Last week (week 6), Kevin started smiling…real smiling, not the newborn type where he has no idea he is smiling. A few days ago, right before I was going to feeding him during one of the 1am feedings, he looked up at me and beamed an all-gum smile straight at me. It was as if he was trying to thank me for getting up in the middle of night to feed him - it melted my heart and did made the nighttime feedings worthwhile…though I am still very tired.

Last night, Kevin slept from 9pm-4am (it’s the longest lapse between feedings he’s ever had). He usually wakes up to feed at 1am, but skipped that feeding yesterday. Am holding my breath and hoping that it is a trend, and not just a one-time deal, though it won’t make too much difference to me as I will still need to get up and pump. I never pumped at night when I was nursing Owen, but for whatever reason, I am even more paranoid about my milk supply with Kevin than with Owen. Perhaps has to do with me getting older.

In prep for the arrival of Kevin, we have been trying to get Owen to start loving his little brother, even before he arrives! Through numerous efforts, including spinning it so that Owen considers Kevin a little student he can teach rather than an intrusion into his territory, Owen has started to develop brotherly love toward the baby inside Mommy’s tummy. Just 2 days ago, he came up to me himself and said he wanted to kiss Kevin (his Daddy has taught him to kiss Mommy’s tummy to display his love for the baby) so I turned my tummy toward little Owen so he can kiss Kevin; then to my surprise and great joy, he added, “I love you, Kevin!” It was sooooooo sweet!

I melted Mommy’s heart today…

She told me she was afraid of going to the dentist and I assured her, “Don’t be afraid. I am here.” I love hearing that phrase from Mommy - she says this whenever I am afraid, whether it be seeing the lightning/hearing the thunder, being in a dark room, seeing strangers, or going to a dentist or doctor. I know Mommy will be there to protect me from any harm so I want to be strong for her too.

Mommy and I are best friends. I’m her shadow.

After a long 4.5 hours drive back from VA last night, Owen had a biological call for #2 soon after we arrived home. As I was waiting for him to finish (he still refuses to try #2 on a toilet), he proclaimed that he was going to get Daddy to change his diaper. I was thrown off by his statement as he usually does not like his Daddy to change him; it’s always been “I want Mommy to change diaper.” So out of curiosity, I asked, “Why, Owen? Why do you want Daddy to change you?” He answered in a as-a-matter-of-fact manner, “Mommy will be stinky.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!!! My little 3-year-old son was being so sweet & considerate and knew that I would have to smell his smelly poop if I changed him (I’m always teasing him how smelly it is), so he was going to get his Daddy to change him so Mommy wouldn’t have to smell it! (Sorry Daddy, his preference of people DOES make a difference ;P ) I was so tickled by Owen’s actions that I had to call Grandma Mom and tell her; she laughed and said wanted to know if he followed through. He didn’t…still wanted Mommy to change him at the end…but hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?

As we get ready for the arrival of baby #2 (since we don’t know the sex of the baby yet, have not named him/her yet), we have been scoping out for a new bed for Owen. Initially, Owen’s 4-way convertible bed (crib to toddler bed or sofa bed to full-sized bed) was going to accompany him all the way from birth to college, but we have decided to let the bed accompany baby #2 all the way to college instead. That means lucky Owen gets to pick his own new bed…it’s true the firstborn always gets the new stuff.

When we went to the store, however, much to our dismay, Owen kept on showing an interest in the “girly” beds (as evident in the video)…as Daddy noted, Owen especially likes pink. Luckily, that’s starting to change though as he learns to shun away from girly stuff (when we walk down the “Barbie” aisle in Target, Owen now proclaims, “That’s for girls!”). We may have done some conditioning at home, but most of it is obviously being done at school by his friends.

If you want to buy lottery and wish to get some exotic prizes, make sure you invite Owen with you, he for sure can give you good luck.

We took a weekend trip to visit Myrtle Beach, SC in the past weekend,and as usual we booked our hotel using Sheraton points. What is unusual was when we finished our long and fun day (we finished the day with a miniature golf game, and by the time we finish, it has already past 12am) and checked in at Sheraton Myrtle Beach, the front desk guy looked at us with a smile after a few minutes scrambling his computer - “it is your lucky day, we have to upgrade to one of the two presidential suite in our hotel, because we have no more rooms available”. Wow, this is so funny that I just lost my Sheraton gold elite status last month, and I usually just get upgraded to the Preferred room, sometimes bumped into club level, but never stayed at a presidential suite, Owen brought us such good luck!

Nevertheless, once Owen entered the suite, he can tell this is different than his usual hotel room and he got so excited that he running from room to room to check out each furniture… The view from the mid living room of the suite is amazing, you can easily get 180 degree of the entire beach blvd.  Any, let me cut the crap, and hope you enjoy the photos…

Now that Owen is almost 3 (he will be 3 in about a month), I am REALLY starting to feel the strong desire to hold on to this cutest phase of him forever…how I wish I could just freeze time right now and enjoy Owen’s 2-3 years old phase forever. He is SOOOOOOOOOO cute and sweet right now I don’t want him to ever grow up! Now’s the perfect phase because he can do and say many things so he’s easier to care for and much funner to interact or just watch and yet he’s still tiny enough to swoop into your arms and cuddle & kiss many times a day.

All of a sudden, he’s taking all these big milestones, that are reminding me of how fast he is growing up. Just 2 weeks ago, he started potty training (we tried earlier at around 2 to no success - doctor said boys usually are ready around 3 and when they are ready, it takes very little time for them to be potty-trained…she was right on) and is pretty much potty trained now for #1…doesn’t want to wear his diapers anymore and even pees standing up (we initially trained him sitting down, but by accident, Grandpa Hong introduced him to peeing peeing standing up this weekend (he didn’t realize that we trained him sitting down so he held Owen up standing to pee and that was all it took…now he won’t pee sitting down)…

Knowing that that was pretty much the only thing that may potentially held Owen back in the older 2 class vs moving up to the 3 year old class, now that that hurdle has been overcomed, we just received a letter today that Owen is scheduled to move up to the 3 year old class on Aug.24th. I know he will be very sad to leave his beloved teachers who love him very much and have taught and introduced him to so many things, including becoming more independent. I am so thankful to God that Owen had such loving and patient teachers as his first teachers and forever indebted to them for starting Owen out on the right path to independence and schooling.

Lately, Mommy often loses her temper when she tries to take pictures of me cause I don’t stay put, and am almost always doing one of the following (please see pics for an example of each):
-Not looking at the camera
-Making faces
-Presenting some “interesting” poses

Yesterday, we were at Old Navy and Mommy noticed that I was checking the little girl mannequin out, so she generously offered to take a picture of us together. I happily agreed and put my arm around my plastic new friend. After a few pictures though, Mommy gave up and said we were leaving since I wouldn’t listen to her. I protested a little but figured since I already had a few photos to remind me of the small affair I had, that was enough.

Yesterday, Owen received his first “missing” ears report…no, it’s not a recognition or reward; on the contrary, I have been dreading for the day but knew it would come soon regardless. I am, however, very relieved that it wasn’t due to hitting/pushing friends but just not following directions.

Everyday, Mommy receives a daily report from daycare on how Mr.Owen did at school…during the first 2 months, it was always good reports ( his ears were always “on” or mostly “on”. Then once he had comfortably settled in, the trouble started…

We started getting reports of “loose” ears. First, it was maybe once a week, then it was 2-3 times a week. The teacher’s comments were also deteriorating, with reports of Mr.Owen pushing or hitting friends. Having always been a goodie goodie student all my life, I was very shocked - don’t know, but I guess I was expecting Owen to follow suit…or at theeast, not cause trouble. Alarmed to find out that sometimes, the aggression was not provoked, I tried to understand why he does this, but to no avail as Owen could not verbalize why he hit/push someone.

So I took both the positive and negative approach: if I get a report that he hit that day, when he gets home, he gets 2 mind of timeout in his room. I also repeatedly remind him hands are for gentle/nice touches and praise him when he was well-behaved that day. At night, he will also get ice cream. After 2 weeks and 2 timeouts, it is finally working. Now the first thing he says to Daddy & Mommy when we pick him up is: “Owen didn’t hit any friends today!”

Compared to him being physically aggressive and potentially hurting another kid, I would take a “missing” ears report for not following directions anyday!

Mommy is so glad Owen did not inherit his Daddy’s lack of rhythm ;P…our little one has shown great sense of beat since he was very young.  Even before he could stand by himself, he would dance to the music…when the music was quick, he would dance quickly and when it slowed, his dancing would also slow down. Over time, we’ve grown accustomed to his natural response to any upbeat music and have not thought about it in a while. 

This past weekend though, we were reminded once again of his talent.  We were listening to music while eating dumplings, and when Lady Gaga’s Poker Face started playing, Owen started going at it and doing his moves…it amazes me how many different moves he did! Daddy and I had such a good laugh watching him…you can too (good thing we always keep our Flip handy for times like this).