"That was a good swim!"

How precious... my cousin's son drew a portrait of me. Love it! I asked him to sign it and he did! Thank you, Cooper.

So happy to spend some time with family. Us mommies went to lunch all by ourselves, what a shocker! Ha, ha, can't remember the last time we could actually finish our sentences and have a real conversation. It's too hard when we have such sweet little guys that are always waiting for us. But it was such a treat, it felt like when we used be roomies way back when... My have things changed! 

NJ didn't want to leave Ah-ma's (grandma's)... Gee, I wonder why! NJ: "Mama, I want to watch more, it's not done!" Oh dear. 

Back at home, we napped. Me longer than him, of coarse. He started bringing me handfuls of cars by color and would say: "They match! Mama look, they match! Mama! Mama. Mama? They match!" 

On the way back into the house he says, "That was a good swim!" 

Yes, it was! Still in the 100's today, yikes! Another perfect pool day. 

Auntie Amy was so sweet and thoughtful to bring each kid an activity marker board. How did she know how perfect it was for him? He loves writing his name and alphabet! That's the craziest "R" I've ever seen, though! 

A fun and relaxing birthday dinner, NJ had a great time. I told him he had to say goodbye and give hugs, but I didn't expect that he'd round the entire table of people! So friendly! Is socializing in preschool helping that much already? 

Ooh... how nice of his new friend Isaac to share his iPad. They're sitting all quiet, but a few minutes later they're running in circles screaming (mostly NJ)! They were so cute together, though. 

"Yesterday Ah-ma was like a girl"

Doing some handprints and crafts. :)

Things he said over lunch: 
"Yesterday Ah-ma was like a girl" Hmm, well Ah-ma (grandma) is a girl. 
"I don't like dragons when they dance. Dragons are not my favor, only dolphins, sharks, penguins..." (After asking further questions, he was talking about the Chinese dragon dancing. I was picturing a cartoon or drawing he may have seen or some strange imagination or dream.) 

Don't look so guilty! Having some of Ah-gong's (grandpa's) left over birthday cake. 

108 degrees in mid September?! Yikes, time to cool off in the pool with some eye protection. 

"I bery, very, very like school!"

Ready for school? 

"I'm cold, I need a jacket."

That's better! It was still cool out when we left this morning. I'm surprised!

Parking was hard to find because of the farmer's market going on across the street from his school. It was too hot today, otherwise it's perfect to finally check it out one of these Thursdays. I'm so proud of him for having another good day in school. He looked like he was really enjoying himself when he didn't see me. When he spotted me, he ran to me with such a happy smile. He was pouty on the way home though when he told me he forgot his books that were in a bag hanging on the door. They went to the school library today and he picked out some books, I guess. He was talking about a firetruck book. And he mentioned something about a bear story and not liking the bear sound because it sounded scary. It's nice that the class has a little list at check out on what they did that day because when I ask, he always says, "I don't know." That way I can ask him specifically, how he liked certain activities. 

"What in the world?"

He's been asking to go in the pool the last couple days. I picked him up and we came home to jump in the pool. It was hot in the house! 

Bath time! 

Seeing this reminds me of Chinese opera singers. He does like to sing.

Spin, spin, spin...

Then check out the bottom! (Thanks again, Uncle Steve and Auntie Helen for all the toys, books, and clothes!) 
Things he said today, that I've never heard:
"What in the world?"
"Let's race!"
"Goodbye! See you tomorrow!"

Local Library

"I build the apartments."

"Look Mama, cows, pigs, horses, chicken, dog..."

Water fountain. He had a little trouble with it, but liked it. Water fountains are hard to find, they used to be everywhere. I guess most people carry water bottles now. 

We borrowed some books and DVD's. There is a whole downstairs children's section within the library. It was nice to explore the local library, finally. I always just took him to the one near my mom's because he loves the fountains and aquarium. But now that he's old enough to want books, that library has a high fee for non residents (over $100). I thought I could get books through my mom, but she has to be with us because it's a photo ID. We did it for a while, but it's highly inconvenient. This one was free and so easy. Why didn't I do this before? I tried to make it to story time, but I passed the library twice unknowingly and we were too late. Next time. 

This is NJ's kind of food. And you know what that means... he ate a lot! He had some of my soup with tofu and fish balls, some of Baba's soup of cream corn. Plus two bowls of rice with chicken, broccoli, tofu, squid balls, egg, and sausage. He probably could have kept eating, but he stopped and said he was full. Thank goodness he's showing self control and able to communicate that. 

"Happy birthday Ah-gong, I love your boat! I don't like to go to your house, always I like to go to your house."  Hmm, well which is it? 

First Day of Preschool

My baby's a big boy going to school. I had a talk with him about listening, following directions, keeping hands to himself, be kind, helpful, share, no throwing, pushing, or hitting, and don't wait to say something if you need to go to the bathroom. His response, "Is there a bathroom at school?" Yes! I also tried to prep him by talking about what he'd do in school and how I was dropping him off and coming back. He only knows the class that was a mommy and me. I brought up how at church we drop him off for Sunday school and come back for him and he's fine. I wasn't sure how he'd be. I expected that he'd be fine and I wouldn't have to worry. But then I worried that I wasn't worried enough about it. Better not to worry, right? 

Here we are, drop off was a breeze! He saw toys and started playing. We got to talk to the teacher, find his cubby, and hang his bag. We both gave him hugs and said goodbye. I almost hesitated because he was doing fine and didn't want to interrupt. 

We were told at pick up that he had a good first day, he did well. Was quiet at first but was talking a lot by the end of the day. Ha, ha. They had chapel today and circle time, story time, crafts, and some playtime outside and in the gym with some bouncy balls. The teacher said he really liked the glue for the craft and the gym time the best. 

He somehow had the need to finish his lunch when we got home. 

I asked him lots of questions on  the way home:

How was your day? Did you have a good day? NJ - Yeah.

What did you do? NJ - I don't know.

Did you have fun? NJ - Yeah, that was a lot of fun!

Did you eat your lunch and snacks? NJ - Yeah, but I didn't eat the snack that was like salad because I don't like it.

Did you like chapel? Did you sing some songs? NJ- Yeah

Do you like your teacher? Is she nice? NJ - Yeah.

Did you like playing with the kids? NJ - Yeah

Are they nice? NJ - Yeah

Did you meet new friends? NJ - Yeah

What's their name? NJ - I don't know. I don't know anybody's name. I just know my name.

We debated long and hard about whether to put NJ back into the mommy and me type class he was in before. Three days a week was definitely much too overwhelming for me. I tried to sign him up for one that was two days a week, but it was full. So last week I toured preschools. We really wanted him to be able to keep learning, being creative, and he could definitely use some socialization and guidance other than from me or Baba. We also wanted a place that he could grow in his understanding of God and meet nice friends. It's not too early to think about who he makes friends with is it? It was between three that were at a great price, at a church, and a place I could see NJ at. The cheapest one seemed to be just one step above daycare, not much of a curriculum. The director said they learn their shapes, colors, letters, numbers, and how to write their name. Well, he already knows how to do that, I want him to learn more than just that. But the class size was small, 8-10. The other one was even nicer, but the class size was 24 and it was a little more of a drive than we wanted to do twice a day. So I chose one closest to us, great facility (chapel, gym, library, two playgrounds), class size is 12, good curriculum, fun crafts, cooking, and a good sick policy (amongst other things). We had to face it sometime... sickness. I'm quite afraid of what's going to happen, it might be a rough winter cold season. Hopefully my body's well enough to stay stronger than last year's cold season. I'll really be praying that NJ doesn't pick up too much sickness and that they're not too bad. My ability to fight anything is terrible. I've heard too many stories of what everyone's kids have come home with at one time or another. Ugh. Can't live my life in fear, though. He has to go to school sometime, it's unavoidable. Everyone says it's better for them to miss school early rather than in kindergarten or first grade. So I'm bracing myself for this first year. 

Ooh... (he sees the tv's)

Look, Mama... (it's cars and he can practice letters and numbers, but we didn't get it).

This is just before the pot hits the ground. I asked him to hold it up, but didn't expect that he'd slam it on the ground! Yikes, good thing it wasn't damaged and my mom still bought it. 

Have I said how much I love babies?! Ha, ha. She was fast asleep, so I couldn't hold her. Maybe next time. It was really good to see how well mommy was doing too!

Yay for dim sum! He ate more than I did, I have witnesses! 

We got to celebrate our friend's baby. Yay for babies! :)

Pool time was a must today, it was hot! NJ likes being independent in the pool with a ring. We do the length of the pool back and forth together. He said, "Mama, I want to go over there with you and come back. Hold my hand." It slowed us both down, but it was so cute that he wanted to hold hands. 

He wanted to show me his pruney hands. Except he says it more like, poo-nee.