3.29.2009

"A little bit"

A little bit, Uncle Randy and Bei
Bei spent Saturday morning at the Nickelodeon Park at MOA with his Dad and Uncle Randy. A Little Bit and I went shopping for a confirmation dress for her.


What a devilish little smile...

Bei getting the tickle bones treatment


Bei had a wonderful visit with his cousin "A little bit" or we pronounce her name "Elizabeth". We picked "A little bit" up from the airport on Friday, along with her dad Randy. Bei latched on to "A little bit" for the rest of the weekend! Hurray! I got a home-vacation again! On Saturday afternoon, they took Bei over to the park for about two hours. He didn't want to come home. It gave Dan and I a chance to cook and clean. Unfortunately, "cook and clean" isn't code for anything else, we truly cooked and cleaned...


3.24.2009

Staying Home

Cutie Pie Bei
Bei, Curly Locks and Max

Last week, Bei made a big deal every time we went any where; he would say "stay home" and then point to the ground. Alot of mom's have told me that their little ones are the same way, it must be common that kids don't like to be on the go all the time. I don't have Bei in any activities so the things that we do, are usually toddler time at the community rec center, zoo's, train museum or grocery shopping. Regardless, we are staying home more because I realize once he is a teenager, he will be off and running. We have been having a great time at home this week...okay it is only Tuesday, but we are both happy campers...at the moment.

3.14.2009

Enjoying the beautiful weather

The three musketeers!

Huckleberry having fun with Bei as he goes down the slide.

Max taking the kids for their first tractor ride of the season.


This afternoon we spent the day with the Huckleberry crew along with some other neighborhood kids.



Bei is a pretty fearless kid and started going down head first while on his back. I was able to capture him laughing which he did every time. He is such a happy little guy!




Bei sliding down after his Easter Eggs which he called "Cupcakes". Don't ask me why...





Friday afternoon Bei and I spent the afternoon at the park behind our house. I couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. I always bring some type of prop to play with because going down a slide or swinging on a swing can get boring quickly. This time I brought some plastic easter eggs, a golf ball and a superball. Bei loved rolling those down the slide over and over.





3.12.2009

Break-through!

Bei started a new routine of wanting to paint when he gets up in the morning. It is a pretty relaxing way to wake up.

Good news! We have had a big break-through with Bei's naps. As some of you know, Bei's naps have been taken in the car since he had his open heart surgery. I had restrictions on how to lift him and I couldn't get him out of the car once he fell asleep without waking him up. So it became the norm for him to take his nap in the car, while I drove around til he fell asleep. I'm a big believer in kids need their naps, so do whatever it takes. Well anyway, he is now taking his naps in bed!!! Yeah me! He was sick in the beginning of February and every day he would take a nap around 2:00 on the couch. Ah...could it really be that easy to get him to take his naps again in the house? So I tried it, but I don't call it nap time, I call it "snuggle time". We lay in bed and read books and sure enough the kid is out in no time. I miss my own reading time that I had in the car sitting with him, but I sure am getting alot more done around the house now.
The other really fun thing about Bei is that his penchant for learning has gone up about five notches in the past month. He is even starting to read! Okay, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but let me explain. We received these books that are very simple books called Baby Happy, Baby Sad, another one is called No No, Yes Yes and there are several others. There is a bobble head baby that is the protagonist of the books. So we have been reading those to Bei and developing a story about each page of the book. For example, Baby sad because the little girl is taking away his toy and not sharing. Baby happy because the little girl is sharing her toys. Now Bei wants to read those books to me along with the story that we created for each page. He has a good memory and a really great imagination.
One of the things that I learned from Ava's mom (little girl adopted from China that we recently visited) was how to introduce Bei to the fact that he was from China. I had struggled with this issue and the solution that she used seemed perfect. She said that they talk about where everyone was born. Today, Bei said out of the blue, "Bei born China, daddy born Shell Lake, Momma born Chicago." It is like he thinks about these things during the day and just blurts them out. I had to get working on this because I was worried that Huckleberry was going to beat me to the punch....well he kind of did but Bei was oblivious to it. Huckleberry LOVES Bei, he is just crazy about the kid. Two weeks ago we took Huckleberry and Max swimming with us, and on the way home, Huckleberry asked me when I was going to tell Bei that he was Chinese? Hmmm...Bei is sitting right next to you, so I think he knows now. To be honest, I forget that he is Chinese and that I need to tell him because it is not a primary focus and not even on my radar screen. I am SOOOOOO crazy about that little boy and can't believe how much I love him. Dan keeps saying to me every night, "we are living a dream". It feels that way to me too!!

3.04.2009

Find out why Green is no longer my favorite color...



Bei got a hold of my lipstick and went to town. He thought he was pretty funny, specially since we read a book that tells little kids that playing with their mom's lipstick is a "no no". I kept repeating the words of the book and he would just giggle.
(This same lipstick made my lips look like I had ate a big bag of cheetos and didn't bother to wipe my mouth. Orange is not my color! He can keep it!)

Bei is toilet training and he said "Bei do it hisself. Mama stay out". And he closed the door on me. He got the stool himself, the potty chair and undressed himself. I think he was pretty proud of himself!


Huckleberry and Company have a nanny from Mexico whose name is Alejandra. We spend alot of time together with the kids and she is just wonderful! She is really excellent with the kids and has a huge responsibility in taking care of them. She does it with poise and grace. In the picture we are celebrating her 19th birthday.


Hulk Hands




The boys coloring easter eggs. Curly Locks was also coloring eggs, but I didn't get her in any of the pictures.


We are a little early but we colored Easter Eggs this week. Oh my...what utter chaos! My first bad idea was to use clear "plastic" glasses so that the kids could watch the eggs turn color. Okay, anyone with a brain knows that isn't going to work with 4 kids under the age of 6. So within seconds colored water was all over the table. As you see in the picture, I moved to what our moms used...tried and tested coffee cups. Second mistake was to not tell the kids that the colored vinegar in front of them was not Kool-aid. Yep, Bei drank the green dye...he lived. Then Bei thought that the colored water was Palmolive dishwash soap to soothe the hands, so he pretty much soaked his hands in the water. You probably wonder why I didn't tell Bei to take his hands out of the water, but believe me, he was the least of my concerns at that point. With 4 kids grabbing colored water and fighting over the one dipping stick that they give you in the box for the eggs, I don't think I even noticed what Bei was doing...hence him drinking and bathing in the green dye. Lastly, when I was cleaning up the egg color, the coffee cup slipped from my hands right into the kitchen sink and splashed directly up into my face and onto my HEAD! Yes! And guess what color it was again...GREEN! I looked like I was ready for St. Patty's day! I was worried since (this may shock some of you) I am not a natural blonde and I was worried about the coloring in my hair. With several good washings it came out! When Easter really rolls around, we will be going to the dollar store for some of those cheap pre-colored plastic Easter eggs.


3.01.2009

Growing

4 year old Ava helping Bei watch his hands before dinner.

Bei's friends Ella and Anna, they are the older sisters to Ava who is also adopted from China.

Bei and I shoveling the driveway after the latest snow storm.


Bei has taken quite a growth spurt recently, both physically and developmentally. His verbal communication has improved remarkably over the past few weeks. He definitely is showing me more of his personality and I'm having to establish some firm boundaries about what he can and can't do. However, on Thursday, we had a perfect day; Bei woke up laughing and it carried through out a very fun-filled day. Honestly, I thought he was the perfect little boy and was going to blog about it that night. Well good thing I didn't, because Bei woke up Friday morning and pretty much gave me the finger...okay, not literally, but figuratively. He was a pistol all day and definitely did not resemble the perfect child I had seen the day before that I wanted so badly to brag about. I'm learning lots about parenting and realizing that every stage a child goes through is fleeting, so enjoy each and every piece of it, because it will change soon enough.