canada: a new kid

when i was in the states in 2008 i went to visit my friend brooke in 2008...she'd moved to toronto after leaving korea, which was where we met...(we actually worked together at two different schools)...this time i wanted to visit brooke again, partly because she has a new baby boy...(he's not that new, he's 7 months old now)...there are things to see and do in toronto, but i haven't ever really done any of them...each time i've visited, it's just about spending time with brooke...
they picked me up from the airport, and we went back to her flat...when we arrived at the flat, i got my first chance to see the baby...(he was asleep in the carseat when i got in the car at the airport, and i'm not silly enough to wake up a sleeping baby just to say hello, nice to meet you)...he has a beautiful smile, and no fear...(i'm sure this will be a trait his parents just love in a few years:)...i held him, he smiled, i fell  in love:)...who doesn't love a kid who babbles all the time? sometimes it seemed as though he really thought he was saying something...

the baby has easily reached all his milestones, and is currently becoming competent at pulling himself up to standing by using furniture and hands...he can't stand on his own yet, he hasn't quite figured out how to work his feet to make this happen...he's a speedy crawler, and doesn't stay still very often...
during my days in toronto, we walked a lot, which i loved...brooke loves walking as much as i do, yahoo!! neither one of us thinks anything of a 3 hour walk...of course, with the baby, you have to think about going inside from time to time, stopping for a while in a park, (there seem to be small parks all over the city,) feeding the baby, changing the baby...we still did a lot of walking, but this time with all these considerations...everyone loves the baby, he gets a lot of attention whereva he goes...as we went through various neighbourhoods of the city brooke would describe them too me...who lives there, old or new, expensive, rundown, yuppie, hippie, etc...in all of the neighborhoods there were heaps of unique restaurants, stores, fashion, etc...toronto is such a mix of people...languages, cultures, etc...

we also shopped...i had a couple places i wanted to go while in canada, mac, and lululemon...both of those started out as canadian brands, though i think they're both american owned now...brooke also helped me pick out a couple dresses...i don't often have occasion to wear them, but i love them, and booke has great taste...despite having a baby and being busy with him all the time, brooke still knows what is going on in the fashion world...yay!!
we ate great food, as brooke is a bit of a foodie...she isn't a snob about food, but she knows where to find good food...and she wants others to experience it as well...my favourite place was a bakery/ice cream shop...we got to choose the ingredients for our custom made ice cream sandwiches...i had a sugar cookie with raspberry sorbet...there were three other types of cookies, and heaps of flavours of ice cream...
we also ate mexican food, and korean food...that's the first korean food i've had in ages...(i don't know if it even exists in ukraine, but if so, i'd bet it isn't nearly spicy enough)

one night we went to see the movie magic mike...the acting was...um...not good...the storyline was also sorely lacking...but those aren't the reasons i wanted to see the movie...i enjoyed the scenery:)
the last day we went to a place called sugar beach...a man made beach, though you can't get into the water from this beach...the umbrellas are cotton candy pink, and there are white beach chairs all over...it was relaxing and comfortable when we visited, i'm sure it's packed on weekends...the baby stayed on the blanket for a while, then got curious about our neighbors, much to their amusement...
the next time i visit brooke, it's likely that the baby will be walking and talking...i can't wait!!