Sick, Maybe

I think I'm getting sick. Felt nauseous all day at work and then tonight I feel the sore throat, major fatigue and crumminess coming on. Great! Dae's mom came down with something last week and it sounds very similar to what she had. Anyway, I'm heading home to Richland tomorrow by myself for the night to meet with a dentist and look at neighborhoods so I hope I can ward this thing off for at least a couple of days. At a minimum, I know I will get a full night's rest tomorrow! (can't say the same for Dae, Halmoni or Haraboji!)

New development: Olin can feed himself Cheerios! This is major in that he now can be left unattended for large amounts of time, entertaining himself with his treat. So nice...

Halmoni loves wrapping the baby in a blanket and carrying him around on her back. Olin's all-lower-gums smile here is pretty funny.

I find myself chuckling over Olin's smile here too. 

His hair is so long. Since we're going to Hawaii in July I figure he'll fit right in with the surfer dudes :) 

Leelee took this photo of me. I wasn't even sure he was aimed in the right direction, but turns out he was!

Memorial Day at Gearhart

We've spent the past couple of days at Gearhart at Ev's Beach house and it has been a lot of fun.  Jogs on the beach, coffee runs, clamming, and crying have been the activities du jour. ha! Last night Olin was crying bloody murder for at least 30 minutes, then Leelee woke up and cried like crazy. Meanwhile, their roommate Didi was completely passed out and oblivious to the entire scene. I wish our kids had inherited some of those Robertson deep sleep genes.

Yesterday on the way back from Costco, Leelee said "Mom?". I said yes. He said "I love you" :) First time I remember him saying it without me instigating. For the most part, his enunciation is pretty good. The few things he always says incorrectly are:

Sleep "wit" me (no TH sound)

Now MY know my ABC's (not I)

Samich instead of Sandwich

His absolute favorite books now are The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss, Go Dog Go, and Will you Share Your Ice Cream? He has memorized many parts of them and it is so funny to hear him recite long-ish sentences word for word. (Well, I think they are long sentences but I suppose I think anything is long for a 3 year old)

Costco at Warrenton

Very serious about Costco

The beach!!!

Cozy in his bag

An unassuming Suitcase, right?

Surprise! (Leelee had told Dae "I need to go in there!")

Leelee drew the 'sun'. Looks like a cilia or flagella or something from biology class!

Halmoni & Haraboji - Part III or so

Dae's parents are in town for the next month or two (yup - month or two) so we can count on a few things as givens:


1) Daily scrubdown of at least the baby, perhaps Christian if he cooperates. Poor baby's skin will probably be raw. He's not used to daily (or weekly) scrubdowns.

2) Daily & delicious full dinner spread ready at exactly the time we get home from work (6pm)

3) A steady stream of Korean soap operas illuminating Halmoni's laptop.

4) Total self-sufficiency. Dae's mom does not really take or need instructions. Even when I try to tell her what the baby needs, or how often he naps, she kind of seems like she is not interested! haha Oh well, the kids seem to survive, and do well.

5) Lack of information as to when they are arriving or leaving. There's always a cloud of ambiguity surrounding Halmoni and Haraboji's travel schedules. Sometimes we don't know when they are coming until the night before. Dae said they are staying until we move, which could mean they are staying a week, it could mean they are staying a year :) I'm slowly learning to go with the flow.


In return, I will be cleaning Halmoni's teeth in June when the office is open on a Saturday and I also procured some chlorhexidine mouth rinse for her. I would say that we're getting the good end of the bargain here!

So, Olin is quite the fun little guy. Overall, he seems like a very happy, smiley fellow. He still eats pretty well, but in the last 3 days has he showed some angst at the foods I was presenting him (corn, squash, and even his old standby the avocado). Halmoni said he ate very well today so I am happy about that. I did catch her feeding him these slightly sweetened rice crackers a few times and had to have Dae subtly tell her to ease up on the packaged foods! He is still pretty much sleeping through the night...most nights we put him to bed around 7:30, he cries for about 10 minutes, and then falls asleep until the next morning around 4 or so, when I feed him. I will take it! I remember too well what it was like to wake up 3-4 times per night at age 1 year, so this is heaven to me.


Photos from this past week. Gong Gong also came into town for Mal's 6th birthday so we all went to Korean Barbecue for dinner at Dr. Sushi.

Leelee wet his shirt at the restaurant and refused to wear it, so he ate dessert shirtless. Good thing it wasn't a "No Shirt, No Service" type of establishment!

Asleep, snug in the Beco

At mom's potluck. There was a very loud drumset that the kids loved, so we protected Olin's ears.

Mother's Day Weekend

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!! Love you!

Starting Friday morning at 7am until Sunday afternoon we had seen Dae for a total of 3 hours (2-5pm on Saturday). The other 55 hours or so he was at the hospital, slaving away. This morning, however, I got a knock on a door and this little delivery from Broadway Floral. It really perked up my morning!

I would say I've been having a tough time with Leelee. It's been a combination of many things. Lots of crying over any bump or bruise, imagined or not, lots of whining and wanting to be held even if my arms are already full holding the baby, a backpack, and another bag, which I usually am.  Major resistance ("NO!") to everything I ask him to do, whether it be to sit down at a restaurant, stop smashing his car into the wall, or go to bed. Waking up from a nap at least 50% of the time in a really bad mood with lots of very loud crying for 20 or so minutes.  I was so relieved when Dae got home this afternoon. It is so much better with two adults than with one! (We ended up going to the Nike Employee store, got lots of fun loot, and New Seasons by request by me for dinner. I love their wok bowls :)

This next photo was Friday night. Leelee put up a big fight when I put him to bed and wandered out to the couch where I was reading a magazine. I was too tired to resist. He told me he wanted to sleep out there with me so I let him, and he quietly fell asleep.  It was by far the calmest part of the weekend!

Thankfully, I was able to get a little bit of adult stimulation for me and child stimulation for Leelee this weekend. Ev and Jeff met up with us at the Hollywood Farmers' Market yesterday morning and for Indian buffet today. Marci-Rose and her mom Cheryl walked down from the 6th floor yesterday night and watched the Wiggles movie with all the kids (Mal and Didi spent the night last night). And my friend Dana was nice enough to meet me at the park today for a little bit of playtime with her son Quinn. I am now totally and officially parked out. I took the kids to two parks yesterday and one today (and I am not a park person)! Give me 20 books to read to the kids and I will do that any day over going to the park, especially if it's not sunny or tanning weather!

Hollywood Farmers' Market

Mal dancing and making Olin laugh

Leelee swinging and happy

Leelee, Marci-Rose, Mal

Playpals

Leelee really wanted to sit behind Olin today, then he said he wanted to "take a nap" and proceeded to lie down. Then he dumped Olin off to the side. Here's the sequence...

I was laughing so hard when I took this next photo. I repeatedly told Leelee not to touch the Vitamix. He did not heed my warnings, the stool underneath him accidentally got pushed away, and he was left dangling off the counter but scared to grab the Vitamix since I told him it was dangerous. Although it did not turn on, thank goodness, I don't think he will be touching that thing in the near future.

One more thing I keep forgetting to mention about Olin's feet: He loves to roll his feet all around, especially when he gets really excited. He'll roll his feet around and around, sometimes pushing his legs all about when he gets really fired up!

Megan's Baby Shower and Sunday Activities

I got back this afternoon from a Seattle trip for Megan's baby shower and to spend the night at her house. We had a great time as always and her shower was really nice... here is a picture of Tonjia, the other host of the shower, Megan, and me together. Also, a cute pic of Megan and her mom Joan.

This afternoon I arrived home and we spent the rest of the evening at the Food Carts for dinner (43rd and Belmont), Safeway for essentials (such as the whole family getting their blood pressure measured) and Irvington school park. The weather was so nice today...

After Dae and I did our blood pressures, Christian said "Leelee next" so we obliged. Not sure we got an accurate reading since the little rascal pulled it out when it got tight!

One-too-many-avocado face

We were really able to spread out here.

Both Boys' Accomplishments

Olin can hold his own bottle! I didn't see it with my own eyes, though, so I will have to witness it first hand before I confirm it. Dae sent me this photo...

And Leelee had his first real dental appointment with x-rays. He didn't cry, he cooperated and he didn't have any cavities. I was so happy. I mean, I was seriously nervous before this appointment. He doesn't have the greatest teeth genes from his maternal side and he fights the toothbrush so much at night I feel like I miss half his mouth. I think the paternal teeth genes kicked in and overrode mine.

Ps. Olin smiled readily at everyone who came by to say hi at the office. Such an easy smiler, I love it!