OOPS!

For the most part – most of Erik’s buddies are older than him – and hence reached milestones a little earlier. The one thing I could count on as my moment as a parent to shine was my son poops in his potty. I think I said it one too many times and the potty god’s are mad and hence the “oops”. Yup, Erik for I don’t what reason decides to take a poop when he was taking a bath. Thank goodness neither of us was in the tub with it – but it did mean we had to take the “dolphin” poop up and disinfect all his bath toys. Our little son thought it was hilarious though.
Seriously I am thankful he poops most of the time in his potty – because the older he gets the scarier it gets when he poops.

Mummy & Daddy Plus Three

If you ever watched "Jon & Kate Plus Eight", on the Discovery channel or The Learning Channel, then you know our article title refers to it, somewhat. No, we're not pregnant with twins! Mummy & Daddy, along with Grandma Katy, basically borrowed two other kids :o). Actually, we babysat two of Erik's buddies on late Saturday afternoon until late Saturday night. Three boys vs. Three adults. Yikes!

Erik was still asleep when they first arrived so we engaged in some cool activities such as arts in the kitchen area. Austin & Jeremy drew lots of pictures such as different color balls,then they became sun, then the suns became flowers, etc. Mummy even did "Story Time" with the two boys in the living room, where Curious George and I love you through and through was read.

After Erik woke up from his late nap, we decided that we need a strategy to tire 3 boys out as much as we can. PARK here we come! We loaded our van with 2 additional car seats and piled them in one-by-one. Erik loved having his buddies sitting next to him! He was giggling and smiling away. At the park we got to run them wild by doing a few rounds of chase. We'd chase after Jeremy. We'd then chase after Austin. We then chase after Erik and continue. Then we sat down for a brief 5-10 minute picnic with water and animal crackers. What a way to wind down our Saturday evening.

After the soccer field run, we played with the park's play structure and also the water feature. The boys got soaking wet and with the chilly weather, it was too cold to let them play any longer. Thus we stripped them down in the van, changed them into Erik's spare clothes, and off to home we go. There, we piled the 3 boys into our big bath tub and dropped them in one by one in the communal bath (with swim diapers on!) HAHAH! The boys had a lot of fun in there. We gave each of them a dinosaur bath toy for squirting water and it was a series of "water attacks" then and lots of giggles! Hee Hee!

Grandma Katy even made special homemade dinners for them including mac n' cheese, steamed veggies, and dumplings/pot stickers. Erik showed off that he's a big boy in front of his buddies and insisted on feeding himself with NO help! WOW! While Austin & Jeremy got showered with lots of attention by getting "spoon fed" by both Grandma Katy and Mummy too!

We had quite a lot of fun. Erik had a blast with his two buddies, Austin & Jeremy. Erik was being such a good host. He shared his toys willingly without prompting and said verbally in Cantonese "Friend's turn" as he hands his favorite rescue pack to his buddy to give a try. Awwww! Is our little Erik maturing? :o) hahaha

Goodnight Moon

In our family "Goodnight Moon" has a totally different meaning. For once, Erik is still nursing and he's a jr. pre-schooler already. Yes, Mummy knows many will GASP! and would advise ways to wean. At the same time, Mummy is actually okay with doing the extended nursing as well, at least when its at home.

Anyways, Mummy came up with a great strategy of trying to "wean" Erik or decrease his nursing slowly. Mummy didn't want Erik to be sad for his sudden loss so we're taking one step at a time. It started in April, before Erik's birthday, Mummy and Daddy started telling Erik that he's a big boy. Big boys do not nurse anymore. We'd point out some of his big kids' friends and tell Erik that they don't nurse because their big boys or big girls. Preparing Erik to say "Bye Bye".

In May, after his classroom transition settled down and nursing Erik right after day care pick up is just not feasible any more because it just took a big chunk of our time and that we'd be rushing out of the classroom just before they close! So Mummy would then bring Erik a FAVORITE snack to keep his mind away from the nursing...like pretzels, cheese dips, low-fat/low-sugar animal cookies, muffins, etc. That worked a bit and when Erik would come home, he'd lead Mummy to the living room floor and he'll say "Mummy sit! Nai Nai!" where Nai Nai = Milk.

Then Mummy moved onto a more advance strategy, personally coined, "Goodnight Moon" to cut down the Pre-Dinner nursing by telling Erik one day that "No Nai Nai. Can you find the moon? If you can see the moon, the you can have Nai Nai. If you do not see the moon, you can't have it yet" Erik was initially a bit upset but he was curious about the moon...so he'd look up in the sky and tells Mummy & company "No moon!" but he'll be happy doing something else with Mummy, like reading a book, drawing on the board. Still have that 1:1 time but with an activity.

So far the "Goodnight Moon" strategy was working for the past week and half. Mummy was super happy and was even telling one of the other extended Mom's that the strategy is working well. Only night time nursings, and that's okay with Mummy, it's one of the last things to go anyways.

Erik was a happy camper...he'd point out the big bright fat round moon and knows that "Yes! Nai Nai is here!". For the past couple of evenings, Erik couldn't see the moon. Maybe its because of the cloud covers? or due to the moon cycle slowly waning of the moon.

He started getting a bit 'stressed'. He couldn't find the moon and was pleading to have "Nai Nai" desperately and right after dinner. What's worse is throughout the night, Erik would wake up every hour crying "My Nai Nai! My Nai Nai!" with tears rolling down his cheeks. Eek! Is Erik mourning his lost of the boobies?!

At this rate, Daddy says that Erik will be a nurser until he's 4 years old! Oh good gosh!

Wake up call

Well the cat is out of the bag – as in the previous post by Tabitha – I gave my family a scare, I thought I was having a heart attack of sorts. I had some sort of chest pain that involved some pain or uneasiness feeling down my left arm – I ended up in the ER jabbed and prodded with a complementary stay at the hospital for 2 nights. I haven’t prayed in a long time. But all is well in Chhimi land – I don’t think I will put my family at that stress level again. I really hated the feeling of watching Erik cry or panic over not being able to hug Daddy – when I was injected with radioactive waste or something for a whole day. He actually made it at one point out of Mommy and Grandparents grasps and gave me a hug. This means healthier eating and physical activity/exercise for me.

Three Part Sunday

Sunday morning, the three of us (Daddy, Mummy, and Erik) along with Grandma Katy woke up in our bay area hotel room wondering what to do. We needed some much desired relaxation! Don't want to rush anything as Sunday is supposed to be a relaxing day while Monday through Friday are already as hectic as can be.

Part I: POOL TIME
Mummy has been wanting to swim with Erik for a long time. However each time Mummy gets into the pool, all Erik wanted before was to nurse! SIGH! That totally put a damper in Erik's swim lessons with Daddy. So Mummy wanted to try again. As a result, we utilized the hotel's indoor pool.




The pool was as chilly as could be. C.O.L.D. was the word but Erik didn't mind at all. Mummy dressed Erik in his TYR thermal suit, hoping it'll help him from feeling cold. Mummy was literally freezing after the first couple of steps into the wading pool of 3 1/2 feet deep! Brrrrr! Meanwhile Erik was super jazzed to be able to swim with Mummy, he could hardly contain himself and let out a much excited scream. HAHA!




Erik then jumped in feet first and did a big splash to Mummy and it was all good fun! Even Daddy joined in after a little bit and was complaining about the ice cold water! But Erik didn't want to get out and we had to coax him out of the pool.




Part II: PARK TIME
It was still mid-morning so Daddy & Mummy decided to take advantage that we're in the city and take Erik to the Metreon outdoor park. There Daddy thought Erik would slide around the gigantic metal slides but instead, Erik was really into the climbing structures! Good gosh, it had Daddy worry about.

For Erik, it's "safety first", somewhat. He'd ask Mummy "Hold Me, I climb" the monkey bars/dome. So okay, Mummy is supposed to be his buddy. But eh, Mummy is short and once he reached way past Mummy's height and can't hold Erik any more...he still continues. Eek! Thus Daddy had to climb fast to intervene. Good gosh, Erik can be a dare-devil, definitely not from Mummy!




Erik went on the gigantic metal slide only once and then was hooked on the Yerba Buena guide who was juggling. The guide's name was Jeremy, the same name as one of Erik's buddies. So when Mummy requests "give the [juggling] ball back to Jeremy", Erik would search the yard and ask "where's Jeremy?" and we'd have to point him to the guide! HAHA! Cute!




Erik learned out to "catch" juggling balls from the guide. It was great. Put your hands together and wait for the ball. And he caught it LOL. He had lots of fun as the guide was entertaining a handful of kids and paying lots of attention to them. Great Fun! Of course, Erik also loved the metal xylophone and he even SHARED one of the music stick to another child. That was worth celebrating for a 2 year old!

Part III: TECH TIME
It was near to already lunch time. We decided to visit the next door ZEUM, a non-profit multimedia arts and technology museum. Honestly, Mummy & Daddy visited this place before the park to check out the admission prices and asked whether there were appropriate activities for Erik. The guest services said it was really recommended for ages 6 - 12 but there are some preschool activities as well. So we went to the park and wasn't sure.

Then after the park, Erik again ran for the xylophone outside the museum so we decided to give it a try!! Were we surprised! It was a lot of fun for all of us, Erik included (plus he's a FREEBIE).

They have a small Toddler Tech Area where light switches control 2 different cameras. Erik loves playing telephone so the area also mounted an older style telephone (70's, pre cellphone) and he was able to play a lot.







We also visited their sound studio where Mummy & Erik got to create our own digital music looper. Erik picked out all the instruments and Mummy just dragged it onto the computer. It was very cool! We saw that Erik likes the Bass and Drums. He'll even pick a little icon of the piano, hee hee!




Erik.wma - Click on the WMA file to here our creation!

Daddy & Grandma Katy went into the Animation Studio where they can create CLAY models and make their own film, similar to Wallace and Grommet! Mummy tried her hand at it as well and made a "Lollipop Girl" which Erik wanted to lick (Mummy thinks he was successful at licking at it too!). Erik also contributed and decorated a clay ball with eyes and mouth as his character. So cute! Daddy made a cool looking "Muscle Man" with Pink headphones. Grandma Katy made Cookie Monster and then she fine tuned her art and made a "Little Hot Pink Riding Hood", HAHA!

Click Here for Video of our Clay Animation (Muscle Man with Pink Headphones - fight over Lolipop Girl with Cookie Monster)










Erik also loved playing on their magnetic wall. He got to create a masterpiece of art! We enjoyed a brief lunch break consisting of hotdogs & milk out in the Zeum cafe while listening to the carousel music. Erik of course was busy trying to chase or catch the pigeons.










Last but not least, Mummy, Daddy, and somewhat Erik also got to be singers in their digital green room studio! We sang "twinkle twinkle little star" and also "old macdonald had a farm" but by this time Erik was wiped out and wanted a much needed nap! Before our stage time though, Erik dawned on a purple cowboy hat ready for his Old MacDonald rendition in the green screen but a couple of older tweeners took their sweet time. So Erik's attention span was done and just wanted to nap. Mummy & Daddy had a good time though LOL

Click Here for Video of Ma Family singing Twinkle Twinkle and Old McDonald

Stressed To The Max

Well, we had some time not posting, lots of things have been happening. So here's just a couple of things that happened:

1. Chhimi was hospitalized for a couple of night. No worries, everything is well now though. Needless to say though we were all stressful and emotional. The surprising factor through this entire ordeal was Erik.
   
   Erik was absolutely a caretaker. He missed Daddy for a night and been asking for Daddy all day. As a result, after school, Mummy prepared Erik that he will be visiting Daddy in the hospital. There were a few "rules" for us to behave in an hospital.
   
   Rule 1: Be as quiet as we can not to disturb others
   Rule 2: People are not feeling well so we have to be nice
   Rule 3: Be gentle to Daddy since he is not feeling well
   
   Erik was an absolute gem! He was so concerned about Daddy that Erik was extra gentle and affectionate. He gave Daddy lots of kisses and lots of hugs. Erik also massaged Daddy and patted Daddy's leg sto show that he cared a lot! When Mummy said no pressing on Daddy, Erik didn't. He just wanted to sit with his Daddy and watch Nemo for the evening.
   
   
2. Grandpa Tom also had to leave for Bhutan for an extended period of time. We didn't know how Erik would take it since Grandpa Tom isn't one for constant 1:1 play and attention. Mummy & Daddy prepared Erik for a couple of weeks in advance.
   
   Our usual strategy was explaining it to Erik that "Grandpa will be sitting on an airplane. " "We'll have to say 'bye-bye' to Grandpa" "Grandpa has to go see his mommy & daddy" "Grandpa has to go to Bhutan" "Bhutan has birds, doggies, and of course family!" etc
   
   We thought it was working until it was the actual moment to say bye bye to Erik's Grandpa "Yea Yea". Our little Boo Boo bawled his eyes out requesting that he sit on the plane with his Yea Yea. Even when we explained that Mummy, Daddy, and Grandma Katy will be staying here at home! Erik was already missing his Grandpa as he saw Yea Yea go through the security lines and even twisted himself free from Mummy's arms and wanted to crawl through the belts to his Grandpa.
   
   SIGH! What a special bond that Erik and his Yea Yea has. But Erik did say many times at home "I Love You, Yea Yea" "Don't Go!" "Yea Yea, Stay Here!"
   

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The ABC's of Two Year Old Logic

Mummy has never thought of the alphabets as exciting before; however, watching Erik recognize his capital letters are just absolutely thrilling! Are we crazy parents?! Mummy & Daddy have been both helping Erik recognize the alphabets both capital letters and lower case letters.

As a routine, we identify the Title of the books before we read them. Especially if we know the "Letter of the Week" from his class, we will identify the new letter with Erik and maybe look for them in the book as we read.

Hooray for Fish by Lucy Cousins has become a favorite for Erik for a couple of reasons:

1. Our boy loves fishes (yes, besides elephants, fishes are the coolest to him - aka NEMO!)
2. His class has the same book and reads it regularly

In our version, the title is actually "Hooray for Fish!". As Mummy was identifying the letters, and pointed to the little "i". Erik shouts in English "Mummy! Turn the Book!" Erik takes the book and turns it upside down. He looks up at Mummy, points to the upside-down exclaimation mark and says "Mummy, look 'i'!"

Mummy & Daddy were absolutely thrilled! Not that he actually recognizes the letter but the fact that Erik was using his brain, thinking, looking, and applying the lesson learned! He showed us his logic! Erik identified the exclaimation mark as an upside down "i", which is just fantastic! We love seeing how amazing a child's mind can be.

Bonding Time with Grandparents

Bonding time doesn't necessarily have to be with just Mummy and/or Daddy. With Grandpa Tom leaving for Bhutan soon, our family decided to switch Erik's day care schedule (temporarily) up to be part-time at home and part-time at school. This way, Erik will get to bond more with his Grandpa Tom and Grandma Katy but yet the grandparents won't be overwhelmed with day-after-day duties of "entertaining" an active two-year-old. Plus, Erik also won't miss out in playing with his friends at school and still continue to learn.


Benefits of Bonding With Grandparents

1. Grandparents can provide a sense of cultural heritage and family history - this is important for Erik, especially when Mummy & Daddy wants Erik to be bilingual in Cantonese and English!


2. Grandparents provide love, best interest, and make them feel safe - what child doesn't want that feeling?

It's important for Erik to get to know his grandparents, both sets, as much as possible. With Grandpa Tom & Grandma Katy, it's easier because we live together! Grandma Katy is the all-indulging one and Erik knows it well. It's interesting to see how Erik reacts to both of them. Grandpa Tom is sometimes a bit reserved and don't know how to interact with Erik but his efforts are still there.



Gardening With Grandparents

Grandparents are really into yard work and taking care of their beloved plants. Grandpa Tom loves to garden and plant vegetables/fruits (here and there - all over our yard, mind you!). Erik, well, he loves watering as well! This evening, we finally found a common ground for Erik, Grandpa Tom, and Grandma Katy as an extended-family activity for the 3 of them. Simple watering plants!


Erik loves taking his empty watering can to his Grandpa Tom and says "Stop Yea Yea! More Water Please" (in cantonese), crouching down on the grass and setting his can out for his Grandpa to fill it. Grandpa Tom would stop his watering activity, change the nozzle to a smaller one and fill Erik's canister. That simple exchange became an immediate bonding activity for Erik & Grandpa Tom! Erik would go around our flowerbeds finding the plants that "need" water or Grandpa Tom haven't gotten to yet and give it lots of attention and water, of course!


Daddy really hopes that with the new schedule, Erik will get more exposure to Cantonese and build a solid and loving relationship with his grandparents, like he did when he was growing up in Bhutan. Daddy absolutely adores and admires his grandpa and was taken care by his grandma during infancy and well into preschool age. So it is only logical for Daddy to also want a loving and wonderful relationship for Erik!


With maternal-grandparents, Grandpa Tik and Grandma Wai, it's a bit more challenging since they do not live with us nor is Grandma Wai retired. Grandma Wai still tries her best to be an active part in Erik's life whenever she can!

Conversations With A Two-Year-Old

Conversation 1: Mummy & Son
Recent IKEA visit with Mummy & Daddy. Erik is really into pretend cooking as he has many role models in his life that does a fabulous job in cooking.

Mummy to Erik (in cantonese): "Oh, you're cooking food! Are you cooking like Daddy?"
Erik replies "Yes!"
Mummy asks: "Does Yea Yea [Grandpa] cook?"
Erik replies "Yes!"
Mummy asks: "Does Maa Maa [Grandma] cook?"
Erik replies "Yes!"
Mummy asks "Does Mummy cook?"
[Long Toddler Pause] - Erik's brows were furled together showing that he's thinking hard
Erik shakes his head and replies "No"

LOL! That is true, when in the family of 3 gourmet chefs, Mummy's kitchen time is definitely limited to nil but it does not mean Mummy cannot cook! But very cute and logical of our son!

Conversation 2: Family Affair

Daddy inquires about Erik's day in school and asks who are his friends.

Erik replies "Best Friends!"
Daddy: "Who are your best friends?"
Erik: "Daddy best friend" and touches gently Daddy's arm! (AWWWW!)
Erik turns to Mummy: "Mummy best friend" and touches gently Mummy's arm. (encore in AWWW)

That just melted both of our hearts and led to a series of "Family Kisses"! Hee Hee