Tooth stress

Another rhetorical question: why is it when kids are running at full speed they are always looking over their shoulder?

Wei Wei ran straight into the couch doing that very thing. The lip looked okay, but the gum above the tooth was bleeding. We put ice on it, of course, but the worst is running through our heads: he knocked the tooth loose, the tooth is going to turn grey and fall out, he's going to have a space, which is going to mess up the rest of the teeth and when his adult teeth come in he's going to have Sponge Bob Squarepants teeth.

Jerry took him to our dentist and the tooth still seems solidly rooted, but unfortunately tooth damage might not show up for several weeks. So we wait and see. And worry . . . sigh.

Underwear update and other news

Big strides recently with the potty training. Big strides. Wei Wei has been wearing underwear during the day since Friday with only one accident. Woohoo!

Jerry tried to take him last week to run their first 5k race together. The weather was a little dicey, but Jerry took him anyway. They registered and were waiting around for the start, but then there was distant thunder and lightening, so they skipped it. I had headed over to Audrey's to help Ali with her wedding invitations. I get a call from Wei Wei, who is crying because he's upset and wants to be with me. So naturally I drive home, only to find out that it wasn't necessarily me that he wanted to be with -- he was upset because he wanted to go to Audrey's too. And here I thought I was the center of his universe. Apparently he missed Xiao Yi and Wei Yi. Luckily, he got his fix this weekend.

Busy weekend: Jerry and I were in NYC for dinner on Friday night, then over to Mona and Piyush's house for a BBQ yesterday, then family over today. We had the twins and Wei Wei in a blow-up pirate pool for a bit this afternoon -- that was cute.

Rhetorical question: why is it that it's always the favorite toy/book/item that you can never keep track of or find? We've been tearing the house apart looking for King (of Cars movie fame). Last week it was the "Go Diego" book.

Weedville 2008

This year's Weedville was hosted in Bloomfield North (Fuller-Wong compound) and Bloomfield South (Kain compound). The Rachfals (Amy, John, Zachary, and Zoe), Hollars (Mike, Ivanna, Vasco, and Justine), Diana, Jen, and Wong-Fullers were all in attendance. Highlights included the Jersey shore (plenty of sunscreen) and our annual Vermonster (six pints!).

We had 5.667 kids this year in residence (we did manage to corral four of them here): Zachary, Wei Wei, Vasco, and Justine.

Potty success!

I don't know what it is about staying at Po Po and Gong Gong's house, but it's magical and mystical. Wei Wei and I spent a few days there last week because our town lost power. During that stay, Wei Wei literally woke up one day and decided that the potty was more than an inert fixture in the bathroom and DECIDED TO START USING IT.

Many of you know the various cajoling and bribing we've offered, to no avail. But somehow, at Po Po's he needed no incentive and literally just started peeing in the potty on a regular basis (pooping is another story, but we'll take what we can get).

Woohoo! My fear that he was going to be 12 years old and still wearing diapers may not be realized after all!!!!

Summer!

I guess summer is here -- it's been 100 degrees both days this weekend. Despite the heat and humidity, Jerry and Andrea ran a 10k race (called Mountain Top, which tells you that it's not a flat course). Noooooooo way.

We also celebrated Nathan and Kyle's first birthday (which was actually last week). They are both crawling, pulling themselves up to stand, and generally being incredibly adorable. Wei Wei was so excited about their birthday because he talked about it all day. On the way over, Jerry asked him how old he thought the twins were. "I don't know, we should ask Wei Yi (Audrey). She'll tell us." He didn't think they were five yet because five was when you were big and got to go to kindergarten.

Also, here are a few photos from the Grandpa and Grandma's visit last weekend. Wei Wei enjoyed having two additional people to boss around.

Siggy's spa day and Wei Wei's debut

Jerry has been threatening to take Siggy to get groomed while I was away on business. This week, he kept his word. I came home to a sleek, more svelte-looking Siggy. Moxie (not-so-smart) hasn't recognized Siggy and has been growling and hissing at him ever since.

This weekend was the end of Chinese school. All of the classes performed and this was Wei Wei's big stage debut. He almost debuted early. When I told him it was time to line up, he scrambled right up on the stage and stood next to some students, except it wasn't his class. I had to go up and get him, but I give him points for enthusiasm.

Happy Birthday Aunt Laura

A birthday message from Garrick!

Our budding photographer

Wei Wei got a camera from the Lim family for Christmas and he LOVES it. He takes pictures of everything. And honestly, he's getting better. The first few hundred of the photos were completely dark -- because he insisted on holding the camera backwards, with the lens facing him.

Here are a few from the last month:

Giants Draft Day 5k

Jerry, Andrea, and Loi made a valiant attempt to run this year's Giants Draft Day 5k, which turned out to be a dud of a race. The course was messed up, so Andrea and Jerry completed the race in 22 minutes -- too bad the course was short the 5k. Hey -- still a PR!





The runners -- fresh before the big start






If you look REALLY closely, you can see Andrea and Jerry.










Wei Wei and I hanging out in the parking lot.








The happy racers at the end.

Pics from Wongville

Some photos from Wongville when we actually WEREN'T eating:

Swimming with Danny

Cuddling with Po Po after swimming

Taking a bath with Kaixiang

Kyle, Wei Wei, Kaixiang, and Nathan.

It's not easy to get all of the kids looking in one direction. It took three of us to get even this.

Wong-ville

We're back from a weekend in the Poconos with the family -- the entire family! Audrey, Badri, Nathan, Kyle, Judy, Kaixiang, Alice, Danny, Mom and Dad. We ate, hung out, ate, swam, played with the kids, and ate some more. My body is going through Combos/Oreo/Skittles withdrawal.

The four kids are adorable together, but you can tell what a handful they will all be in a few years. We got some great pics and will post some soon. Highlights of the trip include:

• Hearing Nathan and Kyle giggle (which they do a lot)
• Watching them eat -- unlike their cousins, they can sure pack it away
• Hearing Kaixiang learn how to say "Wei We" -- we unfortunately weren't able to get him to perform for Jerry
• Seeing Kaixiang bust out his dance moves. He's got some good ones.
• Watching all four kids in the pool. And noticing how darn white Wei Wei is. Wonder where he gets that from.
  

Wei Wei continues to want to assert his independence. Jerry was trying to explain the concept of "bossy" to him because that's what he's been.

Had my 20-week ultrasound last week. Didn't find out the gender. We took Wei Wei and he wanted to know why it was so dark in my stomach.

Seriously, what did we do before the internet?

Jerry's noticed that there's been an animal pooping in our yard. With a quick google search, we were able to identify the origin. Jerry is so impressed with this website that he thinks we should bookmark it (because we would refer to it all the time?!). I share it with you here: http://icwdm.org/Inspection/droppingfeces.asp

Dentist -- Take II

I had taken Wei Wei to the dentist several weeks ago -- and that trip was a D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. I thought the first visit would be all fun: check out the fun chair! The equipment! Let's count some teeth. Nope, this dentist went straight to business. Not only did I have to hold him down, he has three cavities and the dentist said that at least one of them needed to be filled. Which meant drilling. Which meant numbing. Which meant using restraints. I was sick about it.

We decided to get a second opinion and went to see a new dentist today (thanks to Nancy for the referral!). This visit was MUCH better. Poor Wei Wei was so traumatized from the first visit that it was dicey at first, but the dentist had "Cars" on. Smart dentist. Also plenty of time for Wei Wei to warm up. Smart dentist. Also no poking, just looking. Smart dentist. It was miraculously a good experience. No tears from our little delicate lotus flower.

This doctor recommended taking baby steps, so we're going back in a few weeks for another look, maybe a cleaning, and definitely more tv.

I LOVE this new dentist (and not because he's a dreamboat either).

Our new favorite dentist---

Toddler logic

Wei Wei wanted to play a game tonight, but BaBa said we needed to cook dinner. Wei Wei asked why we always have to cook dinner. Jerry's response was that dinner didn't cook itself. Wei Wei's response: "It can't cook because it has no hands."

True, enough.

In unrelated news, I'm 18 weeks along and livin' large. Recent cravings include: root beer, root beer floats, grapes, oranges, frozen pizza, and cheese subs.

We went to Auntie Andrea's and Uncle Loi's house yesterday. We think Wei Wei would do well spending a weekend with them. It would toughen him up for sure. Wei Wei loved playing with all the boys. And their toys. You'd think that kid never saw a toy before in his life.

Unrelated photos: here's Wei Wei enjoying some vanilla wafers (another pregnancy impulse purchase -- never send a hungry pregnant woman shopping . . . .) .

Our Big Day...and some photos

I think Wei Wei is getting the idea of the whole "Big Boy" thing we've been trying to sell him. This week's major achievements have been outsanding. We were actually able to get his hair cut without holding him down. Yep, he sat in the chair and said it tickled. The barber was even able to use scissors. The last hair cut made him look like Monchichi.

He looks much much better now.

He has also been eating an amazing amount of food...real food. Nothing ended in nugget or had "Mc" in front of it. We are very happy with that. He might actually make the growth chart the next time we take him to the doctor.

Last, but not least, check out the time I'm writing this post: 8:30pm, baby! That's right--Wei Wei is already in bed. Saturday night, take out, college b-ball , adult beverages (for the non-pregnant only), and Wendy...it doesn't get any better.

Oh, the sun was out today, so even though it was chilly, we went to the park for a bit too.

Pooping in the potty! (And other news)

Editor's note: If you don't have kids, you might want to skip the first paragraph.

We know that millions of other kids have done it (and do it on a regular basis), but we've been making some significant progress with the potty. Wei Wei's pooped in the potty the last three times! Woohoo!!! We're so proud. We have a quite the routine going: Mark the calendar with "p," put a sticker on the chart (and check to see if you get a poopie present), and pick out the two gummy bears. Our secret fears that he'll be wearing a diaper in high school may actually not come true.

In other news, we're expecting #2 (actually, to clarify, I am expecting #2). We've been late in getting the word out -- between the nausea and tiredness in the first 12 weeks and my ravenous appetite since then, we haven't had much time. I tell Jerry I feel like an animal in the wild: all of my waking hours are spent hunting/gathering/foraging for food. Hey -- I'm eating for 1 1/2 right now.

(And for the record, I'm 17 weeks along.)

Asserting my independence

I meant what I said in one of my earlier blogs that there was a new sheriff in town. I've spent the past few weeks trying to retrain Ma Ma and Ba Ba. I've taken to throwing myself on the floor crying when I don't get my way. I also like to make up stories -- I like to blame the other parent or one of the babies (even if they aren't around). I can't wait until Kaixiang, Nathan, and Kyle are older so I can teach them some of my techniques.

In happier news, Er Yi and Kaixiang came to visit last week. We had a great time with them. Ma ma and I spent the night at Po Po and Gong Gong's house. I got to do whatever I wanted there because Po Po and Gong Gong had my back. That was great.

Still obsessed, I see . . .

In Chinese school this past Saturday, the teacher asked all of the students what they liked to do:
Boy: I like to read books.
Girl: I like to dance.
Girl: I like to sing.
Wei Wei: I like to watch television.

Wei Wei's Three!

What? I'm going to be three?!

Celebrating the new year with Gong Gong and Po Po. They got me a cool Thomas the Tank backpack/roll-on for my birthday.

Yet another birthday celebration (this time in Roxbury). I never get to eat this many cupcakes!

It's been a hectic week. We celebrated the Chinese New Year and my birthday all at once (my birthday was actually on the same day as the new year this year). What this translates to is lots of presents, lots of food, and lots of other food that I don't normally get to eat (reference photos above). It's good to be the king. Mom brought in cupcakes and red envelopes for my friends at daycare. I "helped" decorate the cupcakes with sprinkles and Cheerios. I love frosting, for sure.

The best birthday greeting I got was from my friends Justine and Vasco -- check it out here: http://i173.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid173.photobucket.com/albums/w47/ivannamike/MVI_0497.flv

Gong Gong, Po Po, and Xiao Yi came over to have dinner with me on Thursday. I managed to bamboozle the plans and hijacked Dad to go home with me from the restaurant (hey -- a three-year old's got to poop in private, you know).

I'm looking forward to three and I'm ready for the challenges ahead of me. For one, this business about mom and dad setting all the rules is going to go down like a house of cards. This place needs a new sheriff. I should be able to eat what I want when I want it. I should be able to sleep when I want. And I should be able to get new toys whenever I want. I've got some ideas for how to change this place and I'm not going to let a lack of income or transportation stop me. Stay tuned!

Haircut trauma

In preparation for the upcoming holiday (and his birthday!), we took Wei Wei to the barber to get his haircut today. Despite going fairly regularly, he hasn't taken to it. We can typically expect a lot of tears and screaming while he sits on a parent's lap, but today took the cake.

Perhaps he wants to have more input into his haircut. We pick one guard and buzz his entire head with it. Not a lot of style.

Perhaps he took issue with the barber (we basically go to the same guy, but he kept telling us he wanted to go to another barber).

Perhaps it's that he's almost three years old and maturing into a full brat.

Whatever the case, this trip was the worst -- it took both of us to hold him down. Lots of screaming and crying and yelling.

Once at home, he was fine, but I think still generally miffed about the entire incident. Good thing we went a little shorter this time -- more time between haircuts.