Breakfast @ Soho Grand

Our Soho Grande Check In Ordeal:

We arrived at the Soho Grand after the regular check in time. We had to wait for a little while before we could check in because of the line up of other tourists checking in. Finally, we were given keys to our room. Mommy, Daddy and I went straight to our (small) room and a very helpful bellhop (who would assist us the rest of our time in NY) brought our luggages to us. Right away, Daddy noticed a stain on the bed (the top sheet) and the bellhop saw it from the door. He let us know that this was unacceptable and we would get a new room. We waited for about 10 minutes before he came back up with a new room number and keys. Mommy and the bellhop checked out this new room, while Daddy and I stayed in the old room.

(from Mommy) We walk in the new room and I do the regular bed inspection... nothing on top, but YUCK! A "time of the month" stain on the fitted sheet. Again - completely unacceptable. I went back to the old room to meet James and Addi and tell them what we found. Normally, after two room incidents, I would insist on changing hotels... BUT our friends were staying here too and this wasn't a hotel that you'd expect to find yucky things. We finally get to a decent room and the manager comes up and apologizes and gives us comp tickets...

The following day, we enjoyed a FANTASTIC breakfast... on them!

Daddy had a smoked salmon eggs benedict (with amazing hollandaise sauce!), Mommy had a delicious banana waffle. I had potatoes, fresh fruit and sausage... yummy!

My fam @ Soho Grand

A little bit more on Soho Grand:
They have an excellent Baby Program - we were able to get a stroller, bath mat, baby bath supplies, diaper pail and a sport bag with coloring books and crayons for Addi!
...AND if you get a bit lonely, they'll even loan you a pet goldfish to keep in your room! (we didn't do that, of course... the fish would probably end up on the floor if it was in Addi's reach!)

Arturo's

We had our first dinner in New York at Arturo's. I usually can't eat at Italian Restaurants, but the staff was extremely accommodating! I was able to enjoy a filet of sole (that's usually cooked in butter) and they gave me plain cucumbers and unbuttered potatoes. yum! I heard the pizza was delicious - what a great start to our trip!

Everyone seems satisfied!

I was very pleased with my dish!

Me and Uncle Trouble!

Shopping in Soho

Our hotel was in the best shopping area in NYC! The Soho Grande is in a very convenient location - it's close to all the shops! After our check-in ordeal (I'll write a post later), we checked out the shops in our area... or should I say Mommy checked out the shops while Daddy and I followed her around! I was so excited when we met up with Xavier!

Us babies and the guys hung out in front of Top Shop, while the ladies did their thing...

Bella in Soho?!?

No... but it kinda looks like her for a split second! I ran up to this doggie at our hotel and yelled "Cheeeeeese", so Mommy would take a picture of me... she had to scramble through her purse to find her camera and I held this position the whole time!

... but it's the law!

We rode in a for-hire vehicle from the airport to our hotel. We probably won't do that next time, because it's more expensive than taking a cab - we thought it would be easier than finding a cab, but we were wrong!

Anyways, while I was in there, I didn't have to sit in a car seat! Taxi's and for hire vehicles are exempt from the car seat law (http://nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/faq_pass.shtml). In retrospect, I should have ridden in one anyways, because it's the safest way to be!

I'm sitting right beside Mommy

Look Ma! No 5 point harness!

On the way to NY...

It was a very short flight, but I managed to sneak in a nap... This time Daddy held me, while I zzzzzzzz'd...

Bye Bye Toronto!

We left Toronto on 5/21 to make our way to New York. I'll miss Toronto and my family and friends. I'll miss walking up and down all the stairs at Lola's house. I'll miss a lot of things, but I know I'll be back before you know it!

Bye Lola!

I insisted that we ride the moving walkway - even though Mommy and Daddy didn't want to!

Daddy, Lola, Marie-Chan and me!

Mommy, Lola, my blanket and me!

Next time we come here, I hope I'll be taller than these kids!

Tim Horton's

Lots of things that I can't eat!
...Though the one with the sprinkles is pretty. I'll just look at it.

Mommy almost went the whole trip without having any Timmy's... we couldn't let that happen, so we passed by a Tim Horton's, even though it wasn't necessary...

Dinner @ Pantheon

Our last dinner in Toronto :(

I thought Mommy took a group photo, but I just can't find it right now! Tiyo Kev, Lolo, Uncle Fran, Ninang Trae, Ninang Joy, Ninang Rach, Hannah and Benjoe joined us for dinner. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner this time! The Danforth has redeemed itself! Great food, great company... who can ask for anything more? Maybe a winning ticket, perhaps!

Hannah, Benjoe and me!

Cheese!

Ninang Rach, Eva, Ninang Trae, Mommy and Ninang Joy!

Another day at the Mall...

Mommy and my Ninangs had a lunch date planned (Ninang Trae couldn't make it... booo for work!), so Lola and Daddy took me to the mall - Of course, I got loot again! A beautiful Disney Princess sippy cup (which we later left in Brooklyn...boo!) and a cuddly Lumpy doll and my fave - a big Marie-Chan doll.

I love the Marie-Chan doll - I have to make sure she's with me (along with my original Marie-chan doll and Roo) when I go to sleep... every... single... night. I have to make sure they're comfy and under my blanket too. I have now decided that the big Marie-Chan doll is Mommy, I'm the small Marie-Chan and Daddy is Roo. I'll post a pic of the little family soon!

Ninang Joy and me before we went to the mall!

Late night

Mommy and Ninang Jo had plans to meet with their high school friends, so Daddy, Ninang Joy and I took a little tour of downtown Toronto... and when I say tour, I really mean we drove around aimlessly for a few hours.

We made a quick pitstop in Yorkville before we finally decided to grab dinner. We went to a new chicken and waffles place by Lakeshore, which didn't impress us (again - another disappointing meal!)

We picked up Mommy and I got to meet some of her friends! Here we are together:

Nova Era

One of our regular stops in Toronto is Nova Era. I couldn't eat anything there, and I was pretty jealous, since I had to watch the adults dig into their pasteis nata. I saw the strawberry tarts in the window and I couldn't even eat those - they were touching the cream filling! Daddy bought me a fresh fruit popsicle, which I totally enjoyed!

Daddy and me!

Mommy and me!

Ninang Joy, Ninang Jo, Mommy and me!

Surprising Tiyo Kevin!

We were downtown anyways, so we decided to just show up at Tiyo's work! He was pretty surprised to see us, he wasn't even supposed to be there! We caught him at a good time. The little dogs kept trying to lick me, so I didn't like being on the floor...

Ontario Science Centre and Smoke's

On Tuesday Morning, Mommy and Lola had things to do, so Daddy and I had a little "Addi & Daddy" bonding time. He wanted to do something special with me, so we went to the Ontario Science Centre and watched "Under The Sea", an Imax film. Daddy thought I would love it, since I love fishies! Of course, I have the attention span of a 2 year old, so halfway through the film, I just wanted to run around! I loved everything I saw though!

After the show, Mommy and Ninang Do-Reen picked us up and we headed downtown... straight to Smoke's Poutinerie! Of course, I couldn't have a poutine, but I enjoyed their fries! The adults weren't really impressed with the poutine, especially since it was the only one they had the entire trip! booo!

They had lots of stickers for me to play with! I was so thrilled that I could stick them everywhere!

Daddy and me in front of one of the many Smoke's characters!

You say soda, I say pop!

Hamming it up for the camera!

Different kinds of poutine...

My 2nd Birthday Party!

I was so excited that the day finally arrived! We were a bit worried, since the forecast said it was going to rain on this day, but by Sunday, the forecast predicted that it would be cool, but clear... and it was! It was a beautiful, sunny day... hmmm, let me rephrase that, it was a beautiful, sunny, windy day! It was perfect for kite-flying, which a lot of our guests enjoyed doing!

I met a lot of new people today, some I've met a few times before, but it was like I was meeting them all over again today! I had a lot of fun! I never left Daddy's side! We watched the kids fly kites, we had an arts and crafts project and we had a pinata! I chose a Disney Princess pinata and Ate Hannah broke it open! We all rushed to grab all the toys and treats... it was so exciting! I've never experienced a pinata before!

It was time to blow out my candles... I was pretty shy, as you know, I don't like a lot of attention. I know what I have to do (everytime someone sings "Happy Birthday", I'll demonstrate how to blow a candle...even if there isn't one!), but really... with all those people staring at me, I just wanted to hide! Mommy and Daddy helped me blow out the candle. Cake time! I was unsure about the cupcake that Mommy put in front of my face - I've never eaten one before! The moment it touched my lips... it was over! I practically devoured the whole thing!

It was a really great day! I'm so happy I got to see everybody! I'd like to thank my guests for coming and thank you for my presents! Lola Syl, Thank you for throwing me a wonderful birthday party! I love you!

Sunday in Toronto...

Even though I went to bed REALLY late the night before, I still managed to get up REALLY early on Sunday morning! We had lots to do, so it was allllll good.

We visited Lollicakes again to pick up my special cupcakes... they looked fantastic! Very girly, purple and pink with shimmer and sparkles!

We had lunch at St. Louis Wings, which Daddy likes better than Duff's, (Mommy still loves Duff's!). I slept the entire time - a first! There was comfy booth seating, so they laid me down to sleep, and I didn't even flinch!

Mommy and me (after I woke up!)

"Lola Road"

Ninang Rachel's Birthday Party

We traveled up North, past the cows, horses and sheep, to celebrate my Ninang Rach's birthday! It was soooooo far from where we lived that I was able to sneak in a nap and I was quite grouchy when I woke up to another new environment and a lot of new people!

It took me a long time to warm up to everyone, but I EVENTUALLY did! I enjoyed some barbecue sticks and fruit. I liked playing with my ate's and Benjo at the end of the night. I even met another SuperWhy fan!

Mommy and my other Ninangs played a little trick on Ninang Rach, but didn't tell her until we were in New York. Ninang Rach was a good sport about finding the travelling pants in her closet and didn't even get mad at Mommy! Who will get the travelling pants next?

Pretend Play

I was going to write this post after I was completely up-to-date with the other posts... but who knows when that will happen! I might as well do this now!

Addi, oh Addi... she's got quite the imagination nowadays and it totally cracks us up! She's starting to get into pretend play, which is interesting... I'll go from the easiest ones...

She'll pretend to sneeze
... but her pretend sneezes sound like she's saying "bless you" (which she LOVES to say whenever anyone sneezes!) so she'll randomly yell out "BASHOU!"

She'll pretend she's sad
... for no reason. She'll say "I crying" and pout, expecting you to comfort her.
She'll request you to be sad as well... then she'll pat your back and say it's ok.
I try to teach her to say other emotions, but she'll insist that I have to be sad and crying, so she can comfort me... 'sup with that?!?

She'll pretend to talk on the phone
... with anything, a real phone (that's off), a toy phone, a remote control... and if there's nothing available, her hand.
She either talks to Daddy or Uncle Josh.
She'll say a lot of "Hi"'s, "Wha Doing?" "I fine" "uh huh"'s and "no"'s
I think I mentioned this before, but she still LOVES to "talk on the phone" (and probably always will...)

She has pretend play with her toys
... She has two "Marie-Chan" dolls. The character is called Marie-chan in Japan and I got the small doll in Japan - the name clicked and we tried to teach that name to Addi, but she calls them "Zhan-chan", even though she can say "Marie"... go figure... anyways, one is bigger than the other. The bigger one is "Mommy zhan-chan" and the little one is "baby zhan-chan".
She often has conversations between the two of them, and she'll voice both of the dolls or she'll talk to them.
Tonight, for example:
Baby Zhan Chan - "Up-a-daisy" (that's how Addi requests us to pick her up)
Mommy Zhan Chan - "OK"
MZC - "Up, down, up, down" , as Addi holds MZC's hands to lift up BZC

BZC - "I love you, Mommy"
MZC - "I love you, baby"

She'll also pretend to feed them, clean them (with her wipes), play the sad game...etc

She'll pretend she's a doctor
... Her buddy Torrey got her a doctor set, and she loves to listen to my heart and look inside my mouth. I asked her if she wanted to be a doctor and she said "no". She wants to be a dancer... alrighty then.

She'll pretend there's music on
... and dance to the music in her head. Tonight at dinner, she pointed to the speaker (which was playing no music) and said "dance, dance!" while dancing...
or she'll pretend she's Beyonce and shake her booty! lol
~Note to readers: we are NOT Beyonce fans... I don't know how Addi became a fan!?


She'll pretend to take pictures or smile for the camera
...when we DON'T have the camera ready! She got a toy camera for her birthday, which she LOVES and she'll pretend to take pictures of her dolls. She just hams it up when I use her pretend camera to take "pictures" of her... but when my REAL camera comes out, forget about it! If she sees us taking pictures of something else, she'll start cheesing! Note to Ray: Pay attention to Addi when you're taking pictures of Xavier one time... she'll probably yell out CHEEEEEEEESE!

My first day back in Toronto...

Red-Eye flights are tiring... even though I slept for the entire flight, I still didn't get a full night's sleep! Mommy and Daddy didn't get much sleep either, so as soon as we got to Lola's... we CRASHED! We only napped for a couple of hours, Mommy didn't want to waste the day! Mommy, Lola and I ran some errands - we picked out my party theme... I had a choice between Elmo, Dora and Disney Princesses... guess what I chose... The Disney Princess theme!

We went off to Lollicakes to meet the owner and try their product... pretty yummy! I'm so happy we were able to find a place to accommodate my dietary needs! They had tons of cute things for me to look at and touch!

We ran a few more party errands and then we went home to a very refreshed Daddy! Time to get ready for dinner tonight!

Our first dinner in Toronto was at Lin Garden. We're lucky enough to have peeps who show up early and order for the table... If you don't know us by now, then you should know that 7 means 7:30... most of the time...

Ate shows off her missing tooth!

Satisfied customers!

Great company!

SFO to YYZ

Mommy and Daddy decided to take the red-eye flight to YYZ, thinking it would be easier for me to sleep... and they were right!

We're in our jammies!

Daddy and me!

I can't tell you much about this flight since I was asleep before take off and didn't wake up until after landing... Mommy got the sh*t end of the stick, because she made a deal with Daddy: Mommy would take care of me while I was asleep and Daddy would take care of me whenever I was awake... It didn't really matter, since neither of them slept!

I almost always have to hold Mommy's face to fall asleep...

We've landed!
It's way too early in the morning to be functional...

Addi and Ison photo shoot!

Ison and I had a birthday party together this year, so Auntie La thought it would be great if we did a photo shoot together before our big day! Auntie Lala dressed us up and took these pictures of us... I bet these will embarass us 15 years from now!
Aren't we cute?!?

BBQ at Grandma's

Grandma had a BBQ in my honor, since I'd be out of town for my birthday!

My "Single Ladies" dance...
I'm a little shy - I haven't built up the confidence to do it in public yet...

This is the outfit Grandma got me for this special day!

Here are Mommy and me in front of Mommy's disaster cake...
by Mommy - this is the first and probably the last time I'll make an allergy friendly cake! So many things went completely wrong!
The cake tasted gritty (of course - no eggs, wheat or dairy)
and I thought I was writing with "writing icing", but it was actually food coloring, so I spread it around, hoping it would turn out ok... nope, it didn't... I thought sprinkles might help... nope, it didn't!
so I present to you... DISASTER CAKE.

Someone seemed to enjoy the frosting!