This morning I went for my prenatal check-up. I decided to bring EJ with me because I had a lot of errands to run after the appointment. I sat him in his stroller, and usually he’s very good in his stroller. He’s content to sit in it as long as there’s something for him to do. Once at the doctor’s though, he freaked out! I think he still vividly remembers his shots and is terrified of the person in the white lab coat. Lol! So, I had to get him out of his stroller and he sat next to me as my OBGYN checked on me and we listened to the baby’s heartbeat. That actually made EJ cry even louder. Probably the sound of the heartbeat was too loud for him!

After the appointment, I’d received 5 miss calls from my landlord. Must be something important. Well, he called to say that the dishwasher guys had a last minute cancellation, and they can deliver me a new dishwasher in an hour. Great! New dishwasher! But that means pushing everything I had planned for the day back. Oh well. Luckily they came on time. In an hour as they said. The installation took a while and by the time they were done, it was almost lunch time. I had actually planned on getting all my errands done by lunch so I can get EJ back for his afternoon nap. Not happening.

We went to El Pollo Loco for lunch. And boy was EJ getting lots of attention there. He was saying hi to the people sitting behind us and he was peering over the barrier to spy on the people sitting on the other side. It was hard getting him to eat his mac and cheese, he was so excited in the new environment.

When we got in the car and drove to the iPhone repair shop after lunch, he’d fallen asleep! Usually, when he falls asleep in the car, I leave him in his car seat and we just wait until he wakes up before going anywhere. Just this past Tuesday, we sat in the Costco parking lot for an hour and a half, waiting for him to wake up from his nap. If I move him, he usually wakes up and that’s the end of nap time for the rest of the day. Then he’ll get super cranky later because he didn’t get enough sleep. Well, I had to risk waking him because I still had lots to do. Lucky for me, this time, he continued sleeping when I carried him out of the car seat. Lucky lucky! So, he got his nap, I got my iPhone fixed, and we didn’t have to go home in between errands for his nap!

I didn’t get home until 4. Four hours pass my estimated time to be home. But the good thing is, I can check many things off my to-do list. And plus, I don’t have to wash dishes by hand! Yay!

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Gah…… Eric’s out of town. Our brand new dishwasher is broken due to a faulty control panel. Tested positive for gestational diabetes. My iPhone fell on the pavement while EJ and I were taking a walk, and the screen shattered. The brakes on my car is screeching. And it’s only Wednesday!

Just feeling a little frustrated. Can I just leave the dishes in the sink? I’m so sick of washing by hand. Lol! So lazy, right? And to think I didn’t grow up with a dishwasher, but at least it wasn’t just me washing all the time. Plus, we had a maid. Haha.

I’m so sad about my phone 🙁 I was trying to be healthy. Take a walk after lunch cos it’ll help lower my blood sugar. I put my phone on the canopy of the stroller. I always do that! But this time, the phone fell onto the pavement. The moment it hit the ground, I heard the pop of the glass, and my heart went pop, too. Of course Apple Care doesn’t cover this. What does Apple Care cover, anyway?!?!? Don’t even know why we bother buying it.

Ok, list of things to do before the end of the week:
-fix iPhone screen
-fix brakes in car
-find something to wear for a wedding reception on Saturday
-buy wedding present
-make flyers and posters for our ward activity by Sunday
-think of something to make for a potluck on Saturday
-make something for a potluck on Saturday

That should be all…

Oh, and wash the dishes. Gah….

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Celebrated my second Mother’s Day this year. Last year we didn’t take any photos and all I got from Eric was an e-card. Haha. Typical Eric. This year we made sure to take photos so it can go into my scrapbook. And Eric even got me flowers! Good job Eric. The delivery people came so early on Saturday morning, and Eric was out cycling, I answered the door in my sleepy face/hair and pjs. Lol! Embarrassing.

Our branch had the men cook and we had a mother’s day linger longer after church. Last year they did such a great job, this year’s expectations were high! And they delivered! Food was so yummy. Too bad I can’t eat much! I didn’t get to try everything. Not even John Thompson’s crepes that he spent 3 hours making. Too full 🙁 Eric made steamed glutinous rice. Everyone said how delicious it was. Good job Eric! Thank goodness we have a tried and true recipe for that! He woke up at 6am to cook. But too bad he didn’t get to try his food! He had to leave for his training to Cleveland that day. Boo… So, EJ and I are left to fend for ourselves this week.

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We took a walk after dinner on Sunday. It was a nice day out and I love that the sun sets later so we enjoy more light after dinner! I love our summer walks after dinner 🙂

It was the first time for EJ to walk with us without his stroller. We usually stick him in the stroller and go around the block and be done in 10 minutes. We decided we needed to “train” him to walk by himself. We’re going to Singapore in July, and I might not bring my stroller if EJ can walk by himself. So, the training begins!

A ten minute walk becomes half hour, of course. It’s a whole new world outside the stroller! When he’s in the stroller, he’s completely quiet. Just sits there. On his feet, he oohing and ahhing at every rock, tree, and bird!! It’s just the cutest thing!! There was this house that had huge rocks placed at intervals on their front lawn. EJ stopped at every rock and pointed at it and went “wow”! He would bend down and look inside the cracks in the sidewalk. If he heard birds chirping, he’ll stop, listen and make the sign for bird.

Just a walk around the block and he experiences so much! It’s so different when you look at things through the eyes of a child. They appreciate the world around us so much more. They remind us to slow down and smell the roses and check out the rocks!!

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Cute little EJ closes his eyes now when we say prayer. The cutest thing! It doesn’t last that long, though. They stay closed for about two seconds. But at least we’re on the right track.

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I’ve heard this many times before: “Don’t tell me what to do about my child. I’m his mother. I know best.” I’ll be the first to admit, that’s me. I get defensive when someone tells me how to discipline my child. I feel like it’s an attack on my parenting skills, like I haven’t been teaching my child correctly. I need to learn to accept criticisms and advice graciously. I may not agree with their advice, but I need to accept it graciously nonetheless. That’s because these couple of days, I’ve seen some parents that really need to be told off!

Eric has been out of town this week, so EJ and I have been going out a lot and having some fun, despite the dreary weather. Yesterday, I took him out to eat at this Chinese restaurant where they serve this chicken noodle dish that EJ really likes. At the table next to us was this family of three: parents and a little boy. The mom looked like she was past 50 and the boy was about 5-6 years old. I couldn’t see the dad, his back was to me. I felt so bad for the little boy. The mom did not give him a break! When mom was ordering food, little boy let out a whine and said he was hungry. Mom turned around and told him to stop whining. After she was done ordering, mom turned back to her son and started telling him off for interrupting her. She basically blamed the boy that now their food is going to come late because he interrupted her. Really?? Putting all the blame on your son?? The food at this restaurant is pretty quick about the food coming, but the boy isn’t gonna know that. His mom just told him it’s his fault the food is going to take a longer time to come because he interrupted her. Anyhow, after this, their food comes. The little boy, being polite, said a very loud “Thank you!” to the waiters who brought them their food. Shouldn’t you be proud of your well-mannered son? Not this mom. She told him off again for being so loud and for disturbing everyone else at the restaurant. Mind you, she herself was very loud in telling her son off for being loud. Then later, the little boy hurt himself on the hot water kettle and started crying. He was crying pretty loudly, it must definitely hurt! Wouldn’t you try and comfort your child and soothe him? Not this mom. All she did was shush him. She just kept shushing and shushing him, like she’s hoping her shushing will drown the sound of his cries. Finally, the dad (being quiet this whole time) asked his son if he was alright. I was just in total disbelief! This boy is going to have some serious mommy issues. Imagine that this is just a dinner, I wonder how bad it gets the rest of the time!

Today we went to the library to get some books and a DVD. We usually stop by the little play area so EJ can play with their kitchen set. When we got there, the toys were everywhere. Everything was dumped out and there was only one other child there with her mom. This other mom and her two kids were getting ready to leave. They stood up, dusted off their bums and just left. Seriously? Do they have a maid at the library who cleans up the toys for them? They just left all the toys on the floor! EJ, being the boy he is, runs towards the kitchen set, managing to avoid most of the toys on the floor, but eventually trips on one of them. So, of course, I clean up the toys on the floor. I don’t want my son tripping and busting his lip on some toy. Meanwhile, the first mom just sat there and didn’t lift a finger to help. After cleaning up, it was just me and this first mom. EJ is happily playing with his kitchen set. Then other parents come with their kids and the dumping of toys begin again. In our home, when you’re done with one toy, you put it away before playing with something else. Obviously, it doesn’t apply to these moms! They finish a puzzle with their kid and just left it there on the floor and went on to play something else! Really? There are signs all over the play area that tell parents/kids to clean up after themselves. Seriously, you don’t need to be told to clean up. That’s something you should do anyway. We teach by example. If you don’t do it, your kids are certainly not gonna do it. One of my pet peeves: Messes. Another one: Rude people! This little girl (about 6-7yo) told me to move this chair (that EJ was on) out of her way. Ok…. no “please”? no “thank you”?? Maybe we need to reintroduce the idiom “Mind you p’s and q’s” to society again. These are basic manners, people!

I think about all this classes that parents sign their kids up for: music, swimming, art, karate, soccer….. So what if your kid is top of the class or the fastest swimmer or draws the best art pieces. If we don’t teach them to respect their peers, how functional are they in society? That’s why we have all this bullying problems. Bullying = Dysfunctional. Dharun Ravi deserves his guilty verdict. His defense lawyers said he was just a stupid college student who did something stupid. Of course he his, and look at the result of his stupidity. Another kid committed suicide and he’s looking at up to ten years in prison. If he only knew the value of respecting others, I don’t think this would happen. This is a far-fetched analogy to picking up their toys and saying “please” and “thank you”, but respect for others has to start somewhere.

This is from February’s Visiting Teaching message: “You are the guardians of the hearth,” said President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) as he introduced “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” in the general Relief Society meeting in 1995. “You are the bearers of the children. You are they who nurture them and establish within them the habits of their lives. No other work reaches so close to divinity as does the nurturing of the sons and daughters of God.”^{1 …. Barbara Thompson, now second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, was in the Salt Lake Tabernacle when President Hinckley first read the proclamation. “That was a great occasion,” she remembers. “I felt the significance of the message. I also found myself thinking, ‘This is a great guide for parents. It is also a big responsibility for parents.’ I thought for a moment that it really didn’t pertain too much to me since I wasn’t married and didn’t have any children. But almost as quickly I thought, ‘But it does pertain to me. I am a member of a family. I am a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a niece, and a granddaughter. I do have responsibilities—and blessings—because I am a member of a family. Even if I were the only living member of my family, I am still a member of God’s family, and I have a responsibility to help strengthen other families.’”}

So next time, when someone tells me what to do about my kid, I should hear what they have to say and not get defensive. We’re not perfect. I’m not perfect and I’m sure I need all the help I can get, whether I want to admit it or not!

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Thanks to Nat and Rie, our babysitting swap partners, we were able to have date night on Friday! It’s so nice to go out for dinner without bringing along baby and all his accessories. Much lighter way to go 🙂 It’s crazy how much you need to bring for a baby when you go out. Gotta be prepared!

We went for sushi that night. So nice to eat at a restaurant where I can choose what I like to eat instead of having to order something that EJ can eat. Obviously, he’s not gonna be eating sashimi, so we wouldn’t have gone to a sushi restaurant in the first place. Then we went to Marie Callenders for some pie for dessert. Eric said how nice it was to have the whole pie to himself instead of having to share it with EJ 🙂 I had the giant sundae. It didn’t look that big in the picture on the menu! As you can see, it’s as big as my head.

Eric said that there was no way I was gonna finish that. Well, Challenge accepted. Lol! I watch too much HIMYM. I got most of the way through that sundae, but didn’t feel so good after that. It was delicious, though! There was a whole slice of apple pie in there and piled with vanilla ice cream.

Date night was fun, but the whole time I was missing my baby boy! Mummy separation anxiety :/

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EJ playing with his cheese by putting it in the cup and stirring it with a spoon.
Me: Are you playing with your cheese?
EJ shakes his head: No
Me: Are you eating your breakfast?
EJ nods his head: esh (yes), then puts the spoon in his mouth and goes “ahhhhh”
Me: Why are you eating your cheese with a spoon?
EJ: chee (cheese)
Me: Can I have your spoon?
EJ: poon (spoon)
Me trying to put the cheese in his mouth.
EJ: 不要不要
Me: Are you all done?
EJ: esh (yes) then raises his hand for my help to get down from his chair.

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I think EJ understands when I ask him to smile now. He gives me this huge, teeth-bearing, eyes-disappearing grin!

His poor bangs. Just cos his mommy wants to save some $$. I cut his bangs while he was in the bath today. A botch job! It’s ok I guess, to save me a trip to the hairdresser’s.

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How else to celebrate a big birthday but with food! We had three mini celebrations. The first one was at Cattlemens (a steak house). Eric ordered an 18oz prime rib. Hmmm… So juicy, so tender, so yum! I got the 20oz bone-in Cowboy steak. Steaks just don’t taste good after you take it home and warm it up in the microwave the next day. So, we skipped appetizers and just focused on the steak and we both finished our huge chunks of meat!

Eric with his prime rib.
We probably shouldn’t have finished the steaks, we were so full after and still had to drive 40 minutes to get home. It’s ok! We don’t do it all the time 🙂

The second mini celebration was our ramen dinner at Misoya. This time, just around the corner from our place. We just had a simple ramen and gyoza dinner and then off to the birthday party!

Eric with his ramen.

I organized a surprise party for him at his uncle’s place. Our house was just too small for everyone! We had a great turn out! We had a simple meal of pizza and wings! Then CAKE! A big birthday’s gotta have a big cake! I ordered an Xbox 360 controller cake from a bakery called Sugar Butter Flour. It was a vanilla cake with mango buttercream and fresh cut strawberries. I was pleasantly surprised with the taste of the cake. Cos cakes that big don’t usually taste that great. But it was great! (I should give them a good review on Yelp:))

Singing “Happy Birthday” to Eric. We had Auntie Alice accompany on the piano. The first time I’ve ever sang “Happy Birthday” with a professional piano accompaniment! Very awesome.

It was so much fun hanging out with friends and family. Thank you so much for those who came and those who helped make this party a huge success!
Happy Birthday to my sweetheart, Eric!

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