Tag Archives: development

Time goes by so fast

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Josh size

When I saw that Josh had fallen asleep on the couch this afternoon like this, I immediately remembered one of my favorite photos of him from 2010 when he was just a week old. I ran to grab the camera, took the shot, and he woke up to the beeping noise of the camera. I’m glad I caught this.

Before I had kids, every time I hear a parent say, “Oh, this time goes by so fast”, I just roll my eyes and think they are crazy. How does time go by fast when you’re up on a Saturday morning at 5:45 am because your preschooler is up? How does time go by fast when they are cranky and throwing temper tantrums and you just want to pull your hair out? Well, I guess it’s my turn to say, this time goes by so fast. I don’t know how it happens, but it just does.

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Mini me

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SavI don’t know what happened. I blinked, and she’s 2 and a half.

Where did my little baby go? And who’s this kid that kinda looks likes me?

Savanna is physically petite, but her personality is anything but. She’s kind of just like me–hard headed, and thinks she knows better. Often she’ll try to correct me even when I am obviously right (see the “Ok, cheese” post). Also, she is very specific in what she wants and how she wants it. For example, I must not wipe her face for her, I must only peel the top third of the banana for her, I’m not allowed to touch her when I am sweaty, and I must let her pair up her shoes before putting them on for her. I see a lot of my personality in her, which is very cool and very scary at the same time.

Trust you tomorrow

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Josh and I were having a discussion about how to allocate the big tub of dinosaurs we just bought for him. I told him he can only have one of them tonight, because the rest are his birthday gift. He really wanted all of them right now. I said just one. He said all of them. We went back and forth a few times until I’ve just had enough.

I said, “Josh, you’ll get all the dinosaurs eventually. But tonight, you only get one.”

Josh said, “But I really need all of them.”

I said, “Josh, we’ve already discussed this. They are all yours. You get one tonight, and the rest on your birthday. You’re just going to have to trust me, ok?”

Josh thought for a second and said, “Ok, mommy, I trust you.” He paused, then said, “I’ll trust you tomorrow.”

 

Things my preschooler says to me

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Josh (1 of 1)It never really occurred to me that I gave birth to a tape recorder. Josh repeats back to me things I have said to him, with the exact same tone I use. It’s scary.

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While I was working on the computer the other day, Josh came in to the den, closed the door behind him, and said, “I have to make a phone call now. Can you please be quiet for a few minutes, Mommy?”

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Usually he gets to press the elevator buttons in our building. The other day, I got into the elevator with him, and without thinking, I pressed the button for our floor. He looked up at me with his teary eyes, and I realized I forgot to let him push the button. I said sincerely, “I am SO sorry, buddy. I totally forgot. Will you please forgive me?”

He does the index finger waiving thing, and said in a stern tone, “Mommy, please don’t ever do that again. Do you understand what I just said?”

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I was about to step out for a photo shoot, and I asked Josh to come give me a quick kiss. He sat at his art table drawing on his paper pad, looked up at me and said, “Mommy, I’m busy with my photo shoot.”

I said, “Oh yeah? What kind of photo shoot?”

He points to Savanna and said, “I have a photo shoot with Savanna. I don’t have time to give you a kiss.”

Speak good words

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The other night, I said to Savanna, “讓媽咪抱抱”

Joshua said, “Mommy, don’t speak Japanese!”

I said, “Baby, that was Chinese.”

Joshua said, “I don’t want you to speak Chinese.”

I said, “Why not?”

Joshua looked at me like I missed something obvious, and said, “Because you have to speak good words.”

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I came home from snowboarding and said to Cliff, “Either I need to buy bigger pants, or I really need to lose some weight.  I can barely button up my snowboarding pants.”

Joshua said, “How come you need bigger pants, Mommy?”

I said, “Because I put on too much weight.”

Joshua said, “Don’t worry about your weight, Mommy.”

I laughed, and said, “Oh yeah?  Why did you say that?”

Joshua said, “Because your pants don’t worry about it.”

I said, “Ok, thank you, baby. You made me feel so much better.”

Joshua holds out a fry to me and said, “You want some fries?”

 

Try harder

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We were about to head out the door today, so I held out a pair of shorts ready for Joshua to get into them.  He kept goofing around and wouldn’t come put his shorts on, after I’ve made repeated requests.  I had Savanna strapped to me in the Ergo, and I was trying to stay balanced while squatting and holding out the shorts.  I was getting impatient.

I said, “Joshua, I’m trying really hard to be patient.  Can you please help me out, and just listen to me?  Come put your shorts on.”

Joshua took one look at me, obviously heard what I said, happily came towards me, and got into his shorts as requested.

I said, “Thank you, buddy.  Thanks for listening so I didn’t lose my patience.  Now let’s go to the park.”

Joshua looked up at me and asked, “Mommy, you tried to be patient?”

I said, “Yes, I really tried.”

He put on this stern voice and said, “Mommy, you need to try harder.”

I got owned by my 2-year-old.

No more mush

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Salmon cakes, turkey burger, and cantaloupe.

Salmon cakes, turkey burger, and cantaloupe.

As a parent of young kids, I get all excited about their “firsts”.  The first time they sit up, the first solid food, the first step, the first owie, the first plane ride, etc.  But when it comes to “lasts”, it’s usually not till much later that you realize your child had her “last” of something–the last time they wore an outfit, the last diaper, the last night of waking up to feed.

This past week, Savanna had her last meal of baby food on Monday morning.  While I was mindlessly shoving pureed yam into her mouth, she clammed up and refused to eat.  I tried baby cereal, and she refused that as well.  I was a little miffed.  I put a handful of Cheerios on her tray, and she happily picked them up and ate them.  I gave her a few pieces of scrambled eggs, and she picked them up and ate that too.  Huh!  The little bugger wants to feed herself!

So for lunch, I gave her little pieces of cantaloupe, salmon cakes, cubes of cheese, and some Cheerios, and she fed herself the entire meal.  I felt happy and sad at the same time.  I was happy that I didn’t have to spoon-feed her anymore, but I was sad that she needs me a little less.  From that meal on, for the rest of the week, I stopped pureeing her food and just cut them up into little pieces, and she fed herself.

The funny girl always eats up all the fruit first, starches next, and meats last.  She’s totally crazy about blueberries, and she also really likes plums and watermelon.

The adventures of baby bear

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Joshua pulled up his shirt and put baby bear on his belly to "nurse baby bear".

Joshua pulled up his shirt and put baby bear on his belly to “nurse baby bear”.

Many years ago, Cliff bought me a set of Bean Baby bears, one pink and one brown, to represent me and him.  Eventually Joshua took possession of the bears and they became his.  He calls the pink one “Angela bear”, and the brown one “Clifford bear”.  For some reason, he spends way more time with the pink one than the brown one.

Lately, he started this thing where he calls the pink bear “baby bear”, and treats it exactly how I would treat Savanna.  He would cuddle baby bear in his arms, put it on his pillow for naps, and give toys to baby bear to play with.  He tells baby bear not to cry, and he even shushes me if baby bear is napping.

Here is a collection of iPhone photos I’ve snapped of Joshua’s interactions with baby bear.

Checking baby bear's diaper for poop.

Checking baby bear’s diaper for poop.

Bear buckled in the stroller, ready to go for a walk.

Bear buckled in the stroller, ready to go for a walk.

Joshua put lotion all over the bear because he was giving her a massage.Joshua put lotion all over the bear because he was giving her a massage.

Taking baby bear out for a walk in the sling.

Taking baby bear out for a walk in the sling.

Teaching baby bear how to walk.

Teaching baby bear how to walk.

9 months old

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Multiple Savanna

My baby girl is 9 months old this week.  I have no idea how that happened.  It felt like just yesterday I was up so many times a night nursing a newborn baby.  Now she’s all crawling around and sleeping through the night.

Having Savanna makes life so much more hectic, and so much more fun.  Watching her and Joshua interact gives me tremendous joy.  Before she came, I couldn’t imagine what life is like with two kids.  Now I couldn’t imagine ever not having her.

Everyday, I thank Savanna for giving me a second chance to be a mom, and thank her for giving me this time to spend with people I love the most.

Standing

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Alright, I did promise some exciting blog posts after the long weekend.  I know this topic is probably only exciting for my little family, but I’m going to make a big deal of it anyway.  Just over a week ago, Savanna started crawling.  Now she’s pulling herself up to stand!  I really wasn’t ready for this.  I thought she’d spend more time just crawling around, but she seems to be in a hurry to grow.

She’s been trying for a couple of days to pull herself up, but her legs weren’t strong enough to support her body.  But this all changed today.  She crawled up to me, hung onto my knees, and pulled herself up to a standing position.

I am so proud!

I remember that before I had kids, some of my mommy friends would tell me little milestones in their kids’ lives, and I would always wonder why they make a big deal of nothing.  Aren’t kids supposed to grow?  Aren’t they supposed to crawl and walk and poop in the potty?  Now I am totally one of those mommies.

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