The New Domestic

Kids


08/08/10

A DIY Birthday Party

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Recently, we went to my friend Janice’s birthday party for her little boy Kai who turned 1. The party was filled with little packages of popcorn for everyone to help themselves with, party favours in blue packages filled with their favourite teas, water bottles with custom labels, cupcakes and other yummy treats. I like how everything was cute and on-theme. It was lovely how it all came together. With a little imagination, it’s not really that hard to do. It’s mostly finding readymade packaging and re-imagining it by dressing it up with some ink jet stickers and nice simple designs. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Janice is a professional graphic designer (we both worked together at Kevin Louis Design before we went on mat leave). Kids birthday parties are a fun way to make and experiment with DIY projects. And, it’s also an excuse to treat yourself with all the sweets you wished you could eat everyday. Happy Birthday Kai! Thank your mom for a lovely party.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Photographs taken by Jason & Lena from Jaylena Photography.


Arts / DIY / Make / KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
07/29/10

A New Favourite

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A New Favourite

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A New Favourite

Aside from jumping at home in her jolly jumper, Luna has found a new favourite activity – swinging! I take her to the park on our daily walks to give her a little play time. She loves being pushed quickly and giggles every time the swing comes close to me. Then, she’ll put her feet up and just hang out. This is what summer is all about in Luna’s world.


Domestic 2.0 / Kids1 comment — Posted by: Nerissa
07/12/10

Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

We spent a full day at the beach yesterday as it’s been scorching hot! I really love summer. The days are longer, the smell of bbq surrounds the air, birds chirping away, ice cream everyday and long days at the beach. It always feels like I’m a kid again. Hope everyone is having a great summer too and not melting from the heat.


Domestic 2.0 / Kids / Places1 comment — Posted by: Nerissa
07/06/10

Luna & Cohen

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Cohen

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Cohen

Back at Little Nest today for a nice summery lunch with Stacy and her little guy Cohen. Luna and Cohen are only 2 days apart. Though, they still don’t know how to play together yet but hopefully soon they will. Summer is finally here and it is hot outside! A nice lunch at Little Nest and wandering around Commercial Drive made for a perfect day. Hello sunshine – we’ve missed you!


Kids / PlacesNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
07/03/10

My Little Red Chair

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : My Little Red Chair

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : My Little Red Chair

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : My Little Red Chair

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : My Little Red Chair

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : My Little Red Chair

Life is so interesting from my little red chair.


Kids2 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
06/28/10

Luna & Ralphie

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Ralphie

Luna’s new friend – Ralphie! I spent the day with Nicole today and we had a fantastic time chatting away. Luna seemed to have also enjoyed her new friend. She’s not used to seeing dogs as we don’t have one at home and I was surprised how good she was with Ralphie considering how gigantic he is compared to her. I think Ralphie likes her too.

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Another note:
A great little feature of our Weekend Art Project over at How About Orange.


KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
04/29/10

6 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 6 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 6 Months!

Luna is now 6 months old! A lot to report this month. Luna has started her solids 4 weeks ago and is now eating carrots, organic whole grain rice cereal, sweet potatoes, broccoli and banana. She likes them all except for broccoli. Although, she didn’t give up right away. She tasted a few spoonfuls with a nasty look on her face until she made up her mind that it’s not a taste she fancies. Perhaps it’s not sweet enough? I think she gets her sweet tooth from me.

Luna also started rolling a month ago and is so proud of herself and likes to show it off. She rolls from her tummy to her back and is able to do it on each side. Amazing! We are so proud of her. She has also had a few giggle fests which she seems to only do with me in the room. Peter hasn’t really seen it yet (not the full blown one anyway). Perhaps she’s practicing with me first before she goes public with it.

We also go to the library on Fridays for Mother Goose where we sing nursery rhymes while sitting on the floor in a circle with other moms and babies. Luna loves it! She loves being sung to, loves the dancing movements I teach her and just loves seeing other babies. I think Luna just loves being surrounded with music as we always have music playing throughout the day at home (we listen to some of my favourites like Jeremy Jay, Cut Copy, The Juju Orchestra, Tender Forever, Nouvelle Vague, Carla Bruni, Pheonix…) and when Peter gets home, he sings to her with some James Brown classics. I’m also starting to re-learn some of the nursery rhymes I used to know which we sometimes have it playing at home. I find that I have the song ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ on loop in my head!

Luna has also started her swimming lessons a few weeks ago. As soon as I put her in the water on the first day of class, I was surprised to see her so content in the pool. She wasn’t scared at all and started kicking her feet right way. It’s a half hour class on Saturdays and babies are taught to float on their back (with me holding her at all times of course), float on their tummy, submerge their whole body completely and just feel comfortable splashing in the water. We’ve been to a few classes and she’s never cried once!

Lately, I find that having her sit in one of her chairs or lie on the floor with a few toys isn’t enough entertainment for her. She really likes to play and loves the attention it brings. So we finally bought her a jolly jumper which we hung on the ceiling of our dining room/kitchen area and she loves it! As soon as we put her in, she’s so happy and starts jumping right away, screams with delight and doesn’t stop jumping until I take her out. It’s such a joy watching her so happy. Jumping on her own without anyone holding her up must be such an amazing experience for her.

Luna is such a joy and we now look forward to see and experience what month 7 brings.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 6 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 6 Months!


Another note: I’m a big fan of Readymade magazine so thank you for featuring our Glass Pill Bottle Mini-Centrepiece in your blog!


Kids / Luna's Monthly Photos2 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
04/18/10

Animal Friends

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Animal Friends

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Animal Friends

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Animal Friends

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Animal Friends

Luna likes to play with her stuffed animal friends. She likes to be surrounded by them. She’ll pet their faces, give them baby hugs, jostle them around and…bite their ears. Come to think of it, Luna might only be friendly to them because she gets to chomp on them and they don’t fight back.


KidsNo comments — Posted by: Peter
04/11/10

Happy Birthday Aoi!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy Birthday Aoi!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy Birthday Aoi!

Aoi, daughter of our friends Doni and Genevieve, celebrated her 4th birthday today. We wanted to get Aoi something creative for birthday gift. We found a wood box at Rudy Dog’s Art House and filled it with various activity items from the store such as letter puzzle pieces and sticker sets. One door down from Rudy Dog is Collage Collage where we filled the rest of the box with crayons, necklace beads and little toys. We glued some of the letter puzzle pieces to the front of the box spelling out A-O-I in a crossword pattern. The box was tied up with a red ribbon and we attached a wooden gift tag to the ribbon with a mini-clothespin. We love the wood box. It’s only $3 which is cheaper than a sheet of wrapping paper and it’s reusable!


DIY / Make / Kids1 comment — Posted by: Peter and Nerissa
04/10/10

Late Easter Greetings

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Late Easter Greetings

It’s never too late for an Easter greeting. Hope everyone had an awesome Easter celebration filled with lots of chocolates & yummy food!


Domestic 2.0 / KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
04/05/10

Red High Chair

Red High Chair DIY

We’ve been on a lookout for a high chair for Luna the past weeks. Instead of buying a brand new high chair, we decided to go for a used one and customize it. I found this wooden high chair on craigslist for $25.00. It had a nice shape to it so I bought it, sanded it, primed it then painted it red. A small can of paint was $20.00 so all in all, her high chair only cost us $45.00! It’s a great looking high chair for a small price tag. And, it was customized especially for her.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Red High Chair


DIY / Make / Domestic 2.0 / Interior / Kids8 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
03/30/10

Another Good Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Another Good Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Another Good Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Another Good Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Another Good Day

We like to leave Luna on the floor so she can feel free to do whatever she wants. She can roll, babble, chew on her toys or just put her arms behind her head and relax. Life is so good in her world.

Another note: Hello to GrassrootsModern. Thank you for including our Weekend DIY Project in your blog.


Domestic 2.0 / KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
03/26/10

5 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 5 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 5 Months!

Our little Luna is now 5 months old and growing! She is now very curious to see and hear everything that surrounds her. Even when she’s all tucked inside her ergo baby carrier as we go for our walks, I see her head popping in and out wanting to see all the lights, colours, movement and noise around us. There’s so much for her to see and she’s taking it all in. Anyone who talks to Luna is treated with the biggest smiles and baby giggles. Luna also loves sitting in her bumbo chair and feels proud to be sitting up by herself like a big girl. When she’s by herself and wants some company, she has learned to call out to us with her super loud high pitch baby sound that can be heard all the way in the back of the house. Luna has also been treating us with what we call her ‘happy dance’. When she’s really, really happy, we find her lying on her back wiggling her shoulders and legs while bobbing head from side to side with a grin on her face. This always makes Peter and I laugh. As of today, Luna has also started her solids. I fed her with her first organic whole grain rice cereal and she happily ate almost a whole tablespoon with no complaints at all. That’s our girl!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 5 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 5 Months!


Kids / Luna's Monthly Photos6 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
03/14/10

Floor Routine

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Floor Routine

Luna spends a bit of each day playing on the floor. She really enjoys herself, now that she’s able to grab onto her toys and rattles. Amongst her favourites are these stuffed cubes that my sister made for her. The cubes are super soft, squishy and light as a feather. Luna likes to grab them and jostle them around. She also likes anything that shakes, rattles or squeaks.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Floor Routine

A few times a day, we’ll turn Luna over on to her belly. She’s been trying really hard to roll over. She’s now able to hold her head up high and kick her feet around. For the first few minutes, she’s so happy and proud of herself for trying new things. She tries every maneuver her young mind can think of but she just isn’t able to find the right combination of body mechanics to rollover. After about five minutes, Luna starts to get frustrated and we turn her over. We clap our hands, tell her she did a great job and she’s all smiles again. One day soon, she’ll figure it all out and she’s going to be really proud of herself. And, of course, we will be too.


Kids / Toys1 comment — Posted by: Peter
02/28/10

Night Out at Munch

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Night Out at Munch

Dinner last night was at Munch in North Vancouver. What a fantastic place! I had a nice creamy seafood risotto with a glass of Malbec and Peter had a bison burger. I could have seriously had another plate of that risotto but was too embarrassed to order another one. Well, I’m going back with my friend Sisi for lunch next week so I could have my second serving then. It’s nice to have a place like this in the city where Peter and I can enjoy a really good meal and not have to worry if Luna cries. How many places have a play area for kids and a full bar for adults? Yippee! We’d definitely recommend this place to other young families too.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Night Out at Munch

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Night Out at Munch

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Night Out at Munch


Food / Kids / PlacesNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
02/23/10

4 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 4 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 4 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 4 Months!

Four months, already! Lots of developments to report this month. Luna still loves to smile and has added cute silent giggles to her repertoire. Very recently, she’s added a tiny baby laugh to her giggles but that’s only happened twice so far. Luna likes to babble with anyone who talks to her. We call it “conversating”. I know that’s not a real word but she doesn’t speak real words so it fits. Luna has outgrown her bassinette and moved into a crib. Luna can’t do a full belly-to-back roll, yet. She can manage a 3/4 roll but if we put her flat on her stomach she gets frustrated that her body can’t accomplish what her mind wills it to do. Maybe next month, Luna. Even though Luna can’t roll yet, she can travel quite some distance by wiggling and kicking around. When we leave her on a mat for a few minutes it’s quite surprising where she ends up. In month four we’re using a Baby Bjorn baby carrier for the first time. Luna enjoyed being carried snuggly through Vancouver while we checked out the Winter Olympic sights. Lastly, Luna really enjoys being sung to. Her favorite songs in month four are James Brown’s “I Feel Good” and Lionel Ritchie’s “Say You, Say Me”.


Kids / Luna's Monthly PhotosNo comments — Posted by: Peter
02/16/10

Jungle Boogie

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Jungle Boogie

Toys don’t really interest Luna in this stage of her life. She prefers human interaction and we’re happy to give her lots. However, we can’t be with her every second of the day so we got her a baby gym so she can entertain herself. Friends also tell us it’s good for hand/eye development. Luna seems to really enjoy it. She took to it right away. It’s definitely the best $25 we spent this week.


Domestic 2.0 / KidsNo comments — Posted by: Peter
02/12/10

Morning Sweetness

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Morning Sweetness

I love our mornings! As soon as Luna wakes up, she calls out to us with her cute baby sounds. And when I hear her, I lazily get out of bed with my eyes half open to grab her and lay her beside me. But I’m usually woken up to find myself giggling as I see my little Luna somehow wiggled herself out of her blanket and out of her pants laying sideways at the top of the crib with no pants on. Amazing, how did she do this! Then I grab her to lay her beside me as I watch her slowly look around still half dazed observing what’s around her. Then it’s followed with a few stretches with the sounds of her limbs cracking away. Then she stops, looks at me, and gives me the sweetest morning smiles and giggles. These are the little special moments we share together. A start of another great day!


Kids3 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
01/24/10

Three Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Three Months!

Luna is now three months old! She is such a happy baby and entertains us with non stop smiles and laughter. She has a daily routine now where she naps at certain times of the day, then has her play time for about 1.5 hrs before yawning starts again and she’s ready for her next nap. As soon as she wakes up from her naps, she cries for milk and once she’s done feeding, we are treated with the loveliest smiles from such a little person. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that little head of hers as she seems to find everything so utterly amusing. It’s a joy to see our little Luna so happy in her environment. It makes us realize even more that we have created such a lovely environment where she feels so safe & loved.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Three Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Three Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Three Months!


Kids / Luna's Monthly Photos4 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
01/24/10

Little Nest

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Nest

I spent an afternoon at Little Nest with the girls (& Peter). We had a lot of catching up to do so the afternoon was filled with non-stop chatting, laughter, entertaining Luna, coffee and munching on food. I love this place. It’s casual, kid friendly and has great food too. I could spend everyday here if I lived on Commercial Drive.

I was checking out Bloesum Kids the other day and there was an article on this wicked café called Moomah in New York. It’s like a gallery/studio/café/shop all in one. This place is stunning, you have to explore the site yourself to know what I’m talking about. It’s a creative café where parents and kids can hang out. It’s a similar concept as Little Nest but Moomah offers a little bit more by having some classes for kids & adults. Oh, do I wish we had a Moomah here in Vancouver…

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Nest

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Nest


Domestic 2.0 / Food / Kids / PlacesNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa