her stuff, she comes across a few old, old records of children songs. One of them is "It's a small world". I look at the picture on it and it brings back memories of the ride at Disney World. I hang onto this record and refuse all the other ones. I make my mom play the song over and over again. I laugh out loud as I look at the pictures of the ride and listen to the music.

When I want my mom to put the record on, I sing to her, "Dum dum dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum dum".

Spring Retreat

My mom and I went to the Spring Retreat at Camp Nakamun. This gave me the opportunity of spending a weekend with young people - Junior High and Senior High. I am much older, but I blend in well because I look younger than my age. We had a nice room that is an accessible unit with very spacious bathroom.

On our first night, my mom could hear me laugh out loud after she turned off the light.


I woke up before 5 am. the next morning and was ready to go. I loved the music and singing. My mom supported me to participate as much as I could in activities. When my peers played human foosball, I wanted to join in. Initially, my mom was hesitant and didn't let me. Then she changed her mind and I got to play. My peers were very gracious and accepted me in the game. Whenever the ball came near to my vicinity, they gave me the time I needed to kick the ball. Sometimes, even my opponent team intentionally passed the ball to me. They are such wonderful people.

Saturday night was the best because we had a Talent Show. As soon as my mom mentioned "show" to me, I knew there was going to be more music, singing and dancing. My mom was really impressed by Nigel's awesome yo-yo tricks.

I Love Having a Fit!

Sunday was the first time I rode in our newly purchased Honda Fit. As my mom pulled out of the garage, I shouted, "Yay!" Realizing that I love the Fit, my mom got a tickle out of my reaction. A few weeks ago, she had a rental car while her van was in the body shop. I did not show any excitement for the rental car. So, she noticed the difference.

Generally, whenever I get into a vehicle, I ask for music. I have given up asking for music when I get into our van because the radio has broken down months ago. Now we have music in the Fit - What a treat! I simply cannot stop smiling. I wish my mom will take me for more car rides. I wonder when Emily and Peter will be coming home. It will be nice to go on a long car ride to the airport.

We are going to have a Fit!

My mom took me with her to test drive the Honda Fit. We didn't feel welcomed at the dealership. We walked round and round the showroom three times. There were many staff members, but none of them offered their assistance. A few of them took one look at us and then turned away ignoring us. Well, what do I expect, right? A woman with me in tow. In their opinion, we are not the "buy-a-car" type and we can't possibly afford to buy a car.

We are going to have a Fit! My mom will pick it up this Friday. This is perfect timing because our van broke down today. It has a severe oil leak and my mom cannot drive it any more. She parked it and it will sit there until Emily and Peter are ready to move back to Edmonton. My mom will then tow it to the shop to get it fixed.

Flu

I have been in contact with many others who contracted the flu - such as my roommates, Peter, Emily, and Grandma. My mom gives me garlic pills everyday to help boost my immune system. My mom and I have been lucky up until now. We both have runny nose. My mom aches all over, but she does not know if I have any pain.

My mom has been kind of stiff and sore after a rear-end collision on January 30. A few days ago, she came down with the flu and it is hard to tell whether the pain is related to the whiplash or to the flu.

My mom went for a physiotherapy assessment this afternoon. She did some stretching exercises and had hot packs to her neck and back. She is feeling less stiff tonight. She was given an exercise program to work on at home and to return for another assessment a week later.

Baby on its Way

My mom has been too busy to help me write my blog. That is why you have not heard from me for a long time. Emily and Peter came home to visit about a week ago. I could see that Emily's tummy is growing. My mom patted her tummy and asked me what was in it. I said, "Baby!"

Over the past few months, my mom has been exploring inclusive post-secondary education for me. She has submitted a couple of applications and will continue to apply to whichever college/university that will accept applications.

I am scheduled for an interview on February 16 at the Alberta Association of Community Living (AACL) office. Please pray for me, as it will be nice for me to be accepted into a program this coming fall. This will allow me the opportunity to meet with peers about my age. I need to learn how to interact meaningfully with others. My mom has been told that the government funding cut is affecting the program and it will reduce my chance of success.

Speakers

As you all know, I love speakers. Emily and Peter have this cool Sims home and garden game that I can place gazillion speakers into a house. This is so much fun! My favorite is the snowman speaker. I line them up like tin soldiers all over the house and the yard. I also have wall speakers hanging in the air. Hehe . . . they are actually mounted on the walls, which are made invisible so that I can access the inside of the house.



I have been playing the Super Mario car games by asking for "car". When my mom first showed me the different courses, I did not seem to comprehend how to stay on track to complete the race. I was also limited by my short attention span. Initially, I was fixated with the windmill on the Moo Moo Meadow course. I kept going back and forth toward the windmill site rather than finishing the race. After I got bored from looking at the windmill, I tried other courses. To everybody's surprise, I started to complete races and I kept breaking my own time records.