I am Five!

Well, here comes another Halloween... and another birthday! Mom and dad cannot believe I am 5 already...not sure what the big deal is!

I went trick of treating with one my friends, Rustin, this evening and had an amazing time. I decided to wear my costume from last year (which was James, the train), I prefer that to my Woody costume, even though mom thinks I look cute in that.

My birthday party is on Nov 5th, and I very much look forward to that. I am going to have a small party at school as well, but I am more excited about the big one on Saturday!

By the way, I lost my first tooth last week (Oct 26th), while I was eating a Kinder Surprise! It had been loose for almost a year, when I fell in the washroom at school last year; but I was VERY happy when it finally fell off! I washed it and put it under my pillow, and guess what....Tooth Fairy came the same night and brought me a DVD! What a lovely surprise!

And..... here are a few more pictures of me with the Woody costume and without the tooth!

Long Time no Post...

I know it has been well over a year since I have posted anything, it has been a busy year....

I am now going to SK and getting ready to go grade one next year. I talk non-stop these days and everybody says that I am a little bossy! I enjoy riding my bike, swimming and painting. I love trains, not as much as I used to last year but I am still fascinated by them: Every time we go to toy store, I ask mom to buy me a train accessory (like a turn table) and so far I have not been able to win her over!

My favourite colour is still red, but I also like green and orange.

Anyway, I have to get ready to go to bed.... by the way, I don't always have to take a bath... I also enjoy taking a shower and I can do with little help from mom.

I promise to blog more often and post a few pictures, too!

Ghent - March 27

Although the weather was a little chilly, it didn’t stop us from going out…

Ammeh Kathrin took us to see a very big castle in Ghent. I was excited to go in thinking that I could meet with a Princess or a King, but I was told that no-one lived in that palace so I lost interest!

The was a big spider web next to the castle, it was really cool

We went to a local restaurant across from the castle and had some real Belgian Waffle; It was awesome….. especially the cream…yummy… We then walked around the city and enjoyed the scenery

This was the narrowest alley I had even seen in my lifeAnd check out the horses… it was fun to look at them on the street it was also nice to just relax and watch the boats on the river.

Guess who these these picture!?

Not bad for a 3-year-old, eh? Ammeh Kathrin couldn’t stop laughing, and neither could the people who were looking at me with the camera, I wonder why!!?

Meeting the Grandparents!

Wednesday, March 24th..... I could hardly wait for that day to arrive... that was the day we were going to Belgium to see Amme Kathrin again and meet my grandparents (Daddy's parents) for the first time. I have to admit, I was really excited to get on the plane and see Amme Kathrin again.... I had never met grand-ma and grand-pa, so although mom and dad kept talking about them, I didn't know what to expect.

Jijija (aka Khaleh Fi) gave us a ride to the airport, when we got there, I didn't want to let her hand go as I wanted her to come with us, but mom explained that she would not be joining us this time. It was a lot of fun to be at the airport, even more than our last trip, probably because I understood everything better this time. And then we got into the plane, wow, what an experience!! I had my own little TV monitor and I could pick any children movie or TV program I wanted! (Going to the washroom was a little challenging as it was hard for both mom and I to fit in there!). The only thing I didn't like was the "sleeping part". I could not toss and turn like I usually would when I sleep in a my own bed and then I had to wake up after a couple of hours because the plane was about to land. We stopped in London for a couple of hours and then got into another plane to go to our final destination, Brussels. It was a short flight and we got there in no time. Amme Kathrin and Papa (grand-pa) picked up us from the airport.... you have no idea how happy I was to see Amme Kathrin again (and guess what!? She was wearing a red jacket!!)

The drive to Amme Kathrin's place was only about an hour but I was really tired and about to fall asleep. Mom kept talking to me to keep me up.... and when we got home, I also met grand-ma for the first time. It was also nice to see Leslie again. I was too tired to bond with my grand parents but they were both very sweet to me so deep down I knew that I could connect with them in no time.

Mom got me ready to go to bed for my afternoon nap and I fell asleep fairly quickly.

To be Continued.....

Happy Norouz!

Another New Year... this one is the Persian New Year!! It falls on the first day of spring and reminds us that the warm weather is on its way...

Almost everyone on mom's side of the family went to Iran to spend the New Year with Baba Abbas this year, so we didn't get to have a big celebration. In addition, we were all very sick on Norouz day, so we ended up doing all the traditional stuff the day after. Khaleh Fi and Parna came over to our place, which was awesome!! We took some pictures and I had lots of fun!! I also got to blow the candles at the end ....... and eat cookies with milk!! Yippee!!Happy Norouz Everyone!!

Merry Christomas Everyone!

It is that time of the year again.... this year everything is a little more special for me because I am older and understand these things better!

Earlier this month, we had a holiday concert at the day care and one of the songs that we performed was "Rocking around the Christmas Tree"! In fact, everywhere you go, you see these beautiful Christmas trees that have been lit-up; and everyone is talking about Christmas..... so finally, one day I told mom and day that I also wanted my own Christmas tree! (As you may know, we don't really celebrate Christmas but with everything that was going on, I could not figure out whey we didn't have our own tree.)

One Sunday afternoon, we went to a store and bought a tree, a star, ornaments, etc. to set up our own Christmas tree, I was so excited to put up the tree that I didn't even want to eat anything. Mom said that I had to finish my lunch before we could get started. You have no idea how exciting it was to put up the tree and hang those ornaments.... and when dad turned on the lights.... wow... it was beautiful!

So then I went for my nap, but when I woke up and saw the tree, I kinda changed my mind and said that I didn't want a tree anymore! Mom and dad had a good laugh and then dad said "if you don't want to see the tree, don't look at it!!" and that was the end of it!

We also took a picture with Santa, although this year he was a little grumpy so I got very scared and could not wait to get off his lap!
Christmas eve finally arrived; Mom reminded me that we had to leave some milk and cookies out for Santa, as he was to visit our house in the middle of the night to bring me the guitar (that's all I wanted for Christmas, this year!). Mom put the cookies on a plate, but by the time she went to get some milk, I started eating the cookies, and by the time she went to get me some cookies, I started drinking Santa's milk! So she got me my own milk and cookies....and also filled up Santa's plate and glass...

We said good night and went to bed....
The following morning, mom came to my room and said that she had heard someone downstairs the night before. (I have to admit, that scared me so when she asked me to go downstairs with her, I didn't really want to go!) She finally managed to convince me to go down with her. We went to the dining room where we had left the milk and cookies...

....guess what.... Some of the cookies had been eaten and all the milk was gone!!

Yippee... Santa had visited our house the night before!! Then I looked under the tree and found a present that was not under the tree the night before.... I was even scared of touching the present! But when I finally did, I noticed that there was a beautiful and colourful guitar in the box!

Mom's family came over for Christmas dinner

Here are some picture we took that evening!
Never mind me in the background :)

Mom with Pooneh and Parna

I like this Santa better

Another nice pic with the family and the tree
Jijija & Parna
I had a great time with Nasim
Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Our Carribean Vacation

It was about time for us to take a family vacation... This time we went to Punta Cana in Dominican RepublicUnfortunately, I got very sick the week before; it started with a cold and then it was changed to a flu and ear infection.... and the fact that I never like to take any medication, made the experience even more painful for me and my parents. I could not go to the daycare for a week, by the time I got a little better, it was time for us to get ready for our trip.

I was very excited about the trip and kept talking about getting on the plane and going to "Punca Tana"! We had an early flight, so we had to wake up around 4:00 am; which was not a pleasant experience! When mom woke me up I told her that I didn't want to go there anymore, but she used some of her tricks to get me out of the bed! She also mentioned that we were going to get on a bus and the plane and another bus and so on, which I found fascinating....

We got into dad's car and drove towards the airport. We got off in a huge parking lot and then into a bus that took us to the airport.... that was fun as I had never been in a bus before. The airport was nice and bright, although it was not the first time that I had seen an airport, I was mesmerized by everything.... we checked in and went through the security, which was really cool! We finally got into the plane; it was awesome, I even had my own seat... but my eyes were really tired and as soon as the plane took off, I fell asleep.

When we got to Punta Cana, the weather was very hot and humid... nothing like the weather in Toronto. Mom put away my sweater, but it was still pretty hot out there; we got into another bus that took us to our resort.... wow, two bus rides and one plane ride, all in one day!! That was awesome!!

When we got off the bus, they offered us a welcome drink while we enjoyed watching a nice folk dance.

To be perfectly honest with you, I didn't really pay attention to the dance as I was too busy drinking my drink; it was a fruit punch in red and I absolutely LOVED it, so I kept asking for more!! (I called it "juice mermez" (meaning red juice) and that was pretty much the only thing I was willing to drink while we were at the resort.)

The weather was awesome on that day and it was early afternoon when we got to our room

so we decided to go to the beach....

I played in the sand for a while
(Mom had to leave my T-shirt on because I refused to put any sun lotion on my shoulders and back!) Daddy tried to make sand castle.... but I was busy playing my own game!
and then we went to the pool, which was great...I played and splashed a lot......which probably explains why I fell asleep at the dinner table that evening! By the time mom and dad carried me to our room, I was up again and very refreshed. Mom and dad were really tired and wanted to sleep but I wanted to play. By the time I fell asleep again, it was almost mid-night!

The following morning when I woke up, I noticed that we were not at home and that upset me. You know, I thought this Punca Tana thing was a day trip and we would go back at night. So I started crying and asking mom and dad to go home again. Then I started complaining that my ear was hurting and didn't want to stay there anymore. Mom had really panicked because I had just recovered from an ear infection. Mom and dad kept talking about the beach and the pool but every time they said anything, I screamed louder... I just wanted to go home! Mom said: "Samy, I have an idea... let's get changed, go the beach and play with the sand again.". I thought for a second and said" Mommy, I have an idea, let's stay in the room and watch TV!". To cut the long story short, mom and dad had to take turn and go out for breakfast, I didn't even want to eat anything! By the time I was convinced to leave the room, it was almost 11:00 am.....and I was still very sad, even though mom was trying to cheer me up and showing me the beautiful landscape.

From that day on, I refused to go anywhere near the ocean or play inside the pool. The only thing I was willing to do was to play with the sand (as long as we were far away from the ocean) or sitting at the edge of the pool and playing with my red bucket.One day I discovered something interesting, a little blue square! Apparently, it was a ceramic tile from the pool, but to me, that was the most amazing discovery! I even showed it to mom as she was taking a picture.

It took about 10 minutes to walk from the beach to the main lobby. Our room was close to the beach but we had to go back and forth a few times because the buffet restaurant where we had most of our meals was by the lobby. We could either walk or take the small buses that were going back and forth all day and night. I always asked mom and dad to take the bus...Sometimes mom and dad convinced me (or let's say tricked me) to walk instead.
The walk was not too bad and mom always tried to make it more interesting ...

by encouraging me to sing my favourite songs or just playing little games....

Sometimes I hugged mom along the way, which she always loved and said "that's what I call vacation!"

And every time I saw the bus while we were walking, she came up with a funny excuse as to why we had to walk (Like the bus is going the opposite direction!)... can you see the bus in the background!!??
I have to admit, it was a nice walk...
And an excuse to spend more time with mom .....

And dad....
All that walking also helped us discover a marketAn entertainment centreand more shops (on the right)

I also liked the way our cleaning lady arranged the towels for us

everyday she came up with a new design

and she usually incorporated my blanket and/or Aabi (my blue Teddy Bear)!

The main restaurant offered different type of food every night: Spanish, Italian, Mexican, Dominican, Oriental, etc. and the people who were greeting us at the door wore different customes depending on the theme. We took a picture on the Mexican night

and another one on the Dominican night
The resort had a beautiful landscape and it was very well maintained

Some of the trees even had bananas on them... I always thought bananas came from supermarkets!
There were three big swimming pools at the resort...
the one we usually visited was huge
and right next to the ocean I have to admit it was fun to take an afternoon nap by the pool or

on the beach
They also had a kiddy Disco everynight from 8:00 to 8:30 pm, which I loved. I could not follow all their moves, but I tried to dance along. One of my favourit songs was the "choo choo" one, where we followed one another (like a train) and walked in between the chairs and around the theatre. They also had a game at the end, I participated every night but never won anything (I could never figure out what we had to do anyway!).... but they always gave me candies (Mom never let me try them. One night, when I insisted, she picked one which was really sour... and that was enough to change my mind about eating candies!)... here is a picture, can you find me??!
We also took some family pictures while were there...

See, I was drinking my red juice!
In fact, every night I had to drink one of those drinks right at the bar...

The bar tenders knew me so well and made my drinks extra special...

As I mentioned, I was really home sick and pretty much cried a few times a day to go home.... the time finally came when we packed out stuff and got ready to leave. We took this pic on the last day, while waiting for the bus to take us to the airport

Although I constantly begged my parents to take me home while we were away, I kinda miss Punca Tana! Every time I see the pictures, or think about it, I ask my parents if and when we will be back. Mom has promised to take me back again but she said it will not be this week!!