"i want cookies and cake"

first time using his car tray that we bought in taiwan when we picked him up. perfect time to break it out!

cupcake! of coarse, he eats the frosting first.

cookie decorating... i put out some red, blue, and green frosting with sprinkles. but nj was more interested in eating the cookie instead.

cake! he was a pro at blowing out his candles, one by one.

fun pics with the car cut-out...

this morning i told nj that we were having dinner with a few aunties and uncles (i named everyone one by one) and that we'd also have some cookies and cake. all day long he asked me for cookies and cake. it just about drove me crazy. it didn't help that he could see them, sitting on the table. my repeated response was: not right now, but after dinner when everyone is here. obviously that wasn't a satisfying answer. he even tried to ask for cookies as a snack, but i gave him only the choice of strawberries or grapes or cheese.

we had two families over for dinner and i added a home made cake to celebrate nj's birthday coming up. i purposely wanted it as small as possible, no planning, no fuss, no stress... i really don't have the energy to do anything big or to plan anything. i always over think, over plan, and over stress. i didn't have to figure out who to invite, who we'd be leaving out, no drama, nothing complicated! it was nice to just order some stuff for dinner and try out some cake and cookie recipes. it was nice and stress free and relaxing. he was so happy to eat yummy food, cake, cookies, and play with three of his friends.

i didn't get to spend as much time with him today, he opted to hang out with grandma, shopping. go ahead, i don't need to shop, thank you! she was nice enough to bring us back two dozen eggs, though and some taiwanese sticky rice which we ate for dinner. yum. i took the opportunity to make cookies (potato chip, double chocolate chip, peanut butter crunch, & sugar cookies) and cake (chocolate) and frosting (vanilla). what a productive day! of coarse, i was exhausted and my body ached by the time i was done. oh well, it was worth it.

"h is for ha, ha, honda!"

silly boy. he's known what each button/letter says and the sound that goes with it (on his toy). Like: c is for ca, ca, ca, cat, meow! now he presses it and makes up his own. and i'm noticing now that he does that randomly with words as he's talking. i'll say, "where's your ball?" and he'll answer with, "buh, buh, buh, ball!" we had an exchange of b words back and forth this morning, i had him in giggles with as many b words as i could think of... ball, bounce, boy, boat, box, book, bear... every few, he'd chime in with his own.

"but i'm older now..."

i was trying to give the kitchen a good cleaning and nj kept wanting to help. he was all over what i was doing. it was kind of driving me crazy. i didn't realize how much i say to him... "when you're older you can..." until today when he surprised me with the response: "but i'm older now already, mama." so i gave him a a piece of paper towel just to let him wipe around like i was, but chemical free. but then he started wiping from dirty to clean, from floor to counter, and running his hands all over leaving hand prints. at that point, it was unavoidable, i was done cleaning. i thanked him for his help and continued the cleaning later. while cleaning, he kept pointing out where i needed to wipe and where else it's dirty. he's constantly telling me when something's dirty or asking me to wipe something. even as i asked him to climb into his car seat, he wouldn't sit down saying it was dirty. i said it was fine, but he insisted on continuing to pick up crumbs and toss them from the car. that was going to take forever! i told him that we'd clean it later, but right now we need to go! i think i've created a monster.

"i want more peanut jelly!"

nj not only ate his portion (half a sandwich), but half of baba's too! i guess it's been a while since he's had one, but i didn't expect this kind of enthusiasm.

while eating breakfast, he asked me: "where's baba? i don't see him." hmm, i've never heard that sentence before.

"there's rice in the sushi..."

smarty pants! i asked him if he wanted me to make him some rice to go with the lunch that ah-gong (grandpa) had brought over. he said, "no. there's rice in the sushi already. i don't want more rice." my dad and i laughed.

"read this, ah-gong! sit here!" sheesh, nj, don't be so bossy! dad just laughs.

plant watering and lemon picking with ah-gong. it's so cute how he likes to take nj out to the backyard to walk and talk and learn. i love it!

"i pick lemon for ah-ma!"

he was balancing five of them in his arms pretty well. he was so excited to bring lemons to grandma. i put them in a bag and he carried it almost all the way over there. as soon as he saw her, he held up the bag to her and said, "for you" in taiwanese. i love his taiwanese!

"i want my rice already!"

dinner was ready, except for the rice. nj was hungry and done with his milk. i kept telling him that he had to wait for the rice to finish cooking, he kept asking for food. and finally, he says to me: "i want my rice already!" geez, i can't make the rice cooker go any faster! what a surprise to hear him say it that way, it made me laugh.

"i want rice and broccoli and tofu..."

"and bah-so (dried shredded meat), i don't want egg and i don't want bok choy (leftovers from yesterday)."

i got to feed him dinner and get him ready for bed, just a short time with him. we had ucla today and it was a good thing we didn't need to bring him this time, but we missed him.

"i need a napkin."

i guess the spoon got sticky, since he wrapped the napkin to hold it. he insisted on eating the rest like that even though i offered to wipe up his spoon and hands.

"garbage truck! it' going to get the trash... and dump!"

"i don't want to hurt myself."

he climbed the stool to look at the countertop and said, "i see moneys!" there were coins on the counter. i asked him not to climb because he could slip and fall and hurt himself.

"i don't see any mini cooper."

"i want some carrot."

at the grocery store, he waved and waved at the cashier even when he wasn't looking. he (the cashier) offered him carrots and gave us a few little bags of them. must've been from halloween, from the looks of the package.

"you need more paint!"

such a fake smile! i felt like painting today so i painted him a car. he was really good about watching and not touching anything. but he talked the whole time about the car, the colors, where i needed to paint more, and when i needed more paint. he also looked into my cup and said, "milk." that's not milk, baby, it's water. "i want water." and he started to pick it up. oh no, you can't drink that water! there's paint in there! mama will get you some water. oh my.

home made toy... i gave him a couple pieces of cut up cardboard. we made a ramp out of it for his cars. he had some fun trying different cars on it. it was a rainy day in, so i spent a lot of time playing with him. i'm sad we didn't make it to church, nj was asking to see gaby (so cute!). it was a late saturday night at a wedding and i hardly slept from more stomach cramps. i was hoping for some extra rest, but i'm not sure what i was thinking with an active toddler around! he was so good, though and so much fun. i really enjoyed the time i got to spend with him.

"you build it more"

he was so bossy with exactly how he wanted his building to be. what color block and in which spot. when i stopped to get him to do some more, he'd pick one up and put it in my hand telling me to keep building. i stacked the lego car at the top which made him stack his other cars too. dotty came to check it out too.

"you play it!"

after i got him to clean up his legos, he started to get his instruments out. he gave me the xylophone, "this one for you..." and the piano, "and this one for you too." then he got his drum out, "this one for me..." and the guitar, "and another one for me." if i wasn't playing when he wanted me to, he'd say: "you play it!" sheesh.

"mama, sit down!"

"mama eat strawberry yogurt, i eat peach yogurt." nj kept asking for food so i gave him yogurt that we ate together. he sat on the little stool and i stood next to him. he said, "mama, sit down! come sit, sit here!" just as i was thinking, what are you talking about? he went running into the other room dragging back a chair that he pushed up next to his seat. how sweet! awww, thank you, baby. i love you!

"i eat veggie chips too"

we shared the last of the gigantic bag. there were lots of little crumbs, so this is how he decides to eat them. such a boy! (baba does the same thing!)

"this your face!"

nj wanted to color so i sat with him. he asked me to draw some of his cars and trucks, then i asked him to draw something. he didn't know what to draw so i asked him to draw me. he took my hand and put it onto the page. i said, "no, draw me. what do i look like? draw my face." with a red crayon he drew a couple of lines and said, "that's you, look... this your face!" i couldn't help but to laugh.

the wizard of oz

i was flipping channels and saw that the wizard of oz was on tv. i thought he might like it, hoping it was ok since i couldn't remember if there was anything he shouldn't see. he only watched bits of it, but seemed to like it. he still tried to watch even as he ate dinner. it's cute. the wizard of oz always reminds me of our friends the fongs.

"i showered!"

nj was such a good boy today, even though we were home all day. after he ate dinner, he played for a little and then baba showered him. since he missed his nap today, i figured it was ok for him to go to bed early. well, we realized that we didn't change the clocks in the kitchen (on the microwave and stove). and then realized that we put nj to bed at 5:30pm!! oops! we might have an early morning tomorrow!