photos

Kai getting face painted at a friend's birthday party.




















Bouncy house fun.

















Kai attacking the pinata full of candy!















First day of preschool.

















Kai wanted to carry his backpack, lunchbox and napmat all by himself.

















Fun with friends.

















Close encounter with a steer.

















Mommy and boys.















Kai turns 4! He partied at a Wiggly playcenter, got his face painted and got his first bike!















In the backyard.


















Kai turns 4 so it is time for the responsibility chart and allowance.
















My handsome son.

A few more updates

I am sorry for the haphazard and out-of-sequence manner of updating this blog. I am still lost from the move. I forgot to talk about the other big milestones around here lately. Kai started Preschool!!!! He goes a few days a week and loves it. It is a great time with friends and practicing taking turns, waiting in line, sitting still, raising your hand before you speak . . .:) Kai is reading like crazy. What is even trickier is that he understands words we spell out like: "Let's go get some I-C-E C-R-E-A-M" or "I am thinking of taking the kids to the P-A-R-K." So I will have to find a new language or something.:) The good thing about preschool, besides the friends and the classroom skills, is that they do lots of art projects. I am happy for the fingerpainting happening at school and not my living room! :)

This week we checked out some classes at The Little Gym. They have a mommy and me style baby gym classes. It is similar to Gymboree. I decided that would be a good option for me and Levi while Kai is at preschool. During the signup process I learned they had a Karate class for 4 to 6 year olds and Kai was invited to try it. He LOVED it. It is part Karate, part gymnastics, part wild and crazy fun. Kai jumped in and gave it his all as he always does and had a blast.

Once preschool ends for the semester we are hoping to find a music class for Kai during the Summer. He is so musically-inclined. We have been waiting for him to outgrow the squirminess before trying music classes but he has so much interest and ability that I feel like we are holding him back.

The area we live in has a large Chinese-American community. I am very happy that Kai goes to school and church with kids who also have Chinese heritage. I look forward to more concrete opportunites for Kai to connect with the culture of his birthplace.

Currently Kai loves all books about grandparents. We read one particular book about "Grandpa and me" every night.

Little Levi enjoyed his Gym class today. He is a climber so he was in his element. He has finally started to make the K sound so he can call his brother by his name instead of calling him Bubba! Levi is also musical and independent like Kai was as a toddler. He is less cautious though so I have to follow him around quite a bit. Levi is giving great, cuddly hugs which are fun. He still keeps them rare though so they are more sought after.

A few nights ago I relented and let the boys sleep in my room as Kai had had some vaccines that day and was sure he was very ill as a result. :) So I put Levi in the Pac n play and Kai had his nap mat on the inflatable mat on the floor next to it. An hour or so after bedtime I am hearing all this laughing. I peek in and Kai is in the Pac n Play tackling and being tackled by Levi. Levi gets the biggset kick out of wrestling "Bubba".

I am the luckiest mom alive. I am so blessed. I love my boys.

ps I will post more photos soon. Also I hope to get a better camera and learn how to take less-terrible pictures.

Kai turns 4!

Kai turned 4 this month! Yeah! Big milestone. Since we are new to the area and haven't gotten to know many little friends yet Kai had a small birthday party this year, but he had a blast. We took him to the "Wiggles Play Center". They had games and indoor jungle gyms and kid-sized rides. They also had several Wiggles characters appear which was a thrill for Kai. Kai also got his face painted. While we were standing in a looooong and slow-moving line, which Kai was very patient during, Kai was saying he just wanted one lightning bolt painted on his cheek. I was relieved as I thought that would be quick. But at the last minute he decided on an all out spider-man face. It was his birthday so we got spider-man painted on his face. We had cake and ice-cream at home. Kai had requested a Chocolate cake with pink and red icing which I tried my best to recreate. He was appropriately impressed with the cake which was great. I ended up doing Red velvet cake with strawberry icing between the layers and chocolate on the outside. it looked hideous, but he said it was exactly what he wanted. Kai's big 4th birthday present from us was a bike with training wheels. He was excited about it. The next day was Saturday and we continued the birthday celebration by checking out the Dallas childrens' museum, which Kai loved. It was a great birthday weekend.

We had a fun day of playing outside bike-riding, play-dough time, making cookies, jumping in the bounce-house and, of course, the obligatory sword-fights. Nonetheless, the kids have boundless energy at bedtime. :)

After we put Kai to bed at night he sometimes gets out and grabs stuffed toys, books etc to pile around him on the bed until he falls asleep. I guess it depends upon how tired he is. Sometimes it is a few stuffed animals and sometimes it is elaborate piles of books and he is sleeping under the bed in a makeshift fort. I just checked on the boys and Kai had the usual pile of books and toys on the bed. But this time Levi had a variety of board books pushed through the crib rungs. So sweet that Kai thought to include Levi in the comfort of surrounding oneself with books. He is a good big brother.