It's Time for a Baby Sister

Today, Rai and Ko had the chance to spend some time with beautiful, little An Mei (and her dog, Jet). Immediately, Rai sat beside her, hugged her, and kissed her. Within 5 minutes time, he was telling all of us that, "I really think we should get a dog and a baby sister." Sorry to break it to you, Rai, but neither of those is in our plans. Meanwhile, "baby" Ko was one jealous little boy. For perhaps the first time ever, he chose Daddy over Mommy after seeing Mommy holding little An Mei. Ha! Daddy likes it!

It's in the Genes

Everywhere we go, we hear, "Wow -- he looks just like his Mom!" That's in reference to Ko looking like Ashe. I've never seen it. Sure, he has her blonde hair and her good looks and none of Dad's lacklustre traits are evident, but I still wouldn't say that he looks just like Ashe. Then, we looked at some baby photos of Ashe a few weeks ago and, wow, there he was, our little Ko! In those 30 year old images of Ashe, we see Ko, his mannerisms, his smile, his eyes. I tried to do a comparison below, but it just doesn't capture the resemblance. We will keep trying.

A Quiet Weekend at Home

We didn't do too much this weekend. Mostly stayed home and enjoyed some family time and a chance to catch up on some work. I'd like to say that it was a quiet weekend at home but Rai and Ko made sure that it wasn't. Actually, it was quite loud, a weekend of crazy boys and their crazy ideas culminating with Rai's Sunday night creation: the "wonkwa", as he calls it. In case you don't know what a "wonkwa" is, its just a giant mound of things piled up. We couldn't believe how quickly he managed to gather so many items and stack them up so high but, he did.

Rai is 41 Months Old Today!

Today, Rai feels like Superman. Today, he turned 41 months old! In our hearts and minds, of course, he's Superman every day. We are amazed by everything Rai is, says, and does as he moves further into his third year of life.

The Kitchen

Isn't there an old saying that says something about the kitchen being the heart of the home? Even if there isn't, it's just a universal truth. Rai and Ko do love our kitchen and it's not just the food that attracts them to this room... there are countertops to be sat on, light switches to be flicked, blenders to be turned on, and so much more!

Ko's Black Eye

Toddlers are bound to collect bruises, scrapes, bumps, and black eyes. It's only a matter of time before a simple, "No, that's my ball... not your ball" at the playground turns into fisticuffs. Ko, of course, likes to refer to his incident as "The Fight Club". Poor little guy...

Sharing

Rai may still grab or steal some things from Ko, but he has learned that all he really has to do is ask nicely, and Ko will give him anything. Ko is so, so sweet and he loves his big brother so much that a simple, "Ko... can I have that, please?" works every time! Watching Rai request this way and Ko smile and give Rai whatever it is that he asked for is the sweetest thing in the world.

 

 

Birthday, Part 2

Just when I thought that my birthday was over (and couldn't get any better), a week later, a great dinner followed by the presentation of 35 bead necklaces (yes, one for each year), and unexpected but wildly appropriate gifts: a Batman figurine, a unicycle, and several geometric toys! Wow!

 

 

 

 

 

Train Day... Again!

Another weekend, another train journey. It seems that a weekend cannot pass without us taking some kind of trip on a train with the boys. This weekend, it was Caltrain. We took the double-decker train from San Francisco to San Mateo where we spent a couple hours at Central Park. It may not be the Central Park, but that's not to say that it's not a great park to visit. At the Park, we rode the mini-train, played in the playground, and walked the meandering paths in the Japanese Garden. Tune in next week for the next train trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ko is 23 Months Old!

Today, Ko is 23 months old!  It really does seem like yesterday that Rai was turning 2 and now, Ko is just a month away from that big milestone. It's hard to remember what Rai was like at 23 months, but some comparison photos do help to remind us a little bit...

Sunglasses

If Rai's doing it, Ko wants to do it. If Ko's doing it, Rai wants to do it. Every dream we had about our boys growing up best friends is starting to come true. They love each other so much and, isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery?

 

The Happiest Birthday Ever!

Dad got everything he could wish for on this birthday!
We took the boys on their first camping trip! We've wanted to go camping with Rai and Ko for a long, long time but, knowing what a creature of habit Rai is, we've postponed it for quite some time. Despite a few glitches, everything went incredibly well! Even when the other campers woke us up, even when the raccoons woke us up, even when the Therma-Rest mattresses deflated, all we had to do was look beside us where our wonderful little boys were snuggling up against us, and up through the windows of our tent, way up to the tops of the redwood trees under which we slept and the stars beyond to remind us what a great experience this was. Actually, everything worked out perfectly this weekend: we got the last of 160 campsites at Big Basic Redwoods State Park, we hiked an amazing loop trail in the morning, we had a great lunch in Santa Cruz, we spent a beautiful hour at the beach in Capitola, and another wonderful half hour at a much more quiet and pristine beach on our way back to San Francisco. This will be a birthday I won't ever forget! It almost makes me forget that I'm in my mid-thirties now. Actually, I'm left wishing that every weekend was my birthday!