Blink…and there you have it…. January 8, 2010

Amazing how quickly time passes.   I had really wanted to post about the boys and record how much they have changed; but laziness overcame me on far too many occasions.

Now Anderson is 3 1/2 and turning into a little man.  He’s so full of personality!  In June 2009, he started Grace’s Little PreSchool with Bailey.  He’s currently there 3 days a week and it’s amazing how well he has adapted to that environment.  In December they had a little christmas show;  he was quite the little show man with his exaggerated arm movements and facial expressions.  The hours of practice at home was the most entertainment we had this winter.  He’s learning to write his letters and can sometimes spell his name.   At home, I’ve taught him some basic math and he’s great at counting his little digits.   Anderson is a bit of a tv junkie like his mommy.  His favorites right now are Phineas and Ferb, SuperWhy, Jungle Junction and Wow wow Wubbzy.  He recites his favorite lines and draws parallels to everyday life.  Lately, I’ve noticed he has an amazing memory.  I’m not sure if all kids have this, but there are these moments where he will mention the most obscure thing based on his memory.  Pixar rules in our house.  He loves Cars, Toy Story and Wall-E.

I’ve said it before; I love this kid.  He’s amazing to me.  He’s such a great brother; from the beginning, he’s embraced Aidan and never displayed anything other than love to him.  That’s not to say there are moments of indifference.  Anderson is easy going kid and it’s easy to rationalize with him.  Although, I have noticed that since starting school (or maybe since Aidan), he’s has this pout-y phase; where when things are not to his likely, he will furrow his face and look down.  And when his feelings are hurt, you can sometimes see him fighting back tears.  But on the whole, he’s is happy little boy and I continue to marvel in his personality.

And then there’s Aidan.   Arguably , the real reason why I have not blogged all of last year.  It’s been an adjustment having two.   In my mind, I feel it’s been harder with Aidan.   But I feel like we are finally hitting our stride.  He’s been sleeping through the night since he was about 7/8 months.   Starting to wean and he’s been adjusting without much resistance.  Around Oct, he started to stand and take a step.  In Nov, he took a couple more steps.  December was the wobbly walk, still preferring to crawl and now, he’s totally independent.  Aidan is starting to giggle and interact more.  He loves itsy bitsy spider.  He’s exploring with self feeding

Super Grover September 12, 2008

At bedtime, you love to run around with your cape.  And let’s not forget your super grover hat.  I am amazed at your creativity and silliness

mommy: anderson, what is baby brother’s name
anderson: baby grover

mommy: anderson, what is baby brother’s name
anderson: gordon (after gordon the train)

I lub you, mommy September 12, 2008

Love when you say this…it makes my heart soar

CPR September 12, 2008

Creating Keepsakes recently held the Creative Photography Retreat in San Jose.  I was especially excited because Jessica Sprague was going to be teaching a session at the weekend event.  She was kind enough to reach out to me and invite me to be one of her TA’s for Saturday’s class.  Photoediting in Adobe RAW. 

She was phabulous and I left the event feeling totally inspired to understand my camera on a new level. 

Happy Camper September 12, 2008

Over the last week, Anderson has really grown fond of his tent.  We bought this tent months ago from Ikea and it’s been sitting in the empty living room for months.  In fact, the only time he really goes in there is if Bailey and Mikayla and suddenly it becomes a dumping ground for all of his toys.

On Sunday, as I was trying to wind him down for bed, I had rolled up a throw blanket and tucked his snowman pants in with the blanket.  He then runs off with the blanket to the tent and proceeds to camp in the tent.  Of course, daddy was the the tickling bear and Anderson has to command the bear to “go away, bear”  Eventually, we took the whole tent upstairs to his bedroom and he quickly furnished the interior with ALL of his pillows and blankets.  As if he didn’t look like Aaron already, it was quickly apparent that Anderson has inherited Aaron’s compulsive idiosyncrasies.  Anderson was insistent that all of the blankets be rolled up

So over the course of the week, he continues to enjoy the camping experience. Tonight, was almost a break through moment.  He feel asleep in the tent by himself. Here he is in his snowman pj’s (yet another obsession) and his newfound snowman hat

Beware the Baby Pirate July 13, 2008

So bedtime these days are a mixed bag these days.  Anderson is going to bed later and later and it is hard to get him to wind down.   I was putting him to bed the other night and he insists on building a snowman with the blankets on the bed.  How apt, Christmas in July.  He got the idea of snowmen when we were at Cindy/Kelly’s earlier in the week and he and Bailey stacked some exercise balls on top of one another and one of the adults called it a snowman.  Its become more and more apparent that his retention of ideas and concepts is really taking place in his little head.  So he builds a snowman and then places a rubbermaid box on top as the hat.  I was exhausted but I ran and got my camera and snuck some shots in.  Then strangely enough we had the winter issue of Martha Stewart Kids in the room; so we proceeded to find other signs of “snowmen” lurking in the pages. 

So yes, I was really tired by now and just wanted him to sleep.  So I’ve shut my eyes and could have fallen asleep, had he not been stirring around and still chattering.  He had found a “quarter” and put it over his eye and started saying “Baby Pirate, Baby Pirate” “argghh”  I was in hysterics. 

 

Is bedtime always this amusing and I’ve been missing out?

FaceBook Frenzy April 28, 2008

A recent addiction of sorts, has been FaceBook.  FaceBook is a social networking site where people set up an account and then connect or re-connect with others in the network.  It was a bit of a frenzy when I first joined, because you almost become obsessed with finding as many people as you can from your past.  Mostly out of curiousity to see what path life as put them on, but then, at some elementary level, its becomes like a popularity contest.  As if the more people I add, that would validate that “wow, I know know a lot of people”.  By week two, I think the fascination has waned and I’m not on it every waking minute.  It helps that the computer at home is slower than molasses.

Another Weekend March 31, 2008

So here it is, another weekend behind us. And to boot, we are nearly in April. Anderson has been sick with the cold again and has shared this with just everyone. Both Grand-M’s are sick. This time around he developed an eye infection; which, for the most part has past. But at its worse, it had his little eyes glued together. I am so ready for spring and better weather so that we can put this cold/flu season to bed. It’s just wiped us out this year.

We were suppose to be home bound to rest up and stave off the germies, but I couldn’t do it. He was driving me nuts.

1. Wow Wow Wubbzy. This kid could spend all day watching this show. You can play the same one over and over and he would be okay with that. I couldn’t take it so I had to mix it up with a Dora here and there.
2. Words (or lack thereof). He points and crys out “eh, eh” Magically, we seem to know what is it he wants, but his word usage is sparse. Partially, I am sure this is a behavior that is enabled by us, but I’m so ready for him to string words together.
3. Eating (again, lack thereof).

Resolutions… of sorts February 13, 2008

So, I’m not one for resolutions. Never really make them. But there are a couple of goals that I want to accomplish this year all of which center around my ever-growing collection of scrap supplies.

Okay, I admit it. I am a hoarder. I love paper. I really love paper. And colors. In my mind, there are swirls of ideas and layouts. I really want to scrap. Besides the obvious deterrent (time), is the fact that I can’t bring myself to slice a pretty sheet of paper apart or to use up one letter of the chipboard alpha and then be stuck with the P’s, Q’s and other randoms. My mind would much rather see them stay in tack as a pretty collective group. Yes, I have a sickness.

But I really want to believe that this is my year to create. so here it is, my goal is to create at one layout a month. I already slipped on January, but I can make this up.

My other goal was to blog more often. Originally, I thought once a week would be attainable, but then look…it’s February and I haven’t blogged till now. I guess it doesn’t count if you just “think” you want to blog.

I’ve realized that Anderson has changed soo much in the last couple months and there is already soo much that I have forgotten. My hope is to be able to jot down the mundane, everyday things that make this boy so special.

A New Year January 4, 2008

Everything post Halloween has been a blur. But to give a quick recap, here is how 2007 ended for us:

Halloween – Of course, I got sick during this time. What’s the significance of this; well, I never get sick. But it hit me pretty bad in October. So bad that I stayed home for two days to recouperate. How do I remember this, well, like I said, I don’t get sick often so I remember. Of course, if I get sick, Anderson is soon to follow. More on this later.

Anderson was dressed as Elvis, red cape and all. GM Ho made the outfit. He was nothing short of adorable.

November brought us Thanksgiving at our house. We had all the grandparents and were joined by the other Wong clan (Gordon & Marie, the kids and Gordon’s parents). In fact, we had Cindy & girls over practically every day. It was fun to see the kids play with one another. I for one, was exhausted and almost looking forward to going back to work for some peace and quiet.

December was equally fun. On the work front, we closed our fiscal year in November. Bruce Chizen announced that he would step down as CEO and would hand over the day to day to Shantanu. William was off to the UK and Africa for three weeks. My holiday was a little less exotic. I spent most of the time running errand or at home with my baby. The weather has been cold; and since the floors are all tile downstairs, the house has been cold as well. Anderson continues to battle through the sickies. I’ve been amassing stuff for my new work space. The newest addition has been my Epson R1800, after much online research. Finally had the chance to meet Brian and Meda’s newest addition, Allyson. Seeing babies makes me miss how tiny Anderson was. He’s my little miracle in action, always changing; always evolving.

Anderson remains a baby of few words. Not much of a talker, but he definitely understand and expresses himself in his happy-go-lucky self. He was quite funny opening presents. He would tear a piece of wrapping paper off and then take that piece to the trash can. He would then return and tear off another piece and proceed to take that piece to the trash. This went on for a bit. Turns out he takes after Aaron in this arena. He a bit of a compulsive cleaner.

So much of December, Anderson was sick. But he’s a functional sick baby. Administering medication was an issue at first. He started to see Mikayla and Bailey take medicine and realized how much they liked it (both are borderline hypochondriacs). Personally I think he like it because he can administer it himself through a syringe, because you can put juice in there and he still wants more.
January rung in wet and cold. Katie turned two and had her party at Gymboree. Anderson had never been to an organized play facility so I was sort of like a researcher observing a lab rat. He ran around and played independently but wasn’t so interested in the group-play aspects. Afterwards, we had Steph, Dave and the boys over for hot pot.

So that sums up the whole of three months. As with the start of any new year, one starts to think of things to do differently. What jumps to the forefront of my mind will be in my next post