Recital

Saturday was Danielle's recital and there were 17 performers. Danielle did pretty good for the 1st time. She made 2 errors but made correction quickly, continued with the piece and finished. She didn't bow as I taught her but no one else did either. One kid got really nervouse that it took a while to get it together and continue the piece. The picture above is not the best picture but it captured the moment of her performance. Imagine 17 kids with 2 parents and some with 2 grandparents there so the place was packed. They raffled off a chocolate piano key board and gift certificate to Mc Donalds and Danielle won the gift certificate.

Secondo had a hard time sitting through the performance. Luckily, the hosting family had a four year old son who was watching cartoon so Secondo was able to watch TV with him during the recital. After the performance, we had some refreshments, mingled with the other parents and shared stories about piano practice naggings etc..
At the end, I asked Danielle if she was nervous and she said not really. She did enjoyed the recital especially the "freshment" portion of the recital where she had cookies and fruit juices.

Food & Music

Eversince I got back from Texas, I had been eating lots of my comfort food which are meat balls noodle soup, mom's stir fried noodles, and pad see yew noodles. If I'm stranded on a deserted island, I could live on noodles, coconut juice and may be some seafood from the ocean. Starting tonight, I'm going back to my healthy routine of veggie and protein. I still got lots of rice noodles left in the fridge so I may convert it to pad ke mow this weekend and share it with my neighbor.
Mom cooked a bunch of food for us yesterday so we are self sufficient while she and dad travel to Fresno & San Francisco to visit friends and Bulleye.
In our fridge, we have:

• Chicken curry
• Soy sauce short ribs
• Chicken chow-mein ( Kid's favorite food)
• Tomato stir-fry shrimp
• Tofu-kan with fish cake (Kid's favorite food)
• Cilantro Tofu skin
  
• Winter melon meat ball soup

With mom's help, Danielle and Secondo are able to eat dinner right when they get home while I make rice and stir fry a veggie dish for dinner. When I'm done cooking, Danielle is done with dinner and she can practice piano while we eat.

Last night, Danielle voluntarily practice her performance piece on her own and attempted to make no mistake through out. She was able to play the piece with making only 2 errors but her tempo was not consistent through out the piece. I set the metronome to 144 and she was able to stay on the tempo after several trials. I tried playing the song with the metronome and it wasn't as easy as I had thought. She noted that I made 6 errors during the whole song which made her feel more confident about her piece.
The other day, Danielle asked
D: "When will I be done with piano?"
Me: "After you play for 30 minutes"
D: " No.. I mean done as in I don't ever have to play piano again."
Me: "18 years from now"
D: "I have to play piano until I'm 22 years old? "
Me: " 18+6=24 so until you're 24 years old."
D: " Wow, that's a long time.."
Me: " You're right, what about until you're 18 years old?"
D: " That's still a long time from now. Can I take a break from piano?"
Me: "Remember when you took a break during winter, it was harder for you to get back into the groove?"
D: "Not really..."
Me: "Let's think about your piano break after your recital"
D: " OK.."

Plea for pet

Eversince Danielle was 3, she's been asking for a dog or a cat or a bunny as a pet. I'm allergic to cats, she's not old enough to care for a dog and we've tried having fish but was not able to keep them alive for longer than 2 weeks. Her latest plea is for a hamster or a rabbit. One of our neighbor kid has one and Danielle would go over to her house and spend time with the little hamster. I should look into it more before commiting to new member to the family. My concern is the when the novelty wears off then it'll be one more chores on mom and dad's to do list.
I understand her desire to have a pet friend because when I was a kid, I also wanted to have a dog as a pet so I have someone to play with but my parents were not big fans of dogs, cats or any type of animals. They bought me little chicks as pet but they were not as cuddly as a dog.

Stuff

On Saturday we got new tires for the minivan, went grocery shopping at 99 Ranch and ate pho beef noodles at our favorite restaurant for lunch. Pho is one thing that Danielle really likes and she finished a child size bowl and wanted more. Hubby tried a salmon curry dish and it was pretty good. We've decided that we're going to replicate that at home when we get some salmon.
On Sunday, we watch the big game with our neighbor and their friends. Hubby and I made eggrolls for the party which came out very well considering it was our 1st time making his mom's recipe. I'm not much of a football fan so I wasn't too sad that the bears lost. I spent most of my time munching on chips with 7 layer dip, BBQ chicken wings, spinach dip, & beef sate. Those 5 pounds I lost last Friday has gotten back with all the party food.
This coming Saturday will be Danielle very 1st piano recital. We are all very excited about the event. I'm going to bring juice boxes for the kids and I hope Secondo will be able to sit through the whole performance with out having an episode.

Home at last

I was in Texas for business for 2 days and I'm so glad to be home. Yesterday, I had food poisoning so it was a miserable trip home with connecting flights etc.. Luckily on my last leg, I had all 3 seats to my self so I was able to lay down and get in the fetal position when my stomach was hurting like hell. My guess is either the salsa or the eggs I had for breakfast that got me sick.
I lost 5 pounds from this food poisoning incident and I've never lost this much weight so quickly. It's rare that the sight and smell of normally tasty food would send me over the edge.

The Flu

Secondo caught the flu on Thursday the 25th. She can't keep any food down, even a teaspoon of water or one small piece of ice chip caused her to vomit. We didn't give her anything other than water and ice chips. She cried for milk and water before going to bed and all I could do was hold her and let her cry until exaustion. She woke up several times in the middle of the night asking for milk.
On Friday morning, she said "Aqua.. aqua.. milk... milk.." We gave her a teaspoon of water and after the 1st sip, she wanted more and was annoyed that she couldn't just gulped down as much water to quench her thirst and hunger. Hubby stayed home with her incase she threw up again. After several hours, she was able to keep the food down but then she started to have a fever.
Saturday and Sunday were the worst may be because I broke down and gave her milk. She kept having exposive diarrhea episodes that leaked out of the diapers which means I had to wash her down many times. I got a head ache from smelling her poopy diapers and can't stand it anymore. We started giving her soy milk so I hope the diarrhea stops soon.
Mom and dad came and stayed with us this weekend and spoiled Danielle with littlest pet shop toys.

Lice?

Yesterday, I got a letter from Danielle's school saying that some kids were sent home because they found lice in their heads so all parents are encouraged to check our kids head daily and treat it incase it happens. When I washed Danielle's hair last night, I said that may be the warm water will kill the lice. She said these lice likes warm condition and that's why they like to stay on the warm scalp.
Danielle is learning the value of money. We went to Target over the weekend and she brought her own money to buy her toys. She's looking forward to Chinese New Year and is practicing her "gong xi fa chai" greeting so she'll get nice fat red envelopes from the grand parents. We're going to open a saving account for her and hopefully she'll save more than she spend.

Home cooking and movie review

Since I've been sick for the pass few days, all I want to eat is hot steamy soup with chilli to clear my nasal passages. This pass weekend, I've made

1. Wonton noodle soup
2. Indonesian style chicken with veggie soup
3. Indonesian beef stew/Rawon

I spent lots of time in the kitchen but it was rewarding when my recipes comes out tasty and the family enjoy the fruit of my labor. Hubby commented how tasty my wonton soup was; however, he didn't care for the chicken and veggie soup. Secondo liked the wontons I made. She ate 3 of them in one sitting. I'll have to remember to make some for her lunch tomorrrow.

I didn't get a chance to get on the computer to type the tom yum recipe so Juliette, please be patience with me.
I was upset that I didn't get to spin on Sunday. I was there 15 min before class and all the bike was taken. I got on a stationary bike for 20 min but I didn't burn as much calories if I was on the spin bikes so I decided to get on the tredmill and jog/walk for 30 min. I truly believe Jogging is a form of suffering that has it's purpose but It's not for me.

We saw the DVD House of Flying Dagger and I really enjoyed it. I've always favors movies where the leading women kicks serious butt instead of being weak and helpless. I like the last song on the sound track and hopefully I can get it from itune.

20 months old

Secondo 1 day old
Her face looked puffy right after birth.

Secondo 20 months old
She's watching TV and eating dry banana

Miserable night.

Secondo has been sick since Monday and I got what she has yesterday. Sore throat, stuffy nose and I didn’t sleep well at all last night. Reason A= my cold, Reason B= my restless child. I've decided that it's time for Secondo to sleep on her own because I don't sleep well with her anymore as she gets older. I've probably blogged before, She has to sleep against me cheek to cheek. I would move to the left to make room for my self and she'll roll over and take up the free space. Sometimes she'll roll over twice and ended up on top of me. If you could imagine that we started at 0 degree, by the next morning, we ended up 90 to 180 degree from where we started.
The challenge is to figure out how to get her to sleep alone.

Something missing in the air

It was weird not having Jaime Jack and Stench, local radio personalities on the air on my 1st morning drive to work in January. At first, I thought they were still on vacation because they were playing old episodes on the 1st week. This morning Lisa Foxx was on and sounds like that's her new time slot which is disappointing. This is the 2nd time Clear channel made changes with their radio morning program with out pre-warning their listeners. They've failed the 1st time trying to kick off JJS and copied Jack FM yet still didn't really learned much from that incident. Just like any living creature, we appriciate warnings prior to any changes. After listening to Jaime for over 5 years, I fell as if she's a friend who I can turn on in the morning and catch up to the latest drama in her life.

Gas molecules

The other night, hubby and I were watching a movie on TV with a married couple friend and the husband got up to get some food from the kitchen and with a jerky torso movement, he accidentally cut a loud but odorless one 2 feet away from me. I was glad that it wasn't the silent but deadly version or I would have had to say something.
I looked over to his wife to check on her reaction to what just happened. She was 10 feet away from me so she may not have heard it. We all carried on as if nothing had happened when he and I knew that he just farted. At what level of friendship, do we fell comfortable or brave enough to joke and laugh about farts like we did when we were kids? Thinking back, I could have said " Danielle really likes this book titled The gas we pass? It's an interesting read"

Territorial

Lately, I've noticed Danielle is more territorial than ever. She would close her bedroom door so Secondo won't have access to her toys or play in her so called nest consist of pillows and blankets. Danielle said that anyone entering her room must say the right password and I told her Secondo has limited vocabularies let alone comprehending the concept of a password. Danielle appeared unsympathetic and replied that she'll create easy passwords so mei-mei can say it. I'm afraid this will cause more frustration on her part and she'll learn to share things with her little sister. She also not happy that Secondo plays with her toys with out asking 1st. I told Danielle to be patient and when Secondo turns 3 years, she'll be able play by her older sister's rules. I can't remember if I was like Danielle with my little brother at her because our age gap is about the same.
Danielle started to play Lego STARWARS video game with her neighbor friend. She can play for hours and doesn't want to quit. It's a really cute game so I may get it for her as a birthday present.
I've recently learned how to make Tom Yum Kung from my Thai friend and I made the soup again last weekend to share with her family on Saturday night. Her husband tasted it and said that my Tom yum kung was as good as what he gets at a Thai restaurant which quite an ego boost. Mom likes her version of Green Curry but it's made with tons of coconut milk which isn't a dish that we can eat on regular basis.

On Sunday, we went to sister inlaw's baby shower brunch. They served tiny ham and cheese rolls, salads and egg casseroles. We gave her a bath kit and as she open her gifts, two other gifts were bath kits too. I've included the gift receipt so I hope they will exchange it for something else on their registry. One game we played was to guess the numbers of mini M&Ms that were in this tiny bottle. It had over 300 M&Ms and I was way off by guessing 50.

New blog features to get used to

Since I moved to www2. blogger.com, I have not had the time to add all my favorite blogs on the appropriate spot on the page yet so don't feel rejected or sad. When I have time this weekend, I will put everyone back on. I need uninterupted chunk of time to look at HTML code since I'm not an expert at it. It's a pain for me too that I can't just click on the link to see what everyone is up to.

Baby showers

I attended a baby shower yesterday and all of the guests were women. I'm lucky that when I had my 1st baby shower at work, guys from my department attended the shower too. They didn't want to find out the sex of the baby so most of the clothes and towels were green or yellow. I'm glad that I have the option to find out the gender of my babies. With the 2nd child, I didn't want to know the gender at first but as the pregnancy progressed, I had to decide if I should keep Danielle's clothes and toys or give them away to make room for boy clothes and toys. It worked out fine that Secondo is able to use most of the things Danielle had.
While we ate, we all shared our pregnancy, morning sickness and craving stories. From this get together, I learned that on the show gray anatomies, one female character was blessed with 2 uteruses or uteri? and she had relations with 2 different men while she was ovulating (I assume from 2 sets of ovaries) so her twins were 6 weeks apart with different fathers. Too dramatic to be realistic.
I have another shower scheduled for this weekend so more baby shopping before the event.
I've been thinking about the goals I want to set for 2007 and they are

1. Increase upper body and core strength
2. Organize kid pictures and be creative with the out put
3. Volunteer more in Danielle's class
4. 
   

Xmas cookies tradition

My friend P who loves to cook and bake always make Xmas cookies ever since I've known her. This year we got together after Xmas and she asked Danielle to pick the cookies she liked from a recipe book and they made cookies.

Daniell picked out green wreath and she decorated them all by her self.

I picked out the jam filled star ones here.

Getting back on track

I'm glad Friday is here. First week of school was quite a challenge for everyone in the household except for Secondo. During the break, Danielle made friends with one of the neighbor kid and all she talks about is this child and wanting to play with her when she gets home from school. She goes to private school and doesn't get any homework where as Danielle has homework everyday. I had to be the bad cop and told both of them that they can only play on the weekends. We really must stay with the schedule or one of us could have a melt down.
I had given Danielle a break on piano during the holidays and it was a struggle to get her to practicing her music on regular basis. From this point forward, she will be practicing continuously so it's not such a struggle getting back on track. She asked if we can change her lesson day from Monday to Thursday because Thursday is less hectic than Monday. We'll talk with her teacher and see if that's even possible. She'll have her 1st piano recital on Feb 9th and it will be interesting to see how she performs infront of strangers.
This Saturday, mom and dad are bringing aunt Lee over for a visit. I'll be making chicken sate (skewers) and gado gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce). We've also invited one of our neighbor for lunch.

Lesson in friendship

When I moved back to OC several years ago, one of my goal was to hang out more with my old roommates and friends since we are only 20 minutes away. When we did get together, we realized that as time goes by, we don't have that much in common anymore.
It's been over a year since I've seen my friend S. I would leave her messages and she didn't call me back. I feel that we made more of an effort when I lived 70 miles away from her.
With my other friend H, we invited her family over for lunch 3 years ago hoping that our kids could play together etc.. and we have not talked to each other since.
The only friend that I see regularly is my friend P, we've been friends for over 20 years and we make the effort to see each other at least 3 times a year and we live hours from each other. With friends who are far away, we stay in touch via emails and blogs.
I learned that distance is not really the barrier to stay in touch with any of friends. Taking the time to call and say hello is all it takes.

Side note:
If you recall I blogged about fighting with insurance company on Oct 30th, I got a call from Secondo's Doctor's office yesterday saying that they still have not gotten paid for one particular shot. I resorted to have our HR deal with the issue.

Stay at home mom

Hubby and Danielle went back on their schedule yesterday where as I had the day off so I was a stayed home mom yesterday. I dropped off the kids like usual and went to the gym for the core central class where we worked on strengthening our abdomens. Those who had been pregnant multiple times know how difficult it is to tighten and strengthen the abs area after having kids. I got to the gym 10 min early and the class was packed with mostly women. My guess is that they were all stay home moms which made me feel out of place since everyone seemed to know each other and were having a great old time sharing their New Year eve and kid stories.
There were no free hand weights available so I resorted to the disk weights used for weight lifting. I liked the routine from that class and if I’m discipline enough I could do the same workout at home on the step. After the core workout, I continued with the cycle class. At the end of cycling, I burned off ~ 800 calories. I watched the biggest looser marathon the night before so I was pumped up to get into a better shape.
After I showered and ate a quick lunch, I headed to Danielle’s school to meet and help her new teacher. She was a bit lost as of what I could help her with but the kids suggested that I listened and helped individual kid read. It was eye opening for me to witness the large spectrum of readers when I spent time with 5 kids. One kid was trying hard to sound out words such as “slow, laugh” and one kid was reading proficiently a book containing the word “execution, and cement”. Danielle wanted to read with me so we read her Junie B Jones the sneaky peaky spying during recess. One thing I don’t like about the book is that Junie B does not use the correct pass tense. I guess it’s a good opportunity for me to discuss with Danielle that past tense of think is not thinked but thought.
After recess, I help her teacher out with Physical Education. They stretched as a group then I handed out jump ropes to the kids who wants to jump individually. Danielle didn't care for jump rope so she played with her friends. I spent time with older kids turning rope while they jumped. I had fun jumping too but it’s easier to turn the rope than jump at my age. Her teacher was appreciative that I was there to help her and I had fun learning what PE is all about.
When we got home, Danielle ate some snack, did her homework while I washed the dishes and made Yang-Chow fried rice for dinner with our neighbor who smoked some yummy ribs. She cracked up when she read that Junie B got a great idea out of thin hair.
It was non-stop until it was time for bed but I enjoyed every moment of it.

New blog format

Just upgraded to the new blogger format so not sure if there will be issues with leaving comments or not.

Holiday madness

There is a Costco gas station near by my work and I've started getting gas there during lunch. I paid $2.49/ gallon so not sure if that is a good deal or not. Most of the vehicles getting gas there are Seniors who are technologically challenged or people with big SUVs and Trucks. I swear it takes me longer to get gas there than a regular gas station so I may go back to my old gas station next time. Getting in and out of Costco parking lot was a challenge during this time of year. After getting gas, I was planning to go in Costco and pick up some stuff for the party but wasn't sure if I can get out within 1 hour.
We had a retirement party at work today and he told an interesting story. He wanted to retire 2 years before but was talked in to working longer.
While talking about his years of service, he pulled out a measuring tape from his pocket and extended out to 65 inches and said that is how long he lived. Statistically, average male life span is 77 years old and average female life span ~85. When he did the math, he statictically has only 12 years to go so he's not going to compromise anymore and enjoy the rest of his life with his wife traveling around the world, go fishing and play golf.
I'm glad decided to retire and enjoy their life too.

Something new

After a year of the same webpage, I was ready for a change. I've only modified the simple stuff. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to put a banner on top.
Today is Danielle's last day of school so she's very excited about her vacation. We got her report card yesterday but not sure what to make of it. Must speak with the teacher.

Too busy

Last weekend, my old friend from Oregon visited and we had fun catching up on our lives. Last time I saw her was 10 years ago and we didn't have much time to chat. We've agreed to see each other this June in San Francisco or San Jose. This way I get to visit bulleye house too.
After she left, hubby started getting ill with body achecough, and fever. Secondo still has runny nose but is on her way to better health. I still have a head cold and can't breath at night. Danielle felt abit left out for being the only healthy on in the family so she was complaining about her throat being sore and forgot about it once we change the subject. I hope she stays healthy through December.
I'm so behind with everything that needs to be done before the 25th so I will be blogging less the rest of Dec.

Stuff

Remember Secondo started a fever on Friday? Well she's still abit warm on Saturday but she started coughing and nose started to run. We took her to the Dr on Monday and she got a virus that is going around. She's quite miserable, lethargic for the pass few days and just want to be held by mom. She sneezed on me several times and my throat is feeling sore when I woke up this morning.
Last weekend, I ended up wearing something I had in the closet for the Christmas party while mom & dad watched the kids for the evening. I wanted to bring the camera to capture the food we had but it would appeared too geeky in front of my coworkers and boss. Dinner was OK but they had an elaborate dessert buffet and a chocolate fountain with fruits, sponge cake or marshmallows on a stick for dipping. I had one dipped strawberry, small square of strawberry cheese cake, a mini fruit tart and some fruits with coffee.
I was not happy Sunday morning when our spin coach didn't show up for class and wasn't able to find a sub. Some people with their ipod continued spinning but I went on the treadmill and jogged instead. Next to me is this petite mom who was running at 5 miles/ hour and easily carrying a conversation with her friend about getting hair extension etc.. If it was me I would be breathing hard and counting the seconds before I could get off the treadmill. After she finished her run, she went and did real pull ups on her own and also abs on the exercise ball. I was impressed by her strength and she inspired me to strengthen my arms and abs so I can pull up my own body weight on my own. It'll take some time but that the goal is to do one to 5 real pull up by March 2007.
Back in High School, the females had to do at least 1 real pull up to pass PE and none of us were able to do it so the teacher modified the requirement to have a guy get us ladies up in the pull up position and we had to hold our body weight for 10 seconds.

Pad Thai review

Some of you may not know but I really enjoy eating pad thai. When I saw this box at Trader Joe's and the claim of 2 minutes prep time was enticing so I had to try it. I was shopping hungry and that didn't help the cause. Inside the box, there was 1 bag of noodles and 1 bag of sauce. I microwaved both and tossed them together and the picture below is what I got.

Hubby and I tried it and it didn't taste anything like pad thai that you get from Thai restaurants. Hubby was skeptical but I was willing to try many things at least once. I've made pad thai once and it didn't turn out perfectly but tasted better than this.

I'm a little annoyed at the moment because there are so many tasks on my "to do" list and I automatically turn to confort food to help me cope them.

1. My key project is not working out as I had expected and time is running short.
2. Company Christmas party is this Saturday and I don't have any formal outing wear that I still like wearing. It seems like eons since I've been to a nice dinner party where I had to dress up so I either shop tonight or tomorrow morning after going to the gym, alone.. ( May be Danielle could tag along and help me pick out something).
   
3. Christmas shopping for everyone on my list
   
4. Take picture of the kids for Christmas card
5. Send out Christmas cards
   
6. Get the house ready for my Oregon friend visit next week
7. Come up with the menu for Christmas party for hubby side of the family
8. Grocery shopping ( remember to buy brown rice!)
   
9. Decide if we are getting a tree or not. Our piano has taken the space of our fake tree and Danielle is still waiting to decorate the tree. If we are getting a tree, the only space is in the living room and Secondo being 18 months, we're concerned that she'll eat the little decorations from the tree or break the ornaments. Sigh...
   

Secondo woke up with a bit of a temperature and cough this morning so I hope she's not getting sick again.

Pass weekend

On Thanksgiving day, we went to hubby's brothers home to celebrate. It was nice not having to cook and just show up and eat for once. Danielle had fun scootering in the back yard and playing go fish card game with her cousin E and Secondo played with Mr. Potato head with me.
They served pumpkin pie, strawberry banana pie and Tiramisu but none of those deserts were appealing. I much rather have cheesecake than pies so I'm proud to say that I had a little taste of the Tiramisu and not the whole piece.
For dinner, we went to my parent's home and celebrated with them, my brother's in-laws and their dog Fei-fei. Fei-fei is 13 years old so she was calm and mellow. Unfortunately, sister in-law had to work on Friday after Thanksgiving so Bulleye and sister in-law didn't get to LA until late Friday night.
Mom said, earlier that day, they went out to lunch so the dog was leashed on a guava tree in the back yard. By the time they returned the dog ran away. Luckily, her nextdoor neighbor saw the dog and started the investigation on Fei-fei's owner with fliers etc. Fei-fei doesn't eat dog food so it was interesting to watch her eat beef stew with rice. Secondo was afraid to pet Fei-fei but she was willing to share her toys with the dog.

On Saturday, I went to the gym in the morning and we had a family dinner at

Ma's Islamic Restaurant

The bread in the picture was really good but there's another breat that is even more tasty. Needless to say I ate more that I should but I did take a spin class Sunday and burned off 600 calories.

Happy Birthday Dad and Bulleye

Today is my brother and Dad's birthday. I tried to call Bulleye to wish him a happy birthday but he didn't answer his cell phone. Can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving already and the weather is still hot.
I'm going to workout after work because the gym will be close tomorrow. That should not be an excuse for not exercising so I may jog around the neighbornood and burn at least 300 calories or so before going to my brother in-laws for Thanksgiving feast.
One new discovery is that there's a pie factory near work that sells over produced pies for way less than the supermarket.

Guava

Being the rookie at a new company, I do rely on the help of others so that I can get things done in a timely manner. Luckily I'm able to return their favors by giving them my Dad's delicious guava. I brought a full bag to work and they were gone in minutes. Those who had them wanted more and I don't know if Dad has any more to share.

Fun weekend

This pass weekend was one of the better weekends we've had lately.
For the pass three Saturdays, I took kickboxing instead of the usual boot camp class. The class works mostly the torso with lots of choreography so I didn't burnt as many calories as boot camp while I'm learning the routines. I'm going to switch back to boot camp next week so my body gets sore and burn more calories. Danielle went to see the movie "Happy Feet" Imax version with her cousin. When I asked her how she liked the movie, she said it was really loud and she had to cover her ears most of the time. While she was at the movies, we paid my parents a visit and met up with my great uncle #7, great aunt and their youngest son, C. Great aunt was asking if I could introduce C to some nice Chinese girls which I'm sure is emberassing for C.

On Sunday, parent inlaws paid our kids a visit so hubby and I jumped on the opportunity to go on a movie date. We saw the new James Bond movie "Casino Royale" and we both really liked it. This new bond is quite a muscular eye candy and the stunts are more realistic compared to what Pierce Bronson's had done as the 007.

On Danielle's reading front, I'm happy to learned that she likes reading the Juni B Jones series. I brought 3 home along with the magic tree house books and she read all 3 of them and asked if I could borrow 2 more which I forgot the titles already.

OMG

Last night I was disturbed by what Danielle had learned from school.

D: "Mom, let's play chinese checkers" (It's a hand clapping along with chanting words that ryhmes)

She said the following with a funny accent.

Chinese people talk so funny
This is how they talk in Chinese
Usha, usha, I give you a tusha

Me in Mandarin: "Chinese don't talk funny. It sounds funny to those who don't understand the language. I don't want you to play that game anymore."
D:"Yes, we do.."
Me in Mandarin:" Besides,usha and tusha are made up Chinese words that has no real meaning in Chinese."
Me: "If we visit China and speak English to them, do you think the kids will do"
American people talk so funny
This is how they talk in America
Usha, usha, I give you a tusha?

D: "I don't know.."

May be I've over reacted but I just want her to be aware that making fun of other races is not acceptable.

Pomegranate

Hubby got some pomegranates home the other day and he was nice enough to peel off the skin and gather all the berries of one pomegranate so we can enjoy the fruit of his labor. The way I normally eat pomegranate is that I pop 2-3 berries in my mouth, suck the juice off then spit out the seeds in a bowl. It's a labor-intensive process and sometimes I stain my clothes with the juice too.
I took some to work yesterday and was eating it after lunch and a co-worker of mine, A was making fun of me.
A: "That's not how you eat pomegranate. You are suppose to eat the seed too."
Me: "That' how I've been eating it. Are you expecting me to swallow the seed after I sucked out the juice?"
A: "No. Just chew the whole thing and swallow the seed along with the juice. Go ahead and try it."
She put me on the spot and got the ladies sitting in the next table involved in the conversation so with the spot light on me, I unwillingly tried it
Me: "It doesn't taste as good as the juice alone but it's less messy compared to the way I prefer to eat it and I'm sure the fiber is good for me."
A: "That's how I learned to eat pomegranate since I was little."
Me: "Interesting..."
I share some pomegranate with her and she ate them like peanuts. I still prefer to eat it my way and luckily all the good antioxidants such as polyphenols, tannins and anthocyanins are in the juice not in the seed. To really get the health benefit, I would need to suck down equivalent of 1 glass a day.

Reading

Since Danielle and I felt that she's not challenged by the books she had been bringing home from school, I went and borrowed several "Magic tree house" books from our local library. There aren't as many pictures in these books so I decided to read it for her and check her interest level. She picked "Vacation under the volcano" and we both really enjoyed the story. Danielle liked the adventure and time travel aspects of the book and I liked how the book introduces new words with definitions and how she learned these words in context and with historical perspective. I tried to stop in the middle of the book and she said "NO! Let's keep reading". After finishing the 1st book, she read "Midnight on the moon" and "Dolphin at day break" on her own the next day.
On our next trip to the library, we’re going to borrow "Mummies in the morning" and "Ghost town at sun down". I may sneak in several Junie B Jones books because I felt that she didn't give those books a chance.

1st Grade parent teacher conference

Hubby and I had our very first conference with Danielle's teacher this morning and over all, Danielle is doing well in school. She's scored highest on reading and we're suppose to work on reading comprehension and also on her math test speed. When Danielle took her baseline math assessment test, she scored low because she took time to double check the accuracy of her answer and diligent on her hand writing and took too long in down all her answers. She wasn't able to complete all 50 questions within the given time. Now we know what we have to work on.
As far as reading, the books that she's bringing home from school are not challenging enough for her and for some reason she doesn't like the higher level books that was recommended by her school. We're going to figure out the type of books she enjoys reading and strengthen her reading skills. I can see that she enjoys reading "harder" books than her class mates.
In math, she's learning addition and subtraction between 0-20 so her brought home some flash cards that will be added to her homework repertoire. She was very excited to show me that se knows 8+8 is 16 but when I asked her how she figured it out, she said that she memorized it.
On the piano front, she was intrigued that her piano teacher had adults and children as students so I told her that Hubby and I would take piano lesson if we have the time to practice at home. Her latest homework are "Lullaby" and "10 Little Jazzy Indians" which is a bit harder to play than plain "10 little Indians". I enjoy playing it so I hope she feels the same way.

What to do?

When I picked up Secondo from day care last night, the child care provider informed me that Secondo bit the arm of one of the boy at the day care. I've tried giving her time out when she does something wrong but she doesn't really understand the concept at 17th month.
We never had the same problem with Danielle so if any one out there who has a solution to stoping this biting habit, please let me know.

Silly daughter

One day, as I was changing Secondo's diaper and noticed she was constipated so I told hubby that Secondo may be developing a hammoroid at an early age and Danielle got really interested in the subject.
D: "What? Mei mei (little sister) has a hammer on her butt? Let me see.."
Me: "There's no hammer coming on her butt."
D: "I still want to see it."
Then I had to explain what a hammoroid is to a 6 year old which she thought was hilarious.

Each morning, we sing little songs as we get ready to leave the house so I came up with the 1st 2 verses and Danielle came up with the last two.

Put on your shoes mei-mei let's go
Put on your shoes mei-mei..
Put on your shoes befor your diaper gonna ooze..
Put on your shoes mei-mei..

Sight Word Spelling Test

Once or twice a week, Danielle's teacher quizzes her on her "Sight Word" lists. Each column consist of 5 words and if she knows all 5 words, she gets to continue and spell the next 5 words and so on all the way up to 30 words. We review the list nightly except on Halloween night because we were busy trick or treating. When she got quizzed on Wednesday, she miss spelled "called" which is the 1st word of the list so the teacher stopped the quiz and she's stuck at the same point as last Wednesday. I was surprised that she misspelled "called" because she spelled it correctly every night at home. I was working more with her on "Through, because and different" or words that I thought was more difficult to spell. She actually memorized the list and she able to write them all on her own. I was more upset than she was so we're going to make sure she knows how to spell at least 30 words like the back of her hands for the next round. Hubby and I are having a parent teacher conference next week so I got to get my questions ready for her teacher. Am I an overbearing mom? Big sigh...

Driving

Eversince we turn the clock back an hour, I noticed more traffic on the freeway when it gets dark. I really don't enjoy going home in the dark so it's going to take some getting use to.
I witness a car accident on my way into work this morning. A car tried to avoid hitting the car infront of him so he swerved to the right and hit a Rav4 on the next lane. I take this as a lesson to drive consciously and leave lots of space between me and the car infront of me. Unfortunately other cars would take advantage of my space and cut in front. I also has to fix my tail breaklight this weekend because a car almost rear ended me the other day. Not sure if he/she wasn't paying attention or didn't see me break.

Happy Halloween

Our three little Halloween pumpkins.

Danielle, aka Primero

Primero was reading my blog one night and she asked
P: "Who is Pamelo?"
Me: "That's you."
P: "I don't want to be Pamelo. I want to be Danielle. Can I change my name to Danielle?"
Me: "I'll change your name to Danielle from this point forward (for the blog).

We had a good homework session last night. After piano lesson, she read for me and was eager to spell her sight words. She struggled with spelling the word "through" so she underlined the word and called it an outlaw word.
Her latest game with Secondo is training pony. Danielle is the trainer and Secondo is the pony. Each of them hold on to one end of a jump rope and walk around the house while Danielle asked Secondo to trot and stay.

1st fight of the week

Switching to a new job means having new insurance company which translates to getting used to working with either a) Incompetent people who don't understand the policy or b) Competent people who tries to get away with not paying for services that are covered by the policy.
Secondo had her shots months back and I got a bill from her Dr. saying that my new insurance doesn't cover immunization. That is very odd and I don't recall that was the case when I reviewed the policy. I checked with HR and HR verified that immunization is covered so I called the Insurance company back and told them that I'm confident that shots are covered; however, they still insisted that on their paper work it showed that immunization is not covered. I asked them to fax me a copy of that paper but they said it's agaist their policy. With my 3rd phone call, I asked for the Supervisor right away and they put me on hold. When the claim person came back on line she still didn't give me the supervisor and tried to understand why I'm upset. I told her the whole story again for the 3rd time and she said
Insurance Lady: "Maam, immunization is covered under out policy. I'm going to resubmit the claim."
Me: "If it is then why did the other two folks I spoke to earlier told me that it's not?"
IL: "The policy was now written clearly so newly trained people may interperted differently."
Me: "The last guy said he's confident that it's not covered because immunization is not covered was highlighted in red!"
IL: "Red highlight means there has been a change not necessarily that it's not covered."
Me: "Precisely the reason that I want to speak with your supervisor so that he/she is aware of how frustrated it can be when I get different answers from different people. I don't want to do this again with my next Dr. visit."
IL: " Maam, we made a mistake and I will send an email to the account manager so that they will rewrite the policy to make it easier to understand"

It's unfortunate that this lady gotten the wrath of Sam eventhough she was the most helpful one of all 3 that I spoke with today. I actually thanked her at the end for resubmitting helping me out. I don't have the warm and fuzzy that I'm home free yet.

Wednesday

All the ladies in the house have a cold. Secondo got it first then it spreadd to Primero and I. We all have sore throat, stuffy and runny nose.
Today, Primero's school asked that each kid donates a brand new teddy bear for Children Hospital of OC (CHOC) so we picked out a cute bear last night. Funny thing is that when Secondo was born, she had severe case of Jaundice and had to stay at the Neonatal ICU for several days. I noticed that there was a peach beannie bear in her room but not sure who gave it to her. Now I finally have the missing piece of puzzle and I'm glad we are able to continue the circle and give back to kids in need of some moral support.

Sisterly Love

Icee, the blue dog in the stroller is Secondo's favorite Stuff animal. If I put another animal in the stroller, Secondo would take it out and put Icee in instead. Do you see the determination in this child's face? Icee was actually gift from Bulleye to Primero long ago but Primero was never interested in any other stuff animals besides her Green Bear. Speaking of Green bear, Primero took this picture and is very proud of how well it is holding up after 6 years. Green Bear is the only toy she will not allow Secondo to play with. Everything else she's willing to share.


It's fun when I asked Primero to pose next to Secondo. The disadvantage of being the older sibling is that when the younger one hits the older one, Primero can't hit back. From experience I know how unfair and frustrating it can be.

Next week: Red Ribbon Week

Every Thursday, We get lots of flyers from Primero's school. Yesterday, as I was feeding Secondo, I asked her to read the flyers to me.
Primero was reading them and asked
P: "What does 'Turn your back on drugs' mean?"
Me: "It means staying away from drugs but drugs can be also be medicines that we take when we get sick"
P: "Oh.. like Sav-On Drugs?"
Me: "Yes, that's one place to get medicines"
P: "Then why do we turn our back on drugs?"
Me: "We turn our back on bad drugs"
She lost interest and moved on to the book fair flyer.
This morning, after reading the flyers on my own I realized that her school wants parents to discuss the consequences of drugs to a 1st grader.
Now that I'm more aware of that's going on, I'll do a better job explaining the reasoning behind "Turn your back on drugs!" Sigh...
I assume it's better for her to hear it from me than from her friends at school but on the other hand, it's scary to think my child could be exposed to drugs at 1st grade.

Secondo: 17 month old

After Secondo passed her 1 year mark, I have not been keeping track of her age on the monthly basis so I would say she's 1.5 years old to strangers when they asked.
At my company picnic last Saturday with the kids, one of the moms asked, "How old is your baby?" After I replied, she said "My son in 20 months so she's only 2 months younger than Lorence.." Gauging by the size differences between the two kids, I had to correct myself and admit that she's only 16 instead of 18 months old.
At this age,

1. She loves to sing. Her favorite songs are : ABCs, and Elmo's World. When she naps at the sitter, she plays lullabies to put them to sleep. Lately, the sitter told me that Secondo would hum to the songs before falling asleep.
2. Her favorite toy is the stroller. She loves to stroll her favorite blue dog, Icee around the house and bumping into walls.
3. She's temperamental and can't take no for an answer. When she's frustrated, she would throw what ever she has on hand and then hit the person around her. If it happens to be me, I would scold her and walk away and she would cry and conceded that she did something wrong.
4. I need lots of help from hubby
   

Farewell tooth #6

Primero finally lost baby tooth F lastnight. It had been sticking out saying "hi" to everyone for a long while. She refused to wiggle it herself or let me get near it.
Last night, she was changing into her pajama smiling and I accidentally snapped off her loose tooth as I pulled her shirt over her head. Next thing we noticed was lots of blood on her gum, in her mouth and her tooth landed safely on the shirt. She didn't cry as she bit down on 2 Q-tips ( I didn't have any gauze handy.) to stop the bleeding but was somewhat relieved that it wasn't painful.
When I dropped her off this morning her teacher Tasha said "Yes! Finally.."
Now we are able to see part of her permanent front tooth which is about 1.5 times larger than the baby one.
On the piano front, she'll be finishing up Alfred's prep course by next Monday and she has a couple more pages on Dozen a day-minibook before moving on to the next level. Practice is more difficult during the beginning of the week versus the end after she learned all the songs. Next fun song to learn is Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars while polishing up Ode to Joy.

Communication breakdown

Below is conversation between Hubby and I this morning via email.

H:"Dung came back from his 10 days fishing trip in Cabo. I got some Mahi. It should be good for dinner tonight."
Me: "LOL. Don't call him dung. It's Doug. Make sure the fish is refrigerated."
H: "His name is Dung, He's Vietnamese. The fish is frozen. I'm thawing it for dinner."
Me: "I didn't know you have a coworking name Dung.. Sorry"
There's an incetive to have an American name if your given Vietnamese name is Dung.

Below is the dictionary definition for those who don't get the joke.

Definition of Dung:
1a. The excrement of animals.
1b. Manure.
2. Something foul or abhorrent.

What does it mean?

I don't remember when I last dreamed but I had a stressful one early this morning.
I was running late taking Primero to school so when we got there, we rushed to her classroom and I left the van in the parking lot with the doors open and everything inside including the car key. The thought was that I would run back in a flash. In the dream a body of water surrounded her classroom. To reach the classroom, we hopped on the stepping stone path that took us to the doorway. After saying hello to the teacher, saying good bye, I was ready to run to the van. As I open the door, I noticed the body of water gradually started rising and covering half of the stepping stones. Unfortunately there was another parent in front of me and she was going remarkably slow and I felt that she was intentionally blocking my path. I attempted to go around her many times and she would not let me pass by her. As I struggle with her, the water has risen to the point where I can no longer see the stones anymore so I can either get wet or wait until the tide goes down. I decided to wait for the water to subside but then the stones were replaced with industrial carpet. I ran to the parking lot and the van was replaced with an old lady standing in the spot with another man.
O Lady: "I saw an unattended van so I valet parked it" (In reality, there's no valet parking at school)
Me: "Thank you, may I have the key"
Man: "I also left my car here a while ago"
She showed us the key chain and it wasn't mine. I was still in denial so I went along with the man and when he put the key in the ignition, he started the car and drove away happy. Next think I know Secondo woke me up.

Preparing for winter

I had been contemplating about the decision for a while and finally decided to get a flu shot. The next decision would be if I should give the kids flu shots. Hopefully the decision makers guess the right killed virus for the flu shot.

Memory

Before having kids, I had better memory. Now days, hubby would say
H: "Do you remember the movie love story?"
Me: "Hm..."
H: "We saw it when we were dating starring Tony Leung?"
Me: "Vaguely.. I remember he was wearing a white suite but don't remember much about the plot"

The blame game

I've noticed lately that Primero likes to play victim. If she played the wrong note on the piano it's because I was singing along in the background and throwing her off or the scooter was hitting her legs. This morning, she had a minor episode. We put a safety gate by the top of the stairs to prevent Secondo from tumbling down freely so as Primero came through the gate said
P:"Mom..the gate pinched my finger"
Me: "Really.. How did it do that? Does it have crab like pincher?"
P:"NO. I opened the gate and my hand is too small so it pinched me"
Me: "Oh.. So the gate has a brain and said here comes Primero's tiny finger and I'm going to pinch it today because I'm not just a gate. I'm an alligator gate!"
She started to laugh a little and said "The gate doesn't have a brain"
I also told her that she controls her finger and can't blame the gate, anything or anyone else for her own action.

Another lightning speed weekend

I anticipated this pass weekend to be busy but it completely surpassed my expectation.
We went Holloween costume shopping Friday night. Primero got hers but there wasn't much of a choice for Secondo. We tried on an Elmo costume but it was too tight and uncomfortable for a walking toddler. While shopping, Secondo didn't want to be in the shopping cart so when I put her on the ground she had fun exploring and pulling stuff off the shelves left and right before I took her out of the store.
Saturday morning,I went to the Bootcamp class and burned off 500 calories knowing that I will be eating fun food such as chili dogs, burgers and ice cream at the company picnic. After bootcamp, my whole body was sore but there's no time for whining so I bathe both kids and off we went to my company picnic. The little voice in my head was saying I'm not young as I used to be. There were tons of food and games for kids and adults. Primero jumped on the swing and Secondo went into the bouncer. Secondo doesn't know how to jump yet or even stand in the bouncer so it was entertaining to watch her interact with other kids who were bouncing and summersaulting in there. Primero's favorite parts of the day were the puppet show, getting her face painted and arm tatooed via sticker.
Hubby and I were hoping to win the grand price of video ipod but my lucky co-worker took it home instead. When we got home, hubby worked on the yard while I watched the kids and he was surprised by our next door neighbor who invited us over for dinner. We accepted her invitation so the kids played and have fun while the adults chated about Dream Dinners, Speed racers over food wine and beer.
On Sunday morning, we had breakfast, dropped the kids off to grandma's house prior to our date to the car show. Now days when the kids are not with us, I consider our precious time alone a date. We looked that cars that are in our price range and also cars that we would love to have but don't want the responsibility. I really like the body of the new CRV. Hubby said it's a mixture of BMW, Volvo and Mercedes. Lately we've noticed issue with the new model of Camry so new CRV may have similar problem. I was hoping that by going to the car show, it will help us decides on which model to get but on the contrary, there are more research to be done before going for a test drive.
After the car show we hung out at my parent's house shortly , I got my hair cut, went grocery shopping, had dinner at my inlaws, went home, gave both kids a bath and put them to bed.
Today is Primero's picture day. She has two big gaps where her front teeth used to be so it's going to be a memorable picture.
Tonight is piano lesson and she didn't practice all the songs yet....
Note to self:
1)Set one day of the weekend aside to stay home and do chores.
2)You are an athlete in training. Healthy food helps you get stronger.

Health

I went and got my mamogram done yesterday. While in the waiting room, I see women coming out the door cheering "Yes.. I'm good for another year".
Part of the paper work was a disclosure for women with implants (Not me incase readers didn't know). It mentioned that in some cases implants would interfere with the xray and may not provide accurate picture of the breast tissue. The amount of pressure that is used to convert boobs in to a flat pancake was non-trivial and I thought it would cause implant boobs to burst and deflate. I didn't have enough courage to ask the technician if she ever popped one.
My result will be available in a week or two so hopefully everything is normal. Since October is breast cancer month, I want to do my part to remind my fellow lady friends and family to do self exam or mamogram.

Self torture

As I'm working hard to eat healthy and workout, I find my self checking out food blog pages, watching the food channel and start craving for stuff that's not going to get me to my goal. Why do this to myself?
The open eating season has started. We have halloween candy bowl by the receptionist and it's going to be Thanksgiving feast, Christmas get together & New Year celebration. The logical mind is saying to eat in moderation so by New Year, there's no guilty feeling and wider waist line.
I"m going to my company fall picnic this Saturday where they'll serve chili dog, burger,Tri Tip etc.. Primero will enjoy the lollipop Tree.

One month milestone

It's amazing how fast kids adapt to new environment and changes. Primero has been in her new school and she made some friends and got the hang of her teacher's schedule. There’s a girl in her after school program that has the same name as Secondo and she really likes Primero. She hugs Primero when they 1st see each other and said "You are finally here !!!" and showed lots of excitement where as Primero barely says hi to her with her anonymous waive of the hand. It must be her personality because no matter how hubby and I coached her, she's persistent about her own way of greeting people which is non-verbal and that pushes me over the edge some times. All I asked is that she says hi back to those who say hi to her. Mom in on me on this one but I've tried many different ways and no solution yet.
Piano is going well, her teacher (E) praised her weekly and that seems to motivate her to practice more this week. There's a boy who's lesson is ahead of hers and he hadn’t been practicing so they are at a standstill for at least 3 weeks. E spoke with his dad about stopping the lesson if he doesn’t learn the song by next week. Primero was there when this happened so I reiterated the fact that if she doesn't practice, she could be kicked out of the Miss E piano school. Her next assignment is to learn "Ode to Joy" and "Are you sleeping". Learning new songs seems to get easier for her compared to 2 weeks ago.

The magic number 8

Since my last feeling fat blog, I've been working out at least twice a week and cut out rice when I can. (Thanks hubby for watching the kids while I hit the gym) Sucking in my gut is still a chore but it's not as big as before.
In boot camp, I'm able to do more of the drills that she dished out but there are still some drills that takes my breath away. My legs had always been my source of strength but the amount of squats she made us do, made my quads shakes. Another drill she made us do is jump in the air spread eagle style and that is something I can't do continously 25 times yet. I believe a month from now I'll be able to do it in ease if I practice at home twice a week. Bootcamp instructor is 5 months pregnant so she can't do some of the exercise that we do in class. She kept us motivated by telling us not to waste time by cheating or not giving our 100%. She said also that it's not what we say aloud that keep us going but the little voice inside which rings true for me. When the going get tough, the old little voice would says "Pain.., I can't stand this anymore..take a short break and catch your breath". The new little voice now says "Just 8 more counts. One more phrase of the music" Once I get pass that then "8 more counts" until I can't breath anymore.

Family Stuff

When I got home from Vegas, I wasn't sure how Primero's piano practice sessions went so I asked her to play the songs for me and she did pretty good. She did practice with mom so I made minor correction on the tempo. She tends to count faster than her teacher and me. Her teacher is also stressing the need to play the notes instead of punching the notes which I'm guilty of doing my self. Last night, after she finished with her practice, I played a Sonatina for her and she liked listening for once. I would like to take piano lesson too in order to keep up with her. I can see that she will surpass my level in a year or less. It will show her that practice is necessary to play well and seamless.
On Saturday, I had dimsum with mom and dad then, we went to a BBQ/Karaoke party which was consist of mostly people with out kids. There were lots of flies in their backyard so Primero was not able to dine in peace. She covered everything with napkins and was making sure the flies didn't not land on our food. After the BBQ, we went back to my inlaws for dinner.
On Sunday, I took the girls to the library and it was abit stressful. Secondo wonders around the isles while Primero did not like any of the authors recommended by her school. We borrowed several books that she picked out and I picked out a couple for her.
I wanted to stop by borders to order a yoga CD but didn't have time. Sigh..


Exercise log
Saturday
Bootcamp: 60 min
Cal: 404

Sunday
Spin: 65 min
Ave heart rate: 150 b/m
Cal: 534

Glad to be home

I was in Vegas for a trade show for the pass few days and I really missed home. I'm glad that the hotel I stayed at was non smoking and it had a fitness center that they don't charge extra if you decide to use it. They did charge for the business center so I declined. As far as cigarette smoke, the airport waiting area and the casinos were the worst. People gambling while smoking which made my sinus run as if I had a cold.
I tried Rio Seafood buffet for $35 and it wasn't that impressive. Mostly shrimp, raw oysters, king crab legs. I will not go back again. The next restaurant was the Social Scene? Very trendy Japanese restaurant. The sashimi were excellent! but the service was extremely slow. We were hungry again waiting to pay our bill. I felt out of place there because they had secret service people around to escort VIPs around. I ate mostly healthy except for occasional coffee drinks.
People seems to think when I go these trade show, it's like a vacation which is totally opposite. I walk the show, on my feet talk with potential customers so my legs and feet are sore by the end of the day. What I really wanted is to be with my family who are far away.
Now that we are able to bring some 3oz size liquid, the security line is back to the long dragon style again with everyone with their carry on, me included. I got to the airport early so I didn't mind the wait.
When I got home, it was nice to see hubby, the kids, and mom and dad. Dad was feeding Secondo dinner so when she saw me, she wanted me to hold her right a way. Primero cared more about what gift I brought back from my trip. I didn't have time to get hubby anything this time.

Exercise Log
Elliptical: 45 min
Ave heart rate: ~ 140 b/m
Cal: 500

Competing for attention

My 2 girls are already competing for things eventhough they are far apart in age. If I'm hugging Primero, Secondo will run over and push her sister away from me so she can be hugged. If Primero is playing piano, Secondo wants to play also.
In short, I'm starting to do everything in twos. 2 cups of drinks, 2 plates of snacks and two bouncy balls.
One thing Primero will not share is her green bear so Secondo snuggles with green bear when her elder sister is napping.

Sunday & Monday

I wanted to take the kids to the beach but we had too many other things to do so we went to Costco instead. When I was checking out, they confiscated my card to tell me that I spend enough money to move up to the next membership level which cost me $100/year but I get 2% rebate for every dollar I spend. Based on their record, I already earned $40. The guy said that they want to sustain their customer based so this is one way of doing it. Unfortunately, it doesn't apply to car purchases because 2% of 30K is a good $600.
This morning, Secondo woke up at 5:30 AM so getting ready was quite a challenge with her wanting to be involve in everything. Fortunately, Sesame stree was on and she's into the show especially Elmo. She actually sang the Elmo theme song in her own way when it came on this morning.
Primero doesn't have a sense of time. When I say "Let's hurry so we won't be late" and she replied with "You always say that to me" I'll have to figure something out so she doesn't take time for granted.

Mom and Dad are staying with us for the next few days while their house gets tented for termite.

Exercise Log
Spin: 60 min
Ave heart rate: 150 b/min
Cal: 511

Saturday at the park

Bootcamp
Duration: 1:14 min
Cal: 456
Ave heart rate: 134/min

Me, me, me, it's all about me

I looked back at my old entries, I was religiously logging my exercise sessions. To re-motivate my self I'm going to start logging the days that I exercise.
Type: Yoga
Duration: 50 min
Calories: Doesn't matter

The game plan

Yesterday, I went to Primero's back to school night meeting. Take home message is that she's going to have lots of homework starting next week. The school mendates that the child reads 20 min/day for 7 days a week plus spelling and math AND extra credit. When I went to school, extra credit is not a requirement. For her school, it is a requirement because she won't get an outstanding on her homework section of the report card if she opt not to do extra credit. Sigh.. I'll get to see what the XC options are next week.
2 girls from her class were transfered to the combo class. Her teacher is really nice and she said that Primero is doing great. She's impressed with her artistic skill and handwriting so far. I met the other parents from her class but didn't make any connections.
Starting next week we are going to be busy the moment we get home. Here's is what I'm going to propose to the family and we'll test it out next week. We'll see if there's time for Chinese character writing.

Monday:
5:30 : Bath time
6:00 : Dinner
6:30-7:20 : Piano lesson
7:30-8:00: Homework & extra credit
8:00-8:20: Reading
8:20-8:40: Getting ready for bed
8:45 : Bed time

Tuesday:
5:30-6:00: Homework
6:00-6:30 Dinner
6:30: 7:00 Bath
7:00-7:30 Piano practice
7:30-8:00: Break
8:00-8:20 Reading
8:20-8:40: Getting ready for bed
8:45 : Bed time

Back to School Night

To night is back to school night for Primero. I look forward to meeting her teacher and get more information on what they will be learning and how many combination classes they will have. They are planning to put 10 kids from 1st grade and 10 kids from 2nd grade in one class. I don't know much about combination classes but my gut is telling me that her school is not willing to hire more teachers to accomidate the amount of students they have. Sigh...
Piano lesson went well, her teacher is impressed with Primero's ability to play. Her home work has 2 fun songs, "It ain't gonna rain no more" and "Bingo"
Her kindergarten teacher taught her that the word "heck" was not proper and in one of the song the verse goes "How the heck I'm gonna wash my neck..." cracks her up everytime she sings it.
I'm toying with the idea of taking piano lesson my self once I figure out when I'll have time to practice.
Secondo got her 15 month shots last week and on her leg where she got the shot is still bumpy and hard. I massage it when I can and hopefully it'll go away this week. She's been coughing and sounded congested this morning. Still contemplating if she should get flu shot or not.

Piano lesson: Week 3

As before, practice takes time but my new rule is if she plays well 5 times then we can move on to the next song but if it's not up to par, she has to play at least 12 times. That seems to work and sometimes she wants to practice more that I asked. She still doesn't like piano her comment was
P: "Why am I good at something I don't like to do? I didn't even know that I'm good at playing piano"
Me: "There are many other things that you are good at but you don't even know yet?"
My concern is that she doesn't like piano. I hope by the time she plays some music that she knows then she'll like it more.
Her lesson went well and next step is to learn the notes. I learned do re mi but her teacher wants her to learn c d e etc.. and that doesn't come natural to me.
More practicing tonight...
From her I learn to be patient with my self and others.

Chinese Lesson Karma

Mom gave Primero Chinese characters writing lesson this Summer so she asked that I continue during fall with the hope that Primero will be able to speak Chinese and read Chinese when she grows up. This brought back painful memories when I was in 3rd grade when mom forced me to learn Chinese by practice writing row and rows of Chinese characters which had no meaning.
On Sunday,
Me: "It's time to learn Chinese"
P: "NO!"
Me: "Why NOT?"
P: "''cause I'm hungry"

It was almost lunch time so I fed them and then
Me: "Let's learn Chinese"
Grudgingly agreed so we learned the character rain and the battle begins. Her body language was not happy nor positive and said
P: "I want you to sit with me"
Me: "When dad finishes with yard work, I'll sit with you. No one can watch Secondo otherwise"
P: "Hold my hands and show me how to write it the right way. Popo does it.."
While holding Secondo on left hand, I held her hand and traced the the character rain with her. She continued writing the characters in an snail moving through peanut butter rate.
After hubby finished up with yard work, I sat with her and she was still not a happy camper but she wrote one character that's recognizable so I said
Me: "That character is really close to the example. Can you write another like that or better?"
With a little positive encouragement, she was more interested in taking time to write or draw rain.
At the end, she asked me to circled 2 characters that I really liked and I circled 4 which made her happy. Luckily it was the last page so until I get a new book we both can take a break.

Long awaited Friday

Last night, Secondo was wondering around not ready to sleep @ 9:30PM so I took her to her room and slept with her there. She did wonder the hall once and fell asleep shortly next to me so I was well rested.
After 4 days of training, we got our morning routine down to the T. Both girls have their breakfast while I pack lunches and get all our stuff ready for the day.
Daughter said
P: "What day is today?"
Me: "It's Friday"
P: "Yeah, I get to stay up late tonight and do fun things?"
Me: "Yes, after you practice your piano of course"
I try to make practice fun so it's not a boring chore for her

3rd day of school

Primero had half day of school yesterday so she was a little disappointed. She said "I wish school was longer today so that I can read the 'Take me out of the bath tub book'". I told her school would be longer tomorrow and Friday so not to worry. I asked her about what she did in class and she said that her teacher was asking volunteers for sweeping and sponge duty (Cleaning their little desks). She raised her hand for sponge duty but teacher picked someone else for the job but she hopes to be the chosen one next week. I asked her "Did you raise your hand for sweeping duty?" P said "No.. I want sponge duty" Come to think of it, she did the dishes with me the other day so she can play with the sponge. Must be a new exciting toy for her at this stage of her life.
Piano practice was long yesterday. The lessons are getting a little bit complex with controlling her little fingers, sp we practiced 4 short songs over the span of 40 min. There are 6 more songs to learn so we'll continue with the rest of the lessons tonight. She did her Theory exercise, which I forgot to bring to her lesson on Tuesday. Her teacher said, "Well, we can't all be perfect" and I said "Not all the time we can't"

Let's move on to Secondo's life for a moment. She doesn't have fever anymore but still has runny nose and a cough. For some unknown reason, she was not tired during bedtime and refused to sleep last night. I put the kids to bed by 9:00PM and Primero was asleep within 15 min but not Secondo. In the dark, she was talking, walking around the room, singing, playing by her self. I stayed up with her until 11:30 PM when she finally went to her pillow on the floor and lay down. We put her on the floor because the crib is not her favorite place to be. She woke up several times during the night so when 5:30 AM rolled around, I hated life.
On a totally seperate note, I just found out that an ex co-worker of mine lost his 19-year-old son in a fatal motorcycle accident. He was wearing his helmet but it didn't save him from the deadly head injury. Grandma used to say is that it's heart breaking for white hair person(parents) to bid farewell to black hair person (child) so I don't pretend to relate to parents who had to put a funeral for their child. Just another reminder to appreciate our love ones today because they may be gone tomorrow and the my dramas are miniscule compared to others so be thankful.

2nd day of School

Hubby took Primero to school yesterday but today she's on her own. I dropped her off early morning at the day care and she said "Mom, why isn't any one here yet?" which made me feel bad as a mom. At day care she was the 2nd child so it didn't help the situation. I gave her watermelon for morning snack so I hope she ate it. Hopefully she made some friends to day so she feels more comfortable in the new environment.

She started piano lesson last week so her homework was to practice 6 mini short songs. We practiced 3 times a week for 30 min last week and her piano teacher was impressed on her progress. She commented "I don't know why but all my asian students pick up piano quicker than anybody". Hubby thinks she was stereotyping our child and was not happy about it. Since she did so well, we got triple the assignment vs. the week before. Piano teacher asked "Mom, does she have homework?" and I nodded if not she was going to assigned even more homework for both of us. Needless to say, we got lots of practicing to do this week.

As far as me, I've been eating healthy but have not done the exercise part which is cruicial to the plan. Still working on what type of exercise I can do at home.

So far so good

Last Friday, I set exercise goal of working out everyday which may be unrealistic so I modified it to 4 days a week. 2 days during the week and 2 days on weekend which is possible. I went to the gym 3 times last week and I'm happy to say that my legs were not sore like the week before. Sit up goal is 200 sit up/night started Monday night.
If everything goes as plan
Wed: Pilates or walking 30 min
Fri: Wt lifting
Sat: Boot Camp
Sun: Cardio & Yoga or Spin
For rewards, I bought these small exercise ball that helps me with stretching my back.
Secondo was sick last week with runny nose and fever so we didn't take her to the pool which is her favorite thing to do. Last night she woke up in sweats and saying "Hot.. hot.."

Feeling Fat

I swear that after the 2nd baby, my abs had been replaced with fat layers that I can't get rid off. I also lost the reflex of pulling my abs in and I must consciously remind my self to suck my abs in or it'll just pooch out like I'm 3 months pregnant. Doing sit ups doesn't seem to help because the fat layer is still there so the only option remains is to modify diet, exercise to get rid of them fat once and for all. I'm at the point where I'm ready to change.
When I saw my cousin's wife who had the baby about the same time I did and she's back to her skinny self which got me thinking about my own body and the possibility of it going back to the shape where it used to be 2 years ago.
I read the South Beach diet and it's a bit too strict for the 1st 1 weeks. It's not realistic for me to follow their recipe so I'm working to put something together to incoorperate the food I'm already eating but cut out the rice, noodles and bread. I can cut out rice but noodles and bread are going to be tough.
I'm tired of feeling fat. I want to feel fit where my body is tight and strong. It's just going to get harder as I'm getting older so be patient with your self please.
P.S.: I'm so odd. Even when I'm trying to eat healthy, I still go to those food blogsite to tempt my self. Must stop doing that.

Exausted

This pass weekend was so busy with events centering around kids and families that I didn't get to do any of my chores.
Saturday morning, I took an hour of boot camp at the gym. Instructor is 4 months pregnant so she had to keep her heart rate at a certain level but still goes pretty hard. "I want you to be exausted after my class!!!" She was tough and merciless similar to Jillian of the biggest looser.
After class, Secondo and I went to our last swim lesson. She was paddling with her hands and doing some kicking but not consistently. She's more used to being dunk under water but still doesn't like floating on her back. I decided to stop the lesson and start again next summer. She's getting really tan and I have sufficient training to teach her my self at this point. Primero is the one who should take lesson so I'm going to put it on the list. Their cousins came by in the afternoon so Primero went to the pool again while I stayed home with Secondo. She napped for 30 min and said "ma ma.. ma ma" That was the end of my hope to get more chores done.
When they got back from the pool, everyone was hungry except for my pregnant sister in-law who had been having terrible morning sickness. She had to hide upstairs where the smell food isn’t so overwhelming for her.
I cooked for 6 adults. The menu was soy sauce simmered baby back ribs, shrimp with ketchup and wine sauce (which I learned from Ang Lee long time ago watching an interview on TV), and baby bak choi stir fried in garlic sauce. I have not cooked for anyone since Secondo was born so it felt good when people liked my food and said how delicious they were.
After dinner I play cards with the kids, the guess left and we all went to bed exhausted.

The next day, I woke up with a sore body. My legs were the worst when going up and down stairs. (They are sore still today) We got ready and went to one of mom's cousin's daughter's 1st Bday party. When we got there, lots of girls in Primero's age group was running around playing. They have a dog fluffy who loved Secondo and the other kids but Secondo was afraid of it.
After that party, we went to visit my friend Steve who lived in that neighborhood so our kids can play together. We had pho for dinner and play badminton. It was really fun.

15 month old

We took the kids to "Build a bear workshop" and Secondo was ruffling in to all the different outfits for the bears. She's 15 months old now and she has mastered walking and is trying to run and jump. Itsy bitsy spider is her favorite song and I'm so tired of singing it for the 20th time. She's also a thumb sucker like her cie-cie (Elder sister) but she's more hard core and her thumb has blister already at this age. Secondo has higher pain level too. Sometimes she'll have a bloody broken toe nail and it doesn't phase her at all.
Here Primero at her cousin, E's house building their cookie and popcorn shop.

3 Iron

I traveled for business last week and due to the terrorist findings in the UK, I was forced to check my bag with my toiletries and be at the airport 3 hours before departure. My out going flight was @ 7:20AM so I was scheduled to wake up @ 3AM and be at the airport by 4:20 AM. Secondo had too much excitement that night so she was not able to sleep soundly. She woke up many times and I wasn't able to sleep until about 1 AM. Airport was a zoo even @ 4 AM but I checked in and went through security within 40 min so I was roaming around the airport waiting for Starbuck to open and get some coffee. It finally opened around 5:30AM so I was able to get some breakfast. The flight was uneventfull but I'm not used to waiting around for baggage claim etc..
While traveling, I didn't have to attend to anyone. I ate when ever I'm hungry and go as I please. It felt as if I was single again, freedom.. but it wasn't the same. There was something missing in my life during those days, my family. This one restaurant that I highly recommend is Paesanos. They have the best Italian food I have ever had. I heard that Pachanga Casino area has the same restaurant so I'm going to convince hubby to go to Pachanga sometime this year.
Returning flight was about the same and I was really glad to be home and see my kids.
This pass weekend, we rented a Korean movie "3 Iron". It's an interesting movie that didn't have much dialog between the main characters so it works well for a foreign movie. I would recommended this movie for everyone.
Secondo can say "ma ma" now but the thing is she says it to both me and hubby.

No longer a polluter

Last Saturday, hubby took the Accord for a tune up and CAT (Car talk for Catalytic converter) change and the Accord passed smog test! Hallelujah!! Now I can drive the car with out feeling guilty when I see the smog in the air.
Primero went to Boomers for the 1st time yesterday and she can't stop talking about it.
P: "Mom, can we go to Boomer this weekend? Can we, can we?"
Hub: "What ride was your favorite?"
P:"Oh.. all of them"
Last night, Secondo was really whiney so I scolded her and said "No more whining!" in the mad motherly tone. Next thing I heard was this loud cry. She was in the master bathroom so the crying was magnified by the echos our empty bath room was able to generate. Big mistake.. so I told her I was sorry and held her but she was still cranky the whole night

Swim lesson

This weekend, Primero was hanging out with her cousin, hubby was at work and I took Secondo for her 1st swim lesson. I decided to get there early considering I got to stroll her from parking lot to the pool and in general it takes an extra 10 minutes to do anything involving a toddler. When I got to the pool, there's a message on the gate "Swim Lesson is moved to another pool due to contamination" I was stressing out because I don't know where the other pool was. While panicing, I noticed that they had direction to the backup pool on the gate so I got there shortly. I knew I was at the right place because all the crying and laughing of children in the Air.
We all finally got into the water with our toddler and the lesson began.
Since a toddler can't comprehend what's going on, the swim lesson was more for the parent than for the child.
1. I sang the wheel on the bus and went round and round with the baby, up and down, swish,swish swish while dipping the child side to side so they get used to getting wet ears.
2. I got a floating toy and threw it to a distance and encaurage the kid to kick while getting the toy.
3. I helped the baby use their arm to make the paddling motion while singing row row row your boat.
4. The instructor springkled water on Secondo's head while singing it's raining it's pouring.
5. I helped the baby float on their back while they lay on my shoulder.
It was fun and short so we'll do it again next week.

Old Car

My accord is due for smog so hubby took it in for a test and it FAILED! Here goes the journey of making the car pass smog. 1st we went to a mechanic and he said to flush the ERG which didn't work. Now we think it's the catalytic converter so that's what we're going to do next

Wanting what I don't have

I borrowed another audio book on meditation by Jack Kornfield called "Meditation for beginners". It was the request of Primero because she enjoyed one meditation audio book I borrowed one time. This one however is different. It explains about the intent of meditation and how to manage when many thoughts are running in your mind and the "what if" or "if only" energy enters the mind. Bottom line is that meditation is a form of acceptance of one self with all the inperfections.
Another interesting quote I learned is "The greatest diappointment in life is not getting what you want and getting what you want" This ring alot of truth for me in many ways and I'm happy to say that I've learned to accept my self more as I'm older and wiser
Here's an example of what I did to meet a certain want.
In my younger years, I was never satisfied with my feet. They were wide and have bunions on both sides which made it difficult for me to wear cute or fashionable shoes. My friend who had similar bunions problem had them removed and she was so happy with the result. I saw how happy she was wear heels and trendy shoes so I decided to remove the bunion from one foot and once it recovered, I'll do the other one. Recovery for that surgery was true suffering. I had to crawl around for 2 weeks and hubby washed my hair for me since I couldn't really shower. After the foot healed, I was disappointed that my toes were shorter than before. I didn't realized that my toes would get shorter. I was not satisfied before or after the surgery so the quote is so true. Over time I learned to love both my feet as they are and buy shoes that fit my feet.