How I Spend My Days (by Chipmunk)

Ever wanted to know how I, a 14 month old, get through the day?

First things first. I eat. And boy do I eat. Here are the remnants of my breakfast: a whole banana and a bowl of cheerios (which I followed soon after with a cup of yogurt and a couple mandarin oranges).



Then I get down to business. Kitchen first. I make sure to take all the magnets off the fridge and all the pots and pans out of the cupboards.



Next, I target my sibling. I always go for the toys she's playing with. It's just more fun that way.



Then, I work on my climbing skills. I aim to raise the bar each day climbing to newer and higher heights. Here I managed to climb Mt. Desk.



"What? I'm not supposed to be climbing here?" (See I'm feigning innocence...another skill you must practice on a daily basis)

Mischief. Ah yes, another "must" in my day. Here I am pouring Goldfish crackers into the exersaucer. I don't know about you, but for me crackers just aren't right unless they're spilled all over the place. Same goes for cheerios, raisins, cheese, and well, any food actually.



More Mischief. Any of the following tasks work best if repeated multiple times throughout the day:
1. Pulling my sister's hair
2. Emptying laundry baskets and clothes drawers
3. Dropping food into hard to reach places
4. Getting into the toilet (listening to my mom freak out!)
5. Body slamming my teddy bear
6. Finding the telephone and calling random phone numbers
7. Throwing my toys into the shiny bin my mom calls the trash can
8. Practicing my awesome Rock Band skills on the pots and pans

After knocking a few of these tasks off my to-do list, my mom usually tries to hinder my work by turning on the mind-control device (television), hypnotizing me into a passive state.



I can usually break free from it's evil paralyzing ways after about 5 minutes, where I make sure to make-up for the loss of time by doubling my efforts.

And that, my friends, is how I spend my day.

Shiner

Our little Bear had a little accident at church this morning...



She had a close encounter with a file cabinet after a bout of spinning. Bonk! She immediately started bruising around her eye and wasn't too happy for a while...

She seems better now...although perhaps a little more wary of spinning.

Walking

"So is he walking yet?"

We've been getting asked that question since Chipmunk was 9 or 10 months old. I guess if a baby starts to crawl and cruise early, walking seems like the next logical step. Apparently, it's not so.

His first birthday passed and still he insisted on crawling and being carried.

"He's still not walking yet?"

We weren't worried. We figured that the later he walked the better for us.

"Oh, he's cruising...he'll be walking any day now!"

Well, he's been cruising since 8 months old...he's been cruising for almost 6 months now.

So Matt and I joked that Chipmunk probably already knew how to walk, he was just choosing not to. That's also the joke we told everyone who questioned us about why he wasn't yet walking.

Apparently we weren't that off...

This morning he woke up, played a while, ate breakfast, played some more and then around 11 o clock he decided that it was time to move on. Not just one or two steps, but full on walking from one room to another without any assistance. It's like something just went off in his head and today was the day he would become a walker...

Perhaps tomorrow he will decide to run...

Korean food

Driving home from dinner tonight...

Matt: I'm going to have to get a night job or something.

Me: What? Why?

Matt: Have you seen the way our kids eat?

We just spent the hour before gaping at our children as they inhaled bowls of soon du bu, bulgogi, rice, and broiled fish.

I learned that if I want to actually eat some, I need to order two rather than one to share. Bear practically ate a whole stone pot of tofu goodness on her own. Chipmunk? He almost seemed chubbier after dinner if that's possible.

I'm just glad they like Korean food. Bring on the kimchi.



Bear's leftovers: an empty pot, empty bowl and fish bones.

Unconcerned

Bear is usually like a "little momma" to her brother, so sometimes when Chipmunk is out of my sight, I will ask Bear to report on his current condition. This morning as I was cleaning up I asked for a status update.

Me: Hey, Bear! What is your brother doing?

Bear: (nonchalantly)Um...nothing. He's just choking.

Me: What?!

[Don't worry...he wasn't really choking...like as in heimlich-maneuver-choking...more like, shoved too much food in mouth and coughed]

Sometimes the best thing to say...

...is not to say anything at all.

I realize that writing any of my thoughts at the present time would probably result in a "whine" fest. Therefore, I'm going to just end it here...



Hope you all have a great weekend!

Breakfast (by Chipmunk)

Today, mommy let me eat breakfast on my own. She let me use a spoon and everything. I only got a little bit messy...hee hee.

Happy Pictures

We all deal with our daily stresses in different ways. Me? When I feel a little blue, I go to my "happy pictures." These are the pictures of my kids that I look at and can't help but smile. Hope they make you happy, too.



Chipmunk riding the slide. I love the look of glee on his face. I can almost hear his little voice yelling out, "EEEEEEEE! (Wheeee!)."



Ah, Sibling love. Bear is, as usual, overly loving. Chipmunk just looks like his eyes are going to pop out.

And the oldie, but goody, "happy pictures"...



Bear at 6 months, riding the swing...oh so very chubby.



Bear at about 18 months, up against the blue sky.



Instant love. Siblings, day 1.



Carefree and happy...

Makes my heart melt every time I look at them...

Minus 18 inches

Well, I finally did it.



Minus 18 inches later...(and donated for a good cause)



Phew. I should of gotten it cut sooner.

Needful Quiet

Early afternoon and all is still.
I dare not disturb the peace.
My prayer asks for steadiness, for safety, for ease of mind.
I hesitate to move. My eyes are at watch.
My heart is saddened and full of worry, but it must not be seen.
Instead I revel in the silence of our needful quiet.

Mommy Brain

Sometimes I feel like I lose out on a lot of intellectual stimulation being a stay at home mom. I mean, seriously, playing blocks and tickling kids doesn't amount to a whole lot of smarts. The fact that I can rattle off the tv schedule for PBS in the morning is not something that I am proud of, nor the fact that the majority of my education these days is confined to learning bits of Spanish and Mandarin from Nickelodeon.

I like learning. I love the fact that you can open a book and learn something new each time. I love libraries and bookstores and places of education. I love that the internet is brimming over with knowledge just waiting to be gleaned from. I get excited about the prospect of taking my kids to museums and aquariums. I peruse the adult school catalogs each season looking for classes I could potentially take when the opportunity arises.

Funny thing though...I wasn't a very good student. I usually do better when the learning comes of my own volition rather than on a forced schedule. So in my classes I always averaged out because I couldn't keep up with the school work or mentally handle that timeline on my syllabi. So time was never my thing, but in all honesty, I still have most of my college textbooks, and I still use them. I like to read them every once in a while for no other reason than the information fascinates me. Yup, kind of nerdy, huh?

Perhaps that's why I liked teaching. It was an opportunity to always learn, to find new things to pass on to my students. It was an opportunity to study up on teaching theories and child development. It gave me an excuse to read odd books just to have a wealth of knowledge to entertain my students.

So that explains my need to read half of the parenting books in existence when I found out we were expecting the first time around. It also explains why I reread some of the more pertinent ones the second time around. There's also the horrendous pile of books by my bedside and the hundreds of feeds flying into my Google Reader each day. It makes me feel like I'm not letting my brain turn to mush as I pretend I have no idea how to put together that 5-piece puzzle my daughter wants me to help her with.

Then again, I do love that look of accomplishment on Bear's face after she figures out that puzzle, and I'll take that over being smart any day.

Clean Up Time

Bear, it's time to clean up! Pick up your toys off the floor!

Okaaaaaay, mommy!

I guess I should have been more specific.



Oh well, at least she did pick her toys off the floor. Although I guess now I have to clean off the couch.

One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today...Happy Birthday, Chipmunk!



...And thanks for sharing your birthday with your son, Matt...Happy birthday to you, too!

It's a first!

First birthday, that is.

Our little Bubba (er...Chipmunk) is turning one this week...So of course, being that he's half-Korean, he got his very own celebration of life.



Here he is all decked out in Korean garb taking part in his dohl jabi. He picked up a pencil and proceeded to stir the rice with it. Apparently that means something really good...(Remember what Bear picked up?)





Besides the cute kids in Korean clothes, I think this was one of the highlights...



Yum! Gotta love that cheesecake.

One already. Wow.

Stay Tuned

For some reason we've been utterly busy, but not with anything I'd consider bloggable. So stay tuned...

Meanwhile here's a little pic that I'll leave you with...



Gotta love that silly smile...

Those Four Dreaded Words

Lately there have been four dreaded words in our home..."I Doing Nothing Mommy!" Usually when those four words are used, it means Bear is up to no good.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She says as she swipes at her brother's shirt. I later find ketchup up and down Chipmunk's sleeve.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She calls from her room where I later find she's taken all of her clothes out from her bottom two drawers.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She answers after I question her about the food she's dropping on the floor.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She yells preventatively before I find her playing with things I've already asked her to stay away from.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She cries out to mask her brother's complaints as he's crawling away from her now wearing several layers of hats.

"I doing nothing, Mommy" She exclaims after I hear a loud crash and a boom.

"I yuv you, Mommy" She says afterwards, hoping that I won't notice a thing.

Daddy, Buy this!

Going to Costco is not just a shopping trip, it's a family outing for us. Two kids can sit in the cart comfortably, partake of yummy samples and watch as mom and dad ponder whether it's worth buying 300 diapers at a time. Bear enjoys the ride and has happy thoughts of hot dogs. Chipmunk loves the ride as long as his sister is sitting there next to him, sharing her hot dog.

Today, I parked the cart and stepped a couple of feet away when I heard, "Ooooh, wow! Daddy! Daddy! Come buy this! Buy this!"

Matt was a little confused and said, "What?! Do you know what this is?"

Bear smiled, nodded and said, "A Drum box! Buy the Drum box!"

Apparently I parked the cart next to a large pile of Guitar Hero:World Tour boxes for the Wii.

So we bought it...just kidding, we didn't. But that sure would have been a fun ending to this story. Oh well.

Paint, Squish, Glue, Smile

Art.

That's what Bear told me she wanted to do for her birthday party. So a little research led us to the Art Zone. After a brief visit to see what they had to offer, we were hooked. Plus, we couldn't get Bear to leave the place...so it was decided...

Seriously, clay, some goopy stuff, easels stocked with paint, projects with glue and beads, a play area with dress up clothes, paint that you can spray on fake windows and then squeegee, and a mud and water room for...yup, playing with mud and water. It's one of those places you walk in and think, "man, I wish I was a kid again."

Add some pizza, spam musubi and a chocolate cake, invite some friends from play group, and you've got a party!





She was so tired afterwards, she passed out on our couch...hopefully dreaming about fun, art-y things.

Now on to plan Chipmunk's dohl.

Retaliation

I still worry that our assertive, outgoing Bear will overshadow her brother, but lately I have been seeing signs of Chipmunk standing his ground. He has a few techniques:

1) Diplomacy - First he uses his words...well, his word (singular). Not so surprisingly, with a sister always telling him "no," Chipmunk has learned to reply back with "no." (Bear: No Baby, that's mine! - Chipmunk: (babble) No! )

2) Bartering - I've often seen him offering up whatever toy he has at the moment to his sister, perhaps in hope that she'll trade in return.

3) Thievery - After bartering fails, he resorts to stealing. He waits and watches, and the moment Bear puts down the desired toy, he pounces. Sometimes Bear looks up and finds her toy gone not even noticing Chipmunk swept by and stole it. Of course, Bear then grabs the toy back and then hides it behind the couch or behind a closed door even quicker.

4) Take Down - When diplomacy, bartering and thievery has failed, Chipmunk then retaliates with physical force. I've witnessed a few times our 22-pound 10 month old crawl up to his 30-pound sister, grab her around the waist and then pull her backward to the floor...thud. After that, he purposely crawls over her to hold her down so that he can reach the toy once again.

I'm curious to see how this will pan out in their future as siblings.

Returning to Normal Land

With travel and illnesses, it's been slow trying to get back to what we call "normal" in our home. Bear is finally remembering to use her "please" and her "thank you" without our prompting. She's also remembering what it's like to actually take afternoon naps. Chipmunk who has been super-clingy and seems to have developed some kind of super-baby-anxiety is starting to regain his independence. Once his fever broke, he still wasn't acting like his usual happy self, but slowly, day by day, he's starting to regain his appetite for food and for life. And naps? Oh yes, the naps are getting back on track, too.

It's kind of funny though how hard you have to work just to adjust everyone back to a normal schedule, but it's definitely necessary for sanity.

Speaking of normal, here's a funny Bear story...



So she runs up to me like this, hat over one eye and says, "Look, Mommy! I'm a pirate! Arrrrrrrr!" Then she proceeded to "Arrrrr!" all over the livingroom.

Now that's normal for our home.