Monday, August 24, 2009

freak out

the minute i became a mom, i self diagnosed myself with anxiety disorder with paranoia since i tend to freak out before i take a breath and think out the situation. today was one of those kind of days. ms beverly called me from daycare and told me that micah started coughing and wheezing after lunch. it was possibly a reaction to the catfish in the meal he had eaten. he had eaten fish before, but certain dishes made him break out in hives. this was the first time he had catfish, and the first time he had an allergic reaction of just coughing and wheezing. this was just before 2pm and i get off work at 2:30pm. well, turns out my boss is out the whole week. so i just grabbed my stuff and told a co-worker i was leaving. i rushed to buy some benadryl and headed to daycare. when i got there, micah's ears were red and he had some hives starting. the good thing was that he was still playing. luckily, he liked the taste of the benadryl and took it right away. after about 30 minutes he was better. and i was too.

church school

malia started CCD today for her 1st year of holy communion classes. she calls it church school because it's different from regular school. as her teacher, mr steve, was explaining the curriculum, he mentioned he didn't like giving homework. AMEN to that! then i had to attend a parent meeting outside. i was able to see malia from where i was outside. there she was raising her hand many times to answer questions. she also had an activity with a partner and i could see her smiling and talking a lot. she even showed her teacher her cross necklace. they ended the class with a prayer. such a character that girl. she really enjoyed her first day.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

buzzzzz

every weekday when we come home, micah goes straight for the bees as soon as i take him out of the car. he's literally right in front of them, it makes me nervous. but i guess the bees are too busy on the ice plant flowers to notice him. he is usually bent down further with his face closer to the bees. most of the time, i have to bribe him with something to get him in the house.

notice the car in one hand. and it's time for a haircut.

''it's a bee"
"buzz"
micah waving to a car passing by

Monday, August 10, 2009

OMG

we were getting ready for bed. malia was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, when i hear a "oh my goodness, OMG." i thought did she really just say OMG? and walked in to find out that her other front tooth had come out. she had a huge smile on her face. here's my toothless girl...

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

homework

when lia started 1st grade i knew she would be bringing home homework, but what i didn't realize was that it meant i had homework too, lots of it. i even went to lakeshore learning to buy all kinds of charts to put on her wall. there's no way we had to know this kind of stuff when i was in 1st grade. i'm pretty sure i wasn't counting by 2's or writing out the month of august. did i even know what august was at 5 years old? well, it's only week 2 of school and homework for me is a true test on my patience. it took the first week of school to really motivate malia to start on homework, but now she doesn't have a problem starting. finishing is another issue. she and i sometimes get distracted when the little boy walks in "vroom vrooming" with his cars. (daddy is 'supposedly' watching him.) so i have to remind her to focus on her work so she could play afterwards.

other than that she is doing fine while at school. she has been called 'chatty' though, and was told not to hum in class. i buy her hot lunch and she's given a lunch card. it's funny because the first day she told me excitedly, "they gave me a credit card to pay for my lunch." she likes to run around the track on the field with her friends at recess. i hope she doesn't lose any weight! we're all still adjusting to the new schedule, i think i will take the longest to adjust. and then it's round 2 come october when micah starts preschool. at least he won't have homework!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

my mom passed away a little over 12 years ago, but it feels as if it were yesterday. i've been to a couple of viewings or funerals since then. last week, my dad's uncle passed away. we called him grandpa ding. my earliest memories of him are from elementary school. he was pretty close to my mom, and always tried to help her when my dad was out to sea. he was always smiling, very positive, and willing to give good advice. going to his viewing on friday and funeral yesterday, i learned so much more about him. he touched so many lives. even when he was weak from being on dialysis for many years. he truly had a pure heart. after that, i was convinced that sometimes the good ones go first, to open our eyes and help us realize how much more we could be doing with our lives, to appreciate what we have and help others have more, and to live like God wanted us to. my mom, my good friends' dad and lola, and grandpa ding - all good ones. it's SO hard to live without a loved one, but in some ways it makes us stronger. it's really touching how malia can love grandma even when she's never met her. in the same way she loves God. malia loves listening to stories about my mom and visiting the cemetery. she will draw pictures for her and ask me questions about her. it helps me remember all the things i love about my mom. malia can help me tell the stories to micah. we know that my mom is their guardian angel.