Monday, November 11, 2013

I’ve finally caught up to the current date for our blog. Whew! After our trip to SoCal, I just couldn’t find the energy nor time to get the pictures off our P&S camera. Smartphones are great for day to day pictures but I still prefer a P&S for special events. Thank you for patiently waiting and for keeping up with us via this blog! Our happy kids also keep me going.

Thank you to our veterans today. For them, school was closed so I took half a day off to spend with Simon and take both kids to visit Grandma Tam. I worked in the morning so Simon stayed home with Annie and Iris. He helped Annie watch over Iris and patiently waited when Iris cried. He was apparently very calm and well behaved all morning. They went to the backyard to play and when he was ready to have lunch, he just stood up and matter of fact stated “I would like lunch now” so they went inside and washed hands, used the toilet, and sat down to lunch. After lunch, he stated “I need to go take a nap now so I can go to the park later” so went upstairs to his room by himself, took off his socks ands pants, crawled into bed and went to sleep. This is where I found him when I got home from work after we closed for lunch.

I am so proud of him for being such a good boy at home. He usually has at least one outburst when he’s with me but was really well behaved today. He took his usual nap, about 90 minutes, before we headed to San Ramon. I watched him sleep for a little bit so could check out his scabs. He sometimes sleeps with his eyes a little open.

We had a good afternoon with Grandma Tam.

Even playing together. Iris is starting to like peekaboo.

Simon and I went briefly to the park and he was a bit sad because the other kids didn’t want to play with him. So Mommy played with him by running around and helping him on the play structure when he needed help. Mostly he just needed encouragement to climb higher and try new things. He surprisingly really liked the slide.

We came back to find Iris napping (and drooling) on Grandma Tam.

So we went to feed some treats to the dogs before Grandpa Tam came back from work. Simon doesn’t like getting licked by the dogs so we are behind the gate.

We ended the day with a good dinner at Golden Sand Harbor in Dublin. Simon found a new favorite food, roast squab! He almost ate a while one by himself. I think he really liked the crunchy skin and gnawing on the legs and wings. Little boy has expensive taste sometimes.

Iris was a little overtired and wanted to fall asleep on the car ride home but couldn’t at first so started crying until she fell asleep. Simon kept saying “I don’t like crying babies”. It was a good opportunity to realize how we feel when he cries and throws a tantrum. He says he will try to be better about not crying so much and so loudly. Iris eventually quieted down and fell asleep. Simon is very helpful at this age and can tell me if Iris is awake or sleeping when I’m driving. Sometimes it’s hard to see the baby mirror, especially when driving at night. So he can be a big help, we just need to ask the right questions.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Iris trying on my new winter hat. Looks like she has a big head like the rest of us as this almost fits already!

Even though it should be getting cold, the weather was beautiful today at the Temescal Farmer’s Market. This was our first visit.

I was very impressed that Simon tried a lot of the fruits and vegetables. He tried carrots, strawberries, pluots, plums, persimmons, pomegranate, Asian pear, different grapes, and apples. I think he enjoyed the “sampling” aspect of it.

He threw a small tantrum about wanting orange juice (which he doesn’t drink) but got over it eventually. I think he just liked the miniature bottle it was in. We had a ham and cheese crepe and strawberry and Nutella crepe for lunch with mango lassi.

There was a balloon man there too so Simon asked for a zebra.

It’s fun to go out with them but sometimes it’s just nice to be home.

Iris’ newest favorite chew toy.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

We were invited to celebrate the 4th birthday of one of Simon’s classmates. It was our first time attending a gathering with the kids and parents. It was good to finally put names to faces as Simon mentions all the kids names at home but we hardly know who he is talking about. It was good to meet the parents too so that we could arrange future play dates. Simon enjoyed playing with all the toys and running around the backyard. He found the bubble machine especially fun.

Goofing around.

Iris was just observing everything and everyone. She didn’t want to eat but did take a nap. Too much stimulation so she couldn’t concentrate on drinking. It was a beautiful day.

Looks like all the kids had a great time.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Serene breakfast with both kids.

Today at work, we tried the newly opened restaurant called Copan. It replaces the previous restaurant called Sura. The remodeled space is bright and welcoming but it still does have that new paint smell. Service was wonderful and the food overall tasty except a little salty. Two of us ordered he stone bibimbap and were offered white or brown rice. We chose brown and then found out it was $1 extra although the server didn’t mention it not could I find it on the menu later. The brown rice is a actually purple rice with beans so probably healthier and more filling but it makes for an expensive bibimbap! I would likely go back to eat and I hope they offer a lunch special in the future.

We decided to try going out to dinner again. Last week was a disaster due to the restaurant we chose being too small and poor coordination by their staff so we had to walk out and find other food to eat. Tonight we went to DAIMO in El Cerrito for Chinese food. I used to go here all the time with my parents and they had good won ton noodle soup. But we were here for dinner so ordered other dishes. The food was well prepared and the service decent. We didn’t have any kid meltdowns so that made things enjoyable.

Simon at first was a little fussy about eating but he tried most things which is pretty good for him. He doesn’t really enjoy trying new foods but liked the fried tofu and salted fish and chicken fried rice. He enjoyed his mango smoothie and even shared some with me. This restaurant will be on our list of Friday night dinner places as it is large and doesn’t get busy until later in the evening.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

I love morning smiles.

Iris is strengthening her back muscles in preparation for sitting up to eat. Plus she loves being in this position to grab her toys and grab at the play mat bars to chew on.

Simon was a big boy today and didn’t cry out when I dropped him off at school today. He even wanted to give me a kiss on the cheek goodbye rather than just me giving him a kiss. His treat today was a watermelon pearl drink. He loves these drinks.

Giggly Iris. She finds the raspberry sound quite funny. She gets a real kick out of it when Simon does it. Your lips have to vibrate, using your tongue sticking out isn’t as funny to her.