r a i s i n g h i l l

Like herding cats

2011-05-17T01:27:00.000-07:00

Poo-pah (Z's name for Grandpa Walt) sent some Carnegie Mellon gear to the kids a while ago, but the shirt was too big for Miss S. She's finally grown into it, so I wanted to take a photo of the two of them wearing their CMU shirts today. After I wrangled them onto the bench (the easiest way to get them together is to make them sit on something that forces proximity), I faced the challenge of photographing two young children who aren't very interested in being photographed. Afterward, as I was looking through the photos to pick out my favorites, I decided that it would be more fun to show you what a typical photo session with these two looks like. And maybe you will appreciate why I have so few photos of them together.

So after all of that, here's what we ended up with! (Although I have to admit that some of my favorites are the sillier photos that show their personalities.)

Quote of the Day

2011-04-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Me: Z, do you know what a windmill does?
Z: Yeah. (In the noncommittal tone he uses when he's ignoring you, doesn't understand the question, or doesn't know the answer.)
Me: What does it do?
Z: Yeah.
Me: Maybe I can help. What do you think this part that looks like a fan does?
Z: Oh, that's the part that spins around to generate electricity.

Quote of the Day

2011-04-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

"Uh oh, the excavator is broken. Do you know what 'broken' means? It means 'tighty-whitey'. And when something is broken, you say 'okie-dokie' and then Mommy comes and fixes it. But I don't need to fix the excavator right now because now it's a crane."

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

This was the best I could do in my attempt to get a photo of the two of them "together" and "smiling". You can see Miss S's adorable Easter dress, knitted by Gramma Hill! We also realized today that Z only has one button-down shirt, and it's the same one he wore in his Santa photo last year.

At least they are both looking at the camera this time...

The only way to get a smile in a photo around here is to do it myself.

After the Egg Hunt, Daddy reads their new Easter book to them.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Firework

2011-04-15T13:59:00.001-07:00

Z loves to sing Katy Perry's "Firework", so his teachers at preschool filmed him today. I think my favorite part is the end when he says, "I've been singing back and forth! I didn't know I could sing back and forth."

Wow. It’s been over 3 months since I’ve posted here.

2011-03-17T21:57:00.001-07:00

And I’m not going to do much better with this post. Just wanted to put up a couple photos in honor of St. Patrick’s Day!

This is my new favorite photo of Z and Miss S. I call it “Irish American Gothic”. They are quite a cheery pair, aren’t they?

Lest you think we have two grumpy leprechauns all the time, this was taken 2 minutes before the last photo:

And just for fun, here is a classic example of how things are around here lately (which might explain the general grumpiness when I force them to sit together for a picture):

Compare & Contrast: Santa Photos (2008, 2009, 2010)

2010-12-07T00:19:00.000-08:00

The first one (from 2008) still makes me laugh. Z was doing just fine until the lady “helping” the photographer started ringing that darn cowbell.

Our very own Zcrooge

2010-12-06T20:13:00.001-08:00

Santa: Are you hoping for anything special for Christmas?

Z (with his back to Santa): <silence>

Santa: How about Legos? Do you like to play with Legos?

Z: <silence>

Santa: I bet you like toy cars.

Z (still with his back to Santa): I. LIKE. TRAINS.

All in the family

2010-11-23T23:37:00.001-08:00

Mommy’s hat (from the crazy “hat-a-day” knitting days…pre-children, of course)

Big brother’s snowsuit

Pure sweetness

Indoor wading pool

2010-11-22T21:39:00.001-08:00

Subtitle: “Why we pick up Cowboy’s water bowl when Mei-mei is on the loose”

Happy Birthday, Poopah!

2010-11-18T01:00:00.000-08:00

A few seconds of sweetness

2010-11-17T16:57:00.001-08:00

Yes, she has him wrapped around her little finger.

Breakfast conversation

2010-11-14T10:10:00.001-08:00

Mommy: What does a cow say?

Z: Cows say MOO!

Mommy: What does Cowboy say?

Z: Cowboy says ARF ARF ARF!

Mommy: What does Sophia say?

Z: Sophia says BAH!

Mommy: What does Daddy say?

Z: Daddy says ARRRRRG!

Mommy: What does Mommy say?

Z: Mommy says RAAAAWR!

Mommy: What does Zachary say?

Z: Zachary says F*CK!

Mommy: Oh, Zachary says FORK?

Z: Yeah.

Mommy: Does Zachary say KNIFE too?

Z: Yeah, Zachary says KNIFE!

Mommy: OK, let’s say KNIFE.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Hill!

2010-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

From the cutest Strawberry, Cat in the Hat, and Skele-Cow around!

Z's business advice

2010-10-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

Background: We often frequent an area called Tangletown. There are several businesses and restaurants in Tangletown, including Mighty O Donuts. One of our favorite places to visit used to be a market called Meridian Market, but it closed last month. Z often asks about Meridian Market when we walk or drive past, and I've tried to explain why we can't go anymore. Here's his assessment:

"Meridian Market is very sad. It is sad so it is closed. When it's happy, it will be open!"
"Why is Meridian Market sad?"
"Meridian Market doesn't have any money. If everybody gave Meridian Market some money, it will be happy again and it will open up so we can go see the telephone."
"I don't think Meridian Market will open up again, honey."
"No, Meridian Market will be closed. Everybody gives money to Mighty O Donuts. Nobody gives money to Meridian Market."
"Why don't people give money to Meridian Market?"
"Because Meridian Market doesn't have donuts."

I think he's got it figured out.

Bugging the Cow

2010-10-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

A certain little lady in our house has decided that her favorite place to hang out is on Cowboy's bed. And if Cowboy happens to be on the bed at the time? Even better! Although he generally doesn't stay there for long.

And yes, she's dressed like she's auditioning for a role in "Flashdance". While carrying around a book of insect stickers. Because that's how she rolls.

My favorite pumpkins

2010-10-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

The fun-capacity of a sun tent should never be underestimated

2010-10-08T21:45:00.001-07:00

Bipedal Preambulation

2010-09-27T18:06:00.001-07:00

Catching up with a few pictures

2010-09-22T11:27:00.001-07:00

It's been a busy summer here at raising hill and I've been terrible at keeping this blog updated. Here a few photos to show what we've been doing:

Mei-mei takes a stroll with her wagon while her brother waits (not-so-patiently) for his turn. (Note: I've also realized that his fingers go in his mouth whenever I get the camera out -- unless he's specifically asked me to take a picture. Hmmmm.)

Mei-mei frequently displaces Cowboy from his bed while she rolls around and tries to do somersaults. However, she makes it up to him by giving him one of her "head-butt hugs".

A rare hug from big brother. She looks as surprised about it as I was.

1. Z was very excited to wear his favorite pajamas on "Pajama Day" at preschool. He wanted me to take a picture of them, so he did the same cute little stick-your-knee-out pose he does every time he asks me to photograph an outfit. Chris does this exact pose when he tries on new pants. I half expect Z to say, "How do these look, honey?"

2. Ahh, summertime in Seattle. Heading out for a Sunday walk. Of course, after we walked a few blocks in pouring rain and got thoroughly drenched, the skies cleared, the sun came out, and we looked ridiculous in our rain gear.

3. Little Miss still loiters around the house, but now her range has increased because she no longer needs to hold onto anything. She’s also started taking a few tentative little steps, but she’s not fully walking yet. I know it’s coming VERY soon though! Time to get her some shoes.

At least he’s honest

2010-08-22T10:02:00.001-07:00

Mei-mei: “WAAAAAAH!!!”

Me: “Uh oh, what happened?”

Z: “I’m ALL DONE kicking Mei-mei in face!”

Bottoms up

2010-08-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

We gave Mei-mei her first taste of cow's milk after she turned 1 year old. She was not a big fan. When given the choice between a cup of water and a cup of milk, not only would she choose the water, but she'd first shove the milk across the table. After talking to the Dude (the Hillions' pediatrician) and hearing of Mary's similar situation with Big P, I decided to try out lactose-free milk. Here's the result:

One-year and family photo sneak peeks!

2010-08-17T14:06:00.001-07:00

We just had Mei-mei's one-year photos done by the fabulous Judith of Judith Fernstrom Photography. She's been doing all of our family photography since Z was a baby, and not only do I love her photography, but I love spending time with her. It’s a win-win for me! Here are her sneak peeks (yes, we get TWO sneak peeks…we’re that cool):

Cuteness Overload – featuring the birthday girl (with a bonus shot of Mommy & Daddy)

Guitar Hero – featuring big brother (with a couple terrific family shots)

I love how she captured Mei-mei’s mischievous grin and the many facets (busy, focused, distracted, cuddly, goofy…) of Z. I’m always so excited when we do a photo session with Judith – I can barely wait to see the sneak peek. And I’m NEVER disappointed!

Going for a ride

2010-08-07T00:53:00.001-07:00

I have some catching up to do on this blog, but I wanted to give you a little taste of what’s going on around here. Here’s a photo of Z helping Mei-mei use her new walker wagon. She’s not so sure this is how it’s supposed to be used…

Scamp

2010-07-27T14:13:00.001-07:00

After hearing Mei-mei scream and seeing Z’s guilty face, I asked him what happened. He turned away and changed the subject. A few minutes later, I heard him talking to his stuffed dog, Blue. “Blue! NO hitting Mei-mei in face! We don’t hit in this family.”

Have doll, will travel

2010-07-26T20:33:00.001-07:00

Hard day

2010-07-25T10:08:00.001-07:00

We had a rough day yesterday, but thankfully, things are much better today.

We spent the entire afternoon in the ER with Z, running him through a battery of tests to try to figure out why he suddenly spiked a ridiculously high fever (it was 108.1 the first time I took it, and even when we stripped him down, gave him cold water to drink, and had him in the air conditioned room for 15 minutes, it was still over 106 degrees). He's been on antibiotics for 10 days to treat his ear/sinus infection, so it seemed even more strange that he would suddenly have such a high fever.

Z was such a brave boy, despite missing his nap and not having anything to eat other than a couple snack-sized bags of Goldfish crackers and Teddy Grahams. In the picture, you can see his cool red and purple armband, which is actually a red sock wrapped with purple tape. That was to keep him from pulling out the IV they inserted in his arm (poor boy!). He also had a chest x-ray and was checked over from head-to-toe by multiple doctors. On the bright side, he got a bunch of truck stickers and a new penguin friend he named “Waddle Waddle”.

His preliminary blood work showed nothing more than an elevated white blood cell count, which they expected due to the fever. His chest is clear, so we know it's not pneumonia. He's in good spirits and isn't vomiting or having trouble with balance or moving his neck, so we know it's not meningitis. Since he's already on antibiotics, we're relatively certain it's a viral infection. But that's about all we know. The doctor will be watching his blood culture over the next couple of days to see if they can find anything else, but in the meantime, we're just supposed to give him Tylenol to keep his fever down and keep an eye on him. His pediatrician will be following up with us today and tomorrow to check on him. Today he woke up singing, ate almost all of his breakfast, and has been running around and playing all morning. His fever is mostly gone (he's just below the 100.4 degree threshold for an "official" fever) and he seems to be feeling fine. I hope he continues to feel fine and his fever is gone for good, although I am worried about whatever caused him to have such a high fever.

In other news, he apparently finished reading his copy of "How To Sabotage Your Sibling's Big Day" and pulled the ultimate trump card. Because of his fever, we don't want to risk infecting other children with whatever he has. So, we've canceled Mei-mei's birthday party today. Luckily, she's too young to care. But if Z is already starting to sabotage her events now, at the ripe old age of 2.5 years, I'm really curious about what he'll do on her wedding day!

New haircut

2010-07-23T22:15:00.001-07:00

I finally got my hair cut, and I have bangs for the first time in 15 years. I look more and more like my mom every day, which, much to the surprise of my 15-year-old self, makes me very happy.

Glam rock baby

2010-07-21T21:50:00.001-07:00

...plus Cowboy Warhol.

No pictures of Z because he wanted absolutely nothing to do with the crazy wigs (although when I put on the blonde one, he immediately said, "Final Countdown!"). Mei-mei didn't mind the wigs as much and she even practiced a bit of posing and head banging. Cowboy? Well, the poor dog doesn't really get a choice. He knew that one of the wigs was going to eventually find its way onto his head, so he just sighed and waited.

A bit of sunshine to start your week

2010-07-18T22:10:00.001-07:00

Embrace Life

2010-07-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

I really like this video. What a beautiful and powerful way to share an important reminder.

I'm just going to think of this as a practice run

2010-07-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

My attempt to take the kids to play in the water this morning was an epic fail, on so many different levels.

Turns out it's exponentially harder to get two children ready for a wading pool than one. Even so, I had lunches, towels, a change of clothes for each, extra diapers (swim and regular), water bottles, sun tent, sunscreen, sun hats and a carrier packed and ready to go by 10am. All I had left to do was to give Z his snack, nurse Miss S when she got up from her nap, change both children into their swim diapers and swim suits, slather sunscreen on every bit of exposed skin, and load everything into the car. (Note: The operative phrase in the previous sentence is "when she got up from her nap".)

At 10:30am, Miss S finally decided to wake up. I changed, nursed and sunscreened as fast as I could and was able to get them buckled in their car seats and on the road by 11:15am. I tried to call Holly, who I was supposed to meet at Matthew's Beach (at 10am), but of course I forgot my phone.

Since it was so late, I decided to change plans and take the kids to the wading pool at Wallingford instead. I'd already double-checked to make sure that it was open (thanks to budget cuts, half of the city's wading pools are closed and the rest are only open a few days a week). We got to Wallingford at 11:30am, unloaded the car, and made our way to the playground. As we entered, I noticed with considerable alarm that the wading pool was empty. As in, without water. Dry. Turns out, they don't fill the wading pools until noon -- which is not at all useful to a mother of two young children who nap at 1.

I immediately turned the parade around and headed back to the car, desperately trying to think of another nearby place that would have water to play in. Time was of the essence due to lunch and nap times. We loaded up again and headed to the Ballard Commons, which has a water play area filled with fountains.

We got there at 11:45am, unloaded the car, and set up camp near the fountains. Z was a little wary of the fountains and wanted to watch before getting in, so I carried Miss S and stood with him on the side. Suddenly, all three of us were doused with a bucketful of water, thrown by an older kid who was very close to being strangled by this protective mama bear. The only thing that saved the older kid was the fact that both of my kids were terrified and screaming at the top of their lungs, so I needed to attend to them.

Completely distraught, Z no longer wanted to be anywhere near the water fountains. We prepared to have our picnic lunch on the grass instead. As I carried Miss S to the grass, I realized that she had pooped in her swim diaper. Anyone with swim diaper experience knows what that means: if just one drop of pee touches the inside of that diaper, it will immediately burst. So of course, Miss S peed.

I gave Z his lunch, changed Miss S into a regular diaper and her spare outfit, and used diaper wipes to try to clean as much of the explosion off of my clothes as I could. I was not very successful.

Both kids finished their lunches, I packed everything back up in the car, and we headed home for naps. The only water that either child touched during the entire excursion was from the bucket that the brat threw on us. Next time, I'm just turning on the sprinkler in our front yard.

Not napping

2010-07-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

Heard via the monitor, while Z was decidedly NOT napping:

"How you go sleep?
First, lie down.
Now you lying down.
Close eyes.
Eyes closed!
Are you sleeping?
Nooooooo...
Is Blue sleeping?
Nooooooo...
Hello red pillow! You lying down on red pillow.
Go sleep now.
Hello Blue!"

One year later, and you still look great in red

2010-06-30T22:16:00.001-07:00

Happy 11 months to my sweet girl!

Stop that!

2010-06-29T19:50:00.001-07:00

You are absolutely adorable, Little Miss, but you still need to stop this "standing up" business. And that cruising thing you’ve started to do, moving from the coffee table to the couch to Cowboy? That needs to stop too. I’m not ready for my baby to grow up, so you’re going to have to stop this toddler-like behavior. (Also, your big brother is not very happy that you can reach most of his toys when he puts them on the couch to keep them away from you.)

Lead with the positive

2010-06-25T09:08:00.001-07:00

Heard from the other room: “Uh oh.”

Z comes to the kitchen, where I’m making lunch.

“Blue pinwheel in playroom NOT broken.”

“Really? Well, that’s good, huh?"

“Yeah.”

(Knowing there’s more to this story) “Hmm. Well how about the RED pinwheel? Is that one broken?”

“Yeah.”

Dancing queen

2010-06-21T08:06:00.001-07:00

Who’s calling?

2010-06-21T07:08:00.001-07:00

The making of a father

2010-06-20T10:21:00.001-07:00

May 2005: Practice run
Nov 2007: Becoming a father
Jul 2009: Little girl’s daddy
Now: Best father a little boy and girl could have
Happy Father’s day to a wonderful, loving, kind, generous, supportive and fun-loving father and husband! (And have you noticed how handsome he is too? Yes, I’m a lucky girl.)

Happy Birthday!

2010-06-20T09:08:00.001-07:00

Then and Now: Neighbors

2010-06-19T20:35:00.001-07:00

Then: Dec 2008 (13 months old). Now: Jun 2010 (2.5 years old)

Putting the “AR!!” in “share”

2010-06-17T23:09:00.001-07:00

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re not alone?

2010-06-17T23:08:00.001-07:00

Busy busy busy

2010-06-17T23:07:00.001-07:00

Alternate title: “Why it takes me so long to make lunch”

Then and Now: Family

2010-06-14T14:15:00.001-07:00

Then: December 2009, dressed up for a Broncos game day. Now: June 2010, enjoying a visit with Meg (which is how we finally got another family photo taken, 6 months later…thanks Meg!).

Happy 10 months, Li’l Miss!

2010-05-31T09:17:00.001-07:00

How has the time gone by so quickly? My little Miss is already 10 months old today!

My precious girl, in just 10 months you have added so much joy and sweetness to our lives. Everyone comments on how happy and content you are, and it’s so true. You are always looking for a smile and you kick and screech happily when you see Daddy, Z, or me. Lately you’ve been a little shy with strangers, but in spite of gripping my hair or neck fiercely, you still offer a small grin to anyone who smiles at you. You have gotten very vocal (and LOUD – people are often surprised at the volume a tiny body like yours can generate) and have started making noises that sound an awful lot like words (“hi” in response to my greeting, “ma” when you want my attention, “moe” when you want more food). You’re not crawling yet, but you are moving very quickly around on your belly. You also do a lot of rocking on your hands and knees, so I know that crawling is just around the corner. You are generally happy to eat anything, although you’re still not a big fan of chunky textures. You love to watch your brother and try to play with whatever toy he has (and he’s very good about giving you another toy to play with before he takes his toy out of the room where you can’t follow him). You like to turn (and chew on) the pages of the books we read to you, and you especially like “Goodnight Moon”. You are very curious about things you can hold in your hands, and you turn them around and around to check out all their sides before putting them in your mouth. You are very patient about your somewhat inconsistent nap schedule (you get a later nap 2-3 mornings a week because we have to take your brother to preschool or other activities), and you have been sleeping 12 hours through the night since you were 9 months old. You are happy to ride in whatever stroller or carrier we put you in, but you’ll only nap in the Phil & Ted’s. We moved you to the big car seat a few weeks ago, and while I am still getting accustomed to it, you adjusted quickly. You are very social and hate to be left behind in the play room if we are doing something in another part of the house, so you belly-crawl to the gate and chew on or shake it while yelling for someone to come get you. You’ve perfected your supersonic screech, and I’m sure dolphins and dogs around the world look for earplugs as you practice your echolocation skills. You got your first two teeth when you were 7 months old, and seem to have decided that two are enough for now. You are showing more and more of your feisty, extroverted personality every day, but the primary quality that shines through everything is your sweetness.
You are growing up so quickly, and I cherish every moment I get to share with you. I love you, my sweet girl!

*Yes, I realize I use the word “sweet” a lot in this post. I tried to come up with another adjective, but “sweet” is really the one that describes my Little Miss best of all.

A day with my boy

2010-05-22T23:38:00.001-07:00

I haven’t had a chance to spend any one-on-one time with Z since Mei-mei was born, so today I planned a morning of fun for just the two of us. After I nursed Mei-mei, I put Z in the Ergo, grabbed my backpack, and set off for our first destination: the bus stop. Z loves buses and points out every city/school/shuttle/tour/double-decker bus he sees. But he’s never ridden a city bus – only the shuttle buses at the airport or in Beaver Creek. So we started out our adventure by taking the city bus to Seattle Center.

Z spent the entire bus ride providing a running commentary on what we were doing. “Bus stopping. People get on bus. Bus drive on Aurora. People standing on bus. Zachary, Mommy riding bus. Bus going downtown.” He even helpfully pointed out that the man in front of us didn’t say “Excuse me” when he sneezed, and the guy sitting next to us was wearing a dress (he was actually wearing a utilikilt, but you can’t expect Z to know that). And once we got off the bus in Seattle Center, we stood on the sidewalk and watched it leave while Z said his farewells. “Bye-bye city bus! Zachary, Mommy not on city bus. City bus going away. Bye-bye!”

At Seattle Center, we went to look for the Space Needle (which Z refers to as the big water tower that people can ride up in elevators). When we reached the base of the Space Needle (which happens to be right next to the Fun Forest Amusement Park) Z was excited to see the elevators going up and down the Needle. But he was more excited to see the cars going around the tracks on the amusement rides. So he went on several rides, including the cars (three times).

After riding the cars, the fire engines, and the carousel, we headed to the Monorail station. We stopped to listen to the Peruvian musicians play a few songs (Z wanted to sit down on the sidewalk to “hear one more song”). Then Z noticed the Monorail going by behind the musicians. And he was off! Although he loves to listen to music, it can’t compete with a train.

We took the Monorail downtown, where I loaded Z back into the Ergo. We rode the escalators in Westlake Center several times before heading out to Pike Place Market. Since it was a sunny Saturday morning during cruise season, Pike Place was jam-packed with tourists. So we just walked through (with a quick stop to watch cheese being made at Beecher’s) and headed down to the waterfront to find a place to eat our picnic lunch. The waterfront was crowded as well, but we found the perfect place for a little boy obsessed with trains: a bench that was situated between the train and trolley tracks (the trolley no longer runs, but Z doesn’t know that and was so excited by the possibility of seeing a trolley that I couldn’t disappoint him). We ate lunch and then called Chris and Mei-mei to come pick us up. As a final treat, we rode the elevator to the pedestrian bridge so that we could look for trains. Then we crossed over to the water side and waited for our ride home while watching the cruise ships.

I had a wonderful time spending the morning with my boy! Of course I took pictures, and I’ve posted several on my photoblog. Which, incidentally, is new (I’m retiring mamarazza). Enjoy!

Where my kids at?

2010-05-21T14:32:00.001-07:00

I love this. It makes me want to get a Toyota Sienna. Marketing WIN.

Stop this nonsense, please

2010-05-14T21:44:00.001-07:00

And by “nonsense”, I mean the whole “getting up on your knees and rocking back and forth, just moments away from taking off at a full crawl”. It’s already enough of a challenge keeping an eye on you as you pull yourself around the house (very quickly, I might add) on your belly.

Cinco de Mayo, Trophy style

2010-05-05T10:24:00.001-07:00

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned Trophy Cupcakes on this blog before. I probably mentioned it every other day when I was pregnant, and if I didn’t actually write it down, it was because it was too hard to type while eating a cupcake. I’ve tried cupcakes from most of the local cupcake shops, and I have to say that Trophy is still my favorite. I’m kind of particular about frosting (I don’t like too much, and I don’t like it to be too heavy) and that’s where Trophy beats the competition every time in my book.

Anyway, it’s Cinco de Mayo, so what’s the best way to celebrate? Cupcakes! (Who am I kidding…it’s Wednesday, and cupcakes are a great way to celebrate Wednesday! And Thursday. Und so weiter.) Trophy puts out special flavors for holidays and events, and their Cinco de Mayo flavors are two of my favorites: Margarita (fresh lime cupcake topped with Tequila Lime buttercream and finished with candied lime peel and salt) and Mexican Hot Chocolate (chocolate cupcake topped with bittersweet chocolate buttercream with cayenne and cinnamon). So this morning, after dropping Z off at preschool, Mei-mei and I made a quick stop at Trophy to pick up a couple cupcakes. Mei-mei helped me carry them to the car, and she was very excited to try them.

So there the cupcakes sit, snug in their box, on the kitchen counter. I fully intend to save them until Chris comes home so that we can share them, but who knows what will happen between now and 5 PM. I bet if I replace his cupcake with a Dos Equis, he won’t complain too much. After all, it’s still in the spirit of celebrating the Battle of Puebla (and the triumph of American advertising), right?

9 month stats

2010-05-03T19:16:00.001-07:00

Little Miss had her 9-month check-up this morning with the Dude. As we suspected, she’s quite a Skinny Minnie (or a supermodel in training)! She weighs 14lbs 11oz (-3rd percentile), she’s 26.75” long (25th percentile) and her head is 44.6cm (70th percentile). I guess that actually makes her a bobble-head, doesn’t it?

Even though she’s quite thin, the Dude isn’t concerned. He said that as long as her growth is proportional (i.e. her height and weight are increasing at the same rate), she’s fine. Babies often hit a plateau around 9 months. He did suggest that I increase the amount of fats in her diet, so I will start the Ben and Jerry’s introduction soon. We went through the same thing with Z, so I’m guessing that’s just how we grow babies around here.

First day

2010-05-03T15:05:00.001-07:00

My sweet boy went to his first day of preschool today! He’ll be going two days a week at least through the summer, and will probably increase to three days a week in the fall. I was nervous about his first day, but he, in typical Z fashion, was excited and completely unfazed by the idea of starting something new. He likes to recite “to-do” lists (“Wake up…change diaper…go downstairs…eat snack…wash hands…get Mei-mei…GO PLAYGROUND!”), and every list ended with “GO PRESCHOOL!” this morning.

I wasn’t sure how the drop-off was going to go, but it was super easy. I introduced him to the head teacher, Miss Aida, and he immediately started exploring. She took his hand and showed him where the play area is and he happily trotted off, calling back, “Bye-bye Mommy I love you!” So that was that. He was good to go and it was only 9:02 AM. It reminded me of how I agonized for weeks over when and how to wean him. Before I got around to actually doing it, he decided on his own that he was done with nursing and never looked back. He’s like that.

When I went to pick him up at 1 PM, Miss Aida said that he had a really great first day and was very happy. He wanted to explore a lot so they helped redirect his attention, but she said that he was cooperative and didn’t melt down at all. They went on a nature walk, which he really enjoyed, and the first word on his daily report sheet was “busy”. Yep, that’s my Z!

9 months in, 9 months out

2010-04-30T23:04:00.001-07:00

Happy 9 month birthday to our little Miss S! Mei-mei turned (turns?) 9 months old at some point between today and tomorrow. (How exactly does one celebrate a monthly birthday if one is born on the 31st and there is no 31st day in the current month?) I can’t believe she’s already such a big girl and I’m a bit nervous about what’s just around the corner: mobility. Right now she moves around using a combination of belly crawling and rolling, but knowing her determination (especially when it comes to getting to her big brother’s toys), I expect to find her crawling, and then walking, soon. And next thing you know, she’ll be asking to borrow the car keys.

Mei-mei has had a hard couple of weeks leading up to her 9 month birthday, but she’s a trooper! She had the stomach flu for a solid week (I had it for four days and felt like I’d been hit by a truck, so I can’t imagine how terrible she felt), then her brother dropped a train on her head, and then she hit one of the most fuss-inducing developmental milestones in her first year. After getting to the point where she could sleep through the night (6 PM – 7 AM) about 2 of every 3 nights, she entered the dreaded “9 month sleep regression” stage. She’s back to waking up once in the middle of the night and is now having trouble taking naps during the day as well. Hopefully we will get through this stage quickly!

On the fun side, she is babbling up a storm. She keeps up a running commentary to herself while she plays, and she grumbles loudly in her crib while she is refusing to nap. (Considering how much her brother talks, I’m a bit worried about how anyone will get a word in edgewise around here.) She also snuffles while she grins at you. I love this. Sometimes she breaks into a full snort, which makes me laugh, which then makes her snort again. It’s adorable.

She’s still nursing 4-5 times a day and eating 3 solid meals as well. So far she hasn’t refused anything I’ve offered her, although she did break out in hives after I gave her avocado. I’m going to try avocado again in a few weeks, but for now she fills up on pears, carrots, peas, squash, sweet potato, green beans, zucchini, chicken, rice and quinoa.

I’ve been keeping her in the infant car seat because I’m not quite ready to give up the convenience of the grab-n-go baby. However, I suspect that her 9 month check-up will verify that she’s outgrown the bucket seat and needs to move into the full-size car seat. Bye-bye portable napping apparatus!

Anyway, enough Mommy babble and on to more cuteness! Here’s a video of the little Miss Chatterbox from today. Happy 9 months, sweet angel!

Baby’s Little Self

2010-04-21T15:15:00.001-07:00

Ever the social butterfly, Mei-mei gives kisses to the baby in the mirror. And yes, even though the title of the song is "Babies Little Self", I changed it in this post’s title because if I left it, I would stay up at night thinking, “Shouldn’t it be ‘Babies’ Little Selves’? Or maybe, “Babies, Little Selves’?” I’ve already spent half of the morning puzzling over it.

Compare & Contrast: Guard Dog

2010-04-17T11:09:00.001-07:00

Different baby, same sweet Cowboy

(Images: Aug 2008 – 9 months old / Apr 2010 – 8.5 months old)

Glee Flash Mob: Last video (I think)

2010-04-12T09:28:00.001-07:00

I like this video because it shows pieces from all of the locations (Cal Anderson Park in Capitol Hill, Westlake Center, the Space Needle, and Pioneer Square). I’m posting it here because I want to be able to find it easily.

Happy Birthday Chris!

2010-04-12T01:27:00.000-07:00

Screaming Bird

2010-04-11T15:43:00.001-07:00

Apparently, it runs in the family. Here’s a video of big brother Z doing the same thing when he was 8 months old: “Wait for it”

Glee Flash Mob

2010-04-11T11:23:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I posted a video showing what I spent most of the day doing: the Glee Flash Mob! The second season of Glee premieres this Tuesday, so a group of nearly 1000 Gleeks (including me) got together and flash mobbed downtown Seattle in celebration.

If you haven’t seen or heard of a flash mob before, it’s basically a large group of people performing random silliness in public. The idea is to act like you’re just hanging out or walking by when you hear some music or notice a few people start to dance. A crowd gathers to watch the dancers and people in the crowd start to join in the dance. More and more people join until there’s a “mob” of dancers, all dancing the same routine. It’s exhilarating to be a part of it and thrilling to the people who aren’t expecting it.

No one knows where the flash mobs will appear (not even the dancers – we didn’t find out the locations until an hour before our first performance) and once the dance is over, the dancers quickly disperse. It’s pretty surreal. However, due to the huge number of Gleeks in Seattle, it wasn’t very subtle. It’s very difficult for 1000 people to nonchalantly show up at the same place without people noticing.

My friend Mary and I left the kids with their dads and spent a sunny day walking around the city, eating doughnuts and humbow from Pike Place Market, and breaking into dance at random times. It was a glorious day.

Here’s the official video from the first flash mob (at Westlake Center). Stay tuned for videos from the Space Needle and Pioneer Square as well!

What I did today

2010-04-10T22:43:00.001-07:00

Compare & Contrast: Grins

2010-04-10T07:38:00.001-07:00

Apparently 8-month olds are fans of the “open-wide” approach to smiling

Sequence: Peek-a-boo

2010-04-09T23:44:00.001-07:00

Mei-mei often looks serious in photos because she only smiles or laughs when she can see my face. Since I use a DSLR most of the time, I am hidden behind the camera unless I focus first and then try to look up without moving. Since I am one of those people who steers my bike into the middle of the street if I turn around to look over my shoulder, you can imagine that looking up without losing focus is not my strong point. However, sometimes I manage to do it! Here is a sequence of photos I took today. I started off behind the camera for the first picture, then I looked up for the second. I continued to alternate like that (doing my best impersonation of a groundhog), so I was behind the camera for every other picture and looking at her for the pictures in between.

If you look closely at the open-mouthed grinning pictures, you can also see that she’s cut her second tooth (bottom middle, right next to her first tooth). Soon she’ll be able to eat all of the food that Z keeps trying to share with her!

The outtakes

2010-04-09T07:32:00.000-07:00

Lest you think it’s easy to capture a decent picture of a 2.5 year old and 8 month old together, here are the other pictures I took while Z was giving Mei-mei hugs. That’s my phone in his hand.

Sitting pretty

2010-04-08T20:03:00.001-07:00

Mei-mei took her own sweet time learning to sit up by herself (she finally got the hang of it right before she turned 8 months old), but now that she’s a sitter, she’s the cutest sitter there ever was. She’s also a big fan of trying to make motorboat sounds and sticking her tongue out.

Go see mamarazza

2010-04-08T14:20:00.001-07:00

You have to head over to mamarazza to see the latest picture I posted. Z is in a phase where he doesn’t mind having his picture taken (once or twice) AND he likes to “snuggle snuggle” with his sister. The combination of these two miraculous events provides photo opportunities that make my heart melt.

Then and Now: Siblings

2010-04-07T22:14:00.001-07:00

December 2009 (25 months & 4.5 months old) and April 2010 (29 months and 8 months old).

What has changed: Mei-mei can sit up by herself and Z actually chose to sit with her (I grabbed my camera just in time to capture the picture). What hasn’t changed: Z always has something in his hands and Mei-mei looks a bit apprehensive.

Duck, duck, goose

2010-04-07T21:23:00.001-07:00

Not to be outdone by Easter eggs, plastic eggs and chocolate eggs, Mei-mei simultaneously joined the egg-stravaganza and accomplished another milestone: her first goose egg.
Mei-mei is a big fan of Z’s toys, and she particularly likes the toys with pull-strings. One such toy is his wooden clown car (see pictures below). Until yesterday, the clown car was stored on the top shelf of the bookcase. It’s since been moved to the bottom shelf, now that we’ve discovered that she can reach the pull-string and pull it down onto her own forehead. It raised a pretty good bump and left a bruise, but in typical baby miracle-healing fashion, after 10 minutes she was as good as new. And ready to tackle that clown car again.

Pants smoking

2010-04-06T19:56:00.001-07:00

Z’s pants aren’t quite on fire yet, but they are smoking: I think he is taking his first tentative steps into the wide world of lying. (Aw, what a big boy he is!) As our own little Howard Cosell, he generally keeps a running commentary of every single thing he thinks and does (“Z find plug…Z pull plug out”). He also announces what he did in the past (“Z went playground, climb ladder, did very good job, didn’t fall”) and makes requests for what he would like to do in the future (“Z put shoes on, go walk, eat Mighty O donut”).

When I pick him up from playgroup, we talk about what he did while we drive home. Normally, he recites a list of toys or friends that he played with (“Z play car wash, draw crayons, see Milo…”). Today he listed the things he ate. I prompted him by asking about the different things I’d packed in his lunch.

“Z go playgroup, eat pancakes with peanut butter!”
“Pancakes with peanut butter? Yum! Did you eat anything else?”
“Z go playgroup, eat avocado!”
“Mmm, avocado. Is that all you ate? Pancakes and avocado?”
“Z go playgroup, eat orange!”
“You had oranges too? What a lucky boy! Was that the only fruit you had?”
“Z go playgroup, eat blueberries!”
“Oh, I love blueberries.”
“Z go playgroup, eat Booty!”
“Pirate’s Booty is so yummy! You had lots of good things to eat. Did you eat anything else?”
“Um, Z go playgroup, ummmm….”
“Did you have any cheese?”
“Look see school bus…”
“Yes, that is a school bus. Now back to playgroup. Was there any cheese in your lunch? Cheese with crackers?”
“Um…look see water. Greenlake!”
“Yes, that’s Greenlake. We go for walks around Greenlake, don’t we?”
“Z like go walk Greenlake with Mommy Daddy Mei-mei Cowboy.”
“I like to do that too. And I like to eat cheese with crackers. Do you like to eat cheese and crackers?”
“Um…Z like ride escalator!”
“Escalators are a lot of fun, aren’t they? Sharing is fun too! Did you share your cheese and crackers with friends at playgroup?”
(His face lit up and he was very excited to answer.)
“Z go playgroup, share Combarty (Havarti) cheese crackers, friends! Cyrus eat Combarty. Z eat strawberry!”

So it appears that Z traded his cheese and crackers for Cyrus’ strawberries. Or, more likely, he helped himself to the strawberries and later noticed Cyrus helping himself to the cheese and crackers (it’s kind of a free-for-all at playgroup). Regardless, it was very amusing to watch him struggle with how he was going to approach the subject of the uneaten cheese and crackers. He opted for avoidance until I gave him an out, and then he jumped all over the sharing scenario. So he’s not quite to the level of lying yet, but he is learning how to leave out parts of the truth for his own benefit.

In “NurtureShock”, Po Bronson explains that all children lie and how lying is actually an indicator of intelligence. Most children will start to lie around 4 years of age, but some precocious children will start as early as 2 or 3. That’s our Z! Liar, liar, smarty-pants on fire.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T01:35:00.000-07:00

Easter Saturday was pretty blustery and cold, so we decided to check out the Easter Egg Hunt at Wallingford Center instead of the Woodland Park Zoo (where we went last year). Big mistake. It was crowded and confusing, and the Egg Hunt itself was over in the blink of an eye as the older kids snatched up all of the eggs and left the younger kids (like Z and Mei-mei) with empty baskets. (At the zoo, they spread out hundreds of plastic eggs -- in plain sight, because it’s for the “under 3” set -- and continue to recycle the eggs so that the field is full of them the entire time the kids are there. At Wallingford Center, the only time we actually saw an egg was when we tripped over a broken one on our way to the car.) But on the bright side, we got some cupcakes from Trophy Cupcakes and we went to Julia’s for brunch before the Egg Hunt, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

(Note to self: Next time we go to Julia’s, order Z the adult-sized Belgian waffle so that he doesn’t finish his breakfast in less than 5 minutes and immediately start in on yours.)

At home, we dyed Easter eggs with Z and Mei-mei. We dyed 10 eggs and 4 of them were cracked by an over-exuberant 2.5 year old. We think we did pretty well – more than half of them survived! And Z seemed to really enjoy pouring dye over the eggs with a spoon. Mei-mei preferred to watch, but I’m sure she’ll be very excited to dye eggs with us next year! This year she was more excited about chewing on a wooden spoon.

In addition to dying eggs, I’ve been putting bunny ears on various smaller family members and taking pictures. Mei-mei is the least perturbed by it; Cowboy is the most. Z isn’t thrilled with it either, but I think in general he’s more bothered by the camera than the bunny ears. I posted his bunny ear photos in my last post, and I’ve included the rest here.

~~Instead of posting a bunch of pictures on this page, I’m trying out this new “Photo Album” feature. Click on the link below the spread of photos to see the full album.~~ UPDATE: I don’t like the Photo Album feature because it forces me to use Windows Live, which I don’t want to use. So I’m creating my own photo albums on my SmugMug photo site. Click on the images below to see the full albums!

Sequence: Bunny ears

2010-04-03T20:29:00.001-07:00

Why are you giggling? Wait…what’s this? Who put bunny ears on me?

Sequence: Smiley girl

2010-04-03T20:22:00.001-07:00

Toys

2010-04-02T15:25:00.001-07:00

Z's latest thing is to bring all of Mei-mei's toys to her. She’ll be lying down on the play room floor or sitting in her rocker or hanging out in the Bumbo, and suddenly she’ll be covered in toys. “Bring Mei-mei toys! Mei-mei play!” When I tried to explain to Z that his sister can only play with a couple toys at once, he said, “Mei-mei only play one-two toys. Zachary play other toys!”

Compare & contrast: 8 months

2010-03-28T16:32:00.001-07:00

Dance 'til you drop

2010-03-24T22:06:00.001-07:00

So you’re cooking for a 2-year old…

2010-03-24T13:52:00.001-07:00

That’s the working title for my new reality TV show idea. There are all of these cooking shows that pit chefs against one another, but not one of them has a judging panel that can give a 2-year old a run for his/her money. I’d like to offer Z up as a cooking judge. He’d made Gordon Ramsay look like a softie.

My approach to feeding Z has always been to provide healthy options and hope he eats something. If he doesn’t finish a meal, I don’t argue (why turn meals into power struggles when you know you can’t win?) and I don’t rush to find something he’d like better. I’ve found that if he’s not pressured, he will usually try everything and will often finish whatever is in front of him. He also likes to have company when he eats, but only if you pay attention to him. If you are distracted (i.e. on the phone, reading a magazine, watching TV), then you may as well leave him to his own devices – he’ll do much better on his own. But if you chat with him and remain fully engaged with him, then he’ll eat things that he refused 5 minutes earlier.

However, Z definitely has his preferences and I do try to work within them to a point, especially if he hasn’t been eating well for an extended time. He’s never liked cooked cheese or most meats, which is fine with me since those aren’t very healthy for him anyway. But getting protein into him has always been a challenge so I keep a supply of plain yogurt, cottage cheese and tofu on hand just in case.

Lately, he has refused to eat anything with color (other than fruit) and he’s gotten even more sensitive to textures than he was before. He has even rejected his old favorite vegetable – green peas – because he doesn’t like the skins. (Have you ever tried to peel a pea? It’s not easy.) This has made it especially challenging for me to feed him a healthy diet, since nutritious foods are generally brightly-colored and pretty much everything is textured. Today I did pretty well at lunch (whole wheat english muffin with hummus and havarti cheese, and a side of butternut squash that I baked, pureed, and then mixed with a bit of applesauce), but I’m already worrying about what I’ll give him for dinner.

Luckily, he still eats breakfast and snacks like a champ so I know he’s not starving. And he also loves to eat Mei-mei’s food, so I’ve been able to get a few portions of pureed peas in his belly. I just wonder what he’s going to come up with next.

I somehow managed to keep a straight face

2010-03-19T22:39:00.001-07:00

I posted this in a “mad chatters” Tweet already, but I wanted to write about it anyway.

Since Mei-mei has started eating solids, Z hovers around in hopes of getting a bite or two of her pureed sweet potatoes (I’ve started making twice as much so that Z gets to finish off what she doesn’t eat). He’s also in a sharing phase, so he keeps trying to trade some of his food for hers. I tell him, “Mei-mei can’t eat your food yet. She’s very small right now. She doesn’t have any teeth, so she can’t chew like you do. But she’ll grow all of her teeth as she gets bigger.” And now that she has one tooth, I show it to him and say, “See, Mei-mei’s starting to grow her teeth! Soon she’ll be able to eat the same foods you eat.”

Today, Z was watching as I changed Mei-mei’s diaper. He asked, “Where’s Mei-mei’s penis?” I said, “Mei-mei doesn’t have a penis, honey. She’s a girl and girls don’t have penises. Only boys have penises.” Apparently he didn’t hear the second part of my explanation, because he said, “Mei-mei no have penis now. Mei-mei too small. Mei-mei grow teeth, grow penis.” He said it in the sing-song way he uses when he recites a list of things, “Mei-mei grow teeeeeeeeeeth….grow peniiiiiiiiiis….”

Before and after

2010-03-18T14:51:00.001-07:00

Now he can really use those eyebrows to full effect.

Separated at birth?

2010-03-18T13:41:00.001-07:00

Chris is a huge fan of the band Oasis, and as such, wanted to name our children either Liam or Noel (after the band’s Gallagher brothers) or Lyla (the title of one of their songs). Although the band broke up following one of the many brawls between Liam and Noel, and Chris did not prevail in his efforts to honor them through the naming of our children, it looks like Z is paying tribute to them after all.

Liam Gallagher on left, our little man Z on right:

St Patrick's Day Photo Shoot

2010-03-17T19:37:00.003-07:00

This is what it takes to get one decent photo of the two of them together...

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

2010-03-17T15:55:00.001-07:00

It’s remarkably difficult to get a decent picture of Z and Mei-mei together. The first picture is the only one (out of 138) that doesn’t have at least one of them with eyes closed, face covered, looking away, scowling, or super blurry. The next two pictures were a little easier because I only had to worry about one of them at a time (on top of worrying about Mei-mei eating the beads and Z getting strangled by them). If you look really closely at the picture of Mei-mei, you can see her tiny little tooth poking through!

Hands and feet

2010-03-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hands and feet, courtesy of Pattycake Prints

What do you need to eat pie?

2010-03-14T18:45:00.001-07:00

Why, teeth, of course. So in honor of pi day, Mei-mei has cut her first tooth! Anyone who has experienced her jaws of steel will understand why I’m a bit nervous about this development. When she was born, the lactation consultant said, “She has the strongest clamp-down reflex of any baby I’ve met in over 15 years of doing this job. You, my dear, have the pit bull of babies.” And now my (sweet, adorable, darling, lovely) pit bull baby has teeth. Great. I was kind of hoping that she wouldn’t cut any teeth until after she weaned.

Happy Pi Day!

2010-03-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, I’m a nerd. And for further proof of how nerdy I am, note the time this post was published.

mystery solved

2010-03-12T20:48:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago, we were stumped. The media cabinet was locked to keep button-loving preschool fingers off of the stereo equipment. However, we couldn’t find the key. Finally, Chris noticed that the key was right in front of us: inside the locked cabinet, taunting us through the glass. We had no idea how it got there, but we were relatively sure of who was responsible.

After we puzzled over it for awhile, we decided to chalk it up to another inexplicable side-effect of parenting. I used a wire hanger to jimmy open the cabinet and we didn’t think about it again. That is, until this afternoon when we heard Z announce, “Fachary has key!” He ran over to show me the key to the media cabinet, and then he trucked on over to the media cabinet itself. It was locked, so he stuck the key in the keyhole to wiggle it around a bit. Then he carefully slid the key into the crack at the top of the cabinet door. AH HAH!

So there you have it. That’s how a key gets inside of a locked cabinet.

(And that’s not a typo up there. Z pronounces his name with an “F”.)

My kitchen is my personal runway

2010-02-28T12:22:00.001-08:00

I have neglected anything resembling “style” in my life since having children. This is for several reasons, but it generally comes down to a combination of laziness and the fact that I don’t own much that fits me anymore. Plus, I like to dress in activity-appropriate clothing, and how stylish can you be when you spend your time at playgrounds or with a baby chewing on your sleeve?

Well, a large portion of my time is also spent in the kitchen (who knew toddlers had to eat so much and so frequently?), and Kristy has pointed me to a wonderful opportunity to actually look stylish while I’m cooking! I know that very few people will be able to witness this potential stylishness of mine, but it’s a start. And I do believe that feeling good, even in privacy, goes a long ways toward making you feel good all around.

This opportunity for domestic style is sponsored by “Bringing Lady Back” – a blog dedicated to freeing the world from “insipid insults and protruding panties”. Personal integrity, dignity, and a sense of propriety are qualities that are in dire need of a revival, so I am in full support of it! And I’m looking for the male equivalent, which I would call something like “Banishing the Guy” (in favor of the Man).

Now available in 3D

2010-02-25T22:16:00.001-08:00

After nearly 7 months of existing primarily in a horizontal plane, Mei-mei is very close to inhabiting vertical space as well (this is just a really geeky way of saying that she’s sitting up)! Kind of. She’s still very bendy and she supports herself with her arms, and if her head moves anywhere off of the z-axis she tips over, but it’s a start!

In addition to sitting up, she’s already an expert at rolling over. She rolls her way around the room pretty quickly (she’s usually got her eye on a toy), so I have to keep tabs on her before she disappears under the couch.

This is starting to feel dangerously close to mobility. I’m not sure I’m ready for that, and I know Cowboy isn’t. He’s already got his paws full just trying to stay out of Z’s way!

Friendly reminder: mamarazza is your source for photos!

2010-02-23T16:05:00.001-08:00

Chris told me I should put out another reminder about my mamarazza site. That’s where I post my favorite pictures, so if you don’t see many pictures on this page in awhile it’s probably because they are over there.

If you look on the sidebar of this page, there is a section called mamarazza underneath chatter box. mamarazza lists the five most recent mamarazza posts, so you can check that to see if it’s been updated since you last visited. To see the new posts, you can either click on the post title or click on mamarazza (the title of the section). If you click on mamarazza instead of an individual title, you will get to the main page. that’s where you can see all of the new posts at once.

I tend to post pictures in batches (I usually do one picture per post), so you will see a whole bunch of new posts show up at once.

With these eyes, I thee own

2010-02-19T23:19:00.001-08:00

Introducing: Chatter Box

2010-02-19T14:07:00.001-08:00

As I’ve mentioned before, Z likes to talk to himself when he is in his crib. Actually, he does a running commentary all day long, which makes it easier to keep track of him and stop him before he does something dangerous. (“Mommy say Zachary no touch outlet…no touch!” or “Zachary climb…jump!”) But the crib chatter is the cutest, because he doesn’t know we can hear him (via the monitor) and he uses that time to practice new words or sing songs or reminisce about things. I don’t want to forget all of the funny things he says but I can’t catch them all on video, so I’m going to start keeping track of as many as I can on this blog. I’ve added a section to the sidebar called “chatter box”, which is where his latest ponderings will be posted (via Twitter). Enjoy!

Tinkle Tinkle

2010-02-16T22:38:00.001-08:00

Tinkle Tinkle, originally uploaded by Wenmei.

Our budding American Idol finalist (with support from his high-kicking backup dancing sister).

Happy 5th Birthday, Cowboy!

2010-02-15T10:05:00.001-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year Valentine’s Day!

2010-02-14T06:11:00.000-08:00

As with many things, the third time is the charm when it comes to taking pictures of the Hillions.

My version of the story

2010-02-13T12:38:00.001-08:00

Here are some of my pictures from my fun photo play date with Judith. Hopefully some of Judith’s wisdom and skill will rub off on me and I can reduce the strange color tones and blurry images that seem to be my forte. Mei-mei was a very cooperative model until we started putting lots of hats on her (as you can see from her expression in the last picture). But I think she’s resigned herself to being my photo model, at least until she can say “No” and run away like her big brother does.

Another parenting experiment

2010-02-13T09:22:00.001-08:00

In my never-ending quest to figure out the best way to fully, er, appreciate my child’s 2-year-oldness, I tried a new trick yesterday. When Z plays in his playroom, he turns into a little hurricane and everything ends up on the floor. Note the chaos behind him (coupled with his cute “who me?” fake smile):

Getting him to help me clean up is a bit of a challenge. He’ll usually help put away a few things (especially if I turn it into a “my turn/your turn” game), but he quickly gets distracted by other toys and forgets what we’re doing. He’ll pull out the drawer to put away his fire engine and suddenly notice his rocket car sitting there in the drawer. So the fire engine is put away, the rocket car comes out.

Yesterday he barely helped at all. While I was putting things away, he happily played with his garbage truck and Mr. Potato Head. When I was done, I said, “Well look, I cleaned up all by myself! Time to put the gate up.” Z and I left the play room and I put the baby gate up – locking him OUT instead of in. I stepped over the gate and sat in the middle of the play room floor with a book. Z stood at the gate looking in, obviously confused. He said, “Play music bus!” and I said, “Oh, but the music bus is in here, in the play room I cleaned up all by myself! I’m enjoying the clean play room since I worked so hard on it.” He said, “Play music player! Listen Jai Ho!” and I said, “Oh, but the music player is in here too.” He said, “Play violin?” and I said, “Oh that’s a fun toy to play with. But it’s in here too.”

Z stood there and watched me for a few minutes, clearly figuring something out in his head. Then he ran to the living room and opened up the drawer full of his little knick-knacks. He took them all out and put them on the floor. He grabbed some plastic containers from the kitchen and put them on the floor too. Then he announced, “Zachary clean up!” and put the knick-knacks and plastic containers away.

Another reason why I love that boy.

Photo play date

2010-02-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

Mei-mei and I had a fun photo play date with the always fabulous Judith and her wonderful helper Annie this week. Judith has three children and her photography business, and she still got her pictures posted before I've even had a chance to go through all of mine. I think this means that I need to work on getting my act together...

Anyway, here is a link to her blog showing some pictures from our play date. I'll post some of my pictures soon, and I'm sure you'll be equally as confused about why it appears that my pictures were taken in a different room with different light and an impossibly fast-moving baby (that explains the blur, right?). Of course, there's a reason we always go to Judith when we want great pictures!

JFP Photo Play Date

Kimochi Mommy

2010-02-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

Z has a Kimochi Cloud toy that we've been using to help him identify and verbalize his emotions. He's got a collection of pillows with various emotions written on them and he can put one of them into a pocket on Kimochi Cloud's belly. When I am sad because Z tried to hit or kick me, I talk to Kimochi Cloud and put the "Sad" pillow in his pocket (while Z watches). When Z is throwing a fit, I tell Kimochi Cloud about it while putting the "Mad" pillow in his pocket. Z's favorite pillow is "Happy", although he does get "Sad" out when he's hurt himself.

This afternoon, we went to Mosaic to meet up with some friends in the playroom. Z was extremely easy the entire afternoon, staying away from the doors like I asked and playing nicely with the toys and the other kids. As we were getting ready to leave, I thanked him for making it such a nice afternoon and I told him how happy I was. He ran over to the toys to pick out a round plastic sunshine toy with a big smiley face. He came back to me and dropped it down the front of my shirt, announcing, "Mommy HAPPY!" Apparently, I'm his Kimochi Mommy.

Half-y Birthday!

2010-01-31T05:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Mei-mei,

I can't believe you're already six months old! You have been such a joy to get to know these past months, and I can't wait to learn even more about how you think and feel in the coming years. Since the day we met you, you've been such a calm, contented baby, happily watching your brother or catching our eye to give us a huge grin. Even though you still nurse like a pit bull, you have been a sweet and patient girl in every other regard. You watch us with those startling blue eyes which are so full of curiosity, innocence, and sometimes, steel (you can make it VERY clear when you think I'm being ridiculous). When I hold you, you grab onto my face, neck, hair, fingers -- whatever you can reach -- and snuggle in. You coo and babble and you laugh if you see one of us laughing (especially your brother). You rarely complain and can be consoled with a cuddle or a song when you are unhappy. You put everything into your mouth, although it seems that your favorite thing to chew on is cloth (a blanket, towel, your cloth dolls, your clothing, my clothing). When you are tired, you suck on your thumb and curl your fingers around your nose, then cover up your eyes with your other hand. When you are excited, you kick your legs and screech happily. I keep trying to take pictures of the top or back of your head so that I can remember your bald spot and fuzzy little noggin, but you always crane your neck around so that you can see me. So instead, I'll remember how you always want to see what's going on and make eye contact.

I am so proud to be your mother and I am honored that I get to help you grow into a fabulous and strong woman (although my more immediate focus is to help you grow into a fabulous and strong sitter-upper -- you're still a folder-in-halfer when it comes to sitting up by yourself). Thank you for joining our family and for being my sweet girl.

Love,
Mama

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

2010-01-30T20:52:00.001-08:00

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, originally uploaded by Wenmei.

Z loves to have books read to him (especially Dr. Seuss books). More and more often though, he'll say, "Read self!" and read his book out loud to us. And he's quite good.

Now I get it

2010-01-28T15:04:00.001-08:00

It’s interesting how some things start to make more sense to me as I go through the various learning stages of being a parent. I used to think that Smuckers’ Goober (peanut butter and jelly in one jar) was ridiculous. I mean, is it really that hard to open up TWO jars to make a sandwich? But now that I have a 2 year old whose idea of eating half of a sandwich means eating the half with the jelly on it and leaving an open-faced peanut butter sandwich behind, I totally get it. Mixing the peanut butter and jelly together makes it impossible for children to pick out only the jelly. I make my own Goober by mixing the peanut butter and jelly in a bowl before I spread it on the bread, and that’s been working out really well for us.

Another thing I get is why parents so often leave their shopping cart bound toddlers in the middle of the aisles at grocery stores. That’s the only place where the toddler can’t reach the shelves on either side. As long as said toddler is buckled into the seat, that is. Otherwise, all bets are off.