First Halloween Party

I had to bring cookies for Sy's (that's what Ms Laman and his classmates call him) first Halloween school party. That was the only option left to sign up for. I don't bake. So....I went to Vons, bought some plain sugar cookies, bought some black frosting, bought some orange frosting, and bought some cake decorating tips that fit right onto the icing tube. Awesome! Went home, iced out H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N and then some jack o' lantern faces. It worked out great, who needs to learn how to bake?
It was my first time being in class with Sy. All he wanted was a drink, but it wasn't snack time yet. He kept saying "uong nuoc". I wonder if that is something he also says to his teachers and of course they don't understand. Snack time got set-up and each plate had food brought in by all the students' parents. There was a carrot and celery on everyone's plate with the sweet treats. Sy picked up his celery and carrot and said "Yucky!". He attempted to put it on a friend's plate. I told him he didn't have to eat it. I wonder what the teachers think when they hear him say that? They probably think his parents don't ever give him vegetables...He finished all the grapes and told me he wanted more. I told him to ask Miss Sandy.  He said, "Miss Sandy, more nho". Silly kid, it's grapes. After snack time, we had recess and then came back to the class. It was sleepy time where Ms Laman asks the students what do you see in your dream? Sy has no idea what a dream is, I've never even use that word with him before. The teacher called each student and each one answered saying ghosts, monsters, princess...It was Sy's turn and he thinks for a moment and says "Monsters!" I am a proud mom. He must go through class having to be attentive all the time, because most of the time he probably just doesn't understand...
After that Monday, I've been doing my best to teach him how to ask for things. "May I...please." It must be hard for him with the language barrier. Everyone says they pick up English so quickly, but something as simple as wanting a drink can't be clearly communicated. We don't see the day to day struggles ESL kids go through, we just know they come home speaking a lot more English than before. And seeing him struggle just doesn't feel good. I know it will get better because he is learning and there is much to learn.

Down the Drain

I've been debating all week whether or not to post this story. But a little encouragement from my Mom to write it down somewhere has nudge me to write this post.

So Sunday night Sylas gets his usual bath. 2 minutes to soap, a quick rinse and then about a 10 minutes bath time to play. So he's been in there for about five minutes and I tell him, "Ok, 5 more minutes ok? " As I looked at him, he was in the squatting position, which he usually never is while in the bathtub, but at that time I did not think any thing of it. I leave the bathroom and about two minutes later I hear him yell,

"Mommy all done."

It's always a fight to get him out, so I was surprised to see that he's matured enough to know that playing in the water too long isn't good for you. So I go in and see him at the drain end of the bathtub watching the water go down. And he says,

"Mommy, poo-poo all gone" as he is pointing down the drain.

I give him a look of disbelief and said, "Whhhhaaaattt?"

He replies, "All gone" and smiles, as if he was showing off to me that he pooped and cleaned all by himself. He expected me to be proud of him for accomplishing that.

"Show me!"

He comes trotting over to the other end of the tub, turns around, and bends over to show me his clean butt, not a trace of poop left. I quickly shower him AGAIN.


All I could say was "Kha, poo-poo in toilet, not in the bathtub." as I pointed to the toilet.

I bring him out and tell him, "Go tell Daddy what you did."

He runs out and yells "Daddy, poo-poo all gone!" in the most excited voice.

Daddy looks at me and says, "What? In the bathtub?" I just simply nod and say, "Yes...in the bathtub."

Kha was so proud of himself of what he accomplished and I didn't realized that at first until I told my friend the story. A 3-year-old's sense of accomplishment may be the same feeling as an adult's sense of accomplishment, but all for probably 2 completely different accomplishments. I do feel proud of him and hope that he is able to tell me everything. I don't want him to feel fearful of my judgement/punishment when he does tell me things, whether it's something good or bad. 

Pre-Preschool

Sylas supposed 2nd day of school was close due to a power outage Thursday evening.  How nice is that, a day off after only one day of school. But so far he has brought home a painted yellow school bus and a print of his hand, again with yellow paint. I always thought he liked blue...maybe he seems to be leaning towards yellow.  He also came home singing, "your friend, my friend, my friend, your friend". The more we get together, together, together, the more we get together the happier we'll be. Cause your friend is my friend and my friend is your friend. He has been picking up words so quickly, it's amazing. He's been to school a total of 3 times and he's been interested in doing crafts, eating sandwiches, singing songs, and a complete chatter box. Getting your children in school before preschool is such an amazing experience for the parents and especially for the little toddlers.

First day of pre-Preschool

Yesterday was orientation, today is first day of school. His teacher is Ms. Laman, who seems kinda of unorganized, but has been doing this for 9 years, I guess her system works. We came, signed in, and he ran straight for the toys. Ms. Laman had to bring him outside to hang up his backpack. I said good-bye and he gave me a look, "I don't understand." Like he was thinking, I was there with him yesterday, how come not today? He shrugged off what I said, and I told him Mommy has to go to work and Daddy will pick you up later. He said bye and there was no turning back. I am happy that he is super-duper excited for school. Lets hope Edyn will be just as easy...

Mommy, Bye Mommy, Bye!

Those were the last words uttered by my 3-year old son Kha-kha Sunday night as he waved good-bye. We debated all week about whether or not to leave him in Pasadena with the Grandparents and he, undoubtedly, decided for himself.
We ate dinner at Thien An with some family and transferring cars to go back to San Diego. Kha decides to hop onto the Camry (grandparent’s car) and we’re just thinking he wants to “pha”, play in the car. We bring Ha-ha’s carseat over to the Camry and he says, “khong phai, ghe cua Kha-kha”, translation “that’s not right, my carseat”. He wanted us to bring his carseat over. We asked him, “are you sure you want to stay with grandma and grandpa?” His response, “ghe cua Kha-kha”. We grab his clothes, diapers, and milk to put into the Camry. Daddy gets him into the carseat as I put his belongings into the trunk. “Mommy, mommy!” Kha yells out from the backseat. I go to the backseat and say, “Yes Kha?” And there were those words, he says to me as he waves his hand in my face, making sure I see and hear him, “Mommy, bye mommy, bye!”
I was quite devastated, he has always wanted to go with us, never has he decided on his own to leave us. Maybe he thought it was a temporary separation of being free from our scolding, time-outs, and constant nagging of “do you want to go pee?” However, it’s going to be 5 days of no Mommy and Daddy, whether or not he realizes it.
We called home after getting home to San Diego. And of course he was playing with grandpa and could care less about talking to us. We were not at all surprised…
Monday, we called Kha around 6pm. He just woke up from his nap and ate a banana. He was in very good spirits and gibberish talk. We chit chat for a while and I told him I had to go, “Bye Kha”. “Mommy? Mommy…” We chit chat for a little while longer and all of a sudden he says, “Bye Mommy, bye”. And it happens again, he has decided he is now done talking to us and wants to go do his own thing.
Bye Mommy will come sooner or later. It will be his first day of school, it will be summer camp, it will be college, it will be a new job in a different state, or it will be marriage. Those words will be uttered infinitesimally to me, to us, so I best get use to it.

I Read, Now I Blog

I’ve been following and reading a variety of blogs for the past 6 months or so.  I feel ready to join the blogging world, I hope the blogging world is ready for me.
I turned 29 about a week ago. I asked the husband to get me a sewing machine for my birthday about 2 or so weeks prior to my birthday. And to my surprise, he did some research. About a week before my birthday he asked me if I wanted computerized or embroidery? I wasn’t even sure myself, so I did a little research and asked him to get me the Brothers CS6000i. We came home after Chuck E. Cheese and saw a fairly large box from Amazon. It was indeed the sewing machine, my 29th birthday present from Lubber.
So far I’ve opened the box and started reading the manual. I’ve also been reading blogs and doing research about sewing for beginners. I feel ready to just dive into sewing. I want to sew matching dresses for Edyn and myself. I want to sew a cute summer tote. I want to sew Sylas a spiderman costume. I am ready to just SEW! But in reality, I have no idea how to work a sewing a machine.  What I really need to do is spend some time to get to know this new “brother” of mine.
Not sure what my first sewing project is yet, but I read in a blog today that I should sew a straight line first. It’s important to get a feel of how my “brother” can sew a straight line. Sounds so simple and I am sure it will be simple to do. Wish me luck.