Ryan's 4 month photo shoot

Ryan turns 4 months old on Monday! Since he was awake and in a happy mood today, I decided to give him a mini photo shoot. For more pictures, below is a link to my Picasa album.

Picasa Album - Ryan's 4 Month Photo Shoot 

Wearing the beanie that someone at work made for him.

Can't get enough of that cute round face!

I LOVE pictures of baby feet and hands!

Butt shot.

Always sucking on his thumb.

Ready for the corporate world!

Sexy pose with one hand on his knee.

"Who keeps calling me!"

Serious pose.

Nathanisms: San Francisco

Conversation with Tu-Vi during dinner yesterday.

Tu-Vi: "Did you miss me?"

Nathan: "Did you go to Las Vegas?"

Tu-Vi: "No, I went to San Francisco."

Nathan: "Francisco is a car."

(referring to the character in the Cars 2 movie)

Tu-Vi: "San Francisco is a city."

Nathan: "No, it's not. It's a car!"

Nathan's singing voice

No intro needed, just listen for yourself...

 9/12/2011: In desperate need of guitar lessons, LOL.

9/5/2011: Giving Ryan a lullaby concert.

9/22/2011: Rocking "froggy baby" to sleep. Nathan loves this stuffed frog and sleeps with it.

Nathanisms: Flushing the toilet

Nathan was intrigued by the toilet at Aunt Terri's house because the flushing mechanism is a push down button located at the top of the toilet. Nathan goes pee and flushes the toilet. Thong comes in and sees him. The below dialogue was retold by Thong, so hopefully I have the conversation right.

Thong: "Nathan, what are you doing?"

Nathan: "I go'ed pee and I flushed the toilet. I want to flush it again!"

Thong: "You can't flush it unless you go pee."

Nathan: "Ok, I'll go pee again."

Thong: "But you already pee'd."

Nathan: "Then I'll go poo."

Haha, someone really wanted to flush the toilet.

Sunday 9/25: Two races in one day!

Race #1: Susan G. Komen

Linh ran the Susan G. Komen 5K at Fashion Island in memory of his friend/roommate who died of brain cancer and my dad who died of Leukemia. 

The whole family (incluing Deanna and Wilson) woke up at the crack of dawn to go with Linh. It was a hectic morning getting the kids ready and out the door. As we got on the freeway, Linh mentioned that he was going to bring the camera, but didn't because he thought I would have too much on my hands with the kids. I was so bummed! So, I resorted to using my camera phone and the photo booths at the race, LOL.

Linh and Nathan before the race.

Excited to go get free samples!

Linh ran the 5K with Wilson, Alfred, Thong and Ali, while I collected free samples with Deanna and Kim. Once we were done, we took Nathan to the kid zone for some kid friendly activities. Nathan got a balloon sword and cool shark tattoo. 

 Feeding Ryan before heading to the booths.

Ryan was such a trooper and did not cry once!

I <3 UCLA! The banana in his hand was the first freebie that Nathan got.

 The loot! We actually got a bunch of other stuff that we ate along the way.

Photobooth #1

Photobooth #2

Photobooth #3 (the background on this one is pretty cheesy)

 Cool tattoo!

Trying to do the hang loose symbol with his fingers. 

Since I had everyone's cell phones, we waited at the kid zone for everyone to come back. I start to see people trickling back...then come Wilson and Thi...waiting...waiting...waiting...still waiting. Where the heck is Linh? I get tired of waiting and the kids are getting restless, so we leave the kid zone. Unbeknownst to me, Linh and the boys (minus Wilson) went to the car to drink some beer after finishing the run. His mistake...he incriminated himself when he came strolling back with beer in hand. I was beyond LIVID! He was so in the doghouse. His reason for the beer..

Linh: "We were celebrating finishing the run." 
Me (incredulous): "For a 5k?"

Race #2: Eating Marathon

After the race, we headed up to Manhattan Beach for a BBQ at Aunt Terri's house. A BBQ at Aunt Terri's house always means an abundance of delicious food, drinks and good company. But, let me tell you, it was literally an eating marathon. We seriously had to pace ourselves to eat all that food.

Nathan tried scallops for the first time and LOVED it. He better not get too attached though...we can't afford to feed him scallops, LOL. He even got to drink his first carbonated beverage (not soda, just carbonated juice). The surprise of the day for Linh was when I drank a mimosa...my first alcoholic beverage in years!

Thanks to Aunt Terri & Uncle Dave for being such amazing hosts! I feel intimidated by the thought of having them over now. The bar has definitely been set very high.

Yummy!

 Cheers!

Below is all the delicious food we ate (in order of appearance). This was after excluding BBQ chicken and tacos from the menu. 
1) Raw ahi tuna seasoned with sesame oil 

2) Seared scallops with a caprese-like salad of heirloom tomatoes, basil and roasted onions.

3) Spicy bean sprout salad (pictured with the corn below)

   

4) Trung ga lon (similar to a balut). Nathan's favorite! He ate 2.

5) Roasted corn with Parmesan cheese

   

6) Artichokes
7) Chao ca (porridge with fish) 

8) Pho ga (chicken pho)

9) Che chuoi (banana dessert)

Quail egg in disguise

For dinner today, I made sup mang cua (a.k.a. asparagus/crab soup) with quail eggs. Nathan declined the soup and ate rice with thit ga kho gung (a.k.a. ginger chicken) instead. 

Being Linh's son, Nathan loves eggs, so he asked for some quail eggs with his rice. I gave Nathan all of the eggs in my soup bowl (3 total). Linh didn't want to sacrifice his quail eggs, so he gave Nathan a piece of asparagus instead and told Nathan it was a quail egg. 

He ate it and kept asking for more, LOL! I was giggling under my breath the whole time. Asparagus looks and tastes nothing like egg. Nathan kept saying how the quail egg was yummy. When Linh pretended to try and take back a piece of asparagus, he told Linh "Don't take things from kids!"

Note to self, if you want Nathan to eat something new, just call it an egg. 

Injury prone & exhibitionist

If you asked me how Nathan's weekend was, two words come to mind: exhibitionist & injury-prone. I don't know if it's a part of growing up, but he is definitely getting more scrapes, bruises and bumps.  

Saturday (9/17) morning:

Every Saturday morning, I take a tennis class at IVC. To occupy the kids, Linh took Nathan, Ryan and Einstein for a walk. Nathan decided to ride his bike rather than walk. Less than a minute into their walk, Nathan tips his bike and falls into the gutter. He is now covered in muddy gutter water. Poor Nathan had to ride around the neighborhood and Tustin Ranch Road covered in gutter water. 

Saturday (9/17) afternoon: 

Linh and I are in the front yard putting up our UCLA Bruins flag. Nathan disappears into the house and is gone for awhile. As I'm adjusting the flag, Linh yells "Hong". I look up to see Nathan standing butt-naked from the waist down in front of the garage.

Me: "Nathan, why are you naked?!?"

Nathan: "Because I pooped! Mommy, are you proud?" 

Who knows how long he was standing there. Luckily, no one was walking their dog or driving by at the time! 

Sunday (9/18) morning: 

Linh is washing the cars and lets Nathan help spray the water. Of course, Nathan goes a little overboard and sprays water into the garage. This makes the epoxied garage floors extra slippery, so when he runs into the house, slips on the water, falls backward and hits his head on the cement. Poor Nathan comes into the house, crying with a huge bump on the back of his head. I ask Linh to give Nathan something to ice his bump and what does he give him? A Tina's burrito, of course.

Neighborhood block party

Yesterday, our association held an end of summer block party just two houses down from us. The party was complete with a bounce house for the kids, a DJ, lots of food and booze and of course, good company. 

Nathan had a blast going down the water slide! Meanwhile I nervously watched from the sideline. I admit, I was being overprotective mom. I was amazed at how well behaved all the neighborhood kids were (well, most of the kids) and how they all knew Nathan. Many of the older kids even looked after Nathan to make sure he didn't get hurt or trampled.

Everyone had so much fun that a Halloween block party is already in the works!

Nathan getting ready to go down the water slide.

 The first few times were a little scary!

Love this picture of Nathan! Look at the abs on that little kid, LOL.

 

He was smiling like this the whole time.

It was not easy prying him away from the bounce house for dinner. Even the promise of dessert proved to be ineffective.

Time with one of his best friends and his bicycle riding buddy, Hayden.

Daddy & Ryan waiting for the party to get started.

Rare picture of me and Ryan since I'm always the one taking pictures.

Einstein got alot of love from the neighborhood kids.

Growing up

My boys are growing up so fast!

Nathan - For the very first time, Nathan got mad at me...very mad. Nathan was playing with Ryan a little too roughly, so I told him "Nathan, please stop. You're being too rough with your brother." What I didn't expect was for him to storm off into the living room. When I tried talking to him, he stomped up the stairs and gave me the silent treatment. It took a bit of coaxing to finally get him to talk to me. Gone are the days when I could do no wrong in his eyes (sigh).

Ryan - At almost 15 weeks old, Ryan has recently discovered his hands and his voice. He constantly stares at his little hands and tries to aim them towards his mouth. At first, he would miss alot and end up with a fist in his eyes, nose, cheeks...anywhere but his mouth. He's mastered his aim now and every chance he gets, he's sucking on his hand. 
 

Ryan's also much more talkative and loves when people talk to him, especially in a high frequency voice. Below is a video clip of Ryan cooing.

New addition

When we sold the BMW (my very first car), we decided to get the Oddysey first (b/c of the kids) and I would get my "luxury" car when the Accord died. Well, it looks like I'm going to get my luxury car sooner than expected! We decided to buy the Mercedes from Linh's mom rather than try to sell it. Nathan is in LOVE with this car, so we broke the news to him yesterday on the way home from Kindercare.

Nathan: "We have two small cars (referring to the Accord & Mercedes) and one big car."

Linh: "Nathan, did you know we are going to buy Ba Noi's car?"

Nathan: "Yay!"

Me: "We took money out of your piggy bank to buy the car. Is that ok?"

Nathan: "Some of the money?"

Me: "No, all of it."

Nathan (trying not to, but starting to cry): "But I need the money."

LOL...I felt so bad. I didn't realize he was so attached to the money in his piggy bank.

 

Nathanisms: Hail storm & bandana

1) Nathan's reaction to the hail storm on Saturday was priceless!

Nathan (excited): "Holy Cannoli!  Oh My God!"

 

2) Conversation with Denny after coming back from tennis.

Nathan: "Uncle Denny, what's on your head?"

Denny: "A bandana."

Nathan: "A band-aid?"

Denny: "No, a bandana."

Nathan: "A bandana, what's that?"

Surfing around

Nathan having fun surfing around after his swim lesson. He makes this look so much easier than it actually is. Pics and video courtesy of Thong.

Nathanisms: Dog treats, TV and "try again"

9/7/2011
Nathan is giving Einstein his jerky dog treat and asks me...

Nathan: "Wanna smell it?"

Me: "No thank-you."

Nathan (as he holds the treat close to his nose and takes a big whiff): "Mmmm, smells good!"

9/7/2011
As Nathan is laying in his bed...

Nathan (in a sad voice): "I don't have a TV in my room. 
Nathan: "Can you buy a TV for me?"

Me: "Why do you want a TV?"

Nathan: "So I can watch cartoons."

9/8/2011

After dinner at Phong and Tu-Vi's house, Nathan is sitting in the corner with Tu-Vi's phone.

Nathan: "Try again."

Nathan: "Try again." 

Nathan: "Try again."

Nathan hands the phone back to Tu-Vi and says "I'm done."

Tu-Vi: "Nathan, you locked me out!"

LOL, he was trying to get into Tu-Vi's phone to play games but didn't know her password.

Car fetish

If you hang around Nathan enough, you know he loves his cars. It doesn't matter if it's Cars movie-themed cars, Hotwheels or no-brand plastic cars from the $0.99 store. But, his weakness for cars doesn't just end with toy cars.

We've had Linh's mom's Mercedes E-class parked in our garage (b/c Linh is trying to sell it for her). As Nathan and I are getting ready to go to Henry's supermarket...

Nathan: "Mommy, can we take this car?" (referring to the Mercedes)

Me: "No, it's not our car. It's Ba Noi's car."

Nathan: "But I want you to drive the black car."

Me: "We can't, your car seat is not in it."

Nathan: "Aww, I want to take this car"

On Wednesday...

Linh took the car to work to show to a potential buyer and Nathan was so excited to be in the car. He was very quiet on the way to daycare, just enjoying the ride.

Nathan: "Daddy, this car has a camera. Your car doesn't have a camera." (referring to the Accord)

Yesterday...

Linh: "Ba Noi is selling her car. She said we can buy it for $40,000. That's alot of money."

Nathan: "I have money in my piggy bank. I have $500."

I guess we better start saving for his car now!

iphone photos/video

Photo/video dump from my iphone...

9/6/2011: This is what happens when you give Nathan too much sweets before bedtime and free reign to dress himself.

 

9/4/2011: The next Al Bundy? He actually had both hands in there, but I wasn't able to get my phone fast enough.
 

 

5/8/2011: Another sleep position.

 

9/6/2011: Blowing bubbles. Notice the drenched shirt!

 

 

Give Phong some gel, a comb and a blowdryer and this is what you get...the next castmember of Jersey Shore.

Nathanisms: Mommy, when I grow up...

Nathan: "...I will learn to drive so I can take you to the doctor."

Nathan: "...I will need to go to work so I can make money."

7/30/2011

Nathan: "...I will need a car."

Me: "What kind of car?"

Nathan: "A race car."

9/3/2011

Nathan: "Where is daddy? He is taking for a long time."

Me: "Daddy is on vacation in Las Vegas. He'll be back Sunday night." Did you know Mommy is going to go to Las Vegas later?"

Nathan: "Daddy goes first and then Mommy?"

Me: "Yes"

Nathan: "Mommy, when I grow up, can I go to Las Vegas?"

Eat, sleep and poop

They say that all babies do is "eat, sleep and poop". That pretty much summarizes Ryan and my time at home with him.

Eat: After 3 months of breastfeeding, I am starting to wean Ryan off of me and exclusively on the bottle. Part of me is excited because I won't have a baby constantly attached to me, but part of me is also sad because I will really miss the bond that I've shared with him while nursing.

Sleep: For the past week, Ryan has been sleeping 6-7 hour stretches at night. Let me tell you how great that feels. I definitely don't miss having to wake up every 2-3 hours to feed him. If only daytime naps were that easy.

Poop: I think I am destined to have children with humongous poops! Some of you witnessed this first-hand when Linh ambushed you with an email innocently titled "Nathan's baby". Well, Ryan is no different. He's a farting machine...mostly silent and deadly. And like Nathan, he won't poop for a few days, but when he does...oh boy...words cannot describe. Today's poopy diaper was no exception. 

Ryan's going to kill me when he grows up, but below is a video of him trying to poop. The result? A very messy diaper!

Nathanisms: Eating ducklings and Bemis penis

1) If Nathan tells you "I want to eat ducklings", he doesn't really mean cute little ducklings or hot vit lon. What he is trying to say is he wants to eat "dumplings", LOL.

2) We recently replaced our toilet seat covers. Nathan is going to the bathroom and Linh hears...

Nathan: "Bemis"

Linh: "What did you say Nathan?" 

Linh's thinking...Is he saying penis? Where did he learn that word?

Nathan: "Bemis daddy!"

Linh's curious now so he checks on Nathan and realizes that Nathan is reading the logo on the toilet seat and NOT really saying "penis". Phew, thank goodness!