For a little over a week now, we've had a dog. Our friends are on vacation and we volunteered to watch their dog, Abbey. We want to help out, but we've also thought of getting a dog of our own in the future.. so this was a trial run of sorts. After this experiment, I can say with certainty that we don't have the emotional bandwidth for it now. I think I would just feel guilty all the time.. also, not growing up with a dog, I am honestly not sure if I'm ready to accept the inherent mess that just comes with owning a dog.
However, the kids are over the moon in love with Abbey. They squeal with excitement when they see her. They love feeding her, filling up her water bowl, walking her, and giving her treats. I'm not sure if the feeling is mutual.. Abbey tends to shy away from the kids when they try to pet her, but she loves hovering under their chairs during mealtime.
It takes three people to walk the dog
Sora is showing Abbey her toy doggie
Sunny and family came over to my parents' last weekend and cooked up a feast. (un)Surprisingly, Sora loved the octopus. The kids enjoyed being part of Nik's workout regimen and helping Gung Gung play Texas hold 'em on the iPad.
Holding a plank is way harder when you have over 50 lbs of toddler crawling across your back
We went out to celebrate Lin's birthday. It was great to see everyone in spite of the rainy weather. We also went out to dinner with the kids midweek. The kids did surprisingly well, perhaps the incentive of a macaroon ice cream sandwich for dessert helped?
Someone's happy
This past weekend, we went to Rebecca's birthday party and a Chipotle party at Anny and Kent's. We arrived a little early and the weather was great, so we killed time at the playground first. Quite adorably, Sora insisted that Kai hold her hand as they went down the slide together. However that moment came and went, and later Sora refused to hold Kai's hand. Both parties were at the same time, so I went to Anny's while Nik took the kids to the birthday party. The kids had a lot of fun and continuing in their adorableness, Kai insisted on catching Sora as she came down the inflatable slide. They certainly have their moments. :)
OMG. So. Much. Thomas.
Nik's been working through the weekend, so I've had to manage the kids on my own in the evenings. Fortunately, they've been pretty well behaved aside from Sora hardly eating a thing. A little TV also helps. :P
And I'll leave this post with one final picture:
That moment when you're trying to admonish your kids while you're frantically trying to take a picture
Today marks the tenth year since Nik and I began dating. Yes, we still keep track of random anniversaries like our dating anniversary.. fortunately, Nik had the foresight to choose Valentine's Day, so it's easy to remember. To celebrate, Nik and I saw La La Land yesterday and then had a lunch date today followed by Rita's. Watching La La Land felt appropriate since (in spite of the traffic and smog) Los Angeles will always hold a special sort of magic for me since a lot of our dating history occurred there.
Over ten years ago (at Griffith Observatory)..
.. and today (we finally have Rita's in SJ!)
Since I last posted, we had a dumping-filled CNY lunch with the Lais and then got together with my family to celebrate the year of the rooster.
The chaos of three toddlers at a Chinese restaurant on CNY
How to Train Your Toddler
We also went on a snow trip with our church friends. On our way up we stopped at the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. The kids loved it, and were obsessed with jelly beans for the remainder of the trip.
Jelly bean mosaic
That's a lot of jelly beans..
My little horse
We then joined the LSCC caravan, and were duly impressed by the organization and logistical operation of coordinating 11 cars via walkie talkies and group texting threads. Unlike previous years (excluding last year) there was a lot of snow this year. Nik had to install chains for the very first time, so being part of the big caravan certainly helped.
Someone's proud of himself
We stayed at a Christian conference center right next to Lake Tahoe. The kids enjoyed playing in the snow, but weren't too fond of sledding. Aside from a brief field trip to Heavenly Village, it was a pretty low-key trip with lots of time spent just playing in the snow or hanging out, but traveling with the kids is still exhausting and Nik and I were more tired after the trip than before.
Everyone's favorite snow toy: the snowball maker
Mid-snowball toss
Sora-sized snow cave
Heavenly Village
Crazy kids
Superbowl Sunday: kids watching a tablet on one end of the room and adults watching the game on the other end of the room
The snowy drive home
With the days getting longer and warmer, and since we've had a break in the rain, we've been venturing out a little bit more after picking the kids up from school.
Nik and I were giggling at the kids the other day because they were obsessed with "cutting the cheese." Get it? ;)
Kai was briefly ill over this past weekend, but got over it quickly. I hope this bodes well for future illnesses, but maybe we just got lucky this time around. Kai was well enough to help me make banana bread.. he's become quite the expert assistant.
Kai seems to be getting cleverer by the day. He remembers my promises and hours later he will remind me if I forget. He has sound logic and I'm constantly impressed with his reasoning abilities. Next post, I'll try to make a note of an example. His writing is improving and he now can write out his name without assistance. I know it's not particularly special at his age, but it still feels remarkable to me given that he wasn't able to do it only a month or so ago.
All by himself!
These days, Sora is chatterbox. She talks and sings to herself non-stop as we drive in the car. Since Bright Star is a Mandarin-speaking daycare, her English is peppered with Mandarin and sometimes we don't understand what she's trying to say. She loves Thomas (undoubtedly Kai's influence) and insists that we sing her Thomas songs before bed.
Leis layered on top of stethoscopes.. makes sense?
She is still frustratingly tiny, although I think she has finally outgrown most of her 12-month old clothing. She hardly eats during some meals, though when we went to Elysia's birthday party this past weekend, it wasn't a problem. Sora parked herself next to the cereal necklace making station and crammed cereal in her mouth throughout the party.
Happy Valentine's day from my two pint-sized Valentines!
Valentines from Sora on the left, Kai on the right
Lately, my sweet Sora has been testing the boundaries of my patience; her default response to any question is, "no!" or "nobody!" It's a little amusing, because usually she'll backtrack once she realizes of the content of the question. For example:
Baba: Who wants a cookie?
Sora: Nobody!
[Sora pauses for a moment while she ponders the question and looks up]
Sora: Me! [while nodding emphatically]
This happens numerous times a day and gets old fast. Sora is not even 2.5 yet, but I've heard of the dreaded "threenager" and I wonder if that's where we're headed with her.
The cute smile belies her true nature
Perhaps I'm just being optimistic, but I think that Kai is getting easier the manage these days. He will usually do something if I ask him to do it (although it may take him forever or it may only happen after threat of punishment). And even though his clothes may end up on him backwards, he even dresses himself nowadays!
Rewarded with an egg tart for finishing his dinner
With all the rain that we've had, we've had to figure out good indoor activities for the kids. We took the kids out to the mall the other day just for fun; the kids loved the candy store.
Kai and Sora also helped me make banana bread the other day.
Those oven mitts on Sora though
Fortunately, it hasn't rained continuously, and Nik and Grandma Udom took the kids out to see the swollen creek.
I also took the kids out to the playground.. something that we haven't done in a long time since it's been dark, cold and wet. The kids loved it and Kai went down the big slide a number of times on his own.
Starting slow with the little slide..
.. and on to the big one!
Also, popsicles and backpacks are now a "thing." Kai talks about bringing the backpacks camping.. I guess the kids are gearing up for warmer weather.
My Mom read to the kids while we were visiting last weekend. I was impressed that the kids were mostly enthralled by her reading in spite of the perpetually on TV at my parents' house.
Nik and I went on a lunch date at San Pedro Square yesterday. I think we're going to try to do some more new and novel activities--just to mix things up.
