Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Choo Family Newsletter


The Choo Family Newsletter
2011

Dear Family and Friends,

“How was your weekend?” asks a friend
“Busy” we reply
“What did you do?” asks a friend
“We can’t remember, but it was definitely busy” we reply

Each day, week, and weekend has flew by us this year like a whirlwind.

Lauren started nursery school this September and has transitioned well. She continues with her therapies both at school and privately and has made slow and steady progress. Most notably, she took her first steps this year and started walking completely independently just before her 2nd year birthday! We are so proud of her and hope to see her chasing (and catching) her sister soon. Kayla loves to make Lauren laugh at dinnertime with silly songs, faces and noises and we enjoy seeing the girls interact with each other. Lauren continues to enjoy books and music and her newest found interest is the xylophone. She loves to eat and more often than not, will eat more than her sister. She loves to feed herself (though still very messy most of the time) and her favourite foods are berries, cheese strings, baby mum mums, rice cakes, yoghurt and of course, cheerios. She had her very first freezie this summer.

Kayla is 4.5 years old and is active as ever. She is currently enjoying skating and swimming and is also now learning to speak Mandarin. With still a strong liking for Dora and Diego she is now starting to favour Bearinstein Bears and Curious George books and Imagination Movers and Little Einsteins on the television. Kayla continues to like to do arts and crafts, to draw and colour, to bake and to do puzzles. More recently she is starting to build with lego and loves to play pretend chef in her kitchen or play pirates in the backyard. In her letter to Santa this year, she asks for running shoes with two velcros, a photo album and a doll house. She asked Santa to bring her sister a music box, a train set and some hair clips. Kayla continues to be a picky and slow eater and more often than not, she is refusing to eat and requires to be spoon fed. At 30lbs, she will likely be sitting in the car seat until she is in high school.

This year was filled with trips – We started off the new year with a one week Southern Caribbean cruise (no kids!). The food was exceptional on the boat and Steve permanently gained 10lbs from the trip. Kayla took her annual March break trip to Vancouver with Steve’s mom and then in June, the four of us went to Vancouver, along with Steve’s parents and brother and sister, to celebrate their Grandfather’s 90th birthday. We shared a 3 bedroom house in downtown Vancouver and had a great time eating home cooked food, shopping, sightseeing and just being with family. More recently, Steve and I took a 2.5 week holiday to China, Thailand and Hong Kong. Another kid-less vacation, we enjoyed drinking, eating, shopping and sun tanning by ourselves in a peaceful and quiet environment.

Our house got a new coat of paint this year, both inside and out. Kayla is liking her new re-arranged bedroom and the kids play room at the front of the house is creeping slowly into our dining area signaling that we really need to consider finishing the basement. This summer, Kayla learned to ride her big girl bike, played for the Tim Horton’s Timbits soccer team, and went to day camp for the very first time while Lauren discovered sand, and grew to love ice cream and the swimming pool. Both girls enjoyed the beach and splash pads this summer and we grew were able to harvest tomatoes from our backyard for the very first time. This year we also welcomed a new family member: Blue Valentine – Kayla’s fish. A gift for her 4th birthday, Kayla named the fighting fish after its colour.

We want to thank all our family and friends for their continued thoughts and prayers from the churches of Italy to the holy place of Mecca to your bedtime prayers. You have helped us to find inner strength and peace and your encouragement has supported us through the cloudy days.

Sharing my favourite quote for 2011: Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain

                                         


We wish you happiness and peace this holiday season.

Cheers and Love,

Stephen, Kate, Kayla & Lauren
The Choo Family√

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...