Kael: Kael. My name is Kael. Say it: KAEL.
Malia: Tail!
Kael: No, no, no. Kael! My name is KAEL!
Malia: Tail!
Kael: Ugh. No, Malia! Say it right. Kuh-ai-el. Not Tail -- Kael.
Malia: (pause... pause...) Tail?
Kael: Arghh! NO MALIA! You're saying it wrong. Say it like this: KUH-ael. Kuh. Kuh. Kuh. Kael.
Malia: Kuh. Kuh. Kuh.... Tail!
Kael: ARGHH!!
And he stomps off angrily. Poor Tail. I mean Kael.
Malia and I have been practicing our Kuh-Kuh-Kael's in the car after we drop him off at school. If she concentrates, she gets it right about 50% of the time. However, if she's just talking and doesn't think about it, he's Tail. Most of the time it doesn't bother him. But lately I can hear him trying to coach her into saying his name correctly. Unfortunately, as Kael is fast learning, it's becoming a lesson in futility.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Brrr. It's cold!
I think winter has finally arrived here in Orange County. Nighttime temps are in the nippy mid-40's and today's high is supposed to be in the mid-60's, partly cloudy but honestly it looks completely cloudy to me right now.
Sure, it's nothing close to Erin's Ice State standards but we just had nice sunny 80's weather a couple of weeks ago. I think it even rained over Thanksgiving.
I'm pulling out the long sleeved PJ's for the kids and will be searching for the fleece stuff for when we drive up to the Bay Area for Christmas. I've "winterized" the kids' beds by adding a fleece blanket to the standard top sheet and comforter. Even with all that, Malia still found it to be a bit chilly in her room:
There's our Sleeping Beauty, in her favorite sleeping position: perpendicular to the bed. Cute in her own bed, not so cute in our bed. Warmly tucked in under her sheets.
"But wait...," you think. "That's odd! There's something weird going on with her sheets and blankets." You wonder why it looks off.
Look closely.
She's not under the sheet or fleece blanket or Mermaid comforter at all.
She tucked herself into her pillowcase.
Yes, her PILLOWCASE.
Sure, it's nothing close to Erin's Ice State standards but we just had nice sunny 80's weather a couple of weeks ago. I think it even rained over Thanksgiving.
I'm pulling out the long sleeved PJ's for the kids and will be searching for the fleece stuff for when we drive up to the Bay Area for Christmas. I've "winterized" the kids' beds by adding a fleece blanket to the standard top sheet and comforter. Even with all that, Malia still found it to be a bit chilly in her room:
There's our Sleeping Beauty, in her favorite sleeping position: perpendicular to the bed. Cute in her own bed, not so cute in our bed. Warmly tucked in under her sheets.
"But wait...," you think. "That's odd! There's something weird going on with her sheets and blankets." You wonder why it looks off.
Look closely.
She's not under the sheet or fleece blanket or Mermaid comforter at all.
She tucked herself into her pillowcase.
Yes, her PILLOWCASE.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
7.5 hours.
Of agony. Of torture. Of hell.
That was our trip home. Going up seems to never be a problem - 5 hours is manageable. It's going home that's always a crap shoot. As soon as we got on I-5, I knew we had problems. It was packed from San Jose all the way down to Orange County. Just as we cleared the Grapevine, it was a parking lot. I called my navigator (aka Shana) at home to check on the traffic on the computer and she said it wasn't a Sigalert. It's just a crapload of people heading home from Thanksgiving.
Adding on the long hours in the car and making it an even more memorable trip: I'm getting a cold so my nose is stuffy, my throat is scratchy, my head hurts; Malia is already sick and cranky and snotty; Mr. Ants in His Pants Kael ("For the last time... Leave those sleeping bags ALONE!!"); and Taede absolutely loathing the car seat (he screamed 90% of the way home) it was truly a never-ending trip.
We're heading back up in 3 weeks for Christmas. A thought I don't want to think about right now as I'm trying to recover from this trip. Truong suggested that I fly up with Taede and he'll meet us with the older kids in the car. Part me wants to - it was pretty hard on me.
I mean Taede. It was hard on Taede.
The other part of me wants to stick together as a family. How would Truong change DVD's while driving? Get Kael something to drink? Go to the bathroom? He'd have to take both kids to the potty at the same time!
No, most likely we'll do another road trip for Christmas. This time I'll come prepared with the help of pharmaceuticals.
Just kidding!
Maybe.
------------------------------------------
Here are the very few pictures I took of the trip. Which pretty much amounted to one night. For about 15 minutes.
Dad and Taede hanging out, waiting for dinner.
There's a smile!
Cousin Jackie and the kids. It was Jackie who taught Malia to say "No way!" last year. This year's saying: "That's GROSS!" Thanks Jackie.
The other new thing Malia picked up from Jackie: the Head Conk as a form of greeting.
Really, thanks Jackie.
They are looking at Alfie, my sister's 6 lbs dog. The dog caused Malia to let out an ear shattering scream as she ran down a very long hallway, with the dog in hot pursuit, thinking they were playing. The scream was piercing enough to cause 3 people to run out, thinking Malia had severed a limb or broken a leg or was trapped under the piano.
My Dad and Taede
My oldest brother holding Taede. He held Taede all night. I asked if he wanted me to take Taede (No). My sister-in-law asked if he wanted her to take Taede so he, my brother, could eat (No). Truong asked if he wanted him to take Taede (No). My mom asked (No). My aunt who met Taede for the first time that night asked (No). Eventually somehow, my aunt got Taede but he started fussing due to a poopy diaper. As I took him to change, my aunt took my arm, looked over her shoulder, and whispered "When you're done with him, give him to me. OK? Me!" Sheesh. I should start charging people.
Malia working her magic and Jackie looking her finest.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I can't believe in 3 weeks we're doing it again for Christmas! Ugh.
That was our trip home. Going up seems to never be a problem - 5 hours is manageable. It's going home that's always a crap shoot. As soon as we got on I-5, I knew we had problems. It was packed from San Jose all the way down to Orange County. Just as we cleared the Grapevine, it was a parking lot. I called my navigator (aka Shana) at home to check on the traffic on the computer and she said it wasn't a Sigalert. It's just a crapload of people heading home from Thanksgiving.
Adding on the long hours in the car and making it an even more memorable trip: I'm getting a cold so my nose is stuffy, my throat is scratchy, my head hurts; Malia is already sick and cranky and snotty; Mr. Ants in His Pants Kael ("For the last time... Leave those sleeping bags ALONE!!"); and Taede absolutely loathing the car seat (he screamed 90% of the way home) it was truly a never-ending trip.
We're heading back up in 3 weeks for Christmas. A thought I don't want to think about right now as I'm trying to recover from this trip. Truong suggested that I fly up with Taede and he'll meet us with the older kids in the car. Part me wants to - it was pretty hard on me.
I mean Taede. It was hard on Taede.
The other part of me wants to stick together as a family. How would Truong change DVD's while driving? Get Kael something to drink? Go to the bathroom? He'd have to take both kids to the potty at the same time!
No, most likely we'll do another road trip for Christmas. This time I'll come prepared with the help of pharmaceuticals.
Just kidding!
Maybe.
------------------------------------------
Here are the very few pictures I took of the trip. Which pretty much amounted to one night. For about 15 minutes.
Dad and Taede hanging out, waiting for dinner.
There's a smile!
Cousin Jackie and the kids. It was Jackie who taught Malia to say "No way!" last year. This year's saying: "That's GROSS!" Thanks Jackie.
The other new thing Malia picked up from Jackie: the Head Conk as a form of greeting.
Really, thanks Jackie.
They are looking at Alfie, my sister's 6 lbs dog. The dog caused Malia to let out an ear shattering scream as she ran down a very long hallway, with the dog in hot pursuit, thinking they were playing. The scream was piercing enough to cause 3 people to run out, thinking Malia had severed a limb or broken a leg or was trapped under the piano.
My Dad and Taede
My oldest brother holding Taede. He held Taede all night. I asked if he wanted me to take Taede (No). My sister-in-law asked if he wanted her to take Taede so he, my brother, could eat (No). Truong asked if he wanted him to take Taede (No). My mom asked (No). My aunt who met Taede for the first time that night asked (No). Eventually somehow, my aunt got Taede but he started fussing due to a poopy diaper. As I took him to change, my aunt took my arm, looked over her shoulder, and whispered "When you're done with him, give him to me. OK? Me!" Sheesh. I should start charging people.
Malia working her magic and Jackie looking her finest.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I can't believe in 3 weeks we're doing it again for Christmas! Ugh.
Friday, November 28, 2008
You want me to what?!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was great - filled with food, family and more food. I spent the morning cooking and getting the house ready. I only had to do the stuffing but I helped my mom and sister with their dishes. I really cracked the whip over my mom because she tends to do things at her own pace and ends up still cooking while guests arrive. This year, for the first time in memory, we had food done and on the table on time! Of course as fate would have it, our half of our guests were late. Doh!
We timed for food to be out of the oven by 4:00pm. Guests were to arrive between 3:00pm and 3:30pm, which translates to 4:00pm. It would be perfect! We got my mom's baked sea bass in the oven, my sister's brined turkey was in the other, her cookies were done the night before, my stuffing was in the 3rd oven, sharing it with a tray of roasted vegetables. My sister-in-law was working on the mash and gravy and shrimp salad... it was as if we were all a part of a well-oiled machine.
Then I noticed a huge slab of meat on the counter. What's that?, I inquire. It's an 8-lbs roast, my sister-in-law tells me. I don't think we have enough food. Can you make a prime rib?
WHAT?! It's 2:45pm! Are you kidding me??
A "discussion" ensued between Mom, sister, sister-in-law and me about the merits of doing an 8-lbs prime rib. Did we need it? Is there time to cook it? Do we have enough food? Should we, shouldn't we? Meanwhile the clock is ticking and I'm running out of time.
In the end it was decided that we'd halve the roast, make it a 4-lbs slab and cook it in 90 minutes instead of... instead of... whatever 20 minutes per pound for an 8-lbs roast adds up to be. I quickly made a garlic rub and threw that hunk of meat in the oven at 3:15pm, praying that it would taste decent since I wasn't able to give it the love I normally would.
In the end, the timing worked great - it came out with the rest of the food and medium-rare to boot. I personally didn't have any but there was only a 1 inch slice left so I can only assume it tasted good.
I haven't been told that we're going to eat anything besides seafood today but I know we still have that other 4-lbs slab of meat floating around somewhere.
I'm prepared this time.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was great - filled with food, family and more food. I spent the morning cooking and getting the house ready. I only had to do the stuffing but I helped my mom and sister with their dishes. I really cracked the whip over my mom because she tends to do things at her own pace and ends up still cooking while guests arrive. This year, for the first time in memory, we had food done and on the table on time! Of course as fate would have it, our half of our guests were late. Doh!
We timed for food to be out of the oven by 4:00pm. Guests were to arrive between 3:00pm and 3:30pm, which translates to 4:00pm. It would be perfect! We got my mom's baked sea bass in the oven, my sister's brined turkey was in the other, her cookies were done the night before, my stuffing was in the 3rd oven, sharing it with a tray of roasted vegetables. My sister-in-law was working on the mash and gravy and shrimp salad... it was as if we were all a part of a well-oiled machine.
Then I noticed a huge slab of meat on the counter. What's that?, I inquire. It's an 8-lbs roast, my sister-in-law tells me. I don't think we have enough food. Can you make a prime rib?
WHAT?! It's 2:45pm! Are you kidding me??
A "discussion" ensued between Mom, sister, sister-in-law and me about the merits of doing an 8-lbs prime rib. Did we need it? Is there time to cook it? Do we have enough food? Should we, shouldn't we? Meanwhile the clock is ticking and I'm running out of time.
In the end it was decided that we'd halve the roast, make it a 4-lbs slab and cook it in 90 minutes instead of... instead of... whatever 20 minutes per pound for an 8-lbs roast adds up to be. I quickly made a garlic rub and threw that hunk of meat in the oven at 3:15pm, praying that it would taste decent since I wasn't able to give it the love I normally would.
In the end, the timing worked great - it came out with the rest of the food and medium-rare to boot. I personally didn't have any but there was only a 1 inch slice left so I can only assume it tasted good.
I haven't been told that we're going to eat anything besides seafood today but I know we still have that other 4-lbs slab of meat floating around somewhere.
I'm prepared this time.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Help me! I'm stuck!
Malia had a total of 3 showers today -- and it was only 5:30pm.
Shower #1
My kids get a shower every morning. They are sweaty sleepers and quite honestly it's much easier to deal with Malia's hair when wet. Her hair is so fine that it's impossible to get it into any kind of style unless it's wetted down.
Shower #2
Truong got a haircut today and Malia just happened to wake up from her nap when he came home. She looked a little dopey and was a little sweaty from her nap. The REI sleeping bags they have are super warm and they usually wake slick with sweat. So in the shower they went.
Shower #3
It was dinnertime so I took Malia to the bathroom. She kept on insisting that she didn't have to poop. Kind of like a preemptive strike: deny the need to go before Mom insists that she goes. That kind of led me to believe that she really needed to go but didn't want to take the time away from her cousins. So of course I insisted that she go. A little reverse psychology that went awry on her part. However, she didn't protest much as I plopped her on the potty so I figure I was right. I leave her to her privacy and a few minutes later I heard a splash. Way to go Malia! A few minutes after that I heard her say: "Mama! Help me -- I'm stuck!"
I walk into the bathroom to see her -- how do I describe this? -- stuck in the potty with her legs up by her ears, trying to get some leverage to hoist herself out.
I have to admit I considered running to get the camera to snap a shot but she was slipping lower so I saved her instead. I asked her what happened, Baby?
Malia: "I fell in and got stuck! My bottom is all dirty now. I want a shower, Mommy."
So that's the story behind Shower #3. Hopefully we won't have to do a Shower #4 but it's still early.
Shower #1
My kids get a shower every morning. They are sweaty sleepers and quite honestly it's much easier to deal with Malia's hair when wet. Her hair is so fine that it's impossible to get it into any kind of style unless it's wetted down.
Shower #2
Truong got a haircut today and Malia just happened to wake up from her nap when he came home. She looked a little dopey and was a little sweaty from her nap. The REI sleeping bags they have are super warm and they usually wake slick with sweat. So in the shower they went.
Shower #3
It was dinnertime so I took Malia to the bathroom. She kept on insisting that she didn't have to poop. Kind of like a preemptive strike: deny the need to go before Mom insists that she goes. That kind of led me to believe that she really needed to go but didn't want to take the time away from her cousins. So of course I insisted that she go. A little reverse psychology that went awry on her part. However, she didn't protest much as I plopped her on the potty so I figure I was right. I leave her to her privacy and a few minutes later I heard a splash. Way to go Malia! A few minutes after that I heard her say: "Mama! Help me -- I'm stuck!"
I walk into the bathroom to see her -- how do I describe this? -- stuck in the potty with her legs up by her ears, trying to get some leverage to hoist herself out.
I have to admit I considered running to get the camera to snap a shot but she was slipping lower so I saved her instead. I asked her what happened, Baby?
Malia: "I fell in and got stuck! My bottom is all dirty now. I want a shower, Mommy."
So that's the story behind Shower #3. Hopefully we won't have to do a Shower #4 but it's still early.
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