Thinking Out Loud

Today we went to a 100th day celebration. I've had 100th day celebrations in the classroom before, but this was not at school. This was to celebrate the 100th day of life in Korean culture. Tradition says that Koreans celebrate the 100th day of birth because many years ago babies didn't survive the first few months of life due to poverty, famine, or war. Culture says that if the child survives till the 100th day there is a good chance of a good quality of life.

At this party were family members, and traditional korean food, balloons, and presents. All typical things of a birthday party. It was great! We even had cake with candles.

As the presents were opened and the children dispersed around playing, I looked at baby Jacob who was sitting quietly in his vibrating chair. He had no clue what was going on but just sat there happily bouncing away. I looked at him and thought about Olivia's 100th day celebration. Where was she at that time? Was she able to celebrate it with her foster family. Did she have a cake and presents too?

I looked at Jacob and thought how wonderful it would have been to be there for Olivia's 100th day to see her as a quiet bouncing baby in a chair. hahahaha. As I smiled and played with Jacob, Olivia came and sat beside me and started saying "Baby!". We played with Jacob together, and I taught her to kiss Jacob's feet only. She laughed and thought it was a game. Jacob giggled every time.

Hmmm...Olivia would make a great older sister I thought in my head. She continued to play with him and then quickly got bored as the other kids were taking some cool toys out to play with. She stood up and walked (ran) away. It was a nice moment. I wish I captured it on video. Oh well. I'm sure there will be lots of babies for Olivia to play with. hahaha

It was a great evening. Now Olivia is down for the night. I just finished emailing our social worker about a date and time to meet for our 6 month follow-up report. The last visit from the social worker. Then the report gets sent to the government and we wait for that court date to finalize the adoption. I can't believe it's been 6 months already. I may have missed the 100th day, but I know I have many celebrations to come with Olivia. Yes, the 100th day is/was special. But everyday is special, and she's coming to her 182 days with us. Now that's something to celebrate too.

We tried a TRI!

This weekend, was the first triathlon that Olivia saw her Papa in. She was great for the most part. She saw him before his swim. She was more interested with the sand in between her toes and the water from the Bay. hahhaah. She did well watching her Papa make his turn around on his bike. But, she more interested in the babies and children cheering on the side. Then finally it was 11am and still no nap. I put her in the stroller and she wasn't happy. There was at least another hour before she would see her Papa at the finish line. Surely she was exhausted from waking up early and then walking all around the site. But no, she wasn't the least interested in taking a nap. After almost 20 minutes of off and on crying in the stroller, we decided to walk to the finish line and wait for Papa.

Of course you know what happened. As we got up the hill...silence. Olivia was fast asleep. SO much for seeing Papa cross the finish line. Next race I guess.

5 months and a Day - "Oh the Places You'll Go!"

Today marked the 5th month of Olivia's homecoming. It was 5 months and a day since the SWS placed her in our arms and we introduced ourselves as mom and dad, and we walked away a forever family. Now, months later Olivia is walking and calling us "Mama" and "Papa". In the past few months she went from rolling over, to crawling, to cruising, and now walking. She is determined as ever to get to know the world around her. She has picked up sped in the last couple of days and it has us very nervous. I recently bought a first-aid kit and Polysporin for the diaper bag. hahaha

Not only is she walking, but is definitely babbling more. She has been a "copy-cat" for the last couple of weeks and sometimes we have to be careful what we say now. hahaha. Some of her vocabulary include "Elmo!" - that was a given, "thank-you", "peekaboo", "hi!" "bye!", "bebe!" "oh-oh!" "na-na" (banana). I'm sure there are others we just can't make out what they are. :0P

With her language development and being 1years old (which she can show with her finger), her curiosity and need to explore has us constantly on our toes. Olivia has been and I think will continue to test us. We are still not use to her ignoring us when we tell her "No!". We laugh (even though we shouldn't) at the times when we tell her "no!" and she looks at us first and then proceeds to go and do it anyways. She knows she's not supposed to be there and yet she checks to see if you are looking and only when you check on her she goes ahead and does it. Ugh. We figured out though that if both Martin and I say "no!" in unison, it has a better outcome. Damn, parenting is hard. :0P

She's beginning to show preference now for food, which was different a couple of months ago. A few months ago, we could give Olivia anything and she would eat with no complaints. Now, we definitely know she loves chicken and pasta, greens bean and peas but not broccoli. She loves mostly all fruit especially berries, but not melons.

The summer is off to a great start. The weather has allowed us to go to a splashpad and play in the water (which she loves). We haven't had a chance to go swimming fully but I think it's just a matter of time. I know for sure that I wouldn't be comfortable to go swimming with Miss O by myself, as she is the daring one. hahahah. She would just leap out of my arms into the water if she could. I don't think I would be fast enough to catch this little dolphin. hahahah.

August will be another busy month for us, with more playgroups and trips. Time flies when you are having fun I guess. It'll definitely fly more faster now that Olivia is running, I mean walking.

Niagara on the Lake weekend

A Baptism to Remember

Finally, the last big event happened this past weekend. Only after a couple of weeks after the big birthday party, the family had to get ready for a baptism of the century. hahaha. Planning the event brought so much memories as it took place in the same church where Martin and I got married. This year marks our 10 year anniversary. I got goosebumps as we drove into Niagara-on-the-lake this weekend. I love this place. Last year we came back the same weekend (my birthday weekend) and had a wonderful time visiting vineyards and eating at our favourite restaurant (STONE ROAD GRILL). Had to do the plug in because its worth every penny and will recommend it to everyone. hahahah.

This time last year, our file was sent to the Ministry and we were waiting for the Ministry approval. I remember talking about how our life would change in the year to come. We talked about our dreams for our family and what it would be like to come back to NOTL with a little one. And here we are...a year later...celebrating our daughter's baptism. A prayer answered, a blessing from above.

We arrived to Brampton Thursday night for some Lola-Lolo time, and then left for NOTL the next day. Martin's parents left Friday morning and did the 8 hour trek down. We pretty much met up at the same time at our bed and breakfast. This B and B was great because it was a 2-bedroom with a living room and kitchen that Olivia could use. We made good use of the space. That night we walked over to our favourite restaurant which was around the corner from the B and B. Thankfully, the owner was fabulous and welcomed the 5 of us without a reservation. Stuffed with amazing food, we walked back to the house and settled in for the night.

The next day, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and walked around NOTL. Did I mention how much I love this place? There was an craft exhibition by the lake by local artists. It was a perfect day. Olivia settled down for an afternoon nap, and the grownups went to visit some wineries. When she woke up, we thought about going over the border. Her first trip to Target. BUT THIS IS ANOTHER STORY.

Baptism Day - A blessing on my birthday

The day started with a wonderful breakfast at the bed and breakfast. A gorgeous humid day. I thought... just like our wedding day. We started getting ready and of course, Olivia didn't get a chance to go down for the nap. I was hoping she would fall asleep at the church. Well..most people know Olivia doesn't go down easily. Especially with all the excitement going around her.

We arrived at the church early just to make sure we sit in the front. More so because I wasn't sure if the priest would remember there was a baptism going on that day. It was hard planning for this baptism being so far away. Finally the church was getting packed...our side of course was the most. And because filipinos are not used to the hot humid weather...most of them sat in the back where the fan was blowing. ahhahaha.

It started with a regular mass. Olivia was a real trooper. Of course there were many snacks involved, but finally a bottle did the trick. The only problem was...I couldn't find the "plug" I mean soother that replaced the bottle when she was finished. So of course she woke up immediately and that was that. After all that, she was in a fantastic mood. It was finally the baptism part. There were 2 other children that were being baptised.

We took our place at the front with the godparents, and the priest started. We went through the prayers and sacraments, and I couldn't help feeling that this was so surreal. I was up there holding my baby girl. God's blessing to our family. I know that I'm not highly religious but at that moment, I felt His presence among everyone's love at the church.

Olivia was great taking in all the sights. At one point, I had to put her down because she was getting heavy and there she was crawling around in her long gown on the steps of the alter. Classic because she can't sit still. Then it came to the water blessing. I knew she would love this because she was a water lover. She was so calm as the priest poured the holy water over her head. It must have been refreshing as well as the room was sweltering hot. Then the final blessing was done. We got our certificate and then pictures with the priest. Then we were off to the Pillar and Post for lunch. The same place where we had our wedding reception. Of course the food was awesome. And luckily it was a buffet because we were all starving. hahaha. We couldn't have planned it more perfectly.

Our daughter's baptism - a blessing from above. Memories of our marriage sacrament (which is 10 years going strong :0P ). A birthday wish coming true. It was a perfect weekend.

The end of Kindermusic class

Well, Olivia and I had a blast. I wasn't sure back in March if it was too early. I knew Olivia loved music the moment we had her back home. For the 12 week program will only missed 3 classes I think. Olivia loved her teacher and all the "baabee!" (babies) too. Her teacher had such a magical voice and she knew what "items" would grab these infants' attention. Olivia espeically loved the instruments and the bubbles. She went from just sitting and listening to the music, to rolling and crawling around. I think she was the most active participant there. On Monday marked the last class and she got her little certificate. AWWWW. Her first one. Have to put that in the memory book too. :0) I'll try to keep up with the songs that she's familiar with, but nobody sings it better than Paula the teacher.

Father"s Day

Hi everyone, first things first, I would like to wish happy father's day to both my brothers and my dad. Every year I was able to see how this day made them so proud, for the first time I understood.

For my first Father's day, I had decided to start a tradition! Over the weekend I participated in the Tour du Courage, an event to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer. This was the first edition of the event and was organized by a good friend of mine who recently successfully beat the disease.
This was a 2 day cycling event, with an Uphill 3.5km Time trial in the Laurentians in the morning, a 55KM mountain stage in the PM and on Sunday morning a 35KM team time trial. There were 20 teams and (just over 120 cyclist) that raised over 150,00 for the cause. Our team of 6 where able to raise just under 7K.
The weekend was awesome. Saturday, on the final stage, as usual Mel's timing was always impeccable, arrived 10 minutes before I crossed the finish line. I could see her and Miss O there cheering me on.

It's funny how things change when your a dad. Now every time I'm not having a good day at work, training, or competing, or I feel things are really getting tough and slipping, I think about my daughter, and it gives everything some perspective.
The additional pride I get now when I do something, because I want to make her proud and show a good example to see things through, and everyday to remember what is important in this world.
It's funny how she already changed the way I approach things. Between Mel and Olivia's determination, resiliency , and "happy go lucky" attitude, it's much easier to get upbeat and smile, and push!
As I always say, it's easy to be good in good time, but a true champion is good in tough times.
I always got my inspiration from Mel and still do, but to see Olivia it really makes me appreciate what life is all about. I now have 2 strong "girls" loving me, looking up to me, supporting me and changing me, and making sure I do the right thing.
So....
My father's day was nothing out of the ordinary!!! Well other than this year I am actually a father! So, being Mel's husband and Olivia's "Papa" just makes this extraordinary.
Racing in the morning for a cause that i believe in, and that affected people I love and loved, having BBQ with my dad and just enjoying him and my mom play silly with Miss.O. Then spending time with my wife driving back to Ottawa while drinking our latte and eating our chocolate brownie, stopping for icecream, having dinner together!!!!! get back in the routine, bath, Elmo and dodo....
I'm the luckiest person ever, thank you to both of you, for defining me as a papa and re-defining me as a person.
No, my first father's day was nothing special it was just everything I ever wanted!

Circus...oops I mean still birthday party #3 - Part 4

After the singing and dancing, the party came to an end. We said our goodbyes to some family and friends. Their presence during this day made it so very special. I hope Olivia looks back at these pictures and videos to see how much people love her.

It was late afternoon and all that was left was the immediate family. We all gathered under the tent to recount the days' events. We were all so tired, but happy that the day went so well. Even the cousins, who were busy running all over the place during the party, decided to have some quiet time. We decided to open the presents then. As much as I would have loved for everyone to be there during the "opening of the presents" and I could thank them personally, it was less chaotic in the end. However, when I asked Audrey and Nico to help, they both grabbed gifts and opened them at the same time. hahahhaha. I had to tell them to do it one at a time because I wanted to keep track of it all. All the kids were excited to open. Olivia was most excited about the tissue paper she could eat. hahahahha





After the presents we decided to do family pictures. The white tent proved to be a good backdrop for the photos. Our first family photos of the entire family. I look back at these pictures and I think about all the family group photos of just Martin and I. Years of waiting to hold our little one in these photos. Finally a complete family picture.






Once pictures were done. Oddly enough it was time to eat again. Thank goodness there were tons of leftover hamburgers and hotdogs. We quickly set the tables outside and had 1 long dinner table. All that was missing was the candlebras in the middle. hahahah. At the end of the table was little Olivia, hanging on to stay awake, but in the end passed out in total exhaustion.




She had a wonderful day. She played with the other kids, she danced and sang. She ate happily. She was absolutely great with all her friends and family. Yes, it was a circus, but it was the best birthday party ever. This party meant even more than just a first birthday. Yes, we might have gone overboard with 3 parties, but each one the memories we made are priceless. Each gathering was a celebration of family and friends. I can't thank everyone enough for making this day for Olivia extra special. You're love and support was truly felt. Our family is truly blessed to have some wonderful people in our lives.

Family and friends - Part 3

Birthday Party #3 - Continues - Part 2

Once everyone seemed like they had enough, the caterers started packing up their stuff. THen it was time to get Olivia ready for her TOL ceremony. I brought her upstairs and changed her into the hanbok we bought in Korea for her (not realizing that her foster mother had bought her one too). Sooo, we gathered everyone to the front table and Martin did his speech. I don't know about anyone else, but I was emotional. Martin was emotional. Everyday, we count our blessing that this little wonder is really ours. It was her first birthday and everyone (well most of them) that we loved was there to witness and celebrate with us.

SO the TOL ceremony continues, and little Olivia chooses the SPOOL OF THREAD (again..yay!) and a spoon (which meant either good cook or good eater...hahahahha). To much of papa's disappointment, the googles and money that he directed her to was not chosen. hahahahhaha After that, we quickly got her out of that outfit because she was sweating buckets, and the party continued.

Because Olivia LOVES music, out birthday gift to her was a musician who came to play kids music. HE WAS THE BEST THING! He performs during special events, but also has special music classes like Kindermusic. He sat down with his guitar and the kidss made a circle around him. Olivia loved it. She was bouncy and clapping away. So were the rest of the kids AND the parents. He played typical and non-typical songs. SO it was very entertaining. The classic thing I will always remember was when he was singing "Oh MacDonald" and asked Quinlan for something you find at the farm, he yelled out "AN EGG!". And the song continued. HAHAHAHAHHA He brought out instruments for the kids At the end, he gave Olivia a cute stuff monkey as a birthday gift and sang one of her favourite songs "If you are happy and you know it..".

Birthday Party #3 - Ottawa - Part 1

Okay..finally, the last birthday party. Boy this was the one that stressed me out the most. Although we did everything to make sure that we wouldn't be stressed. Our final numbers for the party turned out to be more than 60 people including kids. Where the heck are we going to put everyone as I sent out the EVITE (there were a few hand written ones, but seriously...there was no way to send them all out).

Sooo..we decided on a backyard bbq. Great! We found a great caterer who specializes in backyard bbqs and told us we could get all you can eat hamburgers and hotdogs and salads. Super...done! Then it was just up to us to find the other "stuff". Thank you Costco! As the preparations were underway...sure enough..the weather forecast slowly changes to partly cloudy to scattered showers...to thundershowers!!! PANIC. Soo..on Thursday the week of the party...we called a rental company for a tent. A 20x20 tent! In our backyard. For the party. SHEESH. As I watched them set it up on the Friday...all I was thinking...it's going to be a circus. We joked around about having Tita Melissa climb to the top to put a flag on the peak. hahhahaha

THE DAY OF...

Well..the day of...the house was full. My family from Brampton and Martin's brother's family from Moncton filled the Savard residence. It was great! The children were up running around and playing and the Martin and Max were quickly setting things up in the backyard. Me? Well...I had a hair appointment. :0P
When I came back it was 10:30. Oh oh...Olivia hasn't had her nap yet! SOooo I decided to take her into the car and drive around till she fell asleep. And it worked..and it made all the difference. She woke up about an hour later to find everyone dressed and ready to go. I brought her upstairs and put on ther "Annie Brocolli" outfit, and she was ready to party.

AN ASIDE...while we were changing at 11:30 the phone rang to tell us that the face painter/balloon maker person had the stomach flu and they were going to send another replacement. Ugh.

Shortly after 12 people started coming and the tent was quickly filling up as the SUN began to shine and it was hot! GO FIGURE! It was the most beautiful day! We were sooo blessed. In the end it was still a good idea to rent the tent, because it was the extra shade we needed that day. It was sooo hot.

Family and friends gathered together yet again to celebrate this occasion. For many guests it was a time to catch up on things because they haven't seen each other in awhile. The kids were busily playing and running around in the backyard. We had Olivia's playstructure out and the kids were making good use out of it. Finally the face painter (who didn't do balloons though) came around 12:30 and the kids lined up eagerly to have some special design painted on their face. It was a great idea, and the artist was fantastic!

The food was fantastic. It wasn't those cheapy burgers and hotdogs. It was real patties and huge hotdogs. So wonderful. After meeting most of the guest...Olivia was under the tent playing with her friends...I took Olivia in for a quiet lunch inside. I know it must have been overwhelming for her to have all these people wanting to to touch her and kiss her and take pictures. Mommy and Olivia had a nice lunch in the air-conditioned kitchen, while papa entertained and greeted more people.

A little cousin time before the party

Olivia's cousins from Moncton came down for the big event. It was Olivia's first meeting with Nico and Melodie. They had a blast.