tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59560185715527395682024-03-13T08:27:04.549-07:00Max & Jalen's Blogwatch us grow!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.comBlogger249125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-89744481333786959372013-02-24T22:41:00.000-08:002013-02-24T22:41:22.407-08:00Max is Three!Our baby boy turned three years old on February 1. We scheduled his wellness check up on the his birthday so I was able to find out his stats. Weight is 32lb 6oz (50 - 75%) and height is 37.25" (50 - 75%). Max is growing well and very healthy. The pediatrician tried to carry a conversation with him to test out his verbal skills but he had a little stage fright and didn't say much. At home, we've really noticed a big difference in Max's language skills in the last couple of months. He's really stringing lots of words together and I'm particularly impressed with his proper use of tenses and pronouns. Here are some of the things you might hear him say:<br />
<br />
me: Max, eat your rice and tofu please<br />
Max: I DID, I already ATE my rice!<br />
<br />
Max: I'm tired<br />
Jalen: then go to sleep!<br />
Max: I WILL!<br />
<br />
Max (on seeing a picture of Rick on the TV): that's YOU Daddy, that's YOU!<br />
<br />
Here are some other things that are memorable about Max at 3 years old:<br />
<ul>
<li> He loves his set of 4 wooden Thomas the Train puzzles. He will do them over and over again even though it probably takes him less than 5 minutes to complete each one.</li>
<li>Unfortunately, he doesn't know his numbers and letters that well yet. We really have to work on this one. </li>
<li>Max is obsessed with the Disney/Pixar Cars movies. He especially loves Mater and loves all of the Mater's Tall Tale shorts. He can almost recite all of them by heart even though he doesn't understand all of the words.</li>
<li>He loves to eat oranges. When he eats navel oranges, he really cleans up all of the flesh. He also loves to eat strawberries. Other than that, he's quite a picky eater. When he likes something he'll eat a lot but otherwise it can be quite a struggle to get him to eat. His all time favorite food is probably french fries.</li>
<li>Max is 90% potty trained! He stays dry all day in his underwear. We still put him in pull-ups at night but he's been dry overnight for at least 1 month. He doesn't quite tell us when he needs to go pee so we do remind him to but he always tells us when he needs to poop because we let him watch Mater's Tall Tales as a treat afterwards. I still need to get him to be able to go to the bathroom all by himself (without peeing all over the floor).</li>
<li>Max is not great at sharing toys. He and Jalen often fight over the same things and egg each other on. I often have to separate them and tell Jalen to play in a different room.</li>
</ul>
This year, I decided not to throw a big birthday party for Max. We don't have a lot of friends with kids his age so if I had a big party, I'd be more worried about entertaining the older kids than Max. So instead, I decided to have a birthday outing for him instead. We took him to the Seattle Children's Museum for the afternoon. Jalen and Max both had a lot of fun exploring the museum. I still don't think Max realized that we did that for him, he was just having fun. <br />
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Here's Max in the art studio making a heart with clay. He looks adorable in his little apron!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-3251133237256480172013-01-21T22:11:00.000-08:002013-01-21T22:11:16.890-08:00Potty Training Round 2When Jalen reached about two and half years old, the day care that he attended at the time naturally started to potty train him. They took him to the toilet about every 2 hours and encouraged him to use it in front of all his toddler friends. When the school felt he was ready, they asked us to send Jalen to school in underwear (along with a couple of set of extra clothes). After just a month or so (and a couple of accidents) we were diaper free with Jalen! He kept his underwear dry day and night and rarely had accidents except when he waited too long to go to the toilet. I was extra proud because I reached my goal of potty training Jalen before baby #2 was born. <br />
<br />
This time around with Max, we started trying to get him to pee in the toilet around 2.5 years as well. He showed little interest at first until we finally had a break through after Jalen showed him how to do it. This was around last October so he was about 2 years and 8 months. Max's school was a lot more passive compared to Jalen's old day care. Whenever I asked them how Max did on the toilet at school they kind of just shrugged and told me that he wouldn't go. This meant that we as parents had to take on a much more active role in potty training. After the break through in October we decided to put him in Pull Ups and take him to the bathroom every 2 hours. He did well and peed every time we took him but he wouldn't proactively go to the toilet. It goes without saying that he wouldn't tell us when he needed to poop either. After a couple of months and a few boxes of Pull Ups later, I decided to pull the plug on the expensive Pull Ups and went cold turkey with underwear. Getting him to wear underwear was no problem since we bought a 10-pack of Cars 2 underwear from Costco a long time ago in anticipation of this. He had 1 accident the first 2 days on the weekend. When I sent him to school on Monday I was extra nervous and packed him 2 sets of extra clothes. When I picked him up later that day, I was shocked that he was still wearing the same clothes! The teachers said he did great but no poop. Later that night, Max came over to me and said "uh oh, all wet". He had peed in his pants. After we took off his pants, he said "I need to go poo poo". I was thinking, "could this be?!" I sat him on the toilet and sure enough, a few minutes later he made his first #2 in the toilet! This is a gross and most proud moment in a parent's life. We hooped and cheered him on to give him all the positive reinforcement we could muster. After that milestone, he stayed dry with no accidents (and 3 more poops in the toilet) until the following Saturday when he pooped in his underwear while we were visiting a friend's house. Now it's day 16 with big boy under wear and no accidents at school so far (knock on wood). He still wears pull ups at night but if this pattern continues, I'd be perfectly happy. I'm already imagining the days in my future when I can leave the house without a giant diaper bag. <br />
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-15834670758940620872012-09-25T23:26:00.001-07:002012-09-25T23:26:39.223-07:00Jalen's Limited MandarinJalen is now almost 1 month into his bilingual English-Chinese kindergarten program
and he has finally started to share some of his new Chinese vocabulary
with us. For example, he knows his colors like red (hong se), yellow (huang se) and brown (kafei se);
and he's learning shapes like triangle (san jiao xing) and circle (yuan quan). He is slowly starting
to surpass his daddy in Chinese! The surprising part is that Max is
starting to copy his older brother. The other day he said out of nowhere
"dian dian tou" -- nod your head because Jalen had been repeating it in
song. <br />
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-10807500128325933822012-09-14T22:33:00.001-07:002012-09-14T22:33:41.373-07:00First Week of the School Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week was a busy week of transition. On Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, Max started his first day at his new day care at El Centro de la Raza. It's a bilingual English/Spanish daycare. Before his first day, we brought him in twice to visit so that it wouldn't be such a culture shock for him. He had a fairly smooth first week. His teachers commented that Max knew just what to do when it came time to eat or sleep. He was only fussy after drop off but then would be happy the rest of the day. I guess Max is a day care veteran now that he's at his third daycare in less than two years. I always feel a pang of guilt whenever I put him through a new transition but I also have to remind myself that kids are incredibly resilient and sometimes these transitions are harder on the parents than the children.<br />
<br />
On Wednesday, Jalen started kindergarten at Beacon Hill International School. The morning was pretty hectic where all the parents crowded in the class room with their iPhones and digital SLRs snapping away photos like the paparazzi. There are 3 kindergarten classes and they're all in a big open room with bookshelves and easels as dividers. It must have been pretty overwhelming for Jalen. When the class bell rang and all the parents were being ushered out of the class so we had to say good bye to Jalen, he quietly shed a couple of tears. But he just bravely wiped them away and tearfully said good bye. Initially, Jalen was assigned to the all day English kindergarten program. We had hoped that he would be in the Mandarin immersion program but since we moved in May and kindergarten registration happens in March, we ended up as #3 on the wait list. Then on Wednesday afternoon we got the call from the principal and received the news that Jalen is IN for Mandarin immersion. So from Thursday on, he gets English and social studies in the morning then after lunch he goes to Mandarin immersion where he learns math and science in Chinese. After he got home on Thursday, I asked him if he learned any new Chinese words. He said he learned a lot of Chinese words but he doesn't remember any of them. Haha. We just need to be patient as I'm sure he'll pick it up in no time. I'm so excited that Jalen will be learning Chinese consistently. I better brush up my Mandarin as well so I can start speaking to him in Mandarin at home more.<br />
<br />
So now we face a brand new world of bilingual education (can you imagine when Max starts speaking Spanish?) and public school education. Next week there's a kindergarten potluck where the parents can meet each other. Then later in September we have our first PTA meeting. I'm trying not to think too much about it so that I don't get overwhelmed. It just seems that there's always new transitions so I just need to start accepting change as the norm.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-19815683004562963572012-06-20T22:10:00.001-07:002012-06-20T22:10:51.528-07:00Max's Limited SentencesBeing a second child means that Max is constantly being compared to his older brother. I remember when Jalen was about 2 years 4 months old he really turned the corner and started talking in full sentences. He'd say things like "I want to sit next to you". Max, on the other hand, is still in baby talk mode. He says a lot of things but only I can understand them because I "talk" to him everyday. He is talking in 3 to 4 word sentences though and here are some examples:<br />
<br />
I need help<br />
I wanna go bye bye<br />
I ride bike!<br />
I wanna watch TV<br />
I'm bao bao (full)<br />
I want nai nai (milk)<br />
I'm sorry<br />
I want wafu (waffle)<br />
I don't want it<br />
I play cars!<br />
Bye bye choo choo train!<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yMPR2JrMRf8/T-Ks2bez3rI/AAAAAAAACjk/iqr1_f7hBQ0/s640/blogger-image--161673193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yMPR2JrMRf8/T-Ks2bez3rI/AAAAAAAACjk/iqr1_f7hBQ0/s640/blogger-image--161673193.jpg" /></a></div>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-14928902419057893202012-06-06T23:09:00.000-07:002012-06-06T23:42:41.389-07:00Scenes From the New DaycareOne of the benefits of the new school, Bright Horizons, is that they send frequent email communications including pictures each week. It's a new thing that we didn't have our old school and we've been really loving the ability to peek into their days at school. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's Jalen in his class on his first day. He's still a little shy, but he loves coloring.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's Jalen on his trike. The daycare features a small, grass-less, playground which is a departure from the suburban daycare.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's Max on his first day, tentatively looking at the toys. What you don't see here is a big window overlooking the Space Needle and a, uh hum, gentleman's club.</td></tr>
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-29346913417998946452012-05-28T22:25:00.000-07:002012-05-28T22:25:28.447-07:00Jalen's 5 Year Stats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last Friday we took Jalen to his 5 year wellness check
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jalen is growing great: 46lb 3oz (75
– 90%) and 45.5” (95%).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has always
been on the tall side and it’s exciting to see that he hasn’t slowed down one
bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His BMI is also healthy at 15.7 (50
– 75%).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Jalen doesn’t know how to
swim yet, the doctor advised that we should get him lessons soon so that he
learns within the next couple of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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We’ve had some sleep challenges with Jalen since the
beginning of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had always
been a good sleeper and he’d been in his own room since about 2 months
old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in the last few months he’s
been having a hard time either falling asleep in his own room or staying
asleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had always been firm about
not sharing a bed with him but we’ve had to pick our battles after too many
sleepless nights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve tried all kinds
of different rewards and punishments with mixed results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since one of his key complaints is that he
wants to sleep with someone, we’ve moved Jalen into a room with Max.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has worked well for the most part except
on the nights that Jalen would accidently wake up Max and all hell would break
loose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some nights Jalen has slept on
the floor of our bedroom because we wouldn’t let him into our bed and he wouldn’t
go back to his room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lately, things have
been a little better where he would stay in his room and not wake up anyone
until at least 6:30am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His reward is
that he could play with his favorite toys (Transformers) and watch his favorite
shows (Transformer cartoons on Netflix).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, I’ve noticed that Jalen makes very calculated trade-offs when
it comes to this reward system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see
he goes to school all day on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the night before those days, he’s more likely
to break to rule and come into our bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
because there’s very little time, if any, to enjoy his reward the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whereas on the nights before a non-school day
(he stays home with Grandma on Tuesdays and Thursdays), he is more likely to
follow the rule since he’ll have all day to enjoy his reward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This theory has been proven at least
once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m really hoping that he’ll grow
out of this phase and go back to sleeping well without us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until then, we’ll just have to keep refining
our incentive system to outsmart a 5 year old.</div>
<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-4149009703540927842012-05-12T00:59:00.000-07:002012-05-12T00:59:46.949-07:00The Big MoveI've been away from our blog for a while because we've been busy with our big move. Everything happened pretty quickly. From the time that we got the idea to move in with Rick's mom, to finding a renter for our Bellevue home, to putting a deposit down on a new daycare, to scheduling the move date only took about a couple of months. <br />
<br />
We were lucky with finding a renter quickly but it also posed a challenge. Originally, I wanted to move right before September so that it would line up with the school year. I imagined Jalen would start in kindergarten and I'd have some time to find Max a new daycare. But the renters wanted to move in ASAP, so we settled on May 1. Rick and I scrambled to look for a daycare for both Max and Jalen. I knew it was going to be pretty tough getting full time care for Max since he's only 2 and not yet potty trained. Most places were completely full. I only toured 2 centers, a Bright Horizons downtown near my office and another center called Little Eagles also near downtown. Bright Horizons is a chain and I had toured one of their centers before when I was looking for care for Max as an infant. It's very nice but also really expensive compared to our current daycare. Since our choices were so limited and we had to make a decision quick, I settled on BH because of the quality of the center and its proximity to my office. <br />
<br />
Once we got the daycare down, we needed to figure out what to do with our stuff. Rick's mom's house is 5 bedrooms with a full basement but she already has a house full of furniture and so do we. So we had to decide what to keep for use, what to store, what to sell and what to dump. We posted a bunch of stuff on craigslist and had some luck early on. We also got help from my parents and borrowed a truck to move some stuff before the moving date. On top of that, Rick filled our SUV each night and made almost daily runs to his mom's house after work to drop off stuff. Even so, on moving day we filled a full 24-foot truck. Rick and I spent 9 hours organizing and working alone side of the movers. After the movers left, we spent all night unpacking the essentials so that we could actually take a shower and have linens to make up the beds for the kids. That was one of the longest days of my life. Then we spent all of Saturday cleaning our Bellevue house to get it ready for the renters. We then spent all of Sunday unpacking so we could do basic things like making breakfast and do laundry. <br />
<br />
Coincidentally Rick's mom planned a trip to California to visit his sister for 2 weeks during our big move so she missed out on all of the mess. For the week following our move, we had to figure out a new routine of drop off/pick up and commuting to/from work. Jalen is only in daycare Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays now (to save some money), so on one of the days Rick took him to his office to spend the day there. I took the kids to daycare by riding the light rail and it was quite a challenge to herd 2 kids through the streets of downtown. Downtown traffic is very congested during rush hours so carpooling with Rick isn't a great option either. It's definitely different from what we were used to. Our old daycare
was just a quick 5 minute drive from our home on our way to work and I
didn't realize just how convenient and nice that was. We're still trying to figure out what our new routine will be.<br />
<br />
On a positive note, the kids are adjusting really well to Bright Horizons. I took Max and Jalen to visit the center twice before their official full day but I was still nervous that Max is not going to last the full day. When he started in daycare when he was just one year old, he cried and didn't eat at all. We had to pick him up early from school because he was too upset. His new teacher Lucy at Bright Horizon was nice enough to send me an email to let me know that Max was doing great, not crying and ate all of his lunch. It was a huge relief for me! Jalen was shy in his new class but by the end of the week he already made new friends. When I was picking him up on Friday he was play punching with a boy named Sam and we couldn't even break them up when his dad was picking him up as well.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SFz_NYCFSK4/T64WhkwIqEI/AAAAAAAACb4/i-cC9TQ3r2o/s1600/IMG_2318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SFz_NYCFSK4/T64WhkwIqEI/AAAAAAAACb4/i-cC9TQ3r2o/s320/IMG_2318.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We moved our dining table a couple of week before moving day and the kids loved eating at their picnic table.</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SWH3thrChz0/T64Wkf6jHAI/AAAAAAAACcA/0D9jrUBg8UY/s1600/IMG_2334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SWH3thrChz0/T64Wkf6jHAI/AAAAAAAACcA/0D9jrUBg8UY/s320/IMG_2334.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole house pretty much looked like this on moving day. We just put things wherever we could.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u-4tbhiglv8/T64Wm6sVBSI/AAAAAAAACcI/MT-09kdGc0g/s1600/IMG_2335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u-4tbhiglv8/T64Wm6sVBSI/AAAAAAAACcI/MT-09kdGc0g/s320/IMG_2335.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had the movers unload under the car port so we could move the boxes into the right rooms.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cobnvfvnHWM/T64WqPYy0mI/AAAAAAAACcQ/-nzCUhy8WSY/s1600/IMG_2341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cobnvfvnHWM/T64WqPYy0mI/AAAAAAAACcQ/-nzCUhy8WSY/s320/IMG_2341.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a long day of cleaning on Saturday, our Bellevue house is all ready!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5LIVqSercKY/T64Ws5iKgxI/AAAAAAAACcY/DnNKMX0PNdo/s1600/IMG_2342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5LIVqSercKY/T64Ws5iKgxI/AAAAAAAACcY/DnNKMX0PNdo/s320/IMG_2342.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The place looked so big when it's all empty!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wGmnpJA-M1s/T64Wv-gWnVI/AAAAAAAACcg/LU7x64oU9AY/s1600/IMG_2359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wGmnpJA-M1s/T64Wv-gWnVI/AAAAAAAACcg/LU7x64oU9AY/s320/IMG_2359.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was Max's last day at his daycare and his best buds Cordell and Henry gave him big hugs for bye bye.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rHgxhuPVVdY/T64W0_tJFmI/AAAAAAAACco/brdLNMfqtp4/s1600/IMG_2370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rHgxhuPVVdY/T64W0_tJFmI/AAAAAAAACco/brdLNMfqtp4/s320/IMG_2370.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Max's first day at his new daycare.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EY_66HQFtmA/T64W5IA3aGI/AAAAAAAACcw/hrJ4X284dxE/s1600/IMG_2374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EY_66HQFtmA/T64W5IA3aGI/AAAAAAAACcw/hrJ4X284dxE/s320/IMG_2374.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Max's new class has just 6 kids and 1 teacher.</td></tr>
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This is an exciting and also stressful change for us. I'm looking forward to our new environment and enjoying living in the city again.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-22896372907502004242012-03-12T23:06:00.001-07:002012-03-12T23:08:23.059-07:00Jalen and Max Perform Justin Bieber's Baby<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zCqzdaAYmO0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-90406872045890626152012-02-12T14:44:00.000-08:002012-02-12T14:54:24.055-08:00Yuen Lui Photo ShootWe've been taking the kids to Yuen Lui for yearly photo shoots since Jalen was one year old. In the age of prosumer digital cameras and iPhones, we always have a ton of pictures of the kids. However, these professionals still do the best job of bringing the best out of the kids. Jalen was especially enjoying the modeling.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zbbBrdiExfc/TzhCRgE2ftI/AAAAAAAACGk/p86qZ8SaGJ0/s1600/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_038.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zbbBrdiExfc/TzhCRgE2ftI/AAAAAAAACGk/p86qZ8SaGJ0/s400/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_038.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708385396127596242" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M4giqhpjwLs/TzhCRba-57I/AAAAAAAACGY/rl1lRG8G7IM/s1600/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_034.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M4giqhpjwLs/TzhCRba-57I/AAAAAAAACGY/rl1lRG8G7IM/s400/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708385394878244786" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gLZIWK6X458/TzhCSC7BWaI/AAAAAAAACGw/7PcZuCwh3Kc/s1600/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_043.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gLZIWK6X458/TzhCSC7BWaI/AAAAAAAACGw/7PcZuCwh3Kc/s400/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_043.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708385405481605538" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0c7I6pcKzF0/TzhB2zpcEjI/AAAAAAAACGA/t1NJRGVwZ4g/s1600/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_021.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0c7I6pcKzF0/TzhB2zpcEjI/AAAAAAAACGA/t1NJRGVwZ4g/s400/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_021.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708384937524859442" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6l8RLUYKiCo/TzhB2pp4z3I/AAAAAAAACF0/BxabVv8bAws/s1600/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_008.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6l8RLUYKiCo/TzhB2pp4z3I/AAAAAAAACF0/BxabVv8bAws/s400/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708384934842388338" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PXLex8fN6YM/TzhB3Ud3mVI/AAAAAAAACGQ/OnAjdXiNDVo/s1600/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_032.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PXLex8fN6YM/TzhB3Ud3mVI/AAAAAAAACGQ/OnAjdXiNDVo/s400/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_032.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708384946334701906" border="0" /></a>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-68779739558035448732012-02-12T14:06:00.000-08:002012-02-12T14:34:44.598-08:00Max is 2 years old!Max turned 2 on Feb. 1, 2012. We took him for his wellness check up the next day and here are his stats: 28lb 10oz (50%) and 34 1/4" (50-75%). The doctor says he's growing great, in fact, his growth curve is increasing. Now that Max is 2, I know it's finally time to start making him give up the baby bottle. In fact, at the last check up, the doctor has already urged us to do it. I think I just really wanted to hang on to him being a baby a little longer. On the first night, Max asked for "nai nai" (milk in Chinese) and I distracted him and got him to sleep. The next night, we got him ready for bed in his PJ's, and he ran to Rick and said "good night Daddy" and then asked for "nai nai" again. When Rick said no, he started to cry and said "nai nai, nai nai" with tears coming down his face. It was so sad and funny to see. In the morning, when he asks for milk, we give it to him in a sippy cup and sometimes he looks at it and say "No!" But we don't relent, so we've been more or less bottle free for 1 week. One night last week, he woke up in the middle night and was really upset, so I broke down and gave him the bottle. Sigh, I will miss him being a baby although I'm looking forward to him being a little boy and watching his personality blossom.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PDOG0x8N2Tg/Tzg98wlnjvI/AAAAAAAACEw/40xjKF8IhGo/s1600/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_018.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PDOG0x8N2Tg/Tzg98wlnjvI/AAAAAAAACEw/40xjKF8IhGo/s400/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708380641736232690" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hRp38XGDnD0/Tzg-YwIIbSI/AAAAAAAACFU/Itq4F3r6Rts/s1600/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_015.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hRp38XGDnD0/Tzg-YwIIbSI/AAAAAAAACFU/Itq4F3r6Rts/s400/120129BEEHE3LOCKEJ_015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708381122648894754" border="0" /></a>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-43094655223624319462012-02-12T13:38:00.000-08:002012-02-12T14:03:38.606-08:00Max's 2nd Birthday PartyFor Max's 2nd birthday party I wanted another party outside of the home (no clean up before or after!). I also wanted a place where little Max could have fun and instead of only fun for Jalen and our friends' older kids. We had Dizzy's Tumble Bus over to our house for Jalen's 3rd birthday and they did a great job. I found out that they have a permanent location as well and it turned out to be a great choice. The place was fairly small so for the party we had the whole place to ourselves with 17 kids along with their parents. It felt really nice and intimate. We had 2 instructors there and they were really great at leading the kids at games and helping them tumble and bounce. They even tried to remember each child's name! Since Max's birthday is just a few weeks apart from Rylan's, we had a joint party since we also share many of the same friends. The adults had a good time catching up while the kids had a lot of fun as well!<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MzrXsKU613s/Tzg0s1ZurBI/AAAAAAAACDk/p2u9ghuOQaY/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MzrXsKU613s/Tzg0s1ZurBI/AAAAAAAACDk/p2u9ghuOQaY/s400/IMG_0395.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708370472545987602" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NABcSfepZPw/Tzg0r94vaLI/AAAAAAAACDM/0KzfgHTC1jo/s1600/IMG_0264.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NABcSfepZPw/Tzg0r94vaLI/AAAAAAAACDM/0KzfgHTC1jo/s400/IMG_0264.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708370457643673778" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf-6DeQ5ogQ/Tzg0sdEZ7nI/AAAAAAAACDY/S9m_qNEmfjg/s1600/IMG_0385.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf-6DeQ5ogQ/Tzg0sdEZ7nI/AAAAAAAACDY/S9m_qNEmfjg/s400/IMG_0385.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708370466014097010" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S0aAYdKhQ-k/Tzg1ulsgC3I/AAAAAAAACD8/hjY9b0JLZOU/s1600/IMG_0657.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S0aAYdKhQ-k/Tzg1ulsgC3I/AAAAAAAACD8/hjY9b0JLZOU/s400/IMG_0657.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708371602201119602" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eXM8B_nCeq8/Tzg1uUYwXDI/AAAAAAAACDw/MCAMapC-v2s/s1600/IMG_0455.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eXM8B_nCeq8/Tzg1uUYwXDI/AAAAAAAACDw/MCAMapC-v2s/s400/IMG_0455.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708371597554900018" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BS6AEHQfuWk/Tzg1vewapsI/AAAAAAAACEI/6jpYUO6hYek/s1600/IMG_0751.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BS6AEHQfuWk/Tzg1vewapsI/AAAAAAAACEI/6jpYUO6hYek/s400/IMG_0751.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708371617518364354" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-typ52bre48M/Tzg2fI7zd0I/AAAAAAAACEU/ty19tdghyMc/s1600/IMG_0807.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-typ52bre48M/Tzg2fI7zd0I/AAAAAAAACEU/ty19tdghyMc/s400/IMG_0807.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708372436294268738" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oeqDBC_s9uA/Tzg2fntSeXI/AAAAAAAACEg/jwiZ-b9oOz0/s1600/IMG_0828.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oeqDBC_s9uA/Tzg2fntSeXI/AAAAAAAACEg/jwiZ-b9oOz0/s400/IMG_0828.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708372444554885490" border="0" /></a>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-84395994068149746172012-01-20T23:39:00.000-08:002012-01-21T00:16:23.382-08:00Snowpocalypse 2012This past week, the weather forecast predicted a record setting snow storm heading our way. On Sunday, Jan. 15, we got a few inches of snow with more promised on Monday. The kids' daycare closed early on Monday and I worked from home to be on the safe side. On Tuesday, there was still some snow on the ground but I made it into work via public transit no problem. Wednesday was supposed to be the big snow day and we got about 6 inches in Bellevue. It really wasn't that much snow but after that we got an ice storm on Thursday. Daycare was closed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday! I worked from home all 3 days with both kids at home. We were pretty tired of being stuck at home for that long. Finally on Friday, we made it out of the house and went out for dinner. Yay!<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6AgGzGkGwGA/TxptFkdNqnI/AAAAAAAACBw/B8kHyEjuvAI/s1600/IMG_7902.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6AgGzGkGwGA/TxptFkdNqnI/AAAAAAAACBw/B8kHyEjuvAI/s400/IMG_7902.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699988220843764338" /></a><div>Here are the boys all bundled up in their snow pants.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTV6kdijAWg/TxptGglyIVI/AAAAAAAACCI/g2mrMy5CFPw/s1600/IMG_7911.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTV6kdijAWg/TxptGglyIVI/AAAAAAAACCI/g2mrMy5CFPw/s400/IMG_7911.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699988236985835858" /></a></div><div>Max was not impressed with the snow. He was paralysed when we got outside.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mc7gDsFuDNo/TxptF27M-ZI/AAAAAAAACB8/KEhXTI3kp5g/s1600/IMG_7907.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mc7gDsFuDNo/TxptF27M-ZI/AAAAAAAACB8/KEhXTI3kp5g/s400/IMG_7907.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699988225801386386" /></a></div><div>Jalen was very enthusiastic. He jumped right in and made a snow angel.<div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rervWdiY5oA/TxpzxVlhovI/AAAAAAAACCw/PAjLQEJN2ts/s1600/IMG_7985.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rervWdiY5oA/TxpzxVlhovI/AAAAAAAACCw/PAjLQEJN2ts/s400/IMG_7985.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699995569836106482" /></a></div></div><div>Look at those real tears from Max from us making him sit on the snow.</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pPMtdevhsoQ/TxpzwzRbI-I/AAAAAAAACCk/BYn5YAx_hOc/s1600/IMG_7963.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pPMtdevhsoQ/TxpzwzRbI-I/AAAAAAAACCk/BYn5YAx_hOc/s400/IMG_7963.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699995560624989154" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b7gHEb9GAZk/TxpzwSLekkI/AAAAAAAACCY/0bhUY1KNlg0/s1600/IMG_7950.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b7gHEb9GAZk/TxpzwSLekkI/AAAAAAAACCY/0bhUY1KNlg0/s400/IMG_7950.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699995551741678146" /></a>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-3556731801087894872012-01-02T00:10:00.000-08:002012-01-02T00:42:22.116-08:00Christmas 2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g4L2WkRyy5Y/TwFrdWz_kHI/AAAAAAAACBM/p6BDX_31Zcg/s1600/IMG_0129.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g4L2WkRyy5Y/TwFrdWz_kHI/AAAAAAAACBM/p6BDX_31Zcg/s400/IMG_0129.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692949556057051250" border="0" /></a><br />Jalen and I spent many hours covering this entire gingerbread house with icing and candy. I had an ulterior motive, to get rid of all of the candy that has been sitting around since Valentine's Day (hence the candy hearts). It was so much fun spending time with Jalen this way. He even came up with the idea of using the white M&M's as gloves.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QFRikUDXHeM/TwFoEeCJS6I/AAAAAAAACAk/-XUpkbhbrCM/s1600/IMG_0066.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QFRikUDXHeM/TwFoEeCJS6I/AAAAAAAACAk/-XUpkbhbrCM/s400/IMG_0066.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692945829963844514" border="0" /></a><br />Here is Christmas morning and it was hard to get both kids look at the camera at the same time and smile. This is one of those moments where I wish I had the Microsoft "to the cloud" thing where you can swap out faces of the picture.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEsTIeKgkeo/TwFoEMpBkNI/AAAAAAAACAY/EfbeifPD8pw/s1600/IMG_9986.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEsTIeKgkeo/TwFoEMpBkNI/AAAAAAAACAY/EfbeifPD8pw/s400/IMG_9986.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692945825295077586" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KJSslSCNBh0/TwFoExB0ZKI/AAAAAAAACAw/dYqmnQdcmkc/s1600/IMG_0123.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KJSslSCNBh0/TwFoExB0ZKI/AAAAAAAACAw/dYqmnQdcmkc/s400/IMG_0123.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692945835062748322" border="0" /></a><br />Jalen and Max playing with their new Christmas presents.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-liw5wqNhDGs/TwFrczMbmGI/AAAAAAAACBA/L62yCt6JsGM/s1600/IMG_0189.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-liw5wqNhDGs/TwFrczMbmGI/AAAAAAAACBA/L62yCt6JsGM/s400/IMG_0189.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692949546495875170" border="0" /></a><br />Sometimes Jalen pushes Max around in a laundry basket and plays choo choo. Max loves it and giggles while I brace for a bad crash.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r6n0LUbhzcM/TwFrd6hEUZI/AAAAAAAACBc/cAVFhr0FNLA/s1600/IMG_0166.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r6n0LUbhzcM/TwFrd6hEUZI/AAAAAAAACBc/cAVFhr0FNLA/s400/IMG_0166.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692949565641347474" border="0" /></a>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-12025655741401350262011-12-28T23:52:00.000-08:002011-12-29T00:14:01.053-08:00The Darn Things Kids Say<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dlnDEaDnnlE/TvwfX5of6DI/AAAAAAAACAI/gs6jjjcA1mw/s1600/IMG_1858.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dlnDEaDnnlE/TvwfX5of6DI/AAAAAAAACAI/gs6jjjcA1mw/s400/IMG_1858.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691458524557600818" border="0" /></a><br />I don't know when it happened but all of a sudden, Jalen is starting to say grown up sounding things:<br /><ul><li>[after I made him waffle for breakfast] "Thank you for making me waffles mommy, they are the best waffles I've ever tasted!"</li><li>[after I put on makeup to go out, he looks at me] "Your eyes look beautiful!"</li><li>[on Christmas] Gracie says "I got the Cars 2 DVD from grandma!", Jalen says "yeah, we have the BLU-RAY!"</li><li>[after I took a picture of the "birthday cake" he made me] "Thank you mommy for taking a picture of the cake so I can remember to make it for you every year".<br /></li></ul>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-89542199152760130562011-11-26T00:11:00.000-08:002011-12-28T23:52:12.483-08:00Halloween<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n1qZ5zxYYP4/TtChuDK9KeI/AAAAAAAAB_k/4yyqSbDSNBI/s1600/_70A8096.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n1qZ5zxYYP4/TtChuDK9KeI/AAAAAAAAB_k/4yyqSbDSNBI/s400/_70A8096.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679216942611507682" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Li64fg2S8s/TtCht4n-EvI/AAAAAAAAB_c/TSEW7L08lyY/s1600/_70A7968.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Li64fg2S8s/TtCht4n-EvI/AAAAAAAAB_c/TSEW7L08lyY/s400/_70A7968.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679216939780412146" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h1cRLFRemdE/TtChuWS87wI/AAAAAAAAB_4/12faFYqM6qs/s1600/_70A8121.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h1cRLFRemdE/TtChuWS87wI/AAAAAAAAB_4/12faFYqM6qs/s400/_70A8121.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679216947745320706" border="0" /></a><br />We had a fun Halloween this year with Jalen as a fireman and Max as an adorable monkey. Jalen was nice and warm in his fireman gear and went out into the neighborhood with his cousins.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-12535003239643591102011-11-26T00:00:00.000-08:002011-11-26T00:07:53.662-08:00October Pictures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KCC7Fcsyqvk/TtCdX1xxzsI/AAAAAAAAB_A/BE03_DWa7ag/s1600/IMG_1296.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KCC7Fcsyqvk/TtCdX1xxzsI/AAAAAAAAB_A/BE03_DWa7ag/s400/IMG_1296.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679212163012611778" border="0" /></a><br />One day, I went to pick up Max at daycare and found him wearing this tutu. His teacher said that the kids love the texture and they usually try to take them off the boys before the parents pick up. I just had to snap some photos -- for future black mail purposes.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q9HkwrktfGE/TtCdYPvyGUI/AAAAAAAAB_M/nNvLL8aCyio/s1600/IMG_1294.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q9HkwrktfGE/TtCdYPvyGUI/AAAAAAAAB_M/nNvLL8aCyio/s400/IMG_1294.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679212169983564098" border="0" /></a><br />Here is Max striking a pose when I whipped out my phone. He is with his best bud Cordell. Cordell doesn't look amused however.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-3664857065840954852011-11-25T23:52:00.000-08:002011-11-26T00:00:32.474-08:00September Pictures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GAoiClkf89A/TtCbmuoBx1I/AAAAAAAAB-o/jz32d7vDTCQ/s1600/IMG_1183.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GAoiClkf89A/TtCbmuoBx1I/AAAAAAAAB-o/jz32d7vDTCQ/s400/IMG_1183.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679210219767449426" border="0" /></a><br />Here is Jalen at American Eagle Outfitters. He styled himself by picking out this tie, glasses and both watches. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gs1R9qUizq8/TtCbmT2q_0I/AAAAAAAAB-Y/FWp6-jSqcmc/s1600/IMG_1166.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gs1R9qUizq8/TtCbmT2q_0I/AAAAAAAAB-Y/FWp6-jSqcmc/s400/IMG_1166.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679210212581113666" border="0" /></a><br />Jalen and Grace spent all afternoon on the beach at Newcastle Beach Park playing with sand. I think if we let them, they could have played there all day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GBu0Or9107Q/TtCbnR8z_pI/AAAAAAAAB-w/TP3ux8rTW1k/s1600/shanghai%2B2011%2B041.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GBu0Or9107Q/TtCbnR8z_pI/AAAAAAAAB-w/TP3ux8rTW1k/s400/shanghai%2B2011%2B041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679210229249867410" border="0" /></a><br />Here we are at the Olive Garden to celebrate Grandpa's birthday. It was the never-ending pasta and salad bowls special!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-91403041055186680192011-09-16T23:01:00.000-07:002011-09-16T23:05:35.237-07:00Sharing is caringJalen has been a great big brother to Max including sharing his favorite things like desserts. Here they are eating a fudge pop and making a big mess of their faces. It's also been nice to be able to hang out on the deck after dinner while the weather is nice. Our house is west facing and usually the kids love being outside because it's much cooler.<br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oJjTXGWUoN8" allowfullscreen="" width="420" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-59860859466706676272011-09-16T22:05:00.000-07:002011-09-16T22:16:21.344-07:00Oldie but goodiesI was cleaning up my laptop and found these great old videos of Jalen and Max. It's hard to remember how little Jalen was and how he sounded as a baby. They really grow up so fast.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RKIzyRGdqTg" allowfullscreen="" width="420" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe><br />Here's a video of Jalen at 23 months. He was really into a lot of pop songs at that age. Some of his favorites were Low by Flo Rida, Right Now by Akon and (Like a cop car) Mrs. Office by Lil Wayne. Here Rick is trying to get Jalen to sing Like a Cop Car and Jalen wasn't having it.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YICgGG9EtQE" allowfullscreen="" width="420" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe><br /><br />This is the morning after Max was born and Jalen meeting his little brother for the first time. Apparently, Grandma had a hard time seeing that Max's tiny newborn eyes were wide open for the occasion.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QMwpxMaPBJ4" allowfullscreen="" width="420" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe><br /><br />Max is almost 3 months here cooing away and Jalen marveling at his baby brother finally being able to interact with us. This was the beginning of my two boys bonding and becoming playmates.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-8549058897186357262011-08-23T23:42:00.001-07:002011-08-23T23:51:22.071-07:00Max's growing vocabulary<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LuPHUdUnGWk/TlSdwFAmnzI/AAAAAAAAB9w/bD4kOKWvFTg/s1600/IMG_0981.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LuPHUdUnGWk/TlSdwFAmnzI/AAAAAAAAB9w/bD4kOKWvFTg/s400/IMG_0981.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644309682306064178" border="0" /></a>
<br />Max is really starting to jabber a lot. Rick guessed that he has at least 10 words so we tried to count them on our hands:
<br /><ol><li>mama</li><li>dada
<br /></li><li>gaga = cracker</li><li>nai nai = milk (in Chinese)</li><li>shoos = shoes</li><li>book</li><li>car</li><li>ball</li><li>hi</li><li>bye</li><li>mum mum = food</li><li>juice</li><li>MINE</li></ol>"Mine" is the word he says with the most enthusiasm. He screams this whether Jalen takes something away from him. Max is quite possessive. Once we were having dinner and we parked the stroller next to our table. Jalen decided to sit in it for a second and Max screamed "mine! mine!" like the seagulls in Finding Nemo. Max wasn't even sitting in it! He definitely is the second child who knows that he has to stake his territory.
<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-1904221984729236672011-08-08T23:31:00.001-07:002011-08-08T23:35:56.917-07:00Jalen and Max goofing offI just love it when the boys get along and play together. Here is Max babbling away and being silly with Jalen.
<br /><iframe width="448" height="279" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0nIPqVqLym0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-60669107681118960272011-08-08T22:30:00.000-07:002011-08-08T22:44:30.998-07:00Max is 1.5 years old!Max turned 18 months old last Monday on August 1 and we took him to his check up on Tuesday. He is now 24lb 12oz (25 - 50%) and 33.5" (75-90%). We're very excited that he's catching up on weight now since he had been at 25th percentile since 12 months old. Max is at an adorable age right now, babbling all the time and waddling all over the place. He is really coming into his own little person. I can't wait to get to know him more as he learns to communicate with us in new ways.
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-44353458674278885462011-07-31T23:08:00.000-07:002011-07-31T23:28:42.855-07:00Best budsSince I am an only child, I've always looked forward to the day that my boys would grow up into playmates. Jalen has been such a great big brother to Max. If I need to leave Max in his crib for a few minutes, Jalen will gladly climb in and keep him company. They love to jump in the crib and play peek a boo with their baby blankets. Now that Max is little older, he is starting to be pretty particular about which of Jalen's toys that he wants to play with. Sometimes, the boys do fight over the same toy. But for the most part they're happier when they're together.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-msKixbdWevE/TjZGS1SlsDI/AAAAAAAAB8s/uzTNHlMx5-Y/s1600/IMG_9168.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-msKixbdWevE/TjZGS1SlsDI/AAAAAAAAB8s/uzTNHlMx5-Y/s400/IMG_9168.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635769273057390642" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RnylIj2Uns0/TjZGTUKx9lI/AAAAAAAAB88/5FrA4VNbcq8/s1600/IMG_9226.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RnylIj2Uns0/TjZGTUKx9lI/AAAAAAAAB88/5FrA4VNbcq8/s400/IMG_9226.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635769281346139730" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lt-hx-91FjM/TjZDrTF9ifI/AAAAAAAAB8Y/eSomNhQN0bE/s1600/IMG_9213.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lt-hx-91FjM/TjZDrTF9ifI/AAAAAAAAB8Y/eSomNhQN0bE/s400/IMG_9213.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635766394839468530" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ef_dpHEV87o/TjZDrIUfiBI/AAAAAAAAB8Q/u4mIzE8oA2g/s1600/IMG_9194.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ef_dpHEV87o/TjZDrIUfiBI/AAAAAAAAB8Q/u4mIzE8oA2g/s400/IMG_9194.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635766391947626514" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VrzpwpNO8io/TjZDrkJgW6I/AAAAAAAAB8g/wwi7TrehP88/s1600/IMG_9293.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VrzpwpNO8io/TjZDrkJgW6I/AAAAAAAAB8g/wwi7TrehP88/s400/IMG_9293.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635766399417736098" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LafJKjh8Uuw/TjZGTP6iztI/AAAAAAAAB80/32iNDG9K6xE/s1600/IMG_9316.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LafJKjh8Uuw/TjZGTP6iztI/AAAAAAAAB80/32iNDG9K6xE/s400/IMG_9316.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635769280204295890" border="0" /></a>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956018571552739568.post-63278700337573753992011-07-31T22:36:00.001-07:002011-07-31T22:46:06.911-07:00Day out with ThomasA few weeks ago we took Jalen to visit his favorite character, Thomas the Tank Engine. Jalen actually wasn't as excited about the real life Thomas as we had expected. He was wondering where all Thomas' friends were. Nevertheless, it was a cute train ride where we got to see a great view of the Snoqualmie Falls. Jalen had a lot of fun with his two best buds Katelyn and Trenton.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oHabR_FJtIA/TjY8czuKlII/AAAAAAAAB78/unmGh1EpDVM/s1600/P1020656.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oHabR_FJtIA/TjY8czuKlII/AAAAAAAAB78/unmGh1EpDVM/s400/P1020656.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635758449318597762" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PambvxbZFbg/TjY8cqNoYqI/AAAAAAAAB70/8EoppOEoC5M/s1600/P1020650.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PambvxbZFbg/TjY8cqNoYqI/AAAAAAAAB70/8EoppOEoC5M/s400/P1020650.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635758446766219938" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r40VdGV-q3o/TjY8dKCQ32I/AAAAAAAAB8E/EKVvRqZdffk/s1600/P1020702.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r40VdGV-q3o/TjY8dKCQ32I/AAAAAAAAB8E/EKVvRqZdffk/s400/P1020702.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635758455308476258" border="0" /></a>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03143730678274989356noreply@blogger.com0