Thursday, December 24, 2015
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Christmas Day 6: Visiting Santa
An annual tradition since Makayla was born has been to visit Santa. The Chang children always take the best Santa photos, likely because their mean parents force them onto Santa's lap. Well now that the kids are older, we actually got pictures without tears, though not as exciting as past years'.
We also visited the Grand California Hotel's amazing gingerbread house. It smelled amazing!
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Christmas Day 5: Decorating the house
We had fun putting up the Christmas decorations today! Lukey is learning that ornaments stay on trees and are not to be played with so there were some tantrums.
Eric and I started a tradition before we had kids where we would pick out an ornament that was meaningful to us. Some include a "just married" ornament, a ornament from Seattle space needle, and an ornament from San Francisco. Since having kids, we have been picking out ornaments that remind us of them. My personal favorite is the crazy coupe ornament (because we have a real sized crazy coupe) and a popping toy ornament Eric got reminding us of the year M learned to walk. This year I picked out a rainbow dash ornament for M and Eric picked out a Mickey Santa ornament for L.
M and I also made some holiday rice crispy treats while the boys enjoyed devouring them! Making these reminds me of my childhood. I'm glad I got to share a part of it with M.
Christmas Day 4: Tree lighting
We are blessed to attend such a wonderful church in our city. Not only do they pour out their love and resources on the disadvantaged within our county as well as around the world, they really give to our immediate community as well. They know how to party during the holidays! Tree lighting program, crafts, snow, food, hot drinks, movies. My personal favorite was the petting zoo-- they had all the animals you typically see in a nativity scene-- even a camel! Too bad my phone ran out of batteries so I didn't get any good pics.
Christmas Day 3: Hot Cocoa
Ok so I cheated a little on this one. But I really can't imagine Christmas without hot cocoa and marshmallows!
 |
| Cheers! |
 |
| Stuffing his face with a marshmallow |
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Christmas Day 2: Peanut's Christmas & Snowflakes
Watching Peanut's Christmas will forever be one of our Christmas traditions! Here is a picture of one of my favorite scenes, when Linus explains the true meaning of Christmas.
We also taught Makayla how to make snowflakes.
Christmas Day 1: Angel Tree
In honor of Giving Tuesday, we kicked off the first day of Christmas by preparing our Angel Tree presents. The kids helped stuff the gift bags and we prayed together for the children who would be receiving these presents.
Friday, November 27, 2015
November Update
Happy Birthday Luke! & Happy Thanksgiving!
It's only been a few months since my last post but I have so much to share.
First, Luke's Birthday! We took a super mini family vacation, including my mother- and father-in-law, to San Diego for Luke's 2nd birthday. We spent one day at the San Diego Zoo and the next day at the Scripps Aquarium. The zoo was a bit underwhelming for the kids. Luke spent the whole day spotting pumpkins instead of animals, while Makayla was cranky all day long. In fact, the highlight of the day for them was checking into the hotel.
Second, Halloween! Makayla really wanted to be one of the my little pony characters for Halloween this year. After an unsuccessful search for the right costume, I stumbled upon an amazing DIY my little pony costume-making website here: http://www.sugartartcrafts.com/2013/09/my-little-pony-costume-sew-along.html. This site inspired me to make the kids' costumes this year, Makayla as Twilight Sparkle and Luke as her pet dragon, Spike. Surprisingly, I pulled it off just in the nick of time and they turned out great! I also learned so much through the tutorial. Special thanks to Eric who helped me figure out how to use the sewing machine and helped with parts of the costumes.
Since Halloween was on a Saturday this year, we traveled back to South Pasadena to go trick or treating. OMG I had no idea how amazing it was to go trick or treating in this city! We might just have to make it a tradition!
Luke is continuing to amaze me with his verbal abilities. He forms really full, mostly grammatically correct sentences. He also says so many funny phrases/sentences including "That's not nice!" or "Why is the baby crying?" "I did it!" All throughout October, he kept saying "Spooky Halloween" when he saw anything that reminded him of Halloween.
Related to his verbal ability growth is his socio-emotional development. He is constantly trying to engage with others. He'll take people by the hand and say "Come on". He'll also order people around "Open it!" "Stop singing!" "No picture!"
Everything that comes out of his mouth is an actual word, no more babbling.
His nos mean no and his yeses mean yes.
Luke wants to do whatever M is doing. When she's practicing piano, he comes and says "piano lesson!" and tries to play along. He follows her around the room, playing with whatever she is playing with at the moment. Of course this causes quite a bit of fighting in the Chang household.
Makayla has been great at expressing how she feels. What she says also reflects a more advanced way of thinking. When I read books to her she is really focused on the story being told, and when probed with more difficult questions, for example questions asking her to predict what will happen next, she is able to provide very thoughtful responses.
Her teacher at school observes that she learns things quickly and is very social.
At night, she spends some good one-on-one M/Daddy time coloring, drawing pictures, and writing. She really looks forward to this time and has created some really fun artwork :)
Her piano playing is going great. She seems to have a natural ability to learn music well-- it doesn't take much effort to teach her new songs. More importantly, she is getting much better at practicing. We've established a designated time for piano practicing and a simple rule of "5 times per song" before leaving the piano. This consistency has really helped her be less resistant to practicing.
Makayla says funny things during potty time:
- "Come on, butt!"
- "Yes! I made it!"
It's only been a few months since my last post but I have so much to share.
First, Luke's Birthday! We took a super mini family vacation, including my mother- and father-in-law, to San Diego for Luke's 2nd birthday. We spent one day at the San Diego Zoo and the next day at the Scripps Aquarium. The zoo was a bit underwhelming for the kids. Luke spent the whole day spotting pumpkins instead of animals, while Makayla was cranky all day long. In fact, the highlight of the day for them was checking into the hotel.
Second, Halloween! Makayla really wanted to be one of the my little pony characters for Halloween this year. After an unsuccessful search for the right costume, I stumbled upon an amazing DIY my little pony costume-making website here: http://www.sugartartcrafts.com/2013/09/my-little-pony-costume-sew-along.html. This site inspired me to make the kids' costumes this year, Makayla as Twilight Sparkle and Luke as her pet dragon, Spike. Surprisingly, I pulled it off just in the nick of time and they turned out great! I also learned so much through the tutorial. Special thanks to Eric who helped me figure out how to use the sewing machine and helped with parts of the costumes.
Since Halloween was on a Saturday this year, we traveled back to South Pasadena to go trick or treating. OMG I had no idea how amazing it was to go trick or treating in this city! We might just have to make it a tradition!
Luke is continuing to amaze me with his verbal abilities. He forms really full, mostly grammatically correct sentences. He also says so many funny phrases/sentences including "That's not nice!" or "Why is the baby crying?" "I did it!" All throughout October, he kept saying "Spooky Halloween" when he saw anything that reminded him of Halloween.
Related to his verbal ability growth is his socio-emotional development. He is constantly trying to engage with others. He'll take people by the hand and say "Come on". He'll also order people around "Open it!" "Stop singing!" "No picture!"
Everything that comes out of his mouth is an actual word, no more babbling.
His nos mean no and his yeses mean yes.
Luke wants to do whatever M is doing. When she's practicing piano, he comes and says "piano lesson!" and tries to play along. He follows her around the room, playing with whatever she is playing with at the moment. Of course this causes quite a bit of fighting in the Chang household.
Luke obsessions:
- Christmas songs
- It's a Small World song and ride
- Disneyland (he asks to go everyday)
- pumpkins
Makayla has been great at expressing how she feels. What she says also reflects a more advanced way of thinking. When I read books to her she is really focused on the story being told, and when probed with more difficult questions, for example questions asking her to predict what will happen next, she is able to provide very thoughtful responses.
Her teacher at school observes that she learns things quickly and is very social.
At night, she spends some good one-on-one M/Daddy time coloring, drawing pictures, and writing. She really looks forward to this time and has created some really fun artwork :)
Her piano playing is going great. She seems to have a natural ability to learn music well-- it doesn't take much effort to teach her new songs. More importantly, she is getting much better at practicing. We've established a designated time for piano practicing and a simple rule of "5 times per song" before leaving the piano. This consistency has really helped her be less resistant to practicing.
Makayla says funny things during potty time:
- "Come on, butt!"
- "Yes! I made it!"
Thursday, November 5, 2015
September Update
Makayla Update (4 years old!):
Happy 4th birthday to my not-so-little-anymore baby girl! We are so blown away by how much she's grown in just one year. She has really turned to a self-sufficient, mature, thoughtful, and sweet girl. This year, she chose to go on a "birthday adventure" to LEGOLAND over having a birthday party. We had a blast!
A new school year has begun! This is M's 2nd year of preschool with not much change-- same school, same teachers, many of the same friends. Seeing how much she's learned from her 1st year of preschool, I look forward to watching her continued growth this coming year.
Makayla has shown much growth in her socio-emotional development. She shows a bit of empathy-- she tries really hard to be a good big sister to Luke. Luke has started attending school with Makayla (more on that later) and now that she is in an environment where she is finding herself having to share Luke with others, she is getting quite possessive of him. One day a few teachers were making a big fuss over Luke, each calling him "my baby". Makayla witnessed this and got angry, saying "NO! He's MY baby!" :) I'm so glad that even with all the bickering they do at home, she still wants to keep him. We have been teaching her how to speak kindly and use proper words. Other than the typical "please" and "thank you", we are teaching her to watch her tone. Sometimes she uses words like "OKAAAY" with a little hint of attitude. Also, sometimes Luke hands her an object she doesn't want and we are teaching her to say thank you and take it from him even if she doesn't want it.
Also she does well when things are explained to her-- for example, some mornings she doesn't feel like going to school -- but I explain to her that she needs to go so the teachers can care for her while Eric and I are at work so we can make money to have a house to live in and food to eat. She's much less resistant after that.
A few areas we have been working on with her is paying attention and telling the truth. Last month we noticed that Makayla was having a hard time paying attention in class. Her school teachers say it's not unusual at this age and something preschool children are working on. She is also not speaking the truth but her lying is not purposeful. She randomly tells us things that are not true, for no apparent reason.
I have enrolled Makayla in piano group lessons this month. It's really addressing the basics of piano and she seems to enjoy it so far.
Makayla is becoming quite the picky eater. She only wants to eat spaghetti and mac n cheese.
As has been the obsession this past year, Makayla is continuing to pretend play with her My Little Pony figurines. I've noticed that her vocabulary and sentence structure has improved and she's even developed a really good western drawl!
Makayla's obsessions:
- Cookie Swirl C
- My Little Ponies
- being first
Luke Update (23 months!):
Though the new school year brought about very few changes for M, it was a completely new experience for Luke. We were a bit skeptical of moving Luke from home care to the school environment, but being familiar with the school, getting dropped off at church every Sunday during service, and visiting the school with me a few days before his start date really helped him to transition smoothly. In fact, a week before he started, I spent 2 days with him in the classroom followed by a full day observing him from a booth with a double sided window looking into the classroom. He participated well, had fun during circle time, ate well, and napped well! These days drop-offs are still a bit of a struggle, but the crying never lasts too long. The teachers have all told me how surprised they are by how well he's transitioned. I am always greeted with stories of how cute and talkative he is, about how impressed they are that he knows all the words to all the frozen songs, how affectionate he is, and how happy he made them that he called them by name. Less than one month in, he's already singing the days of the week song.
Luke is getting really good at names. Just the other day, he waved to a boy in his class and said "bye Peter!" I was taken aback a bit because I don't typically see him talking/playing with other children other than his sister. He also said bye to a few of his teachers. They love that he knows their name.
Luke is speaking in phrases and occasionally complete sentences (e.g., "Ant right there", "where Daddy go?", "Here you go"). Just this weekend, he started using "I want... " to begin a lot in his sentences ("I want Ashley." "I want that." "I want milk." "I want that right there"). This was the first time I've heard him use the word "I" let alone any self reference in a sentence. What a significant milestone! One really cute/funny thing he says is "no thank you". It's really funny when gets upset about something and he yells angrily "NO THANK YOU!"
And of course his vocabulary is growing leaps and bounds. He's picking up many new words everyday. A few new words he's learned: dolphin, helicopter, airplane, help, out, upstairs, hello kitty, zebra, ice cream, yogurt, bath toys, mygym
He's been using a lot of adjectives such as "funny", "silly"
He can identify questions (vs. sentences) and understands the answers that correspond to the questions. For example, when you ask "What color is this?", he will typically answer "red" (even if the object is not red). When you ask "How many doggies are there?", he'll answer "one, two, three" (even if there are more than 3 dogs). When you ask "Who wants to eat ice cream?", he'll answer "Me!". When you ask "Did you go poopy?", he'll usually answer "no" even if he went poop.
He's also beginning to ask his own questions. Occasionally he will ask "why" after a statement. Once you give an answer, he'll ask "why" again. And as you can imagine, this goes back and forth for awhile.
Different from M, Luke is becoming a less picky eater. At school, Luke gets a daily "report card" indicating how well he ate his snacks, lunch main dish, veggies, fruit, milk. Often we'll see that he ate all the components well. I'm a proud mama :)
Like Makayla, Luke has a natural knack for music. He's great with words and beats. You should hear him sing his frozen songs!
He was able to count to 20 in English and 11 in Chinese (at 21 months).
Luke has grown quite opinionated about his wardrobe. For example, he only wants to wear Mickey shoes. We had to find new Mickey shoes in order to avoid a struggle every morning. Occasionally, he will give us a hard time about clothes.
He is overgeneralizing but much less. During his last update I mentioned that he used one word for all different characters in that he didn't have a different name for the different characters within a show. He has extremely good at differentiating characters from each other.
Luke obsessions:
- Disneyland's Soundational Parade ("hey hey hey!" parade)
- trains
- Mickey Mouse
- sticks
- snacks
- avocadoes
- boots
- umbrellas
- spoons
- ice cream
Noteworthy events:
6/6 M's first ballet recital
6/17 Montessori Musical
6/25 M's end of school year ice cream social
6/26 Sesame Street Live
6/27 M's first movie in a theater- M and Daddy date
7/25 First circus experience
8/18 M's Tanaka Farms field trip
8/24 L's first preview day at Montessori
9/1 L's first day of Montessori
9/12 M's first piano lesson
9/14 Montessori's Spaghetti Dinner Night
9/26 First trip to LEGOLAND
Saturday, June 27, 2015
June Update
We are finally seeing the end to the dreadful flu season! We have been sick on and from December to May. Needless to say, we have lost a lot of sleep these past few months.
This has been such a fun season of life. The babies are much more independent and manageable yet still show us how much they need and love us. Most nights, Eric and I sit back at the end of a busy work day and just watch our kids play, fight, act super silly-- it is just pure joy. I know I will look back one day and remember this to be one of the best times of our lives.
Luke Update (20 months!)
Physical Development
Lukey's got almost all of his teeth in. He's just missing his 4 last molars. A bunch of teeth came in pretty close together shortly after his first birthday.. with the teething and the endless cycle of illness, I was a pretty sleep deprived mama!
Lukey is also taller and leaner. I'm always hearing comments about how he's thinning out although he's still got those adorably full cheeks.
Gross Motor Development
Luke started walking right around his 15 month birthday! For a few months he was still walking like a drunken sailor :) Nowadays he's running around getting into all sorts of trouble. He can’t quite jump yet but can walk backwards.
Fine Motor Development
Luke is getting really good at unzipping zippers, pushing buttons on toys, holding his bottle, holding utensils to feed himself, pulling string through hole.
He's very good at putting objects in containers and really enjoys doing it. It comes in handy during clean up time.
Cognitive Development
Lukey's got rhythm! When we sing songs, he chimes in and "sings" along. His favorite song at the moment is "All Aboard the Choo Choo Train" or as Lukey would sing, "Ahh boar choo choo chain." He walks around dancing and bopping his head to music. Other favorites are "ABCs", "Twinkle Twinkle", "Jesus Loves Me", "Jesus Loves the Little Children", mygym’s “Bye Bye” song. Luke also learns songs big sister learns from school when she sings them in the car on the way home. Who needs the radio when you've got two cute babies singing in the car?
Luke has been going through a language explosion these past 2-3 months. A few months back, he was able to say "nana" (banana), "orsh" (orange), "nai nai" (milk in Chinese), "Bao Bao" (carry me in Chinese), "ball", "amen", "hi", "hello", "bye bye", "more", "Gu gu" (older brother in Chinese, "Jie Jie" (older sister in Chinese), "ba-oon" (balloon), "moon", "door", "happy birthday", "spoon", "boomba" (Roomba), "choo choo" (for train), "Nai nai" (milk), "wa wa" (water), "bubble", "Go Go" (dog in Chinese), "Elmo", “swing”, “slide”, "sock", "shoe", "help", "bottle", "water", "more" along with the sign, "please" along with the sign, "all done" along with the sign. More recently, he's learned to count to 5 really clearly (up to 20 not so clearly), says "choo choo train", "sky", "hua hua" (flower in Chinese), "bobble" (bottle), "dada", "daddy", "el-phant" (elephant), "Muno", "open", "book", "sun", “oh no”, sit down in Chinese. He points to things saying "look!" When I say "say Thank you", he says "you're welcome". Though he had already learned a bunch of words by 18 months, he only started saying "mama" and "mommy" at 18 months-- yes learning "mama" came after most of the words listed above".
Recently, he's learned the word "broken" and boy has it come in handy. He broke one of M's figurines, handed it to me and said "broken". The next day, we were outside and he prematurely picked an orange off of his dad's orange tree, hands it to me and says "broken". I think I hear the word every other day! He's also been speaking 2+ word phrases. He'll say drink water in Chinese, "here go" (here you go) while handing an object to me, "uh oh happened?", “open this”, “Daddy’s home”, "balloon broken" (see video).
Though Luke has a pretty extensive vocabulary, he's not great with the animal sounds. If you ask him what a cow says, he roars. If you ask him what a cat says, he roars... More recently, however, he's been able to bark for a dog and quack for a duck.
Of course he understand more than he speaks. For example, he can identify his "nose", "head", "mouth", "hands", "feet". When I ask him to identify different items from books or ask him to bring objects to me, he correctly identifies many objects, even more complicated words like "maraca".
He also makes strong associations. When we get close to the railroad tracks, he says "choo choo". When I drive through the gate to our community, he says "daddy" because he knows he'll see Eric soon. When I walk by the bathroom, he points and says "teeth", then uses his finger as a toothbrush to brush his teeth. He is also very aware of things he's not allowed to touch or do, and knows that if he touches certain things, he will get scolded. He will sometimes get close to the oven and as he's about
to touch it, turn his head to see if we are looking. When he realizes that all eyes are on him, he smiles the cutest most mischievous smile, while pulling his hand away. When he really wants something, he'll say "please" or “more please”. When he wants a toy someone else is holding, he points to it and says "share!"
About a month ago, he was overgeneralizing quite a bit. For example, he would say "choo choo" for trains, but also for other vehicles like cars, buses, and trucks. He'll point to all sorts of animals and call them "duck". Every Sesame Street character was Elmo to him, every Yo Gabba Gabba character was Muno to him, and every Mickey Mouse clubhouse character was either "Minnie" or "Hot Dog". Very recently, he's been better able to express that these characters are different. He knows cars from trains, and Big Bird from Elmo. I think he is aware of the differences but just not verbally representing the characters or objects as being different.
We also see his attention developing. He can play with a toy for awhile before moving on to another and his attention for TV has grown. We can easily sit through an entire episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Yo Gabba Gabba without getting bored.
Socioemotional Development
Wow, where did this personality come from?! At 12 months, I thought of my baby as a carefree, shy, patient little boy. Then he started walking and talking and having opinions! I now describe him as goofy, active, and mischievous!
Lukey is pretty clingy. I remember M being similar around this age but I feel that
Luke is a bit more needy than M.
Lukey is also jealous just like M was. I used to think I was not going to have this problem with my 2nd child since he is born having to share mom's attention with his sib, but surprisingly he is just as jealous.
Lukey is showing signs of guilt. When he gets scolded for something, he either has a smirk on his face as if to say "darn! I almost got away with it!" or looks down to avoid making eye contact with a totally ashamed look or starts to cry. So precious!
Lukey can show affection-- he will sometimes give hugs and kisses when asked. He also says "I love you" back and has self-initiated an "I love you" once.
He laughs when anyone farts, burps, or makes any funny sound. Oftentimes he will blow raspberries just to be silly. It’s particularly funny when Makayla joins him and it becomes a raspberry chorus. Of course Eric and I put on our stern faces and tell them to stop but are doing everything we can not to burst out laughing.
People are becoming familiar to him. Lukey is more inclined to approach someone if he is familiar with them. He clearly shows that he knows familiar people in his life such as his grandparents, aunts and uncles. He can correctly identify these people when asked.
We enrolled him in MyGym a few months ago and have seen improvement in his comfort with letting go of mom and going to instructor, and in his ability to sit and participate in circle time.
Luke obsessions:
- trains
- bubbles
- balloons
- snacks
- anything stick-like (utensils, toy screwdriver)
- flowing water
- Yo Gabba Gabba
- Bubble Guppies
- Mickey Mouse & friends
- shovels
- anything his sister is playing with at the moment
- tents
Makayla Update (3 years 9 months)
Three is A LOT easier than I expected. Yes of course Makayla has her moments, especially when she is sleep-deprived, but when she knows the rules, she is pretty good at following them.
Though the new baby excitement has worn off long ago, Makayla is still a very loving sister most of the time. She likes to call Luke "my Lukey". She has been very helpful-- she occasionally wakes him up in the morning and entertains him while we are doing other things. In the car, she hands snacks to him. She is also taking her big sister job very seriously. You'll hear her tell Lukey "No Lukey!" when he's doing something he's not supposed to be doing. She also reports when he's pooped :) When it comes to sharing my attention, Makayla is so great with allowing me to hold Luke. If she wants me to hold her, she doesn't even ask to be held until he's off wandering around.
We’ve recently put both kids in the same bedroom and both kids love it! She tells me how much she loves being in his room and that “Luke is the perfect baby!”
Makayla is also protective of Luke. At the park, an older girl was getting mad at Luke for taking her things, very aggressively telling him to stop. Makayla reprimanded her for scolding Luke, saying, "You have to say 'Lukey, please don't take my stick'" to which the girl looked completed confused and responded with "ok".
Makayla and Luke are also learning to take turns. One day I brought 2 shovels to the park because I knew they would both want one. They looked exactly the same, but one was red and the other yellow. For some reason, they both decided it was a "red shovel" kind of a day! They kept fighting over who got the red shovel. So as a learning experience, I had them trade off-- each person got the beloved shovel for 5 minutes (in arbitrary mommy time). Of course this just meant every 5 minutes, one of the kids would throw a tantrum. Did they learn to take turns? not really. Was mama exhausted? absolutely! I will have to give credit to Makayla, though for giving her brother what he wants about half the time.
Early this year, Makayla really started warming up a lot to Eric. It’s so cool to see their relationship continuously developing. She tells him that he is the best daddy in the whole wide world, calls him her favorite superhero, gets so excited to see him when he comes home. She is truly daddy’s little girl.
Makayla LOVES reading books. Sometimes she'll choose to read books over playing with toys or watching TV. Even when she plays games on our phones, she often chooses the book-reading apps. She also likes to "read" books herself. She will pick up a book and tell the story showing her understanding of sentence construction. She'll use a lot of ".... he replied" or ".... she exclaimed" or "they said..."
Makayla seems to be doing really well in school. Of course she prefers to be at home, but she no longer complains about people not wanting to be her friend. She's also made a best friend at school and they do everything together! She is also a lot less clingy during drop-offs.
Makayla can speak a little bit of Chinese. She has learned to ask politely for a cup of water. There are also a few single words she can say in Chinese but most are food related haha
Makayla’s attitude is also improving. Most of the time she doesn’t get upset when she doesn’t get her way. Just the other day she asked if she could watch tv, and I just said "no, not right now". Her response, "oh, ok". (?!?!) She's also great with "thank you", "please", and "you're welcome"s.
M can use scissors.
M has really shown huge improvement in potty training. She self initiates all the time and hardly has accidents.
One of the most exciting areas of development we have seen in Makayla within the past half year is her ability to draw and write. She makes the cutest stick figures and letters. We received a portfolio from school that was a compilation of pictures and artwork throughout the school year—the comparison between her drawing from September and April is astounding. She can also write all the letters of the alphabet and numbers, though not with the proper strokes. At school, she is given a worksheet of numbers to trace and she'll sit there and work on it by herself until it's finished. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but she has really come a long way from when she started school in September!
We also attended Makayla's end of school year ballet recital and school musical. I was so blown away by how confident Makayla was on stage. I remember how during her Christmas concert back in December, we were just happy that she stayed seated with the rest of her class!
She says a lot of funny things:
"I want to be a good girl but I'm just a little cranky."
"My butt is not working!" (sitting on the toilet trying to get poopy out)
"mommy, can you have a happy face?"
"I spotted a..."
"my poop was pointy. I need to drink more fluids so my poop won't be pointy anymore"
I'm super excited for this summer! I hope to be posting more frequently!
This has been such a fun season of life. The babies are much more independent and manageable yet still show us how much they need and love us. Most nights, Eric and I sit back at the end of a busy work day and just watch our kids play, fight, act super silly-- it is just pure joy. I know I will look back one day and remember this to be one of the best times of our lives.
Luke Update (20 months!)
Physical Development
Lukey's got almost all of his teeth in. He's just missing his 4 last molars. A bunch of teeth came in pretty close together shortly after his first birthday.. with the teething and the endless cycle of illness, I was a pretty sleep deprived mama!
Lukey is also taller and leaner. I'm always hearing comments about how he's thinning out although he's still got those adorably full cheeks.
Gross Motor Development
Luke started walking right around his 15 month birthday! For a few months he was still walking like a drunken sailor :) Nowadays he's running around getting into all sorts of trouble. He can’t quite jump yet but can walk backwards.
Fine Motor Development
Luke is getting really good at unzipping zippers, pushing buttons on toys, holding his bottle, holding utensils to feed himself, pulling string through hole.
He's very good at putting objects in containers and really enjoys doing it. It comes in handy during clean up time.
Cognitive Development
Lukey's got rhythm! When we sing songs, he chimes in and "sings" along. His favorite song at the moment is "All Aboard the Choo Choo Train" or as Lukey would sing, "Ahh boar choo choo chain." He walks around dancing and bopping his head to music. Other favorites are "ABCs", "Twinkle Twinkle", "Jesus Loves Me", "Jesus Loves the Little Children", mygym’s “Bye Bye” song. Luke also learns songs big sister learns from school when she sings them in the car on the way home. Who needs the radio when you've got two cute babies singing in the car?
Luke has been going through a language explosion these past 2-3 months. A few months back, he was able to say "nana" (banana), "orsh" (orange), "nai nai" (milk in Chinese), "Bao Bao" (carry me in Chinese), "ball", "amen", "hi", "hello", "bye bye", "more", "Gu gu" (older brother in Chinese, "Jie Jie" (older sister in Chinese), "ba-oon" (balloon), "moon", "door", "happy birthday", "spoon", "boomba" (Roomba), "choo choo" (for train), "Nai nai" (milk), "wa wa" (water), "bubble", "Go Go" (dog in Chinese), "Elmo", “swing”, “slide”, "sock", "shoe", "help", "bottle", "water", "more" along with the sign, "please" along with the sign, "all done" along with the sign. More recently, he's learned to count to 5 really clearly (up to 20 not so clearly), says "choo choo train", "sky", "hua hua" (flower in Chinese), "bobble" (bottle), "dada", "daddy", "el-phant" (elephant), "Muno", "open", "book", "sun", “oh no”, sit down in Chinese. He points to things saying "look!" When I say "say Thank you", he says "you're welcome". Though he had already learned a bunch of words by 18 months, he only started saying "mama" and "mommy" at 18 months-- yes learning "mama" came after most of the words listed above".
Recently, he's learned the word "broken" and boy has it come in handy. He broke one of M's figurines, handed it to me and said "broken". The next day, we were outside and he prematurely picked an orange off of his dad's orange tree, hands it to me and says "broken". I think I hear the word every other day! He's also been speaking 2+ word phrases. He'll say drink water in Chinese, "here go" (here you go) while handing an object to me, "uh oh happened?", “open this”, “Daddy’s home”, "balloon broken" (see video).
Though Luke has a pretty extensive vocabulary, he's not great with the animal sounds. If you ask him what a cow says, he roars. If you ask him what a cat says, he roars... More recently, however, he's been able to bark for a dog and quack for a duck.
Of course he understand more than he speaks. For example, he can identify his "nose", "head", "mouth", "hands", "feet". When I ask him to identify different items from books or ask him to bring objects to me, he correctly identifies many objects, even more complicated words like "maraca".
He also makes strong associations. When we get close to the railroad tracks, he says "choo choo". When I drive through the gate to our community, he says "daddy" because he knows he'll see Eric soon. When I walk by the bathroom, he points and says "teeth", then uses his finger as a toothbrush to brush his teeth. He is also very aware of things he's not allowed to touch or do, and knows that if he touches certain things, he will get scolded. He will sometimes get close to the oven and as he's about
to touch it, turn his head to see if we are looking. When he realizes that all eyes are on him, he smiles the cutest most mischievous smile, while pulling his hand away. When he really wants something, he'll say "please" or “more please”. When he wants a toy someone else is holding, he points to it and says "share!"
About a month ago, he was overgeneralizing quite a bit. For example, he would say "choo choo" for trains, but also for other vehicles like cars, buses, and trucks. He'll point to all sorts of animals and call them "duck". Every Sesame Street character was Elmo to him, every Yo Gabba Gabba character was Muno to him, and every Mickey Mouse clubhouse character was either "Minnie" or "Hot Dog". Very recently, he's been better able to express that these characters are different. He knows cars from trains, and Big Bird from Elmo. I think he is aware of the differences but just not verbally representing the characters or objects as being different.
We also see his attention developing. He can play with a toy for awhile before moving on to another and his attention for TV has grown. We can easily sit through an entire episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Yo Gabba Gabba without getting bored.
Socioemotional Development
Wow, where did this personality come from?! At 12 months, I thought of my baby as a carefree, shy, patient little boy. Then he started walking and talking and having opinions! I now describe him as goofy, active, and mischievous!
Lukey is pretty clingy. I remember M being similar around this age but I feel that
Luke is a bit more needy than M.
Lukey is also jealous just like M was. I used to think I was not going to have this problem with my 2nd child since he is born having to share mom's attention with his sib, but surprisingly he is just as jealous.
Lukey is showing signs of guilt. When he gets scolded for something, he either has a smirk on his face as if to say "darn! I almost got away with it!" or looks down to avoid making eye contact with a totally ashamed look or starts to cry. So precious!
Lukey can show affection-- he will sometimes give hugs and kisses when asked. He also says "I love you" back and has self-initiated an "I love you" once.
He laughs when anyone farts, burps, or makes any funny sound. Oftentimes he will blow raspberries just to be silly. It’s particularly funny when Makayla joins him and it becomes a raspberry chorus. Of course Eric and I put on our stern faces and tell them to stop but are doing everything we can not to burst out laughing.
People are becoming familiar to him. Lukey is more inclined to approach someone if he is familiar with them. He clearly shows that he knows familiar people in his life such as his grandparents, aunts and uncles. He can correctly identify these people when asked.
We enrolled him in MyGym a few months ago and have seen improvement in his comfort with letting go of mom and going to instructor, and in his ability to sit and participate in circle time.
Luke obsessions:
- trains
- bubbles
- balloons
- snacks
- anything stick-like (utensils, toy screwdriver)
- flowing water
- Yo Gabba Gabba
- Bubble Guppies
- Mickey Mouse & friends
- shovels
- anything his sister is playing with at the moment
- tents
Makayla Update (3 years 9 months)
Three is A LOT easier than I expected. Yes of course Makayla has her moments, especially when she is sleep-deprived, but when she knows the rules, she is pretty good at following them.
Though the new baby excitement has worn off long ago, Makayla is still a very loving sister most of the time. She likes to call Luke "my Lukey". She has been very helpful-- she occasionally wakes him up in the morning and entertains him while we are doing other things. In the car, she hands snacks to him. She is also taking her big sister job very seriously. You'll hear her tell Lukey "No Lukey!" when he's doing something he's not supposed to be doing. She also reports when he's pooped :) When it comes to sharing my attention, Makayla is so great with allowing me to hold Luke. If she wants me to hold her, she doesn't even ask to be held until he's off wandering around.
We’ve recently put both kids in the same bedroom and both kids love it! She tells me how much she loves being in his room and that “Luke is the perfect baby!”
Makayla is also protective of Luke. At the park, an older girl was getting mad at Luke for taking her things, very aggressively telling him to stop. Makayla reprimanded her for scolding Luke, saying, "You have to say 'Lukey, please don't take my stick'" to which the girl looked completed confused and responded with "ok".
Makayla and Luke are also learning to take turns. One day I brought 2 shovels to the park because I knew they would both want one. They looked exactly the same, but one was red and the other yellow. For some reason, they both decided it was a "red shovel" kind of a day! They kept fighting over who got the red shovel. So as a learning experience, I had them trade off-- each person got the beloved shovel for 5 minutes (in arbitrary mommy time). Of course this just meant every 5 minutes, one of the kids would throw a tantrum. Did they learn to take turns? not really. Was mama exhausted? absolutely! I will have to give credit to Makayla, though for giving her brother what he wants about half the time.
Early this year, Makayla really started warming up a lot to Eric. It’s so cool to see their relationship continuously developing. She tells him that he is the best daddy in the whole wide world, calls him her favorite superhero, gets so excited to see him when he comes home. She is truly daddy’s little girl.
Makayla LOVES reading books. Sometimes she'll choose to read books over playing with toys or watching TV. Even when she plays games on our phones, she often chooses the book-reading apps. She also likes to "read" books herself. She will pick up a book and tell the story showing her understanding of sentence construction. She'll use a lot of ".... he replied" or ".... she exclaimed" or "they said..."
Makayla seems to be doing really well in school. Of course she prefers to be at home, but she no longer complains about people not wanting to be her friend. She's also made a best friend at school and they do everything together! She is also a lot less clingy during drop-offs.
Makayla can speak a little bit of Chinese. She has learned to ask politely for a cup of water. There are also a few single words she can say in Chinese but most are food related haha
Makayla’s attitude is also improving. Most of the time she doesn’t get upset when she doesn’t get her way. Just the other day she asked if she could watch tv, and I just said "no, not right now". Her response, "oh, ok". (?!?!) She's also great with "thank you", "please", and "you're welcome"s.
M can use scissors.
M has really shown huge improvement in potty training. She self initiates all the time and hardly has accidents.
One of the most exciting areas of development we have seen in Makayla within the past half year is her ability to draw and write. She makes the cutest stick figures and letters. We received a portfolio from school that was a compilation of pictures and artwork throughout the school year—the comparison between her drawing from September and April is astounding. She can also write all the letters of the alphabet and numbers, though not with the proper strokes. At school, she is given a worksheet of numbers to trace and she'll sit there and work on it by herself until it's finished. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but she has really come a long way from when she started school in September!
We also attended Makayla's end of school year ballet recital and school musical. I was so blown away by how confident Makayla was on stage. I remember how during her Christmas concert back in December, we were just happy that she stayed seated with the rest of her class!
She says a lot of funny things:
"I want to be a good girl but I'm just a little cranky."
"My butt is not working!" (sitting on the toilet trying to get poopy out)
"mommy, can you have a happy face?"
"I spotted a..."
"my poop was pointy. I need to drink more fluids so my poop won't be pointy anymore"
I'm super excited for this summer! I hope to be posting more frequently!
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Nature or nurture?
This is how my babies sleep...
This is also how their daddy and Uncle Jeffrey sleep. Nature or nurture?
Thursday, January 8, 2015
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