The Suburban Dad

Pandemonium at Chuck-e-Cheese!

Our son will be 18 months old tomorrow.  Everyday, he's becoming more and more a little boy instead of a baby.  I still get a glimpse of him as a baby when he's only wearing a diaper. 

As our Sunday family outing, we thought it would be a great idea to take him to Chuck-e-Cheese's.  I haven't been inside a Chuck-e-Cheese since 1992 and haven't thoroughly enjoyed being inside not since I was six years old. 

As soon as we got inside, it was pandemonium.  There were three birthday parties and the volume in the place seemed like you were in a rock-concert.  Our poor son didn't know what to make of the noise, the lights, the games, the rides and the hundred or so children alongside him.  Our fond memories of Chuck-e-Cheese seemed like a lie as chaos seemed to ensue on this visit.

First step, get some tokens!  I had just taken out a $20 bill at the bank next door. I proceeded to tell my wife ok, here's the $20 - just change it all to tokens.  I was anticipating that he would want to go on those kiddie rides over and over again.  During the Christmas holidays, we easily spent $4 on 20 minutes in a kiddie car ride at the mall.  

In the first 5 minutes, we realized we had bought too many tokens.  Every kiddie ride scared him.  The only thing he found appealing was a telephone booth game.  We tried to play skee ball with him but he quickly lost interest with his ill-fated attempts to throw the ball down the lane.   Now stuck with $18 worth of tokens, my wife and I tried our hands on some skee ball and some of the games.

The confusing part is, he would grab my hand and drag me around the whole floor to look around.  He just didn't want to try or go on anything.  Even the playground and slide in the toddler area seemed overwhelming for him.  After an hour and a half, we decided to call it quits but our son didn't want to leave.  Probably didn't help that he never got his full nap that day either.

So now, left with a bunch of tokens, we will try again in six months to see if Chuck-e-Cheese is off the Sunday family outing list completely.

Update

The only thing that made him happy at Chuck-e-Cheese:

 

Travelling with a baby: Lessons Learned

For our son, he's been on 4 trips to Toronto, 1 Trip to LA, 1 Trip to Dallas, 1 Trip to the Philippines, and a weekend in Victoria in his very first year of life.  The way we travel with him has certainly evolved as he got older from being a log to a very active toddler.

Some lessons we've learned with traveling with a baby:

• Bring a change of clothes for baby and for yourself on the flight.  On our recent flight from Toronto, there was turbulence when the plane was descending to land.  Our son got motion sickness and threw up all over my wife.  It seemed that he threw up everything he ate that day.  My wife had to change into whatever extra piece of clothing we had namely my undershirt and wind breaker.  Thank you to very helpful flight attendants on Air Canada.
• Pack less for yourself to make room for all the baby gear you need.  Airlines have lowered baggage allowances over the years along with what you can and cannot bring for your baby (especially if you do not purchase a seat for them).  Our general rule is if we have access to laundry only bring clothes for half the number of days for your trip.  Only bring the essentials for everyone.  Maybe just 1 or 2 toys and books for your baby.
• Request for a playpen at your hotel or ask relatives/friends to borrow one for you at your destination.  Amazingly, most hotels have playpens you can borrow.  One less thing bulky thing to bring.  Gives your baby a nice place to sleep.
• Bring the lightest stroller possible or a carrier.  Maneuvering through airports and/or city streets could be challenging depending on where you are going.  On a recent trip to the Philippines, the stroller was rendered almost useless since most sidewalks do not have ramps.  After a few days, we quit using the stroller and just used our Ergo Baby Carrier.
• Bring a portable high chair. There are many different kinds of portable high-chairs in the market place.  It helps a lot when you're out a restaurant and you can securely keep your little toddler in their place.  Makes for a more stress-free meal. 
• Always have Trip Cancellation or Trip Interruption  and Health Travel Insurance coverage.   This most especially important when traveling outside the country.  You never know if one of you will get sick or worse your baby gets sick during a trip.  Saves a lot of money if an emergency or health issue occurs for a little money upfront.  Along with any type of insurance, you hope to never have to use it.

N.B.  Only if you can afford it - get the extra seat for your toddler even if they are still under 2 years old.  I only suggest this if you are traveling alone without your spouse.  Our son who is 14 months old now, does not stay put like most toddlers his age.  You can bring FAA certified car seats in the plane with you.  Our son is generally content in his car seat and requires less entertaining. 

Happy Travelling!

Mini-Milestones: Sipping from a Straw and Opening Doors

After a fun-filled day at the Vancouver Aquarium and hanging out at Stanley Park, we were too tired to cook dinner.  So we went out to our local Nando's Chicken. During dinner we thought we'd let our son try to sip from a straw.  After a couple of misses, he managed to figure it out.  In his excitement, all the water he sipped into this mouth slid back out as he laughed.

Earlier in the day, he also figured out how to open our bedroom door.

They grow up so fast....

It's a Party in Here! - Birth Story Part 2

Continuation of Do you want a dead baby or a live baby? - Birth Story Part 1

Word gets out to our families that we're in the hospital.  Everyone's been waiting for this baby.  This baby was going to be the first grandchild/great grand-child from both sides of the family.  It's a special milestone for everyone. 

We're waiting for the nurse to come to get the party started! It was a big party indeed since within an hour of being admitted, both of our parents and our siblings started to arrive with food. There was a air of excitement amongst everyone while my wife and I try to maintain our composure.

On a side story, we had arranged for a doula to help us through the birth process.  A few weeks before the birth, the doula we hired told us that she was giving the 'job' to her back-up. She was going through some personal stuff.  At that point, we just said, ok, no problem. 

We had been communicating with the back-up doula about everything that was happening.  But, a few days before the birth, our back-up doula gave us a call to say that she'll be out of town the coming weekend for a family gathering.  Ironically, our original doula was her back-up just in case the baby came later in the week while she was away.  The baby did come later in the week, so now we have our original doula back on our side - again.  Funny how things work out.

As our family flurried into our room, we had told them -- our doula was coming soon and visiting hours were ending at 8 p.m.  It was our birth plan to just have myself and the doula to help my wife through the labor. 

So everyone's eating take-out chinese food. They were all excited while my wife already started her oxytocin drip. She was strapped with a fetal heart monitor and was anxiously watching the monitor to see how her contractions were developing.  Everyone was asking, how she was doing?  The nurse said, "She can still talk. She's still smiling.  It's still early."  I laughed nervously.

The doula arrives, much to our comfort.  The nurse asks my wife, "It's up to you to have as many people you want in here. But is everyone going to stay?"

I think both my wife and I said at the same time, "No, everyone's leaving except the doula."

The contractions were starting to get a little bit more intense and I see the clock tick to 8 p.m.  I  politely usher our families out of the room.  I told them we'd call in the morning as soon as the baby's born, expecting a long labor.

So everyone's out of the room.  The party was over for now.  The contractions are starting to get more and more intense.  The doula is helping my wife through breathing exercises and positions to help her get through what's ahead.  My wife wanted to get through the birth as naturally as possible. 

The doula, the nurse, and I made a good team. My wife was doing so well.  Little did we know that the party didn't really end....

To be continued....

Do you want a dead baby or a live baby? - Birth Story Part 1

"Do you want a dead baby or a live baby?", the doctor-on-call asked us with utter annoyance.  "Today, I can admit you and guarantee you a healthy baby?", he continued.

"If you don't want to get admitted today, I'll get the nurses to get you against medical advice consent forms and you can go home and take your chances."

We had seen this doctor the day before. He was near the end of a 36-hour shift. I guess his patience had run low and turned into the green-eyed monster!  He was the kindest doctor just 24 hours before.

We merely asked how necessary it was for my wife to get induced with the oxytocin drip.  She was a little bit scared of it after reading that contractions are much more intense with the drip than in natural labour.  What were we supposed to say? Obviously, we wanted a live baby. So we agreed to the induction.

It was our sixth straight day to check-in with the maternity unit at our local hospital as my wife approached her 13th day of being overdue.  We had gone through the steps of inducing labour all week - membrane sweep and then the prostaglandin gel.  By this day, I knew how to put on the fetal heart monitor on my wife's belly.

Through the course of that week, we had tried things to help induce my wife's labour such as walking and sitting and bouncing on a birth ball. My wife even tried to make an appointment with a massage therapist to get an induction massage. Heck we even tried sex.  No luck... this baby just didn't want to come out. Contractions were still about 10-15 minutes apart and she was dilating at a turtle's pace.

We hadn't expected to be admitted that day thinking that the doctor would just let my wife go through the natural labour process. We were a little naive I guess. So we came out of the maternity triage unit and my father-in-law was waiting in the lobby. 

We told him "We're being admitted today.  She's getting induced." 

I will never forget his reaction with his smile stretching from here all the way back to Toronto. Meanwhile, my wife and I were scared out of our wits as the reality was sinking in that we're having the baby today - not in the way we had thought. 

My in-laws had been in town since my wife's due date - wanting to be here for the birth (first grandchild). They've been waiting as long as this baby was overdue and had changed their flight back home about 3 times. My wife's parents were so happy they were going to see their grandchild since they were booked on a flight home two days later. So I gave the car keys to my father-in-law and asked him to pick up our hospital bag from home.

We then got escorted to the birthing room a few minutes later. The nurses were really good in comforting my wife and explain to her (and me) what was happening next. At this point, we had settled down and were really excited about meeting our child.

To be continued.....

Busy Vancouver Aquarium

We've been meaning to take our son to the Vancouver Aquarium since the beginning of summer. Since it was my wife's birthday weekend celebration, she wanted to take our son.  So finally, we went.  We got there and the line was stretching outside for tickets.

Anticipating that we would go back there numerous times, we just decided to buy memberships for the year.  Apparently, other parents have just gone and bought memberships too to avoid the long-line ups for tickets.

Here's a really good blog on Tips to Visiting Vancouver Aquarium from Chad Skeleton of the Curious Dad.

A Night Out at Vij's - fenugreek dreams and chai wishes

Many thanks to my brother and his wife for taking us out at world-famous Vij's Restaurant in Vancouver. 

As most of you parents know, taking out your one-year old to a restaurant can be a very challenging proposition.  Before i go on with my story, every parent should own one of these portable high chairs.  My wife was right in getting one (but that's another blog post).

My son was sitting in his portable high chair and we're just trying to feed him as best as we can. Our son gets bored and starts throwing pieces of his fish crackers and naan bread on the floor. 

Mr. Vij himself comes over now and then to make sure if we are enjoying ourselves. Just after the start of dinner, he passes by our table and saw pieces of naan and fish crackers on the floor.  Obviously, any esteemed chef and restauranteur wouldn't want to have a dirty floor.  He picked up my son's naan bread and fish cracker crumbs and walked away.

I turned to my wife and told her, "Wow Vij picked up our son's mess! It's really good service here."

So the food was fantastic! But halfway through dinner, my son starts to act up. My brother and his best friend helps us out by taking him outside to distract him.

We finish our meal and about to leave, Mr. Vij passes by again and asks us how was everything. Everything was great we said.  He commented that our son didn't like the food too much.  

We told him him, "It's Ok. He's just one anyways, when he's five years old we'll take him back again and we're sure he'll enjoy it."

You know a restauranteur cares about his food when he even aims to please the youngest of customers!

Bravo Mr. Vij!