Free Frugal Fun: Trout Lake

This morning, my little man and I met up with my friend, A and her baby K, for a play date at Trout Lake, located in East Vancouver. Strangely enough, I have never really been to Trout Lake in all my years living in Vancouver, despite living within 10 minutes away for many many years.

Trout Lake on a sunny Tuesday morning.

Since our entertainment budget is essentially non-existent for this month, we took advantage of the sunny weather (in March!) and headed out.

Trout Lake is located in the Grandview/Commercial area of East Vancouver. It boasts a newly constructed community centre and ice rink, two playgrounds, a dog park and walking trails which all surrounds Trout Lake itself.

Trout Lake itself is not that big, in comparison to some other lakes nearby, however, it offers a nice tranquil environment to escape from the daily grind. My friend A told me that in the summers, Trout Lake offers Saturday Farmers Markets which is a must visit.

On a sunny day during Spring Break, Trout Lake was packed. The main playground and community centre was full of kids and moms with little tots. Dog owners and their faithful companions strolled past us which caused a bit of a frenzy with my little man who loves "doll" (a.k.a. dogs). Retirees and moms with strollers also love the flat trails as it is easy to get around. There are also numerous benches scattered throughout the park for those who need a little break or want to take in the surroundings.

The four of us took a leisurely stroll along the trails and came across a second playground hidden from view. It was a smaller playground with swings, with a play area that is ideal for little people. The little man loved it so much that he refused to leave. I had to persuade him that we would see more dogs if we continued walking.

At the end of our play date, both the little man and I were happy but tired. We had a great time discovering this hidden gem. Much kudos to my friend A for introducing us to Trout Lake and all it has to offer.

Perhaps there is a hidden gem only minutes away from where you are. So go outside and start exploring!

The First Year: Baby Sign Language

Baby sign language has been a great way for us to communicate with our little man, and best of all, for him to let us know what he wants. We first heard about baby sign language from my sister-in-law when she taught her son, T, how to sign. Some of my most vivid memories are of T clapping to sign for poopie and signing for milk. Now that T is older, my sister-in-law reflected that teaching him sign language has improved communication and reduced T's frustrations.

The baby sign language referred to here is America Sign Language (ASL). We teach our little man ASL as it is commonly understood in North America. Many of the signs are intuitive, the sign for "milk" looks like you are milking a cow and "Banana" looks like you are peeling a banana.

When I was pregnant, we decided this was one of the things we wanted to do with our baby. Since the little man was 3 months old, I would sign to him "milk" before I nursed him. It was around 6 months when the little man started signing "milk". Incredible, the little man signed back!

Urged by this success, we started teaching him more sign language. Currently, the little man can sign the following: "poopie" (so we could potty train him), "more", "water", "banana", "eat", "all done", "fan", "yucky" and the most recent ones he uses are "wash hands" and "book". We are currently learning the signs for "please", "thank you" and "again".

American Sign Language for "all done"

What To Expect and What To Do

1. Be consistent

• The key to teaching baby sign language is consistency. Engage your baby and make eye contact when you are signing. Associate items and actions with signing, such as signing milk and then feeding your baby. It takes a lot of practice as well as persistence but it will pay off. You will be amazed how quickly your baby starts signing. 

 2. Expect imperfection

• As I mentioned above, our nephew T clapped when he wanted to go poopie. Our little man points one finger (instead of three) for water. We sign to him the correct way to remind him of those other two fingers; you never know when tall man and ring man decide to show up.
American Sign Language for " water".

3. Talk and sign

• When you sign a word, enunciate the word clearly so they can also benefit from hearing the word. 

4. Sing and sign

• Babies love music and not only will singing hold their attention, it will help them learn the signs and associate the signs with words.

5. Be selective

• Teach signs that have meaning to you or are useful in your daily activities. If you have a dog, teach your baby how to sign "dog".
• "Eat", "more", "milk" are a few useful signs to start learning together.
• Select a few signs to teach your baby at a time. Once they mastered the sign, move on to other ones.

American Sign Language for "more"

6. Be creative

• Combine signs to create short sentences. The little man signs "poopie" "all done" or "eat" "banana". The funniest one I recall was when he signed "poopie" "eat". I had to bite my lip not to laugh too hard.
• Ask family members or childcare providers to sign to your baby to reinforce the signs.

7. Have fun

• I have always wanted to learn sign language and never had a chance to until we had the little man. Signing is great fun, especially when the baby is sleeping in your arms and you want to tell your husband you want something to drink and eat.

Interested in Learning?

Many community centres offer drop-in baby sign language classes for mom and babies. Since we are not known for being punctual for classes, we opted to learn sign language on our own through smartphone apps and online videos. The smartphone apps are great for quickly looking up how to sign a certain word when you are out and about.

There are also songs you can sing and sign at the same time. The little man's favorite song to sign and sing is "The More We Get Together". We sing and sign this song while reading the book by Caroline Jayne Church. If you would like to see how to sign along while singing this song, the Skokie Public Library has a Youtube video showing you how.

Here are some great resources to get you started:

• http://www.babysignlanguage.com/
• 21 words and signs to know (from Parenting Magazine)
• Free iPhone apps (that I have on my phone)
• My Smart Hands Baby Sign Language Dictionary
• Baby Sign Language Dictionary - Lite

Happy signing!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Baked Peri Peri Chicken Wings

When my husband and I first started dating, we often went to Wednesday Wing Nights at a local pub near Simon Fraser University. The wings were cheap, $0.25 per wing if you purchased a drink. It was often packed with university students and league volleyball players (who played at a complex nearby) and everyone was ordering wings by the platter. The wings came in all sorts of flavours: BBQ, honey garlic, salt and pepper, hot and extra hot.

Since then, we have gone to many other pubs for wing nights. One favorite was a pub out in Port Coquitlam where the wings were also $0.25, but the wings were much bigger and there was a better selection of flavors. The downside of Wing Night was the long wait, sometimes up to 20 minutes or more just for a table!

Since most pubs are quite noisy, it is also not an ideal place to bring the little man. For a fraction of the price, we now make our wings at home. Best part is that we do not have to suffer the long wait anymore.

Frozen wings work equally well in this recipe. Just make sure to thaw it in the fridge two days before you want to eat. I bought my frozen chicken wings from Save-On Foods when it went on sale for $15.99 for 3 kilograms.

Ingredients
1/4 cup paprika or smoked paprika
2 tbsp hot chili powder
1 cup fresh or bottled lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1-1/2 tsp salt

2 lbs chicken wings, tips removed (If frozen, thaw in the fridge a day prior)

Directions
1. In a large Ziplock bag, mix all the ingredients together (except for the chicken wings).

2. Add in the chicken wings and make sure the marinade evenly coats all of the wings.

Give these wings a nice and gentle massage.

3. At a minimum, the wings should be marinated overnight in the fridge up to two nights for more flavor.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

5. In a large rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, place the chicken wings in a single layer (leaving a little space in between each wing). Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

Source: Adapted from Allrecipes