Congratulations to Jenny & Jason!

William's sister Jenny got married this weekend in beautiful Foresthill, CA. It is a tiny little township near Auburn, CA. Thomas got to be the ring bearer and we were quite surprised by the fact that he was put off by all the strange people staring at him. here i am during the rehearsal, trying to placate him and letting him know he had a very important job to do. The panda bear had a little pocket with the rings inside.


here are some photos from the day of the wedding. as you can see, thomas has decided that getting his tongue into as many pictures as possible is the new mission of the day. maybe it is from watching KISS perform on the American Idol finale?? William retaliates by tickling :) and my motto has been if you can't win, might as well join him :)



Here he is enjoying his post ceremony rewards: a lollipop and getting his hands on my ipod.


And a series with William... more sticking out of the tongue and lots of tickling :)


His hamburger mouth...


The backdrop for the ceremony was this fabulous vista of the California mountains and despite our best efforts to get a nice family shot, thomas was just such a goof ball. Either more hamburger mouth, or funny poses, or testing out his funny faces. instead of getting a frame-able shot, we got bad exposure from bright sun and more silly Thomas!

just to remember...

sometimes you just can't believe that their little brains click so fast. a couple days ago, thomas was watching a DVD and using the fast rewind button to watch one of his favorite scenes again and again. it was right before lunch and William was going to be home any minute.

Mommy: thomas, you know that is very hard on the DVD player when you do that. plus Daddy will be home soon and he gets really annoyed when you do that.
Thomas: when daddy comes home, I will not do it any more.
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Here's another one from last night. They were having lots of fun playing toddler baseball right before bedtime. (i know, great "quiet down" activity dad!)

Daddy: ok thomas when the big hand gets to the 6, we are going to stop and go to bed.
Thomas: daddy, don't look at the clock!
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We were both getting washed up one morning. Thomas decided for the first time, to try pooping by himself. he runs into our bathroom, onesie all unbuttoned, no underwear on.

Thomas: "mommy, daddy, I have a present for you! come look!"
He quickly darted out, bare butt flashing, back towards his bathroom.

I dashed after him saying: "Oh a present, how nice! did you go to the bathroom yourself?" (as fear of poop smears stabs my heart)

Thomas grandly gestures to the toilet and says:
"I went poo all by myself. you will be so proud of me!"

I couldn't believe how much he wanted us to be proud of him for pooping all by himself. of course i praised him profusely and then helped him wipe his butt.
can you believe that?? :)

Thomas and the Wiggles

It's official that we are headed to the Wiggles concert on July 22nd at HP Pavilion (aka Shark Tank). He's been counting the days backwards...and keeps asking is it July yet. What an opportunity to show him the calendar...

Meanwhile, Catherine scored a set of Wiggles comforter & pillow casing off Craigslist about 2 weekends ago. We made it into a grand trip out to the peninsula to visit our UCLA friends Michael & Grace. They sarcastically commented that the only visits they ever get from us is a side-trip on another craigslist mission. Hahaha

Anyhow, here's Thomas excited about his new acquisition.

Thomas @ Trader Joes

Just like to share a photo of Thomas and mommy's weekly routine....shopping for groceries at Trader Joes.

Here he has stopped for a small cup of soy milk that they serve next to their sample coffee of the day. Note the balloon attached as well as the frozen food packages already in the cart.

Inspired by hearing about the Pleasant Hill Trader Joes having miniature replicas of shopping carts in store for kids; Catherine started packing the play-toy grocery cart during their grocery runs to Trader Joes and it's a huge hit with Thomas! Safeway is too big and Thomas would probably get too tired pushing that thing from end-to-end....

He puts things that Catherine picks out and sometimes things that he wants. It brings smiles to some of the shoppers and the check-out cashiers. Sometimes other kids are intrigued and peer around the aisles to check Thomas and his fancy carts out...

I'm sure after a few more weeks, the novelty for Thomas will wear off...but in the meantime, gave me some photo ops!

Potty Training done at Last!

It's been a while since either Catherine or myself had posted any updates... I'm sure many of the regular audience has moved on elsewhere for entertainment.... :)

Thomas was taking advantage of us by not wanting to use the regular toilet for his nature business. We tried several methods (from books or talking with others). Mainly the "rewards" technique only works so far with certain types of behavior that we want out of Thomas...

So finally one weekend I got a bit fed up when for the 3rd time that day he pee'd into the diaper knowing that I had wanted him to tell me that he's about to go pee so we can go sit on the toilet with his kiddie seat.

Fuming a bit inside I thought...fine, rewards don't work cause he could careless about silly stickers and lollipops; or even the "bribe" of icecream didn't phaze him.

So I set out to take out his most precious toy in the house: his drumset.

Everytime he pees in his diaper without telling us, one piece of the drumset gets moved out to the garage.

Thus began the 'dare'. There's several pieces to the drumset: he likes to count out the 5 main pieces, then the hi-hat (6), the ride cymbal (7), and the drum seat.

I got to the 3rd piece (hi-hat, snare, and the floor tom) and he started to inform loudly through out the house that he needs to go pee. And for every time that he does that a piece comes back in...

So that took care of #1. We decided that was enough for the week and then the next week, we set out to get #2 out of the way and using the same technique....but he was too smart to let me take any pieces out...I didn't have to even take the hi-hat and he was pooping into his little toilet set....

Well, there's not too much drama after that I suppose...I feared it'd take longer but we believe that once the kid is ready and is "playing you" by taking advantage of you....(hahaha those little sneaky todders)...it's time to cut the game short and cut to the chase....no more begging, promising rewards, etc, etc, etc. They're smart little ones....they know better. And it's not like everything we do is a negative re-enforcement....what do you all think?

Have a good evening!

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.

Thomas turned 3! and our christmas tree is finally down

what a crazy hammy ham thomas is :). here are some more pictures of him clowning around with william's parents. as stoic as they are, even they can't resist laughing at him! and from certain angles, when he smiles a certain way, he lookes a LOT like his grandpa. you can see it in the second pic below, just their smiles and eyes look SO similar.


such fierce concentration!

we have never let him have such a HUGE popcicle - look how stoked he is!


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william finally managed to convince thomas that it was time to take the tree down. we did it in phases, first all the trim around the house, then the tree ornaments, and finally the tree itself today. not too bad considering we've had it up since mid-october :)

we've been trying to potty train him, but in the meantime, he is still in diapers. lately he has not been telling us when he has gone poop. so this evening william was scolding thomas quite loudly as he carried him to the changing table. all of a sudden thomas interupts william's tirade saying,
"daddy, you spit on my face."
william, "what?" (really pissed off sounding too)
thomas, "you s-pit on myee face"
william, "well i don't care because i am really upset at you right now"

of course, i was silently cracking up downstairs. i couldn't even hold it in :)

new year, many new things coming out of thomas' mouth

happy new year to all of you! thomas has changed quite a bit in the last three months. for starters, he throws fits much more when he doesn't get enough warning about a change in activity or if we take something away unexpectedly. an average of about one a day. funny too b/c they happen so suddenly. one minute he is all fine, the next minute, he is crying like the WHOLE WORLD IS GOING TO END! however, if we give him a count down so he knows when to expect something to end, he is usually pretty good. sometimes we have to ask him if he is going to stop, or if we need to physically pull him away. (when given 2 choices, he always picks the option to do things himself).

he also is really getting the hang of talking and puts together some surprising zingers. now we totally get why our friend, Andy is always posting funny things that his kids say. they say the darnest things!

Mommy: "thomas why don't you try eating some of this omlet? it is SO yummy, so delicious!"

Thomas: "then you eat it!"
(he spears the two chunks with his fork and dumps it on my plate.)

Another favorite of his is to walk over to another child that has something he wants and he says "SHARE!" and "You're supposed to take turns" (translation: give it to me!)

On the good side, he continues to be completely enthralled with music and our house is filled with him singing and trying to play various instruments. while the guitar is his favorite, he also will pretend to play the piano, his little flute, the drums and occasionally a little violin or cello. Of course, his no 1 priority is learning new songs from the Wiggles. Here is his current favorite on youtube - the Shimmey Shake. sorry it is kind of loud - he doesn't really sing softly.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Surprise!

Hello to all our blog friends, hope you had a good Thanksgiving and Christmas with family and friends. as you can see, we've been taking a blog break for the holidays. look for weekly Thomas updates starting jan 1. i have also been spending way too much time reading the "twilight" book series, administering my mom's group activities and of course, taking care of thomas. that is between the various holiday/family events and church activities.

william has been really busy with new responsibilities at work, so it has been hard for him to post as well. he can't even find time to check email at work. looking forward to things slowing down in January, like they always do.

In 2009, we're looking forward to seeing what develops as thomas turns 3, the presidential inauguration and the new church that we are joining. We are really blessed and can't wait to share the events with you as they happen. Happy New Year and may you be blessed as well!


thumbs up man... do i look like my daddy or what?

Thomas tempting Fate

This was from our church's summer retreat...

See an earlier blog about how much Thomas likes to hang from bars and this day was no exception except below him was a 6ft drop. I was hustling as fast as I could to get to him in case his grip comes loose....I don't even want to imagine what kind of fall he'd take if he had let go...crazy kid!

Look at the satisfied smile on his face as he "hung" 8ft off the ground in front of him...heart-attack for daddy!

and another cute pic of thomas

ok, now i am really busted b/c i have to go to my niece's 5 year b-day party tomorrow and have stayed up way too late. but here's a cute pic of thomas that was doctored by his auntie jessie. thanks jessie! we think he's cute too :D

so what do i log back in to blog about?

i have tons going on, so busy between my parent's group, church and a family funeral that I can't even keep up with email. so what do i log back into blogger to write about? star trek. yes, crazy. i caught site of one of the bad guys from Heroes done up as spock and he looked so convincing i had to click and read more. here is the story: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20233502,00.html

Can't wait for the movie! due out May 2009.

smilie face

he is such a ham. william got the pic with the big green st. patrick's day hat one morning when they were just goofing around together. thomas dug it out of his toy room and paraded out with it plopped on his head.




these two pics were from the playground a week ago. i love the first pic - that is his super smilie face, that makes all his dimples come out. and the second - he loves to hang from things. when he is on slides, he will always hang from the bar at the top (like many kids) before sliding down. william got this awesome pic of him just being a joyful kid.

he loves hanging from things so much, that i got this set of rings and swing bars from IKEA that we can bolt to a door frame or ceiling. thomas will trip out when he sees it! we will probably have to tie them up every night to keep him from going over to swing on it when he is supposed to be going to sleep. :)

having a kid now, i can understand why there are parents out there that give in to their every whim. it is terrible and the child grows up spoiled and undisciplined, but it can be difficult to resist. as parents, you love making them happy. and of course giving in to him when he asks for things or demands things makes him happy. just seeing the look on his face when i get him a new toy (usually from craigslist), just makes me want to do it every day! but of course, you can't. so even though i know in my head why it is bad, in my heart, i understand now why parents spoil their kids. right now, i am trying to stop giving him new stuff for no reason. i don't want him to think we can just get toys anytime. and then christmas and birthday presents don't hold as much appeal either. but it is really hard. sometimes, i get stuff just b/c i know he will love it. other times, i feel it is educational... and educational toys are ok right?? ha ha... :)