Did the holiday season completely take up all my energy and focus, so that I forgot to blog about my very normal life? 

Well I'm back again! You could never get rid of my "coffee cup and pastry flat lay with hand" photos.   

I've been holed up at my desk all day, and needed a quick mental health hot chocolate at L'Atelier because it is Hot Chocolate Festival in Vancouver, from now until Feb. 14th. Chocolate and something sweet to celebrate Valentine's Day, in case you didn't notice the trend of this festival always occurring around this time of the year.... 

We wanted to try both of their very delicious and Asian inspired flavors: 

#107 - Miso and lavendar honey hot chocolate, served with matcha roll cake

#108 - Sesame hot chocolate with milk chocolate foam, served with a pressed croissant with passion fruit coating

Dip the pressed croissant into the hot chocolate, no regrets. 

Both were delicious. L'atelier never disappoints.

Will I have time to try more from this hot chocolate festival? Hope so, especially if the snow sticks around and I'm stuck inside with the kids on more snow days.   

 

Also, I do not like to be treated like chopped liver, and I have really tried very hard to set my boundaries with all the people that I must  interact with on the daily. It's difficult with kids, and especially difficult as a remote worker. Hence, I need a mental health hot chocolate. 

Is it really over? Will we have more house related problems? I'm sure we will, that's life and our house is old. The inspection was two weeks ago, and I haven't even had time to breathe a sigh of relief because kids. Everybody is once again sick (but in a manageable way, not like the last time when we visited the hospital). S is pushing boundaries more than ever and baby P is learning to voice his opinions. 

I always find comfort in chocolate chip cookies though. This one is from To Live For, a completely vegan bakery that recently opened in East Vancouver. They have been supplying coffee shops and other stores for a while now, but finally have their own cafe. 

It is unbelievable that this cookie is fully vegan. no eggs, butter, or any animal by product. How is this possible?! It's not my favourite chocolate chip cookie, but it sure comes close. The texture is crispier than I usually like, but flavor is on point. Lots of (vegan!!!!) chocolate chips. Prior to the chocolate chip cookies, I've tried the lemon loaf, and it was even better than any loaf made with real butter. I still can't believe butter is not on their ingredients list. 

We got this cookie to go, but I'd love to hang out at their beautiful cafe soon. Maybe when I return to work and have to escape the children... 

Took both the kids and their grandpa for their vaccines one morning this week. S was very quiet while waiting in line, and refused to take off her jacket and sweater ahead of time. The kind lady who took our ID recommended we strip the kids down ahead of time, so that there's no fussing when we sit down with the nurse or whoever gives us the vaccine. 

I was slightly nervous that S would have a meltdown because there were a few other children crying and screaming around us. One little girl could be heard across the entire room, and probably outside the building as well, and she hadn't even had the needle near her yet (future anti-vaxxer in the making?). 

I got my vaccines first. Then, it was S's turn. 

Amid the chaos around us, S just sat in my lap, quietly observed the lady preparing the vaccine, had the shot, and we went over to the colouring station. Baby P was cool as a cuke, as per usual. 

A few days later, unrelated to the vaccine, and probably because we exposed ourselves to other sick children, both kids are once again sick. Their symptoms are mild, only runny noses, so I'm hoping it will run its course in the next few days. It's extra tough right before mealtimes, because both of them are hungry and want to be held. I only have one pair of arms and barely enough strength to carry one of them because they're growing so fast. Somebody will always be left on the ground, screaming and kicking. Usually, somebody will be sad, and that is often me.

Thankfully, we live in a great city with lots of food options to refuel after an exhausting day of being patient with the kids. H and I decided to visit Downlow Chicken after an especially gruelling week: 

We ordered three pieces of chicken thigh by the piece, which were served with pickles over a piece of white bread. We ordered three separate flavors - the jerk, the lemon pepper, and the cool ranch. The flavors tasted the same to me, maybe the seasonings intermingled into a hot mess of spices. 

This was so so so delicious, and the best fried chicken in town. 

The skin was crispy like a potato chip, yet the insides were juicy and tender, the perfect piece of fried chicken. How do they make the skin so crispy?! What is in their oil? And how come it's not greasy at all??

Visited L'Otus by Metrotown with M while the kids were asleep. It was my first time out at night without children, and without husband! I really needed these 3 hours to have adult conversation with a friend and it felt so free... 

L'Otus specialises in crepe cakes, and it tastes disgusting to me. I had the lychee rose flavour, which did not taste fresh at all. It was grossly mushy, squishy, and the lychees on top were not fresh. The expectations are high when it costs $11+ per tiny slice of soggy cake. 

It looks appetising from afar, but up close... No thanks.

There is never enough time. I'm tired as soon as I wake up. 

Does anybody else's kid wake up at 5am asking to eat bread? 

This past weekend, we enjoyed a packed three days of family, friends, and food.  Everyday, there was a new turkey to carve and new desserts to try. My cousin brought over fresh mochi from Car's Dessert, an Asian dessert hole in the wall in Richmond. Maybe it's not even a hole, more like a crack in the wall, based on the photos online. 

I've been seeing more about this place on social media, but haven't made a trip in person, so I was very grateful for my cousin that day (usually, he's a bit of a pain, ha ha). He brought over a whole tasting tray: 

They were out of the fresh mango flavor, so we had (from top left, going clockwise) durian, chestnut, yam, and I think the last one is taro... My babies were getting tired and it was around 7PM already, so I took one of the chestnut mochi to go.  

The filling has little chestnut bits inside for added texture (or were they just unable to grind it to a smooth paste...?) I'm indifferent about this, I'm so used to the chestnut paste used in Asian cakes. Overall, still a great fresh mochi, very chewy and enough chestnut flavor. One day, I'll try the other items on the Car's Dessert menu, but for now, I will take the moments that I can get before the kids' bedtimes. 

The day after, we had a Thanksgiving dinner party at our house. One of my friends was asking me for a tissue:

S - "Do you have a tissue? I want to wipe the floor."

Me - "Oh, why? Did something spill?"

S - "Yeah, there's drool on the floor, and I don't want to get it everywhere in case somebody steps in it."

Me - "Thanks, I don't even notice the drool anymore because the floor is almost always covered in drool."

Thanks, S. The best part was that there was no judgement on his end, and this is the reality of living in a house with two teething children. Will I ever miss having to vacuum and wipe the floors three times a day? 

No. I do miss hiking at 6AM, rather than breastfeeding. 

H and I went to Le Pho while my parents were over on Friday, so that I could get away from the children. 

I was craving beans with shaved ice. This one looks good, but didn't taste sweet enough. The ice also came in a big lump that was a bit difficult to mix. Would not order again.

Their pho was great though!

And the lemongrass chicken on rice combo was spectacular. Very strong lemongrass marinade: 

The restaurant was quite busy, yet the service was quick and efficient. I wouldn't go back though, because it's a bit out of the way for us and it wasn't like the food was particularly extraordinary (a tad salty). 

Somebody recently asked me if I felt a sense of achievement from raising my two children. 

"No, maybe not for another 5 to 10 years," was my response then.

Now that I've had a few minutes to think about it, maybe I'll never feel that way, because why would I want to base my feelings and fulfilment as a person on the success of others? 

It's been almost two months since the last update, and my brain feels foggy from being a mom of two. The words on this post are coming out of my fingers so slowly... 

These past two months, I've felt stuck, like everything we try to do has been blocked and there has been such slow progress. Usually, I can visualise a solution to any problem that arises in our daily lives, but right now, our future still seems unclear.  The scariest part was that both the kids caught a nasty respiratory virus last month, and I probably averaged about four hours of sleep every night for that week when they were both in the thick of it.  S couldn't fall asleep or stay asleep, and one night, we took baby P to the hospital to make sure his oxygen levels were adequate because he was having a tremendously difficult time breathing. Both the kids have fully recovered now, and I'm cherishing these moments when we're all healthy. 

Now that we're all better, I can go back to ruminating about our finances. When will we catch a break from inflation and rising mortgage rates? One of the tools we use frequently to bring down our grocery bill is Too Good To Go. We recently visited Cadeaux Bakery, and picked up a bit of a sampler:

S loves pastries, so she ate two of those croissants herself. (We've also started baby P on solids! He seems very interested in eating so far, and I'm sure he'll pick it up in no time. Between him and S, I think we'll be poor from feeding them.)

I had the chocolate chip cookie, which was not the best, but still good value for the price. There was a cheese croissant, which was quite lovely. Cadeaux Bakery offers many other small pastries, cakes, and desserts, which I'll hopefully be able to splurge on once I figure out how to make more passive income.

Three more months until I am supposed to go back to work. 

The bad food experiences continue from two weeks ago. 

H was still recovering from his cold (not COVID apparently, but maybe it was and we tested wrong? Or maybe it just wasn't...), and I was barely getting by on lack of sleep and toddler exhaustion.  We felt we needed some fresh air, so we made a trip out to the Farmers Market at Trout Lake, one of my favourite family activities. Food trucks did not appeal to us, and H wanted congee, so we decided to visit East One Seafood Restaurant, where we've had take out before and thought we could trust the quality of their cooking.

Sadly, this was not the case for their baked pork chop on rice. The tomato sauce was extremely tart. Did they forget to add sugar to balance out the tomato sauce? 

The pork chop was not crispy at all. My guess is that they reheated it in the microwave, then threw it on top of the fried rice. The fried rice was actually decent though, lots of wok air!

I think we've finally returned to our baseline energy levels at this house after that bout of illness from two weeks ago. P no longer makes snorting sounds, S is running around again, and H has returned to the office. As for me, I'm getting the laundry done on time again, so that we're not scrambling to throw things into the washing machine and turning up the heat on the dryer. Laundry never ends. 

There really is something peaceful about an empty sink, laundry flapping in the sun, and both kids napping. 

I have found a new way to survive toddlerhood with S. So far, it has been a time of nap refusals, becoming overtired, followed by tantrums due to exhaustion. Regardless of time or mood, she constantly demands to be picked up so that she can look in the fridge and pantry for snacks. 

I have started to imagine her as an aloof teenager, who will be too busy to be home for meals, so I don't have to cook or clean up after them. 

Me - "You coming home for dinner?"
S - "No, I have plans, bye. Taking the car e-bike."   
Me - "Did you need lunch?"
S - "No, I'll buy it, can I have $20?"
Me - "Do you want breakfast?"
S - "No, going back to sleep."

HA. I laugh because I bet she still won't sleep in past 7AM when she's a teenager, because I sure didn't. 

I'm sure there will be other things to be concerned about, as there always is with offspring. It's never easy, but anything worth having in life is worth working for. 

My usual coping method for stress continues to be chocolate chip cookies. I guess my post partum hormones are still influencing my food cravings. We finally had time to stop by Nemesis Coffee, and I could not resist a $5 chocolate chip cookie:  

They call this their chocolate cashew cookie, baked in their Dope Bakehouse. Crispy, yet soft, with a hint of salt to kick up the sweet, as well as pools of melted chocolate. This is the best chocolate chip cookie in Vancouver, the GOAT of chocolate chip cookies, followed closely by JJ Bean (that one is a bit too sweet for my liking). 

Yum.

This week was ROUGH. The day after her birthday party, H and S both started to show cold symptoms. She needed extra care and lots more love, just like her father. Baby P and I felt a milder version of their symptoms, and we are both well now, but the other two still a bit of snot. 

Moms barely have time to breathe, let alone get sick, but let me tell you, while my body isn't physically ill, my mind is not the healthiest. There were many tears from exhaustion and frustration. It's not easy taking care of the fam mostly by myself (thankful for grandparents!) The most challenging part was being the only parent who was able to talk (H lost his voice), because it was so draining being the only one to reason with a toddler. H has also been sleeping in a separate room, to avoid waking the baby up when he coughs at night. While it's nice to have the whole bed to myself and sleep diagonally, I miss connecting with him right before he drops off to sleep. 

My mood quickly rebounded though, after a day with grandma taking care of the older child, in addition to not being responsible for cooking dinner, and having an hour of "alone time" to drive and pick up used clothing for S.

Also, going for food adventures with the entire family always brightens up my mood, even if the food is not amazing. We visited Minus Cake Boutique this week:  

I found out about this place from P, who ordered my birthday cake from here earlier this year. I imagine they make most of their money from cake orders, because the cafe was dead when we visited. Their menu at the cafe consists of cake and beverage combos, and it is not possible to split up the cake from the drink, because the cake container is the top of the beverage. You can mix and match different cake and drink flavors, but you can't have them separately.  What if I don't want the drink? What if I don't want the cake? I didn't really understand why I couldn't just buy the top of the drink, and eat the cake? It didn't make sense. Did I misunderstand the man behind the counter because I was so tired, or is this really how it works? 

This was the yuzu matcha mousse with matcha green tea latte, and I actually thought it was quite tasty. Strong matcha flavors, and notes of tangy yuzu.

We also had the strawberry shortcake combo, and the tiramisu combo. The strawberry shortcake was fairly standard - I would've expected the cake base to be fluffier, but S loved it and devoured it without complaint.  I've had much better tiramisu elsewhere, so definitely would not recommend ordering that combo. 

Nice ambience inside the boutique/cafe, and it could be a nice place to hang out, minus the cake. Ha. Ha. 

Actually, minus the drink too, it wasn't that good. 

Actually, I won't come back. Cake in a globe on top of a cup is all gimmicks, and for around $15 per order, I'd rather go for higher quality cakes elsewhere (Trafiq!!!!).

I have been allocating my meager EI income towards S's birthday party, so I have mostly been drinking coffee at home and continuing to work on my own perfect cookie. J came over the other day to give me some pointers, including spooning the flour into the measuring cup. Here was the end result, an almost perfect chocolate chip cookie, based on Tara O'Brady's recipe:

The chocolate chunks didn't melt chocolate, so I couldn't create that pool of chocolate effect. Not a bad bunch though, these didn't last the whole week.

Now that the party has come and gone, I realise that party planning made me feel very grumpy. Every little thing got on my nerves, no amount of coffee helped my mood, and it felt like we were stuck in a cycle of nap refusals and tantrums. My reality was that whatever mental capacity I had after taking care of my two under two was completely taken over by planning, especially the last week. We didn't have a cake until the last minute, when we created a donut cake. We turned our extremely minimal balloon decorations into an activity, where the kids could pick a balloon and blow it up themselves. 

By the end of it, I couldn't even focus on taking a proper photo. Sorry fam for ruining our family picture! 

Not sure what your reality of this last mercury retrograde was like, but mine was a whirlwind of planning and hormones and moods. The end result was a lot of fun, and I am glad I will never have to plan another 2 year old party for S again. 

Paragon Tea Room opened a second location along the busy Cambie corridor, and we dropped by on the way to visit B and her fam. They were serving up some strongly caffeinated matcha, and soft chewy cookies:

 

Continuing with my obsession to bake a cookie that spreads with beautiful cracks and the perfect level of chewy, I had to try one of their cookie options for research purposes. The different flavors included matcha white chocolate, chocolate chip, and earl grey cereal. I wanted to get the chocolate chip for inspiration but could not resist the fancy Earl grey option. The cookie's tea flavor was strong, texture of cookie was soft, and balanced out with some crispy cereal toppings.

Can I please take a two day break to live on a remote island to perfect my cookie baking skills, sleep in, and completely be by myself?

On a day like today, days are long, nap times are too short, and I need the years to fly by. S is sick and extra picky about food. While I was out and my parents took care of the kids, S took full advantage of her grandparents. She refused to eat her lunch, asked for fruits, and her grandparents gave in to her tantrums. That normally would be fine, but when I was discussing this and making other general childcare and nutrition related comments to my mom later on, my mom didn't take it too well and started arguing with me. 

It was exhausting.

At times like this, it's easier on my mental health for H and I to parent on our own without extra opinions from our community. More physically tiring, but I'm sure we'll manage, like we did in Victoria. Something has to change before I go completely nuts. 

This is what two months post partum looks like. 

For Mothers Day last week, we went low key, and simply visited JJ Bean in the morning. I've been obsessed with chocolate chip cookies, and JJ Bean bakes one of the most reliably delicious cookies I've had around Vancouver:

What type of chocolate do they use, I wonder? What is their flour to butter ratio to get the cookie to ooze like that? What temperature do they set their oven?

Their oat milk latte never fails to lift my mood too. Iced oat milk latte and chocolate chip cookie, irresistible.

With all of this energy from our morning coffee, we proceeded to run errands and do house things. Visited home depot for charcoal so that we could take advantage of the sun and H smoked a rack of ribs. While the kids napped, we went to cut the grass and pull out the weeds in the yard. Dinner at 6PM, and we were all in bed by 10... Could our lives be any more mundane?

I recently had an enlightening conversation with a friend about her health. She was so nonchalant about having to take medication daily and so accepting of her situation. She says these things come with age, and we (our friends) all have our problems, whether it's blood pressure, varicose veins, joint pain, back pain, pain in all body parts, etc. No longer in our 20's, heading to our 40's.

 "If it isn't happening to me, then it will happen to one of us."

On Thursday, I had a weak instant coffee, because I "slept in" until 6:30AM, and did not have time to make a real coffee. This was a mistake. Waking up earlier for coffee and a few minutes alone helps so much with my mindset and mood. 

Instead of coffee, I tried to brighten up the day with some fresh banh mi's from Kim Chau. These are their #1 menu item, the special:

One of these was spicy, and had a few peppers in them, but they didn't actually taste spicy, which was a little disappointing. I'm not complaining though - check out all the meat and veggies packed in between the freshest bread: 

I haven't had these in a while, so maybe my memory is off, but I feel their prices have increased recently... Didn't these cost about $3 just a few months ago in 2021?! Now, the special costs $5.50 each. Everything is more expensive these days, and it's adding to my sadness. I have to remind myself that I'm far from poor. Unlimited hot water comes out of my tap on demand, and I can afford it! 

After the banh mi, the day dragged on, and all I wanted to do was eat chocolate chip cookies. I had no patience for S, and snapped at my dad when he told her not to yell because speaking loudly isn't pretty. This really irritated me. I want her to express herself however she wants, yell if she needs to, and not be suppressed by something as superficial as being pretty. He comes over to help with the kids almost every day, which I am so grateful for, but he doesn't always have the most modern take on raising children.

Looking back, the day wasn't so awful, and it was mostly me feeling sluggish and unmotivated. I didn't end up in tears, unlike the first few days post-partum when I was so tired, and it took massive efforts to force myself out of bed even at 10AM.  It's only been a month and a half with baby P, I shouldn't try to be too productive.

A bit late with the Easter post, but we actually got these treats from Faubourg a few days after the holiday. I originally wasn't going to post about them, because it was late, but they were so good. 

This one was a coconut mousse on top, with a "pomegranate hibiscus gelée interior, on a sablé breton base", as per their website. The sakura inspired bits on top were a nibble of chocolate that enhanced the coconut flavors:

S had their bunny dessert and she wouldn't give me a bite, so I'm sure it was good, even though I can't tell you about it.

Pastries, cookies, and sugar in general have been helping with my anxiety and post partum hormones. Baby P is great to take care of, super chill, but I get so anxious when I breastfeed. It feels harder to breathe and my chest tightens a little. He's feeding well, and I have no pain, so I'm not sure why. Does anybody else have this experience? 

Other things that are causing anxiety:

• Taxes
• Clutter
• Fridge looking too packed or too empty
• Grandparents acting like children
• S refusing to nap or taking short naps

Breathe in, breathe out.

Last week, we took both kids out to the mall to run some errands. We were at the mall for one hour, and during this time, we were able to complete two returns, browse for H's glasses, buy a new toothbrush holder, nurse baby P, and change S's diaper. It was a smashing success - P slept through the whole thing, S didn't throw any tantrums, and we even managed to pick up lunch on the way home. 

The mall trip feels like such a distant glowing memory, even though it was barely a week ago. So many diapers have been changed,  and we are exhausted every day. 

Today, we took both kids to Matchstick, then we visited IKEA, all before noon. While S took a nap, H went to trim some of our trees and bushes, while I took care of P, who is going through his first leap. We are really truly exhausted today.

Thankfully, H picked up some chocolate chip cookies from Flourist the other day so that I could stress eat after the kids fell asleep:

Flourist has two locations now, and they're both fabulous. They have their own flour mill at their bakery, and they grind their own super nutritious, clean flour. It does taste better. Their cookies are the chewy type that I crave, and they use big chunks of real chocolate (not the crappy sugary chocolate chips). 

Must keep more chocolate chip cookies at home for my mental health.

1. Organising - I've watched and rewatched The Home Edit a few times now... 

2. Postpartum hair loss - how has this already started?! As I am typing this now, another strand of my hair is floating down onto the pile that is building up on the floor by the side of my bed.

3. Travelling to warm locations with beach, sunshine, blue sky. Mexico? Hawaii? Australia - would we survive the 20 hour flight with the kids?

4. Visiting coffee shops, iced lattes, espresso tonics, green smoothies, donuts:

Today, H picked up Lee's Donuts, a strawberry and a chocolate, from Sorry Coffee at Brentwood. They're not the best donuts in the world, but they're reliable. They have that thicker, cake-y consistency, nothing fancy, just a simple layer of frosting on top. I was seriously craving some sugar when I woke up this morning around 10AM, so H really saved me. 

Waking at 10AM with a newborn and a toddler, how do you swing that miracle, you ask? 

My lovely husband takes care of the toddler when he's home on the weekends, and keeps her away from our room while I snooze. Of course, it's interrupted sleep because I am breastfeeding on demand, so when I slept for a 3 hour stretch last night, I woke up ready to take on the world again.

Seemingly out of nowhere, H wanted to pick up Japanese pastries from Yama Cafe. Was he craving their mochi bites, or was he hoping to satisfy my sugar craving? Either way, I was happy with the selection:

Tea flavored mochi bites in addition to the white mochi ball and a Sakura red bean... thing. My vocabulary is proportionate to my sleep, and I've been averaging less than 5 hours. 

Lots of red bean filling in the mochi:

Salty sweet ume and red bean in the Sakura... thing:

H also brought home a slice of their strawberry cake that got squished in transit, so I didn't take photos and originally wasn't  going to mention it. Their cake and the whipped cream on top were so light and delicious though, it deserves a mention and more recognition around Vancouver.

H and I savored every bite of that ugly cake.

We were reminded this week to treasure the things that don't last forever. Nearing the end of bath time with baby S on Wednesday, she started crying because the bubbles in her bubble bath were disappearing. She wanted to add more bubbles, but we couldn't do that since it was nearing time to get out of the tub. We weren't about to ruin the timing of her night time routine just because she was throwing a tantrum. H reminded her to enjoy the bubbles more, the next time that they're around.

Like the bubbles and the time that S has in the bath, I'm reminding myself here that time is limited and it is such a waste to spend even a second not enjoying it. J also reminded me that while work and finances are important, this is the only time I'll have with the kids. It's tough with two under two, but I am sure I will miss it.

H and baby S went to the farmer's market and picked up a few of our usual things, including a bag of carrots from Klipper's, an apple that S picks up as we choose our carrots, and baked goods from whoever is at the market that day. This week, it was Ritchie’s:

They brought home a spinach sourdough as well as a cinnamon bun for me. The bun was not the soft gooey type, unlike Grounds for Coffee, and I wouldn't purchase it again because their recipe was more salty than my usual preference. 

Their sourdough was quite unique in that it incorporated spinach and had a green tinge inside! Your kids won't know that they're actually getting a serving of vegetables while eating carbs. The loaf was soft and chewy, and I can see why they would have a line up.

H has kindly brought back numerous pastries and chocolate chip cookies, which I crave tremendously. It's better for me to eat these not so healthy things and break some rules of my 1st month post partum, and he knows it. Throughout week 2 of baby P's life, I am starting to feel the strongest emotions - greatest joys from seeing S and P interact, and the saddest tears from so many things. As my doctor said, pregnancy is a lot of ups and downs, it's a rollercoaster. 

Wild hormonal ride.

Baby P is here! 

He came out in two pushes, he screeched once, and I had zero stitches. He really isn't much of a crier, which makes me  wonder if there's something wrong. 

There's really no winning here - if he's loud, I'll worry. If he's quiet, I'll worry more. 

Just like how my mom worries that I'm not eating properly, especially during the first month post partum when nutrition is the most important, followed closely by ginger water baths, and no touching of any unveiled water (BIGGEST EYE ROLL). Little does she know, I've already snuck in some pastries from Livia:

I was craving a chocolate chip cookie with salt on top, so H ventured out with Baby S (can I keep calling her a baby now that she's almost two?!) to pick one up for me and burn off some energy. 

The cookie tasted homemade, I could probably make a similar one following this recipe that I love. It just wasn't the oozy cookie that I was craving. Don't get me wrong, it was still tasty and I devoured it.

The orange danish was quite tart, too much for my liking. The pastry itself was very flaky and crispy, loved it. Baby S had their croissant, which she would not share, a sign that she really loved it. The peach danish we had the next day, and it was not good - would recommend eating fresh to avoid it becoming soggy. Overall, the pastries at Livia weren't mind blowing, but I wouldn't mind going to try their brunch menu, maybe with the kids? 

Worries about his quietness aside, we are making many memorable moments together with baby P. I'll always remember the first time he pooped, startled himself, and burst out crying.