Warning: Video Clip Overload

As I was folding laundry yesterday (again, our never-ending laundry), the NCAA basketball tournament was on. While I can't remember what two teams were playing, I do remember watching a Coca-Cola commercial with a college athlete talking about his grandfather coming to watch him play and what that meant to him. For some reason, it got me a little choked up. A soda commercial. I always find March Madness to be one of the more thrilling sports tournaments of the year. There is always a number of crazy games and the emotions run so high. My favorite part is, of course, watching the "One Shining Moment" montage at the end. It's a bit cheesy but the highlights, soft lighting, and music give me goose pimples every time. Here is my own version of One Shining Moment (we're not quite sure why he's doing what he's doing w/his tongue):

I don't know what's happened since I got married and had kids. Growing up, I would rarely choke up from watching a movie or TV show. Now, I become a complete mess. We watched the movie Babel last night (not recommended), and I had to turn my head away during some of the scenes involving children going through some kind of suffering, even heat exhaustion. It's silly because I know it's not real. But I don't even like it when Kwang plays jokes on the boys. Here he is reading a book with Jude about parent and baby animals and he purposely sets Jude up to say "I'm sad."

And here he is filming Eli demonstrating his latest act, the dramatic head tossing because he's upset. This is almost always done when there's food being prohibited:

And finally, here is Eli showing off his latest athletic skill-- kicking a soccer ball:

You may have wondered, "Wait, can he walk now?" which is a reasonable question. But as you can see from the clip, the answer is no. We've taught him to kick a soccer ball before successfully teaching him how to walk. So if there was a list of parents who exemplify how to logically raise a child, we would be on the other list.

 

Cowboy Jude

It's been a very long and tiring two weeks at the office. A lot of overtime and weekend work until the early mornings. As hard as it is to work normal days and take care of two boys (three if you count Kwang ), having to stay up and use my little brain for such long hours has left me in a state of exhaustion I haven’t felt in a very long time. I can haul groceries with the bags under my eyes. 

Fortunately, the monstrous application we released went well and I'm thankful for the people I work with. But I'm mostly thankful for Kwang who had no problem taking care of both Jude and Eli last weekend by himself and without complaint. He even had friends over for a poker night. My co-workers think he's quite a stud. I'm writing this because I know he'll hate it, but really, I don't know many guys who could handle such a weekend as effortlessly as he did. As a treat for me, Eli got to spend some time at my office. My director kept staring at him wondering how such a delicious profusion of chub could possibly be my offspring. And at 8pm each night, I would put Jude's goodnight call on speaker phone for all my teammates to hear. Yes, yes, I'm one of THOSE annoying co-workers.

Is "uh-oh" an actual word? Because if it is, Eli can say his first word! I was just doing it the other week to get a smile from him, but to my surprise he repeated me and later used it in context. It was very cute. Well, what do you know. I just looked it up in Merriam-Webster and it is a word!

Although Jude enjoys his trains, he has never loved them like he has his Cars. I love watching him play with his growing collection while reenacting scenes from the movie. It puts him in a happy place. 

Today was "country western day" at Jude's school. He had a blast digging for gold, getting his face painted, and riding a pony.  

And despite this project at work, what may have stressed me out just as much was that Tuesday was Jude's school picture day. If you've been following my Chronicles of Crazy Hair, you can easily imagine the mop I had to tame early Tuesday AM. I doubt it will be his best picture but I hope he is able to laugh about it later. It may almost look as nice as my third grade picture where my eyes are super puffy from crying because my mom made me wear a skirt.

 

Don't Need No Hateration, Holleratin'

A few weeks ago at church, Jude tried to stop a fight between two older boys. It was pretty funny to watch because the two boys were bigger than him and paid no attention as he tried to get in between to break them up. What is difficult to watch is when someone is unnecessarily rough with Jude. The only time I think it is okay for Jude to push anyone is if he's pushing Eli on, say, a stuffed duck.

Jude plays well alone and with other kids. He knows not to take things from other children even though he may want them, so I think that makes it difficult for him to understand why someone would take something he's happily playing with. Some may think I'm cruel for watching rather than intervening right away, but part of me doesn't want to shelter him. I'm thankful to be able to see him interact with all types of kids. I don't know what the best way to handle an altercation is, really. I'm actually softer than Kwang in this matter and don't know if I can subscribe to all of his thoughts but I trust he has more insight when it comes to boys since I was raised in a home of three girls. I think, in general, Jude has a kind heart for a two year old. I absolutely love that about him and find it hard not to adore a soul like his. At the same time, I wonder if his heart may be too tender for his own good. That would mean he takes after me, because Kwang bullies me all the time. Kidding. But if that's the case, I hope we will have the wisdom to raise him to be a kind yet confident individual. Otherwise, we may have to enlist Eli to sit on anyone who messes with our Jude.

If you look closely, you will see bits of Jude's meal on Eli's face. That's when he's happiest-- when he's near food, anyone's food.

If you can't already tell by this post, I think I will always feel like a rookie mom. The cluelessness is palpable. The other day, Jude showed us he could spell his name... and we had no idea! 

Working Girl

Work has been busy, busy. After Jude & Eli have gone to bed, I've had to pull out my laptop every night to do some work which means I've only been playing with my kids as opposed to playing with them while taking photos of them playing and then writing what just happened. Yes, that is what I call a good time. Precious moments are flying by without my being able to inform the world of all the adorableness being had.

Jude doesn't throw fits very often and will lately inform us when he's upset. He'll say, "Uhmmah, I'm saaaaaad... I just go obur dere and play by myself..." and then he'll walk slowly away with his head down and shoulders hunched, wondering if we're watching him. That is his new thing. Quite a little thespian, our Jude. Before he concocted this interesting show, he had another amusing routine. When he would get sad or upset, he wouldn't cry or fuss. He would just get up, walk into a closet, and close the door. We found that pretty hilarious.

Jude's bedhead is so out of control that I have to wet and style it into a more organized 'fro before school. Strangely, this hasn't deterred others from wanting to look like him. Yesterday, Jude's teacher told me about another boy who has been wearing a band-aid on his forehead because Jude wears one on his to protect his scar from the sun. His class consists of about 10 boys and 1 girl named Tessa. Jude knows that I am a girl, Kwang is a boy, and Noah, Sean, and Dillon are boys. But when you ask him if Tessa is a girl he'll respond very matter of factly, "Nooooo... Tessa's a princess."

All I can really say about Eli today is that he is a Professional Eater. He can make plain tofu look like the yummiest, tastiest food around. He's so irresistable to me that 95% of the time we are together, I find my lips glued to his chubby cheek. I don't want Eli to grow anymore and if he could just stop right now, I'd very much appreciate it.