Welcome To Khai's World

Big Boy Class

2010-11-15T14:27:00.000-05:00

Khai has officially moved into the big boy classroom. He is now hanging with the 4 year olds. We are on week 3 of him being in the pre-K class and its going really well. He even gets homework! Sniff!! Ms. Diana, his teacher seems to be great with the kids and Khai has not come home with any complaints. I'm excited for him to be in this class now because it seems they are doing a little more than in the previous classes, which gives him something great to look forward to, achievements to come home and share with us, and a sense of being a BIG boy now (attitude good and bad included).

In front of the big boy class.

He's so proud of himself!

Big boy pose.. haha. Leg and all..

First homework packet ever! Aww. I sniffle.

Self Portrait.

The hair like things on the left are arms.

And he informed me that he drew one big ear because he has big ears (awww), and that he's smiling because he's happy. And that red blob over his eye is the big red bug bite he had that morning.

I love how the legs are attached to the mouth and chin. haha...

He makes me smile.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman

2010-10-14T12:55:00.000-04:00

His orignal request for Halloween this year was to be a ghost - sheet over the head, holes for eyes - followed by the deepest desire to be a bat. Unfortunately, I slacked a week too long and the greatest bat costume sold out. Bad mom, bad. I had to break the sad news to Khai who's face nearly dropped to the floor. I had spent all day at work that day hunting for potential replacements - which I whipped out immediately. He settled on Spiderman. His reasoning (versus Batman) was that red would be seen out in the dark while trick or treating.. whereas nobody could see Batman.. thus the possibility of less candy. His Spiderman costume arrived last night. He now requests to be called Spiderman .. not Khai.. and Peter Partsner (despite us constantly telling him its Parker) when he is without mask. He adores his costume . Success!!!

Spiderman Vs. The World!

2010-10-14T12:45:00.000-04:00

Four.

2010-10-13T23:34:00.035-04:00

Happy Birthday to my big little man!! This officially marks your fourth year! Each year I say time flies by so fast and while its only been four years....holy cow its been four years!! From a tiny little helpless baby to a young boy full of energy, attitude, opinions, and spirit, I don't know where the time went and just hope the next four don't fly by as quickly. Once upon a time huge, new changes happened back to back to back- eating solids, teething, rolling over, walking, talking, no more diapers... and then at some point I started to feel like the big changes seemed to slow down, that they were spread out more and it was almost like I couldn't wait for a new thing to happen. But once you started school (oh my gosh you're in school!!) I couldn't keep up with all the things you were doing and learning, and I realized once again that this is all happening too fast, that while you had passed the big stages of infancy, you still had a lot of new things in store. You now tell me about things like best friends and girlfriends (what?!) and while it often is tough to get out of you what you did exactly at school, I know you are learning so many new things each day. You're learning how to write, draw, share, and take on various characters from your favorite cartoons. You're a master video gamer and a whiz on my iPhone, and you blow my mind when you talk about things I had no idea you knew about. I love that while you may not be one of those no-fear kids who leaps off the counter tops, you have no problem letting me know just how you feel. I adore the fact that you have beautiful, long hair and not a typical boy haircut and that you don't care what anybody has to say about it. As exasperated as I get while its happening, I often look back and laugh when you stomp and get just so very angry at me because i'm not doing something your way like picking the red shirt instead of the blue shirt or picking the blue shirt instead of the ooooothhherrr blue shirt. You are the best at cheering me up when i'm down and are the sweetest, warmest, most compassionate boy I know and that lets me know I must be doing something right. You always skip 15 when you count, you hate sleeping with socks on, you call the shower the quickly bath, and you still call me Mama - these are simply a few of the many, many things that make you you and why I will always love you with every bit of my heart. I love you 21 my sweet love.

These Boots Were Made For Walking...

2010-10-13T20:55:00.002-04:00

He will likely kill me one day for posting this...and I will quickly remind him that it was he who put them on himself and pitched a fit when I insisted he take them off before he breaks his ankles. Sashe Chante!

(that is Ma Moy behind him, holding him and all of his 4 inch heels up...thinking she can possibly hide behind a entire 4 year old child)

Metal Beak

2010-10-01T23:16:00.010-04:00

The Legends of the Guardian phase continues. I'm really surprised there aren't any toys from the movie on the market. We searched high and low and the only two related things we've found are Burger King toys and a video game. Naturally we set out to get him the Burger King toy and possibly we'll get him the video game for his birthday. John came home with Soren as soon as the toys were available and Khai was ecstatic. Tonight, Khai and I went out for a Mommy and Khai Khai evening out and stopped at Burger King on the way home so that he could get another toy as his special treat. I let him know that there could be a chance they didn't have any of the other characters, which were much bigger in size, as usually they only have a handful of those. Khai was close to instant meltdown. He said we could not leave until he got a different one than Soren and planted his butt on the floor. When our meals arrived...Soren was in the bag. Khai flipped out and I pleaded with the lady behind the counter to please search the box for ANY other character. She said unfortunately she didn't think she had any others left. I implored her to take one last look, this could make or break the rest of the evening. Oh my lucky stars... Metal Beak was in the box!!! Phew!!
No seriously..... phew....

Stupid Bands

2010-09-30T22:06:00.011-04:00

Whoever invented these things is a genius. Silly Bands are the most ridiculous thing and the latest craze for kids. Colored rubber bands in various shapes, which sell at $2 + a pack. The kids collect them, wear them all the way up their arm, trade them, I don't know what else.. but I've done my best to keep Khai's interest away from them because I think they are a stupid waste of money. Well, well....guess who came home with a pack tonight.... John. He rationalized it by saying "but they are Iron Man ones". Now, I know dam well he thinks this Silly Band phase is as ridiculous as I do, so what possessed him to even think Iron Man ones are acceptable is beyond me. Khai was stoked. I can only hope this hasn't started something....

2nd Dentist Appointment

2010-09-24T22:50:00.001-04:00

What started out as a very promising dental visit turned into total disaster. As you may remember, Khai's first appointment ever was horrible. He cried so much, so hard, and was in total fear the entire time. This time around, we talked about it for weeks prior to the date. We even practiced what it would be like in the dentists chair - I had Khai lay back on the drivers seat in the car and pushed the recline button which moved the seat exactly like the dentists chair. We did this several times and while he was nervous at first, he quickly realized it wasn't scary at all and enjoyed himself. For weeks he announced he was going to the dentist and wasn't scared. The day of the appointment, he excitedly talked about the appointment all the way there. We got inside and everything was still perfect. We were called to the back, and even then things were still fine. Khai climbed into the dentists chair and as you can see was still all smiles. The hygienist remembered him from his first visit because of how scared he was and commented on on his big smiles. Then she reclined the chair and the fear set in and Khai immediately tried to escape. And while it wasn't nearly as bad as the first visit, it was eventful to say the least. Khai walked away with good teeth, puffy eyes, and a new toothbrush, while I walked away completely sweaty from the whole ordeal.

3D

2010-09-24T22:01:00.030-04:00

Khai has been dying to see the movie Legends of the Guardians. All I could think was how boring this movie was going to be.. a movie about owls... and pretty much was dreading it the entire ride to the theater tonight. We decided to catch it in 3D, which for the four of us, including a bag of popcorn and Twizzlers, the price came out to be a ridiculous $70 plus!! Good grief!!! But, as soon as the movie started I have to say I was instantly impressed. Holy 3D wow!! I have never seen a 3D movie like this.. the 3D movies I've seen involved those dinky paper blue and red glasses that never seemed to work for me. And even more so, I was shocked at how glued to this movie Khai was. He sat through the entire time and barely moved. I'm pretty certain all of us were equally impressed and now all Khai talks about are these owls. I still dunno that I can justify the $70 though. I'm keeping my glasses dammit.

Jr. Shopper

2010-09-21T22:43:00.003-04:00

How cute are these little shopping carts?!?
He was so happy to have one just his size.

Lil Cereal

2010-08-02T21:22:00.002-04:00

Khai hits the jackpot today.

Ma Moy gave him a 30 count box of mini cereal boxes. Score!!

These mini boxes have been his latest breakfast interest. Perfect for him!

Mosquitoes Suck

2010-07-28T21:24:00.021-04:00

Mosquitoes suck in every way. As a kid living in Asia, I remember being eaten alive by these nasty little suckers. I remember having to take malaria pills when we were stationed in Bangladesh. I remember my legs being a spotted war zone of itchiness and scabs. A total disaster. Once I moved back to the States I didn't encounter as many mosquito issues but when I do get bitten I am left with huge red welts. We're talking silver dollar sized. And now, my poor little boy.. he is going thru the same thing, if not worse. The mosquitoes love him and frequently make a meal out of him. Poor thing. This recent attack was one of his worst - especially because he got one on the bottom of his foot which caused him alot of pain to walk for about three days. His forehead, as you can see from the picture, exploded into a mountain of red itch. It looked so horrible that I felt the need to keep him out of school for a few days. And when I brought him back, his teachers wondered what had happened to him - did he fall, get hit, what? No.. mosquito bite I told them...

I feel so bad for him .

Six Flags

2010-07-19T01:09:00.001-04:00

An insanely hot day, but the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves!!

We initially decided to go to Six Flags because of the new Thomas Town they just opened up there. Khai has been extremely excited to go visit Thomas and his friends. I personally wasn't impressed with it - felt there could have been more to it than what they had, but Khai enjoyed it and of course that's all that matters. After several hours of roasting, the boys wound up at the water park (smart choice!) where they played until it was time to go. But never again will I go in the middle of the hot, hot summer! Ever!!

RIP Pepe

2010-07-18T23:20:00.000-04:00

I've had Pepe since she was a week old - she's always been my best buddy, been there with me through a million things in life, including the addition of Khai. She's never been too sweet to many people, but from the day I brought him home, she's always been accepting of him.
On 6/23/10, Pepe, passed away from a combo of old age, a failing liver, and a few other health conditions. This was Khai's first experience with death. I didn't break the news to him until the next day- wasn't sure how I would or when, but despite suggestions from others I felt the right thing to do was to tell him honestly. The day she passed, John picked Khai up from school and kept him out for an evening of fun while my mom and I buried her in the yard. When Khai got home he didn't notice she was missing. After school the next day though, I decided then was the time and so I took Khai out to the yard and told him there was something important I wanted to talk to him about. Brought him to her grave and explained she had died. His bottom lip fell out as he asked where she was and why she was gone. He was concerned about her being buried underground - so in my struggle to keep things cool, I told him Pepe was hanging out with Buddha and not feeling sick anymore - of course this then presented a new dilemma in that I had to figure out a way to explain how Pepe could possibly be in the ground AND with Buddha. I'm not sure that I did a good job, but he was ok with it. He pat the ground and said Bye Pepe, I love you and i'll come visit you and bring you treats. Sniff*
Today is the first time I've really looked at these pictures since it happened. Heartbreaking.
He still talks about her quite a bit. He doesn't question that she's gone, he has accepted and understands it in his own way. And importantly, he's extremely sweet to Lily, our other little kitty - gives her tons of love, plays with her and helps her through her loss. RIP Pepe. We love you always.

All dressed up.

2010-07-18T22:48:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when you let a 3 year old dress himself: 1 pair of skull leggings, 1 Iron Man tshirt, 1 KISS wrist band, 1 lei. And voila... dressed and ready for action.

Made By Khai

2010-07-06T20:01:00.003-04:00

I present to you my very first necklace made by Khai.

This is no macaroni necklace people. This is fine jewelry!

(though had it been macaroni, I would have loved it just the same)

4th of July Weekend.... in pictures.

2010-07-04T23:29:00.024-04:00

Fathers Day

2010-06-20T23:06:00.005-04:00

HAPPY FATHERS DAY PAPA!
We love you heaps even when you drive us crazy!
We started our busy day at Chuck E Cheese today - Khai had a play date with his buddy Zack this morning, and when we arrived, we were extremely happy to find it nearly empty - at most, there were 4 other families there - no crazy crowds, loudness, pushing, shoving.. Phew! After three hours of fun and the place starting to fill up, we cashed in our tickets - over 1000 in total between the boys! We headed over to Mose and Sassy's for a BBQ for the remainder of the afternoon. A laid back dinner with everyone, it was really nice to have both boys there as well as Mose home. The heat definitely got to all of us though, and Khai conked out a good two hours before his normal bedtime - I have no idea what to do with all this free time!!


Khai made mugs for Papa and Mose.

I Scream You Scream

2010-06-19T22:41:00.001-04:00

With summer officially just a few days away, the ice cream truck makes its round through the neighborhoods. Khai has heard the trucks.. he's just never gotten ice cream from one. Today marks Khai's very first ice cream truck purchase ever! He chose a drippy, melty, lemon/cherry Iron Man pop. Mmmmm.

Thirteenth

2010-06-13T23:02:00.001-04:00

I'll randomly look at the calender on the wall in the kitchen and the 13th has crept up on me. And every single time I start counting how many months into the year you are. Today you are exactly 3 years and 8 months old. Almost 4. Tomorrow you'll be 16, then 18, then 25... I want you to stay 3 years and 8 months forever sometimes. You're growing up far too fast. Boooooo.

Khai Goes To The Movies. Again.

2010-06-13T22:55:00.000-04:00

So this would be Khai's 3rd trip to the movie theater. His 2nd time was to see Shrek The Chapter. As with his first visit, he was great throughout the whole thing. Spoke in a whisper when he had questions and really..didn't even have that many questions. Our 3rd trip was to see The Karate Kid. We went with Ma Moy, who hadn't been to a movie in ages - so it was a nice treat for all of us. Khai's been pretty excited to see the movie and had been hiyaa'ing all over the house, but about an hour into the movie he got fairly restless. The popcorn was no longer holding, I forgot to bring any other snacks (bad mom!) and he had finished his drink. The final fight scene was quickly approaching, meanwhile Khai was saying "I'm done, I want to go home". I was able to lure to bribe him into staying though! I let him take his shoes off. That worked for about 15 mins. Then socks off bought me another bit of time. It was a GREAT movie.. and as we walked out the door Khai said" I really really liked it!" Riiiight. Though he has been hiyaa'ing me ever since.

Dr. Khai

2010-06-07T22:03:00.006-04:00

I had a really bad day. .

Khai gave me a cup full of Hotwheels and said drink this mom, it'll make you feel better. :-)

Round and Round

2010-05-29T12:26:00.002-04:00

One of Khai's favorite pastimes... spinning around until he's completely dizzy.

Going to the Movies

2010-05-16T22:57:00.000-04:00

How much sweeter could it be? Khai's first time at the movies and he gets to see Iron Man 2.
He was psyched! He wore his Iron Man tshirt, brought two of his Iron Man action figures, got hooked up with the required bag of popcorn, twizzlers, and gummy sweet tarts... and though I had concerns that he might become restless or scream out IRON MAAAAANNN! a million times or talk throughout the showing, I am proud to say that none of this occurred and he sat and watched the entire movie! (i'm sure a little credit should be given to the popcorn..and Iron Man).
Yay!

Khai loves Alana

2010-05-15T23:11:00.001-04:00

My boy is now calling up girls and telling them he loves them....

Mothers Day

2010-05-09T22:01:00.001-04:00

Khai's not big on drawing or coloring - or at least not that i'm aware of. Its quite possible that he does more at school than at home, because at home its all trains, video games, action figures, and the like. For Mothers Day though, he decided he'd draw me a picture. And appropriately for the occasion, he opted for a flower. His usual drawings are generally scribbles - but today he said "mommy, no scribble scrabble" and proceeded to draw, with quite a serious expression on his face as he focused hard on the petals and stem and leaves. Scribble scrabble to the average eye... awesomeness to a Mommy. :-)

Flower from school. Awww.

Meow.

2010-05-05T01:02:00.000-04:00

Day Out WIth Thomas

2010-05-05T00:13:00.008-04:00

After months of waiting, Thomas finally arrived at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD. I told Khai that Thomas was coming all the way from the Island of Sodor especially to see him. He was pretty impressed and it only took as much as a threat to call Thomas and tell him not to come because of some bad behavior that would snap Khai back into shape. (what am i going to use now that Thomas is gone??!!) It was 90 something degrees, hot and humid. But, for the simple fact that this was bigger than Christmas to Khai, it was all worth it. When we finally found Thomas, Khai started running towards him saying "Thomas!!! You're here!!!!" I only wish I could have gotten it on video! Our ride wasn't until later in the afternoon so we went and checked out all the other trains and activities around the station as we melted ...
Ride time came, and was set to be a short 15 minute one. A complete waste of $64, I must add. The view was non-impressive. I thought we would ride in open coaches but we didn't (i had looked up other Day Out With Thomas events, and they had open coaches... in fact, they had alot more going on.. other Thomas characters and trains were there... all we got was Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt who we didn't even get to see). Even Khai lost interest at some point. Reminder for next time, skip the ride. I am certain Khai would have been just as happy just visiting with Thomas.
And then when the ride was over....dun dun dunnnn he asked to play on the moon bounce!! They had three huge ones there, which he beyond conquered. Diving head first, taking dives off high points, flipping backwards. I don't know where any of this came from, but my little boy has finally stepped over into the fearless zone... it can only take off from here.
As the day wore down, we headed out to say Goodbye to Thomas as he made his way back home.. Khai was sad to see him go - but this other little boy was in serious tears. Its amazing how a train can capture these little kids hearts. The entire ride home, Khai asked why Thomas had to leave. :-(

More Pics From The Big Day

Fear Conquered

2010-05-01T22:03:00.001-04:00

Up until now, Khai has pretty much been afraid of moon bounces and playground tunnel, gym-like whatever you call them. All the other kids go wild in them and then there's Khai who I can see it in his eyes - he wants to go in...but still just isn't ready yet. Then this morning he saw a Burger King commercial showing Iron Man toys in their kids meal and he insisted we go. We don't generally go to Burger King, but for Iron Man.. its a deal. Khai got his meal, he got his toy, and as we were about to leave he told us with much excitement that he wanted to go to the playground area. SHOCK!!!! It didn't take very long for him to make his way up the tunnels and thru the whole maze...and then it didn't stop. He had conquered his fear and was loving it. John is extra proud of his little man today! I'm wondering if Iron Man had anything to do with it..

Baltimore Aquarium 2010

2010-04-24T22:42:00.001-04:00

Another year, another visit to the Baltimore Aquarium. Total tourists. Difference is, this year Khai is a little older and had that much more fun. The main thing he wanted to see: the sharks.

Da nuh...da nuh.....

Other Pics From The Visit

Finally Pedaling

2010-04-24T21:32:00.001-04:00

He finally decides pedaling isn't so bad after all. In fact it looks like he loves it. I came home from work a few days ago to see Khai out on his trike and Ma Moy cheering him on. He went up and down the street on his own and it apparently didn't take much time nor effort for Ma Moy to get him to pedal all by himself. Up until now, would barely pedal, fussing and yelling I caaaaan't do it!! Ma Moy's theory is he's too small still for the big boy bike, despite him being a little too big for the trike. I guess it doesn't matter though because Ma Moy's theory got him going! Hopefully it was enough to encourage him to pedal on the big bike. :o)

Saturday Afternoon in DC

2010-04-17T22:17:00.000-04:00

Today we spent the afternoon in DC with Jill and Eric. We had plans months ago to visit Madam Tussauds wax museum but plans fell thru on account of snow I believe (can't remember that far back!) and finally we were able to make it happen. Neither John nor I had ever been - I checked out the reviews online, they were pretty poor. We decided to give it a go anyways... turns out the reviews were right. It definitely wasn't worth the cost - at least not at this particular location. I wasn't all that impressed with the way the figures looked either. Regardless, we still had a decent time there despite it lasting less than an hour. We then hiked up a few blocks and checked out the Museum of Crime and Punishment. Awesome, awesome, awesome place!! Its really not a place for kids, but Khai was a sport and hung in there. And while it was expensive to get in, it was worth the money and we definitely loved it. Dinner afterwards was at the Hard Rock Cafe, located next the to the famous Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot. I've never been to one.. neither has Khai.. so there you go.. another first. Overpriced nachos that were no better than some crap you pull together at home.. the chocolate milkshake was super yum and Khai enjoyed his very first one ever. (another first! woo!). And it wouldn't be a trip out if someone doesn't call him a girl on account of his hair. He cried when I asked him if I could give him a haircut later, but finally allowed me to cut about an inch off. For the record.. I have no plans on cutting it short. I really don't care that people think he's a girl - I don't see it. He loves his hair and so do we. Its staying. Just had to trim it up some!

President Khai Dinh

The best part was he got on the phone and said he had to call his Mommy.

Your typical tourists.

Hanging with Robert E. Lee.

Movin on Up!

2010-04-16T02:27:00.001-04:00

Go Khai Go! On 4/2/10 I got a notice from the director at Khai's school that he was ready to move up to the next level classroom. They have the three year olds split into two or three classes - the newbies and on up. Khai's first 3's class was with Ms. Ana and Ms. Maria. Khai adores Ms. Ana, as do we. I was a little nervous when I got the notice because for one, I didn't want him leaving Ms. Ana - what if the new teacher wasn't as nice? I also was afraid he'd have a hard time with the older kids. In the mornings when we drop him off, we drop him off in the uppper 3's classroom. Its a mad house in there. Older kids, younger kids... mainly the two adjoining rooms are totally over run with wild, crazed kids. There are several older kids who come in for before school care - then they are bused to the public school. After them are some 4 and 5 year olds - most are self sufficient, daycare kids - which by that I mean they've been there long enough to know whats what and how to stand their ground. Then there are the younger ones. Some just as rambunctious, some quiet, some groggy. Mostly Khai will just stay at the breakfast table and quietly eat his food. When his buddy Zack shows up though, I feel relief that Khai has his friend there with him and eventually Ms. Ana comes and takes them to her classroom.
Now that he's in the new class .. its the room we drop him off at in the morning (actually its the adjoining room), my concern is or was, that he'd be nervous because of these wild kids. BUT my boy proved me wrong. He still has his moments in the mornings where he's quiet or clingy - but he's adjusted quite nicely and has made a few new friends. Unfortunately Zack wasn't transitioned over and his Mommy and I have hopes that the director will do that soon. Additionally, i'm not sure but it seems the morning craziness has died down some with the older kids - I'm thinking there aren't as many of them anymore (the ones that are bused out). I will have to take a look next time to be sure. Then again, I guess I haven't been paying much attention because i've been so focused on making sure Khai is happy before I walk out.
Khai's biggest thrill about being a part of what he calls the big kid class is being able to play on the big kids playground. They have the playground divided by a fence - younger kids on one side, older kids on the other. He was pretty proud of himself when I picked him up this past Monday (his first official day in the new class)! I've only met one of his two teachers, Ms. Sandy. She is the assistant teacher. The notice that was sent home says the main teacher is Ms. Edith - altho I could have sworn Ms. Sandy said it was Ms. Maria... either way, Ms Sandy is really nice and so far I like her and Khai seems to too. :-)

Hippity Hoppity

2010-04-15T22:07:00.003-04:00

We didn't celebrated Easter as I was growing up - we're Buddhist - nor were there egg hunts, candy baskets, bunnies and such... at most, the random egg hunt thru the community, but essentially it was just another day in our house. John always has a basket for the kids, and the past couple years Khai has gotten himself some goodies, but still, I hadn't really given it much thought - again, to me it was just another day. This year, i'm not sure what changed but I was excited to do the whole egg hunt/bunny thing and Khai was equally excited. Yah.. I know.. Easter is about the resurrection of Christ, the egg symbolizes resurrection. . but, it also symbolizes springtime, rebirth of the earth. Sooo... we'll just go with that one and of course, yummy nummy chocolates, marshmallow peeps, and jelly beans (my favorite) to boot!

Easter day, the Easter Bunny hid 36 eggs around the yard (heck thats how many came in the pack!) and left a huge chocolate bunny and basket of goodies at the front door, rang the bell and hopped away. Khai came running down to see who was at the door (he had NO clue) and was extremely surprised to find a surprise left just for him. He wanted to know where the bunny was (duh, with Santa of course) and proceeded to throw everything out of the basket to make room for the eggs... and off he went on a hunt. Now, almost two weeks later, those eggs are still a huge hit. I'm surprised that he hasn't taken each one apart and devoured all the treats inside - I would think most kids would - but he's been very good about it, and always asks if he can have one (and actually doesn't even ask all that often - tho he is very happy when I say Yes). The mega chocolate bunny has had its ear chomped off and I"m thinking Khai has already forgotten all about the bunny - its the eggs!!! the eggs rule! Thinking next year we'll do this up again!
Boing Boing More Pics Click Here

Khai Magic

2010-04-12T23:25:00.003-04:00

Going for a Ride

2010-04-12T23:24:00.000-04:00

Khai's first time behind the wheel. Cute!....and then it reminds me that soon he'll be sixteen and trying to steal my car, or begging for his own, or shudder.....dating..*

Side note: John was hesitant to let me post this.. he said he didn't want people thinking he was like Britney Spears when she drove with her kid in her lap. Bahaha.. Ok...that cracked me up. I guess I better set the record straight just in case (good grief) . . all they did was pull out of the driveway and up to the stop sign and nothing more.

Iron Man and his iPod

2010-04-12T01:02:00.000-04:00

Sucky Mom

2010-04-11T22:13:00.000-04:00

I feel just awful (which doesn't really even truly describe how badly I feel). In the past two days, I've gone off on Khai unnecessarily. Yesterday, I just lost my patience. He was only being an active three year old boy. I can't fault him for that. Instead I let my nerves get the best of me. I can easily say it was because he didn't listen. I told him not to grab the cup of water in my hands (which were also holding two bowls of food) because everything would have fallen to the ground by the way I was holding it all - he collapsed to the floor in a slump of tears and tantrum at my "no" and it just set me off. I should have handled it better - instead I yelled and then I didn't stop. I kept yelling, threw a fit of my own and stormed out. Today was worse. I got angry at him and i'm not even going to go into why because I am just so embarrassed at how mean I was. I could hear myself yelling at him and thought good grief!!! and yet I didn't stop. I was yelling and he was bawling and staring at me and when I did stop I felt like total and utter shit. I never am like this.. and here in two days, I lost it. I apologized profusely to him. I cried, I hugged him tight and he looked at me and wiped my tears and said "its ok Mommy, I love you." Ugggg...heartbreak!!!! Tonight when I tucked him in bed, I apologized again, told him just how much I love him and how much he means to me and how very lucky I am to have him. He said "I'm very lucky too". I said "why?" He said "because, I am your Khai Khai". Oh sob. I suck. Bravo mom... Me = Loser.

Happy Spring!

2010-04-06T12:13:00.000-04:00

Little Big Man on his way to school.

Fastforward Khai

2010-03-29T02:21:00.000-04:00

While I'm in no hurry for my baby to grow up, I am always wondering what he'll look like when he's older (and with a shorter haircut!).

Iron Man

2010-03-29T02:17:00.001-04:00

Khai's first action hero favorite is Iron Man. Its his latest obsession (one of many), which gathers big screams of excitement upon mention. It all started with random Iron Man cartoons on TV, followed by him picking an Iron Man car at Toys R Us, followed by action figures, and the movie. I'm pretty certain by the end of summer he'll have gathered all the figures if he can.

Glued to the movie.

Tony Stark becomes Iron Man.

Khai = Wow'ed.

OUT!

Chuck E Cheese

2010-03-27T22:14:00.002-04:00

Our 2nd visit to childrens heaven and parents nightmare - Chuck E Cheese. That place is a mad house (thus the nightmare) - although I will say, that after an afternoon there, bedtime comes easily and soundly.
Today we went for Zacks 3rd birthday party (Khai's best buddy from school). This was Khai's first Chuck E Cheese birthday party (mine too) - and his 2nd peer birthday party ever. Major bonus of having a party there - they do all the work - setup, cleanup, food, drinks, party favors...everything! I can't say there was much of a negative except for the chaos of the place. If anything, it was alot for Khai to handle. He clams up in these types of situations and it reminds me of myself so very much when I was younger. I looked over at him at the party table and saw a frightened little boy shell up (I remember these very scenarios) and I waved at him to let him know I was there and he was fine- I could tell he wanted to wave back but was too petrified. I asked him if he was OK, he stared at me blankly.. too afraid to move almost. Feeling so bad for him, I finally went and brought him to the booth we were at and the nervousness melted off of him - Mr. Chatterbox was back, devouring cake by the mouthful.
Three different birthday parties were going on simultaneously and Chuck E Cheese himself came out, did a song and dance, visited with the birthday boys and girls, and everyone sang happy birthday. After singing, food and cake, the kids scattered with their bronze game tokens. Most of the other kids had no fear - running up into the tubes they have that hang on the ceiling, climbing onto the rides. Khai preferred to stay planted on the ground playing driving games. John, parked himself at the token machine..gambling away.
As we left, Khai told us how much fun he had, although I'm thinking it'll be a while before we go back. One can only handle that amount of chaos every so often. Click Here for PICS of the PARTY

Khai, Zack, and Zack's Cousin.

Big Apple Circus

2010-03-26T23:01:00.004-04:00

I have never been a fan of the circus as far as I can remember. My mom says we used to go when I was a kid, though I don't have any memories of it. The idea of the circus just never appealed to me, so when John said to mark the calendar because we all were going, I hesitated, then tried to come up with excuses not to go. I came up empty. And then I thought about how Khai might really love it, and how I'd want to be there for his first time. Calender marked.
The day of, I was actually excited. I'm not sure why exactly. I suppose because Khai was really excited. I went and picked him up early from school, met up with John and Carter and we headed out for some dinner before hitting the big top. We met up with Alex, Avery, Mose and Sassy there and entered 2 hours of family entertainment. From the moment I picked Khai up from school it was "are we there yet? where is the circus? where? now are we there yet??", but when they turned down the lights, he got scared and said "ok, its finished, lets go now". The music started, Khai clasped his hands over his ears and kept them there a good 20 minutes before relaxing and enjoying himself, and by then he was really having a great time. I caught him shouting "wooo hoo!" several times, and clapping. Cotton candy, clowns, trapeze artists, animals, silly light up glasses...it was an enjoyable evening for all of us. Definitely going again next year.
Click Here for More Circus Pics

Christine and Khai

2010-03-20T20:22:00.004-04:00

Khai loooves Christine and without a doubt, Christine loooves Khai. Whats not to love about this picture? Every time I see these two together, I swear he could be hers and nobody would say otherwise.

Bike Riding

2010-03-11T12:13:00.013-05:00

Spring is here, the weather is warming up and its finally time to pull out the bike that Khai got for Christmas.

First Dentist Appointment

2010-03-05T22:44:00.014-05:00

Today marks the first dental appointment for Khai as well as Carter. For weeks prior to the appointment, Khai and I talked about the visit, what the dentist would do, the importance of brushing his teeth, and so on and so forth. I was pretty confident that he would stroll right on in there, plop on the chair and do us all proud. Wrong. When we first got there, Khai was instantly impressed by the waiting area. Small, but definitely kid friendly, it had toys and books and as our luck would have it, a train cartoon was on the big screen TV. So far so good...until they called us in. John and Carter hadn't arrived yet so we went on in. Khai climbed up on the chair and this is when things took a turn and never looked back. As the hygienist moved the seat back, Khai began to get nervous. Her telling him it was a fun ride definitely made no difference to him and at that point he made up his mind that this was ALL bad. Thankfully John and Carter arrived just in time and Carter stepped up as the brave big brother and agreed to go first. Despite him showing Khai that there was nothing to be afraid of, Khai steady said "No, I don't wanna do it", and by the time his turn was up, Khai was in full fear mode screaming "Get me outta heeeerrrre!!!". It got to the point where John had to sit in the seat with Khai over him, his legs locked around Khai's thrashing legs, his arms bolting Khai's flailing arms down, and me securing his face so the hygienist could do her job. I'm surprised he didn't clamp his mouth shut though and with it wide open from all the screaming, she was able to do the cleaning.
I am pleased to report: No Cavities.
Carter on the other hand was not so lucky and walked away with four and an appointment for filings in a few weeks. He was however, quite brave, which I am proud of. Nervous at first, but definitely brave and was there the entire while to support Khai. He even secured some extra stickers for Khai. The boys each got a gold coin to put a gumball machine and get a toy, along with a few goodies (toothbrush, floss, coloring sheets) to take home.
And whats this with the fluoride treatment?? Since when does it look like whip cream and come in 6 flavors?
I remember it being this nasty, goopey stuff they claimed tasted like bubble gum and was splatted in these mouth pieces and stuffed in your mouth with that horrible suction tube on the side. Hated it. Khai and Carter got to pick any flavor they wanted.. banana split, grape, bubblegum, peach, strawberry, and something else and it was applied with a q-tip and actually was yummy!! Between his sobs, Khai asked for strawberry .. then tasted it and at this point his crying and fear switched over as he realized Hey this isn't so bad at all.. He kept saying Mmm. Yum. Mmmm. between hiccups.

More Pics Click Here

Khai's New Girlfriend

2010-02-21T23:51:00.002-05:00

Khai has a girlfriend, Khai has a girlfriend. Today Khai met up with the lovely and adorable Alana. They hit it off well and were so very cute together - and might I mention well behaved!!
The kids ate their lunch with a little prodding, shared, played, and indulged in yummy M&M filled cookies. With enough excitement to wear them down, we parted ways with Khai receiving his very first kiss ever from a girl (as far as we know....) and announcing to me that Alana was his "bestest girlfriend".

Khai and Cooper's Webcam Playdate

2010-02-18T22:59:00.000-05:00

We've talked about it numerous times over the years yet I have no idea why we waited until now to do this. Tonight Khai and Cooper had their first face to face meeting. Ok..so not really face to face, but as close as can be considering our distance. They've grown up knowing each other, spoken on the phone, Halloween, birthdays, Christmas and the like have all been celebrated with the other in mind and heart and at least once a week if not every other day Jen and I talk about how great it would be if we just lived near each other. I could go on and on about how amazingly awesome that would be. And the boys - growing up together, getting into everything, nothing, school, bugs, trouble, toys, mud, girls, life.
Khai was eager for date night to come, as was I. The night before we talked about talking and playing with Cooper for the first time on the computer. It was to be a big moment! Date night went extremely well. The boys showed off all their toys, laughed, fussed, fidgeted, and got hungry - no different than if they were in the very same room together. Without a doubt, we'll be doing this again - hopefully often! Yay for our first webcam playdate! How crazy is that?? Webcam playdates.....

Snowmageddon

2010-02-17T00:41:00.022-05:00

It just won't stop snowing!! This is by far the most snow Khai has ever seen in his life. It all started the last day of January - a Sunday - Khai woke up thrilled to see snow had fallen all over the yard and of course immediately wanted to go outside. But we were in for a REAL snowfall a few days later. By noon on Friday the snow was falling fairly heavily and the office closed down four hours early. By Saturday morning we woke to snow that came half way up Khai. The blizzard of 2010 had come and hit us hard. The following day was sunny and neighbors were outside digging their way out. We spent hours outside trying to clear the snow off our cars and driveway... but there was no way to get out of the neighborhood. The roads were nowhere near plowed and with the amount of snow that had fallen, the plows weren't coming into the neighborhoods anytime soon. So we kept digging. Come Monday, schools and businesses were closed and most remained closed the rest of the week. We continued to dig. By then someone in the neighborhood who had their own plow came thru and cleared the road next to our house and a few others that lead to the main road - it was just a matter of getting to that road. Freedom was so close... Eventually, some idiot who had no business driving his car down the unplowed street got his car stuck and had to manually dig his way out. It took about three hours but he made it and this allowed the rest of us to get out (yay!). Khai and I took several walks around the neighborhood, checking out the massive snow piles, the huge icicles, buried cars, and floppy snowmen. And then blizzard # 2 hit and dumped another 6 inches on our already 25 plus inches. There will be snow for months to come for him to stomp on. We are still digging.

Year of the Tiger

2010-02-15T22:52:00.001-05:00

Happy Lunar New Year!! This year my mom and I took Khai down to Eden Center to welcome the new year. Each year the Vietnamese community host a couple different events. The final one being the first day of the new year and includes several dragons (which Khai really loved), tons of firecrackers, and of course yummy food. This year Khai knew what "Chinese New Year" was and was very excited to go to the festival. The snow storm canceled all other events leading up to it, which was disappointing, but the four hours spent at Eden Center with firecrackers going off the entire time did its part to make up for the loss. Khai also took part in helping Ma Moy pray to our ancestors and Buddha. Extremely cute, he followed along quite well and then as he walked away from the alter he stole a couple bites of rice. We couldn't stop laughing!

Praying With Ma Moy

2010-02-15T10:03:00.002-05:00

Khai praying with Ma Moy to our ancestors before we head out to the New Year festival at Eden Center.

My Little School Boy

2010-02-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

Movies!

2010-02-02T23:32:00.001-05:00

Khai has more movies than any child his age should have. I don't even own this many movies. Thankfully he watches them all...over and over.. and can tell you what each one is. Here he takes some of his many out - go figure, he's building a track for his trains.

My Monkey

2010-01-25T22:53:00.003-05:00

A wonderful package showed up in the mail the other day for Khai from my dear friend Christine - his newest hat (and current favorite)! Thanks SO very much Christine, you sent the most perfect hat for him and he's been wearing it ever since. I only wish you were nearby to give it to him yourself. Love you!

Train Show

2010-01-23T23:02:00.006-05:00

Took Khai to the train show today at the Dulles Expo Center. Holy trains!!! The place was packed with train enthusiasts, young and old. There were two lines to get in the door and both went clear around the corner of the building. When we got inside we didn't know where to start first - there was SO much to see!! There was a Thomas train with two coach cars that kids could ride on a track around the place. The line for that was ridiculous....though we somehow managed to work our way to the front. Did we cut in line?? I think so. Not on purpose though!!! Although we realized we had when the man behind us gave us dirty looks and pushed past us - but by then we were at the very front of the line and there was no way we were turning around. Khai was pretty excited to get on the ride until the very last second...then he got scared. We gave it a few more tries but he would only go if I went with him (ride was too small for Mommy). So we got out of line and continued looking around at the gazillions of trains displayed. Khai was in heaven!! Especially when we stopped at the Thomas store, and of course he walked out with a new train....or two..or three.

WOoooOOo! He Did It!

2010-01-21T23:22:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I know this is not really something he'd want me to write about for the whole world to read...but Khai pooped in the potty for the very first time. I'll try to limit my potty blogs so as to not disgust anyone.. but for anyone with a kid, you know this is HUGE. HUGE. HUGE. Remember the last time when he peed on the balance board and then finally used the potty and had this moment of emotional happiness mixed with tears? Same deal here tonight. Its pretty darn cool to see his emotions burst with this accomplishment.

Recently his teacher Ms. Ana said she'd work with him not wearing Pull-Ups during the day. I stocked his backpack up with extra pants, socks and underpants should he have an accident.. so far, I am pleased to report NO accidents! So when we got home tonight I left him in his underpants and before I knew it I saw him doing the little poop stance he does. I immediately grabbed him and set him on the toilet only to have him completely freak out on me. Crying that he couldn't do it. Scared. So here I am, sitting on the bathroom floor being the poo poo cheerleader, telling him he can do it, nothing to be scared of, singing Go Potty Go! and bloooop...he did it! Woooo! We both screamed with excitement and hugged eachother. I was so proud of my little man. I think I almost started crying. He kept saying Thank you, Goooo Khai Khai! and then demanded his treats.. lots of them to be exact. And he got them naturally. A couple Krabby Patties, a handful of gummy bears and Ma Moy gave him some animal crackers. And then I told him he's officially a big boy now. Sniff*

Pull-Up Heads

2010-01-16T10:39:00.003-05:00

I promise we are not crazy. Not always. Just a little. But we like to have fun and i'm sure at some point in his life, Khai will look back at the pictures we took from our little Pull-Up hat fun and be totally embarrassed.. but I'm also pretty sure later on down the road he's going to see just how much I love him. Well, you know what I mean....

Poopy

2010-01-09T14:53:00.002-05:00

This scenerio begins in the early morning with Khai wearing his Thomas big boy underwear - no Pull-Ups. Our goal today (as with the past number of days) is to go underwear only. So far, Khai still has yet to let me know when he needs to use the potty and if I don't take him to one every half hour to an hour, he'll pee himself... or poop. So far we've only had one, maybe two poop incidents and those were in the distant past when all this potty training initially started. This morning Khai and I pull out the Wii and decide we'll work out. Khai loves the running mode. We set everything up to go for a 10 minute run - approx 1.5 miles. I ask him moments before hand if he needs to use the potty. He says no. I step out of the room for a minute only to return to him standing on the balance board saying "The board is wet!!" and pee steady flowing down his leg and onto the board. So what do I do first? Rescue the board before $99 goes down the drain? Strip his wet clothes off? Pull up the play mat before the pee soaks the hardwood floor beneath? Somehow super mom manages to do it all in a handful of minutes and soon enough we are off on our jog after a little talk about not going in the underwear otherwise the Pull-Ups go back on.

Fast forward to a little later in the morning:
Battles ensue over potty usage. Temper tantrums, fits on the bathroom floor, "I don't have to pee!!" followed by instant peeing as soon as he sits on the potty, followed by him being so excited that he's done it that he's laughing and crying at the same time - kind of what you'd expect to see when someone wins the lottery or something. He gets a bunch of hugs, high fives, and treats and runs along as I'm shouting out after him "POTTY POWER!!!".

Fast forward to this afternoon:
"Do you have to poop?" "NO! I SAAAID NO!".
I asked him a few times this afternoon, and kept getting the same response, but I knew it was coming... and nobody likes to clean poop out. Then while i'm in the bedroomI smell it...he's pooped...in his big boy underwear. I come out to the living room where he's at and he's standing there with a smirk on his face.
"You pooped didn't you".
"Hee hee hee".
"Khai! Why did you poo poo in your underwear?"
"Because I didn't poo poo in the potty."
"Why didn't you poo poo in the potty?"
"Because I pooed in my underwear".
"But Thomas is sad now because you pooed on him, and poo poo is sad because he wanted to go into the potty to see his mommy and daddy...."
"But mama, the poo poo wanted to stay with his friends..not go see his mommy and daddy."

Khai wins.

Still Thomas

2010-01-07T22:25:00.004-05:00

His love for Thomas the Tank Engine and all trains really, has nowhere near ended. I can't remember the day he started to like them, I can't imagine the day he'll be over them, I can't tell you how many of them he has accumulated thus far, and I'm pretty certain he'll manage to finagle a few more. Die cast ones, wooden ones, battery powered ones, plastic tracks, wooden tracks, more plastic tracks, train DVDs, CDs, books, plates, cups, stickers...it just keeps going.
Ask him about any one of them, he'll give you full detail. Its pretty impressive. And whatever you do, don't tell him something that is wrong about one of his trains.. he'll get very VERY upset and set you straight. Pronto! The only debate we have is that he insists Edward is Gordon. I won't let this battle go. Neither will he. Choo chooooo!

Khai Khai Potty Pants.

2010-01-03T19:58:00.003-05:00

A while back, we started working on potty training. It was somewhat successful to start mainly I think because it involved Khai getting an M&M. Eventually the novelty wore out for him and we switched up to Pez. That wore out too. While at school, Khai will use the potty and at home its hit or miss. Most often he'll get so preoccupied with whatever he's playing with that he'll say he doesn't need to go, or he just won't tell me at all. Then there are times where he'll go on a potty streak, begging to use it. Overall, I haven't pushed the issue. I figure he'll let me know when he's really ready. But there are some days where I think he should be using the pot by now...especially when I see the other kids his age already out of diapers and pull-ups.

Today I presented him with a brand new pair of skull pirate undies after his bath. He was really excited to have them. Within about two minutes of having them on though, he started fussing. I thought he didn't want them on anymore.. he was pulling at them, howling, making faces. Turns out he wanted to use the potty and was trying to hold his pee in. He proudly used the big boy potty wore his big boy underwear the rest of the day with only one accident.

Below is his little song and dance afterwards:

Khai Asks A Girl Out

2009-12-30T23:38:00.003-05:00

This afternoon Khai and I met up with my friend Wendy for lunch, who Khai has a crush on. Ladies and gentleman...for the first time ever...Khai asked a girl to be his girlfriend. Nevermind that she's far out of his age range. I think someone may want to give her fiance a heads up. He cried when lunch was over and we parted ways. I ended up having to call her so he could talk to her ... he wanted to tell her that her hair was pretty.

After he asked her out, he put a french fry on his nose and said he was a snowman.

Khai's girl.
I told her that now that she's dating my son, I expect her to cater to me. I'm not sure how far i'll get with that...

Old Friends

2009-12-26T23:51:00.002-05:00

Earlier in the year, I passed on to Khai my most dear and beloved stuffed dog, Peppy. I've had Peppy since forever. We've been through a lot together. He's traveled all the world with me. He's been my comfort, my calm. And until not too, too long ago, I believed that he and all my other stuffed animals had feelings. I think to some degree because of Peppy, I still do in some ways. His nose has had many surgeries performed by my mom because it would always rip. His chin has milk stains on it. His collar has drawings I made on it. The night I passed Peppy on to Khai was one of those moments that gets you in the heart. Yes, I did tear up. Khai doesn't have the same love I have for Peppy but he knows how very important he is to me and makes sure to take extra special care of him. When he got him, he ran upstairs to show my mom, and I know it touched her to see him looking so much like me, holding onto my precious Peppy.
On Christmas Eve, John and I were going through a bunch of boxes in his family's storage room and came across his childhood teddy bear. Passed on that night to Khai, he fell asleep with our dear old friends tucked under his arm. I know John felt the same touching warmth as Khai reached out for Teddy and ran off to play.

Gingerbread Christmas Tree

2009-12-21T22:01:00.003-05:00

Our lopsided gingerbread Christmas tree. Didn't look anything like the picture on the box!!

Snow Storm 2009

2009-12-19T22:52:00.003-05:00

More Snowy Weekend Pics Here.

The prediction for our snowfall is up to 26 inches. The heaviest snowfall in about 4-5 years. I for one am thrilled, primarily because Khai is going to get to enjoy real SNOW!! The last time it snowed, it barely hung around a day. Yesterday when we woke up it was gloomy and gray out, but snowing like mad. Khai was so excited. Window to window he ran, just like the last time.. begging and pleading to go outside. I felt like the evil mom, having to say no to him... I'd love to have him out there with the snow falling down on his face...but it was just far too cold and windy. The last thing I want is for him to be is sick and stuck inside the entire time we have snow, like last year. I spent a good part of the early afternoon shoveling. Not fun, and my entire body is sore now. The snow kept coming down and I ended up shoveling a second round while Khai watched from the front window. I felt so awful that I got to be out there while he longingly watched (never mind that I was doing dreaded work) that I promised him we'd make some Magic Snow (fake snow) once I got inside. After our fake snow experiment, I brought in a bowl of real snow (the fake snow just wasn't cutting it) and we made a little snowman with a candy corn nose and button eyes. Thankfully today was sunny, which made everything so bright and beautiful. We spent a couple hours sledding up and down the street, trudging through knee deep snow, and building a snowman. Khai was afraid at first no doubt because there was just so much snow, but he soon got the hang of it and loved it. He's already begging to go back out tomorrow.

Ornaments 2009

2009-12-19T11:02:00.000-05:00

Snow is coming down hard and heavy today. Khai is begging to go and play in it. But its far too windy and cold and semi-blizzardy to take him out. Instead, we stayed inside where its nice and warm, in our jammies, and made Christmas ornaments. We picked out three wooden ones from Michaels the weekend prior and waited for the best time to decorate them. Today couldn't have been a more perfect day. We also added a Christmas Tree mobile that Khai made at school earlier in the week, next to my reindeer. Pretty awesome.

Bowling

2009-12-12T23:32:00.003-05:00

Khai's first time bowling. He loved it. I love the tiny shoes.

Krabby Patties

2009-12-11T01:09:00.010-05:00

Oh Spongebob... I never really paid attention to the awesomeness of Spongebob until Khai started watching the show. At first I thought Oh great, now i'll be stuck watching Spongebob Squarepants forever. Low and behold, I really like it. Really. He's such a clown. Even better, Patrick. No, maybe not even better. Equally so. Or maybe Mr. Krabs. Or Squidward.. I can't pick, they each have their dimwitted humor I can't but love.

There are many novelties that Khai calls his favorite these days. One of which are Krabby Patties. I hadn't introduced him to them until just recently - instant obsession. Mama I neeed a Kwabby Pattie. I neeeeed it. Its amazing what one little Krabby Pattie can do. Its like gold. The bonus is that one pattie comes with several sections - the two part bun, the pattie, the lettuce. Thats four whole gummies in one! I will admit, thats also four things to keep him busy...i.e. three extra moments for me to do whatever I need to do before he's calling for me again. If you're a mom, you'll know that three minutes is a whole heck of alotta minutes when you don't get any....Just give me ONE MINUTE!!!! The magic of the Krabby Pattie also extends beyond extra minutes. It works to get him to do almost anything. If you don't sit down and finish your dinner, NO Krabby Pattie! Plop, he sits down promptly at full attention and eats. Often, I simply just have to say Krabby Pattie. It doesn't matter for what, it works. I know this magic will soon run its course, as now he's starting to ~~ask for~~ demand more in one sitting. Mama, I need one more, just one more, ok Mama? Ok? Fine. ONE more... thats it. And soon after, without failure, Just one more Mama, I really really need it. About three Krabby Patties will get him to sit thru a standard haircut - at least that was the count at last haircut. One Krabby Pattie will get him thru dinner - sometimes two. The promise of a Krabby Pattie the next day will get him to go to bed, and so on...
At a dollar a box, I can't complain. Especially for the magic it brings and the three extra minutes.

Remember, licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets!
~ Spongebob~

I smell the smelly smell of something that smells smelly.
~Mr. Krabs ~

TMNT Whateverrrr

2009-12-10T20:35:00.001-05:00

For a three year old, Khai has far too many hats. Its all my fault. I can't help it! He looks so darn cute in them... I keep getting more. His most recent is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle hat.
Raphael to be exact. He had no clue who the TMNT's were until I got him the DVD and pulled the hat on him and instantly he was in love. In the movie Raphael (who is on his hat) says "Whatever" alot, which is what Khai does all the time. "Whateverrrrr". Its like having a teenager already!! Now he requests the turtles for Christmas and after watching the DVD just one time, he walks around like the expert on the flick, promptly informing us when we are wrong about something on it, then says "Whateverrr" and walks away with a little attitude.

Winking

2009-12-09T12:35:00.005-05:00

Khai has been working on his winking skills lately. Up until now, winking for him consists of using his finger to hold down an eye. In the past day or so, he has done off with the one finger and tries desperately to close the one eye on his own.

Not quite successful yet, but he's extremely proud of himself!

Advent Calender

2009-12-08T21:26:00.002-05:00

This year Khai gets his very first Advent calender. Its not that its a tradition in our household...more like i've always thought they were kind of neat growing up (but never got one) and this year as I was passing by a stack of them at the grocery store, I thought Khai would really love this. While its not the greatest one I've seen, its serving its purpose well. Behind each door is a fairly small piece of chocolate, which works out just fine by me since he gets to open his door every night after dinner (i.e no hyper child in the evenings). Its an added push to get him to finish his dinner too. Each night he's so anxious to open a door - granted he doesn't open them in order and is now begging to open two doors, sometimes three - its been fun to do this with him and maybe a new tradition for our little family.

Bye Snow

2009-12-07T11:08:00.001-05:00

It didn't last very long.... but we had fun.

First Snowfall of the Year

2009-12-06T23:34:00.003-05:00

Yesterday marked the very first snowfall of the year! The excitement was bursting from Khai from the moment he first looked out the window after waking up until the end of the day. He ran through the house screaming "Snooow! Its snowing!!" and went from window to window singing snow songs and asking a million and one questions. "How does it snow? Why does it snow? Where does it come from? Why is it on the car? Can we eat it? Can we build a snowman? Can I go outside?" Last year he really didn't get to experience much snow because he was sick alot. He didn't get to play in it and only got to stomp in a pretty weak patch of remains in the front yard. It snowed all day long and by the 2nd day, when the sun came out, we spent all morning throwing snowballs at each other, stomping his name across the back yard, and for now...he enjoys helping me clean off the snow on the car. Hopefully this winter we'll get at least one more good dose of snow for him to play in. He's been dying to wear his snow boots again and this recent snowfall surely will be long gone by weeks end. :-(

Oh Christmas Tree

2009-12-05T12:50:00.003-05:00

Oh happy day. Khai's been begging to put the Christmas tree and some lights up for a few weeks now. Today being our first snowy day of the year, seemed like an ideal day to bring out the boxes. It was a half day project, because if have a young, enthusiastic, overly excited child...they want to help. The time was then extended because a string of lights died on us just as we finished putting them up. Grrr. Ma Moy headed out in the snow, to the store to buy another box...where she got side tracked on all the other Christmas stuff. When she finally returned a good hour or more later, we finally got the tree up and Khai placed the first ornament - his hand print ornament from when he was a year old. He then pulled out some extremely old stockings from when I was a kid, and thought they were socks, so he put them on his feet and walked around... awww. I'm thinking Christmas this year will really be fun for him....for us.

Childhood Memories

2009-12-05T11:13:00.003-05:00

Nothing beats a Christmas tree with ornaments that have been around since you were a kid.
They are falling apart, the angel is missing her wings, the snowman is missing an eye, the wooden horses leg is broken and dangling. No doubt anyone else looking at these would see trash, but the wear and tear are the things that make them warm. These are our memories. Up until I had a child of my own, I used to scoff at my mom for keeping these raggity ornaments and tree. She'd always say these ones were perfectly good, and so I always thought she was just too cheap to buy shiny new ones. For Khai's first Christmas, we put up a new tree. New ornaments and lights.... Khai was still too young to really care.
The next year, my mom put up her old tree and ornaments. Still at that point Khai wasn't too into the concept of Christmas. He was intrigued by the lights but they could have been any lights and he'd have been happy just as well. This year, he's old enough to be truly excited, eager to put up the tree, eager to help hang the ornaments, calling it HIS tree. This year the old tree and its ratty ornaments really changed their meaning to me. Watching my baby boy hang the paper reindeer I made when I was five, the four weird looking Santas that used to creep me out, the random ornaments collected from the various countries I'd lived in growing up, and best of all....him adding his crayon colored, paper ornaments proudly next to mine.....
him placing his little hand on the very first ornament we made together when he was a year old - a hand print - and seeing how big his tiny hand has gotten since then... adding new memories to the old.

Video Games

2009-11-30T23:03:00.000-05:00

Well, Khai has entered the world of video games. He's been quite obsessive asking to play them. Hmm, good idea?? Bad idea?? The two games he currently plays are Cars, and Gauntlet. Both are pretty good for him in that you can't die. Ever. Cars has helped him learn how to maneuver the remote fairly well and Gauntlet really has him going at the "bad guys". Ok, so maybe that could fall into "bad idea" category here at some point. And I wonder why he walks up to me with the random punch....
Either which way, he's pretty darn good at them for someone his age. I'm impressed. He'll get in the zone when playing...and naturally, when you are playing he orders you around. Threats of
"No Video Games".. or "Bideo Games" as he calls them, get him to do lots of thing... i.e. eat, go to sleep, clean up, etc... Mwahaaa...

First Pine Cone.

2009-11-28T22:59:00.000-05:00

Khai was really excited to receive this pine cone from his Ma Moy. I love how the most simplest things can be so intriguing to a child. This was also the first time he'd ever laid eyes on a real pine cone, thus upping the excitement no doubt.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T22:47:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving, we split time between Ma Moys house and Mose and Sassy's house.
Dinner at Ma Moys, dessert at Mose and Sassy's. Khai got to visit with his cousins Alex and Avery, which was the highlight of his day - he talked about them ALL day long. And of course, he got to see Carter too - who he absolutely loves. After dinner/dessert activities primarily involved the kids playing Rock Band.. Khai LOVES Rock Band. He calls it Wock and Wole.
So, now we've got him singing, dancing, playing drums, and guitar. A full band!

Santa

2009-11-17T11:29:00.002-05:00

Last Friday John picked Khai up early from school and took him and Carter up to the play area at the mall. Both Khai and Carter spotted Santa and Khai got his picture taken with him. I'm a little bummed that I wasn't there for it - this is Khai's first time on Santa's lap!! Looks like Khai enjoyed himself though. He told me he asked Santa for a train freight car. Naturally it would be train related!!

Good Day For A Museum Trip

2009-11-14T22:19:00.005-05:00

Cold and rainy outside, it was a good day for a trip to the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center. One of the best things is its not located in DC like the rest of the museums and is only aout a 15 - 20 minute drive from the house. We've come here at least three or four times over the years, but this was Khai's first visit. The museum is a huge hangar with three levels filled with planes, engines, helicopters, rockets, satellites, and the space shuttle Enterprise, just to name a few things. And, what we always come to see, the SR-71. Johns favorite. Although Khai was a bit apprehensive walking on the skywalks at first, he and Carter enjoyed themselves. We brought Carter a few years ago, so it was also interesting to bring him in at a different age, different perspective...

The end of the day we all piled into the gift shop as usual to buy something overpriced. Carter opted for some moon goop. Khai picked a Transformer. Speaking of which, they had a Transformers display there - scenes from Revenge of the Fallen were shot there - and the display included things like Jetfire prototypes, Starscream design plans, Wheelie's vehicle mode, and Sector 7 memorabilia.

Our All American Family Outing concluded with none else but museum McDonalds. Completely overpriced and terrible tasting....but the kiddies loved it. I think they charged double the price for a burger, skimped us on the ice, but at least they had yummy, warm cinnamon buns!
For More Museum Pics Click Here

The Godfather

2009-11-07T00:24:00.001-05:00

Tonight Khai got to see Tony, his Godfather... its been a long, long while! It was a very short visit but it was definitely great to see Khai in Tony's arms. I think the last time he held him, Khai was an infant! Khai knows who his Uncle Tony is because we bring his name up alot at home, and was very excited when I told him we were going to see him after I picked him up from school today. We arrived at our meeting spot a bit before Tony got there and Khai kept asking Where is my Uncle Tony? Where is he??
After we parted ways, Khai spoke about him for a good portion of the night and even took some of the Hot Wheels that Tony gave him for his birthday, to bed with him. Big hit!

This is Halloween!

2009-11-01T00:20:00.004-04:00

Happy Halloween!!! Its finally came and sadly went too quickly. This year was Khai's first year trick or treating in the neighborhoods. Last year, he was sick and we spent at most 15 minutes at the mall where they do trick or treating indoors, and the year before that we were also at the mall but even then, Khai was too young to really know what was going on. So this year was a big first and Khai was on a mission to hit up all the houses and get as much candy as he could carry in his pumpkin. He opted to wear his Dracula costume from last year instead of the train conductor costume he'd been talking about since August. He informed me that he already wore it to his school Halloween party on Friday and so that was that.. done. It was raining off and on through the night, but it was warm, which made it tolerable. Khai made an anxious dash for the first house, then the second and so forth. At every door he not only rang the bell, he banged on the door (over and over) and at one house even went as far as opening their front door. The excitement of the night was everything he had anticipated. Khai also got to experience this first with his big brother Carter, who dressed up as Jason. By the end of the night, the boys had more than enough candy that Papa could steal and they wouldn't miss a piece.....

More Halloween Pics: Click Here

Pumpkins By Papa

2009-10-31T23:33:00.000-04:00

John's Halloween Pumpkins for the boys.

Cox Farm

2009-10-26T01:30:00.001-04:00

Another year, another visit to Cox Farm for their Fall Festival. I'd have to say i'm pretty disappointed that it was exactly the same as last year. On a positive note, Khai enjoyed himself much more than he did last year - no doubt because he is older. We'll most likely go again next year and most likely nothing will have changed except for Khai's age and ability to go on more rides..which likely will make it a good time overall. We spent a good four hours there - the weather was sunny and breezy - a huge difference from last years heat. Khai really enjoyed the big slides this year and was overly anxious to pick out his pumpkin at the end of the day. I'm not sure why, but he insisted that he get a small pumpkin, not a big one. We got three, which he planted right by his train tracks at home and had his trains circle around the "pumpkin patch". The corn maze was muddy and slack, we ventured into the vortex tunnel which scared the bejeezus out of Khai. We bought some local honey with the comb, we ate a huge bag of kettle corn, drank fresh cider, had hot dogs and nachos, checked out cows and pigs and roosters, stuck our faces in silly cut outs, and climbed thru hay mazes. Everyone was exhausted by the time we walked out of there and no doubt we all slept well.

More Cox Farm Pics: Click Here

Packages from Afar

2009-10-22T00:36:00.004-04:00

Oh wonderful packages from our favorite Canadians, Cooper, Jen, and Nev. Every year we wait impatiently for what surprises will arrive in the Halloween/Birthday package and we are never disappointed. This years box was wonderful! Transformers, amazing soaps created by Nev, Khai's super cool Frankie tshirt, cars, candy, Diego Legos, Jack Skellington nightlight, stickers, coloring book, .... I could go on and on. I'd say the hit of the night for Khai was the Diego Lego backpack. For me, the soaps without a doubt. I could seriously eat them they smell SO good ( I have already licked one, no kidding). Thanks guys, so very, very much! We Love You!

Nothing beats getting presents when you least expect it. Especially when you think your birthday is all over and done with and the buildup to the big day has long passed and it'll be another full year until the excitement of YOU returns. We came home a full week after Khai's birthday to find a package sitting by the front door from none other than Zach, Auntie Trish, and James, filled with extra awesome goodies. Top gift hands down: Speed Racer cars. All the cars that Khai has wanted and we couldn't find here in VA. PERFECT!! This package definitely made Khai's day. A big, big thank you and lots of love to Zach, his Mommy and Daddy!

Two Weeks Left!!

2009-10-17T22:46:00.001-04:00

Halloween is almost here!

Rainy Saturday

2009-10-17T21:51:00.009-04:00

The weather has been cold and rain for a week now. Miserable. I don't mind the cold, but I hate, hate, hate the rain. And what's worse, a rainy weekend. I was hoping we could take Khai to the pumpkin patch this weekend but its far too wet. Instead we spent almost our entire day at Fair Oaks Mall. Khai and I met up with Kara (Khai's Godmother and one of my closest friends) at 10am and Khai immediately wanted to go to the play area. Within an hour, the madness began when the place was flooded with crazed, overly energetic kids who have been cooped up due to the rain. Far too much visual stimulation as Kara and I said several times.... Someone was constantly screaming, crying, pushing, falling, bumping. We saw these two kids roughly Khai's age, brothers I think, in an all out brawl. As in straight up beat down. Nuts!!
Khai had a blast though and towards the end, his best buddy from school, Zack, showed up with his Mommy and Daddy. Khai talks about Zack often and so he was quite happy to see him there. The boys ran around for a good hour or so before we left. Met up with John for lunch, where Khai had a huge meltdown over a chicken nugget, but was soon calmed thanks to yummy cinnamon pretzel sticks from Cinnabon. Mmmm. We spent the next few hours walking around the mall before calling it quits. The place was getting more and more crowded and we were feeling like zombies at that point. It was still pouring when we left and Khai passed out on the ride home, waking just in time to dive into the awesome workbench/tool set that Kara gave him as a birthday present today!! He LOVES it!! Thank you Kara!

2nd Parent/Teacher Conference

2009-10-14T11:18:00.002-04:00

Today we had Khai's 2nd parent/teacher conference at the school. Awww. When did I start going to parent/teacher conferences?!!! It still is mind blowing. Khai is doing exceptionally well and is a smart boy, per Ms. Lily, his teacher. He got all check marks and is ready to move to the 3's room!! Yay big boy! I'm proud of you.

Three Years Old

2009-10-13T11:23:00.008-04:00

With it being a long weekend and Khai's birthday not until Tuesday, we made this weekend a Khai Birthday Weekend. The festivities started Friday night with a little party at Mose and Sassy's house, with pizza and a Cars cake made by Papa, presents, balloons and streamers. Khai got some items from the Toy Story movie - Slinky the dog, Army men - along with a new tee-ball set and Cars race car. Somehow though, the major hit was a pocket tape measure of Sassy's. Go figure. Saturday was a big day for us all - the long awaited trip to the Western Maryland Railroad. Khai was going to get to ride on a real steam engine - a first time for all of us. We got up bright and early (more like dark and early) and left at 8am. Arrived at the station with only a few minutes to spare at 10:45am. The weather was prettty damp and cold but thankfully no rain. Train 734 pulled some 15 cars and was completely sold out. We found seats way in the back and enjoyed an hour ride into the Frostburg Depot, where we got off and spent 90 minutes hanging around town. Stopped off for some hot coffee and cocoa at the local coffee shop before heading back to our train car and heading back to our starting point.
Beautiful scenery. Friendly people waving along the way. The boys seemed to enjoy the trip, despite being restless (alot). We were all extremely tired by the time we got off the train but still had a 2 hour ride home. The boys fell asleep instantly in the car and for the first time in the entire day John and I had a little peace and quiet. Phew!! Pulled into the drive way at 8:30pm. It was a long, long day, but an enjoyable one. The boys got a few souveniers from the trip and hopefully the pictures and memories will be something the cherish for years to come.

Sunday was spent playing with Khai's new toys and resting. Monday was Khai's final birthday celebration, with presents and another home made cake by Papa. Khai requested a PINK Jack Skellington cake. Pink. Ok, pink it is. John did a pretty decent job on it and Khai was pleased, shoving his face right into the cake. He tore through the presents rapidly and I think he more so enjoyed that part of it all, versus the actual presents! Tuesday, Khai's actual birthday, we hung around the house, played with all the new toys - books, trains, Spongebob video games, Buzz Lightyear, playdough, stickers, Batman, movies and so on - and finally wound down for bedtime at the end of the day.

I think overall, Khai made out like a bandit per usual, and hopefully he had himself a good time. He insisted that yesterday was not his birthday seeing as we celebrated all the other days, but he knows that he is now officially three years old and a big boy. We are still working on the potty training and my hope is that once he moves to the 3's room, he'll be that much more encourage to soley use the potty and we can finally ditch the pull ups. Khai's crazed behavior is still ongoing - now I question if it was the Amoxycillin or what.. hard to say. The behavior started around that time.. I just thought by now it would pass. It hasn't. Its been rough on us all but we are working through it and I have confidence we'll be fine. Maybe this is just what being three is all about!

Birthday Photo Album: Click Here

Western Maryland Train Ride Pics: Click Here

Mess!

2009-10-10T22:44:00.000-04:00

How does he make such a mess? Oh yes, he's three. I came home to this today. And this is just a small fragment of what he did...

Amoxicillin and the Insanity

2009-10-06T10:44:00.004-04:00

So we've been giving Khai his Amoxicillin exactly as prescribed for his ear infection. Once in the morning, once in the evening, both with full meals. Its his first time taking antibiotics of any kind and generally its the first go to kind for something like an ear infection. They say it works within the first few days and I believe that to be true as I don't see that Khai has had any issues with his ear since the first day he complained about it - prior to me taking him in for his checkup. However I never thought about the fact that something that is supposed to help him out, could bring out such the beast in the boy. Never in a million years would I have thought that, until my mom mentioned something last night. And I'm not sure why I didn't think of it - plenty enough i've taken medication and reacted badly to it. But for some reason, I just didn't think that this could be the cause of his beastly behavior.
Now when I say beast, I mean BEAST. It goes beyond his normal tantrums and outbursts. It goes as far as hours of screaming and crying and throwing himself here and there, pushing us away only to want us to hold him. Most of the time its over the smallest thing. Example - the step stool was turned upside down. The door was shut. His truck was on the bed. I touched the remote. I looked at him. John carried him up the stairs, and he went willingly then decided he wanted to walk up himself and threw an all out anger filled fit as he went down the stairs and proceded to try and lock us out. I could go on and on.
Anyone reading this no doubt would say it sounds like a typical toddler tantrum, but I assure you it is anything but. The blood murder tyraid is beyond anything normal. Its crazy. Its full of anger and frustration. These long outbursts started shortly after he started the Amoxicillin. Again, I didn't put this all together until my mom mentioned the possibility last night, which prompted me to do some research today - turns out, we aren't the only ones. There is nothing that says Yes, Antibiotics makes your toddler crazed - but certainly as someone who is around him all the time and knows him well, I know my kid and I know this isn't his normal way of being.
I can't say that the antibiotics did it but I sure believe so. We only have a few days left. We are going to stick it out. Maybe thats not a good idea. .. I'm not sure. I'm going to book his follow up appointment and mention the behavior to the doctor to put it in his record. I think next time, if there is one (and likely there will be), I will request something other than the pink stuff and see if we get the same reaction. If so, we'll determine at that point what the next course of action should be. Hopefully Khai won't be anything like me though, a sickly child constantly guzzling antibiotics.

I Love You So Much

2009-10-04T01:15:00.009-04:00

Its the middle of the night and Khai wakes up and calls for me. "Mama where are you? Its dark in here". I run into the bedroom and he's sitting up in bed, throws his arms around me and hugs me tight. I tell him "Mama's here and I"ll never leave you and if I do I'll always come back". I can feel his body relax onto mine as he puts his head on my shoulder. I get him situated back in bed and tell him I love him so much. He whispers "I love you so much too Mama" and I can see him smile in the light of the nightlight on the nightstand. I give him a kiss and he kisses me back and then he giggles. Then I giggle. Then he makes a quiet little pop noise out of his mouth, like a faint kiss. I make one back, he returns it. Back and forth we are doing this, quietly giggling and smiling. The whole time my hand is on his heart and I can feel its quick little beats and I start to tear up with happiness because it was one of those moments where I really feel just how much I love this little boy. And I smile and make my pop noise back at him. He makes one more pop and turns over and settles to sleep.

Trains and Cars

2009-10-02T22:34:00.001-04:00

As if this little boy needs anymore trains or cars....or toys for that matter. And no doubt this isn't even all of it. Cars and even more so, trains, are the IT around this house. The cars actually were more for me, i'll admit. But now Khai's very into them just the same. I love just sitting and watching him play with them all. The conversations he makes them have. The battles. The entire storyline. Watching his mind flow is one of my most favorite things.

Halloween Time

2009-10-01T12:48:00.000-04:00

That fantastic time of year is finally here. More exciting and magical than Christmas, we wait impatiently all year for it to arrive. We put up our first Halloween ornament of the year several weeks ago and waited and waited for the stores to start stocking Halloween goodies. I must say I'm rather unimpressed this year with whats out there. It seems there was way more in the previous years. Nonetheless i'm still still holding out hope that there will be more.

This time of year brings trips to fall festivals, pumpkin patches, and I can't wait to take Khai to the corn maze. The last time we went was before Khai was conceived. After that he was just too tiny to take and then last Halloween he was sick - plus I think he would have been too young to really enjoy it. This year though...this year...

Last year we had in him a little vampire outfit. I don't know if it was because he was sick or because he just hated the outfit but it didn't work out as well as we had hoped. In fact, when I look at the pictures - him minus the cape looked like a waiter at a froo froo restaurant.

This year, he picked his own costume out and he's going to be a train conductor. Not as spooky as I had hoped, but he's very pleased with it and has been wearing his costume since August. He's ready! He tells me I will be a witch and so will Papa. We'll see.

Three Years and a Checkup

2009-09-28T23:49:00.001-04:00

Khai's not officially three years old yet, but its close enough for a yearly physical. I was extremely surprised and impressed at how good he was! He wasn't scared, he was cooperative and he was very polite to Dr. Kelly, and for this he earned himself a sticker which he proudly wore on his arm the rest of the afternoon. I also promised to take him to Toys R Us and got him a new Thomas book and some new jammies - which he calls his Thomas space suit.

He looks so cute in his little footies..

Stats from the visit:

Height - 37''

Weight - 32 lbs 3.02oz

Noggin size - 20''

Peeing for M&Ms

2009-09-22T10:36:00.000-04:00

Today marks Day 5 of peeing in the potty. Last Friday I stopped off at the store and purchased two small bags of M&Ms on Johns suggestion to use them as potty treats/bribes. They work!!! Its amazing how great they work!!! I never knew one teeny little M&M could have so much power. Just one!! Khai falls over himself to use the potty just to get a single treat, all the while begging for more. Its been about a month or more now that he's announced "Diapers are for babies, I'm a big boy now" and steady sings "No more diapers for meeee". We still use diapers on him for bedtime but have made the full on switch to pull ups during the day. Honestly, I hate pull ups, but they make Khai feel like he's wearing underwear - he calls them his underwear. I'm not sure he's fully ready for the real deal yet though, as he still is pooping in the pull ups (that’s why I hate them... not an easy clean up) despite my bribes of TWO M&M's. I think next week I'll bring underwear and some extra clothes to the preschool and let them start working on it. My attempts a few weeks ago left the entire pack of underwear covered in poo. It wasn't a fun afternoon. Then again, I don’t think it'll be pleasant coming to pickup Khai at the end of the day and being handed a baggie full of poopie underwear.. oh well, it’s the process and we'll get there. He's pretty excited about wearing his Thomas and Cars underwear.. so hopefully he'll transition over as fast as his interest has been for peeing in the potty. Fingers crossed!

Too funny - the other evening he was on the potty hoping to earn his treat. Working pretty hard for it actually. In the other room he heard a Thomas song playing on the TV. He said "Mama, I HAVE to dance!!" I said "Khai Khai, you're on the potty, you can't go dance now." Torn between his need to dance and his desire to earn a treat, he freaked out and started to cry there on the toilet. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, he asked to get off and ran to the living room and stood there in the buff, bawling his eyes out, doing his little two step move. When that was all done, he went back to the potty and sat there crying, trying to earn his treat. I love this kid.

My Little Big Boy

2009-09-21T13:24:00.000-04:00

I spent quite a lot of time just staring at you this weekend. Every little bit of you. Your nose, your cheeks, the way you talked, the silly faces you made, the mean faces you made, the way you wiggled your toes, picked your nose, laughed, danced. And its times like these where I'm in such awe of who you are and what you've become in three short years. I found myself getting teary eyed with pride many times, only to burst out laughing as you suddenly did or said the most random thing. Sometimes I simply cannot believe that you came from me. I can't get over the fact that I'm a mom, your mom. Then there are times that I can't remember a day when I didn't have you in my life. And to think, its been a year since you started pre-school now. It seems like yesterday I was busy researching schools in the area, stressing out because I really had no idea what I was doing and worried that I wouldn't get you into the right place. We've had some ups and downs with your school, Sparkles, but in the end I think its been a good starting place for you. It makes me really happy that you are enjoying yourself and have developed good relationships with your classmates. You've flourished so much there and I'm so proud of the little man you've become. You continue to amaze me each day with all the new things you learn and how bright you are. And now you are just about ready to move into the Three's room - you'll be graduating from your very first class ever! My mind is spinning over the thought. You were just a teeny little baby in my arms the other day Khai! Time flies at such an amazing speed. Every time I turn around you are up to new things. I love that now you have your own ideas and opinions and you definitely aren't afraid to voice them. I love that you have such a passion for trains. It blows my mind that at this age you know all the details about trains - things I don't even know. I'm always wondering how you know these things, where you learned these words, phrases, sounds. I cannot wait to take you on this train ride we have planned for you for your birthday. I think it'll be one you'll talk about for a long time to come.
I love that you also have this passion for dancing. You hear a song and instantly your feet start to shuffle. You have this cute little two-step move that you do. Cracks me up every time. It doesn’t matter what you are doing or where you are.. you hear a song and you say Mama, I HAVE to dance and off you go.
Even more of a favorite, you are so sweet (when you want to be.. and I say this because you can be just as much of a little devil!) and you always tell me you love me. Its a lot like the dancing, where you could be in the middle of anything.. crying, laughing, playing, eating.. and you'll stop and say "I love you Mama", followed by a kiss. And I love how for you its not complete until you get that kiss in. I love the feeling of knowing that I'm your number one (at least for now!!) I love how when I'm down, you are always there to cheer me up. When I cry, you cry. When I laugh, you laugh. You always tell me "Its ok Mama, its ok" when things aren't. I love your tiny hand in mine. I get sad when I hold your little feet and they aren't so little anymore. I love your long hair and your long eyelashes and how every time I hug and kiss you its not enough! Every morning when we wake up, we say "The sun is up, the moon is down" - I'm going to miss saying that with you one of these days. I hope that day doesn't come anytime soon. I could go on and on with my list of favorites and loves. I love everything about you Khai, even your worst moments. You are my best friend, my little buddy, my big boy, my baby.

Transitions

2009-09-21T11:26:00.001-04:00

I guess here would be the best time to transition over from Khai writing to me writing - although i'm still way behind. I'm not sure how I had so much more time to post before. I thought I had the zombie mom thing down.. maybe its finally caught up to me as I find myself going to bed when I put Khai to bed each night, more and more these days. Ok, let me take that back, I fall asleep as I'm waiting for Khai to fall asleep. I'm not sure who really falls asleep first, all I know is that I wake up and its the middle of the night and I say to hell with it and go back to sleep. I have every intention each night to get up after he's fallen asleep and work on the countless projects i've started.. .. it never happens. And on the random night like last night, where I did have a little time, I opted to do a whole lot of nothing, but veg on the couch and catch a breath and a break.
Anyways, I've successfully re-added the 2009 pictures i've lost and slowly will make my way backwards to get everything else back in place. I keep making new goals for myself to get caught up on this blog and the photo albums.. hopefully this is my last goal set and I can do it once and for all!

Smith Mountain Lake

2009-08-25T10:10:00.014-04:00

This past weekend, Khai, Carter, John and I went to Smith Mountain Lake. The Moseley family goes every year but this was Khai's first time and he was more than excited. He had been anticipating the trip for weeks prior only to get sick the week we originally planned to go. Thankfully he got over his terrible cold and we made the 4 plus hour drive there the following weekend. This trip came with many firsts for Khai: first time on a boat, first time at a beach, first time playing in the sand and collecting shells, first time in a real pool, first time on a long car ride, first family vacation. He amazed us with his positive mood the entire time and his joy of each first. We were especially impressed with his fearlessness on the boat and in the pool. Most of the time in the pool he'd say "Mommy DON"T hold me! I can do it myself!!" as he kicked his little big boy feet and paddled off, testing his limits. And ever since his pool adventure, he now loves taking baths - which used to be torture for him.

A brief history on the lake:

Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of rural southwestern Virginia, Smith Mountain Lake was created to generate electricity and to help manage water flows downstream and nearby. The lake was formed when they built a damn back in 1963.... and the filling of the lake was finally completed 2.5 years later. The lake is 20,600 acres with 500 miles of shoreline and is approximately 40 miles long. The surface covers some 32 square miles and the highest water level is about 795 feet above sea level.

We left early Friday morning and not long after we hit the highway, we were detoured due to a major accident. Someone got plowed by a mack truck. We stopped mid way for lunch at a Mcdonalds/gas station/who knows what else that place had.. it was awful. Never ever never again shall we stop there. We enjoyed the rest of the drive there though, lots of trees and mountain scenery but lots of stupid drivers on the road. We made it to the lake around dinner time and took the boat out to the marina and stopped in for some Chinese. Khai was a mixture of apprehensive and excited as he got on the boat. The ride back home was full on excitement for him. No more fear. Next morning it rained. We passed the morning at a coffee shop and afterwards the arcade. The kids had a blast earning tickets towards prizes. Finally the sun came out and we headed for the pool followed by the beach. Khai loved playing in the sand, collecting shells and rocks. We played on the beach until the sun went down and spent our last morning at the pool. Khai couldn't get enough of it and was really upset when we had to leave. We'll definitely be going back next year, and without a doubt will stay longer than two days this time!

Star Gazing

2009-08-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Just hanging out with Papa, checking out the stars.

Train Conductor and Indian

2009-08-15T23:39:00.005-04:00

Khai picked this train conductor outfit out today at Toys R Us as his Halloween costume. He wore it all evening long and so I decided i'd stick a headband around my head and a Spongebob party blower in my hair and well, i'm not sure if this counts as Native American, but thats what i'm going for. Then we decided this would be a perfect birthday picture for Cooper since he's going with the Spongebob theme this year. I love when things work out this way! :-)