The Capital of Texas

This weekend, we ventured back to the capital of Texas...the place where Daddy and I met and fell in love (what memories!!) We hadn't been back since we evacuated for Hurricane Ike. This might have been the longest we have been without a trip to Austin since college. Our friend, Andy, is a dentist and was kind enough to agree to see James to determine if he needed some work done on his teeth as recommended by our dentist in Houston.  

Friday

Friday at 3:30am, Mommy had to take Ngoai to the airport to catch her flight to see Papa in St. Croix for two weeks. We had thought about leaving as soon as I got back from the airport, but James had stayed up late finishing some work stuff. So, we just let everyone sleep in. We finally got on the road around 8am after grabbing some breakfast for the road. Andrew was amazingly good in the car considering he didn't sleep a wink. As I was driving, Daddy was in back with Andrew and did a great job of playing with him and reading to him. Andrew was also greatly entertained by all the trucks he saw out the window and his CD.

We finally got to Austin; and Andrew was happy to see Uncle Anh Tuan. We hung out for a while, but then it was for Daddy to head to Andy's office and for Andrew to take his nap. After he woke up, we headed to Toys R Us with Uncle Footon for some toys including gifts for Peter and Kathryn (and a few Thomas trains for Andrew that were on sale). By that time, Daddy was headed home. Then, we went over to Uncle John's house for dinner. Peter and Kathryn were very good about sharing their toys with Andrew and had even picked some out to give to him since they had outgrown them. So sweet!! Peter also put on a performance for us of songs he learned while at Vacation Bible School. We also headed outside to the backyard where Andrew was even more stimulated by more toys, their playground, and a trampoline! I wasn't sure if Andrew would like the trampoline, but he loved it! He immediately climbed in and began walking and bouncing around. It was dinner time; the meal was delicious! But Andrew was wanting to play more so he didn't want to sit at the dinner table for too long. After even more playing after dinner, it was time to get home and put Andrew to bed. We had another fun-filled day planned for tomorrow--we all needed some rest.

Saturday

The morning started with going to a park nearby to Uncle Foo's house where they had their own little water playscape. Andrew was too funny. At first, he was reserved and stayed close by, but then started to get into things. But I really think he was more into watching the other kids at first. But then before you knew it, he was walking and running through getting soaked. One of the cutest moments was when Andrew was troubled by a little girl sitting on one of the sprouts. He tried to move her out of the way (but not in a mean way). I think he didn't know where the water was and was trying to find it.  

After the park, we went home to clean up and headed out to lunch at Mighty Fine Burgers with Uncle John, the two kids, and Nonna. Yummy! Afterwards, we went back to Foo's to put Andrew down for his nap while Daddy headed to Granddad's for a little while to see Aunt Janine and her family. Then, Daddy came back to pick us up for dinner at Z Tejas.  A delicious meal; and it was great to be with the family! Afterwards, we headed back to John's house to play with the kids and hang out for the rest of the night. When we got to the house, he immediately pointed upstairs. He remembered where those toys were! Before we knew it, it was getting too late and Andrew was getting tired. He must have been worn out because he slept until 7am in his playpen that night! Lucky for me because I ended up not feeling well and running a fever that night.  

Sunday

When I woke up, I felt much better (I think I broke the fever around 2am). We got ready and headed over to Uncle John's for some family time before church at 10am.  The three of us sat in the cry area and rightfully so. Andrew didn't want to sit still. We looked at books and walked around, but that didn't do it. Finally, we had to let him play trains. James and I hoped that Andrew would keep the trains by our two seats, but nope, no luck there either. He took his trains under the seats of the couple in front of us, then under our seats into the walkway. I didn't want to block people's way so I moved his trucks over next to a wall.  The toys made Andrew a popular kid in the cry area. Other kids wanted to play with them as well. Well, after mass was over, we went to Granddad's for brunch--again, another great meal. Andrew faired better than I thought with all of Granddad's cool (and breakable) stuff! It was 2pm and way past Andrew's nap. As we headed back to Foo's, we was asleep in less than five minutes into the drive. Then, he proceeded to take over a two and a half hour nap. He was setting all kinds of records for sleeping in his play pen this weekend!  

Well, the monster nap put us a little behind schedule for the rest of our day. But fortunately, it all worked out. After his nap, we headed to Aunt Kelly's house. Mommy hadn't seen Kelly in so long--way too long. Andrew immediately took a liking to both Kelly and her dog, Frank. He gave Uncle Mike the wag of the finger, but later, warmed up to him. He loved playing with Frank. One of the cutest things is that he would sit on the stairs and then pat a spot next to him for one of us to sit. He even tried to get all four of us to sit together. Too sweet! We weren't able to stay near long enough, but it was great to see them. Thanks for letting us do a hit and run visit, Kel!

The next stop of the day was Uncle John's firehouse. When we got Andrew out of the car, he started pointing to the fire trucks right away. He was mesmerized. However, he did end up being scared of how loud the engine was and sitting in the truck itself. But he wanted back for more and more. It was nice to spend some more time with Uncle John and see the fire house. Thanks so much, Uncle John! I really think that was the highlight of his day!!  

After the firehouse, we met Uncle Foo, Rob and his wife, Kristina at Chuys for dinner. Yes, it was another great meal, but since we have one here in Houston, it wasn't as special. But it was special because of the company. It was good to see Rob and Kristina and of course, having Uncle Footon around is always good! Andrew had been eating okay the whole weekend, but tonight was the best. He totally ate up all his mac and cheese and then polished off his cheese quesadillas. Andrew also had some of Uncle's chicken and our steak too.  

After dinner, we drove back to Foo's and quickly packed and got in the car. We didn't get home until after midnight. Andrew stayed awake for the forty-five minutes of our trip (I thought he was surely going to be out in less than fifteen), but slept the rest of the way.  

It was a great weekend--crazy busy, but totally fun. It was wonderful seeing all the family and friends that we were able to see! I think we just need to come visit Austin more often so we don't have to pack so much in while we are there! 

Happy 17th Month Birthday!

The last month, Andrew is still growing into a little boy. He is still pretty happy and active for the most part, but he has definitely developed a temper and will fuss when he doesn't get his way. He will also scream--at times, just because and at other times, because he's mad. Fun, fun, fun We try to tell him "no screaming." Sometimes, I will also put my index finger on his mouth to shush him--sometimes, it works; sometimes, it doesn't. But I have to admit that he doesn't cry for too long, which I am relieved about. Most times, the tantrum only lasts a couple of minutes; and then, he will be back to normal.

Some of Andrew's new words are:

• Says "o" for open;
• Says "huu" for help;
• Says "ho" for hot while sticking out his palm as if trying to feel the heat--we would do the same to show him that pots and pans, food, the oven, etc. were hot. But sometimes, now when he sees a pot or pan, he thinks it hot and we tell him "not yet";
• Says "na" for snacks;
• Says "grr" for bear;
• Sometimes, I think I hear him say "raff" for giraffe, but it's not consistent. But he can pick the animal out of our Little People set so I know he recognizes it; and
• Makes a "pfft pfft" sound for a bunny rabbit, but it is very similar to his fish face (I tried teaching him by making the sound with an overbite as if it was the bunny's two front teeth). So now, I am trying to teach him to stick his fingers on the top of his head for the bunny ears.

In trying to remember everything that Andrew does, I tend to miss things with my sucky memory. For example, I am not sure if I have mentioned that Andrew will say "ba" for book (along with the other million things "ba" means) and "wa wa" for water (I think for at least the last two months or so). As for new sign language, we are trying to teach Andrew "thank you." He will do it sometimes, but it looks more like he is blowing kisses.

He is learning his body parts. Andrew knows his head, hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, hands, feet, tummy, and belly button. I love when we ask him to show us his tummy or belly button...he will lift up his shirt. Also, if you hand Andrew a towel or napkin and tell him to clean his hands and face, he will. Mommy loves this!

Andrew still loves the same songs, but has added a few more to the list. I made him a CD for the car and he loves it. One of his new favorites is The Wheels on the Bus and is starting to learn the motions and noises to it. He also likes SteveSongs's So Many Shapes from PBS. Then of course, he loves him The Black Eyed Peas' Boom Boom Pow.

As for playing, Andrew still throughly enjoys playing with his Thomas trains. He can pull/push the whole train around the track including a hill--sometimes making it the whole way around without the train derailing or separating (sometimes like eight cars--I did have to hide some of them because he was making them too long and wasn't able to move them successfully). When they were getting derailed, he would start to whine, but that's how it came about that we taught him to ask for "help". He also knows how to link them together and rotate them if the magnetic poles don't match up. Andrew is getting better at puzzles. He can't put them in the spot, but he knows where they goes. He tries to slide them around, but doesn't quite have down fitting the pieces in exactly.

He has been able to open the doors in our house for a while now, but now really thinks the pantry door is the gateway to paradise. He will go and open it and start looking for food. If you offer him something he doesn't want, he will wag his finger. If you hit the jackpot, he will sign for eat and/or grab it. Also, he has opened the refrigerator door once so far. We suspect it is just a matter of time before we have to baby proof that as well.

Also, he has been able to give objects to people if we tell him, but now, he will take it upon himself to return items back to their owners. And not just Mommy's stuff either, he knows people's different cell phones, Ngoai's purse, and sometimes Dad's and Mom's shoes.

He has gotten much better about biting and chewing. He has improved on taking smaller bites and not choking on food. But unfortunately, we still have instances where he still chokes on his food! :( But as for eating, we still have days of great eating and other days of not-so-great eating. Andrew pretty much eats the same things still (we need to try out some more things). However, he seems to be liking kolaches better than donut holes as of late.

Andrew is still good about helping to clean up. When we play with toys that I have put in ziploc bags, Andrew will help me put them back into the bags when I ask him too. A few times when I start doing it by myself, he will just come up and start helping. He does with his bag of blocks too. I think he thinks it is a game and not a chore. I am sure that will change soon enough.

Andrew is still improving on sleeping in his crib even without rigid sleep training or using the crying it out method. He has slept in his crib until 6 or 7am; then, Mommy is ever so happy to bring him into our bed. Andrew will use his sippy cup as his security blanket in the crib when going night night. He will tuck it under his arm or lay on top of it. Sometimes, we have to wait quite a while before we can confisicate it back. As for napping, Andrew is pretty much down to only one nap, but luckily it is usually longer than an hour--typically one and a half to two hours.

Anyways, that's enough for now. Happy 17th Month Birthday to our little boy!

Roseola

I previously mentioned that Andrew was running warm Sunday night. There were probably times throughout the night that he was feverish, but nothing like how warm he was that time we took him to the minor emergency clinic. But nonetheless, we were concerned. Andrew was doing much better Monday--so much so that we went to League City for the day. Andrew was okay Tuesday (except for the head injury), but for the most part, he was good spirits. However, we did start to notice a rash on his cheeks. I quickly attributed it to his sweating...a heat rash maybe. I thought it was logical with the Houston heat, him being a sweater to begin with, and with him having fevers on and off causing him to sweat more than normal. I mean it is not uncommon for there to be a big puddle of sweat on the bed and his hair wet when he sleeps. And then with the fevers, he tends to sweat even more so.

Then, last night, we noticed more and more areas where the rash had spread, such as his legs and arms. I still thought it was sweat-related, but after HFMD, we would rather be over-cautious (better safe than sorry) and just rule out anything more serious. So, this morning, I called our pediatrician's office and tried to get an appointment for Andrew. Luckily, they were able to fit us in with Dr. Milan since Dr. Isenhower is still on maternity leave. Dr. Milan diagnosed Andrew with the Roseola virus. Fortunately, it is a mild virus and not too serious.  He acted fine the rest of the day--we had lunch with Daddy and went to the park in the evening. Hopefully, Andrew will be back to normal in a few days.  

His rash is visible in the photos from yesterday, but here are some pictures from today.  You can also see how his boo boo is healing. I know it's hard to see the rash, but it helps to click on them to zoom in.  I promise it was more red this morning.

Accident Report 07/21/09

Date of Accident: Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Time of Accident: Around noon

Location: Living Room

Nature and Causation of Accident: Andrew was playing with his trains on our living room rug and started bringing his other trains from the coffee table to the floor. During one of the trips, I think he must have tripped or something caused him to fall and hit our coffee table. I  just heard a loud thud and looked over to where it was coming from. Andrew was on the floor and hidden from my view.   

Post Event Notes: We do have a quilt to serve as padding on the table, but I think he might have hit the lower level opening where we put his books and puzzles. Anyhow, Uncle Anh Tuan was closer to him and grabbed Andrew, who was already crying. I went over and held him for a little while. He then asked for nursing to which he stopped crying.  The boo boo had a clear red line marking the edge of the table. It started swelling immediately so we tried putting some ice on it (Andrew didn't like it at first, but let me touch his head with the ice here and there). After his nap, the swelling was considerably down, but the red line is still clearly visible. My poor baby! I know Andrew will have lots of boo boos--he already has had quite a bit, but it's always hard seeing your child injured and in pain. Andrew is a pretty resilient kid. He really didn't cry too much and was smiling afterwards...even posing for me for the pictures. Such a tough little boy!

Exhibit A: Pictures--the first two were taken right after the incident and the other two taken after his nap.  Mommy included the last one not so much because it showed his injury, but because she liked him sitting criss cross applesauce.

The Greatest Show on Earth?

Tonight, we took Andrew to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus. We weren't too sure as to how Andrew would do with the circus. He likes animals, yes. But we were concerned about his ability to sit for two hours and the potentially loud noise.

Well, the circus started; and Andrew really was into it. There were times when he was signing for more--more elephants, more dogs, and more bikes. He was so fixated on the circus and everything that was going on. The look on his face was just precious. It melted my heart to see him like that.

But then, about 45 minutes into it, he started to cry. We have a few theories as to the change of heart: (1) the loud noise; (2) the pyrotenics; (3) overstimulation; or (4) fatigue. Daddy took Andrew out and then texted me asking me to come out as well. Andrew didn't want to go back in; and since it was close to intermission, we decided to hang out there and got him some ice cream. As the show started back up, we walked Andrew back to the curtain partition. The tigers were on the floor, but Andrew wagged his finger. We decided to call it quits and head home.

So, it may be called "The Greatest Show on Earth", but it was not so much so to Andrew. Thankfully, we didn't spend too much on tickets, but after the fees, taxes, surcharges, parking, etc., it adds up. But I will take with me and remember how he first reacted to the show. That was priceless and made my night.  And we still have the promise of next year's show.  

*Update: That night, Andrew woke up slightly feverish.  We don't know if he is teething or sick or maybe both.  So, that could have possibly attributed to him acting up at the circus too. 

Aunt Amanda

This weekend, Amanda came into town for a visit. She arrived Friday evening along with her dog, Winnie. I had asked Amanda not to board Winnie and bring her so that Andrew could play with her all weekend. He followed Winnie all over. When she would go downstairs with Amanda, Andrew would ask for ro ro and try to head downstairs. He would try to lay near her (or on top of her) and loved petting and hugging her too. He is such a dog lover already!

Aunt Amanda came bearing gifts including a beautiful nautical quilt that she made herself. It's so amazing! I can't believe all the time and efforts that she put into it and am so touched that she went through all that trouble for us.  Anyway, that night, Monica came over to also hang out with us. We just chilled at home playing with Andrew and then later, a little Wii tennis. But mostly, we just talked and did some catching up.

Saturday morning, we headed down to League City to visit Jenny so that Amanda could meet her boys. FYI, Amanda, Jenny, and I roomed together my senior year in college so it was a mini-reunion. Andrew and Eric played nicely again. Andrew always has a ball there playing with all of Eric's toys. We then headed home and all took a nap. When we woke up, Uncle Anh Tuan had arrived! Andrew was happy to see his uncle. Monica came back up as we planned on going out for the night, but because of the [much needed] rain, we decided to forego that and just hang out again.

Sunday morning, we met Jenny, Justin, the boys, and Karen (Jenny's sister) out at Discovery Green. Andrew loved playing in the dancing water fountains as well as running around. It was fun seeing him and Eric play in the water and get all wet. After the park, we got some breakfast and played at home until it was time for Andrew's nap. After a late lunch, it was time for Amanda and Winnie to head home. We had a great time with them and Andrew really enjoyed having them around. Both of them are so good with kids and were really sweet to Andrew.

Thanks again for coming in, Amanda! Here is our time with Amanda and Winnie in a slideshow set to a song that I will forever associate with Amanda--we used to listen to it a lot together way back in our college days.

Stetsons Round Two

Well, we had made plans to meet up for Round Two with the Stetsons at the Children's Museum after the kids' afternoon naps. But tonight, the museum was free after 5pm; and it was totally packed! The line was out the door and around two blocks! We decided to forego the madhouse and headed to the zoo instead. It was cool because there weren't too many people, which was kind of nice. The kids had a great time. Sebastian and Sophia are just too cute speaking in Spanish telling me all the animals and doing their animal sounds. When I asked Sebastian what animal he wanted to see, he told me spiders (in Spanish) because he loves Spiderman. I didn't know where they were because I personally do not have the urge to see them! So, we had to ask one of the zookeepers. But after we finally found a tarantula, Sebastian was so excited!!

Andrew was very good at the zoo too. He got to see some new animals that he and I normally don't see. He seemed to like the sea lion a lot even though I confused him by telling him sea lion and he roared like a regular lion. ;)

We had an action packed day; and Andrew was well behaved for the most part. Mommy was very proud of her little social butterfly! I was exhausted by having two play dates, but it was so well worth it. We had such an awesome time spending it with our friends!

Play Date with Tyler

One of my former co-workers, Lori, and I have been trying to get our boys together for a play date for a while now. Our schedules finally worked out for our first play date with her and her son, Tyler, who is a couple months younger than Andrew. We met up at the Houston Aquarium this morning as they have never been there before.

The train wasn't going yet so we decided to ride the carousel first. It was Tyler's first time on the carousel; and he did pretty good. He wasn't thrilled with it and hung onto his mom for dear life, but he stayed on and didn't cry--unlike my son who sat nicely on the seahorse for like two minutes and then wanted off. So, we sat on one of the seats they had; and he did just fine on that.

Next, we headed indoors to check out the animals. Both boys enjoyed the fish and all the other animals. Andrew totally remembered the stingray tank and wanted to touch the water over and over again. He didn't want to leave the tank. Tyler and Andrew really seemed to like the white tiger quite a bit. Andrew kept saying "roar" the whole time we were looking at the tiger (there was only one out this time).

Then, we went back outdoors to ride the train. This time, Andrew didn't get scared at all when we were underneath the shark tank. Afterwards, we let the boys play in the jumping water fountains. Andrew wasn't scared of them this time either. He didn't even waste a moment before going to play with them. He even stuck his face into the water and a few times, he drank the water. I wasn't too thrilled about that, but whatever, I figured that boys will be boys. I know I have to choose my battles; and I was just happy that he was playing in the water so enthusiastically.

By then, it was lunch time so we headed to the restaurant. Both Tyler and Andrew did so well eating and sitting nicely in their high chairs. After we ate, I was going to take Andrew on the train again since he was asking for it, but the line was too long. So, we headed home so the boys could take their naps. Sure enough, Andrew fell asleep just as we pulled up to the house. He must have been wiped out because he took over a two hour nap!

We had a great time with Lorie and Tyler and look forward to our next play date! 

Supper with the Stetsons

Tonight, we went over to Jeana's house to visit her along with her brother and his family who are visiting from Guadalajara, Mexico. Sonny and Susanna have two children, Sebastian age four and Sophia age two. They are just too adorable! Andrew was a little timid at first, but warmed up very quickly. Then, he was pretty much all over Sebastian following him around and wanting to play with him. He even wanted to sit with them at dinner at their kid table versus with us at the adult table. Susanna and Jeana made a delicious meal of salad and a pasta dish with shrimp and zucchini--Andrew ate the shrimp of course.   

Afterwards, we all hung out in the living room and watched the kids play and dance. Sophia is such a cute little dancer. And Sebastian was so sweet to Andrew--his parents say he is really good to all little kids.  Andrew was having so much fun he didn't want to go home--we ended up leaving after 10pm where Andrew conked out in the car. We had such a great time with great company and lots of laughs. Tomorrow, we have plans to go the Children's Museum with them. Can't wait!

Stude Pool

This evening, Daddy and I took Andrew to Stude Pool to try it out on our little quest to try out the nearby public pools. When we got there, the lifeguards were taking a break, but Andrew immediately wanted in the water and didn't understand that why he couldn't get in. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long before we could get in. It's such a difference from when Andrew didn't want anything to do with the pool and would whine when we took him in.

And there at the pool, they had a water mushroom and some water rings for the kids. Andrew pointed to them so we took him over. He didn't seem to like them much and wanted back in the regular pool. But I think he saw more and more kids go play over in that area that he wanted to try it again and started pointing towards it again. So, we tried it again. It was a hit this time around. He was running around following some other kids and was playing in the water letting it hit his face. Andrew hasn't been one to like water hitting his face like during showers--he's been getting better, but now it seems that he is more okay with it.

Andrew also tried to put his mouth on one of the rings to try to drink the water. We told him "no mouth". A lady who was with her kids was nearby and was trying to tell Andrew "no mouth" too. Well, he gave her the wag of the finger and a rather dirty look along with it. But later on, he kept wagging his finger at her; and she would do it back. He was laughing so much! They must have done it back and forth for several minutes. Andrew didn't want to go home--he just wanted to play with the lady. He is such a nut!!!

I am very happy that Andrew is liking the pool so much again. I knew he would...it was just a matter of time!

Baby Time

Belinda had told me about this Baby Time they have at our nearby library that they have on Monday mornings for kids aged six to eighteen mths.  Typically, we are with Ngoai and Papa (or now just Ngoai), so we haven't had a chance to check it out.  However, since we went down to League City last night for dinner at Aunt Hong's house, we decided that we would skip going down there today.  And since we were free and Linda texted us to see if we wanted to join her and Max, we decided that we would give it a try.  We are always looking for activities for Andrew especially ones indoors (and free)! 

Andrew wasn't too happy when we first got into the room, but quickly settled.  He enjoyed reading time where one of the books was one of his faves--the Very Hungry Catepillar.  Andrew also enjoyed the singing part as well, but more importantly, he loved the play time afterwards where they let the kids play with a huge lot of toys.  He did pretty good sharing and playing with Max.

It was a nice set up; Andrew had a good time. I think it's safe to say that we will definitely be back.

Our Terra Cotta Toddler

Today, we had a great time with Granddad. After breakfast, we headed to H Mart, a Korean supermarket here in Houston. We love this place because they have Korean barbeque--not to mention, it's clean and not smelly like some other Asian markets. We picked up beef and pork bulgogi and kalbi as well as some kim chi for dinner tonight. Then, we picked up some lunch from El Rey and headed home to eat.

Andrew went down for a 2 hour nap putting us a tad bit behind because we wanted to go to the Natural Science Museum to see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit. Go figure that when we have somewhere to go, Andrew takes a good long nap. Oh well, it didn't put us too too late. We got to the museum around 3:30pm to come to find out that they were closing on 5pm. But we ended up having plenty of time to see the exhibit. Unfortunately, Mommy had to do the quick tour because Andrew wasn't too into it as much as Daddy and I tried to engage him. He only wanted to see the ducks that James had shown him while we were waiting to enter the exhibit. So, I rushed through the exhibit and took Andrew back to see the animals. He was really into the ducks that he kept going back to them. I found a few more spots where they had ducks too. Andrew also looked at the lions, monkeys, and fish. Daddy and Granddad finished up the exhibit; and we headed home to make dinner.

We had invited Ngoai over for dinner; and she was already at the house when we got home. While Daddy and Granddad grilled the meat, Ngoai and I talked to Papa on Skype. Andrew likes it a little bit, but I am not sure he gets it fully. We have now talked to Uncle Anh Tuan and Papa on it and each time, he will look at the video and talk and blow kisses, but it doesn't hold his interest too long. After Andrew wandered back onto the balcony to watch Daddy and Granddad, he saw Emily playing downstairs so I took him down there while Ngoai finished talking to Papa. Then, it was time for dinner; Andrew ate pretty well. Then, it was bath time and another Skype conversation with Papa.

Later, I put Andrew to bed; and Daddy took Granddad out for drinks at a nearby pub. I have laundry to do, but I decided that I would catch up on blogging instead!

Here are some pictures from the museum. There would have been more, but they don't let you take photos inside the exhibit. The last one is from the HMNS website where you can make your own warrier. I thought I would give it a try--I think it's pretty funny.  

More Max, Museum, and Misconduct

This morning, we were able to spend some more time with Linda and Max. Linda and I decided to take the kids to the Children's Museum since Max hadn't been there in a while and we wanted to do something indoors. It turned out that Linda's car was being serviced so they were without a vehicle for the day so I said that we would come by and pick them up. Linda had texted me to say they were ready for us and we could come by and hang out before the museum if we wanted. We ate breakfast and were ready with ample time before the museum was open. So, we headed over to their house, which is not even five minutes away; thus, the boys played at the house until we decided to head down to the museum. Andrew enjoyed the whole new set of toys. The boys played well together at their house, but not without some competition of toys between the boys. But we managed to redirect them onto other toys for the most part.

At the museum, Andrew and Max played a bit together, then would go off in different directions, but then come back and play together. Then, the process be continued over and over again. One of the cutest moments was them playing on this gray apparatus where you can roll down balls or cars. Well, Max starts to climb up the thing, which I have never seen any kid do before! And then, Andrew decides to try to follow him. Monkey see, monkey do! It was hilarious!! Also, one of the pictures below is them in the truck together with another boy we don't know, but I love how they are squished in the seat together. The video is Andrew tidying up some blocks--I didn't ask him to do it either. But he has seen other kids doing it so that'w where he got the idea. He's getting better about cleaning up and putting things up lately. I hope it continues!

However, one of the low points of the play date was another case of misconduct when Andrew hit a little baby girl not even a year old right on the head for no apparent reason. The little girl didn't cry, but looked at me very confused. I was completely mortified!! I profusely apologized to both her and her mother. Thankfully, her mother was very gracious and accepted our apologies. She tried to comfort me by saying that her litle girl's big brother hits his little sister too.

So, once again, my son hits strangers when we are out and about. I don't know how to make him stop. I am beside myself right now. I hate it any time he hits anybody especially a little kid, but like I said before, I was mortified when he hit that little baby girl. He has hit boys and other girls before, but never one so young. He couldn't really have thought her to be a threat to him, could he?! So, I don't know what motive he could have to hit her--unless, he was "marking his territory". I really don't know. Most if not all of the moms say their kids have gone through this phase of hitting, biting, or pushing. And Andrew has been on the receiving end of some physical acts of aggression. But I don't know how to get through to him that he can't just go around hitting people when he wants to. Oh, why can't he learn already that this kind of behavior is unacceptable! I really hope it's sooner than later!

And then, what really makes me have to laugh is how sweet Andrew can be too. Sometimes, he will just come up to me or other people and just love on them with hugs and kisses and we haven't even asked for them. It makes my heart just melt. Well, Andrew did decide to show his sweet side (I guess to really keep Mommy baffled) when he climbed through a tunnel and a little girl was already in there. He is more than halfway through--way out of my arms' reach. I see him go right up next to the little girl. I just envision him head butting her, but nope, Andrew instead kisses her. An angel one minute; a devil the next!

Well, the boys started to get hungry so we decided to head home. Andrew and Max were totally into each other in the car making each other giggle. It was so adorable! I am glad they are really starting to play and interact together. At least the play date ended on a more positive note!

Beat the Heat

Today was a hot fun-filled day in humid Houston! We started out by going to the zoo around 9:30am. We try to go as early as it opens up at 9am so it's not so hot, but today, Andrew wanted to read books after breakfast so we were running a little late. Just last week when we went we went at 10am, but it wasn't as hot as it was today! It might have been my imagination, but it was so much hotter! Humidity was in full effect!! But Andrew still enjoys the zoo; I kind of think he looks forward to seeing the animals that he knows. He asks for the elephant and lion and definitely likes looking at fish more too. I deliberately go on my own concocted path in the zoo so that we see certain animals based on how known and/or visible they are to Andrew who typically sits in his stroller when it is just the two of us.

After the zoo, Andrew asked for more ducks so we went to the pond to take a quick looksee. I then asked Andrew if he wanted to ride the train, but he didn't sign for it. So go figure, when we got to the car, he signed for train. There wasn't much reason not to go for a ride, so we headed to the depot to buy tickets. Well, as luck would have it, the train was pulling away as we were walking up to the ticket window. So, we got our tickets and proceeded to browse the gift shop with its nice air conditioning for the next fifteen minutes. It's not our first time to wait for the train in the gift shop; and Andrew takes the time to play with the toys they have there. Well, we ride the train to which Andrew has a few choice moments. He first cries a bit because the train wasn't moving and we had to wait until others got on the train. Then, Drew fusses because he wants to hold his sippy cup throughout the ride instead of letting Mommy put it back in her purse. I thought to myself that if he chunks it out of the train, I will just about have my old little fit!! But he holds onto it the entire ride thankfully.

As we are driving back home, I decide that if Andrew falls asleep on the way there, we will forego going to the grocery store. But he manages to stay awake by the time I come up to Krogers so we head in for a few items like apple juice and snacks for Andrew. After, we pick up Burger King for lunch on the way home. After eating, Andrew and I play for a bit; and then I tell him it's time for a nap. He didn't put up a fight when I took him upstairs. As we laid in our bed, he wanted to nurse then play and then play some more. So, I then tell him that it's time to go lay in his crib and take him to his room. He lays down and doesn't cry, but tries to get comfortable. I lay down on the floor and try to look like I am sleeping. Well, sure enough, I fell asleep! When I woke up what I think is several minutes later, Andrew is asleep too. :)

Next, Aunt Monica comes over for a visit. After Andrew wakes up from his nap, we all play together; and then, I show Monica into the Wii tennis game. She was hooked and caught on very quickly. Andrew was cute trying to swing his controller too. I was very fearful of the controller going into our TV. But he lost interest in it and allowed us to play while he played by himself and watched a Thomas DVD on the laptop. Then, I let Monica try some singles while Andrew and I read some books.

Well, it was time to meet Daddy at Gymboree. We just signed up for classes earlier on Tuesday so we wanted to take advantage of the open play time they had tonight. Andrew seemed to enjoy it last time we enrolled; and it's a great activity to take Andrew too to beat the heat. Andrew had a great time tonight! I am so glad we got to share it with Daddy. Last session, we weren't able to go to an open play time with Daddy so this was Daddy's first time to see Andrew at Gymboree. Andrew did very good playing and even did some good sharing and playing with other kids. The only incident was that he did grab another boy's arm and make a mean face. The little boy was a little scared and ran off to his mother. I felt very bad. But I have to say that: (1) it wasn't too hard of a grab--it was still a grab, but it could have been worse; and (2) at least Andrew didn't hit. James and I talked about his hitting as it has us quite concerned. Andrew just hits kids when he first meets them. He doesn't care whether they are boys or girls, bigger or smaller than him. I wonder if he is just scared and just uses hitting as a defense mechanism or maybe he is just setting the tone. I welcome any comments as to if you readers out there experienced hitting for no (known) reason with your kids or kids you know. We tell him "no hitting", but to no avail yet. I hope that he learns it soon because I hate facing the parents of the kids that he hits. I feel so terrible that my child hit theirs. All of them have been very gracious, but it doesn't make me feel any better.

All in all, we had another great day with a few blimps here and there. I managed to get some videos of Andrew at Gymboree...I never get to take videos when we are usually there because I am trying to keep up with Drew. Photos are hard enough to take with him as it is! So I wanted to take this opportunity to get some while Daddy was there with us. The first video is Andrew practicing his dunking skills (as he may not have much opportunity to do so later on in life!) The second video is Andrew stacking some cones; I may have to take partial blame for this. Either, our work with Andrew learning to clean up after himself is working or else Mommy's OCD is rubbing off on Andrew! We have never shown him to stack cones. The final video is Daddy playing with Andrew with Gymbo, the Gymboree mascot, who Andrew always laughs at during class. I don't know why he likes that thing so much! But I love anything that makes my boy laugh!

Along for the Ride

This afternoon, we were driving to Best Buy to buy the new Wii tennis game for Daddy's Father's Day present. Yes, Mommy knows Father's Day was a few weeks back, but Mommy didn't know which game Daddy would want the most at the time. So, I told him to pick something and he finally told me earlier this week that he wanted this game. Sounded to good to me, but I have to admit that I feel a tad guilty because I think that Daddy chose a game that is something more for him and me to play together than just for him like a Madden game. My sweet hubby!!

Anywho, we took Andrew along for the ride to the store, but sometimes, James and I were talking that in retrospect, it really feels like Daddy and Mommy are the ones who are along for the ride. James and I feel so lucky that we are his parents and get to watch his life as it unfolds. We just love watching Andrew grow and learn all these new things. We feel such a sense of accomplishment that he learns something that we teach him and are amazed when he does something completely on his own. We also are amazed by how he is becoming this little person with his own personality (for better or worse as that may be!)

In the clips from today, it cracks me up when he shakes his head side to side. Also, during some of the clips, you can see part of his "crazy legs" flailing about. We got the term from Linda and Max as one time Max showed us how he swings with his crazy legs, which was too adorable! And you can finally see Andrew singing along to "So What".

"Boom Boom Pow" by Black Eyed Peas:


"So What" by Pink:

The 4th

The 4th of July started bright and early for us. Andrew was awake by 7:15am. Since Daddy had gone to pick up his friend Matt and his wife Jenna from the airport last night (including an unfortunate delay), Mommy tried to let him sleep in. But Andrew wanted to play and run around our bedroom. Every now and then, he would come back to James and ask for Dada. So much for sleeping in!

Later in the morning, Mommy had to leave to meet Uncle Mike, Aunt Janine, and Cousin Stephanie (who were driving in from San Antonio) at Ngoai's shop because Ngoai was going to do Stephanie's hair. After that, we headed back up to the house to pick up Daddy and Andrew and set off to the Grand Lux Cafe for some lunch. Lunch was delicious--as it always is there! Since Andrew hadn't taken a nap yet, he immediately fell asleep in the car on the way home.

We hung out at the house this afternoon. Mr. Donnie and Emily were outside playing; Andrew wanted to join them of course. Daddy was nice enough to take him down to see his friend. The kids played with Emily's sand and water table (today, though, it was only just water). That Emily is just so cute!!

After dinner of steaks and shrimp, we headed to Miller Outdoor Theatre to hear the Houston Symphony and watch fireworks. The hill was packed, but we found a decent spot on the back side of the hill. Unfortunately, we could barely hear the symphony, but could make out some songs. However, Andrew was not interested in the music, as he was more intrigued by the people and the dogs. We had to take him for a walk to go find some ro-ros.

The symphony played for a long time. We were anxious for the firework shows to begin. We had all had a long day and were getting tired (and a bit agitated). It was already 10:20pm; and the fireworks display still had not begun. We decided to call it a night and went home. Well, apparently, we didn't have to expend all that time and energy in the first place. We could see the fireworks from our house. It's not the best view, but good enough! Oh well, we now know for next year. And poor Andrew missed it all because he fell asleep on the way home. I had hoped to see how Andrew would react to the sound and sight of the fireworks, but I guess we just have to try it next year. But it still was a good day. We were just happy to get to spend some time with the Gonzaleses.

We hope that everyone had a great 4th of July too. God Bless America and all Americans everywhere especially those serving our country on foreign soil who aren't able to be with their loved ones!

A Great Day

We decided to go down to League City for the day to spend some time with Ngoai since we weren't going to go down tomorrow since Daddy has the day off from work. Since she was working in the morning, I thought I would see if Jenny and her boys were busy. Luckily, they weren't; and we planned on going to a moonwalk place. Baby Riley went to Jenny's parents' house so it was just the four of us.

The place that Jenny normally goes had a group scheduled there at the time we showed up and weren't allowing the general public access in. So, we drove to another nearby place that had open play during this time. We first went into a bouncer, but it ended up being really dark inside and neither boy was enthused by it. So, we left it and headed for one with a slide. Andrew was okay, but wasn't too into it. We then went into another bouncer; Andrew wasn't too excited about this one either. He was clingy at the beginning, but after about five minutes of watching the other kids, he finally decided it was time to play. After that, he had a blast crawling and walking around--he even managed to dance a little! The boys were getting tired and were probably ready for their naps, so we headed to our respective homes.

When we got to Ngoai's house, Andrew got his second wind and played around with his toys for a little while. Then, he signed for milk and walked into Ngoai's room. I follow him. During naps, he normally sleeps on a makeshift bed of a blanket. So, he lays down on his bed and nurses until he falls asleep not even ten minutes later. If only every naptime was this easy!!

After his nap, he did a good job of eating chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, and corn. Ngoai had to go back to work so Andrew and I went over to my Uncle 10's house to hang out with my cousins. Andrew was shy at first, but later got reacquainted and played with the cousins even dancing for them. After awhile, Andrew got tired again so I took him back to Ngoai's house and put him down for another nap. Mommy slept too! After he woke up, he was still a little tired and fussed for a bit. But like three minutes later, he was playing and in good spirits.

For dinner, Ngoai and I wanted to take Andrew to Texas Roadhouse thinking he would like the dinner rolls and cinnamon butter. Andrew proved us right. Andrew totally dug them. He must have eaten at least two of them. He also enjoyed dipping his bread into the butter. For our entree, I ordered us prime rib to see if he would eat it again. Sure enough, Andrew ate it very well again. Mommy might have to learn to make it at home! We also tried something new tonight. Since we were seated in a booth, I asked for a booster seat. Andrew sat it in nicely for a little bit, but later wanted out. So for the rest of the meal, he stood and ate. He did pace the booth some, but he allowed me to continue feeding him and was really good for the most part. As you can see from the pictures, he also thought it was fun to put the peanut container on his head (it was the empty one for the shells thankfully).

During the car ride home, he was still on his good behavoir and was quite giggly for some reason. He was making himself laugh; it was hilarious!! After we got home, we let Daddy eat while I gave Andrew his bath, where he was behaved there too.

Ever since HFMD, we have had a harder time of putting Andrew to sleep at night time. There was two or three nights where we allowed him to sleep with us in our bed the entire night. So, of course, Andrew must think that we should let him sleep there all the time. A few times, he will point to his crib and lay down quietly like before, but then start crying. It will take him a few minutes to calm down and lay down before falling asleep. But the last few nights, he has gotten better. Tonight, after I took him up and he nursed for a bit, he signed for drink. I guessed that he might be wanting his chocolate PediaSure/milk concoction. So, we go get it from downstairs. He drinks some and then goes back to nursing and then drinks some and then goes back to nursing. I then ask him if he is ready to lay down in his crib. He then wags his finger and points to our bedroom. I explain to him that he needs to sleep in his crib and carry him there. I lay him down; and he proceeds to do his normal get comfortable and get sleepy routine. Sure enough, he falls asleep in around ten minutes.

As I watched him fall asleep, I thought to myself that he was really good today. He is normally very good, but today, I think he was better than the norm. I was so very impressed. I know how lucky we really are to have such a good kid. He definitely has his bad moments, but what kid doesn't? But for most of the time, he is a joy and doesn't give his parents too hard of a time. Then again, I am thinking as I type this that tomorrow, he might be the total opposite seeing how Daddy has the day off just to keep us on our toes and prove Mommy wrong. But for now, Mommy is going to think positive and revel in the great day she had with her amazing son.