Saturday, June 30, 2007

The Little Mermaid

Well, not quite but Malia is pretty darn close! I am floored at how much this little peanut adores the water. In any form: pool, rain, sprinklers, puddles. You name it, she's in it.

Friday was the last day for our Disneyland passport for the summer so we made a very last minute decision to go for a visit: the kids woke up from their nap, Truong came home 10 minutes later, and off we went 15 minutes after that. We decided to head straight to California Adventure to the water park since the kids always have such a great time there. Usually we go to Disneyland, go on some rides and finish off with CA Adventure. We never seem to have enough time to really let the kids play in the water so we decided let's just skip the crowds at DL and hit the water as it was a nice hot day. We even packed appropriately with extra clothes and shoes.

And because we were so well prepared, it was the ONE SINGLE day that Kael wanted to go on the rides instead of playing in the water. Grrr! Since DL looked pretty crowded still, we opted to stay put and let Malia enjoy the park (1 out of 2 kids having fun isn't so bad, right?).


You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out....
This is how you do it , Malia!
More water, I pray for more water!

Is this not the look of pure ecstasy?

Uh-oh. I think my shirt is a little wet.

Can she get a littler wetter??

Thursday, June 28, 2007

It's the Last Day of School!

It's the last day of school and throughout the state children everywhere are celebrating. Kael hasn't grasped the concept yet and is quite upset with the prospect of not going to school. I can take that in two ways: (1) he loves school and that's a good thing; or (2) he's so bored at home with me and his sister that he loves school.

For me, it's a bittersweet moment. My baby completed a major milestone in his life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know - it's 'just preschool.' It's still a major step. I remember the first couple of weeks when he started: the crying, the fierce hugs, the 'why are you leaving me in this strange place with strange people??' looks. It was just as hard for ME as it was for him. It was the first time I had to leave him to seek comfort elsewhere, not in my arms. It was heartbreaking.

But he not only survived, he thrived. He is such a different kid now. Over the course of the year he's become a 'little person,' maturing from my little baby boy. He's saying stuff and doing things and singing songs that didn't originate from me. It makes me realize how important teachers are in our children's lives. I know it's a cliche but kids really are like little sponges - who you as a parent choose to be around them and have an influence on them plays a great role in who they become as they grow up. When he comes home from school saying things that I know Ms. Jackie said in class, it makes me smile - both in merriment of his parroting and poignancy that someone else has stepped into his life and left a footprint in it.

Next year he goes to a different school, which I'm torn about. On the one hand, I know it will be good for him as the new school has a great record for academics, more teacher support from the administration and more resources (read: more money); and on the other, I'm sad because he'll be leaving the familiarity of the old school and his friends: the 2 Maxes, Josh, Justin, his 'girlfriends' Abby and Emma, Tyler, Nikki, Paradese, Alex.... Luckily kids are incredibly resilient and I know Kael will make new friends in no time.

Here are some pictures of the Last Day of School party:

Kael and friends playing with bubble wands. Under normal circumstances, I would be very alarmed at a bunch of kids staring at the ground so intently. What are they looking at? A squashed bug? Are they touching it? Poking it?





























The kids in the classroom eating their personal pizzas courtesy of Cortina's - the best pizzeria in town! Patrick hand-made each little pizza (19 in all) that morning and made the delivery in time for lunch.



















Just like UFO sightings, Bigfoot sightings, and the Lochness Monster sightings, here's a very rare picture of Kael doing something he almost never does: EATING!













Ms. Jackie opening her gift from the boys (Kael, Josh and Ryan). Remember the tye-die picture from the 'Summer of Love' post? Ms. Jackie started crying and it almost made me tear up. She's Kael's first teacher and I think she will always have a place in his heart.


























Ms. Jackie and Kael with the card he made for her. He signed his name on the lower left side.




















And the Class of 2007, happily loading up on sugar before going home. Thanks!!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Threesomes

I didn't realize that when we agreed to house the silk worms, that those fat caterpillars would turn into nympho-moths. I'm astounded at how determined these things are to hook up! I feel like a voyeur whenever I check on them. Kael is still as fascinated as ever in the whole process. He keeps asking to hold them but I'm not too comfortable letting him touch the moths while they.... uh... are having... ah... coitus.

Here are the cocoons. If you look towards the middle-bottom you can see our first moth. The cocoons are pretty neat. They are quite hard and the silk threads are pretty sturdy.










Kael isn't the only kid completely interested in the moths. Malia really REALLY wants to touch them too. Great, another bug lover. I can already envision the vast amount of bugs they are going to bring home.













Can you tell she likes using her pointy finger to get her message across? She points at everything! It's really funny.


















I wonder what she's going to do if we let her grab one? Put it in her mouth? Squish it like she squishes watermelon? Shake them like maracas?



















And the moment you've all been waiting for.... the threesome. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw these horny little buggars. Some of these guys look totally beat up - their wings are smashed to smithereens, their bodies are scraped up... like they are on their last legs. Apparently, they live for mating. Once they lay their eggs, they die. I haven't figured out what (and how) I'm going to tell Kael yet about that.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Stuck between a Rock and a Wet Place

For the most part I've got the Mom thing down. Every once in a while I'll fumble a bit but I think I do a pretty good job. I run into trouble when the kids change the routine, whether it's sleeping later than usual and messing up the fine time management balance between the kids or when they are sick. I'm noticing lately the culprit throwing me off is MALIA.

Kael and I have a great rhythm: he's very much a routine kid. He gets quirky attitude issues as all 3 year olds do and his issues tend to go in cycles: great kid for 2 months, hell on wheels for 1 month. But I can reasonably predict him.

Malia is coming into her own. She knows what she wants and will very vocally tell you what she doesn't want. She also knows that the best way to get what she wants is by simply taking it and walking away as fast as she can while clutching the contraband item with both hands. Because she's so teeny tiny, her little attitude is kinda cute.

But that's not the monkey wrench in my finely tuned day. It's her nosiness and quick-of-feet'ness. Man, that baby is fast, and unfortunately, very quiet.

Truong came home late today so I had bathtime duties on my own. No sweat - I've done it before - I've got a system. Toss Kael in my shower with 20 pieces of stick-on dinosaurs while I bathe Malia in the kids' tub. Finish her up, let her roam then finish Kael. One TV show for Kael while I nurse and put her down then stories for Kael and tuck him in. No problem, cake walk!

Our shower head is a hand-held that's kind of high so I have to step into the shower on my tip-toes to unhook it. I shampooed Kael (which he hates) and reached up to take the nozzle down. I took one step out of the stall so I wouldn't get wet while rinsing him off. Next thing I know, two little hands clutching Kael's clean, dry jammies poke into the stall from behind me. Holy cow! I take the jammies and toss them back into the bedroom and tell Malia "go get them!" By this time she's seen the water - we all know she's part fish - and her face lights up like a Christmas tree. She lunges into the shower stall. I hold her back with one arm, my other arm has the nozzle and there's a big glob of shampoo sud slowly making its way down Kael's face.

You know how in certain situations a million thoughts rush through your head in a span of 2 seconds? I had one of those moments.

Can I miraculously grow 3 inches to hook up the shower head without taking a step in?
Can I rinse off Kael's shampoo with one arm without burning his eyes and forever scar him with shampoo-fear for the rest of his life?
Can I let go of the shower head and hope that it won't spray water all over the place?
Can I trust Malia to not climb over my leg while I rinse off Kael, thus getting a second soaking?
Darn it why do these things always happen to me when I'm alone?!!

Time was of the essence as the shampoo glob was picking up speed so I ended up stepping into the shower with Kael. Fully clothed. With Malia banging on the glass doors, looking very hurt at missing out on all the fun. I managed to rinse Kael off without getting completely soaked but then we were trapped. I couldn't open the door without knocking into Malia.

So there we were: Kael and I stuck in the shower stall, trying to get a 13 month old to step aside while the baby was trying to get in. What finally freed us was a tactic learned from having 2 dogs: I threw Kael's toothbrush through a 2 inch gap I managed to get open and like a good nosy girl, she went to investigate and promptly stuck it into her mouth.

The lesson I learned today: make sure I have a good supply of clean toothbrushes in the shower.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

The Summer of Love

Wow - what a great day we had today! It was a beautiful, sunny but not too hot day. Perfect for being outside, which is what Kael did all day.

This morning Truong and Kael went to Corona del Mar with Dennis and Josh (I stayed home with Malia so she could nap). The boys dug trenches in the sand, made a mini-Molokini island and ran around in the surf. Sometime over lunch it was mentioned that Kael got a brand new tent (it's set-up in our room) and Kael invited Josh over to sleep in it (Kael's slept and napped in it since it was purchased Saturday morning). Of course Josh promptly said "OK!" so I received a phone call from Truong informing me that although he left with one kid, he's coming home with two. Shana thinks this is weird, having a tent set up in the house but it's just another typical day in the Mai household.

Erin (Josh's mom) invited us over for a slip-n-slide and pizza party since we took her kid for the afternoon (a fair trade I would say: her napping kid for food and entertainment). Since we needed to take a picture of the three boys (Kael, Josh and Ryan) for their pre-school teacher's end-of-year gift anyway, it was then decided that the Mai's AND the DiDodo's would head over to the Bickmeier's for pictures, slip-n-slide and pizza.

See how a simple task can suddenly take on a life of its own?

Don't ask me why, but I thought it would be really cute to dress all the kids in tie-dye and call it our Summer of Love picture. I'm not sure what's scarier: that I wanted to dress everyone in tie-dye OR that I had enough tie-dye to dress up FIVE kids??

I took about 25 pictures and 1.5 pictures turned out decent. All the kids were pretty good. They had weird grimaces that sort of passed as smiles, but at least most of them stayed put. The only kid who kept walking off was Malia. There's one picture where she's not even in it - I think I caught part of her head as she walked away.

From there we all headed to the backyard and the kids had a blast. I didn't change Malia into her swim suit as I didn't think she'd get wet. Boy, was I wrong. She was completely soaked. She got knocked around by the boys on the slip-n-slide but she got back up and kept on trucking. She's a tough little peanut. And she kept going back for more. Even when we were all done playing in the water and started eating. I kept having to change her clothes because she kept walking back to the grass and playing in the puddles. I ran out of clothes (she went through 3 outfits) and started borrowing Kaitlyn's clothes. Finally we had to fold up the slip-n-slide so she wouldn't wander back into it.

All in all it was a great time. Thank you Bickmeier's for having us over and thank you DiDodo's for bringing the pizza. Pictures are posted in I spy...

Friday, June 22, 2007

Can I have some privacy? PLEASE??

There is a belief that once you become a mother, your life loses all privacy walls and becomes an open book -- or in this case an open door. Let me tell you: it's the honest truth.

Tonight we decided to take advantage of Jamba Juice's 2-for-1 coupon and took the kids out for a little post-dinner outing. When leaving the house with children, certain steps need to be taken before one can actually get on the road. One of the most important steps -- actually, I would venture to say THE MOST IMPORTANT step -- is to convince your child to use the bathroom before leaving the house. Kael has a tendency to hold it until the last minute, until the need is desperately urgent, before he races to the bathroom. Lately however he's been refusing to go at all unless it's on his terms, his timeline (arghh!). Luckily, we have been able to outmaneuver him on many things by saying stuff like "I'M going to use the bathroom first. I'M going to eat dinner first." etc., etc. You get the drift.

Tonight (as usual) he didn't want to go so I went first because, well, I really had to go. So I'm in there, doing my business when the door bursts open and there's Kael, mad and upset because I'm on the toilet first.

"Mom, I want to go pee first!"
Well, I can't get off because the process has already started. What's that saying... the train's already left the station...?

"Honey, let mommy finish and you can go after."
I see Malia peeping under his arm, wanting to see what all the ruckus is about.

"NO mommy! I want to go pee now!"
He's getting pretty steamed because I'm still on the toilet. Crimony kid, there's TWO other bathrooms upstairs!! Malia in the meantime has squeezed herself in so now there's 3 people in the little closet bathroom downstairs.

"Kael, just wait a second, please, I'm almost done. Let me finish and you can go after."
By now he's stomping around, trying to pull me off the toilet. I'm trying to clean up. Malia sees me take some toilet paper and immediately starts madly spinning the roll.

"MOMMY! GET OFF THE TOILET! RIGHT NOW!!!"
For crying out loud... mother... FINE!

"#$%^&*@!!" (All in my head, of course.)
I manage to clean up, hobble my way out of the bathroom, holding my shorts up with one hand so I don't trip, grab Malia with the other and hop-hop-hop my way out. I put Malia down so I can pull up my shorts and she bee-lines back into the bathroom to finish unrolling the toilet paper. I grab her again (there's a good sized pile on the floor by now) and hobble my way to the kitchen sink where I let her go, pull up my shorts and wash my hands.

"MALIA NOOO!!!"
Crap! I run back to the bathroom to see both Kael and Malia peering into the toilet. He's bare assed (he just peed) and I'm thinking "omigod, he peed on her, he peed on her arm, he peed on her head, he peed in her face, she DRANK PEE!" and I'm bracing myself, not knowing what to expect. But Malia is saying "uh-oh, uh-oh" pointing at something in the toilet.

She had just dropped a plastic Easter egg in the toilet and it was floating around, like a little purple polka dotted boat in a light yellow lake.

Thank goodness! The solution was just a simple fishing expedition, not a sanitizing job. Clearly a job for Dad.

Next time, I'm using the upstairs bathroom.

Can you relate?

I had to share this video - it's hilarious. If you are a mom, you will truly appreciate this one.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

ECHO... Echo....echo....

Tonight Kael is having a sleep-over at Ong-Ba's house (grandparents). This is a quasi-ritual with them where at the end of the week Kael gets his Ong-Ba's undivided attention with no parental interference to getting his way. "Quasi" because it's sort of an unspoken deal - pending any out-of-town trips, visitors, social engagements, he's usually over there getting spoiled rotten.

He always has a great time and the quality time he gets with his grandparents is priceless. Truong and I get a break, and we get to spend quality time with Malia. Everyone wins.

But gosh, I miss the little buggar!

We ate dinner and it was strangely quiet. Malia ate earlier and was cruising around the house, leaving a trail of Cheerios behind her like she was Hansel and Gretal (minus Hansel). Truong and I chatted about our day
while we ate , his work, plans for tomorrow... then we ate some more... played with Malia when she cruised by. Dinner was eaten in such a calm, collected manner. No questions thrown out of left field ("Mommy, is ice-cream spicy? Are silkworms nice? Do ladybugs fly far? Are brown beetles mean? Do you remember that mean lady at Target?"), no debate as to how many more bites until he's done, no nagging to take another bite so he can get done - it was just a nice normal dinner.

And I missed him so much! He's only been gone for 2 hours and I'm already wondering what he ate for dinner, what he did with Ba, did he listen to Ong, how many stories is he going to sweet-talk Ba into reading, did he brush his teeth in the way way back?

I'm such a sap! Every minute is so precious that I panic when I miss even a single one. What if he says something totally wacky and off-the-wall and I miss it?? As much as I want to drive over there and take him home, I know this time apart is good for both of us. He needs to identify himself and be comfortable away from mom and dad, and we need to know that he's OK without our constant hovering over him.

When Malia starts talking like her brother and they start having parallel conversations, I'm sure I'll read this post and laugh my a$$ off, thinking how crazy I was, not knowing what to do with some peace and quiet in the house.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

How much damage can they really do?

Take a decent sized house.

Add 2 three year old boys. (Best friends, of course.)

Feed them dinner, with chocolate milk.

Let them have dessert (cupcake with frosting piled on a mile high).

And what do you have? A mess.

No, no, "mess" wouldn't be the right word to define the condition of my home after Ryan and Kael were done. What's the word I'm looking for: Chaos? Catastrophe? Mayhem?

The DiDodos came over for dinner last night and as usual it was an excellent time. The boys had a great time (apparently from the pictures), the girls had a great time, and it was so nice for us parents to relax and chat without having any worry that our beasts - I mean boys - were bothering anyone else (except each other, of course). As big of a mess the boys wrecked, I can't imagine how much more havoc can be done when the girls get in on the play. As it was Gina and Malia were trailing after the boys wanting in on the action. It'll be interesting to see how the battle of the sexes will be waged in a few years.

It's always funny to watch what kids will play with when left on their own. We have a sand-water table in the yard that I think is pretty fun. There are cars and dump trucks and boats in there... all the essential stuff needed for good sand and water play. Instead, the boys played with an old empty box I tossed out there to be trashed and the lid used to cover the sand-water table. HUH?? If I had known THAT I would saved money, not gotten the table and instead motored to Costco for giant boxes!

The boys playing. We're still trying to figure out just WHAT they were playing.











Here's a picture of the boys supposedly cleaning up. Notice how Ryan's helping by tossing the pillow back on the couch?










And this is how the house looks like clean. What a difference, huh?











I just had to add this picture of the gang eating breakfast for Shana's birthday. Last year it used to be so easy to eat out: mom plus 1 kid. Now when we go out, it's at least a table for 15! Do you see the solo man, Patrick, at the head of the table? He's probably thinking: I should have stayed in bed.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

There's no place like home... there's no place like home...

I remember how when I was a teenager, I couldn't wait to leave the nest. It's interesting now that I'm older (mind you, not that much older) with kids of my own that I realize how great it would be to live at home with my parents: I would have babysitters who love my kids probably more than they love me, great home-cooked meals, a pool to swim in everyday, and right on the 17th hole for Truong... It's always hard to leave after visiting family.

"Hard to leave" possibly more due to the fact that we'd have to go through a 6 hour car ride with 2 kids, if I'm to be completely honest with myself.

Saturday morning we drove to Santa Cruz to celebrate Trieu getting his PhD. It was great to see the entire Mai family - a treat usually reserved for Thanksgiving. Thai is talking more so he and Kael are playing and interacting more. Maureen is looking great and getting big (I stopped myself from telling her that she's going to get a lot bigger as she gets closer to her due date). I t
hink she actually broke 100 lbs at 30 weeks pregnant. Trieu... well, I never know what to say to Trieu - except congratulations and a refusal to call him "Doctor Mai." Even though we've been family for years now, I see him as an odd-ball intellectual who I'm not entirely sure when he's lying to me or telling me the truth. It's just easier to treat everything he tells me as a lie to avoid the inevitable teasing later. Anyway, I wish we had more than 3 hours to spend with the Mai crew but we had to move on to San Jose before it got too late.

The next stop in our travels (remember this is still Saturday, folks) was to San Jose to my parents' house. Kael's cousins Jarod, Amelie and Collin were there so they started chasing each other around the house screaming. The noise level definitely went up several decibels once we arrived. The last time we were there Malia was not yet walking so my family got a kick out of watching her toddle about. I waited for her to freak out as everyone was hovering around her, giving her about 4 inches of personal space, touching her. She was like a circus monkey they'd never seen before yet had to touch. I resisted the urge to tell them "she's not a dog - stop petting her head!" But I had nothing to worry about - she did great. She was just as curious about them as they were about her.

They were probably just wondering "what happened to all her hair?!"

This was the first time I had the opportunity to see how different the families are (Truong's and mine) and how my kids interact with each side. With the Mai side Kael talked a lot: he had deep, meaningful conversations with Maureen and Ingrid. He talked to them about... well, everything apparently. His silkworms, his teacher, golfing with dad, what he wants to be when he grows up, what he does in class, about his little sister. With the Pham side, he screamed a lot: between playing tag with Jarod, Amelie and Collin and being chased by Jackie, Sean, Daryl, Mitch and Kyle, it's a wonder he didn't have nightmares every night from being overstimulated. Heck, I considered it a small miracle he even managed to get any sleep Saturday and Sunday night. His Mai uncles chase and play with him too but it's different from the absolute fear-but-still-fun kind of chasing and screaming that the Pham side instills in him. Must be from all the "kid experience" we have on our side (8 cousins plus my 2).

It is trips like this that make me realize how important family is. Every
visit, every blood-curdling scream, every hug and kiss, every story told is another memory my kids will have with them forever. It's what will make them a stronger person, knowing that no matter what happens, they will always have these 2 great huge, loud, crazy, fear producing, fun-filled families, just 6 hours away.

Six long hours away.

Six long, boring hours. Of driving time. In a car. Away. With 2 little kids. In a car.

Oh well. There's still no place like home. No matter how far away it is.

Malia happily splashing away in the pool.


I think it's time for swim lessons for this water baby.



Do you see Amelie reaching to pet Malia on the head? I told you: circus monkey.




Priscilla (my sister) and Chi My (my cousin) watching the water play.



Thursday, June 14, 2007

Don't forget the stroller

I don't know what I was thinking when I wished for Malia to walk. I must have been crazy out of my mind.

Malia walking at home is cute 100% of the time. The way she lurches about like Lurch in the Addams Family, the way she aimlessly wanders about the house - just way too cute. When we're out in public, her walking is cute 90% of the time. The not-so-cute 10% comes from wrestling yucky stuff like gum wrappers, chewed up lollipop sticks, unidentifiable masses of crap from her octopus-like hands. If I'm lucky, it's taken away before it enters the mouth. If not, then I clean her up as much as possible and try not to think about it. Ignorance truly is bliss.

Today, after picking up Kael from preschool, I (in a moment of madness) thought taking the kids to Borders would be nice. I could get a new journal, Kael could browse through some books, Malia could get out of the house... sounds nice, huh?

We get there and Kael immediately asks to go to the "space ship carpet" in the children's area at the back and proceeds to walk there himself. The journals are at the front of the store. Malia makes a beeline for the wrapping paper and bows and grabs two, one in each hand, and tastes both.

I start getting a sinking feeling of what I got myself into. Why oh WHY didn't I bring the stroller?? Now I have nothing to tie her down to. I mean, safely keep her in the protective hold of the stroller.

I pick her up, follow the boy and attempt to herd her into an aisle while trying to read Kael a book. Having never been to a bookstore before, Malia is way more interested in walking around, detaching empty book racks and banging them together. "Never mind the books, Mom, check out these cool plastic things that make a ton of noise!" Kael, meanwhile, is getting annoyed that his story keeps getting interrupted and tries to help... by wrestling her to the ground and then sitting on her. As expected, that didn't go well with Malia and a small but loud scuffle ensued.

As a mother, I pull out my bribery card (let's get Mommy's journal and you get to watch TV at home). I manage to get the kids through the check out line without too much damage (two small spills of the little knick-knack stuff and a totally destroyed bow) and we're out the door. By this time, I'm holding Malia like a football because she's desperately squirming around trying to get back on her feet to run away. Or maybe she just wanted to taste that half eaten piece of candy goo on the ground by the garbage can.

Lesson learned for the day: Don't forget the stroller.


It's just the beginning

We've joined the masses and have started a blog to keep in touch with friends and family. I'll post as regularly as possible, but "regular" is such a subjective word. What's regular to some clearly isn't regular to others. Take Truong for example: his regular is every day, not unusual to be twice a day. Kael's regular is every other day, maybe every 2 days.

Final word... just check back once in a while - I'll be sure to have something interesting posted! There's always something going on at the Mai crib.