If you love 'em, eat 'em.

Today in Sunbeams, my son was learning about animals. "How do we show love to our pets?" the teacher asked. One girl raised her hand. "We feed them." Another child raised a hand. "We can pet them." And then my child raised his hand. "We can eat them." Totally a CHINESE sort of answer. I think he was remembering the time we played with some live crabs we got from the asian market...and then we ate them later that day.

ramblings of the nomad.

We cancelled our internet to save money but before you all start gasping, I'll just explain that we do have limited use through a jetpack (I just can't upload photos or watch videos or anything that takes much data transfer). Anyway, having no photos to post hasn't helped my motivation to blog. But here I am determined to simply type. Today at a music & movement class, Baby Ro started climbing on a bigger (3 yr old) girl. Mr. Lo explained with a shrug of apology, "That is just my baby sister. She doesn't even know what she is doing." We have practiced that phrase a lot lately; "She is just a baby. Babies don't even know what they are DOING! They are so SILLY/FUNNY/LOVEABLE/etc." We say all these sentences in delighted tones and laugh a lot. Lo has mostly done well adopting this happy attitude toward his sister. He is very forgiving. Our kids also just reached the stage of being able to really wrestle together, which I love because then I get less pleadings from Mr. Lo for me to roughhouse with him. We moved one month ago. Yup, could not keep our New Year's Resolution to live in one location for at least 12 months. Even though our new place is an upgrade in every way imaginable, somehow I still felt moderately depressed with all the changes. Now that I've found the new storytime we like to attend, some good parks in the area, introduced ourselves to a few neighbors, checked out all the closest grocery stores, figured out preschool/gymnastics complications, and got a church calling (the nursery leader--for the 4th time!) I am feeling better. We signed a 12 month lease on this place. Here's hoping we really do stay here for at least one full year. It feels like a blissful, unlikely dream to ever put down roots somewhere.

Random update

My brother and his wife visited us last month.  Here he is at the Mystery Spot.  We have all KINDS of cool sites to see.  We welcome visitors!  We have a futon in the living room that is semi-sleepable and a few air mattresses...seriously, come visit.  See the sites.  And see us.  :)

As it feels impossible to catch up with all the blogging, here is a random assortment of happenings spewed onto the page in no particular order:

Babe Ro is furniture walking and getting into all kinds of mischief .

Mr. Lo has been begging for months now: "Please let my sister sleep with me!  I'll just wake you up if she needs anything in the night."  OH how we WISH it were possible--but no, they don't even share a room.  We just do pretend "sleepovers" in Lo's bed during the day at his request. 

These two get along well most of the time.  Baby adores her big brother and fixates her stare on him above all other human beings.  "Brother Bear," as he calls himself, often screeches when she comes crashing onto his carefully arranged play areas--but still seems to really like having her around. 

We had a cute thing happen a few days ago. The kids were playing in a fort/tent, and Miss Ro behaved like SUCH the grown-up, clambering all by herself through each room and tunnel we had built. Then, the two kids started laughing at each other through a mesh "window" of the tent. I cannot express enough how JOYFUL it feels to have my kids enjoying each others' company and playing together. It is a dream come true. Most of the time they need a little more supervision, but there were a good 10 minutes or so there in the tent when they were just adorable to watch, no parental interjections needed. My camera has been needing the batteries charged for a week or so, so no new photos. But anyway, figured I would give this blog a little update. Make sure to check out our Youtube channel if you haven't already. That is where we put most of our good videos.

6, er 7 months

She likes books and gets read to pretty much every day, but often she is just "read to" by virtue of sitting on my lap while I read to Mr. Lo.  I have a goal to read to her individually as well, but those sessions usually turn into book EATING rather than READING. 

Poor neglected non-firstborn child.  Miss Ro had her entire 6 month post get left out!  But at least I took her to the doctor on schedule for her 6 month well-baby visit last month.  Now don't ask me where I put those stats.  All I recall is that she was something like 16-17 lbs. and in high percentiles for height/weight but she seems to have only moderate amounts of chub.  Nothing excessive.  :)  

Almost to the day, as soon as she turned 6 months she could magically sit up.  We did the pillow cushion for awhile, as shown in this photo.  Though of course now in month 7 she is done needing those pillows.  She can currently CRAWL, people.  Which has wrecked havoc on her relationship with her older brother.  ;)

She mostly has a lot of Blue in her life.  She plays with her brother's toys because we are too frugal to buy her proper baby toys (though I've started scanning Craigslist again and just today scored a good buy on a baby toy). She also sticks out her tongue a lot (as shown in the photo).  So cute!

Let the solids begin!  I waited until the week she turned 6 months, and ever since then have haphazardly handed her most of what I eat.  I know, risky for the allergens watch.  I need to slow down and pace myself on new food introductions.  But that requires organization and planning...And isn't it interesting about the new AAP recommendations? 

She gets about 5 baths per day, once after each time she eats, and another one at bedtime with her brother in the big tub.  Still need to get a photo of that latter charming event, but usually I'm too busy keeping her from drowning.  And did I mention I do bedtime routines by myself these days.  I basically feel like supermom most of the time, but the real story is that I have to let this baby cry sometimes while I focus on keeping her brother's bedtime on track.  I hate it.  And so I am inconsistent with the "let cry" approach.  Which is a recipe for disaster.  My son is the most well-adjusted sleeper, even waking at night to go potty and takes himself right back to bed.  I attribute his great sleeping to the fact that I was consistent; I consistently nursed him to sleep.  For years.  At age 2 he started sleeping in his own bed with a happy attitude, and at age 2.5 years he started sleeping in his own room with only minor protests, but a baby monitor camera helped reassure him we were watching over him and he adjusted fine.  I am pretty thoroughly happy with what happened with his sleep situation, though there were bumps in the road along the way.  Mainly those were confidence issues more than anything.

But I worry about this poor little Miss Ro.  Her naps are often "on the run," in her carseat or stroller while I go places for her older sibling's benefit.  She acts tired a lot.  If only I could force my personality to match my circumstances.  I don't think I was ever cut out to be any variation of a "single mom."  It has been a game-changer sometimes when I can stay home with my napping baby while Jerry takes Mr. Lo to preschool.  Those are great days.  But they don't happen often.  Anyway, here's a tribute to Ro Ro, the darling of the Tams.  She gets doted on by all the neighborhood.  They are Spanish-speaking people, and call her, "Bonita (Bonito?) and Gordita (isn't that a taco bell menu item?)...I know next-to-nothing in Spanish.  But I love that these people love my baby.  They all want to cuddle her and kiss her all day long.  The kids knock on the door asking to play with Mr. Lo, but really they just want an excuse to get to see the baby. 

JELIC Education

I always intended to do Montessori-type activities with my child at home, and every once in awhile hit gold. But I have a feeling it will take a formal school setting to get my child to achieve his highest learning potential. I have a few good friends who have loved homeschooling. But it sort of seems like I don't have the personality for it. Anyway, we have plowed forward with preschool plans for this wonderful 3-yr-old to supplement whatever good activities I can come up with for the homefront.

Uncooked Spaghetti Strands + Cheerios + playdough base = Intensely Focused, Happy Child

Last week Mr. Lo switched preschools (his other one ended for the summer, so we have him enrolled in one that continues through the summer).  The current preschool is a Mandarin/English bilingual Christian JELIC-based education system.  JELIC is sort of like Montessori I think??  I'm pretty happy with it. Lo goes just 2 half-days per week.  Anyway, I adore the head teacher, and she sent us a sweet update after Lo's first day.

Dear Jerry and Courtney:
 
Your son has a great start today!
He is such an independent, obedient, helpful and joyful boy!  What amazed me the most was when he poured a good-sized jar of milk into the small cup I gave to him!  he did it a few times with great confidence : )   I admire the way you train him and you really trained him well : )
He did a very good job in JELIC, too!  The box of this hands-on brain-development curriculum was a bit challenging for him at the beginning, yet he was very patient in following instructions.  In the end, he was more and more confident and finished that box really well!!  You would be very proud of him if you were here : )
It was a joy to have him in our class today and I am very much looking forward to having him again this Thursday!
Good night and God bless,

Esther
Yes, We are proud parents. What a great little boy God has given us. And I think Jerry and I have parenting styles and philosophies that complement each other well--we are a good mix. We have imperfect moments every day, but overall we Tams are a happy family. And I am thankful to God for making us this way.

Camera Hog

Recently we tried to get some spontaneous shots of this little Ro:Only to have the camera hijacked by this Mr. Lo:

And that was a couple weeks ago.  Ever since, he has been addicted to self-portraits.  He gets a turn with the camera almost every time I bring it out these days.  I'm looking forward to having another cameraman in the house.  :)

Creations

Different colors of water mixed with oil--Lo had fun dripping the food coloring in and shaking it all up.  It makes visible waves between the oil/water separation. Note: Jerry's bike stays in our living room since his last one got stolen from our apartment's bike rack. 

Making a fake lemonade stand with a few other neighbor kids.  They used yellow sidewalk chalk to mix up yellow water.  This project had them SO enthused for what seemed like hours. 

Making REAL lemonade this time; we have had ample supply of lemons since there are lemon trees everywhere here.  A neighbor lets us pick lemons from his tree, so we've done that a few times and brought home bagfuls.  Note Lo's special Blue Pei Pei in the background (his comfort object giant blanket). 

Oh, and just so our other child doesn't get forgotten: Baby Ro eating her hands as usual.  :)  Only these days she isn't content to just eat her fingers.  She wants everything in her mouth.  Also noteworthy that she still fits easily in her infant carseat.  (Mr. Lo had outgrown his by this time). 

Cultural Observations

Have I mentioned we live at the crossroads of Latino Land and Vietnam Town. I have very little prior exposure to either of these cultural backgrounds, so often find myself surprised by what my neighbors and friends do here. One thing that is common here that I have not experienced elsewhere is door-to-door peddling. We've had frequent knocks on our door in the evening. Peddled wares include homemade cheese, toys, paintings, cooking utensils, tupperware, and other items I was unsure about because the seller did not speak English. So fascinating.

Sleep and the Rest of our Day

Figured I would expound a tad on my reference to Lo's naps in that last post. First of all, I should explain that my relationship with Sleep has been a complex, tempestuous insomniac affair for much of my life. So I have determined it shall be a simpler act for my children. Step one: find a regular bedtime. Jerry's work schedule fluctuates. To add to that variability, when Mr. Lo was napping half the days out of each week he had bedtime sometimes at 6:30pm and sometimes as late as 8:30pm; it made him see his dad some evenings at bedtime, but other nights not see him. Which confused and saddened the poor child. So it was a tough decision to make, but we decided to have Mr. Lo quit napping (which he was basically ready for anyway) in order to make his bedtime a perfectly regular, set time: 7pm. It varies by about a 30 min. window, but stays pretty firm regardless of weekends, dinner appointments, neighbor children knocking on the door at bedtime or neighbors throwing pinata parties at bedtime, etc. We stand strong! We eat dinner at 5pm sharp, have Lo hit the bath at 6pm, then clean up toys, brush teeth, I massage his feet with essential oils (Lavender and Lemon), a 2 min. nursing session and I hug and kiss him goodnight. He listens to soft church hymns as he falls asleep. He has been thriving on this routine and we are happy with it. It is my goal for Baby Ro to be in bed by 7pm as well, but her evenings have more variability because of her daytime napping getting switched around quite a bit. Also, because of being distracted by directing Lo's bedtime routine I often end up missing Baby Ro's ideal sleep window (when a baby is drowsy but awake) so she cries and fusses most nights or sometimes I have time to soothe her to sleep but I sense this inconsistency will cause problems for us in the future. This is the imperfect part of my life: 2 kids, 1 me. Jerry leaves for work at about 8am and returns around 8pm. This is his NON-busy season schedule. Intense, right? He has a 2-3 hour commute for many of his assigned clients. To get to and from work, he rides his bike, takes the train or light-rail and sometimes drives our personal car which believe it or not is a comparable commute time to taking public transportation. The commute here is officially the worst in the nation.  Anyway, it means that with our family's schedule, Jerry sees the kids for about an hour each morning during the weekday grind.  But the consistency of the routine has felt comforting.

After Jerry returns home from work around 8pm, the two of us eat dinner together, do dishes, plan for the next day, have companionship scripture study, and go to bed around 10:30pm.  

3.5

This week our Mr. Lo turned three and a half years old. I have not been very consistent doing age reports for awhile but figured I might as well give him a little spotlight. He seems like such a grown up kid most of the time, but then has moments when I remember he has only been on this earth a short little while. Things he does: Shares (willingly and happily much of the time but sometimes needs reminding to wait until other kids are done before he tries to take a turn); Bikes (he got a balance bike last summer and rides it almost every day. Our longest route is 4 miles round trip and he gets tired but is a trooper!); Sings (his favorite part of church is singing time in Primary and I hear his sweet melodies around the house as he rehearses either songs he has just learned in school/church or songs he makes up on the spot); Potties (deserves a post of its own, but the short story is that he insisted on potty training himself last year right after we moved back from Texas--ditched diapers cold-turkey daytime/nighttime included and it went pretty well overall); Pretends (he makes up stories, likes to role play, hide and jump out at me as if he is a monster, etc.; Eats (only consumes about one good meal every 2-3 days but isn't picky overall) Still nurses each evening as part of his bedtime routine; Sleeps -for about a year now has slept in his own room all night long, even getting up to potty at night without needing help most of the time.  He goes to bed between 7-7:30 and wakes around 6:30-7am.  About a month ago, I weaned him off of napping entirely because he was only napping a few days per week anyway and it bothered me to have inconsistency.  And it messed with his bedtime when he sometimes napped/sometimes didn't.  So anyway, I'm relieved he's done napping.  It makes scheduling our days simpler.   "Reads;" okay, not really, but he does the pre-reading pretending sort of reading, like telling me, "I'll read it," and turns the pages, telling the story as he has memorized it or making it up based on the illustrations, etc. He also LOVES to be read to still and will sit still for whole stacks of books. He seems to like any genre and a whole host of subjects. One of his recent favorite topics to read about is bats. He often says, "I can read this book because it is a Chinese book, but you can't read it Mommy because you aren't Chinese." And then he'll pretend to read to me in Chinese. I love it. Helps (he enjoys mopping up his own spills, like when he overflows/floods the bathroom every night during his bath or pours his own milk from the jug. He also enjoys entertaining his younger sister and frequently requests, "Mom please can I hold my sister?" Cooks/Bakes (with a lot of assistance of course he commonly makes pancakes, play dough, pizza, cookies, bread, and without assistance is able to get himself simple snacks). Usually I ask him, "What should we have for dinner?" and he gives me great ideas. He likes measuring and stirring dry ingredients most and sometimes protests when I say it is time to add the wet ingredients. He doesn't like getting messing. I need to rearrange the kitchen to put more items within his reach but then am not sure how to simultaneously baby-proof it soon for Baby Ro). I wish I had time to write more about him because he is such a complex, amazingly developed little person and I am sure I've missed important categories. But I'm running out of time and need to get to bed so that's it for now...