Michael Jackson RIP

The Climber

Quickie two second post:

Didi can now officially climb into his crib.
...and the high chair
...and who knows what else.

Whereas LG insists that we carry/stroller him everywhere and refuses to walk, Didi refuses to stay seated in the stroller. He insists on not just walking, but inspecting every set of stairs we pass by. Once we stayed so long on some old lady's porch that she came out and offered Didi some candy.

Whereas LG insists I peel his cheese stick wrapper off for him, Didi equally insists that he figure it out himself.

We'll see how long this phase lasts. LG at one point wanted to walk everywhere, too, and figure things out. But I guess the novelty has worn off... Life just takes too much effort.

HOWEVER, LG can now get out of the bath, dry, and dress himself! Currently, the mock shock on our faces is worth it. Of course, on non-bath days he insists we help him get changed into his pajamas. He just can't manage...

Finally, a short video of our most recent trip to Cherryland (Brentwood). Cherry picking twice in once year! How lucky are we!! (A frozen cherry pie and homemade cherry ice cream currently in freezer...probably not for long!)

Me and my Shadow

On Thursday evening, after dinner, the whole family took a walk about the local hill. It was windy but sunny and being in San Francisco, it's nice to take advantage of the sun whenever it deigns to show itself. Anyway, on the way back, the sun was behind us and I noticed Didi stop, inspect his shadow and do a sudden jumping jack. Then he proceeded to follow his shadow (off the path) and do another jumping jack.

He had discovered his shadow.

It was so cute, that I could almost forgive him for waking up before 6 am two days in a row.

That's What Friends Are For

It's been a busy 3 weeks since I last blogged. I was going to organize this post around the idea that LG has now matured so much that his family is no longer enough to entertain him. Whenever we did anything or go anywhere, his first response is "are my friends going to be there." Oh, and for awhile every time I picked him up at preschool he asked "who's coming over for dinner?" or "Dylan said that I'm going to do a sleepover at his house." or "I don't want to eat at our house, I want to go to a friend's house." Any good thing we've been so busy. I know I can't talk enough about my neighborhood, but it's great that we pretty much can't go anywhere in this city without bumping into another family that we know.

First there was Memorial Day weekend, where we went Cherry Picking and almost got a ticket for parking on the street...It was packed! Sunny and warm, unlike the foggy drizzly coast. We got there the first of the season so the trees were packed with cherries and small enough that even Didi could pick (and eat, pits and all) his fair share. The rest we took home and I made cherry pie and cherry jam.

LG up to no good with his friend Pugawug.

A Rare Photo of Mommy & Didi (since it's usually mommy taking the pictures).

On Sunday, we went to watch the Carnival Parade in San Francisco. Note the sweater as it was cold and dreary. At first, LG was listless and bored, sitting in the stroller while we watched the girls in string bikinis and men banging huge drums passing by. Then his friends showed up and we couldn't tie him down. He was laughing, catching candy, trading kisses with one of the more friendly girls, trading gossip, and over all acting very, very silly.

On Memorial Day was devoted to Poppy's birthday party at Fairyland (the girl he was trading kisses with the day before). Next to him is Dylan, his current BFF and consequently his parents are practically our BFF. We see them almost every day and have dinner together at least once a week. The both go to the same preschool for the same 3 days a week. Unfortunately next year they'll be split up as LG goes on to the pre-K class and Dylan stays behind in the regular preschool. Who would have thought that 4 months could cause such a vast divide??? Dylan's mom and are trying to hatch a plan to sneak Dylan into the pre-K class so that could still be best friends, but I think the preschool is putting an ix-nay on that.

The following weekend we went "camping" with our preschool. I put "camping" in quotes because we stayed in a cabin with a double bed and a bunk bed - not that we slept in any better mind you. LG not only shockingly slept in the top bunk (he's usually deathly afraid of heights), but he didn't bother climbing into our bed.

Didi slept in the bottom bunk and I spent the first night deathly afraid that he'd fall out, so whenever he moved I would look over to see where he positioned himself and if it was anywhere within 6 inches of the edge, would move him. On the second night, he actually did fall out of the bunk, which proved my point, so basically I didn't sleep at all. Sigh. Plus the bathroom was like a million miles away.

We still had fun. The camp ground had a fabulous pool where LG practiced swimming. Didi was pretty tentative at first but ended up loving it. I'm all up for outdoor pool action as it's always too cold in SF.

The whole weekend, I renamed Didi "Pig Pen." He was loving the dirt: rolling in it, tossing it in the air, rubbing it all over his clothes. And because I had forgotton how natural nature was (i.e. warm days does not equal warm nights...there was easily a 30 degree difference), I had not packed enough warm clothes so Didi was pretty much in the same pair of filthy pants from early evening through mid-day. Don't even ask about me. At least David had the foresight to pack fleece pajamas for the kids. I slept in my same disgusting jeans and sweater.

After the camping trip, working completely took over and basically I was on my computer every night after the kids went to bed. This last Saturday I told David that I did not want to go anywhere or do anything too taxing! So we just hung out at the playground up the stree... Sometimes that's just the perfect activity. Funnily enough, practically every 4 year old we know in the neighborhood just happened to be there, too. Isn't great to have so many friends??

Didi - 20 months "Hereyougo"

I didn't realize I said that phrase so often until I started hearing it come out of Didi's mouth. Could it really be? David? Did you hear him? Yep. Every time Didi hands something to you, he says in one quick breath "Hereyougo" except it's really two syllables, like "Herego" with the "you" kind of swallowed in between.

It's funny what words he's decided to pick up in English and what he has picked up in Chinese. Most nouns are Chinese, while little conversational bits are in English as with "hereyougo" and "no!" I keep on meaning to take an inventory of his vocabulary but it just gets too hectic to bother to stop and actually write down something. Plus he's doing a lot of repeating so who knows if it's a word that will stick (like "cookie") or not. I keep on threatening to count how many times a day I hear "MOMMY!" but I'm afraid my hand will cramp up or I'll run out of pen or paper before the end of the day.

Speaking of hectic, I've been noticing that David and I have been doing a lot of tag teaming. Me taking the kids, or vice versa. Or we divide and conquer, one kid each, or sometimes LG runs wild with a friend, while the other makes sure Didi doesn't kill himself (actually Didi's pretty cautious and mostly he's pretty clingy and wants at least one of us - preferably mom - around all the time. Thankfully, he's not a runner.) I can't remember the last time it was the two of us "being" with both kids at the same time. Does it matter? Is it important? It just seems like we need that downtime to either rest or get things done. Anyway, just a thought I've been noodling on. No opinion at the point on whether or not it's a good thing or a bad thing. Just a coping thing.

Anyway, LG and I had a major fight tonight about his "I voted" sticker. After dinner tonight, I quickly filled out my absentee ballot (unfortunately, not as well researched or thought out as I would have like, but then again, I think aren't we paying folks to do this thinking about the budget for us. In fact, didn't we vote for them?? I'm busy, man!!), and buckled both kids in the car and dragged them to the voting booth. I guess due to budget cuts and the fact they probably expected about a dozen people to vote this election, this time I couldn't casually stroller over. And of course, I had to take both kids because after not seeing me all day heaven forbid I actually leave them for all of 5 minutes. And of course, the whole buckling them in and dragging them there and back took longer than the actually time we were actually there, voting.

But I digress. Both kids got a sticker and LG and I got in a massive fight over where to stick the sticker. He wanted to put it on his Star Wars shirt, but I said it didn't make any sense because as soon as we got home he was going to take a bath and the shirt will go in the hamper. Then I suggested putting it on his jacket. No!! He wanted it on his shirt. Then I suggested picking out a shirt for tomorrow and putting the sticker on that. Well, he interpreted as my permission to wear a daytime shirt to bed instead of his pajamas. I had said no and there was a lot of hysterics, tears, and screaming, because once I said no not amount of drama can change my mind (mean mommy!).

Meanwhile, I got Didi into the bath and LG took that time to go to David (who was washing the dishes) to ask HIM whether he could whether he could wear his skeleton shirt with the I Voted sticker on it to bed and David said "sure." And of course LG came into the bathroom stating "Daddy said I could" which meant that I had to go to daddy and ask him whether he was deaf because I said no and didn't he hear all that yelling for the last 10 minutes a mere 5 feet away from him????

Then all contrite, David comes back to LG and says basically don't try the "ask one parent and don't like the answer so I'll ask the other" trick again. As if that will never happen again.

Anyway, LG got in the bath and all was soon forgotten.

For now, I'll leave with two of the latest obsessions of my dear children:

LG is really into reading this comic book series called "Bone." I think we've read volume 3 at least 6 times and all the other volumes at least twice if not three times. We've only purchased up to volume 5 and have four more left to go.



Didi has really gotten obsessed with this French 3D cartoon of insects (also a series of 9, is there a correlation - hmmmm). Every morning he drags me to the computer, points to it and says "zhi zu" (Chinese for spider). It's funny, because with Didi we made sure that TV wasn't about him. When he gets up early, I watch the news. He only watches kids shows when LG is around and then it's only for maybe an hour in the morning. Otherwise, he gets no TV. So I guess it's no great surprise that he's hooked on youtube. Ugh. Moving objects on a screen. You can't live with it, and you can't get ready for work in the morning without it.

"No Poo"

As a regular reader of SF Gate's "The Mommy Files" I was immediately intrigued by her initial posts regarding "no poo," i.e. giving up commercial shampoo. David has been suffering from pretty bad psoriasis/eczema/affliction of the scalp since around the time LG was born and despite numerous trips to the dermatologist, gummy prescription medication (to be smeared all over head, covered in a shower cap, and slept in overnight), and smelly tar shampoo, it refused to go away. It first started around his ears and slowly but surely spread across his entire head. Not only was his scalp dry and scaly, but it secreted this thick gunk that made his hair clump up, let's just say, not in the most sexy way. So for those of you whom we met post children and just assumed David always wore a hat, it was not always so. When we were married he had the most glorious locks and I have the photos to prove it!

I digress. I immediately forwarded the link to David and that night, instead of his usual shampoo routing, he tried baking soda (1 - 2 T mixed with a cup of warm water - scrubbed in scalp then rinse) and vinegar (same after the baking soda) and immediately felt his scalp breathe a sigh of relief. You think I jest, but he claims that he knew right away that it was the right thing to do. It's been over a month now and his scalp is about 75% clear and his hair hasn't looked this good in years... If fact, I've been telling him that he no longer needs to wear a hat!

So last weekend, we decided to have the whole family go "no poo." So far, LG isn't too thrilled. He keeps screaming "I don't want food in my hair!!!" and doesn't like the salty taste of the baking soda. Didi is too little to notice.

As for me, I've been pleasantly surprised at the results. I thought my hair might get greasy and my scalp itchy, like it does when I go a bit too long between showers (and what mom hasn't been there, let's be honest). So far, it hasn't and David claims my hair looks fuller and healthier. I had to use commercial conditioner the first couple of times, but since then a quick rinse from the juice of half a lemon (smells nicer than vinegar) seems to be enough to made my hair tangle free.

So next time you see me, let me know if you can tell the difference. Be honest!!! If it stinks and looks yucky to you, I'd like to know. If it looks fabulous, let me know, too!

I Could Have Danced All Night

Every year, LG's preschool has a dance performance to show off what they've learned in the past year (they get dance lessons once a week as part of the school's curriculum). For weeks, we've been asking LG what he was going to do for the dance performance and he kept on hinting "you'll see" and refused to show us anything.

When we showed up, we could hear the kids giggling in their regular practice room. Finally, they filed out each kid cuter than the next. Shockingly, LG came out in leotard only, with a backwards long sleeve t-shirt underneath. When I had dropped LG off the previous week, he had two pairs footless tights in his "box" but both had mysteriously disappeared the week of the performance. At least it was nice to see that he has inherited David's legs.

The teacher did a good job showing us a little bit of what they do during a regular class, including stretching exercises, and group warm ups. Finally, the kids came out in pairs and showed us their ability to "Relevé" (on your tippy toes) and "sashay" (hands on your hips). You never saw such fierce concentration in your lives!

Notice how all the little girls are in ballerina outfits. The boys (or more likely their parents) are a bit more conflicted outfit-wise.

Anyway, LG's tumbling performance is next week, so come back for more video!

(p.s. I apologize for my lack of usual blogging verve. I'm currently functioning on less than 6 hours of sleep, plus working fulltime, and a nice 2 glasses of wine date night, so I'm slightly incoherent now.)

4 years 2 months - Rock Child

The Rock Child on Take 3. He decided to forgo playing on his "guitar" and pick up the "sax."

LG Pics

Below. LG calls this character KJQ.



Below. LG calls this character gay-gay-go-go.

Didi - 19 months

Pre-haircut, on Papa's shoulders

Post Haircut

Didi is obsessed with animals - the dogs that belong to our backyard neighbors, the guinea pigs at LG's preschool, the goldfish at his daycare. At night we read animal books. Farm animals, dogs, cats, Splendors of the Sea, etc. If we pick up a non-dog book, he will quickly focus on the animals, no matter how tangential to the story.

When I read the paper, he'll point to an obscure corner of an ad and announce "MA!" (horse). In the morning, when he first gets up, he'll look at me to get him out of the crib and announce "gou-gou" (dog). When he gets home from daycare, he scrambles up the glider and peers out the window hoping to glimpse the dogs in our neighbors' backyards. Sometimes he's lucky and the cat's out there. When we pick up LG from preschool, Didi heads straight to the guinea pig cage. It's all we can do to crowbar him away.

But, when we brought him to the petting zoo two weekends ago, he was terrified! He wouldn't come out of my arms. He loved looking, but didn't dare touch.

LG with Attitude

LG hurt his finger during dinner while my brother was visiting. Of course, my brother had to egg him on over and over again to show exactly which finger was hurt. Then out came the camera.

Say cheese!

The World According to LG

Since we were afraid of another case of hysteria (of which he recovered quite nicely 5 minutes after hanging up last night), today we just chatted with David's sister who told us this:

(1) Apparently for lunch they had corndogs and french fries. When served the fries, LG asked in all seriousness, "are they organic?"

(2) LG and baby cousin R (2 yrs old) were fighting over a toy so Rachel asked LG to share. He replied "I only share at Little Bear [his preschool]"
Rachel to LG "You don't share with Didi?"
LG: "No. He's too little for my toys."
Rachel: "Well, Can you share your toys with R? R can share his toys with you."
LG: "R is too little to go to Little Bear."

LG with cousins over Spring Break

Thanks to facebook, I got these wonderful updates during the day from my sister-in-law:

8:17 a.m.
LG woke up @ 7:45 ish thanks to Rylan yelling Gooooood Mooooorning Emmett =) now for Bannana and apple oatmeal panckaes yummy...and he's eating them up because he's on #3.

10:38 a.m.
He only cried a lil last ngt before bed he was soooo tired! All is well now and were packing for the park. =) we were informed mommy doesn't let me take toys to the park hehe!"

2:25 p.m.
"Well we survived the park no boo boo's or tempertantrums. I was however informed that mommy does not make him wear a hat nor wear sunscreen if he does not want to, oh yes my favorite he's not allowed to eat oatmeal raisin cookies because you said they look funny =). Love it <3."

At 7:30 p.m. we called LG to say goodnight and he was hysterical - take me home! I want to go home tonight. Not tomorrow. Nooo. I want to see Zane and mommy and daddy. Etc. Etc. It broke my heart and I wanted to sweep him up and magically transport him home.

David was not so taken in. Apparently he deals with it every day at drop off at preschool.

According to my sister in law, he was perfectly fine before the call and undoubtedly fine afterwards. Still, despite how nice and quiet it is with only one child, I do miss LG.

But his smiling and whining will be back soon enough!

LG - 4 yrs and 1 month

Lg is a bundle of contradictions. What child isn't? What person isn't? For example, on bath day (every two or three days) we practically have to drag him kicking and screaming to the bathtub but once he's in there, we practically have to drag him kicking and screaming out of it.

He loves to clean up - but as he clarified, he loves to help me put away the dishes (and adult thing). He does not love to clean up his toys.

When his friend Henry came over early one morning so I could babysit while his parents went to an appointment, LG changed out of his pajamas and into his daytime clothes quicker than a greased pig...by himself. The whole time he kept on double checking that Henry was noticing how "grown up" he was.

When it's just us, sometime we have to straddle him WWF style to change him. Other times, he just demands that WE change him. When asked, he offers us 4 year old logic "I don't want to." Why? "Because I don't like to." Why? "Because I don't want to." Rinse and repeat.

Meanwhile, he LOVES to put on his jacket so he can show off his now excellent zippering skills. I'm sure once he's mastered that, I'll go back to being his valet and slave.

Sigh.

In other news, LG seems to have finally mastered the alphabet. He pretty much can read all the letters now without a problem (most times) and can write his name mostly legibly. He prefers to write really small, like "grown ups," not big inch high block letters, like "little kids." Since it's so small, he'll draw a perfect, petite arrow pointing to his name, just so you don't miss it.

On Scraped Knees Or My Kids will not grow up to be Surgeons

Yesterday, went to lovely cousin's house to celebrate her even lovelier baby's first birthday. While there, both kids managed to trip in the back yard and scrape their knee. I didn't notice at first with Didi. He tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and he usually just picks himself up and keeps going without a fuss. This time he cried, but stopped after a few seconds. It wasn't until several minutes later that I noticed that his knee was a bit scratched up and being concerned I was able to procure some alcohol pads to clean it up.

Big mistake! First of all, it probably stung. Second of all, he finally noticed that his right knee was scraped up and long, long, LONG after the alcohol sting was over, he kept pointing to the knee and start crying. Then he'd be distracted by something, stop crying, then for some reason, his attention would focus on the knee, and he's start all over again. Trying to patch things up with a band aid made it even worse, since it brought attention to said knee and soon he was screaming again.

Meanwhile, while I was dealing with this, I found David in the backyard holding LG. Apparently he fell down while chasing a posse of boys (there were several boys aged 4 - 7 at the party and let me tell you, it does not take much to form a gang) and LG mildly scraped his left knee. From then on, he refused to walk..."my knee, my knee. Look, there's blood!" You'd think by the way he was acting, he was crippled for life. We had to carry him everywhere or else help him hop one legged. The DRAMA.

When we finally got home, bath time was a nightmare. As soon as I stripped Didi down he once again realized the knee! the knee! and screamed through the entire, quick bath. (I'd otherwise skip but the back of his hair was a rats nest and it really, really needed conditioning). LG started screaming as soon as Didi started screaming. Then after LG was washed and dressed, he walked (limping naturally) holding up the pant leg of his PJ's so that it wouldn't touch his "wound."

Of course, as parents, you want to be consoling and understanding, but really, all I could think was neither child was destined to be a surgeon.

Raising Foodies

On Saturday we met up with the "cousins" to celebrate the March birthdays (5 amongst the 4 cousins, husbands, and children) and welcome my brother who was making a visit from China. I was tasked to bring fruit, and I managed to swing the first of the season organic strawberries from one of my favorite stands in the farmer's market.

Ann, my cousin, also got strawberries, but from the local supermarket.

When Didi woke up from his nap (1.5 hours on my chest while everyone else was singing karaoke), he devoured the strawberries I bought. Couldn't eat them fast enough.

Then I gave him a wedge of the supermarket strawberries. He popped it in his mouth like the others, made a face, then spat it out.

Poor child, you'll never be able to leave foodie-central. Have I doomed you to a life of snobbery, unable to even visit the produce section of your neighborhood grocery store?

When I Grow Up

LG: When I get bigger, I'll be able to cook you dinner.
Me: Why thank you.
LG: And I'll be able to use the big knife and stay up after you guys go to bed.
Me: Really, and you'll change into your pajamas by yourself and go to bed by yourself?
LG: Nahh. I'll be with Didi.

Glad to see that LG has got his priorities.

Guitar Home Videos

Having fun showing off for Uncle Eddie.

Happy 4th Birthday, Happy 18 months and Other News

Has it really been a month? I guess I missed both LG and Didi's monthly posts! I can't believe it's already March 15th. I feel like I start each post with excuses why I haven't posted, and since I'm a streak, I might as well continue. The last two weeks has probably been the most stressful since I was working fulltime before Didi was born, which is reason number one. And reason number two?? FACEBOOK. As most of my friends are on there trading gossip and one liners, the blog has become less of a communication tool than a online journal.

Anyway, back to the last two weeks. LG's original birthday party was planned for Sunday, March 1st at Golden Gate Park - same as the year before. Then as that day became in range of the 10 day weather forecast it became more and more clear that the day will be pouring rain and thus began a frantic search to find an alternative. This was made slightly more complicated as this was a joint birthday with Irene (whose birthday is 3 days after LG's) so that meant coordinating with another family. At this point, about 100 people had RSVP's to the evite so finding an indoor alternative within a week was not easy.

Finally, I booked an indoor playspace for the following Friday, expensive, but with two families not as bad. But this turned out to be the same weekend as the cookbook launch party and the beginning of "busy" time at work. David also had plans on Saturday night to go drinking with friends, which meant, well, lots going on. Then on Thursday before the big party, I got word from my manager that he wasn't coming back from his business trip because his father was in the hospital, which meant that I had to do TWO jobs.

So basically last weekend was non-stop. And then after the book party on Sunday, I was off to work and non-stop, going in early, working late until about Thursday afternoon. Then to add insult to injury, LG decided he wasn't tired due to napping well 7 days in a row, so he didn't go to bed until 10:30pm Friday night and 11pm Saturday night.

Consequently this is the first night in two weeks that I'm even remotely coherent to blog. And what have I been doing? Griping!!

Anyway, I'll stop. Let's talk about the kids.

LG is four! When asked, he'll respond with four raised fingers. No words. The fingers are enough. Which kind of describes him perfectly. He's old and young at the same time. Coherent and not. Thinking and not. You can have a reasoned conversation one moment, then he'll descend into emotional hysteria the next.

He's recently has developed enough patience to draw, but for him, it's a 4-D experience. As he sits down with a pen, he'll tell himself a story (usually involving rockets, monsters, and explosions) and physically draw out what's happening. Afterwards, he'll sit down and describe the drawing almost like a comic book. First this, then that, and finally something explodes.

At preschool he's learned how to write his name pretty well and has learned quite a bit about dinosaurs (by the way, he's an omnivore, not a carnivore or an herbivore) and volcanoes. When my mom came to visit, she put him to bed one night so David and I could have a date night, and apparently instead of her reading him a book, he took out his volcano book and spent the next 20 minutes explaining to HER all about pressure in the earth, lava, and of course, explosions.

In other big news, LG is pull-up free! He's been sleeping in his underwear since a week before his 4th birthday. Basically he ran out of pull-ups and since he's been dry for about a month, I refused to buy more. Since then he's only had one accident. Otherwise, he wakes up in the middle of the night, runs to the bathroom (sometimes he gets me, other times he does it himself) then goes back to bed! Yeah!! One down, one to go!

Finally, LG has finally had his culinary a-ha, when he tried two things (of course, I forget what) and shouted in delight, when you taste two things together it tastes better than each one alone! And to think he thought of this all by himself with out the benefit of a recess peanut butter cup commercial!



Onto Didi. I can't believe he's 18 months now. Of course, I have to compare to when LG was 18 months and we were traipsing all over Italy with him. Sigh. I know I've written about this before, but will he always seem smaller? Physically, at least, he is. He's at least a couple of inches and 3 pounds lighter than LG was at this age. In other ways, though, he's not. He has way more vocabulary words (since last month he's added "baby," "dirty," and "more" in English and ji (chicken), pa (scared), and zou (walk) in Chinese. Occasionally he's repeat words perfectly to the shock of everyone ("COOKIE!") and then we'll never here him say it again.

Although he's not saying much, he understands a lot. He can point to most of the photographs in a baby book we have (Yu zai na li? - Where's the fish?). When you say "shua ya" (brush teeth) or "xi zao" (take a bath) he'll rush to the bathroom.

He's a lot more timid than LG was at this age. He clings more to me when he's in unfamiliar surroundings and doesn't respond well to strangers (I remember LG running off with anyone that would say hi to him at the airport at this age - LG's much shyer now, thank goodness). He's deathly afraid of cats and dogs in real life but will point to them over and over again in books.

Napping is still a pain. For an hour and half every Saturday and Sunday, I get comfortable in the glider, get out my magazine and iPOD and am just committed to nursing and holding him until he's at least moderately rested. Why oh why???

Otherwise, he's just stunningly cute. And lovely. Daycare is always telling him how wonderful he is, how smart, how handsome, how easy, how delightful. Exploring the world (including climbing on the dining room table). Fascinated by ants and flies (he LOVED the major ant infestation we had a few weeks ago). Enamored by books. Eagar to grow up (now, when I put him to bed, he LOVES to crawl into LG's bed, pull up a blanket and book, and pretend to sleep there). I can remember why someone would want another baby at this stage.

But this time I'm smarter. I KNOW what two's going to be like!!!

Interview with LG: 4 years old

For those of you not on Facebook:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Clean up.

2. What makes mom happy?
When I clean up.

3. What makes mom sad?
When you don't hug me.

4. How does mom do to make you laugh?
Tickle me.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Mommy cleaned up.

6. How old is your mom?
(Flashing 4 fingers on each hand) This many. One, two, three, four, five, six, eleven, twelve!

7. How tall is your mom?
(Measuring me with his hand at intervals) One, two, three, four, five, six, eleven, twelve, thirteen pounds! No, I mean thirteen inches.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Brush her teeth.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Work

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Me.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Not somersaulting.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Work.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Mashed potato. (note: I never eat mashed potatoes)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Helping me somersault.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Curious George.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Read a book.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We have the same eyes.

19. How are you and your mom different?
We're different colors.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because I'm there.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Good Life (local grocery store).

17 Months and Sleeping Through the NIght!!

I'm really slacking on the blog front these days - 5 days late for the 17 month Didi update. I was just reading some old posts and realized that Didi has been sleeping through the night for about a month now. Hallelujah!!! Goes to bed, in the crib, without a fuss around 7:30 pm and sleeps to about 6:30 am the next day more or less. Finally, after almost two years of not getting more than 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep in a row, I feel almost rested. Almost, let's not exaggerate. I still got a massive sleep deficit to work on.

Of course, this has coincided with a distinct breakdown in the afternoon nap...at home. At day care, he still sleeps two to three hours. On the weekends, I have to hold him and nurse him the entire time. I can't just put him the crib. We've tried letting him cry it out for an HOUR, but it hasn't worked. He just cries and cries. Not a desperate cry. Just a come get me cry. With occasional pauses. Then more crying. He won't nap for David at all. David's got to drive him around to get him to sleep (sound familiar???). It just astounds me because he was such an excellent napper when he was a baby...

At daycare, on the hand, all they have to do is tell him that all the other kids are sleeping and he needs to sleep, too. He'll just roll over, lay on his belly and go to sleep. When I try that at home, he just sits next to me and cries and cries and cries. Sigh. I guess you can't have everything.

Anyhoooo. Each day Didi becomes more like a kid and less like a baby. In the morning, he and LG sit at the little kiddie table and have breakfast together - no highchair!. Didi is an expert at getting on the chair all by himself. We tried having family dinner one night with LG sitting next to me and Didi sitting next to David in a booster seat, but it was a disaster. Didi kept on getting up and trying to climb up on the table. So for now, dinner's still in the high chair.

Speaking of little chair, whenever I pick LG up from preschool, Didi runs to the books, grabs one, and takes it to one of the little preschool tables, pulls up a chair, and opens the book up to read, just like he's pretending to be a big kid. It cracks me up, especially he since he has exhibited no real interest in book until fairly recently.

Didi's vocabulary is also expanding. It occurred to me the other day, that other than "ball", "nana" (banana) and "mommy" and "dada" all his other words are in Chinese: "Mao mao" (cat), "Bao bao" (pick me up), "Da" (short for Da Kai or open), "Yao" (I want), and today for the first time "Ma" (horse). He shakes or nods his head for yes and no. He puts his finger up to his lips to shush when LG is still sleeping in the morning. He throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. Fortunately, the don't seem to last long..

17 months seems to so old and so young at the same time. When LG was 17 months, he spent three nights alone over at Nana's house and I just can't imagine doing that with Didi. He's sooo little, too little, still a baby. I don't think anyone else has put him to bed other than me (not even David) since we away for the weekend for David's 40th birthday in September.

I wonder if he'll always seem that way. It's the curse of being the second kid and I wonder whether this was something that parents thought about between my sister, brother and I. Will Didi always be the baby?

In other news, I worked out our budget, and decided that we can no longer afford to keep both kids in daycare full time, especially since it looks like job prospects for David are pretty slim to non-existent. We also stopped our housekeeping service (ironically, our house has never looked better...since we can't rely on a bi-weekly scrub we're being a little more neater on a daily basis). LG will only go to preschool 3x a week starting next month. For now, we'll keep Didi in fulltime since he does so well there (i.e. he naps) and since his daycare is so small I'm afraid that if we pull him out we won't be able to get him back in.

I'll leave you with a couple of LG'isms. I know I should save them for HIS blogpost in a couple of weeks (the big FOUR), but I'm afraid I'll forget:

(1) After everytime LG takes a dump, before he wipes his behind, before he pulls up his pants, before he flushes, he jumps of the toilet and hops to the hand towel by the sink to wipe his eyes. It cracks me up. The EFFORT!

(2) Lately, LG likes to brag to us how strong he is. To prove it, he stretches out one arm, pulls up his sleeve, and dares you to "feel my bones."

(3) (LG will kill me one day for typing this). The other day, LG decided he was going to sleep in his underwear instead of a pull-up and the sensation must have been unusual, because his "man-parts" were a wee stimulated so to speak. Anyway, while I was reading a bedtime book, he pulled down the front of his pants, and pressed down on the protruding appendange with one hand and exclaimed "honk, honk!."

(4) Finally, the other day LG dared tell me "I don't care" when I asked him to do something. When I asked him in utter seriousness what that meant, he put up his arms and admitted "I don't know."

Enough for now!! To bed.

Spoke too soon. He's onto us.

LG's crawled into bed two nights in a row. The first night we tried to get him back to his own bed. It was only 11pm. He kicked up a big enough fuss that I thought he'd wake Didi up so he ended up in our bed and I ended up in the guest bedroom.

The last night, he woke me at 3am to declare he had to go to the bathroom. Hooray! This is the first time he volunteered to pee in the toilet in the middle of the night.

Of course, he ended up in our bed afterwards. Still. I was happy!

LG - 3 years 11 Months

Well, this is the first post under my new vow to write once a month about each child on his birth day. Of course, I'm completely uninspired so have nothing much to say other than, this is soooo much more work than facebook. Anyhoooo.

LG.

Sleep:
After almost two years of crawling into our bed nearly every night, LG if finally, FINALLY, hallelujah, sleeping in his bed all night. Well, most nights (he did crawl into our bed at 6 am this morning post nightmare). Days of threats and bribery over. OK, maybe not bribery. He still gets a treat if (a) he sleeps in his bed all night long and (b) there's no pee in his pull up. Ahhh. It is soooo nice to be in my bed all night long... I can hardly believe we put up with it so long. Patience. Everything is a phase...although some phases last muuuuuuch longer than you expect.

Oh, nearly every morning no pee in his pull-up! We started suggesting once he turns 4 he can go to bed in big boy underwear. Fingers crossed! The things that moms happy...

Eat:
I think LG had a growth spurt a couple of weeks back. He would actually, gasp, eat a proper meal. He also looks taller and skinnier. But that phase has passed. No he's returned to being a carb man. Pasta. Bread. Cereal. Lots of cereal. He would starve to death without cereal. Honey Nut Cheerios to be exact. We tried to ween him off the sweet stuff to regular Cheerios, but that didn't last long. Sigh. The worst part is he'll ask for something specific for dinner, you make it for him, and he'll take three bites and say he's all done. And when you finally put all the dishes away, he announces that he's hungry...for cereal!

Play:
Light sabers and guns. Need I say more? I hate to say it, but the other day Didi found one of the guns LG has made out of legos and started running around making sound effects. He even pretended to hide behind the soft and poke the gun out over the edge. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Who woulda a thought???

Human:
Every day, LG becomes more and more a person. This morning, when he woke up early he told me "I'm having trouble sleeping." Wow. It just seems so grammatically sophisticated. He still mixes up irregular past tense (e.g. She keeped chasing me. I sleeped in my bed all night long. Etc.) , but over all I'm constantly astounded that I can carry a real conversation with him now.

I guess that's it for now. I"m sure I'll think of lots when I"m lying in bed trying to goto sleep. But for now, good night!

File this under: Duh!

LG has slept in his bed for 5 nights in a row. This is a world record. I don't think he's done this since he was force-ably penned in a crib.

The secret?

Well, every night, LG insists we "watch him" while he falls asleep. This is because if we don't, he'll get in and out of bed a thousand times (I'm not exaggerating) before he cries himself to sleep. We've tried weening him off this, but so far, it's more trouble than it worth and now that the boys are sharing a room, really not a bother (especially since I got my amazing iPod touch and can watch cool video podcasts!). So we sit, huddled in a blanket (me) or lying under a blanket & pillow (David) at the edge of the bedroom door, within eyesight of our dear son.

After LG falls asleep, we usually clear away the blanket & pillow, so it's in front of the toilet...and well it's just much neater and I had blankets and pillows on the floor. It just doesn't seem sanitary.

BIG MISTAKE. Over the weekend, this brilliant light bulb went off. It occurred to me that if we don't clear about the blanket and pillow and bunch it up like there's still a body in there, LG might wake up in the middle of the night and think we're still watching him!!!

Well, screw sanitation. For a long time I felt like I was just keeping the bed warm for LG to take over in the middle of the night sometime.

Anyway, it's worked!! Well, so far. I feel by merely typing this up I will jinx myself. Still, every night this week, I've been kicking myself: Like, why didn't I think of this A YEAR AGO!!

You Have Competition Blogger

I just realized the other day why I don't blog anymore. Essentially cruising Facebook and writing inane comments on other people's walls has eaten up more valuable post-kiddie bedtime real estate than I care to admit.

So I'm thinking about changing blogging tactics. I got this idea from another mom, so don't think I'm a genius. Once a month, on the date of each child's birth day (13th for Didi, 2nd for LG), I will devote a blog post to that child.

Isn't that boring? Really, I have a lot to say, but just don't have the time. And who cares for mommy whining. I get enough of it from the kids...please don't get me started on Didi, who has recently perfected the high pitched squeal...

Anyway, we'll see how that works out. It also means I'm free from blogging until the 2nd.

P.S. The kids have colds AGAIN. David was wondering when we'd get out of this endless cycle of runny noses!! I told him, don't hold his breath. It might not end for another four years.

Tough Love

After weeks of enduring midnight awakening of an hour plus by Didi, AND the recent refusal to go to bed without a fight, we finally decided to let Didi cry it out.

The first night, he cried for about an hour before going to sleep. He woke up in the middle of the night and David went in to give him a small bottle and put him back into the crib where upon he cried for about 45 minutes.

The second night, he cried for about a half hour before bed and another half hour in the middle of the night.

The third night, he cried for about 15 minutes and slept through the night.

The fourth night he cried for about 15 minutes, woke up at 5 am, David went in with a bottle, then cried for about a half an hour then went back to sleep until I woke him up at 7:40am.

The fifth night (tonight), nothing. We'll see how does tonight. I can't wait until I get three nights in a row without being woken up.

But, of course, I have not mentioned that LG still wakes me up nearly every night and climbs into bed, while I vacate to the guest room downstairs (we've tried every trick in the book to keep him in his bed, including bribery, for about a year, and NOTHING's worked). Tonight he had the audacity to tell me he wanted to sleep with me and Daddy can sleep elsewhere. Oedipal??

Attached to mommy phase

I'll make this brief, and perhaps due to weariness, not funny. Didi, at the age of 16 months, is going through a "I must be attached to mommy" phase. Some kids have it earlier, some later, but as many, many, many moms will attest, it sucks. What does this phase "must be attached to mommy" means?

1. Obviously, while awake, Didi must be on my hip 80% of the time. The other 20% unattached only when distracted by a ball. Didi recently perfected saying "bao bao" (Chinese for pick me up) and is liberally practicing the term.

2. Not so obviously, Didi refuses to sleep. Last night, I practically had to wrestle him to bed at 10pm. You'd think that he'd sleep next to me? Nope! Attached to mommy means to be awake and attached to mommy! Bringing him to bed with me is just an opportunity for him to explore new surroundings. Naps??? He falls asleep in my arms, and the moment I try to transfer him to the crib, he springs up again and refuses to go back to sleep. After trying to get him to sleep for two hours, he finally dozes off in the car (what is the carbon footprint of this nap?) just to wake up an hour later.

AHHHHHH. I love my child, but perhaps not this much....

Happy New Year

No time to write much other than to say we're alive and well. Went to San Diego, again, for New Year's, this time to rendezvous with my sister and her family. LG and Bini were two peas in a pod, all day long insisting on sitting next to each other, playing with each other, and egging each other on. Although Bini is smack in the middle of LG and Didi age-wise (15 months on either side), she had very, very little interest in Didi (poor baby ended up having to entertain himself). It was all about LG.

Anyway, I've had a lot of thoughts swirling in my head that I was thinking about putting it in the blog, but they've all gone away. Instead, I think I'm going to catch up on last night's episode of Top Chef. Crossing my fingers that Didi sleeps well tonight (we had two crap nights in a row then miraculously one night of sleeping through...we'll see what tonight brings!!).

-Judy

Happy Holidays - Redux

Hello all! Happy Holidays once again and thank you for your patience regarding my lack of blogging. Really, I'm just apologizing to myself for I feel I'm the only one who reads it, but believe it or not I find it amusing every once in awhile to peruse the blog history and reflect on the past and wonder about the future. And what better time to do so then right now?

2008 has been a year PACKED with events. I lost 30 pounds. Didi learned to crawl, then to walk, then to wrestle. LG discovered logic and the word "why." We had amazing visits from folks that I hadn't seen in years - one of my best friends from college, Sarah, and my didi (little brother) who now lives in China. I decided to quit my job and miraculously in this economy, managed to find another one within a few weeks of deciding to go back to work...and even miraculously, it's only a mile and half away from my house. LG seems to be doing well in preschool and can read his name with ease...although does not seem to be that interested in learning to read the rest of the alphabet. Didi goes to a fabulous daycare and right now has precocious tendencies towards becoming an excellent scullery maid!!

Although life is exhausting and the house a constant state of disarray, I'm truly enjoying every minute (well, may not those at one in the morning). It turns out that I'm not meant to be a stay at home mom and I'm really loving being back at work. In turn, I look forward to picking the kids up every day and having dinner with them, giving them a bath, and watching them play.

Can life get any better? Well, why not be greedy? These are my wishes for 2009.

1. Keep the weight off and lose 15 more. OK. Maybe that's too greedy. Lose 10 more.
2. Have both kids sleep through the night, in their own beds (wish or fantasy???).
3. Have both David and I fully employed in jobs that we love.
4. Not be stressed about work/life balance.
5. Enjoy being present and aware of every moment that passes and not always worry about what comes next.

Anyway, wishing the handful of people who might be reading this, good luck with your wishes for next year! Wish a lot so the chances are at least one may come true!!

A Year in Pictures - December 2008

A Year in Pictures - Thanksgiving 2008

Legoland, here we come!

A Year in Pictures - November 2, 2008

The One and ONLY time all boys were napping, in bed, at the same time.

A Year in Pictures - October 2008

A Year in Pictures - September 2008

I guess there really IS a Uncle Eddie.

A Year in Pictures - August 2008

Graduating from Nursery School - LG STILL talks about Teacher Paula.

A Year in Pictures - July 2008

You Must Pay the Rent!



I Can't Pay the Rent!

A Year in Pictures - June 2008

A rare video of Didi.

A Year in Pictures - May 2008

It was the year of the Skuut. LG wore out his shoes to little nubs.

A Year in Pictures - April 2008

Is 3 years old too young for a light saber?

A Year in Pictures - March 2008

Playing in the Snow

A Year in Pictures - January 2008

Hanging out with Ann Ayi.

Happy Holidays

Christmas pictures up, soon. Sorry I haven't been posting more often. This time it really is work. For those of you who just received a Christmas card, I promise to have a holiday message up, soon. Really. I promise. Until then, I leave you a little Didi anecdote.

This morning, Didi inexplicably would not got back to sleep after waking up at 5:30 am and being quite clearing still tired (he ended up falling asleep in the high chair for 30 minutes in the midst of eating breakfast a couple of hours later, but that's another story). Anyway, he was playing with his sippy cup of milk (dear sister, he had already nurse for half an hour in my desperate attempt to get him back to sleep, so don't give me a hard time about the cow's milk), and spilled some on the rug.

He disappeared momentarily in the kitchen and back with a kitchen towel and proceeded to try to wipe the spilled milk up....

That's my boy!!! Years from now I'm going to be reminding you of this moment.

3 year Christmas Logic

LG to David while swinging around his light saber, obviously looking for a sparring partner: Daddy, you should ask your mommy and daddy for a light saber for Christmas.

***********

LG, while driving home from preschool in the dark: Look at all the Christmas lights.
Mommy: Should we put up Christmas lights.
LG: Nahhh. We don't celebrate Christmas.
Mommy: Yes we do. But at Nana and Papa's house.
LG: Nana and Papa should put up Christmas lights because they celebrate Christmas. We don't.

****************

Mommy: Should we visit Santa this year?
LG: Last time I went to see Santa I cried. (I have a picture of him at 21 months bawling his eyes out with Santa holds him at arms-length trying to look cheery. It's hilarious and on my key chain).
Mommy: Are you going to cry this time?
LG: No, but I think I'm going to be shy.
(True enough. We got a nice shot of Didi on Santa's lap, but LG wouldn't get within 5 feet of the guy.)

*********

Mommy: What do you want for Christmas.
LG: Slippers. Can you tell Santa I want slippers? Did you tell him? I really want slippers.
Mommy: Anything else?
LG: A motorcycle where the person comes off. (He just has toy motorcycles with attached riders).

********

I'm sure there are others but that's all I can think of now.

Why do my kids not sleep?

It is now 10:49pm and I've spent the last two hours trying to get Didi to sleep. Why oh why do I not give birth to sleepers???? Before Thanksgiving, things were getting better. He was waking up on average once a night but we'd get a day or two or week where he'd sleep through and only occasionally would he wake up twice or more. Then we went to my parents for a week, where he slept like crap in the pack and play, but that's to be expected. Since then he's been waking up precisely at 5am each morning and may or may not go back to sleep. And tonight!! He went to bed as usual around 7:45pm, then up screaming an hour later. Let him fuss for 15 minutes, go in, nurse him back to sleep. He wakes up 10 minutes later, screaming, go in..repeat. Then screaming for 30 minutes. I shower. Still screaming. Then go in to change diaper. Still screaming. Motrin. Still screaming. Boob again. Calm, but not asleep. Finally in crib staring at me. Staring at space. Turn over on tummy. And asleep. At last.

Well, I have to be at a 7:30am meeting on hour from my house tomorrow morning, so I'm going to sleep, too. No screaming on my part. At least, not out loud.

Still Alive

Wow! Has it really been 2 1/2 weeks since I last posted? That's crazy. I think that's longest I've gone ignoring my blog since, well, since before Didi was born!

You probably think it was work. After all, I'm a full time working mom, now. But so far, so good. I had a few hesitations at first, but in this economy I couldn't afford to be choosy. Overall, I'm really happy with the atmosphere. The people I'm working with have been great and extremely helpful. In general, I'm just really enjoying my job. It's so nice to think again and solve problems. Of course, that could just be because I just started and haven't really had to do anything of substance yet.

But mostly, the cookbook has sucked up most of my spare time. I've been working my butt off and have gone to bed past midnight three times in the last week proofreading and editing. It doesn't sound so late, but imagine focusing on consistency of commas usage when you've been up since 5:45 (Didi's current preferred morning call), worked 9 hours, drove around for 45 minutes picking up your kids from two different child cares, entertained said children for the precious little time you have to enjoy them, and put them to bed. Believe me, it's a full day. Hopefully the cookbook will be ready to go to the printers tomorrow and I can finally relax!!

All relatives reading this note: you KNOW what you'll be getting for Christmas. Friends and acquaintances can purchase the cookbook at Good Life Grocery store or from the San Francisco Library website. I'll post the link as soon as I get it. Remember, all profits benefit the local library!!!

Anyway, enough about me!! The kids are growing up so fast that I can't even begin to comment on all that's changed. This post will turn out to be a thousand pages long.

First of all, my returning to work has definitely affected the kids. Before I would leisurely get the kids ready and cart them to David's car in my pajamas at around 8:45 am, if we're lucky, sometimes later if LG slept in. Each kid would get a huge hug and a kiss goodbye. Now I aim to leave around 7:45 am. For the first couple of days LG was still asleep when I left, which made the mornings a little easier as I only had to deal with one kid. I have perfected the art of putting on make up while holding a 24 pound toddler.

And then LG started getting up earlier, and earlier, and earlier, so for a few days he was waking up at 6 am - over two hours earlier than his previous waking time, which as you can imagine, put him, me, David in a WONDERFUL mood. LG has also started to protest drop-up, kicking up a big fuss, tears, the whole shebang. At bedtime, LG has started to request a snack and drink after brushing his teeth and reacting, shall I say, badly, when refused. One night, I finally asked, do you want something to eat because you're hungry or because you don't want to go to bed. He responded in a quiet void "because I don't want to go to bed." Bless his little heart. He's still too young to lie!

But in other ways, LG is a prince. A few weeks ago I asked one of his preschool teachers how LG was and at first his teacher said great. Then he did a double take, and turned his head to say "LG is actually the perfect student. He's smart. Asks a lot of questions. He has no behavior problems, listens to the teachers. He plays with lots of different classmates. Everyone loves him."

At home, I'm constantly shocked at what he can express. One day he said "I hope my friend's are at the playground." Hope!! What a complex idea!!! He also mentioned bringing a umbrella one day "Just in case it rained." Just in case!!! And in other news, LG can fold!! We were hanging out in the living room and out of no where, he folded a baby blanket (used as a cape) into a perfect rectangle. Apparently he's been doing this for months at preschool when putting away his nap stuff and we had no idea. Literally, you could have knocked me over with a feather. LG next time I need to fold towels, I have a task for you.

Speaking of expressions and smart kids, Didi is becoming more vocal by the day. He can say mama and ball. He's beginning to understand where things belong and what comes next. When I pick him from daycare, as soon as he sees me, he grabs his shoes and points to where his jacket is. The other day he took his socks off by himself and without me saying a thing or motioning with my hands, he stood up, and carried the socks to the hamper and put them away!!! Today, he picked up my keys, and carried them to the door and tried to "unlock" it. He can also climb up and off the sofa by himself.

He's great at imitating. We brush our teeth together at night, and now he'll spit out his toothpaste just like I do. When I rinse my mouth with water, he'll do the same thing. It's crazy cute.

His daycare keeps on telling me how smart he is and how he understands EVERYTHING. Lie down. Get up. Go throw this away. He copies everyone and everything. He knows where things belong and loves to clean up. Apparently, everyone adores him there too, too.

Of course, like LG, since I started work, he's been waking up at half past it's still dark outside. Funny how vast a divide there is between 5:50 am and 6 am. 10 measly minutes, but one number has a five in front and the other has a six and really, at that time in the morning, it's the difference between insanely hating your child and tolerating him.

Two lovable kids. A job in a bad economy. What more can I want?

P.S. By the way, David's still looking so if you know any thing, please don't hesitate to pass the info our way. Although I'll miss having a warm dinner as soon as I walk in the door, another paycheck would be nice.