Just Write: Consequences

Her baby took 90 minutes to settle down and fall asleep for the night. The resulting late bedtime meant that Mom was pleasantly surprised when the baby didn't wake up again until 3, two hours later than her usual mid-night rendezvous. Her pleasure was short-lived, however, as it became increasingly clear that the baby was not settling back down quickly. In fact, it soon became obvious that the baby was tired, but cheerful and quite awake!

At 5:15, the tired Mom finally returned to bed. By then, her side of the bed was completely cold, so she carefully scooted her pillow over next to her husband and curled up, back touching his, trying to warm up enough to fall asleep. It was a slow process, as the birds were already awake and chirping happily outside her window. She catnapped until 7:30 as the house began to stir around her.

She could especially hear her rambunctious son, giggling and running around. She groggily lurched out of bed. "Ssshhhhh!! Baby is still asleep!!" she urgently whispered. The noises downstairs quieted. A bit. She pulled on some clothes, and came downstairs. No energy to chat, let alone smile, she carefully set about getting her breakfast and packing her older daughter's lunch, shushing the other children as needed. When her husband left for work, he kissed her on the cheek. "Bye, grumpy pants." *kiss* Ouch. But she couldn't deny it was true.

As the children tripped over themselves, tiny feet pounding on the floor, to get to the garage to say goodbye, she told herself, "It's fine. Their breakfast can wait. They have time." When it was obvious they had found a game to play in the garage, she told herself, "It's fine. Their breakfast can wait. They have time." When she heard the crying, she simply stood still to listen.

Her rambunctious son, the one she had shushed and ordered and directed, had found a box of thumb tacks. "I was just looking at them!!" he wailed. He had forgotten he held one in his left hand when he momentarily lost his balance reaching for something behind him. He buried the tip of the tack into the thick muscle at the base of his thumb. "Owwwww" he cried. She stoically brought the kids back inside, with only the smallest "I told you so."

She marched them through the rest of their morning routine, and thought about the situation. This happened so often to her sweet son - he ignored directions, pleas, and suggestions until he ended up in tears, either hurt or holding something that he accidentally broke. She tried to explain - Heavenly Father loved him very much, but she was pretty sure He was going to continue letting him get hurt, or break things, until he eventually learned to follow directions and suggestions from his parents and leaders. He nodded, and seemed to understand. They carefully cleaned out the small prick mark on his hand. "Mom, can I watch my morning cartoon?" "Sure, hon. Sure."

The Light Sleeper

Hello, my friends. It's 9:30 on a Wednesday night. 4 hours of piano lessons behind me. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks served and cleaned up. Kids entertained, redirected, educated. Just another normal day in the Mommy hood.

Are you ready for a story? Sure you are! A little bit of background first, yes? Last summer, our family went south to Oregon to celebrate my grandfather's birthday. We spent the night with one of Lo Gung's college roommates before heading home the next day. The son in that home had a simply ginormous collection of Skylander figurines and was happy to show the game to Lo Gung and Siu Jeun, and explain the basic rules. (Skylander is a video game with matching figurines. The figurines plug into a small console, which then allows those characters to join the game on the screen. With me so far? Each character carries its own strengths and is good at different sort of battles and match ups.) Lo Gung loves a good video game, and also really enjoys collecting things. Skylander seemed right up his alley, but SJ wasn't quite as enthused. He watched the boy play,  and didn't mention it again.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. The Toys R' Us catalogue has arrived, and their circular in the Sunday paper was nearly as engrossing. Their was a truly elaborate spread detailing the newest Skylander saga, including a lengthy list of available characters and boxes next to their pictures to check off as you collect each one. Lo Gung pointed it out to Siu Jeun and the two of them worked each other into quite the frenzy. By the time their conversation was over, SJ was absolutely rabid. He had to have Skylander. He had always wanted Skylander. Was there any chance Skylander could, say, show up BEFORE his birthday? He slept with the check list under his pillow that night, eyes sparkling as he explained to me that just maybe if he put it under his pillow, someone would magically turn the list into an actual figurine! (The Tooth Fairy made her first visits to our home this year - that's the only explanation I have.) I told him to dream about it, and sent him off to dreamland grinning.

Monday he spent 10 minutes regaling his grandmother with the ins and outs of this magnificent game. Because, obviously, he was now an expert. Whenever he got me alone, he begged for the game. (Nobody is as good at the word "please" as a determined 4 year old boy with a buzz cut and chocolate brown eyes. I should get a medal.)

Tuesday, he moved on to bribes. "Mom, if you get me Skylanders BEFORE my birthday, I will get you a...watch!" (I received an absolutely beautiful watch from Lo Gung last year for Christmas, and he knows how much I love it.) "Uh, dude? How are you going to pay for it??" "MOM. I don't have any money. Dad will pay! At Costco!" As if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "But, SJ...I already HAVE a watch." "Oh, well then...I'll get you jewelry!" Smart boy, that one. He will go far in life.

His face was absolutely heartbreaking. His eyes were torn, somewhere between despair and hope. Maybe Mom would go for it? She probably won't, but...maybe. Oh, just MAYBE. It's that maybe that fuels all his dreams and hopes.

We got through that conversation without too many tears, and went on with our day. (The answer, unfortunately for me, was no. Darn it - I would look fabulous in a new diamond necklace!) Dinner. Playing. Bedtime. Lo Gung is now hanging the game over his head. "Kid, go to bed or you will NEVER get Skylander!" Fair? No, not really, but...hey. You've never lived with SJ. Dude takes every ounce of sanity you have - that level of enthusiasm, creativity, curiosity, and energy would power entire solar systems.

After we got the kids to bed, we sat down to relax a bit before bed. When we finally headed upstairs to go to sleep, we made our usual rounds through the kids rooms. We go quietly into each baby's room, kiss their sticky little heads, tuck their covers up under their chins, and sneak back out. Well, that's the idea anyhow. Lo Gung loves to go into SJ's room and talk in a normal speaking voice. His "sleep" is just barely across the "not awake" line. He wakes up at the drop of a hat, and is raring to go, completely coherent. It's disgusting. My computer takes longer to wake up than that kid. (I take a solid 10 minutes to wake up, and am unable to carry on any conversation before the 60 minute mark.) Anyhow, SJ will follow directions in his sleep, or answer questions. (I loved it when he was a toddler - he would kiss me if I asked him. So sweet.) So, Lo Gung leans over. "Hey, SJ! It's Skylander time!"

Let that sink in for a minute.

SJ sat straight up, eyes open. "What??!" His voice - so incredulous, so happy, so...little boy who just got amazing news. Lo Gung absolutely dissolved. He carefully pushed SJ back down onto his pillow and gently held him there while shushing him. He was, after all, still technically asleep. That was all he could do, though - he was laughing so hard I thought he would wake all three kids up. You know that funny way you laugh when you know you have to be quiet, but you just can't hold it in? So, instead of just laughing, you sort of gasp, wheeze, whistle, and shake? Yeah. I swatted him, and sent him out with a threat - he had to go straight to our room and shut the door. I still had a baby to check on! It helped, but only just barely - I could still hear him.

I made it to our room, after checking on everyone, before I dissolved into giggles as well.

Moral of the story? SJ REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WANTS THE SKYLANDER GAME. He has proved how determined his little boyish heart can be...so there is that!

The end.

A Love Story

   

Boy meets bat. Bat meets ball.

And they all lived happily ever after.

(A neighbor had this T-ball set on their driveway in a pile labeled “Free.” Siu Jeun’s pretty thrilled with it!)

The Boy that Loved His Cake

Once upon a time, there was a boy. He….well, he loved sweets. His first solid food may or may not have been dark chocolate covered pomegranate jellies. Maybe. Possible. Ok, yes, fine, they probably weren’t the FIRST solid food, but they were definitely in the rotation as soon as he could chew. (He would get so mad when his sister and I would each take one, and he didn’t get any!)

Anyhow….he likes sweets. And he’s very good at asking for sweets, in several different languages, by name.

“Mommy, ta’nny??” (Candy)

“Mommy, tong tong??” (Candy again)

“Mommy, cookie??””

“Mommy, beng beng??” (Cookie again)

“Mommy….caaaaaake????”

Yes, dear. Of course, dear. Anything you ask for, dear.

Just please, for the love of all that is decent, please put away those sparkly brown eyes before you ask for something truly dangerous. Because I won’t be able to say no.

(Come on, it was a banana Bundt cake. That’s practically health food! And a perfect breakfast, wouldn’t you say? Check out the recipe here.)

(Did I mention how very EFFICIENT this little dude is at his nomming? Yeah. If at all possible, he will first squash whatever he’s eating into one nice, compact, dense ball….just perfectly mouth-sized…and then shoooooove. Well, look at the picture up there. I’m sure you get the idea.)

I'll Pay for Therapy Later

I promise that -real- shoes were purchased for this little man a few days after this photo was taken. Actually, he had real shoes...but they weren't big enough. He never even got to wear them once. Somehow, what fit in the store didn't fit the next morning. 

 The fact of the matter is, though, that I had a little man with Large Feet...of undetermined size. We just knew they were Big. Even these shoes, which fit his big sister when she was 2, were almost no match for these monstrous feet. 

(As it turns out, he's a size 5.5. Or 6. Wide. Daddy, I think he got our feet!)

When the Cat's Away...

....(or asleep, as the case may be), the mouse will play!

If Siu Jeun's morning nap happens too late, his afternoon nap just doesn't happen at the same time as his sister's nap. (Believe me - I tried!)

However, on those days....I don't feel too bad about letting him out to play. He runs around, like a crazy man, playing with everything his sister always declares off-limits!

(Fueling up, pre-play. Gotta stay hydrated, people!)

Siu Jeun 1st Birthday - VIDEOS

That was Siu Jeun...a year ago.

Here's Siu Jeun now. Happy birthday, Siu Jeun.


(Umm...before you watch this next one, you might want to mute the sound. BBJ was pretty sure that Siu Jeun had just been served ALL of the cake. Whining ensued. Not pretty.)



Love you, buddy!!
(More pictures to come...for the grandparents. *grin*)

Playtime

Mom! Mom! Look a' me! Look a' me do! Is this silly, mom?

Siu Jeun, hi! Mom, Siu Jeun is trying to get me, Mom.

.....aaaaaaand the classic "Leave through the back door while they're banging on the front door" trick.

(If she were a quiet sort of three year old, which she isn't, he might still be there right now...looking for a way to get the window open. Because life's not complete unless he's opened and shut and opened and shut every available hinged object in the room.)

Going in for the kill

Have I mentioned that Siu Jeun figured out the whole walking thing? Well, he has. He'll be 12 months old in December.

Let's let that sink in for a moment.

Everybody say it with me: Oy!

I haven't been able to catch it on video yet: crawling is still faster than walking, so if he sees the (much desired) camera come out of the drawer, he's all about the Crawling Beeline of Success. (Come on - you've seen it: head tucked down, legs and arms pounding as fast as they can go. Zooom!)

Fortunately, my "big camera" doesn't have the same allure as my little point n' shoot, so I was able to capture these "action shots" the other day.

Mom, these are for you.

(It's pretty funny, now that's walking around: if he's wearing his little leather moccasins, you can hear him from all over the house. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.....THUMP...THUMPTHUMPTHUMPBOOM. His beat's still a little uneven. And most experiments still end when he hits the ground. *grin*)

(PS - There's a video coming soon.)

Photo Op: Dapper Siu Jeun

Siu Jeun is our little cut up. Our little card. Our little jokester. He loves to laugh, he loves to explore, and he loves to destroy. (And, if the shot above is any indication, he loves to punch himself in the head, too. Interesting...)

Isn't that bowtie just precious?? My friend Su, from Vively Online, made that for him. (She's got them in her shop, as well!)

We Have Discovered Cheerios

Oh, my friends...first it was rice cereal. Little dude couldn't get enough of it. Then, I introduced him to the wonders of pureed vegetal matter. The kid could polish off the equivalent of a jar and a half in one sitting, nurse an hour later, and do the same thing again at dinner. We started adding some pureed meats to the mix...nothing but ham seemed to tickle his fancy. (I know - imagine that. My kid loves syrupy sweet meat. Heh.)

These days? It's a battle of wills to get even three good spoonfuls of the lovingly prepared, homemade baby purees. Why?

Because some genius handed him a Cheerio to see what would happen.

It doesn't stop there - the kid polished off half of a Costco hotdog bun (as a snack) while cruising around the mall.

Can a kid OD on carbs?

(The Cheerios were on Saturday. Sunday, he wanted nothing but spoonfuls of mommy's rice, with stewed 節瓜 (jit gwa - kind of like a fuzzy zucchini). He followed that up with a few spoonfuls of watercress and pork soup. *sigh* What am I going to do with my pureed yams in the freezer?)

A Story about Siu Jeun

Once upon a time, there was a boy.


A boy named Siu Jeun. He was a chubby baby, with a little head and fluffy (yet sparse) hair.

Siu Jeun liked to sit in his high chair and play with his toys. When he grew tired of his toys, he enjoyed eating food.

When he grew tired of eating the food, he would discreetly signal to his mother that he was all done with the high chair, and would appreciate being removed from said chair.

And he was happy when his mother complied quickly.

However, sometimes she came near to him not to remove him from the chair, but to take pictures with the annoying contraption covered in shiny glass and colored lights.

Then Siu Jeun was dismayed, discouraged and displeased.


The end.