light-up shoes

i never thought i would ever let me kids wear light-up shoes.... here they are -- wearing spiderman light-up shoes.

a birthday letter

dear baby kyle,

this will probably be the last time i can call you "baby kyle." today is your 2nd birthday and you are growing up so fast! you have become more independent; wanting to do everything by yourself - from opening your milk bottle, to feeding yourself, turning on/off lights, and putting things away.... you even remind me now and then that you're a big boy by exclaiming, "i do myself!"

whenever you and your big brother allow mommy and daddy time to ponder what the future lies for you, we foresee you as a go-getter, a fearless person. you'll probably be a heartbreaker, but a loving person. you're probably wondering the reasons behind this predicament. with only two years of life behind you, you have shown us that

• you're not afraid to fight back for toys; you pinch and pull hair! even your older cousin, ben, is afraid of you!
• you love giving hugs and give them freely when someone is hurt.
• you are considerate by giving up your toys when asked and you like bringing blankies to your cousin and brother.
• your naturally spiked hair, your smile and dimples just melt our hearts!

i am sure the next year will be more adventurous as you will explore more with your big brother. here's mommy's hopes for you this year:

• learn to ride the tricycle
• get potty trained
• start pre-school
• sleep in a big boy bed

no pressure though! =) anyways, i hope you'll enjoy year 3 of life and mommy will definitely be there for all your boo-boos and your free hugs and kisses.

happy 2nd birthday!

love always,
mommy

a hidden talent

if you've been to my house, my dining chairs are obviously not kid-friendly. they're parson chairs covered with custom made cream slipcovers. i've scotched guard them, but i still cringe every time my kids or other kids sit on them to eat. i've been covering them up with white towels and they are a total eye sore and they irritated me whenever i look at my dining table. so i finally decided to make some sew-simple slipcovers that would return my dining table to something more presentable. i've only completed 2 and still have 4 more to go, but here are some pictures of my first slipcover.... try to find a stain on that print! ha!

kicking the habit

around 2-3 months old, aaron found his fingers to sooth himself. i didn't like the idea of having to break the finger-sucking in the future, but as a new mom at that time, i thought, "hey, if this helps him sleep through the night, why not?" so around 4 months old, aaron started sleeping through the night which i was grateful for because it was the same time i had to return to work.

three years later, i started researching on how to ween aaron off of his fingers. all the sources say thumb/finger sucking doesn't really affect their teeth until they turn 5-6. i looked into the finger guards and other methods of weening him off the fingers. the most effective method that they said was to talk to the child and reward/encourange their effort.

i've attempted to ask aaron to stop sucking his fingers and he would agree. however, by the end of the day, around bedtime, he would be drawn to them again. i gave up and figured i'd try again when he turns 4. however, to our surprised, aaron stopped sucking his fingers for almost a week now! i think it started out with a big crack on his index finger because of dryness/eczema. (we could never put lotion or medication on his fingers because we didn't want to "poison" him.) i gave him that painful expression when i looked at his finger and i asked him to stop "jue-jue'ing" (means sucking in my chinese dialect). after that, he stopped!!! i am soooo proud of him for kicking the habit!! so if you guys see aaron, please give him lots of praises! we are going to the toy store this weekend for his reward!