The Life, Times and Travels of CJ, MJ, Joanna and Maki

CJ's First Pokemon Tournament

2011-08-29T23:50:00.000-04:00

CJ is crazy about Pokemon. It all started right before our move. CJ found a trainer pack of Pokemon cards that Maki had purchased for him a long time ago. Since they had never been used, I was going to donate them to Goodwill but CJ found the deck and asked Maki to play with him. The rest is history.

Turns out that this is the age when boys and girls get interested in Pokemon. A bunch of CJ's friends from school also love Pokemon, but most of them only collect cards. CJ and Maki, however, actually play the card game.

CJ also plays Pokemon in his Nintendo DS, which he got for his birthday. All he plays are his Pokemon games.

I downloaded a Pokedex (Pokemon index) on the iPad for him, he watches Pokemon videos on the computer, he watches other kids talk about their cards on YouTube, and he studies his cards intently. As a result, CJ seems to know his cards very well and talks non-stop about them. He talks about attacks, which cards evolve into which cards, which types have a weakness to which types, etc. It's pretty funny and amazing how much information he's stored in his brain about Pokemon.

We were supposed to go to Boston this past weekend to visit Uncle Kevin (Maki's best friend from high school) and let Maki, CJ and Kevin play in a Pokemon tournament. We canceled our trip at the last minute because of Hurricane Irene, which devastated the East Coast from North Carolina to Canada.

CJ was so upset when I told him we had canceled our trip so as a consolation prize, Maki offered to take him to a tournament in Warrenton, VA. The boys tried to prepare hard for the tournament. Maki and CJ played a lot of games and Maki made CJ practice making his own decks in 30 minutes.

So on Sunday morning, the boys braved the rain (which was tapering off) and made it to Warrenton in time for the tournament. There were about 50 people at the tournament, of which 6 were in the Junior Division (under 11) and over 20 were in the Masters Division (over 16).

CJ took 2nd place in the Juniors category! He won his first game with a bye and then won his 2nd game against a kid who was about the same age. I cannot believe it. CJ was beyond thrilled because he won a game and, most importantly, he got to take home 16 packs of cards (8 were from Maki).

CJ won with a Cobalion card (see above). The boys are so into Pokemon that I think I'm going to try my hand at the game this weekend. Stay tuned.

MJ is holding his bottle!

2011-08-29T23:28:00.000-04:00

At around 11 months, MJ started holding his bottle. He's not consistent and he has a tough time when the bottle is about halfway full (then the nipple is only half full of milk and he gets air in his tummy) but he's really doing it.

Sometimes he gets lazy and won't do it, so then we get lazy and just hold the bottle for him. So we need to remember to always position the bottle so he can hold it himself.

A Week at the Outer Banks

2011-08-20T22:05:00.001-04:00

This past July, we spent a week at the Outer Banks. We stayed for a week in the town of Corolla with our friends, the Widnells. The Widnells usually vacation with family but plans fell through, so they invited us and lucky us! Our week at the beach turned out to be so much more fun because was with one of his best friends!

The trip down to the Corolla was pretty hellacious. Kathleen warned us that we needed to be crossing the bridge onto the island by 11am or noon, but we didn't get going until 8:00am. I consider it a minor miracle that we left at the hour because we had been in temporary housing for two weeks while the elevator shaft was being completed (I didn't want to be in the house during the worst, dustiest part of the construction). We checked out of the apartment on Sunday morning, dropped off some stuff at the new house, stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and we were off. The ride down to North Carolina was smooth and uneventful but when we got to the bridge, everything stopped. At one point, MJ was screaming because he was overdue for his bottle but I didn't have any way to warm up his milk. Desperate, we stopped at a random house and asked for hot water. The nice couple gladly gave us hot water and offered to let us come in, but once MJ got his warm milk, he was a lot calmer. The trip down took 8 1/1 hours!

Even though the ride down was tough, we had a great time. We got along famously with the Widnells (you never know how if you're going to hit it off with another family when vacationing) and CJ and Liam were two peas in a pod. The boys shared a room and often slept in the same bed; they showered together; they ate together; they read books together. They had a blast.

We managed to squeeze in a ton of activities while we were out there. At the end of the week, CJ wailed, "mommy, it felt like we just got here, why do we have to leave so soon?" We could have stayed another week and not gotten half the things done that we wanted!

MJ had a great time. Aside from the long car ride, he had a ball. He doesn't mind being in the car, he got to go the beach and the pool, we went for lots of walks around the neighborhood and to the nearby outdoor mall, he had lots of people doting on him, he loved the decks and the hammock, he took naps with mommy (he napped, I read, it was awesome!), and he loved crawling around on the sectional sofa.

Turns out that Nick and Kathleen are total foodies. We went to a great crab place, a great sandwich place and a wonderful seafood restaurant. One night, Nick made an incredible fish entree. Yum! Going on vacation is fun when you're with people who love food! And it helps that our boys are good eaters, too! Even MJ was tasting everything! One night, he noshed on a piece of celery for a half hour and enjoyed himself thoroughly.

Some of the highlights of the trip:

MJ playing in the sand for the first time
CJ and Liam riding go carts around a track
The boys renting wave riders and going out on the water
CJ catching a jellyfish, naming him Jerry and wanting to bring him home (I said no)
Me finishing the first book in the Twilight series
Playing Settlers of Catan (me, Maki, Nick and Kathleen) at night

Another long car ride with a toddler would scare me but we'd go back to the Outer Banks in a heartbeat!

This was MJ's first visit to the beach. He didn't really know

what to do about the sand but we think he had a good time.

MJ just loved the hammock!

Check out that smile!

CJ and Liam loved the hot tub and

begged for hot tub time every evening!

Maki enjoyed lounging on the hammock, too!

I couldn't believe that CJ could drive a Go Cart on his own!

The boys conned me into buying them some rock candy.

The boys were inseparable. We'll never

vacation without friends with kids again!

MJ loved banging on things so we gave him plenty of material.

Here's MJ sucking hard on a piece of celery.

MJ and Maki at the beach.

CJ and Liam used metal detectors to try and find treasure (no luck!)

MJ absolutely adores his dad

What kid doesn't like to play in the sand?

Here's Jerry the Jellyfish

The Problem with a Foodie Child

2011-08-06T00:36:00.000-04:00

Maki, CJ and I went to Rustico last Friday with some friends (MJ stayed home with the nanny.) CJ loves Rustico and loves their kids' menu. He likes their pizza, mac n cheese and chicken tenders. But that night, CJ was listening intently when the waitress described the specials, which included a grilled red snapper over a bed of Isreali couscous. CJ, without hesitating, said "I'll have that."

The waitress was a little unsure but Maki assured her it was fine. He looked at me and said, "I'll eat it if he doesn't want it."

Well, the entree came and CJ at it all up. He ate every bite of the fish and nearly all of the couscous. He ate the mango bits but left the squash.

CJ's entree was $26, while my tortellini was $18! That's the problem with a foodie child: he's an expensive date.

Oh well, what are you supposed to do? I can't exactly say, "no, you can only order off the kids' menu" and then complain later when all he eats is chicken tenders and mac n cheese." God bless the good eaters in this world!

What Does 10-Month Old MJ Do These Days?

2011-08-01T08:42:00.000-04:00

MJ is 10 months old! Actually, he'll be 11 months old in a few days. He has changed quite a bit and is very active these days.

He is good crawler. At around 9 months, he stopped crawling on his belly and started crawling in his hands and knees, belly off the floor. He is fast and he can wiggle through small openings.

At around 9 1/2 months, MJ started pulling himself up. He can now pull himself up easily and can sit back down on his bottom. He's not yet cruising but he's close and he's trying.

He sits up well. He can sit on the floor and play with his toys. I can give him a bath while he's sitting in the tub.

He babbles non-stop. He has a few words but not really. He says dada a lot. He says yaya when he sees Goring. Goring says he says "tita" when he sees Tita Pressie, another nanny in the neighborhood (tita is aunt in Tagalog) and we use it as a polite form when addressing grown-ups; we use tito for male elders.) He also says nana when he is eating a banana. Occasionally, we'll get a mama out of him.

He is a good eater. No, he's a great eater. So far, he's had: bananas, cherries, blueberries, apples, pasta with sausage and peas, sausage tortellini, rice and smoked salmon, rice and raw salmon, bread, chicken salad, miso soup, ikura, orange chicken. Basically, I give him a little of what we are eating each night, unless it's too spicy, chewy or hard. So far, he loves everything we've given him. In fact, he gets really mad if we are eating and he's not. He complains loudly by saying, "aaah, aaaah" and pointing at the food or at whoever is eating.

We have discovered that MJ has a mild allergy to egg. I made scrambled eggs one night and gave him some. His cheeks turned all red and splotchy. He didn't have trouble breathing and no other part of his body got splotchy, but we're not avoiding egg straight up and only giving him egg in other things (e.g., cooked in pasta, in sauces, etc.) The doctor says he could outgrow this if we give him egg a little bit at a time, starting with the yolk since apparently, most people are allergic to the while part of the egg.

MJ loves to go outside. He starts getting antsy in the morning after breakfast, meaning he wants to go for a walk. He seems to like being in the car and he likes going out for lunch or dinner. I try to take him somewhere outside the house at least once during the weekend, even if it's just to the grocery store.

Where Does the Elevator Go?

2011-07-30T00:16:00.000-04:00

So where does one put an elevator in a home? Turns out you can put an elevator wherever you want to. Our contractor says that most people put an elevator where they have stacking closets (think coat coat closet on 1st floor, linen closet on the 2nd floor, etc.). You can put an elevator in a corner of a house and have the contractor punch holes through the ceiling all the way up!

In our case, we decided to put the elevator in the stairwell of our new house. This location made the most sense since it was mostly square, it was unused space and it was space that went from the ground floor to the 4th floor.

Maki was sad to lose the beautiful staircase and stairwell. I was sad as well but also glad that I didn't have to worry about kids and babies falling into a stairwell. A neighbor also told us that the stairwell had a tendency to carry sound throughout the house.

So our new elevator will be where our beautiful stairwell once was.

Building the Hoistway

2011-07-29T00:36:00.000-04:00

When you're building an elevator, the most important part is the hoistway or the elevator shaft. In our case, we needed a hoistway that goes up all the way to 4th floor. Building this hoistway has been a major undertaking.

First, we had to choose an elevator company. After interviewing several companies, we chose Residential Elevators out of Florida. We considered Ashley Elevators because they had a clear elevator without a hoistway but it made me too nervous.

Next, we picked our general contractor. We got a recommendation from Residential and went with Hofmeister Services, who ended up subbing the work to Caputo Construction. Bob Caputo and Mike from Caputo did the bulk of the work, which involved:

Reinforcing the foundation
Ripping the carpet off the stairs
Cutting into the stairwell to make more room for the hoistway
Removing part of the floor on the 4th floor because there was an overhang in the stairwell that would have prevented a straight hoistway
Framing out the hoistway
Closing the hoistway with drywall
Painting the hoistway
Creating the custom trim in the baseboards and crown molding
Repositioning the powder room
Building out the machine room

Building the hoistway took months, literally and it was dirty, dusty work. We started the work as soon as we were able after closing on the house. The work was delayed by confusion over permitting because we needed to move a sprinkler on the 4th floor so it's now the end of July and the hoistway is finally done.

Here is a view of the hoistway from the 1st floor. Note the doors in the hoistway.

Elevator door in the guest room on the 4th floor.

The elevator will open directly into the guest room.

View of the elevator door in the guest room.

View of the elevator door from the 3rd floor bedroom level.

View of the elevator door in the dining room on the 2nd floor living level.

You can see how the hoistway closed up the stairwell.

View of the hoistway from the 4th floor.

That's Bob at the bottom of the hoistway.

Note the 3 doors in the hoistway.

The New House

2011-07-28T09:26:00.004-04:00

Sometime last year, I visited my friend Judith, who turns out to have an elevator in her townhome. Oh, what a glorious thing! The elevator was tucked neatly beneath a stairwell and it made visits by her mom, moving furniture and grocery shopping, so much easier. So I went on the hunt for a home in Alexandria with an elevator. I wasn't really serious about it since we loved our old house, we loved our super easy commute and CJ is thriving at his school.

On a whim, I called our Realtor, Gary Chute of Weichert Realtors, who had helped us buy our house and sell my condo nearly ten years ago. He took me around town to see a bunch of single family homes and townhomes, a few of which had elevators. There was one crazy house in Ford's Landing that felt like an Escher painting; there were so many small, cramped staircases going in every which direction, it was awful!

There is a fairly new development behind our house and I asked Gary to call the builder to find out if it was possible to put an elevator in any of the models. I had previously walked into the sales office to ask just that same question and was told no. But I figured it didn't hurt to have an expert give a ring. As it turns out there was one (exactly one) model that COULD accommodate an elevator and there was one still available. Trouble was, that one last home was already sold, but with a home sale contingency.

So Gary and I waited, followed up with the builder, looked at the house several times, showed the house to Maki, waited, followed up, etc. And yep, the day the contingent sale fell through, Maki and I made an offer and we made a deal! We had to close fast (in less than 30 days) to get the price and upgrades we wanted because it was the end of the quarter and our house was going to be THE last house to close in the entire development! We decided not to put in a home sale contingency because we felt comfortable we could sell our house and we had already been pre-approved by our mortgage banker.

So on March 31, we closed on our new house. It's gorgeous. It's about 8 short blocks north of our old house, it's got a similar floor plan, it's about 500 sq. ft. bigger, and it's got taller ceilings. The appeal of the house are the guest room on the 4th floor that has a closet and bathroom, the sitting area on the 4th floor (separate from the guest room), two closets in the master bedroom, the laundry/utility room, and larger island in the kitchen. New house, hooray!

Maki in front of the fireplace in the 1st floor/basement.

View of the front door.

Windows in the front or the house.

The entire house has hardwood floors.

Giant island in the kitchen.

Sitting area/family room off the kitchen. This room faces East.

Another view of the kitchen.

Looking into the dining room from the sitting room.

Note the two-sided fireplace.

View of the dining room and living room.

View of the living room. It looks dark because

it was so bright outside. This room faces West.

Living room.

Boys' bathroom on the 3rd floor.

Balcony/deck off the 4th floor.

Guest room on the 4th floor.

Guest bathroom.

View from the dormer in the guest bathroom.

Closet in the guest room.

4th floor deck.

View of the stairwell from the 4th floor.

CJ's bedroom.

Closet in CJ's bedroom.

Master bedroom.

One of the master bedroom closets.

View of the bathroom in the master bedroom.

We had the carpet removed.

Separate toilet in the master bathroom.

Master bath shower.

Double sinks in the master bath.

Tub in the master bath.

CJ and eBay

2011-06-15T00:26:00.000-04:00

Some friends were visiting on Sunday. One of them dropped a bottle on a plate and the plate shattered.

CJ: Oh no, mommy, your plate!
Me: That's okay, sweetie. No big deal. I've had those plates a long time and we have plenty of plates.
CJ: You can buy a new one.
Me: Well, maybe. I bought these plates a long time ago. This set might not be available anymore.
CJ: I know where you can buy a plate, mommy. eBay!

Hilarious, I know!

Babbling, Chatty MJ

2011-05-23T22:33:00.001-04:00

During dinner this evening, MJ was happily playing on his blanket, banging on CJ's Legos and babbling to himself. He usually stops "talking" when I pull out the video camera, so I hid behind the island and secretly took this video. You can hear CJ eating his dinner (spoon clanking against the bowl) in the background. Check it out.

More Mobile MJ

2011-05-23T22:27:00.000-04:00

Here's another video of MJ moving around, getting up on his hands and knees.

Mobile MJ

2011-05-23T22:19:00.001-04:00

MJ is about 8 1/2 months and he's getting more mobile every day. He's not quite crawling but he's getting up on his hands and knees. He gets around pretty effectively by lunging forward, turning around, rolling over on both sides, and scootching backward.

We have a large blanket that we put on the floor for MJ to play on. It's folded a couple of times so that he won't hurt himself when he's rolling over or waggling his head. Trouble is, he's so mobile that he's off the blanket within a few minutes. He's also cleverly pulling on the blanker to make his toys come to him. It's hilarious!

We Went to the Circus!

2011-05-21T22:07:00.000-04:00

In March, we had a chance to go to the circus through the Boy Scouts and I jumped at the chance. I had only ever seen Cirque du Soleil once in San Francisco, and neither CJ nor Maki had ever been, so it was going to be the first for all three of us.

This was a regular circus show by the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey. We had tickets to a 3:30pm show. Maki's parents graciously agreed to watch MJ, so off we went. We found parking relatively easily and got there with a few minutes to spare.

Not ever having been to the circus as a child or young adult, I had nothing to compare this to, but we had a blast. We had great seats (thanks to the Boy Scouts!). While CJ liked the animals (the performing elephants, dogs, tigers, etc.), I found them not as interesting as the human acts. The 7 guys in motorcycles riding in a sphere was insane. The trapeze artists were incredible. And the trampoline dudes were amazing. I also loved, loved, loved the pirates.

Here are some cute photos of the boys in the circus hat that came with the super expensive popcorn. At least we got a cool hat! We'll definitely be going to the circus again!

CJ Lost His First Tooth

2011-05-20T23:05:00.000-04:00

On February 9, at 6 1/2, CJ lost his first tooth. He had been waiting ages for the day when he could put a tooth under his pillow, get some money and brag to his friends about losing a tooth. To make matters worse, many of CJ's friends in school have already lost up to a half dozen teeth.

His bottom, right tooth had been wiggly for a few days. On February 9, before he left for school, the tooth finally came out.

The tooth fairy came that night and gave him $5. Quite a stash. In addition, Grandma Josie sent him $10 in the mail. I told CJ not to get too used to getting that much money when he lost teeth. For his second tooth, the tooth fairy gave him 3 $1 gold coins.

My Favorite Photo in the World

2011-05-20T22:25:00.000-04:00

Hands down, of all the thousands of photos I have taken in the last year, this is my favorite. The boys look so happy, they're all hugging and they're just so handsome!

CJ's First Pinewood Derby

2011-05-20T22:21:00.000-04:00

One of the highlights of CJ's first year in Cub Scouts was the Pinewood Derby. Each Scout is given a little kit that includes a block of pine, 4 wheels, some nails for axles, and instructions on how to make a basic car.

Maki and CJ really got into making the car. They bought Pinewood Derby Speed Secrets and made the first, most basic car. But basic does not really explain the making of this car, which involved weeks of carving the wood, polishing the axles, carefully adding tungsten weights, painting the car, checking the alignment and balance, yada, yada.

Maki was really good about not doing the work by himself. Whenever he was in the garage, CJ was in the garage, but Maki definitely loved this activity.

CJ's car did pretty well in his pack. He came in 2nd among the Tigers (1st graders) and something like 13th in the pack. Not bad for a first timer and not bad for a Tiger, considering that CJ and Maki competed against 2nd - 5th graders, including many experienced dads.

Maki ordered a fancy scale because your car can't exceed a weight limit. He figures that between CJ and MJ, he's got 10 years of Pinewood Derby making -- so the investment will be worth it. :-)

CJ's car was very plain looking. It was just a light blue wedge with a copper stripe down the midde, but it was fast!

As you can imagine, the actual race itself was really exciting for the boys. But CJ just loved, simply loved, working on his car, in the garage, for hours on end, with his dad. And I guess that's what scouting is all about.

MJ came to watch CJ race

Here's CJ watching the races

I asked the Tigers if I could take a photo and this is what I got

Here's a photo of the judges; boy were they serious!

After the race, the boys got to race their cars themselves

Loving Life

2011-03-26T09:32:00.000-04:00

MJ remains a happy, sweet baby. I feel like the luckiest mom in the universe because he's just plain happy. He gives us great big, gummy grins when he sees us, he shrieks with laughter when he's picked up and twirled around, he giggles when we make him jump, and he blows raspberries with joy.

Here is MJ just happily rolling around on a blanket that we spread out on the floor for him.

Grandma Josie was making money come up and kiss MJ. MJ was shrieking with joy!

Basketball with the Cub Scouts

2011-03-26T09:21:00.001-04:00

CJ is a Cub Scout Tiger. This year has been a whirlwind of activity to make sure that all of the boys complete all of their activities and graduate to Wolf by the time they're in 2nd grade.

A couple of weeks ago, the boys played basketball during the monthly meeting. CJ said he loved it, which made me happy because he got introduced to a new sport and he liked it. Even if CJ does not become super athletic, it's nice to know he's getting introduced to new things in school, especially since neither Maki nor I are sports-oriented.

We know that we need to do better and now that the weather is nicer, I'm trying to figure out how to get outside more and teach CJ basic skills like throwing a ball, batting, catching, kicking, etc.

First Vegetables and Fruits

2011-03-26T09:09:00.000-04:00

MJ is now getting 3 meals a day: rice cereal mid-morning around 10am, a fruit or vegetable mid-afternoon around 3pm, and a fruit or vegetable before dinner around 6pm. He's still getting mom's milk 5 times a day: 8am nursing (or whenever he gets up), at 12noon, 3pm, and 6 and 9pm nursings.

Maki jokes that MJ is getting the best food on earth: mom's milk + organic rice cereal + organic baby food. Does it getter than that?

So far, MJ has gotten sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, apples, bananas and pears. He seems to like sweet potatoes and pears the best. He actually didn't like apples at first, but that's changed and he now eagerly eats everything we put on his spoon.

In fact, MJ is clearly very interested in eating. He stares at us when we're eating and he sometimes cries when it's close to his solid food time and he sees someone eating. You know MJ is hungry and ready because he calms down when we put him in the high chair and he's got his mouth wide open when you put the bowl of baby food down on the tray. Fun times!

The Cutest Boys in the Universe

2011-03-05T08:11:00.000-05:00

CJ loves his baby brother. He says hello to him when gets home, talks to him, sits next to him on the couch, read stories to him, even help give him a bath.

Sure, there are times when CJ is whiny because his activities are constrained by MJ, but we have tried very hard to give CJ his own time and not change his schedule too much.

Here are some adorable photos of the boys. I feel very lucky that they seem to genuinely like each other. We'll see what happens to their relationship as they grow up since there is a 6 year gap in age between them. There will likely be a period when MJ is just too young for CJ, but we'll see.

CJ asked if he could hold MJ so we handed the baby to CJ and this is what I got.

I was taking photos of MJ on the blanket and CJ ran to be in the picture.

Adventures in Solids

2011-03-05T07:21:00.000-05:00

We started MJ on solid food at the end of January, when he was 4 1/2 months old. Because of the history of allergies in my family, I was hoping to wait until he was 5 months old. But his great sleep pattern was changing again, and he was getting up earlier than usual. He also seemed really, really interested in when we were eating: he would stare intently at us and he would make smacking noises with his lips.

So on January 30, we gave him a bit of organic rice cereal with mom's milk. It was just a couple of baby spoonfuls on rice cereal, but he seemed to like it. The expression on his face was hilarious as he explored the taste and texture, but he was into it.

Oh yeah, to get him going, Maki sat next to me and started eating his apple. That gave MJ the idea and it worked! Good old Maki!

Over the next few weeks, we gradually increased the amount we give him and the frequency.

MJ is now nearly 6 months old and he's getting rice cereal 3 times a day: mid morning, early evening and right before bedtime. He's nursing 3 times a day: first thing when he gets up, when I get home around 6 and before bedtime around 9 or 9:30pm. He also gets 2 bottles a day: at noon and 3pm. So far, so good. In the next couple of weeks, we'll start him on baby food. We started CJ on veggies at first, so I think we'll do the same with MJ.

MJ is Almost Sittng Up On His Own

2011-02-19T09:01:00.001-05:00

MJ is five months old and continues to be a happy, smiley baby. He's desperate to turn over. If he's doing tummy time, he can usually turn over, but he hasn't quite mastered turning over from his back.

What he can do better is sit up. We sit him up on the couch so his back is supported and he's able to do sit like that for five minutes or so.

He LOVES CJ's old Thomas chair. Grandma Josie made this chair for CJ. I bought a Spiderman chair at Target and Grandma dutifully converted it into a Thomas chair with some red felt and Thomas fabric. Other kids have been jealous of CJ's chair for years!

Yaya and I like to put MJ in the Thomas chair and he happily sits there for a few minutes. I think he likes being able to sit up and see the room and the people.

More Funny CJ Sayings

2011-02-19T08:56:00.001-05:00

CJ continues to inspire me and make me laugh with the things he says. Most recently:

CJ: Mom, OMG!
Me: OMG? What do you think that means?
CJ: Oh my gosh.
Me: Where did you learn that?
CJ: I dunno.
Me: (to myself) Hmmm... probably should NOT have let him watch Star Wars Family Guy

CJ: Hey mom, look mom, OOPSIES! (dropping his latest Lego creation)

CJ: Can I watch Minute to Win It?
Me: Okay.
after a few minutes
Me: Hey, are those two women on a team? (it's often been family members competing together)
CJ: No, mom, they're RIVALS (with lots of emphasis on the word RIVALS)

What Does a Four-Month Old Do?

2011-02-07T08:19:00.004-05:00

So MJ is four months old, actually almost five months old. Here's what he's doing these days:

He gets a lot of tummy time, as much as 3-4 times a day. He's pretty good natured about tummy time for the first few minutes, then he gets tired and starts to complain and put his head down. If we leave him for a few more minutes, he starts to cry. That's our sign that he's had enough. He gets tummy time on the couch, on his gymini, on the changing pad, on our bed.

He is grabbing stuff, like my fingers, the animals on his gymini, his rattle.

He is batting at things and the air a lot. When he's on his back on the boppy, he just lifts his arms in the air and pats his legs. When he's nursing, he waves his free arm and pat, pat, pats on himself, my face, my chest.

He's starting to babble, not much and nothing intelligible, but he is definitely "saying" stuff.

He just started eating solid foods (more on that in another post). Not a lot, just a couple of teaspoons of rice cereal mixed with breast milk at night.

He sleeps a lot. He sleeps 9, 10, 11 hours a night. He might get up a couple of times and need soothing and reswaddling by me or Maki (mostly Maki), but he goes right back to sleep. He also takes 3-4 naps during the day, usually about an hour after nursing/taking a bottle. He naps before noon, after lunch, in the mid afternoon, and around 8pm, right before his last nursing.

He goes out for walks. Unless the weather is awful, our nanny takes him and our nanny share toddler out for a walk. They go out for hours.

He goes out to lunch. Turns out that he takes a nap right after his noon nursing, so we tend to go out to lunch on Saturday, after CJ gets back from swimming. MJ usually naps after lunch, or if he doesn't, he's very mellow. We've taken him out a couple of dozen times already and he's always been very good.

He goes shopping. We almost always go grocery shopping as a family during the weekend. Maki puts him in the bjorn and he usually falls asleep.

So there you have it, the life of a four-month old.

Money, Money, Money

2011-02-07T08:06:00.000-05:00

This is probably very normal, but CJ is very interested in money. I think it's because he's figured out that money lets you buy Lego Star Wars kids and cupcakes.

CJ does not get an allowance but he gets stars. Stars can be converted into money. Here's how it works. Every day that CJ is ready for school by 7:45am (meaning he's dressed, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, pajamas put away), he gets a star. He also gets a star for if he's ready on on time for Saturday morning swimming and Sunday mass. He can also earn extra stars for helping me with special chores around the house (above and beyond his normal chores like helping me bathe the baby). Each star is worth 50 cents.

Here's the rub: if he is NOT ready on time, he not only doesn't get a star, he gets a star taken away. This has only happened once and I suspect it won't ever happen again because he was VERY upset that it happened.

CJ can convert the stars into money at any time. He's pretty much used his star money for Lego Star Wars kits. He's sweetly offered to use his money for clothes and food, but I've told him that money will treat him for those things coz it's part of my job as his mommy to buy those things for him.

Here's a funny conversation from yesterday about CJ's money. CJ badly wants a Lego Star Wars kid that cost $50. He's got $10 in star money, not nearly enough. So he decided to break out the money from his piggy bank to see if he has enough.

CJ from the living room: Mom, can you help me count my money?

Me: No, I'm feeding the baby.

CJ: But I need help.

Me: But you count money all the time at school.

CJ: But we only count a little bit.

Me: So this is the same thing, only more.

CJ: No, this is for Legos.

We're mildly considering buying a new house. CJ, Maki and I went to look at a house, which CJ promptly fell in love with. This is what he had to say:

Me: CJ, did you like the house?

CJ: Yes, can we buy it?

Me: Maybe.

CJ: I'll chip in. I have money.

Me: Yep, you're going to have to if we buy this house.

CJ: Okay, mommy!

Happy, Smiley MJ

2011-02-02T08:10:00.000-05:00

Maki and I feel incredibly blessed that MJ is a happy, smiley baby. He started smiling at around 5 or 6 weeks. His smiles started out as little turns of the mouth, but now he's smiling broadly, laughing, giggling, even shrieking.

MJ smiles back easily when you give him a big grin. And he laughs if he's being held up in the air, or you use his fingers to point at different part of his body or your face. He shrikes with laughter when Maki takes his hand and lets him feel his unshaven face. Go wonder.

Here are some recent photos. MJ usually stops smiling the minute the camera comes out, not because he's shy but I think it's because he gets curious about the device and then wants to stare at it. So I generally have to move my face away from the viewfinder and give him big smiles so he'll smile back at me. Generally works.

The boys spend a lot of time together on the couch: CJ playing

games on the PS3 or the iPad and MJ watching him.

MJ likes being on his changing pad; he lifts his legs in the air,

watches the ceiling fan and watches the family.

This is new; he's now sticking his tongue out.

CJ is Crazy for Legos and Star Wars

2011-01-16T15:18:00.005-05:00

CJ is crazy for Legos and Star Wars. He's no longer a Thomas fan; instead, he's now a huge, enormous, gigantic Lego fan, especially Lego Star Wars. For Christmas, CJ asked everyone for a Lego Star Wars kit. He got six kits and he was in heaven. Santa gave him Slave I, Boba Fett's ship.

Did I mention that CJ is obsessed with Legos and Star Wars? Since I'm a huge Star Wars fan, I'm not complaining. CJ has now watched all six movies. We play Star Wars Monopoly all the time. Maki and CJ play Lego Star Wars on the PS3. And CJ makes endless Star Wars kits and ships.

CJ loves his lightsaber! It makes a humming sound, just like in the movies!

Christmas Is All About Family and Friends

2011-01-16T14:52:00.000-05:00

For me, Christmas is all about family and this year, I'm really glad that nearly everyone was in town for the holidays. My mom, sisters, brother, nieces, Maki's parents, Maki's brother all came to the house on Christmas Eve, along with some friends and neighbors. Our friends Eve, Karl and their son + Seana, Duane and their kids have been spending Christmas Eve with us for the past few years so it's officially a tradition that they join us!

The real stars of the show are the kids. There's something so magical about having kids around during the holidays. CJ and my niece Jessie spent the day playing at my house and tracking Santa's travels on the Nordic Santa Tracker. They would laugh and squeal with delight as they viewed photos and videos of Santa in places in Japan, the Philippines and Australia. We figured it takes Santa 36 hours to visit every country and deliver all his presents.

It was wonderful for the kids to spend time with their favorite uncle, Uncle Alex. Alex is my divorced brother who doesn't have any kids but the kids absolutely adore him. He's kept his childlike sense of wonder and he loves to play games with the kids. CJ loves it when Uncle Alex tells fantastical stories about Fang Boy and other characters.

We tried to make sure CJ was well aware that Jesus is the "reason for the season" but of course, for him, Christmas is about the presents, family and food. Here are some photos of the family from Christmas Eve.

Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) Dinner at Home - The Menu

2011-01-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

This year, since I had the cute baby, everyone came to VA to spend Christmas with us. My mom, older sister, brother and niece flew in from CA. Maki's parents and brother are already in VA so the family was nearly complete. All we were missing was my nephew Rusty, who graduated last May and moved to Tokyo. I was so happy not to have to travel with a 6-year old and infant!

Our family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. We call it Noche Buena, which literally means "good night" in Spanish and typically refers to Christmas Eve. Ever since I can remember, my family has attended midnight mass, followed by dinner and opening of presents. Because of the kids, we no longer attend midnight mass. This year, we attended the 5:00pm mass.

I knew it was crazy to host Christmas Eve at our house, but we did it! We had 25 people, including my family, Maki's family, close friends, neighbors and a co-worker. Everyone helped. Maki, my mom and brother helped get the house ready. My younger sister made the ham and desserts. I made the sides. Friends brought wine and soda and more sides. Our Christmas Eve menu consisted of:

Cream cheese, pesto and sundried tomato dip
Brown sugar glazed ham
Roasted vegetables
Mushroom and chestnut dressing (stuffing)
Beet and goat cheese salad
Fettuccine with brie, tomato and basil sauce
Pear and arugula salad
Plain and spicy enari (tofu stuffed with rice)
Tiramisu cake
Cheesecake
Biko
Chocolate and caramel crackers
Chocolate
Hot chocolate
Spiced cider
Beer, wine, soda

Yum! We ate a lot of the food, but surprisingly, very little of the wine was drunk. I guess we're all getting older and drinking a lot less! Too bad I forgot to take pictures of the food!

Baby Marcus John Gets Baptized

2011-01-08T11:41:00.003-05:00

Since everyone was going to be in town for Christmas, it made sense to have MJ baptized during the holidays. Thank goodness our parish priest was able to squeeze the baptism into his busy holiday schedule!

We asked our friend Eileen and my brother Alex to be MJ's godparents and they said they'd be honored to do it. Great! I told Eileen that being a godmother (ninang in Tagalog) is a serious thing with the Filipinos; she's now a member of the family!

MJ's baptism was a small affair, just my family, Maki's family and a couple of friends. The baptism was held on Thursday, December 23rd at 2pm, an odd time for sure, but it worked for us and the priest. The church was beautifully decorated for Christmas so the backdrop for the baptism was wonderful.

After the baptism, everyone came back to our house for a small meal. Goring, our nanny, had made pancit bihon and pancit palabok, two traditional, Filipino noodle dishes. Yum and thank you, Goring!

CJ's First Words and Other Word Things

2011-01-04T08:07:00.002-05:00

I'm writing this down only so I won't forget it in the future.

CJ's first word was dada. His next word was "gabugee" for garbage. We had no idea what he was saying until we went for a walk one day. CJ kept pointing at things on the ground and saying "gabugee." So that's when we figured out that "gabugee" meant garbage.

CJ used to call me "mama jsa" and Maki "dada maki."

He called us mama and dada for a long time, but today, it's mommy and daddy. Sometimes it's mom and dad. I miss mama and dada.

When CJ and I would read his "Click Clack Moo" book, CJ would say "sinsincerely" instead of sincerely.

CJ still calls blankets "blankies."

And CJ still calls snuggling with me on the couch "snuggies."

On CJ's first 1st grade report card, he got an "Exceeds Expectations" for reading and speaking. I'm not surprised. CJ is very articulate and it's really fun to have conversations with him. I wonder if it's because he's spent so much time with adults.

I'm a Dark Sleeper, Mom

2011-01-04T08:02:00.000-05:00

CJ: Mom, I'm a dark sleeper.
Me: You mean you're a heavy sleeper?
CJ: No, I'm a dark sleeper.
Me: What does that mean?
CJ: You're a light sleeper. You wake up when you hear noises. I'm a dark sleeper. The alarm clock doesn't wake me up.
Me: Oh, I see. What about daddy?
CJ: He's a dark sleeper, too. He doesn't wake up when there's loud noises, but he wakes up when I whisper in his ear. Isn't that amazing?

Lessons and Carols

2010-12-19T09:33:00.000-05:00

Every year, on the last day of school, CJ's school has a Christmas pageant called "Lessons and Carols." There's a message from the Head of School and the Reverend, readings by some of the kids, and Christmas songs performed by each class. I love this pageant because it always gets me into the holiday spirit in a big way.

The kids get all dressed up. The girls are adorable in their fancy, sparkly, satiny dresses. CJ was wearing a button down shirt, a real tie from Land's End and a blue pin-striped blazer. I think his blazer was just a little too small. I tried it on him this summer and it was still really big, but he must have had a growth spurt because when I went to put it on him this past week, it was a little snug. Oh well. He's only worn the jacket three times in his life. It will go into the MJ 5-year box so we can get a little more use out of it.

CJ's class joined with another class to sing "Oh Come Little Children." The music teachers did an excellent job of prepping the kids. The 5th graders in particular did an awesome job. Maki calls them the A team.

CJ is on winter break for a few weeks. I love that we don't need to scramble in the morning to get him out the door by 7:45am but I'm not nuts about having him home with nothing to do. Time to organize a thousand playdates!

How is Uncle Owen Luke's Skywalker's Uncle?

2010-12-19T09:26:00.000-05:00

CJ is obsessed with Star Wars and Legos these days. Big surprise. I'm obviously a giant Star Wars fan and Maki introduced CJ to Legos and Lego Mindstorms early.

CJ has been watching the movies lately and has been interested in the family tree of the Skywalkers. Here is a recent, hilarious exchange between me and CJ.

CJ: Mom, how is Uncle Owen Luke Skywalker's Uncle?

Me: Owen was Anakin's stepbrother.

CJ: What's a stepbrother?

Me: Well. Let's see. When a mom and dad split up and one of them remarries and has children, then you become stepbrothers and sisters. Anakin's mom had Anakin, then she married Lars and had a baby named Owen. So Luke and Owen are stepbrothers because they had the same mom.

CJ: You and daddy and split up all the time. Every morning, you and daddy split up and drive to work. Do I have stepbrothers and sisters?

Me: Hmm... split up in this case is something different. When a mom and dad split up, they stop being married.

CJ: You mean they dismarry? (Note how he's trying to put together words; it's not right in this case, but a great job at using "dis")

Me: Yes, it's called getting divorced. Don't worry, mommy and daddy aren't getting divorced and you're not getting any stepbrothers and sisters.

CJ: Did Leia have stepbrothers and sisters?

Me: I don't know. Remember Alderaan got blown up by Darth Vader?

CJ: Oh yeah.

Do you think this is TMI for a six-year old?

Annual Tree Trimming Party

2010-12-12T10:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our annual tree trimming party. We normally invite some people over for snacks, hot chocolate, and decorating. For me, it's a great way to get into the holiday spirit and I get help decorating my tree!

Last year, we invited a lot of people to the party: neighbors, a couple of CJ's friends from preschool and CJ's entire kindergarten class. It was super fun but it was a mob scene. This year, we invited CJ's best buddies from school and their parents. I just didn't have it in me to do a big party, what with the baby and all. Plus, since MJ is so little, I wanted to limit the germs we were introducing into the house.

We had a ball. For the first time, the kids actually helped decorate the tree. Last year, the kids put all my candy canes in one section of the tree. This year, they put up candy canes and non-breakable ornaments and they did a great job of spacing out the decorations around the entire tree!

Once the kids got tired of decorating the tree, they went upstairs and played with CJ's Legos. Then they had a quick dinner of mac 'n cheese. My mom, the other moms and I finished decorating the tree and putting up garlands and bows throughout the house. The house looks so great!

Hilarious photo of the boys during dinner!

Mobile MJ

2010-11-27T08:07:00.000-05:00

When CJ was 4 1/2 months old, my best friend Dayna was visiting. Maki and I went out to dinner with her, with CJ in tow. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant that's close by and serves food fast. It was the first time we brought CJ out to dinner with us. We did it at the urging of my sister Patricia who urged us to start going out with CJ so he and we would get used to going out together. Since then, we've made it a habit to go out to dinner on most Saturday nights, with CJ of course.

Six years later and Patricia's advice has really worked out for us. CJ loves going out to eat, he's a good and pretty adventurous eater, and we get to enjoy meals out as a family.

With MJ, we're starting early. When MJ was about a month and a half old, Maki took a Friday off and spent the day with me and MJ. CJ was at school and our nanny share didn't come to the house, so no nanny. Maki and I went to lunch at one of our favorite Italian restaurants, bringing MJ with us. I nursed around noon, then we left immediately for the restaurant. As we hoped, MJ slept through most of the meal and we enjoyed a nice lunch. After lunch, we went back home so I could nurse, then we went to see our financial adviser. Again, MJ was a gem and slept through most of our appointment.

Since then, we've taken MJ to Harris Teeter nearly every weekend and we've been to our favorite restaurant several times with CJ and MJ. The first time we went out with MJ, we forgot the diaper bag. Today, we're more organized, now that we're back in the habit of hauling a whole bunch of baby gear.

It feels great to be so mobile with the baby!

This is LOVE

2010-11-24T20:09:00.001-05:00

We try to give MJ as much tummy time as we can. A favorite thing to do is put him on his tummy while on the changing pad. This way, we can be at eye level with him without lying down on the ground. The eye contact definitely helps him tolerate tummy time better!

The other day, Maki was giving Marco some tummy time when I managed to snap this photo. MJ doesn't mind tummy time for the first few minutes and in this case, he was smiling and laughing at Maki's funny faces.

Check out the eyes. Don't MJ's eyes look like Maki's? I love the expression on both of their faces!

Overnight Trip on a Submarine

2010-11-24T20:04:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, CJ's boy scout den spent the night on the USS Torsk, a retired submarine from WWII docked at Baltimore's Inner Harbor that is now part of the National Park Service.

I'm dreadfully claustrophobic so there was zero chance I was going to accompany CJ on this trip. Plus, I think this was definitely a dads and sons activity. Maki and CJ left on a Friday afternoon and spent Friday night on the submarine.

The boys and dads toured the ship, learned about submarines generally and the USS Torsk specifically, they had submarine sandwiches (har har) for dinner, and they visited the nearby light ship Chesapeake.

CJ and Maki had a great time. What 6-year old wouldn't? CJ was with some of his best buddies from the pack, he was on a submarine, and it was essentially a sleepover with friends in a submarine!

Stairwell leading down into the engine room of the Chesapeake.

This is a bunk on the top left, which is nearly directly above a torpedo.

The boys huddled around a table with a map.

Check out this tiny kitchen!

CJ was on the top bunk (there were 3 levels of bunk beds) until Maki

moved him to a lower bunk after one of the boys fell off his bunk.

The entrances throughout the submarine look like this.

Pretty view of the Inner Harbor from the periscope.

Sleeping Through the Night

2010-11-24T09:09:00.004-05:00

It's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. MJ is 2 1/2 months old and last night, he slept 9 hours straight, from 9:30pm - 6:30am. Straight. No crying, no diaper change, no bottle from Maki. He slept 8 1/2 hours three nights ago and we were thrilled. Maki especially, because it meant he didn't have to get up at 2:30am or 4:30am to give MJ a bottle.

His longer sleep at night is probably because he's a lot bigger, can drink a lot more milk, and has enough fat in his body to carry him through the night. During his last doctor's appointment, he weighed 14.23 lbs. He was born 7 lbs., 15 oz., which means he's put on over 6 1/2 lbs. since birth.

During his first two weeks of life, MJ was not putting on much weight. He lost a bunch of weight right after birth (which is normal); by the time he left the hospital, he weighed 7 lbs., 6 oz. At his two week check-up, he had only put on an additional 2 oz. The doctor asked to see him again at 3 weeks to check his weight. At three weeks, he weighed 8 lbs., 11 oz. so he put on nearly a pound and a half in one week. The doctor explained that he probably figured out how to nurse effectively and is now able to nurse well.

The doctor also said that pediatricians really like for moms to breastfeed their babies because breast milk is best for baby AND breastfed babies are much less likely to be overweight later in life. He said that doctors don't worry if a breastfed baby's weight is off the charts because by the time he becomes a toddler, he is very likely to lose the extra weight. He says doctors think this is because breastfed babies eat until they're full and moms can't stress over exactly how much they're eating (unlike a bottle, where moms might force a baby to finish exactly 3 or 4 oz. because that's what the books say he should be eating).

MJ is now getting both breast and bottle and although he eats every 3 hours, we don't force the amount that he drinks. If he wants 2 oz. during one bottle feeding, that's what he gets. If he wants 4 oz., that's what he gets. When he's nursing, I obviously don't know how much he's getting, but he definitely lets me know if he wants more and when he's done.

I'm just happy that Maki and I are getting more sleep at night. We need to resist the temptation to try and get some work done after both boys are asleep and just go to bed as soon as we can.

The Reason I Got a Digital SLR

2010-11-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

The other morning, Maki was holding MJ and making funny faces at him. The morning light was perfect, MJ was smiling and laughing and I just knew I had to get some photos.

I asked Maki where the Lumix was and he said, "ooh, it's kinda complicated. The camera is in the bag in the cabinet and the battery is charging downstairs."

While this situation might have stopped most moms in their tracks, I was determined to get the candid shots that I saw unfolding before me. I raced around, grabbed everything, put the camera on burst mode (which I had never done before) and started snapping.

Maki, MJ and the natural light all cooperated. Here are some of the photos I took. They're gorgeous! And this is why I got a digital SLR!

I Finally Got a Digital SLR Camera

2010-11-21T09:58:00.000-05:00

People who know me know that I LOVE taking photos. I nearly always have my little point and shoot camera with me and I don't hesitate to take photos of my kids, my co-workers, events I'm attending, yada, yada. I'm especially prolific during trips.

I've always had point and shoot cameras, but I'd been coveting a digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera for many years. But Maki would repeatedly remind me that an SLR camera is much bigger and doesn't easily fit into my purse or diaper bag. He was right, so no SLR for me.

This summer, Maki and I learned about micro four thirds cameras. They're great cameras, BUT, the most important factor to me is size. Micro four thirds cameras are a lot smaller than standard SLR camera; they're probably about the size of a bulky point and shoot camera.

So when MJ was born and Maki asked me what I wanted as a delivery present (isn't he nice?), I asked for an SLR camera. After a lot of research, Maki chose the Panasonic Lumix G2 camera. Our friend Eric loves, loves, loves his Lumix camera and the reviews on Amazon were great. For me, I like that it takes great photos, with my fancy lens I don't need a flash in most situations, I can take great action shots, I can take multiple photos in burst mode, and I can take HD video!

I have a lot to learn about SLR cameras. For now, I take most photos on Auto mode, but I'm slowly learning about f-stops and aperture openings. If I'm carrying a small purse, I'll still take my little Sony with me, but given the chance, I now bring my new Lumix with me. Love it!

No Dairy For Mommy

2010-11-21T09:42:00.000-05:00

I've given up dairy --- again. When CJ was born, he was pretty fussy at night. He would scream and arch his back all night long. I read in one of my books that dairy sometimes gives baby colic, so I gave up dairy -- milk, yogurt, cheese, butter. Within a couple of weeks, CJ was a new baby. Even if he didn't sleep easily at night, he didn't scream like he used to.

Which is why I decided to give up dairy as long as I'm nursing Marcus. I notice that he's definitely fussier when I've had cheese or cream (cheese is particularly bad), so no dairy for mommy. No grilled cheese sandwiches, no bologna and cheese sandwiches, no pasta with cream or parmesan cheese, no cottage cheese lasagna, no yogurt smoothie drinks.

Is it hard to give up dairy? Sort of. On the one hand, it's hard to snack when you're not consuming dairy, because you can't just have a glass of milk or have a piece of cheese. And it's challenging to cook pasta dishes without cheese.

But on the other hand, Marcus is a happy, smiley baby who sleeps well at night. That's worth everything to me. At night, he goes to sleep pretty easily after a bit of rocking in our arms. When he wakes up in the middle of night and Maki gives him a bottle, he goes back to sleep easily.

I am drinking Lactaid milk with my cereal and Marcus seems fine with that. I also recently found chocolate Lactaid milk, which is a ridiculously yummy treat when I need a quick snack. I heard rumors of Lactaid ice cream, so I'll try to hunt that down the next time I'm at Harris Teeter. Maki bought me some tofu cheese, but it wasn't great. Soy yogurt isn't bad; I've had soy smoothies as well.

Here's a funny exchange between me and CJ the other day:

CJ: Mom, this mac and cheese is yummy, want to try some?

Me: No, I can't have dairy, remember?

CJ: Oh yeah, I forgot. Mom, I'm sad that you can't have any dairy. That's just tragic!

I'm sure CJ learned the word tragic from me, but it's still hilarious to hear him use the word and use it so well!

MJ Loves Bath Time!

2010-11-16T21:13:00.002-05:00

When MJ was about a week old, I gave him his first bath. I dug out CJ's blue bathtub from the garage and set it up in the tub in CJ/MJ's bathroom. I was out of practice giving infants a bath, but it went pretty well. CJ was very sweet and offered to be my assistant. He squeezed baby shampoo into my hand and handed me the hooded towel after the bath. MJ cried a bit and I'm not sure if it's because the whole thing was new, he didn't like the water, he didn't like the noise, or what.

A few days later, I gave him a second bath and that went much better. I had everything ready (towel, baby shampoo, diaper, footy pajamas, etc.) and I sang bath songs. This time, he didn't cry, but instead just looked at me intently while I scrubbed his head and body.

In fact, MJ has not cried during bath time since his very first bath. It seems that, like his big brother CJ, MJ likes baths! He's very serious during baths; he just stares intently at whoever is giving him a bath but he does not cry. Of course, we make sure we give him a bath a little bit after nursing so he's calm and full.

My tips for a successful bath:

Make sure baby is calm and happy.
Prep the bathtub ahead of time with warm water, baby wash/shampoo and towel. Make sure everything is within easy reach.
Get your post-bath area ready with an extra towel, lotion, diaper and pajamas; this way, you're not running around, looking for supplies while baby is wet and cold.
Make sure baby's hair is fairly dry but be gentle when drying his hair. A dry head means he's less likely to feel cold.
Put baby in a blanket or sleep sack and snuggle with him so he's nice and warm after bath time.
Sing and talk a lot during bath time. The singing will distract the baby if he's not especially fond of bath time.
Explain to baby what you are doing, every step of the way. I did that with CJ and eventually, he could understand everything I was doing.

Sunshine, Moonshine and Starshine

2010-11-16T21:01:00.000-05:00

This morning, I was singing "you are my sunshine, my only sunshine" to MJ. CJ was sitting next to me and MJ on the couch. CJ tapped me on the shoulder. What follows is the exchange between us.

CJ: Mommy, MJ is not your only sunshine, what about me?

Me: Hmmm, good point. What should I sing?

CJ: How about "my second sunshine?"

Me: I like it. You are my sunshine, my second sunshine.

Me: Wait, how about I call MJ my moonshine? CJ, you can be sunshine.

CJ: Yeah, good idea. But what about daddy?

Me: Hmmm... he can be starshine!

CJ: Good idea! Now you have sunshine (pointing at himself), moonshine (pointing at MJ) and starshinw (pointing at Maki).

Me: I like it.

Boy Scout Centennial Parade

2010-11-14T08:51:00.001-05:00

As a rising 1st grader this summer (meaning he would be in 1st grade in the Fall), CJ officially joined the Cub Scouts. Maki had been looking forward to CJ joining the Boy Scouts because he was a scout when he was younger. There's a den at his school that is very active, which means CJ gets to hang out with his buddies during cub scout events.

In July, the Boy Scouts held a centennial parade on the National Mall to celebrate its 100th anniversary. CJ and Maki participated in the parade on a 100+ degree day. I drove them to the Mall in the morning, then picked them up in the late afternoon. Maki packed plenty of sunscreen and water because I was very worried about CJ because of the heat. Maki reported later that CJ got a little faint at one point during the parade, but he gave CJ a bunch of water and he seemed okay after that.

The funny thing about the parade was that Maki initially thought the parade was on Saturday. I drove the boys out to the Mall, dropped them off, and then got a phone call from Maki about 20 minutes later. Turns out that the parade was on Sunday, so I picked them up and off went the uniforms so they would still be clean for Sunday.

The parade was a big deal. There were hundreds of thousands of boy scouts from around the country in town for the parade. The National Mall was a sea of blue and khaki when I picked up the boys. CJ even got a special patch for participating in the parade.

Note: CJ wants me to report that his friend Liam did not get the patch because he didn't march, but Quinn did (and perhaps Davis).

CJ is the cool kid in the sunglasses

Good-bye Thomas, Hello Luke Skywalker!

2010-11-12T22:22:00.002-05:00

For the past four years (yep, four years), CJ has been Thomas the Tank Engine for Halloween. This year, CJ dropped Thomas like a hot potato and decided he wanted to be Luke Skywalker. CJ is obsessed with Legos and Star Wars. I guess the Thomas phase is finally over and I have to admit, I'm a little sad about it.

When we went to San Francisco last March, we went to Thomas Town at Six Flags. Thomas Town is a small section within the theme park where kids can ride Thomas, Bertie and Harold. CJ rode each ride once then declared that he wanted to ride a real roller coaster. When I asked him a few weeks later about Thomas, he seemed reluctant to admit that he was ready to move on from Thomas, as if he were having difficulty letting go.

But these days, CJ plays Lego Star Wars with his dad, he builds with Lego blocks every day at school, he listens to my Star Wars soundtrack endlessly in the car (his favorite song is the Imperial March, of course), and he's watched all of the movies. It started when he discovered a couple of Star Wars Lego kits that I bought when he was about one year old and stashed in our fourth floor library. He noticed them, asked to build them and he was hooked from then on.

I guess it was only natural that he was Luke Skywalker this year, especially given my love of Star Wars.

Here's CJ with his friend Ronan, who was Obi-Wan Kenobi

My God, aren't they adorable? There were a lot of Star Wars costumes this year!

Sleep is Good

2010-11-11T10:08:00.001-05:00

When you're a new mom, the question people always ask you is, "is he sleeping through the night?" Well, at two months, MJ is technically sleeping through the night (doctors will tell you that 5 hours is considered sleeping through the night), but I wouldn't exactly say that we are getting a lot of sleep.

Most nights, he sleeps 5 or 6 hours for the first night stretch. He nurses around 9pm, is asleep between 9:30 and 10:00pm, and usually sleeps until 2:30 or 3:30am. At that time, Maki (God bless him) gives MJ a bottle and then they both go back to bed. At five weeks old, MJ slept 7 hours one night, which was a miracle; that hasn't happened since.

I usually get up around 6:30am to get CJ's things ready for school (breakfast, lunch, backpack, library book, etc.). MJ nurses between 5:00am and 8:00am; just depends on when he gets up. When he wakes up determines his schedule for the rest of the day.

MJ is a champion sleeper. After each nursing, he is awake for a half hour or an hour, then he naps. He usually cries before falling asleep and generally needs a little snuggle time to fall asleep. He still likes to be swaddled when he sleeps.

Since Maki gives Mj a bottle in the middle of the night, I'm getting a lot more sleep these days. I get between 5-7 hours of sleep, so I'm functional during the day. I'm tired but I can't complain; Maki and I can sustain this pattern for months if we need to because we're both getting more than the 2 or 3 hours we got during the first few weeks.

Squeals, Squawks, Snorts and Grunts

2010-11-09T08:03:00.001-05:00

I had forgotten just how noisy babies are! Even while asleep, MJ squawks pretty regularly, unless he's in a really deep sleep, and even then, he breathes pretty heavily. We sometimes call him Snort because he's got a cold right now and the poor thing is sniffling and snorting a lot.

My favorite sounds are the little squeals he makes when he's stretching after nursing or a nap. He makes this high pitched, long squeal while his face is all scrunched up. Pretty cute.

Maki seems to be able to sleep through all of Marco's noises at night, and I'm learning to tune them out, unless they're cries to let me know he's really unhappy. Thanks to The Baby Whisperer book, which I swear by, as with CJ, we're learning MJ's cries. We've figured out the hungry cry, the "I want more milk" cry and the "I'm tired and need a nap" cry. Knowing the different cries is saving us a great deal of anguish because we can tend to MJ's needs pretty quickly, which makes for a lot less fussy baby.

CJ is an Amazing Big Brother

2010-11-08T19:09:00.001-05:00

When asking about the baby, most friends and family ask how CJ is adjusting to the baby and being a big brother. CJ and MJ are six years apart and CJ is thrilled, absolutely thrilled to be a big brother.

For the most part, CJ has been amazing. He talks to MJ, he reads him stories, he plays with MJ, and he doesn't fuss when MJ sets the schedule.

Don't get me wrong. CJ complains loudly when MJ is crying loudly. And CJ is sometimes awoken by MJ's crying in the morning (usually, however, he sleeps right through the crying). And he complains about not having enough snuggle time with mommy.

Maki and I have worked hard to make sure that CJ gets plenty of attention and his schedule has stayed consistent. For example, his bedtime routine has not changed: Maki or I read him stories then snuggle with him for a few minutes before lights out. And I give him my undivided attention in the morning while he's getting ready for school.

All in all, CJ has been an amazing big brother. Because of the six-year difference in age, CJ and MJ may not be best friends early on, but I hope they'll be buddies later in life. And I know CJ will look after his "baby brother."

Love this photo of the boys one weekend morning.

Here's CJ talking to Marcus John.

CJ hanging out with MJ one morning while mommy makes breakfast.

After seeing his dad walk around with MJ in the Baby Bjorn, CJ asked to do the same.

I love this photo of the boys goofing off before bedtime.

Marcus John and Grandparents

2010-11-08T18:59:00.000-05:00

Maki's mom says it's more fun to be a grandparent than a parent and I bet she's right. Parents have to endure the sleepless nights, change thousands of diapers a year, try to calm fussy children, and provide discipline. While grandparents get to spoil their grandchildren.

I heard Barbara Bush speak at the Kennedy Center a few years ago and she said that her grandkids love spending time with her because she's never in a rush around her grandkids. Think about it. As parents, we're always late to something with our kids: school, dinner, a birthday party, a playdate. But when the grandparents spend time with the grandkids, there's almost never a schedule and grams and grandpa are content to let the kids set the schedule and the pace. God bless grandparents!

Marcus John's First Walk in the Neighborhood at 4 Days Old

2010-11-06T14:49:00.001-04:00

MJ's first outing (outside of a visit to the pediatrician) was a walk in the neighborhood with his nanny, Yaya Goring. Goring was eager to take him out for a walk with our nanny share, Alexander, and her friends from the neighborhood.

MJ was 4 days old when he went for his first walk. The weather was pretty nice, not too hot, not too cold. The nanny got him bundled him and off they went! Thank goodness we still had CJ's old hats and blankets.

Yaya Goring, Alexander and other nannies and babies from the neighborhood

Baby Comes Home

2010-11-06T14:43:00.001-04:00

After a couple of days at the hospital, Maki, MJ and I went home. I was antsy to be home and since all was well with MJ, we were released after a couple of nights at the hospital.

Our hospital stay, btw, was pretty good. The food was much improved since CJ was born. The doctors, nurses and nurses' aides were all very caring and helpful. Poor Maki had to sleep on a fairly uncomfortable couch-that-converts-to-a-bed and the food in the cafeteria is not as good on the weekends (since I was induced on a Friday, our stay was over a weekend). We had Marcus John with us in the room most of the time since I was able to nurse successfully and he was sleeping pretty well.

Around noon on Sunday, we were released. It felt good to be home, to see CJ and my mom, to sleep in my own bed, to be all together. CJ was thrilled to have as back home and he was even more thrilled to be a Big Brother.

CJ lovingly calls him Baby Brother

Mommy's Boys

The boys with Grandma

First Photos of Marcus John

2010-11-06T10:06:00.000-04:00

2nd and 3rd childrewn (and so on and so forth) often complain that there are precious few photos of them as babies.

Being the mommy photographer that I am, Marcus John may be the only second child to have a lot of photos taken of him. I just love taking photos of my family, I love sharing them, and I love looking at old photos. So here are some of my favorite photos of Marcus John from his first few weeks.

Marcus John's eyes were wide open within a day.

Love those baby yawns

Love this peaceful photo of sleeping Marcus John

This is MJ in the portable bassinet portion of his pack and play

Yaya Goring took MJ out for a walk when he was just a few days old.

Here is MJ sleeping in the Moses basket from Uncle Alex.

We keep the Moses basket in the family room so MJ has a

sleeping area where we spend most of our time.

Don't you love those cute little baby fingers?

Here is MJ in the little playmat from our friends Eve and Karl

First Visitors

2010-11-06T09:41:00.000-04:00

Jonathan and Tree were Marcus John's first visitors. They were actually CJ's first visitors when he was born six years ago; they brought me chocolate, cherries and Indian food. This time, they brought macaroons, which I was craving. They are amazing friends.

Later that afternoon, CJ arrived with my mom and Maki's parents. CJ was so happy to see us. I think he was more excited to see his parents than his baby brother, but that's only because he missed us.

The grandmas with Marcus John

Grandpa Kato, Grandma Josie, CJ and MJ

CJ was really happy to see Maki

CJ was really happy to see mommy and wanted to snuggle

Welcome, Marcus John!

2010-11-05T07:45:00.009-04:00

Marcus John was born at 1:33 pm. He weighed 7 lbs., 15 oz. and measured 19.5 inches. By comparison, CJ was born 6 lbs., 8 oz. and measured 19 inches. So Marcus started out life as a much bigger baby. Of course, CJ was born two weeks early, while Marco went full-term.

I can't remember what it was, but Marco's apgar score was evidently good, he didn't need any formula to get his blood sugar up (like CJ did) and he didn't need any lights. He also cried right after being born, which is always a good sign. I nursed Marco right in the delivery room and he did pretty well.

It felt so great to hold Marco, to finally meet him and give him a great, big hug!

This is Marcus John with mommy. His eyes and face
are all shiny because they put drops in his eyes.

This is Marcus John with his dad.

This is Marcus John with Theresa, the nurse who delivered him.
Theresa was awesome. She knew I wanted to deliver naturally,
she gave me courage when mine was flagging, and she kept
reminding me to breathe.

This is Liz, the midwife who delivered MJ

Labor and Delivery

2010-11-01T06:53:00.007-04:00

Maki and I got to the hospital around 8:00am; my wonderful mom got CJ up and ready for school. We didn't see the OB and midwife around 9:30am because of paperwork, getting dressed, waiting for a delivery room and waiting around.

The OB wanted to put me on pitocin right away, but pitocin scares the life out of me. Pitocin causes very strong, continuous contractions and women on pitocin are more likely to have a c-section. I always maintained that it didn't matter how the baby was delivered, but if I could have a natural delivery, I knew I was going to be happier and it would be better for the baby.

Thanks to Dr. Sears' The Birth Book, I knew that I had to be an active participant in this delivery, so after some discussion, the midwife and I convinced the doctor to start me off with some prostaglandin gel. The gel is put on the cervix and get things going. The midwife suspected that the gel was all I needed to kickstart the labor. Most importantly, with the gel, I could walk around and not have to be attached to an IV.

So in went the gel and Maki and I started walking around the maternity ward. The gel definitely got me going. I was at 6 centimeters a couple of hours later when the midwife broke my water around 11:30am.

That's when active labor really started. Maki and I kept walking around, but I had to stop every minute or so to catch my breath because the pain was getting stronger.

Around 1:00pm, the doctor checked me again and I was dilated to 8 centimeters. The pain was getting stronger, but still bearable. Between walking around, I was listening to my iPod and Maki and I watched "Up in the Air" with George Clooney. Good movie, definitely got my mind off the labor for a few minutes at a time.

Close to 1:30pm, the midwife came to see how I was doing. By this time, I was in a lot of pain and starting to doubt my resolve to delivery the baby without any drugs. The nurse, Theresa, was wonderful. She reminded me to breathe, breathe, breathe. At one point, when the contractions were growing more intense, I asked for some Tylenol to take the edge off the pain. Theresa, the nurse, looked at me like I was nuts. She said, "Tylenol is not going to do anything." Maki said, "just humor her, give her some Tylenol." So I got 2 Tylenols and they probably didn't do anything, but in my mind, they did and that kept me going.

I had to pee, so I asked if I could get up. Theresa asked me to wait a few minutes so she could finish up some prep and then it all started to happen really fast. Theresa later said she was glad I didn't make it to the bathroom because she would have had to deliver a baby on the bathroom floor. Ew.

I felt a great deal of pressure, the pain was unbearable, I was sweating, I was hot and I had to push NOW. I was gripping Maki's hand like there was no tomorrow and telling him I couldn't do it. Maki said, "oh, the baby must be coming, this happened last time."

The midwife heard me screaming from down the hall. She came running in and said, "why didn't you call me?" I said, "I did. I was screaming for you."

The nurse and midwife were scrambling to get everything ready, I pushed a few times, the pain was crazy and unbearable and then the baby came. And then I delivered the placenta and it was all over. Great relief and a baby crying.

I definitely had more of my wits about me than I did when CJ was delivered because I asked for Marcus John to be given to me and wouldn't let them whisk him away so fast for weighing, measuring and checking. I felt a great rush of emotion when they put MJ in my arms because we had tried so long to have another baby, I had so many miscarriages, and now he was here, and he was healthy and crying.

Ladies, if you can bear the pain, I am convinced that delivering a baby without drugs is worth it. You are able to push harder because you can feel the baby. Plus, the pain is so ridiculously unbearable that you want to push and get it over with. And immediately after the baby is born, there is very little pain and you're not groggy from the meds. Don't get me wrong. I don't begrudge anyone pain management. Friends tell me I have a superhuman pain threshold and perhaps they're right. At the end of the day, what matters is that mom and baby are fine.

Thank Goodness for Friends and Family

2010-10-30T08:38:00.004-04:00

Marcus John was born on September 10 and we could not have managed the logistics without family and friends.

My mom flew into town on September 9 so she could be here for the delivery and the baby's first few weeks. If the baby came before September 10, three amazing friends (Jonathan, Tree, Eileen) volunteered to come at the drop of a hat and stay with CJ. We are very, very lucky to have such great friends. In fact, they came a couple of evenings but I was in false labor, no cigar, no baby.

On September 10, my mom got CJ ready for school and neighbors drove him to school. That afternoon, Maki's parents picked him up and brought him home.

On Saturday (while Maki, the baby and I were still in the hospital), Maki's parents took CJ to his swimming class and took him to lunch. In the afternoon, Maki's parents, my mom and CJ visited us in the hospital.

I don't even know what we would have done without our family and friends. I guess that's why they say it takes a village to raise a family!

Countdown to Delivery

2010-10-30T08:20:00.004-04:00

I'm so ridiculously behind with my personal blog, but better late than never. I have a few, rare, quiet moments this morning, so I'm going to go back in time and blog about Marcus John's final days in my tummy and his birth.

The final month of my pregnancy was harder than I remember it being with CJ. But then again, CJ was two weeks early and I didn't have to contend with 100+ degree heat for most of the summer. Seriously, the heat took everything out of me. I missed so many summer activities this summer because of the heat. We didn't go to any county fairs, we didn't go any trips, and we missed many BBQ events because I just couldn't deal with the heat.

I spent the last four weeks mostly working from home because I wanted to stay in comfy, cool clothes and I had sooooo much to do at work before going out on leave. Leave! Ha! CEOs don't really get to go on leave, but I am obviously not working full-time. I held meetings at a local coffee shop, stayed on IM, and worked like heck on documentation and training for my staff.

I had massive amounts of heartburn. I had bottles of TUMS everywhere: in my car, in my office, at home -- and I was popping them like mad. The OB said it was okay to take something stronger but the TUMS worked well, they worked quickly, and I just didn't like the idea of taking a lot of meds, esp. prescription meds, while pregnant.

I didn't gain a lot of weight with this pregnancy, but then again, I started out much heavier than when I first became pregnant with CJ. Interestingly enough, I weighed the same at the end of both pregnancies, so I guess my body just knew where it needed to be. No, I'm not divulging any numbers.

We went to Boston four weeks before my due date. I got invited to speak at a conference and I couldn't say no. The sponsoring organization was in an important industry to the company and they were generous with the travel budget, so I got to bring Maki and CJ. Because I was so close to my due date, I did NOT want to travel without Maki and CJ. My OB said it was okay because my pregnancy had gone so well, I had my medical records with me, and Boston has so many great hospitals. The conference was great, we got to see good friends we hadn't seen in a while, and it felt great to leave DC, even for a few days.

My official due date was September 12, but my OB said they were not going to let me go one day past my due date because of my Advanced Maternal Age (AMA, sounds awful, doesn't it?) and my history of miscarriage. So the doctor scheduled me for an induction on September 10.

I didn't think I was going to make it to September 10 because two weeks before, I was already dilated to 4 centimeters. But I stayed at 4 for weeks, with no pain. Guess I should have been doing my yoga stretches and squatting. Oh well.

More Funny CJ Sayings

2010-07-20T22:35:00.003-04:00

I am so behind on blogging, but here are the most recent CJ sayings:

CJ: Mom, can I have a wallet for my birthday?
Me: Your birthday just passed. You can have one next year.
CJ: And mom, when I'm 7, can I have a credit card to put in my wallet?
Me: CJ, 7-year old do not carry credit cards.
CJ: Well, I can't get a driver's license until I'm 16, right?
Me: Yes, this is true. But I can still get you a wallet next year.
CJ: Okay.

CJ came home from school singing this song today; hilarious.
Happy birthday to me.
I'm 103.
I'm still in preschool.
And I want my mommy.
My mommy's at work.
She fired a jerk.
She hired a monkey.
To do my homework.

While in the bath:
CJ: Mom, do you want to see something stupendously funny?
CJ then shows me something funny in the tub, laughing so hard.

CJ: Daddy, what does WTF mean?
Maki: What the Francis.
CJ: (reading the text on a YouTube video) What the Francis! Another crash!
Me: ROTFL

While at dinner at a Japanese restaurant:
CJ: (after eating a ton of sushi) Mom, I think I'm a little full.
Me: There's one piece of salmon sushi left and two pieces of mackerel. Maybe I'll have the salmon.
CJ: Well, I thought pregnant ladies weren't supposed to have sushi.
Me: You're right, Maki you have the salmon sushi. (sigh)

After an amazing birthday weekend that included a sushi dinner on the day of his birthday and swimming lessons and a Mad Science party the next day.
Me: Did you have a good birthday?
CJ: It was the best birthday ever! Every birthday is better! I bet next year's birthday will be even better!

Me: Guess what, CJ? Grandma and Grandpa are moving to Virginia!
CJ: Seriously?
"Seriously" is his favorite expression right now.

Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz

2010-04-12T08:16:00.011-04:00

On Tuesday, March 23, we woke up to a beautiful day in San Francisco. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and temperatures were in the high 60s. A perfect San Francisco day.

We had breakfast at Sears Fine Foods, which is apparently a favorite of my Uncle Louie whenever he and his wife visit San Francisco. It's an old-style SF restaurant with the tall ceilings, low lighting and great food. CJ had eggs, sausage, hash browns and toast; this kid can really put away the food when he's hungry and motivated.

After breakfast, we set off for Fisherman's Wharf on the cable car. At the ticket booth on Market and Powell, we got tourist weeklong passes, which we didn't end up using fully, but it sure was convenient not to have to hunt around for change and get individual tickets for the bus or underground. CJ loved the cable car! But then again, this is a kid who loves trains!

We got off at the end of the line, walked around, checked out a few shops, and had lunch at the Crab Station, which was recommended on Yelp. I really, really wanted clam chowder in a bread bowl and got my wish. There wasn't any place to sit, so we sat outside. CJ enjoyed his fried calamari and fed the pigeons breads until we saw the gigantic "Do not feed the birds" sign close to the food stations. Oops!

I had never been to Alcatraz. Imagine that! The ferry ride was wonderful. CJ and I love boats so he and I ran around the ferry, catching the sights. He also loved the pretzel that he had on board.

Turns out you need some stamina to visit Alcatraz. You walk, walk, walk, mostly uphill. Whitel there, a couple of us watched the film (recommended, btw), and we visited the gardens, the prison, the morgue, the guard tower.

The Park rangers love to tell the stories of the hardened criminals who spent time at Alcatraz and wonder aloud if any of the few who escaped actually managed to survive.

After Alcatraz, we took the electric trolley to the Ferry Building, which is now this fancy marketplace for gourmet and organic food, coffee, sweets. This a total must-see because the shops are so incredible and the views of the Bay and the Bay Bridge are amazing!

We had dinner at Slanted Door, a fancy Vietnamese restaurant with incredible food. There were 16 of us, including family and friends! I recommend the papaya salad, the spare ribs, cellophane noodles with dungeness crab, the asparagus, the tiger prawns, and the whole fish (if they have it on the menu). Yum! What a great day for the start of our SF vacation!

CJ enjoyed the walk to Pier 39.

CJ in front the prison steps at Alcatraz. He loved all the climbing; takes after his dad!

CJ in front of the gardens at Alcatraz. Volunteers maintain the gardens, which were apparently
lovingly tended by the families of the guards when Alcatraz was used as a prison.

San Francisco, Here We Come! I love Virgin America!

2010-04-11T16:29:00.003-04:00

Okay, I'm way behind on updating my blog. So this will be the start of a delayed narrative about our trip to San Francisco a few weeks ago for CJ's Spring Break.

We toyed with the idea of going to Mexico or Japan, but decided to stay in the country and go to San Francisco to visit family and play tourist in SF, something CJ had never done.

We got a great deal on the airfare from Virgin America. Under $1,200 for the three of us! Woo hoo!

Virgin turned out to be amazing and has made flying fun again. Check-in wasn't crowded, the staff were helpful, we got to check CJ's car seat for free, it's still $20 per bag if you're checking bags but the first bag can be up to 70 lb., and we got to board early because we had CJ. So far, so good.

The real magic on Virgin flights is the food and entertainment. Every seat has its own TV screen. You can order food and drink on the TV, even free things like water and soda. You touch water on the screen and the flight attendant comes by within a few minutes with your water. If you want something that's not free, you just swipe your credit card and your cookie, sandwich, chips or whatever arrive within a few minutes. Very nice.

We LOVED the in flight entertainment. CJ enjoyed the games and the kids' music; he was singing Schoolhouse Rock songs nearly the entire flight. I loved the free DISH network and watch an NCIS marathon on USA Network. Maki loved the music selection and the ability to create your own playlist! Talk about customized entertainment! The TV shows, movies and music made the 5+ hour flight zip by.

Our flight was uneventful, we arrived in SF on time, got picked up by my nephew Rusty, and checked in to our hotel by 8pm. My in-laws had already arrived, so we said hello, had a snack, and then crashed since it was past midnight East Coast time by the time we finally turned off the lights. So far, a great start to our vacation.

More Funny CJ Expressions

2010-03-03T00:06:00.003-05:00

During today's car ride home:
CJ: Mom, remember the exhibit ICE?
Me: Yes, at National Harbor, why?
CJ: Well, it was good, but it wasn't superb.
Me: Oh, really? Why wasn't it superb? (trying not to laugh)
CJ: I don't know, it just wasn't superb.

On Sunday, while I'm talking to my mom on the phone:
CJ: Mommy, come quick, you have to see this game!
Me: Okay, I'll look at it in a bit.
CJ: No, you have to come now!
Me: Okay.
CJ: Mommy, look there's a game for that thing that daddy has!!!! (pointing to the laptop screen)
Me: You mean my iPod Touch?
CJ: Yes, it's a Thomas game pack. Can we buy it? It's $2.99, do we have that money?
Me: Yeah, sure. I'll take it out of your college fund.

I then proceeded to buy the Thomas game pack on my iPod touch, which turned out to be three games that kept CJ occupied quietly on the couch for 45 minutes. Afterward:

CJ: Mommy, the next time we're in the car, I don't need my take alongs. Can we bring this game with us all the time?

On Sunday morning:
CJ: Mama, I'm still hungry.
Me: But you just had a sausage egg mcmuffin and a glass of milk and a bowl of cereal.
CJ: I'm serious, mama, I'm soooo hungry! I'm starvin Marvin, ravenous beast! Can I have some Pirtate's Booty?
Me: No.

My God, Mornings are Busy Around Here

2010-01-31T19:45:00.002-05:00

Weekday mornings are ridiculous at our house. I generally wake up a few minutes before 7am to feed the cat, prep CJ's warm milk and breakfast, turn on the coffee for Maki, make my green tea, and make my breakfast.

Then I wake up CJ and Maki. CJ is a total sleepyhead in the mornings, even though he's generally asleep by 9pm. He complains about getting up, about being cold, about getting dressed. Somehow, Maki gets him dressed and they both come downstairs.

Meanwhile, I get CJ's lunch ready since all kindergarteners bring their own lunch and the kids eats in their classroom until 2nd grade. CJ is not a sandwich kid. Instead, he really likes rice, so I make rice and chicken nuggets, or crab stick, or sausage, or chili, or chicken and a veggie. CJ also gets some type of snack, like applesauce, yogurt, cut up fruit or a small bag of goldfish. I don't give him milk since he gets milk in the morning and at night. Instead, I give him a full bottle of water in his BPA-free water bottle. Finally, I include a little note in CJ's lunchbox so he has a sweet message from home.

I wish CJ were a PB&J kind of kid, but he's an Asian boy and really likes his rice! He also does not like it if I prepare the same lunch two days in a row, so I have to get creative. Whenever possible, I try to have leftovers from the night before so he can have it for lunch the next day. Some days, the planning is too much for me and he gets rice and chicken nuggets 2 or 3 days in a row (CJ can and will eat chicken nuggets ten days straight if I let him).

While I'm finishing making his lunch, CJ has his breakfast. Then we brush teeth, make sure his backpack has what he needs, put on a sweater and coat, and leave the house by 7:45am. On Thursdays, I make sure the library books are back in his backpack. On Friday,

I sometimes have to sit quietly on the couch for five minutes after CJ leaves the house to catch my breath! Phew! My secrets to staying sane are:

I organize his school clothes for the entire week on Sunday night. That way, CJ and Maki can just grab a pile of clothes and not worry picking the wrong thing.
I write out his lunch notes on Sunday night so I can grab a note and stick it in his lunch box in the mornings.
I have a schedule on the fridge that shows CJ his morning schedule (i.e., when he gets up, when he has breakfast, etc.).
I have the carpool schedule on the fridge.

So far, so good, but I'm sometimes exhausted just when the morning is getting started!

More Funny CJ Expressions

2010-01-31T19:34:00.004-05:00

Here are some of the latest CJisms:

Me: CJ, I have bad news. Beckett and his family are moving to another neighborhood. But don't worry, they won't be far.
CJ: Oh no!
(pause)
CJ: Mom, is there more bad news?

Me: CJ, pack up a few toys to bring to your playdate.
CJ: Okay, can I bring all my take alongs, and some tracks, and some movies, and some books?
Me: No, CJ, you can bring just 3 take along trains.
CJ: (starts cramming his backpack with all kinds toys)
Me: CJ, you can't bring everything in the house to your playdate!
CJ: But mama, I'm not bringing everything in the house. I'm not bringing the cat, I'm not bringing my Trackmaster trains, I'm not bringing all my books.

CJ: Mama, I'm done with my pasta, can I have enari (tofu stuffed with rice)?
Me: No, you need to finish your pasta and then you can have enari.
CJ: But mama, I'm not hungry anymore, I just want enari.
Me: CJ, if you still want enari, then it means you're still hungry, so finish your pasta, then you can have enari.
CJ: But mama, I might get full if I finish the pasta.

CJ: Dada, I want to write on your whiteboard.
Maki: Okay. (gives him a whiteboard marker)
CJ proceeds to write: CJ + Kato = CJ Kato
Maki: Hey CJ, that's good math!

Me: CJ, have some cherries.
CJ: Have I had that before?
Me: Yes.
CJ: Did I like it?
Me: Yes.
CJ: Okay. (takes a bite and likes it.)

ICE! at Gaylord Hotel, National Harbor

2010-01-01T20:11:00.007-05:00

I took last Tuesday off so that we could see ICE!, the ice wonderland and exhibit at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor, MD. It was a little challenging to get tickets, but we got tickets for Tuesday, 10:30am.

I knew it was going to be cold, so I made sure everyone bundled up. CJ was wearing his thermal pajamas underneath his clothes + two pairs of socks, a long-sleeved shirt, a fleece sweater, thick khakis, his winter jacket, gloves and hat. I was dressed similarly. I paid special attention to the feet and hands because I know that when the extremities are cold, you're miserable. We got mom to come with us to ICE!, for which I'm really glad, even though I knew she was going to be cold, cold, cold.

ICE! was great. It's not a big exhibit, but it's impressive and fun. We were told that the Gaylord brought in 2 million blocks of ice from Ohio and ice sculptors from China and Mongolia created the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol building, dancing penguins, an igloo, 4 ice slides, a tunnel of branches and ice, candy, animals, wreaths, Santa Claus, lamp posts, a nativity scene, and on and on.

Mom and Maki bailed when we got to the end because they were so cold, but CJ, Jessie and I stayed longer to wander around, start over at the beginning and go down the slides a bunch of times. The slides intimidated me at first because as I've gotten older, I've developed a slight fear of slides and roller coasters. But CJ was really insistent and, as expected, I had so much fun, I ended up going down the slides with the kids a half dozen times.

It's 9 degrees inside ICE! 9 degrees is really cold. In addition to the clothes we were wearing, we were given parkas to keep us warm AND to facilitate going down the ice slides. At 9 degrees, nothing is melting. There's no water, the sculptures aren't even shiny, and there are no puddles at the bottom of the slides. I kept asking the kids if they could wiggles their toes. When CJ and Jessie complained about their mouths being frozen and not wanting to go down the slides anymore, I knew it was time to go.

After ICE!, we went to the Gaylord Hotel (ICE! is in an outdoor structure) to check out the decked out lobby and have lunch. We had lunch at the Pienza Italian Market, which is a surprisingly good buffet. The kids loved the pizza and pasta and of course, the desserts!

When we got home, the kids were pooped so they watched a little TV, while I addressed my holiday cards. I'm ridiculous. I ordered the cards in October and they didn't go out until New Year's Eve! Oh well, it's still the holiday season.

Inside an igloo with the dancing penguins.

CJ and Jessie in front of an ice bear!

Christmas Eve Celebration

2010-01-01T19:31:00.010-05:00

I hosted Christmas Eve dinner at my house again this year. My older sister and her family were in Australia, and my brother couldn't come out from the West Coast coz he couldn't find a sitter for his Great Dane, so Christmas was going to be just our family + my mom + my younger sister and her daughter.

But, as luck would have it, we had friends in the neighborhood who didn't have plans, so we decided to join forces and have a big party. Christmas Eve turned into a wonderful, full, and lively celebration with family and some of our dearest friends.

Christmas prep this year was a lot less stressful and I think it's because my mom and niece were around to help and I took the 23rd and 24th off from work to shop, clean the house and cook. Even better, my sister brought ham and dessert; my friend Karl brought some fantastic side dishes, and Seana brought more dessert. Seriously, when everyone pitches in, entertaining for 18 isn't a big deal!

My Christmas Eve menu consisted of:

Corn chowder
Beet and goat cheese salad
Mushroom side dish
Ham with a brown sugar glaze
Beef tenderloin stuffed with blue cheese and mushrooms
Sourdough dressing with pine nuts and cranberries
Roasted asparagus with balsamic vinegar
Sesame noodles with red bell pepper
Leche flan
Brownies
Cheesecake
Fudge
Sugar cookies baked and decated by the kids
Spiced cider, beer, wine and hot chocolate

So Christmas Eve was a lot of eating, drinking, chatting and just hanging out. CJ had a blast playing with his friends from the neighborhood. We didn't do presents for the adults this year (we decided we all have everything we need and we don't need stuff in our lives), so we let the kids open a present or two, then they just played.

At the end of the evening, we just had to play some Rock Band. CJ and his friend HE had a ball singing Beatles songs. HE tried to play the drums, but it's too hard for a kid. I have recently done more drumming than singing and I absolutely love it! There's something satisfying about whacking the drums. I will probably only ever play the Easy level, but that's okay with me.

At the end of the evening, CJ and I put out some white chocolate-covered pretzels and a hand-painted sugar cookie for Santa. Mom went to bed early since she wasn't feeling well. I think she was also a little blue because the family wasn't all together. I was grateful for a wonderful evening, for my mom's long and wonderful visit, for time spent with my sister and niece, and for my wonderful friends and neighbors who turned Christmas Eve into something really festive and special!

CJ giving his friend HE a big hug for his presents.

CJ and his buddies in front of my tree.

More Funny CJ Expressions

2010-01-01T19:27:00.002-05:00

The funny expressions continue. Here are the latest.

Me: CJ, what do you want for dinner? Chicken nuggets or crab stick?
CJ: Hmmm...., both really good ideas. Can I have both?

Me: CJ, have you ever been down this road before?
CJ: No, not at this point.

On the way to a friend's house for a playdate:
CJ: Mom, I have an idea, but I don't think it's a good one and I don't think you'll like it.
Me: What's the idea?
CJ: When we get to Joseph's house, instead of knocking or ringing the doorbell, I'll blow my whistle outside.
Me: I don't like that idea.
CJ: I told you it wasn't a good idea and I knew you wouldn't like it.

CJ's visit to the Smithsonian

2009-12-08T08:05:00.007-05:00

While Uncle Alex was here for Thanksgiving, we took a trip down to the National Mall. Alex and I love museums and I hadn't been to visit one in ages. I want to instill in CJ a love of art and museums, so I figured it's best to go while he's still young.

When I worked for the San Francisco Education Fund after college, my Executive Director, Glady Thacher, used to say that people don't suddenly appreciate the opera, art or the symphony when they turn 21 or 30. It's the kids whose parents took them to museums and the symphony early who later on love the arts and become art patrons. Yes, CJ got a little rambunctious, but overall, he was pretty good. The guard at the Freer only had to shush him once when he started running around and talking a little too loudly.

We visited the Freer and Sackler Galleries; we loved the Peacock Room (as usual), I admired the Japanese scrolls and we absolutely loved an exhibit on the Falnama (the Persian Book of Omens.) At the National Museum of African Art, we enjoyed an exhibit by Yinka Shonibare MBE.

CJ playing around with Uncle Alex. We played hide and seek and I ended up
hiding behind of the bushes, while lying on the ground. I got so dirty!

CJ and Uncle Alex in front of the Sackler Gallery.

CJ in front of the Smithsonian Castle. He desperately wanted to walk in the perfectly
manicured lawn, but I said no, so we played hide and seek elsewhere on the rounds.

More Funny CJ Expressions

2009-12-08T00:15:00.003-05:00

CJ continues to make me laugh with all the things he says. The most recent are:

Mama: CJ, come over here so I can put lotion on you. (after a bath)
CJ: (starts jumping and dancing around)
Mama: CJ, what are you doing?
CJ: Giving you a challenge.
Mama: What? Why are you giving me a challenge? (barely able to suppress a laugh and trying to look stern)
CJ: Because you pressed the challenge button.

CJ: Mama, where did you go again?
Mama: Las Vegas
CJ: I know why it's called Las Vegas.
Mama: Why?
CJ: Coz it was Vegas and it was lost.

Before school carpool:
Mama: See you later, CJ. I love you.
CJ: I know that, mama. Why do you have to keep saying that?
Mama: So you won't forget that I love you.
CJ: Okay. Love you mom. Bye.

The next morning, after decorating our tree:
CJ: Mama, the tree still looks great. But the house is not perfect yet. The house is not done.
(Yep, we are indeed not done with the house.)

Play Doh Sushi

2009-11-09T08:10:00.003-05:00

A couple of years ago, during a trip to Japan, we visited the Tokyu Hands department store in Japan. I love Tokyu Hands. It's a cross between a hardware store, Target, sports store and clothing store. I love the entire floor devoted to stationery and pens.

While we were there, we found an amazing selection of Play Doh molds. At the time, CJ was in preschoool, so we bought some molds for making hamburgers and hotdogs. We also bought a set of molds for making sushi.

The molds sat in CJ's play doh kit until a few weeks ago when CJ's got interested in play doh again. So over the past few weeks, we have been busy making play doh sushi. Check out the results.

The molds are great. We can make salmon, shrimp, salmon roe, rice balls, octopus, etc. We are having a ball making custom colors so that we can make sushi that looks more like the real thing.

The problem is: I don't know where I'm going to put all the finished product. We've let a bunch of our creations harden and they're now on display in our kitchen. But we've made a bunch more than you see in the photo above. Maybe we'll send play doh sushi to the grandparents for Christmas. :-)

Troublemaker Family

2009-11-09T08:06:00.002-05:00

The other day, I accused CJ of being a troublemaker. Here's the ensuing conversation:

CJ: Mama, I'm the biggest troublemaker.
Me: Actually, I'm the Chief Troublemaker.
CJ: Why?
Me: Because I make trouble at home and at work.
CJ: Can I be the Assistant Troublemaker?
Me: Sure! (runs over to his dad)

CJ: Daddy, mama is the Chief Troublemaker and I'm the Assistant Troublemaker. Do you want to be part of our troublemaker family?
Daddy: I don't have a choice, do I?
CJ: Yeah

More Funny CJ Expressions

2009-09-19T10:15:00.004-04:00

CJ continues to crack us up with the things he's saying. Now he's getting crafty.

After I bought him battery-powered Hiro at Day Out With Thomas
CJ: Mama, can I get battery-powered Victor?
Me: CJ, I just got you battery-powered Hiro
CJ: But mama, can I get battery-powered Victor?
Me: CJ, can you focus on things you have, not things you don't have?
CJ: Mama, I am focusing on what I have, but I'm wondering if I can have battery-powered Victor.

Me: CJ, please turn off the TV in a few minutes.
CJ: Okay, but I want to watch some more.
Me: Okay, but I don't want you watching TV all day.
CJ: But mama, I'm not watching TV all day, just a few hours.

After his first day of school:
Me: CJ, how was school?
CJ: It was the best first day of school ever!

Me: CJ, what's your favorite food?
CJ: Sushi, of course.

While making a new train track layout:
Maki: CJ, I need another curve.
CJ: We don't have any more curves, sadly.

More Funny CJ Expressions

2009-09-04T08:02:00.003-04:00

CJ's language skills are exploding. He can pretty much read a Magic Treehouse book on his own and he's learning to sound out words he doesn't know. His verbal skills are very good and sometimes hilarious.

Maki: CJ, please come and brush your teeth without any problems or I'll take away one of your trains.
CJ: Mama, daddy says he'll take away one of my trains. Are you good with that?

Me: CJ, here's your milk.
CJ: Is it 1% milk?
Me: No, it's 2%. (I accidentally gave him lactose-free 2% milk, which he didn't like.)
CJ: But mommy, I don't like the new 2%. I like the old 2%.
Me: Okay, I'll drink the new 2% and give you 1% milk.
CJ: Mommy, how does the cow make different kinds of milk?

Me: CJ, come eat your breakfast.
CJ: Hold on one minute while I finish my track layout.

Me: CJ, can we watch one of your other movies tonight? I love Thomas, but I want to watch something else.
CJ: Okay mama, we can watch your movies during the week and Thomas movies on the weekend.

CJ: What day is it?
Me: It's Thursday.
CJ: I wish it were Sunday.
Me: Why?
CJ: So I could get sausage egg mcmuffin for breakfast.

Percy Really Does Go Backwards!

2009-08-15T09:54:00.003-04:00

One evening, CJ told me that 'dcolemanh' (his favorite YouTube creator) made his battery-powered Hank go backwards by putting tin foil between the battery and the connector, where the battery goes is backward.

Now, remember that I'm a liberal arts mommy. Making trains go backwards is not my specialty. But I wanted to try this out with CJ so I dutifully took a tiny piece of tin foil, folded it carefully and put it behind the battery. You guessed it. It didn't work. CJ and I were really disappointed.

That evening, I told Maki about our misadventure and he just looked at me funny. I asked him if putting tin foil would really make the train go backward and his computer science self gave me an "I can't believe you don't know this stuff" look. He took a piece of tin foil, carefully folded it so that it fit neatly into the back contact area. Then he put the battery in backward and explained that by reversing the battery in a DC motor, you CAN make it go backward.

My liberal arts self was dumbfounded when CJ turned on Percy and the train indeed went backwards! CJ squealed in delight and I realized again how lucky CJ is to have a liberal arts mommy and a computer science daddy. :-) I swear, I'm just in awe of what Maki knows.

Coba and the Large Pyramid

2009-06-10T18:13:00.012-04:00

We were thinking of visiting Chichen Itza during our trip to Playa del Carmen, but on the scheduled day, it was too hot, CJ was a little whiny, and the drive seemed too daunting. So we decided to visit Coba, a set of ruins about an hour from Playa del Carmen, west of Tulum.

The ruins at Coba are not as extensively restored as those in Tulum or Chichen Itza so there's less to see. Our guide said that 95% of the ruins at Coba have been overtaken by the jungle. What Coba does have is a pyramid that you can still climb, so we were psyched to go!

Given the state of tourism in Mexico, we were not surprised that there were very few visitors at Coba. We had lunch at a lonely restaurant that had decent food. CJ loved the chicken and rice. Check out the photo on the right. Our silver rental car is under the trees. There are a few cars to the right. That was it, no other cars, no tour buses. I felt sorry for the shop owners.

After our visit, I did a bit of shopping at one of the stores. I bargained pretty hard and got two Mayan calendars, a purple ceramic star for the new office, a Mayan face figurine, and a Mayan mask for less than $50. I can't complain and the shopkeeper seemed happy. We both won.

There's not a ton to see in Coba but what you can see is pretty neat. Close to the entrance, you can see temples, plazas, ball courts, and other buildings. Then there is two kilometers of jungle between the entrance and the big pyramid. Our guide asked us if we wanted to walk, rent bikes or take a tricycle. Without missing a beat, CJ said he wanted to walk, so walk we did, in the heat!!! I was really impressed that CJ walked/ran the entire two kilometers and then still had energy to climb the pyramid with Maki.

I attempted the pyramid but I knew my knees could not handle the climb down, so I gave up after about 30 steps. There are 129 steps in the pyramid at Coba. CJ went up and down by himself, with Maki of course. Check out these pictures. I sat and waited for the boys under a tree. After the climb up the pyramid, CJ was ready for a tricycle ride home and a popsicle. He deserved both!

CJ and Maki at the bottom of the pyramid.

Maki and CJ close to the top.

Can you see the boys waving from the top of the pyramid?

Maki and CJ on the way down. CJ didn't need any help!

Our Best Meals in Playa del Carmen

2009-06-07T21:05:00.008-04:00

As far as food goes, Mexico is not at the top of our list. I suspect it's because we don't know what we're doing and we were staying at an all-inclusive for part of the trip.

The food at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo was good, not amazing. The buffet had a lot of good options and CJ certainly never went hungry. The trouble is, we're foodies and we go on vacation for the food as much as anything else.

We did have several very good meals. The first was at a Mexican-Japanese sushi fusion restaurant called Sushi-Tlan. Chris, the concierge at the Hacienda was surprised that we wanted to go there, but the sales guy at the Royal Paradise said it's his favorite place in Playa del Carmen. As expected, the place was visited mostly by locals, which was just fine by us.

Okay, so if you're looking for authentic Japanese sushi, Sushi-Tlan is not the place to go. But if you're looking for some interesting rolls, this is a great place. A lot of the rolls are fried, and the menu had an overwhelming number of rolls that featured ACCH (avocado, cucumber, cream cheese). There was even a rice dish with chopped up crab, seaweed sprinkles and cream cheese! We were dubious but it was delicious; even Maki's dad loved it. CJ LOVED the place. He stuffed himself with salmon sushi, tuna sushi, California rolls, and another roll that featured salmon and cream cheese.

We had dinner at a fancy restaurant our second evening in Playa del Carmen. We went to a restaurant in a cave, yes a cave! The restaurant is called Alux (pronounced a-loosh) and it was definitely an experience.

You have to walk down stairs to enter the restaurant because it's a cave. Alux is huge and different sections feature different decor. There was a lounge with white leather couches. There was a section with long tables. There were several bar areas. The food was good, not amazing, but the whole experience was worth it.

Our absolute favorite and best meal during our trip was at a local placed called El Fogon. TripAdvisor reviewers gave it amazing reviews and Maki and I were craving some local food, so off we went. Again, the concierge at the Hacienda raised his eyebrows when we told him we wanted to go to El Fogon, but we were delighted at the food.

We had amazing pork tacos, chorizo tacos, nachos and chorizo quesadillas. El Fogon is not in the touristy 5th Avenue area. It's on Constituyentes. The place is open air, but with a roof, no air conditioning, the waiters don't speak a lot of English, and it's hot in there. Locals and adventurous tourists packed the place. Including beer and mango drinks, 5 people ate for $35. If you go to Playa del Carmen, do not miss El Fogon!

Hotel Hacienda Paradise

2009-06-05T20:39:00.008-04:00

After 3 nights at the Iberostar, we moved to the Hotel Hacienda Paradise. The Hacienda is a boutique hotel in downtown Playa del Carmen, just one block from 5th Ave. 5th Avenue is the pedestrian street that bustles with restaurants, shops and coffee shops.

The hotel was great. The front desk staff and the concierge were terrific, the small pool was perfect for CJ, the room was very comfortable and clean, and we enjoyed the breakfast of cereal, fruit and eggs. We paid less than $100 per night, including taxes and breakfast. We especially appreciated Christian, the concierge, who helped us with restaurant reservations, sights and directions.

Like other places we visited, occupancy at the Hacienda was very low. The front desk said only 3 or 4 rooms were occupied three weeks ago, at the height of the swine flu scare. There were more rooms occupied during our stay but I suspect the hotel of 33 rooms was only 1/3 occupied.

Playa del Carmen is less than an hour from Cancun Airport. It's a straight shot from the airport on the Maya Riviera Highway (307). The main roads are Constituyentes, Juarez and 5th Avenue. The roads increment by 5, so 5th Ave. is next to 10th Ave. Playa del Carmen has a Walmart and a Mega supermarket so if you need supplies, you can find them close by. Maki's mom had to fill a prescription and she did so easily at Walmart.

We rented a car during our stay. It's a hassle to pick up and return a car, but we loved being able to drive to Tulum and Coba, we visited a couple of other resorts, and we were able to run some errands. It's ridiculously easy to get around. Everything is off 307 - the airport, all the resorts, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, XCaret. There was no parking at the Hacienda but we were always able to find parking close to the hotel, if not right in front.

Helen, Brad and Nate in the Hacienda lobby

Nate and Helen in the breakfast/pool area before a day at the beach

CJ giving Grandma Linda a hug after breakfast

Tulum

2009-06-05T20:22:00.008-04:00

A visit to Playa del Carmen is not complete without a visit to Tulum. Wikipedia says that Tulum "is the site of a Pre-Columbian Maya walled city serving as a major port for Cobá. The ruins are located on 12-meter (39 ft) cliffs, along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. One of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites, Tulum is today a popular site for tourists."

We visited Tulum when we were in Playa del Carmen two years ago, and we enjoyed it just as much this time. Tulum is gorgeous. The ruins are well-preserved, the views from the cliffs are great, and there is a wonderful breeze that comes off the water.

It was pretty hot, so CJ wilted a little bit, and he didn't care much for the tour guide, but he did enjoy running around.

The center of Tulum is a series of temples that were used for ceremonies and yes, human sacrifice. There are windows in the temples that told the Mayans when it was a solstice or equinox because the sun would shine perfectly through the window frames. By marking the solstices, the Mayans knew when to plant their crops.
We had lunch in the tourist area right outside the Zona Arqueologica. Many of the shops were shuttered, just more evidence that few tourists are visiting Mexico. If you go to Tulum, go to the Kebab shop; they have the best food in the area.

Oh yeah, it costs extra to take the little bus to the Zona Arqueologica but I think it was worth it because it was so darn hot.

Tulum is a decent place to get souvenirs. Good souvenirs from Playa del Carmen include wooden and obsidian statues, Mayan masks, ceramic statues and boxes, Mayan calendars, and ceramic bowls painted bright colors. If you go to Playa del Carmen, don't miss Tulum!

This is a view of one of the major temples.
The building on the left has one of the windows
that the Mayans used to determine the solstice.

Maki Brought His Ham Radio and Antenna to Mexico

2009-06-05T00:19:00.006-04:00

Last November, Maki got his amateur radio license. He's now licensed to transmit on the amateur bands in some crazy number of countries. Maki spends nights learning morse code and listening for transmissions from around the world. He even has a vanity call sign - K4RQZ, which even CJ has duly memorized. And yes, he has the matching shirt.

Maki brought his radio, the Yaesu FT-817 that I got him last Christmas, to Mexico. He also brought along his BuddiPole antenna. It sounds like a lot of gear, but it wasn't and Maki was excited to be able to try out his fancy equipment outside the US.

Maki did not have a lot of opportunities to actually listen or transmit, but he did spend one afternoon on the beach while CJ and I played in the water. Unfortunately, there was a lot of static (not sure where it came from) so Maki didn't make any contacts. He did meet a meteorologist who saw Maki's giant antenna on the beach and introduced himself. Mr. Metereologist said that he and other meteorologists rely on hams (amateur radio operators) to provide them with information about storm conditions and damage when the power is out.

Nate and Helen's Wedding on the Beach

2009-06-04T23:53:00.012-04:00

Nate and Helen's wedding was the reason for our visit to Mexico. Nate worked for me for three years at Matrix Group, he and Helen now live in California, they have become dear friends, and we wanted to be in Mexico for their special day.

Nate and Helen went through the wringer with their wedding planning. Swine flu nearly derailed the wedding, they briefly considered moving the wedding to Florida, and some people decided not to come to Mexico. And it didn't help that the swine flu was named H1N1 (get it, Helen and Nate?). Thank goodness the CDC lifted their recommendation against travel to Mexico the week before the wedding.

The wedding was on the beach and it was perfect. Nate looked relaxed and happy. Helen was stunning. Best of all, the scheduled rain did not come down until well after the wedding and reception on the beach.

CJ was the only child to attend the wedding. He and Maki looked cute in their matching blue shirts. He got a little bored during the ceremony so he and Grandma Linda moved to a nearby umbrella and CJ played in the sand. CJ loves sand. He can spend hours running his fingers through sand, dumping sand into shoes and other containers, burying things in the sand, yada, yada.

The reception was at the Jambalaya restaurant at the Iberostar. The speeches were hilarious and touching. The dancing was super hot -- Nate and Helen's friends all take salsa lessons, yow! CJ hung out with Grandma Linda and Grandpa Tak back in our room. It felt really special to be part of such a beautiful and intimate affair.

The minister waits for the bride and groom to arrive.

CJ and Grandma Linda play in the sand, off to the side, during the ceremony.

Don't the boys look cute in their matching khakis and blue shirts?

Nate waiting for his lovely bride.

Helen walks in with her dad.

Helen and Nate after saying their vows.

After the ceremony, CJ played in the waves.
This is my favorite photo of CJ on the beach.

Helen was a Stanford Dolly. Here, it's Helen's Angels.

Have you ever seen a more beautiful couple?

Staying at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo on the Riviera Maya

2009-06-04T09:02:00.015-04:00

For the first half of our trip to Mexico, we stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo. The wedding was supposed to be at the Iberostar Tucan, but with the number of tourists in Mexico so down, the Iberostar closed the Tucan and moved all the guests to the Lindo. The Lindo is apparently an upgrade from the Tucan and boy was it a nice property!

The Iberostar Paraiso is actually a series of properties, all together in a huge compound. Guests of each property can visit the other properties, including the pools and restaurants. I think the Lindo was the prettiest of all the properties and that makes sense, since lindo means nice, lovely or pretty in Spanish.

The Iberostar is an all-inclusive resort hotel, which means you pay one price and it includes your lodging, meals, alcohol and a bunch of activities. Guests wear a wristband and it's your key to the kingdom. There is a kids' camp from 10-4 (CJ wasn't interested); there's two shows each night in the auditorium; there are a half dozen restaurants so something is always open; there's a series of pools (wading pool, wave pool, lazy river pool, pool with a swim-up bar, deep pool), and there's snorkeling, diving and parasailing.

The food was good, not spectacular, and there was a decent selection of cuisines. The two buffet restaurants had some nice Mexican dishes, the steakhouse at the Maya was pretty good, and the seafood at Jambalaya was really good.

We're new to the all-inclusive resorts, having in only one other property - the Paradisus Playa Conchal in Costa Rica last year. (Why do these properties all have paradise in their names?)

The lobby of the Lindo is a little over the top. It looks like some
Mayan temple with a lot of lapis, marble and gold.

The raised walkway from the lobby to the rooms was a real treat.
There were pools and fountains everywhere, which made me and CJ
very happy. CJ just loved watching the fountains!

There were old-looking columns between the buildings.

Here's a view of the pool from one of the restaurants.

Here's one of the sunning areas by the pool. There were chaise
lounges everywhere, plenty for everyone!

This was the courtyard by our room.

On Monday evenings, there is a night market at the resort.
This guy was painting using spray cans! The paintings were
not in my style but he was very talented and had a lot of buyers!

Check out what this artist is able to do with spray paint
and pieces of paper that he would use to create hard and
wavy lines and wipe away paint!

Mexico, Here We Come!

2009-06-03T08:42:00.009-04:00

Despite the dire warnings about swine flu, Maki, CJ, Maki's parents and I traveled to Playa del Carmen last week for a wedding and vacation. Our friends, Nate and Helen, were getting married on the beach. We loved the area two years when we came for another wedding, so we were game to go again!

We flew out of National on Saturday. I love flying out of National because we avoid the haul out to Dulles or BWI and it means that we don't have to get up before dawn and will have a civilized morning. We flew American and got a ridiculous deal on the airfare - $1,100 for 3 people!

Standing in line to get on the plane, the pilot walked by us and CJ said hello. I said something silly like, "Hey CJ, maybe the pilot will let you see the cockpit." At that, the pilot said, "You want to see the cockpit, young man? Follow me." Oh boy. The pilot led us to the front of the line then let us visit the cockpit! The pilot asked if mom had a camera. Does mom have a camera? I always have my camera!!!

The pilot let CJ sit in the pilot's seat, he let him wear a pilot's hat, and the other pilot even asked CJ to turn on the wing lights. CJ eyes were bugging out at all of the switches, lights and controls. Of course, CJ had to entertain the pilot with stories about his trains. And CJ explained that we were going to Mexico for a vacation. So cute!

It was very sweet of the pilot to let CJ visit the cockpit area and I wondered if he enjoyed it as much as CJ did. It must be amazing to see the wonder in a kid's eyes at the work that you do and the things you make happen -- like make a big piece of metal fly through the air!

We got delayed in Miami. Our flight was delayed and I think it was because another flight to Miami had been cancelled and American was trying to consolidate passengers. The same thing would happen to us coming back. The sad part is that our flights were not crowded, despite the cancelled flights. It was just an indication of how few people are visiting Mexico.

Flying to Cancun from the DC area is easy. It's just over two hours to Miami, and just over an hour to Cancun. Cancun is on Central time so there would be no jetlag and time difference to adjust to.

Because we were delayed in Miami for so long (3 1/2 hours), we ducked into the Admirals Lounge. I did my best Tina Fey imitation and showed the receptionist my Platinum card - it worked! They let us in, they gave CJ candy, we were able to get online, and best of all, we got to hang out in the kids' lounge! The kids' lounge was a godsend during the long delay. CJ was able to watch Disney channel and play games on the computer. I was able to read my trashy novel, which meant my vacation was starting and I minded the delay a whole lot less. Somehow, we even found sushi in Miami airport (the little stand was called Sushi Maki, which cracked up CJ).

Here's a photo of CJ showing off his crab sushi. This kid continues to be mad for sushi and is now eating salmon, tuna, yellowtail, egg, crab, and California roll.

We finally got to Cancun around 5pm, met mom and dad, picked up our rental car from Hertz, drove less than an hour to the resort, and checked into the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo.

CJ Moved From Pike to Eel in Swimming Class

2009-04-26T10:41:00.006-04:00

CJ got moved from the Pike to the Eel class in swimming a few weeks ago. This is CJ's first swimming class ever but he does love the water and he knows how to paddle a little bit, so they moved him up. The class he was in originally was a little crowded and there were some younger kids who clearly were not comfortable in the water, so I guess it was easier to move CJ up.

CJ is loving his swimming lessons. I signed him up for two lessons in a row because I figured you can't learn much in a half hour lesson every week. In the new class, the kids swim around using noodles, they learn to put their face in the water and blow bubbles, they dog paddle on their own a few feet to the edge of the pool, and they jump into the water without the teacher catching them. CJ loves jumping into the water while wearing his floatie vest but I'm surprised that he doesn't mind jumping in without his vest.

Oh yeah, kids in the Eel class have to wear goggles. Maki got CJ a pair of goggles at Sports Authority and CJ just loves them. He feels like such a big boy in his goggles!

Here's a photo of CJ swimming with a noodle.

Waiting for the class to begin.

Thomas at Rolling River Bridge with Annie and Clarabel

2009-04-26T10:38:00.005-04:00

CJ and Maki have been creating ever more elaborate track sets. This week, they made rolling river bridge in our kitchen. Check out the video of Thomas pulling Annie and Clarabel, his trusty coaches.

The Problem with a Kid Who Reads

2009-04-09T01:03:00.003-04:00

Reading is a big deal in our family. We're a family of readers. I read business books, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, history. Maki reads a lot of computer books, science fiction and cyberpunk.

So it's no surprise that CJ is an early reader. At first, we thought he had just memorized a lot of books, but his teachers insist he is reading. And since he's trying to sound out words and reading books and signs he's never seen before, I figure it's true, he's reading.

I'm super proud of him, he's super proud of himself, and it's just wonderful to see him read out loud, to me and to himself.

But, it turns out that there is a downside to an early reader. Here are a couple of examples.

CJ and I went to lunch a couple of weeks ago. The waitress gave him the kids' menu and he started reading the list of items: hot dogs, mac and cheese, chicken tenders, etc. I said, "CJ, each meal comes with a fruit sald." CJ looked at the menu, then said, "no mama, it says that each meal comes with chips or a fruit sald. I want chips." Hmmmph, I can't fool him anymore.

CJ and I were surfing Amazon together. We were looking for a specific Thomas train called Harvey. Sure enough, we found Harvey and the Amazon search results showed related products. CJ's eyes were popping out at the books, trains and DVDs. He was particularly interested in the DVDs. I tried to fool him by saying, "CJ, you already have that one." But my son was not to be fooled. He would read the titles then let me know which ones he has and which ones he doesn't. In addition to being an early reader, he has a photographic memory when it comes to Thomas the Tank Engine. Hilarious.

I have a friend who told me that once your kids learn to tell time, you can no longer trick them by telling them they have 20 minutes and then calling time after 5. I guess that's coming. :-)

The Art of Negotiation and Persuasion

2009-03-22T13:55:00.003-04:00

CJ's negotiation skills continue to improve. Here are some recent examples.

Me: CJ, can we give away one of your Thomas trains to your friend for his birthday? You have so many Thomas trains.

CJ: No!

Me: But CJ, you have so many; you even have unopened trains that you need to earn with stars.

CJ: Mama, would you like it if I gave away one of your boxes? (I collect boxes from around the world.)

Me: Hmmm... good point, CJ.

CJ: Mama, I want to keep all my trains in my collection and you want to keep all the boxes in your collection!

Me: You're right, let's get a present for your friend.

Me: CJ, it's time for bed. We're going to read 4 stories coz you're 4.

CJ: But mama, I'm 4 and a half. Can I have a bonus?

Me: CJ, it's time to brush teeth.

CJ: Can I brush my teeth after stories?

Me: No, we brush teeth first and then read stories.

CJ: But mama, I want to read stories first.

Me: Sorry, CJ, we brush teeth first then we read stories. Do you need to pee?

CJ: Mama, I'll pee after stories.

Me: Okay, you can pee after stories.

I'm toast, I know.

CJ is Ready for Kindergarten

2009-03-22T13:47:00.005-04:00

Maki and I met with CJ's teacher, Ms. Courtney, this week and she reported that CJ is ready for kindergarten. Phew! There was no talk of holding him back, no qualifiers, he is ready!

She did say that although CJ enjoys all aspects of school and seems to thoroughly being in school, he does not like drawing. Drawing seems to stymie him. Guess that's something we need to work on. Maybe I can get Uncle Alex to help out in this area.

What activities does CJ like? He apparently loves to read and is definitely reading, he loves math, he loves to sing and dance, he loves puzzles and problem-solving, he likes comparison games (which is faster, smaller, etc.), and he likes playing outside.

CJ gave me the thumbs up when I told him that he was going to kindergarten in September with his neighborhood buddy, Mary V.

CJ Still Loves Sushi

2009-03-14T20:01:00.005-04:00

It's amazing but CJ still loves sushi. Any chance he gets, he asks for sashimi or sushi. If we go to Harris Teeter, my grocery bill is always $20-$30 higher than it would be normally because he asks for sushi and enari pockets.

CJ and Maki have a cut tradition when it comes to haircuts. CJ gets his hair cut at a barber shop in a shopping center that also has a good Japanese restaurant. So today, CJ got his haircut and then Maki, CJ, brother Alex and I had a sushi lunch. CJ ate 4 pieces of salmon sushi, 6 pieces of crab, 4 pieces of egg sushi, and one gyoza.

We ordered a little too much sushi so we took it home and CJ had leftover tuna, yellowtail and tuna/avocado rolls for dinner.

The picture top left is of a special clam sashimi that we ordered. It came with the huge clam shell and was super yummy. The picture at right is CJ with Uncle Alex. Just look at the big smile on his face! I also realized tonight that CJ has become so independent. He drinks without a mess (usually) from a cup or glass, he eats on his own without assistance (unless I need to cut up his food), he can mostly dress himself, he goes to the potty all by himself, he can turn on the computer and fire up a browser to play games (he can read the bookmarks to get to his favorite Thomas or Little Einsteins games) and he can pop a DVD in the player to watch a movie.

Swimming Lessons

2009-03-14T19:38:00.007-04:00

Last summer, I watched in amazement when I saw CJ's friend Bayley jump in the pool and swim to the deep end without a swim vest. So I was determined to enroll CJ in swimming lessons this Winter so that he'll be ready this Summer to swim without a vest.

We're not members of the Y so I had to wait until non-member enrollment opened. I went in person on the the first day of non-member enrollment and signed him up for two, back to back lessons. It might sound a little over-achieving, but I wondered how much he would really learn in a half hour once a week.

CJ's first lesson was last Saturday and he did really well. His lower lip was a little trembly when I left the pool area but he seemed to do better once he could see me watching him from upstairs. It was actually hilarious how many parents were glued to the glass, watching their kids. It's not like the instructors were going to let them drown or anything!

The swim classes are great! The kids were taught how to enter the water safely, they dog paddled to a little island that they can stand on and be above water, they swam with a noodle, they floated on their backs, and they dog paddled back to the side. CJ pretty much dog paddled to the island without any help, which shocked the heck out of me. He did get a lot out of one class but I think it was awesome for him to get two lessons.

Today was his second week of swim classes and he did even better. I pretty much dropped him off at the pool, told him to sit on the side of the pool and wait for the teacher to start the class. He simply said, "bye, mom." No trembly lips and he even entered the water and got on a noodle all by himself. I was impressed that the teachers gave each kid exactly what they needed. CJ is comfortable in the water and can dog paddle a little so they don't hold him very much, while the younger kids get more help. And it's amazing how many instructors there are and how they watch the kids like hawks! CJ is loving his swim classes!

I don't have pictures because they Y does not allow photos except on special days and only if the kids' parents sign a waiver. So just imagine CJ in his Thomas the Tank Engine (of course!) swim trunks, blue crocs and big smile on his face.

Getting Messy with Cornstarch

2009-03-14T19:15:00.005-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, CJ and his classmates made paper mache planets as part of a week's worth of learning about the solar system. CJ was all excited about planets; he can now name all of them - amazing.

When I dropped CJ off at school one day, I was admiring the planets that the kids had made and then painted that week. CJ's teacher commented on how CJ simply refused to work with the paper mache glue at first. She said he just kept saying no and was in tears until she just took his hand and dunked it in the glue, at which point, he apparently stopped crying and said, "oh, this isn't so bad, it's fun!"

I realized at that moment that CJ simply does not have enough "getting dirty" time at home. He reads books, plays with his trains, takes walks, colors, etc., but he just doesn't get dirty. And his yaya (nanny) just hates it when CJ gets messy or when she gets messy.

So one night, I decided it was time to play with cornstarch. I took a bowl, filled it with cornstarch, added water and made a great batch of funky, gluey, sticky stuff. As expected, at first CJ refused to touch the stuff, even though I was playing with it and having a ball. So, taking a page from his teacher's book, I took on of his hands and dunked it in the paste. CJ's attitude changed after that. He and I got so messy! He loved swishing his hands in the paste, watching it dribble from up high, splashing it on the counter.

We marveled at how the paste would seem really solid when you played with it, but when you let your hands stop moving, the paste just flowed through your fingers. And on the kitchen island, it would harden right away, but when you went to wipe it up, it turned to liquid again. Amazing stuff.

CJ enjoyed spreading the cornstarch on the island until it was all gone from the bowl, at which point I had the fun job of cleaning up CJ, the island, the floor and the bar stools. But boy did we have fun! And I hope CJ won't be so hesitant about getting his hands dirty next time. Note to self: give CJ "getting messy" time on a regular basis!

CJ's First Video on YouTube

2009-03-01T10:04:00.008-05:00

CJ is obsessed with YouTube, which he watches through our AppleTV. There are tens of thousands of Thomas the Tank Engine episodes on YouTube - real episodes that have been ripped, homemade episodes, product announcements, music videos.

CJ really, really, really wanted his own Thomas video on YouTube. So for the last few weeks, we've been filming. Here's our very first effort. It's a video of CJ introducing his battery-powered Thomas train collection.

There is even a high def version, which you can access by clicking "Watch in High Quality" below the video, right side link. The high def version is definitely an improvement over the low quality flash videos you usually find on YouTube. You can only access the high def versions on the computer, not through AppleTV.

Here is the link on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAXBVeCSTsA

Please watch and rate this video highly! CJ is excited that he's gotten some 5-star ratings!

CJ's Gonna Take Over the Business Someday

2009-03-01T10:04:00.001-05:00

CJ continues to enhant us with his sweetness. Here are some of the recent things he's said.

CJ: "Mama, when you're old, I am going to take over Matrix Group."
Me: "Really?"
CJ: "Yep, you take care of me now. When you're old and tired, I will help you and take care of you."

(Note to self: I need to get this on video so I can play it for CJ when he's older and hating us.)

CJ: "Mama, I wish I had a car."
Mama: "When you're older, maybe you can have mama's car."
CJ: "No, mama. I want a blue car."

(Note to self: Have a plan to paint gold Honda Civic blue.)

CJ: "Mama, when I'm older, I will treat you and dada to dinner."
Me: "That's nice, thank you."
CJ: "Mama, what does treat mean?"

Great Wolf

2009-02-23T08:17:00.009-05:00

We spent the weekend in Great Wolf, a hotel/water park in Williamsburg, VA. CJ's best friend (and his family, of course) invited us to join them to celebrate Beckett's birthday. We had never heard of Great Wolf but are we glad we went!

We left work early on Friday afternoon. It was probably a mistake going in to work on Friday morning but I had so much to do. Oh well. I always manage to get a ton done right before a trip, which makes me think I need to get away more often, but boy is it stressful!

We were on the road a little after 3pm, not bad considering that Maki and I worked a little more than a half day and we had to finish packing. We would have been fine with traffic if we had used the HOV lanes, but we took 2 cars so Maki could come back early to attend his Mount Vernon radio club meeting on Sunday. So we got stuck, stuck, stuck on 95 going down to Richmond. Good thing CJ is a good traveler. He likes listening to his music and he's now a great conversationalist.

We stopped at McDonald's for dinner, then got to Great Wolf around 7pm. We met our friends at the water park immediately after checking in. Wow, what an intense place. The water park is indoors, of course, which I guess is why Great Wolf is such a great winter destination.

There are lots of things to do at Great Wolf (kids club, magic quest, story time, etc.) but the big attraction is the water park. It's a giant room with all kinds of water activities, including:

a wading pool with small slides
a wave pool that makes waves every 20 minutes or so; it's fun to sit on a floatie and get carried back to shore
a twisty maze that takes you to the top of several water slides
4 giant slides where you slide down on single-person and two-person floaties
a balance pool where you hold on to a net above while stepping on moving logs
geysers everywhere that spray water
contraptions that spray, splash and dump water
an artificial surf maker that CJ and Maki went down; they did a great job!

In other words, there is water everywhere. Surprisingly, the water park seemed very clean, not moldy at all, yet not too antiseptic as well. I got out of my comfort zone and went down the blue and yellow giant slides on a double floatie with CJ 10 times. After the first couple of times, CJ and I were asking the lifeguard to give us a push down the slide, then we would scream all the way down! CJ event went up one of the giant slides (without floaties) with his friend Beckett leading; they even had to climb a net to get to the top!

Food options were slim. There is a restaurant that has a breakfast buffet and a decent lunch, a Pizza Hut, a snack bar in the water park, an ice cream shop, and a coffee shop. We did the breakfast buffet once and had lunch at the restaurant the day we left. Otherwise, we left the property for lunch and dinner. CJ enjoyed making his own kid pizza at Pizzeria Uno. And the mini-dessert of a brownie with ice cream was big enough for an adult!

CJ wants to go back and since he's such a fan of water, I suspect we will return. My suggestions for our next visit and for those who want to go:

Leave the house early and get there by 12 or 1pm so you have the rest of the day to enjoy the water park.
Get to the water park early to reserve a table and grab a floatie. There are lots of floaties and they're reasonably easy to come by, but you know how impatient kids get.
Bring your beach shoes. We brought CJ's Crocs and they were perfect.
The water park is least crowded after dinner.
The rooms have coffee makers, small refrigerators and microwaves, so next time, I'll bring cereal, milk, fruit, bowls spoons for breakfast. The breakfast buffet gets crowded and I'd rather spend the money on lunch or dinner.
Don't bother bringing beach towels. The water park has plenty of towels and they're often just out of the dryer so they're nice and warm.
So as not to go too crazy in the water park, I'll schedule time at the kids club or story time for CJ.

Mom, I'm Suffering

2009-02-18T08:34:00.004-05:00

CJ's language skills continue to grow and he continues to build is vocabulary. Here are some of the latest things he's said.

Last Saturday, CJ and I went to lunch with sister and niece. He complained of a stomachache so we left early. In the car, I heard, "Mom, I'm suffering." I knew he was feeling bad, but I couldn't help chuckling.

On seeing a lot of pillows on my bed: "Mom, there's a preponderance of pillows on your bed." I taught him that once and he still remembers. Hilarious when he uses preponderance.

On he and Maki creating a complex set of train tracks in our living room: Dada, we're a teamwork.
Dada: Do you mean we're a team?
CJ: Oh yeah, we're a team, dada!

On stubbing his toe: "Mama, my foot is hurtish."

A Sweet Valentine's Day Party for the Pre-K Crowd

2009-02-18T08:17:00.007-05:00

Last Friday, CJ's pre-school class had its Valentine's Day party. I didn't think I was going to make it but my morning meeting ended right on time and I was able to rush to the school. CJ was thrilled that I made it. There were a bunch of moms there and the kids whose moms attended were definitely proud to have their moms be in the classroom. But you know, some days, I just can't make it and I can't be guilty about it.

I can't believe how grown up the kids are getting. They sang their prayer song, ate their cupcakes and candy independently and without too much mess, then exchanged their Valentines. CJ gave his classmates handmade valentines that we made together, as well as special Valentine play doh. It seems every manufacturer has to have a seasonal offering. Play Doh had a package of 20 small play doh cans in sweet colors - lavender, pink, purple, white, orange. One of moms made super yummy chocolate cupcakes. Homemade cupcakes are definitely the best!

BTW, it's hilarious how many tweets I saw on Thursday night about making Valentines with their kids. We all know the Valentine party is coming, but we still procrastinated on making the valentines. Thank goodness CJ only has 8 classmates because it took hours to make the cards! But it was definitely fun.

Check out CJ's happy face. This kid just loves chocolate, can't get enough of it. I remember that we used M&Ms and trains as bribes during potty training - worked very well.

On the actual Valentine's Day, we went to dinner at a neighbor's house. The grown-ups enjoyed a little peace and quiet while the kids played with the trains. Nice evening and I'm not sure I would have swapped it for dinner a fancy restaurant.

He separated from his mother without incident

2009-02-12T08:55:00.004-05:00

Yesterday morning, I dropped off CJ at one of the schools we are considering for kindergarten. This school organizes shadow days for potential students; it's a chance for the school to make sure he's socialized and ready for kindergarten, I guess. But it's also a chance for the students to check out the classrooms and kids.

We got to the school, CJ met the Admissions Director, then she asked him whether he wanted his mom to take him downstairs or give mom a huge and a kiss good-bye. CJ said, "I want to give you a hug and a kiss mom. Good-bye." At that, he gave me a big hug and headed downstairs with no fuss.

Oh my god, is this really my child, all grown up, charging into a new school without any fuss? I still remember his first day of preschool nearly 18 months ago. He was 3, we got to the school, I hung out in the classroom for a few minutes, then I headed for the hallway. CJ was distracted by the toys and one his friends from the neighborhood, so I headed for the stairwell. I was in the stairwell when I heard a loud wail, "where's my mom?" and a huge bout of crying. Oh god, my heart broke but I knew I had to just keep going. It took a few months, but soon he was getting dropped off without incident, cheerfully.

When he had his WPPSI (some test the private schools around here require), the report said, "He separated from his mother without incident." Again, this statement made my heart skipped. CJ really great during the testing. I told him that he was doing a playdate and that I would be downstairs and he simply said okay.

And yesterday, he said good-bye without any fuss and headed to the classroom. A friend who has kids in college says kindergarten is a big, heart-wrenching milestone for the parents. He says other milestones include: when they drive the car for the first time without you, when they go away to college, when they get married. I have a lifetime of smiles and tears ahead of me and I'm ready.

Inauguration Day and Night

2009-01-24T09:49:00.010-05:00

Yes, we were open at work on Inauguration Day. I polled other businesses and they were going to be open on Tuesday; even the banks were going to be open.

But I knew that Inauguration Day was going to be special and that those of us working (a lot of people took the day off) would want to watch the inauguration and maybe parts of the parade. So at 11:00am, we ordered pizza and settled into the conference room around 11:30. For the next couple of hours, we marveled at the number of people on the Mall, felt great when Barack Obama took the oath, enjoyed the music and the poems, and listened intently to the new President's speech. When I got up Tuesday morning, I was a little sad that I wasn't going to be on the Mall, but when I saw the crowds on TV, I knew that I would have felt claustrophobic and lost in the sea of humanity.

I was glad to celebrate Inauguration Day with Maki and other people at work. This was a day for celebrating with our community and sharing our thoughts about the future.

Around 1:30pm, we all went back to work. and believe it or not, a lot of work got done. We have out of state clients and the phones were surprisingly busy. As I expected, out of state clients were not as in tune with the inauguration and had little idea that DC was basically shut down for the day. All of our clients in DC + associations in the VA and MD suburbs were closed as well.

After work, I invited co-workers and a bunch of neighbors over for our own Neighborhood Inauguration Party. We had homemade pizza, enari (tofu) pockets, hummus and chips, BBQ pork and cole slaw, cookies, beer and wine. We watched CNN for coverage of the parade and the balls. We loved the President's tuxedo but didn't much like Michelle Obama's dress (it was not flattering, we thought, and not camera-friendly).

CJ had a ball playing trains and watching a movie with some buddies from the neighborhood. He's turning into quite the social boy. He loves it when we have people over to visit and he's very good about sharing his toys, even his trains!

Here is a photo of the entrance to the GW Parkway from Old Town. Northbound access was blocked and there were barricades the entire length of the Parkway from Old Town to DC.

Here's a photo from CNN of the coverage on inauguration night.

Here's a photo of some of my guests. The homemade pizza was a big hit!

More Funny CJ Sayings

2009-01-18T13:12:00.003-05:00

CJ continues to be a happy, chatty kid. He said he wanted to go to mass today, but when I told him that he had to be quiet for a whole hour, he decided he would stay home. Yup, that's how much he likes to talk.

What's interesting is how he conjugates verbs using standard rules, but the end result is wrong because English has so many darn exceptions. For example, he'll say:

Mama, dada teached me how to play a new game.
I breaked the tracks.
Mama, today, I sleeped in the afternoon.

The funny thing is that he will sometimes use the correct verb conjugations for the verbs above, but at other times, he will conjugate incorrectly.

He is also quite enthusiastic about life. When I ask him a question, he often says, "Oh, yes!" or "Sure!"

Some funny and sweet things he's said recently:

"Mommy, come quick! I have a surprise for you!" (This is his latest ploy to get me to come running or interrupt me when I'm getting dressed or cooking.)

"Mama, I know that you need to work so that you can buy me trains and sushi." (His nanny share really, really hates the fact that her mommy works.)

"Mommy, I don't mind that you go to work because I know that you will always come back." (See above.)

Fire Spinning

2009-01-18T12:46:00.008-05:00

My nephew spins fire. Or rather, he practices fire poi, which involves spinning metal balls filled with kerosene and suspended on metal chains. He got introduced to fire poi in high school and continues to practice even while studying in Japan.

While visiting us over the holidays, Rusty gave us two command performances: in front of our house and in front of the office. Thank goodness no neighbors called the police on us. Rusty is very careful, he has hundreds of hours of practice behind him, he wears a kevlar mask and gloves, and he performs a good distance away from folks. He is also very careful with how he disposes of any leftover fuel.

Let me tell you, fire poi is unbelievable. It's mesmerizing, it's graceful, it's frightening, and it's beautiful to watch. When Rusty was performing in front of our house, some neighbors came out to watch. During the performance in front of our office, the security guard joined us and seemed to really enjoy the fire spinning. Here are some pictures and a video.

The photos were taken with my Sony cybershot camera, on night mode, no flash, 3 second exposure.

This photo makes me think of musical notes.

This video was taken with my Sony cybershot in video mode. I have HD footage but the file is huge and I'm still new to converting HD video to different formats.

When Mama Turned to Mommy

2009-01-14T20:38:00.002-05:00

Somehow, over the holidays, CJ went from calling me" mama" to "mommy." I wonder if it's because he spent so much time with my nieces and nephew, who calls their moms "mom." Or if it's a natural transition that just happens.

It's just one of the changes I'm seeing in my little man.