Crayons and stickers

Always in search of activities to do with the boys, I have been trying to introduce the boys to crayons and stickers. Winston loves taking two crayons in each hand and scribbling away. Wes and Charlie will scribble for a short time, but ultimately the crayons end up in their mouths. So I've tried giving them stickers. Charlie loves to put all of the stickers into one large pile, while Wesley like to stick them all over the page. Win is still trying to figure out the whole sticker thing and often tries to fling it off his finger instead of putting it on the paper.

Winston pointing out the green crayon on Charlie's face

Charlie the green monster

I asked Winston to smile for the camera. This is what he did.

Wesley and the purple crayon (most of the crayon is in his mouth)

The Stripper

The boys have been waking up early, but Mommy & Daddy haven't. So they have a little more time to kill in the morning. Here is Winston, as we found him this morning, proving that idle hands are the devil's workshop. A baby left too long in his crib will devolve into a pole dancing stripper.


Note the sleeper lying helplessly on the floor...

Dallas

Rob's parents (Nanna & Poppa) came up to Boston last week so that I could travel to Dallas for our nephew, Christian's, first birthday. The first birthday in Korean culture is a huge celebration, complete with special decorations, traditions and foods. So it was wonderful to be able to celebrate with family, even though Rob and the boys were not able to make the trip.

Friday, we went to Alexandra's preschool performance (called a Hootenanny - only in Texas!!) Here she is hugging her best friend.

Mrs. Kim (Mi Jung's mom) is a phenomenal cook - known as one of the best in their large Korean community. So it was a joy to get to feast on her creations. For the party, she made about 100 rolls of Korean sushi, seafood & cucumber salad, seafood pancakes, miso soup, etc. It was amazing! To give you a sense of the quantities in which she cooks, here she is making the cucumber salad.

The decorations

Christian in his hanbok

Mi Jung, Alex, Christian and Jim

There is a tradition where the birthday child is placed in front of items to symbolize their future. If I can remember correctly, it is money (prosperity), string (longevity), paint brushes (creativity), pencil and book (intelligence). Christian did this a few times and first selected string, then the paint brushes, then the pencil, then the paint brushes. Since Mi Jung and Alexandra both picked money when they did this at 1, so for fun, Mi Jung took everything away but the money. And instead of picking it, Christian reached for the cake!

My beautiful God-daughter Alexandra and birthday boy Christian

The whole crew: Poppy, Grammy, me, Mrs. Kim, Kathy (Mi Jung's dear friend and Godmother to Christian), Alexandra, Mr. Kim and Jennifer (of Maine/Green Pond fame)

For such a great trip, the biggest downside was that both Nanna and Poppa got the stomach flu while here taking care of the boys! I am so thankful for their help - there is no way I would have been able to make the trip.

The stomach flu

I haven't had a moment to write nearly two weeks because the boys came down with the stomach flu. My only guess is that they picked it up when we went to the pediatrician appointment the previous Monday. Winston was the first one to get sick, starting on Wednesday, then Wesley, Charlie and Rob followed suit on Thursday night. I'll spare you the details, but this bug is awful. The boys were miserable (to say the least), and watched more Veggie Tales DVDs than they have in their lifetime. It lasted about 8 days, and was trying to say the least.

It is beyond difficult caring for not one, two, three - but FOUR sick men at once! And when I needed it most, we were blessed by help. Our part-time nanny Valerie offered to help out on Friday, then Grammy and Poppy came on Sunday to give me a much needed break. And wouldn't you know, they were all hit hard by the stomach bug as well! I have no idea how or why, but I was the only one to avoid this stomach virus.

I'm thankful to start to resume normal, but the fun that we're experiencing now is the post-sickness "why can't you hold me all the time anymore" tantrums...