flea market in old town orange

we didn't wake up early to get there bright and early, but we went just to look around. we even hit a couple of yard sales on the way. it was nice just to have a little outing as a family to walk around. interesting stuff, but more country, kitschy type things. we love when we find cool retro stuff or interesting chairs and furniture. we didn't walk away empty handed, though... baba bought three little match box cars, a miata, a bug, and truck. nj loved holding onto the vw bug until we got to the car. we hope to make this a regular family outing. maybe when he's older (or when the kids are older, if there's more), we can all wake up early and get out faster as a family activity on weekends. how fun!

say, chevy!

nj got to see lots of cars, trucks, and suv's today. i thought he'd be a lot more excited than he was, but i think he was tired and hot.

on the way, we turned on some rock/alternative. randomly nj says, "i like this music". how interesting! we never even turn it to that station anymore. not since we first brought him home maybe. now we listen to either talk radio, christian radio, or one of his kid's cd's. it happened to be no doubt playing and i thought to myself that the music's not all that different, sounds the same as before. until the dj came on to say that it's the 90's weekend. Oh! Ok, it's not that nothing's changed, it's that we're old! or maybe i should say old-er. it just made me think of how much has changed since we've brought our little man home. i'm especially appreciative of him the last few days. another thogl (the home of god's love) family lost their adopted son unexpectedly. he was only two years old. he had a heart transplant as a baby, with no further problems. but one night the family put their son to sleep, checked on him later that night and he wasn't breathing. how devastating, shocking, tragic, and sad. but i'm sure that little boy was incredibly loved every moment that he was alive and with that family. i haven't been able to get it out of my mind and have been praying for them.

mien mien with ah-ma and gong-gong

some help coloring from ah-ma (grandma).

sharing a drink with ah-ma (grandma).

mmm... mien mien (fettuccine alfredo) with chicken and broccoli.

thank you for dinner and spending some quality time with us!

"baba spill grape juice"

or my version, "baba busted a cap".

it's as if he was caught eating or doing something he wasn't supposed to. we tried a combination of recipes for some home made sloppy joe's. yum.

"mama swim and baba swim, and ji-yung swim!"

some library fun

a walk around the first fountain with fishies in it. nj was scared at first (about walking along the ledge), but then he enjoyed himself.

well hello, baby!

a good look at some cool fish!

now a little splash from the dolphin fountain

chick-fo-lay!

some chicken nuggets (six piece)

apple juice

first time having a juice box and straight juice. his version of juice normally involves adding lots of water.

fruit

and ice cream? not this time. doesn't matter how hard you stare, nj!

nj had all of us cracking up in the parking lot (of the library) after asking him where he wanted to go for lunch. the choices were chick-fil-a or chipotle. the problem was, he'd be saying what sounded like a combination of both. plus, he speaks so quietly we couldn't tell which one it was. chick-pote-lay, chip-a-lay, chick-fo-lay... we finally figured out he was trying to say chick-fil-a, but he said it the way you'd say chipotle. oh my!

"dotty, not for you!"

for his snack he wanted to finish up the fruit he had from lunch. dotty was so good just sitting to the side not bothering him (although, persistently starring). but she eventually stole a piece once he started teasing her with apple.

today he followed me into our bathroom saying, "i want to see!" see what? when i turned around, he was pointing at our scale. whew! ok, so i pressed the button (it has a setting for me and a setting for baba with our height and age). as i waited for it to set, i asked him: "how much do you weigh?" not expecting an answer. but he surprised me with: "ninety-nine pounds!" what?! he obviously knew exactly what i was asking him, but why would he have that answer? he's never said that before. so strange. he said it with such a big smile too. after he stepped on it, it finally settled on thirty-two point four. i told him, "baby, you weigh thirty-two pounds!"

"that's my poop!"

he still sleeps in a diaper and when he woke up from his nap, he had something in it. those go in a little baggie and out the door. so when we stepped out the door to go out, nj points to the bag and says, "that's my poop!" that made us laugh. we asked him to pick it up to put in the trash. he did it proudly.

help out, nj...

no more milk and some meal plans mean a trip to sam's club. he's always so excited to go, but when we asked him today he said no. then baba asked him, "so you'll stay home by yourself and watch dotty?" nj responds with, "no, i want to go to sam's club!" ha, ha. on the way home he said, "i want cheerio" (or churro). churro? we told him it's too late, we left already. next time say something, when we're there.

"mama, i want carrot."

he takes one and...

off he goes excitedly! sorry dot, none for you.

"mama, animal planet"

we watched a little animal planet in the morning. i was surprised nj said it was animal planet because how would he know? i asked him how he knew, he said: "ah-ma's house has animal planet". but grandma doesn't have cable or satellite. could it be that he recognizes the logo? he is pretty good at recognizing symbols and logos (thanks to his ah-goo/uncle).

"mama take a picture"

he finished all his mien mien, even though we call it spaghetti (noodles are noodles to him). baba and i cooked it together last night for dinner, first time trying a bolognese sauce recipe. yum! why haven't i thought of this before? nj seemed pretty happy with it, he cleaned his plate. but then again he loves spaghetti, so who knows.

"want to go to ucla"

"mama, thumbs up!"

look in the camera, nj...

now say, cheeeeeeeese!

oh my, someone needs their teeth brushed and face cleaned!

morning blood test at ucla, we got a late start so we had brunch at noah's bagels. love it! we used to live near one in pasadena, but now we don't really have much chance to go. i thought about calling his auntie sherry and uncle matt to see their new place, but i wasn't sure she'd be up yet. and i'm sure he would've wanted to see cousin cooper, but i still have my cough. :( it's best i stay at home anyway. we missed going to hope, maybe next week if my white blood count is better. we sat to eat our bagels and nj his challah bread, and baba said, "this is nice". yes, it is! i'm amazed at how he can just sit in his chair and eat nicely like a good boy. and clearly, he was enjoying himself! before we finished up, we asked him if he needed to pee since we still had the drive home. he said no, but baba said, "let's try, just in case". and he went, that made us happy.