Nathan has just passed his 5 month mark now. He’s growing so fast that it’s hard to imagine he was a small lump of coal when we took him home from the hospital. I miss being able to hold him with one arm like a football while I do other things. When we take him to the mall now he looks like he’s about the same size or bigger than some 1 year old toddlers walking around. According to our doctor he’s healthy and growing extremely well. In fact he’s at the top of the growth chart. My niece Mia is in a similar situation. I guess it’s the genes from my Dad’s side that’s contributing to their crazy growth! Having a child has definetly made us miss the free time we had before Nathan came along. We always have to adjust your plans based around his feeding times so that he’s not super cranky while we’re out. So far he’s been (according to everyone) the best baby to take care of. He is only cranky when he’s super hungry; otherwise he’s very well behaved and very fun to take care of (when he’s not sleeping).

The 2010 Winter Olympic games are finally here in Vancouver. The city is for once buzzing with tonnes of people on the streets. Locals and tourist pack many of the designated pedestrian corridors in downtown vancouver to see the free pavilions and exhibitions showcasing different countries and cultures. The heart of the activities is the Vancouver Art Gallery where the Olympic countdown clock (pictured here) resides. Buildings are decorated with corporate sponsors as well as Canada flags. Canadians are showing their true patriotic pride by decking themselves in red and white. Free exhibits and entertainment can be found in many areas of downtown for everyone to enjoy. Full competition is underway and the most anticipated sport everyone is watching is the men’s hockey. Go Canada!

The 2010 Olympic winter games is about 1 week away. All final preparations are finishing up to make the city as presentable as possible. It will be an exciting time for Vancouverites to experience this once in a lifetime event.

Nathan has passed the 2 month mark and is growing really fast. His feedings have been non stop since birth and has doubled his birth weight now! Since he still likes to sleep a lot, this is one of the rare photos we have where he’s awake for an extended time. Leah purchased the outfit from Babies R Us. She’s a sucker for the Argyle design sweaters as she has a few of them herself. Too bad this outfit cost over $50!!!! ahhhhh dressing up babies are expensive!

This year we did the smart thing and bought things for ppl that were on sale during the year in preparation for xmas gifts. What that means is that it’s 1st week of december and Leah has already wrapped all the gifts and we’re just left with maybe 1 or 2 more presents to get for ppl. Each year Xmas shopping becomes more and more tiresome. Wrappings courtesy of the evil empire COSTCO!!!! I do have to admit, she did a good job making the wrapped gifts look nice

Yesterday, Nov 18 was Nathan’s first full month since he was born. For Chinese tradition this is one of the most important events for the newborn baby and Mother. While there’s no need for an official cake, Leah asked me to go to the same store where I picked up her birthday cake last week to “get a cake for Nathan.” However, I’m pretty sure she wanted the cake to eat for herself since she downed here birthday cake in the matter of a few days. The cake was made at this very small family run business in the west end on Dunbar almost near UBC. The place is called Butter and I must admit, they have a pretty big selection of baked goods that I’m scared to even bring Leah there. I don’t want another repeat of what happened with her favourite crepe place… UBC is too far to drive to everyday! LOL

My son finally came out after 21 hours of labor on October 18, 2009. Weighing 7.2 lbs he were finally relieved he came out after all the pains and medication that Leah had to go through. Thanks goes out to Kitty for being there during the part of the labor where Leah needed all the support to make it through. I must say Kitty and I were very relieved as soon as the nurse offered us the Epidural to help Leah deal with the pain. We’ve coined it the “happy juice” due to the intoxicating like effects it had on Leah. I mentioned to Kitty that this is exactly how Leah’s behavior is when she’s drunk since Kitty missed the chance to see Leah drunk during her stagette. We’ve decided to name our son “Nathan Jun Wah Wong”. The first 24 hours after he was born was a breeze since all he did was sleep and fed only 4 times. What people and the nurse seem to conveniently forget to tell you is that this is not the true colours of a new born. After the 24 hours honeymoon period, all hell broke loose. Feedings came every 2 hours, diaper changes come every 1-2 hours as well. He would only sleep during the day and at night he’s a hell raiser. In short, I think we only slept a total of 6 hours during a 72 hour span. WHAT FUN! More sleepless nights to come, however I’m looking forward to spending time with my son and watching him grow through the years!

My sister recently gave birth to a beautiful baby daughter. After 18 hours of labour in the hospital Mia finally came out and welcomed us with big eyes and full set of hair She was born over 9 lbs and was very active checking out her surroundings as all the relatives were taking their turns carrying her. Congratulations to Ying and Carolyn and welcome baby Mia!

Rubber Duckies, originally uploaded by flyboy604.

You know the end is near when the baby shower happens. Just two weeks ago, Kitty organized a baby shower for Leah. The baby boy is due to come on October 28th so we’re about 4 weeks away from the big day. The shower was a big success and thanks goes out to kitty for organizing the whole thing. I wasn’t expecting her to come to our house with boxes and boxes of decorations and food. The house was decorated with a duck theme in mind and blue everywhere. Thank you everyone for coming to the baby shower!

Sadly in just a matter of few days, another storm, an even stronger one is making its way to Philippines. The centre of the storm so far as of today apparently will not be in Manila however it has little effect as the storm is so massive that it will still bring heavy rainfall to the areas that haven’t recovered yet.

With that I’m pasting here a list that Karen Ang prepared where anyone can bring/send their donations/help in any form for the people who got affected by the typhoon: List of institutions and locations

Anyone who can spare a moment for a prayer or anything in kind, big or small, is highly appreciated in advance. It will go a long way in helping the Filipino people.