Missing Each Other

With Elina gone most of the week now, Eli really misses his buddy. I knew that Eli would miss Elina, but little did I know that Elina would miss Eli just as much. She complains that she doesn't get enough play time with Eli anymore because on her long days, Eli's already taking a nap when she gets home and on short days, Eli has to eat lunch and then take a nap right away.
This is what Elina and Eli "snuck off" to do while I made lunch one day. It was a sweet moment. Elina was reading to Eli and he had his head on her shoulder. They were just in the playroom by themselves. These two miss each other so much!

Breaking Out!

Last year Elina was this shy little girl in Pre-K. She was really quiet in school. She didn't want to play with any boys except for D (since he wasn't a rough-and-tough type of boy). She never acted silly in class because she didn't want her friends to laugh at her. She kept all her silliness for the home, which was ok with us. My friend KL told me that kids wear different hats depending on where they are. Elina didn't crack a joke to her classmates until the last few weeks of school and she was so proud of herself when she told me all about it.

She was still nervous and quiet at the Kindergarten Open House a few weeks ago. And during the first 2 weeks of school I had to tell her to try to play with at least one new friend a day so she could get to know everyone. She was nervous and reluctant.

Then comes the third week of school and Elina is one of the biggest chatterboxes in the class! She mainly plays with boys in the class--AM, BL, and CG. Part of it is attributed to the fact that the class is boy-heavy (8 boys, 4 girls), so her table at school is comprised of 3 boys and her. I think the other reason she tends to play with boys more now is because she's discovered their innate silliness. She loves to be silly these days, so now she has found the perfect companions to be silly with her. They tell silly stories and talk about silly topics. It's really funny--well, to 5 year olds. She has grown especially close to AM (pictured next to Elina). They practice short, funny "skits" together and put on a show for anyone who will watch. She always tries to pick AM to be her reading partner, too. It's too cute. B says that D needs to be on the lookout! Here is a video of Elina and AM doing one of their silly things. One person sings "See saw, see saw, everybody see saw," but before the person finishes singing the song, the other person says, "Shhhhhh!" and the first person has to fall down in a silly way. I know-it totally doesn't make sense! How do they come up with this stuff? More importantly, why is it so funny?? You be the judge--




I love that Elina is finally coming out of her shell. She is such a funny, lively girl at home and it always made me kinda sad that the Pre-K teachers didn't see that side of her last year. I also love that Elina is learning to play with boys. She used to be so worried that they would be too rowdy and rambunctious for her, but now she's discovered that boys can be fun and they don't have to be rough-and-tough all the time. Even the PE teacher mentioned to Elina's Kinder teacher, Mrs. V, that she was so happy to see Elina finally having some real fun. Everyone inside and outside of school has noticed that Elina is more social and more silly. We're so happy for our little girl!!

A Mid-Autumn Moon Festival of Sorts

Last week was the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival and I went to Elina's class to tell the kids about the holiday. We don't normally celebrate it, but I tried to do a little more this year because Elina developed a taste for mooncakes and asked me questions about it. I bought Grace Lin's book, Thanking the Moon, and Elina thought the Moon Festival sounded pretty neat. (Grace Lin actually has written and illustrated a bunch of children's books about Chinese culture that are really great, so if you're interested you should check her out!) This holiday is the equivalent of the American Thanksgiving...a celebration of family and togetherness. It's on the night of a full moon, so people celebrate with things that are round--round lanterns, round food (like oranges or grapes), mooncakes. Normally families have a picnic at night where they thank the moon. We were actually going to try to do that here, but the weather wasn't cooperating (lots of rain), so we had to do it in the living room. We did it in conjunction with our Nature Night (where we eat breakfast for dinner while we watch a Planet Earth or BBC Life episode) and I did the best I could with round food. Actually, it was a poor attempt on my part, but the kids still thought it was awesome to have a picnic in the living room so they didn't really care too much. I just made some round pancakes and we made sure to have some oranges around. I didn't have too much round stuff in the house, but the kids still had fun and so did we!

It was fun sharing this holiday with Elina's classmates. Most of them were troopers and tried the mooncakes. Some even loved the taste! A lot of them had heard of this holiday from Kai-Lan (the Nick Jr. cartoon) so they couldn't wait to actually try real mooncakes. Elina was so excited to have me in class that she wanted to sit next to me in front of the class. She even showed off some of her Mandarin by teaching her friends how to say things like "older sister" and "younger sister." It was such a fun day!

We hope everyone else had a wonderful Moon Festival as well!

I Think I'm Done

The cooler weather is FINALLY upon us here in San Antonio. Woo-hoo!

Since the weather's been getting nicer, we've been trying to find restaurants to eat at that have outdoor seating with kids' play areas. There was an article in the Sunday paper about the top 10 places to eat at with play areas. One night this weekend we went with some friends to The Cove. This place has yummy American food and a big play structure for the kids. We've been interested in this place because Guy Fieri (from Food Network) has been to The Cove and loved it. I had the Texas Burger, which sounded sick, but was absolutely delicious. It's a burger with avocado, refried beans, corn chips, salsa, and grilled red onions. I told B that I wouldn't be able to finish this burger and I managed to polish it off all by myself. B was disappointed since he was under the impression he would at least get one bite. In my defense, I was holding Evie almost the entire time I was eating, so I was jut focusing on eating my food in the time allotted (which isn't that long). I wasn't thinking about anything else except eating at that point. Sorry, B! Anyway, the food was yummy and the kids had a blast playing.

The only downer was that there were TONS of flies and mosquitoes hanging around. That's one of the things that totally disgusts me about eating outdoors in San Antonio. This happens even in our own backyard. So it makes it unappealing to eat outside most of the time...until it gets cool enough that these pesky bugs die! I mean, I'm ok with a few flies, but I'm talking about flies everywhere...5 in your food, 2 on your drinking straw, 4 in the chips and salsa, 8 on your diaper bag. It's really pretty nasty. To make matters worse, B was getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes. For some reason mosquitoes love B's blood more than mine (thank God). So we had to borrow bug spray from the restaurant. I mean, the restaurant provides their own bug spray...that should've been the first sign to eat inside, right? But despite the pests, it was still a good meal with good friends and good playtime for the kids.

Then today it was so cool in the morning (55-60F with no humidity and breezy) that I decided we should go check out another outdoor eatery with a play area, Beto's Comida Latina. We thought it'd be ok since it had been so cool. WRONG! There weren't as many flies, but there were 3 times as many mosquitoes! We can never win. But I did bring our own bug spray this time (little did I know that this restaurant also provides bug spray). This place was worse though because the food was not good at all. Everything tasted bland. And to add insult to injury, the "play area" was small and not a play structure at all. There was one slide with 2 ladders to climb up. Definitely dinky. Everything was such a disappointment--the bugs, the food, the play area.

So I'm done with eating outside until it gets cool enough. I need to stop getting so excited about this cooler weather! Until November...

A Cute Crybaby

For those of you who know my kids, you know that they are professional criers when they are babies....well, if there were really such a thing, they would be professional criers. For the first few months of life, they are good at crying--really good at crying. Did you know that when Elina was 1 day old she was kicked out of the hospital nursery because she cried too much? The nurses refused to keep her because her incessant crying would make all the other babies cry. Now do you believe me?

I've never been one to think that the act of crying is cute. I mean, we listened to it non-stop for the first few months with each colicky baby, so why would we EVER think that it's cute?!? Well, recently, Evie developed this new way of crying...and I have to admit that...it's actually...kinda...cute. I know, I know, how could that be? Just check out this video and you'll see what I mean. For some reason she'll cry with her mouth kinda closed, so it sounds muffled. J said it's as if someone told her to cry quietly. Evie's face is just so cute when she does this. These days, when I see that she's getting a little upset, I'll wait for this cute cry because it just melts my heart. Her face is so precious when she cries like this. Sick, right?? I know, but take a look and see what you think--


But then at other times, she's laughing like this....so, who wouldn't love her? (And the person making Evie laugh is J. The things people will do to get their babies to smile and laugh is ridiculous, but necessary.)

Totoro Fever

My Neighbor Totoro is our new favorite family movie. The kids ask for this movie every Saturday night. They're lucky it's a great Hayao Miyazaki movie. (For those of you who don't know Miyazaki, he's a Japanese manga artist who has directed and animated lots of anime movies--Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, and, most recently, Ponyo.) B and I love Totoro, so we don't mind watching it over and over again.
Of course, Elina has started to draw Totoro, along with the 2 main female characters, Satsuki and Mei. The pictures are so cute. The kids sing the Totoro song all the time. Elina even has a print out of Totoro taped to the wall next to her bed. It's a serious Totoro-fest over here. If you have kids, you might want to think about checking out My Neighbor Totoro. The story is simple, but cute. And you can't help but love Totoro...he doesn't talk, but he's adorable. He kinda looks like a cat, kinda looks like a bunny. I don't know, but he's supposed to be a cute forest spirit. Miyazaki loves to explore human relationships with nature, so his movies always have a magical, enigmatic feel to them...but everything is really beautifully portrayed.

Speaking of Miyazaki's "magic," I think I might be one of the few people who didn't like Ponyo. I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't. Ponyo is about a goldfish named Ponyo who befriends a 5 year old boy, Sosuke, and wants to become a human girl. There were too many aspects of the movie that weren't explained (hence, the enigma part of Miyazaki, I guess). I also thought the ending was too odd. Ponyo and Sosuke are supposed to kiss to show they love each other so that Ponyo can become a real girl. First of all, Sosuke is 5 years old. Does he really know what love is? And the kiss they end up having looked like it was a total accident because it seems like Ponyo slips out of Sosuke's hands and then her lips hit Sosuke's lips on her way down. Wha-?? Maybe I didn't interpret the movie properly, but to me it wasn't that great. Am I wrong, people? Somebody help me out here.

Don't get me wrong-I have loved a lot of Miyazaki's other movies and I'm a big fan. I'm just so glad that My Neighbor Totoro is now a favorite in our household!

First Field Trip

One of the things I love about Elina's school is that they take at least 1 field trip a month. This is one of the luxuries of having Elina in a smaller school. There are only 2 kindergarten classes in her school and each class only has 12 students each. So when the kids go on field trips, the 2 kindergarten classes always go together. I really love field trips because it connects what the kids learn in class with the real world. Plus, field trips are just plain fun!

Yesterday we had Elina's first field trip to Cibolo Nature Center. Luckily, J could watch Evie and Eli for me while I attended the field trip with Elina. (Originally, I was going to take Eli along, but at the last minute he got sick, so he couldn't come.) Elina's school depends on parent volunteers to drive students in order to make the field trips work, so I agreed to drive 2 other classmates as well as the teacher. I love doing this because I get to know the teacher and the other kids better.
The field trip was lots of fun. We walked down to a creek with our nets and buckets and tried to catch things. Elina was in her rain boots so she could get into the water. Unfortunately, Elina wasn't able to catch anything. She was pretty bummed about it. Everyone else caught frogs and fish. I think Elina needed a smaller net in order to catch anything. Live and learn, right?
Luckily, one of the parents brought this nifty fishing jar. It was the coolest thing because it had a funnel on the top with a hole just big enough for a little fish. He put food inside the jar, threw the jar into the water (it has a string attached to it), and waited for the fish to swim into the jar. The fish don't know how to get back out of the jar because of the funnel top. This dad would pull the jar back out and have about 8 fish in it at once! So he let Elina hold one of the fish in her hands and then she threw it back into the creek. She thought it was the coolest thing ever! Now we have to go out and buy this jar. Luckily, it's only $2 at the sporting goods store.Even though Elina didn't get to catch anything, she was the only person who saw a lizard on the trail. She ended up chasing after it and the lizard ran so fast, it looked like it was running in the air. It was so neat.

This was a great first field trip because we saw neat things and the weather was pretty nice. Even though it's been so hot and muggy, it was shady and cool down by the creek. It was even mosquito-free! We were all loving it. This trip has definitely inspired us to take the kids exploring in creeks and ponds more often from now on. Elina had a blast and I know that Eli would love this as well.
Can't wait for the next field trip!

We Love San Diego

What's not to love about San Diego? The weather is perfect right now...highs of 70F, sunny, 0% humidity, ocean breezes running through your hair. The city is scenic...right next to the beautiful Pacific Ocean, but you can see mountains as well as beaches. Everything in downtown is nearby and within walking distance...and if it's not within walking distance, if you drive, it will only take 5 minutes to arrive at your destination. So often, we'd look down at our map, look back up, and we'd already be at our destination. We loved San Diego and are already itching to go back! Next time I want to take Elina and Eli as well because there are so many fun, kiddie things to do that we didn't even get to. So what did we do during our stay in this wonderful city? The Mother of the Groom (who also happens to be my 2nd mom or my surrogate mom) put us up at a fancy hotel downtown that was right on the water, the Manchester Grand Hyatt (pictured on the right). We walked around Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island. We ate great Mexican food in Old Town. We went to Point Loma to the lighthouse and Cabrillo National Monument to see the amazing views of San Diego and the Pacific Ocean (pictured above). I had a relaxing massage and facial in Ocean Beach (courtesy of the Mother of the Groom). We walked around Mission Beach and Pacific Beach. We drove through Balboa Park (couldn't stop because Evie was sleeping in the car). We went shopping in Seaport Village. We also ate an amazing breakfast at the Broken Yolk Cafe in the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego (love that California Breakfast Burrito with avocados!!).

The wedding was not traditional at all, but still lots of fun. It was kind of a tribute to the 1940s or 1950s, with some other random things added in there. The groomsmen wore suspenders...guests typed wishes to the bride and groom on an old typewriter...guests ran a 3-legged race to win the bouquet and garter (and movie tickets?!?)...there was a wedding cobbler instead of a wedding cake. Like I said, not traditional. Evie had a good time as well....but after awhile, she was exhausted and fell asleep. Not everything about this trip was enjoyable. Someone (baby who shall remain unnamed) was not always amenable to our ever-changing schedule. J and I had a run for our money the first night in the hotel. At first Evie slept for 2 1/2 hours by herself in the hotel crib. Then after that, she wouldn't have it anymore. J and I just took turns holding her the entire night because she refused to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time in the crib. We didn't want to disturb the neighbors, so we kept holding her. J would hold and rock her and I'd nurse and hold her. I continuously nursed her while sitting in an armchair and we'd both just fall asleep for an hour. Then she'd wake up crying and I'd hand her off to J. It was a rough first night. After that night though, she slept normally. She would only wake up once at night for a feeding and then go back down to sleep until morning. Every morning she'd sleep in later and later because she was missing out on more and more of her naps. For the first few days, she was willing to take all her naps in the car, but starting on the 4th day she had had it. She straight out refused to sleep in the car anymore...so instead, she'd torture all of us with her screaming cry. After the wedding, we all sat in a huge Chevy Tahoe (J, me, and 6 of the groom's family members) and listened to Evie cry the entire 45 minutes it took to drive back to the hotel! Ahhhhh, the joys of having a baby!

Overall, though, Evie was a trooper. Yes, she would scream in the car sometimes because she had had it and that first night was terrible, but other than that, she was pretty good. Sometimes she'd be a little fussy since she was out of sorts, but we'd rock her and she would be ok. Sometimes she was just a happy little baby. Other times she was just plain tired and would actually fall asleep with her head on my shoulder (or anywhere else). The collage below sums it all up--happy and alert...then tired and sleepy.
One funny thing we noticed was Evie's hair. Since the day she was born, her hair has always been kinda spiky...similar to Eli's. But after a day in San Diego, her hair started to flatten. She looked like a completely different baby. We think the humidity in San Antonio makes it puffy and the lack of humidity in San Diego makes it lie flat. Take a look at the before and after shots below. Both were taken on the plane, one on the way to San Diego and the other on the way back. It was a great trip, but J and I are exhausted. With Evie, the touristy stuff, and the wedding stuff, it was a busy, but fun trip. Now we're home and hurting from the 2 hour time difference. It'll take a few days to get back into the groove of things. But while we're adjusting, we're cursing the San Antonio weather and longing for the cool ocean breezes of the Pacific.

We're Off!

Tomorrow J and I are headed to San Diego for a wedding. Since I'm still nursing, Evie will be our "plus 1." I must say that I'm feeling really nervous right now. The bags are packed, but I'm feeling butterflies in my stomach! The last trip Evie went on (to Brownsville) did not go well. She just seemed really sensitive to change. I'm hoping that she won't be that terrible since she's a little older.

I'm just afraid that I'm going to return home with a newborn who constantly needs to nurse. I have to nurse her for take off and landing for her ears. Then I'll probably end up nursing her more if she starts to "act up" on the plane. I mean, seriously, who likes sitting next to a crying baby?? Then at the hotel, I can't let her cry in the middle of the night the way we let her cry at home (for fear of disturbing the neighbors), so I'll probably have to nurse her more. I hope that this is just the worst-case scenario that I'm playing over and over and over again in my head.

J and I can't wait to get there though. The weather is perfect (sunny with highs in the 60s) and there are a few touristy things we want to do. We'll have to see how much fun Evie will let us have. Hopefully, she will cooperate because the weather and the scenery will be amazing.

Either way, wish us luck. We just might need it.

Elina's First Week

Elina's first week of school went really well. She made a few friends and did lots of fun things. Her favorite things seem to be the woodworking center (where she gets to pound real nails) and the writing center (where she always writes her family a letter). She's been kind of shy with playing with different people though. The class is boy-heavy with 8 boys and 4 girls, so I think this makes Elina a little nervous. It's ironic because her favorite friend from last year (besides L) was D, who is a boy. I keep reminding her that there could be another D in her class, but she'll never know unless she plays with all the boys at some point. I try to make her play with one new person each day, but it doesn't always work. But it helps that she is the only girl at her table with 3 other boys. She seems to talk to them a lot just because of their proximity. There are days when Elina asks why L or D aren't in her class with her. I just hope she can find an L or a D this year. (Are you listening, L? We miss having you around!! It's hard losing a best friend.)

One of the things they do each day is they pick one student's name randomly and then the rest of the class interviews that student. Elina got picked on the 4th day of school and she was ecstatic! (Every day she was eagerly waiting for her name to be picked!) Unfortunately, she also got stage fright. I guess the question most of the students asked was, "What's your favorite toy?" Her response was, "Lots of toys." J asked her why she said that and Elina said, "I couldn't think of anything!" J suggested that she could've said Zhu-Zhu Pets and Elina was kicking herself. They also asked, "What's your favorite TV show?" and Elina said, "Kai-Lan," which is weird because she hasn't watched that in awhile. J said, "How come you didn't say 'Super Why'?" (which is the show they watch all the time now) and, again, Elina was kicking herself. Poor girl was too nervous to really think.

Another one of her favorite things is the new goodbye song they sing everyday during closing circle. It's just all different ways to say bye to animals and stuff. It's pretty cute.


Overall, she's adjusting to things. It always takes her awhile to break out of her shell at school. Last year the teachers told me that Elina was really serious at school and they asked me if she was ever silly or crazy at home. I told them that she was always silly at home! It wasn't until the end of the year that Elina started cracking jokes in class. Hopefully, she'll break out her silly self sooner this year, especially since school is every day (whereas it was only 2 days a week last year).

5 months

Evie is still around the same weight (a little over 12.5 pounds), but she's grown another half inch since last month (now 25 inches long). So she's looking longer and thinner this month. Although her cheeks have not shrunk in size, so she's still chubby looking. We love those cheeks!

Eli loves to give the baby hugs all the time. Whenever he sees her laying on the floor, he has to lay down and put his head on her belly to give her a hug. He gets so excited when she accidentally touches his arm or his head. He always shouts, "Mommy, she touched me!" Eli also always remembers to say goodnight to Evie when he goes to bed.


Elina loves to use baby talk with Evie. She especially likes to cheer Evie on when Evie's trying to roll over. I think Elina is just so amazed at all the new things Evie starts to do every few weeks. The first time Evie ever rolled over in front of Elina, Elina's eyes lit up and she just yelled, "Mommy, she did it! She rolled over! Did you see??" It was so cute.

Here is what Evie is up to these days--

1. She rolls over from back to belly and belly to back all the time now. We'll leave her on the floor somewhere and when we turn around, she's already rolled over! It's amazing how quick she is! She loves to travel around a room via rolling. She just keeps going and going now. This has also changed the way she sleeps. Now she'll sleep on her belly and on her side.



2. She laughs easily now. It used to be difficult to get her to laugh a lot, but now it's a different story. We love it! But the thing is, if she sees the camera videotaping her, she immediately stops.



3. She grabs her toes and holds onto them. She can also reach and grab for things intentionally.

4. She loves her bedtime. We usually put her down around 9pm, but she will stay up for at least 30 minutes just chatting with herself. J said that she probably is glad to have some peace and quiet.

5. She takes great naps. Nowadays, she naps for at least 90 minutes at a time. It is so wonderful that I can depend on this time now. It was always hard to get things done before because I never knew if she'd sleep long enough, but now things are getting more manageable.

6. She has super-sensitive skin. Ever since we took little Evie swimming and to the beach, her skin has not been right...especially her face. For a time she had all these little bumps everywhere and it just looked really awful on her face because heat would make it look worse. So if she cried, her face got red and splotchy. Now her face has started to get better, but I think I set it off again the other night when I put some Aveeno baby lotion on her face. So, no more lotion for her. Hopefully, she'll outgrow this.

7. She pushes me away when she's finished eating.

Besides the fact that Evie still doesn't sleep that well through the night, everything has been pretty wonderful. She only wakes up once at night, but she doesn't sleep for that long in one stretch, which is odd since she knows how to put herself to sleep. Even though Evie is 5 months old, I'm pretty tired. Unfortunately, this means that we will have to train Evie to give up this middle-of-the-night feeding...which is never fun for a parent. Hopefully by the time we post about her 6 months, I will be sleeping through the night as well!

Morgan's Wonderland

This past weekend we met up with Elina's friend D and his family at a place called Morgan's Wonderland. This is my new favorite play place now. It's the world's first ultra accessible family fun park and everything in it is geared towards people with special needs. All the doors and walkways are wider to accommodate wheelchairs. They have tons of play structures that are designed for individuals with physical and cognitive special needs. The play structures have ramps that are wide enough for wheelchairs, too. They even have wheelchair swings. Besides this, they have car rides, a train ride, a carousel, a sand circle, a fishing wharf, a huge interactive water table, and a music garden. Everything is wheelchair accessible. It's an amazing place!



Here is Eli playing in the music garden--




The other great things about this place are that it isn't very crowded, it's super clean, the employees are really friendly, there are water misters everywhere, and everything outdoors is covered with huge canopies. So even though it was 95 degrees and sunny out, we felt cool the entire time.

One big piece of news is that Eli had his first lollipop ever! He was so excited...plus, it was one of those big, swirly lollipops. Who wouldn't love that? Check out his huge smile...
We all had a great time and we'll definitely be back. The only "drawback" is that it costs $15 per person, but we don't mind paying this amount if it supports something as wonderful as this. For $15, it's really a steal. We were there from 10am until 1:30pm and we still didn't get to see everything. We just can't wait to go back!!