"Today is a new day"

That is Jude's favorite line from the movie Chicken Little. It's cute how he picked it up himself. I hope he remembers it when he wakes up one day not wanting to go to work after a nice, long holiday weekend. Finally the drought of work-without-holiday has ended. The first half of the calendar year is always tough in that sense. But the weekend started off with a bang when a group of us at work were treated to a wonderful dinner at Fleming's Steakhouse. I was very excited because 1) it was the start of a three day weekend, and 2) I like steak just a little bit. My steak was prepared to a perfectly delectable medium rare plus and I even had a chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream to end the evening. A little bit of heaven on earth.

But the highlight of my weekend was, of course, spending time with my three boys. There is a boy at Jude's school named Jason who is always eager to play with Jude as soon as we arrive. Strangely, Jude is not fond of Jason and avoids him at all cost. Fortunately, Jude had a great weekend playing with two boys whose company he enjoyed. This may be because his new friend Andrew (Hyunmin & Jeanne's son) has a common affinity for Thomas the Tank Engine and Lightning McQueen and has an impressive toy collection to back it up:

Or because Jude was able to convince his friend Jacob (Rob & Grace's son) that it really is much more fun to pitch than it is to bat:

Of course, Jude never forgot about his younger brother and happily took the time to fulfill his big brother duties:

It was a fun weekend with Eli simply because he was awake while we were home. Since Eli has always chosen a daily bedtime of 6:30pm, I get only a few precious hours each weekday to gobble him up and he is rarely awake when Kwang gets home from work. But as lovable as he is, Eli still has a proclivity to cry the second neither of us is in sight. Even when it's a fake cry, he manages to squeeze out tears and tug at the heart of any nearby stranger. When asked, "Ohhhh, why is he crying? What's wrong?" my usual response is, "Oh nothing. He came this way."

 

Jude's Quiet Time

The other night Kwang read Jude a Bible story about the Garden of Eden and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Afterward, this was what Jude contributed to their bedtime prayer:

Kwang: "Dear God, thank you for these Bible stories. Help us to listen to you."
Jude: "And we not eat the fruit in the garden."

Sometimes, Kwang and I will use the spell-words-out-so-Jude-doesn't-understand technique. Jude doesn't quite realize this:

Kwang: (to me) "I think Jude is T.I.R.E.D."
Jude: "No, I'm J.U.D.E."

I must really have low expectations of my kids because Jude amazes me all the time. I laugh everyday at things he says or does. This form of burning calories might be one reason why I am so ugly skinny right now. That and the fact that I was nursing Eli, my adorable 24 lb. heffalump. I got a scolding from my grandma back in Chicago for being so thin. Despite eating extra meals, I can't seem to keep weight on when I nurse my kids. But now that Eli is one year old, I am finally free of the Pump In Style backpack I've been carrying to the office for the last 10 months!! So hopefully, I will be putting some weight back on soon! Did I ever share the story of the time a male co-worker of mine asked what the backpack was for? Yeah... that was a fun conversation.

Congrats to Kwang's cousins Jane & Chris who just had their baby today! We stopped by for a visit and baby Joey is so teeny tiny, so precious. As I stood in front of the nursery holding Eli and admiring all the newborns, I couldn't believe how big my little Eli has gotten. I will admit, I do look forward to having another baby. And in case you were wondering, I've also just been diagnosed with Crazy Disease. Trust me, I definitely do not hope to have another baby any time in the next year. Not only am I in a continual state of sleep deprivation, but between my job, my mother-in-law watching the kids, Jude's school, and little Eli, if even the smallest thing compromises my well-oiled machine of a schedule, I might have a total meltdown. I also want to cherish this time when Eli is the baby of the family. Still, I really hope the Lord blesses us one day with another healthy baby. I think they are such precious gifts. But yes, prego in < 1 year = possible meltdown.

 

He Might Give Me a Little Grief For This

Happy birthday to my favorite person and the best dad I could have asked for my boys.

Toddling in the Windy City

Our flight from L.A. to Chicago last week was, how shall I say this nicely... um, PAINFUL. Jude is our champion frequent flyer. But after blessing us with an easy child like Jude, God may have decided to mix it up a bit and give us our second son. Not having a seat of his own on the plane, Eli whined, fidgeted, and cried for almost the entire flight. You might be thinking, c'mon, no child can be that difficult for an entire FOUR hour flight without getting tired at some point. Everyone? Meet Elijah Kim.

Did you notice something about that pic? Our Eli is officially a toddler. He took his first 11 consecutive steps at our friends' Jeny & Sungjai's home in Chicago and now loves to walk around everywhere. Our trip to Chicago was so nice that the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad flight was worth it. A week seems like a decent amount of time, but I really didn't get to do half the things I wanted to. Most important, however, was Eli's first birthday party (dohl). Although most of our friends back in Chicago did not see Eli during his first year of life, they graciously came to celebrate with us. That speaks of what wonderful friends we have and why I can't figure out how my husband has not moved us back already.

Also high on the agenda was Jude's week long 3rd birthday celebration which included an evening out alone with Kathy Eemo and Uncle Stace as well as another family get-together at Chuck E. Cheese (a special request from Jude):

It was a nice vacation for everyone. Kwang spent some quality time golfing, golfing, and golfing some more. And Jude spent a lot of quality time with his cousins. I imagine his senses probably exploded each morning he walked into their home. He got to play with and ride so many of their toys, toys he thought only existed in toy stores and remained there.

(Cousin Noelle and Jude)

Normally a plastic helicopter will keep Jude plenty entertained. This is not the case when his cousins have their own Nintendo DS Lites. Can you tell which is my son and which are my nephew Zach and niece Meghan? The non-electronic toy and crazy hair should be dead giveaways:

I did get to see some friends, but it was pretty obvious that while they missed me, they really just wanted to see Eli. Soon after this picture was taken, my friend Jane ate her panang curry chicken with a side of Eli's cheeks:

Fortunately, our return flight was much, much better than our departure. Both boys were fast asleep when we pulled into our garage last night, safely back home in L.A. Here is the conversation I had with my half-asleep Jude as I unbuckled his carseat:

Me: Come on Jude, we're home now. This is our house, remember?
Jude: (looking around the garage from his carseat, a bit disoriented) House?
Me: Yes.
Jude: (pause) Home?
Me: Yes.
Jude: (frowning and burying his face in my shoulder) I want to go to Chicago.

Happy 1st Birthday To My Little Eli

Eli has begun this horrible habit in the last day or so. Whenever I'm holding him, he finds his nostril to be the most comfortable, convenient, perhaps coziest place to rest his finger in. He's not doing anything with it but holding it there. I take it out, it goes back in. Take it out, back in it goes. It's a spectacular display of unpleasantness. And yet, even something that annoying is adorable when it's Eli doing it. Like when he takes the TV remote, points it at the TV, and clicks to another channel while simultaneously looking at us and saying "uh-ooh". We're beginning to see a mischievous little boy emerging and it frightens me a bit.

But this same little boy is also my baby. I love that I can console him like no one else can if he wakes up crying late in the evening. I love how excited he gets when he sees Jude's bowl of gook-bahb even when I just finished feeding him dinner. He squeals and looks at me excitedly as if to say that he needs a bowl of gook-bahb like no one has ever needed a bowl of gook-bahb in the history of the world. I love that already he can't seem to live with or without his older brother. I love that God reminds me of His graciousness and omnipotence when I look at my son.

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but it was difficult to sit and write my usual lighthearted jibberish after the tragedy at VA Tech. Although I personally did not know anyone who died, I was devastated for the families who lost loved ones, children in particular. It's difficult to think of the world we've brought our children into and not be shaken. The world has gone on, but these families have been permanently altered and the healing is just beginning for them. To think of parents lovingly and tirelessly raising their child for some 20 years only to lose him/her in such a brief and horrific moment, well, it's overwhelming to imagine. It has caused me to realize the overwhelming love I have for my own children. Eli has been in the world for just one short year but it has been such a full year that I can't imagine my life without him.

Happy 1st birthday pumpkin! You have made my world a more colorful one.