2011 Jan-Feb-Mar

2011 January-February-March

Life with PJ and Mei Mei

January

When Daddy was down with a cold, and Mommy was busy working and taking care of E-Ling, Grandma and Grandpa took PJ to Santa Cruz for a few days. Observations from Grandpa follow:

• I buckle him in, ask, do you think someone else might fit in the PJ seat? He looks at me slyly, grinning, in his sing-song voice, "Would somebody be - you?"
• He walked up to A through D gates at the Harbor, pulled on them. They opened! So Peej allowed us to tour the slips down close by the boats.
• He tripped once. Cried a little, but not much. Later I saw him pull up his left pants leg to see if there were any marks. Just like adults might do. Seems like only yesterday we had to check him for wounds.
• He is very avid and animated while we build the ant track. We have two levels and bridges now, and action is fierce. Peej is a very hands-on God; he monitors closely, handles the ants, closes gates and helps stragglers up the long ramp. But especially I liked how he contributed to the construction, when none of us knew how to go about it. Was very definite about what we should do; kept asking, is it done?
• He isn't at all shy, nor is he concerned about his own place in the pattern out on the playground. If other kids are sliding and climbing the rails, younger or older, he won't unless he judges it right. This is one very strong character trait, I think. Lots of trouble follows from following the pack.
• Very strong sense of his own space. He loves Grandma, and will come up and hug her own his own, and he's beginning to do that with me, a little. But he will unconsciously move my arm from around his shoulders more often. We're watching Wonder Pets (We learn dental hygiene tricks of crocodiles!) and I'm holding his hand and he will gently without thinking about it thrust my hand away after a while.
• I already told of his asking for chocolate milk, and Grandma says, 'Maybe when you wake up from your nap,' and Peej says, 'But I'm awake now!'
• Peej told a story, and it evolved like this. 'Someone was mad in my school.' You mean (and I imitated a baby whining). No, not 'Wyyy-wyyy-wyyyy.' We asked him who. No comment. Another kid. An adult? Not a teacher? A parent. We were left with the impression a parent was angry, but we were unable to learn how it was expressed. Finally, on the way home, Peej told more of the story. HE was the angry one. He said he was playing in the classroom, and somebody came in. Impression was that it was two somebodies; other kids. Peej ordered 'Out - out - out!' and the trouble began when they didn't, I suppose. Em thinks the story may be imaginative. He definitely blew up, though, and nobody could pacify him. He was off for 45 minutes or so. He's a marvelously complex little critter, and there are phases along the way for everybody, but I'd sure like to know what goes on in that little head to make him so sad and mad sometimes.
• Just some impressions of Mr Superb I miss the little guy Can't wait to become acquainted with Sydney Mae.

Daddy's observations for January are:

• On his first day of school, PJ was pushed by Ben and got quite upset. Then at lunchtime, he ate too fast and threw up, causing the second crying episode.
• Sometimes we read a tractor book, which shows a tractor scooping a big load of mulch and PJ asks if the mulch can turn into mochi. I say no, but explain how the mulch can turn into apple juice, if you plant an apple seed. He understands this, since last fall we made apple juice after picking and pressing apples at Auntie Mel's.

February

• "Oh boy, peas and spinach!" exclaims PJ upon examining his dinner plate which featured, among other items, peas and spinach.
• "Mama, are you putting your boobs in?" asks PJ while Mama was putting in her breast pads.
• "Dada, are you still sick? Yes or No?"
• "Blowing bubbles is more fun than dancing."
• This month it snowed up at the Tilden Steam Trains. I know because PJ and I drove through it on the way to pick up Lau Lau from the airport.
• PJ gets a bath every other day. On non-bath days, he often protests mightily when I nominate a time to scrub his face, hands, feet and privates with a washcloth. On one particular day, he was especially fussy so, while sitting on the floor with him corralled in my lap, I held both of his hands/arms with my left hand while I washed his face with my other hand. During the entire face washing he thrashed around and whined and continued to do so after I finished. In a stroke of genius (insanity), I started washing his face again, and told him I would only stop after he calmed down and said he was sorry. Amazingly if worked, and he even cooperated with the rest of his washing, under the threatening cloud of more washcloth on the face.
• Prior to E-Lings arrival, Em and I generally split PJ's night time ritual of bath and reading by alternating nights. With the new arrival, I have taken charge every night, including sleeping in PJ's room, and, somewhat confusingly, this change has been my favourite "thing" about our new arrival. Specifically, I really look forward the time PJ and I will spend together during his bath, getting on "jams", reading books in the "big cribber", playing with the light, and finally singing "Yaka Mika" when he's tucked in around 8 pm. Around 10 pm, I come back into the room to sleep myself, and feel intense contentment to hear him peacefully and soundly snoring away. Perhaps the best time though, is the morning, when PJ comes out of the "cribber" and joins me in the "big cribber", where we snuggle under the blankets while he drinks his "chocolate nook ni-ni".

Yaka Mika

Yaka Mika Dika Sho

Herber, Shmerber

Blerbur Merbur Yerber Merber

Yaka Mika Fi

Doka Mika Fa

Yaka Mika Sho

Herber Shmerber Blerber Merber

Yaka Mika Fi

March

On the spur of the moment, we went to Orlando, thanks to Gong-Gong and Lau-Lau. During the flight over, our section of the plane was so hot that Mei-Mei spent the entire flight in only her diaper. Both kids didn't do very well in the heat and humidity once we arrived, in fact PJ spent most of the time playing in the hotel suite and its enclosed balcony rather than being outside. The mandatory trip to Disney World was planned for Monday, but heavy rain and lightning forced us to post-pone until the next day. Unfortunately, I had to fly back (alone) for work, so I missed out. Em had a brilliant solution for dealing with the time change, ignore it. Specifically, we stuck to our west coast schedule by putting the kids to bed at 11 pm eastern time and having them get up around 10 am eastern time.

Nap with Grandpa

Mr Peej and I lay down for our nap. He rustles, is in some distress, calls for Mama, even points toward the foot of the bed, or the next room where she sometimes sleeps when she's here. He kicks his legs over the side of the bed. His eyes are still closed.

I just hold him, bring his feet back onto the bed, tell him everything is all right. In a short while, he subsides, goes back to sleep.

Wakes again, thrashes a bit, I hold him again, soothe him. I see his eyes once or twice pop open, but they're mostly closed during this episode as well. He goes back to sleep.

Wakes after not much sleep, maybe an hour or two at most. He's in a good mood now, it's all right now.

I'm in the back with Peej and Meimei on the way to Kensington. She begins to stress a bit. Peej is looking at her and she at him. Peej says "No, no," like she's making a little mistake he can help her with. She begins to work up a cry again and Peej says "No" again. She doesn't cry. Peej just looks away as if it's the most natural interplay there is. I am so amazed.