CelebrASIANS!

We had a lot to celebrate this weekend and have been down in Orange County!

Kelvin's great childhood friend Tina (from their radio show days) married Chris in traditional Vietnamese style (afternoon Catholic church ceremony, then evening reception with a multi-course meal, singing and dancing) on Saturday (and since her wedding date is the same as Niall's second birthday, I have no excuse to forget her anniversary!).  I've been lucky to have gotten to know Tina well over the years that K and I have been together and it was so wonderful to see her marry her soulmate (the couple met two years ago at Coachella). Kelvin performed one of the church ceremony readings.

 

Both Tina and Chris looked so, so happy despite all of the stresses that come with pulling off a wedding!   

I enjoyed wearing my áo dài (one of several I own!), the traditional Vietnamese dress, to both the ceremony and reception, as I find it extremely comfortable (and elegant), although most of the other attendees (90% or more of whom were Vietnamese or Asian) were wearing western-style dresses in the evening. Kelvin again participated in the reception with doing some emcee-ing and led a fun and well-received scavenger hunt/musical chairs game.

Kelvin, Tina and Danny go way back...

... as does Chamreun (left). Chamreun and Danny were both groomsmen in K and my wedding in 2011 (Tina would have been, too, had she been male!).

While Kelvin and I didn't stay out too late, we got a few dances in (as did Danny, who you can see here wearing his earplugs so as to not have the lively music damage his hearing! We definitely gave him a hard time; however, we are in our *late* thirties now!)

Then on Sunday, we had a little family second birthday celebration for Niall and cousin Klian (born exactly a week later on the twenty-second) at Kenn and Lisa's lovely new home in Orange.

We got some adorable photos of the kiddos in their little áo dàis .

The birthday boys

with their older brothers (5)

 a rare still shot

(their personalities show up here)

They did some sweet joint candle-blowing (Klian took the le and was a a champ!)

Theresa (Niall's godmother) had brought a unicorn piñata at the older boys' request, and it (particularly the candy inside) was a (literal) hit (Theresa ultimately did the smashing damage).

Angel

As usual (Asians love to eat!), we had wonderful food (homemade spring rolls and tasty desserts, including mochi donuts and cream puffs).

The cream puffs were really popular amongst the kids!

 

 

We had so much sibling, auntie/uncle, grandparent, and cousin love to go around!
 

(yes, I believe that's a cream puff mustache!) 

Subi and Angel

The crew

 

 

I am blessed to have married into such a large, welcoming Asian family! While I am the odd non-Vietnamese out (and only half-Asian), I definitely have embraced their styles of eating and celebrating. To them, family is everything. They love my kids like you wouldn't believe, and it's great to be included in/a part of the fun (/chaos!). 

Niall turns TWO!

Niall is TWO!

He:
- weighs probably 21-22 lbs or so (official well child visit to come in March). He feels chunkier (especially in the tummy) than Iver did at this age, and has a great appetite! He wears mostly 12-18 month pants, 18-month tops, and size 4-5 shoes (he LOVES boots).
- loves water and milk. He has drunk all but two bags of my frozen breastmilk (which we had been mixing 50/50 with cow's milk for school) and I plan to quit nursing this weekend or by the latest on Monday when we will leave the kids for an adults-only vacation. (I've tried to do some "weaning," including using some tea to dry up my milk [my allergy decongestant may help as well], putting band-aids on my nipples, etc., but it may have to be a cold-turkey thing. I think he, more adaptable, will take it better than Iver did at the end!).
- is a great eater (mostly in the morning). "I eat breakfast" is often the first or second thing out of his mouth in the morning.  He sits in a booster seat at the table with a protective tray (for spills) and a catch-food bib. He loves fruit, noodles and soup, cheese of all kids, yogurt, and will even now eat meat. He will literally eat peanut butter (and ketchup!) with a spoon.  He's good with utensil fork and spoon to feed himself (sometimes seeming to have a left-handed preference). He yells "SNACK!" when he gets in his carseat.

- is doing well with gentle potty training. He will sometimes tell us when he has to go poop, and often poops on the potty in the morning and after dinner ("little nugget!" he says). We use pocket diapers at school and cloth fitteds at home (except for overnight). He had been soaking through size 3 overnight diapers, so we just sized up to size 4 (Iver never wore more than a size 3 diaper until he was potty trained at age two!). 

 -  is doing well in the toddler room at his daycare. He doesn't really fuss at drop-off, and loves (and can name) his teachers and friends. He is far more flexible with caregivers and has less separation anxiety than Iver did.

- loves his brother, and both of us parents (seemingly equally). "Where Iver?" is a common first phrase in the morning

- is starting to get opinionated and pushing some boundaries, ("NO!" and "Mine" are common words to hear).  "Niall hold it," "My hold it," or "Niall do it!" he says a lot.  He will play with his brother, but will also antagonize him (i.e. fight back) at times.

- loves being chased, climbing, and reading books. He jumps, and is starting to get interested in the magnet tiles that Iver so loved. He likes to scribble and draw with markers ("I draw circle!"), play with Pepper, and go on walks to see the neighborhood horse, Buster. He loves music and dancing and requests song titles frequently like "Wicked" (from the Descendants 2 soundtrack).  He loves going town tall slides and playing at the park. He's a fan of tub baths and splashing water everywhere.  He loves cuddles and being held/carried ("Mama, hold-ee"!).

- talks a TON-- with many sentences like "Read it again, Mama." "Addie fell off couch at school," and "What Papa doing?" We can basically have conversations with him now, which is super fun. He can count to fifteen and sing the ABCs song. He can fill in the words and phrases of many familiar books when we're reading aloud. He can identify the titles and pull his favorite books off the shelves, and knows most colors and shapes. He's great with remembering names (of people's children, parents, etc.)!  He likes to pick up our house landline phone and say, "Hello? What are you doing?" One day when he was nursing, he popped off the breast to repeat, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the baddest of them all?" from song lyrics of "Wicked" (Descendants 2), which was hilarious.

- has an infectious giggle and laugh, and an adorable dimple-laden smile. He has a great sense of humor and is a really sweet and happy kid overall.

- continues to be a dream sleeper at night, still in his crib, without signs of escape. After a bath and a few books,  we put him in his crib in a footie pajamas and sleepsack around 7:40 pm and he sleeps until around 5:45-6:00 or so most mornings (an hour more than Iver slept per night at the same age). Iver has been relocated to the guest room, when we don't have guests, because he sleeps a bit longer in a room by himself. Niall takes a ~1.5-2-hour nap around 1 pm most days (and is sometimes grumpy upon wake-up but redirectable usually).

Park lounging

Church smile

(half-) Naked guy!

Meal of choice-- PB out of a bowl!

Pizza!

Breakfast antics

Goofy guy

Brother love!

 Off to school!

 Some gift-opening/reading

 

Here's what Iver was doing at two.

I can't believe our baby is now a little boy!  I'm actually thrilled the "baby days" are behind us-- I love the talking and interacting, phasing out the diapers, and having my body free to no longer have to think about milk production!  Onto the (with hope, not-so-terrible) twos!

Corona-worry

(image from FB on a physician moms; group page)

It's been a long week fending off Coronavirus fears.  While I understand the seriousness of the China-based epidemic, I do not need any more questions or patient e-mails from patients (especially those who have refused or continue to refuse the flu shot [I'm on an anti-anti-vaxxer roll these days]) who are wondering "how concerned" they should be about being exposed or infected.  If you're not worried about regular-old influenza, I don't have much to say to you except I still recommend that you get your d*** flu shot and consider postponing your trip to East Asia (unless you really have full trust in your immune system and essential oils).

Open Wide!

The boys (kids, that is) had a combined visit to the dentist last week (in February, which I found out is actually National Children's Dental Health Month as well as Pet Dental Health Month, although we are seriously behind in getting a dog cleaning under anesthesia). I have, on more than one occasion (with strong-willed Iver at ages 3 and 4, I think), had to leave the dental office without being seen, due to an inability to get Iver out of the carseat and into the office without sustaining bodily harm/scaring other patients (tears streaming down both of our faces).  We have come a long way. Kelvin usually meets us at the office due to this issue and, while it's nice to have more hands, it's so much less work now and I could *probably* take both kids in without reinforcements.

Since Niall has been coming along (starting when he was 18 mo), Iver (obviously older and more mature) has turned a huge corner. He has stayed really still and calm on my lap as the hygienist polished and flossed his teeth (both back in the summer and again this week), and set a great example for little brother, who didn't cry at all when he went next.

Brushing monster's teeth!

All (pearly white) smiles at home!

This past week's visit reminded us that, while parenting and some of the early-years battles can seem so insurmountable, it gets easier. This, too, shall pass!

A Venn Worth Sharing

Not all of you are lucky to have all three of these types of creatures in your life. With our fairly recent mountain lion scare , I thought this Venn diagram (posted on FB by a nurse friend) was especially fitting as it is all too familiar. On a difficult day with a sick toddler and a few anti-vaxxers on my busy clinic schedule (but thankfully no loose mountain lions that I know of), it made me smile.

Staying hopeful; 20/20 vision

It was Superbowl Sunday today. While I admittedly didn't follow much of the regular season NFL games this year (or in the past few years), our "home team" 49ers had an impressive turnaround season and had a good chance to take home the trophy while playing the talented Chiefs.

They let the lead slip and fell short. It was quite alright.  This is just sport.

We enjoyed some good hang-out time with friends at Mandy and Sam's house while peripherally watching the game action while ensuring kids were safe. We showed our support for the home team (and other Bay area sports!), and still are California sports fans and proud coastal residents, despite the outcome at the hands of the midwest (again).  I've also learned very well over the last several years to cope with my high expectations and (often resulting) disappointment, but the challenge is to still find a way to maintain hope.

It's also the eve of the Iowa Democratic caucuses, where the party of the people will take a step in choosing a presidential nominee in what surely is (after 2016) the most consequential and important election in my lifetime. While my top choice for our nominee is Elizabeth Warren (with Bernie Sanders a close second), I'd be happy to vote for any of the current candidates (Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, and others further down the list) or even a soap dish over the current White House occupant who, if our systems were truly democratic, serving the people, and functioning as they should, would probably be in the process of being removed from office (Senate races are important, people! And do any of my fellow progressives want to move to and repopulate Wyoming?!).

(sold-out tote from Crooked Media)

It's hard not to lose hope in such dark times, fearing re-living the psychological trauma of a 2016-repeat, but one of my favorite pastor-writers, John Pavlovitz, reminds us why we must remain hopeful. 

I'm hoping our 2020 election outcome will not entail a lot of hindsight. Let's get hopey-changey-inspired and let's leave it all on the field, America.