Miles turns 4

A belated birthday post about my sweet Miles who turned 4 on July 31st. He was a very lucky birthday boy this year and had a few celebrations for his birthday.

To kick off the birthday fun... my mom and my nephew, Alex, were in town the weekend before Miles' birthday to run the San Francisco Half Marathon with Derek (and they all kicked butt). So we decided to have a little birthday party at a place called Safari Run in San Mateo with a handful of his best friends and lots of family. The kids had a great time running around and playing (and mom and dad enjoyed "outsourcing" the festivities as there was very little work involved. In fact, I am not sure if we will ever host a birthday party at our house again! LOL)


We cannot forget the AMAZING cake that Miles' Auntie Lisa (Goo Goo) made. As usual, and the kids and adults licked their plates. Miles requested a Curious George cake and Lisa delivered nothing but the best! It was chocolate cake with some sort of chocolate mouse (I am sure it has some fancy French name, but like I can remember!) and then it was covered in an incredible chocolate glaze which was sooo good. I am not a fan of icing so the glaze was a big hit with me. :) Thank you Goo Goo!!!


On Miles' actual birthday, Derek and I took the day off from work and took the boys to Gilroy Gardens. It was our first time there and we had such a great time. The amusement park was perfect for our boys - lots of great rides for young kids, it was super clean, and lots of shade. Miles rode his very first roller coaster and I am pretty sure I was more scared than he was! LOL. We were very pleasantly surprised by how nice Gilroy Gardens was and we will definitely be back!





In the evening, we had a small pizza and cake party at our house. Hao-bu and her lovely friends, Shake and Mutsuko came over. And, our new friends who just moved here from Colorado (Kelly, Seth, Aidan, and Carter) came over too. This time, Miles got a very yummy cake from Icing on the Cake and incredible ice cream from Maryanne's. He had an awesome birthday.


Derek and I can't believe that Miles is FOUR ... we see lots of changes in him already - he's not a baby anymore. Most of the time, he's a very sweet and funny little boy, but wow... he's getting a bit of attitude which is new to us. He wants to be very independent - so lots of patience is needed at our house. :) He seems to be growing out of his daily nap AND growing out of his 5T clothes... he's just growing like a weed! We have his 4 year check-up at the end of August and I have a good feeling that he will be off the charts for height... he's catching up to me a bit too fast! LOL

Shadow

The past few weeks, we've noticed that Oliver is really starting to do whatever Miles does. It's very sweet and funny. I didn't realize how much the younger sibling looks up to the older sibling.

If Miles is eating toast, Oliver wants toast.
If Miles is sitting on the couch watching TV, Oliver wants to sit right next to him and watch TV.
If Miles makes a funny noise, Oliver makes the same noise.
If Miles slams the door, Oliver wants to slam the door.

You get the idea.
Cute... most of the time. LOL

Some pictures to back up my point (click on the picture to see a bigger resolution pic):

{If Miles has toast, then Oliver must have toast!}

{Watching the trains in Seattle and Oliver is almost standing on top of Miles. And Oliver looks SOOO serious.}

{Slam that door!}

{Oliver trying to lift up his leg like Miles and Ben}

{Oliver trying to do what Miles is doing}

{Miles wondering why Oliver does everything he does}

My three amigos... and their gas

Last night, all of us were on the couch hanging out (well, the boys were jumping on and over Derek having a blast). As they were jumping around...

First, I heard Oliver fart.
Then, I hear Miles say "Excuse me" which means he farted...
and then...
you guessed it...
Derek farted!

And, I said out loud "What a lucky girl I am... I have not one, not two, but THREE farting smelly boys in my family."

And Derek laughed his head off... proud as any dad can be of his family.

LOL

Father's Day 2009

We had a really nice Father's Day (although I am sure Derek will agree that it felt like any other weekend day). We spent the day with the boys and family and it was a very nice day.

Derek started the morning off by going on a measly 11-mile run in Los Gatos (I know, what a relaxing way to spend Father's Day - LOL) and I took the boys for a long walk to Safeway (it was "long" because we were almost there when I realized I forgot my wallet so we had to go back home and then back to Safeway). We had lunch with the boys in downtown Los Gatos and then Hao-bu, Kevin, and Lisa came over for dinner.

None of this will be a surprise to any of you reading this... Derek is an incredibly patient, committed, and loving father. I feel so blessed that our boys have such a wonderful person to look up to learn from. Derek always puts his family before himself and I know how much he loves being a dad. I love watching Derek interact with both Miles and Oliver -- I sometimes joke that I feel like I have 3 kids, including Derek, but I wouldn't want it any other way. He knows how to make the boys laugh and they both look at him so lovingly and what more could I ask for in a husband/dad.

(One more thing... I just wanted to note that Oliver is still obsessed/in love with Derek (aka "mama") which is just comical. He gets pretty hysterical when Derek leaves the room - it's a bit insane - and he follows him so Derek pretty much never gets a breack. And I know Derek LOVES it! Luckily for my ego, Miles is pretty much mommy whipped so it works out just fine. LOL)

Derek reminds me of my own father in so many ways. My dad was also very committed to our family and he always put us first. When I think about my childhood, my parents did everything to make us kids happy. My dad worked so hard to provide everything for us and I never truly appreciated his incredible hard work until I became a parent myself. And, Miles and Oliver just love Papa! They just light up when they are with him (as the pics below show).

Happy Father's Day to both of you - I love you!

{Derek reading to Miles (14 weeks old)}

{Derek chillin' Oliver when he was a newborn}

{Papa and Miles (23 weeks old)}

{Papa and Oliver (May 2008)}

Freedom of speech

My sweet Miles will be 4 at the end of July and, on a daily basis, I am amazed on how grown up he is these days - in particular - how well he talks, expresses himself, and (sadly) talks back to us! Let me share some stories with you... the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good: This morning when I dropped Miles off at Layla's, I hung around for a bit, which I don't usually do. It's nice to chat with Layla while the boys get busy doing what they do there. Oliver quickly settled into a peg board game and Layla encouraged Miles to show me how he is learning how to read 3-letter words. Layla's school is Montesorri school, and, I will openly admit that I don't know as much as I probably should about the Montessori method, but after watching Miles this morning, it re-affirmed (once again) that it's a great small family school and we are very lucky to have found Layla. It was such a treat to watch him using a Montessori reading/phonetics exercise that helps him learn to sound out and read 3-letter words. I was very impressed and felt less guilty about him being at school all day long while I am work. He's learning a ton, but there is still lots of time for singing, playing, and having fun!

The bad (but funny): Miles has started saying some "sophisticated" (for lack of a better word) things and at times he can be a bit too big for his britches. For example, last night Miles said "Can we go to Starbucks and play on the indoor playground?" And, we said that we could go to Starbucks but we were pretty sure (try positive) that there wasn't an indoor playground there and he replied "Mommy, just trust me" as if he knew more than I did. Hilarious. Another thing ... sometimes he will get something out of the fridge and he will leave it wide open. I will tell him to close it and he will say (in a very pleasant tone) "That's okay mommy, you can do it" as if it's such a treat for me to close the fridge he opened! LOL.

The ugly: This stuff is the stuff you aren't very proud of it, but I guess it's all part of growing up and asserting your independence? These days when Miles gets upset or doesn't get his way, he sometimes will say things like "Well, then I don't love you anymore." Or, "Then I'm not going to be your friend!" Ummm... ouch! I quickly respond "I don't think it's very nice to say those things and I still love you. And that's ok if you don't want to be my friend, but I am still your mommy and you have to listen to me." HA - of course he's long gone when I am done saying all of that. LOL

Girls Weekend = Boys Weekend

This past weekend, I went to Boulder to spend a long weekend with 3 of my girlfriends from college (see pics below). Derek, Miles, and Oliver stayed home in San Jose to fend for themselves (with some help from Hao-bu, of course)!

I had a really nice weekend away, but it was hard being away. It's true that distance makes the heart grow fonder as I really missed my 3 boys, but I also feel like they missed me which was nice! (Dare I share that Derek told me that there was a "void" without me at home?! Very sweet, I know.) Derek is a wonderful daddy and husband and I am thankful that he is so supportive of my need to have a couple of girls weekends each year.

The boys had a fun "boys weekend" and kept busy with various activities... a train park pancake breakfast on Saturday morning and then they went to their cousin Lulu's 2nd birthday party with special performer Andy Z. And, on Sunday morning before they picked me up from SFO, Derek ventured up to SF with the boys to ride the cable cars, the bus, and the MUNI. (He got some help from Goo Goo and their cousin Adam who was in town).

But... as much fun as they had, I must admit that my weekend full of yummy dinners, good wine, hiking, and going to the spa with good girlfriends was just what the doctor ordered for mommy.

A few great pics from the boys trip to San Francisco:

{The boys waiting underground for the MUNI to arrive. Derek said that Miles was very protective of his little brother getting too close to the yellow line/tracks.}

{The boys and Goo Goo getting off MUNI}

{Miles with the Bay Bridge in the background - this is an incredible picture that Adam took!}

{Miles enjoying a ride on Goo Goo's shoulders}

{Such a cute pic of dad with his backpack taking care of the boys, breaking up a fight over the sippy cup}

{Oliver keeping close to his "mama"... so sweet}

And a few pics from my Girls Weekend in Boulder with Teri, Lara, and Geri:

{Having a glass of wine before dinner at a wine bar on Pearl Street}

{We wanted to take a group pic and our only option at that time was setting up the camera on the other bed in our hotel room. LOL}

{Saturday morning hike at Mt. Sanitas}

{Margaritas at The Rio (where they have a 3 marg limit) but Derek's are better!}

"I faaht"

This weekend, Oliver made his dad proud when it comes to his speech development. He now says "I faaht" right after he has farted and it's HILARIOUS!!! :) He says it so innocently and probably wonders why daddy and I are cracking up! LOL

While we are sharing funny Oliver stories, here's another one... Oliver gets very attached to things once you have put it on him. For example, he has a "Sleep sack" at night when he sleeps (it's a blanket that zips up over him so he cannot put it over his face). Well, in the morning, if you take it off - he goes into a super crazy pissed off tempter tantrum for a good 10 minutes or so. Never mind the fact that if he keeps it on, he falls and trips all over the place because there aren't holes in it for his feet. Silly kid!

Oh... and if he has a sweatshirt on, forget about it... he does NOT want to take it off, even if it's blistering HOT outside!!! Uh, can you say ridiculous?

Final example, check out this swim vest I bought for him. He refused to take it off once it was on. It's hilarious!!!

You have been warned - do not take things off once they are on... this little kid has a TEMPER!!!