BBQ gathering

This Saturday evening, we had invited some friends to our backyard for BBQ gathering. This was a farewell/welcome party for few of the families. Yoshi has met almost everyone before, so he's happy to see all the kids again. I was able to have some adult conversations, because Yoshi would just be hanging out with the kids in the backyard, and they were very attentive to him as well. We had lots of fun and we will sure miss the same group of friends next summer. We were able to take a group photo with EVERYONE before kids got tired and adults got drunk.....^_^

Story telling- 2 years later

Last night, Nori picked up a Japanese version Curious George book and started reading to Yoshi. This reminds me of a photo from the blog 2 years ago- same couch, same spot- click here to see the photo... Nori is really patient with Yoshi, he would try to read EVERY lines in the story ......well, Yoshi was really patient as well, he was sitting by Nori till the last few pages. I think he enjoyed listening to Otousan's voice. Their father and son relationship is growing closer and closer each day.....

As I have written on the side note, perhaps with me listening to the pop music in car a lot, Yoshi realy enjoys the rhythm, he would be waving his hands and moving his head left and right along with the beat. And to my suprise, he is even able to copy some of the chorus......^_^

(Have a good weekend)

A good day

There are good days and bad days, today is a good day...... (meaning at least I don't have to sit by the stairs, taking a deep breath for time out, yes, I meant me here....).

We have invited one of Yoshi's playdate friend- Ayuna to our house for lunch. We only did restaurant lunch once together. Every other time we met, always with few more moms and kids. Yoshi and Ayuna had not really play together closely before, but for some reason, Yoshi remembers Ayuna's name very well and would ask about her sometimes. Today, as usual, the gathering started out with their own play schedules, not much interaction......until later part when they started to realize chasing each other perhaps would be more fun. It certainly had brought out the hidden friendliness of each other, it's fun to see them giggling so much. (Thanks Ayuna for coming....Tanoshii-nei)

Tonight after shower, Yoshi had pulled out a Curious George book from his bookshelf, he kept looking at it, flipping over and over the pages as usual. So I sat down with him on the couch, and attempt to read to him. I was expecting his usual behaviour- insisting on flipping pages on his own.....but to my suprise, he was patiently listening to my story telling. I choose to read in Cantonese (my own version), adding special sound effect....he made me repeated the story twice. This was a very refreshing bonding experience, I love having him sitting right next to me, relaxing and listening to the story (patiently), not just a vocabulary book. This reminded me when he was few months old, he would just lay on the bed, not being able to crawl or turn yet, but only to listen to my storytelling. However, it's now so much more fun seeing his reaction and exploring his curious imagination....................it's priceless.

Otousan (Nori), we miss u....................

Otousan (Nori), we miss u....

Not all phone calls would guarantee Yoshi's response, EXCEPT the ones with Nori's voice....he would call out "Otousan" immediately, followed by any words he could think of. Then he would stand by the phone till the end. He would even attempt to climb up the cabinet just to see if he could get a glimse of a video phone conversation...(but too bad our phone is very antique.....=old). We miss u Nori, come home soon... (be safe on your trip)

Another backyard splash

Summer is about to end, so before that happen, I have invited our neighbours playgroup to come over and hang out. Everyone brought outdoor toys to share. It was such a nice day (considered yesterday I was still wearing long sleeves). Yoshi had lots of fun even just by sitting in the kiddie pool, he didn't want to get out even when he started shivering, so I end up have to empty the water in order to persuade him it's lunch time...

It's ALL about Otousan (daddy)

This past weekend, it's all about father and son bonding. No matter if we were in the car together, in the restaurant, at home or even only being separated by the bathroom door, u could hear Yoshi kept calling "O-T-O-U-S-A-N" (=daddy) every 2 mins....not joking, it's 2 mins..... but it's really cute. This evening while I was preparing dinner, Nori took Yoshi out for a ride and made few stops, they seemed to have a great time together. Tomorrow, just as usual Monday morning, Yoshi will be looking for Nori all over the house, and I will be hearing him asking about "Otousan" throughout the day.....Nori, we miss u already!!!! (though u are now sitting right next to me...^_^)

Who does Yoshi look like tonight?

One worn out face towel- depreciated value $0.10

Tons and tons of fun- priceless

Level II Ultrasound

On Monday, we had an ultrasound done at my doctor office, we found out it's a baby girl. Then next morning, the nurse called and said doctor had some concerns from the report, I could only understand 1/3 of the medical terms she mentioned. She told me not to panic and requested for a level II ultrasound to be done at the hospital. Perhaps this is 2nd pregnancy, so I wasn't worry too much.......until that night when Nori came home, having a very worry look at his face (when he's quiet, that's his sign of worrying). I was able to schedule the ultrasound the next afternoon.

Level II ultrasound was much more detail, they measured every parts of the baby's body & organs, and I was just like watching a movie on screen, looking at her every move (she is VERY active). Yoshi was with me in the room, he was really good, enjoying his big bowl of cookies and kept pointing "mama.....baby...." every 2 mins.

Basically, what the concern was something call "Choroid Plexus Cyst" that they found on the baby's head, which is a fluid-filled space. It's not uncommon to find this at the early stage of the ultrasound, usually will go away at 6 months pregnancy. What's most important is to make sure there are no other abnormalities found in baby's development. That's why the level II ultrasound was requested by my doctor just to make sure. Luckily, everything is fine, so the doctor isn't worrying at all. And we are relieve. Now, all we can do is just to wait and have a follow up ultrasound in a month.

The positive part of this whole incident- I got to see the baby once again, and knowing she was being checked so detail, helps to reassure her growth. Here are few more images of her......

Hi Jack!

Jack is one of Yoshi's friend at the Gymboree class (there are only 3-4 kids in our class). He's 7 months younger than Yoshi. His family just moved to town few months ago, so today, we met up together at the park for lunch picnic and play. It was a very hot day.

Jack's mom, Heather is 5.5 months pregnant, she is due exactly a month before mine. So we definitely share lots of common topics. And she is expecting a little girl too. ----------------------------------------------------

This evening, neighbouring areas were experiencing few bad weathers, we didn't get any at all. I spot this huge cloud from our backyard, amazing....

Getting used to babies

Today we have invited few friends for lunch and playdate. Yoshi was really into these few friends. He knows who's Sarah, Andrew & Cara, and he would say their names. And not often he would play as a group like today. He was alsoo curious with my friend's babies- Nadiah & Hanna. Thanks for coming everyone. (Lisa- u are so great with the little kids, thank you for playing and looking after them as always. U are such a wonderful big sister to all of them.)

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Lately I have been talking to few moms about our ways of dealing with kids tantrum. This afternoon, Yoshi threw a big tantrum during diaper change. He even hit me during his frustration. So I immediately turn on my memory chart, and see what kind of method I should try. At one point, I was so upset that I raised my voice. Result: he raised his voice as well (in addition to his "n-o" with head turned 90 degree sideway). Ok, so I knew that didn't work.

Method #2- "time out spot". This was the 2nd time I ever used, and I basically sat right in front of him, trapping him from escaping. When I had him apologized to me, he said "n-o'. Well....didn't seem to be effective either (I know it will take at least few more times to get the message across).

Method #3- "ignore". I was tired of trying after a while, so I decided to just ignore him, thinking that might calm both of us down. Yoshi acted like nothing happened, and began to sit right next to me. But the closer he got, the further I intentionally sat away. Finally he gently touch my arms where he hit me. And he said sorry as I told him so, followed by a gentle hug......so after almost 20 mins, we were back in peaceful relationship. ^_^

Isn't it funny how different methods work for different kids and different situation. Perhaps this might sound like I'm trying too hard or I'm just making things a big deal...but when I have to deal with his tantrum at least once a day, I can't just sit back. This is definitely a learning process for all of us. (I'm sure if Yoshi knows how to write a blog, his side of the story would be very different. ^_^)

P.s.- Well, the sweetest moment of the day- we were playing kissing game. He would go left and right behind me, and trying to give me kisses.....though it was only a 5 mins game, but it overrided the 20 mins struggle earlier....^_^

Nori can't stop smiling

"I can't stop smiling"...that's Nori's exact words.

This evening, we finally found out the little baby inside my tummy is a G-I-R-L. The feeling of that moment when the nurse told us, it reminded me when we first found out about Yoshi. (except this time, I kept hearing Yoshi at the background saying "Baby...baby..."). I think what's make me the happiest is knowing how much this makes Nori happy. In the past 4 months, he's been saying "I know this is a baby girl...". Despite I was having the same desire, I kept stopping him from further saying. But now, this is official. And the best part is- it's once again confirm there is only ONE baby inside my tummy. ^_^

(in between the legs, nothing stick out...^_^)
I gave Nori the camera right before the ultrasound, thinking he could capture the big moments (or little moments...)................well....when I got home, these were what in the camera- 6 photos....6 photos of the baby girl images......hm.....hm.....what happened to Yoshi or me? and the funny part- I got the exact printouts from the nurse on these images anyway. ^_^ so what does this tell us? "daddy was just so happy (& focus) about the G-I-R-L!!!

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Well, back to our little B-O-Y.......to be honest, after today's several incidents, I did doubt for a second if I could deal with baby #2, (not even to think there was a chance of a 2nd boy ^_^)... now he's going to be a big brother, can't wait to see what tricks he's going to pass along in a few months.....

Last night before going to bed, this was what we saw--(we turned on the light for taking photos)

(He's sleeping almost in the same position tonight, perhaps it's time for a new bed...) good night.

9 months ago......

Today we met up with Ethan to park (but it was hot...), lunch and then grocery. The last time the boys sat together at the dual seat grocery cart was 9 months ago......they both have definitely grown a lot.....(Poki, maybe we should take these grocery cart photos once a year at least....but I wonder how many more months will they be willing to sit and post for photos?! ^_^)

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This past week had been very busy for Nori. He had been out dinner 4 nights in a roll, meaning Yoshi had not seen him since Monday night. To our suprise, Nori came home right before Yoshi's bed time. Yoshi was so excited as soon as he heard the garage door opened, because he had been asking about "Otousan" may times in the past few days. Although both of them were very tired, but they just can't get enough seeing each other......finally, we will be having 2 full days of quality family weekend!! good night everyone.

Mama's wish list

Tonight mama has a wish list~
- I wish I have a machine to decode Yoshi's messages, so we can avoid two way frustrations.
- I wish Yoshi's happy sweet moments would remain 24/7.
- I wish there isn't a word "n-o".
- I wish there is a "how to raise your child" formular manual that came with each baby when he/she was born.
- I wish I'm doing the right thing when insisting not to give up during each struggle with Yoshi, instead of being a stubborn mom.
- I wish.................well, at the end of the day, Yoshi and I always hug and kisses each other before bed, and we can't wait to see each other again the next morning......sweet dream my dear loving son, I miss your silly laugh already.........

almost 8 years ago, same park, same grass area, same tree, same family.....

Glue 101

4 months ago, Yoshi had his first art and craft class and he wasn't into any of those except drawing crayons. Today, after talking to my neighbour Natasha for some art and craft ideas, I have decided to give it another try. (I do need to be creative again, especially Summer is going by so fast....) Normally kids would start with glue paste, but I started with the non-messy way- glue stick......

glue glue glue.....(love his concentrate look, piggy lips)

at times, Yoshi would want to get rid of the dry glue on his fingers. I think he has my non messy influence....but he kept glueing and glueing, too much fun.
Nori, we are saving this master piece for u tonight.... Yoshi had a fun day.......