Chase as Zack's personal wind-up toy

Prior to this video, Chase was making Zack laugh by drumming (with two pencils) all around the living room. Of course, by the time I got the camera out, Chase didn't want to make him laugh again, as he "had enough". But, Chase is still a ham for the camera. And, Zack still loves smiling at his brother, his own personal wind-up toy.

The Artist

Here is some of my artwork from school in January.


Do you think I'll be a poet one day?

Long Time No Post

Yeah, I know it's been awhile. I know I haven't kept up my new year's resolution so far. Here are my excuses: 1. Our internet connection sucks since we just connect to whatever's out there, and I guess this mountain doesn't have great connection. 2. I'm still a bit sleep deprived since baby Zack decided to change his sleeping patterns on me the past few weeks, so we spend most of the time from 2 am - 7 am on the couch, and after work, I'm just too tired to blog. 3. I have yet to replace my camera, which broke before Christmas, so I have been using Chris' camera. 4. Where does one find the time?

I'll back-track and catch up with my blog at some point, but to hit the highlights:

* Zack had a great 4 month checkup in February. He is 14 lbs and in the 25th percentile for weight and length. He still has congestion, probably from viruses, but that's what happens when he's around an 18 month old (at Auntie Oanh's on MWF) and big brother Chase, who probably brings home a lot of germs from preschool on a daily basis. Zack was super feverish and not himself after his 4 month vaccinations. We're all happy that he got better after a couple of days.

* Zack is all smiles and loves people. He "talks" a lot, and loves to stand on my legs. He is discovering his toes and has found his right thumb. He loves sucking on his hand and is drooling a lot since he's teething. He loves tracking the motions when I sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." He laughs when I sing "The Wheels on the Bus".

* Chase has been having a lot of vivid dreams the past couple of months. He'll wake up in the middle of the night and talk about them in extreme detail.

* We're enjoying Chase's vocabulary and funny sense of humor (he loves making cross eyed faces to make us laugh during dinner), or when it comes to his answers to the Question of the Day at school, or his funny jokes. But his favorite saying these days is "No Way!" and "I'm just kidding you!" But, he's adopted some bad behaviors too, like spitting and talking back. He doesn't like getting his face washed when he spits, and he has visited time out on several occasions.

* Chase loves his brother. On Valentine's Day, the question of the day was "What is love?" He said, "Hugging Daddy and giving Zack a kiss." He loves to give Zack hugs and kisses. (But, he also sits on him and screams at him on occasion.) Tonight he said he can't wait until Zack is older and he can share his "mans" (GI Joes) and cars with him.

* Chase's favorite books these days: Where's Waldo (from my collection as a kid) - He loves little details and finding Waldo and talking about the silly things happening in the picture. GlamMa gave him PuzzleBuz, a magazine subscription from Highlights. He loves doing all the puzzles, mazes, and searching for pictures.

* Loving my new job...lots of training (going to and leading them) but the hours are working out, and I'm learning a lot professionally. This month was busy with a lot of testing, an annual assessment we give our ELL students. I'm getting to know a lot of schools and principals in different K-12 schools in the district.

* It's been hard to go to Bikram yoga because I'm still so sleep deprived. But I try to go once a week. Chris just did the Swamp Romp, the muddy obstacle course race he did last year. It's been awhile since he's gone mountain bike riding with the guys though. Once we get into a better routine, we'll try to incorporate more of our yoga and biking when we can.

* January and February were very rainy months, so we had some leaking issues in the house. We have yet to paint the interior and exterior, but I can't stand the mosquitoes, humidity, and vog. So I'm hoping to be more productive this spring, when everything dries up. Surprisingly, it didn't rain at Punahou Carnival this year. So Chase got to enjoy 2 days of the carnival. He already wants to go back to a carnival again (GlamMa wants to take him to Disneyland for his 4th birthday. We'll see if he's 40 inches or not.)

* We've hiked Makapu'u a few times and saw a lot of whales. (We also saw an elderly man who had fallen off the side of the trail and needed emergency attention for his bleeding head. Of course, that's all that Chase could talk about...never mind the whales. "That man fell off the edge. He should be more careful!") We also went on a whale watching cruise (which may turn into an annual event) with the Halsalls.

* Went to Shelly's (my future sister-in-law) bachelorette party and bridal shower.

* Celebrated Chris' 39th birthday...He celebrated by buying a new (but used) car since his other one has no stereo, no A/C, among other broken things.

Finally, baby Zack and I are off to Sacramento on Wednesday for Jay and Shelly's wedding. They wanted a destination wedding, so some 150 family and friends will be joining in the festivities at a winery in Livermore, about an hour from San Francisco and Sacramento. All his friends will be going snowboarding in Lake Tahoe the following week. Chris couldn't take off work, and at the time, I didn't think I could handle both kids by myself, so just Zack and I are going. But I wish Chase was coming. And he does too. Yesterday, when I told him we're going, he said, "Oh, I'm going to bring my backpack and toys and books and Buzz Lightyear. Are you going too, Daddy?" I had to tell him he wasn't going. He said he wants to see snow and see GlamMa. It's too bad because our spring break is the next week. We'll just have to plan a family trip in the summer or Christmas. I hear it's cold, but I'm excited for a trip, as it's been awhile. Auntie Oanh bought Zack a warm onesie/fur jacket. I wanted to just bring a carry on, but I forgot how much stuff a baby needs!

It is picture day tomorrow at Chase's preschool. He has already decided that he's going to wear his cool policeman shirt. I took him to get his haircut yesterday, so he's all set! I'm sure Chris will take Chase hiking up Makapu'u or another trail this weekend. And I'm sure they'll spend a lot of time with Nana and Pop while we're gone...after all, someone's gotta cook dinner.

I hope to have more pictures to share when I return! (and perhaps I'll have more time to catch up on my blogging during spring break)