Papa PT!

Mama Bear

2012-01-31T22:31:00.000-05:00

A couple of kids messed with my Jr. today. Jr. apparently had his face pushed into the wood chips on the playground. They pushed him hard enough to leave a bruise and some scratches. Sure he has come home from school with various nicks, cuts and scratches from playing - but not like this. Wifey first asked if it hurt, he said no. Then she asked if he liked the way they were playing, he also said no. We knew then that they had crossed the line from rough-housing to just playing rough. Apparently they hit him too.

Don't fuck with my kid.

One of the little shits that was part of this is my bosses grandson. He's a little shit head. He has a history of aggression and another parent has had a conference with the teacher about him. The other kid is probably just a doofy follower.

At first I wondered if it really was just really rough play, but after a thorough interrogation from the wifey we knew it wasn't. You want to see an angry woman, mess with their children and you will see and feel the full wrath of a mama bear in rage.

Zzzzz

2012-01-26T22:16:00.000-05:00

Sweet Potato is just a little over 11 months old. It's been that long since I have slept seven hours at one time. Ouch. Even when I have the opportunity to sleep longer than seven I always end up waking up for no particular reason. I'm not sure if it's my mind thinking I hear her or I've just been reprogrammed to wake up every four hours. I say I'd average around six hours or so of sleep - not consecutively but cumulative. Sure I can go to bed earlier, but that means I'd have to be in bed by 9PM. Now that I think about it, it's no wonder that as a kid I always thought it was so strange that my parents went to bed so early. Now I totally understand.

Luckily, on most weekends I can squeeze in at least a 30 minute nap to catch up or at catch my second wind. I do have a feeling that Jr. is going to drop his nap soon after he turns four. Just a feeling. I am confident, however, that he will enjoy "quiet time." If not I'll some how bribe the kid.

Sweet Potato please sleep!! Our relationship will grow stronger if you do. These past few days have been better, well that is until this morning. 4:30AM? Come on!

Year from Hell

2012-01-22T22:11:00.000-05:00

If this first few weeks is an indicator as to how the rest of the year will go - I'm screwed. Day care recently declared an outbreak of the norovirus In a nutshell, lots of vomiting and staying home. It hit me too. At one point last week I was down for the count. Then Sweet Potato. Then wifey - - though we think that was a kick ass migraine. Jr. however, just had a cold with a very runny nose. Oh plus Sweet Potato got an ear infection.
(Not that I'm keeping count - but that would be three ear infections in 11 months for Sweet Potato to two ear infections in 3.5 years for Jr.)

We brought her back to day care because she was symptom free. THAT day, they call and say she vomited again and we need to bring her home. I call bullshit on that one. Our theory is that A) The new meds for her ear infection have a side affect of vomiting B) They stuff her with food until she can't take any more C) They put her on her back right after drinking a bottle to change her diaper and everything came out. Again, bullshit. However, with everything going on they immediately said she was sick. Bullshit once again.

Whatever. As my friend says, when you hate your job it makes it easy for you to call out. So I had no problem calling in sick the next day and I'm glad I did - Sweet Potato and I had a great day. We played, we went shopping, she napped well, it was nice. Sick? Nope, not a friggin sign of illness at all. Barely even fussy.

I look at Sweet Potato and am amazed that she is almost a year old. There were many days that seemed to drag on forever. Big picture, she was not that difficult, little picture - she's been a pain in my ass. I feel for her because I am measuring her up against her brother. Not fair to her, but natural to do.

As anxious as I am for Sweet Potato to grow up I am really going to miss the days when she smiles and I can count the number of teeth she has on one hand while holding her little body in one arm. Tina Fey says it best, "The days are long, but the years are short."

Brave New World

2012-01-11T09:43:00.000-05:00

I am a super proud papa today. What you did today many can't do their whole lives - you faced your fear.

Today, you looked right at your fear and said, "High Five!" you big scary college eagle mascot! Yes, that same scary mascot that two minutes ago you told me you were scared of and two minutes before THAT you were almost in tears when you saw him...on the other side of the arena.

Now remember Jr., up to that point you have been terrified of anything in a costume. It doesn't matter that we are sitting in the back of the stadium and the eagle mascot is a home plate or in the 400 section while the mascot is on the court. It's all irrelevant but they are all just scary to you.

I'm not sure what came over you. Was it because I told you that it was a costume just like your halloween costume and Isabelle's Scooby Doo costume. Maybe that was it. Or maybe it was the fact that thirty seconds before you gave it a high five you saw your girl Isabelle run up and give it a hug. I really don't know and I really don't care. Point is you faced your fear. It may not help knock out your entire fear of mascots but it is a step in the right direction.

Today Jr., you taught me a lesson about three and a half year olds - you are brave.

Nailed It!

2012-01-04T21:59:00.000-05:00

I think we are done with diapers/pull-ups for the big guy. I'm not popping any champagne quite yet, but the possibility of not having to buy daytime pull-ups is putting an economic grin on my face. The shit's expensive!

I'm not saying the kid was lighting quick with picking up on the concept. Yes, my signature patience came through. I'd get so angry with the guy because he knew how to poop in the potty yet would never tell us when he had to pee even when we asked. He would say that he didn't have to pee, but then two seconds later pee in his pull-up. We started just taking him to the toilet to make him go.

I'm not totally ignorant, I know that there will be accidents. He can't help it. Sometimes he gets so immersed in what he's doing that he forgets. However, I have a good idea oh when he needs to go. My inner geek timed the kid. He goes just about every two hours. I know, nerdy, but it gives me a good sense for planning.

He still pees at night while sleeping and we have him in a night time pull-up but I don't care about that. He can pee all he wants then! He'll get there soon. Granted he's not like his girlfriend who will get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and go back to bed. But eventually, no rush. I just hope his accidents aren't the pooping kind. Eeesh. The thought. Yuck!

Called Out

2011-12-21T21:42:00.000-05:00

Jr. busted me today. In the middle of playing I started checking my iphone. He called me and I didn't respond. He then sternly said, "Patrick Tien!" to get my attention. It worked. Little shit.

Easy Cowboy

2011-12-15T22:18:00.000-05:00

I think I'm being too hard on Jr.

I find myself constantly correcting his behavior For example, three times this week I picked him up at day care and he didn't have his whatever-jersey-of-the-day on. It's an indicator that at one point during the day that he was not, "being a good listener."

I ask him every time, "Peyton. Why aren't you wearing your jersey?"

He will avoid eye contact, look at the floor and quietly mumble, "I don't know."

I then tell him that he has to be a good listener and that mommy and dada don't like it when he is not a good listener. I then say, "Dada is very upset you didn't listen to your teacher."

He will then say sorry and try and give me a hug. Today I didn't let him hug me. I told him that I was upset with him and he doesn't get dessert tonight. When he knows he is in trouble he will breakout and say something sweet. Today's line was "Dada, you're my friend!" I looked at him and said, "Dada doesn't want to be your friend if you're not a good listener." He didn't like that. I felt a guilty for saying that to him. I think I wouldn't be as upset if this was his first having his jersey taken away. It's his third. There have only been four days this week.

Then during his bath I told him no to put this toy tube in his mouth and drink the water. He did...again, three times. I firmly told him we were done with his bath and he needed to stand up. He proceeded to still play with stuff in the tub. I again firmly told him we were done. Again he tries to pick up a toy. I grab his wrist and yank him out of the tub. It startled him and he started crying.

I know. He's three and a half. He hears me. He's ignoring me.

I do think about my parenting skills and while I'm far from perfect, I'm not horrible either. However, this article at Babycenter.com about "Moving beyond threats" got me self-analyzing my methods. I realized that I do say to Jr., "Dada is going to take away your jerseys if you yell again" or something along those lines. Whatever - just a threat. That can't be good. But then again, he knows there is a consequence.

Man, these are the trying threes.

The Car Show

2011-12-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

Jr is a big boy. He's SO close to being potty trained (we could be a bit more disciplined) but I'm pretty friggin happy the kid poops in the potty. I can deal with some pee.

He likes to explore just as any kid his age. He touches everything. Checks everything out. I just can't imagine how fast those neurons and protons are firing in his ever growing and absorbing brain. He notices little things when we are out that I just don't. Dude really is a sponge.

And just like other kids his age he likes cars. My dad has let him sit in the driver seat of his car as soon as Jr. figured out it was a car. Jr. steers, turns the knobs, push the buttons does whatever. My dad loves it - just loves it. Every visit to the grandparents Jr. ends up sitting in a car parked in the driveway.

I think this is the year that I take Jr. to the 2012 DC Auto Show He better be wearing a pull-up that day because he's gonna shit in his pants once he finds out he can get into almost every car. Ooooo! I can't wait to take him in an RV. I can see it, "Dada. Is that a bed?! In a car?!"

It's not even until January but I've thinking about this day for a while now, I think I may be more excited about it than he is. Maybe I should wear a pull-up too.

Social Labeling II

2011-11-27T22:07:00.000-05:00

Chillin

"Active Baby." Still hate it. But it's true. More examples of non-stop movements. During a bath she won't sit in the water. Instead she has to be up in the tub and trying to grab things. Once she slipped and knocked her face - - didn't stop her from doing it again.

While changing her diaper she wants to roll over and almost rolls off the changing table once a day.

When taking her out of her car seat she starts to lengthen herself out and stiffening her body making if more difficult to get her out thus, she starts to fuss because she doesn't like being in the car seat to begin with. Same when changing her. She fights to get everything on/off and again - taking twice as long.

The backpack. While taking in the sights of a new point of view she is constantly bouncing up and down. Shifting side to side jostling me around while walking.

Man. My girl is taking the high maintenance role very seriously.

Course at the same time, I had a great day with her today. She hardly fussed, still did the things mentioned above, but the kicker is she gave us two naps of over and hour! That NEVER happens. She was in a good enough mood that we got to go out for dinner and eat at medium-fast pace as opposed to our usual ludicrous speed pace AND still not have to rush home to put her down for the night because she was overly tired.

Bartender! I'll have another!!

It's what I've been saying about her since her birth. She is consistently - inconsistent. My baby girl....labeled.

Love her.

9 Months

2011-11-20T22:05:00.000-05:00

Sweet Potato has it rough. She has to follow in this huge bath being blazed by her big brother. It's not fair. The expectations for her are set so high that everything seems like it could be failure. She is her own person and will go her own path once she discovers it. For now, she is following her brother.

Physically, her brother is still quite the specimen consistently measure in the 90th percentile for height and weight. Her last appointment she too measured in the 90th percentile for height. My thrill level that day - - also in the 90th percentile. This checkup....not so much. She measured only in the 25th percentile for height, 50th percentile for weight. My girl barely grew - - if any. Yes, she is overall healthy, but I have to admit that I was hoping she would also consistently measure the 90th percentile. Disappointed, yes. Surprised? No. Yes, she is a girl but still. It would have been nice to have a tall girl. I didn't cry...I'm saving that for the day Jr. doesn't measure in the 90th percentile.

Social Labeling

2011-11-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

My Sweet Potato moves a lot. You've my read my complaints (more rants) in previous posts about her inability to sit still and never stops moving and just never stops to cuddle and be held.

*Sigh*

My baby girl.

She does this thing right now where she shakes her head back and forth as if saying "no." While facing you she will lean waaaaay back and then pop herself back up and smile at you. If you put her down she will scramble to crawl back into your lap - but then scrambles to get down again - then back up.

While at her nine month check up we were describing to the pediatrician how much she moves. How she just cannot sit still. Then she said it, the pediatrician said "Active babies..." Sweet Potato has been labelled an "active baby."

It's a Beautiful Day

2011-11-01T22:03:00.000-04:00

Today was a great day. Not just because it was my birthday, but because I had some awesome bonding moments with my Sweet Potato. She smiled, laughed and most importantly -barely fussy.

She likes to play this game when she is on our bed. You sit her down and she will fall back and laugh or smile. Course she doesn't understand not to do this at the edges of the bed and will give you a heart attack - but she loves it.

We played that for a while then read some soft books, played with whatever toys, she drooled all over my xbox controller and then I took her on a run. Not only did she not cry from being confined to the car seat (she's not a fan of it) but she actually fell asleep!!! I was really shocked about both events.

It was her mood. It felt so good to be on the receiving end of so many smiles and giggles. Love it. Thank you Sweet Potato, Dada had an amazing day with you. Let's do it again really soon.

Warning Label.

2011-10-28T11:44:00.002-04:00

Warning: The following Content is Not Recommended for Young Children. Seriously.

It's TMI - and literally and figuratively I am "putting it all out there."

I'm a big jokester, but this is no joke.

You have been warned....

I officially shoot blanks. There I said it.

I. Shoot. Blanks.

The safety trigger is now permanently welded shuts.

Still don't get it?

Vasectomy.

Done deal.

Nope, nothing awkward about the doctor handling your boys like a roll of quarters. Not at all.

Nothing a bit strange about having to shave your boys prior to your procedure. I guess porn stars have people for that.

Nothing even more strange than a doctor complimenting you on the good job you did shaving your boys. Avoid eye contact on that one.

Nothing illogical about having someone slice open your boys and weld you shut. Nope. Not at all.

Ugh.

On the pain scale, according to my doctor it's a 1 - 2 compared to giving birth - - which is a ten.

It's a bit sad because it's so final. Sweet Potato is it. She's my last baby. Better get my hugs in while I can.

Hold Me

2011-10-27T20:02:00.000-04:00

Three words: foot and mouth. She has it. Sores on her ankles, wrists and in her mouth. She is crying a lot and unable to eat because it hurts to do so. Normally, when a baby is sick they want to be cuddled and held. Not my Sweet Potato. She wants to be held, but she won't friggin cuddle! She won't put her head down on your shoulder. She won't allow you to hold her to comfort her. She's constantly squirming. WTF?

I don't get her.

You Get What You Get

2011-10-16T21:39:00.000-04:00

Day care, and I'm sure many other places and parents, use the phrase, "You get what you get and you don't get upset." We've of course adopted the phrase and use it when necessary.

Tonight, I got my dose of it. Jr. was asking what crayon mommy wanted, "Mommy, do you want a red crayon?" She responded positively. He looked and me and before he could ask me I said to him, "I want the blue crayon."

That threw him for a loop.

Blue is his favorite color so I knew he wasn't going to share it. He also knows that blue is my favorite color. When I told him I wanted the blue crayon he paused momentarily to take it all in and then without missing a single beat said to me, "You get what you get."

The little shit! Smart ass....just like his papa.

And You Are?

2011-10-13T21:13:00.000-04:00

Sweet potato is changing so quickly. She is already pulling herself up and standing with assistance and crawls everywhere! Apparently at school she will crawl over the immobile babies to get to where she wants to go. (That's my girl! Don't let anyone get in your way!) She recognizes wifey and immediately cries when wifey is not visable. Right now her favorites, in order, are Jr., wifey, whatever is shoved in her mouth, a pacifier and then me.

Yup, I'm probably fifth on her list of favorite things. Nice.

I had forgotten about the oral fixation thing. Everything and anything goes right into her mouth. It's cute and gross all at the same time. Jr has been great about it. We've warned him (as much as you can warn a three year old) that his baby sister can't have small things in her mouth. He'll pick up something and say, "Rea can't have this. Too small. Right DaDa?" I proudly tell him it is and that he's a good boy and he needs to protect his baby sister.

Seeing how good Jr, is with Sweet Potato really makes me a proud Papa PT indeed. Watching the interaction is pure sweetness. Jr. will play with her. He'll ask her questions, "What do you want to eat 'Rea? Hamburger?! OK!" then pretend to cook and then present his creation for her to "eat."

This is how I roll.

If she is lying down he will put his arm around her neck and strangle her, but in the sweet way.

We remind him to be gentle with her and he's cool. When he tickles her I don't think he realizes how strong he is and how fragile she is. But, to Sweet Potato's credit, she doesn't cry, it's either a blank expression or a smile.

As much as I complain about her lack of napping, her inability to sit still and chill, her general fussiness - I love my baby girl.

Sorry Junior.

2011-09-16T19:39:00.010-04:00

Sorry Jr., we aren't going to go to the beach this year. :(

I know you like the beach. I know you like playing in the sand, eating ice cream everyday and swimming the in the frigid pool. I know you did your best last year to work up the courage to take a few steps into the crashing waves. It was awesome.

I too was looking forward to it. I wanted to take you on a spin in the go-karts, maybe a ride down a water slide and maybe even a few rounds of miniature golf. I wanted to watch you observe the beach and absorb your surroundings.

Unfortunately, your baby sister isn't going to let us go this year. She doesn't nap. She doesn't nap in the car. She doesn't nap in her stroller. When she does nap it's for a short time and we would end up spending waaaay too much time in the hotel. She's also loud when she sleeps at night. Tosses and turns. We would all be miserable. Especially since you aren't exactly the best sleeper when away from home either.

Next year Jr and we are going to have a f*cking blast. I promise.

Justification

2011-09-06T22:42:00.004-04:00

This is the first time I've heard Morea laugh out loud. She absolutely loves her big brother. Now I know why we had a second child.

Wax On. Wax Off.

2011-09-06T12:35:00.000-04:00

In order for Jr. to earn his first belt in his new karate class, it would be helpful if he actually participated.

Day one of class.

There were about 10 kids - - Jr. the youngest at three. The other kids were four or five so listening to the Master and participating for them wasn't a problem. Jr. sat on the side with me. I encouraged him to go to the middle with the other students. Nuh-uh.

We watched. And watched. And watched. I encouraged him a few more times, "Peyton, don't you want to try?" Nope. We watched some more. It wasn't until the Master brought out the nun-chucks did Jr. then hop up to participate. He listened to the Master and tried to do what he could - - or at least his interpretation of the Master's instructions. Close enough. As soon as the nun-chucks were done, he was done and made his way back to my side.

After class I asked the Master about Jr.'s participation. He assured me that I was doing the right thing by letting him participate at his own pace. I felt better. I never want to force him to do something he doesn't really want to do because chances are Jr. is like me. Force him and he ain't gonna do it.

When we were leaving I asked Jr. to say thank you to the Master, he gave went up to him and gave him a hug.

The second class was about the same. However, he did participate a bit earlier this go around. The kids were all lined up against the wall working on their kicks. We were on the other side of the room watching. Without prompting, Jr. stood up and took tiny shuffle steps towards middle of the room where the Master stood. Master turned around and placed Jr. against the wall with the other kids. The kids were all saying, "Hi-yah" with each kick. Jr., stood there with his hands covering his ears. Didn't kick once. I was just glad he chose to stand up and participate on his own. Course, when the nun-chucks came out he was in heaven.

I'm just glad Jr. wasn't like the other kid there. That kid was too busy running around the room, goofing, laughing and to pay attention to a single thing the Master said. His dad took him out once to talk to him but as soon as he came back into the classroom it was more of the same, they left.

Conclusion. Jr's not gonna grow up to be a karate champion.

Cold Turkey

2011-09-05T21:24:00.000-04:00

Jr. is a paci kid. He uses it when he sleeps. Maybe I should say, it helps him sleep.

We debated on whether or not to get him off the paci last year, but with a new baby coming we decided that he probably would regress and we don't want to go through the weaning process twice. Plus, his dentist said his teeth look fine and his paci is the six month old size so it's not exactly "his size."

Additionally, we prioritized. Work on the potty training or the paci. We are choosing the potty training. If he was one of those kids walking around with the thing in his mouth 24-7 then we may have changed priorities. But we went with not having to wipe his ass decision. Though, with potty training it's a different ass wiping.

We tried this long weekend to get him off totally. At school with all the peer pressure he has given up the paci for naps and seems to be doing okay there. However, this past saturday we took it a step further. Using the Bye Bye Binky method we snipped the front of the pacis. He immediately noticed it at nap time and decided he didn't need them. But he wouldn't nap. Fine. Pushed through the nap.

At night time he again seemed to do okay when we were putting them down. But the moment I closed his door he started crying and wailing for mommy. He wanted/needed his pacis. We relented. We gave him some other paci that he didn't like but he gladly accepted them. Our rational was it helps the kid sleep, it comforts him, fuck it. Besides, his baby sister gets one so seeing her with one wasn't going to help.

I'll focus on the potty training. The paci thing will have to wait for next time.

Bittersweet

2011-09-01T20:49:00.000-04:00

My sweet potato started day care this week. It's a bittersweet moment. At first I couldn't wait for her to start. But when I dropped her off and said good bye, I held her for a bit and felt a bit sad. It confirms that she is indeed getting older and once she is in day care time really seems to speed up. Soon she'll be crawling, she's already starting to babble and then next thing I know she gonna be a toddler. *sigh*

Doing the day care thing the second time is much easier than the first time - a lot less guilt. We see the benefits of have Jr. in day care. He's very social, plays well with others (most of the time) and it helps him develop different skills. I'm pretty sure if I were in charge of his daily activities yoga and Spanish would not be on the agenda as they are at school. Pretty cool.

On Your Marks!

2011-08-23T12:23:00.000-04:00

Baby girl!

My sweet potato is six months old. It's hard to imagine. The first few months were just so rough. Honestly, I was being a little bitch and really had nothing to complain about. She is healthy and growing and there I was bitching. *sigh*

It really seems like there was a switch that was flipped on when she turned about 5 months old. It feels like a lof of her issues just sorta went away. She still has a bit of acid re-flux, her sleeping is better - - though she does this odd moaning type thing several times at night that wakes me up and she still doesn't get the importance of a good nap - - but again, getting better with a noticeable improvement.

I had forgotten how sweet it is to watch a baby learn how to use newly discovered arms and hands. Her movements can be so sudden too. If you place an object in front of her she'll look at and then suddenly snatches it. Reminds me of a frog snatching an insect out of the air.

She is also reminding me about how awesome it is to watch a baby trying to crawl. My baby girls is almost there. She's on her hands and knees, rocking, making crawling type movements. Even though she doesn't have the actual crawling motion going on she is capable of getting around. You put her down (on the floor of course) next thing you know she is about two feet further...and facing a different direction.

She's ready to launch any day now.

Goddam Bitch Set Me Up!

2011-07-29T20:47:00.000-04:00

Jr's intelligence is growing as quickly as his height. Everyday he says or does something that he couldn't do this time last year or even last month. He's starting to understand humor and I have to say, I see my sense of humor and silliness.

It's much cuter on a child. On an adult, it's just annoying.

Speaking of annoying - - JR! USE THE FRIGGIN POTTY!!

He will interchange names of his classmates in place of the characters in a book or a song; then laughs at his cleverness.

"My tummy huuurts" is a new one. He uses it for everything if he doesn't feel well or is unable to express a feeling. It's hard to believe him - - it's almost like a boy cried wolf. Course the one time I thought he was full of shit, he threw up. On me. Nice.

When we reprimand him or he senses we are getting angry he pulls the, "Zoe's not here. I miss her."

The little shit brings up his dead dog to try and manipulate you. Though, I sense he does miss her because in other situations he will randomly mention Zoe. He'll ask if Zoe is coming back. Once he asked if Zoe was in another car. I told him no. "Zoe in another house?"

"No Peyton. Zoe's not in another house."

"I miss her"

"I miss her too Peyton."

His latest is the best. When Jr. doesn't do what we say or can't focus we will say "Peyton! You need to be a good listener. Are you a good listener." When he does do something we say we make sure to praise him and say thank you. Sometimes he'll get a reward like a cookie or something. The other day while at dinner he said to wifey, "Mommy? I a good listener?!"

Mommy nodded her head and smiled, "Yes Peyton. You're a good listener."

He then replies, "Can I have a cookie?"

Awesome!! He totally set up his mom so he can get a cookie! A friggin cookie! I can't help but quote Marion Barry, "Goddamn bitch set me up!" Course, he said that while getting busted for smoking crack in a hotel room. Still seems appropriate.

Potty Park

2011-07-29T16:46:00.000-04:00

We are working on potty training with Jr. It's getting better. Still a wways to go, but getting better each day. Almost each night before bed and right after dinner he will say to us, "I need to poo poo in the potty" and then does it. We of course praise him and reward him with two small chocolates, like Hershey's kisses. I know food probably isn't the best incentive but it works with dogs!

Sometimes he's playing and just forgets or doesn't care and poops in his pull-up. Other times he just doesn't care. But still, getting there.

When his cousins were in town we all went down to the park to play. In the middle of playing he comes up to me, "Dad. I have to poop in the potty." Great! No. Wait. Not so great. I'm at the park. I have no extra pull-ups, no wipes, no hand sanitizer - - nothing. I am defenseless. My first thought was whether or not he could hold it. Course not. There is about a one minute window between the verbal announcement and getting to the potty.

Ok, no big deal. We'll manage somehow in the bathroom. Oh wait, you mean the bathroom that is broken and in it's place is a porta-potty?! Greaaaaat! Luckily it's the neighborhood park so the porta-potty wasn't exactly overflowing with use. That still didn't stop Jr. from thoroughly checking out it's contents and asking me why others have pooped there. Or why does it smell. Or why it's dirty.

I just kept saying to him, "Don't touch anything. It's very dirty. Don't touch anything. It's very dirty" Gross.
Like a good boy, he didn't touch a thing. Even better it wasn't one of those potty times where he likes to sit there and have a discussion about politics. I think it was partly because I had him squating on the toilet seat as opposed to actually sitting on it.

This was a good ego booster for me. If I can successfully have the kid poop in a porta-potty a mall shouldn't be as bad.

Crying Out Loud!

2011-07-18T22:13:00.000-04:00

Wifey and I believe in the cry it out method. We figure a lot of nights of waking up, overall sleep depravation, crankiness and grumpiness vs. a few nights of screaming and crying and years of peaceful sleep. We chose peaceful sleep. For about a month now she has been sleeping through the night from about 7 PM - 4:30 AM. It's been nice. I've even taken advantage a few of those days to go to the gym or go for a run. I do enjoy a morning workout during the work week. Not so much on the weekends.

Unfortunately, her naps during the day still suck so there is still that frustration. But we have seen vast improvements.

The best part is, Moréa turned five months a couple days ago. Halle-fucking-lujah. It seemed like it took forever to get to this point. And I have to say we have seen a change. She is more interactive, she still absolutely loves her big brother and she smiles. Smiles a lot. Big gummy smile. They are the best. Nothing but pure joy. When she smiles you can't help but smile back and kiss her fat cheeks.

Ah, my baby girl as I pictured it. About f*cking time!

Senior v Junior

2011-07-17T21:22:00.000-04:00

We had our first battle of the wills. Who was going to cave -the old man or his son?
Long story short --it was a compromise.

Jr was in a mood. Wifey made him dinner. He literally took a ravioli, the Trader Joe kind, and spat it out. Then said, using his his sourpuss voice, "I don't like it." We then let eat some of what we were eating instead. Nope.

"I don't like this either", this time adding the sourpuss face for added drama. Back and forth we went, "Eat the ravioli! Eat the beans!" He ate a couple beans then decided to ask for more - but only to exclaim, I don't want those."

I had enough. I told him to eat the beans. Nope. Eat the beans. Nun-uh.
I told him that had to eat the beans he asked for, "Hmph!!"

So I made him sit there semi-pouting/crying/whining/twisting in his chair for about an hour with nothing to play with or anyone to entertain him. I didn't say anything to him except to eat the beans and to stay in his seat.

The semi-pouting/crying/whining/twisting intensified. Finally Jr. backed down and took a bite...a single. One bean. Bite. I told him to finish all of them.

I'm talking maybe 10 small beans here.

I took his fork from his bowl and in two medium bites the drama was over. He drank his water and got down from his chair. Though he didn't outwardly display his anger with me, he did say he'd rather take a bath than shower with me (his new thing.)

I did make sure that I gave him a huge silverback gorilla hug and told him he was my number one big guy and I love him.

Wait until I bring out the ravioli he didn't want for breakfast tomorrow.

Three Year Review

2011-06-23T22:21:00.000-04:00

Dear Peyton,

Three years ago today you were born. This see-saw that we are on has been quite challenging but there is absolutely nothing I would trade for it.

Recently, you've entered the "Why?" stage. Holy shit is that annoying. Why this. Why that. Ugh. It's classic three year old behavior. I do my best to answer, when you are're older I'm just going to say, "I dunno. Let's google it."

There are days when you decide not to listen. I'll say, "Peyton, feet down. Peyton feet down. Peyton! Feet! Down!" only for you too finally look at me as if it was the first time I said it. I've even started the, "What did I just say?!" I hate it when I say it. I know I can be a bit impatient with you especially recently. It's not fair to take my frustrations out on you because of your baby sister. I think it's partly because I expect so much out of you.

You are a full grown boy now - and a big one too! At your three year check up you measured in the 97th percentile for height and 93rd percentile for weight. Hell yea man - I am surely going to be disappointed if this streak ends.

You crack me up with your random thoughts. We can be talking about what Isabelle (as you now refer to as Izzy) did at school and how funny she is. Then randomly you will bring up something that happened months ago and say, "Member? member?" as in "Remember, remember? It happened yesterday dad!"

You have developed into a sweet little boy. You still remember Zoe and tell me at naps that you miss her. You randomly tell your mommy or myself that you like us and tonight even said your mommy is the best. Out of the blue you told your classmate's mom, "Thank you for coming to my party." You brought your mom a dandelion bud and a buttercup that you picked from the lawn at school and proudly declared, "I bring this for mommy!"

You are just incredible with your baby sister whom you started calling, "Rea." You always want to hold her, you lay down next to her, you read to her, you hug and kiss her. It's no mystery why she like you the best and smiles at you the most. You are her source of entertainment and ours.

You no longer cry when you get a haircut. I was so proud of you that day. You sat quietly in my lap while Ms. Annie cut your hair. You had an unopened lollipop in each hand anticipating when you can open your rewards for not crying. Yet you were also zoned out watching Dora the Explorer on the TV. You were so excited when we were done that you devoured the first lollipop and quickly ran to your bed and pulled over the covers to eat the second lollipop even though I said you couldn't.

You still wear f*cking diapers. Dude. Consistently pee and sh*t in the pot already.

It hasn't been all perfect. We received a note from you teacher that said you had bit a kid on more than one occasion and you needed to be "monitored." In your defense, the stupid teacher didn't tell us this was going on so we weren't able to correct your behavior. Actually, we received another one before and you stopped. We thought we passed that stage. Guess not. But you do repeat what we say to you: "We don't hit. We don't bite. We don't kick. That's not nice." Though, if it were aimed at this one particular kid in your class, I'd probably give you a lollipop.

You don't call me "DaDa" anymore. I'm now Dad or Daddy. That makes me incredibly sad. I love being your DaDa. I liked being the only guy in the entire galaxy that was called DaDa...at least that's how it made me feel. I can happily live with Dad/Daddy. It's the days when you aren't going to say it as happily or even say it with a grin that I'm gonna miss the most.

Love you Peyton. Happy birthday my incredible and beautiful son.

Obnoxious

2011-06-16T21:56:00.001-04:00

My sweet potato was born four months ago today.

I love her.
She is my baby girl.
I will hurt anyone that tries to harm her.
I will defend her with my life.
I'm also going to kill her.

These past four months have been rough. I've yelled at her so many times I've lost track. She is collic-y, has acid reflux and is just one fussy little shit. She cries a lot and for no clear reason. For example, I was walking to her room while holding her and she just started crying. WTF?! Why? She just ate. She napped. What else is the problem? She even wakes up crying.

She doesn't nap well. Cat naps all day. Except when her nanny/sitter is over. Then she sleeps for two hours. Again - - WTF?! She is cranky all day because she doesn't nap. What's so hard about that? If you're tired, sleep!

Instinctively, babies are supposed to turn their heads to refuse the bottle when they are full. Not mine. She cries instead as if you're beating her.

When feeding her she can't just focus and eat. Nope. Has to flail her arms, shift her head back and forth, and squirm. Just fucking eat.

I am a firm believer of evolution - - but this baby makes me question it. Why the fuck after all these years of evolving do we still have babies that still require so much effort after they are born? You don't see elephants in the wild with problems napping. You don't hear about horses with acid reflux. You don't see puppies that need to be sleep trained. We are the advanced species? WTF?! WTF?! WTF?!

They say, "God gives you what you can handle." Fuck that. God can blow me.

Singing in the Rain

2011-06-07T10:52:00.001-04:00

Remember when getting soaked in a rain shower was fun? He sure does.

Yo Gabba Gabba!

2011-05-31T21:29:00.000-04:00

Lately, it's been hard to laugh. My sweet potato has sucked the energy out of me. Luckily I have Jr. for humor.

There is a segment in the Yo Gabba Gabba series where the kids on the show say, "My name is X. I like to dance." The other day I said to Jr., "My name is Peyton. I like to dance!"

He laughed and replied, "My name is Moréa. I like to cry!"

I needed that laugh.

The Quiet One

2011-05-14T17:14:00.000-04:00

When my sweet potato was born the nurses at the hospital gave her a nickname, "The Quiet One." She earned that name because regardless of what test they did on her she never made a sound....bullshit.

The Break Up

2011-04-17T22:11:00.044-04:00

Jr. has had a tough year. First, his beloved dog died. Second, he has a new thing in his house that is taking attention away from him. Now his favorite teacher that really gets him is moving. His teacher, Ms.Sherry, had to move to be closer with a sick family member. As she put it, "I have to be with the one that needs me the most."

To prepare the children Ms. Sherry read books and had "lessons" on moving away. I am sure it helped. But what didn't help was Jr. was her favorite. Ms.Sherry told us that as teacher they are not supposed to have favorites - but Jr. is hers. She said that he took up most of her energy but also made her laugh the most too. She said that Jr. was her "David."(A reference to the David Shannon book series) The quote I love the most is her description of a conversation she had with Jr., "Peyton. Food is for eating. Not flicking at friends."

She was Jr.'s favorite too. On weekends he would ask, "Where's Ms. Sherry? I miss her." He has a new teacher, but he asks often where Ms. Sherry is. I thought she was being nice when she told us Jr. was her favorite but apparently she wasn't kidding. She wanted Jr. to meet her dogs that she often talks about. We arranged to meet with her one last time before she moved. We thought it'd be nice to surprise him. The surprise was on us.

When we met up with her and the dogs he didn't want anything to do with her. He didn't want to hug her, say hello, talk to her or even pet the dogs. He just clung to wifey. He had a very confused look on his face. Ms. Sherry says it's because she is out of context outside of the classroom and it actually happens quite often with her students. Plus we have been telling him that she moved away he probably was thinking, "If she moved why the f*ck is she right here - DAD?!" I was able to coax him into giving Ms. Sherry a hug - - he gave her a good long hug.

However, what really surprised us was when she got into her car and drove away. Ms. Sherry rolled down her window and waved good-bye. Jr. put his arm out as if to reach for her and said, "I need her!" and cried. He continued crying and saying "I need her!" I hugged him tightly and cried too. It hurt me just as much to see my little big guy so sad. I have never seen him react that way about someone. His emotions really took us all by surprise.

Just like a typical little kid, we were kicking the soccer ball around and laughing a few tears later and all was right in the world - for now.

Witching Hour = WTF?!

2011-04-15T11:15:00.000-04:00

I blame my co-worker. Before my Sweet Potato was born I had never heard of this "Witching Hour" for babies. It a nutshell it's crying and screaming and fussing for hours on end. Fuck. It started one night with me and lasted for forty minutes as mentioned in a previous post. I thought maybe it was a one time thing. It's not. It's real and it is brutal.

I blame my co-worker because before she mentioned I never really had heard about it. Jr. may have had a bit of it, but not to the extreme Sweet Potato does. She cries and fusses from about 6PM - 9:30PM. Good times! We try all sorts of things. Feeding, singing, rocking, stroking, bathing...whatever. It's off and on. Off and on. Off and on.

It's supposed to last for the first three months and then slowly subside. The one thing we have noticed is that when you swaddle her she is less fussy. It's so frustrating. We sit in the basement so that she doesn't wake her big brother and try and calm her down. I usually listen to my ipod just to drown her out. Eesh. Come on three months!

Round Two.

2011-04-11T22:28:00.002-04:00

This little baby is kicking our ass. Fussy. Screaming. Crying. Ugh.
I may just lay here for an eight count.

Best. Big Brother. Ever. For Now.

2011-03-30T09:32:00.002-04:00

Jr. has been a great big brother. I am going to take some credit for that title. Wifey and I started prepping him immediately after we found out #2 was on her way. We took every opportunity we could to let Jr. know he was to be a big brother just like some of his classmates. Wifey found books, we used examples, we showed excitement for Jr. You name it, we probably did it.

However, it is really still up to Jr. to accept his new role. He has a great disposition and we have been told by many parents that he is the only one in his class that show interest in the younger sibilings. There is one young child he likes more than his brother that is in his class.

We do notice little things. He will wake up in the middle of the night and cry for b.s. reasons. Once for a pacifier he couldn't find. Another time for a band-aid that came off. Sometimes he says he's just scared. Not cool considering before her arrival the kid never woke up at night.

But again he's handling it like champ. When he wakes up in the morning he does two things. One, he tells me which jersey he wants to wear. Two, he asks me where his baby sister is. He likes to hold her. He likes to play with her. He likes to kiss her and hug her. It's pretty awesome. I'm very proud of my little big guy.

De-Fense! De-Fense!

2011-03-29T12:10:00.000-04:00

Jr., his gf and her dad and I went to their first professional basketball game - - well it was the Washington Wizards so I guess you can say it was semi-professional game. It went a lot smoother than I anticipated. The kids sat through almost three quarters of the game before they got antsy. I got Jr. to yell, "De-Fense! De-Fense." They clapped, they danced a bit, they cheered. It was kick ass. They got their stadium food and did well with the crowd of people in and around the stadium.

The one thing I did not anticipate was Jr. freaking out about the Wizard's mascot, G-Wiz. While Jr. was voicing, "I don't like him," his gf was thrilled and wanted to see more of the blue thing. Their tones could not have been more different. Jr. would ask me in a concerned tone, "Where's the monster?!" his gf's tone was an excited "Where's the monster?!?!!!" His gf has bigger balls than he does.

I love basketball and I was excited to take him to his first game Being able to go to a game with his gf was just icing for me. Next a lacrosse game!

Fail

2011-03-28T11:02:00.000-04:00

It was supposed to be a fun evening. It was for a while. Jr.'s GF was supposed to spend the night. Wifey and I were excited and nervous about it. Would Jr and GF sleep? Would one of them wake up? How early would the GF wake up (she's known to wake up really early)?

We had no trouble with dinner, no problem with bath time and to my surprise no problems with sleeping. The GF wanted to stay in Jr.'s room so we put her on a mattress next to Jr.'s bed. No problem except that Jr. wanted her mattress rightnexttohis.

The actual process of putting both of them down for the evening went so smoothly. I was thinking it would be like nap time - - difficult and drawn out. But both of them closed their eyes and fell asleep pretty quickly.

With video baby monitors, which I recommend to everyone, we were able to watch them sleeping. They didn't move. Didn't get up to play. Didn't even look at each other. Out cold. It was great.

Fail.

At about 9:30 I notice GF sat up. She was looking around. She didn't make a peep - nothing. I watched the monitor for about 10 minutes and then noticed that she was coughing a bit. I was concerned that she was going to wake up Jr. However, wifey and I then noticed it was not really a cough but more of a gag.

I entered the room to see what the deal was. I went over to her bed and notice blobs of stuff. Yea. That would be vomit. Poor little one had thrown up on the bed, the blanket, her pillow and herself. Yet she didn't make a sound the entire time! In the process of picking her up to take her out of the room I got vomit on myself. Yuck.

So of course we got her cleaned up and called her parents and they quicky came over to get her. Poor little one. She was just so quiet and you can tell she was sick. She was lethargic and pale, more so.

When Jr. woke up the next morning he cried a bit because he wanted to know where his GF went. I told him she got sick and her mommy came and got her. He understood but told me he missed her.

I know we will get another opportunity to try this out since his GF do not have family in the area. Funny thing is Jr. would freak out if he was at her house....she's a lot more easy going than he is.

All Aboard!

2011-03-24T10:02:00.000-04:00

The train heading for Frustration Station is leaving.

Holy shit.

It took me all of about three days to yell at Jr. This time, it's taken me about five weeks to snap. I believe I said "Stop fucking crying!" I was trying to feed sweet potato at about 9 PM - she didn't stop crying-screaming until about 9:40PM.

I tried everything. Bouncing her, rubbing her back, rubbing her forehead, the "shhhhhhhhhhhhhh" thing, sitting her up - - everything I have in my limited arsenal. Nothing. I put her down a couple times because I thought if I didn't I was going to throw her down. I understand why praying mantis eat their young and "shaken baby" syndrome. It takes only a few minutes of the shrieking for me to get so damn frustrated - every second ticked by in slow motion.

She has mild acid reflux so it's possible things hurt. We give her that gas-x crap for infants so maybe it was gas. I have no idea. All I know is that it was so frustrating. I kept thinking of three things:

1. Is she colic?
2. What a friend said to me when Jr. was a baby, "That's a baby for you."
3. Did Jr. do this?

The craziest thing is all the screaming and crying and tears just suddenly stops. She goes from this baby I want to get rid and reverts back to my little baby girl nestled comfortably in my arms drinking her bottle and snorting.

As wifey say, "She better start smiling soon."

Veteran Experience

2011-03-10T21:03:00.000-05:00

The first born experience was a blur. There were many moments of panic, frustration and just utter confusion. This time around, not so much. Sure lots of frustration but a lot less panic and confusion. The questions are the same, "Is she hungry? She just ate!" or maybe our classic, "Why is she doing that" Those never end.

But as veteran parents we are just more chill. We realize that she can cry a bit she won't die. Babies make a lot of noises. Pooping a lot is normal. Spit up is normal. Sleeping weird hours is normal. The second day they are in this world is rough as hell - - okay forgot about that one, but we weren't alarmed more annoyed and tired.

Getting up multiple times through out the night still hurts. I mentally remembered it but physically forgot the pain associated with it. The frustration. Oh the frustration factor! I still get frustrated when she doesn't concentrate and eat, doesn't go to sleep in the middle of the night, or poops right after you changed her into a fresh diaper. However, after getting totally frustrated two seconds later I am holding her in my arms and kissing her forehead.

It really is like playing a sport because after a while, it just comes naturally to you.

My Little Sweet Potato

2011-03-02T16:44:00.001-05:00

The newest addition (and final addition) to our family. My baby girl, Moréa Tien.

Delivery Mental Note

2011-03-02T16:42:00.001-05:00

Still no baby.

I've said this before but modern babies are not enviormentally friendly.
Case in point. Everytime a nurse or doctor comes in they put on gloves.

Each time they do a checkup they use some new tool or device that is in it's own sterile package that is used once and thrown out. Not complaining because it keeps everyone safe. More just amazed by it because think of how many children are born in hospitals each day - week - month, etc.

Just saying...

Update 2-16-11

2011-02-16T13:23:00.001-05:00

Well we have been at the hospital for about five hours now. Wifey is hooked up to a bunch of machines. One to monitor baby, one to monitor her, an IV, a bag of potocin and an epdiural. So now we wait.....

D-Day

2011-02-15T21:52:00.001-05:00

My baby girl is making her debut tomorrow.

Two songs come to mind. REM - End of The World and Survivor - Eye of The Tiger

I'll miss you good night's sleep. Hope to see you soon.

Comfort Zone

2011-02-14T21:57:00.000-05:00

So close.

She's gonna be here really soon. F*ck.

This day has arrived sooner than expected. I am anxious and excited. I am thrilled to be holding a baby again. I look at Jr's old pics and get all sentimental. He's a big boy now. The fact that I already have a fairly good idea of what is coming - - is really making me nervous.

Feet first - dive in.

The arrival of my baby girl takes us out of our comfort zone and with Jr. and it's a great comfort zone. He's easy to put down for the evening and a pretty easy going kid that's just happy. We know what to expect from one another and it works like a fairl well oiled machine. Sure we have days that aren't as easy but those are few and far between.

My baby girl has no routine. She has no schedule. She has no comfort zone.

It's back to the unexpected. The long nights. The endless crying.

It's a fairly daunting thought.

I took out our baby bottles and cleaned them. I had forgotten how much room they take up. I have some newborn diapers. I forgot how small those are.

This better be like riding a bike or it's gonna hurt.

See you soon

Like Chocolate!

2011-02-08T21:19:00.000-05:00

To encourage use of the potty I have resorted to bribing. Specifically, Hershey's Chocolate kisses bribes. I told him that when he poops in the potty he gets one. It's worked a couple of times. However there are still times that I look at him - take a sniff and end up changing his diaper.

The other day while sitting on the potty he pooped. He looked at me with a huge grin and said, "I get a treat!" While finishing his business he looked inside the toilet to check out his handy work and said, "Looks like chocolate!" Except without the foil wrapping.

Reality Check

2011-01-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

While watching tv two things occurred to me.

1. She may want to dance and I'll have to take her.
2. She may want to be cinderella or a princess for halloween...and I'll have to take her.

*sigh*

The Devil Wears Football Jerseys?!

2011-01-21T20:59:00.000-05:00

He's two and a half years old and already has an eye for fashion. And by fashion I mean a sports jersey. He is addicted to wearing either his Montreal Canadians jersey, his Peyton Manning Colts jersey or his Lavar Arrington Redskins jersey and that's it. If you tell him they are dirty he doesn't care. He'll ask his mom to wash it. If you tell him it's too big - - he doesn't care either. Just whatever you do don't tell him he can't wear it. We did that this morning.

When he woke up the first thing he said to me was, "Da da. Wear my football jersey?" He went over his closet and tried to pull his Redskins jersey off the hanger. I said no.

And then "Action!"

From 7 AM to 7:40 AM he was crying, pouting and sulking about not wearing his jersey. He was doing the crying-sniffling-gasping air thing. He was so worked up about not being able to wear his jersey he actually fell asleep in wifey's arms for a minute. He continued to pout as we tried to give him breakfast. He was so upset that he actually refused breakfast at first but ended up eating some grapes. Even on our way to school he was still upset.

When we got to his classroom I gave his teachers a heads up to his mood and why. And like any toddler he soon forgot all about it and had a most excellent day.

*Sigh*

Hands off the jersey.

County Fair!

2011-01-21T16:15:00.002-05:00

I thought I lost this picture. I'm glad I didn't. It's something I will bring up to embarrass jr. with when he is older.

His first amusement park ride @ the Arlington County Fair August 2010...it didn't go well.

Still Remembers

2011-01-10T23:13:00.000-05:00

It's been a little over a month since we had to put Zoe down. For a while Jr. would ask us daily about her - - but lately he has stopped. He still knows who she is. He still excitedly will yell "Zoe!" when he sees a picture of her or an object that belonged to Zoe.

When I put him down for the evening and I try to leave his room he will say to me, "Da da? Zoe not here."

To which I reply, "No. Zoe not here."

"I miss Zoe." Jr. will respond.

"I miss Zoe too."

"Me too."

"Best dog ever?!" I ask.

He rapidly nods his head with a smile behind his beloved pacifier.

It's sweet.

"Kid. I was here first"

Doe a Deer

2011-01-07T14:30:00.003-05:00

For the past 2.5 years every time I put him down at night I always sing him the Chinese Two Tigers song. Just last week he started singing with me. Not exactly word for word but close to it. It's exciting to hear his little voice singing. I have slowed it down a bit when I sing in hopes that he will sing more with me. If anything, it's a clear indication of how absorbent their little minds are.

Jr. does like to sing. He will break out into song randomly. Never the whole song. Just a phrase sang incorrectly or incoherently but he'll have the tune down. So far it's been twinkle twinkle.

I wonder how he will feel when I sing the song to his baby sister.

Moving On Up

2011-01-06T12:21:00.000-05:00

Jr.'s baby sister is set to make her arrival on February 16th. That's only 47 days away. Crap.

We have been introducing the concept of a baby sister to jr. We tell him his baby sister is in mommy's tummy and he seems to understand that part - - in theory. The kid is 2 1/2 so I'm not expecting full comprehension here. We ask him to say goodnight to his mommy's tummy. If you ask him where his baby sister is he'll tell you mommy's tummy. When we get or receive new items we tell Jr., "It's for baby sister." He seems to get that.

Still. Just wait until she arrives and all the preparation in the world just isn't going to prepare him for the rockin his world is about to receive.

There is a particular Caillou book that tells the story about the arrival of Caillou's baby sister, Rosie. I change the names and say Peyton for Caillou and instead of Rosie I use his future baby sister's name (it's still a secret- - - sorta) . I am hoping that helps him understand.

However, the coolest thing to ease the transition from only child to big brother is his new room. We were given a cool car bed which in my opinion has helped immensley with the transition. What boy (adult or child) wouldn't want a car bed? We got him a road like carpet and these really cool huge-ass car stickers.

We were concerned he wouldn't take to the new room and new sleeping enviornment. Much to my suprise he has been an absolute champ! He wants to go to his car bed and we haven't looked back since. He has only tried to make a break for it twice but since then nothing. You put him down for his nap/night and that's it. Good boy!!

The countdown continues...

Fire In The Hole!

2010-12-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

For the most part potty training has been going well. Jr. routinely uses the potty before his nightly bath. During the day he will sit on the potty a couple times a day at school. Sometimes he just sits just to sit and other times he will actually pee.

Today, however, was a momentous occasion.

While eating his morning banana he says to me, "I have to potty. Poo poo in potty."
I looked at him skeptically thinking he just wanted to pee or just felt like sitting on the potty. But as I looked at his body language I realized he was quite serious. Jr. now realizes that he doesn't like to sit in his own poop or at least a lot of it. He was kinda propping himself up to keep from sitting on his bottom.

I took him to the bathroom and asked him again if he really needed to go. He said yes. I hesitated since it was in the morning and we (actually I - he has no concept of time) were in a rush so I didn't want to waste unnecessary time. I put him on the potty and then before I knew it, "Fire in the hole!" The kid pooped in the potty! I mean, we aren't talking about a cure for cancer or solving our global warming problem but man, it was awesome! I was pretty proud to have to wipe his ass.

Zoe...The Cat?!

2010-11-24T21:14:00.001-05:00

It's been a few days since we put Zoe down. A day has not gone by without shedding a few tears over her. Jr. has mentioned or asked about her everyday since. He innocently asks, "Where'd Zoe go?" I've cried several times when he asked me about Zoe. Jr. will then look at me and say, "Da Da sad? Da Da crying?" I tell him I miss Zoe and wish she was here. I am not sure if he fully understands or is just being sympathetic towards my tears.

I'm a little torn about our new pet, Rosa, our neighbor's cat. The day Zoe was put down Rosa was standing on our deck. I opened the door to the deck and said, "Hello Rosa. Did you want to come in?"

She sauntered in and walked around the dining room. She has been inside our house everyday for a visit. She walks around our house like she owns it - - another reason I'm not a cat person.

Jr. already liked playing with Rosa and giving her treats. This is different. Jr. has started saying "My cat. My Rosa." I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Is it because Zoe isn't here and he just wants a furry animal around? I am concerned he may grow too attached to Rosa. We clearly say that Rosa belongs to our neighbor and she is just visiting. Wifey told me that when Rosa went to play with the kids down the street Jr. cried. Rosa isn't helping either. Apparently when Jr. comes home from school Rosa is there waiting to come inside.

If this helps him cope with not having Zoe it may not be all that bad and I'm just being overly paranoid. It didn't stop me from having a little chat with Rosa. I told her that she needs to hang around a very long time and be nice to Jr.

Zoe will never be replaced, especially by a cat, but if this helps Jr. then so be it. Because it's all about Jr.

Good Bye Zoe

2010-11-19T22:03:00.000-05:00

We put Zoe down today. That was rough. When getting ready for bed Jr. realized she wasn't in the house and asked, "Where's Zoe?" That was even more rough. I cried when he asked us.

We told him that she wasn't here and that we really miss her.

He then asked, "Zoe go doctor?"

"No, Zoe didn't go to the doctor. She isn't here and we miss her."

"Zoe go to friend house?"

"No, Zoe isn't here. "

When we came home from school he noticed her bed was gone. "Where's Zoe's bed?" he asked. I walked over and was about to say something but he quickly moved on to something else.

This is obviously difficult because Zoe was with Wifey and I for over ten years and was one of the best dogs man could have.

She was quiet, obedient and of course, loyal. For a 100 pound dog you almost wouldn't know she was there until she snored...or farted. You could go outside and she wouldn't need to be on a leash. You could leave a sandwich or even a steak and she wouldn't touch it. She was so aloof - classic Akita.

If you walked into the house she would just look up and maybe wag her tail. Though, for me she would get up to greet me...most of the time. Even when I came home yesterday for lunch she was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me wagging her tail. She was totally cool just hanging around with you - - as long as you weren't too loud. She was the only dog that would walk away from you while you were scratching her belly because she had enough.

We have one friend that didn't like dogs but the one dog she liked was Zoe. That's how great of a dog she was.

Jr. innocently makes this more difficult. Zoe was part of our routine. Zoe was part of our play. Zoe was part of our stories. Zoe was part of our family.

I love you Zoe. Thank you for being a fucking fantastic dog.

Thank You Zoe.

2010-11-14T22:05:00.003-05:00

Zoe is old. She is about 11 years old and in the last few weeks has quickly shown her age. She limps pretty heavily when she walks but she still seems like the aloof chilled out dog we've always loved. Jr. is fully aware of who Zoe is and her constant presence in our home. He calls Zoe his big dog and also calls her his puppy. He'll ask to see her and the few times she has walked into his bedroom it brings a big smile to Jr.

Each day, Jr. gives Zoe a treat before we leave, says good bye and tells her to be a good girl. Jr. likes to hold her collar even though Zoe isn't a fan of it. He likes to kinda lean on her and hang out around her. When she is lying under the dining room table sometimes he'll just hang out next to her. Inevitably Zoe gets annoyed by him and moves locations.

Lately Jr. has started helping me prepare her dinner, "Da da by myself" he will exclaim while mixing her nightly meal concoction. We copy a phrase from Blues Clues when mixing her food, "Mixa mixa mixa, poura poura poura, Zoe birthday cake!" He will then take her bowl and bring it to her or her dish area and tells her to eat. She has grown very tolerant of him. Quite a change over the past two years.

Unfortunately, Zoe's days as our family dog and as Jr.'s first dog are numbered. Her limp is pretty bad and there are signs of lameness in that leg. She has difficulty going up and down the stairs and just getting up and moving around. When she stands it's for a short period time.

I took her to the vet the other day. As I was leaving I told Jr that Zoe was going to doctor. He cried.
I'm not entirely sure why. Is it because he knows going to the doctor sucks or that he wanted to go with us? But he cried - with real tears. When I brought her home Jr. didn't show any outward pouring of emotions he just went about his business. He did however ask if Zoe got a lollipop because Jr. gets one after his doctor visit.

His unexpected emotional outburst got me thinking about what are we going to do when the time finally comes for Zoe. How do you explain to your toddler that his dog has died? Now I know you don't say she went "bye-bye" or "went to sleep." That'll just freak the kid out. I want to be honest with him but will he understand? He's going to see that is mommy and Da Da are pretty sad so he'll know something is not right. Even though I'm not a big heaven/hell believer it can be helpful to explain doggie heaven.

I keep telling Zoe that she needs to hang around long enough to meet her new little sister in February. Sadly, that just isn't going to happen. The prognosis returned is possible bone cancer. I'm sad that I am going to lose my dog, but more sad that Jr. has to experience death at an age where he may not fully comprehend it all. But that also might be a good thing.

*sigh*

You have been a wonderful dog Zoe. I will miss all 100 pounds of your aloofness, your loud snoring, and your stinky farts.

Good girl Zoe. Good girl.

The Great Escape

2010-11-11T22:40:00.001-05:00

After I put Jr. down for the evening I started doing a few things the kitchen. I then heard a faint "thunk." I've heard similar sounds from our old house so I quickly disregarded it but had my suspicions. I went on doing my thing but then heard the more familiar metallic "click" of a door knob latch.

I quickly ran into the hallway only to find Jr. casually sauntering out of his room. He looked at me and said in his pacifier muffled voice, "Where my fireman book?" and gave me a small hug. I think my look of bewilderment and disappointment surprised him. I picked him up and walked back into his room and placed him back into his crib. I told him it was very dangerous to climb out and it was time for night-night. I made sure his fireman book was in his crib along with his "honey bear" animal and stroked his back for a bit and left the room.

I ran downstairs to tell wifey that our son had just made a break for it. She turned on the video monitor and what do we see? Jr. again pulling a shawshank redemeption and trying to get out. We watched as he gathered his belongings (blanket, book, bear and pacifiers) and then scaled the side of his crib. I sprinted upstairs and into his room to find him standing in the middle of his room. He looked at me and patted the stool next his bed, "Da da. Sit."

I sat down with him and talked to him about how dangerous it is and he needs to go to bed. I even threw in a "timeout" threat if he did it again.

We continued to watch the video monitor and saw that he was asleep. However, much to our surprise he got up a bit later and made another escape! WTF?! I ran back upstairs and into his room. He just looked at me. I picked him up, put him back in his crib and again explained how it was dangerous, very bad and time for night night. This time he fell asleep and that was the end of it. Though wifey said in the morning he made two attempts to get out but couldn't seem to get it this time

We have been talking about moving him into a toddler bed - - looks like he read our minds.

The Streak

2010-11-02T22:45:00.003-04:00

One of the benefits of a classroom full of girls is that the girls are potty trained earlier than the boys. Wifey likes to point out that girls are more intelligent than boys and catch on faster...at every age. And in every category. Whatev.

Either way, it is working to our advantage. While the thought of not having to change his diaper is great it does have it's drawbacks. First thought, public toilets. Yuck. Second, if you are somewhere, anywhere really, he can just go in his diaper. Third, still gotta wipe his ass.

We have not been putting any pressure on him to become toilet trained. We figure it will just happen when it happens also when his baby sister makes her debut we are expecting some regressing. It happens.

This doesn't mean that when he does successfully use the potty we basically have a ticker tape parade for him. We smile, we laugh, we clap and we just make his peeing in the potty something totally amazing. He gets it. He smiles and laughs and proudly proclaims, "Me pee pee in potty!"

But like every man, sometimes he just likes to enjoy his private time.

Bite Me...Again

2010-10-28T16:03:00.000-04:00

Almost a year later it happened again. We received a notification that said that Jr. was bitten by a classroom but this time on his back. That night I saw the bite/bruise. The report said they cleaned the spot and applied ice. I asked who it was and he told me. Sometimes he will just say a random name, but this time, I could see it because the kid is smaller than Jr. and I have seen them have "arguments" over toys.

I keep worrying that Jr. will copy this behabior but I am hoping that this probably made him cry and hurt him he realizes it's bad. It might be asking too much of a two year old but why not?

No Paternity Test Required

2010-10-20T22:36:00.000-04:00

There is NO doubt he is my son. We know he has my nose and my ears but as he has gotten older his personality has really coming out. Apparently he is the class clown, is great with the ladies and has a thing for blondes. My traits. The clincher - - the kid picks out vegetables in his food!

Tonight he was eating noodles his grandma made and there were pieces of cabbage in it. Wifey did her best to pick out the cabbage but he still found a small piece, "Da da, what this?" I told him cabbage.
"Yuck" he said and put it on the table. Funniest thing was not twenty minutes later I was also eating a bowl of noodles and asked the wife, "Is this a mushroom?" She confirmed it was and I put it on the side of my bowl. Yup. My boy.

Bummer.

2010-10-16T21:31:00.000-04:00

We took a family walk down to the park and while there we saw our neighbors' three boys. All of them are very kind to Jr. but one of them has a taken a liking to Jr. and often will play with him or give him the ball they are playing with.

I tossed a football with the boys while kicking a soccer ball with Jr. I watched the brothers play together. I watched them throw the football and tackle each other. It was cool. I pointed out the rough housing they were doing and how well they played as brothers to Wifey. She acknowledged it was cute to see and we both acknowledged that the type of playing we were witnessing isn't going to happen between Jr. and our pending baby girl. It might, but I highly doubt it. I have to say, it kind bums me out.

Flyin By

2010-10-11T22:36:00.000-04:00

Jr. is about 2 and 1/4 right now and everyday he is getting bigger and saying more. When I look at old pictures of him I can't help but get all misty. He had the biggest cheeks! He was so chunky! He was such a baby! Now I see a big little boy.

It's funny because of his height he is between 2T and 3T clothing so some pants are too short while others are too long. I'm afraid to tell him that as a Tien male that may be the case forever. While growing physically you can tell his mental capacity is growing immensely too. They learn spanish in school! He say "cinco" the other day. I looked at him quizzically because I wasn't sure if he actually said it or I just heard him wrong.

He speaks Chinglish! He really does! He definitely understands my chinglish. He'll say "Where'd my" in English and then say "pants" in Chinese and then "go" in English. If I ask him something in Chinese he'll respond in English. I keep trying to use more Chinese but it's a challenge. When I really need to explain something it's all in English.

It's just is going by so quickly. It's going to by even faster when my little girl makes her dramatic appearance....think I'm making it up:

July 2008

August 2010

Let's Give It a Whirl!

2010-10-02T23:45:00.001-04:00

The second time around we are having a girl! Normally, omg would suffice. Maybe even OMG. Or even O!M!G! Today I add the "F" into that. O! M!F!G! I am going to have my daddy's little girl.

I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous. I know boys. I have a boy. I am a boy. Boy are rough and tumble. Girls are not - - at least most girls. Girls grow up to date. Girls grow up to date boys!

I once gave my nephew a tiny bloody lip. He laughed and kept playing. A friend's daughter slid ever so slowly off my back and onto the moon bounce floor. She cried and sobbed as if she were tortured. The drama.

Girls have a lot of things that go on - - down there. boys don't

I love jr. and I love the fact that we are gonna play some sports, unless he is gay and doesn't like sports and wants to dance. (Then I'll take him to dance practice and watch) and the thought of two boys was so cool! Double the sports! I seriously was looking forward to playing some pick-up ball with my boys. But Jr. is my Little Big Guy! How do I explain that the new one is also my Little Big Guy?!

Well, no worries since we are gonna have a little girl. So what do I do today? I bought her a little outfit. I had too! It had a guitar on it!

Dada Play Farmar

2010-09-23T16:18:00.000-04:00

Many of the toys Jr. has are hand me downs, probably the majority. That's cool. Good for the environment and good for my wallet. His current favorite is a Fisher Price Little People farmer set. Or as he calls it, "farmar" set. He really likes to hold the horse in his hand and gives me the pony. There is a toy chicken, rooster, tractor, farm house, etc. It's a pretty cool set.

At his age right now you can see his imagination develop. You can see it when he has his horsey pretend drink from the water. You can see it when the goat "eats" the toy corn. I sometimes sit and just watch him play and can see him expand his mind. Yesterday after dinner the grabbed my hand and said, "Dada play farmar. Play farmar." How cool.

When the opportunity came up to purchase a bunch of those Little People things I jumped at it. The dude was selling a whole bunch of them. While cleaning them I kept showing the wifey, "Check this one out! This is so cool! Oh! Look at this one! He's gonna love these." She said it seemed like I was more excited about them then he is going to be. Probably. I think I might be disappointed in his reaction again but what can I say, I got high hopes!

Looking Forward

2010-09-17T22:58:00.002-04:00

He is growing up so quickly.

He's not a baby anymore. He is a..Full. On. Toddler. He shows moments of brilliance as figures things out. He impresses me with some new word he learns. He runs every where at full speed. He is happy which makes Wifey and I extremely happy. Yet there are times when he shows us he is still a baby. He still cries over things and will grab you tightly if something scares him. He still wants your protection and comfort. It's an awesome feeling that is truly remarkable. I can understand why some folks have so many kids - - the feeling is addictive.

All of this can't help me wonder about the future. It seems like in a couple weeks he is going to be playing basketball with me throwing down some nasty dunks. lol. I truly am looking forward to playing basketball with him or playing H-O-R-S-E or games he will make up (think "calvin ball"). The crazy part is this future includes another little one. Will it be a boy or a girl? Will I be sipping tea in a doll house or calling plays out on the bball court.

Man.

I gotta tighten this seat belt because this ride is about to get really BUMPY!!!

Failure To Launch

2010-08-30T21:06:00.006-04:00

Change can be difficult. It doesn't matter if you are two or 32 change can be difficult. When you're older you can cope, understand, and adjust to the changes much better than a two year old. This week has been a prime example of it.

Jr. started in his new classroom with his new teacher. All of his classmates from his previous class moved with him and there are a few additional kids in his class. We even arranged it so that his BFF would be there with him at school when he walked in so he would have his security-friend.

It all started out okay walking into the classroom, seeing his classmates, his BFF right next to him...great! When I started to leave I said "bye-bye" and he dropped was he was doing and started crying. I was right at the door so I closed it behind me. I felt horrible. I thought about him all day and wondered how he was doing. The next day the teacher told me that two minutes later he was playing and was fine the rest of the day. He/they typically are, but hearing him cry out weighs heavy on my heart.

The next day he started crying when I was in the room. He put his head on my shoulder, hugged me and just cried. THAT was tough. His BFF? No problems at all. I held him a bit longer until his teacher assisted me with the hand off. He cried more but I still left the room. Again, painful - not as bad as when he was a little baby - but painful.

Third day - - same.

Fourth day - play-doh to the rescue! We walked in and the teacher had play-doh out. He was drawn to it instantly. I said good-bye and he barely even acknowledged me. No tears.

Fifth day - "Da da, play-doh?"

Let's hope the start of this week begins as well as last week ended.

No!

2010-08-23T22:43:00.000-04:00

Yep. That phase. And he's damn good at it too.

This weekend I asked him to put away something, "NO!"
I asked him again, "NO!"
One more time, "NO!"

"Do you want timeout?"

"NO Timeout!"

"Put it back."

"NO!" (Almost like NYO!)

So he got a timeout. The rule we learned was one minute for every year of age. So Jr. was supposed to get a two minute timeout. However, he didn't cry or move an inch for two minutes. Instead, he stood there looking down, sulking, and in complete silence. I was stunned. So I kept him there for five minutes just to see what would happen. Nothing.

After my five minute timeout experiment I had him apologize gave him a hug and everything was back to normal. I was really shocked. Actually. Still am.

Later in the day he would randomly say to me, "No timeout" or just "timeout." It's strange because his ability to be defiant and say "no" came on so quickly I was a bit off guard for it. I was hoping he'd be the miracle kid and skip the terrible two's. No such luck, I think I may soon witness his first public meltdown.

Oops - I Did It Again!

2010-08-17T23:44:00.000-04:00

I went back and forth on what the name this post. I had a few options:
1. De-ja-WTF!
2. 1+1 = Oh Shit!
3. Goooooaaaaaaaalllll!!!

All which same the same thing, Jr. is going to be a big brother in February. How crazy is that?! Yikes is more like it. The thought of going through the sleepless nights and the new-born cry/screams again makes me shiver in fear. However, I will obviously be a lot more prepared with what to do this time around. I have promised myself that I will not yell at this new one within the first days of his/her life like I did with Jr. Man, I still feel so guilty about that. :(

When we found out were were pregnant all those old paranoid feelings came back. I was afraid something might happen within the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy and we would lose the baby. It's my own superstition/paranoia. I again held back any preparations or anything in fear of being disappointed. I did make one gamble though. When Montreal I bought the new baby a "I Love Canada" onesie...and I agonized over whether I should have done so. I think it a defense mechanism and protecting myself from getting hurt. If I don't buy/do anything I won't grow attached to my pending child. Luckily, so far so good.

#2 on the way. Oh shit. Oh and of course, NOT READY!

Hablo Chinglish?

2010-08-08T20:05:00.000-04:00

My goal is to ensure that Jr. is bilingual - - except I discovered a rather huge flaw in my plan...I need to be bilingual myself. Yea, don't think that is going to happen. Let's just say that Jr. and I may end up being in the same Chinese class together. It really makes me regret not paying attention or even putting any effort into Chinese school. But in my defense, who the hell holds school on a Sunday AND during football season AND holds classes at 1 PM! Plus when you are 12 years old the last thing you want to do is go to school an extra day.

I wish I had known and understood how it would affect me later in life.

I still try with Jr. For example, when describing a fast car I would say "That car is really..." in Chinese but say "fast" in English. So it comes out "Chinese chinese chinese chinese Fast." ugh.

However, he does has picked up some of what we say in Chinese. He says diaper, pants, driving, and some other stuff in Chinese. His grandparents only speak to him in Chinese and he sees them once a week so he is exposed to it. I must say that I am most proud of the fact that he knows how to say fart in Chinese. How could I not teach him that - - it's very useful!

I Want MOMMY!!

2010-07-29T11:23:00.002-04:00

Jr. and I are play buddies. When he wants to play he comes to me -- course he is two so all he does is play. We play in the basement playing his guitar while I provide some groovin beats, we read, we play in the tunnel thing, we play whatever and whenever.

However, the moment he hurts himself it's mommy. It's classic. I'm right there but no, he wants mommy. Mommy makes it all better. It's very sweet to see him being held by wifey as he cries and she consoles him. As a child, there is nothing like being comforted by mommy.

BFF

2010-07-12T08:59:00.006-04:00

Jr has a BFF and she is adorable! They are two peas in a pod and have their own language that only they, and the other toddlers I suspect, understand. They hold hands, share toys (though not always willingly), share cups, their germs and are just very close. For example, she came down with a cold...who came down with a cold soon after?

Jr. will ask about her on the weekends, asks to see her picture/videos from play dates, and will "call" her on his phone. I think they became very close last summer. They were the only two from their class that stayed full time during the summer so everyday for months they played together ALL day.

She came home with Jr. after school one day. Wifey said on the ride home all they did was sit in the back of the car and crack up. I got home and they were just running around the house laughing and playing. The next day anything she touched, played with, or held Jr. said was hers. Pretty cute.

This past weekend she spent an entire Saturday with us. How exhausting and fun at the same time. They played in the little blow up pool, had lunch, watched Blues Clues and just had a great time. I was totally excited when they asked if we could watch her. The challenge however was nap time. Oye. It took me an hour to get them to sleep and then they only slept for an hour. We turned on the baby-cam an hour later to find that Jr. had given her a book to read when she woke up.

It's sad but as they grow up and become big boys and big girls they will probably naturally drift apart. I'm not looking forward to those days so I'll enjoy them for now.

You Call THAT a Vacation?

2010-07-06T09:39:00.006-04:00

I don't know how the Europeans do it. The ability to travel the world with kids in tow without a problem is talent. We recently visited relatives in Montreal and it was sorta rough. Jr. had no problem playing with his cousins and running around with them and ate really well. It was the sleeping that was the issue.

First, the house was loud. ALL the relatives were loud and didn't know how to speak in a whisper tone. Second, it wasn't his crib. Third, it wasn't his room. Fourth, it wasn't his normal routine. It all equals to some pretty crappy sleeping for him and in turn some pretty crappy sleeping for us. Ugh.

On our last night before heading home we stayed at a hotel in Burlington, VT (Which we concluded we should have spent more time in Burlington --it's beautiful). I shared a bed w/ Jr. He is only three feet tall yet he took up 85% of the bed! WTF?! At one point I woke up to find him on my side of the bed. I was curled up on the edge. Part of me was afraid I may roll over and crush the little dude.

He moves a lot too. He kicked me. I felt him hit my head, my arm and a couple of times he was snuggled up right next to me. This was a queen size bed and he was sleeping as if the mattress was smaller than his crib. Additionally, he still has his pacifier addiction so when he would lose one during the night (he hasto have two when he sleeps) I would open my eyes only to see him sitting up looking under the blankets and pillows for that elusive second pacifier.

So let's clarify. We were gone for six days so that equals six nights of bad sleep. Plus, I had to sleep on the floor for five of the six nights. Bonus!

*sigh* I'm a dad now. I'll do anything to keep Jr. happy and to see him smile. He is meeting new people and trying new things that will hopefully make him in to one hell of a man. I was very happy to seem him with his other loving grandparents, his aunt, his most memorable uncle, and despite their inability to be speak anything other than "whine-ese" ---his cousins.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2010-06-23T14:05:00.003-04:00

Jr. You turn two today. How did we celebrate the big TWO?? By taking you to the doctor for a check-up and two shots. How did you celebrate? You woke up with a fever and couldn't go to school to celebrate. :( If you feel better tomorrow we will bring the cupcakes your dada made tomorrow along with the loot bags your mommy made and the birthday hats you've been wanting. Sorry little big guy. Actually, I'm not sure I can really call you that anymore.

At the doctor's they measured you at 37 inches - putting you in the 97th percentile!! WOOOHOOOO!!!! Even your doctor said, "He may play in the NBA yet dad!" It's appropriate that now when I say to you, "Who's my big boy" that you say "PEYTON!" It's quite funny that you in your 97th percentile and your best friend is the smallest one in the class measuring in the 15th percentile.

I'm thrilled that you like your bday gift from us and for once was totally excited - a guitar! You held it, strummed it, beat on it, but really really liked it. I have to admit I had pretty high expectations for this gift. I've only been thinking about getting one for you for oh - 32 months now.

It's been a challenging two years Jr. Some superfantasticdoesntgetbetterthanthisdays and then the not so great days. But I have to say that each day you do something new or say something that just makes me smile. We still have a lot to learn about each other and I'm truly looking forward to it. You will always be my little big guy.
Love you.

Need More Cow Bell

2010-06-14T11:21:00.007-04:00

From the beginning I have emphasized music for Jr. I started with his iPod play lists and then moved onto his room decoration. We also look for cool music themed clothing with guitars, drums, etc. I'm not trying to make him into Lenny Kravitz or Bob Dylan...though maybe I am subconsciously now that I think about it.

He knows what a guitar is and when he sees one he will point it out and do the sign for guitar, which is basically the strumming motion. At brunch there was a bluegrass trio with a banjo, violin and guitar. No more than a dozen times did jr. point out the guitar and show me the sign. He even walked up the stage area and started at the guitarist. It's quite the improvement because apparently last time he saw a guitarist he cried.

When we were in the car listening to the radio, he would request "More guitar" or "More drum" when the song ends or changes. I have to then scan the radio stations to find something that he approves. Luckily the classic rock station was playing some Led Zepplin so that worked.

This morning driving to school he again requested "More guitar" and then some hip-hop song came on and he said "No! More guitar." Perhaps this music brainwashing is working.

Mr. Hong

2010-06-04T22:21:00.003-04:00

Hey Mr. Hong. It was always a pleasure to see you and Mrs. Hong walk by my parents house. It was cute to see you two casually strolling, talking and just enjoying each other's company. totally sweet.

I'm not sure if it was you or Mrs. that wondered out loud what a good looking girl like wifey was doing with me. lol. not cool and hilarious all at the same time. I also think you were the only man that was able to put dad to my shame when it came to electronics and this was back in the day when electronics where not cheap!

You lived a great life Mr. Hong. Rest peacefully. You've earned it.

Mr. Rente

2010-06-04T21:57:00.002-04:00

Mr. Rente was a strong advocate for one simple rule that my my dad taught me and that every man needs to know: Respect a man in his house.

When I would go over to the Rente house I made sure I gave Mr. Rente a firm handshake, say hello and asked how we was. He didn't want me to be his best friend. He wanted me to recognize him and respect him in his house.

Once he knew that you respected him he would generously offer you a drink - - of his homemade wine. Peace out Mr. Rente.

PORTUGAL! PORTUGAL! PORTUGAL!

Hmph!

2010-05-25T22:07:00.002-04:00

Jr. stop calling me Pat! You are supposed to call me DaDa and nothing else!
Wifey thinks this is hilarious. He will open the basement door and yell for me, "PAT! PAT!" then do this motion for me to come to him. Not cool. Not cool at all. But at the same time, pretty funny.

A Little Gentelman

2010-05-19T21:58:00.000-04:00

Jr.'s cousin said he was a little gentleman, particularly when he wore this cool cardigan. Jr. proved her right today.

While seated, one of his classmates dropped her security blanket and said,"Uh oh!"
Jr. was standing right there and picked it up and gave it back to her.

He is also getting really good at saying "Thank you" and today he said "Bless you" after wifey sneezed.

His thank you's are the best. He will often say it un-prompted. If you give him anything he'll say "Thank you da da" or "thank you mommy." I'm very proud of this. I want him to be a very polite person.

Pat!

2010-05-16T21:49:00.002-04:00

Today Jr. called me Pat. He was upstairs, I was downstairs. He opened the door and yelled, "Pat!"

I just stared at him. WTF?

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T14:07:00.005-04:00

I brought Jr. to visit his Great-Grandma's grave site. They never met. It's my one regret about Jr. I wish they had met. They would have gotten along splendidly!

I can just picture my grandma saying in Chinese, "He's so cute! He's so cute! His skin is so soft! He's so cute!"

Sorry Grandma.

Love you. Miss you.

Hello, My Name is

2010-05-08T20:40:00.004-04:00

Our family has only grown by one yet this one addition has totally thrown us off. We are talking mentally, physically and financially. You can now add: namely. That's right, I made a word up: namely.

I noticed we have been interchanging Zoe and Jr's name. I did while walking Zoe tonight. I kept saying to her, "No, no Peyton. No." She just looked at me. It took me a coupe of seconds to figure out what the problem was. I've also called Jr. Zoe. Wifey will also call me Peyton at times.

It reminds me one night when I was a kid. That night my mom just could not get anyone's name right. I ended up making name tags for every one - including the dog.

My Da Da

2010-05-04T10:11:00.004-04:00

At breakfast today Jr. looked at me and said, "My Da Da" and smiled.

That put a huge on my smile on my face and totally made my day.

The kid has me totally wrapped around his little finger.

Seinfeld

2010-04-30T21:07:00.000-04:00

Remember that episode where this guy would keep referring to himself in the third person? "Jimmy shoots! Jimmy Scores! Jimmy is very angry." You know. That episode.

That's Jr. He hasn't learned the first person stuff so when he speaks he'll break out with "Peyton, sit" or "Peyton, eat." It cracks me up every time. I half expect him to yell, "Happy Festivus!"

He is learning though. Each day his vocabulary grows and many times he will just babble and every few words I'll catch something and understand what he is trying to tell me. Sorta like my Spanish. Though, there are many times I look at him and have no clue what he is saying. That's when I look to the wifey for assistance.

Jr. and his...dare I say it? girlfriend, Isabelle, seem to know exactly what each other is saying. I've seen a dialogue exchange between them. She would babble. Jr would respond. She would babble something else. He would respond. Then they both start laughing hysterically.

It's cute as hell.

Bed Buddies

2010-04-17T21:18:00.000-04:00

For a long while I was very concerned that Jr. would be addicted to his pacifier. He seemed to want it ALL the time. In the house, walking around, in the car, ALL the time and would cry without it. Luckily, without much intervention he seems to only want it when he naps or is sick. That's good. Don't get me wrong - the moment you offer the thing to him he will gladly stick that sucker in his mouth. I was afraid that he would be that five year old with the pacifier. Luckily we don't seem to be going down that path but we really aren't exactly in the clear either.

However, lately another dependency issue has come up. He has a stuffed duck, affectionately known as "Quack-Quack," that he takes to bed. Jr. is very good at putting Quack-Quack back into his crib before we leave the house so I'm okay with it. But lately it seems like the amount of items that go to bed with him is growing and might be getting a bit out of hand:

Push The Button

2010-04-14T10:01:00.001-04:00

This morning Jr. got got on my nerves.

First he didn't want to put his little piggy back into his bed. So I took it from him and he started crying.

Then he wanted me to carry him down the stairs - I said no. He started crying.

He started crying/fussing when I was putting on his shoes. Why? I have no idea.

Then he started fussing when we were leaving because he wanted to play with the balls in the garage.

Then fussed in the car because his keys were "stuck." I'm not sure what that means.

Then he got upset because I didn't have his sunglasses in the car to give him.

At school he fussed when one of the kids came running up to him. WTF?

Luckily this isn't an everyday occurrence but man...really really pushing it today.

Going...Going...Gone

2010-03-28T11:05:00.000-04:00

Jr. is a lot of fun right now. He is so interactive - throw in the crawling and it makes him even more fun - and dangerous! He claps, "talks, smiles (a lot), laughs, plays. It's just so much fun. As parents wifey and I remind ourselves to enjoy it while we still can and we really dread the day he no longer is this fun baby and that everything we do is not so cool or funny.

One of my favorite things to do is throw him in the air. Each morning after I change his disgusting overnight diaper I throw him in the air a minimum of three times and then give him a kiss. I love it. It really makes my day. As I throw him up he has a huge gummy-smile that is just so adorable. I'm going to miss that.

He babbles. Mah mah ma. Ya ya ya. Thpppt. Thpppt. Spits every where, but it is still damn cute when doing so. I'm going to miss that.

His hand eye coordination and his little fingers are developing so quickly. We give him these "puffs" that dissolve almost instantly when he eats them. We will pick them up one or two or three at a time between his little thumb and fingers - slowly...then shove them in his mouth. Sometimes he misses, but over just a week he has gotten better and his movements a little quicker. I can sit there and just watch him slowly pick up each puff. It's amazing to see his development and his motor skills become more defined. I'm going to miss that.

I really hope he contintues to be a smiley baby. He smiles all the time - when not sick or cranky. It rocks my world to see that huge toothless grin. I cannot explain the feeling I get when he smiles or laughs. He smiles I smile. He laughs I laugh. One of our friends said her little girl doesn't laugh as easily as Jr. does. I'm eternally thankful that he is a smiley baby - as a dad it pretty much negates any negatives there are to fatherhood.

Hey Joe

2010-03-25T09:55:00.005-04:00

Joe Jeannette died today.

He was really young and was married for maybe three years. Despite his illness and frequent trips to the doctor - the dude was super nice. My co-worker frequently commented on how sweet, caring, and just nice Joe was and how he always wanted to know how you were doing.

Sad.

Take care Joe - we will keep and eye on Karen for you.

Keys!!

2010-03-24T22:45:00.000-04:00

He loves keys. He enjoys holding them and always asks for my keys....even while I am driving. Luckily, my key are on a carabiner so I take off the key I am using and give him the rest. But why does he still stick them in his mouth? I thought by now he would stop the oral thing. Guess not.

He's a bit obsessed about the keys. He'll cry if you don't give them to him. And they have to be a specific set of keys - normally it's the ones in your hand. I set up a dummy set with a bunch of key chains and a few random keys. Nope. The keys in your hands please.

Once he has them he walks around the house trying to put the keys into the doorknobs to "lock/unlock" the doors. The other day he actually got a key in the lock...wrong key but he shoved it in there. It's just a matter of time before a key snaps in a lock.

He will actually scope out locks to try out the keys - even doors without key slots. It's like he has a skeleton key and no lock is off limits. See what I mean:

Throw'n Down

2010-03-19T21:22:00.001-04:00

He eats a lot. Always has. I sometimes wonder what it's going to be like when he is a teenager. It's a good thing a BJ Wholesale is opening up by us (it's a mixed blessing.)

He really surprised me the other day at the quantity he can throw down. We picked up a burger from our favorite fast food joint, Elevation Burger. I ordered a cheeseburger for him and some fries for us to share. He ate the entire cheeseburger. It's about the size of a McDonald's burger. I was shocked when he ate the whole burger and ate more than a 1/3 of the fries. If I didn't take the fries away I think he would have eaten them all. Plus he had a small cookie for dessert.

I know adults that eat the same amount for dinner - is this normal for a kid that is almost two?

1+1=2

2010-03-18T22:03:00.004-04:00

I'm not saying Jr. is the smartest kid ever. Nope, not gonna be that dad. I'm just saying that his vocabulary development has really increased. He has started putting two words together like, "Hi mommy" or "Bye Da Da" and even "More Please." Tonight I think he said "Cheese please."

Additionally, he picks up words pretty quickly as well. We aren't talking SAT words here. He learned to say "Gu Gu," which is Chinese for Aunt pretty quickly. Granted, it's not a huge that's not a super impressive word but he also knew who his Gu Gu is which made it pretty cool

He starting to learn his classmates names too. He calls Isabelle - za-bea. Nuri - nu-nee. What's more impressive is that the kids at school know his name and say it really clearly - almost perfectly.

This also means that he now will add "no" to anything too. It's ying and yang man. Comes with the territory.

It's nice to see his progression but sad because he is really becoming a big boy and no longer my little big guy.

Me Worry?

2010-03-11T21:53:00.002-05:00

I got sick this week. It was on Monday. Not sure it was a stomach virus or food poisoning. I'm going with food poisoning. No chills. No Fever. No aches. Just lots of -- um -- stuff.

Lost four pounds.

My biggest worry was if was going to pass it on to Jr. I deliberately touched as little as possible around the house, wore a face mask, bathed in anti-bacterial gel, and at one point wore latex gloves. The thought of him vomiting all over the place (again I might add) scares me to death. I remember the look on his face - that uncomfortable vomiting pain look- now imagine what that feels like for a kid that has no idea what is going on.

We aren't out of the woods yet but I can see the clearing in the far distance. I hope.

And We Have Lift Off

2010-02-23T08:25:00.002-05:00

The tantrums have begun. The flailing. The screaming. The crying. It's happened a few times now. For example, Jr. likes to take the small shovel and dig into the snow. It started raining and I said it was time to go in which was met with an immediate "NOooooOOooo!!" followed by stomping of feet and crying.

According to wifey he has also done the classic lying on the ground tantrum, but I have yet to witness it. When we first saw him throw a tantrum we laughed. It's lost it's humor rather quickly.

I tend to ignore him or just stand over him and wait for him to calm down (as much as he can) and repeat what I just said. He typically does the tantrum thing if you tell him to do something that he does not want to do (come inside, stop playing with something, go wash his hands, etc). I'm just waiting for this to happen in public.
I can feel all those eyes starting at me already.

Monkey See. Monkey Do.

2010-02-16T16:14:00.003-05:00

I'm screwed. Jr. is at the age where he copies a lot of what he sees. When he watches his videos he will copy what the character is doing - clapping hands, stomping feet, etc. He even copies me - - which is why I am soscrewed. Yesterday, I playfully gave wifey a little push - and so did Jr. Crap.

He will copy everything I do so I really REALLY need to watch what I do. However, it's not all bad. When I leave the house I always do a pocket check. I pat my back pocket to check for my wallet. I check my front pocket to check for my phone. I check my other front pocket for keys. And so does Jr. It's really cute to watch him check for his imaginary keys, wallet, and phone.

Next up - verbal copying.

Groundhog Day

2010-02-12T21:52:00.005-05:00

The snowstorms of 2010 have not been kind to us. You would think that free day off from work would be awesome. They used to be. I remember when a snow day before Jr. meant sleeping in, eating junk, some half-ass shoveling, and a lot of nothing on the agenda. Ahhhhhh....

Now with child there it's no longer relaxing. We had seven days of being stuck in a home with a child that has the attention span of a gnat. We have watched the same Blues Clues videos countless times that I find myself humming the little songs, copying the dances and actually having a preference to which host I prefer. Shoot me. Lots of running around the halls. Climbing up and down the bed, the sofa, the kitchen stool, me. Anything. He just doesn't stop.

Everyday the same thing. Read the same books. Watch the same videos. Play with the same toys. Repeat.

After a few days I think he became bored with us and got really fussy. We did take him outside just to get him some air and to mix it up a bit but even that was a challenge. Layers of clothes, no waterproof gloves, slick sidewalk, not a good combo.

I hate you snow. I hope you die.

Dying Language

2010-02-02T19:57:00.003-05:00

Before Jr. was born we decided to teach him baby sign language. We taught him about dozen or so signs: banana, more, drink, eat, apple, grapes, blueberries, all done, giraffe, monkey, cereal, etc.

One time we were playing or watching TV he got up, grabbed my hand and lead me to the kitchen and gave me the sign for cereal. I gave him his little cup of cereal and he walked away a happy little big guy. No fussing. No crying. No guessing games. No problems.

As he learns new words and expands his verbal language skills he has been dropping the use of sign language. He no longer gives us the symbol for 'more' but instead just says the word. It's bittersweet. It shows how quickly he developing and how quickly he is really turning into a little boy.

C is for Cookie!

2010-01-26T20:57:00.003-05:00

What word does Jr. learn quickly and pronounce perfectly? Cookie!! He says it so well partly because he says it so often requesting a cookie at all times. At one point we were at a friend's house and wifey said to Jr., "Peyton, do you want a cookie?" He looked at wifey threw down the toy he had and went running towards the kitchen. Everyone laughed at the site of him running to get a cookie.

When he walks through the kitchen he scans the counters to see if he sees anything that even resembles a cookie. At random times he'll just ask for a cookie. When he wakes up, when he gets in the car, any time is cookie time. He's addicted I tell you! Addicted!

Warm and Fuzzy

2010-01-11T21:09:00.000-05:00

Having Jr. in daycare isn't as big of an issue as it used to be. He enjoys playing ALL day, is fed well, has a really good friend and the recent couple weeks off confirmed that there is NO WAY I could be a stay at home dad...part time maybe. Full time hell no. I don't know how these stay at home moms (and dads) do it.

Today confirmed my feelings even further. Carrying Jr. I walked into his class and put him down. He stood there for a second and surveyed the room. He started rockin to the beat of the music playing but then saw his favorite teacher and went running over to her and gave her a hug. To my surprise, when she put him down and he started to play with the other kids without a fuss.

What made me feel really good was when I started to leave. I did my usual ritual - gave him a kiss, tell him I loved him, and said "See you later little big guy." Previously I would sort of sneak out when he was distracted so he would not see me leave and get upset. But this time, I looked right at him, waved and said bye-bye. He looked right at me then turned and started playing again. He's content which makes me happy and gives me a nice warm and fuzzy feeling that my boy is in good hands.

Godzilla!

2010-01-06T16:39:00.004-05:00

If there is something on the floor, Jr. has to step on it. Books, food, shoes, a piece of paper, toys, anything. If it's on the floor it's fair game. Then when he trips or slips on the object he cries. WTF? I feel like I should set up a small city set and film him as he walks by it destroying everything in his path just like a baby Godzilla. Do other toddlers do this?

Christmas List

2009-12-15T11:50:00.004-05:00

Dear Santa,

For this christmas I would like the following:

1. Be able to go to work with out yogurt and banana stains on my pants
2. Be able to sleep in past 8:00 AM
3. One day of no crying, whining, or general fussiness
4. An entire year of no illnesses for Jr.
5. His growth measurements to remain in the 90th percentile for everything...except
the head size.
6. For Jr. to sit still longer than five seconds
7. For a nice quiet meal where wifey, jr. and I can enjoy our food without
constantly having to entertain him (Seriously Jr. is it that hard to just eat the
food in front of you?)
8. That he remain my little big guy forever.

Thanks Santa

That's Not My Name. That's Not My - - Name

2009-12-13T20:50:00.006-05:00

When I first heard Jr. say "Da Da" I was thrilled. Unfortunately my enthusiasm was short lived because everything is Da Da. The TV, other people, books, really anything is potentially a Da Da. Even Wifey is not off limits from being labeled Da Da.

At times he is right on with his usage. One time he was fiddling with something and couldn't figure out - he yelled out with urgency, "DA DA!" and handed me the object. Sometimes I walk into the room and he will call me, "Da da!" I must admit it's quite cool when he gets it right - except when he points at other men and says it.

The only downside is if he only knows my name he could possibly call out for me in the middle of the night. Good thing I sleep through everything.

Blessed

2009-12-03T20:27:00.003-05:00

I'm not a religious person. I don't think badly about people that are - - except those religious-fanatics from Kansas that protest funerals. They can die.

However, I have to say that I am truly blessed. I am blessed to have a son that is remarkably healthy. Despite, a few illnesses during the past year Jr. has been thriving and growing.

I write this because of a conversation I had with a fellow dad today. His second son was born premature. 15 weeks premature. His little guy after four months is still only 10 lbs. At birth he only weighed 1 lbs and 9 oz and they didn't think he would survive. His son is almost completely deaf, has bleeding in his brain, is on oxygen 12 hours a day, and requires this respiratory shot that costs $3K PER shot. His son has also had a punctured lung and a collapsed lung. I don't believe his son can survive without medical attention the rest of his life.

While listening to this dad tell me about his son, I naturally thought of Jr. and how fortunate we are to have him and that he is so amazingly healthy. I did my best not to shed a tear listening to what this family and child have gone through.

I think this story is exaclty why I question the existence of a god. Why does this little boy have to suffer so much while Jr. gets to run around without a care in the world. Why do these parents have to go through the mental and physical anguish while I only worry that Jr. may not be full from dinner. He is just a little baby and has gone through more medical procedures in this four months of life than I have my entire 36 years of life.

Today was another reminder as how I am blessed to have such a healthy son.