Monday, April 26, 2010

m&m update

i'm going to start doing occasional updates on the kids just so i can remember what they are in to at certain points in their life, and especially because my memory is really bad.

micah just finished another asthma exacerbation. hopefully he is growing out of it, it's been a while since the last one. he is on his 3rd week of potty training and doing excellent. the only real accidents he has are sometimes during nap and when he forgets to point his birdie all the way down while he's peeing. he uses pull-ups only for nighttime. his favorite song is still "imma be" by the black eyed peas. his favorite dvd is 'they might be giants, here come the abcs.' like most boys his age, he likes cars, star wars, and transformers. he's also really into trucks, especially garbage trucks. we watch videos of garbage trucks on youtube (very exciting). when micah is in his terrible 2 mode his voice gets really loud, he yells, motions as if he's going to hit, and can scream in a higher pitch than malia. sometimes it's frustrating (like in church), but other times i just end up laughing at him. he's still cute to me when he's mad.

malia just started voice lessons last saturday. she picked voice lessons over dance classes this time. she would still love to take theater classes, but they were interfering with schoolwork during the week, so we had to find something on weekends only. she plans on singing at her school talent show in june. she's funny because she just goes around the house making up her own songs and the lyrics she comes up with are hilarious. malia's favorite song right now is "almost there" from princess and the frog, which happens to be her favorite movie too. malia is in some whining stage. (or does whining just come with being a girl?) but i noticed that all the girls in her class whine. it makes me want to pull my hair out. so we are working on the whining. sometimes i copy her and whine at her so she can hear how bad it sounds. she laughs and stops. but that only lasts so long.

when m&m aren't fighting, they like making forts, playing make believe, and playing computer games together. they also like to "help" me in the kitchen and fold the laundry.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

sea world with the first graders

malia's field trip to sea world with her class was yesterday. it rained on and off the entire time. some kids loved the rain, i know malia did. thank goodness i brought her rain coat. other kids were soaked and cold. the workers gave us some trash bags to make the kids some ponchos.

i had a group of 4 kids: juan-carlos, eternity, kalleh, and malia. we were the turtle group. it was quite challenging, especially at the artic exhibit when each one was running to a different window to try to see the polar bear or walrus. they also got to see the sharks, touch the starfish and feed the sea lions.

my first grader is so petite ;)

at least the kids had fun even if they were only there for 3 hours. i felt like we were there for 6. my energy bar really came in handy afterwards.

things i learned on this field trip while being a chaperone:
1. always bring quarters and pennies on a field trip to an amusement park. those pressed pennies mean the world to little kids whose parents didn't send money for them to buy any souvenirs.
2. bring extra food/snacks, just in case one kid's food falls or gets rained on and they are still hungry.
3. there are kids that behave worse than yours on a field trip. (really there are!)
4. the girls all whine and sulk the same. this was somewhat comforting to know that my girl isn't the only one that does that, especially over little things.
5. i could never be a teacher or have a lot of kids because it requires a lot of patience
6. think twice before volunteering to be a chaperone

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

future winner of the masters?


i bet that's what grandpa is hoping for, a future golf champ. the kids love to go outside and play golf with their grandpa, especially micah. and sometimes micah doesn't even mind watching it on tv with him. in the house, micah uses the plastic golf club as a sword or lightsaber to torment us, but outside he's pretty good with it. (please pay no attention to the jungle in our backyard. it should be gone by tomorrow.)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

honor roll assembly

malia's honor roll assembly was yesterday. roel and i are very proud of her. i brought her some balloons and a candy bar, she was thrilled. when i asked her in the car what it meant to be on the honor roll, she had no clue. so of course i explained to her that she was being recognized for all her hard work, and when she listens in class she is learning the material, which helps her do well on all her tests. i asked her if it felt good to be on the honor roll and get an award. she said yes. then i encouraged her to continue working hard so she could be on the honor roll again if she wants to. she said she will definitely try. it's funny being a parent and giving lectures about school, when i can still remember getting them from my parents. it's all about motivation with this little girl. plus she has a wonderful teacher.

malia with her teacher ms. rogale
my honor roll girl

Saturday, April 17, 2010

a wonderful surprise

some of the schools in the chula vista school district use a color system for behavior. the kids usually start the day on green. if they are not behaving in class, they move down to yellow and then to red if the bad behavior persists. if they are doing a great job listening and follow instructions, they will move up from green to blue and then purple. malia has been on every color. she likes to talk, that's the problem. so each day is a guessing game for us on what color she was on. on days when she has been on purple, she tells me she worked really hard to be good and not talk to her friends. i tell her to try to be consistent. and some weeks she actually doesn't go below green.

anyways, 2 fridays ago she came home with a red slip. it's bad enough to be on red, so to come home with a red slip is really, really bad. we had to sign it and she returns it to her teacher. then last friday, she came home with a purple slip. so she must have been extremely good to get a purple slip.

yesterday, she came home with an envelope. roel didn't smile or say anything when he handed it to me, so i was scared to even open it. turns out it was an invitation to the next assembly on monday because malia made the honor roll. just like when i found out she got student of the month, there i was again asking roel, "are you sure?" it was a shocker, but i'm proud of her! all i ask her to do is behave in class, try her best at her homework the first time, and ask for help when she needs it. i've never mentioned the honor roll to her. so for her to be on the honor roll this quarter is such a wonderful surprise.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

urine and ur-out

yes, it's corny. but i have to keep my spirits up while cleaning up all this urine during this potty training adventure. micah is doing fairly well at school, cooperating when the teachers tell him it's time to go potty. daddy's diaper incident didn't set him back after all. but from now on, he'll go to school in the morning in a pull-up. micah's biggest challenge, other than making it to the potty on time, is pushing his little soldier down toward the potty as he pees. so even if he's sitting on the toilet, some of his pee goes on his clothes and he needs to be changed. it's funny and weird that i'm reminded of my old pet hamster when i open up the bag of urine soiled clothes and can smell it. okay, maybe it's not so funny, more like gross. i think micah has more accidents at home because he's trying to keep up with malia and sometimes he doesn't want to sit on the potty. doing laundry right now. urine is my middle name.

Monday, April 12, 2010

potty training day 2, the morning

want to know why i do the potty training? daddy gets the kids ready for school in the morning. i know it's tough sometimes especially when the kids are cranky. but today was micah's first day at school with underwear. i laid out micah's clothes in the bathroom, underwear on top of course. what does daddy do? puts a diaper on micah and then the underwear on top. i could understand a pull-up because maybe he didn't want him to have an accident in the car and he would be late to work, but a diaper?!? okay, maybe it's my fault, i should have taken all the diapers and hid them. i should have known that he would just grab whatever even if there were diapers and pull-ups in the drawer. plus, i sent lots of extra underwear and pants to school because they expect accidents to happen. a diaper...really?

Sunday, April 11, 2010

adventures in potty training

i wasn't really ready for serious potty training yet, at least not right now. but on friday when one of micah's teachers said that they were going to potty train another little girl in micah's class and suggested micah start too, how could i say no? help with potty training? that would be great! but really, i'm not ready. before i potty trained malia, i read a book for myself, had a ton of dvds and books for her, had a waterproof blanket for her to sit on, and got her a doll that wet herself. this time, i had nothing. the books and dvds were either loaned out or donated and i have no idea what happened to the waterproof blanket. do they even make a boy doll that wets himself? and is that appropriate? plus, i'll admit that i'm more lenient with him. i guess there is some truth to spoiling the baby of the family.

so this morning, i went and bought micah some big boy underwear. the star wars ones were a hit with him. he liked the disney ones too but not as much as the star wars ones. he has requested darth vader underwear, so i'll have to look out for those. anyways, so far we've had pee in the potty, on the floor, and on the carpet. luckily, all poop has made it in the potty. and that's only because i've caught him during the first push and rushed him to the potty. at least when he's had accidents, he was able to tell me. and this is the only time i'm glad that malia likes to take sheets and blankets and lay them out all over the carpet in her room, making some accidents easier to clean up.

so that's what's happened so far for the first official day of micah in underwear. i'm about to do my 3rd load of laundry. (it's not even 6pm!) and i've forgotten since the last potty training about how close my face would be to poop, the toilet, and his bottom. with diaper changing, there is usually an arm's length distance ;). thank God he hasn't put his hands into the potty. and i just keep reminding myself that boys are harder to potty train than girls.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

happy easter!


these pictures were taken last wednesday at the picture people in the mall. i thought it was some kind of easter miracle that the little one listened and didn't try to leave the store. but roel was quick to point out that he is growing up and can follow directions just fine. we've had the kids' pictures taken at the picture people before. and yes, it was the first time that i didn't have to wave a toy or say smile as i flashed a smile. roel and i just sat there and watched. and i was crying inside. i think when malia turned 5 and started reading, i realized she was growing up. so yes, i'm still in denial with micah. really, he's still a baby. with a face that round, he has to be. ;)