almost a kinder

my baby boy is graduating from preschool on friday. it came up so fast, i am not ready. and i'm getting really sad. why does he have to grow up?

he started at spectrum preschool the day after his 2nd birthday. he was a baby!

and i've watched him grow these last 2+ years into this little man who asks a lot of questions, plays nicely with his friends, and adores his teachers.

i never really pushed him academically because i was sort of in denial about him growing up. but he's amazed me. he's reading words, trying to spell, and practicing writing & drawing. and i've learned that he's more interested in all these things if we don't push him.

this is what a typical afternoon looks like when i pick him up:

i enter the gate and look to see if he's outside at the playground.

if he is, he runs over to me, always happy. then we go get his things in his class.

sometimes when they're not outside yet, i find him playing with toys inside, just after snack.

i get his things (papers & jacket) in his cubbie and grab his lunch box.

when we get outside, he runs in front of me up the ramp.

he runs toward the gate. (he doesn't want me to run too.)

then he stands at the gate measuring me with his thumb and index finger to see how much bigger i get as i get closer to him.

and he smiles at me. i love him!
 

i will miss this. just as i still miss picking up malia from preschool. she used to wait on a bench and jump up and down as if she won the lotto when she saw me coming. why do they have to grow up?

kisses

i smother my kids with kisses. and any family or friends' babies too. i will even do the grandma sniff.

malia loves cuddling and getting kisses. micah only likes it sometimes, but especially likes it when he's sleepy. he's a boy after all. but i seem to smother him a little bit more because he has more meat on him, and he's my baby.

micah: stop kissing my cheeks mom!
me: why? those are my cheeks.
micah: no, they're mine! (gives me a mad face)
me: you know what? when you're asleep, i kiss you all over your face as much as i want and you can't wipe it off.
micah: what?!!...daddy, does mama kiss me all over my face when i'm sleeping?
daddy: yup!
micah: aw man, i don't like a lot of kisses!

hand foot and mouth disease

say what? my daughter has what?

i picked up malia at school on monday. she had a fever and felt like vomiting. she never threw up though. by 9pm, she said her ear hurt as well. so off we went to urgent care. the pediatrician said her ear was fine, but she had hand foot & mouth disease. apparently it's going around. it's a virus, nothing we can do about it but wait until it passes. it's easy to catch just like catching a cold.

her highest fever was 102.7. so far, the only blisters she got are were her throat. nothing on her hands or feet or on her skin around her mouth. i guess that's not too bad. but she would cry because her throat felt like it was on fire. i told her i wanted to take a picture of her throat so she could see it and remember it. her response, "really mom?" ...so it didn't happen.

so she's been quarantined ever since. she has her own little spot at the foot of our bed, in front of the tv. i put her mattress there and she has art supplies and some toys. micah isn't allowed to touch any of her things. we are all doing a lot of hand washing. and i am always ready with my lysol wipes in case she touches anything else or sneezes. yes, i'm a freak.

anyway, i've been home with her for the past 2 days. she's gotten a lot better, the blisters are fading. she discovered jem & the holograms on netflix. she was surprised when i told her i used to watch it all the time when i was a kid. she made us some jem earrings to wear. they're pink because she likes pink.

she's not going back to school until tuesday, after the holiday. she's really bummed because she likes school and there's only 1 week left. she was supposed to get an award today, but they will present it to her in class when she comes back.

happy brother's day

micah always tries to find a reason to get a present.

me: here micah, we're decorating these bags for mother's day, can you write on them?
micah: who's it for?
me: grandma, ninang jos, ninang lori...
micah: how come there's not one for me?
me: because's it's mother's day, it's for moms
micah: can you write happy brother's day on this one?

he made his own bag. and put his own gift in it. so i guess we're celebrating brother's day today. i gave him a spiderman pez and he was thrilled.

i googled it, and there's actually an official brother's day that is celebrated every may 2nd. so i guess he wasn't totally off.

superheroes

we are all about superheroes. roel grew up collecting comics, going to the comic con, collecting action figures, etc. i grew up watching spiderman and friends, the justice league, and loved wearing my wonder woman underoos. i also wore batman and superman jewelry. i guess it also shows in micah's name that we love superheroes. so naturally, m&m love all that too because of us.

so of course we were excited to watch the avengers today. we loved it! well, micah got a little bored during the story parts of the movie. but all the action was great. and the comedy! i painted on the kids' hoodies just for the movie. i didn't want to buy new shirts (they aren't on sale yet). micah didn't want the avengers logo, he wanted the spider for spiderman. but he likes hawkeye in the avengers because of the bow and arrow. malia likes black widow, of course. i like captain america, the character and the actor.

happy half birthday malia

 

my girl is 8 and a half today. her school is in the middle of CST testing right now, so she has a busy week. earlier in the week, we found out she made it to the GATE program at school. very proud of her! we sent brownies for her class today that we made last night.

she picked a truffle brownie chocolate cake this time. it was SO sweet, too sweet. then came time for her gift...disney universe for the wii. she was jumping up and down.

the kids have been wanting this game for a while, especially lia because it involves dressing up. she thinks i spent a lot on it because it's usually expensive even when it's on sale, but of course i got it for a steal! it's her new favorite game.

bring your child to work day

it was micah's turn this time. malia has come to 2 bring your child to work day events, so she was a little sad that she wasn't coming. micah was really excited.

we got to my work at 6:45am. he was a little shy at first but still said hi and good morning to everyone i introduced him to. i had him put labels on envelopes first since he was fresh and in good listener mode.

then he took a picture for his ID badge. and while we waited for that, there was breakfast and arts & crafts to do.

then the presentations started. micah liked police officer greg, especially when he showed his taser gun.

the SD fire fighters were cool too. all the kids were able to use the fire hose.

the event ended with a certificate of participation, pizza, and goody bags.



he had a blast. micah thinks it's this fun at my work every day. i wish it were.

happy earth day

i told the kids that we were staying home for earth day. the only place we did go was to church, which isn't that far away. the kids painted and played with their toys. and we watched turtle the incredible journey. it really was an incredible story, all of the challenges a little turtle faces to survive. the kids got really into it, yelling at a crab not to eat the turtle, and yelling at the turtle not to eat the trash in the ocean or go into the oil puddles. their life cycle is amazing. i patched up malia's school jeans that had holes in the knees. why buy new ones when she's just going to make holes again and it's almost the end of the year. finished off the day timing the kids' shower and challenging them to take shorter showers to conserve water.

happy easter!

fake or real?

me: micah, i forgot to tell you that chuck e cheese said happy half birthday to you.

micah: he did? then how come he didn't give me a present?

me: he'll give you a present if you go there. he'll give you tokens to play games, and then you can get tickets for prizes.

micah: oh. remember when we went there last time and joel was scared of him?

me: how about you, were you scared of him?

micah: no, because i know he's not real.

me: are you sure he's not real?

micah: ya, because it's a costume. and i saw a net where his mouth is. it's just like mickey mouse. when i was taking a picture with him, i looked under his head and saw a net. it's all fake.

me: what?!!!! but i love mickey mouse!!! i think he's real!

micah: nah, it's fake mom.

me: but i still think he's real. can i still love mickey mouse?

micah: ya sure.

me: do you still love mickey mouse?

micah: i still love mickey mouse.

i could tell that malia was having a hard time on who she agreed with. it's a fine line. she always has questions. she's a true believer in magic and fairy tells. but other kids always make her wonder if things/people are real. don't even get me started with her questions on God and faith. i always tell her it's real if she believes in it. she will figure it all out on her own.