And she's off!

I am beat tonight! Thao, Robert and Thai have left and are now staying at Ong/Ba's house so life is back to normal. It's a little quiet but it will be nice to get the kids back on routine. Then I forgot: Kael's on summer break. Ugh, that means I have to find something to occupy him until I sign him up for summer school. With the weather in the 90's, I can't just go to the park and stick him on a bike like I usually do. What I wouldn't pay to have a pool now. As much as Kael loves swimming, he's such a pampered kid (his swim class pool and his friend Westin's pool are heated) that the water from the garden hose is too cold and he won't play in our little blow-up pool for long. Malia on the other hand, will happily splash around until she turns blue.

We are entering the second week of Gymboree for Malia. It was so nostalgic to go back. We spent much of Kael's life there: from 9 months until he turned almost 3 years old. It's so funny to hear what some of the first time moms talk about. Seeing how they interact with their babies (unless my kids show blood or bone, I'm now pretty blasé about bumps and knocks) and listening to them talk about baby issues makes me feel like an old pro at baby-rearing. I hear the typical concerns: sleeping, eating, growth rates, milestones, etc. and I chuckle because I know I sounded the exact same way with Kael. Even though Malia is a totally different kid with a completely different set of rules, the confidence I feel after having one kid under my belt (figuratively not literally) is immeasurable. While I feel like telling them "kids will will eat when they eat" and "all sleep-training will result in some crying - no matter how gentle the approach - your baby will survive" I don't say anything. One of the joys of raising your firstborn (any child for that matter) is in the unexpected, what each day brings and of discovering just how stubborn your child can be.

Anyway, back to Malia. I think she likes Gymboree. She's never still long enough to play with anything or interact with any of the other kids or instructors for me to gauge her enjoyment. She enjoys wandering around the grocery store as much as she does at Gymboree - but the grocery store is at least free! I don't know if I have mommy amnesia or what but I truly don't remember Kael being this... mobile, this "let's walk laps back and forth really fast across the room for 45 minutes." She is by far the smallest baby in there but I think she's the fastest. Or perhaps it just feels that way since I'm constantly following her around. With Kael I was able to hang out, meet the other moms, talk about his sleeping, eating, growth rates, milestones, etc. Truong thinks we should velcro her butt to a chair and feed her all day so she's not burning all her calories wandering about. You have to love a Dad's "what's wrong with that, it's a great idea" idea.

Totally off topic: I'm going to start signing off by posting some of the hilarious things I find on the internet. Why? Because it's funny and I have to share it otherwise no one will believe me when I talk about it later.


The cardboard crib
Made for the green parent who values simplicity (no tools needed) and efficiency (folds down flat).