We went to the end of the cul-de-sac to ride his trike. He did a pretty good job, but mostly wanted me to push him. I had no idea how hot it was outside, though. The sun was so bright and strong, he was squinting half the time.

Who wants cookies?

Mmm...

Hi boys!

PJ's time! How cute they are in their jammies.

Meltdown at Target, poop at Pinkberry. Yay.

Oh, and a birthday party in between.

"Where's Baba's hat?"

"Right here!"

Are you going to cook or rob a place?

Hee, hee. Grandma gave him this to play with (netted bag for glass noodle packages). I used to play with these too when I was little. This and those wood blocks that fish cake was packaged on. He was a good sport to let us take a photo of him wearing it. Before this, I put it on my head, and then Baba's. Of coarse, Grandma didn't see us wearing it, only him. And she said: "Don't do that to him!" We're not trying to be cruel, we were all just being silly!

Thanksgiving lunch with Mama's parents. Hot pot, yum!

Ooh, fountain!

Ooh, fish!

A true sign of a Filipino party... lumpia and karaoke!

Thanksgiving dinner with Baba's family.

Before...

And after...

Rug swap yesterday, the big green one is now in his room. He loves playing on both. He takes his toys to play on the rug in his room and brings it back out to put away. And out in the living room, he likes to run his cars along the little roads. Now that it's flat on the floor, it stays put and doesn't curl up. It's a little strange not to have that huge rug there anymore though. Thanks Auntie Susan and Uncle Jeff for thinking of NJ, he loves it!

penguin cookie

From Auntie Jenny! He's been asking for it since seeing it. I convinced him to only eating the face. I think it was too sweet, he was good about wanting to save it. Thank goodness since it's so much sugar and his mouth got so black! Even his toothbrush became black when I brushed them. During dinner, I went to grab some books out of his closet to rotate them. I hear from the kitchen, "Why you in my room? Mama, you in my room, why you in my room?" As if he's a teenager and I just violated his space. He didn't say it like that, but it was funny to hear him say it. And as I washed the dishes, I spilled something and yelled: "Aaaahhhhh!" NJ comes running from the other room yelling: "I help you, Mama!" How sweet, he was worried about me! Maybe he learned that from Baba... anytime I yell or scream I hear him from another part of the house: "What happened?! Are you ok?!" Especially when I was sick, he was always worried about me falling or hurting myself. Nice to know my boys are looking out for me.

Before...

And after...

The surprise...

You like your new room? And your big bed?

Yeah!

Night, night! We love you and we're so proud of you. Wait for us to come and get you in the morning.

We made it a day for cleaning and room rearranging. It felt great to to get a lot done. And it's about time that NJ has a big boy bed! I know most are probably thinking, my kid's been in a bed since.... (fill in the blank). Somehow NJ just wasn't a climber and he liked sleeping in his crib. He'd tell us he was afraid of falling off a bed. Plus there was the big question of what we'd do next. Turn the crib into the toddler bed? Put his mattress on the floor? Find a twin size? Borrow a bed from Grandma? We finally decided to use our guest room bed. It's free and it's nice and big. Let's see how he does, it's his first night in his big bed by himself. We set some rules about not opening his chest drawers or closet doors and to stay in his room to wait for us to get him. This way, I can put him to bed by myself and baba won't have to worry about us by ourselves. No lifting involved, which is great since he's now a confirmed 35 pounds! Even if it wasn't painful (and not good) to lift, it would be hard for me. Life will be getting closer to normal with me not needing so much help. And our baby is growing up to be a boy way too fast! A big step ahead for all of us. :)

"we going to doctor today..."

lunch with auntie sherry

I'm amazed at how loved our little boy is. Even without planning a formal party for him, we got texts, phone calls, messages, and gifts for him. It's touching to know that so many of our friends and family care. I was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call from my dad enthusiastically suggesting we take him somewhere that will sing to him. He insisted we take him someplace that would make it special, naming place after place. Even though he had golf planned he really wanted to take him to eat and so did my mom. We woke up today having no plans and there we were having dinner together with his Ah-ma and Ah-gong. Not only dinner with family, but he also had gifts and balloons! Wow, what a treat. I feel so blessed to have our NJ, he's everything to us. And we're definitely blessed to have as many loving friends and family that would remember our son's birthday.

happy three...