Flowers for grandma

JJ and daddy picked up grandma from LAX last night. Good to see her after her 4 month visit in HK. Today, before we went to grandma's place to pick her up for lunch, JJ suggested that we should get some flowers for grandma. JJ said, in perfect Japanese, " flowers are nice. wouldn't it be great to make her happy with some nice flowers?" Wow, I was taken by surprise. Very impressed by his meticulously mature way of expressing his suggestion. I love being his dad! Thank You God!

2008 Thankgiving Day

Mummy took off for HK Tues and won't be back until Sat. So, it's a two men Thanksgiving this year. We were exhausted from the party yesterday so we went to bed early last night. It was a nice long restful sleep. JJ's cold had got a lot better so he wasn't coughing or making too much nasal noise like he used to 2 weeks ago. Daddy still had a some lingering cough. Not too bad. We were both sound sleepers.

Woke up and JJ was in a great mood. We wished each other "Happy Thanksgiving" and thanked each other for doing so. A good start. He wanted honey toast, egg custard and kiwi with raspberries and yogurt. He ate them all up. What an appetite! Off to kids' club before heading down to Chinatown for dim sum at Empress. JJ had his favourite Bo Law Bao and daddy had his fix of the standard fare. Satisfied and hopped back on the freeway heading for the chinese supermarket (99) so daddy could get his chinese cough syrup (Be Pa Go). Next stop Japanese video stop in Van Nuys. Once we got there, JJ had to take a dump first before choosing his fav movie - An Pan Man. Once we got home, JJ went for a bike ride before dinner.

We played tic tac toe after dinner. Probably a little too early for this game. We gave it a shot anyway. He was gradually getting it . Not quite there yet. Then we practised writing a few alphabets before bedtime.

All in all. Not a bad day. We missed mummy and her turkey terribly. We managed ok w/nattou and miso soup. A far cry from mummy's cooking but light and healthy nonetheless.

A great helper at school's Thanksgiving Feast

JJ's preschool had a Thxgiving party in their classroom yesterday. I was responsible for drinks and arrived early to set things up. JJ jumped right in and helped me take put the drinks into the ice box. Then he started placing a pack of juice on the dinning table for everyone of his classmates. He even put out a couple of waters for the adults just in case. He did it all on his own without prompting whatsoever. His teachers and I were pleasantly surprised. What a great little helper he was! Needless to say, he insisted on helping me carry the big ice box back to the car afterwards.

During the party, he sat there and ate his dinner quietly. He was enjoying his dinner until one of his classmate's little 2 year old sister started to take interest in him and kept poking him in the back. He was a bit annoyed but kept his cool nonetheless. Daddy was busy running around taking video and pictures so mummy gets to check out what she had missed.

A great helper at school'

Discipline

JJ, like any 3 yr old, pushes our buttons. My buttons are just simpler to get pushed than mummy's. Today, when we came home, he insisted that we'd go ride his bike right away. I wanted us to go into the house for a little break and drink before heading out to the park to play. He kept refusing to come in so I just went into the house knowing full well that he'd folllow me. Well, he did. But not without the usual busting out in big tears episode. He is gradually learning to become a 1st time listener but he needs to be reminded once in a while.

He normally behaves well when only 2 of us are around. Even when he fusses around, he will quickly come around once I issue my warnings. The whole thing changes when mummy is home. JJ takes full advantage of mum's presence and fights to the end no matter what. He swithces from an almost perfect kid to an irritating brat in no time. It's amazing to see how well he uses mum to buffer dad so effectively.

Mum keeps saying that it's ok for him to de-stress since he is under more stress when mum is not around. Not sure if this is indeed the case but I guess it's ok to let loose as long as he stays within bounds, which mum does a good job enforcing. It's just that dad's bounds tend to be much tighter.

The important thing is that JJ seems to have adjusted to our new life (mummy being away for work several nights a month) pretty well.

Surprising thoughtfulness

Been such a long time since my last blog. Can't believe I snooze on this one.

JJ is a good balance of kindness, rebellion, maturity and playfulness. His occasional moments of surprising thoughtfulness remind that the we just might be doing an Ok job as parents. These small signs were of course big things in the eyes of parents.

It was one of the evenings where JJ was falling asleep during dinner (no PM nap) and needed to go to bed before I could finish dinner. I put him to bed. As he was resting his head on the pillow in my bed, he looked at me and said "Daddy, please go and eat more dinner then come to bed". He was thinking about my half finished dinner all along.

Tonight was a similar evening but at least I finished my dinner. As you was about to lie down on our bed, he reminded that the TV was still on downstairs. I guess we have a budding environmentalist.

Mum leaves for HK - 6 wk training

3 of us slept together last night. JJ knew mum was leaving tomorow. Got up early and took mum to the airport. JJ was excited about the trip to the beach afterwards. He was very good. May be he didn't get how long mum was going to be gone. Nor we were eager to explain this element anyway.

Mum was a litty misty as we kissed good-bye on the curb. Noriko - be strong. We'll be alright. You'll do great. Only 6 weeks. No big deal, I said. Couldn't help but feel the suddent emptiness. I knew I was incomplete without her. And, it struck me pretty hard to face the fact that I actually have to experience it for this long.

Rio (our live in nanny), JJ and I went to Santa Monica Beach. Picked a spot right next to the Pier where there was a fun fair. JJ was funny. He was so anxious to hit the beach but when we got there, he got scared of the water and wanted to go home. We eventually got him into the water by writing his name in the sand. He was happy to see that and started to get bolder and bolder. He got so bold that he kep dragging daddy to the deeper water. He was having so much fun jumping in the waves, and he insisted that I let him do it on his own even though he occasionally felt right into water. It was great to see him quick transition. Just a little encouragement and fun.

We then went on the Ferris Wheel. Nice view. JJ did great. Not scared at all. Just enjoyed the ride. Rio then took us to the organic vegan restaurant on Santa Monica Blvd just east of 5th Ave. Amazing food. Great curry flavor and just the right portin. Very satisfying. Some of the more tasty vegetarian food I had ever tasted. The waitress named Bunny was one of the best. Very attentive and had a great time with JJ, who seemed to have fallen in love with her. Bunny had been to HK attending her friend's Miss HK Pagaent (his friend was "Miss Leg" of 1998 or something like that).

JJ fell asleep on our way back. We are hoping to get him to get by 9pm tonight to set his clock back to where it belongs.