more love from daddy and new toy!

Thomas likes to play hard to get sometimes when we want his hugs and kisses. This was him last week when william was trying to get a goodbye kiss, "no no i don't want to give daddy a goodbye kiss" so william got a big hug & giggles instead :)


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this drum set was william's birthday present to thomas. :) we finally got something up on youtube of thomas playing. we found these on craigslist from a dad in berkeley that had his kids outgrow the set. it is this great little full drum set that is scaled down for little guys. of course, the instant thomas saw it, he was enthralled and we couldn't leave without buying it. and since then, he has practiced almost everyday and gotten more and more intricate in his jam sessions with william. and this is without any lessons or instruction from william. he just sits in there, in the middle of his drum castle and bangs away with a big smile on his face.

More pics from December

Here is another one of thomas and william. we were at Blackhawk shopping center, the one with all the ducks. they had this big christmas display setup. since we were too cheap to pay for photos with santa, we opted to take our own photos in front of the display :)


This picture has my mom in middle, my sister on the right, thomas and his two cousins, joshua and ariana. This is a rare photo because my mom is VERY VERY camera shy, so it was pure luck that William managed to snap this shot before she moved away, not wanting to have her picture taken. Amazing that the kids all sat still as well!


and here is thomas' favorite drink - bubble tea, or sweetened milk tea with tapioca balls inside. this was at Quickly cafe near our house. the photo below is from November, with one of his favorite little friends, Ariel *wink & hugs* :). this was the first time i let thomas have some boba and as you can see, he was very VERY intent on getting those tapioca bubbles up the straw.
fast forward to last week, when i was just driving by the cafe on the way to trader joe's, he says to me, "mommy, i think i would like some bubble tea. now." yeah who can resist that??
oh and both thomas and ariel are koreanese babies - half korean half chinese. i have to say, a great combination :)


---------------getting in the kisses while i can----------------------

toddlers generally don't like to be interrupted when they are in the middle of something. william caught me trying to squish thomas, who was not very successfully fending me off, so he very sweetly (and hammy for the camera) gave in to my hug attack. i figure i have to get it in now, while he is small and defenseless. by the time he is 10-11, he will probably be taller than me and not wanting kisses!

a few pics from Christmas

this is thomas with his $3 guitar find from the goodwill store in dublin. william walked in there with him and thomas quickly honed in on this little beat up guitar (even though he has 2-3 at home already... just like daddy.) and of course, since William has a penchant for collecting, he bought it for thomas.


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and this one was playing in one of his favorite stores in the mall, pottery barn kids. we go in there a few times a month just to play with all the toys in there, and occassionally buy something we don't need. he makes himself right at home there, as you can see.

vanilla ice cream milkshake

yummm.... amazing how fast and cleanly they eat when they want to get it into their bellies. no mess, no "accidental" spilling from playing with food, no keeping food in the mouth until it is partially liquified. :)

helping me with our 1st crockpot recipe

Here's the money shot - thomas' million dollar smile. what a ham!

first, i put all the ingredients for the crockpot BBQ sauce in a bowl and thomas helped me stir it. he was very good about not whipping it around too fast, so all the bbq sauce actually stayed in the bowl!

i stuck the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot and he helped spoon all the sauce over the top. fun! :)


all the sauce is in, and we are ready to push start. unfortunately i did not take a picture of the end product. our friend, Stella, said that evening that we haaad to get a picture of the finished product. she was right and I forgot. But it was a little on the dry side. So we'll try it again next week, maybe tweak the sauce some more, and take a picture then :)

Look - matching outfits! :)

So cute, but it makes him look so much more grown up and i hate that! i wish he would stay small and crushably cute for just a few more years. the occasion was for my Dad's ordination ceremony as a pastor. He is finally done! Congratulations to my dad!




below is my new favorite photo of william and thomas. thomas is performing and william is looking on, so many other emotions in his face, mostly proud of his little boy, but also happiness, amusement, joy, and a little chagrin like "oh my what is this little guy going to do next??"


and one last funny photo. this was a cold morning and william had just asked thomas to play like murray. of course, thomas will always say yes to that one.