Burnaby Mountain Bike Skills Park

Bike skills parks are super cool. We watched experienced bikers jump the big bumps when we were in Whistler. It was fun to watch. Tristan was only 2 years old at the time and totally fascinated as well. We are fortunate to have a bike skills park that is a 15 minute walk from our home. It's a small one and we bring Tristan there often. He loves it there and we love watching him ride.

This past weekend, we went to a new bike park. It's not new but it's one we haven't explored yet :) Compared to the one by our house, this was HUGE. It was the mountain air bike skills park at the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area. Areas were marked as easy, intermediate, and advanced skill levels for biking. At 3.5 years old, Tristan is intermediate on his strider running bike. He had his bike since 17 months old, although he probably didn't start really riding it outside until he was at least two. We actually bought him a pedal bike a few months ago since we think he is ready for it. We haven't taken it out yet though. The strider is good until his is five so I don't mind him riding that a bit longer. He is so confident on it right now.

The bike skills park at Burnaby Mountain was super cool. The area could use some maintenance but the wooden parts were all in good condition. Tristan had fun, despite falling twice. On the last fall, we went home. Sigh. Before the unfortunate incident, we took plenty of happy pictures above and this small video :)


Biking at Bike Skills Facility at Burnaby Mountain

The slope he rode a few times before finally falling.

I know why he fell. He was overly tired since he only slept maybe 8 1/2 hours the night before (for those who don't know, that's 1 1/2 hours less than what he normally gets) and he didn't nap yet. It was around 4:30PM when he fell. His body was getting tired since he had already biked maybe 1 hour and he was going down a steep slope and was scared. He did it many times already but this time he was scared. When you are physically tired and scared, THAT is when accidents will occur. Sadly, I was right. It must have hurt a lot since he cried for a long time. He bit his tongue on the fall as well so it bled a bit. Jean-Louis warned him about that one. He has a dark blue bruise under his chin now and it will probably be there for at least another week:( Poor little dude.

Weekends are full of family field trips

On weekends, we tend to go all out in entertaining our toddler. At least it feels that way. When Tristan stays home with me on Thursdays and Fridays, we mostly stay home and he plays on his own a lot. If we go out to the library or walk down the street to the store, I count that as plenty of outings for the day. Compared to weekends, it's just plain boring to be home with just mommy.

This past weekend was a long weekend because of Labour Day. On Saturday, we went to the Burnaby Village Museum. We shopped at the farmer's market first and then we toured the village. We also took Tristan on the carousel for the first time. This was our second visit to the museum with him but the first time, the museum had just closed but we still went in. I have never been on the carousel myself but we thought Tristan would enjoy it. We decided to put him on one of the biggest horses since they had poles that went up and down. It looked like more fun and the big ones were pretty. The moment I placed him on it, he was scared. He didn't asked to be removed but he was whimpering a bit. I had my arm around him the whole time and spoke to him as the carousel circled round and round. Wow. That was one fast ride! We felt the wind blowing at us. In the end, Tristan said he had a good time. I think it was a mistake to put him on it so early. At 2.5, he may still be too young, especially for the big horses. After all, adults ride on the big horses. Oops.

We finished off our grocery shopping at Metrotown and later that evening, we watched Robots. We haven't watched a DVD with Tristan for nearly a month. During the movie, I dozed off since I was super exhausted. I was also feeling a bit under the weather.

On Sunday, we met up with my sister and her family and went to the playground and water park in Stevenston village. The kids played, Tristan got to bike around in the village and we lunched at Pajo's. We checked out the fisherman's market, had coffee at Rocanini, and went home to whip up a small BBQ. Another long weekend, another barbecue right? :)

 
On Monday, we let Tristan choose what to do. We gave him the option of watching boats at Horseshoe Bay or riding the miniature train at Confederation Park. He chose the train. We also played at the park and had bubble tea at Pearl Drop, a new place we haven't tried before. Before we left, we picked half a bucket of blackberries across the street from where we parked at the park. When we got home, Tristan had fallen asleep so we decided to head out for a run. He woke up just before we put him in the jogging stroller and he didn't sleep more after that. Doh! Not that he had enough of the park, we took him to the park again after the run before heading back home to prep for dinner.

Weekends this summer have pretty much all been like this. Just jam packed with activities to do with Tristan. In fact, I can't really remember what we did before he came along. I think we spend our days indoors working and maybe a bit of hiking. When Tristan doesn't tantrum, it's actually fun hanging out with him :)

Taylor Park's Bike Skills Park

A few weeks ago, we discovered a bike skills park in our neighborhood. It's funny because we have been going to this park for years but we never ventured into the area south of the basketball courts. We drive there occasionally with Tristan's bike so he can bike in the field. Lately, I have been taking advantage of the opportunity to run laps around the field while Tristan bikes. It's usually on a day that Jean-Louis does his crazy 100KM bike ride so he doesn't need to run and he just watches Tristan while Tristan bikes.

The bike skills park area is not well maintained but I was so thrilled to see it there. There are weeds growing everywhere but it's still bike-able. I love that it had easy areas for toddlers and harder areas for more experienced bikers. Tristan loves it there and he loves being able to do more challenging things than just biking on leveled ground. He has developed great balance on his Strider and puts up his feet when he goes fast or down slopes. He's taking more risk and of course getting more bruises. It's all part of the process! He's 2 1/2 now but I think next year he may be ready for a pedaled bike and maybe biking camp :)

Weekends are full of activities now

We do our grocery shopping on the weekend. Boring, I know but it's the only time we can be very productive doing it. I sometimes grab a few things like milk and fruit during the week day but most of our shopping is on the weekend. This Saturday, we shopped in the morning, had lunch at home, then headed off to the bike festival hosted by MEC. It was gloomy and it rained on and off but when we arrived at the festival in the Athletes village, it stopped raining and the sun even came out a few times. It was a nice event. I'm not into bikes but Jean-Louis and Tristan are so it was great. We played a game where we had to go through 10 booths to collect passport stamps for Tristan. At the end, we got a couple of cool prizes. Tristan got a bell for his bike, as well as a small light.

At the first booth, Tristan tried out some of the bikes, but most of them were too high for him. He went on a pedal bike for the first time but he didn't know what to do and Jean-Louis basically pushed him along. Finally, we put him on a wooden running bike and he just took off! He went so fast. Give him something he's familiar with and he'll know exactly what to do with it. The other kids on the running bikes looked like they were trying it for the very first time. Besides riding bikes, we also watched the bike stunt show, which was pretty cool. Jean-Louis went for a test ride with Tristan attached to a bike seat. Because of the weather, there weren't many people at all. We loved it!

On Sunday, we headed to Broadway for Greek Day. It was our first time there. We heard about it in previous years but we just never got to go. This year I was reminded countless times about the event through Facebook and Twitter. In fact the event coordinator is a friend of mine on Twitter! I just had to go this year, obviously :)

It was hot on Sunday! I overdressed myself and Tristan. Ugh. The crowds at Greek Day made it even hotter. We arrived shortly after opening and the place was packed within 30 minutes. I think the nice weather brought out everyone! Greek day is known as a family-friendly event but with the crowds it almost seemed insane to bring small children. Tristan is at that age where he doesn't get overly stimulated in large crowds but I was scared of losing him. He likes to walk on his own a lot and I almost lost Jean-Louis and Tristan in the crowd that day.





On Broadway, they had two areas where they set up the kids zone. Tristan played fishing and then got a prize. We were going to line up for cotton candy but thought it was a bad idea before lunch. After lunch however, the line up was insane so we couldn't even do it. Oh well. The cotton candy was more for us than Tristan anyway. We lined up for the Shrek air castle. It was Tristan's first time in one and from the outside, it looked like so much fun! Too bad he was too small to climb and slide down but he still had a thrill walking inside. I would have love to have gone in myself. I have never been inside one before. If Tristan was a summer baby, we would totally rent one of those!

We ate greek food, watched some music performances, walked around, stopped by a nearby coffee shop, and then took off when Tristan started to go a little bananas. It was way past his nap time. We also had other plans that day to go shop at MEC, take Tristan on a bike ride, and cook dinner. Yes, the weekends are beginning to feel a bit hectic but it's awesome :)

Tristan is 31 months old (or 2 years 7 months)

It's been awhile since I have done a post on Tristan's developmental updates. Today is no special day, except that it is the 20th of the month. Here is a brief update on how he is doing.

Potty Training

Tristan is well on his way to becoming diaper free. He wears underwear all the time except when he naps or sleeps at night. He has only had 2 dry diapers so far after waking up in the morning but when he does pee in his diaper it only happens once since the diaper is only a bit wet. He's working on it :) This weekend we went over to Victoria and even when we had a diaper or pull up on him, he did not pee in them once. No accidents and he even did number 2 at a restaurant. This is not to say he doesn't have any accidents. There are at least a couple of accidents a week still. Some times we just don't make it to the bathroom in time.

Eating

Tristan is eating everything. He isn't as picky at the moment and will eat anything you give him. If he is picky, we bribe him with an upcoming course (e.g. cheese stick) and that usually does the trick. He has also been eating more sweets such as muffins, cookies, scones, and granola. These are all homemade but he also likes to eat store bought arrowroot animal cookies. I would say that he eats sweets maybe twice a week. He's at that age where we just want him to try everything and discover the world. If it's something that isn't great for him like a brownie, we'll just give him a bite or two. Jean-Louis almost let him try pop but then I said no. That stuff is pure crap and besides, Tristan hasn't even drank juice yet. Okay, so maybe he can't try everything quite yet! :)

Sleep

He sleeps from 9:15PM to 7AM. He naps for 1-2 hours. We can't really complain here. He's quite consistent and sleeps through the night. Some times if he wakes up a bit earlier, we just go tell him to go back to sleep and cover him up and he does.

Tristan is still in his crib and will be for awhile. There is a piece of wood we can move so that he can get in and out easily. We plan to remove that piece in October, after our vacation. Right now, he can jump in and out of his crib but he is usually good about staying inside until we get to his room.

Speech

He can sing but he is shy around others. Some of his favorites are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Eensy-Weensy Spider, Happy Birthday, and Wheels on the Bus. His pronunciation is getting much better now. He can have simple conversations with my Mom on the phone and she actually understands him. He is still mixing his French and English. He is a little us in many ways. He says "oh my goodness" a lot and I've heard him say "what the heck" and "what the dickens." He tries to explain everything with "because... I'm a big boy" or something else. He loves to say because. You ask him why or how come and he'll say "because" and then try to finish it off with something. We find that he is constantly rehearsing his speech with us. We have to let him too but it's very interesting to watch him.

In the last week or so, he has been saying "love you" to us. Yup, it has taken him this long! Not sure if he totally understands it but we'll take it :)

Growth & Exercise

Tristan weighs 30 pounds. He can jump down from the third step on the stairs. He likes to run because Mom and Dad runs. He walks home one way from daycare and he increasingly wants to walk more. He loves biking on his Strider and requests to do it every day. He is at that age where we can take him out more and he can have fun. Overall, he is just easier to care for and more fun to be with. I think that is a recipe for traveling more, don't you? ;)

Behavior

Tantrums are on the decline. At the moment. Of course this could change but we're enjoying every moment of peace:)

When he coughs, he knows to do it into his elbow. He is an expert at blowing his nose. Bye bye aspirator! He started blowing his nose a few months ago. A couple of weeks ago, he started to spit out toothpaste after we brush his teeth.

Stevenston village is kid friendly

Today we decided to drive out to Stevenston village to check it out and to take Tristan biking at the park. I heard good things about this village over at yoyomama and always wanted to check it out.

When we arrived, we were surprised to see that it was a market day. I think they have markets every other Sunday but I didn't check the schedule beforehand. This may have changed now but I was happy to see the market there. What can I say? I love markets! I figured it was the market that made the place so busy. We had a lot of trouble finding parking and had to circle back and forth. Apparently, it's busy like that every weekend.

We walked down to the pier and found Pajo's there. Since it was recommended by so many people, I wanted to try it out. I ended up lining up for 30 minutes in the heat while Jean-Louis and Tristan strolled around. We grabbed the fish & chips to go and sat on the grass in the shade by the market. It was good but I'm not a big fish & chips kind of person so after one or so pieces, I felt kind of grossed out. As far as fish & chips go though, Jean-Louis and I both thought it was tasty.

After lunch, we headed over to Rocanini for coffee. We skipped the siphon coffee this time and just had an iced latte. It was good and refreshing. We headed across the street to the playground and was stunned by how huge it was. It was like five playgrounds side by side and a water park too. HUGE! Behind the playground was a trail that was excellent for biking so Tristan went on that. There was no time for anything else. Next time we go back to Steveston, we'll have to play in the playground and visit Garry Point Park.

Our cute toddler biker

Tristan bikes on his strider outside from Mommying Around on Vimeo.

17 month old is one cool toddler on his new Strider bike

Today, we bought Tristan his first bike. He's just 17 months old but the Strider running bikes are for toddlers 1-5 years old. Once a baby can walk, they can ride the Strider. I'm not so sure about that but ok. I can't believe it's his first bike. As first time parents and since he's our only child, I feel like we're totally spoiling him. I have never owned a bike in my life! His dad loves biking, maybe even more than running so I think it's great :)

Only minutes after we put him on the bike, he fell over and hit his chin on the handle. Oops! Now he has a bruise and tomorrow is Mother's Day and we're suppose to be taking lots of pictures. Terrific :( Anyhow, it was so cool to see him on his orange Strider but I can see that he still needs to grow a little bit taller to fit on it well. His feet barely touch the floor. It may be okay with his running shoes on though.

Seeing Tristan on the Strider makes me realize how big he is now. My baby is a big little boy! About to ride a bike, for crying out loud! How did he grow so fast?