Once In A Blue Moon....

Last night, the stars seemed aligned and all was right in the world.

Fiona and I decided to take the kiddies and take a nice stroll over at the Irvine Spectrum. The night air was neither hot or cold, just a tad bit under the warm side. Typically when we take the girls out for a car ride, one of them (mainly Natalie) is bound to whine and cry. On the way there, they didn't make a peep which was peaceful but at the same time a little eerie. We got to the Spectrum at about 7:00pm. They have this huge ferris wheel and I was planning to take Jadon on his first ride on one. He was sooo excited. Unfortunately when we got to the wheel, it was closed for repairs. I told Jadon that is was broken and had to be fixed. He didn't seem too disappointed and understood why it was closed. So Fiona went to grab a cup of yogurt from Golden Spoon and we went walking some more. Then Jadon saw a merry-go-round and ran towards it exclaiming "Not broken! Not Broken!" So I took him on that instead and he seemed pretty content with that. The girls were mesmerized by the music and the circling of the merry-go-round. After that we walked some more. So what seemed like a good amount of time, we headed back to the car only to find out that it was only 7:35pm. Oh My Gosh! We are getting freakin' old! I felt beat. I think having three kids ages you by about 30 years. So on the way home I was expecting the girls to start flipping out but for the most part they didn't. Vanessa seemed to be singing (her singing sounds like cat's meow). Natalie did do a little whining but she soon stopped and seemed to have found her toy rings to munch on. The real test was when we got home. Usually when we take the girls inside (still in their car seats) the house and leave them alone for a few minutes to wash up and settle in, they would fuss and cry. But tonight was different, they were well behaved. And then when I gave Jadon his bath, I put the girls out in the loft area right outside the bathroom so they can watch. Usually they end up crying but they kept themselves entertained tonight. Then when it came time to give the girls a bath, Natalie, at some point, usually begins to whine (I think she knows the sequence of taking a bath, getting dressed, then getting bottle fed her milk) but tonight she was good. Hopefully this is a start of good things to come as far as enjoying our evenings and nights more.

More Jadon Conversations.

The past couple of days, Jadon has been bugging me to ride in my car. So yesterday I obliged him and moved his car seat from Fiona's car into my car and took him to pick up some dinner and headed over to his grandparent's house. So this is what he says upon riding in my car:

Jadon exlaims "Ride neeew cai-ya!" that's the way he pronounces 'car')
I ask "Jadon likes new car?"
Jadon responds "Yeah! Neew cai-ya smell bad."
I go on to probe him "Smells bad? Why does it smell bad?" (I'm thinking from the new car smell)
Jadon answers "Jadon fart!"

I, of course, bust out into full on laugh. Little weirdo....at least he's honest.

Doggy Dilemna Fixed?

For the past two days, Fiona and I believe that we have solved the issue with Jadon and his throwing his doggy out of his crib and his constant crying. Previously I had tied doggy on the side of the crib where he gets out. So he can still throw doggy out of his bed but it will just hang there. So I came up with a brilliant plan, I bought a pet collar (believe it or not) for his stuffed dog and ribboned ("leashed) it to the other end of the bed facing the wall so he can't throw him at all. So that mixed in with keeping his door open just a smidgen seems to keep him happy. I just can't believe the havoc he can create on our minds when he's not happy. When he gets all cranky and sad he really knows how to bring Fiona and I down. Plus having the girls won't help too.

The Good and the Ugly...

GOING MOBILE

This past Monday, Vanessa has hit a major milestone. She has finally started to crawl. For the longest time she would only prop herself on all fours and lunge forward. She couldn't figure out how to to move her legs and arms with succession. Well now it has clicked and she can do five crawling steps before she flops back onto her belly. She seems to be only motivated to crawl if there is a toy that peaks her interest but I notice that she is even more determined when I use my wedding ring to entice her. As for Natalie, she is no where close to crawling.

DOGGY DILEMMA

This past week has provided Fiona and I a challenge in dealing with Jadon. After we put Jadon for nap or bed, he'll throw his stuffed dog (named "Doggy") out of his crib and cry. We keep telling him to not throw it out but he keeps doing it. On Tuesday night I put him in timeout thinking that it will deter him from doing it but within 30 minutes he threw Doggy out. So we took Doggy away for 10 minutes and Jadon just kept on crying. I gave it back to Jadon and he went to sleep after that, but the next morning he did it again and again during his afternoon nap. Last night he continued the same routine. First I decided to tie Doggy to the crib frame, thinking that if Jadon tried to throw him out, that he could easily retrieve him. That was not the case. As soon as I left, I heard crying. I checked up on him and Doggy was hanging from the crib. So I tied Doggy to Jadon's wrist. No luck there, so I just left him to cry. Fiona and I are guessing that he is just doing it for the attention. So after 20-30 minutes of intense crying, Fiona went into Jadon's room and asked him if he wanted to sleep with Doggy or not. He didn't want his best friend anymore. =( So for the first time since the inception of his canine friend, he did not sleep with him. Could this be an end to this era? Fiona and I couldn't help but feel a little sad and sorry for the little fella. Hopefully it's just a short phase that he is going through.

Baby Updates, Blue TellyTubby, and A Laker Rumor....

Vanessa & Natalie Updates
Well the girls are sleeping through the night (or at least 8 hours straight). Vanessa still has napping issues. She seems to be on a 45 minute nap cycle. She should be like Natalie in that she naps 2-3 hours without a peep. Yesterday Vanessa woke up from her afternoon nap and she just cried and cried. She sounded like she fell out of her crib. I got her out and gave her to momma and she stopped crying and quickly gave a smile. That little con artist.

Anyways Vanessa seems like she is ready to crawl anytime. She gets in crawl position and rocks back and forth. And when she is ready to move forward she just lunges and falls on to her belly. Not to get into comparison mode, but I recall Jadon transitioning during this phase rather quickly. I noticed that about him in his major milestones. With the girls, it seems like a much slower process. Natalie is no where close to crawling. She seems content on whining and crying until someone picks her up (mainly her momma).

Well last weeks weight in results:
Natalie - 10lbs 9 oz (+4 oz)
Vanessa - 13 lbs 3 oz (-2 oz)

Jadon The Blue TellyTubby
Lately Jadon has insisted to us that he no longer wants to be 'Jadon' and that he wants to be called 'Blue TellyTubby.'

He'll say "Hi dadda!"
And I'll respond back with "Hi Jadon!"
Jadon then says "No more Jadon. Blue Tellytubby!"
So then I'll have to say "Hi Blue Tellytubby!" and then he'll be content.

Yesterday we carried on this type of conversation but I didn't want to call him Blue Tellytubby (just to see what he would do). He started to get frustrated to the point where he looked like he was going to break out into a cry. Sheesh.

So now I call him 'Blue Tellytubby' and I am trying to insist to him that my name is no longer 'dadda' and that I want to be called 'Black Tellytubby.' We'll see how that one goes.

A Laker Rumor....Say It Ain't So.
The latest rumor has it that free agent Latrell Spreewell may sign with the L.A. Lakers. I don't know if I could roll with this one. When the Minnesota Timberwolves offered him a 4 year $40 million extension (a few years ago) and he rejected it because he wanted more and then to say "he has mouths to feed" (referring to his family), I just thought "what a freaking idiot." Then when his production decreased, Minnesota came back with a 3 year $21 million deal and he rejected that one. Now he might sign with the Lakers for $2.5 million per year deal. How ironic that would be.

Jadon Conversation, George Foreman, Date Night & more.

My Conversation with Jadon
A couple of nights ago I had a little conversation with Jadon. I was upstairs with all three kiddies and Fiona was downstairs. The girls were starting to get restless and I tried to call out for Fiona but she didn't answer.

I ask Jadon "Jadon can you go downstairs and see what mama is doing?"
He runs downstairs and comes back up. I ask him "So where is mama?"
He says "Mama dowmstaiya (that's the way he pronounces it)."
I ask "Is mama in the kitchen?"
He replies "No."
I begin to think and then ask "Is mama lying on the couch?"
He answers "Yeah."
"Is mama watching t.v.?"
He says "Yeah."
"Is mama eating bon bons?"
He laughs upon hearing this new word for the first time and answers "Yeah."
I start to laugh. Then I tell Jadon "Go and ask mama 'are you eating bon bons?'"
I hear him running and laughing down the stairs and then asking Fiona "Mama eating bon bots?"
Fiona sounds perplexed "What's bon bots?" Then it clicks "Bon bons?"
I just start laughing. So now Jadon keeps saying "Mama watch t.v. and eat bon bots!"
What a crack up.

George Foreman Grille
We bought the highly touted George Foreman grille a little over a week ago and have since used it four times. We got the second smallest grille (which can cook three small burger patties or two small steaks). I am quite impressed with it. Fiona has cooked steaks twice with it and both times, it has come out mouthwateringly tasty. She tried burgers and that wasn't too bad and tried chicken which was allright (burns easily though). Not a bad little contraption, plus it's pretty easy to clean. This might be our best investment so far in the field of kitchenette.

"Date night + 1"
This past weekend, Fiona and I were able to get Fiona's parents to baby sit two out of the three kids. They're a little scared to handle Natalie because she cries too much. So we took her with us and went to The Clubhouse over at South Coast Plaza. Nice restaurant, great food. The portions were pretty good. We probably took home 60% of our food as well as the "extreme" chocolate cake. Maybe next time we'll take Vanessa.

Congratulations to Gat & Shirley Sirivong!
Fiona and I missed out on their special day because we weren't able to secure a baby sitter but we hoped that it was a great celebration. Wish we could have been there. Looking forward to hearing and reading people's blogs on those who attended (hint hint).

Katrina is a racist!

As I watch news about what is happening to the South Eastern states due to Hurricane Katrina, I get this spine tingling feeling. The shock and awe of what has happened can be overwhelming. My heart and prayers go out to those people who have lost everything. But at times I find myself flipping the channel to something else not because of the tragedy but the issues that the media, and other political personnel are focusing on. The focus, for now should be on searching, rescuing, caring, and sheltering for the victims of Katrina. Instead I see issues of blame, racism, and critiscm. Those issues need to be set aside and dealt with later. I hear about critiscm about Bush and him taking such a long time to come out from his vacation, and him not doing anything. And those critiscms are meritted because he is our leader. We, as a people, want to see quick action. But our leader is not the sole decision maker. There are Congress, lawmakers, departments (i.e. Fema) and others that make up policies and procedures. If and when the blame game comes, people need to look at not only at the federal level but also the state and local levels. I think all those divisions need to do some improvements of sorts. But that needs to be evaluated when things have come to a calm. Then issues or racism is a stretch. New Orleans is 65% or so black. I flip on the tv last night and I see on Fox News, Jesse Jackson and he is debating the issue of racism. Four words: Oh my freakin gosh! Just because the state is predominately black, then racism has to be an issue? Yeah Katrina is something that the government created and was deliberately sent to rid the minority. Please! Then the use of the word "Refugee" is deemed as a racist remark?!?! What the heck? Refugee is someone fleeing or escaping from danger, someone seeking refuge. How is the word "refugee" a racist remark? The connotation could be demeaning by the way it has been used in the middle east but hardly a racist remark. This disaster has definitely exploited this great country's shortfalls. It should set an example that no country, no matter how strong and well developed it is, should feel invulnerable to what mother nature can dish out.

Less Spam?

Not to sound insensitive or anything in regards to the mind-numbing devastation that Hurricane Katrina has left, but is it just me or has there been less spammed emails? I am getting at 60% less of what I usually get since.

Drum Roll Please....

This week's weigh in.....

Natalie - 10 lbs 5 oz. An increase of 9 oz!!! She finally broke that ten pound barrier.

Vanessa - 13 lbs 5 oz. Also an increase of 9 oz!!!!

They've been doing really well sleeping through the night which is probaby why they have been gaining weight. They give us about 8 hours of sleep (although I'm not sure if they wake up in the middle of the night and fuss and then go back to sleep). Natalie does extremely well with her day time naps. Vanessa on the other hand really needs to improve in that area. Hopefully they continue to gain on a consistent basis.

Finding Nemo

I decided it was time for Jadon to watch his first movie (believe it or not) ever! So over the next two days we watched Finding Nemo (I had to break it up into two sessions). -Shortly after Jadon was born, Paul had "obtained" a copy of Finding Nemo for me. I had exposed Jadon to about the first half an hour of it but he was way too young to know what he was looking at.- So I told Jadon to go get his Nemo stuffed animal from his room and come downstairs so we can watch Finding Nemo. He got so excited. So I popped it in and we watched it. He was fine for the first ten minutes or so. But either Jadon has attention deficit disorder or he got bored because he started to play with his toys and he kept on getting on and off the couch. But It wasn't really a failure though, here is what I observed Jadon's experience:

- He seemed to have gotten the gist of the movie. He mentioned "Nemo lost."
- In a scene when Nemo was sad because he had gotten lost, Jadon said "So cuuute!" which I found the way he said it was cute in itself.
- He liked the pigeons "Myt! Myt! Myt"
- He epecially liked it when Dory was trying to speak whale. He just laughed and laughed and tried to speak whale himself!

I don't know when I will take him to the theaters though. I'll just have to take it one step at a time.

Preferential "Parentment"

The girls have already decided which parent they like most, their mother. That's a given, but I can't help but feel a little rejected. Natalie definitely has a taking on her mama but she has eased up a bit. She use to just cry and cry if someone held her but as soon as mama held her, she would stop within a microsecond. Lately though, it seems Natalie would view me as second choice if Fiona wasn't around. One example was when Fiona was out and Grandma was holding her. All Natalie would do is just cry and cry. I came home and held her and she quieted down. That made me feel better. But yesterday I was brought down to reality, Fiona was out and I just got Natalie from her nap. She was talking and happily playing. Fiona came home, Natalie saw her and smiled, then cried because she didn't want me to hold her anymore. Vanessa, at first, didn't seem to care who held her. She seemed to be an extremely happy baby. But I think she is starting to follow in her sister's foot steps. She's crankier and she is starting to want mama to hold her. Yesterday, when I got her from her nap, I brought her downstairs to play. Fiona wasn't around and she was looking around for her. She quickly became fussy and there wasn't much I could do. Sigh...at least I got Jadon. I think he likes me better then mama =)