CJ Passed His Black Belt Test!

I'm late in posting this but CJ passed his Tae Kwon Do Black Belt test back in June. OMG, what a incredible journey!

Back in April 2014, CJ passed his brown belt test and got his black stripe belt. Master Yun took me and CJ aside and said that CJ looked good, he knew all his forms and if CJ felt he was ready, he would let CJ take the black belt test in June. This was a BIG deal. Master Yun rarely lets people test for their black belt so soon after getting their bo black belt. CJ would train and test with Giualem, a super talented 11-year old with amazing, natural ability.

CJ said Yes! he wanted to take the black belt test in June. So he started taking double and triple classes to build up his endurance. I even took a few double classes with him to give him encouragement and build up MY endurance. At the end of April, Master Yun started offering bo black classes. During bo black classes, Master Yun would have the kids practice forms, practice kicking, practice breaking, and practice power breaking, which is breaking with your hand.

I felt like I was living at the studio during the months of May and June. CJ was taking, on average, 9 classes a week! He was pretty enthusiastic about it, but some weeks, he was just plain exhausted and didn't want to stay for the 2nd or 3rd class. Because I love TKD so much AND I've watched a couple of black belt tests, I understood the importance of endurance training.

Here's the deal with the black belt test. The Master won't let you test unless you know your forms and your kicks. So you basically just have to survive the test, which is a 3-hour test, during which you do all the forms, do all the kicks, do the kicks while going up and down the studio, do over 700 push-ups, do over 700 sit-ups, do over 300 squats, do 3 rounds of sparring (including 1 round against 2 black belts), and break 5 wooden boards at once (1 cement block if you're an adult). It's really an endurance test. If you're not in the best shape of your life, you just won't survive.

CJ and Giualem did a great job. They were both clearly in top form. When they got to green belt and the squats started, one of the instructors, Trulynd, sidled up to me and said, "they're doing really well; this is usually when the crying starts but they're not crying."

In fact, there was no crying during this black belt test. CJ and Giualem did a great job with everything. They were plastered with sweat and by the third sparring round, they both took a beating because when you're exhausted, you tend to just stand there and take the hits.

The breaking is what nearly did CJ in. It took him about 30 minutes to break all the boards. Giualem did it the second shot. CJ really struggled. But he didn't give up. Master Yun called several 1-minute breaks but he didn't give up. I was barely breathing and I couldn't help him. He was on his own and he had to call on all his training to get through the last part of the test. When he finally broke the boards, you could see the relief on his face; he was not going home without having broken those 5 boards! And you know, I suspect those last 30 minutes taught CJ more than any other part of the test. And he probably learned more about himself than Giualem did about herself. Because it's when things get tough, when you don't get something the first time, but you keep going and you finally do it, that you learn what you're really made of. I was so proud of CJ.

CJ doesn't get his black belt until December, six months after the test. There's some type of waiting period, during which Master Yun sends off your paperwork to Korean, your belt gets made, and you have to convince Master Yun that you are still committed to TKD. The December belt ceremony is going to be great.

The Funny and Fun Things MJ Says

MJ is 32 months old (just over 2 1/2 years old) and he's talking up a storm these days. He's always talking. He comments on everything. He plays with words, he makes up rhymes, he's constantly in motion and constantly talking.

When he wants to ask a question, he can't quite rephrase the sentence into a question, so he just adds inflection to the end of his sentences. This morning, I was feeling a little under the weather. He asked, "Mom, you feel sick?" When we're outside, he asks our neighbor, "You have a dog?"

He's got an active imagination. Every morning, when yaya (his nanny) arrives, she asks MJ, "MJ, who are you today?" Every day is different. He might be MJ Fireman, MJ Farmer, MJ Doctor, MJ Delivery Man, MJ Policeman. MJ Fireman is definitely his favorite.

A couple of weekends ago, Maki brought home sausage, egg and cheese McMuffins from McDonald's. He asked for the egg. I said, "But MJ, you're allergic to egg." He said, "No, I'm not lergic, I'm just a nice guy."

When we go out for a ride or run an errand, I usually pack what I call emergency snacks, in case CJ or MJ (or I) suddenly gets hungry. When an adult gets a hunger attack, you suck it up. When a child gets a hunger attack, he has a meltdown. So I always have protein bars in the car and other snacks in my purse. I like to pack string cheese, which I call "emergency cheese." This morning, MJ said, "CJ, we have emergencheese!"

When we're out for a walk, sometimes MJ will just play with words. I might say, "look there's a dog." And all of a sudden, he'll launch into a rhyme attack. He'll say dog, bog, log, mog, sog, jog.... and on and on. I think he's playing with words, he's checking out how they sound and feel on his tongue. It's hilarious and very cute.

CJ Got His Yellow Belt in Tae Kwon Do

CJ has been taking tae kwon do classes since June and he's now advanced to the third belt. He started at white, then advanced to orange, then advanced to yellow.

In order to advance to the next belt, the students need to:

• Get a red stripe for knowing their kicking combination (there's a different one for each belt)
• Get a blue stripe for knowing their form (there's a different one for each belt)
• Get a yellow stripe for breaking a board (it's a different kick for each belt

In addition, kids need to get a white stripe, which they get when their parents fill out a piece of paper saying they've been good at home, doing their homework, being helpful at home, getting good grades, etc. I love this stripe because it definitely keeps CJ in check. When he's acting up, I say, "I guess you don't want that white stripe very much."

At the end of September, after completing his stripes, CJ took the test to advance to yellow belt. The tests happen every 2-3 months and you can't take a test unless you've achieved all of the stripes. You have to show Master Yun that you know your kicking combination and form, and you can break an actual wooden board.

CJ had a tough time breaking the wooden board to advance to yellow belt. Breaking the board seems to be the toughest part of any belt test.

It's so great to see CJ so excited about tae kwon do. He begs to go to class each week (he goes about 3 times a week: Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday), he practices at home, and he has made good friends in class.

 Here's CJ with his fellow orange belts before the test.

 Here's CJ during the test. He's setting up for his kicking combination.

 Here's CJ breaking the board.

 Here's CJ getting presented with his yellow belt.

 

Master Yun loves to mess around with the kids!

A Summer of Sleepovers

CJ took this photo during this sleepover at the
Natural History Museum

It's been a big summer for sleepovers for CJ. Before this summer, he had only had 1 sleepover at his friend Liam's house and that was last summer, not counting a few nights here and there at Grandma and Grandpa's house in VA.

This summer, CJ went on a 4-day trip to Pittsburgh and Johnston with my in-laws.  I was a little worried about this trip since CJ was going to be away 3 nights, the longest time away from us AND he was going to be out of state. Grandma and Grandpa said he handled the trip like a champ. He was well behaved, he ate well, he was very entertaining to Maki's great aunt, and he didn't seem to miss home too much.

He also went to a friend's birthday party sleepover that started with hitting balls on a driving range, miniature golf, watching Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and then sleeping with 21 other boys in one room! I know, talk about brave parents.

CJ and his buddy slept under the left fin of
Phoenix the Whale

Last Friday night, CJ attended a sleepover at the Natural History Museum in DC with one his buddies and his buddy's dad. The program started at 7:30pm and ended at midnight but the boys were apparently up past 1am. They heard some lectures, they went on an adventure hunt, they watched an IMAX movie, and they slept under Phoenix the whale. Is this kid lucky or what?

He's also spent a bunch of time with my in-laws during the weeks he didn't have summer camp at the beginning of the summer, before all the camps started.

It's very quiet in the house when CJ is not around. Yes, we have MJ, but he's a lot more subdued when CJ is not around. We joke that MJ gets some "only child" time when CJ has a sleepover. I miss CJ terribly but I know it's super good for him to be away from us.

When CJ is away, we call him every evening. Sometimes, he talks our ears off. Other nights, he just wants to say good night and be on his way.

CJ's Tae Kwon Do Party for His 8th Birthday

For his 8th birthday, CJ asked for a tae kwon do party. He just recently started taking tae kwon do classes so we asked the owner if he did parties and he said yes. OMG, this had to be the best party ever!

The kids laughed and screamed the entire time as they kicked, tumbled and jumped through the warm ups, exercises and activities. Master Yun was amazing with the kids. He was super fun but he was also pretty strict with them, reminding them that martial artists are kind to each other, respectful and well behaved. I got super fun photos and videos of the kids. Even the girls had a great time, as I predicted.

Amazingly enough, Harris Teeter had a martial arts cake!

MJ enjoyed watching from the sidelines for most of the party, until it got too noisy!

The kids started the party with stretches and warm-ups.

There was a lot of kicking at this party.

CJ with his buddies during a water break.

Look at the height of this jump! The kids were in awe.

The kids jumped on a trampoline and then did tumbling. Super fun!

Maki demonstrated to the kids how to break a board.

Each of the kids was successful at breaking a board!

Every birthday party has to have a cake!

 Isn't this a great photo of CJ with his teacher?

CJ Lost His First Tooth

 

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.

MJ is Almost Sittng Up On His Own

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.

What Does a Four-Month Old Do?

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.

Baby Marcus John Gets Baptized

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!

Sleeping Through the Night

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.

MJ Loves Bath Time!

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.

Good-bye Thomas, Hello Luke Skywalker!

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!