4 year stats

{Miles wearing funny "nerd" pajamas from his great aunt and uncle}

This morning, we took Miles to his 4-year checkup (one month late) and we are pleased to say that he's a very healthy boy! He's 42 inches tall and 40 pounds (both are in the 75th percentile, which means he's taller/weights more than 3 out of 4 kids the same age as him).

There were some new things at his appointment...
1) He was asked to take off his clothes and put on a gown, which he had never been asked to do before. And, the nurse made the mistake by saying "He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to" which gave Miles his out. After trying to get him into the gown, we settled on him taking his t-shirt on and keeping his shorts off. He's quite private, like his daddy. :)
2) Then he had his hearing checked. This was done in a very small closet in the doctors office which had a little stool for his to sit on. He put on the headphones and was supposed to clap when he heard a noise. He didn't seem to clap very often, which of course got me worried. I asked him a few times if he could hear anything and then I remembered that back when I was taking those darn hearing tests, I didn't really hear anything either. But I guess he passed since the doctor didn't mention it.
3) After that, he had his eyes checked for the first time. He stood in front of an eye chart with letters on it and I was actually impressed that he saw most of the letters, considering I couldn't see all of them. He missed quite a few smaller letters, but our doctor wasn't concerned as his eyes are still developing.

All in all, it was a good appointment. Dr. Lan is so nice and makes us feel like we have the smartest kid on earth which I am sure he does for all parents. :)

Dance party

We were trying to leave Luke's 1st birthday party but the kids heard a Prince song and immediately started bustin' a move.

This is what it sounds like, when the doves cry.

Gotta love Prince!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

The proof is in the pudding...
Two little monkeys!

Thank you, Kevin?

Yesterday morning, we were sitting on the couch and Oliver kept saying "Xie Xie, Bon Bon" which translates to "Thank you, (uncle) Kevin". We aren't sure why he was saying it... probably because we were laughing so hard when he kept saying it over and over.

Derek used his iPhone video camera to capture the moment. Pretty funny... and super cute.

Sweet speech

Our lil Oliver is 21 months old (as of yesterday) and we've really noticed a big leap in his speech in the past few weeks. It's so fun to hear him say new words and try to figure out what he's trying to say. He loves to grab our hand and say "Come" and he leads us to where he wants to go. He's even starting to say a couple of small sentences like "Here you go." Of course, as his parents, I think we understand more of his speech than most.

Here's a very sweet speech-related story that Layla, his daycare provider, told us last week...

She said that she had gotten up on a chair to hang a poster on the wall. She said Oliver got right next to her, looked up at her with big concerned eyes and was saying/mumbling "cuful Layla," "cuful Layla" ... over and over. She got down from the chair and asked him what he had said and so he said it again a bit more clearly..."Careful Layla" and she said she just couldn't believe it -- she wanted to eat him up. Pretty darn adorable!

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}