Had to document this...

BJ just hugged me and HJ and said, "you're the best you guys!" Awwwww

Something I Will Never Do...

I have a confession:  I people watch.  All the time. It's not like I do it obviously where I stare at people and make them feel uncomfortable, but I do it naturally, and it's fun to observe human interaction to see what "other people" do in various situations.  My part-time job gives me many opportunities to people watch because it's a little cafe and there are 10 - 20 people at any given time. Sometimes, I get to witness the most amazing things, such as a little toddler hugging his older sister, or a couple in their 70's holding hands and spending time talking to each other.  Seeing positive relationships comforts me, because all I see on the news nowadays are stories about fighting, guns, wars, etc.  Most of the time, people watching is fun...

Today, however, I witnessed something horrible.  There was a mom and her two children (teenage girl and a little boy) who came up to the counter to order breakfast from me, and here's how the conversation went:

Mom:  Do y'all have smoothies?

Me:  Yes, here is our menu for smoothies.

Boy:  Mom, can I have french toast?

Mom: No. You are going to share a smoothie with your sister, and we'll see from there.
(turns to me)
We'll have the Paradise Power Up.

Boy: MOM! I want french toast! I'm hungry.

Mom:  No. You will share a smoothie for breakfast.

Boy: MOM! Please! I'm HUNGRY.

Mom: No. We'll have the paradise power up.

Boy starts crying.


This conversation broke my heart! I don't think I'm describing the heartbreak this boy had in his face, and it's hard to convey on the internet, but I felt terribly for him.  It didn't help my sanity that he was very skinny...and maybe(?) his mother was trying to get him to eat some fresh fruit, but he honestly looked starved. 

Sigh.

Right then, in that moment, I promised myself I would NEVER get to the point of BJ begging me for food.  It was so sad.

I guess I shouldn't try that hard to people watch too much... I don't like seeing negative situations.

Blog Re-Design

Any bloggers out there know good sites to re-do my blog for free? As you can see from the picture, BJ is 4 months old in the current blog design, and he's almost 2 and a half now. I think it's time to re-decorate. lol...

 I remember when I first designed my blog, it took FOREVER, and even though it took me forever (and a day), it still doesn't look the most professional. I'm not exactly the best at photoshop. If anyone has any tips, please share. :-) Time-saving tricks make me happy.

Random Conversation with Daddy

HJ:  (Watching tv) "What the heck?"
BJ:  "Don't say that Daddy!"
HJ:  "Huh? Don't say what, Jacob?"
BJ:  "Don't say, 'What the heck', Daddy."
HJ:  "Oh. Don't say what the heck?"
BJ:  "Yah.  Don't say 'What the heck.'  That's a bad word, Daddy."
HJ:  "Okay, Jacob. I won't say that."
BJ:  "Yah. Don't say that."


haha talking to BJ can be so much fun!

Size 6 Diapers

Size 6 Diapers.  The maximum size that most manufacturers make diapers is size 6, and at two  and a half years old, BJ is currently wearing this maximum size. We are planning to potty train soon, but it's quite unnerving to think that he's reached the max.  I don't understand how some kids remain in diapers until they are 3 or 4 years old.  Where do these parents get their diapers from???  BJ isn't necessarily the skinniest child, but he's not the chubbiest either! Ugh.

I guess it's time to get serious about potty training.  We've started to introduce the idea of "sitting on the toilet", and he has peed once or twice when actually sitting on the toilet, but he hasn't figured out the concept of letting us know when he has to go.

If anyone has any tips for potty training little boys, please let me know. I would appreciate any hints and tips!

I Bribe My Son to Eat Veggies

I never said I was the perfect parent. In fact, I'm not anywhere near it.  My son is almost 2 and a half years old, and his favorite foods are Mac and Cheese, cheeseburgers, and McDonald's French Fries. lol...

Lately, I've been trying to include more veggies and fruits into his diet, and trying to cook more at home. It's definitely not easy.  I was told by several people to learn how to hide more veggies into his food (by blending, etc.), but I've been trying not to do that because I want him to appreciate vegetables; actually learn to like them.  It's been a slow process.  When I first started serving veggies to BJ, he pretty much refused.  Then, I got him to eat a couple of raw carrots (*gasp*) by serving some chive & onion dip with it.  He mostly ate dip but hey... a couple of carrots is better than nothing. haha.

Tonight, we ate sausage and squash with rice, but BJ was only eating the rice!

I didn't want to force squash down his throat, because I think that would be considered child abuse, lol, so I bribed him instead!  For every bite of  squash, he got to eat a small potato chip.  lol... Like I said, I'm not the perfect parent... but the fact that he's eating veggies at all is a small step towards healthy eating!  He even ate a banana for dessert!  If you have any suggestions on healthy eating, please let me know... but don't criticize me. I'm trying!!! :-)

I don't think it's procrastination... It's a Teacher's Life Cycle

It's June, and all teachers know what that means... SUMMER.  In fact, it's the end of June, which means it's that much closer to the END of summer. *sigh*

After six years of teaching, I've realized that I have a teacher's life cycle.  In the beginning of the school year, my entire focus is on teaching, so I stop doing other things that were once important (such as a blog). Then, as school breaks come, I become motivated to do things again. (So I re-start my blog...) Lastly, as class starts up again, I stop all things but school related things.  My reason for saying this is that it is summer vacation, and that's probably why I'm making an attempt at re-starting my blog. I really hope it will last, but unlike other times, I am not going to make promises.

I've realized my mistake from past attempts.  Unlike before, I am not going to promise to keep updating.      I can't promise to read other people's blogs, although I will as much as I can.  And I WILL NOT sign up to write promotional blog entries unless I truly feel comfortable that I can continue to blog long term.  It's not fair to the companies who send me products to try.

I've erased all unread mail messages, and will write when I want to, because once I feel this blog is a chore, I will stop.

So here's to starting fresh!!  I missed this. :-)

Whaaat? It's NOVEMBER?

One day, it's a warm August morning and I'm getting ready for the first day of school... next thing I know,  it's cold and we're in the middle of November! Where did the time go?  Gosh, pretty soon, BJ will be 2 years old! Time goes by so fast, doesn't it?

Well, today, I decided I would post some recent pics of BJ.  I've been putting off blogging, mostly because I'm lazy to upload pictures onto my computer. *Cough cough* What a terrible excuse.  Ooooh well, we all have to start fresh somewhere.

Here are some of my fave events from the past couple of months...

Happy November Everyone!  I'm excited and looking forward to decorating my house with holiday decorations!! This is the first Christmas in our new house. :-D

BJ's Animal Sounds

BJ at 18 months making animal sounds.

The Loss of a Friend

Hi Everyone,

Yes. I am still alive... but my blogging heart was not for a very long time.  This summer, my husband's family lost a beloved sister, daughter, aunty in Sonya Chin Alo Alder.  She was my husband's aunt and she lost a long battle with breast cancer... To me, she was my motivation and inspiration as a blog writer, and when she passed away, I felt like I lost my way.  It's not fair to blame Aunty Sonya for my writer's block, but my conversations with her pushed me to write my blog entries.  When she was gone, I couldn't think of topics, or even motivate myself to write.  I'm really sorry if I lost connections with all of you, but it was so hard.  I didn't even want to check my amauimommy e-mail. :-(

Then, one day last week, I was trying to find pictures of BJ, and I realized I couldn't find any recent ones.  I immediately got mad at myself because I wasn't documenting his growth.  Plus, Aunty Sonya would be sad to learn that I wasn't keeping up with my blog.

I'm going to try to push myself to write more now, for Aunty Sonya, and for the rest of you who are out there and maybe I don't know that you are reading.  Thank you for your patience as I revamp my blog and start over again.  Love you all, and love you Aunty Sonya.

TracePoo

Throwing Up

{warning} Kinda gross entry coming up but I had to talk about it:

Honestly... I thought that diarrhea was pretty gross... But I think vomit might be worse.  At least with diarrhea, it catches in the diaper (most of the time).  Lately, BJ has been having mucus and we think it's because he's been teething.  His mouth is full of teeth!  Anyway, last night as BJ was lying in our bed, I heard him choke on his mucus and make a heaving sound.  All of a sudden, I hear a mountain of water (and other nasty things) come flowing out of his mouth.  Let me tell you, cleaning up vomit at 11 o'clock at night is NOT FUN.  HJ and I decided we should sleep downstairs on the couch because we didn't want to wait for our bed to dry. :-/

And then, BJ and I were hanging out on my bed again today, and I heard him start choking on his mucus again so I quickly picked him up off the bed... and he threw up all over me! I mean, I'm glad that he didn't throw up on the bed again, but having a yogurt/sausage mix all over your clothes is pretty gross, even if it's your child's throw up.

Yaaaah... not a fun two days.

In happier news, have you signed up for my giveaway for 500 business cards?  I have another giveaway coming soon so stay tuned! <3

Getting Dirty

BJ and I got to hang out yesterday now that I'm home for summer, so we went to water my parents' yard because they were away on vacation.  While we were there, I realized something extremely important. 

Sometimes... it's important to learn how to stay clean....

And sometimes, you just have to plaaaaay and get dirty.....

Ooh! A lemon in the muddy water!

Hmm... I see this muddy water.

Okay I'll go swimming in it and just shower later...

And sleep on the car ride home.

Realization - Toddler Status

Just today, I realized that BJ is no longer really considered a "toddler". Even though he's only (almost) 15 months old, he runs around like he owns the joint, eats regular table food, talks up a storm, and is basically a small, tiny person.

Wow.

I have a toddler as a son.  (Some of you are probably rolling your eyes and going "DUH"... lol)

He's no longer a baby:

No.  He's a full blown toddler:

I love him but seriously, he makes me feel old. Time flies way too fast.

A Day at Keopuolani Park

Family fun day at Keopuolani Park in Kahului.  (There is a great park with 3 large jungle gyms for children of all ages.)

Running on the little toddler jungle gym

Trying his best at the downhill swing

Enjoying the swings

My favorite picture of the day - Pure joy

BJ's First Beach Day!

We had a family outing on Sunday and went to the beach!  Being that we are from Maui, you would think we would go to the beach more often, but this was BJ's first trip to the beach and he's 14 months old! haha. The real reason is because it takes so much to pack up towels, water, extra clothes, sun screen, hats, chairs, etc... We've just been way too lazy.  Plus, I'm a freak when it comes to the sun since I've heard so many horror stories about skin cancer, so I've been pretty protective about going outside.

Still... since we are in paradise... we decided to give the beach a try and had a great time on family fun day.

Please excuse the embarrassing photo.

We decided to go the Sugar Beach in Kihei and we loved it!  You could park right next to the sand, so your car is in full view. Plus, there were lots of shady areas for us to sit on the sand and make sand castles.  I was surprised... he didn't even eat the sand!

When we first took Bj into the water, he started crying because he was scared of the waves.  No, not just cried, SCREAMED. When we took him out a little deeper, though, he enjoyed the calmness of the water and mommy splashing water on daddy. hehe.

Overall, I'd say Beach Day was a success... and we need to have them more often!

Healthy Eats

Before I had BJ, I had an image in my head of how I would be the perfect mother - and one of those attributes included feeding baby healthy, homemade foods, and sitting around the dinner table eating a family meal together.  Of course, when reality set in and time became involved, BJ started eating more and more take out and frozen meals. *Sigh* I'm imperfect.  

A recent outing at Burger King

Today, HJ and I set a goal for ourselves to be better about our entire family's eating habits.  We've been eating out way too often, and have been teaching BJ that take out and fast food is okay to eat daily.  His favorite food is French Fries and if he sees one of us eating french fries, he'll cry out in frustration because he wants to eat it too.

Sooooooo I went to the library yesterday and borrowed a book on homemade toddler foods, and I realized that in reality, it's just adult food without the salt!  After my realization, HJ and I went to the neighborhood supermarket and purchased fresh meats and veggies, and I plan to make dinner at home every day this week.   I'm really excited.  I have also fallen in love with our slow cooker... a true best friend for a busy mom!!  You just place your food in the pot before you leave the house, turn the knob to low/high heat, and voilà, your food is done when you get home from work. I love it!

I hope that you are all eating yummy meals with your families, and if you can share tips with us, I would love to hear from you.  Wish us luck. :-)

The Next Child

I'm an only child... and it can be rather lonely sometimes.  I watch siblings interact with each other and I feel sad sometimes that I will never have that connection with someone as I get older.  This is why I want Jacob to have sibling(s?) who are close in age, and I feel most only children feel the same way.  The sad part about this is that childcare is extremely expensive, so I don't think we'll be able to afford another child for awhile.  I wish that we could have another child soon, but it's just not in the cards. *Sigh*

Just some random thoughts...

Entrepreneurship

I want to own my own business.

Seriously.

I just don't have a craft that I'm good at. And I think that's a major part of owning your own business, isn't it?  Actually having something to sell.... Yah. I'm sure that would help.

I like to think I'm diverse and can do many things okay, but I'm not GREAT at one specific thing; that one thing that will make me have my own business.

If any of you have any ideas, please share.  Thanks! :-)


By the way... Jacob now says "Basketball" and "I love you"... which sounds more like "basetball" and "wovewoo"

Vocabulary

BJ's been pretty verbal lately.  He'll walk up to us, point to something, and saw a word or two... sometimes even a long length of sounds that seem like a sentence.  The most difficult part is that sometimes, he doesn't actually say words, even though he thinks he is. He gets really frustrated if he's talking to us but we don't understand him.  I think it's a really difficult stage that he's in right now because he knows what he wants but it's hard for him to verbalize it.

BJ talking to mommy

  Here are words he can say at 14 months old. (He turns 14 months on the 9th)

Jacob... how old are you - "One" - As he holds his index finger up, symbolizing the number one
"Down"
"Yah"
"Wow"
"Hi"
"Hot"
"That"
"Mom"
"Bow-wow-wow"
"Mum-mum"
"Nice" - Just learned this one
"Wa" - like water

There might be a couple of more words he can say and I'm pretty sure I'm missing some.

I think this is a pretty good list for 14 months old; especially since "No" is not in there yet. Hehe. He does something different every day.  It's amazing how much information a young child can retain!  The brain is an amazing organ. :-)

Poop

Okay this is one of those posts that most people don't want to read about... but I thought I should catalog this in BJ's blog because it's something that happened to him and I promised to write everything that happens in his life.

BJ has been having diarrhea.  Not just diarrhea, actually, but yellow, watery, icky diarrhea.  I feel so bad for him... It's been going on since Sunday, the day that he had his fever, and at first we weren't worried because we thought it would go away just like his fevers, but they haven't gone away yet.  Today, HJ and I were nervous because it's the 5th day and he had 3 dirty diapers in the early morning so I called the doctor's office, and the advice nurse said it sounded like a virus and to just make sure BJ stays hydrated.  Really?  Is that all?  I'm sure he's fine because he's acting normal, but it's still nerve-wracking when something about him isn't normal. I hope things get better for him soon.  The nurse said a virus could last as long as a week, so... I guess it's just a matter of drinking lots of water/pedialyte and waiting. *sigh*

PS:
I am saving you from pictures tonight because no one wants to see the gross diapers that I have seen the past couple of days. YUCK. hehe...

PPS:
If BJ reads this 20 years from now, or worse yet if his future girlfriend reads this 20 years from now, I feel bad for him. :-P