"we going to yard sale!"

nj always covers up his eyes when the sun's in them. he sat like this for much of the ride to our first destination, the flea market.

oops! someone has his pants on backwards and needs them turned around. free show everyone! actually, no one was looking and the couple that was having the garage sale just laughed that his pants were put on backwards. i didn't even notice!

in car heaven...

nj was in car and toy heaven. we were impressed with how well he played, with the other kids and by himself. we went to my old childhood friend's house for her going-away party. i was worried because there were lots of kids and baba and nj have never met any of them. but before we even had our shoes off (we helped nj with his first), he had disappeared from under us! he was already on the ground in the middle of the living room playing with cars. and there were tons of them! little matchbox and hot wheels, lots of cars from the movie cars, and bigger trucks... dump trucks, loaders, and tow trucks. we were amazed because not only did he play nicely with the other kids, he never came to us the entire night. oh, except when he needed to go to the bathroom a couple of times. otherwise, not a peep from him. we both watched him from afar, baba was chatting with the guys/dads, me with the gals/moms. and it was cute that he'd look up at us once and a while, as if to kind of check in and make sure it was ok that he was still playing. we'd smile, he'd smile, and he'd go back to playing. now this is hanging out and relaxing! everyone else was just as on top of their kid(s) as we usually are. no one had to do any hovering or policing, which is impressive! nj was already talking our ear off about everything he did there and how much fun he had. i told him on the way there that he was meeting some new friends. he said, "i like new friends." how sweet. and baba and i talked about what a great time we had too. it's sad that they're moving away, but it was great to spend some time with them.

"mama has no face"

amongst the strange things he said today, this was the weirdest: "mama has no face. baba has face and ji-yung has face."

he followed that with: "mama's hair is black. baba's hair is white."

the first one had me confused, the second had me laughing!

he ran into dotty's room (the laundry area) asking to give her a treat. dot dot happen to be there, so he squat down near her bowl and pointed at the food saying: "eat dotty, eat this!" i asked him to leave her alone, but then he insisted on picking up some and putting it to her face trying to feed her. i thanked him for being nice, but explained to him that she doesn't need help eating. i really wanted to laugh, i thought it was sweet, but poor dot dot is already bothered enough by him. she did eat a few bites of food, while she did he pet her. i could tell by the way she looked that she was unsure about him still there and then petting her. she's so sweet though, she was tolerant and let him.

"this. right here!"

looks like he's about to break into a rap or do the robot. but actually, he's showing me the stain on his shirt. that was quick, time for a shirt change!

"want to put stickers"

we've been working on some cards in the last day or two. he's very specific about what he wants me to draw, where, and with what color. and of coarse, he enjoys adding his drawings, colorings, and stickers. it's a lot of fun.

noodle on dotty

i knew nj didn't want his noodles, he told me he didn't. but i had to step away for a moment and told him to keep eating. when i came back, his noodles were gone. there's no way he could have eaten them all in the very short time i was gone. so i asked him, "what happened to your noodles? did you finish them?" before he had the chance to say yes (which he did), i see dotty next to him with a long noodle across her back. i could barely hold back my laughter. it was hard to keep a straight face while reminding him that he's not supposed to feed dotty, people food is bad for her.

rain watching

back into warm pj's

our first fall rain and it's a bit of a chilly night. after a nice warm shower, i pull out these car pj's ah-ma brought back from taiwan a long time ago. finally he fits them and finally it's cool enough to wear them. i love how his little belly still sticks out.

"mama, i put my shirt on myself!"

yay! can you dress yourself everyday?

and look at your hair!

chocolate chip pancakes and mavilla yogurt for breakfast

lunch date with auntie janell

hamburger in one hand + fry in the other = a happy boy

"read this!"

all day he's asking me to "read this!" he brings me books or tells me which book he wants me to read him. sometimes he yells from another room, "come here! read this!" he's been doing this for a while, but the difference now is his patience level. he repeats it over and over even after me answering, explaining that i'm in the middle of something, explaining that he has to wait or be patient. when he starts to sound like a broken record, so do i! i feel like i'm telling him non-stop to be patient, you need to wait a little, you can't have everything exactly when you want it! ugh. but i do enjoy reading to him, he likes to sit on my lap or next to me. and i'm happy he still loves his books so much.

long day for everyone

poor little guy was so tired. we got him up before the sun was even out. i had a mrcp scan to go to and the whole family came along. he didn't want to sleep on the way there, he kept whining. "i'm tired. i'm hungry. i want milk. i don't want to sleep." oh my goodness! i left for a blood test and the scan appointment while the boys went to eat breakfast. he cheered up after eating food. sheesh. baba said he was so good sitting next to him in a booth snuggling with him in the cafeteria. once i saw them again, they were both much happier with food in their tummies. ha, ha. like father, like son.

we all napped when we got home, we needed it. baba still had to leave for work and nj to auntie's. so i quickly made a couple of lunches for them. egg and cheese sandwich, grapes, string cheese, and apple. i wish i could do more stuff like this, everyday would be nice. not quite there yet. but i did manage to work a little, do the dishes, nj's laundry, and clean a little. sadly, i needed another short nap after.

a very sleepy nj. plus he doesn't like the sun in his eyes. we had an early morning and none of us are early risers, so this picture says it all.

yay, there's the pleasant child we know! be happy, the day's just beginning...

hi auntie katiana!

how nice that he gets his auntie in his classroom today.

"mama, i'm hungry!"

yes, baba's in line for lunch. you have to wait patiently. he was so fidgety in the chair that he hit his chin on the table when the chair flew forward. he was sitting on one of those plastic lawn type chairs which are so light, so when he moved around too much at the edge of it, it tipped forward easily. i tried not to react too much otherwise he'd cry. but he cried anyway because of everyone else's reaction! oh well, can't control that. i hope no one thought i was being insensitive, but i didn't do anything but say, "oh, you're ok! that's what you get for moving around so much and not sitting still in your chair." i wiped his tears, but didn't hug him or pick him up (i can't anyway).

that's ok, because auntie becca swooped in to hold my sobbing boy. how sweet. thanks, auntie!

where's uncle dan? is he hiding? silly uncle!

he really enjoyed his food and did a good job eating most of it. a beef taco, rice, and beans. for eating well, i gave him a couple of chips and a piece of watermelon which he asked for from the moment he saw it! i use anything i can to get him to eat (or behave) well. hee, hee, hee.

thanks to uncle steve for being on the grill, auntie becca for crying over piles of onions, and everyone who made it a great welcome bbq for our new pastor and his family. i'm sure the bouncy houses were fun too. i didn't even ask nj if he wanted to go, he just told me, "mama, i don't want to jump." ok, you don't have to. i'm not sure he'd fare well with all the kids in there, anyway. i guess he was more into the food.

what rice on my chin?

nj had plenty to say during dinner. he talked about wanting to eat robot rice (the fried rice from the other night), r2d2 at ah-ma's house, uncle dan and auntie becca coming over for dinner, and seeing fish and dolphins with baby connor (aquarium and fountain at the library). he says yesterday at the end of everything. if it wasn't today, but in the past he'll say yesterday no matter how long. it's kind of hard to explain to him how long ago something was. he'll get it soon enough, i think.

he was looking forward to seeing ah-ma and gong-gong (grandma and grandpa). but it turns out we couldn't because she's sick. well, he had a nice chat with her over the phone. even after baba walked away to talk to her more, nj still kept saying, "want to talk to ah-ma!" how sweet. he really wanted to tell her that cadillacs are fast and that he likes gong-gong's lexus (which we had borrowed a couple weeks back). silly boy. well, we miss you ah-ma... hope to see you soon and feel better we're thinking of you.

and how could i forget? nj successfully climbed out of his crib. we only kept him there this long because he's never bothered to climb it and so we were never worried. now we're worried! ha, ha... although i was somewhat proud that he seemed to do it without even hurting himself or falling, we still got upset at him to discourage it. we were planning to get him a bed soon anyway, but i think it's just been moved up. hopefully he's ok for now, we don't want anything to happen to him.