Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Boy Issue

I forgot to post some pictures of Malia's birthday "party" at school. I'm telling you: she really thought her birthday was/is some kind month long celebration.

On her birthday I brought pizzas and cupcakes to share with her friends for lunch. She picked out her favorite party dress: a Hanna Anderson play dress that swings like a ball gown in pink (of course). All the preschool classes sang "Happy Birthday" to her at Music Time. And she got to wear her Birthday Crown all day.

It was a good day for Malia.


Malia sitting with her classmates. Remember this picture. It will be mentioned again later.


Enjoying her pizza.


She requested pink cupcakes.


How small does she look sandwiched between Aman and Anthony?

---------------------------------------

Remember when Malia first started school and she didn't like boys? Look at that first picture again and then look at this picture:


What do you see that's the same in both pictures?

She's always the only girl in the group!

I asked Mrs. Lerma about it and she told me that's where Malia puts herself. We both thought it was pretty funny.

For now anyway. She better cut that out when she turns 14.

The Big Yellow Bus

Last week Kael took his first bus ride to a carnival at the Prep Academy. He was so excited. All the kids were excited as I believe it was everyone's first time on the Big Yellow School Bus. Or as Malia said: "Look Mommy! It's the Magic School Bus!"

Here are some pictures -- you can practically feel their excitement.


Kael and his best friend in class Ethan. The class used the Buddy system and luckily Ethan was his buddy.


Kael's so excited.


He's really REALLY excited.






Parents were not allowed at the carnival so it was a leap of faith to let him go without any parent chaperons. I was reassured that there would be a ton of supervision -- both teachers and aides, in addition to 8th graders assigned to watch the kids -- so my fears of Kael wandering off campus alone was somewhat alleviated. However, I did tell Karen (the Admissions Director, whom I saw directing kids to their buses) that if they lost Kael, I wanted my tuition money refunded.

She agreed but minus the deposit as the year was almost over.

The end of my world

Oh. Crap.


-- sent by iPhone

Friday, May 22, 2009

There's always a silver lining.

Truong has been working very hard the past couple of months. He's out the door by 6:30am and comes home around 7:00pm if I'm lucky, 8:00pm if I'm not.

What it boils down to is : I'm essentially a single parent to three kids. Taede goes down by 6:30pm and the big kids by 7:30pm. So unless Truong comes home "early" enough to help with dinner, bath and/or bedtimes, then it really doesn't matter how late he comes home. That sounds harsh, but it's the cold truth. There are days during the week when Truong doesn't see the big kids at all and only sees Taede during the midnight feeding.

Malia has been particularly hard hit with missing Dad. She is, after all his little Princess. She's just not getting the complete adoration she needs from Mom and her ego is suffering. A few weeks ago she started waking up earlier and earlier, coming into our bedroom looking for Dad. Some mornings she catches him and they get a few minutes of snuggle time before he heads off to work (she doesn't fall back asleep). Very cute, I know. Unfortunately, she's figured it out and has started coming in earlier and earlier. As in before 6:00am. One morning she sauntered in at 5:30am.

!!!!

Not so cute now, is it?

Luckily work has eased up a bit and Dad has been home the past week or so just in time to scarf down his dinner before reading the kids their bedtime story. And accordingly, Malia has started staying in bed a little later and later. (Thank goodness.)

Just this Thursday Truong came home completely stressed out. He had a bad day at work, lost a client, the economy sucks, etc. Just on and on. I listen, nod my head, try to be understanding... when in reality I'm very worried. The poor guy has the weight of a mountain on his shoulders. I hate to add more to it. And yet, a clean rip of the band-aid is better than a slow torturous pull, right?

So I tell him: "Honey, I know this is bad timing, but you probably don't want to hear about the pregnancy test I took this morning, huh?"

Dead. Silence. He froze in the posture he was in at the moment: his hands in his hair, with a deer in the headlights look.

"I'm pregnant."

The silence continues. But I see something in his eyes, the wheels are churning at light speed: an image of his life (our life?) with four kids.
Four kids!
FOUR KIDS!!

Finally he manages to choke out: "You're kidding me, right?!"

I'm silent. I don't say anything. I let the words settle between us like a rock, giving him time to absorb it, to fully taste it.

Then I tell him: "No I'm not pregnant. But doesn't that make you feel better about our situation now?"

And judging by the look on his face, he was relieved. Still a little shocky, but definitely relieved.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Storing Mice

Sometime between tomorrow and Friday I need to go buy 2 mice to feed Bubba. Crystal tells me that Bubba likes live mice.

O. K.

I think I can handle that. I of course grilled Crystal to make sure there was no carnage with flesh ripping and blood spraying everywhere while Bubba eats as I do not want to traumatize my kids for life. She swears there won't be any of that stuff.

But we may see some blood ooze out of the mouse's nose and mouth as Bubba squeezes it.

Hmm.

I suppose that's better than a blood spray, right?

When Crystal first brought Bubba over, she did a quick tutorial on snake care with me and the kids. I made Truong sit through it just in case despite being told by Truong that he "hates snakes."

"Hates snakes" is really male lingo for being scared out of his mind around snakes.

Anyway Crystal says Bubba is really cool.
I totally agree. Bubba is beautiful too.

Crystal then tells me: But she's really fast.
Okay.

Crystal: No, I mean she's super fast. If she ever got away, you'd never find her.
Huh. O.K.

Crystal: But she's really tame. She's only bitten me once.
WHAT?!

Crystal: But don't worry about that. She bit me when she was really young.
That's good to know. I think. At least she's not poisonous.

Crystal: Just remember to distract her face when you get her out by the tail so she doesn't bite you because her eyesight is really shitty.
Now I'm starting to get nervous.

Crystal: Oh yeah. And remember to lock the lid because she's really strong and can open it and escape.
HOLY CRAP! So I'm watching a super fast, super strong snake with shitty eyesight who can open her cage lid?!

So far, Bubba sitting has been pretty cool. The most important fact is: we still have Bubba. The kids are totally fascinated by her and want to hold her all the time. I've limited it to once a day and only if I can get her out. The whole "distract one end while grabbing the other because she's got shitty eyesight" issue really unnerved me. Add on to that the fact that she truly is a very active and fast snake makes me very cautious when taking her out.

Taede the other day just noticed her. How can he not? She's moving around all the time. The only snakes I've ever seen are always curled up in a pile. Bubba moves back and forth across her cage all day. It's actually kind of soothing in a weird way. Anyway, the baby stares at her all the time. It's the funniest thing.

Crystal said we could feed her at the end of the week as they are taking her home Sunday. I found a reptile store nearby and plan on getting 2 mice. But where do I keep the mice? I can't imagine they bag up the mice like they do fish. So that must mean they put them in some kind of box. But what if I get the mice in the morning and not feed Bubba until dinner time? Will the mice chew a hole through the box and escape?

How do you keep mice for later?

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Baby meets Bubba


Ohh. What's that? It's moving!



Can I touch it?



Why can't I touch it??



I really REALLY want to touch it!

------------------------
Between Taede and Kael, how many critters do you think we'll end up housing??

Monday, May 11, 2009

Eating chunks

I've been trying to feed Taede solids since he turned 6 months old (about 6 weeks ago). So far, I've been less than successful. But you knew this since I posted my failed attempts here and here.

I've not really pushed hard on the whole solids thing since I figure he'll eat when he's ready. Usually by 7 months my kids express an interest in food.

Not so Taede. Any attempt on my part to feed him, even get a spoon near his mouth, has been shot down. I can't even get the spoon past his lips. He doesn't bother looking at me when he pinches in his lips, sealing it shut to any amount of prying pressure I exert.

The past couple of weeks I've tried experimenting with foods. That food chart and wait 3 days thing? Forget about it. I'm feeding him all kinds of stuff, trying to find something he likes so we can started with solids. I'm worried the longer I wait, the more stubborn he becomes.

Luckily, I think I've figured it out. He definitely likes the sweet stuff like bananas, sweet yams and avocadoes. But the key is feeding it to him chunky. I've started him on the puffs too. It's hilarious watching his face trying to mash the bits of food.


I stuck a puff in his mouth. He's moving it around....


He thinks he likes it. Maybe.


He's attempting to feed himself. Except his hands are wet with drool so the puffs are sticking to the palm of his hand.


So he's going to stick his whole hand in his mouth.


Success! But don't laugh too hard otherwise it'll fall out.


Great. All that effort and Kael's going to make Taede laugh and he's going to lose the puff.


And there it goes. Stuck on his fingers. Yummy.

Dance Recital

Malia had her first dance recital on Saturday. I was on the fence about having her participate because she's not into tap at all and the recital was a tap routine. She's all about ballet.

Well, if truth be told, she doesn't really pay much attention in class period but she does pay slightly more attention during the ballet portion than she does the tap. Plus the routine the instructors had the kids do was too complicated in my opinion. Linda and I couldn't remember all the steps and in the end Linda had to record it on her phone to email it to me so that we could practice it at home with the girls.

Didn't help. At least not in Malia's case.

Then there was the whole paying to be a part of the recital bit. What the heck am I paying the monthly dues for?! I was a little peeved about that but was talked into going (Linda) so Malia could have her first recital.

It was very crowded and one little girl freaked out and cried. I was worried that Malia would freak out as well but she did great. She didn't smile or do the routine, but she didn't cry or freeze either. In the end, it was cute and at least she's got this experience down. The next recital we do hopefully will be ballet and maybe, just maybe, she might showcase a move or two.

Enjoy the pictures. I took a ton, but they all showed pretty much the same thing: Malia standing there looking around with her hands in her pocket. So I just posted my favorites.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Malia's Month

I know, I know.... it's been a while since I posted something substantial. I've had a really busy April. An insanely busy April.

The first week in April we had 7 Mai's over for a visit from Thursday to Wednesday. The second and third week we went to San Jose for Spring Break. The fourth weekend my parents came down for a wedding and crashed at our place until Monday (while Kael had birthday party commitments both Saturday and Sunday). That takes us to the first week in May where the last of the Mai's (Trieu and Ingrid) made a visit before heading off to Colorado. Their visit coincided with Malia's first dance recital (Saturday) and her birthday party (Sunday).

So here we are. The second week in May. I am free at last!

Until I got a phone call Friday morning at 7:30am and it was Robert. At my mother-in-law's apartment which is 5 minutes down from my house, asking "what's for breakfast?"

So yeah. It's been kind of busy. Nice, but really busy.

While in San Jose, we celebrated Malia's birthday. Then we had her actual birthday party down here with her friends (a Princess Tea Party). Then on Tuesday we had another mini-party for her at school (just pizza and cupcakes). With all this hoopla for her, Malia thinks her birthday is some kind of month-long celebration. Which in reality I guess it is.

We gave her a few options for her birthday (like at a bounce house, a park, her dance studio, etc.) and she without hesitation stated she wanted a Princess Party at her dance studio. The girl knows what she wants. I attempted to steer her towards the bounce house so that we could invite some boys and perhaps some of Kael's friends too. But nope. It was a Princess Party or bust.

After discussing the options with the dance studio, it was decided that it would be a Princess Tea Party (which is fancier than a mere Princess Party). Because of this, I decided to invite just girls and ship Kael off to spend the morning with Grandma. What would boys do at a tea party anyway?

I also decided to make the cupcakes myself. Why? you ask. Well, if you asked some friends of mine, it's because I'm crazy. However, if you asked ME why, I'd tell you.... actually, I don't know what I'd tell you. I just woke up one day and decided to make the cupcakes myself. I don't like the store bought stuff and... well, maybe I am just a touch crazy.

I can't tell you how many cupcakes I made in my quest to find the right recipe and frosting. It was a lot -- like over 100 cupcakes, easily. Luckily my friends were all good sports and were willing to eat my test batches. Truong however, has banned me from baking any more for at least another month.

Back to the party. The night before, Kael decided he wanted to crash the party. He didn't want to go with Grandma. He wanted to go to Malia's party. I could completely understand why he wanted to go, afterall we were talking up the party so that Malia would be excited about it. After checking the RSVP list of which of Malia's friends were attending, I called up 2 families with older siblings who happened to be Kael's best friends and told them to bring along the big kids too.

It was a great party. Malia had a fabulous time. I have never done a party like this so it was a treat for me to watch the girls get totally Princess'ed out. Before having kids, I remember saying I would never raise my female child to be such a girly-girl. No princesses, no dolls, just sports and bikes. I want a tomboy!

Ha! I have to laugh at myself now. I didn't raise Malia to be like this. She picked it up all by herself. And sure, I allow it, even encourage it. This is a part of her personality, what makes her uniquely Malia. And quite frankly, it's hard to take away something from your child when they enjoy it so much. I'm sure at some point in her life she will pick up a volleyball or a pair of sneakers and ask me to take her to practice. Until then, I'll make sure her tiara is bright and shiny.

Enjoy the pictures
.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Shhh.....

Or more appropriately: hissssss.....

My friend Crystal is getting her house tented next week and has to evacuate her pets. Mochi-cat is going to Mom and Dad's. She asked if I wanted to watch Bubba -- probably not expecting an affirmative answer but little does she understand the workings of a household of a grade schooler. I jumped at the chance to house Bubba. It's a perfect situation: a returnable pet!

The kids would go absolutely nuts over Bubba. I haven't told Truong yet. I'm hoping to get Bubba in house and shoo Crystal and Jimmy away before Truong finds out we're Bubba-sitting.

Bubba is a SNAKE!!! And she said we could even feed it.

Kael is going to pee in his pants -- he'll be so excited.

Truong will also pee in his pants -- but for other reasons. He may end up shacking at the Di Dodo's while we Bubba-sit.

Friday, May 1, 2009

"A" for effort.

I never understood that saying. Shouldn't it be "E" for effort?!

Taede turned 7 months last week and he's still my mellow baby.

7 months stats:
Kael: 17.8 lbs & 27.5"
Malia: 13.13 lbs & 25.75"
Taede: 15.4 lbs & 27"

I expect he will lean out some when he becomes mobile. Which hasn't happened yet. At least not in the real sense of the word. He really wants to be. He just has to figure out the hand-knee coordination:


The above video was taken exactly at 7 months (April 23). He's trying. He really is. Do you see the red mark on his forehead? That's from his "lunge-crawl" attempts. He tries to crawl in his crib and usually ends up lunging face first against the crib. I have the mesh bumper so there's no padding at all. Linda was kind enough to lend me her nice thick bumper so hopefully the head banging (or at least proof of it) is a thing of the past.

The video below was taken today (May 1). And he's getting there. Still pretty shaky but I definitely have to get the baby gate up.


He's got 2-3 "steps" before the lunge. I give myself about 2 weeks before changing diapers become a true wrestling match.