babychhimi.com

Our Little Dare Devil

noreply@blogger.com (Jigme) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Gym Time

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:19:00 +0000

As if our weekends were not jammed packed with events such as play dates, and birthday parties, Mummy and Daddy decided to enroll Erik into gymnastics as well! Yeah, we know, he's only TWO! We tried the gym out twice before deciding to enroll, actually. First was during Miss Karalyn's 2nd birthday party and Erik absolutely loved it! Second time, we went back for a freebie trial class and again, Erik enjoyed the class a lot. He loves the uneven bars because he can hang on them. He also loves doing the forward rolls on the soft wedges.

So for the past month or so, Mummy & Daddy were 'shopping' around on gym classes. We tried out a gym near our area and thought the class was way too structured for him. Erik loved exploring the other areas in the class when it wasn't his class turn yet. We also tried another class where our friends were sending their pre-schoolers (4 and 2) but it too was structured and with multiple classes going on, it was a little too distracting for Erik. After much contemplation, we decided to enroll Erik into the original gym class for the summer semester.

It fits in well with our Saturdays. We would get to go to the Library in the morning, pick our favorite books, read a few before heading over for some gym time right before lunch. It gives us family another activity to do together and bond. Plus, this gives Daddy a great opportunity to ...eh...work out with Erik together LOL! Daddy has to do some of the parenting moves too! So Cute!

Erik enjoyed his class a lot and it was great to see other Daddies participating with their child in the class too! Often these type of classes are usually "Mommy & Me" or the majority of the participants would be Mommies at least. However, it's a good change to see a few dads taking active interest in their son or daughter by participating in these classes too and having fun!! Plus Grandma Katy wasn't the only Grandma that came in to play either :o) hahaha! So now for the HOT HOT summer, we get to look forward to some indoor 'A/C' gym time on the weekends!

Poopie Talk

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:44:00 +0000

Erik is already 2+ months into being a two-year-old and many already knew from before that Erik had been getting potty trained ever since he was a wee little one. In his new class of "Jr. Pre-schoolers" now, the teachers are consistently doing "potty walks" and on-demand requests as well. Erik has been in there for about 2 months already with his new teachers.

We sometimes take it for granted that he's already more than 3/4 way into being fully potty trained. At home, Erik communicates to us pretty regularly when he needs to use the bathroom. When we're out and about, away from our home, Erik will also tell us his needs as well.

So when the teachers excitedly tells us recently that "Erik went on the potty today!" OR "Erik requested to go to the potty himself!" both Mummy & Daddy's reactions were like "Ok, nothing new here, he does that at home all the time." Of course, the teachers were a little "disappointed" at our reactions because they were just super happy and excited to see his achievement as well. Erik even gets a STICKER as reward for communicating so well :o)

However, after a bit of reflecting, Mummy realized that Erik hasn't been communicating to his teachers about his needs in the past. We weren't worried that he wasn't going to the bathroom at school since he does it regularly at home. So no real pressure from us but we had been gently reminding him every day during drop off to "use his words" when he needs to go and to tell his teachers.

So yes, it is an exciting event! It means that Erik is 1. being more assertive in his communications to his teachers, which is great, when the ratio is 1 teacher to 7 students. 2. more comfortable in asking his teachers for help/assistance. 3. recognizing his body's needs among toddler chaos and distractions!

So YEAH! Hooray! This is a great milestone for Erik!

Happy Father's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:37:00 +0000

Daddy, I Love You
Daddy, I love you
For all that you do.
I'll kiss you and hug you
'Cause you love me, too.

You feed me and need me
To teach you to play,
So smile 'cause I love you
On this Father's Day.
-Author Unknown

This is the 3rd Father's Day that Daddy has celebrated with Erik and it was just great and somewhat relaxing. Daddy likes to keep it simple yet he wants to feel special at the same time. So Daddy verbally communicated what he'd like on Father's Day.

Daddy would love to be greeted with an early morning cheerful "Happy Father's Day" warm wishes from Erik. So the night before as Erik went to bed, Daddy says "Can you say 'Happy Father's Day' to me tomorrow when you wake up?" ...Erik absolutely granted that wish! He crawled over to Daddy and shouted a big and loud "Happy Father's Day"...good gosh, we're sure the entire neighborhood heard that one! HAHAH!

Then it was 1:1 Father & Son time in the early morning. Daddy gave Erik the choice of visiting the park, the zoo, or pool. Our son, of course, chose the POOL! Erik and Daddy headed out for their swimming routine while Mummy and Grandma Katy headed out to the local home improvement store for a steam vacuum. Yeah, Mummy decided to do some chores for Father's Day. LOL!

We also went for some shopping at Daddy's request plus we treated Daddy for lunch. Plus nice little nap for Erik & Daddy. Mummy surprised Daddy with a little ice cream cake that said "#1 Dad" on it as well! HEE HEE! For the entire day, Daddy has also been craving for BBQ (guess this is the traditional food for the holiday?) so Grandma Katy surprised Daddy with a Sizzling Plate Platter. Very nice and relaxing!

We even got to head out to the pool the SECOND time and the entire family go to swim. Erik showed Grandma Katy what he could do and was excited to see Mummy & Daddy swimming as well! All in all, a nice relaxing holiday!

Pool Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 04:59:00 +0000

With the local weather reaching triple digits, we look for any excuse to go swimming! This past Friday, Erik's school, had its annual staff development day, so there was no school. Many parents took off the day and make it a 3-day weekend! However for Mummy & Daddy, no can do. So Erik got to stay home with Grandma Katy, YAY! An Extra day of bonding with a loving Grandma!

Then early evening, Daddy, Mummy, Grandma Katy, and Erik all headed over to Karalyn's informal Pool Party! WhooHoo! It was Erik's first time visiting Karalyn, one of his good buddies from school, so we prepared him 2-3 days in advance. Mummy told Erik that we get to go over to Karalyn's house and play and SWIM! Erik was so super excited! He kept asking about it each day LOL!

In fact, that morning, Erik woke up, went downstairs to our front door and says "Peek-A-Boo with Karalyn" and Erik proceeded to act out how he will jump out and say "SURPRISE!" to his buddy! So cute! With the pool party, Erik also got to play with Audrey, another of his buddy from school but she hasn't transitioned into the "Big Kids" classroom(s) yet. She will though soon enough!

It was supposed to be an informal play date but it was absolutely wonderful! Our hosts provided lots of healthy snacks (strawberries, pineapples, gold fish crackers, chex mix, and more) for the kids plus yummy drinks! Erik arrived and darted out to the patio for some swimming. He wasn't even shy one bit. Erik has seen Lynette, Karl (Karalyn's parents) and Kristy (Audrey's mom) many times at school so he was very comfortable with them. Daddy was also not shy, he dived right into the pool for a cool dip before Erik jumps in!

Our son showed off his "swim" skills a bit. He would jump right at the edge and then go underwater and swim a bit (~5-7 seconds) to Daddy. It was great! This totally encouraged Audrey into being a daredevil and started her own jumping adventures. She would jump from the pool step and into the water with lots of laughs and giggles. Then Audrey would try to stand on the edge of the pool like Erik and then jump into Kristy's arms. She really liked it too!

Karalyn was a bit hesitant at first so she observed a bit and guarded the kiddie snack but she soon braved the water and got into the "mini pool" aka spa with Karl. We are all super happy that Karalyn got in then it was all 3 kiddies in the spa plus 3 moms! We all had to do a whirlpool of walking round and around as the kids wanted to follow or chase each other! HAHA! Tight Quarters it was!

Then Karalyn's Dad all of a sudden became "Lizard Man" by hopping on one of the big floaties that was a lizard and he'd swim towards the kiddies from the big pool It was great because the kiddies LOVED IT...and LOVED the fact that they got to splash at him. Erik was a little scared, Mummy thinks at least, he moved towards the back but was still very interested at "Lizard Man" and the splashing fun. He observed a little bit ...and then got back into the action.

In the end, an late-afternoon play date lasted a solid 3 hours! Good Gosh! Where did the time go?! But Erik definitely enjoyed the pool party play date. He kept asking "Where did Lizard Man Go?" Uncle Karl had to explain to Erik that "next time when you go come over, I'm sure Lizard Man will be here too!" HAHAH! Too Funny!

Favorite Past Time

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:08:00 +0000

Erik's latest past time is picnic. He loves to pretend he's on a picnic whenever we play with pretend food. He'll also pretend to have a picnic with his Legos. Erik will conjure up the latest recipes.

Example Of The Day:
6:15am
Erik cheerily says "Mummy come this way. Sit Down!" and leads Mummy into his playroom/bedroom and plops down on the carpet floor. Erik grabs the tub of Lego's. He started to make animals but then all of a sudden, Erik made a tree! Then it was off to an "Orange Tree" with Lego. Plus a "Cherry Tree" with Lego.

"Mummy pick Cherry". Mummy obliges and picks off a square red block and pretends to gobble it up. "Mmm! Mmm! Yummy Cherries!". Erik will go on forever when he's in his pretend world of picnic. To him, picnic is the BEST activity ever!

Erik also made an "ice cream" that looked like a tree because it was green on top and brown on the bottom with blocks. Thus he coined it "Ice Cream Tree!" "Mmmm Delicious!"

Sundays Are For Cherry Picking
So Mummy & Daddy have indulged Erik on his latest love of picnics. We've been up to the U-Pick Cherry / Berry Orchards 2 Sundays in the last 3 weeks (Thanks Jing & Lin for the great recommendation)! First time around, it was on Memorial Day Sunday, it was only Daddy, Mummy, Grandma Katy, and Erik.

Erik loved the fact that he can pick a bright red raspberry and then have Mummy wash it right there...and PLOP! into his mouth it goes. So he'll go from bush to bush picking these little raspberries! Plus he also loved running around the huge 15+ acre orchard picking Bing cherries with Daddy! Grandma Katy was no where to be found, she was lost in her world of cherry picking as well!

We baked Blueberry muffins the Saturday evening prior with Erik. We made it with the IKEA cookbook but Mummy substituted with some wheat flour instead of regular flour. Erik really enjoyed that one. He saw the cakes baking and then we enjoyed them on our orchard picnic. Plus he got to feed the Koi fishes in the pond while eating delicious homemade food!

This recent Sunday, we decided to share the "picnic" spot with our friends, Kelly & Family plus Gabriel & Family. Erik was absolutely loving every minute of it! A picnic with family is wonderful and lovely. A picnic with friends was absolutely fantastic and full of laughter & giggles.

Erik showed Kelly & Gabriel where the bushes were. He held Kelly's hand as they walk up the grassy slope. Such a little gentleman, HAHA! Erik shared raspberries with Kelly as well. Of course, he also shared berries & cherries with Gabriel too. In fact, all 3 toddlers did absolutely wonderful in sharing and communicating (of course, there were times parent guidance was needed to find the "right words").

Erik also loved sharing his new "favorite" spot by the Koi Pond with his buddies. They all loved throwing fish food to feed the hungry fishes. If the toddlers have it their way, they would be on that orchard forever!! It's their little summer adventure! They even gave themselves little nicknames as "Little Einsteins" characters because the 3 of them love the show so much. Gabriel is Quincy who loves to play instruments. Annie is Kelly who loves to sing. Erik is Leo who loves to fly the rocket!

Sleeping Through The Night

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:55:00 +0000

Erik has experienced his first, "sleeping through the night" last night!! For the past two+ years, Erik had been waking up in the middle of the night at exactly the following intervals (11pm, 1am, 3am, 4am, 5am, 7am), give or take one interval, if lucky.

For those who are counting, yes, Erik wakes up 6 times in one night. Prior, he would always get nursed back to bed. However, since Daddy and Mummy (plus Grandma Katy) have braved the new frontier of "weaning" in hopes of discouraging Erik from waking up and accepting others as comfort besides Mummy's boobs.

So last night was an anomaly! Erik slept from 10:45pm to about 6:00am. He stirred but was quickly patted down back to sleep within meer minutes and didn't wake up until 7:30am! That was absolutely different than previously. Erik didn't even ask to nurse like the past few nights. So that in itself is a milestone for Erik! YAY!

Daddy thinks its because Erik went to sleep LATE, thus was just purely exhausted. Mummy hopes that it will be the start of a trend that will last! Keep your fingers crossed!

Toddler Crush

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:07:00 +0000

Does our little Erik have a "not-so-secret" crush?

This past Sunday, Erik had a lot of energy with only 45 minute of nap. So Mummy decided to ask Erik who would he like to play with in the afternoon. "KELLY!" was the name that was blurted out and thus the phone call started for a spontaneous Sunday Playdate Picnic.

The Story
Erik & Kelly goes to the same school/day care. We are also in a big playgroup together. So those two kids get interactions on a regular basis! Kelly has always been the "mommy" in the classroom, taking care of the other kids' needs. For example, when Erik has a hard time in the morning, Kelly would come and give Erik a big hug and then help him play with toys. She's only 2 months older than Erik!

So when Mummy picks Erik up from school and has a snack for him, he always asks Kelly to "sit down" with him for a picnic and Erik would eagerly share his morsels with Miss Kelly. It's just really cute! One time Erik even asked Kelly to "sit on Mummy's lap" as he sat on the other lap so they can have a late-afternoon picnic.

The Plan
Mummy's plan, despite the wisewords from Daddy, to meet at the very cool water-featured park and have a picnic. We were to have Turkey Burgers, Corn on the Cob, Mashed Potatoes, and cool watermelon slices! However, the park was crowded and the water feature was "broken", at least the timer was. Boooo! That stunk! Plus the weather was a bit hot and we were worried about Kelly's little sister, Khloe, who's only 5 months old. Even though there was 'shade', the weather was still too warm for comfort, especially for a little baby. So Daddy did Plan B to move the "picnic" back to our messy house. No big deal. The kids can play indoors.

The Moment
While Kelly & Erik were playing on the train table, after dinner. Erik moved in a little closer next to Kelly on his right side. Then he reached around with his arms and hugged Kelly's waist. Erik then leaned his head on Kelly's shoulders. At this age, Mummy doesn't really think there's such thing as "crushes" and Erik was just showing affection to one of his friends that he's obviously very fond of. It was such a CUTE moment!

Of course, Mummy had to ruin it by saying audibly a big "Awwwww!" where Kelly's parents turned around and Chris, Kelly's Daddy, started jokingly inquire "Hmmm? where does Erik learn this stuff? hmmm? Hmmm?" Then Erik immediately let go and sat down on the floor near the sofa as if he was hiding from embarrassment. Eek! We just ruined it. SIGH! Lesson learned...Next time...camera will be ready to take a pic! LOL!

OOPS!

noreply@blogger.com (Jigme) — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:10:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Sat, 24 May 2008 21:39:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:07:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jigme) — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:53:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:50:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:24:00 +0000

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

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.
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!"

Donate

noreply@blogger.com (Jigme) — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:42:00 +0000

Please Donate to the Chinese Red Cross
Red Cross Society of China (RCSC)

The ABC's of Two Year Old Logic

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:55:00 +0000

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:

Our boy loves fishes (yes, besides elephants, fishes are the coolest to him - aka NEMO!)
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

noreply@blogger.com (Jigme) — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:01:00 +0000

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

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!

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jigme) — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:12:00 +0000

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

Meeska, mooska, Mickey Mouse!

noreply@blogger.com (Jigme) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:23:00 +0000

First I want to thank Ms Karalyn and Lynette for sending us pictures from their trip to Disney World in Florida. After seeing how much Karalyn enjoyed her trip I decided to take Erik there. It has just been a couple of months that Erik has been into Mickey Mouse Club House and Little Einstein. And when I asked him if he wanted to see Mickey – he said YeesSSSS! We skipped Sea World for Disneyland.

Basically after seeing the big smile on Karalyn's face I decided to take Erik to Disneyland.

Warning: Don’t Ask Chhimi Still hates Disneyland. And yes I will go back again for my son.

Maybe we let Erik watch too much TV, too much consumerism; we are spoiling our son – maybe all of the above. What we didn’t figure out was how much fun Erik had. As usual we both prep Erik up when we do something new and just like always Erik was super excited and tired when we got there. But as soon as we hit Downtown Disney Erik’s eye was wide awake – he just didn’t know what to look at and had a dazed look on his face. He finally crashed and I mean crashed after meeting Mickey.

He had a lot of fun at Mickey Toon Town, Dumbo Ride, Autopia and Nemo Submarine Voyage ride. Note to son: Daddy has very little patience waiting in line for anything – but Daddy waited in line for about 40 minutes each on the Nemo and Dumbo ride while Mommy and you ran around having fun. Or you had fun and Mummy chased after you. I think he enjoyed Autopia a lot as Daddy let him turn the wheel all by himself -- at one point I thought the car was going to go off his tracks as Erik would not let me hold the wheel of the car.

When we were leaving the park around 9 pm or so – Erik turned to Mommy and said Boo Boo sad – and when asked why he was sad – he said Bye Bye Dumbo, Bye Bye Nemo and Bye Bye Mickey Mouse. And the next day he kept asking to go back to Disneyland.

I guess time for Mummy and Daddy to get an Annual Pass.

A Little Way Too Much (continued)

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:52:00 +0000

Celebration Day 2: Relaxation Before The Storm
So the day after the whole local Zoo visit, Mummy & Daddy took a vacation day off from work. This is our family tradition ever since Erik was born. Daddy & Mummy both agreed that it was important to spend the day together, as a celebration of Erik's special day, as an opportunity for us to shower him with love and attention, and as a bonding moment for us as family. Yes, a lot rolled into this one particular day.

The morning started out fabulous, with a late wake-up call, basically we let Erik sleep in. It was the usual Daddy & Boo Boo wake-up routine and breakfast time with ham & eggs. Grandma Katy offered Erik Two Hard-Boiled Eggs as well for symbolic reasons; it is supposed to bring our Boo Boo good luck. He also got to blow out his birthday candle from one of Grandpa Tom's cupcakes! He got lots of cool birthday gifts as well!! (A stuffed-toy raccoon from Grandpa Tom, DVDs, Madagascar & Nemo in Cantonese from Grandma Katy, plus red packet from both of them, a very spiffy sun/water outfit from his Uncle Penjo!!) What a well-loved child from everybody! THANK YOU for helping us celebrate Erik's birthday!

Erik jumping up and down his Grandparents' bed looking into his birthday presents!

Then it was off to an activity of Erik's choice. He chose his ultimate favorite "Bounce House!". Daddy, Mummy, and Erik (just the 3 of us) drove to the bounce house play area and had a good solid 1.5 of fun! We'd jumped, dived, climbed together in different bounce houses. Our two-year-old would just be smiling away and giggling as well. He thoroughly enjoyed the gigantic slide and would invite his best buddy "Daddy come with me!" Poor Daddy, he had to find a way to "fit" in the slide!! HAHAH! We bounced ourselves crazy by acting like the "3" Little Monkeys and bonked our heads.

Erik found his birthday presents and thought it was just AWESOME!

Erik loving his new rash guard (thank you Uncle Penjo!)

After bounce house, it was back to a simple lunch with Grandpa & Grandma at home and off to a nice long nap! Much needed too for Erik, Mummy, and Daddy!!

After the nap, we lounged around home for a bit, playing with toys, light reading, no rush to any where and then it was off to the neighborhood park, which Erik chose as his PM activity for the 3 of us. We ran in the grassy fields. Boo Boo got to sit in the bucket swing! He climbed up and down the play structure and slid down the slide. He also got to "play" a little in the park's amphiteather and did his "Elephant March" for us. It was quite adorable!

What A Big Boy!

Picnic Time!

Erik also requested to sit down for an impromptu picnic at the park. He just held Mummy's hand and led the 3 of us to a table way out in the fields. Then he kindly inquired about his "Milk" and "Dip Dip" (aka Pretzel Sticks & Cheese packaged snack). Mummy had to walk all the way back to the parking lot to grab his snacks. Sheesh!! Then we just sat there in a lovely weekday late-afternoon for a solid 15-20minutes. We just talked with Erik for a bit, inquired about his previous day's passing (Zoo visit at school), whether he enjoyed the bounce house earlier in the morning, who are some of his friends, what are their names, is Erik excited about celebrating his big birthday at the park with his friends on the coming weekend?! Etc Etc. It just goes on and find stuff to talk to our 2-year-old about. HAHA!

Erik's FIRST Ice-Cream Cake: Strawberry flavored ice cream

Daddy asked Erik earlier in the day, whether he'd like to have ice cream or cake or ice cream cake for his birthday. Of course, our smartie son blurted out "ice cream cake!" So it was off to the shop where Erik got to sample a little different ice cream flavor: Pink Ice Cream (aka Strawberry flavor). Yeah! It was an immediate favorite and hit...thus strawberry ice cream cake it was!!

Erik was "waiting" and "waiting" to blow out his birthday candles!

Happy Family!

After dinner, we served Erik his cake and before we even finished singing the "Happy Birthday" song to him...Erik blew out both of his candles all by himself! Guess our son was just too eager for dessert!

Erik is enjoying a huge chunk of his birthday cake!

Our Happy Little Birthday Boy!

Celebration Day 3: The Ultimate Party
Okay, this toddler party was absolutely crazy! Erik was so super-excited about his birthday party that again, he woke up early sensing the business in the household. Mummy & Daddy were up late night making sure everything was just right. Grandpa Tom and Grandma Katy were also up late night preparing all the home made food.

We invited over 25+ families that we knew to come on over to our neighborhood park for a "Simple Picnic BBQ". Simple is a term that Mummy uses in hopes of really...keeping it simple (i.e. just an entree or two with a couple of salads and drinks, that's it) but when Daddy, Grandpa, and Grandma comes into the play, simple goes out the window and is replaced with elaborate catering. Grandparents insisted on homecooked food since it'd be something that our friends and family would not be able to get elsewhere. Plus being awesome chefs and bakers they are, who could resist?!

THEME
The birthday theme was animals. Erik loves Jungle Book 1 & 2, fishes, and zoos. As a result, Daddy was in-charge of drawing out a birthday jungle theme on the concrete floor at the park. Daddy did an amazing job with the chalk art and our little Boo Boo loved it! While Grandpa Tom was in charge of baking a homemade cake in a very special handcarved ELEPHANT!!! When Daddy asked Erik what kind of birthday cake he wanted...of course our boy answered "Elephant Cake" and Grandpa was absolutely indulgent, what a great Grandpa!

We had to enroll another of our good friend, Van (aka Uncle Van to Erik), to help Daddy out. Van came early morning, I mean early, like 8:00am! to help out when the party starts at 10:30am! He and Daddy went out to the park and started grilling the chickens, helped Mummy with the balloon decorations, etc.

We also had to enlist Grandma Wai to be Erik's sole babysitter while the household was in full run mode early morning. Daddy, Mummy, and Van would be at the park. Grandpa Tom and Grandma Katy would be cooking in our 'residential' kitchen of all the food! Grandma Wai's duty: Keep Erik entertained and out of harms way. HAHA!

BIRTHDAY GAMES
We couldn't rent the entire park but only the shaded pavillions/picnic area. Each side could host 35 people comfortably. We needed BOTH sides! As you can imagine, lots of wonderful friends showed up to celebrate our special guy's birthday! Mummy was in charge of the games. We had a little "PlayDoh" Treasure Hunt as a ice breaker. Small playdohs were 'buried' in the parks' sandpit with the children's names on them. Each child is to go find one playdoh and with the assistance of an adult, if the name does not match the child, then they will have to find the appropriate owner. This allows families that do not know each other well to 'inter mingle' a bit more.

Erik of course was absolutely tired! By the end of Game #1, our birthday boy had to take a nap right in the middle of his party! Too overwhelming! He napped in the shade where our good friend, Edward (aka Uncle Edwah), made a make-shift nap pad & pillow with their beach towels. Grandma Katy and Grandma Wai sat down to make sure Erik was snoozing alright while the party goes on.

Game #2 was a Birthday Egg Hunt. Think Easter Egg Hunt recreated. Mummy & Grandma Katy stuffed a total of 172 eggs with only stickers & temporary tattoos (animals of course). NO candies, it's a healthier version. Originally we thought we were actually going to have 36 children attending the birthday party!! Yeah, all the baby magazine recommending inviting the # of children matching the age, went OUT the window as well! Think of it as chaos but in a fun way!

There was supposed to be a third game where each child gets an "animal" hat and would walk out of the park's amphitheater while the parents sang "Old McDonald Had a ZOO" and does the animal sounds of the child's hat. However, by that time, the weather was H.O.T and reaching toddler's nap time of 12:30pm! So many guests started to leave so their children can sleep....so we abandoned the Zoo walk and just passed out the hats as favors! HAHA!

THE FOOD
"Oh My!" was a lot of the responses from our friends when they saw trays and trays of food being brought out from our van. It literally filled the entire 16 feet table long of homecooked FOOD! Thanks so much to Erik's loving grandparents and Daddy's parents for all their effort. They made A LOT of food and many based on our friends' special diet like vegetarian and gluten-free/wheat-free, etc. Tom & Katy are just the nicest grandparents a kid could have. (Erik, you are VERY lucky to be well loved by your family!)

So here are some of the dishes made (homecooked)
1. Chaana & Chapati: Garbanzo beans mixed with Indian spices served on Indian fried bread
2. Chicken Rolls: Stir-fried chicken & onions rolled into handmade flat bread
3. Potato Rolls: Spiced potato mixture rolled into handmade flat bread
4. Handmade Baked Samosas
5. Vegetable Fried Rice with Eggs
6. Tandoor Chicken Drumsticks (BBQ'ed fresh that morning at the park by Daddy)
7. Mac n' Cheese (made by Daddy just for the kids)
8. Chicken Nuggets (this one is store bought, thank goodness!)
9. Mixed Fruit including blueberries, watermelon, strawberries. Mmmm!
10. 80+ homebaked and decorated cupcakes made from scratch by Grandpa Tom!
11. Elephant Birthday Cake for dessert!

There's more but Mummy can't remember anymore. Let's just say there were A LOT of food and in many multiple trays!!

Looking back, it was a GREAT party, absolutely. However, Mummy and Daddy hate to admit it but the experts were right! It was absolutely waaaaay (overly) overwhelming for Erik! The after-party was when he really let loose and became our happy little camper again. After the party, our friend Lianne and Van came back to our house. Erik was just super relaxed and sweet and wanting to play with his new buddy, his uncle Van! LOL! So for next year...don't be expecting another "super-toddler" party, people, we'll be doing just a family one!!

Thanks everybody for joining in on Erik's BIG TWO Birthday Bash at the Park!

The families that attended were:

Grandma Wai

Grandpa Tom & Grandma Katy

Daddy & Mummy (of course)

Van

Lianne

The Brewer Family (Steve, Allison, and Jackson)

The Chen Family (Oliver, Sherry, and Austin)

The Dudek Family (Kevin, Marie, Lauren, Nick, and baby Douglas)

The Duong Family (Danh, Shawny, Talia and Ethan)

The Gatlin Family (Russ and Makena)

The Higa Family (Steve, Sylvia, and Tyler)

The Lafler Family (Leda & Guilia)

The Layne Family (Rich, Cara, Maggie, and Will)

The Lewis Family (Kristy, Grandma Joan, and Audrey)

The Mailman Family (Karl, Lynette, and Karalyn)

The Nguyen Family (Kelly, Tai, and Ryan - thanks for driving 2+ hours!)

The Priolo Family (Matt, Miriam, and Gabriel - thanks for sharing your bounce house!)

The Qu Family (Yan, Jessica, and Amelia)

The Raigosa Family (Edward, Connie, Jonatha, Amanda, and Ashley)

The Ritchey Family (Tamara & Cooper)

The Sadang Family (Nelson, Jo, Sky, and Jules)

The Shueh Family (Clark, Joannie, and Jeremy)

The Wong Family (Chris, Monica, and Kelly)

The Yasuda Family (Steve, Cathie, and Elysse)

The Zhang Family (Jing, Lin, and Jason)

How Do You Know Your Parents Love You (A Little Way Too Much)?

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:10:00 +0000

How Do You Know Your Parents Love You (A Little Way Too Much)? The fact that your parents celebrated your 2nd birthday with a 3 day celebration! Call it crazy! Call it overboard! Call it whatever you'd like but that's exactly what Mummy & Daddy did for Erik!! Our boy is definitely spoiled.

Like any good Bollywood celebration or Hollywood celebrity birthday, we went all out and crazy. Reason, Mummy & Daddy were just super excited to celebrate Erik's birthday and so were the ever indulging Grandpa Tom and Grandma Katy!!

Celebration Day 1
Daddy & Mummy had been planning for weeks, if not months, in advance of how to celebrate a special day. A day when we became a family! A family of 3! A day when we realized everything else in the world is insignificant except the time that we have with each other! So for the day prior to Erik's actual birthday, Daddy & Mummy sponsored the local Zoo to come on out to Erik's school for a pre-school animal introduction program!

Mummy & Daddy invited two classes between the ages 2 - 3 plus a handful in the Toddler class (just barely under 2). It was an audience of 28 children plus 5 teachers and of course, our family including Grandpa Tom & Grandma Katy. Erik was so super excited about his "birthday celebration" that our little guy woke up at exactly 5:00am!! He started singing "Happy Birthday" to Erik all morning long as he got ready for his 'big celebration'.

By the time we went to school and the Zoo Mobile came in the morning, Erik was super tired! Poor thing! He sat on Mummy's lap during the whole zoo program but he still got to enjoy it with all of his classmates! Our little Boo Boo got to see 2 whistling ducks (they do not quack but go Beee! Beeee! Beee!), got to see an African hedgehog (which he actually touched before during many Daddy & Son Zoo outings), a Blue-Tongued Lizard, and a s-l-o-w Box Turtle! The 20-minute program went by really fast and it was filled with laughter and giggles from all the children.

After the program, it was off to the school patio for a cupcake & juice celebration with 3 classes (Two 2-3 year olds plus Toddler Class), rounding the children to be about 42 plus 8+ teachers and school Director! Thanks to Grandpa Tom's homemade cupcakes (he's the baker in the family), the children devour cupcake like no tomorrow. Of course, all the frosting that was put on it...was scraped off! For some reason, the teachers believed sugars make children hyper?! Hmmmm! Isn't that a myth?

Erik ate about 1/2 of a cupcake and by that time, he was super tired and grouchy. Meltdown time...so we ended his school day early so he can just rest up with Grandpa and Grandma at home instead! Whooo! Day 1 Celebration was HARD stuff for a 2 year old!

Happy Bald – Happy Birthday Son

noreply@blogger.com (Jigme) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:23:00 +0000

Dearest Boo Boo

I can’t believe that two years have gone by so fast. It’s been an unbelievable ride – I have never been more tired and more satisfied with my life than these last few years. Mommy and I always ask each other – what did we do without you in our life. I feel that Mummy has gone ahead and stole a lot of my thunder (see post) – but she really remembers a lot more than I do. I just want you to know that I love you dearly. I love how you drive us crazy – but more than that I love that the both of us can drive Mommy bonkers. Especially when you copy Daddy and do the things Mommy doesn’t approve off. (Poop watching, licking food and anything yucky off your fingers, giving wet kisses – blowing raspberries on Mummy’s stomach and anything boyish) I love you darling.

I still remember cradling you in my arms the night you were born – totally exhausted and refusing to close my eyes – I was afraid to drop you or have someone walk into the room and take you. You were just a few inches – and now you are getting closer to Mommy’s height. I love reading stories to you – while you rest on my arms. I love our outings together just you and me – whether we go to the zoo for the millionth time, playground, pool or even the grocery store.

And yes, daddy has lost a lot of hair since the day I first saw you. You will always be Daddy’s baby and I will love you forever. I love you through and through.

Love Daddy.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Erik!

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:44:00 +0000

How time flies so fast as we're having fun?! Yes, Mummy knows that she will be forever repeating this as our little Erik approaches each milestone in life. However, honestly, Mummy & Daddy CANNOT believe how it flew by so fast and all of a sudden, we have a beautiful and active 2-year-old in our hands!

(Left to Right: April 2007, May 2007, June 2007)

(Left to Right: June 2007, July 2007)

(Left to Right: August 2007, September 2007)

(Left to Right: October 2007, November 2007)

(Left to Right: December 2007, January 2008)

(Left to Right: February 2008, March 2008)

Dear Erik,
Happy Birthday! Your Daddy and I cannot believe you are already two years old. Every day we are so thankful that you came into our lives! We became a loving family of 3 because of you! Our world is so much brighter because we get to see things through your eyes. We are so proud of you for being who you are, a wonderful and loving boy!

You have achieved some amazing milestones already. You love to be read to by Daddy and Mummy. You know most of the colors quite well "Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, Pink, and Purple" in both English and Cantonese. You recognize the letters (and keep pointing to ask for more explanation), you can recognize the upper case letters "A", "E", "O", "S", "M", "T", "P". Daddy taught you how to spell "STOMP" because that was one of your favorite dinosaur books "Stomp, Stomp" by Bob Kolar. Without fail, you love to be held in Daddy's arms, while being read to during bedtime. You often request "Monkey Puzzle" by Julia Donaldson. You also have a new found love for "Bob & Otto" by Robert O. Bruel. Mummy will often read to you in Cantonese and you would pick 2 to 3 of your favorite books before bed time. Sometimes we'd read about "Tabitha & Jessica", tales of a mouse and baby elephant. You don't know yet that Mummy's name is the same as one of the characters. You also request that Mummy hold you in your arms but often you get a little distracted and asks to nurse instead.

You've grown so much over the year already! You are an almost whopping 30lb boy! Oh my! Your 24 months onesies are quite a vertical stretch for you nowadays and your Daddy and I are quite sad to know that you won't be using onesies for too much longer. Some of the 2Ts clothes are just right on you and some of them are a bit small! 3T tops and pants fits a lot better on you. You're already wearing size 7 shoes but we think you'll be outgrowing them by beginning of summer into 7.5 or 8! Good gosh, where did our little baby go? You still sleep with Mummy and Daddy, actually you prefer to sleep while one of us is cuddling you in our arms! Sometimes Mummy and Daddy's arms get a bit numb in the middle of the night from holding you for so long. You are so long now that when you turn sideways in our bed, you would actually kick Daddy in the middle of the night. Poor Daddy! However, you're getting more independent every day, some nights, you actually crawl to your own crib and sleep in there by yourself. SIGH!

You are into sports already. You love going to the swimming pool with Daddy. You happily show Daddy how you can jump from the side of the pool into the pool and then 'paddle' a bit to Daddy. You love going under water and can 'swim' a little bit if Daddy is maybe a toddler arm's away from you. However, you hate wearing the swim goggles and we have not yet been successful in making you wear them! You also love to play 'basketball' with Daddy. We have a toddler size basketball hoop at home for you and you love DUNKING the ball. You also love throwing the "Magic Flower Ball". It's an orange ball that you can squish together and made flat to throw like a frisbee but you think of it as a flower instead. You are into riding your little trike as well. You don't even mind wearing your Elmo helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads that I make you wear all the time as long as you get to sit on that trike and be pushed around by Daddy or Mummy. You know to put your feet on the pedals and ring the bell on the trike but still working on how to peddle.

At school, you love to play with all of your friends. You didn't have particular best buddies but you liked being with all your friends including Audrey, Karalyn, Kelly, Gabriel, Jackson, Jeremy, and a new friend, Matthew. However, you may have experienced your first toddler love, you even once declared your love in public at a restaurant shouting "I Love You, Karalyn!" when she wasn't even there. You also loved to take care of the new "babies" that came into the class to make them feel welcome and I was told that you were super gentle with the babies or smaller toddlers and would bring them toys and drinks. One of your favorite teachers is Miss Tara! You made a special rainbow just for her during class, even when Daddy and I asked you, "was the rainbow for us?", you'd shook your head and said "No, Miss Tara!". You're a big time hugger from what I was told. You'd start out hugging one friend and then all of a sudden, you had to go and hug all the other friends one by one. You also loved following the big kids around during outside play as you move to the next classroom. If the big kids wanted to climb and sit on the drums you'd pick the shortest one and try to do exactly that. You are also into finding and collecting rocks all around the playground. You give them out as a 'token of affection'! Very cute!

Your palate for food is also growing! Your favorite food is still an all-time Macaroni and Cheese, whether it is homemade by Daddy or box mixed. You can down a whole bowl of it plus some more. You also have a taste for fish, shrimp, crab, and anything seafood. We had to limit your seafood intake to only 3 times a week because you love it so much! You also love Daddy's homemade special pasta! Mmmm! You'd get all messy face whenever you eat it. At home, we still feed you like a little baby but you are more than capable in using a fork on your own. You even like to cut some of your own food, using your plastic knife. You also like eating Grandma Katy's homemade wontons w/shrimp. You've started loving vegetables and takes big bites out of broccoli, baby and regular-size corn, cauliflower, carrots, and straw mushrooms but they have to be stir-fried Chinese-style! You were also opened to different ethnic foods like Thai (You loved their Raad Na noodles), Mexican (spanish style rice - you call them "Orange Rice"), and Indian. However, we found out you didn't like "Orange Milk" known as Mango Lassi from our favorite Indian restaurant but you liked eating Paper Masala Dosa! Daddy was proud of you for that! You are also really into cooking, both pretend and real! Your morning routine with Daddy is helping him make "Ham & Eggs" for you! You'd crack the egg with Daddy's help but you'd also beat the egg a bit. You love sprinkling in the cheese. You are just driving for more independence every day!

Our conversations with you are so interesting at times. You'd happily recall events from school of what you did and what you liked. You will command both Mummy and Daddy to sit in certain places during meal times. Even at night time when Daddy is super tired and would ask Erik to do story time instead, you'd make up "Dora the Explorer" story, along with Daddy's help. Your imagination is just wonderful, Mummy thinks you got this creativity part from Daddy. You love pretend play. One of the pretend play is "Safari Hunting" in your own bedroom. Daddy & Mummy would turn off all the lights and only provide you with a flashlight while all 3 of us are inside. We'd close the door and then we start "hunting" for a Lion...and you would use your flashlight to find the Lion on the wall. You still remember your ASL signs and would use them to make your point. If you wanted Mummy to sit down and mummy didn't on your first verbal request, you would immediately say "Mummy Sit Down" but would also sign "SIT" as well, in case Mummy didn't get it.

Daddy and I started a family tradition ever since you were born. We always took your birthday off from work in order to spend time with you and to let you know that you are well loved and thought about no matter what! We spend the day however you like. This year, we gave you simple choices of park, zoo, or bounce house. Well, you eagerly replied "bounce house!" so off to the bounce house we went for our morning celebration! Daddy and I didn't just sit aside and let you run around and bounce yourself. Oh no! We climbed after you and played with you in the slide structures. We'd crawled into the bounce houses and happily jump with you. Whew! That was tiring! We even had a family reenactment of "3 Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed". You excitedly said "Mommy called Daddy and Daddy said" not the doctor!

Our darling Erik, Happy 2nd Birthday! We love you more and more as each day goes by. We can't wait to see what you will achieve in the next year!

Love,
Mummy & Daddy

Mummy & Me: Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:52:00 +0000

Daddy was busy playing host and weekend wedding photographer. His friend, Satish, flew in from Seattle on Thursday night, and after not seeing each other for 13+ years, Daddy and his buddy had a lot to catch up on. So Daddy dragged his friend to be his wedding photographer assistant as well, HAHA!

All the while, Mummy was with Erik! Yay! On Saturday, we went over to Tyler's Big Two Birthday party! It was a great and fancy party with a whole petting zoo. Unbelievable! Sylvia and Steve (Tyler's parents), really went all out and got a horse, a pony, and 2 goats, with lots of animals to pet (pot belly pig, ducks, chickens, and 3 rabbits).

At first, Erik was a bit afraid of the horse, pony, and goats. Didn't want the to even come near him and he'll tell them sternly "No Thank You!" with a hand signaling STOP!. He was even a little afraid of the other farm animals like the ducks and bunnies. So we just chilled inside the house for a little bit and Erik got to play with all of Tyler's very cool toys! (Thanks Tyler for being such a gracious host!)

Mummy and Erik got to meet some new friends like Jacob and his mom; Ryan and his parents; Kenna and her mom. We also got to reconnect with another couple that we met through the hosts, Maris' parents. Erik was not shy at all and loved playing with the new bunch of kids. He sat on the toddler-size trains and loved being a conductor!

What really impressed Mummy about the party was that Sylvia and Steve totally dished out AWESOME food! Erik ate dinosaur chicken nuggets for the very first time! Mummy couldn't believe her eyes that he actually wanted CHICKEN! He actually ate 5 nuggets! WOW! Plus there was his all-time favorite of Mac n' Cheese and delicious fruits! He also sat on the 'little kids' picnic table with his new friends!

After he warmed up to the whole party and sang "Happy Birthday" song to Tyler, he was ready for some animal petting! Erik was interested in the tiny white bunny. He's the "underdog"...eh or under bunny because he's the baby the other bunnies actually attack him. Poor thing! So the owner kept reminding the guests keep the other animals away from the white bunny. So Erik gave lots of attention and love to the white bunny. He was so gentle with the bunny that it was really wonderful to see! Then we had a problem, Erik didn't want to go! HAHA! By the time Mummy got Erik into the car within 2 minutes, he was snoring away!

Daddy: I Love You!

noreply@blogger.com (Tabitha) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:03:00 +0000

On a peaceful and sunny Easter Sunday, Erik woke up bright and early ready for the day. Mummy loves this tender moment when Erik's beautiful eyes flutter open and on his face is the widest and sweetest grin! He'll invitingly says to either groggy parent "Come on! Follow Me!" in English for Daddy and in Cantonese for Mummy to lead us to his usual morning routine (i.e potty walk).

This weekend, Mummy is pretty much buried in work and in school. Lots of catching up to do and have stayed up way too late the past few nights trying to catch up. Stress level is high....way high! So that means Daddy gets full "Erik Duty" past Saturday afternoon (from our Egg Hunt) but for Daddy, he's always up for having some extra 1:1 time with our Boo Boo.

After we shared our family weekend breakfast, Daddy and Erik hit the road! Off to one of their favorite spots, the Zoo, of course! Because of Daddy's affection towards exposing and teaching Erik about animals, Erik is very much into them these days. They have their whole zoo routine down and Erik doesn't mind the 20+ minute drive to it as long as its to the Zoo!

However, today was a bit special. They had a mid-morning animal show for "Animal Exposures" and Oh my! Erik TOUCHED a rat snake! EEK! That is why Mummy says "Daddy, I love you" because if it was Mummy in the same shoes, Erik would not have been touching any of the animals! LOL! Mummy is the 'overprotective' one, yeah, she knows it! However, since he was with Daddy, Boo Boo got to pet gently 3 different animals: a rat snake, a turtle, and a hedge hog! WOW! That is amazing! If you ask Erik "How does a hedge hog feel?", he'll reply with a silly grin "Pokey!"

What a special Father & Son Easter!

By the way, this is NOT the first time that Erik has touched a snake! His first time was actually in Singapore when he was only 10-11 months old and it was a Green Python.