You Got a What??

On Tuesday Jared called me at work and told me he received a dreaded red card at school. (They start on green and have to "pull a card" if they are naughty - they drop from green to yellow to orange to red...). I asked him what decisions he made that led to the red card. He said, "First, I punched a kid in the face." That was my first clue that he was pulling my leg. He continued, "Second, I kicked someone. And third, I pushed a kid down." I asked him if he was joking with me and he proclaimed, "I got the super green card!" Each day one student who was especially good that day comes home with the Super Green Card. I asked him what he would like to do to celebrate his fabulous behavior and he said go to Burger King for "hambuburgers." I love how he says that because he doesn't have too many errors on vocabulary these days. Ah, the good old days of made up varieties of words...sigh.

Here we are at Burger King celebrating the super green card:


Don't worry - dinner was also involved. Jared did get his hambuburger.

Nine Months of Baby Love

I forgot to post Luke's 9 month stats from his doctor visit last week. Here they are:

Height: 28.5" (50%)
Weight: 18 lbs. 1 oz. (10%)
Head: 18.27" (75%)

Yes, he too has dropped to the 10% in weight. I don't know what it is with my children - they all drop in weight even though I personally think they eat plenty. When Liz dropped to like 3% I was concerned and the Dr. said to me, "Don't worry, it's in their genes; their dad is very thin." I wasn't sure how to take that in reference to myself! :) At least Dan is skinny... I digress! Basically, the Dr. asked me a ton of questions about his progress (Does he babble? Does he wave? etc.) and then determined not to worry about his weight.


Lucas at 9 months:

• Adores his siblings. Always following them around, using them to pull himself up, giggling at everything they do or say. Basically, idolizing them. I have trouble feeding him if they are behind him because he spends the entire time trying to twist far enough in his seat to see them.

• Very active and mobile. No longer happy to be held (only a big pain at church!). Crawls everywhere - sometimes real crawling and sometimes using Jared's modified one leg up crawl.
  
• Immediately pulls himself up to standing no matter where he is. Uses everything as a base for pulling himself up.
• Has recently begun letting go and can stand on his own for a bit before crashing to his bum.
  
• Only has 2 teeth - just recently got them in the last month! Finally enjoying cheerios and other small finger foods.
• Just started sleeping through the night. I blame myself for being so late in this area! I just hate to hear him cry since he is normally such a happy little guy.
• Goes to bed at 6:30. Usually wakes up around 8. (Although has started getting up around 6:30 this week now that he is not getting up in the middle of the night anymore...)
• Loves sucking his thumb and rubbing my hair. Just like Liz...
• Has started waving, although somewhat intermittently.
• Loves to "talk" to us. Usually says, "Da da da da" or "Ba ba ba ba" no matter how often I say "Ma Ma" to him.
• Just an all around relaxed, sweet little guy.

My Sister is a GIRL!

Here is what happens when you take a bath with your sister and she happens to be a girl.

Go Lakers!

On Tuesday I was in a new teacher training when one of the participants received a text message from Danny who was looking for me. I nervously ran back to my office where my cell phone was located. Sure enough, I had missed 5 calls from him! I immediately called him back to see what the emergency was...he informed me it was an emergency...a good emergency! His best bud Alan had 2 extra tickets to the Lakers game that started in 3 hours.


My Dad was willing to babysit (thanks, Dad!) and we were off with Alan and Miki! The tickets were fabulous - we entered in the VIP section and could see Jack below us!


It was fun being so close! I actually found myself watching the game! :)


Dan was planning to use this picture to give his T.A. a hard time - a Sixers' fan.


Unfortunately that plan didn't work out. Everything was amazing until the last second of the game when the Sixers hit a 3 pointer to beat the Lakers. Let's just say that was a low point in the evening and put a damper on Dan's plans!

What Are You, Irish?

Yes, one more St. Patrick's Day post. Here are some other fun things we did to celebrate. First, the kids made hats at home. A little on the ghetto side but fun. Jared was very annoyed at Liz for not coloring hers green.


Next, Jared made a cool leprechaun mask thing at school. Much cooler than the ones we made!


Of course everyone wore green to celebrate.


Finally, we ended the day with an authentic Irish meal: Lucky Charms!

Leprechaun Luck

The night before St. Patrick's Day (ironically coinciding with Family Home Evening) I heard a leprechaun outside of Luke's window while I was putting him to bed. I came out and alerted Jared, Liz, and Danny. We quickly ran in the backyard and found a map next to Luke's window!


The map directed us all over our back and front yard to locate where chocolate gold coins were hidden! We found coins on the trampoline, by the swing, next to the tree, by the slide, by our car, and in a bucket.


Jared led the way, reading the map for us. Liz wasn't too sure about a little green man running around outside of our house.


She was very concerned. First, she didn't want to go outside. Once outside, she spent most of the time in my arms. She was literally shaking while we were in the backyard. She finally began to warm up to the leprechaun idea when I told her they were miniature men and she could step on them. Plus they left her chocolate and a ring, how bad could they really be?


Here we are at the end with Jared and Lizzie's spoils and the map. We sure were lucky that a leprechaun hid a map in our backyard. Let's hope he finds his way back here next year.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

More of our St. Patrick Day festivities to follow!

First Blood

Remember in the last post I said we have rooms we try to keep Luke out of? Here's the reason why.


On Saturday I was in the bathroom refilling our soap container when Lucas crawled in. He tried to pull himself up on our metal trashcan, which couldn't sustain his weight, and came tumbling down on top of him. I wasn't fast enough to save him and the trashcan sliced his face open. I felt guilty but I know this is only the start of the falls, tumbles and bruises that come as these little guys explore their surroundings and begin trying to stand, walk, and climb. I'm glad this time it was so minimal.

I Love a Parade!

Lucas has officially joined the parade! Whenever I'm doing anything in our home (even monotonous things like chores or getting ready) Jared and Liz follow me religiously. Now Lucas has joined the crew and crawls right along after me. He's usually a little slower than the pedestrians but he's right there with us. I thought I'd post a few pictures of what he does when he reaches the room I'm in...

In the kitchen he pulls himself up on food, the cabinets, or the oven - which I really have to watch when it's on!



But his favorite kitchen thing is pulling all the magnets off of the fridge and either eating them or making them sing.


In the front room he LOVES to play with the stereo. In fact, he often turns the radio or a CD on. Whenever this happens, he looks back with a huge smile. He also loves the computer, especially when he or Ethan are on there.



He also loves to look at himself in the TV or to bang on it since it makes such a melodious tone.


Of course the couch is another favorite...


According to Annette and Vanessa he has taken to letting go of the couch and standing alone for 30 to 40 seconds. Dan and I haven't seen it yet - he usually falls after a few seconds of standing but we are watching for it!

These are a few of the adventures of Lucas! Yes, there are other rooms in the house, but we try to keep him out of those!

Breakfast and Books!

Last Friday Jared's school invited Moms and Dads to come to school and enjoy breakfast and a book in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday! The students and Miss Grosso wore their pajamas to school. Jared opted for some dinosaur pj's - which I was shocked were looking a little on the short side. I guess my baby boy is growing!


When we got there, breakfast was set up outside on a few tables. They had a full spread! Jared ate a box of Lucky Charms, milk, 2 tangerines, fruit snacks, a small can of fruit, and a juice box. I was surprised at the variety offered. He took one of everything except a banana. We sat together at his desk while Miss Grosso began class.


Once everyone was settled, Miss Grosso began reading books to us. She did an excellent job and I noted a few things I could do differently while reading to the kiddos each night!


After 3 books it was time for the parents to leave. Jared was a little sad for me to leave so quickly but I think overall we were both very excited to have a some extra special time together.

A Midnight Snack?

Last night we ate fettuccine alfredo for dinner. After eating I had Lucas in the tub and was sitting on the floor nearby scrubbing him down when Liz walked in requesting a bath too. From my perspective on the ground, I could see slightly up her nose and noticed a little something hanging out. I asked Liz if she had stuffed a noodle up her nose. She got a funny look on her face and nodded yes!


I immediately grabbed the tweezers and began the extraction.




I won't tell you what she did with it, but it turned my stomach. We had a nice, long discussion about what we do and don't do with our food...no matter how tempting it is!

You Wanna Piece of Me?

Happy Birthday, Theodor Geisel!

In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday we made green eggs. Jared cracked all of the eggs, mixed them, and added the food coloring for me. He also helped to cook them - with close supervision!


Liz wasn't too sure about eating green eggs!


She quickly gobbled them up though once she had a taste!


Even though Jared made them, he too was concerned with tasting them! He even had me take a bite before he was willing to try them.


He too was swayed once he tasted them!


Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! We would eat green eggs and ham...in a box, with a fox, in a house, with a mouse...

Zoo-pendous!

We were disappointed this year to miss out on the annual Chinese New Year at the zoo but it was the day after Luke's surgery and raining so we vetoed our trip. A few weekends later we decided to make it up to the kids and make a zoo visit. We invited Grandpa Fong who was temporarily home alone and headed for the Los Angeles Zoo!

First we checked out the animals! The weather was perfect - slightly overcast and cool. The animals were very active and the kids loved it. Even Lucas enjoyed hanging out with the animals!



Liz wore her koala bear shirt and kept telling us that the koala was her favorite animal (news to us!). When we arrived at the koala exhibit, there was a sign that said the koala's name was Lizzy - I guess it was meant to be.


Dan saw this fence charger in the gorilla habitat and began coveting it...something about keeping our own animals contained.


We packed a lunch and eventually made our way to the playground at the top of the zoo. The kids had fun playing while Grandpa, Lucas and I got lunch ready.



Eventually we coerced everyone to the table for food. Grandpa had brought tangerines to share and Lizzie was enamored with the Cutie sticker.


We took a family picture as we were LEAVING! Next time we'll take it on the way in before our children are ready to drop into bed!!!


We had an awesome time with Grandpa Fong! Thank you for being Luke's buddy! He sure seems to adore you.


And of course Liz was overwhelmed by the smell of some of the animals...it wouldn't be a trip anywhere involving animals without Liz having issues with her nose!