From Hair to Hare

We gave Eli another haircut. We had decided to shave it before Access Hollywood informed us it was the latest trend. 

It was another week alone while Kwang traveled to London on business. I'm not a big fan of business travel. As my sister Kathy puts it, home really is much more about the people living in it than anything else. Before Kwang left for the U.K., we shared a nice steak meal and a bottle of wine. Because I've been nursing Eli, I haven't indulged in wine in a VERY long time. The last time I recall was when I was unknowingly pregnant with Eli and had some wonderful chianti. I'm not much of a social drinker but I love having wine with a good steak. When we have it at home Kwang ends up drinking most of the bottle because I am such a lightweight. I assume I lack the supposed enzyme that many Asians do because I turn as bright as a ripe tomato at just the smell of alcohol.  What's worse is that I become a bubbly, non-stop chatterbox. And this is why Kwang does not encourage me to drink outside the confines of our home. He likes his usually quiet and gentle-spirited wife. Haha. So anyway, after having wine that night I sat at work the next day wondering if Eli would turn red and giddy after my mother-in-law fed him my milk. What a cute sight that would have been.

Jude still dreads bedtime and always wishes we could go to sleep together. It literally takes every ounce of will in me not to stay with him. It's so sad to see him sad. We've recently been reading Guess How Much I Love You at bedtime. I received this book three years ago at my baby shower for Jude and have eagerly waited for the day he would understand and enjoy it. Together, we love to read and imitate the pages of this charming book. What's funny is that when we near the end, Jude suddenly gets a very serious look on his face and takes a deep breath. This happens every night. He then gets teary-eyed when we get to the page where Little Nutbrown Hare gets sleepy. You'd think the next page reveals Little Nutbrown Hare dying some sort of tragic death. Instead, he just falls fast asleep in his father's arms. It's a wonderful, feel-good story for everyone but Jude. That is how sad he gets every night about going to bed. It's cute but heartrending to watch him quickly wipe his tears with his shirt sleeves so he can see the pictures. I guess I'm writing this for no other reason than for me to recollect later, because it is at times like this that I just want to squeeze Jude and tell him I love him all the way "up to the moon-- and back."

 

The Jude Hair Growth Experiment

Last week while driving my mother-in-law home, we passed by a KFC that Kwang witnessed a robbery at when he was a little boy. When it happened, he was standing in front of the cashier when a man next to him took out a gun and asked the worker for money. This took place while his father and older brother sat in the car waiting for him to order the food. He was about 6 or 7 years old. I never heard this story until last week and have only heard of times when his father & brother would wait in the car while Kwang retrieved jugs of water for the family. I get sad thinking of Little Kwang being the family gopher. In some ways, though, I think it's helped him become the generous and patient person he is now. It's joked about from time to time, but I don't dispute the notion that Kwang's brother has always been the favored son. Instead of posting a picture of Kwang and his brother, here is one of their sons Mr. Manning & Mr. Timberlake:

(Note: Justin is larger than he appears. For some reason, he tends to slouch whereas Eli sits straight up, most likely to hold up his sizeable noggin.)

The other week, I asked another mother of two young boys if she sees herself favoring one of her children. As much as I'd love to say I won't, I've heard from many people that it just happens. So far, I don't have a favorite between Jude and Eli. Of course, Jude's hair right now could very well drive me to favor Eli. I'd personally like to end this lovely anti-gravity experiment, but Kwang wants to keep growing it out. I think even Jude might find it a bit frightful (notice how difficult it is to get it all in one picture):

Fact is, I favor both my boys! They change my world everyday in such wonderful ways. Eli will be turning the big O-N-E in about two and a half months, so we've begun teaching him that he is one year old.

He's learned this more quickly than we thought. Problem is, when we would ask "Eli, how old are you?" he would do this:

So we've been working to correct him:
 

Finally, I hope everyone had a wonderul Valentine's Day! Although it's a rather superfluous occasion, I can appreciate an observance of love and good cheer when there is so much in the world today that is dark and melancholy. I can't really say Kwang is the romantic type, so I am especially touched when he sends flowers to brighten my day at work. And I love his practicality in sending them the day before the holiday to save money. 

Because Jude's hair cannot be contained in one post

These days, Jude and I spend a lot of time playing "fort". We drape a blanket over four chairs and have ourselves a good ol' time. We even share a nice, cool, imaginary drink when it's raining "outside". We then leave our little fort and go to the forest next door, also known as the daybed or the "spooooky forest" as Jude calls it. Sometimes we'll hide in our fort when we hear Kwang coming home. I'm not sure where he learned the word "spooky", but I have a feeling it's from an episode of Little Einsteins. It's the only show he watches everyday. It's a good show that has taught Jude musical terms like "fortissimo!" and "accelerando!", plants like the anemone, and animals like the "cwockydile". But I knew my sub-par, TV-allowing parenting would bite me in the butt one day. He's seen this episode many times, but since his vocabulary and understanding have expanded dramatically over the last month, so has his awareness of everything around him. Now he doesn't like to go to sleep at night alone even though we make him. The first time, we woke up to find him asleep on the floor next to us. It was the cutest but saddest thing. Now if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he'll come to our room to make sure we're in bed, and then head straight back to his room. I know it's silly, but the parent in me wishes I can protect him from everything scary or spooky he'll experience in life. You know, things like lowfat ice cream.

We ask Eli if he wants to play Fort with us, but the boy is always too busy talking on the phone.

And so it is

Congrats to Indianapolis. Great speech by Coach Dungy. And the interview Lovie Smith gave after the game was just as classy, I thought. How can you not love the Midwest? After seeing a picture I had on my desk of Jude & Eli in full Chicago gear last week, a co-worker of mine told me he grew up a diehard Bears fan. A friend of his here in L.A, also a Bears fan, hosted a Superbowl party and catered Portillos! They met at a bar in West L.A. that is exclusively a Chicago Bears bar. How great is that? CHICAGO FANS ARE EVERYWHERE. Gotta love it! Superbowl, we will be back.

Fortunately, I had my Chicago bud to watch this year's Superbowl with. I'm thankful to have not only one of my closest friends from Chicago out here, but the one who loves to watch sports even more than I do. Jean is a pretty crazy enthusiastic fan. What great husbands Kwang & Charles are to watch the big game with two... girls.

Chicago fans in the making, Matthew & Eli:

Matthew is 1½ months younger than Eli. And Eli is 1½ months younger than his cousin Justin (Bo & Bonnie's son). It's a cutie patootie sandwich. Justin & Eli are two of the most serious-looking infants I know:

I often tease that Jude will despise having a mother who broadcasts his weekly activities to her 300 closest internet friends and family. But I really hope he doesn't. If my mom kept a blog, I think I would appreciate learning her joys, struggles, and day-to-day musings as a mother and homemaker. The world has changed so much. What would I do without the internet, this amazing source of information and communication available at my fingertips? In this digital-crazed world, my kids have had more pictures taken of them in two years than I have had my entire life. Not only that, my sons will never know what "be kind, please rewind" means or what it is like to have to sit through commercials. Lucky ducks.

The love/hate relationship that is growing between Jude & Eli is pretty funny and adorable (right now). I can appreciate the times Jude needles Eli and roughs him up a bit, because I also see the natural, caring affection he has for his younger brother. I think Eli knows this, too, because even at this young age he is still drawn to his older brother despite Jude using his head as a practice golf ball:

After seeing the clip, you're probably thinking, "That's it?" Well, it's for my parents in Chicago who are watching Eli grow via xanga. But if you lived with Eli for the past nine months and, like me, wondered if he might ever have the desire to move from point A to point B on his own before reaching kindergarten you, too, would probably delight in this rather uneventful footage of him ascending the stairs. Besides, how could you not want to squeeze that waddling little booty?