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When I was pregnant with Ahgoo, we were warned by many about the whole jealousy deal for Buzz. We were well prepared by the time she was born from preping Buzz for the grand arrival of his baby sister. We even got him a shirt that proudly proclaims that he is a big brother. We also told him that Daddy will be his best friend and will take care of him and play with him. Mr. BAW did an amazing job of taking over most of the duties for Buzz, including potty training him!! Well, maybe all that prep work actually helped because we did not see any signs of jealousy from Buzz. He quickly learned her name, talked about her with his teachers and friends, and even wanted to hold her! So we thought we were just lucky and they are going to get along swimmingly! It was the case until Ahgoo turned one.

At one, Ahgoo became much more active, started to walk and "talk" and want to play with his toys!! Ha! But the worst part of it all was that she started to get attached to Mr. BAW!! Oh, no, my best friend Daddy is being stolen! That's when things turned bad. Buzz recently started to act out on Mr. BAW. He started to throw terrible tantrums in the morning, refuses to follow his routine, and generally behaving badly. A few times we had to switch out routines and I would take Buzz to his school and Mr. BAW took Ahgoo to her's. Buzz was resenting that Mr. BAW is paying more attention to Ahgoo so his regressed to becoming a baby again just for Mr. BAW! This went on for a couple of weeks. Finally, I had a stern talking to him one morning. I turned on my inner Tiger Mom and lectured him in, ghasp...Chinese! You know how when a parent means business, they would called a child by their full name? Well, when I mean business I speak to my kids entirely in Chinese! Haha! I don't even mix in any English words. Everything sounds more stern in Chinese! What did I say to him? I told him that we love them both equally, that Daddy still loves him as much as he did before. I told him that he's not the only one who needs to be taken care of in the family, even Toby needs to be taken care of. I told him that he is the big brother and that comes with responsibilities. I told him that he is 3 and can not go back to being 1. I told him that Ahgoo still can't walk on her own for long and that she still needs to be held most of the time. I even dug out his big brother shirt and made him wear it to school that day. At school, I talked to his teachers at school about it and ask them to help us talk to Buzz about being a big brother. They were very simpathetic, especially since several of Buzz's friends have recently or will soon be big siblings as well.

So after a few days of constant reminder by us and the teachers about sharing and being a big brother, he's finally getting back to his old routine. Mr. BAW also promised to spend a quality day with just him. The thing I wanted to share is that jealousy does not necessarily manifest itself when the new baby comes home!! It could take over a year to show up, which was a surprise to us! :-)

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Posted May 22, 2013

This is how I spent my Mother's Day weekend. Way back in December, I got a giftcard from my friend TNK to Lobster Gram! I had never heard of them before but they ship live Maine lobsters all over the country! Admittedly, we have not had time to enjoy a lobster feast until now. But what better way to celebrate Mother's Day than with a yummy lobster feast!!

Neither Mr. BAW nor I have ever cooked a live lobster before so we were kind of nervous. But the lobsters came with very detail instructions on how to cook them. The two guys arrived in a cooler. According to the instructions, they were very docile because they were kept cool. We then stored the cooler in the fridge until we were ready to boil them. Buzz asked to look at them because he heard us talking about the lobsters. When Mr. BAW picked him up to look into the cooler, he went, "Oh!" and got a little scared! :-) Even I was a little scared by these two! I was not expecting them to be so dark looking, forgetting that their shells only turn red after they are cooked. Thankfully, Mr. BAW was brave enough to cook them for me. :-) I returned the favor by helping him shell his lobster. We thoroughly enjoyed our fancy lobster meal after the kids have gone to bed. :-)

On Sunday, we had amazing weather so we picked up some pastries from L'amande French Bakery took the kids to the park for a nice picnic. We ate, we played at the tot lot, and we even blew bubbles. The kids had tons of fun. Overall, I had a wonderful weekend.

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Posted May 14, 2013

Happy Mother's Day, especially to two of our favorite Super Mommies.

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Posted May 12, 2013

Yay, we've got a glorious weekend coming up! The weather will be in the mid-seventies at the beach, perfect for celebrating Mother's Day. I want to share a quick snack tip with all the mothers out there. Buzz has recently decided that he likes yogurt. He has never liked yogurt before! But for whatever reason, he tried it again at pre-school and loves it now. Ahgoo loves it too. So I thought, why not make yogurt pops. Everything taste better on a stick right? :-) But instead of buying a fancy popsicle contraption, I just use silicone ice cube trays that we have in our kitchen. I had used these trays to freeze baby food. We also have lollipop sticks that I bought from Michaels, they are 250 for about $2! I mix flavored yogurt, vanilla, strawberry, blueberry, or whatever flavor that comes in a mixed pack, with chopped strawberries. Or if you don't have fresh fruit on hand or are short on time, just skip mixing in fruit. Just fill the tray with the yogurt mix and tap the tray to even out the top and remove and airspace underneath. Then I use tape to make a grid so that I can stick the lollipop stick into the cube. Leave the tray in the freezer overnight and remove the tape before popping the popsicles out. :-) So simple, and so yummy! Best of all, it's healthy! Buzz loves it! For now, Ahgoo will have to wait to eat a popsicle since she can't hold on yet. But in a few month, when we get really hot weather, Ahgoo will be able to join her brother in enjoying a yogurt pop!

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Posted May 10, 2013

So what did Grandma do while Grandpa was trekking through Nepal? She was spending two weeks of quality bonding time with Buzz and Ahgoo. She spent a whole day with Buzz and the two of them planted some seeds. It was a wonderful activity for a 3-year-old. We found some great planting kits at the dollar bin at Target. So Grandma and Buzz planted some miniature sunflowers, beefsteak tomatoes, Alpine strawberries, and cilantro. Several days later, the seeds sprouted. The sunflowers were the first to sprout. Those plants are all doing so well that I've moved a few plants into larger pots in the backyard. Hopefully, we'll get some fruits soon so that Buzz and see the fruits of his labor! :-)

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Posted May 9, 2013

On Monday, Toby went to the vet to have the growth on his left eyelid removed. You can see the growth on his left eye in the picture below. It is a common growth that occurs to older dogs. We've left it alone until it got big enough that we worry about it starting to affect his vision. The surgery went well, we brought him home that same day. He was extremely happy to be home and slept for a long time. We'll go back to the vet to remove the sutures in two weeks. Poor Toby has to endure the cone for a few weeks but hopefully his recovery will be quick.

Tomorrow is Toby's eleventh birthday. I can't believe that he is a senior now. The past year has been huge for our family with the addition of Ahgoo. Once again, Toby has accpeted her into his life with love and respect. I can't tell you how much that means to us, for this gentle giant to be so loving to our babies. He has never once shown any jealousy towards any of the kids. Happy birthday to our furry baby.

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Posted May 7, 2013

A few weeks ago, my FIL took a two-week trip of a lifetime. At the mature age of seventy, that's right...7-0, he hiked 92 miles through remote towns and rugged terrain covering over 6,500 feet in elevation change all the way from Lukla to Everest Base Camp! Wow, I'm out of breath just saying that sentence! The amazing thing is that at 18,000 feet (Base Camp), the atmosphere is extrememly thin. That means that any exercise will put a strain on the body, especially for my FIL who have been at sea level for months prior to his trip. But he did it!! He made it all the way to Everest Base Camp and saw the "Smokey Moutain", always expelling snow off it's beautiful peak.

I envy my FIL and one day hope to take a trip to Tibet to see Everest from the north. I am also intrigue by the culture and the people that live near the Himalayas. My FIL brought back to me a beautiful white silk scarf from Nepal which I love because it represents the way of life for these people. These white scarves are called Khata and has Budhist symbols weaved into the them. The scarves symbolize purity and compassion and are given out as gifts. My FIL took tons of pictures but I can only show you a few. Below are some of my personal favorites. He took all of them except the one of him. I did not do any editing on the pictures, they are absolutely stunning. Enjoy!

Prayers written on a rock.

City in the sky.

This is my favorite picture. It represents nature at its most beautiful!

Beautiful prayer flags decorate the mountains.

Here's my FIL at the top of the world!

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Posted May 1, 2013